Erica looked up at the female prefect whom out of nowhere approached her in the common room. Smiling the blond 11 year old said "Nice to meet you, Anna! I'm Erica, first year."Looking around the coom room she had to agree with what Anna was saying. There was a lot of commotion and people in the room. Erica listened as Anna explained where her dorm room was. Nodding she responded "Thanks, i think i can find my dorm room now."

Remembering her aunties words she looked up at Anna asking nervously "Umm. Could you give me a tour of the castle tomorrow? I need to find the hospital wing and i don't know where it is? The castle is so big." Erica trailed off hoping that Anna wouldn't mind helping her out. Lizzie had said that she would accompany her to the hospital wing, but it felt more safe to go with the house prefect. Anna was probably better equiped to help her with her hospital fears.

"Hey Gwen!" Torie went over and gave the girl a hug. "No, I wasn't at the feast. I needed to check on something at the library, so I figured I'd do it while I didn't have to cope with a bunch of lost first years clogging the hallways." Torie realised what she had just said, and blushed in embarassment. "No offense, first years......" She trailed off and bit her lip self-consciously. "How was your summer, Gwen? Are you all ready for Quidditch this year?"

Piper smiled warmly at Hannah, "You were not interrupting us! We were just saying Hi to each other. That is all, and I am glad to meet you, I am new here, so the more people I meet, the more I feel welcome." She said as she looked at Hannah's cat. "Ohh I Love cats! But we can't have one because my sister is allergic." She said as she reached out to stroke Petey's fur. "He's very soft." She said with a smile. She then recognized the prefect she had met earlier in the great hall and she smiled at her. "Hello Anna!" She said happily.

Piper had the grace to blush as Jillian caught her talking about her. "I am sorry, I am just new here and a bit shy. I already had the excitement of my year when I broke my arm and a teacher had to carry me to the Hospital wing." She blushed even more at that one. The teacher now that she thought about it was somewhat cute. "I'm sorry again, I would like one if the offer still stands?" She said quietly as she bit her lip unsure of herself again.

Piper smiled a Bit at Daphne and shook her head, they both knew that Jillian was a bit loud and rambunctious, something Piper was not. She was quiet and shy, and would prefer to be with a bunch of girls who were the same way. However she knew that if she never got out of her comfort zone she would never fit in here at Hogwarts. "What year are you in?" She asked Daphne softly.

She looked around at the other girls and gave s soft sigh of relief. She had been terrified at the thought of attending here, but now things were not so bad at all.

"Just tell me when." said Allie, returning the smile.
Allie started to laugh.
Curtains? That was really random, she could have thought of a better change of subject.
"Yeah, and the classes I'm sure will be loads better!" said Allie. "No more songs!"

Demetria walked into the common room. It was so big, so wonderful, so full of people. She found a nice couch to sit on and pulled out her latest book. She figured she could catch up on some reading while still being near all the happenings in the common room. So far things hav not turned out the way the planned for her this year. Her best friend was in a different house, and she had not met any new friends yet. She knew she eventually had to break out of her shell so she just walked into the middle of the room and introduced herself to no one in perticular, just sort of the whole room."Hi I'm Demetria." she smiled shyly hoping someone would introduce themselves too.

Still stunned even though she had expected an answer close to what she had been given, Daphne opted for sweeping Jillian with a disapproving glance before extending the napkin wrapped cookies to Piper who had shown some interest in them after all. Plus, Piper could verify for her just what "kind of nut" were in them as Jillian stated. "I'm a second year," replied finally the 12 year old Gryffindor girl, shaking her head briefly to swish the bangs away from her eyes. "Do I look younger?"

Or older... "As for the frog hunt I wish you all the best of luck," concluded Daphne, having no intention in participating in such a task. Her legs would go nowhere near the lake as long as she could control her own body. "Although wouldn't it be easier if you asked the Care of Magical Creatures Professor for some help?"

Just as she was closing her mouth another Gryffindor entered the common room. Daphne's brows wrinkled in curiosity, was the entire house composed of girls? It almost felt like she was back at Belle's for a moment. "Hello, Demetria my name is Daphne Hopton," she called out from the window ledge but lowered her voice having flinched slightly at her own tone. "And these girls are..." She paused trying to recollect correctly all the names. "Miss Jillian," continued Daphne nodding her head at the direction of the girl who continued to slouch no matter how many pointed looks Daphne gave her. "Piper and her cat Petey, Hannah and one of our prefects, Anna."

"Hello it's very nice to meet you." Demetria said with a smile. Daphne was right. The room was consisted of mostly girls. "Weird" she thought. "So what is this I hear about a frog hunt?" Demetria didn't care much for frogs but she wanted to know about what was going on in the school.

Jillian smirked at the girl and stifled a giggle. "Well, almost everyone's new here. I'm new here too since last year the schools were separated. Really bad move of the Minister." Jillian said nodding.

"Sure you could have some of the cookies. Daphne?" she turned to her friend but Daphne had already held out the cookies for Piper to take.

Jillian grinned at Daphne's answer. "You look fine." she insisted. "You just act more...mature." To say the least. Jillian added in her mnind, involuntarily nodding again.

Jillian frowned again. "I can't get a frog even if I really wanted to." she sighed looking at her sneakers. She looked up again and continued. "I mean, really, Daphne. It's kinda obvious I do what I please but I really can't get me a frog or mum'll ground me for a month." Her brows furrowed as she thought of her older sister. She turned to Hannah, acknowledging her too. "'Sides, me sister is a girlie girl and she's too afraid of frogs. The first time I brought a frog home she freaked out and gone broke mum's favorite vase. Pity--about the vase and not keeping the frog, I mean." she really did want her own frog. Maybe once Susan moved out she could finally get one.

Jillian diverted her eyes to the newcomer. Daphne had already begun introducing herself, and Jillian was surprised, and a bit flattered, that her friend had introduced her too. "Hullo," Jillian greeted Demetria with a small wave. The she quickly whispered to Daphne "Next time, make me introduction colossal, like me entrance through the porthole awhile ago." she joked.

Jillian sighed again. "Nope. No frog hunt here. I can't. I really wish I could." Jillian stared at her sneakers again. Very few things made Jillian McGuffin sad--and not having a frog of her very own was a very touchy subject for her.

"I'm sorry." she said. She didn't realy know why exactly she was appologizing but it just seemed like the right thing to do. "I really wanted a cat but my mum said i couldn't have one" Demetria looked down frowning a little bit. O how she wanted to cat. Those had always been her favorite and she was heartbroken when she founf out her parents would not buy her one for the school year

Hannah smiled at Demetria. "Well, of course you're welcome to play with Peter here whenever you want to. All of you are," she grinned, gesturing to the chubby kitty.

"Thanks." she smiled and gave the kitty a pet. "He's adorable!"

Barking at the boy TK licked his hand as he put the bag of sweet things in front of him. He KNEW this boy was smart. That was why he liked him. Bitting the top of the bag he moved his head around and tried to point the boy to his owner. He wanted to share.

Alexis stuck out her tongue out at Anna. It was a sweet thing for the 5th year to do. She had a bunch of candy in her trunk in the dorm but she couldn't say no. She was the Candy Queen after all. "Thanks Anna." Lex said as she finally decided on two sugar mice. "Insane!! Crazily insane. Spent time with my cousins and my brother. And it turns out my step mother is expecting twins." Lex said happily. She had noticed that Anna didn't go into detail about her summer. Something didn't seem right...but she wasn't going to push her.

As something popped into her head Alexis looked around for a second. She knew she had forgotten something. "Be right back Anna." She muttered. Running to her bag she pulled out a piece of parchment and then muttered a spell to make it stick to the bulletin board.

Piper shook her head, as Daphne spoke. " No, you look just about how you should in my opinion.I was just wondering that is all." She said smiling as she took a cookie from Daphne and hesitantly took a bite. "These actually are not bad." She mumbled as she swallowed. the cookies reminded her of something her mother had made. And just like that tears started to well up in Piper's eyes, and she tried to think of something happy to take the tears away.

Piper smiled warmly at the new girl, glad for the Distraction the new girls appearance gave her from her homesickness."Hello Demetria. Nice to meet you." She said as she wiped the stray tear away that fell down her face.


Piper managed a smile at Jillian, and she shook her head a bit at the girl's stifled giggles. " I must be really out of it, since I lived in America, but why were the school separated?" She asked curiously.

Hannah smiled at Demetria. "Of course!" she said. She was so glad to be back and making new friends. She saw a rather tall, blonde girl come in. At first she didn't pay much attention to her, but then she saw the sign she hung up. "Hi," she said to the girl. "My name is Hannah, Hannah Weasley. You're our Quidditch captain, right? I just wanted to tell you that I'm looking forward to tryouts. I've never played on an official team before," she smiled. "And even if I don't make it, I'm very much looking forward to the matches this year!" She was sincere about this; of course she wanted to make the team, but even if she didn't, it would be ok. She'd have other chances, this was only her second term.
"Oh," she said to Piper. "I didn't realize you were American! I guess I should have, because of the accent, but I can be a bit blonde sometimes," she said with a grin. "I've only been there a few times to visit some family, but I liked it." She didn't want to say more because she could see the tears welling up in Piper's eyes. She knew the feeling of homesickness well.

Retreating her hand once Piper had chosen her cookie, Daphne gingerly picked one up and brought it to her lips for a nibble; and as she nibbled, Miss Hopton tried not to stare too much at the girls, more than one with sadness evident in their eyes. There was an uneasy air around her and the nagging sensation to make it all better.

Taking a few more bites (forgetting all about being delicate) as she fought a war with her conscious, Daphne grimaced at her inner conflict.

Amphibians! You can't even stand the sight of them! This idea is madness.

But Miss Jillian is clearly upset, besides. Once home Davis can take care of it.

Horrible idea!

Oh, Codswallop!

"Incorrect!" Declared Daphne loudly as she jumped off the window ledge, folding the napkins around the cookies and slipping it into her robes pocket that her asthma pump resided in, her other hand still busy with the Shakespearean play she had been reading before everyone arrived. "I do believe there's a frog hunt planned. Haven't you heard? There's a frog down by the lake with Miss Jillian's name on it, we can't keep him waiting, now can we?"

Next time she'd make sure not to pick out the unfashionable rain boots from her trunk. They were, if anything, useful for hunting amphibian royalty. Leaning towards Jill, she clapped her back with the pretense of adjusting the girl's posture. "Stand up straight, Jillian! You can take care of the frog while we're at Hogwarts and I'll take it with me over the summer. Mum and Pop are never home anyways. The manor as good as mine during the summer."

Tugging at her school tie as the girls chattered on about Quidditch (such a barbaric sport) and America, Daphne grinned. "I visited once when I was seven. I don't really recall much about it except that they talked quite funny."

Piper sniffled a little as she heard Hannah speak, " Yes, I am an American.It's alright, I have lived in England, over the summer so I guess I could be picking up a bit of the lingo, however I am still having trouble with some of the words." She said with a small smile. "Yeah, I miss my family, terribly." She said softly, trying not to cry again.

Piper's sadness was quickly distracted by Daphne as she spoke and mentioned, a Frog hunt??? Piper's eyes went wide and she tried to figure out why the other girl would suggest something like that. However since it would take her mind off her homesickness she agreed.
"Yeah! A frog hunt?!" She said enthusiastically. "Maybe we could do it soon?" She said as she tried to cheer up Jillian as well. She hated feeling sad.
"Yes, I do suppose we talk kinda funny. Anything you would like me to say?" She asked smiling widely. She was used to comments about her accent.

"I agree," Hannah said. "Jillian, if you want a frog, we're going to get you a frog! And look, Daphne said she can take it home over the summer. Your parents will never even have to know," she said with a wink. "Now come on, we've got a frog to get!"

"Oh, hey, Hannah!" Anna greeted. She'd only met Hannah once or twice at the end of last school year, but the younger girl seemed really friendly. Anna hoped she was at least appearing friendly in return. Anna didn't feel much like smiling and putting on a happy show, and she knew Hannah would understand. After all, who hadn't witnessed the whole blow-up at the Gryffindor table?

"My hair?" Anna asked, trying to think what she'd done different lately in order to recieve such a nice compliment. "I haven't done much to it, though. I probably need a haircut soon. Thanks, though!"

Anna was pleased to see that Daphne's friend was really nice and appeared to enjoy meeting new people. "Oh, I thought you two had known one another for years. Well, I'm glad to see everyone's meeting new friends and enjoying the new school year!" Anna smiled politely at everyone around her. Hmm. She was getting good at putting on a happy face for everyone around her.

"Oh, yeah," Anna said, her smile fading and a frown taking its place. "With Cale...right." Well, if the entire Common Room hadn't picked up on the fact that Anna was near tears before, they'd probably figure it out now. Jillian meant no harm, though, of course. She'd only been trying to be friendly.

"Oh, really?" Anna asked, leaning over to study the cover a bit more. She'd never heard of the play, but stage shows and the sort had always interested in her in one way or another. "I've never heard of it, but I bet it's interesting. I saw a play with my parents once. It was called...erm, Les Miserables, I believe. Yes, that's it. Les Miserables. It was fun." Anna leaned back on the window ledge and rested her eyes while Daphne turned to talk to another student.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Anna replied, happy to see yet another friendly face. "Well, welcome to Hogwarts! I'm sure you'll love it here. As a matter of fact, most people agree that it's their second home. Some even say it's their first home."

Anna nodded when Erica mentioned a tour of the castle. "Oh, sure! I can point you in the right direction of the hospital wing. Or would you rather I walk you there myself? I don't mind either way," Anna said. "Tomorrow, you say? I tell you what. Tomorrow afternoon, meet me in the Common Room, and we'll take a trip to the hospital wing!"

"We'll talk tonight in the dorm room," Anna replied. "We'll have a little midnight chat with you, me, Astrid, and all the other girls. We'll catch up, of course, but there are a few things I want to talk to you girls about. I may need a little advice."

Anna's face wrinkled in confusion when Allie burst out into laughter. What had been so funny? Ah, oh yes. The curtains conversation. You gotta love Allie at times like that. "Oh, you'll just love the classes here! You'll learn a lot more, and the professors won't be so strict!"

Anna's attention was drawn back to Daphne when she heard her own name mentioned. At first, she gave Daphne a confused look, not sure if her new friend was calling her name or just mentioning it in conversation. When Anna saw another new face nearby, she figured that Daphne had been making introductions.

Anna turned towards Demetria and smiled. "Well, hello there. I'm Anna, as Daphne said. What's your name?" Anna asked.

Anna smiled and shook her head as she noticed that Alexis had stuck her tongue out at her. If it had been anyone else, Anna would have been offended. Alexis, however, was always the joking kind. "You're welcome," she said, shoving the rest of the candy back into her bag.

"Twins, you say?" Anna asked. "That's exciting! I've always loved twins. I guess it's because I'm an only child, though. Things get pretty boring at home when you're the only teenager around. Congratulations, though!"

And then, quicker than Anna could blink an eye, Alexis had zoomed off into direction. Anna watched as Alexis hung up a Quidditch notice on the bulletin board. "AH, good idea! I signed my name to the list just this afternoon. I can't wait for tryouts!" Anna exclaimed.

Erica listened to what Anna said about Hogwarts. Maybe Hogwarts would become her second or even first home, but it was too early to tell. She hadn't even been through one year yet. Thinking Erica asked "Umm, I would rather that you take me to the hospital then going there by myself. I don't like hospital like rooms, because of my mother. So i would love it if you came with me." Straightening up she said "Okay, tomorrow afternoon we meet here in the common room to start the tour. Thank you, Anna! This means a lot to me."Heading for a much needed rest she called back "Bye, Anna! See you tomorrow afternoon." And with that the blond 11 year old left for the girls dorms.

Petting the dog's head with the other hand, he shook his head as he found out that he was right about the sugar quills. A part of him wasn't much surpise since TK's owner was hook on any kind of candies. Glancing at the girl he noticed that she seems busy. Pushing himself up, he glanced back at TK. "Your owner seems pretty busy. Why do you wait just a bit?"

Chris sat down in his favorite armchair by the fire to write a letter to his mom.

Chalice sat in the chair next to Chris. " Hey, what's up? My name is Chalice what is your name?" She stuck out her hand as she said that.

Chris looked up from his Charms book and took their hand "Hey i'm Chris Potter."

Anna nodded and smiled when Erica mentioned that she would rather Anna take her to the hospital wing herself. Anna didn't blame the young girl, because she'd felt the same way when she was a first year. Hogwarts looked so big and so easy to get lost in.

"Your mother?" Anna asked, then quickly shut her mouth when she'd had time to think better of her question. She shouldn't have been so nosy. Maybe Erica wasn't up to sharing any stories about her mother. "Okay then, goodnight! I'll see you tomorrow!"

" Hi, Chris." " Where are you from, I don't really recognize you." she said. " I think I saw you at Florean's Fortescue over the summer though." she rambled on as she shook his hand. " You are the only person I know here so far."