"Ah" Dante could see it now. Not the best drawing he had ever seen of one. But it did look like the band's logo if he squinted. "I see it now" Though owling Nigel about it was not something he wanted to do. He would probably get back a response like. 'Why are you owling me. Make friends or maybe actually learn some magic' Though it could be fun to mess with him.

"I actually might do that. Plus i have to tell him i'm a slytherin. Just for his reaction"

Though he was not going to live up to any legacy that Nigel created.

He was an idiot.

She was totally about to do her homework. Her housemates should be proud. Except really it was just an excuse to hang out with Gray, since they'd both decided why not do it together? Making an entrance (and pausing just so in the doorway momentarily) Ruby smoothed her hair behind her ear and straightened her uniform as she lead the way into the common room, having had entrusted Grayson to carry the crystal balls (he was such a gentleman, was he not?). All the other homework options seemed like waaay too much work and this didn't require any writing or too much thought on her part. Hopefully all homework would be so easy!

"We should put cushions on the floor and use one of the low tables." She decided. Just like in the classroom though it wasn't as dark in here. Unfortunately. Oooh. That one there by the window. She sauntered over to it, grabbing a few cushions and arranging them on the ground in an appropriately comfortable manner. She sat down crosslegged, careful not to flash anyone too much, and tugged her skirt down as far as it would. Not very, as it turned out.

But she was ready to do her homework at least. And maybe the light from the lake would help her see something fun. Or someone fun. It was definitely calm enough in here to at least get the crystal ball to get all misty again, and if nothing good came of it, she'd just make it up and say she saw herself snogging Grayson. Again. Win win for everyone since it would probably come true as soon as they were done with this anyway.

She was totally psychic, obvy.

Swear to Merlin, the only good thing about doing this piece of homework was the fact that he was going to be doing it with Ruby. Nothing else really sparked his interest, to be honest, especially since he had seen NOTHING in the class. Nothing apart from a bit of mist fading away for a couple of seconds. What was up with THAT?

ANYWAYS. Grayson followed Ruby into the common room, holding both of the crystal balls in his hands. Gentleman, he was. Hadn't even obliged to taking both of them. Put cushions on the floor and use one of the low tables? "Cool," he agreed, "Don't fancy trying to do this while sitting by the study tables, anyways." He did NOT want to go near there anytime soon, if he could help it.

The boy smirked a little and watched her go before following her towards the spot she had selected out. Another smirk was given at the length of her skirt because MAN, that was a good length. Setting the crystal balls down so that one was on the table in front of her and the other in front of him, Grayson sat down on his own cushion, even wiggling to make sure he was comfortable. Didn't want to torture himself by doing homework if he wasn't at least a little bit comfortable.

"Nice spot." He liked it. Uh huh. "Did you see anything in that crystal ball back in class?" Please say no.

"Oh I'm sure there are more fun things we could study over there." Ruby said lightly. At least there was nobody over there right? Sooooo that could be useful some time.

She was comfortable and all zen and whatever by the time he joined her. Ruby watched Grayson attentively like he was the MOST interesting thing in the room as he wiggled around to get situated.

"Its not bad." The spot. "The company makes it better." She purred happily and gave him a jaunty little wink. Ready to get started then? Teehee.

"Mm... I saw mist. But that's, like, it. Then I decided that I'd just make up what I saw because who even will know the difference, you know? Soooo if anyone asks, what I saw was you all like..." She made kissy faces, "Which totally came true right after class so clearly I'm psychic." And THAT was how she would pass divination.

Ruby Clytemnestra Banner made her OWN destiny.

So urgh, Dante WAS Nigel's brother... crazy Nigel's brother... what a shame. She had such high hopes for the first year, and now they seemed to vanish as his genes would probably play a trick on him and make him like Nigel once he grew older.

Shame...

"At least you're a Slytherin." She shrugged after sending him a pitiful look. There might be some hope. She thought out loud, pretty much to convince herself of what she was saying.

Then Cutty happened. Pfffft. "Quit acting shocked, Mordaunt. Cutty." She added his name at the end because Ethan was also a Mordaunt and ugh, she'd not be comparing them both. Cutty might be odd, but in no way would he ever be like the weirdo.

'Booht, is that what you think of me? That I'm joost soom greedy charlatan owtfer a quick buck?!' Uhh... yes? Agatha looked unimpressed but decided not to answer this question out loud. "I know there's always a price to pay." She said, still looking at him. "Especially coming from you. But whatever, I don't need your help." Proud Agatha was stubborn and proud. And showed that by flipping her BEAUTIFUL hair as she looked away. Hmph.

That comment? DANG, girl! Grayson, who usually had a witty comeback, had to take a moment to really appreciate what had just been said. "You're gonna made studying sound very appealing." And this was coming from the guy who hated studying with a passion. Just saying.

He saw the way she was looking at him, by the way. Enjoying the show, was she? It made him smirk and all but he wasn't going to mention it. Not when she was saying MUCH more interesting things. "You really know how to make me happy, don't you?" She had to know what he meant by that. Had to. It was RUBY.

Was Grayson glad to be the only one who hadn't seen anything in his crystal ball? Yeah! It was expected. What wasn't expected was the next bit about what exactly it was that she made up. LOOOOOOOOOL! MAN, Ruby really was something. "Clearly. Keep having those psychic thoughts, more of them might come true in the future." Again. Just saying.

Speaking of seeing things in the crystal ball, the Slytherin stared down into the depths of his before saying, "Mine's constantly misty. I thought I saw it changing before but nope. Nothing." Scowl.

"Gray, that is the only kind of studying I do." If it wasn't appealing then Ruby was having none of it. Far more her style to get someone else to do the work for her, and she'd just stick to what she was good at in return. Sooo she was more than happy to offer her inspirational study partner services. Any time he liked. What were friends for?

It was a good thing he recognized her skills right? At this point she'd be surprised if he didn't, because she was good with the little things, the happy inducing things. Still... "We're just getting started." There was more happiness to be had. The joys of friendship okay.

But they were down to business now. Serious business. Divination business. Ruby put her serious face on, which involved a slight pout and a relatively zen expression. Perfect for the task at hand, clearly. "I'll be sure to let you know what else I see." Pause. "Later." After all the boring stuff was done with.

"Maybe you're trying too hard, like trying to force it, y'know? Hmmmm.... think about a time when you're.... really relaxed. Totally zen. See if you can channel that... feeling. And then try again see if it helps." She was going to try the exact same thing. Not precisely clearing her mind, but close enough, Ruby closed her eyes and thought of the beach, a small smile curving her lips.

The only kind of studying she did. Sweet MERLIN, that was hot. "Not surprising that we hit it right off, then." SMIRK. It was a good thing they they were in their OWL year, then, because something told him that they'd need to do a lot of studying. And who wanted to study in the boring way, anyways?

There was a lot he could take from the words 'we're just getting started' and all of them were good things. All of the things that filtered into his brain, that is. And everything was linked to, heh, happiness. "I look forward to seeing what else is in store." Juuuuuuuuust saying.

The change of expression didn't go unnoticed by Grayson, who sat up a little straighter and tried to get into his own serious mode. Or the mode where he actually liked the topic at hand. Whatever worked, right? "Brilliant. Maybe we can share crystal gazing stories, then." Which meant that his crystal ball had better not show anything boring, mkay?

Trying too hard? And HIM? Did he EVER try too hard for classes or classwork? No. But he HAD been too determined to see something in class, landing him with only seeing a shifting fog, so maybe there was some truth in Ruby's words. The boy nodded slowly before saying, "If that doesn't work, then I'm screwed." Unless he went for the making things up route.

Right. Relax. Be zen. Grayson closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, as if he was sitting on one of those yoga mats back in Defence, before opening them and glancing down at the crystal ball. All attention was on the foggy nonsense. Completely relaxed, he was. Just like he would be if he had just woken up from a good nap.

Come on, crystal ball, show him what you've got.

"If he says anything particularly memorable you should share it." For some reason Cutty found this amusing. Barrington (Nigel) didn't seem to have anything against Slytherins superficially as he seemed to be good friends with both Stark and Odessa. Though perhaps he was one of those that simply didn't like the combo breaker snake in his own family tree. Also, Cutty had, over the years, just grown to like the sight of an upset Ravenclaw.

Nuisances they were all.

"I AM shocked, Agatha. Firstly, most witches are oblivious to the ways of the wehld and secondly, it's like...You know me. You really, really know me." Had Cutty made a friend? He put his foot against the coffee table, quietly considering Agatha's life. He liked that she didn't think. She just opened her mouth and whatever came out, came out and almost always drew attention to the girl. He also appreciated that she knew things. There'd be no shock or hurt feelings whatever he dropped on her.

Unless it was an anvil, of course. But he wasn't considering that a very viable option at the moment.

.....

What?

Did Cutty just do all that to then go and compliment her? Because well, that was a compliment in her opinion. You know, saying she was above most witches because she knew the ways of the 'wehld' and the others didn't. Of course she was better than all of them. Of course she was.

"I do indeed." The superiority tone in her voice was very clear and Agatha made no effort to hide it. She was amazing anyway and Cutty himself knew that very well. Of course she was amazing. She tucked a strand of her BEAUTIFUL hair behind her ear and looked solemn in general, as she always did. Yes. She was amazing. "It's not that hard to know you like money. I thought you knew that." The fourth year still sounded quite unimpressed, but she was looking at her housemate again. Mainly because he sounded like he was impressed by her ways of being superior and stuff. No wonder. She could always do with praising, you know.

"I guess it isn't." Ruby agreed, giving him a warm little smile. She was glad that they had hit it off, and it was sort of weird in a way because it had just been so... organic or something. And fun, definitely that.

Look forward to what else was in store? Yes. "I'm sure you do." Ruby simply winked at him. No elaboration on that matter right now. Obvy they were busy doing hoooomework. But maybe they could discuss it later.

And sharing what they saw sounded like as good of a way to try and make this entertaining as possible right?

"You'll be fine. You're soooo smart, Gray, this will be no sweat." She assured him. Just needed to stop overthinking it. And who caaared if he had to fake it? The professor wouldn't ever know.

Ruby opened her eyes and watched him for a little bit before finally looking into her own crystal ball, trying to channel certain relaxed feelings. It wasn't long before the mist appeared again at least. "I see the mist." She said quietly. Nothing else yet though.

"Sure" Dante doubted he would. Does he ever say anything memorable. He does stuff that is memorably stupid. That is just about it.

Starfishing really?

Though Dante had to admit it was fun to do.

"You ever starfish?"

Dante was just curious.

Not surprising. Not even a bit. The memory of their Greece trip did stick out to him, for obvious reasons, and aside from smirking a little and nodding at her, he made no other response. He COULD get sentimental and whatnot but no. Mushy gushy stuff wasn't him.

Winks were appreciated, of course. Very much so. "'Course! When have you been known to disappoint?" Kinda weird since they hadn't known each other for THAT long. Still. He wasn't disappointed.

Something he was disappointed in was the crystal ball sitting in front of him. How long had he been staring at the misty depths only to see part of his own reflection staring back at him? It felt like an eternity and he was starting to believe that this was a hoax. Or that he was slipping.

Ruby certainly didn't seem to think so and, Grayson broke contact with his crystal ball to glance up at her. "Thanks. Just kinda sucks to not get positive results, you know?" This was the crystal ball's fault. Clearly. Nothing to do with him. And mist? Grayson looked down at his crystal ball again and shrugged. "Maybe it means that there'll be a ton of mist these next couple of--"

And then it happened. It happened AGAIN. Just like in class, the mist shifted a little and the fifth year practically had his nose inches away from the crystal ball to try and see what was going on. Show him something EPIC. He didn't want anything stupid and boring, thank you. He hastily wiped off the condensation from his breath on the crystal and watched as...........

.................... nothing happened. The mist was back.

"False alarm," he mumbled. Grumble grumble. "You having any more luck?"

No disappointment so far apparently. Ruby preened slightly, obviously enjoying the compliment and the vote of confidence. And since Grayson was determined to do well, she kind of wanted to too? Not to impress him exactly but... something. But even if she couldn't manage it herself she wanted to encourage him since he seemed to get frustrated about it.

"Yeah." She said sympathetically. Actually Ruby knew what it was to try hard to do something, to want to do something so badly, and not be able to manage. That was every day for her, every time she picked up a stupid book and every time she tried to write anything that wasn't her own name. Ruby reached out and touched his arm. "Maybe a little more patience, Gray?" Paaause. "Is there... something particular you want to see? Or is it just... anything at all?"

As for what she was seeing... "Just mist." But she was willing to keep looking.

In between a blink of an eye and the next a leather bound book with golden filligree and lettering surfaces on a table in the middle of the Slytherin Common room. Glowing innocently it waits for someone to take notice.

Dante was just relaxing in the common room with a smile on his face for no reason really. He had his potion book he got from the library next to him with the tranfig book he got from Bellaire. These books were okay and he just wants to get the knowledge in his head and not have to read them again.

Next thing he knew there was this awesome looking book in front of him on that table thing he likes to put his feet up on.

Strange.

Dante scooted towards it and poked it with his wand.

Sensing and feeling the curious nature of a human nearby the book started to glow more brightly as it flipped open its pages invitingly. With the rich gold lettering and beautiful illustrations it hoped to lure the human to start reading its words.

Come on, pick me up!

Well someone was insecure, weren't they? Narcissistic. Ballerina. Not yet a prima ballerina. Didn't get the part? Anger issues. Needs constant praise and attention? Where's daddy? Spoilt? Compensation...

A calm little smile crept along Cutty's face as he realized this and other ideas about Happygoody. He'd drink the kool-aid. "Joost as it's not hard to see your superior qualities." He skooted away from her on the sofa and stood about to depart from the common room. "I'll meet you down here for Care of Magical Creatures, then." So he could carry her books, of course.



This kid was forward. Cutty liked that. Sometimes. Like now. Asking about starfishing, which Cutty assumed was some sort of...activity? Though, likely not at all the sort that Dante Barrington was imagining. Cutty was more...just...ugh!

"It's on my list of things to try." He admitted freely. "Well, it was nice talkin' to yer kid. See yer in the classes. Ta!" And with that he excused himself from the room and headed upstairs to hide things.

Well it seemed like he knew what it was. Which is really surprising. He even saw some Puff do it. He was cool too. So maybe all the awesome people knew how to starfish....Weird thought that was.

"Nice talking to you too"

He was cool.

Hm...a glowing and self opening book. If Dante was not crazy or curious enough. He would run to his head of house and report this like a good little student. But..yeah. He was not going to do that. Could something with awesome illustrations like that and gold words be really that bad.

The answer was yes.

But Dante picked up the book and started reading it anyway.

The pages flapped eagerly open between the boy's hands, the stories and illustrations were real and attractive to every eye, they fit every taste. They talked about bravery, wealth, witchcraft, curiosity's consequence, witty little rabbits, and more! It is very easy to lose yourself reading about those realms and characters.

Ahhh!

Today was a good day! Waking up from a nap in the boys dorm room, Gregoire walked happily into the common room. All was the same, and all was well in his eyes...only...one thing was different...there was another Slytherin, he thought his name was Dante, if Gregoire could recall correctly, reading a glowing book. Slowly and casually walking over behind him, Gregoire peered over his shoulder and asked "Whatcha' reading Monsieur Dante?" That's when Gregoire started reading the words, it seemed to be a Fairy Tale book.

That was odd now that he thought about it...a glowing fairy tale book. Could this be the thing that was making Lex act like Maleficent? No...it couldn't...

Pushing the thought from his mind, Gregoire continued reading the book. "Could I join you in sitting down?" Now he was back to reading. Either way, even if it was rude or not, Gregoire would be staying there reading it.

Peter did not know who this Dante has. But where is the fun in automatically saying his name was not Dante. He wanted to have some fun and not sit around this place.

"I am reading this most amazing book. Gold lettering and awesome pictures."

Which was a little lie since Peter did not read voluntary. But the other info was true.

"And alright" Company was welcome. As long as it was not an adult.

Sitting down, Gregoire was just noticing the gold lettering and pretty pictures! "Wow, this is magnifique!" The pictures looked so real! And the words were so captivating! "This livre is truly amazing!"(book)

It was almost hypnotizing about how amazing it was! Gregoire couldn't take his eyes off of it! This was incredible! The wide eyed third year just wanted to snatch it from Dante's grasp! But, then he'd most likely turn into that one old movie/book character called Gollum from 'Lord of the Rings.' He did not want that happening to him.

He didn't even realize his hand was on the book about to grab it from Dante. It took all of Gregoire's will to make it seem like he was only going to feel the book. So he very carefully just layed his hand on it. Making it seem like he had no bad intentions.

Gregoire didn't want Dante to run off with the book while he was busy reading it.

Her superior qualities. Why, of course. "Exactly." She nodded and smirked as she looked away. Agatha was superior and it was surely as easy to notice that as it was to see how much Cutty liked money. Or actually, her superiority was probably even more noticeable. It was just out there, y'know.

Anyway, bye, Cutty. "Okay, see you later."

Would you look at that, now? A sparkly book. Agatha decided she would sit straighter on the sofa and she watched Nigel's brother - sweet Morgana, she still couldn't believe that - look through it, then a random guy join him. Who was that anyway? And what's with the funny accent? Agatha raised an eyebrow as the newcomer was all over the book and she shot him a suspicious look.

He was definitely going straight to her list of weirdos. She took a mental note of that and would consider it very well before ever chatting to him. Sigh. She hoped Slytherin house would be free of those, but apparently not.

Sensing an argument about to start over who was going to hold the book, the book took it upon itself to just vanish into thin air. That would definitely stop the boys from trying to claim the book as their own.