"I don't think they'll appreciate it, though." Another scoff escaped the girl's mouth. "I don't think my face will stay the same if I go to either one of them." She could get a bruise or two.. if they preferred no magical injuries that is.

She'd like to see it? Louisa kept her suspicious stare at Vashti. "Why? You have someone in mind?" Yes, teasing was the only way to trigger Vashti's temper and might tell her what her exact plans were. If not, Louisa was going to show it to her and then hide it somewhere safe..where nobody could get it but her... like room of requirement? She hadn't been there before! That made sense!

With a rather blank expression Louisa continued with her trying-to-catch-up-with-Vashti pace and said nothing.

"After awhile, they might accept your apology," Vashti replied. "Not right now, of course, but in awhile. A few months at least." A few months almost seemed too long, but it was better to be safe than sorry, right? Well - Louisa was supposed to be sorry...but she didn't have to risk her safety to express it. It was best to let them know once they'd had plenty of time to get over it.

Did she have someone in mind? Very briefly, someone did pop into her mind, but she turned that thought away quickly. What was she thinking? She did not want to use a love potion on anyone. It just wasn't right. But that response wasn't going to encourage Louisa to let her see it, now was it? "Maybe," she replied, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Sierra walked a little ways down the first floor corridor and came to a stop once again. She only had to try the spells from Transfiguration class once more time, so she may as well get it over with now. She put her bag at her feet and flicked her wand out its wrist holster. Okay, so she'd done green hair--what now? Hmm. How about...orange hair. That sounded good, and at least it didn't remind her of Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors.

She tapped once on the top of her head. "Ristaris!" She closed her eyes and pictured herself with orange, curly hair. What a mess. She'd look like a curled up carrot. She opened her eyes and pulled the mirror out her bag. She looked into it and made a slight face. "Eww..." Orange was just not her color. She tapped twice on top of her head, ready to end this spell as quickly as possible. "Intaris!" she said, picturing her normal, brown locks.. Another glance in the mirror told her she looked normal again. There. She planned to keep it that way for good now.

She put her things away, slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed off.

After the dueling club meeting ended, and even if her own duel was done at the beginning, Louisa's back still hurt. She dragged her feet out of the room and lingered at the head of the corridor for Adam to catch up. She did see him from the benches and sat next to him through them all but they didn't get to talk much because of the tension of the other duels, for one, and because she was just too tired to talk.

The flask Spenser had given her was tightly clutched in her hand and she was eager to hop into her bed, take a gulp of it and then doze off.

Adam caught up to Louisa, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins slightly from watching all the duels. They were just so exciting and tension filled...how could one not get excited. "You look tired," Adam said with a small smile. "I'm not surprised though. You did so well!" Adam wasn't sure if Louisa was one of those people that preferred to not talk about loses, but he figured he should get his two cents in anyway. After all Louisa had done really well!

Louisa wrapped one arm around Adam's and let herself lean against him - he was going to be her support pole for the trip upstairs whether he wanted it or not. "Yeah. I guess this nasty liquid in the flask makes me sleepy.." She said groggily. "Thanks, again, Adam." Without looking at him but she was sincere. Really. He was there for her, at least. Not that she blamed any of her remaining friends - Kita didn't join the club and Joao had class. Vashti was crossed off and so was Dallin. Enya was careless and clueless about the whole thing.

...she just realized that she was running out of friends.

Adam didn't mind that Louisa was using him for support...she had after all just competed in an intense duel, got hit by a couple of spells, and was now trying to walk up a rather intimidating flight of steps. Reaching his other hand up, he rested it against Louisa's arm that was now entwined in his. "Don't mention it. I'm glad I could be here to support you," Adam said with a smile, even though Louisa couldn't see it. He had secretly wondered where all her other friends were, but he figured there had to have been a rational explanation for why none of them would have come. "I'm sure after you get a nice, relaxing nap in you're going to wake up feeling as good as new!" Adam chuckled at the statement slightly, feeling like he sounded more like her mother than her friend, but he meant well by it.

Jade passed the Muggle Studies classroom and frowned. She felt extremely guilty for skipping her classes, but with all the drama back at home she felt as if she couldn't keep up with it. Her main focus at this moment in time was about her family. Her messed up, complicated family.

The brunette sighed and continued pacing back and forth through the first floor corridor. She was supposed to meet Nikolas here in a couple of minutes because they had to leave Hogsmeade earlier than they had planned to. They just hadn't catched up that well just yet. And she wanted to hear what was going on in her best friend's life. So what if she cared? At least she wasn't going to let that show to Nikolas.

Nikolas was in his common room doing trying to do his Astronomy homework it shouldn't be hard since it was to create a myth, he simply needed to have imagination. The problem was that he didn't felt inspired and moving to another homework was not an option. He looked at his watch and....he has forgotten to meet Jade. He got up from his bed, left his parchment, quill and books in the bed and headed to the first floor.

Hopefully she hadn't waited too much, it wasn't his fault he...he was doing his homework as a very responsible man. He spotted her and walked towards her with hand in his pockets. They haven't catched up on many things and he wanted to know what was going on with the boys and her dates. "Hey there" he said smiling.

He was late.

Jade never remembered Nikolas ever being late. Maybe he was standing her up? She frowned and was about to leave the corridor; when she heard that familiar voice. She turned and smiled back at him. "I almost thought you wouldn't come." She said, walking over towards him.

Now where did they leave off? Oh, right. "So back to what we were talking about in Hogsmeade, I've had a bit of family trouble back at home, so I've been skipping classes. Nothing to really worry about though." She shrugged. "And I've been writing a book, about my life. Oh and the dates with boys can only be summed up in one word; horrible. Same with the enemies as well." She sighed. That's why she would write a book about her life; that way people could see from her side of things.

He was not late...maybe a bit.

"Yeah sorry for the wait, I was doing homework" he told her. "And it is not an excuse! I was truly doing homework" he assured her because it could be hard to believe he was late for doing school stuff.

While Jade was telling him about what was new in her life, he leaned against the wall with the arms crossed, nodding every now and then and the first thing he was going to do is to ask her why has she been skipping classes and about the dates, it was good to know they have been horrible. "Why have you been skipping classes?" he asked with an eyebrow raised. "And what about the professors? Have they noticed this?" Yeah he was acting like a brother now.

And about the dates. "Horribles? Why?" he wondered why would she said that. Since Jade liked boys a lot and he expected Jade to have a boyfriend right now, but luckily she didn't have one. "And when is the book coming out?" he asked. "Didn't know you liked to write"

Homework? Psh, yeah right. Jade raised an eyebrow at Nikolas and shook her head. She wouldn't even respond to that because she knew it would just raise another argument between them. But she still kind of doubted it, he never missed anything for...homework. Maybe it was a girl?

"No, none of the professors have noticed, or maybe they have. I'm not sure, I just haven't been told anything and I'm only doing so because I have too much on my mind at the moment." She shrugged. She was too focused on what was going on back home or with what Nikolas was doing with girls. It would be horrible if she did go to classes because she wouldn't be able to concentrate.

The dates. There were no dates, just...meetings of sorts with guys. "None of the guys I know like me. It's either they have their eyes on some other girl, they have a girlfriend, or ...they haven't told me that they like me." She said, taking a seat upon one of the benches nearby. It was so much different than back at Arizona or any other place she lived. She knew it probably had to do with the way she acted around people now. She blamed it on her family's problems, like she always did. "But don't worry about me, I'll just live alone by myself, forever." She said, sarcastically. However, she was lying. She was really lying. She did have a boyfriend; Mr. Jasper Somerhalder.

"So what about you? What's been going on in the wonderful life of Mr. Nikolas Agger?" The brunette asked. His life was probably more eventful than hers had been recently...NOT! "Oh wait, I forgot to mention, I do have a boyfriend now." She said, biting her lip with a smile upon her face.

Seeing her reaction Nikolas said " I swear it's true!" even if she couldn't believe it "Because I am a very responsible person " he nodded, maybe not always. He shook his head "Still you shouldn't be skipping classes" What if they took out points from her? Meh maybe that wasn't the main concern since he wanted Slytherin to win the house cup, but she could get into troubles and not to forget that this year they had to do the OWLs YAY!.

He was glad the dates weren't a big thing"Or they are blind" he shrugged. "And do you like one of the guys you have dated?" he asked looking at some students. He should probably said something about how he felt, the thing was that he wasn't sure if he should tell her. "You won't be alone..." he shook his head. "I'll give you 50 cats to live with you" he teased. Now it was his turn to said what's been going on in his life and no sound came from his mouth because Jade had just said she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend? He tried not to look shocked or mad. "Really?" he finally said. "And have you just not said that the dates had been horrible?" he raised an eyebrow. Okay, he should quit with the questions because Jade would start saying that he was jealous and he was not. "Anyways, I'm happy for you!" not really "So, who is the guy?" he winked.

A responsible person? HAH! What a joke. "Sure you are, Nik, sure you are." Jade laughed, shaking her head. She would believe it if she got approval from a Professor on that. Then Nikolas started going on with that speech again about her skipping classes. "Stop it, enough." She said, placing her hand over his mouth. "I don't need anymore of your speech about this." She took her hand off of his mouth. She smiled as Nikolas said that the guys could be blind. Right then, could have been the greatest time to tease him, but she wouldn't. "No, none of the guys that I've been out on dates with, I like." She shook her head. It was true; most of them were boring anyways. She laughed as he said he would give her fifty cats to live with.

The brunette watched Nikolas' facial expression as she told him she had a boyfriend and it really didn't change at all. She was confused. Yes, she had a boyfriend. But it was all part of a plan. A plan to figure out if Nikolas liked her and to help Jasper figure out which girl to choose from that liked him. She listened as Nikolas started throwing out questions at him and she just laughed once more. "Okay, okay, stop. You asked me about the dates. I never went out on any dates with him, I just met him and we hung out a couple times. His name is Jasper." She said, with a smile upon her face. It was a bit strange, she hadn't smiled so much like this since...a while. But it was all part of an act anyways.

Jade was a bit caught off guard as Nikolas said he was happy for her. So he wasn't mad or jealous. That meant that he...didn't like her. "Thanks." She said giving a slight smile. Suddenly a thought came to her head. Maybe this would make him jealous? "Did I mention, he's a seventh year?" She smirked.

Louisa had walked in from the courtyard with her Divination book tucked under her arm. She was shivering, her rosy cheeks and red nose expressed just how cold she was feeling. Trying to study outside, pfffft, that was the stupidest idea she'd ever had...

..you know, next to that idea of slipping Dal a love-potion and the plan backfired on her.

Anyway. She stood by the wall for a second giving herself some time to feel her toes.

The fact that her brothers birthday in two days had totally slipped her mind. She had only known the soon to be eleven year old for almost a year, and this would be his first birthday since the found out about each other. So she needed to find a good present for him.

She had nothing but an extra copy of Quidditch though the ages that she had. And Asher being from Italy, where Qudditch wasn't that big of a deal. likely due to the fact that they didn't have a quidditch team. Caroline had spend some of her summer teaching the boy how to play. So she though the book would be perfect for him.

As she hurried up the first floor corridor she wondered if her brother could read. She had never seen him read before which made her wonder if he could. Oh well to late now the book was wrapped and she was already heading to the owlery to send it. That is until she seen someone that looked familar just ahead of her leaning against the wall, and looking very cold. "Hello Louisa!" She grinned.

That one second Louisa gave her feet to be warm again stretched to two minutes and by the time she was ready to walk again, someone greeted her.

"Caroline! Hi!" She grinned back at the older girl, who didn't look so cold surprisingly. Louisa gave the girl a tight hug and got stabbed with the book Caroline had tucked under her arm. "Ouch..sorry," It wasn't that monstrous book fortunately. "How're you doing? I haven't seen you around much this year." Or any other year, really, since they both met this summer.

...also Louisa didn't know that Caroline was a Slytherin. Somehow Kita forgot to mention this bit about the girl. The Ravencalw, however, tried to ignore that little information by not looking at the green parts in the girl's scarf... or tie. "You're in the Quidditch team?" Louisa asked recognizing the book that she struggled to read one weekend - and failed to.

Nikolas frowned. "Yeah whatever you say" he said indifferently. He was responsible, very responsible....sometimes. Anyways let Jade believe he was lying even though he knew it was plain truth. Nikolas was gonna start arguing over the whole skipping classes things but Jade put her hand on his mouth. Okay...pretty awkward. When she took her hand off of his mouth, he just shrugged "I'm just warning you" but go ahead and get in trouble.

Good thing was that Jade hasn't liked any of her dates and she should keep it that way. Then again she had a boyfriend now. How come he didn't knew about this before? Yes, it did bother him because...because! There was not an specific reason-well yeah but he wasn't going to admit it. He tried hard to not show any kind of sadness or jealousy on his face and it seemed he nailed it. "So, this is the guy you told me you liked but didn't wanted to tell me who it was?" he asked. Jasper? He didn't knew who this dude was and did it matter? No.

He was not happy for her at all, but he wasn't going to start arguing over this or Jade would say he was jealous. He simply nodded when she said thanks. He wasn't looking at her, but when she mentioned this Jasper was a seventh year he looked down at her. "Really?" Pfft. "Well, I guess that's good he shrugged.

"It's alright, I already have my parents saying the same thing. It just gets annoying at times." Jade shrugged. She didn't want to skip classes, she just wouldn't be able to concentrate with everything going on. And if she got in trouble? She would go to classes, but...it would just not go that well.

Nikolas went on to ask if this was the guy she liked that she told him about and she shook her head. Maybe it was time to spill some of the confession. Just a little bit at least, maybe to let him get the hint. "No, Jasper, is not him. The guy I like, well he is really close to me, but I guess he just doesn't like me. I guess I don't have to worry about it anymore, but honestly, I'd rather be with him than Jasper at this moment in time." She shrugged. Hopefully he would get the hint. Hopefully.

Her plan to make him jealous seemed to not be working and she just didn't understand. "Yeah, he's a seventh year." She repeated once again, shrugging. It's like that fact mattered nothing to him. "So, what about your life? How is it?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Well, it's because they care about you" he replied "And I do too, so you better start going to class" he said with a straight face. From now on he wasn't going to bother her with that, because it was annoying and she should think what was better for her and clearly skipping classes wasn't a good thing.

Nikolas listened carefully at what Jade was saying. So, the guy she liked was really close to her? Hmm. For a moment he thought it could probably be him, they were really close, I mean, they are childhood friends and she had a crush on him when they were kids. Still, it could be anyone, maybe there was someone else close to her. "And why haven't you told him?" he asked.

Nikolas nodded when she said again this dude was a seventh year. "My life? pretty good. I have met lots of girls" he smirked.

Jade listened to Nikolas as he "lectured" her again. She could argue with him some more about that, but decided not to. Maybe she would go to classes, but she wasn't really sure. Probably not, no matter what he said, but oh well. It's not like it would kill her or something.

She was getting a bit mad. Why couldn't he just understand that it was him? Why didn't he? "I haven't told him, because...it's complicated, I guess." She said, rolling her eyes at herself. It could be complicated, but in someway it really wasn't. Then he started to talk about how he met lots of girls and finally the jealousy took in.

The brunette walked over to him and kissed him, right there. She stepped away and looked down at the floor, then back at Nikolas. "I might have a boyfriend, but the guy I really like; if you finally realize, is...you. Although, it seems like you have enough girls that are better for you, so forget about any of this." She sighed and then walked away.

Complicated? Was he complicated? Assuming that this "guy" she liked was him, but anyways it could be anyone! If she had already given him a hint probably he had missed it because he wasn't very good at that. Something could be perfectly obvious but to him it was very hard to figure it out. Except if it had to do with Quidditch and stuffs he liked.

Okay, so he has already mentioned the girls. Smirk. Not that it mattered right now because Jade had a boyfriend and-shehadjustkisshim. Did she kissed him? or it was just a dream? No, it was real. Thanks Merlin. He was speechless. So she liked him? Really? Everything happened so fast that he didn't had time to think and she was walking away! No, no, no, no!

Nikolas quickly grabbed her arm and said "I don't care what you had heard about the other girls or that I like Selena because I don't" he said looking at her "And anyways I don't know from where those rumours came from, but what I'm trying to say is..." he took a deep breath "That I like you a lot" he said not taking his eyes away from her.

As Jade was walking away she felt somebody grab her arm and she turned, facing Nikolas. She listened as Nikolas explained to her about how he liked her and her eyes widened with surprise. This had to be a joke, it just had to be! "You're lying...and if you're not, well we...can't. I have a boyfriend." She said, looking down at the ground then back up at him. He didn't seem like he was lying, but she just couldn't be sure.

She wanted to tell him about how Jasper was just a plan to see if she could make him jealous, but that obviously didn't really work out. She wasn't sure how he would react but all she knew was that she needed to talk to Jasper; soon. "Nik, maybe this is just wrong, for us. We've known each other our entire lives and to actually date one another? I don't know." She shrugged. She always did this. Whenever she wanted something that seemed too far away to have, she talked herself out of it. "Although, if you're joking; this is so mean." She said, in an angry tone.

Nikolas frowned when she said he was lying. "I'm not lying, I wouldn't lie with something like this" he said and he had forgotten about the "boyfriend", Nikolas rolled his eyes "Just tell him it's over and that's it." end of the story. Jasper would understand he was a seventh year, a big boy now.

"Seriously?" he said a bit angry "Then I guess you don't want this" he shrugged "And why did you kiss me if you say it's not going to work?" he asked her. "No, I'm not joking!" he said again "I really mean this, but if you don't want us to date, tell me right now because I don't wanna make you do something you aren't even sure about" he looked at her.

He wasn't lying? Jade was a bit surprised. He actually liked her. He really did. But she couldn't tell Jasper that, she just couldn't. Or maybe she could, but...she just wasn't sure. She could tell Nikolas was angry and she could feel herself getting frustrated. She had no answer for him about why she kissed him. She just...did it. Instinct. "I can't help it if I just kiss a guy because I like him! It's what I do, Nikolas!" She yelled. That was her excuse, but there was so much more she could say. "And the fact that I'm a dummy for even agreeing with Jasper to date him; so I could make you jealous and so that he could find out which girl to date who likes him, makes me feel even more worse." She took a deep breath in and out after yelling and took a seat on the floor, leaning against the corridor's wall. She couldn't believe that all just came out.

"Maybe this was a mistake, maybe I should have just left you alone and not have even told you. That way our lives wouldn't be like this right now." She said, watching a couple of students pass by. Hopefully no one was tuning into their conversation.