Derry's mind had already drifted far from Quidditch, it tended to do that, as Ascanius well knew. Currently she was wondering how she could effectively shorten Ascanius without it sounding like she'd turned him into some sort of disease... hmm. Nope, she had nothing right now. But soon. Soon she'd come up with something.

"It is when the only things they really had last year were ice cream and broccoli... they're like... my least favourite foods." Just the smell of broccoli made Derry feel sick. It was like boiled socks. And the fact they'd had to pay to eat it had really been a downer. "Also. Common room is free again." Yep. Big deal. Big things. "All in all, so far, a closer experience to what I was actually expecting from this place." Yep.

He was trying so hard to keep his eyes trained away from the pictures of brooms that she was looking over, but it was like some sick disease...he couldn't look away. And so his anxiety and everything was kicking into hyperdrive. Ugh, this was not how he wanted to spend his day.

On impulse, his hands started to fiddle with the contents of his pockets to sooth himself. Yeah.

Finally snapping back to Derry's face when she spoke to him, he choked out, "Hmm? Oh yeah, that's great, Snaps." He had no idea what she had just said, but that seemed like an appropriate response. She had to close that book, it was going to give him a serious palpitation.

No, but really, Snaps. Close the book.

There was something wrong with Ascanius. He was doing the fidgety thing. She looked at him for a moment... That was the face he did whenever she mentioned... oh. Following his gaze to the book, she figured out the problem. Honestly. He didn't have to look at the thing. Merlin. She shoved the magazine somewhere into the middle of the pile of books and turned to look at him. "Better?" HMM? It wasn't like the broom was going to jump out of the magazine and sweep you see what I did there? Broom? Sweep? him off his feet, was it? No.

Right, well, it had to be better, cause there wasn't much else she could do about it. Sigh. Honestly, if a magazine was going to get him worked up she really did feel bad about wanting him to fly... but HE WAS GOOD AT IT. Pfffft. "Aaaaanyway... I have a question." she said simply. "How can I shorten your name without it sounding like an illness?"

"Much," he lied when she put the magazine away. To a certain extent it was better because the images weren't burning into his head, but the thoughts were still squirming around in the crevices of his brain. It would pass though. He just needed to find a new interesting topic of conversation, yeah?

And there it was.

He actually snorted when he heard her question. A disease? Really? His name was Latin because of Mrs. Hughes affinity for the classics, he didn't sound like a disease. But he did humour her, "West calls me Scan, loads of people call me Scanny and Pen calls me..." Smirk, "Well you don't wanna know that one."

But he had loads of nicknames.

Scan. Hm. No. "Nope, too much like a hospital scan." Which was close enough to disease territory... Hehehe. She didn't like it anyway... she'd have to come up with something herself... like he'd come up with Snaps, yeah? So she was on that, coming up with it.

"And no, I don't want to know." he knew how she felt about pet names and lovey dovey nonsense and basically anything to do with relationships in general. She just didn't get it, it was not her thing. At the moment. Yet. "Ooooh actually I also have another question." She was in question mode, get used to it. "Make up, like... what's your opinion on it? Cause I know a lot of girls wear make up and stuff and I don't really get it so... why do boys like it?" Man's opinion, yeah? She was in constant curiosity mode lately. About a lot of things.

Piers sure had missed the cool, crisp air of Scotland. He had missed wearing sweaters and scarves, and although it wasn't terribly cold yet, he was looking forward to doing so. Tucking his hands into his coat pocket, he wandered around aimlessly, taking a break before working on lesson planning.

At the moment, Piers was getting himself familiar with the Hogwarts grounds again. Something had changed and new things had been added, which were fun to see, but the courtyard remained rather similar as it had been when he was a student. At least as far as he could remember.

The special thing about Toby's skateboard was that it worked on these awkwardly paved grounds at Hogwarts. His grandmother had done a tricky little charm that meant he could use it on these not-that-smooth surfaces at the school and not go flying. Within reason.

And what better way to test the things limits than to just go ahead and use it in the grounds?

The courtyard was his first stop, and the covered pathways that led here were absolutely perfect and Tobias picked up some good speed, but he wasn't sure if they counted as indoors or outdoors. He zoomed out in into the actual courtyard, pleased to see that, apart from some annoying juddering, his skateboard worked just fine out here.

Maybe he was a little bit too distracted by that thought, because Tobias suddenly found himself headed STRAIGHT FOR someone, about to crash into them from sideways on. He swerved to miss them and managed it, though he lost control, not used to the surface. The boy just went ahead and leapt off the board, before hurrying over to pick it up.

"Sorry! Sorry sir!" he called to the guy as he turned and walked back,not really LOOKING at the dude's face and so not yet recognising who he was speaking to. "I reckon I should probably learn to pay a bit more attention."

This dude had noooooooooo idea how much he seemed to get into these situations at home.

Tora meandered into the courtyard, breathing in the crisp autumn air. Even though it was still early September, the heat of the day seemed to have faded to leave a pleasant forecast for what was to come in the cooler autumn months. She found a nice bench a bit away from the main area and sat down, pulling her messenger bag up onto her lap. Inside were a few school books and one, which she pulled out, that was just in there for Tora's reading enjoyment. She still hadn't had the time to finish Up, Up, and Away, an educational yet fictional astronomy novel that she had bought to for the train to Hogwarts.

She sighed happily. Finally a nice free moment when she could read. Since the common room was a bit busy (and she didn't feel like solving any ridiculous riddles just to get in), Tora had decided to sit outside with her book. As for giving up the seclusion of being inside... well she didn't mind it if she was interrupted. After all it was such a nice day.

Forrest was yet again wandering on the grounds. He didn't have any fancy bags to carry cool books. Instead, he was wearing his sneakers and comfortable clothes as if he was going to do some sports. Well, he just might if he found the correct people for it. There wasn't anyone particular in his mind, though, or any particular place. Although... he figured he might as well see the fountain in the courtyard first, because he wanted to check by himself whether everything really had been returned to Hogwarts liked it. So he walked towards the courtyard and figured he might as well jog later.

Or maybe never.

Before his eyes settled on the fountain, he saw Tora-the-Gryffindor-hater, he walked up to her and just stood beside her head looking down. He didn't want to really bug her, but he figured he ought to greet her since they were both second years and she was the clever one to maybe do his homework could be friends.

...he was going to remain silent until she greeted him first though. She was reading. He had manners.

And THAT was why Derry was Ascanius best friend. Her response made him pause for the briefest of seconds until he was bursting out laughing at her response. His name was LATIN not even close to being a disease, but now every time West talked to him that thought would be plaguing the back of his head. Thanks, Snaps.

Shaking his head with laughter, he went on, "A hospital scan. Snaps, c'mon." Heh.

Calming down from his laughter, he did throw her a smirk at her response to his Pen nickname. Yeah, he knew it weirded her out, but she needed to be snogged ONCE and she would change her mind. Snogging was life changing. Ahem.

And then she threw him another curve. In all of the time that Ascanius had known Derry proper, he had never even seen her acknowledge that make-up was a thing, so it was strange, the question. Blinking at her a few times, he leaned back and mused, "I suppose its for girls, yeah? Like guys don't actually care, but if it makes a girl more confident in themselves whatever. S'all about confidence, really." That was the truth.

So he was going to BASICALLY ask her how YOU doin'? Interesting approach. Either that or this guy was clueless as to how flirting worked. And if that was the case, BLESS HIM.

And no, she hadn't WANTED him to flirt. She had merely assumed that was his feeble attempt. Big difference. Heh.

"Who are you?" she asked as she set her book aside. And not in a rude way, in a very light tone that denoted interest.

Arthur wandered about the moon, glancing every now and then at the star strewn sky above. If only she would come back be would stop his worrying. If only she-

Tora suddenly became aware of a presence standing near her. She looked up surprised that anyone had noticed her in her out of the way place and saw the boy from the Hogwarts Express. Forrest, wasn't it? He obviously wanted to speak with her, and Tora thought it very nice of him not to interrupt her reading. That being said, she hoped she hadn't kept him standing there too long. "Hi Forrest," she started off, then noticed his clothes. "I didn't know you ran." The statement was neither mocking nor surprised, but instead curved up the tiniest bit at the end as if it was half a question.

She said this making eye contact. Why not? It really showed interest in the conversation, it let him know that she didn't mind being interrupted too much, and besides, if she remembered right he seemed to make eye contact a lot. Then again that might have only been because he had been trying not to look at the Oreo in her hand at the time, but still. Wait. What if he thought eye contact was creepy outside of specific circumstances (like the one on the train).

She suddenly grew a little bit self conscious and dropped her head to her book again to check the page number. Not that it was needed as two seconds later she slipped in a book mark, but it was always good to double check. She hated having to find her place again as she found that most of the time she accidentally read ahead in the book while looking for her page. Thus ruining a perfectly good book. She busied herself with putting the book away in her bag before deciding it wasn't creepy to look up again.

Anya looked around. "If we were to play right now... it would make more sense to get somewhere." The gaps between the benches seemed safe enough to jump.

Oooh. Maybe later they could get a HUGE group together and play a proper lava monster game. That's what the Room of Requirement was good for, right?

"Just so you know... I'm fantastic at this game." Just saying. She didn't know if Mo was the type of guy to get sad about not winning.

So Gryffindor-hater remembered him. That was a relief. Forrest grinned at the girl, but didn't sit just yet. He really didn't want to annoy his homework-doer ruin a blooming friendship, if he could call that train ride so.

"Oh, more like wandering around," he said with a shrug. Could he sit down now? He stared back into her eyes. Not that it mattered much if she wanted to read. He could just wander around. He didn't mind. Only, it would be nice to have another friend.

Oh look, she had put her book away. That was his cue to sit down next to her. "I'm not bothering you I hope," he said cautiously but it was really a polite statement. Walking alone was boring. Maybe she would come with him?

"How have you been since train?" Never mind the 'bothering' part. Let's talk.

Tora grinned back. She often times wore a scowl because someone or other had ticked her off, but she loved smiling all the same. It made her feel friendlier than she believed herself to be.

"I've been alright I guess." she thought back to the feast when she got mad at that ridiculous first year. Best not to think about that at the moment. "Bit busy, making new friends and enemies, the like." she continued on.

Then, because she was curious and wanted to get away from talking about topics that might make her annoyed, she returned the question. "Have you been making many friends this year? Or rather how had your start of term been?"

Now that Forrest was sitting, she could stop being formally polite and relax a little. It was nicer when she was happy like she was today, she could actually talk and make friends without scaring anyone off.

Stan leaned back against the seat, hoping against hope he didn't look as awkward as he felt. Because that would be embarrassing. Especially when the girl was so pretty.

Oh, right. Introductions. "Stan Hastings." He grinned widely and extended a hand. "I'm new to Hogwarts, actually." You know, in case she wondered.

"And you are?"

Kalla didn't pick up other people's AWKWARD vibes, because she usually didn't pay that much attention. So he was safe from embarrassment.

She did follow suit and sit back against the seat. Her eyes cut to him and the corners of her lips curled upward. He was cute.

Smiling wider now she took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'm Kalla Ogden. I'm new here, too. Did you go to school somewhere else before here or were you homeschooled like me?"

Kalla Odgen. Now, thats an interesting name. And unique too. Stan had never met a Kalla before.

"It's lovely to meet you, Kalla." Stan said, with the slightest hint of a smirk playing on his lips. It really was lovely to meet her. Heh. One more reason why he loved Hogwarts.. the girls here were so pretty. Yep.

"I went to a private school." Nod. She was homechooled.. Hm. He didn't quite understand why people homeschooled though. It must be boring, right? You don't get to meet people and make friends. But that was just his opinion and he kept it to himself.

Forrest took her answering as he wasn't bothering her, and relaxed further. Talking to someone without scratching crazily felt awesome. Tora obviously thought he was an alright-guy, not some weirdo, and it relieved him.

Enemies? His eyebrows went up at the word. Were they Gryffindor? Should he ask? Hmm... before he could make up his mind, she distracted him with her question and he forgot all about it for the time being.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed happily, regaining his grin. "I've met tons of new people! I've got a best friend now." He paused and blushed. It sounded awfully pathetic out loud, as if he was too stupid/uncool to have a best friend. Everyone had best friends. It was quite normal. Well, it was actually kind of an achievement for him, because Bristol was his first real best friend, but Tora didn't need to know that he was bad at making friends. He hurried on in an attempt to make her forget about his idiocy. "So it's started wonderfully. Quidditch! Do you play it?" In the past year, if there was anything he'd learnt about wizarding world was that everyone just LOVED Quidditch and it was the best distracting topic ever.

Tora knew all about not making friends easily, so she gave a huge grin when he mentioned that he had obtained a best friend. "That's great! And actually, I think I met a best friend too this year. Though she's already ticked me off a couple times. Is that what best friends do? Tick you off, but you still want to talk to them and be, well, friends?" she wondered aloud before zoning in on the next question she asked.

Quidditch! Did she ever! "Of course I play! Or well, I play pick- up games, nothing real yet. It's a ton of fun, and I'm going to try out for the team this year. Do you play much?" She said all in one breath. She loved flying and was pretty good at it too, but she didn't know if she would be able to make the team with such good players in Ravenclaw.

Oh, phew! Tora thought it was great. She looked pretty genuine about it too, so Forrest believed her. Oh lookit! It was the year of best friends, apparently!

He shrugged at her question. She was the Ravenclaw. She ought to know the answers. "My best friend's never tick me off," he said simply. "But I suppose I tick her off a lot." So, maybe it really was like that. As long as they were besties, he didn't mind it.

Nothing real yet. It saddened him to think about Quidditch try-outs, but he tried his best to hide it.

"Erm, not really... I've only watched so far." He smiled apologetically. "I wish you all the luck at try-outs, though!" It would be nice to watch another friend on the pitch.

If Forrest was sad at all, Tora didn't notice. She did smile back though in response to his apologetic one."It's all OK. I thought I would always sit on the side and watch too until this past summer." She had spent a small portion of the summer in the Wizarding world, and in that short amount of time she had been properly introduced to Quidditch. Now her favorite sport, even over Muggle football, she had been off and on her broom all summer (even when she wasn't technically in the Wizarding world.... but no one saw!)

"Thanks! I'm a bit nervous though... even though I'm only really going for Chaser or Keeper, not Seeker or anything like that. Still, I'll need all the luck I can get!" she said happily. At least someone cared a little bit about how she did in the tryouts, or at lest pretended to.

As she was curious, she turned the conversation back towards best friends. "Who's your best friend? A Hufflepuff too?" She asked, wondering if she might know her. Maybe they had more in common than they originally thought! Then again, Tora didn't know that many Hufflepuffs...

Look at the smile on the kid's face. Smiles. Melanie liked though. She laughed when he complimented her though, shaking her head slowly. The Gryffindor just ruffled the boy's hair. "Thanks Dylan, that's sweet of you to say." And true because if she didn't have a good singing voice she couldn't be a singer. That was a fact.

Melanie eyed the kitten warily though. Dylan seemed to be perfectly okay with the cat though and he was younger than her. So shouldn't she be okay with it too? The Gryffindor nodded her head as Dylan spoke, not taking her eyes off of the cat. "She seems to like you lots," she observed.

So Tora was determined about trying out for the team. Wow. Forrest smiled encouragingly. He'd always adored Quidditch people. "I'll cheer for ya," he offered. Though if she wasn't the type that got extra stressed upon knowing hearing cheers for themselves. She didn't look so, but you never knew with girls.

"Oh, she's Bristol Haigh from Hufflepuff, yes." His face'd lit up by the mere mention of her. He was proud, y'know? Very proud to be her best friend indeed, because she wasn't just any girl.

"Who's yours?"

Dylan grinned as Melanie ruffled his hair, and he quickly fixed it once she was done. The firstie didn't mind hair ruffles, only from Melanie though. Anyone else tried he'd be upset. "Just speaking the truth here," he said to her with another one of his bright smiles. It was so true though, he could probably fall asleep to her singing or something. That'd be nice.

The badger noticed Melanie eyeing the cat and wondered curiously what was up. Did she not like his Ginger?? Hmm. Ah, well. Maybe he was just thinking things. He then chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, she does. She never leaves my side." he said, stroking the kitten's fur. Who knows how he'd get to his first class with her trying to come with him...that would be hard...