Being stealthy and maintaining a look of casualness wasn't something Alec was good at. And both at the same time? This... was impossible.

Heart thumping wildly, the boy looked this way and that as he edged closer and closer towards one dorm in particular: the third year ones. He hoped that the others would come and help otherwise... everything was going to go wrong. They might not get the stuff set up in time or this might not be as grand as the Hufflepuff had envisioned it to be. Surprises were scary like that.

Despite the nerves, this was... exciting! And for a good cause. The eighteen year old grinned over at the woman before walking ahead of her and up to the third year dorms, his bag swinging by his side. This felt a bit weird. He hardly knew Tyner well, apart from the fact that the woman obviously liked Quidditch. But now he knew something else: she had good ideas. And maybe, just maybe, this could work.

A quick peek into the dorm told him all he needed to know. "All good, Professor!" No indecent boys. And the dorm room was empty! Perfect.

Sneaking... sneaking... sneaking...

Sneaking was not in the nature of Tiara Tyner. However, this was for a good cause. A few weeks back Tobias Tempus had come to see her and, in the process, had mentioned that his birthday was this week. Tiara was in a festive mood lately, so she had teamed up with-- who better?-- the Head Boy to pull off a little redecoration of the third year dormitories.

Once she got the all clear sign from Alec, she entered the room. "Oh goodness," she said, refraining from plugging her nose. "First step: fresh air." With a wave of her wand, the air smelled much better. "See, this is why I enjoyed Ravenclaw Tower: we had windows." She gave Alec a small wink.

"Right. Let's get started. I'll take these balloons and start levitating them if you take these.. whatever you call these." She was clearly not up on her party decoration lingo.

And when would Kaiden be arriving?

Kace was chilling in the boys dormitory. He got some info from Alec that they was supposed to be a surprise for one of his fellow friends. He smiled because he loved doing surprises for people. As he was waiting, he noticed Alec and the Professor was here. He waved at them.

"Hey Alec!!" he called out to him. He knew about the plan and he was told to meet here. Or keep an eye out at least."Wooaahhh nice things you got there.." he mentioned to the professor.

He saw the balloons the professor had and the little decorations. They looked so cute and he smiled. He loved decorating for parties.

Fresh air? Alec... was confused. Did it smell bad in here? The seventh year couldn't tell. He thought it was fine and normal but... maybe the woman thought differently? Or maybe this said a lot about the seventh year dorms. There were undergarments and socks and other clothes strewn about everywhere in the seventh year dorms. Tyner was NOT going in there.

He let out a small chuckle at her words. "I didn't know you were a Ravenclaw." See? He was learning things already. And he would have suggested that the woman should talk to Hadley about the lack of windows but Alec did like the underground theme going on with these dorms. "Thanks for clearing the air, Professor." Nod.

Oh they were getting started? "Erm... do they have a name?" He took them, flashed her one of his grins and looked around the room. Where to start...? The corner? Good idea. The Hufflepuff headed over towards there, trying to disentangle the decorations as he went. This reminded him of headphones and their ability to tangle themselves up so easily.

"Hey, Professor? What... do we do if Toby comes in here? And we're not done yet?"



... And someone HAD come in.

Alec stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening and his brain trying to come up with a quick excuse. What would they say if it was Tobias? 'Hey, Badger Boom, we're going around decorating dorms. No big deal.' ... Lame. The voice didn't sound like Tobias so... the seventh year whipped around...

... and smiled. Kace. Phew.

"Hey! Glad you could make it." Were introductions needed? "Erm... Professor, this is Kace. Lecium. He likes Quidditch as well." You know, if the woman was curious. Turning back to Kace, he added, "Kaiden's bringing the cake. Want to help me with these?" He held up the round decorations for the younger badger to see.

"Let the decorating commence! Wingardium Leviosa!" Tiara began levitating the balloons to different heights in the air. She didn't exactly have a knack for decoratin, but she figured that as long as they were somewhat evenly spaced she couldn't go too wrong.

Apparently it was time for a small backstory? "Yes, Ravenclaw. I spent four fantastic years in that tower, though sizable amounts of time on the Quidditch Pitch as well. Chaser," she said in reply to the unasked question. "Hence why I felt it necessary to freshen up the place. I'm used to airy places, the outdoors - not underground." Plus... teenaged boys lived here.

Stepping back, she admired her handiwork. The entire ceiling was covered with 'birthday boy' balloons. "That looks splendid! Now how about..." She rooted around in their pile of things. "Aha! This needs affixing to the wall, I'd say." Oh, he was talking to her again. "Tobias? I doubt that will happen. He was just heading up to dinner when I met you." So unless the boy was a world championship speed eater, they would be fine. "But just in case, never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned memory charm." She winked here, leaving Alec to ponder whether or not she was actually serious.

Just then another boy walked in. Tobias? No. Good. "Mister Lecium. I have seen you around before, yes," she said with a nod of confirmation. "You has excellent taste in sports!" Yes, Alec's plan sounded good. "When you gentlemen finish, check the spacing of these balloons. I do not claim to have the eye of an ar-TEEST."

Ian had been spoken to by the head boy in an attempt to gather help for a job they were doing in the third years room. He figured it would be a way to meet more people and specifically boys, who might help him grow in his confidence and social skills.

He entered the room and saw preparations already taking place and unsure what to do, he kind of stood to the side of the door, watching the others work.

Alec had told him all about the party for Toby and he was all to happy to help. Not to mention excited. Where there was a party, there was foooood. Hehe.

"Hey, everyone!'' he called as he entered the Dorm. Ohhh look! Balloons! He like balloons! Yes, he did. "So, how can I help?''

Let the decorating commence. Alec didn't know why he was chuckling at that but it happened. Maybe it had a lot to do with the fact that it was being said by, you know, a Proffesor. And one he hardly knew.

Four years. And a Chaser. "I tried Chasing a couple of times and..." Alec shook his head. "I can never get used to that. But... the Ravenclaw common room must be nice with all those windows." It probably didn't get as stuffy as it got in these dorms during the summer. And the smell of old socks could probably be gotten rid of quicker in there than here. Mental notes were being made to ask Tyner about the spell.

When the Quidditch official spoke again, the eighteen year old looked over at her and then at her handiwork. "Oh... awesome job, Professor!" His eyes were on the ceiling and the number of balloons that the woman had managed to get stuck up on there. Everything was starting to look great already. And if Badger Boom had been just heading to dinner, then that did mean that they had a lot of time on their hands. He looked over at Tuner and gave her a nod. "Plenty of time."

And the memory charm joke? Cue nervous chuckling. Was she joking? Was she not? He didn't know.

"Yeah, we will," He was meant to have an eye for detail, right? "It looks great from here."



Hearing the sound of another voice made the older Hufflepuff whip his head round again. Oh! Adi! And... a boy he hardly knew. Why was it that he didn't know this boy again?

Moving on...

"Hey guys! Thanks for coming!" GRIN. ... Tasks. He should delegate some tasks. A shiny badge he wore said that being a leader was something he had to become over the year. Plus, the boy whose name he didn't know was standing there. By the doorway. Something had to be done about that, yeah?

"Hey, maybe you two could work together?" Badger bonding experience? "Here, we have blue, green, yellow and white streamers. Pick a colour and, between the two of you, decide who's going to levitate the streamers up and who's going to stick parts of it to the top of the walls. Sound like a good plan?" And maybe, if they didn't know each other, this would be their chance to do so. Hadley would be proud.

Kace nodded when Alec showed him the round decorations. "Sure Alec!" he said going to help him. It was great that someone was taking care of the cake. Then he nodded towards the professor when Alec introduced him. Then he saw her decorate the room with the hovering charm and putting up the decorations. Everything was looking SO good. He approved. Then he heard the professor's comment and smiled. "Thanks! I do love Quidditch, i hope to be on the team this year." he told her.

Then on the task at hand, she wanted spacing between the balloons. He nodded and then used his wand to move the balloons to make them have a little space. He noticed a new hufflepuff he hadn't quite met before. He saw Adi there and he smiled and gave him a high five, "Hey Adi!! and hello i am Kace.." he said to the new puff.

Kace said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and then started putting up the round decorations.

Okay, so Kaiden was a little late, but he and Miks had to make the cake, and that ended up being really difficult. About as difficult as it was to crawl through the barrel with a cake. Especially since he almost dropped it a few times. But eventually the Quidditch Captain made it to the dorms, covered in flour, with the cake hidden in a cake box.

"Er... delivery." he said sitting the cake down, and rubbing some of the flour off of his forehead with the back of his hand. Hopefully the cake wouldn't poison them all. Miks' food had betterish recently so the odds were in their favor right? "What now?" And also, Hello Professor Quidditch Person.

Ian saw the headboy, Alec whip his head around and the boy Adi whom he'd met briefly at the start of term feast. He nodded at the instructions and grabbing some streamers, he turned to face Adi and asked, How do you think we should do this?

So Alec had tried Chasing before? I wonder how long he's been Seeking. Most Seekers as good as he was had been doing it for most of their careers. "Well it is certainly very different than Seeking. It requires the ability to be fully in tune with two other independent thinkers and to form all three people into one single entity, thinking uniformly. Rare is the group of people who can achieve that goal." In other words, they were complete opposites as far as positions went. "But yes, the common room was perfect for my tastes. As you may guess, I love being up high above the ground." A necessary characteristic for a Quidditch player, with the sole exception being Ascanius Stark.

She was pleased with the fact that her work with the balloons was given a stamp of approval. Now if only she could transfer this success into decorating prowess in other areas of her life. Like my office, she thought grimly. It was as bare as bare could be.

Kace seemed to be a polite young gentleman. "Do you? I hope you fly well during tryouts, then. I will be looking for you on the pitch this season!" She gave him a warm smile that she hoped would boost his self-confidence a bit going into the tryout sessions.

Ah yes, two more gentlemen (Ian/Adi) were here! Excellent, excellent. "Welcome to the decorating party, gentlemen! Don't be afraid to dive right in." It looked like the Head Boy had the delegating all under control, to which she nodded satisfactorily. He had been a good choice.

And there was Kaiden with the cake, right on time. She supposed it would look delicious if she were back in her teen years when she would actually have eaten such an unhealthy treat. "Perfect. You can set it right over there," she said, conjuring a small table in an empty corner.

Everything was shaping up well. Tiara had originally thought it was going to just be her and Alec, but he had managed to scrounge up quite the group of willing workers. Hufflepuffs were especially good finders, she supposed. It looks like we just need to get out the hats and the badge. But where had she left them...? Oh, they were probably still in her office. "Accio party things!" she said, waiting several seconds before they finally whizzed into the room.

The decorations? FREE! There. Maybe he could work with Kace on this then? "I'm sure you can make it, mate," And Tyner just said that she was going to be watching so... no pressure, Lecium. When the younger Hufflepuff started levitating the decorations up, Alec held his wand up and started sticking them up.

Seeking was different to Chasing, yeah. Tyner had a point. "Exactly. I think it's really great to see a group of Chasers working really well together. I mean... when they're really in tune with each other and... it's the teamwork, you know? I think it's great," He shrugged and moved to stick up some more of the decorations before saying, "Do you... see it a lot in professional Quidditch teams?" For references. There were lots of those going around. "I... I'm not surprised, you know. Being the Quidditch Official and all." GRIN.

Captain/General Kaid! "Hey, thanks for bringing the cake!" he said, grinning over at the boy. And Tyner had said where to put it... and conjured up a table so there was that. "Think you want to help with the decorations too, mate? There are some streamers that need to go up." Other than the ones the other two younger Hufflepuffs were working with.

Speaking of, Alec looked over towards the two younger boys (Adi+Ian) and smiled. They were okay, right? "Hey... for the person doing the sticking: Adhaero is an awesome spell." Was he forgetting something? "Erm... just point your wand at the point the part of the streamer you want stuck on the wall."

After hearing about the birthday party, Dylan made his way over as fast as he could. He made his way through the common room and into the dorm in a flash, and he smiled at everyone inside. Looking around himself, he raised his eyebrows at the decorations. They really looked nice! They had done a great job decorating.

"Hi everyone! I hope I'm not too late." he said as he entered. "But anyways...the place looks really great!" he added with a nod of his head. This was such a great idea, having a birthday party for Tobias. Dylan hadn't really met him officially, now that he thought of it. He'd always seen him around the school but never got around to talking to the guy. Well, he'd probably be doing so today. Tobias seemed like a really cool person.

Jordan edged into the third year boys' dormitory, drawn by the noise but a little wary about entry. His older cousin was about the same age as the boys who lived here, and said cousin was particularly defensive when it came to other people coming into his room and personal space.

Still, it looked like fun. Without being consciously aware of it, he took hold of a balloon that bumped against his side, and stood there holding it.

Ian decided to begin levitating streamers. He chose one of the green ones and setting the roll on the ground pointed his wand at one end and spoke the incantation. Wingardium Leviosa He watched as the streamer began to make it's way up to the ceiling. He thought it was really neat as the streamer turned as it unwound itself from the roll.

She smiled at Alec's comments. "I agree. A group of people working together warms the heart." She looked around at the group of Hufflepuffs assembled, doing just what Alec was talking about. "Yes, that is the goal at the professional level. Some days it's there and others it's not, but most of the time that is what happens."

Surveying the room, she noted that most of the decorations had been put up. And for the little bits that were left, more students had just walked in. And Alec certainly had this situation under control, so it was time for her to bow out. No teenaged boy wanted their 44-year-old female professor at a surprise part for their birthday.

"Well gentlemen, I'd call this mission a success. I have somewhere to be, so have fun!" She pulled out her wand. "But just in case I pass Tobias..." Tapping herself on the head with the tip of her wand, she Disillusioned herself and headed out the door.

Ian saw the final length of the green streamer go up into the air and decided to speed the process up. He took the blue, yellow and white as well and pointed to each end, individually. After voicing the incantation, he guided the streamers up to the ceiling so that Adi could secure them to the ceiling.

"Sure!'' Adi said to Alec. Ian had already gotten started but Adi took a bit of time to join him because he still had more people to greet. "Hello, Professor!'' he said. He didn't know her that well; he'd only seen her around the school and at the Quidditch matches. He turned as Kace addressed him "Hiya, buddy!'' he greeted his best friend. And there was Kaiden aka Mr Grump. Adi nodded in his direction, not at all keen to get into a conversation with him.

Instead, Adi joined Ian. "Good job, Ian!'' he said to the boy. "I'll just stick that. Adhaero!'' Good! Was there anymore streamers around?

Ian smiled as Adi spoke the words to stick the streamers to the ceiling. Thanks, Adi. First time I've ever used the spell to levitate streamers as decoration. It was kind of nice to be involved in something with other huffies. Ian looked up and admired the job he and Adi had done.

Tyner understood, yeah. Working together was great, something that can be seen with the way they were all working together. And she was telling him how they did the same thing on professional Quidditch teams. This... was something he had to go and see her about one day, right? Especially since...

... she was leaving. Using a disillusionment charm.

"Thanks for your help, Professor!" Alec grinned and waved at her before turning to the others. So this was down to him to pull it together. He was the oldest here now. And an adult in both the magical and Muggle worlds. ... That... was a scary thought.

New people! "Thanks for coming!" the Head Boy called, grinning at Dylan and Jordan, "And not late, no. You two can..." His bag! He had things in there. The boy headed over to it and opened it, taking a peek inside. Satisfied with the contents, he looked up at the two boys and held out the bag. "I have some plates and forks and spoons in here. There are also some more streamers so... you two can set the table up? And work together, yeah?" Teamwork. Important, that was.

His grey-blue eyes glanced over at the streamer boys (Ian and Adi) and he couldn't help but grin some more. See? Teamwork. And they said that boys couldn't get anything done. ... Did anyone say that? Shrug. "Great job, you guys! ... Everyone! Keep it up, yeah?" Thumbs up.

... Wait... "Erm... once we've finished everything, we can get the birthday boy. Oh! And grab a party hat when you're done." Was that all? Yeah. Keep working, Hufflemen.

Kace was helping decorating and levitating and he noticed Alec was helping sticking it on. Once they were done, he nodded him thanks. Then he noticed more people showed up! He smiled and it seemed to be a little reunion for the badger boys,

"Hey guys what's up how have you been?"

Everyone seemed to be doing something when it looked done. He noticed the professor left and she put the charm on herself if she saw Tobias. He couldn't wait to see his face when he saw this party. "I can distribute party hats?" he offered. Since he only did soo little. He gave everyone a party hat and waited for the birthday boy.

Ian smiled at the words of encouragement from the head boy. This looked like it would be fun and he'd get to spend more time around the boys from his house. Maybe he'd be able to tell his mum he was doing loads better meeting people.

He took a hat from the third year boy passing them out, but just kept it in his hand. He didn't want to mess up his hair yet (though that was not really a danger as it was generally an unkempt mess).

Set the table? Jordan seized the bag with perhaps a little more eagerness than was required. He'd been a little worried that he'd be ask to decorate using magic, which... yeah, he didn't really know any of that yet, and he didn't really want that emphasized by not being able to stick streamers and balloons to the walls like the other boys.

So, table setting was where it was at! He gave the other boy assigned to the task a smile and set to work.