Well this was certainly going to be awkward. For one there was the fact that she and Dominic weren't exactly on proper terms. Not since last term. So with just him being in the world, it would make the bathroom rather awkward.
Well at least Kaika was here, someone she was quite friendly with. At least Kaika wasn't annoyed at her, well she didn't think that she was anyway. And...there was a girl, that she'd seen in class a few times last year. "Hello." The small hufflepuff smiled at the girl, "I'm Vanessa." She nodded, not adding the fact that she was a prefect onto the end, as she girl would probably have guessed that.

As she door opened again, Vanessa turned around to see who it was. Wow. This place was getting full now. She hoped that none of them thought that they were going to have a mass bath or something. Because that would just be rather wierd. Not that she would have minded having a bath with Dominic Denton. But she would keep that to herself. "Hello Willow." She nodded, smiling at the ravenclaw Captain. "How are you?" She asked politely, for that was the nice thing to do.

She smiled when she heard Kaika speak, and she turned to face her, still smiling. "Thanks Kaika." She nodded, blushing a little, for it was still at little embarrasing. But she would be getting used to people noticing it, as most people had noticed it by now.
"How are you?" She asked, again, feeling as if she was repeating herself a lot. Oh perfect now she sounded like a tape recorder. Moving over ever so slightly, she hoped that nobody else was going to come in here, or maybe they would be having that mass bath.

"Hello Dominic." Vanessa nodded, glancing at him. She didnt really know how to act around him. They were meant to be being friendly towards each other, she just hoped that he would keep that as well. "How are you?"

Leaving sounded like a very good idea. But then, why WOULD she leave? It wasn't like they all owned the bathroom - no, it wasn't like he owned it. She had as much right as he had to be there. Sure the place was called 'Prefects Bathroom' and he was a prefect, but according to the letter she had received when she'd become captain, she had every right to be there, too.

So, she would just put on a brave face, act like she didn't care, and stay.

It really was unfortunate that her pride happened to be three times her five feet four inches tall. Ah, well, there wasn't anything she could do right now to change that, and nor did she want to, if Willow were being honest with herself.

Eyeing carefully all the people inside of the bathroom and rocking on her heels for a couple of seconds, the young Ravenclaw decided that standing by the door and looking all awkward probably made her look like a complete idiot, which is why the girl made a beeline towards the empty and comfortable couch, and took seat, and crossed her legs, before distractedly starting to play with a strand of her dark chocolate hair.

Oh, and now Kaika was talking to her now, and she was being all nice and rainbows and sunshines. Honesty, why did she have to be all nice? So, Willow didn't particularly disliked her -she had no reason, after all- but the truth was that being nice to strangers or people she barely knew was something she didn't do often. Ugh, ugh, ugh. "My summer was delightful, thank you for asking," mused Willow, shifting her green eyes to the Hufflepuff captain. "Yours?" Not that she cared about it, but it was only the proper thing to do.

Tearing her eyes from Kaika Lockhart, Willow mechanically flicked her gaze to Dominic Denton, and quite possibly stared at him for a couple of seconds before she remembering that she had to say something. Or not. It wasn't like her had asked her anything.

She did have something ask, however.

"Oh, Dominic, I've been meaning to ask you" Started Willow, using his name once again, a little innocent smile dancing on her lips as she spoke, "Have you seen Eleanor? I've been looking for her, but I'm afraid I've not been able to get a hold of her. So I was wondering if you had, since you seemed to be quite taken by her in Diagon Alley."

Vanessa. Willow had almost forgotten about her. Not that she could blame herself for that, or anything, because it really wasn't her fault that the female Hufflepuff prefect was so short. "I'm alright, thank you. And yourself?"

Why was he still talking?! Couldn't he just leave and save people even worst moments?! No, he couldn't, because he was Dominic Denton and he obviously loved to be hated, no?

Who the Gryffindor Captain is? Kaika laughed, because it was just too funny to see Dominic uninformed. Maybe funny for her, because as a Quidditch Captain one must know who takes on such a responsibility. "The other Paris" she said, NOT looking at Dominic, and why was she now not looking at him? Because her cheeks didn't need to turn pink again.

Not that it could help, because as soon as he spoke to her, she looked up. How annoying this boy was. Annoying and...well, yes, annoying. Period. 'Captain'. "No surprise, you never listen", but 'Captain' was a thousand times better than 'Lockhart'. Truth be told, he never listens, not in Quidditch, that is.

He was...agreeing with her? Kaika's eyes narrowed, what was he up to? True. Paris should try and relax somehow, because Dominic was not leaving too soon. Apparently.

When was the last time he agreed on something? That sounded like the first term he came to Hogwarts, right? Like two terms ago? Yes, maybe.

And, then. 'Willow'. That entitled more meanings than anything. Sigh.

Her head spun around to Vanessa, and she winked. 'You're welcome' wasn't going to cut it. She knew Vanessa was going to be an amazing Prefect. Better than Denton, of course.

'How are you?'. Kaika couldn't help but chuckle at this question. How was she? Well, on the edge of a breakdown, perhaps? Wanting to run away screaming from the Bathroom? Having the urge to hex Dominic for something he's not even responsible of? Wanting to finish her Transfiguration homework in peace? Excited about Quidditch again? Hoping they would win this term and not Ravenclaw?

Clearly, all the answers were fair, but which one should she choose?

Simple. Because actions mean more than words. Kaika shrugged. "And you?"

Now, Willow was moving towards the couch. Awesome. She wasn't going to leave anytime soon, either. Perfect. NOT.

"I'm glad you had a nice summer" she said, another smile. But really, Kaika was still in shock that she could be nice to this Ravenclaw Captain, for, well, many reasons, but still, her smile was simply the kindest one you've seen on her face.

"Mine was simply great. Dragons again" which could easily be translated as 'I wanted to be away from home, from my father, so I spent my summer in Romania with my uncle', but, why get into details? Especially when that Captain didn't mind at all.

Rachel had woken up today with a mission. Since, despite all her worrying, she was having a pretty boring, uneventful week she had decided that today would be the day she would finally finish reading the unedited version of the muggle fiction book she loved so much - The Chronicles of Narnia. Grabbing the book and her wand, she quickly left the Ravenclaw tower after her morning classes and set off towards one of her most favourite places in the castle.

Stepping onto the fifth corridor, she couldn't help a big grin as it spread across her face. Despite Moaning Myrtle who was always hovering around, the Prefect's Bathroom was the most peaceful place in the whole of Hogwarts. No one ever goes there as well, which is a huge added bonus.

Uttering the password to the portrait that marked the entrance of the Bathroom, she quickly glanced around to make sure the corridor was empty before climbing through the entrance and stepping into the lovely room, her book clutched tightly in her hand. She was focused so intently on her thoughts she didn't even hear the others' voices as she stepped in.

And of course - the stupid hair just HAS to cover my eyes... Annoyed, she made a face at the dark strands and blindly walked forward to find a place she could set down her precious book so that she could flick the blasted hair from her eyes. Feeling a bench, she smiled and carefully put the book down while trying to flick the strands away from her eyes.

Aha! she thought triumphantly as her hands finally became free. Reaching up, she moved the dark brown strands away from her eyes and- Oops. Rachel froze as she saw that opposed to what she had thought, this place was definitely not empty. On the contrary, Willow, the Hufflepuff Captain, Vanessa, Paris (Merlin, is she wrapped in a towel with a BOY here?!) and Dominic Denton were all there. Oh, and let's not forget about dear Myrtle!

"Oh er, hi everyone," the fifth year said meekly, willing her cheeks to stay their normal shade but no, why would they ever listen to her? She felt her face grow hot and wanted nothing more than the ground to swallow her up whole as the image of what she knew she looked like floated into her head. Great... Just great.

Kaika didn't even flinch, she was used to the unexpected guests by now. Honestly, this place was as crowded as she the table she was in when her time in the Library was shortened somehow.

The voice, for a chance, was not familiar to the Captain's ears, which is why she looked towards the newcomer. Well, at least the Hufflepuff Captain wasn't the only one sort-of-blushing in the room. Though, she was pretty sure this girl's reasons were entirely different than hers, of course.

And, lookit! Boy Denton stuck with five girls, or six, if we counted Myrtle as one, and she was or used to be a girl, so, yeah, six girls. He'd better run, run away.

"Ummm, Hi" whoever you are. Kaika's eyes focused on the badge, and, yup, Prefect. Good, now all they needed was the Slytherin Girl Prefect and they were good to go. Where to? No one knows, but Evangeline seemed to be the one missing if we don't take Gryffindor into account.

"Narnia?" she asked, as she eyed the book, why was it that it sounded familiar? Ooooh, now she remembered, her muggle cousins used to read as a child, while Kaika held a copy of Beedle's tales, "Do you like it?" why not make everyone's atmosphere better by focusing on something else for a change.

And taking her focus off of Dominic, too.

Rachel was now officially mortified. And the thing is, the reason for her mortification was so DUMB that it just made her feel even more embarrassed about it. So what's that, like mortification squared? she grumbled inside her head and wished dearly that someone would break the awful silence.

Ahhh... Someone did. Turning to face the unfamiliar voice, she saw that it was indeed the only girl she didn't know here. "Heya," Rachel greeted her for the third time and took a seat next to her HUGE book, lifting it off the bench and into her arms.

The fifth year blinked as the Hufflepuff Captain - who remained unnamed - asked her about her book. Huh? Wha- Oh, right... Ok good. She had been sure that whoever spoke first would also comment on her VERY suave entrance but apparently this girl was true to her Hufflepuff nature - she was really nice.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool actually. I love how there are two levels to all the stories - the first level where you interpret things as they are and the second level, where symbolism and wordplay kick in," she said, getting a bit carried away with her reply. Although, it is to be expected - if this girl was a nice Hufflepuff, then she was a bookish Ravenclaw...

But, on the other hand, look at Willow and Dominic. I can see why the Sorting Hat made the decision that it did, but seriously - they couldn't be further away from the stereotypical figures even if they tried! Rachel held the book close to her as her eyes darted around the room to it's occupants then flicked back to the nice Hufflepuff Captain. "I'm Rachel, by the way. Rachel Rider," she added after a second and held out her hand for the girl to shake.

Willow was not particularly sure what it was exactly, but there was something about the way Kaika was smiling ... it bothered her. She didn't like it. Not one bit. Perhaps it was the fact that a Hufflepuff female was being nice to her - which was something the sixth year was not accustomed to, for they were all mentally unstable and needed to be locked up in St. Mungo's, in her opinion- or perhaps it was just her being paranoid, but it still.

However, she was one going to say anything about it. Not yet, anyway, which is why when Kaika addressed to her again, Willow forced her lips to work on a perfectly amicable smile. "I'm glad I did, too." And why wouldn't she? She'd spend two entire weeks in Italy with one of her best friends, gotten eight OWLs which had pleased her father, spent some time in Diagon Alley with her friends, and even got a faint tan.

Indeed, her summer had been almost perfect. Except that there had not been any kind of letters or communication or anything. Her eyes flickered to Dominic Denton for a split of second before she could stop herself, and then commanded them to turn back to the Hufflepuff Captain. "Dragons again?" Did this girl spend all her summers hanging out with such dangerous creatures? How . . . weird. "That's nice," offered the girl, the same friendly smile on her lips. Really, it was not nice at all, but whatever.

Taking her eyes off from the girl at the sound of someone entering, Willow found herself looking at Rachel as the girl entered the prefects bathroom, too. Her dark eyebrows pulled together at this. What was going on? Was there some kind of party going on? A party for Moaning Myrtle, just like last term? It was the only explanation she could come with, for it was ridiculous to see that everyone was there. Yet, as ridiculous as it sounded, it was true.

Most importantly, though, if there was a party going, how could they have not invited her? And to think some people had the nerve to call her a Haughty Ravenclaw Snob. Granted, the haughty part was not entirely a lie and she did was slightly snobby once in a while, but they should all look at themselves and realize that they were no saints either before judging her.

She did had to admit that Rachel seemed genuinely shocked to see everyone, though. Maybe they had snobbed her, too? Ridiculous people.

But there was no need for her to show them that this annoyed her. Nope, not at all. And like the actress she could be sometimes -she WAS her father's daughter, after all, and that man never let any kind of emotion to betray his expression- Willow kept the annoyance out of her face and voice. "Hi, Rachel," she said casually, a little, albeit real, smile on her lips now.

Rachel was always happy, and that was a quality that Willow had always sort of envied of her - nevertheless, she was a nice girl, and Willow liked her, she supposed. Though she did wonder occasionally if the prefect applied cheering charms on her every morning as soon as she woke up. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since that day at Florean's."

Uh-huh. She seemed worried about something. Maybe she didn't realized people were going to be in here (as everyone else did) and she thought the ones inside will take it badly? Well, think again!

This girl turned out to be the perfect distraction, that is until Dominic speaks, in which case Kaika will turn around towards his voice. Just a reflex, nothing she could stop herself from doing. How she hated that. But, 'tis was allllll good for the time being. And this girl was certainly easier to get along than Willow. She didn't mind Ravenclaws, but why did Dominic have to chose the Captain?

The sixteen year-old listened as the Prefect explained, "Really? I've never read it, my cousins have..." she started to say, "...but it does sound like a great book" yes, the Huffie liked books, perhaps it was a family thing, you know, Gilderoy and all...but she hadn't read many muggle books, "I've read 'Lord of the Rings', though, and while it's a big longer than I expected, I liked it - reading about wars, power and the difference between races is a bit refreshing" and that may grant her a trip to St. Mungo's, and to the same ward people in her family grew accustomed to.

Apparently, people who read books could be easily carried away, no? And, oh! How could she forget to introduce herself?! That's so...unlike her.

"Rachel" she repeated, with a smile, and shook the girl's hand, "I'm Kaika, Kaika Lockhart" she said, there was no point in adding 'Hufflepuff Captain', her badge indicated that pretty well, "Nice to meet you" though it would've been nicer to do so in another situation.

This was probably the first time Kaika had seen a smile on Willow Kovac's face. Or not a wide smile, but a sort-of-small one. It was definitely an odd sight, but then again, she's never spend a great amount of time with her. Perhaps they've even seen each other counted times in the five years they've been in Hogwarts, and that awful Belle's.

Yes, well that's obvious, of course someone will be glad that their own summer will turn out great. Still, Kaika nodded as to accept the answer. And then, 'Dragons again?', how was the Ravenclaw Captain supposed to know that last term wasn't her first time seeing a dragon up close, "Oh, yes, whenever I go to Romania, my uncle takes me to see them...you should've seen this beautiful Norwegian Ridgeback baby dragon...it was...well, quite a nice sight" she started to say, "Not as much as an Antipodean Opaleye, of course.." her eyes got locked in Dominic, "...but nice enough" yes, that was all she was mentioning, because she didn't notice when she started to ramble about something about dragons, and when did it landed on Dominic.

Something must have happened during the summer, or not happened, whichever suited this pair, given the constant looks Willow was giving Dominic when asked about her summer.

No. absoulutly not!

The universe wouldn't be the cruel to her. She had been a good girl this year...hadn't she?

So why was she being punished with Denton and now Willow?

She had about as much use for the girl as she did a flying elephant.

She didn't care that the girl didn't speak to her she didn't have any nice words to say to her. Well any words that wouldn't keep her mouth for being washed out with soap. She glared right back at her. She was seriously thinking of putting herself as beater just to she would have a good reason to hit Willow with a bat and put her in the hospital for a few days, and then lay Dominic right beside her.

Not a bad idea Greenwood, the image brought a smile to get her face. That was very doable.

She waved her hand at the puffy capitan. "I'm alright," she told her the girl even though she was clearly not alright, but she wasn't going to show weakness in front of her. She had to know Paris was tough and wasn't a pushover like Cela.


"Thank you," she told him curtly as he congratulated her on being the new Slytherin Captain. She still didn't like him, even if he was cute. The devil always came in the form most pleasing to you. She glared at Dominic trying to not let him bother her so much but it was hard. She wanted to poke him with her wand and kick him in the knees. He was too tall for her to do much else. The towel seemed to be tightening around her chest. "I wouldn't care about you being in here if I was lounging but as you can plainly see I am in my birthday suit trying to take a bath." She breathed. The towel clenched tighter and she couldn't take it anymore. She tried to loosen it and it wouldn't budge.

It was getting painful. "Stop it," she glared at Dominic he was doing this trying to be funny. The towel tightened again and she couldn't breath. "You're," she breathed. "Doing," breathe. "This." she tried to glare at him, but the lack of oxygen was making her lightheaded. She dropped down to her knees and held on to the bench she had been standing beside trying to catch her breath. The towel was cutting into her skin.

Shifting her gaze back to Kaika, Willow's expression instantly became politely interested. Granted, she did not have the faintest idea what Kaika was rambling about; she wasn't really paying attention, because frankly, Willow could not care less what Kaika Lockhart had to say to her. She did manage to catch, however, the words Romania and Dragons, and she deduced that the girl had spent her summer at the Dragons Reservation in Romania. "Hmmm," was all Willow said at first, and eyed the girl as she eyed Dominic. Well, she was his captain after all, right? So there was nothing wrong with that.

More oblivious she could not be. "I suppose that visiting that place is entertaining for someone who is into creatures." Which clearly, Kaika was. She would not have rambled about it, had it not been the case. "So, I'm glad you enjoy your summer." Riiiight.

And then there was that obnoxious Slytherin girl staring at her, a smile plastered on he face. What? That girl was not only annoying but also odd, apparently. Maybe the reason why she was staring at her was because she was some kind stalker and wanted to memorize her features. How creepy. "Yes?" Called Willow sharply, raising one her eyebrows at the Slytherin child - yes, she was child after all, visibly younger than the rest of the people in the room. "Would you like a picture, Greenwood? That way you'll have something to stare once you leave this place, as you don't seem physically able to take your eyes off me." Short and tart her reply came, before giving her a look of disdain and turning to Rachel and unwillingly, to Kaika.

Because Willow would pick Lokchart over the Greenwood girl any day; she was the lesser of the two evil, for at least Lockhart was nice. Or pretended to, Willow wasn't sure, and nor did she care really, as long as she didn't push her buttons.

And then, though she didn't want to, her head turned back to Greenwood, who seemed to be panting. "What is wrong with her?" Asked the sixth year, mildly interested. And why was she blaming Dominic? Had he done something to her? Hmmm.

Ahh... Willow Kovak. Rachel couldn't really hide the fact that even though she knew that the girl was one of the toughest at Hogwarts, she still thought she was really nice. And not just nice, but pretty cool too. Which is why she enjoyed talking to her so much - she was so different from the rest, it really was refreshing. It's not that she didn't like the rest, but sometimes people like Willow just made the world more entertaining. And therefore more fun!

"I've been fine - just, you know, freaking out about the start of my OWL year, and trying to figure out how exactly there appear to be more first years this year than all the other years..." Rachel answered with a full smile directed at Willow, knowing that she more than anyone else she knew would know what Rachel was talking about. She wasn't sure why but somehow she felt as if she had intruded on something, something that had caused the atmosphere to be so tight you could easily slice it with a flick of your wand.

"How about you?" she asked the Ravenclaw Captain since she was a little curious to know what had befallen the girl. Exciting things always seemed to happen to other people - especially Willow Kovac - and Rachel was glad that she was friends with at least one of them. If friends is what you can call it... Acquaintances, companions, two people who know and tolerate like each other... Something like that.


"Well, if you liked Lord of the Rings, you should definitely give Narnia a shot - it also has epic battle scenes and really wicked characters that do absolutely ridiculous things with magic, but to muggles those things make sense," Rachel replied with a massive smile plastered on her face. She felt like a little kid again - a feeling she got whenever she began to get enthusiastic about a certain book, especially Narnia since it was such a classic.

Grinning from ear to ear, she put the book down next to her - not needing it anymore - and looked positively delighted as the girl shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you Kaika," she replied, wondering if the girl was actually related to Gilderoy Lockhart or just happened to share the same strange surname as him.

Ok Rach, get a grip. Yes, yes, you talked about Narnia but you look like a grinning, foolish lighthouse! She repeated that statement over and over in her head until she felt her excitement shrink to a small ebb of happiness which she thought looked a lot better on her. It definitely looked better than that half-crazed look she often got whenever she talked about the spankin' new book she had purchased in Diagon Alley - the SPECIAL one.

Oh dear Merlin, was she alright? "Paris are you ok?" Rachel asked worriedly and quickly walked over to the towel-clad girl. She tried to search for something that might be wrong with the Slytherin but found nothing - a fine Healer you'd be, Rider. Good thing you don't want to be one, the thought floated to her head as she wondered if maybe the girl had a condition that they didn't know of. Should we call Nurse Avalon?

And Paris didn't seem to be doing so great herself. Someone could go and help her, but she was positive enough that whoever decided to fulfill such a task will be thrown into the water by the Slytherin Captain.

Which is why, Kaika simply nodded, but she was prepared for whatever needed to be done if there was something someone needed to do. But still, she'd rather stay dry for the time being.

It was easy. Having a civilized conversation with someone like Kovac. Just as long as Quidditch never got in the way. And even if it did, Kaika will continue to play the 'nice' card, because she didn't know any other card.

Please acknowledge that this doesn't apply to Cy, nor Dominic, nor Jake, nor the ones in the team. The 'Captain' card was reserved for Quidditch only. And maybe pretty annoying people.

"What? You don't like dragons?" she asked, yes, people who didn't like dragons existed, Kaika just didn't like to believe that, "Well, I suppose that if you don't then whatever you said is eventually correct" she shrugged, failing at remember whatever Willow mentioned about creatures. Her memory was currently not working properly, what with Dominic in the room....

"Thank you" she said, knowing that Willow couldn't possibly care if she had a nice summer or something like that.

Her eyes narrowed, though, as the Ravenclaw Captain seemed to have notice her looking towards Dominic. So, what? People couldn't look at him, now?

Now, this was clearly the nicest Ravenclaw in the room, what with Willow being all mean to Paris and all. "Perfect, then, I should read it" a nod came to the brunette's head, "After I get done with my Quidditch ones, that is" because Quidditch came first.

"Yes, I know how muggles can be" having a muggle parent always gave you some insight into their world, though, this wasn't Kaika's case, considering there was nothing she hated more than visiting her muggle family. But, there was nothing she could about, up until she turns seventeen, of course.

'Nice to meet you'. Yes, it was always nice to meet Kaika, no? She smiled and nodded, but her attention was on Paris now, because that one seemed to be needing help soon enough.

Vindictus burst in and was obviously having a conversation with someone who didn't follow him inside. "I told you that no one looked in here," he said loudly and was completely unaware that the Prefect's Bathroom was occupied. "I . . . erm, uh, hello everyone." He glanced around and noticed something was odd. "What did y'all do to Paris?"

Well, come on down...and bring the popcorn...someone else seems to think this is the place to be, or the place where no one will be inside. According to what the voice was saying before stepping inside...

Waaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittt...the voice!

She knew that one very well! Kaika couldn't help but turn around and face...yes...Vindictus was there! Quick! Everyone out! No need to get blame on something she didn't do, well, on something that no one did, to be more precise.

Her hold on the quill and parchment became tighter, and she started to look for her bag, which was nowhere to be seen, or invisible to her. Apparently. "Ummm, hey there, Professor V" she greeted, a smile on the Huffie girl's face. The greeting was just as casual, like she's just found Vindictus in any corridor.

Paris? What? Who did what? Kaika's eyes followed Vindictus' and then went towards Dominic, back to Paris, and back to Vindictus. What was wrong with Paris? Nothing at all. Just that Dominic managed to get her quite upset, okay, very upset, alright, angry...and, well, the rest is history, no? But, of course, Vindictus didn't know that, now, did he? Nope, he didn't. And she wasn't feeling into such an explanatory mood.

"What? We didn't do anything...I was trying to finish my Transfiguration homework...and Paris was going to take a bath..." she shrugged, it was all true.

Now, explain, Dominic Denton what are you doing in here.

"Then why do her eyes look like they're about to pop out of the sockets?" Vindictus inquired and looked at the other faces. Ah, Willow, Rachel, Vanessa, and Dominic. Interesting. "And I might add that this is an odd place to be doing Transfiguration homework. Did you try to transfigure her towel or something?"

Of course she didn't like dragons. Honestly, they were dangerous, and in Willow's opinion, no one should like them. Deciding to simply drop the subject and no say anything else about that particular of subject -or about anything, really, for she had no desire to continue talking to this girl- she simply settled for shrugging. And then raising one of her eyebrows defiantly at Kaika. Why on earth was she looking at her like that? Mental Hufflepuffs.

Willow was about to turn and reply to Rachel, when a very familiar voice stepped inside the bathroom and the girl instantly snapped her head around and found herself staring at Professor Vindictus.

What was he doing there? Had someone called him or something?

Upon hearing his question, the girl shrugged lightly, obviously not concerned over the Slytherin's state. "I don't know. One moment she was staring at me me and then she was glaring at Dominic Denton, sir. I think she might just be delusional." Wouldn't surprise her, really. "And I'm not doing homework," clarified Willow quickly. "I just came here looking for peace and quiet. But I obviously couldn't find it. It is far too crowded." Maybe it was time to leave.

Vindictus raised an eyebrow at Dominic. "Willow, are you telling me that Dominic might have done something to Paris? Like performed a spell or something?" He looked over at Vanessa and Kaika. "Spill the potion or I break a Hufflepuff broom."

. . . She stared at the head of the house.

"I didn't say that, sir. Or rather, I didn't mean to blame him. I just said what I saw. She was glaring at him, but then, she also glares at me so I don't think that means anything?" Said Willow, keeping it cool. "I doubt Prefect Denton would do such thing. I've been here for some time and he hasn't done anything to Ms. Greenwood." Right, so Willow was mad at Dominic, but she didn't want to get him in trouble. "So I honestly doubt it, sir."

"She glares at you because you are the competition, Willow," Vindictus reminded her. He looked at Paris again. "Um, she looks like she's gonna pass out. Paris, erm, do you, uh, remember how to breathe?"

If the reason why Paris Greenwood glared at her was because she was competition, then the seventy percent of the female population of Hogwarts must thought of her as competition, for they would glare at her all the time.

Not that she cared or anything. They could all go and jump off from the Astronomy tower for all she cared.

Heh.

"If you say so," was all Willow gave as a reply. "Would you like me to go look for Nurse Avalon, sir?"

What? Her eyes? Well, if Kaika hadn't been too busy looking at Denton, or the newcomers she could've noticed.

"Well, I don't know" she shrugged, she was no Healer, nor she wanted to. There! One less career to consider. "I'm sorry to disagree, but this was way less crowded when I stepped inside, therefore, a nice environment for finishing written homework" unless it got wet, but she was surely being careful about that. "Ermm, no...just writing" she said, pulling her arm up and showing the piece of parchment and quill that were securely held in her hand.

Kaika's head turn to look at Willow as soon as Vindictus spoke again. The answer was clear. Yes.

A broom?! What?! Noooooo. "Yes, I mean, no..." she was having a hard time figuring out what to say, and shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. The girl looked distressed about something, but she didn't want to point her hand at Denton, "...I mean, well, it was really no one's fault" there, enough.

Kaika chuckled. Of course Willow will defend him. Just as much as Kaika would defend Kazi. "But you weren't here from the start" she said, still a bit nicer than expected.

"Only if Paris passes out." He looked at the Slytherin Captain again. She looks like she's getting ready to erupt like a volcano!

"Be nice to Willow, Kaika. So you're saying that its no one's fault that Paris is mad. But why does she look like she wants to pass out or claw someone's eyes out?" Vindictus now walked over to Paris and Dominic. "Paris. Breathe. Dominic. Apologize and help me look in the cupboards for the Headmaster."

Willow's eyes shifted to Lockhart, and then her eyebrows jerked up at her. She was laughing - well, not laughing, it had been more like a chuckle, but still.

So what was that supposed mean? That he was the one to blame?

Fixing her expression, and making sure it was civil enough, she shrugged her shoulders lightly at her. "If you say so." It wasn't her problem, after all. And if Dominic Denton had done something Greenwood, well, Willow couldn't really blame him; the girl was annoying. "Sure thing, sir." If he wanted to wait until Greenwood passed out, that wasn't her problem.

Because she has anger issues, Professor Vindictus, and she needs help. Don't you think she should be in St. Mungo's? I sure do.

That's the reply Willow wanted to give as an answer to the man's question, but she was afraid it would get her in trouble. There was absolutely no need to get on Max's bad side. "What happened to Headmaster Bontecou, sir?" Why would they look for him on the cupboards?

Thank Merlin Vindictus didn't show up early, she might have gotten detention for being all mean to Dominic, then.

"Yes, clearly, it's no one's fault the way she reacted, though, Dominic could be the main reason of the girl's outburst, but I don't know why" she shrugged, that she didn't know.

But Kaika smiled, was Professor V dismissing Dominic into another place? Oh, goody! This was just brilliant. Now, Dominic had to leave, no?

She shook her head. She wasn't alright at all. The towel was cutting off her oxygen and she couldn't breath. And they were just standing there looking at her like she was crazy! No one was going to help her!


"I," pant. "Breathe." pant. She clawed at the towel trying to loosen it. Her head was swimming and the room was looking wobbly to her. "Towel," she panted her face going red. They were just standing there, watching her get the life squeezed out of her little body.

If she could catch her breath her and Willow would be in the dueling arena right now going toe to toe. She had learned a few new things over the summer. That girl needed to be taken down a few pegs.


She did not glare at Willow because she was the competition. She could care less who was up there in the sky when she was playing. She just hated the very air Willow breathed. "Help," she told them.