Study Group! (for all third years)

Seren was in a VERY good mood as she strolled along the corridors of Hogwarts. She was in such a good mood because she was on her way to meet Blake AND Hunter for a small study session. Seren was quite proud of herself for coming up with such an INGENIOUS idea! You see, she would be spending her evening with two cute boys! And who would Aoife be spending her evening with? NOBODY! Because Hunter was the only person who could stand her, and Seren had CLAIMED HIM! SO HA!

Seren was naturally outraged when the psychopathic redhead had turned up at the welcome feast looking almost as beautiful as Seren! ALMOST! Because NOBODY was as beautiful as Seren, even if Aoife had grown a few inches and started using HIDEOUSLY red lipstick. Unfortunately, her appearance seemed to catch a lot of people's attention. Seren knew that it was just because Aoife had been so hideous before that any improvement was bound to have people talking. Seren's appearance wasn't as attention grabbing because she was ALWAYS that beautiful.

When Seren finally reached the empty classroom where they had agreed to meet, she found that she was the first one there. That was okay, though! She took a seat and reached up to tuck a piece of her braid into place. They had a potions exam coming up, so Seren fished through her bag for her potions text. Then, she pulled out a tube of mascara and began to reapply her makeup (which was MUCH more subtle and pretty than Aoife's) while she waited for the boys to arrive.

If there was one thing that Hunter hated more than going to class, it was studying outside of class. Going to class was a little hard to get out of, but when Hunter wasn't in class he certainly didn't feel the need to be studying. So when Seren had asked him to join her and Blake while they studied for the upcoming potions exam, he was reluctant to agree. Even once he'd said yes, he wasn't so sure he'd actually go. But now, as his friend all but forced him out of the common room, it seemed he had little choice.

"But I hate studying," he informed Blake for the third time, groaning internally at the idea of having to actually do school work on his time off. He could be doing anything else. He could be spending time with Aoife instead. But then again, spending time with Aoife only frustrated and confused him. His mind drifted to all the times people had called Aoife his girlfriend and he'd gotten mad. Suddenly, it didn't seem like such a bad thing. But though Aoife's appearance had changed, and Hunter's feelings toward her were shifting, she was just as oblivious as ever. And that frustrated him even more.

Maybe spending time with Seren would do him some good. Perhaps it would get his mind off of Aoife. Part of Hunter also hoped that it might bring out some form of jealousy - that it might make Aoife notice him in a different way. At first, he wasn't going to tell Aoife that he was seeing Seren, because she would be mad. But then, the thought that it may make her jealous gave him the idea to let it slip to her. Rather than telling her directly and risking getting hit, he made sure to talk about it with Blake when she could hear.

Hunter glanced sideways at Blake. He'd been wanting to talk to his friend about all of this, but he was afraid of what Blake would think. So he'd kept quiet so far. And before long, they arrived at their meeting spot. Hunter pushed his confusing thoughts aside and allowed his attention to focus on the dark-haired girl. "Hey stranger," he said in a light voice, indicating that he hadn't seen her much since school had started. He pulled out a chair and flopped into it, waiting for one of the other two to start the actual studying. In reality, Hunter was still hoping that real studying wouldn't take place and that they'd just hang out or do something fun. But that probably wasn't very likely.

Blake wandered the corridors with Hunter in search of the empty classroom they had decided to meet up in for a study group with Seren. Blake was a bit surprised when Seren had actually taken him up on his offer to study with her. He immediately began to wonder if he was expected to study, after all Seren was a Ravenclaw and being true to the stereotype associated with the house Blake expected them to study as much as they could in their spare time. But Blake also knew that Hunter would be present which to Blake meant that it would be a bit of fun. Blake wondered if Seren knew that Hunter never studied and did anything to get out of work, he was as lazy as Kynan when it came to schoolwork. Well, maybe that was a bit too harsh, nearly as lay as him Blake amended in his mind. After all Blake's fretting he decided to bring some schoolwork in the form of his DADA book as to not disappoint Seren. And also so he didn't let himself down, he didn't want to appear as a total failure so he purposefully chose his DADA book seeing as it was his best subject.

"Come on it'll be fun." Blake said in an over enthusiastic voice. In truth he was just glad that he didn't have to spend any time in the common room with Aoife for the evening and he thought it was good for Hunter to get away from the girl too. She didn't seem to have the best effect on him lately. Having said that if Aoife found out that he spent the evening with Seren that would most certainly bring about one of her episodes. It was pretty obvious that Hunter sitting beside Seren in Charms was too much time for them to spend with each other. Blake caught Hunter looking at him oddly and sighing he asked "does Aoife know about our little study session? I'm thinking no since I didn't hear her screaming down the common room in disagreement." Blake muttered. He really didn't want to bring up Aoife, but for some reason he couldn't get her off his mind and he thought that once he knew the situation he could be assured for the rest of the evening knowing that she was simmering in frustration at where they were. At this thought a smug look appeared on his face.

His face turned into a broad smile once he had entered the classroom (thankfully Hunter knew where it was) as he was greeted by the sight of Seren. "Well hello there." Blake greeted also not having seen the girl for some time. Obviously she had been spending a lot of alone time studying in her own common room. Blake was glad that the girl had decided to socialise a bit, even if it was a study group session. Maybe they could make this a recurrent thing and get Seren to hang out with them more. Just one problem, Aoife O' Donnell. Of course she would never let that happen. Blake mentally chided himself, he did not want to think about her. Instead he wanted to enjoy the evening without the little evil red headed disturbing his thoughts. Her annoying shrill voice was enough to put up in her presence for any normal person, he did not have to think about accommodating her too when she wasn't about.

"So what have you been up to?" He asked, eyeing Seren and looking to see if she had drastically changed over the summer months too. Thankfully she hadn't and Blake sighed in relief. He thought she was perfectly fine the way she was.

Great, the boys had arrived! Seren gave them each a charming smile when they entered. Seren was particularly ecstatic that they were ALONE and that the red-headed sheep freak hadn't managed to tag along somehow. "Hello yourselves!" Seren chirped happily back to them, tucking her mascara tube back into her bag and giving them her attention. It was almost strange to be greeted in such a friendly manner, because Seren usually didn't have many people that liked her (because most people were jealous of her, of course). But it actually felt like they were friends when they walked in, and it was rather nice to be on the inside of a circle for once and not the outside.

"Mostly studying," Seren replied to Blake's question. "Although I can't get any peace in the common room anymore with Victoria's cat running loose through the place," she sighed dramatically. "Honestly, the thing's a pest." Seren was truly getting tired of the annoying little thing bothering her. So tired of it that she may or may not have dropped a heavy book on it once or twice to make it go away.

"Did you have a good summer?" Seren asked Blake. She'd already talked to Hunter about holiday in charms class (BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE SAME GROUP AND AOIFE WASN'T), but she hadn't seen Blake other than in passing since school began. "It's too bad you aren't in our Charms group," Seren told him, giving him a look that showed her sympathy that he had gotten put with the sheep monstrosity. "Anyway, what would you two like to study? I could really use some catching up for the potions exam. And I can always use practice for defense. Is it just me, or is Professor Malfoy a little bit scary?" Seren's family was very pureblood and elite, and she was aware of the Malfoys, but she didn't like their defense professor very much so far.

So Hunter was planning on getting all cosy with the she-devil, was he? And he was trying to make her jealous by obnoxiously loudly mentioning it to Blake! What was wrong with Hunter? They were meant to be friends! It sure didn't seem like it at the minute. They should be friends. Seren could have Blake, she didn't care. They were good for each other. But now she was trying to DRAG Hunter over to the dark side too? Aoife was NOT going to stand for it.

Throughout the day, she concocted her own little plan to foil Seren's. It might be a good idea to have some moral support, so she owled Vicky-Tori, making out that they were joining a fun, exciting little study group to help with homework and classwork. She had to convince her studious friend somehow, and telling her they were going for revenge and probably a big argument, might not be so appealing to her.

Aoife had overheard that it was in the evening and in one of the empty classrooms that the big Study Group organization used. After chilling outside the Ravenclaw common room and finally getting Victoria, the redhead almost dragged her friend along down the stairs from the tower towards the classrooms. Unfortunately, there were quite a few more of these classrooms than she'd been aware of. It was now time to try and work out which classroom it was. Unfazed by everything, she skipped along the corridor, glancing into every room. Eventually, she heard voices. That must be it.

So slowly, ever so slowly, she pushed open the door. Oh, that evil brat. She was cleverer than Aoife gave her credit for, really, with this whole plot. She put her fingers to her lips, indicating to Victoria that she shouldn't say anything. Then she casually walked into the room. "I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?" she smirked. And since she planned on staying, why not sit down? Yes, that was good. She took a seat at a table next to where Seren's little group sat.

"So, what are we studying?"

"Err..." Hunter dragged out the sound when Blake asked if Aoife knew about their plans. "I actually might have let it slip around her..." he apologetically told his friend. "But she didn't cause a fuss, so it's probably fine," he added in a rush, doing his best to brush the subject off quickly. In reality, the fact that Aoife hadn't made a scene was probably more of a bad omen than a good one - silence from Aoife was never a good sign. He definitely didn't tell Blake that he'd purposefully let their plans slip - he wasn't sure how his friend would take his reasoning, so he just kept quiet.

"Sounds exhilarating," he told Seren with a grin when she said she was studying a lot. That would be so boring, to just study all the time. "I hate cats," he said immediately when she mentioned Victoria's cat. "Aoife's cat is the only one in the Gryffindor common room, and thankfully it doesn't bother me too much." Professor Malfoy was actually a little intimidating, but for the sake of not looking like a wimp, Hunter just said, "Nah, he's not that scary. He used me to practice the jelly legs curse last year, though. It wasn't too fun." Teachers always seemed to use Hunter for demonstrations. It never turned out all that well - like the Devil's Snare incident in Herbology.

Oh, they actually did want to study. This could end up being a bore, but before the conversation went any further the door swung open and he caught a flash of red in his peripheral vision. Hunter's mouth fell open a bit when he saw Aoife towing Victoria into the room. No! What was she doing here?! Sure, he'd let it slip to her that they'd be here, and sure he'd done it to get a reaction out of her, but he hadn't expected her to actually show up at their get-together. That was the last thing that he wanted to happen - how was he supposed to get his mind off of her when she kept showing up everywhere? The tone of her voice instantly revealed that she hadn't just decided to come for fun. This couldn't end well. Unsure of what to do, Hunter just sat there, dumbfounded, and looked to Blake for help.

"It was great did you hear I went and stayed at Hunter's for a good bit of the summer?" Blake responded, excitement evident in his voice as he fondly remembered the experience. "And I didn't drink all his butterbeer despite what he may say." He added half joking. "What about yourself, have a good summer?" Blake asked in turn.

"I like cats, well most cats." Blake said bluntly at the mention of Aoife's cats. Some just took after their masters and were pure evil. Blake wondered why Seren hadn't invited Victoria to study too seeing as she was also a Ravenclaw and probably super smart as well and into books and everything else that came with being a Ravenclaw. He was disappointed to not see her here, he hadn't had much time to catch up with her for some time and hoped she would've made an appearance.

Blake's face faltered when potions was mentioned. He didn't know where to even start there and apparently they were getting an exam soon? Now that it was mentioned he vaguely remembered something about it. Why wasn't Hunter more up to date with stuff. He presumed they would spend the morning cramming before the exam as they normally did or would 'wing it' as Hunter often put it. "And yes he is scary, he's a Malfoy." Blake interjected, remembering he really wasn't too fond of the man. "I can help you out with the curse though." He said confidently to the girl.

Before they could get any further though Aoife appeared with Victoria in tow. "Yes." Blake said flatly in response to Aoife asking if she was interrupting and just glared at Hunter as he stared dumbly at him. After all it was him who had let it slip to the evil Irish red haired girl. Blake knew without doubt that she wasn't invited, never in a million years would Seren even think about inviting her. Why would she show up uninvited? Blake groaned, any thoughts of an Aoife free night was clearly gone. Why did she have to create drama wherever she went?

"Yes, Hunter mentioned that in charms!" Seren said, smiling at how excited Blake seemed to be talking about it. "It sounds like you had a good time!" Except that freak of nature Aoife had gone as well, Hunter had said, which probably ruined it a bit for Blake who was SO MUCH COOLER than Aoife. "Yes, mine was alright! I spent it mostly with my brother's and sisters. There's five of them, and I'm the oldest, so I get stuck babysitting most of the time," Seren said a bit disdainfully. She did love her family, but babysitting was NOT her passion.

The boys had mixed opinions on whether or not Professor Malfoy was absolutely terrifying. Blake's opinion was right, though, because he agreed with HER. "Oh, could you?" Seren asked when Blake offered to help her. "Oh, that would be brilliant! Defense is one of my worst subjects! The tests are easy, but the curses aren't. I much prefer charms, I've never had trouble with it!" Even before it was taught by an eccentric french man who probably couldn't fail someone if he tried.

THEN IT HAPPENED.

WHAT HOW HAD SHE FOUND THEM?! That MONSTROSITY opened the door and just waltzed inside as though she OWNED the place! Well, Seren had news for her! Aoife O'Donnell most certainly did NOT own the place. SEREN DID. "What's the matter?" Seren said patronizingly as IT sat down. "Can't you even go a few hours away from him?" Obviously not. Obviously, if Aoife got too far away from Hunter she had some sort of freaky panic attack and had to go find him immediately. Aoife asked what they were studying, and Seren laughed a bit coldly. "Well, we WERE practicing this spell that's supposed to keep annoying red-haired psychopaths out, but I guess I need some more practice." HONESTLY WHO DID THIS GIRL THINK SHE WAS? "Hello Victoria!" she added in a nicer tone at the end, giving a smile to the other NORMAL girl in the room.

Victoria had read the most recent letter she had received at least five times before taking it seriously. A familiar handwriting was scribbled across the parchment with a little signature in the corner that revealed its author. For a moment she doubted its validity, but then again who would have the need to pull such a weird prank on her? Even so, reading Aoife's letter about a fun little study group they should both join seemed strange to say the least. Since when did her Gryffindor friend think any study group was fun?

Seeing how she still had that unfinished astronomy homework to do and study for the potions exam, Victoria agreed to tag along. She met Aoife in front of the Ravenclaw common room and followed her lead. They went down the corridor searching for the right classroom as Victoria tried to hold onto all of her heavy books. "Do we know where we are going?", she asked, directing her question to Aoife who was peeking into every empty classroom that they passed by. But thankfully she had heard voices nearby, which meant that they weren't completely lost.

The Ravenclaw entered the room with a smile on her face, which soon faded away as the tension grew around her. It was now obvious that they were unwelcome guests, for one reason or another. She glared at Aoife and pursed her lips, wondering what did she get herself into this time. "A fun little study group, is it?", she whispered to Aoife as the two of them sat down at the nearby table. Now that she was here however there was no going back so Victoria intended to play along with Aoife's plan, whatever that may be.

"Hi", Victoria said softly and in a low voice, greeting Hunter, Blake and Seren. She quietly placed her books on the table and pretended to read a random page, trying to stay away from the drama that was about to happen. "Do you want to study potions first?", she asked Aoife, indicating her to sit down. Hopefully a boring book will calm her down.

Victoria seemed to be able to sense the awkward tension in the room. Clever girl. "It IS a fun little group!" Aoife nodded, unable to hold back her smile. "We can all get along! Have you got any objections to spending time with these gits? Gits, have you got anything against Vicky-Tori? No! So let's study!" Maybe they did have something against the Ravenclaw girl, but she hadn't given them time to answer. For all she knew, Victoria and Seren could be worst enemies. Probably not, though, because of them being in the same house and year.

"Oops. Well, too late now!" she smiled at Blake. "You'll just have to invite us to stay!" Although she had already invited herself, and dragged along Victoria. She ignored the girl's question about studying for a moment, instead focusing on what Seren was going on about.

What a friendly girl she was. "Oh really? Sounds interesting. Is there an equivalent to repel annoying, frizzy-haired brats?" Good one, Aoife. She really was learning more about girl world and improving her insults. Calling Seren a heartless dinosaur probably wouldn't have as much effect as mentioning her hair. Because the Ravenclaw was so shallow and self-absorbed, she cared a lot about those sort of things.

Now, time to put the past behind them and studyyyy! "So Potions sounds good, since we have the ex-" She'd almost forgotten! "GUYS. I got you all butterbeer!" After work the other day, she'd picked up a load of bottles, intending to share them with the Gryffindors, but this was a worthy occasion! Aoife handed Victoria one, then the rest of them. "One for Vicky-Tori, Seren, Hunter, Blake and me!" Now they could all enjoy the nice warm beverage!

Hunter sighed as Blake glared at him. Yes, it was all Hunter's fault that this had happened. But they couldn't do anything about it now, so the least his friend could do was have his back. He had no idea how to react now. He just sat there, a dumbfounded expression still on his face, and listened to the exchanges. Seren and Aoife insulted each other, Blake made it clear that Aoife wasn't wanted, and Aoife ignored them and stayed anyway.

The moment Aoife pulled out butterbeer and started passing it around, Hunter jumped at the chance for some normalcy in the situation. "Yes, butterbeer!" he exclaimed, snapping out of his stupor and trying to get the others excited about the drink that literally everyone loved. It was something they all had in common, so they could potentially get through this horrible situation with the help of the frothy, wonderful drink! "It sure is nice that I'm not the sole butterbeer provider anymore," he said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Hunter was surprised that Aoife even handed Seren a butterbeer. He'd quite honestly expected her to avoid giving her one. "Hey Victoria," Hunter said, almost apologetically to the Ravenclaw. He was fairly certain by Victoria's reaction that she had been dragged unknowingly into this by Aoife. And though Victoria didn't know it, that was actually Hunter's fault. So he felt a little responsible for her fate.

Since Aoife had passed around butterbeer, Hunter decided that it was a good time to reveal that his backpack was actually filled with sweets instead of books. He unzipped it and dumped its contents onto the table, giving Seren and Blake a slightly sheepish look - he really hadn't intended on doing much studying. "Help yourselves," he said, snatching a chocolate bar from the pile for himself.

Blake was glad that Seren was there because she spoke her mind and there was probably no way he would have said half of what she came out with in front of Hunter. At least Aoife was getting what she deserved. Blake sniggered when Seren replied that they were practicing a spell that kept basically Aoife out. "Pity it didn't work." He said sadly.

"Well seeing as I can't uninvite you I don't even see the point in inviting you." Blake stated flatly rolling his eyes. "And hi Victoria," Blake said, trying to lift his voice and be friendlier towards the girl, but it was hard seeing as she had come along with Aoife, and had inadvertently ruined his evening.

"How nice." Blake replied sarcastically once Aoife had produced Butterbeer for even himself and Seren. "Almost makes up for you appearing tonight." He said darkly. "Here you can have mine." Blake shoved his butterbeer in Hunter's hand seeing as he and he didn't trust anything given to him by Aoife.

"Sorry, I don't have anything. Seeing as I'm not a working man." Blake had figured he would apply for a job as soon as he was able, but his situation had changed over the summer and maybe he didn't need to get one anymore. Hope welled in him at the idea, but he squashed it as soon as it came. No point in tempting faith. "And thanks I will." Blake said, his spirits lifting a little as he proceeded to stuff his face full of chocolate. "Hey Aoife what happened to all that free ice cream you promised us?" Blake asked.

Seren was glad that Blake was there to back her insult up with another clever comment. HUNTER WAS USELESS THOUGH. Since his annoying ginger attachment had entered the room he hadn't said a word. He looked as though he was in shock at her appearance. But then again he also didn't stand up for her when Seren insulted her, which was an improvement. Seren rolled her eyes at Aoife's words. Invite her to stay? "Oh please," she said.

OH NO SHE DID NOT JUST INSULT SEREN'S HAIR! Seren took the bait easily. "My hair is NOT frizzy, you little...!" No, she couldn't use that word. It wasn't proper. "Oh, by the way, I was wondering if I could borrow that hideous red lipstick of yours. I was thinking of dressing like a clown for Halloween." In truth, Seren recognized that Aoife's makeup didn't look hideous at all. Surprisingly, it suited her. But that didn't mean that Seren couldn't ACT as though it was hideous!

What was this? Seren leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed and pursed her lips when a bottle of butterbeer was set down on the table in front of her. Was it a joke? Had Aoife put something in the drink thinking that Seren was stupid enough to fall for it? Blake thought so, because he handed his to Hunter immediately. Seren didn't blame him, but she decided to go about it a different way. Reaching over, she snatched the butterbeer sitting in front of Hunter and took a small sip. That one was safe by default. Aoife would never poison his drink. And that way, if she HAD poisoned Seren's OR Blake's, she would HAVE to come clean so that Hunter wouldn't drink it. SEREN WAS A GENIUS! She had the little brat now!

"And here I actually thought you had BOOKS in there," Seren said thoughtfully when Hunter dumped a bunch of candy out of his bag. Seren hadn't realized how opposed to studying Hunter was. But Seren also liked bertie botts (well, a few particular bertie botts), so she grabbed a small box of them and poured the contents out onto the table in front of her, inspecting them carefully before picking up a blue one and popping it into her mouth. Blue was always safe. Green was NOT safe, but green could also be WATERMELLON, so Seren held one thoughtfully between her fingers for a moment before deciding that the risk wasn't worth it. She set it back down as Blake mentioned free ice cream. "I love their tea ice cream," Seren said to Blake, purposefully not looking at Aoife so that the girl wouldn't think she was being nice to her. Seren was just ignoring her. "Did you know that the ice cream is actually WARM if you get tea or coffee? But it doesn't melt. It's JUST warm!"

Victoria grabbed onto her butterbeer and took a large, grateful sip. She threw Aoife a smile and a nod for a job well done. How do you stop a room filled with people that hate each other from fighting? Stuff them all with butterbeer it seems. Genius! All that was missing was food, which Hunter seemed to have covered with his bag filled with treats. Strange how sweets are the one thing he chooses to bring to a study group. As if books aren't even an option. But obviously, even every ounce of chocolate in this world couldn't stop Aoife and Seren continuing the conversation in their cat fight mode. 

"Their is nothing wrong with your lipstick", Victoria noted as she shook her head on that silly remark. "It suits you". Although she had tried to stay neutral in this fight and not choose any sides, this sentence alone had probably already made her Seren's enemy. Which was definitely not good considering they are roommates. And she could kill her poor cat anytime she wanted. Victoria was aware that her roommate wasn't very keen on the thing from the very beginning, but now she was giving her a reason to get rid of it for good! A revenge of some sort. No... certainly she wouldn't be so cruel. Right?

The Ravenclaw tried to muster up the bravery to stand by Aoife's side no matter what. Conflicts weren't her thing and there was a reason she wasn't in Gryffindor, despite her sometimes reckless nature. She nervously took a handful of sweets and stuffed them in her mouth, preventing her to speak any further. As she swallowed the sweets one by one, the thought just wouldn't leave her mind and she blurted it out without thinking. "Just don't kill my cat!", she said while swallowing the last sweet in her mouth. "Not that I think you would do that.... I am just saying", she quickly added as she gave Seren the most awkward of smiles. Perhaps she should just a read her book and stay silent for a while.

It was frizzy. That was frizzy hair. “Whateveeeeer you say,” Aoife smirked. Then she was going on about using her lipstick to look like a clown. Evil girl. Stupid insult. “Dressing up?” she asked, feigning a look of surprise and confusion. “But you already look like a clown, silly!” Awesome girl. Stupid comeback. Oh well. It was true.

Victoria was going on about killing cats. Who would kill a cat? Cats were sweet. So were dogs. All animals! Mainly sheep. But to kill them. How mean. She looked curiously at her friend, but then got it. She was scared of Seren murdering her poor creature. “Come on Vicky, Seren’s mean, but I don’t think she’s THAT bad.” Maybe.

“You’re the oldest,” she shrugged, grinning. “I wonder how much we’d owe you if you counted up the cost of all that butterbeer.” Aoife would probably be very poor afterwards, if it came to that, put it that was. She smiled at Hunter and Victoria, who weren’t being arrogant gits. She hadn’t poisoned the butterbeer, how would she be able to distribute bottles so casually if each one was for a certain person? “I’ll have that one back,” she added, reaching for the bottle Blakey had given to Hunter.

Then Hunter had revealed lots of sweets and chocolate. Hehe, the expressions on Seren and Victoria’s faces were amusing. Like her best friend would actually carry books in a bag that could hold so much more useful things. She picked out a chocolate bar and unwrapped it slowly. “I promised Hunter and Vicky-Tori free ice-cream. They can have some whenever they want! As for you two, you can always hope for Christmas.” Perhaps she could get them some giftcards for free or something.

Hunter watched the exchange between Seren and Aoife as the two continued to insult each other. Maybe Hunter should say something to one of them. Or both of them. But as long as Aoife was retaliating to Seren's words with insults of her own, he figured that it was okay to stay out of it. If one of them started getting the upperhand, then he would have to step in by principle. But Aoife didn't seem the least bit upset by Seren's jabs, so it was fine. Plus, Victoria was standing up for Aoife. Which was great, because she would take the heat for it and Hunter wouldn't have to.

The next comment was also made by Victoria, and Hunter couldn't help but burst into laughter when he heard it. "You - think she's going to - to kill your cat?" Hunter asked incredulously between breaths. Honestly, he knew that Seren could be mean, but to actually kill somebody's cat because they'd disagreed with you? Even Aoife didn't think Seren would do something like that. "Of course she wouldn't do that," Hunter agreed, trying to calm his laughter in case he'd actually offended Victoria. "Sorry," he said once he'd managed, though it was still difficult to keep a straight face.

Hunter just shrugged when Blake shoved his butterbeer into Hunter's hand, and ignored it when Seren switched hers with the one Aoife had given to him. "You two need to lighten up," he said, shaking his head. But it was fine, because now he had two butterbeers instead of one. That was until Aoife decided that he wasn't worthy of two butterbeers. "Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly, reaching after her as she pulled the bottle away but failing to reclaim it. "I would have drank that!" He snorted when Aoife wondered how much they would owe him. "A lot. Enough that the least you can do is let me have the extra butterbeer. You gits are lucky I like you."

Free ice cream was always good! "Could you get me free firewhisky ice cream?!" Hunter asked with interest. He'd tried beer the previous year with Aoife, and it wasn't that good. But firewhisky sounded alright, and just the fact that he wasn't allowed to have it was a great reason for him to try to get a hold of it. "Have you tried it already? Is it any good?" This was far better than studying!