Theodore was wandering around the castle. Once the hustle and bustle of the teachers and students and spirits died down, it was quite a lovely place. The vast corridors, lit by torches that had live of their own, were oddly soothing to the boy that was usually scared of anything remotely eerie. Since older students were allowed to stay up a bit later than others, the Ravenclaw had taken it upon himself to go down for a snack. The only problem was, where were the kitchens? Shouldn't there have been a clearly demarcated sign that led to them? Where in Merlin's saggy pants was the food in this joint? The fifteen-year-old could never properly go to sleep without a warm glass of milk and without perusing at least a few pages of his favorite novel.

His hands in his pockets, he wandered along, his blue-eyed gaze tracing the wonderful architecture that pervaded every inch of the school.

Riley was up exploring of course. It had become a tradition of the Gryffindors to poke around the Castle floors the night that they returned ever since his first term at Hogwarts when he got lost looking for the Gryffindor Common Room. Last term he checked out another tower but this term Riley decided that he would try his luck with a lower floor.

He had heard about the Kitchens filled with House-Elves but had never been down there to see them for hisself so he decided it was time that he did so. Unaware that he was heading directly towards the death pit Hufflpuff lair. But suprisingly it wasn't a Puff that he met on his walk along the corridor, it was Theodore the dork from the train. "What are you doing down here?" he said raising an eyebrow at the guy in the dimly lit corridor.

Much to his dismay, Theodore heard a rather sneering, judgmental voice float his way in the kitchen level corridor. Turning his head away from the portrait of a delicious-looking bowl of fruit that he had been examining, his eyes landed upon Riley Sinclair. For some reason or another, this guy had it in for him. Everyone at Hogwarts and in Diagon Alley, save for this chap, had been nothing but welcoming and gracious to the newcomer. "Um... trying to figure out my way into the kitchens." Theodore answered nonchalantly, but his insides were writhing with anxiety. It would be best to choose his speech and body language carefully while around this shady Gryffindor; maybe the Sorting Hat had made a mistake with Riley. The last thing the Ravenclaw wanted to do would be to set off the boy's temper, again.

"I could ask the same to you." Theodore added a chuckle to his comment as he took a few steps toward the taller teen. But, it was a good question. A person who lacked anxiety and possessed nerves of steel would only assume that Riley had taken a trip to grab a snack as well but Theodore, with nerves of jelly and anxiety that rivaled that of a hypochondriac's, assumed the worse. His wand in the front pocket of his trousers seemed to make its presence more known at the possible danger that was near.

Despite the immense amounts of delicious and savory food he consumed at the Opening Feast, Roderigo, who had previously been lounging next to the crackling fire in the Ravenclaw Common Room, decided a midnight excursion to the famed Kitchens was a fantastic idea. Sliding passed the door with the brass knocker, he made his way across the corridor, ignoring the knocker's shrill riddle. Although the Spaniard had only been attending Hogwarts for just over a year, he was quite familiar with the secret passageways; the ones behind bookshelves or the stone walls where you had to press in exactly the correct spot for them to reveal their secrets. Within just ten minutes, Roderigo was several floors below Ravenclaw Tower.
The idea had only dawned on him when he had reached the Entrance Hall that others could be at the kitchens as well. He wanted to check his watch, but the gloomy corridor was in destitute of silver moonlight. Groping into the pocket of his robes, he extracted his wand and pointed it at his left wrist.
"Lumos," he muttered. His wandtip now alight, he peered at the magical watch that had no gears and only two stars of different sizes to tell the time. It was well passed midnight, and he wondered how late seventh-years could roam the corridors of Hogwarts. Making a mental note to ask one of his friends, Roderigo finally reached the corridor that had the portrait of the bowl of fruit, which was indeed the entrance to the kitchens.
However, through his wandlight, he could make out two figures just a few feet ahead of him. Walking slowly, he questioned who else would be here at this hour. Just before he was going to confront him, he recognized the voices of both men. It was Riley Sinclaire, his best friend, and Theodore Dumble, the Ravenclaw American he had met at Diagon Alley and the train.
"Well, I s'pose I'm not the only hungry person then," he said, raising his wand and casting light upon the three of them. "How are you two, then?" He smiled, though he wasn't sure if they could notice.

Riley had walked towards the new kid and stopped a few feet away, looking at him. "Looks likes you finally got the hang of those robes?" he tried not to smirk to much but it was hard. He just didn't understand people sometimes. He was continuing to look around, for he had not been down here before really either when Theo thought he would be clever and retort with the same question the Gryffindor had asked him.

"What does it matter to you? You aren't near your Common Room either, yeah and I know where it is too." he had seen the door once, he would mention that he probably wasn't bright enough to answer the question correctly to get it though. "So how's Hogwarts? Is it what you expected?" he asked leaning against the wall.

Then another person began walking down the hall, with their wand lit. Oh Merlin it was a Professor. They would probably yell at them to go to bed. But it was just Rod. "Hey Rod, come to claim the lost Ravenclaw?" he chuckled. "I'm doing well, just welcoming young Theo here." he said grinning at Theo and his curly locks.

Theodore simply flushed pink, the light of the mounted torch he stood near reflecting off of his high cheekbones. So, maybe Riley wasn't mad about what had happened in the train? Well, that was certainly surprising. Quickly moving onto the next subject, Theodore began, clearing his throat, "Hogwarts is really... neat. Definitely exceeded my, erm, expectations." He sounded like a kid in a candy store, but the beautiful architecture had enthralled him upon first sight. The charm of the ancient castle was inescapable and most everyone was extremely friendly. How could Theo feel unwelcome here? Even the schoolwork was pretty interesting; that might have been because he was a Ravenclaw bookworm, but no matter.

Peeking over Riley's shoulder, it gave the Ravenclaw a small ounce of relief to see a housemate approaching. Roderigo, a fellow member of the curly-locks club, made Theodore feel more at ease around the shady Gryffindor that he hadn't seemed to have figured out just yet. He flushed from pink to red as Riley spoke of him as a child to Roderigo. "I'm... I'm alright, just trying to find the kitchens. Good evening." He muttered in the direction of the other Ravenclaw.

Tayla continued exploring the castle. From the dungeons, this corridor looked much different. It was bright and had paintings along the walls. Now and then, she also noticed more students with the Hufflepuff crest on their robes pass by. "The Hufflepuff common room might be somewhere near here," Tayla thought, smiling at some of the students who looked at her. After walking the corridor a little more, she stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. "Odd..." she thought. Most paintings she saw had moving people or animals in them. This one seemed almost ordinary. Slowly and carefully, she touched the painting, wondering if they would move if she did. Her fingers brushed the pear and to her surprise, it turned into a doorknob!

Tayla's eyes twinkled with excitement. She turned the doorknob and let the painting swing open.

Connor had to escape the Slytherin Common Room, he needed to calm down and quick or no one would like what they saw. He ran up the stairs through the kitchen level corridor. His hand brushed a pear on a painting and it turned into a doorknob in his hand. He opened it and ran downstairs before the creepy one could find him.

Jainie passed by the fruit painting on her way to the stairs, and then paused. Maybe now was the perfect time for a little snack. With a small smile, Jainie turned back to the painting and tickled the pear. It giggled (or maybe she did), and she looked back and forth down the corridor quickly before grabbing the knob and hoisting herself through the doorway.

How on earth did she end up here? This was a corridor near the Hufflepuff common room. She wasn't a Hufflepuff. And Nessie was a Hufflepuff, what would Zara do if she accidentally stumbled upon Nessie?

Aigoo. Why did things have to end up this way because of a hug? Zara stopped near a painting and looked at it. Could this possibly have some magical stuff to it? Nah, probably not. But Zara stared anyway.

Nessie was coming out of the Hufflepuff common room. She was going to go to the grounds for some fresh air. She decided to take some sweets to nible on and her tranfiguration homework. She got out the common room and to her surprise she saw Zara. She thought of going back to inside as they wer'e stil in a bit of an akward situation. Nessie was just about to turn around to go inside , but she managed not to, instead she was just going to greet Zara and carry on going. She took a few steps forward then tripped everything she was holding fell. She immeidiately stated picking her things as her cheeks went bright red.

Zara jumped as she was startled by the noise. Something--a lot of things have fallen. Sweets were all over the ground and so was some parchment and stuff. She immediately picked them up, helping the girl whose head was bowed down since the girl was also picking up her things which were scattered on the floor. Then, picking up the last chocolate frog box, she handed all of the things over to the girl.

Zara's eyes widened, as she looked at the face of the girl whom she had just helped. It was Nessie! Why didn't she realize it sooner? Probably since a lot of people had the same hair as Nessie. Uh oh. Why is it that whenever Zara's trying to avoid someone, something just happens and she finds her way to bump into that person. She just stood there, speechless, lips pursed tightly and eyes emotionless.

Nessie got the fright of her life, when she saw Zara's face. She didn't know what to say and after a few moment all she could say was, "Um.. Hey, thanks!" she hated this akwardness why couldn't it just stop. She took her things and started walking to grounds.

Nessie's face seemed just like an exact replica of Zara's. Both were filled with shock and Zara was sure that if she looked in the mirror, she'd see the exact same expression shown now on Nessie's. "Welcome."

After Nessie grabbed her stuff, Zara watched as she walked away. Should she go after her? Ugh. She didn't know what to do. Maybe this wasn't exactly the right time.

And so, Zara had the shortest conversation of her life. She turned back and headed for their common room, she needed to go rest now.

Ariadne was satisfied with the amount of food (mostly sweets) she managed to snag from the house elves, and was now on the kitchen level corridor, heading back to her Common Room. If she were a Hufflepuff, it would be somwhere nearby, but alas, as a Gryffindor, she had to go all the way up to the towers, seventh floor. Thinking of Hufflepuff, the girl realized she hadn't seen her badger friends (Simon, Jory, Nessie) in quite a long time.

Simon had decided that he would leave the common room and go for a walk around the lake to try and calm down he was still mad at Treyen for siding with Destiny when he they were suppost to be best friends, he was too busy thinking about things that he didn't realise there was someone else in the corridor until he bumped into her. "I'm so..." Simon turn to the girl then smiled, he hadn't seen her for ages. "Ari, how have you been?" His mind had gone completely of Treyen. "I'm sorry I bumped into you, I was just thinking about things."

The combination, in Roderigo's opinion, of wandlight and torchlight was a bit too much for the dimly lit corridor. He lowered his lit wand, holding it at his side.
"Nox," he muttered, extinguishing the light from his wand, causing the shadows to stretch across everyone's faces as there was only one source of light near them now. Shoving his wand into the pocket of his robes, Roderigo playfully punched Riley on his shoulder. "Clearly, I came down here thinking Theo must've been here" he said sarcastically. "No, it's just coincidental. I'm hungry." He chuckled and leaned against the wall bearing the bracket which held that torch. Even in the odd light the warm fire emitted, the Spaniard could tell that his newly acquainted housemate's face was flushed. He felt that there was some tension between Riley and Theo, but it might have been too premature for him to come to such insinuations. Despite his suspicions, he played them off and decided it was time that they made an effort to get into the kitchens.
"I've only been here once, and it was closer to the beginning of term last year. Let's see if I can remember..." his voice trailed off as he moved closer towards the enormous portrait of a bowl of fruit. He knew he had to touch a specific fruit, but wasn't sure how to do so. He relayed the same information to the other two. Perhaps Riley remembered? He had been at Hogwarts longer than he and Theodore. His stomach growled loudly, causing Roderigo to bend forward slightly, rubbing it.

Ariadne didn't see the boy coming until the very last minute, but she managed to keep her balance, and even more important, not to drop all the food she was holding. 'Simon!' she was happy to see him again. 'Me? I've been ok, the rest of the summer passed really quickly, and now I'm still getting used to Hogwarts.' The girl paused a bit, and then added: 'But I love it here, it's interesting, and fun, and you get to meet so many people.'

'Funny to see you now, actually. I was just thinking about my Hufflepuff friends while passing by.' she smiled. 'Don't worry about it. Is...is everything all right?' the girl asked, in response to Simon mentioning he had a lot on his mind. 'Would you like a cookie? I think I got too many from the kitchen, anyway.' the firstie offered.

Nessie just came out of the Hufflepuff common room. She was still exhausted and probably needed to sleep. Nessie started thinking about her best friend again. Why couldn't she just stop thinking? A tear slid down her cheek but she wiped it away before anyone could see. She wasn't hungry she hadn't eaten for nearly a whole day. She wasn't really feeling well but whatever she did she didn't feel like eating nor sleeping. Before she knew what was happening she faded into unconsciousness.

*Walking down the hall to his common room Matty felt like he was on cloud nine. He had just pent a great day with Marie and got great marks on his class work. As he kept walking he saw a first year looking very... woah! Was she falling!? Running over to her Matty got to her before she smacked her head on the floor.*
"Woah! Are you okay?"

"hey nessi" bella said as she walked down the corridor. "woah, what happened!are you ok?" she asked in concern

Nessie was still unconscious, although she heard somone say something. She tried to say something back, bt nothing came out from her mouth. She then tried to open her eyes, so she could at least see who it was, but her eyes stayed closed and shut.

*Picking the little one up in his arms he looked around to see if anyone else was around to help. Seeing that it was just him he took off at a run and ran up to the hospital wing.*
"It's okay, we'll get you to the healer soon enough."

Nessie still couldn't open her eyes. She wanted to tell whoever was carring her, that she was fine. Well maybe she wasn't but she didn't want people to worry about her. She carried on trying to speak but nothing happened.

ooc: you can post at the hospital wing if you want?