Daxton must have made for a curious sight to behold. The boy, dressed in his regular Hogwarts uniform sans the robes, exited the Great Hall. His feet were bare, no shoes or socks, and he had hold of the hem of his shirt so that it acted as a makeshift basket. Inside of that was nothing but bread rolls that he'd just collected from the Great Hall.

Nothing.

But.

Bread rolls.

Seemingly oblivious to how bizarre he might appear, Daxton made his way across the Entrance Hall, intending to make his way back up the stairs to take his bread rolls back to the dormitory. There, he would feast.

Or perhaps just... occasionally nibble. That was more accurate.

Dora happened to be heading INTO the Great Hall when the silent boy was exiting looking all... thief like and all. This struck Dora as odd, so she stopped and openly stared at him for a minute before speaking.

"Hey... why don't you have on shoes? You'll catch a cold like that. And what are you stealing? " She wasn't yet close enough to see what he had stuffed in his shirt, but she hoped it was something awesome! Could she be an accomplice? WAS HE STEALING THE SILVER SERVICE? What an odd boy!

Daxton stopped dead in his tracks, because there was someone right there. The loud one, from Gryffind-

... one of the many loud ones, from Gryffindor.

He blinked at her a moment, looked down at his feet when she mentioned them, and then at the bread he had gathered in his shirt. Her first question was a fair one, her second statement was plain wrong (and Daxton was considering getting his notebook out to explain just how wrong she was) and the last question was downright idiotic.

Partly because he wasn't stealing for once in his life, and partly because what he was openly taking was... obvious.

Even so, he was in a gracious enough mood that he would answer the girl's (flawed) question anyway, so Daxton took one of the bread rolls and threw it to her.

Well, he threw it at her, not really knowing the difference between the two.

There was her answer.

Bread.

Dora was still stuck on the fact that he was barefoot. Why? She didn't understand. Her eyes shifted down to his feet. Did he have feet like a Hobbit? They must not be bothered by much, ya know?

Whilst pondering this she missed that he was throwing a roll at her until it hit her on the side of her head. What the actual --

Looking up at him with her mouth agape she just STARED for a moment. Aaaaannnnd...

Her laughter probably echoed through the entrance hall because come on, it was pretty hilarious. He hit her in the head with a bread roll. Picking it up from the ground she contemplated taking a bite, but she had had a late dinner.

"Alright, you're weird. I like it. But why all the rolls? " She HAD noticed he was pretty quiet all the time, but had no idea WHY. Was he shy.

That look, right there? Daxton was rather used to getting that look. Most expressions were usually missed, but he never failed to notice when someone stood before him, gawping like a fish with a dislocated jaw.

The laughter was unexpected, though, and it made him wince. Girls had such shrill voices, really quite unpleasant, and the sound of laughter was one of those that always put Daxton on edge, like chewing, or coughing, or breathing.

Or... any sounds that indicated someone was existing at all, but that was purely coincidental.

He let it go. Because, again, he was feeling gracious. Perhaps it was the lack of shoes that made him less uptight. Whatever it was, it was working. It may also have helped that she called him weird; something he was not opposed to hearing.

Daxton's notebook was in his pocket, but wrestling it out of there would be fairly difficult if he wanted to keep hold of the bread rolls (and, obviously, he did). Writing in it would take even longer, so Daxton did not bother. Instead, he bunched up the fingers and thumb of his left hand and tapped at his mouth with them twice, the sign for 'eat'.

What else was he going to do with them? Use them as projectiles from the Ravenclaw Common R-...?

... actually, that wouldn't be such a bad idea, were it not for the fact that it would be a complete waste of food.

Dora crept closer to the boy and watched him curiously. She saw him wince... okay... she was putting two and two together here. In a soft voice she said, "Loud noises bother you? Like hurt your ears... I'm sorry. " And she really was sorry, not just saying it like she would have with most people. This kid had some interesting stuff going on with him and Dora needed to know all of the things. ALL OF THEM.

And that sign... she got the gist of it and felt like kicking herself. Of course he wanted to eat them, Dora. DUHHH. "Want some butter or jam to go with them?" Because that was logical to her. Hehehe. A smIle crept across her lips as she stood there. She would SOOO steal him some jam right now if he wanted it... but he might have to share the bread rolls.

OOOOOH it was cold. COLD COLD COLD on his little Beagle paws! Caleb did not like that. It was weird walking on paws to begin with - it felt like he was walking on pillows in a way. Very fluffy pillows. It felt a lot bigger too, obviously since he was a tiny dog and not a large 17 year old teenage boy.

The smell from the Great Hall was SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. Even though he'd already had lunch before doing this, part of him wanted to go eat MORE - because dogs had no sense of when they were full. But no. That would not be good. He'd get fat - even if it was just for a few hours. Plus he'd soooo regret it when he came back to human form.

Ignoring the fantastic smells coming from the Great Hall, he headed towards the dungeons, getting REALLY tired all of a sudden...he wanted to nap. A nice, longggggg puppy nap.

Of course she'd find biting amusing. What had he gotten himself into exactly? Zeke couldn't help but smirk a little... just a little, especially when she did the same, but it grew somewhat when she squeezed his arm. "Try is all I ask," he mused, because he would like to think she wouldn't think of doing such things in human form.

Approaching the castle entrance, Zeke held the door open for Maggie to pass through first, only allowing himself to slip his arm from hers for a moment before following suit. The entrance hall wasn't nearly as chilly as it had been outside, but still didn't offer much in the way of warmth. Food was sounding more appealing by the second. Something warm and savoury, or sweet and sticky.... like pudding.

...

And alas, returning Maggie's gaze, he considered her proposition. Kitchens and stay there? "That works for me..." because really, he didn't need much convincing, "lead the way."

One thing Oliver really appreciated about being a Slytherin was that he did not have to walk very far in order to get food. The Great Hall was only up two flights of stairs, so he didn't feel like dying every time he went to dinner. Or breakfast. Or, if he didn't feel like going to the organized mealtime, he could make a stop in the kitchen. Which was only one floor above his common room. So no matter where he wanted to go to get food, it was in a very handy location for him.

One Sunday afternoon not long after Christmas, he made his way up the steps to the Great Hall. He wondered what there would be for lunch that day. He liked almost every food, so there would definitely be something he liked. Or he could always go down to the kitchen and the house elves would get him whatever he wanted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledhampir

One thing Oliver really appreciated about being a Slytherin was that he did not have to walk very far in order to get food. The Great Hall was only up two flights of stairs, so he didn't feel like dying every time he went to dinner. Or breakfast. Or, if he didn't feel like going to the organized mealtime, he could make a stop in the kitchen. Which was only one floor above his common room. So no matter where he wanted to go to get food, it was in a very handy location for him.

One Sunday afternoon not long after Christmas, he made his way up the steps to the Great Hall. He wondered what there would be for lunch that day. He liked almost every food, so there would definitely be something he liked. Or he could always go down to the kitchen and the house elves would get him whatever he wanted.

Warm muffins.

Ava just went back from the kitchen with a basket of warm muffins in her hand. She loves muffins very much, didn't she say that? And the house elves love to bake a lot of very delicious muffins in every flavors. Though she already had her lunch before but having the muffins wasn't that bad, right? Especially in this wintery day as a companion for her afternoon tea break. Besides, she didn't mind to share this with other people. They needed to now that the house elves baked delicious and great muffins.

Entering the great hall, the young lioness then spotted someone that she had ever met before. If she's not mistaken, his name's Oliver and he kicked the Gryffindors' but on gobstones. Yup. "Hey, Oliver!" She greeted the snake boy cheerfully? "Do you want some muffins? They're so good and still warm, fresh from the oven."

Sophie skipped joyfully into the Entrance Hall, humming a gentle melody. She was in great spirits and had a good feeling about today. She was going to make some friends! All of her classes lately had her complimenting and doing nice things, which she loved.

Spotting the younger Gryffindor, Ava, Sophie make her way over to her. "Hello Ava!"- she knew her name from seeing her around, she was always in her classes, she was very popular it seemed. "I'm not sure if you know me or not, but I'm Sophie! I figured since we're in the same house and it, it would be nice to have another friend." She was very unsure how people made friends so easily.

She nodded towards the Slytherin whom Ava was with, "Hello Oliver, how are you doing?" She hadn't any friends in Slytherin, what a time for a first!

There was somebody following him. Or, maybe they just happened to be going in the same direction. But Oliver did know that there was somebody a few paces behind him as he went up the last flight of stairs from the kitchen. He paused for a moment, glancing back to see if he knew who it was. And look he did! AND she had muffins. It was a good thing he'd looked or he might have missed out on those delicious muffins.

"Hey Ava!" He didn't know the younger Gryffindor very well, but he had definitely seen her around. Plus, she shared a dorm with his sister. "Wow thanks. What kind are they?" Not that it mattered, he was sure they would be delicious anyway. Unless they were like bertie bott's every flavor muffins or something. That might not be too good.

And look, someone else was entering the hall not long after the two of them. It wasn't actually that surprising, there were a lot of people at Hogwarts so it would make sense if several of them happened to be in the same place at the same time. But this one did not just pass through. She stopped to greet them. Party in the entrance hall. Nice.

"Hi." Er, what was her name? He knew he'd seen her around before, but he'd never interacted with her. And she wasn't in his year or his house, so he'd never really bothered to pay attention to her. But he just smiled, hoping it wasn't obvious that he didn't know her name. Hopefully Ava did, and she would say it to spare him from confusion for the rest of the conversation.

"I'm good! How are you?"

While she was offering the muffins to Oliver, she heard that someone called her name. It was a girl, slightly older than her. Ava did remember that she's also a Gryffindor like herself, but she didn't remember her name. Well, to be honest she even didn't remember if they had been in a conversation before. But then the older lioness introduced herself as a Sophie. Oh, great! "Hey, Sophie!" And how could she knew her name? Was her REALLY that popular? Hehehe. "You want some muffins?" She offered.

He wanted her muffins. Yay! Ava was really in a mood to share them. "So, I have chocolate, red velvet, banana, cheese, blueberry, coffee, and vanilla bean muffins. They're still warm, I picked them up when the house elves just finished baking them and they even charmed the basket to keep the muffins still warm." She explained and let him choose. "You can also take one or two for your Ellery." Maybe his twin sister also wanted them?

Oh! And it seemed like he didn't know Sophie yet. "This is Sophie, the fellow Gryffindors and.... I'm sorry, what year are you in, Sophie?" She asked to that girl.

"Wow that's a lot of muffins." He had been so prepared to just grab one at random, but now that there were so many different choices he actually had to put some thought into the decision. Of course chocolate sounded great, but that might not have been the best choice considering it was still breakfast time. But who would stop him? Decisions were hard. In the end, he went with a banana one. Or, what he thought was banana. He took a big bite to confirm that it was, in fact, banana. It would have tasted good either way.

"Thanks!" He said again. He could take one for Ellery, too? This time he grabbed a chocolate one. Who knew if it would actually make it all the way to Ellery and not just end up in his stomach instead? Hehe. "You're so nice, Ava."

Sophie. He would remember that.

Sophie shook her head, laughing. Of course, she really was bad at introducing herself! While looking at the both of them she informed them, "I'm Sophie. Sophie Nesslage, I am a third year." Oliver and Ava. She was talking to people! First step in making friends, right?

She nodded her head at Ava's offer of muffins. Like Oliver, she opted for a banana one. It was a tough choice between banana and vanilla. But fruit always won her over. "Thank you so much! And they're so warm! She cupped her hands around the sweet muffin for warmth.

The young lioness smiled and beamed when Oliver grabbed the muffins from the basket. Yes, she loves to share. Well, she had TOO many muffins for herself so why didn't she share them? And watching the Slytherin boy ate the muffin made her wanna grabbed another one. She grabbed a blueberry one and ate them. Nom nom nom.... Wasn't it good? "Thanks, Oliver." She smiled.

And Sophie seemed enjoy the muffin! So she's a third year.... Ava needed to remember that since they both were in the same house. "It is, so the elves charmed the basket to keep the muffins warm. Aren't they genius?" She beamed. Too bad that they didn't want to teach her that charm. Well, maybe Professor Baxter would since she's the Charms professor. "What's your favorite bake treats by the way?" She suddenly asked them because she was curious. Some people like cupcakes, others (including her) like muffins, and there were some people who's a cookie craze.

Sophie smiled warmly at Ava, what a sweet girl! No wonder everybody was her friend! She deeply contemplated Ava's question, sweets were a serious matter to Sophie! Baked goods were definitely a favorite! But which one was her favorite? "Well, I very much like muffins. Especially banana! OR cranberry orange! BUT I am also a big fan of these things called rice krispy treats? There isn't really any baking involved per say, but they are delicious anyway. What about you, which is your favorite treat?"

Sophie rummaged though her bag. Since they were sharing and all...she had the perfect thing! Before the start of the year, her father had charmed half a dozen daisies for her. She thought, with all the snow and what not that a bit of nature would keep her spirits high. Finally! She took two from her bag. Sophie offered one to each Ava, and to Oliver. "My father charmed these so that they won't die, kind of like the fake muggle flowers? But they're alive! Forever!" Was that weird? Giving strangers flowers? Maybe.

That seemed like a good trick. Oliver wondered if there was a spell that a regular human wizard would be able to use on something like a basket to keep it warm. Probably, but he didn't know what it was. He was only eleven, after all.

"Rice crispies are good," he piped up when Sophie mentioned her favorite snack. Muffins were good too, of course. But he had to think about the question for a moment. What was his favorite snack? How was he supposed to choose just one? "Can I say all of them?" He grinned. There wasn't a lot of food that he didn't like.

A flower. Oliver gently took the gift from Sophie and smiled at the older girl. "That's really cool, what a smart idea. Thank you so much for sharing." It was so cool that even though they were her flowers, given to her by her father, she was willing to share them with two people she barely knew. Were all Gryffindors as nice as those two? (Ellery probably wasn't. Not to other people.)

But now that they were all sharing, he felt bad for not having something to contribute. Oliver rummaged around in his pocket, sure there had to be something he could share. He pulled out several wrappers and scraps of paper. No, that wouldn't do. He reached into his other pocket, and there was something. Three somethings to be exact. Chocolate frog cards that had been duplicates of ones he already had, so he'd stuffed them into his pocket. They were a little bent, especially around the edge, because he hadn't thought about trying to preserve them. He held them out tentatively toward the girls.

"Do you collect?" They were pretty common cards, so they might have them already, but at least he was trying to share.

Ava knew that her question wasn't very easy to be answered. Come on, it's very hard to pick a favorite baked treats?? Like herself, she loooooooooved everything but when it comes to pick one or two, she's gonna say that she loves muffins more, yup "Rice krispies treats is good too!" And very easy to be made. When she's staying at her brother's house for weekend, she made those snacks with her sister in-law and little nephew. "I like muffins too! My mom often bakes them more than cupcakes or cookies. Well, I do love cookies. But not really a big fan of cupcakes." Cupcakes usually were quite smaller than muffins. That's why she preferred muffins more than cupcakes. "Well, you can say that you like all of them, Oliver." Hehehe. Yeah, she knew that it's not easy to pick favorites.

"Oh my gosh, it's so pretty!" The young lioness beamed when Sophie gave her a daisy. Like she'd said, it looked like muggle fake flower but it's not. "Are you really sure that you want to give this too me?" Because they just met and now she already gave her flower. Well, that was sweet. "But thank you!" And then Oliver also join them sharing things. He gave them a frog chocolate card. Well, she's not really a collector of that thing like her twin brother. But Ava accepted it. "Not really, but I do have some of them. Thanks, Oliver!"

Sophie smiled at both Oliver and Ava, happy that they had enjoyed the flowers as much as she herself had. They were something near and dear to her, something she cherish, and she was very glad someone else could enjoy them as well! "Oh, I'm quite sure!", she commented to Ava.

Oooh chocolate frogs! This whole sharing thing was fun! Muffins and flowers and cards galore. "Thank you Oliver! I myself haven't started a collection, but my mum has a great one! Maybe I'll start one as well, thank you!" Sophie had never started a collection of anything to be honest, maybe this could be her first one. "I'm really glad I took the time to talk to the both of you today! You a both very kind!"

At first, Daxton was suspicious, but then he almost always was. He eyed the girl warily, then slowly nodded his head. For a moment, he had considered not admitting it, because then that would mean that if she ever wanted to annoy him or use one of his weaknesses to he advantage, like scream in his ear or similar, she would now have that information. But it was not as though his aversion to loud noises was not obvious, obvious enough that she had already guessed.

She was getting closer to him though, and that made Daxton ever more wary. He eyed her progress across the floor carefully, ready to take a step back if she got too close.

A shake of the head came next. Jam was far too sickly sweet, and butter was just strange and unpleasant. Dry bread rolls. Dry toast. Everything had to be dry and bland. It was a lot less confusing that way, a lot less overwhelming.

His eyes still on the girl, Daxton started to side step very carefully around her, towards the stairs. Sounds were pouring through the open doors to the Great Hall, hurting his ears and confusing his head, and having his back to an open room was making him particularly nervous. He half expected the girl to follow him, though - people had an annoying habit of trying to do that at this school - which was why he did not look away from here, even for a second.