" I am fine" William told Elle. " Good that you garden every day, my mother does some gardening" Wiliam said to Elle. " Sure, I feel good expecially since I met a nice girl like you" William explained to Elle. " What classes do you like?" William asked Elle.

" Well, did you win any tournaments in tennis?" William asked Cove." I really thought you were not much of a tomboy" William said to Cove. " So you are a little bit, as some of the girls call themselves here,girly" Willaim asked Cove. " I would love to learn how to play the guitar, but I think it is very hard" William explained to Cove.

" I will share the book with you" William told Witsy. " I thnk when Diagon Alley is open to the students, we should go buy you a new book of Transfiguration" William said to Witsy." Sure, you can tell me anything" Wiliam smiled. " I do not bite........ much" William laughed. Hr liked her hand on his hand.

Really!?! They look down upon Firsties... Well Nika sure didn't know that last term. Or else she probably wouldn't have gone up to all of those older kids. Heh. Oops. "Well then I will teach you how to not be shy!" Nika said excitedly. "Well actually there isn't really much to teach, but you need to be able to go out of your comfort zone." She nodded her head slowly. "It's really not that hard meeting new people by going up to them." Well maybe it's only because Nika did it all the time. Hehe no shame.

Nika giggled at his little best thing. Then she heard the words Tree and House but mushed together in one. "OH! I think it's new and it's really really awesome!" She said excitedly. "Hmm but I think other than my house and all of the awesome people like you in it, I like the lake the best." Ah, the lake.

"My mom says since the moment I opened my mouth for the first time, but I think she's exaggerating." She said with a laugh. "But singing is really easy compared to instruments." Too true. You can sing no matter what, but only someone real talented can play an instrument. "I didn't get really into singing until about 7 though. Then last term I started experimenting with song writing."

Very exciting . "Divination!" She responded immediately. It didn't take any thought. "I'm also looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures especially now that we have a new professor." The other classes she could really care less about at this point. "So what about you?"
Nika shook her head as a response to Witsey's offer. "No thanks. I know I was just complaining about getting
'Ol Godric again, but I want to try and get another card on my own." She was determined. "And besides it gives me an excuse to have more chocolate frogs." She said as she wiggled her eyebrows. Hehe. Smart Nika. "But Morgan Lafay is she related to Professor Lafay?" *Raise Eyebrows*.

"Yeah I want to learn! A few of my friends had offered to help me but didn't get the chance yet." She replied with a giggle. "Who knows maybe one day I'll be able to try out for the Quidditch team and actually have a chance, like you!" Who knows... anythings possible right?
Nika giggled as the little firstie complimented her attitude. "Buuut if your happy it's contagious! Then bad things won't happen and if you do then you have to keep your head up and say that you could care less because you're happy and nothing can get in the way." Hehe. Nika's little motivational speech. "Well my philosophy is 'Don't Worry, Be HAPPY'!" She even sang it.

Nika rubbed her ears and raised an eyebrow. Little-Firstie-Gryffindor-Ari say WHAAH? "I don't think I heard you correctly." She said in all seriousness. "Did you just say that Lafay, isn't bad?" That's like saying that monkeys can fly. Lafay, not bad? She greeted the class with a 'Shut Those Traps". Rex really liked Lafay as well, but Nika couldn't even understand his love for her. Nika had given her a chance, but then she met Lafay and it all went down from there.

"So are you going to try out for Quidditch then?" Hmm maybe her mother's Quidditch skills did pass on to Ari. "I think you should try! It's worth a shot right? Because you can't score if you don't shoot." There's another philosophy. Oh two in one day! "Runes just really confuses me." Nika admitted.

History of Magic not boring? "Well that's just my opinion on the subject, but if it's you really like it then it's great for you!" Nika replied cheerfully. "It is interesting it's just that it's a lot of information for me." she said rather lamely.

"No, I'm not that good at tennis. I've mostly won surf tournaments all over the world." Cove answered. "Ok, I'm definatly not girly. My sisters are girly, I'm like the odd one out of all of my siblings." That was her next question. "Do you have any siblings?" She asked. "I think I could help you with that. I have a few music books that my brother gave me. Some of it has first year guitar. You can have them if you'd like."

"Thanks!" Tayla blushed and smiled, not bothered that Josh laughed. She liked the sound of it and he seemed friendly. "That's a nice name, Josh. Do you have any siblings here in Hogwarts?"


"Yeah, I met Lexi and Josh, too. Do you know them?" Her insides fluttered when she said Josh's name. Crazy crush. "And there's this one girl...I'm not sure what year she's in - her name's Kurumi. And I want to meet her but I can't seem to catch her in the common room," Tayla said, looking around for the girl who made the delicious cookies. "I'm guessing you know Kurumi?"

Tayla gaped. "The headmaster? Wow. He's Professor Tate right? I thought he was nice?"

Tayla chuckled. "I'm not sure yet obviously. Maybe a healer...but I think what I'd really like to do is teach."

"Oh, yes. Something like the Wizengamot." Tayla forgot that the term lawyer was only used in the Muggle world. "And yes, Mum's a witch. I'm half-blood. I'll wait. I have my parchment and quill ready," Tayla said, showing Ari the small bag resting by the couch legs. She waited for Ari who didn't take too long and they left together for the library.

Sarah entered the common room uncertain of what to do. The hall was filled with loads of people unknown to her. She walked slowly, looking at the faces and grasping their expressions. She sat down near the fire-place, and picked up the Daily Prophet.

Christopher's eyebrows rose. Fear was etched across her face. She was obviously hiding something. Seers freak her out? Wasn't that the main point of Divination? Obviously, this was a lie too. The older boy knew she adored the future, and seeing it. And he doubted she had anything against Seers, whatsoever. And nervously changing the subject to Quidditch wasn't helping her case either.

"Selina, what's up? I can tell that's not what you're feeling or thinking or whatever. And I hope you have good luck at tryouts, but that's not the point. Come on, 'fess up." She wasn't going to get off this subject that easily.

Sarah heard someone say tryouts. Probably they are talking about Quidditch? she thought. She looked at the boy who was talking with another girl. Again, unknown to her. They looked older than her. She thought for a moment and then made her way towards them. "Hi" she said timidly.

She exclaimed, "Really? That would be wonderful!" She turned putting her head on his lap; she felt like she knew him her whole life. She started tracing his fingers occasionally looking up at him, such beautiful blue eyes, you could get lost in, she thought.

"You'd come with me to pick up a copy? Awww, I'm lucky!" still tracing his hand she thought of a question to ask," Umm..." She stopped tracing his hand and looked up at his face. She starred blankly, "...I forgot." She didn't quite really forget but she didn't know how to phrase what she really wanted to say.

Whenever it came to revealing her emotions she'd usually deflect and move on to something else, but William was different. He was sweet, gentle, a kindness about him, she could think of letting go. She felt right. At the same time, this couldn't happen... right?, she thought. I mean there were rules against this, no? She started getting nervous and starred back down at their hands, "How was your fist day; your best is Care of Magical Creatures, right?" How dumb of you, she thought. She ruined a perfectly good moment. She sighed in disappointment.

Witsy nodded, "Ah yes, that's a very good point." Witsy thought about the possible relation that Morgan could have with Potions professor, "You think if I asked her she'd get upset? I'm curious about that too. Same spelling, too, no?" She raised her eyebrows as to mimic Nika, and laughed.

"Anything is possible and..." she raised her finger as to wait a moment, " I read somewhere in Hogwarts A History that years ago there was a first year, Harry Potter, who made seeker his first year and he had no encouragement for magic growing up. Who knows maybe you have a hidden talent."

"I don't think Diego's ever had a cat friend, either. Mutual respect might be the best we're going to get," Lucas said with a laugh. "Well, that traditional stuff sounds cool. Did you like it?" He thought for a moment. "I suppose you could say that. We've always been pretty tight-knit, now that I think of it."

Lucas chuckled. "That's pretty cool," he said. "Songwriting? That's awesome. I don't really write much. I like to play covers. But writing songs is so cool. I wish I was better at it!"

"I've only been to London a few times, but other than to go to Diagon Alley, I've never ben outside of Muggle areas. I don't think I've ever seen it though. What's it like?" Elyon was quite curious about it. She thought Luca was taking it exceptionally well that he'd been in an orphanage in disguise for so long. Finally she wondered a big question aloud. It was quiet, but still audible for Luca's ears at least.

"What do you really look like? Under Septimus's face?" She wondered if Septimus was a real person walking about some place, unaware his face was being used as a protector for her friend.

Selina was white in the face. She had never told anyone besides Kurumi, Elektra, and Violet about her abilities and she wanted to keep it that way. Her ability was a curse. How could you look someone in the eye who you knew would eventually die and how it would happen and pretend nothing was wrong. How could you look someone in the face and know when their father was going to die and not want to cry? You couldn't.

"I just... don't want to talk about it Chris. Okay? Please respect that."

Hmmmph. Selina was being reluctant. Like the Reluctant Dragon! She seemed genuinely scared. Christopher began to feel really concerned. What had happened that had changed her mind about Divination?

Christopher was really surprised at how much Selina's words stung. He was a little abashed and taken aback; it really wasn't a big deal, but he tried to cover it up, though he didn't manage to do it quickly enough. He was sure by the look on her face she'd seen the look in his eyes. He gathered himself and sat up a little straighter. "If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I understand. But next time, just say so instead of trying to lie to me about it." He wasn't sure why she'd lied to him still. Didn't he tell her most f his wn persnal things? He wasn't going to force her to share any information with him, but it still hurt.

Selina could see the hurt swelling in his eyes. She felt her heart drop into the ground with a shatter. This was never her intention, but she hated her ability. It was a curse. Why should she burden yet another person with her curse? It was her burden to bear, not Chris'. If only she could express that to him, but she couldn't express that without telling him. She was stuck.

"I-I'm sorry Chris. I just wanted you to know that..." She took in a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry for snapping okay? It's just that I had a rough year with Divination last year. I got emotional. I promise I won't let it happen again."

" Are you sure the treehouse is new?" William asked Nika. " Rex told me he hang out in the treehouse" Willam told Nika. The lake is a good place to hang out" William said to Nika." The best part is hanging out with all our Gryffindor buddies" William explained to Nika.

" Well, I would love to see you surf" William told Cove. " I thnk you are just right in being somewhat girly and somewhat tomboyish" William explained to Cove. " I have lots of siblings "William said to Cove. " I would appreciate the books" William smiled.

" Yes, I thought you would appreciate my gesture abit the book" William told Witsy. " You are so cute" William whispere into Witsy's ears as she put her head on his lap." Every day has been good here, but Magical Creatures, not in my lifetime" William laughed."Would you like to go somewhere and talk privately?" Willaim asked Witsy.

Rose walked into the common room looking for someone to talk to.

"It's alright," Kurumi replied shrugging her shoulders. "I probably would have liked it more if my mother hadn't forced me to practice them all." She was sure her mother meant well, but she didn't want to grow up to be just like her.

"Beauxbatons?!" Kurumi squeaked loudly before covering her cheeks to hide her blushing. "D-D-Does that mean you are part Veela?" At least, she had heard that there were many students there with Veela blood flowing through their veins.

Calming herself down a bit more, Kurumi finally felt that she could remove her hands from her cheeks. "Well, I go down to the kitchens and bake and I sometimes try to find the Room of Requirement to see what it turns into for me. It always surprises me."

"I hardly know her," Kurumi said rather quickly before sticking her nose back into her textbook. All she knew was what she had been told by a certain Seer friend of hers.

"Oh...I'm sorry..." Kurumi said lowering her head for a moment hoping that she hadn't touched on an overly sensitive subject. "That must be hard not knowing who your parents are..." Kurumi wasn't sure that she really knew her father anymore, but at least she had him to tuck her in at night. "Of course you may," Kurumi smiled. "If you want, we can bake together sometimes. I am sure that the house elves won't let you burn the place down."

"Well, we can be Gryffindor sisters if you want," Kurumi laughed. It was nice to have been able to find people in her house and at Hogwarts that she could feel close enough to to be able to consider them like family, and Ari was on her way to joining her little pride. "My Gryffindor Mama actually," she blushed. "Lexi has really helped me out a lot during my first two terms, but I really only got to know her last term."

Kurumi cheeks flushed and her eyes flicked towards her hair momentarily before she found herself breathing again. "Don't sell yourself short," Kurumi smiled. "Wisdom doesn't just come from life experience."

Sarah looked around and spotted a girl standing alone. Maybe she was looking for someone to talk to? she thought. She made her way towards her and extended her hand. "Hello, how are you?" she said with a smile.

Sophie the female Gryffindor prefect climbed through the portrait of the fat lady trying to not loose the little grip she had on a big bowl of candy that she had picked up in kitchen. The burnette felt that she hadn't really made a big enough effort to welcome the new first year as well as returning years back for another term at Hogwarts. What with occupying herself with prefect duties and studying she hoped that spending an afternoon/night with them could be a good start. Sophie was heading for the biggest table in common room when she felt her feet knock into something lying on the floor.

Feeling herself loose her balance the prefect watched wide-eyed how the big candy bowl flew from her hands up in the air and fastened itself to the ceiling. "WATCH OUT! The bowl can fall down any minute." Sophie cried out a warning in a high-pitched tone to the assembled student's to get their attention as she regained her balance. Not taking her eyes from the bowl she helped a student out of a chair directly under the bowl. When it looked like the bowl was really going to fall down it just changed postion and started to let out the candy a few pieces at a time before it literally RAINED candy all over the room. Snagging a sugar quill she called out "Everyone help yourself to the candy but be wary the bowl might fall at any minute."

Sarah turned around in surprise hearing a high pitched voice. Oh my god! she thought as she saw a tall girl trying to balance. Sophie, she knew her by sight, the Gryffindor prefect. Sarah feared talking to people, and that too people in a post, Oh gosh! She jumped from her seat and hurried towards her. She tried to hold her from a possible fall. "Careful there!" she said with a smile.

"You're the best," clapping her hand to his. She started showing a modest blush. She wasn't used to anyone complimenting her unless it was about classwork, but when it came to her she didn't really know what to do with herself.

"Oh for some reason I thought that was your area of expertise," she grinned. "What class do you like so far?" Wisteria sat up contemplating his offer, "...sure, that would be wonderful." Not exactly sure what to expect but anything's an adventure and Witsy admired William.

Selina smiled lightly as Kurumi spoke. Sometimes she just wanted to hug her friend with all of the hardships she carried around with her everyday. Her responsibilities always made Selina feel like she had nothing to complain about. Whenever Selina thought badly about her state she just remembered that her life could be much worse. Living with a mother who did not accept you must be really hard. Sure Selina's mother wasn't around after... well after, but she had moved home from Australia after Selina got accepted into Hogwarts. And sure her father was never home because he was at Practice in Ireland and traveling to promote the league, but he was home when he could be. Kurumi's family had a mother who was afraid of her daughters abilities and a father who smothered her according to her mother.

She put her hand on her friend's shoulder and said, "Kurumi, you shouldn't do something because you feel like it is your responsibility. And you should definitely not do anything because you think it is your role as a woman. That is not fair to you, not fair to your mother, not fair to your tradition. You would be doing Kendo a disservice by only partaking in it because you felt like it was your responsibility. If you love something more you should do that. Who knows, when you have kids they may love it and will take it up. But don't do something because you think that is what someone else wants you to do. I promise if you take that route you will never be happy with your life."

Carter entered the common room. His schoolbag was slung over shoulder and he was exhausted. Now he remembered why he looked forward to the break from school every Christmas and summer holiday.

His eyes then widened at the most amazing sight in the world.

"It's raining candy!!!!" he exclaimed. This was the single most awesomest thing that had ever happened to him.

He grabbed a few pieces as Prefect Sophie warned people of a bowl. "Did you do this?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer he gave her a quick hug. "You are the best Prefect EVER!" he said before picking up a fallen sugar quill.

He then jumped into a nearby armchair and sucked on the end of the sugar quill.

Ah, life was good again.

Ari had to admit Nika did have a point. However, she herself would probably still turn to her pessimistic logic. Regardless of that, the tune made her giggle. 'Ah, I love that Muggle song, my uncle sang it once, when I was really upset. In fact, I was mad at not being able to ride a bike.' she recalled. 'Which I still can't.' the firstie chuckled. At least her uncle made her realize it wasn't the end of the world.

Ari laughed at Nika's question. Truth be told, the girl had reacted better than expected. 'I suppose she is evil when you make a big mistake or are late for class, but she's not that scary as I've imagined.' the tiny brunette kept to her conviction.

'I don't know.' she shrugged. 'I know you have to participate in order to gain something, but it's not that I'm afraid to try. I'm just quite sure I won't like it. I'm a disaster at every sport except swimming.' she admitted. 'Well, yes, for me it's not boring at all.' the girl nodded. Quite the contrary.


Ariadne noticed a Gryffindor girl which she hadn't met before. Curious, she approached her and realized she was looking through the newspaper.

'Anything interesting in the Prophet?' Ari wanted to know, genuinely interested. She hadn't read the newspaper since that day in Diagon Alley, when the announcement about the boat had appeared, so the firstie really needed to catch up with current events.

Ariadne blushed. 'Do you really mean it?' she asked, softly. 'I was worried I wouldn't have any Gryffindor friends.' the tiny brunette confessed. 'On Diagon Alley, this summer, I have made lots of friends from every other House, but only one Gryffindor. One.' she stressed the word. 'And you know, I'm not the cheerful, outgoing type, so I thought it was going to be hard to blend in. But it turned out really well for me in the end.' she smiled.

'I haven't met Lexi yet, but from what you're saying, she sounds like a lovely person.' Ari replied, already wishing to meet the aforementioned housemate. 'True. But wisdom doesn't come from books either.' the firstie argued. 'I think your own experience is more valuable than the experiences of others, described in books. Although I do love reading.'

"If I could get soem waves o the lake, then you could, but it's a lake. If you ever want to come to California you can. My parents would love to meet some new friends." Cove smiled. "Ha, yeah, I like to hang out with my brothers and my sisters like to steal me away." She said. "As many as I do or more?" Cove was a surprised when families had more than she did. "Alright, I'll bring them friday when we do my Quiditch leason."

"Oh, don't be. It's not a touchy subject." Cove said. "I know who my mom is, but she's in jail. She's done some stuff that really effected her and the law." Cove said. She took a cookie form the box on the table. "Thanks." She said. "Really? That would be fun. I would love too!"

"Selina! Selina! It's okay! I'd just rather you didn't lie to me about it. If you really just don't want to talk about then say so!" Christopher spoke, waving his hands to stop her from getting upset. He paused for a moment, thinking. "Like with me and my family," he added thoughtfully. He wondered what had hurt Selina so badly in Divination last year, but he didn't push it. Maybe someday she'd tell him. But for now, he'd respect her wishes, whatever they were.