Eden wasn't fond of this knocker. Not at all. She was CONSTANTLY waiting for people to come let her in because she was lousy at riddles. Ugh. She had just answered one incorrectly, and she siiiighed and flopped down next to it. There was no one else in SIGHT. So she would be waiting here for awhile.

Stupid knocker.

Her blue eyes looked at the floor as she drew little shapes...she had to get in there, though, to check on DAISY. Her poor baby had been lonely all day most likely. She sighed and pulled out a pen and paper, deciding she might as well do something useful while waiting, right? She would write her first letter to Eddie, and include as MANY details as she could. As well as hidden messages about how much she missed him. Or maybe not so hidden, heh. As soon as her pen hit the paper, though, she didn't know what in the WORLD to write. 'Hey, hi, I miss your face' was probably a bit too forward. Hmm.

She stretched out, leaned her back against the wall, and thought...what to write to her friend from Durmstrang...hmm'?

Having gone down to the vast kitchen to find something healthy to nibble on rather than indulge in the extravagant meals they seemed to serve in the Great Hall every night, Layla had made her way all the way up the stairs that lead to the Common Room so she could finally retire for the night and hopefully (if her dormmates were still out and about) have a little time to herself to read.

Only heading towards the bronze knocker that guarded the way into the Ravenclaw common room and asked you elaborate riddles, she noticed that in fact she would not be alone in the dormitory. For there was Eden sat by the entrance engaged in penning a letter to someone. She sighed and approached her fellow fifth year, standing in front of her and looking down at the brunette. “Ain’t you able to answer the riddle?” she asked.

As a Ravenclaw it was assumed that you would easily be able to answer but in reality it was actually quite difficult and took a lot of thought process. The blonde hadn’t been locked out yet but she was sure that she eventually may be. Layla and Eden hadn’t had the greatest of starts only spurred on by their other roomie. Now that they were a few days into term, the fifteen year old knew that she had to make an effort so that the next three years wouldn’t be insufferable.

She sat down next to Eden and stared out at the wall in front of her. “Been here a few days and still don’t feel like I belong” she confessed with a sigh.

Eden heard the footsteps approaching and looked up to see the blonde hair...the eyes...right. It was Layla. She almost wanted to hide. The girl, surely, wouldn't have kind words for Eden, especially since Eden couldn't get into the common room. She glanced at the nearest place she could hide--a statue--and sighed. Layla could already SEE her. No point in hiding.

"No. I can't answer any of them." She said, sounding a bit down. The discouragement in her voice only heightened by the fact that Layla seemed to be able to answer them just fine..."I have to wait." Almost every single time. And she hated it. It made her feel so inferior to her housemates--she didn't even see any of the FIRST YEARS getting stuck out here. "You're going to make fun of me, are you?" she asked, looking up at Layla with wide eyes. Honestly, Layla didn't seem the type to mock her, but Eden was just...in a mood. Hmm.

And then Layla surprised Eden. She sat down next to her. MERLIN. Eden would remember this day for a LONG time because it seemed that the other girl didn't want anything to do with Eden! AND--she was opening up to Eden? She just looked over at her and shrugged. "Sometimes I do. And sometimes I don't. Like right now. Being stuck out here. Like a loser." She said, turning her foot to side and picking at a glob of dirt stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "I was lousy at classes at my old school--and here--it's just different. I'm going to fail everything--and everyone knows each other--" she siiiiighed and glanced at Layla again. "You have it worse, though. With magic and everything being new...sorry." She shouldn't be complaining when poor Layla probably...really felt distanced.

If Layla was able to accurately read through the expression of Eden’s face, she’d assume that her fellow fifth year was genuinely a little scared of her. Some people thought that fear was a good thing, it meant that you would be able to take control but Layla did not exactly wish to be considered the ‘bad person’ in the school. She wasn’t aiming for the titles of ‘bully’ or ‘nasty cow’ nor was that what she actually was. She was the kind of girl that liked to keep herself to herself, she enjoyed privacy and peace and quiet and she admitted she was prone to a stint of grumpiness quite often. She knew that she would probably be misjudged due to her mentality when they first arrived. First impressions could be deceptive.

The fifteen year old had to admit that it was a little strange that Eden was entirely unable to get into the common room considering she was a member of the house. “Ain’t these supposed to be easy for Ravenclaws?” she asked, her eyebrow quirking up a little. That was the point in them. “You’re supposed to be all logical.” Emphasis on the supposed.

But Eden’s next question took her by surprise a little and a distinct frown was etched straight across her face. This was what she was thinking about, the neon sign above her head that clearly flashed ‘nasty girl, stay clear’. “I ain’t like that Eden.” Was it really that hard to comprehend? “I ain’t interested in all this stuff an’ I don’t wanna be here but that don’t mean I’m a complete cow.” The frown stayed put on her face as she spoke, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

She sighed as she glanced back at the knocker. “I ain’t your conventional smart either. I get this logic stuff but I doubt I’m gonna be good in lessons. I don’t know all this stuff like you lot do, I ain’t got any experience.” She confessed in an attempt to make the slightly upset looking girl feel better. Now it was her trying to cheer the other up. My how the tables had turned. “Neither do I..” she protested as Eden declared she knew no one. Layla only had her cousin for comfort and he was just as clueless about all this as she was. If anyone felt like they didn’t belong it would be Layla. At least Eden seemed to have formed a bond with everyone. Miss Smiley Happy Wavy talked to everyone whilst Layla avoided them all. She was still sure that she would continue to want her alone time. People were a distraction and they were not her people either. She wanted the girls back home, she wanted her normal happy muggle life.

She could tell why her brother had left after a short period of studying her now.

Eden Glared over at her. "I'm not a Ravenclaw--I should have been in another stinkin' house!" she said, and she growled a little. "I fit into my old house back at Durm just FINE. Ugh." She put her head in her hands and wanted to just...resort herself. Could she even do that? MEH. She didn't belong here. She had made so many mistakes--she couldn't get into the common room--she had NO faith in herself. None. "They are supposed to be logical. According to all the descriptions of them.." she said and sighed, leaning her head back on the wall now, her eyes a bit...moist.

Right right, Layla wasn't a cow, no. Not the worst person she had ever met. "I know. Sorry. I just. Meh." She shrugged and ran a hand through her hair. Hmm. "I can understand not wanting to be here. I don't really, either, you know. I had more friends at my other school." She said, still looking over at Layla. Eden didn't want to be there, no, but she was trying not to be completely miserable about it.

"Aye." She said, speaking much more comfortably now. "Hey--you're probly' goin' ter' be on the same level on me--" she said, and she blushed deeply. Wow. "SOrry. I can be so...Irish sometimes." She said and laughed. "I try not to show my accent much. Mostly cos' people get ideas about you." Yepp. Eden was NOT an angry person, nor was she easy to anger, which was a big stereotype about Irish people. "I'm not fiery at all. I mean I can be--when I feel attacked or that my friends are being attacked--but I mean...I'm usually very nice." Duh. She was here speaking to Layla all nice and such.

"I know you didn't take Clara's slippers." She said softly, looking over at her with kindness. "It was probably one of the older girls' cats..sneakin' into our dorm an' such." She said, sighing. She just had Daisy...who didn't any of that sort of silliness.

Woah, Eden had a feisty temper on her when she wanted to. Layla was not exactly taken aback but she certainly raised her eyebrows at her fellow fifth-years sudden outburst. She merely stared at her until she had calmed down before she opened her mouth to speak. “I’d heard the hat ain’t ever wrong.” She inspected her freshly painted fingernails as she spoke before looking up at her roommate. “You’ve been here two days, you ain’t actually given it a chance..” If there was anyone that had the right to be bitter it was Layla who was completely different to most of the people here. She was still a muggle at heart. Yet she, on a promise to both her parents and to her cousin, was giving it that chance. “You might surprise yourself.” She looked back down at her fingers so she didn’t look too interested. Eden was a little too ‘woe is me’ for the fifteen year old.

Just.. meh? That was such a reassuring reaction. The blonde’s eyes focused forward on the wall on the other side of the corridor, taking in their architecture. “I usually keep myself to myself. I know I probably seem cold an’ distant at first..” She turned to look at Eden. “..I take a while to warm up to.” Honestly, she knew she was grumpy, favoured a frown and could be incredibly inapproachable but she was not always that way. “It ain’t about not havin’ friends, I ain’t that superficial.” As stated before, she didn’t mind being by herself. “Its about not fittin’ in.” People could say what they wanted about her but that didn’t mean she was likely to want to stay around. This wasn’t who she was.

Eden seemed to revert into an Irish accent and Layla assumed it was because she too had quite a distinct accent. Living in the south of London for all her life left her with the lilt, not quite as strong as her sister-in-laws but certainly evident among all the posh and middle class accents that seemed to scatter their way across the hallways. “I sound like a right commoner Eden, if someone’s gonna get judged its me.” She knew that she used grammatical errors, double negatives sometimes slithered their way into their dialogue but that did not mean she was stupid. It was just how she was brought up. She was proud of who she was and she wouldn’t change it for the world.

Urgh, that had certainly annoyed her. Why the heck she would’ve blamed Layla for something as petty as that was pretty pathetic if you asked her. She shrugged. “If I had purposefully stolen her slippers I would’ve disintegrated them not hidden them under my bed.. And anyway, what would I do with a pair of manky slippers?” Seriously?!

Eden had heard that, too, and she just shrugged. "Same. I guess somehow...I fit in here." She glanced up at the knocker longingly. BElongingly, heh! Eden chuckled to herself, and then looked back down at Layla. "Yeah..I guess you're right." She sighed. "I've just been told my whole life I won't be anything. It's hard to look past that." She admitted, finally, to someone. Her hand ran through her hair as she ruffled it up a bit. "Dad's family's not fond of me." She blinked and looked down at the ground, drawing circles into the floor with her finger.

SHe had to smirk at her words about 'commoner' though. "You do talk commonly, but I would make fun of you if you were super posh--" she said with a chuckle. "I like the way you talk. You don't sound stuck up or anything--" which was good. She smiled encouragingly. "There's that crazy Scottish kid--Ceo--you can't understand half of what he says--so don't worry about that." Everyone had their own ways of speaking right? "Where are you from, exactly?" she asked, curiously. "I'm from Wexford, Ireland--" Yep. Down south in the country.

She even giggled a little..."That's a good idea." she said, nodding. "but--yeah--I want us all to get along for the most part. SO.." Yeah. "We should have a dormie MEETING and just...talk things out and stuff...communication is KEY--" she nodded and looked down at her letter...in which she had merely written, 'Dear EDDDDDIE, ' UGH. She sighed and folded it up. She would finish it later.

Eh, Eden fit in just as well as Layla thought she did. Honestly, the fifteen-year-old did not fully know what house she belonged in nor did she entirely care. Each house was probably as bad as one another, only Slytherin would mean that she had the company of her cousin which would be very much appreciated. However here she was, stuck in blue robes and high up in a tower. Good job she didn’t mind heights. Her next statement however brought a frown to the blonde’s face. She couldn’t fathom that kind of abuse. “Who told you that?” Layla wasn’t entirely sure she’d call Eden a ‘friend’, more of an acquaintance but that didn’t mean she wanted the girl to be harshly spoken to like that. “You ain’t gonna be a failure, no one would let you be a failure.” She turned away from her roommate and glanced up at the riddle-telling knocker. Layla was quite close to her family, she lived with both her parents and her brother and his family didn’t live that far away from her either. .

Oh great, thanks for that Eden. Being told she was a ‘commoner’ did annoy her quite a lot. She did not care where she came from nor what she sounded like. Where she was from everyone sounded like she did, in fact a lot of them had an even stronger accent than hers. She was allowed to call herself common but others couldn’t, not to her face anyway. “You know what? These posh kids, they ain’t got no idea. They don’t know how to live, not properly anyway.” They got mummy and daddy to do everything for them, to pay for everything. They had no idea what it was like to have to scrape some money together for that weeks shop. Luckily Layla’s situation wasn’t so bad anymore but that didn’t mean the Ackerly’s didn’t struggle. It was down to her brother’s sister and brother-in-law that Bradley had a home to live in.

Then Eden started rambling on about some Scottish kid and the fifth year went back to inspecting her nails as she half-listened. “I ain’t difficult to understand. But if you tell me I don’t talk properly I will make sure you regret it.” It was her pet hate, yes she didn’t speak grammatically correct sometimes but she KNEW that, there was no need to tell her. As for where she was from? “Originally Brixton, but we moved to Clapham when I was real young. South London basically.” Because most people had no idea where those two places were.

She wanted them to all get along with one another? “Life ain’t that simple Eden.” She couldn’t tolerate Clara, she thought her stuck up and a know-it-all. She didn’t enjoy being in that dorm. “We ain’t in a therapy session..” ‘Talking things over’ wasn’t exactly on her agenda.

Eden didn't know if she wanted Layla to know about her family. Especially since they were muggle-haters. And Layla was very affiliated with muggles, right? She looked down and drew circles in the floor with her finger. " 'M family..." she said softly. She didn't want to look at Layla right now. "Grandparents." Uncles. The Howell side of her family. The Welsh ones. "Mam's a muggle. She don't know much o' magic." She said, and she knew she was upset because her accent was thickening--GGAAAAAH. She quickly blinked a lot and tried to pretend...otherwise.

What did she mean no one would let her be? "You--what? Who would help me around here? I don't know anyone well enough--" or anyone that CARED enough, that is. Hmm.

She had to smirk a little, even a little, at the posh kids comments. "I dislike 'em, too, Layla. My family--we don't have much. We have a two-bedroom house--we have a dog--and we have enough food for the week. And that's it. Dad's never even home because he has to work so much--and since me' grandparents won't pay for Hogwarts--" she sighed. "So..Dad and Mam have to work extra hard." She probably wouldn't even be going home over Christmas break because they'd both be just too busy for her. "I'm used to it, though. Being alone. " And being left alone. "But I'm okay. I like being at school with all the people..." even...the ones she wasn't fond of. It was better than being alone.

"Aaaah. London. " She said. "I've only ever been to London when we went to Diagon for my school stuff--Mam loves it there--she would spend her life in London if we could afford to." But Eden loved her little house in the country-side. It was lonely, but peaceful. It would be less lonely if her family was actually around...or if she actually had siblings.

And this made Eden SIGH. "I know. I wish it were. Alas...woe is US--" she said and lay back all dramatically against the wall, but she was mostly joking, and she began to chuckle a little before sitting back up.

It was a little early, and Dima was still in his pajamas, but he managed to make it to just outside his common room before having to sit down. It didn't matter that Lex would see him, right? She already knew where the Ravenclaws were located.

Common rooms weren't as big secrets as they used to be, obviously.

Yawn. His turn to feed them meant he HAD to be up, but it wasn't even seven yet. Why did they have be such early risers?

Opening the bottle, he turned the lid of the jar until it popped off. Then he held the container above the fairies' home, slowly sprinkling ample food for the four creatures in there. They ate a LOT, Merlin. When were they gonna stop eating? And when was Lex going to get here?

If she didn't come soon, Dima would probably feed them the whole bottle full.

When she'd told Dima he could help, she never expected he'd ever become THIS invested with the little things. In some ways it was good, like having them sleep in his common room away from Felix but...this waking up early thing to meet so they could feed them? Eh. Lex was tempted to have Dima do the whole thing then tell her how it went. Only problem was she didn't trust him and KNEW he'd over feed them if left on his own so she trudged from her Common Room to the entrance of his.

Arriving at the knocker she found him in the middle of sprinkling. That meant her work was technically done.

He did know he could stop sprinkling now, yeah? Lex hurried as fast as her tired muscles would carry her to snatch the bottle from Dima before he finished it. The week was over yet so they couldn't finish the food.

"I think that's enough. We just need to clean this thing now." Which could only mean one dreadful thing. Lex let out a sigh, it was too early for this. "Let them out so we can have it cleaned." By now they'd learned not to go very far but that didn't make catching them after any easier...not really. Sometimes they came willingly. Here's to hoping today was one of those days.

Dima's face lit up when the Head Girl arrived because she was annoying enough to keep him awake, and bossy enough to keep him in line. They probably wouldn't be attractive to anyone else, but he was very fond of those traits under the right circumstances. Mhm.

"Morning! I fed 'em." In case she couldn't tell. AND the fairies got to PLAY? Already woken up 10x more than before, Dima quickly unscrewed the jar again, letting the excited little creatures out. He then whipped out his wand, wanting to get the BORING stuff out so he could go and play with them for a bit. Maybe Lex would suddenly forget how to Scourgify and spend three hours learning it so he and the tiny ladies could BOND more?

Or not. "Scourgify!" The S-like shape that went hand-in-hand with the incantation he uttered was performed, and then he was off.

Faaaiiirieeees.

She could very much see that he'd fed 'em, in fact he'd been on his way to over feding them so it was good she'd gotten there when she finally did otherwise who knows how much the fairies would end up getting.

Dima was obviously eager enough to let the fairies out, which meant he'd be more than happy to be the one to put them back in. She could have asked if he wasn't already off with the fairies after a shoddy half done job of cleaning. Merlin, she knew he was eager to play with them but he could have added a bit more concentration. The Gryffindor shook her head but let him be for a while. "Scourgify." And she even got the jar's cover too, something else he'd neglected in his rush.

"Here. Hold on to this until we're ready to put them back in." She said shoving the now very clean jar at him.

"That is what clean looks like."

He didn't notice that the lid he'd cleaned wasn't actually clean. Dima was too busy frolicking around with the fairies, of course. He was all giggles and arm flaps and speedy feet trying to catch up with the buzzing little creatures that could move ten times faster than him.

Until Lex gave him more instructions. Sigh. Here came the bossy again.

Looked like the FUN was over.

Sullenly, Dima trudged over to the Head Girl's outstretched hand, taking the jar from her. "I know what clean looks like, thank you very much." And it certainly wasn't THIS. She hadn't cleaned it right either! Lex obviously hadn't noticed that there were a bunch of weird SPOTS on the botto-

..... hey. HEY. "HEY! Those! Those! What are THOSE?" He waggled a finger at the floor of the jar. They... they couldn't be.....?

What was he on about this time? She'd given him the jar to observe what clean was, not to point fingers. Leave it to Dima to get side tracked on something that simply. Might as well had sent him to go play with the fairies again while she got this thing sorted...but then curiosity won over in the end and she snatched the jar back to have a look for herself.

Heeeeyyy!!!

"See, I told you there'd be eggs, meaning at least one of your ladies is a dude. Might wanna start re-thinking those names and colours now." Just saying. For all the knew, only one might have been a girl--just don't ask her how that worked. Ahem.

Lex tapped at the jar and with a silent cast had it growing in size. "Should have some new fairies in no time." And now they had the room for that, whenever that would happen. Maybe she should have read her text more carefully about this type of thing....

As silent as the empty corridor the book appeared and placed itself on the floor under the bronze knocker where someone entering or exiting the Ravenclaw Common Room might stumble over it.

It's leather binding and rich golden letters began to glow softly as it waited for someone to notice it.

"Zeus, get BACK here. Impatient feline." Maddie followed her kneazle as it bounded down the hall towards the common room, mildly annoyed. She hadn't been READY to go in yet but SOMEONE-that someone being a four legged furball-was cold.

She came to a stop where her pet was trying to paw at a book. Old looking book, probably one that SOMEONE forgot to bring back to the library. Maddie let out a SIGH and scooped Zeus up, eyeing the book curiously.

"People are so careless with books, Z. This one is-glowing." It WAS glowing, wasn't it? "That's strange." Strange indeed.

The book did not enjoy being tromped on like some common pile of newsprint, no it did not. If the feline in question began to use it like said newsprint... But instead, a human rescued the leather-bound tome from certain destruction.

The soft, silvery glow turned into a rich, warm, golden glow as an expression of relief; the pink bookmark had a small rippling effect as if a light breeze blew through the corridor. It was such an inviting sight. Who wouldn't want to pick it up and take a peek inside?

It was glowing a different shade now, one that made curiosity bubble up inside the thirteen year old. How did it glow like that? Where was the glow coming from? Who was the owner of this book? Fairy tales weren't exactly her THING but when she had so many questions floating around in her head, she NEEDED answers. And so the second year answered the riddle asked by the eagle and then inched the door open just enough to let her kneazle inside. "Meet you in there, Z. No scratching the first years. The crying is awfully noisy."

Once the door had clicked safely shut, Maddie reached down and picked up the book, wrinkling her nose at the color of the bookmark. Why couldn't it have been BLUE? No matter, it was time to take a peek inside. So that's exactly what she did.

With the feline of possible destruction out of the way and behind a door leading to somewhere the book felt how the human lifted it up and opened its covers to have a peek inside.

Flipping it's page's invitingly it stopped at the begining of a story. The letters glowed even more warmly almost jumping out of the page to get the human to read it. Come on, what are you waiting for?

Well THAT was helpful. Maddie eyes widened slightly as the book turned the pages on its own, wondering where it would stop. And then she was struck by the words. This would be a neat way to entice someone to study, yes? Have the words stand out like this? Because they certainly had the second year's attention.

Eyes downcast, Maddie began to read.

As the human began to engulf herself in the story written on the books pages in golden lettering the book started to weave its enchanting magic around her. Soon it had surrounded the human in an enchanting bubble.

It was a joy to have its stories read once more.

What was she doing in the hall again? There had been thoughts of making a trip to the library to return the abandoned book in her hands, but that seemed liked an absurd idea now. ALL the second year could do now was flip pages. She was rooted to the spot. She couldn't STOP reading, even though a voice in the back of her mind was telling her she had THINGS she was supposed to be doing. Other things, things involving the common room and her kneazle, but that tiny voice was distant and the book had her FULL attention. So she continued to read as if on auto-pilot, her brown eyes taking in every word.

He had been incredibly careful as he guided Miss Wright's levitating body from the Astronomy Tower to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Glancing over his shoulder at the Ravenclaw, he chuckled nervously before slowly lowering his wand towards the floor.

"You can stand now, yes?" he asked, his voice quivering ever so slightly in anticipation of her perhaps answering no. That would mean he would have to enter the Ravenclaw common room with her in toe...and, well, talk about awkward. He hadn't been in this common room since he had been looking for loose change in the sofas.