hunger hurts, but i want it so bad.

[Rita Hall]

Rita had been lying in bed for probably close to an hour now, struggling but failing to ignore the dull pain and rumbling in her stomach that indicated its desire for food. Ugh, shut up, she thought to herself, hoping that she could somehow convince her stomach to leave her alone until the next morning when she could have breakfast in the Great Hall. She glanced at the clock; 1:45 AM. Sighing in frustration, Rita figured she might as well get something to eat down in the kitchens- she'd just slip down for a moment, have a quick snack to satisfy her hunger, and then leave.

Quietly slipping out of her dormitory, through the common room, and then down to where the kitchens were. She was lucky she was in Hufflepuff; it would suck being all the way up in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, where she'd have to come all the way down from the towers if she was hungry. Approaching the painting of fruit on the kitchen door, Rita reached out and tickled the pear, which giggled; a few seconds later, the door handle appeared, and she pulled it open, entering the kitchens. She felt somewhat bad for the pear; the prospect of existing solely so that you could be tickled in order to allow people access through a doorway didn't sound like very much fun. At least, it wasn't something Rita would enjoy. She wondered if anyone else had ever thought about it. Probably not, she said to herself. As long as they can get into the kitchens when they're hungry, why would they care? I'm just a weirdo. Rolling her eyes slightly at her train of thought, Rita closed the door behind her and went further inside.

Immediately, three house-elves came up to her, bowing. "Hello, miss!" one of them squeaked excitedly at her. "What can we do for you?" The constant eagerness of house-elves to help out and do things for people was always a little overwhelming to Rita, and made her feel kind of uncomfortable. "Uh...you don't have to do anything; I can find something on my own." "But we want to help, miss!" insisted another house-elf. I might as well give them something to do...it'd make them happy, she told herself. "Okay...I guess I'll have a muffin, then," she said. The elves quickly rushed away and, a few moments later, returned with a huge plate of all sorts of muffins- bran muffins, corn muffins, chocolate chip muffins- and Rita's favorite, cappuccino. "I'll just have one of these, thanks," Rita said gratefully, taking a cappuccino muffin from the plate. The elves bowed to her, placing the plate on the counter nearest to the girl, leaving her to enjoy her snack.

Rita sat down on the floor and took a small bite out of her muffin; it was delicious. I can't believe they actually make these here, she thought to herself. The only other place she'd ever had cappuccino muffins was at a small bakery near her home. Then again, who knew with house-elves; maybe they had mind-reading powers or something- or, more likely, they just made as many different types of muffins as possible, in hopes of coming up with one kind that she would like.

She'd eaten about a third of the muffin when she began to feel a bit sleepy. I should probably go back to my dorm now, she told herself, but was too tired to get up off the floor. I'll just close my eyes for a few moments...then I'll go back, she told herself. That was the last thought in her mind before she slowly drifted off to sleep, sitting on the floor leaning against a cabinet, with the unfinished muffin resting in her lap.

[Cady Berg]

Cady was staring at her wardrobe with a finger on her chin, her eyes squinting in thought. The term hadn't even started yet and she'd already worn half of her good clothes, which were now sitting in a pile in the corner of her dorm. "I better put that in the hamper at some point or another," she said aloud, glancing at the pile. The clothes she had left were really not that flattering—or at least, she couldn't feel so confident in them. They were either too tight, too loose, or the garments just didn't match...

In short, Cady was having a very hard time deciding what she wanted to wear tomorrow, and she was too lazy to set about cleaning her good clothes. So she'd spent the last hour or so staring at her wardrobe, trying on clothes, mixing and matching clashing garments, the works.

With a sigh, the fourth year finally chanced a look at her clock. Two in the morning, and still nothing to wear tomorrow. Just great. Maybe she'd come up with a great and creative solution to her fashion disaster if she went and got herself a little snack in the kitchen. It would at least let her move, think, delay the process of descending into insanity from staring at her closet for a million years.

Cady creeped out of the Gryffindor Common Room and made her way down the Moving Staircase, tapping her fingers along the banister with barely-contained impatience. Sometimes she hated Hogwarts being so... well... magical. Couldn't they get normal staircases so she wouldn't have to be stuck at random landings waiting for one to come around?

When she finally reached the kitchen (not without a slew of grumbles and muttered complaints), Cady tickled the pear angrily and barged on in through the door. An elf hurriedly came to her assistance. "Yeah, yeah, I don't care, some cookies or something..." she said dismissively, sighing and scratching at her head. As she waited for the elves to fetch her snack, she suddenly noticed a girl sitting with her eyes closed and a muffin in her lap. Whoa. What was she doing down here like this? Was she passed out drunk or something?

"Helloooo," Cady called, leaning over and looking at the girl's face. She seemed to be her age. "Everything okay there? You gonna eat that muffin?" Without even looking, she snatched up a cookie on the tray being proffered to her by an elf and bit into it, watching to see if the girl would respond. She'd hate if the girl had to get sent to the Hospital Wing for a stomach pump or something... particularly since she'd probably have to be the one to escort her there. Although that muffin would be a tasty reward for her good deed...

[Rita Hall]

"Helloooo!" The sound of someone's voice startled Rita out of her sleep. "What-" she mumbled softly, slowly opening her eyes to see a girl who looked to be about her age leaning over only a few inches from her face. She jumped, gasping sharply. Oh, fuck...what happened? Where the hell am I? Lifting her head to look around her, everything slowly fell into place- she was in the kitchens, she had come there to satisfy her hunger, and she'd fallen asleep on the floor after being too tired to get up. And now it was who knows what time and she'd been found by some other girl.

"Everything okay there? You gonna eat that muffin?" The girl had spoken a few minutes ago, but Rita hadn't been able to form coherent words yet. "Yeah...sorry," she managed to come up with. "I came down here a little before 2 because I was hungry...and I guess I fell asleep," she said. She knew how ridiculous she must look- slumped against the cabinet, asleep, with a muffin in her lap- and couldn't even imagine what the other girl must have thought when she saw her. "You can have a piece of my muffin, if you want," she added, realizing that she'd never answered the girl's second question. "It's cappuccino flavored." Rita figured it'd be good to let the girl know what flavor it was; after all, what if she didn't like it, or was allergic to cappuccino? The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of someone breaking out in hives or fainting because of a bad reaction to a cappuccino muffin. It may have seemed unlikely- as far as Rita knew, she'd never met anyone who was allergic to cappuccino- but she didn't want to take any chances.

[Cady Berg]

Cady smiled triumphantly and took another bite out of her cookie, chewing with vigor as she watched the girl slowly make sense of her surroundings. "My compliments to the chef!" she called to the elves, waving the half-eaten cookie in the air and grinning.

"Yeah...sorry," she managed to come up with. "I came down here a little before 2 because I was hungry...and I guess I fell asleep," she said.

"Oh, thank God," Cady said with an enormous sigh of relief, straightening up and putting a hand on her hip. "I thought you were drunk as hell and wound up passed out in the kitchen. I really didn't want to make a trip to the Hospital Wing, frankly." The Gryffindor smiled politely as the other girl offered some of her muffin. "Oh, no, really. Look at me, eating this cookie. I'm not even that hungry. No muffins for me. You enjoy that, though." She leaned an elbow on the counter and studied the girl for a moment.

"I'm Cady, anyway. I was trying to put together an outfit for tomorrow. I've been trying for an hour or so, actually. I finally decided to take a break, hopefully with the result of creative inspiration, and I came down here for some food... for thought." She laughed a little at her joke but then stopped and tried to look away casually. Wow, she'd really just made an ass out of herself there. It must be getting late.

"What did you say your name was?" she asked the girl, offering her a cookie-less hand.

[Rita Hall]

"I thought you were drunk as hell and wound up passed out in the kitchen." Rita bit her lip in an attempt to prevent from laughing at the other girl''s comment. She knew it was a completely logical conclusion of her to come to, after seeing someone passed out on the kitchen floor; it was just amusing that anyone would think it about Rita of all people. She'd had a few sips of wine and champagne on holidays and special occasions; other than that, though, she'd never had alcohol of any kind. "No, just hungry....and tired," she replied.

The other girl introduced herself as Cady. Her name sounded vaguely familiar, but Rita was sure the two of them had never met before. Maybe we had a class together before, or something, she thought. Cady went on to explain that she had come down here in hopes that having a snack would provide her with the energy and creativity to come up with a good outfit for tomorrow. "Oh, what's going on tomorrow?" she asked, after wracking her brain for a minute to figure out if there were any major events at Hogwarts tomorrow and not coming up with anything. "Is there some sort of event, or is it just wanting to put together something that looks nice? Not that there's anything wrong with that...I mean, it's always nice to wear something that looks...nice..." Oh, god, I'm rambling like an idiot, Rita thought to herself.

"What did you say your name was?" "Oh, I did? I don't even remember introducing myself...or maybe I didn't...or did I? Either way, I'm Rita," she said, aware she was rambling yet again but in too much of a daze from having just woke up a few minutes ago to shut herself up. Rita accepted Cady's outstretched hand gratefully, glad for the help. "Thanks," she said.

[Moki Kagawa]

OOC: HAHAHA love that you mentioned bran muffins!!!! (You didn't eat one though so you're a bad American)

[Cady Berg]

"No, just hungry....and tired," she replied.

"Good to hear," Cady replied, finishing off her cookie and wiping her palms on each other to rid them of any crumbs. "Drunk people aren't all that fun, especially when they become your responsibility... they're just messy and need to be taken care of." She put a finger on her lips in thought as the other girl asked her what the occasion was tomorrow. "Oh, nothing's going on," she answered. "Nothing at all, really, unless classes suddenly start. I just don't like to look like a homeless person, and all my good clothes need to be washed. I should get around to that eventually. Need to work on my charms," she added, patting the wand that was stuck snugly into her back pocket. She'd be damned if she was going to do laundry the Muggle way.

"Oh, I did? I don't even remember introducing myself...or maybe I didn't...or did I? Either way, I'm Rita," she said.

"Oh, I don't know if you told me. If you did I don't remember. But..." she trailed off, shrugging with a bit of frustration. "It doesn't matter. I know it now. Nice to meet you, Rita," she said as she pulled the girl to her feet. "Was the muffin worth the trip downstairs?"

[Rita Hall]

Rita nodded in agreement at Cady's comment about drunk people not being the most fun to be around. "Yeah...taking care of a drunk person isn't my cup of tea, either." Oh, fuck, I shouldn't have used that expression...now I really want tea...even though I prefer coffee....but it's much too late for that and I need to be able to fall asleep and then wake up at a somewhat reasonable time tomorrow....meaning sometime before noon.... She shook her head at the random tangent her mind had just gone off on, bringing herself back to focus on what Cady was saying.

"Nothing at all, really, unless classes suddenly start. I just don't like to look like a homeless person, and all my good clothes need to be washed. I should get around to that eventually. Need to work on my charms." "Haha, yeah...I need to learn how to wash clothes magically, too. I hate doing laundry," she responded. Rita was beginning to have a pile of dirty clothes of her own building up; she'd either have to wash them by hand, or practice doing it the magical way. In her case, though, she'd probably be better off doing her laundry without magic; due to Rita's history of how things turned out when she tried new spells for the first time, she figured she'd end up causing her clothes to disintegrate instead of cleaning them. Something along those lines, anyway.

Rita was grateful for Cady's assistance in helping her up; she doubted she'd have had much energy to move on her own, and it was better that she was found by a fellow student, rather than a teacher or any other staff member, who'd probably be less than happy to find her there. Not to mention she'd most likely get in trouble, and the last thing she wanted to do was lose house points for Hufflepuff before the term even officially started. "Oh, it was definitely worth it," she replied with a grin. "Cappuccino muffins are my absolute favorite. You should try one sometime; they're amazing."