"Hmm, I guess we'll see, won't we?" Or at least, Ariana would. In her opinion, karma went by the 'An eye for an eye,' rule... (Which was invented in Mesopotamia and was one of the laws carved on a ginormous stone.)

Bahahaha. Now Ariana was laughing her head off. Okay, so it was kind of mean, but it was really, really, really funny!
"Just kidding!" she said in a singsongy voice. "I've only hugged ten, but it feels like that many, what with all of the annoyed ones. You?" Knowing Nika, she really HAD hugged two hundred... or, judging by her reaction, maybe she was only at ten like Ariana?

Two hundred. Is it even possible to give two hundred hugs? Maybe in a life time, but in a day? Aren't her arms sore? Wouldn't she be on fire after hugging all of those crazy snakes? Why was she smiling? Wouldn't she be exhausted? WHAAA? TWO HUNDRED!?

Just kidding!? Just kidding!? Really Ariana, really? Nika's eyes became slits when really she was jumping for joy on the inside. So this means that she does have a chance! HAH! She isn't that behind after all! WEEEEEEEE!!!!!

OH! Even better. Ariana only has ten. Pffftt. Nika let out a audible sigh of relief. This way she knows that she's not in last place. "I've hugged twenty!" She said proudly. "But I plan to get even more!" She said matter of factly. But she's so tired of hugging them. Even though it's just about the funnest thing to do ever! It was very very tiring indeed. Especially after you have hugged Sierra, Bissy, and Evelyn.

" Good point," Garrett said with a rare smile as they reached the portriat enterance to the kitchen. " well here." he said

Maddox was startled right down to her yellow toenails when a random girl ran up and hugged her. Maddox being the sort of girl she was hugged her back. "Thanks." she waved to the girl as she ran away. "Well that is always a nice way to start the day." she commented.

After the hugging Maddox was in a good mood. A hug was always nice for that. And now she as heading to the kitchens for something totally fattening and bad and it made her toes wiggle in her shoes. "Its in the picture?" she asked attempting to walk into the painting.

Garrett tensed and blinked when someone suddenly hugged him then frowned when he noticed it was a random Gryffindor he didn't normally let people he knew touch him like that much less some random Gryffindor he didn't know. But before he could comment the girl was heading off down the hall he smoothed the creases from her hug out of his clothes then looked up to find Madox attempting to walk through the portrait. " not like that , watch." he reached out and tickled the pear causing it to shiver before the hidden door swung opengranting them access to the kitchens.

Conan smiled, "I like warm places." Like his house. It was very very warm at home. Which was why he hated it here. It was never warm here. Not warm enough anyway.

"Do you wish you could get into other common rooms sometimes?" he asked. He sometimes would like to. To visit some people.

"How is it back at home, Conan?" he'd never been close to the States, anyway, his sister had, and even if she'd said that Aspen had been cold enough, it wasn't as cold as any winter in Scotland, nor England. Probably. There was no way for him to know that.

But Hogwart's Castle was warm enough now. Even if the winter was already here.

"Other Houses' Common Rooms? I...don't know...maybe," like, the Ravenclaw one, perhaps, but it's not like he wished for it. "I suppose you do?" since he asked the question and all.

"It's warm back home. Never this cold. Not even in winter." Cold for him, was like the summer here. It was still pretty cold. "You should come visit sometime. What about during the summer? I am sure my parents would let you stay for like a month or something." At least.

Conan shrugged, "I'd like to hang out with people from other houses. There isn't anywhere to really do that around here, cept the Common Rooms." Like Sierra. He'd like the see her again. Soon. Maybe he should send her another owl.

Mmmmhmmm. So it was definitely a hotter place. That was something important to keep in mind. Certainly important. And one other thing for Conan not to feel like at home. Great. That wasn't good. Maybe he'll invite Conan to the house in Dorset once he's older. The beach made the weather a little warmer than usual for some reason, yet cooler at the same time.

Weird.

"Ask them during the winter holidays," he said, with a smile, "My answer, of course, is yes." Meaning, he could totally go for the summer, even if for a little while. He still didn't know what his plans were for the summer, but including some time with Conan would be awesome. He knew that he couldn't spend Christmas there, he was needed at home.

Why was it that Treyen thought about Sierra when Conan started to answer? That's also reason one for the smirk on his face, "Actually, there is...the whole school is full of places to hang out," even this corridor...if...a few things were added, but yeah.

"I suppose you'd like to see the Slytherin Common Room, right?" he said, with a chuckle in the end.

Conan almost burst with happiness. Treyen wanted to come to his house. HIS house. In Florida. This made him so very very happy. He had never had a friend to stay. Well he hadn't really had friends. A good thing about this place. That he had some. And Treyen was the bestest.

"I definitely will ask. And you should ask your parents too. Do you have shorts? If not, I am sure you can wear some of mine. Or we can buy you some new ones." He wasn't sure Treyen would appreciate a pair of Mickey Mouse shorts. Not that Conan had a lot of Mickey Mouse pairs. He had some though.

"Aren't they all outside though?" Everyone always talked about the treehouse and the lake. He had never been there though. So he had never experienced them.

BLUSH!!!! Conan's face suddenly turned a red colour. Even the tip of his ears went red. "Maybe." It wasn't the only one he wanted to go into. But it was the main one.

He noticed. Treyen actually noticed how happy he was after receiving such news. Though, it was fairly obvious that his answer was going to be 'Yes', and since 'magic' won't make an appearance over the summer, then they'll end up having a great time, right?

"Oh, I'll ask, but I know my dad will let me, it's only a matter of whether yours are willing to take me for a couple weeks," yes, because after being on a plane for so many hours, Treyen wasn't going to stay for a couple of days.

He did like planes. So, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I wouldn't worry about shorts either," he said, chuckling, "I've lived near the beach for most of my life," and went to France during summer times, so, he owns some. No worries, Conan, really.

What? The places to hang out? "There are a couple inside, I think, the Great Hall is for all of us, and well...the library if you're quiet enough, and the Room of Requirem--," er, he shouldn't mention that room, "Some room, and the Yearbook had their office inside the Castle, with a little place for us to hang out, and the Prefects bathroom, which is more like a lounge, though," but all those things were inside. So, yeah, some may be exclusive, but they were still there.

OH, MY GILDEROY!

Was Conan blushing?! How adorable! "You could still meet Sierra outside the Common Room, you know?" he said, eyes in the corridor.

Conan smiled, "My parents will be fine. I think they'll be happy that I have a friend. Just as long as you do all the things I do. Like visit my Dad's work." Yep yep. Treyen had to visit Animal Kingdom with him.

Shorts sorted then. Treyen didn't have to worry about the Mickey Mouse shorts at all then. Excellent.

"The yearbook? I wanna join that. That sounds fun. And I love the library. It is fun there." He didn't know he could meet people there. He just thought it was for studying and reading.

He looked to the floor, and kicked the dirt nervously. "Never said I wanted to see Sierra," he mumbled to the floor. Which was untrue, he totally would like to see her again. But only cos she was nice. And friendly. And a friend. Annnnnd....and.....he had no other reasons.

Caroline walked out of the kichens, wearing a Santa Clause hat, and carrying and wrapped box and a gift bag that looked to like it could be Santa's sack. Finally she had every one's Christmas presents wrapped up and ready to go give them out. The first one she wanted to give out was Carter's. So she had owled him earlier and told him meet her by the kitchens. Since well part of his gift was in the kitchen anyway. She had been in the kitchen nearly all night making the contents of the box. She hoped that he didn't think that all of this was a bit much.

Caroline Owled her brother in get the other things for her and Snowball deverlivered them to her a few days ago along with other things that were presents for her friends at school. Casey and Sarah send their gifts to her that day, She had already opened them. Like they would know. Hehe. She opened the bag to make sure she did grab the right bag. Great! She did grab the right one. She leaned agaisnt the wall and waited for Carter. She was pretty early, she wanted to get the one present out of the kitchen before Carter arrived. Now all to do is to wait.

Carter headed down to the kitchens with a carrying a jewelry box suspiciously behind his back. He had a scarf draped over his shoulders. He received an owl from Caroline asking him to meet her there. He was glad that they both found time to meet up. Looking down the hall he spotted Caroline.

"You look festive." he greeted with a smile. He then gave her a kiss. "So why did Santa's little helper want to meet here?"

Caroline glanced up the hall and then down. Then seeing a figure come down the hall, as they came closer into view, Carter's face appeared. She glanced over his shoulder, hiding something behind your bach, eh? She smiled as he stopped in front of her.


"Thanks. Yeah I'm feeling the season." She laughed and kissed him back. She wasn't sure who all was staying or going home for Christmas but she did know that she wanted to give Carter his before everyone left, and for him to be the first one to get theirs.

"Well Santa's little helper has some Christmas presents for her favorite Lion." She laughed. She handed him the box over first. "You can have this one first." She grinned.

Carter smiled. "Obviously." he said with a little chuckle. "But I like it. You look good in red." He smirked as he as discretely as possible tucked the green jewelry box into his robe's pocket. She'd get that later.

"And speaking of red..." he began. He then took off the scarf and draped it around her shoulders. "I thought I'd get you a little something so you don't freeze at my matches." He took a step back and smiled. Oh yeah. She looked great in (Gryffindor) red.

"For me?" he asked taking the box. Wait. Did she saw first? He raised an eyebrow. He then sat down on the ground with the box in his lap. Then he opened it. What he saw caused his eyes to widen and his jaw to drop. "Wow. This is incredible!" he declared happily. He spun the box around so he could get a look at the cheesecake from all angles. "I love it." he said looking at her. "You're the best."

Caroline adjusted the Santa hat, it was a tad too big and kept sliding down and almost covered her eyes. She smiled, "Thanks." She wrinkled her nose.She did like red....and green. Hehe Christmas colors, she didn love Christmas her favorite holiday. And red and green, were Slytherin and Gryffindor colors.

"Oh wow, Thanks." She took it off of her shoulders and looked it over. She put it back and wrapped it around her neck. Throwing her arms around his neck. "I love it!" She couldn't wait to wear it during the matches. She needed a Gryffindor scaf anyway.

Caroline nodded and watched as he opened the box. He looked like five year old opening christmas presents on Christmas morning. But he was so cute sitting here. She couldn't help but to laugh when his eyes widen and jaw dropped. That boy loved cheesecake, and she loved the way his face lit up when there was one in his reach. "I knew you would love it."

She took the santa sack looking thing off her shoulder and sit it on his lap. So he could open this one up, too. "And this one is for you, too" She smiled down at him "I hope you like them."

Treyen returned his smile. See? This was the Conan he always wanted to see. "Actually, no problem with that, I won't even be able to...," perform magic? "...do anything extra special over the summer, so, I'll do everything you do," quite literally, too. He'll have to act like in France. All Muggle. That was fun.

Was it possible that Conan only wanted to join the Yearbook because Treyen was in the Yearbook as well? Or just because of the extra hang out place? "You do? Well, you'll need to apply for that, but I don't know who'll be the Editor next year...," oh, it hit him, James was a seventh year, the new Sir Awesome was leaving Hogwarts and was not going to be around...er, the library? Of course, Conan was a book person. He'd been reading at the feast. "Yeah, me too," they should study in there together, by the way, History, of course, because there was no need for magic in there...or...eh...better not.

AHA! He caught that. "Never said you didn't either." They were getting closer to the Common Room, though, better not to keep talking about that.

Conan frowned and shook his head, "We can do special things if you want. But my wand stays in my trunk, in my closet. And doesn't leave before I get on the Hogwarts Express." He didn't want to ban Treyen bringing his wand, cos it was Treyen's special part. But Conan did live a very Muggle lifestyle. They went grocery shopping. Used electricity. He hoped Treyen would understand.

"I can do that. After exams, I guess." Though wasn't a yearbook just for seniors, not for second years like him? "I tried to sneak in there after the feast. But I couldn't. So I was stuck reading in the Common Room til it was bedtime." Which for him was 4am local time. It had taken a few days to reset his body clock.

He didn't? Oh. "Well I don't," he blurted. He had gotten rather defensive. Over a girl. What? Why? "I mean...We are at the Common Room. Our Common Room." Not the Slytherin one. The Hufflepuff one.

Yeah, Conan, no, they couldn't, didn't he know? "We can't do...anything with our wands outside of school, though," he said, shaking his head, "Trouble comes if you do, but I know YOU wouldn't use your wand, so, it's all good," Treyen, however, always had difficulties with this, which is why Muggle-related summers were good for him.

And he liked the Muggle way. So, no problem.

The fifth year nodded, "Sure, apply," they could always use more people, no? Plus, a hang out place for themselves? That was the best part. Okay, wait, what? Where did he try to sneak in? The library? Well, yeah, it was closed until class actually started.

Conan should know that, no?

Oooookay. Easy, there, little badger. "Fine, then you don't." And he'd meant that, but his smile clearly stated otherwise. And, yeah, their Common Room, they were actually, right there, almost. So, Treyen entered first this time, and waited for Conan to follow him.

Carter smiled still in awe at the cheesecake. "You know me well." he said happily. He was tempted (REALLY tempted) to just indulge in the cake right then and there. But he resisted. It wouldn't be very nice or clean to do that.

"You're welcome. It looks great on you." he said looking at her in his colors. This was probably as close to his girlfriend wearing his letterman jacket as you could get in the wizarding world. Speaking of which, why didn't wizards have class rings or pins or jackets? That would make dating a lot easier.

Setting the cake aside Carter took the sack. "How did you know I've always wanted a GIANT red sack?" he asked with a smirk. Now... what was inside this sack? Taking a peek inside he saw a broom and a ball. "Woah." he gasped.

"I got something else for you." he said digging in his pocket. He held out a small box he hid earlier. "I... er... painted it." he said blushing slightly. Suddenly the 'painted' stained glass jewelry box seemed overly cheesy. Hopefully she liked what was inside it. Although it seemed like hardly anything compared to her gift.

Caroline eyed the chocolate covered strawberrys on top of the cheesecake. No bad girl that was part his present. Anyway her and Kita ate to many my of those chocolate covered strawberries last night before she started making the cheesecake, and the strawberries was what had given her the idea to make him a cheesecake.[b]"You're just lucky it came out right." She laughed. But she was proud of herself she could bake cookies without burning them, but she was pretty good in the kitchen. She was definitely no Kurmi though.

She grinned and her face almost matched the red color of the scarf. "Thanks. It will keep me warm during the match." She felt super good, that she had herself a Gryffinfor scarf to wear to the matches. The scarf wasn't ever coming off while at least not while she was outside, anyway

She sat down beside him on the floor. After handing him the huge Santa sack. She laughed who wouldn't want that bag. It was huge. "Of course that's what every sixteen year old boy wants for christmas, right?" she tesased. Watching him peek into the bag apprehenively. She hoped that he would really like them and hope the he didn't totally freak out, saying that it was too much. "So You like?" Of course he did, but she was just checking to make sure.

What? Something else for her? She was happy with the scarf. "Carter, really the scaf is enough." She turned her head away, as it was turning pink. Really she wasn't used to all of this. She glanced back over to see him digging threw his pocket and hold out a jewelry box. It was beautiful. She took it out of his hand. "You did?" she asked, fairly amused that he had done such a thing. She could see something inside the box, She opened it up and pulled out a beautiful pair of earrings. Her eyes widen." They're beautiful. Thank you. Thank you for everything." She threw her arms around him, and kissed him. How did she ever get so lucky to have a boyfriend like Carter? This was the best Christmas present ever.

Carter eyed the cheesecake. "Were you worried it wouldn't turn out?" Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so excited about it...?

"I'm at a loss of words." he replied still mesmerized by what was in the bag. "How did you...?" he began, but thought better of it. She came from a long-line of pureblood families... she just had the galleons laying around. "I mean... are you sure...?" he asked slowly. He was a little hesitant about the question. He wasn't sure if he would offend her or something.

He watched as she took the jewelry box. He chuckled. "Yeah. I did. Too cheesy?" he asked. At least she seemed to like it. That was a good sign. He smiled widely as her eyes widened. "I'm glad you like it." he said as he hugged and kissed her back.

"And there's one more thing. But you have to close your eyes for it." he said setting the bag aside as well. He stood up and faced her. "Go ahead and close your eyes." he said with a mischievous smirk.

Caroline grinned rather sheepishly "Well I... its the first cheesecake that I ever made." She really should have talked to Kurumi about baking a cheesecake. "It's fine though. Totally safe." Mmmm okay that probably wasnt the right way to word that last past. Well she could have worded it worst.

"Yes, Carter I'm sure. Just do me a favor with it will you?" Taking his hand in hers she laughed and couldn't believe that she was saying this since both of their friends, Kyle and Mina were on the Ravenclaw team. "Beat the snot out of Ravenclaw. I'd hate to see them win two years in a row." Now the Slytherin match, just gave them a run for their money. She would hate for her house to lose too badly

Caroline grinned. It was really sweet. "No, It's sweet!" Really how many guys would paint something for their girlfriends. Not many. Shaking her head "Really? Carter that's enough." She crossed her arms. Raising her eyebrows as he stood up and faced her. What? Mmm okay fine he won. "Okay fine." She closed her eyes.

Carter smiled. 'Totally safe'. That sounded... err... reassuring...? "I'm sure it's great." he said. Although he wasn't sure who exactly he was trying to reassure.

He smiled. "With pleasure." he said with a wicked grin. He touched the handle of the broom still in the bag. This is the first new broom he'd touched since he got his own back before second year. This was much, much nicer than his Cleansweep.

He smiled. She liked it! Phew. He was worried for a minute since it was nothing compared to a new broom and ball.

Once her eyes were finally closed he stepped real close and gave her a sweet little kiss. "I love you too." he said. He was glad that he told her to close her eyes since he could feel heat in his cheeks. He must have been the same color as his robes.

He smiled. No headache. That was a relief.