Lily rolled over onto her side, after Taylor's sudden movements and words had stirred Lily from her daydream. Watching Tay play with her wand, Lily smirked. "Whatcha doin'?" Lily asked as she supported her head with her hand. The night dragged in, and the dorms began to darken slightly. So Lily got up out of bed and went over to turn on the lights, before returning to her bed and pulling her sleep stuff out of her trunk. Quickly, she changed into her fleece pj's and pulled on the slippers that had been given to them in the first astronomy lesson. She flopped back on her bed and grabbed her borrowed copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, that she had borrowed from Taylor. Opening the book to where she left off, Lily started reading though she kinda expected that she would stop here and there to converse with Taylor and Violet.

Taylor shrugged as much as she could when laying down, "Just twirling my wand thinking." She laughed and looked over at her friend as she flopped back onto her bed with her pjs on with the borrowed book, "Liking the book so far?" Tay smiled at Lily. She always did like the fairy tales in the book despite her age.

Lily chuckled at Taylor's reply. "Oh, I wasn't sure if you were trying to think of a spell or something." Lily wasn't completely focused on the book but she was also trying to get through it. "Yeah, I'm almost finished. I'm just starting the tale of the three brothers." Lily said lowering the book so that Taylor would be able to see her smile. She had really enjoyed reading a book that would have been seen as some sort of evil item to her only a few months earlier.

Taylor shrugged again, "Not specificly, i was acutally thinking about the hate potion." She smiled over at Lily, and laughed, "Almost finished? Nice." Taylor yawned and put her arms behind her head, looking up at the ceiling. "Oooooooh tale of the three brothers...... good story." She was smiling lazily. Tay went back to thinking, but was still paying attention to Violet and Lily.

Lily chuckled. "Why were you thinking about hate potion?" Lily replied. Why would anyone want to think about hate potions... Lily put the book down a bit. "Yeah... It does seem to be interesting. Can you imagine facing death and defeating him like that?" Lily asked as she finished reading the story. She closed the book and sat up handing it to Taylor. "Thanks for letting me borrow it. It was a really good read." Lily grinned, glad that she now kinda understood wizarding fairy tales.

Taylor laughed, "Its for my twin." She smiled and offered no more explanation, "No i can't imagine defeating death like that.... though i would love to get my hands on the invisibilty cloak...... if only....." She trailed off and took the book when handed to her. Tay put the book on the night stand next to the bed, "Any time." She smiled at Lily, "You can read it and borrow it again sometime, if you wish."

Lily thought for a second, her forehead furrowed. "Why would you twin want that?" Lily asked laughing a bit with a very confused expression on her face. "That would be crazy to have that invisibility cloak, and maybe the wand just because of all the history behind it..." Lily smiled as Taylor put the book on the night stand. "Thanks, but I asked my parents to get it for me. My mom said that she would try to get it and send it out to me next time I send a letter home." Lily said smiling. "I really felt the need to have one of my own, you know." Lily turned and lay down on her bed. She was tired, though she knew that she wouldn't fall asleep as long as she was talking with Taylor. Plus, that would be embarrassing to fall asleep while still talking to your friend.

Taylor didnt want to reveal her twin, Ameliah, and her plan to Lily in fear of making herself look horrible so she opted for, "Oh Trinity was just wondering about it." She smiled, "It would be crazy indeed." She nodded, "I wouldnt want the elder wand." Tay laughed, "I mean Harry Potter broke it in half and threw it over a cliff. Besides that fact, it wouldnt work properly unless you kill the owner before you." Taylor smiled at her friend and yawned, "THat's nice of your mother. I hope she can find it." Tay stretched and yawned deeper. "I think i am about to fall asleep. I barely can keep my eyes open. So i will talk to you in the morning or sometime tomorrow." She smiled at her friend, "Night Lily." Taylor reached up and turned off her light, though the dorm room wasn't dark since the other lights were on. She curled up and started to drift into sleep.

Lily pondered why one would want a hate potion. Why would they even want to think about it. It was one thing to hate someone due to how they act and all that, but it was completely different to use magic to make someone hate. But Lily didn't want to intrude any further, so she let the subject rest.

Lily laughed along with Tay. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to kill someone for it either. But it would be neat to know that you own something incredibly powerful." Lily wasn't sure whether she liked that feeling, but she though it would be cool. "Yeah, if she can't find it, we'll look for it when we go home for the summer." Lily definitely wanted a copy of the book for herself.

After hearing Taylor yawn, Lily sighed trying to relax so that they could go to sleep. "Ok, I was thinking the same thing... Goodnight Taylor." Lily turned off the main light in the room before walking over to her bed, turning off that light and climbing into bed. Now the room was pretty dark, except for a few lights near certain beds in the room. Lily lay, awake for a while just looking out the window between her bed and the bed next to it. But then, her eyes began to get heavy and she started to fall asleep.

Nerida placed her puff on her bed. All of a sudden it let out a squeak. I laughed and said Your name is Sapphira or James is your a boy...But since you do like to squeak ill nickname you Squeaky, until I know your gender, or when your in trouble is when Ill call you Sapphira, or James... I had gotten Squeaky from my Care of Magical Creatures Professor, I was honored that he trusted us to take these out of the class room. I looked over Squeaky and noticed her fur color was a pale pretty green...That was a sign that Squeaky was a female, and the squeak, it was very high...I nodded and said Squeaky, I have concluded, you are deffinetally not a male. I giggled as I picked her up and put her on my stomach as I layed down. It was nice to have a pet, I usually only had my pet owl, and I cant cuddle up to her. Squeaky's behavior had changed from when she was in the class then when she was with me. She was more comfortable and a bit less hyper in the class, now she was curious and hyper but it didnt fool me, I could see her slowing down...She was getting tired, and so was I...I think she wanted to have a competition with me, to see who would fall asleep first, me or her...She ended up wining, because the last thing I remember before I shut my eyes was her crawling on my stomach...

Stella still was curious if Professor Williamson would let her keep Nuage, but she'd forgotten to ask. At least they were being allowed to care for them temporarily, as their homework assignment. She was still hoping that somehow she could manage to prove she deserved to keep the little pygmy puff, but the first part of that plan would be to make sure Lyra got along with the pale purple creature. As such, she'd headed back to the dorms after the lesson, wanting to get the introductions over with sooner rather than later. It had been strange enough getting her cat used to the presence of Oberon, and Nuage was something else entirely. At least the charmed tiger figurine was still feline. She was fairly certain there wasn't anything feline in the pygmy puff's ancestry, even if it had basically sounded like it was purring the entire way up the stairs, perched on her shoulder.

Walking into the dorm room, she immediately looked around for Lyra. "Lyra kitty, I have someone I want you to meet," she said quietly, once she'd found the calico curled up on her bed. Setting Nuage down on her bedspread, she kept an eye on the cat as she uncurled and looked at the puff warily. The humming raised in pitch as Nuage tried to move backward, closer to her, but she gently touched its head to reassure it. As Lyra moved closer to investigate. "This is Nuage. She's going to stay with us for a while, so be nice," she continued, eyeing her cat as she sniffed at the puff. She worried for a moment, but then her cat looked up and then returned to her place on the bed pillow. I guess that means she's okay with Nuage, she thought, stroking the puff in question as the humming quieted again, back to the original happy sound. Maybe things would work out.

Curling up on her bed with a book open on her legs, Louisa was wearing her hoodie and making sure to pull it down on her face as much as possible. She had a lot of red blotches all over her face and they hurt. Her eyes weren't any less red since she was exhausted and continuing to punish herself for what she did to Joao. And Paulie. And their relationship.

The girl was using her wand to illuminate the page... even if it's not even evening yet, Louisa had drawn the curtains. She was not very happy these days.

Vashti was tired of studying. She was certain she'd never studied this much in her life, not even back in her fifth year, and her brain hurt from it all. But not only that, given how much she was eating while she studied just to keep her energized and alert, she was sure to get sick, and that wouldn't be good for playing Quidditch.

So a break was definitely needed.

The Head Girl made her way up to her dorm, hoping to spot a friend she could hang out with along the way. And it seemed luck was on her side because then, as she glanced into the fifth years' dorm, she spotted someone she hadn't seen in quite awhile.

"Louisa!" she exclaimed, rushing in and over to her friend without a second thought.

Louisa practically jumped and gasped. She was about to wave her wand at the noise when the source was proven to be friendly. "Vashti!" She clasped the book closed and jumped at the Head Girl. Wrapping her arms around her and... crying.

It was probably the first time that Louisa let her tears come down so quickly and... humiliatingly but she had no control over them. Her fight with Joao, the mess she's made of the whole innocent play and her stepdad's annoying attitude. Everything was bottled up to come back up at the sight of Vashti.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed letting go and sinking down on the bed. Wiping her face with the back of her hands, she went on, "I'm just not feeling well."

This...was not the reaction Vashti had expected. The hugging, yes, but Louisa was suddenly crying too, and the Head Girl was quite certain it had nothing to do with seeing her after so long. The smile that had appeared just seconds before now vanished just as quickly.

She took a seat beside Louisa on the bed, a concerned expression on her face as she looked at her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Louisa's mouth quivered just a little before she spoke, her eyes fixated on her hands as they folded and unfolded themselves. "Joao happened." She crossed her legs then and shifted closer to Vashti. Still not looking in her eyes. "I know that you told me not to, but remember that jealousy thing I wanted him to feel? And the play I said I was going to pull off?" Sniffle. "It went bad. And now I don't even know if we're still... cool or not."

Throwing her torso back on her pillow, she stared at the ceiling. "Why is it always me who messes things up?" Pause. "Spending Christmas afterwards with my family didn't help either. Jason made sure I feel unwelcome in the house with the untamed magic in me. Until I graduate, he says to stay away from his sons." Grrr. Idiot.

Ah. That. Well...Vashti could've told Louisa that it wouldn't go well. She might have, in fact. She could even now tell her "I told you so."

But she wouldn't. That just...wouldn't be right, and really, what kind of friend did that?

"I'm sorry, Louisa," she said gently. "Have you two...talked at all since?" If she didn't know whether she and Joao were "cool" or not, Vashti assumed they hadn't talked. They needed to eventually anyway, in her opinion. They couldn't just avoid each other forever because of it and never know whether they were still "together" or not.

She didn't really have an answer to Louisa's question except, "You don't always mess things up." Though there was no doubt Louisa did mess things up a lot of the time, she didn't all the time. Other people were often at fault too, anyway. As for her family problems... "I thought Jason was decent? When did he start acting like this?" Or had it really been so long since they had talked that Vashti had forgotten? Because she knew Louisa's mum didn't like her magic, but she could've sworn she remembered her stepfather not being as opposed to it. Hadn't they had some sort of conversation before about him, about being more of a father to Louisa than her biological one?

But Vashti wouldn't bet on her memory these days. She was certain her mind had gotten worse the more she studied for those stupid NEWTs.

Nerida picked up Squeaky and said Well, Squeaky this is our last and final day...What do you wanna do? Sitting on her bed pretty sad that she would no longer have Squeaky. The puff ball had become her best friend! She didnt want to let her go. Looking down at the pygmy puff she said Lets go on one last adventure!

Louisa made a sound between a sniff and a chuckle, "Yeah, I'm sorry too." For accusing him of cheating and being stubborn. "I just wanted to know how much he liked me, y'know. Whether he too would flip if I was seen with someone else. His head is just too big to acknowledge other boys." She got up noisily and leaned her back to the pillow, crossing her arms and frowning.

"Talked? I haven't seen him ever since." HUFF. "Heck, I didn't use to see him when we were... cool. Now I bet you everything that he's gotten over it and busy tending to his glorious self." Where did that bitterness come from? Louisa propped her elbows on her knees and held her head. "It just gives me headache whenever I think about it."

On to Jason. At least this topic wasn't as painful. "He was cool. But again I never spent that much time with them. I spent a week and a half this year and it was the worst time of my life. They threw me a muggle sixteenth birthday party!" Her eyes went wide, "And invited people I barely know. Mom's suddenly convinced that I stay in touch with my 'muggle background'." Louisa made quotation mark in the air. "Something's fishy."

His head was too big to acknowledge other boys? How was that possible? How could anyone not acknowledge the existence of other members of the same species and gender? And Louisa hadn't seen him since then, and she assumed he was already over what had happened? Vashti might have suggested the optimistic view of "Maybe he is upset over it but you don't know it because you two haven't talked" but honestly... "He doesn't sound like a very good boyfriend." And Vashti did know what a good boyfriend was like. She had one. "Maybe you're better off without." Really, if his head really was as big as Louisa said it was and he cared more about "his glorious self" than making sure things were okay between him and his girlfriend, then he obviously didn't deserve Louisa. Plain and simple.

Vashti wanted to ask what was wrong with a Muggle sixteenth birthday party - she'd had one a couple summers ago, though she wasn't really sure it could be called a "party" if she'd really just hung around her Muggle friends Susan and Thomas for most of the day - but she figured it was probably the "invited people I barely know" part that bothered Louisa the most. Vashti was certain she wouldn't care much for a party if she didn't know anyone at all. "Maybe it's your mother's way of trying to connect with you," she suggested. "Maybe she doesn't want you to forget about her once you are able to move out and live on your own." Most mothers did care about their daughters in some way or form after all, even if they showed it in strange ways.

Louisa frowned, "Don't say that about him! He's fine. And good." An awkward pause followed this. Was it a confession of something? Definitely not. "Not that I'm not over him. It's just.. the fact that people think he's the one at fault while in fact it is me." Vashti knew this too. She was the one who warned Louisa about that jealousy play, but of course Louisa had to snap at her best friend and just go ahead with it.

The Ravenclaw cackles humorlessly at Vashti's suggestion. "Seriously? She sends me to spend the summer at my aunt away from her for four years and then suddenly wants to bond with me?" Pffft. That was the stupidest thing anyone could ever do. Well, her mother might be a stupid person. Louisa didn't really like the woman that much. She then threw herself back on her pillows, "I think it's more than this. Maybe she received the same letter I did. Someone claiming to be Isaac Carter, my father. And thought it was real and wanted suddenly to keep me from him." Louisa's ramble made her eyes widen as she bolted upward. "It's a conspiracy!!" Here come her jumping to conclusions. Again.

He was fine? Yeah, that said a lot. "Fine" was the adjective one used when one couldn't actually think of anything else to say or to cover up how one was really feeling. Vashti would know - she'd used it quite a bit over the years. So she raised an eyebrow at Louisa's supposed defense of her ex-boyfriend. She nodded though when the younger Ravenclaw admited she wasn't over him. Vashti certainly didn't expect her to be. It was hard to get over losing someone, whether it was due to a break-up or...something else. But Louisa was pinning all the blame on herself?

"Yes, part of this is your fault," she agreed slowly. "But it's also partly his too. A relationship is a two-way street, Louisa. No, you shouldn't have tried to make him jealous, but he also shouldn't treat you as if you're below him because you definitely are not. He should care more about you and your well-being than about 'tending to his glorious self.'" And since he didn't then, well, Vashti still thought Louisa would be better off without him. Her friend deserved someone so much better than that.

Vashti sighed. "People can change, you know." Maybe her mother had realized how foolish she was for pushing her daughter away because of something she couldn't help and had decided to try to make up for it. But then...Louisa suddenly mentioned a letter. "What let-" she started to ask just before Louisa bolted up, claiming it was a conspiracy. "I'm not sure I'd call it that, exactly."

The girl let out a loud sigh. "Well. I think it should be all right now. He's not even at Hogwarts." Shifting in her place to get more comfortable, Louisa went on quietly, "He sent me a letter telling me that he won't be able to return after Christmas. His mom sent after him to Brazil, I guess she won the custody or something." Vashti didn't know Joao's family's issues anyway. Louisa was just feeling sad for him every time the subject of him going back to Brazil popped up in her head- she saw him alone, behind that cold wall of emotions and pushing everyone around him away. It wasn't her mission to get him out there of course but it was hard to let go after a year of being close to someone.

Not a conspiracy. Welp. Of course Vashti wouldn't agree to this theory, the Head Girl's mind was so tamed. Shrugging both shoulders, Louisa sighed again, "Never mind that now. I'm not really worried about it. I should get a nap before starting my study hour again." She started stretching her legs again getting ready to lie down.

"And Vashti?" Her mouth twitched into a genuine shy smile, "Thank you.." Then she was grinning, "For not being a pain in the neck for once." Chuckling she launched herself at Vashti, aiming to threw her off the bed by her hug.

Oh? He wasn't at Hogwarts? Well...that certainly made working things out a lot more difficult. But perhaps it would work out for the better. If he wasn't around, then Louisa wouldn't risk running into him anywhere, and so maybe it would make it easier for her to forget about it. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Vashti didn't comment about the "won custody" part. Whatever it meant wasn't any of her business and Louisa probably didn't want to have to talk about Joao any longer than she had to.

Never mind? She didn't want to talk about that either? Wasn't worried about it, she said. Well, that was probably good too. Vashti wasn't sure it was something to be worried about since it couldn't possibly be a "conspiracy" like Louisa had claimed a few moments before. The fifth year was going to take a nap though? "Okay." Guess that meant she ought to leave her friend alone now...

Hmm? Louisa was thanking her? Aww, she didn't have to... Well. Of course Louisa would end it with something like that. Vashti laughed and was about to reply...

...when Louisa practically ATTACKED her!

"EEEEPP!" She flailed her arms in an attempt to not fall of the bed...and her attempt failed miserably. An "OOF!" was heard as her back hit the ground.

Ouch.

Jez banged open the door and flung herself onto her bed, burying her head in the pillows. She wanted to scream. She wanted to go back down to the common room and scream at Pam and Nate to just hurry up and ditch her already, then duel the dummies in the Room of Requirement until she either made the world go away or she died. Sounded like a great plan to her.
A black owl swooped through an open window to land next to Jez, nudging her head with its head and nibbling on a strand of her hair until she finally pushed herself up and took the little parcel from its leg. Inside was a card and a little box of Chocoballs. Jez flipped open the note.
Well, at least someone remembered.
Jez opened the box and took a sniff. The Chocoballs smelled fine, but she wouldn't put it past Jared to spike it with poison or maybe the Draught of Living Death. So she took out her wand and tapped the little box. "Incendio!" She watched it burn, taking savage pleasure from the seeing the green sparks fly from the chocolate that confirmed her suspicions that this was a lousy attempt at poisoning.
She dumped the smouldering remains of the box in the drawer of her beside table. Her fingers brushed something soft, and she took it out. It was the rose Scott had given her more than a year ago. She'd gotten one of the older students to charm it to never wilt, so it was still as perfect as when she'd gotten it. Jez curled up on her bed again, gently stroking the soft petals, thinking, not able to sleep yet.