Lex giggled as her brother picked her up off of the ground. It made her feel like a little kid though and that wasn't entirely cool. But yay for hugs!! Her giggles and cheerful mood were sufficiently cut off by the oncoming scowl though. "You should apologize and play NICE, Dylan. Jakers is my friend, more of a friend to me than a lot of people."

Lexi's body tensed for a moment as Ivan slid his arm around her and introduced himself. Crap. Dylan was all crazy in the head about boys around his sis... Smiling brightly she said, "Oh Ivan, this is my brother, Dylan. Say hello Dylan." Her smile was stiff and she had a little furrow between her brows.

Because this wasn't awkward at all....

"Ice cream? Awesome."

And so that's where Ellie went. To go get some ice cream. While bunches of other people arrived.

So, that's where she'd been, eating ice cream and watching. Heh. She should really join a conversation...Really.

"Actually," Jake spoke up as he inched passed the group to greet his old quidditch captain. "I sent an invite to you."

Because they had been friends, and Jake had easily forgotten about the punch. He knew he'd be going all protective over Ava in a few years, despite disliking her.

"You must not have got it. And I don't want an apology."

This was said with a perfectly carefree tone. If Dylan was gonna turn up and act like a plank then that was fine with Jake. There were worse people here, and Jake was ignoring them fine.

He looked to Lexi. "Don't worry about it," Jake told her. He didn't need an apology. He did have more problems than the fact that maybe Dylan didn't like him.



Jake moved on to the siblings who had just arrived. On one hand there was Kaika who he really looked forward to seeing, but on the other hand...

There was Treyen.

Jake did not like Treyen.

Smiling at both of them anyway, since they were both nice enough to wish him a happy birthday. He hugged Kaika warmly and gave Treyen a nod of greeting. "Alright?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

The young man ignored the little quarrel and eyed the present in Kaika's hand. "I'll take it now," he told her, holding out his free hand. Yup. He'd take it and open it now. Bahaha.

"Oh, this is Vannie's offspring," he smiled, bouncing Gracie ever so gently. "Grace. She's a fairy today."

"Haha, yeah," Jake smiled awkwardly. Was the face too much?

Of course it was. It made girls swoon.

Ooooh, cookies. "Awww, awesome," Jake grinned, chancing a glance towards his dad. Wait... he was an adult now... HE COULD HAVE SUGAR ALL HE WANTED. The young man took a cookie and bit into it. "It's great!" he beamed. It had been so long since he'd had sugar...

"You go to Hogwarts, then?" He'd heard that conversation. "What year?"

"It is indeed," Jake smiled and glanced at her as she left. If nobody had gone over there in a few minutes, he would. Yup.

Kurumi flushed a bit as he enjoyed her cookie like a little boy enjoys Christmas. Had he never had a cookie in his life? His face practically had bliss written across it in neon letters. She found herself giggling just a smidgen...OK, a lot.

"Yes," she said between giggles. "I am a second year, well, I will be anyway." She probably looked and acted more like a first year. She was probably one of the shorter students in her year and was as shy as a porlock or a mooncalf.

Completely oblivious to how the other boy felt over Lexi (because he's clueless like that) Salander watched a the blonde drama sizzle--then fizzled. He got himself out of harm's way for a good reason-- safety first of all. Profit comes a close second. But without a fight to hedge bets for, there aint really much going for the latter. Shrugging, he caught the tail end of what Ivan was saying "Home-schooled huh? Hmmm.... never thought of that for myself...." he said and trailed off. The Slytherin lad knew it would've been impossible to homeschool him-- his father couldnt tolerate magical anything in the house. And then he smirked at the last part "Dude, thank your mom. Really. Thats a lease on freedom to do whatever you want without wrestling for it. Trust me when I say you're luckier than most."



Out from the corner of his eye he spots two younguns from school. "Kurumi! Treyen!" he called out as he walked over to them. "You friends with Jake too? Cool! Like who doesnt he know huh?" he chuckled. He peers down the cookies Kurumi brought with her and grinned "More awesome baking from your non-magical oven?" he winked.

Those looked good with something... cool. Like ice cream. Or for his case, a decidedly less sweet sherbet.

He turned just in time to cross arms with another girl. It was the young Ravenclaw red-head from the Tri-Wizard Tournament "Hey there...." he started then trailed off. Typical of him to forget her name. Or forget to get it most likely. "You were at the Tri-Wizard stands right?... on the second task when Fletcher came out pint sized?" He gestured to himself "Salander. Sorry I dont think I was able to get your name with our small problem going on then."

Yes, yes, he knew that. It had been a very silly question after all since he was most certain she'd been the awesome girl who didn't let Lafay choose the bone. Though, didn't everyone choose their own bone? Wasn't Treyen the only one who let Lafay choose on her own?

Yeah, details. Unimportant details.

Oh. But he shouldn't have brought up the cookie part. After all, he ate no cookies. "I--Thank you, but I...don't eat cookies," like, ever, he didn't even eat the ones he baked for that Potions assignment, Simon was the one who did it. The little Lockhart smiled, just so she wouldn't think it he wasn't grateful for the offer.

Kurumi. Yes, he nodded and smiled again. He'd totally remember the name. "Nice to meet you, Kurumi," yup, he'll remember it now.

And then the smile totally faded. Instantly. His hand moved over to his jaw as soon as she mentioned it. For a moment there was terror in his eyes, he remembered thinking he wouldn't be able to speak again, and then decided to shrug it off, it had passed, and he had his jaw bone with him, all good. "Much better, right?" he'd decided on a joke.


And now Kaika was absolutely happy, because Treyen had moved over to talk to, well, the girl with cookies? She was reminded of Melita and felt slightly suspicious about those cookies now.

She always did, no matter who'd made the cookies. Suspicion was always there whenever cookies were involved. Good thing she'd managed to pass it along to Treyen. Though, so far all she'd done was making him dislike cookies, but not fear them, which is something everyone should fear. Tsk. Melita.

And...the gift was gone.

He'll probably like it. Probably, she didn't truly know. Boys were hard to shop for. Or, well, young men.

"Time has gone by so fast, hasn't it?" because she could picture a small pink!haired boy in her head, back in the days when her dislike for Bunbury was a public matter. "What was the first thing you did? Magically, I mean," she asked, entirely curious.

But look at that! It was none other than a little Corbette girl, regardless of her real surname the girl will grow to be just like her mother, right? "She is? She's precious!" and entirely adorable.

He heard his name. He was certain he'd heard it. And, actually, he half hoped that it had been Fletcher instead of that Slytherin friend of his. Salamander. No, Salander.

"Heeey, Salander," he said, with a nod, and then...haha...well, Treyen wasn't particularly friend with Jake. His sister, however, more than qualified in that area. Treyen was just...an acquaintance? Yeah, a fellow Hufflepuff. But since he felt no need to explaaaain (not with his sister standing almost right there and not wanting her to hear how he truly felt about her beloved Jake) then he nodded again, "Yeah...how do you know him?" bahahaha! Jake was like, right there, it was just an amusing question.

ACTUALLY...How did Ellie know Jake?

"Ellie!" he said, as he gestured for her dancing professors to come closer. Salander seemed to know her too. From the Stands? Like, when Ellie supported Raiden instead of Sir Fletcher the Awesome?

Frown.

Ellie was the smart one, she should've been supporting Fletcher from the start. Just like he...didn't do. But, never mind, "What--" are you doing here??? "How's your summer going?" he smiled, that was a better question, no?

Vanessa did have to ggiggle as she watched Grace practically climb all of Jake. He was really good with Grace, maybe Vannie should get him into babysitting once he had graduated from Hogwarts. "You should see her in the morning then." She grinned, ruffling her daughter's hair. Grace was not so much as a fairy when she was trying to wake him up. Oh. Yush. The present. "You might want this..." She smiled at Jake, offering him the present.

Super tall? Vannie shook her head at her daughter. "Am I not tall enough for your Gracie?" She stuck her tongue out at her little girl, before smiling. She had no idea whether Grace was going to be tall or be like a midget like she were. At least she knew Frankie was going to be tall like his father.

Oooh. Somoeone else was saying her name....and it was "Kaika" Vanessa beamed, as she hugged the younger girl back. She hadn't seene Kaika for ages, so it was nice to see her. Actually she wasn't sure Kaika even knew she had one baby, let alone two. Haha. Everyone really did need a big catch up. "Yup. All mine." She smiled, glancing back at her daughter. Yush. Gracie was her precious daughter.

Most adults probably would have thought twice about taking a poster's word for anything. Especially when said poster had invited everyone and anyone to a party, but it didn't bother Renée one bit. She wasn't afraid of teenagers, and she was already sort of dressed for a party. At least, she wasn't really dressed for aimlessly wandering the Alley and shopping, but she'd taken care of anything she'd need as of September a few days earlier. Now was just to see what connections she could make.

Explaining the reasoning she had behind walking through the doors of Fortescue's and into the party area. Not to mention she'd done a bit of prying to make sure the people who were likely to be in attendance were connected to Hogwarts. Meeting other staff would be nice, but she wanted to get on the good side of some of the students as well. There was the possibility she could kill two birds with one stone here, and she flicked a few errant strands of dark hair back behind her shoulder as the pink feather hanging from her ear swung free for a moment. And at least there would likely be ice cream offered as well, and she never turned that down.

Oh...no...he didn't eat cookies!? Kurumi's cheeks flushed and she threw the lid back on the box as quickly as she could as if in doing so she would cover her embarrassment. "I-m s-s-s-sorry," she said bowing over and over again. Probably made her look even more ridiculous and frantic than she already felt. "W-w-what is something you do eat? Cupcakes? Small tea cakes?" British people ate those didn't they? She was going to have to make up for this cookie fiasco. At least he was polite about it...unlike cookie hater who was standing over there on the opposite side of the room.

"Y-y-y-yes, very dashing," she blushed. Everyone looked better with their jaw bones safely intact. Her right hand went to her left arm where she had had a bone removed herself. That not been a fun experience and had only proven that Dargon Lady was insane.

Scary cookie girl went far far away from Kurumi's thought when Salander made his appearance. Ug, it was starting to feel like when she would try and talk to Josh...all tongued tied and strawberry tones. "I-I-I've actually just meet him," she said bowing her head a bit. Phew, at least that awkwardness was quickly relieved with some cookie talk. "Yes, they are gingerbread faces," she smiled as she watch Salander search for the winning ice cream combination. "I think some pumpkin ice cream would go well with them," she said holding up a carton of it. If not, vanilla was a safe bet.


Then Kurumi noticed a woman enter the room. Was she Jake's mother? Kurumi shook her head. No, that was a silly idea considering the two looked nothing a like. Maybe...she would like a cookie? After all, since there were two less cookie eaters in the room, she had plenty of extras. "E-Excuse me," she said timidly bowing slightly. Oh, that was a rather pretty pink feather. "W-W-Would you like a cookie?"

"You're welcome." Well, as it perfectly seemed, Jake liked books. Ced couldn't have been more pleased. He thought the title of the book which he'd just given to Jake as a present, though intriguing, was of the Children's books sort; therefore, un-adolescent, inappropriate for teens. He didn't know why he choose the book in the first place. Just... instincts that Jake would like it, no?

Enjoy the party? "Surely!" Ced would party to his heart's content. With that said, he smiled at Jake, and turned around, hoping to see some other familiar faces in familiar places soon. Ah, yes, pun intended.

With Ced's gaze darting in no particular direction 'round the party area in the hopes of seeing his old friends or any sensible person to be with, he thought his eyes had just laid upon one of the most fashionable person in Jake's party... and that very person was, much to his surprise, an adult.

So... Jake had adult friends, too? Or the woman perhaps, who so had a knack on dressing up, was one of the people, with no direct connection to Jake, who went by because they'd read the poster plastered on the shop's facade that all were invited. Ah, that was probably it. But the woman could be of other significance.

Out of habit, Ced decided to make an impression, and so he walked toward her. "Hello ma'am," he said, timidly. And maybe he could be of some help to the woman?

Ahh. Well, this certainly saved her the trouble of finding someone to talk to.

Ellie smiled at the older kid. "Hey."

"Yes." she was the one from the task. Heh. Poor Fletcher. 'Least he's all better now. "And History of Magic. That one lesson." When they were in groups.

Salander. Got it. "I'm Ellie. Nice to get your name. Finally." GRIN.

"Ah. Hey!" Ellie obeyed the beckoning and moved closer to Treyen, giving him a hug. He was a cool cat. She decided she could do that now.

Her summer? "It was great. Got back up in the air." Which was horrible the first few weeks. It's amazing what a school term's worth of barely flying could do to you. Her legs and arms were constantly sore. But that had faded by now.

"How was yours?" He was going to go to Italy, wasn't he?

Oh this was so perfect. The look on Jakes face made whatever happened next so worth it. "Yes, dad... that's what I said." She said glaring back at the boy. Yeah, the BOY. The boy who was acting like a jealous five year old. Hadn't he learned yet that his jealousy was going to get him nowhere?

Oh great... here comes big mouth Lexi. That girl really needs to learn to mind her own business. She has no room talking about people being pathetic. She after all was the one that dumped Jake for someone else and now she wants to act like she cares about him. "Is pathetic the best you can come up with? I wold have expected better than that from you Lexi."

"Call me all the names you want Jake, it won't change anything, I'm still going to be around whether you like it or not." She didn't care that he was considered an adult now, she would NOT let him dictate how she would act towards Lawson.

Oh, it appeared that Salander thought they really could be related. She was about to answer him but he decided to leave without waiting for them to say anything. Oh well, maybe later she would let him know what she was up to.

Hearing Lexi continue with her ramblings Marie just rolled her eyes at the girl. Her stupid little comments didn't even deserve a response. If anyone in that room was attention starved it was Lexi. That girl thought she always had to be the center of everything... including what was going on here with Marie and Jake... something that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

Marie looked over at the blond. Yeah, she knew who she was. After all she was in Slytherin when Reese was a prefect. "Who said you were meeting me?" she said glaring at her. "Wow, he has a whole ten people here, hope the room is big enough to handle everyone." Seriously, did she think ten people was a lot? Oh right, for Jake it is. "I'll back off him when I'm good and ready and not a minute before. I think it's you who needs to back off me. This doesn't concern you. As for me not being cool enough to be his sister maybe you should look in a mirror. I believe he was adopted OUT of your family so that makes you NOT his sister anymore..."

CRAP!

WHY was Lawson dragging her away? She was just starting to have fun here. "But dad, I am happy, and I'm having fun, can't you tell?" She said as she stomped on his foot to make him stop dragging her. "You didn't even let me give Jake his gift yet." She said as she pulled out a book and tossed it at Jake. "Here, I thought maybe you could learn a thing or two from this." That is if the boy could even read it.

Oh and there was Evelyn sneaking her way over to them. "Hey Evelyn, come join the fun over here." Yeah, she knew Ev wouldn't want to miss out on giving Jake a hard time.

Reese rolled her eyes. Her managers had been... ugh, annoying. Rude. Self-centered. It had been amazing that she had stayed in that studio as long as she did but nothing really got to her until they gave the song she was suppose to sing to some little kid. Even the thought about that day still got her mad! But the next thing Lawson said made her feel a little bit better. "You could... help me? I would love it if you could get me back into the business."

Such a relief.

Reese wouldn't admit this but she had been a little worried yesterday about Jake not liking the gift but it was all good now and knowing that Jack wouldn't know how expensive the watch was until she got it paid off, made her feel so much better!

YES.

"Yayyy!" She exclaimed once Jake said he could spare a few days with her and Jack. "I'm so happy!" Now all she had to do now was find out what she was going to cook for Christmas... and how she was going to cook it since she was NOT such a good chief. Most of her food that she had been previously frozen or cooked by someone else.

Reese gave Vannie a BIGGER hug in return. Gosh, she sure did miss her old school buddies! "Hey! And I knowww. I can't believe we've gone this long without talking to one another," she said. "You need to come visit sometime!" After that statement left her mouth, she looked at the little girl that Vannie had brought along. Was that... "Gracie?" She had gotten so big! "Aw, Vannie. She looks just like you."

Reese had been so caught up with catching up with everyone that was around her to even notice that Dylan had walked in. That was until she finally turned her head to see who Lexi had been talking to. "Dylan? DYLAN!" The first time she had said his name, it had been in a whisper. But the second time... he was sure to have heard it since he wasn't standing too far from her. "Hey! Long time, no see."

At the mention of heels, Reese looked down to examine the ones Lexi was wearing. "Oh my, Lexi! Those shoes are beautiful," she informed her. "Where did you get them from? Nevermind that! You and I are going shoe shopping sometime, then you can show me wear you buy all your shoes." Not that she needed anymore shoes. Though, maybe if she went shoe shopping with someone, then Torin would finally think her shoes were pretty. Hopefully.

"I'm sure I have missed you more," she argued. "Last term was dull without me? Well think about how dull I've been without you around! I miss my little Gryffindor buddy while you're in school!"

She turned her attention back to Ivan and smiled. "I'm assuming you go to Hogwarts," she told him. How else would Lexi know him? Unless he was her next door neighbor or an old childhood friend that came back to London after spending his last few years in some far away place. "What house are you in?"


Reese took a step back when Lawson turned back around to tell her he got it. Okay okayyyy she got it! It wasn't her fault that she hadn't heard him the first time he had said that because she had been too busy running her mouth. She closely watching as Lawson dragged Marie away, and then she turned towards Jake, who had pulled her into a hug. "Jakers, you know I always have your back," she reassured him. "Even if your at school and need my help, I'll be up there as fast I can." What were big sisters for?

She let go of Jake and began to say, "Yes, let's have so--" Her statement was cut short when she heard bits and pieces of what Marie was saying to her. Because she had been talking to Jake when she was talking, she had heard a few sentences of what was said but those sentences had gotten her blood to boiling. She did NOT need anybody to tell her Jake had been adopted out of her family. And NOBODY told her she wasn't Jake's sister anymore.

With a quick turn, she was facing Marie and Lawson again. Her conscience just began to speak telling her this wasn't such a good idea. Knowing she shouldn't ruin Jake's birthday, she stomped herself right over to where the ice cream was located.

She needed some sugar. NOW.

So, Kaika was entirely aware about Mia's twins, well, Mia and Tancred's twins, which she has yet to meet. However, she was not at all aware that Vannie had a kid already.

"Grace is beautiful, Vannie," she smiled, looking up at the child that seemed to like Jake very much. Maybe that's why Kaika liked Grace, because the girl liked her favorite Hufflepuff.

"What have you been up to?" besides the little girl over there.

Wait. Wait. Why were her cheeks going red? She had nothing to be ashamed of, his dislike for cookies had nothing to do with her or anything. And she was apologizing?! "Sorry? What for?" he asked, a frown forming on his face. How could she know that he'd say NO to cookies? And even if she did know she was the one being kind and offering him some food. Yes, cookies were food.

Kurumi mentioned something that made him smile, "Yes, cupcakes! I like them very much, why?" she wasn't going to bake him some, was she? Because she didn't have to do so. No.

Ah! He liked this girl. She...said just the right word. Dashing. Haha. He couldn't help but smile one of those Gilderoy's smiles, very charming of him, and he might have looked slightly vain, but he knew he was a pretty boy. "Thank you, thank you," he said, with a nod.

But this was more than a surprise. He...didn't expect a hug from one of his favorite professors. He...seriously didn't expect that, at all. And you know what? It wasn't until now that Treyen noticed the resemblance between Ellie and Cricket. They should meet, definitely.

The Gilderoy in was making him react much better to the unexpected, so he managed to return the hug without any sign of awkwardness. Ha.

"That's good, I did so as well," he had a smile on his face as he said so, flying was awesome, and you know what was even more awesome? This summer he managed to find out important, no, not important, VITAL information...which he wasn't going to share at the moment, too many people could find out about the truth hidden beneath his Hero. Plus, he hadn't mention anything to Kaika, and she might hear.

"Did you practice?" wait, wait, Kaika was here, shouldn't he...introduce her to Ellie? His face turned towards his sister for a moment and...

...then he looked back to Ellie, "That's my sister over there," he said, gesturing towards the brunette that was talking to the birthday boy.

His summer? Great as always, but this one had been more special because of the Gilderoy bit. "I had some gelato," he winked, surely she could figure that out.

Chuckling slightly, Jake shook his head at the way Reese reacted. "Just remember I'm a vegetarian," he reminded her.

As if she'd forget. He'd been veggie for about ten years now.

"Ahhh... probably why I haven't seen you around," Jake nodded. Yes, that made a lot of sense.

When he saw that people were talking to this girl, Jake wandered off with his cookie.

ooc :: whut is the present? D:

Jake smiled. It really had... and the time going by wasn't something he was too happy with... but it was happening nevertheless.

Hmm... first magic thing. "Intentionally... either conjuring sparks or butterflies," the young man chuckled. He jostled Gracie slightly as she was spoken about.

"Ah yes... a gift. Gifts are good."

Gifts are AWESOME.

Jake smiled as the two adults conversed and was all set to open his presents and put Gracie down, when he found a whole other different reason.

"I'll be right back," the young man mumbled and handed Gracie over to Vannie. "And stay here," he told both females. He didn't want either of them and certainly not Gracie to see his interaction with Marie. It wouldn't be pretty.

Ah, a new adult guest! That was perfect. Jake managed to flash her a smile real quickly and diverted. "Hey, welcome," he began. "This is my party, hope you have some fun, etcetera, etcetera. I'll be right back; just got a problem guest to deal with."

With that, and a charming smile, Jake went on to where Lawson and Marie were. As he walked he started to hold himself higher, like Kazy had told him. Like in imposing character, almost. He had had enough.

The gift? Jake would burn it later.

He wasn't jealous; he was disgusted.

Stepping over to Lawson and Marie and not saying anything, Jake waited until she was done insulting his guests before speaking, not once looking at his father for help.

"It's time for you to leave," he said in a low and dangerous tone. "I invited everyone because I believed everyone deserved a chance to come along and have fun. See, people grow and they change, Marie. I know I did. I also know I was willing to make some kind of truce; I could have everyone except you and your little friends."

Yup. How'd'ya like THEM apples?

"I should have gone to your party last year, to show you how a civilised person acts when invitied to a celebration. You don't deserve to even be in the presence of these decent people, especially after that performance."

Jake's voice was getting more and more dangerous, almost tense, like a wire about to snap under the pressure of hauling a great weight for five years, and get rid of the unnecessary stress.

"I can handle you treating me like the entrails of an unpleasant creature, but I will NOT accept you treating my guests like dirt," Jake said, before pointing at his dad's foot. "And I will not accept you doing anything to harm any of my family-" here, he also pointed back at Reese "-in any form."

Family AND harm.

She could call Lawson 'dad', Jake had spoken to his dad enough to understand that he was the man's child, and that they had been through and would get through more hard times. Marie was just an interloper. She had her own family. Jake understood that. The shock of the word had surprised him, but his dad's reaction had reassured him.

"Now, I tried to let you in. When you were at my house, for the most part I left you be-" hopefully she now knew not to interfere in a fight "-and I did not treat you anything like you have. I am asking you, and Evelyn, very, very nicely..."

His wand hand was quivering. He wouldn't do anything, but if she acted up again he'd get her out.

"To please..."

A wild and crazy smile touched Jake's lips, hinting for the first time that he really had changed. His eyes were wide with the smile, but something about him hinted towards the fact that... he really had been being patient, and now he was done.

"Get out."

Jake was kicking Marie out?

Even though Marie was one of her closest friends, Evelyn couldn't help but...find it a little funny. Marie was being kicked out of Jake's party. If you could call this a party.

Glancing around the room, the Slytherin leaned against a table, crossing her arms and staring at the party room. Huh. Yea, definitely could have been better. Maybe she should tell him a few tricks and such that'll really blow people away. You know, almost like a birthday present that she never thought of giving him in the first place. Oh c'mon, she at least had to be somewhat nice. It was his birthday after all. And the fact that he was able to do magic now had nothing to do with this supposed niceness that she'll be doing!

Maybe.

...

Wait, what?

Having not realized that she had been smirking and staring at the guests, her gaze traveled from them to the demented freak that she was now standing next to. "What? Why am I being kicked out?!"

PFFT!

Speaking of time, Kaika watched as he took the little box in his hands and as he proceeded to...open it? Was he going to open it right there? Oh, well, she wasn't fond of opening presents when the person who presented it was there...people were different, Treyen preferred to open it right there in front of everyone.

And what will he find inside the box? That was simple. She was rather traditional, she'd given Tamzin something regarding Hufflepuff on that birthday when Eva was around simply because she was a Hufflepuff. Jake was coming of age, and what did traditions mean when a boy came of age? Yes, exactly, a watch. A pocket watch to be more precise...only different. It was smaller than most, very small and thin since you could close your hand and it'll remain hidden. Also, it turned red whenever you were late, like a remembrall would do so.

But this watch had real numbers where they were supposed to be and seven arrows instead of hands, the trick part was that only the holder of the watch could see them, if you weren't holding it all you'll see were Snitches instead of the numbers and no arrows at all. It was a pretty nice sight, the Snitches, because it sort of matched the silver of the watch somehow.

She couldn't help but smile a bit when he mentioned his first 'intentional' spell, "Really? That's...," weird for a boy, "...lovely." Lovely, because this was Jake.

And then he gave back Gracie to her mom only to walk towards someone else for a moment. Yes, no problem, Kaika will stay with Vannie.

His grip tightened on Marie's arm as he tried in vain to drag her away from the ever growing drama. She was bloody strong for such a skinny thing.

And man once she got going there seemed to be no stopping her. Marcus just hoped that the other girls would just keep their mouths shut so that this could all end on a somewhat happy note. He was in no mood to see punches thrown because that would mean he would have to get into the middle of it and he really didn't want to have to hex anyone.

The stomp on the foot caused him to grit his teeth and he pulled Marie around so that she was standing in front of him. "Stop it." He hissed before shaking his head at her. "I get that you and Jake don't like each other and as much as it pains me that you don't, I would have thought that you would show a little more maturity and make an effort to be nice to him." He let go of her arm and gave her a disappointed look. "If you can't be nice to him out of the goodness of your heart Marie, and believe me I know there is goodness in you, then can you at least do it for me?"

Before he could say anymore on the matter, Marcus noticed that Jake was there and he took a step away from Marie and let Jake have his say although his hand was twitching slightly, getting ready to get his wand out in case this turned ugly.

But it seemed he had nothing to worry about even though there were a couple of moments he could Jake wavering. Marcus stood and listened as his son gave his speech and quite frankly he couldn't be more proud of him right at this moment.

Of course he didn't want to see anyone get thrown out of the party, he could totally understand Jake's reasoning and it was his party after all and he could kick out whoever he wanted.

Placing his hand gently on Jake's shoulder, Marcus looked up at him with a proud smile on his face. "And I thought you said that you were never going to grow up? That was a very grown up speech right there." And very eloquently put too, he thought.

Marcus looked over at Evelyn when she spoke up and while he agreed that she had not caused any trouble, not that he had seen anyway, it was up to Jake who he wanted here and who he didn't. But if Jake was looking at him to throw them out, he wasn't going to do it, just like he wasn't going to help the girls stay if they asked.

From this point on Marcus Lawson was sitting on the fence.

Jake glanced back at Kaika quickly as if to check that she and Vannie and Gracue were staying put. Glancing down at the two unopened gifts in his hand, Jake smiled inwardly. He'd open them in a second, when this was done, and go finish his conversation.

Glancing towards Evelyn, Jake thought about what to say.

"You are welcome to stay, if you wish," he told her quietly. She was smart... and hadn't been a nuisance. "I didn't think you'd enjoy staying behind."

Plus, secretly, Jake thought Evelyn to be quite sensible... she could have kept an eye on Marie for a bit. But it wasn't her fault.

And Lawson was here so she wouldn't be so lonely.

"You're welcome to stay."

Jake was so tense and ready to react to anything right now, he jumped slightly when his dad put his hand on his shoulder, but turned to look at him, the corners of his mouth twitching into a reluctant smile.

"Well dad," he said, and felt his heart rate slow and the adrenaline stop pumping; the result was a faint tiredness. "There's growing up, and there's not letting people walk over you anymore."

The day would be salvaged yet.

Jake was just very glad he had his father's support.

He never liked being on the man's bad side.

"That's great." Ellie beamed, pulling away from the hug. This way they can talk properly. "Yes, I did. Loads." With the usual people. Her dad, godfather, friends of her father's...She really needed more people. They knew all her secrets already. And she knew theirs. Bit monotonous, really...

But anyway... Oh his sister! The Wasp, was it? Ellie looked toward the girl Treyen pointed out. Hmmm. She had gotten the impression that they weren't very close... Maybe "Kaika, right?" Maybe she knew the birthday kid. Unlike Ellie. Heh.

Gelato? Oooo! "You did go to Italy, then?! How was it? What was the gelato like?" This was exciting. She wanted to know everything.

Totally beats her stay-at-home summer.

Awesome. Which meant...Ravenclaw was most likely to have a very strong Beater defending their players and taking out the opposite Seeker. Poor Seeker.

He simply couldn't wait until tryouts, and he couldn't wait to find out who Hufflepuff's Captain was going to be. He highly doubted Jake over there will get the honor. No matter how many times Kaika had said that he'll make a great Captain.

He smiled, and then blinked, Ellie had remember the name...

She eyed Jake and almost instantly her eyes widened as she noticed Marcus Lawson was also in the room. Sigh. Kaika had made it clear about her dislike for the man, but her eyes drifted away towards Vannie again...until she heard her name being called...and turned to...a girl Trey was talking to. A redhead, like Harper. What was it with her brother and redheads? Did this one also managed to make him go all quiet? If so, then she'll like the girl.

...and as soon as he looked up, Kaika was facing them, he had no choice but to make introductions, right? "Yes, Kaika," he said, gesturing towards his sister and then back to Ellie, "This is Ellie, she's played Beater with Ravenclaw," mmhmmm, he smiled, widely. A fellow Beater?

Ellie, huh? "It's nice to meet you, Ellie," she said with a smile, extending her hand to the girl who was taller than Trey, though, everyone was. And then she heard 'Beater' followed by 'Ravenclaw' and couldn't help but think of Willow. Sigh. Willow. Didn't Kaika tell Treyen to stay away from Ravenclaws?

This girl, however, didn't seem to be like Willow at all, which is why she was being nice to her, "I played Beater at Hogwarts, too," the brunette nodded, "And still do," and pretty much adores that position, she knew enough of the others as to grow fond of this one.

Ah, he knew he'll hear about the Ravenclaw nonsense eventually. But he didn't care about that.

"Yes! You remembered! I did go to Italy with my dad and stepmom," he started to say, "And...actually, gelato is better than ice cream," he said the last part in a whisper, they were at Florean's after all. "It...sort of tastes different, but better different, and...I liked it," yup, it was a little bit of heaven, perhaps Kurumi could learn to make gelato instead of cookies, "The pizza was also different, good different, and the people were friendlier than I expected," yup, yup, nod, nod.

"I just feel terrible offering you something you do not like," Kurumi frowned running her fingers through her hair. She was glad he didn't glare at her for offering though. She liked making people happy - it was something she hadn't really been given the chance to do before coming to Hogwarts. In her old life, no one outside of her family ever gave her the chance to even offer.

She felt like she had seen that smile before...but where? Something she had seen in Hogwarts a History came to mind, but that seemed like a silly notion. Still, it was hard to not notice that smile and Kurumi found herself staring at it out of pure curiosity.
"I hope you enjoy the cookie," she called as he walked off. "It goes great with pumpkin or peppermint ice cream!"

What? Really? "But you didn't know--there's no need, really," he said, with a sweet smile, not the same charming Gilderoy smile, the smile that had made Kurumi stare. "You could still make some cupcakes...some time," not right now, after all, she was here to enjoy the little bit of party they had, and the ice cream, which was something he did enjoy.

"You can even teach me...since I heard Salander said you make them the Muggle way?" his sentence was turned into a question at the end. The most important question was, however, how did such a sweet girl know Salander, the Slytherin boy. She was not a Slytherin was she? Nah, sweet Slytherins didn't exist. And since she wasn't a Hufflepuff, then she must be a Gryffindor. A very brave one, no?

Oh. And Kaika was coming over. Cool.

"Nice to meet you, too." Ellie said, taking her hand. Huh. So maybe handshakes weren't all that formal? Ehh. She was still deciding on this.

"Right. Treyen," She glanced at him, "told me you played for the Wasps?" It wasn't really a question..but her voice had gone up as if it were one. "Congratulations." Late congratulations, really, seeing as she's probably played with them for a while now. "They're very good." Not her favorite, of course, as her and Treyen lengthly discussed at the dance, but she gave a genuine smile when she said it. It was true.

Her attention turned back to Treyen, of course, when he spoke. "Of course." That she remembered. Gelato...was better ice cream. Huh. Confirmation. "Really? That's so weird." She couldn't really imagine it. She'd have to actually try it. One day, maybe.

And the pizza and people were better? A visit was definitely in need.

Ahhh, so Trey was doing a wonderful job saying the right team. She often thought that he'd managed to say she played for some other team, preferably the one he supported. But, no, he'd said the right one.

"Yes, the Wasps," she said, with a smile, Ellie seemed like a very sweet girl, or the smartest Ravenclaw she'd ever known, and she'd known some smart ones, like Rachel...and, yes, Rachel. "Thank you," and then she nodded after hearing they were good. Of course they were. It was such a shame they weren't at the top right now. "Do you have a favorite team?" because as a Quidditch player you were bound to have a couple favorites, no?

The boy couldn't help but hope that Ellie might say 'Appleby Arrows'. It would really make his day.

He said nothing though, he didn't encourage Ellie to say anything at all, he remained neutral in all this, except on the Italy part, "It's a great country, truth be told, I'm thinking about talking to Professor Hadley about it," after all, she's from Italy, "I still missed home after a few days, but the gelato was totally worth it," can you imagine if the real Florean was still around here somewhere? He'll probably be kicked out for saying such a thing! "You...have to try it, there are no words," there weren't words when one wasn't particularly skillful in the kitchen. But the ingredients made a difference, a difference that allowed gelato to taste better than mere ice cream.