What? Did Ness hear what Nika said Correctly, because if she did. Ness woud be stuffed. Now that she thought of it Nika wasn't exactly herself. Last time Nessie was with Nika, she was WAY more Cheerful. Nessie had no idea what to answer, maybe she should just tell Nika that it was actually her Nessie, but something kept on convincing Ness that it was better, she didn't."Um Yeah I'm Great why?" asked Nessie.

Now this was really starting to annoy Ness. What was Up with Nika? This deffinately wasn't how she acted. Wait if Nika could ask what was wrong with Jonathan then why couldn't Nessie (Jonathan) ask Nika. "Are you alright?" asked Ness a little nervous. This was just getting more and more Akward by the moment. Nessie just wished she could go back to her normal self.

He was doing great.

Great.

As he asked her why she was asking, the girl only shook her head and looked away, as her cheeks turned red. Just as red as her hair. Actually... Nika's hair. But she really needed to do something to end this awkward..ness. The only problem was that she didn't have the slightest idea what to do. She couldn't just grin and say 'Hey! I'm actually Helena,' or... could she? How would he react?

Well... he wouldn't run for his life, thinking she's some creepy girl, since he was a boy. A Slytherin boy. They didn't do that. Then... he might have a shock, but also nothing too bad. He could also just grin and tell her that he knew that already. That would end well.

But the girl, whoever she was, was surely lost for words. Before she could think of anything to say, she shook her head again, in response to his question.

Ness was getting really confused now, Nika didn't seem to be speaking at all. This was deffinately not like her, not like her at all. Wait a sec, maybe Nika was also Polyjuiced. No But what if she wasn't. Nessie was starting to run out of ideas, so she could get out of the Akwardness. Nessie looked at Nika and tried to smile to make her feel better, so she could answer his question.

Did she just shake her head, or did I just see that thought Ness. No she did. So she wasn't alright. This was just getting worse and worse, every second. "Why not?" asked Nessie trying to think of solution to whatever could be wrong already. Nessie was now officially freaking out. Maybe she should just tell Nika it was her, maybe it would help. To be honest, Nessie thought she needed a little help too at the moment.

Carter knew Marie was right. But punching the wall was much better than letting his emotions out another way. He was not going to cry about this. Especially in front of Marie. No. He was going to punch things.

At least, that was his plan. Until Marie grabbed his hand.

"Done with fighting for me." he said quietly. He didn't dare look at her. "That's how she worded it..." Like he was a terrible struggle... and a waste of time.

The words, even coming from his own mouth, still stung. And the words 'I still love you' haunted his thoughts. He looked at Marie pleadingly. She needed to do something - insult him, tell him she was right - anything really. Anything to make those words stop repeating in his head.

Why? "Fine," the girl finally puffed, crossing her arms and looking away with a slight frown on her face.

Hmmm, how should she begin? Ah, she was going to spill it all out. "It's Helena... in here," she said kind of angrily, pointing somewhere around her chest, and then crossed her arms again. There. Just like that. But now... he may think that she's insane, so the most important thing was to take a deep breath and relax.

She really needed someone to lie to her and tell her that everything's going to be alright.

Wait, did Ness hear Nika right? It was Helena! What? Nessies mouth opened wide in shock. Well Ness did think it could be that Nika was Polyjuiced, but she didn't exaclt believe it, and Helena. OMG! Well if Helena came clean maybe Nessie should too, otherwise this wouldn't end very well. Nessie didn't exactly recognise that Helena was a little mad. "What? Helena?" said Ness too shocked to say anymore. "Oh My Gosh! Well since you spoke up, I think I should too it's me Nessie". Nessie giggled at how ridiculus this was getting. It seemed to be that almost everyone had been polyjuiced.

Nessie looked at Helena (Nika) and smiled, she was just so happy that it wasn't Nika, because if it was then something was deffinately not right with her. Nika was a very cheerful, person. Nessie now understood why they were both so nervous, it was because they were both trying to hide the fact that they had been Polyjuiced.

Helena was about to nod, to confirm that it WAS her, somewhere in there, but then... her eyes went wide. Like... really wide. It wasn't... Jonathan? And it was Nessie?! WHY didn't she figure that out earlier? And how... uhh. At least she knew now that Jonathan would be looking like Nessie, if she'll see him around.

The thing Helena was sure of, was that she hated this thing. The Polyjuice thing. What if she... suddenly would've decided to confess everything to Nessie-that-looked-like-Jonathan, thinking that it was actually him?! What would've happened then?

The girl finally looked at... the Slytherin, male version of Nessie, and once she caught that smile, she couldn't help but laugh. "It's so funny to think that you look like him."

Nessie giggled again as Helena (Nika's) eyes widened. This assignment was really getting messed up. One thing Ness just hoped for, was that Jonathan didn't have a girlfriend, because if he did. Nessie would just want to run away. It would just be way too wierd!

Nessie then giggled with Helena, this was getting pretty histerical. "Yeah! It feels really wierd trust me!" said Ness. Couldn't she justr get out of this body already it was killing her it felt so wierd. Nessie would have never thought Helena was there, she would have just guessed it was either Nika not right or somone else. Nessie was still a little shocked, but the shock was starting to go away now. "So whats it like being Nika?" giggled Ness.

Weird? Yes, indeed. But at least Helena had a girl partner. And the same age. She couldn't even imagine how Nessie could possibly feel as a... boy. A fourth year boy. And she was just a first year.

She gave her a quick nod as she...he said the 'trust me' part. Yes, she trusted her...him. And how was it like being Nika? "I don't really... know. You're the first one I've met, looking like her. And I don't exactly know anything about her, so I don't know who her friends might be and..." her voice trailed off. "I don't even think she knows Jonathan and... look what happened."

Her cheeks were red as her hair once again. "How does it feel to be a... boy?" Helena could never imagine that. At least Jonathan was a pretty normal one, as far as she knew. Hehe.

Nessie watched as Helena nodded. It was good that she agreed, because Ness was feeling really uncomfortable, she couldn't wait to be her normal self again and to be able to act like herself too. Nessie enjoyed acting, but not while being Polyjuiced.

"Well I wish I could help, I"m friends with Nika, but I haven't exactly met her other friends" said Nessie trying to think of another solution, for the both of them. She didn't know Jonathan really at all. She had only met him when they had to partner up. So this was a completely different world for her, especially since he was a boy. Ness wasn't too shocked when Helena said that Nika didn't know Jonathan, that made sense. "Yeah this assignment is going to be mad!". Wait a second! But if Helena knew Jonathan surely she would know who his friends were and where they hanged out. "Um.. Do you know any of Jonathans friends?' asked Nessie shyly.

At first Nessie didn't know exactly how to respond to Helena's question. It was wierd of course and wierd in a bad way, it felt uncomfortable and akward. She deffinately wasn't enjoying it. Nessie regretted choosing a boy to be her partner, it was the biggest mistake she had ever made and Nessie was deffinately going to be traumatised after this. Trying to stay calm Nessie responded. "Well Its um..very uncomfortable, and it feels really wierd, but I'm starting to get used to it!"

Oh. Since Nessie knew Nika, she could've probably figured out that there was something wrong with the one who she thought she was. But it was a good thing that Helena decided to tell her everything. Seriously. It's awkward.

Hmm his friends? Not really. "He mentioned once a Ravenclaw named..." uhh what was her name? "Jeanne? I think." His best friend? She couldn't remember perfectly. But yes, she was definitely a Ravenclaw. But still, she didn't quite know anything about him either.

Uncomfortable? Definitely.

However, time was passing. "Maybe I should go... visit the Gryffindor territory," she said hesitantly. "Before I change back." She still needed to meet other students, to have something to write for that essay, you know?

Nessie tried to think of any Ravenclaws she knew, but she didn't exactly know any Ravenclaw by the name of Jeanne. Maybe I should go look for hr thought Ness that wasn't a bad idea. She would deffinately have to figure out who she was first though.

Ness nodded as Helena said that she had to go. Nessie also had to get heading off, to go and meet some more Slytherins. Nessie still had to start thinking about what she was going to write in her essay."Okay Cool! Yeah me too! I'll hopefully see the real you later!" giggled Nessie.

Marie just stared at Carter for a moment when he said Caroline was done with fighting for him. What the hell was that girl talking about? She NEVER had to fight for him. If she wanted to know what it was like to fight for Carter then Marie could tell her first hand. She had fought for Carter for nearly a year and still lost out in the end. Well more like he had lost out since she eventually stopped chasing after him and went on with her life. Still, Marie KNEW what it was like to fight for the one you loved (or thought you loved) only for them to continue to ignore you the whole time you were trying to win them back.

Seeing the look on his face only angered Marie. She had WARNED him about Caroline. TOLD him that she was going to end up hurting him, but would he listen to her? NO! Now here he stood all heartbroken over someone that never really cared about him. "You know, I'd almost like to feel sorry for you Carter but I just can't. I tried warning you that something like this was going to happen but you wouldn't listen to me." What was it with boys not listening to her. She knew what she was talking about. They really needed to start trusting her on things. "Maybe I should teach the little wench what it's like to really fight for someone. To really show someone that you care about them, only to get ignored." Sure, it was something that happened a long time ago, and Marie had moved on with her life and was happily in love with Matty now, but still, she DID fight for Carter back in fourth year, only to be ignored.

What she really wanted to say to him right now was 'It doesn't feel so great getting dumped like that does it.' But she didn't. She had said enough... for now.

And there it was. Carter was relieved that Marie was still Marie-like. It meant the whole world hadn't ended. No, it was just his world that had.

But the last statement struck him as uncalled for. "You think I ignored you?" he snapped. "I admit that I didn't handle it well but I never ignored you." But of course Marie never bothered to think that he was going through the exact same thing. "You think I was just fine and over you just like that?" he asked. "I went crazy. Everyday I wondered if the best days of my life happened when I was 13." he said growing more frustrated with each and every word.

He sighed. "For some reason I thought I could handle it. I knew it would kill me more to see you mad at Destiny... But I was wrong. It killed me to see you smile or laugh and know that that used to be for me. And by the time you and Destiny had made up I was feeling more and more ashamed of everything. I had a hard time even looking at you. And each day that went by I could tell you were moving further and further from me." And then he made the hardest decision he'd ever made.

"And then I figured you were better off without me. I guess I was right too because soon you were dating... more... acceptable people." And he... well, he was still in love with the girl that was then over him.

"Then I met Caroline. And then all of a sudden you were back in my life continually reminding me that I may very well have made the biggest mistake in the world. Continually reminding me that I still could have had you if I wasn't the world's biggest idiot."

"You think I don't know that already Marie? You think I haven't spent the better part of the past two years thinking about that? And of course, once again you decide to rub it in." he threw his hands up once again.

Oh, he knew. He knew all too well. And of course she had to be the one to ruin the one thing that was helping him to forget just how much he lost out on.

When Carter started yelling at her, Marie dropped his hand and crossed her arms in front of her. At this point she didn't care if he punched the wall and broke his hand. If he wanted to be stupid enough to do that over that wench that didn't deserve him then so be it. She wasn't going to try and stop him.

Once he was done with his little tirade, it was her turn. "Yes Carter, I do think you ignored me. No make that I KNOW you did. And when you weren't ignoring me you were avoiding me or making excuses to get away from me. But you know what. I don't give a damn anymore. I've moved on and I'm in love with Matty and he loves me. And for you information, I WASN'T trying to rub anything in. I simply brought it up now because I was trying to make a point. You know, that SHE wasn't the one that had been fighting for you at all. SHE had you and chose NOT to keep you. I didn't get that choice now did I." No, HE made the choice for her. "As for me being back in your life all of a sudden, I believe it was YOU that made THAT choice too. YOU were the one that finally decided to start talking to me, YOU were the one that let me back into your life. I didn't hunt you down or beg you to be my friend again now did I." No, she had been perfectly happy hiding in the kitchen the first day back to school. "And believe it or not, I would be giving Caroline a hard time like I do now no matter WHO she was dating. That's called me hating my cousin Carter. It has nothing to do with you. You just happened to be in the middle of it because YOU chose to date the wrong girl."

Why had she even followed him in here? She should have just left him alone and not even worried about what had been wrong with him. Caroline was the one that broke up with him and Marie was the one getting yelled at for it. If it wasn't Evan yelling at her for something, it was Carter yelling at her. Why did she even bother with being friends with either of them. THey did nothing but cause her grief.

Of course Marie was going to make this about her. It was always about her. Carter was admitting his true feelings for the first time... and Marie was simply dismissing them. It was like nobody's problems but hers mattered.

And this infuriated Carter. But, then again, nobody infuriated him quite like Marie. He was irritated by that look that she was giving him. He was irritated by the way that she crossed her arms and stuck her hip out just a little bit.

And most of all he was irritated by the fact that she was right. She was always right. He hated that about her. He was never capable of winning an argument. And this was one that he deserved to win. He was heartbroken and all she was doing was telling him that she was in love with that Hufflepuff. Like Carter cared!

"YOU!" he practically exploded. He held a finger to her face. And in a rush of emotion he did something much stupider than ignoring her up close and admiring her from a distance for a year... he kissed her. Because apparently all that irritation and all that infuriating was because he just now realized that he should have done that years ago.

He took a few steps backward after he pulled away. "I... I should go." he said quickly. He then hurdled out of the hall and around the corner.

Marie infuriated him. And he loved it.

Marie practically jumped out of her skin when Carter yelled and pointed his finger in her face. She really wasn't expecting a reaction like that from him. But what he did next she was expecting even less.

o___O

He KISSED her.

Like really kissed her. Not just some little peck on the cheek type of kiss either. A full mouth to mouth kiss.

Before she even had a chance to react to anything though he was running off around the corner. Marie just stood there dumb-founded for a moment.

What was that boy thinking? She had just told him she was in love with Matty and then he goes and kisses her. Why did he have to do that? Now their friendship was gonna be all sorts of complicated and awkward.

Walking out of the passage she was still in a daze. She wasn't even sure where she was going, she was just... going.

OOC: Different timeline to all those other RP's there. :]

Iris clumsily made her way from the Potions classroom, quickly taking her shoes off. Those little ballet pumps were far too small for Josh's feet... Merlin knew, they were probably stretched and ruined beyond repair now. Walking was pretty difficult; Iris wasn't used to being in such a large and heavy frame... Hopefully by the end of the hour, Iris would have gotten used to it. Ooh... or maybe no. Maybe it would be better for her to not get used to it. That would make her normal body feel too weird.

Walking towards the secret passageway (that wasn't that secret because everyone seemed to know about it) Iris checked that it was empty. Yup. No one in there... So she was going to use it as a changing room. Adjusting the bag of clothes that were on her shoulder, Iris walked into the passageway until she got right to the end of it. Lots of privacy... kinda.

She took out her wand and muttered "lumos" before setting her wand down on the floor. Opening the bag, Iris sighed. Time to be a proper guy. Using the hands that felt to large for her, she fished through the clothes - eventually pulling out a pair of faded jeans; a plain, blue, round necked t-shirt; and some trainers that looked like they were a million years old... would Josh wear this? ... Of course he would, they were his clothes. Frowning, she closed the bag and stood up. As she begun to take off her school uniform, Iris came to a horrible realisation. She would NOT be able to leave her own underwear on... Oh dear.

Iris looked back into the bag, hoping to find some kind of underwear. Is Josh a boxers or briefs kind of guy? she wondered. Boxers. Interesting... interesting indeed. Pulling out a rather peculiar pair of snitch-adorned boxers, Iris laughed. Oh, wow... They WERE interesting. She wondered if he'd put them in the bag on purpose... or if he didn't realise. Because those were terrible boxers. Closing her eyes tightly, Iris removed the last few layers of her clothes and put the boxers on. She kept her eyes shut because she had no desire to see what Josh's body looked like.

It didn't take that long for Iris to get completely changed and ready to leave. The shoe laces were a fiddle, mainly because she never wore lace up shoes, but also because she still wasn't quite accustomed to having such large hands. When she was finally happy with hers/Josh's appearance, Iris picked up her wand and shouldered the back. "Nox."

As the light vanished from her wand, Iris left the secret passageway. Now... to try and walk like a boy. They didn't sway their hips at all, did they? ... Oh, this was going to be difficult.

...this place. This particular place. Evan sighed sadly, as the last day of school had arrived way sooner than he had planned. The NEWTs had took too much time of his, and he couldn't even find a time to say goodbye to Marie. Thus, he went to the end of the passage, wand unlit, and sat on the cold stone waiting for her to appear. Because that was the custom down here, between him and her. It amazed him that the stone could still be cold, even though it was June and very well into summer.

Yeah, any random thing but the feast a few hours later, and tomorrow's real goodbye.

The secret passage... Marie's favorite place to go when she needed to get away... or when she needed to talk to Evan. This had become their place over the years so it was with a heavy heart that she was entering the passage now. This was going to be the LAST time her and Evan would be meeting here... EVER. School just wasn't going to be the same without him here.

Entering the passage she didn't even need to light her wand. She had been in there so many times she knew her way around it in the dark. By the time she had reached the end of the passage her eyes had already started to adjust to the lack of light making it easy for her to see Evan sitting there on the floor in his usual spot. Sitting next to him she didn't look at him just yet. She knew if she did she was going to start crying and she didn't want to do that just yet. Instead she just resorted to a quick "Hey" as a greeting.

Yeah, this was going to be harder than she thought it would be.

Upon hearing someone entering, Evan turned his head in that direction, and in a moment he turned it away quickly. It was indeed Marie, and he wasn't sure if he could deal with looking at her yet. He wanted to avoid that as much as he could too, because it was too hard... and with her sitting here, next to him now as usual, it turned into a mission even harder. After a pause of controlling his voice, he said in return: "Hi." Keeping it as short as he could, for it could break at any moment.

"How are you?"

Oh Merlin.

How was she going to make it through this conversation without shedding a tear? Marie wanted to be strong for Evan. She wanted to be happy for him that he was graduating and that he was going on to pursue his life long dream of playing professional football. Really, she did. Yet at the same time she wanted to be selfish and make him stay at school next term. She had even thought about talking to Lafay and asking her to hold him back or something. Telling him that he had to stay at school another term. She knew that wasn't something that was going to happen though. So here she was, sitting on the cold floor next to Evan trying not to break down and cry like a baby because her best friend was leaving... because this was going to be the last night they were going to have to spend together... here, in their secret hiding place.

So, how was she? Feeling rotten that's how she was. "I'm... okay." LIE "How are you?"

Evan knew it was a lie. That pause after 'I'm' just proved it to be. But who was to reveal that now? He sighed. Even avoiding hurt. "I feel... blank. Completely." But, he knew very well that when they hugged one last time, he'd be so filled with emotions that there wouldn't be a place in his mind even for the word 'blank'.

"It feels as if I'll return next year," he muttered, perfectly audible in the empty passage. "As if this isn't the... end." Ending the sentence with 'end'. And his voice was still steady.

Success.

The END.

That just sounded so... final. She wasn't ready for this to be the end... of anything. Especially her friendship with Evan. Sure, they had their falling outs over the years, including that HUGE one they had not so long ago this term. But in the end, no matter what happened, Evan was still her best friend... of the male gender that is. Nothing was ever going to change that.

The only thing that was going to change was the fact that they weren't going to see each other every day... or be able to talk whenever they wanted to... or fight with each other when the other did something stupid. Even with all that she still refused to believe this was 'THE END'. "Don't say that Evan... please. I don't want to think of this as being the end." That just made it sound like she was never going to see him again... something she REFUSED to believe.

Looking at her for the first time as she spoke, he wanted to look away, for it hurt to look like that... but forced himself to look at her, because this was the last time he could truly adore her beauty. Then, they would be away for a WHOLE year. He didn't want to think that... yet. Instead, he decided to focus on replying to her, and only on that.

"It won't be the end... we'll just... be away." Very, very away. "But I'll write to you everyday and..." It was getting harder to speak. He swallowed. "We'll see each other at every opportunity." Yeah? It wasn't the end... he refused to believe that...