:: Ganymede sat down with her purple undercut in a bouffant style. She coughed and pulled out a lavish pocket watch.

Checking the time, she sighed. "Toraks teeth, it's only been fifteen minutes since I last checked." Impatient as ever, she shoved the watch back into her pocket and began rapping her fingers on the table. The beat followed to the tune of "Yankee doodle".

This kept her busy for the moment while she stared at the Staff table. All those who were "in charge" sat there and some of their faces gave Ganymede a feeling of butterflies... more like bees in her stomach. ::

Well.. Seeing as everyone had either forgotten about his birthday or didn't think he'd want to have a party, Terry had decided to invite all of his friends to the Great Hall for a birthday gathering instead. As he entered the hall, his hands shoved into his pockets, he sat down on a bench and wandered whether anyone was going to join him.

Like Isidora, she had promised to bake him a cake hadn't she? And he was really excited about testing whether hers was as good as his.

He crossed his legs under the table and glanced around at the almost empty room. Wow, the school was really alive today. Not. He hadn't decided whether he was excited about his birthday, fourteen was quite a cool age he guessed, he was no longer considered 'only just a teenager' and he was older than some of his friends now, apart from the fourth years of course. That morning he had wandered up to the owlery to pick up his letter and present from his mother. Being so close to Christmas, Erica didn't usually bother sending him his larger present and would instead send a small gift like she had done today, his Uncles Pocket Watch. As he sat the boy turned it around in his hands, chewing on the inside of his cheek with a sigh.

Sooooo...? Was anyone coming?

Bliss made her way to Terry's "birthday bash" thing slowly. Slowly for more than one reason. One being that she was nervous ... what if he still didn't want to see her? Hated her? Or something like that. Secondly, because it was painful. Well, maybe not painful, but uncomfortable. It had turned out that after she'd fallen in her Quidditch practice, she'd broken her leg and her wrist (again). Also, she'd managed to do this by hitting herself in the head with her bat.

That was skill right there, yo.

Almost there, she noted, limping a little faster.

She tucked Terry's presents more firmly under her arm. She really hoped that he liked them. It wasn't anything special, but she hadn't gotten chance to really look for something. SIGH. Oh lookie, there he was! Bliss managed to get there quite quickly, sneaking up on him from behind. "Haaaaaappy Totally not late. Birthday, Terry." She said, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

BEAAAAAAAAAM.

Wrapping presents was hard. Like really, really hard.

And to think the boy's dorm couldn't get any messier. Heh. Messyer.

But it was Terry's birthday celebration and you couldn't attend one of those without giving the birthday boy/girl some sort of gift. Alec looked down at the gift tucked beneath his right arm and frowned just a little bit. This gift was a sign that he needed to get to know Terry a little better. He would... like it, right?

Alec shook his head and entered the Great Hall, his eyes casting around for that familiar face. His body almost wanted to head over towards the Hufflepuff table but his eyes found the familiar blonde hair of Terry by the Slytherin table so the Hufflepuff walked over there instead. This was... slightly weird. Coming to this side of the Great Hall. Weird and... slightly unfamiliar.

"TERRY!" ... Oops. Too loud. "Hey Terry!" Better. "Happy birthday, mate!" Alec bent down and gave the boy a hug before handing him a roughly wrapped package. "Erm... I hope you like it!" ... Oh! HEY! Bliss was here too! "Hey Bliss! How's the leg? And the wrist?"

Theo was always up for a birthday party, or get together, whatever. It was just the presents that he sucked at. It usually consisted of whatever he could find lurking under his bed or at the bottom of his trunk. The only present he had actually made effort with so far this year was Ella, which... well, for obvious reasons really.

Hopefully she wouldn't come to the party.

Or Alec Summers........ was Terry friends with those?
......................

OH snap, there he was. DANG, Terry must know Alec Summers. Theo took a small pause in his step but decided to soldier on because he was brave, you know. <3

Anyway, after a small dig about in his general stuff, he managed to find pretty decent things to give to Terry. He'd better be pleased. He came hurtling in the great hall, and soon spotted his dorm mate at the Slytherin table. GOOD CHOICE OF TABLE.

And then he remembered that Terry WAS a Slytherin so why wouldn't he sit there? Hmmmm... anyway, and Bliss, too!

"Hiiiiii..." He adjusted his position so that the cardboard box with the bow was thrust in Terry's face. "Happy birthday, Terry, and hey Bliss!" Of whom he hadn't seen in ages. Hmm, he needed to catch up with Bliss later. To find out stuff about stuff.

Mmhm.

"Alec." Nod.

Birthdays. Ella really liked them, especially celebrating other people's. This is why she smiled excitedly as she made her way through the great hall, eyes on the Slytherin table in search of a certain birthday boy. ...She wasn't late, was she?

Oh! There was Terry! ...And Bliss! ...And Alec! ...And Theo.

Mini!frown.

So this...was kind of an awkward crowd. Yup. ButElla wasn't here for anyone else but Terry, yeah? Because the boy deserved a really great birthday and all other stuff, well that was going to be forgotten for now. At least she wasn't going to let things be weird. Nope. And she'd talked with Bliss about things and stuff so that sort of helped too. Mhm.

Cue big grin and, "Happy Birthday, Terry!" BEAM! And she bent down to give the boy a nice birthday hug. "Hi Bliss, how are you feeling?" And she waved at the girl, smiling brightly. "Hey Theoman." And he got a small smile too, though her voice had gotten a little quieter. Yeah, it had been a while since they'd talked. Anyways... "Hi Alec!" And the hair ruffler got a particularly big grin from the blonde as she made her way over to sit by him.

Yup...so could they eat now or?

The silent hall was kinda starting to get to the boy as he sat there tapping his foot under the table. After about 5 minutes he considered giving up and going back to the common room. He had been away from school for a short while and maybe his friends had forgotten about him, or they were way too busy with school work and quidditch to remember his birthday. He wouldn't really blame them.

But just as he thought that no one would show up, a very familiar girl walked through the door and approached him. "Bliss" his eyes lit up a little as he looked up at her. His cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink as she placed a kiss on his cheek and he stood up to help her sit down."How is your leg? All healed?" he asked in a concerned voice. "Thank you" he smiled softly and shoved a plate of sandwiches he had got from the kitchens towards her. "I'm sure you're hungry" Because everyone their age seemed to be permanently hungry.

Before the pair could get engrossed in conversation, Alec walked through the door and the Slytherin swerved his body so that he could greet him. "Hey Alec!" he chuckled at the enthusiastic greeting, well at least he was happy. He grinned at the hug and took the present off of him, unwrapping it happily. "Thanks mate!" he beamed as he placed the gift back down on the table. "Help yourself to a sandwich." Cos it was effort going to the kitchens to get them.

And boom, there was Theo. Terry grinned over at his dorm-mate as he came in through the doors.
"Hey Theo! Glad you came" he greeted before taking the cardboard box from him. "Thanks!" he exclaimed opening the box up and chuckling at the presents inside. Moustache paperclips, now they were pretty awesome. He couldn't help but notice however the awkward nod and exchange between Theo and Alec. Oops, had something happened between them that Terry didn't know about? Well, they could sit on opposite sides of the table.

Terry's awkward expression changed however as Ella came into the Great Hall. "Hiya!" he chuckled waving her over to the group. "Thank you" he stood up and hugged her back. It was times like this that he enjoyed, when all the group got together and had fun. Why couldn't people have parties more often?

A grin washed over the third years face as he realised that actually, no one HAD forgotten about him. Brilliant!

Terry looked happy ... happy to see her, that was good. He didn't hate her after all. She noted the way Terry's eyes lit up and the shade of pink his cheeks turned when he blushed and smiled to herself. Honestly, she hadn't realised JUST how much she'd missed him. A lot, it would seem. "Thanks," she half-whispered as he helped her sit down beside him.

Oh, her leg? "Much better, thanks. I still have to hobble around and it's a little sore, but it'll be fully healed in no time." Was she assuring Terry or herself? She couldn't tell. It hadn't been THAT long since the 'accident', so it wasn't going to have healed fully anyway. So, she should probably be happy with how it was currently. Obviously, it was much better than the world of pain she'd been in when she'd first woken up in Hospital.

OBVIOUSLY.

Hmmm, she should give him his presents now, right? "Terry?" She said, to get his attention. Not that there was anyone else for him to focus on. Bliss reached into her bag and pulled out three items. Unfortunately, she hadn't had chance to wrap them, so she'd just had to give them to him like this. "This ... This is a book all about rare magical creatures, it's limited edition." She placed the first book on the table in front of him. Then she did the same with the second book. "My mum made this to give to you," she explained and smiled. Her mother was rather fond of Terry, as Bliss had explained quite a bit about him at home. "It a plain sketchpad, you can use it for whatever you'd like though." And lastlyyy, "My mum owled this over yesterday. It's a small cake that I asked her to bake for you." BEAM. Did he like them all? Hopefully he did.

Awkward!beam. He'd offered her sandwiches, she almost forgot. "Thanks," she said and took one. Nibble, nibble, nibble. Tasted good. Bliss then looked up from her sandwich and spotted Alec coming towards them. She waited politely until Alec had finished talking to Terry and he addressed her. BEAM. "Hiya, Alec," she said and greeted him with a smile, noting the wrapping paper on his gifts to Terry. It wasn't great, but it was still better than Bliss' wrapping.

More talking about her various injuries? ... Meh. Still, it was nice to know that people cared, so Bliss gave Alec an almighty beam before answering. "My leg is good now, but I keep hobbling and limping." POUT. "I'm sure that'll stop soon though. Oh, and my wrist is all healed too, it's just a tad sore." Nothing she couldn't deal with though. Bliss was a survivor. At least that's what she tried to convince herself of.

AND HERE WAS THEODORE. He'd previously been her buddy when it came to moping around because of Alec and Ella, but that was over now. At least for Bliss, for reasons. West related reasons. Yup. "'Iya, Theodore," she said cheerfully, throwing him a massive beam. He deserved it after all, given current situations and happenings. "How're you doing?" Cos she was curious and it was important to her to know how her friends were. Often for more than one reason, but that didn't matter. Right now, she had turned into super-friend mode and was concerned. She truly hoped that Theodore was feeling better than he had been before. Otherwise ... MEH.

Yeah, meh.

And finally, Ella. Bliss' role-model. UH-HUH. The third year had recently told Ella that she was her role-model figure and that she looked up to her and it had seemed to come as a surprise. Again, for REASONS. Reasons that not even mind-readers like yourself could know. Yes, she was talking to YOU. She was such an idiot, there wasn't anyone out there. Or was there? ... Well, it was about time Bliss actually greeted Ella, instead of just thinking about her. "Hey, Ella." BEAM. How was she feeling? "I'm feeling good, thanks. Little bit aching, but ... " She shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her fellow Hufflepuff. "How are YOU feeling?" Cos once again, she needed to know.

It was just then that she realised just who she was with. Terry, Theo, Alec and Ella.

Awkward gathering, much?

Cassia dressed up in the dorm and wrapped her friend's present then immediately left the dungeons to where friends were gathering to celebrate Terry's birthday. And Dora was supposed to bring the cake. Cassia wondered if she should have helped. Not like Dora would need much help and she would've asked for if needed. Pacing towards the great hall, Cassia knew she was late. And she wasn't supposed to be since she was in the same common room. But picking up what to wear was taking time those days. New thing.

Entering the hall she picked up her pace towards the Slytherin table. And as she approached she saw that a few have arrived. THREE hufflepuffs. They were everywhere! But they were also nice. Deciding that she'd say 'Hi's after greeting the birthday boy, she grinned and wrapped one arm around Terry's shoulders as her other hand was carrying the tiny wrapped box. "Happy Birthday, Terry!" She said in a cheerful sing-song voice. Wasn't it great that he was fourteen now! He must be so happy, the girl was super happy on his behalf!

"I hope you like it," She said giving him the little tiny box that contained a green watch. You know Slytherin so green. She hoped he'd like it since she hadn't gotten time to pick a present. Next year she was going to buy birthday presents for everyone at the summer when she was in Diagon Alley.

Looking at the faces around her she started with Bliss. "Hi Bliss how are ya?" She said giving the girl a-not-so-tight hug. "I heard you were at the hospital wing. How are you feeling now?" She asked in a concerned tone as her eyes glanced up and down at the girl. No bandages or cast and the girl was in one piece. That was a good sign.

Fellow spy and bestie next, The snake offered a fist-bump to Theo whom she must have seen a thousand times today at the common room and so. "T'sup Buttress," She greeted with wink because she was too nice to not see hello each time.

Then the two Hufflepuffs whom Cassia always see everywhere and whom were the friends of her friends. She knew their names from classes and other occasions. Though she didn't know if they did know her. "Hi, Alec and Ella, right?" She waved with a smile over the two. "How are you doing? I'm Cassia." In case they were wondering.

So done with greeting, the third-year glanced around waiting for the other friends to show up. Especially Dora with the cake. Because No cake no birthday! Maybe they also should have told the house elves to bring some desert.

Dora DID make a cake for Terry's birthday gathering, like she had promised. Everyone needed a cake. One that was made FOR them, not by them, and he didn't want one from the house elves so hers it was. And cake pops, cause she had left over batter, and thought those could be for everyone else. If they actually made it that far.

"You can't eat any until Terry does." She had a caution in her tone, in case West was thinking about eating any of the pops now. The birthday boy had to tell Dora how awesome everything tasted first, even though she already knew it was good. Now where... oh, look. Everyone was there! Or most everyone.

The third year lead the way, cake in hand, over to the Slytherin table grinning. "Hey Cassia!" She would have gotten a hug or something if she wasn't carrying a cake, but since she was a grin would have to do. It would have to do for Theo too, though she did wonder things when she saw him. About hugs and gloss and stuff. "Hi, Theo." HI.

And everyone else, they got waves and more greetings as she made her way over to Terry, putting the cake in front of him with a proud grin. She patted the spot beside the cake to indicate that West should put them there so Terry could see them. Then he could have one. "Happy Birthday, Terry. I got a little carried away." Just a little. There weren't a lot of cake pops. "Everything's chocolate." EVERYTHING.

Beeeeeam.

West had a present for Terry tucked under his arm, just in a plain box with a bow that was probably getting a bit squished, and he was carrying... cake pops. Which he'd never seen before ever, but after watching Dora make them, and 'helping' with the decorating, he WANTED one. A lot. And the naked longing for chocolate whateverness was clear on his face. He HAD been thinking that nobody would miss oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee of them when Dora spoke up.

He gave her a kicked puppy look. "As long as, if they're good, you make some for MY birthday, then I won't." So there. That's how it would work.

Oh. Oh! Look. Girlfriend! Heehee. West's attention was diverted from cake and cake pops and he gave Bliss an almost shy grin.

OH AND BEST FRIENDS. Sup fellow snakes. He'd have given Theo a bro!fist but he had his hands full, so a bro!nod happened instead. Cassia got a 'sup' nod, it wasn't like he hadn't seen her not that long ago in the common room. It was awesome that they were in the same house.

Alec and Ella got friendly smiles too. You know, because at that moment, West was totally all about Hufflepuffs, thanks to a certain one.

And last but not least, Terry got a big beaming smile. "Happy Birthday, I got you a thing." A thing. Basically. He put the cake pops down first and then extracted the box from under his arm, examined it, fluffed up the bow, and then deposited it in front of Terry. "I got it on account of you like creature stuff, right?" West paid attention! He'd know more about Terry soon enough, y'know, if he stuck around and didn't do that homeschool thing again. Inside the box was a realistic looking, small enough to fit in your hand, manticore figurine that had been charmed to move and such. It was veeeery realistic and COOL.

"My dad charmed it. It works like an alarm clock and will croooooon at you to wake you up." Which was creepy when you considered that a manticore crooned to its victims while it ate them. But still cool. "And it will tell you if there are curses or jinxes or whatever on any of your things, you just put it on your stuff and it will tell you." Like, actually tell you. Since it was charmed to speak, just only for that purpose, and also to say things about Manticores every now and then. West wasn't so keen on that part but his dad was all about educational, so that was a thing.

Anyways, he assumed Terry knew what a manticore was. They were awesome. Kind of like Terry, except Terry wasn't scary and would probably only get a X rating. Or maybe, West mentally amended generously, XX.

Terry smiled up softly as Bliss sat beside him and he looked at her leg in a slightly concerned manner. "Good. Don't do that again though, you've got to be careful when you're small and fragile and playing a sport like that" he brought her into a one armed cuddle. Hence why he wasn't that keen on playing himself. It was okay to watch and he was willing to give it a try if someone asked him too but he was more of a being supportive and standing on the sidelines sort of guy.

Then Bliss tried to get his attention once again as he glanced around the Great Hall watching out for other people to arrive. "Yeah?" he replied before looking down to notice her reaching into her bag. Oh. Presents! They were one of the most awesome things about birthdays. That and getting everyone together. "Wow" he stared down at it taking it all in before switching his expression to a grin. "This is amazing!" he was about to thank her when she bought out another present, a notepad followed by a mini cake "Thanks Bliss, these are so cool" he beamed before pulling her into another cuddle.

Then Cassia came in and the boy chuckled at her entrance. "Over here Cassia" he waved at her watching her walk towards them. He had too noticed how the majority of the group were Hufflepuffs, what happened to the members of the other houses? Maybe he should make an effort to go talk to a load of them, make new friends. He liked friends after all. "Thanks!" he chuckled as she wished him a happy birthday. He took the box from her and opened it with excitement. Hidden within was a watch. "I lost my watch recently so this is brilliant" he laughed before putting it on his wrist. And it was green to match his uniform when he wore it around the school. His friends definitely knew him well.

Dora! And CAKE!

He knew she would make one and Bliss' cake aside which he would leave to eat by himself in the common room later, Terry hadn't actually made a cake that day. "Heya!" he chuckled before looking down at the cake. "I've got to say, you're baking skills are ALMOST as good as mine" he teased poking his tongue out at her. He could be such a snake at times. "This does look pretty amazing" he thanked her shuffling the cake into the middle of the table and picking up a cake pop. "Can I have one now?" he asked her, his stomach rumbling a little.

West was quick on Dora's heels and Terry suddenly felt a little awkward. He liked West, they were dormmates and West had always made an effort to talk to Terry. But since the day he had returned to school and caught he and Bliss together, seeing his housemate brought a slight sickness to his stomach.

Still, it was his birthday and Terry had invited him here after all so he would make all the effort not to feel awkward. "Hey West" he smiled his usual friendly smile. He took the present off him and smiled gratefully. "I love creatures" he noted as he opened the gift up to peer inside. He couldn't deny that it was an amazing present. He carefully took it out the box and lifted it up by his face. "That is so COOL" he remarked grinning t it. "Thanks!"

Yep. This was an amazing birthday, no doubt about it.

Dora blinked at West coolly, thought about it for a second, then shrugged. "Okay, I'll make you some." It would probably be easier than the other stuff she'd planned on making for him. And he'd like it better too because of COURSE her cake pops were good.

Everything Dora made was good.

"Even better than yours I'd say." She stuck her tongue back out at him before breaking out into a grin. "Thanks! They were easy." And she wasn't gonna give West any credit for them, since she did all the hard work, and he just mostly watched and all but drooled over them. "Sure, they're ready to eat." She pushed the plate closer to him, eyes flicking to West's gift to him which was admittedly really cool, and made her wanna test out it's accuracy. But it was Terry's gift, so she'd just ask him about it later. If there was a later.

Now she'd just watch Terry and see if he liked her cake pops or not, and then she would offer them all to West, and everyone else that was there if they wanted one.

West was watching. Watching and waiting. You know, for Terry to eat one of those cake pops so that he could eat the rest. Him and everyone else anyways. It was hard to focus on anything because.... you know, food. Food was there. Food was amazing.

But Bliss got a big smile after he'd given Terry his gift. "Awesome, I hoped you would like it." West sorta prided himself on gift giving. You could say a lot about someone and what you thought of them by giving them a present which was truly tailored for them.

Another smile toward Bliss. He would go sit with her as soon as food happened. Pretty much. He was more use to her if he was fed anyways.

seeing that Terry had liked the gift she had brought made the snake very happy. She beamed seeing him put the watch on it meant that he did like it indeed and didn't just see so to make Cassia feel good because Terry was very nice person. All her friends were but Terry was extra nice. And o'course all were cool! "I'm glad you like it," She said with a grin. Turned out that her presents ideas weren't that bad.

Then Dora and West arrived. And more importantly the cake! Not that her friends weren't important but they get even more important when bringing cake and cake pops. That scene called for a grin, "Hey Dora," The girl greeted back her friend. Cassia stared at the cake made by her eagle friend and nodded approvingly , admiring her friend's baking skills. Which she knew about, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to express her likeness. "That is awesome," She said . though she hadn't tasted it yet but she was sure it tasted as good as it looked.

She might have gotten carried away with the cake and all but she didn't forget to nod all coolly at West. She gave him a two-fingers salute, like how pirates -such as themselves- greet each other. Because she still believed she was the navigator. Mhhm.

NOW back to look at the food. Can they eat now? Maybe terry should start as he's the birthday boy and all. Though she wouldn't really mind starting if asked.

Asher had a particularly smirky smirk on his face as he walked into the great hall. The fourth year Slytherin slid into a seat right by his fellow housmates, only knowing West, from the group of third years it would be easy as pie or cake. Cake yeah he seen that cake.

He was hiding a rather large yellow rubber thing behind him. Waiting for the right moment, and waiting for Alec to arrive.

This was going to be Awesome with a capital A.

Being surrounded by friends was nice, yup.

Bliss beamed at Cassia as she was greeted. "Hey Cassia! I'm good, thank you for asking," she said and returned the hug with equal warmth. It was sweet that she'd asked, really sweet actually. BEAM. "I'm all better now, thanks to Healer Tillstorm." It was all down to her, Bliss still hadn't figured out why everyone disliked her. "Healed both of my broken bones, she did." That meant that she could now play Quidditch again and if that wasn't something to be happy about, she didn't know what was.

Bliss turned back to Terry and frowned slightly at his concerned look that was directed at her leg. There really wasn't any need to be concerned. She placed her hand on his arm and gave him a reassuring smile, "I promise to be careful, Terry." A promise was a promise. She wouldn't break it. Hey, wait a minute. "I'm not THAT fragile," she protested and giggled. If she were fragile, she would probably be in a hospital bed permanently. Still smiling, she hugged Terry back and squeezed gently.

Presents, presents, presents. GIGGLE. Bliss waited while he opened them, smiling all the while. HE LIKED THEM. That was great. She had spent quite a while picking them out, as she never really knew what to get a boy. Boys were tricky people to get presents for and she still hadn't really figured out why. One of life's great mysteries, perhaps?

OH, look here! Her boyfriend had come.

^__________^

She HAD been about to go over and talk to Dora, she'd stood up and everything, but instead Bliss simply watched West as he gave his presents to Terry. She knew for the last two presents she'd received from him that he was great at giving gifts. The necklace that he'd given her, she'd worn everyday since he'd given it to her. That wasn't silly, at all. Then she noticed him smile as her and a massive beam crossed her own face. "Hey, West," she greeted and wondered whether she should go over to him.

Though that may be rude, considering that it was Terry's birthday party.

But Terry wouldn't mind, right?

Hmmmm.

“I’m hungry, let’s eat” said Sonea to Little princess who was sitting on her shoulder and headed to the Great hall. Immediately when she entered she smelled all the delicious food what was on the tables. She stopped for a moment and looked around her, the last time she had saw the Great hall was during her sorting, and that was a long time ago. But the Great hall hasn’t changed much since she had saw it for the last time and she had no problems with finding the table from her house.

When she sat down she greeted the other students who were already sitting and saw that a girl from a other house was sitting on the table. She had saw the girl before but she was bad in remembering names and she didn’t knew her name. Sonea found it a little strange that the older girl from the other house was sitting here and looked strange at her but said noting and didn’t paid the other student’s any more attention, she was here not to talk with others, she was hungry and was here for only one thing, food! Sonea searched on the table for a cup of tea and added six spoonfuls of sugar to her tea. “Here, you can eat some raisins” said Sonea and gave Little princess the food, but stopped when she saw that Little princess was a little taller than normal. She took Little princess in her hand and saw that she was right, her rat was heavier than normal. “Hmm, you can eat this, but you need to walk more” said Sonea a little surprised to her rat.

Dropping down onto one of the benches, Zoe glanced up towards the staff dais kind of relieved that she didn't see auntie up there. Grabbing the juice pitcher she poured herself some apple juice and grabbed a sandwich. Opening her Transfiguration book, she chewed on her sandwich as she read through the assigned chapter.

Healer Tillstorm walked into the Great Hall intending on having a quick lunch before going back to work. What she didn't intend on happening was running into a certain little snake. One that seemed to be avoiding her lately, like every since she got that detention for going into the Forbidden Forest.

Sitting on the bench next to the young girl Cece glanced down at the book she was reading. "Hello Zoe dear. It's nice to see you studying and staying out of trouble." That's right, no beating around the bush here. Cece was going to make sure Zoe knew that she knew what she had done.

She was sipping her juice when she nearly choked on the bit of sandwich that she'd just used the juice to swallow down. "Auntie." she murmured. Nodding she tried her best to look innocent She hadn't gotten a howler from mum...merlin was she going to let her know instead?

"I've been busy trying to keep up in potions, I know potions is important in becoming a healer." Yep sweet talking right???

Cece glanced back at the book Zoe was studying from. "The last time I checked that was a transfiguration book, not a potions book." Maybe they needed to get a tutor for Zoe. Someone who could teach her the difference between potions and transfiguration, especially if the child was seriously thinking about becoming a healer. That would have to wait until later though. Right now she had more important things to discuss with the girl.

"Look Zoe, we both know I didn't sit here to chat with you about what classes your taking." Even though that was obviously going to have to be a subject of conversation at some point. "We need to discuss why you got a detention." This was the child's cue to confess all.

"I...err...yes it's for my Transfiguration homework." she said with wide eyes. She hadn't meant she was studying potions right now! Okay maybe she should have just kept silent about being a healer, since she kind of felt ill when she saw blood and obviously she needed to be able to see blood if she wanted to become a healer. And do it without feeling sick and faint!

Chewing her lip she dipped her head and nodded "I....well Laura dared me to go into the forest, and I couldn't say no. It would be disgraceful to act scared of going in there especially for a Slytherin. Right?" Slytherin's had to prove themselves that they weren't whimpy like Hufflepuff's!

Turning so she was facing Zoe, Cece placed her hand on the girl's cheek turning her face towards her. "Look at me Zoe. Being scared is in no way disgraceful to being a Slytherin. What is disgraceful to not only you, but your whole house is letting someone talk you into doing something that could end up getting you hurt, or even worse, killed." Did Zoe even realize just how dangerous her actions had been? "I don't care what Laura or anyone else dares you to do. If you know it's wrong then I expect you not to do it."