LouAnn followed Mr. Masterson's line of vision, knowing that he was searching the tree for the place she'd put the ornament. She stayed quiet while he observed the spot, hoping that he'd approve and give her the green light to hang the rest of the ornaments. Excellently done? LouAnn smiled, nodded, then began rummaging through the rest of the box. She pulled out a rather shiny ball and circled the tree once more, looking for the perfect spot for it, too.

One the other side of the tree, LouAnn frowned when the groundskeeper commented on her last name. Had Purple really been her last name, she'd have been offended at how he talked of it. Instead of answering directly, she just made a little "hmm" sound. "Nope, never heard the last name Masterson before...'til now."

When a flash went off, LouAnn wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion then poked her head out from behind the tree. That was when she saw Abby Wright standing there with her camera from Muggle Studies class. "Oh, hey, Abby! How ya doing?" she asked. "Thanks for taking our picture!"

"No problem. I hope it turns out. I'm not a very good photographer." Abby puts her camera away and looks at the tree. "I'm doing fine. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It doesn't seem like it should be Christmas already."

"Sure thing," Iliana said, peering into the same box as he. 'Ooo those are perfect!' she thought. "I'll just take these over to MY Group now, if that's alright." (Her group being Cela, Raiden & Kiri of course) "You know, since they're standing so close to the Gryffindor table and all," she added with a little wink. "So if you're done with my wand now..." she whispered, holding her hand out expectantly.
Iliana looked over her shoulder when she heard her name; her hand still lying palm up in the air. "Hey Abby!" she said brightly, waving her over. "We'd love some help."

"Yeah, it's amazing," Copernicus peered into the box with great interest, even sending a few ornaments to some of the upper branches. Hmm... the tree needed something.

"Professor, can we add some candles lit with the bluebell fire? They won't burn, and it might be really pretty."

Abby smiles and walks up to where Copernicus is decoration. "And don't forget the fairies. Silver oned would look lovely on the Slytherin and Ravenclaw trees, and gold is perfect for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." Abby watches Copernicus direct the bulbs to each branch. "And snow... lots of enchanged snow...." Abby can be such a child when it comes to Christmas.

Oh..hmm, well, his tact seemed to be somewhere else today.

"I didn't mean it like that," he defended gently, "I was merely making a point...really badly." He laughed as he started to use Iliana's wand to direct some of the ornaments to high up areas. "Purple is a lovely surname," he finally added, meaning it and hoping it would make amends.

Candles? With bluebell fire? "I like that idea, Copernicus," Constantine nodded. "I think you're right...it would look really nice. Why don't you go ahead and put those up?"

Chris had been wandering the castle, part patroling halls and part looking for his friends when he saw a few students carrying in Christmas Trees into the Great Hall. As he came closer he saw that Professor Morgan and Mister Masterson were having a few students help out with the decorations.

The Prefect smiled happily. He loved Christmas time and wanted to know if they needed anymore help. Chris walked down the low aisle between the tables, smiling at Cela, LouAnn, Cope, and the others that he knew as he went. He stopped where Masterson was instructing them and smiled happily. "Hello there Mister Masterson how are you? The Great Hall looks wonderful so far, would you like anymore help?" he said as he looked around at the massive tree nearby.

"Oh, okay." Celandine answered cheerfully and with Kiri's help, moved the tree to the Slytherin table. Raiden and Kiri WERE slythies after all.

"Trust the pot." Cela repeated doubtfully. She was soooo going to put a few charms out just in case.

Bouncing to the staff table, JD was so excited! He wanted to string all that Christmas stuff all over the school. Santa's coming! he thought excitedly.

Having not met any house elves, he still thoroughly believed, they were Santa's elves...

LouAnn gave Abby a reassuring look. "Oh, I'm sure it will. I'm sure you took a great photo," she said, talking to Abby as she continued to circle the tree. When she finally found what she considered the perfect spot, she retrieved her wand and directed the little ornament right to the branch she needed it to go. "Yeah, my first year here at Hogwarts is just flying by," she remarked. "You staying here for Christmas?"

LouAnn stopped when Cope asked about adding some bluebell flames to the tree. She looked thoughtful for a moment then she leaned in close to Cope to whisper her question. "Cope, what are bluebell flames?" she asked. "Are they the flames that supposedly help defeat a Devil's Snare?" LouAnn thought she'd heard of them, but she'd never conjured any. "If he lets us, will you...show me how?"

LouAnn laughed a little then gave the groundskeeper a playful look. "Silly, Mr. Masterson. I know that," she joked. She didn't honestly feel like the man would ever say anything to hurt her on purpose. Besides, it wasn't like Purple was really her last name. "If you think my name is unusual, you should hear my mum's name. It's Lavender, so...Lavender Purple," she said, with a laugh. "Oh, my whole family is named with an L, too. I'm named after my dad, Antonio. His full name's Luis Antonio, though."

A second later, she'd redirected her attention back to Cope, who'd just been given the green light to conjure bluebell flames. She stood still and looked at him, watching and waiting for him to get to conjuring. This she wanted to see!

Having been looking around for something to do during her free time, Ainsley had heard they were looking for help decorating the Great Hall for the upcoming holiday. something the Gryffindor girl was happy to assist in, especially since it kept her distracted from the way her mind had been acting lately. "Anything I can help with?" she asked as she came up to the staff table.

Satine hurried down the Great Hall anxious to find something to occupy her time with. As she had come down the staircases, she had heard they were decorating Christmas Trees and the planner/decorator inside of her came out and she headed straight for the Staff Table to offer her assistance.


"Hey, I heard there was a need for Christmas Decoration help....." she said with a resemblance of her old smile shining through the cloudiness from that horrible meeting.....

Constantine turned to look at the little kiddos that came to help decorate the trees. NOW they were cooking with fire! "Excellent," he clapped his hands together. "To make this as simple as possible, what ever house you are in...work on the tree at that house table. There are boxes of colour specific ornaments beside each tree. Of course, if you don't want to work on your house tree, you're more than welcome to work at another tree. Okay? Okay!" He smiled and made a small motion as if shooing them away.

Smiling, Constantine turned back to the staff tree and continued decorating it while listening to LOUANN (XD) talk about her parents. He was levitating a little ornament up to the tree, just as LouAnn mentioned her parents names: Lavender and Antonio...

Lavender and Antonio!? There was the sudden sound of glass smashing as the pretty purple ball crashed on the ground into many pieces. But, he wasn't caring at the moment: he knew those names! But...nooo, it couldn't be possible.

...Could it?

Nodding as Masterson said to go and do their own house's trees. JD bounces his way to the Ravenclaw table.

Having been glancing around, Ainsley turned her attention back to the professor as he clapped and spoke. "Ok," she replied with a nodd before turning and heading over to the Gryffindor table.

Satine nodded and headed towards the Ravenclaw tree...maybe this would help lighten her cloudy mood just in time to hear something shatter...she turned around and looked at the Groundskeeper...."Ummmm...sir...are you okay? she said looking at his startled face..."Would you like some help cleaning up this mess?" she said as she grabbed her wand in case the answer was yes.

"I don't know how to conjure fairies," he shrugged, sending a few more bulbs up the tree. "But I bet you could ask Professor Morgan about finding some."


"Thanks, Professor," Copernicus grinned and levitated all the candles from the box. Most of them were still intact and their white wax shined dully in the light of the Great Hall. They'd be really lovely all blue and glowy.

He dropped half in front of Louann. "First, we'll light them, and then we'll levitate them into place in the branches. Use a temporary sticking charm to fix them in place, but if they tip, they won't burn or spill wax or anything."

He froze as the bulbs spilled, shattering on the floor. WHOOPS? Did he do that? With a glance, Cope could tell that Masterson had someone dropped things all over the floor. "Professor?"

"No I'm definitely going home. It's the only time of the year I get to spend three whole days with my parents. I get their undivided attention. No meetings, no emergencies, they are all mine." Abby knows she makes her parents sound terrible, but sometimes they are. Their busy schedules mean Abby rarely gets any time with them.

Abby jumps when she hears the crashing sound. She's still a little jumpy. Abby is relieved to see Mr. Masterson had dropped and ornament. She laughs. "Well, it wouldn't be Christmas if you didn't break some ornaments."

Abby watches Copernicus levitate the flame up to the limbs. "You have such a steady hand. I think I might remember the charm for fairies although I think I only know how to change their color. I'll ask Professor Morgan is she has any. Do you think you could show me how to do the flame. Can't have Ravenclaw as the only house tree lite.

With a little sparkle in her eyes, LouAnn kept watch on the ornament she was currently levitating. When it was safe and secure on the branch she'd directed it to, she turned to fish another our of the box. She pulled a pretty purple and silver swirly-type ornament out and held it before her eyes while she watched it twist and turn. At the sound of a loud crash, LouAnn jumped, thinking maybe she'd twisted and turned that ornament right out of her hand. She started to tear up and apologize over and over again when she realized that purple and silver ornament was still in her hand.

It was Mr. Masterson who'd dropped his ornament! With a puzzled expression on her face, LouAnn turned towards him. "You okay, sir? ...and here I thought it'd be me causing the day's disaster," she joked. With a wave of her wand a quick "Reparo," the ornament was as good as new. She scooped it up and handed it back to him. "Slippery little suckers, huh?"

LouAnn half heard what Cope had instructed her to do. He'd said something about lighting and levitating and sticking. He, too, was a little concerned about the groundskeeper and his slippery little hands. Instead of replying to Cope right away, she continued to hold out the ornament and wait to see if everything was alright.

Constantine's mind was working a mile at minute, as if he was trying to make a connection between the two names and LOUANN. He KNEW she looked familiar...but he never remembered his cousin having the last name "Purple". It was just...absurd.

"Yes," he answered back, finally making eye contact with the students. "Oh..oh, thank you, LouAnn." He held out his hands for the ornament, taking it from her and into his. He couldn't help but stare for a second (creepy, I know), but...good heavens, she even looked like him!

"You're welcome," she cheerfully said. She started to whirl back around to start in on decorated the tree again when she realized that the groundskeeper was pretty much staring at her. He acted surprised about something...whatever that could be. She wrinkled her eyebrows at him, gave him a strange look, then turned around. When she was sure he wasn't looking, she mouthed the words "Ohhhkay..."

"Alright, Cope, let's get started on these flames of your's," she said, holding out her wand. "Erm...you...go ahead and...get started. I'll watch for a moment...then I'll start." There. That was safer. LouAnn attempting something without having a good example could definitely be dangerous. As she waited for him to begin, she turned back around to Mr. Masterson. She knew he didn't mean any harm by looking at her like he'd just seen a ghost. She probably just reminded him of an old school friend or something. She suddenly felt guilty for giving him such a strange look, so she smiled at him before turning back to Cope.

Constantine shook his head and pretended to be busy looking for more ornaments to put up. This...this was crazy. Yes, it was. And now it was going to BOTHER him like he wouldn't believe! Deciding to push it to the back of his mind, he went back to levitating ornaments onto the tree, trying not to lose concentration again. He would ask more about it later...he didn't want to look weirder than he had to be.

Abigail walked into the great hall wondering what else she could take a picture of. She hadn’t been very creative, unless you included Henry the snowman, but that wasn’t her fault she just wasn’t a creative person.

Looking up at the staff table she noticed that some people were decorating Christmas trees ‘Perfect I can just take a picture of that and then I’ll be done...I wonder if they’ll let me help decorated.’

Quickly she made her way up to the staff table and stopped at a tree being decorated by Gryffindor girl and a man who she recognised as the groundskeeper. “Hi, do you mind if I take a photo of you guys decorating the tree? I promise I’ll help once I’m done!”

When it appeared that the groundskeeper was no longer going to give her strange looks, LouAnn proceeded to dig through a few more boxes in search for a really interesting ornament. This was a task that actually proved itself to be difficult, as all of the ornaments looked to be special in their very own way. A little shimmer caught LouAnn's eyes, and she reached for the object that'd caused it. After a little bit of moving around, she pulled out a pretty fairy, complete with shimmery wings and a little glittery wand.

She was about to start circling the tree once again, when some Hufflepuff girl approached and asked to take a picture. "Oh, hey there! Sure thing!" she said, answering for both herself and Mr. Masterson. She edged over next to the groundskeeper and put arm around his shoulders. She had to stand on her tiptoes a little, but she managed to make it work. She held up her fairy ornament, grinned widely, and waited for the picture to be taken.

Pulling her camera out of her bag she lifting it up to her eye and took a picture of the Gryffindor girl and the groundskeeper as they posed in front of the partly decorated tree. “Thank you. Do you need help with the decorating?” That had been that last picture she needed so she had the time to help.