West smirked about it all but again didn't say anything. Didn't need to, did he?

"Yeah well, if you want a break, or just someone to vent to, you know where to find me." And Quidditch... West nodded enthused. Quidditch! YES. "Hey maybe we'll end up on the same team again." Of course his Wanderers contract was still going, even if he'd been stuck here and unable to play recently...

"If you want to drill with us, me and Theo and Mo have Summer plans... I'm helping them get ready for trials too, though Mo had a bunch before Christmas."


Brows.

"Hello. I'm West Odessa." He held his hand out for shaking since APPARENTLY this guy, this Connor (oh yes West knew who he was, he'd heard things), was snogging Adds on the regular or something.

Simon blinked. Wow. Jonas must have been very, very private about himself. Small town that in a blink of an eye he'd miss it? That sounded interesting to the Australian. Smaller towns were always generally fun. That's cool. Perhaps if Simon wanted to find out more about Jonas then he ought to share some information about himself. Maybe that would work, huh? "I'm from Australia," he said with a grin.

His remark hadn't helped change her mood. She still seemed the same. He blinked at her for a second before rolling his eyes at her. Perhaps trying her own tactics against her would change her. "Sure whatever. Some Gryffindors aren't annoying, do you know Emmy and Zander?" he asked sending a pretend uninterested glance in her direction. He'd play cool. Very cool. Then he leaned closer and whispered to her. "Morgana wouldn't have cared if the Gryffindors rubbed their victory in her face. She'd already have a plan to win next year's Cup," he whispered and then casually returned to his normal posture.

And then Grayson was tempting the dragon. Oh dear Merlin. This was going to be a LONG feast indeed.

Oooh. What country. Now he understood.
"Oh, I'm from the united kingdom." He said. Aw much better. "I like hippogriffs." Jonas added.

And so the great hall was resplendent with rouge and gold. Gryffindor had won and it didn't seem to bother Cutty Mordaunt. Not at all. The fact that it made Sophie Newell so upset seemed only to serve a pleasant function.

He took a seat where he wanted and burped loudly. "Hello, everyone."





Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

These thoughts floated through Cutty's malfunctioning brain and it excited him. It did not last for long as it seemed Kinsley and Tripod were on too friendly a term with one another that no such fight broke out. Cutty's eyes however, traveled to Agatha Hapgood and Whitty.


Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!



Though he said nothing.

Oh okay. Fine.

"Hey, Adelaide." She was definitely someone Theodore would miss, and also someone he wished he'd spent more time with during his years. She was cool. Wait, was she laughing at his wet pants? Theo felt his face redden a bit and he crossed his legs tightly.

Oooh, did Adelaide just get a kiss? Theo watched.

Looked like Cat was on a hugging spree, and rightly so. Some of these people Theo would never see again so why not share a bit of love? Course, Theo wouldn't initiate any of the love so if anyone wanted a hug, they'd better make the first move. "Hiii, Cat, how're you doing?" Since he hadn't spoken to her in forever.

"Well, I'm glad it happened in that sense but of course I regret peeing myself on my first day of school." Sheesh. Not exactly the impression he wanted to give off even though it was a total accident. Still, it hadn't haunted him through the years as much as he was expecting.

"Besides, we would've made best friends anyway, I know it." Destiny and all that. Nothing could stop the terror twins! Not even graduation. He hoped.

Theo still had his legs crossed and tucked himself a little further underneath the table since he didn't feel confident enough to fix it up with magic. Besides how WEIRD would that look doing it in front of everyone? Best to leave it to dry on its own. Theo gave West a dramatic frown.

"It is when you're having fun, yeah?" Ethan gave the older boy an a-okay sign. He had fun really, mainly because Hogwarts was a lot more interesting than Durmmies. Back in his old school, he'd always feel like going home once the first of September comes. That has changed now, yeah? And even though he wanted to go home to enjoy the summer, a part of him wanted to stay because of the cool friends he made all term. "But...did you have fun though? Apart from being stuck in here?" That...well, the cabin fever did things to his brain.



LOOOOL.

That bit was hard to forget, yeah? Mission accomplished then. "Let's just say that's how I leave an impression to you lot." He's the cool cat anyway, so there. "I'd probably do it again next term...confuse your little Badgers." Ethan beamed at Adi and gave him a thumbs up. He's always up for good humour you see. And as for Smithereen. "Hahaha! THAT, I can't forgive myself. Apparently this House is named after a GREAT and BEST wizard...no offence, Adi." he said as he let out another chuckle and a shrug. "I still need to teach you how to skateboard. If it wasn't for this...weird weather..." the Badger's still up for it, yeah?



Shifting his attention from Adi to the new comer, "Miss Wayne." Ethan gave Beverly a curt nod and matched her small grin with his own. She's a mysterious being really, but he'd choose her OVER Agatha anytime. The latter was too much for the boy really.

Too much drama, you know?

And was she looking for a spot to sit? They still got room! Join the cool cats, Bev!



Haaahhhaaaaaa! This is FUN. F-U-N.

Ethan forgot about FOOD for a moment, when Grayson and Agatha happened. The blond boy watched the two as he bit his lower lip, forcing himself not to laugh at Agatha. Ethan glanced at Grayson and gave him a WINK of approval.

...

MERLIN HE CAN WINK NOW?! Freaking Y to the E-S! Hehehehe.

"Oooh. I didn't know you're Adi's wife. How come we didn't know? You sly Snake, you. Keeping secrets from your FRIEEEENNNDSSS." LOOOL! Ethan wanted to add more, but decided against it. He needed to play his cards right. Play it right, play it cool. At this point, he's either going to make Agatha an acquaintance at least or the exact opposite. He didn't mind if Happygoody decided to go full-ugly-evil-witch on him, because...well, she's Agatha.

MERLIN. Where is BART when you need him? Ethan inched away from Simon and craned his neck towards the Lion's table. The other blond kid was easy to spot really, but he had to move just in case Agatha decides to hit him.

She'd have to go through Simon first, before she could reach him, no? LOOOOL. Now, he NEEDS to learn how to wiggle his eyebrows.



Domingo looked immaculate alright, but did she really need to make an entrance? Ethan followed the woman with his eyes as his brain chuuuuuuurned. Hmmmm. "She doesn't look...'excited'...or thrilled to say the least that the weather IN here cleared up." Did Simon remember what he told him? Keep an eye on those who aren't weary of the weather? Domingo fits the bill, but of course, they needed more evidence.

"Another thing I noticed...when she arrived during mid-term, the weather started to act strange." Did Simon notice that one too?

Was he taking notes?

---

And what is THAT kid doing up at the Staff table? Where is the Groundskeeper? Did Lolita Domingo place a spell on him, and now he's nowhere to be seen? Did SHE eat HIM? Oooh the possibilities. Ethan shook his head, and berated himself for being distracted by the bloody gossip paper. The Latina was seen lurking around Kirby's hut, yeah? Was the Groundskeeper her victim?

But back to that Gryffindor. THAT kid who spoiled his last Potion's class because of HIS drama. Ethan wanted to kick his face real hard, and it's not helping that he's seated right next to Healer Tillstorm, who by the way doesn't looked pleased at all. Heh. Well, the kid seems to be having fun, what with the stupid grin on his face, but Ethan observed that he's disappointed by something. LOOOL. Really can't show off now, yeah?

Oh boy. Sucks to be you, Hirase.



"You should join the fun." Ethan shoulder bumped his cousin and gestured his head towards Grayson and Agatha. "This is going to be a loooooong End of Term feast."

And he's always up for that.

Oh look! It was Beverly. Adi still was tempted to call her Bev. Should he? What was the worst she could do? Hex him probably. Meh. Wait. Was that a smile? A small one it seemed but a smile never the less. Adi didn't think Beverly could smile. Not at him anyway. "Hey, Beverly!'' He waved back, still surprised at the smile he forgot to call her Bev.

This Grayson dude was one of those serious persons, huh? Well, Adi wasn't. "Hey, dude! Awesome to meet you. Of course I've seen you around. I'm Adi.'' Erm, should he give his full name too? Might as well. "Well, that's the short version of my name. It's Aditya Rehman. And actually no. I'm belong to that awesome House over there.'' Adi gestured to the Hufflepuff table. "I just came over to hang out a bit with my friends.''

"It sure was,'' Adi replied to Simon. He grinned now. "Hey, be sure to let me know if there is one there. I'd be the winner this time.'' Competition was good, right? "And let's hope this time there won't be any Isa.'' Ice had almost spoilt their fun. Lucky thing Simon had noticed it before though.

Adi had expected that reaction from Agatha. But it made him even more amused. "Hey, can't you take a joke?'' he asked lightly. This Slytherin lot were a serious bunch. "I know you're not. Was just kidding with you.'' Pause. "It was a nice relationship while it lasted though.'' Hehe. There, Adi. Provoke her some more.

And who was that disgus- oh it was Cutty. Who else would burp so loudly? Adi noticed his friend didn't seem too bothered about anything which probably meant he didn't care that Gryffindor won.
Yo, Cutty! What's up? Got any sweets?It was always a good time for sweets. Yep.

"You sure made an impression, Ethan.'' Adi doubted he would ever forget the crazy, newly Sorted kid who messed up his House name. He laughed. "That I'll look forward to again. The new Badgers will think you're crazy.'' Haha. Offence? "None taken. Hufflepuff is the best in my books.'' Everyone thought their own House was the best, after all. And skateboarding! Yes! Adi was still up for this! ''Next term then? We need to make up for lost time from this term.'' So was Ethan up for teaching double time?

Agatha couldn't spot Beverly anymore, but that was probably because Grayson was making her blind with anger. That boy. URGH!!

Ignoring him. She was doing that now, yes.

Or trying to.

Simon got a short nod for his remark on Gryffindors. "I know Zander, not the other person." Fair enough, Zander wasn't as annoying as that little girl she had met in the Opening Feast. Now THAT little Gryffindor... pretty much represented the entire house, really. Then leaned closer to her and Agatha EYED him, but only when she heard the name 'Morgana' did she actually pay attention and also leaned closer to him to make sure she didn't miss a word he was saying about that AWESOME witch. His statement made Agatha stare at him for a few seconds as she pondered. That was... true, actually. "I bet she would've cared, though, and would've cursed them all. Or maybe have pretended she didn't care.... then cursed them all." Nod nod nod. Now THAT was true, mhm. "And we will win the House Cup next year." She hazard a guess, trying to sound confident but well, she knew that if it depended on her, they wouldn't. Hm.

That Adi kid should SSHHHHHHUSH now! That was what the look she sent him said. SHUSH!!! "No." Agatha snapped at him about the 'joke'. It wasn't even funny, alright. And HE-- "THERE WAS NO RELATIONSHIP!!" She yelled, but not in her loudest tone. Her fists were clenched and she felt like truly punching Grayson now. That boy had a punchable face, in her opinion. It didn't help the fact he was annoying her at the moment either.

Then she heard what Ethan had to say and immediately grabbed her empty metal plate and swang it around Simon's back to try and hit Ethan with it. The boy had scooted away though and she missed him. Her arm did hit Simon's back though. She would have apologised but she was TOO ANGRY and wanted to hit Ethan now. Instead, she used her free hand to get Simon out of the way by pushing him towards the table and then she used all of her upper body and arm stretching - and she WAS flexible, alright - to try and hit the blond, because he, too, should "BE QUIET!!"

Cutty was watching the scene unfold in front of him. The boys teasing Happygoody. The best part was that the Hufflepuff seemed to have started it. Things didn't seem tense from a distance whilst Cutty was approaching the Slytherin table uncle he saw Adi's mouth move in what could've only been a very short sentence. Adi just moved onto the Slytherin table, and said no more than two words and there you have it. War. Cutty sat back and looked at Adi as if waiting for him to sprout another arm or two. As far as he was concerned, the Hufflepuff was a god at this here end-of-term feast.

"How is it you always know exactly what to say, Rehman?" It was like being greeted with And how would you like to make some money? "Slim pickins. But there's pickins nonetheless. I'm all out of chocolate, mate. 'Cept fer a muggle bar. Ten sickles if yer want it."

And then Happygoody was taking swings at people.







Merlin.


Agatha was perfect.

Marigold reddened a bit more as West addressed her Merlin she wasn't internally screaming or anything okay okay okay. She tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she thought up what should be a witty and funny response.

"I would if I could, but I can't, so I shan't."

...

Did she really just say that? What even WAS that? Word vomit? Ugh. She nervously handed over the parchment and quill. "I mean... haha. I wouldn't come or anything. Justtoallyourconcertsandstuff."

She probably looked like a tomato.



???

Marigold raised an eyebrow at the Head Boy. Was he in a band? She thought not.

Eternal winters. "MAN, that must SUCK!" Majorly. Jeez, the last thing he'd want is to get away from five months of winter and go to another country where it was still wintery. Just no. "I hope it doesn't snow. That's the last thing you need. And if you go up North to twenty degree heat, you won't be missing much, you know." Not REALLY. Twenty degrees wasn't bad for a winter. It wasn't even bad for summer! Definitely beach weather. Uh huh. "Think you'll be in Diagon Alley over the holidays? You'll get to enjoy some sunshine, too." Except, LOL, this was Britain. WAS it going to be sunny? Merlin knows.

A Ravenclaw who'll give fireworks, a Hufflepuff who'll want in and a Gryffindor who'll tear it all down. PERFECT combination. Along with their smarts and whitty -- ehe -- knowledge. "Nothing better than the enemy tearing themselves down." Enemy was a bit of a stretch but it WORKED. "Who's the Hufflepuff? And they'd better play it off well."

Dead serious. Nothing sucked more than going ahead with a plan and some idiot not following the script. Swear to Merlin.



MAN, he was going to miss Cassia. Sure, the guy hadn't talked to her at all this part year and he could kick himself for not doing so but she was NICE. And she was a SLYTHERIN. AND she was best friends with Prefect Lex. He couldn't name anything BAD about her, which was surprising coming from this Slytherin.

Except for the fact that she had to go and LEAVE.

Was he excited about the summer? "YEAH! Flammy-- Flamsteed's got this summer field trip planned and I'm planning on going to that. GREECE. BEACHES!" Could she understand his excitement? There was just the small downside in that most of his friends weren't going because they were underage or whatever. Man, what he wouldn't give to see a certain someone in a bikini.

ANYWAYS. "You excited about the summer? Any plans for you?" Surely, she had lots.



LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. What an entrance, man.

Grayson hadn't seen Cutty come in, but he did hear that burping that came out of the boy's mouth. SNORT. "'Sup, Cutty! You looking forward to the summer?" Question of the day, it seemed. And for good reason, too.

And he WAS going to be around Diagon, wasn't he?



Dude!

DUDE.

DOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

"Good to meet you too!" he said, nodding at the boy who went on to introduce himself as Adi, "Adi's fine with me. Nice and short." Besides, he was all too sure that he'd mess up saying Aditya. It'd be with Donn'cha situation all over again. "You guys are LUCKY, man. What I wouldn't give to be right near the kitchens." He shook his head slowly.

"I've read about you, you know. In the piece of trash called the Aparecium." But he LIKED reading gossip so there was that.



They're ridiculous?

THEY'RE RIDICULOUS?!

"They're much better than YOURS, that's for sure." Was she as big about her eyebrows as she was with that weird hair flipping thing she did? Swear to Merlin, what was up with THAT?! He tried not to concentrate on that, though, when there were more important matters of concern here: like the fact that Agatha being annoyed was going to be his mission for the day and he was NOT going to back down from THAT. "Must you HURT my wiggly eyebrows in such a WAY, Madam?" he said in the most dramatic way he could muster.

And then there was Ethan. Ethan was joining in! And best of all: ETHAN MORDAUNT CAN FREAKING WINK, NOW.

FREAKING YEEEEEEES! THAT was more like it.

Next step: flirting.

Oh, what was that? Agatha was Adi's WIFE?! LOOOOOOL. Oh MAN oh man, this was GOOD. "You shouldn't deny your relationship, man. You're going to hurt the poor guy's FEELINGS." And he shot Adi a small smirk to show he was joking. "And HOW did you think you can keep a secret from US and not invite us to your WEDDING? RUDE of you, Hap--"

FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

PLATE SMASHING. And at his FRIENDS, too. OH NO YOU DIDN'.

SLIDING down from his seat, Grayson crawled under the table like some sort of grumpy baby on a mission and in Agatha's direction. Merlin knows, the girl seemed like she can send someone to St. Mungo's with that plate in her hand. Or wage a war. Jeez, someone needed to put this one in a locked room of her own. Wriggling up on her other side -- MOVE aside, whoever was sitting next to her -- he leant RIGHT over until he was holding onto an elbow and tried to pull her BACK and AWAY from the two Slytherin third year boys.

"SWEAR TO MERLIN, CAN YOU STOP BEING SUCH A FREAKING IDIOT, HAPGOOD?"

Yeah, going back to winter wasn't something Simon was looking forward too. Perhaps seeing family would make the situation slightly better. Simon nodded. Going up north would be a good plan. "Exactly. Stay up there and I'll be a-okay," he said with a wide grin. Then he nodded again to the Diagon Alley question. "I hope so. Parents said that I may be able to come over for a bit so I'm definitely going to take them up on that offer." Plus, his mum was going to be going to St.Mungos thanks to Cosgrach's well needed advice.

Right the plan.

A smirked played on his lips. Yes, Grayson was following the brilliant plan. "Indeed. We won't have to do much work," said Simon and paused as he listened to Grayson's next question. Yes, the Huffelpuff better work it well. He leaned forward, "Marigold McAllister." He assumed that Grayson knew her as he was the Ladies Man of Slytherin now with Stark graduating.


Simon grinned when Jonas informed him that he was from the United Kingdom. He nodded. "Nice. Not too far away from home then, hey?" he said. That was cool. And he liked hippogriffs. So did Simon. Magical creatures were just magnificent beasts, especially hippogriffs and dragons. "Hippogriffs are cool. Henry, the one that we got to meet in COMC was amazing."


Oh hey, look who decided to join the party. Cutty got a courteous nod from Simon. "Hey Cutty. Haven't seen you in a while. How're you, mate?" he asked with a curious grin. He wondered what Cutty had been up to recently as the boy had only seen him in the dorms from time to time.


Foolish move mates.

Simon Holden was surrounded by fools. Lovable ones- nonetheless- but hadn't they learned that pushing someone's buttons could earn them great trouble? Simon just watched Ethan and Grayson with a half-bemused and half-amused facial expression. They were both asking for trouble. He just shook his head at his mates.

Before he could intervene to help de-escalate the situation, Ethan had turned his attention towards him. Right. Simon nodded in agreement. "She doesn't but perhaps she's just tired?" he supplied curiously; however, he didn't believe that. Something was up. Weather goes crazy when she arrives. That wasn't a coincidence at all, was it? He nodded again when Ethan informed him of what he was just thinking of. Simon flipped through his book to the exact entry that had Domingo's name in it. "Yep, I have record of the weather getting colder on her arrival. I wasn't sure if it was just a usual weather pattern back then. Turns out, it wasn't," he said, keeping his eyes on the Professor. Speaking of missing people, Agatha's uncle wasn't up there because he had gone home. He hoped that the guy was alright. He seemed nice and...GULP but terrifying (kind of like Agatha actually). He widened his eyes when he saw Hirase up there. Leaning over to Ethan he whispered, "Poor mate. Wonder what he must have done."

And then Ethan provoked the dragon once more. He stared at his mate. Really? he thought and watched as his friend slightly moved down the table to put some distance between Agatha and him. That was probably a smart idea on Ethan's part but still he was treading in dangerous waters. Tsk. Tsk. Mate.


Simon nodded. He would definetly let Adi know if there was some type of competition going on with Go-Karts. "You'll be one of the first to know," he said with a grin. He smirked when Adi informed him that he would be the winner this time. Simon looked at his goblet and then made eye contact with his Hufflepuff friend. "Oh, we'll just see about that, you know," he said, winking in a teasing way. And then Simon nodded really, really quickly. He certainly agreed with Adi there. They didn't need any more ice. "Yes, it'll be nice and warm so no ice which is a win for us." He chuckled and then watched Adi and Agatha's reaction.

Sheeesh. Agatha was in fine form today, wasn't she?

And then Agatha happened.


And the dragon was getting quite mad. The next couple of moments just took place in slow motion for the middle guy. It was always the middle man that got hurt. Always.

So this method was working? Acting like he didn't care got her more interested? Probably just the whole Morgana thing had hooked her onto it. Yes, that was definitely it. "Cursed them all? Probably. Or she just bewitched them into doing whatever she wished," he added with a grin. Her next statement made his blue eyes widen with excitement. Yes, they were going to win next year. "We will. Gonna work some magic, Morgana?" he teased and then quietened down when Agatha reacted to Ethan.

Oh dear.

Before Simon could do anything, an arm hit him really hard in the back, pushing him forward to hit the table in his chest. He winced but kept a straight face as if nothing had happened. "Ow!" he said, glaring at Agatha and then at Ethan and Grayson cause they had been oh-so smart to provoke her. Real funny guys. You were all safe and I'm in the middle. He rubbed his sore back where the girl's arm had hit him. Seriously was Agatha doing weights cause that really hurt. But before he could actually state that, Agatha went to aim for Ethan. WAIT. WHAT?

HULK SMASH!

And then Agatha pushed him further into the table and Simon smacked his head on the table in front of him. "Ow." he said and then realized that she was going to smash Ethan or something. HOLMES! Don't die. He rubbed his temple where he had hit it. Oww... "Real mature guys." Then Grayson appeared on his side and gently pushed him aside and then yelled at Hapagood. "Let's just all stay calm and not make a scene.." tried Simon as he glanced at Agatha, Grayson, and Ethan. "We don't want to lose any points, do we?"

Adi paused in provoking Agatha so he could turn his attention to the sweet selling Slytherin that was Cutty. Ah, it seemed the other boy was enjoying the show. Awesome! Not that he had meant to let it get so dramatic. It just happened. Grinning, the Hufflepuff replied, "It just comes naturally. You can say it's a talent.'' Hehe. And there was no exotic candy? "Business blooming then? Get me something cool for next term, yeah?'' Adi liked trying new candy, ya know. As for that chocolate..."Sold!'' He handed over the money before turning to Grayson.

"It has its advantages. We're never outta food.'' Not like anyone starved at Hogwarts or anything. Adi vaguely wondered what the Slytherin Common room was like. Probably had a serious aura around it like most of the people that belonged to the House.

Read about...oh! The Aparecium. Adi laughed. "Were you entertained much? And I hope you haven't formed a bad opinion of me.'' The Aparecium snoops had written all about his temper tantrum and then stuff about him and AJ and him and Angel. But he knew he had been thoroughly entertained. Not only with the entries about him but the others as well. Hogwarts had its own entertainment troupe.

Was it wrong that Adi was enjoying this? Agatha took things too seriously in his opinion. He desperately wanted to laugh. And then there was Grayson speaking up. Ohh the dude had his back! This was even better than going solo. "That's right, DEAR. You shouldn't be ashamed of our relationship just because I'm a Hufflepuff." Oh Merlin! This was too much. Sniggering, he shot Grayson a glance. "She didn't want anyone to know she married a Hufflepuff. My heart breaks a little every time she denies that she loves me.'' Adi had figured she didn't like Hufflepuffs. Or was it just him? Either way, this was fuuuun!

Merlin! This girl had a temper. Were Simon and Ethan okay?

The more people she saw, the more she realized how much she was going to miss them all. Though she didn't feel so much of that with West because she knew she was going to see him around, probably often. Most often than any of the others when you excluded Mo and Elodie. Cat laughed, certainly amused by what he had said, "You are definitely the first person to tell me that." Out of the blue like, of course, Mo had mentioned it a few times but that was when she was currently in the kitchen or had just come from there.

She placed a special parcel of cannoli in front of him. Extra for West. "I know how much you appreciate Moretti food." She nodded and then added in a lower tone, "I'm glad to see you enjoying a feast. I feel like you haven't in a while." She'd noticed and always tried to make him feel better with food.

"Hiiiii Theooo. I'm very well, thank you." Cat grinned at the other Slytherin boy after she was done hugging on West. "You're next, if you're up for it." Hugs? Everyone was getting them!

Jonas turned to Eathen after filling his plate that he forgot there was food on the table. He nodded.
"Yeah, you could say I am having fun," he said "Though, I haven't really made any friends before this," Jonas said. "Being focused on my classes and everything," He said.
Jonas bit his lip, was this a conversation that one would talk about to someone that he wanted to be his friend? He thought about someone that he had read about, Voldemort. He read that he was the most dark wizard in the world at his time. Jonas shivered. He could never picture his self that way. That was a reason he wanted friends. So he wouldn't end up like that.


Jonas turned to his other new found friend and nodded, 'Yeah. Not too far from home," He said trailing off a bit. This making friends thing was leaving Jonas really paranoid. But, he tried to push past it.

West cracked up. He'd literally never, not in seven years, heard Theo actually put words to it out loud like that. Yes, that had been what had happened, but people hadn't noticed because of West covering for him and all that, so saying it out loud? Well at least Theo could take a joke about it now.

".... yeah?" Grin. West wrapped one arm around Theo's shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze. "I think so too." Best mate. Forever.

.........

"Well I mean... if you came with Ruby and that Zahra girl, we wouldn't mind that much." They'd probably show up to bother them again all Summer, so what was one more?

He took the parchment from her though and examined it, trying to work out what to write.

"Well its definitely true." In a good way. "Good food I mean." Not... gross food. Just to clarify, okaaaay? It'd be weird to say it made her smell edible on account of she was Cat and he was West, but it was still a nice food-y smell, and everyone knew West appreciated food. Especially Moretti food definitely. AND HE GOT CANNOLI!

He was eyeing the cannoli up eagerly when she spoke again, and West looked at her and smiled slightly, kind of flattered but not entirely surprised that she'd noticed. Cat was always sensitive to stuff. "Yeah. That's true I guess. But I figure the last one needs to count... and there's so many good memories here too. Thanks Cat."

So long as he stayed away from the Gryffindor table, his feast memories were mostly good ones.


....


...... but this one was getting loud and stuff.

West frowned slightly and started noticing all the ruckus around them. All the younger kids and yelling and all sorts of crazy.

IFTHEYRUINEDHISFINALFEASTTHO...

West slammed his hand down on the table loudly and using what had been his Quidditch Captain voice, loud and carrying, he spoke to them at large:

"If you lot ruin my last feast I will hex each and every one of you to Africa. Settle DOWN. There's WAY worse things Tillstorm will do to you if than take points at this point of the term." WAY WORSE. And that PUFFER. West wouldn't tell Adi to leave, but that included him TOO.

She got a cannoli!

Taking it and wrapping it in a napkin Beverly's grin grew a bit more. She liked food. Loved it, even. Plucking up the courage she stood up and walked over to Derry, cannoli and two tiny boxes in her hand. One of which she placed on the table next to the red head.

"Hi, Derry." She paused and pushed the tiny panda-print box more toward the older girl. "I want to thank you for helping me out with that one rude boy and...well...you're an amazing Seeker." Another pause. "So I made you a muffin. I hope you like it. Good luck after graduation."

And just as fast as she had appeared, Beverly shuffled off toward another graduate. THIS wasn't easy. Like...why couldn't she have a twin who could do all these mushy good byes. Although, her good byes weren't mushy.



That was cool. The salute. A cool salute.

Taking a deep breath and mustering up some more bravery Beverly quickly made her way toward the ex-Slytherin Quidditch Captain.

"Hullo, West Odessa," she said, chin up and a taaad bit less shy than before. "Thank you for teaching me the Disillusionment Charm." Which she's been practicing lately and using it to scare her dorm-mates.

"I..." she set the second panda-print box down on the table, her cheeks slightly flushing. It had a green ribbon on the lid so it was slightly boy-ish. Sort of. "It's a muffin. And congrats on graduating."

People like muffins, yeah? Him and Derry would like her muffin? Hopefully. She burned a finger doing them.



Did she shock him?

Beverly had to inwardly smirk at that. From what she could recall she's never graced him with smile. SMIRK. A surprise it must have been. She liked that, being the element of surprise.

Thank you Adi for an ego boost.

"For a moment I thought you were considering to call me Bev." She remembered he'd ask if he could call her that. Ha. Ha. No.



"Oh, come on, Whitlock. I didn't even punch that hard." She rolled her eyes, then smirked. "Only keeping my bodyguard on his toes." Are you on your toes, Grayson Whitlock? Better be 'cause it was Beverly Wayne he was 'protecting.'

Examining the ends of her hair - for a terrifying second she thought she saw white, but it was just light gleaming off it - the Slytherin nodded. "After being caved in here, hell yeah." Oops. Language. BUT she was EXCITED, okay. "You? Any plans?" she asked coolly.



Please, please Merlin don't let Slytherin fall into the hands of the obnoxious. Not that they were, BUT if they became it...she wouldn't waste time in cutting ties. The LAST thing Slytherin needed was a person like that one extremely loud Gryffindor girl. UGH.

Agatha seemed to have it under control. Maybe.

"What's going on?" she asked eyeing Agatha. Spill the magic beans.



She sat next to Ethan still eyes Agatha and the boys. Strange.

"Mister Lute Boy Ethan," she greeted trying to sound formal like she's heard her grandmother do. Ha! It felt silly.

Her head shot back at Agatha and the boys again. Okay. She was curious. Lute Boy had to know something. "What's going on?"

Did she need to teach Agatha how to punch? Maybe she should add that as another activity they could do while the girl visited.



Then there was a Cutty Mordaunt.

Beverly swallowed the urge to grin and instead held her chin up when she addressed him. "I'd thought a Chort kidnapped you." Hi.

Where has he been? There could have been a demon infestation and he'd been Merlin knows where. And did he SEE what colors decorate the Great Hall.

"I've been right behind you this whole time, Simon." Was he joshing or just being creepy? Josheepin! Josheepin' with your muuum.




"It helped that we were all trapped here with no means of supplying ourselves." Though, he being an active seller had stocked up. Why couldn't more people be like Aditya Rehman? He knew what he wanted and wasted no time in getting it. He was ambitious for sure. And let's not even get into how dead handsome he was. Cutty dug the last remaining muggle chocolate bar out of his robes with one hand and swiped up the coins with the other sweeping them into the now empty pocket.

"You need not even ask." He gave his reply to the Pufferton as if he were going to get him something in Egypt regardless of this most recent transaction. For sure he had plans to bring things back with him, but now he'd be looking for things specifically for Adi. Something adventurous. But smooth.

Aditya Rehman was starting to look like the perfect man the more and more Cutty thought about it.



H'mm. The perfect man.



You know that kind of shrug-flop teenagers do at times when they're acting like they don't ker? Cutty did that. His gaze focused downward toward the empty surface of the table and his shoulders raised high then suddenly dropped as if gravity had a super effect on them. His arms too flopped onto the table's bare surface.

He considered ways of answering this with perhaps an over-enthused and miss-matched, If only you knew how much! OR Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine, but then Grayson was applying physical force to the situation working to restrain Hapgood.

Cutty was testing the sight around him. Either Whitty was the second most hot-headed individual in their house that year or Hapgood had hit a nerve. H'mm...Physical violence, then? Why did that have an effect on Grayson Whitlock of all things?

If he was going to buy Agatha Hapgood, NOW was the friggin time!

Then Tripod happened and why re-invent the wheel. Besides, he was already going to Africa or so he thought.


"They did, Wayne." He smiled at the girl who could be thought of as the closest thing Cutty Mordaunt had to a bestmate since Benzi Rider. "Booht they brought me back, sweetheart." He said, using the term of endearment more like a way to end a sentence than anything else, as he described how Redchief could not be ransomed.

These baked delicious things...? Yeah, these were his now.

And so he was going to eat a ton of 'em. Not that many, though, 'cause he couldn't have this face getting full. And fat.

He shot Addi another wink and reached out for his goblet. Casual sipping.

Mhmm. He knew he was good looking and he was glad that she agreed.



West was yelling at underclassmen and some things were happening he didn't care 'bout, y'know?

The only thing that Ascanius WAS bothing to pay attention to was 1/3 of West's Cousin's Groupies. Who wanted his autograph. He'd already done one today for the memory book, but he could spare another.

He gave her an easy smirk and replied, "Anything specific y'want it to say, gorgeous?"

Marigold tried not to make contact with West's hand as she gave him the parchment because she felt she would either faint or maybe knock something over and Merlin forbid she would knock over West. Was this a normal thing to be feeling? Maybe she was running a temperature. She tried to casually feel her forehead, which she did successfully by twisting a strand of her hair and tucking it back, brushing it off her forehead, which felt normal. Except probably bright red.

And of COURSE she would be going with Ruby and Z. She tried to channel her inner Ruby/Z and managed to say, "I'll consider that an invitation," with only a slight tremor in her voice from nerves. She wriggled a bit excitedly and a bit nervously.



Marigold grinned back a bit shakily at Ascanius's smirk, which was veryattractivebecauseofcourseallthemembersofTDKhad toallbegorgeousofcourse. Anything specific? For some reason the only thing that was coming to mind was something Moo had once told her which would never be coming out of her mouth and never be said to someone Marigold almost idolized. So instead, she shrugged and said, "Anything you want. Just as long as your name is on there, eh?" Ha. Ha. She was sooo funny.

Was she the last one to the table? It certainly seemed like it. Leaving her packing to the very last minute had not been a good idea. But then, she hardly believed they were going to get out, since none of the professors at the research meeting had seemed to have any ideas, at least none that they would share with the students, anyway.

But as she was doing her packing, Layla noticed something. It seemed to be getting warmer inside the castle. Which influenced her choice of clothing greatly. She was so tired of having to bundle up every single day! So, to finally be warm made a grin appear on her face as she flopped down in the only open space left at the table.

"Hello, everyone!"

Just the thought of skateboarding again made Ethan feel like a kid again. PLUS, there will be more skateboarding session because…Adi! Hehehehe. “Of course! I’ll teach you the basics first, then—“



Of course, all the planning had to be put on hold when Agatha’s metal plate hit the back of his head.

BONK.

“YEOUCH!” What is WRONG with that WITCH? Ethan gave HER a STINK EYE, and nasty…NASTY words formed inside his head. Can’t she CALM DOWN and TAKE A JOKE?! Merlin’s sake, it was a feast, and everyone SHOULD be happy…and NOT be a party pooper. Ethan didn’t say anything but shifted his annoyed gaze at Simon. That gaze meant a lot of things…like…’so-you-still-gonna-date-THAT?’ Ethan had to bite his tongue real hard so as not to say things to the WITCH as he watched Grayson grab her by the elbow. The blond boy, rubbing the back of his head ducked under the table and made his way across. As he did so, he heard West shout things at them. Ethan smirked as he emerged on the other side and EYED Agatha real hard.

YOUR FAULT HAPGOOD. That’s what you get for HITTING someone.

A smirk formed on his lips as he heard Adi’s next words. LOOOOOOOOL. Nice one, Rehman.

Ethan turned his attention to Jonas next. “It’s not too late to make friends you know…” He can go sit at another table and find more students to talk to. Then there was Miss Wayne. What’s going on? “Why don’t you ask, Hapgood?” he asked as he lazily looked at the WITCH. Merlin, she’s really forcing his inner Slytherin to surface.

“Come on Grayson. Let go. Let’s ENJOY the feast, yeah?” WITHOUT Hapgood? Cool? Ethan scooted and made room for Grayson…beside Sophie of course, and patted the spot with his hand.

Ohhh, Ethan was RUNNING AWAY, was he?? Of course, he couldn't TAKE it. Yeah, just blurt out whatever you want then RUN AWAY afraid of dealing with the consequences!! WEAK!!!

That was all Agatha could think of before she felt her elbow being pulled down by someon-- GRAYSON WAS UNDER THE TABLE, REALLY??? The third year sent a kick his way, not minding at all where it would hit. She wasn't really able to aim at any particular body part, so a random kick would have to do. "GET OFF ME." She demanded, kicking again to make sure he was GONE. GO AWAY. NOW. "YOU'RE THE IDIOT!!!" She yelled back. And RUDE too!!

The girl still had the metal plate on her hand when she heard that older guy West shout at them. "TELL HIM TO GET OUT OF UNDER THE TABLE, THEN!!" She shouted back, glaring at EVERYONE who dared to look at her and gesturing with the plate. Or ELSE she would keep kicking. Like she was doing until Grayson sat back on his seat.

And who cared about losing points now, Simon? They had already lost anyway. Agatha rolled her eyes and tried to sit down properly, her face still bright red though. Oh, and her grip still firm on the plate too.

Alright, she had already being yelled at, would everybody just STOP TALKING TO HER??? She was trying to CALM DOWN. Glares to you, Grayson and Ethan. Them stupid, stupid boys deserved more than a simple plate on the head and some kicks. Agatha grumbled a few things under her breath as she kept glaring around. Well, Beverly wanted to know what was going on. - Was Grayson still under the table? She was still kicking him if he were - "Those kids are acting stupid." Agatha finally let go of the plate and gestured angrily towards Grayson, Adi and Ethan. She also shot them another glare as a warning. She'd do it again if she needed, even if West had told them to stop. She WOULD. GLARE.

Oh. OH. They were going to IGNORE her, huh??? FINE. GREAT, THEN. She gave them one last glare and turned away from them, flipping her hair angrily - probably whacking Simon by accident - and fully facing Beverly with a rather menacing expression. Not that she was threatening the other girl, but she was still VERY angry. "Well, Beverly, do you want to talk about summer break?" Agatha might have spoken in a slightly louder tone so the stupid boys would hear and know she had FRIENDS and didn't need any of THEM.

Yes, being holed up in the Castle did help, Adi reasoned. Cutty probably made a small fortune with his business. Hmmm. Was there room for a partner? The Hufflepuff and Slytherin would make a mighty fine candy selling team in his opinion.

Adi took the candy. Whether it was from the Muuggle or Wizarding world, chocolate was heavenly chocolate. "Thanks, man. You're the best.'' Heh. That's the closest he would come to telling Cutty how awesome he was. Otherwise it would go to the guy's head.

Beverly Wayne actually gave him a smile. Was something wrong with her? Or was he growing on her? Hehe. "I was and I still am...Bev.'' He didn't say it that loud, just loud enough for Beverly to hear. He grinned at her. He was half expecting to be hexed right now. But she couldn't be that bad as Agatha, right? Speaking of her...

Grayson had disappeared under the table. Ahh these Slytherins. Never a dull moment with them. And then there was West yelling at them. His feast? Did he put on the feast? Yeah right. You could say Adi was super amused. "I won't mind checking out Africa,'' was all he said. Because West looked FIERCE. And the Hufflepuff really didn't want to be hexed. No, no. He'd just sit here and looked like he belonged. He really felt as if he did. Hehe.

Glancing at Jonas, Simon shared a rare smile with his new mate. “That must be nice…” he said. His voice too trailing off as the situation at the table became more intense. “We’re not normally this crazy. I don’t think Agatha woke up on a good side of the bed this morning.” He frowned. Was everyone just super stressed today? That was probably it.

And Cutty had been right behind him the whole time. Now the boy couldn’t tell whether his mate was being honest or pulling his leg about it. It was hard to tell with someone like Cutty. So he just gave Cutty a rather awkward grin which turned into a grimace since his head hurt so much and nodded. “Uh. Good.” He’d prefer Cutty in front of him so that he could keep an eye on his mysterious friend. Now where was some ice? Before he could grab some ice, Agatha had whacked him with her hair. “Do you mind actually not hitting me with your hair for ONCE?” asked Simon rather grumpily. Oh yes, he wasn’t happy with anyone at the moment.

West happened. The older boy was speaking in a very authoritative voice that made Simon wonder if that was West’s commanding voice that he had used on the Quidditch Pitch. If it had been then it would have been perfect since it was so clear and loud with not being too loud. And Simon nodded his head really, really quickly so that the older boy knew that he got what he had meant. He shot a glance at his mates and then rolled his eyes. Sheesh. Hadn’t he just told them that they were going to lose points if they carried on like this? West supported his point and he gave a grateful and relieved nod towards the other boy. Thank Merlin West was here. “Sorry and thanks West,” he said giving the seventh year a relieved smile. Simon rubbed his head and then slid a little bit over towards the older guy and away from his own crazy year. Yeah, he didn’t wish to get hit anymore. “Congratulations. Excited for Quidditch?” he asked, hoping to cheer up the soon-to-be graduate.

Ethan was miserable now. Simon sighed. Wow. This was a wonderful first end of term feast. He noticed Ethan’s look and shook his head. Nu-uh. He was taking back the idea of that. Aaand Ethan had just abandoned him. What happened to Holmes and Watson fighting crime together? The boy gulped a little and then sent a look over in Agatha’s direction. Despite getting hit too, he couldn’t help but wonder if was she alright too? Girls were strange.