Salem-Rain sat down at the Slytherin table for breakfast and took out some parchment and a muggle pen to write her parents about school so far.
She then served herself some oatmeal, cut up an apple for her oatmeal and speckled some cinnamon on top. Before she added some honey on it she gave it a teste. She likes honey right from the hive. This honey was okay. She will ask here parents to send her some for there hive.
Salem-Rain added the honey to her oatmeal and added some milk. As she eat her oatmeal she wrote the letter to her parents. She will go to the owlery after classes to send of her letter.

Was she early?

Florrie stilled as she found her usual seat at the Hufflepuff table one morning, only to find her breakfast coffee wasn't already there. She'd gotten used to it being provided, being ready for her along with something interesting to read, and the lack of it was... oddly annoying.

Had Blake overslept? Was he sick? Or, worse, had he gone back on their deal? People didn't change their minds about her, okay? And if he had... Well, there were certain ears she could whisper into and Florrie was sure he would hate that. Pursing her lips a little, she took her seat and pulled some fruit toward her, biting into an apple as she waited.

She'd give it ten minutes.

Blake was on his way, right on time, as normal. He was very consistent that way. He was very surprised to see that Florrie had beaten him to breakfast this morning. She looked agitated about that fact.

He placed a coffee on the table in front of her and set a celebrity gossip magazine right next to it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you missed me." he joked. Of course he knew that wasn't the case. Florrie had better things to do than notice his existence or lack of it. She was just agitated at whatever woke her up early that morning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Blake was on his way, right on time, as normal. He was very consistent that way. He was very surprised to see that Florrie had beaten him to breakfast this morning. She looked agitated about that fact.

He placed a coffee on the table in front of her and set a celebrity gossip magazine right next to it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you missed me." he joked. Of course he knew that wasn't the case. Florrie had better things to do than notice his existence or lack of it. She was just agitated at whatever woke her up early that morning.

Every time someone entered the Great Hall, Florrie was looking. Not in a desperate sort of way, just in a bored, slightly annoyed way - she'd perfected maintaining the expression even when that wasn't how she felt and it came in handy almost every day.

Her leg bounced a little under the table though, and she fought to keep still when she saw Blake arrive.

She also fought to keep the smugness off her face, though that was easier when he spoke. Instead, her eyebrow shot for her hairline and she plucked the coffee from the table as soon as it was there. "It's a good thing you do know better then, isn't it?" Florrie said before taking a sip of the drink. "Your coffee making skills have gotten better, by the way."

They hadn't been bad, actually, but she just liked to make him feel like there was always room for improvement. Because there was.

"Yes, it's a very good thing." Blake said watching her. He had a habit of thinking he meant more to someone than he ever did. So this, with her, he was able to actively control. It was an interesting feeling.

Although, in typical Blake fashion, he was convinced there was way more to Florrie than she ever let anyone see. He was trying to get that urge under control. She'd never have some sort of heart to heart with him.

Which was fine. This was great.

"Yeah? What was I missing?"

Picking up the magazine, Florrie turned to an article about the latest affair some Quidditch player or other had been having. She wondered, briefly, if she'd feature in these magazines some day - she could be famous just for existing, couldn't she? If anyone could, Florrie was certain it could be her.

She had an inkling that Blake was having to make an effort to never have a proper conversation with her, and though that annoyed her she was sure he'd grow out of it in time. "Where would be the fun in telling you?" she said with a shrug, looking up from the magazine to stare at him from under her lashes. Because really, it was much more fun to watch him try and work out what he'd been missing.

"Your French is also improving."

Blake watched her for a long moment. He should probably go, right? Right. He didn't want to overstay his welcome. Their agreement was specific.

He laughed a little at her comment. "Yeah. Well, I do have fun with trying things. Nothing wrong with a little experimentation." He did his best not to smirk after. He probably failed.

(Inside though he was slightly stressed about making terrible coffee. Wasn't that the most important sign of adulthood? Had he already failed??)

Ahem. Anywayyyy.

"Thanks. I've had a good teacher."

Daniel's head had been pounding since early in the morning, about the time his first class of the day had been over. He rubbed his forehead from time to time as he sat on the bench at the Hufflepuff table for lunch.

The third-year reached for the sandwich tower on a plate on his left, selecting two and placing them on the plate in front of him. He then poured some pumpkin juice into the goblet and lowered his gaze to look at his food. He wasn't really hungry but he had learned from home that eating was important even when you weren't feeling well.

He sighed softly before he picked up a sandwich, prepared to bite into it, but then lowered it back down again. Instead, he grabbed the pumpkin juice and took a sip.

Luuuuunnchtiiiiiiiime!

Having spent her pre-breakfast exercise time running instead of flying (it was too cold to go flying first thing in the morning), and despite her big breakfast and her mid morning snack, Margaret's stomach was growling by the time her last morning class ended. She needed food, immediately!

Having walked quickly to the Great Hall and slipping into a space next to who-really-cares at the Hufflepuff table, Margaret helped herself to the top sandwich from the sandwich tower, taking a large bite before she even landed on the seat. FOOD. FINALLY.

As she moved onto her second and third bites, she selected a second sandwich, and some fruit, for her plate. Only then did she really look around as she chewed, noticing those around her. Those like Daniel. Mouth full of sandwich, she gave the third year a polite nod. "HeyDaniel," she mumbled, trying to keep her mouth as closed as possible. "Howoo?"

It didn't take long for a few other Hufflepuffs to join the lunch table, but Daniel kept to himself and he'd gone from looking at the food on his plate to poking it absentmindedly with a fork.

He looked up for a moment to look around the Great Hall, attempting to ignore the dull pain in his head as he locked eyes with Margaret. He, too, gave her a nod, but when she spoke to him while eating, he restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Speak when your mouth isn't full of food" he said. "I don't understand what you're saying" this was a lie. He knew exactly what she had asked him, but he didn't want to hear her speak while she was still chewing.

Norman bustled about the great hall, making sure everything was ready for today’s Wizards’ Chess Club meeting. The four house tables were pushed against the walls. In their place were two long benches on either side of the room.

The middle of the room had been transformed into an 8x8 grid of alternating black and white squares. The letters A-H ran along the front and back of the giant chessboard, while numbers 1-8 ran along the left and right sizes. Each square bore a combination of a letter and number (e.g. A-8, B-5, etc.), and the squares in the first two rows of each side bore symbols marking where the chess pieces would go.

Satisfied with his work, Norman made his way to the front of the room. He stood beside a chalkboard in front of the staff dais, watching the doors for arriving students. “Come in! Have a seat on one of the benches for now.” No, it didn’t matter which one!

OOC: For reference, the giant chessboard looks something like THIS

“WOW!”

Yep. That was a little too loud but Aria immediately had a deep appreciation for the giant chess board on the floor of the Great Hall. This was going to be exciting, today’s club meeting. She skipped along to head over towards the Dais where Carton had been spotted. “Love what you’ve done with the place, Professor! Fair warning, I’ve never played a game of chess in my life. Hello, by the way!”

Having said all of that in one breath, Aria paused to grin before skipping off to a bench where she sat. Once again, she turned her admiration on the giant chess board.

Much to his chagrin, Wizards Chess had to be one of the extracurriculars for Evan to drop for his fifth year. He had every intention trying to join again for sixth, but it just had been too many things going on for an exam term. But that didn't mean he didn't still watch the noticeboard, and when he saw a meeting posting and found himself with a little bit of time... he thought there couldn't be too much harm in going and observing at least one. Right?

And he was certainly glad that had been his conclusion, as he stepped into the Great Hall and saw the transfigured life size game board. Well... this certainly seemed to promise fun. Or potentially pain, if this was to be anything like Ron Weasley back in his first year when they were trying to protect the stone. He was going to assume Professor Carton was NOT putting them in a situation like THAT.

Stepping further in, he headed towards one of the benches to take a seat, offering a nod of greeting towards Aria and a "Hello, Professor Carton."

Violet felt a lot better about the Wizards Chess Club meeting than she had about the chocolate frog collectors. Sure, she'd got some chocolate and made some new friends (and gotten some exercise, though unwillingly), but she was just not that into collecting things.

But chess was another matter--Miss Howard had taught her to play when she was a girl and drilled her on it for all the years she studied at home. She still hadn't managed to beat her ex-governess, but she'd gotten good enough to beat her uncles, so she was hoping to keep her skills up here.

Upon entering the room and seeing the giant chess board, Violet realized that this, too, would wind up being more physical than she was used to in a chess game. But still, it should be an interesting challenge to keep the moves in your head on such a large canvas, and Violet was ready for it.

"Hello, everyone. Interesting chess board you've got here," she remarked as she made her way to a bench.

Milo had never liked the Great Hall. It was an awful place, though he couldn't always put into words why, and when he could, it was a good idea not to do so out loud. But it also wasn't ever necessary for him to come in here, especially now he knew where else he could get things like food, and post.

But, being such an awful place, it made for a good testing ground, and that was why Milo inched his way through the doors today. Which led him to this sight. Which was one he instantly recognised.

Chess. Milo could play that game and play it very well, though he'd not yet joined the club on account of the fact that he was not much of a club-joiner or a group-liker. But now he was here, and now he was curious, and now he was encouraged by the fact that he didn't feel the need to immediately throw up and/or flee from the Hall, though his incessant blinking had intensified thirteen-fold as soon as stepping across the threshold. And so far the company seemed fine; today the presence of an Evan felt like a good sign and like balance and not an affront to Milo's overwhelming reluctance to share.

He stepped up and poked the centre one of the large black floor squares on the edge of the 'board' with a socked toe, looking at it but addressing Mr Carton. "Are you welcoming strays." If so, were the benches only for club members? Milo didn't mind sitting on the floor.

Norman hadn’t been waiting long when students began filing in. McLeod’s reaction to the giant chess board got a smile, and there may have been a slight chuckle too. “Thank you, Miss McLeod,” he replied. It was nice to see a student so enthusiastic! “Not to worry, we’ll teach you.”

Nam’s arrival also got a smile from the professor. Had he known what the boy was thinking, he would’ve assured him that no, he wasn’t going to put the students through anything like that. As such, all he could do was offer a polite nod and greeting, “Hello, Mr. Nam. Nice to see you!”

Blackthorne likewise got a smile and polite nod in greeting. Another one who complimented the chess board! He made a quick mental note to use the giant chess board in club meetings more often before replying, “Hello, Miss Blackthorne. Thank you!”

Norman nodded in greeting as Evans arrived, though the boy’s question got a slight eyebrow raise. Hmm… not the way he would put it. He preferred to think of it as recruiting potential new members, but there was no point in arguing over semantics. “Hello, Mr. Evans,” he greeted. “Technically yes.”

Blue-green eyes flicked toward the doors. After a quick cursory glance to determine that there were no more stragglers, Norman addressed the group, “Hello and welcome to Wizards’ Chess Club! Today we’ll be playing a game with you as the chess pieces. For those who have never played before, there are two sides, black and white. Each side has a total of sixteen pieces: eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen, and one king. The squares on which the chess pieces start are marked with symbols like these…”

With a wave of his wand a list of chess symbols and their meanings appeared on the chalkboard behind him. “Everyone, pick your place on a square with a symbol. Which one you choose is up to you, but let’s try to keep the black and white sides balanced.”

OOC: So sorry for the delay! RL issues + spotty laptop usage Please title your post with the chess piece your character is taking (e.g. black knight, white queen, etc.)

Aria wiggled her fingers at Evan and Violet. Evan was a quiet one, and she wasn’t sure if he would appreciate her bounciness. And Violet didn't seem to like her much. She watched as more students filed in. This meant that the session should be starting any minute now. Her gaze moved to Carton. Yep, they were off to a start!

OOOH! How interesting! They got to be chess pieces! Since Ms. McLeod never played chess before, she listened with rapt attention. Two sides, sixteen pieces - got it. Aria studied the symbols, some of which she was familiar with having come across them before under various circumstances.

The Slytherin already knew which piece she wanted to be! “Queen!’’ she chirped and skipped over to the black half of the board. The appropriate spot was sought out before she took her place.

Violet waved back at Aria and Evan and considered what she wanted to play. She smiled inwardly when Aria took her position. It figured that she would choose to be a queen; Violet wondered whether the other girl even knew what being a chess queen involved. It wasn't that she disliked Aria, she was just so...bright, and bouncy, and in your face, all the time. Violet could only take that sort of thing in small doses; growing up alone as she had, she found extensive socialization wearying. Evan, on the other hand, was a lot quieter and easier on the nerves.

Violet continued looking at the chess board--she was momentarily tempted to take the White Queen and place herself in confrontation with her fellow Slytherin. But eventually she decided she felt more like a knight today, and so she hurried over to take the knight's place to the White Queen's left.