Ad limped into the fourth-floor corridor and immediately slumped against the wall, sliding to the floor as she stumbled. Her leg was killing her. She adjusted the brace and propped her leg up onto her bag, sighing a bit, and then coughing. Life sucked for her at the moment.

Zayden had been on a hour long search for his cat, Beasty, who had snuck out of the dorm this morning and has yet to been seen until exactly ten minutes ago. He had spotted his downright evil cat with his sister, Josslyn, near the tapestry, playing with one of the toys that they were given when they "inherited" the cat. It was a feather tied to a string which was tied to a pole and, when bouncing it around, the cat went ballistic.

The Slytherin figured it was best to just leave his evil sister with his evil cat but he didn't leave, however, until he informed his sister that that cat needed to have a special eye kept on him. He didn't want any firstie getting on the wrong end with that cat! Josslyn agreed to keep an eye on Beast, even if she acted like he was treating it like a child, and then he headed off back towards his common room where he would continue to write a letter to Janet.

As he made my way down the corridor to the grand staircase, he spotted Addy sitting down on the ground with her leg propped up on his stuff. He stopped walking when he got in front of her and, while staring down at his redhead friend, he said, "Hey, Ads! You okay?"

Ad looked up when she heard Zayden. She smiled wide and shifted so she sat up a little straighter, and coughed a tiny bit. URGH. She hated coughing. "I'm fine. My leg's been acting up all day, and the brace on it keeps sliding" she sighed. She wasn't happy. Not at all. "I just decided to rest for a bit so I can walk a bit longer" she told him.

Zayden ran his fingers through his hair, causing the strands of hair to switch into all different directions and causing chaos in the hair, as his eyes traveled down to the brace that was on his friend's leg. "Have you considered taking a pain potions?" ... or even resting on it for MORE than a few minutes? He thought about adding on that little bit but he was sure she'd say something about how she's been resting all day. One word: woman. "Also, I'm sure a little sticking spell or something like that will keep the brace steadied on your leg." It was just a suggestion.

"You should really walk right back down to your common room, Ad. I'm sure that you shouldn't be putting pressure on your leg if it's hurting." He honestly didn't want her to be making her leg problems WORSE by walking on it. The last thing he needed was the have to visit her in the hospital wing.

Ad shrugged. "I already do" she said. Did they help? No. Ad sighed and looked at the brace. "The brace sliding is a good thing. It means the swelling's gone down" she said. She flipped her hair from her face and sighed.

Ad raised an eyebrow. "But the Slytherin Common Room is so...far.....away!" she complained. D: "It doesn't hurt a lot...I'll be fine. I had to walk on it when it had originally been crushed. This is nothing"

Jade Skidmoore paced back and forth along the fourth floor corridor as she contemplated thoughts in her mind. Were they really important thoughts? Not really, she just felt as if she needed some time to figure out random ideas about topics. She nodded to the students who passed by and danced a little out of boredom. What to do, what to do. Hopefully someone she knew would come around here for she was terribly bored and her mind was done with all the thinking.

Adam was walking through the corridors seeing that most things, as of this floor, looked pretty calm, until he saw a girl pacing back an forth. Perhaps she was feeling a bit distressed an had no one to talk to. Slowly, almost hesitantly, with one foot in the air before walking on forward, Adam approached the girl.

"Excuse me, are you feeling all right?" But when he saw a quick look of the face he realized it was "Jade!" Adam spoke quite happily, though with the way she was walking maybe she wasn't in the mood to greet him back as equally.

While Jade continued pacing back and forth, someone came up to her and asked if she was feeling alright. Before she could answer though she recognized that it was Adam Burn. "Adam! How've you been doing?" She asked. She had remembered the last time they met she had given him advice on his whole girl situation. She wondered if that ever worked out. While she waited for him to respond she noticed his prefect badge on his robes. "Congratulations on being a prefect, by the way. How is it?" She asked, curious about what prefects actually did apart from patrolling the halls and such.

How has he been doing? Well, he didn't exactly want to mention about his Dragon Pox he had recently recovered from. He didn't want to be ostracized from his friends, classmates an students because of it, so Adam decided to keep it quiet. "Quiet summer, really. Nothing much exciting about my life nor my parents." It was true. Whenever he returned back home it was as if everything magical had been stripped away from him, an he would just be invisible. He looked down upon his robe an saw the badge pinned into his black clothes. "A bit stressful being the first time an all...an well...umm..my co-prefect doesn't...well, let's just say she'll be angry when she sees this."

He began to wonder if Jade knew who the girl prefect was. But then again, he, as far as he could remember never mentioned Kurumi to her.

The fourth floor always made him think of the Library. To be honest, thinking about the place gave Damien stomach ulcers. Granted -- he wasn't exactly sure if you could have ulcers in your stomach (let alone knew what they were exactly), but it certainly felt like ulcers.

He thought about venturing towards the book palace, but thought better of it with every other step he took down the corridor. It only angered him that he couldn't find anything he was looking for; which was, obviously, very counter productive. Perhaps he should stop thinking and looking altogether, and a solution will fall into his lap. Magic. He was, a wizard after all, wasn't he?

He itched the spot covered up by the black wristband -- still unsure of where that came from.

The footsteps echoed eerily along the stone walls and he flipped up the collar of his leather jacket. The corridors were known for their drafts, but it could be him. Maybe no one else felt the drafts.

Janice was making the usual detours after she researched for a picture of a Dittany plant in the library. She likes going the long way rather than in shortcuts, if time is kind and not pushing her to the limits. She found detours interesting and even educational.

Just then, she saw another person, wearing Muggle clothing while doing something very fishy. Not that she despised Muggle clothing, being a mixed-half-blood herself, it's just that she didn't know if that was allowed. Picking up some courage, Janice went up to him.

"Uhh, what were you doing?" she asked him.

Damein had come to a point where he could either take the way that lead to the library, or simply turn around and head in a different direction altogether. It couldn't hurt to try and find extra reading material, and maybe the answer he'd been looking for would magically appear to him. He looked out ahead the corridor for a moment before starting to take a step in the direction he'd decided on.

Then he heard a voice.

Now -- It's not that he wouldn't have liked the distraction of having company; but the fact that A: he had no idea who this girl was; and B: she appeared quite rude in her questioning made Damien feel less likely to be nice.

"It's a corridor," he replied cooly. "Most people do walk up and down them. Unless said person is a ghost, in which case they probaly float down and through walls --" He flashed her a somewhat menacing smirk as he finished his response before countering one to her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I know that this is a corridor and people walk up and down them," Janice replied abruptly. "That would be obvious."

Janice just don't like people smirking at her. It makes her feel somehow guilty. She looked back to make sure that he was smirking at her, not another person that happened to pass by very silently behind her.

"I was just from the library, trying to find a picture of Dittany, the plant, not the essence bottle. And if you're a Hufflepuff you would know that I was heading back to the Common Room."

Then, it hit her. Aren't the locations of the Common Rooms supposed to be secret? Well, maybe people would know that the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Common Rooms are located in different towers, Slytherin's in the Dungeons and Hufflepuff's near the kitchen, but nobody would know their exact entrance and/or password except for their residents.

"Wait, you are a Hufflepuff, right?"

This guy's facial features did look like it belonged to a person from Hufflepuff, but judging from the leather jacket he was wearing that reminded her of the midnight-between-alleys gangster groups, it severely doubt her.

It. Was. It. Because the evening had settled down and Louisa had all of her energy drained out. The half-asleep girl with the heavy satchel walked out of the library and into the corridor, her hand in her mouth as usual biting fingernails and dreaming of a comfy bed.. or couch... anything that would offer her legs rest. Maybe Dallin was right about her chilling out. But.. she couldn't do it. That guilty feeling tugged on her head forever and she had to study ahead. Just in case.

Dragging her feet, barely seeing people's face, the girl walked past someone standing by the wall. She didn't really see his face. Or if it was a he. She just longed for... dreamland.

Will she come out?

Will she not come out?

And what if she wasn't inside?

No, she will come out. I have indeed seen her inside there, and unless she had the priviledge to disappear like that in the school...

But it's been AN HOUR.

So? I will wait for her. I need to see her.

So had been João waiting on his foot, not daring even to get a book to read, in case he missed her. Though he was sensible enough to at least do a bit of homework. That, he could never focus enough to miss footsteps, even if they were as light as hers. He still didn't know why he didn't just get in there and greet her. Something inside him said this was better--surprising her would be much more... romantic, as they named it. He couldn't catch her on the train and then he didn't feel like attending the Feast--he had only been there for eating. But now, after their rather exotic holiday, he needed to see her. And seeing her he would, only if she got out of the bloody library. Such a Ravenclaw she was... at least, she wasn't alone in there with Dallin.

What if she is?

Though, before he could form his doubts into something more, she got out, not even in the condition of looking around. He was relieved though when she didn't notice him, and he got up immediately and he creeped behind her.

"Thou shalt not pass without a smile on your face," he said in a whisper as godly as he could muster, as he presented her with a single red rose that his hand held from behind while the other had wrapped her lithe belly. Now, hopefully, he hadn't scared her. That would be far from romantic.

Usually when somebody slip their hands around your waist and whisper in your ear while you're casually walking down a corridor, usually that was a cue for screaming and running away. And if you were Louisa Carter, you'd be hexed or clawed at. However, if you were a drowsy and worn out Louisa Carter, you'd just freeze and stare ahead. Which was what she did... until the voice echoed once more in her head.

It was him! She had fallen asleep and was dreaming of him! Again!

Louisa smiled at the rose and leaned back on him just because she wanted to feel the support she craved. Her free hand caught the rose, very loosely, and she sniffed it dreamily. "If only you were truly here." She'd turn around and wrap her hands around his neck. She'd feel the strong heart beat. Even his sweat, something she got familiar with in Brazil, would be welcomed. But she didn't turn around because he wouldn't be there and she'd wake up to find herself lying on the couch in the common room.. or worse, in a classroom. No, she'd rather stand there, sniffing the rose and feeling him standing behind her.

Although João couldn't see her face fully, he was at least sure that she wasn't scared, and she certainly didn't try to run away. At least, he managed not to scare her and yet be as romantic as he had been in all his life. What that meant, he dared not question. Right now, he needed to see that smile on her face, and there it came, although it was obvious she was still quite weary.

After making sure the rose wouldn't fall down in her hand, he slowly turned her towards himself and planted a soft kiss on her lips as he held her face with both of his hands.

"I am here indeed, love," he said with a smile. Why she thought he was a dream he didn't know, but he sure was there and he was there to serve her tired self.

The rose was so.. mesmerizing. Was it moving? The rose? Why were the edges so..blurry. WASSHEWAKINGUP?! Louisa blinked and the rose was steady and sharp again. Phew. She almost woke up. However, the dream!João was turning her around now, she wanted to struggle but she forgot how weak she was with him and turned around to see him. When he kissed her, the drowsiness was multiplied by ten. Easily. But his confirmation of reality forced her to not sway and faint.

O.o

It wasn't a dream? Really? Louisa's confused expression lasted only a moment before she did two very contradicted things. She smacked him in the chest, as strong as her drained out self could muster, and wrapped her arms around his neck, jumping and standing on her tiptoes now. "It's not a dream! You're here!" Well, her theory that he left Hogwarts and was done with her was wrong then. Heh. Good.

The excitement started to fade though but she kept her arms around his neck, not a care in the world if a professor passed by and chastised them. "I thought you left me," she whined into his neck.

Just as João expected her to kiss him back--

WHAT?!

She had acted way to fast for him to react this time, and it took him a few seconds to process what she had just done, supported with her words.

She had first smacked him on the chest which did hurt and caused him to wince, and then she hugged him. It was quite lucky for them that there was barely anyone around to see this scene. Though, right now, he hardly cared. His only focus was on her words, and the real meaning behind them.

"I--" that he would not leave her? He knew in one stage of his life or another he would. It hadn't been this year, but there was a good possibility it would be the next. He wasn't going to promise in vain, not to her. "Why should I do that, Louisa?" And that was all his answer. No love sentences, no promises; just, questioning her reasoning.

Because only that was free of any lie and incertainty.

Moving her hands away from his neck only to wrap them around his torso.. or well, not totally wrapping but in a way that she could feel his presence and lean against him. Looking up at him, trying so hard to keep her eyelids as open as possible, Louisa explained in a far away voice, "I don't know. I thought you had enough of me during the summer and that your father had to leave and took you with him." Yawning, she closed her eyes and smiled dreamily again, "But you didn't leave. You're not gone. You're here." One of her hands squeezed his shirt to feel the realness of him.

"Promise that you won't leave me alone." She was still not opening her eyes, her body was starting to feel heavy against him, "I want you always around." YEP.

Oh, good. She hadn't caught his indecision and hesitation. At least, he didn't have to deal with such girly emotions and tears or something. He was indeed on his lucky day.

Chuckling a little as he wrapped his hands around her belly as well, he said "I don't think I'll ever have enough of you." Unless she started to cry at everything and become sticky which she would never be. So, it was all right. Though, at that, he didn't have anything to say. He wondered if she expected a reply to that. Hopefully not.

P-p-promise her! Even the word itself was scary and ugly! "I--" He took a deep breath to clear his mind, but it didn't help at all. Instead, it only made him panic. Just as he thought he had neatly skated around that foul word...

"I can't promise that." There, as soft, clear and blutunt as it should be.

At his warm confirm. She pulled away slightly to look up at him and smile. "Me neither." No matter how much her friends disliked him, how much defensive he got for her.. it only seemed to draw her closer to him. Maybe it was his caring tone, his warm kiss or the mere attention he gave her. Joao seemed to know how Louisa's heart skips a beat in general.

...but he stuttered. Louisa's eyed widened in panic, she gasped quietly and held the breath in. He...can't? Taking a step away from him, she tried so hard not to blink.. her eyes would tear up so quickly and her exhaustion wouldn't help. "W-w-what.." Barely over a whisper. She swallowed and was frowning, to prevent the pout on her face, "You can't?" A humorless chuckle followed. "Good to know." She fixed her satchel on her shoulder and turned her back at him.

Why was he with her then if he couldn't promise to stay with her? He should leave already.

Tucking his hands back in the pockets of his jacket, Damien listened to the ramblings of the girl, not expecting such a long-winded explanation. He knew nothing of what she was talking about, and didn't dare to ask, but apparently she still had more questions for him.

"Why make the asmuption that I'm in Hufflepuff, but then clarify for yourself? Instead you could just say you were on your way back to your common room and it would suffice enough for me to deduct which common room based on your robes," he added, gesturing with his head at her attire. "And then ask me what house I was in, rather than doubt yourself.

Obviously she was Hufflepuff.

He paused then, not knowing if he wanted to answer her or not -- her attitude was less than luster and he didn't feel much like dealing with her at the moment. But still -- any conversation was a good enough distraction. "Yes, I am a Hufflepuff student," he finally declared.

"Well, your face look like it belongs to someone from Hufflepuff, but your leather jacket made me nervous." Janice gave a little shudder, only visible to see by herself. "Sorry."

"Oh, okay," she answered shortly. "I'll just, err, get going then. You know, back."

Well, that was awkward.