"Zey are," Aimée agreed with a nod when Dallin mentioned how funny the House Elves were. "I 'ave never 'ad one either, but zey are odd. All zey seem to want to do is work... et es a bit strange." Who wanted to clean and cook for other people all of the time? And on no pay, too? It wasn't something Aimée would ever consider, but there again, she wasn't an Elf.

Aimée bit down on her lip to stop herself from laughing as she saw Dallins mouth drop open. She didn't know why it had, but the sight was slightly comical - although she didn't want Dallin to think she was being horrible, laughing, so she stifled it. She smiled when he looked away; either he hadn't meant to say all of that, or he was really brave, and she was willing to bet on the former. "Yeah... I mean, I was at Beauxbatons for three years and I zink I... well, I don't know, but it's better here..." she shrugged, trailing off herself.

"Maybe we just got better looking over last summer, eh? And now more people want to talk to us?" she said with a wink - that thought was totally feasible, maybe not so for her.

"It must just be the way they are," Dallin said with a shrug. He didn't really get magical creatures and how they ticked. They reminded him of girls, because he liked them, but he couldn't for the life of him understand them. And he accepted that.

He snorted at her reasoning, then quickly composed himself. "That could easily be the truth," he chuckled, feeling his face redden. "For me, at least. Because it's rather hard to believe you were any less beautiful than you are now."

And... Dallin had officially rendered himself speechless. But to his credit, he just smiled sheepishly at Aimée. He didn't even look away, even though he knew he had to be blushing redder than a Gryffindor crest. Heh.

The way they are? Aimée nodded slowly, thinking it over. Yeah, some creatures were weird like that, including boys. "I suppose," she said shrugging. If she admitted it, which she didn't want to really do, she was quite glad; she had a feeling that if they didn't have the nature they did, their food wouldn't be as nice, and that wouldn't be very good. Although she was probably wrong, but still.

As Dallin blushed, Aimée could feel her own cheeks and ears getting hotter and redder, and she smiled. "Zank you, Dal," she managed to say, although it came out a little strained. He's was so unbelievably sweet, she'd never had anyone say anything of the sort to her before. It was amazing, she thought, that he still was looking straight at her, instead of looking away, and she kept eye contact with him, too. "Zat was... Zank you." Yeah, that was all she could manage. Oh crap.

Selena felt old when he called her ma'am. Psht. Selena wasn't old. This dude looked a lot older so she was pretty sure that he wasn't talking to her. After coming to the conclusion, she turned around. Seeing no one there she decided it must be Maddie. "Maddie, he's calling you old," Selena said with a nod of her head. Made a lot more sense now. Yup.

Pssssht. They were at the bottom because Slytherins were awesome. Hmm... probably best not to say that when Maddie was here... even though Maddie totally knew that Slytherin was obviously the better house. Hehe.

Dal had to fight back the urge to laugh at Aimée's response. It seemed he had surprised her just as much as he had surprised himself. "No problem," he replied, laughing a bit nervously. "No problem at all." Oh, Merlin. He was such an idiot, all awkward and whatnot. What happened to his usual Dallin!Confidence?

...Time to once again say something totally random. "Hey, you ever been to the Astronomy tower at night?" Not that he ever had, but he was sure it must be cool. He knew that it was a weird, random suggestion, but he hoped that Aimée would go with it. He was really starting to worry all this standing around was boring her.

Pfft. Names shmames.

Running up the new set of stairs, the Slytherin giggled quietly at what she heard Destiny yell at her. If they ran around enough, would that actually happen?

That'd actually be gross. O__O And slightly funny.

"If your legs fell off, you'll never get your horn back!" she called over her shoulder, pausing for a moment before continuing down another corridor. Merlin, they were in the entrance hall already? Aw, it brought back memories; running through the entrance hall. Bad, horrible, nightmarish memories, but memories nonetheless.

Eh.

It was official. Evelyn was trying to kill her.

Not only was she trying to kill her, she was trying to kill her for a reason. Destiny should have known there was a reason why the girl STOLE her last name, then STOLE her horn and then she was trying to STEAL her package bomb.

Evelyn was trying to kill her so she could BECOME her! Sweet Merlin! It was all making sense now. Next, the other girl was going to be walking around with chocolate stained Slytherin ties, shoes without shoelaces, a rat in her pocket and hair that looks like it hasn't been brushed in days!

Because that's what Destiny Shepard looked like right then. She did have to stick her hand in her pocket just to make sure her pet rat Marcus was still in there.

He was.

Ignoring the whole 'If your legs fell off, you'll never get your horn back!' comment, because really! She could use her arms to pull herself all over the school to get it back, Destiny continued down the corridor, not really paying attention to where they were.

"EVELYN! I AM GOING TO HAVE MARCUS EAT ALL YOUR SOCKS!"

What a threat.

Timothy's eyes widened slightly, obviously this girl did not know proper manners when she saw them. In such a sad state the youth of Britannia were. He frowned, "I wasn't call you old at all Maddie! That is just how I talk! All formal like...."

That was how he was taught to speak, speak without manners, and it usually got him the backhand of his father. But that was a different story for a different time. He looked at this other girl again, She must have been one of Maddie's friends, she always did hang out with the weird ones. MAybe she took pity on them....

Selena smirked at the boy's obvious distress. But still, for some reason he seemed to dislike her. Whatever, there were always going to be haters and those people were obviously just jealous. It was decided. And besides, talking all formal like was tiring. He should just save it for a tea party or whatever. She was pretty sure that would be where everyone would enjoy talking all formally and stuff.

Pffft. And he was giving her the oddball look. Hmph. What did he know? "You're tall," Selena offered. Pffft. Tall people. One day short people were going to rule the world. Yup. Because let's face it, being tall was overrated. Mmmhmmm.

Oh, so this was a little awkward. Aimée let out a little giggle and then slapped her hands across he mouth as she realised what she'd done. He cheeks flushed bright red and she felt the urge to giggle a little more, but she restrained it. What had happened to her confidence, her frosty exterior? One boy said she was beautiful and she was a red, giggling wreck? Oh pur-lease! Taking a deep breath she tried to at least compose herself before she opened her mouth again.

"Ze Astronomy Tower at night?" Aimée said, glancing through the slightly open doors at the star-speckled sky. "No, I can't say I ever 'ave," she admitted. She was surprised that she hadn't, it seemed like such a lovely, albeit random idea. But random, spur of the moment ideas were often the best, no?

Timothy smiled briefly, suddenly she was was nice! He was tempted to reply with a bitter insulting comment, but he held back. There was no need to insult a friend of Maddie's. Plus, if he was lucky, she would be his friend as well.

"Thanks Ma'a...er...Selena, You are uhhh.....pretty?"

He didn't know what else to say really, as it would be impolite to comment on her short stature.

Pffft. Wasn't he a bitter person? Gosh. People definitely needed to smile more these days. Didn't people live longer when they smiled? Obviously he never heard of that little thing. But she didn't feel like picking a fight either... hmm... maybe she should just pretend to be normal... normal in her dictionary anyways.

"Thank you, I try not to be," Selena said, half serious. Because seriously, who wanted to look like a doll half the time? Pffft. That meant work and glitter and stuff. Selena did not want to catch glitteritis. She'd leave that for the rest of her family. Mmmhmmm.

Awkward. What was she supposed to say now? "So... erh... what house are you in?" she asked. What else was there to say?! He didn't seem really friendly like TallPerson! And, quite frankly, Sel was not good with meeting this tall person. One tall person should be enough... mmmhmm.

Her comment on not wishing to be considered pretty caught him off guard for sure. How awkward was that? He was trying to give her a compliment. But oh well, women were fickle about some things. He smiled grimly.

"Ravenclaw, home of the purple and lack of fighting skills. What about yourself?"

He hated being a ravvie, too many stereotypes. Good thing he wasn't a huffie. That would really suck.

One side of Dallin's mouth quirked up at Aimée's giggled. Gosh, girls were cute when they giggled. Girls were cute anyways, though. He laughed to himself, thinking that, but shook the thought out of his head so that he could focus on the suggestion he'd just thought of.

"Huh. Me either, actually." He turned his crooked smile up to look Aimée in the eyes. "Just got the idea. The sky's kinda cool at night, don'tcha think? With the stars and all?" That was most a rhetorical question. Dal glanced out the doors and at the sky. "Whaddaya say we go check it out?" Just a random idea, but it really was better than hanging around in the entrance hall of the school doing nothing, right?

.....What was so funny? Was he seriously asking this question? Leopold just looked at his friend, blinking as he watched him take his PANTS off in the middle of the school. Of course he did have clothes on "I dunno,FRENCH!Fry. It's kind of odd to see someone changing in public, in the middle of a school..."For once, Leopold wasn't the weird one. He oddly excited about this! And now he was copying Leo and pretty much doing an awful job at it. Leopold Gordon O'Donald wasn't impressed."Chandler, you are a crappy spy, I'm just throwing that out there..."What? He was being HONEST. He crouched down some more, going past a few people who HOPEFULLY didn't see them. THEY WERE SECRET SPIES THEY COULDN'T BE SEEN!This would be so much easier if they had an invisibilty cloak.

AND NOW FRENCH FRY WAS TELLING HIM TO HUSH! HE WASN'T THE GOOD SPY WITH ALL THE EXPERIENCE!

Leopold pushed his friend's finger away from his mouth, glaring.YOU. HUSH. I'm the spy in control of this mission of...Leo had to think of what exactly their mission was...OH WELL."MISSION OF BEING SHIFTY."YEH! "So, you HUSH."CHYEAH.Leopold rolled his big brown eyes at his friend, shaking his head."This is not a laughing matter, Sir FRENCH!fry. We have business to do..."

*SMIRK*

So he carried on, in his crouched position.

And now he was QUESTIONING thr bad spies? Leo stared at his friend again, a serious look on his face."Yes, ANY of this people...they could be bad spies...ANY OF THEM I TELL YOU!"He whispered to his friend, looking around the Entrance Hall."They could give information to the bad guy and then we are in SERIOUS trouble."Again, he was just stating facts.

........."Maybe my mom will buy you one for your birthday."Which was actually coming up soon.

Ellie stepped into the giant hall of entrance-ness and glanced around for Alex, but didn't see him. Pff, yeah, she beat him. But she was upset. Alex had told her over twitter that there were rumors going around about her, and that "he needed to talk to her". But when she was ready to talk, he refused to tell her! And then after much persistance, he said it was a joke... but that was a LIE. And he told her not to worry?!

Yeah right, Alex. She needed to talk to that boy. Now. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting for the little Slytherin boy to walk around the corner so she could punch him in the manhood.

Alex walked to the entrance hall with a slight smile on his face. He would meet his Ellie. Whoop! He rounded the corner and was about to break out into a huge grin when the sound of a foot tapping the floor annoyingly reached his ears. Whyy were people determined to do that? It was an awful sound and it usually meant someone had been up to no good and was about to get scolded. He took a quick look around the Entranche Hall but found himself looking back at Ellie. Why was it even thoug there was a crowded room, his eyes always drifted to her? Then he noticed it, she was the one tapping her foot! Whaaa, who was she after?

He walked up to her slightly hesitantly and a small wave of his hand. "Um.. Hi." he smiled.

Okay so maaaybe, Ellie shouldn't really be mad at Alex... He was just trying to help, right? But Ellie wanted to be mat at someone and quite frankly, Alex was the one who had "delivered the message". You were never supposed to shoot the messenger.

Ellie saw Alex turn the corner, and all her hard feelings faded away. Really, how could she ever be mad at him?! He hadn't started the rumour, after all. And he had been so nice about it too. She watched as Alex approached her somewhat hesitantly and his cute smile melted her anger. Ellie smiled sheepishly at him, glad they could finally hang out. She unfolded her arms. "Hey." She said with a shy smile.

But stiiillll, nagging at the back of her mind was that blasted rumour. It made her upset that someone thought that she had hooked up with a Slytherin that she had known for a whole five minutes. She wanted to know who started it! Ellie frowned and looked back up at Alex. "Can I...?" She started, but trailed off.

Ellie unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Alex in a big hug. She just wanted a little comfort from a close friend. And she wanted that friend to be Alex. "I'm sorry I got mad at you about the whole rumour thing." Ellie said quietly, still hugging Alex. She hoped he didn't mind hugs, because he'd have to get used to them.

To say that Alex was surprised by her hug was an understatement. To say that he liked it was an understatement too. As a reflex he put his arms around her and hugged her back in one of his famous bear hugs. "Uh, that's alright." he murmured awkwardly. He still wasn't sure if the rumour was true though, mmmhm.

He pulled away slightly to look down at her, then it hit him. He wasn't just hugging a friend. He was hugging Ellie freaking Johanson! Oh.. That got him nervous. "So erm... The rumour was false so it doesn't matter who started it right?" Right? Or would she go after all the Snakes in the whole school now?

Invitation in hand, package in pocket and frown on his face, Sabel moved into the entrance hall. His eyes did a quick sweep for any one of those who's names were scrawled on the list tucked safely in his pocket. No one yet. He was early. A good thing. Maybe he could try and collect his nervous and confused thoughts before it was time to leave. Nothing about any of this made much sense and already his guard was up and his body tense.

He supposed it didn't really help that his arm had started to bother him again, most likely thanks to the stress of work and the invite. Finding a private spot on the sill of one of the windows near the great doors, he folded his legs up under himself and rested his arm across his lap. Long sleeves covered most of the cloth he had used to wrap his arm up in, the unction protected by its clean surface. Only his hand bore visible bandaging in such a method that he could still use his wand if needed, or write, or eat, or any number of essential activities requiring dexterity. The last thing he wanted to feel was crippled by some type of poor, restrictive bandaging.

With a slow sigh, he worked on adjusting the holster around his wrist, over the bandaging, under his sleeve. Not the most comfortable set-up, but it worked. And he wasn't leaving the school without his wand. Now it was only a matter of time before the others showed up.

Now this was going to be interesting.

The last time Patroclus had seen Lord Borr was in his first lesson ever here at hogwarts, and it had not gone well, in fact it was the only time in the boy's academixc history that a Professor had yelled at him, and sent him from the class. He still remembered the injustice of it all; the then LionCub had been called a dreamer, with his head in the cloud, he was Eleven!


So it was with a mixture of resentment and interest, that the Lion Prefect arrived in the Entrance Hall, in his best set of freshly laundered school robes, his badge gleaming on his chest, his wand securely tucked in his holster. Taking in the room, he spotted another invitee, Sabel. Moving over to the Older Lion, Patroclus waved a greeting before saying, "Hey, well this is going to be interesting!"

Jake was confused, slightly worried... and intrigued. He'd never spoken more than two words to Mister Borr... and now he was one of the few invited to a party for the man.

One hand in his pocket, the other swinging by his side, Jake trotted up the stairs from his common room and entered the Entrance Hall, glancing around and seeing-

YES. He wasn't the first. HAD he been, Jake would have hidden just behind the door until someone else was there.

He hated being first.

"Hey fellers," he said with a small 'sup' nod, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a small box with something for the dude who's party this was. Jake was looking quite at home in his casual muggle suit, without a tie but with a handkerchief in the breast pocket in Hufflepuff colours.

He couldn't help himself. "Do you guys know why you were invited? I've no idea about myself. Not complaining, mind..."

Two field trips in one term. Arya couldn't be more excited. Sure this one was a bit more formal that the one for creatures class, and it wasn't to the museum or something of the like, but it was still exciting! It was a PARTY... for some guy she kept having to pull her invitation out to remind herself of his name. It sounded like an animal of some sorts. Hopefully they would have name tags.

Skipping lightly down the corridors, taking her sweet time since she was going to be early and therefore in no hurry, she made her way to the entrance hall. The smile on her face growing wider when she spotted three familiar faces.

"Hey guys!" She skillfully weaved around Jake and Patroclus, waggling her fingers at them in greeting. It didn't take much effort to squeeze into the window beside Sabel, being small had its advantages. Absently she busied herself with fixing her dress. "Excited about the party?" Was it not obvious that she was?

Absently her eyes flicked to his bandaged arm, remembering the conversation they had over breakfast, and she did her best to hide all the worry and concern she had over his injury. Now wasn't the time for that, so she simply let her eyes flick up at him with a smile.

Borr...the man who had taught at Hogwarts with all his self-absorbed glory back when he was a second year. And now he was to be junior undersecretary of the minister of magic. Yeah that was a wise choice...like the man actually did anything other then pass gas and complain.

Walking towards the entrance hall, dressed in some nice clothes, his wand ever present within reach, Simon tried not to let his curiousity as to his invite outweigh the weirdness of it all. After all the professors getting an invite made some sense but the students was another story, especially the random list that had been posted on the board. The captain hadn't been able to help but notice seven out of the twelve had been Gryffindors including Patroculus, Lexi and Kurumi.

He finally entered just as Jake asked his question, the wonder seemed to be on everyone's mind. A quick glance around the entrance hall revealed Pat and Sabel two fellow Gryffindors were also already there. "Beats me," he answered with a slight shrug supplying a reply to the query. However at the more energetic entrance of another Hufflepuff he silenced the rest of the words for now, having no real answer for the younger girl's question. Excited meant looking forward to it.

It certainly didn't take long for people to start arriving, and he was definitely grateful for the distraction from his thoughts. However, one by one they all seemed to vocalize the same question. Difference; they seemed rather excited, some nervous and few apprehensive. Sabel spared them each a small smile, nod of the head and a 'hey' but kept quiet about the common question hanging in the air. There was no sense in tainting the excitement with his nervous hesitation. Patroclus was right, things would sure be interesting.

He gave a small shake of his head to Jake's question, going back to adjusting his holster and readjusting it, attempting to remain casual as the boy's question fueled his own to vocalization. "Have you all met or talked to Mr. Gevrik at one point or another throughout the semester?" Kurumi, Lexi, Jake and himself were all on that list, and he couldn't help but wonder if the others were.

The thought was cut short as he heard Arya's voice, quickly pulling the sleeve of his jacket over the bandaging of his arm and his attention turning to her. A small smile returned to his lips as she moved onto the window ledge beside him, and he shifted a little to give her some more room. "Still debating that."

His eyes followed hers, from his hand and then back up to her eyes, another shrug leaving him before the smile was back. "You look lovely."