Nathaniel was stoked to be back at Hogwarts. He sat down at the rather empty house table and waited for things to get started.

Rose took a seat at the table, marvelling at the walls. She sat down next to a boy, older than her and smiled. "Hi. I'm Rose.." She replied clumsily. Frowning, she looked around and let out an sigh. It was so beautiful. "Are you a gryffindor?" She asked softly, looking at the tressled table.

Zeke strode up to the table where a few younger Gryffies sat. "Hey, guys," he greeted them. "I'm Zeke."

Daniel was so excited for his 3rd time in Hogwarts. He was jumping up and down the hall towards the house table. "Hi there. I am Daniel!" He then took a seat and waited for the others.

Hannah walked up to the table and took a seat next to her brother. "Hey, Zeke," she said. "Hey, everyone. I'm Hannah. Welcome to Gryffindor, firsties, and welcome back, everyone else," she said with a smile.

WAH-HOO!! At Hogwarts, at laaast. Winnie took a moment to take in the Great Hall in all its grandeur, ohhh that ceiling is sooo lovely, how precious. I wonder if they'd let me sleep in here now and again, what a lovely vision to sleep to. She adjusted her big floppy bow, and scratched at her skirt to get some off the cat hair off. So much for being impeccable. Buuut who could resist playing with Leah's kitten? People allergic to kittens or cuteness, that's who, which she definitely wasn't. May as well forget about it. People ought to be captivated by her winning smile and unforgettable personality, not the state of her skirt.

She took a seat at the Gryffindor table. Did the enormous floppy red bow tied around her blond curls hint at her House? Perhaps.

"Hullo, everyone!" she said brightly to her housemates already seated.

Cale confidently walked into the Great Hall, heading straight for the Gryffindor table as always. He had lost Anna somewhere after they got off the train, but he knew they'd meet up again. Duh. They were in the same house! He smiled at the younger students, many of which he had never seen before, and took a seat down at the far end of the table, where Paul Kutcher's name was still inscribed into the wood as it would forever be.

He sat down with a content sigh and looked around. It felt so good to be back! He tried to block out the thought that this would be his last year here, focusing only on the happy stuff. He was here, happy and healthy, with lots of food. Lots and LOTS of food. And that was enough to make any 17 year old happy.

Clara nervously strided up to the table wondering where to sit. She looked aroung and anounced that she is a first year and her name (Clara). Then she sat down beside Hannah.

"Nice to meet you, Daniel," Zeke said.

"Hey, Han," Zeke greeted his sister. They hadn't spent much time together lately, and he'd missed her. "What's going on?"

"Hi, Winnie, nice to see you again," Zeke greeted amiably to the girl he'd met in Diagon Alley a while ago.

"Hey, what's up?" Zeke greeted his prefect. They hadn't officially met yet, and what better time than now? "I'm Zeke," he said, extending a hand.

"Hi, Clara," Zeke said to the girl who sat beside his sister. "Nice to meet you. Welcome to Hogwarts,"

"Hi, Clara," Hannah said. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she smiled.

"Hey, Zeke. Eh, not too much has changed since we left together this morning," she said jokingly, nudging him in the ribs. He was such a dork sometimes. It wasn't like they hadn't seen each other that morning. But they hadn't had too much time for each other lately, and being as close as they were, it wasn't that fun, so she understood.

Rose smiled at the boy, "Hello..." As he sat down she nudged over to give him some space, "I'm Rose, nice to meet you"

Rose giggled as a boy sat down, he seemed so excited, "Hello Daniel" She replied smiling, "I'm Rose"

Rose moved a little more, waving over a nervous little girl in her year, "Hello, I'm Rose. I'm a firsty too"

Allie walked into the great hall, and took a seat at the Gryffindor Table. She was really exited to be back at Hogwarts, and she was determined to make this year the best year ever.
"Hey everyone!" she said, cheerfully.

Anna took a deep sigh and stepped slowly into the Great Hall. It seemed strange that this would be the last Opening Feast she'd attend. Part of her wanted to break right down and cry, but the other part of her wanted to jump for joy. She and Cale would be leaving at the exact same time. She couldn't wait to tell him! She had no idea how he'd take it, but she hoped he'd be happy. Speaking of Cale, she needed to find him---quickly. She hadn't gotten a chance to tell him her news on the train, because they'd been so busy with prefect duties.

Looking towards the Gryffindor table, Anna immediately spotted her favorite head of curly hair, and she couldn't help but run throught the Great Hall and straight towards him. "CAAALE! CAAAALE!!!!" she exclaimed, quickly sitting down next to him. She was a bit out of breath, so all she could do was sit and smile at Cale for a few minutes. When she was recovered, she started tapping his arm in excitement, anxious to share her news. "Okay, so I got this letter a few days ago. It was from Hogwarts, and they were offering to let me skip a term, due to what they called 'an outstanding academic record.' My parents and I talked it over, and we agreed. I'm a seventh year---with you!" she exclaimed. "I tried to tell you on the train, but prefect duties kept me away from you for too long."

"Oh hello Zeke," Winnie replied, flipping her curls. "I missed you on the train here. How was the rest of your summer?"

"Hullo," Winnie greeted the newcomer. "I'm Winnie!"

She always said "I'm Winnie!" as if it were the best thing ever. Sort of like "I've cured an incurable disease!"

Chris walked over to the Gryffindor table. He sat down at the table. "Hey everybody." He said to them.

"Hi Hannah, How was your summer?"

"Hi Clara! Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Same here"

"How was your summer Rose?"

"Hi Allie"

"Good albeit fairly uneventful," Zeke said. "How about you?"

"Hi, Allie!" Hannah said. It'd been a while since she'd seen Allie, although Zeke told her that he'd met her. "How was your summer?"

Lyra slowly entered the Great Hall as her eyes wandered around the huge room. It had been two years since she was last here and it was the same yet...different. This was going to be different anyway for a few simple facts that she didn't want to think about at the moment.

Her eyes glanced over each table knowing that she was not going to have a seat at her house table, at least not yet. Last time she was here she didn't sit at the Huffie table at all and this time, it just didn't matter at all. Right now she was going to the Gryffindor table and would eventually make it to the Hufflepuff table.

When she walked up Banana and Cale were already at the table and she knew that Agie would be right behind her. She walked up to the table and took a seat, being quiet for a change. What was wrong with Lyra?

Cale looked over in slight surprise as someone introduced himself to him--that was a first. Usually Cale was the one going around saying hi to everyone. Grinning at the nice change of pace, he held out a hand and shook. "Hey Zeke, nice to meet ya. I'm Cale Newell," he said.

Cale's attention was drawn towards Anna, who was running towards him like a complete loony. Blinking in shock, he watched as she collapsed on the seat next to him, hardly able to breathe, let alone form a coherent sentence.

He listened to what she said, his mouth slowly falling open in shock as she spoke. "Anna, that--that's great! I can't believe it!" he cried, giving her a bone crushing hug in congratulations. As the news slowly dawned on him, he started to realize that he would soon be graduating WITH his girlfriend, rather than leaving her behind, and now, graduation didn't seem like such a scary thought. He felt like choking up as he hugged her, thinking about how they didn't have to worry about what next year would be like, cause next year, NEITHER of them would be worry about school. They'd be in the same situation, and that was enough to make Cale cry.

But he didn't. He was a man. Men don't cry. Duh.

His attention was drawn, yet again, to the arrival of someone else, this time it was someone who WASN'T in his house. It was Lyra, who seemed a bit down for a change. For one, she wasn't talking, or being all shifty and weird with Anna like she usually did. And what was up with her sitting down at the Gryffie table? Interesting...

"Hey Lyra, what's going on?" he asked, still keeping one arm around Anna as he addressed the Hufflepuff.

"I met a prairie dog, if you can believe it," Winnie replied, her grey eyes wide. "This boy had lost his pet near Madam Malkins- I swear people lose their pets in Diagon Alley much too often- and we found it rather quickly and he said it was a prairie dog!! Have you ever even heard of a prairie dog? It looked more like an overgrown chipmunk than a dog, there must be something wrong with it. Never saw a stranger-looking dog."

"Hi Winnie!" she said. "I'm Allie! Its nice to meet you. Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."
This wasn't so bad. She was already meeting new people. SHe really would enjoy herself this year, even if it seemed impossible.
"Hannah!" called Allie. "My summer was great! How about yours? Oh and you didn't tell me you had a brother comign to Hogwarts! I met him on the train. I couldn't find you though. Well I guess I see you now anyway so it doesnt matter."

Reese entered the Great Hall and looked at her table.The Slytherin table.She really didn't want to go over there and sit by herself.She looked at the Gryffindor table and saw Allie,Cale,and Anna over.Yes.That's where she is going to go sit.She headed over to the Gryffie table and walked up to Allie."Hey everyone,"she said."Is it okay if I sit here?"

Zeke smiled back at Cale. "Nice to meet you, too." He watched Cale's girlfriend - Anna, was it? Hannah had told him about her - run up like a madwoman and explain that she was being allowed to skip a year. They both seemed exceptionally happy, and he was happy for them. Hannah had said they had broken up briefly last term, and he was glad to see that they were happy together. He always loved happy endings, as un-manly as that seemed.

"A prairie dog?" Zeke asked, amused. Winnie was so silly, in a good way, of course. "Yes, I see, I've never seen one up close, but on the telly."