Lux wanted to see Tessa.

Knowing that the Gryffindor was bound to come and get some food at some point soon, the young Huflepuff headed over to the table and took a seat. Grabbing a piece of toast from a plate in front of her, she munched on it slowly. She was not really wanting a huge breakfast, but toast was always yummy.

Tessa stretched as she came down to the Great Hall for some breakfast. She had managed to fit some training in that morning and had taken a shower before breakfast. Now, she was working out a few of the kinks, but was feeling relatively good.

She felt even better when she saw who was waiting for her. "Cucumber!" she exclaimed, sliding into the seat across from the girl. "How are you today?" she asked.

She looked around to see who else was around and her eyebrows raised when she saw a certain two nearby. "Are those two..." she looked at Lux in question.

Hearing her name called, Lux looked up from her toast and grinned when the person she had wanted to see had finally arrived. Awesome, because she had wanted to hang out with Tessa and have loads of fun with her since she had no classes right then. "Hey, I am great! How are you?" Bounce bounce in her seat.

Lost in her own thoughts, Lux had no idea what Tessa was talking about until she turned her gaze in the same direction.

Jaw drop.

"Are they kissing buddies, Tessa?"

"I'm doing well," Tessa said, sliding into her seat across from the younger girl. She began assembling her breakfast, glad to be spending time with her pseudo-sister. "How are you enjoying classes so far?" she asked, looking up at her with a smile.

Tessa glanced over at the two again and frowned slightly. "If they aren't, I think they're on their way to becoming buddies," she said, using Lux's terms. An idea suddenly sprung into her mind. "Lux... would you like to pull a prank with me?" she asked, a grin spreading on her lips.

"Yes I'm sure. I just had a tickle in my nose," Sander tried to convince Tessa hearing the worry in her voice. Then he felt the cool touch of her hand on his forehead. He had to force himself from sighing out loud. Her touch felt so wonderful and he could feel his heart beating rapidly again. He moved his hand wanting to place it over hers...to hold it, but the moment was lost when she removed hers from his forehead.

Sander felt the loss of her touch immediately and wanted to tell her to put it back up, but he suspected his request would get some weird looks back in return. So he remained silent.

"Yes. I really haven't failed in any of my lessons at school. I know it's hard to believe but I actually didn't. Maybe it's because if I ever did get close to failing, I would get a howler from my father stating that I would bring disgrace to the family if that ever happened," Sander bitterly explained why to Tessa.

"Well considering that I'm going to be doing my NEWTs this year, I could definitely use all the help I can get to help prepare for it. So quiz me all you want?" Sander smlled gently at her offer of help, whether it had been a joke or not.

Unknown to Sander, he didn't even realize he was still holding on to her hand and that it was resting gently on his chest. Maybe because it just felt so natural to have it there. Maybe because having it there made him feel whole. Whatever reason it was, the hand remained where it was.

He smiled when she asked what he was thinking about. 'Oh Tessa if only you knew.' Sander thought to himself. He was thinking of taking her by the hand, leaving the Great Hall and taking a walk with her. Taking her to where there were no prying eyes, and sharing a kiss with her. But he couldn't tell her all that. So he just told her what he was initially thinking about.

"Oh Lux had me cornered in the kitchen the other day and mentioned that we always make weird faces when we look at each other. I was just thinking what Lux would be thinking right now? Are we making those weird faces again?" he smiled gently at Tessa before screwing up his face and crossing his eyes.

"I wonder whether this could be one of the weird faces she was referring to?," he laughingly demonstrated to Tessa.

"I like school, Tessa. I perfected my boat!" And she was so very happy about that fact! Mentally kicking herself for not bringing it down for Tessa to see, she suddenly remembered something... "We still need to do that race!" She was so pumped and ready to do it whenever Tessa was, and hoped that Bay would be in on the fun too.

Ewwww, kissing buddies. "That's so gross." They were already holding hands... what if they started kissing in public too? Shudder. She was sure she would go blind if that ever happened.

The mention of a prank got her full attention, so she was fortunately able to forget about the kissing thing for the moment. "I am all ears." Eagerly, she leaned in closer so that she could be told what the plan was without the risk that Bay and Christmas would hear.

Ohh.. Bay relaxed a little bit. "I've seen you in try outs and I'm sure you'll make it Christmas" he gave her hand a little squeeze to reassure her. "Im not really worried about making the team.. if I do then great and if you are we can practice together which means more Bay and Christmas time" he laughed. "if not I'll be practicing anyways to try out for next year" he told her.

Letting her hand go Bay started to eat more food. Man everything was so good. "What are your plans today?" he asked her, for he knew he had two homework assignments to work on.

Christmas smiled and said "Yeah well i guess we need to wait and see and i am planning on going to the potions lab to practice a basic potion"

Bay nodded with food in his mouth, he chewed and the swallowed. "Yup.." he agreed with her, but for Bay waiting was the worst part.

"oh potions lab.. cool" while looking around the great hall, man he never wanted to leave this place. "I have some homework to catch up on.. I think Herbology and Transfiguration" while mentally checking his list, yup he was right those were the only ones he had to do at the moment.

Christmas smiled and said "Well good luck in getting those assignments done Bay" Christmas was loving life a lot at the moment

He was happy that she was supporting him, he gave her a big smile. "Thanks Christmas" he said. "Im not the best at Herbology but I'mma give it a go" he said while taking another sip of his pumpkin juice.

"so… ermmm do you know if your going home for the holidays?" he asked her. he knew it was coming up but he knew that he would be stay at Hogwarts over the Holidays. His Father and Mother were going away to see family and decided that Bay wasn't going to go. He didn't mind, less healthy food for him to eat, picking up another piece of bacon and eating it. yup the right choice.

Tessa nodded, believing him as she slowly, regretfully, removed her hand from his forehead. She was tempted to trail it down his face, and one finger did ever so slightly, but she got control once again. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, regaining control over herself. At least, for the most part.

"Well, I am sure you're not alone," she laughed, shaking her head. "I, however, have failed a few classes," she told him with a shrug. It was mainly intentional- for many reasons. Most classes had made sense- Quidditch had just come first. "That makes sense," she nodded. Her father sometimes noticed, but most often it was all on her. "I will do my best to help, but you may have to persuade me," she said with a laugh. "It's hard to get me off the Pitch!"

He was quiet for a moment, and she wondered if she had pushed too far. After all, ones thoughts are typically their own for a reason. Her eyes quickly flicked down to his lips as her conversation with Lux entered her mind. Not now, she scolded herself, shaking herself of those thoughts as Sander began to speak. "Oh did she?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "She told me a similar thing in the Library the other day..." she said thoughtfully. However, those thoughts were stopped as Sander started making faces at her. She laughed, and then responded in kind- making fish lips before screwing up her lips and crossing her eyes. She giggled in the middle of a third face.

"I think these are definitely the faces," she said, still laughing.



"I'm glad!" she said, her smile proud. It was amazing how far the second year had come in a few months. IN a few years, she would be dangerous- meant in the most positive and endearing way, of course. "I can't wait to see it!" She nodded emphatically. "Of course we do! But, the spell isn't going anywhere- we'll definitely get to it!" she said with a nod.

Tessa laughed. "Well, it sometimes happens when you're older," she told the younger girl. "Not to everyone, and not at the same time, but sometimes the moment is just right," she explained. "But, that doesn't mean I don't agree," she whispered to the girl, giggling.

"Okay," she said, inclining her head toward the couple. "I say that we add some excitement to their get together, what do you say?" she suggested with an impish grin. "Like this..." she raised her wand and raised a single droplet of water out of a pitcher. Directing it with her wand, she aimed and had it drop right on top of Bay's head.

Lux bounced in her seat a little. It made her happy to get praise from someone like Tessa, who was so smart and good at magic; she really wanted to be like her when she was older. "That's so great! You can see it before we race and we should have more than one race!" As long as they did it before the lake froze, she did not see why it wasn't possible. And when the spring came and the ice melted, they could start racing again!

"Well, it is not happening to me." she assured the older girl so as she would not need to worry; Lux was well aware that Bay and Tessa were protective of her since they saw her as their younger sister. But if a boy ever tried to kiss her, he would be punched in the face.

Grinning at Tessa's plan, she laughed as she watched as Tessa made a drop of water rise out of the pitcher and land on Bay's head. "Can we make this a food fight? Because I am not good with spells."

Sander laughed, "Oh believe me, Tessa, I have methods of persuasion that you will not be able to resist," Sander leaned closer to her, so close that their foreheads almost touched each other. Then he winked before leaning back. He noticed her eyes flick down his lips and that made him automatically lick them before switching his gaze down to her lips.

His thoughts were brought back to their conversation about Lux. "So she told you the same thing too huh? What is she seeing that we're not?" Sander asked before laughing hysterically when she started making comical faces herself. His eyes were drawn to her lips again when she started making fish lips. He wanted to lean over to kiss those luscious lips. But he fought the temptation. Instead, he reached out with his hand, and caught her lips just as she pursed them again. Then he gently stroked them.

He wondered whether the look on his face right now, was exactly what Lux had been talking about.

Christmas smiled at Bay and said "I dont think i am going home over the holidays cause my dad is abroad with work and my sister is staying with my grandparents in France"

Bay was in mid bite of another yummy piece of bacon. "Oh so were both staying-------" his head was wet..really wet.. what the---- whats happening.. Bay stopped chewing his bacon and just stared at his plate.. This wasn't happening… and right in front of Christmas. Shaking his hair he tried not to get any on her and he grabbed the towel from his lap and tried to dry his shirt and hair.

"Did you see who did that?" he asked Christmas for he was already planning his revenge and he wanted to know if she knew who dumped water on him so he knew where to direct the revenge.

Christmas nodded and said "Yeah we are staying and no i did not see who did that to you" Christmas couldn't believe that somebody would prank her boyfriend

Tessa grinned and nodded. "Sounds perfect!" she agreed, already imagining how their races would go out on the lake. Perhaps they would add some obstacles to make it more difficult. But the big question would be how to propel them in the water. But she would think more on that later.

At Lux's refusal of having a 'kissing buddy' Tessa couldn't help but laugh. "Whatever you say Lux," she replied with a grin. There were times that she had much the same thing, so she wouldn't try and tell the girl otherwise. Tessa was still more focused on Quidditch than anything, but now there were thoughts of a certain someone... But that was for another time.

"We can definitely flick some things toward him, but I get the feeling a food fight won't go well here," she said, glancing around. This was wehre some came to study and others came to hang out. Even though Tessa liked pranks, she didn't want to get them too out of hand- and food fight could escalate quickly. "I can help you with some spells, or you can say what we want to do, and we can work together with that," she reasoned.



As Sander spoke and leaned close, Tessa found that she couldn't breathe. He was so close, and her eyes were trapped by his. Then, the wink seemed to break the spell and he withdrew, allowing her to breathe again. However, she found taht she was leaning toward him slightly, as if following his movement. She stopped that immediately- both because she didn't want to fall over, and into Sander, and because she wanted control of herself once again.

"I think I'm afraid to ask what those are," she said, tucking a strand of her hair back away from her face when she finally got her breath back to normal.

She laughed and nodded. "I have no idea, but she's a smart kid..." she trailed off, wondering what that meant. If Lux was seeing something from both of them, obviously there was something going on. However, making faces was currently the top priority. She started to transition from the fish lips- but then Sander's fingers were there. She froze, looking up into Sander's eyes. As his finger moved over her lip she shivered slightly... but, was she cold? She didn't think so.

What was going on with her?



"Quick, look away," Tessa hissed to Lux, turning her head to look away from Bay's prying eyes. Granted, that probably didn't help, her hair was a dead give away as to who she was. She tried to smother as many giggles as she could, but a few escaped. "So," she said, to Lux when she was sure the coast was clear. "What would you like to do next?"

Lux grinned when Tessa liked her idea about the race and agreed with her about the kissing thing. She was right about both things, and her friend knew it too.

Smirking at what Tessa told her, she picked up a spoon and dipped it into the mashed potatoes, getting a good amount on it. Fortunately, the House Elves had prepared some fried mashed potatoes, which worked perfectly for flinging.

Moving the spoon so that it was aimed at Bay perfectly, she used it as a sling shot, and let the potatoes fly towards him before putting the weapon down and looking away again.

It was a good thing too, because just at that moment, he had decided to glance in their direction.

Sander seemed to be in a trance as he watched his finger move over her lip. Then he felt her shiver. Was it because she was repulsed by his touch or embarrassed that he had done this in front of everyone? Sander quickly removed his finger from her lips and moved to sit a little further from her until he was no longer sitting right up next to her.

Sander was embarrassed. He didn't know what to say to her, so he kept his head down looking at the food on his plate.

Bay kept wiping himself off.. man where did that come from.. He looked around the great hall to see where it could of come from.. "It would have been better if I saw what direction it came from" he thought while mumbling to himself. "Oh its okay.." he said out loud but it wasn't going to be okay for the person who did this to him… in front of his girlfriend really… come on man…

Bay squeezed her hand and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "I say we finish up here so we don't have more water coming our way" he told her while taking another sip of pumpkin juice.



Bay heard some giggling… he tried to pinpoint where it was coming from but this huge hall and it echoed like crazy. He looked up and down his own table where he spotted Tessa and Lux… they seemed to be in a good conversation… Lux and Tessa wouldn't do that to him… "would they??" he thought… no…. no way… he let the thought go and ate more toast. not paying attention again he felt something hit him and so he looked down on the ground and saw potatoes…

POTATOES… REALLY.

Bay was starting to get more embarrassed now… he stood up and yelled "WHO EVER IS DUMPING WATER AND THROWING POTATOES!! YA BETTER STOP" his face now super red he sat back down quickly.. hoping he got his point across.

Tessa was so comfortable and relaxed, she barely realized she shivered. She knew she wasn't cold, so she had dismissed it. There was so much else to pay attention to... and then Sander was gone. She looked at him bot surprised and slightly hurt by his sudden withdrawal. had she done something wrong?

"Sander?" she asked, her voice soft and slightly pleading. Why wouldn't he look at her? Panic rose slightly, and she tried to dismiss it. They would figure it out- they always talked. She gently put a hand on his arm. "What is it? Please talk to me," she said quietly.



Tessa had to smother her laughter in the crook of her arm as Lux launched a decent amount of mashed potatoes toward Bay. She turned away, trying to get ahold of herself- and this way, if Bay looked over, it would also appear as if she were coughing. Glancing back over, she saw that Bay was looking over, and she tried to look as innocent as possible... without looking too innocent of course. That would be suspicious!

When Bay called out, she looked over at Lux and grinned. Oh, they couldn't stop now. However, this time, she was going to do something a little less messy... depending on your definition. "Ready for this?" she whispered to Lux. Raising her wand again, she pointed her wand at the couple, and then did a small circle. "Meteolo Orchideous," she whispered. Suddenly, there were flowers gently raining down on Christmas and Bay. After a few minutes of it, she ended the spell- not wanting them to drown in the things. Just enough to keep it interesting.

Finding it really hard to keep her composure when she was so tempted to laugh at Bay, Lux suddenly became really interested in eating her toast. Not the easiest thing in the world, but somehow she felt she managed to pull off looking innocent of the crime in question. Part of her felt really bad for doing this, but then he had played a prank on her by having Ziggy squeak in her ear; although that had been forgiven, it did not mean she couldn't enjoy pranking him back.

Nodding as Tessa whispered to her, she watched as her friend proceeded to make flowers rain down on Bay and Christmas. Now that was amazing, and it was even harder for her to keep from laughing. Finishing her piece of toast she had been eating, she whispered back, "can you make Bay dance?"

Sander didn't know what to do. Should he just get up and leave or stay? He was embarrassed. Then he heard Tessa call out his name. He didn't want to look at her for fear that he would see revulsion in her face, but then she surprised him when she placed her hand on his arm and then quietly asked him a question.

Sander looked at her hand and quietly placed his over hers, before tangling his fingers in between hers. He looked up at her and sighed, before whispering so that only she could hear what he had to say.

"I thought I had disgusted you when I touched your lips with my finger. I don't know what came over me. Every time I'm near you I feel....I don't know how to describe it. I feel happy, confused, wonderful all at the same time. I know this is not the time and the place to be talking about this. I just wanted you to know that you've become very special to me. More than a best friend," Sander confessed.

He looked deeply into Tessa's eyes, trying to see what she was thinking.

Tessa kept glancing over at Bay and Christmas, wondering how well the spell was going over. HOwever, Lux's question brought her attention back to the girl. "I can... or would you rather him sing?" she asked, her finger tapping her wand thoughtfully. "And... we haven't done anything to Christmas yet," she pointed out. "It's not fair to just be picking on Bay..." That was something else to think about.



He was scaring her now. He was quiet, he wasn't smiling... this was a Sander she didn't know. She searched his face, looking for some hint for what had happened or what she had done...

However, things seemed slightly more normal as he interlaced their fingers. She looked at it with a small smile before looking back up at his face. As he began to speak, she gave his hand a squeeze of reassurance. He could always talk to her.

"What?" she almost squeaked, but managed to keep it down so that only Sander heard her. "No, I..." she blushed. "It felt really nice," she whispered, her voice quieter than before. As he kept talking, the blush increased and she resisted the urge to look away. She wanted Sander to know she was sincere. "I... feel the same," she managed to get out without stumbling all over her words.

"Crazy isn't is?" she said after a moment of silence. "We've only known one another a short time, and we're..." she trailed off, not really sure how to define what they were.