Gaston looked around the common room. The prefects had really outdone themselves with the setup for this year's start of term party! He'd have to congratulate them when they arrived.... which would be at any moment! He helped himself to a cup of juice - he hoped the prefects wouldn't mind! - then settled onto the cushion farthest away from the fireplace. He'd gotten a bit better at facing his fear of fire, but it still hadn't gone away completely and probably never would.

His blue eyes darted toward the door, expecting it to fly open at any moment. He hoped the students would join him soon. It felt odd being in the common room all alone!

"-- Aaaaaand THIS here place is our home away from home, the GRYFFINDOR Common Room!" The floppy haired Prefect declared loudly as he led the students CLAMBERING through the doorway after all the tour-guiding and password-explaining tasks of the night. And look at that comfy Lionesque lounge eh, all DECKED OUT for a welcome party just for them!

"Hey there Professor!" he greeted his Head of House happily. Ah yes refreshments, he needs sumadat after all the walking and 'splainin he just done.

It didn't take long for Ace and Noelle to head into the common room. Of course, that long walk up the stairs on a full belly was a reminder that they were indeed home. Leading the newbies in, Noelle grinned when she saw the common room. Ace and her had owled back and forth this summer to work on plans. She was quite happy with the turnout.

"AND WELCOME TO THE LIONS DEN!"

Noelle said before moving out of the way for everyone else to come in. First things first. A drink. Noelle headed to get some punch to quench her thirst.

Vi had successfully stepped away from the noisy crowds of first years eagerly following Prefects up or down to their respective common rooms. She quickly made it up to her room and then stopped when she entered. WOAH. This was incredible. Vi stopped in her tracks and glanced around the room. This was really cool... It looked fantastic. There was a dance floor with red and yellow lights and a lounge section and refreshments. "Hello!" she waved to some of the new students before glancing around the room to find Professor Marchand, Noelle Summers, and Tenacius Salander there. "Hello Professor Marchand!" she waved as she called out to her Head of House. It was good to see him again AND she had heard that he had recently gotten married. She had had a run in with his wife in the corridor. Exciting! "Congrats on the wedding!"

Then she approached the two Prefects with the biggest grin on her face. It was so good to be back with them. Merlin. Another year at Hogwarts. Another year of magical adventures? She knew that they had their hands full with making sure that everyone was appropriately set up for the start of term. "Guys, this looks incredible! Awesome job," she said as she grabbed a drink.

It had been easy to kind of avoid the flood of first years following their prefects. Since Stasya knew where her common room was now, she’d hung back to try and talk to Professor Hirsch before the professors had all left the Great Hall to go to wherever they were planning on going. But after arranging to talk to him in the morning before classes started, a slightly more hopeful blonde had made her way up to the portrait and let herself into the common room shortly after everyone else. Yay for being taller meaning she had longer legs. She hadn’t thought she’d catch up, but it looked like lots of people had decided to take their time in heading up to the tower.

“Hi Professor Marchand!,” she greeted her head of house, waving at him way far away from the fireplace. She probably should tell him stuff too, but part of her felt like letting Professor Hirsch decide, once he knew what had happened over the summer. Either way, she really wanted to have fun this term, especially with all the extra clubs and other stuff she’d signed up for.

And also, there were Ace and Noelle and Olivia over by drinks and stuff, and she gave them all waves as she went over to get a drink too. Maybe a snack. Or a cookie if Ava had any left or… Oh, other cookies. She grabbed one before turning to look at everything. “Are we gonna keep the common room like this?” That might be fun, having everything in here to play with all term. Now all she needed was Emmeline. Since Derf and lots of her other friends couldn’t be here.

Beau had not been listening at all to his Prefects on the walk up to their common room and instead was just looking around and around and grinning and smiling and BEING A HOGWARTS STUDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIKE HE HAD ALWAYS DREAMED OF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW EXCITING WAS THIS. He was already over how upset he had been about being sorted into Gryffindor and actually couldn't even remember that he had been upset about it to begin with. So hopefully no one mentioned it to him because he would probably THEN get UPSET about it ALL. WAAAAA.

As he followed into the Common Room (also missing their password, uh oh), Beau-y's eyes WIDENED and his jaw DROPPED and a LOUD GASP left his entire body. EVEN HIS TOES.

"OH. MY. WOW. WOW." Was it always like this? Was everything always this FUN?!

THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE BEST SEVEN YEARS EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR


EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


EVAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


Forget introductions. Forget actually accepting what was happening..

Beau Montague knee slid STRAIGHT across the dance floor with a SQUEAL and straight away ripped the knees of his brand new school trousers. WOTEVA.

Thomas was not enjoying himself one bit, first, someone had thought it was funny to say a student was in charge at the feast, or in fact, it was more like a prison since they had to wait for a speech by the headmistress before they could actually eat. That was such a crazy rule, where was the chaos with waiting for the line of children to go down so that you could grab your food. That was what he had been looking forwards to the most.

Thomas stared at the common room, and now this place was going to be his home away from home, well surely they were going to decorate the place it seemed like it hadn't been decorated in years. "Anyone, know any good painting firms, I think the room is in need or a new coat of paint."

It was super cool to not have to be in the crowd of first years this time. Emmeline wasn't sure of her welcome around Miss Noelle, and anyway, she could take her time getting to the common room. She had tried to detour out to the barn to see if she could maybe sneak Dobby or Albus inside the castle to make Stasya feel better, but she hadn't been able to find a way past the nosy professors. Once she'd decided that Professor Wayland was bound to notice her, the second year had reluctantly gone back inside and headed alllllll the way upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.

Which had been transformed into a dance party thing. Emmeline grinned as she arrived just in time to watch the chanting first year boy from the feast (Beau) sliiiiiide across the dance floor on his knees. She was totally going to go figure out what his and the other first year boy's (Thomas) names were in a second, mhm. But first, she waved and called out a happy greeting to their Head of House: "Hiiii Professor Marchand!" And then she made a beeline for Stasya and the COOKIES.

She shot her prefects (yes, Miss Noelle too) a tentative smile as she approached the snacks and drinks table, telling them: "You guys made it look soooo good!" before she turned to Miss Olivia and grinned at her too. She did miss the OTHER Miss Olivia too, though. Especially now that Miss Noelle probably hated her.... But anyway, she said "Hiiii, Miss Olivia!" to this Miss Olivia, and resolved to send an owl to Miss Olivia P. by the end of the week.

Then she had finally made it to the cookies part of the table and wasted no time in snagging one and standing next to Stasya. She glanced at her best friend cautiously, trying to judge how her mood had changed (if it had) as she greeted her too, "Hiii Stas." She had already decided to probably not tell Stasya that she'd tried to get to the barn and failed horribly; she didn't want to upset her friend after all.

Gaston hadn't been waiting long when Mr. Salander burst through the portrait hole with the first years, and he knew Miss Summers wouldn't be far behind. He beamed at the two prefects. They'd done a great job explaining things to the new students and an even better job setting up this party. "Hello, Mr. Salander, Miss Summers!" he greeted them with a smile. "You two did an amazing job with this party! You should be proud of yourselves."

Then Miss Holden arrived and pretty much echoed his praise for the prefects. He smiled, returning her wave, but he was a little taken aback when she mentioned the wedding. Merlin, word traveled fast! "Hello! And thank you, Miss Holden," he said. "I'll be sure to pass your congratulations on to R-" He stopped himself from referring to his wife by her first name in front of a student. "-to the other Professor Marchand."

And the two little Lionesses (Staysa and Emmeline) were here too and looked a lot happier than they had at the feast - which Gaston was very glad to see! He'd been worried about them. "Hi, ladies!" he called, waving enthusiastically to them. "Enjoying the cookies?" And it seems they weren't the only ones who'd cheered up since the feast. One of the first years (Beau) had just done a slide across the dance floor; that made Gaston laugh right out loud! "I'm glad you're having fun!" he said.

Which was more than he could say for the other little Lion cub (Thomas). This one didn't appear to be adjusting as well to being a Gryffindor, and Gaston's heart went out to the poor kid. There had to be something he could do to cheer him up! He approached the boy just in time to hear his comment about paint, and he chuckled a little. He had to admit, this wasn't the kind of decor he would've chosen! "Oh? What color would you like to see it painted?" he asked.

What exactly was Zoryn Spinnet doing with a roll of caution tape and a large sign that read "END THE INEQUALITY"?

She was making POLITICAL STATEMENT.

And standing up against INJUSTICE. Well actually, she was sitting down (or well she was about to because this was a sit in).

After the third year blocked off the stairs leading towards the girl's dormitories, she dropped down to sit in front of it, holding her large sign above her head. "STAIRS, UNFAIR! STAIRS, UNFAIR!!!" After her chat with the Headmistress, it was apparent that there was a serious issue at hand.

'Cause apparently the stairs discriminated against boys. Hawthorne said it was because boy's were less trustworthy than girls, but this sounded like a load of baloney to Zoryn Amari Spinnet, and so, she was gonna FIGHT it. Mostly 'cause she wanted to show Théo her room, but also because it felt silly that the other stairs would let HER up while her own staircase wouldn't let half of her friends up to her room. How were stairs even able to recognize trustworthiness??? WHO GAVE THEM THAT KIND OF POWER???????

"THESE STAIRS, UNFAIR!!!! IF YOU DON'T TRUST, YOU WILL RUST!!!!" She did need to work on her branding though....

The leonine lad clambered into the common room breathing a little heavily. Tenacius had just finished his rounds and gone back to the Gryffindor Towers the long way round via the always not efficient Moving Stairs.

He had just caught the end of Zoryn's protestations when he found her sitting with her sign over her head. "Yes. Stairs most unfair." he panted a bit as he thumbed towards the direction of the Common Room entrance. "Not to bust your bubble though, but my dad kinda raised the issue with his Headmaster about all these stairs way back then, even offered to build an elevator for the school. A lot of good that did." he snorted "So if you wanna get some headway on that Z, better come up with something real good." he grinned.

"STAIRS UNFAIR, STAIRS UNFAIR!!!" The Gryffindor continued chanting at the base of the stairs, alternating between raising her sign high above her head and back down to the ground, she could get more visibility that way (not that the Common Room was particularly crowded right now).

"Huh?"

Zoryn gave her Prefect a funny sort of look. Who said anything about elevators? It took her a good few seconds to realize exactly what he was on about and by then she was shaking her head. "No, no, no I'm protesting the stairs 'cause they let girls up to the boys dorms, but they won't let boys up to the girls dorms! And that's SO unequal!!!" She nodded her head. An important part of protesting was having a message and educating others. Zoryn was GREAT at this.

"You should join my cause!!! I've got some extra signs!! We're having a SIT IN!" She grinned and patted the stack by her side. "We're" meaning Zoryn, but also hopefully Théo and Sylvie and other people when they had the chance to come down there.

Blink. She was referring to the stairs to the girls dorms?

His first thought was that the rule made total sense, because he was a boy, and he knew full well why boys arent allowed up at girls' dorms. His second thought was girls had consequences about going up at the boys' dorms too. Did Zoryn know about that? "Hey you got my vote for gender equality..." he said as he picked up one of the signs "... but Z, you do know there are consequences for girls too if they do go up our dorms yeah?"

The third year was so incredibly PROUD of herself. She was starting a movement, taking a stand, CHANGING THE WORLD ((((((er, common room)))))!!!!!

The Gryffindor threw her hands up in the air and gave her Prefect the BIGGEST smile. She knew he'd be on board, he was like the COOLEST prefect EVER. Way better than Noelle who hadn't defended her in front of stupid Professor Kennedy. Her big grin only faltered for a brief, fleeting moment when Tenacious spoke again. "...." HUH? "... There are?"

Like WHAT?

She blinked.

A few times actually.

But those steps didn't turn into a slide!!!!

That look on Zoryn's face says it all, and for the briefest of split seconds he had wondered if perhaps he shouldnt've revealed that juicy little tidbit. After all, misbehaving boys are a given, but misbehaving girls? Happens more often than any of them would admit in front of adults.

A smirk was trying to tug up at his lips as he replied "Yeah there IS." Aaaaaand he stops right there. He side glances up the boys dorms then turns his attention back to the raven-haired Lioness. How tempting was it to make her go up there and test it out eh? Surely not from a Gryffindor Prefect. A Salander boy though thats something else. "Nice colors you picked out for your signs...." Nuninuninu trying to divert her attention now lamely

Lillee walked into the common room looking around it was so good to be back. She walked over t a coner amd sat amd watched everyone. She never was good at making friends amd didnt make any last year. She hoped this year was diffrent.

Vi had just returned from a loooong day of classes. And her feet hurt. Seriously! These new shoes weren't comfy at all. Sure they were fashionable and all but NOT comfy. Oh the prices people paid for fashion. #notworth. At least not worth it when she had spent the majority of one of her classes trying to find rare items here and there and scavenging. Note to self: wear sneakers to the next scavenger hunt or major walking lesson. She noted the Prefect and the troublemaker over yonder who were cooking up something mischievous. She quirked an eyebrow and then returned to her poor aching feet.

Yes. Oh. Her poor, poor, sore tired feet only made her sink into the nearest armchair she saw. With a sigh, she sunk into the chair and then put her feet up. Oh. Her feet were talking to her. As she was about to take her shoes off, she saw a younger girl in a corner, watching the fellow housemates. Glancing over at her, she offered a smile and a wave. "Hello," she greeted. "Did you have a good day? I'm glad mine's over." She chuckled.

"Like what?" It's not that Zoryn didn't trust her Prefect ('cause he was the BEST EVER and Zoryn LOVED him), but she needed to know.

For curiosity's sake, and also for practical reasons.

Sometimes, consequences were worthwhile btw. She needed to assess the severity. And also, she was very skeptical.

With her curiosity peaked, the Gryffindor momentarily forgot about her mission with the signs and the protest, though she did chirp a hurried, "THANKS," in response to the compliment. Zor had picked 'em out ALL BY HERSELF! But this was not the focus at the moment, they could admire her signs AFTER she found out what the stairs did to girls.

Also, hi Olivia and person-we-don't-know. Did they want to joint he movement too? Zoryn would ask in a minute.

After some... unnerving events around the school, including the breaking and entering of his own hut, Haraldur made his way to the Gryffindor common room. It seemed only fair he paid the lions a little visit.

Fair because he had like... Too many madeleine cookies to eat by himself. He walked into the common room, greeting a few firsties that slipped past him on his way inside. He gave each of their heads a little pat as they ran past him.

"Evening, lions!" He announced as he emptied a bag of Madeleines at one of the tables by the fire. Don't ask him where he got them from. He wouldn't answer truthfully either way. "Have at it!"

Just your friendly neighbourhood flying instructor. In need of some company.

FAVORITE!

Dora had glanced up before the man spoke, a grin forming already. The weird flying man had long since been her ally here. Ugh. She was going to miss him most of all, really. BUT right now was not the time to dwell on such things. Nope.

Rising, the blonde made her way to his side. "Were they made here? " The cookies. Dora wouldn't eat anything made in the castle. He knew that, of course. Also, did he see her smiling? Because she totally was.