Sauvage was startled awake when Blade asked about escape. She performed a hesitant laugh, thinking perhaps she misunderstood with the language barrier and all. "You are funny. Like zhere is anyone 'oo would want to leave 'ogwarts! Why would zat be? We love it 'ere. Right?" She started to doubt what she was saying by the end, wondering if not everyone enjoyed the school as much as she did. After all, she cose to go here instead of continuing her education at Beaxbatons; she could not imagine being anywhere but Hogwarts. Sauvage smiled at Paddy, reassured when the girl rejected Blade's expectation of Hogwarts being dull. She turned back to Blade, attempting to be the positive, supportive prefect. "I am sure zat it may be frustrating or deeffeecult now, but evetually you will come to love zis place and sink of it as anozer 'ome. And, I guess if zat does not come to be, well, zen eet is only for a couple more years."

Trying to avoid the temptation, Sauvage failed and looked over at Fade, wondering if he thought what she said was cheesy or helpful. Not that she cared. Or should she care? Being a prefect was important to her and it was important to know she was doing well...

Jona felt a stab of guilt when the boy asked about escape. Obviously, he didn't enjoy it here. And Jona could kind of understand, even if it weren't for the same reasons as Blade. A lot changed when he found out he was a wizard and some of it was not for the better. No matter what, Jona would always relate Hogwarts to losing his family, even if it did mean finding a new one... He would never get to see his mom or brother again, because he was a wizard, because he went to Hogwarts. He didn't say any of this, of course. He was trying to convince people that he was doing better. So, he simply nodded silently to himself, thinking that maybe Blade had his reasons for being, well, him.

“Oh, yum.” Fade popped one of the offered treats into his mouth. He had tried them for the first time over the summer and had been sort of craving them ever since. Lucky Sauvage was there to pronounce the name properly or he would have ended up with who-knows-what. “That would be an epic time, no doubt.” He grinned over at Magnus’s comment but could tell the other boy was bothered by something and decided to drop it. There wasn’t anything fun about the forced transformation his friend suffered each full moon. But Fade was willing to try anything that could help.

Instead Fade considered the conversation at hand. He could understand wanting to run away from a place, but not Hogwarts. He had to agree that it was anything but dull. Then again Blade had only just arrived and hadn’t had a chance to make any friends here. Friends were a huge part of what made Fade so eager to return each year. Without them he would probably behave just as distantly. “Doors don’t lock till nine.” He teased. Sure Fade knew of a few ways to sneak in and out of the castle, but knew better than to mention it around present company. “But you really should give it a chance. Maybe just one.” He half smirked and tried to play it cool. Sauvage made some valid points. He smiled at her reassuringly. “Yeah, like if Art Club isn’t your jam, there is Dueling, or Flying too. Pretty much a club for any interest. Or If you hate clubs, we get a few hours a day for breaks and you can pretty much do whatever you want...” Within reason but that sort of went without saying, he hoped.

( )

Sauvage half-smiled upon Fade's mention of the new curfew. She knew he would be internally making fun of the "bedtime" set in place and that he had quite a list of ways to sneak out of the castle. Blushing deeply, that train of thought made her recall her first date with Fade. She aide-glanced at him, wondering if sneaking around the castle ever put the same thoughts into his head. Probably not, since he had likely been doing it since his first day of Hogwarts. Not to worry, though - they could always make some more lasting memories.

"Oh!" Sauvage's attention faded back into the conversation at hand. "We should 'ave a club for people who 'ate clubs," She giggled at her own joke. She was finally starting to wake for the day and pulled herself up into the "proper posture" her mother taught her. Perhaps letting herself lean just a tad off kilter to be nearer to Fade.

Sauvage noticed Magnus being quiet and offered him one of the petite cakes as well, not sure if food was something that would cheer him up or not; it always worked with her.

((appologies, I fell today and have been in terrible pain. The worst spot happens to be on my tail bone. I’m gonna lay down so not sure if I’ll reply for a bit.))

Zoe looked at Toru. “Ye mean painting with them?” she asked.

Blade eyed the fur covered girl. Well she had a point. Dog girls and nearly spontaneous combusting Hufflepuffs wasn’t dull. He shrugged at Niamh. “We’ve all gotta eat.” It was his way of saying food names were acceptable. “Blackpool. Personally I’m convinced my parents chose my name to intimate people. Dad says that people don’t listen to Michael’s. You need names that get attention.” He struggled not to roll his eyes at Sauvage. She was clearly institutionalised. “Yes, indeed if I hate it here, I only have to suffer through it for four years. Why the time will fly by.” Now he sounded bitter. It wasn’t directed at her, but at his parents. They keep him at home with magical tutors and then expect him to play nice with the other kids when he was thrown into his own personal version of hell. Dorms, common rooms—sharing the same space with others… Where the hell was he supposed to go for privacy? When was he supposed to play his instruments? He could muffle them but what was the point of playing them then? He was supposed to get along with other students when he had in fact not interacted much with anyone other than his tutors. And all these stupid rules. He was like a wild caught bird being crammed into a cage.

Magnus nodded. “No one will let me do it though,” he said. Can’t take risks with monsters.

Blade grunted. “It’s ridiculous, expecting us to be inside the common rooms by 9.30. I don’t care if they throw me out I refuse to abide by such an asinine rule.”

Zoe shrugged. “I do nee know. I do nee think I should add anything else. I’ve got my NEWTS this year.”

Magnus looked up at Sauvage. “Oh thanks, but no thanks. I got meself food already.” He finished his mermaid with Jellyfish pet drawing and slid it down to Toru. “Ere, you can ‘ave it.”

((Get your rest tonight! I hope you feel better in the morning)))

Blade's words and attitude stung Sauvage, but she tried not to let it show. She looked at Paddy, shrugging her shoulders sadly and tilting her head as if to say, "Some people just cannot be convinced." Be that as it may, she visibly shrank, crossing her arms protectively over her chest and hunching her shoulder. She looked down at the table and mumbled to herself about "time flying" and "having fun" and the words "angry" and "stuck" were said.

She did not want to let Blade affect her mood, so she tried to devote her attention elsewhere. However, Magnus then rejected her offering. It was something so small but Sauvage felt strangely hurt by it. All of this made her foolishly angry at herself for getting so caught up in her own emotions as well. She looked back at the entrance to the Great Hall, wondering if she should just head out. She was suddenly not feeling very social anymore.

Jona, through painful strength, tried to keep his mouth shut as Blade spoke to Sauvage. Sometimes the newly-made prefect could be a bit romantic in her way of thinking, Jona agreed, but that was also part of the charm of having her around. And she didnt' deserve being treated like that.

"Hey no-" Jona started, but Sauvage's head spun on him with wide, fearful eyes. Suddenly her eyes narrowed and he knew she wanted him to stay quiet. She didn't want to make a scene. Or maybe she didn't think her feelings mattered. He looked at Toru, who had already stopped him once form making a scene and it made him wonder what the right thing to do here was. This time it was Jona who huffed and crossed his arms; when he talked, it was to Zoe: "We should do something big, just the two of us, before this school year's up."

((I'll try)) ((and all!))

Blade noticed Sauvage's reaction--it wasn't huge but it was enough. "Look," he said, "I wasn't trying to take it out on you. But yes I am angry--at my parents. You all might want to be at Hogwarts but I don't." He stood up so fluidly that he looked like he was made of liquid. "I can tell when I'm not wanted. Clearly neither my parents want me around nor any of you do either." He began to walk away.

Zoe glanced at Jona as he said he wanted to do something big. A fair well thing. It hurt so deep. Her eyes were shinning with tears. "Yeah..." she agreed. One last hurrah before her world ended.

Magnus felt maybe he upset her so he whispered, "I appreciate it, but I don't really like cakes and sweets. I'm learning to try 'em but its 'ard cos I feel guilty the orphans I used to live with don't get 'em..."

Sauvage felt stupid and selfish. Completely stunned and speechless, she watched as Blade left the Great Hall. She had caused Blade to get up and leave and now Magnus was apologizing to her for not eating some stupid cake - because of the orphans??

"No, you deed nozing wrong, Magnus. Really. Eet eez me. I am being silly. Do not worry for me." The mood at the table seemed as if it were a lot better when she was asleep, so Sauvage decide to do just that. Laying her forehead against the wooden table, she tried to focus on her breathing to make it at least seem like she had fallen asleep. All she wanted now was to dissolve into the wood holding her up. She felt so embarrassed in front of everyone, in front of her Hufflepuff piers - especially Fade! She hated that people saw her like this, putting her own emotions over someone else's feelings and problems.

Niamh realised things were getting a little out of hand, and stood up to chase after Blade. "Hey, stop" she called, realising he was heading back to his common room, where she wouldn't be able to follow him. "You might not feel that everyone wants you around, but .... er.... well.... some of us do, at least." She felt herself blushing, and hoped Blade didn't just think she was a giggly teenager. "You said you named Claire after your clarinets, you any good at playing 'em?" She cursed under her breath at thinking of one of the most uninventive conversations she'd ever done. Of course he'd be good at playing - certainly much better than she was with anything like that.

Paddy smiled at Sauvage, "I get the idea he's not quite as pleased as we are to be here," she said, taking a small bar of Honeydukes chocolate from her pocket and handing it over. "I hated the school I was at previously, so I wanted to join Hogwarts as soon as I got my letter!"

Toru had kind of panicked when the tense situation broke out at the table. They kind of sat there quietly holding onto the tamale which was still a food mystery to them. They barely spoke at all their first year, so jumping into the middle of an emotion opinionated debate felt like a terrible idea. At least a 12 on their social anxiety mental chart, and it only went up to 10.

Honestly, they could kind of understand what Blade was going through. When their letter came, Toru's parents insisted that they go to Hogwarts. Instead of rage they mostly felt fear and confusion. They had been forcefully pulled from their elementary after accidentally putting their kindergarten class into a trace with a siren's song during music and had been home-schooled since then with minimal interactions with anyone other than family. To them, going to Hogwarts was a nightmare for their first year, like being an aquarium fish dumped into the ocean.

However, Blade taking his anger out on complete strangers was very rude. It was a wonder he was put into Hufflepuff, but the Sorting Hat always knew what it was doing. Toru hoped that he would open up once he let his anger go, for Blade's own sake. A flower couldn't bloom on it's own, it needs fertile soil, sunlight, and water.

They realized that Zoe had said something about watercolors and decided to change the topic. "Y-Yes, I actually love p-painting with them." Toru gave a small smile as they cleared the last of their negative thoughts from their mind. They smiled brilliantly when Magnus slid the drawing over to them. "I-It's beautiful. T-Thank you so much!" Toru's words were sincere and almost felt like crying over the simple gift.

(My replies will be few and far between, sorry guys... ;n; )

Jona was scrambling to somehow save the situation. Zoe looked like she was going to cry and Sauvage's spirit looked like it had taken a full-on vaca from her body. Thinking quick, he pulled out his wand and blew into it like a kazoo - except that sound actually came out! A melodic whistling poured from unseen exits in the wood. Jona looked around the table, waiting expectantly.

Finally, after only a minute or so, little Duncan came bounding into the Great Hall. Jona jumped form hi seat and sang, "Taaa daaaaaaaa!" With some jazz hands for good effect. "But wait! That's not all! My uncles taught my a new spell over the summer and I haven't gotten to try it yet, because, well, I haven't been here. So, here goes..."

Truthfully, Jona wasn't sure he'd be able to successfully pull it off, but when he swung his wand around upright and spoke the words clearly, water began to pour feebily from the tip like and sad little fountain. Duncan barked excitedly and began dancing around in her attempt to gobble up every last bit of water into her mouth. Jona looked around the table again, hopeful that people's faces had changed to something more positive.

“Okay,” Magnus said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone, “just wanted you to know I was grateful.” He wasn’t sure how else to help improve the overall feeling at the table. He did know about feeling unwanted. His parents had just had a new baby after all and he was adjusting to that. So he could empathise with Blade.

Zoe was thinking about leaving the Great Hall herself. But now opted to remain. After all, she didn’t want to make anyone feel bad, especially Jona whom would likely follow knowing something was up. But the girl was decidedly struggling with this big change looming over her like a big hungry carrion bird. Not to mention the pressures of passing her NEWT classes and wondering if she’d be flipping burgers at a fast food place because she couldn’t make up her mind. She dipped her hand into her purse and pulled out her copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Maybe, just maybe there was a potion in there that could help her. Besides books calmed her.

When Niamh called out stop, Blade froze. Was she actually heralding him to a halt? He thought that kind of thing only happened in muggle cinema. He turned cautiously to see Niamh’s face. She actually seemed sincere. ‘Hmm… well this is unexpected,’ Blade thought. ‘What is her motive?’ Realising he didn’t care, he decided to stay. If anyone else had a problem with that it was their problem not his. He had been watching everything, taking in all the details of the other students and garnering what information he could as he attempted to adjust to his new forced environment. Besides, he might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid. If a pretty girl asked you to stay, you stay. Duh! Unless of course you are walking out to maintain a stoic demeanour and invoke mystery. “Very well,” he said in his mild manner, “I’ll stay.” He walked back over to her and the group. He addressed them all. “Sorry for my fit of pique,” he said. Then gave a nod to Niamh. “Yes, I can play the clarinet quite well. Been playing since I was three. One is a bass clarinet and one is a normal one. I always keep reeds with me.” As if to prove this he pulled out a reed in a case, which was in his top pocket. It finally occurred to him to ask something in return. “Do you play? What food names do your pets have?” He slunk back into his seat, but this time he left enough room for Niamh to sit beside him, if not a little closely. He patted the empty bench as a silent invitation to join him.

“I do like how they look,” Zoe said to Toru. She was not the best socially herself so wasn’t sure how to keep the conversation going.

Magnus smiled brightly. “No worries. I could tell you liked it.” He loved sharing his art.

Blade watched Jona’s antics with yet, another stoic face. He had one raised brow. He had to give the kid one thing, he was right about being entertaining. The water spell was in need of improvement but the playing of the wand had an ever so slight smile on Blade’s pursed lips.

Zoe rolled her eyes with love at Jona’s goofball self. “I nee thought of playing a wand. Will ye be practicing with me and my flute?” She had totally missed the fact that Blade played something. “Nee bad with the water for yer first go.” She smiled. “Ye’re a goofball.” Her sentence was full of pride.

Paddy hadn't met Toru before, and wasn't too sure she wanted to butt into the conversation, but made a mental note to introduce herself at some point. As she was wondering what to say to try and turn the conversation to something more positive, Jona suddenly started playing his wand like a musical instrument. "How on earth did you do that?" she asked, as Duncan came in and started lapping the water pouring from Jona's wand. "I'm going to have to try that with Remus and Snowden!"

Niamh walked back to the group with Blade, "you must be really good if you've been playing since you were three! I play the fiddle.... my Mum insists on calling it a violin, but I prefer to play Irish fiddle music rather than anything too fancy and classical." She realised he was waiting for her to sit down, and carefully sat next to him, without feeling she was sitting too close. "As for my pets, there's my cats called Lick and Rish, but I named them when I was a lot younger, Fudge my colour-changing kitten, Marmalade the Fwooper and just because I couldn't resist the name, Thumper the transforming rabbit. It's a bit like a zoo in the dorms at times." Niamh realised she was gabbling, and decided it was better to stop and let Blade get a word in, before she rambled on forever.

(( I hope you are doing better today! It sucks when you bruise a bone especially that one D8 // ))

Fade frowned at Magnus. “You aren’t going to be a kid forever. They can’t tell you what to do when you graduate.” Hell, Fade only listened as much as he absolutely had to on a number of topics. But it was understandably hard to get his friend to see any possible bright-side when it came to his condition.

Seemed to Fade that the entire table was coming down with a case of the angst. Blade had stormed half-way down the hall when Niamh somehow defused his temper. At the same time Sauvage put her head down, causing Fade to think she was feeling sick or something. “Hey, are you OK?” He lifted a hand but didn’t touch her just in case. “Am I guna have to carry you to your first class?” He grinned a bit and blushed slightly. “I honestly don’t think I’m strong enough to carry us both up all those steps.” Realizing it probably sounded like he was calling her fat, Fade panicked. “Not that your heavy at all! It’s just a lot of steps.” His face was pretty much glowing and his hair had slowly become a vibrant shade of deep red.

Jona's antics helped lightened the mood, Sauvage agreed. She had been watching with her chin still resting on the table. It was not until Fade talked to her that she sat up again. She was about to nod when he offered to carry her to first class, but then he started fumbling his words in that way he does and panicking. She giggled at his nerves and took one of his hands in both of hers to steady him.

"Per'aps instead of carrying me, you can just want me to my first class?" She offered the suggestion then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She loved him like this.

LOVE? Sauvage froze, realizing her thought. Love was a strong word....but, maybe it was? A quick intake of breath, and now both Sauvage and Fade sat looking at one another blushing profusely, with their hands still in one another's.

[edit] On the other hand, Jona was beaming after having successfully turned the mood around. "I can teach you the trick sometime!" He said to Paddy. "It's real simple. It's not so much a spell as it is making an intention out of an action. You have to believe you are playing an instrument as you go to use the wand. My uncle did say something about my wand being more open to doing something like that, though, since it's made out of dogwood, or something? I don't totally get it, but he said that what a wand is made out of changes its strengths and the owner's personality can have an effect on it as well, I guess."

He nudged Zoe, so happy to see her genuinely smiling again. "That's why you loooove meeeee!" He said in response to her goofball comment.

“It was pretty neat,” Magnus agreed. “I ain’t see anyone play a wand before.”

“I am,” Blade said with bravado, “mind you at three I was mostly smashing it against things and learning how to hold it. It can be called either. Violins make great instruments and are very versatile. They also play will with clarinets.” He was pleased she sat down. He couldn’t help the laugh when she said her cat’s names. “Liquorice that’s great. I like it. Well, the names. Actually I hate aniseed and liquorice myself. But those are all fantastic names. Why Thumper? I only have Claire and my cat, Wisp. Got him not too long ago.”

Magnus nodded. “True,” he said. “Maybe when I’m outta school we can try it with the right supervision. I wouldn’t wanna hurt you.”

Zoe nodded. “Aye,” she said, “that I do.”

Paddy thought about what Fade said to Magnus, and realised she hadn't a clue what she wanted to do for employment when she finished Hogwarts.... she hadn't even worked out what NEWTs she wanted to take. "I wonder if there'll be careers advice this term," she said to nobody in particular. "That sounds complicated," she replied to Jona, "I'd love it if you could teach me how to do that though!"

'You're cute when you laugh' Niamh thought, hoping she hadn't said that out loud. "Thumper was named after the bunny in the Muggle book 'Bambi'. It was one of my favourite books when I was little, as Mum always said it was set in Ireland, so it was a connection to home in a way. Wisp is a sweet name, what colour is he?"

Toru watched Jona's little musical show with his wand and was completely amazed before he did his little water show with Duncan. They stared for a moment before snorting loudly and bursting into a fit of giggles that turned into full laughter. Nobody at the table including the art club member had ever heard them laugh. It was sweet and soft and had a musical quality to it. Once they had started it took a few minutes to completely stop because anytime they glanced their blue/brown eyes back at the other Hufflepuff they would start again. Tears were starting to prick their eyes before they finally calmed down. "J-Jona that was... too much."

Unfortunately they might have crushed the tamale in their moment of laughter. The Latin food would be a mystery for another day. It was a fair sacrifice for the overall mood of the table.

Toru moved to let Duncan sniff their hand, a habit they always had even with very familiar dogs before softly scratching her behind the ears. They glanced up to see another had joined them during the tense situation and now felt very rude they had just noticed Paddy. "H-Hello... I'm T-Toru."

Fade had been so preoccupied with Sauvage not feeling well he almost completely missed Jona’s show. But after Dunkan came bounding into the hall and began lapping up all the water, a small droplet landed on Fade’s cheek and caused him to realize other people were still present. It was a wonder the droplet didn’t fizzle into a vapor, as red as his cheeks were. About the same time Toru seemed to catch a fit of laughter resulting in a very pretty sound. “That was the plan, before you fell asleep.” Fade smiled at Sauvage, a tingle running from his toes up to his neck when she kissed his cheek. Thankfully the mood around the table had improved considerably, and Fade relaxed a little as his blush began to dissipate.

Fade nodded encouragingly at Magnus. “I trust you.” And he did, although how much he trusted the wolf, he wasn’t sure. Fade had only witnessed the transformation once, under close supervision of course. Underneath it all Fade firmly believed that Magnus had within him the ability to tame his wild side. But being as young as they were probably had a lot to do with Magnus letting his self doubt get the better of him.

Paddy’s wondering got Fade thinking as well. Sure he had decent enough marks in his subjects so far, but he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to pursue a career in any of them that terribly. If advisors came out to help them, Fade would probably sign up just for curiosity sake. Maybe there was something right in front of him that he hadn’t realized he should try and hold onto.

( )

“Hope ye can figure out what career to do,” Zoe said. “I could nee. I just took almost all my classes.”

“What are you thinking about doing?” Magnus asked.

Blade nodded. “Oh I see. It’s a cute name. I think I’m technically a half-blood because we have muggle in our family tree. But my parents would have you believe we are pure-blood. They don’t have a huge amount of things from the muggle world but the things they do, they like to reason it was invented by a witch or a wizard and somehow copied.” He shrugged his shoulders. "He’s lilac believe it or not. It’s a very light grey fur colour that in some lights is more light purple. I got him at magical menagerie.” Was it his imagination or was she really easy to talk to?

“The name Toru is Japanese and it means the sea, if I recall,” Zoe said.

Magnus smiled and nodded. But he did not trust the wolf. He had no control when he changed unless under wolfsbane. It would hurt him if he harmed someone—especially a friend.

((GAH! Sorry I been MIA in you guys))

"Aye, that I can. Tis not so hard," Jona said to Paddy in his best imitation of Zoe's accent. He hugged her from the side and hoped her mood remained positive until he could speak to her privately about what was going on. He beamed when Toru couldn't stop themselves from dying of laughter. Jona always felt such pride when he could make people laugh and have a good time.

Upon offering their hand, Duncan licked at Toru's fingers then gnawed gently on the meatier parts of their hand. The pup was hungry and hoped the small nibbles would lead to real food.

"Awwwww," Sauvage whined as she watched the blush on Fade's cheek diminish. "I like eet when you blush." Now that the tension was gone, she felt suddenly in a mood to tease. But as quick as their romantic moment had appeared, it was gone just as fast. Fade looked serious and lost in thought which led to Sauvage resting a hand on his shoulders and gently squeezing.

"You okay?" She asked tentatively, worried and wondering if she should save the inquiry for another time. To provide Fade with a conversational scapegoat, she tilted her head coquettishly and suggested, "Or eez eet zat you are trying to make ze blush return for my sake?"