"My mother is afraid of magic," Kurumi shrugged. There was no real reason for her to take away her own children's wands. "Maybe we can save such talk for the dormitory over some coffee." Kurumi winked. She could still remember them meeting their first year in the dorms. Her with her tea and Sophia with her coffee. Since then, Kurumi had grown rather fond of it.


Kurumi took another few drinks of her pumpkin juice. This stuff really was delicious. "So, Septimus, where are you from?"


"We didn't have any extra security last term," Kurumi said shaking her head. "Last term was when it was probably more needed. The Triwizard Tournament was held here." She put her hand on the girl's trembling shoulders. Kurumi had been very suspicious of this man, but she couldn't let that show right now, not when she had a terrified first year clinging to her robes. "Headmaster Tate won't let anything bad happen to his students," she smiled reassuringly.


Kurumi smiled. This girl reminded her so much of herself last term. She had been just as shy, just as nervous, just as unsure about what to do or what to say to others. "I am doing well," Kurumi said deciding to pour the girl a glass of pumpkin juice. Just because she wasn't a Gryffindor didn't mean she couldn't share from their table, right? "How are you? How did your sorting go? I was terrified myself. I cried while sitting on the stool." She laughed softly. Having the Sorting Hat on your head was a very stressful and scary experience. Yet, at the same time, it was also amazing and uplifting.


"Tomorrow!" Kurumi exclaimed throwing her arms up in the air and flinging some of the pasta that was on her fork across the room. Hopefully that didn't land on anyone...

Lucy was fine now and eating her cupcake that was delicious and said "Oh that's fine, I don't mind." She said and took another bite of her cupcake, it was shocking to she she had finished her cupcake in just two bite, she really loved chocolate cake. She took some more this time and asked Chloe if she wanted more.
After finishing eating she asked "Are you looking forward to the classes this term?" and them remembered Chloe saying something about Quidditch "Oh yeah, I was upset too, that was really bad that we didn't have Quidditch last term, hope it would be this year, I'm not good at playing but I love sitting and watching them play and shout for our Gryffindor lions." She said smiling at her. "So are you going to try for this term Quidditch?" she asked excitingly.

she smiled, it was good that the girl was fine, otherwise Coraline would make sure she was there to help, "good thank you, i am so exited about the classes, do you know when they begin?" she asked, she was hoping not to long because she was so exited, "i guess i was overwhelmed with thoughts and fears as i sat there, being a shy girl i was scared to sit there infront of everyone" she said, she wasn't shy anymore in front of Kurumi, she knew Kurumi wasn't to be feared.

"Classes actually start tomorrow," Kurumi smiled with a twinkle in her violet eyes. "It's OK to be shy," Kurumi nodded. That was her life story last term and still now when she was talking with older students. "Hogwarts can be very overwhelming. I was last term, more so on the Hogwarts Express than when I got sorted though. I, well, happened to be in a compartment with some very hyper people." Kurumi giggled nervously. They had been such a stark contrast from who Kurumi was that she had curled up back into her shell and sat in silence most of the train ride.

Coraline's eyes brightened up, tomorrow? she couldn't wait! but oh no, that didn't give her much time to study, she didn't want to look like a ravenclaw that has no brains, she didn't want to let her house down, they were known for there smartness, but it wasn't like other houses were smart, she smiled, that was great to her someone say that, "i feel so shy around older people" she said, that was a fact, she didn't mind younger or her age, but older seemed to make her shy, "when i was on the hogwarts express i hardly talked at all, i just sat in the corner of a empty compartment and read, i wasn't alone though, i had my cat Misty" she laughed nervously, it seemed that they were alike, Cora didn't really like hyper people, they sometimes got annoying, but they were alrigh, she guessed...

Kurumi found herself giggling at how similar the two of them were. Perhaps Kurumi should have been sorted into Ravenclaw after all. Many of her claw friends seemed to be shy, minus Eino who was rather eccentric, and Kurumi was pretty shy herself. "I was the same my train ride. I was in a compartment with some very hyper Slytherins and my fellow Gryffindor, Adam. They were playing Truth or Dare...but I didn't really join in...it was, too much for me." She smiled at Coraline. "I have a cat too, a rather stuck up one at the moment, but he is up in the common room at the moment. Maybe, Misty was it? Maybe Misty and Walnut can play together sometime." All this talk about cats was getting her even more excited about Care of Magical Creatures. "What breed of cat is Misty?"

she understood how Kurumi felt, truth or dare wasn't the best game, she played it once and did not really like it so it wasn't on her to do list, she would rather not play it again after what happened last time, "hyper Slytherins? that doesn't sound like a good trip if you were stuck with them" she said, hyper Slytherin described one person all over, Katelyn Star, it seemed a lot of people knew her, Adam was alright at least she had him with her, "yes her names Misty, and i'm sure Misty would love that, she doesn't meet cats that often, she knows my brothers dog, but yeah thats it" she laughed nervously, Misty and the dog didn't get along so it wasn't helping Misty make friends, Cora had to think, she knew this, "she's a British Longhair, what about Walnut?" she said, that sounds right.

"Well, one of them, Katie, is my friend...at least, I think she still is...but that's kind of complicated. I was trying to stick with people I know," Kurumi shrugged taking another sip of pumpkin juice. "At least Adam was with me. Have you met Adam? You really should." Kurumi found her cheeks flushing as she mentioned Adam. Was her hair changing colors too? She held the end of her pony tail in front of her face to check. The Ravenclaw first year probably thought Kurumi was a bit strange, but she would learn soon enough about Kurumi's abilities. "Walnut is a munchkin cat but...don't mention his short legs, he is rather sensitive about them."

she wondered if Kurumi and Katie were friends by that time, maybe it was because of Adam, but of course Cora should keep her nose out of those things, she doesn't want to get caught up in drama, "well i'm sure no matter if your friends or not you will be happy" at least she hoped Kurumi would be happy because she was a good girl and she wouldn't like to see her up set, Cora looked as she saw Kurumi look at the tip of her hair, she wondered why, hopefully she would find out later on, "i have met Adam actually" she smiled, Adam was a nice boy, not like Katie ha told her, "i won't, i understand how cats have feelings, Misty gets jealous when i spend to much time with other cats, she doesn't mind if she is there and gets attention to" she laughed.

"Aw, that's very kind of you to say," Kurumi blushed still checking her hair for color change. When nothing happened, Kurumi breathed a sigh of relief and flung her hair back over her shoulder. "You have?" OK, time to breathe again and just spit it out. How was Adam able to tell people so easily? Was it because he was a third year and she was only a second year. The feelings were still so new, so scary, so exciting. Kurumi still found herself feeling like she was going to explode sometimes. "Adam is....is...is...." Kurumi inhaled deeply. "...my boyfriend." THERE! HA! She had said it. Now to quickly change subjects to prevent her from turning into a nervous mess again. "Walnut gets jealous when I spend too much time with other people, if you can imagine that," Kurumi laughed thinking about her stubby legged friend. "I am sure Misty and Walnut will get along fine, at least, I hope they will. He had some back luck last year with my friend Ever-Lily's cat...it wasn't pretty and the two of them almost destroyed the entire kitchen."

Jacqueline saw Rex standing there,alone. How was that possible? No,he was probably waiting for someone. She sneaked and suddenly shouted ''BUYAA!'' and jumped oh his back. ''Yo bro,what are ya doing? How are ya?'' she asked and got her feet back on the ground. She was hoping she scared him. A bit. ''You waiting for someone?'' she asked but she knew the answer. ''Bro,I missed you since our butterbear day. Now, I am eating some pies, you get hooked up on them really easy!!''she said,smiling all the time. It was great to see Rex again. This is his last year,better make it great.

Sophie was glad for any distraction from what was going on next to her she had no idea how Sebastian would react to the threat hanging in the air from Evan. The brunette had no idea why Evan was making such a scene for her. She wasn’t his Girlfriend or anything like that. Turning to Jamie she said managing a hearty smile “All right, have fun! Bye!” Sophie followed the first year as she headed over to the snake table, making a mental note to seek her out later during the week and ask how she felt about things then.


Good Merlin!

Sophie had totally misunderstood him; Sebastian hadn’t even been trying to flirt with her since he saw her as a friend and therefore didn’t need to, to get her attention. Blushing she apologized "Sorry, it does make sense, a lot actually and I see you as a friend too." A sixth year would mean that Evan and Bastian would see a lot more of each other considering they were in the same year. She had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

At the moment it was probably bad. Thoughtful she listened as Sebastian spoke about the muggle military which wasn’t an equivalent to the ministry of magic at all. It was more an authority who helped people in need. Nodding she said sensing that it was a touchy subject "Are you going to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year?"

Sophie didn’t know if Sebastian played quidditch or even liked the sport but most boys did except Evan.The prefect took a silent role as Sebastian turned his attention to Evan and asked ‘if there was something he needed to know.’ Which in Sophie’s opinion there weren’t. Evan and she were just friends and nothing more than that. At least that was what she thought. Sebastian then put words to Sophie’s thoughts pointing out flatly that Evan was jealous. Glancing over at the snake prefect she wondered how Evan would retaliate.

Sophie was about to head over to Madam Donovan when something collided with her hair. "UFF, What was that?" Looking around wearily she asked loudly "Did anyone see the bat?" The prefect had no idea that she had pasta smooched with tomato all over hair. Would somebody step forward like a responsible house mate and help her out?

Merlin's beard comb! There was a bat loose in the Great Hall?! Kurumi immediately stood up on her bench and searched for the super adorable creature. It was probably scared and frightened being in a bright room with so many people. Poor thing...

o_____O

Oh dear sweet Hippogriff! Kurumi now knew where her flying pasta had landed and it was on an older Gryffindor student with a *gulp* Prefect shinny Prefect badge on her robes. Well, if this girl was anything like Cam, she wouldn't be too angry with her...not if she brought a cookie or two or twenty along. She did have a few Gryffindor shield cookies left floating above the table...It was better than nothing, right?

Reaching up slowly, Kurumi plucked one of the cookies and, like a snail, made her way up to the older girl before tapping her on the shoulder.

"Um...there was no bat..."Kurumi said meekly reaching into her pocket for her yellow daisy handkerchief and handing it to the girl. "Y-Y-You...you...you have pasta in your hair." Kurumi felt her cheeks turning bright red and, wait, was she on fire? It certainly felt hot in the room. "I-I-I-I-I-I...." Kurumi felt like she had been jinxed with a tongue-tying hex. "It's my fault....please accept this cookie as an appology," Kurumi said bowing over and over again before thrusting the cookie out with both hands and keeping her head faced at a 90 degrees towards the ground.

Cora smiled as she saw Kurumi blush, "your welcome" she said, for some random reason the idea popped into her head that one day Kurumi could be prefect or head girl, she could see it now, she would love Kurumi to be one of those, anyway, should get back to the subject, really? Kurumi and Adam would be a good couple, and there where a couple, "you and Adam seem like a good couple" she said, she could tell Kurumi wanted to change the subject, so thats all she said, "i guess cats are just like that" she laughed, and not nervously this time, that was an improvement, "really? whats her cats name?" that would have been chaos when the cats were wreaking the kitchen, she hoped everything was well.

Kurumi's hands flew to her cheeks again to try and cover some of the blushing. She really needed to figure out how to not turn into a strawberry every time talk about Adam and her as a couple came up. Were they a good couple? Kurumi seemed to think they could be a great one, and that was mostly because they had started as best friends first. After all the drama that had gone on last year and Kurumi wanting to just run away from it all, it was a miracle that the two had still found each other through it all. "Thanks," she whispered bowing her head in appreciation.

Oh, good, back to talking about animals. Kurumi lifted her eyes to look at Coraline. "Cloudy, I think, her cat really really did not like Walnut. Walnut was just minding his own business watching me bake in the kitchen and her cat attacked. Poor Walnut wouldn't leave the common room for a week."

Kimber knew that shrug when she saw it. It had been the one she'd been giving for years when someone asked her something she didn't want to go into. Instead of inquiring further, the Librarian simply laid a hand on Lexi's shoulder and continued talking.
"I don't," she said sullenly. Her time at Hogwarts had been... difficult.

Kimber smirked at Chad's question and shook her head. "Ohh nothing," she smiled, not meeting his eyes.

Anna sat down at the table and looked around. The great hall was great as usual. And the usual hum of her fellow student created a hefty din. She smiled. Home at last.

"Why the long face?" Chad straightened up, looking straight at her. Wait, now she was smirking. He narrowed his eyes slightly. What was she up to?

Waving as Jamie left, Evan felt light and as if he'd done a good thing. Well, he did, considering the fact that he'd just talked a girl into accepting being a snake and thus saving her life. Kind of. She'd have to accept it at one time, but the sooner, the better. Watching her go join her friends, he turned back at the Italian Flirt Dork and Sophie.

Wait, what? The blondie blinked. Bastü hadn't really flirted with her? Really? Pfft. Such a lie. As a boy, Evan was 99.99% sure it was flirting. 'Normally I go up to a girl and tell how beautiful she is, but you are different Sophie.' Key word 'different' used. Efficiently. He watched the exchange between her and the Dork. But he was relieved after hearing that Sophie saw him only as a friend too. Great. Even though every friendship could turn into a serious relationship, for now he didn't have to worry about the Dork.

Wait, why was he worrying about the Dork? He already had a great girlfriend, why being jealous of Sophie so much? Pfft. He pushed the questions and stupid guilt aside once again. As promised to himself, he'd deal with them later in a Sophie and Marie-free area. Right now, he had a pride to save.

Examing the boy, the Slytherin decided to believe his words. He talked calmly, not defeated or embarrassed. "Oh, for once I thought you were flirting with her." Yes, he refused to use 'sorry' because he wasn't. That still sounded like flirting to him. Turning to Sophie, he said "Great! So I'll see you at the breakfast first?" She didn't look scared or something, did she? Because he didn't think he did something bad... only showing the guy that he shouldn't flirt with Sophie girls. Shrug. Nothing much of a deal, to him anyways.

As there was that unnecessary tension between them, something hit Sophie and her hair was covered with tomato. It was funny, but the prefect managed not to laugh quite effectively, although he had to bite his tongue for that.

Drawing his wand, he said "You have some tomato on your hair," at the same time as a little girl came stuttering. Apparently she'd done it. Aww, she was really sorry for that. With a swift motion of his wrist, he vanished all the tomato and the hair of Sophie was clean once again.

Looking down at the cookie box, he smiled at the girl. "Have you baked them?" he asked in surprise, because they looked yummy.

"Yeah, every class but potions. That Lefay women is crazy using students as examples, making us or even worse our freinds drink our potion for better or for worse. And I was not perticularly into Astronomy either. The topics in that class last term went way over my head that I barely said anything because of that. But the rest I can't wait for. What about you. What classes are you looking foward to or not? And yeah, quiddich. I am totally trying out. I can't wait. Sneaking off with a couple of my freinds to play quiddich at an old marsh was another one of my favorite things I did this summer. I really hope I will be good enough to make it but if not I am glad to know I have a freind sit along side and cheer the team to vicrory.", Chloe said with a smile and took another cupcake.

Sophia was raised as a muggle? That's so cool. Like really cool. "You were? So you do that conpluter thing?" he asked her interested. He would never understand compluters... Conputers... Eh, what was the name again?

He took the photo from her and watched it curiously. All peoople went around like that? "So if everyone wears masks then... How do you know who's who?" he laughed. It looked really cool though, yes he had to go there during the carnival.

"Yeah I guess it's a bit different from Italy." he grinned. Then again, New York and England had snow, Italy didn't... "Would be good with some warmth I guess." he laughed. So they could swim in the lake all the time.

He smiled at her, he loved travelling. "Well you're lucky you can travel around." he winked. Some people didn't have the chance to.

Alex laughed and shrugged. "Well then you will just have to show me." If he didn't know how good she was then she would just have to show him. It was as simple as that. "Well if it's something I'm good at it's being sneaky and shifty." he smirked pointing to his badge. "I'm sure I can handle the Gryffindor kittie cats." he winked teasing.

"Oh that doesn't sound so good." he winced. Really he couldn't take it if he were to feel sick everytime he ate too much because well... That was kind of all the time. He just loved to eat! Then Alex couldn't help but laugh again as he saw her gaze at the pies. "I have no idea how people can say no to them." he admitted still laughing. Seriously though, no sane person could say no to those pies...

A butterbeer and pie freak, sounded like his kind of friend. Those things were just both so yummie! "My favourite kind of pie is..." he thought for a while. Apparently he was forced to choose. "It must be rasperrby pie or something... But honestly I don't like to choose between them." he laughed. "What about you Pie Girl?" he winked.

Great. Away from Edward even for a little while, Heather sighed. She turned and saw Kurumi talking with someone and didn't bother to interrupt her friend. She was quite amused at Kurumi's sociability. Not particualry one to initiate speech with another or a stranger, she sat back down on the table and watched everyone; every now and then glancing at the slytherin table looking for her bestfriend. Cass probably knows by now that Edward's in the same house as Heather, so she need not tell her anymore.

Heather indulged herself with some food and pumpkin juice, not minding if someone would sit and talk with her. she could use some company seeing her freinds were busy. (and perhaps, she regrets leaving edward out. The guy may be unbearable, but he was sweet enough to apologize and talk with her.) 'i hope no one would think that i'm a loner. i could use a bit of company...' she thought. after all, her very shy nature disallows her to just walk up to someone and talk without a single stuttered word coming out of her mouth-or atleast a coherent sentence.

Sophie was looking up and down and in every other direction she could think of but there was no bat in sight. Weird! Had she imagined it? No she couldn’t have since she had definitely felt how something collided with the back of her head. The students around her whispered and some even pointed in her direction. Sophie was about to ask Evan what had hit her when someone tapped her gently on the shoulder.

Turning around she looked down into the eyes of a dark haired girl with Japanese features. The younger girl explained that there was no bat but that she had pasta in her hair. Sophie automatically moved her hand backwards and touched her brown locks a bit shocked. Looking at her hand a moment later she saw that it was indeed covered in tomato red pasta. Sophie did not have to wipe the pasta away or anything before Evan stepped in like a knight with his wand in his hand.

With a bit of a swish the pasta was gone, vanished. Overjoyed Sophie impulsively hugged him tight before stepping back. Blushing she said "Thank you, Evan. And yes I’ll see you at breakfast before we go to the grounds." Looking over at the younger girl she said sensibly not angry at all and even smiled brightly "No damage done, apology accepted! Thank you for your honesty, many others wouldn’t have admitted that it was their fault and that took courage.” Taking the cookie from Kurumi she took a bite of it and soon exclaimed "It’s delicious! Evan you should try one." Beaming at the girl to make her feel better she added "I’m Sophie by the way, Gryffindor prefect this term."

Seeing that Madam Donovan wasn’t in deep conversation with anyone Sophie made her way over to her head of house. "Good evening, Madam Donovan!" she said softly, in quieter tone she continued "Do you think you could give a star or something for honesty to Kurumi Hollingberry. She accidentally hit me with pasta but did the honest thing and told me that it was her fault which took a lot of courage."

"Whatnow?" Beth asked looking at Emily as though she were a lunatic. "I don't even know how to spell that." Beth took another sip of pumpkin juice before looking back up at Emily. "And if your making wierd words up to confuse the muggle born girl you'd best stop it now."

Ava Jade walked over to the Gryffindor table, looking around for any friends. Mostly there were strangers, though, but if they looked friendly Ava Jade had nothing against striking up a conversation. In her almost-four years at Hogwarts (and all the years before that), shyness had never really been a problem for her. What better way to make new friends than to stretch yourself a bit?