Slytherin boys sleepover thread! This is set in the common room so no objections to girls crashing if they'd like!
0130 hours, common room


It was Friday night. This close to exams, that fact inspired less excitement than it usually would. Virgil Carstairs had equipped himself with blankets and hot tea and buttery pumpkin-spiced popcorn, having made a sort of nest in an armchair by the great windows that gave way to the dark underwater of the lake. His slippered feet were propped up on a stool, his tousled blonde head partly hidden behind a dusty leather book with no legible title.

He was reading up on the magical properties of Acromontula webbing. It wasn't the most riveting subject.

Without looking up, the prefect reached over to his side table and messily gathered a handful of popcorn - only when he'd unceremoniously stuff it into his mouth did he look up to see who else was lingering in the common room tonight.

A few usual suspects. Mostly some of his peers and a few of the younger boys. The fireplace was crackling away but its flames had mostly died down in anticipation of the quiet night ahead. Virgil wasn't sure if he was ready to retire yet.

"Somebody get the fire going again," he called out in a whiny voice, crossing his slender ankles and making a helpless gesture in the direction of the mantle. "It's  getting colder," was his final pout. A regular complaint when one's house quarters were in the dungeons.

Virgil was infamous for being a lazy git. His wand was in his pocket and Merlin forbid he pull a delicate muscle trying to reach it, of all things.

Over the last few weeks, Jonah had felt an almost-physical weight settling on his shoulders. He was far from the only one, of course - the weight was easily identified in four terrible letters. OWLs. Or, in some cases, five - NEWTs. He had done as much studying in the last month as he had in the rest of the term combined, and with every passing day his stress levels increased. So perhaps it wasn't really that surprising that this particular Friday night found him situated in an armchair by the common room fire, feet tucked under his legs and his Charms book open in his lap as he slipped in and out of wakefulness.

"Somebody get the fire going again."

His head snapped up at the sound of a whine from - sounded like Carstairs? In his half-stupor he couldn't be sure. Rubbing one eye a little blearily, he looked around, confirming the prefect to be the source of the noise. He had half a mind to say "get it your damn self," but Jonah didn't talk that way to upperclassmen, especially when said upperclassmen had the ability to dock House points.

Instead he fished his wand out from behind his ear where he'd stowed it earlier, pointed it at the fireplace, and muttered "Incendio." The fire roared back to life, settling down after a moment to crackle merrily.

"Better?"

Asher sat in an armchair not too far from the fire, a Potions book open in his lap and a bored expression on his face.  He barely registered the request for someone to get the fire going again and only noticed the fifth year starting the fire back up because he was close to the fireplace.  "Hey, warn someone would ya." he said in a tired voice.

He'd been going over his Potions text for the fifth time because it was by far the subject he was most worried about passing. He'd done okay during the OWL's, but this was going to be far worse in his opinion and he wasn't looking forward to it. Shifting from his slouched position to sitting up he shut his book and stretched.  He'd been sitting in the same position for the last hour.

Digging around in the bag by his feet he came up with what he was looking for and shoved his book in the bag as he pulled the deck of cards out.  He wasn't too sure if anyone would want to play cards, but maybe if he moved to a table and started shuffling them, someone would take interest.

He stood up, picked up his bag and moved to a table to do just that.  Carelessly dropping his bag by one of the chairs, he sat down and took the cards out of the box and began to shuffle them.

Eli was sprawled on the floor, lazing by the fire like an overfed cat coming down from a catnip high. Although Jonah breathed some life into the fire with a well-placed incendio. That couldn't possibly be enough to warm Virgil! Virgil was sitting too far away, and there was only one cure for the coldness that ached him to his bones. A cuddle. A snuggle. A cuddlesnuggle.

He rolled onto his side with a soft 'mmph' before rising to his feet.

"No Jonah, it's not better!" He said adamantly, walking on over to Virgil and his blanket cocoon. He sat on the armrest and tried to shimmy his way onto Virgil's lap. "You can't warm Virgil the way I can."

Xavier had been lazing about with Eli, his cold grey blue eyes fixed on the windows that lead out to the Lake instead of a sprawling landscape. The pair seemed to be the only ones not trying to study. He wasn't sure what Eli's story had been but he was getting plenty of studying done during the day. With Jordyn as his new Study Buddy he was actually doing revision for once (of course he had also managed to convince the Head Girl to give him a kiss each time he got an answer right, it certainly helped)

As Eli left to snuggle Virgil, Xavier sat up to watch the awkward exchange. He had always taken the Prefect as one of those, I desperately need my own personal space, type of gits. Where was the fun in that? Granted, if he didn't have friends like Eli or even Fig, Xavier wouldn't be so lose with his own personal space either.

He smirked over at Lassiter, "Donnae worry mate, Virgil's jus cranky. Sumthin ta do wit thee stick 'e 'as up 'is arse." Hearing Virgil whine wasn't anything new for those in Slytherin. It was all about how you handled the situation. Xavier preferred to take the piss whenever possible. Virgil had a really annoying habit of knowing just what people thought, being a smart ass made those revelations a little easier to swallow. He also still blamed him for upsetting Cadance. His cousin wouldn't tell him the details but he knew Carstairs had been involved and it had something to do with her pregnancy.   

He wasn't sure what Salazar Slytherin had ever done to deserve Eli in his house.

        "Better?"
"No Jonah, it's not better!"

Virgil had closed his book and glanced across the common room to thank Lassiter, when he found himself confront by the threat of a... cuddlesnuggle. This was not unusual behaviour for Amherst; he laughed as his housemate tried to nudge himself onto Virgil's lap. "Too warm! Too warm!" he complained and let himself go limp in his lazy way, which left them in the awkward-looking but comfortable state of sharing the armchair.

Eli was half sat on the cushion, half sat on Virgil's boney thigh. "I have such regrets," he muttered with a smile that said otherwise. Tawse, on the other hand, did not seem as amused.

Weren't people supposed to be less ornery when they were snogging someone on the regular? Virgil squirmed forward slightly to catch sight of Xavier by the fire.

"Cranky? I don't sound like the one with something up his arse right now," he squirmed a bit more to pull himself up on to the arm of the chair, so that he had a better view of everyone in the common room. Virgil had been minding his own quiet business before Tawse decided to nudge the hornet's nest.

But that was the way of things. "Or is that the problem?" the prefect glanced from Xavier to Jonah, deciding to put the fifth year into an awkward position. "What do you think, Lassiter? Dimbledy not giving him what he wants, where he wants it?"

"Hey, warn someone, would ya."
"You can't warm Virgil the way I can."

"Wouldn't have to warn you if you'd been paying attention," Jonah muttered before raising an eyebrow at Eli. "With all due respect to our lovely prefect, I wouldn't want to, Amherst. Wouldn't want to steal your job." He did snicker at Virgil's complaining, and again in response to Tawse's comment.

And then, whoops, Virgil was talking to him.
"What do you think, Lassiter? Dimbleby not giving him what he wants, where he wants it?"

Jonah took a moment to decide on his answer, tilting his head in consideration. He had more respect for Virgil than for Xavier, so was inclined to go along with the prefect, but didn't want to actually offend Tawse, either. He was pretty sure Carstairs had done this on purpose.

"I wouldn't know where Tawse wants anything, but if I had to guess, I'd say there's something he wants that he's not getting," he said, choosing his words carefully but keeping his voice relaxed.

A head with tousled blonde hair yawned as the boy entered the common room - where he paused mid-stretch. It was one-thirty in the bloody morning, and yet it looked like there was quite the gathering in the cool green-tinted area. Maxen scratched his head groggily and then frowned as he caught sight of Eli and Virgil's cozy cuddle session. It wasn't that Maxen minded public displays of affection - it just seemed that every single time the small snake came out to the common room there were people trying to shag. First it was Tawse and Dimbleby, and now Amherst and Carstairs.

It was almost enough to convince the young Whitman to turn around and head right back to his comfortable bed - almost. Instead the boy shuffled his feet across the floor and started heading toward the fire. The room felt chilly to Maxen, having just gotten out of his bed minutes prior so he wanted to warm his cold hands and feet. When he got close to the flames, however, Maxen veered sharply off to the side and ended up seated near the star-crossed cuddlers in an overstuffed armchair. He tucked his toes in under his rump to keep warm and wrapped his arms around a pillow - resting his chin on the soft edges.

When it came to Xavier Tawse it was always a good idea to show caution - especially when the last time he had been punching the wall. Still, as the conversation around Maxen started to register in his mind, it was impossible to keep him from speaking up. "Not sure if he likes it in the arse, but he's certainly getting something from Dimbleby. Do you like things in your arse, Tawse?" Though he hadn't tried anything yet himself, Maxen Oleander Whitman was a third year, he certainly knew enough about sex to be crass if he wanted to - and Maxen loved being crass.

Xavier raised his eyebrows. Apparently Virgil was feeling playful tonight. A little welcomed change from his usual dour and snarky disposition. Xavier could really have fun with this. It didn't take long for the gathered boys to follow Virgil's lead. He had missed this kind of ribbing, even if he was at the center of it all. He hadn't played around like this since his regular hang outs with Huxley.

His smirk had smoothed out to a smile and his voice was equally playful, "No worries there mate, Jordan's givin' me e'erythin I need." He turned to the younger Slytherin and gave Lassiter a wink and blew him a kiss, "ye offerin' ta pick up thee slack darlin'?"

A lot of the humor and playfulness had dissolved when the ickle Whitman opened his big stupid mouth. He still blamed the kid for interrupting him and Jordyn. Although looking back it was likely for the better and he probably shouldn't have finally made it past that goal line while completely hammered, he still wasn't going to give up that grudge, "not nearly as much as I like me fist in yer face."

Virgil let out a coltish little crow, clapping his hands together as Jonah and then Maxim chipped into the conversation with commendable commitment. He hopped off the arm chair gracefully and slipped his hands into his pockets, making his way towards the fireplace for a bit more warmth.

            "not nearly as much as I like me fist in yer face."

"So you do like things in your arse," the prefect raised his pale eyebrows in Xavier's direction with a smirk. "Almost as much as physical violence - well, isn't that just the way of things?" He stood in front of the fire with his back to the others, watching each tongue of flame eat away at wood.

It appeared that Whitman had crossed Tawse, which was also the way of things. Virgil resisted the urge to peer into those respective minds to figure out the exact reasons.

Instead, he looked over his shoulder at the rest of the boys and shot them a vexing smile. "We should play a game." Perhaps it was his imminent nostalgia coming into play... but really, how much time did they have left at school to waste a few hours on games and gossip?

"Chance has his cards out-" Virgil turned around altogether, moving over to Asher's table and sitting down on its ledge, "-or we could forsake the suits..." he leaned in to pluck a card from the pack that his classmate was shuffling - when he held it out, it was the Queen of Diamonds.

Virgil flicked it at Tawse, a matter-of-fact. "Your lady, I think."

"Ye offerin' ta pick up the slack, darlin'?"

Instead of directly answering the question, Jonah raised an eyebrow. "So there is slack to pick up?" he shot back, smirking. Based on the glower Tawse was giving Maxen, he guessed the younger Whitman had something to do with it, if there was.

"We should play a game."

Jonah closed his Charms book - it looked like he wasn't going to get much more studying done anyway, and Virgil's proposition sounded much more interesting. Resting his chin in his hand, he looked around at the other boys gathered in the common room, waiting for someone else to respond. After a moment, he spoke up.

"What're we playing, then?" There was, of course, the option of Chance's cards, but Jonah couldn't help wondering if Virgil had something else in mind.

Slytherin house was wild and Eli enjoyed every minute of it.

He was going to miss being here. Graduation was coming so fast-- he was excited to be a real adult, but he was also terrified. Unlike some of his other peers, he didn't have a plan in place. He had no idea what he was going to do, or who he really wanted to be. He was going to miss the security of being a kid in school. He was going to miss shenanigans and hanging out by the fireplace. He was going to miss impromptu cuddles with Virgil.

Growing up was bittersweet.

Eli let out a betrayed whine as Virgil left, and followed  so he wouldn't be left out.

He glanced at Jonah, "We could do tarot maybe. Virgil here is president of the Divination club!" For now. "Is love in Xavier's future?"

Xavier simply chuckled and shook his head. Between Virgil and Jonah he had dug his own grave with his words. Thankfully the subject had been changed before the little Whitman boy could add another word in. He had no problem with Virgil or even Jonah calling him out but he drew the line at being playful with the third year. At least until the kid got his proper ass whooping.

He deftly caught the card Virgil had tossed to him. Spending most of his school career on the Quidditch team between the Keeper and Beater position his own reflexes were rather top. He examined the card. Queen of Diamonds. The more he thought of it, the more the moniker fit his current girlfriend. Jordyn wasn't as rich as some of the other Slytherin Monarchy but she was certainly refined like a Diamond. Or at least that's what Xavier thought, who knew what Virgil was actually referring to. Half the time the Prefect was a complete mystery. Xavier never was too fond of mysteries.

He rolled his eyes at Eli, "I'd be more interest'd in whether there's love in yer future mate." He blew Eli a kiss, "Give ye sumthin ta look forward to. I already know wha's in mine."

Virgil turned around to face the room, leaning against the side of the mantle so that the fireplace was suitably warming his boney cold behind. Lassiter was quick to play along and Eli was.... Eli was Eli. The idea of doing Tarot for everyone in the common room was vaguely alarming.

Luckily, Xav didn't seem too keen on the idea either.

            "I already know wha's in mine."

And yet.... that did sound an awful lot like a challenge, to Virgil's stuck-out ears. "Do you really?" he tilted his head to the side, arms crossed and hip foppishly cocked. "You want to let us in on your grand plan? I was going to suggest a game of Never Have I Ever but we could embark on a gamble instead."

He raised a challenging eyebrow, then gestured at his other housemates present.

"We have witnesses. I'll read your fortune. You can then tell us what you think your fortune is - and then we'll all take bets." Virgil glanced at Jonah on an impulse, "Lassiter can be our bookmaker. Can't you, Lassiter?" he smiled, sleepy lips pulling up sharply. "We'll see which of us got it right in... oh I don't know. Three months time."