( )

Gaia was waiting at their table when she saw her friends come in. "FINALLY!" Everyone turned to look at her but Gaia was focused on her friends waving. "We have a table over here!" Gaia had managed to snag a rag and cleaned the tables for all of her friends. Shopping was exhausting but the prospect of everyone coming together and having fun was enough to get Gaia excited.

"Yeah, the quick walk from the music shop wasn't too pleasant either. I'm not looking forward to having to go back. It will be brutal" Millie drew her sweater in closer to help with the chill.

Millie grab a seat. "Thanks for getting us a table Gaia"

"Sure we can do that. Whatcha think you'll 'ave?" he asked as they headed to the Three Broomsticks. "I'm fancying a nice bit of roast beef, taters, gravy, sprouts and Yorkshire Pud. Or maybe some Steak and Kidney pie." His stomache made a large grumble. He'd not realised how hungry he was until Sam had mentioned food. "Do you like the food 'ere? What kinda food they got in America?" he asked Sam. They spotted the group and waved to them. He walked up and placed his order of the afore mentioned roast beef (rare), taters, gravy, sprouts and Yorkshire Pudding.

Aderyn waved at Magnus () as he and a few others joined them as well. Their numbers were growing steadily enough that they ended up having to push two tables together to accommodate everyone. Once they were settled, though, it was nice and cozy and she was happy to be surrounded by all of her friends.

Emmy smiled at everyone as she and Aderyn went into the pub and sat with the rest of their friends. She was always quieter around bigger groups of people so she didn't say much, but she waved and smiled at people as they joined the group.

"Hm, I think I want a steak and kidney pie, and a jam tart for dessert," she mused out loud. She felt movement on her head and looked up as her new pet snake poked his small head out from under her hat, slithering down her shoulder and flopping onto the table where he began to slither up her arm and onto her hand again.

"What do you think, Emrys?" she asked him, deciding on his name as she spoke. "Does that sound tasty?" She smiled and nodded at Aderyn, showing her how Emrys was already becoming happy with his new owner.

Millie was happy see so many people gathering. She recognized all their faces but didn't know them too well due to her shyness and staying close to the Hufflepuffs. She decided to come out of her shell more this term.

"Ohh you got a new friend, Emmy. How cute. I really want a hedgehog but I'm not sure how well Cleo, my tortie, will react."

"I'm thinking of going up and ordering a Cornish pasty to go for later in case I miss dinner because of all the baking I need to do. And maybe a sticky toffee pudding" Millie didn't realize how hungry she was until she sat down and started to warm up.

Aderyn watched as Emmy's () new pet snake slithered its way around her fingers, reaching out to let the curious little fellow sniff at her. She giggled as his tongue flicked out and tickled against her fingertips, eventually pulling her hand away so the snake could continue its winding around Emmy's hand.

"I think it's an adorable name!"

As the others spoke of dessert, she glanced at Millie (), her eyes rolling up in delight.

"Yum! I didn't even think of dessert, but sticky toffee pudding's my favorite. I'll need to order one as well! What sort of baking do you have to do?"

"I didn't think of it either until I sat down. I love sticky toffee pudding. I don't eat it very often but why not? I want to bake some cookies to give away as gifts. We're getting close to the crunch time and my cookies seem to help people feel better".

"Oh hey, Millie," Said Emmy as a fellow Hufflepuff sat down beside her. "Yup, new friend." she moved her hand towards Millie to show her the small snake. "I think a hedgehog would be fine! And so cute!"

She smiled as Emrys flicked his tongue at Aderyn as Emmy showed him to her. "Thanks! Its one of my favourite names!"

Emmy sat, listening to conversations around her, and watching Emrys glide smoothly between her fingers.

"That sounds great! I can help you, if you need more hands in the kitchen!"

She turned her attention to Emmy () once again.

"Steak and kidney pie and a jam tart - if you're sure that's what you want, I can go order our food!"

"Hi little Emrys." Millie held out her a few fingers so Emrys could sniff her. "I love hedgehogs but I want to make sure Cleo would be okay with one. She can get jealous at times. Some people dislike cats before they are so aloof. Not Cleo. She's like a little puppy. But I may talk to my parents about getting a hedgie."

That will be great. My mom is a baker for a bakery in London, she I have a ton of delicious recipes. I'll let you know what I'm ready."

Aderyn nodded with a smile.

"Sounds great! I'll probably be in the library most of the evening, so you can come find me whenever you'd like!"

"Sound great. Eithe I'll come find you or I'll send Cleo. Stay for as long or little as you know. I don't want to keep you from your studies too long".

(ooc - blah, sorry about that. I was using my phone)

"'ullo," he said to the Hufflepuff girl he had never officially met, extending his hand to shake hers. "Name's Magnus, nice ta meet ya officially. Saw ya join Care o' Magical Creatures Club on the day we talked o' werewolves." Magnus plopped himself in an empty chair and beamed as his lunch arrived along with a large flagon of butterbeer. His lunch was a very massive portion. He tucked in eagerly, eating the roast beef that was seemingly close to mooing it was so rare.

Emmy wrinkled her nose slightly at Magnus' somewhat bloody meat and nodded at Aderyn .

"Yup, that's what I want. What are you having?"

She turned back to Millie and smiled. "Yeah, my cat is very affectionate and playful too. Her name is Banshee. I'm sure you've seen her around the common room, she's usually lying on her back by the fire, her feet in the air," Emmy giggled. Her kitty was such a lazy butt.

Aderyn looked at Magnus' () plate as it arrived, pondering ordering some roast beef (albeit less rare), too. Turning her attention to Emmy (), she smiled.

"Just a Yorkshire pudding with gravy and some sticky toffee pudding. If I eat too much you'll have to roll me back to the castle after!"

Smiling, she got to her feet and dashed over to the counter, placing their orders and quickly returning with two flagons of butterbeer, placing one in front of Emmy and the other in front of herself. Picking up the large glass, she took an eager swig, giggling as she set it down and felt heady from the sweetness and richness of the drink.

Emmy watched as Aderyn dashed off, turning her attention to Emrys (her snake) as he slithered off her hand and tried to traverse across the table. She snatched him up quickly and tucked him into the pocket of her robes instead, not wanting him to freak anyone out, nor get smushed by a pitcher of a drink.

"Ooooh, yum. Thanks!" Emmy said happily as her friend returned with a big mug of butterbeer for her. She took a sip and smiled as the warmth spread through her.

"So... did anyone buy anything interesting?" she asked the group at large.

"No trouble! Thought it would help you warm up."

She smiled and reached into her bag as Emmy struck up a conversation, pulling out one of the books she'd picked up in town. It was a large tome filled with healing spells and potion recipes. She was fairly sure that her father already had a copy of it at home, but she wanted her own so she could keep it with her and read through it when she had free time.

,,,,,,, (ooc: sorry I've been so slow to respond everyone, good snow=busy time for me..., couldn't even finish my quests.)

"Hi everyone!" Sam exclaimed as they joined everyone in the place.
"I have to admit, I've developed a weakness for those little meat pie things" she answered Magnus as she joined him in ordering beef, potatoes and a butterbeer. "That roast beast looks mighty good though. Back home we grilled most everything more often than not. Food's not too different otherwise..., less peas, more corn..., grilled on the cob. More game meat, like Elk, trout, chucker and pronghorn, but beef, chicken pork and lamb are still the most popular."
When their order arrived at the table, she took a tentative sip of the butterbeer first.
"Ummmm!" was the last semi-coherent thing anyone heard from her, as she focused on eating.

"Hi Magnus, it's nice to meet you." Millie extended her hand to shake his. "That was a really interesting day. I didn't know what to expect. I'm really excited for the next meeting."

"Yes, I've seen Banshee around. She's a lovely cat. I envy them laying in front of the fire on a cold day and I'm drowning in work. Cleo loves to wait for me to sit down with my textbooks and parchment before she jumps up and spreads herself out on them. Her favorite thing is to crawl under a blanket with me while I'm either studying or reading for fun." Millie laughed at the thought of Cleo. She had come a long way since Millie found her alone as a tiny kitten outside her mother's bakery in London.

"I didn't buy anything too exciting this time. I want to save my galleons so I can turn it into Muggle money when I go to Berlin for the holidays."

Millie made room for her fish and chips, hot butterbeer, and cherry syrup soda. She took a drink of her butterbeer and was finally warm again.

"Hello Sam, I don't believe we've offically met. I'm Millie. It's nice to meet you. America sounds so interesting. I'd like to visit one day. I love traveling." Millie said as she started to eat her fish and chips.