HE WAS BACK! And this year he hadn’t ran up to the headmaster table and asked for his friend to be swapped into Gryffindor so that was something. Sitting at the table, his fingers tapping rather out of sync, Hooper watched the sorting without actually paying attention as to who was being sorted into what house. His mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of his cosy bed up in the Gryffindor tower and the early morning that he was getting tomorrow. Shocked as his dorm mates would be at this news, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when he considered the summer he’d had. Early mornings at the beach and lots of time spend with his best friend Parker had been the best thing about his summer so the fact that he’d invertedly formed a stupid routine that focused on waking up early wasn’t surprising. Annoying because he usually hated mornings but not surprising. Briefly, Hooper cast a glance over at his best friend along with a smirk before he eventually turned his attention back to the sorting.

With the smallest of claps that came slightly too late, Hooper turned his attention back to the tapping of his fingers on the table.

Tap.


Tap. Tapping.
Tap.





Tap. Taparoo.

After the Hat was removed, Luther walked towards the end of the incredibly long table adorned in red and gold and started to watch others as discreetly as he could while smiling at the applause he got from his new housemates. As he was taking in everything in the majestic Great Hall, his thoughts wandered off to his future at Hogwarts. He was certainly excited but also a bit nervous at the foreign home of which his father mentioned so fondly in his journals.

Remy sat alone for the longest time with a nonchalant expression as she watched the sorting ceremony. Every year the bunch of first years looked more dull than the last, in her opinion. Instead, her eyes fell upon the Ravenclaw table for a few moments, scanning familiar faces for… reasons.

Tap, tap.

She could cope with it at first but it was INCESSANT. “Please stop that,” she told the younger boy (Hooper), using her big fifth head voice. Remy had a vague memory of this boy irritating her at a feast in the past and was displeased that he was still just as annoying.

The good vibes she had on the train ride up were slowly disintegrating. Maybe she was hangry.

GOTTA GET BACK TO HOOOOOOGWARTS!

Riding the carriages had been super cool and despite her desire to stay and try to pet the skeletal horses, she'd been too excited to SEE everyone to dilly dally outside. Eagerly the now SECOND year pushed her way through students to try to find one of the best seats at the table, which had ended her up near Remy and Hooper. Honestly, she didn't remember their names well unsurprisingly but she recognized their faces enough to still feel friendly.

Which considering she would probably try to greet even a literal wall, this was incredibly unsurprising.

Hearing the older student tell the younger to stop the tapping, Vera couldn't help but chime in, tapping out a few beats as well. "I like it! I bet we could even make a song out of it before Headmaster starts the feast!" She beamed at them both, before turning attention to just Remy for a minute. "Where's your boyfriend??" She'd her and Atlas together a lot, so she was curious why they hadn't connected already. There was the smallest sliver of hope for her for her self proclaimed not!brother older brother's sake.

It occurred to her she was also missing her chance to make herself the reliable older student before either of the other too, so hurriedly she turned her attention to the first year (Luther) joining them and squared her shoulders as she proudly introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Vera! WElcome to Gryffindor! We're kind of the best house, but burning the tapestries is not recommended. Just a heads up." HAd she done that? No, but merlin did she want to. Professor M made it pretty clear that was ill advised. "I'm a SECOND year and would be happy to show you any of the ropes that you need!"

Luther turned back to the bubbly girl (Vera) who just introduced herself, after making sure she was talking to him, he tried to talk over the chatter of the Great Hall and extended his hand "Hello, I am Luther. My father was a Ravenclaw and he says the same thing about there but I like the red better, to be honest. Also, 'not recommend' implies it is allowed, can I?" with a small mischievous smile on his face.

Somehow Apollo had survived his OWLs and they even came back with mostly passing grades, which he's sure had much to do with the help of one Maya Nam. Speaking of which, where was she anyway? He hadn't really seen her on the train.

Alsoooo even though he enjoyed the extra money, being a sign-holder on the weekends aside from U-17 quidditch training, was EXHAUSTING. Was this a preview to adulthood? Is this why his mother was always sooooo tired?? Fortunately while he might not know know what he wanted to do post-hogwarts, he knew that a sign-holder was just a temporary thing as a way to make some extra money of his own.

Making his way along the Gryffindor table, looking for some of his yearmates maybe, he gave a wave to the Remster, telling Hooper to stop the tapping. Who could blame her - it WAS annoying. Is this what professors felt with blackboard screeches? "Good summer, Rem?"

His attention was turned over though to Vera telling some new first kid about not burning down the tapestries... UM ... what??? "I think what Vera is implying here is that burning anything without professor approval is a big no-no and surefire way to fasttrack yourself to detention." He chimed in.

With the sorting hard jitters now gone, Gryffindor made his way to his house's designated table. The social butterfly recognized a few faces, some more than others but nonetheless Johnathan was eager to meet and get to know all his new housemates.

There was a lot of chatter among the Gryffies already present, so much going and really didn't know where to start or who to first speak to. Finding an empty seat he settled onto it and smiled at his neighbors on both sides next to him followed by a proper introduction to everyone present, "Hi guys, I'm Johnny."

Hopefully it won't be too long before they can chow down, the growing boy needed sustenance!

Summer couldn't believe that summer was already over, but anyway it was now time for another year at Hogwarts and she was looking forwards to finding out what her friends had been up-to and to see all the new students.

Summer looked around, she was eager to see if she could see any of her fellow third years.

Finn Wyatt Clarke was hungry. Despite eating all the snacks he'd taken with him on the train, and also some candy from the trolley, he felt as if he hadn't eaten all day. Was this what being a teenager was like? Always being hungry?

He supposed if it meant he was going to grow this year, he couldn't complain, but he'd still rather not be hungry. It was distracting and made it difficult to focus on the conversations going on around him. He'd seen his best friends (okay, his sisters) all summer, so while he was excited to meet new people and such and all, he wasn't desperate for social interaction as he might be, say, after a week of studying in the library. Unless Mitsuki was there, which, if it was the library, apparently might be the case.

He smiled politely at those sitting around him and gave a friendly wave to both a younger student (Summer!) and an older one (Johnathan?) who were seated nearby.

Hunger was the last thing on the smol blonde’s mind as Sable Ileana had made her way into the feast. Part of it was on the carriage ride over, mulling over the fact she COULDN’T SEE what she knew were thestrals pulling them and that made it awfully hard to pet them if she’d been so inclined. Even so, she’d spent a few extra seconds trying to figure out if the skeletal horses could understand her if she tried to explain things to them. Plus, she’d been oh-so-tempted to check and see if anyone had undone the work they had done on the boat in the boathouse that she and her crew had chosen to become their new pirate ship. Granted, there was every chance said boat had been needed to bring firsties over to the castle, but still, she hoped the nascent pirate ship was still intact.

She needed her ship, after all. A good pirate captain wasn’t much without one.

Even so, she’d managed to arrive in the Great Hall to witness the Sorting, perching herself on the bench next to Vera and balancing on her knees to keep an eye on things. Possible recruits and such, although she had done a bit of recruiting over the summer too. Her cruppy had helped with that, but now she was on her own. Well, besides the obvious help of Bestie, who was busy talking to Remy and Hooper about tapping and boyfriends. Ew. Although she’d given the two a grin in greeting even so.

She’d craned her neck to look over at both the Slytherin table to see if Enzo had arrived yet and the Claw table for Vasco and Amara, though, before she’d given the newbie (Luther) and the older boy (Johnny) a grin. “Yeah, welcome to Gryffindor! I’m Sable Ileana,” she added, before glancing at Apollo.

“Only if you’re burning things the professors think shouldn’t be burned. Sometimes it’s okay.” Like the occasional burning of homework when it was being particularly difficult. Which may or may not have helped lead to the burning of tapestries the previous year. The jury was still out, but she wasn’t going to betray Bestie either. One had to get caught to get detention, after all.

Her attention had wandered over to the staff table by that point, observing what faces she recognized and which ones she didn’t, but she’d still given a grin to Summer and Finn too. Gotta cover everyone after all.

Kins made her way to the far end of the Gryffindor table, strategically choosing a place on the bench far, far away from where everyone else was sat. Like she usually did. Except this time, instead of pulling things out of her bag and setting them beside her to save seats, she sat quietly, wringing her hands and waiting for the feast to be over.

And though her housemates looked to be having fun, Kins didn’t seem to be paying attention to any of it. Not to Hooper’s annoying tapping or Remy’s intervention. Not to the newly sorted first years or the loud return of the second years. She didn’t look up to say hello when Apollo joined, nor did she offer so much as a wave to Johnny. Summer, Finn, and Sable might as well have been ghosts.

It wasn’t anything personal. She just didn’t want to be here. That’s all.

O___O

Vera, why you gotta call her out like that? In front of EVERYONE. “He’s not…” she started, soon realising that she shouldn’t be assuming who Vera meant, because that made things more obvious. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” the whole sentence wreaked attitude. In all seriousness, she wasn’t joined to his hip, you know. Why did EVERYONE seem to think that they were???!

It was only due to this being the START of term feast that Remy thought it best to be polite to everyone. Not Hooper and Vera, though. Usually she would ignore the fresh sortees despite remembering how it felt being one very well. She smiled at Luther, Johnny and Summer, “Welcome to Gryffindor.” Yes, yes, welcome to the best house of all time and all that. She switched off when Vera started rambling on about burning tapestries, and instead greeted others with a smile. (Finn and Sable)

Finally, someone she could talk to. “Hey, Apollo.” This had to be the first time she didn’t feel all blushy around him, but that could be due to the high levels of irritability she was feeling right now. “It was great, thanks! Been busy with a summer job.” Fond memories of learning how to bees the perfect coffee that she hoped she could continue perfecting the skill in the kitchens this term. “Did you?” Have a good summer, that is.

Remy noticed Kinsay join the table, of course. Shock, she was ignoring everyone like she did most feasts. Remy didn’t bother to wave her down because they were more acquaintances than friends.

Luther watched as new people come to the table for a second then greeted everyone "Hello, I am Luther Starriver." He saw the girl sitting at the end of the table looking nervous or annoyed (Kinsey), Luther couldn't ascertain precisely what she felt but he thought 'It's nice to see that not all Gryffindors are extroverted.'

He then turned to the guy (Apollo) and thought 'This looks fun', said "Also, have you ever heard of the 'If a tree falls in a forest...' thought experiment?" with a small mischievous smile.

Hooper tapped and tapped and tapped some more as the table began filling up with more people, both new and old but it wasn’t until someone actually talked to him that he snapped out of his tapping trance. Turning to face the person who’d asked him to stop tapping, Hooper wasn’t at all surprised to see it was an older student (Remy) who for some reason seemed to feel that they had some kind of sway over him. What was her name? Remy? Staring at her in the eye, Hooper slowly began tapping again.

Tap
Tap


Tap

TapPING

TAP
TAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPINGGGGGGGG



It wasn’t like he was trying to be annoying or whatever. He fully was. He simply just could not sit still long enough and the beginning of term feasts were just way too long and not enough happened for his liking. Why couldn’t they skip to the food and leave? He did however, try his best to tap to the beat of the other person who had joined him! (Vera) “Thanks! I quite like a good beat. It helps me stay focused and calm,” although he wasn’t sure they’d have enough time to make a song before the headmaster butted in. Hooper quickly lost interest in this when the girl turned away and started talking to the first year. He did however spare a nod and a smile for the older new Gryffindor Johnny, his fellow third year Summer and the second year who’d greeted him (Sable).

Save for the loo, it really was not like Atlas to not make a bee line for the Gryffindor table after disembarking from the carriages. This evening, however, he had not only remained by the one he had road in on with his brother to actually touch one of the thestrals pulling it (and nearly lost a finger for it) as well as made a slight detour over to the Ravenclaw table to deposit something that (for lack of another metaphor) was going to burn a hole in his pocket at any minute. That ember had been dealt with and now the only thing that occupied his pockets were the metal match sticks from Nemesis Upstead...which were now twirling and rolling around his fingers without him having to maintain eye contact with them to do so.

Taking a deep breath as he rounded the front of the table (the end closest to the staff dais), Atlas made his way towards his usual section of the bench where Remy was already seated. Though, well, 'already' was kind of pretentious since he was the one who had arrived late. Anyway.

His belated arrival meant that he missed the entirety of every conversation going on, which may be a momentary blessing in disguise considering the one and only Vera Thanatos.

It was kind of surreal seeing some of his classmates again and so soon considering how often he had run into them during the summer thanks to so many of them finding themselves in part-time employment. "Oi, Apollo, where's your sign? I hardly recognize you," he teased casually as he pulled up right beside Remy in all his glorious ignorance. "I miss anything?" he asked her specifically, leaning a bit so he did not have to raise his voice. He figured she could offer him the highlights - if there had been anything. Forget-me-not blue eyes glancing around the space, the sixth year took not of several new faces to the table and jetting his chin outward and up in a casual sort of greeting. "Hey. Welcome to Gryffindor," he offered as a general blanket statement to all since, well, he had caught zero names since he had been running a personal errand.

Also, where in Dumbledore's soggy socks was Freddie? Atlas would like to have his cap back now.

Having caught a glimpse while still over at the Ravenclaw table, Atlas' head spun around a bit to check on what in the hopping hippogriff Peeves may be up to. Big fan, honestly. The poltergeist had made his second term here at Hogwarts more tolerable. Still did not mean that he wanted Peeves sneaking into his stash, setting anything off, or otherwise messing with his own belongings.

"Wish the headmaster would get on with it so we could have dinner and a show," he mumbled for mostly Remy's ear as he nodded towards the Hufflepuff table. Maybe Peeves could shove an entire cream pie or bowl of mashed potatoes in Daniel Yoon's face.

Vera wrinkled her nose the slightest bit at the mention of Ravenclaw being the best house, looking over that direction to catch sight of her brother before turning back to the first year, Luther. "Ravenclaw is okay, my brother is there. I like to remind him Gryffindor is better though because I'm here." She beamed, which only grew more. Ooooh, she liked this first year and how his mind worked! "You got me there!" While Apollo's arrival had gone unnoticed (sorry Apollo, hi Apollo!), his interjection did not. Turning eyes towards him, she blinked a bit at his addition before pointing her thumb towards Luther. "I like his response better." Would Professor M allow them to burn things in the common????? Ve wasn't so sure. It was better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

OH LOOK. Johnny was a Gryffindor! Ve smiled at the older student and gave him a wave. "Seeee! We're the best house!" Aaaah, the feast was so fun too at beginning when everyone was all there at the same time. More arrivals just got giant smiles and waves, "Hello!" She chirped, despite not really remembering all of the names. She was pretty sure the girl was named after a season (Autumn maybe???) and the boy after a part of a fish (Gil was it???) And the Gryffindor seventh year (Kinsay) came in and pretty much ignored them all. Which was okay, but also... not a deterrent to Vera in the slightest. "Ahoooooy there!" she called, waving Kinsay's way as well.

And then an arrival she knew quite well! "Siaaaaaaa. Isn't it just SO disappointing you couldn't bring your cruppy too? It was so CUTE and floofy." And she would like to be able to give pets throughout the whole year. Couldn't even imagine how Sable Ileana must have felt about being separated too.

Good luck on keeping beat with her, her taps were... erratic at best. The girl had not sense of rhythm, and truly she just liked to be loud and obnoxious so the fact it didn't sound GOOD was of no consequence to her. But still, this was fun so she beamed back at Hooper. "I don't think anything helps me stay calm." Understatement. "Do you tap or make beats during classes too then?" Those were so hard to pay attention in if they weren't hands on and moving a loooot. Probably why she favored Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ahhhh, Remy. Vera's grin grew as she looked at the other girl, propping her head on her hand on the table in front of her as she STARED at the older girl who seemed maaaaybe the tiniest bit flustered. She was clearly starting to deny it with a person in mind, which caused the second year to snicker slightly, before she raised an eyebrow. "You don't? I just figured since the way you look at him and all." She was exaggerating now. She hadn't noticed anything along that line, BUT the older year was flustered and Ve was taking the smallest (largest) pleasure in it. There had to be something to pass the time with before food!

Ah and speak of the devil, here came Atlas now. Vera watched as he slid into the seat next to Remy (shocking) and leaned in to give her allllll his attention. Ve just SMIRKED at Remy, but mercifully before she could open her mouth to make things any worse for anyone, she was distracted seeing Atlas' head move to look towards Hufflepuff. In a small burst of excitement, justtttt enough to distract her from the previous train of thought, she craned her next to see if he was looking for Daniel (her OTP!!) and then was even more distracted to see the Poltergeist. "Is that PEEVES?"

Those lucky badgers!

ARDEN TOROS WAS HERE, AND SHE WAS READY TO EAT. And it was truly sad they had to wait for the big head man to give a speech first, because speeches were boring and she hardly ever paid attention and THEREFORE didn't get anything valuable from them. Her hair was in a messy plait since she had gotten fed up with it on the train, and she looked around for her train buddy, Milo! He was a Ravenclaw, though, and she got distracted because of all the ACTION at her own table - and OOOH PEEVES. Arden grinned to herself.

WHY WAS REMY BEING RUDE TO HOOPS? Arden made a face at the older girl. "Hoops can tap as much as he wants! You're not his boss!" she said quickly before taking a seat NEAR Hoops.

She waved at Vera and grinned at her energy. Vera was her kind of people, honestly. High energy, loud, etc. AND WAIT REMY HAD A BOYFRIEND?! "Who's your boyfriend?! And if he isn't your boyfriend do you SNOG?" Arden had no shame.

ZERO SHAME.

hehehehehehehhehee

If Atlas thought he had Ravenclaw eyes on him while at their table, it was NOTHING compared to the daggers Remy was shooting his back as she watched him. Not even Peeves at the Hufflepuff table could distract her, but what DID, was the sound of more incessant tapping, now being done purposely just to annoy her. Now that was just mean. Her rage was ready to bubble over the top of a cauldron, almost to the point where her eyes were starting to well up. Instead of cracking, the Gryffindor let out a loud, “UGH,” directing it at Hooper, then turned her head to the side to compose herself. As usual, her hair did well at covering any embarrassing faces she may have pulled.

Oh, here he was. Remy wasn’t sure she wanted Atlas to sit beside her, however would have been equally (if not more) annoyed if he hadn’t done so. Basically, he couldn’t win. “Did I miss anything, don’t you mean? Did you forget which house you were in?” Remy asked as coolly as she could, managing a small smile.

WHY WERE A BUNCH OF LITTLE KIDS BULLYING HER???

She was supposed to be a fifth year and someone to look up to. Remy certainly thought highly of students that aged above her, so it was quite heartbreaking that she didn’t have the same effect. Once again, her reputation was nothing how she had wanted it to be. Sigh.

Arden bringing up the boyfriend word again stung even more now that Atlas was beside her. She also felt Vera’s gaze and smirk on her the whole time. She ignored both of them. Of course, she did have small hope that he wouldn’t cotton onto the comments, since Atlas was a bit slow in this department, but it didn’t make it any less embarrassing. Feeling her eyes start to sting again, Remy made a sharp turn to Atlas. “I’m… going to the bathroo..m…” it was just about audible.

With that, Remy made sure her hair was covering enough of her face as she hastily stood up and speed-walked to the exit. She didn’t even care if she’d get into trouble for walking out before the speech. Upon leaving the Great Hall, the tears that were held back for so long finally came streaming.

Over and out.

Seventh year! There was something exciting about it being her last year, not sad or bittersweet (at least not yet) like some might say, and Karleigh eagerly headed over to the Gryffindor table. She might have been a liiiittle bit late to sit with her housemates, having talked to a certain someone on the way to the Great Hall, but clearly not too late to have missed any of the festivities.

Noticing the table practically full of students and filling up fast with new Gryffindors as the sorting ceremony was fully underway, Karleigh looked for a place to sit. She spotted Kinsay first, sitting away from most people as she curiously seemed to do at most feasts anymore. But she did not choose to sit next to her. Even though they were dormmates, she was under no pretense that they were very good friends, especially not the past few terms, and she did not think her company would be very welcome if she did sit next to her. But Karleigh wasn't unfriendly and she still gave her a bright smile and greeting as she passed. "Hi, Kinsay. Hope you had a nice summer."

Heading down the other end of the table, she found a seat near some of her housemates close to her age, namely Apollo, Atlas, and Remy. "Hey, guys!" she greeted them with a friendly smile. "Everyone have a good summer?" It wasn't too cliché to ask, was it? She genuinely wanted to know and she would be happy to talk about her own, including her new job! She also spotted a boy (Johnny), maybe a year or two younger, who was unfamiliar. Not that she knew everyone in her house, but she thought he might be new and she wanted to be welcoming.

And speaking of new, she noticed a new first year who had recently joined their table as well - Luther. "Hi, welcome to Gryffindor," she told him with a smile. "I'm Karleigh." She also gave a wave down the table at some of the younger years already at the table as well - Hooper, Sable, Summer, and Finn - she might not know them very well, being several years older, but she still wanted to be her usual friendly self.

She glanced at Vera as she mentioned Peeves, then followed her line of vision towards the Hufflepuff table. "Is he causing trouble again?" She wasn't all that much a fan, but at least he was pretty much harmless. Karleigh then turned sharply at the mention of the word snogging, and laughed a little, noticing Arden... was she asking that of Remy? "It's not really polite to ask someone who they're snogging," she leaned towards her to say that quietly and not unkindly. She thought Arden was kind of adorable, to be honest. "It's kind of a private thing for a lot of people." Just saying. And she thought it should be kept between those two people as well.

Train buddy Milo was right here too. He had stepped into the Great Hall, sliding his socks on the flagstone floor as he went, and stopped in his tracks as a blast of noise lambasted him, lingering in the doorway when it did not immediately fade. He had blinked hard several times over and squinted around at the denizens of the Hall, but still it clamoured around him.

And then he had turned away from the Ravenclaw table and instead towards the Gryffindors, casting a deeply suspicious eye towards the Hufflepuffs - whom he had always known to be wary of, though not a soul ever believed him - and their accomplice. He was almost flattened by a fleeing Gryffindor as he went, except for that he side-stepped and continued on his way.

At the table on the far left of the Hall, not far from Arden Toros whom he had followed here, and an older student he did not know by name, Milo stepped up onto the bench and perched on the table itself, all the better to keep his feet away from the overly frigid stone directly below. "Loud tonight," he said to Arden and to everyone and to no one, pausing for confirmation or denial or freedom from affliction, before adding, "House elves are contractually bound to poison the food if instructed."

In conclusion, the basement level was a deceitful and dastardly place. Don't go into the basement. See?

Luther was truly having great fun at the Gryffindor table. The warm welcome of the upper years really helped even if this whole socializing thing was definitely not Luther's strongest suit.

The lively chattering of the table encouraged him even further and he greeted the new fifth or sixth year looking guy (Johnny) "Hello there Johnny, I am Luther. Are you new at Hogwarts, too?" then he turned to the seventh-year (Karleigh) and said, "Hello, Karleigh, I am Luther and thank you."

Even though the warm atmosphere of the table was wonderful his hunger and the exhaustion of the train ride became more pronounced each second.

The hunger pains!

Johnathan was feeling hangry and in a bit of a mood but that aside, the introductions continued!

Johnny returned the wave to the young man (Finn) nearby and threw in a cheerful smile as well. Followed by grinning and waving at the young girl (Sable) who introduced herself, ”Pleasure to meet you Sable!” Johnny was definitely feeling a positive welcome at this table, Gryffindor by far felt like the best house. Biased? Obviously.

Johnny heard a student retort at another fellow Gryffindor after the tapping seemed to have made her lose her cool. Yikes. Minding his own business, Johnny grinned and waved back at Mr. Tapper extraordinaire. (Hooper)

The newly sorted Gryffindor BEAMED when his train compartment buddy Vera arrived! ”I shall never doubt you, Vera!” Johnny teased, but truth be told Gryffindor was indeed the best house!

As the day progressed and more students made their way to the table Johnny was more than happy to stir conversations and loads of greetings, respecting those who would rather not. Anyways when an older Gryffindor (Karleigh) took her place at the table and greeted them, the boy smiled and waved, ”hey!”

Johnny turned his attention to another fellow Gryffindor nearby, ”What’s good Luther?” He grinned. Johnathan looked older than he actually was, all thanks to his genetics. ”I am! Are you new as well?”

Turning his attention to the staff table there was a lot of pride in the new Lion seeing his uncle Kennedy or better yet Professor Escalante take his rightful place. Uncle Kennedy was a huge role model in Johnathan’s life and his chest felt full with satisfaction seeing his family in a position of power. Uncle Kennedy was a hard worker and deserved every accomplishment!

Arden watched as Remy proceeded NOT to answer her and get up to use the bathroom - yeah, right! - and she felt only a twinge of guilt. She was unaware of how what she had said could be taken as offense? She hadn't been nearly as rude as Remy had when Remy had SCREAMED at Hooper to stop his tapping.

Arden's flair for dramatics was showing.

If she had known Remy were crying, Arden would have felt bad. But she didn't. Ignorance was bliss. With pumpkin juice in hand, she sipped to have something to do besides chatter incessantly as Karleigh, a seventh year, told her it was rude to ask about snogs. It made Arden CLICK her tongue. "Not true. My mam says you should always be open about who you're snogging. Or is that only if you have multiple partners?" Maybe it was a poly thing. Now she couldn't remember, but it also occurred to her that she and Eden had JUST had a discussion about how different Arden's lifestyle was from her peers. Yeaaaah yeah. Arden was sure it wasn't THAT different, right?

THERE WAS MILO! Arden wiggled to make room for him and smiled happily. "There you are!" And with his next tidbit, she just nodded a little as she....gently set her pumpkin juice down...and frowned. "Oh. I guess you're right. They'd have to, right? I don't know. That's awful. If we're poisoned, I hope it happens fast," she didn't much want to wither away and die slowly. "Do you always have horrible intrusive thoughts?" Arden had the opposite thought. Her intrusive thoughts were all over the place, not just horrible.

Hooper turned his attention back to Vera and her tapping as the tapping was the only real thing around him that could keep his attention at the moment. “Yeah, I mean it helps me stay calm in the same way that if I wasn’t doing this, I’d be wandering around the room or bouncing off of the walls,” his smile slightly maniacal now due to the sheer amount of tapping he was doing.

Tap
Tap


Tap

TapPING

TAP
TAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPINGGGGGGGG


“Do I tap and make beats during class,” his words mimicking her playfully because it was such a silly question. “Of course I do! Although not so much in the practical ones. Those I manage a little better. Unless they’re boring. Then I play the drums with my wand.” He’d almost set a classroom on fire once when doing so, although no one seemed to have noticed due to the fact that he sat on the tiny flame before it could actually take hold. Well, no one except Parker who’d been playing the air guitar at the time.

Turning to Arden, Hooper flashed a wide smile, thanking her for the backup. He could do what he wanted. “Do you want to join us tapping Arden?” Then all three of them could drum some siiiick beats up in the hall. She did seem really invested in finding out what the sitch was with Remy and her boyfriend not boyfriend and he had a feeling he knew why but all the same, he wanted to offer her the chance to join them. Then again, Remy had stormed off so maybe she would now? Before Remy was fully out of the Great Hall, Hooper couldn’t resist calling after her “Could you storm out of here a little quieter? You’re being REALLY loud.” That would teach her to stop butting in when he was tapping. A small grin was spared for Johnny as he turned back to ‘the Tappers’. “Feel free to join in. Heeeey, actually, everyone…if we get enough people to do it loudly, maybe the other tables will join in too?” his eyes lighting up now with real excitement as he spoke to everyone around him.