Ethan smiled at Minerva as she had expressed her concern to him for Bay. He had felt the same way, seeing her all alone and looking all lost. This place was overwhelming enough without having anyone to guide you. "We actually met in Diagon Alley last week.. when we were shopping for books," he told Minerva with a nod. He glanced at Bay's trolley subconsciously at the mention of the supplies. "That's a good idea," he grinned at Min when she mentioned the younger girl sitting with them before turning back to Bay. She could use some older students to help her out and show her around before she met some kids her own age. "Don't worry, I won't be doing those other things for too long.. We'll spend most of the train ride together," he said to Min, leaning a bit closer to her. He didn't want to spend the whole time in that stuffy prefect's compartment. How fun would that be?

Squeezing Min's hand as she took his in hers, he smiled a bit and nodded, glancing over to the barrier. "I guess I should have thought of that before we came through." Of course, all he was really thinking of was how to say goodbye to his mother as quickly as possible so she'd be on her way. "Do you really think we have time?" He glanced out towards the tracks, wondering how much longer till the train would get there. Surely it would be a while before it actually left at least.

He was about to tell her he'd be right back so he could get that espresso when Laura was reaching out her arm at him. "For me..? Oh that was sweet," he said with a smile to the Hufflepuff girl. "Thanks.." He took a sip and realized exactly what it was. "Espresso.. that's my favorite.." He grinned at the girl, clearly impressed.. though she couldn't have possibly remembered that about him. Either way, he was happy with his espresso.

Ells always seemed to have the answers. Or... she always seemed to have a thought out reasoning behind her answers, it seemed. "Agreed! And... well... it's ice cream!" Who didn't like ice cream? GRIN. "It's a date then!" Or... just the two of them hanging out? Yeah, that sounded about right.

Alec tilted his head slightly as he listened to her talk. He liked listening to the sound of her voice, sure, but there was something about the things she said that made him wonder whether she was confident in herself. Because he was in her. "I bet you've already made them proud, you know," he said, reaching over a hand to gingerly touch her cheek, "And... erm... your best will probably be more than enough, yeah?" Were those wide words to say? ... "I... do you think he will?" Alec didn't really know Aegis that well but from what he knew, the little guy was quite... interesting. "I don't... I mean... Really?"

GRIN. "Well... it'll be really awesome if you did," he said, nodding, "They might recognise you, if you go back. ... The elephants, I mean," Good memory and all that. "That's really great then," And hopefully... the girl wouldn't get sick of him or anything. Although, how she hadn't managed to do that already, he didn't know. "Really? He was impressed? With me?!" GRIN GRIN GRIN. "I... erm... I mean that's great that he didn't disapprove."

Wave wave at Minnie and wave wave at Ethan who Alec actually approved of a lot. Yeah... the dude was really awe- "I... you okay?" he asked, having turned his attention away from the older couple only to find his girlfriend smiling at him.

In Blake's pursuit to find an empty seat (and not run into anybody), his eyes happened on two people that seemed to be watching him. No doubt they were entertained by his parents' behaviour. Blake blushed. "What? Never seen loving parents before?" In all fairness, they meant well.

Lucas dug his hands into his pockets and scoffed. "Mum threatened to homeschool me, but I told her that would mean spending more time with me and after that, she didn't seem so keen." He giggled a bit and then shrugged. "Anyway, I couldn't just let you go off and have this big adventure at Hogwarts without me." Because, well, because pout.

He nodded as the girl greeted him and rubbed the back of his neck so he'd have something else to do with his hands instead of looking like a muppet with them dug deep into his shorts. What were you even supposed to say to girls? Like.. weird.

But James was already rambling and Lucas' eyes just kept widening until he cut his brother off with a, "You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" He turned to the girl and blinked. "He's not.. there's isn't.. a man-eating spider right!?" What was this place his parents were sending them!? He grimaced awkwardly as James started laughing. "Hufflepuffs? That's a dumb name." Lucas frowned a bit. "Mum and Dad never mentioned that." But to be fair, they're parents never really talked about anything, much less their past. Old codgers, that was the problem.

She was going to show them around? Coooool. "D'you know where the secret passages are?" Castles had to have like moats and turrets and stuff right?!

"Oh you were homeschooled." That had been the part he was looking for, really. "I been at Hogwarts since my first year." So he supposed that made him about as expert as he was going to get. "But my dad teaches me lots of stuff too." Grin. He was cheering up a bit, even if this Derry girl was a bit soft spoken. She was still nice to talk to and a good distraction.

"How come you're finally allowed to come to Hogwarts? I mean you look around my ageish."

Derry was starting to think that maybe not being at Hogwarts since her first year was a bit of a disadvantage. Everyone she'd spoken to so far had started when they were eleven. "Are both your parents magical, West Odessa?" Ooooh it was fun to say. Okay so she was going to call him by his full name, because it was fun.

Allowed..? "Oh, um, I kind of had to come to Hogwarts..." she said, fidgeting a little bit. "My dad had to go back to work full time so..."

We'll take this as a compliment, we will.
 

Well, she would take the gratitude. It was hard to compliment someone who tried to feed her to a dragon, anyway. Imagine how it would be if he succeeded? Terrifying, that was what. Being eaten alive by the dragon that guarded the lower vaults. She would end up being the story of the girl who got eaten. And appear in the newspapers! Moms would tell their kids stories about how they should never intern at Gringotts because they would get eaten by dragons and- Wait, it was an accident?

Eyeing the Hufflepuff suspiciously, she flashed back to the time he tried to feed her to they were feeding the dragon. Accident? Hmm... No. Not seeing it. He deliberately pushed her in front of a hungry dragon and told her to stop clinging to him. Amazing head boy, wasn't he? "It's not? Shame. You could've fooled me," she shrugged. "It's okay, though. I've tried to kill you more times than I can count."

Especially when he decided that sneaking up on Ravenclaw Quidditch practice was a good idea. Oh, how very wrong he was.

SMIRK.

Did Elise seriously believe he, Oakey Gunter, would push her into a dragon for sport? Oh yeah definitely, he does it all the time. Why he recalls the last time he did....Oh wait no, that was the Ravenclaw Captain in his first year trying to feed him to a Snargaluff. Elise wasn't just crazy to think this, no she was MENTAL. Holding a grudge for something that didn't happen, how crazy could you get?

Actually shooting bludgers at him and Ariana as he was spying just jogging by the pitch. He took two good bludgers to the chest and as he recalled they were 'strays' hit by none other than Elise. "You're ridiculous, If I wanted to kill you...which I don't! I'd have left you in the Greenhouse while the Demon Plant was eating Milton two years ago" Well okay, Milton wasn't eaten, but he could have been. It was almost poetic justice in his eyes if he wasn't so terrified of Man-Eating Plants himself. It'd have been more poetic if the Ravenclaw Captain was the one who instilled his fear of plants in the first place, Jerk. "If you want to call us even, then I suppose we're even." ...Crazy Bunch of Mental Ravenclaws...

She listened to Ethan ask if they had time before the train. Looking around she figured they did. She was just about to pull some muggle money out of her purse for him, knowing he most likely wouldn't have any, when Laura handed him a drink. She was being very thoughtful, Min beamed at her and took another sip of her hot chocolate. When he took a sip and said it was espresso, Minerva laughed and rolled her eyes, "She probably saw you drinking them all the time at your house. Still shaking her head she looked to Laura, "This is his third one today, he had two before we left, I don't think we need a caffeine generated hyper claw prefect on the train." leaning over she kissed Ethan on the cheek, hoping he knew she was only joking. She would actually love to see a caffeine generated hyper adorable claw prefect on the train. It could show for some entertainment.

She couldn't help but blush at Laura's words when she said about not bothering her when she was with Ethan. Knowing lately most of her time was with Ethan, but she just couldn't help it. "Laura, if you need me I think he will understand, won't you E?" Ethan was always understanding of her friends and how she felt about all her friends. "Well whatever made you do what you did, I'm glad it's over and I'm glad you are ready to put it behind you." She eyed Laura a bit still not sure if she believed her friend was fine, but she would leave it for now. She would be keeping a closer eye on her this term, just to make sure everything was alright.




Books?? Where was she when he was buying books, but that wasn't really the focus at the moment, plus she had plenty of books that he had surprised bought her at that cute little bookstore they went to. Minerva smiled when Ethan thought it was a good idea, of course it was. This poor girl was here without anyone, she needed some friends and they were just the friends for her. She couldn't help, but smile a little bigger when Ethan said he wouldn't be in the prefect compartment the entire time, she was nervous that she wouldn't get to spend some of the train ride with him, and she would never tell him that she was nervous that she might not see him as much, because of his leadership duties at school. No.. she would push all that aside, because it was an amazing thing that he got and she was super proud of him for it.

Then Bay agreed, "Great, maybe by the end of the trip you will have a few friends. I tend to talk a lot to many people." She gave the little girl a wink. But Min wasn't lying when she said she talked a lot, she really did end up talking to everyone if she could. "I hope you don't mind sitting in the back of the train, that's where I have pretty much sat since first year. She didn't think people really had a preference on the train, but she was just going by force of her own habits. "So Bay, tell me about yourself?" She really wanted to know more about her, maybe knowing more of what's going on she could help her better and Min just liked getting to know people.

"Oh cool" she said with a genuine smile on her face and gave Natasha a Hi5. "That's where mum was, Ravenclaw" she said. Well, mum was always one with the whole figuring things out. "Ravenclaw people turn out to be pretty brilliant in the end" she said, and that's something nice to say. The girl did know about houses but wasn't so sure. Maybe a half and half, sounds fine.

Natasha raised her hand, and met mid air for a high five. "What ever house I am in, I am just glad I got into the school." She said with a chuckle. "I am so excited now!" Natasha looked at the time again, it was getting closer and closer.

BEAMS! They ARE cool. And Lotus was cool, too. It was a FACT. "Although... I have to admit your name might be cooler. Simply because it belongs to you," he said with a soft smile for her. When she looked away he didn't move his gaze. Instead he took her in in profile. She was something else. And that was a GREAT something else. She... was new and exciting to him. He liked that.

SMILES! He wasn't sure he could wait to be in Hogsmeade with her, but he didn't say anything. "I will do my best at keeping you entertained, my lady." He said it in his poshest accent and winked to boot. HEHE.

Stepping closer to her as she pulled him he smiled again, his heart leaping into his throat. He didn't place his hand on her side as he had before... still unsure what he had done to upset her. He was taking no chances, but he quite liked her closeness right now. A lot. "That we are. Always challenging me, Lotus. I like that."

Aaaaand the kid... "Definitely lucky."

Raising an eyebrow he shook his head. "My first and only thought about that display was, 'Poor kid.' My parents nearly kissed me to death when I was going to first year. I get it." Shrug. His eyes went back to Lotus as soon as he stopped speaking.

[spoiler]Liz/Leks Lucas dug his hands into his pockets and scoffed. "Mum threatened to homeschool me, but I told her that would mean spending more time with me and after that, she didn't seem so keen." He giggled a bit and then shrugged. "Anyway, I couldn't just let you go off and have this big adventure at Hogwarts without me." Because, well, because pout.

He nodded as the girl greeted him and rubbed the back of his neck so he'd have something else to do with his hands instead of looking like a muppet with them dug deep into his shorts. What were you even supposed to say to girls? Like.. weird.

But James was already rambling and Lucas' eyes just kept widening until he cut his brother off with a, "You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" He turned to the girl and blinked. "He's not.. there's isn't.. a man-eating spider right!?" What was this place his parents were sending them!? He grimaced awkwardly as James started laughing. "Hufflepuffs? That's a dumb name." Lucas frowned a bit. "Mum and Dad never mentioned that." But to be fair, they're parents never really talked about anything, much less their past. Old codgers, that was the problem.

She was going to show them around? Coooool. "D'you know where the secret passages are?" Castles had to have like moats and turrets and stuff right?![/QUOTE][/spoiler]

James smiled and raised his arms up in successes as he managed to get the wheel to turn. "Sound logic there bro. I'm surprised she didn't realize that before you mentioned it." Hearing Zoe he smiled and glanced at his brother to look all weird and uncomfortable.

Hearing his question James rolled his eyes, "That's what we were just talking about. Big scary spiders with mean looking pincers," he said mimicking the movement with his hands. "Don't be a scardy cat, Lucas." Ooooo secret passages?

Amara smiled. "Yeah.. I look forward to the sorting as well" she said. She was sort of starting to like this girl very much. "I hope we turn up in the same house" she said, "But that would mean you must have good chances for Slytherin" What other than Slytherin? Maybe Ravenclaw? "Being ambitious isn't bad is it?" she added with a wink.

Amara looked around. The crowd was keeping on building up. Everyone was talking to their old friends or making some new ones, like her. "Wait till you see the castle. Father says it's the best ever. Magnificent, he said. That's what I'm looking forward to mainly" she said. Well, magnificent or not, it's my future home.

Natasha thought for a second. "Well, even if we do end up in different houses, that would not stop us from being friends would it?" She asked. She had no clue, maybe each house went to school some place different? Or they weren't allowed to talk to those in different houses? "No, I don't think it's bad." She added smiling.

"A castle should be fun! Probably lots of secret places...." Natasha suggested. She really enjoyed exploring.

Giggle. "Exactly! There are bound to be tons of ice cream enthusiasts at school, yeah?" Like Bee and well, them. Others too. Didn't Alexa and Hulk really like ice cream as well? Ella felt her cheeks grow a bit hot at the date comment and she smiled at the boy, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Perfect."

The blonde closed her eyes momentarily at Alec's touch and she bit her lip. That just wasn't fair, him touching her cheek like that. It made all the butterflies in her stomach go crazy and her brain got that familiar fuzzy feeling. HKSHJSLHK. "Thanks, Alec." She responded quietly, locking her green eyes with his grey-blue ones and smiling warmly. "You're pretty brilliant at pep talks, y'know." Just saying. As for Aegis sneaking into her room, Ella nodded. "He just might. I'm sure Caleb would let him in..." Yeah, she'd really need to write home about this. Grin. "Really. You're sort of great and the fact that I get to date you is pretty brilliant." Nodnod. "So yeah...I'm lucky."

GRIN. "You're right, they might! I'd really like that." Really really. "I think I might like to work with some of the other animals too. Maybe the giraffes." She'd grown fond of them over the summer. Beam. "Mhm!" Spending time with Alec was Ella's favorite thing so no, she wouldn't be getting sick of him anytime soon. "Don't act so surprised!" Giggle. "You're very likeable, y'know." And adorable. "I bet he'll want to see you around more so...I hope you're okay with that."

So...she was staring and he totally caught her doing it. Ella just sort of smiled sheepishly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Shuffle. "I just...erm...I'm good." Really. "I totally wasn't checking you out, either." Totally not.

sorry I'm so late! Blame school -_-
 

Ali jumped a bit when she heard a voice speak up not far from her. She looked around thinking he was talking to somebody else, she was the newbie right? It's not like anybody knew her so why would they be speaking to her, but when she saw his eyes on her and nobody stopping to talk to him she realized that he might have actually been speaking to her. "Oh! Umm...yeah. I-I'm Ali." She said with a nervous smile. "What about you? A-Are you n-new?"

She almost hit herself for stuttering like that. Ugh. Of course Ali, just go ahead and make a fool out of yourself! That's completely acceptable. It's not like you could ever be normal and talk to other people more. Nope, just gotta go and weird people out. Ali thought to herself as she peeked under her bangs at the guy that had spoken to her, really hoping she didn't weird him out with her cursed stutter. Stupid nerves. She thought bitterly.

Blake chuckled at the boy's anecdote and lightened up. "Mmm, parents. Gotta love them..." He chuckled again and shrugged as well. Mm, they seemed a little too immersed in each other now, time to move on...

Looking over at the girl who had spoken to her, an waved. She wonder if she should go over and say hello. She did want friends to talk to. Turning around she walked over to the girl. "Hi. Im Isabella. She said with her best smile. "Did I hear something about big spiders?" She asked wondering if this girl would be a new friend to get in to trouble hang out with.

Remembering the book shop and how nice Ethan had been to give her a hand the 11 year old smiled wistfully. It seemed there were quite a few helpful people who were more then willing to lend a hand. She was extremely grateful for that. Her smile got even bigger when both of them asked her to hang out with them on the train ride.

Awesome.

Making more friends was always a good idea though she had met a fair amount of people already. First Zoe, and then Ethan, then there was that Lucas guy this morning at the concourse, and then Mo at the wall, and now Minnie. It was good to know that she had somewhere to go though.

Bay looked at Minnie then to see if she really meant what she said. Most people didn't want to know anything past how fast she could get out of their way. When it was obvious that the older girl was serious Bay took a deep breath. "I'm an orphan. I've lived at the Westbury Orphanage for Girls since I was two. I just found out like four days ago that I'm a witch."

It was nice that they agreed on a lot of things, ice cream being one of them. It probably meant that they had fewer arguments, yeah? Yeah... he didn't like arguing with this girl. "Agreed!" Nodnod. "Lots of people like ice cream at Hogwarts!" No one ever said no to ice cream. Unless they were sad... maybe. Alec shook his head and grinned back at the girl before reaching over and poking her nose gently. Just because.

"Anytime, Ells!" he whispered, his grey-blue eyes looking into her green ones. As much as he liked looking into her eyes, he tended to forget what he or anyone else was saying. That was... probably what was happening now. But she said something about pep talks, yeah? And brilliant. Brilliant... brilliant... b... beautiful... eyes. ... Alec blinked a couple more times before grinning some more. "Really?" She really thought that? "Yeah? Erm... so are they really good friends then?" Because how awesome would that be? ... Head!shake. "How about... we're both lucky?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Nodnod. "Yeah? Giraffes are pretty awesome creatures too," Although, he still liked his ducks and puppies better. "If you do re-apply next summer, do you get to choose to work with another animal?" And would he still get to visit? Important questions, these were. ... "But... I thought he might be scary like... like in those muggle movies where the girl's Dad looks at the boy questioningly all the time and... yeah," He should stop speaking. "Oh, no, that sounds great! If... that's okay with you?"

Ells really shouldn't do that hair thing. That also made the boy sometimes forget about what was being said because she had nice hair, Ells did. But he did manage to catch onto what the girl was saying this time and... he grinned. "You were checking me out?"

She did smile at that. "Yeah... it wouldn't I guess" she said, nodding. "We could meet up at the great hall and go to classes together" she added. And we'd only just met. So, that's saying something.

Amara's eyes literally twinkled. "Exactly!" she hissed. "Full of secret places, rooms and passages..." she trailed. "Dad did tell me about this one passage that led to a mysterious room" she thought. "Sheesh! I forgot! Maybe I should owl him about it" Yes, that's what she would do. Ofcourse, she will have to run through Hogwarts and see ALL the things in there.

Anabeth Glasswall was a little intimidated with the crowd of students. "They seemed to be so confident..." *she sighs* Indeed, she was looking for a hole where she could hide herself. She knew, if she could she'd come into her own pocket. It was so embarrassing to be there, away from her family and friends. What her friends would say if they knew she was a witch? She tried so hard hiding her weirdness and then, that weird person with the letter arrived in her home and told everything about her to her parents! How was she suposed to trust in that kind of people who assume the right of tell about other's secrets?
She was wondering if she could miss the train and could go back to her home, having her normal life back... "No, it's impossible! My parents are scared... it's better to be away from them and the rest of the family rather to see them looking at me terrified... " Anabeth was lost in her own thoughts when she bumped against another student's back, spreading her belongings on the ground. She didn't dare to look at the person she had bumped against. She just whispered: "I'm sorry."