She caught that look, she did. A small mischievous smile crossed Ellie's lips. It. Was. Time. Mwaha.

The Captain nodded at Arya. "I'll be back, then..." Teehee.

With that, she turned and left to find the Birthday Boy.

Carter nodded in greeting to Ellie as he entered the Prefect's Lounge.

"At least I made it here before Treyen, right?" he said with a half-smirk. He gave each of the other occupants of the room a nod in greeting.

Then he noticed something amazing. "Oh. Wow, Kurumi. Those look great." he said going over to admire those cupcakes join the other Gryffindor.

Eh... who was he kidding? Everyone would know he was trying to sneak a bit of frosting off of one of those cupcakes.

Ellie only shook her head. Obviously she hadn't forgotten. Treyen was silly for even thinking that she might.

It was just a few minutes after Carter had arrived, and she'd left, that she re-entered, backing into the lounge. "Good." Good that Treyen wouldn't mind breaking plans he may or may not have had, because he would get to be with her....and a few others.

After she was well inside the lounge, she dropped one of Treyen's hands which allowed her to turn and face the others. The rather large grin she'd been wearing out in the corridor only grew, if possible. Arya received a special look.

He was here!

Considering the fact that his eyes were only focusing on one person, he paid very little attention to his surroundings until he saw Arya. "Arya?" why was Arya in here, though? And who was the person that was sitting in front of him at the Great Hall? That girl sure looked like his Co-Prefect.

Wait.

Cupcakes? And Kurumi? OF COURSE.

If only his mind was cooperative enough to work faster today. "Hey guys!" Salander included, even Evelyn, never mind how incredibly scary she still was.

Carter could have as many cupcakes as he wished, by the way. Treyen's eyes were on Arya at the moment, and while the Prefect had a smile on his face, surely Arya could tell there was someone else that should be here, right? One someone they were meeting over the summer.

Hehe.

Arya got even more excited when Ellie went off to get the birthday boy, and stood on the couch, bouncing to the beat of the Disorder song currently playing on the gramophone. "It's lucky your here before, Treyen." Actually it was lucky he was here before they started to eat those cupcakes.

A few hopes over to the fireplace and oh... he was here! Turning to the portrait at the sound of her name, Arya grinned widenly at Ellie first then her co-prefect. "Hey Treyen!" The teen hopped off the couch and quickly made her way over to Treyen, greeting him with a BIG birthday hug. "Happy Birthday!"

She would get to the whole missing badger thing in a moment.

Treyen hadn't seen Arya today, right? Nope. Otherwise she would've congratulated him by now.

Chandler...on the other hand...

...speaking of hands, he completely let go of Ellie's thanks to Arya, only he failed to notice he had at the time...and continued not to notice since he was rather busy with his Co-Prefect/Best friend. One he was certain had everything to do with this because it was so Arya.

And he will never know what to say, it's not like he was used to see a major cupcake tower every day, right?

"Thanks." Now he was releasing her. The only difference between that 'thanks' and the one he said to Ellie was that he knew Arya would remember.

Grinning, the Puff prefect pulled back and watched him take it all in.

"I'd start on the cupcakes before they do." She nodded over at Sal and Carter. Sure it was a mountain of cupcakes, but she didn't put it past the two boys to be capable of eating all of them in a moment's time.

And so long as she and Treyen got her fill, she didn't care.

It was sweet, really, the hug. Which was why Ellie went for her bag. It only held two things today. One was Treyen's present, the other...her camera. She'd been carrying it around for months now, really. She'd secretly lapsed. But she didn't forget it's primary purpose. To take pictures.

She snapped it in the direction of the two Hufflepuff Prefects.

Then she turned to take a picture of Kurumi's amazing cupcake tower. And, yes Carter ended up in the picture, too. That's what he got for being sooooo close. "Might be worth something someday, right?" Ellie smirked at the Gryffindor Captain, and future Puddlemere player, before setting the camera down on the table.

"Happy Birthday!" Carter said not looking up from the cupcakes to make sure it was Treyen. Luckily it turned out it was. So... no problems there. Although, he was sure if it had been someone else there would have been no complaining. Everyone liked to be wished a Happy Birthday.

He took a step back from the cupcakes hearing Arya speak. Right. "Birthday boys first." he said with a smile finally looking at the Hufflepuff Prefect.

He returned Ellie's smirk. "Possibly." he said. "As long as they don't kill me first." Although... if he was killed during a game then the picture would definitely be worth something. People went nuts for rare items.

Right. As long as they didn't kill him first. Professional Quidditch wasn't that violent, was it? Granted, it had been a few years since Ellie attended a real match. That was actually something she had in mind for this summer; to try and get back into that loop of knowledge. She'd been way too inside her own bubble of silly Hogwarts Quidditch for too long. "What position are you playing?" Chaser? Keeper? He'd be on the reserve team, too, right? ...Right?

She turned from Carter to look back at Treyen. The Gryffindor was right, the Birthday Boys did get first dibs. So Treyen really should take this opportunity before Carter and Salander got too greedy and went all caveman on the display.

A smile and a nod went toward Carter before his eyes turned to Arya again. Right. He could please his best friend and take one cupcake at that precise moment, but the camera distracted him for a moment.

He was still a Lockhart. The only one slightly immune to the effects of a camera was his sister, and he was sure she just pretended.

The glances he was getting from Ellie only made him realize that IF he'd got to spend the day with her, and just with her, he would've ended up being perhaps a bit happier than now, yes? Hmmm, maybe a little bit of Arya, as well, because she'd die if she didn't get to hug him today.

Either way, "Considering I haven't truly eaten, I'll take your advice." And yes, he was ready for whatever reprimand Arya could give as he made sure he walked with her to the cupcake table. Where he took one small cupcake. Carter was free to grab one two, three, four now.

"Do you remember when we spoke of going to Brazil?" he couldn't remember where, but he remembered the conversation, "We should take a trip. You, me and Aaron." He wasn't saying where to, mainly because he just thought of it this morning, and...he didn't have an idea yet, "Not to Brazil, but we should spend more than one day together this summer." Mostly he meant that the days shouldn't be spaced with 'on-their-own' days, and not precisely ice cream.

Carter smiled at the Ravenclaw Captain. "Chaser. I've never really liked playing Keeper... but you do what you have to for the team." He assumed she'd been in a similar situation before. It was still crazy to think that he'd get paid to play the game he loved.

He then glanced over at the Hufflepuffs and then to the other occupants of the room. Now that the guest of honor was here the fun should begin.

Oh, pictures.

The flash caught Arya off guard just a bit, but she was still grinning by the end of it at Ellie. "Send me a copy of that." Really, she didn't have any pics of her and Treyen hugging, and when would she get another? Probably soon considering how much Treyen apparently liked pics and how much she loved hugs.

Arya shook her head at her co-prefect and his not much eating again, but didn't say anything, just grinned. It was his birthday, and Kurumi had baked tons of cupcakes that he could use to make up for the whole thing. Heh. She picked up a handful of cupcakes for herself and Treyen, then gave the other boys the go ahead to chow down on the rest if the so wished.

"I remember, and we should. If not Brazil then somewhere around here, or America." Clearly she wasn't picky about where they went. Moving back to the couches, she placed her cupcakes down beside her and carefully unwrapped one. "We still have to do ice cream along with this trip." Tradition and all.

"Alright," Arya got a nod. She could have whatever pictures she wanted, really. Ellie'd probably have her dad get copies anyway. Copies were always good to have.

After Treyen and Arya, Ellie grabbed a cupcake. She had a strategic way of eating them. It started with licking all the frosting off the top.

She nodded at Carter, too. She knew that team-obligation-thing. Actually, that was how she started Seeking. Jacob's fault. She ended up liking it, though, after a few games. Probably one of the very few things Ellie felt was a positive outcome of Jacob's Captaincy. "Have you met other teammates? Or gotten a chance to play with them?" Now that it was decided she'd be following that career path, these little details were more interesting to her than when Nia and Jacob and Finn were leaving.

Carter nodded in response to Ellie's questions. "Yeah. Most of them. They were there during the summer when I had trials. I had a few practice runs with the starters they had." Which... was another story entirely. Carter was really lucky getting scouted by a team that had lost a player due to an accident... and one due to retirement. Hello starting position!

"I just haven't met one of the beaters or the starting seeker."

Oh yay! Cupcake time. Carter happily snatched one before continuing his conversation with the Ravenclaw. "You thinking about going professional?"

Copies of the picture. Yes, Arya was getting one and Treyen knew that he was also going to get that picture, which was great because...he had no pictures with Arya, did he?

Oh, the tragedy! How come he didn't have a picture with his best friend?? He did have one with Aaron from the time they went to the Quidditch World Cup, that was the latest they took together. While it was true that he'd met Aaron first, there was no excuse for the lack of a picture that...actually, it didn't matter since the picture was JUST taken.

Why all those cupcakes, Arya??? Treyen still followed her and took a seat next to his Co-Prefect. "I don't mind the place, we should meet first for ice cream and then decide," all three of them.

Arya would have to fraaaame that picture. And then take more because it was such a shame how little pictures she had of her with her best friend. This best friend.

She had loads of picture of her and the others.

"That sounds like a good idea." She pealed back the wrapping on her cupcake and nibbled at it before taking a bit. YUM. "I'm staying with Sabel this summer, so I'll be in London for most of the vacation. We can have ice cream earlier this year." The thought that she should tell Sabel had crossed her mind, but right now it wasn't her biggest concern.

"We got you presents."

Ellie pressed her lips together and sucked off whatever frosting had gotten on them. "That's a bit scary, though, isn't it?" Having your future teammates watch you while you try out. And seeing them whisper things to each other, not knowing if it's good or bad or even about you. "I don't know, I'd be intimidated," she shrugged.

But Carter missed out on two players. Not important players, though. Well, yeah, important to the team, but probably not for Carter at the time. Like, he probably most enjoyed meeting the other Chasers, because he was going to be a Chaser.

Something like that.

She licked the very last of the frosting off the top of the cupcake and grinned. She couldn't help it. The smile, not the odd cupcake-eating technique. "I am." HEEHE.

It was the greatest idea, truth be told, one that Aaron will be attributing to himself, no doubt. Had she not noticed how he hadn't started to eat his cupcake yet?

Treyen still smiled. And the smile widen a bit more as he heard that she'll be in London for most of the summer. "I'll be in London too, you know...and, yes, I'm sure you want to spend as much time as possible with Sabel...but we can spend it together when he's at work," and when Treyen isn't 'working' either. He didn't depend on Lola anymore and whilst his time wasn't entirely booked, he was going to be slightly between trips.

Yes, trips. He had to visit Trixie and Lexi in France, no?

Presents? He chuckled, softly, "You didn't have to, but thanks." How come he always had issues with people giving him gifts, eh? He didn't use to be this way when he was younger, he knew that much.

They could have ice cream RIGHT after the got off the train and settled! Arya was excited, and was doing surprisingly well with the no bouncing on the couch. She finished off her first cupcake and totally hadn't yet noticed Treyen not eating his yet.

Lucky him.

"Sabel works a lot." Hehe. She grinned at him and licked her icing. That boy worked so much being all superhero-y, she would need other distractions to pass the time, and being with Treyen would be awesome. "I know a place were we can ride abraxans as well."

Of course she didn't have to, she wanted to and the bright look she gave him said that. She gave Sabel that look often. Drawing her wand, she summoned over the box she had, digging around in it until she pulled out a book. "This isn't really part of your present, but I figured you would be needing something like it soon." It was an advanced copy on the care of pygmy marmosets, the monkey he said he would soon be coming into ownership of.

Arya handed it over and went back to eating her cupcake while watching him. "I figured it would be a good source of information on them, in case you ever need something to reference. Oh, and you haven't eaten your cupcakes." Now she noticed. Heh.

He kind of figured. The job Sabel had chosen was one that kept you entirely busy, especially if protecting others was what you wanted to do, and he couldn't blame the former Gryffindor, he'd do the same.

The Prefect mentioned nothing about Sabel because he was distracted by Arya's next words. "I see you haven't forgotten." Was that a good thing or a bad one? It depended on what the outcome of riding an abraxan would be.

Wait. If that wasn't part of his present, then what was? Once he opened the book, there was another smile on his face, trust Arya to remember what one may be in need of, "This is great, Arya. Thank you!" he said, giving her a very, very quick kiss on her cheek.

Sigh.

Fine. He took one bite of one of the cupcakes. Happy, Arya?

On other notes, "But you're right. The book will come in handy." He started to flip the pages, and taking care of Rufus was starting to sound like a difficult thing to do. Even more so than a Niffler, that is.

Carter devoured his cupcake in nearly a second. He looked back over at the cupcake tower. Was it too early for another?

He shrugged in response to her question. "I dunno. I wasn't really watching the stands. Had my eye on the quaffle." He was much too concerned with actually preforming well that he zoned everything else out. But it was like that everytime he was up in the air. Quidditch just had that effect on him.

He smiled. "Brilliant." he said happily. "I couldn't really imagine doing anything else. Have you looked into teams yet?" he asked. Not that she didn't have time. He didn't really think about it until the year before.

That...made perfect sense, actually. And Carter had impressive focus. It still amazed her, just a bit. The fact that his future teammates were there. It would just be in the back of her mind the entire tryout. Wigging her out and whatnot. Maybe focus was something Ellie should work on. If, when she tried out, her future teammates decided to watch.

But she wasn't asking these questions for her benefit, though it certainly turned out that way. She was genuinely curious about Carter. Mhhhm.

However, if he was going to ask her questions, like he did, she'd answer. No complaints there. She took a couple more bites from her cupcake. "Neither can I." Seriously. Nothing else appealed to her. And, frankly, she was a bit relieved that she wasn't the only one with no career-oriented interests outside of the sport. "Nah... I mean, I have favorites, but I'm just not sure." The thought of choosing a team kind of scared her. She hadn't thought much on it yet. Going to matches was in her plans for summer, though, so maybe that'll help her decide.

Arya gave Treyen a happy sort a look as she licked at her icing. "Of course I didn't forget." Did he ever think she would? If the prefect could, she would have taking him riding now, such a shame the creatures professor had to leave. She looked nice.

Watching as he opened the book, a grin stretched across her face. At his reaction and the cheek kiss. He was so sweet. "Your welcome. Hope it's helpful." It should be, 'cause she didn't buy any old animal care books. But how was she to actually test out the advice in that book?

The Puff prefect beamed cheerfully when he finally took a bite of the cupcake.

Finally.

"If it's useless, let me know and I'll get you a better one." She fished around in her pocket while she spoke, pulling out a small carving wrapped in pretty purple wrapping paper. When her hands found it, she pulled it out and held it in her outstretched palm. "This is your real gift."

No, she'll never forget anything involving her favorite creature. He should've known. But as long as she didn't make him ride a thestral, then it was all good. Treyen probably needed to see the creature he was riding, right? An abraxan sounded good enough. He wouldn't mind to ride a Hippogriph, though.

The smile on his face faltered only a little, "I...hope I won't be needing it much." He laughed, softly. If he got to need the book too much, then both Lexi and James will be getting letters from him. Complaint letters, that is.

And...he was done eating one of the cupcakes by the time Arya pulled out something purple from her pocket. He liked purple, that was his favorite color, therefore that must be his present, yes? The boy paid no attention to what she said about something being 'useless', what him and Aaron got her from the Quidditch World Cup was slightly useless, yet amusing at the same time.

He took the purple thing from her hand and started to unwrap it. The smile that had faltered got bigger. "You must first explain...why a turtle?" She must. It was still a pretty turtle.