Ella smiled and closed her eyes. Well this is nice. Weird how comfortable I am with Logan now when just last year I almost punched Josh the neighbor boy for trying to kiss me on the swing set. Ella tried not to laugh at the memory, at the time she was positive that he had cooties, he was a boy after all...and now here she was actually enjoying spending time with a boy. Go figure.

Pam looked up as Jez told them the time. "Can't we just stay?" She whispered. Not sure the others could hear her. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to leave behind the only boy who has paid any attention to her in a while. But, glancing back, he was gone. He had left her, just as so many others did. She walked over to Jez and Nate, her feet feeling heavier then usual. Folding her arms around herself, she said, "Going back means going back to those dreams." She shrunk down so her knees were too her chin. "I can't go back to that."

Logan hugged her tighter and closed his eyes. He could fall asleep here, but he had to of course go back to their common rooms. He sighed and kissed her on the cheek.

Ella smiled when Logan kissed her cheeks and she opened her eyes. She looked at him and then down at her watch with a sigh. It was getting late and they should probably be going. She put her head on his shoulder and said, "Logan, I think we should head out. It's getting late and we don't want to get into trouble." She frowned at this. Standing, she held out her hands ready to pull Logan up off the couch.

"Yeah...I guess you're right." he said, grabbing her hands and standing up. He stretched for a bit before giving a slight nod. "Okay...so when do you want to practice again?" he asked as he began packing up his guitar.

Anya just rolled her eyes again. Alec liked it a little too much if he asked her. She hated dresses. They were just too... girly. And Alec always got a little weird.

"Well you should. Maybe you'd learn a thing to two." she said with a little chuckle. Seriously. You could learn a lot from those. Like that it was always the boy's fault.

She giggled a little as she spun under his arm. "Hey. I know when I can tease you and when I can't." she said with a smile as she face him again. That was one of the benefits of knowing each other for years.

"You know. This is kinda fun..." she commented a few seconds later.

Alec let out a small chuckle. Him? And watching cheesy movies? The only time that happened was when Anya wanted to watch a cheesy movie and she decided to drag him along. "Maybe you could take me to watch a cheesy movie then," he said, "Or you could just teach me everything a guy needs to know." Like the fact that it was all his fault every time.

Alec grinned. Anya's giggle was kind of cute. And it matched her dress when it came to girliness. "Face it Rilez, you just know me too well," he said. Not that he was complaining, of course. He would have been very surprised if after all their years of knowing each other, it turned out that she didn't know him well at all.

"You're right, it is," he said, holding onto her waist again, "And what's more, it doesn't feel weird!" That, right there, had to be a definite bonus.

Nate was still caught up by Jez's kiss--he always got a bit mesmerized by a kiss--when she proclaimed the time, so he didn't quite catch it. But a mopey Pam, sleepy-looking Jez, and his own large yawn indicated that it must be late. Checking his pocketwatch (he would lose it once they left the room), Nate gasped at the time. "No way! That's awesome!" he couldn't help but yell out. 2:30 am. It was a new record, and he and Pam had, in their past, set some pretty late records. None of them had surpassed 1:45, though, so this new one was one for the mental record books.
"Hey, why don't we just spend the night in here? It's safer in a number of ways, and we will have everything we need in the morning!" he posited, simultaneously wishing up a humongous bed that was set into the floor. It was big enough to sleep the three of them, and Poppy, comfortably, but not inappropriately. The thought of that reminded him, though. "Poppy, time for bed!" he called to the still-bouncing elf.

Pam's smile returned when Nate mentioned that they should sleep in The Room. And it grew when she saw a huge comfertable bed arrive in front of them. As she got up, comfy pajamas formed on her. She ran over to the huge bed, almost falling over twice, on the way. She dolphin dived onto the bed, spreding her arms out. "This is the most comfertable bed ever!" She said in excitement.

Ella smiled thoughtfully. "Oh I don't know...as soon as possible!?" She really liked playing and the more practice she got the better. It didn't hurt that it also gave her some one on one time with Logan. She hugged his middle, looking up at him with a grin. "When can you fit me in?"

Jez laughed as the bed appeared in the Room. She grabbed Nate's hand and took a flying leap on the bed after Pam. The bed was kind of bouncy - soft, comfortable, but still retaining a bounciness. "I love this room," said Jez into a pillow. Her dress had changed into comfortable blue pyjamas, much like her favourite pair currently slipped under her pillow up in the dorms.
She seemed to be tireder than she had realised, because she could hardly keep her eyes open now. She flopped over onto her back, her arm dropping over the side of the bed and her fingers brushing the floor, and watched Pam and Nate out of half-closed eyelids, a small smile playing on her lips. "Hey, she said softly. "You know it's only a few days until Christmas, right?" The first one without her family. Jez had to swallow a lump in her throat, but it just came back. Nate wouldn't have his parents this Christmas either. Pam wouldn't have her mother, and might not have her father either - Jasper could be dead for all Jez knew, since she hadn't had any more information on him since the Barstow house fire.
She suddenly missed her family more than ever, especially Than. She missed them all, just because of a holiday. Jez turned over and put her head back into the pillow, trying to pretend to be asleep, not wanting her friends to see her let her guard down.

Anya giggled. "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth." Imagine! Blakey excited about a girl movie! Hogwarts really was magical! "We'll just stick with the movies. It'll be more fun." For her.

She smiled. "I know you just well enough. You still have a few surprises for me every now and then." Like the most amazing birthday present ever! She wasn't expecting that.

She really couldn't believe that in all the time they've known each other they hadn't danced like this before. "Nope... not weird at all..."

Which... was weird. Alec normally didn't like doing anything that adults did. And slow dancing was definitely an adult thing.

Were they.... O_O ... growing up?

Okay. She needed to stop thinking like that. That would make dancing weird.

This was just a bit too much. Hogwarts had so many staircases! And he was kind of tired running up all those staircases up to the special room. But if it wasn't for Anya, he wouldn't be doing this at all. She was his best friend and she did deserve this after all.

Despite that, Alec pushed open the door of the room and blinked. This was perfect! A small buffet and a little movie spot where they can watch whatever movie Anya wanted to watch. Perfect! This was exactly what she needed today, on Valentine's Day. Hopefully she'd like all this.

Alec placed the bunch of flowers and the box of chocolates down on the side of the table and looked over at the food. There were loads of their favourite normal food and a whole table full of snacks! Loads and loads of gummy bears! Anya would definitely like that. He placed his hands in his trouser pocket as he turned away from the table and looked over at the movie spot. Yeah, this was perfect! A bit too much for just a simple not-date but still pretty good. At least, that's what he thought.

Anya made it to the Room of Requirement. Finally. Hadn't they agreed before that he just needed to pick her up for their dates.



Plans. PLANS. He was supposed to pick her up whenever they had plans.

She stopped in front of the door and smoothed out her dress. This was it. Her last secret dress. She hoped Blakey liked it.

She pushed open the door.

And her eyes widened. "Oh Blakey..." she cooed.

This was going to be the best Valentine's ever!

It was almost as if choreographed: Pam's dolphin-dive distracted Nate long enough for Jez to make her own leap onto the bed, except this time she was attached to Nate's arm. He let out a surprised--but nonetheless amused--yelp as he flew through the air from the force of Jez's yoink on his arm. "At least the landing was soft," he said, his face planted rather deeply into the pillow he had landed on. He couldn't really entirely believe what was happening at that moment. They were actually about to spend the night in the Room of Requirement. It made Nate feel included to be with Jez and Pam. After all, they were his only family now.

Alec took a moment to look around the room carefully. It was kind of nice, yeah. There were plenty for them to do here. They could eat and watch a movie and just be themselves, like they always did. It was just friends hanging out on Valentine's Day. He just hoped she would like all this otherwise...

But he couldn't start thinking about what he'd do if she said that she hated his big surprise. Maybe if he flipped his hair a lot, she might start liking the idea of this room and their fun Valentine's Day activity. Yeah, that was something he could end up doing.

Hearing a voice, Alec turned around and gasped. There was Anya, his bestest friend in the entire world, standing by the door. And what was even better, she was wearing a dress! A nice dress! "Rilez..." he blinked. Wow! "You look really pretty, Rilez."

And now... he just needed to keep up his end of the deal. Alec grinned before flipping his hair. There. Now Anya would be happy. "Happy Valentine's Day!" he said, walking over to her and giving her a big hug. There.

Jez glanced at Nate, smiling tiredly. "Sorry," she said, realising that she probably shouldn't pull on people's arms. Might hurt them. "But you're right, this is really soft ..." She was seconds away from falling asleep when she remembered something. "Ack, forgot to tell you two!" She sat up and rummaged in her pockets, before realising that these were pyjamas, and they didn't have pockets. Rats. The Room seemed to know what she wanted, however, and quickly provided for her, making the letter she'd been looking for land on the bed. Jez grabbed it and read it aloud.
Jez shook her head, grinning. "At first I thought he was joking. I mean, Keegan at a matchmaker's?!" She couldn't see it. But apparently it was true.

Slightly shocked, Nate took the note from Jez and read it for himself. Then he read it again, and a third time. He even held it up to the light in a feeble attempt to convince himself that it was a fake. But it wasn't. Keegan Black had actually gone to a matchmaker. Naturally, he read the note over a fourth time just to be sure. "Somehow I still don't believe this," he said, shrugging rather animatedly, the letter flapping around in his hand. "So you're entirely sure Keegan wrote this?" It was a silly question--Keegan had to have written it, judging by the parts about Team Wolf--but he still had to ask. Was this just another girl, potentially another family, that would 'have to die' (as Jared always so eloquently put it)? The thought shook Nate, especially since he was vaguely familiar with the girl. She had been the Slytherin seeker during his first year--her seventh. And now, having been out of school for but one year, she was having her life put at risk without her own knowledge. Even as he relaxed, handed the note to Pam, and settled into the bed, Nate couldn't help but feel bad for the girl.

Jez nodded, her eyebrows raised. "Positive. I know Keegan's handwriting better than mine." She pointed at the letter. "He always puts two strokes through his t's and f's. It's like a habit. That's how I know it's him." It seemed natural to Jez to memorise these things - she already knew Nate's and Pam's handwriting backwards. Keegan had taught her to notice this stuff. Stuff like handwriting and perfume and jewellery. Des wrote with a long flowing hand, making her capitals gothic, and she always wore jasmine scented perfume. Jez would know if anyone was trying to impersonate her siblings.
She settled down again next to Nate, closing her eyes and letting out her breath slowly. "I don't know what Des was thinking," she mumbled. "She knows how dangerous it is for this Evelyn woman to be around us. She's basically arranging her funeral." But Keegan had agreed to it - and he'd enjoyed his date with Evelyn, it seemed. So what did that mean?
"Last time Keegan dated, she turned up dead," sighed Jez, referring to Jaime. "What's betting Evelyn will turn out the same?"

Anya blushed a little and averted her eyes. "Thanks..." she said softly as she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.

"This is amazing Alec. You're just... wow..." she said admiring the room... and him. This was going to be perfect.

Aww! And he even flipped his hair for her!

She hugged him back. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too." she said happily. He was the best, he really was.

Alec smiled down at his best friend. She really did look pretty. And she was wearing a dress! "So this is your big surprise dress!" he said, grinning as he looked at it up and down. He was happy to have waited to see this now.

YES! Anya thought this was amazing! That had to mean.. "Do you like it?" he asked, ruffling his hair slightly. This was their big Valentine's Day celebration so that meant that Anya had to like it. Otherwise he had done a very bad job at this.

Alec grinned as Anya hugged him. She smelt nice as well. "So what do you want to do first?" he asked, taking her hand and leading her forwards, "There's food and a special movie!" And he knew exactly which movie to get to show Anya.

Anya smiled and nodded. "Yeah. You... like it?" she asked. She did a little spin to show off the dress more. She didn't know why, but she really did hope Alec liked it. It made her really happy to know whenever he thought she looked pretty.

She nodded enthusiastically. "I love it!" she declared. "Snacks. A movie. You really are the best."

She thought for a second. "How about we eat while watching the movie?" she suggested.

Alec grinned as Anya spun around in her dress. "I love it!" he said, "I think you look really pretty in dresses." And she looked pretty in her normal clothes as well. But that wasn't something he was going to tell her just yet.

She loved it! YES! That meant that he had done something right! And it meant he knew his best friend well. "I'm glad you do, Rilez," he said, "Well, you should be treated with the best." Yeah, that was his lame excuse for going all out for his best friend.

Eat whilst watching the movie... "You always come up with the best ideas!" he said, "It's a good thing i have a really nice movie for us to watch." It was one she would definitely enjoy.

Anya blushed a little. "Thanks." she practically giggled.

She smiled. He was just too nice. He thought she deserved the best! No wonder he was in the yellow house. Nice and sweet.

She had excellent taste in best friends.

"What movie?" Anya asked while heading toward the movie area. And more importantly... was there popcorn?

Alec smiled back at her. "You're welcome," he said. He didn't understand why there was a need to blush though. Maybe she was just feeling... hot? Was it warm in this room? He didn't think so but if Anya thought so...

And now she wanted to know what movie he had for them to watch. "I think you know the story," he said, "It's about a boy who wouldn't grow up. His name is Peter Pan?" He grinned at her. She had to like that bit, didn't she?

"Do you want to get some food first?" he asked, "And then we can go and watch Peter Pan?" He was feeling slightly hungry right now and there was a whole table full of food here.