Alistaire and Laura had spotted a lone figure heading back up to the castle. Figuring it may be Aurora, they had headed in that direction. Now within hailing distance, they had almost reached the confines of the castle. "Oi, hold on there a minute if yeh would, please," he called out ahead of him to who he assumed was Aurora. He turned to Laura with a questioning look, hoping she would confirm that this girl was indeed who they were looking for.

Courtyard. Where... was... the courtyard? It should be one of those places that was easy to find, considering it was probably the first place one would hit on the way outside. It should be just doorway... boom... outside.

Mo paused in the corridor as he spotted the courtyard just beyond. And windows... Merlin, look at all the little windows. Was he allowed to climb those? He glanced up and down the corridor before hopping up on the nearest low wall and clinging to the column.

"If you fall and die, can I like, officiate at your wake?" Because they did wakes around here, not funerals. Wakes were funner. "I could do a reading and everything."

Really, he could. He was an expert at these things now.

West waved, and a few nasty little scratches were visible on his hand and forearm when he did so.

"Whats it like up in the towers then?"

"If I fall, I might twist my ankle, but I'd have to land on my head repeatedly to die from this height," Mo protested, although he did obediently lower himself until he was seated on the sill of the window instead. No use tempting fate. "But if I did, I'd prefer you do it. Everyone else would be maudlin and sad."

He studied the scratches on West for a moment, although it seemed distinctly uncool to bring them up. "The towers. Good view. Pain in the butt to get to class, though, especially the ones outside."

SNEEZE!

Hayfever? Really? IN SEPTEMBER? Aurora was in a bad mood now, AND her eyes were itching and beginning to water... Okay maybe she'd been ignoring all the signs of hayfever all day and they were finally catching up with her. Great.

Ivy had fallen asleep in her arms again so Aurora paused to readjust the way she was holding the kitten. Okay why did hayfever have to set in so quickly, because she was sniffing now and she would bet her life that her eyes had started to go red. Why hadn't she taken that hayfever medicin stuff that her brother-in-law had given her..? Now she had to get back up to the castle without bumping into anyone or they'd think she'd been crying. Great.

So she wasn't registering the fact that he'd called her. Fine, he'd just try again. He had pretty much caught up with her by now anyways.

"Aurora, is it?" he asked. Then he gestured down to Laura at his side. "I hear yeh two've had a bit o' a disagreement." If you could call setting your cat on someone and possibly also jinxing that person a disagreement, that is. "I'd like ter hear yer side o' the story as well." Because it was never good to just take an angry girl's word on something. Ali liked to try to be fair, especially when Slytherins were involved. Because people think Gryffindors can't ever be fair when a Snake is involved.

He looked down at the girl and waited for her to begin talking, the expression on his face unfathomable.

Aurora heard her name and turned round, her eyes all itchy and red and her nose completely blocked. She blamed all the flowers in Hogwarts. Grrr. Oh, it was that little irritating thing... hmph. She sniffed a little and rubbed at her eyes...

"She bumped into me, and started being rude. So I held my ground..." she explained. "But Ivy can tell when I'm upset and tried to attack her so I took her away in case she tried to hex her or anything..." And now she looked like she was crying, because of flowers. Siiiigh. LAAAAME allergies. "I wasn't trying to make trouble, sir."

Right, so that somewhat meshed with what Laura had said. Obviously the truth was somewhere in the middle. Clearly Aurora hadn't tried very hard to contain her cat. After all, Laura's legs had multiple scratches. How is she doing, anyways? The long hike back to the castle would surely have opened up some of the fragile scabs. Fortunately, she didn't look much worse for the wear. But Laura had also failed to mention that she might have had a hand in prolonging the disagreement.

Alistaire sighed. "Laura, yeh have anything yeh'd like to add ter that?" he asked calmly, but clearly with a look that did not invite accusations or arguments. So far it didn't sound like either of them had actually hexed the other. At least that they're willing to admit, he thought grimly.

"It all depends on how you landed, and besides, my dad said that your head isn't nearly as hard as mine." Posssssssssssibly not what Leon had meant, but West dutifully repeated it all the same.

And yes indeed. West nodded. "I would recite The Raven." Because it was dramatic. No other reason.

"Well some classes are up high and those are a pain for US to get to, its all relative. I would drop the ones up there but I think they're all my favourites, so that doesn't make any sense." Annoying.

Christmas had stopped in the corridor that lead to the courtyard this whole castle and the grounds was so cool and it would take a while to get used to being here

Taylor wandered around the courtyard and spotted Christmas, "Hey." She smiled and laughed. Tay leaned against the wall of the corridor and waved to the girl.

Christmas waved back and walked over and said "Hey you look a bit happier now than when we last met"

Taylor smiled, "I am." She laughed, "How are you?" Tay moved then twirled in happiness.

Christmas smiled at Tay and said "Yeah i have been good, just amazed by Hogwarts"

"Cool..." She sighed and messed with her uniform, glancing around.

Christmas heard Tay sigh and said "What's up Tay if you don't mind me asking i don't want you to snap my head off again"

"I am just anxious." She sighed and looked around, getting antsy. Tay shifted her weight.

Christmas nodded and said "Okay i was just curious i won't ask any more questions Tay"

Taylor sighed and paced then started to cry. Tay looked out into the courtyard.

"My head is pretty hard," Mo argued, although he didn't push it. It wasn't like he cared how hard his head was. Unless there was a test for that.... which sounded sort of painful, now that he thought of it.

The Raven, hmm? Mo considered that as he hooked a hand around the column and leaned out into the courtyard to just... check things out for a moment. "That's good. I like that one. It's pretty intense and really long. You'd probably talk longer than anyone."

Which was, of course, West's right as Mo's best mate. No one else needed to say much, 'cepting for his sisters and his mum and dad. And hopefully a girl or two would cry over him, because that was how it was done.

"Which ones are your favorites? Divination and Astronomy? Do you just like the towers, maybe?"

Christmas sighed and said "I can tell when something is up Tay and you seem to be crying a lot nowadays you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but i am here to help you as a friend"

Tay sighed, "It is my stupid promise I made to my brother... I cant date the one I love since he doesnt approve." She pouted and whimpered.

Christmas listened and said "Wow that is harsh i would have thought family would have been up for there siblings dating the ones they love but i can understand where your coming from Tay cause i have been in your position myself"

Tay sighed and looked at her, "So you had a cheating boyfriend who was only using you for your money but then he falls in love with you?" She raised an eyebrow, "I dont think you know what that is like."