WELCOME

The thunder seemed to shake the building with every loud clap that echoed through the halls of the seemingly ancient school. Aurora wasn't overly fond of thunderstorms, for their loud, sudden roars. Though she wasn't particularly frightened of them either, the castle took on a much darker appearance during these storms and Aura automatically began to feel a bit paranoid because of it. The candles that light the halls cast eery shadows along the walls, though Aura paid them little mind. She had things to do, or at least she was intending to do her homework for the day. She was walking to the library where she could actually manage to get some work done. Her fellow housemates tended to be rather rambunctious and loud in the common room, and she preferred the quiet of the library when she needed to think. She was done with classes for the day, and thus had been heading to the library from the Gryffindor tower to seek solitude. Part of her was hoping that on the way she might bump into someone to accompany her, because studying alone was well...boring.

Zhou for instance, always had a way of making things interesting. He was really the person she had in mind, and was hoping to join her. But of course she hadn't really thought about it until the last second...and she wasn't about to actually ask. That would seem suspicious. She didn't want anyone to know that she might actually find the Ravenclaw male attractive...or snoggable. Yes, she went there. So she had sort of hoped that he might just wander out of the Ravenclaw common room and bump into her on her way. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and she did try walking past the entrance to their common room enough times for the portrait to start sending her sly knowing looks. Damned portrait had been there forever and seemed to have read her mind! Bloody thing!

She had decided to continue on her path though, after her evil plan had failed to work. She didn't want anyone else besides the portrait to figure out what she had been up to. She really didn't want to be the center of any gossip...she preffered to be the one making snarky comments, not the other way around! Sighing loudly, and tossing her hair over her shoulder she continued through the hall ignoring the flashes of lightning that occasionally lit up the halls. A sudden noise caused her to pause though, the sound of a door slamming open. Frowning, she slowly turned around expecting there to be another student, or even a professor greeting her. Instead easing out from the door was a mirror image of herself, but, not. The Aurora before her looked much different then her, and she began to tremble in fear at what she saw. Blood oozed from her mouth, dribbling down her chin and neck. A large gaping wound in her stomach, and her eyes seemed to stare blankly at her.

Aurora stood there frozen for several moments as the thing that looked like her inched towards her. Her trembling worsened and tears began sliding down her cheeks. Finally she let out a defeated scream and ran, dropping her school bag and took off back towards where she had came, calling for someone to help her.

A creepy day such as this required only one thing...

Rereading Frankenstein!

The thunderstorm had created the perfect, most deliciously, spine-tingling creepy atmosphere for reading the classic novel. Sitting in a small nook off a mostly deserted corridor (he'd enlarged a pillow to make the stone cranny a touch more comfortable), Zhou used his wand as a book lamp and read. Quietly. A most unusual event that happens only once in a blue moon. The quiet part. He tended to read with the same enthusiasm and flair that he put to everything else. But that wasn't conducive to the scary feel he was going for. He wanted to feel like he was sitting in a dark room watching a horror flick, nothing but a screen and a mostly eaten bowl of popcorn between him and certain death! Thrilling, isn't it?

Most students would be surprised to find that Zhou enjoyed reading, and did so quite often. It just wasn't very useful stuff. On the occasion, he would read the text for class. But more often he was concerned with reading only what interested. Anything boring and dull was left for someone else to deal with. Poor sods. Nothing worse than an utterly wretched and boring book. Even B OR C-rated movies were better than a bad book, in his opinion. Which was why he'd seen Attack Of the Fifty foot Woman at least five times and not read "A Treatise On The Magical Components of Common Herb Garden Plants". Dull.

As the action in the novel paced along with the steady thump thump of his beating heart, he turned the page with bated breath, the anticipation of what was to come coiling somewhere in his stomach. Just as he was about to turn another page, a scream echoed down the corridor. He reacted as any sensible young man reading a horror novel in a darkened corridor would: screamed. Like a girl. It would have been terribly embarrassing had he not been scared out of his wits. He jumped off the nook when he yelled and sent the book flying across the corridor. When he realized where he was, he laughed at himself and looked down the corridor, only to have his jaw drop open in surprise.

Along came Aurora Blackwood, running as though from some fiend of hell and screaming with all the power of a banshee. Relieved that it was just Aurora and not a real banshee out to get him, he chuckled at himself and blushed a little at his own moment of cowardice. He raised both his hands and smiled with that easy grin. "Oi, Aurora. What's all the screaming for? Was it a toupée? An evil, oily toupée out to get you?"

Whatever it was the had frightened her, he had yet to see. Little did he know that it lurked beyond in the still dark section of the corridor, the only sound it made was a soft shuffling. With his eyes on Aurora, he didn't catch the brief moment where the decaying doppelganger of the girl was illuminated by thunder and lightning.

Her running came to a stop shortly when she came across a familiar face. She frowned, wondering where the hell Zhou had been hiding all this time when she had been looking for him previously. However instead of asking, or even wondering for very long, she looked over her shoulder again and let out a feminine sounding squeak before throwing herself into his arms. She hated being the damsel in distress sort, but there were apparently zombies roaming about Hogwarts! If anyone knew what to do it would be Zhou, and if he didn't she would be screwed...for the moment. She would run all through Hogwarts, or just plain away from whatever the creature was that seemed keen on tormenting her. She didn't even consider the fact that it could be a boggart, despite the fact that it had been in a closet. She was just too overwhelmed by seeing herself, dead...

"No! It's not a bloody toupée! There are zombies in Hogwarts Zhou! Zombies!" Her voice sounded nearly hysterical by now, and she even flinched slightly at how it sounded as she clung to him. In any other circumstance she would rather take a full speeding bludger then have any male that she fancied see her cry, or well, be this...the word escaped her. Weak perhaps? She was a gryffindor she was supposed to be brave! Not run away screaming, even if the site hit every one of her hidden fears that often plagued her mind during her nightmares. She heard the shuffling once more and whimpered loudly, burying her face in his chest shaking her head wildly. They had to do something, not jsut stand here in the hall way waiting to get eaten alive!

Letting go of him, she looked down the hall way she saw the creature once more hanging by the closet door which it had escaped from, watching them with keen interest. Why wasn't it moving much farther then the closet? Aurora nudged Zhou with her elbow, and pointed, before ducking behind him. "See? Zombie! Only I'm not dead...I think. You'd tell me if I was dead right?" She asked, sounding relatively worried that she had died and was now a ghost and no one had bothered telling her. In the moment it seemed like a perfectly believable option. The boggart, once spotting Zhou seemed to hover, as if decided whether to stay in it's current form or take on Zhou's boggart, before choosing to stay as the dead girl as it was getting the most reaction for the time being.

Zhou, like any healthy young man of his age, rather liked it when pretty young women threw themselves at him. The crying bit was a touch of a downer for this momentous occasion, but he convinced himself to overlook the waterworks and focus on the fact that a pretty girl who wasn't basically his sister was hugging him. He was conscious of the front of his shirt soaking up her tears, but didn't really care. The clothes would live. And so would Aurora, though it seemed she believed otherwise, looking at her terror. He gently put his arms around her in a purely comforting gesture and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder.

"Whoa. All right, I've got you. Don't worry. Everything will be fine. The zombies wi- what?! Zombies?! Aurora, zombies don't even exist." He thought about that and then reconsidered. He lived in a world where werewolves, vampires and other things that go bump in the night thrived. And it wasn't exactly news to him. He'd known all that stuff was real his whole life. Who was to say that zombies didn't exist either? One would think that after acknowledging the existence of a werewolf, one would not feel fear over something as trivial (by comparison) as a zombie, but that eerie chill ran up his spine just the same. Freaky.

Her nudging and talking distracted him from that train of thought. "Huh? Uh, yeah... Of course I would tell you if you were dead. What decent human being wouldn't? And see what? I don't see- MORGANA'S LACEY KNICKERS, WHAT IS THAT THING?!" He would be embarrassed later by the cracking of his voice at the end of that question when he wasn't trying to mentally jump start his heart.

He saw her! It? No, her? Oh no, definitely an it. After so many hours of scary movie night over consecutive holidays spent with Mal, Zhou knew exactly how to identify a zombie. This one was silver screen quality, and not that fake B-rated horror crap. This was real. Even smelled real. A very dead Aurora was standing in the doorway of a closet a little ways down the corridor, peering at the two students through equally dead, glazed over eyes. He shuddered in revulsion at the sight of her stomach, or what was left of it, and said to Aurora, while keeping his eyes on the monster version of the Gyrffindor girl. "As a decent human being and concerned citizen, I am officially informing you that you are in fact dead. And not dead. How are you dead? God you look terrible. Remind me not to every visit you when you die. All corpsified and gross. Oh, sick. I think I just saw maggots burrowing into you."

Scary as the sight of this dead version of Aurora was, he found himself morbidly intrigued by the whole thing. Was this someone's terrible elaborate prank, meant to scare the wits out of poor Aurora? If it was, they did an impeccable job! They would have had to first make a polyjuice potion, and then somehow imitate the decaying state of a dead body. Illusion, most likely. Frowning, he slowly bent to pick up his wand, still making sure to watch the zombie creature, and wrapped his fingers tightly around it. The texture of the wood felt reassuring, anchoring him to reality. No way this was real. He glared at the thing, motioned Aurora to stay back, and strode forward.

"Fess up, you wankers! We know this isn't real!"

The creature stilled as he approached, and then warped right in front of him. The image twisted and spun in on itself before forming a sight that he had not expected nor wanted: a thick, black cloak hovering and slithering just above the ground. A lethifold. The heat of his own fear dried his mouth and he suddenly felt as though the air were heavy. He couldn't breathe. What was a lethifold doing in Hogwarts?

Any other time, Aurora would have loved an opportunity to fake some sort of fear as an excuse to properly throw herself into the arms of an attractive guy so he could play her knight in shining armor. Unfortunately for her she had never really had the foresight to do such a thing, not to mention currently she wasn't faking her fear at all. In her mind she was very likely to die, meet her worse fears. She did not realize that the creature lurking just within view was something that could be easily taken care of for the time being, at least until they alerted the professors, who could properly remove the thing from the castle. Zhou's attempts to comfort her weren't doing much good, but at this point he had no idea what she was talking about.

"You should try telling the zombie that - apparently it didn't get that memo." She stated in a deadpan, unable to resist the urge to reply so snarkily despite the situation. It was there, clear as day just lurking and watching them! Obviously it was real, and what was scarier is her concern of dark magic? Could dark magic creature some sort of twisted creature like that? She had no idea, she had never heard of anything but werewolves and vampires existed right? And those dark creatures she had only heard about in history books - Basilisks that were once bred by dark wizards. She was a muggle born, and as far as she knew she couldn't honestly say if any of this were possible. But he didn't sound completely reassured either. It only made her shake worse.

Morgana's lacy knickers? Of course only Zhou would shout something random like that at a time like this! Not even mentioning the historical inaccuracy...in the 500's they probably had some sort of small clothes...not lacy knickers. She didn't bother mentioning this, as her eyes were more focused on the dead version of herself that watched them, and Zhou's reaction. She had no idea what to do, and despite the fact that she should be the one bravely marching forward to fight the beast that took her form she was cowering behind someone she thought would probably do a better job then her. Zhou was smart, a Ravenclaw and probably one of the most clever guys she knew. He would think of something right? "Thank you for the compliments Zhou. I'll make a note in my living will not to invite you to my funeral." She muttered, rolling her eyes slightly.

She had no problem staying back, and away from the creature though when he motioned for her too. She nodded a bit, though she figured he could not see the gesture with his back to her as he strode towards the undead beast with her face. She really hoped she didn't look that messed up when she died. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she watched, waiting for Zhou to vanquish the beast before them. Instead she was surprised to see that when Zhou neared the thing it changed forms. She frowned for a moment, before she wiped at her eyes and pulled her own wand from hem of her skirt. "Zhou! It's a boggart! Think of something funny!"

For a moment, the world had stopped. Only Zhou and the lethifold existed in the world, and the one clearly intended to enjoy the other as an entree. He swallowed, loudly. Seeing one again always brought him back to that family vacation, and the close save by his parents. The lethifold in that jungle only just enveloped little Zhou's body when his father scared it off, in the nick of time. Had his parents not ventured out to search for him until much later, he would have been suffocated and then slowly digested by the creature. The suffocating bit was unpleasant enough, but the digestive process must be worse, if one were alive to experience the sensation.

"Zhou! It's a boggart! Think of something funny!"

Aurora's voice sounded like it was muffled, or maybe coming from far off, then sharpened suddenly. Her order jolted him back into reality and he shifted his sweaty grip on his wand. He nodded, and opened his mouth to speak. Nothing. After loudly clearing his throat and regaining his powers of speech, he said, "Right. Funny. Uh.."

He wracked his brain. What did he use last time he had to laugh off a boggart? That had been in a school-regulated, relatively safe situation. All of the sudden he realized it was much easier to think of something when a capable professor was standing near at hand. What was it again? Something from a children's movie. With catchy musical numbers. Oh yeah! With a slight grin, he raised his wand and yelled in his best Quidditch captain voice (normally used to frighten his team into playing harder or faster or stronger or telling off the beaters for lazing about), "RIDDIKULUS!"

The threatening black cloak hovering over the ground suddenly stiffened and then squirmed as he forced the shape-shifting monster to form a new image: that of the flying carpet from Disney's Aladdin. Complete with tassels and a small red cap that normally belonged to the monkey. Whatever it's name was. He honestly couldn't remember the name of the carpet either. Did it even have a name? Whatever it was, it was funnier than the scary lethifold shape from before. Zhou laughed loudly, relief that it was only a boggart and not a zombie plague mixed in with real humor over the entire situation. The carpet shook like a leaf when it heard the laughter and seemed to have a seizure, which only made him laugh harder. Finally, he brandished his wand and rolled the carpet up. Another wave of the wand accompanied by a "Incarcerous!"

Ropes quickly wrapped around the struggling, wriggling carpet, securing it in a rolled position. He stuffed the thing back into the closet and slammed the door shut. Another spell locked the thing inside, and a final spell added huge neon pink, glow in the dark letters that read: "Warning! Contains Boggart!" Just in case some silly second-year comes waltzing along and fancies hiding inside a closet from some random, weird reason. He sighed and leaned against the door, looking at Aurora.

"Well. That was exciting. You have one effing creepy boggart. D'ya know tha'? Shhhii-iiite, 'Ro. Damn, now would be a really great time for a stiff drink." His lips quirked up into a grin, and he chuckled. Stiff, like a corpse. "Heh. Maybe not that stiff..."

Well at least Zhou was able to focus himself, and take care of the boggart. Really, Aura was impressed with his ability to focus himself, despite facing down his worst fear. She hadn't been able to do it, but really that wasn't exactly surprising. She knew exactly what sort of coward she was, when it came to the fears that haunted her own heart and plagued her mind. It took a lot for someone to stand up to something like that, something she could only assume had some sort of history for him. She had never seen anyone else with a Lethifold for a boggart - and she only knew what it was because of Defense Against the Dark Arts. She did recognize what he turned the boggart into as well - something from a muggle movie. It intrigued her, since as far as she knew he was a pureblood. Weren't purebloods very...magical and looked down upon anything without magic? It piqued her interest, and she decided she would ask Zhou about it later.

"Pink tape Zhou? I didn't realize you were in touch with your feminine side," Aura purred in amusement at the tape he had decorated the door with the boggart with. Surely he could have used yellow warning tape? Wasn't that the first thing that came to one's mind when thinking of brightly colored tape? She wondered if he just had pink tape lying around and what on earth he would use it for. Knowing Zhou, it was hard to figure out where the possibilities began and where they would end. She could imagine him wrapping presents with pink tape, somehow ending up tied up in pink tape...yep. She should not go there.

"Exciting? You have a very interesting opinion of what's exciting...I do believe you've let out a few girlish screams with the boggart for it to be considered fun. You're so odd." She stated, beginning to wander over to him, still weary of the boggart that was lurking behind the taped door. She smiled at him, feeling a bit shy, suddenly because of the way she had reacted because of a damned boggart. But at least he didn't seem to hold it against her. "I'm assuming you mean alcohol? I would imagine the Ravenclaws would have liquor hidden away for after exams are over." She teased quietly as she neared, only to stumble as her foot got caught in her bag she had previously dropped.

So much for being flirtacious.

Zhou gave her a look that implied he was offended by her statement and clasped a hand over his wounded heart. In touch with his feminine side?!

"Ro. Any man worth his salt is in touch with his feminine side. Haven't you seen my shirt? Says 'real men wear pink'? No? You're missing out, my friend. I'm hot stuff in that shirt. And I happen to like pink, thaaaank you. It brings out the color of my eyes."

That was bogus. He really had no idea what pink brought out in his features. For all he knew, it washed him out. Not that he really knew that much about it. He'd just overheard girls talking about it. Zhou liked to look good and dress well, but he didn't necessarily know the lingo behind the odd science that girls attached to physical appearance. It at times left him dumbfounded on the occasions when he did understand what they were saying. He folded his arms across his chest and gave her a pointed look.

"Hey, a man can scream when he thinks a banshee is after him. Witch, I literally thought you were a dark creature out to kill me and eat my heart with her dark creature buddies. I don't think you're on any ground to josh about my screams. And I'm proud of reaching such high notes... Well, no, it's embarrassing. I'll bribe you not to tell anyone. Butterbeer on me, yeah?"

When she stumbled, he immediately reacted and reached out to steady her, his hand on her elbow. He grinned a little and joked, "It's my charm,isn't it? Don't worry. Completely normal. Girls stumble all the time around me. I say it's charm. Mallory always says its my ugly mug. But she's dating Aubrey so she's forfeited any say in the matter by default."

Once he was sure she was standing firm, he moved away to pick up his things. Poor Frankenstein was lying open on the floor, pages down. He snatched it up, dusted it off, and stuck it in the school bag lying forgotten by his little niche. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, he looked back at Aurora, sheepishly admitting.

"Not gonna lie, I think my hands are still shaking. Maybe we should walk around a bit to see if other students are okay? Yes, I did just offer something useful we could do. Don't forget to breath. I can be somewhat responsible, you know. Like when first years could be eaten alive by Boggarts at any moment. Or hear you screaming and die of fright."

Aurora grinned, but barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Zhou's theatrics regarding his pink shirt. It was times like this she was unsure of exactly why she liked him in the first place, but glancing at the door behind him she was quickly reminded of exactly why. Despite all of his quirks, he was exceptionally quick thinking and, in reality much braver then her and he was only a ravenclaw. Perhaps they had put her in the wrong house, or maybe she just hadn't reached that 'fire within' herself yet. That was what she liked to believe, that she could be the hero if she actually put her mind and effort into it. She just got a little overwhelmed when it came to facing her own boggart when she wasn't expecting it - especially in Hogwarts halls!

"Worth his salt? What exactly does that mean, per se? It sounds very western and cowboyish. Were you watching cowboy movies again? And no, I have not seen your pink shirt. I have a feeling that if I did I would feel vaguely disturbed at the sight. And you should change it to say 'hot stuff' so it can be ironic. Like those sweats that girls wear with the writing on the arse with a similar catch phrase."

It was so easy to tease Zhou like this when he had just walked into it. She grinned, unable to help herself despite the fact that normally she would try to keep a completely neutral face. She hadn't meant any harm to Zhou, it was only light teasing and truth be told it was easier for Aurora to show her affections through teasing someone mercilessly then it was to actually come out and say that she fancied him. Not that he was the only guy she fancied, as she fancied quite many of them at Hogwarts. It only seemed that none of them were quite interested in her, or if they were they hadn't really shared that fact with the class. Which was a depressing thought, considering she could use a boyfriend. She was a fierce cuddler, but that was a secret for the most part as far as she was concerned.

"A banshee? Really? Do I look like a banshee to you? That's borderline offensive Zhou, really! What a thing to say to a girl such as myself..." She huffed, as if offended, before laughing at his words. What had he been reading that caused him to think she was a banshee? Or did he merely have an overactive imagination? Wait, she knew the answer to that one, of course he had an overactive imagination. He was the one always coming up with weird, crazy, and fun things to do.

She was of course, glad that he had caught her and helped her steady herself. Still she had to snort in amusement at his next words that her stumble had been because of his charm. This time she did in fact, roll her eyes as she was unable to actually resist doing so. It was like fighting the force of nature! There was no way she was going to win. "Oh yes, Zhou I am completely enamored by your smoldering exotic looks. It makes me trip all over myself, and I think about you all the time." She stated in a deadpan, before snorting in amusement.

"Frankenstein? Really? There are no banshee's in Frankenstein, only undead monsters. Really Zhou, I'm beginning to question you're reading comprehension! Now, do you really want to go around and look for more boggarts after what just happened? I think we should inform one of the professors, and then have that butterbeer you promised me. Or something stronger, I won't be adverse to anything stronger that you might have illegally in your possession. Mainly because I doubt without something I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"What? What do YOU mean 'what does that mean'? Worth his salt. You know. Like... worth it. Cor, how have you never heard that? I mean to say, a wizard isn't a real wizard if he can't relax and wear pink sometimes! And I will have you know that I have always appreciated sweats with writing on the bum. On a girl, that is. Not so attractive on blokes. You should wear a pair... sweats, that is."

Zhou had the unmistakable sense that his little tirade was not doing him any favors and briefly entertained the idea of shutting the hell up. But did he listen to the small voice urgently whispering in his head to just be silent for once and not get them into any more embarrassment? No. No, he did not listen. He wasn't the best of listeners anyway, though he did when it was important. Classes, lectures, and nagging from his mother were not under the list of moments during which listening was vital. In fact, he often mentally categorized them was events during which it was preferable to let his mind escape into the world of sunshine, rainbows and make believe.

Frowning, he squinted at her. Deciding he just wasn't close enough to determine whether or not she did look like a banshee, he did an odd hop/skip/shuffle movement that brought him closer to her, successfully invading her personal space. He lifted his hands in the shape of a square camera and peered at her through it. He nodded firmly and announced the verdict.

"Yes. You do look like a banshee. However, you will be pleased to know that all the other banshees are incredibly jealous and angry at you for stealing all of their boyfriends."

It was a well-known fact in life, or it should be, that Zhou Davies had an incredibly over-active imagination. It rivaled his own complete lack of sense over his own self-preservation as well as his indulged self-confidence. This being a universal truth, the likelihood of Zhou mistaking a frightened young woman's scream for the death-calling cry of a banshee was perfectly possible. And it would most likely happen again. Perhaps later on that very night, when Aurora no doubt decides to scream at a mouse or a streaking House Elf or Aubrey's face. Ugh, Aubrey's face. Zhou must have been a unusually brave young man as well, for he saw the face of Calais every morning and never screamed. Out loud.

"Did you really just suggest that I inform a professor about something gone crazy in the castle? My chances of getting detention are 100 times higher whenever I am within sight of a prof! Do you WANT me to lose any more points for Ravenclaw? Oh, wait. you're the House Cup Enemy. 'Course you do. Tell Gryffindor to stop sending their pretty spies and go back to drawing board! Can you tell them after we have a butterbeer though? That still sounds delicious right now."