Ah, Lux couldn't remember. No problem. Adi still had more suggestions. "We can try making other sugary goodness.'' Gosh, Adi. Are you trying to recruit Lux to have a sugar overdose? "You like baking, Lux?"

Despite the serious talk they were having on their personal lives, Adi raised an amused eyebrow. "You kissed Louis?" Poor Bay. He must have been so hurt even if he and Bay may not have been a couple then. Adi knew he would have been if AJ had kissed another guy. Oh wait... that had sort of happened. Ian had kissed her. He remembered that numb feeling he had gotten all too well. "But its nice that you two don't fight. Fights drain the energy out of you."

''Do you get to boss them around?" LOL. As if Lux was someone of that nature. "I'm an only child so I've been spoilt rotten.'' Lies. He wasn't. "Not exactly sure as yet. Eating lots of sweets is a must though." Chocolates especially.

Adi laughed. "Would I get my nose transfigured into a carrot?'' Now that would be cool!

Other sugary goodness, huh? Was Adi wanting her to have an overdose? Hehe. Lux was definitely all for baking, and did it quite often as it was so much fun. "Yes! Baking is awesome. I am better at it than I am cooking, but I hope to become better at cooking too. What about you?" Did Adi know his way around a kitchen? If so, AJ was a very lucky girl.

Oh, so he hadn't known about her kissing Louis. Sometimes she forgot that it wasn't common knowledge. "He was actually my first kiss and Bay, Sander, and Tessa saw." That had gone over well. Not. It was crazy too when she never even had feelings for Louis in the first place. "That is true, seeing how many of my friends fight with their boyfriend/girlfriends and break up." It made her sad when her friends were sad and she really didn't like them hurting.

Did she get to boss her siblings around? If only. "Sadly I'm the baby so nope. My sister is nine years older than me and my brother is even older than that." So yeah she was definitely the baby of the family. "I can tell you are spoiled rotten." Wink. Obviously that was a joke. "Bay is an only child too." But most of her friends had siblings as far as she knew. "Eating sweets is a mandatory part of every holiday though."

Lux laughed along with him as she pictured the carrot nose. That would definitely be a sight. "Maybe, and you will have a pipe too." Beam. Maybe she could borrow Damien's because it blew bubbles.

"Goody. I came to the right person for all the baked sugary stuff.'' Hehe. "I can do a little of cooking though I need recipes for the food to actually taste good.'' Leave the boy to come up with something on his own and you might as well bring your antidote for poisons if you were going to try his food.

Tessa and Sander. In addition to Bay, Adi missed those too a whole lot also. Now that Lux was speaking about that event, he vaguely could remember something about that particular group of friends being upset. Was it because of that kiss? "But eventually you guys smoothed things over.'' And that was good because Lux and Bay made such a power couple. "I guess they think all that fighting isn't worth it.'' Which could work both ways. It either made them stronger or weaker.

Ohh! Lux was the baby! "You must be the spoilt one then,'' he joked. "Bay must have spoilt you even more. You two can be the most spoilt couple.'' These were all jokes of course. Lux was the last person on the planet he would ever expect to act spolit and stuck up. "I may have been acting a lot like that recently so I'm guessing that's what gave it away.'' LOL.

A pipe! Yes! Adi liked the sound of thaaaat if Lux ever made him into a snowman. "I can be Snowman Sherlock Holmes.'' All he needed was the right get up and he was good to go!

Haha, Adi sure had came to the right person; Lux could agree with that. "Oh for sure! And I need the recipees too. You definitely aren't alone there." Though when it came to sandwiches and things like that she was more than capable of managing on her own.

Nodding, she definitely agreed that things had smoothed over. "The awkwardness didn't last long and then it was back to normal though I had no idea what had happened. Bay didn't get upset when I kissed any other boys though Sander and Louis told me I shouldn't." She had been younger and naive then. It was embarrassing how clueless she had been when she was twelve. "That's probably true. I guess it just depends on the people involved because we are all different!" Life would be pretty boring if everyone was the same.

"Oh, I definitely can be spoiled at times," Lux confessed with a smile. She was not ashamed to admit it and really she didn't think she acted like she got spoiled a lot so there was no real harm in it. Her parents didn't let her get away with whatever she wanted to. "Bay spoils me sometimes too," It was amazing when he did though they also hung out and that was just as nice because she loved spending time with him no matter what they did. "Why do you say that you have been acting that way lately?" Was she missing something? Because Adi sure hadn't given off those vibes to her...

Snowman Sherlock Holmes! YESSSS!! "I will have to get you a deerstalker cap then!" Now that would be perfect.

Fat Friar floated into the Common Room with a pile of seemingly rotten food balanced in his crossed arms. "Wake uuuup! Wake up everybodyy! Time for breakfast! Rise and shine, bless you all! Wake uuuup!" He sang-song, generously throwing deliciously smelly fruit and snacks everywhere around the common room. The ghosty food disappeared in a small poof! as they hit the solid surfaces of furniture and the floor. Some even hit a couple of sleeping students on the comfy cushions, probably leaving a shuddering cold sensation.

The merry ghost stuffed his face with a cupcake (that had a green puffy things growing on the side of it) and hovered next to Helga Hufflepuff's portrait.

Leah sat on the warm floor with her back leaning against a squishy sofa, combing her long brown hair. She preferred her short hair back from when she was a firstie. Now she could barely get the stupid comb through her hair. She missed the time when she had no worries about anything except maybe getting lost in the castle. Being a fourth year and a fifteen year old... felt different. Just different.

She jolted out of her thoughts as somebody - or something drifted in through the closed common room entrance. It was the Fat Friar, the AWESOME house ghost. And hey, was that food he was holding??

Oookay, maybe not.

The badger still smiled broadly as the ghost sang-song in a voice that could wake every Hufflepuff student up, but the smile faded as she realized what he was doing. She ducked abandoning the comb that was stuck in her hair just in time as a ghosty pancake hit the sofa behind her. Despite her slight annoyance, Leah could not help but feel gratitude towards Far Friar for bringing them "breakfast".

She forced the comb out of her hair, smoothed it out just so that she did not look like a person who did not wash for days (ewww) and walked towards the mantelpiece underneath Helga Hufflepuff's portrait where the Fat friar was floating next to. "Good morning, Fat Friar sir," she greeted happily. "What's up?" Leah could not help but be suspicious. After all, they did not get a wake up call from the house ghost every morning.

Noel may have been snoring into the couch when he felt something cold hit his head. "Wha - what?" The boy woke up with messy hair, and sleep in his eyes. It took him a moment to realize he had dozed off in the common room the night before. Rubbing his eyes, the boy yawned and sat up and looked at the fat friar being ..... fat friar.

"Dude ..... why" he questioned with a frown while picking up the smelly, unrecognizable and once-edible thing from his lap. Not a good way to wake anyone up.

That was when he heard someone else speak up too, rather happily. "I don't understand why you don't find this gross" he asked her, stretching and wondering what time it was.

The girl turned around at the sound of somebody waking up ENTHUSIASTICALLY. It was her fellow fourth year Hufflepuff called - well, she forgot his name, but would probably remember it soon enough. He had the world's messiest hair and by the look of it, he must have fallen asleep on the very couch. Leah knew how comfy sleeping in the common room was because she loved her warm naps in front of the common room during her cold second year. But it was also a source of controversy because as she could see right now, it messed up people's hair yep.

"Possibly because I didn't get hit by it," she said, giving him a smile. "You should practice constant vigilance, even when you are asleep." Leah added, watching the ghost food disappeared with a poof. She leaned against the cool wall and closed her eyes for a moment. She did wake up extraordinarily early this morning. After an awkward silence, Leah opened her eyes. "How many do you think are left? Fourth years, I mean," she asked.

Knowing that her fellow Puff would follow, Lux made her way back to the common room. The meeting was over and she knew that it wouldn't take long for them to map out the area, especially when they knew it so well by now. Shame that Benny and Beverly couldn't join in and explore, but there had been enough of an adventure today she supposed.

Heading over to the area with the fireplace, she began drawing things while feeling the warmth of the fire.

Despite the yawning, the stretching, and the should-get-up-now indications Noel was giving, he simply laid back down on the couch. Underwhelmed by the girl's enthusiasm, who he KNEW was Leah, Noel nodded and pretended like he might actually do what she suggested.

When the silence stretched, Noel had opted to close his eyes again and was about to doze off when he heard her speak again.

Whatever peace he may have struggled to achieve over the past few weeks about death and mortality, it basically dismantled itself after hearing her. Because a) he had not considered that; the fourth years were the ones getting affected, and b) Oh.

His eyes opened and he looked at her - unsure of what to say.

"He was a fourth year, wasn't he?" he repeated what he was thinking in his head. "I had not considered that" It was not a good realization. "And Kevin was a fourth year .." Oh merlin. Suddenly getting up to sit, the fifteen year old looked at Leah with disbelief. "Are we cursed?"

He was obviously not paying attention to her about her advice. She did not expect him to.

Leah regretted speaking her thoughts out loud. It sounded dumber than it was in her mind and Noel (YES SHE REMEMBERED)'s silence confirmed that. She was about to take back what she had said and go back to her dorms when he spoke up. He was a fourth year. She knew without asking who "he" was. She did not know the Slytherin well, but it always made her little Hufflepuff heart sad whenever she thought about his tragic death. And Kevin... was Kevin. Flashbacks of Leah's first flying lesson, the weird?meal at the Gryffindor table in her second year and others all went through her mind at once. They all had Kevin Hirase in them. Maybe she missed him just a tiny bit.

She simply nodded, but frowned as Noel asked if they were cursed. Cursed. The girl paced slowly in front of him, thinking, then plopped down next to him on the couch. "It is possible, but unlikely." Leah said, looking into her housemate's eyes. "Have you... have you done anything recently that might get you killed or expelled?" she asked, lowering her voice.

Still disappointed that Beverly and Benny especially had not been given permission to check out the Hufflepuff common room, Adi had given his two friends cheery goodbyes before following Lady Lux to start doing their sketches.

Noting that she took the fireplace to start with, Adi decided he would start with the area on her fight. "Isn't it so cool that there is a passage actually leading to our common room?'' He found it SUPER DUPER AWESOMEEE!

Anywayyy...

Sketch, sketch, sketch!

Not so good sketcher at work here.

Noel made space for her when she sat down even though he didn't need to. They could be cursed. Hogwarts was a death trap. He has been saying that since day 1. It was just looking for ways to get you.

Her next question got a quick anyswer: "No!" but followed a very unsure statement: "I mean ... I have been my usual self. No one has complained .." It was true. He had been just him. Nothing out of the ordinary to tick Hogwarts off.

"What about you?" He asked, turning to look at her.

What if she did not survive this term? What if she did live through the rest of the year but never managed to return? What if she graduated with no problem but the curse still hung over her head?

That would be horrible.

Leah was glad Noel did not do anything that would make her lose another friend. She knew he was not a troublemaker - well, not one as serious as Kevin anyway. So being his usual self was probably something good. "I haven't done anything bad either," Except maybe forgetting to feed her kneazle the other day. But that wouldn't count... right?

"Do you think the Headmistress noticed the strange pattern?" she asked. She certainly hoped her parents didn't know about the curse fourth years problems because they might stop her from going to Hogwarts entirely. Leah did not want that. She was actually looking foward to her OWLs next year!

Making his way into the common room after a quick snack in the kitchens, Dylan noticed two of his best friends, Lux and Adi over by the fireplace. Smiling, he made his way over to them, seeing that they were drawing something. "Hey," he greeted. "Whatcha guys up to?"

Noel leaned back on the couch, eyes watching Leah. Her enthusiasm from a minute ago seemed to have faded away. Much like him, she was deep in thought now. He frowned to himself - he had not wanted to think about this. "That's good," he nodded - she didn't really seemed like the type to get in trouble anyway. It had made him wonder about the boy who died though - what kind of personality did he have? What qualified him to be killed off?

Or did these things just happened? Without a reason?

He shurgged when she questioned the headmistress's take on this pattern. "I doubt it, wouldn't she have said something if that was the case" He mused, picking at the couch.

"What would do if someone confirmed there was a curse and you won't make it till the end of the year?" he asked after a short pause. His mind had started thinking about his own bucket list - he wondered if she had one.

Curse --> death --> ghosts --> ghost food the Fat Friar was holding --> breakfast --> CAKE --> hungry.

That was the sequence of thought that went through Leah's mind. She considered for a moment what she would have for breakfast before realizing that they were having a serious discussion about the CURSE. Right. She nodded along with Noel, not quite remembering what she had said previously.

"Yeah, you're right," she said, taking a cushion and hugging it tightly. The Headmistress was not an irresponsible person, far from it actually. And she was also a Hufflepuff graduate, which proved just how awesome she was. So... if the Headmistress did not say anything about the presumed curse, maybe there was no such thing at all?

What the boy said next made her stop in her track. She knew it was just a "What if" question, but it seemed so real, so possible because it was Hogwarts! "You mean like my bucket list?" she asked with a bitter laugh. The Slytherin guy was not killed because he caused troubles. This was raaaaandom. And Leah Abbott could be the next victim. Merlin she DID need a bucket list. Maybe a will too, though that may be a tiiiiiny bit exaggerated. "I don't know. I will probably write back to my parents, and then..." she paused. Either she had no idea what she would do, or she had a thousand things in her mind that exploded at the same time.

The fourth year felt tears well up in her eyes (whaaaaat?). She quickly turned her eyes away from Noel's and looked into the roaring fire. "I would spend the remainder of my time with my best friend." Leah sniffed. She turned back to him and managed a small smile. "What about you?"

Noel was having morbid thoughts. He decided it would suck if he couldn't complete his bucket list before he died. He had abandoned it lately and that was no good. He needed to get back to it. He nodded, yes he meant a bucket list. It was like really really important.

Write back to her parents? That seemed reasonable, even if he would prefer to go back to them instead of writing to them. It was then that he started to realize how much he was missing them these days. And Sunny. And his new little brother. A brother he hadn't even met yet. To die without seeing their faces again ........ yeah, no good.

The thought only darkened the mood, so when he noticed the tears in her eyes - he wasn't all that surprised. It troubled him a bit though because he was no good at comforting, even if he had witnessed a lot of girls crying this year. He simply listened before awkwardly patting her back and giving her a rub of understanding. "Who is your bestfriend?" he found himself asking, as he pulled his hand away.

What would he do? Noel leaned forward, staring into the fire as well, "I have a whole bucket list ready to be done actually," he told her, clasping his hands together, "but I can't seem to prioritize that one thing which needs to be done no matter what"

At least she would not affect that many people if she disappeared. Her parents definitely and also a couple of her friends. They would hopefully? miss her. But nobody else really knew her existence in the first place, so it would not hurt them if the curse got to her.

Leah felt a hand on her back and smiled at the effort Noel was putting in to make her feel better. It kind of did work too! She felt an immense amount of gratitude towards him. As he pulled his hand away, she took it and gave it a little squeeeze before releasing it. "Angel, she is in Gryffindor." She could not help but doubt herself even as she said it. They still had not made up after the argument in the beginning of the year. Leah was the older one; she had to talk to Angel about this.

She turned to face him as he spoke. Did he actually make a list beforehand? Hey, maybe she should write her bucket list out somewhere before she forgot. "I know that feeling," she nodded. It was like having a load of homework but not knowing where to start from but in a more serious context."Who would you miss most?" Leah asked. He could start out by doing things he enjoyed with the people he enjoyed being with - his parents, siblings, besties, girlfriend, pet, anything.

Noel felt the squeeze on his hand and offered her a gentle smile. It was weird; bonding over death. He leaned back, suddenly much more relaxed and heard her. "You don't seem so sure .." he commented on the name of her best friend. "Did something happen?" Was that too personal? It didn't feel like it.

Who would he miss most? Ah. That was a difficult one."I am not sure," he shrugged, "my family I think ... " he said finally, because who else did he have in the world? But it wasn't really about him missing anyone, was it? Because he would be dead. It was about WHO would miss him. "What about you?"

Hehe, this was fuuuuuun and it didn't take long for Lux to be finished her drawing. Looked like Adi was still working away like a busy bee.

Maybe she wasn't nearly as good at this artistic thing as Cinna, but she still felt that her contribution to the cartography club was pretty good. It was so much fun exploring and drawing what you saw, but there was no way she would ever want to do that as a profession when she already had everything sorted. Her plans made her happy.

When Dylan arrived, Lux smiled. He was looking happy - but then when wasn't he in a good mood? "Hey, Dylan! We were just drawing things from the Common Room for the Cartography Club." He knew about it, right? Even if he wasn't a member? "So what you up to?"

Oooh! The Catography Club. "That's awesome!" He said, taking a seat. "Mind if I look?" He asked, glancing at her sketchpad with curiosity. He loved looking at how people did art, it was always so interesting.

Leaning back into the couch, he shrugged. "Not much. Just been wandering around, just finished having a snack in the kitchens. Been hanging out with Bleu a lot." He smiled sheepishly when he said this. "And yourself?" He asked.

When Dylan asked if he could look, Lux nodded. "Sure!" Smiling, she handed the notebook over. Hopefully he would be able to tell what her drawings were actually supposed to be because otherwise she seriously goofed up what she was supposed to do. What was the point of mapping something down when people had no idea what it was??

Ooooh, food and seeing the girlfriend. Seemed like he had a lot of fun. "Well, that's great! I assume that things are going great between you two?" Lux thought that they were such a cute couple and good for each other. "Oh, you know me. I've been studying and stressing about OWLs." She laughed it off, but still...she was stressed out.

Smiling, Dylan took the notebook and looked the drawing over with interest. He then gave a thoughtful look before giving her a nod and thumbs up of approval. "Very good. I like it." He commented as he handed it back.

The fifth year nodded once more. "Yeah, really great!" He said, and he couldn't help but blush a little when he said this. "What about you? You seen Bay recently?" He went on. It must be tough, not having him at Hogwarts and all. Dylan couldn't imagine what that was like...

Frowning, he gave her a pat on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you're stressed, I know the feeling," He told her with a sympathetic look. "It'll be over before you know it though, and you'll be happy in the end. The hard work will pay off." The Puffer added reassuringly.

...He liked her artwork? Really? Lux was pleasantly surprised. "So you can tell what everything is? Because I don't think I'm a very good artist. I'm nothing like Cinnamon." She was seriously pleased at his comment and beamed at him as she took the notebook back.

The blush was sweet and she was happy for her friends. "That's wonderful! I only really see him during the holidays and Hogsmeade weekends, though we do use the mirrors." It wasn't the same but it was something; the mirrors reminded her a lot of muggle webcams.

"You got that right. I can't wait for term to end so that I can go home." Just had to get through those icky exams first! The end was in sight.