He seemed to be really into that book he was reading, the boy was. And she almost felt guilty to have interrupted him. She usually did that unintentionally. Since she was someone who liked to chat she just assumed that everyone else was. When that wasn't true so it'd result in her annoying others and them being irritated. That actually used to occur a lot when she was younger. Now, though, it hadn't been happening. *smirk*

This one, however, Simon as she learned seemed like a nice person who didn't mind talking with others. The snake liked that. Oh, and he was a reader. Interesting. "I actually haven't," She answered him shaking her head. "I .... don't usually read for fun," she actually didn't read for fun at all but yeah she didn't feel like admitting it. "But your third time, wow, it must be really good," Now she was intrigued. "I might give it a try, once you're done with it," wouldn't hurt to try new things. She'd been doing that for a while now since she needed to figure out what she needed to do with her life after she graduated. And the thought of that was only getting scarier in time.

"Yup, that's me," She grinned at him. Like a child it still made her grin when people addressed her or referred to her as the Head Girl. Never got any less cooler. "Nice to meet you, Simon. I'm Cassia," She wasn't sure if he knew her name already. "What brings you far from the dungeons?" She asked playfully narrowing her eyes at him in an interrogating way.

Maddison Arabella Cooper was on a mission. The small brunette had been wandering the castle despite the cold in hopes that she'd overhear some kind of helpful information about what was going on OUTSIDE the walls of the castle. And since she was small and could be quite discreet when she WANTED, she could easily go unnoticed. ONLY the fact that it was so cold seemed to have people staying in their respective common rooms and offices and the first year was left without any information and feeling quite hungry. She guessed THAT was why she'd headed ALL the way down to the kitchen.

After grabbing an apple and greeting the house elves with a smile, the twelve year old very carefully wandered towards the Fireplace and took a seat. This place was as good as any to think and eat and get warm, yeah?

CHOMP. CHOMP. CHOMP!

Why was it so COLD EVERYWHERE? Hayden did not appreciate it. She rarely left her common room lately except to go to lessons, and even those were usually freezing. At this rate they'd need an addition to their uniform: a very warm fur coat. It sounded very nice.

But Hayden did not like staying in the same place all the time. If it was warmer, she could be out exploring and meeting new people instead of doing her homework all the time. So now she was in the kitchens, which wasn't even that far from her common room. It was on the same floor and everything, but at least it was a chance of scenery. So after acquiring herself a hot chocolate, she found herself moving toward the fireplace in the back. She couldn't resist the warmth. When she got there, Hayden found a young girl sitting by the fireplace.

"Hi," she said. "Mind if I join you?" She had just been complaining about the lack of new people lately. Perhaps she could make a new friend.

Mouth full of apple here, see? So when Maddie was joined by a girl that looked about her age, the brunette raised her eyebrows and managed, "'F 'ou 'ant." That was a yes, FYI. Maddie didn't mind. Well, not at the moment, anyway.

After taking another large bite and gulping it down, the Ravenclaw eyed the other girl with mild interest. She wasn't great at making friends with girls. Something about them being more interested in their hair and nails than fun things like exploring. Maybe she should start giving people a chance, though. She'd be stuck with friends that were boys FOREVER if she didn't and while she didn't MIND, she s'posed another girl's advice and company would be good EVENTUALLY.

"So who're you?"

...Gosh, she was SO good at this making friends stuff.

What was that? Hayden was almost positive it wasn't a no so she took a seat near the girl. She took a big sip of her hot chocolate, burning her tongue in the process. She made a face, but she didn't really mind too much. Considering all the cold lately, she was just glad her tongue hadn't frozen solid and fallen off. That would be slightly inconvenient.

"I'm Hayden." Was that a good enough explanation? Was she supposed to list her five biggest personality traits? What sort of an analysis did this girl want? Hayden figured that if she wanted more she could ask for it, at the moment even a name was more than she'd known before. "Who are you?" Hayden had never seen her in the common room so she probably wasn't a Hufflepuff. So maybe a good question would be why are you in the kitchen? It was pretty far from most other common rooms, unless this girl was a Slytherin.

She didn't read for fun?

Simon could have fallen over from surprise at that statement. He hadn't met anyone who didn't read for fun. To him that idea was foreign but he guess that some people didn't prefer to read. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "That's okay, I guess its not for everyone." He'd have to see if others like the Head Girl preferred not to read too. Maybe it wasn't such an uncommon thing after all? When he heard that she'd give it a try, he beamed. "Oh yes, its really good. I'd definitely recommend it. It's really enjoyable," he said with a grin. It'd be nice to talk to someone about a book that they would be able to have in common. He hadn't met many people who had stumbled upon the novel.

Cassia was her name? That was a pretty name. He beamed. "Wonderful to meet you too," he said. He had seen her all around the place, leading the group; however, he hadn't gotten to meet her yet. It was actually nice to meet someone you admired in person. She seemed really nice. And then his smile faltered a little bit as he heard her use an interrogative voice on him. Perhaps she was joking? So he played along. Raising his hands up into the air with a wide grin, he explained why he was up here to the inquisition. "Uhhh... It was way too crowded and noisy in the our common room so I came up here to relax." Yep, all of that was true. But what was she doing up here? "What brings you up here too? If you don't mind me asking."

Hayden was an interesting name. Could be a boy or girls, yeah? Maddie was PRETTY sure that Benny had a boy on his quidditch team (when he played) that was named Hayden, Mhm. "I'm Maddie but you can call me Coop if you want to." Any explanation of the nickname would come if asked for but otherwise, the small brunette was going to enjoy her apple a bit more and observe the girl next to her.

She had lots of freckles, did she know? Lots and lots just like Kyroh. Maddie wondered what the chances of the two getting together and having a freckle-off competition was. Was there even a way to count so many freckles? And what would the prize be for the winner, anyway? Questions, she had them. She also was down to the last bit of her apple. Merlin, she must be hungry.

"So...you're a first year, right?" She looked like one unless she was a rather small second year. "What house are you in?"

"Why?" That was the first word that left her mouth. She hadn't even actually meant to ask it, but she couldn't help it. Why did someone named Maddie get called Coop? It had to make sense somehow, but at the moment Hayden was very confused.

Hayden was a first year, but what would Maddie have done if she wasn't? You shouldn't just assume years, because some people could get offended. Though in this case the guess had been right. It wasn't that hard to guess, given Hayden's height and probably young look overall. "Yes I am, are you a first year too?" Maddie looked fairly young, no older than second year for sure. Though she was taller than Hayden, but that wasn't much of an accomplishment. "I'm a Hufflepuff, what house are you?" Last chance to guess and her guess was...Slytherin?

"My last name is Cooper." So Coop. Cooper. Coop. Did she see? NOT that Maddie had anything to do with the nicknames origin. It was something her brothers had started. By the time Maddie was born, she was automatically known as the "Littlest Cooper" or "Little Coop."

See? Maddie was right per usual. Not that it had been particularly hard to guess but STILL. "Mhm, first year." So now they had one thing in common, at least. And she was a Hufflepuff? The small brunette knew Noel was one and he'd been terribly huffy about the whole thing. Hayden didn't seem to bothered to be a badger, though. Good. Maddie thought it was silly to be upset about your house. The sorting hat had been around for AGES so she was SURE it knew what it was doing. "I'm a Ravenclaw." An awesome one at that. One with Slytherin tendencies, mhm.

"So did you hear about the owls?"

"Oh that makes sense." Yes it did. The only question was whether she preferred to be called Maddie or Coop. She had introduced herself as Maddie first, so Hayden was going to stick with that.

So she'd been wrong. Maddie was a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin. But if she was a Ravenclaw why was she all the way down in the kitchens? That was pretty far from her common room, all the way across a freezing cold school. Was she just that hungry? Hayden probably would have just waited until dinner but apparently Maddie was hungry, judging by the speech with which she'd eaten her apple.

Oooh Maddie wanted to talk mystery. Yes Hayden had heard about the owls; what was up with them? "I did. They all flew away? There isn't a single one left?" It was really weird. What would cause the birds to act that way? Hayden didn't know much about animals, maybe she should read a book about it or just ask the Care of Magical Creatures professor. "Do you have an owl?" Wouldn't it be terrible for the people whose pets had flown away?

"Apparently." Maddie had heard rumors though she hadn't exactly gone to see for herself. Something about the empty owlery sounded a bit spooky to her. NOT that she was scared, mind you. She wasn't. ...NOPE. "I've got a kneazle who likes to try and catch owls so I'm sure he'll be especially disappointed." Not to mention the people who sent letters to their families regularly. It was all quite crazy. No contact with the outside world meant they were stuck here and stuck with each other. Maybe it WAS good Maddie was getting to know people after all.

"Animals leave places when there is danger, right?" The brunette shifted a little in her seat, eyeing the Hufflepuff. "D'you think that means something more terrible than a snow storm is going on out there or just really bad weather?"

More kneazles. Apparently they were a very popular pet among the students of Hogwarts. That did not mean Hayden was planning on getting one any time soon. She was just glad she hadn't had an own that flew away because she would have been very disappointed.

Hayden nodded thoughtfully. She had heard that animals left places of danger. Animals knew when storms were coming, right? But if that was why they'd left, why wouldn't they have left earlier? There was already a crazy snow storm outside, and it couldn't possibly get any worse. So Hayden had no idea what the deal with the owls was. Maybe Maddie had some ideas. "If it was just the weather, why would they have chosen now to leave? Why not before it got bad? But what else could happen?" The owls had just left so Hayden was sure that if something else was going to happen, it was going to happen soon.

Maddie WISHED she knew. The small brunette was not well versed in the actions of owls and their meanings but she DID know that animals could sometimes sense things that people couldn't and she firmly believed that that's what was going on now. The problem was that she didn't know WHY and she sure did WANT to know. No, strike that, she NEEDED to know. It was a mystery that was begging to be solved by someone and why not HER?

"Maybe they thought the owlery was safe until recently." She whispered this as if it was some top secret notion no one else should be allowed to hear. "But if THAT'S the case, does that mean we're not as safe inside and everyone wants us to believe?!" Her eyes were big and she looked around, considering lots of things. How long would it take for a castle of this size to freeze? Did the professors have an emergency evacuation plan set up in the event of said frozen castle conditions? Did the elves have enough food in here for ALL the students and staff for an EXTENDED period of time?

Questions, Maddie had LOTS.

That was a scary thought. If the Owlery wasn't safe anymore, that meant parts of the castle weren't safe. So what if that meant nowhere in the castle was safe? What if Maddie was on to something? Hayden took a sip of her warm, comforting hot chocolate as she considered that.

"I've never been to the Owlery; does it have a lot of access to the outside?" She was trying to come up with some sort of explanation, or even a basic theory. First, she needed a better understanding of all the facts and she hoped Maddie knew what the Owlery looked like. "I think that if they even thought there might be something in the Owlery, they'd close it off to students." At least she hoped they'd do something logical and safe like that. By they, of course she meant the professors or whoever was in charge.

One thing she did know was that the Owlery wasn't anywhere near her common room, so she didn't have to worry about anything for the time being. Maddie, however, was closer to possible danger. So she might.

Maddie had only been to the Owlery ONCE on account of her family NEVER sent her letters and she DIDN'T have an owl (Zeus would have tried to eat it FOR SURE). Really she'd just gotten LOST in this GIGANTIC maze of a school and ended up in the drafty room staring back at a bunch of hooting feather-faces. "ALL the windows don't have glass in them so the owls can get out easy and stuff." So there were ways in, if you were small enough. Plus magic so it wasn't completely far fetched. As for what the school would and wouldn't do in the event that there was clear and present danger, Maddie shrugged. "I've heard bad stuff has happened here before." So who knew.

But yes, Maddie WOULD be in more danger than this girl who was all cozied up by the kitchens. EXCEPT maybe for the fact that THIS girl was a Hufflepuff. She'd HEARD things about Hufflepuffs and danger, Maddie had. They had to be super careful.

"I just hope the snow melts soon. Going for a walk inside isn't as much fun."

That didn't sound very safe. There was a room in the castle with large holes in the wall. "So things other than just owls can get in." That was kind of supposed to be a question, but it didn't come out that way. It actually sounded way more ominous than it was supposed to. Well, maybe not. It was a very ominous thought. If there was something other than the weather scaring away the animals, maybe it could get into the castle through the Owlery.

"What kind of bad stuff?" Come on Maddie, you can't just say that 'bad things' had happened. Now Hayden needed to know what kind of bad things. What had she unintentionally signed up for at Hogwarts? She was getting seriously freaked out.

"I just can't wait until it stops being cold everywhere." All the time. She hated the cold. But Hayden didn't really care about not being able to go outdoors, she didn't elect to go out much even when the temperature was normal.

"Well depending on the size, yes." She highly doubted a Yeti could get through that window given the height and size but other things, possibly. And yes, Maddie was sort of worried, NOT that you could tell by her expression. The first year was the perfect picture of calm minus her eyes which had grown wide as the conversation progressed. She was too YOUNG to die and she had MANY things to accomplish and LIVES to impact. She shouldn't have to be stressing about freezing to death and Cold ones. She SHOULDN'T but she was.

"People have died here." It was in history books, that part. Surely she knew that much. "And dementors and stopping TIME or something." PAUSE. "My brothers read the Daily Prophet so I've heard all SORTS of things."

The cold WAS a problem. Maddie wasn't a delicate flower or anything but she did enjoy some sunshine and the occasional stroll through the grass with her shoes off. This whole eternal winter thing made that a BIT difficult. Just a BIT. "Maybe people are already working on it. Parents must have gotten suspicious about the lack of letters from their kids." Unless they were TOTALLY aloof...like Maddie's were.

So something reasonably-sized but not too large could get through the windows and into the castle. Huh, that thought was not reassuring. Neither was Maddie's explanation that people had died at Hogwarts and all sorts of other crazy things had happened. "I thought Hogwarts was supposed to be safe? How is the school even still open if so many weird and dangerous things happened?" Hayden hadn't really been up to speed on past occurrences, all her parents told her about was their time at Hogwarts. They hadn't mentioned death or dementors or anything like that.

"People must know there's something weird going on here." The parents thing, and also for other reasons. No one inside the castle could communicate with anyone outside, and that had to be pretty suspicious. "Unless this weather is everywhere, then we're doomed." What if the entire country was covered in a blanket of snow and fierce cold. What would they do then?

He apparently wasn't expecting that response. Either because Cassia looked like a bookworm, which to be honest wasn't really a possibility , or Simon hadn't met many people who didn't read for fun. And this was probably it. That meant that most his friends liked reading as much as he did. Well, good thing she was here to introduce him to the other type of people. The ones who viewed books for studying only. But yeah, she was willing to make an exception. Trying new things wasn't horrible. "Then I'll take your word on it," she told him. No pressure or anything. Okay, maybe a little bit.

Good thing he understood the joke. Wouldn't want to freak anyone out or scare them away. She liked those with a good sense of humor and most snakes had that. Awesome house and all. "Hmm, I see," She said scratching her chin and keeping up the act. "Well, Simon,I'd like to inform you that you are found innocent," She told him nodding her head seriously at first then breaking into a smile.

"I was near the Gryffindor common room with my bestfriend," she told him leaning her elbows on her knees. "So I thought to come in here and enjoy the warmth and smell of food," The last one was awesome.

"I'm not sure you're completely safe anywhere, honestly." Everywhere had its own dangers you had to deal with and so Maddie wasn't exactly fussed. It didn't mean she was keen on experiencing death or dementors or any of the bad stuff she'd read about, though. No way, Jose. "People probably know that and the good stuff here outweighs the bad to them or something." SHRUG.

"You think it COULD be everywhere?" Did that mean the entire planet was DOOMED? Should they go talk to Professor Star-man about this or? Maddie's eyes widened as she thought about it. "I wish I could talk to someone OUTSIDE Hogwarts so we could know MORE."

Sigh.

"Definitely!" said Simon. He gave her another carefree smile when she informed him that she'd take him at his word. Sheesh. A thought passed his mind. What if she hated the book? Well then, he'd feel pretty bad for a couple of months. Then he'd probably behave like a big boy and get over it and never recommend another book for the rest of his life!

He watched her continue the act with wide blue eyes. Ooh. What was she going to do next? Simon was prepared for her to tell him that he had been found guilty of some ridiculous crime but then she admitted that he was innocent. "Innocent? You mean that I'm a man free from all accusations? Or should I say a kid free from all accusations? This is the best day ever," he beamed as he threw his arms up into the air whilst simultaneously trying his hardest to keep a straight face. Nope. Nope. That wasn't possible anymore. He grinned, laughing a little too. "I like your sense of humour, Cassia."

Near the Gryffindor common room with her best friend? Hmmm.. Was the Head Girl planning on breaking in so that the Snakes could get into the lead for the House Cup? Perhaps, she was? She probably wasn't but it was a funny idea to consider. "Sounds fun. The food always smells good from here. Sometimes if you're lucky, I've heard that the house elves will stop by with some extra goods that they've made," he said excitedly. He'd heard that from some people but he had yet to witness that happen.

Merlin, it was cold. If her hands hadn't been full, the second year would have been hugging herself for warmth. Her hands were full though, with two steaming bowls of something a house elf had so kindly given her.

Walking carefully toward the deserted fireplace, Hayley slowly took a seat on the ground and set the bowls aside for a moment while she pulled a rather small blanket out from her school bag, and proceeded to lay it out before getting settled again with one bowl in each hand.

There, all set. Now to just wait for her poor, poor cousin to show up. If he didn't arrive soon, she might end up eating her soup without him. Her throat hurt, and although it wouldn't help, she couldn't even rub it without putting down the only things keeping her hands warm.

So it was happening then. She was going to read a book for fun. A small part in her brain was shouting 'what have you done!'. Though, generally she was was curious to see what the result would be. She might surprise herself. Despite it not being the first time she'd attempt to do so she still expected anything. Last time she'd tried was a long time ago anyway.

This one knew how to keep up with a joke. Cool kid, he gained instant coo- points on the Cassia-list. Mhhm, there was such a list. A secret one though, almost no one knew of. "Yup! You are a free kid of Hogwarts," She nodded at him sagely sealing the act. "Thanks, you're not bad yourself," at least he didn't find her silly or childish. So she was seventeen, she till liked to joke and goof around. Not many liked that.

"Exactly," so he did know about the elves as well? Of course he knew, everyone knew. It wasn't like the elves only gave food to Cassia. She sort of would have felt special and all but yeah equality and all. "They do, you just have to ask them," she said glancing around to see if any house elves were near them or within earshot.

Simon beamed at her, enjoying horsing around with a perfect acquaintance. It was nice to know that their were people out there who you could just click with based on certain senses of humour. It was hard trying to be so serious all the time. He laughed her comment that he wasn't bad at all. "Thanks, Miss Head Girl", he said saluting her rather enthusiastically.

His blue eyes widened when he heard from her that all he had to do was to ask them for something. "Really? You only have to ask them for FOOD? That's brilliant. I thought you had to wait somewhere and then they'd see you and then they'd offer you some leftovers but that's awesome!" he exclaimed as he wondered whether or not they could try it now. Perhaps they could go find a house elf to give them some delicious treats to eat? That sounded good to Simon as he was an ever-hungry growing boy.

Hayden nodded and shrugged. "Yes I suppose that's true." She was just freaked out that people had died at Hogwarts. Hopefully measures were taken to make sure that sort of thing didn't happen again. Is that what made Hogwarts safe? A terrible mistake was only made once?

"I don't know because we don't have any news." She hoped it wasn't everywhere but at that point it didn't really matter. What mattered was that she was right in the middle of it and it was terrible. "Yeah that would be helpful, or even get some sort of news or something." If she could just see a single current copy of the Daily Prophet or something, she would be happy. "But I don't think it is everywhere because then where would be owls be fleeing to?" If they'd flown away, it must mean that there was someplace safer than Hogwarts for them.