For all of his shortcomings, Hector King was a fantastic artist.

Or, at least, he thought so. Stepping back, Hector tapped his wand against his chin and surveyed his work. Several cans of magical spray paint - now empty - littered the ground, and glittering red and gold streamers festooned the ceiling and bathroom stalls. One wall was emblazoned with the slogan 'For a good time, owl King!', with accompanying designs featuring crowns, quaffles, and broomsticks. The paint (a sound purchase, that) glowed intermittently, and the quaffles and broomsticks (a bit lopsided and crooked, but recognizable nonetheless) soared back and forth across the stone surface.

The pièce de résistance, though, loomed on the wall above the sinks, pacing and swiping its paw at a faucet that, being limited by two dimensions, it couldn't quite reach. A real, proper, life-sized Gryffindor lion! And it growled -- actually growled, a low, reverberating rumble that echoed into the hallway beyond the girl's lavatory. Hector had spent the entire morning holed up inside, having placed a 'Closed for Maintenance' sign on the doorway to prevent interruptions, and now, now his masterpiece was ready. And if the lion's legs were a bit stubby, and its head a bit large, well, the furry mane and pointy teeth -- and did he mention it roared? -- were proof enough of its sheer brilliance.

Some might say it was all a bit much, redecorating the girls' lavatory. But it was Hector King's final year at Hogwarts, and he had to leave a lasting impression, a proper legacy. This was only step one.

Finally satisfied, Hector nodded, a broad grin spreading across his features as he pocketed his wand, the job complete. Really, he had done a nice thing for the girls, giving them something to look at while... well, doing their hair and makeup and whatever else it was that girls did when they disappeared to the loo in great flocks, like a bunch of... squawking hens, or something. At any rate, it was a public service, really, and Hector felt mighty proud of himself, standing there, arms crossed, torn between getting as far away from the fourth floor (and culpability) as he could manage and waiting around to see the reaction it would undoubtedly cause.

He didn't have to wait long, though, because a moment later (in complete disregard of his sign!) the door opened.

Midterms were over! Eirene was going home on Sunday with the rest of the students and she couldn't have been more relieved. She walked through the corridors with a spring in her step, smiling smugly at the students around her, secure in the knowledge that she had survived her first round of midterms!

Then suddenly, Eirene stopped. She wiggled a bit in her uniform and bit her lip nervously. Uh oh. All those hours spent studying, and all those healthy pumpkin juice drinks she'd consumed had finally caught up to her.

She really, really had to go. To the loo, that is.

Eirene walked more quickly, heading towards the girl's lavatory that she remembered was on the fourth floor. When she reached the bathroom door, she paused, mouth dropping in horror as she read the sign. Closed for maintenance?! No! She'd thought the custodian had taken care of the frog infestation! Eirene shifted from one foot to another, and then pushed the door open and rushed in.

She made it about two feet in before she noticed something horribly wrong.

First there were the colors. Huge, flamboyant streamers in gaudy red and gold - Gryffindor colors! Mai and Keegan's colors! Eirene stared at the decorations, and then looked at the girl standing proudly in the middle of it all.

Wait a minute - that wasn't a - a boy! A boy was in the girl's lavatory!

Eirene gasped and pointed accusingly at the impostor. "Don't you know you're not allowed-"

But a low growl sounded over the sinks.

The minute she saw the painted lion, licking his chops as he paced on the wall, Eirene screamed loudly and ducked inside a stall, climbing on top of the dirty toilet seat as if that would help save her. She clutched the stall door and peered frightfully over the top of it at the unperturbed boy. Did he do this? Boys were so awful!

As Eirene hid, eyes on the lion and the other decorations, her foot slipped an inch. And an inch was enough. She stumbled, and one Mary Jane clad foot plopped right into the toilet basin, making a splash.

"Why does this always happen to me?!" Eirene wailed, lifting her foot up and seeming close to tears as the water (which she imagined held the plague from the frog infestation) soaked into her shoe and her tights. The lion, upon hearing her wail, let out a loud roar that shook the stalls and rattled the sinks.

Eirene's only hope was that someone else had heard that, a professor or maybe a prefect, and that this brave person would come to her rescue!

Erin was supposed to be heading back down to the dormitories.  About half-way there though, she decided to go to the astronomy tower, since it provided a fantastic view.  She had gotten half-way there, and then heard a female scream.  She probably would have assumed it was some sort of prank, but the roar afterwards implied something more than some school age hi-jinx.  Erin was Slytherin enough to realize that fools rushed in where angles feared to tread, so she took out a small hand held mirror out of her robe.  She wanted to see if she could see the commotion without coming into the direct line of fire.  While it was a simple enough plan, Erin did not have the attention span to execute it.  That particular plan lasted about six steps before she forgot about it, and just proceeded to walk towards the lavatory. 

She entered the room slowly, and what she saw surprised her.  'A seventh year Gryffindor Boy in the girls lavatory?  And why is an ickle firstie climbing on top of a toilet seat?' Erin thought.  Ordinarily, Erin would have no problems bullying others (so as long as she was the one doing it), but she was quickly figuring out some way to take advantage of it.  Unfortunately for her, she then noticed that she still had a mirror in her hand.  Wondering why she had that in her hand, she decided to close the device and place it in her pocket.  Her thoughts once again on the present, she wondered who painted that lion.  The artistry was there, it was just plainly obvious that the gentleman needed better subject matter.  She then once more focused on the situation, coming to the implications of what a boy was doing in the girl’s lavatory.   

“GET OUT!” Erin yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping that someone would come to either give the boy detention or take points away.  The Lion once more roared, and Erin was admittedly impressed by the artwork.  Whatever her comments on that particular piece were, they were sidetracked when she noticed the graffiti.  Unable to hold off an eyeroll, she wondered if she could use that writing against the gentleman in question.  Deciding that the firstie would probably have not much of anything to offer her one way or the other, Erin decided that the girl was fine for now.   She was trying to come up with a way to take advantage of the situation, but could not hold on to a thought long enough to form a coherent plan. 

Reilly ran a hand carefully through her hair, fluffing it up slightly before trailing down and brushing gently across her cheek. It was an appearance re-check in a small pocket mirror, but it would have to do. Reilly cared about her appearance, and unless the circumstances were very unusual her attire, makeup, and hair were pristine. She was not, however, one of those girls who ran to the bathroom every twenty minutes to reapply everything and redo their hair. No, Reilly was expert on creating looks that she knew would last throughout the day. That didn't mean she couldn't cheat and take an extra look every so often.

The girl dropped one hand, smoothing out the skirt of her uniform and then pointed one leg out in front of her to admire the rather charming pair of black and grey heels her mother had just recently sent her.

It was then that she heard the scream.

Reilly leaned forward, lowering her foot to the ground to peer around the corner and look down the corridor toward where the scream had come from. It was empty. The girl arched a curious eyebrow, snapping her pocket mirror shut as she watched a blonde-haired girl run down and into the girl's lavatory.

Right well, the way that girl was running so blindly toward someones scream she much be stupid.... or a Gryffindor.

Reilly slipped her wand from her pocket, shouldering her bag easily to keep it out of the way as she approached the girl's bathroom. Either there was actually something worth screaming for inside - or it was some younger year who was easily scared. Added onto that, Reilly at least had the comfort that someone else went in before her. It wasn't that she was scared or anything but, well, if there was some monster inside the lavatory then it's at least be partially full from the other blonde-haired girl.

The fifth year reached out a hand, pushing open the door with one hand and gripping her wand with the other. She didn't know what, exactly, she had been expecting when walking inside but ultimately the scene was quite amusing; you had a younger student looking pale white and terrified, Hector standing with quite the smirk on his face, and the blonde haired girl looking furious.

Reilly lowered her wand, looking up at the 'artwork' that Hector (do doubt) was responsible for. Stepping further inside the bathroom, the painted lion on the wall let out a low growl.

"Right, real mature Hec." she said, sounding sarcastic and yet there was a smile creeping in the corner of the Slytherin's mouth. He had obviously  put quite a lot of time and effort into the painting and it was only a little joke. Yet the blonde haired girl was getting very uptight about it.

“GET OUT!”

"Woah, don't get your panties in a knot sweetheart." Reilly said, giving the girl a look of disbelief. Really? She was getting that upset over this? Besides, it was actually quite ingenious.

Reilly stepped up to the painting, wanting a closer look. Her hand hovered over the lion's face but jerked back and flinched as the lion roared in protest. "Where did you even get the paint?" she questioned, looking back at Hector and catching a glimpse at Eirene's face. "Oh calm down. It's not going to hurt you! It's just a painting!" she snapped, shaking her head in disbelief. Honestly, these kids were spooked too easily.

(OOC Note: So sorry for the delay! Back properly now!)

Hector's smile faltered only slightly when a first year burst into the room; she was too young, after all, to take advantage of his advertisement. Rather than feeling abashed, however -- a foreign notion when it came to Hector King -- he quickly recovered his grin, happy to have elicited such a strong reaction. He did so love doing what he shouldn't, after all.

Before he could even defend himself (or take credit for his masterpiece, as was more likely), another roar echoed across the room and the little girl fled to a stall, peeking at him over the door. "Just a painting, munchkin," he explained, not unkindly, but then she disappeared with a splash, and Hector took a step closer, brow furrowed. "Alright in there, princess?"

He didn't have time to find out, though; quite suddenly (or so it seemed to Hector), another girl appeared in front of him -- too young again! -- and made quick use of a rather spectacular set of lungs. Hector simply blinked in response, holding up his hands (splattered liberally with red and gold paint -- he'd literally been caught red-handed).

But Reilly, bless her, had been close behind, and came to his defense. He grinned lopsidedly, taking a step backwards (and away from the screaming girl), to wave an arm around the room. "An artist never gives away his secrets!" he insisted, placing a finger to his lips. Reilly had properly chastised both of the other girls, but Hector wasn't one to hold grudges. "Impressive, yeah?" he asked, glancing sideways at Erin, and rapped his knuckles smartly against the stall still occupied by Eirene. "Realistic, isn't it?"

Eirene felt vindicated when a girl burst into the bathroom and screeched at Hector to get out. She recognized her as the younger (and less scary) Dark sister. But soon, another Slytherin walked in, and she didn't seem at all concerned. She even snapped at Eirene like she was crazy!

It might have been only a painting, Eirene thought, but it was realistic! Anyone else would have ducked into the stall and hid. However, she didn't like standing in this stall with her foot soaked, and she decided that if the lion was going to eat anybody, surely it would have already gobbled up the students standing out in the open.

Feeling foolish, and a little like Noriko, Eirene opened the stall door just a crack and poked her head out. The boy called this art? She considered it to be graffiti of the worst sort.

She frowned sternly at the group of older students. There was one thing Eirene could never do, and that was shut her mouth. So she blinked away the last of her tears and let out a huff, preparing to scold Hector.

"Realistic, maybe, but that's not a good thing! You are going to get into so much trouble," she widened her eyes at the Gryffindor for emphasis.

"Destruction of school property," she ticked off the first offense on her fingers. "Loitering in the girl's lavatory." Another tick. "You're a boy, you shouldn't do that!"

"And! Making my shoe get wet!" That was clearly the worst offense out of all of them. Eirene shook her head at him, and glanced at the pacing lion warily.

After being censured by her housemate and hearing Eirene go over the top, Erin decided she had enough. What could have been a rather interesting development and a chance to get a favor from a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw had most likely been sidelined by whatever her housemate was going to do.  Doubting she could gain anything for herself as long as Reilly was present, Erin decided that she could handle it.  Not really knowing or caring to figure out what that was, Erin did know it was in her best interest not to antagonize someone two-years her senior and who lived in the same dorm. Turning to her classmate, she whispered ”I guess your plan to exploit this situation is better than mine.  Good luck,”

Not really caring for the first year’s melodrama, Erin decided now was as good as a time as any to exit stage right.  So doing, she started skipping towards the exit.  When she was there, she decided to give one farewell.
“See you later,” she declared to the random gathering, before resuming her random path that would eventually take her back to the dungeons.