With house elves popping in and out and serving food, it almost seemed like home. Nikita had always liked the small creatures; most of them were funny or pleasant or comforting when one actually took the time to talk to them. She smiled at the elf as it dropped a serving of salad on her plate.

Nikita inspected the forks, then selected the one she thought might be correct. Glancing around the room, and seeing a few others girls holding the same fork in their hands, Nikita proceeded to plunge her utensil into the salad. The tines of the fork hit the plate beneath. Oops. Maybe she should be more...delicate in her handling of the silverware. Nikita quietly stabbed a tomato before she realized that her fork was facing the wrong way. She ate the tomato and turned the fork prongs down. Eating was much more difficult this way. If she ate holding her fork like this all the time, Nikita knew she would soon be stick thin.