Ella looked at Oakey and shook her head with a nervous glance in Professor Bentley's direction. "N-nothing, nothings funny." She really wasn't trying to be rude. Sometimes you can't stop your laughter from coming out.

She decided that her best bet was to focus on the match but it was still pretty confusing to her. "I really think I'd be rubbish at this! I'm not good at coming up with answers that quickly." She furrowed her brow, thinking about how little she knew at the moment. "I'm happy just being a spectator this year, cheering is my specialty." She smiled and then turned her attention back to the match.

0__________o

Merlin she scared this one.

"It's perfectly fine dear... and I'm not upset, I'm merely stating facts." Did she look upset to the boy? How strange.

"Of course, the more cheer the merrier." Because that's how it worked yes? cheer=merry ergo more cheer= more merry.



Seren watched and waited patiently for the Hufflepuff to stop rambling. Did the girl have a case of verbal diarrhea? ... again?
Smiling politely she bowed her head slightly. It wasn't as if they were seated in the stands, and considering she was in a conversation with Oakey... how Alyssa thought she couldn't be overheard in such close proximity was beyond her. She wasn't deaf after all.

"I'll be there... so if you're there, then I don't see why we cannot sheer for them both together." Though the hardest part would be deciding where to sit. With the Lion crew or the Eagle crew? Or somewhere neutral?



"It's not all that difficult.. you just need a little concentration and a good arm," she said, giving Ella a wink. "With a little practice you'd get the hang of it."

OOC: the questions/answers are OOC, IC they just roll marble like stones toward another stone called the jack stone. (;

Ella smiled at the Professor. Happy that she didn't seem to be angry with any of the puffs. She was quite helpful actually. "Thanks Professor, maybe I'll give it a try after all." Nerves aside, if she wanted to help the Hufflepuff house this year she'd have to participate and that meant challenging herself.
OOC: Ohhhh, I get it Thanks for clearing that up! I was pretty lost

Gemma hurried down to the Gobstones match. She was so excited to see the two teams battle it out...when she attended Hogwarts you would've found her down at the Gobstones rings on a daily basis for hours practicing and challenging others.

She was surprised to see so many students gathered around and she clicked up slowly and tried to squeeze her way through the little crowd so she had a better view.

And she had arrived just in time to see a great game taking place. She smiled excitedly and leaned in closer to the ring.

Minerva smiled at Ella "Oh Ella you would do fine at this. I played last term and wasn't sure I would be any good either. I bet you would do better then me. If you want we could practice to see if you like it." She would need to get ready for their fist game anyway so why not practice.

Minerva smiled as Professor Bentley told Ella that Gobstones was not that hard. She remember seeing her at the games last year as well. "Hello Professor." Minerva smiled and waved.

"Hello Professor, hope your are enjoying the game? Did you play gobstones when you were a student?" Minerva was very interested in the things she had done as a student after their conversation in her office. She liked knowing that one of the professors was from the states.

I'm not siding with them Lyssie. He tried explaining himself I'm just cheering for them. Right, When Hufflepuff played Oakey would cheer his butt off.

Why wouldn't she just drop it and let Oakey keep his secret! GAH! alright fine, I'll talk, but you have PROMISE not to tell not even a soul.

Leaning in and cupping his hand to her ear so that not even Bentley could hear him he whispered. I'm a walking bad luck charm He eyed around to make sure none of the firsties or the Professor were listening in. I never went to the Salem Institute, but I was gone for a year because my bad luck got worse. Taking one more quick look at his surroundings he finished. I'll tell you more later, right now there are to many people.



Eh, Oh well Oakey had to much going on between Alyssa and Bentley to bother with why Ella was laughing at him

Your specialty is cheering is it? He asked Ella who had just stated this. If that's so let's get to it then.


SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR! SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR! SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR! HIT THAT STONE THERE IN THE MIDDLE!
Oakey still wasn't sure what that was called.



Leave it to a Professor to "state facts" outside of a class room. Right, Okay. Oakey said trying to finish this failed conversation.

Now to get on with the cheering.

What would be a good Gryffindor one? Oh, how about!

COME ON KURUMI THROW THAT STONE! THEN GO MAKE SOME DELICIOUS SCONES! that was a great one, mental high five for that one Oakey. Come on Professor join in! He encouraged his Herbology Professor to continue cheering for her House.

Now so as to not let Slytherin feel left out.

S-I-E- double R-A! THAT'S HOW YOU SPELL SLYTHERIN!
Hopefully with that cheer Sierra wouldn't keep his wand from him anymore. He liked his wand and wouldn't want it to fall into her hands again.

Alyssa realized that she was rambling again. She wondered why she always did that whenever it was with the Professors. Fear? More likely. Anyway, she would make this response short and sweet. "Cool. I'm looking forward to cheering with you, Professor."Alyssa told Professor Bentley. 'Although I don't even know whom I will be cheering for.' Alyssa thought to herself.

Slytherin were playing, and Zhenya was quite happy to be cheering them on. She had made her way to the benches, thinking about what the first quidditch game for her would be like. She had seen a few games but never been in one as a player. It will be fun!

Anyway it wasn't the time to think about quidditch when her house was playing go stones. She didn't immediately recognise anyone so she just sat down by herself.

The snakes were ahead and the lions really need to get moving if they were going to win this. Minerva watched as the players made their moves. She couldn't wait to play. Between this and Quidditch she was going to be very busy for the next few months. She thought about how she was going to do it all feeling the anxiety come up in her a bit, but she pushed it down not caring. She was going to do it all as well as keep up with her studying. She loved being a part of everything.

Harvey watched the game as he watched how they played the game.. if he was expected to play he might as well learn the game first.. he then looked at Minnie.. he smiled as she watched the game.. she was very interested in it.. and it looked like she was determined to play.. "Well Mins.. if you do decide to play this game.. then it will be alot of work involved.. but I am sure you will be able to handle everything.. we that is me and the other two will be with you all the way.. supporting you in everything you do." he said smiling at her as he gave her a nod.. he then resumed watching the game..

Ella smiled at Minnie. She was very encouraging and made Ella feel much better. "Yeah, I might as well give it a go!" Ella said with a nod of her head. She had told herself when she arrived at Hogwarts she would be open to different experiences. Well, gobstones was different so why not?

Ella smiled at Oakey. He sure was into this match. "Alright then, let the cheering begin." She stood up, arms raised in fists and began chanting too. "SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR! SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR! SLYTH-ER-IN! GRYF-FIN-DOR!"

Logan had nothing really to do today, until he found out about the match. He was very curious about what'd it be like, he hadn't been to a gobstones match. Yet.

He walked down to the match and found an empty bench to sit at. He smiled and sat down, looking around for any familiar faces.

Ella stopped cheering and looked around. She spotted a handsome fella on a nearby bench and smiled. "Hey there stranger, what are you doing way over there?" She laughed and waved him over to where the group of puffs were sitting.

Logan heard a familiar voice and turned to see Ella. He smiled and got up and walked over. "Hey there, beautiful. You come here often?" he asked with a grin.

Cardigan tightened her Slytherin scarf around her neck as she trudged in her boots to the nearest bench.With a sigh of relief,she sat down and pulled her cable knit hat closer around her ears.Ah,this is nice,she thought as she preceded to watch the Gobstones game.Go Snakes!!!

Minerva smiled did he notice her anxiety start is that why he said that she wondered. "I know I can handle it" she lied. "It's just finding a good time management with everything." She frowned as she felt the anxiety come back a bit. She looked back at the game, "So do you think your going to play or is playing both Quidditch, Gobstones, and classes to much for you?"

Minerva smiled at Ella she really liked her. She reminded her of herself last term. "Well Ella if you ever need any help just like classes you can ask me. I would love to help in anyway."

"Hey Logan, how are you?" Minerva said as she saw Logan sitting alone.

"Hi, Minnie! I'm good. What about you?" he asked.

Harvey listened to Minnie and nodded as she spoke to him. "Yes thats true.. if we manage our time well then .. yeah.. we can handle it." he said to her smiling.. he then saw her frown... he hadnt seen that in a while.. and he wondered why she had frowned but even before he had a chance to ask she asked him a question "Well.. I will try.. but if it become too much then I will have to drop one of the sports.. cause obviously I cant drop the classes.. so one of the sports will have to go" he replied as he saw her intently watching the game.. so he let her since she was probably trying to pick up some of the graceful moves that they were doing. He then listened as she spoke to Ella and said Hi to Logan,

"I'm doing well." she smiled as he sat next to Ella. She liked seeing those two together. She glanced at Harvey and couldn't help but smile That was them last term. Even though they were just friends now, everything was working out great for this term. She turned back to the game so that she wouldn't be interrupting them talking.

"Well yes you would give up Gobstones right away if it becomes to hard. I know gobstones is just as fun as quidditch but you tried out for Quidditch first so you would stick with that." Minerva she thought to her self way to be bossy to your friend "but I guess you could do whatever you like." she quickly added.

"Good to hear." he said. He actually wasn't doing too well. Well, sorta. But...yeah. With having Ella as a girlfriend was nice, but he still had that weird terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about his parents. Why was he thinking of his parents so much lately?! Ever since platform 9 3/4...gosh. He needed to get over it. He frowned glumly and watched the match.

"Personally I prefer quidditch, but gobstones is a great sport... particularly if you don't like flying." ... or bludgers, or falling, or tired achy arms.



"Hello Minerva dear, enjoying the game?" she asked, returning the smile.



Was she going to cheer now? Was that a challenge?
At any rate, gobstones just didn't excite her as much as quidditch, so she would cheer, just not as enthusiastically as she would otherwise.
"Keep em rollin rollin rollin Kurumi!"

Seren gave Oakey a side glance as he started cheering for Sierra. Did the Badger have a thing for the Snake?



"Lovely!" she replied enthusiastically. Because it was nice having someone in your corner to cheer with. "Season should be kicking off soon.. are you playing this year?" she asked, remembering Alyssa was recruited to play the previous year.

Ella smiled widely. "Oh you know, occasionally..." She giggled and gave Logan a quick hug. "What brings you here on this glorious day?"

Ella smiled at Minnie, happy to have her to talk to. "Thanks! I seriously appreciate it! I could use all the help I can get." She laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

Ella noticed Logan frowning and gave his hand a squeeze. She didn't like seeing him unhappy. She looked at him and wondered what was wrong. Whispering she said, "Everything okay?"

Minerva smiled "I don't think I have had the chance to congratulate you on becoming the new head of house. I won't keep you from the game though. Have fun Professor."

"Oh I don't think so. I've seen you in class and I know your earning points for us it shows on the board. You are doing fantastic." she smiled

"You are what? A walking bad luck charm? You can't really believe that you are that, Oakey,"Alyssa whispered into his ear. Knowing that it would be difficult for him to talk about it in public, Alyssa nodded her head in agreement. They could talk about it later.



Alyssa remembered to make her answers, short and precise."Yes, Professor. I'll be playing this year. I was selected for the team, but whether I will be actually playing in all the games or sitting on the sidelines, I guess we'll know after our practices. But I am definitely looking forward for Quidditch season to start."Alyssa told Professor Bentley.

Logan chuckled. "Oh just here to watch the match and of course I was hoping to see...a certain amazing girl." he said, winking.


Logan felt Ella squeeze his hand. He looked at her and whispered back in her ear. "Just thinking about...er...my uh yeah. Parents." he whispered back.