With the sketchbook in her hand, the sixth year made her way out of the Common Room and skipped down to the ground floor. She hadn’t set her mind on a destination, so she simply kept walking around, eventually passing by the entrance door. To go outside, or not to go outside.

Decisions....decisions...

The Ravenclaw held the sketchbook tightly in her hand, as she made up her mind to go to the Kitchen first and maybe grab herself a cookie. Heh. That sounded like a good plan. ‘Umm... hello’, she said as she stepped in the room, where the house elves were. The girl gave a quick look around, and, as she managed to spot some sort of a cookie jar, went in that direction and took a couple of chocolate cookies out.

Taking a bite out of one of the cookies, Gwen headed back to the door, but suddenly stopped. Why not hang around here for a while? The girl turned around and took a few steps in the direction of the fireplace, where she eventually crashed down on an empty spot. Opening her sketchbook, the girl flipped the pages which were full of drawings until she found a blank one.

Gwendolyn kept twirling the quill in her hand while looking around, in attempt to find something to draw. Nothing static. No objects. Hmm. What could I draw?, she kept asking herself, and her eyes finally stopped scanning the place as she spotted one of the house elves.

Hmm.

Gwendolyn stopped twirling the quill and started scribbling something on the page of her sketchbook. Measurements first..., she told herself and raised her eyes from the page in order to look back at the house elf who was standing in front of her. Looking back at her sketch... which only consisted of a few lines so far, the sixth year continued to doodle with the quill on the page of the sketchbook.

Jory was in an extremely good mood today. Maybe he could have a snack and get some reading gone. Now that OWLs were done, he could afford to read. "Hey there,'' he greeted the house elves as he entered with a smile. He didn't frequent the kitchen much but he liked the little creatures. He inhaled deeply. The entire place smelt wonderful as the Puff could see they were busy preparing the next meal.

His stomach grumbled a bit. "Er...if it's not too much of a bother can I have something to eat?'' he asked. "Maybe a slice of cake or something?'' Anything would work, really. Just then he noticed Gwen sitting at the other side by the fireplace. "Thanks a lot,'' he added. "I'll be over at the fireplace with my friend.'' Careful not to disturb the working elves, he made his way to Gwen who had her sketchbook out.

"Hiya Gwen,'' Jory said as he placed his bag in a chair and sat in another. "Busy?''

She continued to scribble something with the quill on the nearly empty page of the notebook and soon the sketch started looking a bit better. Hmm. It resembled the house elf. Gwen paused for a moment and stared at the drawing. She was, however, distracted as she heard someone call her name. Drawing her attention away from the yet unfinished sketch of the house elf, the girl spotted Jory.

GRIN.

‘Hi!’, the sixth year said, greeting her friend with a bright grin. Well, she was really happy to see Jory. ‘No, not really’, the Ravenclaw answered his question simply. ‘I was just wandering around the castle with my sketchbook and decided to come here’ Because one could find cookies here. That was enough for a reason to visit the kitchen. Heh.

‘How are you?’, Gwen asked the Hufflepuff. Since she hadn’t seen Jory since the train ride and hadn’t really talked to him since the summer holiday, Gwendolyn was actually curious to see how he was doing. She had been planning on going to see her friends at the feast, but ended up staying at the Ravenclaw house table the entire time. Oh, anyway. While waiting for Jory to reply, the girl glimpsed at the sketch she had started not long ago. Hmm. It started looking a bit better, but she still had lots of details to add so that the portrait would look authentic.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

‘So…’, the sixth year started saying, still staring at the page of her sketchbook. ‘Have you seen what has changed around the grounds?’, Gwen asked. She had only seen the swimming dock so far, and she thought the idea was simply brilliant.

As Gwen continued with her sketch, Jory peered over at her notebook. At first he didn't know what she was working on but slowly it began to take shape- a House elf. "You're pretty good,'' he told his friend, impressed as he always was whenever he saw her sketches. He couldn't do a proper sketch to save his life.

"I'm good,'' the badger replied. "Just glad to be back.'' Even though the had been loads of lessons to go to on the first day. But so far all had been exciting, particularly Divination, Runes and Herbology. "So what's the latest with you? Haven't seen you since the Train.'' That made him remember. "Where was Jinx?''

Jory watched the bustling elves as Gwen scribbled some more. His thoughts drifted to his home. He missed everyone already. Just then Gwen spoke again.

"Yes, I did,'' he said enthusiastically. "Saw the aquarium but I haven't really checked it out as yet.'' Yup, that was what Jory was most excited about. He loved fishes and enjoyed watching them swim about. That might be his new favourite place. "You checked out any of them as yet?''

Looking at the house elf and then back at her sketch, Gwen tried to see what else she needed to add. Hmm. A few more lines here. The girl continued to work on her sketch as she listened to her friend. ‘Thanks… I guess’, the Ravenclaw said simply, though she felt like contradicting Jory on that. She wasn’t that good at drawing.

They hadn’t met since the train. ‘Yeah’, the sixth year started saying as she raised her eyes from the sketchbook. What was new? ‘Eh… nothing much’, Gwendolyn mused. Indeed, she was happy to be back, but she hadn’t been up to anything important lately. ‘I-‘ she started saying, but stopped as she heard the Hufflepuff say something. ‘Oh, I found Jinx as I was heading back to the compartment’ No one came to complain about her cat and there was no sign that Jinx may have caused trouble. So I guess all is good, the sixth year told herself.

So Jory had been around the grounds, and he seemed to be pretty enthusiastic about it. Gwendolyn continued to scribble something on the sketch as she listened to him talk.

Wait-

The what?

‘There is an aquarium?!?’, the sixth year asked and immediately drew her attention away from her sketch in order to look back at Jory. She didn’t know about it until now. ‘Where is that?’ Because she wanted to go there. An aquarium. That is just brilliant.

Huh… so there were more new things around the grounds than she had expected, apparently. ‘Umm… the swimming dock. I think that was a really great idea’ To create that at Hogwarts, that is. Gwen loved swimming. It was her favourite sport, so naturally she loved the idea of a swimming dock.

"You guess?'' Jory asked. "You ARE really good.'' Emphasis on the are. "In the last Herbology class we had to draw a swamp.'' The image came flashing back. "Total disaster,'' he said with a grin. "I wonder what Professor Bentley thought.''

"So I'm guessing he didn't cause any mischief?'' His sister owned a cat and it was always causing trouble whether it came into his room and jumped around knocking down his books or constantly sitting on the boy's feet. The cat seemed to take pleasure in annoying him.

The Puffer grinned again. So he wasn't the only one so excited about the Aquarium. "It's where all the Care of Magical Creatures stuff are. You know, the Barn and so on. '' He had visited it just recently. "It's really cool! All those fishes and coral. You gotta check it out.'' There had been so many fishes Jory had never seen before. Plus loads of brightly coloured corals which fascinated him very much.

Talk turned to the Swimming dock. "So have you taken a swim there yet?'' he asked. Maybe he should go take a dip soon.

Theo had been hidden away in the dorms for a few days, whilst recovering from a bit of a cold. He got them very easily, no matter what the weather outside was. Not a very good immune system, ya see? Even today, his stomach was starting to feel a little... fizzy.

But deciding that food was what he really needed, Theo made his way to the kitchen, also hoping to maybe catch a Hufflepuff friend on the way.

He was in the mood for a Hufflepuff's company right now.

Anyway, he pulled out a bread roll that he had salvaged from breakfast, then nibbled on it after sitting by the fireplace. It was somewhat satisfying, but it was definitely in the early stages of going stale. EW.

Ella wanted food. Well...not just any food, she wanted something very specific. The blonde was in the mood for an Oreo sundae with lots of gummy worms on top. YUP.

And so the badger made her way through the crowded kitchen and to the freezer, getting what she needed. Then it was on to sundae making, an art form really. When she was finished, the fifteen year old BEAMED down at her creation and looked for a good spot to eat because there was no way she could wait until she got back to her dorm with this thing. NOPE.

Hmmm...how about the fireplace? That was nice and cozy and lovely. Mhm!

Blink.Blink.

"Theoman?" It was him, wasn't it? Ella smiled a little as she stepped closer, noting the boy was eating something as well. "Mind if I sit with you?" She wouldn't have normally asked but things were a bit weird after...well y'know.

Theodore got halfway through his bread roll, when he decided that it was getting rather dry and he needed a drink, or at least some filling to go inside of the roll. He quickly looked over for a house elf, but decided to just ignore his thirst. The house elves kinda freaked him out, so he thought not to bother them.

The long-haired third year looked up at his name. Theoman. Only Hufflepuffs called him that. Well, actually, it was only two people. Alec and Ella. Grrr, Alec and Ella. Theo didn't like those two names being in the same sentence.

Anyhow, he smiled up at Ella. "Oh, yeah course.." He scooted over, giving the blonde some room.

This was okay.... he was feeling okay....

...................

"Haven't seen you for ages!" That was all he felt like saying right now, so he stuffed the rest of the roll in his gob before he spoke more.

Ella smiled, plopping down next to Theodore and placing her sundae in her lap. "Thanks. I um...was just over making a sundae. Seems like a sundae kind of day, y'know?" Though truthfully every day was a sundae kind of day, at least as far as Ella was concerned.

Frown. It had been ages since they'd hung out, not that Ella blamed the boy for staying away. She'd become this like...person who made people sad and it was quite horrible. First Theo...then Harvey. She should just stop talking to boys all together. "I um...I'm sure you've been busy with Quidditch and such? How are tryouts going?" Probably well because Theo was a brilliant flier. Shuffle. "Erm...did you want some of this sundae?" Cause the boy was eating...bread? Ice cream was so much more exciting.

Theo suddenly felt a need to write down every time Ella ate ice cream. She was worse than him with chocolate frogs, and THAT was saying something. He shook his head at her comment, "No, not really. You eat too much ice cream." He informed her with a nod.

"Meh." The third year shrugged his shoulders. Quidditch... Quidditch, Quidditch, Quidditch. "I've been ill for a bit this week, so I've only been to one tryout... and I wasn't very good." He paused for a long while, "Kat was way better than me." And that wasn't a problem and stuff... but...

He liked being the best. Number one. Champion. Chasering senSATION.

And then came another shrug. "I dunno, just not going well this term. What about you? Did you tryout?" Cos Ella was a great player, too. Especially last term, she rocked it! As for the ice cream, Theo shook his head, feeling his tummy go all funny at the sight of it. "I'm okay, thanks." Back to his bread roll.

Well that was just...frown. It's not as if Ella lived off of ice cream and Theodore wasn't exactly one to talk, was he? The boy ate chocolate frogs all the time! "Do not." She said quietly, arms crossed. "And what does it matter, anyway?" Because it wasn't as if Theodore was her nutritionist.

"You were sick?" O_O Not like...sick sick, right? Cause if he'd been in the hospital wing and Ella didn't visit...FROWN. "Are you um...feeling better now?" Cause Ella was concerned about the boy and he should be up in bed if he was still feeling under the weather. And he seemed upset about tryouts which made Ella feel even worse for him. "But Theo, if you weren't feeling well then you couldn't have possibly been at your best." Because playing anything while your sick was just plain hard. "You had an off day. Dylish...erm Dylan knows how good you are, Theo. I wouldn't worry."

Theodore didn't seem himself at all and the more he talked, the more concerned Ella was. "Things will look up soon, I bet." And she gave him a small smile, hoping that helped a little. "Oh I...well I've only been to one as well. It went okay, I guess." But there were so many good people and not enough spots for everyone. "I'm not so sure I impressed Nessie, though." Shrug.

And the refusal of ice cream? Ella eyed the snake for a minute before shrugging. "Erm...I could get you something else? Did you want soup or something?" Anything to cheer him up. Sheesh.

"Do, too." Theo poked her in the arm, suppressing a grin. Ella was getting stroppyyyyyyy over ice cream! And it was quite funny. "Just saying.... ice cream is better when you have it once in a while." Because it was a dessert sort of thing. Theo hardly ever had it at home.

"Only a tiny bit. I... you know...." How could he say, 'needed the toilet a lot' in a polite and charming way? "I just had a funny tummy." Theo shrugged his shoulders, "I'm fine now, I think." DYLISH? Did she just say Dylish?! Theodore snorted and almost chocked on a few breadcrumbs in his mouth. "I might have to use that one the next time I see him."

HEH.

Theodore smiled back, looking up at Ella properly. It was the first moment in ages that he had actually looked at her in the eyes for longer than 3 seconds. Ella Bishop, his dream girl. One of the best puffer Quidditch players, the prettiest girl in school, the nicest girl in school. And he knew the inevitable event of Alec and Ella would soon be approaching. Cos Theo KNEW stuff... and the thought caused him to look down to his lap. Pfft. Stupid bread roll. "I'm sure you did. Impress... your captain." Cos he refused to say 'Nessie'. "You're one of the best."

One of Hufflepuff's best, at least.

SOUP? BLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEUUUUUUUUUGHH. "Got a chocolate frog? I left all mine under my bed." Since he didn't think he'd need them today due to his dodgy tummy. But you know what? Screw the dodgy tummy, Theo needed goodness inside of him.

The poking and grinning? It only made Ella frown more because this was not funny. Ice cream was serious business! "There's no such thing as too much ice cream, Theodore." POUT. And she looked at him and raised an eyebrow because...JUST WHAT? "I don't agree." And his smiling was making it hard for her not to smile so she poked him back. "Stop smiling at me, please." Cause she was trying really hard to be annoyed, DUH. ....Smile!

"Oh?" And she listened, biting her lip. "Well I'm really glad you're feeling a bit better, Theoman. I can't fight crime around here without you." And she smiled a little at him before looking down at her ice cream. She spotted a green worm and popped it into her mouth. "Mmmm." He was completely crazy. Ice cream was the best! The blonde giggled a little as Theo reacted to her nickname for Dylan. "I don't think he'd mind, actually." So yeah, he should totally use it next time he saw Dylan.

Shrug. Ella wasn't sure Theodore was right about the whole being impressive thing but she appreciated him saying so. Oh and the being one of the best thing? This earned the boy a BEAM from Ella and turned the blonde's cheeks a bit pink. "Thanks, Theo. I think you're one the best... and not just for Slytherin house, either." Just so he knew.

SEE?! Chocolate frogs. This boy loved them just as much as Ells liked ice cream, she was sure of it! She smiled at him and dug around in her pocket. "Well actually..." It was in there somewhere, she was sure of it. "I just happen to have..." Oh Merlin, did she lose it or something? Frustrated she handed the boy her bowl of ice cream and stood, digging around for the chocolate frog.

"AH-HA!" She said rather loudly, holding it in the air triumphantly. That was a little too loud though, yeah? Whoops. Smiling sheepishly, she held it out to the boy. "Erm...here."

Why was she frowning? Theo responded by poking her even harder in the arm. Girl was getting so defensive over ice cream?! WHUT. "There is, Ella Bishop." He said, responding to the Theodore. People rarely called him Theodore anymore unless they were telling him off or something. Or if they were feeling respectful towards him. Cos he still preferred to be called Theodore. "Your brain might freeze forever." There MUST be some side effects to too much ice cream. OH HAY, poking back? Theo giggled because she hit a tickle-spot.

He was ticklish everywhere. Heheheheheh..... So he tickled her back, of course.

Ugh, how did Ella just say stuff ALL the time that made him smile? Sure, she still whined a lot, but it rarely even bothered him these days. Definitely not something to get moody over like he used to. "Yeah... I've kinda missed... you." He said, eyes widening to check her reaction. Okay, now he could look away. It wasn't weird to say that, was it? He could miss one of his best friends if he wanted to, RIGHT? "I think he'd hit me." Theo chuckled some more. Dylish.

Suddenly, the butterflies made an appearance at Ella blushing. At least, he thought it was a blush. She could've just been passing wind or something. Which would be GROSS, ew... "Thanks... I think you're one of my top fans." Quidditch fan, that was. He didn't have many general fans, or friends. O_O

OH? She didn't have one? That was a disappointment, but then again, the only people who loved them as much as Theo did was West and Aurora. He'd find them later... but... oh... Her AH-HA made him jump a little, but not loads. He had a lid on it, it was okay. He let out a little HEHE, and took the chocolate frog. "Thanks.."

O__O "Ow." Ella said, rubbing the spot where Theo had stabbed her with his pointy finger poked her back. Double poke for him. Mhm! GASP! Ella Bishop? He'd called her Ella Bishop? Since when did he use her full name? "Seriously, Theodore Kinsley?" Eyebrows. "It won't freeze forever and even if it did, I'm okay dying an ice cream related death." It'd be worth the risk. The blonde smiled triumphantly when the boy started to giggle, feeling as she'd won the little poke war they were having. That was until...

"T-haha-Theo-haha-s-st-haha-stopppp!" SQUIRM. SQUIRM. SQUIRM. Didn't he know how ticklish she was? MEEP! She placed her ice cream safely out of the way and accepted this challenge. TICKLE WAR?

The fifteen year old continued to wriggle in her seat as she retaliated, tickling the boy back relentlessly. Her stomach was starting to hurt from all the laughing and she finally grabbed both of his hands in hers, her eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. "Theoman, n-no more!" GIGGLE!

N'awww. He'd totally missed her. Probably just as much as Ella had missed him. They were meant to be best friends so this not seeing each other stuff just wasn't allowed. The badger BEAMED at the boy and nodded. "I missed you too." Just facts, those were. Also, Ella wasn't so sure Dylish would ever hit Theodore. The older boy seemed to adore him and West. "I bet he'd think it was funny." Nod. "He thinks pretty highly of you, y'know." Yup cause Dylish talked to Ella! How cool was that?

"You're welcome." Grin. "I bet you have lots of fans, Theoman! Like...Professor Bellaire!" Hehehe. Cue another poke to the boy's side. Giggle.

"Welcome!" Ella said as she plopped back down next to the boy and grabbed her ice cream again, eating a spoonful. See? This wasn't so bad. Everything was going to be fine between them.

Woah, now that sounded weird. Theodore Kinsley. Sure, certain team mates were allowed to call him Kinsley, but that's all he had to to with his last name, cos it sucked really. Kinsley. The amount of people that mixed it up with KinGsley! Ughh... "Dying an ice cream death?!?" That wasn't a nice thing to say! "You are CRAZY!" Theo giggled some more and poked her back, and actually, it was turning into a rather violent poke war. They'd end up head locking each other in a second!

Hehe! She was SO ticklish, and Theo really hadn't known that before. But it was a good reference for the future cos now he had that against her, MWAHAHA. Now that her ice cream was put down, Theo spared both of his hands and went straight for her neck area. "NEVERRRRRRRRRRR!"

Theo flailed back and forth whenever she hit a tickly spot of his, and one of his pauses gave her enough time to grab him by the hands. OH, he felt so helpless! "FINE, fine.. if you surrender." She had to SAY she surrendered.

And, "You need to do a forfeit." Yes...
...

"Good." Theo said with a nod, cos of the whole missing each other thing. He'd kept wondering if Ella hated him since the revelation. Even though she said she wouldn't, it still changed stuff. Now she knew everything that he felt inside. And it wasn't a nice thing to share. Maybe he should kiss her, like West did with Kat cos it seemed to have worked for him. Theo would be a better kisser than Alec Summers anyway. Pfft. He smirked at the rest of the Dylan talk. "Yeah, cos I'm awesome." Him and West both looked up to Dylan, since he was their first captain. And it was pretty certain that one of them would fill his shoes when he graduates.

Theo wouldn't even mind if it was West. Because they were bros.

Fans like Professor Bellaire?! HEHE. "Well, of course. I haven't actually seen her this term, I can't WAIT for the first Charms class!" Because no matter what anyone said, her classes were the BEST.

Ella nodded seriously and looked down at her ice cream. "I'd be okay going out while eating this, yes." And Merlin that was a really strange thing to say! Meep! Maybe she was a little ice cream crazy! BUTITWASJUSTSODELICIOUS! JFJKHF! "You're CRAZIER!" She declared with a smile, giggling as Theodore poked her again. SHEESH! The boy had seriously bony fingers. "I'm going to bruise, Theoman!" She said dramatically before poking him right on the nose. Booop.

O_____O He'd found it, her most ticklish spot! Right under her chin was the spot that nearly killed her every time someone tickled her there. She SQUEAKED and SQUIRMED and SWATTED at Theo to stop because this was just not fair! Heheheheheeeeeee.

Forfeit? SHE had to forfeit? But...but she had his hands! He couldn't possibly tickle her without those! The blonde shrugged and continued to hold both hands, a small smile on her face. "I guess we'll just have to stay like this, then. Hope you don't need your hands anytime soon." Like for chocolate frog eating purposes or anything. Ella was totally not going to surrender. "You know if you decided to surrender, there might be another couple chocolate frogs in it for you..." BROWS.

"Mhm. It is good." Because it felt kind of nice knowing someone missed you, yeah? It made you feel like you were cared about and all that good stuff. Besides, Ella was just really relieved that Theodore didn't plan on avoiding her forever after his declaration. He was actually handling the entire thing really nicely which made the fifteen year old smile a little. "You are awesome...just not as awesome as me." And Ella grinned at the boy before shrugging her shoulders. She really did believe that, the awesome thing.

"I bet you can't wait." Smirkity-Smirk. "I really like Charms too... though Soph is much better than I am. She's going to be the charms queen, y'know." Yup, they were friends with future royalty. How flipping cool was that? BEAM!

Bliss crept away from Alyssa for a moment and went over to the fireplace. Glowing, the clue included that. Ella had thought it might have something to do with that. She couldn't see why the elves themselves would glow here though ... anyone would glow if they were in front of a fire place, right? This was going to require a lot more thought. She took a cautious step toward the fire. Maybe the thief had floo-ed in and out of Hogwarts with the trophies. Was that possible? .. A way out of Hogwarts.

Hmmm.

She peaked into the fire.