As much as she followed the rules and tried to be a model student, there was a part of her that appreciated chaos and fun. Hunie always needed some convincing. The convincing wasn’t exactly hard to do, especially when she was beginning to feel bored. Juni began to question her judgment in doing whatever it was that Bastian wanted when she realized that she had never encountered any sort of secret magical room on the seventh floor. Ravenclaw Tower was nearby, and Juni would know If there was a magical room strictly for mattress jousting.

Apparently, he had invited his friends, but Juni didn’t see anyone else in the hall. Part of her was feeling like he was messing with her.

But after she walked down the hall, looking for the this mysterious room—she saw a door that she’d never seen before.
Juni pushed the door open, only to see a room full of slides and mattresses of different sizes and shapes. The floor was slippery. She didn’t see Bastian yet…

She heard a rustling noise from her left and turned to see him on top of the nearest slide, the end of it at the base of her feet. He was laying down on a mattress with an evil grin.[1] “Bast—what are you—"

Her eyes widened, “Oh no—Don’t you! DON’T you dare!” She waved her finger at him accusingly.

Sebastian slid down the slide faster than she had expected—the force of the mattress causing her to fly backwards and land on a separate one… That slid directly into the wall.  “Are you mad?! I could have gotten hurt!” She exclaimed, though her anger was difficult to take seriously with a giant grin on her face.

1.	With Hazel's permission

If Juni had a flaw – well, Juni did have a flaw, and it was that she was far too well behaved! The girl needed to cut loose! Live on the wild side! Experience the hedonistic joys of mattress surfing! Especially since Hogwarts had a magic room that could transform into mattress surfing land.

The times they lived in were truly amazing.

So the mattress surfing room it was, first discovered – so far as Bastian knew – by yours truly and the adorable Lua Taylor, reigning champion of mattress surfing and yoga practitioner extraordinaire. He’d arrived to find it even bigger than last time, perhaps in anticipation of the number of people to whom he had ever so casually suggested that they might want to visit the room. Okay, he’d told people repeatedly that he was having a mattress jousting tournament in the room of requirement and if they didn’t come it was because they were so exceptionally un-hip that they were in dire need of surgery. Whatever, the point was that he had asked people to come, because a tournament was no good with two!

Although it was held in honour of Juni, he expected her to participate in the festivities, and was just about to go for a test run when she arrived. "Hey!" he called out, stepping onto the mattress and edging forward so that it teetered, on the point of falling, "I'm about to try out this awesome slide!" At her objection invitation he leant forward, and the mattress tipped over the edge. He cheered as he gained speed, making sure to stay upright, “JUNIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” He was laughing wildly when they collided, teetering on the mattress before flopping down, which didn’t bode well at all for his plans of taking the crown. “No, Juni, I would never,” he promised sincerely, “See, there is mattress everywhere, and mattress is fluffy.”

He beamed hopefully, almost contritely – but not quite, because she was clearly enjoying herself. His plans to seduce her into a life of depravity were working out brilliantly. “As an apology, you may take a pot shot at my wonderful self,” he said, an arm gesturing behind him to the top of the slope. There was another mattress there, but after that one had been used they would have to start lugging them back up, ugh. “Just try not to hit my face, 'kay, it's too pretty to be destroyed by a mattress.” Of course, unless she did – well, he wasn’t sure exactly what she would have to do to hit him in the face, but it would be really difficult to do. The mattresses were on the floor, and his face wasn’t. In readiness, he stepped off his mattress, moving it so that when she hit him, he would fall onto it.

She looked around the room. Yes, there were mattresses everywhere. Yes, they were fluffy. Hopefully none of them had springs sticking out. For a moment she worried about all the possible injuries one could get from sliding around on mattresses and lugging them up slides. She stood up and looked at the slide anxiously. Juni wasn’t anxious for long, though. The idea of revenge-hitting Bastian was too good to pass up. And oh, she would do her best to make sure he got knocked down! She doubted she could hit him in the face, though that would have been equally fun.

Standing up seemed fun—but Juni was not at all confident enough in her balance to keep from falling off while mattress surfing. She wasn’t exactly athletic after all.

Juni climbed up the stairs of the slide and looked down hesitantly. It was much scarier from this position, even if she wasn’t up high enough to break anything if she fell.

Besides, there were mattresses everywhere to catch her if she did fall.

“I think your face can handle a good whack or two!” Juni exclaimed, “I just can’t figure out how to reach it when I—“ She motioned towards nothing in particular, “You know!” She sat precariously on the slide and slowly shifted into a positions o that she was laying down, feet just barely hanging off the edge. She grasped the edges with her hands and grinned devilishly.

"It's war, Bast! WAR."

Juni kicked off with as much force as she could, and the mattress sped down the slide.

“AH! NO NO NO NO!” She scream-laughed. It was bloody terrifying, but oh so exhilarating. And she  was headed right towards Bastion in the hopes of knocking him over twice as hard as he had done to her.

“Juni, so cruel,” Bastian wailed at the threat to his poor, beautiful face, which absolutely couldn’t handle a good whack or two on top of all of the nose wrenching it endured. It was like there was something about his face that made people want to hit it, probably because they were jealous. Bastian would be jealous too, if someone else had his face.

“Sure I know, I absolutely know,” he agreed, watching her manoeuvre herself into a disgustingly timid position. But from there, she would be able to progress to more perilous stances! The ever popular “I am an idiot on a surfboard” and the slightly less, “I am an idiot on a skateboard.”

He laughed as she rushed towards him, although it wasn’t as fun watching it when you were just waiting to be hit. It was still fun, Bastian knew he was only going to fall onto a mattress, but it was sort of like watching a train rushing towards you, or playing a game of chicken where only you could jump aside. In fact, that was exactly what this was, except Bastian wasn’t chicken enough to jump! Ever! He would remain strong, like an earth bender.

Only not really, because an earth bender would never fly through the air and plough into a mattress like that.

Although Juni hadn’t hit his face, it had whacked into the mattress, and when he lifted it it felt all tingly. He turned over, propping himself up on his elbows but showing no inclination to move. “Awesome! A six point five. Solid technique, excellent impact, losing marks for the unadventurous pose. But we can fix that, c’mon, it’s easier – really easy.” He pointed imperiously to the top of the slide, seemingly with no intention of moving.

By the time anyone else got here – and they were already late, because they were so uncool they were doing homework or something – she would be a pro. And his secret weapon against Lua, because he was going to win this.

outfit

Lua arrived to find a friendly stock of slumbering mattresses by the door, and the base of a slide promising a hidden but familiar world of whirlwind fun that might have made the headmistress blush, or certainly roll her eyes. The Gryffindor’s hair was already a pleasant mess, giving off the telltale signs of a mad dash up several flights of stairs. She had not even bothered to make a detour to her common room to drop off her backpack or to change her clothes after a (not particularly productive) study session downstairs. She stood on one foot and then other to pull off her shoes in quick succession, then hopped a bit to tear off fuzzy socks. She threw her footwear atop her bag, in what was quickly becoming a cute, messy, mismatched heap of Lua things. She didn’t think anyone would bother them: they were just schoolbooks and papers with doodled margins, slightly worn shoes, and a backpack pockmarked with buttons, ribbon, and luck charms.

Walking, then speed-walking, and finally doing a leapy run toward the loud voices echoing around the huge room, Lua soon spotted two familiar faces. Her smile made her eyes crinkle and her nose scrunch, an arrangement of obvious delight. A final leap, like an arrow from a bow, and Lua slid across the floor, using her tights for traction. Her toes and the tops of her feet bumped the bottom edge of a mattress, and she fell happily to her knees into the soft, springy bit of furniture that was actually a giant sled.

She had heard the tale end of their conversation as she’d sprinted toward the pair, and as she shuffled on her knees toward the other side of the mattress, she offered greetings. “How’s the surf?” She climbed back up to her feet when she reached the other end, and bounced a bit in place looking around. “It looks like you’re not bruised or missing any socks,” she encouraged. No bruises that she could see, anyway. She shook a bit, with a silent giggle.

"Let's try that one.” She dragged her finger through the air with all the rhythmic flair and animation of of a pop singer motioning to a crowd, until it landed on a slide that ended at a skinny bridge over huge pit of foam blocks that would undoubtedly trap mattresses and teenage surfers alike. There was something new in the room every time. She raised her brows in the friendliest competitive expression a person could give.

Using mattresses as stepping stones-- or bouncing stones-- Lua headed in the direction of the slide. Soon she had climbed to the top of the slide, pulled a mattress from the fresh supply stacked there, and positioned one so that it teetered under foot, ready for the ride. She looked over her shoulder briefly at her friends before tipping forward in a Warrior II Pose.

It was only a matter of seconds before she was crouching further, much less strategically, simply trying to keep her balance as her legs shook; she screeched ecstatically, wild strands of hair whipping behind her. The mattress barreled around turns like a carnival ride, and Lua's hand shot down to clutch at its edge. The girl's other  hand flew into the air, curving overhead like a ballerina's as she tried to stay attached to her springy surfboard.  A few more seconds, and Lua Taylor spilled from the slide's mouth and onto the bridge, making it three quarters of the way before the mattress began to turn. As the it flopped into the foam, she leaped away from it, landing meters away. For a few moment it was only knees, bits of hair, and fingers clutching pillowy blocks before Lua resurfaced with a giant, toothy smile. "Beat that!"

She gave Bastian the darkest of glares. Except on Juni, it looked a bit more like an angry chinchilla than anything that was actually intimidating. “A six point five? I would say it was at least a seven!” In all honesty, Bastian’s judgement was generous—her performance had probably been a six at best. She tugged a mattress to the top of a slide, determined to prove him wrong—but then Lua came in!

“Luuua!” Juni exclaimed as her classmate entered the glorious hall of mattresses. She had always been particularly fond of Lua—though they were never close. Lua struck Juni as the sort who wasn’t afraid to be herself, yet wasn’t a total jerk to people. She spoke her mind in the least judgmental of ways, and was….. Well, not quite tactful, but thoughtful. She was artsy and clever—plus, she was absolutely adorable, so there was that.
And of course, the Gryffindor’s moves were impressive.

Now Juni not only had to prove Bastian wrong, she had to one-up Lua. She had competition. She pouted ever so slightly but clapped and cheered for the other girl with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She stared down at her own mattress with grim determination. The Ravenclaw wasn’t particularly athletic—though no one would say that she was in bad shape. Juni’s build was just soft and gentle. “Well… Here goes.”

She took a few steps back and lept onto the mattress—landing on the edge—

And Juni toppled forward. The mattress flipped and landed on her. Instead of mattress surfing, the mattress was Juni-surfing.

It was with a rather uncharitable “Finally!” that Bastian greeted Lua – but who better to arrive? He had to defeat her! The forces of evil had to triumph! It was a bit odd referring to himself as the forces of evil, but Lua was practically made of sunshine and goodness, so the only evil thing about her was that underneath all that, she had to have a core of darkness. Maybe it was super concentrated, like trying to drink Ribena without water! That would be terrifying.

He let out a half-despairing cheer when Lua finally fell off the mattress. Dieu, it was like she didn’t even have the decency to set the bar low to start with so that any improvement would be a good thing, which was such a dumb Gryffindor thing to do. If you were badly behaved, you got rewarded for behaving as well as everyone else, while everyone else was just ignored.

And not that Juni was rubbish or anything, but Juni was rubbish and there was no way she would beat Lua. The forces of good would be triumphant, unless Bastian could do something about it. He took comfort in the knowledge that it was only the first round, and the competition wasn’t even properly started because not everyone had come. Watching Juni, squished beneath the mattress like an unwanted sock, slide along the floor was too painful to endure, and he turned away in despair. He waited until she’d come to a stop before going over to lever the mattress off her with a cheerful, “you’re terrible! One out of ten.”

He waited long enough for her to crawl away, before starting to tow the mattress upwards, “I will show you how it should be done,” he declared, halfway up when he realised that he needed to change his grip on the mattress. He let go, and was considering how best to hold onto it when it started to fall away. “Nooooo,” he insisted, “Nooooo. No no no.”

It was already out of reach, but Bastian made a lunge anyway! He could recover it! Or… he couldn’t. Instead, he landed on the mattress, screaming as he continued his slide. When he thought he’d stopped, he opened his eyes. “Where am I?” he asked, “Who am I? What am I doing?”

Her energy seemed to double, if it were at all possible, at Juni’s drawn-out greeting. If Bastian’s was more competitive, well, it was no less encouraging: Lua was ready for some friendly competition. The spirit of the made-up game only added to the strange mix of yoga-calm and screechy-fourteen-year-old that presented itself to the Room of Requirement at large as the Gryffindor surfed her way into the lake of foam.

From her new vantage point, she watched Juni roleplay as a mattress. "Performance art!” She shouted encouragingly, even as Bastian pinned the Ravenclaw with a scorching one of ten. By the time he was following Juni’s lead, Lua had swam to the edge of the foam pit. Her eyes latched on to the flying mattress, impressed and a little sympathetic. At least their sports equipment of choice was soft!

“I think you’re still alive,” she said, again attempting to motivate the competition, this time Bastian. She pushed herself up from the pit with surprisingly sturdy teenage arms, and wandered toward Juni. “If he’s still attached, he might have beat us both,” she conspired in a very loud whisper that was in no way conspiratorial. “We need a scoreboard…”

She looked around, and there was one, their names brighter versions of their house colors.