ALRIGHT, WHERE IN MERLIN'S BEARD WAS SHE?!?!

She had done so much walking that she somehow managed to lose her sense of direction amongst her nosy wandering of the school grounds. Now she definitely was in no way panicking at all, because she'd been in worse situations than this, like that one time in New Zealand, but there was no need to mention that.

All she knew was that she was supposed to meet Chloe some place because she hadn't seen her since that Feast not too long ago, which don't even ask her about the food, because she refused to eat practically everything that was served in front of her. Not only that, but the sight of those savages eating what was once poor defenseless creatures & other condiments mixed from horrible chemicals that could most likely kill you, was revolting to witness!

...Barbarians..

Anyways, the very frustrated redhead decided to stop walking now before it would become nearly impossible for her twin sister to find her. And from the looks of it, she was able to evaluate that she was not too far from the Library as it seemed and- OH LOOK A BALCONY! If there was one thing the girl loved, it was sitting in areas where she could admire lots of scenery, particularly trees & this place was bound to have that right?!

...Oh thank Merlin there were a LOT of trees on these grounds. Good to know that they were at least smart about the location of this school. She was sure to make a mental note that she would most definitely take an adventure one of these days out there! Better yet, why make a mental note when she could just jot it down in her journal, pfffft, of course! Within the seconds Clara was jotting down many many things in her journal about everything she'd seen since her last entry, which was from this morning.

Bentley had finished unpacking and putting up his posters and pictures around his four poster, which meant he had time to wander a bit and catch up with those he hadn't seen since the train...namely a certainly blond with big bushy hair. It hadn't been that long since their last practice session but could one have enough practice? He didn't think so, especially since the subject was just so...enjoyable? No one could blame him.

He wasn't having much luck finding said blonde though so he continued wandering the corridors, hoping that the bloody stairs wouldn't change on him.

Some luck at last however. He closed the distance him and the girl and smooched her cheek.

"Hey Chloe. I've been looking for you." Also the red hair thing? Yes! He really liked it. He knew she did the makeup thing sometimes but he didn't know she was messing with her hair too. "I like your hair and I'm tempted to touch it but I won't!" He held his hands up so she could see where he had them. Nope, not touching...he knew how particular she was about that.

She was deep in thought as she was trying to backtrack everything in her brain because there was A LOT of things she was writing, it was actually causing her hand to cramp, but it was well worth it because it was all for research! She was so deep in though that she hadn't even heard the approach of someone's footsteps, it was most likely just some other student passing by.

She was in the midst of finishing her note about the barbaric actions of the students consuming animals when it happened. Lips on her face?!

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

It was so unexpected that all she could do was just scream like someone had inflicted pain on her! She immediately closed her journal & began swatting her assailant without hesitation. "Are you absolutely daft?!" Hit. "What is the matter with you?" Hit. "You just don't go up to someone like that & kiss their face?! Are you mad?!" Hit.

Hit. Hit. Hit.

She was all flustered & discombobulated now & downright disgusted that she could barely fathom words now as she started processing what had just happened. The redhead was soon seen wiping her cheek vigorously. "I just-I can't-Ugh! Really?!"

lkdsghudifthdsklvfz!!

"What..the bloody...hell..is wrong..with..you?!" Bentley dodged as much of the hits that he could but was hit more times than he could count. Bentley was completely stunned as she raved at him but he hopped far enough away from her so he'd be out of reach of her arms.

You'd think they had done this often enough, so she would be used to all this by now, but you could never tell with Chloe. He was extremely annoyed though. Especially since she was scrubbing her face of HIS Kiss. Hmph!!!

"You're being a bit much aren't you?" He folded his arms and frowned at her. "No, you're being A LOT much."

Now she went from a look of disgust to appalled. He was asking HER what was wrong with HER?! He really was daft. "Wait, I'm sorry, you actually think that this is alright?" She shook her head as she was now crossing her arms. "Tell me one girl who actually enjoys that!"

Then he was once again insulting her. "Are you actually joking right now?" Her voice raising louder, "You're calling ME a bit much?! You're lucky I haven't run off telling someone by now! I should have you reported for going around kissing random girls! That can be taken as some form of assault you know!"

What??? What was going on here? Bentley fixed her with an incredulous look! They weren't going to do this, not in public. He could handle her shooting him down, but only in the privacy of whatever corner they were huddled in. Actually no, he didn't like her shooting him down and this time was worse.

"It was alright on the train! You know what, I'm convinced that you're bloody bipolar! You should go see the healer about that because you're not right in the head Chloe Newman!"

Bentley gaped at her. "I think that hair colour is getting to your head or something because I did not assault you!" He crossed his arms and glared at her.

What in Merlin's beard was he going on about?! Now he was making up things that apparently happened between them? aaAnd what was alright on the train? She had no idea what he was talking about! He was making her extremely aggravated at this point that she was feeling very tempted to start swatting him with her journal again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! And HOW DARE YOU CALL ME BIPOLAR! You know absolutely NOTHING about me! And I don't need any healer to tell me-" She stopped speaking abruptly once she'd heard what he had called her.

"Chloe?"

Now it all made sense to her. Clearly this boy thought she was her twin, WHICH she wasn't. If he was smart enough to, he would have been able to figure that out, but obviously that wasn't the case. She couldn't help but process everything that had just conspired between the two as the scene constantly replayed in her brain.

With her arms still crossed she spoke, "Well I've got some news for you sir...I'm not Chloe Newman." She sighed annoyed for once again being mistaken for her sister. "That's my twin sister, obviously. My name's Clara. Clearly we don't look exactly the same heir go our different hair colours, but yes we're twins." She quickly added, "And I'll have you know, seeing as to how I don't know you & my hair is NOT getting to my head, you pretty much did almost assault me. But seeing as to how you unfortunately mistook me for my sister, who apparently likes being randomly kissed, I'll let that awkward moment go..for now. So you're welcome.."

She was already making a mental note that involved going on a rant to Chloe later & most likely to anyone else who would listen.

Ranting and raving..blah blah. He had to admit that he'd rarely ever seen her this mouthy or this violent but it wasn't hard to believe that all this rage was buried under her quiet demeanor. Still, the third year would rather not be on the other end of all this pent up rage.

Not Chloe? Chloe has a twin? She was Chloe's twin?

Bentley scoffed. They had been attending school for three terms now and he had never ever seen her with a twin.

"This doesn't make any sense to me. If you're Chloe's twin, Clara, how come I've never seen you before?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

Now that the puppy was all tuckered out and packed away upstairs in his kennel napping, the puppy's boy could finally have some alone time. Thank merlin.

His hands were whittling away at a small block of wood, the shavings slowly falling off the edge of the balcony and down down down into the snow below, laying gently on top as if they were their own special brand of snowflakes. It was only just starting to look like something, the shape of the pup's nose poking out of the wood, as he worked up the snout.

Already bored with it, he put it down on the edge of the balcony and leaned forward, looking down over the edge.

Nicky was wandering the castle, as was her habit, looking for anything to distract her. This winter stuff was really starting to get to her. As she made her way along the fourth floor, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Smirking to herself, she made her way out onto the balcony.

She reached out and rested her hand on Dieter's back, smiling as she put her chin on his shoulder. "Bored?" she asked, looking down at the shavings in the snow. "Or something on your mind?"

Cold, cold, COLD! Jace forgot how bitter the weather could be up in Scotland! With thick layers of clothing on him, he tugged, and wrapped his house scarf around his neck snugly as he slowly traversed the length of the fourth floor corridor. The Ravenclaw was careful not to go near the hall’s openings, and continued to go about his business when the sound of a booming voice from the ground reached the halls.

“Dwellers of the castle?” What? Jace backtracked and inched closer towards the balcony. What he saw made his eyes grow as big as saucers. No...it wasn’t a mind trick, was it? It was the real thing! Real GIANT spiders TALKING! With him wrapped in thick clothes from head to toe, Jace stood still at the balcony, and thought about how wonderful those creatures are.

Aside from magic, what do they feed on? Not...humans like him, right?

A slight breeze had picked up, the cool air running against his jawline, down his neck until it could go no further. He sighed, a slight shiver working it's way around his neck around the way the breeze had hit him.

He didn't even flinch as he was touched. If anything, he leaned into it. "A bit of both." his head tilted so it leaned against hers gently, a bit selfishly, even; he was stealing her warmth afterall. "How'd you find me? Have some Hufflepuff in you, maybe?" A smirk rose up through his rosy cheeks, head turning slightly to watch for her reaction.

She didn't mind it, the warmth stealing. A small smile played at her lips as she turned her hand on his back into an arm snaked around his waist. The chill in the air was.. not her favorite thing, and so the closeness was just as much about warmth sharing as it was about him.

"I'm just keenly observant," she replied, not bothering to get into what bothered her about the whole pigeon-holed sorting nonsense. "I was just walking by." Strands of loose blonde hair blew in the breeze and Nicky reached up with her free hand to tuck them back behind their ear.

"Knut for your thoughts?" she asked, turning her head just slightly, but not removing her chin from his shoulder. "Or," and she pinched his side playfully, "do you just want a distraction?"

Oh yes, James heard it.

But alas, he wasn't outside for all the madness, what a shame. And though technically creatures was his area of expertise;this was happening in the forrest which happened to be grounds territory which happened to mean...

# Not My Division

In other words, Justin could take this one.

Besides, no one had to know that James was aware of this situation. And no one would know because there weren't any eye witnesses here to-- Sweet Circe. "Dramatic?" Maybe he could bribe the munchkin into denying that James had any knowledge of the forrest occurrences at the moment. "I agree." Not even giving the small oompa-loompa a chance to answer.

Now... How exactly to trick the kid into swearing silence?

If it was't for the endless hours of training with Sensei Hollingberry back in Japan, Jace would have been dramatic to jump away from the ledge of the balcony and land on his bum in surprise. Instead, the tiny Ravenclaw immediately sucked on cold air, which was by the way against his will, and blinked a few times as he realised that he wasn't alone.

Slowly turning his head, Jace gaped at the man. One...it was the James Draper from the House of Magical Creatures, and two...he's exactly the man he needed at the moment.

But before questions were spilled, the Ravenclaw fully faced the man and gave him a bow in greeting, "Draper-sensei." he said in a soft, shaky voice. Rubbing his already red nose from the cold, the second year looked at the man and appreciated his humour, given that he was trying to be...funny...or friendly. "Professor," he started as he sniffed back the liquid that dared to drip out of his nose, "are those spiders capable of negotiating?" he asked inching closer to the man, and stared at him hungry for answers. "The ability to speak doesn't mean they're like us humans, right?" That line reminds him so much of JarJar Binks. Matt would be so proud!

Yeah well, James wasn't too grateful to see he wasn't alone either.

Though... He wasn't exactly gaping at his company like some people. Merlin, children were so dramatic. "Mr. ..." he paused, "Reed," that was the boy's name, yes? Honestly it was so hard to keep all of them straight in his head. He had a great memory, but when it felt like there were a million and three of them to keep up with constantly.... James really only kept track of the regular visitors and those who were constantly on the brink of detention.

"Negotiating?" he considered the question with thought. Though in all honesty, trying to answer a garden gnome's question was setting him back from the whole 'swearing to secrecy thing'. "Of course they're capable," he nodded. "Very cunning creatures," he added.

"Except that one." He deadpanned. Aletag was as dumb as a rock.