Seventh Floor Corridor
 

Zoee XD
 

Okay. Harriet was lost. She was still trying to explore, but now she was lost. The first year frowned as she stood in the corridor. She knew she was up high, at the top floor. But she was still lost. How did she get back down to the Hufflepuff Common Room? She wanted to drop her bag off before she went to eat. And eating was really important, so she really needed to remember how to get back down to her common room.

Maybe she should have not done too much exploring today. Because now she really did not know where she was. But she did have to admit that the view was really pretty. So she figured every cloud had a silver lining.

Hattie knew she had picked a bad time to come up to the 7th floor. It was nearly supper time, and everyone else was probably already at the ground floor. That meant that there was nobody to tell her where to go, or to help her get back to the ground floor. It was not good. At least she could hope she would eventually remember her way. Otherwise she'd be stuck up here forever. Or until someone else came back up. Hopefully she'd remember how to get down there first though, because she really did want some supper.

The blonde looked up as she heard a voice. A familiar voice actually. She spun around and beamed. It was her big brother! She was saved. "Uh... Yeah? Help?" And she was his lovely little sister. So he couldn't say no.

Hattie just held her breath. She hoped that Frankie would help her. He was a prefect, so he should help her right? He was also her brother. So he really should help her. Or she'd go and tell their mother. Then he wouldn't be happy at all. "oh... Okay...." She murmured, turning around and looking where he had had pointed. That made sense. She kind of remembered coming that way actually. "I was?" She mused with a little laugh. "Maybe I want to be in the same house as you that badly" She teased with a laugh. It would have been cool to be in the same house as her brother, but she liked being in Hufflepuff.

"Uh... I guess?" She mused with a little shrug. "I couldn't find anyone else. And I didn't wanna look like a loser hanging outside Sky's house...." So that was why she had gone exploring on herself. "And I thought I wouldn't get lost" Clearly that was why the sorting hat had eventually picked Hufflepuff over Ravenclaw.

For Katherine Mary Moss!
 

Louise barely noticed the footsteps and was even more shocked when they stopped to talk to her.

"Oh, um," she said, trying to get her bearings. "Yes, I'm Louise. I'm good." She peered curiously at the second year in front of her. Katherine Moss. Well, at least it was another person from her House and not some rando stalking the Seventh Floor. Louise remembered how her cousin Charlie had teased her about going to boarding school this year. Don't you know what they do to fresh meat? he had jeered. The question had been rhetorical so he hadn't given an answer but it sounded bad so Louise hoped that she wouldn't be considered "fresh meat" to a girl only a year older than her.

Eventually, after a considerable pause on Louise's part, the first year remembered her manners. "...How are you?" she offered, more than a little tentatively. It occurred to her that this second year held a wealth of knowledge about where things were in the castle, but that would invove asking for directions. Which was boring. Eh.

Awww, she was a shy one, wasn't she? Katherine SMILED at her to make her feel comfortable. It was okay, she didn't bite! She just wanted to see whether she needed anything. Being a first year was hard, she knew. She had just been one.

She nodded when the girl answered, and let her think out whatever she was thinking. In the meantime, she studied the little girl too. She had grown quite a lot over the summer, so even though there probably were only a few months between them (August birthday here yo), she bet she looked much older.

Katherine liked to be the 'older and wiser'.

"I'm fine too," she said cheerfully, "I just wanted to ask if you needed anything... or if you wanted me to show you around?" Hmm? Did she want a second year's wisdom?

In reality Harriet had known that it was pretty hard to get lost up here. It was a pretty simple layout. So really she didn't know how she had gotten lost. But it was her first full day at the school, so she was just going to blame that on why she had gotten lost. Maybe she had been a little over ambitious at wanting to explore so much. But she had loved every bit of exploring that she had done. And at least she had found her brother. Now she wasn't going to be lost at all.

"I know they are" She mused with a little laugh as she looked up at her brother. "I'm going to go to supper. I just needed to remember how to get down to the great hall" But now she knew so it was going to be fine. "Are you coming Frankie?"

Charms Post 2
 

Chloe/Taylor
 

With an old Wizarding wireless beside her, Dora was biting her lip in concentration over the music. Since the summer her ADHD had not bothered her as much, and she had also learnt that music often helped! So as the Gryffindor spread several little mason jars out in front of her she pulled her wand and smiled to herself.

Seeee... she had already learnt to conjure the bluebell flame. It was one of her best spells, even! Not to mention it was FIRE, but it was also something that came naturally to her. Anything destructive or potentially dangerous always had. Heh.

Pointing to the first jar, Dora cast the spell, speaking clearly and loudly, and grinned WIDER as the blue flames appeared in the jar, safely confined.

Azura had taken to avoiding the common room lately.. Due to.. reasons. She barely felt like socializing anymore, and all she really wanted to do most of the time was lay down and let the hours pass slowly around her.. Things had gotten even worse since..

She shook her head and tried to clear her mind. He was happy that was all that mattered! Her feelings didn't.. Nope. They didn't.. She was going to push them down so far she wouldn't have to think about him..

Yet another person she liked that she had to stay just friends with.. Really the Fwoopers were punishing her she thought..

She moved down the hallway with a soft sigh, a bag slung over her shoulder, her black hair in a sort of messy bun and her purple eyes dull and tired, they had lost their recent sparkle that had emerged when she was around someone..

She heard someone talking softly and she looked around to see Ethan, sitting comfortably in a window sill. The boy had taste, that was for sure.. She loved those spots.. They were perfect for gazing out onto the grounds.. But what made her stop was hearing him speak.. He didn't do it often and she crept closer.. to hear what he was saying..

Utterly absorbed by his animation of friends, Ethan barely noticed that someone was observing him. He went ahead explaining to Ted how he planned to go see his sister once he'd get the change.

"Do you think Ness would mind? No. Do you think her boyfriend will? He's freaky sometimes, but he's nice. What do you think?" he spoke without a stutter.

This was the real Ethan. The Ethan at peace with himself. The Ethan that didn't feel intimidated by the presence of another, or what they thought of him. If only it could be this simple for him around actual people. His anxiety was a strange condition, one he had lived with most of his life. He had his own theory as to what the cause of it was, but some aspects didn't quite adjust correctly.

The root solves the problem?

He didn't believe so in his scenario. For someone rather logical he felt that his jitters were irrational, thus becoming elusive to control.

Azura was using all her elusive ninja powers.. (Which she barely had any of) To make sure and not be spotted or seen! Sure she was little, barely reaching 4'6' (She had a recent growth spurt) But she was clumsy as heck and her body would pick the most inopportune times to give out on her.. And thereby ruining any illusion she ever had at being cool and ninja like!

Thankfully.. for the moment, she was able to stealth mode over to the window and sit just under it, and after hoping he wouldn't kick her in the face.. Because.. Nose..

She settled back to listen to him talk..

She smiled a bit, he hadn't talked that much to her.. They had owl'd back and forth though.. So she considered him a friend.. But still he seemed so shy.. She just wanted to help.. or understand? She knew saying that she wouldn't judge wouldn't help.. but hopefully one day!!

'Ness mind you? Never. She may be extremely busy, but you know she loves you, right?'

All imagined in his head. That was how it went. He spoke, then he imagined. Was it possible for him to think of others talking as imagination as well? Nope. His mind was uncontrollable then, he'd never be able to convince it into anything.

Ethan nodded to himself in response to the imagined question. He loved Ness too, more than anyone else in his family, that was for sure.

"I think if everyone could automatically accept me the way Ness accepts me I'd be alright. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Acceptance. What does it mean anyways?" he continued, this time looking at Captain America.

He sighed, ending his philosophical question hanging and let his leg hang across the base of the window sill correspondingly.

Azura was perched under the windowsill.. her head back against the wall as she listened to Ethan speak.. It was amazing really, to hear him talk.. and to listen to his thoughts! She felt so bad for him.. She wished she knew how to make him feel better!

But she really couldn't pop up and say that she accepted him.. That might defeat her whole purpose and she sighed softly.. Before suddenly his leg came down!!

Ack! Incoming appendage alert! She quickly moved to the side..though she knew her cover had been blown.. She was practically laying in the Corridor now!

A sheepish smile made it's way across her face as she got up.. and sighed..

"Hey Ethan."

Fwoopers..

*BLINK-STARE*

Ethans mouth dropped open with shock and fright when our of nowhere Acura now lay on the floor before him. Had she been there the whole time? He hoped not. This was utterly embarrassing, his cheeks even agreed such as they turned bright red.

It was alright, it was alright. He had to reassure himself repeatedly. Thankfully, he had a moment to half calm himself before Acura stood up.

'Smile, Ethan. Smile' a voice in his head boomed.

He obeyed, slowly yet surely. "A-azu-ra. Ar-are y-o-oh o-ok-at?", the stuttering had returned.

His first thought was to actually ask her what she'd heard, but perhaps if he pretended this didn't happen she would too? On top of that, she had just fallen to the floor and he, well he was still perched up on the sill. He was slightly ashaken but ha had to remind himself: it was alright.

Suddenly remembering his toys, he hurriedly put his Captain America in his pocket and tried to hide Teddy behind him. A bit late though, wasn't it?

Wellllll she had done it now! She looked up at Ethan as he started to turn bright red and she instantly started to feel bad.. What had started as an attempt to get to understand him better, now felt like an invasion of privacy..

*sigh*

She wasn't going to tell him what she had heard.. Nope! And she hoped she could come up with a good excuse! Napping wouldn't work. Ohh! Maybe tripping would.. Yes.. Always go to the good old fall back.. of getting closely acquainted with the floor.

She pushed upwards and managed a warm bright smile at him, though it didn't reach her purple eyes, their light had gone out when her mother had died..

"I'm perfectly all right! i just tripped and slid a few feet." She said as she looked at him.

"How are you?" She asked him, making sure the questions were easily answered by a either a head shake or a finger gesture, He didn't have to speak to her if she didn't want too.. She was fine with that. Anything so he could be comfortable!

So she hadn't heard him? Ethan continued to hope this was the truth.

Her smile urged him to push his worries away, or at least try to. Yet, even here he could notice that her own smile was not one-hundred-percent genuine. He couldn't pinpoint what it was. Perhaps he was being too observant and therefore jumping to illusive conclusions? He wasn't sure and, furthermore, he wasn't sure whether it was appropriate or even accurate to say something about such.

"O-oh I--I can- be-be cl-clumsy too," he tried his best to talk calmly whilst he let a returning smile surface across his face.

With a deep breathe in and out, he continued his calming procedure and urged himself to answer further and better than his usual one word answers. It was never that he didn't want to talk, it was more that he was afraid. "I-I'm al-alright. I-ju-just was -uh- thi-thinking to-to myse-self." Gulp. "How a-are you?" he asked her too.

Azura smiled a bit as Ethan actually tried to talk to her and bit and she nodded at him as he spoke. "Really? I'm so awfully clumsy.. I broke my nose eight times last term." A sheepish smile crossed her face.. "I'm a bit better this term though.. I've only managed to do break my nose once." She watched him carefully..

And was actually surprised when he gave her more than a one word answer and she silently cheered for him.. A smile was still on her face as she replied to him. "I'm glad to hear that.. and yeah.. I do that a lot too.. think.. perhaps over think a bit.. It happened.. perhaps TOO much..

"I'm.. okay I think." She said with a soft sigh.. She still missed her mother badly.. but at least her nightmares were going away.. for the most part..