Nik looked around at all the camaraderie, and turned his attention to Snow. " I think that's the official reason, but honestly we all just like to drink... helps to deal with...life."

He wished he had a few drinks right now, he could use some help dealing.

Snow’s () compliment caused Fade’s natural blush to deepen slightly, and the very ends of his hair blushed a soft rose as well. All he could think to say was “Thank’s. Black’s a cool color, I like black.” Mentally he face palmed, but outwardly he forcibly stopped his entire head from turning bright red. It was getting easier to keep it one shade, but still somewhat had a mind of it’s own when his emotions were rustled. Looking back he shrugged. “Duno if mom would give me up for the Holiday, actually my dad makes a really big deal about it, but I do wana visit again sometime. For sure.” Obviously he wanted to see the foal again, and even if most of the people at the table knew his secret affection for the horned creatures, he simply wasn't ready to admit it out loud.

( lol no worries, this thread flies past at like 100 miles per minute XD Very easy to get discombobulated)

[img align=left]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/theatticbox/harperhogsmeade.png[/img]Harper rolled her eyes playfully at Aquilino and passed him the oatmeal. "Well, would you buy a gift for someone you just met?"

She spooned some salsa on her plate and ate a bit of a burrito. Snow had asked her the question mid-chew, so she quickly swallowed her food to answer.

"Well, attempting to make one anyway. I'm Muggleborn, you see... I'd love to find something in the village to bring home to my family, but sometimes it's tough. Though with all the new shops and kiosks, it shouldn't be so bad. Then I also want to get a few friends some gifts, but that should be pretty easy. How about you? Doing some Christmas shopping today?"

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/P4yiyjd.png[/img]Gaia laughed "POP is my unicorn. He was born in the sacred forest behind our farm. He adopted us and so did his mom, so Fade and Magnus helped with POP and they now have a stable and get spoiled all the time. My dad loves animals. We train and breed owls. If you bought yours or know someone who got an owl at Diagon Alley or here they were trained by me and my dad." Gaia said proudly "You are welcome to visit any time! My family is weird but a lot of fun." () She continued "You know you can come after the holidays and we can come to school together. Dad is looking into getting some cats. He will never stop." She shook her head thinking of her family. ()

[img align=left]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/theatticbox/harperhogsmeade.png[/img]Harper decided not to respond to Aquilino's comment about buying her a gift and took a sip of her orange juice while he suggested places.

"Thanks for the tips. I'll have to check them out."

She overheard Gaia talk about her owls and turned to inject herself into the conversation.

"I knew you guys raised owls, but I didn't realize it was for the shops at Diagon Alley and here! I wonder if you guys trained my little Cormac. Would be pretty cool if that were the case."

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/P4yiyjd.png[/img]"What kind of owl is he?" Gaia grinned at her friend "How long ago did you get him? We have been training owls for over 20 years. Well my dad has; I have been helping for about 7 years. He has been the only one bringing owls to Diagon Alley for 5 years now. Some of the school owls were ours too. Does your owl had tricks he did before you taught him any?" ()

[img align=left]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/theatticbox/harperhogsmeade.png[/img]"He's a barn owl. I got him 2 years ago," she said and scrunched up her face. "Not sure on the tricks... The sales clerk didn't really tell me of anything special in regards to tricks or anything."

She shrugged and focused on eating her burrito. She looked around at the food at the table to see what else there was. She served herself some huevos rancheros and dug in.

(OOC okay pretend Harper's just really engrossed in her food I gotta sleep. xD)

((For when you come back))

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/P4yiyjd.png[/img] "Try tossing a treat high in the air. It is a classic trick I teach the owls so they can be accurate and fast. They just love treats so they go crazy over it. If not we can go to the owlery and see if he knows me." Gaia grinned and grabbed some tacos.

Nik sat quietly, listening to the conversations around him. He helped himself to some food ( a burrito, a tostada and an empanada as well as some fresh fruit) and made himself a coffee. The farm and all the animals sounded cool, if they had cats one day he would be interested in seeing them.

He watched the boy's hair tips change color, and found that fascinating...what an interesting bunch of people attended this school, and ran shops here in Hogsmeade.

(Nik)

Snow listens to him and nods. "I could see that...maybe you could try something new? I mean I know your used to the way things were...It will get easier" she tried to give him a a reassuring smile.

(Fade)

Snows eyes widen as his hair changed color. "Oh wow...thats so neat! Is it a spell?" She had never seen hair do that..."Thank you..black..is nice, its an easy colorto work with, goes with everything..sometimes..at home I will put it festival colors cosmetically

(Back at Nik)

"Did you see Fades hair change? That was so neat!" She smiled

(Back to Fade)

"Sorry" realizing she might be embarressing or annoying him and blushed.

(To Harper)

"Ohhh any ideas so far? I do a bit of knitting and like to make warm things to keep away the cold..but well.." she sheepishly scritches her head "they last so I cant do it every year!" She thought for a moment "Well have to met Lydia? She runs the nut cart...my family LOVES her stuff. My dad cant live without her families brittle and shes always making new recipes." Snow reaches down carefully and digs into her tote bring out some of the free samples that came with her purchase to share. "I got loads of free samples with my purchases today if youd like to try some...I mean foods a good start and she said they would last at least 6 months. I asked so I could hide some of the brittle from my Dah to bring out in intervals so he doesnt eat through it all."

Snow adds the nuts to the food pile for everyone to try.

(to Gaia and a little to Nik)

"OOOooh I bet POP is lovely, does it stand for something. I love animals...Duddits" she motions to her duckling in her lap "is my first free range pet...but Ive had hamsters and fish. Did POP start out gold? Ive only seen baby unicorns in books...but Ive heard they are. Do you have a lot of cats?" (glances at Nik knowing he likes felines.)

Snow giggled into her hand as she watched Aquilino seem to flirt with Harper.

Snow happily put food on her plate and ate. She was surprised the lunch was going so well. She looked over at Nik to make sure he was ok too and leaned over to whisper "Ive never set with people at a table like this that wasnt my family. I even set by myself out my house table! Is this normal?" she nervously smiled not feeling quite sure about the situation.

Nik was surprised at how well Snow was doing with this large group. He was much better one on one with people...and started to worry that he had misjudged her, but when she nervously asked him about the situation they were in, he relaxed. She was as uncomfortable as he was, only she was masking it pretty well with trying to engage in conversation.

"If I had a few drinks in me, I would be chatting merrily away, " he said quietly to Snow, "but yes, this is pretty normal, from what I have seen in movies, and yes, I did see his hair change. That's pretty cool."

An owl swoops in with a letter in it's beak and drops it on Snows lap, missing the duck, then flew out again.

((OOC hope that's ok about the owl ))

Snow smiled at Nik still showing her nervousness and munched on a taco. "Well you know drinking isnt the answer here..so we will have to learn new ways to cope." She smiled. When the owl came and dropped off the letter she looked surprised. She checked the writing on the envelope to see if she recognized it under the table.

Nik said quietly "Maybe drinking would help, " and laughed. He watched the owl drop the letter in Snow's lap and look concerned. The way she was looking at it under the table meant she wanted privacy, and that meant it was probably from her 'friend'. He looked away, both to give her privacy and to hide his jealousy. He busied himself with eating.

((OOC yes, you recognize the handwriting ( its very beautiful cursive) as well as the smell of the paper and the paper type

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/P4yiyjd.png[/img]"Mostly it had to do with the sound that got my dad's attention, but I also love acid pops so it made sense. I wasn;t there for the birth but yeah he was a little goldish. He will keep changing though. He is so sweet and he helps Nan in her gardening. He gets to eat whatever she doesn't approve off and is still good for him. Dad only has 6 cats now, but first he has to see how well they get along with the owls. If they can't behave in the farm then we can't train cats." Gaia turned to "We are an eclectic bunch, aren't we? It's okay I am sure you will find your place at Hogwarts." gaia gave him a smile and started eating another taco.

"Excuse me Nik," she said to him "Its from Thranduil." She opened the letter to see what it says.

Nik was busy eating his burrito, so he just nodded and kept eating.

Nik nodded, and busied himself with eating, giving her a little smile.

Nik was busy eating his burrito, so he just nodded and kept eating.

"That is really cool, the background story on Pops...You must have a strong tongue to like acid pops so much!" She chuckled.

She gave a smiled and looked up at him. "He realized what we talked about earlier and apologized. He also wants me to continue to try and be myself." She sighs. "I wish it was as easy as it looks in writing."

Snow looked at Marcello Porto and thought she recognized the name. She gave a smile in greeting.