Lori looked... Better than she had. She'd actually made an attempt today, because she'd caught a glimpse of Nik the day previous, and had had to hide because her hair was all bleeeh, and she had no makeup on. Yeeep. Terrible, Lor.

Her hair was in it's usual curled set, with her fringe plaited over the top of her head, and her make up was it's usual almost-natural-look self. Pretty Lor.

Lorelai left the common room, making sure the entrance was closed securely, didn't want anybody in there. No one that didn't belong. Like in a few months, the seventh years would be. They wouldn't belong in the school, in their common rooms, their dorms... Among the students. How.... Depressiiiiing .

Heading in the direction of the stairs to take her up the castle... Try find Camelot. Her eyebrows furrowed, and the 'puff sighed. Oliver. Grrrrreat. Just what she needed actually. He'd know where his girlfriend was, surely?

"Olllllyyyyyypoooooooooooo!" She cooed, with a giggle, sliding up next to him. "You seen you girlfriend? I need someone to cuddle." .... because Mr. Boyfriend was AWOL!

Twitch... dance. Twitch.. dance... Twitch.. dance.

Oh dear MERLIN! Make it stoooop!

*pout*

Sooo... stealing anything containing sugar didn't seem the brightest of ideas right now. The inability to relax was bad enough thank you very much. But Oliver was kinda hungry so he made his mind up to go up to the Great Hall and have something savoury.. and sugar free.

He stopped his little dance routine and turned away from the kitchen door, only to be greeted by the sound of Lorelai Bristol's voice. HAH! Great timing! He could use some company right now.. take his mind off stuff, you know?

He grinned a rather devilish mischievous grin at the girl. “Loripoo.” He greeted her and looked her up and down while he rocked on the balls of his feet. His eyes moved upwards to look at her hair. Meh.. looked kinda nice.

His girlfriend? Nice to see you too, Lori. “...Haven't seen her. We're not joined at the hip, you know?” Far from it... especially since NEWTs started. She wanted a cuddle? Oliver blinked and eyed her for a moment longer... and then launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around her little frame and embracing her in a tight bear hug.

*Squiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish*

...

So.. apparently Oliver needed a cuddle too.

Not joined at the hip? Oh well, that was surprising. All considering boyfriends were supposed to want to be joined t the hip. Hers was just .... Absent. Yep. Absent. "Right. Well.... If you see her... Can you... You know t-" The brunette managed with a sigh, before she was cut off by a hug.

O__________________O

AHUG?WHATCHOOTALKINGBOUTEYYY?OLIVERDOESNTHUG!

Not her, anyway.

She didn't yell, or hit him, or even ask him to let go. Because she needed it. More than she actually needed a new pot of glitter. She wanted this hug, even if it was from Oliver. That much, that she'd ignored the 'Loripoop' and just carried on.

Instead, she just hugged him back, wrapping her arms back around him, and burying her head into the Head Boy. See! Head Boy: not Oliver. This wasn't Oliver. It wasn't something HE would do, it was something ... Well... Something anyone that wasn't Oliver would do.

"Oliver? Why's it all ending so soon?" The muffle voice crept up, interrupting what 'moment' they were having.

Lori did not look a happy bunny... particularly when the Snake told her he didn't know where Cam was. They weren't together 24/7, which was a good thing in his opinion. Oliver would drive her insane. The feisty redhead would likely end up rotting in Azkaban for the rest of her days for commiting murder.

He smirked at the lassy and nodded, not really taking in what she was saying. He was going to say something sarcastic about not being a carrier pigeon and Lori could deliver the message herself, but something stopped him. Lori seemed kinda blue.

So he settled for hugging her instead.

He half expected her to push him away, slap him.. hit him with a shoe or whatever, and ask him what the FLARP he thought he was doing!!! And at that point he would have changed... probably poked fun at the Huffie just for the hell of it. But he felt her wrap her arms around him and he smiled a little to himself. She really didn't HATE him, did she? And that was kinda comforting.

He felt better for the embrace. Sometimes a little bit of love was all you need. He heard her small voice and swallowed as the moment was broken and he pulled away slightly to look down at her, a flicker of sadness crossing his face. He didn't know the answer to her question, but he certainly understood why she was asking it.

He shook his head. “You're thinking about it too much. Counting down the hours.. clock watching. You need to relax, Lori. Go with the flow.” He frowned. Easier said that done... ch'yeah.

“You got plans for the Summer? Maybe you should focus on that instead.. look forward to it, instead of thinking that things are coming to an end. This is going to be a new start.. for all of us.”

Aaand he so needed to take his own advice..

..... O_____O

Mmmkay. Why the hell was she dreaming about her best friends boyfriend? Because that was what this was, wasn't it? A dream? It had to be, she couldn't think of any other answer. Except this hug felt so real. But it did in dreams, didn't it? She didn't know, usually she couldn't remember her dreams. Oh. This was bad. Wake up, Bristol. Wake the hell up! You're needed. To not be thinking or dreaming about Oliver Flaming Greenwood. CAMELOT'S BOYFRIEND! EEEEPS!

Cam... well she'd be okay with this, wouldn't she? Dream!Cam would be. Lori would make her, so in the true spirit of dreaming, Lori just went with it, and kept her arms securely around the Head Boy, and just snuggled her head into him. Might as well make the most out of this. Maybe she could send him to go make shoes for her, and buy glitter. In a bit, maybe.

The smaller [not much smaller, considering she was one of the taller girls in the school, standing at 5'6 without her heels] of the pair sighed, as he replied to her, and she'd felt him pull away and he was obviously looking at her. Which was good. Because she was pretty. And depressed, which made her not AS pretty. Instead of replying, she just sniffled and pressed her head into him again, and sniffled a little.

You couldn't just... 'go with the flow' on this matter. All that she, all that THEY knew was ending, and they'd be left to fend for themselves. And Cam and Oliver left to fend for themselves, and each other... together... made Lori feel even worse, because she had a feeling you'd get more fireworks between them on a daily basis, than you did at a professional Muggle display on firework night.

At the mention of summer, she pulled away a little and just eyed him cautiously. "Moving into a house. With Ad.... seeing Donnie... that's all.." Something she could do anytime, actually.

And she didn't WANT a new start, Oliver. Thank you very much.

The cuddle was so comforting that Oliver actually relaxed a little.. which was pretty much a miracle considering how wound up he was about his exams and how everything was coming to an end faster than he had ever anticipated. It was like time had been speeded up. A sick joke of a hex by some cruel wizard which none of the seventh years could break.

He swallowed as he looked down at Lori, noticing for the first time how tired and fragile she looked underneath her make-up... and he looked the same: stressed, exhausted, with humongous bags under his bloodshot eyes making them look impossibly greener. Lori's silence said it all and he wished he hadn't spoken at all. It was an attempt to make her feel better that had failed.. probably because he didn't believe what he was saying himself; they were just empty words weren't they? Nothing but a load of hot air.

She was eyeing him curiously and Oliver broke eye contact with the girl, moving away from her to lean against the wall, a pout forming on his face. He couldn't pretend that all was well. He was so so blue.. and his physical appearance was impossible to camouflage under his usually cocky, hyper and annoying persona when she was looking at him that way. Judging him. “Donnie? Your little brother? Don't you think the sun shines out of his behind?” He gave the girl a weak smile. “That sounds like something to be happy about to me, Lori.”

He fell silent for a moment, looking down at his feet and studying them before looking back at the girl. “... Promise me you'll stay in contact?” He asked softly. “Even if me an' Cam.. you know.” He shrugged but a slow frown of hurt crossed his features and remained etched onto his pale face. “I need someone around to straighten me out when I'm acting like a complete twat.” He smiled softly and nodded once but the look of hurt remained in his eyes.

If you'd have asked Lorelai a few months ago, whether she would ever hug Oliver Greenwood, she'd have laughed and rolled her eyes before dismissing you for such an absurd question. Because it was the truth, and she was sure he'd have said the same. Because they weren't ... like most people. They were so alike, in the weirdest of ways, that the thought of them getting along seemed so far fetched and worthy of easy dismissal.

Yet, here they were in this hug, and she was upset. But it wasn't because of him. Which was probably the most worrying thing. It wasn't he who had upset her, but he who was comforting her. It was the summer at the fountain, all over again. Expect this was miles different, this had the fact it hadn't started off as her hunting him down to yell, and she hadn't had a terrible time, and nor was her heart broken into shards. They were actually different people. They didn't look as shattered, they didn't seem to be speaking in the quiet voices. They were poles apart from what they had been then, but they were almost in the same boat; once again.

As she eyed him, she took in how he looked. Tired. That was all she could pick out. But that was probably because it was how she was, she was tired. Tired of all this crap. And then he let go, and moved away. She had expected it though, if he hadn't have done it, she would of herself. Instead she stood still, and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I am happy about seeing him... but seeing him... means no more... this." Which she was upset about, terribly.

Oh. The brunette looked at the Slytherin, and her head slowly nodded. "I wouldn't dream of losing contact, Poodle." She could take her frustrations out on him, no? Lori had intentionally ignore the comment about Cam and he, because she wasn't thinking of that. No way. NOt again. "She's lucky to have you... She'd be so .. different without." And the original unity of Lori and her best friend was pretty much down to Oliver. Yes. It. Was.

Oliver sighed. Lori's words hit hard but for once she didn't mean them to. They weren't directed at him; there was no insult there; no malice - she was just speaking the truth. And although Oliver was trying to make her feel better, it dawned on him in that moment that it was ok to be sad. It was natural to feel this way. “I'm so not ready to leave.” He mumbled quietly, his eyes moving up to meet hers. “I don't have an awful lot out there to look forward to.” But then he dismissed his honest words with a shrug of the shoulders as if to say 'no biggie'. “...You're lucky to have Donnie.” He gave her a small, reassuring smile.

Poodle. The smile grew a little, his eyes glinting when the old nickname he hated so much was pulled out of the bag.. but more so over Lori's words. “Good.” He said straightening up and forcing his trademark smirk because this was getting way too emotional for his liking “Cos Cam just doesn't take the bait anymore. I need someone reliable to wind up, you know? An' YOU never fail me, Lori.” hehe! The smirked faded again and once again he was touched by Lori's words. “Well..” He shrugged. “...I did a good job of coaxing her out the Gryffie Common Room I suppose.”

He reached out a hand and prodded the Glitterpuff lightly in the arm. “We better quit this sentimental crap before anyone hears us. I have a reputation to uphold.” He grinned mischievously at the lass and looked down the corridor and back at her. “By the way, your hair looks rubbish today, Lori.” He said it loudly for the benefit of the few people around. He looked back at Lor and winked - wouldn't want anyone thinking he was growing soft in his old age now would we?