Sebastian gave a little smile but felt disappointed as Sophie had suspected him to not be single. Was he really that much of a jerk back then to have people suspect that he was never single? "Yes, I mean there have been girls that I liked and the whole thing with Bonnie is just complicated. So, as of right now, I'm just going to go with the flow." He said with a nod, wanting to change over towards Sophie's love life. "What about you and Evan? Or some other guy that I heard you have got your eye on." He said with a sneaky grin.

It always seemed that Sophie always cheered him up no matter what she did. She was always so nice and sweet, it was always what he liked about her. "Well I'm glad to be back and of course, this is me we're talking about here, Sophie. Classes are overrated." He teased, laughing a little.

Ryden nodded, and gave the crup back to its owner, slightly reluctant to let it go but greatly relieved at the prospect of going indoors. Getting up, she brushed the hairs that might have fallen off of the dog and walked inside, making sure that Koala Boy - Orlando? - was walking with her. She kind of liked talking to him. PLUS, he wanted to listen to her rant and whine about Hogwarts which was, as she saw it, a fantastic conversation.

"Let's put it this way," she began as soon as they were out of the bitter cold and inside the MUCH warmer castle. Oh, how she loved magic in winter. "The fact that you're a Gryffindor REALLY puts you down in my book. Aside from one, all the lions I've met have been downright nasty. Accusing me of things I never did, being all stupid and pretending that they know even just the small things about me. Idiots, really," the brunette said, the anger that she had bitten down from the Astronomy incident resurfacing again now as she retold it.

"You're not ALL like that, are you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and patting the crup that was still in Koala Boy's hands, accidentally brushing her hand against his chest. Oh well - the doggy slobber had solidified anyway.

Orlando couldn't help himself, the moment he took Koala back into his arms - he looked into the little cruppy's eyes, brow rising. "Sly .. Koala. Way too Slyy .." he muttered, hugging him lightly before following the girl.

It wasn't until they had gotten up though that he noticed how small she was - again compared to him. His long lanky body helped her in no way. Honestly though, it didn't matter because there was something about her smallness .. that he liked.

Maybe the cold was playing tricks on him.

Thanking Merlin, once they were inside - Orlando prayed for some decent thoughts that did not baffle him greatly. When Ryden started telling him the way Gryffindors had treated her and how it affected him because he was a Gryffindor himself - the sixteen year bit the inside of his cheek, so to not ask stupid questions or pry more.

"I am sorry you met crappy Gryffindors .." Orlando's voice was small because he wasn't really sure what he was suppose to say. There was a hint of anger in her voice now and to be realllly honest, he was not that comfortable of an angry Ryden.

When she out right asked him if he was like them, Orlando was taken aback. He had anticipated Ryden showing a side of her that might fascinate him because girls usually did that. They were complicated like that. But this. Orlando wasn't sure .. what was the right thing to say? She had gotten offended because he had asked if she would like to share his jacket - .. what would she say now if he opened his mouth and something stupid came out?

When she brought her hand forward and started patting Koala again. Orlando decided to rummage his brain and say something that would get him out this sticky situation but ended up frowning - why was Koala still getting all that attention?

Seriously!

It was, however, the next moment which tested Orlando Renaldi's COOL the most. Ryden's hand brushed against his chest. The boy jumped slightly, moving away from her as a reflex action and because of the fact that the jump in his stomach returned very very strongly. His gaze dropped to her hand and without thinking he blurted out: "You have .. nice small hands .."

Leaning against one of the walls, Ryden noted with distaste that Koala Boy was much bigger than her. Hmpf. Once again cursing whoever it was that decided to make her and Bridget both tiny, she straightened her back and super sneakily tried to appear taller. No such luck.

But ANYWAYS. As she finished her little rant, the brunette suddenly felt MILES better and almost managed a smile as she looked to Koala Boy, wondering if he'd get defensive or upset or whatever. She hoped he wouldn't get all bleh though - otherwise the count of nice people in Gryffindor would still remain 1. And she really liked this guy; he entertained her.

WHOA. o_O Dude, what did she do? Ryden almost jumped a mile in the air herself as Koala Boy seemed to have stepped on something hot or painful and hopped away from her. Glancing down at the ground, she frowned as she saw no such object, and opened her mouth to ask exactly what was going on when he said something.

And that something was this: "You have .. nice small hands .." Ryden blinked. And then blinked again. WHAAAAAAT? "Koala Boy, are you feeling ok?" she asked, and stood on her tiptoes to touch his forehead, stepping closer to him so that she could keep her balance. "Do you want to sit down? I can take Koala Dog if you want," she added, putting a hand on his shoulder as she used him as a stable rod to search around for a bench or something.

If he was sick though, REALLY sick, she was NOT going to the Hospital Wing. Nope. Koala Boy would have to handle that by himself.

There was panic and tension in the air - at least in the air that was around Orlando. The boy was completely oblivious of his next move or his next words. And that was troubling because, he had just commented how nice and small her hands were - next he will be saying how black and long her hair was.

It was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It did not make much sense. For a strange moment, he almost considered the ridiculous theory of catching the illness when a girl touches you - Landon used to talk about it a lot when Orlando was little and his brain was pea-sized.

How pathetic.

The sixteen year old mentally kicked himself, his stomach was reacting to Ryden's touch in a funny way but that did not mean his brain had to respond dumbly too. But his brain couldn't possibly respond coherently because there was too much touching. The boy hadn't even recovered from the accident or intentional chest brush and Ryden was already stepping closer and placing her small nice hand on his forehead. His eyes crossed as he looked up at her hand.

Koala Boy, are you feeling ok?

Umm. No. Your small hand is on my forehead.

Of course though, she was more concerned about Koala dog than Koala boy himself, she was taking the first opportunity she got to take the dog in her arms. But Orlando couldn't waste his energy on that because now, Ryden was basically holding herself up because of his shoulders. He could not move. HE COULD NOT MOVE.

"Uhh .. I am fine. I just .. your hand .. " WHAT IS WITH THE OBSESSION WITH HER HANDS, MAN! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! " .. I mean .. I am fine. I am!"

Could he move now? She was still basically breathing the same air as him.

What. In the WORLD. Was he on about? Her HAND? Hold up, what had he said before? That her hand was nice? But that made no sense. Wait... Eyes widening, she backed away from him quicker than wildfire. Did Koala Boy have a problem with the fact that she was SMALL? Half-formed voices of people who'd said certain things to her about her height floated into her mind and she bared her teeth.

Folding her TINY arms, she regarded the flustered boy with a coolness that had made her own sister take a step back. "Koala Boy Orlando," she said, because she didn't really know his last name, "what is your PROBLEM with my small hands? What, is it freaky? Am I midget sized? No, just say it, then I can finally have a good enough reason to punch the lights out of a Gryffindor." HMPF.

"With my unnaturally small, ineffectual fists."

Stupid Gryffindors. Was Riley the ONLY one who was ok? Or maybe it was just a new generation of them that were absolute jerks? Hadn't Harry Potter himself been a Gryffindor? Honestly.

The next moment was just as fast as others had been. She was off him almost immediately as if something had just clicked in her brain. And then she folded her arms across her chest. Gulp.

Koala Boy Orlando.

Yeah that name was definitely sticking.

And then she exploded. Orlando stood there, not moving - even Koala in his arms had sensed the girl's anger because he made that soft noise which indicated it was scared as well. Her words made no sense! He had no problem with her small hands. NO. In fact he actually .. appreciated them .. HE DID. They were small and delicate. "Nooo .. you are taking it all the wrong way!" he tried to tell her but it seemed like a lost cause. Because Ryden was take out all her frustration with Gryffindors in general on him. "I like your small size!" Wait what? "No .. I mean. I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY!"

She was planning to punch him!

Orlando's eyes widened. With my unnaturally small, ineffectual fists.

It was fear really. Fear and confusion which made him blurt out something, he had never expected to blurt out and that was: "Nobody. Not even the rain has such small hands." OH MERLIN. MERLIN AND HIS PANTS! He blamed Emery. SHE came into his head with her muggle poetry at the wrong time! Orlando was sure, Ryden was going to punch him now.

New experience: getting hit by a girl!

The wrong way? THE WRONG WAY? How could she have taken it the WRONG WAY??!?! The brunette positively boiled at the accusation.

The more Ryden thought about it, the more she realised how stupid she'd been. Actually thinking this boy was nice. I'm Orlando and I have a cute crup but you're a freakishly small foreigner so you deserve to be treated worse than crap. THAT'S what went in inside THIS Gryffindor's head.

And here she'd been thinking he was actually nice. PFFFT.

"You didn't mean it that way, Koala Boy? MY HANDS ARE SMALLER THAN THE STUPID RAIN ARE THEY?" she raged, and before she knew it, her smaller than rain hand had sunk DEEP inside Koala Boy's gut, narrowly avoiding the whimpering dog. HA! YOU DESERVED THAT, YOU STINKIN' GRYFFINDOR. Maybe the crup didn't. PSHT. It was probably in on the "make fun of Ryden" thing Hogwarts had going on.

Retracting her hand, she shook it a little to get the impact pain out of her fingers and looked at him with much disdain. "If my hands are so small, you shouldn't have felt that then," she added, her voice dripping with spiteful sarcasm. That had felt SO GOOD. It had been... what, a year since she'd hit someone? Ryden made a mental note to order a punching bag. Her swinging arm wasn't as strong as it used to.

Still - it was strong. Koala Boy should have DEFINITELY felt it. Idiot.

WHAT HAD HE DONE! WHY WOULD HE SAY HER HAND WAS SMALLER THAN THE RAIN! Orlando really wanted to bang his head somewhere. WHY did his brain betray him like that and made him say stuff that would probably make no sense to her because she did not know the context it was said in.

It was BAD BAD DAY really.

She was angry now. LIKE IN BAD RAGE! And honestly? Orlando Renaldi was scared.

"NO RYDEN! NOO. I just! It was a mistake! Stupid sister came into my brain and made me say it!" Orlando tried and tried to explain but it was futile. Because the next moment, her small and adorable fist collided with his gut. "OOWWW!!" It didn't seem that small now. He let Koala go, the dog jumped and ran away from them. Orlando still in shock with the punch didn't get the chance to notice.

It didn't really hurt but he could see the satisfaction on Ryden's face. "Ergh. Are you happy now?" he asked, rubbing his side a little before straightening up. "It seems like you enjoy hitting people." Her hands were adorable. And her size was adorable but her anger not much. Orlando didn't like that. NOT AT ALL.

"Are we even now? I don't call you smaller than rain even though it sounds like that and you punch me. WE ARE EVEN!"

The best thing about punching people - or committing any sort of act of violence - is that once you do it, your anger just sort of ebbs away, leaving you with either guilt or satisfaction. At least, that's what Ryden was used to. And right at this very moment, the brunette felt very satisfied with herself. Very VERY satisfied. Hehe.

Ryden shrugged, a puzzled look coming over her face. He was making absolutely NO sense. "Happy is one word for it, yes," she replied smugly, watching his face carefully. He hadn't been expecting her to actually punch him - NEWSFLASH FOR KOALA BOY, she doesn't do empty threats. No sir.

"And, no. I enjoy hitting people who are being idiotic. Like you, for example. What is UP with you? And what was that about your sister? Koala Boy, I'm sorry to say, but your dog makes more sense than you do. Your dog who, incidentally, has run off in that direction," she stated plainly and pointing in the direction the crup had run, while in her head wondering why she was still standing here and talking to him. Common courtesy, perhaps?

"I suppose we're even if you quit having a go at me, Koala Boy. And tell your friends in Gryffindor to cut it out too," the brunette demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest as she looked accusingly up at him. But she wasn't mad at him. Odd thing, that. He was sort of... cute. Kinda. With his flustering an muttering junk under his breath ways.

And his cute little crup. Cute little Koala Dog.

"Well I am glad, you found an outlet for your over all frustration with the Gryffindors" he stated. He was, to be honest, very glad. That she seemed satisfied now. And he helped her a little in feeling better but of course, that was insane of him because she still thought he was a creep who could not bear people who was smaller than him.

When she spoke next, Orlando couldn't help but shake his head. "Nothing about my sister .. lets just forget I ever said anything about he rain .." Emery needed to pay. And of course Koala dog makes more sense to her. HE WAS SO SLY LIKE THAT! "Nothing is UP with me. I am sorry about what I said. I repeat, I didn't mean it in that way." He said, looking over at the place she had pointed out. He had to go find Koala now before he went and jumped into other girls' laps.

Orlando nodded at her proposal. "Yeah, I'll try to not bring up anything that was related to .. rain or your hands" he muttered, awkwardly. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE WORLD TODAY. WHY WAS HE ACTING AND FEELING LIKE THIS.

"I'll talk to them too" He wasn't really sure, what he would talk to them about. Hey guys, stop annoying the ravenclaw girl or she will enjoy colliding her fist with your gut! YEP. That would be his speech. He didn't like the idea of other guys noticing the adorableness of her fist though. He hoped when Ryden did punch other people, they just concentrated on her wrath rather than her hands.

OKAY. Maybe he really need to leave now. His brain was going weird. "I .. uh .. should go search for Koala"

See? He was cute. In a bumbling, confused sort of way. Maybe he was mad. o_O Maybe SHE was mad. After all, she thought a mad boy was cute. Hmm. Perhaps she should fly over the family doctor to check out her brain or something. Ryden entertained the idea for a split second before coming to the conclusion that it was a BAD idea as then he would be able to see her brain and everything that goes on inside it and THAT, dear people, is never happening.

Huh? She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that Ryden had missed the fact that Koala Boy had started talking. Huh? All she heard was that he didn't mean it that way. The brunette supposed he meant the comment about how she was small. "Then explain yourself, Koala Boy," she said, opening her hands and gesturing that she was listening.

This was RARE, Koala Boy, so use the opportunity.

A tiny hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth when he said he wouldn't mention her hands or rain again. "Careful with your promises. Not talking about rain in the British winter? Brave," Ryden commented, her smile growing in side. Ok, so maybe there were TWO nice Gryffindors.

Oh. Suddenly, the brunette's mood dropped and the smile on her face went from genuine to platonic in a heartbeat. He was going. Well, obviously, she told herself, you just punched his gut. What did you expect? For him to stick around? A different, smaller voice in her head murmured a quiet yes, but she quickly shushed it.

Koala Boy was leaving to find Koala Dog. Oh well. Ryden just shrugged in response, not trusting herself to appear not disappointed. If he saw that she was disappointed, he wouldn't take her seriously and then "Pick On Ryden" would continue. And it was NOT continuing. She'd make sure of it.

Oh Destiny was trying to be all cool like but Mia could so tell that her friend was excited about playing spy's with her, but she decided not to mention it and just played along. "Well of course I will. Can't be a spy wthout the proper gear." She was pretty sure that Destiny already the required gear. "Will we have cool goggles like the ones we were fooling around with last year?" She still had no idea what those goggles were supposed to do exactly but it would be fun regardless.

As they walked across the entrance hall, Mia shifted the basket of food from one hand to the other. The thing was bloody heavy. She had no idea what kind of food the elves had put in there. Hopefully it wasn't all just cabbages.

Or sea cabbages for that matter.

Mia glanced at Destiny and was just about to tell that she had in fact heard of sea cabbages but decided she would like to hear her friend's version. "Can't say that I have. What are they?" she asked as they headed outside.

Sweet Merlin!

Were they in for a busy summer, or what? Destiny had no recollection of how they even decided to do all this stuff, but she was excited. Finally a summer she wouldn't have to spend with her crazy grandmother and annoying mother. And it would be even more fun because Mia, apparently, thought just like her..which was kinda scary,too. "NO!" No! And apparently Mia needed to be taught a thing or two or ten about being a spy. "Spy goggles are much, MUCH cooler than those things we used last year. But don't you worry, I have an extra pair for you." Never used either.

Eying her friend as she shifted the basket of cabbages, Destiny snorted to herself. That was the reason she was going to collect the things for their raft. She had no arm muscles. "Why don't you just levitate that?" Or they should have gotten the house elf to carry it for them. GAH! She didn't think.

And she didn't think that she really should have dried herself before deciding to go outside. It was cold and her hair was going to freeze. But that was all forgotten about that once Mia told her she never heard of a sea cabbage. She received a look of DISBELIEF. "It's a cabbage." Obviously. "And it grows in the sea. Sea cabbage."

Fallon walked through the Entrance Hall, her camera strung around her neck. She was going to go take some pictures of the grounds while it was snowing. She needed some pictures to put in the lovely new photo album that Finn had bought her. Besides: winter was her favorite season and she was going to enjoy it while it was here at Hogwarts.

Fallon looked around. It was pretty empty in here today. She figured most people were avoiding anywhere that was near the grounds because of the cold. She didn't understand why. The snow and winter was just simply beautiful. Besides, that's what jackets, scarves, hats, and gloves were for: to keep you from getting cold. That's why Fallon was all decked out. She was going to take some pretty pictures in the nice cold weather.

Lugging a rather large bag filled with rolls and rolls of undeveloped wizarding film dragging behind her and her camera slung around her neck, Kurumi made her way through the corridors and towards the entrance hall. She had been so caught up with Quidditch and her studies that her duties to the yearbook had been slacking recently. Although, one wouldn't assume so judging from the bag filled with film behind her.

Most of the rolls contained failed attempts at photography, or what she assumed were failed attempts seeing as she had been jumping up and down during the Quidditch match as she took them.

Kurumi then noticed an older girl with...*gasp* a camera! Kurumi slowly made her way over to her.

"E-E-Excuse me," she squeaked tapping her on the shoulder.

Fallon was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the girl walking up to her. It was only when the girl had tapped on her shoulder that she turned around. Fallon smiled at the politeness of the ever so familiar looking girl. She noticed that she was carrying a large bag...that was filled with film canisters.

"Yes. What can I help you with?" She wished she could place where she knew the girl from. Probably just one of her classes.

Kurumi played with her hair nervously for a few moments before speaking again. "I..I noticed that you have a camera," she said pointing to it - as if it wasn't obvious enough already. "Is...is...photography a hobby?"

Kurumi reached into her robe's pocket and felt some parchment there. She would have to take notes.

Then, Kurumi realized that she had been VERY rude and not introduced herself. "Oh! I am so sorry!" she squeaked again as she began bowing deeply. "My...my name is Kurumi, Kurumi Hollingberry. I'm a third year from Gryffindor." Another obvious observation considering she was in her robes.

Fallon smiled at the girl. She could tell that she was really nervous. "It was until last term. I'm actually going to art school in the fall." She'd just found out that she got accepted the other day and it was a wonderful feeling. Her dreams were actually starting to come true.

She watched as she pulled out a piece of parchment. She didn't know what she was doing...

Fallon grinned wider at the girl's nervousness. It was simply adorable. "It's nice to meet you Kurumi. I'm Fallon. Fallon McCarthy...and I'm a seventh year Slytherin." She figured she would just introduce herself the same way. Make the girl more comfortable even though they were both clearly in their robes.

Phew, at least she had seemingly got through the worst of that awkward introduction and come out with all her limbs. Not that Fallon seemed anything like Cookie Hater. Cookie Hater may have removed a finger or something. "It's nice to meet you Fallon," she smiled as her bowing calmed and she did one final one in greeting.

"Art school? That sounds really interesting. Do you...do you want to become a photojournalist?"

Fallon was glad as she seemed to get a little bit more comfortable. She felt kind of bad that the girl was so nervous. She seemed really sweet and nice. Then again, people could always surprise others.

Fallon nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. It's one of the things I've been considering. Along with a travel photographer and on the far end of the scale: a fashion photographer." She was gong to take a couple of classes on fashion to see if it was the route for her.

Wow...Kurumi's eyes glazed over in a sparkly fashion. It must be nice to have something that you were so passionate about that you could see yourself doing it as a job. Kurumi, while she loved baking, wasn't sure she wanted to do that for the rest of her life. It was a hobby, a hobby that she loved and could do every day...but work...that was a different matter entirely.

Kurumi fiddled with the nobs and various settings on her camera - not really knowing what all they did. "Fallon..do you...do you think you could teach me how to take a proper picture?"

Fallon noticed the look on Kurumi's face. She didn't know what was going through her head. It didn't stop her from thinking that it was adorable though. She loved talking to younger students. They made her smile so much.

Fallon watched as Kurumi started to mess with her camera. She couldn't help but smile nice and wide at the girl's question. She'd never felt so special. "I would love to help you...but there's really no such thing as a proper picture. As long as it looks nice: it's a proper picture."

"Well, I suppose learning how to focus the camera would be a good place to start," she chirped sheepishly. She had only ever used non-magical cameras back home, the fancy sort of digital camera that did everything at once with the simple push of a button. Some of them were even voice activated now. Doing thing manually was an entirely new system.

Cody walked into the Entrance Hall. Waitng for someone to come and talk to him. He had a lot on his mind. Homework was the last thing he always wanted to do. He just wanted to talk at this stage and hang out with people.