"Dom-in-ick!" Celandine took a few bouncy steps over to the sixth year and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Please can you come with us to Puddifoots for tea and pie? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease? I promise I won't wear a short skirt. I promise I'll be good, but please come!"

She looked up at him imploringly, unable to explain that she kind of needed company to be able to go somewhere like that with Copernicus, otherwise it wouldn't be okay.

"Denton," Copernicus was awfully glad he wasn't completely outnumbered anymore. "Good to see you, chap. We were talking about going to Hogsmeade and Anna wanted you to come with us. I mean we all did, because you're a boy and a Hufflepuff. Oh! We should invite a Slytherin too. Who do we know that's a Slytherin?"

He was so oblivious.

Well certainly Dominic had known that Cel-an-dine was present in the corridor; for the love of canaries it had processed that the trio was talking about about him. Nonetheless, the exclamation and obvious sugar rush in the fourth year still took him by surprise as he felt the small arms wrapping around him.

A hug; Cel-an-dine Toussaint was giving him a hug. Though he knew it didn't mean anything, but it was still weird. Awkward. The way she hugged him - she never hugged him - and then pleaded to escort them to Puddifoots? Something was definitely up.

Dominic awkwardly patted the fourth year lightly on the back as he then pulled her back away from him to look at her.

"Tea and pie?" Something was definitely up. Suspicious confirmed when Copernicus addressed him as chap; though he was a fellow sixth year, Dom had to be honest and say that he rarely had much contact with the introverted, smart Ravenclaw.

"Well, Ke- Copernicus," Dom looked from his fellow sixth year to Anna to Cela - still keeping one hand firmly on Cela's shoulder though as if to attempt control her bouncing - and then back to Copernicus. "I suppose I could use a little break from all this flooding chaos and homework." Not that he'd done much homework this term, but ssh! They didn't need to know that.

A slytherin? Only ones he could think of were Carden, who wouldn't go anywhere without his fellow prefect and companion, Evangeline; McKenna, who he really did not feel like having another female around if it can be helped; and Paris, who, well it's PARIS. No other explanation needed.

"I'm not sure we need another person though... Because if we invite a Slytherin, then we'll need to invite two people, or else there will be a third - fifth wheel, rather. And no one likes to be the 'third wheel'."

"Oh, Dom...DOM! How...lovely of you to come by right at this exact moment," Anna said, edging a little closer to him, preparing to sort of more or less ask him out on a double date. It was nearly the year 2069, so it was perfectly fine for the girl to ask the guy, right? Why was she worrying about it so much anyway, though? Her half of the double date meant 'just as friends'. It was the Cope and Cela half that represented an actual romantic relationship.

Lucky for her, though, she didn't even have to worry about the whole asking part. Cela had done a really nice job of that on her own. At least that had taken the pressure off Anna having to ask him. It really would have been sort of an awkward experience. She nodded, though, when Cope mentioned her as being amongst those who wanted Dom to come along. That part sort of really did need to be clear if Anna was going to follow through with her plan. At some point during the outing, she needed for Dom to take off with her so they could leave Cope and Cela to be. She also had to find some way to plant that kiss on him if she was ever going to stand a chance of beating Evee in that little bet they'd made.

...but did they really need to ask a Slytherin? Not that there was anything wrong with asking a Slytherin...or any other person...but would they, like Dom said, end up being a fifth wheel? At least he'd agreed to go, though! "Oh, awesome, Dom! Coolness...and stuff," she said. "So the weekend's coming up pretty soon. What day do you guys think would be best? I don't have anything scheduled with Quidditch or whatever, so I'm free any day."

"Great!" Celandine beamed at Dominic, letting him go and prancing around a bit in her excitement.

Now what? What was she supposed to do now? Cel bounced over to Anna's side and linked arms with the headgirl, clearly a little nervous and apprehensive. She smiled over at Copernicus, blushed and transfered her smile to Dom-in-ick instead.

That was safer.

Anna smiled brightly as Cela practically hopped around from place to place. She latched arms with the younger girl, then squeezed Cela's arm a little and kinda squeed softly. She was happy for her friend, so happy that she thought maybe a meeting among Cela, Lyra, and Anna was in order. "We need to go chit chat with Lyyyyyra," Anna said, leaning over and whispering in her ear. She glanced up at Dom then, realizing she really needed to clue him in on her little plan and see what he thought. "Oh, and Dom! I need to chit chat with you at some point and time, too!" A date, though. They needed to set a date. "Sooo...would anyone object to this Friday night?" she asked, glancing from Dom to Cope to Cela.

"Friday is amenable," Copernicus nodded solemnly, crossing his arms across his chest. Why was he starting to feel like there was way more going on here than he understood? Ugh, he hated to feel stupid. "Should I wear a tie?"

Why would he wear a tie for TEA?

Amenable...Anna really didn't quite know what that was...exactly. Cope was asking about wearing a tie, though, so she supposed it meant he was prefectly fine with Friday night being the set date. "Oh, alright then. Amenable, it is, then!" she remarked. Cope reminded her of Cale at times...what with that whole 'wearing a tie' question. She could easily imagine Cale asking something along those lines, too. The thought made her a smile a little, but she wiped it away so that Cope wouldn't think she was laughing at him or something.

"You can wear a tie if you'd like. You don't have to, though," she said, shrugging her shoulders a little. She then leaned over and whispered into his ear. "If you'd like, I can help you pick out a really cool ensemble." She certainly wasn't intending to mean that she was the fashion know-it-all, but if it would make Cope feel better, then she'd ensure him ahead of time. "Well, if that's all set then, I think I'm going to head back to the Common Room to see if I can come up with an outfit of my own. Oh, and Cela? Mind meeting Lyra and I just outside your Common Room sometime this evening?" She gave her friend a little wink, then waved bye to both Dom and Cope. She turned and headed in the direction of the Common Room.

Dominic blinked at the way Anna was saying his name; something was definitely up with her as she was acting much weirder than usual. And to think he had generally speaking enjoyed Anna's presence. But this was just weird . . . the way she was acting and all.

.... but then she had asked him something about the weekend and what day. This weekend!? Confusion swept over him even more as he tried to clear his head between Anna's strange behaviors and Celandine beaming at him, finally letting him go and looking over to Copernicus, blushing and looking back at him.

Clearly he was missing something between Copernicus and Celandine, but he would have to figure that out another time. Because right now, between Anna and Cela being linked arms, Anna needing to chit chat with Lyra and now him too apparently, and Cela blushing when she looked at Copernicus. Yup. He had enough on his mind.

"Friday works." The sixth year agreed, finally speaking up, though the date was set anyway and Anna was already off towards the Gryffindor towers. So him and Anna had to speak; was this before or after the Hogsmeade meet-up in Puddifoots? Whenever it was, hopefully he'd figure it out soon.

"Uh yea.. I should go. See you both in the common room." Since they all shared a common room now. Waving to both of them, Dom then took off in the direction of Ravenclaw (and Hufflepuff) tower.

Sometimes Caroline was too nitpicky for her own good. But she was quite intelligent enough not to tell her boss about the geography of the school that he ran. And in so running, decided on whether or not she worked there.

Instead she arrived promptly at midnight, where she was supposed to like a good little student Healer. Some habits die hard.

Alessia walked in and saw Carrie. "Carrie! How are you?" She asked leaning in to give her a kiss on each cheek. "Is Rey here yet?" She asked.

How very French.

Not unfamiliar with the culture, she was a bit travelled and her family ran an Inn for Merlin's sake, she made the appropriate smoochie smoochie noises against Less's cheeks.

She held in a yawn as she spoke. "Reasonable, all things considered." Rey is? "Oh the Headmaster! No not just yet... um, maybe... he... " she had no idea what might be keeping him. In the middle of the night no less. Her theory of a Giant Invisible Gerbil that stalks the halls and eats people was gaining more plausibility.

Antonio had received a message that there was to be an emergency staff meeting here at the statue, and came running as quickly as he could. He had noticed some very scary signs that the flooding was moving up to his level, and figured that this meeting had something to do with that. What would happen if he and the other professors on that level were flooded out?

"Hello Caroline, Alessia," he greeted. He was only the third person here, that was good, he had been late to the past meeting.

Something very bad was happening at Hogwarts and they had to figure out what to do about it.

A meeting at midnight was rather peculiar, but Lars supposed that if it was midnight there would be no snooping students to worry about. And he was quite grateful that the meeting was only one floor above his office. It made the meeting at least a little bit convenient.

But baaah. There were other professors present already, yet no headmaster. That probably meant he would have to be sociable. "Good evening," he managed to say in terms of greeting the others. It was not exactly evening anymore, but it was nicer than saying 'good midnight' or something of the sort.

Yawning in the presence of others, no matter what the hour, was not a proper thing to do. So... when the much-expected-yawn tried to escape her, Iliana rubbed her forehead with an upward stroke of her hand in a vain attempt to stifle it. She failed miserably and ended up yawning her greeting to the others. "Good evening," she said, with a small shiver.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon... I wonder if he has ministry news on this flood..." she said running her hand through her hair to make sure she looked decent. She looked over at the room of requirement door and blushed. Ahhh Memories.

ooc: LOL My intent was the Italian way as opposed to the French... European anyway.

"Hello Tony," She said leaning in and kissing each cheek once. "Do you know why Reynard wants to see us here? And at midnight no less?"

... tee hee... no less.

Oh... She'd not even really introcuced herself to him... What was his name...

Hmmmmm...

"Evening Professor." She smiled at the Transfiguration Professor. "Though I think it's considered morning now... It's good either way though." She said and turned to see her best friend making her way there.

"Iliana, if you keep yawning that way, we're going to be getting a room with lots of large beds and pillows in the Room of Requirement." She said smiling. Alessia didn't sleep much.

Angela trudged up the stairs to the seventh floor, quickly locating the statue where the meeting would be held. Many other staff members were already present, which was a relief. She didn't want to be the first there.

"Hello all." She greeted quietly as she cleared her throat quietly. She felt as though she was coming down with some sort of cold, for her throat was rather scratchy.

Marcus bounded up to the seventh floor. He'd almost forgotten about the meeting, he had been listening to his old Chimaera records (actually he had been doing some serious air guitar) when he realised that he was supposed to be up here.

Being a night owl, he was totally full of energy when he came upon the other staff members. "Hello everyone, nice night for it." Hmm...probably shouldn't have eaten all those chocolates either. Marcus, was on a slight sugar high at the moment.

Mmmm a room full of pillows sounded delightful! "You know me..." She winked at Alessia. "Thought I'd catch a quick cat nap before the meeting," said with another tiny yawn. "It was just a bit harder to wake up than I thought."
"Good evening, Angela." Iliana said pleasantly as she leaned up against the wall. Goodness she was going to have to force her eyes open for this meeting. What she needed was some good STRONG coffee. Maybe the Headmaster would be quick and she could climb back under her covers soon.
Oops! Had her eyes slid shut? She stirred when she heard another, newly familiar voice. "Hello Marcus," she said, pushing herself off the wall. That evil, oddly comfortable wall was trying to lull her back to sleep. She then smiled at the rest of the professors standing nearby and walked a few steps closer to the group.

"Angela," she said making her way to her new friend and kissing her on both cheeks. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a peppermint toad, handing it to her. Those were awesome for scratchy voices.

Well... it'd be rude if he didn't kiss him too... "Marcus," she leaned in and *kisskiss* on each cheek.

"I bet," she said winking at her. "Who's missing?" She said thinking maybe she should go and search for Pepe through the castle... he was probably lost on his way up here... She smiled thinking of him.

Macadrian had been looking through a catalogue of wedding flower arrangements in her office before heading out for the emergency staff meeting. A midnight emergency staff meeting. Honestly, she was lucky that tonight she'd decided to stay up late and get wedding stuff done, because being up and walking around the castle this late was a rarity for Mac. Beauty sleep and all that jazz.

As she approached the other staff members who had gathered, Macadrian greeted them all quietly, "Good evening everyone." Quite tired, Shackleton leaned against the wall and played idly with a curl of her hair, twisting it around her finger and tugging at it like a stretched spring.

Okay so she was tired. And it's not that she wasn't trained to operate on virtually no sleep but this was pushing it even for her.

So yes, several people had to show up before she realized that it wasn't just her and Less. Or that Less had even spoken at all. "Do you think they could have missed it? By now? I mean they really are good at sticking their noses in, of course it would figure if they would leave us to it when we're all on the verge of getting ourselves drowned," she commented, bitterness dripping from her voice.

Oh wow, quite a few people have shown up.

"Oh hello.. everyone." she added sheepishly, "Antonio, Lars, Iliana, Angela,.... Macadrian." Oh yes, she left Marcus out on purpose. You bet your broomstick she left him out on purpose.

Kazimeriz shuffled up the stairs, cursing the castle for not allowing apparition within its walls. Why did the meeting have to be on the seventh floor? Whatever the reasons Reynard had, he was certain they were good. He reached the landing at long last, nodding to his colleagues. "Good evening, ladies. Gentlemen." he said. "Has anyone yet seen Headmaster Bontecou?" he asked. Reynard had better not be lost --again-- after picking the highest part of the castle for their meeting.

The sound of her waterproofed Louboutin boots preceding her, Anastasia approached the midnight meeting on the seventh floor. Of course she had waited an appropriate length of time to leave her hideout in the greenhouses; she didn't want to be first and didn't want to be late. Midnight rendezvous called for a certain amount of secrecy and style.

"I haven't seen the Headmaster since that one meeting in the staff room, Kazimeriz," she spoke up as she approached the group. Annie casually leaned against the wall and crossed one foot over the other so the red underside of her boots was visible. "And I still need to lodge a complaint about the shoes in my office that got flooded...."

"Hello Macadrian, do you know why Reynard wished to see us here?" she asked as she kissed each cheek.

She smiled at her friend, though it didn't go unoticed that one person was left out of her greeting... odd.

"Pap-" no... he would want to be addressed formally in front of his collegues. "Professor Kazimeriz, It's lovely to see you about the castle... I trust your accomodations are to your liking?" She said giving him a kiss on each cheek and refraining from hugging him.

"PROFESSOR Kazimeriz doesn't have a say on your shoes Annie..." Alessia said with a smile and sweet disposition. HOW DARE SHE address him so unprofessionally! "And I doubt a magical disaster such as you losing your shoes will be reimbursed." She shrugged. If Pepe was going to reimburse the RABID BUNNY's shoes she was just going to have to quit!