Marigold squeezed Dylan back harder than ever. SHe missed the guy, they hadn't kept in touch or seen each other for a while."My summer was... okay. Actually, my grandpapa... died, so it was pretty bad. But I'm glad to be back here!" she said, beaming again. "What about you, Dyl? How was your summer?"



Marigold grinned at the first year. "Hi Leah! Nice to meet you too," she said, taking a moment to notice how the girl looked a bit scared. That fact was confirmed a moment later, when Leah said something about getting nervous. "No problem! I love meeting new people. Plus, I get that it can be overwhelming. Believe it or not, I was very scared my first feast, too."



Marigold finally (and reluctantly) let go of Toby. His hugs were nice, okay? Then she smiled when he verified her memory. Not that she thought she was wrong, or anything, just checking.

"14?!?!?! ALREADY?!?!" Marigold exclaimed. She herself was turning 14 in June, which was a LOOOONG way away. "But.. Yesterday we were all 11!" GAH. Time could stop and she would be happy. Marigold was getting nostalgic-y already? Bah. It was just her overreacting, that's all.

CAKE. YES. THERE WOULD BE CAKE.

"Does your dad not like magic, or something?" Bri asked, but quickly regretted, it was a rather personal question for someone she just met. She shrugged, nothing could be done about now, hopefully he wouldn't mind.

"That makes sense." Bri nodded. "Ohhh. I think I am going to like Astronomy, I love learning about the stars and planets. Ancient Runes sounds interesting, actually."



3rd year, so she is only two years up from Bri. Bri nodded, that was pretty good advice. "Thanks!" Bri replied happily



Bri smiled she couldn't wait to meet Leah's kneazle, Filomena, sounds like a pretty interesting animal, and she did love cats.
"That's is pretty amazing!" Bri agreed, nodding. "Yes, I am." She replied to Leah's question.

Hazel turned to see a fellow second year Hufflepuff. "Dylan!" she said, for she was pretty sure she met him last term. If not that would be awkward, but she was pretty sure his name was Dylan. Or maybe Max. "It is Dylan, right?" she said to him. If it was him, then long time no see! If it wasn't him, then very long lime no see. "How are you?"



Hazel laughed when she heard Adi call her Hazel eyes. She'd never heard that before. She racked her brain for something for Adi. "Hey, Adi-who-can't-be compared-to-Aditas-shoes," she said. "Sorry. First thing that came to mind. My favorite food is probably... hmmm... either french crepes or british fish and chips." She was happy. And quite random.



Hazel was seeing so many people, old and new! She loved it, and just wanted to meet more people. "Hi. I'm Hazel," she said to the girl in front of her. She seemed very nice. A lot of people here are nice. "Are you a firstie? I'm a second year," she added. So much to learn!



Hazel felt bad for overwhelming the poor firstie. "Sorry," she apologized. Last year she felt the exact same way. "Yeh, food all day! Erg, can't talk about food. Umm, how 'bout them shoe brands?" Hazel said, trying to quickly change the subject. Her stomach growled loudly and food was wanted more than ever.



Hazel was happy that Marigold remembered her. "Hi Mari! I'm good! Actually, I'm very hungry, but I'm still good!" After all, it was true.

Narumi walked over to the Hufflepuff table just to see how it was sitting over there. She sat down and looked around. Nope she didn't like it...Time to return to the Gryffindor table. No more coming over to that table it just felt weird being with all those badgers....

Kace? "Nice to meet you, Kace. I'm Messer." he gave the boy's hand a shake. "So what year are you in, Kace?" Since he's gone for somethime, 2 terms to be exact, he didn't know anyone who's younger than him. That's pretty suck but he need to fix that soon.



Adeline.

Its really good to see a familiar looking face. Oh and he got a hug too. "And its good to see you too, love." He hugged her back. "I've been good. Great actually because now I'm back to Hogwarts again." he smiled. "What about you? How are you? When did you go all grown up?" Last time he saw Adeline, they're in fourth? Or third year? He honestly can't remembered.



Ballet duties?

He rolled his eyes when Summers mentioned about the Ballet duties. "No, mate. this time its not a Ballet duties." he told Alec. "You know, mate. If you really interested in Ballet you could take a few classes." Since he seems can't stop mentioning Ballet every time they talked. "You're welcome. And thanks. Its great to be back." Grins. He just feel so weird not to finish his last year in Hogwarts with the Scooby Gang.

She was on the train. Okay that mean he only have a few minutes to escape from her. Where should he go? They probably still locked the dorm. But before Messer finished with his escape plan, Ella walked in. "Speak of the Devil." he muttered. "Quick, mate. Scoot over." The seventh year quickly took a seat beside Alec. He feel saver already.



Messer already sitting beside Alec so if Ella decided to jinx him or something like that he could used Summers as human shield. Good plan, right? But unfortunately for him, the Head Girl decided to settle next to him.

Danger. Danger. Danger. He could definitely hear danger signal in his head.

Blink.

Oh no jinx? Thank Merlin. "I know. I'm sorry. I guess I'm kinda a guy who doesn't do well with promises, huh?" His face fell a little. From now on he won't make a promise that he couldn't keep. "I missed you too, sweetheart." He did. Like so much.

"So, Ella. Do I get a kissy-kissy, too?" He made a kiss sound. Not that he want one, he just couldn't help himself to tease Alec. But he didn't mind if Miss Bishop decided to give him one



"I was just joking, mate." He chuckled. Tag could come to their table anytime he wants. He's just like an Honorary Hufflepuff. Second home? See. Tag definitely is an Honorary Hufflepuff. Best friend? Oh right. He forgot that Tag and Alec are close.

Wait. WHAT? Tutu Boy? Where did THAT come from?

O_______o

Let's hope no one heard he called him Tutu Boy or his housemate might start calling him that. "Its been a while. I'm good. Excited to be back." Grin. "How are you, Tag? Do you have a nice summer?"



Another Gryffindor. He wondered do they have Gryffindor magnet in their table? Maybe they installed it when he's gone. And this ickle Gryffindor is LOUD. Like really loud.

The boy was told to bring something for them? Okay now he's curious about that something the boy bring. Maybe he brought a cake or even better chocolate frogs. Yum! But no. He brought big jar of pickles.

PICKLES?!

Who liked pickles anyway? Not him for sure. "Umm. Thanks?" he said to the boy. And he said its from Wade, right? Messer remembered him. Sort of.

"Yeah!" To both, he guessed. He was excited to just be here, really: he didn't know a whole bunch about the houses yet or why being a Hufflepuff was so great, but he supposed he'd find out given enough time.

"Some people were saying there's a huge monster in the water, but I didn't see it..." Bit of a disappointed face there.

"Oh." It wasn't a disappointed 'oh'. More of a 'I guess now I know that' oh.

Jordan bobbled his head and shoulders around in a way that said 'kinda sorta'. "My Mum sings sometimes, and my Da plays violin. I played the recorder in school."

Not, he suspected, that he would be doing much recorder playing here. Here, there was magic to learn. Grin.

A bit belatedly, considering his eyes were level with the older boy's chest, he pointed at the badge pinned thereon and asked, "What's that for then?"

Ian was slowly regaining all of the air that was supposed to be occupying his lungs. He felt a new sensation as the feel of cloth touched his hand. He turned his head and then laid it on the table to face the cleaner of his hand and saw an older girl wearing the headgirl badge. Great! He had embarrassed himself in front of the headgirl. No chance of going un-noticed this year. He heard the words and nodded slightly in affirmation and then gratefully took the napkin. It was at that moment he realized that he was still sprawled across the table.

Ian pushed himself back to sit down at the bench and mumbled a brief thanks. When she asked if he was alright, he figured he should form coherent phrases in his thick Northern Scotch accent. " ‘M doing splendid thanks. I just hadn’t expected to be spoken to and then when the biscuit got stuck, everything went off the rails." He was cleaning his face as he spoke the words and took out his wand to extract the pudding and other food items from his auburn colored hair.


Ian nodded. “Aye. Second year.” He extended his hand. " I did my best to remain un-noticed. I’m a bit on the shy side." Ian was grateful that he was actually meeting people. It might make this year go by a bit quicker. Last year had seemed an unmerciful dragging period of time. " Aye! And you?" he answered as Aditya asked him the question about being set.



Ian looked to the sound of some kid standing on their bench. He saw the boy from the bookstore. He was holding a huge jar and making some sort of proclamation. Ian had an urge to go up and let the boy know what he thought about this big, loud display at their table. As soon as he had slammed the jar of pickles on the table, he was off. Maybe that would be the end of his time seeing that silly sot of a boy.

SPOILER!!: Romulus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabben

*The next few things she said confused him even more. But it was all starting to come together. No money, muggles, and he was pretty sure that she almost said orphanage. That was very troubling to him. The funds were put in place to help the poorer students get to school, but with the school going broke not that long ago and funds from past alumni getting smaller he shouldn’t have been too surprised. But two years without any help for schooling at all? That was downright criminal.*
“I’m sorry to be blunt… but from what I am hearing is that you have had a very had life to say the least.”
*Not sure what to do or say Rom pulled up two cups of tea and poured them both a glass.*
“If I may hazard a guess… you were put in an orphanage by your muggle parents because they didn’t know of the magic blood in your bloodlines? I am sorry for that… it’s-… it’s not right that things like this are done. But at least you are here now, it will only get better. And if not come find me or my cousins. One of my cousins is the head healer here.”

She looked down and gave a slight nod to what he said, "My sister and I both actually… But I managed to get them to agree to take Anastasia back since she’s eleven and still no magic, so I’m guessing she’s a muggle." And the lucky one if she was to be honest, "But yeah, you’re pretty head on… My parents sent us to an orphanage in Russia, had our last names changed, hoping we’d forget them and then have to way to track back to them… and they’re terrified of me." And so it should be clear why she didn’t like magic yes? It cost her her family.

"Just… Please don’t tell anyone about it." She looked up at him again, "I want to at least appear normal. Not the odd one without a family who loves her. The girl who’s locked away from the others because she has a ‘curse’ as the head of my dorm likes to say." Annaleecia sighed, "I just want to get this under control because if I do maybe…" She paused knowing it was going to be stupid… but she seemed to pause at the right time as he pour her a glass of tea. She took a quick drink, trying to get herself to calm down, "Maybe they’ll take me back again… Maybe they’ll love me again…" She looked down, "I know… It has to sound stupid."

SPOILER!!: The Crush

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

"Aww you won't be an outcast here, unless you do something really bad to lose the house points which i am sure you won't." he told Anna truthfully. "I think you will make many new friends. I mean hey you met me that is a start." he assured her.

"Oh well you can give it to me to use on Belle my older sister." he said jokingly. Sometimes he would like to know if she is trust worthy all the time.

She smiled up at him, "Glad to know it’s not all that easy to do." Anna couldn’t help that it widened slightly as he said they were friends. It was an odd word to her, ‘friends’… She didn’t have any at the orphanage, and aside from Mel, she’d never really had any.

She gave a small laugh, "Well, it might come in handy here at least." She smiled, hoping she wouldn’t have to wonder if she shouldn’t trust someone or not.

SPOILER!!: Strange boy who threw pickles onto the table

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Alright so the Puff girl said this was alright. He was allowed at other tables which was good, because he was on a mission. He told Wade he would do this, but after talking to Alexa and even Mo on the train he wasn't sure he should be seen over here, but these people didn't look bad and there was a red robe sitting here so he did it anyway.

Moving along the table he got up on the bench standing tall. "HEY YOU PUFFERS" That should get their attention right? Anyway he looked around. "I was told to bring this to you and since well I got into Gryffindor and not Hufflepuff" Thank Merlin because now Alexa said he was cool. "Wade my step brother wanted you all to have this for term." He slammed the big jar of pickles down on the table, yep that should last them though Bart wanted nothing to do with his crazy pickle liking. It was just odd.

He looked around "That is all Puffers carry on."

Anna looked up hearing someone yelling. Who was this kid? And who was Wade? A former house member? She looked at the young boy with a slightly confused smile. Well, he was keeping a promise that was a good sign for a true friend right? She twisted a curl debating then finally forced herself to stand and go over to the boy. She gave a small smile and gave a small head nod as a hello.

"Hi there… Um, Annaleecia." She said rather shyly. She just hated talking to new people normally, but she wanted friends here, she didn’t want to be left all alone like it was back at her so called ‘home’.

SPOILER!!: Marigold

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Marigold looked up at the girl who just approached her. She looked older than a firstie, but Marigold had never seen her before. Maybe a new second or third year? "Hi Annalee. That's a really cool name," she said truthfully. "Oh. And I'm a third year."

She gave a small smile, "Thanks." Anna nodded. Another third year? Were they the most common or something? She had only met one younger so far and no one older… then again she was afraid to try to talk to the kids older than herself, "I’m a third year as well… Though it’s my first term here." Did she say that right for the first time? She hoped she had, so many people had gotten confused by her way of explaining it.

SPOILER!!: Sweet Second Year

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ringo

"It's good to see you!" he told her. Dylan smiled and hugged the first year back. He then laughed at what she said. "My summer was really nice!" he replied with a tiny nod. "What about yours?" he asked. He was actually really happy she was sorted into Hufflepuff. He was sure they'd become good friends this year.

Anna gave a small smile, "It’s good to see you too." She smiled and paused as he asked how her summer was, "Um… Same old, same old… Nothing really new except for the occasional trip to Diagon." She gave a small nod, hoping that would be enough of an explanation for the second year, she didn’t want to talk about her summer all that much, her times in the orphanage were always horrid.

Laura smiled at Tessa. "Well sometime things change and it is really big." Laura then thought about something. "I have no idea really, but there has been a few weird rooms." Laura giggled as she thought about all the rooms in the school.

Laura giggled. "Oh I might still work with dragons one day but first I think I want to try and become a famous jockey." Laura thought it would be cool if she could be one of those but she knew there was going to be a lot of hard work involved.

The hall was getting more crowded now and noticeably louder. So loud, in fact, that the seventeen year old nearly missed out on what one of the new boys had said.

This one seemed curious, didn't he? Ella tilted her head at his thanks and smiled. "Anytime, kiddo. I'm Ella, by the way." Because really, she should get to know all the new badgers. It'd be easier to make sure they didn't get into trouble that way.


"Head Kahun-what?" Ella wasn't familiar with the expression so she tilted her head, eyeing the boy curiously. Was that a term people used regularly or just something this guy had come up with? She had lots of questions about this, Ella did. And did that mean like, the person in charge or whatever? The blonde was going to guess that it did.

"The other badges are for prefects and Quidditch captains. Colors correspond to the houses." Nodnod. "So basically if you need to find a student leader, look for a badge and you're golden."


Marigold.

How could Ella forget, yeah? This one was awfully cheerful and of course the blonde knew who she was. "Thank you, Marigold! It's nice to see you." And nice to be back at school minus the looming NEWTs. "Have a good summer?" And her and Kace seemed pretty chummy, huh? This made the seventh year smile a little to herself. Young love, maybe? Hm.


Another familiar face. This one was quite enthusiastic too causing Ella to smile. "Hey Adi! Thanks!" He seemed happy about the badge too which meant maybe he thought she'd do a good job? Maybe. That was kind of nice, actually. At his question, the blonde's smile widened a bit and she looked around before focusing on the younger boy. "I'm good. It's really good to be back. How about you? Did you enjoy your summer?"


That look on his face? How could Alec look at her like that right now? It made Ella want to go over and give him cuddles immediately but this wasn't exactly the time for that, yeah? "Common room later?" He knew what she meant. She smiled at him too because frowny boyfriend wasn't going to be a thing. Nope. Cheer up, handsome.

"A good okay, I promise." No need to worry. She had plenty to keep her mind off of things and stuff so she really wasn't feeling too sad right now. More excited to be around her badger family again. It was just...really nice. "I'm ready too, actually. I didn't snack much on the train." Which was shocking, really. Hadn't even broke into the gummy worm stash. Weird.

Patrolling? Um..."No billywigs though I kind of figured that was a prank." Shrug. "And lots of cute firsties." Grin! "How was it for you?" And she really wanted to be holding his hand right now but since she couldn't, she played with her own hands instead.


Now Messy was pulling sad faces too? Didn't these boys know she was trying to stay positive right now? The blonde wasted no time in pushing up the corners of his mouth into a smile and nodding, satisfied. "We can't all be great at promises, Mess." See? She wasn't mad. And he missed her so he got extra points for that. "We have some catching up to do, yeah? How was your summer?"

Oh. no. Just. no.

Normally Ella would have been amused by Messer's teasing but given Alec stuff and things they'd fought about in the past, the whole thing made her stomach turn uneasily. She glanced over at the hair ruffler and gave him a nervous smile before she addressed the ballerina badger again. "Don't tease, Messer." He got a nudge in the arm too. "You can have hugs, though. I think you owe me some." Grin!

...

And then something about pickles and Wade and Ella's smile widened a bit because WADE! She missed him so much. It really wasn't going to be the same without him here. She'd have to right him soon. That was something she'd have to do.


Was he mad?

Ella hoped he wasn't and she was searching his face for signs that he was about to yell at her or worse, burst into tears. Luckily for her, neither happened. Thank Merlin!

"That...probably was the worst way to get to know a housemate ever, yeah?" She said sheepishly, watching as he cleaned himself up a bit. "I really am glad you're okay, though. I'm Ella." In case the little dude wanted to know his almost-murderers name. Okay, that was putting it dramatically but still.



More scanning of the great hall happened and more wishing for food but that all stopped when Ella found a certain younger badger who she was particularly fond of. She'd been wanting to find him to see how he was doing and now seemed like the perfect time, yeah? So slipping out of her current seat, the blonde then wandered over and flopped down next to him.

"Fancy meeting you here, kiddo." GRIN!

Delilah BEAMED. Yes, she made it and she was more than happy to be a Hufflepuff. Not that she'd particularly wanted to be in Hufflepuff.. or in any other house, for that matter. The second the sorting hat was placed on her head, it said Hufflepuff. And she'd heard that it was never wrong so here she was. "Thank you, Alec." She debated giving him a hug but decided against it in the end. There was just too many people around him. He'll get some Delilah hugs later.

"Congratulations to you, too! You're the Head Boy now."... Yes, Delilah. Like he didn't know that already. But, wasn't that cool? Maybe she'd let him borrow his badge?.... Heh.



Delilah turned to look at the blonde girl, a bright smile on her face. "Thanks! You can call me Dels, if you want." Or Delilah, Deli, Delly, Lilah.. But, Dels was the one she was used to. AND liked. "Hey, Ella." She smiled and walked over to where Ella sat and extended a hand. "Thanks, again! I'm quite excited."



"Hey, Kace!" Delilah grinned at the younger boy. It felt so great to meet all these people! They were so nice and lovely. And, it just made her even more happy to be a Puff. Mhmm. "It's great to meet you, too! What year are you in?"



... LOTUS. Delilah spotted a Lotus. She strolled over to where her dorm-mate sat, wondering why she was sitting alone. And, it looked like she didn't want to be disturbed at all.. She seemed so lost in thought. The blonde hesitated for a second before deciding to greet her anyway.

"Lotus. Hey!"

Ian finished cleaning his hair and then switched to surveying his upper torso to determine the damage there. It was better than it could have been so the clean-up was fairly easy.

As she introduced herself, he sheepishly looked back to her. "Yeah. I don't suppose there is a less embarrassing way to do that. It's quite a spectacle I suppose." Hopefully most of the others were busy with their welcomes and the sorting hat ceremony to have paid much attention.

He extended his hand. "My name is Ian. Ian Tinker to be more precise. I saw you around a bit last term, but kept to myself. Mum told me I needed to try and fit in a little better. As he finished up his grand introduction, he managed to give a half smile. She seemed to be nice enough. It might be helpful to have the acquaintance of the head girl. He'd have to meet the head boy at some point in time as well. He looked over at the bit of biscuit that remained on the table. He stood to clean it up so that the others wouldn't be disturbed by the pile of biscuit and saliva.

Bart hadn’t left the table yet, he hadn’t even gotten down from the seat he was standing on. He was proud of himself for doing this not only because it was fun, but Wade was cool and all why not. That’s when he saw the looks first from some girl. Most likely a first year (Leah), he grinned and nodded towards her, “Sup” Yeah he was cool up on this seat standing there all tall at the puffer table. A able he actually thought he’d be part of since Wade was and his mum and even Charely, but he liked the fact he was a Gryffindor so all was good. Still he hadn’t found Brynny, maybe up here he could see her.

(Messer). He probably knew Wade and all. [b] “No problem just doing my job. I think he was afraid you all would miss his pickles or something.” He shrugged really he didn’t get it Wade’s pickles weren’t all that impressive to be honest and the smell was just gross. “You knew him right? Head boy and all.” Yes his step brother was the head boy last term so his own house would know him of course.

He jumped down and just as he did he landed on something hard, maybe a foot perhaps. Looking up is when he noticed(Ian) book boy and he smirked, boy book a puffer. “Books couldn’t even get you in the house that’s supposed to be for the brains I see.” Wasn’t cool enough to be a Ravenclaw like Mo anyway and this proved it.

Just as he went to turn he heard someone (Annaleecia) speak again. Wow this table was friendly he was beginning to see what Wade meant by hugs and hair ruffles and what Mo meant by not all houses were like that. He gave the girl a look. She seemed girly so possibly one of the weirder ones, but maybe not he smiled back “Sup.. I’m Bart.” cue the cool boy nod.

As he turned, the boy hopped down and wouldn't you know it, he landed on Ian's foot. The response was immediate and violent. Yeaowww!!!!! He stood up and in the process his body made contact with the other boy's. He heard the boy's derogatory statements and mumbled a reply. smarts aren't always about what you learn from books. And being a Huffie is a source of pride for me. Too bad you couldn't follow your brother into the house. Perhaps you'd have learned a bit about being polite

Tessa glanced around her, as if a change was going to happen right in that moment. Nothing looked different, so she returned her gaze to Laura. "What sort of changes?" she inquired. "Sounds like a lot of fun- I can't wait to begin exploring this place," she said, bouncing in her seat slightly. She had been excited anyway- but what Laura was saying really had her ready to explore everything. Perhaps tonight she would do some exploring...

"Sounds like a great plan- I'll meet you on that famous block," she said with a wide grin. After all, she was on the track to being a pro Quidditch player. Nothing was going to stop her from getting to that goal.

Ah, okay. Hug was over? That was fine. Toby loved hugs, but didn't mind that it was over 'cause it meant he could go back to tapping on the table without any obstacles.

Soon enough, he found himself grinning at Marigold's reaction. Yup. 14. It didn't seem real, 'cause it didn't feel like that long ago that he was a tiny 11 year old being put into a house by the sorting hat. Of course, he was still pretty small as almost-14-year-olds go, but much more mature and grown up. Kind of.

"Right?" he responded, nodding his head. "It's pretty crazy. But I'm never gonna grow up." He was like Toby Pan or something.

Anyway. "So, Marigold. You looking forward to third year?" Tobias never really liked asking the question about how people's summers were, because it just seemed like a generic question. Plus, asking questions about the future seemed to open up so many more conversation opportunities than asking questions about the past, after all.



Taptaptaptaptapping. That's what Tobias was doing. His gaze might have wandered slightly, taking in the people at other tables. He was just peering over at the Slytherin tables when he felt the air shift as someone took the vacant seat beside him.

Tobias looked to see who it was just as Ella spoke, and he afforded her a wide grin. "Ella, hi!" he said, with genuine happiness in his voice. Once again, as with Alec, he missed the whole badge thing. But why should he notice the new one? Since he'd known Ella, she'd been captain, so he'd grown accustomed to the shiny yellow and black badge she wore on her robes and had no reason to look at it whenever he saw her.

Instead, he gave her a little nudge with his elbow to go with his grin. "Oh, y'know. I like to show my face here from time to time."

Kace chuckled and answered her question. He didn't think it was personal at all. "Yeah he is not a huge fan of magic. I mean he likes it when my mother does it since it is in her blood but other than that....he has got this image in his head we are a normal family but *shrugs* what can you do?" he asked her. "I love it when my mom does magic." Kace smiled. "She can do amazing spells."

"Yeah you are gonna like Astronomy and maybe go to other classes like Potions, Transfiguration, Muggle Studies, Arthimacy and the list goes on..." he said with a smile.

"How about you? Where are you from?" he asked. He felt bad he wasn't asking any questions.


"Hey Messer, nice to meet ya mate!" He did have a firm hand grip. Kace approved. His dad told him, you can tell a man is serious by his handshake. "I am in my third year. So i am not that old yet." he said jokingly.

"It might come in handy possibly for the teachers because they can tell if someone didn't do their homework or not." he winked and chuckled. "I mean i would have one just for that reason if i was a teacher." he told Anna.

He even saw her reaction to when he said they were friends. He found it adorable and asked, "What are we doing, a little dance here?" he asked her but he wasn't teasing of course. Kace liked to dance.

"Hey!" he said back. She was cute why didn't he see her before. She was nice and friendly. Man he had to meet a lot of new people this year. "Oh i am in my third year. Maybe i will see you around. What year are you?" he asked curiously.

"No problem!" Marigold said. She just wished she actually stopped to... smell the roses, per se. She remembered knowing nearly nothing her first year, so she turned to ask the younger girl, "Do you know what classes you are interested in?"



Marigold smiled at the second year. She seemed like she was still testing the grounds of Hogwarts almost. "Very hungry, eh? You didn't eat at all on the train ride here?" she asked curiously.



Marigold eyed the girl, still smiling. So she was a first year too... meaning she hadn't been here before. "Are you a transfer from Beauxbatons? Or Durmstrang, or maybe Salem?" Those were the only other magical schools she knew, though she made a mental note to ask Mitchell where he went to school.



Marigold smiled REALLY BIG at this one. She liked Ella. She was super sweet, PLUS she was Head Girl. "Well deserved," she said, referencing the head badge again. "Nice to see you too! How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while." Then came the currently dreaded question: How was your summer? Marigold sighed as she answered. "It was pretty bad, actually. My grandpa died from dragon pox, so my family had lots of arrangements to do." Funeral arrangements, which happened during the week before school. But Marigold smiled up at Ella. "I might try out for Quidditch this year," she said nervously. She still wasn't sure, but she wanted to see the sport Kace raved about.



Marigold grinned at Toby's slightly disappointed face once she let go of him. They were hug buddies, 'kay? It was official. Pluuuus he was even MOAR energetic than she was, so... hyper buddies too.

"Never growing up, eh?" Marigold said with a raised eyebrow. That reminded her of childhood stories, like Peter Pan and the lost boys... She should reread that. She was a strict believer of rereading.

YES. Toby had avoided the summer question and therefore, Marigold didn't need to mention the funeral. Yay for Toby!

"I definitely am! I really want to learn more spells and stuff. For me at least, it seems like OWLs are right around the corner, and I need to learn all this stuff! Plus, I like school. What about you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OHHEY KACE. Marigold ran over and hugged her friend. She missed him, okay? Not like Mitchell. YaY for hugs!

If Adi had been excited about being back before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now. He was actually bouncing on his feet. How awesome was this? His summer news came in second to a Head Boy Badge. Sure he was excited about telling Alec about his guitar lessons but that was for later. "Is that why you look kind of nervous?'' he asked as he returned the fist bump. "Cos you've got the Badge?'' But why worry? He was Super Alec!

Awesome! Adi was thrilled Bri felt the same way as he had when he first saw the Castle too. But about everyone being nice...should he warn her that she might run into one or two persons who were the opposite of that? He glanced in the direction of the Slytherin table, scanning it for Hannah. Should he spoil Bri's enthusiasm? Maybe just caution her. "Just keep your eyes out for any not so nice persons,'' he said with a wink. Classes! He could hardly wait to get back to them! ''Which class are you looking forward to most?''

Why was Tobias no so hyper as usual? Besides him self, Tobias was the only one Adi knew could really be hyper. "Something wrong?'' Adi called, waving back. "Got your pogo stick this year?'' Speaking of food! It looked like he and the third year were in the same boat. "Same here. I think I'll starve soon,'' he kidded. But the words were hardly out of his mouth when Headmistress Truebridge began to speak. That meant fooooood came next! Sure enough, the food appeared shortly. "Dig in, Tobias!'' Adi called. "So, how was your summer?'' Because Adi was genuinely curious to know what his friends had been up to.

Adi grinned at Kace. "The lesson with the beards was the most epic one. But I really don't believe in all those stuff. Same with Divination. They sound so...made up, if you know what I mean. Guess work.'' He supposed he would just go along with guessing at the subjects for the entire year. "Well, I know what you mean. Maybe someday you just might get fat.'' Hehe. That was a joke.

Yeow! What a high five that was! Adi's hand stung a little and even Leah's it seemed. She was rubbing her hand. "Oops. Sorry about that, Leah. I get a little over excited sometimes.'' He smiled sheepishly. "Oh those are the Head Boy and Head Girl. Isn't it so cool both of them are Puffers? You'll see others have badges too. Their either prefects or Quidditch Captains.''

Adi watched as a kid (Bart) he never saw before approach the Puff table and slammed a jar of pickles on it. What's with the pickles, he wondered quite forgetting Wade was fond of the thing until the boy mentioned him. Wade had a step brother? Adi never knew. "Hey!'' he called to the kid and waving. "First year?''

The second year had not missed Dylan's startled response. He grinned. "You afraid of something, Dylan?'' Like an jar full of ink? Hehe. "I sure did! Hopefully soon I can be playing a song or two!'' He was pretty much excited by that thought.

Adi broke off into laughter when he heard what Hazel call him. "Nonono, It's quite funny,'' he managed to say between breath and laughter. Calming down now, he returned to their talk of food. "I've never had french crepes but I do love fish and chips! Did I ever tell you I won a pie eating contest?''

Awesome! Adi figured Jordan's "yeah" was a reply to both of his questions. "It's not a monster,'' he told the first year. "It's just the Giant Squid and he isn't that bad. I sure would like to meet him!'' Won't that be epic?

Adi noticed how Ian answered with "aye" just like Benjamin had done at King's Cross. And Adi just had to ask the ridiculous question again as he had done to Ben. "Are you secretly a pirate?'' Oh he was shy? "Well you don't seem to be much of a shy one now.'' Which was good as he was interacting with others from what Adi could see. "I'm all set! Can't wait to get back to classes actually.''

Ella didn't look nervous like Alec. Which was good because he knew she would do a brilliant job. "It is,'' the second year agreed. Speaking of which, this was Alec's and Ella's final term. Meh. He hadn't remembered that until now. Ah well. There was still time until that dreaded moment arrived. "I'm good,too! My summer was quiet but I had a good time. Did you do anything special during that time?''

"Oh don't worry i wont be a stranger." he nodded. "You can count on that." he promised his badger buddy. "Oh well i went on a cruise to the Bahamas. I went with my mate's family and we went swimming with the dolphins, snorkeling and scuba diving." he said listing it off with his fingers. "Then i went to sports camps for soccer and american football." he told him as well. "So i kept being active which is what my mom likes to me to. But i had so much fun." I mean you can't tell by the tan he got or by the blonde hair that suddenly got brighter since they last met.

"Oh sorry i didn't mention that..i am a third year." he said. He kept forgetting to tell his year to people. Maybe he looked like a first or second year. I mean he did have the baby face. That is what his mom said. "What year are you in?" he asked but then he got an answer.

"Aahhh well being a first year isn't soo hard. I had the cuteness charm and i got by on things." he told the firstie. "Use your adorable charm while you can!" he suggested to her. "I mean i did play quidditch in my first term and that was a lot of fun." he said giving her advice to try out.

"Hey Tobias!" he smiled back. "Oh my summer wasn't soo bad, unless you count going on a cruise with my friends family and going to sports camps a good things, then i will say, i had a pleasant summer." he grinned and joked a little with his fellow dorm-mate.

"You trying out for the team this year?" he asked curiously.

Kace thought about it and wondered if he had any nicknames. Hmmm...."Well...my mom gives me one called Ace the Kace. Because i used to ace and excel in school and always do my best." he shrugged. He didn't think it was that embarassing to share. "Then Kaiden called me Little quidditch dude and Wade and Alec call me Penguin Kace because of the pajama party we had a while back." he chuckled at the memories from his first year. He missed those times.

"Being hungry makes me sounds like a Gryffindor...?" he asked curiously. "Well i guess because my hunger makes a roaring sound." he said with a little pun in there. "Oh they always have the best food. I agree. I mean it is better than my mom's home cooking sometimes." he told Tag. "What are you planning on having?"

Ian shook his head no. "I live up in Northern Scotland, by the sea. It's a bit of a mannerism I s'pose." He was glad he appeared less shy, but his insides were churning like a washing machine as he was forcing himself to be sociable. " Mum said I need to make more friends this year. She didn't think it healthy I went the whole first year and didn't really make any." Ian listened as the other boy spoke.

*Wow, she really had had a horrid life so far. How could someone's parents do that? Then again Rom almost never saw his parents. They were always on some trip or away at a work thing. But at least his parents hadn't given him up like Annalee's had. But then again muggles were always terrified of magic. If you don't understand something then you push it away to a dark corner and pretend it's not real. That or they try to stamp it out by burning the lot of the people that are different.*

"So far from what I have gathered about you stupidity is not one of them and your secret is safe with me, no need to worry about that. I truly am sorry you had to deal with that. No wonder you see magic as an issue that needs fixing. That couldn't farther from the truth you know. And don't worry about not having enough money. People are always leaving things in the lost and found. My cousin-... I mean Healer Tillstorm will let you take what you need from there. You wouldn't believe some of the thing people forget about here."

*Romulus himself had found a very nice journal that bites anyone but the owner. Great for privacy that was for sure. But he knew for a fact the once people were done with books or robes didn't fit anymore people would just leave them in the dorms for the elves to take care of. He had done it himself a few times. He also passed over when she voiced her hopes that once her magic was under control they would take her back. Sadly this was not very likely but he wasn't going to dash her hopes away. They very well could for all he knew.*
"Russia? Wow that is a bit far. Where are you from then anyways?"

Lux decided that she would finally head on over to her table so that she could meet some more of her fellow Puffs. The thing was, there were so many people at the table now, that she was not sure where she could sit. That was what happened when she spent most of the feast with her friends at the Gryffindor table. Though she did not regret doing so, as she had the best friends in the world. Walking along the table, she tried to find a place where she could sit.

This... was something Alec liked to see. The excitement was great and what was even greater was the way this girl -- firstie, yeah? -- was so... good at talking to someone who was years older. Maybe he really wasn't the scary one. Even Astrid thought he wasn't.

Oh, hey! She was a muggleborn! "Did someone come to tell you about magic?" And she wanted to learn everything! Alec... was impressed. Were first years always this excited and eager to learn? Had he been this way when he was a first year? ... He... needed to ask someone about that.

Too hard? The classes? Alec looked past her and over towards the staff table. What was he meant to say? "Some are really great and can come easily and others..." He looked back at her and smiled a little. "... not so much. But... everyone finds one subject or another difficult, yeah? Try as hard as you can and you'll be great." Was that useful advice?



Alec hadn't noticed Lottie walking in, actually. And what was he going to blame? Tag's hair. Tag's luscious golden locks that seemed to be hit by the light perfectly. It was just... very... very blonde.

The seventh year's grey-blue eyes finally landed on the girl and he grinned. They... hadn't talked in a while, right? All summer? Shrug. She was looking up at the staff table, though, so... should he wait for her to turn his way and then give her a grin and a frantic wave? Or... should he call out her name...? Would she be able to hear him?

Courage. Here went nothing. "Lottie!" GRIN and WAVE!



Badger Boom was an AWESOME nickname, Alec knew this. What he didn't know what why the boy was drumming on the table. Was he waiting for something? For something to happen? Or... or counting down? Alec didn't know. And he wasn't going to ask. Instead... "How've you been? Looking forward to Quidditch?" Because Quidditch. QUIDDITCH!

Ahem.

... Oh. The closed eyes and shaking head thing wasn't a good sign, was it? "Oh! That's really brave of you, man," he said, giving him a clap on the shoulder. When the boy mentioned Professor Starman, the nearly eighteen year old looked up and over at the Staff Table for the Starman himself. "Is he a big pogo fan as well?"

Pogo fan. ... There... were a lot of bad puns that could be made from this. Next time, Tobias, next time.



Hey you puffers? ... What...?

Alec looked up over at the Fox boy -- yeah, he remembered that incident -- who was STANDING on a bench. Was that safe...? What if he fell over? The seventh year glanced over at his girlfriend to try and see how she was reacting to this before looking back. Okay, maybe there was no need to worry. He was going to be okay, right? Yeah. Sure.

... DID HE JUST SAY WADE?! And step brother?!

Yeah, Alec was listening. And watching intently as the boy slammed a big jar of pickles down on the table. Wade had let them have that? That... was really nice of His Royal Curliness. Trust the guy to leave them pickles. ... Pickles. Maybe the house could have something pickle based on Wade's birthday. The Head Boy was going to propose this idea to at least one person. Nodnod.

But the boy. "Hey! Erm... excuse me?" What was his name? "Did you just say... that you're Wade's step brother?" How had the two been friends for so long and this hadn't been mentioned before?



Alec did enjoy Tag playing with his hair. He also liked Tag's hair so... he reached over and gave it a quick ruffle. There. This was very important to do and something that was completely normal between the leprechaun and the... Alec. Something else that was normal was talking about their hair care products. "It's one that helps keep it soft. I thought it'd be... useless for the harsh cold," Nodnod. "I think so? Lavender... and sage. And the bottle says Apollo." See? Normal.

Alec... tilted his head, slightly amused at what Tag had to say next. "That sounded quite wise, you know," Quite... only because Alec wasn't sure. He wasn't a wise dude, see. Maybe that was something that needed to be changed this year. ... Yeah, maybe. "I..." GRIN. "Thanks, mate! I don't know how great I am at leading but... I'll give it a go." Trying. Hard. Nodnod.

Chocolate stars were the best, don't question it, Kildare. "Oh... awesome! Anytime, mate!" And then he was struck with... an idea. "Hey, do you think we should add them to the super secret sweets stock?" Because if they were that good, they deserved a spot in that pile, right? Yeah? ... He wanted an excuse to collect gold stars.

"You did brilliantly," Proud best mate right here. "Did my notes help?" His late minute OWLs notes. They had certainly helped him, Alec, when he had done his own OWLs but whether they helped Tag or not... he didn't know. ... NEWTs. The seventh year made a face at the word before saying, "Not looking forward to those."



This time. Meaning there were other times when ballet duties were on the list? Alec raised his eyebrows. "So what's been keeping you away, mate?" ... No. What?! Him?! "And... embarrass myself with my lame dancing skills? No thanks. I just... thought it was your passion." That girl seemed to say so; the one who was younger than them and couldn't stop raving about how great Messy was. "Anytime!"

BLINK. ... What... was Messy doing?! There was just about enough space but the boy still scooted over a little. Did he understand what was going on, though? No. Not even one bit. Alec stared at him and then over at... oh. OH. This was an interesting development. "Are you scared of Ells, Messy?" More teasing opportunities? YEAH.

And he wasn't eavesdropping on his conversation with Head Girlfriend herself, no, but that comment? Not cool, Mess, not cool.



Oh. One small word could be taken in a number of different ways but... the boy wasn't disappointed, right? He hoped not. "Really? I... that's brilliant! It sounds like you come from a musical family." And was Alec impressed? YEAH, he was. "I can't sing to save my life. ... Or play any musical instruments either. They all seem... really hard to me." Shrug.

Wait... "I'm not that bad at playing air guitar." Was Alec funny? No.

And the badge was noticed. The surprise that had been on his face the previous times people had noticed it wasn't there anymore. He didn't even look down at it. Instead, he grinned nervously at the boy before saying, "It says HB on it... which stands for Head Boy. I have to help look after people and the male prefects and be a leader. The Head Girl's in Hufflepuff, too!"



Common room later? Alec nodded along. "Sounds great! I'll, erm... I'll meet you there, yeah?" Maybe he could bring down a packet of gummy worms. ... Or was the feast food going to end up being enough? It probably was, right? Gummy worms could... be saved for tomorrow, then.

A good okay. "I hope that's a pinky promise," he said, smiling a little at her. He did like the idea of her being a good okay. It was much better than being frowny or sad or just a simple okay. She didn't snack much on the train? Was... this something to worry about? "I... did you have anything to eat today?" Because observant boyfriend had been observant. Or tried to, at least.

No billywigs! Good. AWESOME. "I'm... really glad it was a prank," Had he been scared about a possible billywig outbreak? Yeah. Nobody needed to know that. "Really? There are a lot of new kids?" They weren't going to be a mischievous bunch, right? As for him... "It was okay. Erm... I think... there was talk about underwear being hung up." Not to mention that someone had his. Cough.



That was a big grin from the new Hufflepuff, and that made Alec grin in return. She was happy about this, yeah? The boy knew what kind of reputation the house had among some people but... generally people were okay with their house. Yeah. "Anytime!" Also, yes, hugs would be good right about now.

"Oh thanks! I... yeah, I am. I was... surprised to get this," Which meant that Dels/Dely -- he really needed a nickname for her that didn't remind him of FOOD -- had made friends with the Head Boy. Good on you, Delilah! "Oh hey! Did you bring your kitten to Hogwarts?" What was the kitten's name again? Lily? Lottie? Lola? ... Lola, right? Lola. Delilah would mention it... maybe.



And here Alec thought Adi couldn't get any more excited about everything. The boy's eyebrows shot up and an amused expression cross his face as he watched the younger Hufflepuff. He wasn't the one on a pogo stick, right?

Was that why he was nervous? Yeah... Adi had managed to hit the target with a bullseye. "I... how did you know?" And he was still quite amused by it, actually. Yeah. "Do... you think that's a weird thing to be nervous about?" Because Alec did. Or... a part of his brain seemed to think that being so nervous about this wasn't going to help.

"You haven't finished telling me about your awesome summer, you know." Hint hint, Adster.



He could count on that. The not being a stranger part. Alec grinned and nodded at the young boy. "Awesome. And... that means you can count on me not to be one either." That is... if the boy thought he was going to. It wasn't happening so Kace Lecium, you're stuck with this tall, awkward seventh year.

... What? "Really?! I... that sounds like it was a lot of fun!" Really busy as well. Now Alec felt a little bad for just sitting at Ella's house for most of the summer. Or looking after two kittens, an owl and a puppy. "The Bahamas... what was it like? What was your favourite part?" Alec wanted to know everything.

And the boy had really blonde hair, did he know?

Chaos? yes this table was definitely getting more noisy and chaotic now with more students joining in. Sander just waved his hand to brush off her apology.
"There's no need to apologize. I'm getting lost myself." Sander grinned back at her.

....and then his attention was drawn to Hazel who was now sounding more confident.



"Okay. I get it. I guess the talking part is to allow new students to meet others and for the other students to catch up with their own friends. I'm definitely looking forward to the eating part. I hope they don't let us talk too much." Sander winked at the younger girl.



Sander belatedly realized that he was grasping Adi's hand harder than he should and quickly released. "Sorry man, I didn't mean to shake your hand that hard. It's just the way I'm used to doing it. You have a pretty strong grip yourself." Sander grinned back at the younger boy.

Then he listened as Adi told him what the students usually did for fun. Quidditch? Sounds like everyone likes it.....except me. So scratch that for fun. I'll stick to ice hockey. Gobstones? Now that was something he hadn't played before. Maybe he would think about observing a game just to see whether he would like playing that....if he needed a break from his main game.

....and yes here was the why did you transfer? Sander was actually getting used to answering that question by now.

"Where? I transferred from Durmstrang. Why? Because my father wanted me to do something I wanted to do and he didn't want me to do what I wanted. So he sent me here hoping that I would change me mind." there simple and straight to the point.

Then he laughed out loud when Adi asked him how he got to be his size. "Well I have Scandinavian blood in me and most people from that part of the world are taller than most. But I don't think I'm that huge....and you're not only just up to my knee. I think you're at least above my waist."

....and why was he comparing him with Alec? Sander shook his head and then shrugged. Maybe it's because there aren't that many Seventh year boys in the school. Yes that was most likely what it was.

.....and talking about Alec.



Whoa there Alec...I didn't say the exact same badge.

"No No....you misunderstood me....or maybe I'm not making myself clear enough. I said I've seen others with badges....not exactly the same with yours. So your's say Head Boy? Not bad." Sander nodded in understanding.

"Yes there are definitely more boys in Durmstrang than there are girls. At least that's what I noticed but I could be wrong." Sander shrugged. Right now the male vs female student ratio didn't seem that important any more.



BINGO!! Ella finally answered the question he had been wondering about. Ah! so prefects and Quidditch...there's that game again...captains also had badges. That made sense.

He gave her the thumbs up. "Thanks for explaining and pointing me in the right direction....and Head Kahuna...that's a term my cousin in Hawaii uses for people who are like the leaders or the chiefs. You being Head Girl would definitely fall in that category." Sander explained the phrase he had used to Ella.