Paulie stifled a smirk. A slap across the chest was a small price to pay for that look on her face. She proceeded to thank him for the compliment about her ears, though she continued to stare at him expectantly. Huh? ..Oh, oh! She was fishing for more compliments. "And of course your ears are pretty because all of the princess is pretty," he remarked, rocking up on his toes a bit as he said so.

The mustache sign really was there? Paulie gave a short snort. "We should take their mustaches, Tori," he said with a grin. Just because.

He cocked his head to the side and continued walking. Just okay? He waited for her to elaborate, and she did. "Enemies? You have enemies?" Then again, that probably shouldn't have surprised him too much. Not everyone would be so quick to call some random third-year 'Princess.' Maybe Paulie was a pushover. "I'll fight to the death for ya, you know that." Oh so valiant. "Who are these 'enemies,' then?"

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Now that was more like it. "Why thank you, Paulie dearest," Tori said sweetly, basking in the compliment. She giggled a little and continued on down the hallway, raising an eyebrow about the mustaches.

"And why would we do that?" she asked, clearly puzzled. "I mean, I think the sign says we're supposed to make our own, too.... but we'd have to find that same suit of armor again..." And who knew how impossible that would be in a castle this huge??!

Of course she had enemies. She was a princess, after all! All heads of state have enemies. "Good, I appreciate that," she nodded seriously. "One happens to be Professor Lafay, the other is Sierra Greingoth, and the other is all the Hufferpuffers." Probably.

"Mmmhm," Paulie nodded, glancing over at her and grinning a little bit.

Why? Who cared why? They could, and so they should! "I donno, just for the heck of it. Don't ya think I'd look more knightly with a mustache?" Seeing as he couldn't quite grow anything but peach fuzz at the moment. "Or I guess we could make out own.." Though stealing them would be more fun.

He chuckled at her seriousness about protecting her. "I can understand not likin' that Lafay chick.." He almost shuddered. "And I don't know this Seirra Greingoth." Hufflepuff didn't seem like that bad a house, though! He continued along further, keeping an eye out for those suits of armor. "So, why is Sierra your enemy, again?"

Tori glanced over at Paulie and considered him for a moment, trying to picture him with a mustache. "You know, I think you would look VERY knightly with a mustache. But then I couldn't kiss you, cuz you said no kissing guys with beards, right?" Or something like that?

Anyway. "YES. Both Lafay AND Sierra are evil. They're the reason I lost 5 house points already." She put on a big frowny face. "And the Sierra thing... it's kind of a long story." She sighed dramatically but told it anyway. "It all started when she made off with like half my candy on the train and then she was chewing MY gum right in front of me at the House table and then she spat it out into my hand and so I might've maybe dumped it on her hair......... right in front of Professor Lafay."

Oops.

"It was all just a case of like, bad timing..." Yeahhhhhhhhh.

Paulie smiled triumphantly when she admitted that he would indeed look knightly with a mustache. But the smile wavered when she explained how then she wouldn't be allowed to kiss him. "Oh.. but a mustache doesn't count as a beard, right?" He never counted it as a beard!

Yikes, Tori had managed to lose some house points already. What a little rebel. He was afraid that she was going to tell him that the 'Sierra thing' was a long story, and then he'd have to say something like 'well, we have lotsa time,' but she saved him the trouble because she went on to tell it anyway. "Huh. Sounds like a real thief, this Sierra." His eyebrows almost cleared his forehead and a wide, toothy grin spanned over his face when Tori told him about sticking the gum in the girl's hair. In front of that Lafay lady, no less! "Cheers to you! I see the boldness hasn't left you." Not that he expected it to.

He nodded. Bad timing, for sure. "We'll have to be on the lookout for her, though. She's probably gonna try to get you back."

Aurora went in search of Barnabas, clutching the goatee she had conjured earlier. When she reached him she ignored the people stood next to the statue and placed it on his face, muttering a sticking charm to attach it. Then, wand still poised, muttered "Colouro." And the goatee turned bright pink. She took the camera from around her neck - she'd borrow it from a friend for this very purpose - and snapped a picture. Then, without a word to the people around the statue, walked off as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Louisa was holding her box of Dungbombs and sneaking out of the portrait hole of her common room to try one or two of those before... planning on truly using them. The corridor, however, was a bit crowded. She saw that banner with Kurumi's name and rolled her eyes. Someone had a fancy way in expressing their affection - not like her, she merely went depressed and got all stalk-ish instead of being romantic and funny.

Moving on, the girl made a turn toward a rather vacant part of the floor and without taking much notice of the boy standing and sniggering there, she set down her box and took one Dungbomb ick! out. Several portraits gasped before the people in them vanished, she rolled her eyes. "Calm down, I wasn't going to throw this at you." She told them. One of the portraits that had three old men with long curly white hair, sitting near a luxurious fireplace, replied, "Peeves might join you in a bit." Louisa stared at the old man for a moment. Oh. Yeah. Peeves. Heh, he'd find this lame. "Don't worry. I just want to.." She was saying so carelessly rocking the hand that held the Dungbomb around that it went off.

While she still held it. And now she had poop all over her arm. O__o

Tori laughed at Paulie's expression. "Doesn't it? I wouldn't know, not being a boy and all..." So she would just have to trust his judgment on that one. Heh. Speaking of mustaches, Tori halted Paulie by grabbing his hand and tugging on it. She pointed wordlessly to the sudden appearance of a fellow Slytherin, who was apparently intent on attaching a mustache to the statue of Barnabas, taking a photo of said mustache, and then leaving without a word.

"HOW WEIRD IS THAT?" the redhead exclaimed the moment her housemate was gone. "HUH? SEE? MUSTACHES!"

Mustaches indeed!

Pulling Paulie closer to the statue for an inspection, Tori nodded about Sierra. "She sure is. She's something else entirely." Thief wasn't enough to describe that brat, but Tori wasn't about to go into mean!mode in front of her favorite Knight.

She glanced from the mustache to Paulie, as if picturing him with one, and then her eyes widened. "You're right!" the Princess gasped. "You'll have to be on extra guard, my Knight! Why, you might even need to sleep outside my dormitory for extra protection!"

Teehee.

Paulie took a moment and thought this predicament through. No, no. A mustache was not a beard. "I think a mustache passes." He stopped suddenly when Tori grabbed onto his hand and pointed off at Barnabas. What the...? She was RIGHT.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Extremely! I thought you were joking about that.." he confessed, watching as the girl disappeared. He scrunched his face up and turned to Tori. "Are students doing this for, like.. a class, or something?" Clearly a class that Paulie had not attended.

He followed along obediently as she tugged him towards the statue. "Huh. I'll try to remember the name.." That way he could put two and two together when he actually met her. aleirughalw! Whoa! He almost jumped when she exclaimed how he was right about keeping an eye out for her. "You know, that's a good point. I'll have to stand guard for princess protection." He paused. "Hey wait.. then I wouldn't get to sleep!" And poor Paulie needed his beauty rest.

Good. Cuz Tori wasn't about to give up kissing Paulie. She tapped her chin and thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, I don't think so, cuz I haven't missed a class yet. Heck, I think people were going around with 'staches before classes even started!" And yes, she was a nerd who was keen on attending classes. Tori almost blushed, hoping that Paulie wouldn't comment on that.

Tori laughed. "You can sleep on the floor outside the dormitory, of course!" She winked. "Or we can get you a couch or something. But Knights never sleep when a lady's in danger!" He could always become nocturnal too, and sleep when she was awake and then be awake while she was asleep....

Yep, problem solved. They were almost to the stairs now, so Tori let go of Paulie's hand to head down to the sixth floor.

She hadn't missed a class yet? Paulie's eyebrows lifted a little. "That's impressive." Or maybe he was just a slacker because he wasn't so concerned with his classes as much as he should have been. When it came to crunch time, then he'd worry about it more. "Well, maybe next time we roam the seventh floor, we'll have to bring a mustache or two." Jump on the bandwagon and all.

"The floor?" PFFFT. Oh, kidding. "A couch will do," he nodded. Gosh, being a knight was hard work! Literally no rest for the weary. "How about I sleep through class, then? And you can just... you know, help me with my homework?" Help him as in do it for him.

He almost forgot that they were holding hands this whole time until he felt her drop his. No worries, though - it was only because the stairs were before them.

Charles heard the voice of a girl talking to one of the portraits, then heard the portraits squealing and running into neighbouring ones. He turned around expectantly, only to find a girl there waving her hand with a, ..-DUNGBOMB held in it? Charles was on the verge of shouting a pointless warning, but the girl was careless and one second later, the corridor was filled with the smell of dung as the dungbomb exploded in the girls hand. Eurgh. The portraits around them started sniggering, and Charles, trying hard not to laugh shook his head at the girl.

"Um, I suppose that didn't go well, did it?" He asked her, suppressing his laughter and nodding at her dung-covered arm. He then burst out laughing, as he couldn't stop himself, but not in a nasty way. It was just so funny that a girl was sneaking around in a seventh floor corridor, with a dungbomb in her hand and arguing with the portraits.

He walked towards her, intending to help her get rid of the dung, but stopped a good distance away, in case she decided to curse him for laughing or something.

Louisa's head buzzed with all the awful stinking smell. She had stretched her arm as far away from her body as possible causing the lady in the portrait that held a baby to scream at her and disappear with her baby to her chest. The girl closed her nose with the other hand. "Merlin! I definitely am going to use this," she said in a nasal voice.

Then a boy laughed. Louisa's head snapped toward him and frowned. "No." Apparently it didn't. "But I don't mind throwing another one at you." Because she was not in a good mood and HE LAUGHED AT HER. She took her wand out after putting down the box Louisa waved it and murmured, "Scourgify." And her arm was clean, although the smell didn't leave the corridor.

She tucked her wand in and regrabbed her box eying the boy closely. "D-do I know you?" He looked familiar. The hair, the eyes and the face... she didn't know many Gryffindors save Adam and that happy lioness who she'd met in Hogsmade last year so she probably hadn't met him. "Are you a fourth year student?" Because that was the only explanation that she thought he was familiar, right?

He heard the girl saying that she was indeed going to use the dungbomb, and he looked at her warily. He supposed that she was going to use it on a boy, because girls don't usually use dungbombs. If ever. However, this girl seemed more than ready to experiment using a dungbomb before actually using it, which was quite, unique.

Charles grinned apologetically, and raised his hands in surrender. It was such a funny scene and he was sure she'd agree had the dungbomb exploded in his hands and not hers. Not that he was stupid to ever wave around his hands holding a dungbomb. She cleaned her arm as he stood looking at her, but even after all the dung disappeared, the stinking smell lingered in the corridor. Eurgh. "Who's the unlucky bloke you're going to use a dungbomb against?" He asked her cheekily, knowing that she'd scowl at him.

Know him? Did she? Umm, Charles wasn't really good with names, or faces, but he didn't think that he knew the girl from anywhere. "I don't think so, " He said slowly, looking at her in a scrutinizing manner, as if waiting for recognition to suddenly spur on his mind. "No, I'm a fifth year." He answered her question, which left him in no doubt that she was a fourth year, as that was the year she asked about. But then it dawned on him, and he thought that he was stupid not to realise that from the start, because it's been happening ever since, .. forever. She might've met his twin sister, Cheryl, and because they do look slightly the same, thought she knew him. Or his handsome features.

"You might know my sister though, " He offered, with a sly smile. "Cheryl, from Slytherin?" Yeah, maybe that was it.

Louisa's frown turned to a non-frowny face. He was one of those funny wannabes - it was all right, she could deal with that. Moving the box slightly to rest it on her waist Louisa's eyebrows were raised, "And you're asking because...?" Did she have to answer a stranger? No. Did she have to reveal her secret about shooting Dallin and his sweetheart with those? No. Did she have to risk getting detention for planning some more advanced 'pranks'? No.

A fifth year. A Gryffindor. He was the same as Adam, maybe they were friends? "I know another fifth year Gryffindor. Adam Fitzgerald. You know him?' Because if he was, she'd consider smiling and shaking his hand.

Or if he was nice enough.

When he mentioned the girl's name, though, her features completely changed as she recalled the girl. "Yes!" Almost shouting in surprised, a smile played across her lips, "I met her last year in the pathways. Are you her twin brother? I think she mentioned you." So this boy had met the requirements to be nice to. Louisa caught the box with one arm firmly and extended her clean hand to him, "Louisa Carter. Fourth year, Ravenclaw." She was ever so proud to say this line and never lost a chance of repeating it.

"Because I feel sorry for the bloke!" He answered her defensively, cocking his head to the side. She seemed like the type of girl he wouldn't want to mess with, oh no, not at all. She had raised her eyebrows at his question which meant that she wasn't at all amused, and he couldn't really blame her, a dungbomb set off in her hand.

"I'm a Fitzgerald, but I have no idea who Adam is," He answered, screwing his head and trying to remember if he knows any Adam. Nope he didn't. But then the girls' features changed into those of recognition, and he grinned widely at her, it seemed that she had recognized his sister's name and that she was, thankfully, on good terms with Cheryl. "Yeah, I am. And she tends to do that, frequently." He said jokingly. Yes, it was true that he talks quite a lot about Cheryl, his former girlfriends hadn't been really keen on that matter, but they were twins and best friends. So he couldn't really help it. "Charles Fitzgerald, Gryffindor" He introduced himself, taking her extended hand and shaking it. She finally smiled, and looked much warmer towards him. Either it was that his charm had just hit her, or she decided to be nicer now that it turned out she knows his sister. He didn't want to think that, but it was probably the latter.

He felt sorry for the bloke? Louisa scoffed, "Don't worry, you blokes don't get any stinkier with a dungbomb." *Smirk* That was a bit harsh but she wanted him to cut it out, Dallin was not just a bloke. He hurt her and she should take revenge. And no, this boy was not to know about it.

He was a Fitzergald too? Louisa's eyebrows lifted in surprise, "You are? Are you a muggleborn?" The question came out before she could think about it. She bit her lower lip but didn't apologize for sounding too flat-out. Her true goal was to know whether or not they were at least cousins or something? Maybe Charles could help bring Adam's muggle parents to see that magic wasn't so bad as they were convinced it was.

Marilyn stood next to the tapestry, waiting patiently for Mina. She knew the owl had been delivered...Isis, had returned shortly after.

This was important to her...having this discussion. Things were being said that weren't true and they needed to be set straight. Mina apparently hated her for things the blonde wasn't clear on. She hoped to clean this mess up...and hopefully fix a friendship.

Checking her watch again, she waited for the girl to arrive.

Mina was not happy at all. She knew this moment would come eventually, especially after their run in at the Hog's Head. It had been months since the front gate and almost everyone knew what was said. This talk was bound to happen and she knew it. She had just hoped it would have happened after the Christmas break. After she got to spend some time with Evan and get back to the way she used to be, before the term start and before what happened at the front gate.

It really was her own fault for being so loud, but when she was angry like that, she really had no control over herself. Really she blamed it on the Dubois blood in her. Despite all the fighting she did, she had the Dubois temperament when she was mad.

Making her way down the corridor, she adjusted her bag. Maybe this wasn't going to be too long. She had places to be and people to talk to before break. They only had a few more days before they were free for a few days and this talk was one of the last things on her mind.

Seeing the blonde not to far away, she let out a soft sigh and held her head high. Guess it was time to just get it over with so she could spend her break thinking of Evan and what was going to happen once July came around.

"Marilyn."

Hearing footsteps, Marilyn's eyes darted up to see Mina making her way over. The blonde was determined for this to go well...There was enough going on in her life as it was. She didn't need all the extra.

...And with everything said at the Front Gate...Well, the air needed to be cleared.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mina...I know it was short notice."

Mina frowned slightly as she stopped. She really didn't want to have this talk, but she told herself it was needed. Things needed to be said and what not. She really just wanted to end all this so she could move on with her life now.

"No worries, I have a little time before I need to be somewhere. Besides, this talk kind of needs to happen."

It was the truth. She had enough time to cool down and it just needed to be over so she could close this chapter in her life once and for all.

Marilyn shoved her hand into the pockets of her black trench coat. "I just want to start by saying that you have some beliefs about me that aren't true..."

Well, she did!

Mina thinking that she was constantly saying things about her and being hateful...Did this girl not know everything else going down in her life? Seriously...Marilyn didn't have the time to do much of anything.

"What I'm trying to figure out is how you may have gotten the idea that I dislike you so much?"

Mina crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. The rational part of her knew that she owe it to the Slytherin to defend herself, but she didn't have to like it.

Yeah, there was a possibility that she might have gotten the wrong impression; but she wasn't sure she had.

"People talk and we hear things."

It was true, word travels in Hogwarts. She should have been the bigger person back then and just forgot about it all, but that second year was hell on her and she took every thing personally.

"I don't really recall saying that you disliked me. I do remember you and your boyfriend laughing at my expense. What did you all call me again? Oh yeah. Carter's little fan girl."

The first time she heard them refer to her as so, she had been having a hellish term as is and that was before she ended up in the forest fighting for sport against her will.

Marilyn offered a frown...a deep one, at that. "Mina, I honestly cannot remember there ever being a time when I have shared laughs at your expense. The only girl I've ever referred to as a fangirl has been...Ella."

To be completely honest...and putting the truth out there...Ella was the reason Marilyn could NOT stand Gryffindor girls. She'd always been there...in EVERYTHING...with her stupid, bubbly smiles and personality. It just wasn't natural.

...And it had been obvious to the blonde Slytherin that Ella had a thing for Carter...Oh!

"I do remember saying that you had a crush on him...because he might have been oblivious...but I certainly was not..."

She was getting off-track...

"I want to say that I apologies..."

Mina shrugged. She knew that Ella and herself were collectively referred to as Carter's fan girls. She wasn't stupid and she knew what she had heard. Again it was hearsay, but deep inside she believed it. "Whatever was done can't be taken back. So even if it didn't happen, it's done now."

Ella....oh she did miss her friend. They did have a lot of fun together, but she did always know that she liked Carter too. It was pretty obvious to her as well and she even knew that in their third year, her other bestie was interested in Evan as well.

"Well, I was apparently wasn't that great at hiding that fact. Carter seemed to be the only one that didn't know. But if you didn't laugh at my expense at this, I'll have to blame your boyfriend at the time." She knew someone was laughing at her, if Marilyn pleaded innocence, she would just have to blame Rafe for it all.

"Well, apology accepted. What is done, is done. Personally, I just want to move on from this all once and for all."

It was true, she had gone through enough the past few years and she just wanted to move on. There was a future for her after July and she was just wanting to get there. Yes, it would have been better if the whole front gate thing didn't happen. Oh how she wish it didn't now, but she pretty much opened Pandora's box and she just wanted to fix what she could for now.

Of course, she wasn't even speaking to Carter any more though.