Elizabeth listened carefully to the other girls talking and gave her reply a little thought. She noticed how well Toru looked in that dress and smiled. "Well... Father and mother were always pretty protective of our family. So I met just a handful of people.", she started to explain. People her parents could trust. , she added in her mind. "I only met a small number of other pure-blood children when I was small. Lorcan, though I haven't seen him until a few weeks ago and... his family is pretty difficult, and Corvus of course...but his family lived in the US. He attended Ilvermorny, so we weren't able to see each other all the time. ", she said. " I have one muggle friend at home. She's the daughter of the family who owns the bakery. It's actually a bit difficult because there's the statute of secrecy and I always have to be careful to not act too unaware of muggle technology. We have a landline at least and a tv. I do have friends at Hogwarts as well, But I know Corvus for the longest time. Our families are friends..." Elizabeth took a deep breath. Has she talked too much? She blinked and stopped talking about this topic. " Dogs are lovely animals. Very loyal. ", she added to the conversation, thinking fondly of her own Great Dane patronus.

(& everyone)

"Were the puffs just sitting out unattended? Not even a cage?" Liane shook her head. "That seems weird, with all the cats and owls and big dogs people have."

Callista was giggling, too, just remembering it. "They do this thing sometimes where different shops put up displays in the Great Hall, and there is nobody watching, just boxes to put your payment in. I suppose there are charms to keep people honest--there must be. Nobody's tried to steal anything so far as I know. Anyhow, the Weasleys Wheezes shop brought pygmy puffs in addition to their usual pranking supplies, so Sabrina, of course..."

Liane was brilliant at arithmancy, but even a dunce could have done that math. She laughed along with the other girls. But while she knew her grandfather was unreasonably prejudiced about a lot of things, this was very much the sort of irresponsible thing he would have expected the Weasleys to do. "That's just as hilarious as I thought it would be," she said when she'd finished laughing. And made a note to tell her grandfather, who hadn't been laughing a lot since his recent illness.

"There's more," Callista replied. "I was reaching for a hat when Sabrina pulled on her leash--I froze her to save my wrist as well as the puffs. As a result, I fell into the Gladrags display and that hat fell right on my head! I ended up buying it because Zoe said it was obviously destined for me, and it is a cute hat. But it was a Saturday and I was wearing a giant Liz Lisa knit and one of those little AP minis, and I've never been more grateful for bloomers!"

Liane snorted, laughing so hard she felt the need to cover her face with a napkin in case she sneezed! But she could just picture it. Poor Callie, tits over teakettle between shop displays, and in the Great Hall where the whole school could see!

Also, Callie had started to master her boggart, hadn't she. Everyone laughing at her had once been Callista's worst fear.

"That's beautiful," she said, shaking her head. "And I'm proud of you, Callie. And see? White is an excellent colour for pets. Your friend Blade clearly agrees!"

Then Elizabeth spoke up, and both girls quieted so they could hear her.

"That sounds familiar, in a way," Liane said after a moment. "I met Callie because she's related to one of my father's friends. But until I met her and her sisters, I didn't know anything about Muggle technology at all. My grandfather doesn't like it at all, and I never met any Muggles or Muggle-borns until I met Callie and her sisters, who have friends...well, all over the place. We don't even have a television, or a landline. I do have a phone, well, really more like a little tablet, but I use solar chargers for everything."

She took what appeared to be a leather-bound book out of her purse--the purse appeared small, but it held more than it should've been able to. But when she unzipped the book cover, there was a tablet inside, black and nondescript, and also the earbuds and charger. "I could charm it to look like a book, but charms don't stick to it well, so I just keep it inside of this book cover. As long as Grandfather doesn't see it, he doesn't complain. He thinks I only use it for arithmantic calculations, and well, I let him. Is Corvus your...intended? You said 'of course' but I don't know who he is, so I figured he's someone you've known for a very long time."

Zoe considered Elizabeth’s words. It sounded strange to select friends with that much care. “How’d you meet Corvus?” she ask curiously. Did her parents select him too? She tried to imagine the family life that each one present had but it was impossible for her.

“Aye, they were unattended in a display case. I think they had a cushion charm on them as none were hurt when Blade fell on them, but they all were curious. They might have another charms in place too, but we do nee know.” She giggled more about the hat. “Oh yes, that was perfect to add to the chaos. Hogwarts can be so delightful with unexpected things happening.” It was something she’d be telling when she was old and grey, she was sure of it. “Well, I do nee think Blade likes pygmy puffs much but I know he did nee like that pink colour. I do nee think he considers me a friend though… I do nee know. He’s a hard guy to read. He’s a friend with Toru though.”

Toru heard the story being told about Blade and the puff as well as Callie and the hats. It must have been when they left the Great Hall. They had remembered they needed to finish Zoe's birthday present and excused themselves in a hurry. It sounded like they missed quite the show.

"I-I'll let her k-know." Toru blushed gently and replied. "I-I know what a-an Instagram is. I-I have one for a-art." They tacked on softly. Toru's parents had always adjusted to the times, even though they sell traditional items. It made sense since they had both a Diagon Alley storefront and a Charing Cross Road storefront.

Toru quietly listened to Anne. Her parents sounded kinda constricting but was glad they allowed her to have some friends. Blade's parents didn't let him have any friends their age. Their own parents allowed them to make friends whenever they wanted, but Toru had become shy and introverted very early in life due to their heritage and abilities. They only started making non-family (aka cousins) friends when they had come to Hogwarts. "Lorcan s-seems nice." They said, though they were a little sad to hear that his family was a bit of a mess. "A muggle f-friend sounds lovely. D-Do your parents approve?" Toru had heard that most Slytherin families were picky about that kind of thing.

Elizabeth never knew about the pygmy puff incident. It had been that day where she had been just sitting in the Great Hall, sipping tea after a night-long study session in the common room. She had probably missed the whole thing, being half asleep. She grinned a little, though. It must have been an amusing scene.

"We only attended a small number of pure-blood gatherings. Father always made sure that I would not get into trouble...the family's safety is most important to him. That's why I know so little people. Most of them I only met at school.", she explained. "If I look back, it's hard to imagine my parents where that happy with Lotta. She's my muggle friend by the way. But she was the baker's daughter and times were tough so they probably thought it's better than me staying at our house or the garden all the time.", Elizabeth added and shrugged her shoulders lightly. "But they started to like Lotta quickly and noticed that television, radio and such minor things are pretty useful. And she's a good and loyal friend." She looked at the little electronical piece Juliana presented. "That's a clever idea! I actually like these small devices, but never got my hands on one off them. Lotta and I used to watch movies on it or listen to songs." She took a sip of her tea. "Corvus is my fiancé. He's the son of father's best friend, Mr. Montgomery, but they moved to the US and he attended Ilvermorny and finished this year - now he's working at the British Ministry of Magic in London. You can't imagine how glad he is to be back where he was born and feels at home.", Elizabeth stated. "But luckily, we're fond of each other. He's just a bit...difficult. You could call him a model pure-blood.", she added a bit quieter.

Zoe felt a little more relaxed. As they conversations started to flow more. Though she still struggled to really understand why the other families would be so selective of friends. How could a family be unsafe with a friend? The entire thing was hard to imagine but she didn't want to ask about it afraid she'd hurt someone's feelings.
"Ye can play with my phone," Zoe offered Elizabeth. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Elizabeth. It was a cheap smartphone but it looked new despite its age. She only had a few contacts in it since she'd not exchanged her number with that many people.
She hadn't realised Elizabeth was engaged. "Is it an arranged marriage?" Zoe asked. "Cos ye said luckily ye are fond of each other... "

Elizabeth looked at the phone. "Thank you Zoe.", she said, taking it carefully in her hands, hoping she would not break it. Lotta was always so careful about her phone at home and that's why the Slytherin girl assumed they would break easily. She eyed the phone - it looked just like the one Lotta had. Obviously, she had no idea that this was a cheaper smartphone, it looked fine to her. She gently stroke over one of the edges of the phone when Zoe asked about Corvus. "It is arranged. Corvus' attitude does not come out of nowhere. Our families are very traditional, that's why a betrothal feels so normal to us. We do get along very well. And it feels nice to know your path in life. I was five years old when everything was settled, shortly before Christmas.", she explained. "I understand what others might think of that...but in fact, to quote a great Lady, 'No life appears rewarding if you think about it too much.'"

"Nee problem," Zoe said. She was pleased to be able to share it. She kinda felt bad hearing about the arranged marriage. But Elizabeth didn't seem all that upset about it so Zoe figured she shouldn't but her tuppence worth in. She just couldn't fathom it. "I wish ye a wonderful marriage when it happens."

(& everyone)

"Now we have to follow each other, Toru, and you should also follow Liane." Callista was very happy now that the tea and conversation were both flowing, with plenty of food and merriment. She had been a little worried about how everyone would get along because there had been some tensions before, and Liane had been a total--but very welcome--surprise.

But everyone was getting to know each other and it was interesting to hear how different--and yet how similar--different people's backgrounds were.

"You tell very different stories about Hogwarts than Scorpius does," Liane mused over her second cup of tea. "Betrothals aren't that unusual among the older families, Zoe. I would probably have been betrothed too, but my family was involved in the unpleasantness, and when my elders realised that they had made a terrible mistake, they lost friends on that side, as well." She didn't like to talk about it, but when it was necessary to do so, she preferred to be very matter-of-fact about it.

"At any rate, I was fortunate enough to fall in love with someone my family found acceptable after a series of introductions that didn't go anywhere," Liane continued, moving to happier topics. "Grandfather has been getting up in years, and is worried about the family; after his most recent visit to St Mungo's, Michel came over from Ilvermorny, where he's been busy with research, and the contracts were finally signed, to everyone's great relief." She turned to Elizabeth, smiling. "I'm quite sure we will both be very happy in our marriages."

"If you're not, I'll have words with Professor Michel Rosen," Callista said, laughing as she slipped Sabrina a slice of smoked salmon. "Eh...Professor Rosen Malfoy, I suppose. He is completely mad about you. I can't believe I missed so many clues when we were in America over the summer."

Toru blushed dark. "I-I'm not good e-enough to follow. I-I just needed a p-place do dump m-my doodles." They admitted shyly. "B-But I wouldn't m-mind following both o-of you."

They listened to the older girls chat about arranged marriages. "M-My family a-allows us t-to pick o-our spouses, but t-the older members w-will try to a-arrange marriage i-if you take too long." Their great aunt was currently nagging a few of their cousins to get married, but most of them were busy with their careers.

"Is that good?" Zoe asked Liane. "What kind of stories does he tell?" She thought about that for a moment. "I think that's silly. Ye're not at fault for the past and people should nee treat ye like that. Besides we are all human. We are bound to make mistakes. Like my mistake in saying something horrible to another girl about that stuff. It was wrong of me since I did nee know enough and even if I did, it was still wrong. And she's a nice girl so being open minded is the way to go. I've nee really experienced betrothals in to be honest. I can nee see it happening in my family. I really can't imagine it." Zoe giggled at little with Toru's words. "Aye me grand would be setting me up very shortly after I graduation. She's already starting to talk about grandkids." The girl blushed furiously about that.

(& everyone)

"You should definitely follow us, Toru! I'm just Callista Zabini, all lower case with a hyphen between my names, and she's lianakujaku." Callie was pretty sure that Toru would be amused that Juliana Malfoy used the name Liana Peacock on Insta.

"Obviously Callista helped me name my account. I'm sure you're good enough to follow, besides, we can give you advice if you want." Liane smiled, then turned to Zoe. "I am sure I will be expected to have some children relatively soon, but I sort of look forward to that. Callista has a grand career planned for herself, but I always knew I wasn't going to sign with the Holyhead Harpies or anything, because as much as I love playing for Durmstrang, I really enjoy my Arithmancy research. I'm afraid I'm a huge nerd, and so is my fiance."

"Cousin Blaise says he thinks they sent you to Durmstrang because they were afraid you'd sort Ravenclaw," Callista teased.

"I might have, you know. Scorpius thinks so, but I don't know about that. I am pretty determined to get what I want." Liane took a deep breath. "And...thanks, Zoe. I'm sure you have already apologised to the other girl. It can be difficult. I might wish that my family had made different decisions. But given how it all turned out for them, I imagine they do, too. They're the only family I have, and I love them, and they love me. I know that they want to be involved in our marriage decisions because they want to preserve the bloodline and the traditions, but I also believe that they want us to be happy, too."

Toru jotted their names down in their sketchbook. "I-I'll have t-to follow y-you on break. I-I don't b-bring my phone t-to school." They admitted sheepishly. It seemed to be more uncommon to not have one these days, with a solar charger. Toru would be worried about roaming fees though since they were sure their plan didn't cover Scottland. "M-My name on Instagram i-is Marink. L-Like m-marine and i-ink combined." They blushed darkly at their silly name on instagram. They did have several followers because their stuff was pretty good, but they would never admit it.

Elizabeth smiled at Zoe. She knew how strange an arranged marriage must sound to her and was glad she was taking it so well. "Thank you", she said to her Ravenclaw friend.

She listened to the girls talking about instagram and following each other, which did sound a bit strange to her, even though she remembered a bit of seeing something similar in their Muggle Studies lesson on smartphones. However, it seemed to be something that brought people together and that did sound nice. She poured more tea into her cup and blinked as she just noticed the tiny macarons and reached for one of them. Even if she wasn't into sweets that much, macarons were tasty.

When Liana mentioned the 'older families', Elizabeth smiled wryly. "Last summer, when I was getting school supplies at ... Diagon Ally, someone told me how ridiculous it is that my family arranged my betrothal. I don't know who it was, but it was an insult. Something along the lines that we're not included in the Sacred Twenty-Eight and that it's suspicious. " She sighed. "The Montgomerys and the Covingtons are simply old-fashioned and not hurting anyone with being that way. We even stayed out of everything back then." Smiling at Juliana, she nodded. "I wish you the best as well. When did Michel graduate? He might have met Corvus then, though he was never a people person." The mention of children and grand-children was making her a bit nervous as well. She knew what was expected, but it was still a frightening thought that her time at Hogwarts would come to an end as well. Trying to calm herself, she thought that she still had some years before she would leave the school. "Your family sounds very open-minded now, Juliana. ", she said quietly, her tone implying she considered that was a good thing. Maybe, if all the stuff about the Dark Lord had never happened, she would have been introduced to these families when she was young instead of living a secluded life. Who knew. She remembered the incident at the Great Lake back then between Lenore and Zoe - but she had been to restrained to take action...and she was aware she wasn't that friendly as well...

The mention of Toru's name on that instagram they spoke about made Elizabeth chuckle. "I think it's a cute name, Toru. It suits you. And the combination is clever - I like it.", she commended the Hufflepuff. "So you draw with ink?" Elizabeth was thinking about traditional japanese ink paintings and she had a thing for these.

(OOC - Glad to hear your friend is well again Valiska :) ]

(& everyone)

"I agree with Elizabeth. Your handle is cute," said Callista. "Mine's just my name. Yours is a lot more creative."

Liane nodded, but she was pondering what Elizabeth had said. "Well, first of all, that person in Diagon Alley was being a complete asshole, and the old Twenty-Eight aren't all they're cracked up to be either sometimes," she said with a sigh. "Some of them are very nice, but some of them are...not. I think my father is more open-minded than he used to be, and I know that Callista's Cousin Blaise, and his late wife, had a great deal to do with that. When he was our age, he was put into some situations where he didn't have any good choices, and it left its mark on him. But I think Grandfather is more pragmatic than he used to be, and has accepted that things have changed whether he likes it or not. He certainly doesn't approve of the Internet, and I certainly don't let him know all the things that I do on the Internet."

And he's also accepted that his beloved mentor Tom and Great-Aunt Bella were fucking insane, Liane thought, but she kept that thought to herself, taking a measured sip of tea.

"But onto happier things! The fact that your parents arranged things just means that they care a lot about both of your futures. I didn't like all the introductions I had to put up with for a while, but at the same time, I have always appreciated that they wanted to be involved. I don't think I would like it if they didn't care at all who I might be spending the rest of my life with. Now, Michel graduated from Durmstrang two years ago, so he's been doing research out there for about...two years," she said, and the thought of her fiance brought a bright smile to her face. "It's entirely possible that he and Corvus have met, particularly if Corvus likes Arithmancy."

Callista blinked. Her cousin Blaise had had more than one wife, but none of them were dead. Then she realised that Liane had meant Scorpius' mother, who hadn't been hers, and that the phrasing had been chosen so that no-one would ask about that. So she didn't make any remark on that statement.

"It's not that my parents don't care, Liane," she said gently. "It's...different from that. If I brought home someone awful, I'm sure that they wouldn't allow it...but you have to realise how unhappy Camilla would have been if the family had tried to make her marry a man. She's not like Fiammetta and me."

Callista's oldest sister Camilla was living near Alexandria managing a magical wildlife preserve, along with her girlfriend, Zainab, and Callista knew that Liane knew and accepted that. Why had she never considered this?

Zoe had no real idea what Instagram was since she didn’t have anyone to be social with so social media wasn’t her thing. “I’m sure ye’d be a great Mum,” Zoe said, “and I hope ye have one soon if that’s yer desire.” She giggled. “I’m a nerd too.” She nodded. “I’m sure there will always be times we wished we made different choices.”

Zoe didn’t know what to say about Toru’s account either so she sipped more of her tea. She smiled at Elizabeth. Things were going surprisingly well. Sacred 28? 28 what? She had no idea. She was content to listen to the others as they chatted.

(& everyone)

Liane's face was very red. "Sorry, Callie. That's not what I meant at all. I certainly don't think Camilla should have been forced into marrying anyone, or that your parents don't care at all who you end up with." She glanced at her nails, embarrassed. "Camilla is awesome, and sometimes betrothals don't work out because of incompatibility, but...even if some of my children are gay, I will want to be involved in their lives and look out for them. I'd hope that as the wizarding world becomes more open, it'll be easier for parents to help their children choose good partners, whether or not they are straight."

Liane was very relieved by Zoe's response. "I hope to be a good mother," she said, with a little smile. "I'm a little nervous about it, but I don't think it's possible not to be. I'm sure Grandmother will have a lot of advice for me." She giggled. "Whether I want it or not."

Callista squeezed Liane's hand under the table. "You're forgiven," she said under her breath, in French. (Her French was a little rusty, compared to her Japanese and Italian.) "Toru, these 'doodles' are lovely." She held her phone out for Liane, Zoe and Elizabeth to see.

Toru was just blushing furiously at all the compliments to their handle. "I-I just d-didn't want t-to put a f-face to my a-art." The smaller Hufflepuff wasn't really one to be in the spotlight, at least for now, so using a fake name or a handle was easier to be confident in posting their things. Anne asked about ink painting. "I-I use a-anything I c-can get my h-hands on, and I-I favor w-water colors." They admitted sheepishly as they pulled their sketchbook from their bag and offering it to Anne to see. Most of the pages were filled with portraits of people, quickly sketched as they were doing something, some were students and some were people from Diagon Alley. There were also plenty of sketches of flowers and magical creatures. "I-I also painted Z-Zoe's birthday p-present."

As the girls chatted on about having babies and getting married, Toru began feeling a bit out of place. They had just developed their first crush, and was already trying to muffle it since it would never work out. Someone else liked the person they did, and they weren't much competition in comparison. They just quietly sipped their tea as the girls went on and would occasionally eat something to avoid being asked questions.

Elizabeth grinned. "Thank you for your nice words, Juliana. It's great to hear how your grandfather changed. I only heard of him, but don't think I'm prejudiced...I assume his childhood wasn't easy, given what was expected of him. That makes it amazing that he changed for the better.", she said and smiled. "My parents have not really discovered the internet yet. They tend to watch documentaries on their television.", Elizabeth explained, then grinned. "Oh, and about the incident at Diagon Alley...well, I wasn't shopping alone. Father accompanied me and he hexed the person a couple of times. The guy - or woman, as I don't know for sure - got away, and father had to pay a fine, but we both thought it was worth it. Mother wasn't happy, she said it could have cost father's job. She worries a lot...but the Sacred 28, British families that were still truly pure-blood by the 1930s, are a touchy subject."

She nodded as Juliana was starting to talk about happier things. "That could be one reason. I have never questioned the decision of our parents, though. Or really thought about it at all...Lotta and a couple of other friends were quite surprised to hear that betrothals are still a thing, ", she said an chuckled. "Ah, so then they probably haven't met. Corvus had been at Ilvermorny all the time and he never took great interest in Arithmancy."

Elizabeth stayed politely calm when Juliana and Callista seemed to have an argument. She noticed some of the teacups were nearly empty, so she filled them again, smiling a bit. She was curious to see the drawn images of Toru and looked at the phone. "Oh Toru, I love these! Especially the picture with the Japanese pond. You really have a talent. I have to tell Lotta about your account, I'm sure she's going to....follow you there.", she said and had paused a little at the word 'follow' because she wanted to make sure she was using the correct words.

Toru blushed a little at Anne's compliments and tried not to let their ego gloat a little. They weren't one to let praise go to their head. "I-If you think s-she would like t-to follow me s-she can." They said softly. Toru moved to get a finger sandwhich to nibble on and a fresh cup of tea. They really couldn't contribute to the other half of this conversation. Marriage was the last thing on their mind and children were...well out of the question in their case. Maybe adoption one day, but that was neither here nor there.

(Toru was showing Ann their scketch book. They don't bring their phone to school since it doesn't work and they are very rarely allowed off the school grounds. They are only second year after all)