Her last ever feast at Hogwarts. Adelaide should've been a little more upset about this then she was. Actually she couldn't wait to get out of her. The cold weather had absolutely killed her seventh year. She didn't get to hang out in the treehouse as much as she would have liked or do her runs around the lake and thru the forest. She had to settle for inside up and down the staircases. That just wasn't as enjoyable as nice fresh air.

Adelaide was way too excited about the future to be sad. She was going to get to talk things through with her mum finally. She'd only gotten the one letter after everything that happened with her dad. She was applying to unis and she was trying out for quidditch teams. Not to mention her boy situation was sorted out for now. As long as things worked out over the summer. But she was trying to be positive about things right now. That's all she could do.

Addi was one of the first few here. She grabbed a seat near the middle of the table. Her dormmates were still finishing things up when she left. She'd already been pretty much packed for days. She started to tap her fingers on the table while she waited for more people to show up.

....Well FINALLY. Though, really, if the snow cleared in time for them to go home? That'd be pretty convenient. Conspiracy? Conspiracy. Derry just wanted to go back home now though, she didn't really care what was going on so long as she could actually get out of here. After all, she had to check that Osiris was okay, and see her family, and meet up with Hamish, and finalise a venue, and wait for a reply, and owl a few people, and set up a couple of things, and oh. my. goodness. life. was. coming.

...

HELP!

Breathe, Derry. Breathe.

She made her way from the memory book to sit down at the Slytherin table, and plonked herself next to Addi. "Hey, ready to go home?" Derry was. She wasn't too sure about Addi though, actually. Not now that Connor was a thing... and what with her mother's letter and then not being able to get in touch and... gah. She really felt for her ginger twin, and Merlin help her if she wasn't going to be there every step of the way to life being awesome.

OPTIMISM IS KEY TODAY.

AVOID PANICKING AT ALL COSTS.

This is it. She was NOT going to be sitting here again, let that sink in. Nope, couldn't get her mind around that fact and she didn't even want to. It was all strange and weird. She wasn't finished packing and really was she ever done when it was time for the feast? She wasn't about to change that tradition now. So she left the dorm for now and headed to the Great Hall.

The leaving feeling was all too familiar and strange. Her feet automatically led her to the Snake's table and before she sat down she ran her hand over bench and the table. She better not look too weird. Ahem she was cool.

Addi and Derry seemed to have gotten there before her. Cassia smiled at the gingers and sat across from them. "Hey, you girls," She said a weird smile tugging at her lips.

Eight-seven points. Eighty-seven.

... SERIOUSLY!?

Sophie was trying hard not to think about Slytherin's almost-win as she walked into the Great Hall for the End-of-Term Feast. She just wouldn't look at the Gryffindors. They were already annoying creatures by habit, and then when they had cups and trophies, they were probably just obnoxious.

...and yes, both her parents were Gryffindors. They'd never let their children live this one down.

Sophie took a seat near Adelaide and Cassia. Should she wish them a Happy Graduation? They wouldn't cry, would they? Then there was Derry. And where was Grayson, Caleb, Ethan, and Simon? Friends. She had 'em.

Addi stopped her tapping when she saw Derry. Gosh she was going to miss constantly being around her bestie. Thing's were going to be so weird next year. She'd gotten too comfortable. "More than ready. You?" Even with everything going on with her right now. She just needed to get out of this castle. She was getting stir crazy being stuck inside. Hopefully they would be able to leave.

Adelaide looked up and smiled at Cassia. Dang. She wasn't going to share a room with her anymore either. "Hey Cassia." She saw that smile. That was an 'I'm not ready to leave here yet' smile. At least her dormmate was going to have a year to relax before delving into the wonderful world of uni.

Adelaide smiled at Sophie. She loved the Newell kids. She liked seeing how much they'd grown these past few years. They still weren't allowed to in her book but she couldn't prevent it. "Hey Sophie."

Next up, Snake table. He did have friends there too, ya know. Sophie, Caleb, Beverly annnd Cutty! He wanted to see Cutty because that dude had sweets! Where you guys at? Adi saw mostly seventh years...how depressing. He didn't like being around the ones about to depart the School. That reminded him...he still had to find his Super Els. Ugh!

Oh look! Sophie! Grinning, Adi headed towards the girl. "Hey, Sophie. How's it going?'' Pause. "Mind if I sit?''

You know what he hates the most?

Packing.

Ethan had to go through his things twice to make sure that he got everything inside his trunk, while being distracted once in a while by books and loose parchments. Well, judging by the grades on his homeworks, he can at least NOT worry about Mordred regarding his academic performance. He did BETTER this term.

And as he stepped inside the Great Hall, the first thing he noticed were the professors. Hmm. Looks like they're excited to go home? Making sure that he did not repeat the same MISTAKE by sitting on the wrong table, Ethan was able to spot Sophie right away with Adi. Okay, Adi isn’t lost, yeah? The blond boy sat in front of the two, and planted his forehead on the table.

Headache. What with the constant waking up at one in the morning every day because of the freaking cold...and living in the dungeon didn't help.

He however, managed to wave at the two while his forehead was stuck on the shiny surface. "Hey."

Ascanius couldn't WAIT to split, yeah? After a horrible final year stuck in a snowy underworld with mopey first years being 'round every corner all he wanted to do was get his drumsticks, get his stuff and get out.

'Course he'd miss Hogwarts, y'know? He'd never had a real home. Not really. Not the way that most people did. And this was a way cooler place to spend his time then an orphanage, but he couldn't stay here forever. And he didn't WANT to. Scan wanted to be a famous wrock star and tour the world with TDK and have a life that kicked the first half of his in the face. Being sad and depressed 'bout leaving wouldn't do anything for him now. He just had to buckle down and accept it with his BEAUTIFUL jaw in a straight line.

Everything would figure itself out 'cause it had to, yeah? He couldn't STOP time from moving and, honestly, he was excited to see what his older years would do for his face. Good things, naturally. Smirk.

So he slipped into his usual seat at the table and nodded at the usual suspects. Then he leaned over to Addi and showed her a signed picture of his face, "I'm thinking memory book entry. Whatta we think?"

Adelaide looked away from Sophie as they were joined by Ascanius. He got a smile as he sat down with the group of them. For the last time. Nope. She wasn't going to be sad about that. She was going to be happy about getting out yep. Then Ascanius leaned over and showed her a picture and she was no longer felt sad.

Addi let out a small giggle. "You know what, I think it's perfect. Captures you in every way." Oh she was going to miss him.

A smile? What was there to smile about anyway?

They lost.

There was no second place--only first place losers, and that's what they were. Sophie took an inward sigh and began the process of convincing herself there was so many positives that the negatives shouldn't matter as much. They'd really done an AWESOME job. She was so proud of the fight they'd put up. Eighty-seven points really wasn't THAT many points. They'd ALMOST won.

So she returned Adelaide's smile. "Hey," she said. "Congratulations on getting out of here."



Oh, heyyy--it was Adi!

Sophie thought Adi was a pretty cool guy. At one point, they'd even dated a little. Well, they went to a Valentine's event together, and that was as close to a date as two twelve-year-olds could get. Boyfriend and girlfriend hadn't worked out, but at least friendship had.

"Hey yourself," she replied. "Ehh...it's alright. I'm trying to talk myself out of the bad mood that's wanting to come." If he thought hard, he'd realize she was talking about that house cup race. "It's pretty good, though. I had a good year. What about you?"

She gestured to an empty seat. "Yeah, it's cool."



Hearing a soft thud across the table from her, Sophie looked up to see Ethan face-planted on the house table. "Yeah...it's too bad, isn't it?" she asked, assuming he was bummed about the house points. "We were so close..." She reached over and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "You were awesome, though--a points making machine, you were."

That should boost his ego. Heh.

Simon had finished packing. Well almost packing to be frank as he still needed to pack up his journal. He eyed the Gryffindor banners as he entered the halls and sighed. Those didn't help his mood but he'd see his friends. Frowning slightly, he made his way over to the Slytherin Table. He couldn't believe he was leaving Hogwarts ALREADY. To the boy, he just felt as if he had just arrived and made some friends. Seriously, why did they have to leave now? "Hey guys. Next term it'll look a lot better in here. Nice green banners all around here... How are you all?" he said with a small grin as he sat across the table from Sophie and next to Ethan. Ethan's head was resting against the table. Hmmm.. Was he okay? He glanced up at Sophie and whispered, "Is he okay?" Then he continued to look concerned for his Holmes.

His blue eyes gazed at the Gryffindor banners and his shoulders slumped. They had been so close. 87 points close. Simon glanced up and grinned when he saw a Puff at their table. Adi was here! He waved. "Hey Adi! How's it going?"

Agatha couldn't care less about them losing the House Cup. She didn't see the point in hosue points or anything, and NO, it wasn't because she wasn't even CLOSE to earning as many points as her housemates. Of course not.

Stupid house points. Stupid House Cup. Stupid snow.

Frowning and looking rather annoyed, especially because Lady had given her a hard time while packing, Agatha walked over to the Slytherin table, trying her best not to look at the stupid Gryffindor banners all around. Mumble grumble, mumble. FROWN.

Flopping down next to Simon, the girl didn't greet anyone. In FACT, it was only after having sat down that she realised she was pretty much right in front of Sophie Newell. Urgh, could her night get ANY worse???? Free glares to you, Newell.

Hmph.

Jonas looked around him. He couldn't believe it was the nd of the term already. He looked around him and noticed someone. He thought he had seen this boy before. He yelled to a friend from the gryfendor table. Jonas took a chance and hoped he didnt interupt anything.
"Hey, iI'm Jonas," he said to the boy.

Weell somebody had woken up on the bad side of the bed AGAIN, hadn't she? And she had chosen to sit next to him. He took a deep breath, trying his hardest to combat a little blush luckily the Gryffindor banners would detract from that ever slight blush that crept onto his cheeks. Heh. He never thought that he'd be so grateful for Gryffindor red.

Simon eyed Agatha carefully from his periphery vision (though it didn't give him much to work with) so he ended up turning to face her. His blue eyes widened when he saw that she was glaring at Newell. WHAT? WHAT? Agatha didn't like Newell? How could that be? Simon paused and looked down at his notebook. Well it could just be Agatha being Agatha or it could be that Agatha... OH SWEET MERLIN! Did.. Did Agatha have a crush on.... Was there some sort of secret race for Grayson going on here that he didn't understand.

Girls.

He'd never understand them.

"Hello to you too sunshine. Whatcha thinking?" he asked breaking the dreaded silence.


Before he had time to hear Agatha's response someone else had called out to him. Simon turned his blue-eyed gaze to a very familiar boy he'd seen in the Common Room. Oh hey there stranger! So his name was Jonas? Cool. He felt sort of bad for not knowing his name earlier but hopefully they'd have time to hang out next year, right? "Nice to meet you, Jonas. I'm Simon. Can't believe the term's over," he said frowning slightly.

Well.... this was weird. This was very weird. Cat had been so busy with trying to keep herself warm and studying for the seemingly unreachable exams and planning out her life that she'd sort of forgotten about the whole leaving thing. Weird. It was odd, too, not being entirely sad that a whole big part of her life was ending. Odd and weird and she was going to need a lot of food for this.

It was a good thing that she'd brought her cannoli along, like usual. But when she reached her house table, Cat placed the box on the bench where she was going to sit, and then she bounced over to her fellow seventh years, well, those who were present, and gave them all (even Ascanius!) hugs. HUGS. Because really, when was the next time she would be able to do that? "Hello, everyone!" She smiled at them, returning to her spot and offering out the cannoli.

His packing regime was the best and, as with his homework, he had left it to the last minute.

LOOOOOOOL.

Whatever. He'd worry about that LATER. Right now, he had a FEAST to attend. So, Grayson drove out all memory of his suitcase and the mess in the fourth year boy's dorm when he walked past the oak doors. He was here. HEY. And pre or less happy, too. Weird, wasn't it?

That didn't stop him from giving the red and gold banners a scowl as he made his way towards the Slytherin table. They had worked hard all year but it just wasn't enough. Sucks. Sucks majorly. The fight for the Cup, though? MAN, what a RACE. It was tense and things heated up considerably the last couple of days. Jeez, he'd never looked at a set of gemstones so much before. Somebody would think he was crazy.

ANYWAYS. 'Sup people, Whitty was here. His blue eyes scanned the table, taking in the fact that there were some seventh years there. Graduates. Hardly knowing any of them, he really didn't care much. Except for one Cassia Somerlad. His eyes sought her and when they landed on her, he smiled and gave her a nod. "'Sup, Cassia." Nothing mushy gushy from him.

Next, to sit by some of his favourite people. And Agatha too, unfortunately. Why she had to ruin the cool atmosphere, he didn't know. But the others? Sophie, Simon, Ethan and, sigh, yes you too, Agatha got 'sup nods and a: "Hey, guys! Ready to go home, then?" WERE they going home? Or were they going to be stuck in the castle over the holidays? Because dude kinda needed some sunshine and visits to the beach for reasons.

Oh hey, Agatha? Wiggly eyebrows for you. This worked out well because he had decided to sit diagonally opposite her AND next to Sophie, who got an additional wink.

And who was the clown (Adi) sitting on the other side of Sophie, eh?

Oh yes, he heard you, Simon. But, not really understanding what he said. With his forehead still on the table, Ethan pointed at Simon. "You're late, Watson!" Well, he isn't REALLY. He just wanted to say that line...for the sake of saying it in his arrogant tone, but by now Ethan expected that Simon would take it as his way of saying, 'hello, how do you do?'.

Placing his hand down, Ethan heard Sophie's voice. What? What's too bad? What happened? They were close? Close to what? Then...shoulder pats were given. What...in Merlin's name is going on? And what was Sophie yapping about? The blond boy raised his head, a pinkish spot can be seen on his forehead, his eyes squinting. "Points making machine?" There goes the points again. The points are their homework scores, yes? So how in Merlin's nose did Sophie know about HIS points?

Can somebody enlighten him? Ethan turned his head towards Simon looking confused. Simon's a transfer too, so most probably he was as clueless as him, but given the size of his best mate's brain, there was hope that he can explain all this point madness.

--

Then there was Agatha. She's upset, AS ALWAYS. That girl is ALWAYS wearing a frown. Is that the latest trend with girls? Apart from FREAKING hair flips??!

GIRLS.


Then there was the ladies man. Hello, GrayGray. Ethan gave the fourth year a nod...and watched him sit beside Sophie. The blond boy grinned, as if he knows something. Maybe he should quit grinning, no? Because Sophie will take notice. Definitely.

Were they ready to go home?

YES. Because he wants to feel the heat of the summer sun, and do some serious skateboarding.

Ethan had his forehead on the table once more and groaned. "Can we start with the eating portion now? I need to catch some Z's before..." Ethan trailed off as he lifted his head again. "How are we supposed to get out of the castle by the way?" He knew the temperature outside was almost deadly, given that he had his cheek cut by the harsh wind during their last Astronomy lesson...

Jonas laighed a bit. "Yeah, it's a long uear" Jonas said.
"The end of the year," he trailed off.
Jonas r really good at making friends.

As if on perfect cue, a Grayson Whitlock appeared out of the sea of wandering students and sat right next to Sophie. Coincidence? Simon thought not. "Hey Grayson," he said with a grin. And good question... Was Simon ready to go home? He paused. Part of him wanted to go home and see his parents and part of him just wanted to stay him. And then Grayson was wiggling his eyes at AGATHA. WAIT. WAIT. Was Simon out of the loop here or something? He quickly glanced at Ethan, trying to figure out what Grayson was on about. Maybe his mate knew more... Uh right! Grayson's question. He should probably answer it. "Yeah, I'm ready to go back home but it'll be winter," he said frowning. Simon was sick of winters. Honestly. He'd go from one winter to another one. Silly axial tilt that made opposite seasons occur at the same time. "I don't want to go home just yet. These banners could change a different colour," he smirked. Oh yes, Simon was up for some scheming. The Gryffindors may THINK they have won the battle BUT THEY HADN'T WON YET. "If only we had snow then we could stage a snowball fight." And then they could pin the blame on the crazy Yeti acting Gryffindor girl (Zahra) cause she'd totally fight back. Then Gryffndor would lose points and they'd tie with Slytherin.

Brilliant idea much?

Oh yes.

ALSO.

"How did the snow just melt all of a sudden?" The boy eyed his dormmates skeptically, wondering if THEY knew anything.

Errr..... Was he late?

Simon glanced at his watch. Uh.. He didn't think he was late but perhaps he was. He smiled and chuckled at Ethan. "Right. Or you're just really, really early. Ready to go home?" he teased as he glanced around the Great Hall, looking for Lolita Domingo. Hmmm.. Why wasn't she at the Staff Table? That was indeed very strange. He nudged his mate and pointed over to her empty seat. Maybe she was just late. Coincidence again? Perhaps not.

Then Sophie brought up the point thing to Ethan. Points machine? Why did Ethan look all surprised. "There's a race for the House Cup. Whoever's gained the most points for homework, finals, helping someone out gets the Cup. The banner's are red so Gryffindor."

He nodded in agreement when Ethan brought up the idea of getting out of the castle. Yes. How were THEY supposed to get out?


"It was a long year. Ready to go home?" Simon gave him a smile. The Slytherin didn't wish to admit it but he (secretly) was ready to go home. Looking back at Ethan, Grayson, Sophie, and Agatha, he motioned to Jonas to come closer and join them. "Come join us," he offered. "Guys, this is Jonas. Jonas these are the guys. More specifically, Ethan, Agatha, Sophie, and Grayson. And Adi's the Hufflepuff!"

Introductions were good.

Agatha shot Simon a hard stare when he called her Sunshine. Was he taking the mick of her? He was. So she stared at him. Hard. "I want to go home." She blurted, sounding quite irritated. "And all those Gryffindors..." Agatha looked at the red table and frowned even more deeply. Such ANNOYING kids, they were. UGH.

The third year noticed weirdo Ethan looking at her and stared hard at him too that pretty much said WHAT?. Didn't he KNOW it was RUDE to stare??? Hmph.

Grayson's arrival did not help her mood and that EYEBROW WIGGLING DIDN'T EITHER. Agatha felt like punching his face right there. Too bad he was out of her reach. "DON'T do that!" She snapped, pointing her index finger at him menacingly. It was all she could do at the moment, unfortunately.

But YES, she was ready to go home, but THEY COULDN'T GO HOME, COULD THEY?? No, they COULDN'T. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Ethan has pretty much exhausted his brain at this point, mainly because of lack of sleep. What’s worse is the ‘tease’ going on right now with the empty plates. Merlin, you don’t do that to growing boys. Nope! Feed ‘em ASAP! The boy made a huuuuuuuge effort to raise his head and tried his best to get on with the conversation that was on-going.

Ugh. They all sound like they’re talking mermish. Seriously, this kid needs food now.

Ethan caught Simon’s glance when Grayson gave Agatha the wiggly brows. SERIOUSLY?! This kid CAN wiggle his brows TOO? First, the winking, second was the browing…what’s next? Flying kisses? Ethan simply looked back at Simon, gave him a shrug and looked at Agatha. That girl has some issues, no? The boy simply GRINNED back at her, despite the slight headache. The headache however doubled when Simon explained to him the reason behind points. “WHAT?!” Ethan looked at his best mate aghast with the revelation. “You mean to say we were in a year long competition with the other houses?” So…that was the reason why the professors were giving random points too during class! If only he knew…

Then the nudge. Domingo's missing from her seat? Why...yes she is. "She's probably busy brushing her hair...or something." But...yeah, where is the Latina? Ethan huddled closer to Simon, "Keep your eyes open. This can be another case..." Uh-huh.

His attention then shifted from Simon to the boy being introduced. “Hallo, Jonas. I’m Ethan. The awesome detective. Pleased to meet you!” A smile and a wave. Why, he’s seen this kid from some of their classes. Merlin, he’s got to pay more attention next time, yeah?

Then the drama continues with Agatha. Oooooooh. Pointing fingers at Grayson, eh? Tut tut. Ethan eyeballed Sophie expectantly. Whatchoo gonna do girrrlllfffrriiieeenddd???

Whoa. Too many names to keep track of. Maybe this friend making thing was a waste of time. But Jomas nodded in reality to them.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too. It is hard to believe that rhis year is really over with."
Where did the time go? Jonas thought to his self.

Maybe he should try and pretend like it was just another day? Just another feast? No big deal right? But really he was half-tempted to jump on the table and go a little nuts. How could you even contain yourself when you were leaving forever? When everything you had known for the past seven years of your life was over and done with?

West sat down heavily and STARED at an empty goblet in the centre of the table. Graduating. Whew.

Theodore wasn't feeling as excited, glad or as bouncy as he'd expected himself to feel at his last feast EVER. Instead it just didn't feel right, like this day was never going to or supposed to come at all. He turned up relatively early to get a good seat, and thankfully seats around his best friend were still available so Theo chose the one next to him. Of course. He gave West a little shoulder wiggle before sitting down. "This is it, mate!" He tried his BEST excited face.

Really, really tried.

Once he was settled into a seat, his eyes looked automatically for his other seventh year friends who were all off to do their own thing, no doubt. He smiled and waved at some of the girls, and then he watched a couple of younger kids with a longing sigh. Oh, how he wished to be young again. Oh, how this day sucked. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, phooey.