She hadn't wanted to be followed. Evie had never been the illogical but all too common sort of teenager who removed herself from a situation just because she was looking for attention. If she'd been like that then she would have had ample opportunities to show it. Every single moral objection in a potions class or at the dinner table could have turned into an all out protest, with pamphlets and banners and a whole lot of noise. Most of the time, however, when Evelyn didn't like something, she objected in her own silent and respectful way. It was always someone else who brought attention to her, like a professor or another student, which made it seem like she went out of her way to make a scene. She did not. When she left, it wasn't because she wanted somebody to trail after her and convince her to stay. She left because she wanted to get away, and being grabbed and shouted after just annoyed her. She turned to the girl silently, her face still and her eyes questioning. “I was leaving,” she informed her housemate simply – and in her mind she added a slightly bitter 'and I don't have anything of yours.'

'I wanted to talk to you—to...apologize.'

That was... unexpected, she had to admit. She hadn't really lost much sleep over what Thea Darby  thought of her. If she lost sleep over the actions of every person who thought she was a bit strange then she would have died of sleep deprivation long ago. She'd mused over her for a while – wondering if she was just trying to upset her or if she'd really been of the belief that Evie was the dorm thief – but it had been some time since she'd thought about the accusation. “Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked, turning so she wouldn't have to watch the game as it continued.

Corey had retreated to a place in the circle with a pleased smile on his face. The uptight Slytherin girl had taken his kiss well, leading him to believe that he might have been able to get away with a kiss that was a bit more risque. But he really had not want to push it so early on in the game and he knew the second spin around could always skirt that line.

For now though, he was content to watch from his place in the circle, his arms crossed casually in front of his chest. The view proved to not disappoint. Girl-on-Girl kissing was not necessarily his thrill, but the fact that there were two kisses in a row that had some passion behind them. Each time the ladies parted, Corey chuckled, gave a low whistle or an appreciative clap.

But the spirit of the game seemed to take a dark turn when it was the quiet boy's turn to kiss one of the girls. He was a little worried that that shift might sour the rest the game. When the kiss ended, there was some tension that seemed to be dissipated once she went off with the Slytherin boy she was quite friendly with. And the game continued on.

Unfortunately, the game caused a casualty. Corey saw Evelyn make for a hasty exit. It was unfortunate and if he knew her better, he might have gone after her and tries to help, but he considered it might only make matters worse.

But his lips were needed elsewhere, it seemed. The last spin of the bottle had landed in his direction. Corey looked over at the petite dark haired girl who would be the target of his next lip lock.

Corey knew nothing of her reputation of having an unfavorable opinion from her peers. He wasn't one to judge someone by what others thought anyway. And he also wasn't the sort to play this sort of game with that much of a discriminating mind. The girl was lovely looking. He was attracted to her. All systems were a go.

Corey pushed himself forward so that he could crawl across the floor towards her like a stealthy panther. He stopped in front of her and rocked back on his haunches and paused long enough to give the girl time to be ready for what was to come. He hoped she would be more relaxed about this sort of activity than the last girl.

Even with the language barrier and differing norms for personal space, Corey knew that his body language and expressions could do a lot to help ease any apprehension. He quirked a quick smile before he leaned in close, resting his forehead against hers. His blue eyes swept over her face one last time to see if she was okay with him being this close. Then, to make it a bit more intimate, Corey reached up to cup either side of her face, grazing his thumbs lightly over her jaw.

As his lips brushed hers, one hand slowly moved from her face around to her back, pressing her slight body more firmly against his, helped tremendously when he thrust himself upwards off his haunches. He attempted to coax her mouth open by running his tongue along her bottom lip and nipping at it gently. Then he could deepen the kiss, almost seeming to swallow this Mai Clark's insides with a pleasure and passion that could easily be overwhelming.

And at this point, Corey was beyond caring if he was causing her distress. The girls were here to participate, right?

Indulging a little longer, the Beauxbatons boy finally pulled back. Instead of returning to sit in his place, he turned and sat next to her, casting her a sidelong look with a lazy smirk.

Then he grinned to the others still playing and reached out to spin the bottle. "Okay, here we go..."

Evie's look of complete surprise at the sound of Thea's awkward apology was oddly gratifying. It was very rare that Thea Darby surprised anyone with her behavior--she tended to be a creature of predictably stiff habit. Then again, the  fact that shock was elicited by this particular action could definitely be seen as less than flattering. Under different circumstances, and with a different personality and life, it might lead to some soul searching and behavior modification.

However, in this reality, Thea merely shook her head slightly to push away the shame--and then again to push away the sensation that all this head shaking was probably making her look crazy--and addressed the situation at hand. "Anyway," she said coolly, "I apologize." There was a brief silence between the two before she found herself adding, "I was just feeling very--" Thea cut off abruptly, realizing she wanted to tell Evie her life story about as much as she estimated the other girl wanted to hear it. Surely Evie was impatient with this fairly pathetic attempt at penance. After all, she'd been trying to leave.

Which was why Thea was surprised when Evie spoke softly, her expression unfathomable as always in a way that made Thea, as someone who always wanted to know where she stood, uncomfortable. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Thea nodded. After yelling at Evie in the common room, she'd stormed upstairs and torn apart the dormitory, only to find the faded photograph tucked between her bedframe and the wall, where it must have slipped after she'd--well she certainly hadn't fallen asleep holding it, that was for certain. No, no idea how it'd gotten there. "And it was not, of course, anywhere near your belongings." Over Evie's shoulder, Thea saw the French boy--if she'd ever heard his name, she had not bothered to remember it--and Mai break apart, and the boy sent the bottle careening once again in its clinking circle, until it came to a stop...pointing directly at her.

Well, technically it was pointing at Evie. Thea opened her mouth to point this out, but the other girl hadn't noticed and was already continuing on her way out of the room[1]. Swinging her gaze back to the French boy with the bottle, Thea blinked a few times. She had said she would play this game, and now it was time to do so. With awkward, faltering steps, Thea made her way to the circle and knelt down on the cold floor.

Her heart was hammering. She had never kissed anyone besides Mason. This would be disastrous. She felt exactly as out of place as she was, surrounded by people she'd hardly ever spoken to. But if she didn't do this now, she would feel even stupider. They mustn't see her fear, and so she fixed her gaze with the boy's--nice eyes--and leaned in, pressing her lips against his in a way that she hoped wouldn't reveal her to be the complete novice she was.

1.	Permission from Sunny for Evie to leave: granted!

Her spin slowed and finally came to rest on the Beauxbatons boy; her eyes rose to meet his, a single eyebrow raising slightly as he crawled towards her predatorily, a tiny flicker of a smirk on her lips. He stopped before her and leaned back onto his haunches, pausing for just a moment; she appreciated it, honestly. While she had complete control when kissing Avalon, that would certainly not be the case here; her stomach was in knots with nerves but she looked completely relaxed otherwise. Mai wouldn't show nervousness to anyone, especially a stranger.

He flashed a quick smile before leaning in close, his forehead touching hers thus bringing their faces so very close; she exhaled softly through her nose to dispel the last of her nervousness, confident that she could give up control and let this boy kiss her. The fact that he was gorgeous helped immensely, too, but he likely already knew that too well.

His eyes searched her face for an answer and she offered a tiny grin in response–assurance that she was quite fine with this–as he cupped the sides of her face, his thumps ghosting over her jaw before his lips brushed against hers.

Her eyes closed as she kissed him back while he pulled her body flush against his, his tongue brushing across her bottom lip for permission; she answered by parting her lips and reaching up to run a hand through the back of his hair. Kissing him wasn't unpleasant in the slightest, so why not enjoy it while it lasted?

She did her best not to not be overwhelmed when he deepened the kiss but ultimately failed; a soft moan of pleasure passed her lips as she kissed him back with equal passion, enjoying every moment while she could; she doubted she'd ever be kissed like this again, after all.

So she was just very slightly disappointed when he pulled back, the Ravenclaw looking only slightly frazzled, and sat back down beside her instead of returning to his seat across the circle. His smirk was returned with one of her own, a slight roll of her eyes the response she issued. Yes, he was a great kisser–no need to get cocky though, French boy.

Her eyes turned then to glance around to see who was left in the game. Evelyn had left and Mai didn't see Carstairs of Whitman either. Well, that was just a hair disappointing; if the Slytherin was gone then so was her pipe dream of seeing him snog another guy. And thus, Clark had no reason to stay.

Standing up and pulling her bag back on her shoulder, she glanced at Gaubert and Roth, issuing the latter a tiny wave goodbye as he wasn't preoccupied before stepping out of the circle and leaving, following in Evelyn's footsteps.

The game seemed to lose momentum rather abruptly after he was kissed by another of the Hogwart's girls. There wasn't much time to reflect on it before the girl jumped up and headed off to leave, along with the girl he had kissed before her.

Corey chuckled lightly, wondering if it was something to do with him, but ultimately he knew that wasn't so, given how many others were leaving besides just those who had locked lips with him.

Shaking his head, he sighed before he pushed himself up and started to clean up his things. Besides the love themed mural that would be left behind until someone endeavored to cast a spell to clean it up, he didn't want to leave evidence as to what else had transpired in the corridor. So Corey walked around collecting the butterbeer bottles and candy wrappers. And finally, he retrieved his box of colored charcoals, which had been abandoned at the wall tended by many artists. Stowing them in his sack, he mentally reminded himself to find Evelyn the next day at breakfast so that he could give them to her to keep.

Standing straight and tossing the bag over his shoulder, Corey scanned the corridor one more time before he started to leave himself. With a shrug, he murmured, "It was fun while it lasted."

---

OOC: Seems like the game/the thread has come to a natural conclusion seeing as a lot of people have left. So much for needing professor or prefect regulation!