From Ana's point of view Alec looked quite content. He had not a care in the world. The only thing he was worried about was having fun. It was probably quite a nice break from the stress he must be under with school and NEWTs coming up. He should thank her really. She'd love for someone to distract her from the monotony of school and studying, even if just for a little bit.

Ana was almost tempted to leave Alec in the daydream for a little while longer. It wouldn't do him any harm. But she'd gotten what she needed. Or she would when she wrote down her final notes, and she also needed to get them to the Professor.

Sighing, Ana finished out writing her notes, reading back over them to make sure everything was in order before putting her notebook away.

Sighing sadly Ana unholstered her wand once more and turned it on Alec, ending the charm. She really would have loved to see him interact with something other than the bumper cars, say the carousel or ferris wheel, which he might have moved onto if given enough time, but she didn't have the time to follow him around all day either to observe him so this would have to do.

"Alec, can you see me?" she asked, once more waving her hand in front of his eyes, this time hoping he'd be able to see and hear her. She just hoped he would have been happy enough in daydream land to not be cross at her.

Okay, okay. Time to get this over and done with. Actually, it was MORE than time to get this over and done with. The homework assignment was pretty much due in the next few minutes, and as usual, Sophie was just now getting started.

Well, you know what they say--always be true to yourself. Heh.

Sophie decided to approach the Hufflepuff table and get this done. They'd be the ones most likely to pick up a random glass of water and drink from it. She approached the table and laid the glass of water on top of it. When no one was looking, she circled her wand over the water and said, "Sentio Somnium!" Sophie closed her eyes and pictured a human having one day in the life of a crup--barking loudly, chasing birds, playing fetch with a stick, etc., etc. All those things crups loved to do.

Heh.

There. Now to sit back and take notes. Sophie went to the Slytherin table and sat down.

Had the Great Hall moved somehow moved to somewhere further than usual? Adi thought he had taken practically hours to get there. But in reality he was walking slower than usual. Darn these achy knees!

Finally making it to his House table, the second year took a seat much to his protesting knees relief. He was hungry and his throat was rather parched. So...what was that clear liquid that he craved called again? Erm.....WATER! Yes, water! Ugh! Even his memory seemed fuzzy these days and had now added to his unusual body woes.

And looky! There was already a poured glass. Awesome! Not thinking twice about the glass of water, Adi picked it up and gulped it down in one go. Water never tasted so good.

Suddenly, he blinked as if confused. Had he shrunk? He couldn't see over the table anymore. He sniffed, twitching his nose. His face lit up as he suddenly had the urge to go chasing ins own forked tail. He jumped up and began running in circles. Around and around and around...

Weeeeee! This was fun!

BINGO!

Someone had taken the bait, and...too bad it was Adi. He was...actually her friend, and she would have actually preferred that it be someone she didn't really know. Well, what was done was done now, so she had no other choice besides to let things take affect and take notes.

On her parchment she wrote:

Well, I see the charm has taken it's toll on poor Adi. I think he's just realized he's a crup. Or, rather...he thinks he's one. He's sniffing and twitching his nose. Uh oh. Now his face is lighting up like a crup does when he's about to go running wild chasing something...or maybe looking for dinner. I'm not sure which one. oh, no--hahaha! He's jumping up and running in circles. This is too funny!

Why was he not catching up to his tail? Ugh! Adi was determined to catch it. He tore around in circles even faster. Hehe. This was fun and frustrating at the same time but he couldn't help enjoying himself. This was heaven!

Round and round and round and round Adi went after his stubborn tail. And to show how much fun he was having, he started barking. Yep. That's right. Aditya Rehman aka the Crup for the day barked.

''WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!''

In doggie language that might have translated to "I'm going to get you, tail!''

"WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!''

Sophie lifted her quill from her parchment and glanced up. OH. MY. MERLIN. Sophie glanced around the Great Hall. She really hated that Adi was embarrassing himself all because of Sophie and her homework. Why couldn't this have been somebody she didn't even know?!

She sighed and looked back down.

I think Adi has decided to do what every other crup dreams of doing--catching his own tail! I would think it's funny, but I feel sort of bad that this is happening to an actual friend. I'll be glad when I have all the notes I need, so I can end the charm and let Adi get on with whatever he was doing. Oh, no--now he's barking!

Sophie scribbled her notes faster. Just one more paragraph then she could end this charm!

This was getting no where. His tail seemed to be going the same speed as he was. Adi felt dejected. He slowed down and looked sadly at his tail which weirdly had also slowed down. But he was spared from his dejection when his tummy suddenly rumbled. FOOD! There was lots of food around so he knew exactly where to go.

Adi jumped back up on the long bench that went with his House table. The two front paws on the table and the two back ones were resting on the bench. His nose twitched as he sniffed out the various foods. This was doggy heaven, too! Chicken, sausages and what not. And how he felt showed too for he barked again. Happy barking this time, not determined barking.

Seeing as a plate of sausages was right beside him, Adi sunk his face into it and began wolfing down the sausages. Yum Yum!

Sophie only occasionally looked up now. She was going to have to end this charm soon. She was afraid Adi would take down the entire table if she didn't act fast.

Professor, I'm really concerned now. I can sort of see the whole house table being destructed soon. I'm writing my notes as quickly as I can now. Adi's stopped. I think he's realized that he'll never catch up to that tail. I'm really wide-eyed now, as he's jumped up on the bench and is staring at the food like it's some ribeye steak. ...and I think he's about to dive into a plate of sausages... Ohhh--yes, yes he did. Okay, I think I should end this, Professor. Thanks for the laugh.

Sophie quickly packed up her parchment and quill and headed over to the Hufflepuff table once again. With a quick Finite, she ended the charm and headed out the door as quickly as she could.

OMNOMNOM! Adi was gobbling down those sausages, all right. Suddenly...wait a minute. Something wasn't right here. What was his face doing in this plate? Why was his mouth practically stuffed? And he was kneeling on the bench... Oh Merlin! The water had been spiked with that daydream charm! Gah! Everyone must have seen him doing all those crup stuff. How embarrassing.

Adi scurried down from the bench and sat down like a human all the while chewing furiously. Who did this to him? His eyes darted from his House table to the others, seeking out the person who used him as a guinea pig, completely failing to notice Sophie..

Yawning, Lux slowly made her way up to the Great Hall and took a seat at the Hufflepuff table. It was morning, and she hadn't slept well the night before, but her stomach was hungry and demanding food. After glancing around her at the other students sitting at the table, she reached out and started piling some toast on her plate. If she was up early for food, she might as well eat as much as possible.

Adeline hobbled over to the Hufflepuff table. She was hungry, she hadn't eaten in what felt like days so she just wanted food, fod and more food but she had to cut back at some point. She didn't want to be a fat old/young lady. Adeline took a seat next to a weird red haired girl. Why wasn't she aging? NO FAIR!

Why was she here? Who was that girl?

When a girl hobbled over to the table, Lux couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Wow, she really is in rough shape. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Adeline. Wow, this ageing thing was not treating her well at all. "Hey, Adeline!" Smiling, she picked up one of the pieces of toast that was on her plate and took a bite.

Adeline grabbed herself a plate of food, she smiled when she started to eat the food. This food was really good. Why hasn't she tried it before? Or has she tried it before? Adeline tapped the side of her head as if it would help her remember somethings from when she was back to being her normal seventeen year old self. "WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?" If this girl was going to say 'hey' or something like that to her she best say it loudly. "SPEAK UP LITTLE GIRL!" Adeline demanded.

O_O

Lux winced when Adeline started shouting at her. This ageing thing was seriously getting out of hand, and it would not be any surprise if she went deaf with all the screaming that went on around her. "I SAID HI, ADELINE." Speaking loudly was something she never really did because it was generally rude, but since her friend's hearing was so bad, Lux assumed that an exception could be made. Besides, it would be impossible to converse when one of the people involved had no idea what the other was saying.

Theo had actually gotten lost in the castle this morning... like... ACTUALLY GOTTEN LOST. He was aiming for the sixth floor to find the boys bathroom, but accidentally skipped a floor, and Theo RARELY went to the seventh floor unless it was for Astronomy or Divination. So yeah, that was weird. After his ordeal, he went all the way back down to the common room for a lie down, because he had done FAR too much walking just to release his bladder. Tiresome work, you know!

After a nap, though, he made his way up to the Great Hall to meet one of his pals, Bliss. They needed a proper catch up since it was difficult to talk when you had first years hanging off your lips, so he had arranged a proper meet up.

He even sat at the Hufflepuff table.

Like... I know, gosh... dedication.

Bliss had absolutely no idea what time it was right now. She knew she had no lessons today, so she'd pretty much only just rolled out of bed. Everyone else in her dorm was gone by the time that she'd woken up, which was a relief. Having to face people in a morning was just the worst. It was a good job she'd gotten up now, though, as she'd arranged to meet up with Theo to catch up as that had proven difficult before.

Quickly checking the time, she realised that she had less time than she'd thought. It would seem that she'd slept through most of the day.

After quickly getting washed, dressed and making herself presentable, she hurried off towards the Main Hall. While she walked, she tried to brush through her hair with her fingers, but it was too tangled - hopefully the look she'd achieved was more 'casual-messy,' rather than 'just-got-chased-through-a-jungle'. She could only hope. When she reached the hall, she very quickly spotted Theo and her face light it. It was always good to see a friendly face. He was even sitting at the 'Puff table. Wow.

"Hope you haven't been waiting too long, Theodore," she said earnestly, once she reached his side, before sitting down beside him and aiming a grin up at him.

He wished Bliss would hurry up 'cause sitting at the Puff table was quickly making him uncomfortable. He couldn't help but start to wonder how often these tables and benches got scrubbed down... and then he shuddered. Bleughgh... But it didn't take long for Theo to shrug off these thoughts, because Bliss finally made an appearance. He still jumped a little when she approached him, though. "Oh... no, not been waiting long." He LIED.

He'd been here for AGES.

GRRRRR... but no really, he didn't mind.

Theo smiled back at her and let silence ensue for a moment. She looked a little windswept, and he immediately assumed that this was an inconvenient time for her. "You all right?" He asked casually. Why had he chosen to meet her HERE? There was nothing to do HERE other than eat food. Speaking of food, he wanted food. He wanted all the food.

Something about his tone made her think that that wasn't the whole truth. That and the fact that she knew Theo well enough to be able to spot some of his lies. "Hm .. well, sorry for making you wait at all." There. Her guilt was gone. They could move on. Theo didn't seem to be too bothered about waiting anyway, so there was no need to make a fuss.

Bliss momentarily fidgeted on the bench. Why couldn't they have chosen to meet outside or something? It wasn't as if it was cold. She often felt trapped inside - partially due to her confrontation with Elodie and Olly when she'd first returned - it made her feel like there was no escape.

But this was Theodore.

She didn't need to escape from here.

In fact, she felt comfortable in his presence. "I'm alright," she allowed, before pausing to consider her answer more. "I'm pretty good actually, I finally feel settled back into Hogwarts life." Despite all the bad things that were still going on, she has good things as well. Friends, mainly. That was what she was focusing on anyway, as she'd practically abandoned her friends when she'd gone to France and she still felt guilty about that. Her friends meant more to her now that they ever had before.

"And how are you?" She asked casually, though that really meant 'tell me everything'. Theo and Bliss had a lot to catch up on and honestly, she'd missed him more than most, so she wanted to know every little detail that she'd missed whilst away.

Blinkkkkkkkk... oh. Had he made his discomfort about waiting around obvious? He wouldn't have been surprised, since Theo knew too well that he sucked at keeping things like that to himself, but still... he didn't want to make Bliss feel awkward about it. "It's okay." He said quietly before clearing his throat. She was here now, so he was fine, and felt much better about sitting at this table.

Theo was pretty satisfied with her answer, but there was one little thing that was playing on his mind. "Sure?" He paused, wondering whether to bring it up. "I heard... I mean... Did your dorm mate.... Elodie Robin... Robert... Elodie really punch you in the face?" He quizzed, but maybe that was water under the bridge now. He hoped so, since Bliss had to live with the girl. He couldn't imagine getting in a physical fight with any of his dorm mates. Or anyone actually, but anyway, she was doing good. "Good... I'm glad... how's home?" He didn't know the full story of Bliss and her home life, and he wasn't sure whether to pry, but asking a general question about how it was seemed okay to him.

How HE was doing was a totally different complication.

Technically, he should reveal all after his nosy questions to Bliss.

But... nah.

"I'm great." He smiled a little. "Just tired, and stuff. Been playing lots of Quidditch." Too much, in fact. In AND out of school. He was sure that he was just going through a stressful term, which was why the Quidditch thing wasn't as enjoyable as usual. He hoped so, anyway.

Why did Theo look so surprised? Did he not realise that she knew him reasonably well? Bliss didn't say anything though, she just smiled and let the conversation move on naturally. Nothing more needed to be said about her lateness or Theo's feelings about that. She was her now and that was that. On second thoughts, talking about being late would no doubt be better than this, she thought as Theo asked another question.

There were going to talk about this?

Realllllllyyyyy?

"Well ... yeah," she mumbled, unsure what else she could say about that. All the memories of that day came flooding back - the awkward silence on her part, the new roommate that had been her replacement and Elodie breaking and rushing forward and ... yeah. "She did," she said a bit louder and fidgeted unhappy. Why did Theo have to bring that up? Sigh. She quickly moved on, snatching at the topic of home, simply for something else to think and talk about. "Home's alright, I guess. My siblings are mostly happy about being home, but mum's not really .. better." Pause. "We're all okay, though. Dealing. Adjusting." Hopefully in time things would be back to how they were before, or at least back to some sort of normality.

Hm. Bliss raised her eyebrows, not completely convinced, especially after having spoken to West. She knew about Dora things, but she didn't want to pry. If Theo was going to tell her things, then he would. "You sure?" She prompted anyway, regardless of what she'd just been thinking. She just to be sure and also so Theo knew that he could open up a little more ... if he wanted to.

Ooooh, quidditch!

That she could talk about. "We should play together sometime," she suggested. She wasn't 100% sure that non-players could use the pitch to practise, but she could find out. If they couldn't, they could always play together out of school. If he wanted to.

BAD MOVE, KINSLEY.

He knew it all along, buuuuuuuuuuut curiosity. "Right... well... that was lame of her." There, he wouldn't take it any further. He would just let Bliss know that he was on her side over that meanie Elodie Robins. Was that her name? Back to the home discussion, there was another thing that Theo wished he hadn't brought up, too. He nodded slowly as she answered. "That's good." He managed. gAHH... he was terrible at comforting, okay?! Did she want a hug? He had gotten good at those, you know.

"I'm glad you're back, by the way." Progress.

"Ehh..." He shrugged his shoulders but tried his hardest not to look too miserable. "It's been a crappy term..." Theo considered his own answer and wasn't sure if he could even explain his reason. He paused and then looked at her with a less serious face, "But at least I'm still gorgeous, right?" Compared to all the old fogies wandering round the school. Honestly, he would never get tired of seeing them all moping and whining, it was flipping hilarious.

His expression softened a little, just in case Bliss was feeling sorry for the others. Didn't wanna annoy another Hufflepuff, did he?

"Oh? Sure!" Theo said a little enthusiastically. He hadn't played Quidditch for fun in ages - it was aaaaaaall about the competition, but maybe it could lighten the load a little. "And... if you want, you should come and watch one of mine and West's matches." Did she know he was on the Under 17s team now? He wanted to tell her... casually. Especially since he wouldn't be on the team much longer since he was almost of age.

Yep...diamond it was going to be.

Benny had tried fiddling with it but that had been the shape that his thoughts kept coming back when nothing else seemed to fit so he was finally going to leave it that way. But one thing he wasn't going to keep was his position, his legs aching from sitting in roughly one position for the time he had been working. Ugg...this wasn't going to do. He didn't want to have to find someplace else in the castle to work on his project or have to out it off for any length of time period. That required too much movement.

Instead he stashed his wand and notes back up and stood slowly back up to his feet to get his legs moving and stretching. One feeling like it was threatening to fall asleep. He must have pulled something previously that he wasn't fully aware of. Looking around as he thought over his options, Ben wandered over to the Hufflepuff table. His movements slow but seeming to over some reprieve. Odd that moving was now helping.

He didn't sit down at first though, absently strolling down along the benches as he went back to working out the shape of his amulet. This time he knew what he was doing just getting it to return to the diamond shape. His fingers shifting and shaping as he moved. When he was finally satisfied Ben stopped in place, setting his work in progress down on the table top beside him. It would be time to set it into stone and that required his wand so he reached into his right pocket. It wasn't there. Left pocket...there it was. Whew.

"Duro..." he cast over the clay shape, making the unfinished D shape they had been shown. Ben touched it a few moments later when it didn't look much different and it hadn't fully changed judging by the feel of it. Letting it go once more to rest on the table and trying again, perhaps with a little more focus. "Duro!"

NOW it was stone.

Lame? She supposed it was, but she just shrugged. "I deserved it," she muttered, trying not to dwell too much on that memory. Stop thinking, Ryans. Thinking wasn't .. it wasn't .. good for her. Also, Theo clearly wanted to move on from the topic, so moving on they would do. There. All water under the bridge now, or whatever. "Yeah ... yeah, things are certainly better. Getting to be good again." At least she hoped so, but she didn't want Theo to think she was all doom and gloom, yeah. He didn't need to know she was still pretty miserable.

What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Not that it would hurt him if he did know ... maybe.

"You are?" Bliss said, trying and failing to keep the tone of genuine surprise out of her voice. Theo was her friend, of course he'd be glad. Silly, Ryans. "I'm glad to be back. I really am." Thanks to some specific people, anyway. Theo, for example.

What she wanted to say was, 'crappy doesn't cover it, from what I've heard,' but she didn't want to give away how much she knew. Not that it was all a big secret. But being so .. uncareful about it would only make Theo feel awkward and she didn't want that to happen. "So I've heard," she said gently and left it at that. Theo knew she was there for him. They didn't need to get all soppy on each other - but the option was still there. That kinda summarised the best kind of friendship for her. She would offer a hug, though. Hugs were always good. Always. "Anything a hug can help?"

Aaaand so much for being serious.

Bliss burst into laughter, taking the opportunity to really look at Theo and before she could stop herself, the words were out of her mouth. "Understatement of the year, Theodore." Well ... it was true. So .. yeah. Awkward. She kinda did feel a tad bit sorry for all those going around with greying hair - but it was all fun and game ... until it happened to her. Merlin, she hoped it wouldn't.

Hm. So. Quidditch was a go then? She grinned up at Theo. "Great. I really miss playing," she admitted. She'd been practising at home, but it definitely wasn't the same as playing in school. Playing competitively. Plus she'd been too nervous to tryout for the team in France, so that'd never happened. It'd be good to get in the air with a friend or two again. "Yours and .. West's? You made the team too!?" She thought he might have after West mentioned making the team himself, but she wasn't sure. This was great for him! "I'd love to go to a match!" Quidditch was great to watch and it would only be made better if she was watching her friends play. Namely Theo and West.

Theo made a FACE at her.

"No you didn't." To be fair, nobody deserved a punch in the face. Unless you were like... a Gryffindor with the first name beginning with A. Or a couple of Hufflepuffs.... actually a lot of people deserved a punch in the face, but certainly not Bliss Ryans. Pssshhhtt... as if she was acting surprised. Theo poked her lightly on her shoulder. "'Course I did, numpty." He smiled, and paused for a moment because he couldn't think of what to say.

"We all did." Yes, good, they did.

"You have?" Heard what exactly? Theo thought he had been pretty shielded this term. Unless she had spoken to West, obviously. Yeah, she probably had done. He was glad that Bliss didn't press him for information, because he wasn't sure that he wanted to open up HERE. At the Hufflepuff table of all places, ew. He DID kinda wanna know what she knew, though... The Slytherin smiled finally when she offered him a hug. Good because that meant that he didn't have to instigate it, and he really did want one. "It would." Theo raised his arms up and pulled Bliss into a big squishy squashy squish.

Her laughing was infectious, especially when she didn't exactly deny his comment. He chuckled shyly at his lap, then finally looked up and watched her expression. Theo liked a smiling Bliss. Yeah... ahem anyway... this silence was going on for a while. "Ohhhhhhhhh, really?" Understatement, huh? Was he MORE than gorgeous, huuuuh? Theo giggled jokingly.

"Are you gonna tryout next term?" For school playing, that is. He couldn't believe it was their seventh year soon, and that everything that he had gotten used to will be for the last time. It had flown by, but at the same time, it had dragged. Theo really wasn't sure what he was feeling about graduating, nor did he have any idea about what he was gonna do afterwards. Time to think about it, though, right? He grinned super wide when she clicked that he had made the team, too. "YEAH! Last summer I tried out!! I'm a chaser." Which was what he was supposed to be, not this keeper nonsense. But yay, Bliss wanted to come! "I'll let you know when our next one is." Or West would, cuz he was much better at knowing those sort of details than him.

Bliss made a FACE back, before lowering her gaze to her lap.

"I ... okay," she said, defeated. There was clearly no point arguing it, no matter what she believed. After all the things Bliss had put Elodie through, she knew she deserved that punch .. and the permanent cold shoulder she was now receiving. She was grateful that Theo thought that, though, but he still didn't know the entire story. Bliss' mood quickly improved when Theo poked her shoulder; she couldn't help but grin. "Well .. I didn't know for sure, did I?" Even if he had missed her, she'd still missed him more. She was sure of it. Still, she'd been stupid and not really stayed in contact.

All? As in ... everyone?

"Well that's an exaggeration." She could name plenty of people who hadn't missed her one bit.

Bliss watched Theo carefully. Did he think that she knew more than she did, or .. ? "Yeah. Not any details, though," she assured him. West was her source of information and he never told her things that he wasn't totally sure he could tell her. She also wasn't nosey. If someone was going to tell her something, they would .. well, that was her opinion on the matter. The reality of it might have been a little different.

Oh, yay, she did get hugs. "I was hoping you'd say that," Bliss said, right before she was wrapped up in Theo's arms. It was nice here .. could they stay like this for a little bit? Resting her head against him, she half-whispered, "I really did miss you, you know?" Just in case he wasn't 1000% sure by now. After what Bliss assumed was an appropriate amount of time, she leaned back out of the hug and smiled up at Theo. "You can add 'giving hugs' to list of things you're amazing at," she informed him.

Hm. She'd never seen him seem at all ... shy. It was sort of intriguing ...

Ahem. What. She forced her attention back to what Theo was saying. "Yesssss, really," she confirmed, trying (and failing) her very hardest not to blush. There was nothing to be blushing over, she was simply stating the truth. Only an idiot would deny how good looking Theo was ... or someone with bad taste and their opinions were invalid anyway, soooo .. yeah. Bliss giggled as well when Theo giggled. Not her fault, but those things were infectious, y'know. Giggle.

Next term? Hmmm. "Of course I am." There was absolutely no doubt about it. "Well .. I need to brush up on my skills first, I haven't played competitively in aaaaaages." She'd have time for that, though. Now that she thought about it, Quidditch was one thing she missed more than she missed some people. "Chaser? That's really great, Theodore! Congratulations!" She said proudly, grinning from ear to ear. Happiness and smiles and stuff really were contagious. "You'd better," she threatened .. teasingly? She really wanted to see Theo play outside of school. It would be a whole new atmosphere for her and a whole new experience. All in all, it would be great.