Awww! Yay! This girl was sweet, Puffles happily let the young girl pick him up. He was even happier though when the girl began to stroke him. He liked it when these human people did that, it felt nice and it ,made him feel all loved too. "MEEEEP!"The Indigo puff ball made a small squeak sound showing that he approved of the stroking.

What Puffles didn't like about this girl though, was that he could feel she was a little tense and nervous. He didn't understand her? Was she scared or something? He wouldn't harm her, not unless he felt the need to. Surely this girl was clever enough to know that. Silly humans. At least this one stroked him nicely.

Still looking around the bathroom, Ness heard her little baby boy squeak, and it was only then she noticed he wasn't on the floor anymore. Her first instinct was to panic, but she didn't have much time to, as almost immediately she saw Puffles in a little girl's arms. Her little boy seemed okay there.

The red head walked over to the girl, whom had her, Puffles. "He seems to like you. she said unsure if Puffles really did like this girl, but it seemed like he did by the way he was acting towwards her. Usually the ball of fluff would bite or hurt people and things he didn't like."If you don't want to hold him, I'll take him." she said sort of hoping the girl wasn't one of those people that were petrified of these puff balls.

This was what Ness couldn't stand about, Puffles. He always seemed to be running off to bother people and do all sorts of annoying things with out her permission. The Huffie sighed just a tiny bit. "He always does this, I'm sorry if he bothered you." The red head said feeling a little bad about this whole thing.

Sarah began to relax, her heart resumed its normal pace. "He does?" Asked Sarah. "I am used to other animals, as my parents have farm, but I've never held a pygmy puff before. Yet I like it and I don;t mind holding him for a bit longer". Sarah said with a shy smile. "Don't worry, he never bothered me at all, just got a fright, yet that is nothing I can't handle." Sarah noticed the rather forlorn look on the ginger head's face. "Don't feel bad, it was a rather nice surprise, it cheered me up". Sarah continued stoking the cute fella, "My name is Sarah Edwards by the way" she said by way of introduction. "And you are..." she said searchingly. She had seen this pretty girl around before. Wasn't she on the Hufflepuff quidditch team?

Nawww! First years could be so adorable sometimes. It reminded Ness of how she used to be when she was smaller. She used to have much shorter hair and she was adorable just like the rest. Though the red head was more then happy to be older now, she didn't like being cute anyways, it only suited first years and younger to be cute.

Renesmee smiled. "Yeah, it seems like it." she said watching her puff ball again. A farm? Hmmm...seemed interesting. "Oh, alright, then I don't mind either." The red head bit her lip, begining to be just a little curious now. If this girl's parents had a farm, where did she come from? Most probably somewhere from the country. Yeah, had to be.

That was so sweet, how the firstie didn't want Ness to feel bad. The fourth year smiled to reasure the girl, that it was alright. Hmmm..Sarah, that was quite a lovely name and if Ness remembered correctly it was her mothers second name. "I'm Renesmee, Renesmee Dixon." The girl then extended her hand so they could shake. "It's lovely to meet you Sarah, You can call me Nessie or Ness, if you'd like?" Everyone did, even Lucca that thought her name was really Vannessa, it was kinda funny.

Sarah accepted the outstretched hand and shook it "Nice to meet you Nessie. Are you not on the quidditch team? You play very well, saw yo play the other day" Said Sarah sincerely. "You got any siblings?" asked Sarah of the older girl.

Wow! This girl had watched her play? Ness was astonished, she never realised that someone she didn't know at all, actually paid attention to her during a match. Renesmee didn't think she was that much of a good quidditch player and she thought at matches most people focused on the better players like Keefer or Alec. They were really good, and so was the rest of the team.

Well still the compliment was really sweet, and it made Nessie smile. "Yeah, I usually play chaser." She had played beater too, but she found being chaser was better. "Thank you, that really means a lot. I think I need to improve my flying skills a little." she said wondering when she'd get a chance to do that.

Um...that was a bit of an odd question. The young Dixon blinked. Wasn't that a bit of a personal question? It sort of was, but Ness didn't really mind. The girl was clearly just trying to make some conversation, thats all right? So the Hufflepuff nodded at the firstie. "Yep, I've got two siblings, a sister, her name is Juliet and she's a year younger than me and then I have a brother, Ethan he'll be two next month." That was scary to think, her little Ethypoo was growing up so fast, to her it felt like only yesterday he was born. "How about you?" she asked, not sure of anything else to say.

"Chaser sounds cool - I would hate to be goal keeper - too much pressure" said Sarah. Realizing the Hufflepuffs discomfort at her randomness she apologized " Sorry, I tend to be a bit random at times." like now.

"Juliet, that is such a nice name. It must be cool to have a baby brother, my baby brother ain't so small anymore - he is coming to Hogwarts next year. Yet I have 6 elder brothers, the eldest Charlie being 22, and one younger brother, who I told you about - James. I am kind of like the rose among the thorns. I would really like an older sister, yet my brothers are more fun then some older girls" she said, thinking of the girls who preen themselves all day in front of the mirror. "From where do you hail?" asked Sarah of her accent.

Louisa could barely feel her way up to the second floor where there was... water. To wash her face, pat down her hair and wipe off the stupid tears that wouldn't stop for the past hour. She pushed open the door feebly. If she had her voice, she'd be weeping loudly and probably wailing in an ugly voice. Being the case, her mouth moved mutely and it made her even madder when she looked at the mirror and saw the scary red-blotched face staring back at her. She screamed, her neck growing red as she did so but not a sound.

The silence was driving her crazy and pressing down on her so she just opened all the tabs. Gushing water was a lifesaver.

Brooke came out of the stall, eyes on the floor as she approached the sink. She approached the sink, which was strangely already on. But it wasn't until just then that she noticed another person in the room. Actually, a person right beside her. Merlin, she could be so unobservant. The girl had been silent. So.. maybe that was why she hadn't noticed her?

She washed her hands, taking her sweet time. But it wasn't until after she had finished that she noticed the girl's face. There was something very wrong. Her eyes were red and puffy and Brooke's heart almost sunk. Poor girl. "You alright?" she reached out to touch the girl's shoulder.

Louisa's eyes widened, as much as they could in this state, when someone just emerged from a stall behind her. She fell silent She closed her mouth and watched the unfamiliar girl wash her hands. Without noticing her. So.. she was turning invisible too?!!

Ohh.. now she saw her.

The Ravenclaw whimpered mutely, her lower lip quivering and she shook her head vigorously, letting the girl's hand rest on her shoulder. Usually she would've shook the hand off, or cringed away from any sympathetic gesture but this time she had enough of her strong and stubborn attitude. Without bothering to wipe her face, Louisa opened her mouth and made an attempt to say something to show the girl that she couldn't talk. Maybe she'd be able to lift the charm Ada- he put on her.

.... unless she thought Louisa was naturally mute. D:

Brooke frowned as she looked over the girl. She didn't seem physically hurt. So, she could rule out the whole 'just fell down the moving staircase and it hurt more than ripping off Merlin's beard' scenario. That was definitely out.

She eyed the girl again, who seemed to be.. silent. Still. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it? Or.. just couldn't think about how to put it all into words? Though.. something should have come out by now. Right? She adjusted her purse's straps on her shoulder, mind racing with possibilities of what could have happened.

"What's wrong?" she tried again. "You could tell me, i mean- We barely know eachother and all so- it might be nice to get a different sort of perspective?" Right? Now come on, out with it.

Or.. Maybe she couldn't say it out loud because she didn't want to talk through tears? Maybe? HM. PUZZLE.

Louisa, among her misery and pain, wanted to gather all her left strength and smack the girl on her EMPTY head. But she didn't, for several reasons. First off, the girl was being nice and caring when she didin't have to. Second, the girl was probably her only way to get her voice back. Third, it was a pretty smart idea of the girl, considering her empty head so far, to suggest talking to a stranger. No judging, no nothing.

IF SHE COULD TALK.

The Ravenclaw sighed, silently, and tried to talk again but nothing came out. She then looked around her, trying to come up with something to save the situation. SOAP! Her hand grabbed one and scribbled on the mirror with shaking hand "SILENCIO", and then pointed at her throat. GEDDIT?

Brooke tilted her head, waiting. She didn't understand why the girl wouldn't talk to her. Maybe it was a bet? That'd be a dumb bet though. So.. That probably wasn't it. She frowned, not sure what to do next. But then the girl had grabbed a bar of soap and- OH. WAIT. That.. That actually makes sense. Huh.

"Someone put a silencing charm on you?" Wow, that really sucks. "Uhm. Want me to try and fix it?" Who wouldn't? Without waiting for the response she wasn't going to get, Brooke pulled out her wand from her holster and put a finger to her chin in thought. "An undoing charm should work, right?" So long as the girl hadn't had any other spells put on her too. But.. Brooke was pretty sure she didn't. Mostly because not being able to talk or many any noise was torture enough.

"Let's try this then," she said softly "Explico," she said, swishing her wand slightly. Fingers crossed!

Louisa sighed in relief when the girl finally got it, and she closed her eyes when the wand was moving toward her, but the next second a slight whimper was heard. HER whimper. HER voice. Her tears started once again, all the past hour that she'd been under the table crying, not a whisper or a whimper was heard but now... hearing how raspy her voice was, how broken and stumped, Louisa started crying again, leaning on the sink and lowering her head to hide behind her long unkempt hair. The sobs were far more relieving when she could hear them. They were there! Expressing her sadness and hurt.

Sniffing and swallowing, she slid down to sit on the floor by the sink.......that was pouring water down the floor by now. Only Louisa didn't care about getting wet.

"Thankyou," she breathed out between her hiccups and sniffs.

Wow! This girl thought goal keeper was pressure? Ness let out a small giggle. She had subsituted that position once in a match and to be honest it wasn't that bad. Seeker was what Nessie thought had the most pressure, because most of the time the match depended on who got the snitch and all. "I think goal keeper is alright, it's the seekers that get all the pressure and all the attention." The red head gave a nod. "Us Hufflepuffs are just lucky we have someone as good as Alec on our team." The other players were really good too, but catching that snitch really didn't seem easy.

Yep..Juliet's name was rather nice, but Ness had to admit she liked Julie or Julies better when it came to speaking to her little blonde sis. "Yeah, thanks." As for having a baby brother. It was beyond awesome...yet it did have it's few bad qualities at times. "Well I really do love my brother, so I guess it is." she nodded some more.

SIX? Renesmee blinked. Geez! That was reallty A LOT! How did this girl survive having so many brothers? "Merlin! That's a really big family then. To be honest, I prefer brothers to sisters..sisters can be well a little nasty at times." They really could especially when you fought over silly things such as clothes and make up. Meh..sisters could be such missions. "I'd say you lucky you don't have to deal with any sisters." Lucky she was indeed.

A little bit of odd english to use. Hail...hmm..good thing Ness understood. "Well I live in England now, but I used to live in South Africa and I was born in France." Gosh it even confused Ness at times, though it wasn't her fault her parents had travelled a lot. "How about you?" she asked being a little curious too.

"Well I can't say I can emphasize with you as I have no sisters to find their faults. Yet brothers, especially older brothers are cool. True - they used to beat me up and stuff, but as they get older they get reallly protective and funny. I wish I had a sister, at night back home, I lie in bed alone, meanwhile in the next room I hear my brothers having a conversation in the boys' room. Maybe my Mom will have a girl. I would really like a sister, yet my mom is approaching 40, so I don't know if that is possible. Yet maybe I will have a neice. My eldest brother just got engaged and he is getting married soon, so maybe having aneice won't be so far off." Sarah said. Dreams.... they make life much easier to live with.

Her arm tiring, she moved the Pygmy Puff to her other arm. "A Frenchi.. bonjour, " she said, that was French wasn't? "I love the French accent, so posh. South Africa... read about it before, nearly 200 years since its Apartheid ended. I have been there once, one of my grandmother's was a born and bred Joburger, she talks fondly of it.. Jacaranda lined streets, gorgeous sunsets, friendly people, going to the coast in December -Durban, Plettenburg Bay and Cape Town. For snow Drankensburg is 'lekker'. We did the Garden Route when we were there. My family lives in Britain now though, some live in America and South Africa too. I prefer South Africa over England, better weather = people in better moods. I wonder why my family lives here anyways, besides Hogwarts.Otherwise I have really been out of this country, have you?" she asked.

Elliot entered the bathroom cautiously. Of course, she really wanted to go into that Room of Requirement, but she REALLY was having trouble finding it...although, she was more distracted today than usual...

Elliot, who today turned fourteen, was extremely upset.

The blonde sniffled a bit, refusing to cry, as she stumbled into the bathroom. of course, one look in the mirror told her that she wasn't keeping her emotions as in check as usual. her normally stoic, blue eyes were red and puffy underneath...she rubbed them a bit, but this made them look even worse. She thought about the package she had received from Dani and Sam...and then it all came. She began to sniffle more, and eventually a few tears streamed down her face. She buried her head in her hands, and allowed herself a few minutes for 'me' time, as her mother would call it.

But her mother hadn't even sent anything, not even an acknowledgement...

Mehh…

It was the last time Gwen would try to paint with ink.

Since she had been hanging around the second floor corridor as she tried to create that drawing, the closest place where she could go and get rid of the ink was the girl’s bathroom. Pushing the door with the elbow, the fourth year entered the bathroom quickly and headed over with hasty steps towards a sink. That’s it. She was never ever trying to do something like this again. She had been thinking about using a spell to help her clean up the ink, but that would imply using the wand, which would get full of ink.

Wasn’t there someone around who could help her?

Gwen’s eyes scanned the place in a hurry. ‘You there’, she tried to draw the girl’s attention. Over here! ‘Do you mind helping me with…?’, she started saying but it was only a few moments later she realized the girl was probably not in a good mood. Errr. Without even mumbling a ‘never mind’, the fourth year carefully took her wand and managed to cast the cleaning spell with a loud ‘scourgify’. There. All done, the fourth year thought and was ready to leave.

Before exiting the bathroom, she glimpsed again at the girl.‘Are you alright?’, the Ravenclaw heard herself asking. It was probably a bad decision she had taken, meddling with someone else’s problems but who knows? Maybe she could help the girl…?

Elliot, from the corner of her eye, saw a girl enter. Elliot straightened up, trying to look at least semi-normal. She dabbed her cheeks, trying to make them look normal, not all pale and such. The blonde stiffened as the girl came closer. Then she heard her say 'you there.' What did she WANT?! Elliot obviously want dot be left ALONE?! Elliot sniffled, turned to look at the girl, and took one look at her...she was covered in ink...what the heck? Elliot had pulled out her wand, ready to help so that she could have the bathroom ALL TO HERSELF again...but the girl had it covered. Elliot shrugged and put her wand back in her pocket.

THe girl was going..YAY. Elliot could be miserable in peace no...

but no.

Was Elliot all right? NO. The third year turned her head towards her, frowning, her eyes still red and puffy despite her best efforts. "I'm fine..." she lied through clenched teeth. "It's just my birthday, of course my father forgets. No, that's completely fine...everything is A-okay here..." she felt anger bubbling within her. With her father, with this girl with EVERYONE. With Darius...her new brother. A baby that couldn't talk was the reason for EVERYTHING.

She suddenly felt a few tears on her face, and she ran to one of the stalls and locked it. No one could see her cry! NO ONE. Not even a complete stranger...she heard herself sniffle, then begin to sob...this was so unlike her! SO UNLIKE HER. And she hated it...hated crying, hated her family...hated even herself for a moment.

Since the ink wouldn’t just go away after washing her hands, and the other girl didn’t really seem to be willing to help her out, Gwendolyn decided to use the spell. Good. All done and now she could go out. The fourth year kneeled in order to get her bag from the floor, but her eyes darted back to the other student, as she heard the girl say something. Ughhh. She really shouldn’t have meddled with this. Why did she have to be so curious all the time? This made Gwen very disappointed of herself. One curious Ravenclaw.

‘I… I’m sorry to hear that’, Gwendolyn said, not knowing what exactly she should have replied. She was probably the worst person around Hogwarts to be sentimental and encourage other people and yada yada yada. Come on, think…, the fourth year told herself as she reached for her bag. Got it! She took out a box from the bag and opened it quickly, taking out one of the muffins she had baked earlier that day. With a friend’s help, of course. She herself would have probably burnt down the kitchen if her friend hadn’t come along. With a simple spell, the fourth year arranged a small candle on top of the muffin, lighting it as she looked back at the girl. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. Being nice to a total stranger. Perhaps someone who would eventually hate her. Anyway, Gwen was taking a shot. ‘Happy Birthday’ And cheer up, lass.

And no. She was not going to sing Happy Birthday now.

‘Hope you will work things out’, the fourth said curtly, and with that, she reached the birthday muffin to the girl. She felt sorry for the girl, but since the other student was probably going to want to jinx her if she hanged around there any longer, Gwendolyn started walking away. Yes. She was heading towards the door. There was nothing else she could do here.

Elliot still had her face covered, still extremely upset, when the other girl spoke. She was sorry. SORRY. Elliot would have liked to have let out all her rage and emotions on this person, but she didn't.

That wouldn't be polite.

Instead, she wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robe, and looked in the mirror. She still looked a wreck, but she had made herself stop now. She saw movement from the corner of her eye, and looked at the girl strangely. Like, why was she still here? Couldn't she see that Elliot wanted her privacy? She saw the girl pull something from her bag...a muffin. Elliot still glared at the girl in confusion...

then she put the candle on top, and handed it to Elliot. And the blonde now understood. This fellow 'claw was being nice. She lit the candle. Elliot's features changed completely. Her face twisted into a rare, genuine smile, not the smirk she usually reserved, and her eyes lit up. She felt tears well up in her eyes-oh no, not agaaaain- and choked back anymore. "T-thanks..." she said softly. She closed her eyes, made a wish...I wish that Father won't forget me. Ever. Not ever again... and she opened her eyes and blew out her candle. She was still smiling widely. But the girl was almost to the door. Elliot raced to her, and touched her shoulder.

"Hey, wait! I don't even know your name! T-that's the nicest someone has ever been to me..." yeah, usually Elliot didn't make good first impressions. A single tear fell down her cheek. "Thanks."

Hmmm.

Truth be told, Gwendolyn was still a bit surprised of herself. Normally she was great at making the worst first impressions… and now what? She had actually been nice to the girl. Even though her efforts might have been completely useless, the fourth year decided not to hang around there for much longer and try talking to the girl. No way. Her job there was done. As she made a few steps towards the door, the Ravenclaw could hear a voice behind her saying a ‘thanks’. She turned her head, but only responded with a small smirk. Meh. What else could she have done?

Could she go now?

Gwen stopped herself as she heard the girl telling her to wait. ‘Hmm?’, the fourth year mused as she drew her attention back to the place where the girl was sitting. ‘Gwen’, the fourth year said curtly. ‘And you are…?’ She had no idea who this girl was, or anything else about her. Mehh. But what was the girl saying? It was the nicest anyone has ever been to her?

……....................

Clearly people hadn’t been that nice to this girl. Or else Gwen couldn’t have topped everyone. Even that thought made her want to roll her eyes. But she stopped herself. Why? Gwen had no idea. ‘You are welcome’, the fourth year said as she looked back at the girl, and it was only a moment later Gwen realized she was still crying. What to do? What to say? Gwendolyn had no idea. She was not the person to get sentimental… So not.

'I believe I've seen you around before', she went on talking. Perhaps the best way to help the girl was to distract her from all the drama... or whatever the problem was. 'What house are you in?'

Gwen. The name sounded familiar...she couldn't remember whom, but she knew she had heard this girl's name before from someone else. Hmm. Whatever....Elliot curtly shook her hand, looking at the girl straight in the eye. "Elliot...Elliot Morganzo." Last names were, of course, necessary. Without a last name, you were nothing. Family meant everything.

The blonde stared intently at the girl. Nice. But Elliot could tell there were more layers to this one. Interesting..

Elliot nodded. This girl did indeed look quite familiar. "Yeah, I have definitely seen you in my classes. And in the common room..."I'm in Ravenclaw...with...you..." she tilted her head to the side, curiously. Obviously this girl wasn't that familiar with Elliot. And she couldn't see that Elliot's robe lining was blue...OR the Ravenclaw badge?

Weren't Ravenclaws supposed to be...intelligent?

Fine. Gwen was going to make an effort to remember the girl’s name. Elliot Morganzo. After making a mental note of this name, the fourth year drew her attention to the sink where she stood a moment ago, making sure she wouldn’t forget anything. She was not really in the mood to stay here any longer. The stare the other girl gave her definitely made her want to go. Like… now.

She made another step towards the door, but kept listening to what Elliot said. So she was a Ravenclaw. ‘Right’, the fourth year mumbled, and wished she hadn’t said anything. Now it was too late. ‘Of course…’, she mused, and tried not to look coldly at the girl. She disliked the fact that she couldn’t figure out who this person was, and the look Elliot gave her didn’t make Gwen feel any better.

Hmph.

Now she could go away. She was not in the mood to hang around there any longer. And she wasn’t going to find an excuse for leaving either. Elliot would probably appreciate some peace and quiet, so Gwen headed towards the door as she took the sketchbook out of her bag. She made a plan to go drawing somewhere. Like... that place with the suits of armour, she told herself. ‘So… I guess I’ll see you around…’, the fourth year added as she glimpsed back at the girl. Enough said.

Elliot noticed her inching her way to the door...of course, the other 'claw probably had places to be rather than this stupid bathroom, talking to an upset third year girl. She thought Gwen seemed interesting. Interesting enough to get to know, anyways.

But she supposed that day would have to be another day.

"Yes, I probably shall," she replied softly, turning back to the mirror. She hadn't taken a bite of the muffin, yet. As Elliot looked in the mirror, she saw Gwen at the door, and she sighed. she picked up the muffin, took a bite from it, and smiled softly to herself. It was good, even though she disliked sweets. It was good.

Oh, Elliot could hold a grudge for a looong time. Until vengeance was sought. But a nice gesture...Elliot didn't forget. And she wouldn't.

Laura knew that it was Sophie's birthday and that there was a party going on in the kitchen for her, she really wanted to go and see her but well she didn't want to be seen at the minute, she had left the dungeon and gone straight past where her friends where, she was hoping no one had seen her go past otherwise Sophie might be hurt by her not saying hello but well she didn't want them to know what they had done to her, she sat down leaning against the wall she was really upset about the whole experience.