Having finished arithmancy Damon decided he would go to the great hall for dinner. He walked over to the table and started in on a variety of meats and pumpkin juice spread before him. Damon appreciated very much the quality of the food that was served in the great hall. He believed it was a very good value. Damon ate vigourously until he was full and felt satisfied. Having done this he walked out of the hall.

Virgi was scared when she saw Damon sitting at the table she wanted to say hi but couldn't. She just took a seat far from him.

Jack entered the Great Hall and went directly to the Ravenclaw table. He was starving and the food here was fantastic. Loading up his plate with all of his favorites, he then poured a huge glass of orange juice. He knew most everybody else drank pumpkin juice, but he'd never acquired a taste for it. OJ, milk, coffee or tea were his favorites, unless of course he could get his hands on Pepsi or Mountain Dew.

He was almost done with his meal when a couple a barn owls came flying his way. In an instant, he could tell what it was....

His Mum had sent him one of his guitars!

With both hands out, he caught it and held it close. The acoustic, by the feel of it. Jack gave each of the owls a pat on the head and ignoring the rest of his meal, he headed off toward the common room to unwrap his delivery.

Damon walked into the great hall for breakfast. Damon vaguely remembered someone the last evening coming in and sitting far from him. Damon wished everyone to know that he was not that hard to say hi to and that there was a sense of goodwill in his heart. Damon ate hungerly as usual over several morning pastries. He continued eating ever watching what was going on around him. After finishing his meal he walked out of the hall very satisfied.

Step. Skip. Bounce. TADA!

With a starving stomach, Sabrina stood in front of the Ravenclaw House table, eager to get some breakfast into her. She had been chasing her, otherwise lazy, cat around the castle yesterday because she had had nothing else to do. She finished her Arithmancy homework and there was no homework for any of her other subjects yet. So basically, Sabrina Evanstar was highly organised in her last year at Hogwarts. At least so far.

Yummmmm. Pancakes.

Flopping down on a seat somewhere in the middle of the long table, Sabrina pulled a clean plate towards her and reached out to grab a pancake. But WHERE WAS THE SYRUP?!

Samson dragged himself towards the house table, and noticed the atmosphere around it. It felt so... clean? He couldn't explain. The light filling the hall felt almost angelic and pure, and the lack of students around made for a less cluttered effect. He narrowed his eyes. The morning was so cheery it put him down for some strange reason.

But only temporarily, because as soon as he spotted Sabrina, a rather wicked smile appeared on his face, and he proceeded to sit down across her.

"Mornin', Sab," he quipped, even leaning on the table to greet her face on. Then he grabbed a plate himself, stacked a couple of pancakes and diced some bacon as toppings. Of course, Pumpkin Juice was never lost. He looked back at her as soon as he got his breakfast plate ready and eyed her own plate.

"What, no syrup?"

Something the short little seventh year absolutely could not understand is why everyone seemed so intent on surprising her these days. Sneaking up on her and then making her jump. Really, it was starting to bother her more than just a little bit.

Oh, hey! It was Samson! "Morning, bro." Sabrina said, turning back to her syrup search. WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?! Her green eyes fell on Samson's plate and her face wrinkled in disgust.

EEEEEEEW!

How could someone add bacon to pancakes?! EW, Samson. Just, gross.

But then again, she already knew that. Roslin knew pancakes and waffles were Sabrina's favourite breakfast items and she made them quite often. So she had seen her brother make the most ridiculous combinations (bacons as toppings on pancakes? Just EW! That WAS a ridiculous and disgusting combination). Although she had never tasted it, the smell of bacon was just ... ew.

"You make the most appalling pancake toppings." She informed him, not for the first time either. "And I can't fiiiiind syrup! How am I supposed to eat my pancake without the syrup?!" Well, she could, but it wouldn't taste as good.

Maybe she'll just have to make-do with toast.

Hmph.

Samson was able to grab a couple of kippers to add to his breakfast plate when Sabrina spoke. He looked up at her just as he stuck his fork and knife in his pancakes, and grinned widely. "Thank you," he said curtly, taking her comment on his pancake toppings as a compliment. He'd gotten that one too many times, but he didn't mind. For one thing, he loved the toppings. For another, he just loved to pick on Sabrina, how ever indirect. And lastly, of course, he loved the fact that he could eat whatever he wanted and Sabrina was stuck with her vegetable fetish. Meh.

He sliced a triangle off and shoved it in his mouth, just with a little too much exaggerated enjoyment on his face. What could he say, he liked the food, and he loved picking on his sister.

"Can't you make syrup pour out of your wand or anything?" Heh.

"You're welcome."

The blonde watched as Samson cut his pancake and ate it. He was trying to tease her and she was NOT going to let him win. No, she was not. As if she'd want to eat those pancakes which have bacon all over them anyways. Erm, EW! Thank you, but NO THANK YOU. Sabrina started tapping the table with her finger with increasing frequency as she looked around the table.

Blink. Stare. Blink. Stare. Laugh.

"Make syrup pour out of my wand?" Sabrina giggled and playfully kicked his leg under the table. "Saaaaaaam! You forget we can't make food appear out of thin air! We can duplicate it and stuff, but we can't create it." Sabrina giggled once again, then her eyes fell on a bottle sitting next to another platter full of pancakes a few seats away from hers.

It was like the light was shining out from the bottle, making it look divine and pure and it was sitting there, next to a plate full of pancakes, waiting to be poured over them and savoured. To be eaten. By Sabrina. Yummmmmmmmmm.

Bouncing off the table, Sabrina took a few hurried steps towards the bottle, as though if she didn't reach it quick enough, somebody else would steal it, yet she didn't run, not wanting to draw attention to the bottle. MINE! Snort. There was hardly anyone in the hall. Of course it didn't occur to the blonde that she could have just summoned the bottle to her. Upon reaching her destination, Sabrina grabbed the bottle and ran back as though she had just finished running a marathon, nearly stumbling when she took her seat again.

It seemed somebody had switched her maturity switch off once again.

"I gooooooot it!" She said, in a sing-song voice and happily poured maple syrup over her pankackes.

Yummmm.

"Thank you," Samson said again, just for fun.

He could tell she was getting annoyed by the way she tapped her finger, but that was what he was here for. A feeling of accomplishment swelled somewhere inside of him. Yay. He sliced another pancake and chewed and chewed and yuuum. Bacon and kippers on pancakes weren't so bad.

Finally, she stood up and came back happily with a bottle in her hand. Ah, it was the maple syrup! Samson beamed at her, and grabbed the bottle as soon as she had finished smothering her pancakes with it. He squeezed the bottle with both hands, making a rather unpleasant squeegie noise, and rubbed his hands together as he looked at his plate of half-eaten pancakes.

"I wonder if they've got sprinkles around here or something," he wondered out loud to himself.

Tibi plopped down rather dejectedly at the table, haphazardly tossing his school bag underneath. For all his excitement about his classes, he was worried. He was still waiting on extra shoes from his Mum, following the unfortunate Jake Upstead, DADA practice, shoe-melting incident. And while he had made it out of the DADA homework alive, he was having nightmares about giant pixies.

But worst of all.... flying. Lessons hadn't started yet and as much as Tibi wanted to fly, he knew that he just wouldn't be able to. He was too scared of heights. He'd gone to talk to Professor Vindictus about it, but after a few nights of more pixie nightmares and falling nightmares, he wasn't so sure anymore.

Slumping over with his elbows on the table, Tibi picked absentmindedly at his food.

Skye made her way down to the Ravenclaw table, thirsty for food. She noticed a familiar-looking first-year from her classes. "Hi," she said, sitting down beside him. "You're Tibi or something like that, aren't you?" she asked, remembering her classmates calling him something like that. "You do great in the classes, right?" she added, smiling brightly at the boy, while filling her plate with food.

Tibi looked up at the smiling stranger and gave a half-hearted half-smile. "Yeah.. Tiberius.. but most people call me Tibi." He looked back at his plate, and swirled his fork around the dish. He hadn't really eaten any of it. He realized he didn't know the girl's name.. but she'd known his. Was he supposed to know her? Would it be weird to ask?

"I do ok," he said noncommittally, when she asked about classes. Most people thought he was doing well... but he disagreed. His spells might work in DADA, but he was terrified of using them.

Back to the fork. Stir. Stir. Stir.

Skye was relieved at seeing Tibi smile, even if it wasn't at bright as she would've liked. But she had to give him some credit, she reasoned, the guy looked defeated. Looking at his awkwardness, she added,"I'm Skye,"feeling it necessary to introduce herself.

Upon hearing Tibi state he simply did "okay", Skye raised an eyebrow. "You're being modest," she stated. "You answer, like, every question," she pointed out, remembering herself struggling to remember the information, despite scanning through the textbooks a few times before class.

Skye finished her food and got up. "Well, I'm really sorry, but I've got to go," she explained. "It was nice meeting you though," she added politely, smiling at Tibi. "Oh, and you might want to eat instead of stir," she added, noticing his fork repeating the same movement it was doing quite a while ago. "I'll see you around, I guess," she said, before turning to leave the Great Hall.

Stir. Stir. Stir. Skye... maybe he had known that? "Nice to meet you, Skye," he said, still looking at his food. Stir. Stir. Stir. Everything was starting to mush together.

He shrugged when she told him that he answered all the questions and was being modest. He didn't feel modest. He felt not good. But, now she was leaving. Stir. Stir. Stir.

He shrugged again when she talked about his food. Tibi's eyes stayed on his plate. He was totally in the doldrums. "See you around, I guess." Tibi continued to sit as Skye got up and left.

Stir. Stir. Stir.

*sigh*

Rayedem walked into the Great Hall and to the Ravenclaw table, starving. He didn't care where he sat at, he only wanted to eat. Then he dropped himself on the chair and began pulling plates towards him. This is great, he thought, looking for perhaps dim sum. Everywhere he looked, he couldn't find Chinese food. This is England, maybe they only serve English food. He sighed, and gave up looking for them. Then, as he was reaching a plate of hash brown potatoes on his left, he noticed who he was sitting next to;

Tiberius Pryce.

Ah, the smart kid, he thought bitterly. He decided to just flash him a friendly smile and gesturing if it was ok to take the plate, but didn't wait for his confirmation. Then he remembered that he made Evan ditch him on DADA class. Of course I'm gonna talk to him, he thought to himself, later. He looked like he wanted to be alone.. Or maybe he could use some company? He seemed down. Using a pair of chopsticks he found nearby, he began to eat.

Tiberius barely noticed someone else sitting down next to him. The moving plates drew his attention, and he snapped back to reality. He had no idea how long he'd been stirring around the food on his plate. He couldn't even tell what it was, anymore.

He gave the boy a weak smile; he thought he recognized him. Oh.. right. Tibi remembered. This was the kid that took Evan away in DADA and left Tibi with that Hufflepuff. "Hi. Rayedem, right?" Tibi stuck out his hand at the chewing boy and then went back to picking at his food.

*Sigh* *SIIIIIGH*

Rotten, horrible, terrible. BLAH.

Rayedem choked on his hash brown potatoes. He wasn't quite expecting response from the gloomy looking boy. Well, he hoped he would respond, but he didn't think he would.

"Cough. Coughcough--yeah-cough." and as the coughing continues, he gestured Tibi to wait for him until he was in a good enough condition to answer. Finally the coughs died away, and he spoke again, "Yeah, I'm Rayedem." he also stuck out his right hand, shaking Tibi's. "Nice to meet you, Tiberius." then he reached out for the nearest form of liquid that he could drink. A jug of pumpkin juice. Ugh. He poured the juice into his goblet and half-heartedly drank it. Well, it was better than nothing.

He looked back at Tibi, "Hey, I'm sorry for ruining your DADA practice. I really had no idea we'd split up that way," he began, feeling that it's necessary to apologize, whether Tibi still remembered or not. After all he had made a mental note since the lesson, and now that it's done, it could be erased from his mind. "No hard feelings, right?" It was so lame to think that it was the reason he was so gloomy. For a moment he thought about asking, but then repressed his intention, considering the fact that they'd just met and it might take some time for Tibi to begin to like him.

Tiberius was a little startled when the boy started choking, but he seemed to be ok. "No worries," Tibi said glumly, having switched from stirring his food to stabbing it half-heartedly. "There wasn't much practice left after that anyway."

Baaaaaaahhhh, Tibi was feeling like such a failure at magic, despite the fact that every one of his spells had worked. The flying thing was really bugging him.

"Sorry I'm such a downer..." he said sheepishly, realizing that his mood was probably very apparent. "I'm just... well.. nevermind."

Rayedem chewed another piece of potato as Tiberius spoke. He never liked having someone feeling so gloomy; normally he'd do anything to cheer them up. Those are the times when he could be himself--he felt great doing it. He felt like he could be of some use to others. Finally he swallowed and said,

"It's okay to be down at times," he began, "it's normal. Happens to the best of us," then he paused, thinking what he should say next. He decided making Tiberius felt comfortable would be a perfect start. He wasn't sure about this next move, but he did it anyway; he scooted over so that he was sitting closer to Tiberius. He continued, "I know we've known each other for only like 5 minutes--or less, but I'm a good listener." he ended, smiling.

"So if you feel like.. Talking to somebody, you can talk to me." he said again, his mind already processing what would be Tibi's reactions, "I might not be that smart, but.. I'd do all I could to help." that's it. He couldn't say any more.

Tibi put his fork down as he listened. He smiled, gratefully. "I'm sure you're loads smart... really." Tibi spoke sincerely. "But... I don't know what you can do to help." Tibi frowned.

"I.." should he say? Figuring it couldn't hurt much, he continued, "I.. I get scared really easily and that defense against the dark arts homework really freaked me out..." Tibi sighed. "I mean.. I could do the spells... but I was afraid to. You know?" Tibi hoped Rayedem would know what he was talking about.

Slumping his shoulders ever further, he continued. "Plus... I'm afraid of fl..." but he was cut off as he heard the beating of wings. Looking up, he saw he little elf owl return with a package in her claws. "Pidgin!" Tibi yelled, momentariliy forgetting his glumness, a smile spreading across his face.

That smile faded quickly as Pidgin swooped down and dropped the package in Tibi's plate of now-gray mush, sending it splattering.

Rayedem too had put his fork down when he finally shook his head and said confidently, "No, I saw you in classes. You were brilliant." he nodded, giving Tibi a reassuring smile. Of course. At last, arrogant Edem, you admitted that someone really is better than you. Sigh. He raised an eyebrow.

"The DADA homework, huh? Well, you were there before me, yes." he tried to remember the time when he was waiting for his turn outside the professor's office. He thought no one could've done worse, and this boy, this boy, might be the last person on earth who could. "I got panicked, too. I even threw books and ink bottles at them, you know? I might have been the worst, but I don't think it matters much. What matters is that we've tried and done our best. Mom always says that." his face turned a bright shade of red as he added the last sentence. "And besides, it's pretty much our first time facing the real thing, real fight. I think it's normal."

Then an owl--Tibi's owl came swooping down and dropping a package, and he laughed at Tibi's sudden change of expression, and the mush splattered all over both his and Tibi's robes. But he wasn't so easily distracted. Wiping the front of his robes with a handkerchief in his pocket, he continued saying, "What did you say you were afraid of?" and he offered the handkerchief to Tibi in case he also wanted to clean up some.

"That's really terribly kind to say... but I don't know that I'll ever get the hang of it." Tibi accepted the handkerchief and began to mop up the slop from his robes. "I love my owl, but Merlin, she makes such a mess." Tibi chuckled.

Unwrapping the package, Tibi was very aware that Rayedem wasn't going to let him get away without answering the question. Looking at the three new pairs of shoes in the package, Tibi searched for the note.

"Um.. flying, actually, is what I was going to say. I have a terrible fear of heights and another of falling," he'd found the letter and was going to skim it while he talked, "sooo.. being on a broomstick sounds like exactly the worst possible combination of the two." Tibi frowned.

"Vindictus said he'd help.. but I don't..." Tibi's voice trailed off as he reread the note from his Mum and flipped to what he had thought was another piece of parchment. Staring at the moving photograph, he forgot what he was going to say, entirely.

Rayedem watched as Tibi was speaking, unwrapping his package, and reading the note. From home, he concluded. His only hope was that those'd cheer him up. He hesitated about speaking, and decided to push his empty plate and pull another one towards him. That one had chunks of chicken in it. He stared at the plate for a second or two, then secretly looked back at Tibi. He was still deep in his own world.

Let him be. Don't be such an egoist. You'd want to be left alone too, if you got a package from home.

He chuckled at the thought. So, Tibi is of a wizarding ancestry, he thought. Now, who would send him one? Lucille's dad? Funny, Edem. No, that's not funny at all. That's pathetic. He stabbed a chunk of chicken and bit it, trying to distract himself from the recurring thought. Anything, anything would be a good distraction. So, Tibi is afraid of flying? Well.. If flying is like the wizards' sports, then he was certain that he could help. He'd been so excited about flying. He hoped he wouldn't ruin his chance to be good at it, so that maybe one day he'd be good enough and would be able to help Tibi.

He took another bite of the chicken and another look at Tibi; he decided to give him some more time.