Eddie never sat at a table that wasn't his unless he needed to and today he needed to. He hadn't seen a certain Gryffindor at the feast and now he had wondered if there was more to the last term than he originally thought. So this morning he found himself eating breakfast at the lion table. He had come up with a plan of why he was sitting there. Yes, he was always ready with a plan and a backup plan. Something his father taught him very early on and now that his father had given him advice on how to work on his poisons he was ready to learn as much as he could.


Finding the table pretty empty he sat down and grabbed a plate. Where was that girl?
He took a bite of his food and kept watch. Seeing others come in and out of the hall.
Had she not come to school this term? Was she dead? He hadn't seen anything in the prophet though he had kept a watchful eye. His mother even got suspicious at his sudden interest so he had to lie and say he was interested in ministry things. Now she thought he wanted to work there when he was older.

Derf had not been able to catch Emmeline on the train nor at the feast. It was a real shame too because she kinda was on his priority list of people to see TOO for a bunch of dramatic reasons. But Bel had sorta happened and of course there was Abey and then...okay there had been a lot of people and chocolate frogs involved. But now for SURE he needed to see her and check in with....things.

Which was what brought him here to the Gryffindor table. Oh wheeeeeeeere oh wheeeeeeere had Emmeline gone...or where oh where could she beeeeeeee?

......perhaps it was a bit too soon to be singing that kind of song in his head considering the folded up poster tucked away in his robes' pocket.

Er...this called for some awkward hair ruffling as he moved down the long bench in search of his friend.

FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOOOOOOOOOD.

Beau-ey was a growing boy and SOOOO he was always in need of food and frequented the Great Hall and this very table. SO much SO that he ALREADY knew what parts of table were the best to sit at and the easiest bench to perch on without getting a numb bum in seconds -- because his bum was pretty bony, to be fair AND it ALWAYS got numb on wooden BENCHES.

But SOMEONE was sat in his favourite spot. In the middle. Where he could see EVERYTHING. MY GOOOOOODNIZZZZZZZZZ. But he wasn't going to be confrontational, so he crawled UNDER the table to the other side and sat DIRECTLY opposite the seat stealing pooper.

Yes. Hello. What food was that boy eating? Did it look yum?

Excited nerves danced up and down Emmeline's spine as she entered the Great Hall for lunch. She had just been down to the infant creature barn and spent time with Sirius -- which was always fun -- and then had half-way fallen in love with Sapphire, a baby girl niffler who hadn't been adopted last term. She had played with both baby creatures for hours and hours, accidentally missing a lesson or two in the process. In fact, she had only deigned to return to the castle for lunch 'cause she was hungry and both babies probably wanted a nap. Plus, she had to make super sure that she wasn't late for any of her after-lunch lessons since she'd missed the morning ones (or one? Had it been a double period?).

The second year veered towards her House table automatically, already scanning the table for someone to sit by, when her eyes snagged on a blonde boy wearing Hufflepuff robes and doing much hair ruffling. Emmeline's face split into a grin as she sped up and called out to him as she got closer and closer to the boy, "Derf! Hiiii!" She hadn't seen her other best friend in forever! She'd been kind of avoiding people on the train, and then Stasya had been so upset at the feast... But they could catch up now, mhm.

He watched a few more people come in and out,
but no blonde girl. Maybe it worked and she wasn't here for that reason or maybe her mother decided to move her to a new school. Either way, Eddie wanted to find out and he wasn't going to find out unless he asked.

Taking another pancake he shoveled it in his mouth until he noticed a boy coming over to sit right across from him. He stared at the boy for a few moments trying to figure out if maybe he was the second year or first because a second year could come in handy for information but a first would be useless.

"You want some pancakes?"

PANCAKES? Beau's face lit up. "Who DOESN'T want pancakes??!" Actually, he didn't care because if someone didn't want pancakes then it meant that there were MORE for him and his stomach was VERY grateful for that. It had heart shaPED intestines for good food. PROMISE. Or maybe he had just hear something wrong or made something up. It wasn't quite so clear in his mind.

"I nORmally sit THERE, you know?" Like right in that seat. To make his point, his actually pointed at the chair the other boy was sitting at. Beau's seat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

Excited nerves danced up and down Emmeline's spine as she entered the Great Hall for lunch. She had just been down to the infant creature barn and spent time with Sirius -- which was always fun -- and then had half-way fallen in love with Sapphire, a baby girl niffler who hadn't been adopted last term. She had played with both baby creatures for hours and hours, accidentally missing a lesson or two in the process. In fact, she had only deigned to return to the castle for lunch 'cause she was hungry and both babies probably wanted a nap. Plus, she had to make super sure that she wasn't late for any of her after-lunch lessons since she'd missed the morning ones (or one? Had it been a double period?).

The second year veered towards her House table automatically, already scanning the table for someone to sit by, when her eyes snagged on a blonde boy wearing Hufflepuff robes and doing much hair ruffling. Emmeline's face split into a grin as she sped up and called out to him as she got closer and closer to the boy, "Derf! Hiiii!" She hadn't seen her other best friend in forever! She'd been kind of avoiding people on the train, and then Stasya had been so upset at the feast... But they could catch up now, mhm.

Spinning around just a bit tooooooo fast when he heard his name, the blonde Puff's face brightened into a bit of a nervous grin when he saw her. "Emmeline," he chirped, voice cracking a bit - although he was going to pass that off as nervousness - as he moved in for a hug. An almost PROTECTIVE one at that which came complete with an affectionate squeeze. "I've been looking for you, actually."

And because he now needed something to do with his hands now that he had let go of her...they went right back into his hair for more low-key rabid ruffling.

"You....er...eat already?"

She beamed at Derf and definitely returned the hug, complete with squeeze, yup. Emmeline also noticed the voice crack and her forehead furrowed in confusion a bit. And then allllll of the hair ruffling PLUS the voice cracking -- Derf was totally nervous or upset about something. So of course she wanted to know what that something WAS, and to see if she could help him with something, mhm. She was a bit surprised to hear that he'd been looking for her, but a second later had decided that he probably meant in the same way she always looked for him and Stasya and stuff. Totally normal friend stuff, mhm.

"Nope, not yet! Wanna eat with me?", she asked brightly. She was preeeetty sure he would if he'd been looking for her. That and the fact that he seemed all upset or nervous had Emmeline scanning the table once again, and finally locating a small area that had a bit of space away from the rest of her Housemates. You know, so they wouldn't be overheard or anything. She pointed at the empty-ish area and grinned again, "Wanna sit over there?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

She beamed at Derf and definitely returned the hug, complete with squeeze, yup. Emmeline also noticed the voice crack and her forehead furrowed in confusion a bit. And then allllll of the hair ruffling PLUS the voice cracking -- Derf was totally nervous or upset about something. So of course she wanted to know what that something WAS, and to see if she could help him with something, mhm. She was a bit surprised to hear that he'd been looking for her, but a second later had decided that he probably meant in the same way she always looked for him and Stasya and stuff. Totally normal friend stuff, mhm.

"Nope, not yet! Wanna eat with me?", she asked brightly. She was preeeetty sure he would if he'd been looking for her. That and the fact that he seemed all upset or nervous had Emmeline scanning the table once again, and finally locating a small area that had a bit of space away from the rest of her Housemates. You know, so they wouldn't be overheard or anything. She pointed at the empty-ish area and grinned again, "Wanna sit over there?"

He tried to relax at her offer, because obviously he would like to join her. "I was hoping you would offer," he grinned as he moved towards the area she indicated and promptly plopped himself down on the bench. Scamander showed no wiggle signs of wishing to be removed from his pocket and thus the warty newt remained in the comfort of his enchanted trouser pocket while he moved to grab a roll....er...no...not a roll. OH PUDDING!

He could start with dessert, right? Right.

Scooping himself a little bowl full of it, the third year reached for a Mushroom and Yorkshire Ale Pie and fork.

He probably...shouldn't beat around the flutterby bush, right? Er.

"So...." he began, stuffing his face with some of the pie before he could entirely spit out something too ridiculous. "Hurd u had a bizy samma..."

Shoving more food in his mouth he looked around and swallowed. "Yeah, I guess everyone does." He hadn't known anyone who didn't like pancakes at least, but maybe there was someone and if everyone did like pancakes that gave this Slytherin an idea to try later. His eyes again glanced around to see how many were really eating the pancakes.

The boy's voice made him look back again, "Oh am I in your seat?"
He sounded concerned, but he never moved from the spot he was sitting.
Taking another bite he gave a few minutes as if thinking, "But it's just a seat. Your name wasn't on it." Eddie wasn't trying to fight, just stating a fact. He really didn't care if he sat there or sat somewhere else and maybe he'd move in a minute.

"Have you seen a blonde girl named Olivia today?" That was her name wasn't it?

Beau quickly stacked up his own plate with pancakes and shoved a fork into the top one. "I actually carved it underneath yesterday." If he wanted to look. "But I can share with you! You're OBviously HIDING from someone at your own table!!!" Because why else would he be here?? It just made no sense to Beau-ey.

What DID make sense was allllllll these pancakes. Yam yum YAMMMMY YUMMMMY. He took the whole pancake up in the air and bite a big chunk outta the side.

"OH-LIB-EEE-YA?" Who was that?

"OH." Beau quickly finished up chewing and shrugged. "What's it to ya?"

There were some LOUD studentsies around the Gryffindor table today. Which was perfect! Schmoop LOVED when studentsies were loud and energetic! He knew just what they needed - more sugar!

"Fresh cookies! Schmoop made fresh cookies for all the studentsies!" he piped up as he made his way past the Gryffindor table, a tray of cookies balancing on his tiny hand. Feel free to grab some!

She eagerly returned Derf's grin as she climbed onto the bench to sit next to him. It was super good to see her realllly good friends, mhm. Emmeline couldn't suppress a giggle as she saw him eating dessert first; she was still getting used to being able to eat whatever she wanted and sort of do whatever she wanted while at Hogwarts (as long as it didn't break any rules, duh). Soo the twelve-year-old glanced sneakily at the staff table to make sure that Cami wasn't watching before pulling a piece of chocolate cake onto her plate and taking a bite. Yummm....

Luna poked her nose out of Emmeline's top robe pocket, sniffing interestingly at allll of the food smells. The Gryffindor reached into her pocket and carefully extracted the purple fluff ball. She sort of held the pygmy puff over the various dishes near her on the table until the little creature let out a high-pitched squeak as she was held aloft over the chicken. Emmeline smiled at her indulgently and set the pygmy puff on her lap as she moved some chicken onto her plate too. Then it was just a simple matter of cutting off tiiiiny bites and feeding them to Luna on her lap, mhm.

Derf's words briefly froze the second year in place, though. Surely he didn't mean that part of her summer, right? She didn't think anyone really knew about the beginning of her summer, so he must've heard about allll the stuff she did with Cami somehow. Her smile sliding back into place, Emmeline replied cheerily enough: "Yeah, it was crazy! Cami and I went loooads of places!! How was your summer?" As she waited for the Hufflepuff's response, she plucked another tiny bite of chicken off her plate and fed it delicately to the now-purring pygmy puff in her lap.

SPOILER!!: Schmoop & Emmeline!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmoop

There were some LOUD studentsies around the Gryffindor table today. Which was perfect! Schmoop LOVED when studentsies were loud and energetic! He knew just what they needed - more sugar!

"Fresh cookies! Schmoop made fresh cookies for all the studentsies!" he piped up as he made his way past the Gryffindor table, a tray of cookies balancing on his tiny hand. Feel free to grab some!

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

She eagerly returned Derf's grin as she climbed onto the bench to sit next to him. It was super good to see her realllly good friends, mhm. Emmeline couldn't suppress a giggle as she saw him eating dessert first; she was still getting used to being able to eat whatever she wanted and sort of do whatever she wanted while at Hogwarts (as long as it didn't break any rules, duh). Soo the twelve-year-old glanced sneakily at the staff table to make sure that Cami wasn't watching before pulling a piece of chocolate cake onto her plate and taking a bite. Yummm....

Luna poked her nose out of Emmeline's top robe pocket, sniffing interestingly at allll of the food smells. The Gryffindor reached into her pocket and carefully extracted the purple fluff ball. She sort of held the pygmy puff over the various dishes near her on the table until the little creature let out a high-pitched squeak as she was held aloft over the chicken. Emmeline smiled at her indulgently and set the pygmy puff on her lap as she moved some chicken onto her plate too. Then it was just a simple matter of cutting off tiiiiny bites and feeding them to Luna on her lap, mhm.

Derf's words briefly froze the second year in place, though. Surely he didn't mean that part of her summer, right? She didn't think anyone really knew about the beginning of her summer, so he must've heard about allll the stuff she did with Cami somehow. Her smile sliding back into place, Emmeline replied cheerily enough: "Yeah, it was crazy! Cami and I went loooads of places!! How was your summer?" As she waited for the Hufflepuff's response, she plucked another tiny bite of chicken off her plate and fed it delicately to the now-purring pygmy puff in her lap.

Derf stopped midchew and gave Emmeline a meaningful look. He didn't WANT to pull of band aids or rub salt anywhere...but he DID have a few things to say on the matter and his friend was sorta making that HARD. "I heard you went loads of places with...someone else too," he added a bit sheepishly while ruffling his hair a little. He was trying to be gentle here, okay? "Mine was alright...nothing too spectacular this summer..." Unlike last summer when he had gone traveling with Jessa AND kissed a dolphin. "Went to Australia to visit dad's side of the family...that was kinda the highlight."

And just then one of the house elves appeared with COOKIES. He already had something sweet and there were more on the table but...sure...why not?! "Thanks," he grinned at the elf as he selected one...and then decided to do a bit of food experimenting and used it as a cracker and his pudding the cheese.

Hmmmmmmm....

He actually did put his name on it? Eddie wasn't going to be that quick to believe him, but he wasn't going to be a sucker and look either. He just eyed the boy for a moment and then shrugged it off since he said he'd share and that was fine with Ed, because he wasn't going to leave.

Taking a few more pancakes his mouth fell open for a brief second,
"I would never hide from anyone and there is no one at the snake table I have any reason to hide from. I was looking for a girl at this table."


This boy was weird and Eddie was quickly realizing he shouldn't tell him too much information. So he shoved more food in his mouth to give him some time. "So you don't know here?" The boy was asking questions back which made Eddie figure he didn't.

"Not mean anything to me, just a girl that was almost killed last term.
Thought it was weird she hadn't been seen." So maybe she wasn't almost killed, but he liked the dramatics that the wording gave.

For the record, Zoryn was simply at the Gryffindor table to eat dinner. But who was she to say no to dinner AND a show.

Yes, that's right. She was LIVING.

Watching two of her least favorite people go at each other was quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to her. Professor Stewart vs Skylar Diggory. Which was the lesser of two evils? Who actually knew!?

Anyways, Zoryn was taking bets 'cause she was gonna milk this moment for all it's worth. She climbed up on top of the bench so that she could tower over the table, then turning towards all her peers she began yelling, "PLACE YOUR BETS HERE, PLACE YOUR BETS HERE!!! HOW MANY WEEKS OF DETENTION DO YOU THINK SKYLAR DIGGORY WILL GET!?!"

Anyone?

Really Zoryn?!?!?

"Two on zero," Ronan replied, holding up two shiny galleons. Honestly, things seemed to be going rather well from here. Which disappointed him slightly, since he really wanted to see someone else lose their temper at the Muggle Studies professor. She honestly deserved it after the debacle that was today's lesson. What the hell had she been thinking, anyway?!

Okay, Ronan, calm down. It's over and done with.

Anyway, he took a bite of his dinner, forcing himself to calm down and chew slowly, so as not to choke.

Yeah, really.

"Awwwwww man, that's no fun," were things really gonna come down to a ceasefire? Zoryn ALMOST had SOME respect for the Slytherin for going off on the Professor. Hopefully she wouldn't disappoint right away!!

Zoryn REALLY wanted to see some action.The Gryffindor had high hopes for this fight. It'd be SUCH a shame if it ended this early. "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!" Maybe if they all started chanting there would be a fight?!?!?!

A girl could hope, tbh.