Ethan walked down the corridor carrying a small box in his hand, headed towards Laura's birthday party. He hoped she'd like the Hufflepuff barrette and chocolate frogs inside his wrapped gift.. he wasn't sure what else to get for the 5th year.. but girls liked those sorts of things, right? He hoped so anyway.

His mind wandered a bit as he approached until he saw who was already assembled there. "Hi Ella," he nodded towards the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain, then he grinned at his girlfriend standing there as well. "Hey, Min.. have you been here long?" he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"And there's the birthday girl." Ethan grinned at Laura as he handed her the gift. "This is for you.. Happy Birthday!" So.. this was a party, right? And parties typically had food.. which would be perfect for the hungry boy right about now..

Laura smiled as her friends "Thank you" Laura opened her presents and then smiled. "OMG you guys these are awesome, thanks," Laura hugged Ella and then she gave Ethan a small hug because she didn't want Minnie telling her off for hugging her man, she gave Minnie a nervous look because she didn't want eating.

Laura looked at Ethan and giggled, she knew that he was looking for something to eat. "Well this is awesome." Laura took out some biscuits, chocolates, sweets, and sandwiches. "Help yourself." Laura smiled as she got a couple of smarties out of a bowl, she had brought everything in bowls so it was easy to find out where things were.

It was just her luck, the day she decides to spend time out on the grounds being productive, slush starts falling from the sky. Yes. Slush. It wasn't liquid-y enough to be rain but that stuff wasn't solid enough to be snow either. No use pouting at the sky though. That never did anything useful and the sky never felt sorry enough for you to hit someone with a bolt of lightening so you could watch...you know, like in those old muggle cartoons. Kinda like that.

With outside being a no go she went walking around with Felix until they found an old closet looking thing and what luck! Rope! She liked rope.

"This can work. What do you think?"

The kneazle scratched at the piece she dangled within reach for him. This was basically an approval, she would take it as such. "Now I'm thinking we find someone to tie up, tell 'em it's a game and we wanna see how fast they can untie themself."

The kneazle meowed.

"Yeah, you're right. That'd never work. They'd be stuck for ages." She surveyed the rope, it wasn't super long and she had another idea. "Walk with me." It wasn't an order but the Kneazle knew he was meant to obey. In the next minute she was skipping rope down the corridor. Felix kept at a safe distance but he was still dutifully following, much to her delight.

"Cinderalla, dressed in yella, went downstairs to meet her fella, tripped on a step, broke her neck, how many stitches did she get? One. Two. Three..." There was a one footed hop as she turned into another corridor. The most she'd ever gone with this was probably around a hundred. There was slush falling from the sky. She had time. "Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen."

You know, if that Cinderella girl had just stayed up in her room eating ice-cream, none of this would have happened to her. "Twenty-four. Twenty-Five."

Kace managed to have ice cream in his hand, he had a huge bowl with him. It was nice and cold since he managed to learn the charm from class. It was still ice cold and all.

He was exploring the second floor corridor and was wondering what he could find in this hallway.

Laura knew she had to share ice-cream with someone and she had a great way to do it. "ICE-CREAM, GET YOUR ICE-CREAM HERE!!" Laura giggled, this was going to be awesome, she would share ice-cream. "Come and share some ice-cream with me and we can chat about anything." Laura didn't care what.

O__________o

Laura suddenly saw Kace. "Come share some ice-cream with me, it's amazing and I'm sure that you will like it" Laura smiled.

Kace was wondering down the hall and he didn't feel so well. Maybe it was the ice cream he ate at the party. Laura seemed pretty happy and Kace not so much. He saw Laura and gave him a slow wave.

"Hey Laura..." he said. He wasn't too cheery. "Umm...i will try a little bit." he offered with a weak grin. He just wasn't feeling like himself.

Laura looked at Kace and smiled. "Hey thanks." Laura didn't care how much he ate, he knew it was just important that she shared some with her friends, and he was a friend right, well his sister had been a good friend, she scooped some ice-cream into a bowl and then gave him it. "There you go, tell me what you think?" Laura had made an interesting bowl of ice-cream it had toffe and chocolate chip in it.

Kace tried to smile to Laura but he just couldn't. It felt like all his happiness was drained out of him. He asked him how the ice cream was and to be truthful...it didn't taste good when he was sad. He lied to Laura to make her feel better. "I like to chocolate chips but the toffee not soooo muchh..." he trailed off. He managed to get one scoop down his throat before the urge to throw up occurred.

Laura started to eat her ice-cream it was important that she did something nice and she just hoped that Kace would enjoy the ice-cream. "So I was thinking right, for making an ice-cream, how about a one called the Galaxy, so it has like mars bars, milky ways and then something awesome so that it looks like the Galaxy." Laura giggled that would just be an epic ice-cream she thought.

Oh so she had an idea for making an ice cream? He nodded and like her ideas. "Yeah that is an interesting idea.." he told her truthfully. "Are we supposed to make up interesting ice cream ideas for potions?" he questioned her.

"Nope it's Astronomy and I want to make a great ice-cream and I will make a great ice-cream." Laura giggled, hers was going to be awesome, she took a spoonful of ice-cream she had now and smiled, yeah this was going to be perfect and she couldn't wait to find out what Kace, thought when she gave him a taste of her ice-cream if she was ever allowed to make it. "Are you enjoying your ice-cream?"

She stood at the one end of the corridor and was jogging in a small circle as Tag was besides her. Jog..Jog..Jog. Lately she's been feeling like an athlete. Like one day she's jumping rope, climbing ladders, hopping off stairs and squeezing herself into fireplaces to clean and scrub. No wonder the house elves were very skinny. And to be honest this energetic mode felt very good. "Philosopher Tig," She said using her own nickname for him as she still was jogging back and forth,"You think you can race me down this corridor?" Though it was a question, she already knew the answer. Gryffindors were never ones to turn down a challenge. Nope. Nevaah!

First hand knowledge, you know. She knew through Lex.

The fourth-year stopped circling and stood besides him though she still was half-jogging, half-hopping. Called warming up. Last thing she wanted was pulling a muscle while she raced Tag. Oh she had become a professional alright.

Oh and speaking of, her chances of winning weren't that high. Her brother always beat her. She wondered if Tag was a fast runner. Guess she'd find out later.

She was still waiting for Tag's answer as she calculated the distance. She could survive through that. And she should be ready, for all she knew Tag would say yes and BOLT. she would

Around and around and around went Cassia. Tag was half amused and half confused by the girl circling Tag as he whipped his head in circles too, trying to keep a face to face contact with her. His head was feeling dizzy and he may get a whiplash so he stopped.

Oh. This girl was full of energy today. Much different from their nice conversation they had a while back. It was greatly entertaining Tag, although he was confused. Maybe she had some sugar before this? "
Oh? What? Yes! Yes, I'll run down the corridor with you." He answered her hastily.

After he answered her she then stopped jogging around him, thank goodness, but continued to run in spot. Wow she was energetic today. Yes. Tag had to get ready for this race. He put one leg out in front, and then the other and began to stretch it. "You do the countdown, Cassia yes. Is the finish line the opposite wall of the corridor?" He asked pointing into the distance. He wouldn't put it past her to continue racing to some different level with all the energy she had in her right now.

Come to think of it, she really did worry about his neck. Him ending up at the healer and all his friends and family coming and blaming her. She couldn't live with that burden. Nope. She couldn't. She cared about her friends and their necks. Cue why she stopped the circling. Her lips twitched in a smile hearing his positive answer. Trust the lions to take up challenges. That's why she made such cool friends. Her eyes trailed to the end of the corridor.

"Yes, we reach the end and we have to touch the wall." She answered him. Was he stretching? Cassia stopped the jogging and stood next to him, placing her foot next to his a couple of feet apart. She took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. All set. The other foot out she looked at Tag seeing if he was ready. He looked like he was.

"One..Two..." Naturally there going to set off on three. "THREE! She announced bolting ahead. Her legs weren't that long so she wasn't depending on her wide strides. She was depending on how fast her legs moved.

Sprint...sprint...sprint..

Was Tag next to her or ahead????

Reach the end and touch the wall. Seemed easy enough. Simple and fun and well, it was exercising. Tag needed to exercise some more. And he'd found his opportunity with Cassia. He looked at her some more. Now she was imitating him and stretching out her legs as well, and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She was funny!

The gryffindor paid attention to her count, but they had never decided on actually when this race would start. She never said anything about 'running on GO' or 'running on Three' so Tag was caught off guard slightly.

Shaking his head a bit, the boy ran forward, just a few steps behind Cassia, making sure to move a bit more to the side. If he over ran her, he might crash into her back. That would be no good and defeat the purpose of this race.

See warming was very important and all BUT she probably wasn't supposed to consume all her energy jogging around before the actual race had started. Here's the answer as to why she was a sport kinda person. She belonged to the stands. Speaking of, it really would have been cool if there were people at the finish line -the wall- waiting for them and cheering and all. Maybe waiting with a towel and a bottle of water.

Oh, well. Back to reality where she was slowing down unintentionally. Stupid her, wasting her energy earlier. Juuuuust to be sure, she angled her head a little bit to get a look at Tag who was like a couple of feet behind her...actually a foot. And getting closer.

Smart him, saving up his energy. Smaaaaahrt!

She turned her gaze ahead again focusing on the wall. Almooost there.

And her legs were already burning and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead already.

Oh, yeah. At first Tag was just going to try and run at a good pace, but then he thought about something. He remembered, and he usually only watched track and field when the olympics showed on tv, how even the fastest runners would start off the race at a moderate rate. Then, when the finish line was about a few feet away, they would open up and just burst with energy and come out of nowhere and finish the race. Somewhat like an underdog, having a game plan.

Yeah, he'd do that. Hopefully it'd work. The guy was a bit out of shape. Too much ice cream over the term.

So, he ran at least two steps behind Cassia, from her side. Yeah. He'd show her, yes? Yes! He was a gryffindor he had to make his house proud?

"It....loo-looks-like you're.... you're...gonna win, Cassia." Tag pretended to huff out the words as he continued to run behind her.

The corridor didn't look that long when they started this race. How could a corridor get longer? Hmm... Next time she decided to race she was going to take a walk through the corridor to make sure she got the distance correct. Her eyes obviously weren't the best to measure. She now was gasping for air and throwing out her legs before her non-gracefully anymore. Jump rope was her thing.

Thud...Thud...Thud..

On the other hand, Tag seemed to be having as much trouble. She wondered why though. He should have his full strength. BUT maybe he was tired today and she was fast that he couldn't catch up with her? Eeeh...she doubted it was the later.

She was going to win?

She could live with that! The snake giddy and happy, locked her gaze on the wall and kept her current pace. Not that she could actually increase it. She reached with the back of her hand and wiped the thin layer of sweat on her forehead.

She kept running and running and she was going slower. A couple of feet to the wall she started draaaaging herself until she flopped down and touched it.

The question was...Did Tag get there before her. She was too busy panting to notice.

Was she? Tag took a second and stopped running just to stare at Cassia. Was she doing some sort of weird leap? It looked so. Well, that was a new walk to run, wasn't it? Unless she wanted to be a frog or something. He then continued to run behind her.

It looked close, the wall. Real close. Maybe Tag could win? With a burst of energy he pushed forward and made his legs pedal a bit faster in movement. Then the little blonde boy inwardly groaned. It looked like Cassia had beat him.

But, because his random burst of energy, which he was sure would have worked, he went crashing into the wall, shoulder first, a bit too hard. The boy's head felt heavy and light all at the same time. He shook it a couple of times, then felt himself losing balance as his feet tripped up and he stumbled backwards and cascaded onto the floor with a weird thud.

"Nice.......win......Cassia." Tag said in long drawn out words as he went onto his side and rubbed his hurt shoulder.

Oopps..

It might have taken her a minute or so until she managed to push herself off the wall. Oh, she was fine thank you. Though..what about Tag. Speaking of which, what did he just say. Win? She won? Cassia blinked then tried to review what just happened.

Was he okay? His shoulder, though. Oh, that was the sound she heard. Cassia crawled on her hands and knees then sat back on her heels next to Tag who was rubbing at his shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked her eyes on his shoulder. He didn't need to go see the healer, did he? "I don't know if it was a win, more like collided with the wall a split second before you," She said with a chuckle. You know, lighten the mood, get his mind off his hurt shoulder.

Did it WORK?

The snake smoothed down her hair that stuck out in different directions. "And Philosopher," She started trying to pull a serious face, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, "I shall nurse you until your shoulder heals," Loookit her, pulling a Gryffindor act. The race was her idea after all. So yeah, she ought to offer.

Tag was still on his side, rubbing his elbow as Cassia came over to him and told a short joke. Even in his pain the little Gryffindor let out a quiet chuckle. "Still a win no matter what." He said with a grin. "An, as well, I think I was the one who collided with the wall." Yep, he added an even more wide grin at that. Then he moved his free, non-hurt arm out from his side and put his hand into a fist and stretched it out to Cassia. Would she understand what he was trying to do?

A few seconds later Cassia was trying to speak seriously but it broke apart when she let out a small smile. He let her finish her sentence and smiled. Awww, look at that. Cassia was so cute. Tag had never heard such an adorable thing come out of a Slytherin's mouth. "Your help would be appreciated Nurse Cassia. But I don't think my shoulder's that bad. Just a bit sore." He reassured her. "But, like, you know..... if you wanna get me some food?" started Tag slowly. Hey, Cassia offered to heal him. Food could heal him. But, she didn't need to get him food. Just something he put out there.

Jokes always worked! She was quite proud of her attempt that resulted in a grin on Tag's face. If he could smile, then it wasn't that serious. As to who collided with the wall, they both were kinda busy panting for air and didn't get a look at each other. She figured that she collided with the floor more like it. No need to give him that mental picture which only makes her stupid. But like, she now learnt not to use up all her strength before the race start. And choose a shorter distance. Actually, she was wondering if she was racing-material.

A fist...towards her? Should she duck? Pffft. O'course she shouldn't. Cassia balled her hand and brought her fist to Tag's bumping it. FISTBUMP RIGHT! West and Theo taught this to Cassia. Mhhhhmm. See, guys friends were cool!

Nurse Cassia sounded pretty cool. The fourth-year's smile widened. Forget the serious face she was trying to compose. She never thought of herself as a nurse or healer, but she liked the title alright. "That's reassuring," That his shoulder wasn't bad. "Food it is then," She said excitedly rising to her feet then extending her hand to the Gryffindor, "Come with the nurse to go eat." Yup, she was taking him with her while getting the food. Some nurse, huh. "We do need to refuel after such an exciting competitive race," Heck, yes. Anyone dares to disagree with that.

See. Cassia had nothing to worry about. It wasn't as if Tag had cracked his head open or anything. Though, maybe if he ever did this another time, he may need to recalculate his way of running. Avoid all types of injury if he could.

Now she let out a complete smile. Even better! Tag liked it when his friends smiled. Especially after something big happening. It was just a way of knowing that it wasn't so bad, or that the mood could be lightened. "Yeah, it is." There was no need for her to worry about his shoulder. It'd be feeling better in no time. Just now since the impact was just a few minutes ago it throbbed, but that little prickle would be gone within the next half hour to hour, figured Tag. He took Cassia's hand with the one that she had fist bumped him with and hauled himself up. For a second Tag was confused. He didn't really feel like going to actually eat with the nurse. That was until he realized Cassia meant herself. "Oh, yes. The nurse is quite kind. Her patient likes her. And I do hope the nurse refuels herself rather good." Or the best they could with how the food was here at Hogwarts right now.