Slytherin Common Room, a few minutes past midnight

Fridays were chock full of classes (at least for the first years), so Ellie knew that being up at this time was a bad idea. It wasn't often that she stayed up until everyone else had gone to bed, but for some reason she had ended up doing exactly that. Her nocturnal tendencies - seen in the explorations of the forest behind her home whenever the sky was dark and her grandparents were asleep - had come to an abrupt end once she started at Hogwarts. But just the short time spent at home during Winter Break had reverted  to her old ways, and it was taking longer to kick the habit this time around.

Ellie was sat on the low-backed leather sofa in front of the fireplace, which housed a much smaller fire than it had a few hours ago. The faint glow cast by the fire was competing with the green glow that was given off by the lamps overhead. The lights had naturally dimmed as the clock in the corner ticked, but they were still giving off plenty of light for Ellie to see by. Her eyes were on the skulls of some unidentified creatures, three of which were all on the mantle of the fireplace.

To her credit, the eleven-year-old had at least changed into her pyjamas by now. Her black-and-white plaid pyjama bottoms showed from the knee down under a long knitted gray robe that hung around her small frame, closed with a matching knitted sash around her waist. The worn and homey clothes were enough to keep Ellie warm enough, even if she weren't next to a fireplace.

Just as she had given up on trying to identify the skulls, Ellie spotted a shadow in her peripheral vision. She glanced around, and finding nothing better to do, went to investigate. She stood and padded barefoot across the common room floor, glancing behind a bookshelf she saw the shadow move towards. She heard a soft sound, like a cat mewing, and grinned slightly. She got to her hands and knees and looked underneath the table the sound had come from, finally able to see the ball of fur-

The sound of the common room door was the last thing Ellie expected to hear, and she only barely managed to keep from making a surprised noise as she quickly straightened back to her full four-foot-something height. She turned towards the door, her heart racing unexpectedly, and looking like a child caught doing something naughty. Not that prowling around looking for a cat was necessarily naughty... Even if it was around midnight on a school night.

Gigi was pretty glad that she didn't have late-late patrols. This responsibility thing was starting to kick in, even if Raine was solid company. Sleep sounded good, though she ducked her head when she walked into the Common Room in case Sylvanas was feeling feisty. Eagle to the face was a bit rough, though she'd have to teach the bird how to do it on demand.

On the weekend. Wasn't the weekend yet.

No sign of the Sylvanas, though. Just of one of the-first years, Gigi hadn't seen the small, pale girl about before that fall. "Lose something?" She tipped her head with a bit of her usual cocky attitude, hand on her hip. "Hasn't eaten something yet, has it?"

Even the tired couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but she sounded a bit more serious with the next question. "Anything you needed?" She bent down a little, to look under the table her housemate had just been looking at.