There was something very very wrong with the world when it was cold at THIS time of year and her birthday was in the summer. Ryden felt as if she should be preparing for the celebrations, when in fact she'd only been fourteen for half a year. Bleh. Most of the normal people around this school were older and the brunette HATED being looked down at. It was bad enough she had to be short.

Walking into the courtyard, she made a face at the weather, willing it to change to sunshine with her mind. Hearing a dog bark, she swiveled around to see the animal running around, seemingly mad with joy. What on earth was there to be so happy about? Looking around the area, she spotted the owner as he was the only guy looking at him.

He was CUTE. Hehe. With a shrug, Ryden made her way over and sat down beside him. "Did you cast an accidental cheering charm on him?" she asked and vaguely pointed at the mad animal running around.

Orlando wondered how long his sanity could bear this boredom, this weary afternoon and this November cold. While he wasn't purposely being mopey - because really, he was Orlando Renaldi, he was almost always happy - time was definitely purposely going slow.

Koala was running around chasing wind perhaps and Orlando was slowly but surely getting sleepy. That was until, a small voice came from beside him. The boy genuinely jerked a little. Where did she come from? Had he dozed off? Straightening himself up, he went over her question inside his head. Oh. "Ahh .. I just fed him this morning?" he answered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "He .. He usually is like this .. Umm very friendly too, actually" the boy said, before blowing a whistle out in the dog's direction. And no sooner than he had, Koala was running toward them. Orlando couldn't help but grin - mad as Koala was, Orlando loved him dearly.

When the dog came to a halt near his and the girl's feet - his tongue sticking out and tail wriggling. Orlando proceeded to pat his head lightly. "Meet Koala .." he said, looking up at the girl with a small smile.

Maybe someone had cast a spell on Koala today because the second Orlando had looked up at the girl, the dog pounced .. pounced directly into the girl's lap.

"told you, he was friendly."

Ryden couldn't help it; she laughed. LAUGHED. At Hogwarts. The sound was weird even to her own ears, but she soon forgot all about how weird it was as the dog trotted over to them. ANIMALS. She loved them. "I suppose you gave him some good food, then? Because I've noticed that when I feed Tabs - he's my cat - food he doesn't like, he sulks around all day and generally shows me his rear end a lot," she remarked and smiled as she watched the dog bounce. Tabs never bounced - he was WAY too regal for that. The most he did was purr and play with his ball.

"Koala?" she asked, again laughing a little. "Why Koala?" she asked and grinned broadly as the dog jumped straight into her lap. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she proceeded to scratch the adorable thing behind it's ears, her eyes softening as the happy dog wiggled and moved around.

Ryden made a mental note to hang out with Tabs more and give him better food. Perhaps HE could cheer her up sometimes like this dog - this, er, Koala - was doing right now.

Orlando genuinely smiled seeing the girl's reaction toward Koala. It still surprised him how girls differed from one another. Guys didn't really have so much variety in them like girls did. So yeah, he had could talk to girls now without being weird but that didn't mean they didn't baffle him still. He could never be sure of their reactions. They were unpredictable.

Oh? She had a cat? He nodded at what she said. "Perhaps. Just remind me to never bring Koala near .." he looked from the dog to the girl who owned a cat. "..Tabs. Like most dogs, Koala isn't really fond of cats. Like really really not fond of them." That sort of saddened him, perhaps this girl would refuse to chat with him because his of dog's possible hatred toward her cat. Sigh. So sad.

The girl's next question embarrassed him a little. Of course. Why Koala? Even his own mum had asked him that. "I .. uh .. never have been that good with names. Named my hamster .. Mr. Hamster" he said, mentally still feeling proud of the genius that it was to name a hamster: Mr Hamster. "And Koala .. well my best friend, the one who gave Koala to me .. well sorta .. " How embarrassing. WHY was he blabbing about this. SHUT IT, RENALDI. " .. thinks of me as a Koala .. so I just named him Koala?" Too late.

Head, go meet the nearest wall now!

Dani laughed- "You got that camera out again?" she smirked, remembering when 'Belle had been taking pictures. "In theory it's a good idea. But my Father would just... ignore it" she said honestly with a little shrug.

"Oh my gosh- somewhere very decent" she laughed- "I need a new Louis Vuitton bag" she smirked- "See, that's another way of making my parents feel guilty- every time I write to them they transfer money to my bank" she said with a giggle. "Paris?"

Ryden tickled the little crup and chuckled as he rolled around on her lap. Koala... She was kind of warming up to it. "Of course. Tabs isn't that fond of dogs - or crups, for that matter - either. It's just something that built into their systems, I guess," she nodded, and moved her head a little closer to the dog, cooing at it.

Yes, Ryden Di Marco cooed occasionally. Get over it.

Looking up when there seemed to be a little stretch of silence, she frowned as the owner of Koala began his stammering story. The more he talked, the higher the brunette's eyebrows went until the good go no further. Ryden burst out laughing, partially because of the boy's tale but mostly because of his stricken expression at having told it. If he had told her that WITHOUT the dog being in her lap, she'd have teased the boy mercilessly into the Hospital Wing.

As it were, she felt a little bad to make fun of the Koala. As in the boy. HEHE. "My cat's a tabby and I named him exactly that - Tabby. I call him Tabs for simplicity's sake so you're not alone in the world, trust me," she finally said and held out her hand, fisted. FIST!BUMB, KOALA BOY.

Of course, her two owls that she shared with Bridget had marvelous names, but she'd let that go for now.

To Orlando girls were the most fascinating creatures perhaps. And no, not in a pervy and creepy way. Their reactions to stuff just amazed him. Thinking of all the girls, he had in his life - he could already imagine the ways they were different from each other. There was KT, the brilliant KT. The very insane Emery. The scary yet unpredictable Lexi.

And now there was this girl. This girl .. whose name he did not know. She was .. cooing Koala. Orlando was looking at her with curious eyes. It was for perhaps a millisecond but nonetheless he felt a slight jump in his stomach. She looked .. adorable. Instinct told him to keep staring but common sense, for once, made him look away immediately.

Well .. that was weird. And possibly awkward if the girl had turned to look back at him.

Orlando was taken aback when his little tale made the girl laugh out loud. His cheeks were close to change color but then she started speaking and he grinned, feeling a little stupid and a whole lot better. "Well .. it's nice to know that only other person in the world .." he grinned wider, seeing the girl bring her hand forward. Wait. WAS SHE LOOKING FOR A FIST BUMP? Holy Moley. Girls like those exist? WHO KNEW WHAT IN THE AMAZING MERLIN'S PANTS WERE FIST BUMPS?

And well what do you know .. Orlando found one of those girls who was COOL enough to know what fist bumps were! Suddenly the world was a better place again. He brought his own fist forward and being not too enthusiastic bumped it lightly on her fist.

How wicked to know a girl who knew what were fist bumps, yo!

"I am Orlando!" he introduced himself, eagerly. Well he had to know her.

Orabelle smirked slightly and shrugged as she opened her bag. "Everyone loves their camera," she said a bit defensively. Besides, what was wrong with carrying her camera around? She didn't think it was odd. For Merlin's sake, there were people carrying weirder things around the place. "Ugh, but surely your mother wouldn't? And perhaps she'll pass it on?" Orabelle said as she fiddled with the buttons and the lens of her camera.

"Oh, I want a new Burberry one, the plaid look is lovely," Orabelle said smiling. So maybe she had fallen for the stripy design but it was adorable and that was what mattered. "Paris," Orabelle agreed with a nod of her head.

Dani smirked- "I have my own" she giggled, pulling out the small pink digicam from her bag. "By the way..." she started, blushing a little as she watched 'Belle. "I've been writing to a guy... I'm kinda crushing on him... we've only really met once or twice... but still... it's better than wasting my time and energy on people who don't want to be more than friends or a brother" she smirked as she watched 'Belle sorting out her camera.

"Oh gosh, yeah- it is! Burberry is lovely- but it has that reputaion over here now" she laughed, remembering seeing all those people with the fakes giving it a bad name. "Gosh, we shall shop all day- go to those cute little vintage cafes too" she said with a smile as she thought about Paris, it felt so far away.

Ryden was mesmerised by this enthusiastic little crup. It was so... HAPPY. It infected her. Grinning, she nodded and inclined her head forward to Koala Boy, as if accepting the gratitude. Koala Dog, on the other hand, had started sniffing out Tabs it seems, because he was taking a much bigger interest in her smell. Or was it like that before? Eh well. It was still a cute little dog and in her lap, so she didn't particularly care.

Smiling widely, and completely oblivious to Koala Boy's overjoy she bumped her tiny fist with his much larger one. Meh - she hated being so small. Small meant people looked down at you and if there was one thing in the world this brunette hated, it was that. Well, and annoying little idiot pipsqueaks, but that was beside the point.

She was snapped out of her current thoughts by both Koala Dog - Koala Crup? - and Koala Boy. Boy with licking and her hand and Dog with telling her his name... WAIT. NO. THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Pffft. AHAHAHA. "I'm Ryden," she grinned back, a wicked little smile as the images of him licking her hand floated in her mind. . . o_O Wait. Those were weird. EWWWW. All slobbery and ick. And STRANGE. No no - better just leave the licking to Koala Dog. Yep yep.

ANYWAYS. "So, question: Why does your friend call you Koala?" just 'cause, ya know, not many people go around doing those things.

Orabelle smiled as Dani pulled out her camera, which was an unsurprising shade of pink. Orabelle continued to fiddle with her own. "I don't believe I've used a camera properly since Beauxbatons," she admitted. She continued to mess around with it as she listened to Danielle. Wait. What? "Is he cute?" Orabelle asked with a sly grin, be,ause.all was forgiven if he was.

Orabelle nodded her agreement with Dani. "Definitely but I don't do fake so it'll be alright, I can pull anything off," she said confidently. She was sure of it, after all, she was and is Orabelle Bellamonte. "Oh those cafes, how I miss them with their pastries," she soghed with a smile.

Dani laughed- "My eldest brother is a photgrapher now- like Mum" she sighed- "He's suprisingly good" she smirked, it wasn't that she doubted her brother's abilities, but he'd never really... stuck at anything. Luke was just like that. She blushed a little and nodded- "Of course" she smirked- "He's one of my cousin, Patrick's students" she smirked. "He's sweet" she smiled.

"I know- I can't stand fakes- if you're going to get one, get a real one" she smirked at 'Belle. "Oh my gosh, the pastries" she said- "And the noises, the people, the guys..." she smirked, it was so much... livelier there, that she had to admit however much she liked it here.

Such a small hand. Compared to his anyway.

It made sense, Orlando figured. Girls were suppose to be small and delicate like. He hadn't really given it much thought before though. Come to think of it, as super as KT was - she was small too. That was why, she usually basically disappeared when he hugged her in his long arms and taller self.

"Nice to meet you Ryden!" he smiled but catching on to her amused grin with that tiny hint ... mischief? .. he couldn't help but ask. "What? What's so funny?"

Did she find his name funny?

See, he told you girl's differed from each other. None before had found his name amusing.

Her question made him laugh nervously. "It's not a very fascinating story, really." he said, watching Koala's over friendliness with the girl. Was he licking her fingers now? One of these days, someone was going to tell Orlando that his dog was inappropriate mannerisms. "She has a bracelet, you see. And it has a lot of charms dangling on it. She has one for each of her best friends, I think. And my charm is a Koala. She doesn't call me that .. I guess I just made her think of one?" This time, his cheek did color lightly.

She smiled. "Is he? That sounds delightful, how is he doing?" Orabelle asked. Seemed like Dani's entire family was going to take up photography someday. "He is your mother's son, so you shouldn't seem so surprised," she pointed out. And Dani's mother was a brilliant photographer. Orabelle giggled and waggled her brows. "So when do I get to meet him?" Orabelle adked. Please, she needed to make sure he met standards, which was quite high.

Orabelle agreed, one hundred percent. "Fakes are just wannabes, and let's face it, they just wanna be like us," she said with a grin. Thinking about the pastries made Orabelle feel like she was in a little heaven. "And the decor... And the smells," she sighed longingly. If only it was achievable and not so far away at the moment.

"Luke's good... I think. Got another new girlfriend" Dani smirked. She sighed and looked around- "Yeah, I'd rather be the one being photographed, or creating the clothes to be photographed" she laughed. "Ooh, soon- probably at my Uncle's place" she nodded- "It is my home now" she said softly- "You'll love it" she said encouragingly- "It's... a perfect example of a magic house- bigger on the inside than the outside" she smirked. She really did love that place, she loved what was practically her new life. Everything had changed so much in the last year or so.

"Agreed- and no one likes a wannabe" she laughed as she grinned at 'Belle- "Oh, it's just amazing... I can't wait to be there again" she sighed deeply and smiled as she thought about it.

Boys licking girls' fingers was, who knew, a thought that seemed to stick. BUT EWW. Shoving the images out of her mind - including the one with her sister and that BOY she kept on writing about (DOUBLE EWWW) - the brunette chuckled at the dog and removed her fingers from his mouth to his ears.

Yep, ears were quite safe. Quite the safe little place to be. "Back at'cha, Koala Boy," she replied and winked, grinning. ERRRRRRRRRR..... She was NOT going to tell him about her thoughts of him licking her fingers. THAT would be very very very wrong. VERY wrong. "Oh, nothing. My brain goes to weird places," THERE. Nice and safe and truthful. HEHE.

What was UP with her? Glancing down at the crup, she wondered if it had magical properties that caused people to cheer up whenever it was in the area. Hmm. THERE'S an idea.

Oh. Girl with a bracelet. Ryden had been hoping for something a little funnier, but the blush on the bigger boy's face made her bite back a condescending response. Plus, he was a Gryffindor and her experiences with the lions hadn't been that great. "Right-oh," she said, nodding.

. . . The dog was licking her hand again. It was either very hungry, in love with her cat, or SERIOUSLY over friendly.

Koala Boy?

He had walked into that one, alright. Never mind, Orlando decided not to mention her casual use of the name Koala Boy. Because if he did, it would probably make it stick around. Yes. He must MAKE HER FORGET ABOUT IT by not giving it much attention.

Thankfully though, his Koala tale did not interest her much. Because if had, then Orlando was looking ahead for some serious teasing time. Ryden shouldn't look into his Koala ways anyway, they were awkward and weird.

"Ahh .. I think Koala is getting a little too inappropriately with you .." he muttered, awkwardly. SERIOUSLY. It was one thing to be cute .. and another to lick away like Ryden was made of candy.

"It's all right, I don't mind - just remind me to wash my hands before we go to eat later," Ryden said, glancing down at her slobbery hands. It was better Koala Dog did it than Koala Boy EWWWW. Cut it out. Shrugging her shoulders, she looked back at Orlando - aka Koala Boy - and smiled. Koala Boy was nice. That makes the list of nice people at Hogwarts go up to a grand total of... three.

Wow. Impressive.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blinded her and the brunette tightened her coat around her, biting her lip against the cold. Stupid cold. Almost instantaneously, her mood dived down and she frowned. Cold. In DECEMBER. "Where are you from?" she asked, thinking that perhaps chatter could take her mind off the cold. Come on, Koala Dog, where did you cheering charm go?

She scratched the dog behind its ears and shifted a little closer to Koala Boy. He was, after all, much bigger. More warmth?

"I will" Orlando nodded. At least, Ryden wasn't running away from Koala and him. All wasn't bad except for her small hands, covered in dog spit. Ahh ..

Dismissing gross images now.

Orlando preferred to keep the memory of her small fist bumping into his. The latter images, he was not that keen on remembering. And he will not.

Clearly the cold decided to drive both his and Ryden's attention back to itself again because he felt a slight shiver run up his spine as well while Ryden tugged her coat round herself tighter. He proceeded to rub his own hands together. "Me? I am from Sheffield, England." he told her - wondering what must Mama be doing right now. "And you?" he asked, curious.

Orlando did not fail to notice when Ryden moved a little closer to him. That little jump in his stomach also did not fail to happen yet again. Was she cold? Well duh, Renaldi. The real question however was, was he suppose to do something about it? This was certainly a new type of dilemma. He had not been faced with this before. It would be impolite to ignore she had moved in closer ..

.. wouldn't it?

Perhaps he could move his arm round her - that would warn her up. But the thought of it alone freaked Orlando out. And to think, he had been thinking that Koala was being inappropriate and now he himself was having such thoughts.

He had to do something. Uh. Biting his lower lip lightly, the sixteen year old muttered softly. "I .. uh . . would you like my jacket? You seem really cold" How awkward.

Oh. Koala Boy was english. Well, it made sense, she supposed. He did have the accent after all AND this school was in England. Just because she'd happened upon people from outside Europe didn't mean they all were. Oh well. "I'm South African. It's my first term here," she replied, hugging Koala Dog close to her as another shiver ran through her.

The silence between them stretched for a little while and the brunette lowered her hair so that it covered the back of her neck. Not for the first time, she wished she had Bridget's longer, ever so slightly thicker hair. It came in useful in these types of situations. Also, it made for a much easier time in the morning - believe it or not, but her hair stayed normal during the night while Ryden's shorter style poofed to insane proportions.

But ANYWAYS.

"What? Oh, no, it's ok," she shook her head, pulling her cloak around her tighter still. There was a limit to her friendliness - it was just plain un-Ryden for her to accept help. Stubborn? Perhaps. If it got TOO cold, she could always get up and walk inside.

Hmm. Maybe she should. But, with a glance over at Koala Boy, she knew that she wouldn't. She was having fun... For perhaps the first time since July. The Ravenclaw wasn't about to give that up so easily.

"South African?" Orlando hadn't guessed she must not be from around here. "Oh. That's why I couldn't figure out why I hadn't seen you before." He said, noticing her attempt to hug Koala closer. Another sign that she was cold. "So how do you like Hogwarts so far?" he asked, rubbing his hands still. Did it get colder? Because it seemed, even Koala wasn't that chirpy anymore. The little crup was closing into Ryden, the more she hugged it.

Koala was fast. Stealing whatever warmth the girl possessed. Inappropriate and sneaky.

Koala Dog: 1 Koala Boy: 0

It had been hard asking her the Jacket question but that was nothing compared to the refusal Ryden presented him with. It knotted his stomach. It wasn't her words, it was her tone. Had he said something wrong? Ergh. Next time, ignore if she is cold and shifting in close because it did not mean she wanted to share his jacket. To avoid any post-refusal awkwardness, the boy immediately stuffed his hands inside his pocket and concentrated on the warmth.

The silence was certainly growing, Orlando was all out. He wasn't sure what to say now. Koala was silent now too, so he couldn't distract himself with it too.

Ahh ..

Braeden was nervous.
He hadn't seen Emma since their little get-together at Hogsmeade, which ended with the boy passing out on the floor after hitting a lamppost. Yeah, that hadn't been traumatizingly embarrassing at all… And now he had to walk around with a huge purple-pink bruise on his forehead (this was what, the second or third this term? Merlin).

The boy had just finished with his Transfiguration class and hadn't bothered dropping off his things at the Gryffindor tower, so as he paced around the courtyard nervously, he carried his backpack on one shoulder and his books in one hand.

And now, we wait.

The blonde walked into the courtyard, her bag was hanging off her left shoulder. Emma folded her arms because it was cold. Brr.. She was going to see Braeden and she hadn't seen him since the night he passed out. Emma got some older students to help get him to his Common Room. That was pretty embarrassing and he was about to kiss her when WHAM- the lamppost got in the way. *Ahem*

The blonde bit her lip as she looked around for Brae and then she spotted him. Butterflies were fluttering in her stomach. "Hey!" she cried as she walked towards him. Once she reached him, she asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Yeah, gooder," Samira laughed. Samira tilted her head to look up at the sky and clasped her hands together in a mock apology. "Oh Literary Gods...please forgive Levi and I for butchering your language!" She looked back at Levi and wiped invisible dirt off her hands. "There, I think we're bound to be forgiven now. I was practically on my knees!" Not that she really believed in gods, but it was fun to pretend.

The Slytherin slapped a hand to her heart in shock. "Oh God, Levi! I think you've killed me!" She shook her head with an amused smile. "I don't think I can live without books. They're, like, my life." Other than mixing up clothes to make unique styles, reading was one of Samira's favorite ways to pass the time. But then again, everyone had different tastes. Samira hasn't really started reading until a few years ago, after she decided books weren't completely worthless. "If you have a certain topic that interests you, Levi, I'm sure I have something I could give you," offered Samira. Honestly, she didn't mind sharing her books with Levi at all. Who knows? Maybe the Gryffindor would enjoy reading if he only had a book that caught his interest.

"Yeah, it does really suck." How could people not love animals? They were part of nature, which Samira loved. She thought animals were brilliant, even the ugly ones. That's why she never wore any real animal fur or leather. The thought of killing a creature for your own personal style repulsed her.

Wait, Levi's dad would really throw out poor Vlad? "Oh, Levi-that's so awful." Samira truly sympathized with her friend. She hasn't even met Mr. Thomas, but she hated the man. And Samira did not hate many things easily. For one thing, the man hits his son, someone who is a truly great person and doesn't deserve it. And what kind of heartless soul would throw out a defenseless little creature out of spite?

"Really?" Samira beamed. She didn't know many people who liked all the same animals as her-especially snakes. It made her happy. "Uh, yeah," Samira nodded her head in agreement. "Picking up unknown snakes may possibly not be the best idea."

Braeden jumped about three feet into the air when he heard Emma's voice behind him. GAH! He turned around abruptly, his surprised expression morphing into one of his goofy, lopsided grins as he caught sight of the pretty blonde Slytherin. He greeted her with an awkward hand wave before putting his hand down just as he realized he looked totally awkward waving his hand at someone only a couple feet away. Such a dork.

"Ahem." The cowardly lion cleared his throat softly before Emma asked how he was feeling. His face went just the slightest shade of pink then, and his free hand absentmindedly passed over the huge bruise on his forehead. "I'm alright, better than yesterday, that's for sure..." He laughed lightly.

"Sorry about that, by the way," muttered Braeden. "I just... I hadn't seen the lamppost coming, it was out to get me, I swear!" he said in his defense. "I really hadn't planned for our day together to end like that..."
Ughhh. It was so embarrassing just thinking about it. And Braeden wasn't easily embarrassed because he was such a huge dork, he was used to doing dumb stuff all the time, but this... this took the cake.