Sander sighed,"So you've noticed my grey hair huh? Believe me, sometimes I do feel like an old man. I've noticed that Tessa's hair is turning grey too....just don't tell her I told you that. I know no girl likes to be told that they have grey hair." he confided in Lux.

Sander smiled. So Lux had no clue...just like how it was with him at the early stages of getting to know Tessa. "Yes I can see that how much you like him helping you with your homework. Is that the only reason why you wish he was here? You must like him more for other things than just being your homework buddy," Sander asked Lux.

Lux rolled her eyes at that question. Did he think she was blind or something? "You poor guys. I'm the only one of us four who still looks the same as the start of Term." Even younger students like her were ageing!

Okay, the interrogation was making her really uncomfortable.

Lux shifted in her seat awkwardly. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Sander. Bay has a girlfriend and I am happy for them, and he is like my BROTHER." Seriously why was he acting like she had feelings for Bay, because she did NOT! "He is really good at helping me with it and he is really nice about it too."

"Yes I've noticed that too. Even Bay is starting age but not you. I wonder why not?" Sander began to think that maybe it was something all three of them ate and not Lux.

Sander could see that Lux was beginning to feel awkward when he kept on pressing her about her friendship with Lux, that he decided to back off. Then she said something that totally surprised him.

"Wait Bay has a girlfriend? Who is she? Why does he hang out more with us than with her? I mean look at Tessa and I. We hang out all the time. We even sit together in class with you guys....and we're not officially a couple." Sander asked Lux.

....Sander wished that he and Tessa were though. They had gone on their official first date and that had gone off really well. He had been wanting to ask her whether she would agree to be his girlfriend but he was nervous about doing that. What if she laughed at him and said no.

"Lux, do you see Tessa and I being a couple?" Sander asked his young friend. She knew Tessa really well. Maybe the older girl had confided her thoughts and feeling about him to Lux.

Lux shrugged, at a loss as to what was happening. "A lot of people are, but some aren't... like me. I don't know why it's happening or why I haven't been affected." Maybe it was something certain people ate that she hadn't? She had no clue.

And thank goodness he was backing off about Bay though she was still wanting to know where that was all coming from. "Okay, what could POSSIBLY make you think I like Bay? Because that is gross!" Okay, so Bay was cute not... unattractive, but he was her BROTHER and she acted in a SISTERLY way with him! No funny business. "He is dating Christmas, and don't ask me why he spends more time with us." Another shrug. It was not really a concern to her what Bay and Christmas did, and for all she knew they spent loads of time together in their Common Room.

She bit her lip at the talk about Tessa. "Well, she really likes you, and you really like her... so I don't see why not." Of course there was no way to tell if they would last or not, but at least for the moment they seemed to really like each other. "So wait... a couple? How is a couple different than dating? Is it acting less like best friends, and kissing more?" Tessa made dating sound like it was basically the same thing as being best friends, was being a couple more than that?

Sander quickly hid his smile. It really sounded like Lux was protesting way too much. What was that saying? He doth protest too much? Whenever one kept denying strongly about something, it usually meant the opposite. But not wanting to confuse the younger Puff who was still too young anyway to be dating, he decided to stop his teasing....for now.

Then the next words she said, caught him by surprise. "Um....I think that is a good definition of what a couple is, although you can still remain best friends even if there is kissing involved," he coughed knowing that he was beginning to blush.

Sander decided that it was time to change the subject. "So are you looking forward to Christmas? I don't know whether I've asked you but if I haven't, would you like to come spend Christmas with Tessa, Bay and me at my home this year? I haven't asked Bay yet but I hope that he will say yes too." Sander told Lux.

Lux was not happy that Sander didn't answer her question about Bay. "Tell me why you are implying I have a crush on Bay." She glared at him. She wanted to know what was wrong with Sander to make him question her like that. She did not want to be known for liking Bay, because it was so gross. EWWWW! She did not have feelings for Bay.

"Oh, so you and Tessa are the same as before, just that you kiss now?" So long as she did not have to witness that, it was totally fine if they kissed. She could pretend that it never happened. As they say: out of sight, out of mind.

"Of course I am excited, Sander!" What kind of question was that?

Sander sighed. He should have known better than to start this line of conversation with Lux. She was tenacious and wouldn't let things go easily. Insisting that Bay should eat the cucumber sandwich despite knowing that he would end up throwing it up. That should have been enough of a sign. But no, he had to start something and now she wasn't willing for him to end it without a reason.

"Lux I'm not implying that you have a crush on Bay. Anyone who sees the both of you together can tell that you're both just great friends. I was just thinking out loud...which I now know that I shouldn't have in front of you, that if only you were a few years older, you guys would make a great.....non kissing couple." Sander hoped that Lux would accept that explanation and forget that he had ever brought it up.

He grinned at Lux's comments about the fact that he and Tessa were still friends, despite the fact that they had shared a kiss or two. "Yes that's basically it."

"Great. So I hope your parents will let you come. It wouldn't be the same without you, Lux." Sander smiled down at her.

Lux kept glaring at him until he made everything better. "Good, you better not be, because I don't! I do not look at him the way you and Tessa look at each other." She huffed. People did not understand that just because Bay was special to her didn't mean that she had feelings for him. He was just... special. "You got that right, we will be friends for a long time." Just like she would be with him and Tessa.

Aaah, so that was basically the same thing that Tessa had told her. "So is she your girlfriend now?" Tessa had seemed to be pretty unsure about that, so she wondered if Sander knew. "My parents said I could.. And I'm sure you could have fun without me." She laughed, thinking about how they were all the life of the party.

Sander breathed a sigh of relief when Lux seemed to believe his explanation about her and Bay. He quickly shook his head, "No of course not. No you don't look at each other the way Tessa and I....wait! what did you say? Tessa and I don't look at each other differently than I look at you and Alex and Bay." Sander immediately protested. Why did people keep saying that he and Tessa looked at each other in a different way?

Then he almost choked on his own breath, when he heard her next question. "Girlfriend? Tessa? Umm....well she is a girl and she is a friend, so I guess you can call her my girlfriend," Sander quickly came up with an answer that Lux would accept.

Then he pouted and made a sad face before shaking his head,"No Lux. You are wrong. We would miss having you around. I know I would. I know my sister, Elin would love to hang out with you and Bay. She's around your age." Sander told Lux as he put a brotherly arm around her.

It made Lux feel happy again that Sander was agreeing with what she said, since it was the truth. "Oh, you and Tessa look at each other with dopey eyes." Pfft! He had no idea what he was talking about, and she remembered having a conversation about this before. She had even demonstrated the look that came on his face when he was around Tessa!

That was... kind of a non-answer. Biting her lip, Lux had no idea what she could take back to Tessa in regards to that. "So she is a girl that is your fiend like I am a girl who is your friend?" Only difference being that she and Sander didn't suck face, obviously.

Awww, she felt all special now. "Thanks, Sander. I would miss you guys too." She gave him a big hug.

Sander quickly nodded in agreement, like the direction this conversation was taking better than the earlier one. "Yes just like Tessa is my girlfriend, so are you. I just kiss her a lot more than I kiss you. But I'd be happy to kiss you too if you're feeling left out," Sander leaned over pouting his lips pretending that he was going to kiss Lux too.

"I know I will miss you all when I leave here." Sander sighed as he returned Lux's hug. He could feel himself getting emotional so he quickly changed the subject.

"Hey do you want to share this fireplace with me? Here get under the covers." Sander lifted up his blanket to place it over Lux. Then he wrapped her up in it with his arms cuddling her close, just like an older brother would do with his younger sister.

Sander's. Lips. Coming. Close.

OH NOOOOO.

Even if he was joking with her, Lux was not going to have it. "Behave, you," she said as she slapped him in the face. It wasn't a hard slap, so he would be fine; she knew he was playing with her after all. But still... no cheekiness!

Sighing when he said he would miss them all when he left, she was happy that he changed the subject. It was not the time to get depressed; they would cross that bridge when it came, but for now she wanted to be in denial over it.

When she was wrapped up in the blanket and snuggled in close to him, she felt quite content. "Tell me a story, Sander." It didn't matter if it was true or made up, she wanted to hear one.

Sander blinked in surprise when Lux reached out and slapped him on the face. It didn't hurt at all but he was surprised nonetheless. He had only been teasing Luc and he thought she knew that he was. He felt ashamed. He looked around to see whether anyone had seen what she did. His heart felt heavy. He hadn't meant to upset her. Would she tell Tessa that he had tried to kiss her when in fact he was only teasing to?

He remained silent even as he continued to hold the blanket warmly around her. Then he was broken out of his thoughts when Lux asked him to tell a story to her.

Sander frowned trying to think of one as he gathered his thoughts. He looked down at Lux and sighed.

"A story? Okay let me think of one," he told her.

Seeing how Sander reacted, Lux felt really bad. "I'm really sorry, Sander. I knew you were teasing, I didn't do it to try and hurt you. Bay didn't mind when I slapped his hand. I hope you aren't mad and forgive me." She felt really bad now. She had to learn that she could not do that even if it was out of fun. She hadn't slapped him hard because she hadn't wanted to hurt him. Bay let her get away with a lot of things and never got mad at her, but that didn't mean she could do things to everyone and they would be okay with it.

And she did love Sander, so she did not want him upset with her.

Patiently, she waited for him to think of a story to tell her.

Sander quickly shook off his gloomy and sad thoughts. "There's no need to apologize Lux, you didn't do anything wrong. I should know when to stop teasing you. You'll always be my little sister right?" Sander stuck out his pinky finger making a pinky promise with Lux.

Then he settled down comfortably in the sofa with Lux and thought of a story to tell Lux. "Okay I have one. There were once two brothers. Their mother was killed by an evil creature when one was only 6 and the younger was a baby. Their father had to take care of both of them, although he was rarely at home. So Dean had to take care of his brother, Sam. They were the Winchester brothers, "

Still feeling really bad, Lux took his finger and made a pinky promise with him. "Of course. And I will stop doing stuff like that, I promise." She really had to remember that certain things were not cool, and that was one of them. At least he was not mad at her.

As he began to tell her the story, she listened intently, her brown eyes widening. She liked stories, and as long as this one didn't have any ghosts in it, she would be okay. "Are you talking about Supernatural?" she whispered to him. Because if he was, well... that was just awesome.

Mizu walked into the common room and fell down on one of the couches.
"What a day" Mizu sighed.

Today just wasn't Mizu's day he got tied up in potions class,tripped up the steps and hit his nose causing it to bleed, and almost tapped the barrel one to many times.

Sander shook his head, "You don't have to make a promise like that. Just remain the way you are. Do the things that makes who you are. Don't ever change...not even for me, okay?" Sander lifted up Lux's chin with his finger waiting for her to nod and agree.

Sander blinked at her, "Supernatural? What is Supernatural? Well yes the Winchester brothers did hunt beasts of the strange and scary kind, maybe you could call that supernatural but they definitely weren't supernatural. In fact, they believed that werewolves, banshees, vampires existed...and they were hunters, always finding the bad one and killing them before they could hurt others." Sander continued with his story.

"Now one day, while Dean and Sam were driving down this lonely road, they saw a lady in white walking along the side of the road. Can you guess who she was?" Sander whispered to Lux.

It was a huge relief that Sander wasn't mad at her. She smiled as he lifted her head with his finger, then nodded. "Okay, I won't." She would stay herself, though she knew that she was bound to grow and adapt as life went on. That didn't mean she couldn't stay true to herself.

The thought of the Winchesters out hunting supernatural beings was both cool to her, and slightly frightening. The whispering of course had the obvious effect of making everything seem eerier. She wondered if the brothers could protect her from the Hogwarts ghosts if they scared her again...

"Was she a ghost?" Ghosts scared her. She didn't want to see ghosts anymore.

Sander laughed, "No silly, she wasn't a ghost. It was a lady whose car had broken down and was looking for a ride to the next town." Sander whispered to her.

"So the Winchesters stopped their car and the lady climbed into the back seat and they drove on until they came to a town. Only the town was totally deserted and in ruins. They had arrived at a Ghost Town. Dean wanted to drive on, but the lady asked if she could get out of the car." Sander looked down at Lux and grinned mischievously before continuing.

"Sam told the woman that it wasn't safe for her to be alone in this town and that they would wait with her. But the lady shook her head. She said that she had friends here and they were waiting for her. Both brothers looked at each other each wondering whether the woman had escaped from an asylum or something. But then they heard movement and they turned to see who it was." Sander paused for effect.

Then he whispered to Lux, "They saw people coming out of one building. They couldn't see their faces clearly, but wanting to be polite, Dean called out and said, hello. Guess what happened next?" he turned to Lux, his face all seriouslike.

Oh, well... that was a huge relief. Lux was very happy to hear that it was not a ghost, and listened intently as he continued to tell the story to her. Hopefully it would not give her nightmares later on. "I don't know what happened next. Let me think about it." She had no idea what to tell Sander.

"Okay while you're thinking I'm going to grab us something to eat. I'll be right back." Sander told Lux.

Instead of heading to the kitchen Sander ran to an empty area of the common room. Making sure no one was around to see what he was about to do next, Sander pulled up a container containing two cucumber sandwiches and placed it on the table in front of him. Then he thought of a daydream image in his mind. It would be in a green paddock where his family had left their horses to graze.

He hoped that Lux didn't have a fear of horses or even riding them. He knew he loved riding them whenever he could.

Keeping the day dream image in his mind, he took out his wand, and moving it in circular motion over one sandwich, he said,"Sentio Somnium" and watched a light purple light stream from his wand and disappear into the sandwich, before disappearing.

Sander then placed the sandwiches on the plate and walked back to join Lux. "I'm back. Here grab a sandwich. It's your favorite. Cucumbers." Sander smiled and offered the plate to his young puffer friend.

Yeah, Lux had absolutely no idea what to tell Sander, and the fact that there were now cucumber sandwiches made everything else leave her brain. No more time for the Winchester brothers when there was eating to be done.

"Thank you so much, Sander." Happily, she grabbed one of the sandwiches and took a big bite out of it.

Suddenly she felt the Common Room melt away, and she was riding a horse.

Sweet Circe, what was going on here?!

Clearly she was riding in a paddock owned by someone wealthy; it was Sander's place, she knew it. He had money, and he had horses. Besides, he was the one that gave her the stinking sandwich in the first place. "Sander, this isn't funny!"

Sander watched closely as he saw Lux take the bait....or rather the sandwich he had charmed with the daydream spell. From the initial look on her face it was obvious that the spell had worked, but was she indeed in the paddock he had visualized in his mind?

"What isn't funny, Lux? What are you talking about?" Sander asked Lux. "Don't you like the sandwich I gave you? I thought you loved cucumber sandwiches."

Sander was only asking these questions just to make for certain that Lux was indeed in the field with his family's horses.

Lux was not happy with Sander now. He totally knew what she was talking about since he was the one that had fed her the tampered with food in the first place. "Don't you even try to play innocent in this. I know it was you who-" A snap of a twig that was underfoot, and her horse was off like a flash, spooked.

Lux gave a scream. "SOMEONE HELP ME! I'M GOING TO FALL OFF!" It was so terrifying, and she kept screaming.