One of the mysteries of Hogwarts he was interested in was that of the runes on the giant pendulum in the clock tower, which was what brought the Ravenclaw's feet heading towards the giant clock coming from the courtyard. He had a sketchbook under one arm and a couple of pencils in the other hand. He figured he would take a stab at drawing the runes he saw there before he headed back inside to study them from the comfort of the Commons.

He had not yet considered the fact he was fully rubbish at drawing. Much better in the art of folding paper, thanks to the direction of his younger sisters.

Reaching his destination, Evan leaned himself again the wall, putting a couple of extra pencils behind his ears and keeping one in his hand while he STARED to capture the look of the runes before transcribing them to his paper.

This was a day the Ollie didn't have much to do. She had decided to roam around the castle making a homemade map so she could memorize and finally learn her way around. Thankfully, she hadn't been late to any classes yet, but she had called it close a few times.

She and her cat, Pepper, had already finished the first floor. They were planning on doing the second next, but somehow she ended up on the third instead. "Guess we're doing this one" She whispered to pepper, flipping to the designated "Third Floor" section of her notebook.

After wondering for a bit, she had come to the clock tower entrance and noticed an older boy leaning against the wall. He looked like he was sketching something, but Ollie didn't pay much mind. She started to head straight past him and would have left him there if she wouldn't have noticed Pepper missing. As she turned, she saw her cat starring up at the boy.

....

This was not going well at all for him. He'd sketched out a couple of the shapes on his paper, yet... when he pulled his pencil away and stared at them they somehow managed to all look the exact same. He was starting to consider he might have more luck if he was to find a camera or something and just take some snapshots. Maybe that was something Professor Schmoe would have available and let him borrow?

It was worth more of a shot than this, he decided. Evan closed his book and slid it into his bag, giving a small sigh that he would not be studying the runes that evening. But perhaps tomorrow. He'd ask Schmoe after the next muggle studies lesson.

Evan went to move, not having noticed the girl pass him, but stopped when he noticed a cat. Just... staring at him. The expression on the animal reminded him of Jinx, and brought a smile to the Nam's face as he bent down slowly and reached out a hand to the creature to let it decide if it wanted to come to him. "Well, hello there." He greeted.

Glancing around, that's when Ev noticed the girl standing off to the side. Probably about Lisa's age, though he wasn't sure. There wasn't really a great way to tell people's years until asked. "Is this guy yours?" Or girl.

Ollie's face went pale. How embarrassing! She began to think that leaving Pepper in her dorm would've been better, but she didn't want to roam the castle all alone. Now she just wished Pepper wasn't super friendly with strangers.

She rushed over to the boy and her cat and blushed. "Yes, she's mine. I'm so sorry she bothered you!" The words flooded out of her mouth making it obvious she was anxious. She bent down to scoop the cat in her hands, but Pepper had other plans. She scurried behind the boy and began weaving in between his legs, rubbing her head on him as she went by. "Pepper!" She called to the cat. She would have just grabbed the darn thing, but she didn't want to get too close to the guy. Firstly, she didn't know him at all! And secondly, he was a GUY!

Ahh, so the kitty was a she. "No apology needed. And she's not bothering me. She's cute. Reminds me of my brother's cat back home." Part of him wished he had his own pet he could have brought with him as well. Maybe he'd ask his parents for a cat or... an owl or something next term. Or even after Christmas. He straightened when she leaned down for the cat, but the creature darted between his legs which made him chuckle softly. "Pepper is her name then?" It was cute.

He figured she was not grabbing her cat because uncomfortable so he glanced down at the animal again before looking back at the girl. "Is she okay being picked up? I can catch her and hand her to you?" If that made it easier, and made her less uncomfortable. "My name's Evan. You?"

Ollie was relieved the boy, Evan, didn't seem aggravated with her or the cat. "Yes, her names Pepper. She's really friendly,
so you can pick her up." Pepper was a gift about 2 Christmases ago. Her Grandmother had given the kitten to her even though her father had told her no. It wasn't any reason in particular, just the fact that he didn't want a pet. But Grandma got Pepper for her anyways, thats why her Grandmother was her favorite. Pepper was a very well behaved cat; didn't run around at night, didn't knock anything over, and very, very friendly.

Ollie recognized the name, but couldn't put a finger on where she knew it from. "I'm Ollie, well Olive, but I like Ollie better." She extended a hand to the boy for him to shake. Then it hit her "Oh! You're Lisa's older brother? Umm..." Opps... She had completely forgotten Lisa's last name. It would come to her eventually.

"It's a pretty name." When she said the cat was friendly and he could pick her up, he leaned down to do so, petting the cat a few times as he did so before offering her back to her owner. "How old is she?" He was terrible at guessing animal ages, though the cat seemed full fledged? But weren't they usually friendlier as kittens? "We have a cat named Jinx at home. He's getting kind of old though."

"Ollie it is then. Nice to meet you." He mustered a half smile and reached out to take her hand and give it a small shake when extended. He blinked at the exclamation, but nodded his head. "I am. Are you and Lees friends?" It wouldn't be surprising, the youngest was always very good at making friends.

Ollie did the mental math. If they had gotten her at two months old on Christmas two years ago..... "She either just turned two, or is turning two." That seemed about right. "I got her for Christmas, but she was a few months old already."

She smiled imagining what home life with Evan and Lisa, and of course the rest of the family, would be with an old cat. She imagined that he and Lisa didn't get along. Jinx being older and grumpy and Lisa being excitable and hyper. Also, she didn't really seem like a cat person. "I guess we're friends. We talked a few times and she's really nice!" She reassured that she did indeed like his sister. Evan seemed nice as well, not really being bothered by Pepper or being weirded out by Ollie's handshake (which surprisingly a lot of people were).

"Aahh, so still a little bit like a kitten?" He petted the cat again, briefly. "Seems like she was a good Christmas present. It's nice it was a cat too so that you could actually bring her to school with you too." The strict rules on what was allowed pet wise was a bit of a bummer sometimes, though he certainly understood why students weren't allowed to bring dogs.

Although... he did wonder why faculty was okay with a peacock?? Though that was for a Professor.

She would have imagined right in at least one sense, as Lisa was much more attached to her lizard, Pascal, like the little Rapunzel she was. Ev never really paid attention to how much she and Jinx got along from there. "She is really nice. She can be trouble though." So just, subtle warning there. Lisa did not intend to be trouble and yet... Evan would be unsurprised if her schemes and antics landed people in detention. Unless she could puppy dog eye her way out. "Are you a first year this term as well?"

Oh yeah! Ollie hadn't thought about that. It was a good thing she had gotten a cat. Her grandmother had probably planned it since she was a witch too. She knew that Ollie didn't like to be alone, so she had probably gotten her a cat specifically so she could take Pepper to school. Or, thats what Ollie was going to believe anyway. "Do you have a pet that you brought with. you?"

Was Lisa trouble? Ollie didn't knew she hadn't really gotten the chance to hang out with Lisa while she had be at school. To be far, she didn't really have a chance to hang out with anyone. She preferred it that way anyway. Her and Pepper doing work in the dorm. "Yes, I'm a first year as well." She tried to remember if Lisa had told her what year Evan was.... Nope. If she did nothing came to Ollie's mind.

It was nice when family thought ahead like that. Being alone wasn't fun, and technically he wasn't since he had the siblings and everything and yet... he was struggling with the fact that as the oldest he was the one feeling clingy. He'd had Chi and Sol before, and two really good friends had seemed like it was enough. And then they both transferred together. He shook his head at the question, "No, I don't have a pet of my own." Maybe it was time to change that much at least though. He'd write mum later.

Lisa was only trouble in the sense that she was small and energetic and could pretty much convince people to do whatever. It was honestly a bit of a super power. "And Slytherin?" That was a guess based on the robes he'd seen her in. "Our other sister is a Slytherin too. Maya, second year. I'm in third." The last three were grouped together quite well, in terms of age.

Ollie's heart hurt for Evan. It must suck to see your siblings bring their pets to school, and not have one to bring yourself. Maybe Evan didn't want one though. She mentally shook her head. He was too sweet to Pepper to not want a pet. "Well, if you had one, do you think you would have a cat like Jinx, or a lizard like Pascal?" This would answer Ollie's question! If he didn't want either he would just say so.

Hmmm, Maya... She thought back to see if she had been introduced to a Maya yet. Not that she could remember. It was funny to hear all of the siblings spread out across two of the houses like they each wanted to dip their foot in a different pond. Except for Lisa, of course."Yeah, I'm a Slytherin, but I think I should be a Ravenclaw. It just makes more sense." She wondered if Evan and she were anything alike, or her and Maya. Evan seemed more reserved and quiet like she was.

It was not something he'd ever considered before. First term a pet had just seemed like it would have gotten in the way of exploring, second term he hadn't considered it but now... was kind of regretting not having his own. "A cat like Jinx. Pascal is really cute but... he's not really as cuddly." Petting a lizard was no where near as satisfying as a soft cat. An owl might be okay too - but he was pretty sure he'd have to go visit it in the owlery instead of it staying in his room with him. And toads? That just wasn't a consideration.

Oh? A slytherin that should have been Ravenclaw? "I think the houses are more similar than people give them credit for. You can just be another honoury Ravenclaw." He wondered why then she would have been placed Slytherin though? Still couldnt figure it out for his other sister either. "Why do you think Ravenclaw over Slytherin?"

Evan defiantly seemed like a cat guy. He was getting along with Pepper pretty well and with experience from Jinx at home, he'd do well. She tried to mentally place him with a breed of cat. Hmmm... maybe a Maine coon. As a cat person herself, she thought she was fit enough to pair him with a breed. "I understand. Pepper sleeps in the nook of my knees every night. Keeps me warm." She smiled. Boy, would she be lost if she wasn't able to have Pepper with her on this journey.

"Well for starters my dad was a Ravenclaw. Plus I'm very intelligent." She was always top of her class, at least in the top 3. Her, Mandy Grace, and Ben Arias would play musical chairs with the spots keeping the teachers and class on their toes. "Also, I'm proper. My father always taught me to be." She wasn't really sure if that was a characteristic of Ravenclaws, but it's what she expected them to be.

Honestly, in terms of breeds Evan wouldn't have the slightest idea on how to look into that. Cats were cats and he'd probably just get a rescue kitten if he could convince his parents to let him. A cute little black and white kitten would be cute, but then again he didn't much care what it would look like. The companionship would just be nice. "That sounds nice to have her with you. I'm not sure if Lisa sleeps with the lizard or if he has a cage.." He was pretty good about not going into her room and snooping even if that was not reciprocated.

"Oh? Do you have any other family that was here?" He briefly wondered where his parents would have been if they'd been magic. His dad seemed like a sure fire Hufflepuff, but then again so had Noah and he still ended up Gryffindor. And his mother? Probably a Ravenclaw. "Slytherin's are intelligent too. They're also driven, resourceful, determined?" It really wasn't hard to see the two houses as being fairly similar. "Proper also seems a Slytherin thing, even if also a Ravenclaw. My brother's girlfriend was the Slytherin prefect for a bit and she always seems kind of reserved and proper." To the third year, anyways. "With all the similarities between the houses.. I wish I understood exactly why the hat chooses where it does."

She laughed out loud. Obviously, the lizard wasn't spending the night in bad with Lisa! She'd crush the thing. Or Ollie hoped, for the lizard's sake, that it had a cage. "I'm sure she had a cage for it. Fur is nice to cuddle with... scales I don't think so."

As far as Ollie knew it was just her dad that had attended Hogwarts. He hadn't told her much about her mother's side of the family, but it was to her understanding that she was a muggle, making Ollie a half-blood. "No, I think it was just him." Evan's description of Slytherins seemed to match Ash's, so what was the big deal about being one. "Maybe it's not as bad of a house as I'm making it seem in my mind." She shrugged. Part of her couldn't accept this answer. If the house wasn't so bad, then why was her dad not writing her back? Why would he refuse to tell her about the house in the first place!? "I think it was just that I had a whole idea in my head of what school here would be like, and being a Slytherin wasn't part of it."

She wanted to ask Evan more about him. She found herself talking more about her than anyone else. That wasn't something she liked. "Did you expect to get into Ravenclaw?"

See, and the thing with Lisa was one never really knew. Evan could not say for certain that she did not sleep in a bed with the lizard. Maybe it curled up on her pillow? Or her shoulder? "and that is the exact reason I'd rather have a cat!" He offered a small smile in response.

He didn't feel the need to inquire further on if her mum had attended a different magical school or not, given after the last term he honestly just preferred to not know most people's blood status. It wasn't anyone's business, really. And perhaps it was his residual fears, but he liked to try to keep his as quiet and unknown as possible for anyone that might not have been there last term. "Oh, I see. For my family I think the only house we don't have is a Hufflepuff." He thought Lisa would be there originally, but he was glad she was not. "I might be biased because I have family there too, but Slytherin seems to be a good one too. It's okay to be disappointed too if you had your heart set somewhere else." That was just human nature. "Is everything else fitting into what you thought it might be?" Sure she was only a first year and had not been here long but.. probably long enough to have an idea.

See, Evan much preferred to talk about other people. He was fairly certain that when conversation did move to him he was just likely to bore people to tears. This question wasn't so bad though. "It took me some time to glean information about Hogwarts but.. once I did and read the house descriptions, I was pretty confident this is where I'd be placed. I had been hoping to be Gryffindor with my older brother but... there was no way."

At this point, Pepper had made her way back to Ollie and was cleaning her fur at her feet. Funny cat, is this what you wanted? To be more social? Well, if it was, it was working.

Ollie hadn't met anyone in the Hufflepuff house yet. She wondered why. Maybe they were the type to avoid Slytherins. "Thank you." Was all she could think to say. He was the first person to make her feel that what she was feeling, was okay. Everyone else just told her the Slytherin wasn't a bad house. She was thankful for the validation. "I guess I really did have it in my head that I would be a Ravenclaw. And now that I'm not, I think it's what's causing my dad's silence." Evan wasn't the first person Ollie had explained the situation with her dad too. But, he was the first to actually seem to listen. Well, others had listened, but he was the first to.... to.... well he was the nicest so far.

Hmmm Gryffindor. Evan didn't seem like the type. Of course, Ollie had learned that people that share a house don't have to be anything alike. Take her and V for example. But Evan didn't seem very headstrong; he seemed like a thinker. "Are you and your brother close?" If Ollie had a sibling, she would want to share a house with them, too.

The fact that the cat had decided to stop and start a conversation was entirely fine with Evan. In fact, he was actually rather happy he had. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if only for a little bit and by accident.

He nodded at the thanks, offering a small smile as well in response. "You're welcome." His Eomma had always taught him the importance of listening. And most of the time, people did want to know what they felt was valid. He certainly did, instead of always feeling well... bad. Her Dad's silence? "So you think he might be upset that you weren't in his house?" She would know better than anyone else, though he certainly hoped her father was not icing her out for something so petty. It was okay for him to be disappointed too, but he still felt parents should be reassuring. And it seemed maybe she needed the reassurance, or even just an owl back. "It must be hard not getting to talk to him." Family was family, afterall.

The question brought a myriad of emotions for him, but outwardly he just showed a wider smile and a head nod. "We are. Noah's the best older brother someone could want." And he was really missing him this term, even with all the letters and care packages and mirror calls. It wasn't the same as him being here. "What about you? Are you close with a lot of your family?" Extended or otherwise.

Obviously that's why he would be mad. Ollie hadn't done anything else to deserve the silent treatment. And even if this was the reason, it technically wasn't even her fault! "I can't think of any other reason for him to not send me anything." She hung on to that last word. She had been here for months and nothing. She was so ready to read home for the holidays but wasn't ready to talk about whatever was causing the silent treatment. "It can be hard. But, Pepper keeps me company." She looked down to the cat, giving her a soft smile.

She wished she had an older sibling. Preferably an older brother. Someone she could run around outside with, someone not afraid to get dirty. She was Glad that Evan had that in someone. "Other than my dad, not really. I was really close to my grandmother, but she passed away about a year ago." Ollie was over her passing. It was expected. She was having heart issues, of which Ollie didn't understand the full extent of, and was in the hospital the entire year before she had passed.

What a ridiculous and petty thing for him to be upset with his child about. Evan couldn't help the frown that settled on his face at that. Why couldn't adults just be... adults? Not that it was his business to be upset or have any room to judge her father, but it was hard for his gut to not react given his anger with his own parents still. He hadn't even tried to talk to his Appa. "You're disappointed about the choice too..." Shouldn't her dad be supporting her? That didn't seem so hard to him. "What does your dad do for a living?" Could it be that he had just got busy?

Not that that was still any excuse to not talk to his child. "Well, I'm even double glad you have the kitty. And if you need any other company, I'm usually around the library." He wasn't the best company, but she was welcome to it if she wanted.

He'd been pretty blessed in the sibling department. Three blood siblings, an adopted sister who was... adjusting and a few older cousins who still acted like older siblings as well. Evan was still very attached to Chase as well, and a lot of his spare time was spent locked somewhere practicing dance to Chase's newest album releases. He was sad to hear that she had not had others in her life like that as well. But maybe she wouldn't have wanted them? "I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Does it help to have Pepper as a reminder of her too?"

Ugh... Did she upset Evan with her stupid dad? Ollie noticed the frown that came to his face. Why did this always happen? She hated talking about her dad and home life because every time she did, whoever she was telling would grow upset. She didn't want any new friends to be upset. But Evan was right, she was disappointed about the sorting. She was really trying to work through her own disappointment but every time she sent a letter and got no response, it triggered that anger again! "He's a history professor at a university in London."

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her lips. She was really happy that Evan was really happy that Pepper was here. To Olive, Pepper was the best cat in the world. "Yeah, she does remind me of her." That wasn't really true. Pepper and her grandmother were very different. This cat was very lazy and her grandmother was soooo not. But that wasn't the only difference. One thing they did have in common was that they both seemed to really care for Ollie. And that she was thankful for. "It's okay though. I'm glad that she passed. Not that I wanted her to die!" She quickly corrected herself. That sounded really bad. "I just knew how much pain she was in. I know she's in a better place."

Okay, Ollie had enough talking about her sob story. She felt like she was making people feel sorry for her, and she didn't want pity friends. "What do your parents do for work?"

He would have felt guilty if he had noticed her reaction to his. It was just a terrible situation for her to be in and he was empathetic to her plight. It was hard for him to imagine a parent refusing to talk to their child and yet... parents were people and they did make mistakes. Not that that made it okay what her Dad was doing. "So still should have time to answer a letter." Maybe they could figure out how to send a Howler to her house so she could yell at her father? That sounded cathartic?

Hearing the giggle he was surprised, but he smiled at her regardless. "That's good at least." Of course a cat couldn't replace her grandmother but...as a gift, at least Pepper could serve as a tangible reminder to how much her grandmother had loved her. He didn't even have time to be surprised by her statement before she was correcting herself, and Ev smiled reassuringly, "It's okay, I understand what you meant. There are better things than suffering." Even if it was hard to still not be able to be around them anymore. "I'm glad to hear she's not in pain anymore."

Oh, his parents? This was a question he was leery of because it made his heritage obvious but... she didn't seem prejudiced thus far so maybe it wouldn't matter. And could he really spend the rest of his school years scared to talk about them? "My mum's a clinical psychologist and my dad works for the British muggle government. My mum's work is pretty interesting, but I never quite understand what dad's exact duties are." Seemed like schmoozing, primarily.

Ollie was through talking about her father. She agreed with Evan, yes he still should send her a letter, but it was really upsetting her now. Her dad hadn't ever been such a tough topic before, in fact she use to love taking to about him. But now everything was different. Maybe once she went back for the holiday, things would go back to normal.

Whew, at least Evan didn't think she was mad. She really, really loved her grandmother and was heartbroken when she went into the hospital, and when she passed away. She was really the only female figure in Ollie's life. "Yeah we didn't really believe in heaven or hell, but if that is real, she went to heaven."Yes, her grandmother definitely had angel wings and was floating around with her old pals and husband. Her eyes watered thinking about it, but she bent down to pick up Pepper to hide that from Evan.

Ollie wished she had a cool family like Evan and Lisa. Even their parents were cool! "Your mum's job seems really cool, though I don't think I could ever do it." She was more of a mathematical, scientific kinda girl, not a theoretical, philosophical kinda girl. It was also really cool that his dad was in the government. "Does your dad know the royal family?" Probably not but it was worth asking. She also wondered of his parents were muggles since both of them had muggle jobs. Not that witches and wizards had to have magical jobs but it wouldn't surprise her if at least one was a muggle."Are your parents both wizards?"