[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/358908.png[/img] Poppy waved to Lenore (). Lenore was what Poppy considered a "classic Slytherin." Posh looks, family name, and an air of gentility. She was pleased when Drew () came to sit with her and a younger girl named Rosie (), and even more so when their talk turned to winning the House Cup again. "Teriyaki salmon, sweet potato wedges, Greek salad, and clear soup," she said clearly to her menu. The students around her caught up with each other and she listened to them while she ate. For dessert she ordered, "three Jammie Dodgers and a decaf skim cappuccino please," while trying to decipher the title of the book Zoe had left behind at the Ravenclaw table.

The new Head Girl felt herself blushing like mad when Liz congratulated her. “Thank you. It means a lot to me to represent our school and house. How did you like Ilvermorny? I bet it was exciting. Sixth Term at Hogwarts was a lot of studying and working towards Head Girl for me. I didn’t see you much last term; were you busy as well?”

(OOC: Not sure if Poppy and Rosie have met? She has yet to meet Zoe. Feel better ! Poppy will meet Jona tomorrow night . I should try to go to bed early tonight but I’d totally rather RP with you!)

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/301970.png[/img] Hollynd could feel the curious eyes of a pretty girl with black hair () on her. She people-watched thoughtfully and tried not to stare back while eating pasta primavera and pumpkin soup. There were already a few hurt feelings and new friendships forming in the Great Hall from what she could gather. Hollynd ordered a jam tart and a chocolate eclair then moved to sit closer to the pretty Slytherin and one of the Head Girls. She was interested in hearing about the Triwizard Tournament. Hollynd had spent her own Sixth Term at Hogwarts going to the good classes, skiving off the boring ones, and practicing ballet at all hours of the night.

She took notice of two boys looking furtive and sneaking away, an adorable Hufflepuff first year who was comforting the Ravenclaw Head Girl, and a cute couple entering who were fumbling and blushing an awful lot.

Sauvage furrowed her brow and said, "Zat is an expression, right? You would not actually eat a 'ippogryff...would you?" She looked a little horrified, but there was a blush lingering on her cheeks as well, for she had just realized that this was probably the longest her and Fade had ever gone without awkwardly breaking physical contact from one another. She relished it and began drawing circles with her thumb on the back of Fade's hand - something subtle that likely no one else would notice unless they were right in front of them. "It is a joke." She nodded. "Must be. I 'ave just never heard it. Where I am from, we often say '...so 'ungry, I could eat a pegasus.' Which, of course, we would never do." She shook her head with embarrassment - pink waves cascading down her shoulders - because now she was rambling.

(and @ whoever else is at that table - I forget) Jona and Zoe walked casually walked back to the table where Zoe had left her book. Jona got another slice of pie and decided to chat with another girl at the table: "Hello! My I'm Jona, first year."

((OOC: no biggy - postponing any RP with Jona until tomorrow))

((aww...feel better, sweetie! gentle hugs))

“I guess you’re right,” Drew said, listening to Magnus’ comments. He didn’t add that even Merlin with his rules for his home had managed to be a part of everything. Nope, best to just let it drop. He entered the huge kitchens with his friend and within a short time had located the object of their search…chocolate cake.

He helped himself to a piece while Magnus told him all about River. There was a part of Drew that felt sorry for the girl, but another part was thinking that she didn’t have any shortage of friends and people to care for her now. Taking a bite of the cake, he gave a brief nod. “Yeah, Mum’s like that,” he commented. “But she’s too busy lately to adopt anyone else.”

At the comment about Bridget, Drew tried to get back to his normal self. He pretended to choke on the cake. “You missed Bridget the brat??” he asked. “Well…okay so maybe the princesses did since she’s a good playmate, but you? Did you have too much sun during the break, mate?”

(( no problem. We understand the difficult times you're having to deal with hugs))

(( squeals in glee! Just add me and Drew to those cheering on this relationship! So glad to see Fade and Sauvage get together at last!))

((thanks for all the well wishes))

Zoe came back to the Great Hall and managed to get Lloyd to come sit beside her at the table. She placed her order and noticed her books still sitting there. She had some of the usual suspects like the Arithmancy book and ancient runes, but there was also a well loved Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe, Alice in Wonderland and Wee Willy Nilly's One Left Shoe. She patted the pile lovingly. And sat down again, adding her sketchbook to the top of it. Her food arrived and she started tucking in.

"Ah," Magnus said, "cake!" He giggled at little. But he still felt Drew was being distant with him and it made the boy sad. Still he was determined to make his friend feel good so he plunged on. "Well yeah, I missed 'er, who else are we gonna blame things on when we get in trouble?" He elbowed him.

Fade shrugged slightly. “Depends on how they taste…” His serious expression melted away into a laugh. “Yeah, I’m kidding. I do that a lot when I’m nervous.” The way Sauvage was tracing circles on the back of his hand was sending tingles up his arm and then what felt like into his brain. But it was nice to be honest, somehow it made the physical contact easier on his nerves.

“But really, I want something meaty… You aren’t a vegetarian are you? It’s cool if you are, I just don’t want to like, offend you.” At the risk of saying something totally stupid about having an intense love of meat, Fade bit his tongue. He wasn’t sure it was quite time to be that honest just yet. ()

((This is all I have time for tonight, but I will be back tomorrow after work ❤️))

(I'm going to try butt in xD)

Merlin arrived at the table and spotted his friends so he went that way. "Don't eat all the cake!" He took a large piece and sit next to them. "You guys have no idea how I missed Hogwarts, truth is I never got used to Ilvermorny and now I feel so happy to be back. Miss you guys too much, good thing is I got my new pet Blaze. You have to meet him Drew it's an ocelot and it's loving and brave too. I also have a new horse called Winter, it was a gift from Bart. He is white and has very long mane, it's beautiful and kind. So we can go riding together! Did you know my mom is pregnant? I'm having a baby sister soon, I met my dad and he and mom got back together. It's been crazy this past months. How about you?"

"Oh, no. I am no vegetarian, but I do prefer feesh over red meat. I zink I will 'ave somezing light, like a soup or salad, since I already ate so much." Sauvage smiled shyly, unsure if she was ready to admit to Fade just how endless her appetite can be. "Would you like to share a 'ot cocoa? I want one, but I do not zink I can finish one by myself." That was a lie, but she did not know what else to do.

((OOC:nbd -I'm roadtripping all day so anythng I post is going to be via my phone)

Jona noticed some if the book titles. One he was familiar with, but the others... "Wee Willy Nilly's One Left Shoe?" he asked Zoe.

Magnus giggled when Merlin told them not to eat all the cake. "Why not?" he asked playfully, "you don't eat chocolate. Surely you wouldn't like this at all." He hoped having Merlin with him would help Drew.

Zoe looked at Jona with a smile. "Aye, its about a boy, ye can guess his name is Willy Nilly and he's a detective. He's solving his biggest case, the loss of his only left shoe. Tis a good book, even if I am bias." She pointed to the author's name. B. Parker. "My dad wrote it. Just came out about a month ago."

Merlin playfully made a frown and crossed his arms. "I love chocolate, and I've come to claim it as mine!" He took a really big bite off the slice, there was now chocolate around his lips. "Yummy."

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/358908.png[/img] Poppy was startled by a very cute Hufflepuff at her elbow. "Hi Jona ()!" She smiled kindly at him. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Poppy Blackwood. What kind of pie do you have there?" She took a bite of her own biscuit and sipped her coffee. The boy's enthusiasm was charming. It was hard to believe she was ever that small but she must have been even littler at his age.

Elizabeth smiled lightly. She was proud that others acknowledged Corvus' abilities as well. "I think so too. But he's very nervous about his graduation.", she said and ate a bit of her potato wedges. "He keeps comparing stuff he learned at Ilvermorny with what is taught at Hogwarts to make sure he knows everything." She chuckled at her words and cleaned her hands with a small tissue. "Let's just hope for an exciting term without any unfortunate events happening.", she added and noticed that her voice was quite tense. Lost in thought, and to calm her down, she stroke over Muir's scales carefully.

"Enjoy your meal", she said while looking at the ice cream. "What a shame I couldn't watch your duel at Ilvermorny. I just saw curses, hexes and jinxes from the corner of my eye as I was pretty busy with my own duel. But it seems you know a lot of spells.", she added with an admiring tone in her words.

Then, Elizabeth ordered another cup of tea from the table and was delighted when the cup refilled. "I think you will do a wonderjul job!", she said to Poppy. "Ilvermorny was great, although I was only there for a short time. I didn't want to miss too much of education here at Hogwarts. ", she explained and grinned. "Well, all your hard work paid off. I think it's an awesome feeling to accomplish this...I can only speak for making prefect, but receiving the letter with the badge was wonderful! My family was so proud."

Noticing the new student joining Lenore, Poppy and her, Elizabeth regarded the colours of her tie with favour before looking at her face with a smile. The long, blonde hair was mostly straight, but a part of it was styled in a fashionable bun and that looked so great. "How do you do?", she asked friendly and looked at the food she had chosen, "withal, excellent choice of food."

(OOC; - Get well soon! ♥ Migraines are awful! )

“Fish is great, every try sushi? Wonder if they would make it here…” Fade’s stomach rumbled again and he blushed. “Coco sounds great.” Chocolate wasn’t usually his thing, but at this point in time it felt trivial.

Across the room Fade noticed Zoe and Jona had returned and it made him feel quite a bit better about having upset her so much earlier. He was going to have to remember to take it easy on her, if she ever actually wanted to talk to him again. He was going to have to thank Jona for being brave where he was not. ( )

Magnus giggled as Merlin took a slice. "It is good," he said helping himself to some.

Zoe sipped her chicken soup as she watched Jona procure pie and interact with Poppy ((). She saw the Slytherin table with Elizabeth (()) but she lost track of the Rainbow haired girl she'd not met yet.

Zoe gave Fade a small smile. She hoped he would teach her how to draw one day, but she was too afraid to ask again. Instead she dunked a roll into her soup and continued to eat and people watch.

((, yeah they are brutal. I get them fairly often unfortunately but yesterday's knocked me down :( ))

"I know." Merlin said with full mouth. "Did you liked River? Isn't she the best? She is the most beautiful too! Jealous Drew? I thought you'd get a girlfriend before I would, guess I was wrong. She fell on me and I fell for her." He blushed. "Hope you can become friends too, how is your dad? I met other muggles in America, Jean's parents, and they were wonderful just like your dad." He looked at Magnus. "Maybe we can go explore later, we can even fly on Carl if River join us." He spotted her a little farther. "RIVER!" Merlin waved a bit to fast. "Over here!" He didn't realized his face was covered in chocolate cake and his friends didn't mention it.

"Woah, that's way cool!" Jona examined the cover of Zoe's book cover. "How many books has he written? Would I know any? Man, this is just too cool. Seriously." He was only geeking out a little bit; Jona looked up to ask Zoe another question, but noticed she was looking at Fade. He felt a twinge of anger - what did Fade have about him to hold a girl's attention that Jona didn't? It wasn't that he like liked Zoe or anything, but he felt like people just kept overlooking him today. Maybe it was because he was new... or maybe he just wasn't all that interesting. If he could just get one friend by the end of this dinner, he'd be happy.

Jona looked across the table to the other girl who finally recognized him - Poppy was her name. She seemed very sweet and crazy mature. She was eating a biscuit with coffee! Jona wondered what year she was in. Threw a mouth stuffed full of pie, he tried not to spit crumbs everywhere as he said, "Isha sopapilla cheeshcake pie."

It was a favorite pie of his that his mom used to make.

"No, I 'ave never 'ad sushi. Zat is raw fish, yes?" Sauvage saw Fade look up at Jona and Zoe came back in; he must have been frustrated that he could not have done more. She then heard his stomach growl. Again. She sighed and pulled his arm down to sit at a random table and order food.

"We need to get some food in you!"

Sauvage looked around again at all the people in the room, then felt bad because she felt like she stole Fade away from the party and because she suddenly isolated herself from everyone else to be with him. She did not want to be that person and was partially worried that Fade thought that of her already. She bit her lip, thinking of what to do. Should she call over Magnus and the others ( ) ? No... That would likely make things weird since her and Fade are, well...them. What if she got up to talk to them instead? Would Fade feel abandoned? Goodness, they had not even gone out on a date yet and Sauvage was already stressing herself out with the micro details. She sighed and resigned herself to simply stay seated.

Magnus grinned. "I'm down for exploring or flying carpet rides." He was so happy to be able to hang out with his friends.

River heard her name, grabbed a few random bowls and headed back. She giggled at the chocolate on Merlin's face. "Saving some for later sweetie?" she asked.

Zoe handed Jona the book. "Er I think about twenty now. He also worked at a newspaper before then, advice collominest. Dad's a muggle so I'm not sure if ye'd know the titles. THere's Polly Perkins Precocious Pig, Holiday Hiphop Hooplah. He's got some historical ones as well but mostly writes children's stories." After she glance at Fade she smiled to Jona. "Ye can have it, I've got more copies with me." She didnt know he was upset but she was thrilled to give him a copy.

Jona looked up at Zoe in a bit of awe. Maybe there was hope after all. He took the copy of the book and thanked her for it, then said, "That's weird that I've never heard of him before. But I guess it also makes sense. My family are all muggles as far as I know. But I only just moved to Scotland a little over a year ago, so that's probably why I've never heard of your dad or his work before. I've just been in the wrong country is all!" He flipped through some of the pages of the books, catching bits of sentences here and there.

“Hmm…” Drew pretended to think about Magnus’ question as he ate another bite of cake, feeling the chocolate start to work some of its magic. “Very valid point. We need to keep her around,” he grinned.

Drew was surprised when Merlin suddenly showed up in the kitchens as well. “No…we thought we’d be safe here!” he said, pretending to cover the cake with his arms. But of course Merlin got through the ‘barrier’ and secured his own piece. And then…then the world seemed to spin again.

“Wait…what??” Drew asked Merlin after the first barrage of words. “Your parents are back together? And your mum is pregnant already??” He really couldn’t think beyond that at first, then bits and pieces trickled through. Shaking his head, the dark haired boy mumbled, “Um…yeah, Winter sounds beautiful. And yeah…been crazy for me too.”

Then Merlin began to question and it was River this and River that. When Merlin made a show of calling to the girl, it was the last straw after the other comments. Drew pushed the rest of his cake aside and stood up. “I guess I’ll just have to find a girlfriend the normal way,” he said in a tight voice. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to the Great Hall and mingle with some of the others. We have some new snakes I need to show around as prefect.” He headed away to spend time at the Slytherin table. Besides, he reasoned, he would need to help Elizabeth show their housemates to the common room soon and Drew had no intentions of not fulfilling his duties on the first night back at Hogwarts.

“It can be raw but some is cooked, prefer the cooked stuff myself. Depends on where you are. If you are on the coast and the fish is caught that morning, it’s legit. If not then it sort of weirds me out.” Fade put up no objection when Sauvage moved to sit down at a random table. He was enjoying the conversation without having as many jitters as usual. Putting little to no thought into what he was ordering, he asked the menu for: “Beef chili with sour cream and a side salad, italian dressing please. Oh! And a hot cocoa.” He started picking at the salad while the bowl of hot chili cooled, and noticed Sauvage’s glance toward the busy table filled with their friends. “We can go over when we’re done if you want. I kinda don’t mind it being just us right now…” He was blushing again and trying so so hard to play it cool. ()

"Ye're welcome," Zoe said with happiness, "Well I'm muggle born too. Were'd ye from? I've lived in Scotland all my life."

Magnus was opened mouth. Well he didn't expect Drew to ditch them. Or expect River to look like she got hit by the hogwarts express.

"Okay, its official, he hates me. Twice now he's done that. What did I do wrong?" She was bewildered but had hoped to find a friend in Drew. Instead he was cold and distant.