DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable works in this story is obviously not owned by me but the great J.K herself. I only own Clare O'Hare and maybe her marriage to Neville...sorry Hannah...not sorry Hannah.

Chapter 6

Thursday started in Clare's favorite way, late due to sleeping in. She had a free period first thing which immediately became 'free sleep period' and even got to have Herbology as her first class of the day. Some of the girls from both houses had noticed her hair was pretty in its braids, very different from the day before. They offered compliments and comments on how envious they were. Rodger chimed in at class with the first negative comment about leaving it to a girl to get prettied up to do gardening.

"What use are silly ribbons? Do they help you sing to the flowers or something." He joked in a mocking tone. Once or twice he might of even given one of her braids a tug but whenever she would turn around to see no one was ever there.

Harry only managed to just briefly stand at her side long enough to give her sleeve a gentle tug. He gave her a small smile and said he thought her hair was pretty, you know as far as pretty hair goes with girls and all that. He ended with a shrug then turned back to equal parts working with Ron and equal parts hiding from Hermione.

For lunch Clare dipped out to her room not wanting to hear anymore about her hair for a bit. Compliments regarding anything about her were few and far between as far as what she was used to. And whereas teasing was a usual thing for her, her skin was not so thick this year. For some reason being here at hogwarts was turning out to be bitter sweet. Absentmindedly she picked at the letter the Moon's had replied with. How she longed for it to have been from her real family. Maybe it would not be such a strain to write to them, maybe they would love to hear how she was having classes and making friends. Maokai lay curled in her lap while everyone else played about the room, the weight and heat was familiar causing her some comfort.

DADA passed the girls in silence. Susan didn't seem to notice too much though. Clare had made them a lily which brought a small sting to her heart. Does Lily really want me as a sister? Clare thought instead of focusing on her class' lesson. Sure Lily had made it clear on several occasions how delighted she was to have a sister to spend time with but she also knew how Jacob and Cecile felt. They had often discussed it late in the night with quiet voices how long Clare would actually be staying with them. Clare vaguely remembered Professor Quirrell mentioning a test come Friday but she didn't really pay him much heed as she shuffled out of class. The sun was shining outside, students were laughing as they passed by and a gentle breeze swept over the grounds. The only thing that matched Clare's mood were the low hanging grey clouds that spotted the sky.

Out in the open air, Clare felt no different than she had all day. She flopped down onto the grass on a hill near the castles' edge. How was it possible to feel tumultuous yet empty all at once? What do I care for being called a mudblood anyway? I don't! Maokai slithered out from under her robes and curled up in a bit of grass to her side. What was class even about… any of them? She gave an aggravated huff and flailed about on the ground pitching her small fit. What is the big deal on how I look! Aren't I always pretty? She lay still for a minute, cheeks flushed pink. Tears threatened to form and spill out from her eyes.

"What a stupid thing to be worried about." She mumbled softly to herself.

She turned her head to glance at where Maokai lay. He poked his head up from his patch of grass that was successfully hiding the rest of him. She sniffed blinking at him. He blinked back. She stifled a laugh at the face he made. She soon caught the case of the giggles despite herself however. Scooping him up, she hugged him tight to her laughing out loud. When she had caught her breath she sat up and he found his way back into her robes. Clare wiped her eyes and sat observing the grounds from her perch. She had to admit, she felt much better. She stood, stretching, then made her way back inside for her transfigurations class. Some of the other first years stood gossiping both envious and nervous over a rumor they had heard about class.

Clare only caught a bit of what was said as she hurried into class dragging Susan with her. Susan groaned softly in protest but sat where Clare put her and pouted. They were in the second row from the front and one of the first to take their seats. Clare turned to greet Justin who chose the desk behind them but glared quickly at Roger who joined him. Justin gave a wry smile while Roger shrugged innocently. Turning, Clare sat forward at her desk with a huff and pulled both her braids over her shoulders. Professor McGonagall had already started the class and passed out their tests.

"This will be a quick written test of the spell you all have been learning this week." She began. As she walked back up to her desk she gave Pansy a quick glance, "With emphasis on 'quick' mind you." She now stood at the front of her desk and studied each student, "You will clear your desks and we will begin. You will have no more than 20 minutes. Once everyone has finished we will promptly move on practicing the practical part of the spell in which you will attempt to turn a match stick." She said pausing picking up a tiny match on her desk, "Into a needle."

The test flew by just as quickly as McGonagall had promised. Once everyone was good and started on the practical the professor moved about the room watching any attempts to cast the spell. Some students had gotten close with some making silver pieces of wood or toothpicks, however most had yet to make any notable changes. McGonagall frowned a little bit as minutes of the class ticked on.

"We had a very bright student today who got the closest to making a genuine needle. Miss Granger from Gryffindor." McGonagall said hoping she could goad her students to a better success rate with a little healthy competition. Plus it filled her with pride each time she mentioned the student was from her house. Come class' end most everyone was in a sour mood. They were to practice over the weekend and officially have a practical test on Monday that would be graded.

Most of the first years managed to cheer up some at dinner. More information about Hermione was shared during their meal as well. She had in fact made a sharp, pointy, and silver object during her class with Professor McGonagall but the fact of it being a real needle was found out false. True no other student had gotten anywhere near as close as she had but it was still leaps and bounds over not just their class but any of the other houses as well. Clare grimaced inwardly, she knew how the spell worked at least that's what she had thought. Her paper was very well written, best in the class McGonagall had said, and yet she was unable to cast it successfully.

"Don't worry mates." Gabriel said over the table. "It'll come to you all in time."

"Yeah like we said, it just takes time sometimes." Said Cedric who sat nodding and grinning like a cheshire cat. It seemed like most all of the older housemates were in a cheery mood.

Once back in their common room Clare and the other first years were given an explanation about some of the hype. Some older years made room on the soft cushiony sofas and couches while everyone huddled in a circle.

"Tomorrow." Gabriel started, "We will start taking vyes on what sort of prank we will pull this year." He turned focusing on the first years, "Pranking is tradition here at Hogwarts and this year Hufflepuff house gets to go first. Each house every year gets to prank either students, teachers, castle grounds or even all three. The rules are by the end of the year whoever pulled off the best prank gets a sort of mini 'house cup' reward thing." A lot of the older years giggled and elbowed each other. "Well it's not so much an item as it gets calculated via voting by teachers and students which get converted into house points then are added with our regular points for the real house cup. But say Ravenclaw pulls off the better prank this year they will get special recognition from the other houses and say get special consideration, privileges, things like that."

"That's not much of a prize is it though." Came from Hannah. "I mean house points are great and all I want to win the house cup too but… silent privileges? Doesn't sound like much of a reward for competing."

Gabriel just grinned and shook his head. "That'll probably be because it's mostly for fun."

"Yeah we get to do a super cool harmless prank AND we can't get in trouble for it." Said Stebbins.

"It's really the perfect way to blow of a little friendly steam at classmates." Said Cedric knocking fists with Stebbins.

One of the older year girls spoke up. She had bright fiery red hair and a face absolutely showered in freckles, "Besides." She interrupted the boys loudly giving them a good hearted push, "We have until the end of September to pull it off. So tomorrow after homework and everything-"

"We are going to have a kind of brainstorming session to see what kind of prank we can pull this year." Finished Gabriel. He grinned big at the first years and also seemed to excite the others. He instructed them all to do their normal routines be it bathing, studying, or whatever and to get a good night's sleep.

The common room fell quiet for the next couple of hours while 'puffs lounged or studied. Clare took time to study some with Justin, Susan and a few others to prepare for their Friday tests. Closer to nine o'clock Clare hurried off to the bathrooms and tried to find an empty stall. She had a headache and felt somewhat drained emotionally from the day so she dunked her head in the steamy water of her bath. Soon she had found her curls kinked back up to their usual selves. Clare had brought her tiny doll's brush and used it on a special waxy soap. A happy Maokai laid over her knees letting her scrub him with his brush. The soft bristles scrubbed his scales nicely, he especially loved it when he was shedding. She spoke quietly to him taking special care to not have anyone hear her in the echoey bathroom. How they missed being able to talk openly. Grant it they tried to not do it too much around the Moon's because it unnerved them a bit even but day after day of having to hide or whisper was beginning to sadden the both of them. She reminded him that Saturday they would all get to go to Hagrid's as well as spend ample time outside. Maybe there would be new furry friends for them to make here at the castle.

Clare spent a good long while up that night studying and adding a few finishing touches to homework. Before she knew it the time had gotten to be around midnight. Sleepily she drug herself to bed. Unfortunately her emotional rollercoaster ride had not quite finished, as she woke with a start several times in the night. Her dreams were plagued with nightmares about her family. Some involved her parents snapping her wand and making her go stay with Father Shawnese so he could pray away her sin. One even where they had taken all her animals away which caused her to frantically search the bed for every little warm body till she found them then hugged them tightly. To say she got poor sleep that night was an understatement.

Thankfully, morning came quickly. Clare shuffled tired, heavy feet to the bathroom to try and wake up with brisk water. She put very little effort into her looks taking her usual route of tying her hair up in a ponytail. She gave a tired grin at her reflection. She managed to pull all but a few of her curls into her hair tie which stuck out in little spirely sprigs. She mussed her ponytail a bit pulling apart some of the curls that were getting a little too friendly with each other. Surprisingly she made it to the dining hall for breakfast and continued to amaze herself at making it to her History of Magic class as well. She felt as good about the test as was possible for her tired brain to register then shuffled her way to charms.

Professor Flitwick was pleased how well the class was doing on spongifying their items. Even Clare had managed to successfully spongify the top of her desk. However Flitwick didn't know whether to be pleased or a bit upset as she had made it so soft and spongy it sagged nearly to the floor. It was like a giant foamy pillow Perfect for maybe a small nap...maybe just to rest my eyes she thought.

At lunch Susan and Justin took turns prodding her to keep her awake.

"You don't look so good mate." Said Lee Jordan who had stopped by their table. He took her by the wrist and gave her a gentle shake and a weak smile. "You gonna hang in there? You sick?"

"Oh, no." Clare mumbled, "I'm just really tired." She tried her best to give a good smile, it was hard to not be a bit cheery when Lee Jordan was around. "I just didn't sleep good last night."

"That's what happens you know when you study too much." Fred and George had butted in again. They still sat at their table but turned around in their seats.

"You know what they say about studying too much." Started Fred.

"Turns your brain to mush I'm afraid." Finished George. Even though they were having a bit of fun they honestly looked concerned for her. They offered her the 'pick you up pick me up' again this time no silly business they promised. Clare politely declined but promised a rain check on it.

This time Hermione chimed in, "That's not true." She said very matter of fact like. "I always study extra and it's never done me wrong. I bet if all of you studied a little more it definitely wouldn't kill you. Like today in Potions class I bet if Neville had spent a little more time studying the right way to brew a cure of boils he wouldn't have almost melted everything. It was a shame to lose a good cauldron being careless like that. Not to mention ruining our shoes."

"Oi yeah I bet it wasn't a big deal at all he got hurt either or that maybe you know Seamus was alright." Piped in a rather red faced Ron. Maybe he face was always like that but the boy to his other side who must of been Seamus looked down right upset.

"Yeah pity to lose a cauldron instead of my foot ay Granger?" He said scowling. He turned to ignore her, he and Ron muttering something about priorities.

"What do you mean? No one got hurt right? What happened?" Clare turned taking her plate with her to face the Gryffindor's table.

"He just mixed his ingredients wrong that's all." Lily said a few seats over.

"Yeah just mixed them wrong and melted everything. Surprising he only got boils instead of melting to death." Said a small brown haired boy. Dean that's right his name is Dean Clare thought trying hard to remember the other first years. Clare swapped a shocked look back and forth to everyone but swallowed quickly at their lack of worry.

"What do you mean melted? You can melt yourself to death? By brewing something wrong?" Clare felt a small amount of panic form in the back of her mind. She had to brew a cure for boils today in Potions class. Quickly her mind flashed with images of melting a hand off. Oh poor Neville! "And Neville's not hurt...too badly right? I mean you said just boils?"

"Well I'm sure they're not pleasant. They were very large and irritated looking if you ask me." Hermione chimed back in. Most everyone at the table however gave a small eyeroll as if to say no in fact they weren't asking her. She gave a slight disgruntled noise at being ignored then got up from the table and left. Most everyone seemed pleased that she had left, Fred and George just shook their heads.

"So has anyone gone to check on him?" Clare asked concerned.

"Nah I'm sure he's fine." Said Ron who had gone back to stuffing his face.

"Madam Pomfrey is a great Nurse." Said George.

"You guys got lots of experiance with that." Teased Jordan.

Clare thought it odd no one had felt the need to check on their house mate. She would go to visit him she decided. In the very least she might could get a peek at the worse case scenario to help ensure she did a good job in future potions classes.

Clare only had to spend a moment back in her room since most everyone wasn't very hungry. Hugs and kisses were given then off she went to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey hurried to and from a few beds. Most were empty but three beds were occupied with an older year ravenclaw, a gryffindor, and lastly Neville. Nearing where he lay in bed, she could hear he was groaning loudly and attempting to rub his hands over his arms and chest. His hands were bandaged as was most of body.

"I said don't scratch boy! You'll only make it worse." Madam Pomfrey called from across the room. She quickly had the ravenclaw down a small glass of something making them grimace before she strode purposefully back to Neville. Barely touching Clare at all she ushered her out of the way to open the nightstand next to the bed, "Do try to not be in the way." Her tone was exacte but not overly harsh. "Visiting time is 10 minutes only. However, we're almost done here. You can escort Mr. Longbottom to class if you stay."

Quietly Clare sat in a chair on the other side of the bed and folded her hands into her lap while Madam Pomfrey worked. A surprisingly sweet smelling liquid came out of the bottle she opened and had begun to pour onto a cloth to dab on parts of Neville's skin. With skill that came only with many years of hard work, she had every bandage off and the sweet clear medicine dabbed on every boil with ease. Stoppering the bottle and putting it back she hurried off to the other gryffindor who had seemingly managed to grow some kind of monster hand in place of his own.

She sat awkwardly for a few moments, the silence broken by sharp intakes of breath from Neville and faint whimpering.

"So uhm… How are you feeling?" She asked cautiously sort of assuming it wasn't anything good.

Neville shuffled nervously and attempted to scratch with is now free hand, "Well I suppose the pain is better." He started but quickly winced as scratching had not turned out to be a good idea, "Ah, but it's not the best. Not the worst for sure. Breaking my wrist was a lot worse."

"Aww so you did break it then?" Clare asked giving a sympathetic frown.

"It's all better now of course." He said holding his arm up. His skin was still swollen even though it had already decreased significantly and was still splotchy with boils, "Well other than the boils." He looked down at his sheets and sulked.

"Well they are getting much better." Clare tried to cheer him up. "I'm still new to most magical things. Hearing about healing from a broken bone in a day is mind blowing and then this! Wow it's really impressive Neville."

"You think so?" He asked lightening up a bit.

Clare waited with Neville till he felt alright enough enough to make it to class, which oddly enough was close to when Madam Pomfrey began to shoo him out of bed. They talked on the way down the tower a little about medicinal magic and what could be fixed as Neville put it "in a jiffy". He wished her luck on her potions test which had reminded her that the test even existed. Oh good grief she thought. She just knew she was going to explode her cauldron or something, melt her face off, or worse. She blanched when she saw the hallway leading to the potions classroom and wondered if she could walk all the way back up to the hospital wing. Her nerves were making her woosie. Professor Snape began the class more ill than he had ever had so far. Clare chalked it up to the ruining of his classroom from what had been deemed 'The Neville Incident'. First they took their written test followed by actually brewing the potion where Clare and Susan paired up. Oliver was at the table to her left but unfortunately not close enough for her to maybe glean anything helpful.

"If I see so much as a wisp of anything other than a cure for boils potion…. The punishment will be severe." Professor Snape said. His posture, tone of voice, even his eyes, seemed to spit shaky hands Clare picked out her first ingredient and began work. Susan had prepped the flames while Clare was to add the ingredients. She was so nervous in fact she nearly knocked some of their utensils off the desk but somehow managed the rest of the class. She thought she might have to use Susan as a shield when at the table next to them Oliver's partner mixed something up in the brew. Thinking quickly he added some other ingredient that Clare couldn't quiet see and the ominous bubbling subsided. Not only did she not melt her face off, but she and Susan managed to get a decent grade.

Clare let out a huge pent up sigh on their way to DADA. She was so relieved she hardly noticed the stench in class. She made a bright yellow daisy for Susan to hog while they also had a test and soon found herself surrounded by friends hufflepuff and gryffindor alike at the dinner table. Clare reached under her robes amidst the commotion and gently petted Maokai. She smiled to herself once again at how warm and friendly her housemates all were. Susan helped Clare sneak her animals out and they spent time down near the lake side. Clare splashed her feet a bit in the cold water and talked about how the Moon's didn't have a pond on their property but she wished they had since she loved to swim. The topic of course got Susan on a rant about the best swimwear which left the girls giggling the whole way back to the common room making up their own more exaggerated outfits.

Surprisingly the common room was packed as the whole recess now had even more pillows and blankets added than usual and everyone was in their pajamas. S'mores, pasties, pies, and a whole manner of tasty sweet filled goodies were roasting near the fire filling the room with wonderful smells. There were a few new end tables that had juices and milk along with tea's, coffee's, and other sort of drinks you could want on them. Clare and Susan cracked a smile as other first years were now squealing running from their rooms. A few had pillows and blankets in hand while others were running away from older years who were chasing them about in their own pillows, blankets tied at their necks as capes. To the right the most massive and marvelous fort Clare had ever seen was being made.

"Well come on then you two. We haven't got all night." Said Gabriel. He waved them inside and told them to hurry and change. Tonight the hufflepuffs were having their official welcoming ceremony. And by ceremony he meant slumber party. Clare also noticed some pets she hadn't seen before. Jinkens was there, an all black cat that frequented the common room along with two others Clare was excited to get to meet. She gave a nervous grin and opened her robes a bit indicating Susan to do the same. Merry and Berry flopped out from under her arms and Jasper jumped out from Susan's robes along with Lulu who lept straight for one of the brass planters. Housemates oo'd and ah'd and looked back to Clare who blushed madly and gave a tiny nervous laugh. Clare promised to introduce them all as she and Susan rushed off to change. In her room Clare disrobed quickly and had a brief moment of panic. She stared at her usual jamies consisting of a pair of shorts and an oversized U2 shirt. Carefully she slipped Maokai onto the bed and placed her hands to her hips. She turned glancing to her shut door then back to the bed and then once more to the door and back. No doubt about it, there would be no leaving him here. Maokai stretched up a bit from where he lay coiled on the bed and Clare set her face. Yup… here we go. She added a tanktop under her shirt and slipped him through the belt loops. She felt a part of his length stretch up her side and hide under the hair at her shoulder. Well they'll get more than a shock from my hair not being put up if Maokai gets out… she sighed then headed out the door.

Susan meet her as they went back to join everyone, "I think everyone likes them alright." She said giving Clare a pat on the back.

Clare let out a small puff of air, "I only half way thought that maybe having so many would break some kind of rule but not that everyone would hate them." Clare trailed off a bit and tugged the collar of her U2 shirt down. Maokai peeped out at Susan, flicking his tongue at her to say hello before Clare pulled her shirt back up, "I'm still cautious as to how people will treat him though." Clare went silent for a moment, "I just don't think I can part with any of them, Maokai to say the least."

The girls reached the end of the hallway then and they were greeted by more squeals and laughter as most everyone seemed caught up in playing with Lulu, Merry, or Berry while Jasper ran excitedly about the room chasing the cats. The girls stood briefly holding their blankets and pillows before a group came running by them. Pillows went flailing about, a stray one hitting Susan upside the head and another just barely nicking one of Clare's curls.

"Oh I see." Susan said calmly. "That's how it's going to be."

Before another word was said, Susan lifted her pillow and swats at the last person that came running by them then started out in the chase, she too becoming a pillow swinging wild woman. Gabriel, from out of nowhere, scooped Clare up and tossed her a short way onto one of the fluffy couches. Whoop! She gave a little bounce then quickly, as if she had been hurt, started to pat her sides. Maokai had slipped down and quickly wrapped himself around her waist. Ok phew.

"You alright O'Hare?" Gabriel asked. "I didn't mean to startle you but you're so tiny… kinda hard to resist."

"Oh no, I'm fine." Clare said trying to laugh it off. She got down from the couch and ran to get her pillow. With it and her blanket she joined the group making the fort and started adding a room to it. Once it was big enough she placed her pillow and blanket down then watched to see if anyone could see her.

Are you ok? She whispered quietly pulling her collar out a bit. Maokai nodded but stayed tense around her waist. She tried giving him a reassuring pat. Are you sure about this? Looking around she saw no one was near her but she needed to get back out to the fun before she was missed. Maokai gave a huff yesss.

Shenanigans were had, treats were eaten, and drinks had when finally Gabriel called a break to their fun. Outside all was dark and still as everyone huddled around the center on every fluffy thing imaginable. Gabriel sat on his own pile of blankets and pillows then started the topic of conversation of what they were really here for.

"As you many of you know we do pranking every year." He started then turned most of his attention to the first years, "In case anyone has forgotten, all houses :Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and us all get one month out of the year to prank. We prank each other, teachers, you name it and at the end of the year the person and house who wins best prank gets extra house points and something extra as a prize. Now, about the pranks!" Gabriel shot up and started pacing. "This year we have been picked to go first."

Cedric and Stebbins gave each other a quick high-five. Gabriel gave them a wink and pointed at them continuing, "Last year, with the help of some of the students that have moved on from hogwarts, we won the prank war. Cedric thought of jinxing all the brooms with a reversal spell. It was pretty sweet."

"It was pretty sweet." Cedric admitted.

"Anyway this year we've got to come up with the first prank! Which is hard to do because we all know it has to be awesome. We only have till the 27th to come up with a prank and pull it off." Said Gabriel who had taken to pacing now. He went over some of the more recent years pranks mentally marking them out of the list of ideas to maybe be used this year. One of the clocks on the wall chimed softly telling the hour was midnight and Clare gave a yawn. Stephanie Gale was a seventh year, she handed her a cold glass of juice and under the ramblings of Gabriel whispered that there was to be none of that. She gave her a wink then continued to listen to their game plan and Clare shook her head trying hard to focus. She took a sip, the icy fruit juice made her shiver and gave her a smidge of alertness. Then she had a thought.

"The food." She said interrupting whatever sentence Gabriel had been on.

He gave her an inquisitive look. Clare pretended to sprinkle something in her cup then took a drink, "Put some sort of potion or something in the food or drink make that the prank?"

A small ripple of 'hmm's' and 'maybe's' rippled through the group before the biggest grin Gabriel had had yet spread across his face. He slapped his hands loudly together, "That's it!" He exclaimed. "Prank the food!"

He did a small dance while some other puffs gave Clare and approving nod. "Ok so what goes in the food?" Some older boy chimed in. Soon people were throwing out answers like levitation potions or things like itching or sneezing. Almost another hour ticked by till at last the decision was settled upon to be a muddling potion. Essentially what would happen was they would put a befuddling potion into the dessert something like a pudding maybe, then everyone who ate dessert come dinner time would soon find that communicating with anyone would be impossible. 'Genius' Gabriel had said. The potion would make the person sound like they were talking plain to themselves but when speaking to anyone else their sentences would come out garbled and wrong. Everyone cheered the idea so much they immediately took up celebrating. Gabriel gave Clare a tight hug and opted to throw her again, this time into a pile of pillows. In the mass confusion of romping and play Clare slipped away back into the pillow fort and tried ever so carefully to peel Maokai out from around her waist. This time he agreed to stay in the fort as he now had been thrown one time too many and was more than happy to stay in the fort thank you very much.

It wasn't until 2 o'clock came rocking and rolling around did Clare suffer another start. Her heart nearly exploded as she watched in horror while her housemates jumped onto the fort, knocking it down, rolling all on it. They completely demolished it and cheered to raise another this time bigger, better. Clare flung herself in amongst them not to stockpile 'building material' but more importantly look for a hopefully not squished Maokai. When he was nowhere to be seen she calmed only a little thinking he had managed to slither away. Rather than raise suspicion Clare acted as though she were having fun while still trying to keep an eye out for her friend. Thankfully she caught a glimpse of him before too long, as he had somehow gotten up onto the roots that made the chandelier. Tag and hide-n-seek were the next favorites as everyone took to hiding in the sun room or down other random barrels. The clock chimed again marking the hour was 6 o'clock. People started in groups to head for the bathrooms to freshen up before heading out for an early breakfast. The last of the pillow forts were made which ended in the battle to end all battles of pillow fighting. Clare even got to pulverize Roger with a thick round pillow she had snagged from the couch. Before long everyone shuffled noisily out of the common room and made their way to the dining hall. The entire group or puffs from the first years to the seventh years strolled in tired, but with a spring to their steps while most everyone already in the dining hall peep out from barely opened eyes or scowling, hugging a cup of brew. The whole house stood out like a sore thumb as they talked and laughed, not a one in uniform but instead, their night tousled jamies.