Oh. Aww... Aspen hadn't meant to startle him... She'd apologize after her experiment was finished. For now... "You're doing great. Just a few more steps!" she encouraged.

Meanwhile, she readied Egbert. Aspen held him up to her eye-level, using her hands like a runway or a diving board for the little bat. "I'm here. Egbert, too. Keep your hands out... I want to see if he remembers you." She looked up once more, just barely able to still see Cornelius's silhouette, to make sure he was in place. Close enough. "He's quiet, so don't be startled!"


Aspen didn't add don't drop him - she would have for most anyone else, but she had this remarkable unfounded faith in Cornelius. He wouldn't drop Egbert once he had him.

Without further ado, Aspen gave Egbert the fruit bat a gentle toss and silently flew the length of the corridor, heading for Cornelius's familiar hands.

Cornelius did as he was told, taking a few more steps as Aspen encouraged and listening to her voice as she explained that both she and Egbert were here and she wanted him to keep his hands out, wanting to see if Egbert would remember him. Cornelius paused, his eyebrows raising just slightly though Aspen obviously couldn't see him. What...did that mean?

It was only with her last warning that Egbert was quiet that Cornelius seemed to fully connect that he was going to be the landing area for a fruit bat, light brown eyes widening just slightly at the realization. But before he could truly react, Egbert had landed onto Cornelius's outstretched hands, and in all honesty, his little bat claws gave him a bit of a fright. How could they not? He was standing in the middle of a dark corridor and Aspen had just thrown her bat at him!

And so, instinctively, his hands sort of twitched with the sudden contact, moving away from one another and nearly dropping Egbert in the process. But in the next millisecond Cornelius had reached out a bit farther down to catch the small bat, letting out a, "Whoa!" as he did so. And he caught him. He wouldn't drop Aspen's bat! Surely she knew that.

With Egbert securely in his hands, Cornelius straightened up a bit, trying his best to see through the darkness and find Aspen. He gave a small smile in her general direction, holding Egbert a bit higher, "He found me."

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius did as he was told, taking a few more steps as Aspen encouraged and listening to her voice as she explained that both she and Egbert were here and she wanted him to keep his hands out, wanting to see if Egbert would remember him. Cornelius paused, his eyebrows raising just slightly though Aspen obviously couldn't see him. What...did that mean?

It was only with her last warning that Egbert was quiet that Cornelius seemed to fully connect that he was going to be the landing area for a fruit bat, light brown eyes widening just slightly at the realization. But before he could truly react, Egbert had landed onto Cornelius's outstretched hands, and in all honesty, his little bat claws gave him a bit of a fright. How could they not? He was standing in the middle of a dark corridor and Aspen had just thrown her bat at him!

And so, instinctively, his hands sort of twitched with the sudden contact, moving away from one another and nearly dropping Egbert in the process. But in the next millisecond Cornelius had reached out a bit farther down to catch the small bat, letting out a, "Whoa!" as he did so. And he caught him. He wouldn't drop Aspen's bat! Surely she knew that.

With Egbert securely in his hands, Cornelius straightened up a bit, trying his best to see through the darkness and find Aspen. He gave a small smile in her general direction, holding Egbert a bit higher, "He found me."

Aspen missed the bat bobbling, but she didn't miss the whoa! from him. What did whoa mean? Whoa cool? Whoa creepy? Whoa woe? She was too shy to ask and truthfully, too excited that Egbert HAD made it to care. Aspen hurried after Egbert, finally skulking from the depths of dank and darkness to meet and greet with Cornelius.

"I knew he would. Or, rather, really really hoped he would," Aspen confided. She wasn't sure how adjusted Cornelius's eyes were, so she poked his bicep when she got close enough. Hi, I'm here. Poke. "He loves to fly down here - it's like a cave, you know?" It was exactly like a cave in fact.

Oh. And... you know. "Hi Cornelius." Could he tell she was grinning up at him and her little bat? Totally was.

Cornelius's eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, allowing him a much easier time as Aspen finally approached him and explained how she had really really hoped that Egbert would find his way over to him. Just as his light brown eyes were adjusting to the darkness and trying to fully see Aspen's expression, she'd poked his bicep! As though to assure him of his whereabouts, he guessed, but it made him grin that that was her way of showing him where she was. Poke.

He watched with vague amusement in his features as she spoke more about Egbert and how he liked to fly down in the dungeons because it was so similar to a cave. And then, she seemed to realize that she hadn't said hello to him at all yet, and greeted him with a bit of a whisper.

Cornelius grinned. He lifted one of his hands, now able to see Aspen quite a bit better, and took her own hand in order to hand Egbert back to his owner. And then, after the bat had been placed in one of her hands, Cornelius moved onto her other and enveloped it in his own as though the darkness had given him some kind of courage.

"Hi Aspen," he greeted in return, letting out a soft chuckle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius's eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, allowing him a much easier time as Aspen finally approached him and explained how she had really really hoped that Egbert would find his way over to him. Just as his light brown eyes were adjusting to the darkness and trying to fully see Aspen's expression, she'd poked his bicep! As though to assure him of his whereabouts, he guessed, but it made him grin that that was her way of showing him where she was. Poke.

He watched with vague amusement in his features as she spoke more about Egbert and how he liked to fly down in the dungeons because it was so similar to a cave. And then, she seemed to realize that she hadn't said hello to him at all yet, and greeted him with a bit of a whisper.

Cornelius grinned. He lifted one of his hands, now able to see Aspen quite a bit better, and took her own hand in order to hand Egbert back to his owner. And then, after the bat had been placed in one of her hands, Cornelius moved onto her other and enveloped it in his own as though the darkness had given him some kind of courage.

"Hi Aspen," he greeted in return, letting out a soft chuckle.

As Cornelius passed Egbert back to her, it DID (finally, and bit belatedly) occur to her perhaps he didn't want to hold her bat. Or any bat. Maybe he was afraid, or maybe he didn't like animals, maybe he was afraid of rabies or the dark? In hindsight, maaaaybe she should have asked? Regardless, she took her bat back and held him up to her face a quick nuzzle. Good Egbert, good boy.

It was during this inner mental berating that Cornelius took Aspen's hand. Her hand shouldn't have responded so quickly, her fingers shouldn't have automatically known how to intertwine with his - but they did. It was as natural as putting a glove on. She didn't mention it, but did she have to? Surely he could hear her heart beating a billion beats a second. It was probably echoing off the walls of the dungeon.

Mm.. right. What to say now? Silence was growing deep. "..... Sorry I startled you at first. I realize this is the epitome of creepiness and I'm the reigning queen of weird at the moment, but I hope you don't mind too much. You're a ..." a.... uh.... "good sport."

Thank Merlin for the dark. She was cringing at her lack of anything remotely smart to say.Aspen gave his hand a quick squeeze. Don't leave because I'm having an extraordinarily weird moment!

Cornelius let out another laugh as Aspen started their actual conversation by calling herself the epitome of creepiness and the reigning queen of weird. And then she called him a good sport. He sincerely hoped that Aspen didn't take his laughter as mockery, she was just... funny to him. And she seemed to find herself so much weirder than he found her to be. To him, Aspen was just...unpredictable. "You are not the epitome of creepiness, or the reigning queen of weird," he protested, amusement flooding through his voice as he grinned at her through the darkness, somehow able to understand the squeeze to his hand meant something along the lines of 'don't leave just because I'm weird'.

Growing a bit tired of the constant darkness, Cornelius released her hand in order to take out his wand, finding his way to the nearest torch and illuminating it with a small tap of his wand. The corridor was immediately much warmer both in temperature and in terms of comfortable-ness, and he turned back around with a bit of a grin directed to the girl he'd left in the middle of the corridor. He tucked his wand away once more before walking over to her, examining her expression curiously.

And then, once at her side, he was left with a new problem. Taking Aspen's hand in the dark was one thing, but taking it while they both could see one another and her light eyes were watching him was a whole other story. He'd never had this issue before! It was both frustrating and amazing to Cornelius. With any other girl he'd sort of liked, Cornelius had absolutely no problem being the courageous one; taking the girl's hand, an arm around the shoulders, something simple and yet a total leap of faith in the early stages of potential dating. He was remarkably and notably smooth. Well...most of the time.

But with Aspen? She made him reconsider everything. She was...unusual and different and...just.. Aspen. And she made him second guess every normal, smooth-ish instinct he had. So even though he normally would've just taken her hand casually and played it off as nothing, he couldn't. It took him a moment of glancing back at her a couple times with a weak smile before he slipped his hand around her own.

Oh Merlin... What was going on with him?

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius let out another laugh as Aspen started their actual conversation by calling herself the epitome of creepiness and the reigning queen of weird. And then she called him a good sport. He sincerely hoped that Aspen didn't take his laughter as mockery, she was just... funny to him. And she seemed to find herself so much weirder than he found her to be. To him, Aspen was just...unpredictable. "You are not the epitome of creepiness, or the reigning queen of weird," he protested, amusement flooding through his voice as he grinned at her through the darkness, somehow able to understand the squeeze to his hand meant something along the lines of 'don't leave just because I'm weird'.

Growing a bit tired of the constant darkness, Cornelius released her hand in order to take out his wand, finding his way to the nearest torch and illuminating it with a small tap of his wand. The corridor was immediately much warmer both in temperature and in terms of comfortable-ness, and he turned back around with a bit of a grin directed to the girl he'd left in the middle of the corridor. He tucked his wand away once more before walking over to her, examining her expression curiously.

And then, once at her side, he was left with a new problem. Taking Aspen's hand in the dark was one thing, but taking it while they both could see one another and her light eyes were watching him was a whole other story. He'd never had this issue before! It was both frustrating and amazing to Cornelius. With any other girl he'd sort of liked, Cornelius had absolutely no problem being the courageous one; taking the girl's hand, an arm around the shoulders, something simple and yet a total leap of faith in the early stages of potential dating. He was remarkably and notably smooth. Well...most of the time.

But with Aspen? She made him reconsider everything. She was...unusual and different and...just.. Aspen. And she made him second guess every normal, smooth-ish instinct he had. So even though he normally would've just taken her hand casually and played it off as nothing, he couldn't. It took him a moment of glancing back at her a couple times with a weak smile before he slipped his hand around her own.

Oh Merlin... What was going on with him?

Admittedly, Aspen panicked (weirdest reaction EVER) when left her. Sure, sure he'd said she wasn't the epitome of weird and all, but he was also REALLY nice and knew her secret self-consciousness about being said weird. Of course he wouldn't agree with her, but it didn't necessarily mean he meant it. But when he just left to go as far as the torches to relight them, she felt appropriately silly for her mild panicking. "I should have thought of that." Instead of just being a total creep in the dark after her Egbert experiment.

She was absolutely losing all of her good sense. She had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with hand-holding and a smile that NEVER stopped.

Aspen squinted from the torch light and Egbert climbed to her shoulder and took flight, back to the dark depths. Her pounding, fluttery heart was probably freaking her poor bat out. "Hi... again." Now that she could kind of see him in the light. She gladly took his hand again, her being still half-blind while her eyes adjusted. "You did say you wanted more Aspen in your Hogwarts experience," she just went ahead and needlessly explained her inviting to this...experiment.

This was how Aspen experienced Hogwarts: she lured new boys to the lowest depths, then threw bats at them in total darkness. She wasn't going to apologize for it but she DID deeply hope he wasn't getting to his threshold for Aspen-ness.

"Hi," he greeted once more in return, a small smile growing on his features once more. As she explained this whole bat thing by pointing out that he had mentioned wanting more Aspen in his Hogwarts experience, his smile widened. "Well...you've surely given me more Aspen," he decided playfully, flashing her another grin. She'd thrown a bat at him! ...But he couldn't say that he exactly minded having a bat thrown at him...by Aspen.

"I'd kind of been looking out for Egbert," Cornelius admitted, slight curiosity in his expression as he looked at her, a question obviously on his mind. "I hadn't really expected to find a note on my bed." He rose his eyebrows at her with mock accusation in his gaze.

"How did you pull that off?" Cornelius questioned, a bit of a smile still playing on his expression, unable to wipe it off. He was normally smiley but this...this was just ridiculous. That's what he decided. Ridiculous. But he kind of...liked it?

"He's usually out defying his nocturnal nature in the mornings," Aspen explained, "Seriously, if you throw cheesy-snacks or cherries out of the window in our Common Room, there's a good chance you can see him." You know, FYI. But she DID know what he meant - that he had been expecting a bat-delivery from her.

Aspen's eyes finally adjusted and she took a moment to study their hands between them. "Oh, you know. I have my ways," Aspen didn't explain further, nope, just griiiiinned at his knuckles instead. "I can send Egbert now though. He'll come to you." As her latest experiment had proven.

Though Aspen slyly avoided answering his question, Cornelius wasn't ready to let it go just yet. He was honestly curious! How did she manage to get into his dorm to drop a note onto his bed? He thought that girls couldn't get into the guys' dorms and vice versa?

"Aspen!" he complained jokingly as she quickly moved on from the question, assuring him that she would be sending mail by Egbert from now. He wasn't sure if she'd made the choice to not send Egbert because she thought he'd be off put by him flying at him or not. Well, they were definitely past that point now.

"C'mon, I want to know about your stealthy ways," Cornelius prodded, swinging their hands absentmindedly as he flashed her a warm smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Though Aspen slyly avoided answering his question, Cornelius wasn't ready to let it go just yet. He was honestly curious! How did she manage to get into his dorm to drop a note onto his bed? He thought that girls couldn't get into the guys' dorms and vice versa?

"Aspen!" he complained jokingly as she quickly moved on from the question, assuring him that she would be sending mail by Egbert from now. He wasn't sure if she'd made the choice to not send Egbert because she thought he'd be off put by him flying at him or not. Well, they were definitely past that point now.

"C'mon, I want to know about your stealthy ways," Cornelius prodded, swinging their hands absentmindedly as he flashed her a warm smile.

Teehee! Aspen shook her head at him. Nuuuh uhhh. No way was he getting to her stealthy ways that easy. Besides, it was another of those things that could potentially add another tally for her under "weirdo".

But for the record, Aspen Odessa had not let herself into his dorm! She might sneak bats into the library or crawl under tables, but she didn't break BIG rules!

Her hair was up again, tied in a messy knot at the back of her neck and she, too, was wearing casual weekend clothes - jeans and her Chuddley Cannons Quidditch jersey she'd gotten from her dad over a long-sleeves t-shirt. "I don't mean to sound demanding,but I think I'll require something from you before I give up my trade secrets."

So.... what did he have? Hmm? He could yell all he wanted down here, for example, since they weren't in the Great Hall with everyone else. Or he could tell her MORE about him?

Cornelius couldn't help but grin once more as Aspen shook her head at him, immediately denying him the information he was asking for. And just as he thought she wasn't going to offer him even a hint, she was deciding that she required something from him before she would give up her trade secrets. His eyebrows rose, and he looked back at her with vague amusement on his features.

"Okay," he agreed, flashing her a grin before leading her towards the nearest wall, releasing her hand in order to sit himself down on the corridor's floor. Cornelius looked up at her with the same large grin, though it was a little more directed towards her as he patted the ground at his side.

"What secrets do you want to know about me?" Cornelius joked, honestly wondering what she wanted to know. In all honesty, he didn't know nearly as much about Aspen as he wanted to. He knew he liked being around her, but he still felt like there was a lot to learn about the other Ravenclaw. He wondered vaguely if she wondered about him as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius couldn't help but grin once more as Aspen shook her head at him, immediately denying him the information he was asking for. And just as he thought she wasn't going to offer him even a hint, she was deciding that she required something from him before she would give up her trade secrets. His eyebrows rose, and he looked back at her with vague amusement on his features.

"Okay," he agreed, flashing her a grin before leading her towards the nearest wall, releasing her hand in order to sit himself down on the corridor's floor. Cornelius looked up at her with the same large grin, though it was a little more directed towards her as he patted the ground at his side.

"What secrets do you want to know about me?" Cornelius joked, honestly wondering what she wanted to know. In all honesty, he didn't know nearly as much about Aspen as he wanted to. He knew he liked being around her, but he still felt like there was a lot to learn about the other Ravenclaw. He wondered vaguely if she wondered about him as well.

Aspen happily took a seat on the floor next to him. She pulled the long hem of her jersey under her to help keep the coolness from the stone floor from her. She angled herself to him, not using the wall as a back prop, so she could still sit where he asked her to, but also be able to see him.

"Would you think me greedy if I said all of them?" Aspen asked honestly. Because if he wouldn't think her a grubby ogre that wanted more, more, more - then yeah, she wanted to know them all. "I want to know ... more about you," simply put. "More about your parents - what do they do? What's your favorite quidditch team? Do you play quidditch?" Just for starters.

Cornelius let out a chuckle at Aspen's first question. "Yeah, I'd call you greedy and then I wouldn't tell you anything," he joked, his smile widening as he leaned back onto the stone wall behind himself. As she continued, explaining very simply that she just wanted to know more about him, his smile returned more genuine then ever, his light brown eyes returning to her expression, "Okay," he agreed, nodding at her before listening as she asked about his parents, and quidditch.

"Well, my dad works in the muggle world as the head of an accounting firm," Cornelius started, vague amusement on his expression. "And my mum used to own a shop back where we lived before the move," he explained, giving a bit of a shrug. "She's the witch of the two, but she put up her shop in the muggle world. Since we moved, she's been trying to set up the business somewhere around here."

When he remembered the quidditch questions, he gave a bit of a grimace at the request to choose his favorite team. "Favorite?" he grumbled, playfulness on his expression as he ran his hand through his hair. "I dunno, I haven't been following them very much recently, but...the Holyhead Harpies." As she asked if he played quidditch, Cornelius gave a shrug.

"Used to," he admitted with a bit of a smile. "I played when I was younger, but then I was in a game once with a few friends..." He brought a hand up to the neck line of his t-shirt and pulled it down a few inches to reveal a long scar just below his collar bone. "Ran into a bludger, knocked me straight off my broom, nearly shattered my shoulder." He flashed her a grin. "Luckily, I didn't, but I had to get a bit of surgery done. Nothing too major, but enough to freak my mum out."

"I know an accountant at Gringott's!" Aspen excitedly related. Granted, it wasn't her father, and it was a goblin - but she still knew one! She noted that his mother was a shopkeeper - maybe she'd end up in Diagon Alley? Aspen loved Diagon Alley. Before she had wished for parchment so she could write down everything Cornelius said - but how could she possibly forget any of this? She wouldn't. She was hanging on to his every word.

"They used to be my favorite," and Aspen still followed them since they were the all female team, "but now I like the Cannons. I like the underdogs."

Ohhhhh. That sounded SO bad! Aspen pulled her knees under her and walked/crawled herself closer to Cornelius to see his scar. Scars were interesting and without much thought into what she was doing, she tugged the collar back again to LOOK at the mark. Even with the low light of the dungeon, she could see exactly where he'd gotten hurt and fixed again surgically. She was hovering over him, leaning in to get a CLOSE up look. "I don't play either. So maybe you could sit with me during matches." Aspen, again, not REALLY thinking with her "normal" half of the brain prodded her fingers into his scar and watched to see if he'd react. Did it still hurt?

Cornelius listened with interest in his expression as Aspen replied to a few of his answers, mentioning that she herself knew an accountant at Gringotts and used to liked the Holyhead Harpies before her favorite became the Cannons. He could tell that much by the jersey she was currently wearing.

Before he could really reply much to this, he had found that Aspen was right next to him, and before long her hand was pulling back his collar to get another look at his scar. He let out a soft chuckle at her forwardness, though he didn't quite mind, listening as Aspen explained that she didn't play either and suggested that they sit together during matches. "That sounds like a good idea," Cornelius agreed, wondering what Hogwarts matches were like and when the first one would be.

But then, very suddenly, he felt Aspen prodding his scar with her fingers, examining it and seeming to wait for a reaction. He gave a weak grimace at the gesture on instinct. It didn't hurt too excruciatingly much, as it had happened a few years ago, but still, with Aspen poking at it, there was a small bit of discomfort. "Is there any reason you're poking at my wound?" he teased, turning to look at her with obvious amusement in his gaze, though there was slight confusion there as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmafan123

Cornelius listened with interest in his expression as Aspen replied to a few of his answers, mentioning that she herself knew an accountant at Gringotts and used to liked the Holyhead Harpies before her favorite became the Cannons. He could tell that much by the jersey she was currently wearing.

Before he could really reply much to this, he had found that Aspen was right next to him, and before long her hand was pulling back his collar to get another look at his scar. He let out a soft chuckle at her forwardness, though he didn't quite mind, listening as Aspen explained that she didn't play either and suggested that they sit together during matches. "That sounds like a good idea," Cornelius agreed, wondering what Hogwarts matches were like and when the first one would be.

But then, very suddenly, he felt Aspen prodding his scar with her fingers, examining it and seeming to wait for a reaction. He gave a weak grimace at the gesture on instinct. It didn't hurt too excruciatingly much, as it had happened a few years ago, but still, with Aspen poking at it, there was a small bit of discomfort. "Is there any reason you're poking at my wound?" he teased, turning to look at her with obvious amusement in his gaze, though there was slight confusion there as well.

Aspen stopped as soon as she saw the grimace. Ohhh it did still hurt him. So it was kind of a recent accident. She sat back on her heels, letting her weight off of her knees, but let her hands fall to his lap.

Reason?

...

"I'm sorry."..... "I'm sorry." Really, she hadn't meant to cause that perplexed look on him so soon. She needed to pace her weird acts out better than this. "I was just curious about it." Like, rabid curious about it. Rabid Ravenclaw curious. Maybe that's what Aspen really suffered from? It wasn't Weirditis - it was Rabid Ravenclaw Curiosity Syndrome. "I wonder if there is a cure....," she accidentally wondered aloud, half forgetting where she was for a second or two.

She focused once again on Cornelius. "I'll stop doing that. Now. Promise, no more prodding." She smiled... weakly. He wasn't mad, right?

She stank. No, like really stinking smell was radiating off her at this point. Louisa was stuffing her wand back into her shoulder bag when she got out of Dungeon Five. Heh. Dungeon five, it was a stupid name for detention section, really. As stupid and wrong as Lovers' Lair. She was going to slip the headmaster a new names for those places.

Louisa took several steps away from the door when she hesitated. Well. Paulie was still in there. He'd finished his poster before her so why wasn't he out already? Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall waiting for him to get out. Their common rooms were in the seventh floor, they could go up together. She wasn't as mad at him as she was earlier today.

Paulie stalked out of the Lovers' Lair with a huff. The nerve of that woman! And Professor Roslund? Yeah, he was a great, big help. NOT.

Totally in tunnel-vision mode, the sixth year marched out the dungeon door and through the corridor, straight past his detention mate who was leaning against the wall. It took him an innate feeling and a few more paces before he stopped in his tracks and turned. Oh, Louisa had been waiting for him. "I thought you left," he commented. She had hurried out of there quick enough. But it was nice of her to wait.

"Well, that was fun, huh? Gosh, I can't stand Hadley." He clenched his jaw a little, then lifted his shirt and put it to his nose. "And we are going to have this stench follow us all the way up to the seventh floor." Hopefully no pretty girls blocked his direct path to the portrait hole.

Well, this was getting a bit longer than she tho- Oh! Here he came. She straightened up, fixing her bag on her shoulder. He thought she left? "I was about to but you took long to get out. What happened?" She made a face when he brought his shirt to his nose. Eew. "Don't do this." It was bad enough that they both reeked. No need for more embarrassing acts. "Shall we?" Walking ahead, that is.

"Hadley? Why?" Shrugging one shoulder slightly, she added, "I'm more mad at Roslund." Her tone was low but bitter, "You think you can trust professors." Pffffft, how delusional of her.

Paulie nodded, then rolled his eyes and lifted his arms and dropped them emphatically when she asked what happened. "Oh, ya know. Just the usual. Hadley thought your poster was a work of art, and she said mine was crap." Well.. that wasn't exactly verbatim, but those were Paulie's choice words. AIHJRGLAIWEGUH! He lifted an eyebrow when she freaked about him smelling his shirt. "You smell just as bad," he reminded.

Anyway, she began walking ahead, and he hopped a few paces before easily catching up. "Yeah, well no wonder you don't mind Hadley - she likes you." Hence, why SHE got out of detention on time. "Roslund might as well have not come. I think he's scared of Hadley, too, or something.." This made Paulie think. Know what? Hadley probably did the SAME sort of thing to poor Professor Roslund, and he was had no choice but to give in because he had some secret crush on her since forever. That was totally it. Maybe. It was possible..?

Aria slid down the wall and sat next to Hunter. Standing up was making her feet hurt so why bother arguing with him on that right? "Well there is this one thing..." Maybe if she took Hunter home with her for the holidays then her parents would back off about the boy that they want her to meet. Who does that nowadays. It's not like she had a problem finding a boyfriend for herself, she just didn't exactly see the need for one right now. Plus why did she have to suffer if her mother's business was failing? "But remember that you said you'll do anything so you can't say no, okay?"

Cornelius quickly gathered that she didn't want to cause him further pain, watching as she immediately stopped prodding his scar. It was obvious that Aspen was just curious, as he was gathering Ravenclaws were. As she apologized, he grinned, obviously not truly upset with her, knowing that she hadn't just been prodding his scar to hurt him, but rather out of curiosity. "It's okay," he immediately replied with a soft chuckle, seeming more amused with Aspen than anything else.

It was then that she seemed to wonder aloud if there was a cure, something he didn't quite understand as she was obviously referring to something else entirely. Before he could really open his mouth to guess at a response, she had focused back onto him and promised to stop prodding him.

At her weak smile, Cornelius let out a soft chuckle and a grin, nodding just slightly in agreement, "I don't mind you looking at it. I just had no idea what you were doing," he admitted, now obviously understanding that she was just curious about his scar.

"Tell me more about you," he decided in the next moment, his light brown eyes scanning her expression curiously. Cornelius glanced down at her hand, wondering absentmindedly if he should take it again. Normally he would've automatically, but...maybe she didn't want him to? Maybe he should wait until she took his hand?

.....

Merlin... This girl was making him second guess himself all over the place! Where was more or less smooth Cornelius?! Where had all of his courageousness gone? He supposed he must've left it somewhere before he found his way into the dungeons, because in the next moment when he looked back to Aspen herself, he still hadn't taken her hand in his own. "Tell me about your life when you're not in Hogwarts," he decided with a small smile.

Letting out a sigh, Hunter was finally happy to see that they weren't arguing about something for once. Now to just get this whole thing settled and he won't be in Aria's debt anymore. But after what she has to say, he can't help but imagine what it is the girl wants. He looks her over for a few seconds, wondering how desperate she must be if she wants a kiss or something from him. "You are correct, I did say anything, so I will not say no." He raised both eyebrows now, trying to figure her out. No one was more curious than Aria Leahy. "Alright, but you know if you wanted a kiss all you had to do was ask." He winks at her and scoots a little closer to her. 'No one can resist Hunter Pierce.'

Hunter leans in close and closes his eyes. Before he can actually stop himself, he kisses her on the lips for at least three whole seconds, then moves away. "Weird.................well....all settled now?" Whether or not he enjoyed the kiss, he'd never tell a soul.

"A kiss? What no-" Aria was so confused! Why would Hunter assume that she wanted a kiss? Didn't he realize that she didn't really like him. After all the times that they spent arguing, was a kiss really the first thing to come up in his head? "Ewwww Hunter!" She squealed as she push him farther from her and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. Getting up from the ground and still wiping her mouth she said "What was that!? Oh man that was horrible! I am probably infected with some kind of Hunter ugliness disease now" Honestly it wasn't all that horrible. Then again it was her first kiss and she didn't really have anything to compare it too... "That wasn't the favor I was going to ask for either. So I still get my favor."All she wanted now was to go to the Great Hall and stuff her face. That would probably help her forget whatever just happened. "I'm going to the Great Hall now. I need to rid myself of this image that has been branded into my eyelids"