....................

"I'm not a baby," the first year muttered under his breath, apparently not depressed enough to let those sort of helpless inducing words slide by. "I'm not a baby! I'm 12!" But then in the next instant there was confetti being blown in his face and the horrible echo of that horn ringing in his ears and all Derf could do was spit out the mouthful of paper he had ingested just now.

Thing was...this WAS on the first year's Hogwarts bucket list. Meeting Peeves. Falling victim to one of his pranks. Helping him execute a prank...but the small blonde's heart was just not in it right now...and the mention of a party only made what was left of his insides tangle up into tighter knots.

"Don't very much feel like celebrating..." he replied between spits. "Mons-s-ster took two of my bes-s-st friends-s-s...and now we are looking for you! And Miffy....and S-S-Storm...I fink..."

He really needed to start paying better attention...BUT HE WAS VERY DISTRAUGHT.

OOOOOOHHHHH Ickle baby Fluffypuff thinks he's so gwown up!!!

PBBBBBBBFFFFFFTTTTT!!!! Peeves blew a loud raspberry in the firstie's face. "NYAH!"

Well this was BOOOOOORIING! And Peeves didn't do boring! So he chucked a few dungbombs at the boy, singing, "Dorky, doofy Derfael! Dorky, doofy Derfael!"

He stopped singing when he heard the kiddie say he was looking for him. "You found me! YOU FOUND ME!!! Give the kid a prize!" The "prize" turned out to be another confetti shower.

WHAAAAAT?!?!?! Peeves's mood changed dramatically when he heard that brat's name. "You want HIM?" he shrieked. The entire corridor began shaking. "Why would you want HIM?!?! Don't you know I'M the best there is?!?!"

For the tiiiiiiiiiiiniest of moments...Derf was impressed with the poltergeist's alliteration before his mind briefly wandered to wondering if Peeves even knew what that word meant. Any other day he probably would have asked...but not today.

Could his prize please be two of his best friends coming back?

And then he had fallen to his knees while clutching his hands over his ears because OUCH. He imagined that only the cry of a banshee could be worse than THAT.

Was he bleeding? Were his ears bleeding?

He removed his hands to take a peek and was relieved to see that he was not...but he could hardly hear anything now...which meant he had no idea how loud he was talking.

"I know you're the bes-s-st," he nodded without his usual eagerness. "Being pranked by you is-s-s on my Hogwarts-s-s bucket lis-s-st..." Spitting out MORE confetti, the first year shook his head because NO they did not want Storm...they wanted Abey and Simon back! "I fink we want to put him in the portal..." he replied, his tone disenchanted and quite confused. He really needed to start paying better attention so he knew what he was talking about...especially in this situation.

That...and the flock of invisible dementors (the ones slowly sucking his soul out of him with each passing moment without his friends) needed to leave him alone.

OOOOH! SO the ickle baby Fluffypuff was a fan? Smart kid!

Peeves stopped shrieking, and the corridor stopped shaking. The studentsie said something about stink stupid Storm going in the portal, and he squealed with glee.

EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! YAY! Now he could finally be rid of that polter!twerp forever!

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YA SAY SO?!?!" he said. And he tooted the horn again just for good measure. "I'll tell ya where the brat is... for a song."

And he meant that literally, of course. "Repeat after me!" Then he started singing, "PEEVES is the best! Better than the rest! And now he's back in the game! Gonna put that polter!twerp to shame! Soon stinky Storm will be gone! And PEEVES will be NUMBER ONE!!!"

For a.....what?!

The first year had completely misheard the poltergeist and his eyes were SO wide in his head it was really a wonder they did not just go popping out and rolling across the floor. It really was not until Peeves starting singing that Derf put together that it had been SONG and not....well...that wasn't important now.

And no he was not lingering on concerning himself what that would have even felt like.

Suddenly the Hufflepuff was filled with hope and Peeves the patrnous sent to scare the dementors away.

Eyes widening and with a bit of their usual sparkle returning, Derf joined Peeves in song.

"PEEVES-S-S is the be-s-s-s-st! Better than the re-s-st! And now he'-s-s back in the game! Gonna put that polter!twerp to s-s-shame! S-s-s-ss-soon ssssssss-stinky Storm will be gone! And PEEVES will be NUMBER ONE!!!"

Gaston sprinted up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, hoping against hope that Peeves would still be there when his group arrived. It had taken much longer than expected to get Myrtle to give them the information they needed! As he approached, he heard horns going off and... was that singing? That must be a good sign...

Soon Peeves came into view and... the Charms professor's eyes widened as he saw Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne in the corridor with Peeves. Merlin's beard! The boy shouldn't be out here by himself! For all they knew, that monster in the portal could come back (maybe this time with friends) and... He shuddered to think about that!

"Mr.... Ashbury... Hawthorne..." Gaston panted, leaning against the wall for a moment to catch his breath. "What are you doing here? Did you get separated from your group?" He'd never forgive himself if he'd let that happen! Great job, Gaston! he inwardly berated himself. You were supposed to be watching the kids and you let this happen! "And why are you singing?"

Kane knew the moment they approached the fourth floor that Myrtle had been telling the truth. Peeves was so LOUD and could probably be heard all the way in the basement! What on EARTH was going on up here?!

Following Marchand up and trying to keep him in view, hoping that Brent was following behind him, he stopped as soon as they entered the corridor and tried to catch his breath. He felt like he had been moving non stop for HOURS. This was EXHAUSTING. But they had no time to waste - every moment wasted was a moment that Abey and Simon NEEDED.

He wrinkled his eyebrows as he took in the scene in front of him. Peeves was...well, doing Peeves things. And Derf was here...singing? What? What was going ON? This got more and more confusing by the second.

"DERF! What's going on?!" Kane asked his fellow Puff, looking up at Peeves in confusion as well. He hoped SOMEONE would explain this to him soon...and it was likely NOT going to be Peeves.

Was once enough? The first year was just about to start the song over when Professor Marchand appeared and was soon followed by Kane....and questions. Lots of them. He thought the Charms professor kind of sort of answered what Kane was asking - because he was singing and that was what was going on, yeah? - so Hufflepuff took a few moments to just blink at the pair.

"He s-s-said if I s-s-sang wiff him he would tell me where Storm was-s-s," he explained, pointing at the poltergeist.

Small price for the lives of two people as far as this Hufflepuff was concerned.

Brent dashed after his friends and the professor and made it to the fourth floor corridor just after they did. Well, there was no Skylar, which kind of worried him seeing as there was a monster currently on the loose. Shouldn't she have made it here before he did? And where was the professor? Brent finally caught sight of Marchand, but he still hadn't seen Skylar. Only three-fourths of their original group was here.

...and so was Derf, who had been singing as Brent was running up here. Peeves had told him to sing and then he'd tell him where Storm was? Brent frowned. None of those poltergeists could be trusted, could they? "Look, Peeves, you're either better than Storm, or you're not. So which is it? If you're truly better than him, you don't need us to tell you that," he pointed out. He was really hoping that reverse psychology would work, and it didn't end up backfiring on him. He knew firsthand that a mad and offended poltergeist wouldn't end well for anybody.

"Research says the energy of a poltergeist can destroy an entire portal, just like the one on the sixth floor. Thing is, a poltergeist has to go in the portal to really get the job done," he tried to explain to Peeves. "So if you really want Storm out of your hair, so to speak, we've got that way. We just need to know where he's at."

OOOOOOOHHHHH!!! More party guests!!!!

And not just any party guests! Prissy Professor Poodle and the Wormwood brothers!

HONK! HONK! HONK! Peeves floated over to the new arrivals, tooting the horn some more and showering them all with confetti. Maybe he could get them to sing to him too!

EEEEEEEE!!!! The idea made Peeves squeal with delight.

"NYAH!" He stuck his tongue out at the Slytherpoop boy. Sure he didn't need them to tell him he was better than that stinky stupid Storm but he WANTED them to. BIIIIIIG difference there!

"EVERYBODY, NOW!!!" He waved his arms like an orchestra conductor and started singing again, "PEEVES is the best! Better than the rest! And now he's back in the game! Gonna put that polter!twerp to shame! Soon stinky Storm will be gone! And PEEVES will be NUMBER ONE!!!"

But somehow just the singing was lacking. OOOOOH, he knew! "And don't forget to dance! Like this!" He started doing the chicken dance midair to demonstrate. OOOOOOHHHHH This was going to be HILARIOUS!!!

Gaston glanced frantically around the corridor, his eyes searching for the rest of his group. He soon found the Westwood boys, but where was Miss Diggory? They hadn't left her behind, had they? Or... Could that monster have come back and...? His heart dropped. If the monster had found her, her death would be all his fault! He had to drop his gaze so the boys wouldn't see the sad, panic-stricken look in his eyes, but his panic didn't last long.

What the...?

Peeves was suddenly honking horns and throwing confetti at them. Gaston sighed exasperatedly, shaking the bits of rainbow paper out of his hair. The ringing in his ears from the horn was so loud that he barely heard Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne saying that Peeves would only tell them where Storm was if they sang to him first. The elder Mr. Westwood voiced exactly what he was thinking before he had a chance to react, and he nodded along with what he said. "Peeves, we don't have time for this!" he said in his sternest tone. "Tell us where Storm is now!"

But the words had absolutely no effect. Peeves was still demanding they sing, and apparently now he wanted dancing too. Gaston inwardly groaned. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. When had the poltergeists ever listened to reason? But there wasn't time to argue about it. Every moment this dragged out was a moment Abey and Simon didn't have! "Fine, Peeves," he snapped, his eyes burning like bluebell flames just as they always did when he was angry, "but if you don't tell us where Storm is immediately after, we'll throw you in the portal instead!" He brandished his wand threateningly. He was done with this!

"Thisisridiculous," he mumbled under his breath before turning back to the boys. "It looks like we have no choice but to do what he wants."

So he repeated the song Peeves and Derf had been singing, "PEEVES is the best! Better than the rest! And now he's back in the game! Gonna put that polter!twerp to shame! Soon stinky Storm will be gone! And PEEVES will be NUMBER ONE!!!" He even did that stupid chicken dance too. Merlin, he felt like an idiot doing this! But he kept reminding himself it would be worth it to get Abey and Simon back and close that portal forever.

At first Skylar was eager because of how close they were getting to maybe capturing the Poltergeists, but despite leaving the bathroom before Brent, she had hung back around at the third floor for a few moments as she recollected her breathing. Fourth floor corridor. Where Kitty found her not all too long ago, just in time, where the monster drooled gross saliva on her head, where it could have been her taken by the monster into the portal for his dinner. But it wasn't. Regardless it took her a minute to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay and that she was with Brent and Kane and a Professor now, who were all up ahead of her and probably worried about her detour. And it was thoughts of them that allowed her to rush ahead the next floor, because being gone too long probably wouldn't be good for their chase, as they would worry about her instead of worry over the first year boys who were in more danger.

She stopped racing when she heard and saw Professor Marchand singing and dancing. Well wasn't that a sight for the books? This was no time for amusement though; it seemed as though Myrtle had been telling the truth in Peeves whereabouts and hearing the words that the Professor uttered, well Peeves was stalling them? Also, Derf was here too? He'd gone off by himself!? As she had done too, but she was a third year and he was only a first year, like the two boys caught within the bowels of Hogwarts.

Well, he was safe now that they had joined him, but still, worry definitely fell over Skylar as she merely stood quietly, waiting. Because interrupting and saying something might influence Peeves' flow in telling them the whereabouts of his Polter!kid.

Dude...duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.

Derf desperately gaped at Brent as he spoke...and lectured the poltergeist..frantically waving his arms in a tiny first year attempt to make him stop. Maybe American poltergeists reacted to words differently...but they never worked on Peeves. Mum had warned him. Unless they were the words of the Bloody Baron.

Which...may not be a bad addition to their group. There WERE two Slytherins present...

"Maybe s-s-someone s-s-should go get the Baron?" Derf whispered to the professor as he wiggle worm danced his way over to the man. Peeves wasn't going to listen to any of them and if they really needed him to snap to attention the Slytherin house ghost was their best bet, right?

Keeping his wiggle worm dance, the first year made his way over towards Skylar - who had stopped glaring at him since that first Flying lesson yay - and lifted his right leg exaggeratedly before SLAMMING it down on the ground. Then, wiggling his foot as he did so, he draaaaaaaaaaaaagged it back. Dancing.

"PEEVES-S-S is the be-s-s-s-st! Better than the re-s-st!" he sang loudly, pivoting in place and turning his bum out proudly with an enthusiastic wiggle. "And now he'-s-s back in the game! Gonna put that polter!twerp to s-s-shame!" ALL THE BUM WIGGLING. WIGGLING LIKE HE JUST DON'T CARE! Oh...and totally taking Skylar's hand in his to get her to dance TOO because that was necessary. "S-s-s-ss-soon ssssssss-stinky Storm will be gone! And PEEVES will be NUMBER ONE!!!"

...and there went the confetti.

Brent sighed and blew a few shreds of it off his face. The rest stuck to him and occasionally drifted to the floor as he moved around. He shook his head, annoyed that Peeves was still going strong, and nothing Brent had said had phased him. Brent was NOT going to sing and dance, though...THAT he was sure of.

"You know what I think? I think he doesn't know where Storm is," Brent continued. "He's just wasting our time." They seriously did not have time for songs and dances. "Did you hear anything I said?" Brent asked Peeves, referring back to the plan to get rid of Storm. Apparently not, because nothing had been said about that.

Looking up, he saw that Skylar had joined them, and so he felt sure that their little group was okay. "Look, I'm heading up a floor while you guys work on Peeves," he said to Skylar, Derf, and Kane. "It looks like we might be here for a while, and I'm worried about progress. If you want to come along, I'm heading off now. If you're going to stick around, be careful around that guy." He glanced up at Peeves.

Then on that note, he headed down the corridor and to the stairwell that would lead him to the fifth floor.

..... So much for trying to stay out of the dancing and singing, because next thing Skylar knew, Derf had taken her hand as he wiggled around all goofy and silly. Despite herself, the third year felt herself moving to his rhythm though perhaps not as extreme as the first year's bum wiggling.

That was when she heard Brent speaking to her about heading off toward the fifth floor while they worked on Peeves. UH WHAT?! Even though Brent was a year older and certainly capable of being on his own, the idea of him wandering up - even just one floor up - on his own, worried Sky.

"Wait, ... you shouldn't go by yourself," Sky muttered after him, looking a moment at Derf and their interlocked hands. "Thank you, Derf." But she couldn't let Brent wander off on his own; Derf had the Professor and Kane with him now.

Escaping from the first year's grasp, she quickly followed Brent to the stairwell, mentally wishing them luck with Peeves.

YAAAAAAY!!!! CHICKEN DANCE PARTY!!!!!

Peeves was floating in the air dancing his pants off to the little song he'd made up. He only stopped for a second when Professor Poodle said something. "OOOOH, Pwissy Pwofessow Poodle gonna bite?" He snarled like a dog to taunt him.

Then the singing and dancing started up again. Only this time the Fluffypuff and Professor Poodle joined in. Were there more people here a second ago? Peeves was too busy having fun to notice. "WHOOOO! SHAKE IT!!!"

When the song finished, Peeves was cheering and clapping. He even whistled and threw in a few raspberries for good measure! "Bravo! Bravo!!! Good show!!!"

He supposed he'd better tell them where Storm was now. "The brat's upstairs," he said, pointing up at the ceiling. "I'll even throw him in the portal for you... for an encore!"

Nope? Fine, then. They were no fun anyway.

"AND TELL HIM OLD PEEVSIE SAYS GOOD RIDDANCE!!!"

Brent was getting his exercise today. He was so hyped up being in the thick of things and wondering about what was going on in that portal, that he hadn't worn himself out just yet. It'd probably all catch up with him later, though, but there was no time for that now. He passed Skylar on his way back down to the fourth floor, and he figured she had been trying to come along to wherever he had been heading. "Sorry, Skylar," he said, slightly out of breath. Sorry I'm having you run pretty much all over the castle, that is. "They found Storm. Let's go tell the others."

He reached the fourth floor again, and headed back to where he'd left the others. "The other group's found Storm on the fifth floor," he reported. "I saw him myself, and I think they've got that part taken care of." He paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out what they should do next. "You guys want to head to the sixth floor with me and check on the group keeping watch at the portal?" They could head there and wait for the other group to come back with Storm.

Well, hopefully. Who knew if the polter-kid would come along with them or not.

Oh for the love of MERLIN.

Kane knew what was going on - they had to play to Peeves' ego in order to get him to reveal where Storm was. But this was just ridiculous! Kane had some pride in himself, thank you very much, and he was NOT going to sing and dance to some silly ghost to get him to tell him what they wanted. He would have better luck just LEAVING and going to find the Jr. Poltergeist on his own.

Which is apparently what Brent was doing. Normally, he would have run off after him - but he was afraid if he DID leave Peeves, they wouldn't be able to find him again. He was torn. He wanted to leave and NOT sing like a fool - but also didn't want to lose sight of the poltergeist now that they'd found him.

Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about that for very long. The small group that HAD gotten together and started singing (Kane adamantly REFUSED) seemed to do the trick, and Peeves told them he was - UP. GREAT. More running! Just as Kane was thinking about how he'd relay the message to Brent, who'd just wandered away...he returned! And confirmed Peeves' message that Storm was upstairs.

"GREAT! Let's get him and get this over with!" Kane said with an exhausted sigh. Time to run. AGAIN. He turned and started off down the corridor, hoping the rest of the group followed in suit.

Gaston glanced around and soon saw that only he and Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne were singing and dancing as Peeves demanded. He felt even stupider than ever now! His gaze momentarily strayed to Mr. Westwood as he spoke up again. The boy had a very good point, but somehow he didn't think voicing that opinion was going to help them. If anything, it would just make Peeves angry enough not to tell them where Storm was!

Then he said something about going upstairs. "No, I don't think we should -" Gaston began, but it was too late. Mr. Westwood was already gone, and Miss Diggory was following. Merlin, these kids were going to be the death of him! They had no idea where the monster was! For all they knew it could come back, and two students wandering off by themselves... No, he couldn't allow himself to think like that!

Peeves's yelling and clapping distracted him from his worries. It was all he could do not to roll his eyes, and... Wait, what? Peeves actually told them where Storm was?! Gaston's blue eyes blinked in shock. Well, he supposed there was a first time for everything!

He started to follow Mr. Westwood up the stairs when he nearly bumped into the other Mr. Westwood. It seemed Peeves had been telling the truth about Storm after all! The professor shock his head slightly at the mention of the sixth floor, however. "No, I'm going to check on the other group," he said. "I doubt Storm is going to go willingly; they might need help convincing him."

Gaston inwardly sighed. He really hated the idea of splitting up, but there wasn't time to waste arguing about where they should go. "The rest of you may either come with me to convince Storm or go with Brent and wait at the portal," he addressed the students still there. "If you choose to wait at the portal, go straight there, stick together, and don't leave the portal once you get there!" The kids would be safe waiting there with Kay and Laurel, right?

And without any further hesitation, he rushed up the stairs to find Storm.

Goodness Brent moved fast and didn't like to stay in one place long, but fortunately despite Skylar's exhaustion, she kept up enough to at least keep him in her view and then wait ... what, now he was back down to the fourth floor?!?

And apologizing NOW for having run her up and down two flights of stairs? Well, she supposed it was one way to keep in shape, particularly if she wanted any hope of making the Under 17 quidditch team in the next year or two.

And yes, Storm was on the fifth floor, with Miffy, which Brent forgot to mention, but it was too late because he was already off toward waiting at the portal. Yes she'd seen the group at the fifth floor and she supposed she didn't care to help coax Storm into coming with them, however, hadn't Peeves just said he would gladly throw Storm into the portal for them? Did no one notice?!

Professor Marchand was going to help with the group capturing Storm and while Skylar didn't doubt her transfiguration skills, it seemed maybe there might be too many people around Storm and Miffy.

Also, everyone took off and there was just Derf and Peeves now left in the corridor. Glancing toward the staircases and then back at Derf, she took two steps toward the first year. "You should come with us." And that really wasn't an option, because there was no way she'd leave another first year alone; it was bad enough he was alone before they found him.

Brent sighed. How had he not known that Kane would go straight for the action? Was it too much to ask that the younger Westwood go with him and stand watch at the portal? Apparently so, and so now Brent had a decision to make. He could either stand by his word and go straight to the portal, or he could head to the fifth floor corridor...again.

Professor Marchand brought his attention to the fact that the other group may need help catching Storm. He was right, but when Brent was there a few minutes ago, the other group didn't seem to want any help. Marchand was a professor, though, and no way would the other group deny him! "You're right," he said to him. "If you think we could benefit the situation more by going to the fifth floor, then count me in."

"Skylar's right, Derf. Nobody, not even the seventh years, needs to be alone right now," he said. He looked toward Skylar. "Guess I'm going to the fifth floor after all." She was literally going to kill him when this was all over. Then with that said, he really did turn and head off.

With her focus having been on the first year in their midst, Skylar hadn't even noticed that Brent was still lingering around until she heard his voice. No one needs to be alone right now, so then why did you race off ahead of me? was what Skylar wanted to ask, but then he was off to the fifth floor, for real this time.

Blue-gray eyes flitted from Derf to the stairwell and back to Derf again. She should go help, but then, Derf was coming with, wasn't he?? Because she really didn't want to have to walk him down to the Hufflepuff Common Room and then walk back to the fifth floor again.

She held out her hand for the first year to take as she started toward the staircases.