Was he smirking at her? Mia stood there and pretended to fume about her rating as a three. There was no way she had rated as a three. If she had then she was pretty sure that Finn wouldn't keep coming back to kiss her. When he whispered in her ear, Mia smiled. Now that was better. An eight was definitely better than a three but not as good as a ten.

Mia laced her fingers with his and let him lead her up the corridor. At his words, she pouted again. She had forgotten that this was his first time at Hogwarts as well. "Maybe there's somewhere outside we can go?" Or perhaps that little spot behind the suits of armor that she had spotted earlier.

Finn grinned at her, before laughing a little. He couldnt tell if she was really angry or not, but he had a feeling that if she was really angry she would've hit him? So that was good...he hoped anyway. He smiled as she smiled. "Maybe you'll get higher" He shrugged, squeezing her hand. "But an 8 is very good Mia. You're in my high books." Which was good considering that she was one of his best friends.

He laughed as she pouted, and he shook his head. "I'm sure I can find us a spot Mia, you don't need to pout." He grinned, pulling her down the corridor. "Outside sounds good." He agreed, very good. And at least then they'd probably not get lost.

Well that was good to know that she was high in his books. But there was nagging in the back of her mind and she looked up at him. "Is there anyone higher than eight on your scale?" Mia wasn't sure why she was so bothered by that and why she was so competitive of all of sudden. Maybe because it was Finn. He was probably her best friend at Hogwarts.

She squeezed his hand and started to get all excited again. "Wheeeere are we going to go?" Mia had already been to the lake so she didn't really want to go there. As beautiful as it was, it was too much out in the open as well.

"well...." Finn grinned at her for second. He wasn't too sure if he wanted to tell her the truth or just lie to her. Lying would make him have a bigger reputation, but it could also make her not trust him anymore, which wouldn't be so cool. His features softened and he smiled at her. "Nope...you're the highest." Yup. That was right, and she was pretty cool, so she deserved to be rated rather high. "But why are you getting competitive Mia." He grinned, he liked it in her.

"Well....why don't we just see where we end up?" Because he hadn't been out in the grounds much, so he'd got distracted too much really.

If it had of been anyone else, Mia might have thought that he was just telling her she was the highest because that would make her feel better. but she was getting to know Finn pretty well now and she knew he wouldn't lie to her. There was really no need. They knew where they stood with each other. At his question though, she grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe because it's you."

See where they end up? That sounded like it was going to take a long time to get there. And as he well knew, she was quite lazy. Well not at all things she wasn't but walking around definitely. Mia looked up at him and gave him puppy dog eyes, "Can you carry me then?"

Vikky strolled down the corridor, sort of lost in thought about her amazing prank with Josh. It was going to be so totally brilliant; she couldn't wait. Stopping suddenly, she turned to her left and stared. A mirror? In the middle of a school? That was just odd. Very, very odd. She wondered who had put it there, and why. Maybe someone really vain like her

But she was sort of glad it was there, since it gave her an excuse to stop and look at her reflection. Walking closer to the mirror, she stood and adjusted her skirt so it was straight again. Twirling a lock of hair round her finger, she grinned. She looked good, and she knew it. Of course she did.

Finn rolled his eyes at what she said. She didnt need to compete for him, He'd always come to her. "So I'm special then?" He asked with a little grin. She was feeding his ego a lot, but he didn't mind, his ego was cool. He smiled at her. It was nice though, to think that she wanted to compete for her, although it wasn't needed, he liked snogging girls, and he liked snogging Mia, so she wasn't going to lose out, not at all.

He laughed at what she said, and let go off her hand, before scooping her up into his arms. "You know...I thought you didn't want detention girl." He grinned at her, as he walked to the end of the corridor. They could just pretend she'd hurt her foot though? Even though they were going the wrong way to the hospital wing....ah well.

It was Mia's turn to roll her eyes. After all they had been through and he still asked that question? "Oh you know that you a very special to me Finlay Carmichael." He was her very best friend. They had a connection that only best friends could have. And Mia knew that they were going to be friends for a really long time. She grinned up at him, "But don't let that go to your head Mister." She almost snorted because she knew very well that it would go to his head. Mia knew how to give Finn an ego boost.

She burst into a fit of giggles when he picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Surely we wouldn't get into trouble for you carrying me. And if we happen to run into a Professor than I'll just play it up that I am sick." She was totally good at that. Mia had used that excuse plenty of times back at the commune when she had wanted to get out of doing work. And then she gave his cheek a little nuzzle just because she could.

''Custard with caramel on top. Sounds good'' Josh imagined eating something like that since it appeared that the girl was not able to do it since she was planning to ask the house elves to make some. No matter what it definitely should have been tasty.

Aaand it was time to change the topic to something else. Hehehe. Looking at the Beauxbatons girl he ran a hand through his hair. ''What about girls in France? Are they all beautiful like you? Hmmm''

What an odd little boy. "They... erm... have a nice, healthy range..." she said. "But at Beauxbatons, at least, it seems like we are more on the attractive side..."

She silently giggled to herself. Might as well return the question, right?
"What about here? Are they all as cute as you?"

And this sounded as good as custard with caramel. Or, perhaps, way better. He could not decide which one was better actually: food or beautiful girls? Having both would be a dream of course. Grinning at the girl's question ''No'' he said quickly. Because, Josh, was the master of being cute like he was the master of everything.

''Oh, by the way. I do not know your name'' he said ''I am Joshua Carter, the master of almost everything. Actually everything but i say almost because people tend to look for things that i would not be able to when i say that. Whatever...what is your name, beauty?''

Monique couldn't help but giggle at the boy's response. He didn't have a big head at all, did he?

"Well Monsieur Master of Everything... my name is Monique." she said extending her hand out to the lion boy named Josh. "You do not mind if I call you that, right? It is much easier to remember." Ehh... that was a complete lie. It was however much more fun to say.

"Oh, I will believe you are the master of everything if you could direct me to where Hogwarts keeps their house elves." she said. She wasn't kidding about wanting her dessert.

''Monique...i pronounced it right, ha?'' Josh asked winking at the Beauxbatons girl. Ooooh she was soo beautiful almost mesmerising plus she liked sweets especially that creme something and what is more she called him the master of everything. Hehe. Well...because he was the master of everything. ''That's a beautiful name''

Then he smiled widely when he learned that the girl had a request. She wanted to know where the house elves were. Hmmm. ''I am sure you can find them in the Kitchen. And the Kitchen is...quite much down here''

"Yes, you said it just fine." Monique replied. "Thank you." she said about the name.

The kitchen. That was an excellent place to find house elves. "And where would I find this kitchen?" she asked.

Kellen hadn't really meant to stop at the mirror, as it was hardly an actual destination in the castle, but he did anyway. Why? Well, he leaned a little closer and examined the skin around his eye that Fletcher had been so nice as to introduce to his fist. The swelling was gone, thank Morgana, and the bruising was a faint purple thanks to some heavily-applied bruise balm.

He was still having a hard time believing that Neptune would ask someone to come deck him, but if this was going to happen every time he didn't bend over backwards to make her happy... Well. It wouldn't. End of story.

Raiden was finally getting around to the library. He'd found the ability to focus on things had returned to him over the last two or three days, since he'd restarted the exercises he'd done when he was little. He was infinitely calmer, and was even almost sleeping regularly. The eating thing was still a bit off, but... well. That would be fixed eventually.

He would have made it to the library, too, had he not noticed Kellen Stern at the mirror, staring at himself.

Frown.

"Grown a severe case of vanity, Stern?" he asked as he approached. Why was he leaning in like that?

At the sound of a familiar voice, Kellen's gaze shifted in the mirror. When he saw Raiden he grinned and turned around, "Grown? Good sir, I think you'll find I've had one all along! Such soft and touchable hair... a stunning visage... Why, if Narcissus hadn't been changed to a flower, I'd go so far as to say we Sterns are descended from him."

Kellen might've been a snarky brat sometimes, but Raiden had to admit that he was funny more often than not.

Well maybe not more often than not, but... quite often, at least. The prefect couldn't suppress the grin that rose to his face, and he shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing at the mirror for a moment before looking back at his friend.

"Maybe not grown, then. Simply placing more emphasis on it lately, how about that." Everyone had to have at least one friend that was vain, after all. Heh. "Well I'm sure you could find some way to make it work. You could quite possibly be the descendent of a flower."

...

Raiden frowned slightly and tilted his head, eyes scrutinising the darkened spot around Kellen's eye. Was that... was that what it looked like?

Surely not. Kellen wasn't Sabel, after all.

"What have you been up to?"

Blatant staring at the eye was definitely happening. Mmhmm.

He tossed off a shrug at Raiden's analysis, "That works." Then he touched his fingers to his lips, considering this, "A descendant of a flower? It could be possible... if a witch were turned into a flower and then a bee collected pollen from the Narcissus flower and flew over to her to..."

The musing ramblings were cut off as he noted the focus with which Raiden was staring at his face. Eye. Crap.

"Oh, you know... the usual Kellen-y things." He turned his head a little to shift the bruised eye away from Raiden, "Going to class, eating, making pompoms... why do you ask?"

"That's assuming that she got turned back into a human eventually... assuming that he didn't go back to human eventually too. Quite possible. Myths lie sometimes."

Wait... why were they discussing this?

Raiden wasn't an idiot. He actually noticed when something he was looking at kinda moved and disappeared from sight. The thing was... was Kellen trying to hide it? Or was he just moving as he usually would?

"Pompoms are a regular 'Kellen-y' thing?" He'd have to make a note of that. Raiden's fingers twitched in his pocket, not in a noticeable fashion, but he was aware of them. "Been friends with you for how long, and I hadn't realised that yet. How woefully little we know of each other."

He shifted his weight to his other foot, leaning a bit toward the mirror, and looked at Kellen's reflection in it. Hmmmmmmm.

"Well, it's not so much the pompoms in and of themselves," Kellen explained. "It's practicing charms and making stuff to support a certain friend who happens to be in the Triwizard Tournament. And is hopefully eating and sleeping now."

Not that he was going to do any more bothering, no sir. The occasional poke, maybe, but not a full-on bother.

"If we knew everything about each other, it wouldn't make it any fun, would it?" Kellen felt tempted to shift a little more, but he didn't exactly want to end up twirling in circles.

"Ahhh, I see." Stern, and his roundabout nannying. The prefect eyed him. "I'm sure that friend is doing the best he can about it."

Which wasn't a perfect answer, but he'd slept five hours the previous night. That was more than he'd done in a while, it seemed. And he'd even forced some toast down his throat this morning. See? Food and sleep.

"Infinitely less." Raiden shifted again, searching gaze switching from the reflection to the actual person. "Although one would think I wouldn't miss the fact that you've apparently picked up one of Dakest's worst habits."

And no, he didn't mean that Gryffindor stupidity that caused him to be unable to filter thoughts before they spewed from his mouth.

"Good." Kellen lifted his nose a little, lest his aloof, jerkish nature be replaced with a caring one, "Because one would hate to have to enlist a pit crew for said friend. If talk around the school is anything to go by, the majority of said pit crew would be female."

He'd seen that poster Lexi made in the Tournament School Spirit area, oh yes, yes he had. He was still trying to figure out of it was a roasted chicken behind Raiden's head or not.

"One of...?" Kellen raised an eyebrow at that, "I haven't started lipping off to professors and headmasters, if that's what you mean." He also hadn't been tripping over his own shoelaces at every conceivable opportunity.

Playing dumb? Maybe a little.

"Muggle car races have pit crews, not eighteen year old wizards." The words were slightly sarcastic. "And Merlin help me if that were to happen... why would it be mostly girls?"

Dakest and Stern weren't girls.

And Raiden still hadn't seen the poster of himself with the planet Jupiter behind his head. Thank you very much. As far as he was concerned, all was quiet and not weird or creepy in his world.

"No, no. You're still brimming with tact." The prefect withdrew one hand from his pocket and tapped the dark circle under his own eye; it was obviously there for a vastly different reason, though, because Stern had no reason to not be sleeping. And not sleeping wouldn't produce quite as large a mark on his face. "Apparently you've just taken to walking into things and falling on your face."

It wasn't a very dark mark, but he could see it. Didn't matter how much Kellen Stern turned away from him.

Well it did matter, but only in the capacity that it made him very suspicious that Kellen hadn't headbutted the floor in a fit of uncoordination.

"No reason." If Raiden was going to pretend there weren't a few females in this school who giggled and twittered whenever he was around, then Kellen wasn't going to expand on it.

Ah.

He was tapping his face. Well, too bad for him, but Kellen's dignity was still feeling a little wounded over that whole occurrence and he didn't feel up to sharing all the specifics. Except one, "It was on my back, thank you very much."