Spike nodded, wondering why he felt like he was being looked over by the girl. Why did she have any reason to query the names he'd just given for himself? Weird. "Real name," he answered, though he wasn't sure why it mattered.

"I didn't think you were," Spike said, releasing the girl's hand from their shake. "Unless you were referring to yourself in the third person." Though Jacks was Addy? Why wasn't Addy Addy? He raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head and thinking better of it. "Lovely to meet you Genevieve Branxton-Pee-em-ay." Wow, that was a long name. Even longer than Spike's. "Phew, I bet a name like Branxton-pee-em-ay is tedious in Arithmancy," he said with an understanding smile. "Hutchinson's bad enough." He couldn't even start to spell it, for one.

Spike turned round, and eyed the Head Girl. "You think I'd be a slave for Shacklebolt?" he asked with a smirk. "Whatever."

As for helping with a cat house? Spike shook his head gently. First, he didn't have a cat. And second, it seemed to involved transfiguring things. Spike might have passed his OWL, but it didn't mean he was any good at it. And the Prefect had no desire to show his lack of skills to the young'uns.

Cora was pleased that this seemed to have brightened Jayden's already cheerful mood. "Oh, Elliot can be really, um, sweet sometimes." Cora giggled. Even though she was truly being sincere about Elliot, she knew that it took a lot to get along with Elliot.

Cora's jaw dropped open. "I am by no means lucky!" She replied. "My paranoid mom wouldn't let me come to Hogwarts for TWO WHOLE YEARS! And on top of all that, she banned all owls, so I had no connection to anyone. It was so frustrating and boring." Cora couldn't blame her mother at all. "Have I missed a lot?"

"I have read way too much for my own good being stuck indoors for two years, but I still feel so behind. I don't quite remember everything from my first year. How about you?"


"That's alright, Presley. It doesn't phase me really." Cora didn't much like fighting or anything, but she was in a good mood today, and didn't want to ruin it. Cora then thought about Presley. "How are you doing? Are you alright?" Cora inquired, hoping that Presley wasn't too upset with the fight. She was about to ask if Presley remembered her from first year, but held back, assuming she probably didn't.

Vickers descended from the dorms and was on his way to the Owlery when he heard some... commotion?... as he passed through the common room. First there were those arguing over a chair, which he vaguely recognized to be the one used most often by Ellie Stone during her stay there-- and then there were those who were set to build something.

Build something. That was like a key word with him. Comfy couch? Not quite the same pull as BUILD. So he makes a detour away from the door and headed towards where Head Girl was giving instructions. He gazes at the enlarged image "A cat condo? Nice." He can help build that. If he managed a swing trellis this is noooo problem.

On fours, Davinci bounded down to the Ravenclaw Common Room. His lady was still outside, probably busy with some school stuff that needs attending. He understood this of course, he was a smart cat after all unlike those other Felis catus who would keep whining whenever their owners don't arrive exactly at dinnertime. Humpf. He won't even think of meowing along with those kind. He would prefer to be alone, where he can keep his dignity and fur clean.

Puuuuuuurrrrrrr...

It was a rather noisy afternoon, no? He heard the words "cat" and "house" from somebody at the room and this topics seemed intriguing to his whiskers. Hence, he strutted with finesse to the crowd of Ravenclaws, eavesdropping. He saw a tall girl with long hair hold out what appeared to be a large picture for everyone to see. But he couldn't see anything! Meoooooow.. Why were these people so tall? And could they not see that he was under them?! They should bow before him. Humfph!

Make way you commoners. "MEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOW!" Davinci caterwauled. That should get their attention eh? He wanted to see that picture!

Louisa's attention was drawn toward a newcomer. "Nigel!" She beamed and waved at her younger class partner, "We're about to start working on a hangout place for all the cats that belong to Ravenclaws." She pointed at where Taylor and her friend were pushing a table away to make space for the structure. "Do you have a cat? Would you like to help?"



Wasn't this just awesome? To have hyped kids directing their over-energy to something productive and good? Like following Louisa's orders? HEHEHHE. Kidding. Louisa was no bossy boot... maybe just a liiiiiiittle. But she was joking around with them now. "Thank you!" She halted, searching for the girl's name... and not finding it, GAH, some eye squinting and chin scratching were due before she decided to just go ahead and get to know the girl more.

"Excuse me!" Louisa waved at her to get her attention again, after she'd transfigured a plank with her eyes wand. "I don't think we introduced each other officially before," awkward chuckle, "Louisa Carter." She extended her hand to the girl. Also, no magic unless the person was sixth or seventh year.



Turning around to face Lily again, Louisa continued to frown and sternly look at the little girl, her hands positioned on her hips all older-sister-like. "Yeah, I'm aware of that problem which's why I'm tapping my foot on the floor disapprovingly," she even pointed at her tapping foot for the younger 'claw to know that this was no laughing matter. "I thought you promised to take care of this. And by that I meant going to the Healer or me to bandage it." She extended her hand, "Put it here and let me wrap it. If it doesn't improve in two days, we must get you to the Healer." But it was probably just sprained so bandaging it would do. Hopefully.

"And you can just sit here and take care of Viola and the one I-did-not-name-yet." Seriously, this was getting ridiculous, two months and her new cat wasn't named yet. L A M E. Louisa leaned closer to Lily then and said in a quieter voice, "I'm working on your broom issue, by the way. Don't worry." Dallin was working on the broom issue, actually, but that wasn't the point.



Willing devotees? That sounded pretty much like half-slaves to Louisa, who chuckled at the title. "Oh. Good to know...I think." She was joking anyways, teasing the rude Captain was fun. Only the other red head circling his chair was... circling his chair. Why, exactly?

...EH. Whatever.

There was more urging matters at hand, like naming their project! "Cloud Nine Lives..." the Ravenclaw murmured, trying how it felt like saying it. "I like it!" SHe beamed, "And even if it requires a somewhat long thinking process. Only Ravenclaws should know what we're talking about when we mention the name." MORE beaming. Louisa didn't usually beam all that much in one day.

... someone spiked her drink maybe?

"So that means you have a cat, right? Is she or he around?"



.... WHY was the first year not jumping enthusiastically at this cat house Cloud Nine Lives project? Louisa did recognize her from the feast but didn't really catch her name yet.

More the reason to drag her in this project.

Gesturing for Lily to hold on a minute, the Head Girl strolled to where the young girl curled up in her chair. "Hi! Are you feeling alright?" Like, she wasn't being all quiet because her tummy hurt or someone stole her candy? Because then Louisa will have to fix that problem before dragging the girl into the building thingie. "I'm Louisa Carter, by the way... in case you didn't catch my name before." This badge had social strengthening abilities, "We're trying to build a cat house, which's officially named Cloud Nine Lives now, for our pets to play in while we're in class. Would you like to join us?" Wait a second...... "Do you have a cat?" She could join them even if she didn't have a cat of course, but just to make sure.



... did she think that? "No." Louisa answered the boy, flatly and rather quickly. Why exactly was there a group around Shacklebolt, then?

Again, EH.

As long as Spike didn't let his dangerous and "out-of-the-ordinary" (which was a nice way of saying "WILD" and "DISGUSTING") pets slash plants get close to their future project, Louisa wasn't going to convince him to join them.



Just as she was about to go ahead and start on transfiguring the sticks when JFHGDLKH UHHHHHHMMM "Hi Vickers," she greeted the boy as normally happy as possible. OH and he called it a cat condo! Louisa grinned and gestured to where Vivi sat, "Vivi actually suggested we call it Cloud Nine Lives." Sounded more like an association than a cat house if you think of it. WHICH made it even more cool. Now to inspect the boy's reaction to his friend's suggestions 1) neutral. 2) proud. 3) impressed. or 4) impressively proud. It better not be the last one. People could get hurt. Innocent people.

"I think it'll be a bit harder than the swing and trellis we did last term, it's more complicated." She looked up at the picture and frowned, already predicting a dozen obstacle. "Would you help m- I mean us? Even if you don't have a cat?" PLEASE?



........ the Ravenclaw's blue-grey eyes went wiiiiiild at the sound of that screeching. Neither one of her cats made that ugly noise before (not while she was around anyway). Oh it wasn't one of them, they were with Lily still, it was this... cat. Obviously.

Louisa crouched down in front of him/her, "Ohai, there," extending her arm to pet its head...

Hey look! it was Vickers!! Lily momentarily stopped petting Louisa's cat to give the older claw a wave. "Hiya Vickers!!" She said grinning before resuming petting the cat... and waiting for Louisa to tell her what to do...



...Frowny, foot-tapping, big-sister-like Louisa.... who apparently wasn't very happy with Lily. The third year stopped petting the cat and looked all 'I'm in trouble... and I'm not going to fight it.' She knew that she had promised Louisa to take care of her wrist... but she thought that meant putting a bandage on it.... which hadn't helped at all but that was because she could hardly manage to do any sort of magic.

Hanging her head, the redhead mumbled a quiet "I'm sorry..." before pulling her sweatshirt sleeve up to show the poorly bandaged right wrist. Before putting her wrist out for Louisa to properly bandage, she again mumbled. "I don't want to go to the healer... she'll yell at me for not going to see her sooner..." Or she would take points away from the claw... which Lily really didn't want. Plus she had done perfectly well at the end of the last term to fix her wrist.... so why couldn't she do the same now?

Reluctantly, the redhead put her wrist out towards the older claw, just as the older claw told her to wait... and that she could just sit there and watch the cats... one of which still needed a name. So she brought her poorly wrapped wrist back down to her side while Louisa told her that the broom problem was being solved before the older claw scampered off to go talk with a firstie. Lily sat down on a chair and scooped the head girl's cats up onto her lap, wincing slightly as she realized that she had picked up the unnamed one with her injured arm. Well, at least Louisa would be fixing that soon... if she didn't get too distracted with all the progress... or lack of it... with the cat house.

"I do occasionally refer to myself in the third person. I was hit with a lying hex, and that sometimes happens," Vivi nodded solemnly. It was nice, this lying hex lie story. Made a lot of erratic behavior more believable.

"Oh, no... just Branxton. The P.M.A. is a title. Pretty Much Awesome. I've had it added to my birth certificate." Lies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelsheen

Vickers descended from the dorms and was on his way to the Owlery when he heard some... commotion?... as he passed through the common room. First there were those arguing over a chair, which he vaguely recognized to be the one used most often by Ellie Stone during her stay there-- and then there were those who were set to build something.

Build something. That was like a key word with him. Comfy couch? Not quite the same pull as BUILD. So he makes a detour away from the door and headed towards where Head Girl was giving instructions. He gazes at the enlarged image "A cat condo? Nice." He can help build that. If he managed a swing trellis this is noooo problem.

"To be a condo, I think we'll need a cat gymnasium and a teeny tiny pool. I think. Isn't that what condos have?" Vickers got a friendly wave, although she wasn't ready to give up on her chair plans and cross the room to where the Head Girl was starting her project.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magical Soul

Willing devotees? That sounded pretty much like half-slaves to Louisa, who chuckled at the title. "Oh. Good to know...I think." She was joking anyways, teasing the rude Captain was fun. Only the other red head circling his chair was... circling his chair. Why, exactly?

...EH. Whatever.

There was more urging matters at hand, like naming their project! "Cloud Nine Lives..." the Ravenclaw murmured, trying how it felt like saying it. "I like it!" SHe beamed, "And even if it requires a somewhat long thinking process. Only Ravenclaws should know what we're talking about when we mention the name." MORE beaming. Louisa didn't usually beam all that much in one day.

... someone spiked her drink maybe?

"So that means you have a cat, right? Is she or he around?"

Well, yaaaaay. Some cred with the Head Girl would probably get her a long way toward settling in properly and making friends. It was difficult to come into a new place with people who were all settled in their patterns and friendships and make friends.

"It'll be our little inside joke. Just the house. Anyway... I have a cat, but she's just an ickle thing and barely likes me. I don't think she's ready for friends yet. Macha is her name." And she was a devil cat.

He got distracted by the meowing. Like who wouldnt? But having spent enough time at shelters has gotten this Ravenclaw accustomed to animal noises that it hardly elicits any kind of annoyance. He haunches down to playfully run his fingers behind the cat's ears "Hey buddy..." he murmurs, then looks up when he heard his name "Hi there Lily! How've you been?"


"I think we can fit a gym in there...." he angled his head as he tried to imagine extending the current plan to include a bit of an obstacle course. Then he turned his head again and gave Vivi a playful smirk "Would cats even like a pool?" From his handling of cats a great many of them seem to detest water.

Then there it was, something she said to Louisa that got him all nosey curious "The kneazle we picked out at the Menagerie?... her name is Macha?" he liked the name yup. "Not quite warmed up to you has she? Just give her some time to adjust..." he has great faith in animals more than humans sometimes




He stood up when Louisa turned her attention to him. She gets a happier-than-usual grin, plus a twinkle in his eye. But that kinda freezes as his brow goes up when she mentions what the feline abode would be called. His gaze shifts quickly to Vivi before returning to Louisa "Well.... why not put it up in a vote? If everybody likes it then you can go with it." he nods sensibly. No he's not saying whether he liked it or not he doesnt, and really his opinion on the name bore little impact anyway as he doesnt have a cat that would use it the cockatoo might invade though "Sure I'd be glad to help, just tell me what you need done." Vickers the contractor at your service mmhmm.

Gwen stood up from the chair, still holding the book in her hands, and followed Jinx. What was her cat up to now? As she looked around for the black furball, who had just headed towards a place close to the fireplace, Gwendolyn noticed him willing to play with the quill which another Ravenclaw was holding. Oh well… at least Jinx hadn’t caused more damage this time… While thinking about that, Gwendolyn heard the other Ravenclaw say something.

‘He’, she said rather curtly, just as her cat decided to leave the quill and return to her. She just gave a small smirk as she heard the girl say she had a friend who had a dog with that name. Though Gwendolyn failed to notice the way the other Ravenclaw pronounced the word ‘friend’. Mehh.

‘Nice to meet you, Delphi’, the fifth year said. ‘I’m Gwen Greene’, the Ravenclaw extended her hand. After looking back at her cat, who seemed to be at least pretending to have calmed down, Gwen looked back at her housemate. ‘Reading anything interesting?’, she said, noticing the book Delphi was holding.

In the next moment, Gwendolyn heard someone talk about a cat house. Tracking down the source of the voice, the fifth year was able to spot Louisa, who seemed to be getting quite enthusiastic of the plan. Gwen looked at the Head Girl for a moment, waiting for her to finish saying what she had planned before offering herself to help.

A hangout for cats. Well, that did sound like something fun to do. Nigel looks at Taylor and sees what they were working on and He did have some free time. So he thought why not. He will help with this hangout place, even though he did not have a cat.

"No i don't have a cat. But I will help with this Cloud Nine Lives."

He had heard another older Ravenclaw say it and thought it was an awesome name. He walks over to Taylor and starts to help her set up.

Milton shrugged too. Because he rather liked the attention, to be honest.

Which was why he smirked a little bit at her next comment. "Maybe I do." He WAS very nice to look at, he thought. So it made sense.

Looking up from his book again, Milton saw Addy step closer to the chair. "Sign or not, I'll probably still sit on it." Just saying. But why was she getting closer? Not that he necessarily minded, really...

Yes, he KNEW that was irony. That was the point, silly ginger. Milton just watched her some more as she continued to get closer and walk around the chair. What in the world? "I understand that you enjoy staring at me, but this getting a bit creepy, love." She was like, RIGHT THERE. And it was weird.

"I will." *dramatic pause* "Hutchinson."

And then aNOTHER girl was calling his name. Couldn't a man sit in a comfy armchair in peace? Milton craned his neck to see Louisa (who he had tried to avoid when she started talking about cats, but now it was inevitable) surrounded by a bunch of other Ravenclaws. Hiring slaves. Pff. "Actually, this is my fan club. Care to join?" Milton winked. Because he was awesome.

Milton saw the beginnings of the production of the cat house and wrinkled his nose. "I hate cats," he muttered. All of them. Except for Walnut.

Milton nodded back. "Geneveive Branxton, right?" She was someone's daughter. Someone important, that is. Probably one of the strange ladies who was in the prefect compartment on the train.

Willing devotees. Milton smirked. "I like you. You can stay." Bwahaha.

Eliza had just been about to wave to the girl she had seen on the train earlier when an older girl stood up at the house table in the Great Hall and told all of the first years to follow her to the common room. “Well, maybe I’ll just see her there,” she thought. “Cora, yeah that was her name.” Though truth be told she might be more likely to recognize her first by her book than by her face. Eliza had always loved books. Stories were the one place where anything could happen, anything at all – except well, maybe they could at Hogwarts too…

She followed the line of first years up the stairs and into the Ravenclaw tower, where the common room must surely be. Upon entering the room she gasped at its beauty. “Oh yes, I am definitely glad to be a Ravenclaw!” she thought excitedly. “The midnight blue is so beautiful and oh! The night sky! There are stars on the ceiling!” This was almost too much to take in. She was about to burst with happiness. She knew right away that she was going to love it here. She willed herself to move her eyes from the ceiling and search the room for faces she might know.

There were lots of students bustling around. Most knew right where to go. Some were plopped into chairs, others already making a bee-line to the dormitories. “I hope I get a good place to sleep. Though I suppose they’re all roughly the same.” She pictured herself cozied up with a nice thick blanket and a book. “I hope I get to bunk next to someone I like…but I’m sure I’ll get to know everyone eventually.”

As she was taking it all in she spotted the blushing girl from the train. “Cora!” she called out with a quick wave. “I hope she remembers me…” she thought nervously.

Well, that was a relief. He really didn't want to think why Louisa might have though Shacklebolt was hiring slaves. Weeeird.

He wasn't going to help with the house, but Spike could provide something else. "Need any plants for decoration?" he asked. "I could go pot up some cat mint or catnip..."

"That's a very -" Spike paused, trying to find the right word, "- intriguing side effect." He didn't know there was such a thing as the lying hex, not alone that it could cause someone refer to themselves in the third person. Unless she was lying about the side effect as a side effect?

Bleh. Too confusing. He shook the thought out of his head. Side effects could be much worse that talking about yourself in third person.

Just Branxton? "Oh, well that's a bit easier then," Spike said with a smile. Hutchinson meant wayyy too many numbers in calculations. And that meant mistakes. At least he'd got lucky on the first name though, unlike 'Indiana'. Hehe.

"Your Mum let you do that?" Spike asked. Seriously - for something as trivial and self-centred as 'Pretty Much Awesome'? "Lucky you. I've been trying to convince my parents to change my middle name on my birth certificate for years, but they're not having any of it." Hmph.

Cora was still wondering how Presley was when, out of nowhere, the girl Cora met on the train called her name. She jumped slightly (easily startled like always) and turned around with a smile.

"Eliza!" Cora exclaimed. Was it? Cora didn't have too many new people to know, so that must be her name. Cora was surprised that the girl remembered her, and smiled brightly.

"How are your classes going?" Cora was having a good day, and was so excited to actually KNOW people.

Had to give that Vick one thing... he played along. That made her laugh, and she waved her hands effusively. Sure, sure... cat gym and a cat pool.

And a sauna! "Do people who live in people condos use the pool? I think they just like knowing they have a pool. That's how I feel about mine." Although Mo liked the pool. Or he had before she'd tried to drown him in it last summer. Experiments with gillywater had not gone as expected.

"Yes, named her Macha 'cause she's just the bossiest little goddess of a cat, and I figured she deserved a name to match. You saw her, stomping all over her brothers and sisters like they were just carpeting in her personal cage." She secretly sort of adored her awful baby kitten!thing. "I'll get her later and let her gnaw on you for a while."

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Milton nodded back. "Geneveive Branxton, right?" She was someone's daughter. Someone important, that is. Probably one of the strange ladies who was in the prefect compartment on the train.

Willing devotees. Milton smirked. "I like you. You can stay." Bwahaha.

"Oh, Merlin. I can stay? How... generous." He got an eyeroll that was a little less mean (but only a little) because she also smiled. Egos weren't the worst thing. They were bad, but not the WORST. And he was amusing. It would be worse if he wasn't.

"Sit on him, Jacks. He requires smooshing."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

"That's a very -" Spike paused, trying to find the right word, "- intriguing side effect." He didn't know there was such a thing as the lying hex, not alone that it could cause someone refer to themselves in the third person. Unless she was lying about the side effect as a side effect?

Bleh. Too confusing. He shook the thought out of his head. Side effects could be much worse that talking about yourself in third person.

Just Branxton? "Oh, well that's a bit easier then," Spike said with a smile. Hutchinson meant wayyy too many numbers in calculations. And that meant mistakes. At least he'd got lucky on the first name though, unlike 'Indiana'. Hehe.

"Your Mum let you do that?" Spike asked. Seriously - for something as trivial and self-centred as 'Pretty Much Awesome'? "Lucky you. I've been trying to convince my parents to change my middle name on my birth certificate for years, but they're not having any of it." Hmph.

"Noooo. Lied about that too," Vivi shrugged sheepishly. "But it would be pretty cool, right? What would you choose as a middle name if you could change it?"

She'd wanted to change her name for years and years, as long as she'd thought it was a bit too fussy and girly, but it had finally grown on her. The thing about being a Genevieve and a Vivi was that she could choose to be dignified. And choose not to be as well.

Louisa sighed and gingerly grabbed Lily's arm, "Seriously you guys, the Healer won't cut your tongue if you went to her about an injury. There's even a law about that... somewhere." Waving her wand she conjured a bandage. "It's kind of ironic, huh?" Her mouth stretching to a smirk, "We partnered up in Healing seminar and now I'm bandaging your hand for real." Liiiiife is irony. Louisa rotated the girl's hand and started wrapping the bandage not too tight but tight enough to keep the wrist under slight pressure. "Don't remove it and don't raise your hand for too long. Keep it leveled with your waist as long as you can. If you need help with homework, chores or anything else, ask for it." Either from Louisa or from anyone else around. People were helpful... in general... she could even bribe some.

When done, the Ravenclaw gave her friend a small smile. Her cats seemed to sense the pain of the little girl, the unnamed cat climbed onto Lily's lap snuggling there while Viola just curled up as a ball on her shoes. Might've licked them once or twice, too.



"If she's new, that sounds normal." That the cat doesn't like her owner. "Macha. Hmm. Well hopefully by the end of this term, she'll soften up." Not gonna happen. Louisa knew, firsthand experience, that a stubborn antisocial cats remained so. "Anyways, if you ever want to see her around other cats, I have two!" BEAM. "Viola," she pointed at the first gold brown and white cat licking Lily's shoe, "And a younger cat that I haven't named yet." The grey and white smaller cat was snuggling in Lily's lap.



She savored the grin and the eye twinkle, it might've even shown with her hands nervously folding, unfolding and rocking at her sides. But just until he suggested the vote. Internal!squeak. "I don't think anyone cared enough for the name...?" She chuckled, glancing around. It was just the Vivi girl who thought cat house was not a Ravenclaw-ish name. "And I like it," Louisa added grinning back at him.

As for help, "I don't want the young ones to use transfiguration spells. So maybe just us, the seventh years, can transfigure those sticks to the needed planks? And I got nails!" Which... somehow felt important to say, a bit too enthusiastic but he was supposed to be impressed with this. For some reason. GAH, she was being a typical hormonish teenager! The scandal. She calmed down and her fingernails were in her mouth, the bad old habit resurfacing.

Just as she was about to answer someone else who addressed her, Vickers talked. To Vivi. And they bought the cat together, it seemed. Louisa remained mellowly silent but she made sure to be considered existing between the two of them. Her beam faltered juuuuust slightly, because she didn't want any other girl to have something with Vickers that Louisa didn't know or was out of it.

HMPH.

That was...uhh... wrong!

Somehow.

As a lovely distraction, Louisa turned her gaze to Gwen.. who was already looking at her. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Uhh... Hi Gwen. Did we wake you up?" The girl did have this sleepy aura about her right now. Hehe.



She smiled at him and nodded, "Thank you, Nigel." See now that was team spirit. This boy had it and it will let him go up with time. The seventeen years old Ravvie watched him help Taylor with the table so she thought she should start her part of the job as well. Louisa dropped to her knees in front of the small sticks and took her wand out. She turned the first one into a relatively large plank, which will represent the floor of the house, and then started working on the others. Every now and then looking up at the picture still floating in the air.



He got an eye roll big enough for the whole room to notice. "That's a stretch of all kinds of imagination," that Shacklebolt had a fan club. He had to pay people to like him... or snog girls really well if necessary. Which... Louisa wouldn't put it past the boy. Aaanyways, she saw him go back to his book and she went back to her cat house work.



Decoration! The girl stopped in the middle of her spell and straightened up from where she sat on the floor. "That's a brilliant idea!" She didn't know what cat mint was but it sounded so awfully fitting! "Yes, I like the cat mint... and the catnip." That was another way of personalization, yo!

See, Spikey got his Herbology nerdiness in, Milton got his big ego away (which was very characteristic), Nigel got his team spirit almost like an obvious aura, Vivi got her witty mouth involved, Lily used her gentle girly touch by taking care of the cats, the girl Louisa didn't know the name of yet was sprinkling her positive energy all over the place, Vickers was blessing the whole thing by his sheer existence and Louisa was using her transfiguration skills to mash them all into one nice harmonic cat house.

Very touching.

“Hi!” she tried to hide how relieved she was to see her again. “My classes are going pretty well so far. Of course there are so many things I’d like to learn – I’d love to take every class!” she rambled. “Okay, easy there killer. Slow down,” she thought. She was just so excited to have caught up to a familiar face – and so glad to have someone in her house that she sort of knew now. “How are yours? Do you have a favorite so far?” she asked happily.

Pop!

Tinka appeared suddenly in the Ravenclaw Common Room, right hand covering her eyes and left hand holding a bottle of cleaner and a rag. Opening her fingers slightly, she peered through the crack. "Ohh... Tinka is up very very very high. Tinka no like cleaning here." She backed away from the windows and clung to the safety of the Rowena Ravenclaw statue.

Fumbling for the rag, she set to work removing a fine layer of filth from the stone. "Oh, if only Tinka's mother could see her now, what would she say? Get back to kitchens, Tinka! Stay below ground, Tinka!" Her ears drooped and she gave a shudder.

Ariella looked up as an older girl strolled over to where she was, Ari thinks she might be the head girl but she's not sure, but either way she seemed really nice, "Yeah I'm all right, just chilling I guess, but I'm fine!" She smiled up at the girl. Her name was Louisa. Yup! That sounded familiar now that she thought about it, must have heard it somewhere... "I'm Ariella."

She finally explained to Ariella their 'cat house' idea, something she had heard of when she had walked into the common roon, which sounded really cool! "No I haven't got a cat, but I wish I did! My brothers alergic you see..."
But Ariella had become great friends with some cats, Felix and Clara for example...

So yeah... Addy!Jacks had been making her way AROUND to the BACK of the chair, not ogling the quidditch captain as he so hoped. She didn't make this TOO obvious, though. Heh.

Even as Spike spoke she half listened and nodded, "Suuuure. The common room here is lovely. I quite like it." He HAD mentioned the common room, yes? She was sure she had gleaned at least that much from his ramblings. And as he called Vivi, Jacks she pointed to herself. "Yeah. I'm Jacks. All whimsical and whatnot, apparently." She shot Vivi a grin at that.

Aaaaand... the nosy head girl spoke up and blah blah blah. No. She merely waved a hand at her. Nothing to see here. Addy was SURE that the QC and the other prefect could handle anything if it went amiss. THEY WERE STUDENT LEADERS, AFTER ALL. Hmph.

And yeah so... as Milton spoke she, not so nicely, rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, dude." Nope. Don't. Pffft. She leaned her elbows on the back of HER chair and waited for him to direct his attention elsewhere...

Almost on cue with Vivi telling her to smoosh him did Addy scamper up the back of the chair and perch herself on the high back, feet dangling dangerously close to the captain. "Think I ought to? I don't weigh an awful lot. Perhaps we should just dog pile the boy?" EVIL SMIRK.

Cora could tell how excited Eliza was. And could she blame her? Cora was just nearly as excited and she was a fourth year. "I'd love to take every class too. I've tried. They won't let me." Cora giggled as she thought about her chat a few professors about taking more classes.

"My classes are all going well. But really I am excited to help Professor Newlin in the barn. I wonder what I'll be doing." Cora smiled at the idea of working with animals. "I just love animals. Do you?" Cora asked politely, keeping the conversation going.

“Darn, I wish we could take as many as we wanted,” she said, a bit disappointed. “I’d even study after hours if it would help," Eliza pictured herself with a giant stack of books by her bedside, papers tumbling from her folders, study guides getting mixed in with the wrong class assignments. “But I guess I understand their point.”

Cora mentioned working in a barn this year. “A barn?” she thought. “Is that for the Care of Magical Creatures class?” she asked. She had no idea what Cora would be helping with there either, but it sounded like fun. “Oh yes, I love animals too!” Eliza thought fondly of her pets back home. She missed them, but in time she’d see them again. “We have an owl at home. His name is Frederick. He’s really funny actually,” she laughed as she thought of him. “He gets a bit grumpy and starts strutting all over the house until we let him go outside.” she giggled again. “Oh, and I just got an owl of my own for school!” she had almost forgotten. She wasn’t used to having her very own owl. “Her name is Luna.” She was anxious to go see her soon. Maybe she’d write home about her classes. “We used to have a cat too, but she..." Eliza tightened her lips a little, suddenly sad. "Well, she passed away this year." she hadn't wanted to ruin the mood, but she couldn't really talk about Frederick without mentioning Kally now could she? It didn't feel right. "Anyway, do you have any pets?” she asked quickly, trying to avoid getting any sadder.

SLAM!

Travis dropped his obnoxiously heavy books onto the ground next to a small study table.
Homework and Travis are not friends. Not Friends at all.

Honestly, Travis would have set fire to it if he could. But then he would get detention or something. So instead he opened his notes onto the table. Why would teachers give them this stuff. There was no point to having them write essays about "the importance of Flobberworm Mucus." or what ever he was actually supposed to be writing about.

He looked around the common room, everyone was either chatting it up, or finishing papers. He put down his pen, and just stared at the paper. This was completely unnecessary and superfluous. They had already learned this all in class. Did they really need to reiterate this all over again?

Vickers was one of the nicer older kids... so Lily didn't mind talking to him. "I've been okay I guess... I got hurt on the train so Louisa has been helping me get better. That way I don't have to go and bother the healer." Because everyone knew that wouldn't end well. Lily turned to steal a look at the head girl before turning back to Vickers. "How about you?"

Even though it didn't hurt when Louisa grabbed Lily's arm, her instinct was to wince slightly. Listening to her older ravvie buddy talk about the fact that the healer wouldn't hurt her, the redhead kinda hung her head slightly. Sure she knew that the healer couldn't hurt her any further, but she just didn't like needed to see some medical person for every little injury... even though she wouldn't exactly consider her injured wrist a little injury that she could heal on her own. Hence the going to see Louisa.

Only after her seventh year friend started smirking did Lily relax a bit. A quiet "Yeah..." was all that was said about the irony. The good thing was that Louisa knew how to put bandages on. Don't take it off... don't keep your hand in the air... blah. blah. blah.. Yeah... Lily kinda knew what she needed to do... but she would be nice and just nod her head for Louisa. Until she came up with a question. "What about quidditch??..." She asked, staring up at the head girl with a slightly worried look. "Do you think I'll be alright to try out for the team?" Because if she wasn't going to be alright, the redhead would probably freak out... just like she had when her broom broke.

While she sat on the chair, she looked over at the cats that she was going to be in charge of watching... even though she really wanted to help build the cat house. The third year grinned slightly and started petting the cat on her lap before looking at the cat that had curled up on her shoes... and licked them... "Um... Louisa?..." She said looking at the cat on her shoes. "Is this the cat that isn't named yet?... because I think this cat should be called shoes." And if it wasn't... then the cat on her lap should be called cuddle... because the cat apparently liked to cuddle up to people.

"Yes, I'm helping the Care of Magical Creatures professor with things. It just sort of...happened." Cora was very excited about this. "I can't wait to spend more time with animals."

Cora listened as Eliza talked about her pets. "OOh you have an owl?! My mom will NEVER let me get one." Disappointed for a moment, Cora regained excitement about Eliza's owl. "Luna's a wonderful name. I want to meet her!"

Cora saddened over Eliza's bad news. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Eliza." Cora gave her a quick hug. "I actually have a kitten. Well, he's not quite a kitten anymore, but he's still just a white ball of fur. I named him Teacup, since when I first got him he was small enough that one day, he plopped into an empty teacup." Cora laughed at the memory. "You can meet him sometime. He must be wandering around here somewhere. He doesn't like large crowds or noises, though," like me "so he may be hiding somewhere quiet.

"Are you considering getting any more pets?" Cora asked curiously.