Paulie gasped and stared down at his arm. "Why.. why, it's all better!" Perhaps the boy would have to feign injury more often. Whistleee.

Only one or two? Well, if he could weasel out more..! "I meant one or two hundred," he corrected. He briefly felt her lips against his, and he was convinced that that was just a tease. "Hmmm, no.. still can't tell..." he said quietly, as his face was still near hers. Which meant that he simply had to try againnn. So, Paulie smirked before leaning his head down and kissing her again, in no rush to separate.

She looked so determined to get this Professor to call her by her title that Paulie began to think that she probably would end up convincing the man to do so. She was persuasive enough. And, Tori said he'd ALWAYS be her favorite. "I will hold you to that, ya know." And if one of the other knights tried to claim his favorite spot, then he'd just have to take care of him with a jousting pole!

Tori patted his arm and smirked proudly. "See what magic princess kisses are? Why, I could practically put the entire Healing industry out of business with my magic lips!" She smacked said lips for demonstration and then quickly slicked on some more lip gloss before Paulie had a chance to see what flavor it was.

One or two hundred kisses? Now that was more like it! Tori felt herself grinning stupidly even as her knight swooped in for another kiss, soft and slow just like she liked it. She couldn't resist running her fingers through his hair though, happy as she was to have HER knight wrapped around HER little finger.

Heheee. "Good," Tori answered eventually. "Cuz you might have to duel some other knights to remain in the top spot, ya know." A duel for her heart! Oh how ROMANTIC!

Paulie chuckled. "True! Although I can't say I'd approve of that because - one - you'd be kissing hundreds of people who aren't even your knights, and - two - you'd be kissing all day, so you'd get bored kissing me!" He shook his head. No, no. He wouldn't have that.

When they finally broke apart, Paulie wore a lopsided smile and his hair poked up here and there. "Hmm.. is it..." Any flavor but strawberry. ".. Watermelon?" Under these circumstances, the boy really had no problems with being wrong time after time.

"I hope we get to use swords," Paulie remarked, like the suggestion of a duel didn't even phase him. Knights were EXPECTED to duel for their princesses, of course. "You know I'm gonna be fighting in another battle, Princess? Over Helen of Troy Hogwarts." heheh.

Hmm, Paulie had good points. "True, true," Tori conceded. "And who knows what germs those other people had!" Like Hufflepuffs! Merlin! Tori could never imagine kissing a Hufferduffer.

Tori giggled a little at Paulie's face.... and his hair. She tsked and shook her head at his answer, stretching up to mess his hair into a faux mohawk. "Noooooooooooo, silly, guess again." She gave him a deeper kiss this time for a hint.

"Well, I'll be rooting you on, you know." Tori nodded, trying to picture Paulie with a big sword. "Who's Helen though?" Yeahhhhhh she was no Ravenclaw.

Paulie made a face as he thought about all the germs. Not that he was some neat-freak germophobe, but that WOULD be gross. This was not the shore of New Jersey. "Huh.. well, Princess, I know you've got magic lips, but - as your protector - I forbid you from going into any profession that requires kissing."

Paulie stood casually as he allowed her to do whatever she wanted with his hair. "Maybe you'll go into hairdressing instead," he mused with an easy smile. It felt strange, his hair not falling over his forehead, though he had no idea how it looked now. heheh. Of course it wasn't watermelon..

And it couldn't be watermelon because it was strawberry! He tasted the familiarity of it again when their lips met in another kiss, and he moved his hands so that they grazed her hips. "It's on the tip of my tongue.." Metaphorically and literally. "A kind of berry....?"

"Maybe customize a banner for me?" He grinned. "Oh, her name's not actually Helen. It's, uh.." What was it, again? ".. Louisa." Yes, that was it. "I just compared her with Helen of Troy 'cause guys are gonna fight over her one of these days."

"I understand, Sir Lemonade Knight," Tori nodded curtly. "I wouldn't want to catch any dangerous contagion anyway!" Cuz then she wouldn't be able to kiss him, of course! How horrid!

Heh. Hairdressing. "Maybe," Tori mused, "but only if all my clients have nice hair like yours." She gave his head another little fluff and giggled. "You be stylin, Paulie, you be stylin." Now if only there was a mirror around to show him...

"You're getting closer," the princess whispered into his ear, giving his lips another taste. "Closer...."

Louisa. Tori tilted her head back from Paulie then, though she didn't say anything about his hands on her hips. "Louisa. Who the hell is Louisa, hmm?" Jealous much?

PHEW! Well then it looked like they were cleared of that problem. "Yes, no contagions. Ever!" Everevereverever. Perhaps he would have to make an official document, claiming that Princesses named Tori could only kiss knights named Paulie. That seemed logical to him.

He beamed when she said he had nice hair. This was very nice to hear because his mum would always complain of it being messy. "Or pretty hair like yours," he added, although that went without saying. His hair was probably so nice because that lemonade had done such a nice job of conditioning it. "Stylin', eh?" He liked that! "Are you lying?" He narrowed his eyes and tried to determine if she was.

The teeny hairs on the back of his neck lifted when her voice touched his ear. He moved his face forward, trying to hold onto the kiss a little longer before she inevitably broke off. "Strawberry," he finally admitted, smiling faintly. "It's strawberry."

His eyebrows scrunched together a bit when Tori tilted her head back from him. Whaaat? Who the hell was Louisa? Oh. HAH! He caught on to her train of thought and laughed. "I have never met this Louisa," he informed her. "She's the chick that my best mate likes, although this other dude likes her too, so I guess they'll have to duke it out for her. I'm just in the battle 'cause I'm such a good soldier, knight, protector, hero, et cetera, et cetera.." NOW would she move a little closer again? It'd strain his neck kissing her like that.

Had she been able to read minds, Tori would have agreed to such an official document in no time. Even though she'd told Paulie he was in the running for her infamous Boyfriend Contest.... Tori really had no other worthy candidates. And certainly none that were such scrumptious kissers!

"Why thank you," the ginger girl giggled, shaking her long red locks a little. "No, I promise, it looks great! It could use a little hairspray, maybe... no wait, I have just the thing!"

Tori dug around in her purse for a moment and then emerged triumphant, grinning as she reached up and tucked a girly pink hairbow into his hair. "There. Now you're PERFECT!" Tori started giggling and sincerely hoped that they wouldn't cross any mirrors in their tour of the castle.

She beamed and wrapped her arms around him to give him a huggle when he finally got her lipgloss right. "Yep. Now don't you forget that." Tori tapped his nose with her little finger as a reminder.

Hmmmmmmmmm. She still wasn't liking the sound of this 'Louisa' character. "Can't you just be a back-up or somebody's second or something?" Tori pouted. "I only want you risking your neck for me, not your best mate's girlfriend's cousin's sister or whatever." Though it was very brave of him to try.

Hmmm. Well, she sounded convincing enough, so he bought it. "All right, if you say so," he commented, reaching a hand up to lightly skim his palm over the tips of his hair. When she said that she had 'just the thing,' he expected her to have some sort of magic hairspray or something GOOD in that purse of hers, but no. No, not at all.

A BOW?! "NO," Paulie said, vehemently shaking his head and snatching the thing from his hair at once. "No, no, no. Bows are for GIRLS, especially pink ones!" He was not wearing a bow. Huh uhhhh, no way, no how.

Despite the whole pink bow thing, he smiled when she flung her arms around him in a hug. "I'll try not to, but I may need some reminders." Just sayin'.

He gave another amused smile when she pouted and voiced her opinion on whom he should risk his neck for. "I doubt it will come to the point where anyone has to physically fight, Princessss." But if it did, Paulie could not just abandon Adam! Plus, it would be funnnn.

Uh ohhhhhh. Paulie wasn't taking to her bow very well. Tori frowned and bit her lip, fighting back a giant giggle as he shook his head all around. "But Paulieeeeeeee," she whined, stomping her foot even, "you looked CUUUUUUTE with the bow!!" Just like an adorable little puppy!

Tut. And he was still on the subject of that fight for another girl. Tori turned away from him dramatically and stalked off down the hallway. "Well," she insisted, "if you're still going to do this dumb fight then, then I wanna come watch."

Cuz knight!dueling was like totally a spectator sport.

PFFFFFT. Cute? CUTE? "If I look so cute, then why are you laughing at me, hmm?" Paule stuck the thing at the front of her hair so that it hung down in front of her forehead. "Besides, I'm not THAT whipped." Bows were strictly for GIRLS.

He smirked and rolled his eyes. If Tori needed to be worried about another girl, it was certainly not Louisa. He hastened his pace to catch up to her. "If you insist," he smiled, his hands finding his pockets as he walked with her.

"I'm not.... lau----" Tori started to say before the giggles escaped from her mouth, one after the other. She had to stop walking because she was almost falling over, bending in half and slapping her knees with laughter.

Oh Merlin. He was SO that whipped. "Fine fine fine," the princess eventually wheezed. "Ah anyway." She straightened back up and wiped a tear away from her cheek. "Um. How's the tour so far?" Heh. Lackluster.

.......

-__________-

"Liar." He folder his arms disapprovingly, though the hints of a smile showed on his lips.

Once she was FINALLY done with her laughing spell, she straightened up and they were able to continue. The tour? Oh yeah, he had forgotten this was a tour.. seemed more like a simple roaming of the halls with the Princess. Either way, he was enjoying the company more than the scenery. "It's gooood. Although we have yet to stumble upon one of those secret passages..."

He looked at her expectantly.

Okay, so this girl was okay. Cool, cool.

"Nice meeting you; you have a really unique name." Jade nodded, showing at least some nice side of herself. Might as well make a friend. Then again, she just stated to obvious so she felt embarassingly stupid. "Of course you know that, I'm just saying; it's a cool name." She recovered. Ugh, boys were messing up her mind.

Why am I acting so nice today? Maybe my anger supply had been kind of over after I had almost hexed those dumb first years… Or after I almost hanged William in the Whomping Willow. By the way- I’ll have to do that some time, Gwen thought, and made a mental note. Turning back to Selina, the second year first hoped the Griffie did something worse than she did. However, Gwen was about to discover how unreasonable she had been. Why would it have been better if she had acted worse? Selina was actually her then….

‘I’m sorry- what?’,the young Ravenclaw started mumbeling, not able to understand what the other girl had just said.

O__________o

‘YOU WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?’, she asked surprised, feeling that her eyes were going wiiiiide. However, her tone wasn’t as cold as it usually was. Nope… now she was only astonished. ‘Really? Huh… and I thought what I did was stupid’ Stupid? Did I actually say that?! Nice going!, Gwen ‘congratulated’ herself.

’So… by the way…’, the ravie went on talking. And usually, when Gwen started a sentence with ‘by the way’, it was only because she wanted to change the subject. Or find out something she really wanted to know. ‘Just…it crosses my mind now- um… did you have a tattoo on your left shoulder?’, she asked, trying to seem nonchalant, but that probably didn’t work.

fksfhdsjkfhdksfk.

It was official. Anakin needed girl advice. And even with all of the friends he had, all female, he couldn't find a single one of them to ask currently. NOT EVEN HIS BEST FRIEND. Who he sorta missed a whole lot.

Slumping down a corridor, Anakin slid himself down a wall and sighed slightly, before giving a small chuckle. He was a loner, wasn't he? Spending all his time in nearly abandoned coridors in the school. And that's where he always did EVERYTHING.

A corridor was where he told Vashti he was deaf.

Where he asked Vashti out.

He was sensing a pattern, maybe Anakin only did things in corridors pertaining to Queenie.

The last 24 hours had been so unbearable. Amelia had been crying so much, her face was all red, and her eyes were all puffy. She also hadn't really brushed her hair or done her makeup. Worst of all though - worse than not looking amazing - was the fact that she really wanted to see Zayden again. But she couldn't, because she was a total idiot and had broken up with him.

Wiping her eyes as she wandered down a random corridor, she spotted a boy that she had met a few months ago. "Can you tell me what floor this is?" she asked him. What? She hadn't been paying attention.

It should have almost been expected that Dallin would do this again. Sock sliding. He'd done it last year with Louisa and it had been so much fun that he just had to do it again. Sure, Louisa wasn't going to be with him... but he'd convinced Ellie to come meet him here. She didn't know what she was getting into, but he had warned her to wear comfortable clothing and socks.

Dallin was dressed very confortably. It was later at night, when most people were going back to their common room. It wasn't late enough that he'd break curfew or come close, but... it was nice. Not crowded. And Dallin felt totally at ease to be in pajama pants and a white t shirt. On his feet was a new pair of socks and slippers. He was ready for this sock slide thing.

With a content smile he sat back against he wall, waiting for Ellie.

On the way down from the common room and to the next floor down, Ellie was wondering what this was all about. She had no idea. All she knew was that she was supposed to wear comfortable clothes and socks. So, she had put on her comfy lounging pants that she wore to do her homework. A comfy cotton t-shirt. And her favorite pair of Christmas socks under some slip on shoes.

Making her way to the fifth floor corridor, Ellie kept her eyes open for Dallin. When she spotted him, he was sitting against the wall in his pajamas with a smile on his face. Ellie's face immediately lit up. "Hey, stranger." She greeted, standing in front of him. Leaning over, she kissed him on the top of his head.

"Cute jammies." She said with a little wink.

Seeing her legs before he heard her voice, Dallin smiled as Ellie kissed him. He pushed himself up off the floor. As she made fun of his pajamas he stood up. "Shuddup," he joked, standing proudly in his flannel plaid pajama pants. Oh yes. He rocked them. He made those pants work.

"So I had this idea..." he started slowly, looking up and down the deserted corridor. "And I thought I should invite you to try it with me. It's fun, though. I've done it before." He nodded to himself, stepping out of his slippers. The floor was cold through his socks, but not uncomfortably sore.

"Ever slid on the floor in socks?" Grin.

Ellie giggled a little when he told her to "shuddup" Because she knew he was kidding. He loved her and she knew it. ;D Ellie looked him up and down when he stood up. Actually the flannel plaid bottoms weren't too bad. Actually the whole pajama ensemble was pretty nice. But maybe that was just because Ellie thought he was attractive to begin with. Anyway...

Raising her eyebrows, she followed his gaze down the empty corridor. He had an idea, and wanted her to try it with him? Ellie watched him skeptically as he stepped out of his slippers. What in the world was he-

Oh.

Refraining from snorting, Ellie grinned at Dallin. They were going to go sock sliding? Had she ever slid on the floor in socks? "Yes, when I was little." And then I grew up... She couldn't help but think to herself. Ellie laughed a little bit, though. It actually sounded like fun. Ellie kicked off her shoes and scooted them over to the wall. Alright, she was ready for this. "I'm a bit rusty, so you're gonna have to show me how it's done."

Hm. She didn't seem as excited about this as he was. Sure, it was sort of childish and immature... but last time he'd done it had been really fun. At least Ellie hadn't totally laughed at him. And she was going to try.

He eyed her for a second, wondering if she was joking or if she really wanted and needed him to show her how to slide across the floor. Finally he decided what the heck and went for it. So, after backing up a few steps he took off into a run, locking his legs about halfway down the corridor. His momentum kept him going forward and he stuck his hands out slightly to keep balance. A few more feet... and he stumbled a couple steps before coming to a stop. He looked back at Ellie, a grin on his face. "See? It's fun!"

A grin spread in her lips as she watched Dallin prepare for his epic sock-slide. She watched him back up a bit, and then sprint down the corridor. She took mental note of how far he ran until he locked his knees and slid several feet before stumbling gracefully to a halt. Ellie laughed proudly at Dallin and the grin on his face. "Nice job!" She said, clapping a little. He deserved an applause for this.

Alright. Now it was her turn. Ellie was actually a tad afraid she would fall flat on her bum and embarrass herself, but... Meh. Whatever. She backed up a few steps and glanced down the corridor at Dallin. "Catch me if I fall, alright?" That was an order. Please.

With a deep, preparatory breath, Ellie took off running towards the other end of the corridor. Just a little longer and she locked her knees, sliding on her snowman socks down the corridor towards Dallin. A squeal escaped from her grinned lips as she stumbled a bit at the end. Holding her arms out, she collided with Dallin with a laugh, but luckily managed to keep her balance. Which was pretty impressive for a laughing, clumsy mess like Ellie.

Pam ran up the steps onto the sixth floor. She stumbled over to the closest wall, and slumped down. There wasn't a way she could stand much more of this. Having her heart broken by the one she loved most... It was unbearable. Unthinkable. But yet it crossed her mind everyday. Because everyday, the one she loved most moved farther away from her.

He's always going to choose me. Why would he choose you? You're a pathetic half-blood Ravenclaw who can't even give out advice without hurting someone. The voice in her head sounded more and more like Fai everyday.

But she couldn't help but agree with her. She didn't even belong in Ravenclaw. She was here by choice. She wasn't the smartest girl on the moving staircases, and she didn't have the best grades, and she was still having a bit of trouble casting spells. She was too afraid of battle. She thought too much about what would happen to her friends, and it got in the way of her spellcasting.

Nate steps up behind Pam and watches her miserably slump against a wall. "Of course I saw her!" he blurted, semi-unaware that it actually came from his lips. Nate couldn't sit next to Pam. Instead, he paced in the middle of the hall, staying within a ten foot area of Pam. My next victim... he thought, and tears began to form.