"Why are you doing that?"she looked up at him.

Who is he?!

Jane was worried about Christian. She didn't know why that memory was that 'painful' to him. What did he do?

"That's not a memory Jane. He's trying to get into my head. That guy from Diagon Alley that says he's my Dad." Christian was scared. He didn't know what to do.

If he could get inside Christian's head, he could make out where he was. And he was with Jane, on the sofa, in the Room of Requirements, behind the weird tapestry, on the seventh floor. She didn't move. For all they know, he's already outside waiting, to pull Christian away from Jane, forever, for whatever his reason was.

She stared at Christian. She'd never seen him scared before. She wrapped her arms around him, kissed his forehead. She had just the idea. She took his hand and got them off the chair and started running for the door.

Christian ran behind her his face was paler than usual and he was shaking. His head was starting to hurt as his father was trying harder and harder to get inside his head.

It was important that Irial feel comfortable in the Room of Requirement, and she deliberatly attempted to make the general atmosphere of the place feel like their home. Caitlin smiled and felt accomplished that he had those feelings about the place she created for them.

As he opened his arms to her, Caitlin went to them without hesitation, and held herself securely against his embrace. Soon enough ... he might not want to ever look at her again. Her eyes slowly closed at the touch of his lips on her forehead. It was then that she realized how much she'd missed Irial. Of course it was no question that Caitlin was lost without him ... but being here alone with him. Hearing his voice. His touch. The sense of security she felt with him. She truly needed Irial in order to exist.

But would he still want her after this conversation?

Caitlin slowly moved out of Irial's embrace, took his hand, and lead them to the couch infront of the fireplace. After sitting silent for a moment, wringing her hands in her lap, she finally found the courage to look up into his eyes.

They held so much myster still ... Irial's eyes. Especially now that they were darker. Caitlin was staring, not speaking, and she knew it fully well. Try as she might she couldn't come up with the right form to say what she needed to say.

So it all just ... sort of blurted out.

"Travis ... thinks he betrayed you because ... because something happened between us while you were away."

Yikes. That was extremely short and to the point, and Caitlin winced slightly after the fact.

Irial let her lead him to the couch and he sat down beside her, his eyes gazing into hers. He waited patiently as she spoke. Just one sentence. But that was all he needed to hear.

His blood ran cold as he heard the words. Something...happened? Between Travis and Caitlin? His mouth got all cottony, and he couldn't speak. So he looked away. His fists were clenched until his knuckles were white.

Suddenly, Irial stood up and walked over to the far corner of the room. He refused to look at her, fearing the worst. Was this why he was feeling so sick?

"What exactly..happened between you two?" he murmured.

In all honesty, Caitlin half expected Irial to walk out of the Room of Requirement when he left his spot on the couch to walk to the opposite side of the room. In the corner no less; he wouldn't even look out the windows.

That wasn't a good sign.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Caitlin stood up and slowly walked toward him, still reminding herself taking to keep a fair distance just in case.

"We ... we were spent a lot of time at my house in Galway. Just the two of us. All our other friends were too preocupied with their lives; Mel and Nico ... Melinda ... and Travis and I seemed to ... better understand each other." Irial would know what that meant, so no need to go further on the matter.

It was getting harder to breathe with every passing second as Caitlin exhaled another deep breath very slowly. "We became ... close ... Travis and I," she began in the quietest voice one could speak. "He told me that he ... cares for me. More than a friend would."

She took another couple steps forward. "I started to ... to feel the same way ..."

Cue their worst fight ever.

Irial stiffened when he heard what Caitlin said. His back was straight as a board and his knuckles were completely white. He could feel himself growing angrier and angrier by the second.

Travis. The little sneak. He waited until Irial was out of the picture to make his move on Caitlin! They knew! The whole time that he, Irial, was gone, and they...

And Caitlin. She...she felt like more than a friend to him, too. She...she betrayed him too. They both did.

Irial could feel his heart breaking, could feel the irreversible tear between them. With all the courage he could muster, he turned towards Caitlin. She was close to him, too close. "Get away from me," he said quietly, his eyes burning with purple fire. His voice was calm and low, but it sounded threatening all the same.

He backed up, away from her, not wanting to even be near her anymore. Only a few moments ago, and he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms. But now that she revealed what had happened, he didn't want her in his sight anymore.

"Anything else?" he asked, his voice somber and quiet. There was no use in arguing this. She loved someone else. Irial had to accept that. But he couldn't. He wasn't going to take his anger out on her. It wouldn't be worth it.

Caitlin backed away at the words Irial spoke. She could hear the hurt in his voice .. not so much the threatening tone his words took, but the other end of that tone was what echoed most in her ears.

He was hurt, and she knew it. She was the one who caused that hurt, and she will take full responsibility of it.

"Irial stop," she said, her voice still soft, but full of courage. "I'm not going to get away from you, and I'm not going to go anywhere until we spend some time and talk about this," she added taking a deep breath.

"You need to remember that you were the one who left me. I know you said it wouldn't be forever and you'd come back. I believed you, I truly did. But after that amount of time had passed without even a word from Gabriel! How was I supposed to take that? I thought something unthinkable had happened to you ..."

Caitlin paused, tucking her hair behind her ears and walked to the opposite side of the room.

"I slipped inot a very odd depression, Irial," she began again. "I wasn't speaking to anyone. I wasn't aware of what I was doing 90% of the time. The professors at school were concerned about me, and insisted I see the Nurse, but I refused. They eventually told me to go home, and the depression got worse ..."

She let her voice trail away, indicating that there was more to say, but waited to see if Irial would want to hear it.

And he might not want to.

Irial's eyes flashed when he heard her words. "Don't put the blame on me, Caitlin," he hissed, his eyes burning again. "It's not my fault Gabriel couldn't tell you anything. He couldn't tell you anything, because he didn't know anything." He stepped forward, just one step.

"If I could have contacted you, I would," he snarled. "But it's kind of hard when you're kidnapped against your will, and starving to death in a cell made of iron." He didn't want to tell her what had happened to him like this, but it was the only way she could understand.

"Your depression was not my fault either," he said, his voice back down to its low, threatening tone. "I promised you I'd come back. No matter how long it took. I'm starting to think you didn't believe me." He swallowed back the lump in his throat and turned away.

"I don't know what do say, Caitlin. Everything I've done, I've done for you."

Reese, who was pulling Whitney by the hand, wandered down the seventh floor corridor until they came to this big wall. This was it, right? She looked towards Whitney and nodded. She took her hand away from Whitney's hand and started pacing back and forth. I need a room where me and Whit can talked privately... She kept saying this in her head for a few minutes, then when she looked up when the door started to appear. Oooo, yay!

"Come on," she said, taking Whitney's hand and pulling her inside the room. She closed the door behind them and turned around to look at the room. There were two chair and a table that had a...coffee set? She turned to Whitney and asked, "Were you thinking of how much you wanted coffee?" She didn't wait for Whitney to answer, she turned back to face the coffee table and chairs. Oh, well. At least they had something to drink, right? Who doesn't like coffee?

She headed over to one of the chairs and sat down. "Okay, shall we get this show on the road? I really want to tell you something, but I don't want anyone else to know about it," she said, looking back at Whitney. "So, you need to promise me you won't tell anyone."

Whit allowed Reese to pull her all the way from the courtyard to the Room of Requirement. Not that she wanted to go all the way up there. Her legs still hurt for some odd reason but Reese was older and she really wanted to tell her something. 'Eh. Whatever floats her boat.' When Whit thought Reese was thinking about what she wanted the room to be, Whit got a huge craving for coffee. So she thought it enough times for the room to have a table with a coffee pot and everything else that she wanted. Cream. Sugar. Coffee. More coffee. Cups.

When the door appeared, Whit let Reese lead her,once again, into the room itself where there was a nice big table with exactly what she wanted. 'COFFEE!!!!!' she yelled in her head. There was no need for Reese to know she'd added a little something to the room. Until Reese asked her. "Umm.....yes? No wait....no....okay yes. I got thirsty." It wasn't her fault. Reese had been the one to drag her all the way up there.

Whit then sat down across from Reese on one of the pretty blue chairs and while she was talking away about...something, Whit decided she'd prepare herself a mug of coffee. 'Coffee. Cream. LOTS of sugar.' Once she was done stirring it, Whit looked took a sip and looked up at Reese just in time to hear her last sentence. "I promise!" she replied, not really knowing what she was promising. Whit would probably forget everything that happened in that room once they left.

Reese laughed. "I should have known," she said. Whitney loved coffee, like, she possible had an obsession with that stuff. She liked coffee, but if she had a choice over that and butterbeer, she would choose butterbeer. But, that doesn't mean she didn't like coffee. She did, but if she drank too much, she got too hyper. She looked at the cup of coffee on the table. One cup won't hurt. She reached over and poured herself some coffee. She poured some cream in it and even put 2 spoons of sugar in it as well.

She leaned back in her blue chair and took a sip. "So..." She trailed off, once Whitney said she promised she wouldn't tell anyone. Okay, where to start? She took another sip of her coffee and looked around the room. It was sort of a plain room, except for the chairs and coffee and coffee table. The walls were blue; a VERY pretty blue color. She liked it. She looked back at Whitney and sighed. She really didn't know how to start the conversation off. She sat her cup of coffee back on the table and sat on the end of her chair, not really wanting to sit back and relax.

"There's this guy that I, um... I like him, okay? I've never felt this way before, not even with other guys that I've had a crush on. I never even felt this way when I had that little crush on Em last term," she told Whitney. She ran her fingers through her blond hair and took her eyes off Whitney and just stared at the blue wall. "I don't know even know if this guys likes me back," she added. She looked back at the coffee table and picked her cup of coffee back up and took a sip. She finally leaned back into the blue chair, taking a sip of her coffee every 6 seconds.

"I just want to throw some possibilities out real quickly. Let's say this guy actually does like me back and we do end up going out sometime before I graduate. But, that will probably never happen, since, you know, he probably doesn't even like me. Anyways, if a miracle happens and we do end up going out, what if he turns out to be another Lucas and Jeremy? Where it starts off perfectly and then it all comes crashing down after a few months. Or, what if NOTHING happens. He'll turn out just to be another Emiliano, where it's just a little crush and it doesn't go anywhere. But, Whitney, what if this guy is actually my Prince Charming?" Okay, she REALLY needed to stop reading those muggle fairy tales. "What if this guy is actually Mr. Right? I don't know what to do, Whit. All I know is that I like him," she said. She took another sip of her coffee and now she wished she had some cookies. She really wanted some cookies right now. She looked back at the coffee table and there sat a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

"COOOKIES," Reese said and reached over to grab her some cookies. She sat her cup of coffee on the table and began to eat the cookies. She was now waiting for Whitney to talk now.

Whit was surprised to see Reese pour herself a cup of coffee. The only other person Whit knew at school that liked coffee (just as much as she did) was Xehanna. Other than that, she knew no one who liked coffee; they'd rather have tea. Whit wanted to tell her something but figured it would be best to wait till after she was done talking. Hopefully Reese wouldn't get too hyper and jittery with all of that coffee and sugar she was putting. Even Whit wasn't that bad.

As soon as the first ten words left Reese's mouth Whit had to keep herself from jumping up and down from joy. Whit continued to listen to her friend and found her way too adorable. But she could tell that her friend was, what seemed to be, a little scared. Apparently she'd had a crush on Em too. When that had happened she had no idea but the thought of them two together was way too adorable.

She watched as the girl took more than enough sips of the coffee in her mug. It looked like she was almost out already. They hadn't even been sitting there that long, had they? Whit then listened to the next portion of what Reese had to say. The possibilities. She nodded at all of the right places, understanding how Reese was feeling. Who in the world Lucas and Jeremy was she had absolutely no idea but it was obvious that both of them had hurt Reese before. Once Reese was done talking Whit stood up from her seat, placed the cup down and squealed.EEEEEEEEP!!!! She then gave her a huge hug and let go before she suffocated.

Sitting back down in her seat, Whit titled her head and thought of something to say to everything that was just said. 'Wow.' Whit was extremely happy to see that Reese really really liked someone. "Okay so....first of all....it's obvious that this isn't just a crush. Yes?" If this had been just another crush, Reese wouldn't be over dosing on her coffee. "With these other guys...what were their names? Landford and Jaramiah? You didn't feel this way with them right? I mean,maybe you did but it was after a few months. You haven't known this guy that long....have you?" If she had, then that completely killed what she was going to say next. "It's different with this guy. He needs a name....I'm going to call him Jacob." Just calling him 'this guy' wasn't working for her. "As for Em, like you said, it was just a crush and as I've already said, what you feel for 'Jacob' is obviously not just another crush."

Now for the possibilities. "What you'd really like to know is if Jacob likes you right? Well, first of all, your name is Reese Selena Northway Upstead. It's hard for any guy not to like you, I even bet Cam likes you and just wont admit it. Second of all, you'll have to find out by grabbing the bull by the horns!" Yup. It probably wasn't the best advice but she was only thirteen years old. What more did she want? "There's like a 99.9 to .1 percent chance that Jacob likes you. So...you both need to just...talk. But first of all...how is he around you?" Just as Whit thought she was done talking something else popped up into her head, "If he's super protective over you...that's a good sign." Okay. Now she was done talking. Time for COFFEE. When Whit looked back at the table she saw a tray of cookies. She simply shrugged and stuffed one in her mouth. Boy was she hungry.

Reese finished off her cookie and reached back towards the coffee table for her cup of coffee. She brought the cup back towards her and frowned when she noticed there was no coffee left in it. She didn't remember drinking all that coffee...that fast. Oh, well. One more cup won't hurt anyone, right? Right. She got up from her chair and walked over to the coffee table, so she could easily pour her cup of coffee without spilling it. She picked the coffee decanter and poured the coffee into her cup. Then, she poured some cream and sugar in the cup.

After making herself some more coffee, she went back over to her chair and sat down. She rested her feet on the blue foot stool and then took a sip of her coffee. That's when she heard Whitney's squeal, she took the cup away from her lips and looked at her friend. She stretched her arm, the one holding the coffee, away from her so she didn't spill any when Whitney came over and gave her a hug. "Excited much?" She said, adding grin after she spoke.

Reese raised her eyebrow. It's obvious that this isn't just a crush. Yes? No. It wasn't obvious that this wasn't just a crush. Could it be possible that this WAS just a crush? Like it was with Em. She took another sip of her coffee and looked back down at the cookies on the table. "Okay, whatever you say. But, how do you know this isn't a crush?" She asked Whitney. She took her eyes off the cookies and looked back at her friend. Then, you guessed it, she took another sip of her coffee. Was she just asking to get hyper? Possibly.

Landford and Jaramiah? This is why she loved her friends. "Haha. Actually, their names our Jeremy and Lucas," she corrected her friend. She sighed when she was asked if she felt this way with them. Truth was, no, she didn't. "The only reason I broke up with Lucas and Jeremy was, they pretty much ditched me. Like, after I started dating them, I never saw them. I believe if you have a relationship with someone, you should see them. And, I never saw them," she told Whitney. She was actually glad that everything with those two losers was over with. She didn't need them.

"I've known this guy's name for a few months before we met. Cale told me his name. But, I actually met the guy on the train ride here. So, I guess you would say I haven't known him for long," Reese said. She took the last sip of her coffee and looked down at the empty cup. Gosh. Coffee comes and goes, doesn't it? Or, maybe she was just drinking it too fast. She stood back up and went back over to the coffee decanter and poured herself more coffee. Like she did with the last two cups, she put some cream and sugar in the cup. She went back to her chair and once again, sat down.

Jacob? Why kind of name was THAT?! She shook her head. "How about Jack? That name is much better than Jacob," she said, then sat back in her chair and waited for Whitney to stop talking. She took another sip of her coffee. Here we go, again. How did Whitney know this wasn't just a crush? "How do you know that, Whit? How do you know this isn't just a crush that won't last long?" She asked.

Reese shook her head. "You know, it might help to know if Jack likes me. I mean, why would I waste my time with someone who doesn't like me back? Like...Cam. That's a good example right there," she said with a grin. She took another sip of her coffee and listened to Whitney say that she was Reese Selena and that it was hard for guys not to like her. Pssssh, yeah right. "Let's grab reality and take it for a ride, shall we? There ARE guys out there that DON'T like me, okay? Like I said before, Cam would make a perfect example for this," she told her friend. She raised her eyebrow at those percentages Whitney gave her. That was a good chance of Jack liking her, wasn't it? "Talk to him? First of all, I'm NOT telling him I like him. What is he doesn't like me? That would ruin our friendship. Second of all...er...okay, there isn't a second of all," she added.

She took her eyes of Whitney and brought them back to the plate of cookies on the table. She started to reach over and grab some, but stopped. No, one cookie was enough. This coffee was already going to make her hyper, she didn't need anymore sweets. How is he around you? She opened her mouth to talk, but quickly shut it. She thought back at the few times her and Jack met. "Well, there was that time on the train where we got into a really good conversation about NASA. I liked that. Then, there was that weiiiiird day in the corridor, where he just said he had to go, then he left. Well, he left after he said he needed to feed his frog to his cat. But, actually, he corrected himself. He said he had to feed his frog AND his cat," she said. "Then, we were partners in Care of Magical Creature." She shrugged. She was sure there weren't ANY signs that Jack had given her to make her believe he liked her. Also, she really didn't tell Whitney about how he acted around her. She pretty much just told her about the times they met. Oops.

"Oh, I actually have to run off for just a bit girls...ladies," she said, addressing Professor Bunbury on that last note. "I have the most adorable pair of heels that I just have to show you, Lyra. Well, show all of you, really." Anna stood up and re-smoothed her dress out. As she took a few steps away, her chair vanished, seeing that she no longer needed it. Whoa. This place really stayed on top of things, didn't it? "Anyway, I'll just be a bit. One of you can catch me up when I get back." Before either girl---or the professor---had time to reply, Anna had dashed out the room and back to her Common Room.

'Wooooow.' Whit looked down into her cup and saw that it was still half full. Why in the world was Reese drinking all of her coffee? Not that she was stingy or anything, just....she wasn't gonna get to have any coffee at the rate Reese was going. Maybe Whit could just slowly pull the coffee pot towards her and not let Reese have any more. 'Noooo.' That would be mean. Whit would just have to wait and make sure she didn't over do it.

She tilted her head and watched Reese prepare herself yet another cup of coffee. Yes, it was good coffee,no doubt about it,what coffee wasn't good? But too much coffee was bad for a person. And it turns your teeth yellow. No one wants yellow teeth. Well....hobo's didn't seem to mind yellow teeth but they didn't really have a chance to have WHITE teeth,did they? Okay, enough hobo talk in her head, this was a serious conversation. "Um...not really? Why would you think I'm excited silly?" she asked, trying to be subtle. "I just...saw a mouse?" she said and quickly looked away.

Whit had always wanted a mouse. Not a rat,those were just gross, but a mouse seemed like fun. It'd have to be white though. Those were the cute ones. The other mice were just.....not cute? Suddenly Whit heard a tiny squeaking noise in one of the corners of the room. "Oops." she said allowed. All of that mouse thinking must've made the room have one appear. At least she now knew the room was reliable? Then Whit thought about Reese. What if Reese was afraid of mice and decided to kill it? 'NO! She can't kill Mr.Mousey!!!' Whit wouldn't let her. She would just have to start talking before Reese heard the squeaking.

Whit let out a sigh and thought. "Cause...just cause." she replied quickly. Okay,that was a bad answer but she needed to say something. Mr. Mousey had to LIVE. "Oh wait,no,I have real reason." She did have a real reason....when she'd first said it. What was her reason though?!?! Maybe she could just move one to the next subject and answer that question later? Yeah,that's what she'd do. Reese wouldn't mind. 'Just keep talking.' "I wish there was a window in here." she said aloud, the room didn't have any sunlight and it was depressing. Whit looked behind Reese's head and saw a window there. She put her cup down and went to look out the window. 'Soooo high up.' she thought and felt butterflies in her stomach. She'd forgotten about her fear of heights. She slowly walked back to her chair and hugged her cup of coffee,calming herself down by taking sips. She looked up at Reese and saw her drinking more coffee. Whit simply cleared her throat,hoping that'd get her to stop drinking so much.

Jeremy and Lucas. UGH. "Yeah....Landford and Jaramiah sound SOOOOO much better. No need for their real names. Their losers." she said and smiled hugely at Reese. She must've had a good reason for not being with them now so they were losers, it was that simple. "Well that's just rude! No one ditches my best friend. Where can I find these guys?" she asked. Whit just wanted to have a little itty bitty talk with them. No harm done. Who cares if these relationships were a long time ago. They were meanie heads.

Squeak,squeak. Whit kept telling herself to focus on Reese. 'Shush Mr.Mousey!!!' This couldn't be good.

Reese mentioned Cale. 'CAAAAAAAALE!' Whit missed him. True, they hadn't spoken much, and they obviously hadn't been as close as he and Reese had been but that didn't mean she didn't miss him. She missed Anna too,but she was still somewhere in the school. Whit made a mental note to go find her once she was done here. "Okay,so you've known this guy...not that long. That has to tell you something. Unless you're the kind of person who likes every guy she meets after talking to them for a few minutes? I'm sure you aren't though." One of Whit's old friends was like that, she liked almost every guy she'd talk to but then after a few weeks she'd get tired of them. Reese was NOT like that.

Now Reese was getting ANOTHER cup of coffee. "OHMAHGOSH woman!" she heard a voice blurt out, then she realized it was hers. Whit's cheeks turned a dark shade of red and she tried to hide inside her chair. It didn't work. "I'm sorry....I...and.....want a cookie?" she asked, hoping Reese wasn't upset. Reese could drink all of the coffee she wanted, she could even have what's left in her cup. Just as long as she didn't get mad at her, Whit was okay.

"Umm....sure? I'm guessing that's his name?" Either that or Reese really like the name Jack. Reese and Jack. That sounded cute. 'JACESE!' Whit was like a genius, putting the two names together and what not. She raised her eyebrow and watched Reese drink her coffee,making sure not to say anything this time. Now was her chance to answer that question again. At least this time Whit knew what to say. "I know this isn't 'just a crush' because you don't feel the way you did with Em or Landford or Jaramiah." she replied and smirked to herself. Those names made her laugh now. "You don't attack a coffee decanter when it's just a crush, do you?" Whit was pretty sure she didn't. If she did then....Reese was crazy. "Do you feel like this is just a crush that wont last long?"

"But Cam might like you. You just don't know. I mean....it's not like you two have dated or anything right?" Whit couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Reese and Cam going out. First of all, Reese was too old for him and second of all it would just be crazy nonsense. "Why don't you ask this Jack guy if he fancies you?" Fancies. That was a word she'd never used before but she liked the sound of it. 'Reese fancies Jack!' Now Whit was glaring at Reese. "Name one guy who you know for sure doesn't or hasn't ever liked you." That would be hard for her. "Oh,and whole,half,and step siblings don't count." she added, thinking of Jake.

Reese wasn't the easiest person to work with. "Fine,don't tell him you like him just...hint at it?" That was a good plan too. Surely this guy could tell if and when a girl liked him...or fancied him. "Oh! And you don't have to tell him you like him by asking him if he likes you either!" She could just say she was doing a survey or something. How many guys like Reese Upstead? It was a fool proof plan. "Seriously though, you don't think he likes you?"

She couldn't help but giggle when she saw Reese glance at the tray of cookies. Why couldn't she eat those instead of drinking all of the coffee? Whit shrugged and grabbed a couple of cookies to eat. If Reese wasn't going to eat them,then she would. While trying not to attack the cookies with her mouth, Whit listened to how Jack acted around Reese. She nodded and mhmm'd but there wasn't much to it. "Um....yeah. You wanna tell me how he acts around you now?" she asked and smiled. Whit wasn't dumb, Reese had only told her how they'd met...not how he acted. "Or you can think about it on your own....and...not tell me and then....I dunno."

Reese was now getting a little jumpy. She was about to move onto her fourth cup of coffee, but then she got this REALLY big craving for some chocolate frogs. She sighed. How was she going to get some chocolate frogs right now? She took the last sip of her coffee and looked back at the table and, to her surprise, there sat a ton of boxes of chocolate frogs. She still wasn’t getting use to this room giving you want you want. Wait…this room DID give you what you wanted, right? RIIIIGHT. What if you wanted your homework done? Will it do your homework for you? Er, probably not.

She got back out of her seat and walked back to the table and poured herself more coffee in her cup from the coffee decanter. She poured some cream in the cup along with three, not two, spoons of sugar. She grabbed herself 5 2 boxes of chocolate frogs and then bounced back over to her seat. She really shouldn’t drink anymore coffee, but it was so GOOD! Yet, her tummy was getting a little bit full now. Maybe she’ll finish up this cup of coffee and her chocolate frogs and then she’ll be done. Maybe…

She took a sip of her coffee as Whitney explained how she wasn’t excited. Yeahyeahyeahyeah. Was she REALLY suppose to believe that? She shook her head and then took her cup away from her lips. “You ARE excited that I like someone, admit it?” She said. She would cross her arms right now if she wasn’t holding a cup of coffee in her hands. “A mouse…bwahahaha-” Okay, scary weird evil laugh. Note to self: NEVER do another evil laugh, ever EVER again. “Yeah right, there can’t be a mouse in here,” she added, then took another sip of her coffee.

Reese blinked a few times. Was that a squeaky noise she heard? She shook her head and quickly took another sip of her coffee. She was hearing things. She sat her cup on the ground beside her chair and before she opened her first chocolate frog, she made sure that the cup on the ground wasn’t going to fall over. It would be bad if she would have to tell the Room of Requirement that she needed a mop to clean up a little spill. What if she asks the room to clean up the spill for her, would it?

Opps. She raised her eyebrow at Whitney. “Hmm?” She said as she opened the box that the chocolate frog was in. Just as she got the box opened, the chocolate frog hoped out of the box and started hoping around the room. Okay, no, she wasn’t going to eat that now. It was unsanitary. She frowned slightly and looked back down at her lap. She picked up the other box and started to open it, but stopped. She didn’t get to see the card that was in the other box. She picked the other box off the ground, she threw the box down on the ground after the frog hopped off, and looked at the card that was inside it. Dumbledore? Agaiiiiiiin. Gosh darnit. She threw the box back on the ground, along with the card, and started opening the other box.

She shook her head, for the third time…maybe even for the fifth time. She lost track. Whitney didn’t have a reason to why she thought this wasn’t just a crush. She believed it was just a crush. But…half of her wanted to believe it wasn’t just a crush, just like what Whitney was saying. She sighed. Why was this so complicated? She finally finished opening the box and before this frog could hop off, she grabbed it and stuffed it in her mouth. She was about to throw the box on the floor with the other box, but then she remembered the card. She started to look at the card, but then decided it was probably another Dumbledore. So, without looking at it, she threw it on the ground with the other box.

“So…you don’t have a reason to why you think this is just a crush. Interesting,” Reese said after she got done eating her chocolate frog. She reached back down on the floor and picked up her coffee. She took a sip of it and then sat the coffee back down on the ground. “Did you just say you wished there was a wind-” Before she could finish, Whitney was walking over to a window that just appeared there. Oh, wow. Really, she still couldn’t get use to this room. It was so weird wanting something, and then it just appeared.

She got up from her chair and walked over to the window Whitney was just at. She looked down at the grounds and smiled. It was a lovely sight from up here. She wished she could stay in this room for the rest of the day, but she had classes to attend later. Sigh. She turned away from the window and headed back over to her seat. “Well, now we have a nice view of the grounds. So, how about the weather we’re having? Did you see how sunny it was outside? That’s…awesome,” She said. Hehe. Now Reese was feeling a tiny bit hyper.

She sat back down in her seat and started to reach for her cup of coffee. Then, she heard Whitney say that Lucas and Jeremy Landford and Jaramiah were losers. Was that girl reading her mind? She looked back at her, after she grabbed her cup of coffee, of course. “I don’t think I need people like Jeremy and Lucas- um- sorry, Landford and Jaramiah. They just weren’t the kind of guy I was looking for,” she said. She wanted a guy that was sweet and would be there for her when she needed him. And, he defiantly, needed to like her back.

Reese shrugged when Whitney asked where they were. “I know Luc- Landford is still here, but I haven’t seen him since the feast. I mean, I didn’t talk to him at the feast, I just saw him there. I spent most of my time at the Gryffindor table with Anna and Jack,” she told Whitney. She took another sip of her coffee and looked around the room. She wanted to go back to the window, but she didn’t want to get up right now. “As for Jereme- Jaramiah, I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him since last year…I think,” she added.

She looked back at Whitney when she heard that squeaking noise. Forget not wanting to get up. She wanted to know where that squeaking noise was coming from. She stood up from her chair and sat her cup on the coffee table. “Do you hear that noise?” She asked her friend, as she started to wonder around the room. That’s when she spotted this white thing in the corner of the room. OHMYGOSH. It was a white tarantula. RUNRUNRUN! She started backing up and then looked at Whitney. “There’s a white tarantula in this room,” she exclaimed, but then it dawned on her that tarantulas couldn’t be white. She raised her eyebrow and started over to this white thing in the corner.

“Oh, look, Whit. It’s a little white mouse,” Reese said with a smile. She picked the little mouse up and headed back over to her friend. She sat back down in her seat and looked down at the mouse. It was so cute! They should name it. “Hey, let’s name this mouse Whigalima. Okay?” She wasn’t sure if she was going to keep this mouse as a pet, since she already had enough pets. Maybe Whitney would keep it. That would be cool.

She laughed. “I promise that is going to be my last cup of coffee,” she told Whitney. She pointed to the cup at the table and then looked at her friend. There was nothing to worry about. She looked back down at the mouse and waited for Whitney to say it was alright to call her Lima. She loved that name, but she couldn’t believe Lima officially changed her name to Lima. She liked the name Whigalima. It was unique. VERY unique indeed.

She nodded. “His name is Jack Fritzera. He’s a 5th year Gryffindor,” she said. She didn’t really care if Whitney knew the guy’s name. It wasn’t like she was going to go off hunting down this guy, right? Whitney wouldn’t do that, would she? Now she was regretting telling her the guy’s name. She really hoped that Whitney wouldn't go hunt down Jack and tell her that she liked him. Ohhhh, how badly that would end out. Jack would probably end up being freaked out and then….yeah. “You’re right. I didn’t feel this way with the other three guys,” she told her. She blushed slightly when Whitney said that you don’t attack a coffee decanter when it’s just a crush. Did she really ATTACK it? She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what to think, to be honest,” she added.

“About that…” Reese said, trailing off. She couldn’t believe Whitney didn’t know about the whole incident with Cam. She would have thought Lima would have told her or something. “Hehe, yeaaah. I kissed Cam at the beach this summer. We ended up going out and then he broke up with me. The End. Story time over,” she told her friend with a smile. Ask him? Did Whitney just say to ask Jack if he fancies her? Fancy, haha, that was a weird word. Anyways, NO! “I’m not going to tell him that. It might end badly. What if he doesn’t like me back? Everything would just get awkward,” she said with a nod.

Name one man? Oh. She had a man that she KNEW didn’t like her. “Jack Moiser,” she quickly said. She leaned back in her chair and looked down at the mouse in her hands. She looked back up at Whitney when she went on about hinting to Jack that she liked him. “I’m bad at hinting stuff. I mean, if I DO hint something, I did it on accident,” she pointed out. “But, I guess I could try hinting that I like him.” She shrugged her shoulders. She shook her head when Whitney asked if she really thought that Jack didn’t like her. “I don’t think he does. I really don’t,” she told her.

“I…er…he acts normal around me,” Reese said. “I mean, I don’t know how to explain how he acts around me, seriously.” She took her eyes off Whitney again and looked back down at the little mouse in her hands. She didn't know what else to say. She wished she could write Lima, she really really did. Lima could help her with this, more than Whitney could. Lima wouldn't tell her to just go off and tell the guy she liked him, right? She looked up and now there was a little table sitting in front of her with a piece of parchment, quill, and ink on it. She looked at Whitney then back at the table in front of her.

"Who said I was blaming you for anything!?" she snapped in return. "I'm only trying to explain what I was feeling, which is what you've always encouraged me to do." Her eyes narrowed. "Isn't it?"

Caitlin folded her arms across her chest, and held herself together. "Not my fault you were kidnapped against your will." she added rather harshly. Sure it was a chance she was taking, using this tone of voice with him, but if he was going to put words into her mouth, then she could put words into his, couldn't she?

Though she could only imagine how painful it would have been ... with the iron. Caitlin didn't suffer nearly as much as he would.

Heaving a heavy sigh as he turned away from her, she turned her back to him and walked back to the fireplace. "Of course I believed you, Irial. In the depths of my sould I beleived that you would come back. You always kept your promises, so why wouldn't I have that trust in you?"

"But if you don't know what to say," Caitlin added as she turned around to him. "Then you don't know what to say. I never once doubted that everything you did was for me. Was for us. Even when we had trouble in Galway. When I found out what happened with you when you were young. You never wanted me to find out, but I did. And I told you that I would always Love you, didn't I? It didn't matter to me what happened to you or what your past was."

Irial stiffened as she spoke to him like that. Surely she wouldn't have done in the past. This must have been because of Travis. He did not look at her, nor did he reply to anything that she said. He'd been gone, and that was that. There was nothing either of them could do to change it. No point in dwelling over the fact.

But Travis...both of them betrayed him. And she, Caitlin, even though she said she loved Irial with all her heart, she still ran to Travis's arms when Irial was gone. Just the thought of the two of them together made his blood curdle.

Taking a deep breath, Irial reined in his temper and exhaled slowly. There was no reason to blow up. Both were too hotheaded to back down, and it would be a neverending argument. So Irial decided to step up and be a man and not fight, like he yearned to do.

"Tell me what you want, Caitlin," he said suddenly, after minutes of silence. He did not turn to her, did not want to look at her. His voice was quiet, broken. "If you want me to leave you so you can be with...him, tell me now." He took another deep breath.

"I do not want someone who is in love with another person. Especially if that person is my best friend."

Judging from the way he was trying to get his composure in order, Caitlin knew her tone of voice wasn't impressing Irial. Another thing they'd have to discuss. Caitlin wasn't going to be the meak female in this relationship. She was always taught to stand up for herself, and ever since Irial ... she'd lost a lot of that, if not all of it.

She looked up when he spoke after that long break of silence. What did she want? Irial was actually putting the ball in her court. Something he never did with anyone. The hurt in his voice still echoed through her ears and it in turn hurt her.

"Do you honestly think I could live without you?" she asked softly, walking towards him. "Irial, you changed my life. For all eternity. I've never been so happy with the direction I've been going in."

Caitlin was standing next to him now, studying his profile as he still wouldn't look at her.

"I'm in love with you Irial. I made a mistake. Everyone makes them ... even us." The care I have for Travis is nothing compared to the passion and admiration I feel for you."

"I want you."

Caitlin paused for a moment then. "The question is ... do you want me?"

Irial turned and looked at Caitlin, finally. His eyes were dim and he just gazed at her for the longest time. To be honest, he had no idea what he wanted. Of course he wanted Caitlin...but this..this was irreversible. How could he...? He knew one thing. He was never going to speak to Travis again. When Irial was still around, he'd seen how Travis looked at her, but he never said anything. Never thought anything of it.

Now though, he'd never speak to Travis again. He swallowed hard and finally looked at Caitlin. His blood ran cold when he looked at her. He could see nothing but her in the arms of another person.

"I don't know what I want, Caitlin," he murmured. He was never one for cheating. He hated the very thought of it. "I want you..but how do I know you won't do this again? You say the care you have is nothing compared to the passion and admiration..." That wasn't what he wanted to hear. He loved her with all his heart..and yet...to do this...it made him believe she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

He was so confused. Hurt, torn, confused. So many emotions tumbled through him.

Vanessa smiled as she watched the loverly Professor Bunbury leviate the cups over to them, and when one neared her, she held it carefully in her hands. Leaning a little bit back on her chaise Vannie sighed, yes this was definetly relaxing.
But mere seconds later she felt a tapping on her ankles, and looked down to see the little pot that Professor Bunbury had showed them, knocking it's serving spoon against her ankles. Giggling, she leaned forward and allowed the little pot to jump onto her empty hand, and spoon 2 spoons of sugar into her tea, before setting it back down on the floor, so that it could hop off to one of the other girls.

Turning her head towards Lyra, Vanessa took a sip of the tea as she listened to the girl. "Oh...I do agree." Vanessa nodded, smiling. Some of the girls at Hogwarts really needed to understand the do's and don'ts. And who better to teach them than Professor Bunbury? "I mean....we need girls to follow in our footsteps, considering that three of us are graduating this year."

Oh..Anna was going? Vanessa again turned her head towards Anna as she spoke. Maybe the girl had some head girl stuff that she needed to be doing?
"Oh....erm...Bye Anna."

When Whit looked at the table she saw chocolate frogs, next to the tray of cookies,next to the coffee. Not to her surprise, Reese was getting all jittery and had more than enough chocolate frogs in her grip. Every time Whit wanted to warn her not to eat or drink so much, she felt bad because Reese must have been super nervous so she just kept her mouth shut. Reese had a fast metabolism...right?

"Fine." There. That was her way of admitting she was extremely excited. People liked other people, so why was she so excited about Reese liking someone? She didn't even know this Jack guy. "I wish I knew Jack though." she mumbled and grabbed another cookie from the tray. True, Whit hadn't been there for the train ride in order to meet him but that didn't mean she couldn't meet him now that she was there. That would be her new goal. Whitney Ashford would meet Jack....whatever his last name is. Then Reese didn't believe her when she'd said there was a mouse there. 'Mr. Mousey is real.'

Whit did have a reason. It just took her a minute to remember what that reason was. Was it her fault that Reese was distracting her with all of this coffee drinking? Speaking of coffee, she got up from her seat and made herself another cup of coffee, realizing that hers had finally finished. Maybe from now on Whit could just ask the room to refill her cup without her having to get up. Sure, that made her sound lazy, but it was a lot easier for Reese if she was going to get more chocolate frogs.

Now Reese was talking about the...weather "Oh...yeah....lovely?" Whit replied, still freaked out by how high up the room was. Whit would have to remind herself that when in the new Slytherin "common room" she'd have to make sure to not look out any windows. The dungeons were sooo much better. Whitney could really tell that all of that caffeine and sugar was getting to Reese. She seemed a little jumpy....or...jumpier than usual. "I'd much rather look at nature from the first floor though." That way you could...be close up and stuff?

Whit was kind of relieved when Reese said those two guys, Landford and Jaramiah, weren't the kind of guys she was looking for. If they went off and ditched her then they weren't the right guys for anyone. Reese actually told Whitney where one of the guys was. 'Yaaaaay!' Maybe now Whit could go find Landford and tell him how not to treat Reese....without her finding out,of course.

Then Reese saw the....tarantula? There was no white spider in that room. If there was, Whit would've left a LONG time ago. Plus, spiders don't squeak. So, Whit couldn't help but giggle at Reese. She was scared of Mr. Mousey. But he was soooo cute! It seemed impossible. Then again, she thought it was a tarantula, and if Whit had thought the same thing she'd be freaking out at well. Whit stopped laughing.Whit heard Reese say something about naming the mouse Whigalima. After what Lima used to be. "But, Lima's not a guy." she said aloud. Mr. Mousey meant that he was a guy. That was the mouses name. No changing it. MR. MOUSEY. He was a manly mouse too. "Mr. Mousey is a nice name, yes?" she asked and smiled like a five year old.

Whit was very pleased when Reese said that was her last cup. "Good. Cause, you look a little....jittery?" Whit had never seen anyone drink so much coffee. What if the coffee hadn't even settled in Reese's stomach yet? Would she get worse?

"Jack Fritzera." she repeated. Okay so: Whitney Ashford would meet Jack Fritzera. Once they left this room,depending on what time it was, she was going to try tracking this guy down. Nicely, of course. She just wanted to talk to him...about...."stuff." Reese then agreed with her. 'YAY!' Now they were getting somewhere. When she saw Reese blush she laughed and said, "I was over exaggerating, don't worry." If she'd actually attacked it, all of the coffee would be on the floor.

"WHAT?!?!?!" When in the world did that happen? Didn't Cam and Reese...not like each other or something? As far as Whit new the only girl Cam would or could ever like was Anna. No offense to Reese of course. She took a deep breath and ignored the fact that she must have been the last person to find out about it. "Well then there ya go, Cam likes or did like you, it still counts."

Jack Moiser. Whit smirked and said, "Jack Moiser is not a man, he's like...twelve years old?" True, she was only thirteen but still. At least she was a teenager already! "Oh well then....maybe you've hinted already? And now he knows and.....he's trying to hint to you that he likes you but...he's a guy?" That was no help whatsoever. Reese was afraid that if he found out he would be too freaked to talk to her. Well, he still talks to her so she was good! Assuming he knew she liked him.

"Oookay." What exactly was normal? Whit shrugged because she was out of ideas. She'd only had one boyfriend and the only problems she ever had with that was that she got really jealous. End of story. And the relationship itself sorta just happened so she didn't get a chance to talk to Reese or Lima or anyone about it. Then, a piece of parchment, a quill and ink appeared on the table. "Umm....did you want to write something?" Whit asked a little confused. She hadn't been thinking about writing anything, had she?

I wish I knew Jack though. Reese was glad Whitney didn’t know Jack. Actually, she was MEGA excited she didn’t know Jack. She picked her cup back off the floor and took the last sip of her coffee. There. That was it. No more coffee for Reese. She reached over and sat the cup on the coffee table to show Whitney that was all she was going to drink. But, what if she got thirsty? What would she drink? She thought about how she would like a bottle of water and that’s when a bottle of water appeared on the floor in front of her. Yay! She picked the bottle up and placed it on her lap. Water WAS better than coffee. Wait, WHAT WAS SHE SAYING?! Coffee was better than water. Water was healthier for you.

“I know Lima isn’t a guy,” she said. She looked back down at the little white mouse in her hands. She shook her head when Whitney asked if Mr. Mousey was a nice name. No, way! Plus, this mouse wasn’t even a boy. Right? Right. It was a girl. A GIRL! She took her eyes off the little mouse and looked back at Whitney. “This mouse is a girl, so Mr. Mousey can’t be her name. Her name is going to be Whigalima,” she told her. She stood up and walked over to Whitney and placed the mouse in her lap. “You can keep Whigalima. I’m not sure if my mom nor stepdad would like me bringing home a pet mouse,” she added with a smile. She walked back over to her seat and sat back down.

Reese nearly jumped back out of her seat when Whitney said ‘WHAT?!?!?!” “I…uh…yeah,” she said, not really wanting to repeat herself. She and Cam dated. What was the big deal? Okay, so, she hated Cam and Cam hated her but that didn’t…okay, yeah, maybe that’s why Whitney was shocked. The last people you would expect in a relationship were Cam and Reese. “Actually, he didn’t like me even in the relationship. So, that DOESN’T count,” she told her.

“So? Jack Moiser still counts,” she said. She glanced back at the 3 boxes of chocolate frogs that were sitting on the coffee table. She bit her lip and looked back at Whitney. She wasn’t going to eat anymore. She was probably already going to get fat from the 4 cups of coffee, the cookie, and two chocolate frogs she already had. “I don’t think I’ve hinted anything to him. I mean, no, I haven’t hinted anything to him,” Well, she didn’t think she has. She shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what else to say.
She shook her head. “I was just thinking about writing…no one. I wasn’t going to write anyone,” she said. She looked back at Whitney and sighed.

“I’m going to go now,” she told Whitney as she stood up from her chair. She placed her unopened bottle of water on the counter with all the other snacks. “I’ll see you later. And thanks for, you know, giving me advice and stuff,” she added and then walked out of the room.