She smiled as the girl said hi and confirmed that she had gotten the right name. Tay squealed and hugged the girl, "Congrats! Welcome to the best house ever!" Taylor backed away, clapped then twirled in delight. She always loved new people in the house. There were more people to talk to and more to learn. Tay blushed when she realized what she did. Taylor glanced down then back up at the girl, "So sorry about that... I just love new people and you just seemed so cool on the train and well... I hug a lot of people and whenever I get happy or excited, I start to twirl or dance... you see I have been a dancer since I was 2 or 3 and it just is natural to me..." Tay took a breath and blushed even more at the rambling. "So sorry... I ramble a lot, if you havent noticed..." A nervous giggle came out of her mouth and she immediately became shy. She nodded at what teh girl said, "I dont blame you... I mean it is a fastinating castle but I wouldnt wander too far since it might cost you a small fortune..." Taylor sighed, "I hate that you have to pay for about everything now... I mean how the heck does a school go broke over the summer? We just had a fundraiser last term..." She sighed.

I'm always right.

Oh jeez. Ascanius had COMPLETELY forgotten about their little agreement when it came to her and the topic of being right. Yeah, dumb boyfriend had agreed that she was always right. For like romantic reasons and stuff because he was amazing and romantic and charming like that. Smirk. But STILL, now it had come back to bite him in the bum.

Ugh, leave it to Pen to pull that card out at the last moment. Grumble, grumble. He was convinced that was cheating, but he would take it in stride. After all, she wouldn't use that card unless she KNEW she was wrong, which meant that he was right. Heh.

Squeezing her shoulder, he leaned over pushed his nose up against her cheek, "Fine, you're always right. Happy?" Yeah, she probably was. There.

...............

"I am not a YIPPY LITTLE SHOW DOG!" Eye twitch. He was NOT a dog like that. He wasn't a DOG at all, but IF he were he'd be macho or manly. A guy's guy kind of dog, not some little accessory to some posh girl with an attitude. Nope, nope.

Raven at first involuntarily tensed when Taylor hugged her, but she laughed and hugged her back. "Thank you!" A slightly startled look came on her face though when Taylor clapped and started dancing. She guessed Taylor was REALLY happy that she was in Ravenclaw. Maybe Ravenclaw didn't get as many students every year as the other houses.

"Oh that's fine, I think your dance is really cool. Want to be friends?" She was starting to really like Taylor.

She listened as Taylor complained about how you had to pay for everything. It was pretty odd, Raven had to admit. What did they even use all the money on, it was not like needed it for repairs. "What do you think they use the money on? They can just fix broken stuff with their wand."

Taylor felt the girl tense and grimaced, feeling stupid for hugging her. She just had been so excited... Tay smiled as the girl laughed and hugged her back. "Your welcome." Taylor giggled at the shocked look the girl had given her. Her eyes grew, "Wait... you like my dance?" A blush came to her cheeks and she tried to hide it with her blonde curls. "Thanks..." Tay looked at the girl and nodded, "I would love to be your friend." Taylor twirled and laughed in delight. "I have a feeling that we will be good friends by the end of the year." She was beaming in joy. "You just have this thing about you that makes me like you... I havent figured it out yet but I will eventually." At the comment about the money, she waved her hand, dismissing it slightly, "Salaries, I'm guessing... and helping to run the school... remodeling a little... and you cant fix every single thing with magic. Sometimes something is too much beyond repair." Tay shrugged.

Caterina had carried her pogo stick all the way from her dorm to the courtyard. She'd thought about bouncing her way, but that would have been rather difficult. Though she was still exploring the school grounds, she was rather enjoying the courtyard. Hopefully it would still be AWESOME when it was winter time and all snowy.

The brunette planted herself on a bench and laid the pogo stick over her lap. She wasn't going to do any pogoing until her fellow pogoer had shown up.

Which was hopefully soon!

Oh yeah, she was definitely smirking now. She wasn't sure why the "I'm always right" thing had only JUST come to her now - it used to be so common for her to bring up - but for whatever reason, she'd forgotten that agreement they'd had. Until now, of course. And she was gonna make sure she didn't forget again in case they had a little...whatever this was. Disagreement? Argument? Not quite either really, though maybe disagreement fit. It wasn't a serious one though. This one was fun - serious ones weren't.

Turning her head when he came close, Penelope quickly kissed the tip of his nose and grinned. "'Course I'm happy." She'd won after all, and winning made her happy. But also being around him made her happy whether she won or not, but that didn't need to be said right now because that was kinda mushy, even if it was true.

Oh. Had she touched a nerve? Heh. "Okay, okay, you're not a yippy little show dog. Calm down," she said with a laugh.

Ascanius would have been grumbling because she pulled out the I'm-always-right-card, but the moment she kissed his nose he completely forgot about how he was supposed to be cross with her. Instead he was smiling stupidly and was content with her winning. 'Sides, she always got extremely excited whenever she won one of their little tiffs. It was adorable SO he would be dashing and charming and downright amazing- as per usual- if it made her happy.

Yeah, yeah. Stupid boyfriend stuff. Shut up. She was cute, okay?

BUT THIS YIPPY DOG THING WAS NOT CUTE. Psh, he was not a yippy little accessory. That was not how he rolled. Not even for a second. Smirk. Essex boys were NO ones accessory. Every other girly!boy at this school might have been that way, but not him. And he COULD and WOULD name the names of the people he meant. He literally didn't care.

When she took back the comment, though, he relaxed and nodded, "I am calm." Not exactly true.

Had she ever mentioned how much she liked his smile? Because she really liked it a lot. And she especially liked it when she was the one who caused it, like now. At least, she assumed that was why he was smiling, because she'd kissed him. Unless he liked being wrong... But she was pretty sure that wasn't it. So she grinned.

And finally it looked like he had calmed down from the dog comments. Merlin. There wasn't any need to get so worked up over it. The little dogs were cute, and he was cute, so her logic there totally made sense. Penelope didn't know why he was complaining. Heh. "Didn't seem all that calm," she teased, reaching a hand up to bop him on the nose with her finger. "You were getting pretty worked up and excited over it. Kinda like...those dogs get." Hahahahaha.

Raven didn't know what to say when Taylor informed her that she couldn't pin point what it was she just liked about her. Well, no one had ever told her that before! It's not that people at her old school did not like her, they usually just ignored her. "Thank you, you're pretty cool also" was what Raven finally said with a friendly laugh.

"I guess you're right about salaries and stuff. All well, it doesn't really matter!" Raven waved aside the topic and asked "Is it true that you are on the Quidditch team?"

Taylor grew nervous as it seemed forever since the girl talked. A smile and a sigh came when relief washed over her when Raven talked again, "No problem." Tay laughed, "Awwww, thanks!" A blush came and she hugged the girl, "I dont feel pretty cool though..." A sigh of sadness came. "Eh, it doesnt matter..." Taylor shrugged and then eyed the girl. She backed up and started to get defensive. A few moments passed before she said, "How the heck do you know that? Who told you? Where did you find out?" Tay was getting more and more defensive, "I was on reserve doing year 2, 3 and 4 then I didnt make it last year. I wasnt here year 1 and... I try-outed this year but I doubt that I would make it." Taylor put her hand on her wand, getting ready to shoot a defensive spell.

Why was she staring at him? Oh yeah, it was because it was him. Ahem. The jawline. That was all.

ehifhewrupHIOEFPYOVHBESJDBHEfbjnd

HE. WAS. NOT. A. DOG. And that was final. Penelope had to stop calling him a dog because that was not macho and if there was ONE thing that Ascanius knew about himself it was that he was MACHO and good looking, but that had NOTHING to do with the topic on hand.

So he just eyed her and pouted a little because he was upset, "I am not a dog... and stop saying that." Seriously, it was annoying.

"You ready to bounce, Caterina Ocarina?" Alice had wanted to pogo all the way down to the courtyard, but it just didn't feel right doing it without her fellow pogoer, so she'd only carried it. "I brought my stick, and it's extra shiny, too. I kept it real far from the dustiest places in the dorms so it'd be all presentable for now." And what if her pogo stick had gotten dirty or something? Horrifying! Absolutely unacceptable.

She readied her shoes to be placed on the little steps and beamed at Cat. "Ready when you are."

Somehow, she managed to stifle her laughter when he spoke again and gave her that look. That adorable pouty look. It was so cute. Like a dog who didn't get the treat he wanted. Merlin, she needed to stop the dog comparisons because it only made her want to laugh more. And say them out loud. And even if she thought it was hilarious, the topic was getting repetitive and sorta predictable now.

So, pushing that thought away, she let out one more little laugh, grinned, and then said, "Fine, fine. Sorry. I'll stop." At least for now. Maybe she'd bring it up later. Awhile later though. When he least expected it.

Reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair a little, she continued, "What d'you wanna talk about now then?"

The fact that Penelope was so amused by this doggy thing had Ascanius incensed. He was not some stupid, little, yippy dog. Psh. And the her being adamant about it did not help his case at all. Annoyed Ascanius was very annoyed indeed. This was his upset face.

Oh now she was gonna stop? Well, that was all fine and dandy for her but now HE had a complex. Not that he would say anything because he was awesome and stuff, but seriously. He was not some yippy, little dog. If that was anyone it was gonna be the people he saw sulking about the castle in yellow. Seriously, everyone with those ties always looked like they had just been kicked, which made Ascanius want to punch them. They needed to man up.

When she ruffled his hair, Ascanius scrunched his nose and replied, "Dunno, whatever you like." After thought, "'Sides me being a dog, yeah?"

N'aw, he was so pouty over the dog thing. Boyfriend needed to lighten up and stop taking himself so seriously sometimes. She was only playing around. But then again...the fact that he took it so seriously was what made it so funny to her. So maybe he could continue so long as he cheered up after awhile. Penelope knew the solution to that anyway.

But she would wait on that for a couple seconds because...bunny face! THAT was cute too, when he scrunched his nose like that. She'd never thought of a name before he called it his bunny face, and now she couldn't get that name out of her head. The Gryffindor decided she wouldn't bring that up though after all the dog stuff. If he thought she was calling him a bunny now, he might just start crying instead of pouting, and that'd be sad. So that thought stayed in her head for once.

"I said I was gonna stop, didn't I? Stop bringing it up if you don't wanna talk about it," she teased with a grin before leaning over and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Cheer up." The pouting and upset faces were cute and all, but she liked seeing his smile a lot more.

Susan found a bench in the courtyard to read her new book that Laura let her borrow. It was just so cool they made books that gave you ideas on how to prank someone. Susan definitely needed this, with DJ transferring and Laura being busy studying for her owls she needed a pick-me up and this was just perfect. Susan started flipping thru to see if there were any pranks she could try by herself.

It was a nice day for a walk, so the second year walked outside the castle with her pink rat, who was still too heavy, on her shoulder. She was in a good mood this time because, well, she was at Hogwarts now and not at home, she had done all her homework for that day and she had now a few hours for herself before she needed to return back to the common room.

And because Sonea’s good mood, she stopped when she saw a girl sitting alone on a bench, she was reading a book and Sonea decided that it was not a day to be alone outside and sat down next to the girl and without a invitation. “Hi, what are you reading?” Asked Sonea still smiling.

And now she was teasing him? Fine then. He was just gonna go and get MORE lost, ahem, go on a wandering adventure. Because he didn't need to sit here and be teased. If his mates from back home saw this he would NEVER heard the end of it and he was the macho man here. The last thing he needed was his girl teasing him. Pfft.

But as he stood up to go, Penelope leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Ugh, it was annoying how that move was like insta-forgiven and she knew it too. So he was gonna, you know, just sit here and forgive her. Well, that was annoying. Darnit. Jeez.

Smiling a little, he looked over at her and scrunched his nose up again, "Okay, I'm cheered up." See look. A small smile, but that was all she was gonna get if he was gonna stay here. Terms and conditions.

Susan was so engrossed in her book she didn't realize someone sitting down next to her until she heard someone talking to her. "Oh hello, umm nothing really." Susan closed the book and put it on her lap with her arms covering the title. Susan didn't know if she would get in trouble with the book and she definitely didn't want someone knowing what she was planning on doing.

Susan then remembered her manners. Susan stuck out her hand to shake the girl's hand. "I'm Susan, what's your name?" The girl seemed friendly and looked like she was about her age.

Blink. He was gonna leave? Did he really think that would work? Because she would've just followed him and pestered him until he talked to her and cheered up. Because she was a good girlfriend like that. Yep.

Oh but no, he was actually staying. The kiss had done the trick. Smirk. Good. She knew hoped it would.

And there was the smile she was looking for and his bunny face!. It was small, but it was there at least. "Good," she replied with a grin, shifting her place on the bench a bit so that she was facing him. "Because I love you and I like it when you smile." Was this cheering him up too? To help him along in case it wasn't, her hands reached forward, resting on either side of his face, and she used her thumbs to gently push up the corners of his mouth into a bit more of a smile. Smiiiiile, Ascanius.

While taking a walk in the Courtyard, Haruka figured that now would be a good time to teach her gargoyle a new trick. She set it down on the ground in front of her and cast the spell. "Piertotum Locomotor!" The gargoyle, Rose, shook to life and waited for a command.

"Alright Rose," Haruka said to the gargoyle. "Time to learn another trick." Haruka thought for a moment before settling on a trick. "Okay, I want you to try a Somersault."

Rose jumped into the air and did the flip. It was shaky the first few times, but eventually Rose was able to do it without any complications. "Great job, Rose!" Haruka exclaimed happily. She pointed her wand the the gargoyle. "Finite!"

Daichi wanted to be alone. For the first time in a long time he wanted to be alone. He was getting tired that no one took him seriously despite that he was a Prefect. He opened the door leading to the courtyard and went outside. Fall had come and the Slytherin shivered a little as a breeze of wind swept over the yard.

After finding a place in the corner, hidden behind a pilar and in the shadow the Slytherin opened his bag and took out his stone gargoyle. Might as well teach that thing a few new tricks... he thought. Placing the gargoyle on the ground, Daichi flicked his wrist as his wand fell in his in hand.

"Piertotum Locomotor" he said and focused on the spell, willing it to hit the gargoyle and make it come *to life* Luckily, his wish was granted and the gargoyle seemed to look up at him. At least one thing was looking up to him...

Siiiiigh

"Hey Garly, ready to do some tricks?" he smiled and momentarily forgot about his troubles. "Nod yes" This was just a warming up, he knew that Garly could do more things than that. The stone gargoyle nodded slowly. "Good, now jump" At first the stone creature did nothing. Then it crouched down and stood up, crouched down and stood up. Just like it had done in class. "No, i said jump" the Slytherin commanded and suddenly the stone did, he jumped, not high of course but it did jump.

Slow progress but at least it was working. "Good job Garly! we'll stop for now and continue later.. finite" He placed the gargoyle in his school bag and went back inside because it was starting to get a bit chilly outside.

Sonea frowned when the girl didn't wanted to tell her what she was reading, she was curious, especially now that the girl tried to hide the title from her book with her hand after she had closes it quickly. Sonea wondered why the girl was reading something in a public place where everybody could see her when she didn't wanted anybody to know what she was reading... But... Sonea had a nice day and she decided to ignore it, for now...

"Hi Susan, I'm Sonea" said Sonea while she shook Susan's hand. She took her rat Little princess out of her pocket and showed Susan with a big grin her rat, "and this is my rat, Little princess" said Sonea while she helped her heavy rat on her shoulder.

Eh...what just happened? One moment Taylor was normal and they were talking pleasantly about the castle. The next second Taylor was acting as if she had threatened her instead of asking a question.

"Um, are you feeling okay? I know because I was watching you from the stands, that's all" Calm down! Now she had her hand on her wand. Great Merlin! She needed some ice cream.

Maybe those flowers were way too distracting... Sophie just couldn't tell whether they were distracting the gargoyle or herself.

...Maybe both. Hehe.

So, the courtyard seemed a little better. There weren't so many pretty flowers around and stuff, but it had a nice space they could practice. Sophie her spells and the gargoyle its... tricks.

Placing the lion-y thing on top of the lower tier of the fountain. "Piertotum Locomotor!" The brunette cast while pointing her wand at the little statue. "Alright, jump down here!" Kneeling down, the Hufflepuff patted the ground right in front of her knees.

The gargoyle glanced at Sophie for a fraction of a second - or so the girl thought - before it stepped forward a little and, after a moment, jumped off of the thing.

"Good job!!" Sophie beamed at the gargoyle. "That was really good! Can you jump back up here?" She asked while patting the spot the gargoyle had jumped from. When the gargoyle just stared at the top of the tier, Sophie stared down at it.

Why didn't it move? Her spell had sure been strong enough, hadn't it? "Come on, jump back up here!" She ordered the gargoyle and... it obeyed! Oh. Maybe they weren't supposed to kindly ask the gargoyles to do things, but they had to actually give an order...

Made sense!