"...thanks," Mariel told Keltan as he cast his arms out to make sure she didn't fall backwards, willing the heat out of her cheeks. Weird. The girl was not one to blush, yet she was reminded of doing the very same in WWW. Of course she told herself that it was because she stumbled and nearly embarassed herself by falling over. Yeah, that had to be it.

Biting her lower lip absentmindedly before mentally chastising herself to stop, Mariel nodded again as Keltan expressed his doubts about the sorting. Certainly Professor Bontecou would have that sorted out for him when he got there. Smiling again when he asked about her birthday, she said, "Mine's the eighth, when's yours?" Of course she got to celebrate it early with a few of her friends over the summer, but she couldn't wait to be officially fourteen. It seemed so much more grown-up than thirteen.

Her smile soon faded though when Satine spoke directly to her. Had she been abrupt with her? It seemed that she had hurt her feelings as well. Two people in the course of ten minutes. Nice going, Mariel. Or maybe other people were just sensitive... because she didn't think she had been rude. "Not interrupting," she said lightly. "You had just startled me, is all." She nodded when the girl said - or questioned? - that she was leaving. She certainly didn't mind if she was staying, but she was free to leave as well.

And then the conversation turned to Quidditch... the best thing ever! Mariel's entire face lit up. "You guys like Quidditch?" she asked, excitement evident in her voice. "I play for Ravenclaw. Last year I was Keeper, although I filled in for Seeker during our Championship game." Leaning closer to the two of them she added in a low voice with pride evident in her voice, "I caught the winning Snitch." Of course they wouldn't have won without the hard work of the entire team, but she was immensly proud of her own contribution. "You guys should definitely try out. It's the most fun ever," she added after chewing on the last bite of her chocolate frog.