The following takes place during the Halloween dance.

As soon as Ayla left the Great Hall the tears had begun to fall. Her make up was streaking and her body was trembling. She was wandering aimlessly through the castle and somehow ended up in the Girl's lavatory on the fourth floor. She closed the door behind her and stood in front of one of the many sinks. She looked up into the mirror and wiped at her ruined makeup. Things couldn't get any worse. She pulled her hair down from it's elaborate up do and started washing the make up from her face.

She was sobbing openly now. She didn't think she could feel any worse and was glad that almost everyone would be down at the dance. She couldn't believe how horrible things had gotten. Blake had been playing along so well with his Knight in shining armour costume but when it came down to actually defending her he froze and left the job for Maddie. Oh God Maddie. Ayla had never seen her so upset. Even the cheerful thought of Maddie standing up for her wasn't enough to wipe away the horrible gut wrenching feeling that was matched only by her heavy sobs. Maddie was in a rage and it was all her fault.

Actually all of this had been Xavier's fault. He was worse than she had ever imagined. She wished she hadn't enjoyed kissing him so much. She wished she had been able to push him away and told him off before Callum and Fauna showed up, at least that way she wouldn't feel so guilty for Maddie getting so angry, she would have marched right up to Tawse with her and added her own fury to the older woman's wrath but the horrible truth was that she had really really enjoyed it. No one had ever kissed her like that and even now standing in the middle of the deserted girl's lavatory wiping horribly streaked make up from her face Ayla wished she could taste Xavier's lips again, feel his hard hot body pressed against her once more. Blake must think she's a total tart.

Her life was over.

Eveline walked into the restroom. She didn’t like using this one, but the others were all crowded with girls pulling up their tights, pulling down their necklines, touching up their make-up and their hair and so on. Plus the stalls were all occupied, with long lines waiting for the next one. And the punch had been so good...she was thirsty after several dances with no breaks...so she had guzzled three glasses in a row.

She edged past the girl at the sink, plainly seeing that she was crying. She was tempted to ask what was wrong; but when Eveline cried, the last thing she wanted was for a complete stranger to start talking to her. At least she told herself that was the last thing she would want, but as she headed for the nearest stall a small voice in her head whispered, “Coward!”

“OK, so I’m a coward,” Eveline answered herself, still in her head. ”If she’s still there when I’m done, I’ll ask if she’s all right or if she wants me to find somebody.”

As she struggled to get into the stall, she realized she’d forgotten a small detail. Or rather...a somewhat large detail. Her Flying Monkey wings. When she turned sideways to try to get past the door, they got stuck in the hinges. To her acute embarassment, she found that not only couldn’t she get all the way in, neither could she back out. Nor could she raise her arms high enough to slip out of the wings. She wasn’t going anywhere.

“OOOH,” said a girlish, taunting voice. “Nice outfit.”

“Oh Merlin no, “ groaned Eveline. “Not Moaning Myrtle...”

“OOOH, Nice outfit.”

"Cram it Myrtle I am so not in the mood!" Ayla yelled at the transparent figure as she floated up out of one of the toilets. She was a fair bit away from her usual haunt but Ayla figured since it was Halloween she was on the prowl to find someone to bother. Having been completely engrossed in her current situation and barely able to see past the constant flow of tears Ayla hadn't noticed Eveline even enter the bathroom and assumed Myrtle had been teasing her. It was true that her outfit was out of the ordinary for her considering the vast amount of skin she was showing off with it's low cut corset and short skirt.

She rounded on the ghost only then noticing Eveline. She blushed heavily and frantically wiped at her tears. How long had she been there? How much of a fool did she look like crying her eyes out like this? Then she realized the older Hufflepuff seemed to be stuck. For a few shining moments all thoughts of Blake and Maddie and Xavier flitted from her mind, she even ignored Myrtle who was currently blowing a raspberry at her.

Ayla moved to join Eveline where she was stuck, "Let me help you with that." Ayla managed to squeeze one hand between the wing and the hinges of the door giving her outfit just enough leverage to move farther into the stall, "You might want to take them off before you come back out though." She gave the other girl the best smile she could muster considering her current situation.