you wouldn't really call her TYPICAL [OPEN]

[lils]

Lily held her book bag in her arms as she ran down the hallways, needing to get to the second floor. As she tripped for the dozenth time while running, she merely toppled herself upright before continuing towards her destination. There were many things that Lily was known for, one of them being keeping creatures within random places of the castle. At the moment, she had done just that. Lily had found a Kneazel, a cat-like creature with speckled fur and a lion-like tail, near the Forbidden Forest. As an animal lover, Lily had snuck the Kneazel back with her to the castle. She had hid the Kneazel within the premises of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom upon the second floor. Being her polite self, she had asked Moaning Myrtle if it was alright with her before she left the Kneazel, whom she fondly named, Helena, within the bathroom. Luckily for the young girl, Moaning Myrtle had gloomily agreed to which delighted Lily.

Within Lily's book bag, she had cat food which she had taken from her own cat, Hermia, supply as well as some of her left overs from dinner. Wondering whether Kneazel's ate cat food, she merely shrugged off the feeling. She had heard from her Auntie Hermione that her own cat, Crookshanks was part Kneazel and therefore ate the cat food she gave him. With this thought in mind, Lily was sure that Helena would eat the cat food she brought. If not, she still had the left overs and what creature would ever deny sausages and shepherd's pie? Smiling slightly, Lily finally arrived at the landing for the second floor. She looked up at the many every changing staircases as she was about to step upon the second floor landing. Suddenly the staircase began to move much to Lily's startlement. She had heard of the staircases changing but it never occured when she was walking upon it. Her light eyes came in contact with the second floor's landing once more, to which she hastily scrambled up on the staircase's railing and jumped off onto the second floor.

"Ow..." mumbled Lily as she rolled to a stop before slowly getting back on her feet. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the staircase made it's way a floor higher. "Third floor huh...?" she said with a smile before turning on her heel and making her way towards Moaning Mrytle's bathroom. "Better there then here!" said Lily in a sing-song voice. Giggling softly, she happily walked in the general direction of the sulky ghost's bathroom before she felt her shoes splash against water. Blinking, she looked down to see that the floor was completely soaked with water. "Ah...! It seems like Myrtle flooded the bathroom...! Again!" exclaimed Lily as she lifted her robes to see if they had gotten wet. The sudden realization dawned on her as she remembered the Kneazel within Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "Oh no! Helena!" With that thought in mind, Lily rushed towards the bathroom, slipping upon the wet stone flagged floor as she went. Willing herself not to fall, Lily skidded to a halt in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, grabbing onto the doorknob to support herself. It was much more flooded here which wasn't surprising considering it was this particular bathroom where all the water was pouring out. Flying the door open, Lily was greeted with quite the watery sight. All knobs to the faucets were gushing water as well as the toliets to which she heard sobbing coming from a particular one. "Helena?" she called out, her voice echoing off the stone walls.

Hearing a low 'mew' from inside one of the stalls, Lily let out a sigh before she ran across the flooded bathroom floor. This caused the more then accident-prone girl to slip and fall upon the ground, her bag flying out of her arms and onto the drenched floor. Hitting the ground, hard, Lily felt her teeth collide with tongue just as her cheek hit the stone hard floor. "OW!" she cried out in pain, a little more louder then she had actually intended. Clasping a hand over her mouth, Lily was well aware that she wasn't supposed to be in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It was off limits. She just hoped her shout didn't attract any unwanted attention. Seeing her blood stream, Lily made a face of disgust before sitting herself up. Feeling rather groggy, she reached up to wipe the blood that was flowing from her mouth. Letting out a slight pout as she saw that she was drenched with water (and blood), Lily let out a sigh. The things she got into. She then flinched as she realized she also had a cut on her lip from the quite harsh fall. Hearing a 'mew' once again, Lily turned around to see the Kneazel striding towards her.

"Helena," she greeted with a smile which caused her to flinch in pain. "Ouch...Well...Are you okay? You don't seem bothered that much from the water..." mused Lily, staring into the Kneazel's intelligent eyes thoughtfully. It jumped into Lily's lap, pressing it's face against hers and purring. The young girl giggled, flinched in pain from her action and then gently petted the Kneazel. "Better shut off the faucets at least..." sighed Lily as Helena the Kneazel jumped off her lap while she carefully stood up. Carefully inching her way towards the sinks, she began to twist and turn the knobs to shut off the water.

[cody]

Lost... dang well lost again! Cody cursed in rich country drawl under his breath as he made his way down....well, down a corridor, that was all that he could be sure of. Yesterday he'd gotten off at the same door of the staircase, he was sure of it, and had been on the fourth floor. Doing the same today however had gotten him plum nowhere that's what. It wasn't the fourth floor, of that He was pretty sure. For one thing this floor seemed a great deal on the quieter side. The fourth, hold'en the Library and all, things had seemed to move along at good working pace... this place though, it was just deserted to the point of seeming all fired creepy. The castle was huge, he was starting to think that the stair case had a mind all its own. That varmint they called Peeves was a constant burr in his chaps.. little jerk always seemed bent on singling him out.. even tried sealing his hat a time or two, and he'd gotten his foot caught in a vanishing step going on a good four of five times now. And folks wondered why he wasn't terribly keen on this place. Those little first years down in the dorms might think this place full of magic and wonder but personally he'd be just thrilled to find a cure for what he was and be able to go on home to Texas a whole and normal soul again.

His boots kept up a steady soft thudding against the stone floor as he walked and his hands were shoved deep in the pockets of his robes, one of the few articles of the school uniform he hadn't totally rebelled against. There had to be a class in use around here..a professors office... something that would hold someone who might be able to steer him in the right direction, didn't there? The whole damned floor couldn't be deserted after all. *splash* ... Cody pulled up short, and glanced down at his feet. Water?.... what in the name of the stars and stripes?... next thing he'd be finding out would be that this crazy place had lakes in some of its halls. Why not after all? It had gossip'in paintings.. little bat eared men working like slaves in the kitchen and apparently enjoying the fact, .. hell, it even had ghosts..that's right..actual blessed dead folks roaming around at will, not bothering to hide themselves because, hey! This was their home after all. Four of the specters were even a sort of mascot to the four houses of the school. So why not an indoor lake here and there? Sure thing...totally to be expected. Crazy English folk..

Muttering he carried on his way, shrugging to better shoulder his book bag he smirked as the water sloshed up the toe of either boot, unable to reach the top of his footwear and spill over to wet his socks. Reason twenty six why his boots beat out those frilly black shoes the school wanted them to wear. He'd been keeping count. An open door way came into view on his left and just as he was taking note that the flood seemed to be originating from it, a decidedly feminine shout of pain reached his ears. At that point Cody found himself faced in one devil of a delima.. on the one hand he'd pieced together from the the water and the fact that the voice had definitely been a girls that the room in question was in fact a ladies room. Completely and without a doubt off limits to any man brought up with a lick of respect. Just Cody's luck he'd been raised up with a barn load of it. Now what was so bad about that? Why couldn't he just cut-n-run, pass on by and hold to the respectful way in which he'd been brought up? Well now, the answer to that also came in the form of the gender behind that voice. It was pained, and she, whoever 'she' was, was apparently hurt and damn it all to hell if the same upbringing that had him holding back from that room was the reason that simply ignoring what he'd heard and being on his way would have him feeling guilty for who knew how long to come.

Sighing in resignation he plucked his hat from his head and held it up as a shield to block from view anything he really shouldn't be laying eyes on. Hesitantly he scooted around the door frame just inside the bathroom and spoke in an abashed voice, his nerves and embarrassment clearly evident. " Um.. miss? ....Pardon my intrusion.. heard you cry out and wanted to make sure everything was.. well, .. is everything alright?.."

[lils]

Lily had just finished twisting the final faucett knob to the sink, ending the once neverending gush of water. Flipping her dark red hair behind her shoulder, she felt Helena slink herself around Lily's ankles causing the girl to giggle softly. Reaching down, Lily scooped up the Kneazle in her arms as Helena began to purr in contentment. Twiddling with the strands of her hair, Lily was on the verge to go and speak to Myrtle before a voice caused her to halt in her tracks. Jumping in surprise at the sudden voice, Lily spun around to see that of a boy whose hat was in front of him, shielding his eyes. She felt a wave of relief surge through her when she didn't recognize him as any Prefect. Blinking, she tilted her head slightly to the side giving him a rather peculiar look before walking over to him. She smiled as he spoke in a polite manner, the uneasiness he was feeling, clearly evident in his tone. Lily began to wonder why he was uneasy, tapping her chin in thought she looked over at him when he asked if everything was alright. Lily bit her lip, so she had cried out louder then she intended to after all. At least she hadn't attracted a Prefect or someone along those lines. If that were the case, Lily was sure she'd be in trouble.

Before she could reply to his inquiry, the Kneazle leapt out of her arms and landed lightly on the boy's shoulder. "Ah..." Lily reached over to grab Helena, only for her to dodge Lily's hand. A purr sounded from Helena to which Lily smiled pleasantly, if Helena liked this boy, he couldn't be bad. After all, Kneazles had the uncanny ability of detecting suspicious or distrustful individuals. "Seems as though Helena likes you..." observed Lily, reaching over to stroke the Kneazle's soft, speckled fur. The female Kneazle purred once again, before jumping down from the boy's shoulders, choosing to slink herself around his ankles instead. Giggling lightly, Lily looked up at the boy before her, replying to his question he had asked earlier, "Mm...I'm fine," she assured the boy, her tone taking that of politeness as it usually did when she didn't know someone so well. "Only fell...No big deal," mumbled Lily, this was more or less the truth as she had only hurt herself when she fell down. "It's an everyday thing that happens anyway," Lily added jokingly with a soft laugh. She peered at him, reaching over to gently tap on his hat. "May I ask why..." she trailed off before it dawned on her as to why he was so sheepish with his hat held before him to block his line of vision. This was a girls bathroom after all. "Oh!" she looked up at him before smiling, placing her hands behind her back as she did so. "It's okay you know. I don't think this would really count as a girls bathroom. No one comes in here after all," explained Lily before she came to a pause in her explanation. She supposed it would be odd to say such a thing when she was within this particular bathroom.

"Er...Well...This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," added Lily hastily. Observing him thoughtfully, Lily had recognized him as a Hufflepuff whom she seen from time to time in the halls when she was on her way to class. However, this was the only information she knew about this particular boy. Apparently he was one of those rare polite individuals upon contact as well. "May I ask what your name may be?" she inquired of him, tilting her head to the side curiously. "I'm Lily. Lily Potter," she introduced herself giving him a pleasant smile. The Kneazle who had taken a liking to the other individual, now slinking herself around Lily's legs mewed. Giggling softly, Lily reached down to scoop up the feline-like creature once again. "And this is Helena."

[cody]

Behind the cover of his hat he waited for the owner of the earlier shout to answer him. Saying he was a little surprised would have been a slight understatement as the kneazle lept to his shoulder and produced a rumbling purr. His shoulders and arm gave a jerk causing his hat to do the same, though not enough to dislodge the creature. By the time the shock had worn off enough to react to the animals sudden display of affection it had also sunk in that she meant him no harm. Grinning a little he lifted a hand to scrub gently at her ears.. the.. cats? No that couldn't be right, or at least not completely. Either that or the poor critter had been dealt the bad hand in her litters game when it came to genes. It had a set of over-sized ears, a spotted pelt, and a tail that resembled a lions. Poor thing looked like a mixing of wild cats experiment gone sour. Not that she was awful to look at or anything.. she was just.. different. But then most everything in Cody's life these days fit that description. The girls comment on the thing liking him brought a soft laugh from his chest.

"Friendly little critter isn't she?" His eyes followed the animal as she lept to the ground and began winding about his boots. His attention was drawn up to the underside of his hat once more though as the girl giggled and a small and warm smile creased his lips. It had been a long while since he'd heard someone laugh like that with the source of their happiness having anything to do with him. Though after a moment he gave the smallest shake of his head and the smile faltered. He couldn't be letting his guard down like that. He kept his distance from others for a reason.. no one with a laugh that infectious should have anything to do with.. well with what he was. Even if they weren't aware of the danger. He needed to see that she was ok and then be on his way. That would be for the best.. the right thing to do. So why then when she spoke, telling him she'd slipped but was just fine, did he not simply say that he was glad to hear it and turn to leave? He was still at war with himself over this fact, trying to force himself onto the smart trail that would have him back in the hall in the next few seconds, when a light tap on the other side of his hat pulled him from his thoughts and caused him to lift a brow. She didn't understand why he was holding it up? Surely common decency wasn't a foregin idea to the people here? The grin from a moment before found its way to his face again as she seem to suddenly realize why he had it in place.

Before he could banish the smile and remind himself, again, that he should be on his way she'd caught his curiosity by successfully confusing him. So... this wasn't 'technically' a girls bathroom ..because... because of something called a Moaning Myrtle? Or someone it must be since a 'thing' can't really own a bathroom. Why in the name of Texas would someone name their kid 'Moaning' though? Seemed a pretty cruel thing to do. Maybe it was a nickname? Given to a school bully that had the girls afraid to stop in at this particular toilet? Though home schooled before Hogwarts he'd run into his own share of would be bully's on the neighboring ranches from time to time.. they'd been quick to learn that you didn't bully Cody Witlock and you damn sure didn't mess with his little friend Calie. That random thought brought a twinge to his heart and he pushed the thought away, keeping the ache at bay by focusing only on the here and now. It couldn't be a bully though because what kind of a name was 'Moaning' for a bully? The name suggested someone who whined and carried on a lot.

At any rate, whoever Moaning Myrtle was she was apparently reason enough that the room they were standing in wasn't used for the purpose it had been originally made. Which meant that it was highly unlikely there was anything beyond his hat to offended with his gaze. Just to be sure he first sort of peeked over the edge of it's brim, his light blue eyes skimming the area and finally falling on the little redhead standing before him. She was introducing herself, Lily.. pretty name.. Yep, it was safe.. just the girl, the spotted critter that had swapped ankles and was now loving on the girls, and a whole mess of wet floor. He'd been just about to give her his name when the image of what he'd just skimmed over really sank in.. Hang on!..his eyes jerked back to the girl and widened. "Son of a.. ! .. . ergh.....Horn'd toad!.. I thought you said you were fine!" Doing his best not to curse in her presence he dug in his pocket and pulled out a clean red handkerchief. As he shook it out and offered it to her the corner fell visible bearing some less than perfect hand stitched embroidery work done in black thread.. C.T. & C.W B.F.F..
"Just take this and press it on your lip.. alright?" Frowning he eyed her lip and then let his gaze drifted briefly over the rest of her, looking fro any other parts of her that might have ended up as 'just fine' as her lip was. He spoke spoke a bit absently while trying to spot any additional damage. " Names Cody.. Cody Witlock.. and its a pleasure to meet you Lily..." Finally satisfied that she wasn't bleeding from any other place she'd chosen to shrug off he sighed in relief and allowed a smile to return to his lips. He looked down at the cat as it mewed and couldn't help adding his own soft chuckle to Lily's giggle. "...Helena to for that matter.. "

Pulling his gaze back to Lily's eyes he lifted an eyebrow in a confused and yet curious sort of way. " So who's this Moaning Myrtle you mentioned? Can't say as I've met her.. Course there's quite a lot of folks I've yet to meet here so... " He shrugged as if to say nothing new there.

[lils]

Lily smiled warmly as she watched the boy before her scratch at Helena's ears. At least someone shared her fondness for animals, no matter what animal she'd bring within the castle. Then again, it wasn't as if Kneazles were that bad of a magical creature to bring within the castle's premises. If anything, it was literally a wizarding pet. Helena was rather different from her Korat cat Hermia, however, as the other was a typical everyday cat. Lily was a little skittish with bringing Helena back to the dorm with her for she wasn't sure if Hermia would be very fond of the Kneazle. Did cats get along with Kneazles? They looked similar though they were still rather different as well...Hearing the other's soft laugh caused the red head to peer over at him and smile, pulling herself from her thoughts. Every smile, every laugh that took place within her presence was always something Lily personally enjoyed. After all, such things were rather contagious in a sense and Lily was one of those individuals that usually smiled and laughed to begin with.

Nodding to his statement, Lily smiled faintly as she watched Helena begin to make her way towards Lily's fallen bag. It was then she remembered that she had gotten food for Helena and that was the reason as to why she was within the flooded bathroom to begin with. Walking over to the bag, Lily pondered his statement. "Well...I learned that Kneazles," she looked over at Helena who gazed back, "Which is the species of this lady here," smiled Lily, reaching over to pat the creature's head. "Are very intelligent creatures. They're able to instantly tell whether an individual is friend or foe." She opened the bag and removed some leftovers, offering it to the Kneazle who happily began eating. Smiling cheerfully, Lily let out a tinkling laugh. "Seeing how much she likes you, I'm positive Helena classifies you under the 'friend' catergory," she told him. It was always nice to make new friends as Lily practically made it a hobby.

She was, however, aware of the silence that bestowed upon the boy before her. As Lily knelt before Helena, observing the Kneazle as she ate the leftovers she had brought, Lily tilted her head slightly to the side. Taking in the silence, she got the feeling of it being more so confused on his part which made Lily wonder as to why that was so. Perhaps it was because she had confused him with the statement that had left her lips a few moments ago. After all, how could a girls bathroom not be a girls bathroom? If she was in his shoes, it wouldn't exactly make sense to her to begin with. Reaching into the bag, Lily took out the cat food before also offering that to Helena. Standing from her knelt postion, she supposed it would be wise to explain the reasoning of this particular lavatory.

Before she could do so however, the boy had removed his hat from his line of vision, caught sight of her and became obviously startled at what he saw. Jumping slightly, Lily gave him a quizzical look before remembering a rather important detail of her appearance. She had gotten hurt, her lip was bleeding. "B-but...!" she tried to protest before falling silent. Running a tongue along her lip, she tasted the metallic of blood, however, it wasn't a big deal. Well, to Lily at least as she eyed the red handkerchief that he was offering to her. It wasn't in her nature to accept help from others, though something upon the handkerchief had caught her curiosity. The black threaded embroidery intertwined with the red cloth, neatly forming the letters of C.T. & C.W. B.F.F. Curiosity tugged at the corners of her mind before she heard his request. Shaking her head politely at his offer, "No thank you. I'll be okay," she declined in a soft tone, her stubborness clearly evident as she watched him check to see if she was hurt anywhere else. Catching his name, Lily smiled in a pleasant manner, truly pleased at being able to meet someone new. "It's nice to meet you as well Cody," she told him, a happy note clearly evident in the tone of her voice. Beaming at Cody as he added Helena as well, Lily laughed lightly. Remembering the letters, Lily looked up at him curiously. "If I may ask...The letters on your handkerchief... What do they stand for?"

At the next thing Cody said, a small smile crept to her lips. "Oh...Yes. Moaning Myrtle. She's the ghost that haunts this bathroom. It's the reason why no one really comes here," Lily explained her gaze trailing from Cody's eyes to the stall that stood a few feet away from them. Uncontrollable sobbing could be heard from behind the stall's door, followed by the occassional splash of water. "Er...Would you like meet her?" asked Lily sheepishly, placing her hands behind her back.

[cody]

OOC: it 'so' fails in length sorryyyy I'll try for a bit more next post.

So the little fuzzball was something called a Kneazle. Cody looked down at the the little creature again briefly. She must only sense the level of trustworthiness a person had at the given moment rather than what they could be capable of. Because he was sure if she could sense what someone was like at other times, the way their mind worked given certain circumstances, she'd be clawing and spitting his backside right out the door and away from Lily at sensing what he became each month at the full moon. If she had he wouldn't have blamed her in the least, how could he when she'd be hitting a bulls-eye with her judgment call?

When Lily's refusal of his handkerchief settled on his ears his frown returned, it grew deeper than ever and was joined by a very guarded look in his eyes as she asked after the letters on the corner of the cloth. More than anything he wanted to turn and simply walk away. The last thing he wanted was to have to pull forth the painful memory that would surface if he even thought of the origins of that red cloth, let alone tried to explain it. It was none of this girls business after all... really he didn't even know how it had found its way into the stack of kerchiefs he kept in his drawer for daily use. He'd thought he'd put it up.. away. Tucked it the box beneath his bed with the school shoes he refused to wear. The box that held the few other small tokens that were his keepsakes of his and Calie's friendship, a friendship he felt he'd betrayed and therefore was as unable to bring himself to view the items, take joy in the good memories they stirred, as he was to give them up. And yet that stubborn nature clear in the girl before him was so similar to another he'd dealt with before. This girl Lily, stubborn as she might be acting about it, was in fact hurt. True it might not be bad, but she was bleeding, he could take a good guess that this bathroom wasn't kept stocked if no one ever used it, and everything she currently had with her seemed soaked. He watched her for a moment, letting her answer about Moaning Myrtle.. but then shook his head in mild frustration. Since coming to Hogwarts he'd tried to filter out the use of the words ma'am and Miss from his speech, seeing as, crazy as it seemed to him, a few of the girls at the school seemed to be offended by what he was brought up to believe was polite. But as he pled his case to Lily the term of respect manage to slip into his speech again.

"Look Miss Lily, Your lips bleeding somethin' fierce,.. now I know you think it'll be just fine, and odds are it will. And I know you don't really need my help.. But here's the thing, If I'm not able to do 'somethin' to help..I'll be feeling like a real scoundrel for a long stretch to come. So what do you say we have a trade off.. If you'll press this to your lip, its dry so it'll help stop the bleeding...then I'll.. " He drew a breath and grimaced.. " I'll tell you what the letters are.. satisfy your curiosity while we wait for the pressure of the cloth to get to work.. what do you say? " He pulled a wide and he hoped charming smile onto his face and then glanced around at the water covered floor. " Of course we might want to go somewhere else to talk.. seeing as its awful wet in here. I can let you introduce me to Moaning Myrtle.. um..I guess? Then walk you back to your common room entrance if you want, we can talk on the way.. I'm guessin' you wouldn't mind some dry clothes about now?"

He cast an apprehensive glance at the stall from which the sobs were coming. Another ghost? How was it possible that with all the campfire stories he'd heard on ghosts and specters and the like back in Texas he'd never actually laid eyes on one back home. Yet here the fool things were present around every turn?