Anna was aware that Reese was talking to her, but she didn't dare look up just yet. She felt so weak and so fragile, like everything had crumbled down on her all at once and left her with no strength at all. It was only after Reese had drug her out into the Entrance Hall, that Anna finally glanced up and started to speak. "I...I just want to go owl Cale soon, Reese. I think I'll feel better once I talk to him...even if it's just in a letter," she said, reaching up to dry her tears. "Everything was so easy when he was around. Sure, we had our ups and downs, but I knew that when he was around, I always had somebody nearby to keep me safe and secure from anything and everything. I guess I never realized how very much I relied on him." Anna dried the rest of her tears and took a few deep breaths.

"Oh, Reese. I'm so sorry. You must think I'm a mess right now. No telling what the rest of Gryffindor, and anyone else who may have seen me cry, thinks right about now," she continued. "I'm not really sure what triggered this either. I was fine one moment, then when that Jack kid started in on me, I just crumbled. I'm the Head Girl, though. I have to be strong. I'm not allowed to cry, am I?" Anna really hoped none of the professors had seen her in such a state. They'd probably won't to snatch her badge right off her chest and give it to someone else...someone who wouldn't cry so easily. That was just it, though. Anna normally didn't cry so easily. She needed to get herself together. She walked a few steps down the hallway, taking deep breaths as she strolled along. "I'm okay, really. I'm okay..."

Reese managed to get Anna out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall without any trouble what-so-ever. She walked over to the corner of the hall and released Anna's hand. She turned around to face her and stood there as Anna told her that she wanted to write Cale. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. "I agree with you," she said, nodding her head. Heck, if it made Anna feel better, she would give Anna the stuff to help her write her letter. Paper, quills, ink, etc. She looked down at her feet when Anna went on about Cale being there for Anna. Anna being secure from everything and anything. Oh, how she missed Cale so much. She felt tears forming in her eyes and she looked back up at Anna. "I miss Cale so much," she told her, trying so hard to hold back her tears.

She blinked a few times then the tears started strolling down her face. She wiped them away as she continued to listen to Anna. She shook her head when Anna said she probably thought she was a mess right now. "I can never think you’re a mess, Anna," she reassured her, trying to put on a smile. It was so hard to smile when you’re crying, but she sort of managed it. "That Jack kid shouldn't have freaked out on us," she added, wiping some more tears away, "Anna, dear, you’re allowed to cry. Everyone is allowed to cry. Head Girl or no Head Girl, we all have feelings and we all have our emotional breakdowns. It just human." She took her eyes off Anna for a second and looked around the empty Entrance Hall, then back to Anna when she said she was okay. She gave her a smile, but didn't reply.

The feast had ended only moments after Anna and Reese had stormed out of the Great Hall, so Jack really shouldn't have been surprised as he entered the Entrance Hall and saw Anna and Reese standing there. Anna was still crying, predictably, and he stood there awkwardly by the doors trying to figure out whether he should go over there or not. He had definitely made things bad in this situation, but really, he was sure he had just said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Anna had freaked over nothing, so maybe she wasn't really that mad at HIM.

Blushing and walking over awkwardly, he cleared his throat to announce his presence. "Erm--hi Anna. Reese. Are--are you ok? I'm sorry about snapping on you before, uh...I didn't mean to make you cry!"

Reese turned away from Anna when she heard footsteps from across the room. She turned around and when she noticed Jack, she crossed her arms. He was suppose to stay at the Gryffindor table. That's what she told him, but she guess he couldn't understand the proper meaning over 'You. Stay. Here.' She slightly rolled her eyes at the thought of it and then watched as Jack got closer to her and Anna. Then, he started to apologize.

She uncrossed her arms and pointed her right hand index finger at him. "YOU-" she exclaimed, poking her finger into his stomach, "YOU should know better than to freak out on a girl who is under a lot of stress. Just- look what you did to Anna." She used her other index finger on her other hand to point at Anna. Anna was Head Girl and Jack should know she was under stress and stuff. Geez, guys these days. "You should just be ashamed of yourself, mister Fritzera. Very ashamed," she added, poking his stomach one more time.

Jack had expected this. Women always stood up for their friends--it was really annoying, actually. He jumped as she poked him in the stomach and he frowned. "Hey! That hurts! Look, I came over to apologize for making Anna all...teary and stuff," he told her, looking at Anna once more. "I'm sorry about those little kids in there and for talking about astronomy so much--I didn't mean to make you cry, honest!" he said.

"If it helps, I don't even know what I did, so I obviously can't have done anything on purpose," he added, blushing some more. He frowned and put his hands on his hips, glaring at Reese before he pushed her hand away. Jack Fritzera did not appreciate being poked. It hurrrrrrrt.

Reese just stood there and listened to Jack talk. Well, at least he was apologizing. It just got her a little mad that he flipped out on her friend which caused Anna to go into an emotional breakdown. "Sorry, I didn't mean to poke you that hard," she said, looking up at Jack. She never noticed how tall he was. He's got to bed, what, six feet? She was only 5'8. She took her eyes of Jack and looked at Anna, waiting to see what she had to say.

"Don't even know what you did? You flipped out on her and me, that's what you did. Wasn't there just a way to talk to us without- you know- flailing yo arms and all that stuff?" She asked, looking back at Jack. It might sound like she was mad at Jack, but she honestly wasn't. She just didn't like it that he freak out on her and Anna and, like she said before, made Anna go into a emotional breakdown.

When Jack pushed her hand away, she sat both of her hand on her hips. "I'm not mad at you Jack," she said, hoping Jack knew that already, "I'm just- I don't like seeing Anna all upset, that's it." She sighed and took her attention off of Jack and put it right back on Anna.

"You think, Reese? You think I could write to him?" Anna asked, visions of hope spreading across her face. As soon as the hope appeared, though, it vanished just as quickly. "It's just...if I write to him, I know that he'll realize how upset I am. I won't intend to let on that I've had a rough start, but he'll figure it out. He always does. Do you know what would happen if he found out?" Anna imagined several scenarios would unfold in that situation. Caleb would either A, write her back and go on and on about how it would only be a year, then she could come back home...yada, yada, yadal or B, apparate over here and get her and whisk her far, far away back home with him. Psh. Yeah, right. It'd be all about tough love, all the way. He'd go with option A, for sure. "No, I'm not going to write him just yet. Maybe when I've settled down a little."

Anna had nearly settled herself down when Reese started to cry. That was the triggering moment that caused Anna to burst out into sobs, as well. "Oh, Reese!" Anna exclaimed, wrapping her friend tight into a hug. I'm not a mess...we're a mess. Promise me you'll be right by my side all school year." Anna took a few deep breaths, then wiped the tears from her eyes. "Come on. Let's go find a bathroom and wash our faces off."

Anna turned around and made way for the door, only to come face to face with that miserable excuse of an Astronomy freak. Anna closed her eyes, willing herself to settle down and apologize to poor Jack. Yes, she needed to apologize to him. Jack had really done nothing at all. He'd only, unfortunately, triggered thoughts of Caleb. Hopefully Jack would understand that girls, especially seventeen-year-old girls who were engaged and approaching marriage, were very emotional at time. When she heard him apologize, she opened her eyes and smiled warmly at him, her eyes shining and not as dark and distant as they were before. "No...I'm sorry, Jack. I should have snapped at you. You didn't do anything," she assured. "I just...I miss Caleb, and when everything seemed to be coming down on me at once, I suddenly realized how very much I'd come to rely on him. I miss him a lot, Jack. Will you forgive me?"

Jack decided to try and handle the situation with Reese before turning to Anna. The truthful answer to her question no--he really COULDN'T have said anything to Reese or Anna without yelling it, because at that moment, time had been of the essence and he had needed to stop Reese from talking that very second. Of course, he couldn't exactly go telling Reese all of this with Anna around. He'd have to sit down and talk to her by himself, when Anna wasn't nearby, and explain the whole bodyguard situation with her. Just a day into the job, Jack was already sick of it--one day into term and Anna was already a blubbering, overemotional mess. He was gonna have to resign from his post. Yup. Definitely.

"Yeah, you're right," he said with a sigh. Another thing he learned from Jasmine--girls were ALWAYS right. "I shouldn't have run at you like a madman," he told her with a soft smile, trying to lighten the mood. "In fact, do you think we can get together later and talk some more? I promise it won't be all about meteors or Mars or anything," he added. He needed to explain himself as soon as possible--and confirm that he was NOT going to be a big bodyguard over Reese. Apparently, that had been the idea that Cale had planted in her head and he wanted it gone, fast.

He then turned to Anna and smiled at her. AHA! He had been right--there HAD been an underlying reason for her emotional outburst. She missed Cale. Understandable. He WAS her fiance, after all, and quite easily one of the coolest guys in school. But it worried Jack to see her so worked up just a day into term--how on Earth could she survive the whole year? Oh lord, they were going to have a MESSED up prefect this term! The HORROR! "It's ok, that's understandable. Of course you miss him. And I'm sure he misses you," he said. He nodded and grinned at her. "And yeah, I'll forgive you. Just--warn me next time before you start crying, ok?" he asked with a small chuckle. He was only half-serious. Crying girls still startled him.

Reese nodded towards Anna. "Of course you can write Cale. As far as I'm concerned, nobody's going to stop you. Right?" She said, smiling slightly as Anna's expression lightened up. As soon as Anna's expression faded, her smile faded with it. She stood there as Anna talk about Cale finding out she was upset if she wrote him. "But,what's the worse that can happen if you write Cale and he finds out your upset? It's not like he's going to get mad at you for being upset. He'll probably make you feel better, way better than I can," she told Anna. She wasn't that great at comforting people, so Cale probably could do a way better job than herself. "So, I think you should-" She stopped mid sentence when Anna changed her mind and said she didn't want to write Cale, "Okay, never mind. You don't have to write Cale if you don't want to."

She wiped the few last remaining tears she had and looked at Anna. "I just- I just didn't think I would-" She stopped talking when Anna started to burst into tears. Oh, please, no more tears. She wrapped her arms around Anna when she hugged her. Seeing Anna cry once more, made Reese start crying again. "I'm not a mess, I'm just... geez, what am I saying? I am a mess," she confessed, "Anna, I will promise that I'll be right by your side this whole term." She let go of Anna and looked her friend in the eye. "Anna, I don't know if you know this, but you've been more of a friend to me than anyone else. And,I just want to thank you," she told her. "Thank you for always being there for me and...just, I thank you for everything you've done for me. I couldn't have asked for a better friend." Yes, that little statement was kind of random, but it felt like the right moment to say that. When Anna mentioned going to the bathroom and washing their faces off, she said, "Okay."

She looked back at Jack when he started talking. She let out a soft giggle when he said he shouldn't have ran up to them like a madman. Bwahaha. That's a good way of describing what he looked like a little bit ago. He looked like a madman. "It's fine, Jack. And, I'm sorry for poking you in the stomach and getting onto you about making Anna upset," she told him with a smile. Oh, look. Everyone if apologizing to everyone. How sweet. "Of course we can meet up later," she said with a smile. She frowned slightly when he said they weren't going to talk about the stars and stuff. "Oh, come on. I like talking about the moon and stars and all the snazzy stuff. But, anyways, when and where do you want to meet up at?" She asked him.

Reluctantly, Anna returned Jack's smile. How lucky she was that the kid would even acknowledge her right now, much less smile at her. He seemed to be the forgiving kind, though, and Anna was suddenly grateful Caleb had once made friends with Jack. After all, in some odd sort of way, Jack kind of filled a little gap Caleb had left behind when he's graduated. Anna could easily see the kid being the one she ran to when troubles came her way. He wasn't---and never would be---Caleb, but he'd do for now.

"Yeah," Anna answered, nodding at Jack. She sure did miss Caleb. Every day, even. She and Caleb had talked before she'd left, though, and he'd encouraged her to do her best throughout her seventh year, graduate with the highest marks she was able to get, and then come right back home to him. She imagined she'd be thinking back to that conversation quite often throughout the year. "I do miss him...yeah. Thanks for erm, understanding and all. Yeah..."

It was a little harder to talk to Jack than Anna had imagined, though. She assumed it had something to do with the fact that she'd just yelled at him and told him to stay away from her. In time, when Anna had forgotten all about her little show back there at the table, she'd be able to sit and talk with Jack once again. "I'll try to warn you, but...those moments sometimes don't lend themselves to remember a warning label, you know. We're alright, though, Jack. We're cool."

Anna suddenly laughed when she realized how confused she was making poor Reese. "Oh, Reese, how do you put up with me?" Anna asked, shaking her head at her own actions. "Told ya I'm a mess. Anyway, I think I'll wait a day or two and see if Caleb will owl me first. He promised he would once he thought I'd had time to settle in. I told him I'd be settled in right away, so he maybe he took that hint." Anna couldn't wait for that one special moment when Phineas would come tap-tap-tapping on her windowsill, bringing a letter from Caleb her way. Absentmindedly, Anna turned towards the nearest window, wishing that moment would come right here, right now. It didn't, though, of course. "If you hear from him, let me know as soon as possible, 'kay?"

A few additional tears trickled down Anna's cheek when Reese started saying how well she thought of her. They were probably driving poor Jack insane. Boys couldn't handle sappy situations the way girls could. Girls thrived in sappy situations, whereas boys ran far, far away from them. "I feel the same way, Reese. Besides Caleb, you're my very best friend. I know I can always count on you to be there for me when I need you the most," she said, hugging Reese tighter. "Reese...I miss him so much..."

Anna sighed and released Reese from the hug. She better get a move on. She had things to do. Standing here and sobbing all day was just getting her nowhere. "Alright, I've got to get out of here. I have a few things to do. You two behave, and I'll talk to you later, alright?" Anna said. She smoothed out her skirt and dried a few stray tears off her cheeks. Best to do that now and not let the rest of the school see all these tears. When she thought her appearance was acceptable, Anna smiled at both Reese and Jack, then headed out the Entrance Hall.

Mystic entered the Entrance Hall from the dungeons. She is on her way to the owlery. While she is here she thought she would look at the house points hourglasses to see how Slytherin is doing in points.

Iris ran up the stairs, glad to be able to hold Lunas basket normally. She ran up the staris two at a time, still laughing about Aaron falling up the stairs, "oh I didn't expect you to fall then Aaron!" she said, laughing

Aaron ran up the stairs closely behind Iris. Guess who forgot about the disappearing stair? "Oooow!!!" Aaron said hitting the marble. He picked himself up, "Alright, I guess I owe you some sweets." Aaron looked towards the great hall. "Let's go."

Iris turned around to see Aaron on the floor. again. "Aaron, how do you manage to fall twice!?" she said laughing, as Luna looked out of her basked to see what all the new fuss was. "yay! sweets!" Iris giggled.

Laura ran up the steps into the entrance hall sfter some Slytherins. She was shivering, and her teeth were chattering. Wiping some of the sludge that had resided in the water off of her face, she turned around to see if anyone had a clue what had just happened.
She turned to see if Jule had followed her out of the Dungeons.

Jule saw Laura, freezing and drenched in her robes. "here. Take mine. I'll carry your wet one upstairs." she said and handed her the robe.

Laura shrugged off her cloak and handed it to Jule. "Th-th-th-thank you..." she stammered, taking Jules cloak and putting it on. Oh, she was beginning to warm up. Managing a smile, Laura said "Wow. What a night." And then she burst into peals of laughter.

Jule laughed. "yup. Well let's get you dried off. I don't want you getting sick now."

Laura stopped laughing and began to realise that, even with the change of Cloak, she was still shivering.

"Yupp," he choaked. "May-ay-bee I'll g-g-oo to the nurse's of-f-fice." she stammered. "Get som-something for this." Laura indicated her shaking body.

"alright. Do you want me to come with you?"

Unbelievable... All that worrying about how this year I won't have time to breathe and I find myself bored! Yes, bored on the first week of term! Rachel made her way down from the Ravenclaw tower towards the grounds, intent on going to explore the grounds a bit. Yes, she was a fifth year and she knew the grounds better than anyone but it was still nice just to walk around - smell the flowers - dip her toes into the lake...

What in the world?! Rachel frowned as she saw a cluster of first years huddled amongst themselves, drenched in water and looking as if they had just taken a midnight swim in the center of the lake. Walking up to a Ravenclaw she recognized from the common room, she took out her wand o that she could assist in case help was needed and proceeded to find out what was going on.

"Laura Flamel? Are you quite all right? What happened to you?" she asked kindly, and bent down so that they were talking eye-to-eye. Not that she wasn't worried about the girl but she was a bit more interested right now with what had led to this apparent fiasco... Oh no! Had the lake flooded? But that wasn't possible - they hadn't had any rain yet! Rachel's brain worked a mile a minute as she came up with more scenarios, each one more outrageous than the last.

"If you want," Laura stammered to Jule. "But you should go and get something to eat, or go back to the common room."

Then she turned to see the Ravenclaw Prefect Rachel crouching beside her. "Well, I don't know exactly. I went down to the dungeon corridor and it was flooded! At first, I thought it was Moaning Myrtle, but I think it had something to do with the lake, it was all murky, and sludge."

Just the memory of it made her shiver unncontrollably. Laura didn't mind water, when it was clean...and warm....

"It was horrible. The Head Boy and Girl where down there, and they where trying to evacuate all of the Slytherins. Anna told me and a Hufflepuff who was down there to get out. I don't know what happened after we left..." Laura hung her head. She felt a bit ashamed that she had left without helping, but what could she have done?

Looking down, Laura noticed a puddle of water forming around her socks. Socks?? Then she remembered that she has tied her shoes around her neck to enable her to swim. Laura pulled them off her neck and put then back on. Little had Laura noticed that Rachel was the second person to have called her Lauren, her and Cy, the Hufflepuff boy who had been acting like almost drowning in the dungeons was an everyday thing for him. The thought almost made her smile...

Rachel listened as the girl talked, her face that of complete shock. "Flood?! In the dungeons?! Myrtle?" she repeated, her mouth hanging open as she tried to process the information. Right, right - flood, dungeons, Anna and Clifford... Ok.

"You mean there are more people down there? Wait - what about the Slytherins? And the potions lab, and- oh no, Professor Kazimeriz is down there!" Rachel listed, already straightening up to go see for herself and perhaps lend a hand. About to take off, she stopped and looked back at the young girl, pity welling up inside her as she saw her shaking. Ok fine - I'll help her then I'll go and assist the others... Hope it's not too late!

Lifting her wand, she focused her mind on the spell she had learned from one of the advanced Charms books she had borrowed from the library and waved her wand over the girl in a complicated motion. She eyed her with baited breath and sighed with relief as she saw the girl's clothes dry up in a matter of seconds. "Go to the hospital wing if you're feeling a little down - if not, make your way to the common room and get some sleep. Don't worry about not sticking around - you did what was right and saved yourself," Rachel told Laura kindly then turned and sprinted off towards the dungeons, racking her brain for a spell that could keep her dry.

Laura stopped shivering as Rachel waved her wand over her. Looking down, she saw that, miraculously, she was completely dry!

"Thank you!" she said. Then she watched as Rachel wnt down the steps into the dungeons. Hoping that she didn't get hurt down there, Laua turned around and made her way to the common room.