"I'm well. Just doing some light reading to balance out the homework." She replied, smiling faintly. "And you? Glad to be back at school?" she asked, absently glancing at his sketchbook. She smiled then, almost wistfully. She loved art, and drawing, but unfortunately had no talent for it. Instead, words were her place of power and talent. Her mind drifted for a moment, to the notebook tucked away in her bag, her hand craving her pen. But she pushed that aside and smiled softly instead.

"May I see your drawing?"

"I am glad to be back, I've had to catch up on some reading due to the fact I may have forgotten a couple things that I learned the previous term." He commented, chuckling a bit at that. That's what seemed to happen every single time he went home, it really wasn't a bad thing since it meant that he had to just review a couple things every time. Since it was bothering him that there were a couple areas that needed to be shaded in, he picked up his pencil and finished off the shading and then set the pencil back down on top of the book so he could continue the conversation.

"You may." He grabbed the book from his lap and handed it to Katra, so that she could provide her opinion.

She took the book, smiling slightly before studying the drawing.

"How lovely..." she replied softly, tracing an elegant finger along the curves and lines. "It's almost like standing there, looking at it in person. Especially since I don't venture to London very often."

She glanced at him then, handing the book back. "Do you often draw? You seem to be very practiced. The lines are steady and clear, and you shade with skill. Did you have a teacher, or teach yourself?"

"I draw quite frequently, well whenever I have a spare moment; I'm usually drawing unless I'm outside. Then I surf and catch up with old friends from the school that I used to attend before Hogwarts." Once she commented on his sketch, he nodded appreciatively; at least someone took interest in his art since many people thought that it was a useless talent that was more something meant for muggles rather than a pureblood wizard. "I actually taught myself how to draw at a young age, ever since then I've been inspired to draw a lot of scenery."

Katra nodded, taking a seat in the vacant, wing-backed chair in front of him. She set her book down, unwrapping her green and silver scarf from around her neck and draped it loosely on the arm of the chair.

"I'm impressed that you taught yourself. Learning something on one's own is a difficult process, especially when it's something like this. But you also seem to have a talent for it. Which is good." She smiled softly, nodding to his book.

"Scenery is always good to draw, because then your subject rarely moves." She laughed faintly, her voice drawing on an edge of playfulness.

"What else do you enjoy? I myself, am a writer and I love music."

Aurora didn't look up from her writing when she heard Vincent's voice and just held one finger up to quiet him. She finished scribbling down as much as she could and looked up.

"I don't know yet, it's not finished." She held up her notebook for him to see. "And I don't have a piano to play it out."

"That's the reason why I rarely draw people, I mean I wouldn't mind sketching a subject that's practically like a statue; it would definitely turn out nicely in that case." After he spoke, a memory regarding sketching an old friend hit him like a Chaser heading full blast down the pitch; that obviously wasn't something that he wanted to discuss again since somehow it ended up turning into a fight.

"Well, I enjoy music as well; I write songs and play acoustic guitar as well as piano, music runs in my family though. My father plays the drums occasionally, my cousin sings and plays bass." Even though Raven had been known to play bagpipes in her spare time, he wasn't going to bring that idea up since it was rather annoying. "I also play a couple muggle sports, it keeps the attention away from myself at times since people suspect that I'm hiding something from them."

The boy watched as Macy did her own sign, and put some lovely detail on it. Wow, his really was rubbish compared to hers. "It looks great!" Although he wasn't happy with his name written at the very bottom. Ahhh well. It just meant that his identity kept hidden when it was put on the notice board. *shifty*

Jamie was very glad to see that Macy had adopted the whole 'welcoming a firstie' thing. See? He was just so darn smart when it came to evil scheming. Mwahaha. Well, it wasn't evil. Any first year should be honoured by their offer.

Wearing a Panda costume all day? HE would do it.

WOAH, woah. G-g-g-g-GIRL's name? Jamie stared at the first year, flabbergasted.

"It's.... It is NOT a girl's name. It's... a very masculine name, thank you very much." He did not like this girl, so he frowned at her, then frowned at Macy. They had made a wrong choice in welcoming THIS one. Crossing his arms over his chest, he mumbled, "pshh. Girl's name.." The boy wouldn't deny that he was paranoid about his name, though. He now had to think of a manly alternate. "I was only kidding anyway." He said suddenly. Was he really going to do this?? "My real name is... Greg." He looked to Macy briefly.

GREG. That was absolutely not a girl's name.

Jamie rolled his eyes and ignored when the girl introduced herself. LALALA, not listening.... They wanted a NICE MASCOT.

Katra nodded, smiling. She didn't ask him to elaborate on any of the more cryptic remarks, because she knew what privacy meant. She didn't like people prying into her life, so she had no care to do it to others.

"You sound like a very busy man. But that's always good. And if people truly always believe that you're hiding something from them, it's just a scapegoat to cover up their own secrets. We call that paranoia." She replied lightly, softening the mood.

"As for music, I sing a little..but that's about it. I do love listening though..." she trailed, thinking for a moment, before reaching into the pocket of her robes and pulling out a small, hand-held device that was black and silver with the symbol of a bitten apple on one side. She laughed a little as she clicked it on, her face reddening, because she knew she was talking to a fellow pureblood like herself.

"You've probably seen one of these around, it's called an ipod. One of those Muggle electronics that they use to listen to music. A dear friend of mine sent it to me over the summer." She smiled, her mind drifting to Icarus for a brief moment before shaking the thought away. "My maman would kill me if she saw it...but thankfully she's hardly around to notice it. I don't know how long it will last in the castle, but I charmed it to at least extend the battery a little before it dies. I think it will last for a few more weeks."

She unraveled the ear phones, and handed one to him. "All of this is Muggle music, but it's all still good. At least I think so."

"From what I've heard in the muggle world, they have plenty to be paranoid of; which would be why they're placing the majority of the blame on the wizarding community again; rather annoying that is to read in the papers constantly since there's much better things to do than blame us for their own problems." He commented, frowning slightly as he spoke; it was just rather stupid.

Once she had handed him one of the ear phones, he placed it in his ear and looked down at the ipod; he was quite familiar with this piece of muggle technology since he has seen them constantly around Los Angeles. "Now that is definitely a clever bit of magic, I don't think I'd be able to do that myself but that's perfectly fine with me."

Connor nodded. "Let's get out of here." He said softly. He turned and walked right past the creepy one and went out the portrait hole.

Cass turned in surprise and almost dropped her wand when Fee suddenly sat down next to her. Crying of all things.

Woah. He hasn't seen her cry since that incident with her last boyfriend. Who was it? Someone..someone...Malfoy. Yeah. If he ever found out that Hugo broke her heart...then he is dead.

"What's wrong, hun?" She asked worriedly as she turned in her seat, folding her feet up into the chair to turn towards her

Savannah looked suprised. "No siblings?" Lucky ducky. "I have two. I have a twin in Gryffindor-" *Cough Cough* "-and a first year sister that just started Hogwarts." Savvy listed. "And what's even worse-" Yes, worse, even though they're pets. "-our family owns two cats. Mr. Fluffy-" Cassiopeia's 'great' name. "and Sassy." "Another one of Cassie's 'great' name. "And believe me, they're annoying."

Zander slouched into a soft chair by the fire, watching the flames for a while absent mindedly....

Peyton bit her bottom lip so she wouldn't giggle. Jamie seemed hurt by her quesstion. She didn't mean for him to get offended it's just that...well, she likes asking questions. "It's nothing to get all fuzzy about," she smiled at him, although he was frowning at her. "I have a boy's name and I'm proud of it," she shrugged. Yep, she was carrying her daddy's name with PRIDE.

Oh. Greg. O_o

"Right," she said slowly. "Greg." If his name was in fact Greg and NOT Jaime then he was lying to her. He was lying to a firstie. "Then you lied to me?" she said putting on her BEST puppy eyes.

Shame on him, hehe.

Macy smiled her thanks, carefully tucking the note away in her pocket. She'd post it up in a minute or two. Hehehe. PANDA!MASCOT The girl could tell Jamie was just as excited as she was. And why wouldn't he be? A, their sign was AWESOME. And B, hello? pandas!

Awwwwh snap.

She could already tell he didn't like this kid. He had good reason too. I mean, she'd be pretty ticked if someone told her she had a guy name. Jamie wasn't that much of a girls' name.... Was it? O__o No. Macy didn't think so. It sounded guyish enough. And-... WHAT WAS HE DOING?!

Greg?! Really?! *facepalm* Euuuurgh. Okay. Now this Peyton kid definitely could not be their panda bear. Sorry. If she was going to insult her new bestie and cause him to lie about his name, then all this just wasn't gonna work. GROOOOOOAN. That meant she'd have to post the sign so they could look for a new one. "Well, all this has been great Peyton," Macy said, nudging Jamie, "If you have any questions or concerns just let us know." And with that the girl gave a BIIIIIIG smile. Pffft. Questions or concerns. Peyton probably already knew more of the school than she did.

He frowned in concentration as he imagined the notes going off in his head. It was a rather pleasant song.
"Well aren't you a witch?" A piano was all she needed? "The room of requirement could help you out if you wanted..."

Maybe SHE wasn't getting fuzzy about it, but Jamie didn't enjoy being referenced as a girl, thank YOU. "What. Ever." He said, almost holding his hand in front of her face and saying 'talk to da hand'... But that would be kind of immature and inappropriate.

Yes, Greg. What? Was that a girl's name, too?

"I didn't lie to you, no. Jamie is... my middle name... that I sometimes go by." Yes, that sounded truthful, even though it was a big fat lie. But honestly, he didn't care that he was lying. Mean first year. She would succeed in Slytherin, though. GOOD FOR HER.

Throughout the whole Greg situation, Jamie was very consious of Macy. In case she thought he was a nutter and stopped talking to him, or if she blew his cover. So whaaaaat if he told a first year a little fib, though? He didn't know the girl. And probably wouldn't talk to her EVER again after this experience so YEAH.

Oh thank Merlin's pants. "Yes, definitely. Goodbye now, Peyton. LOVELY to meet you." He said sarcastically then scooted away, guessing that Macy was following. If she wasn't then he would end up talking to himself, because he carried on walking as he spoke.

"What are we going to do now!?!?" The first years were EVIL!! And he was scared that he was going to become afraid of them. Well, guess it was time for Notice Board posting.

Throughout the majority of Jamie's name debate, Macy had the urge to pick him up and carry him off. Not that she had the strength to do that, but she'd at least be able to move him a few steps. Either that or she'd have to smack herself in the face. Yes. Leaving Peyton had been a good idea. Otherwise her friend might have 'accidentally' gone off. Gosh. Rule number one- do not tell Jamie he has a girl name.

As he got up and left, the girl followed him off to... well, wherever he was going. It seemed more like he was pacing. "Well, that went well," she said sarcastically. EUUUURGH! GOSH. Did these children have no respect for their elders?

What were they going to do now? Hmm. Well. "I'll tell you what we're going to do now. I'm going to go hang our sign up on the notice board, and then you're going to meet me down in classroom eleven to wait for the firsties," Macy explained. Hopefully they'd show up... No. They had to show up, right? They'd think it was from the headmaster or something offering them a magic cookie. Right. Because that's what first years thought about...

"Nope," Helena grinned, "it's just me." And Hades, of course.

"Aww I've always wanted to have an older brother," she said, when Savannah finished telling her about her siblings. But that was, unfortunately, not possible anymore. And nooo younger brothers or sisters. Those were annoying.

Mr. ... Fluffy?

"And I suppose that you don't like Sassy and... Mr. Fluffy?" Sassy sounded alright. But Mr. Fluffy... none of Helena's past or present or future pets will ever have that name.

She scowled at him. "Yes, I've been up there. But that would mean getting to the seventh floor and we're in the dungeons. Effort!" She scribbled down a few more notes and sighed. "I'll be two seconds." She ran up to the girls dorm and returned seconds later with her violin. "Hope no-one minds..." She began to pluck out the melody that she had scribbled down and her face relaxed into a content smile.

Yeah...an older brother... That would be...nice. Someone older and awesome you can look up too. He'll be the one who'll be introducing her to older guys. Sounds great!

"Yes. I do not like them." Savannah said firmly. "Mr. Fluffy's...too fat for his own good. Sassy is way to sassy, or to put it in a more cat like way...mean." If anyone has to live with them. Not unless you're a super-cat-loving-woman-who-doesn't-mind-giving-up-your-time-with-these-two-snobby-cats. "And trust me," Savvy added, for Helena's own good. "you don't want to clean Mr. Fluffy's litter box."

Heather was sitting in the common room staring at the fire that was blazing in front of her. She was thinking about her parents, especially her father. He was a coward and was afraid of the Dark Lord. She chuckled to herself thinking she could be his best death eater. But she didn't want that in her life. She wanted to help some of the wizarding community, not all of them. She only wanted to help out the ones that were deemed worthy. She sat back and looked at everyone playing games, or talking bad about the other students in the other houses. She chuckled at some of their jokes but minded her own business.

Awww how could you not like cats? Helena wanted one too, but since she bought Hades... a cat might not be the best idea at the moment. But as Savannah went on.... maybe she was right about not liking the cats. So Mr. Fluffy was called that way because he was fat, and Sassy because of the... sassi..ness.

"Oh -" in the name of Merlin's sparkly hat, she wanted to say, as Savannah told her about Mr. Fluffy's litter box. "I don't think I... needed to know that detail," she kind of giggled... but the bad part was that Helena had a very rich imagination, which was pretty messed up at the moment.

Fee just lay there,her head on Cass' shoulder and cried.This was terrible,why did terrible things happen to her?Maybe she wasnt made to be happy with guys.Just for some time they liked her but then they disappeared.Nice.

Sobbing into her besties dress the blonde tried to breath.She needed to breathe."I-I-I",she stuttered,"H-H-Hugo."Wow that came out to make her sound like a stupid girl.But how was she supposed to talk properly after what she had just heard?!He didnt even seem to notice her at all.Taking a deep breath the Slytherin got up from Cass' shoulder,tears still running down her face and looked at the other blonde."I-I-I was at the kitchen and i heard Hugo talking to Kurumi",the girl tried to explain,"you know Hugo told me he l-l-o-o-ved me at the feast."The memory of that made her heart skip a beat but the pain was back in less than a second and the girl sighed."I was so happy Cassie",she smiled a sad smile,"b-b-u-t then at the kitchen he-he-he told Kurumi he didnt know if he meant it."At the last part her voice broke and she fell back on her bestie's shoulder.