"Well only a few for now. I'll plan more over the summer of course." Amanda said, then laughed a little bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoT

Nicholai smiled as Raiden joined them and solemly levitated a plate of pumpkin pasties away from the boy just incase he was tempted.
"Raiden, how are you?"

Nicholai shrugged, "You might surprise yourself, Whitney." He grinned then, around at Whitney and Amanda, and included Raiden in his next statement, "Actually you guys all did fairly well; I'm almost proud. I bet Evangeline and Will are impressed by how hard you all worked. As long as you know there is always harder. As Intern Trelawney says; second place is first place loser." He held up his glass and grinned, "Well I'm kind of happy with that this term so here's to first place losers!"

Yeah.

It was official.

The Hufflepuffs had rubbed off on him.

Ooooh. Good thing Nicholai had taken those pasties away... they were trying to lure him in with false promises of non-ill tummies... He grinned at the older boy and bounced in his seat.

"Arigatou, Nicholai Toussaint... they wanted me to eat them," he said plainly, pointing at the evil pasties which were now out of his reach. "And I'm okay, how are you?"

He blushed... almost proud? Well then, he'd have to do a lot better next term, so that Nicholai Toussaint could be actually proud, wouldn't he... First place losers?

"Hmm... well, at least we're first place somethings, huh?" Raiden said cheerfully, eying the pasties from across the table. Evil things, they were. They looked so innocent...

Realizing someone else had joined the table, Whitney, a little too loudly said "Hi!" She knew she was loud but hey, that was Whitney for you.

"Wow, that does make it worse. Ouch, I'm sorry. And you two are friends now?" she asked rather surprised. Whitney was a stubborn girl and knew how to keep a grudge.

"I sure hope so, for Slytherins sake." A whole bunch of people were proud of her for weird reasons. If it were up to Whitney, she wouldn't let anyone be proud of her, she could've done so much better. She really liked Nico's method of thinking though. She, too, grabbed a glass and said "To the first place losers!" Only Slytherins knew how great they were.

ooc: got to go, be back on later

"Yeah, we are friends now. I called a truce and she accepted it. Which was a smart move on my part since she's way more advanced at duelling than I am" Amanda said, laughing.

"Oh yes, I'll have to show you our arena." Nicholai made a slight face, knowing it was fairly disturbing to have such a thing at home, particularly since it had once been used for fairly unsavoury purposes by pureblood supremacists.

Nicholai shook his head slightly and glared at the pasties for Raiden's benefit. He was fairly sure neither of them liked the idea of a repeat of the incident with the bucket. Actually they hadn't had much luck with moving staircases at all this term. He had something to give Raiden and as he thought about the letter he frowned slightly.

"Raiden, this is Whitney, and... do you know Amanda?" Nicholai gestured to the girls, "Whitney is a first year like you and Amanda is a second year like Celandine."

He smiled at Whitney's reaction and nodded, "Besides; got to have something to improve on right? First place next term!"

He listened idly to Amanda and Whitney talk about Kayla and shook his head slightly; Amanda was lucky. Kayla could have done so much more and had only taken her wand when Amanda hadn't conceded defeat. Strangely Nicholai was almost proud that Amanda hadn't; she was a true Slytherin and could only get better. Thinking of Kayla again made him smile and he took a sip of his drink and avoided looking toward the Hufflepuff table.

"Well, I look forward to seeing it" Amanda said with a smirk. She couldn't wait to start her summer off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoT

"Oh yes, I'll have to show you our arena." Nicholai made a slight face, knowing it was fairly disturbing to have such a thing at home, particularly since it had once been used for fairly unsavoury purposes by pureblood supremacists.



Nicholai shook his head slightly and glared at the pasties for Raiden's benefit. He was fairly sure neither of them liked the idea of a repeat of the incident with the bucket. Actually they hadn't had much luck with moving staircases at all this term. He had something to give Raiden and as he thought about the letter he frowned slightly.



"Raiden, this is Whitney, and... do you know Amanda?" Nicholai gestured to the girls, "Whitney is a first year like you and Amanda is a second year like Celandine."

He smiled at Whitney's reaction and nodded, "Besides; got to have something to improve on right? First place next term!"

He listened idly to Amanda and Whitney talk about Kayla and shook his head slightly; Amanda was lucky. Kayla could have done so much more and had only taken her wand when Amanda hadn't conceded defeat. Strangely Nicholai was almost proud that Amanda hadn't; she was a true Slytherin and could only get better. Thinking of Kayla again made him smile and he took a sip of his drink and avoided looking toward the Hufflepuff table.

Raiden smiled happily when Nicholai Toussaint introduced him to two girls who he had been chatting with before Raiden had sat down at the table. He bowed his head a little and held out his right hand to shake theirs.

"Nice to meet you, Whitney and Amanda. I hope I get to see you more next term... I was kinda caught up in stuff this term, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you two until now." He smiled at them, his eyes going uneven with the expression. "I want to meet everybody, eventually... I like to make friends."

He looked at Nicholai Toussaint and let out a little laugh.

"Nicholai Toussaint is my friend already... he helps me a lot. And any friends of Nicholai Toussaint are friends of mine... I hope." At the mention of Celandine, Raiden looked at the Ravenclaw Table. "I haven't got to see Celandine in a while now... I miss her!"

"Its nice to meet you as well Raiden." Amanda said with a smile, extending her own hand out and shook his hand. "Oh I'm sure you'll be seeing more of both me and Whitney next term, unless something happens to Hogwarts" She said, shuddering at the thought of the schools dividing again.

"That does sound pretty smart." Whitney could only imagine what would've happened if they hadn't made up. "And you got something from it. Now you're learning from her."

She had seen Raiden around before, mostly around Nico, but had never actually spoken to him. "No I don't believe we have met. It's very nice to meet you Raiden" Whitney said with a big smile and sticking her hand out.

"First Place!" she said laughing. Who knew feasts could be so much fun. Reuniting with friends was always good. "So Nico, what are you doing over the summer?" she asked. Then she remembered Amanda was going over to his place. "Other than hanging out with Amanda."

Turning back to Raiden, she said, "It'd be great seeing you again next term. If not on the train." Smiling she replied to his next comment, "Friends are great. If you find the right ones. It would be a little hard to meet everyone and keep up with your study's." she said laughing. Somehow it always came back to school.

"Well after being sent to the hospital wing a lot, I thought that it was best to call a truce, plus my friend Camira, who's like the older sister I've never had, told me that it was a good idea. Yeah, well next term I'll be able to show you a lot more" Amanda said and smiled.

Nicholai made a face; knowing his sister was still in the broom closet where he had locked her to come down from her sugar high. He expected she'd appear soon enough though. He looked at Raiden for a moment before quietly speaking, "Oh Raiden, I found something of yours."

"Well, I'll probably spend the majority of my free time with Kayla. Maybe Maddox too and obviously Camira since she is staying as well." Nico smiled, "Oh Raiden is friends with everyone; even Trelawney likes him."

Nicholai shrugged, "Camira and Kayla are friends you know." and as long as Kayla never found out certain things, Nicholai was hoping it would stay that way.

Raiden half-frowned. Nicholai had found something of his? He couldn't remember having lost anything recently... it couldn't be something super important then, could it? He looked at Nicholai Toussaint, still confused.

"Something of mine? What did I lose?" he asked, scratching his head thoughtfully. "I've lost socks, but I'm sure you wouldn't know if they were mine if you found them... Hmmm... What is it?"

Nicholai waited for another moment before taking the folded letter out of his pocket and sliding it along the table to Raiden; keeping an eye on the kid incase he combusted spontaneously or something.

Raiden watched Nicholai Toussaint take something out of his pocket and slide it along the table towards him; a piece of paper?

"What's th-" he started; then the realization hit him and his face dropped several shades of colour. Not that. Anything but THAT. It couldn't be... Words started spilling from his little mouth, Japanese and Korean mixed together to form one big blur that not even he could understand.

Uncharacteristically, he snatched the letter off the table and jammed it down the front of his shirt, as if doing so would reverse the damage that had been done. Out of sight, out of mind, right?!... and then, realizing how rude the action had been, Raiden put a hand over his mouth and stared at the spot on the table.

"Sumimasen," he mumbled from behind his hand. "Erm... I'm sorry for... being... rude. Just now." His other hand found its way up and his little face hid behind the pair of them. "I..."

Nicholai calmly took Raiden's glass and poured him some water as he watched him in concern. "I haven't shown anyone, Raiden. But it explains alot." Nico paused, "Have you thought that telling people might make things easier? Not everyone; just your friends because they care about you."

Silently, Raiden took the glass of water and drew in a deep swig of it. It ran down his throat, icy-cold, cooling down his red-hot nerves that had flared into little flames at the sight of the letter. He should've gotten rid of it. Destroyed it. Done something with it... But no, he'd been stupid and now... Nicholai Toussaint knew about his condition.

"I... didn't want to tell anyone. I don't want them to worry about me," he said quietly. "When people worry about...that... they don't act the same around me. It's like they think I'm made of glass... one little thing could break me. And I don't want them to act differently around me. I want them to be themselves, and not be all worried."

He scratched the back of his head, fighting back the urge to cry. He had thought he'd been doing a good job of hiding it... but Nicholai Toussaint had said it explained a lot... So that meant that he'd not done a good enough job hiding it.

"You... could tell?" he asked, biting his lip as he stared down at the table. His right hand moved absently to the point where it trekked frequently, remaining as a half-clenched fist against his chest. He could feel the offending organ just below it, thumping a bit faster now, with this news. "I'm not... a very good liar."

Kayla decided to make her way over to the Slytherin table because she couldn't stay away any longer and she somehow didn't think Nico would be able to handle all the drama over at her table. The thought made her chuckle softly to herself, Nicholai had been right about the lot of them, they were all seriously mental but hey she loved that about her fellow Huffies.

Reaching the spot where he sat Kayla gave Amanda a smile and wave, she nodded her head at the other girl that was sitting there but didn't know her name and then there was Raiden, she remembered him from the moving staircase incident not so long ago.

Kayla hesitated a moment, Raiden and Nico seemed to be having a serious conversation and the first year looked very uncomfortable indeed. She didn't want to interrupt their talk, so she moved slightly to the side of Nico, so that he would see her and she stood and waited quietly.

"People tend to worry more if they don't have all the information." Nicholai gestured at Raiden's chest, indicating the letter, "I find that comforting because now I know what you should and shouldn't do and can help make sure incidents... such as the type that involve moving staircases; don't happen." Nico paused, "Or at the very least; if something does go wrong I know what it is and have a better idea about what I should do about it."

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a selection of vials. He spent a few moments examining them before selecting one and replacing the remainder in his pocket again. He unstoppered it and added the contents to Raiden's glass of water. "This is what I give Cela. You know when she gets all... excited about things? It is closer to the draught of peace than a regular calming draught; and I've made a few modifications to it so that it releases slowly over time- the more you drink of it the calmer you feel and yet it won't make you sleepy or dull your senses." Nicholai nodded and evanescoed the empty vial.

Nicholai saw Kayla out of the corner of his eye and immediately turned and wrapped one arm about her. He rested his head against her for a moment before pulling her closer and shifting over slightly so she could sit next to him. Without pause he continued speaking to Raiden and gestured with his free hand at the glass, not a trace of the draught he had added being visible in the water. "You can trust me to help you Raiden; can I trust you to tell me when you feel bad or if you need any help?"

Raiden winced and bit down on his lip again. Already, Nicholai Toussaint was doing it... treating him differently. He didn't want that. He wanted to be a normal 12 year old, and do things that normal 12 year olds did...

"I just... don't want people to look at me different. Now that you know about it, you're already looking at me like something's wro-"

He trailed off when Kayla appeared, and Nicholai was putting something in the glass... He bit down again on his lip and tasted a little drip of blood as he split the skin. He really needed to stop biting his lips...

"It won't make me sleepy?" He asked cautiously, looking at the glass. It still looked like water. Potions really were amazing... "I... I don't want to make you worry about me. I wouldn't be a good friend if I made everyone worry about me all the time..."

He stared at the glass, still trying to sort this all out. There was no getting around Nicholai Toussaint knowing. He knew. And he would always know. It was just a matter of handling it now... He licked the little scratch he'd made on his lip and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think. Things... were definitely not going to be the same anymore.

Nicholai shook his head, "No it won't make you sleepy- I brewed it myself." He sighed in exasperation, reached for a spoon and scooped a pile of mashed potato from a nearby plate. He casually dipped it in gravy, looked at it for a moment and flung the contents of the spoon at Raiden; aiming for the precise centre of his forehead.

"It worries me more that you think it is a good idea to hide it. I was worried about you before; not so much now." he paused and examined mashed-potato-Raiden, "Though if you spend too much time with my sister I'll probably have to brew that potion by the bucketload." he gestured at the water, "Drink."

One second, they were talking, and the next-

"NANI?!" Raiden squealed, blinking in surprise as Nicholai flung potatoes at him. Not quite quick enough to block them, Raiden found himself with a mashed potato'd forehead, and was reminded of what had happened at the opening feast to Evangeline Green. "Nicholai Toussaint, what was that for?"

He scraped the potatoes off his forehead and flicked them onto the table, then grabbed for a napkin and wiped the rest off his forehead. His hair, however, still had a bit in it... oh well.

"I don't think it's a good idea," he said quietly. "But Miss Healer Intern Lady Trelawney knows about it... and so does the Headmistress... so I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Obediently, he picked up the glass and took a sip of it. No need to get more potato flung at him... He couldn't even taste anything odd in the water. Was it just his sense of taste going, or was the potion really so tasteless? Not that he minded.

"Celandine Toussaint is fun, though... maybe a little too fun when she's had too much sugar, but still fun..."

Kayla couldn't keep the smile off her face when Nico wrapped his arm around her and she gave him a kiss on the top of his head. She sat down beside him and listened quietly as he spoke to Raiden.

She had no idea what Raiden was talking about but from the look on his face it was obviously not something he wanted everyone to know about. Kayla gave him a smile, "It's nice to see you again Raiden. Looking forward to the summer break?" she asked him cheerfully.

"Nicholai!" Kayla looked at him in shock. "What did the poor kid do to deserve that?" she put her hand up to her mouth to cover the laugh that was about to burst out of her mouth.

"And where is your sister by the way? It would be nice to talk to her before we have to leave" Kayla looked over to the Ravenclaw table but couldn't see the little blonde anywhere.

"No reason." Nicholai shrugged and speared an apple with his knife. With one hand still around Kayla he manouvered the knife to cut the apple into tiny even slithers.

"If you can't trust your friends; who can you trust?" He paused and speared an apple slither with the knife and neatly brought it to his mouth. He shot a genuine smile at Kayla before eating the apple and turned his eyes back to Raiden at mention of Cela.

"I'm hoping she will grow out of that." Nicholai commented, idly wondering if Celandine ever would calm down.

Nicholai speared another piece of apple and offered it to Kayla along with another smile.

"Oh she's... around." Nico shrugged; it was true enough, Cela wasn't all that far away. Almost absently, Nicholai pressed his cheek against Kayla's for a brief moment before shifting into a more comfortable position with his arm still around her.

Kayla moved forward and took the apple off the knife with her mouth and she chewed slowly as she watched Nicholai and she raised an eyebrow at him. She swallowed the piece of apple. "What have you done Nicholai Toussaint?" Kayla gave him a wicked smile as she grabbed his plate and started helping herself to some food. "That's my future sister-in-law you know" she commented idly.

Nicholai turned an innocent gaze on Kayla and artfully shrugged with one shoulder. "What makes you think I did anything, mon coeur?" Nico scratched his chin with the tip of the knife thoughtfully, "I believe Celandine is busy discovering what consequences look like."