Pajama Party (Sept 8)

[Snick]

Despite the drama among the Dance Committee, they had somehow managed to bring everything together in the hours before the dance. The Cafeteria's ceiling and walls were draped with differently-patterned sheets which, lit from behind by flickering fairy lights that blinked in time to the music, added a warm glow to the room. Most of the tables had been removed, except for two long tables holding refreshments. Several trampolines of different sizes and shapes traveled along the walls -- They, too, were draped with sheets and surrounded with cushioning charms to prevent the sorts of accidents that usually plagued trampolines. If one bounced along the path of trampolines, they ended up in the bouncy castle in the center of the room.



All around the room were strewn pillows and magically-enlarged stuffed animals, and floating around in the air were fluffy clouds of charmed cotton.



Hidden among this in one of the corners was the DJ booth, which was surrounded by a fortress of couch cushions, pumping out music from an assortment of turntables, CD players, and even an 8-track that someone fixed up.



Stationed at various places in the room, several of the faculty were present to chaperone, including the Principal, who drifted regally through the air, lounging on one of the cotton clouds, wearing a long-sleeved mulberry nightgown and matching set of pajama bottoms.



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Elizabeta was pleased. Despite the tensions of the committee meeting all the members, save the O'Brien boy, worked together quite well and the result was definitely satisfying. They managed to get everything in place in record time without any major issues. Well there was one minor one, apparently the faeries who fulled the various stings of lights didn't seem to like Makepeace and they all dimmed considerably when he was near. Fortunately, now that they were all in place, the faeries were doing a wonderful job.



Before they had all dispersed to get themselves ready for the start of the dance, Elizabeta had thanked them all for a job well done. It never hurts to recognize the accomplishments of others.



Walking into the hall now, dressed in one of her more proper nightgowns, Elizabeta scanned the room, seeing how all the other students were enjoying the decorations. Most seemed quite thrilled. Yet her eyes didn't linger on the students for long, instead flicking over the gathered faculty serving as chaperons. It was interesting to see which ones wore their night things. Also a little uncomfortable. Her more traditional upbringing certainly was discouraging being in a room wearing her nightgown (underneath of which she wore a light pair of slacks and t-shirt to ensure she will not be indecent in any way). As a member of the committee she did have to make a presence at the dance, yet she truly didn't want to linger too long. She enjoyed dancing even though she never took the class here at school, she did learn the basics back home.







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Kit walked in behind an older student in what appeared to be red velvet. She recognized the girl as the one from the assembly that was talking to Makepeace, but couldn't for the life of her remember her name.



Katrien was dressed in plain blue cotton pajamas with a big, warm robe made of pink material with bears. She felt a little disgusted by the cuteness of the robe, a gift from a family member she hardly knew, but it was the only one she had. She was too self-conscious to go without it. Besides, there was a slight chill in the air of the cafeteria, but not anywhere along the way. That was curious, but she thought they may be preparing for the imminent heat from all the bodies.







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Esther came to dance dressed appropriately for her--like a dancer, wearing as little as she could get away with. She wore a baseball type pajama top and pajama shorts. Too bad it was so chilly in the room. She'd have to get moving and quickly, the cold in the room was making her girls stand at attention.



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Siobhan had written to her sister Shiela as soon as she knew the school had decided the dance was a pajama party and asked if she could borrow one of her pretty nightgowns. Shiela was also the highlighter of the romance novels Siobhan had found over the the last few years--those paperback tomes with shirtless men with long blond hair on the covers. Siobhan hadn't told Mother about the novels when Shiela caught her with them, so lending her a pretty nightgown was a fair trade. The pretty white gown with petal sleeves and a tea length straight skirt was almost too elegant for a pajama party--it looked like a formal. But Siobhan wanted to be pretty for Pratt. So she put a sports bra under her night gown for some extra coverage and tucked her hair up in a pony tail. When she arrived at the dance, she was met with a gust of cold air conditioning. Really cold air, actually. She was glad she brought Lorccan's robe, but why was the air down so cold? It had to be 60 degrees. And she wanted to show off her nightgown. Defiantly, she took off the robe and shivered anyway. She scanned the room for Pratt.







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Phrixos walked in with a few other Stooges, all of them laughing their asses off. This was going to be awesome, for as long as it lasted. The faculty would eventually catch on to their shenanigans, of course. Pratt shivered slightly. Yeah, it wouldn't take very long at all. Idiots. It was too cold, too obvious. Well, at least he had arrived somewhat early and wouldn't be deprived of all the on-coming headlights.



He really hoped Siobhan was there, or would be soon. Not that he could do much with her. Maybe Lorccan wouldn't show up. That would be perfect. Giving the other Stooges high-fives and handshakes, he decided to take his t-shirt-and-pajama-bottoms-clad booty toward the refreshments. "Ow! My eye!" he joked as he scooched passed Esther, covering one eye and stifling a snicker. "Hey, watch where you point those th--eehh--heheh.. Hi, Ginger."



He quickly dropped his hand and grinned in embarrassment. "You look..." Hot, he thought to himself before finishing. "Ravishing."







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It was easy to know something was up given he saw a pack of Stooges snickering up ahead of him. Pratt right in the middle of them too. Lorccan didn't mind Pratt at times but other times he just thought the kid was a goof. Lorccan rarely found him funny other than the fact Pratt acted like such an idiot it was funny, but definitely not funny as in a good humor sort of way. Siobhan thought he was funny but Lorccan couldn't figure out why.



Thinking about his sister reminded him of the main reason he decided to come to this dance. Like he really wanted to be strutting about the cafeteria in his PJ's...well nothing wrong with them normally but they weren't what he would call 'proper'. He knew many kids his age and even older would be ogling the girls, especially those who..well didn't look like little girls anymore but young ladies. He heard more than enough talk about girls to know what guys will be doing.



If he had told his mother about this dance, Lorccan was positive mom would have written to Siobhan and told her not to go to the dance. Lorccan could almost hear his mother's voice saying the words 'Such a theme is not appropriate for a young lady such as yourself, especially since its mixed. It would be best you don't go...' But Lorccan had not said a word about the dance to his parents in his last letter. He did get the slippers however, so at least Siobhan's feet will be warm, unless she wore sneakers.



Stepping into the Cafeteria Lorccan noticed it was rather cool, cooler than it should be at this time of year. He frowned at that, then saw a couple students wearing housecoats or very heavy nightgowns...maybe that is why the teachers had it cooler, to make sure girls weren't wearing flimsy revealing things. Scanning the gathering, Lorccan focused on finding his sister. His eyes fell upon Esther wearing what looked like really short red shorts and a shirt. It left her legs fully exposed...is that even proper? Lorccan shrugged. Siobhan better not be wearing something like that.



He finally spotted her near the refreshments, Pratt at her side. What he saw Siobhan wearing annoyed him completely. it was some thing frilly thing with no sleeves and only fell about mid calf. Lorccan noticed she had his housecoat with her but was carrying it draped over an arm, instead of over her shoulders where it should be.



"Siobhan, best put your housecoat on, else you'll freeze in here." Lorccan told her, walking up to the pair. He glanced over at Pratt. At least he wore proper night clothing. "Not to mention you really should be covered up."



"Hello Pratt." He greeted the other boy, deciding to be polite for now, yet hating the fact Pratt saw Siobhan half naked. Then again how long had she been here?



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Arwen moved too enter into the party happy to have seen that it was finally ready for the dance. It had taken her about thirty minutes to decide which if her pajama’s that she had wanted to wear. She finally decided that the pajama’s she was going to wear because it is comfortable and did not show off to much that the guys would be staring. It was her cotton sky blue two piece. The top consisted on a long sleeve button up shirt and then a pocket on her chest. She been happy that the pocket was big enough that she could keep her book of poems her father got her in there without anyone seeing it. The pants were then same color with drawl strings to tight them or loosen them if wanted. She then went barefoot since it be easier then slipping and sliding.



She pulled her bangs out of the way clipping then back out of her eyes. It would not be a great party if she was not able to see anything. She moved over to sit on one of the trampolines for a seat along with able to watch everyone enter into the room. She was starting to regret not wearing anything on her feet because it been colder in the room then suspected. She worked on rubbing them wishing they warm up quicker so that people would not freeze and leave.







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"Thank you, Pratt." She turned to her brother. "It is a little cool. I'll put my robe on. I appreciate you being worried about me, Lorccan." She slipped the robe on, at least until she warmed up. He acted like their grandmother sometimes. It wasn't like she was showing anything.

"Oh there's my roommate! Arwen. I was looking for you.'' She left the boys standing together and moved over to where Arwen was.



"I should have worn my green pajamas and not tried to be pretty and wear my sister's nightie for all the fuss my brother's making." Her back to her brother, she opened her robe and laughed in a whispered voice as she showed Arwen her pretty white nightie. "Did you know that I'm not decent?"



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"You're welcome," he murmured as Lorccan joined them. Great. Well, so much for enjoying the night.



"Hey, Lorccan," Pratt said a bit flatly, watching Siobhan prance over to Arwen. "You think that's not covered up?"



He should see what she wears (or doesn't) to bed in the keeper's quarters. Or maybe not, considering it included one of Pratt's t-shirts. A slight smirk came to his lips, his thumbs hooking in his pockets as he looked around. "Booooored," he said, rocking from heel to toe.



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Arwen smiled towards Siobhan bounced over towards her. She continued to rub her feet gently since they were starting to finally get warmed up once that happens they would be allowed to actually do something then sit here. Someone if wanted to could come and bounce on the trampoline and she would not worry about it. “Well I am happy you have been looking for me but I figured there would have been others besides a roommate you would want to hang with. I was trying to find the perfect pajama that would comfortable and not show of too much.”



She listen Siobhan whispered about how she was half naked while showing her the really pretty night gown. She then leaned forwards and whispered back. “You are right in that gown you are half naked but at least you have a robe to keep you room instead of freezing. Maybe later at the lighthouse I will change into a different nightie and we can continue the party since it seems your brothers trying to keep you covered. I don’t have a boyfriend so don’t need boys seeing me in little clothes. This way they still have to have some imagination on what I have under all this.”



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Lorccan watched as his sister pranced away to talk with her roommate. He saw Arwen had bare feet and looked pretty cold in them. He turned his attention back to Pratt. "Bet if you had a sister here, you wouldn't want her prancing about wearing a skimpy nightie."



"So you and your Stooge friends have mischief planned for tonight? Not that I care as long as it doesn't embarrass or harm my sister." Which is about the only thing that would piss Lorccan off to no end. He could tolerate being pranked himself once in awhile, he would get his revenge for it later but when it comes to his sister, that's a no no in his book.



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Lex didn't have any real pajamas and instead wore a baggy Seattle Mariners t-shirt and athletic shorts that went to her knees. She also didn't have any slippers so instead was wearing socks. She had almost gone barefooted but was glad that she had put on socks at the last minute once she walked into the cafeteria and felt the cold. Lex, not being any more developed than a boy her age, didn't have much to worry about. She did wonder why it was this cold, you'd think they would have turned up the heating.



Lex couldn't help but be astonished at the cafeteria's transformation. A week was not nearly long enough to get used to all the new experiences at the school. Lex was glad to see that this looked more like a party than it did a dance. Jumping around on trampolines was much more appealing than dancing. Lex surveyed the room, looking for people she recognized, either to avoid them or perhaps to go join them. She had never been very good at these types of social gatherings. She caught sight of the older girl she'd seen at the assembly wearing, what Lex considered to be, a ridiculous get up. It was interesting to look and see what people had decided to wear. Some of the girls had clearly taken the opportunity to dress skimpily.



Lex spotted Esther, and after a moments hesitation, went over to her. The girl was much older than her and Lex was prepared to get lost of Esther seemed unwilling to talk to her. Esther had been nice when they'd talked on the first day and had answered a lot of Lex's questions. "Hey Esther," Lex said. "How's school been and stuff?" She had never been that great at small talk.



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Striding into the cafeteria, Walker felt decidedly strange in being able to walk around the school in his nightwear. A pair of dark blue cotton drawstring pants and a white v-neck -- This outfit would last him until november, and then he would have to switch to sweats, because Salem was way too cold for his thin Arizona blood. Hell, it was a little too cold for him in the cafeteria the way they'd set things up, coming off of a summer where it got up into the high 110's during the hottest part of the day and cooled down to the mid-to-high 80's.



His skin pricked up into gooseflesh, but he figured things would warm up. Maybe they'd turned up the air conditioning so that people who dressed up a little too warmly, like Elizabeta, wouldn't swelter to death. Not being one who was self-conscious about such things, he walked over to her confidently. "Dance?" It was a dance, after all, and nobody would dance until someone danced, and herds needed to be herded.



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"Anyone else notice it's.... cold out there?" Makepeace's voice asked over the PA system. The always-dapper Makepeace was sitting behind the console in the DJ booth in his charcoal-gray pajamas, popping a CD into one of the decks and selecting the track that he wanted to play. Ms. Buskirk had her playlist, and Makepeace had zero interest whatsoever in sticking to it, as it had a lot of Ace of Base, Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and such. Fortunately, he only had to man the DJ booth for half an hour, and then someone else would have to come up and man the booth. "Let's see what we can do about warming things up." He said, turning down the microphone and hitting the go button on the CD player, playing Soul Asylum's "Can't Even Tell." It was a fun, upbeat track, and it probably wouldn't get him into too much trouble.



Not like some of the CD's in his own personal collection.



The approved formula for the DJ booth was pretty simple -- Two upbeat songs to one slow song, nothing too steamy or sexual, nothing profane... Aside from that, Ms. Buskirk's playlist was more like a list of suggestions... That Makepeace had no intention of following.

[Snick]

"Lighten up, man. I do have a sister here... somewhere," Pratt took a quick glance around, as if he'd be able to see little bitty Iris. "And she can wear what she wants. But she's eleven, I doubt she'd wear anything racy."

If she did, he'd get a good laugh, because that would have to be a joke. Then he would make her put on something else. Not for modesty's sake, but for warmth. His teeth were on the verge of chattering. It made his wide grin look a bit odd as he clenched his teeth, almost like he was mad or malicious.

"We've always got something planned. Since Siobhan has the robe on now, she'll be fine," Pratt glanced over at the girls. "I suppose they're expecting to dance. Maybe we should ask them. Dibs on Arwen."

Of course, he wanted to ask Siobhan. That would probably make Lorccan suspicious, or maybe just make him mad. He seemed like the type that would prefer to dance with his sister than let anyone else dance with her. Maybe he could get a few brownie points for not being overly eager to shake his groove thang with Ginger.

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Esther grinned at the younger girl. "Hey Lex! School is good. How are you? Isn't using a wand awesome?" Esther shivered. "Do you want to talk while we bounce? I'm cold. I think the Stooges probably turned up the AC in here, but I'm not going to tell on them and spoil their fun. Principal Lils will catch on soon enough."

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"A little firsty isn't going to have boobs for older boys to ogle." Lorccan pointed out, noticing Lex but couldn't see any other firsties who could be Pratt's kid sister. He turned back to Pratt. "Wait a few years and you'll know why I want Siobhan to stay covered up. Besides Mom would kill me if I let her strut about half naked."

Lorccan looked over at Arwen then back at Pratt. "You go ahead and dance with Arwen, I don't see anybody yet who I want to dance with."

Dancing, he's done it before but usually just wild uncontrolled bouncing about but at the moment he didn't feel like dancing. He rather keep an eye on his sister till he felt she will be safe. Maybe he will just dance with her himself, though he could always dance with Black. Lorccan looked over at the hot pants glad dancer and definitely noticed her curves. He also noticed the tall hulking form of Walker saunter into the room and head right for the over dressed (but very properly, Lorccan had to conclude) Elizabeta. Shaking his head he turned back to Pratt. "Catch you later...I am going to see if anybody added alcohol to the refreshments."

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Elizabeta turned when she noticed Walker walking up to her. He was quite handsome even if he didn't meet her standards. For dancing however and friendship he was perfectly fine.

"I would love to dance with you Walker." She told him and offered him her hand to take to lead her to the dance floor. She was also glad a more upbeat song started to ensure the dance will be more vigorous. Her nose was feeling a bit cold and it didn't take much for her to realize somebody turned the AC on quite high, far too high for a Pajama Party. At least considering people were coming wearing light night clothing, some more appropriate for hot summer days..say in Arizona. She was very pleased she wore her velvet gown. Elizabeta was not cold save for her nose but some dancing will warm her up nicely.

"Dancing will certainly warm you up." She observed, noting he had goosebumps running down his muscular arms. The white V neck shirt he wore as pajama tops clearly divined how muscular his chest was and Elizabeta definitely appreciated the view.

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Siobhan watched Pratt and waited for him to ask her to dance, smiling at him expectantly. She spoked to Arwen. "I'm not really half naked. I'm wearing all my underclothes, and save for sleeves, this is perfectly modest. It's not like I'm not allowed to wear sleeveless dresses . . . do I look Amish or Mormon or Hasidic Jewish or something? I'm a good Catholic girl, but I'm not a nun."

She could have stuck her tongue out at Lorccan for his prudishness. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he looking at girls and finding one to dance with? Instead he was just looking at her like a mother hen... maybe her suspicion that she had long suppressed was correct: Lorccan didn't like girls that way. She hadn't noticed him liking boys that way either. If he was more religious, Mother would like nothing better than a priest in the family. But . . . she realized with a thud that the curse had won. There would be no more O'Brien wizards.

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Arwen watched Pratt and Lorccan talk wondering how long this secret would be kept when things like this were going on. “No you are dressed properly for a school function. You could have worn something that was covered up a lot less but picked a modest gown. It is about the same size as a sun dress without the sleeves. If you were a nun they would have put you in a completely different school. Salem is full of different temptations that a nun should not deal with.”

She been relieved that her feet had finally started to warm up because she that meant she could enjoy the dance without freezing. She seen the all the different students and knew that she would get to meet the others students here beside just hanging out with her roommate once she got together with Pratt. “So you think that this dance is going too turned out great. The music is better since actually allowed up to do the DJ portion.” Arwen had her book just in case it got boring.

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Patrick showed up wearing his Dolce and Gabbana monogrammed silk pajamas. He would rather wear a suit, but if he had to wear pajamas, he was at least going to look dressed up. He looked around to see if there was any girls he was interested in dancing with. He would be sure to ask Iris to dance with him, Siobhan too, just to bother Freaksos.
Now that little one with Black was pretty cute, tomboy or not. Maybe he'd ask her to dance. He'd watch her for a moment and see if she was interested.


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That was part of his point, his sister had nothing to flaunt. But even if she did, it wasn't his place to tell her what to wear. Phrixos shook his head. Bossing his siblings around would make him a hypocrite, considering how much he appreciated being told what to do and how often he complied.

Pratt quirked a brow at Lorccan. He had implied, by saying he'd ask Arwen, that Lorccan should ask Siobhan. Which 'them' did he think Pratt was referring to? All the girls? Oh, well. With him skulking off to the refreshments, instead of dancing with Siobhan, Pratt didn't feel obligated to ask Arwen in order to leave Siobhan free for Lorccan.

"Alright, then. I'll keep an eye on your sister for you," Pratt flashed a shit-eating grin, then headed toward Ginger and Arwen. "Hey. May I have this dance?"

He held a hand out to his secret girlfriend.

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Lorccan frowned at Pratt's comment about keeping an eye on his sister. Something in the cocky attitude made him wonder. Yet it could just be Pratt's numberous attempts to be funny which once again fell flat in Lorccan's mind. Shrugging he turned his attention to the refreshments then decided it was just too cold to drink anything that was also cold.

"Could do with a good old Irish coffee..." He mutters, then turns away from the refreshments. Bet he could get Irish Coffee down in Wight Town. Moving away from the refreshment table, he looked towards his sister and saw Pratt standing with her and Arwen. Siobhan still had her bathrobe on so Lorccan wondered off, deciding he can keep an eye on her from a distance easily enough.

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Siobhan gave a half curtsy and a smirk, "Why thank you, kind sir. It would be my honor to dance with you," but then she gave up the pretense with a giggle. She let him lead her out onto the bouncy floor, where the slow dance ended and Eddie Van Halen's "Jump" began.
"Good song for this floor." Hands over her head, she just began having fun, and letting herself laugh.

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Lex was glad that Esther didn't turn her away. "Yeah, but I can't wait until I get better. We're practicing a lot without wands right now," Lex said in response to Esther's question. It may have been rhetorical, but Lex still felt the need to voice this frustration. She was still enjoying her classes, but she was eager to start being able to really do magic, the kind of magic that her teachers had demonstrated on the first day.

She was also glad that Esther had suggested getting on the trampolines. They looked really fun and Lex had never been anywhere with giant trampolines like this, but she also didn't want to be the only person jumping around on them. "What kind of prank would turning on the air conditioning be?" She asked as she climbed onto the trampolines. Lex couldn't think how making everyone cold would lead to a good prank.

She started to bounce lightly, wondering if Esther would be able to do cool stuff on the trampoline because she was a dancer. Lex felt herself relax. It had always been easier for her to interact with other people when she was playing a sport or engaging in a physical activity. She didn't feel quite so uncomfortable around so many people and it helped her from feeling antsy.

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Pratt, of course, acted a fool as he bounced with Siobhan. Doing highly exaggerated air guitar along to Van Halen and making very silly faces. He was never a fan, and especially hated David Lee Roth.

"Ouch! Bit my tongue," he laughed and grabbed her hands. Still jumping, but not nearly as vigorously, he pulled Siobhan toward him with a devilish smirk. "OH NO! Oh! Uh oh! WOAH!" Holding her securely, he seemed to be losing his balance very slowly and deliberately. "Aaaahh, I'm faaaallling!"

And then he flopped backwards, pulling Ginger down with him. Hopefully, having a brother, she would at least be accustomed to playing a little bit rough. Pratt laughed.

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Arwen smiled seeing that Siobhan and Pratt were having fun. She knew they would enjoy themselves and would find a way to get around Lorccan. She decided that since her feet were warm there was no reason for her to just sit on the trampoline to warm her feet up. Instead she figured that she might as well get something to drink before it got too busy and the room was full of students.

Once she made it to the refreshment table and grabbed her a glass of punch turned to look around the room again. She finally was getting to see all the different details from the fairy lights that flickered with the music. Arwen had helped set it all up but had been too busy thinking of what she wanted to wear to notice the finish room. They tried their best to make sure it was fun for on.

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"Maybe. Not slow enough to get really warm..." He commented simply. Dancing was a part of Walker's culture, so he was no stranger to it, nor self-conscious about it at all. As he drew Elizabeta out onto the dance floor, there was something vaguely predatory in his eyes... He was the wolf and she was the prey, and as he fixed his eyes on hers, she might well get the impression that he was hunting her.

He had had more than a few girlfriends at school, and quite a few dance partners, but a lot of the girls in the school were avoiding anything close to dating him because of the rather unfortunate events of last year; when coming off the Quodpot semi-finals with a rather one-sided victory, the girl he was dating at the time, Mindy Timms, had leaped into his arms to congratulate him, and found herself in a powerful embrace that cracked a few of her ribs.

Sometimes Walker didn't know his own strength. Gossip was not as forgiving as Mindy had been, although they did break up soon after the dance. She had graduated at the end of the year, anyways, so it was probably better off that way.

Thankfully, this was club-style dancing, though, not anything that would lead to anything bruising... Unless one was dancing with a spastic white guy or something.


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Esther tucked her top in, jumped high in the air to get warmed up, and once she had her momentum going, did a back flip. She bounced a few times and waited to see if Lex wanted to do a trick. "Cold air is an easy enough prank if they are looking at girls," she laughed, then with a shrug pointed at her chest. "It was probably directed at several of the older girls, including me, but I'm ignoring it and having fun anyway. Can you do a back flip?" she asked, then did another one.

[Snick]

Seeing the predatory look in Walker's eye as they started to dance caused Elizabeta to smile challengely. It certainly suited her purpose to catch his interest for now so she will let him stalk. If that is his intention. For now she was content to dance with the handsome 7th year as she certainly couldn't deny the fact she did feel the attraction towards him.

It was quite obvious the man was strong and given what happened last year to his girlfriend, according to all the gossip most of which she didn't believe, he crushed her so hard in his arms, he broke all her ribs. Elizabeta knew for a fact it was only a few and it was a complete accident. He had really strong arms and forgot his own strength, or at least that was what Mindy told her. Elizabeta wasn't really surprised, Mindy was such a little thing.

After a few minutes of dancing quite energetically to the upbeat Van Helen song Elizabeta was certainly warmed up but not uncomfortably so. Watching the play of muscles while Walker danced was quite enjoyable.

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As he walked through the growing crowd of students, Lorccan considered just leaving. Sure the music was better than it had been in past dances but he really wasn't in a dancing mood. Then his eyes fell upon the younger Pratt, dressed in fancy silk pj's and looking like he owned the place. Lorccan had to remind himself Patrick Pratt was actually younger than he was, yet he seemed older than his washout and goofy brother Phrixos Pratt.

Lorccan watched him for a few minutes and noticed he seemed quite fixed on watching Esther doing flips on the trampoline. Lorccan looked and watched Esther for a few moments and had to admit she was quite graceful. Those bright red short shorts she was wearing seemed to glow like a red light in the dim light of the Cafeteria.

"Almost blinding, don't you think?" Lorccan asked, walking up to stand beside Patrick.

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"Oooooh," Lex said when Esther explained the prank, feeling slightly embarrassed that she hadn't realized. Then again, she didn't have the same problem as the older, more developed girls. As Lex had suspected, Esther was good on the trampoline, already doing backflips. "I've never tried," Lex answered. She had once been in a foster home with a family that had a trampoline in their backyard but she had only rarely been allowed on it so wasn't entirely sure how to do a backflip on a trampoline. But given that she was a good athlete, she wasn't afraid to try. She watched Esther to see how she did it. "Well, I'll try a front flip first," she said, bouncing back a couple feet to give herself room. She jumped a few times to give herself height and then attempted a front flip. Lex managed to flip all the way around and land on her feet, but ended up off balance and bounced backwards onto her back. She laughed as she hit the trampoline and bounced a few times on her back before managing to get back on her feet. "I think I need some more practice," Lex said, bouncing back over to Esther, a smile on her face. In that moment she felt pretty good, something she wasn't quite used to.

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In the DJ booth, Makepeace was grimacing under the attention of Miss Buskirk, who had just waltzed on into the booth and put on Van Halen. Like Pratt, he was no fan of Diamond Dave, but with Miss Buskirk breathing down his neck, what could he do? Then he turned to look at the woman and saw exactly what he could do. He cleared his throat softly and murmured, "Oh, so that's the deal with the A/C." His eyes trailing downward, a small smirk appearing.

Once the scandalized young teacher left the booth, he turned to look at the people bouncing on the trampoline. Pratt, Siobhan, Lex and... Esther. Moving to the master control board, he adjusted a few settings. Spotlights played up and down the trampolines, and gravity lessened around them, not quite allowing them to bounce off the ceiling with their jumps (there were cushioning charms on the ceiling anyways), but certainly giving them some hang time. And then, just for fun, he started the song "Dream Weaver" playing.

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Siobhan landed in a pile of giggles on top of Pratt, bouncing and rolling to his side. She bounced up onto her knees and they did a funny kind of twist on their knees to the dance, trying to jump onto their feet, but failing. Each time succeeding in laughing more.
Then the music changed to "Dream Weaver" and a bright spotlight shone on Esther flying through the air doing tricks high above the trampoline---the spotlight brightly illuminating how cold she was, and not just the goosebumps on her arms and legs . . . Siobhan felt a little embarrassed for her, even if the dancer didn't seem to care. "Glad I wore my sports bra," she mumbled.

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"Black does indeed look fine. But the firstie next to her is not without potential. I'd like to get to know her and find out if she is worth my time." With that, Patrick strode off, moving closer to the trampolines where he could observe Lex more closely.

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Nervous, as always, Zot had snuck in and taken a place by one of the walls. He was wearing the pair of basketball shorts he always wore to bed, but tonight he was wearing a white under t-shirt so he wouldn't get into trouble for going without a shirt. He kept pulling at the cotton material, feeling as though it was too tight across the new muscle he had built up though it was mostly because it was a size too small. It was the part of his wardrobe that he had neglected when getting new school clothes.

He had a pair of flip flops on his feet so he wasn't walking around barefoot. As usual he felt a bit out of place and yet right at home. Zot was used to spending most of his time at the dances either near the outskirts or getting a drink from the punchbowl. Part of him wished to change that this year now that he was a strapping lad of fifteen years. But there was a much bigger part of him that was ok with staying in the shadows. A rather large twitch shook through him and he sighed. Somethings never would change for him.

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With Patrick wondering off to stare at a first year, the same one Lorccan talked to up in the bell tower, Lorccan looked around for something else to do. It was then he spotted his sister and Pratt bouncing about and falling on top of each other on the bouncy part of the floor. He frowned. It looked just like harmless fun, its not like they were kissing. Lorccan saw his sister was having fun and from the short time he watched, Pratt was keeping his hands off improper places.

With the spotlight now on the various bouncing students, Lorccan felt he was being paranoid. No kid in their right mind is going to do anything improper with all the eyes of the faculty able to see them. He looked over at Patrick again, considering going up to talk with him and Lex but shrugged. Lex was too busy bouncing with Hot Pants Esther and Lorccan had no desire to bounce.

"This is boring...." He mutters. Looking around again he tried to figure what he could do to make things more interesting. He spotted something he could use to have fun and headed to the refreshment table and filled the pockets of his bathrobe with grapes then took a handful and started eating a few before moving back into the crowd. Now fully armed, Lorccan waited for opportune moments to toss grapes at various body parts of bouncers and dancers, moving about the crowd to make it harder for his targets to realize he was the one tossing grapes.

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"And a robe," Pratt's expression soured. "Sorry, it's partially my fault. The A/C I mean. A couple of the stooges talked me into screwing with the thermostat. You know, to see..." without elaborating verbally, he flicked his index fingers straight out in front of his chest. "We maaaaay have broken it. I hope they fix it soon, though, it's like frickin' Hoth in here, and it's not like I've really even gotten to see your-"

Pratt suddenly had a little coughing fit. "Your, uh, dance boobs. MOVES. Dance moves," he coughed some more into his fist and cleared his throat. "I need a drink. You want one?"

His face felt so hot, he thought it might blister. Pratt prayed she would laugh and not get upset or offended. After all, wasn't it kind of a compliment? A grape bounced off his noggin and he stopped in his tracks to search the crowd.

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As the music slowed, Walker drew Elizabeta in closer. If he was going to smash all of her ribs, he was going about it all wrong, because his touch was gentle as he took hold on one of her arms and guided it around his neck, letting his arm then slowly work its way down and around her waist. "I hope I'm not keeping you away from anyone..." She was a pretty girl, and they'd never butted heads before, so he didn't have any of the sorts of preconceived notions that some of the others in school did.

Still, despite his words, he wasn't terribly concerned about how others might feel if they thought he was monopolizing her time. He was still peering directly and deeply into her eyes, only now, they were a little closer, and things were moving a little slower. In old times, teachers would insist on a six inch bubble between students who were dancing, but nowadays, as long as you weren't dry-humping through your clothes, or groping like there was no tomorrow, touching was usually okay.

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Her arms crossed in front of her delicately, Lil watched the freezing festivities with an air of amusement before turning and looking at Ted Llewellyn. A slight nod of her head, and the man headed off to shut down the flow of cold air. As the defense teacher left the room, she drew out her wand and gave it a offhanded flick, heating the air in the cafeteria to a more comfortable temperature.

She could have done so at any time, of course, but had deemed it more appropriate to let the Stooges reap the results of what they had sown.

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Elizabeta smirked slightly as Walker placed one of her arms to his neck to move them closer for the slow dance. She slide her arm more to rest on his shoulder, her slim fingers slipping underneath his hair were it rested against the base of his neck. Her other hand she rested on his side lightly, just above his hipbone. As he was a tall man she did have to look up to see into his eyes.

"I am sure if anybody wishes to dance they can ask to cut in or wait till we are finished." Elizabeta says, not at all disturbed by dancing with him. The intensity of his gaze was getting to be distracting. He was handsome, he was definitely physically fit and in possession of a nice enough personality from what she heard. They had talked together before and as yet, she definitely had nothing against him personally. "I am rather surprised you don't have a full dance card yourself, Walker."

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"I'm more comfortable with older girls." He explained quietly. It was true -- Most of the girls he had seen were at least one year older, and sometimes two. Now if he wanted to date an older woman, he'd probably have to hit up one of the younger female instructors, and they would probably get fired for that sort of thing.

It seemed like he was going to let that be it for his thoughts on the matter, but then he leaned down and murmured in her ear, "It's like everyone thinks they know how I am because of the way I am on the field." Or, for that matter, because he was in special education. "Like I'm the Frankenstein monster or something."

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Patrick decided to make his move. He walked up to where the cute newbie was jumping with Black. He jumped up to Lex. "Hi, Lex, right? You might not know me, I'm Patrick. I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me."

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Siobhan laughed. "I think I need drink. If I don't get one before someone puts on B-B-B-B-Benni and the Jets, I'm liable to have it coming out of my nose. I can imagine what you'll do during the electric boobs part," she teased Pratt, knowing that song had indeed been a favorite of one of the professor djs last year. Some songs were just the best for messing up the words on... like that Phil Collins one . . . she's in a hat box . . . or something like that, she thought.

[Snick]

"Being in your final year I can see you are rather forced to dance with younger girls, not that I am all that young. Unless you are the daring sort and dance with one of the younger female instructors." Elizabeta says, unaware she just mirrored her thoughts. "As for what others think they know about you Walker...what I think, is you are not some monster. A big, very fit man, yes, but far from something monstrous."

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Seeing a hand raising from the throng to throw something at the trampolines, Makepeace frowned, a little annoyed that the mixer was swiftly turning into chaos. He'd put a lot of time and work into this, and the last thing that he needed was someone in the crowd being a dick. He slowly began restoring the gravity in that part of the room, and then headed on over, brandishing his wand for a moment to set up a shield charm that would block further attempts at throwing stuff. Last thing he needed would be for the party to degenerate into a food fight.

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Lorccan was having fun lobbing grapes at various 'targets' hitting Pratt in the head, some 6th year witch he managed to score one into her bosom but she thought it was the guy next to her and gave him an unfriendly shove. Moving on Lorccan was considering throwing another at Esther who he kept missing only to have his grape bounce off a shield suddenly. Frowning Lorccan looked around, worried a staff member decided to end his fun. Instead, he spotted Makepeace, wand out, standing near the bouncy area.

*Not going to end my fun that easily.* Lorccan thought to himself and threw a grape at Makepeace.

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Spotlights hit the trampolines and Lex found herself feeling lighter. For a moment she pinwheeled her arms, taken by surprise at the sudden increase in jump height, but she soon relaxed enjoying herself immensely. The air, too, changed, finally warming up. She looked about at the professors and spotted the principal putting her wand away. "You were right, she caught on." Lex remarked to Esther, indicating the principal.

Then the third unexpected thing happened, a boy Lex didn't recognize came over and asked her to dance. Lex was completely taken aback. She regarded him suspiciously, not believing that he wouldn't have an ulterior motive. She looked over at Esther to see her reaction. "Are you part of the Stooges or something?" Lex asked Patrick, not stopping her jumping. It wasn't precisely that self-confidence stopping Lex from believing that the boy could be innocent in his desire to dance it was more that Lex never believed that anyone was ever innocent in their desire for anything.

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Makepeace turned directly towards Lorccan as the grape he threw bounced off of his forehead, and aimed his wand at the little twerp. "Figures." He said, motioning to the nearest professor, who happened to be Glassman. "Better leave. If I talk to Glassman, he'll have you cleaning the cafeteria after meals for a week."

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"What?" Lorccan asks in mock confusion. "Don't you have something better to do than point your wand at people?"

Lorccan popped a grape into his mouth and chewed it, doubting the older boy would dare hex him here in front of all the people. Its not like grapes are going to hurt anybody.

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A heavy hand settled on Lorccan's shoulder. "He's right, you know. Put the wand away, Makepeace." said the not-so-friendly neighborhood Potions professor. "Mister O'Brien, are you misbehaving? Do I need to put you in time out?" All of this was said with a charming smile, and through clenched teeth. Howard had better things to be doing than playing chaperon at a party. Or babysitter as the case may be.

"I will, by the way, review my memories of this little soiree in the pensieve later, so you might want to temper your answers. If you are truthful with me, you may leave the party without further issue. If you lie... Well, it's best not to lie."

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Lorccan isn't quite sure if Professor Grassman meant he was right or Makepeace. Either way Lorccan was at his last grape anyway. He popped it into his mouth and chewed, wondering how much if anything, the Professor saw. There were quite a few students and plenty moving around. Unlikely he will have seen more than maybe one grape toss.

"I am not misbehaving at all, just enjoying the party." Lorccan quips. "I may have dropped a grape or two, but with all the bouncing around, easy thing to do."

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Esther shrugged. "The Stooge is his big brother. That one probably just does want to dance with you... and make out with you later if he thinks you're interested," she added in a whisper. She continued in a whisper. "He's a bit of a pretty boy, but I think you can handle him if you want to dance. Up to you."

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"Yes, I'm forced to dance with younger girls..." He said, nuzzling his lips against her ear, and exhaling softly into it. "Which isn't so bad so far." Apparently, she'd won some measure of approval from him for her words, as the embrace he was holding her in seemed to grow a little warmer. And his lips were gently grazing her ear.

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Howard's feigned smile took a decidedly dark twist. "Thank you so much for insulting my intelligence with your feigned obtuseness. Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mr. O'Brien. You are leaving the party. Now. And if I find sufficient grounds, as I am sure I will be able to collaborate with the other professors in the room, I will come to your dorm room before the sun rises, as I will be doing with the ones who sabotaged the air conditioning, and you will all find yourselves doing some vigorous calisthenics in the walk-in freezer before giving the Cafeteria a very thorough cleaning. Now move it, or it will be moved for you."

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"Haaa, funny girl," Pratt pouted and grinned at tandem, letting the annoyance at the grape incident fade into the background. "I'll get something for you, if you'd like, but I should probably dance with someone else for a while."

He didn't seem all that excited about doing that. The girl he had been pining for was finally all his, and he couldn't even spend the whole night in her company. It seemed the caf was getting warmer. A shame, but at least they hadn't pinned it on him, yet.

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Normally Elizabeta would not let a wizard she wasn't even officially dating get so close...nuzzling her ear that way, especially in the middle of a dance floor yet the warmth of it, was very distracting. It was also an effort to keep herself from moving closer to the heat of his body.

"Walker..if you are going to be doing that while we dance...you better officially ask me out first." Elizabeta says, turning her head slightly, risking the chance their lips may get too close. There was a slight sound of worry in her voice, as it would be rather embarrassing if he just stops what he is doing and end the dance, never to ask her again this night.

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Lorccan now remembered why Professor Grassman gave him the creeps. The guy was fucking scary, simple as that. "Right...I am out of here..."

Without further delay, Lorccan quick marched out of the cafetaria. He had planned to leave soon anyway so this wasn't a big deal. Just a quick stop at his room to change and he'll be off fishing for the rest of the night. Or so that's the plan.

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"I'll get my own. Ask someone else to dance while my brother is still here . . . then we can dance again later. See you soon." She winked at him, then let the robe slide off her shoulder.

She headed for the refreshment table. Now that the room was warmer, she really was thirsty. And just as soon as Lorccan was gone, she was putting the robe aside until she went outside again.

But she looked up and noticed Lorccan was already leaving, courtesy of Mr. Glassman. She hoped he wasn't in trouble. But she wasn't too worried. She put the robe on a chair three minutes after he left.

[Snick]

Glassman watched Lorccan's retreat with a certain measure of satisfaction in his eyes before turning his attention to Makepeace. "And you, Mr. Makepeace, let me see your wand." He said, taking it from the boy when it was offered. A quick prior incantation spell later, and he handed it back to the boy, finding no grounds to punish him, said, "Fine. Thank you for wasting five minutes of my life that I'll never get back." With that, he turned on his heel and headed back to his corner.

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"Alright," he smiled, momentarily captivated by her exposed shoulder as she headed toward the drinks. Pratt was so distracted, he almost didn't see a second year girl hurtling toward him, in semi-slow motion. With little effort, he stepped aside and began his hunt for a dance partner.

"Oh, sorry, excuse me," Pratt pretended plowing into his brother shoulder-first was an accident. Was he trying to pick up that first year? He almost felt like warning the girl, but she looked like she could take care of herself. Cheesing like a maniac, his eyes locked on Esther. "Wanna dance?"

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Walker again leaned in close, so that their lips did indeed brush, although he didn't seize them up in a kiss. So it was barely a second-hand kiss. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was being too forward. Would you? Like to go out with me some time?" He asked her softly, stroking his fingers up and down her back enticingly. He hadn't intended to start dating this soon in the school year, but if it happened, it happened.

"Maybe we could go out to town on the weekend." Because, while campus was closed, students were allowed to go into town on the weekends if their parents or guardians gave them permission.

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Esther looked at her jumping partner Lex and shrugged. "This is the brother who is the Stooge I told you about." She climbed down from the trampoline. "Sure, I'll dance with you, Pratt."

Just as they started dancing, the Bryan Adams song, "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" started. Not exactly the kind of song she wanted to share with Pratt, but there were ways around it. She took his hand and put her hand on his shoulder so they could tango and put her best mock rapturously Spanish look on her face.

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When their lips just barely touched Elizabeta moved her head back but couldn't help the catch in the throat at the brief accidental contact. What was it about this wizard that was making her heart race? Lust was not an emotion she was oblivious to, but she never let herself succumb to it. Then again, having Walker as her 'date' will give her more time to draw out information from him about the time he was a lighthouse keeper.

"I will enjoy going out to town on the weekend." Elizabeta agreed, smiling at him. "And no need for an apology, no harm done."

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There was definitely no way Lex would be making out with anyone and if Patrick thought he could try, he had another thing coming. Lex eyed the boy again as if trying to read in his face what he was up to. Before she could give an answer, Pratt came over to ask Esther to dance. So, Patrick was Pratt's brother. Their brief, unfriendly interaction didn't escape Lex's notice. Lex had been unsure how to answer, but when Esther decided to go dance with Pratt, Lex was left alone with Patrick. "Well, all right then." Lex said, not all that enthusiastically and jumped off the trampoline onto the dance floor. Lex far from experienced in dancing but her coordination and athleticism allowed her to at least not look terribly awkward on the rare occasions that she did dance.

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"Cool." Walker breathed against Elizabeta's lips. He had a feeling that she was a girl with expensive tastes, and he managed to get by with a very small allowance. He just hoped he wouldn't have to blow it all on one date. "I'll have to think of something fun for us to do." Maybe she would like to go broom-riding over the ocean. It wasn't too cold for that sort of thing, and if she did get cold, he could always find a way to warm her up.

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"I am sure we won't be bored for conversation at least, given we do have some things in common." Elizabeta felt a surge of daring and reached up and brushed his lips with her thumb, almost like it was intended as a kiss without any rule breaking. It was just that and more, though kissing wasn't strictly forbidden as long as it stayed light and brief.

Elizabeta had not dated much in the past couple years and very rarely did she kiss her dates. More often they simply danced and never spent much time outside of the school dances. Walker however, she didn't want to just see during dances. Dating him gave her a ready excuse to spend time with him, when he was't practicing for quadpot, studying or doing whatever else he did with his school day.

As the opening of Bryan Adam's 'Did you Ever Love a Woman' Elizabeta knew it would be yet another slow dance but she didn't' feel apprehension at continuing with Walker. Nor did any other wizard come to cut in. She wasn't thirsty as yet nor hungry. So she gave no indication of wanting to leave the dance floor.

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"Bryan Adams? Lame," at least she was being a good sport about it. Pratt glanced around distractedly. "Our dance might be cut short. With the air conditioning back to normal, they're probably on to the Stooges."

Even though he wasn't the mastermind behind it this time, he would most likely be the first to get accused. And, despite only being an accomplice, Pratt would gladly take the blame to spare his Legacy brothers and sisters. None of the teachers seemed to be approaching him or any of the Upsilon Iota members. That was never good.

"I don't care what punishment I get," he shrugged, strutting along with Esther. "It was worth it to at least see your high beams."

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Standing nearby, Makepeace moved in next to Pratt and Esther and said, in a very Glassman-like voice, "Mr. Pratt!" He then dropped his voice back to it's normal tones. "1984 is over with, Big Brother isn't watching you any more... Mind if I cut in? Maybe you can man the DJ booth and save us before Miss Buskirk finds out where I hid the Miami Sound Machine CD's." Something about Pratt talking about Esther's highbeams made him want to stuff the younger student's head in a toilet. Several times.

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She knew Pratt well enough to know it was a compliment, even if he was a jerk. "Thanks, Pratt." She shook her head at his flattery, but then Makepeace came to the rescue.

Makepeace, her old best friend, the last person to make her cry, she remembered. "You may cut in." She felt her guard go up inside, but kept her humor light on the outside. She took his hand and caught his rhythm easily.

Maybe we can try being friends again . . . not picking up where we left off, but starting over again, slowly she practiced in her head, waiting for him to say the right thing for her to have an excuse to say it.

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Arwen finished her drink before heading away from the refreshments seeing that all the others here were having fun. This was going to turn out to be one of the better Hello Dance’s that she attended since her first year. She smiled gently towards Siobhan as she saw her walking towards the refreshment table. “You look like you are having fun tonight. I believe that it finally getting warmer so not having to worry about freezing.”

She looked at all the others at the party and seen that everyone seem to be having fun other than Lorccan since he was asked to leave the party for having been doing something that she really had not noticed. Pratt was now dancing with Esther which made since they had not wanted anyone to realize he was actually dating someone else. Patrick was also hanging out with one of the first years so the party was doing well. Then there was Elizabeta and Walter dancing really close that you might wonder if they were actually dating. She had seen that Zot was here alone so moved over in that direction.

Once close enough she smiled towards him slightly and waved. “Hello Zot, I hope that you are having a fun time here today.” She knew that if he did not want to her it would be find. She would just move over to some of the pillow and things to sit down and work on reading the book she brought.

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Pratt's spine momentarily turned to ice. Hadn't Glassman just been in the corner a second ago? Upon seeing Makepeace, his back thawed.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he bowed out, letting Makepeace take over, and headed for the DJ booth. He was tired of all the crappy music, anyway. As he weaved through the crowd, he kept an eye out for Siobhan, hoping no one was trying to do anything more than dance with her. Pratt tried to wave at her across the room, but wasn't sure if she saw. At least Lorccan seemed to have left.

The world is a vampire... the speakers vibrated as Billy Corgan's voice seeped out. Pratt bobbed his head and sang quietly along as he looked through the musical selection to find his next song.

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Seeing most of the people she knew pairing off, Kit hung back and watched for a while. Her hands fumbled with the knot at the front of her robe. It was nice and secure. Maybe she'd go into the bouncy house. Or maybe she'd find some of her new friends in the crowd and dance. Biting her bottom lip, she looked back and forth between the dance floor and the bouncy inflatable.

Katrien crossed her arms and headed for the first trampoline. Scrambling over that one and the rest, she finally made it to the little rubber jump room. Getting there was more difficult than she imagined it would be. She felt like she was struggling to reach the floor of a pool.

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A homecoming dance where one can wear their nightgowns like a slumber party was just amazing. Seeing how well set it up was, despite it being rather cold, Iris was eager to get down to some serious fun. She watched some of the older girls and her brother Azreal dancing and jumping on the trampolines and decided that looked like way too much fun to ignore.

Filled with eager energy, she jumped onto the first trampoline and much to her surprised bounced up far higher than she expected. Giving a squeal of surprised glee she flapped her arms as though wanting to fly. She bounced up and down for quite some time till she noticed another first year, make her careful way into the bouncy house. Deciding she will love to talk and rest she made her own way across the row of bouncy trampolines and dove into the bouncy house.

"Wheee!" She said, after bouncing to an almost stop,. "Isn't this a great idea for a dance?" she asked her fellow Firsty.

[Snick]

Makepeace looked at Esther, and he could almost feel her shields going up, despite three years of not being around each other much. "Hi, my name is Makepeace." He said, moving in close, a little nervous at the situation his impulsiveness had gotten him into. "Your name's Esther Black, right?" No, he wasn't sure at all that this approach would work, especially after what happened the other day. He had thought about ways he could fix things, wracked his brains for the whole week, and still came up with nothing. But maybe if she would let him start over... He knew that his words sounded flippant, and even as his body began to move in time with hers, his eyes were silently pleading with her.

He had no idea she was thinking along parallel lines.

A few minutes' worth of the camaraderie that they had lost had been all he had needed to want that again. The last time they had been friends, he had broken the unspoken rule. Now... He wanted her back in his life, even with the express knowledge that love was out of the question.

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She gave a slight smile. Okay, this might work. "Yeah, I've noticed you in some of my classes." Four out of five on A days and one out of five on B days actually. She was seeing a lot of him this year. "Maybe we can study together some time," she offered.

She didn't know if he noticed, but she had never paired up with anyone else as a best friend, male or female. She tended to go with clusters of friends. There were always happy clusters of friends around her--a group of six or seven good, close friends moving in or out of her circle, so the lack of a best friend wasn't really noticed by anyone but her. But she knew. She wondered if he knew she had saved that place for him, even now, long after he could no longer fill it. It had become a habit.

She moved closer, not quite dirty dancing , but riskily enough to enjoy the music and be able to read him better. Besides, she was a very good dancer, and she was having fun.

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Peering into her eyes as Elizabeta caressed his lips with her thumb, Walker kissed the offered digit softly, and then reached up and cupped the back of her head, leaning in to kiss her cheek softly. "Yes, we have many things in common." He said with slight smile. "And probably enough differences to make things interesting." Because, really, what fun was it to date someone who was exactly like you? All relationships started off with a period where you want to learn as much as possible about the person you're seeing, and once you learned all there was to know, you're bored and started noticing other people.

While he hated to admit it, Walker knew that it didn't take much to learn all there was to know about him. In fact, his own life was pretty boring in his eyes, even though it might seem colorful to others. He wondered if Elizabeta's life was similar enough that it might also seem boring to her.

"Most everyone goes to the mall. Would you like to try something different?" He asked.

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"Hmmm. Maybe. I think I'd like that, since I struggle in Transfigurations and Magical Critterfest." He said, doing his best to guide her in closer to him. He knew he had no right to expect the sorts of hugs she used to give him when he was feeling down, but maybe if they just danced a little closer, it would be like that.

On some level, Makepeace had noticed that Esther had never really come up with a definable best friend, but then, the only way he could really express that was in drawings. She was still one of his favorite subjects to draw, and in those drawings, he had captured the group dynamic of her circles of friends even without realizing that was what he was doing.

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This man is dangerous...the thought ran through her mind as Walker kissed her cheek softly. Dangerous due to the fact it was surprisingly easy for his touch to have such a reaction in her she craved for more. Elizabeta did not like to feel so easily distracted, to have a craving beyond her desire for power. She absolutely refused to let herself be controlled by hormones and emotional responses to outside stimuli. It was not so easy to do practically however.

"I am always up for something different...seeking the unknown and experiencing the strange, is how we learn to face the unexpected." Elizabeta replies, forcing herself to move just a little further away from Walker, without making it obvious she was adding a little bit of space. Nothing against him but to give herself a little relief from his allure.

Looking up again she saw those same eyes still fixated on her. It was starting to be a bit unnerving, but she was determined not to show in any way those eyes were starting to be hard to keep focused on.

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"It is," Kit said enthusiastically, bouncing cautiously so as not to bump into her or anyone else. "Iris, right?"

They had all the same classes together. She was a cute girl and seemed nice and friendly, but Katrien had yet to speak to her. Talking to boys and other tomboys was so much easier. From what she gathered, by her last name, Iris was probably related to Siobhan's friend, Pratt. There was a resemblance in their smiles. And in the shape and spacing of their eyes. But hers didn't look so tired, and they were such a pretty color. If she wasn't mistaken, Pratt had brown eyes.

"I've never been to a dance before. Especially not one like this," Kit tucked her hair behind her ears, cheeks mildly pink. "Have you?"

She spoke loudly, over the last few lyrics of Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", before the last notes merged into the beginning of Kriss Kross's "Jump". That they were playing so many regular songs seemed strange to Kit. Maybe some of the bands were actually witches and wizards, too. That would explain quite a few things about the musicians near her hometown, in Seattle.

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"Yes, that's my name." Iris confirms. "You're Kit right?"

"There weren't any dances like this back home. Me and my brothers were all home schooled till old enough to come here. This is my first dance and its just awesome. I thought it would be boring, but the bouncy floor and in here, makes it all the more fun." Iris piped loudly over the music herself. So far it was all music she had not heard before, her parents tended to listen to more classical music than she liked. "I hope all the dances here are this much fun."

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"Yep," her eyes shone with glee, her chest puffing out a little with pride. Someone knew her name. "Home-schooled? Cool. You have more than one brother? I think I may have met one of them. Unless someone here has a first name the same as your last name."

During roll call every day, she'd heard Iris's last name and it stood out, then, as that boy's name. Now there were some students nearby chanting 'Jump jump!' along with the song and she had to talk even louder. "Me, too," she shouted, almost losing her balance but soon recovering thanks to the lowered gravity. "As long as they aren't always the same, either."

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"I have three brothers but only two are here right now. Phrixos Pratt, my eldest brother...he goes by Pratt here which is kind of stupid since now there are three Pratts. How are people going to know which one is being referred to now?" Iris didn't know why Phrixos hated his real name unless it was because it was the same as their father. But she never called their father by his first name so why does it matter? Iris shrugged. If this had been something new, she would think it was because of THE FIGHT that changed Phrixos and made him more fun. "He's named after our father, Phrixos the 3rd. My brother is Phrixos the 4th."

"My other brother, a couple years older than me, is Patrick Pratt. He's over there dancing with Lex I think her name is." Iris continues. "I also have a kid brother but he won't start school for a few years yet. His name is Phobos. I am the only girl."

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There was something doe-like in Elizabeta's eyes that made Walker relent a little, drawing away, as well, reaching up to caress her face tenderly. If he misunderstood her, it didn't show on his stoic features, but he didn't seem quite as predatory as he had before. But it wasn't like his interest in the hunt had faded any.

"Would you like to dance with someone else for a little bit?" He asked quietly. Unlike many guys, there wasn't a wounded-puppy tone to his voice, he just wanted to know. "I won't take it personally, since we do have a date this weekend..."

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"Not at the moment but some refreshment would be a good idea now." Elizabeta says, finding herself relax more now that he wasn't giving her that intense stare. In another place and time that stare would bring out her own predatory instincts but not this night. "I would like if you join me but if you want to find other dance partners I am sure we can dance again later."

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"He's the one I met. Pratt," Kit nodded. "He's the DJ right now, isn't he?"

She jumped higher to get a better look. That was definitely the guy. Then she effortlessly spun in the air to find Lex among the throng on the dance floor. The boy with her was very dapper. Well-dressed, even in pajamas. Katrien felt envious of him. She wasn't sure if it was because he could afford nice things, because he looked better in pajamas than she did, or because of something else.

Her attention returned to Iris. "They're cute," her expression wasn't as enthusiastic as her voice. They weren't really cute to her, and it felt weird and fake to pretend they were. But that's the kind of thing girls said, right? Boys and how cute they were was a popular topic with most of the girls she knew. Probably the most popular topic.

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"Eww they're my brothers..they aren't cute at all." Iris grimaced not realizing exactly who Katrien meant as being 'cute'. She bounced up herself just to see what was going on as she thought Phrixos was dancing too, not DJing. "And yes, that's Phrixos manning the DJ booth."

"Have any pets Kit?" She asked, thinking that will be a far better topic than whether her brothers are cute or not. Iris certainly didn't want to think of them as cute. Sweet yes, they both can be, but cute?

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"Oh, right. Sorry," her face turned the color of her robe. "I didn't mean it like that. Really. I mean.. they aren't hideous. I guess."

Thankfully, the subject was quickly changed and she pounced on it. "No, I don't," Kit still couldn't bring her eyes up. "I want a chameleon, though. I'd name him Karma. But my parents can't afford it."

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"You want a pet lizard?" Iris wasn't sure if she should 'eww' again or not. She didn't want Kit to think she hated everything Kit said tonight. "That would be a different sort of pet...not much fun I don't think, at least for me. To see it sitting in a cage..or are you going to carry it on your shoulder?"

"I have a pet puff ball dog. Its a cute little thing, a real miniature dog." Iris brought her hands up and gave an approximate size, maybe a little bigger than a baseball. "I usually carry him in my purse but I didn't want to bring him to the dance, it would be too much excitement for him. I call him Poochie after one of the characters in my favorite cartoon, Belle and Sebastian. I would have liked to have a Great Pyrenees like Belle but mom wouldn't let me get a dog that grows so big. Poochie was my second choice."

[Snick]

"And now, the second most beautiful Irish musician in the world," Pratt announced in his best Casey Kasem voice, which, of course, sounded a lot like Shaggy.

Oh my life... is changin' every day, in every possible way... sang Dolores of The Cranberries. Sighing, he wondered if Siobhan was paying any attention or if she was having too much fun dancing.

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"Yeah," she shrugged. "I wouldn't keep him in his cage all the time. But I wouldn't be able to handle him a whole lot, either. They're really fragile."

Kit just thought they were neat, changing colors to fit into their surroundings. Of course, she realized it wasn't as impressive as cartoons made camouflage seem. "Awww, I bet he's adorable," her voice went a little squeaky. "You'll have to show me some time."

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Patrick finished up the second dance with Lex. "Thanks for the dances, Lex. You're a good dancer. I'll see you around school." He gave her a nod and escorted her back to the side, then noticing his brother's eye was on Siobhan, made a beeline to her side.

She had just raised her glass to her lips when he spoke.

"So, Siobhan, I see you lost the robe. You are looking quite enchanting tonight. My brother has good taste . . . but you could do so much better, especially among Pratts . . . say the word, Siobhan." Her word was a startled spray of soda.

Patrick jumped back just in time to avoid a shower. Then again, maybe his brother did deserve her. He walked away and found Arwen. "Hello, Beautiful, would you like to dance?"

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"Should be interesting to see. Maybe when you are older you can buy one as a pet." Iris smiled. "Or we can organize a fund raiser and raise money so you can buy a pet. I love baking, we could have a bake sale or something." Iris paused, realizing nobody would buy any food since they can get anything they want from the kitchens here for free. "Well maybe that won't go so well here at the school."

"I will be glad to show you Poochie. I will take him out for a walk after the dance, otherwise he just won't sleep. He's small but so full of energy."

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Now that Patrick was gone, Lex was left alone. She was glad that he hadn't tried anything. Once off the dance floor, she looked around for people she knew. Esther was still dancing with Makepeace but she caught sight of Iris and Katrien in the bouncy house. She got back on the trampolines and made her way over to the two other first years. "Hi guys," she said, "this zero gravity thing's pretty cool, huh?" she added, jumping as high as she could and then doing a back flip. It was much easier now that she was practically floating.

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"I can come with you? For Poochie's walk?" Katrien beamed from ear to ear. Even though she was girly and pretty, she wasn't at all like the girls from Lacey Elementary. They had all started out friendly, but with each passing year, more and more of them had started noticing boys and shunning her for not showing the same interests. One girl had even called her a lesbian, and she didn't even know what that was. When one of her friends told her, she laughed. She wasn't interested in boys, but she most certainly wasn't interested in girls. They were intimidating to Kit.

"I don't like baking. Or any other kind of cooking," she admitted. "Maybe you can help me with that. I won't make it far in Home Ec without help. And since a bake sale is out of the question... It will give you a chance to bake."

Kit moved over a little to give Lex room to jump. "Hey, Lex," she said cheerily. "Yeah, I can almost swim in the air."

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Arwen was standing near Zot listening to all of the music that Pratt was playing really enjoying the music that was playing. She had been waiting for him to answer and knew that if he did not answer soon she would just leave him there. She was looking forwards to reading the book of poems but would rather have fun at the party.
She smiled seeing Patrick coming over and asking her to dance. She remembered when Pratt had been just like him before decided to throw all the grades away and become part of the Stooges. She did think though that it seemed to fit him better than worrying about his grades and becoming like his father. “Yes Patrick, I would enjoy sharing a dance or two with you.”

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"Hi Lex." Iris greeted the other first year girl to join the fun in the bouncy house. "I hope you had fun dancing with my brother. Patrick is fun but he can be stuffy at times."

Looking back at Kit Iris smiled at her enthusiasm. "Sure you can come with me while I walk Poochie. Lex can come too, would you like that Lex?" Iris looked back at the other girl. "I think it will be much more fun if all three of us walk Poochie. He will love being the center of attention."

"I will be happy to help you with cooking in Home Ec. Kit." Iris couldn't wait to get to actual cooking in that class. So far it was just talk about safety and what she already knew. Guess not all girls were taught basic cooking at home before coming here. "We can be partners once we get to cooking and other things."

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Siobhan looked up to see if Pratt had just watched that little exchange with his brother, the player, hitting on her. She supposed she was as close in age to one as the other (closer to Patrick's age, truthfully) . . . and Patrick was handsome. But she liked guys who made her laugh. And Pratt was funny. Patrick was . . . smooth. Too smooth. Not her type at all.

She shook her head and put her glass down. She made her way to the dj stand. "When do you get a break, Gilligan?" she asked. "Or can I just talk to you when you aren't changing tunes?"

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"Uh, yeah, it was fine," Lex said in response to Iris' comment about Patrick. Like Katrien, Lex was not at all interested in boys yet. She had no idea how she was supposed to talk about them. "Poochie what?" Lex had missed the part where Poochie was Iris' dog. She was a bit wary of anything that was named Poochie anyway.

"My goal's gonna be to not set anything on fire in Home Ec... although that might make things more interesting," Lex added thoughtfully. It was difficult to tell if she was joking or not. Lex already hated Home Ec. It didn't matter that there was magic involved, she still didn't want to be told to learn to be a girl.

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Pratt scowled at his little brother. He didn't know what Pat said, but Siobhan's reaction told him that it wasn't anything good.

"What happened?" he asked when she approached the booth. "We can talk in between song changes."

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"Oh Poochie is my pet, a little white dog called a puff ball. He's really cute and very sweet." Iris assured Lex. "You don't have to come if you don't want to but it would be nice if you did."

"I will be happy to help you with Home Ec too, Lex. Its not really that hard and can be quite fun. Besides, its not like only girls cook, the class is co-ed afterall."

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"I think I'll stay with you for now." Walker said quietly. Sure, it was a mixer, and he should try dancing with some of the other girls on the floor, but some of the girls at the dance were awfully young, and he had an aversion to dancing with girls who barely came up to his chest level. They seemed so willowy and frail, and it would just seem and feel wrong for someone his size to be dancing with them. While Elizabeta was smaller than him, he knew that her family kept dragons, and so she must have some mettle to have grown up in that kind of environment.

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Elizabeta smiled at Walker in amusement. It was quite interesting she could clearly hear him despite the fact he talks so quietly in a room blaring with music. It must be the deepness of his voice that allowed her to hear him easily. She lead the way to the refreshments stumbling a bit as she felt something get underfoot and squish quite thoroughly under her weight. Looking down she saw a squish grape. Stepping back she drew her wand and vanished the ruined fruit and cleaned the floor in that area, as well as the bottom of her shoe.

"Some people really are careless with their food." She commented as she put her wand away. "

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She let him pull closer to her, looking into his eyes and wondering if she could trust him again. His silence before had betrayed everything. "We could use your help on the sets for the play too . . . if you're interested." He was too close. She could feel his breath on her cheek. She pulled away in a fancy spin and swirled back in an elaborate move, making things just a little safer and having fun while she was at it. "Let me know when you want to study. We can set up a study time and meet every week if you like."

[Snick]

"Probably the stooges trying to stage a food fight." Walker responded quietly. The whole legacy based themselves off of some National Lampoon movie he'd never seen, but the John Belushi "Food Fight!" scene was one that even Walker had seen. On the old black-and-white TV with rabbit ears that his family only really watched during meals. He selected a can of orange soda for himself from the ice chest -- totally distrusting the punch bowl. You never knew what people would be spiking it with, and alcohol wasn't good for Native Americans. Alcoholism ran rampant on the reservations.

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When she whirled away, Makepeace turned counter to her own, his moves nowhere near as polished as hers, but still pretty good for someone so rusty. Besides, he didn't need to look pretty, she had that part well in hand. There was a point when they closed back in again where he could go for a fancy lift or dip, at least if they were swing dancing, but they were on a crowded dance floor, and he didn't want to chance any pratfalls. "Sure, I wouldn't mind. They had us do some of the backdrops and set-pieces for The Wiz in Visual Arts. I saw it, by the way... You were really good in it."

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"I do have a sense of humor but most of the pranks those Stooges pull are not even funny, some are down right humiliating and hurtful. Watching somebody suffer such humiliation isn't what I call funny." Elizabeta never could understand why people found that was funny. It was cruel and all it ended up was a couple of very upset people who are further humiliated due to inconsiderate children actually laughing at their suffering. There were many other ways to make people laugh without causing others to suffer for it. "It really shows there's something wrong with society if half of what makes people laugh, is always at the expense of another's dignity."

Shaking her head she selected bottled water out of the ice box and opened it up. Taking a sip she looked over at Walker. "A food fight is far likely to be amusing, even if very messy and makes cleanup more of a pain at the end of the dance. Cranking up the AC was probably their idea...makes me glad I wore a very modest and warm nightgown and robe."

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"Depends on the situation." Walker said sagely, opening up his can of soda while keeping it at a distance from himself in case they had been pre-shaken. They hadn't, thankfully, and he took a sip of it, then slipped his free arm around her waist. It wasn't that he got off on the misery of others, just that sometimes, he enjoyed seeing someone walk into a room and have a bucket of water empty its contents onto their head. Good, clean fun. Sure, some practical jokes were mean, like the one where dipping someone's hand in warm water made them wet the bed, but he was pretty sure that didn't really work.

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"I have far better things to focus my attention on that making up pranks. Then again if it was something I enjoyed doing I would make the time but I enjoy knowledge far more than laughing at somebody else's expense." Unless she was setting a rival up for a fall to further her own goals. She had done it before and probably will do it again.

When she felt his hand slip around her waist she unconsciously moved closer, not so close she was leaning against him but closer than some may consider proper.

"I am sure we can talk of more interesting things than the pranks the Stooges plan to do or have done in the past." Elizabeta said, looking up into Walker's eyes. "How are the Re'em's? Did all the planned breedings have positive results?"

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A little antsy now, Walker cocked his head to look at Elizabeta. He wasn't much of a talker, he was more of a doer, and talking, in his own opinion, was like an open invitation to show girls what a stupid hick he really was. Or, at least, the smarter girls. There were plenty of girls around the school who did just as badly as he did, but without the excuse, and there were others who were so talkative that he could sit there and listen to them speak, and never have to do anything more than grunt or nod, and they thought he was the best boyfriend in the world.

"Won't know conclusively for about six more months if the ranch we're trading with in Kathmandu is giving us their best stock or not. We're certainly giving them our best stock." Re'em spooge. Wasn't that just about the least romantic thing in the world to talk about? Bottled jizz? "As it is, it makes the record keeping process even more difficult." Every calf born needed to be marked with a brand that noted their heritage on both sides to prevent inbreeding, and with a species that was this close to extinction, there wasn't much room for risks.

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"Accurate record keeping and ensuring each animal can be distinguished is certainly very important." Elizabeta agreed, getting the impression Walker wasn't in the mood to talk 'trade'. Perhaps this wasn't the best time to talk on this particular subject. "I expect its not the best topic to get into at a dance, so lets save that for another time."

Taking a drink of her water she used the moment of silence to think. More dancing certainly could be done but she wanted to give herself more of a break from being that close to Walker. Especially now that its no longer freezing in the room.

"Did you enjoy last year as a Lighthouse Keeper?" She asked, deciding it was a neutral enough question and one likely not to be too boring. She was very much interested on how open he will be about his experiences while a Keeper. The more open the more easier she'll be able to get information.

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"He was just being Patrick. He told me I should choose him instead of you. It surprised me a little, both that he presumed to say that, but more that he noticed there was something between us."

She shook her head. "Really, it was nothing. I like funny guys. He's not funny. Besides, I'm eight months older than he is. I would rather be younger than the wizard I like, not older than him." She smiled shyly. "You have nothing to worry about."

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"I stepped down, gave him everything he'd always wanted in the process," he slammed a stack of CDs down a bit too hard. If the stereo hadn't been enchanted with an anti-skip charm, the song would have skipped pretty badly. "Now he wants to take away what I actually want."

Phrixos switched songs, chewing his bottom lip and flipping his bangs from his eyes. Now Say It Ain't So by Weezer hummed through the sound system. "He knows I like you, Siobhan," he sighed, leaning on the wall. "I've liked you for a long time. I told him, when we still got along."

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"And don't you think he did it because you shoved him in the shoulder? And you acting like this is exactly why he did it? You're just giving him what he wanted by getting mad. Ignore him. Maybe he's just trying to get your attention. He probably misses you." Siobhan grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed it.

She thought about what he had said. "You've really liked me a long time? Clear back to when you two used to get along?" She grinned shyly. "You never told me before."

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"I bumped shoulders with him, I didn't stab him in the back," he said sharply. Pratt clenched his teeth and inhaled deeply through his nose while giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I'm mad at him, not you. I just, I can't just turn it off that easy, Siobhan. I can't just let it slide. If he wanted to get back at me, why not trip me? Why not punch me in the gut? If he just misses me, why doesn't he stop being an asshole and come hang out with me some time?"

Phrixos looked out over the dancing students, spotting Patrick. "Fffff-" he furrowed his brow. Pat was with Arwen. Hopefully she didn't fall for his charm.

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"So flirting with me was stabbing you in the back?" Siobhan sighed. "He didn't hurt either of us. I wish I hadn't had told you."

She wanted her funny boyfriend back. Her brother was a loner and sulky and practically stalked her with worrying about her modesty, but she loved him. Couldn't the Pratts find a way to work things out? She looked at Pratt. Probably not. Patrick was a jerk, but he couldn't be all bad.

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"He did it with the knowledge of how I feel," Pratt was trying to calm down, and Siobhan being this way wasn't helping. "So, yes, he's a backstabber. Brothers aren't supposed to do that to one another. I wouldn't do it to him."

What he wanted to do was launch himself over the dj table at Patrick and pound his pretty little face in. Pratt chewed harder on his bottom lip, searching Siobhan's face. Couldn't she see he was trying? Maybe getting to the sweeter part, his earlier confession, would help.

"And yes, I've liked you since my second year, when you were a firsty," he smiled weakly. "I was afraid to tell you. I didn't even know you... Just admired you from afar."

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"I had no idea. You were all G.Q. then. I thought you were too good for me. Then last year you were funny and I wanted to be your friend. But you never let me know you . . . until this year. Why not?" She quirked her head and looked at him like a cat at a bird well out of reach.

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"I don't know," he shrugged. "I was trying to figure stuff out. Plus, I hardly saw you, being a freshman and out of the dorms."

He looked at the clock. How much longer did he have to DJ? Maybe he should tag someone soon, but who had decent musical taste? Elizabeta? As if. Zot? Maybe. He changed CDs again - Sugarhill Gang's Apache (Jump On It).

[Snick]

"It wasn't bad. The house is nice, and the lighthouse will send you places if you ask it. Within reason." Walker replied, hunching a shoulder. "But sometimes it wants things from you and you have to figure out what it wants 'cause it can't actually talk in ways that people understand. It can talk to you if you..."

And then he stopped and turned a displeased eye at the DJ booth, setting his drink down so hard that orange soda foamed out of the top of the can. "Excuse me a moment, there's a little white boy looking to go bobbing for apples in a trash can." He said, walking over towards the DJ booth with the sort of walk that very few people wanted to be in the way of.

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He had been about to respond to Arwen when Pratt's younger brother appeared and whisked her away to the dance floor. Zot sighed, deflating slightly where he stood. Maybe if he slid more into the shadows? No, that would never work. Idly he wondered if he should just go. He was beginning to feel really uncomfortable in the room, as evidenced by the increasing speed of his tic.

His blue eyes scanned the room for potential places where he could exit without getting in anyone's way, or direct line of vision for that matter. He tugged on his t-shirt again, feeling entirely too self conscious about himself in the moment and itching to leave.

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"Walker! Big man on campus," Pratt said with a cheesy grin. "Come to make a request?"

It didn't occur to him that the song might be offensive to the partial Native American. The look on the senior's face made his smile crumble.

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Just as the conversation with Walker was getting interesting, Elizabeta was quite surprised to see his expression turn from calm to angry in a flash. The force of impact of soda can to table, and the sudden departure of the tall part Native American certainly left Elizabeta with the impression he really didn't approve of the current choice of music. Then again she didn't like it either but for entirely different reasons.

Not wanting to be left standing alone by the refreshments and deciding she better make sure her 'date' for the evening didn't end up thrown out she decided she better follow behind. For now she just stayed in the background as she really didn't know what it was about the annoying rap song Walker didn't like.

Having two older brothers who loved to rough house time to time, Elizabeta stayed out of Walker's arm reach, just in case he did decide to throw a punch.

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"Hey, Pratt." He gave a similar cheesy grin, but this was the sort of grin coyotes wore while they stalked and systematically ripped a prey animal to pieces until it collapsed of blood loss. And then they'd begin tearing into it while it was still alive. "Did I ever tell you what tribe I'm part of? White Mountain Apache." The smile left his face. "Why not play something like... Safety Dance. I like that one. It's festive."


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Pratt relaxed. He'd seen that look on many a face before, and it was typically an appetizer preceding a serving of knuckle sandwich. Fortunately, it seemed Walker was more peaceful than that.

"Oh. Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to... It's just the word 'jump'.... went with the trampolines..." he stammered. "Safety Dance. Sure thing, chief."

Pratt sifted through the musical selection in search of the right CD, looking up only once with an awkward and slightly panicked grin.

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Walker nodded slightly. It was an honest misunderstanding, then, and not an intentional slight, but then again, he was pretty much the only Native American in the room. He frowned a little at the title of Chief, but decided not to take issue with it, as well, since he couldn't prove it was a reference to the Superfriends character, Apache Chief. He glanced around casually and noticed that several teachers were watching the situation closely, and that Miss Buskirk was hovering right nearby.

Holding up his open hands to show that he was unarmed, he said, "Thanks, Pratt." Then he smiled at the girl in the booth with him. "Hey, Soybean. You look pretty." It was sort of an inside joke.

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Siobhan smiled, relieved Pratt wasn't about to get punched. Walker had called her that the first time he had seen her name spelled. It had kind of stuck with him. She didn't mind. Her relief at Pratt's nose being spared made her chatty.

"Thanks. You're looking pretty dashing in your PJs yourself." She glanced over at Elizabeta. "You and Romani were getting pretty intense on the floor over there . . . between her heavy Christmas robe and the steam you two are generating, it's a wonder she isn't a puddle of goo," she teased.

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"Considering how freezing it was earlier, I was very glad I decided to be the only one dressed modestly." Elizabeta speaks up, finally moving into the booth now that it looked like the boys weren't going to get into a fist fight. She was going to point out noticing Siobhan herself seemed to have ditched the idea of modesty in favor of being a bit more cool now that the heat was on but decided not to. Elizabeta had her own upbringing, it was her choice to follow it. No need for her to criticize how others wanted to be seen, or how much they wanted to show. "You certainly looked to be enjoying the bouncy floor yourself earlier, Siobhan."


"Hello Pratt." Elizabeta looked over at the younger wizard. "If you are taking requests, I would very much like to hear 'Silent Lucidity' by Queensryche. I have always found the lyrics and tune rather...comforting and haunting." Not to mention it was a great slow dance to dance to and Walker was just the right sort of dance partner for that particular song.

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He looked at Siobhan with curiosity at this 'Soybean' business, but didn't have a chance to comment before Bossy Mchumorlesspants started rambling about her clothing choice.

"Hi, Elizabeta. Oh! I almost forgot... The nineteenth century called," Pratt looked her up and down. "They want their nightgown back."

Really, who wore things like that anymore? It was a bit much. She should have been glad for the cool air, dressed that warmly. Hopefully, Elizabeta had on deodorant, because once the temperature fully returned to normal, she was going to be very hot. Modesty was one thing, and she'd gone beyond it. Pratt got the impression she was hiding something. Tattoos or scars. Maybe a dragon had burned her badly when she was young, or maybe she was a cutter.

At her song request, Pratt glowered. He wasn't opposed to requests, but she would have her own turn at the tables. Why couldn't she play her stupid song then? "Sure. Fine," he muttered. "I'll try to squeeze it in somewhere before my time is up."

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Slipping into the DJ booth, which was beginning to become a little close thanks to having more bodies in it than it should have, Walker moved to give Siobhan a gentle hug. Having caught Pratt's questioning look, he laughed softly. "First time I met Siobhan..." He said, pronouncing her name correctly, "Was just after I transferred here. You were, what, first year then?" He asked her rhetorically. "She'd left a book on the table in the cafeteria. I misread her name because of my dyslexia and yelled out, 'Someone named Soybean lose a book?'" He smiled down at the girl. "What about it, Soybean. Dance?" There was playfulness in his voice as he asked her, and a certain sparkle in his eyes.

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Elizabeta smirked at Prats lame attempt to insult her. She really couldn't care less if he felt her nightgown belonged to another century. All she cared about was her own modesty and not having little pricks like Prat ogling her to fuel their perverted thoughts.

"Thank you Prat, I am sure you will make every effort to fit it in." She smiled warmly, doubting she will hear that song at any time this dance.

When Walker asked Siobhan to dance, Elizabeta decided there was no point for her to hang around in the small booth so slipped out. There will be time later for her to continue her talk with Walker. Then again it will be far more easier to talk when they went to town tomorrow. Once back out in the cafeteria proper she looked around to see if she could find another dance partner. No point hanging around the dance if one wasn't dancing or socializing.

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"Uh, yeah, I'll come. I've never had a pet before I like big dogs but I guess a school wouldn't be too into that." Lex looked almost confused as she spoke and her jumping loses some energy, as if not quite processing what the other girls were saying. She then realized it was because she had actually gotten invited to do something and she had been able to immediately give an answer. In a foster home, she had to get everything approved and forms had to be signed just to go over to someone's house. If she even managed to make any friends invitations would peter out when it was such a hassle. "We should just learn spells in Home Ec so we don't have to cook or clean." Lex added, resuming jumping.

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Siobhan didn't mind the hug from her friend; it also kept her secret with Pratt. "Sure, I'll dance with you, Walker, as long as you don't try to melt me." She followed him out onto the dance floor, guessing that Pratt would play a fast song as long as she was dancing with Walker. She took his hand and let him lead.

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"You're getting to be so pretty it might be the other way around." He told her with a smile as he took hold of her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. He gave her hand a small kiss as they got out there, and then looked down into her eyes. "You enjoying the lighthouse so far?" He asked her. Despite his diversion over the summer before last, it was sort of like an ex-girlfriend -- It didn't call on him any more, and in some ways, he missed it. In other ways, of course, he didn't. Like being sent to another country.

[Snick]

Siobhan wasn't used to compliments from seniors. "Thanks," she said, her ears coloring slightly. "I suppose I like it. I was surprised it called me. I didn't think it could call on me. I thought I was too young. This is my fourth year here, and I can't remember any other freshmen who have been called. Have you?"

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"Only one that I remember." Walker admitted, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes becoming a full-on gleam as he saw her blush. As with Elizabeta, Walker was focused on Siobhan, and he had made sure that there were a few couples between them and Pratt, just in case the boy didn't like that Walker took his DJ booth companion and decided to retaliate with magic. "Her last name was Prentiss. Can't remember her first name. They take pictures of all the keepers on their first day, keep them a book in Castilla's office." He told her. All the legacies did something similar, keeping a long history of their members for prosperity.

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"Great, it will be fun the three of us walking Poochie. He will really enjoy meeting you two." Iris bounced up and down with more enthusiasm which was causing odd cadences to her voice as she talked.

"I wish we were able to cast spells by now, but all the teachers seem to focus on wand waving and incantations...I actually know some of that since I did get my brothers to teach me the wand movements and words to a few really simple spells. Now that I have a real wand, I have been trying them out. But they had nothing to do with cleaning."

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Christopher walked into the hello dance since the school really wanted everyone to come if possible so they could mingle with other. He hated it had been a pajama party since it meant everybody would see his pjs didn't fit. He strongly considering just wearing his uniform instead and explaining he only slept in boxers and that wouldn't be appropriate for the dance. It was a lie and he didn't want to chance that his roommate would tell. So here he stood wearing his best pair of shorts and a shirt. He wore a pair of flip flops he stole from his older brother which were too big.

Once inside he moved over towards one of the speakers that way he could at least listen to the music while deciding what to do. He seen three of his fellow classmates jumping in the bounce house. They seem to be having fun but he was not sure if he really wanted to join them. He would stand here for moment before deciding what to do.

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Pratt plastered on a smile as his girlfriend was led off by another guy. A senior, at that. He wanted to play Elizabeta's song, just to get it out of the way, but didn't want to play a ballad. Slow songs meant slow dancing. Pratt needed a song that was either fast or simply impossible to dance to. So, he played Lump by The Presidents of The United States of America. Nice group of wizards, those guys. Graduated from Salem, themselves, and were flag-hags and stooges. Muggles seemed to enjoy their music, even if they did find them very odd.

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"Yeah!" she smiled brightly, not noticing anything else going on in the dance - the near fight, the lonesome boy in the shadows, the first year boy on the sidelines. She didn't even notice that quite a few songs had been played, with one even being cut off about halfway through. Kit had friends. Friends that wanted to spend time with her. Friends that, somehow, didn't find her weird.

"Well, they aren't all like that," Katrien shrugged. "Maybe you just don't like charms, since we have started actually casting spells in there now. Defense against the dark arts, too. Of course, I'm not sure how useful levitation and snotty noses will be. Are you more interested in Transfiguration or something? That's about the only class we haven't done any spells in, yet, other than PE and HomeEc. Unless you count the scouring charm in HomeEc, but we learned that in potions, too. But it's just the first week, before long we'll want things to slow down so we can keep up."

Honestly, Kit already felt that way. She was so lost most of the time. Asking for help was out of the question because she didn't want the other kids to think she was stupid or weak. Spells, she thought, were little rhymes - 'Bibbidy boppidy boo, and your little dog, too' and stuff like that, not random mixtures of latin and greek and english and who knows what else. It hadn't helped that she, at the suggestion of her mother, spent more time during the summer reading the Archie Comics' Sabrina series, Matilda by Roald Dahl, and Wendy comics than she spent on actual studying. Somehow, the hippie mother had gotten it into her head that there were a lot of witches and wizards hiding among normal people - much like those that believe 4 out of 5 people are actually extraterrestrials. Anyone who writes, sings, or is in shows or movies about magic must actually know magic by her logic.

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"I love all my classes so far." Iris says brightly. "Professor Grassman is a bit creepy though..." Iris thought he looked like those evil sorts of men who do very bad things with girls that they shouldn't do. Mom always warned her to be careful of strangers and stay away from them especially if she wasn't with an adult she could trust to make sure they weren't bad. If Iris could help it, she will not be alone with that particular teacher.

"Who's your favorite teacher?" She decided to ask, maybe her new friends will like the same teachers she did. "I like Professor Kim and Professor Starr."

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"Yeah, I don't like Glassman either." Lex had spent enough time around questionable individuals to know that she didn't want to get in the way of professor Glassman. "Me too, professor Kim is really cool," Lex agreed. He was the kind of teacher that everyone seemed to like. "I like Djembe but astronomy is so boring. Llewellyn and DADA are so school. Doesn't he seem like he should be in an action movie or something?" When professor Llewellyn had told them that he used to be an agent for the FBI Lex had been immediately intrigued. He wasn't, however, a very compassionate teacher and although Lex enjoyed the class she was usually on edge for most of it. As with Glassman, she wouldn't want to get on his bad side, though for different reasons.

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Siobhan laughed a little at Pratt's song choice, as there wasn't much to do except freeform dancing and it wasn't anything close. So she did. She hoped his turn DJing would be over soon. She wanted to dance with him again. Walked was nice, but she barely came up to his chest, and well, after seeing how steamy he got with Elizabeta, she felt a little nervous dancing with him, even if they had been friendly since she was a firstie and he had first started calling her Soybean.

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Patrick was just about to pull Arwen close for a dance when Phrixos played that ridiculous song. Way to mess up my love life, brother... Oh well. He smiled at Arwen, showing his dimples and showed her he knew how to have fun, co-ordinating his dance with hers so that their hips bumped on lump, not hard, he hoped, in a revival of the bump.

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Elizabeta smirked at the child as he brushed past. Does it make him feel like a man because he made about the lamest joke in the book? Like she gives a hoot about his opinion. Putting the useless Prat out of her mind she turned as a 6th year wizard approached her and asked for a dance. Since none other had approached her and the wizard was cute enough and she had danced with him in past years she agreed.

She was led onto the dance floor and even though it was a slow dance the other 6th year was polite enough and didn't get too close.

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"He does kind of give me the creeps when he looks at me," Kit crinkled her nose in disgust. "Like he's got x-ray vision."

Her eyes widened suddenly. "Oh, god," she gasped as a thought hit her. "He doesn't does he? I mean, is that something possible with magic?"

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Iris agreed Professor Llewellyn did look like he belonged in a movie. An action thriller, definitely not a romance. Well maybe but he wasn't all that cute. Professor Kim was cute, for an old guy. "FBI is pretty big though, investigating the worse sort of criminals and all. Not dark wizards, that'll be Aurors doing that wouldn't it?"

When Kit mentioned X-ray vision Iris didn't quite know what she meant till she recalled a comic she had seen about a man with super powers who had x-ray vision. But wasn't x-rays just seeing one's bones? Creepy either way. "Maybe that is why he wears those funny glasses. Now I really don't want to go to potions anymore. Its not right if he's peering at us and seeing through our clothes, even if its just our bones."

Iris looked out of the bouncy house, suddenly wanting to be with her brothers. Az would know if Professor Glassman had x-ray vision. "I should go tell my brother, he'll know what to do."

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Arwen was not sure if she was happy with the song choice that Pratt had decided to pick while she was dancing with him. She not really used to dancing that often even though she came to all these. She smiled back though towards him as she was dancing with him. She moved to work with his slowly as his hips hit hers at the right angel so it had not hurt. Once the song was over she moved too slowly take his hands seeing that it was a slow dance. She was enjoying dancing so if he wanted to stop they could.

“Thank you for asking me to dance. It saves me from having to go and find a corner to work on reading. If you want to dance with someone else just let me know.” Arwen states. “Have you enjoyed your school year so far?”

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"Considering how you feel about flying monkeys and munchkins, I'm surprised you even came to The Wiz . . . thanks, Makepeace." Esther smiled, then spun into another twist before Pratt's crazy song started, then started free moving to it, hands over head, completely letting herself go.

[Snick]

"You should see me around Santa Clauses during the winter holidays." He said with a smirk, joining her in letting go. "Freaks me out, ever since I was a baby." Maybe it was the fake beard, or the fact that some of the Santas ringing bells on the corners in D.C. had black lips and tongues thanks to the power of Thunderbird wine.

When Pratt changed the record to Silent Lucidity, a little sparkle danced in his eyes and he leaned in close to her to murmur softly, "It's bad enough that Elizabeta decided to come to the dance dressed like Mrs. Claus." He was keeping this very hush-hush, because the last thing he needed was to have anyone hear it. "I'm going to have nightmares for a week about her carrying me to sit on Santa's lap." He said with a soft chuckle. He'd always had a wicked sense of humor, but for this moment, at least, that sparkle in his eyes was Esther's and only Esther's.

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Patrick pulled her close for the slow dance. "I'd rather keep dancing with the prettiest girl in the sophomore class," he said, taking her hands waltz position and pulling her into the center of the floor, under the moving lights. He was a good dancer, but there was little Patrick wasn't good at, and he moved with confidence.

"I'm enjoying this year. My classes are going well and pledge week is coming up, once I can decide which legacy to pledge. How is the lighthouse? I was rather surprised to see my brother chosen, but I imagine you and Siobhan and Makepeace keep him in check. He's probably good for a laugh at least."

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Arwen smiled when he pulled her close and complemented her on being the prettiest girl in the sophomore class. She would look over the fact that he only said her class though. Allowing him to lead, Arwen could tell that he really was not that bad of a dancer and if anything it was her messing it up. “Well if you would dance with me than I would enjoy dancing with you.” She not going to say she was just planning on reading if not.”

“Well it really great that you are looking forwards to pledge. Which ones you looking at choosing between? There are plenty of legacies that would do anyone well. The lighthouse is really interesting place to be at times. We are all different in the house but, all seem to get along well enough to live with each other. The house is sure to teach us even more as the school year goes along .”

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"What's an auror?" Lex asked. The FBI was recognizable but she had no idea what an auror was, it sounded like some sort of flower not a crime fighting, spell casting wizard who hunted down villains. When the other two girls mentioned Glassman having X-ray vision Lex stuck her tongue out in disgust. "He probably does, the perv." Lex looked out onto the dance floor, trying to catch sight of Glassman, he was probably creeping around.

"Would he know?" Lex asked of Iris's brother, not sure which one she was talking about. "We should test it out. Like... do something against the rules on the other side of a wall and see if he knows," She finished a bit lamely, not really knowing how to test out if someone has X-ray vision.

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"An Auror is a dark wizard catcher...they go after bad wizards who are worse than your typical criminal. I bet the ones over seas in the UK are super busy with that funny named Dark Wizard..." Iris couldn't remember what the name was. "Volmart or something like that. Aurors are the most elite of all the magical law enforcement officers. Special ops sort of thing."

Iris glanced out the Bouncy House, spotting Mr. Grassman returning to where most of the faculty were observing the dance. She then looked for Az and finally spotted him talking to some other student...in his year most likely. She looked over at Lex. "I don't know if he knows but he's been here the longest out of my family so I expect he would know if he does."

"We would test it, but if he can see through walls then we would get into trouble. I would hate to get in trouble the first week of school." Taking a deep breath she decided she best talk to her big brother about this. "Wait here, I will be right back."

With that, she bounced out of the bouncy house and after stumbling a bit trying to remember how to walk on solid ground agian, Iris then hurried over to where she could see Pratt.

"Azrael!" She called out to his attention over the loud music. "I have to ask you something really important."

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Pratt started up Silent Lucidity and bounded out of the booth. His time was up and he was on the hunt for his replacement. "You're welcome," he muttered as he brushed past Elizabeta. Before he could add any more to that, he heard a small, but loud, voice yelling his middle name. Wincing, he turned around, hoping it wouldn't be any kind of question about girly things.

"Walk with me, talk with me," Phrixos slipped his arm around his little sister's to escort Iris through the crowd to find another committee member. Luckily, all he had to do was turn around and there was Arwen - with Patrick. Perfect.

"Your turn to DJ, Arwen, m'dear," He smiled dashingly at his fellow keeper then cut his eyes at Pat. "Now, Iris, what is this very important question?"

Oh, how sweet it was. Two birds with one stone. Take away Pat's opportunity to mack on his friend, Arwen, and rub it in his face that Iris comes to him with important questions.

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Iris walked with Pratt, feeling comforted by his arm around her. She waited till he found another person to take over the DJ booth and waved at her other older brother. He didn't look too happy though, maybe Az should have waited till he was done dancing.

"Hmm, do you know Professor Glassman? The creepy teacher with the horn rimmed glasses?" Iris realized that was a stupid question, of course he would know who Professor Glassman is. "I know you do know him...he's been teaching you all this time right? But what I want to know...do you think he has x-ray vision? The way he looks at me, at others..its like he's seeing right through us...he's really creepy. He makes me think of all those scary men Mom warns me about staying away from. You know the ones with candy."

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"Auror. Sounds like the drunken mumblings of a pirate to me," Kit shrugged. "I bet he's seen some scary stuff. Stuff scarier than Mr. Glassman."

When Iris ran off, she looked to Lex. "A man like Mr. Glassman was the PE teacher at my elementary school one year," Kit shuddered and frowned. "The following summer, the police came to my house to ask me a bunch of questions about him. He never touched me or anything, but I was one of the lucky few."

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Christopher seeing that there had been a break in the music decides to move from the place he was standing closer to the others his age. He moved to take off his shoes to get up and jump with them. He did not want them to think he was interrupting if they were talking about something private. He waved at them a little as if saying hello. Christopher wondered if there would be someone in this school that would ever understand what he was going through and want to be friend him.

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Patrick looked a little frustrated at the loss of his dance partner and walked over to where his sister had left the firsties . . .

Overhearing Kit, he smirked at her. "An Auror is a dark wizard catcher in the UK. My sister has been reading too many British novels again. Here they are just CIA or FBI, magical division."

As soon as Iris came back, he'd ask her to dance, since Phrixos had confiscated his dance partner.

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Arwen had enjoyed talking to Patrick and knew that had Pratt not come over they would have continued dancing. She really had not been looking forwards to her turn at the DJ station for the fact that music was not her strong parts. Once she made it into the booth she started to think about all of the different music there to remember which ones people could consider popular.

She knew that the music she listens to was different than the others. To start it out she put on Mozart ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ once that was over she would work on getting some of the songs that might have been more popular to them.


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Pratt chuckled. "I don't think he's got x-ray vision," he shook his head, laughing softly. "That's not a real thing. Well, not without an x-ray machine. He might be a legilimens. Wouldn't surprise me. A man with so many secrets probably knows everyone else's secrets."

He lead her through the dancing students, letting her twirl a couple of times. "Is that what was so important, kiddo?" Phrixos asked, smiling at his little sister. Then his eyes trailed away to a couple, one very tall and the other very small. "Maybe you should go back to your friends."

Though he suggested that, he wouldn't stop her if she decided to follow him over to Walker and Siobhan. "May I cut in?" he flashed a friendly smile up at Walker. "I promised the lady another dance before the end of the night, and I'm going to head out soon, sooo.."

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Walker looked at Pratt and then grinned as Arwen's choice of music started playing. "Alright. Didn't picture the classical type, Pratt." He said, looking in Arwen's direction as he stepped aside to allow Pratt to start dancing with Siobhan in his place. "I'll see if I can get her to change up the song."

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"Thank you, Walker. That was fun." She told the tall senior who called her Soybean.

Siobhan smiled at her secret boyfriend. "I'd be honored, Sir," she said with mock courtliness, or what she hoped passed for it. She took both his hands, but to her dismay, Arwen started playing Mozart. "Mozart??! What's Arwen thinking? Mozart?" Siobhan giggled. "Shall we do a minuet, kind Sir? Or pretend we are listening to something else? Or perhaps you have a better idea? Like hitting the woofer with a strong driving beat magically . . ."

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Lex made a face as if she had suddenly tasted something nasty when Katrien mentioned her PE teacher. She wondered if Katrien had waited until Iris was gone to mention the story, Lex envisioned Iris getting rather distressed about it. It was one thing to be warned about men offering candy and another to actually be exposed to something like that. Iris struck Lex as far more delicate and naive than Katrien and especially herself. Lex had known first hand plenty of kids in foster care who had been taken away from sexual abusive situations, she didn't need to be told to be careful, she knew exactly what happened to those kids.

Lex was about to respond to Katrien when they were joined by Christopher, another boy in their year, and Patrick, Iris's brother. Lex waved mildly back at Christopher, wondering if he was going to come over and join them. She herself wasn't going to invite him over. She wasn't good with approaching people she didn't know or being friendly, for that matter.

"Oh, that's cool," Lex said to Patrick, deciding it was best to drop her and Katrien's previous conversation topic. "It must be really useful, having magic when you're a secret agent." She added. Then the music changed rather suddenly and drastically. "When the hell just happened?" She said, trying to look over at the music booth, completely taken aback. Maybe it was the Stooges again.

[Snick]

"I am glad he doesn't have x-ray vision." Iris felt one less worry about that creepy teacher. Unfortunately learning he may have legilimens didn't do much to ease her worries however. Having somebody see your bones wasn't quite as unnerving compared to knowing he can read your mind. "I don't have any secrets for him to find out other than I find he's creepy. You think he'll hate me if he read that in my mind?"

When Pratt let her twirl about as he walked across the dance floor she laughed, in too good spirits to worry about Glassman all that long. Its not like she will ever be alone with him after all. She will always be with a bunch of other students.

"Just that, yes. I was worried he was somebody who could see through everything...I can go tell my friends not to worry about that aspect of him anyway." When her big brother suggested she can go on back to her friends she gave him a quick hug and ran off, bounding between the dancers like she had everything perfectly coordinated with them so she never bumped into anybody. Or maybe it was just she was small and quick, she weaved through before anybody noticed she was there.

When she arrived at the bouncy house she saw her other brother lingering there. "Hi Patrick!" she greeted him. "Do you really think Professor Glassman can read minds?" She asked, deciding she needed to know if what Az said could be true of the Potions Master.

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"Let's just pretend it's Love Me Tender," he smirked a bit. Pratt wasn't one of Elvis's fifty-million fans, but that song held a special place in his heart. His mother didn't know many lullabies, so this was one of the soft, soothing songs she'd sing to him as a baby and child. So, he began to hum it, pulling her close, arms wrapped around her waist. Ducking slightly, he made sure she could hear his humming with his cheek against hers.

"Love me tender, love me sweet," he sang very softly and not with perfect pitch. "Never let me go..."

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The room went black


Someone large and heavy barreled past Elizabeta, nearly knocking her to the ground. Heavy footfalls were heard going past the trio of first years, and the sound of panting could also be heard. Something smacked against Walker's ankle and drew a muffled curse out of the tall boy. One of the teachers yelled out, "Alright, stooges, I have had it with these inane little pranks, if this doesn't stop immediately..."

A scream rang out in the auditorium -- Siobhan's scream -- and Pratt felt Siobhan being pulled out of his arms, a large, meaty hand pressing against his face to get him to release her.

More running ensued. Makepeace could be heard calling out, "Lumos" but his spell had no effect. The darkness remained and it could not be pierced. It wasn't until the principal's voice called out, "Depulso!" that the darkness fled...

...But by then, Siobhan O'Brien had disappeared...

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"Let go!" Pratt's cry was muffled by the extremely plump palm. He held on with all his might, but the rancid aroma and taste of the sweaty, hammy hand was too much to take. Phrixos reeled back to gasp for air and choke back stomach acid as he resisted vomiting. "Siobh- Get the horsefeathers out of my way! Siobhan! MOVE!"

He tried to follow the sound of the booming footsteps, but the entire cafeteria was in chaos. Despite the apparent wideness of the assailant, students quickly filled the gap and obstructed his path. When the light returned, he spun this way and that, looking for his girlfriend. All he saw of Siobhan was her robe on a chair. But he needed to tell someone of authority.

"Mr. Glassman," he was the closest teacher. "Mr. Glassman, someone's... someone's taken Siobhan O'Brien. I.. I'm going to go look for her."

Without waiting for the man's response, approval or disapproval, Pratt hurried to grab Siobhan's robe and rushed out of the cafeteria.

[exit Pratt]

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When the room suddenly went black Iris froze. It was such a total black unlike any place she's been in before. Panic hit her especially when she heard heavy and threatening footfalls racing past.

"Patrick!" She cried, grabbing for him where she knew she saw him standing just seconds before the lights went out. Then she heard a blood curling scream and that just made the darkness all the more threatening. She screamed and grabbed a hold of the person she could only hope was Patrick. By the time the lights came back on she was terrified and her face tear streaked.

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When classical music came on, her dance partner muttered something about hating the music and excused himself. Elizabeta was fine with that. She did know a few dances which worked with classical music but she preferred the more free style one can do at the school dances. She would leave ballroom dance for a ballroom instead of a school cafeteria.

Making her way off the dance floor she noticed Walker lost his own partner to Pratt. Now if only the music was one more suitable for dancing she would offer to be Walkers dance partner again. Pausing she considered asking if he did know how to waltz but before the thought crossed her mind fully the room went completely dark. Some instinct had her wand out and ready just as somebody bowled into her, nearly knocking her off her feet. She managed to keep a tight hold on her wand but by then who or whatever ran into her was gone. She blinked and squinted uselessly trying to see through the darkness. If only she has Eclipse with her then she could see if her companion heat sensitive vision could pierce this sudden and unnatural darkness.

A scream sounded, not all that far from her and it nearly made Elizabeta jump out of her skin. Another scream, this one higher pierced and more panicked...followed the first. She really did not know what to do other than keep her head calm and use her other senses besides her eyes.

'Lumos!" somebody called out, he sounded like Makepeace but no light pierced this darkness. Then the Principal cast a spell and the darkness vanished. Elizbeta blinked rapidly to get her eyes to adjust to the flood of light even as she turned in the spot, searching for whoever did this prank.

Pratt caught her attention as he called out to Mr. Glassman saying something about Siobhan being missing. Looking around some more sure enough she saw no sign of the O'Brien girl. Elizabeta didn't see any sign of danger either but she continued looking around the room, trying to recall who was here before the lights went out and if any others were missing...besides Siobhan and now Pratt.

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Never in her tenure at Salem Institute had anything happened like this. But a cool head was absolutely necessary. "Teachers. Gather your students. All students, please go to your bedrooms, immediately. Whether dorm or legacy. We need to count you and do an immediate bed check. We will find Miss O'Brien. We need to find out if any other students are missing. All other faculty, you need to meet here and organize search party. Older students, walk with younger ones to rooms. No one walk un-escorted."

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"My Legacies are older. Once they have the sixth graders settled in the dorms, they can return to my legacy. But I expect them in no less than ten minutes." Glassman looked at them threateningly, then stepped towards Iris Pratt. "Of course I read minds, little girl," he whispered to the panicked child in her brother's arms.

Then he left the room, looking strangely pleased.

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Patrick held Iris tighter. "Come on Iris, I'll carry you back to the dorms. I'll keep you safe." The old bastard must have overheard her. "He's just freaking you out on purpose."

He hoped Siobhan would be okay. That was all Phrixos needed. He'd already freaked out once.

"I'm here for you, little sis." He didn't put Iris down; he'd carry her the whole way if she needed him to. "Hey if any of you firsties want to come with us, we're going back to the dorms."

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Makepeace looked at Esther for a few moments of utter concern and shock, and then said, "Your legacy needs you." He told her quietly, slipping his wand away. It was kinda useless to have a lit wand when the cafeteria was now perfectly lit. "Keep safe. I'll check on you when I can." He reached out and caught her hand, giving it a squeeze, and then headed over towards Arwen. "Let's get back to the lighthouse. Hopefully, it will find Pratt, too. I hope this is all just some stupid legacy prank."

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Katrien stopped jumping and grabbed Lex's arm with both hands when the room was suddenly cast in total darkness. At least she hoped it was Lex's arm. A little out of fright, but mostly to keep her bearings. In Lacey, blackouts were pretty common. Those trees there were very tall and thin and the slightest wind had them falling over on power lines all the time. Though she wasn't scared of the dark, it was unsettling to Kit that these lights went out. They were fairies. Surely they didn't go on strike suddenly? A few sounds of pain were heard as various people bumped into each other mid-jump or landed badly.

Then, someone barreled by and Kit moved closer to the other girls and boys. Who, or what, was that? Then there was a scream from across the caf, and another from one of the girls in their group (at least she hoped Patrick nor Christopher screamed like a girl). When the lights came up, she looked to her peers, utterly confused and considerably frightened.

A feverish nod was her only response to Patrick's offer to escort them to their dorms.

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Iris nearly shrieked again when Professor Glassman suddenly was right beside her and told her he could read minds. Instead she practically jumped into Patrick's arm as he picked her up. She held him as tight as she could, shivering in fright. A part of her felt she was being a big baby but she hated being in such darkness and hearing somebody was kidnapped, what sort of place was this? And a teacher reads minds?

"Where's Azrael, he should be here." She wanted both her brothers with her but she wasn't going to let Patrick leave her alone and clung to him all the tighter.

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"But Siobhan . . . she's just a kid. Why her? She's not rich or famous or powerful or an evil genius . . . she's smart and good and cute. Why would anyone take her?" Esther started to choke up. "I don't get it. This is too weird.''

"I'll see you later, but send me an owl or something if you hear anything. Siobhan is a friend of mine."

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Hearing Mr. Glassman suggest his legacies help get the younger students into their dorms, Elizabeta put her wand away. There was no apparent threat at the moment and she didn't anybody getting nervous at drawn wands. She gestures to the nearest First and Second years.

"Alright, girls come with me I will get you all settled into your dorms. Hurry now." She spotted Patrick with who she could only guess was his kid sister clutched in his arms. "Patrick right? Patrick Pratt?" She inquired and waiting till she received a sign of acknowledgment. "Good, come along and we can get your sister safe. The rest of you come along, stay close."

She offered her hands to any of the younger students to grab a hold of but mostly to keep them close as she and her other Skulls helped round them up to return to the dorms. Elizabeta also kept her eyes pealed for any new threat.

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Arwen had been trying to find some more popular music since she knew that the other really did not like it as much as she did. Mozart to her was a great artist; it had helped her out when trying to study because of it classical sound. She finally found a decent song when the lights had all been shut off and nothing could have been seen. She then heard some screaming and when the lights had come back Siobhan had been missing and Pratt running out after her.

She nods to Makepeace when he walked over to her and said they needed to get back to the lighthouse. Arwen really was worried about everything and hoped they were okay. “Okay we can go back to the lighthouse and see if Pratt is there. I pray that it only a prank to and that Siobhan is to be there shortly after.” She knew there would be no sleeping for her tonight worried for her roommate.

[Snick]

"Anyone wit injuries come wit me," Misty repeated now and then as she tried to survey the crowd. She motioned for a second year boy with a bloody nose to join her. "I'll take ya to de nurse, bey."

She had him join a girl with a twisted ankle and a boy with a jammed finger. "Injured students please come wit me to de nurse," she said again, pointing and beckoning bleeding and broken students her way.

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Ted looked like he'd been caught as flatfooted by the emergency as anyone else, the darkness clearing to reveal that his wand was lit. He walked over to Liliana and said, "I'm going to go to the Bureau, call in a few favors and see if they can find the girl's trace." He told her. "There's going to be hell to pay if I discover that it's a Legacy prank."

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The room descended into darkness suddenly and Lex felt someone grab her arm. Instinctively she jerked away trying to get the person off of her, the lower gravity causing her to fall onto the floor of the bouncy house. There were a few screams around her but at the moment Lex was more startled than afraid. She didn't see that there was anything to be afraid of, it was just darkness. She heard a few shouts and then the lights came back on.

Lex looked over to see that it was Katrien who had grabbed her arm. Things appeared far more chaotic than Lex would have expected for what she thought was a prank. As she got out of the bouncy house Lex heard the name "Siobhan O'Brien" being passed among students. Was someone actually gone?

Lex went over to join the other first year students. Iris looked like she was going to have a complete meltdown and was being carried by Patrick. "It's probably just another prank," Lex said in a low voice to Katrien as they went with the older student. She didn't want to let herself get scared, but everyone's panic was setting her on edge.

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Christopher had heard the girls talking about everything and had planned on trying to join them in the conversation. He then seen the lights go off not sure really what was going on but moved a little to slip his shoes back on incase he had to work on fighting someone in everything that was going on. He was scared for the fact that the gangs back home were known for kidnapping people. When the lights had come back on he seen that people were missing and all the teachers were telling them to get back to their room.

He turned to look towards Patrick and then some other girl that had offered to take all the girls back to their rooms. Christopher knew that he looked to be fine so moved to walk off towards the door to see if there was another group of students that he wanted to join to head back to his room. He would have tried to sneak out and head to his room by himself if it not been for the fact that a teacher most likely would stop him. There was nothing he saw wrong with him walking back to his room alone he was a first year and not of any importance.