Friday, September 19th, 2008
Third Floor, by the Statue of the Humpback Witch

5:18pm
Outfit

Somewhere around an hour had passed since Mysti’s last class.  In that time, she had gone up to her dorm room and changed into something more... feminine. She was still working on getting together her act of getting into the head of one certain Slytherin.  The clothes, shoes and accessories Mysti’s mother had sent were incredibly beautiful and helpful.  It was now just a matter of getting used to wearing them.  Heels weren’t exactly agreeing with her feet, so she was sticking with flats for now.

Now, she’d decided to go look over some magazines for research.  One of Mysti’s favorite place, which was quite vacated at the moment.  The third floor didn’t have too much, besides the Charms room, which was why Mysti figured it didn’t get much traffic.   This is a reason that made it better for her to look through these magazines. To be honest, looking through these magazines, and these new clothes made her feel almost like a new person.  But of course, she was still the same old Mysti.  Just a little altered.

Pulling out the first magazine, Witch Weekly, she settled into a bench and started reading.  There were some interesting articles in these magazines.  Not exactly the type of reading material that Mysti was normally interested in, but she supposed it would help figure out how to be more feminine.  Being a quidditch playing girl who grew up with two older brothers, she didn’t have much experience in that area.  That’s why she was turning to some of the more widely known resources.

As she was getting through Witch Weekly, she heard footsteps coming around the hallway.  They sounded a bit heavier, so Mysti suspected they belonged to someone of the male persuasion.  When she saw the person belonging to the footsteps, she was a little surprised at who they belonged to.  It was one of the Seventh year Slytherin boys.  Mysti never really interacted with Slytherins much before this year.  Already she’d had a run in with both Trent and Callum.  Though the encounter with Trent was not what she expected, but quite a lot nicer than the one with Callum.

Deciding to see how her new skills were coming along, Mysti decided she should attempt some kind of contact with him. 

“Good evening.” She said with a polite smile, hoping it didn’t seem too strange to be addressing him.  Now, if only she could remember his name... something with an E sounded familiar.  E.... Ethan! That’s right.  Not always good with names, Mysti was surprised at her remembering his.  Now, she waited a moment to see if he would respond.

You couldn't very well play with fire and expect to not get burned, Ethan thought, a smug smirk playing on the corner of his lips as he walked up the staircases and exited on the third floor. How was he supposed to know the girl had drawn more attachments to him than was originally bargained for? Silly girl. It wasn't as though Krosse kept his ideals towards the weaker sex confined. He was particularly proud of the reputation he had built for himself. The five fingers across his left cheekbone were hardly called for, but quite expected. After all, Ethan seized any opportunity to despoil and dispose.  A prize, really, to add to his collection. My word, was she a prize. And  it was a nice touch, indeed, to quit things with her right after class, in front of the student body.

 "No tears," he had said, making no move to actually comfort the wreck that she had turned into. "I simply just can't see myself committed to foul blood like yours." That's when he got the whacking.

Stretching out his jaw, he continued forth, planning to meet with the Professor to discuss their earlier lesson, when what did he behold? Why, another dove standing near the statue, dressed quite ravishing if he did say so himself.  That dress truly brought out any eye catching limb a male would search for, wrapping around her so delicately. The color looked well on her too. He stood for a moment, staring at her, quite unable to decipher who she was from behind. Well, the Professor could want, now, couldn't they? More interesting matters arose and Ethan felt confident the coal in his train had not burned to ash quite yet. Well, he was still a boy of 17, mind you. Boys will be boys...

Stepping closer, he walked to see exactly who she was. Awe, wasn't this precious? Yes, he knew exactly who she was. Mystique Kitteridge, one of Hufflepuff's finest. He made no move to show emotion, nor did he gesture towards the fact that he planned to introduce himself. He simply stared at here, that smirk the only thing lighting his features.  He eyed her every garment, passing quick judgment on her character through the clothes she wore. Apparent she came from money (though if the case were otherwise, he'd never really know. He didn't fancy looking too deeply into the Hufflepuff lot). Nice hair, silky and smooth. She cared very much for her appearance, which is something Ethan quickly found himself drawn to.  A clean girl was a good girl indeed, despite ones particular... Well, we shan't go further into such matters.

"Good evening," The girl said, addressing him with a polite smile. He cocked a brow at that. It wasn't common for him to be addressed in such a friendly manner, no..not unless the company had something to hide. He didn't answer her immediately, either, just studied her for a few seconds. The feeling he received from her wasn't really one of malicious intent, nor did he really believe any Hufflepuff had the true ability to deceive the population around them. No, the badgers were too soft for things of that sort. Too many years cooped up in the cellar with those imbeciles you must call house mates, Krosse. What harm could Miss Kitteridge really bestow on you? It wasn't as though he was trying to plan a way to shag her, at least not in that moment.

"Miss Kitteridge." He said, bowing his head slightly her direction. Ethan was an ass, but a gentleman none the less. "I bide my time to argue with Professors and upon the engagement I come across you. The Gods must be smiling on me."

Mysti smiled at Ethan’s reaction.  Was it bad that she was already enjoying this? She seemed to have his attention, which meant he found her somewhat worth his time.  Not that she cared if she was or not, but it was good.  Mysti sensed some bit of him judging her by her looks. And the fact that he was talking to her meant that she must have passed his test.  And of course, that meant that she would most likely be satisfactory to Callum’s judgement.

Smiling, she answered him. “I suppose they must be. It is never an enjoyable task to talk to professors. Seems like you’ve had a few unenjoyable things to endure today.”

The second statement was of course in observation to his breaking things off with some other girl earlier.  Of course, Mysti had heard of it.  Actually, she’d heard part of the argument and the slap echoing through the hallway.  It seemed as though Ethan had chosen a time where many would witness the break up.  It was on her way up to this particular spot she’d heard it.

But, no matter what happened with this encounter, Mysti was certain she would let nothing else evolve from it.  Besides, she already had a date of sorts to look forward to with a different Slytherin.  Granted it was for the dance, but she was quite excited to go with Trent.  She didn’t want to upset him.  He’d had to deal with too much heartbreak already.

“Mister... Krosse, is it? Is the meeting with this professor something of much importance? If so, don’t let me get in your way. I would hate for you to be in much trouble if I caused you to be late.”

Mysti felt as though her response would be suitable.  She was still working on the correct way to talk to anyone in the house of Slytherin.  She’d been observing (discretely) some of the other girls in the house of Snakes, and had picked up some information.  Putting into use, though, seemed to be a bit of a more difficult task.  Especially when encounters with the Slytherins didn’t occur too much, as most did have an aversion to Hufflepuffs.  But for now, she would practice on Mister Krosse.  And it seemed doubtful he’d suspect her of anything.  Especially as they’d never had much of an encounter before this.

Was she talking about Abbie? Well, it wasn't UNenjoyable, quite the opposite, actually. He fed off of reactions such as that Ravenclaw girl...It made him feel superior. The 'excuse' he had given her was an all out lie as well. Ethan could care less about proper breeding or even financial status. A bird was a bird, either way you saw it. It was how you flicked the strings every female had that led one to be in charge of everything. Important, successful, and wanted.  Don't think Ethan was silly enough to imagine he could play his schoolboy games outside the walls of Hogwarts, it was the one thing he enjoyed about this school, actually. The freedom to be the arse you wanted to be, completely unaffected by the consequences. After all, what was one broken heart? As long as he kept his caged and unaffected, little else mattered.

"Mister... Krosse, is it?" Ethan smiled at her, accepting the formality she gave in showing she knew who he was. He wasn't surprised, really. Perhaps  she had been one of the comforting friends of his past quests. Who could say for sure, Ethan had been around the block, so to speak. The Hufflepuff when on to express concern that his talking to her may be getting in the way of more important matters. Well, her speech was a bit off par, the articulation a bit rough even though she spoke English as a primary language. What else could be expected from someone who stood at the bottom of the heap of Hogwarts? He wouldn't allow such silly things to bother him; at least not in the moment.

"Right you are," he said, allowing his disapproval to show that she chose to point out such matters. Most cases, the girl would completely ignore the fact that he had other obligations as long as he continued to fancy them with his presence. "I had hoped to occupy myself with more entertaining situations." True, he was only going to bombard on the Professor to say they were teaching slightly below the curriculum. It was, after all, his duty to point out such things, even if they silly old goof's were given a layout to their lesson plans. The last Charms Class was rather boring, actually. Spicing things up would be nice.

He held his hands behind his back, watching her. Concern struck him for a moment, perhaps this girl was a rare breed that didn't fancy a conversation with the reputable Ethan Krosse. He had experienced a few of these types before. No, don't be silly! No woman dressed like that unless they were prepared to take lads like himself head on. Interesting. "Of course," Ethan continued, "if my presence here makes you feel uneasy, I beg your forgiveness. That was hardly my intention."