"Hi!!" Sophie BEAMED. "How did you manage to come???" She asked, but thought of the answer right away. The dragon thing, yeah? Sort of made sense. Kind of. "They let you come here to visit me??" How NICE were they??? SO nice! Sophie already liked them all without even knowing any of them.

She grinned when he thanked her. The seventh year was glad he could be here for Slytherin's game and that they won. That sure made him happy, didn't ittt??? Beam!

No time to wave goodbye to Ellec or anything, Sophie let Mordred pull her somewhere else and sat down when he gestured for her to do so. As soon as he mentioned her missing his birthday, her face went from happiness to confusion. "What? I didn't miss it!" She said, looking at him confuused. Her eyes widened as soon as she realised what might've happened. "Something happened to the badger!!" MERLIN! Was it dead??? Why hadn't it reached Russia? Or wait a second. "Where exactly were you on your birthday? At uni? Or had you gone off to do the dragon thing already?" That would explain a lot. Though if he had been in uni... then that particular badger was weaker than she expected. Uh oh. "I'm so sorry you didn't get your gift!" UGH! And now he thought--!!! "I would never forget your birthday, Mordred!! Ever!!" And she meant it! Like, for real! "Anyway, happy belated birthday anyway!" She added and gave him a peck. Because even though it wasn't her fault, she did feel bad.

Sophie went back to smiling. "I'm good." She nodded her head as she got hold of his hand. "I'm glad you could come! It's good to see you even if it's just for a little bit. OH! And we can meet up over Christmas break, yeah?" Please say YES!!!

Mordred nodded as he looked at the sky, wondering how the rest of the Russian Dragon Handlers were doing. They should be on their last leg of the trip to the North Pole. “I’m not officially part of the Russian Handlers yet, but they allowed me to come and help out with escorting Faron.” Faron was the old dragon that his uncle knew about. “I took the chance to join since I know it will pass by Scotland. We used to visit Hogsmeade this time of the year, so I thought dropping by the vicinity would be a good idea…you know, to see you.” Ivanov didn’t agree, but it was a good thing his Uncle Aldred was there to persuade his professor. He argued that Mordred needs to be home for the Holidays anyway.

“Wait…” A badger? Again? “You sent another one?” Because the first badger she sent—Ringo, was still in his dorm being lazy and fat. But anyway, that wasn’t important. Mordred grinned at his girlfriend and kissed her temple. “I know you wouldn’t.” And besides, it was a petty thing to worry about. “Well, I think that’s the thing. Badgers aren’t as fast as owls. Maybe you should note that down.” The former Slytherin shook his head and chuckled. Really, another badger? He really would look like Noah in his dorm by now.

“Yes. Christmas.” Mordred placed his arm around her shoulder and looked out on the pitch. “I do have to visit my dad first. Check up on him and Ethan.” Yes. The not-so-ickle cousin was home for the Holidays. “After that, I’m all yours.” Will he be spending Christmas with the Campbells…or will Sophie join him and his daunting family?

"Oh and before I forget..." Mordred fished a small box out of his pocket and gave Sophie his Christmas present. "Open it."

Lux noticed that the girl was wearing a skirt. Was she not cold? It was Winter here, and it was freezing! In fact, she had put on a huge winter coat so that she would not find it too unbearable. Either this child was immune to the cold, or she loved fashion enough to freeze to death if it meant she looked good.

Oooh, Beauxbatons! That was so cool. She really wondered what it was like there, only knowing that the school was located in France. "Is your friend Bart then?" This girl did seem about the same age as her and Bart, so it would make sense. "How do you know him?"

And soon the game had begun so if anyone had said anything else to her, Penelope didn't notice it because she was too busy cheering for Ascanius and West and the rest of the Slytherin team. Although all the noise felt strangely painful for some reason. Or maybe it was the cold giving her a headache. Or something like that, if that was possible. It wasn't too awful through most of the game though, so she managed to ignore it.

It was only towards the end the headache felt like it got worse, but by then it didn't matter because Slytherin had won! Both teams had played awesome, but she was extra proud of the snakes, especially Ascanius. He'd played SO good. He even looked like he was doing okay now that he'd landed from what she could tell. Didn't look like he was freaking out too bad, which was a good sign. Penelope grinned.

Now she should go down there and give him celebratory kisses, yeah? Or should she let him celebrate with his team for awhile first? Hmmm...deciding felt too hard right now with this headache, so she'd decide once she got down from the stands. Maybe she'd feel better once she was away from most of the noise.

Sophie could hear that people were already leaving the stands and they were almost by themselves now, which was sad because that meant they should go soon. Sigh.

Russian Handlers. What an itneresting name! Sophie nodded at what Mordred was saying about... Faron and whatnot. And... awwwwwwwwwwfsdkjfnsdkjfnsdfdsjk! To see heeerrrrr!!!! Goofy grin. "Aww, thank you!" So lovely of himmm! N'aw! "I'm glad you came!" She added almost bouncing. sdfjsfkd it was MORDRED. Right THERE! Next to her. She could touch him! LOOK! And she reached out and placed her hand on his forearm. See! REAL! dfnsjkfnsjkdnsf EEEP! Beamy!Grin!

Sophie smiled sheepishly and nodded at the mention of another badger. She thought sending off badgers was pretty cool after all, and they could be quite fun creatures. Besides! They represented her house, didn't they? ANother thing to remember her by, hehehehehe! "Hmmm, good point." Althought badgers were brilliant animals, they were indeed slower than owls. "I'm sure you'll get the package sooner than later now!" Sophie grinned at the handsome young man sitting next to her who was now chuckling. DSJFNSJKN wasn't he adorable? Yes, he was. Heehee! ^____^

Christmas talk! "Of course." She wasn't expecting Mrodred to not visit them! She wanted him to visit his dad and Ethan, obviously! "Brilliant!" Aaand Sophie BEEEAMED again! Eeeeeeeeee!!! Could she squeeze him some more? dksjfnkjlfnsdkjnfjkfn! YES, SHE COULD! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!!! Heeeeeeh!

Oh? Present! She did open it and smiled once again. Merlin, could she ever stop smiling when Mordred was around? Nope. Not possible. "Thank you! It's lovely!" Oooooo, looked like some dragon scales! It'd sure remind her of him. Obviouslyyyyy! She looked from the necklace to him. UGH, what a handsome FACE! "I'll have to give you yours the next time we meet." Becaaauseeeee she had no idea he would come over to Hogwarts! Just the thought was crazy by itself. Mordred back in Hogwarts! What an awesome thing!

She couldn't WAIT for Christmas, though.

The things he’ do to see her, right? “Why should I miss the opportunity, when it meant seeing my girlfriend?” Yes you, Ms. Campbell. He even transformed himself into an owl to sneak himself in school a few days ago. Sneaky Slytherin right there. Mordred smiled as he looked down on her being smiley and giggly and excited. For some weird reason, he wanted to snog his girlfriend right then and there…but he will have to wait further since…there were professors around. It’ll be a terrible thing to have Sophie get a detention for it.

“Hey, no need to send me a birthday present. I’m already happy to see you in person today.” He said as he affectionately rubbed Sophie’s arm and placed his forehead on the side of her head. "I missed you a lot too." Mordred hated the fact that he will need to wait a few more months for Sophie to graduate so that he could see her everyday. Though that was their case, the former Slytherin will have more time to study dragonology and keep his mind off of Sophie for a few more months.

“Okay, so let’s get clear with this one. Do you want me to spend Christmas with you and your family, or mine?” He won’t mind seeing Sophie’s parents…and over-protective cousin really. In fact, he saw it as a chance to prove himself to them. He’s used to proving himself to anyone now, given that he did so countless times to Chloe’s family. They hated him like it was no one’s business, but he survived. He was secretly hoping though that he won’t get the same treatment with the Campbells. Not when he’s madly in love with the girl sitting next to him.

“Will you be visiting Hogsmeade soon?” Because he had to warn her. “I read a back issue of the Daily Prophet days ago, and saw that the Time Thief escaped again.” She knows about this, yeah? “I remember dealing with her in Hogsmeade during my fifth year…if I’m not mistaken.” Mordred tilted his head to the side as he looked out of pitch. “I should have chained her.” Yes. Chained. “Well, if they’re talking about Amarantha de Talone—it is best that you keep vigilant when you visit Hogsmeade. She used to work there…”

Mordred beamed as he watched Sophie’s reaction. She was intoxicating him in a good way that he didn’t want the moment to end. It was just…perfect in so many ways. He was back in his second home and he was with his girlfriend. See? Perfection right there. “May I?” Mordred released Sophie and offered to fasten the necklace around her neck.

He shuffled slowly out of bed that morning and set his alarm to compensate for this fact. This made Cutty Mordaunt amongst the first to arrive apparently, which meant he more or less had his choice of seats. As per his usual preference, though he tried to aim to near where he thought mostly adults were seated not wanting to be bothered by young children who Cutty did not have a taste for.

His little old man body was bundled...overly so...all ragamuffin-like, but still he shivered against the cold as he waited for the match to begin.

Kayla Winters made her way up the stands, looking for the best possible seat that would give her a good view of the pitch. Before sitting down, she took out her wand and put a few well placed charms around her so that no one could block her view.

She wanted to make sure that she caught every minute of her son's first game of Quidditch. It was a shame that Nico couldn't make it, but she would get the pensieve out later for him to see his son in action.

Her gaze scanned the rest of the stands carefully before she relaxed into a casual position and re-holstered her wand. You could never be too careful.

That lady was sitting in his usual spot.

West eyed her as he approached, watching all this business with he wand with great suspicion... then he sat down nearby. The Slytherin captain had his own badge on, but also had a Gryffindor flag with him... and was wearing a Hufflepuff beanie. Supporting Kaiden as well as his girlfriend of course, because Kaiden was his bro and he knew how tough it was to lead your first game, and even if he'd prefer a Gryffindor win for strategic reasons, he still wanted to be there to support his mate.

"Hello ma'am." This, West said just to be polite. He wasn't really intending to make conversation just... well she was in his SPOT.

She may have been looking out at the pitch but Kayla saw the kid approach from out of her peripheral vision. She wasn't expecting him to talk to her but her face was expressionless when she turned her gaze upon him. And he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out why. Yet.

"Hello." Her gaze moved from his face to the beanie on his head, down to the badge on his chest and then to the flag in his hand. She raised an eyebrow. "Can't make up your mind on who to support?"

Well.

"I support Slytherin." Paaaause. "But my girlfriend is the Gryffindor captain, and one of my best mates captains Hufflepuff. Its his first time." So it was actually a sort of obligatory thing on his part. And yeah, friends on the team, but that wasn't as relevant. "If Gryffindor wins, then Slytherin has a better chance at the championship." He added. So that was where HE stood.

"Do you have a kid playing?" Or was she just some weird grown up watching kids play?

Oh, look. Delilah was SUPER early.

Sporting her favourite yellow jacket, she entered the stands, holding a mug of steaming hot chocolate. What? It was really, freezing cold outside and she needed something warm to keep her going for a whiiiile.

She winked at West before making her right to the front and sat down, so ready to cheer for her house. Especially Alec. Taking a sip of her hot drink, she waited for the match to begin.

Ahhh so he was being loyal. Strange to find that in a Slytherin. Perhaps things had changed since she had gone to school here. Then he continued on and Kayla allowed a grin to appear on her face. "Now the truth comes out." A Gryffindor win was better for Slytherin. "Bet you don't tell your girlfriend that."

Kayla's gaze went to the Hufflepuff that was walking by them and she saw the wink that the girl gave to the boy and she let out a small chuckle. No doubt he wouldn't tell his girlfriend about that either. "Yes." She said in answer to his question. "Michael Toussaint. Do you know him?" Of course he would, her son was popular just like his father.

"And what is your name? I have this feeling that I have seen you before."

Adelaide made here way to the stands for the match. She had small a small Hufflepuff pin attached to her collar. Mainly because it was the only team she knew anyone on. Might as well support some of her friends, yeah?

She looked around to see that it was still pretty empty. Admittedly it was weird being at the pitch and not playing. But she spotted West talking to an older woman and decided that was the best place to go. "Hey West. This seat taken?" Addi said motioning to the one the next to him.

Cosgrach slowly made his way to the stands, carrying no banner whatsoever. He paused before he climbed the rows, though, and tried to pick a place to sit. Hmm... he chose to sit at the topmost row, mainly because he wanted to see some snitch action, but also because hopefully students wouldn't bother to climb up so much. Plopping onto a seat, he took out wizard binoculars to watch the game, but didn't look through it just yet. Instead, he surveyed the people sitting in the rows beneath him.

What time would it start, again?

West tossed Delilah a little wave and a smile then turned his attention back to the lady since she was talking to him and stuff.

"She knows." He grinned a bit. "All the other houses are in kahoots to bring Hufflepuff down." Pretty much the current state of things was 'if we can't win, let someone beat Hufflepuff' and that went for all three of the other houses.

Michael Toussaint.

"Oh yeah, he's okay." West said casually. For a third year and a Gryffindor. "His little girlfriend Zahra hangs out with my cousin all the time, and they come watch my band rehearse." So sure, he knew.

His name? "West Odessa. Do you follow Quidditch? I play for England, on the under seventeen's squad." Soooo maybe she knew him from that?

"Nah, sit Adds." He grinned at her. Of course he wanted his friends and teammates to sit with him. He noted the Hufflepuff pin and reached out and tapped it. Hufflepuff for her huh? Cool.

Bring Hufflepuff down? Apparently her old house was kicking some butt. Kayla felt a surge of pride and she allowed herself another smile. "Nice to see the Badgers getting the respect they deserve." Not such old duffers now are they?

See! She knew that he would know her son. The mention of Zahra though gave her mixed feelings. While she loved the girl, she was still unsure of whether those two were too young to be dating. Of course she couldn't really talk since she had started dating Nico at the same age but it was different when it was your kid.

"No I don't follow Quidditch." It was only that her son was playing that she was here about to watch a game. "Odessa, huh? I knew you looked familiar. I used to work for your dad at Gringotts. What's he doing now?"

Adelaide took the seat and smiled politely at the other woman. She didn't want to interrupt their conversation. She raised her eyebrow as West tapped her pin. She noticed the Hufflepuff hat and the Gryffindor banner. "Couldn't pick a favorite?" Or just wanted to show support for both of his fellow captains.

"Well... they've got some pretty amazing players." Respect where it was due and all that. He looked out at the empty pitch for a second and then back at the lady when she said his last name.

"Oh." At Gringotts? He couldn't remember even though he'd been there a whole lot when he was little and everything. His picture had been pride of place in his dad's office, along with Aspen of course, but West had changed an awful lot since then, obviously. Anyway, he lit up at mention of his father, the pride in his expression was evident.

"He works with Evander Bole, they do some private security stuff, and also run a pretty intensive training camp for people what want extra auror training and stuff." And everyone knew who Evander Bole was, right? On account of, along with his dad, the former MLE department head had totally taken down the cult and stuff. Though West thought that it would make more sense for him to be famous for having married Cat's aunt Lily, on account of how amazing her lasagne was.

"So are you a cursebreaker, Mrs Toussaint?" Just... assuming that was her name, because of Michael and whatever.

"Just showing some support for Kaiden... mostly I want Gryffindor to win since it gives us a better shot at the championship." Aaaaand would make the girlfriend happy, which benefited him.

And okay, there were a few others that he wanted to cheer for. Hufflepuffs.

Adi was making his way slowly out towards the Stands. It was going to be a good match, he knew. The Hufflepuff team was always fun to watch. And today his best friend would be playing. Obviously he would be supporting his House team but also Benny. Just his friend for the Gryffindor team.

Spotting Cutty, Adi made his way towards the Slytherin. On his way, he came across Professor Culloden. "Hello, Professor!'' he said to the man and wondering which team he was supporting today.

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

Finally, the second year hobbled into the seat next to his Slytherin friend. "Hi, Cutty,'' he greeted. Wow! Did Cutty look old! But he supposed he didn't look any better.

Well it was good to hear that Hufflepuff was doing really well now and it was even better that others were acknowledging it. It certainly wasn't like that when she had attended school although she did manage to show a few people what Badgers were made of.

Oh yeah, she knew who Evander was. He was the man who had essentially put her into retirement. Him and his elite Aurors. She supposed that it was for the best, otherwise she might not have settled down and Alessandro would not have been born.

"I used to be." She didn't bother to correct him on her name. She didn't feel like answering questions as to why she still went by her maiden name. "Now I have a three month old to look after." Kayla's gaze swept over the girl sitting beside West before returning her attention to him.

"So I guess you plan on making Quidditch your career." She paused for a moment thinking back on what he had said earlier. "Or you planning on being a wrock star?"

Ana was pretty excited for this match. While Slytherin weren't playing this game she was sure it was going to be an exciting one. Although she mainly was excited about the fact that she might get to see her friend play. She was even dressed in Gryffindor colours to show her support for the house. A stark contrast to her boyfriend, she was still excited that she could call Terry her boyfriend, who was dressed in yellow. He looked good though so she certainly couldn't complain about the colour.

Climbing up the stairs to the stands Ana noticed that it was a much easier trip to make when she wasn't late for the match. She certainly wouldn't need to squish past as many people to get a seat. She still remembered the funny look that guy gave her last time, though she'd no idea what she'd done to make him do so. That wasn't too important though. What was important was that she was ready to scream her lungs out in support of Gryffindor.

Selecting a spot that would enable them to have a good view of the match, while also hopefully protecting their ears from the loudness that was the commentators. Last match her earmuffs had protected her ears somewhat but she wasn't wearing them this time so her ears would be even more vulnerable to the sound.

"Thanks for coming with me," Ana said to Terry as she sat down, her excitement palpable. She was getting to watch a game she loved and spend time with him, she was definitely happy at the moment and the match hadn't even started yet.

Emmylou wasn't at all happy with her roommates. Why would they make her wear a skirt in the winter at ANOTHER quidditch match, if they wanted to look so damn good then why didn't they come here. Emmy didn't think she was a horrible dresser. She just didn't think fashion was everything. So why did they think that she was? They did her make up once again and they curled her long blonde hair. Well at least they got the colors right this time around. She was going to root for Gryffindor, right? Yeah, didn't Kace tell her the red team was Gryffindor. YES! Emmy smiled as she walked along the stands with her sign for Bart and tried to find a seat.

Emmy didn't even know where she wanted to sit but she was pretty sure that Bart was playing today and she really couldn't wait to cheer him on, she had a sign and everything for him. Emmy would be really embarrassed if he wasn't playing today.

So the roles were reversed this match. Asher was going to totally fangirlboy today over his girlfriend playing in the match today. It was her first match and he couldn't be more prouder of her. He couldn't stop grinning. As he made his way up the stands looking around for a seat.

He seen his own captain sitting there. He gave West a big grin and nod. Fistbump as he passed him. Before setting behind him. When he got settled into his seat. He leaned back.

Cinnamon should do this more often sneak out and go to quidditch matches and Hogsmead weekends at Hogwarts. Yep, yep. She has been a total rebel lately. She even took some of her dads gryffindor things to wear to the match.

She scanned the stands. She hoped she would see Professor flamsteed again. She liked him. She also had her canister of hot chocolate again. As she continued to scan the stands her eyes fell on a familiar blonde. She squealed! "Emmy!?" What was she doing here? She ran over to her and flung her arms around her.

Emmy was so happy, her birthday was in a couple of weeks, how great was that? Emmylou's sign for Bart had flung out of her hand and fell somewhere in the stands and she was tackled or hugged or something. Who was hugging her? Did heard someone call her name but she couldn't really make out who's voice it was for some reason.

AHHH STRANGER HUGGING HER! STRANGER DANGER!

Wait, this was no stranger to her, it was Cinna!! Emmylou quickly hugged back her friend and grinned brightly. What was she doing here? Why was she here? Emmy pulled away and saw that she was wear mostly all Gryffindor stuff. Quidditch, duuuh. Emmy still didn't understand Quidditch that well and Bart and Kace wanted to help her with that. She really hoped that they wouldn't put her on a broom. Those things scared her half to death.

"CINNA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"