Alone? Good. It was just Cutty and his wand and the green-lit solace of the Slytherin Common room. The boy spotted a small, low table and got down on his knees and laid before the fire. Wearing a serene, but almost non-existent smile on his face, Cutty skooted beneath the small table inch by inch, his wand slowly being removed by his too-small-for-him robes.

"Intaglio." He whispered looking up at the underside of the small table as he carefully began to carve a dead kneazle. He considered chanting. De-De-De, Kne-Kne... .

Upon completion of the image, Cutty rolled out from under the small table pushed himself up and plopped onto the sofa. He held out his wand and locked his eyes upon the image of it. It was small, at least when compared with his size and the size he was likely to grow too. But that wasn't a disadvantage. Rather, he thought that it made it easy to stow and quickly brandish. Another thing he was rather fond of was the way it bulged at the end from which he held it from and tapered at the other to an almost fine point. He thought it might easily double as a less magical weapon and the bulging handle side supported his grip and guarded his knuckles like the hilt of a sword. In fact, he found it's appearance was rather sword-like.

To think. He almost lost it. And would have if it had not been for Beverly Wayne. Who knew what Sophie Newell would've done with it.

It was a relief really to be back in the Common Room. It had formed an almost second home for the seventeen year old and despite the fact the rest of the school was wonderful, the Slytherin Common Room was where he spent a lot of his time. And with his NEWT's looming he was sure that he'd be spending even more time in here studying.

Although distractions were rife, especially in his dorm. Maybe the library was a better idea.

He headed into the common room his attention drawn to a fellow much younger student in the vicinity. He offered him a nod and a smile before his eyes spotted the green bean bags on the floor. Well they looked comfy. He considered it for a moment, contemplating on whether the sofa was a better option or whether he'd be able to get up afterwards from the bean bags. After last term he had a slight worry that his bones wouldn't survive it. But the temptation of him being extremely comfortable was overwhelming and the Slytherin flopped straight down into it, kicking his shoes off and resting his head backwards.

Aaaah. This was nice.

Vinnie entered the common room and looked around. Something was different. Or was it her? She hadnt really spent a lot of time in the common room last term. She had prefered to be outside or in her dorm. The common room had people, lots of people she didnt know.

But this term would be different, it had already started off differently. The brunette had made friends and she couldnt find the words to say how happy she was about that. The transfer had been hard on her, for almost one whole year the girl hadnt spoken to anyone. But things were different now, Hogwarts was her home now. Or at least about to become her home.

And then something in her head went click. The bean bags. They hadnt been there before. but they looked insanely comfy, alsmost too comfoy for someones own good. This was Vinnie's idea of relaxing. Making her way to the lovely green things, the fifth year noticed a blond boy getting rather happy in his bean bag. With a smile on her face she let herself fall into the one next to him."Ahhhhh", she said and stretched.

Ahhh, the common room. Caleb had missed this place. Even though it was in the dungeons and sort of perpetually cold, it felt like home to him now. He had his favorite couch, he knew he could always find a roaring fire, and it was just relaxing and made him feel safe. Like he couldn't die of an aging disease if he was just hanging out here. Or something.

After his long first week of classes, he was ready to just take a break. He was going to need LOTS of breaks this term if he was going to get on the top points board again. He sighed and threw his bag on the arm of his favorite couch, plopped down, propped up his feet and closed his eyes. Ah yes, he had MISSED this!

The common room was seemingly much emptier than it usually was, perhaps because the weather was still ‘decent’ and there was enough time to be outside enjoying the last of the sunshine before the rain typically swooped in and destroyed the fun. Terry wasn’t entirely sure why he wasn’t out their either, perhaps because he was feeling more tired than usual having barely got any sleep the night before. And the bean bags were just that perfect place to relax.

He shuffled in his seat, getting himself even more comfortable as he rested his head back to come into contact with the bean bag. He slowly closed his eyes and sunk into his thoughts.

Just as the Slytherin was about to get comfy and if other people hadn’t of been coming in he probably would’ve actually dozed off, a girl came and sat in the bean bags near him. He opened one eye, glancing over at her and offering a smile. ”These are a good addition, aren’t they?” he patted the bean bag he was sat on and then attempted to sit up a little bit. ”Although getting out of them might be a bit of a problem.” He was well and truly sunk in. Ah well, he wouldn’t need to move for a while anyway.

He glanced over to see another guy who he was sure he had already met before doing exactly the same as he was. Caleb right? "Is there some form of spell in the Common Room that's making us all sleepy?" he chuckled speaking to anyone who was listening.

Sophie had missed the feast, err...unexpectedly, so she decided to pay the common room a little visit to see what everybody was up to. She kind of expected to see some really cool Slytherin party going on, but what she saw instead was her sloth of a brother laid out across the couch.

"Wow, you've really started off the school year with a bang," she said. "Don't work too hard, little brother." Heh. She was just joking, though. She plopped on the couch beside him, likely disturbing his peaceful lounge. Caleb would make exceptions for her, though, right?

"Remember what happened this time last year?" she asked. Their fight? Haha. Sophie noticed there was no party this year. Maybe they'd done things in for good with that one. She looked out across the room. Hmm? "What's Mordaunt over there doing?" she asked.

Caleb had just closed his eyes to try and doze off a bit, when he heard a familiar voice. He sat up and blinked. It was his sister, back from the dead! "Where were YOU at the feast?" he asked her, sounding more concerned than accusatory. He'd have hated to try and explain to his parents that she had died or something, or that he'd lost her.

Plus, she'd left him alone with CUTTY and some other people that he wasn't too concerned about. It hadn't been the most thrilling feast, that was for sure. He chuckled when she brought up the fight and nodded, looking very pleased with himself. "Yup. In fact, people are STILL talking about it. Brought it up at the feast, they did," he said with a cheeky grin. That fight would live in infamy, wouldn't it? Wasn't the worst thing to get remembered for!

And Cutty? He raised an eyebrow and glanced back at their fellow third year. What WAS he doing? He shrugged and leaned back again, hands behind his head. "Who knows. Don't care," he said. If Sophie wanted to investigate she could, but he was on Cutty!overload right now after the feast and the train station.

PLOP.

Right into a beanbag.

It made a lot of noise and Theo momentarily froze from thinking he had ripped it. Making sure no one was looking at him, he peeked down to examine the beanbag, but it was all good. Besides he knew a repairing charm anyway, right? Ehhhh, kinda. Ehhhh, maybe he'd ask someone else to do it for him. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Now, who was here? Oops, didn't care. Theo leaned backwards into his beanbag and closed his eyes.

Seated comfortably in one of the single armchairs, Gareth was enjoying a slow reading of one of his "books without covers". Yes, they were books yet he had covered the covers of all his books, including school text books, with empty parchment for...many reasons. No one needed to know what he was reading or looking at.

Especially not this one.

Just when he thought he was enjoying a quiet and peaceful reading moment, someone nearby made a weird noise of dropping themselves on something and Gareth automatically frowned at the sound. He moved his gaze off the book to stare at the person. Head Boy person. Eh...apparently he enjoyed throwing himself on beanbags which were seats only for kiddos.

Hiding his smirk with the book without a cover, he spoke adressing the head boy with a much louder tone than he normally would.

"You know...you didn't need to fart here. Care to find yourself a bathroom the next time."

Vinnie sunk into her bean bag and sighed again. These things were like heaven. When had they gotten them? They should totally have them in classrooms, students would be so much more relaxed. Although no one would listen to the professors anymore....well but who did anyway....only a selected few. Sprawling out her legs,the brunette took up quite some space but quite frankly she didnt care. Maybe she should mark this bean bag as hers now, carve her name into it or something. Yeah.

The boy right next to her looked just as comfy as her, maybe even a little comfier if that was possible. She probably had been looking at him for too long...but he didnt seem to bother, as he offered her a smile. How sweet. „They are amazing“, she nodded,“ the best addition ever. I have a bean bag at home too. I love it.“ One time she fell asleep in her home bean bag and didnt wake up till the next morning. Thats how comfy these things were.

She couldnt help but laugh at the getting out problem a little, once sat on that bean bag there was no escape. It ate you up immediately.“ I know right?“, Vinnie chuckled,“there is no way out. You just get swallowed up by them. Thankfully i wasnt planning on getting up anyway.“ Well of course there was a way out, but it looked veeeeeerryyy stupid trying to get up. Especially cause you needed several tries. Snort.

A sleepy spell? That was a bit unlikely...unless it was a prank. So they'd miss all their classes in the monring...or maybe it was just their full bellies from the feast combined with the lovely warmth of the common room. It was a very nice feeling either way.


As the fifth year was getting comfy she noticed someone else plopping down on one of the bean bags. It really was no wonder that they were so popular, soon the students would fight about them. Exactly why she should mark one as hers. And then she heards someting...what was that?! Did that dude just fart? Oh my god, that would be the funniest thing on earth.

Vinnie peeked over to him to see his face, but he didnt seem embarrassed so he didnt actually fart...or maybe he just didnt care. How did you make so much noise falling into a beanbag though...the girl felt the strong need to teach him the bean bag move. Yep. „You okay over there?“, she nodded at him with a grin on her face.

Well, now he didn't waste much time cutting right to the chase in asking her where she'd been at the feast. "I was there," she said. "Ask Cutty. He talked to right there at the house table." Well, he HAD, even thought it had been the last ten minutes of the feast. Sophie was still annoyed at the fact she'd had to scarf down all that good food in ten minutes time.

People were still talking about that common room fight? "Really?!" she asked. "COOL!" ... "I mean...oh. What'd they say about it?" The Newell twins were going down in HISTORY. Sophie followed Caleb's gaze back to Cutty, shrugged, and then looked away again.

She was just about to say something else when...

"Ew." Boys could be so disgusting at times.

It was nice being back in Slytherin quarters. It was as if all her traits had suddenly rejuvenated and gotten an extra boost. It made her feel cool and in control. Just how she liked it. Making her way to the leather sofa her attention was briefly diverted when she spotted a sneaky Slytherin boy. Not even challenging her curiosity, she approached him, a dark wooden box in her hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked, peering under the table. Was he looking for gum under it? Eww.

So long as he had his wand in hand and was at Hogwarts, he might as well use his time wisely and practice his spellwork. And why not the Bulgarian Transfiguration that girl from the European Bureau of Wizarding Education Quiz Bowl Scholarship Competition or EBWEQBSC had used. Hers was quite advanced, but with practice, he thought he could get it. He held up his wand and accio'd three items from his dorm.


A lite spattering of chuckles came from the third year and kept on going. Fart jokes really never did get old to this one. The fact that Sophie Newell thought it distasteful only made it funnier and so his laughter came more intensely.




His laughing stopped rather suddenly, as if he were faking it all along. He wasn't. "Nothin'." He said unconvincingly. "What's in the box, Wayne?" Was it animals? Was Beverly Wayne going to slaughter a beast before Merlin and Salazaar's house? Hard. Core.

He was laughing, then he wasn't. Okay. Yeah. That wasn't creepy or anything. Beverly eyed him for a bit before raising an eyebrow at him. "Dragon dung." She didn't believe it for a second.

Glancing down at the box, she shrugged. "I'll tell you if you tell me what you were doing first." Because now she was extremely curious. It didn't matter if he had been looking for chewed gum or not. She wanted to hear it from him.

"Just that it'll be an infamous event for all of eternity," Caleb said with a grin. Ok, they hadn't said THAT exactly but it had been brought up, which led Caleb to just connect that dots and all that. "Looks like we'll be catching up with Mum and Dad in the popularity category," he added with another grin. Their parents had left their mark, and now they were too!

"Oh, you were? Must have missed you over all the food," he chuckled. She must have arrived late when he was tucking into a big piece of chocolate cake, so his mind had definitely been somewhere else.

"Uh-mph." He gave a short little offended noise, although he looked anything but wearing a smile that suggested he knew damn well that he was lying and he was amused by it's effect. "Honestly, Wayne! It's like you don't trust me."

"I was looking at my wand, alright? Can't a boy admire his own wand without anyone questioning him?" He said, sinking further into the black leather, relaxing a bit. He looked Beverly over once and remembered their deal. He was glad they hadn't been able to seal it with an unbreakable vow in retrospect, not that he was thinking about backing out. There were somethings in this world that were worth more live on arrival and he had a feeling that a promise made to Beverly Wayne was one such thing.

"Now, coom'ed. What's in the box, Wayne?" He spoke in a tone evocative of cooing.

Squinting her eyes at him, she wrinkled her nose. She knew damn well he wasn't offended...though now she was starting wonder what was his offended face looked like. Did he have one? "Do you trust me?" she shot back instead of answering the question.

Sitting down and placing the box on her lap, she lifted her shoulder in another shrug. "Whatever, it's not like the stuff in here are worth an honest answer." Most of it was rubbish her grandmother had given her. The woman had a serious case of what she called luxury.

Watching his with bright, multi-colored eyes the fourth year smirked a bit. "Just junk." She opened the box incredibly slowly, revealing a few jewelry pieces Grandma Morg had 'lavished' her with. In there were also the beetle earrings, if he remembered them.

That was the second time Beverly Wayne had asked him if he trusted her. That was interesting. Whatever did little Bevie Wayne mean by that? He carefully considered that once was a want, twice was a need. Three times would've been an addiction, but no good addiction gets formed without the complimentary.

She'd dropped it, however and they were moving on and before he knew it, Cutty was face to face, within reaching distance of Beverly's beetle earrings. The one and same one's she'd used as collateral for her candy. THOSE were most certainly the real deal, he'd tasted them and if they were real, likely too were the others which shared common space with them.

Cutty wasn't breathing. His large, brown eyes fixed on the sight of the glimmering golds and his heart began to race. There was so much of it. So much glimmering gold. Cutty swallowed hard and a sound, which sounded vaguely like the whimpering of some small creature that had expired quite happily, escaped him. He gently out-stretched a hand and carefully closed the lid to the box.

"Beverly," What was the last time he'd ever used her full first name alone? And in such a calm tone. "I may have forgotten to mention it, but you know, you're not a very plain girl, are you?"

Being a new kid in school, everything seemed very interesting.

Ethan wasn’t in the mood to talk to anybody that moment, and just decided to saunter around the common room looking at the different, interesting stuff that was inside their common room. He did however, caught a familiar voice of a boy and he immediately turned around.

It was Cutty! Yeah, the other Mordaunt kid.


And who’s that girl beside him? He’d seen her around school but never got introduced. Ethan decided against the thought of plopping down next to Cutty since it seemed he was in some sort of business with her. Ethan caught his words…and this made the Slytherin grin like an idiot. Was Cutty trying to say something to his female companion? Like… ‘Hey, I like you, you know?’

Muehehehe. Yeah, it looked awkward all right, and Ethan will make it more awkward.

The Slytherin tracked back to where he saw a Lute, and donned a feathered cap from nearby. He started to strum the instrument dramatically, as if serenading the couple.

Nothing to see here, really. Just a modern young man, helping a brother out through his…18th Century music.

O____________O

Theo's head did a slow-mo turn, trying to keep it subtle just in case the FART comment wasn't actually aimed at him. He kinda knew it would be, though. And alas, some new kid was looking right at him looking totally pleased with himself. Theo went the brightest shade of red and his eyes danced around to room to see if anyone was looking at him.

OH, the shame.

This kid would pay for that. He was disrespecting the HEAD BOY OF HOGWARTS.

"It was the b-EAN bag!" His voice squeaked. Theo's voice hadn't squeaked so much in a long, long time. He scratched the back of his head and sent the kid one of his most angry glares. On his list forever now, dude.

AW, CRAP.

Someone else had noticed. "Yes." He said through gritted teeth. Like a proper snake and stuff. "It was the flipping beanbag." Just in case the girl believed that annoying kid over there. Theo didn't even fart very often anyway, even in the dormitory. It was far too embarrassing.

The Slytherin sighed dramatically and leaned back into his beanbag. It made another noise but wasn't quite as loud as the first. He looked straight at the girl.

"That was, too."

O_O

Omg, someone save him.

Beverly had a knack for observing reactions, face expressions and all that in which she could guess what the person was thinking. So when she opened the wooden box, her eyes were glued on Cutty. The whimper from the Slytherin boy solicited a small quirk of her lips, forming the faintest of smirks. Eyes following his movements, she almost closed the lid herself when Cutty did so himself. Which she had not expected. Teasing could have happened, and she might have even let him touch some of the gold, but it seemed to be too much for Cutty Mordaunt. HA!

Wait. Hold up.

Cutty just first named her and...that tone. She may not be experienced in many things, but THIS. Was he hitting on her?! Beverly didn't know whether to laugh or scowl at him. No hitting on her without her permission! That's how things worked in the House of Wayne.

She leaned a bit forward, placing her hands over her box. "I know that, Mordaunt. Did my jewels get to your--" head, she was going to say, but there was music...

Switching her gaze to the Lute boy and blinking at him, she raised an eyebrow. What. Was. He. Doing? HOLD IT. No, bahaha! Just NO. Was this Cutty's idea? Brows pinching together, her eyes landed sharply back on Cutty.

"Are you trying to woo me or something?" What the Fawkes?

Ah, atmosphere.


Cutty was definitely, DEFINITELY keeping this kid around. I mean, look at him! Strumming that lute and donning that hat. And although Cutty considered himself good at knowing things about people just by looking at him, but he wouldn't have guessed he was such a fine lute player. And to an experienced ear with years of experience playing the lute, Ethan Mordaunt may or may not have been too good. That didn't matter. Cutty liked what he was hearing and even more so what he was seeing.

Yes. Ethan Mordaunt. You stay.

Merlin. How great would it be if he were actually related to this guy.

What if he was related to that man at the train depot too, though? Cutty didn't trust him. He was too anti-gum chewing and hard to manipulate.





"Yes, I am." He admitted in the one and same calm tone as the one in which he'd addressed her just now. A serene sort of look about his expression. "I am a bit...late to admit this, booht I've always thought you were a very pretty gehl. Ever since I said 'hi' to yer at the opening feast." He spoke so casually as if... . "And I know I can trust you. You could've done a number of things to my wand whilst you had it in your possession. Even broken it." ...Well, wasn't it at least in some part true? "So you see, when I say that you're a very pretty gehl, I wasn't just rehfehrin' to your exterior...booht, for certain, nothins wrong with that." He might've thought Bev too shy from the gate to have held eye contact, but he made it here and looked into the spectrum of colour that were neither one nor the other, yet them all at the same time.

Did the girl just raised an eyebrow on him. Why? What did he do? He was just...playing his lute for Fawke's sake. He was doing fairly well, and did not actually deserve the look she gave him.

But oh well. Not his problem at all. He was just a peasant who is in love with the lute...and trying to help ease the awkwardness that Cutty might be feeling.

Or maybe not?

Ethan had to lightly strum the strings to hear what Cutty had to say, and this made the other Mordaunt nod solemnly as if in agreement. Honest and raw right there. While both the Mordaunt boys waited for the girl's response, Ethan continued to play the instrument with closed eyes. Maybe this time he should sing, no? Just to make things more interesting. "...♫...O saw you not my laaaddyy...out in the garden there??? SHAAAMING THE ROOOSE AND LIIILLYY, for sheee isss twiiice assss faaaiiiirrrr...♫..."

Strum.Strum.Strum.

O__________________________________O

...........

What in the name of holy dragons was going ON?! Beverly wanted OUT. OUT! Had it not been for the tone in which he was speaking to her in, she would have been interested in that accent of his. Right now though, alarm sirens were going off in her head.

No, Cutty Mordaunt. No.

He thought she was pretty since the opening feast? He TRUSTED her? Exterior?! WHAT?

Wrapping her dark robes around her tight, Beverly attempted to keep a mellow and cool expression. No need to freak out. This was CUTTY. A Slytherin. He was probably trying to get into her head...or something. Could be a tactic to steal her box of jewels. RIGHT? Why was SHE nervous?! She was the one getting slammed on with...THIS.

"Oh, can it, Mordaunt." Now she was scowling, though she didn't mean it. It was mostly to cover up.

AND WHY WAS THERE SINGING.

Bev directed her scowl at the other boy. This whole making friends thing was proving to be a harder task than she'd anticipated. She wanted to thump him and that stupid instrument of his to shut him up. Didn't he see there was someone professing their undying admiration for her?!

"Tell him to stop," she grumbled at Cutty. Now. Please. Before she did.