A Spark Of Inspiration ((Elias))

[Grace Hunter H5]

A long, narrow ray of reddish sunlight spilled through the gap in the curtain, delicately reflecting off Grace's mirror and rebounding onto her unmade mess of a bed. Halfway through arranging her fringe, she found herself caught in mid-motion, one hand suspended in mid air by her head, her dark brown eyes staring at the sun's beam behind her in the reflection. Tilting her head, she looked at the scene with a broad smile on her face, inspiration setting in. Finishing the twisting shapes and love hearts she had been working on with eyeliner around her eyes, she rose from her mirror, proceeding towards her bed. She lay down flat on her face, squinting whilst she fumbled underneath her bed for her paint set, before smiling again as her hands located it. Jumping onto her feet, she grabbed a cereal bar from her bedside table before tip-toeing outside the dormitory, aware that not many of her fellow house mates would be overjoyed to be woken at dawn on a Sunday morning. Stopping in her fruitless efforts to open the commonly squeaky dormitory door, she turned on her feet, silently ran towards her bed, lifted the covers above her head and threw them back down; hoping they would look presentable. After a few minutes, of which the silence would be broken by Grace angrily muttering, she successfully opened the door with perfect silence, closed the door behind her, and skipped down the stairs, her eyes beaming as the sun shined through the stained glass windows located all the way down the long, spiraling stairs, splattering the walls in varying shades of pinks, purples, greens and blues.

Nibbling at her vegan bar, Grace walked along the corridors, not certain on where she was going as she aimlessly passed classroom doors, eyed statues and turned corners. The sun still hadn't reached it's pinnacle of morning yet, and had only start to reflect its light onto the distant, vaguely visible hills. The idea of curfew appeared in her head, but soon disappeared as a tiny first year, surely just slightly over a foot in height, appeared out of the library, before seeing Grace and sprinting off in the direction with a loud scream, obviously having had some bad past experience with other tall students from Hogwarts. Grace stood there, stunned, paused between laughter and pity, before she shrugged, threw her wrapper into a nearby pin, and walked in the other direction.

She had allowed her inspiration to take her where it wished, freely wandering around the castle without the aim of going anywhere, in the hope that it would take her where was best for her creative mood. She soon appeared in the student lounge, walking to the far end of the room and lying face down on a long, comfy sofa. Just as she decided to get up due to risk of falling asleep, she rolled on her side, peering across the room. As she had expected, it was empty.

A quite meow came from around a large armchair, and Grace was quick on her feet, thinking it could be a lost cat, and was already making note of the location of each common room around the castle, ready to try each one to find the cats owner, before she seen the familiar small white ball of fur that was Tippy. Giggling and sitting cross legged on the floor just ahead of her, Grace patiently sat there, ready for when she would finally realize her presence. Tippy suddenly noticed her, and, her small mouth fallen open into a smile, she sprinted toward the sitting Grace, her tiny legs taking her forwards before she pounced onto her, happily attempting to lick her face.

It wasn't like Elias to let his pet get lost, Grace was thinking to herself as she finished with the lengthy greeting hug with Tippy. Looking hopefully around the room, she spotted a glimpse of his familiar light hair over the top of an armchair. Standing up, she sprinted towards his location, leaping over the back of the armchair and crashing on top of her brother in a happy cuddle. 'Eli, why are you here?' she smiled at him, as she disentangled herself. Ruffling his hair, she hugged him again, before jumping up and running back to her previously occupied couch, grabbing her paints set and sprinting back to her Eli. 'Miss me?' she asked, flashing a grin as she waved the paints in front of him, 'Yup, you got it, Grace has inspiration, and paints, and her wonderful brother in her presence, portrait time!'

She sat on the floor in front of him, the sun catching his face at the perfect angle, leaving one side bright, the other dark. She jokingly snapped at him as his hand sneakily reached upwards to itch his nose. 'Nuh uh, no moving brother, it will ruin it. Maybe Tippy can help, and, as Grace reached for another pencil, she called to her brothers cat. 'Tippy, your brothers got an itchy nose, come and help him!?' Tippy proved not much help as she got up onto the chair and nibbled away at Eli's elbow. Laughing, she put the pencils away, getting out her paints. 'Almost done, just be patient.'

[Elias Hunter G7]

Elias gripped his pillow tightly, his frustration building as the snores grew louder. This was becoming a constant distraction that had made him lose countless hours of sleep in the past week or so, and he wasn't sure he could stand it any longer. Debating on whether or not it was worth trying to use a spell to get his bunk-mate to stop snoring, he decided that it wasn't the best option. First of all, Eli was tired, which meant he'd probably mess up the spell. Second, he didn't even know a spell off hand that would stop the snoring. Unless of course he used something like Petrificus Totallus. The affects of that spell would do more than just stop the snoring though.

Throwing on a t-shirt to cover his bare torso, Eli slipped into his dragon-hide slippers, the ones with the fur lining, and he ventured out of his dormitory toward a quieter place. It was probably about 5:30 in the morning, which meant he was allowed to be in the halls, but what normal student would be roaming the halls at this hour? One who was desperate to catch a bit of sleep - that's who.

Staggering into the student lounge, Eli realized that Tippy had been on his heels the entire time. "What are you doing, you little furball," he joked, swooping Tippy from the ground and carrying her to an empty chair. Well, all of the chairs were empty, so it wasn't like he had a hard time finding one. He picked the comfiest though, one that was facing away from the center of the room and somewhat secluded in a corner. It would be his place of peace for the time being. Somewhere that he and Tippy might be able to have some uninterrupted sleep.

An hour passed, maybe two at most, and Eli did get to catch up on some of his lost rest time. But, when a sudden force landed on his lap, waking him from his slumber, Eli could only let out a surprised grunt. As he opened his eyes, he caught the familiar face of his twin sister, her words going way too fast for his tired brain. Flashing her a confused sort of look, he let out a long yawn before realizing it was useless to try to protest her sudden inspiration to paint him. "I look like shit, Grace," he said with a light laugh. He knew she wouldn't care. Eli raked his fingers through his bed-head hair, untangling a few of the knots as he try to at least look somewhat normal and a bit less trollish.

He sat still for a good five minutes or so, his mouth not quite smiling or frowning. While Grace carefully worked with her paints, Eli's mind was still waking up as it thought about what might come in the day ahead. Instinctively, he reached to scratch his itchy nose, but Grace was quick to stop him, and Eli sent her a teasing glare as she suggested that Tippy be the one to take care of his itch. "You want Tippy to scratch my nose? She's about as dense as mom's fruit cake," he teased, making light of the fact that their mother wasn't all that great of a cook. The twins didn't mind though, as they'd grown to enjoy their time together in the kitchen. Eli and Grace make a good team in most regards, and cooking happened to be one of their strong suits.

When Grace was finally finished, Eli was relieved to be able to stretch his tired muscles. He bent forward, his spine thankful for the released pressure of sleeping on the not so flat arm chair and then being forced to stay in one position while Grace worked her magic art skills. "Looks alright," he said, more critical of Grace's content than her ability. He never really did like it when she used him as a model, and she knew that. Her art was amazing, otherwise, and he'd told her time and time again. So, he knew she would understand that he wasn't raving over this particular piece.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked, flipping through Grace's art book and stopping to admire some of his favorite pieces of hers. Meanwhile, she was playing with Tippy by his side. These were the moments he loved. Just he and Grace.

[Grace Hunter H5]

Grace had not much time after she had placed her finished drawing on the rug next to her before Tippy had pounced onto her, obviously enthusiastic for another hug. She jokingly nibbled on Tippy's head, giggling as she let out a quiet laughing meow, before escaping and excitedly running off in another direction. Grace smiled as she turned to face her brother, seeing him gratefully stretching. 'You get much sleep Eli?' she concernedly asked him as he flicked through her art work, knowing that he was the only one with the permission to so much as glimpse her work.

She picked herself up from her sitting position, happily setting off around the room in search of Tippy. It was similar to a game of cat and mouse, an excited squeak would come from underneath various armchairs every corner Grace turned, before a blur of fur would streak off in another direction, closely followed by a laughing Grace, dodging obstacles and jumping over chairs in her determination to catch the small adorable bundle of fur. Cutting her corner and pouncing onto her in a loving cuddle, Grace picked her up and carried her over to where Eli was, feeling Tippy's small head bury into her neck. 'Anything you wanna do today brother?' she said loudly as she jumped over the armchair before crashing once again on top of him and ruffling his hair. 'I can kick your ass in a karate fight?' she joked. 'My inspiration is on an unstoppable warpath today, i do believe, we could always try and co-operate with it?' She rolled off of him, falling onto the floor and looking up at the roof, contemplating some ideas. 'We could get a hold of some really large sheets of paper and just go crazy with some paints, if you want!'

There was a moments silence, quickly interrupted as Grace rooted through her pockets for her half finished vegan bar, found it, and had an effort stopping Tippy from stealing it, whom had sharply returned to her after hearing the nibbling of teeth upon food. 'Your cat can be a sneaky little thing sometimes Eli, although i reckon her pure cuteness allows her to get away with it, i mean, how could i get annoyed with you, you cuddle monster?' she giggled as she picked Tippy above her and hugged her again.

Looking out one of the large windows, Grace spotted the sun fully revealed over the distant hills, having reached its pinnacle. 'Someone looks handsome today!', she complimented her brother as the sun spilled onto his face, lighting up his handsome features. 'Shame i don't get any good looks from our parents though' she muttered, not sure whether he would hear her or not whilst she absent mindedly thought of drawing the roof above her; it's interesting design would make for an interesting painting.

[Elias Hunter G7]

"I should probably go shower before we do anything," he mused as Grace offered some suggestions. The thought of the hot water was momentarily distracting him as he continued to flip through Grace's works. "Karate sounds too violent," he teased, imagining Grace in some crazy stance with her hands raised and one foot in the air. Plus, I'd have to take it easy on you since you're a girl."

Letting Grace sit there and paint or sketch him all day might have been nice, but Eli figured he might get bored with that. Painting alongside of her, however, sounded a bit more appealing. "I'm up for grabbing the large sheets of paper and letting our creativity ride." He raised his brow, figuring Grace had the supplies they needed.

"I'll go grab a shower really quick while you get the supplies. Sound like a deal?"

Eli ventured up to the Gryffindor tower quickly, hurrying to hop in the shower. The water really did a good job of waking him up completely. Figuring Grace would beat him back to the student lounge though, Eli hurried to dry his hair and throw on something comfortable. He didn't plan to venture outside, so he chose a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. He'd spend a little time trying to fix his hair, but he knew Grace would want him back as soon as he could. So, instead he ran his fingers thorough it quickly as he looked in the mirror.

Coming back to the student lounge, sure enough Grace had beat him back and she was already busy with her paints. "Oh shit! I guess I shouldn't have worn anything I didn't want to get paint on. It totally slipped my mind." Eli walked over, sitting down beside Grace with his legs crossed.

"Only one paint brush?" he asked, seeing Grace using it to paint her picture. "Guess I could use my fingers?" He flashed a smirk of amusement as he dipped his index finger into the small container of cold red paint. Then, he traced an arc of red across the white paper that Grace had laid out for him.

[Grace Hunter H5]

On her feet in a flash, she was quickly out of the lounge door racing to the Hufflepuff common room. "I'll meet you back here in two minutes bro!" Grace yelled, as she slid around a corner and collided with a huge crash into a dusty suit of armour. "I'm fine!" she yelled back to the lounge again; in case Elias had been worried. She reached down to her trapped leg, which was firmly wedged between a piece of armour. As her leg popped out and she wiped the graze, she spotted Tippy. Like a bullet, she shot out of the door, slid around the corner and fired herself towards Grace, a minuscule blur with an evident sense of glee around her. Grace released a loud giggle as her brothers cat once again threw herself on top of her, burying herself into her shoulder. "Someones a little cuddler today aren't you?" Grace spoke, as she picked herself and Tippy up from their scene of chaos. "Now let's go, we want to beat your brother!" and they set off away from the pile of armour, Tippy held tightly over Grace's shoulder.

"Some tools for a lovely creativity ride, lemme think.." Grace whispered to herself as she burrowed herself under her four-poster bed in search of some art materials. She already had paints from earlier that morning, but some extra materials were now needed. She stopped in her efforts to look over at Tippy, who was acting somewhat peculiar. She seemed to be considering whether or not she should enter the dormitory and was sat precariously in the doorway. A look of interest and confusion seemed to be set upon her face. Successfully finding the materials she was after, Grace pulled them out from under the bed and walked nervously over to Tippy. "What's up cuddle monster?", then Grace realized something, "Hey.. you haven't ever been in a girls dormitory have you?" She picked her up along with her materials and headed downstairs to the common room, "and your a girl! I shall have to speak about this to Eli..."

The lounge was empty when Grace arrived back along with Tippy, a bundle of large sheets of paper and a variety of paints. She placed her materials down and made a large space, pushing armchairs and sofa's out of the way. She worked hard for five minutes, in which Tippy rested in a nearby couch and relaxed, her little legs stretched out before her, her mind going over the events of her and Grace's adventure to the common room. When Grace was finished, she caught her breath and retrieved the large sheets of paper. Setting them all next to each other, she managed to make a large square with an area of about ten foot. Then, finding the scissors she had also taken from under her bed, she proceeded to cut edges away from each side of paper, carefully working until the large square was turned into a vast circle. Much like the sun that was now at it's peak outside in the afternoon sky. Grace then set out all the paints, grinning at the large variety of vibrant colours, and called Tippy over. She started sketching a large landscape, with the idea that it would cover the large circle of paper she had laid out and then Elias and her could add detail as they wished. Tippy threw herself into a pallet of paint, soaking her small feet in deep green before she let out an excited yell and ran across the paper, leaving a blizzard of tiny paw prints behind her.

Grace just begun to contemplate where her brother had gotten to, when he appeared over her shoulder. "Eli, where did you get to? Grab some paints and draw, i think Tippy has gotten the idea.."

A good ten minutes later the three of them were well into their large painting. Momentarily distracted, Grace stopped her work on the background scenery. She looked over to her brother, who was deep in concentration "Oh lovely brother, you know because you love me ever so much?" she continued, not giving him time to answer, "well, as i took Tippy up to my dormitory today it occurred to me that she hasn't ever had any female company or stayed in a girl's dorm. So i think you should let her stay with me for a few days, because you love me?" She reached over to the paints, and scooping up a large blob of yellow, she went behind Eli and jumped on top of him. Giggling uncontrollably and smearing paint all over him, she laughed more as Tippy engaged herself in the assault, jumping on top of them both.