Now She has the book.. and nooooow she doesn't. Blink. Louisa let Vivi pull the book closer to her and watched the blonde trying to figure out what it is as she talked. "I like your family." She said honestly. "I actually like all magical families, purebloods. No complication, no bitterness, no trying to understand what the heck is a Wizengamot." Chuckling humorlessly she went on, "Stable. Would you introduce me to your sister, Fee?" Just to compare those two twin sisters and do the usual personality analysis that Louisa does to everyone.

And geez, the girl was insistent! The Head Girl closed the book, marking her page with her thumb, and pointed at the cover. "Unspeakable Cults. It's not a school book, I borrowed it from the library." There, happy? Anyways, what was she saying? Oh right. "No, of course I won't be seeing him again. Why the heck should I? I have my mother. And stepdad and two brothers. I'm content." She didn't care about her mom and stepdad since they think she's a witch (in the muggle definition) but she'd give her life for her two younger brothers. Even if Daniel kept stealing her stuff.

After a short pause, Louisa gave Vivi a crooked smile, "You're not going back to your bed, are you?" Considering the fact that it was much more warmer sitting in bed with someone, the answer was clear. "Just don't hog the blankets." Cue a subtle tug at her own.

"I like my family too," Vivi offered with a shrug. There were, of course, people in the world who did not like their families, but by and large, it seemed pretty natural to like those people related to her by blood and responsible for loving and caring for her thus far. She also admired them.

It was a shame that Louisa seemed to feel distant from parts of her own family, especially because they were the ones who were supposed to love and accept her unconditionally. "The nice thing in life is that at a certain age you get to start expanding your definition of family to include the people who love you the way you deserve."

And no. No, she was not going back to her bed. Vivi squished down a bit in her blankets and made stubborn!face. "Why are you reading that book?"

Still looking at Beezus, a little worriedly...she answered Lana..."Boys CAN be stupid....you just have to find the good ones. But they sure as hell are hard to find..." she muttered, her mind on Maxwell. Who was a good one. For sure.

Or else.

She glanced at the cupcakes..."I really would eat one, you know, if I liked chocolate..." she said, feeling a bit bad....about it. They looked pretty. "I wish I could bake." Elliot had no cooking skills...whatsoever. At all. She was more...school oriented...and she played the piano...nor was she athletic, really. Heights scared her....so Quidditch seemed like a daring, admirable feat to her.

Elliot listened to Beezus...carefully. And the more the girl talked, the more she...unfortunately, kind of agreed with Beezus. Technically, Dylan was allowed to kiss whomever he pleased...and...Beezus was kind of dumb for not taking his offer. IN her opinion. BUt if someone wasn't ready...they weren't ready...Hmm. She was surely not going to say any of this aloud. "I still think you should talk to him..." she added her two cents in...you know, trying be all helpful and stuuuuff.

She nodded..."Sure, Bee. Get some sleep...or something. You'll feel better in the morning..and we need you to be your best for tomorrow," she said, smirking a bit....she hoped they win tomorrow...then maybe Beezus would feel better.

Yeah, this blonde girl was quickly growing on Louisa tonight. She nodded heartily agreeing with the definition of family. "I think I hit that certain age pretty quickly." She smiled to show that it was something good to her. Leaning back into the pillows even more and allowing Vivi to pull some of the blankets tighter, she went on, "I have three best friends. Alumni and married, they gave me open invitation to stay at their homes if needed." She started toying with the book, a coy smile etched on her face in the slightly dark room. "But honestly?" The smile was growing biiiiiigger, she even rolled on her side, the book slid to the space between the two girls. "I feel closer to Vickers. I've known him for only a year and a half but... I think I feel his.. uhh..." UHHHH!! "I feel this liking-me-the-way-I-deserve thing with him the most. I-is that hypocritical?" A concerned frown replaced the smile. See, she liked the girl enough to ask for her opinion about something Louisa never talked to anyone about. The lack of best friends this term was painful.

The book. Louisa shifted it so she could read as she lied on her side facing Vivi. "Just educating myself." Lying. "Scabior doesn't believe there are wizardy gangsters out there. This book proves him wrong." Dodging. "After I get my NEWTs done, I'm going to shove this book in his face." Smirking.

Peering around the hooded Vivi, Louisa inclined her head at the pile of books deserted on the opposite bed. "What were you reading?"

Ew. Louisa had gone from interesting to lovey-dovey and sappy. Vivi pulled away from her, both emotionally and physically, although she stayed on the bed for the moment. Her face was rather solemn as she tried to simultaneously hear what Louisa was saying... and not hear it.

"Why would it be hypocritical to feel that anyone was giving you that?" Hypocritical was such an odd word for it. "I don't find that odd at all. Vick is good people. I'm not sure I'd still be sane this term without him around." He really was a good friend to her, which made her a bit ashamed at how awful she'd been to him on Diagon Alley when they'd first met. If she'd known how hard Hogwarts would be, and how much it would mean to have someone in her corner, she wasn't sure she would have chosen it.

So no. Not hypocritical.

She was willing to let the conversation shift if Louisa was done with it, and Vivi took the book from the girl and turned it around and around in her hands. "He's a big headed buffoon. Letting people just make up facts and information in history class, rather than relying on historical record. It makes me furious. I need that NEWT, but I'm not relying on him to get it for me." She gave Louisa an evil little grin. "Let's study together and show him."

As for her own books. Shrug. SHRUG. "Just textbooks. I want to improve in Muggle Studies, although it won't give me what I need for the future. I really need to be able to blend, and all I can do right now is disappear into a crowd of comic book buffs." Which probably wasn't the criminal element she sought.

Why would it be hypocritical? Louisa liked this negative, half-answer. "It's not, right? I mean compared to my other friends who I knew for about four or five years now, he's like closer to me than they are." And she'd known him for only a year and a half. Louisa nodded after a moment though, convinced. Mainly because she wanted to believe it wasn't odd at all. "But yeah, you're probably right. Not hypocritical." Then Vivi attested to Vickers being... friendly? Easy to talk to? Something like that. "How do you guys know each other? It seems that you two met before Hogwarts." Genuinely curious here. Ish.

Scabior was a buffoon? That emphasized the fact that Vivi didn't meet Williamson. "He's a big headed something alright. The only professor that has ever taken points from me, and for what reason!" Snort. Totally honorable and noble attitudes in class, things he never heard of probably. Louisa's tone expressed the pride she felt in those taken points.

Ooooh! Lookithat! Vivi was on board! Yep, Louisa definitely liked her. She returned her evil grin, "We're going to get him good." Two Ravenclaw girls against a Slytherin. Seriously, it was so over.

But before that, "What are you planning on doing or studying after Hogwarts?" She seemed interested in and a bit fussy about DADA, History and Muggle studies so far. "I can help with Muggle studies if you want." Louisa was technically a muggle-born even if her biological one was a wizard.

Her blanket was back up as a hood, or else Vivi would have reached for her ponytail to twirl. Even still, her hand went to her hair and then fell back into her lap with a plop. "We met on Diagon Alley the summer before sixth year. He accidentally took my picture, and then I scolded him for it. We hung out a bit, and he owled me afterwards. Sent the picture of me scowling." Which she still had, oddly enough.

"And then we ran into each other again this summer, and he helped me pick out my kitten." She pointed to Macha, who was gnawing on the bed post and being ornery as usual. Guh, why did she love that stupid, mean cat? "That was after his bird tried to nest in my hair. Have you met Dolly?" She was a vicious, evil bird.

Vivi visibly cringed as she realized she'd said more about Vick than she had about anyone so far. Probably Louisa wouldn't notice, considering she was so hungry to talk about him. "I don't know that I'm really fond of any professors here so far, but then... what with being nearly killed or bored to tears or dissected verbally for stupid things, they haven't had much chance to win me over." Which, she supposed, she ought to be grateful for. At least she wasn't getting treated like a porcelain princess.

The after Hogwarts plans weren't a secret, really... she told anyone who would listen. But never in the context that someone could weigh it and respond. Always in the line of another discussion. "I'm going to apply to the YATI program and be an Auror." Like her mother had been. "I'll leave it to Vick to explain superheroes, but if you could help me figure out money and transportation, I would be in your debt."

Louisa GIGGLED at the picture story, wasn't that just cute? Vickers was so unique in almost everything, even in the way he met his friends! How cute indeed. Very funny too. But more of a cute moment. She snapped out of it when Vivi continued to talk, making Louisa smiled widely and encouragingly. "Oh! Do you have the picture?" Because she was interested in seeing it, of course! Vickers was so obsessed with that muggle camera of his, and the magical one as well.

She craned her neck then to look at the ever-so-grumpy little kitten. Awww, he helped Vivi with pet shopping? It was like Adam and Louisa few years ago! How cute! Again! Louisa was officially starstruck, picturing Vicky (and Vivi but she was a bit blurry) deep in thought trying to give advice to someone about pets. Her smile was turning goofy at this point, and instinctively Louisa pulled one of the pillows to hug and squeeze a bit. "I know Dolly. A bit of a hair weirdo but otherwise, she's quite lovely." Louisa only had to really pay attention to the bird when she didn't have her protective hat on. "She nestled in your hair?" Louisa continued with this goofy grin spree, chuckling. "That's not cool but quite cute."

Blehhh, change of topic to boring not cutesy people. "My favorite professors are professor Vee and Lafay. Mostly because they're very fair. No favoritism." She actually liked all professors, even if secretly, but she wasn't ready to admit that even Scabior grew on her during those years. It was mostly momentarily early nostalgic feelings, she convinced herself they'd be gone if she didn't pay attention to them.

"Oh. That's very ambitious." Louisa's interest with the book faded considerably, talking to Vivi was more entertaining after a tiring day. "I think you can do it." Not Louisa's interest to be in the action - well that kind of action, but she admired those who were daring enough to choose such a path. ANOTHER VICKERS MENTION. She smiled dreamily, "I am your man." No sarcasm intended. "I think I can get you some muggle money too, you know for you to keep and study thoroughly." Maybe for Christmas, she'll ask her mom to send her some cash.

She wasn't really sure why the girl found the story so hilarious, considering the fact that Vivi almost certainly had a bald spot from the bird attack. It wasn't funny, and the bird was something of a demon! And why was Louisa pummeling that pillow in ecstasy over Vivi's disfigurement?

"I have the photo," she grumbled, climbing out of the bed and trudging over to rummage through her belongings. She knew where the photo was, but Vivi had no interest in appearing overly eager. As it was, Macha took a swipe with one paw as Vivi passed, and she dawdled by her bed to scrub the cat's coat with her fingertips.

"Dolly tried to scalp me. It isn't a mere hair fetish. I bled!" And so it wasn't funny at ALL. No laughing and hugging pillows and otherwise acting like it was so charming!

"Vindictus is pretty good, although Lafay is a useless sack of something vile," Vivi abandoned her cat and continued to her trunk. "She's the most biased professor I've seen, and she's overly impressed with her own importance. I don't care for her at all." Or maybe Vivi didn't like professors who embarrassed her in class. Whatever.

She made a show of going through several books before finding the photo in the one she'd left it in. "It is rather ambitious, but I've always wanted to be an Auror. I can't imagine doing anything else." Although her advisor at Beauxbatons had suggested Healer training due to her talent with potions. "I appreciate your help. I'm not sure how I'll learn transportation, but maybe I'll just get myself lost in the Tube and see what happens."

Louisa straightened up, with the pillow still squashed in her arms, and watched Vivi's solemn figure search for the picture. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know Dolly could get that obsessive. Maybe she liked your hair, you know." It was obvious that she didn't want to believe Vickers had an aggressive creature as a pet. It just seemed wrong.

She eyed Macha swiping Vivi's leg as she passed by. "Your cat should be named Muncha." Louisa's good mood was still hanging in the air, "I'm just glad my cats stay down in Cloud Nine most of the time." She did not want Viola and Cuddles to end up being Macha's chewing toys, the bed's leg was good enough. "Lafay isn't--" Louisa broke off and just shrugged. Whatever. Vivi was an opinionated person, it'd be silly to try and sway her unless it's something crucial. Was finding that picture taking too long, by the way? Or was it Louisa's restless urge to see one of Vick's pictures? Well it was Vivi's pic but you know what she meant.

"Oooooor..." she drawled, regarding Vivi's plans of learning about transportation, "We can take the bus to my home, then ask my stepdad to drive us somewhere for hot chocolate, and take the express back to King's Cross." That... sounded like an invitation to spend the day with Louisa's muggle family. "I understand if you don't want to waste a weekend on that, but." Awkward throat clearing. "At least you know you have that option." More pillow squashing.

"I think she loved my hair, but that doesn't mean she gets to scalp me. I like my hair too." Vivi finally retrieved the photo and offered it to Louisa, although she remained standing with her cloud of blankets. It was a terrible shot, not focused or framed and clearly taken accidentally.

"No, Macha is perfect for her. She's coming around." Vivi took a step back and settled on the edge of her own bed. She reached for Macha, who was willing to be held and cuddled for a brief moment before she wanted to slink off to hide. "She's a warrior. You'll see."

The offer for help with learning transportation, on top of help in learning currency, was just so shocking to Vivi. People didn't just offer help without expecting something in return. Not to her, not normally. Unless the girl thought that being friendly with a Branxton was a way to get in with their matriarch. It might work, because Vivi's mother adopted everyone she met, but it didn't make Vivi feel better about figuring out who was really a friend or not. Still.

"If you're willing, that sounds ideal. And... fun. The hot chocolate part. And the maybe getting lost on the Tube thing." She liked adventure.

Louisa took the photo eagerly, letting go of the pillow and staring down at the-- oh. It was really an accidental shot, hmm. She tilted her head to the right, tried to make out the details but didn't work so she tilted it to the left and stared some more. HMMM. It was still cool, she handed it back to Vivi. "It's nice. If you keep it, it'll be so valuable ten years later." Not specifically ten years but with time.

"I think that's the thing, actually. That she is already a warrior," Louisa chuckled looking down at the cat, "She fights with anything and anyone. But yeah, I'm sure she'll come around at one point." This was first hand experience wisdom. She then threw the pillow back with the other pillows and lied down. Why did the blonde stay by her cold bed? "Yeah, sure. I am willing, or else I wouldn't have offered." It was no big deal really. Louisa was used to inviting people over, they didn't necessarily have to be close. "Do you have any special plans for the holidays, by the way?" She wanted Vivi to be around for the shifty fun!

And Vivi was now sitting on the edge of her bed. "Are you sleepy?" Louisa asked, maybe she was sleepy and wanted to sleep in her own bad no matter how cold it was? The 'claw rolled on her back and folded her hands over her stomach, staring up at the ceiling. "If you're still cold, you should come back to your warm spot." The book that's supposed to nail Scabior was pushed under the blanket somewhere.

Vivi slid off her bed to take the photo, which went back into her trunk. She didn't want to tell Louisa that it was already valuable. To her, at least. First meeting for one of her dearest friends and all that. She hesitated before obediently climbing back onto Louisa's bed and gathering her own blankets around her. Much warmer over here.

"I'm not sleepy, no." Vivi fell silent for a moment, her own eyes on the ceiling above them. It should have stars, the way the common room did. Maybe she'd add some magically. "Sometimes people offer things to be polite because they don't expect you to say yes. I've never been very good at figuring those things out, for some reason. I just ask now, even if it forces people to stop saying the polite thing."

Holiday plans? There were all sorts of family plans, but those didn't take the entire holiday. "We alternate grandparents for the actual holiday, but we're not going anywhere this year. I have plenty of time if you'd like to do our little jaunt into the city during vacation."

Louisa smiled widely when Vivi re-joined her, she pulled the blankets up to cover her chilly neck and continued to stare at the ceiling. Talking about politeness wasn't Louisa's department. At all. "That's right. It bugs me." She moved her head to look up at Vivi, "It bugs me that people force themselves to do that. Why bother if you're polite enough or not as long as you're saying what you really feel like? Sometimes it just complicates things." She had dozen of examples about polite people going through hard times because they had to be polite. "I don't do that. I don't force myself to do something tortuously polite, unless that someone is really really close." Dallin, Vashti, Paulie and Adam. Her list wasn't long at all.

"It's easier to just be yourself openly, with no obligations or restraints. It also helps the others to either choose you as a friend, or stay out of your way." Family issues written all over Louisa's life philosophy.

The Ravenclaw nodded her head, her hair slowly spreading out in a mess. "Yeah, sure. My family usually goes to France in holidays but this year they're staying home." So yeah, the timing would be perfect. Howeverrrrrr, Louisa's mouth curled in an amused smirk, "If you're staying here at Hogwarts during the rest of the holiday, it'll be extra fun. There's a surprise." And a present for Vivi of course, but the surprise was the more exciting news.

"My mother is terribly polite, but sometimes she uses it like this sharpened stick. I don't really know how to explain it." Vivi pulled her blanket up over her head in order to better contemplate her mother without being watched. She felt so obvious sometimes. "I guess anything's a weapon in the right hands, even politeness."

It was so strange to talk about friends with Louisa. Louisa, who had three BEST friends who weren't even at Hogwarts anymore. Who had Vickers and all these little minions... like Selina and Kurumi had minions. It was like talking about fine dining with a famous chef, when all you had was a cup of dry rice. Not that Vivi cared about her dearth of friends at Hogwarts. Nope. Didn't, really. Not even a little bit. She'd had loads at Beauxbatons.

Or at least... some. She'd had some. She'd had enough. She hadn't felt crushingly lonely at Beauxbatons like she sometimes did at Hogwarts.

Not that she cared.

"I wasn't planning on staying at Hogwarts," Vivi peeled back the blanket from her face and gave Louisa a bemused look. It hadn't even occurred to her, actually. Stick around in a castle that already felt pretty empty? Miss out on Fee and Mo being home from school with their stories, on her mother's fussing, on her father's interest in her school work, on Alena's visits with the Toussaint boys, on all the food and fighting and things? "D'you think I should stay?"

Louisa pondered this - politeness being a weapon if used by the right person. Hmm. "This is... very interesting, yeah. Some people are just too dense to get it though so you have to be really good in reading people in order to use it." And her mother was definitely a candidate to be a perfect people reader since she went through all the important authoritative high posts. Louisa rolled on her side and shared, "I like your mom. Not like personally, since I only talked to her for two minutes but when she was introduced to us, I admired her career." Pause. "I want to be a woman with influence too..." Err... Louisa's cheeks flared and hopefully Vivi wasn't paying attention, but just in case, she sank down into the bed.

Ohohoh! Focus on the holidays. She nodded, rather vigorously, "Yeah! You don't have to stay here all through the holidays but at least a day or two?" She beamed and hugged a pillow again. "There's this little celebration that the staff and us arranged for the students. I'd like you to be there." Maybe meet some more people, bond with her not-so-friends fellows and such.

Also, Louisa really wanted her there. Vivi was very interesting and fun to hang out with, minus the occasional attitude which only is slightly annoying because BOTH of the girls have it. Louisa didn't want to be a downer but she expected this attitude to clash at one point.

"There isn't anything wrong with wanting to be important, I guess..." Or not important exactly, but wanting to make a difference. It was admirable in a way. But she felt like she had to point something out, just in case Louisa misunderstood Cassandra Rae-Branxton in some way. "She doesn't think of herself like that. I mean, she knows that she is and so she uses it, but I don't think she wanted it and I don't think she seeks it."

Her mother had chosen to be an Auror too, after all, and then had come to teach at Hogwarts after her first husband died. Everything that happened after that was just a result of being willing to be used where she was.

...

It probably didn't matter that her new friend didn't really get her mother, but she felt like it was important to try explaining. Merlin, though... why did they keep coming back to her mother? Vivi felt a pang of doubt, wondering if Louisa was interested in her friendship for less-than-sincere reasons.

"Oh, that's alright then. I can be here for part of the holiday. Who is... we? The prefects and such?" She turned her head slightly to study the other girl. It was true she hadn't had a high opinion of Louisa initially, and when she thought of the things she'd said to Sierra about her, the pompous-Vivi-handing-down-opinions... well, she was embarrassed by it. They might have difficulty being friends, but Louisa appeared to be good people TOO and didn't deserve her censure.

She didn't seek 'it'? That makes her even a better role model, and really Louisa tried imagining the caring gentle toned President back in her youth (not that she's too old, ahem) and failed to see her running from place to place trying to climb up the ladder to power greedily. However, she wondered about something. "Is it bad?" Her face mirrored her concern and slight confusion, "People who seek influence and authority. They're usually the ones who fall easily into the abyss of greed and darkness." Louisa read enough to learn this fact. "But what if they just want to be have a better influence on the world." Her tone was skeptic, she didn't know the real answer apparently.

"It's a secret though!" The redhead added quickly, "I haven't told anyone about it." Except Vickers of course. She just told him they were working on a surprise for the students around the winter holidays. So Vick and Vivi. "Yep, the prefects along with the quidditch captains and the staff. It's going to be really fun." Pause. "And quite stuffing." She pretended to poke Vivi's hidden-under-a-thousand-blankets tummy.

She rolled back onto her back, tucked her arms under the blanket for more warmth, and folded them on her stomach. "I haven't really asked you this before. I could feel that you're not so happy with the professors, but what about the students? Did you click with anyone yet?" A sly smile made its way onto Louisa's face, she meant friends basically but if Vivi felt like doing girly talk about crushes, who's hot and who's not, Louisa was up for it too. Hehe.

"Bad? I suppose it depends, doesn't it? Some people want power to wield it over others, and some want to be able to help change the world and leave a mark. It's just my own sense of right and wrong that says the first is a waste and the second is good." Vivi wasn't about to force her own morality on someone else, especially not when Louisa was just as young as Vivi was and still trying to figure out what she wanted from life.

"If it's a secret, then I won't tell, and I'll ask my mother to arrange a Floo back to Hogwarts so I'll be here to enjoy it," Vivi decided, satisfied little smile on her lips. She wouldn't feel as if she was missing out on anything, but she'd still get Christmas with her family. It was perfect.

Her smile faded a bit. Was she just wearing all her opinions out on her sleeve? Probably... Vivi wasn't great at subtlety. "I don't really dislike the professors. They've just been all built up because they're Hogwarts professors, but it turns out they're just like professors anywhere. Some are rubbish, some are pointlessly cruel, and mostly they're just... fine." Not extraordinary but fine. As for students, Vivi wasn't sure what Louisa wanted to know. If she'd made friends?

"Some, I suppose. It's hard, you know... humans are pattern-seekers, and I break their patterns. There isn't much room for new friends this late in the game, but Selina and Kurumi have made some room for me. Sierra a bit, but she's... not trustworthy. She's too scared of being wrong. The Quidditch team is good for a laugh. And Vick, of course."

That sounded pretty sensible. "Humans easily astray from the right path though. It's why they need people to keep pulling them back into the original plan once they start going off it." She was of course thinking out loud. The pressure of NEWTs and the thrill of leaving school into the wild world kept tugging at her mind. Oh and seeee, her mother could arrange a Floo network to Hogwarts. How cool was it to have a mom that knows what Floo is? Very cool. Louisa grinned encouragingly, "Sounds awesome."

She shrugged regarding the professors. "The new ones I'm not so sure about yet but I feel closer and more comfortable with the rest of them. Even Scabior, the familiarity of his careless tone and grumpy attitude makes his lesson easier to focus in." Her hand started toying with one lock of her hair as she went on, "Lafay, Hadley, Magnus, Cerulean and Bentley are the ones I'm going to miss the most. They've taught me for six years." The goodbyes are going to be messy and very, very hard. Not that she planned on having a big goodbye party or having an emotional goodbye hug. Nope. Just a wave at the end-of-term feast would do. *coughcough*

"Took me two years to find the right friends for me." Louisa agreed, referring to Vashti who she met ever since the start but didn't consider a close friend until two years after that. "But that sounds pretty good to me. You're doing so fine so far." Vivi didn't look like she was dying to get new friends though, she was more of an explorer. Hang out with anyone doing whatever and 'break their pattern'. "Your old friends are keeping in touch with you, right? The ones at Bauxbatons."

"Then you better find someone with a better moral compass than you. What if the person pulling you back needs pulling back too?" Vivi didn't like the idea of relying on someone else to keep her pointed in the direction she ought to go. It put too much pressure on them and took away her own responsibility to do right. "Maybe... if you think you're someone prone to be attracted to power for the wrong reasons, that's the exact reason not to pursue it," Vivi offered in a quietly considering tone.

"Dunno about those professors, Lou. We'll have to agree to disagree, I suppose. I like Bentley and Magnus well enough, but Lafay was pointlessly cruel in her class, Scabior taught opinions instead of facts, and I'm supplementing Cerulean's class by going home with you." SO THERE. Imperfect professors. So frustrating.

The warm cocoon was starting to make her eyes drift closed, and Vivi peeked at her own bed. Murph. She ought to go put things away and get under her now-cold comforter, but it was just so much further away and she was so warm and comfortable now. "Some of them keep in touch, but it's NEWT year. It's fine. I came to terms with being hard to like when I was very young. It doesn't hurt my feelings." Lies. It really hurt her feelings.

Power, moral compass, trust someone, be yourself, lose your personality. It was a too deep conversation for this hour, even if Louisa mulled it over and over in her head before, it was next to impossible to dig out what she had in mind. "I'm not sure how that will work for me. I just know I want to have an influence in the wizardy world." She looked up into Vivi's eyes and gave a small smile, "Thanks." Cos she didn't mock Louisa or tried to smite her ambitious future plan or even judge her honesty. Not everyone could discuss this so neutrally.

Touchy moment was followed by Lou. Heh. Louisa pulled her gaze away and back to the wall facing their beds, "Agreed. You forgot the second Lou, though." Just pointing that out. However, she couldn't hide her amusement with Vivi's supplementing plans. Hehehe. "Mhmm. That reminds me." Forcefully she straightened up and crawled out from her blanket, shivering a bit and clenching her jaws against the goosebumps bursting all over her skin. She reached for her bag at the foot of her bed, scribbled down a note and stuffed the parchment back in. "So I remember to owl my mom tomorrow after class." Quickly Louisa crawled back under the blanket and buried herself inside save for her face. "I don't think I have enough energy to read anymore." project Demolishing Scabior should wait till next night.

Not a fan of the Lou. For reals. Vivi struggled into an upright position and yawned hugely. "I hate to go back to my bed, but I'm definitely about to fall asleep and fall right off the edge of your bed."

She shuffled off the edge of the bed and scuttled across the floor to her own bed. Her own books and papers were stacked neatly on the top of her trunk before Vivi fell face first onto her pillows. UGH. She was cold again.

"Let me know what your mum says, Lou. LouLou." She caught herself at the last minute and grinned into her pillow at the expression that was probably on Louisa's face. The grin was still there as she drifted off to sleep.

It happened so suddenly, and quietly, but it happened all the same: the students who had been hanging out in the Ravenclaw girls' dorms suddenly found themselves pushed out of their dorms, shoved out of their beds, rolled out of their common room, and generally ejected from their House's private area.

An unseen force repelled all Ravenclaw students from the Common Room and attached areas and locked all entrances and exits to the rooms. The Common Room was officially locked and sealed.

Packing was a pain, and made doubly so by the fact that Macha kept climbing into the trunk and nesting among the sweaters or unfolding socks and unmentionables. Vivi pulled the unrepentant kitty out of the trunk again and placed her back on the bed before she returned to folding the rest of her winter clothes and putting them away.

"Macha, I will make you into a HAT if you get back in the trunk. I swear to you." She received a meow for her trouble, and as soon as Vivi turned to pull robes from the wardrobe, the cat crawled back into the trunk.