Having some free time between classes, Tia decided to take a walk around the castle - explore a bit. Actually she was really hoping for a run-in with a certain Gryffindor Prefect, and given his expressed dislike for classes the fourth year figured the best place to reach him might be loitering around his common room. Or maybe not.

Eyeing the Fat Lady curiously, she had no idea of the password, being that she wasn't a Gryffindor and just decided to prop herself against the wall. The same wall as the portrait because she wasn't sure she could take the Lady - Violet was her name? - pestering her for information. She would just wait for a Gryffindor or Zander, and just write up her Charms Homework. Nothing to worry about here....Just a Ravenclaw sitting down against the wall, doing homework.

So you know, the Common Room wasn't actually as fun as a place as he remembered. Besides, couldn't get much done in there anyways with everyone being so loud all the time. He blamed it on the first years honestly. You'd think after the first two months they'd finally get over how cool the place-- actually, no okay... He still thought the place was really cool too, but.... Nevermind. He just needed a break from all things Gryffindor. But uh, don't get him wrong though 'cause Gryffindor was AWESOME. There was just only so much #Gryffindoring that a guy could take. So he was going to do some rounds or something. Like the unscheduled sporadic kind that were technically not even a thing, but probably could be a thing if they talked to the Headmistress.

Actually no. Rounds weren't all that great either. Maybe just uh, venture out to the lake? Sit on the grass.... Not around Gryffindors? Yes, sounded like heaven.

He wasted no time gathering his things from one of the tables in the room and stuffing them all into his bag--t was a man bag, ok--did people really expect boys to carry all their books around without one? Hm. But yes, flinging his bag over his shoulder and holding an extra notebook in his left hand, he swuuuung the portrait open and made his way through the passage way to the other side. And OOF. Well, the good news was, he didn't fall? But his notebook went tumbling down because yeah climbing through portrait holes and holding a notebook don't really mesh very well. The Prefect bent down to reach for it and as soon as he had his hand over it he just so happened to notice a pair of feet. Oh. That was new? Cocking his head to the side, he looked up (though still bent over) and speaking of not 'Gryffindor',"Oh, hi TiaMarie, I didn't-um-see you there."

It was totally a silly idea coming out to sit outside his common room. Like what was she even thinking? Honestly, this was about the foolish of all things. Besides someone like Zander was undoubtedly seeing someone - or maybe even five - so really, the chances that he would fall for her were beyond ridiculous. She was new. She liked books. She read. He liked adventure. He was just clearly everything she was not. Which some would argue would make complete sense why he would fall for her, but no. Besides, they barely knew each other.

Lost in thought, Tia barely heard the swing of the portrait door. It wasn't until she saw someone bending down in front of her that she snapped out of her thoughts. "Zander. Zander." she straightened up, readjusting the book on her lap. How long had she phased out for? "I'm invisible now."

Forgetting about his notebook completely now, the Gryffindor straightened back up and look down at her. Yeah. Wouldn't do having a conversation while doubled over, that'd be kind of weird, huh? Wait, whaaat. Invisible? The Gryffindor gave her a goofy little smile, "well, that's real strange because I can definitely see you," and it wasn't that he hadn't noticed her exactly... Just... He wasn't a very observant fellow okay, noticing isn't really what he did. Quite the opposite. Except, he did notice the fact that she was a Ravenclaw and not a Gryffindor which was exactly where he wanted to be. Around nonGryffindors. See, fate. It happened.

But ahem. ANYWAYS. "So... How come you're sitting right outside my Common Room?" the Ravenclaw Common Room was on this floor too, but uh, how come out of all the places she was sitting outside in a corridor reading. And right next to the Fat Lady's portrait? Not that she wasn't allowed to or anything. Merlin, of course she could read wherever she wanted. But... Wouldn't she find a certain Lady's portrait to be very annoying very quickly!? Swear, that woman never stopped talking. It was real hard to even get her to open the door sometimes, especially when she had some great story to tell, which was most of the time too. "Not trying to sneak in are you? Because um, I think I'd have to write you up for that," though he was totally kidding and it was evident in that still goofy grin he wore on his face.

See, jokes. Zander could do those too. Occasionally. Especially when he was trying to avoid studying. Mhm. Which was clearly what he was trying to do here.

This was totally a foolish thing for her to do. Tia bit her lower lip as she waited to see what he would say to her being invisible. But apparently he didn't get her bad joke. Or maybe he did - ugh that goofy smile - siigh. "Good. Because I see you too." She smiled back at him, closing her notes and sliding them into her bag.

Huh, why was she sitting outside his common room? To see him, duh. But she couldn't say that - not directly at least. Before she could answer though, he quipped about sneaking in and writing her up. "You wouldn't dare. Besides, I'm pretty sure there's no regulations against where we're allowed to study and my common room is filled with my housemates just reading all the time. The corridor was empty." She paused, contemplating, and then pursed her lips together. "besides that and I might have been hoping for a certain fifth year male to make an appearance."

Maybe. Possibly. Yes.

She glanced down the corridor in search of movement. "So have you managed to find any those stray cats we're meant to find for Divination?" And interpret cause she was totally a lost soul when in came to interpreting feline positions.

The Gryffindor shifted around on his feet a little... "Oh, well... That's a relief... Means I'm still not a ghost." Whut. Ravenclaws were so beyond him. Everything they ever said always managed to go way over his head, yet for some reason they were his favorite people. Like Sophie Brown and Kyorh and Eden was real nice too... Ravenclaws were good people. Or maybe it was just because Sophie Brown was one of the best-- Ahem. Anyways. He didn't know what they were getting on at with this whole seeing each other thing.... But he was going to go with it? Because that's what Zander Adair did best: pretending to go along with things he didn't understand.

Pft 'wouldn't dare' he was a Gryffindor, daring was what they-- No, she was right. He wouldn't dare. But if she had tried to sneak into the Common Room-- which was definitely not what it looked like her intentions were-- then he'd have to do something about it... Couldn't just, uh, let her? Flamsteed would kill him!! Actually... Flamsteed probably wouldn't dare either. Eh. Weird. "Well then I guess you're okay if you're--Oh?" A certain fifth year male...? Zander was a fifth year male??? But so was Bart, Aegis, Damien, Nemo, Chance, and HUH actually... There were a lot of certain fifth year males. "Oh do you, erm, want me to get him for you?" He casually glanced over to the portrait and then back over to Tia. Though, he really didn't want to have to go in there again.

But erm, divinations? Was she talking about the homework, then? "Actually... I have, found some by the corridor, but if you want... I don't mind helping you find some?" Speaking of which... Was that a tabby? "Oh, look!" It was as if they HEARD. This was the real magic of Hogwarts, yo!

"Definitely not a ghost," Tia smiled again as she pulled herself upright and readjusted her bag on her shoulder.

What was he thinking? But oh good, she was allowed to study in the corridor. Free area. Better than the library on some level, not to mention a good position for any felines walking around ... or lazying around since it seemed like most cats she encountered were incredibly lazy. Get him for her? No no, really, Zander? How many fifth year males did he think she spoke too? Then again, he probably knew everyone in his dormitory.... She chewed her lip a moment before grabbing his hand impulsively to use his hand to point to himself. "Silly Z. He's fortunately is right here!" she pointed with his hand toward him his heart.

Oh. He already completely finding and interpreting his feline strays. But he was willing to help her? "I'd like that... think of it like extra OWL practice." And as if they sensed them, there it was, her first stray. "It's stretched out, got its paw over its face... why do felines always seem to stretch out for me?"

"Thank Merlin for that," not that ghosts weren't great people. Or uh, not that they really were people. Or wait they were people but not... Uh, on second thought... Never mind. Point of the story is that most ghosts were okay, but Zander didn't want to be one. Did that make sense? Speaking of ghosts he still had to find out how Nearly Headless knew about--

Ahem.

The Gryfifndor was suddenly pulled out of any thoughts of ghosts, Ravenclaws, and other certain Fifth Year males when Tia made a grab for his hand. Were there any other Fifth Year males standing around in-- OH. She did mean him. He still did a glance behind his shoulder just to make sure, but had a goofy grin on his face nevertheless. He was semi-joking about looking around, okay? His finger was directed right at himself, so she had to have meant him. Huh. That was funny. How come she was looking for him? "Oh, well, must've been fate-- or something?" It was rather ironic actually. She had been looking for him... And he had been looking for not-a-gryffindor and then they sort of just... Here?

He couldn't help but scrunch his nose at the mention of OWLs, though. It was like they were always looming over his head. Ruining every piece of fun. Always there. Insistent. Though, she was right really. "And I can definitely use some of that." The practice, of course. Divinations wasn't his worst, but it certainly wasn't his best... Or even in his top four to be completely honest. Normally he just made stuff up... Or tried to memorize the textbook pages. "Well... I think stretched out means good days ahead?" he gave her another awkward smile before continuing, "full of sun or something?" Or uh, at least that's what he could remember writing down from his homework. The paw thing though... Didn't that mean something else? "But... I think I remember the paw thing being something about snow?" Which totally didn't make any sense because how could there be good sunny days with an oncoming snowstorm? Uh. Professor Morgan, your cat is defective.

Yes. Thank Merlin indeed. Because it meant he wasn't dead. And him not being dead meant she still had a live friend. Not that Zander Adair was her only friend; he wasn't. She had other friends ... maybe. Okay, so she hadn't met all too many people here? But she knew her fellow Ravenclaws. And others .... who she couldn't think of at that moment but that was okay and she was trailing off in her thoughts again.

And what was he saying? Something about fate? "Or maybe just in the numbers. That's what my Aunt would say ... she always used the numbers as an excuse ..." Tia grinned playfully and then pondered something else. He too probably knew her, just as Adi and Kace had; though she wasn't his house head ... "Jose--- Um , i mean, Professor Hadley ... Nairne, she's my aunt, you know?" Mmhm.

Oh good. He liked the idea of more OWL practice; Good of him making friends with a Ravenclaw then to help him. "Oh that does make sense! Cause who's to say you can't have a sunny day after a snowstorm? Those are always the best days to be outside too. Yup, that totally makes sense!" Tia nodded; and it was winter time. Pulling her notebook and self-inking quill from her bag, she scribbled some notes down.

"Shall we head someplace else? Down the stairwell?" Tia suggested after she finished writing.... She had two more felines to find and observe.

In the numbers? Zander tilted his head to the side a little, giving her a skeptical look. Merlin, was she one of those Arithmancy heads? Actually... It'd be brilliant if she was because he definitely wasn't and that meant maybe she could help for OWLs and-- Uh. Wait, what was she saying? "Woah, really!?" Professor Hadley..er Nairne... er... Could Professors not get married and change their names please? It made things WAY too confusing. Anyways. They were related... Weird. "She was my Muggle Studies teachers for a few years before she left!" Deciding not to mention the fact that yes he was muggle born, but yes he still attended muggle studies. He had his reasons, okay? But uh, not very logical ones maybe... Wasn't like he got things right all the time in that class anyways...

"I dropped a pizza on my head during one of her lessons." What in the name of Merlin possessed him to admit to that!? Ugh. Zander Adair. Never thinking through what he'd say next. Sigh. One of the most Gryffindor traits he probably even posessed. And unfortunately it was one that made his cheeks glow like an excited electron or erm... Whatever it was that Professor Flamsteed compared him to after that miserable Uranus slip up. Yet another time when his mind failed him. Siiigh.

"Oh yeah, definitely. Makes loads of sense."... Not. It actually didn't make any sense at all, but maybe it was like a Ravenclaw things or something. Making sense out of things that don't make any sense to a normal human. He'd have to ask Sophie Brown about that, she'd probably have some sort of explanation or something. She always seemed to. Yet another Ravenclaw trait. Anyways, he nodded his head in agreement though he really didn't agree at all because again it was what he did best.

"Yeah, the stairwell!" he quickly bent over to grab the notebook he had momentarily abandoned on the floor, before looking back up at the girl with a small grin. Alright, so stair well it was. He began to lead the way over and-- Whut in the world? ANOTHER cat?.... Actually, it really all made loads of sense. The Divination classroom was on this floor after all... Maybe they were just as lazy as Zander felt sometimes, huh? Cats were strange. It's why he chose to buy a cruppy instead. "Paw to it's right ear..... Uh.... I think that means something about erm... Getting some good news?" Guessing, actually. Maybe he should've brought his book along...

The shock on his face when she confessed about her aunt... but yea, she figured he would have had her. Not for Arithmancy cause she had switched subjects for a few years before leaving Hogwarts. "Yup. My mum's younger sister. Well one of her younger sister's."

Tia grinned at him when he said about dropping a pizza. "You dropped a pizza on your head? For the love of Merlin, REALLY? That's kind of funny actually..." She didn't know what it was, but seriously she couldn't help but laugh at him. Not in the bad way, just in the well, he was kind of funny and did stupid things so yea, gotta laugh?

About to lead the way on the stairwell, Tia double-backed when Zander spotted another cat. Well they probably didn't need to head to a different floor at this rate since it seemed the seventh floor was littered with felines. Littered, ha. "I thought good news one was when it swatted the air...." Tia frowned. "I thought a paw to its ear was something about about a visitor, but I can't remember if its a male or female visitor." As she bit her lower lip, pondering this, she was oblivious to the fact that the first cat had gotten up and was right behind her at her heels....

"Oh, that's.. That's pretty cool," he gave her a genuine smile as he nodded a bit. Huh. So she had connections at Hogwarts even before she got to Hogwarts. Strange, huh? Seemed like everyone was related around these parts though. Except for him. Though that was probably another sideeffect of the whole muggleborn thing. "Must be disappointing that she left right as you came in though, huh?" Or was she relieved? If it were Zander... It'd be the latter. 'Cause if your aunt taught a subject that you took then it meant you had to work extra hard and probably show extra interest. And showing any interest at all was hard most of the times, unless it was creatures or something of that sort.

But yes, yes. The pizza thing. It was kind of funny, he'd even admit that. Though at the time it was very stressful because his pizza had disappeared for a good few minutes before it made it's way back down to his head. "Well in my defense, cooking isn't as easy as it looks." And this is why Zander would never step foot into another kitchen again. Unless it was the Hogwarts kitchen because the elves basically ran that place just like the Great Hall. Ahem.

The Gryffindor eyed the cat for a moment before looking back up at the Ravenclaw by his side. Uh. Was that what a air swat meant? Honestly, this cat divination was completely lost on him... Scratching his head a little, he tried to think real hard. What did that mean!?"Oh. Uh. Yeah, you're uh, probably right..." He willed himself NOT to turn red in the face because it was coming. He could feel it. "I guess I should probably brush up on all this cat stuff before OWLs roll around, huh?"

Tia nodded. Ya, it was pretty cool and disappointing too, that she didn't get to have her aunt as a professor. "Good and bad, i reckon to not getting her as a professor. On the one hand, well, she's my aunt but also, well, i feel like she'd probably expect more from me just because she knows me." Not that that'd be a huge issue, but even 'just getting by' wouldn't be enough ....

Heh. "Nothing ever is." Even to her, the Ravenclaw, she still had struggles. Like when it came to naming the constellations; stars all looked the same to her - was there even really a difference?

"Probably, unless you fathom failing Divination and on the plus side you won't have to take it the following year, but ..." she paused thoughtfully, glancing around. "I don't think failing any OWL is a good idea, even if you have zero interest in the subject." At least that's what her opinion was. After you passed, you could decide to drop the subject; but letting your poor grade dictate your course schedule, Tia guessed wasn't a smart decision.

Stepping back up against the wall, Tia slid one foot up the wall just slightly, thinking. "So ... when you came out of your common room, you seemed ... frazzled. Everything alright up in the Lion kingdom?"

Beverly was here for her first victim.

...

Okay. Not really her victim, but the person she wanted to do this Arithmancy assignment with. It was easily the first place she'd check and the first person she'd go to knowing they'd help her. That's what boyfriend's were for, yeah? Heh.

Holding her side and catching her breath, Beverly asked a first year Lion to go inside and ask around for Jeremiah. Running up here had NOT been a smart idea and now she was paying for it.

She was dyiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Pressing her back against the wall, Beverly decided the cool stone felt nice on her. Maybe she should have forced herself to eat at least something. She felt so drained.

"But, you're a Ravenclaw, so I'm sure she'd be beyond impressed no matter what, right?" Because Ravenclaws were insanely smart. At least all of the ones he knew. The way he said it even confirmed that he thought of it as a fact. Ravenclaws were brilliant. Every single one of them. He envied it a bit, actually.

"Yeah, you could say that again." The bit about nothing ever being as easy as it looked. Zander Adair was like the prime example for that too. Sigh. "But, for all it's worth, I think I've managed to improve my cooking... A bit?" Yeah, just a bit. He had still burnt Sophie's birthday cookies after all. Though... Professor Culloden didn't seem to complain about them.

"I definitely can't fail!" Even at the mention of the idea, his body tensed up a bit. He couldn't. It was his biggest fear. That's why he had made such a huge point to start studying so much this term. He couldn't fail any of them. Not even as hard as Ancient Runes. "I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up... So I have to get as many good marks as I can, y'know?" The future was DAUNTING. Yet, everyone else seemed to have it already figured out. It was unfair. SO completely unfair.

He stood still for a moment, watching as she made her way against the wall. ... Oh. Frazzled? Uh. Was he... Uh. Yeah... Right. That. Merlin, Ravenclaws were great, but how come they always said exactly what came to their minds? It kind of, you know, threw him off sometimes? "Oh, uh, yeah... Well, sort of," he scratched his head in thought for a moment. "It's just that Aegis is always up playing his bloody trumpet and Bart is always testing some new potion, and well... I don't know I guess I'm sort of tired of my dormmates. Just needed to get away from them for a bit." He attempted at a chuckle just to lighten the mood or something. Didn't need her to be concerned, y'know? He could handle it... Sometimes. "But-uh-what about you?" he asked walking over to lean against the wall as well. "How come you came over here looking for me? Tired of your dormmates as well?" Or did she need help or something? 'Cause he could try his best.

"No, it means that she would definitely expect extra out of me." The Ravenclaw thing, on top of being her teacher's niece, would have meant extra expectations, no doubt. It didn't matter how brilliant she was or if she went above and beyond; her aunt definitely would have wanted even more from her.

"Nothing ever is .... as easy as it looks," Tia grinned. He did say to say it again. Should she go one more time? Maybe not.

"You won't fail. Besides, keeping your options open is a good thing. I don't think we're meant to have everything figured out by the time we come of age, because if we did, well what would be the point of living another fifty or sixty or possibly even a hundred more years." She made a face. "Like, wouldn't it be boring? Knowing what you were going to do since you were fifteen, and just doing that one thing? Keeping your options open means you can do multiple things of interest, so when you grow bored of one career, you can try something different." Life would never get boring then.

She smiled when he went on about his dormmates. She guessed even though you lived with people of like-minds, well it was easy to grow tired of them. Probably why her aunt and uncle worked so well together, being from different houses. And even own parents, her mum being a Ravenclaw and her pop being from the muggle world. Her heart skipped a beat though as she realized she'd been day-dreaming and heard his question. She pressed her lips together ... "I uh well," She should just be honest. Brute honesty ran in the family, didn't it? "Honestly, I wanted to see you. I haven't met all too many people here who i feel comfortable to just talk with. Not like with you. My dormmates are great, don't get me wrong, but when I'm with them, all I think about is you and ...." Tia hesitated, taking a deep breath. Was she talking too much? Was she moving too fast? Her brother would probably say she was, but she was a teenager, so it wasn't like she was a child. "Well, when I see you, I just keep thinking, wondering, are you gonna kiss me or not?"

Alright, so she did have a point, but that was hardly surprising. She WAS Ravenclaw after all. Ahem. The Fifth Year nodded a bit thinking it through, before trying to make a proper response. But she was right, her aunt would probably have terribly high expectations. "Well, I'm sure she would've been impressed no matter what." Total fact right there. Ravenclaws were natural at that, being impressive. All of the Ravenclaws he knew at least. Like Sophie Brown. And Kyroh. And well, he didn't exactly know Maddie Cooper, but she was pretty impressive at her spellwork too.

And y'know, he wasn't actually meaning for her to say it again... But Ravenclaws man, they took things so literally sometimes. Or maybe she was just messing with him? Eh. Zander Adair was a good sport MHM so he chuckled in response and ran another hand through his hair again. Why'd he always do that around girls? It was like his hair always got messy around them or something. Or maybe it was some kind of science? Yeah. Science. Totally science.

"Huh, I never really thought of it that way..." he tilted his head to the side a bit-- which by the way did NOT make him look like a puppy AHEM AJ Valentine DOUBLE AHEM Sophie Brown. Gosh. "Guess it's just hard sometimes, not knowing what I want to do... Especially since everyone else does. And Fifth Year, it's like THE time to know, or at least that's what everyone else's been saying," the end was approaching, people. This was a real issue. Though, Tia's reasoning sounded pretty logical too. But since when did Zander listen to logic? Not often. He was a skeptic he was.

He let more of his weight hit the wall a bit as he watched her carefully. She looked like she was struggling a bit... Was it a difficult question? He nodded slowly as she began to talk, but he'd wait till she was done 'cause POLITE. Except he did want to assure her that she could always come talk to him whenever she-- TIAMARIE SAY WHUUUUT? The question caught him completely off guard and he may have even pushed himself right off the wall in reaction. Ahem. As he fumbled a bit trying to regain his-erm-balance or foot-placement or SOMETHING of a stable position, he used the moment to come up with words. Yup. Words were good. "I well, I guess I just--" scratching his head lightly he leaned forwards juuuust a bit. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

Yea, of course he would say that. He wasn't the one related to her. Not to mention he was a Gryffindor. Nonetheless she did appreciate the vote of confidence he gave her. She gave him an appreciative smile just to show it. And another smile when he ran his hand through his hair. So adorable.

"Maybe it's the theoretical time to know but i don't think it's mandated." Tia replied thoughtfully. "I mean, if you know, that's great, but not knowing is cool too. The unknown is both comforting and scary, if you know what i mean."

The unknown. Like regarding their friendship. That was scary. And comforting, but she liked to think of it as more like comforting because she enjoyed Zander's presence and the way he tried to be so sure of himself even when he obviously had no clue. Like now. And he turned the question around and put her on the spot. Wasn't he supposed to be the older and wiser one? Or maybe that was his being wiser, but not rushing things? She definitely was not valued for her patience or she'd have been sorted into Hufflepuff. Scratching the back of her head absently, the fourth year blinked. "I think so, i mean only if you want to..." she paused, glancing around. "But don't you like ... you don't have a girlfriend or anything?" Like being a pretty prefect, she'd have expected it.

Theoretical time. That's something a Ravenclaw would say. Totally. Zander nodded and listened to her Ravenclaw logic, considering what she said. And okay, okay maaaaaaybe she had a point. Maybe. "I guess you're right, yeah," he nodded and again absentmindedly drew another hand through his hair. "I'll have to know by seventh year though because I'll need some sort of plan for after Hogwarts..." And that only gave him two more years of planning WHICH WASN'T ENOUGH. Ahem. He was getting ahead of himself again, wasn't he? Oops.

Speaking of which, this entire moment was getting ahead of himself. One moment they were talking about career and life decisions and the next, they were talking about kissing. He had thought he'd dodged the question quite nicely by throwing it back at TiaMarie because really it caught him off guard. Except that didn't last very long because it was back on him. Did he want to kiss her? Well it's not like he didn't want to. So you know what? He'd do it.

He let her ramble on for just a second, making sure to get a bit closer to her as she spoke. Then leaning over, just a bit to close off the space, he left a small, quick kiss on her lips. Zander then stumbled back a bit, running a nervous hand through his hair. Yup. That just happened. Right in front of the Common Room and everything. Ahem. Hi. "And no, I haven't got a girlfriend." He was smiling too by the way because kissing girls was nice.

Leah skipped up the stairs towards the fat lady's portrait. Actually, she pretty much dragged herself up because she was no longer eleven and was not as bouncy anymore. She had been doing this for half a year now; walking up to the seventh floor and trying to get a glimpse of Angel at the least. She needed to apologize, she really did. Leah also had something else to tell her when she had the chance.

The corridor was crowded with Gryffindors AND Ravenclaws. The girl squeezed herself between two huge boys and found herself in front of the Lion common room. Ignoring the smirk the fat lady was giving her, she paced back and forth for a long moment. Normally she would have given up and left, but this time Leah was determined to talk to her former best friend. So she sat down on the cold hard floor in the middle of the corridor and waited. Hopefully Angel would arrive soon.

Angel was walking towards the Gryffindor common room when suddenly she feel into someone. "What the?" Angel then realised it was Leah on the floor. "So not only am I a useless Gryffindor, or something like that you are now trying to injury me." Angel rolled her eyes at her former best friend.

Angel sat down next to Leah though, seriously what had happened to them, when they were younger they had been really good friends. "So what do you want?" Angel didn't want to be out her for long, she had places to go and friends to see.

This waiting thing was taking suuuch a long time. But Leah decided to be a patient Hufflepuff and stayed in her place, watching people walk past every now and then. She might have dozed off a bit but was wide awake when she heard a familiar voice. THE voice.

Gosh, Angel was unbelievably angry at her. Leah noted the rolling of eyes and returned the gesture. "I wasn't trying to hurt you, Angel," she said with a sigh. She meant "hurting" as in both physically trying to trip her and hurting her emotionally. The Hufflepuff expected the girl to walk away, but instead found her sitting down next to her. "I have something important to tell you," Leah replied.

Angel looked at Leah. "Well you could have fooled me." Angel saw Leah roll her eyes, and a small smile came to her face, even though she was trying to stay mad at her best friend, some of the stuff her best friend was doing was making this really hard for her. "Stop making me laugh." Angel nudged her friend.

Angel looked at Leah. "Okay so what is so important that you have to sit down and try and make it so I get tripped up, even though apparently you didn't mean to." Angel just stared at Leah, she had a few minutes before she got up and went into the common room.

Leah could not help but grin at Angel's attempt of rebuttal. She simply shook her head; why would she fool her? She knew the Gryffindor was not a dumb one anyway. She also did notice the smile forming on her face, and immediately knew that the situation was less tense than it was. They could be best friends again and Angel knew it too, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. "I am just a humorous person okayy," Leah said laughing and gave the girl a poke.

Now they were serious again. She dreaded this moment, but she had to do it. She ignored the part about making Angel trip because that was unimportant compared to what she was about to say. The Puffer inhaled deeply and said, "Okay so... I wanted to apologize for saying you are a Gryffindor because of your recklessness," Leah was never that mean. She didn't know what was wrong with her then, to say something offensive to her bestest best friend. "You are a true Lioness. You have proved to me that you are brave at heart and daring countless times." Reckless? Yeah, that was Angel too, but it was not THE reason why she was in Gryffindor. "I'm sorry Angel, I was wrong. Can we be friends again?"

It felt good to say it out loud. Leah scanned her friend's face, waiting for her reply.