A midnight feast

It was late Sunday evening and Hallie had finally returned from The Hogs Head. Initially she had planned to sneak out for one drink then find a way back in before anyone would notice she had disappeared, then again it was hard for the girls in her dormitory to keep track off her she kept vanishing that often. 
The Gryffindor would have been back a lot sooner but had gotten talking to a man by the name of 'Brant'. 

Two, three, four drinks on Hallie noticed that it was half past eleven and knew her chances of getting back into the castle were slim. Somehow, however, she had managed to enter Honeydukes, travel along the secret passage and emerge on the third floor by the statue of the one eyed witch. 

The Gryffindor heard the chime of the bell far in the clock tower above. Midnight. Hallie had only one option: bed! The next day her class schedule was the worst and she planned to wake early in order to finish her charms homework before breakfast... Breakfast. Could Hallie wait until morning before eating? The Gryffindor's stomach let out a grumpy groan answering the debate in her head. 

Lumos! Hallie thought, igniting the tip of her wand casting a shimmer of faint light around her. Portraits of tired wizards squinted their eyes moaning at the girls troublesome travels. 

Alas, she'd arrived at the still life portrait of a bowl of fruit along the basement corridor - and without bumping into any Professors on the way. Hallie extended her hand up to the pear, tickling it as she had done so many times the past seven year. The portrait swung open revealing a hole in the wall large enough to clamber through. Without hesitating Hallie stepped into the vast kitchen below The Great Hall.  

"I dunno man," Brian said shoving another piece of pumpkin pie into his mouth. He was not usually one to indulge himself with fatty foods, but tonight was different, it was his last night of his month long detention. What better way to celebrate than to stay out after curfew and stuff his face with the house elves. "The thing about it is, Slytherin is good, but Gryffindor has the better defense. Not to mention they got me at seeker."

The house elves went about their business, seemingly ignoring Brian as he spoke, but Brian did not care. He often came down and just rambled about everything to the elves. For once he did not have to worry about gossip because whatever he said, he knew they would never repeat, plus there was nothing better than getting advice from a house elf.

"What do you think, Toto?" The little female house elf stopped in her tracks as she passed by with a plate of food she was preparing to cook. She looked at him with confused eyes, she clearly had not been paying attention, but Aaron waved his hands and laughed. "I know you believe in me!"

The door to the kitchen came swinging open and Brian cocked his head and pushed his chair back so he could see who was entering. A big grin played across his face when he noticed a fellow Gryffindor. He let the legs of his chair down and he went back to his pumpkin pie. "Shouldn't you be studying for those N.E.W.T.S miss Cooper? Little late for you to be out and about." He did not even mention the fact that he was out after curfew himself, he was above the rules anyways.

Hallie didn't even have time to hide her astonishment upon seeing another student, let alone a Gryffindor. Then again she was more likely to come across a Gryffindor on a night time adventure as opposed to a Ravenclaw. Hallie walked over to the table to where Brian was sat, smiling at the house elves that had scuttled over to bring Hallie her usual: two custard creams and a punnet of strawberries.

'Well, I thought a bit more brain food wouldn't do anyone any harm.' She replied, grinning as she swung her legs under the table. 'Besides, how come Mr Seeker is out so late?' She added rather flirtatiously before raising a custard cream to her mouth and taking a bite.

Hallie wasn't one to flirt but she couldn't resist when it came to the seeker. Most Gryffindor girls felt the same way about Brian, even if he did lose the house the majority of their points. Something that didn't bother Hallie as she'd lost her fair share of points in past seven years. Besides, it wasn't as though she pined over Brian she was just being playful, having fun.

"I know all about that brain food." Brian said with a smirk, raising up a full slice of pumpkin pie, and eating another bite of it. He was one of the lucky ones when it came to his metabolism. He could eat pretty much anything he wanted and keep his athletic frame. It also helped that he was extremely active and there were very few times when he was not running around or doing something to burn calories.

"The way I see it, there is no time late enough for Mr. Seeker, I reserve the right to stay out as late as a please." He noticed she was being a bit flirtatious with him, something he was used to, since he had gotten his name out there he found himself talking with way more girls than he used to. He remembered there was a time when he had actually been too shy to talk to girls, now it seemed like second nature.

"As long as it doesn't effect my grades, and I don't get caught, whats the big deal?" It was ironic, really, he made pretty terrible grades in every class besides Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and that was only when they were having to show off their skills with a wand. Anytime that essays were due, he always found himself begging someone else to help him, and by help he meant write it for him.

"Plus, so long I keep up the good play out on the field, most of the professors kind of let is slides. Besides that oaf Thaorson, doesn't like me much, that guy."

Hallie covered her mouth time hide her laugh as she was midway through eating her custard cream. Taking a big slowly she let out a giggle. 'I don't understand why we get in trouble for being out after hours!' She explained, 'it's not doing anyone any harm really is it?'
Hallie had never understood, what was to her, the silly rule. Nobody was dying over her snatching a strawberry gone midnight.

Hallie plucked one of the strawberries from the plate by the leaves, took a bite allowing the juices to tickle her tongue before swallowing the red fruit. Strawberries were her favourite fruit. They made her feel refreshed and ready to go, which at this time wasn't really necessary.

'Oh.How come?' She asked taking another strawberry from the plate. Hallie never really spoke to Thaorson much, to her he was just a Professor - nothing interesting there.

Brian smirked and thought about all the trouble he had given the Care of Magical Creatures professor. From what Brian had heard, he was a former Death Eater, or current Death Eater, he wasn't sure the logistics of it all but he knew he hated that guy. Plus he never really enjoyed when Brian released a group of Bowtruckles from their cages and they did extensive damage to the Herbology classroom. Brian found it hilarious, but not the detention afterwards, which seemed to be part of his regular curriculum now.

"He has a stick up his bum and absolutely no sense of humor. Plus I am pretty sure he would kill me given the chance." Brian took the final bite of his pie and he threw his plate down casually and then leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. "Hey Toto, can I get a glass of water over here!" Instantly a glass of water appeared in front of him and he took a long swig from it.

"Plus, i'm no fan of the Magical Creatures bull crap, I am good at riding brooms and catching snitches. Not feeding ridiculous animals lettuce or worrying about my soul being sucked out if I look the wrong creature in the eye." He chuckled and then shook his head. "Some weird creatures out there, for real."

Hallie, having given up care of magical creatures at the end of her OWL year listened to what Brian had to say whilst she continued to eat her strawberries. When Brian mentioned that he was sure the Professor would kill him she thought this a little extreme and simply assumed he was being a bit dramatic like most Gryffindors are.

Hallie couldn't resist the temptation to laugh this time at the last thing he said. She too had found the subject rather worthless at times when she presented a bowl of milk to a knarl hidding in a group of hedgehogs to watch it behave in crazy fashion. Why they needed to learn about crups and bowtruckles the seventeen year old had no idea. When she first started the subject in the third year she'd expected to tame dragons - admittedly Hallie had enjoyed the lesson on unicorns, after all they were magnificent creatures.

'So do you want to be a quidditch player then?' Hallie guessed before putting the remains of her final strawberry onto the plate. The Gryffindor didn't take her eyes from the fifteen year old. To Hallie he seemed rather full of himself and a bit of an idiot yet she simply cast that aside. Perhaps it was the quidditch player thing that made him seem so cool.

He thought about her question for a moment, did he want to be a quidditch player? All young wizards, at one point, dreamed of being some big shot quidditch player. He often fantasized about playing for the Falmouth Falcons, they were his favorite team, but he wondered if he would ever get there. Their seeker was quite skilled and to replace him Brian would have to be outrageously good. Of course he thought he was, but he knew it was a longshot, but a long shot was better than nothing at all.

"Well of course I do, but is it realistic? Maybe not, won't stop me from trying though. I have actually always wanted to be an auror and head the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you know, typical brave and bold Gryffindor stuff. I just want to get involved in all the action, my life has to have excitement in it, or I would explode." He nodded his head, satisfied with his answer, and he put his hands behind his head growing more and more comfortable with the conversation.

"What about you, what do you want to do?"

Hallie grinned as he mentioned his dream. Hallie too wanted to become an auror, or employee in the department of magical law and had done since she was younger. Before attending Hogwarts her Father had died protecting the Muggle village that they lived in from Death Eaters. How she wanted to avenge her death and follow in his footsteps against the fight against evil. To Hallie being an auror only made sense - not that her Father was an auror, but like her he had once vowed to stand up against the darkness.

Then there was Toby, her brother, who when Hallie was thirteen was bitten by a werewolf. The morning after Hallie had ventured in the woods to find her ten year old werewolf of a brother. Being young and foolish at the time she assumed he would be a danger, become evil, perhaps kill their Mother and her in their sleep. Because of this fear she told him to leave, that he was no longer her brother and that he should never come back. To this day he had stayed by Hallie's orders. One day, however, Hallie hoped to track down the werewolf that intoxicated her brother and have him face the dementors kiss.

'I too want to be an auror.' Hallie grinned, her eyes illuminating and her foot twirling girlishly on the stone floor. 'If not work for the magical law enforcement department in some way.' She added. For someone so driven to become an auror you'd think she'd be fast asleep ready to have a fresh head on for tomorrows lessons. Not Hallie, the Gryffindor had wanted a day off from study - it was beginning to take it's toll. Not that she found her NEWT's overly challenging, she was aceing her practical, the theory on the other hand...

"Well look at that, we got something in common, that and stunning good looks." He smirked and glanced in her direction after he mentioned her looks. He wasn't exactly subtle about it, but when was he ever subtle about anything, he liked being out in the open like he was. He had noticed her before, her and just about every other good looking girl, he was a fifteen year old boy after all.

He had a list of girls, all in his head, that he had deemed attractive to him. She was always older than he was so she was pretty far up there. He remembered once, when he had been a second year, he had tried to go up and say something to her but he wussed out and came back to the shame of all of his friends laughing. Now he was the one who just approached any girl he wanted and would strike up conversations.

"Maybe you have a slight edge in the looks department...."