Floating in the summer sky, 99 red balloons go by

[Lottie]

Lottie's classes had finsihed for the day, but instead of heading back to the common room as she usually would have done, the brunette girl broke away from the crowd and she headed towards the astronomy tower.

As she reached the top, her expectations were confirmed. The majority of students went to the tower after sunset, but the afternoon sun was still high in the sky. It had been a warm day, and the brunette had thankfully left her school jumper in the dormitory that morning, and so she was clothed in a short sleeved white shirt, and her school skirt, the yellow and black tie loosely around her her neck.

Putting her yellow schoolbag down next to her, Lottie opened it up and took out a fairly large see through bag containing many bits of red rubber. The brunette girl smiled to herself as she took them out and one by one, blew them up to form red balloons. Still, no one came up the stairs to the tower. The bag had contained one hundred red balloons exactly, and Lottie began slowly blowing them up.

It had taken hours to blow them up, but not long after the sun had disappeared for the night, 100 red balloons were blown up in the tiny space that the tower offered.

Smiling to herself, the small brunette girl opened the door to the balcony, and 99 of the balloons flew out, one staying in her hand. Giggling as she ran around the red orbs that were one by one flying out of the room, Lottie sang one of her favourite songs.

"You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
One by one, they were gone..
Back at base, back to the subway
Flash the message, someone's out there
Floating in the Summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by!"

As the second to last balloon disappeared into the sky, some had already dropped onto the ground, leaving dark spots on the green grass. The final balloon had been tied onto a piece of string and that was the one Lottie held on to. Ninety nine had gone, and one remained.

"Wonder where they'll end up," she mused to herself, watching the red blobs disappear into the night, some already gone from sight.

[Sungai]

Sungai was strolling through the forest and had just passed the first row of trees that led to the forest from the school when a balloon floated past his face. He took it gently in his hands, placed it on the ground then stepped on it, transferring all his weight from one foot to the other, the balloon popping with a satisfying sound.

He stepped out onto the grass, staying in the shadows when a gentle breeze darted across his face. There was a scent upon the air, a scent he knew. He paused for a moment, trying to place it, then determination set into his eyes.

He strode forward, cloak flying out eerily behind him. He stopped by the Quidditch Pitch to check his trail of the scent. Still there, still strong. He walked over to the bottom of the stands and opened a storage door, conveinately unlocked and grabbed a broom out of there. He scowled, annoyed at having been reduced to his mode of transport, but then he was glad he did know how to ride it. He mounted the broom then shot off up to the Astronomy Tower.

He glided in through the window and dismounted neatly, eyes fixed on Lottie.

"Now, what have we here?" He asked, his voice playful and dangerous at the same time.

[Lottie]

Lottie's face fell slightly as she heard one of her balloons pop, the sound traveling through the air and back up to the school. The small brunette wondered if it had fallen onto a prickly branch in the forest, but thought no more on the subject.

Turning around, she picked up the packet which the balloons were in, and silently made plans to go down to dinner and see what was left.

However, she froze upon hearing an all too familiar voice. Turning around slowly, Lottie's fears were confirmed. It was the vampire who had hurt the Ministress. Brown eyes widened in shock as the Hufflepuff silently scolded herself for coming up here alone. However, she swallowed the scream that threatened to come. The scream that could bring half of the school up to the Astronomy Tower, wondering what all of the noise was about.

"What we have here is... is..." she started, trying to think of something to come back at his question with, but coming up with nothing. "Is... this girl leaving. Good evening to you," she told him, firmly childish before turning on her heel and sweeping out of the door. He was here... she would have to get help... the other girl still had her wand, and chances to go to Diagon Alley to get a new one had been less and less frequent as of late.

As the young Hufflepuff reached the door, she broke into a run, determined to get away from the vampire as quickly as possible, and get help even quicker.

[Sungai]

Sungai crossed the room in two easy strides and barred the door, so that Lottie could not escape. He noted that the broomstick was still hovering ever so slightly off the ground. He would feel satisfaction when he ground it into splinters with his boot.

"Such brave words, for such a little girl. Surely you cannot have forgotten who I am already," He walked slowly around her in a circle, his boots making small thuds on the floor as he stepped in time to his words.

"Well, allow me to jog your memory. The Ministry of Magic. The Vampire Caves. The Ministeress. The heartache." He paused here, having returned to his place in front of the door.

"Remember me now, munchkin?" He asked, kneeling down to come to her eye level, his eyes glinting in the eerie light

[Lottie]

Lottie skidded to a stop as Sungai blocked the door. Maybe she wasn’t going anywhere, after all. Unless she jumped over the railings, anyway.

Oh no, the young brunette girl hadn’t forgotten him yet. If only it was that easy. Those golden eyes and the sneering face plagued her nightmares, and every time, Lottie woke up before she was rescued.

“I’m not a little girl,” the brunette informed him through gritted teeth. “And I know perfectly well who you are, but what do you want?” she questioned, folding her arms over her stomach.

And Munchkin? If he thought he had intimidated her in the slightest, both by walking around her, and from the mock-endearing name, then he had another thing coming. Even the fact they were at the same level hadn’t made her flinch in the slightest. “And let me assure you, I’m not leaving here without an answer, and without my wand back!”

[Sungai]

A scowling smile stretched across Sungai's face, a delighted flicker ran through his eyes as he stood up once more, linking his fingers through his own.

"How aggresive of you," He pronounced. "Standing up to the villain. However, I don't know if you'll find a hero to save you this time," He raised an eyebrow and challenged Lottie to somehow make his words untrue. He could deal with beating up whoever happened to burst through the door.

He needed to find out where the Ministeress was.

[Lottie]

I need a hero… I’m holding on for a hero ‘til the end of the night…

Why a song appeared in her mind was unknown. Why she had even dared to challenge someone who could kill her in the space of seconds was suddenly unsure. The idea, to her, now seemed absurd, and she shouldn’t have done it. However, what had been done had been done.

Shaking her hair behind her shoulders, the brunette girl looked defiantly at the Vampire, before thinking… he had come up on a broom… she could fly a broom, heck she had scored a goal for the Hufflepuff house!

Maybe she could be her own hero.

Turning around quickly, Lottie ran over to the broom and mounted it quickly, before heading towards the balcony of the tower. Being her own hero seemed fair enough to her.

[Sungai]

OOC: Sorry for delay Lottie...The song appeared because she's been watching too much Shrek 2?

BIC: Sungai snarled angrily as Lottie darted over to the broom and mounted it. Within two seconds he was by her side and caught the bristles of the broom just as she was tasting the freedom of the air on her tongue. Sungai slowly pulled her closer to him, intending to make the entire process more antagonising for her.

He pulled her off the broom and let go of the bunch of bristles he held tightly in his hand, letting them fall loosely to the floor and he gently placed his boot on them.

"Lottie, you honestly believed you were able to escape? Interesting how the human mind works, isn't it?" He let go of Lottie and grasped the smooth wooden handle in his hands, putting his boot in the middle then pushing his weight down and snapping the broom sufficiently in two.

"Tah dah," He said lazily and dusted his hands.

[Lottie]

ooc: No problem. A little busy at the moment, myself lol. And Shrek 2? AMAZING film!!!

bic: Lottie groaned in despair as she was pulled back, not even bothering to fight against it. What was the point? The vampire had her trapped, and no matter what she tried to do, no matter which way she went, he was going to catch up.

The sound of the broomstick snapping made the brunette flinch slightly. He had made it look like he was snapping a toothpick. A little colour left her face, but Lottie tried to make herself seem as relaxed as possible, as though nothing could affect her nerves if it tried.

Leaning back against the stone wall of the Astronomy Tower, her brown eyes examined her hands for a second, before looking back up to Sungai, the defiant glint a little less noticable, but there nonetheless.

"So, we're staying up here all night, waiting for morning when you have to go back anyway, playing a game of cat and mouse? Or did you want to ask me something?" she questioned, raising a brow and not caring about how brave she sounded. That night in the vampires' lair had taught her a thing or two, and one of those was that bravery was easy to act out, easy to break, but even easier to continue.

On top of that, Lottie had got away once... but this time there were no distractions.

[Sungai]

Sungai smiled, the malicious glint in his eye sparkling brightly. He tucked his hands into his pockets and fished out a cigarette and his lighter, gently smoothing the cigarette down to make it straighter. He placed the end gently in his mouth and flicked open his lighter easily. He inhaled, hid the lighter from sight once more, took the cigarette from his lips and then blew out the smoke.

"We could indeed stay here all night, my dear, but then as you say, I would be rather confined to this tower, and quite frankly I don't wish to be stuck in this tiresome school all day." Sungai took another drag of his cigarette and then looked into Lottie's eyes.

"Tell me where the Ministeress is."

[Lottie]

Lottie simply blinked for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what he had just said. Here he was, the two of them together again in the Astronomy Tower, and he thought that the simple question was going to be enough to make her tell him? It had taken Sungai a little effort to find out her name, never mind something like this.

Meeting his gold eyes with her own, amused, chocolate brown ones, a small smile crept on her face as the brown haired girl folded her arms in front of her chest. Here he was, looking her directly in the eye, expecting her to put the answer across easily as though it were a game show. Though... now she thought on it, there was no question there. It was a command.

But still, Lottie had to put across an answer.

"No."

[Sungai]

OOC: Excellent, let's get this going again, shall we?

BIC: Sungai blinked at Lottie's words, slightly taken aback. He shook his head slowly, clicking his tongue as he made his way around Lottie, resuming his circle around the girl - slow enough to have a heavy rhythm with his thick footsteps, but fast enough to continually block the path to the door.

"Suddenly not so loquacious now," Sungai commented. He paused in his speech for a moment and then clarified, just in case Lottie didn't understand. "Your words have halted considerably, when a moment ago you were more than happy to have them roll off your tongue."

He stopped behind her and knelt down, slipping a cool hand beneath her chin and tipping Lottie's head back, brushing her loose strands of hair away from her creamy skinned neck and baring his fangs a little. His fingers slid in between the hair at the top of Lottie's head and knotted themselves around the soft brown hair, providing Sungai with a firm grasp on the girl should she choose to try and escape. He breathed softly on Lottie's neck and then whispered his next words, the cool breath on Lottie's neck hopefully sending shivers down her spine.

"Where is the Ministeress?"

[Lottie]

The shivers, as much as Lottie tried to control them, were uncontrollable. As much as she tried to keep herself as calm as possible, panic started to rise. Giving an experimental tug at her hair, seeing if the grip wasn't as tight as she immediately thought.

However her first instinct was correct.

Closing her eyes in despair for a second, they reopened. There was only one way she could do this. And that one way was to lie. There was nothing else for it. Taking a shuddery breath, and simply hoping for the best, all the Hufflepuff managed to stutter was: "I...I...I don't know!"

Inside, she was hoping he would take it as an answer, hoping that he would leave her alone. After all, it was a believable answer, and the best she could think up when she was facing the ceiling and with a vampire too close to her.

[Sungai]

Sungai sighed, the breath leaving his lips and darting all over Lottie's neck and washing gently over her face, allowing the smaller strands of loose hair to waver in the slight breeze that wrapped itself around Lottie's neck and face.

"Wrong answer, munchkin," Sungai declared and ran a tongue over his fangs in preparation for the bite. He gripped Lottie's hair a little more tightly then slowly bent down and bit into the creamy flesh.

The first point of contact was always the part that Sungai savoured the most. As a result, it was always the section he lingered over, attempting to have it last for as long as he was able. The first rush of crimson hit his fangs and slithered into his mouth and fell over his tongue, the sweet coppery liquid somehow all the more sweeter this time over. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate further on the task at hand, at the same time leaving half his senses alert enough to enjoy the liquid cascading gently over his tastebuds.

There was nothing that would have stopped him under the usual circumstances to prevent Sungai from finishing his meal. That was why when a baby bird fluttered onto the railing and started whistling at him, he drew his fangs from Lottie's neck and looked up sharply. Cursing at the abrupt end to his meal, he lay Lottie on the floor, thinking he was safe in the knowledge she would bleed to death in the next few minutes.

Sungai paused at the door, glancing back to the pathetic figure of Lottie on the ground of the Astronomy Tower, her lifeblood being slowly drained from the two small bites on her neck. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he turned sharply and fled the castle to the safety of the Caves instead.

[Forgoil Halifirien]

ooc: If saving a person is a crime, than I shall stand trial.

bic: Forgoil had not wandered up to the Astronomy Tower since his last...incident. It held dark and troubling memories for him. And yet he continued to ascend the stairs, taking what seemed an age to reach the top. He slowly opened the door, and walked to one of the windows;however, on the way to the window he stepped on something.

Curious to see what it was, Forgoil bent over to see clearly and what he had stepped on had once been a broom;now snapped in two. Frowning to himself, Forgoil leaned against the window, trying to see the stars, but it was far too cloudy to see anything. Turning to the door, Forgoil was about to leave when he slipped and fell.

Cursing his own clumsiness, Forgoil's hand touched the floor and felt something wet and warm. He couldn't tell what he had slipped in, but he had now found the source; there in a pool of what seemed to be her own blood; lay Lottie. Crawling over to her, Forgoil touched her neck to check her pulse;only to find that was were the blood spewed forth.

There wasn't much time; Forgoil didn't know whether Lottie was alive or dead, but none the less he ripped his robes and tied them around her neck;staunching the flow of the blood. He tried to stand; cradling Lottie in his arms, but he slipped once more and fell to the ground. His body prevented Lottie's from receiving further injury. Slowly, he stood with Lottie in his arms, this time he didn't slip and he made for the door. Opening the door, Forgoil tried to go as fast as he could down the stairs, for Lottie's life hung on the line; yet the line may have already snapped.

ooc: I think that it is safe to say that I should start a thread in the hospital wing. If there are objections, than the thread will be deleted. Until then.