"Hey Laura." said Shaunee as she slid off the window ledge where she had been reading.

Mariel nodded thoughtfully as Nia spoke. That was another possibility - coming up through the owlery. Or maybe she ran into someone in the common room before coming up. After a moment's thought, she shrugged softly. She supposed Lasca would have to come to the dorm eventually. It wouldn't be possible for her to avoid the third year all term.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Mariel grinned at Nia and nodded enthusiastically. The third year loved fixing her hair and was happy to know someone who shared that interest. "Oh, yeah, I am. I meant to last year, but I guess I got busy with finals... Sure, you should come too. Maybe she'll know something a little more creative than my standard ponytail for Quidditch." Sure, she liked to look good while on her broom, but she had to factor practicality in as well. Maybe Professor Shackleton could find a good medium. Watching as her fellow Ravenclaw struggled to get her brush through a section of her hair, Mariel hopped off her bed to dig through her trunk. Once finding what she was looking for, she emerged holding a small jar which she then handed to Nia. "Try this. My mum used to experiment with potions and she came up with this detangling cream a while back. She taught my sisters and I how to make it, and I use it all the time cuz my hair is really thick and it gets knotty."

Mariel climbed back up on her bed and tucked her legs under her. "Wow, your dad played professionally?" she asked, clearly impressed. No wonder Nia was such a good Quidditch player, since she was taught the game by a professional. "What team did he play for?" She laughed a little as Nia recounted her practice experience, then grinned wider as she expressed her enthusiasm for Mariel's travels. "Oh, yes, it was wonderful. The first time I've ever travelled outside Britain, actually." And just that one trip gave her a thirst for more travelling. "Well, it's really... um, big. Lots of land to play Quidditch and ride horses. Oh! That was the first time I rode a horse, too. And the house Lasca had for the summer was just immense and had everything we needed." Leaning closer, she added quietly, "Each of the bedrooms even had their own bathroom." Mariel was easily spoiled by such amenities. She never really wanted for much at home, but that visit had just been extravagant. Maybe they'd be able to go back next summer and... ooh, maybe Nia could come too and get away from her own brothers.

Returning Nia's smile, Mariel nodded her sympathy. Being the youngest of three girls and not knowing Andrew until he was three, she didn't have much baby exposure but figured it involved loads of crying and dirty diapers which would get annoying awfully quickly... Theo... Newtington, obviously. That name sounded kinda familiar. "He's in Slytherin? My sisters were both in Slytherin, too... Oh! Your brother plays Quidditch for Slytherin, doesn't he? I kinda recognized his name... from that, I guess." But she was pretty sure she hadn't met him. Not that she was sure she wanted to, he sounded rather annoying from what Nia had told her. "Andrew's six," she added in response. Not as whiny as he was a few years ago, but still incorrigible as most boys seemed to be.

"Oh, where are you going for the New year?" she inquired as Nia mentioned it. If she couldn't travel herself, hearing about others' plans and journeys was the next best thing.

The moon was rising into the dark but starry night and as Blossom descended the common room to go to bed she stared out the window at this marvelous sight. Moving on she walked p to a well-lit room with beds and trunks littering the room. She took her bed from last year, the one near the window and set up her things, unpacking her pajamas she changed into them and then took her clock, teddy and a few other necessities out thinking she will unpack completely tomorrow. She gently sat down on the bed and laying her head on the pillow closed them and a soft whistle of breathing began. She had gracefully fallen asleep.

Nia noticed Mariel's enthusiasm and grinned. "I'm definitely coming with you in that case then." She glanced upwards towards the knot and tried to tease it apart with her fingers. "And good idea about the quidditch hair style - it'd be awesome to have something cool done and not have to worry about it all falling out and getting in my face." She giggled. "We could do matching even, and be the coolest looking girls on the pitch!" She then watched as her fellow third year rummaged through her trunk, and took the small jar, intrigued. As Mariel explained, Nia smiled. "Wow, this is just what I need!" Nia said, carefully opening the tub and dipping two fingers in before running them carefully over the hair. Picking up her brush again, Nia was amazed she could get it through first time. "Good stuff! Could I, er...purchase some from you or something? It'd save me so much time in the morning..." Big knot sorted, Nia dipped her finger in the detangling potion again, and put a little on some other knotty areas, gradually smoothing her whole hair out.

Nia nodded. "He played for the Ballycastle Bats. He gets tickets so we go to see them quite often...though I admit I'm more of a Harpies fan myself." Theo was the Bats fan in the family; Nia had always favoured the Harpies, and would love to play for them one day. Well, she'd love to play for any team professionally, but the Harpies would be awesome – or she supposed the Bats would be alright, since that way at least she'd be following exactly in her father's footsteps.

Her eyes widened as Mariel spoke about America, and giggled as she described the country as 'big'. The whole idea of having the space to play proper Quidditch and riding horses, wow. It sounded amazing. And then Mariel leaned closer and said that they even how their own bathrooms – it sounded like pure bliss. “It sounds amazing,” Nia said part in awe and partly excited that her friend had such a wonderful time. “What an awesome way to spend the summer.” That sort of holiday sounded like Nia’s thing. Even just the getting rid of brothers idea was great, without the Quidditch and horses. “Was it just you and your friends, no parents or anything?”

“You have older sisters?” Nia responded, “Are they better than younger brothers and twins?” She giggled. “Yep, he does, keeper usually. Though he’s not sure how much he likes playing, especially after losing both matches last year.” She gave a small smirk. Theo was the one that got treated most at home since he was so cute, so it was nice that she’d been on the winning quidditch side and got some good attention for once. She’d relived the matches a good few times as she described them in detail to her family. “Not sure if he’s trying out this year…though I hope he does. I wanna chase against him and score lots!” She nodded as Mariel said her brother was six. “An okay age, that, I reckon – not too annoying and still kinda got some cute factor. Though Theo seems to have been around six years old for a good few years now. Still hasn’t grown out of Buzz.” She rolled her eyes. He might not be as dependant on that stupid toy now, but he was still Toy Story addicted. Gah. Stupid Cry Baby.

Nia blushed slightly at Mariel’s next question, even if she didn’t really know why. “Elan’s invited me to Italy,” she said quietly, as if she still didn’t quite believe it. “Apparently there’s going to be fireworks, and good food and all traditional. Plus all his family, and I’ve never been to Italy.” She finished brushing her hair, before leaning in to Mariel and dropping her voice. “There’s meant to be something special happening, that’s Elan’s never gotten do before and has invited me to do with him– but he won’t explain what it is. He said it really quickly and all caught was ‘mid’ something ‘iss’. Any ideas?” She looked doubtful. “I looked it up online at home, but no luck. And I want to do it properly if all his family are there. And I don’t want to look silly.” She bit her lip, it was the one thing she was concerned about on the trip – otherwise she was so looking forward to the yummy food, spending more time with Elan without Theo around and just the whole atmosphere.

Mariel's face lit up. "Matching? That would be so cool!" Her mind started wandering to thoughts of all the fabulous hairstyles Professor Shackleton could teach them and getting themselves ready before games, looking plain amazing. Absentmindedly watching Nia detangle her hair, she added, "You're right, we would be the coolest girls on the pitch." Maybe even to the point of distracting the other team... "Not bad, yeah?" she asked with a grin as Nia easily brushed through her hair, then a look of confusion flashed across her face. "Purchase? Oh, no..." Mariel waved her hand dismissively as she gently shook her head. "I make a batch every summer. You can share that one with me until I can make some more. It's not too hard to make... I think I have all the ingredients in my kit. Maybe I'll ask Professor Bontecou if he'll let me use the Potions classroom to make some more."

Mariel looked on in awe as Nia spoke of her father. "Oooh, they're a good team... and the Harpies are one of my favorites as well. But my number one favorite are the Kestrals." Especially that dreamy Keiran Kavanagh... "Oh! Did you see that article in Quidditch World about the Kestrals? My friend Sarah gave me the magazine earlier today, but I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet..." Maybe tomorrow.

The third year nodded happily as they continued to discuss her holiday. "Yeah, it really was the best holiday I've ever had... I hope we get to do it again next year." She then shook her head in response to Nia's question. "No, Lasca's father was there and a woman... I think she was the caretaker of the house." She had been surprised enough as it was that her own father even let her go. She was pretty sure her request would have been denied had there been no adult supervision. Shrugging, she added, "They pretty much stayed out of our way and let us have fun, though."

She nodded her confirmation. "Two sisters," she said flatly and thought for a moment about Nia's question. Were they better than brothers? "Um, I wouldn't say better..." she started slowly. "Just... different. They aren't as pesky or annoying, I guess, but let's just say they liked me to help them practice their spells." The thirteen year old hated being the youngest - though she wasn't technically anymore - as she often got picked on by the older ones. Shrugging she added, "They're both a lot older than me, so I guess I was never very close to them. They both left Hogwarts before I came. I don't see much of M'Lynn anymore... She lives in New Zealand and has her own family now." In fact Mariel hadn't even met her neice that was born last year as she only visited London once last summer which happened to be when Mariel was away.

She nodded as Nia confirmed that her brother did play Quidditch for Slytherin as she thought that was were she had heard his name. Then she shrugged as she said with a smirk. "Well, there can't be two winners." The other teams would just have to get over it. Grinning she added, "I hope you get to score lots against him too! I can't wait to play against Slytherin..." Since they hadn't at all the last two years. The third year shrugged yet again in regards to Andrew. He got far too much attention at home then she felt necessary. "I guess he's kinda cute, but at least I don't have to deal with him here..." Unlike Nia who probably had to run into her brother at school all the time. Wait, what? "Hasn't grown out of Buzz?" she slowly repeated. "What is that? A disease?" Even though she didn't know Theo, she certainly hoped that he wasn't too ill... or that it was contagious.

Mariel rubbed her eyes slightly because either she was getting so tired that her vision was becoming wonky or the low lighting was bad in the dorm, because it almost looked like Nia blushed - and Mariel couldn't see why she would have a reason to so that couldn't be the case. Looking back up at Nia, her smile grew. "Wow, Italy? That sounds really amazing! I hope to go there someday." Along with about a thousand other places. She listened intently as her fellow Claw described all the wonderful things they had planned, then tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Mid, something, iss?" she repeated as she tried to work that out. "Um, I guess 'mid' could be 'middle' and the only word I can think of that ends in 'iss', is 'kiss', so middle kiss, but that doesn't make any kind of sense, does it? Was it all one word or two words? Hmm. Maybe it's some Italian word since you're going to Italy, and all. Does Elan speak Italian?" Mariel thought for a moment still tossing the words and sounds in her head, until her eyes got really wide and she looked down at the hands in her lap. Oh!

Nia grinned as she saw Mariel's enthusiasm for matching hairstyles. She wondered what sort of things they could do with Professor Shackleton's help. They could even have Ravenclaw accessories like blue ribbons through their hair - how cool would that be? And maybe it would even cause a distraction. She giggled. "Do you think Willow would go for it?" she asked, "Or just us?"

As Mariel dismissed her purchasing request, Nia's face blushed slightly, before she smiled appreciatively. "Thanks," she replied, "its amazing stuff. And it's not claggy either." She ran her fingers through her hair, noting how easy it was - usually her fingers would catch here and there in new small knots, but nothing today. "Maybe I could come and help then, if Professor Bontecou gives his permission," Nia offered. "I could do with some practice preparing ingredients - my chopping is getting better, but still not perfect," she added with a smile.

So Mariel was a Kestrels fan…interesting. Another good team in Nia’s opinion - she’d seen them play a couple of times. Had quite a cute looking player if she remembered rightly, though quite a few Pro players fitted into the ‘cute and fit’ category in Nia’s opinion. "Quidditch World? No, not yet," Nia said. With all the excitement of going back to Hogwarts, she’d missed the fact the new issue was due out. “Mind if I borrow it after you? I like the ‘Moves to Watch Out For’ section, as well as finding out more on the spotlight players.” If she remembered rightly, the spotlight player was someone she liked and had met this issue, though who it was surpassed her. Though thinking of specific players she’d met… “Ooo, did you see Marco Denver when you were shopping?”

She grinned as her fellow third year expressed wanting to go again next year. “Well, I hope you can, cos it sounds like you had a fantastic time.” And lucky, no real close supervision. Probably just of enough their presence to be safe, and for all of Lasca’s friends to go out there, but not too much. “Lasca’s very lucky to have the opportunity to do stuff like that,” Nia smiled, “Not sure what my family would say to having a whole Quidditch team equivalent over, Dad would probably love to take the role of coach though…” She giggled at the thought.

Nia noticed Mariel’s tone. A sort of tone of indifference. And from her following words, Nia was perhaps relieved that she didn’t have a sister. She grimaced as Mariel said about them practicing spells on her, it didn’t sound very nice. At least Theo couldn’t practice spells on her – he couldn’t do many for a start. Though thinking about it, maybe she should be worried if he pointed a wand at her, who knew what would come from its tip. He’d probably say the incantation wrong and make her sprout extra legs or something equally horrible. “I guess that’s a good thing then, having the age gap, in the sense that they’ve already graduated,” Nia said thoughtfully. “New Zealand though, nice…I’d love to go there sometime. It’s meant to have the most awesome scenery.”

A smirk spread across Nia’s face at Mariel’s words. “Very true,” she acknowledged, noting Mariel’s competitive side and grinning. “It’s about time we played each other properly, so I really hope he does tryout. I won’t be put off by his cuteness in goal.” Nia had to admit she was surprised that Theo was put as keeper, after all he was tiny compared to the hoops. Bit unfair, in her opinion, but she’d still take advantage of it if and when Ravenclaw faced the Slythies. Nia nodded as Mariel spoke of Andrew, and was about to reply when her friend caught onto something else. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Not quite a disease,” she said, a huge grin on her face. It was probably one way to describe it though, seeing as how annoying it was and the whole family had been inflicted. “It’s a character from a Muggle kids’ film,” she explained, “And Theo has been addicted ever since I can remember. He has this talking one that he used to have to take absolutely everywhere with him. He was horrendous if he lost the thing, cried and howled and cried some more.” She rolled her eyes. “I think he just leaves it in his dorm now, and has Eddie the bat instead, thank goodness.”

Nia watched Mariel rub her eyes - maybe she was starting to get tired. She saw the smile on her face though, and Nia nodded excitedly. “I know, I can’t wait,” she said with a huge grin. “Best thing is, Elan has only invited me…so no way Theo is coming.” She looked thoughtful; did Theo even know she was going to Italy? She didn’t think so. Ahhh, she couldn’t wait, except for that mid…iss thing. She listened to her friend think out loud. Middle kiss did seem logical, but surely Elan wouldn’t have meant that, would he? They were just good friends, and ewwww, kissing was weird. Nia shook her head. “I doubt he meant that,” she said, tilting her head. “That’d just be weird, kissing, right?” She was partly looking for reassurance, even if a small part of Nia was thinking that kissing Elan might not be so bad. “I don’t know how many words there were, he was speaking very fast and I just completely missed the middle part. But he does speak Italian as far as know, so you could be onto something there…” She looked up at Mariel to see her looking at her lap with rather wide eyes. “You okay?” she asked curiously, unsure whether this was brought on by tiredness or that her fellow Raven had chanced upon some idea for her ‘mid – iss’ situation.

Laura walked up to the dormitory, yawning, her usually wide eyes blinking. What a day....

She quickly slipped her pyjamas on and climed into bed, accidentially bumping against Shaunees four poster.
Laura fell asleep almost instantly.

Daydreaming of partial upsweeps and french twists, Mariel turned back to Nia at the mention of their captain. "Willow? Hmm, maybe... she seems quite fond of her hair." The third year was sure she had seen the older girl change her hairstyle on occassion and thought she had caught her a time or two checking out her reflection in the locker room. "Maybe all the girls on the team could go for matching hairstyles... Who else? Elizabeth? Although her hair is kinda short, so maybe not... I guess we'll have to see who makes the team." Which made her think something entirely unpleasant. Mariel did not want to admit to Nia or anuone else for that matter that she was afraid of not making the team - which is partially why she acted so confident about it in front of everyone.

She frowned slightly, but only briefly because when Nia talked of her detangling cream, Mariel offered her a small, but grateful smile. "Well, I'm glad you like it. My mum was so good at that kind of stuff. She experimented with all sorts of potions for hair and skin." Which was certainly helpful in a house full of beauty-concious girls. "Madame Primpernelle's stuff is good and all, but even some of the product there is a bit lacking... I have a notebook that I wrote down some of the recipes for the potions that she invented." Smiling brighter as Nia offered her help, she added, "Oh, that would be great. We can get started on it this week, if you want, after we talk to Professor Shackleton." Certainly Professor Bontecou wouldn't tell them no, would he?

"Sure," she nodded as Nia asked to borrow her magazine. "Yeah, that one has a lot of good articles... It's my favorite one and I normally subscribe, but I inadvertantly let it lapse. Good thing Sarah picked it up for me." And very thoughtful too. Sarah didn't seem to be that much of a fan herself, at least not without Mariel's prodding. The third year nodded again at mention of Marco Denver. "I did... well, from across the store anyway. He had quite a crowd surrounding him." She giggled slightly, not sure if it was because she had been in his presence or from remembering all the fans crowded about him. "He did come over to make sure I had the proper permission to purchase the practice set, but he didn't say anything to me... and I didn't want to bother him." Or seem too fangirlish. "Did you... get his autograph?" she asked, genuinely curious. Of course Nia was probably used to meeting famous Quidditch players with her dad being a former pro.

Mariel's mind drifted somewhat as they talked about foreign places - Lasca's ranch in America and the oldest Morgan sister in New Zealand. And even though she hadn't been all that close to M'Lynn whe she was younger, she still thought maybe it would be a good idea to visit her - maybe over the Christmas break. Focusing her attention back on Nia as she spoke of her twin, she nodded slowly in understanding. Not a disease, but a Muggle film. "I'm afraid I don't know much about those... just the little that I've learned here. My friend Sarah is a Muggleborn as she fills me in on some things... Oh, and we watched a film last year in Astronomy... nothing with a Buzz in it though, I don't think." Odd that going to a magical school would be the place that she learned most about Muggles. She listened to her speak of Theo's obsession with the talking toy and grimaced slightly thinking of a thirteen year old with a temper tantrum. "Yes, I suppose a bat is better than a teenager carrying around a toy... er, the bat's not a toy, is it?" How was it that Nia seemed so sane, yet, from her description, her twin was the polar opposite?

And then talk turned back to Elan, Italy and the 'mid' something 'iss' thing - talk that had started to make her feel slightly uncomfortable because of what her mind worked out what she thought Elan might have meant - or was her imagination just running away with her? Yeah, that was probably it... Nodding as she kept her gaze on her hands, she said, "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm sure he didn't mean anything about kissing... That would be weird."

Because in Mariel's young mind, kissing was only meant for adults... or at least older kids, like seventh years, or something like that. This whole boy and girl liking each other thing was weird to the third year, and yet it seemed like everyone around her did not share her opinion. Was she meant to like boys already too? She thought of the few boys she had as friends and shook her head no - they were far too strange and just plain boy-like for her to think of them that way... or were they? She was so confused and her mind drifted to one of last year's Quidditch games when that boy kissed Willow. At the time Mariel was sure that her captain told him off... but maybe she didn't... And then there was Lasca and the very reason she was waiting for her to come through that door... Not to mention Jenn and Biff in their first year. Had the whole world gone mad? Mariel put her hands over her face and tried to clear her head. Could Elan have really said what she thought he might have said? Maybe... or not, but Nia was her friend and she couldn't just not tell her what she thought, especially if it seemed important. She'd want someone to tell her the same if the situation were reversed. Oh, and now Nia noticed that she looked odd anyway.

"Oh, I'm fine," Mariel said as she looked up and managed a weak smile. "I, uh, just thought of something when we were trying to work out what Elan said... I remembered something my sister Meloria told me once. She was always so boy-crazy and would come home telling us about different boyfriends she had... Anyway I remember this one year she came home over the Christmas holiday and went out with her boyfriend for New Year's Eve. The next day she told me about how you're supposed to kiss your boyfriend at midnight for good luck..." Slowly she added, "So when I was thinking about those words, the phrase 'midnight kiss' popped into my head." Then she said quickly, "But that's probably not what he meant... I mean, he's not your boyfriend, right? It was probably just some Italian word, like I said." Mariel took a deep breath as she watched for Nia's reaction, hoping that she hadn't just said the wrong thing and upset her.

Walking up to the dorm, Liz looks around for someone...anyone she knows. Feeling depressed, she doesn't try very hard, and just lies on her stomach on her bed looking into space.

Celandine went to her bed, sitting down with the cushion she'd gotten at her party behind her back, several cute little toys sitting on the pillows and cute little pajamas peeking out from under the corner of the navy blue duvet cover. She looked around to be sure that her yearmates weren't paying any attention to her and reached under the bed, pulling out a box. She opened the box and took out a book and a vial and sat crosslegged on her bed with both items in her lap.

She'd start with the book. She opened it and began reading the instructions, trying to blink the mental image of Copernicus Kettleburn using that smile and talking in that voice and looking at her in that way. She huffed a bit and kept reading. De-lusting potion. Side effects? Worth it. She huffed again, and threw the book across the room, pointing her wand at it and vanishing it before it hit anything.

She was just going to take the potion... and she did.

The whole vial.

Inyourfacehormones!

Blaise silently walked up the stairs to the girls dormitory. She was kind of nervous, talking with Oliver Wood from Gryffindor can do that to you. Plus the thing that she hadn't really connected with any of her fellow Ravenclaws yet. She opened the door quietly and looked into the dorm for someone that she would know.

Jule walked into the dormitory and headed towards her bed. 'it's good to finally be sleeping!' she thought. She undressed from her uniform and into her PJs. She fluffed her pillow, dove into her bed and grabbed her teddy bear which she had since she was 2. She laid her head on the pillow and slowly fell asleep.

Nia nodded with a smile. It'd be cool if their captain did get involved. "We'll have to take the idea to her...but we can always do it anyway." Mariel did have a point with Elizabeth's shorter hair though, that could be a bit unfair. "Maybe all the girls on the team could have similar but different hairstyles, to reflect our individual personalities," she said, thinking aloud. The last bit caught Nia though. She'd been so excited from winning last year's cup she'd forgotten it could be a completely different team playing for them this year. Of course she'd gone down straight away to sign up, but it had slipped her attention that everybody had to retryout. And that meant her place was as uncertain as anybody's, which was a slightly scary thought. "We will indeed," Nia said with a nervous smile, hoping that her practicing in the garden had kept her skills refined enough to make the team. She was pretty confident, but you never knew what talent may yet lie undiscovered and be better than her. "You all set for tryouts then?"

Nia noticed a brief frown, but thought nothing of it as her friend was smiling again before long. She listened as Mariel spoke about her Mum's experiments, and then about the Madame Primpernelle's brand. "I tried some of that, but it left my hair...well, a bit lacklustre I guess," she agreed. "And I've used muggle stuff in the past too, but that's pretty tricky to get the right balance too. And there's so much to choose from." Especially when it came to face care too - how was she meant to know which one was best for her type of skin? Nia looked thoughtful. "You don't happen to have a recipe for zapping spots do you? Like to help get rid of them before a party say?" She'd had a beast of a spot right on the end of her nose before Celadine's party, and luckily it went, but she'd have been so embarassed if it hadn't. "That'd be great," Nia replied, as Mariel accepted her offer of help. "I can't wait to start doing awesome stuff with my hair, and then not having to worry too much about knots afterwards."

"Thanks," Nia said with a smile. "Yeah, it was a good job she did. Dad sometime sends some on, if he's been into town and got one for himself, but I've never regular thought about subscribing. Maybe I should. Or I could get one of the others, and we can swap?" It seemed a good idea. Although the Daily Prophet covered the Quidditch games, there was never enough detail for Nia's liking. Nor the added posters, tactics and so on - and for some reason the focus seemed to be the top few teams only. She surfaced from her thoughts about Quidditch magazines to think about her day meeting Marco Denver before she bumped into Elan. "He did," Nia said with a laugh, "Admittedly I was in that crowd though." She had to admit she had been a bit fangirly around him to begin with, but soon she'd found him perhaps a little egotistical. "You have to have permission?" Nia asked curiously, before giggling at Mariel's next question. "No, afraid not, though a couple of others asked." She wrinkled her nose. "I kinda went off him a bit, to be honest. Though maybe I should have done, could have added his to the couple I've already got."

"You're not missing much when it comes to Toy Story," Nia said with a bored look. She'd had to put up with that film at least once every day before she came to Hogwarts. "It's about a bunch of toys who come to life - Buzz is a space man hero type thing. Has his own catchphrase and all that." She rolled her eyes. She now couldn't stand the film or that stupid toy. She laughed at Mariel's words. "Nope, it's a real live fruit bat. How it's still alive though, I really have no idea. I swear it only eats the raisins from Theo's cookies." She gave a knowing look. Ah, in many ways she was thankful that the two of them were so different that any normal person wouldn't assume they were twins.

Nia noticed the fact Mariel was still looking at her lap, and eyed her suspiciously. At her words though, Nia nodded strongly. If Theo was anything to go by, the thought of kissing someone was pretty repulsive, and she didn't believe Elan would have said that. It was alright for her parents to kiss - though at times even that seemed a bit weird - and as much as Nia had wanted to grown up in the past, it wasn't exactly for the kissing part. More the 'getting rid of brother' part. Nope kissing wasn't for her just yet. Even holding hands would make her feel uncomfortable.

And then her fellow third year finally told Nia what she'd thought of. She nodded, partly eagerly so she could sort out what this tradition was, and partly nervously since Mariel hadn't seemed to happy about saying it. As she spoke, Nia's eyes widened. It certainly seemed to fit. Could Elan have invited her for a midnight kiss? Should she be excited, worried, scared, shocked? She bit her lip, unsure. Her friend's next words helped her relaxed slightly. "No, he's not my boyfriend," Nia said quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly, as she realised there was a little part of her brain added But you want him to be. She shook her head, trying to get the thought out of her brain. Elan was nice and all, but he was just a good friend she enjoyed being with. Like any one of her other friends - except he was a boy. That was all. "Yep, some Italian word," she responded to Mariel, wondering what the girl thought of her overly quick response. "Perhaps what they do instead of singing Auld Lang Signe. He did ask if I could sing just after that..."

Blaise goes up to her, knowing that she probably won't be accepted. Like anything else was new to her. She walked up to the bed and almost whispered, "Hello. I'm Blaise." She waited quietly and patiently for a response.

Mariel smiled to herself thinking of the different possible hairstyles and being such a coordinated team. How fun it was to talk to someone who seemed to love to play with her hair as much as she did. The third year bit her lip at Nia's last words as she also seemed nervous about making the team again - although Mariel was sure her fellow third year would have no problem. Nodding, she said, "Yep, I'm ready, you? I brought my broom, of course, and practiced tons over the summer... I just hope it's enough. I'm a little nervous. You never know about some amazing new student that might be trying out for the first time..." She seemed to remember tryouts being pretty competitive last year and would expect them to be the same this time around.

Listening to Nia speak of her skin and blemishes, Mariel nodded with a knowing smile. "Oh, yeah, I have some of that in a jar, too," she said, then looked at her somewhat appraisingly. "It doesn't look like you need that, though. You have very clear skin, you're lucky. But if you ever need any, let me know." Luckily Mariel's skin did not break out often or too badly, but her blemish cream was very effective when she did.

Then Mariel grinned widely when Nia came up with a really good idea. "Oh, that would be great! I'll re-subscribe to Quidditch World and then if you subscribe to something else and we share, it'll be like getting both magazines." And the young girl could not get enough of Quidditch. The two of them would be Quidditch experts. She nodded at Nia's question. "Yeah, to purchase the charmed balls, you have to have an adult to promise that it won't be used around Muggles. My dad couldn't come to the store that day, but he sent me with a note... And that was apparently good enough." She smirked slightly in remembrance of the younger girl that he would not sell the set to in favor of her partly because of her more experience. She wrinkled her brow in confusion as her fellow Claw said she went off on Marco, wondering what that was about. Then she wondered if he was maybe a little big-headed as she thought celebrities sometimes were, especially when surronded by fans as he had been the day she saw him. "Oh, do you have some autographs already?" Although Mariel wasn't all that surprised since Nia's father probably knew plenty of players. "The only autograph I have is Professor Vindictus'," she said with a slight frown. That was pretty cool and all, especially with him being a Quidditch legend, but he was a current player and she'd like to have some of those. Especially a certain Kestrals player.

Mariel had to giggle slightly at the annoyed look on Nia's face. She could tell she wasn't all that impressed with that Toy Story film. And it didn't really sound that exciting to her either - although it may be something Andrew would like. But a thirteen year old? Really? She nodded at the fact that the bat was indeed a live animal. Well, at least that part was promising. She wrinkled her nose slightly at the raisin bit. "He could have my raisins, too. Although I'm not sure that would help... I don't know much about bats, but I think they need more than raisins," she said with a shrug.

She watched Nia carefully as she spoke about her voiced thoughts. Mariel nodded quickly as she said that Elan wasn't her boyfriend. That's what she thought... she was sure that her imagination was just in overdrive and that's why she thought that midnight kiss thing. She was just glad she hadn't upset her friend by thinking aloud. "Right, Italian word," she agreed with a nod. "Oh, that could be it," she added as Nia mentioned singing. "I bet Italians have their own tradition for New Year's..."

"I think so," Nia responded, trying not to sound to hesitant. She didn't want to think of not being on the team. She knew if there were better players then that was the way it had to be, but she'd fight all the way for a place. "I know what you mean," Nia said softly, "I'm sort of nervous and excited at the same time. Excited to be able to play properly again, but nervous that tryouts might be it." A thought came into her head, and Nia laughed. "I guess Willow will be expecting us to be ultra competitive again," she said with a twinkle in her eyes, "Our new protection will coming handy if we don't want to disappoint..." Did Willow even know of the two third years friendship? Mariel and Nia had become friends after the last match of the term, and with exams after that possibly hadn't noticed. That could make things interesting.

Wow, Mariel was prepared for all possible beauty needs, Nia decided. She wondered briefly what other potions her Mum might have come up with. She blushed slightly as her friend complimented her skin. "Not all the time," she replied, pulling a face. "I'm a lot luckier than some though, it's true. I just get odd big red spots now and then. Don't look the most pleasant." A chunk of hair fell across her hair, and Nia gently tucked it back behind her ear. "Thanks, I will," she said with a smile. Winking cheekily, she added, "Can't have beautiful hair and a spotty face!"

Nia nodded excitedly. Double the amount of Quidditch news, without spending more of her pocket money. Fabulous! She thought through the other titles available. "Which one shall I get? There's Bludgers and Broomsticks, or The Snitch...any others?" Maybe if they learnt some new moves, they could try them out at practice. Nia nodded as Mariel explained about adult permission and her note. It made sense really. Nia and and her Dad could make quite a mess of the garden with their makeshift and nowhere near as dangerous kit, so if a proper Quidditch set got into the wrong hands, she could see it being a huge problem. And in front of Muggles...well, that cause cause complete havoc.

As the talk moved on to autographs, Nia leant over the end of her bed to her trunk, and rummaged around for a few minutes. "You have Professor Vindictus'?" Nia said, half buried uder clothes as she rummaged. "I'd never thought to have asked him," she added, though then wondering whter it'd be right to whilst they were at school. "There we go," she said with a smile, clutching two books in her left hand. She passed the smaller one to Mariel to flick through, that being the one with her autograph collection in. There were only a few of her own additions - Nia had to admit she could be quite nervous around the Pros and found it hard to ask. Especially when most players seemed to know of her Dad. She had a couple from the Harpies, and a few Bats autographs and an odd couple from a Magpies match. The first ten or so in the book were ones other members of her family had collected - mainly Muggle ones from her grandparents. The other book - a blue fluffy one - Nia put by her pillow. She'd want to jot some things down in there over the next couple of days.

Nia caught Mariel's giggle, and her face softened. Nia shrugged too. "Well I stay clear of the thing...if something went wrong, and I was nearby, I'd only get the blame." Like she'd got the blame everytime Buzz had got mislaid, lost his 'voice' or went totally missing. "If Theo's happy feeding it raisins, and its lasted this long, it can't all be too bad, I guess. Better that than him pestering me." Nia still didn't understand why Theo hadn't wanted an owl - she loved having Atlas. Maybe because owls could be noisy and needed cleaning out now and then - and since Theo couldn't do much magic, he'd have to clean the cage out by hand. Nice.

She wrapped a bit of hair around finger, and fiddled with it. It was one of the small tell tale signs that Nia was perhaps slighty unsure or nervous, without her necessarily showing it facially. At least if it had been 'midnight kiss' Nia would have known what to expect, now they were back to where they started though. "Yeah, they must do," Nia agreed. "You know anyone that might have an idea on Italian New Year's traditions?" she asked, thinking through who she knew. She still had a while to find out what it was before the Christmas holidays, and she was determined to do so. She was a Ravenclaw afterall, and wanted to know what she was letting herself into.

Entering the dormitory, Laura spotted a girl who looked about her own age. But, who was she? Laura hadn't seen her in the Common Room, or in any lessons, or on the Grounds, or.... Silencing her mind, she walked over to the knew face.

"Hi!" she said, sticking out hr hand. "I'm Laura."

Mariel nodded slowly as she felt exactly the same way about tryouts, then her pensive expression slowly turned into an impish grin as she snickered lightly. "Yes, I imagine she will, especially after how we played last year... Hmm, we might have to put our new equipment to good use. You know, test it out to make sure it'll hold up against the other teams." She laughed at what Willow would think. She always seemed to get a bit exasperated when the two of them got a little too competitive with the Quaffle.. but she also thought their captain was secretly pleased with how intense and dedicated the were to the game. "Of course, we might intimidate a few first years in the process..." But if they did, they'd have to get over it. After all, Quidditch was an aggressive sport and better they learn now then to be surprised during a proper match.

Mariel smiled gently at Nia's apparent embarassment over her compliment, then shrugged softly. "We all get that sometimes, I guess." She didn't know where she'd be without her beauty potions - and didn't want to think about it. She always seemed to break out right after Quidditch - something about the sweat... she wasn't sure - and always made sure to have that particular cream handy in the locker room. And speaking of Quidditch... Mariel thought for a moment when Nia tossed out the names of the magazines. "There's Quidditch International, too... Bludgers and Broomsticks is a good one, but I guess it depends on what kind of articles you like best." She was fairly certain that Snitch focused mainly on Seekers, although she only picked up that one a few times so she wasn't completely sure.

The third year nodded as she watched Nia dig through her trunk. "Yeah... he was giving them out at the end of flying class last year," she said somewhat blankly. Sure it was pretty cool to have his autograph, but she thought it kinda weird at the same time the manner he was handing them out like cookies. She was somewhat surprised that Nia didn't get one herself, but maybe she left before he got them out. Mariel curiously accepted the book Nia handed to her and began flipping through the pages. The first few names that her eyes landed on were unrecognizable to the Ravenclaw, but after a couple pages she smiled in recognition after reading through the names further. This was pretty cool and she really wanted to have an autograph book of her own... and she already had one autograph to get her started. Focused mainly on the book and how she could get one - provided she could get the courage to ask for autographs from players herself - she nodded as Nia spoke about Theo, then looked up as talk turned to the mysterious Italian New Year's tradition.

Mariel nodded in agreement as she chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. That had to be it - some kind of Italian thing/word. They were going to be in Italy after all, so it was only logical. Thinking for a moment on who might know more information, she gently shook her head. "No, not really..." she said, not really knowing anyone that was Italian or had been to Italy. "Unless... maybe we could ask Professor Shackleton when we see her about the hairstyle spells. I think I remember her saying in class about being a Curse Breaker and that she used to travel a lot for her job. Maybe she's been to Italy... But I don't know why Elan wouldn't just tell you. Maybe you should ask him." Her green eyes flickered to the door briefly before looking back at Nia again. She had come to the conclusion that Lasca was not going to show up. Was she avoiding her? And all about a boy. Mariel slid down so that she was laying on the bed on her side with her head propped up on her elbow so that she could still talk to Nia, then mumbled, "Boys are weird." Partly because Elan didn't just tell her what this tradition was and partly because of the boy Lasca seemed so hung up on.

Nia looked at Mariel with a completely straight face. "Definitely," she said with a curt nod and twinkle in her eye. "We wouldn't want to find our new equipment wasn't up to standard in a match and let it affect our form - so we'll have to test it out for all situations at practice." As she spoke, Nia broke into a grin and laughed. Nia had a suspicion Willow wouldn't mind how competitive they were at tryouts or practice, as long as Ravenclaw kept winning matches. Nia chuckled at the thought of the two of them scaring the first years. "Well, they'll have to get used to it eventually if they make it to the team with us," she said with a hint of smirk, "Give them an idea of matches too..." She smiled. So perhaps she was taking a bit of a hard line, but after living with Theo she knew the softer approach usually made things even worse. That was probably how Nia and Mariel had improved and become more competitive though...both learning that the way to win the quaffle was to give as much as you got - even if there were plenty of resulting bruises - and it'd helped them to the Championship.

Nia gently nodded, the blush now fading away. Mariel was right though, she was sure all girls had the same sort of thing, especially when they least wanted it - before a party, or at Christmas when there were loads of photos bound to be taken. Maybe Mariel would let her take some in a little pot to prevent any such occurances in Italy. It seemed Nia's skin was often affected by nerves, and if she still didn't know what she may have agreed to partake in, Nia would almost certainly have a spot right on the end of her nose for New Year. Attractive.

Slightly disgusted by her own thoughts on the topic of acne, Nia returned to the far more exciting world of Quidditch talk. "Oh yeah," Nia said at the mention of Quidditch International, "I'd forgotten about that." Which one would she prefer though? She thought to when she'd flicked through either of them in the past. "Maybe Bludgers and Broomsticks though, since that has a good balance of analysis, interviews and pictures," Nia thought aloud. "Plus if I remember rightly it covers both home teams and international sides pretty well."

"Was he?" Nia tilted her head to the side as she tried to remember. Ah, yes, she'd gone off the pitch pretty quickly that day. She'd been thirstly all session, and wanted a drink. She must have missed them. "Oh well, maybe I can get one another time." She watched quietly as her friend flicked through the book. "The first ones are Muggle celebrities that my Grandparents collected, from concerts and sports events mainly," she explained. "I really should get some more of my own though, it just never feels right to ask though, with my Dad around."

Nia sighed, as she realised this was going to be harder than she first thought. "Good idea," she acknowledged, as Mariel said about asking Professor Shackleton. Out of all the professors, the Arithmancy professor was one she really wouldn't mind asking. "I tried to ask him, but all I got out of him was it was a tradition...he seemed a bit nervy and changed the subject after that." At least, that was what Nia recalled had happened. And they hadn't really spoken about the topic since. "I didn't want to seem too fixated on that one thing when he's been so good to invite me into his family's celebrations." She saw Mariel's eyes move to the door and then back again. Seemed as though Lasca was taking a while to get here. "They are," Nia agreed, eyeing the book by her pillow. "And manage to make things so difficult..."

Walking up to the dorms, Liz sinks down into her bed. Her head in her hands, she just sits there. I'll never make the team after that tryout... she thinks sadly to herself.

All the talk of Quidditch, including matching hairstyles on game days, had Mariel really excited for tryouts - even more than she had been practicing all summer and even with the fear of not making the team. Thankfully she had someone to talk to who was just as obsessed about the sport as she was. Most people either tuned her out or tried to change the subject. Still resting her head on her hand, she nodded somewhat awkwardly as Nia mentioned Bludgers and Broomsticks. Next to Quidditch World that one was probably the most comprehensive. "That sounds good to me. But it's up to you," she said with a sleepy smile.

Ohhh, that made sense, Mariel thought as she continued to gaze at the signatures in Nia's book. No way would she recognize the name of a Muggle celebrity, unless... nope, Sarah never mentioned any, or at least she didn't remember her saying so. "Well, this is really cool," the third year said as she flipped Nia's book closed and handed it back to her. "I think I should get one for myself..." Mariel covered a particularly large yawn with her free hand. "We should go to a game together some time and then we can both get some."

Mariel pursed her lips together in thought as Nia spoke again about Elan. "I guess you're right," she said, nodding slowly. "But I wonder why he'd be so nervous about it..." she mused aloud. "I guess because it's his first time... I guess sometimes people are nervous about doing things for the first time." Not that she knew what this thing was. And she didn't really know Elan, but maybe he was the type to get nervous. "We'll just ask Professor Shackleton about it in the morning. I'm sure she'll know." Adults were always able to make better sense of things and Mariel was sure a wordly woman like her would know. "I'm going to dream of Quidditch," she mumbled as she began to have trouble keeping her heavy eyelids open. Maybe she'd come up with new plays in her sleep.

Scarlett was to tired even to look around.She took her mother's photo out of the trunk,held it close to her heart and went off to sleep.

lucy walked into the dorm with a smile on her face she looked over by the beds untill she found her trunk. her bed was right next to her friend she had made on her way there.she leaped up and screeched "yippy". she lied down and went to sleep and had a wonderful dream of ponies and rainbows.

"Blaise. I'm a first year...obviously," she said with a small smile. She couldn't believe that there was a girl that was sweet enough to talk to her. "I haven't been able to make it to any of the classes so far. I've been kind of sick..."

Jenn blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to think straight. She couldn't though get the dazed look off of her face or the light spring in her step as she walked to her bed. One thing was for certain. She defiently liked him. A lot. "He's just a friend. Only a friend you hang out with a lot."she reminded herself, but she couldn't help but smile as his voice entered her mind, along with that beyond gorgeous face. Sighing she grabed her pjamas and started putting them on. She realized though that she was after about three minutes straight trying to but her shirt on as her pants, and she patted her head to find her pants on her head. Shaking her head and putting them on the right place she laughed. "Silly me. Must be the air."she nodded ditermindly, walking over to close the window. Instead though, she sat on the window seat and looked out onto the grounds, her head leaning back against the wall, a smile still on her face. "If only you could like me too."she whispered, sighing saddly. "But who could ever like me? They'd have to be pretty dumb or desperate to like someone like me."she snorted, swinging her legs back and forth, one outside the window, the other in the dorm, the breeze whiping her hair lightly around her face, and making her pant leg outside ripple with the air going through it.