((OOC: you accidentally put the wrong characters name FYI, but no worries))

Jona nodded and said, "Yeah, I owe my uncle a lot. He's a pretty awesome guy. So, you have a brother, too? What is your whole family like? And how old is the vineyard? Do you every get to help out around the vineyard?" Jona thought for a minute about his last question and added, "Do you like to help out around the vineyard?" He scrunched his nose and stuck out his tongue at the thought of labor on a vineyard, which was basically a farm for grapes.

Lenore smiled back at Poppy () and then greeted Elizabeth () with a grin.

"Long time no see." she said "How's Corvus doing? Not too bored now that the tournament is over, I hope?"

Seeing Drew (), Lenore realized just how much she had missed the boy. It's not that she knew him particularly well, he was just a lot of fun to watch. Especially when he was paired up with Magnus ().

She chuckled as she listened to Drew say he had wanted to 'send his sister back.' As an only child, Lenore had never thought of sharing her parents or of having her life intruded upon. She wondered now what it would be like....

Before she could think to much though, she noticed River. If it hadn't been for her being blocked by a taller student there was no way Lenore would have missed that hair!

"River!" Lenore got up and hugged the girl. I didn't know you would be joining us." She grinned and added teasingly, "Now we get a chance to show you what the best wizarding school is like."

((ooc: sorry for joining in late. Life kinda piled up the last two days.))

"You'll love the common room, Lily (). It's nice and bright. It's also always the perfect temperature and the furniture is very comfortable. You can do your school work in there, hang out with friends by the fire, play games. Just about anything." she paused to take a drink. "Yeah, butterbeer sounds crazy but it's tastes great. Here, try some if you'd like" she offered the bottle "We'll go down and meet the elves once this dies down"

River smiled at Lenore and hugged her back. "Wow its great to see you! Yeah actually, my father was trying to transfer me last term before the Triwiz but there wasn't enough time."

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/358874.png[/img] Rosie quietly sat by herself munching on a burger. Today she had picked something she usually wouldn't eat and the burger was an interesting choice. After a few bites she picked the remaining pickles off of the burger. She found she wasn't particularly fond of their sourness combined with the rest of the burger. Thus a small pile of pickles were left at the top of her plate as she finished her food. The Great Hall was very lively with lots of conversations across the different tables. Clearly some people had missed one another with the summer break and Triwizard Tournament happening. Rosie herself hadn't gone to America with most other students. She had gone to her grandparents in France and had spend most of her time playing the violin and dancing when she wasn't working on her potions work. From the talk around her she learned quite a few transfer students from 4A and Ilvermorny made their way to Hogwarts.

Jona was walking down the aisles, a bit dazed while trying to absorb everything happening around. He looked at each face, trying to remember if he had met them or not and if he had, what was their name?

He walked past one girl () who definitely did not like pickles seeing as how she had a small pile of them going on the outermost rim of her plate. Jona didn't think he had met her yet, but she was eating and he didn't want to interrupt or be rude so he kept walking.

There was River again () - so easy to spot with her vibrant hair. She seemed to be quite the life of the party! Despite having sort of abandoned her earlier, Jona thought he could really hit it off with her and maybe be friends. However, she already seemed to be a party of her own group over there, so he thought better of it to just walk away.

And so caught up was he in his thoughts that when Jona turned - "oof!" He walked right into another student (). "Woah," Jona said first, he didn't even think to say sorry. "Cool hair!"

(OOC: Whenever your ready, just wave Jona back to continue the convo. He is being really ADD at the moment))

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/354623.png[/img] Zoe noticed Jona's glace to River and the bumping of Fade, which wasn't hard since he was right beside her and could've fallen into her lap--though she might not have minded that. "She's very pretty," Zoe observed as she put her her reading book back in her pocket, "Popular on her first day." She wondered what that was like. "Go talk to her if you want."

Jona pulled himself up off the ground, unnoticed by nearly everyone. Nearly. Someone with hair that reminded him of his favorite snow globe - it was from that time his mom took him and his brother to Sea World - was looking at him. Then they spoke: something about being pretty. They were very pretty, in a way that was less attention-grabbing than others. Like, the beauty of frozen dew on a flower compared to that of a colorful garden. Wait, were they talking to him? And about whom?

Jona looked around stupidly and when no one else seemed to be responding to their comments, he then looked at them. Without actually saying anything he just pointed at his chest and mouthed the word "Me?"

Zoe was looking down on the collapsed boy. She adjusted her angle when he got up. "Yes, you. You keep looking at Rainbow Bright there," Zoe said pointing to River. "So it seems to me you think she's pretty and want to talk more with her. She seems very peppy. Or you could have a calming draught, I have one in my pocket..." She gazed at the boy with a look that said she thought he might benefit from one.

"Oh..." He blushed a bit, but not overwhelmingly so. "I mean, yeah, I think she is pretty. But, I also think a lot of people here are pretty. I'm just trying to figure out who talk to and make friends with since I'm new. People aren't making it all that easy, since everyone already seems to know each other so well. I thought hanging out with one of the transfer students would be a good idea, but it seems like a lot of them have already made their niches, too." Jona shrugged, then crinkled his brows together. "Calming draught? I, uh....I'd rather not."

He stood there for a moment, making noises with his tongue in his cheek and rolling back and forth on his heels before asking, "So, uh. Come here often?" He looked up apologetically, knowing it was a bad joke. "What's your name? I'm Jona."

Scourgify, why hadn’t he thought of that? Still, there was something about knowing there had been a mess where your face was going that seemed a little off-putting. “Gotta write that one down-oof!” just as Fade cracked the cover of his sketch book to make a note of it, someone bumped into him and the impact nudged the book out of his grasp. It landed in a haphazard way on the floor in-front of them with a plop.

He heard the compliment but wasn’t sure it was directed at him or Zoe who also had pretty cool hair in his opinion. Hastily he lifted the book off the floor and a few pages slipped out, they had detailed drawings of feathers and something that looked like rough sketches of clothing.

Turning to see if whoever had bumped him was alright he caught eyes with Jona and smiled. “Sorry, you OK?” It was always his initial reaction to apologise for some reason. The other boy had already picked himself up or Fade would have offered a hand to help. At the mention of a pretty girl Fade looked up, sort of hoping it was one girl in particular. But found himself staring at someone with rainbow hair. “Geez, that’s incredible. Why didn’t I think of that.” Taking a deep breath he focused a moment as his hair swirled a few different colors trying to mimic the girls. Maybe it matched for a second but he let out his breath and it went back to his usual cool tones.

Jona was momentarily distracted from his lameness by the boy whose hair started changing color RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. He felt cold air move into his mouth as he was sure his jaw was hanging wide open and he could feeling his eyes drying up from staring so wide at the scene. "Wha- is it - how- ?" Jona was completely flabbergasted. "Could I do that, too??" He finally sputtered out.

"Who said ye couldn't fit in those niches?" Zoe asked. "Ye never know. Then again ye are dancing about all over the place like the Flight of the Bumblebee." She gave him another once over glance. "Ye sure? Might help ye settle down a bit." When he asked if she came there often, the girl simply said, "been known too. Zoe is my name. Hello Jona."

Zoe took the fallen pages and studied them. He was good, she thought. Then watched as Fade's hair cascaded in rainbow for a second before going back to the teal. "That's incredible," she mumbled. She offered him his sketches back. "Yer good. I can nee draw, But I do have a sketchbook." Surely neither one of them were interested in her.

Fade thought for a moment before nodding at Jona. () “Well sure.” There were many ways the students here changed their hair. Charms mostly, but he heard a few girls whispering about a potion that would extend the effect. Not that he had any need to mess with those. He grinned at Jona. “I’m Fade. Welcome to the Warts.” A not so flattering but affectionate name he had for their school.

“Oh!” This time his cheeks and hair flushed a pinkish hue. He hastily stuffed the pages Zoe handed him back into his sketchbook. “Anyone can draw, I just spend more time than I should on it is all. You should join Art club.” ()

"Yeah, really. I'm good." Jona said to Zoe (), rejecting the drought once again. "I really don't like those kinda of things." He wasn't sure how to talk to this girl and he didn't know why.

He looked up at Fade () and beamed. Another friendly upperclassmen. "Hi! I'm Jona!" He scrunched up his nose when Fade referred to the school as Warts but then smiled about it. "So, then," Jona said. "I could look as cool as you?" His eyes sparkled with that sort of innocence one has when they've yet to understand how time changes people.

Drew couldn’t help a bit of a smirk as he heard Jona () call after him about not making it easy for Slytherin to win. Poor kid, he had no clue the competitiveness of Drew’s house, not to mention their dedication. And now that he was a prefect, there was no way Drew was going to slack or let others get away with it.

Jona’s teasing didn’t bother him very much, as it reminded him of Bridget’s jabs about Gryffindor being the best house ever. () It was River…lovely…seemingly fun…one of his best friend’s girlfriend…yet it was her words that cut deeper, even though it was unknowingly and unintentionally done. Drew tried his best not to allow his feelings to show. He loved Merlin, Magnus, and Niall like brothers, but they’d moved on without him. His break had been filled with both good and bad things, but things which took him away from his friends. And now so much had changed and couldn’t be reversed. It was the mention of the horses, one of his favorite topics, which had sparked the flicker of sadness in his eyes. It passed quickly but the comments about Paul and his Mum and Bonnie had been the last straw for Drew for the moment. All the unfulfilled plans…all the fun he’d missed. It was too much. This was Hogwarts, his happy place. Drew refused to let the feelings suck him in, yet still he needed a break. He just had to find a way to politely leave for a while.

“Steele sounds like a good name for him,” he smiled at River, the delight not quite reaching his eyes to set them sparkling as they normally did when he talked horses. “My Fleet is a dark grey too and so fast that his full name is Fleetwind. Maybe we’ll all get the chance to ride together one day. And yes, Laurel is my mum.” Drew glanced over at Magnus and nodded at his friend’s comment before continuing, “Mum was so thrilled when she and Paul found Bonnie and she could help him get started with riding. I’m glad you’ve all got horses now.”

When Lenore came over to greet River, Drew used the moment to escape. “If you will all excuse me,” he said politely, “I have yet to eat. And I’d rather not have my stomach do the talking for me. I’m sure I’ll see you all later.” He gave them a smile and then returned to the Slytherin table, sliding into a seat near Poppy () and Rosie ().

“Hello, ladies,” Drew greeted after he’d ordered his food. “Ready for another term and another win?”

"I was in it for awhile my first few terms," Zoe said, "but no one ever noticed me. People often only notice me for a day and then I'm invisible again." She shrugged. "I use my sketchbook for my music now."

"Alright," Zoe said to Jona. She gave him a little smile before petting the sleeping flobberworm in front of her.

River noticed that Drew seemed to disengage. "Thanks. I'd like that. Any friend of Merlin and Magnus and Niall are friends of mine." Shen Drew left she couldn't help but think it was her fault. "What did I do?"she asked.

Magnus followed and slunk beside Drew. He sat down at the slytherin table. "Drew," he said, "we've missed you... you're our friend. What's wrong?" Their reunion wasn't quite going well.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/359338.png[/img] Jona smiled sadly at Zoe (). Ironic, because for the past few years, he would've given anything to be the invisible one. "I'm surprised anyone could overlook you!"

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/359336.png[/img] Sauvage stumbled into the hall, red in the face and breathing heavily. She was not sure how much time was left until dinner would be over, but while she still had the chance she darted over to the Hufflepuff table, waving at friends ( ) as she passed, to order some food and drink.

Fade couldn’t help it and snorted when he laughed. “I mean, you can try.” He grinned at his own dumb joke. He didn’t think he was very cool and it sort of baffled him when other people referred to him as such. As a kid he had been picked on relentlessly and it sort of stuck him in the mindset. But Jona was a good kid and Fade didn’t want to rain on his parade. Being new was overwhelming in a lot of ways. “You’re a first year then? Keep an eye on the staircases they like to pick on freshmen.” He didn’t think twice about using Muggle terminology. ()

“I duno about you, but I can’t draw if people are watchin.” Thinking back Fade felt sort of guilty about not talking to Zoe sooner. He was sort of shy and bad with words when it came to pretty people whom he had no doubt were popular and uninterested in weirdos like himself. But then again, judging a book by it’s cover and all that… “You play an instrument? My mom wanted me to play piano but it wasn’t really in my wheelhouse.” ()

(edit) Something caught his attention and his mind sort of went blank. It took Fade a moment to realize it had been Sauvage who had swept into the room and waved in his direction. Somehow even after all the time he had spent with the girl during lessons, seeing her after break still made his stomach flutter. Was he blushing? Was thinking about if he was blushing making it worse? Covering his face with a hand he rubbed his eyes and let out a breath. “Sorry what was I saying?” He focused back on Zoe and Jona hoping they had missed his momentary lapse.

((Ooc: I have strep throat and am not feeling well at all. Let's just say Lily went to the bathroom. :) Sorry guys!))