Originally Posted by Cedric

Was he doing homework as well? Heh. Elliott gave a faint smile and shook his head. "Actually, no. I don't really have a purpose for going up there, other than sheer boredom and an invitation from you." Because he really wasn't tired yet, and the astronomy tower was in interesting place. Hopefully it wouldn't be very full of students doing last-minute astronomy homework, otherwise he'd probably be out of there within a few minutes.

He watched Sadie as she rummaged around his her bag, all the while he was wondering how she knew his last name. When she handed over a letter, it all pieced together. "Oh, thank you." Lucky for him, she was nice enough to pick it up and give it to him. Most people would have left it there on the dirty floor. He opened up the letter. "Don't mind me," he told her as his eyes shifted to the parchment in his hands.

And it was from Lucie. He had been wondering where she had gone off to! And to think, he thought her leaving might have had something to do with the almost-drowning incident. He finally came to the end of the letter and he tucked it away in his back pocket. Poor Luce - sounded like she was going through a really rough time. He made a mental note to write her this week.

"From a friend," he said, finally breaking the span of silence.

Originally Posted by Winter Dreams

Evangeline watched Braeden intently, watching his reactions at this piece of information. She was never the type of person that blurted things out, and she had never intended to tell this to Braeden, but she supposed that keeping this to herself so much, meant it had to come out eventually. "Well yes. Even Slytherin's like me have hearts." She said. "But I'm sure you know how I'll feel if you say anything," she said, but she was really very threatening. More joking. Because for some unfathomable reason, she trusted that he wouldn't say anything about this. It didn't make much sense.

She scowled light heartedly when he messed up her hair. "You're not very much taller than me, you." She said, straightening out her long hair. "And you being my friend, and hearing that piece of information, doesn't mean you get to touch my hear." She told him.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden's eyebrows rose slightly as Evangeline spoke threateningly, before his lips curved into one of his goofy smiles once again. "My lips are sealed," assured the boy, pretending with his right hand to be zipping his lips shut. Yep. Not a word would come out of him. Though, we all know how clumsy Braeden can be with delicate information…

And then the girl was telling he wasn't that much taller than him, something to which the Gryffindor boy snorted. "Hollywood, I'm six feet. How tall are you? Four?" he asked, obviously teasing as a lopsided grin lit up his expression. Hehehe. He liked getting on her nerves. But then the girl was reminding him that just because they were friends and he knew a big secret about her didn't mean he could touch her hair. Pshhh. "How're you going to stop me?" asked Braeden, raising an eyebrow at the girl. Now he really had every intention in the world to mess her hair as much as he possibly could.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden's jaw dropped as Evangeline pointed out the downsides to his tallness. Grr, she actually had a point there... but he would never, ever, in a million years admit it. No way. Eva was scary enough as it was, she didn't need the encouragement of knowing that she was right.

And then she was adding that she actually knew how to use her wand. Heyyy! What was that supposed to mean? That he didn't know how to use his wand? Braeden's jaw only dropped further at this, half offense and half amusement (and a bit of fright) in his expression. Fine, so maybe he was little bad at charms and spells and that sort of thing, but... But she didn't need to rub it in his face!

"I hope you realize that's still not going to stop me from messing with you, Hollywood," said the boy stubbornly. Yeah. She could hex him all she wanted, but he wasn't going to stop bothering her, because... well, that would be like giving up. And he was too much of a proud Gryffindor to give up that easily.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

"Brave stupidity?!" repeated Braeden with mock offense though there was an amused smile adorning his face. Merlin. Evangeline was like... well, like something he'd never encountered before. She could be charming and funny, but at the same time evil and completely frightening. He wasn't sure whether to laugh at her words or drop his books and run in the opposite direction screaming for help.

"My little secret?" asked Braeden, raising an eyebrow at the shorter (though taller than average) girl. "And what would that be?" he asked. He didn't have any hidden secrets... did he? Okay, now he was a little nervous...

Originally Posted by DracikinsLuver4321

Well that sounded like a reasonable enough excuse for her. "Have you been to the Astronomy tower before?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. *facepalm* Obviously he probably had. That was one of the stupidest questions ever. Ugh she really should think before speaking. Like really. Astronomy wasn't required either and he may be one of those kids not taking it.

Phew. Good thing this guy didn't seem to think she was some freakish mail stealer girl. In fact he barely seemed to care about her having his letter. She stood there quietly as he skimmed through the note, carefully observing his facial expressions. Was it a good note? A bad one? Those kinds of things drove her insane in wanting to know. "Oh I see. Is everything alright?" she pressed a little. Ehhh don't mind her and her pressing manner. Heh.

Originally Posted by aussiegirl

Mia gave another little sniffle and nodded her head at Finn. "He does." Although you wouldn't know it right now seeing how she looked so sad. "I love him." She admitted. It was getting so easy to say that now. And it made her smile a little as she thought about him. But the smile didn't last when she spoke again. "Yeah well apparently they don't."

Stupid boys, making her feel like this. Mia didn't like drama. At. All.

Partly at fault? Did that mean she was at fault too? Mia chewed on her bottom lip while she thought about that. What had she done that would make her at fault?

Before she could think too much on it, Finn spoke again and Mia looked at him. A year ago is when she had met Sal and Finn and Jimmy and..."Oh Merlin." She groaned. Sal couldn't have possibly liked her for that long, could he?

She felt a little better when Finn told her that she wasn't sending out the wrong signals. Mia picked at a stray bit of thread on her robes thinking to herself. "I hope Nik doesn't go ballistic when I tell him."

Originally Posted by Winter Dreams

"Yes Braeden, that is what I said."

"Yes, your little secret." She nodded seriously. She'd thought she might get a reaction like this, and she was sure that Braeden had forgotten about it entirely. It was hardly a real secret, that he went around tickling portraits just because he liked to. She had just been teasing him about it, when really he just didn't know his way around Hogwarts. But Braeden didn't know that, yet. "Well, I can hardly tell you now if you've forgotten."

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

"Aw c'mon!" whined Braeden as Evangeline refused to tell him the big secret she knew about him that she was threatening to spread around. He had to know! If he didn't, how was he supposed to tell whether it was really a dangerous secret or something he could just laugh about? Gahh. This evil Slytherin was too good at blackmailing. Too good. Damn secret detectives pretending to be actresses from America.

Braeden decided to play another card.
"I thought we were friends, Hollywood," he started, looking like a puppy who'd just been kicked to the side of the road. "How could you be so mean?" Boo hoo hoo.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden's jaw dropped as Evangeline pointed out he liked to guilt trip people. Why, that was... that was... well, that was completely true, actually. But how had she figured it out?! Oh geez. He'd have to come up with new ways to manipulate people. The boy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly for a moment, listening as Evangeline went on to confirm that they were, indeed, friends. Aw. He was happy to hear that.

But that wasn't all.
She was also reminding him that he'd started this battle by ruffling her hair. "Alright, alright. I won't ruffle your hair again. Promise," said the boy, holding up his right hand. Or was he supposed to promise with his left? Oh well. Either way, he was promising. Sooo.. Secret time!

"So what's that big secret you know about me?" asked the boy eagerly. He needed to know. Needed to.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden's jaw dropped at Evangeline's accusation, but said nothing. There was no use arguing with Hollywood at this point; he'd only be giving her more reasons to claw his eyes out. And he appreciated his eyes too much to let that happen and planned to take care of them.

"Oh," muttered the boy with a sheepish chuckle as he raised his left hand instead and waited, the anxiety building, as Evangeline paused before spilling his big secret.

And then she said it.
He liked to tickle portraits. Braeden Stonem liked to tickle portraits.
Heyyyy! That wasn't even true, though! The boy's brows furrowed, but he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to argue with Eva because he knew he would lose, so he sighed in defeat instead. "Alright, well, if you just promise not to tell anyone, then... I guess it's alright," he said, giving a goofy weak smile.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden seemed reassured as Eva promised not to tell anyone about his so-called 'secret', watching with curious brown eyes as the Slytherin girl then diverted her gaze toward the windows facing out to the snow-covered grounds. The boy followed her gaze absentmindedly and turned back to Evangeline as she spoke, asking how his year had been so far.

"It's been good. I've met a lot of nice people," said the boy with a smile. It was true, though; most of the people he had met this term were incredibly nice. Except for Ruby. She still scared him to death. Just thinking about her sent a shiver down the boy's spine, causing him to shudder slightly.

"What about you?" he asked. "I bet a famous Hollywood actress like you has probably made a lot of friends," he said. "Boys, especially," he added with raised eyebrows. But Eva was a really pretty girl, he was sure all the Slytherin boys were probably going around the castle chasing after her.

Originally Posted by Gryffindoll

Braeden looked away a bit guiltily when Evangeline asked him if he was earning a lot of points for Gryffindor. "Not as many as I'd like to be, but I've gotten a few," said the boy with one of his dorky smiles. He was quite proud that his House was in the lead; and it had better stay that way! Even if he wasn't being an insane load of help...

The boy laughed as Evangeline shared she was warming up to the British, growing even more amused as she sarcastically explained that she had to fight all the boys off with a stick because there were so many. The gullible boy thought she was being serious.

"A few, yeah," said Braeden as she asked if he had met any girls. He'd met quite a number of girls, actually, but not like... that. All he had was friendships with them. "I don't really have to fight them off with a stick though," he added with a soft chuckle.

Originally Posted by Herminny

Chloe had been exploring yet again as she usually liked to when she came across a familiar hallway. She turned down it and and saw the sight of hundreds of pictures. Each she knew had a story to tell quite literally. She would not be surprised if one piped up but so far there was silence. She wondered if any of her freinds would come by this area. It was a rather unusal but at the same time a very interesting place to be.

Originally Posted by LilyLunaGinnyPotter

Crazed!Girl skipped down the hall. "Hey Chloe."