Evan nodded at Marie and gave a smile when she said she'd be there for him. Aww... after Lyra, she was definately his best friend. Maybe he liked her more than Lyra, for she didn't slap him or anything. Lyra had left too... sniff. It looked like every girl he cared last year had left the school and that was another reason he cared Marie so much, he didn't want to lose her. When Marie reached over to hug him, his heart again sped up immediately. He hugged her back this time though instead of freezing and acting so weird. He leaned his head on her shoulder and this made him feel much better. Also it helped that truth voice gain more power inside him. This isn't friendship. You so like her much.

When Marie ended the hug, he wished it lasted a little bit longer. But then she told the story, and he froze. Oh shoot. Ooooh shoot. Iris knew the incident now too. This was no good. Well, he knew she would learn it eventually and he wasn't optimistic about it at all. He sighed. How things got to this stage? Closing his eyes, he said "Beau--Iris," There was a hint of sarcasm and amusement in his voice as he pronounced her first name after like a year. "has instant sheet or some sort. It's like... you write who to and your message and it instantly forwards the message." And this meant Fallon had read it and knew the issue. If it wasn't for Marie, he'd have sworn. He still hummed to himself, that was inevitable.

His eyes snapped open at Violet's comments to Marie, he was something more to some others. Though before he could think over that, Marie said something which got all of his hopes up suddenly: After that I didn't want to talk to her anymore. So that meant she didn't want to hear him with another girl? Could it... did it...? But no, she was a friend. A friend, that was it. Let's not struggle anymore Evan, shall we? We both know she is not your friend, not anymore. He noticed he couldn't argue with that fact. He didn't want this to happen, what if Marie left too? He couldn't stand that, he was sure. Lyra and Fallon's memories were still too vivid. He would never have guessed any of them would leave, but they did. And even though he had moved on, he still missed them.

He looked at Marie in the eye while she was telling the last part. ...You seemed so interested in me that it didn't matter... He stayed silent for a while, eyes closed after that sentence. Then, his 'brave' side took over the control slightly... He opened his eyes. "Maybe... Violet's right..." he slowly said and waited for her reaction. There was a good possibility she could take it generally, but he relied on her wisdom and hoped she'd get it the way he meant... because he didn't think he could be any open than that. His heartbeats were too fast again with a little stress and nervousness about how she might react. He didn't think she liked him the way he felt for her, but still he had a little hope... if she didn't like her, he could easily stay friends. He still wasn't sure that this was a good idea anyway.

Marie felt her heart race when Evan laid his head on her shoulder. She couldn't believe it, he didn't pull away, he actually returned her hug this time. She didn't want to let go if him but knew she couldn't sit there all night just holding him, she had to tell him her story. She wasn't quite prepared for what he had to say once she got done telling him everything.

"Umm, she has parchment that instantly sends a message, you don't have to use an owl to send it?" Marie had never heard of anything like this before. "So that means if that was a letter to Fallon that Violet put on the table, she already has it?" Marie all of a sudden felt a little paniced. She didn't know why though, it wasn't like they did anything wrong, they were just friends for now. Evan was allowed to have friends, like he said he wasn't married to Fallon, they broke up when she left.

Hearing his last statement, Marie felt like she was in a dream, it sounded too good to be true. She couldn't stop smiling as she kept hearing what he said, Maybe Violet was right. Whoa did Evan just admit that he really was thinking about Marie like Violet had accused? That he really did like her as more than a frend. Her heart started to race frantically, she was sure he was going to hear it and think something was wrong with her. Looking at him all she could get out of her mouth was "Really?" It was as if her brain had stopped working and she couldn't think straight. Finally snapping out of it a little she reached over grabbed his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. "Me too" she whispered hoping he understood what she meant because right now she wasn't able to get any other words to come out of her mouth. She closed her eyes and thought about what a great day this was turning out to be after all.

Evan nodded at her question. Fallon had already had it, though still hadn't sent a reply back. Maybe Beaumont and Violet couldn't find him to tell him the reply. He didn't know and care, he was determined to stay here as long as possible. Here was cool and dark. And no one would guess he was here, right? Even Marie couldn't, she found here by chance.

Was that a smile? From the little light coming outside and his butterflies, he assumed so. Oh God... a smile appeared on his face too. So that meant she didn't take it generally and even better--she liked him back? Was here so hot or something... Evan's face was burning. He hoped the darkness would hide his red face because every minute he realised another detail that would show Marie liked her back, he got--

What? Just really? And that was it? Wait wait--she held his hand--oh it felt so warm and good--and she was leaning on to lean her head on his shoulder. Okay now thi place was really hot. Though he was glad she did so, now she wouldn't see his colour. He wondered if she could feel the artery on his neck that was reflecting his heart which beat something 200 beats per minute. And then those two words that sounded like a lullaby came: Me too.

She liked him back. She liked him back! He took a deep relief breath. And for one second he thought he had destroyed all of their friendship. But she liked him back. So what did this make them now, sweethearts? What about Violet? What about Beaumont? Well, they should realise he couldn't live in sorrow for Fallon until rest of his life. He was pretty sure she didn't either. So he and Marie should live their 'liking much' freely... but somehow he didn't feel right, he didn't want to give Violet the satisfaction of being right from the beginning. He didn't want to think about these now though. They had plenty of time, that is, if Marie didn't leave like Lyra, Lyddia and Fallon too. Not to mention they hadn't named this new situation yet. Maybe she thought dating at 12 was too early. Better to have her idea.

Pulling away--he was totally his normal colour now, though there was still a hint of red around his cheeks, he looked at her eyes. "What this makes us now?" he asked with a little smile, leaving the decision to her while also hoping she would want to be sweethearts. Because acting friendly would be too awkward now.

Marie was feeling like nothing could go wrong now as she sat there with Evan. They had finally admitted to each other that they felt more than just friendship between them. For a few minutes she was able to totally forget about what had happened with Violet earlier in the common room. She was happy now and nothing could take that away from her. That is until Evan pulled away from her.

What, he pulled away, really. Oh no, did this mean she had assumed too much? Maybe he didn't like her the way she thought. She looked down so he wouldn't be able to see the sadness on her face. Almost as suddenly as she looked down she looked back up when she heard him ask what this made them now. Her heart started to race again and she could feel her face heating up. 'Is he asking what I think he's asking?' she thought. Was he trying to ask her if she was his girlfriend now? She wanted to jump up and say YES but she couldn't move. Finally finding some words she said "I think this makes us more than friends now, what do you think?" She sat there with a nervous smile waiting to hear what he would say. She really hoped he thought the same thing but she would not be convinced of it until she heard him say it. She did not want to assume things with him anymore. From now on she would just ask him what she wanted to know instead of hoping for him to read her mind.

As much as Evan was happy with their confession, he was also under stress now. What if she didn't want to date? What if she'd think he got over Fallon too early either. And then there was Violet issue, he didn't want her to know this new situation. Not yet, at least, now that she'd written to Fallon. Maybe he should go out, just to find out if Fallon had replied yet. By the way, why had Marie still not--

Oh... Yay! His pretty face cracked into another smile of relief. She wanted to be his girlfriend. Noticing that maybe he should talk too rather than just smiling, he said "I thought so too." He then bit his lips. He probably should ask this now, before they went out holding hands. "Um... how about Violet though... and others...?" Like Devilmont, who he guessed to be awfully gossipy. He knew he shouldn't care what other people thought, but still as a teenager, he did.

Marie thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest when Evan said he thought they were more than friends now too. So this meant it was like official, they were now dating, he was her boyfriend. Giving him a hug she said "I was hoping you would say that."

Then the dreaded subject of Violet came up. "Violet? What about her?" Really, did they have to talk about her now, during the happiest moment of her twelve year old life. "What we do is none of her business or anyone else's, they don't need to know anything." She knew that eventually others would figure out that they were dating but for now she was happy just knowing it for herself. Besides, there was no way she was going to give Violet the satisfaction of knowing she was right.

When Marie gave him another hug, Evan felt his heart stopped again. He knew he had to get used to this, they were officially sweethearts now. But he also knew it would never happen that he could get used to this feeling. He was constantly excited around Fallon too, and growing up one age didn't change anything at all.

He gave an apologising look. He didn't want to talk about her too, but they just had to. He nodded at her words. Why they should care about other people's thoughts? But he did. He did care the others even though he tried not to. And he definately didn't want to give Violet that satisfaction, this would only lead her to becoming more know-it-all. Though Marie also said they didn't need to know anything. Exactly. This meant they wouldn't go public, right? "You're right, but you know, everyone's making me and Fallon so much of a deal." He rolled his eyes again. "And I seriously don't want any drama." He knew so well what Devilmont was capable of, and drama was definately included in their talents.

Oh how well she knew everyone was making a big deal about him and Fallon. Well maybe not everyone, just one certain nosy brat she knew of for sure. "You know, eventually everyone will realize that you and Fallon are not dating anymore, then maybe they will learn to be happy for you." For now she hoped that he would be happy just knowing she was there for him and would do whatever it took to make him happy. Even if it meant not letting anyone know he was her boyfriend yet.

She grabbed his hand again and just sat there enjoying her time with him. She knew that eventually they would have to leave this place and go back out and pretend there was nothing going on other than friendship, just not now though, now she was going to enjoy her time alone with him.

"Um Evan, do you still talk to Fallon? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it's just... well...I was wondering what you were going to tell her if she asks about us. That is if we are what Violet told her about when she wrote to her." She didn't want Fallons feelings to be hurt or anything, she just hoped the girl would understand that Evan was moving on with his life, like hopefully she was moving on with hers.

Evan nodded and remained silent at her comments. He just hoped everyone would realise that fact. Violet didn't look like she would, but that was just one person. He was surprised with himself too, but he felt Beaumont was pretty mature to accept that. Wow, maybe there was really going to be truce between them after Fallon's leave. That'd be pointless then though.

His heart leaped again and then calmed down after the first shock. Squeezing her hand, he moved closer and leaned his head on her shoulder again. This place was peaceful and silent. He liked here, and wished he would never have to leave. But sadly, he had to. And it was probably about time.

Oh. He didn't expect this question. Though he still answered it. "Not now, though I have a feeling she'll write to me when she sees Violet's message." He hoped so at least. "And I'll tell her the truth." Though he wouldn't tell a word unless Fallon asked it directly. Uh-uh, he knew better than writing to her himself and telling everything right after Violet's note.

Marie's heart started to race again when Evan moved closer to her and put his head on her shoulder. Would she ever get use to this feeling she had when he was around her? She rested her head on top of his and listened as he talked about what he would say to Fallon.

So he hasn't been talking to her. Well hopefully if she writes to him she won't be yelling at him or trying to make him feel bad like Violet did. 'Huh, he's going to tell her the truth, he's not going to hide it from her?' This made her feel really good knowing that even though they were not going public with their relationship he would still tell Fallon about it. That meant there was no chance of those two getting back together, she wouldn't have to worry about losing him to Fallon later on, or so she hoped. She squeezed his hand and said "Thanks, that means a lot knowing you won't hide us from her." Yes, she had a feeling he was going to be the perfect boyfriend.

Aww. Evan smiled even though he knew Marie couldn't see his face. Why would he hide them from Fallon. Yes he chose to hide their relationship for now, but they'd go public soon. Once Violet came and apologised which didn't look like happening at all. He checked his watch. It was better if they went in the common room. "We should go back in, swee--" Oh noes. Why did he even attempt to pronounce a love word? He failed at those kind of stuff. He blushed from his head to his toes and in an lousy attempt to cover up his idiocy, he quickly got up. He sooo should practise commenting love words in front of mirror before he made fool of himself again. Wonder if she heard it too, though even slightest whispers could be heard here for it was too silent. Die Evan die.

Crud, she didn't want to get up and leave the peace and quiet of this place. She wanted to stay here forever with Evan but knew that was not possible. Getting up when he said they should go back in she noticed his cheeks seemed a little flushed. 'Awww, he's so cute when he blushes' she thought totally not catching that he stumbled over his words. "Yeah, I guess we should get back." Knowing they were going back out where everyone else was she couldn't resist giving him one last hug. She knew once they were out of this passage it would be back to acting like they were just friends again. She put her arms around his waist and gently squeezed him while resting her head on his shoulder. 'Yes, this feels perfect' she thought as she stood there holding him.

Evan was really glad Marie didn't notice his stumbling. Even if she did, she didn't comment on it and that relieved him. He nodded and was about to get out when she hugged him once again. His heart gave another shriek of nervousness and with a little pause of surprise, he hugged his back. This moment was perfect. He wished he could last it longer, but he knew they should go back now. "This is the perfect moment." he muttered in her ear, and then not removing her arm from his waist, started to make his way to the exit.

Standing there hugging him it was as if time was standing still. This day was turning out to be the perfect day, even if they did have to go back to the real world now. "Yes it is, this is a moment I will never forget" she whispered back to him as she slowly walked towards the exit with her arm still around him trying to make the moment last as long as she could.

Her lessons were done for the day. Kiri had homework to do, but she chose to ignore it for now - a practice session with her Quidditch team was scheduled for the evening. She would leave her textbooks in the dormitory and exchange them for her uniform before heading out for the Pitch. Maybe have some dinner in in-between.

The dormitory was empty at this time of day, so Kiri just threw her bag onto the bed and grabbed her Quidditch stuff. Normally it was housed in the locker room, but after the last practice session, she'd had to have it cleaned, and as far as she knew, the house-elves didn't do room service in the grounds.

Her hands were full. Holding one of the heavy leather gloves in her mouth, Kiri closed the dormitory door and headed out of the common room. The dungeons were dark as always, filled with about half as many flickering torches as needed, but after five years at Hogwarts, she knew the way, and Professor Kazimeriz was probably allergic to light or something...

She came up to the secret passage. As always, Kiri glanced inside. Ever since it had appeared after the flooding of the school, she'd wondered what it was and where it had led to, but she'd never cared too much to investigate. According to some of the other students, it was blocked up now anyway.

Sniffing the air, Raiden hurried down the dungeon corridor again, having realised that in his hurry to get up to the first floor, he'd forgotten to check one area... that place where he'd met Ivory and Arya and Sabel had cracked his head. Looking worried, he made his way toward the passage-

Only to see Kiri standing at it.

His paw-hands went to his ears.

She was going to SEE HIM. With cat ears, and whiskers, and a TAIL and paw-hands and FUR and... it was bad enough that Jude and Sabel and Kellen had seen him, now Kiri was going to and she would probably laugh...

But he couldn't just stand there. He didn't have time. He had to catch the mouse.

So, hurrying towards her, body pressed against the wall, he tried to act as if nothing was wrong, as if he didn't have ears and a tail and all that, and didn't even pause to say hello to her as he slinked past her into the passage.

Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

No one seemed to be inside. Huh. Kiri had heard that the secret passage, especially among the Hufflepuff and Slytherin students who inhabited the lower regions of the castle, had been appropriated for a purpose similar to that of the old broom cupboard in the entrance hall...

Not today, though, apparently. Well, Valentine's Day was still more than a month away. Kiri turned around to leave. Her jaw was beginning to ache now - the Quidditch glove was designed to shrug off Bludger hits and collisions with other players, so the leather it was made of was pretty heavy and sturdy and not something that was designed to be carried around with one's teeth.

Just as she took her first step, Kiri could hear a shuffling noise coming from the gloom in front of her. It sounded a bit off for some reason, not like the usual rhythm of steps. Maybe the person was carrying something...
No, they were apparently slinking along the wall.

And they turned out to be Raiden!

But before Kiri could say anything, he'd pushed past her into the passage, ignoring her completely. "Whaff..." Kiri managed to get past the glove in her mouth. There had been something really odd about him. She followed him - it wasn't as if he could get past her.

...he was not sneaky enough. Raiden's ears twitched at the sounds of Kiri following him, and he hurried faster down the passageway, his eyes sweeping left and right. The only advantage of turning into a kneazle was the fact that he could see in the dim light; he didn't have to light his wand, which was good as he couldn't really hold it right now.

She wasn't going to stop following him, was she? Letting out a distressed little sound, like a cat who was displeased with the world, Raiden stared along the wall until he found a niche, carved by the flood waters most likely, into which he could attempt to lodge himself and hide. Crouching down, he glanced back at her before ducking into it, the only evidence that he was there being his luminescent eyes glowing as the low light bounced off of him.

The passage smelled a little mouldy. And it was dark. At least, Kiri considered, following Raiden in, she wasn't about to hit her head. "'aidn?" she said, still muffled by the glove. What was he up to? Raiden had never looked much like a practical joker to her, so maybe someone had hit him with a spell or something. What was that sound? For some reason, it reminded Kiri of a cat, and an unhappy one at that which was about to tell the world how angry it was.

Nearly dropping the uniform in her arms, she fumbled around for her wand. "'umoff."
That didn't work, unsurprisingly. Wands did not come with translators. Lumos! Kiri thought forcefully, and the wand in her hand flared up.

Her mouth fell open. The Quidditch glove dropped and bounced away down the passage. Likewise, the rest of her clothes and padding succumbed to gravity as well. Raiden... Kiri pointed her wand at him, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "You..." Her free hand came up and ran through her hair. "What..."

Two large, triangular cat ears popped out from his short hair. There were patches of fur all along what was visible of his body. He had whispers. And paws! Kiri stamped down on her own foot, hard. The pain told her that she was not dreaming.
What was one to say in this situation? Hey, Raiden, that's a nice pair of ears... Raiden, I can't help but notice that...
She managed, "Raiden? You, er... look, what happened?"

...oh.

He'd forgotten that... while he couldn't really do anything with his wand just now, Kiri could. And in the sudden light, she could see him. Green eyes going wide, he attempted to push himself farther back into the niche.

Except there was no room to go any farther back.

And she was pointing her wand at him.

"Stop stop stop back up," he yelped. The cat instincts did not want her and her wand to get any closer. Nose giving a twitch, setting his whiskers shaking, he did the only thing he could do.

He slipped out of the niche and, eyes on Kiri and back pressed against the wall, he sliiiiid slowly away.

"I have to find the blue mouse or Professor Kazimeriz won't fix it." He swallowed and took a deep breath, eyes still stuck on the wand. "The girl in potions made her cauldron blow up and everyone was getting ears and I have to find the blue mouse don't point your wand at me like that."

The Kneazle senses were taking over. Oh Merlin help him.

Just as she was asking the question, it occurred to Kiri that maybe Raiden couldn't answer. He looked as if he was caught halfway in a transfiguration between a human and a cat (or a Kneazle, now that Kiri got a better look), so maybe his vocal cords had disappeared, or his tongue transformed, or ...

But then he answered. If Kiri had had anything left to drop - not counting her wand, which she was holding so tightly her knuckles were white - she would have dropped it now. His voice had changed. It did sound a bit like a cat trying to talk, with weird noises in-between some of the words that did not sound human.

He seemed terrified. Of what, Kiri didn't know - unless she was smelling of dog biscuits or something - but she stopped shuffling towards him. "Calm down, calm down," she said, wide-eyed, holding up her arms in a conciliatory gesture. "I'm not going to do anything." Except get you to the Hospital Wing.

"B-... blue mouse?" she repeated. This was madness, and Kiri was plunging towards it at full speed. He had to find the blue mouse? In the same way that Kiri didn't consider him fan of practical jokes, she'd also never thought of Raiden as a surrealist.

"Professor... You mean Professor Kazimeriz did this?" She aimed the bright light of the wand tip at the ceiling. She tried to make sense of her thoughts. "You have to... catch a blue mouse," (Blue mouse, Kiri thought, insanity is clearly contagious) "before you get turned back into, into a human? Um... how? Why?"

Oh good. The wand wasn't pointed at him anymore. Raiden gave a sigh of relief, the kneazle senses easing off ever so slightly. He was tired. He wanted to take a nap. Why hadn't he stayed under the table in the Great Hall? It had been warm and dark and cozy... Maybe he should go back there.

Too far. He was just gonna sit down here, even though she was here and could get him if he fell asleep. So. Sitting. Which he then did; sliding down the wall with his shoulders, back slightly separated from the stone so as to keep his tail from getting pinched, he sat on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him.

Breaaaaathe. That was all he was focused on. But then Kiri started asking questions, and... well she hadn't been there, had she. Blinking, he looked at her. She was less threatening at the moment, but he was still ready to leap up and run away should she point the wand at him.

"I am calm. You just... can't point your wand at me, it makes my head feel funny." He stared pointedly at it; his cat senses did not like when it was directed at him. "A blue mouse... he made it out of a coffee mug on the desk. He won't fix what that girl's potion's doing to me until I find it, because I got distracted by the food smells in the Great Hall and didn't get Destiny and Neptune to the hospital wing before Miss Healer Ashford got to the classroom..."

...his tongue felt funny.

"It's too fast, I can't find it. And it's so small and I just want to take a nap because it's not around here, it should come back sometime."

Kiri wasn't sure if Raiden's explanations helped her understand any of this any better. So... there had been an accident in Potions. A cauldron had exploded and turned everyone who came into contact with the cauldron's contents into Kneazles. That much was clear. It sounded bizarre, but considering this was Hogwarts, it sounded more or less like ordinary background mayhem.

But then things started to get weird. Professor Kazimeriz had refused to turn everyone back into humans? That was something Kiri did not want to believe - sure, he was a creepy old man and definitely able to dish out spitefulness and harsh punishments, but this sounded as if he was enjoying watching a bunch of students run around with fur on their bodies. "That old..." she said angrily, not even sure what foul-mouthed epithet she wanted to use on the professor. A blue mouse made out of a coffee mug. Kiri shook her head. Madness.

"Neptune?" Kiri asked, raising her eyebrows and only hesitating (Sigh.) the slightest bit at the clingy girl's name. "Destiny? You mean there are more Kneazles running around the castle?" She shook her head again. "Never mind, don't answer that. I'll end up with a headache, and I just got over the flu..." She kicked her Quidditch robes aside, meaning to pick them up later. They had her name on them, no one would steal them.

She stretched out her wandless hand slowly as if to a spooked animal (which, in a sense, Raiden was right now). "Come on. Hospital Wing, now. You can take a nap there and Merlin is that a tail?!"

"There were... a lot of people that got hit, the professor sent us to the Healer, but Destiny got away and I had to get her." He actually still had her wand in his pocket... "So he wouldn't fix me until I catch the mouse, because I got distracted and we didn't make it to the hospital wing."

He didn't flinch away from the outstretched hand, nor did he take it; he simply stared at it as it got closer, listening to her as she went on. He was about to say that he couldn't go to the Hospital Wing when she suddenly got very loud.

"It-" he was on his feet, still crouched low on the floor, and backing away again. LOUDNESS, KIRI. Scared us. "Don't remind me about it, if I don't think about it I can pretend it's not there."

And that it wasn't maddeningly distracting. He caught a flick of it out of the corner of his eye and turned his head ever so slightly so he could watch it out without losing sight of Kiri.

"I can't go to the Hospital Wing, she's not there. She's at the classroom, fixing people. There were a lot..." he trailed off; his head was starting to get fuzzy again. "I have to catch the mouse or they won't fix it."

Why did he have to keep insistently telling her this? He'd told her a few times already, hadn't he? Cat-like eyes locked on her, Raiden slinked backwards a little bit more, ears pricked for any slight sound. The mouse could be here.

This was unreal. Kiri stared at Raiden's tail until she thought her eyes would pop out. Could he actually... move it? She was dying to ask, but he looked as if he wasn't happy with it. Very distressed, in fact. Kiri wasn't quite sure what the big deal was - magical accidents happened, after all - but as it wasn't her who was sprouting fur and wiggly ears, she was probably not in the best position to judge.

No, the Kneazle transformation wasn't the problem, it was a teacher refusing to assist students after they had been hit by a potion. Kiri didn't know if there were any potions that transfigured people into animals, but she'd never heard of one, so this looked like an accidental potion that had gone wrong. So what if there were side effects that Professor Kazimeriz couldn't know about? Why did he not just change everyone back?

Unless he couldn't... Kiri gulped. What if the Kneazle features needed to be... surgically removed? Sliced off? She bit her lower lip worriedly. "Raiden..." she mumbled, more quiet now. He seemed to tense up when she raised her voice. "Raiden, so we'll go back to the Potions classroom if Healer Ashford is there. You don't need to catch a stupid mouse, she will just fix you.

"Never mind that mouse, I bet it's out in the grounds by now, and if it's blue, probably Thestral food too." She shook her hand. "Come on, take my hand." Faint recollections of sweaty palms and a heavily thumping heart bounced through her head at those words, but this really wasn't the right time - if it ever was anymore. She blamed Neptune.