Autumn fnished her meal and grabbed her book, she decided to get away from the crowd as one of her headaches was coming on. She moved down the table a bit where a few-re people were, and opened her 'hogwarts a history' and started to read.

...........

"But," he started awkwardly, a frown across his lips and his eyebrows still furrowed in concern, "is it... a GOOD thing that happened? Bad? Should I worry? Should there be hugging?" He did NOT like that she couldn't tell him right there with other people around. It was either extremely exciting or really, really awful. He hoped for the first one, but with the way Ellie was tearing apart her lip, he wasn't so sure that was the case.

"Shush. Don't talk like that. You ARE a star to me and everyone else and you can beat anyone because you're the best, okay?" Other people just got lucky sometimes. And that's all it was. Luck. In a perfect world, Max believed that Ellie would catch all the snitches every time. Unfortunately, sometimes world forces worked against them.

Personally, Max blamed Voldemortist. He was definitely to blame for Ravenclaw's bad luck. Somehow.

Alex returned to the table and found her new friends sitting there. "I'm back", she said to both of them. "I thought you all would be eating by now. I'm starving!" Alex sat down next to Silvia and Melanie. "Have you met anyone interesting?, she asked.

Max's reaction was...completely acceptable. Only Ellie thought that maybe it would have been better to just bring everything up at once...in the Common Room. But, at least he had warning now? "...Bad? There's no need to worry and...hugging will be appreciated." Mhm. And...hot chocolate, regardless of the time of year. Or just plain chocolate.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "We'll see, okay?" She didn't FEEL like she was spectacular. And she definitely didn't want to jinx anything. So...they'll just have to see. They still needed a team, even.

"I met...some guy..." she said, searching around for the boy she had met earlier. He was nowhere to be found, however. She shrugged, "I don't know where he went. His name was Damon though, another Ravenclaw first-year. He seemed..." she hesitated, biting her lip as she searched for the right word. "Excited," she finished. Hyperactive was more accurate, but it didn't sound terribly nice.

Melanie was just about to ask Alex if she had met anyone, when she noticed a girl sitting alone near the end of their table. She had noticed her earlier by the Slytherin table, so she was surprised to see that she was actually a Ravenclaw. The girl was reading what looked like Hogwarts: A History, which brought a smile to her face as she remembered her friends and her talking about reading ahead on the train. The girl didn't look like she wanted to be disturbed at the moment, however, so Melanie refrained from inviting her to sit with them.

Autumn noticed a girl looking at her and smiled, hoping that this was friendly enough. she wanted to be away from the crowd but these girls were on there own, and didnt seem to over excited like her friends.

Melanie noticed the girl smiling at her, and figured this meant she wasn't completely adverse to socialization. Melanie smiled back and waved, figuring the girl could take this as a simple hello, or an invitation to come over and talk. Melanie didn't want to go over and ask her, afraid that she would be interrupting the girl's reading peace. She must have gone over there for a reason, after all.

The girl waved at Autumn, She waved back beaming, she closed her book and decided to take this as an invitation to come towards them. "hi, I'm Autumn"

FROWN. "Okay. Common Room." He nodded and had just started to stand up when he realized... the feast hadn't even happened yet. They still had to eat. That was less okay with him than it was previously, knowing something was wrong with Ellie, but his stomach let out another growl at the thought of food. He could wait. But I will worry, he thought. He was always worried.

Max nudged Ellie's side with his elbow. "Don't roll your eyes at me!" He was smiling. "We'll be good. Err, you'll be good." There wasn't a guarantee that Max would make the team again or anything. "I mean, if everything works out, you'll still have your fellow all-star teammates to back you up." Last term Ravenclaw had the best of the best in all positions, INCLUDING the Seeker. There was just bad luck there.

"Hi, Autumn, I'm Melanie," she said, smiling up at the girl. "Why don't you sit down?" she asked, patting the bench. "This is Silvia and Alex," she said, gesturing to each of the other girls respectively. "So how are you liking Hogwarts so far?" she asked.

A small, awkward giggle escaped Ellie's mouth when Max stood. They'll have plenty of time after the feast to talk. No need to rush it. And it wasn't like it was a relevant issue it was just something she felt like telling him.

She genuinely giggled now. "That's true. My teammates are amazing." The best. She completely recognized that. She KNEW she had the best of every position last term. It was HER that failed them. So she could only hope at this point that she won't disappoint them, and herself, for a second term in a row. "You'll be trying out again, right?" He'd better. She will hunt him down if he doesn't.

Lily began to feel more confident the longer that she talked with Louisa. As Lily looked around at the table she saw another girl that reminded her of herself only a few minutes ago before she had met Louisa. So Lily got up and walked over to where this quiet girl was sitting. "um, Would you like to come join me? My name is Lily, Welcome to Ravenclaw." Lily was shocked at what came out of her mouth. She was confident and had never been like this at a foreign place before. Now if only she could keep her friend that had helped her get this far and maybe gain more. Oh how she was going to have to thank Louisa for making her feel comfortable!

Erin was right. That was a good thing because she was a Ravenclaw. She'd been becoming one of the Snakes these past few days, even making friends with their Quidditch Captain, but now, she needed to socialize with her fellow Eagles and not go around other tables to meet new ones. This was her task, to welcome new Ravvies...and make them want to win the House Cup this term. "Wait, you have a twin?" she asked in great surprise. She hadn't known anyone at Hogwarts that's got a twin and even in her entire life. So, this thing was super cool! "You both cause too many problems? So I would assume, you're a prankster then?" That would be nice since Erin herself enjoyed them and she does that too, only to first years and other batchmates and friends, but not in front of Professors.

"I am from Somerset," she smiled and added when she heard him say his name, "Erin, nice to meet you Julien." Now, could she say they were friends now?

Conrad couldn't understand why dinner hadn't been served yet. This is a feast, right? And at a feast, one consumes food, right? It reminded him of a Muggle wedding reception- so much time, so little food. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table to see if he could spot any of his friends from the train. To his surprise, he saw Melanie and Autumn having a conversation!

He walked over and grabbed an empty seat across the table from them. Hey, I didn't know you guys knew each other! he said. He could now see that Autumn was holding a book, as well. "Hey, what are you reading?" he asked.

Blink blink. O. Kaaaaay. The kid already knew why her father was on a hurry. Well, that was good. And optimistic. Louisa nodded understandingly, "That's good. So you have only a brother?" A younger one perhaps, too?

A History of Magic? Cover to cover. Whao. Louisa gave the girl one of her rare impressed looks. "Yeah. You'll get the general definition of each subject by the first or second week, don't worry." Trying to boost up the girl's confidence, "And remember that most of your classmates have the same background." Education wise, of course.

"I do. I like History of Magic and Charms. They're my favorite." In fact, they were her strongest but Louisa was like that. She'd criticize and fear things and people her mind failed to process quite well. It was problematic sometimes though.



...not feeling much like celebrating. Louisa frowned at that. "Umm. Okay." Not that the music was blasting and the people were hip-hopping but... she got the idea. And after burying the word so deep, he just disclosed it so easily. The L word! Louisa's hand was on his arm quickly, "Don't do this, now." The last-year speech and the sullen face. This was meant for the night before the End of Term feast, THEIR anniversary. "It's too early. Just focus on something happy." She took her hand away and glanced frantically around. Where was this girlfriend of his when Louisa needed her?

But the boy was not planning on remaining silent, clearly. Louisa's eyes widened in surprise as he talked of Ravenclaw to Autumn. Smart, awesome common room, great Quidditch, and... attractive. He seemed quite serious about this too.

A moment of awkward silence followed before Louisa forced a chuckle out, wrapped one arm around one of his and gave him a meaningful look, "As well as all the houses, of course." What the heck was he trying to do? The firsties, particularly in their first day, should think this was a happy place with four equal houses. Which it was.. except for a few bad spirited students, but those weren't a problem. "He's our house campaigner." She added, smiling at Lily and Autumn.

Slightly squeezing his arm as a warning, she continued, her eyes not leaving the boy's face, "And that didn't affect you at all! You were a happy muggleborn student just like any pureblood or halfblood ones. Right Dallin?" Firstie's confidence is at risk here, work with me, that was what the girl meant to transfer to her friend through... staring.

"We, uh..." she stammered, taken aback by his sudden appearance. "We just met. Wait," she questioned, her forehead wrinkling, "you two know each other?" Perhaps it was bias, but Melanie was surprised to see Conrad being so friendly with a Ravenclaw.

"I know, I love that ceiling," she said, following Melanie's gaze upward. "This place is really amazing, and we haven't even seen the rest of the castle yet."

"I didn't really talk to anyone while I was walking around. Just trying to take everything in."

"Hello," Silvia greeted to the latest arrival to their group.

"No," he said immediately, giving Ellie a stone-cold expression. "I was thinking I'd take a term or two off... Y'know, OWLs are stressful and there's so much homework to do. Essays, exams, studying." He almost cracked a smile. "Because, y'know," he shrugged, "last term went so badly for me." He made it quite clear that he was kidding now, even though he couldn't imagine Ellie would think he'd ditch her and the rest of the team.

Honestly, even though he went his first three terms without playing, he couldn't imagine not being on the team. He loved it. It was a nice break from his books and shying away in the common room or his dormitory. And, best of all, he gained friends.

"I know, I can hardly wait!" she said, taking in the Great Hall. The towering stone pillars and flagstone floors were spectacular enough, let alone the magnificent entryway they had crossed through on their way in here. "The view of the castle when we were coming across the lake in those boats was incredible," she sighed, awestruck. "But the castle is so big! I don't know how I'll manage to find my way around, I'll get lost for sure!"

"Yeah we met earlier today," Conrad replied. "I guess being in the same house, it makes sense that you two would know each other."

Melanie had given him a weird look when he came over- he hoped he wasn't bothering her.

What.

Ellie blinked at him. He'd suddenly gotten very serious and it scared her. His attitude alone frightened her, but the words that accompanied it were nothing short of terrifying.

...Until she knew what he was up to. At which point, she grabbed her fork and rapped his shoulder with it, punctuating every word, "Maximus. James. Do not. Do that. To me." Acting wasn't one of her forte's, though, and a wide grin could be seen on her face.

Okay, Erin knew Eino all along but it seemed like he didn't know her at all. Who wouldn't know Eino Uronen, he was one of the top students last term and probably the most active Ravenclaw. That may be one of the factors he's a prefect now.

"Hi," Erin responded plastering a smile on her face. "Nice to meet you. I guess our parents were too lazy to make longer names," she giggled and then added, "...but I actually have a long second name." And not even her bestfriend could call her that way.

Her eyes wandered around the Great Hall and a very familiar face came into view. It was Joanna from the train! "Jojo!" she shouted waving her hand in delight. "I've lost you in a pool of many students." Erin couldn't believe herself that she hadn't seen Joanna anywhere last term so that she could approach her and be friends with her. At least, they've got all the time now to know each other deeply.

"Yeah, I suppose that does make sense..." she said, looking between him and Autumn curiously, wishing she could read minds.

"So," she began, pointedly changing the subject. "We were just talking about different people that we've met here at Hogwarts. Have you met anyone other than Autumn, Conrad?"

Melanie didn't seem interested in talking about her newfound friendship with Autumn anymore, so Conrad let her change the subject. "Mmhmm. I met someone named Eliza. I think we're going to be very good friends. What about you? Have you met anyone else?"

Max laughed, leaning away from Ellie and pushing the fork away with his hand. "C'mon, you couldn't have thought I was serious. I wouldn't leave you. Well, I wouldn't leave you intentionally - you could just not let me on the team if you didn't want me there. Or if I," he made a face of uncertainty, "didn't do well at tryouts... or couldn't make tryouts." He shrugged. "Who knows, I could get sent to the hospital wing for valiantly stepping in the middle of a fight in the corridor or something." Once again, he was clearly kidding, and he punctuated his words with a wink.

"But I'll do my best."