Oakey Lazily sat down at his house table with his Ancient Ruins homework in front of him. He was also hungry so he piled a plate full of pancakes in front of him, when he reached for the syrup he spilled it all over the homework. AGH! CRAP! Oakey exclaimed.

Her reply sort of made him wonder something else, "Sure," Treyen started to say, "But, where do you keep him?" and how did she know it was a 'him', because he had no idea how to find that out. Perhaps the shopkeeper had told her.

The next part surprised him, because he didn't expect for the little girl to remember what he'd told her about his own pets. "Oh, he's in the dormitory now, he spends most of his days in there, unless I can supervise him...which is when he heads outside," with Treyen, of course, "That's okay, I didn't expect you to remember it, anyway, his name is Thaddeus," which, wasn't an easy name to remember in the first place.

Treyen did, of course, but that was only obvious.

"I noticed you signed up for Quidditch," since he'd been one of the lasts to add his name on the list, then he'd seen the ones who'd written their names first, "I didn't know you played." There was still so much he didn't know about Nessie, though, but Quidditch...he ought to have find out sooner, no?

Wandering the great hall, looking for little Woody, because as usual, the pup had wandered off again and somehow gotten out of the dorm AND the common room. Jayce had yet to wrap his head around how the little dog managed to do that multiple times without anyone noticing. Sigh. He paused as he saw a familiar face sitting lonely at the Hufflepuff table. As he put on a rather wide grin, the seventh year wandered over towards the younger boy, sitting down across from him.

"'Sup, kiddo?" He asked with a grin.

Raising her head off the table, Mia picked up the glass of orange juice and took a sip. "Yeah I couldn't imagine Finn in a dress." she said with a smirk. Not to mention that Matty had broken his nose.

She put the glass down and started on her porridge. "Congratulations. I'm happy for both of you." And she was. They were two of her closest friends.

But...

"If you two ignore me like last year, I am going to be mighty annoyed." She spooned some more porridge into her mouth and gave him a sweet smile because she wasn't kidding. After what had happened during the summer, Mia was not going to put up with any crap.

"Kinda" said Nessie yawning. "I fell asleep eventually , but very late" Nessie smiled then started nibbling on some toast.

"Oh he ussually stays in the dormitory, then I usually take him outside for about twenty minutes each day, just so he can get some fresh air." Nessie didn't know if it was the best thing to tell this to a prefect, but she was sure he didn't mind as he kinda did it himself. "Thaddeus? Interesting name!" said Ness trying to figure out how he could have come up with it.

"Yeah, I don't really play properly though. I've just always had a small interest in the sport." Ness really didn't want every one to think she played quiditch well, because she wasn't too sure if she did. "So what did you sign up for?"

"Trust me, that wont happen again. I promise." *He gave her a warm smile then grabbed a bit of bacon to eat.*

"So how was your summer with Nik?"
*Matty had noticed that she had been down this term. If you knew Mia you knew that was not like her. It was odd how he was the up and bouncy one now and she was... ready at any minute to drop that porridge in his hair, face or lap. Maybe she was just tired he thought but he'd seen her tired that was what made him want to ask about her summer.*

Cassidy's face lit up immediately. "JAYCE!" He smiled widely, greeting the older boy. "How have you been!?"

The spoon was halfway to her lips when Matty asked about her summer and she froze for a second. She had to remember that her friends knew her well. If she didn't have a constant smile on her face, they knew something was up. "My summer with Nik was good." She finally put the spoon in her mouth and then after a moment she turned to look at her friend. "It was the summer with my father that sucked."

Daisy turned to see Oakey next to her. He had spilt syrup all over his homework. He had said he was unlucky, but that was just seriously unlucky. All over his homework.
'Are you alright Oakey?' she asked kindly.

So, she treated the Pygmy Puff the same way that Thaddeus was treated, he approved of that, except that Pygmy Puffs were easier to control, whereas a freaked out Knarl was...well...tougher to get around.

"Once he gets used to the school, you could carry him around, you know? It's not really against the rules," he decided to add, just in case she was thinking that it was. And about Thaddeus, he chuckled, "It certainly is," Nessied should probably look for Thaddeus Thurkell in Chocolate Frogs cards. Now, that was the interesting part of the hedgehog-like creature.

Oh. Really?

"Well, that's okay, some people have never played Quidditch and end up being the best at it," like Harry Potter did when he first came to Hogwarts, but that was not the actual point he was trying to make, "I've been Keeper before, that's the position I signed-up for again," though, he didn't mind if he was chosen for another one.

Jayce beamed, BEAMED at his younger buddy. He missed the kid over the summer. It felt like forever since they'd last spoken to eachother. "How have i been? Ehh.. better i guess," he shrugged. "But there's nothing i can do about it." The boy frowned, as his thoughts wandered back to what happened over the summer. He shook his head, trying to get the thought away before putting on a smile for his little 'puff. "How have you been? I want to know all." He winked.

"Cool!" said Ness getting a bit over excited. Nessie yawned again then looked back at Treyen to answer. "Yeah I hope I'm good ,but I doubt it" said Nessie imagaing herself making a huge mistake while doing try outs and embarresing herself badly."Im sure you will deffinitely make it to the the team. " said Nessie thinking he was proberly good.

It's a shame I wasn't paying attention in potions as much as I should have. I might have been able to put together a shriveling potion and get the syrup right out. Oakey joked with a smile on his face.

"Oh?" *They had never really talked about each others parents. He guessed mostly because she knew it might be a sore subject for him but maybe it wasn't only sore on him.*
"I've never really heard you talk about your father much. What happened?"

Cass blushed. "Oh, well, I've been...bored. I had a fairly uneventful summer with my sister. I think I bored her with my stories of you guys. Particularly since I can never remember how they end." He laughed.

After Matty said that, Mia realised that she never really talked about her parents. The only person she did was Nik of course. It kinda made her feel bad now for never mentioning them before but that didn't last when she remembered what her dad had done. "He lied to me. For sixteen and a half years." She pushed her bowl of porridge away.

"He used to be married before but his first wife died." She paused for a moment not realising that she was clenching her spoon really hard. "What he failed to mention to me for so long was that his first wife was actually my mother."

With elbows on the table, Jayce crossed his arms as he listened to his little pal's story. "Your sister? You have a sister? That's cool." he smiled. Merlin was he curious. It was then that he remembered Cass'.. problem. Well, it wasn't exactly a problem.. more like.. and illness? Jayce could never remember the correct term. It always bothered him.

"Do anything else over your summer?" the boy asked curiously, blue eyes still on Cass' own eyes.

Cass lit up. "Yes, her name is Shiloh. She's biologically my cousin, but uh, my uncle adopted me when I was a baby so, now she's my big sister and my best friend." He grinned. He loved talking about Shiloh. He already missed her.

"Honestly, not much. We just hung out at the house all summer. What about you? What's new in the exciting world of Jayce?"

"Oh? Well.. that's pretty interesting. I don't have any siblings although i do wish i did have some." He shrugged before continuing. "I do have a few cousins though. But i'm not really close with them."

Instantly remembering his summer, the seventh year's face grew dark and solemn as his eyes went cold, quickly losing their usual brightness. "I.. I lost my dog over the summer. She.. passed away." He sighed as his blue eyes wandered away from Cass, quickly turning glassy. But no, he refused to cry. He wouldn't cry over her anymore.

Rubbing his eyes and turning back to the young boy, Jayce chuckled a bit as his eyes gained their usual brightness, pushing away the memories. "But Eirian got me a new dog. Although i wasn't keen on the idea at first," he paused. "They dog's actually kind of insane and tends to eat my clothes."

"Oh..." *Yeah that was a good reason to be upset. Matty didn't know a lot about his parents either, but that was because he didn't want to know... yet. He had this fear that they were not good people. Not sure what to say he asked.*
"Did he say why he didn't tell you the truth?"

That made Mia pause for a moment and she chewed on her bottom lip. Everything that Nik had said to her over the summer came back to her and she felt that guilty feeling again.

"He tried." She began, tilting her head back so that she could look up at the ceiling. Fitting that there should be dark thrunderclouds overhead. Went with her mood. "I ran away from home before he could."

*He was about to say oh again but knew that would sound stupid. So she ran away? That was never good but at least she was somewhere safe.*
"Do you have a bad relationship with your father? I mean before all this happened?"
*Matty thought she had said that she had a good relationship with her dad but he couldn't remember.*

'Don't worry,' Daisy smiled. 'A girl helped me clean ketchup off my lap earlier, we might be able to use a spell. What homework was it anyway?' she asked, dipping her finger into some of the syrup on the table and licking it.

Penny walked into the great hall for lunch... she was absolutely starving..
Taking a seat at the Hufflepuff table, and looking up & down it to see if she knew anyone (Penny hated to eat alone), seeing no-one she knew, began to eat her lunch (ham salad & wholegrain bread) washing it down with a glass of pumpkin juice..

Thinking to herself "Maybe I'll go down to the practice pitch and watch some team try-outs after I finish this"

The small, scruffy looking boy with dark hair shuffles as meekly as he can into the great hall. Walking to the Hufflepuff table, he searches for an empty seat. Finding one fairly close to the end closest the door, he sits down and surveys the feast before him. He's kind of hungry, as he thinks he might like a bit of a sandwich and some crisps. He finds a couple of thick slices of a loaf and some ham. He looks for a bit of cheddar cheese. His height seems to impede his view so he stands upon the bench and leans over the table. He spies a plate with some cheese and reaches for it best he can. Not quite reaching the plate, he uses the tips of his fingers to try and bring it closer to no avail. He looks at the students around him, hoping one will note his predicament and offer some assistance. As he's not the most forthright child, he scans for but a few seconds before he sits and places some mustard on the bread and sips at his water. He grabs for some salt and vinegar crisps and prepares for his lunch, his thoughts wandering here and there.