[Courtyard] in a permanent state.

[Bradyn Reed]

The beginning of the term was always an exciting time when he was younger, but for the past two years of his school it seemed quite tedious. There was so much to be done and it felt like his ravenclaw robes had to be worn at all times with the shiny prefect badge on display, just demanding people look at it as if he were some special hot shot. Some people probably expected it to go to his head, prefect Bray for the second year in a row. Surely he'll be like Hubbles little drone now! But the kitty boy just found that it was a mark demanding him to do something other than sit around like the lazy kid he was. Bray found himself counting the ravenclaws during the sorting ceremony and scrawling down the number of kids he would have to make sure stayed in the common room. First years always seemed to be the type to wander around the corridors and claim to be "lost". They weren't lost, he just saw them in the common room!

But his status made him stay out of his comfy bed and walk through the corridors for a portion of the night, which was usually timed by his ability to stay conscious anymore. His shift ended whenever he was too tired to face the ravenclaw doorknocker. They had become enemies in the past year, it found it highly amusing to give him the hardest questions at 12 in the morning. Then when his tired brain got it wrong it would just laugh and say that he had to sleep outside again. Bray just figured it was possessed, but when it resumed its role as the bad guy this year, he just sighed before transforming at a brisk walk. His cat form was looking a little roughed up lately, probably from it's lack of use during the summer. Bray's eyes seamlessly adjusted for night vision and allowed him to navigate the dark corridors without the use of his wand -- not that he had the ability to hold it without opposable thumbs. His target was the courtyard, and he didn't mind making a longer trip out of it to avoid passing the hall of armor. The moon would be nearly full this night and provide enough light to see, as if he needed to see much when he planned to crash on the bench like some sort of bum.

Considering it was around midnight, Bray just expected to see the courtyard empty. But instead he spotted someone on the bench, and his hackles raised defensively. His first thought wasn't even in the ball park that it could just be a student out of bed, or even someone who was allowed to be out at night. Instead, he was stuck on remembering the torments of last year and all the talk of people walking around the school that weren't really students and in some cases not even human. From the back, all he could see was dark hair and the moon shining on a pale face to the point that it made features indistinct. Even though he sensed that he should just turn around now, Bray shifted from paw to paw uneasily before making a low throaty noise intended to show his presence and strike fear into the hearts of people. As much as a cat could, at least.

[ not completely horrible.. ]

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie yawned as she looked out over the lawn. The moon cast a nice glow over the grass and reflected off the distant lake, and though it was not nearly full, the yellow moon gave enough light for the seventh year to see by. Ellie had gone through a long day. Even though she had two free periods today, quidditch practices, a meeting with the headmaster, and a run through of the school as part of her Head Girl duties, Ellie hadn't even had time to think about her bed and soft feather pillow waiting for her.

Her walk around the castle was necessitated by a large amount of coffee Ellie had consumed at her late dinner and now she just couldn't close her eyes, even though her tired body begged for relief. She thought a calming trip outdoors would be just the thing she needed. It was nice to think that Ellie was allowed out, being Head Girl in all, who was going to get her in trouble? It eased her stress at she found a bench out in the courtyard. The stone was cool even though her jeans as she sat down. Her knees touched each other as she sat, back straight, eye yearning to see as far as she could.

The night was calm, chilly, but not bitter with wind. The end of summer was on it way, already retreating with the coming of the harvest moon. Ellie liked fall, the leaves were her favorite part, not to mention her birthday. She would be turning seventeen in a little under a month. She would be an adult wizard finally. The thought scared her, and so, as soon as the idea entered her mind in the peace of the night, she pushed it away with a picture of the young Dan Hubbles in her mind. Of course, summer had been interesting with his disappearance. After all, Ellie had been in Rome, but not even an owl was sent to her. He had yet to show his face in the new year as well. Ellie tried to tell herself that she wasn't worried about him, well she wasn't. She was more worried that she would never see him again, and that her heart would break.

Ellie could feel the night finally taking over her mind. She thought that she would be able to go to sleep in a few more minutes. Ellie decided to spend five more minutes in the peacefulness of the perfect night. However, only two minutes was taken up before Ellie heard a a low noise. Ellie jumped up, wand out quick. Ellie had become faster in the art of dueling ever since the castle had started playing tricks on it inhabitants. "Lumos." She said immediately, the light lighting up her face, as well as a path of vision.

[/ramble]

[Bradyn Reed]

Fresh air flooded Bray's feline nose, the scent of flowers and leaves and water being most prominent. It was just the typical courtyard scents, and he didn't have that dank scent that haunted his dreams from the dungeons. But there was another familiar scent, and it was just on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite place it. When he almost figured it out, he was nearly blinded by the light from a suddenly lit wand. His catlike pupils had nearly taken over his irises to allow him to see in the dark, and now he was making a few awkward steps backwards as they worked quickly on getting smaller while his brain figured out that there was a wand pointing at him. Even if he looked like just a cat, he didn't enjoy the feeling of being unarmed.

With a few more steps backwards, he shuddered back into human form and pulled out his own wand out of pure instinct. His vision was still spotty, but he looked towards the 'demons' face anyway. And it wasn't a demon, just a Hufflepuff. Really, couldn't tell the difference between them sometimes. Pocketing his wand slowly, he raised his hands in the picture of 'i've been caught', but he couldn't help a cheeky grin from crossing his face. Here he was, standing now unarmed, with his ex-girlfriend basically pointing a weapon at him.

"Now, now. Let's not go crazy and start hexing each other in the dark."

He said, trying to keep his voice calm, and most importantly, friendly. It was too late in the night to start a fight with someone he didn't even want to fight with. And if that was going to happen, there wasn't much stopping him from walking away just as quickly as he came. His grin remaining, he raised an eyebrow with his face still light up by her wand. He was in a cheeky mood today, perhaps that was why he called her by her fullname even though he knew it made Ellie mad. "Wand lowered, Miss Elinor Rook?" His common sense must run out the window past curfew.

[idk where to take this, i sat and thought on it and came up with nothing,sorry *eyetwitch*
some exciting spontaneity may come later, though...]

[Ellie Rook]

Why Ellie was so jumpy she wasn't sure. She also wasn't sure exactly what she expected to come crawling out of the darkness. Ellie was not at sixteen and eleven months afraid of the dark by any means, it was more of the things that lurk around in the dark. Anything that can be described as lurking was'nt something the seventh year wanted to deal with at the moment.

However, as her wand shone brightly, cutting through the black night, Ellie's eyes came upon something not necessarily lurking, but nothing necessarily welcome at that. She held her wand up, pointed at her ex boyfriend, Bradyn Reed. The Head Girl wasn't sure was she was going to go, the thought of petrifying him and walking away sounded ideal however.

Ellie didn't grin at his joke as he lowered and put away his wand, his hands up in defense. Her wand began to lower when Bray did the worse thing he could possibly do. Ellie's ears immediately picked up the sound of her full name. Her wand shot back up, as well as her body. She was now standing in the dark with light spilling out from her wand, frown on her face, wand pointed straight at Bray. "Not funny." She said, and then sighed and lowered her wand enough so that the light was still usable, but not threatening the Ravenclaw Prefect anymore.

Ellie sat back down and groaned a little. "What Bray, the only time you come around is to bother me, say whatever you have to say, and then go, please." Ellie said, hanging her head. Suddenly missing Dan more than ever.

[crappppp]

[Daniel Hubbles]

Silence that echoed throughout the darkness was deafening. The hopeless emptiness was suffocating and it was with a loud yelp as he felt something tug on his soul. It was a small price to pay for a life outside of the picture but whenever Ellie needed him he was compelled to go, she was after all the source of his life. With a small grumble he stumbled to his feet and walked through the darkness and silence. He did not know where he was going; the invisible thread between Dan and Ellie was leading him to her...towards the courtyard. The large oak doors were slightly ajar and the moonlight courtyard highlight a few silhouettes, one of them he knew was his Ellie while the other he had a hunch and just hoped he was wrong.

A frown pinched his brow and as he slipped through the door the darkness that still surrounded him was like a thick veil that distances him from them and him from them. It was as if someone had cast a Disillusionment Charm upon him, a charm that as soon as he was with Ellie everything went back to normal. He saw his love sitting on the floor of the courtyard and as the darkness began to faded away the world around him became clear and with a cheeky grin he wrapped his arm around Ellie’s shoulders and looked up at the male Ravenclaw.

“Yeah Reed why don’t you just bugger off!?” He was there to protect Ellie as that is what she wanted of him. He needed her to have faith in him so that he could be strong and whole. The more he did for her easier it would be for him to get her to do things for him. It seemed simple logic! “Ellie does not want you here and surprising or not, neither do I.”


Raising an eyebrow as if to tempt Bray to react Dan turned his spiteful gaze from the Ravenclaw and in the process he turned it into one of those sickening lovey dovey faces as he turned to look at Ellie. “Evening sweetheart.” Before the Hufflepuff could say anything he had leaned in and was kissing her lightly upon the lips more to annoy the other male present then to please his woman. This version of Dan Hubbles was just as much as an alpha male as his original self.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn kept his hands up defensively, even after he saw that Ellie was just as disinterested in being pleasant to him as he was to her. They didn't get along, not anymore, and there was no trust on either side. Bray bit his lip as he focused on his animagi, prepared to change quickly if she decided just to hex him when he was unarmed. Somehow he could imagine the once sweet, innocent Hufflepuff being entirely capable of this, and he would have to have something on his side. Transfiguration and Charms... they weren't really the type of magic to mix well. Maybe those type of people were just as incompatible as the magic itself. Bray let the smile slip off his lips, the fake pleasantries obviously having no effect on her so why should he bother with it?

"Whether or not it's funny is up to interpretation."

He said flatly, displaying for once his Ravenclaw abilities and relying on logic to get him out of here. Guess that's what he got for being too lazy to answer a question for the doorknocker that was helplessly biased against him. The evil thing, if he had Fay to talk to he would tell her how it was ruining his life. But it wasn't true, the only one ruining his life was himself and his ego, and this he knew.

"You think I actually came here looking for you, in the middle of the night? I'm flattered you think I would care that much."

If she was going to be mean, he would just reply with much more force. It was the middle of the night in the court yard, the chances of them both being there was one in a million. Considering the amount of times he frequented the courtyard at night as part of his prefect rounds, it was far more likely that he could accuse her of being the one to stalk with the soul purpose of annoy him. "I simply slipped in to have a catnap until dawn, but obviously, my plans aren't going too..." He lost track of his words as suddenly the dank smell filled his nostrils, his eyes quickly cast around the courtyard as his hand went straight to his pocket to fish out of wand.

There was dark magic present, and he couldn't quite spot where. That is, until his eyes landed back to Ellie who was suddenly not alone. Some red-haired boy had managed to snake his way over to her without him noticing, and this was almost an embarrassment to his ability. Look everywhere but the right place, apparently.

"Ellie! Watch out!" He called out, brows kneading together as he suddenly felt a slight relinquishing of his protective attitude for her. But instead of his past love responding, it was the.. thing.. that did. Calling him by his name when Bray just knew that he had never met him before. "Shut up! You have the tongue of a snake and I do not want to hear it!" Anger flared inside him and he could feel his more catlike nature hissing angrily. Who was this? What was this? How dare it?

Ellie seemed perfectly comfortable, but Bray refused to lower his wand which was pointing straight at him.. her.. it. He refused to take his eyes off them, until, disgustingly enough he caught the smug look on it's face before he decided to put on a show for Bray that made him nearly sick. Eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched slightly but there was no clever remark for this. This was just, oddly cruel.

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie didn't really want to deal with Bray tonight, she had made that completely obvious. She ground her teeth together at his smugness. Ellie couldn't really understand what she saw in him at all. He was just a smart-ass Ravenclaw. They had nothing in common, that was now clear.

Ellie wand had finally lowered. Her gaze was still piercing Bray. She suddenly felt tired. She didn't want to fight him with magic or words. However, she wasn't going to give up her spot so easily. Maybe it was a new found arrogance, but Ellie was going to make sure that it was Bray that left, and not her.

"Well, then leave." Ellie said plainly turning away from him. Bray went back at her. something about a cat nap, which just made Ellie fum ever more. The trust that once had been so strong was destroyed by the very thing he dared to bring up now. Ellie's face became red and she was about to have another go at the Raveclaw prefect, when she felt a warmness. It was almost as if a warm breeze had come through, passing right through her to her bones. Ellie turned to see Dan come out of no where and sit down, placing his arm protectively against her.

Ellie's eye widened. She wanted to jump up and slap Dan for not being around during the summer. He hadn't written or contacted her at all. Ellie was not pleased with him, but she could never be mad at him or deny him. Ellie instead was so proud at the fact that he had now come to her rescue when she felt that she needed. Bray had taken out his wand and pointed it straight at Dan. Ellie ignored his warning, but continued to look at Dan, so thankful for his touch. Ellie, herself felt as though she needed to protect Dan. She shot up, breaking the little hug and pointed her wand straight at Bray's heart.

"Put the wand down Bray." Ellie said, her face becoming red. She was still standing close to Dan, feeling his warmth even through her jeans. Her eyes gazed over at Bray, unable to match his own. "You're always making trouble.You're a liar. You lied to me." Ellie suddenly yelled at Bray, feelings she had been holding in suddenly pouring out.

This situation was probably perfect for Dan. After all, Ellie had a ton and a half of bad feelings she the boy standing in front of her. Ellie's pride had been hurt by him, and given back by Dan. Dan was everything Bray was not. Dan would never lie to her, never hurt her, never talk to her the way Bray did. She knew Dan was behind her all the way, she could never trust Bray to do that. "Put it down, or Ill make you put it down." She yelled, but she knew she meant something worse, something she could very well do in the next few seconds. Protecting Dan was her rational thought, and rational it seemed.

[Daniel Hubbles]

If Dan knew the impact this little ugly Ravenclaw would have had on Ellie then he would have made sure they conveniently bumped into one another before hand. Of course, being the kind and caring boyfriend he was Dan had listened to the late night rants that Ellie had about her ‘ex’ and felt like he knew the runt already. The emotions that were coursing their way through Ellie’s vein’s made Dan feel strong, and as Ellie shot up and pointed her wand at the Ravenclaw Dan followed suit. He stood just behind his Hufflepuff shield and with a smug grin he looked over at Bray as Ellie’s yelling voice echoed around the silent courtyard.

“I think you should listen to her Reed.” Dan’s voice was much calmer then Ellie’s and with the slyest of grins he stepped forwards so that his body pressed against Ellie’s back and he wrapped his arms around her waist holding her close as if she was his favourite cuddly toy. “She is Head Girl after all, which makes her your superior.”

He was not sure whether it was the anger that was swarming through Ellie or the fact that he realised that his little Tasmanian devil had power but his attraction to the girl increased. Dan lightly nuzzled her neck before whispering lightly in her ear “I missed you.” For that he did as without his Ellie he was nothing but a mere ghost of a memory that lingered in the hall ways of the castle waiting for the moment his Hufflepuff would step through those oak doors and need him again.

Of course right now he was getting his fix, her rage was like heroine! An adrenaline rush that made his entire senses tingle and the bigger the dosage the more he wanted it, and as soon as the feeling of euphoria ended he wanted more, he wanted to feel that buzz again. He needed to provoke Bray to get some sort of emotional surge from Ellie. But how?

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn Marshall Reed was almost positive that he couldn't take much more of this. It was emotional torture coming at him from every angle. Ellie's anger, undeserved; this freak's affections, completely false. Not to mention that Ellie wasn't the only girl who lost complete faith and trust in the boy. His jaw clenched tighter as his throat was screaming for him to yell, scream, throw a fit and most of all release a hiss that would strike fear into their hearts. He could feel pain in his eyes and fingers as they itched to quickly change into a cat and sink his claws into that demonic, mocking leg.

But Bray was no brave-hearted lion. He was no Gryffindor at all, he was a far superior Ravenclaw. Which meant that his cool would have to be kept during this. His chest expanded as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and ignore his animalistic instincts which were leaning heavily towards fight. He couldn't fight Ellie, it was morally wrong, and the leech seemed to have attached itself to her! Releasing the breath when he felt better, his hand shifted on his wand and he adjusted it so it still pointed mainly at Hubbles. Why didn't that girl get out of the way, act afraid, some sort of normal emotion! Instead she was throwing wild accusations at him.

"Lied to you? Hah, you've tried to comfort yourself about me to the point that you're delusional." He growled, keeping his eyes locked on the red haired kid. "Let me refresh your memory. I simply didn't inform you of what I was capable of. That is not a lie."

His sound was cold and emotionless. This situation was frustrating and tiring, certainly not something he wanted to deal with. With two wands pointed at him, he had no other choice but to move his eyes off the boy to his surroundings, see what was there that could be of use to him. A small tree wasn't too far from them, he quickly inspected it before turning his eyes back to them. Just in case, of course, Bray wasn't one to leap to Charms as his first defense. If claws weren't going to save him, then, he had other ways. Bray let out a low growl. That guy really needed to butt out.

"Who are you, to talk to me as if we're buddies?"

But for some reason, he felt like he already knew the answer to this question.

[ick]

[Ellie Rook]

[psstt nicole...dan doesnt have a wand...]

Ellie felt as though she wanted to take a running jump at Bray and strangle him to the ground. But she felt the warm touch of Dan behind her. She fit perfectly into his arms and yet she was still shaking from her outburst. She could feel the energy pouring from her finger tips and her toes and the top of her head, and strangly right where Dan's hands rested. She felt him lean down. She shifted her head she that she was able to rest her head on his. The whisper entered her ear. She felt butterflies in her stomach. Dan was her everything.

She was snapped back to reality with Bray's harsh words. She was broken from Dan's magic over her for a second. Her wand raised more aggressively. She could feel the power just itching to get out. "You didn't trust me! It's just as bad!" She yelled at him. Ellie was surprisingly strong through out this. She wasn't sure where this anger was coming from, but it was pure anger and hate. It wasn't the usual emotional tears and breakdown. She felt as though she could really hurt Bray and not have a moments guilt about it.

Ellie again remembered the powerful force behind her. Ellie thought it was courageous, much more courageous than herself, that Dan didn't not take out his wand and immediately point it at Bray. Ellie felt as though he were her strength.. standing behind her. She could feel as his warmth, his whole body up against her. She glared at Bray, turning her wand.

"Oh, please." Ellie said, speaking for Dan this time. "What are you going to do Bray. All you know how to do is run away. All you've ever done is run away. Run away from me, run away from Fay. So go on, run away." Ellie yelled.

She wasn't sure how everything had escalated to this. She had been so calm, but Bray had rustled up all the feelings she had been hiding. The fear that Dan had abandoned her, the fear of her future, not to mention the old feelings that Ellie had suppressed during the the time that Bray was still in her life. Everything had come out all at once. Now that Dan had her back, she felt like she could take on the world, never mind just Bradyn Reed. She felt powerful.

[Daniel Hubbles]

Like the emotion junkie he was Dan’s next fix came quick and fast without very little effort. The bitter feelings that were passing between these two ex-lovers was like the purest form of drug and Dan found himself breathing in deeply as if trying to soak in any stray strings of emotion that might have been lingering in the night air. As he felt the energy surge through his rejuvenated veins Dan fixed his cool gray stare upon the Ravenclaw and with the safe satisfaction that his puppet Ellie would not see him he shot Bray the most cheekiest of grin’s as if to say ‘She is mine and there is nothing you can do about it!’ That was something that Dan was extremely confident about, no matter what this pathetic excuse for a human being did or said Ellie would never believe him.

The hold that Dan now had over Ellie was proven when his perfect little puppet responded to Bray’s question and he could not help but be taken aback by the ferocity of her attack. She had learnt well. He did not need to add anything else although his tongue was dying to let slip a few snide remarks but if he did it would ruin the effect that Ellie’s words would have had….her powerful and amazing words. With a small chuckle Dan knew that words might no have an effect, but actions as sure as hell would.

Reaching out Dan took hold of Ellie’s wand hand, sliding the small wooden stick out of it and into his own only to elegantly spin his Hufflepuff around to face him almost as if they were in a ballroom. He was not dumb, he kept the wand pointed at the Ravenclaw and even as his bent down to passionately kiss Ellie he still kept his eyes open so that they could mockingly look on at Bray almost daring him to do something. His next stage of attack would have to be said in words, but not to Bray, oh no that would be spiteful and vindictive which is not really the person he wanted Ellie to see, he wanted Ellie to see the caring boyfriend.

“You’re perfect you know that right?” Dan muttered to Ellie, while his eyes momentarily flicked over to where Bray stood to make sure that the boy had not run away. “I…I can not believe I am saying this b-but…I…er...I love you.” Heartfelt and sincere were his words…but then just because he sounded it did not mean he felt it, but then Ellie was not to know that now was she.