So what now?

Sierra was really ready for this whole assignment to be over and done with. She just wasn't the nurturing type. She was the kind to just "throw the star to the wolves" and play a game of "Survival of the Fittest." The only reason she didn't want the star to go black was because she'd lose the points. Even then, if she decided to still try for it, she'd have to start over.

So, again--what now?

The stupid "Wish Upon a Star" song was playing over and over in her head. She hated that the song got stuck with her. It was too Hufflepuff-y for her. Nevertheless, it have her an idea. She was going to do just as the song suggested--wish upon a star. It couldn't hurt, right? ...and all snakes loved to dream big and reach their goals.

So with that, she began to silently speak to the star.

Dear Winner,

So I know I haven't been the best of mothers, but...you can forgive me for that, right? I hope so, because I need you for a few things. I know that sounds bad, but I did cast that spell on you a few minutes ago, right? I scratch your back, you scratch mine? Isn't that how it goes?

So anyway, there's this dream I've had since I was a kid. From the time I could walk and talk, it's been all about Quidditch for me. It's in my blood. My mom was a beater for my house team, and my dad was a keeper. I want to go pro, Winner. It's just...I don't know if I can get anybody to notice me. Surely they've seen me in my other years. I know I can do it, Winner.

I wish I'd get an offer to join a really good pro Quidditch team.

Thanks, Winner!

*imaginary fist bump*,
Sierra Greingoth

If he thought he was a subtle, Rishi a joke. November had not expected him to come over in the least; she'd hardly expected him to even say hello or acknowledge her, given their last altercation in the Common Room. But as she continued to take notes on her star and her ministering, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy and his belongings move nearer and nearer.

Oh, Merlin.

Out loud, she said, "Er... Hello, Rishi," all the while she tried to inch away from him a little as subtly as she could manage - which was not in fact, subtly at all. While November was far from uncomfortable with close encounters and sharing her space, she also was highly confused by this boy, and that smile of his cast an icy feeling over her skin and left goose flesh in its wake. One moment he was rude and insulting, the next he was touching her stomach, and then he was asking her why she wasn't pushing him - he left her an immense headache!

She turned her attention to Ezra and his star, nodding in agreement. "A little, yes," she said, while watching him adjust it and smiled. A glance back at her own Cosmo revealed her star seemed to be doing well, although the color seemed to be going rather opaque. "Crescere Hydrogenenii!" she tried, a couple times, until the star within her jar returned to its sunny state.

It seemed, she noted with a frown, that he was not planning to introduce himself any time soon, which was not at all a surprise given his manners, or lack thereof. She would just have to do it for him.

"This is Rishi Kapoor. He's a first year, too. A Ravenclaw. I've told you about him," Nor added hastily, as it was true. You didn't have such a strange encounter with someone and not tell anyone about it! To Rishi, she added, "These are my friends, Edita and Ezra. Eddie is a Slytherin and Ezra a Gryffindor." Silently, she dared him to insult their names, because she imagined Eddie's reaction would make the boy think twice about ever doing so again!

Melanie took the cover off of the plastic container and smiled. Tea would be served. Melanie quite enjoyed tea time. She was going to talk to her star a little bit again before she saw Alice with her own jar. "Hello, hello," Melanie chirped as she watched the younger girl take care of the star named... Little Dylan. Interesting name. "Now, Ramen, say hello to Little Dylan," Melanie cooed to the star in her own jar. Because it was manners and her star would have them. Melanie was not going to raise a rude little star who didn't play well with others.

Hearing Queen Alice talk to her star, all Melanie could do was watch. What else could she say?

Melanie wasn't sure if she had been staring or anything, but she blinked a few times because her eyes hurt. Plus, Alice had been pulled out of whatever trance she had been in when Alice spoke to her. "Ah, yes, of course," Melanie said, pushing one cup towards the shorter female. "Okay, Ramen, we have to share, sharing is nice, always share... Sharing is caring." Yes, Melanie was going to teach her little star lessons now. And tomorrow they could start with his ABC's. Could the star be a boy? Or was it a girl? Melanie wasn't sure.

"So, Alice, Little Dylan, would you like a cookie? How are the two of you doing today?"

STAR TIME.

Having finished his dinner, Alec wandered up to the lab again, ready to see how his star was doing. He had spent most of his time down at dinner coming up with a name for his star but... the only name that stuck with him was Rebecca, for... certain reasons. But he couldn't name his star that. That might be a little weird.

... But... he couldn't think of anything else so...

The Hufflepuff walked through the door and immediately headed over towards the closet. He pulled on his white lab coat and strapped on his goggles -- that reminded him of the phrase 'strapping young men' -- before heading off towards his star. Down at dinner, he had also spent a bit of time coming up with a song for his star. Songs that linked with the word 'star' or the colour yellow.

Reaching his star, Alec bent down slightly and... BLINKED. BLUE?! BLUE?! Why was it BLUE?! "No no no no no!" Frantically, the boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scrap of parchment and scanned it. ... Yeah. It was hot. WHY was it hot?! Instinctively, Alec picked up the jar and gave it a hug. Just... because.

...

Alec blinked at the inside of the jar, a small frown forming on his face. "But... I gave you a super hug! Why are you still blue?!" He frowned some more and turned back to his scrap of parchment. ... There. RIGHT there -- JAB -- was the indication that he needed to use a spell. ... Why did he not notice that before? "Lights will guiiiiiiiiiiiide you home........... and igniiiiiiiiiiiite your bones.......... and I will tryyyyyyyyyyy to fix you." Literally. SUPERMAN TO THE RESCUE.

...

Why was he singing?

Shaking his head, the fifteen year old whipped out his wand and pointing it at the jar. "Dextrini Potitus!" he said, jabbing his wand and then flicking it down. Down... to decrease the temperature again. Smart spell was smart. Alec waited and watched the jar and its contents carefully. It was still blue... why was it still blue?! He used the right spell, right? And it was pronounced properly? AND he had used the correct wand movement, yeah? So wh-

OH LOOK! IT WAS CHANGING!

A grin slowly spread across Alec's face and he stood there, clapping lightly as his star slowly turned back to its usual yellow colour. He then picked it up and gave it another one of his special little hugs. "Well done, star! I fixed you!" Just like he said he would. GRIN.

With his star pulsing yellow within his jar, Ezra stowed his wand away, felt himself relax. He figured he was supposed to keep Jefferson Arnold some company before departing, lest it thought - could it even think? Ezra didn't want to know - he didn't care about it beyond getting a passing mark. Which was completely true, of course, but Ezra didn't think that was something anyone would want to hear.

He dragged his chair closer to the table, and hopped on it. Ezra cupped his hands around the jar, and carefully dragged it closer to him, its light reflecting on his freckled face. As if sharing a secret, he began to talk to Jefferson Arnold about the uncomfortable position he was put in when the library bloke found him napping his afternoon away, near the forbidden section.

Oh, November was talking again (of course she was), and she was introducing him to her boyfriend (finally!). Ezra could, in fact, not remember November talking to him about the other boy, but he figured there were a lot of things November had told him that he couldn't really remember. A natural thing, considering, half the time Carver made a point of tuning her out.

Ezra paused, interrupting his story, and looked up at the nervous boy and the decidedly not nervous girl. He grinned, maybe a little knowingly, and one of his dimples showed. "Hiya, Rishi. Nice to meet ya."

So… he had spent a lot of time casting spells at his star to keep it all yellow and Hufflepuff but he hadn’t spent a lot of time… talking to his star. That was something that he noticed after he placed his wand to the side. Right. Time for a little chit chat, little buddy.

Alec bent down slightly and grinned at the yellowness in the jar. "Hey little buddy! You okay in there?" That... was probably a silly question since the star couldn't exactly speak to him and share its feelings. That was a pity. "Erm... well... I'm great! And probably a little crazy for doing this but... I guess... I'm sorry in advance?" Because... no one should have to hear this. Not even a little star that probably didn't have any emotions.

... STARS HAD EMOTIONS, OKAY?

But... onto the song. Alec picked up the jar and held it tenderly in his arms. "Look at the staaaaars......... look how they shine foooooooooooor you! And everything you do.......... Yeah, they were all yellow!" So... the star should stay yellow, okay? "I came alooooooooong.......... I wrote a song foooooooooooor you!" Sorry, star, this song was written by Coldplay, not him. "And all the things you do......... And it was called Yellow!" Again, the song wasn't by him but... eh. "So then I took myyyyyyyyy turn....... Oh what a thing to have done......... And it was all yellow!" At this point, Alec was so into the song that... before he knew it... he held the jar in his hands and was swaying with it, as if the two were slow dancing in the middle of the dance floor.

... This was why he didn't sing.

"Your heeeeeeeeeelium! Oh yeah, your helium and hydrogen," That was so out of tune. Sorry, star. "Turn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinto something beautiful!" See, star, you are beautiful because Coldplay said so. "You knoooooooow, you know I lo- like you so..." BLINK. "You know I like you so..." That was... close.

Alec hummed the longer instrumental part of the song while he turned around on the spot, swaying side to side with his star-in-a-jar clutched tightly in his hands.

Personally, Edita liked Ezra's star better when it was pink but she said nothing as she quietly watched his star go from light pink to a glowing yellow. "I reckon it would be okay with your singing," confessed Edita with raised eyebrows. "Can't be any worse than what I've heard from--" she trailed off and did her best to discreetly nod at November.

"Oh," exclaimed Edita plainly, bringing up her wand carefully. "Guess that means it's still wrong." The girl hummed, tugging on whomever's notes were on the table which were clearly not hers by the curvy cursive writing. "Cress--Cresh, how do I even pronounce this?"

Crescere Hydrogenenii. Was that even pronounceable at all? Edita had opened her mouth to complain further when November's voice broke through her thoughts. She was calling out to someone and the girl instinctively followed the same path November's eyes did. Her interest didn't last long as November proceeded to insult the boy she vaguely recognized. She had an ill star to fix and an incantation to figure out how to pronounce. Finding mirth in the humiliation of others just had to wait a few more minutes.

Even if that other was slinking his way to their table like Edita didn't have sharp instincts. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before snatching up what she thought were Ezra's notes--or November's. Eddie couldn't be sure. The writing was so neat and although she didn't think Ezra was exactly sloppy it just lacked that Carver Gryffindor feel to it. Edita brought the notes close to her face enough that her small button nose was almost touching the parchment.

"You did?" said Happenstance distractedly. November told her a lot of things. Edita ignored a lot of things. The possibility existed that she had told him about this Richie boy. "Yo," she greeted simply, her eyes still frowning down at the notes. "Mom would say it's a pleasure."

And she left it at that to bring down the notes and pick up her wand so she could poke her star's jar a little bit. "This thing is going to land me in remedials."

November didn't even bother to disguise her heavy sigh. Her friends were terrible listeners and didn't bother to pretend otherwise. Had they really tuned her out on this?! She filled her cheeks until they puffed full of air and held the breath until her cheeks ached, and she expelled it with a puff that would've ruffled her fringe, if it wasn't for her goggles and ponytail.

"The boy from the Common Room," she explained, as if they would remember. "The one who made me push him!" Surely they remembered! She tried not to pout too obviously and caught her lower lip between her teeth before it could jut out. She'd really hoped Edita might have some Eddie-brand fun with him, too.

Frowning, she gave Edistar a wary gaze. "You won't get into remedial Potions," she said gently, silently adding, Maybe. Angling Eddie's notes, she leaned away from Rishi to peer at the notes together. "Try it like this: Cresh-ear High-drah-jen-ee. Least, that's how I did it and it did okay enough," she added, glancing at Cosmo and kicking her leg under the table lightly. Readjusting her position, she tucked one leg beneath her, hesitating on her foot, and gave Eddie's hand a reassuring pat. "Edistar is going to be the brightest and biggest star in the galaxy," she crowed. "And you won't get put into remedials."

Okay, now Sierra just felt silly. She'd just sung to a star and then silently talked to it. Not only that, she'd made a wish on it. Was she being a softie or something?! NO! Never! She was just doing this for the points. Right. The points.

So...back to the same question she'd asked herself once before. What now? Her star looked fine. If anything, it was glowing brighter now than before. Must have been that stupid song she'd sung to it. ...but wait. It did look a little TOO white. Was it supposed to be THAT white?

Sierra looked at it some more and then started flipping through her notes. Oh, no! *spazz* Something else was happening to the star no?! According to her notes, it was low on hydrogen. Whipping out her wand and moving it in a tight circle, Sierra said, "Crescere!" Following that up with a jab, she added, "Hydrogenenii!"

She waited, her breath held, until the star returned to normal.

November was doing that thing she did when she was upset, but trying not to show it; it made her look like a fish. Ezra had told her as much in the past, only to receive a glare in return. He thought that'd been pretty ungrateful of her because he hadn't been saying that to tease her, but as an observation she could take note of and later correct. Of course, she'd done with the information absolutely nothing other than completely disregard it. Thus she continued to look like a fish.

Ezra was tempted to repeat it, again, but refrained. Rishi was still around, and he thought it'd not be very kind of him to point out Noe's physical flaws in front of the bloke she fancied. "Yeah, I know." He didn't. "You told us a few times." At least November said she had. Ezra grinned, again, and tilted his head to the side. Distractedly, he lightly drummed his fingers against his jar. "Y'know, Rishi," He said, directly addressing the boy, "Noe talks a lot about you." It wasn't strictly true, but November was a friend, and well - how did that saying go? 'Anything for a friend' right? Now, Ezra would not be above denying November a few things because he did have his limits, but he didn't see anything wrong with giving her a helping hand.

He turned back to his star in time to see Edita snatched away his notes. Ezra frowned, not because it'd taken him a long time to neatly write them down but because it'd taken him a lot of planning, stealth and precision to snatch them from someone else's school bag. "Well, on the bright side, if you do remedials, Ed, at least you'll be surrounded by people who are just as bad at this. Maybe even worse."

Mostly, he meant his words as a consolation of sorts, but he was smart enough to quickly move himself and his star out of Happenstance's reach. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and leaned in closer to his star. "Y'know, Jefferson Arnold," Ezra whispered, his lips almost touching the jar, "I know Gryffindors are s'pposed to be brave, and I reckon I am brave, but there's nothing wrong with having a healthy dose of fear, yeah?" When his gran found out he'd been sorted into Gryffindor, she hadn't congratulated him; instead, she'd sent him a letter that only said 'Courage turns people into idiots.' Ezra hadn't been sure then what to make of that, but then he'd befriended Edita Happenstance and he found he understood it well enough. "There's no shame on running away from someone who can drop-kick you into another season."

The boy from the Common Room. The one who made me push him!

"Oh," Edita stated simply, looking away from her jar to stare at the boy. Her lips split into a large crooked smile--sloppy and full of glee. "You're a weirdo alright." Happenstance laughed and jabbed playfully at the jar then at Ezra's side. November was talking again and Edita decided to pay attention this time since not only had November been looking like a fish (which usually meant Edita said something insensitive again) she was also being generous and trying to help her fix Edistar.

She was also giving her a pep talk--or November's version. Edita's pep talks involved a lot more thumping and clapping and sometimes spanking. "Okay, thanks, lemme try!" Edita pressed her lips tightly together and repeated the spell just as November had taught her. At first nothing seemed to happen but soon the star's color began to change gradually, before settling for a light yellow. "A little on the light side, huh?" she asked with her head tilted to the side.

"Ezra," she hissed and jabbed at where his ribs should be with her wand but missed. "You're confusing me for November. I don't like people." That was a lie. Edita liked people well enough she just had no idea how to get along with them for the most part. She blamed her broken mouth on that one. "Why would I want to be surrounded by people? I like being alone." That was two lies in a row. She had better stop before it got worse.

She turned her frown and flushed face back to her light-yellow star. "This is why Edistar is going to swallow up the galaxy," she muttered, unsure how that added up and made sense but she fancied November wasn't really listening. After all, she was probably busy making eyes at her boyfriend, Richard. As for Ezra, well--Edita cast a side-long glance at him--he was busy whispering to his star. Probably reciting poetry. He seemed the type.

She'd read something! And she simply wanted to let Lemon know this important piece of literature, you know, in case the stars discussed things between them and that nonsense.

Lemon is winning in discussions, surely, since she'd been in proximity with a snitch. It wasn't something all stars could say, right? Right.

Right after entering and cleaning and putting on her lab coat and goggles, Lottie went straight to her star, which was looking oh-so-brightly perfect! The color it was supposed to be and everything. And she decided that it was thanks to her pep talk with the snitch, so...thanks Seeker!boy. "Hi, Lemony," because the star had been good, so, Lottie was free to call her by a nicer name. Though she wasn't sure which was nicer, Lemon or Lemony.

"Hey, listen," she said, as soon as she placed the jar on the desk and opened her bag to get a small book, "So, there's this sort of poem for kids, about a star that goes...

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
How I wonder what you are.

...it keeps on going, but I was reading this book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and it has something based on that poem that goes like this...," Lottie opened the book to a page she'd marked before and smiled at the jar, before finally saying...

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"

Book closed.

"I agree. The second one is much better than the original, right? Even if the tea tray makes no sense at all, out of context, of course," yes, apparently, the star glowed a little bit brighter, so the second year Hogwartian took this as a sign that whatever her thoughts had been, then Lemony also agreed.

She made the star anyway.

If Lemony was expecting something else from her..., "I don't really write, so, I won't write you a poem, but I like you Lemony, I especially like the fact that you're the brightest of them all," by them she meant the rest of the stars. Except maybe 'NOT Jeffery', because she was being to Lex. And if Alice had a star...well, that one too. The rest weren't as shiny.

ACTUALLY, Lottie decided to read a little, so she finished the chapter with the Mad Hatter as she read to Lemony. CLEARLY, there was nothing else to do at Hogwarts when Lottie was reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and reading it aloud to a star.

There was no Quidditch, that's what happened.

"Well, Lemony, I'm going to lunch, see you soon, yeah?" she mentioned nothing of being bright or anything, but she did tap twice on the jar. She didn't have to say it, the gesture itself said it. Be bright, or else.

Goggles and lab coat in the closet. Jar on the counter.

Off we go!

All of a sudden, her star began to turn red. Was it Estelle embarrassed by her name? Then Sarah remembered. If your star gets angry and sees red.. it means it is too hot. She had to reduce the temperature in it then.

She took out her wand again. "Dextrini Potitus" she said, jabbing her wand and then flicking it downwards liberally.

Then the star turned blue... oh dear... she had made it too cold. She casted Dextrini Potitus again with a flicjk upwards this time, making sure that she did not make it too hot.

She waited a moment yet the star seemed pleased for now.

Edita recited the incantation November had taught her how to pronounced under her breath. The motion was quick, and she darted her eyes trying to make sure the attention was off her. She didn't need the added pressure, and her face still felt hot from her terrible attempts at lying. Edistar finally seemed to adopt an acceptable color: a sort of murky yellow. It wasn't perfect but this was probably as good as it was going to get with her.

"That's a relief," she sighed, hunching over. "This should be enough to keep me away from remedials and detention."

Coat, check. Protective googles, check. Bag with necessary things for star care, check. Kat was all good with being in the Astrophysics Lab now. Today she decided that it would be her last visit to Geronimo, because the third and final Astronomy class was looming in. She'd been a good mommy to Geronimo the whole time he was alive, from birth until now. Now it was good bye.

Cue the sad motherly feels. Sighs. /lame

Kat took her jar from the shelf and checked on Geronimo. She stared at him for a while, letting the fact that he was RED sink in. "You know, Geronimo, now's not the time to show some Gryffindor pride," she said. Not that she meant it as a bad thing. Alice would probably like it, and maybe Penelope... and the other Gryffindors. However, it meant Geronimo was having a problem with HELIUM. Kat just sighed and took her wand out. "Deminugasalis!" she said with two flicks... only to see Geronimo turn MORE red. WHAT?!?! "No... no wait." Panic mode. "Cumugasalis!" Another two flicks and then... PHEW! Geronimo was back to yellow. "You scared me for a moment there, lil boy."

And guess that's it. Geronimo will now be a good growing star after the last Astronomy class. Kat pet her jar on the lid. "You've made your mummy Kat proud, Geronimo," Kat whispered so that she wouldn't humiliate herself if people heard her saying those words. "But I have to leave now, fella. I'm hungry and there's class afterwards. I'll miss you." Kat returned the white lab coat and protective googles to the closet and made a last glance to Geronimo. Bye, baby.

... Great Hall, I'm coming for you. THIS IS SPARTA. Food.

SPOILER!!: Daichi

Quote:

Originally Posted by CassiopeiaAKTF

Daichi turned around with his back to the jar when the professor had heard his question and listened to his answer. He tried not to roll his eyes when the professor told him NOT to open the jar. He knew that, it was in the notes and he had read them enough times now. So, instead of rolling his eyes he simply nodded his head as he stepped sideways to look at his star. It was still yellow.

"Kiss the jar? Eeeh i think i'll skip that. I'm not kissing anything" Unless Indy suddenly popped in the Astronomy Tower, hehe. "I'll just...i'll just , you know, hug the jar..." he frowned as he reached for it and picked it up. Was he supposed to hold it like a baby? Because the star was still young. The Slytherin shrugged his shoulders and placed the jar in his arms.

Remembering how his old neighbor had held her baby when he had come to visit her, Daichi held the jar like it was his baby in the crook of his right arm and held it with his left as well.

Was it weird that he began to like his star?

Still holding the jar in his arms ,he hugged it closer to his chest ocassionally and looked at the Professor when he answered his second question. Why was it always next lesson or next year with this man? He wanted to know now! But instead of saying his thoughts, he sighed. "Okay, i'll be there at the next lesson"

But for now he was going to walk around the lab.

Airey knew he liked this one. Although he may have given the boy more than just awesome points if he had actually kissed his jar. It showed true dedication after all.

Although the Slytherin holding the jar as if it were an infant was one of the more precious things he had seen in a long time.

"Do whatever feels right, Mr. Katharos," he said with a firm nod. "I look forward to the final result."

SPOILER!!: EEEEEEEEEEEElla!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

O___O

Was she really that funny? The blonde stood up a little straighter and wore a sheepish smile on her face, quite proud to have amused her Professor so much. ANDSHEGOTPOINTSFORJOKES? "I...thanks, Sir!" SuperDuperBeamyFace! Maybe she should just become a comedian, yeah? Since she was so funny and all. Heh. Oh and the winking thing? It was maybe a little creepy but seemed appropriate for a man who wore such loud suits so Ella winked right back. Proper winking etiquette, yeah?

The fifteen year old wore yet another sheepish smile when Professor Airey told her she'd done excellent work. Blush. That meant a lot, it really did. "Thanks, Professor. I'll keep that it mind." And she saluted him because well, it just seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. That or a high five but she had a wand in her hand so that option was kind of kicked to the curb right away.

And now that the Professor was off being a total rock star...HEHE... Ella decided to tell her Little Treyen a story before she left. Crouching down a bit, she smiled at the star and began to talk in a soft voice, just about a whisper.

"Once upon a time there was a boy named Sir Treyen. This particular boy was in charge of all the little badgers and he was responsible for looking after them. After some time, Sir Treyen had to leave his castle to go on to bigger adventures and he had to leave his little badgers behind. Before he went, he told one particular little badger, one with great hair I might add, that she should stay out of trouble. The little badger pinky promised to do just that and they became very best friends forever. The end."

GRIN!

"Now you sleep now, Little Treyen. I'll come visit you tomorrow, okay?" And after hugging her baby star, cause they need hugs too, she packed up her things. She then returned her lab stuff to the closet and headed out.

Heh. She winked back. Heh. Airey offered the girl a quick two finger salute before making his way around the lab some more with Pebbles clunking behind.

SPOILER!!: Tea Party Lions <33 >:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by iBeJenn

Melanie entered the laboratory, humming once again with a smile on her face. Oh, she was so excited to see her star. Quickly the girl donned her white lab coat and slipped her goggles on. She wasn't sure if she needed gloves, maybe next time she'd wear one of those latex gloves. But right now there were other things to do... like taking care of her star. Melanie looked around, trying to spot her baby star. Melanie was very excited to start to take care of the star. In her bag, she had a whole bunch of things to do with the star.

"Hello, Ramen," Melanie said in a sing-song voice, wiggling her fingers hello to the star before picking the jar up and noticing something very off. "YOU'RE BLUE." Melanie could feel herself panicking, sweating, and she was most definitely worried about her baby star. What did she do now? Was it too cold? Did it need helium? Hydrogen? Something? "Okay, Ramen, don't panic, you'll be fine, we can play doctor now," Melanie rambled, "I mean, I have on the white coat and doctors have it too, and I have a wand.... I can fix you and make you all better, don't worry." What was the spell though? She couldn't seem to remember it at the moment. Breathe, Melanie... breathe... you can totally do this. She could do this... right after she re-remembered the sp- OH. "Dextrini Potitus~" Melanie gave her wand a slight jab and flicked it downwards, watching the star slowly go from a blue color to something a little more star-like. Oh, thank Merlin.

Relieved, Melanie slumped a little and pat the lid of the jar. "You gave your mother quite a fright, Ramen," Melanie scolded the star lightly before putting her bag on the table. "I brought us some tea, I thought we could talk to each other a little, catch up," she said, pulling out a thermos of tea from her bag and then two cups and saucers. Melanie opened the thermos and poured some tea into each cup. "I know, it's not a fancy teapot, but I didn't want to break anything on my way up here," Melanie told her star, sliding one cup towards the star in a jar and lifting her own to take a sip. "Of course, we cannot finish tea without some snacks, so I brought some cookies," Melanie added, taking out a plastic container with cookies and placing it between the two.

Now tea could begin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

Little Dylan must have been lonely without Alice, so she was THERE. Once she had slipped into her usual oversized lab coat and goggles, the fourteen year old eagerly made her way over to the counter, searching through the jars until she found her own. Her hands wrapped around the jar protectively as she carried it over to a table where Melanie was located. Because they could definitely baby their stars together, yeah? Friends did that. "Melanie. Ramen." She greeted them both with a grave dip of her head and turned back to her own star, only to notice a color change.

Or ANOTHER color change. Really?

"Little Dylan, STOP changing colors. Really. You looked perfectly lovely when you were yellow, I promise. You don't look nearly as nice in red." Was he one of those stars who felt the need to stand out? Because Alice kind of needed him to stay yellow like the others if she wanted a good grade. She tugged her notes out of her bag again and tried to determine the cause of Little Dylan's redness. "Okay, little guy. You're red either because you have too much helium or not enough." Wait. Which spell was she supposed to use, then? Guess and check? Fingers crossed, she tried the increasing spell first. "Okay, little Dylan. This won't hurt a bit. Just.. hold still." Yeah. Stars could do that, right? "Cumugasalis!" .. but it was DARKENING. No. No, wrong spell. Which meant Little Dylan was a very boastful star and had probably increased his helium in order to impress the lady stars or something. So she had to lower it. "Deminugasalis!" Flick, flick.

Little Dylan seemed to be turning orange-ish, so she performed the spell one more time and waited until he had shifted back to his previous lemony colour. Perfect. "Good boy," Alice complimented him, rubbing his jar lid affectionately. Then she turned back to Melanie, who.. had a thermos? And cups and saucers and cookies? She was having TEA? Assuming she was invited, the fourteen year old sat across from her before speaking. "Can Little Dylan and I join you two for tea? We can each share a cup with our star."

.. they were allowed to have tea in here, yeah?

Quote:

Originally Posted by iBeJenn

Melanie took the cover off of the plastic container and smiled. Tea would be served. Melanie quite enjoyed tea time. She was going to talk to her star a little bit again before she saw Alice with her own jar. "Hello, hello," Melanie chirped as she watched the younger girl take care of the star named... Little Dylan. Interesting name. "Now, Ramen, say hello to Little Dylan," Melanie cooed to the star in her own jar. Because it was manners and her star would have them. Melanie was not going to raise a rude little star who didn't play well with others.

Hearing Queen Alice talk to her star, all Melanie could do was watch. What else could she say?

Melanie wasn't sure if she had been staring or anything, but she blinked a few times because her eyes hurt. Plus, Alice had been pulled out of whatever trance she had been in when Alice spoke to her. "Ah, yes, of course," Melanie said, pushing one cup towards the shorter female. "Okay, Ramen, we have to share, sharing is nice, always share... Sharing is caring." Yes, Melanie was going to teach her little star lessons now. And tomorrow they could start with his ABC's. Could the star be a boy? Or was it a girl? Melanie wasn't sure.

"So, Alice, Little Dylan, would you like a cookie? How are the two of you doing today?"

Airey was practically as luminescent as the stars in the jars students were caring to. They all were doing brilliantly - even if some seemed a bit awkward about showing their stars some looooooove - and he was really REALLY looking forward to his final lesson of the term.

*CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK*

Oh yes, he should probably head out to the grounds to give Pebbles her walk and.... "SWEET SOLSTICE! What are you two doing?!" Airey squealed like a girl when he saw the two lions having tea time in the middle of his lab. On top of it all...there were cookies. COOKIES! HOT LIQUID AND COOKIES!

And no, he did not raise his voice because he was excited. Although Airey DID like cookies and most certainly loved tea. Just NOT in his laboratory! ALL CLASSROOM RULES APPLIED LIONESSES!

"Minus 5 points each for having food and drink in the laboratory and you both will serve detention," he said with a flick of his wand to banish the tea and cookies away to his office.

Alec was a little surprised that his jar of his star hadn't... you know... cracked from the sound of his singing voice. He was also surprised that people had actually stayed in the same room as him while he was singing to his star-in-a-jar. Although... he was trying his hardest not to pay attention to the fact that there were other people in here as well. That would probably just mess up his singing.

... Not... that he was doing a very good job at it.

But... he had a song to finish, yeah?

"I swam across..." He hadn't swam anywhere in a really long time. "I jumped across foooooooooooor you........... Oh what a thing to do....... 'Cause you were all...... yellow!" And hopefully the star would stay yellow from here on out. "I drew a liiiii-eeee-iiiiine............ I drew a line fooooooooor you! Or what a thing to do!" Yeah... drawing a line for someone was a really weird thing to do. "And it was all yellow!" Yellow lines... for Hufflepuff?

A lit bit of an instrumental part in which Alec swayed some more with his star-in-a-jar. ... They were just having a moment...

"Your heeeeeeeeeelium! Oh yeah, your helium and hydrogen! Turn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinto something beautiful!" Coldplay were again telling the star that it was beautiful. "And you knooooooow........ for you I'd give up ice cream. For you I'd give up ice cream..." That was... actually asking for a lot. Giving up ice cream. And he didn't really know what he'd do if he didn't get to eat any of the delicious, sugary dessert.

Cue more swaying and humming from the fifteen year old.

"It's truuuuuuuue!" Alec sang, looking down at his star-in-a-jar affectionately, "Look how they shine for youuuuuuuuuu! Look how they shine for youuuuuuuuuuu! Look how they shine foooooooor........ Look how they shine for youuuuuuuuuu! Look how they shine for youuuuu-ooooh-oooooooh! Look how theeeey shine......." His voice then dropped down to a whisper and he held his jar up to eye level. "Look at the stars! Look how they shine fooooooooooor you! And all the things that you doooooooooooooo!" Oh! The song was over! Alec hugged his star once again only to notice...

... there was a tea party going on. BLINK.

Now she had to sing to her star. Sarah liked singing.. Yet it felt weird to sing to a star. She did not mind singing to animal, yet plants and stars were very odd to sing to. Yet she decided to sing and pretend that the Estelle was not a star, but a friend, like Penelope.

Sarah cleared her vice and soon a strong clear voice filled the room.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are! " Sarah looked at her star. She did know that it was made out of hydrogen and helium.

"Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky! ' well actually it was in jar,yet similar things were in the sky

"When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle,little star."

Sarah finished and looked at her star. She hoped it enjoyed her voice

.. WHAT? Points off and a detention for.. for.. for sitting down next to someone who was having a.. WHAT?

Alice had been thinking about how she could get tea to her star-in-a-jar when a very loud, girlish squeal caught her attention. The last thing she had seen was Melanie shoving a teacup at her, and now there was a professor banishing her best friend's tea? AND giving her detention? But she hadn't even done anything! She hadn't brought the food, or drank the tea, or done anything but.. but sit down next to Melanie. And she was losing points? And getting a detention?

THIS WAS SPARTA.

But.. but she couldn't even protest. Because there was no way Alice was going to be a disloyal friend and let Melanie go to detention all by herself. THAT was even more ridiculous than the thought of losing points for sitting down. "Alright, Professor Aireyhe- Flamsteed. Professor Flamsteed." And then she turned away and fussed over Little Dylan for a bit before returning him to the counter. The fourteen year old silently returned her oversized lab coat and goggles to the closet before standing next to the door and waiting for Melanie.

No doubt she would be even more upset than Alice was. Hmph.

Melanie was going to take a sip of the tea when she heard a very loud clunking sound. She set the cup down and covered her baby star's ears. Or well, tried to; she wasn't sure if stars had ears and if they did, could they hear anything through the jar. She also jumped a little, wincing when she heard a squeal. What? Melanie looked away from the star, hands still cupping either side of the jar, and gave a wide-eyed stare to the professor.

W...w...what?!

What had just happened? Her jaw dropped, and she sat there frozen as the tea and cookies disappeared. Did the professor want an answer to the question he had asked? Could Melanie even say anything at that point? She had lost points. She had just gotten detention. Melanie felt a little faint. She couldn't. No. This wasn't happening. This was just a really bad dream and she could give herself a little pinch and it'd be over. Yes, that had to be it... but at the same time, she knew it wasn't. That sick feeling in her tummy said so. She couldn't form any words and could only manage to close her mouth.

Her parents couldn't find out about this. People couldn't find out about this. She was supposed to be a good student. How did she get into trouble? And worse of all, how did she get Alice into this too? She was a horrible person. Biting her lip, and hoping she didn't start crying or anything, she slowly got out of her seat. "Hey, Ramen, learn from mommy's mistakes," Melanie whispered to her star, petting the lid. She looked at the professor again. "I'm sorry, Professor Flamsteed," Melanie said, averting her gaze and then looking down at the ground. She picked up her jar, bit her lip and placed it with the others. She hoped the other stars didn't bully little Ramen or anything while she was gone.

Melanie took off the white lab coat, no longer feeling like a healer or a superhero and placed it with the others along with the goggles. "I'm sorry, Alice," Melanie muttered, unable to look at her best friend in the eye without feeling guilty.

Then her star began to glow white. Sarah originally thought that it was just part of the procedure, yet she then started to get a gut feeling that something really was up. Something was wrong yet she could not place her finger on it.

Then like a lightening bolt she remembered... of course it was a lack of hydrogen. Shwe looked in her notes for the spell. Crescere Hydrogenenii. It looked awfully confusing so Sarah tried it sylabble by syllable. "Creshairs Hydrogeniii." was she always going to suck at pronunciation? She hoped not. She tried again more carefully. Crescere Hydrogenenii.. It worked!

Now she decided to apply the actual spell. She made a circle in the air while saying Crescere, follwed by a Hydrogenenii as she gave a jab.

Estelle seemed to be looking better.

Sophie walked into the Astrophysics Lab and looooooooooked around. Whoa, that was brilliant! There were so many interesting things to see there, but she really felt like going straight to the task.

Astronomy was not her favourite subject.... sorryyy! If it were a Charms lab, though, she would beg the professor to let her live there forever.

What did she have to do to create her star again? The badger searched her pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment with many notes written on it and quickly read the first couple of sentences.

Oohh, right. The powder stuff. WaitNo. Sophie reread the first bit. Jar. First the jar!

The girl placed her bag on the floor next to one of the cushioned stools and walked over to the shelves that had jars and picket a random one. They all looked pretty much the same, so whatevs.

After going back to her spot, Sophie put the jar on the table in front of her stool and was about to bend down to get something from her bag when she suddenly had an idea. Sophie eyed the jar in front of her and tilted her head slightly while giving a little bit of more thought to her idea. Hm... maybe that could work. It was a nice way to practice it as well.

Teehee!

The fourth year pulled out her wand as she sat on the stool and stared at the empty jar in front of her. Alright, she had done this once before. Just once, but that had worked! Sophie didn't see why it wouldn't work this time.

She brought her face closer to the jar and tapped the glass with her wand, muttering something under her breath. What seemed like a thick rainbow streamer came out from the tip of her wand and glued itself on the outside of the jar. sdkfljgndskjlndjk YAAAY! Though it didn't have her name on it, but that wasn't a problem. Beaming, the brunette reached for her bag and pulled out a quill and ink pot, scribbling her name on the pretteh label thing she had just made.

Instead of going back after dinner, the Slytherin was back in the lab the next day. He had forgotten he had had other homework that needed to be done. But now that was done he could put his attention to his star again.

As he walked up the many stairs towards the tower, Daichi noticed that he was getting used to climbing up. He wasn't out of breath this time as he was at the beginning of the year. Maybe he should continue to work out at home so he didn't get all out of breath next year. His last year.... For a moment, the Slytherin stopped as he stood in front of the laboratory door. He looked behind him and around and got a weird feeling. A feeling of loss... He knew he wasn't going to see this place after next year and all of the sudden it felt like he had to absorb everything he saw. From the brick walls to the high windows.

He quickly shook his head. Don't think about this , Daichi. Not now you still got a whole year.. He pushed the door open and grabbed a coat and goggles. Standing in front of the shelf, Daichi reached for his jar labeled Ducky and walked with it to a empty table.

Placing the jar down, he looked inside to see that the star was still perfectly yellow. So instead of pulling out his wand he grabbed a stool and sat down. "How old are you even? in star years i mean..." he randomly thought out loud as he pressed his chin on the table and looked up at the star. "Is there even such a thing? star years? Wait...why am i even talking to you, it's not like you can hear me" he laughed.

With a sigh he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked around the lab for a moment, just, looking around. What was wrong with him today? being all sentimental? Yes, it was true he was going to miss this place but he still had another year! he kept reminding himself that each time. But after that? what then? He wasn't really Ministry material, Merlin he wasn't the type to sit in a cubicle and work. Actually, his dream was to open a shop but even now he wasn't so sure if he was able to...mainly because he had doubts about it. What if it didn't make enough money? "Wished you could show me my future because i have no idea what i have to do after Hogwarts" he told the star and laughed again at the thought. "Wait, i shouldn't talk about my problems with a star right? Don't want you to get worried or something." whyyyy did he keep talking to the thing?! "I wonder what Professor Flamsteed is going to do with you and the other stars next lesson...it would be really cool if you could float around or sit on my shoulder and stuff, how cool is that right?!" he smiled. That would be cool but...he didn't think it was possible.

Picking up the jar, Daichi held it in his arms like last night and walked around the lab. Might as well tell the star what everything was right? "That , is what we call a stool or chair" he said as he pointed to an empty stool near a corner. "We sit on it" yup. He walked further until he stood in front of the lab coats and goggles. "You know, honestly i have no idea what the coats are for. Probably to look like cool mad scientists but i think the goggles , the thing covering my eyes" he pointed to his own. "Is probably because you are too bright" that was correct right? Anyways...

"Aaaand this is a microstoof" (microscope duh XD) , "i think that's what they call it" he held the jar in his hands and held it in front of the microscope. So that Ducky could see it.

The Slytherin suddenly gasped out loud as he turned the jar around and held it in front of his face. "I forgot! My name is Daichi and i am your father~!" There was a few seconds of silence in which he looked at the yellow star and the star simply...sat there in the jar. "Okay that sounded weird in my head AND out loud..."

With a slight blush on his face, Daichi continued to walk until he stood in front of the Professor's desk. "And this is Professor Flamsteed~" he said to the star and whispered to it afterwards. "He's a bit weird but cool, not cool enough to give me his duck tie though" True story. "Ehm, Sir? do i have to leave Ducky here when i'm done?"

He thought he was done but he wasn't sure.

So noooow it was time for the powder stuff. Oakey Okay!

After glancing again at the piece of parchment she had placed next to her jar, she opened the jar and pointed her wand at its inside. "Scourgify." Nothing seemed to happen, but Sophie knew it was because the jar wasn't that dirty. Nothing to worry about. "Tergeo." Juust to make sure.

There. Now onto the powder bit. She looked back at the shelves and spotted many different jars with all sorts of powder in them. Meep, that would take a while.

Hopping off the stool, she went to look for the... what was it again? Merlin! Sophie walked back to the table and grabbed the piece of parchment and read from it. Powdered helium and powdered hydrogen. Oh okay. So she started her search for those, which would probably take a long whil-

Oh! There they were! One right next to the other. Probably because people had already started on their project and she was late. Woops.

Sophie took both jars back to her working station along with a tablespoon. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a spell to measure a tablespoon so she didn't have to do it manually? Gasp! Maybe there was! There probably was! She had never thought of that! Her next stop would definitely be the library, yep.

But she was in the middle of an Astronomy task! Focus, Sophie! Merlinnnn!

One tablespoon of powdered helium... The Hufflepuff used her left hand to scoop the powder with the spoon and her right hand to make sure nothing would fall from the tiny spoon to the table. ..........There!

It'd be so much easier to use a spell.

After doing the same with the hydrogen powder, Sophie closed both jars and levitated them towards the shelf. The two jars almost knocked other jars from the shelf as they go to their target, but Sophie quickly concentrated mooore and was able to avoid the accident.

Though that did cause her to have a mini heart-attack. Professor Flamsteed would have killed her if she had messed up his lab aaand made a mess with all that powder.

Merlin knew what would happen with all of that crazy powder mixed there on the floor o_____________o eep. Good thing nothing had happened. Sophie made a mental note to be more careful the next time she worked in a lab.

"I hope it's okay," Jake was saying to Anya as they made their way to the Astronomy lab. It'd been a few days since he'd seen Twinkle, and he was worried that something would be wrong with the star. It wouldn't be his fault if there was, though, right?

Now that he had stressed himself out, Jake hurried to put on a lab coat and classes. He waited for Anya to do the same, then made his way over to his star. Okay. Hiiii little star... He thought, biting his lip as he took his cloak away from the jar, where he had left it last time he'd been in the lab. "Let's see how you've been doing..."