Classes were over for the day! But it might as well have been the early hours of morning, considering the way students lurched about listlessly. Fauna passed through the quiet corridors, letting her head droop and her gaze shift to the floor. She didn't need to look up to see her classmates moving together in small packs, as if they were afraid Professor Storm himself would pop out and wave a severed arm at them.

Fauna understood it, even if she didn't feel much like talking about it. Ava's death had hit the school hard. The fact that she'd died here, on the grounds, and under such mysterious circumstances was cause enough for worry and panic. Fauna had felt guilty about cutting off ties with the girl until she'd realized that Ava had drifted away from many of her friends, and that few people at school had known what was going on with her. Still, she remembered getting to know her last year, becoming friendly. Then the train ride had ruined it. And now, of course, it was too late to make things better.

Letting out a sigh, she paused by a window, where the gray light of winter filtered through, making her face look even paler and revealing how lank and dull her hair had gotten. The stark black robes of students, the damp castle walls, and even the moody portraits gave the castle a bleakness, a darkness. People were ready for winter to be over. To move on.

But how? Fauna didn't know. She started walking again, turning around the corridor and nearly barreling into two bright spots of color - Fir and Quinn. Fir, with his spiky anime hair, and Quinn, who... glittered. Really. She didn't even need sunlight!

Fauna blinked at the pair, nearly blinded. "Um, hi."

She tried a smile, puzzled by the way they stood together, like linebackers in a huddle. Between the eyeliner and the glitter eyeshadow, she almost missed the mischievous glint in their eyes. Hmm...

"Um..." She repeated, cocking her head at them curiously.

"Blakey!" Quinn called out, her mouth suddenly curving into a toothy, wide grin. She'd always been fond of Fauna; she was more Lou's friend than her own, but there was something that always told her to never overlook little Miss Blake. Sure, they didn't hang around too much, and Quinn knew that she could be quite overbearing (well, very overbearing) at times, but there was always a seat reserved for the Hufflepuff in her Gryffindor troupe. "How're you, mate?"

Brushing her blonde hair back, Quinn shivered, forgetting how cold it was in Hogwarts this time of year. A small leather jacket and a pair of ripped stockings didn't exactly add a great deal of heat to her tired school uniform - but it was her style, and a bit of snow and cloudiness couldn't ever stop Quinn McAvoy. She glanced up and down at Fauna a litle - not in that examining, critical manner of Kitty Li and Maeve Whitman, but in a more optimistic way. There was potential here! Fauna was pretty, prettier than Quinn could ever hope to be (her appeal was a little more... rugged let's say) and there was a lot to work with...

"Have you got much planned, for the rest of the day?" Quinn asked, a mischievous glint her eye sparkling more than the glitter what surrounded it. She leaned forward slightly, as if about to offer a black market trade, twisting her mouth in thought. Quinn glanced at Fir, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Outfit

"FAUNA!" Fir declared happily. "Baby. Sweetheart. Darling. How you've been!?"

Not too well by the looks of it. The way the sun didn't catch her hair. Very tragic. Esepcially on a pretty fun girl like Fauana Blake. But luckily, for her, Quinn and Fir were here, coming to her rescue. Yeah, rescue. That was what Fir was calling it in his head smiling like a cat sitting next to an empty birdcage.

He was having a hard time hiding his bags behind his back. He was just to eager to get started and get the formalities over with. Except the formalities were just so darn fun. Fir shot Quinn a smirk when she asked Fauna about her plans.

'Nothing?" Fir answered for the Hufflepuff before she could do so herself. "FANTASTIC. Well since you're not doing anything, Madam Golddust here and I have a proposition..."

At Quinn's next question, Fir fake scoffed at the glitter-clas girl. "Please. Who do you think you're talking to darling? I am five steps ahead of you. TA-DUH"

Fir held out his hands in front of them displaying the black makeup bag and hatbox as if he was presenting the Order of Merlin First Class, or better. Well, it was better. Who needed some dumb old shiny medal. The only good thing about the Order of Merlin was the recognition that came with it. Actually maybe he should rethink his stance on that. Hmmm. But- another day.

"So, here's what I'm thinking, Faunnaaaaaaaa," Fir said, drawing out the girl's name. "The three of us have some quality girl time or whatever with most of our attention on that pretty face of yours. And as an added bonus, if you're a good girl, I'll even let you have what's in this box- and yes it IS a hat."

The lucky girl was already trapped so he might as well throw her a present. Make the victim subject more willing and all.

"I'm good," she answered, puzzlement in her voice. Both Quinn and Fir were giving her the once-over. What, did she have something in her teeth? A twig in her hair? She started fidgeting with her clothes, about to tell Quinn that all she had planned was studying and SAWS stuff, but before she could respond, Fir replied for her.

And then he showed her the makeup bag and hat box.

Fauna's eyes alighted at the sight of the hat box, but she frowned at the makeup bag, causing her face to look like it was warring with itself. She quirked an eyebrow at his proposition, glancing from Fir to Quinn and then back again. They wanted to give her a makeover? That seemed to be the idea!

For a second, her face fell. This meant she really did look awful, enough so that the two freakiest-looking kids in school had decided to stage an intervention. Not that she thought freaky was a bad thing, but she could brush it off easier if the fashion-crazed group criticized her, because they had shiny shoes for brains. Fir and Quinn actually had style and guts that she admired.

"You really think I need it?" She asked, tone plaintive.

"I mean," Fauna started anxiously finger-combing her hair. "I know I don't wear much makeup. And I have looked... kinda pale lately. But I just don't think about it," she continued, feeling defensive.

Her eyes flickered to the hat box, wondering what was inside.

"You really think I need it?" Fauna asked, a tinge of insult present in her voice. Quinn felt like she'd just stomped a lamb to death and immediately threw a heavy arm over her new companion's shoulder. Giving the Hufflepuff a tight squeeze, Quinn shook her head frantically.
"Of course you don't need it!" she exclaimed, widening her eyes and grinning. "You're an absolute babe, Blakey. Fir and I just think it'd be rather awesome to see how you'd look if you were a founding member of the Trailer-Trash Glitterati. I'm not sure if you've heard but I'm a lifelong member." Quinn gave Fauna a wink, grinning once more and turning to Fir for back-up.

This wasn't meant to be an improvement - just a little bit of fun! Quinn knew how difficult a time Fauna was having - everybody had heard about Devlin, and some people didn't make it any easier. If Quinn was ever with Fauna when the Harpies of Hogwarts were giving her a hard time then all hell would break loose - she wasn't scared about punching that smug smirk off Whitman's face. A friend of Lou's was a friend of Quinn's.

"It's just our free evening to mess about, Fauna," she continued to explain guiding both Fauna and Fir down the corridor with an excitable spring in her step. "I've just got to see what you'd look in a pair of Fir's boots and some of my ripped tights." She couldn't contain her laughter. Picture Ferguson Amherst's face at Fauna's transformation would be priceless.

"Need it?" Fir asked, feigning surprise with perfect precision. "Fauna, darling, sweetie. If I may say so, you totally rock the au natural look. But, Fauna, I don't want you to try makeup. You do. You just haven't realized it yet."

Confusing yet charismatic dialogue. It would when any debate. Ever.

Fir let Quinn continue her explanation of of what she and Fir hoped to accomplish on Fauna's Look. Yeah, that was more or less the gist of it. Fir was here as a...creative director of sorts. It wouldn't do to have a brunette Gryffindor version of Quinn running around and Fir would strictly forbid it. But a little more edge to miss Fauna, now that was what he was after. And Fauna of course. She just didn't know it yet.

Fir fell in line on the other side of Fauna as they guided the girl down the corridor.

"And you see, Fauna darling while I find you just cute as a button as you are, I also want to see you strut down the hallway, head held high in killer clothing and a stunning look that makes me question my quest for the perfect man."

Fir paused and then added with a wink and smirk. "Plus you get a new haaaat."

It was awfully convenient one of Fauna's favorite things could be incorporated into Fir and Quinn's 'experiment.'

(Hope it's ok that she's led them to the common room!)


As the Glitterati Duo guided her down the corridor, flanking each side, Fauna started to relax. Their grins and energy were contagious, and she smiled back, amused by how well the two of them bounced their thoughts off each other in converting her to Sparkledom. Truth was, Fauna didn't need much convincing. She would much rather try an edgier, more daring look than attempt to conform to what was pretty or fashionable. Fir and Quinn owned their looks. Sure, she had a lot of hats, but how often did her outfits make a cohesive statement of defiance? Never! She threw on the fuzziest, brightest things she owned and left it at that.

Perhaps it was time for a change. The mention of funky boots and ripped tights reminded her of when she played dress up with the other Hufflepuff girls, except this time, she'd be going out into public! This time, she'd have the support of Fir and Quinn, two people who never seemed to give a rat's arse about what anyone thought of them.

When Fir told her that he wanted her to make him question his quest for the perfect man, she burst out laughing. It was a loud laugh that got her strange looks from the other students in the corridor. She shook her head and grinned, eyeing the hat box in his hands.

"Okay, okay," she finally agreed, leading them towards the Hufflepuff common room door. Before going in, she stopped and stood in front of them, crossing her arms.

"Ground rule: the rest of my hats, stay. They will not be going into the fire. They will not be flung from the owlery, or used as squid bait." Fauna had affected a very serious expression, but her mouth twitched as she nodded at them, making sure this point was clear.

They weren't making fun of her. They were... trying to do something nice for her. And Fauna really could use a bit of blush on her cheeks (when she wasn't already embarrassed over something).

She stepped into the common room and let them inside, feeling as if she were revealing some big Hogwarts secret. One of the first-years frowned at her over the couch, before whispering to her friend and leaving the room.

"Er, behold! The common room, with... squishy chairs and lots of yellow. Hobbit-ville," Fauna grinned, gesturing around.

"Your wish is our command, Fauna," Quinn said, her voice almost sparkling with excitement. "Devlin won't be able to control himself." She knew all about the stint inside, and the potential prison sentence, but Quinn liked to act as if it never happened, or that there would be no real consequences for her friend's actions. There was a fine line between extreme optimism and sticking your head in the sand, and Quinn had treading that line down to a fine art. Sometimes it was better to act like nothing had even happened.

"Your hats can remain, your clothes can remain, even your hairstyle can remain," Quinn explained, giving Fauna another nudge of confidence. "Consider this a tester, you're testing the waters of trailer trash!" She almost laughed picturing peoples' faces when they saw Fauna trotting down the corridors of Hogwarts with Quinn and Fir, looking exactly the same. Fauna Blake needed to stand out! The girl was drop-dead gorgeous, and this needed highlighting with a truckload of glitter and Doc Marten boots.

Taking a few steps into the Hufflepuff common room behind Fauna, she immediately gazed around the room, taking in the canary yellow surroundings. So, this was what the friendliest house in Hogwarts looked like, eh?
"I feel like I'm sleeping with the enemy..." Quinn whispered, mock horror in her eyes. It wasn't the worse thing Quinn had ever done in Hogwarts (she had a long list of ill-fated incidences) but this felt somewhat exhilarating. 

Fir gave Fauna his absolute very best innocent smile when she laid down the law. Kind of. It was cute of her to allow them access to the Hufflepuff common room, but Fir, being the little social flirt that he was, already had this term's password.

"Fauna darling, I would never dream of upsetting your precious hats any more than I would throw my own head-slash-hair wear down the drain," Fir solemnly swore as he was up to no good. He glanced at Quinn when she said she could keep everything. "Well..your haircut can stay, more or less, but I'll have something to say about the style."

Fir followed his two yearmates into the Hufflepuff dorms. He was so glad he did not live here. The yellow everywhere just did not complement Fir's color palette. Granted, he didn't wear green that often, but he could work with silver and the green enhanced his natural eye color.

Fir's brief mediation on color schematics was interrupted by Quinn's mock-horror.

"No, no, Quin, baby," Fir chided her with a playful grin. "That would be me, remember? It's Slytherin versus Gryffindor all the way. Rawr."

The last was accented by a one-handed clawing gesture and 'grr' face in Quinn's general direction.

"But, now that we're in Hobbitville, let's get started," Fir said, jumping the bag and the hat box on a table. "You're going to have to take a seat here Fauna or you two lovely ladies carry or levitate me up to the girls' dorm because the inanimate sexless castle seems to be just about the only thing that I can't gender-confuse."

Fauna was more than happy to pretend like impending doom wasn't in store for Devlin, and she was glad that Quinn could bring up his name without looking at her apologetically. She'd gotten enough strange looks after the Daily Prophet article this morning, and let out a sigh of relief when the common room door swung shut behind them. Peace! Quiet! Peace and... glitter!

She grinned and shook her head at the 'sleeping with the enemy' banter, and took a seat in one of the cushy armchairs. Fauna glanced at the stairs and laughed, imagining herself and Quinn attempting to lug up Fir as the staircase rolled underneath them. Best to stay in the common room!

"Okay," Fauna started fussing with her hair again, as if worried about making a good impression before the makeover even started. She smiled nervously at Quinn and Fir, a bit flattered by the attention.

"So, er... what's first?"

One of the younger years in the common room glanced up from his textbook, looked at her, and giggled at the scene. Fauna stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, um... do you two have any plans for Valentine's Day?" She asked lamely, trying to make conversation as she peeked over at Fir's bag of makeup.   

"I'd rather die than spend a second in the Slytherin common room," Quinn joked, taking a seat on the arm of Fauna's chosen chair. "Kitty Li makes me wanna vom." Besides Fir and a few others, Quinn found the house of the silver snake a horrible haven of rich bitches and angsty boys; Gryffindor on the other hand was a place of pure delight, smiling faces and all-round good people. Well, that's what Quinn had forced herself to believe.

"I want to do your make-up first, Blakey," Quinn demanded and immediately pulled up a stool opposite Fauna, grabbing her handbag and boyishly plonking it nearby. "Tell me if your face starts to itch, and I'll have you taken to Nagde before you turn into a big allergic red balloon." She gave the Hufflepuff a wink of amusement, blatantly teasing the latest addition to the 'Not-Gryffindor-But-So-Should-Have-Been' clan. Pushing back Fauna's hair, Quinn lightly started powdering the girl's face, biting her bottom lip in concentration. It was like watching a construction site worker hitting a Reniassiance statue with a spade. Quinn mistook defamation for a makeover; rough, ready and raw were three of Quinn's most loved words. Possibly loving them a bit too much judging by the dollop of green glitter on her left cheek.

"Valentine's Day?" Quinn asked, giving an uninspired sigh. "Probably going round to my boyfriend's house, drink a bottle of wine, cuddle up to a nice film." She paused, and then jokingly widened her eyes as if suddenly remembering something. "Oh yeah, don't have one!" Giving Fauna a smirk, she shrugged once more. "I have no idea mate, probably nothing. Romance and me don't go too well."

"Quinn darling, you have not LIVED until you have visiting my dorm. It's almost as beautiful and epic as I am," Fir informed the Gryffindor. "Besides, you have to make a trip to all the houses at least once before you graduate. It's like a rule or something."

Fir laughed at Fauna's fusing. "Girl stop twitching. Get your hands away from your face and your hair. You are in Quinn and my talented, capable and touchably soft and beautifully manicured hands. So sit back and relax my darling."

Fir let Quinn start the makeover while he contented himself with joining Fauna and making faces at the firstie. But then priories demanded his attention back on Fauna. Tweaking out the kiddies would have to come after his turned Fauna Blake into the stunner. With some help from Quinn.

"Okay Gold Dust, you scan tart the makeup. I'll supervise and start on her hair," Fir said happily, producing a brush from his bag and stepped slightly behind and to the side of Fauna, going right to work on getting out any stray tangles before the styling could begin.

And hey, Valentine's Day. Yet another aspect of Fauna and Quinn's lives Fir could work on perfecting by his mere presence.

"Quinn, you don't need no boyfriend for Valentine's Day. You can have me on your arm or you on my arm. You know whichever. And hey there's a free arm for you too Fauna, baby," Fir said. "Wouldn't want your arm to get cold or tired or anything."

Hey, just because Fauna was taken and Quinn and Fir had no romantic tension didn't mean he could chill out with either of them on Valentine's Day. Totally platonic Valentine's Days were seriously underrated.

"Now I can't confirm anything, 'cause it's not on me, but a little birdie told me that V-day at Hogwarts is going to be epic this year," Fir told them both as he brushed a section of Fauna's hair with a mischievous twinkle. Fir's cousin was a manager at Spellpunk and the guy the nosy, gossipy Slytherin had spent most of his time with over school holidays and breaks. He'd looked up to his cousin since he could look up.

Tae-song Toko had never been so happy to hear that girl’s voice, honest to goodness. He liked her plenty, but he’d never been quite this excited about it. Her heard Blake’s voice drifting up from the common room, and her laughter, and…a few other voices, but those didn’t quite matter right now. Usually, he’d never venture into a conversation with, you know, people. Not unless he absolutely needed to.

In this case, he kinda did.

Toko’s voice carried down the staircase of the boy’s dorm into the plush little common room, the sound of his little feet on the stone steps following quick after.

“Oh, um – hey Fauna, I was wondering if you had Monday’s herbology essay prompt and –“

The words were out before Toko even got to the bottom of the stairs, but when he did they were cut off by something between shock and terror. That mix was clear on his face. There were glittery foreign house people. In his common room. Putting things on Fauna’s face. Most importantly, they were LOUD glittery foreign house people.

Toko’s hands flapped up to his uniform shirt and vainly tried to do make himself more presentable by doing up his buttons. The lack of tie and undershirt and his collar slapped up around his ears didn’t help, really. Nor did the loose hang of the slacks on his hips sans-belt, nor his shoelessness and bright yellow besockedness. Housemates were kinda like family; having them see you all mussed up was fine. Other people though…urgh.

“Um. Sorry. I didn’t know you were…busy. And stuff. I’ll just, you know. Go,” Toko chirruped quietly, already scuttling backwards to the stairs before the sentence even finished.

Fauna tried her very best to stop fidgeting, and even clasped her hands together so she wouldn't accidentally knock Quinn's arm and poke her own eye out. Hey, it could happen! Quinn began working her makeup magic, and Fir started brushing her hair, while Fauna sat still and grinned goofily at the two of them every few moments. She couldn't help it. Though the situation was a bit odd and awkward, and she wasn't at all used to being close enough to Fir and Quinn to see the number of glitter sparkles on Quinn's face or the shine in Fir's hair, getting pampered and fussed over was kinda... fun!

She raised her eyebrows at Quinn joking about a boyfriend, and nodded in understanding when she admitted she didn't have plans. Fauna glanced at Fir, agreeing with him. They should all spend Valentine's Day together! Devlin wouldn't be able to come to the dance. Maybe they'd be able to go to the dance in a group.

"V-day is going to be epic," Fauna told Fir with a smile, having insider's information from the various clubs in school.

"And as for arms, um... we can all link ours together and go to the dance, the three of us," she suggested shyly. "And I mean, other people can..."

She was about to say that others could join their group date (unless of course Fir wanted to strut around with two girls on his arm), when Toko's voice sounded from the stairs. She heard something about Herbology and opened one eye, then the other, to give Quinn a moment's break from the glitter brush. Toko's look of horror was hard to miss. Toko's yellow socks were hard to miss! Fauna's eyes widened and she wondered... could it be possible? They wouldn't make her look worse, would they? Not on purpose!

The boy mumbled something and turned, and Fauna half-jolted in her seat before remembering that she was supposed to stay still. "Wait! Toko!" She called after him, voice a bit nervous. "I'm not busy. You can... come here?" She wanted to know what that look of horror was all about!

"Are you going to see..." Quinn said, drifting off and taking a second to think. Was it appropriate to say? Hell, they were in the company of friends. "I mean, are you going to be able to see Devlin?" Brushing on another stroke of green glitter to Fauna's left eyelid, Quinn tried her best not to look a little upset. "How is he, Fauna?" She needed to ask at some point; Devlin had been Quinn's mate. No, Devlin still was her mate, and Quinn cared about those on Team McAvoy. The whole business had been pretty shady, even for Dev; surely it wasn't serious enough for Azkaban? She shuddered at the thought.

Her somewhat bleak train of thought was derailed when Toko entered the Hufflepuff common room; he looked like he'd just seen Fauna cuddling a Basilisk. Quinn immediately sliced her fingers across her throat.
"Don't you dare say anything, mate!" The last thing she needed was to be in trouble again; infiltrating the enemy camp would be the icing on the cake of her Hogwarts career. As if being banned from trying out for Quidditch wasn't bad enough. "We come in peace."

Giving Toko a smile, just to establish that she was kidding, Quinn patted a nearby chair, inviting him to sit down.. "It's late, and nobody else will be milling in and out so you needn't worry about getting in trouble." The two were on good terms - acquaintances, but they weren't close friends. In true McAvoy style however, anybody was welcome to the glitter party.