Yes.... The Greek Gods being like Muggle Superheroes. It was good philosophy. This Legend kid was pretty cool for coming up with that idea. Even though she still didn't understand exactly what a superhero was -

The prefect was pulled out of her thoughts when someone spoke up behind her. Someone she knew. Iris twisted her body round, to see if it really was who she thought it was. Even though that didn't seem logically possible. He was still in America...

Oh my god ... It really is Aaron.

Iris looked at the boy, rainbow-coloured eyes wide with surprise. "I ... You ... Wow... Hullo." For the first time in months, Iris Beaumont was well and truly speechless. She DID have the reason to be, though. Here she was, staring at Aaron Anderson. The boy that she thought was still in New York.

Blinkblink.

Right, don't just stay SAT here! He'll think something's wrong!

Iris smiled shyly at him, pretty much completely forgetting about, uh ... that boy she was sat with. What was his name again? Iris really couldn't remember what he was called. Getting up out of her seat, the rainbow clad girl walked to Aaron. "When did you get back here? And why did you not tell me that you were coming back early?!" Iris stood with her hands on her hips, looking up at her boyfriend, not noticing that he wasn't in costume.

Wow... Aaron's actually here. In Hogwarts. Right here, right now. Iris softened her expression as butterflies decided to appear in her tummy. She'd almost forgotten how he makes her feel... Stepping closer to him, Iris wrapped her arms round Aaron's waist and pulled him in to a hug.

This was real. Aaron was really back. Three months early. "I've really missed you, Aaron." She said, looking back up at him.

Aaron felt his heart beat a thousand times a minute. He was waiting for the blonde haired girl to turn around and face him. And when she did, his inside could have popped out, done a whole night of square dancing, eaten a million chili peppers, and jumped back inside before they felt the way they did right then and there. He was about to hug her when he was being questioned.

Great. First day back, and she was already mad at him.

Off to a great start....

"I... Erm... Uh..." And suddenly, he was in a hug. Yup. That's all she needed. Aaron wrapped his arms around Iris and looked down to her. "I missed you, too..." His voice was probably deeper than when he left... Puberty had hit Aaron.

But, that didn't matter. After god knows how long, Aaron released Iris and held both her hands. "So... Whaddid I miss?" he said sarcastically witha cheeky smile.

Iris smiled and snuggled into Aaron's shoulder. He'd thought she was really mad at him, didn't he? She wasn't though. Just very surprised. A good surprised, too. As he said he missed her too, Iris' smile grew some more. It'd been nearly a year since she'd physically been this close to Aaron, but it was already starting to feel like he'd never left.

She noticed that Aaron's voice was a lot deeper, too... It sounded odd, but it suited him. And surely he'd noticed that she was four and a half inches taller than the last time Aaron had seen her. Growth spurts... They suck.

As Aaron let go of her and held her hands, Iris looked down to their entwined hands and blushed; feeling like it was her 13th birthday again. Looking back up to Aaron, the prefect smiled. What did he miss? Teehee. "You mean other than me?" She asked, flashing a grin to match his.

Iris had completely forgotten that she'd been just sat, talking about Greek Gods and Superheroes with that Gryffindor. Later on, she'll probably feel a bit guilty about just abandoning him but right now, Aaron was HERE. In Hogwarts. Holding Iris' hands. And that was all that mattered to her.

From beneath the black mask, Oliver looked skyward and shook his head. Pffft.. Pirate. He opened his mouth to say something oh so clever and witty in respose when...“OW!” Trixie pulled at the mask and it snapped back into his face and lay there skew whiff across the bridge of nose. “Yeah.. thanks for that.” He said sarcastically, blinking back the tears in his eyes and pulling off the mask so he could rub at his nose.

He laughed a little at Trixie's teasing, but he was sort of surprised that the blonde hadn't brought a camera with her to this event. She seemed to love snapping photos of her bestie when he was least expecting it. And, lets face facts here, Oliver WAS NOT photogenic AT ALL. He always ended up looking completely mental in pictures. He smirked to himself when she thanked him and called him 'kind Sir.' He nodded in agreement. No more Prince Charming then.

He looked down at his leather (yes, leather. ) trousers and back at Trixie. They weren't THAT tight. He had been teasing about the whole not being able to stand again. He shrugged. “I've got tighter jeans than these. I've got the legs for them, man. Tall, skinny, long limbed... the boy spoke the truth. He nodded. Yep. He loved this sort of shindig. “Yeah.. that and it's called the 'End of Term Costume Ball... us seventh years have gotta make the most of it, haven't we?” Because it would be last ever of it's sort for them. He became serious. Oh man, he so didn't want to leave school yet. Oliver was still a Kid! He wasn't ready to face the big bad world out there.... and he certainly didn't want to leave his best friend behind.

He shook his head. No thinking like that tonight. “I thought about it. But then I reckoned it wouldn't be very original. I've already seen two Jedis.”

Eh? What? Oliver's brow furrowed and he looked at Trixie's dress. Um... “No.. I suppose you don't.” He mumbled. “But then, Goldilocks didn't wear a little gold number.” Or did she? “She had golden locks... which you happen to have anyway. You could have just come as yourself.” *shrug* He reached out and took the teddy from Trixie, smirking as he looked down at the furry creature. “This is a bit of a give-away though, I guess.”

Heh. “Thanks Trix.” Yeah... he KNEW he looked good. And not much like himself. Make-up? “Yeah... I think I went a bit OTT on the whole make-up.” He mumbled and rubbed at his white cheeks with both hands. “How the bloody hell do girls do this everyday? It feels so weird.”

He looked back over at Sarah to find her staring like she didn't quite recognise him and was trying her hardest to place him. A look of realisation showed in her face as she waved. He grinned and waved back.

Melanie nodded. "Yep, I was hoping Fletcher would win." She was very cheery about that, but even more happy that there had been no fatalities. "You're right. No one died or anything." The Hufflepuff grinned, an eyebrow going up as Sarah's tummy suddenly started growling. "You sound hungry." she stated, rather blatantly. "Bet they've got loads of stuff up at the food table, over there." Melanie pointed in the general direction, wondering if they had butterbeer... She could go for a butterbeer.

Sarah's commentary on bludgers was gigglesnort inducing. Thus, Melanie gigglesnorted. "Oh, for sure. Beater's Bats are probably tons better than those stress ball things." Melanie found stress balls were much more useful when you chucked them at the source of your anger, though. "I guess I like muggle sports. I mean... I like to watch them. It's playing them that's the problem. Most of them tend to involve the ground, you see, and me and gravity aren't the greatest of friends." In other words, she was a klutz on her feet. "My dad likes muggle sports a lot too... baseball, mainly." Ahhh... Melanie wished her dad would take her to watch an actual game, like Sarah said her dad did. "What sports do you watch together?" she asked curiously, twirling a strand of hair around her finger absentmindedly.

Melanie placed her hat back on her head, twisting it around so it was facing the right way. "Cool, I guessed right." She got the Queen part correct anyway. Melanie wasn't quite sure exactly who Queen Victoria was so she just bobbed her head up and down and pretended she knew.

As Sarah waved to a a pair pf Slytherins Melanie didn't know, she took in her surroundings. There was no shortage of interesting things to look at. All the costumes were really intriguing... especially the ones she didn't recognize.

Rhea frowned and got to her feet. Her dress continued to 'dance' around her as if it was constantly being hit by a slight breeze. Yes, her spell was holding up nicely, but Aiden was confusing the fudge sticks out of her. At least she knew what a film was, but how can it be sick? Her frown deepened, she just hated being out of the loop with all the muggle stuff."Aiden, how can a film be sick?" She asked tilting her head slightly to the side.

Rhea giggled. Fine she would be the lake goddess. She did like the lake very much and she would miss it. The thought made her extremely sad. She had spent seven years sitting by that lake. It had been a lone source of comfort sometimes, which reminded her that before the night was over she would go for a swim, in her costume and all." Fine, fine, I'll be the lake goddess." She shook her head. Oh, she was off getting punch. She smiled."Oh, Jack's mingling with the crowd."

Iris was pretty cool. From the costume to the ideas. Legend never actually thought that he would meet someone new at the ball. Never mind someone new that he wanted to talk to. He was about to respond when... a random dude came and shocked the Slytherin out of her wits. Maybe that was her boyfriend?

All he knew was that they seemed to be reconnecting "Er-hey I think I see my friend over where the food is guess I'll see you later Iris." Blushing a bit he stood up and quickly walked over to the food table.

Wow. Well that was a surprise. Josh wasn't hungry? A Gryffindor wasn't hungry?

Hmm, well sitting was alright she supposed. It's not like she needed to do anything, or talk. Besides, one didn't need to talk when staring at their date. She had no idea what he was supposed to be though. Did it matter? No. It didn't. Just that he looked rather amazing in that outfit. Totally better than everyone else. Of course. Take THAT you sneaky boyfriend stealing snake. He was here...with her. Not the other girl.

And it seemed though, she could never keep the blush down every time he called her beautiful. "Dance?" Well of course she could dance! Which definitely made vikings be able to dance. "Well you'll just have to find out, now won't you?" Teehee.

Iris turned around from Aaron, still keeping hold of his hands, when she heard someone talk to her.

O________O ...

Oops.

She'd completely forgotten about Legend! Oh god.... That's really mean. The prefect looked to the boy apologetically, but nodded to his words. At least he wasn't slow. He understood who Aaron was, clearly.

After watching Legend go over to the food table, Iris turned back to face Aaron. She smiled shyly up to him, not saying anything. There were too many butterflies to speak, anyway.

Sneaking away from the dance floor and having already visited the food table, Nikolai found himself at a loss of what to do. He could go and sit at the Champion's table, but not having his 'date' to sit next to him, he would feel weird and awkward. Plus, he really didn't know anyone sitting there to talk to. Danika was there but she seemed busy with her date and he didn't want to bother her.

Hmm.

He walked around the hall for a few moments before spotting an empty table where he could still see everything. Yes, it will probably look even weirder if he sat at a regular table on his own, and he hadn't thought of that, but since his hat and mask were already taken off, he was probably spotted. He didn't want to take that embarrassing walk back the way he came. Pulling out a chair, he sat himself down and placed the hat and mask on the chair next to him. If anyone asked, he would just lie and say he was saving the seat for someone.

Now to find something interesting to watch.

After leaving Raiden behind, Mia was unsure of where to go next. She had been doing her best not to keep watching the couple on the dance floor and make it oh so obvious that she wanted to see what was going to happen between the two.

Walking around the perimeter of the hall trying to keep one eye on the dance floor and the other on the students milling around. She had to duck out of the way of a younger student carrying far too many drinks for such a small person and she lost sight of him.

Crap!

Mia scanned the hall trying to find where he had gotten to and just as she was about to give up, she spotted him just taking a seat. Taking a deep breath she moved towards his table and stopping just behind him she lent down and pressed her lips to his ear.

"Are you saving that seat for anyone in particular?"

Nikolai had picked a horrible spot to sit. It seemed nothing interesting was going on around him and he found himself fiddling with the end of the table cloth out of boredom. If only that boy dressed up as the banana showed up.. at least seeing him talk to the food he was about to eat would pass the time.

He started to think about going to the Champion's table. At least over there he would be able to listen in on the other Champion's conversation. And, he was curious to know what Danika's date was dressed up as. He looked like a walking, talking junk yard. Of course, he would not mention that to the boy. Only when someone came up behind him did he drop the tablecloth end and when that person spoke in his ear, the bored expression on his face disappeared completely. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, he could recognize her voice anywhere.

And she had asked a very important question.

"Oh well, I was." he said, resisting the temptation to turn around and look at her. "But last time I seen her, she was was with some man in a mask."

And up until Nikolai took his own mask off, she was definitely with the wrong masked man.

Mia thought that Nikolai had picked the perfect spot to sit, it was in the corner and furthest away from the dance floor. Which in her opinion was excellent for some quiet...talking.

She wondered if he even knew who it was seeing how he hadn't turned around to look who was behind him. Mia rested her arms on the back of his chair and was able to take in his outfit without him knowing what she was doing.

The costume was totally Nikolai, all over.

A small chuckle escaped her lips. "Well she must be an idiot." Nothing against Raiden of course. And Mia decided not to point out that he had been dancing with an extremely sexy looking woman himself.

Moving around the chair so that she was now standing in front of him, Mia couldn't help but grin. "I do so apologise but all those masks look the same to me." She gestured at the chair and raised an eyebrow, "So this seat is for me?"

Nikolai was wondering what Mia was doing still standing behind him. Probably checking him out, but she couldn't be blamed. He was dressed as Zorro after all, and even though the costume fit him perfectly, he was sure he would have looked good in anything.

Even the banana.

Not that he would ever think about wearing that..

Hearing her chuckle put a smile on his face and he held up a hand at what she said. "I would not let her hear you say that. She has the tendency to punch people when they tease her." He lowered his hand, and having an after thought, he quickly added, "Not that she is an idiot, of course." At least, he didn't think she was one.

His eyes followed her until she was standing in front of him and he returned the grin. He shook his head, clearly amused, when she apologized, and reaching over to the seat next to him, he removed his hat and mask. "I suppose it can be for you. Unless," he began, his eyebrow raising to match hers, "you want me to call over the other girl I seen talking to a masked man?"

He was joking, of course. He would prefer if Mia did sit down. He was tempted to cover her up with his cape.

What was she wearing?

Now that comment made her laugh. Clearly he thought she was a rather violent sort of person when actually she was the total opposite. Mia still had no idea what possessed her to punch him that day. She'd been teased before and it had never bothered her. Perhaps because it had been him.

"Feisty piece of work is she?" Pressing her lips together to keep from laughing, Mia raised her eyebrows even higher wondering how he actually perceived her. Well he didn't think she was an idiot, so that was a good start. Even though she had done some pretty idiotic things in front of him.

Sitting down on the chair beside him, she grinned again at him. "Oh I don't think that will be necessary. I'm pretty sure that I can keep you entertained." Mia was tempted to take hold of his hand but was still unsure of where they stood with each other.

So instead she bumped him lightly with her shoulder and inclined her towards the champion seating area. "So how come you're not up there with the rest of them?" It had struck Mia, that Nik liked to do things differently.

She looked up at him a smile playing on her lips. "Thank god we called off that bet, huh?" Even though she had technically won, Mia was the type to have gone and hugged Zitnik anyway just to make Nik feel better.

Yay!

Watching her blush again, he loved to make her blush since she looked very beautiful when she blushed, the boy smiled. She did not look less beautiful when she did not blush but somehow the blush made her cute. Anyway... he was happy that she wanted to dance as well which reminded him that he knew a lot facts about dancing...somehow. He did not remember reading about them, he did not read much anyway, however somehow he knew them also he could remember that he already mentioned one of them to the Slytherin girl a few years ago.

Yet he was not going to mention any facts tonight since his Ravenclaw moments could ruin their happy/romantic moment. So he silently looking at her he took and kissed her hand like a gentleman. ''I am glad you agreed to dance with me dear viking lady'' he said and holding her hand he gently led her to the dance floor. Now, he was going to find out. Hehehehe.

Bahahaha!!

Destiny had run away from Carter..finally..and what she held under her arm could only be described as an accident waiting to happen.

Maybe..

Finding an empty table, she plopped herself down on a chair and placed the bowl of chocolate down in front of herself. Not only did she have chocolate, she had perfect view of the champion's table. She could spy on Noel and he would never even know! Who was he with anyway? Hmm..the girl looked like that person on the muggle box whose head gets chopped off. No competition there. Noel would rather have someone with a head, for sure.

And Destiny did have a head.

Just about to dive into the bowl of chocolate, her eyes fell on someone else at the champion's table; Jermaine! She hadn't seen him since he was on the verge of DEATH and when he gave her that mirror. The same mirror that she keeps safe under her pillow. Snickering to herself, she picked up a piece of chocolate and tossed it in his direction.

"Pssssssst! Jermaine!"

Chocolate in hand Jermaine made his way from the champion table over to the table Destiny was sitting at. "I believe I 'ave zomezing zat belongz to you," he said showing her the piece of chocolate. He then gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before sitting next to her. Yes, she gets a kiss, unllike someone else he knows. "So 'ow 'ave you been?"

O_____O

Destiny had noticed Jermaine leaving the champion's table, but she did NOT think he was going to come over to her! She was only going to wave at him when he turned around, but now that he was walking..

Eeeep!

"Oh..that." she gave an embarrassed smile as he held out the chocolate, "It must have slipped from my hand." And hit you in the head. And if she wasn't embarrassed from that, she was sure feeling embarrassed as he leaned in to hug her and..

OMG..

HE HAD JUST KISSED HER ON THE CHEEK!

Her hand reaching the spot he had just KISSED, she felt her face grow hot, and not really hearing what he had asked, she giggled. That's right! Destiny Shepard giggled! "You want some chocolate?"

Evelyn was a bit frozen in place when he kissed her hand. Oh no, it was definitely not a bad reaction, she just wasn't expecting that to happen. Had he ever done that before?

Smiling shyly, the Slytherin nodded as she glanced towards the dance floor, following him and lost for words. She had danced with him the last time there was a Ball, but this time it was different. They weren't together the last time, so there was a bit more excitement as the girl continued walking next to him towards the dance floor.

Aaron smirked and let out a little laugh. He was about to have a smooth response... When:

Aaron couldn't help but laugh. Just the look on Iris' face...

Killed. The. Moment.

But, it was funny. If one thing hadn't changed since he left, it was Aaron's sense of humor.

"Sorry," Aaron said letting it go... "Who was that, then?" he said sarcastically with a smirk.

Funny that Mia should say feisty. Of all the words to choose, she picked the one that he thought of during their first meeting."You have no idea." he murmured more to himself than her. There was more he wanted to say, but that could and would wait..

Even thought she sat down, Nikolai was still tempted to throw his cape over her. You know, she did not like the cold and all. Ahem. Leaning back in his chair, he smirked and raised his eyebrow challengingly. She was sure she could entertain him? "And how will you do that?" He could think of something, but with all the people around that probably wasn't such a good idea. His fangirls would get jealous..mmhmm.

Grinning as she bumped him with her shoulder, he glanced over at the Champion's table. "They are having too much fun for my liking." Yes, seeing Fletcher give a toast of some sort looked like so much fun. So much fun, in fact, the two Beauxbatons boys had left the table. "Besides," he began, turning to face Mia once more, "you are over here, not there." And since she was not his 'official' date, he didn't think she'd be allowed over there. And she'd probably be bored out of her mind.

Like he would be.

The bet? Hmm.. Why was Mia bringing that up? She wasn't.. "You are not thinking about making me eat flobberworms again, are you?" He would not do it!

Okay, so maybe he would for her, but she didn't know that!

He was laughing.

Laughing at the fact that Iris forgot that she was talking to someone before he appeared. Hmpf, well! That's just MEAN.

"You will be." Iris muttered, rolling her eyes at what he said next. Did he really have to sound so sarcastic? "A new friend." Well, it was true. Teehee.

The prefect looked up those few inches to Aaron's eyes. "Soooooo...." Iris said, grinning, "What've you been up to over the last year? Y'know... other than missing me, because I already know that." Smirk. Oh yeah, Iris Beaumont can smirk too. She just doesn't show it off that often.

Noticing him mumbling to himself but not quite catching what he said, Mia grinned as she leaned into him. “You know the first sign of insanity it talking to yourself.” She whispered to him. And if that was true then Mia should have been committed a long time ago.

Well she knew how she would like to entertain him but seeing how there were so many Professors around, Mia knew that it was not a good idea. And even though she had no problems with PDA because let’s face it she had done plenty of it, Nik was different and she didn’t feel the need to snog him in front of everyone.

“Hmm, I could amuse you to no end with my dancing skills.” She had absolutely none whatsoever. “Or I could juggle a couple of hippogriffs for you.” Mia looked at him to see if he was impressed by that and waited for him to tell her that he wanted to see it just because he knew that it was physically impossible. “Or I could give you the gift I got for you.” Now that would no doubt spark his interest.

Following his gaze to the Champion’s table, she raised her eyebrows at his comment and then realised that he must have been using sarcasm because from what she could see, it looked rather boring over thereat that table. Mia turned back to look at Nik and she smiled at what he said. “You would really rather be with me?”

Mia couldn’t help but giggle at the look on his face. “No of course not.” Besides she wouldn’t mind a goodnight kiss and she didn’t think it would be as good if he had just eaten a bunch of flobberworms. Deciding to change the subject, Mia waved her hand over her front. “So what do you think of my costume?”

Oh, so Mia thought he was insane now, did she? Grinning, Nikolai leaned away from her and stretched his legs out under the table. "I would have to be insane to think that the conversations I have with myself are interesting." And really, he was not that interesting. Not as much as he made himself out to be.

It seemed like Mia had the same idea as he did, but being surrounded by so many people.. Not that he had a problem with it or anything, because he didn't. How many times had he got in trouble for kissing at Durmstrang? Too many to count, but, he did not want to spend his last few days at Hogwarts being scolded by the Professor's. He had already been in trouble once since arriving at Hogwarts.. he didn't need it to happen again. So now they needed other things, not that she really needed to entertain him.

No. He'd pass with the whole dancing thing even if she would have danced just to amuse him. He shook his head and waited to see if she had something else in mind. And she did! Now, Mia juggling hippogriffs. That would be something he would have liked to see and since it was impossible.. "Where can we find hippogriffs? I would like to see this." He sat up in his chair, and was about to stand up to go 'find' a few of the creatures when she said she had a gift for him. Well.. that.. he did not expect that. He didn't have anything for her. "You.. got me a gift?" Maybe she was only kidding.

Was there really a need for Mia to ask that question? If he didn't want to be sitting there with her, he would have up and left already. "I would." he answered, and leaning in, he stole a quick kiss. All shifty, like nothing just happened.

Alright. Nikolai really had no idea what the reason behind bringing the bet up was for, but, she seemed to want to subject changed and he wouldn't question it. It found it strange to bring up, though. Hmm.. He followed her hand as she waved it over her costume. What did he think of it? "Where is the rest of it?"