Anna slowly made her way up to the portrait hole, taking as much time as possible to try and postpone being in the Common Room as long as possible. She'd wasted a ton of time down at the feast, but now there was nothing else left to do besides retreat to the Common Room, make sure all the new Gryffindors were settled and none of the old ones were tearing the place apart, and then get herself to bed sometime before midnight.

The problem was, for the first time in five years, she didn't want to retreat to the Common Room. Anywhere but here would be nice at the moment, as a matter of fact. The Common Room, you see, was probably where Cale was at the moment, and Anna wasn't ready at all to face him. Maybe she would get lucky, and he'd be off wandering down the halls or something. Maybe she could get in there and race to the dorms before he could make his way in.

Oh, but lo and behold, just as she finally made her way all the way through the portrait hole and into the Common Room, she saw him. There he was, happily chatting away to a few fellow Gryffindors. Nice. Thanks for looking concerned, jerk.

Oh, no! Where was Liesel? Allie? Astrid? Alexis? Usa? Sabrina? Via? Gwen? ANYBODY? Why did the place have to be filled with people Anna didn't even know yet. Oh, no! Wait! TRAVIS, the boy Anna had met at the feast! Good 'ole Travis! Anna made her way over to Travis, and then addressed him in nothing louder than a whisper. "Travis, right?" Anna asked. "So, erm, how's it going?"