"Well, I'm sure since you're Captain, a few teams have been watching you." Carter said with a light shrug. He'd started getting stuff from teams halfway through his 6th year. "If there's anything I can do, lemme know." He will soon have connections. They did play every team in the league at least once.

He then smiled. "And I look forward to once again running into you on the pitch."

Arya grinned. She hoped so too. Heh. The book was just something to go to if he was a bit lost on caring for the little monkey, or if something was going wrong. And hopefully that would never happen.

She watched him accept the gift and unwrap it, watching his reaction. Why a turtle? Hehe. "Well first, I carved this, magically. A little hobby I picked up a few months ago. So a smaller, simpler animal was just easier for me to do. But a turtle symbolizes patience, perseverance, and wisdom." Pause. "And it's a symbol of protection." Clearly a selling point with Arya. "I cast some charms on it while I was carving so that it can't be easily burned and will sustain minor damages."

Ellie's eyes grew and there was just a ghost of a smile on her face. Teams were already watching her? Already?! But...but...she hadn't even been playing well! They're not going to like her! They're not going to want her!

She blinked at Carter. Connections, he meant, probably. She...actually, if she thought about it, she had quite a few connections to people who had connections. And next term, she'll be playing much better. Hopefully.

And so, just as quickly as it vanished, a smile crossed her face again. She had a couple years to get really good. "Thanks." And she will. If there ever was anything he could do. Nia had offered the same. But for the most part, she wanted to figure things out on her own.

Smirk. "Same." And beating him again. Heh.

Blink.

She did it? That's incredible! The badger trio was multi-talented, weren't they?

He listened, and his smile only grew as she kept talking. Well, he was liking turtles even more now. Nifflers were still on the top three, okay? He was positively beaming by the time she'd said everything and..., "I love it." He'll keep it safe. Even if she'd mentioned that she'd cast charms on it, he was still doing his best to keep it safe, and around him at all times.

It was a very nice gift, truth be told. Nothing could top it, right? Unless someone back at home gave him something better, which he doubted.

Arya beamed when he said that he'd loved her gift. She eased back in her seat, feet tucked under her as she lazily licked the icing on another cupcake, though this one she had no intentions of finishing. Her eyes started to wander as she spoke quietly to Treyen. Maybe they would go for a bubbly tub next.

After finishing his dinner in the Great Hall, Paulie made his way up the moving staircases and quietly walked into the prefect's lounge. With his t-shirt untucked and his Gryffindor tie and white oxford shirt hung limply over one shoulder - for now that classes were done for the day, the boy was too lazy to change into casual clothes, but too stuffy to keep on his long-sleeved dressy shirt, especially by the roaring fire in here - he strolled on in.

Now, Paulie was often a 'more the merrier' kinda guy, but with that, he also needed some calmer time to just decompress. Sometimes he'd do this by building a model plane, or snoozing on his bed, or toying around with a guitar. Today he took to his relaxation in the prefect's lounge. That was a perk of being Head Boy, for sure, because - unlike the common room - this room was never very crowded.

After tossing his extra clothes over the arm of one of the sofas, Paulie fell onto the same couch and sank into the comfy cushions. Aaaaaah. The fire felt nice and toasty in these cold months.

Sucking on a piece of orange in her mouth while another four laid in her hand, Louisa almost hummed on her way to the lounge. She was almost cold-free, no more sneezing or coughing, the mild fever subsided, she no longer needed scarves and layers of clothes, her life would be complete without this nasal voice that got stuck for a while.

Now all she needed before heading to her common room and finish some homework would be a very bubbly bath that she had her eyes set on in the Prefect's Lounge. That place was hardly ever occupied she kicked open the door and aaaaaalmost stepped out of her flats.

Louisa grinned as she headed to where Paulie was lying/sitting. "Oranges?" extending the hand that had a couple, all peeled and not juicy!icky. Then she just plopped down next to him, silent.

Footsteps.

Paulie perked up some and turned his head to see who was invading his down time. Oh! He returned the grin, though, when he saw that it was Louisa walking over. "Don't mind if I do," he said, taking two of the peeled slices from her palm and biting off the tip of one. Mmm, they were good, too. Juicy and not super stringy like some oranges could be.

"You finally over that cold of yours, Helen?" It didn't seem like she was hacking away or sneezing much. And she was all smiles, too, so she must have been pretty recuperated.

Helen. She would've snorted if she could, but her nose was still dried out so a major eye rollage sufficed. "I'm definitely better, thanks." And now that they decided to talk and not just stare off, she kicked her flats off and propped her legs up on the couch underneath her. "I still have this nasal tone to my voice, though. I don't want to sound like an old cat lady in my seventeenth birthday, y'know!" But she didn't say it angrily or anything. Louisa was in a gooooood mood, she got only a week before she was officially not-underage. She might get her apparation license soon too. Life couldn't get any better.

Leaning her head on the back of the couch she pretended to poke the boy, "Why were you sitting here all alone?" It wasn't like him to just lie silently. "Some stubborn couple having issues and you did this whole hero-in-the-shadow thing to get them over it and live happily ever after?" Which didn't work in her case but it seemed like something he enjoyed doing so... yeah, no better guess. The last orange was popped into her mouth as she looked at him expectantly.

'I don't want to sound like an old cat lady On my seventeenth birthday...'

HER SEVENTEENTH BIRTHDAY! "Yes, you're almost seventeen!" No wonder the girl was in such a cheerful mood. It wasn't every day that you turned 'of age,' ya know. "So, how are you gonna celebrate?" Surely Paulie would think up SOMETHING awesome for that day. "You should totally have a belated birthday party this summer." Just saying. And he was not suggesting this because of the fact that Paulie Foster loved a good party. No, never.

She asked him why he was sitting in the lounge all by his lonesome, and then she supplemented this with her theory and Paulie smirked. "Hero-in-the-shadow? I donno if you mean that literally or figuratively," he laughed. But either way, he was neither. That DID kinda make him sound like Batman, though. He ate his second orange slice and wiped his hands on his trousers.

..."Duuuh." She just said that, didn't she? No need to repeat it when there was no one else with short hearing span disorder. Celebrate? Snooort and this time she did it and it came out as a pig's grunt. Blehh. "I don't know... stay up all night..." her brow furrowed thoughtfully, "...eating candy?" That was his cue to make fun of her. Three two one...go!

...was he avoiding her questions AGAIN? D:

Louisa, however, returned his smirk with one just like it, "You tell me." But she couldn't just leave it at that, this was Louisa Carter the wordy we're talking about. "I'd say you could fit both, though. Figuratively because you do all the hard work in other people's relationships without getting any credit at all, except for somebody's lame 'thank you'," screwing up her face as she mocked the last two words. "And literally if you're a vampire with a soul. Which I highly doubt it." Not because of the soul part, but the other one.

... he'd get it, right?

Duuuhhhhh. Paulie looked her way with a slightly amused expression. "I don't believe I've ever heard ya say 'duh' before." Hmmmm.. nope. He hadn't. -_______- Stay up all night, eating candy. For her seventeenth birthday. WAS SHE SERIOUS? "OH, you've got to be kiddin' me!" He facepalmed, for her sake. "Well, lucky for you, I'm a phenomenal event planner and an even BETTER partier, so leave it to yours truly." He'd come up with something cool. He ALWAYS did, right? ..RIGHT? Righto.

He noticed the smirk grace her lips, mirroring his own. He was both, then? To her, at least. "I'm no hero, but I suppose I'll take credit for bein' a preeeetty darn good matchmaker." Even if she and Adam hadn't exactly worked out. But he had already explained to her before that HE was the one butting into other peoples' love lives. He just happened to push some people in the right direction, see? It was his matchmaker qualities coming through.

Suddenly, however, he shot her a mock-surprised look. "Me? A vampire? How did you find out?!" heh. He put his hand behind his head and sank into the cushions again. "So how come you're visiting the prefect's lounge, hmm? Come here to study, no doubt." Or read or something.

Riiiiight on time. Louisa just watched him getting all dramatic over her not real plans and cocked an eyebrow when he offered his services. "I would've said yes but I don't want my reputation as a serene student to go down the drain." Smiiiiiirk at that. Yep, she actually believed that she was serene. "What do you want to do, though? You know, if I said yes?" She was curious.... very. His arrangements for her date with Adam showed how great he was at setting up such occasions. Her smirk faded into a touched smile as the memory of her every-favorite-item that he gathered for the date. She hadn't done anything in return.... except put her foot in her mouth at every possible moment with him. Heh.

Louisa laughed - LAUGHED for real at his fake confession of being a vampire. See what good mood did to her? She wasn't all baaad. "I wa-" she started answering his question before cutting herself off and forcing her face to fall into a suspicious squinty eyes expression. This was a Paulie's TRAP! He dodged her question by doing some hilarious charades and then deflected the question at her.

Nice try, mister Head Boy.

The Ravenclaw straightened up and pointed a finger at him, "You're not going to fool me, Paulie Foster, again. I asked a question before this whole vampire thing. You answer my question first, then I'll answer yours." Sticking her nose up and crossing her arms, he took advantage of her talkativeness and straightforwardness for too long.

A RUINED reputation? Was Miss Carter here looking to insult this Gryffindor? Paulie grinned her way, though. "Oh please, you and I BOTH know that I would only improve your rep." He paused suddenly, then seemed to reconsider. "..Okay, who am I kidding? I would totally ruin any reputation you have," he laughed. Ahaa, so his suggestion of letting him handle her birthday had hooked her, mhmm. Not that he blamed her. "It's your birthday, so it's a surprise. Although I will require that we throw you a party over the summer." DEAL or NO DEAL.

He smiled widely when she gave a good gut laugh. Laughs like that were the best. And she began to answer, but then she cut herself off all of a sudden and narrowed her eyes like he was up to something. Which he so wasn't! He rolled his blue-green eyes when she refused to answer his question until he answered hers. "I don't even remember your question!" Let's see... vampires, heroes and shadows, shadows in the dark... or wait, what was it? Heroes in the shadows, that's it. The literal/figural thing. "Okay, okay... I am neither a literal nor figural 'hero in the dark' or whatever, 'cause I've never done anything heroic, really," he answered. And that was logical, and SHE was logical, so hopefully she would just be pleased with his answer and answer HIM already. Because Paulie did not like waiting.

Seeeee, even he admit it. Though it only made her laugh and shake her head, "Geez... " she cocked an eyebrow at him then and dragged herself an inch closer, "What would you, Paulie Foster the shadow hero, do if I gave you my wholeheartedly consent then?" It could be a rheutic question... it could be a dare. Louisa liked mind games and this boy over here wasn't boring or literal, it should be fun playing with him, right?

Doesn't remember her question, how typical. Louisa pretended to be annoyed by that, "I asked why you were sitting here alone all quiet and - well, alone." It wasn't everyday that you stroll into a room expecting it to be deserted to do some bubble-relaxation but find one of your close friends sitting there staring off at the ceiling. "You don't seem like the meditating type to me," she leaned sideways on the couch's back again and went on, "And I swear if you dodge the question again or wave it off or do one of those mind tricks, I'll..." Her mind raced for a couple of seconds before blurting out, "... make you succumb somehow. I mean it." She soooooo need to think of a way to do that.

Bleeeeh, failure.

At her laugh, Paulie grinned. See? She knew it was the truth. What would he do if she gave him her whole-hearted consent? He tilted his head a little. "You mean, if you let me arrange your birthday celebration?" She was CONFUSING him. "'Cause I just told ya that that, Helen of Hogwarts, would be a surprise."

Ohhhh. Well, sheesh! Louisa was throwing so many questions at him, that Paulie was tripping over one and landing on the next! He hadn't really thought about why he was in here all alone. He just wanted to be here. For a bit of peace and quiet, wasn't it? Nothing wrong with that every now and then. He couldn't help but smirk over at her, though. "Oh, really? And what if I never answer any question you ever ask me again? Or what if I only reply in nods? Or glares? Or shoulder shrugs!" He laughed heartily. Poor Louisa. Paulie just LOVED winding this girl up! It really was a wonder that she hadn't cursed him by now.

When his bout of chuckles finally subsided, he gave her a proper answer. She put up with a lot with him, so she deserved it. "I donno, Helen. I think everyone needs a bit of quiet time, eh? Even if you're as sociable and obnoxious as me."

BTW, she STILL hadn't answered his only, simple, easy-peasy question of what brought HER to the prefect's lounge.

...huh? Oh yeah, birthday planning. Louisa blinked quickly but nodded vigorously, "Yes, of course. That's what we were talking about, right?" RIGHT?! Mental poke at her head. This giddy mood was not familiar with her, she didn't know how to interpret it.

As quiet and obnoxious as he was? She smirked at this and nodded fake!seriously, "About time you admitted it." He wasn't obnoxious though, no. He was annoying sometimes and got on Louisa's nerves a lot, as if on purpose, but he took all of her 'determined nature' as Adam called it once. Nice way of saying 'stubborn nagger'.

'what if I never answer any question you ever ask me again?'

Louisa raised her eyebrows and quickly started looking around for some sort of inspiration--

Cushiooooons!

The Ravenclaw grabbed the one she was leaning on sideways and LEAPED at the boy, holding it in front of her and forcing his torso to bend under her weight. With a grin plastered on her face Louisa pointed out, "I'm not just a smart mouth." She did throw a food fight in her second year, water balloon fight in her third, and frogs' saliva soap fight in her fourth. Too bad there was only two of them here...

... or not.

Eyebrow quirk. That WAS what they were talking about.. right? "Uhm.. maybe? I donno, you're...." Playing with semantics and blurring the line of her meaning! Which was not very helpful for a seventeen-year-old boy's mind. "..Wordin' things weird."

But yes, back to the sociable, obnoxious bit. Hah! Since when had he denied it? "I'll admit it whenever you'd like," he countered easily. Paulie was well aware that he was no quiet, little church mouse. He was more like... hmm, an adorable, crazy monkey? hehe. He'd settle for that, yeah.

And then.... BAMMMMM! Louisa had decided to go all out on her retaliation. So much for witty comebacks, now she was getting physical! With the cushion weighted down against him, he managed to muffle out a response. "Okay, you're not a smart mouth; you're a dumb mouth," he grinned - not that she could see it. But Paulie wasn't one to back down - oh no! - so he pushed the Ravenclaw off him and took the first cushion AND another cushion and plopped them down over top of her. "Louisa. You should know that that was very un-prefectly of you.." And as punishment, he would now have to use her as a couch. So, he gently fell back onto the two cushions, which were all lopsided with her squished like Oreo cream underneath them, and he stifled the laugh that was bubbling up inside him as he leisurely set his hands behind his head. Hmmm, hopefully she could breathe SOMEWHAT decently. "Welp, I'm awful tired, so I think I'm gonna just take a nap. G'night, Helen."

SMIIIIIRK.

Louisa couldn't help herself but giggle at his muffled voice. She was pretty giddy today, what with all the gigg- OOOFFFFF! O.o Out of the blue, the boy under her cushion had pushed her off him easier than she thought and was now piling cushions over her. Louisa's giggles didn't subside but they were now combined with squeals, "Paulieeee." Good night? No freaking way! Hopelessly trying to stop laughing, the girl started squirming under the cushions. Luckily he had the wits to leave her face out of it. Although with the sudden flip of the situation, she kind of forgot to get her arms out and now they were squashed to her sides. Well one of them was stuck but the other one could get free with more squirming.

Her breathing was getting heavier, she felt her heart throbbing loudly in her ears too. Paulie wasn't that bulky to weigh so much on her, nor was he that dumb to COMPLETELY lie down on top of a cushioned girl........WAS HE? Louisa couldn't see from where she was flattened-- AHA! Her left arm was free and she shot it up as far as it went to start pushing him off her. Only it was too long of a distance to allow her to push him. Instead her fingers were poking him... somewhere. Probably his arm. It was bony. "Gerrrooofff me!" she giggled!squealed again.

Realizing that there was no compromising with him - well, not as long as he was up there and she was down here. The Ravenclaw started moving the arm stuck under the cushions as much as she could so that it laid on her chest. And slowwly lifted the cushions slightly to allow her breathing to calm down, the giggles finally faded away. She tucked her other arm in and did the same.

....

Silence.

Paulie's chest and shoulders shook as he pretend-slept... this was due to the laughing he was trying to contain. Louisa was so giddy and giggly that her laugh was totally contagious! And, as a result, now he was even goofier than usual.

He felt something jabbing into his ribs, though, and he shifted a bit. Was she poking him?! Yes. Yes, it seemed so. "Hey!" Paulie clearly...... (well.. somewhat clearly, considering the cushion) heard her ordering him to 'gerroff' him. So, naturally, he folded his arms and smirked. "What was that, Helen?" heh.

...

Okay, no response. Paulie pushed his lips to the side. Hmm, no snarky comment. Weird. "Louisa..?"

...

HUH! Maybe he was SUFFOCATING her! He quickly rolled onto the floor with a 'thump' and hurriedly tossed the cushions off to find......

.. a perfectly fine Louisa Carter. "Pfffffft," he huffed, though he still wore a smile. "That was cheating. And I win."

She did snicker when he called her name, her real one. It always indicated a serious or concerned Paulie, and Louisa somehow loved this rare occasion. The cushions hid her small sounds though. The next thing she knew, the weight on her disappeared and the cushions were tossed off her.

ABOUT TIME!

The girl smirked, got up in a what she hoped was a dramatic hop and puuuushed the Head Boy to the floor following him, grinning and her hair was all over the place already. She grabbed one of the tossed cushions and pressed it to his chest before leaning on it with her folded arms. "I don't do losing." From between the two curtains her long dark hair formed, the two faces were dangerously close. Louisa's grin slightly twitched once before her eyes went down to look at his mouth... her breathing was already accelerating and her heart now that she stopped jumping around tried to slow down.

"I think..." she leaned in closer, mesmerized and pulled by something so vague and new, "...my fever's back." Because her whole body felt warm. Maybe it was the fire, maybe the excitement, maybe the laughing, maybe leaning on top of him. She just.. wanted to.. test taste? something... her mouth was pressed against his...

Oh yehh. Paulie was the winner, and she was the WIENER.

Then again......

His back thudded against the floor after she pushed him down. Then came the cushion to the chest and Louisa again. He was still grinning when she folded her arms on the cushion on top of him. Okay, so maybe she had a pretty good comeback, but he could still win. A pillow to the head, maybe? Or maybe not.. 'I don't do losing.' Something about the tone of her voice and the way she looked down at his mouth made him think back to the other day when they were at the hourglasses. And the closeness, too..

His heart rate picked up a little as Paulie realized what he was feeling. And he shouldn't be feeling this now. "Louisa.." he warned, but his voice wavered. She inched closer. And then a little more. This was bad. REAL bad, and he knew it somewhere in the back of his bizarre brain. But when her lips met his.. he did what he shouldn't have. He kissed her back. Not only did he kiss her back, but his hands found her waist and he pulled her CLOSER against him.

..Something was different. It was nice, but what was different..? Maybe because he was used to tasting strawberry by now.

Strawberry...

.....

STRAWBERRY. Paulie broke away with a gasp and wide, terror-stricken eyes. He shuffled back, staring at her. Ohmigod. His breathing hastened, and he opened his mouth to speak, but it was several seconds before anything came out.

"I just cheated on Tori.."

The color began draining from his face.

Something snapped shut in Louisa's mind when his hands found her waist and her body automatically responded; her hands found his hair, her heart started thumping against her chest, and she could use some more air but instead she deepened the kiss and-- GASP & something crawled away from underneath the cushion. Oh, someone.

Louisa stayed still for a moment, even after Paulie choked out the words, she rested her head on her folded arms and waited until her heart slowed down, her head's fogginess cleared out and her breath wasn't so fast. Her lips should stop throbbing too. It didn't take long though for the cold sensation to wrap her - thanks to the cheating on Tori blurt out.

Finally she slowly got up and sat on the cushion, "Lovely.." NOT. She put on an annoyed face mask and looked at him as shamelessly as Louisa Carter could, "You didn't. It's my fault." As always. Was she supposed to say 'I'm sorry' after that? Probably. But she was too humiliated to say the words, even if they were true. The Ravenclaw just passed her hand through her hair, pulling just a little in the process. Pain, she wanted to feel something else right now other than... guilt.

"Can you please stop staring at me like that..." it was driving her CRAZY with annoyance. "... just don't freak out, okay? My fault I'll fix it." Somehow. "I just need.. to be alone." Soooo... go. Now.

Paulie was up off the floor. He needed to pace.

What? WHY was she looking all annoyed at him like that? Like what just happened was no big deal, when actually it was like, the biggest deal ever! Her claim that he didn't cheat elicited a disbelieving snort from the Gryffindor. His lips were still hot from the kiss when he spoke his next exclamation. "Are you kidding me?!" Uhm, YAHH. He DID. He ran a hand through his extra messy hair and paced some more.

He completely disregarded her request to stop staring at her because that was the least of his worries. With his pacing, too, he was no longer looking at her. No, now he was burning holes in the ground with his eyes as he tried to think of what he could do. And then she spoke again. And he stopped and STARED at her. "Don't freak out, Louisa?! Oh. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm FREAKIN' out." He threw his hands up in the air. "I mean, hey - I only just kissed another girl behind Tori's back. Yeah, NO BIGGIE." The more scared he got, the more he took it out on Louisa, unfortunately. Another thought entered his mind, to which Paulie groaned and smacked his hands to his head before dragging them down his face. "And Adam!" His BEST mate who seriously JUST ended things with Louisa. Well, Paulie sure knew how to do things WRONG. Everything. He might as well write the manual on it. Realizing that he was practically on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Paulie forced himself to sit on the couch to try to calm down. Breeeaaathe.

After a few moments, he brought his eyes up to meet Louisa's again. His voice had a new somber sort of calmness and gravity to it that even he wasn't accustomed to. "I hate cheaters, Louisa." His stare was unblinking. "And the quality I value most in friendship is loyalty." He paused for a moment only to swallow, and his eyes averted to the ground. He didn't have the honor to keep them lifted. "So, I guess I really killed both those birds with one stone."

He vaguely heard her say something about her wanting to be alone, but he made no response. Yeah.. alone.

Yeah, raising his voice and pacing like a crazy chicken would undo what they just did. Louisa was still sitting on the cushion, her eyes followed him for a few seconds... but then she dropped them quickly and frowned as her annoyed-mask faltered into an apologetic-one. She was NOT going to apologize to him. Nope, not a chance. She liked it, the satisfaction, even for a few seconds, was good. No apologies.

His next words though made her frustration and guilt boil and without meaning to, Louisa grabbed one of the cushions tossed aside and with all her might she threw it at him. "I'm not another girl!" Feeling her face go red and her sight getting blurry with FURY tears, she scrambled to her feet, fixed her knit dress and started shoving the cushions back onto the couch. "I said it was my fault, and I will fix it. Just stop acting like a coward and--" She plopped down on the couch and looked at him, panting slightly.

He was calm again. It killed her that he didn't blame her.. or gave her a dirt look.. or word. The guilt started clawing its way out with his last words. She grabbed her head, pulling at the roots of her hair again, "I'm so so so sorry, Paulie.." she still was not going to cry, well not in front of him. "I don't even know why I did that... I didn't mean to ruin anything for you, I just.." More pull and this time she brought her hands over her face to hide it. "I always ruin things. You already know this. I make sure that everything goes as good as possible but it's like a bad chip planted in my brain to just... shut off everything and set an alarm or something! Only it's an alarm to mess something instead of the other way round." There, she was rambling now.

She threw herself back against the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "What do you want me to do?" And yes... she needed to go crawl into a hole after this. So much for a happy birthday week.