It didn't take long for Clara to spot Gabriel. Typically.

He was further down the table beside a younger kid who looked to be offering something to him. She paused, unsure whether to go over to him or not ..... for now, she slid in beside two strangers and tried to catch his eye.

Over here, Gabriel. Nbd.

... Was he supposed to take her hand? "M'Rooney," he started, before shaking her hand as an introduction. No hand holding. He wasn't a baby. "Do you like Ravenclaw?" Or was she against where she'd been sorted and was hoping to sway his decision also? Rooney personally didn't have a problem with where he had been sorted, but he was full of questions to ask his fellow housemates in the soon future. Only when he found his notebook!

"Can you save a spot for me so that I can look for my notebook? I.. I lost it.."

He definitely had it when he got off the train.

... Had it fell into the LAKE?!

Gabriel had seen her...

Yes.

...and Clara seemed eager to grab his attention.

.

.

He tried not to panic over the reason why......with little success.

...and there was the fidgeting. Yes.

Was he avoiding her eyes?

Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh. Were they really back to this?

You would have thought things might change, but Gabe was as elusive and hard to understand as always. She looked away, focusing instead on the first handsome face she could see. He had nice freckles. Pretty face to distract her. He'd have to do instead of other persons. Heh. Grumpy Clara may yet return.

............. Sigh.

Handshake. She would take that, as she wasn't particularly hoping he'd hold it forever. No, she wasn't fond of the hand-holding, at least not with eleven year old children. "Rooney. What a lovely name!" Tia beamed. "Love it. Ravenclaw is quite the amazing house and I was hoping I'd be sorted here - though if I didn't get Ravenclaw, well, Hufflepuff would have been a second. BUT Ravenclaw is definitely my primary house interest." And she was rambling? Hopefully he didn't notice.

Clearly not, considering he was preoccupied. With a lost notebook. How typical for a newly sorted Ravenclaw.

"I'll help you look for it." Tia volunteered. "Just, well what does it look like?"

Brown. Sophie Brown. OH OH Sophie Brown, like the Sophie Brown Cutty had told him about. Hmm. She seemed really happy to see him, which made him wonder if he'd actually been missed. The thought had honestly never entered his mind, he'd been preoccupied with bigger things back then. "I should hope I did, I was tiny back then," he nodded with a grin, matching his smile with her own.

What? Cheerfulness could be really infectious. And he really had been tiny, it was almost embarrassing. No matter though, he'd certainly shot up at some point. And out. But that was because he did weights.



Oh, she had soft hands. Softer than his, certainly. He decided at that very moment that he liked shaking girls' hands.

"They do. Guess I was more popular than I thought," he grinned, and gave modesty a shot. "I went to Hogwarts during first year, then I pulled out." Yes, look at him, being all modest and nice and not bragging about how he really did seem to be remembered. He'd expected Cutty to remember him.. and Fern, if she was still around. And Forrest, that poor kid. If he was around he should probably apologise for tormenting him. But... Sophie Brown and Toby Tempus remembered him. And Sophie was a prefect, which brought his prefect friend count up to two without having actually been at the castle for more than an hour.

Hehe.



Fuller-Thompson. He nodded. He... might remember that. He was pretty awful with names. He would try though, Toby Fuller-Thompson, and that was all that mattered.

"Forrest is here?" he arched his neck to try and - stupidly - spot him among the hundreds of Hufflepuffs seated at their table, and quickly gave up because there was no way he'd be able to recognise him. He couldn't even find Noel at the table.

Oh. UM. Right. That. "Family crisis. People died. It's okay, it was a long time ago," and that was the end of THAT. No thinking of his two Rider cousins who'd walked these very halls before him, no thinking of his sweet aunt who'd never make him her special maple cake again and certainly NO THINKING ABOUT HIS DECEASED UNCLE. NO.

Blinking rapidly, he grabbed a napkin from the table and started fidgeting with it. Being here, especially in the Great Hall, made it harder to ignore the sudden realisation that he was back and they're still gone.

MOVING ON NOW.



Thank you Hogwarts, for listening to his wish about being distracted and providing said distraction in the form of a very loud little bugger. Who was on his way to hug Toby. And who had a mane.

"OI MUFASA. REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION? YUP ME NEITHER," and HIS voice carried without the use of his hands, hypocritical mini Hagrid. "But you're more than welcome to come hang out with us cool kids if you want." Then he winked.

Seeing that look plastered across Clara's face, Gabriel had been minutes from simply giving in and joining her...Or, actually, he might've still...but then very LOUD talking pulled all the Prefect's focus down the table a ways.

There had been some sarcastic remark from Kyroh...which, to be fair, hadn't been unwarranted as the person was shouting...but the response felt like bullying. Gabe did NOT appreciate bullies.

Also, he was NOT a fan of having to be authoritative...or having to speak, in general. So, mild annoyance was present.

"Keep it down and be respectful of others." Yes, he was standing and staring this new person down. Actually, that went for everyone. Gabe refused to have a repeat of last term's opening feast.

She thought that Rooney was a lovely name? The boy raised an eyebrow and nodded almost like she was crazy. "I like the name Tia." He much preferred the names of his siblings though, they hadn't been given any sort of silly names either -- not that he was thinking that Tia was silly. He was just fond of the other Bronwyn children. Calliope, Brinlee, Luca, Deacon and Teddy. Their names fitted them perfectly. Teddy was a cuddly bear. That was the most fitting of the bunch. "My sister got sorted into Ravenclaw too. And Mama was a Hufflepuff." He pointed further down the table briefly to Calliope, and then looked back at Tia.

His notebook helper.

"It's brown and it looks really old." As in it really was old and was practically falling apart...

.....Mufasa?

Kyroh stared at the older boy blankly. The name sort of sounded familiar? But he was't exactly sure. Could it have been a Muggle thing? He hoped so, otherwise he'd be really out of it.

"I wasn't..... giving my opinion........" His voice wondered off as he responded. He was saying the TRUTH. And the guy sort of offended him and then, invited him over? "I sort of don't need to be invited over to hang out with my friends." I.E TOBY and SOPHIE and Evie sorta? Well she seemed nice enough she could be considered a friend. The point WAS he wasn't really sure how to take this guy but-

His thoughts were cut off as prefect GABE spoke. Was he in trouble? Or the other guy? Both of them? Not Toby though right? "Yes sir?"

.

.

No, Kyroh wasn't in trouble...but it wasn't smart to instigate with sarcastic comments, either. And Gabe thought Kyroh was very smart. So...

"If he continues, ignore him." Seriously, this would NOT end like last term's opening feast. With a physical altercation and spells being thrown haphazardly around......Also, as an aside, Gabriel didn't know this new kid. So, it was being treated accordingly. Unfamiliar personality and kid gloves. Sorta.


.

.

Quite suddenly, the food had appeared and all thoughts of the drama vanished. Gabe was rather hungry...as he hadn't thought to bring snacks on the train and breakfast had been skipped. To Kyroh, however..."Enjoy your dinner."...which was said in a way that translated to...'Eat because no one is worth going to bed hungry for.'

Helena overheard the panicked boy looking for his book.."Is this it? I found it on the dock when I got got off the boat, I knew I would find who it belonged to eventually. I just didn't think it would be another Ravenclaw!"

"I mean, that's cool and all, but have you ever see MY muscles?" And she held up her arms, in the standard flexing pose, making faces as if to show off her prowess. Never mind the fact that they looked rather puny under her Hogwarts uniform, or the fact that her muscles have waned from not climbing much in the beginning of summer. There was still the effort. That was the important thing. E for effort right? And besides, she was kind of okay with him being the strong one out of the two. It would come in handy if they ever needed to fight off a bear. Or a wolf. Or a bear-wolf. That sounded scary.

She wasn't blushing, you were blushing. Did he just talk about staying over at her house NEXT SUMMER? INTERNALLY SCREAMING. INTERNAL MAYDAY! THIS WAS NOT A DRILL. THIS WAS NOT A DRILL. While the third year might be overreacting a little, it was also the fact that her mondo crush really liked spending time at her house and with her family and with her! And he was complimenting her and being all adorable and her stomach was doing flip flops! Should she call the Healer? Was that healthy?

"So you're going to wake me up early then? Mr. Moore, I'm afraid you have your work cut out for you there. " The Ravenclaw remembered all of the times when she came down the stairs at twelve in the afternoon with pajamas on and disheveled pixie cut, while he sat there looking cheerful. Stupid morning people. Although, her stomach did flip flops every time it looked at him like that too. Did it have something to do with her crush? Or was it like a disease? What if it was contagious? She might want to see the Healer.

"After all, a Queen does need her beauty sleep and since I'm the coolest, I need the most." Hiding a laugh, she nodded snootily and stuck her chin up in the air like those stereotypical people who waltzed and wore ballgowns did. After all, they always called her the blonde queen. And it was true, she did need her beauty sleep if she was to look presentable near him. What? Did he think this shorty just looked awesome with no outside interference? Because he was SADLY mistaken.

Laughing at his joke, Ophelia found her tummy had those feelings again. Like her boy was going to flutter away and leave her there. Like she was light and heavy at the same time. And sweaty. So sweaty. How much could a tiny person like her even sweat? What if she lost all of the water in her body? What happened then? Would she just plop on the floor of the Great Hall, a sweaty little mess? Was there science behind this? She would like to see the science.

"Well, if you're out of testers, looks like it's just me then. It's a good thing I don't despise you Blue Eyes, because I have a feeling this is going to take foooorrreever!" Rolling her grey eyes as a joke, Ophelia couldn't help but smile again.

"And about Friday, it's a date." 0_O. Did she just really say that? Nope, she was out of here. Somebody call a broom, somebody call about a million owls, somebody call the butterflies in her stomach! INTERNAL OVERLOAD WAS HAPPENING! She was too busy worrying about everything else and it slipped and now he probably hated her. Her cheeks turned a deep crimson and unlike usual, she didn't even try to hide it.

"Not like a date-date, but like a date like day of the week. Or like an event. Events can be dates too. But not like a special date. Not that you're not special, but it's a date! I already said that." And flustered Ophelia was flustered. And the butterflies were against her now.

Okay, subject change.......

"Oh yay, food! I'm soooo hungry! Apparently, candy isn't a good replacement for normal food! Who knew?"

And no, for the record, she wasn't referencing the fact that he liked her artwork. Because the short haired girl was surprised she could even talk right now, let alone start receiving compliments and dishing them back? He wanted to keep it? That was like the nicest thing anyone's ever done with her artwork besides hang it on the refrigerator.

And the fact that he loved her artwork was the reason she drew it in the first place. He paid attention to everything, the happy and the sad and even the mindless quill strokes. She wanted to draw what might be the coolest thing on the property and the coolest thing she had ever seen. She had wanted to share this awesome drawing, the first moment she saw the metal charms glittering in the wind, with him. And she did. The butterflies waned for a second as she let out another, more calm smile, looking at the drawing. Eww, she was getting sentimental. Who even DID that?

Text Cut: DANTE!

Quote:

Originally Posted by the fastest seeker

So, seventh year and all. Like he just got into the school and now it was his last year. You'd think he'd be feeling casual about it but it had a ring to it. So wow. Graduation. Funnily enough his plans of making the enormous amount of friends wasn't going too well? Well, a year should do it, no?

For now he had hope with a couple of people. Whom he totally failed to communicate throughout the summer but hoped that it would still mean he could say hi now? Would that be too lame. Maybe?

The Seventh-year Slytherin casually wandered by the Ravenclaw's table his eyes scanning the faces. Oh, there she was!

His slips twitched up in a slight smile and he offered a nod towards Evie. She looked engaged in conversations with other people so he'd have to search for her some other time. But there, first step towards reconnecting, yeah? Not so hard was it. His brother would be proud. Or would he ?

Evie had been paying attention to her classmates when a figure passing by caught her attention. She almost had to do a double take. After not seeing him for so many months it was almost hard to recognize him. Waaaaait, where was he going?! If she hadn't been in conversation, Evie would have hopped up to follow him, but instead she gave him a smile and a wave and decided she would find him later to catch up with him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire_faerie

Oh, she had soft hands. Softer than his, certainly. He decided at that very moment that he liked shaking girls' hands.

"They do. Guess I was more popular than I thought," he grinned, and gave modesty a shot. "I went to Hogwarts during first year, then I pulled out." Yes, look at him, being all modest and nice and not bragging about how he really did seem to be remembered. He'd expected Cutty to remember him.. and Fern, if she was still around. And Forrest, that poor kid. If he was around he should probably apologise for tormenting him. But... Sophie Brown and Toby Tempus remembered him. And Sophie was a prefect, which brought his prefect friend count up to two without having actually been at the castle for more than an hour.

Hehe.

Evangeline smiled at his amusing comment. Apparently this guy WAS popular if all these people remembered him and were excited to see him. "Why'd you pull out?" she asked curiously. More importantly, why did he pull out and come back? Most parents were taking their kids OUT of Hogwarts for good considering all the crazy things that happened. Like that kid that got eaten by the acromantulas last term? Yeah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Seeing that look plastered across Clara's face, Gabriel had been minutes from simply giving in and joining her...Or, actually, he might've still...but then very LOUD talking pulled all the Prefect's focus down the table a ways.

There had been some sarcastic remark from Kyroh...which, to be fair, hadn't been unwarranted as the person was shouting...but the response felt like bullying. Gabe did NOT appreciate bullies.

Also, he was NOT a fan of having to be authoritative...or having to speak, in general. So, mild annoyance was present.


"Keep it down and be respectful of others." Yes, he was standing and staring this new person down. Actually, that went for everyone. Gabe refused to have a repeat of last term's opening feast.

FINALLY, the speech happened. Evie only listened a little bit and then was quickly busy with piling food on to her plate. Benzi was shouting, yes, but it didn't really BOTHER her until Perfect Prefect Gabe stood up and almost-nicely told him to shut up. So, Evie stood up TOO (to grab a dinner roll, really).

"Please," she added sassily with a look towards Gabe. No, she wasn't the prefect, but if you wanted people to respect each other you had to be respectful too. Lead by example. Evie stuffed the dinner roll in her mouth and sat back down. That was all.

.

.

The urge to make a snarky remark was strong...but Gabriel refused to give into the temptation. Especially after what he'd just told Kyroh Scabior about 'ignoring' things. No one wanted to be a nasty hypocrite.... So, that meant (unfortunately) following his own advice.

No lashing out with the Ravenclaw angst tonight. Considering other factors and variables.

.....and while she herself could've used less snark in her delivery, perhaps Evie had been right. It wouldn't have killed him to tack a please onto his request. No....And to be fair (and honest), it'd been a matter of forgetting. As it wasn't something Gabe said often, the social standard of actually 'saying please' didn't register as important.

"Thank you for that." Said simply enough, even though his cheeks were tinged pink. It was a written rule by now. Gabriel would always flush when directly (or indirectly) speaking to someone of the opposite gender. "I'll remember that saying 'please' is important next time." Nod.

Now for food...

Eden noticed Evie's pocketing of her kiss. OH. For later, of course, heh. But Evie reminded her of Cole, because...of summer conversations, and Eden wondered where her little fellow was. COOOOLEY? Hmm. No matter.

She smiled just a little because Evie was cute..Cole was cute..ugh. Everyone in that year was CUTE okay?

Yeaaaah, Layla did have a point, didn't she? Eden couldn't mope ALL year. "No, no--you're right. It's just the blues right now, though...so...yeah. I'm sure I'll feel better in no time..." She actually wasn't sure. Like at all. She DID have the mirror, though...and Phe had his...hmm. "We''ll be okay. We won't make our dorm depressing--we'll be FUN and we'll keep each other on TASK and we'll CONQUER THE YEAR," she told Layla STRONGLY.

However, Eden was feeling really sad on the inside. So. Schoolwork seemed so...pointless. It was all just so...pointless right now.

The Grey Lady was conversational, as usual, and Eden normally felt NERVOUS by her presence, but today, she just...didn't give a flying HOOT about it. Until...

What.

BOY TROUBLES?

Eden's blue eyes WIDENED and she gaaaaped at the Grey Lady for a full MINUTE before closing her mouth. "....who said anything about.....boys?" WHAT WAS THIS SORCERY? HOW DID THE GREY LADY KNOW? DID BEING DEAD MEAN YOU HAD SUPER MIND READING POWERS?!

And as if the world were torturing her, Benzi had to say THAT--oh no.

Oh NO.

Eden just felt her lower lip tremble...she was about to cry...she was about to...."No, I'm not Cutty's anything anymore." She said very softly to Benzi. "Except maybe...friends." Ouch. OUCH. Eden's heart hurt. It hurt badly. Phe was home--Cutty was...gone--and WHERE WAS COLE? Her heart. Could she crawl under the table now?

The Ravenclaw was really close to tears...but she had to hold it together. Plus, she noticed Clara...who didn't seem to want to talk to HER but had eyes ALLLLLL for Gabe--well.

WELL.

It seemed Eden should just give up on everything. She eyed the pet rock adoption--she should go adopt a rock and just go to bed. She wasn't even hungry. Everything was wrong and nothing was right, and she just--it was all overwhelming her. Was this feast a dream? A horrible one? It felt very much like one.

....Eden just stared at Gabe for a long time as he tried to be ...."bossy." She rolled her eyes in his direction...no. Eden did not take Gabriel Banner seriously, not after this summer, not after things.

"Gabriel, I think you should earn some respect before we give it to you." Because he certainly did not have Eden's.

After the speech happened and Hayley still didn't appear, Noel went looking. They ate together at the feast. It was their thing. So why was she ditching him? He found his cousin soon enough though at the Gryffindor table with a stupid boy named Chance. Suffice to say Noel was not pleased and may have bugged her until she agreed to leave with him. Something was off about her and he wondered if he needed to punch Chance again. Forcefully linking her arm with his, the fifteen year old dragged her to the Ravenclaw table. It wasn't his favorite place to be at, but he wanted to check up on Benzi.

After all, it was his best friend's first night back.

Spotting a Rider almost immediately, the fifth year moved to him - only to notice a little .. something. What? Noel's brow rose as a girl he didn't know added the 'PLEASE' to the prefect's sentence and Eden gave him some much needed advice. "Everything okay, mate?" Noel asked, taking a seat besides Benzi and pulling Hayley down with him.

.

.

It seemed certain people (GIRLS, it was always one girl or another) were insistent on making him talk MORE than he was comfortable with tonight...Like Eden. These weren't lessons, McGee. Talking was unnecessary.

However, he wasn't stupid. Gabriel knew she'd been informed about things...but she was also speaking out of turn. Hadn't he just accepted Evie Shacklebolt's snarky critique? Couldn't a guy just enjoy his food without additional comments from unwanted sources?

What would Mr. Emerson do?

Taking a few deep breaths...because he wouldn't rise to this and make a scene...he responded objectively. Professionally...which was bleeding difficult since the urge to snap remained strong. "I'm not concerned about being respected, Eden McGee...but I won't allow 'bullying' or plain rudeness. Especially towards a younger Ravenclaw." Especially not towards Kyroh Scabior. "...Or the shouting across the table, as that's inconsiderate towards all of us. I agree that I should've said please, because that is polite...but I stand by what I said. If you have anything else you'd like to comment on, you can take it up with our Head of House."

Now.....Gabe was going to eat. Was that okay with everyone? Yes? Awesome.

....Oh snap.

Eden just snorted in his general direction.

"Gabriel Banner, let me tell you something about yourself, all right? Since when have you ever been polite to me? Almost never. So, 'Go put your creed into your deed.' Until then, I'm not listening to a word you say." She glanced at Sophie.

"I'll listen to our real prefect, thank you very much."

McGee out.

Everything was going SO well and the whole GROUP was there and things were GREAT! Sophie was getting to sit with Tobes AND Eves, and Eden and Layla and Kyroh and Gabe and Penelope and Benzi and Clara and Tia and Janelle were all there... and Parbear, Maddie, Dima, and Cole were undoubtedly somewhere around...

And all those NEW faces mingling with everyone, too! Sophie wasn't sure how it happened, but she was surrounded by the FAMILIAR faces, and all the new ones were down the table a bit further... but they were all being TALKED to and made to feel welcome - it didn't look like anyone was being left out at all, so... Sophie could rest easy, right? She'd get to know all the new faces on the trek back up to the common room. There was no doubt that Gabe wouldn't put forth the effort to get to KNOW these kids right off the bat the way she would - she figured he would take the approach of being informational and showing them the cool things along the way and teaching them stuff they needed to know about the castle, while Soph would want to be getting to KNOW them and make them feel welcome.

It... actually would probably work perfectly that way, really. The kids would get to know what they needed to know while also getting to know their housemates. IT WAS ALL WONDERFUL.

Text Cut: for Eden

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

....Oh snap.

Eden just snorted in his general direction.

"Gabriel Banner, let me tell you something about yourself, all right? Since when have you ever been polite to me? Almost never. So, 'Go put your creed into your deed.' Until then, I'm not listening to a word you say." She glanced at Sophie.

"I'll listen to our real prefect, thank you very much."

McGee out.

...Until chaos struck after the speech. Benzi DID have his voice raised, but not to cause any harm, and then Kyroh was yelling at HIM, and Gabe was interjecting, and Sophie WAS actually going to tack on a polite, helpful please at the end because Kyroh and Benzi were both her friends and she thought they would appreciate her more peaceful addition to the fray, but Evie beat her to it, albeit with snark and displeasure in her tone.

And then Eden happened.

The seventh year girl sure knew how to rile up Gabe, didn't she? Merlin. Gabe was doing an awfully good job of resisting and keeping his cool, but eventually, at the part where Eden looked at SOPHIE, the female prefect gave Tobes' hair a friendly ruffle as she stood and scooped up two dinner rolls with her in one hand as she crossed over just a few paces away to where Eden was.

"Come with me? Just for a sec. Please. I promise we'll be quick," Sophie offered her free hand for Eden to hold, her whole demeanor very unthreatening and friendly. "We'll eat and walk. Eves? Please save our spots." The second dinner roll was for Eden, obviously. But if the girl didn't want it, Soph would just eat them both herself.

Rolls were gooood.

.

.

In times of strife...which was what this felt like...Gabriel had to remember one of the last pieces of advice he'd received from Mr. Emerson. There were more important things in life than these types of moments at school. This wasn't what the real world was like. Small people would be small.

So, cheeks still pink, he calmly stood up and placed his hands on the table. If this had to happen....it might as well happen now. "Eden, I respect your position...but with that said, our Head of House and the Headmistress of this school gave me this badge. Whatever differences I have with you does not affect my wanting to keep our table peaceful this term...as I've been entrusted to do. That's all." Professional and calm. Yes.

...and that was it. There wasn't anything else he was going to say to her because he was HUNGRY and wanted to enjoy his meal now. Thank you and goodnight.

Also, Sophie Brown got a head nod. Good interjection.

Eden ignored Gabe and stood up, eyeing the roll Sophie held. Did she FEEL like walking? No. Did she FEEL like talking? No. But Sophie was being polite and...Eden felt her lower lip trembling.

She didn't take Sophie's hand but hooked arms with her and siiiighed. She felt bad for making Sophie leave her Toby person.

..."Yes? Are you going to fuss at me?" Eden winced slightly and FELT LIKE she might be fussed at.

She eyed the roll again. She was hungry, she knew she was, but she didn't feel like eating....at all.

Text Cut: Gabe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Seeing that look plastered across Clara's face, Gabriel had been minutes from simply giving in and joining her...Or, actually, he might've still...but then very LOUD talking pulled all the Prefect's focus down the table a ways.

There had been some sarcastic remark from Kyroh...which, to be fair, hadn't been unwarranted as the person was shouting...but the response felt like bullying. Gabe did NOT appreciate bullies.

Also, he was NOT a fan of having to be authoritative...or having to speak, in general. So, mild annoyance was present.


"Keep it down and be respectful of others." Yes, he was standing and staring this new person down. Actually, that went for everyone. Gabe refused to have a repeat of last term's opening feast.

...

Um. Who's this guy? Benz did not get a funny tickling feeling at the back of his head, so he assumed it was someone that had joined Hogwarts after him. But he seemed older. And- oh. Things made a tad more sense when he noticed the little prefect pin catching the candlelight on the guy's robes.

But Benzi was in a good mood, and he didn't particularly care about this odd Prefect fellow who had felt the need to actually stand up and, um, attempt a death stare? All because of a little loud talking. He sincerely hoped not all Hogwartians were like this. He had done, and probably would do, so much worse than just loud talking.

"Wasn't disrespecting, but aye aye cap'n!" he grinned, and saluted the Standing Prefect for good measure.

Text Cut: Kyroh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

.....Mufasa?

Kyroh stared at the older boy blankly. The name sort of sounded familiar? But he was't exactly sure. Could it have been a Muggle thing? He hoped so, otherwise he'd be really out of it.

"I wasn't..... giving my opinion........" His voice wondered off as he responded. He was saying the TRUTH. And the guy sort of offended him and then, invited him over? "I sort of don't need to be invited over to hang out with my friends." I.E TOBY and SOPHIE and Evie sorta? Well she seemed nice enough she could be considered a friend. The point WAS he wasn't really sure how to take this guy but-



His thoughts were cut off as prefect GABE spoke. Was he in trouble? Or the other guy? Both of them? Not Toby though right? "Yes sir?"

"Sure you were," he said, rather pleasantly because no stuck up Prefect would bring him down. "These guys are your friends?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrows, a little bit surprised. Sixth and seventh years hung out with the little kids? To be fair he wasn't really sure how old this kid was but it was pretty clear he was younger.

Turning to Evie with a half smile, he wondered how come she hadn't heard what he'd said to Toby but regardless tried to think up a non morbid answer. "Relatives died," is what he decided on - morbid really couldn't be avoided in this situation - and shrugged.

"So what's that guy's de-" he began asking Evie in a quiet voice, but then the headmistress spoke and he was rather distracted by that red hair until she sat back down again. ... What had she said? Ah well. FOOD TIME. LOOK AT ALL THIS GOOD. YES. FOOOOOOOOD. He attempted to ignore everyone as he began piling up literally everything in sight, but very quickly realised that the conversation was centered around Standing Prefect's comment to him. Might be worth listening in.


Hey, was that Evie standing up for him? GRIN. Even though he really didn't need it, but he nodded to her in gratitude anyways. Silently observing - aka mouth too full to form words - Benzi watched with an avid fascination as Standing Prefect tried to wriggle out of the situation.

Finally swallowing, he smirked and took a sip of his pumpkin juice when Crazy Eyes spoke up, and it took him a second to realise that she was D: CRYING. ACK. NO DON'T CRY. Girls crying was the WORST. ... Okay, in hindsight, his comment might have been a little insensitive, but he'd assumed from Cutty's words that SHE'D been the one who'd broken things off. Whatever the situation was, it was clearly still fresh. He got that.

"Right. Sorry," he mumbled, and he meant it. Please don't cry Crazy Eyes.

... Oh, good, no crying! She was joining the "make Standing Prefect squirm" talk. Or, Gabriel. As that is what she'd called him. Benzi eyed the prefect for a bit before nodding to himself. He looked like a Gabriel. And now he was also curious to know how long Gabriel's been prefect, and why no one seemed to like him. He put this thought away to ask Cutty later. He'd know.

People seem to like Sophie Brown though, so it obviously wasn't a Ravenclaw thing OR a Ravenclaw prefect thing. Speaking of Ravenclaw, here came their No. 1 Most Blonde Hater: Noel Wallace himself. And he brought the Digs with him, who was incidentally also a Ravenclaw. Poor guy, surrounded by the eagles. "Everything's fantastic actually," he grinned as he pointed his fork at Gabriel. "Is Hogwarts always this entertaining?"


... Hang on a minute.

"Mate, you thought I was bullying him?" he said, and side eyed Crazy Eyes as she really got into this debate. If they ignore the shouting for a second because honestly, it was the best form of communication in this loud hall anyways and not to be a Suri but that other kid had been the one to start it, he wasn't a bully. He'd grown out of that the summer after he left Hogwarts. He was very many, perhaps not so pleasant, things but not a bully.

Not okay, Gabriel Banner. Not okay. And Merlin, he was pretentious. Good on Sophie Brown for being the bigger man.

Double checking just for a moment that Eves and Tobes were okay - Eves would be fine with Benzi, and Tobes would be fine with Kyroh - Sophie smiled softly at Eden as she linked their arms and shook her head. "'Course not. M'not much of a fusser."

Before saying anything more, Sophie passed one of the rolls to her other hand and offered it to Eden, already taking a bite of her own as they walked down the aisle between the tables, headed for the doorway, but they wouldn't go out it. No, they were just gonna walk around the hall a bit. Very casual and all.

The sixth year chewed thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and addressing the seventh year carefully, "We're just gonna walk. We don't have to talk. You can talk to me about what just happened, if y'want, but mostly, I wanted to separate y'both so y'could cool down, and to break the tension." She peeked at Eden now, searching her face for some sort of... understanding? Understanding that no, Sophie Brown wasn't going to lecture her. Eden knew what had just happened wasn't right, and she didn't need to be told off by a younger student.

Apologies...but no. There would be no more verbal communication from Gabriel for the rest of the evening. He'd already done more than enough and people didn't listen, anyway.

So. Potatoes.

...and steak and kidney pie. It was especially tasty this year. Or perhaps that was because he was so hungry. It was common knowledge, actually, that the more hungry you were, the better food tasted once you finally got your hands on it. Or so he'd read.

Spearing a potato carefully with his fork, Gabe brought it to eye level, inspecting it...before putting it in his mouth.

Chew. Swallow. Repeat.

Eden was kind of quiet and felt silly for walking....with Sophie. But it was all right. It was better than being with GABRIEL. And Benzi DID look super sorry--so she forgave him....for now.

She had to not think about Cutty. Maybe the Cutty + Phoenix things were what was making her so SASSY tonight and...normally she just had a bit more class than this. Sigh.

She was feeling ashamed now. Her cheeks turned red and...she felt a little sorry.

But only a little.

"...I'm okay. I thought I held myself back well...since what I wanted to do was PUNCH HIM."

Okay so maybe Eden wasn't OKAY-ha-Gabriel hadn't even really done anything to spite her today, either. ANd she was also sure Clara would be quiiiiiiite annoyed with her behavior. So there were those mixed guilt/not guilt feelings again.