Eden had to giggle at that. "My Welsh? You're silly," she said, and she patted his head affectionately as she finished off her eggs. He seemed all right, though, and not sick. Just acting...odd, even for Kyroh.

Oh. He didn't mind the healer? Hmph. Eden thought the woman was incredibly scaaaaary. So she tried not to go to her, even when....say, she had a black eye.

That black eye she didn't get from Agatha Hapgood.......

HMPH.

When he asked if she needed a hug, she smiled a little. "Well--not right now but--I love hugs! You can give me one anyways?" she asked, holding out her arms for one. HUGS MADE THE WORLD GO 'ROUND....kind of. Hugs and other things, of course. Eden was a ....hug and kisses kind of girl, you could say. Her blue eyes just sparkled and blinked as she examined Kyroh. She was becoming astute at analyzing body language lately because...Cutty was such a CONFUSING person--and she could TELL there was something different about Kyroh. She didn't know what, and if he wasn't saying, she wouldn't press him.

Plus...maybe a hug would HELP him feel better?

That, she already knew and so it was easy to drop the mind-reader bit. Hayley wondered if it was the mere fact they had practically grown up together, or the fact they were cousins and best friends both, that made him so aware of her. And visa versa. But then, that made her think of Chloe and Grace, both girls of whom she had also practically grown up with. Could she say the same of them? ..

Brushing the thought away as Noel blurted out his next question, straightforward as ever, Hayley nibbled on a piece of bread as she thought of how to answer. The truth, obviously, was always the best policy. Especially in her books. "A Gryffindor.. a year above us, I think. His name's Chance," the coloring of her cheeks only seemed to grow a bit more noticeable at her very casual confession, "But I don't need you to fight him. It's nothing like that.. he doesn't even really know I exist, you know?"

Well, sort of. They had talked once, properly, in Hogsmeade last year when she and Chloe had ran into him and his friends. But that was besides the point.

Silly? Him? Yeah. Sorta. The fourteen year old beamed, his smile stretching from ear to ear even as she pat his head. If she thought he was silly that meant she didn't think he was weird or anything after he had run away from her in the library.

He still had that book too.

It probably would be best to return it considering that Kitridge-

Wait.

Eden was asking for a hug? Sure he had OFFERED but that was different because that was if she needed one but she said she didnt NEED one but WANTED which was cool But-like-hug....and Eden.

His mouth opened ready to respond but his tongue suddenly felt abnormally heavy. It was weird. He NEEDED his tongue y'know? To talk and respond and...and talk.

Hesitantly Kyroh scooted closer still unable to say a word, before he wrapped his arms around the older girl for a hug.

Eden LIKED THE KYROH SMILE. That meant she wasn't....scaring him away this time! The brunette didn't like scaring Kyroh. He was just..the nicest little guy ever.

OOoooooh.

Kyroh!Hug! Eden squiiiished him and chuckled a bit. "Wow--Kyroh--you're SUCH a great hug-giver--" she pulled back and booped his nose with her finger playfully before scouting the table for more pumpkin juice. "I can see why people rave about your hugs." She said with a nod. "Sorry if I'm a little damp....from running, you know?" she felt gross and sweaty. Oops. She shouldn't have let Kyroh even TOUCH while she was all........blegh.

"I'm gross. Sorry." Swheiuqhfwihgf. She was blushing.

It was not one of HIS best hugs. It wasn't. His arms felt like jelly and what was worse was that his heart was beating so fast that his chest was starting to hurt.This liking people thing was dangerous.

No one ever told him it was psychically painful.

The only good thing was that the hug WAS the best one HE had ever gotten. Really. It was...yeah. Eden was good at hugs.

As Eden pulled back, Kyroh quickly began to rub at his chest because PAIN. Best hug giver? People raved about his hugs? Bitting back another big smile the Ravenclaw nodded. Forcing tongue to actually LISTEN he opened his mouth. "Thank you." The words came out quiet and he wasn't even sure if Eden would hear them because she started talking again.

"You're never gross."

Eden was still quite oblivious.

"You're welcome!" she said cheerfully, SNATCHING up another cup of pumpkin juice, and draining it halfway...MERLIN. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to just...relax.

Ha!

"Never?" she raised an eyebrow. "Riiiiight." She would just...let him believe that, kay? "How's Vesper?" she asked. "The tortoise" She felt the need to clarify. "Still strong and kicking?" Not that they kicked.......that much. "I hope she liked her sweater I sent you..." she griiiiinned. "She's just so cuuuute!" Eden's love for reptiles..ugh. UGH.

Janelle was running out of time. The clock was ticking and she still hadn't found anyone to be the subject of her Arithmancy activity. She decided to head to the Great Hall, hoping to find some of her housemates. It was a great idea, in theory, but there didn't seem to be anyone around who fit the criteria.

Janelle sat down for a moment and tried to come up with a plan B. Looking around the hall, she hoped to find someone that she could use for her survey. She knew that there had to be students who weren't in Arithmancy class. She glanced from table to table, but no one jumped out at her. Finally, Janelle decided to walk by each table until she found someone willing to work with her.

Okay, so Toby needed to get this homework done, and soon. And where better to find someone to partner up with than in the Great Hall, where presumably everyone visited at least once a day. It was a lot easier than searching the castle for anyone in particular, that was for sure.

Toby strolled down the length of the hall, with the Ravenclaw table to his right hand side, rolling the potion vial between his hands.

"Does anyone need a partner for the Potions homework?" he said, looking hopefully around at the patrons of the Great Hall. Anybody. Anybody at all.

James looked up from stuffing his mouthful and peaked over the head of someone next to him to the person speaking. Homework? Oh man...he'd totally forgotten about it he'd been spending so much time with Vinnie lately. How had that even happened? Usually he finished everything first. Ugh.

He waved his hand at the kid he didn't think he knew or if he knew he didn't remember his name. "I do!"

The person whose head James was peering over turned out to be none other than Dima Toussaint. Who, SURPRISINGLY, had also not done Potions. Ravenclaws were supposed to be clever, right? Seemed like the hat had missed the lack of that particular trait in this kid.

"We haf hothewo'k?" were the eagle's garbled words, spoken through a mouthful of toast.

Clearly, he was meant for the house of wisdom.

Aha. Perfect. Toby knew this plan would come to fruition. He halted his progress down the hall and turned to look at the Claw who'd spoken up.

"Awesome," he replied, and was about to actually properly ask to pair up with the boy before he noticed a familiar face.

Dima. Ahh, what a kid.

"Yeah, we do," Toby replied, nodding. Which... ah. If Dima was also in need of a partner, that had the potential to make things tricky. Or, well, not really. Because Toby had a Hufflepuff fix for that.

"We could work on it as a three if you guys want?" Maybe? That could work.

James looked at Dima and grinned. Sweet multiple people to help! He stuffed his mouth full of toast again and nodded. "'Sounds good to me. Think mine's in my bag..." hopefully.

He went to digging around in his bag and found the vial tucked away safely in a little box his mum got him. "Here?" That could get embarrassing!

Uh... did someone want to tell him what said homework WAS before getting started on it? Dima was confused as always, but his basic powers of observation allowed him to notice the vial James extracted from his bag. Oh! He remembered corking one of those during the last lesson, he did. Needed it, then? Maybe they had to try each others' brews?

Anyway, since the third year didn't have his sample on his person, a quick summoning charm did the trick. A few seconds later, it had flown into the Great Hall and over to Dima.

So. "What are we doing?"

While the other retrieved their vials in different ways, Toby stood there and eyed his own potions vial, thinking about the whole brewing process. That hadn't been his best day, but hopefully everything would still work out.

"We have to drink it-" maybe that part was a little obvious "-and then convince someone to do something they normally wouldn't to. If I remember right, the potion makes you all confident and able to talk people into doing stuff." Like sweet-talking kind of thing.

He looked up at the pair. This was probably better if you knew your partner pretty well, and knew what they weren't likely to do. But too late now, because this was happening.

"I can try to convince you-" he gestured to the boy whose name he didn't know "-to do something. You can sweet-talk Dima-" he pointed to Dima now "-to do something. And Dima, you can try your skills out on me." Toby uncorked his vial and gave it an experimental sniff. Hm. "Sound good?"

Toby was curious to see if this would work. He was usually pretty confident, but not so much as of late. At least that meant he was unlikely to get the arrogance side effect.

Really? He had to drink this? James made a face and looked at Dima. What was he supposed to ask Dima to do? "Um....okay....?" Well this would have been faaaaaaar more fun to do with his closer friends that was for sure.

He uncorked the vial and made yet another face. Did he really have to drink this? He was all for experimenting but this was a little out of his league. He shrugged and chugged the vial making yet a third face. "This stuff is horrid...." Ew! Like seriously...

Did James know him well enough to know what he wasn't likely to do? The older boy wouldn't pick something terrible, like BULLYING someone or anything, right? Dima didn't want to do anything of the sort. But it seemed like he'd have the same problem with Toby, because the guy was a big ball of nice. And, OF COURSE, asking him to be mean wasn't an option.

Eh. He'd consider it later.

For now, Dima uncorked his vial, tipped it to his lips, and guzzled the stuff.

Well okay then. Here goes. This might have been easier (or maybe actually more challenging) if he'd done the assignment with Soph or maybe Eden or Grayson or Forrest or someone like that, but at least it was getting done. Toby raised the vial to his lips and knocked it back, downing the contents in just a few mouthfuls.

He winced at the sweetness of it as he recorked his vial and waited for the effects to kick in.

Maybe it was because he was waiting for it, or maybe the potion's effects were kind of stealthy, but Toby couldn't really tell anything was different. Not at first. He looked between the two Ravenclaws to see from their expressions if they'd noticed a change, but even as he did so the Hufflepuff found himself sort of standing up a little straighter and folding his arms over his chest in a confident sort of boss stance. It made his back hurt; apparently recent months had made him slouch a bunch, almost shrinking into himself. But now Toby stood tall. Or... as tall as he could, being pretty short for his age.

And that was when he noticed it. Or, more accurately, he noticed that he suddenly wasn't feeling self-conscious or... anxious? Strange. Not until he'd take a potion to lift it did Toby actually recognise it had been present at all. He felt... good. Not great, or anything. But... confident. A little more like his old self.

"Nice." The Hufflepuff nodded, speaking to himself more than anything. He looked at the empty vial and then glanced at the Ravenclaw whose name he still did not know. Well, time to change that. "By the way, I'm Toby. What's your name?" Even his voice seemed to ooze confidence.

Hmmm, now... what to convince the kid to do?

James looked at the empty vial in his hand and then at the other two. What was this potion supposed to do again? Something about confidence or something but he was already a pretty confident guy. Though he did feel himself get a lot less tense as seemed to be his permanent state and he stretched a little bit. He turned around on the bench to face the kid and stretched his long legs out and leaning back on the table the very picture of casual.

"Hi Toby, I'm James," he said with a smile and watched Toby. He looked at Demi to see if he could think of what he should try and convince him to do. Probably something embarrassing. That'd be funny.

The moment the potion touched his tongue, Dima was wincing at the too-sweet taste. But as soon as it had come, it went, and the potion began working it's magic. The third year could feel the brew working it's wait through him, spreading to the tips of his fingers and toes. He could feel his back straightening a little, and his usually cheerful expression morphed into one that contained traces of self-assurance. There was also something more nonchalant and easy in his demeanor and the way he held himself, making it seem like the tiny Toussaint had just grown up a whole lot.

"And I am Dima Toussaint." Peasants best be realizing that introductions were unnecessary when HIS was the only name they needed to know. Ever.

Cue hair flip.

Watching the other two was sort of hilarious, and Toby had no qualms about letting the amusement show on his face. The way their whole demeanour had visibly changed made Toby wonder how he looked. Pretty good, probably.

Still with what could only be described as a confident sort of smirk on his face (which was weird enough as it was, because he NEVER smirked), Toby regarded the Claw who'd identified himself as James. Nice.

Dima got a glance too, and it was all Toby could do not to outright laugh. But no. He had a handle on things. Totally. Totally.

"James," the Hufflepuff said suddenly, shifting his weight a little more onto one foot and sort of doing a weird standing-but-lounging thing. He didn't know why. Apparently confidence made you do variations the cool-guy-swagger-stance. "How d'you feel about singing a rendition of Hoggy Warty Hogwarts? Y'could stand up on this bench and belt it out to the Hall. Seriously, your voice? I'd love to hear it. I bet everyone else would, too."

Did that work? More persuasion? Toby had charm, he totally believed he could swing this.

James looked at Dima and rolled his eyes in an exaggerated, non-James like manner. "We know who you are Dima..." Seriously, it wasn't like Dima was so special anyway. Now James on the other hand. Well he was hot stuff. Vinnie said so. HA!

He glanced at Toby and crossed his arms over his chest. "Sing? Pfft sure I'm awesome at singing. Watch this!" He stood up and stood on the bench. "HEY EVERYONE WATCH THIS!"

He waited until most people were looking at him and cleared his throat.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."

When he was done he bowed not even waiting for applause because he knew he was awesome! He grinned at Toby and jumped off the bench with ease.

He turned his attention to Dima and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Alright Dima. Let's see...you know what I bet you do a mean chicken dance. In fact...I'm willing to bet no one can do it better than you. Want to show off to everyone?"

Oh, James knew who he was? Then why was he not ON HIS KNEES? Puh-lease. At least Toby had the good sense to have the guy turn into a clown and make a fool of himself for Dima's amusement. Like a court jester! Except the older Ravenclaw's singing wasn't THAT bad, but it was just as well. As long as they were aware of who the boss was here.

Another flip of the hair. He was on a roll today.

"... a chicken dance?" His confident expression seemingly faltered for a moment, giving way to a flicker of the usual Dima. But that... that would be embarrassing! MORTIFYING, even- the whole Great Hall was already looking their way due to James' outburst, and they'd ALL see him acting like a ridiculous farm animal! No. No, he refused.

On the other hand, though... James' argument seemed to be so compelling. It didn't SOUND like very good reasoning, but the boy's words of persuasion had rooted themselves in the thirteen year old's brain. He was Dima Toussaint, the best of the best. Why did he need to be embarrassed about a silly dance anyway? His expertise at everything was so overwhelming that everybody would most likely be overpowered by his amazing skills and want to do a chicken dance too! So he stood up. "I don't need to show off when everyone's already aware of how AWESOME I am. But I'll do it anyway just so you can see how much my fans love me." Which was a WHOLE LOT.

And while he did that? Rising from his seat, he turned to Toby. "I think you should Adhaero my leftover toast to your forehead and run around the hall acting like a unicorn. Because I'm cool and I said so." EXCELLENT persuasion right there, everyone. He got the number one award for charm.

As James sang, Toby bopped his head and tapped his foot 'cause boy oh boy could the boy sing. It was real tempting to get up there and join him, but no. This wasn't his moment. Toby would have his time to shine, and when it came? Oh man, he would shine like the best of them. Like Polaris. But brighter.

Tobias absolutely gave James a one-man round of applause, technically a standing ovation as he was already standing up.

"Nice."

Why did he keep saying that? And thinking it? Everything was just suddenly nice. Cool. Hip. Suave. And that was how he declared it.

He stood waiting to see Dima's chicken dance, but found himself face with a task of his own. Toby looked from Dima to the toast and then back again, considering. Perhaps it was Dima's """""persuasion""""", or perhaps the potion had instilled so much confidence in Toby that it honestly seemed like a good idea, or perhaps it was something else entirely. It probably helped that Toby could absolutely be impulsive enough to do things like this of his own accord, if the mood struck him. With this confidence and a gentle nudge in the right direction, he was ready and willing... to be a unicorn.

"Dima." DIMA. "I think that's a great idea."

And without further ado, Toby picked up the remains of the young Ravenclaw's toast and held it up against his forehead. "Adhaero." He took his hand away, and was left with a... toast horn?

Nice.

"NEIIGGHHHHH!"

And of the boy went, clip-clop/boy!galloping the length of the Hall, trying to be one with his inner animal and shine bright like a unicorn. Toby tossed his head like a horse-type creature and pointed his toast!horn at random kids all around the room. They stared back, probably in awe.

Tobias Fuller-Thompson was a cool customer.

"BRAVO!!! BEST UNICORN EVEEEEEEEEEER!!!" James practically yelled clapping at Toby. "Really owned the role, made it your own. Give it two thumbs up." He smiled and then turned to Dima. "Your turn buddy!" Yup he wasn't going to get off that easy. Nope. Not at all.

He looked around the hall for Vinnie maybe she had seen his awesome vocal performance! Because well he was awesome all the time.

"Chance?" Noel made a face. He knew him and OFTEN wondered who named their boy Chance. Honey, have you seen Chance by any chance? Heh. "Really, cousin? You couldn't find anyone but a boy named Chance?"

And she was blushing! Noel was not sure how he felt about this. It was not good. Oh God. "Oh God .. you have got it so bad, Hayls!"

It was slightly stomach churning. He only wondered what would happen if one day Sunny told him she liked someone. He would probably throw up then erase her memories.

"So ... why don't you talk to him?" he offered.