Ari observed that Melina was one of the very few people that really made her laugh. It was not that she didn't enjoy jokes, but usually she didn't find many people funny. So what she appreciated the most in people was their ability to make her laugh.

'You had a feeling I'd be in Gryffindor? I didn't even realize how much I wished that until the Sorting Hat was on top of my head and I was begging to be put in this house.' she chuckled. 'It's refreshing to know it took my wish into account.' the girl mused. 'Not roomies, but sisters, which is even better.' she smiled.

'Yes, we'll be on the same floor at least, although I bet at different ends.' she thought. 'But we'll see each other in class too, and on the grounds. I can't wait to see the lake, I wonder if the Giant Squid mum was talking about is still there.'

'Yeah, I heard the Slytherins are in the dungeons, I suppose it can't be that bad, though. After all, it's a school, they must guarantee the comfort of every student.' Ariadne replied.

'Really? So do I! But now I'm tired, because I didn't sleep the night before, I was too excited about getting the train and arriving here.' she laughed. 'I'll do my best to earn some points, but I hope I'll be in detention at least once during my stay at Hogwarts, I don't want to miss that experience.' the girl said mischeviously. Weird wish aside, she responded to Melina's enthusiasm: 'Of course, let the adventure begin!'



Ari realized Mordred was as competitive as herself. But she loved challenges. She swore to do her best to help Gryffindor win the House Cup, as it did the previous year, from what she's been told by her friends.

'Look, if they didn't like you, they wouldn't just come up and start a conversation, no matter how friendly they are.' the girl explained. 'Maybe politeness is the only reason you don't push them away, if I may say so, but it's a good thing, because in time I'm sure you'll begin to appreciate all these people.' Ariadne added.

'Ah, your mother must be very pretty. Do you have family photos with your family here at Hogwarts? I'd be curious to see some.' she wondered. Without thinking about her awkward family situation, she continued: 'I'm a lot like my mum, personality-wise, but she was a bit more cheerful and a great deal more sociable. I regret not inheriting her blue eyes.' It was weird to think she resembled her father at all if she never met him.

"Ooh, that's a pretty name too. And very precious I might say because of the thoughtfulness behind it." A golden feather, that was rare indeed. "So, would you want to share stories about your family?"

Zara immediately spotted a girl who seemed bummed out. She was surely a lot older than her, had more time spent at Hogwarts, but she seems like she needed company. Oh well, why not give it a shot? Zara began introducing herself, "Hello there, my name is Zara. Danielle Zara Griffiths." She smiled and added, "I know you've spent more time in Hogwarts than I do and you have more wisdom and knowledge about magic, but I was hoping we could be friends though I am just a kid after all."

Getting slightly bored of the Ravenclaw table and James and Finn not talking to each other, Ivan decided to walk to the 'red' table as she had called it and find Dora. Man there are a lot of Gryffie's, he thought as he let his eyes scan the crowd.

Finally he found her sitting looking a bit sad and he pursed his lips. Well her Batman would just have to fix that. He walked over and sat down beside her without asking for permission. "Why are you looking so sad Squishy?"

Dora was just about to pop a grape into her mouth when she heard someone near her speak. She turned, blue eyes wide and BEAMED, crunching down on the fruit. NomandNOMMIER.

"Hiiiiiii Tayla," Dora cooed back in an echo and winked. Her name? She giggled brightly. "I'm Dorrrrrrrrrrra." Dora. Dorie. Bubbles. It was all the same. She was cuteness personified.

^___^



Again. Another person. Dora felt immedietely better. SHELURVEDCOMPANY. *giggggggles*

The girl RANTED. Dora instantly absolved into delightful squee's.

"Zara? You're name is your middle name? Is that how things work at Hogwarts?" She asked, confused and frowning. Because then she should inroduce herself as Emilia and not Isadora. Not that she introduced herself as Isadora. Ever.

She blinked a little and shook her head vigorously. Her hair was bouncing. Bouncebounce. "Oh, nononono. I'm from Beauxbatons. I'm new here." BEAM. Which meant.. she was new here too! "Are you a first year? D'aw. Firsties were cuteness too!

Again. Another voice.

Dora turned and instantly lit up into a huge smile.

"BATMAN!"

Everything was much better when Batman came to save the day.

^__________________^

As Tayla divided her time talking with a few Gryffindors and eating a little bit, she spotted a first year with long dark hair. Tayla knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help overhearing the words 'lake' and 'giant squid' and about staying in detention at least once during her stay in Hogwarts.

"Interesting," Tayla thought. She wanted to be friends with someone adventurous and exciting. Moving closer towards the girl, Tayla introduced herself. "Hello," she said with a smile. "I'm Tayla Barnhill. I'm a first year, too."

"Sure," Tayla nodded, thinking about where to start. "Aside from being half-Witch and half-Muggle, I'm also half-British and half-Canadian. Mum's a witch and grew up in England. She met Dad somewhere in London, they got married after Mum told him she was a witch - he freaked out at first, but he's fine now.

"We grew up knowing magic existed without knowing much about it, if you know what I mean," Tayla continued. Her mother didn't talk about the wizarding world so much until Tayla got her letter from Hogwarts. "Both my parents work in Canada. Mum as a healer and Dad a lawyer. We live in Canada, but I'm glad I get to study here. Oh, and I have a little sister, too. She's four years old and her name's April."

Tayla smiled and turned red. "Now it's me talking, too much. How about your family?"

Tayla grinned at Dora. "You seem very happy. Enjoying the feast?"

Ivan gave the other two people next to her a nod and gave Dora a grin as she turned to him with a huge smile. Brother figure indeed...pfft. "You still didn't answer my question..." he teased her with a slight smirk.

Wrapping an arm around her he gave her a hug and turned to the other two there, "Hi I'm Ivan." Yup they were so not calling him Batman only Dora could.

"Nah, it's ok. Besides, time is going real slow anyways." Replied Jordan, starting to wake up a bit from being tired.

"i thought so too." Heather said. "Yep. He is the pet i brought with me. I'll really show you Sythe soon. I promise that."

As the girl introduced herself,--well not totally introduce since Zara hasn't known her real name yet,--Zara realized that the girl wasn't from Hogwarts after all. She was new too, like her. A different kind of new, but still, new is new. "Yeah, my name's Zara." She smiled, but when she saw the confused expression of the girl-whom-she-didn't-know-the-name, Zara quickly realized the meaning of the question.

"Oh! No, no. You got it wrong. I'm sorry for confusing you," Zara said and added, "Uhm, how do I explain this? Back at home, my family calls me Danielle. And when I first introduced myself to people outside home, I decided that it must've been the right time for a change. And since I never use my second name Zara, I thought that maybe people here could call me that so that my second name would have a purpose." She grinned and smiled apologetically, she was blabbering too much. But hey, get to know each other as much as possible, right?

Zara seemed delighted to meet a student from another school. The day kept on getting more interesting to Zara, meeting new friends who were different. "Beaubaxtons? Oops. Sorry. What's the name of the school where you came from again? I'm bad at words." >.< Zara hated herself for being so internally forgetful.


"Wow, compared to your story, my life's not really that interesting. But if you insist," Zara trailed off, wondering where to start.

"Well, I'm half British, half German. But my grandfather is said to have American blood. Both my parents are magical, my dad's a wizard and my mum's a witch. My dad works as an auror while my mum is part of the Wizengamot council. They're both purebloods, and so am I. Hmm, what else? I'm an only child and Eirwen is actually my first pet. I hope to own a puppy soon, but I don't think that's possible. I'm never allowed to go beyond the gates of our...uhm house. So I watch other kids play outside while I'm sitting at the swing of my playground...I mean garden--of our house's garden." Zara was sure that Tayla noticed Zara was editing a few information of her life. Zara didn't want anyone to know she lived in a mansion, or that she was rich.

"I was homeschooled before entering Hogwarts. And my parents never let me in on the secret about the Wizarding World until they were sure I was a witch too. But of course, deep inside, they expected me to be a witch since they were both purebloods and magical and so are almost all of my relatives. Okay, now I'm the one who's talking too much." Zara giggled. It was a nice feeling to tell someone about her life. She smiled at Tayla, hoping she hadn't been bored of her story.


"Oh, don't worry. I'm fine with silence. It's a good feeling to just sit beside a new friend and not have to worry about what to say next. Just knowing that he or she's there for you, I think that's just what friendship is. Not speaking but still communicating." Zara said, wondering if Jordan felt the same way.


"That would be great!" Zara squealed in excitement, and almost stood up from where she was seated. "Oops, I have to control myself sometimes." She said as she tried to sit still. And once she was able to manage sitting still, sleep had tried to grab her. Zara yawned and tears filled up her eyes. She sure was getting sleepy. Wonder when the headmaster would let them rest. Hmm.

"At least your mum is giving it a chance, right? I'm sure your dad will come around, too." Adelyn's mum didn't take her to Diagon Alley...she didn't even take her to the Platform. When her dad was around, magic was never a problem for her mum. "Yeah, I guess you're right! It's a lot of work, though. Like, I basically have a class every day except Sunday." Adelyn smiled back at Nika; she didn't want to sound like she was complaining. She liked her classes and all.

Tayla's blue eyes were bright, listening to Zara's story. It sounded as if Zara was keeping some detail out. "Maybe it's because we've just met,"Tayla thought, hoping she would share it one day.

"That's really awesome!" Tayla said happily then remembered Zara's invitation to her house. "I haven't ever been inside a wizard's house before. I can't wait till you show me around. I'd love to see the...er...playground garden - and everything, really!

Tayla couldn't stop smiling at the thought. She loved her hometown, but wished she could live in a magical house, too. "How is it like being homeschooled?" Tayla asked. "I went to regular Muggle school and my sister will, too, until she's old enough for Hogwarts. But we're not allowed to tell anyone about magic."

Selina listened to him talk about Quidditch and smiled. She knew that Hugo understood where she was coming from when she spoke about flying. Maybe he didn't really understand the feeling or couldn't relate but he didn't judge her for her sentiments on flying. That really meant a lot to her. "Everyone starts in their backyard. Whose to say you are not great just because you haven't practiced on a Pitch or because you haven't really played against anyone. Trust me, every great player starts out that way. In their backyard by themselves and with their fathers." Of course Selina's backyard had a Pitch on it and her father was a Professional Quidditch player, but that was details.

When he spoke about the spells he had covered Selina looked wide-eyed. "That's amazing. Seriously I can't do that yet. Then again you Ravenclaws are over achievers," Selina joked.

Selina smacked her friend lightly on the shoulder jokingky, "Well all of us don't possess cookie magic to make us extremely cute everyday and all day long."

Kurumi's mother was quite the character. Selina could never understand why a mother would want her child to be anything but what they are. Kurumi was special and wonderful because she was herself. The more she tried to please her mother the more average she was- average was over rated. Especially when your fantastic.

But Selina's thought process took a screeching halt when Kurumi said her father had helped her with studying techniques. Selina stuttered, "You-you told your father? Kurumi!"

Selina laughed at Caroline who had continued her joke. She shot back at Kyle. "If we die at sea you better watch you ship ghost Captain. It will be me."

Selina felt her blood grow cold. He had said that his owl had sent the letters and she had seen Violet write him a letter every other day. So why had the letters not reached the pair of them. But then she felt the letter in her pocket burn. Nathan had told her to give the letter to Violet and she would have to give it to her later, but what if he was the one who had been keeping the letters from the two. He had spent most of his summer at Whitley Hall and had developed a thing for Violet. Nathan was a great guy, but he was not one to take his feelings lightly. It all made sense. Nathan had their letters. He was the reason why contact between the two did not pull through.

"Oh yeah, you un, should bring that owl to the vet. Um how old is he?" Her palms were sweaty. This was bad.

Fee smiled at the little brunette,she was so sweet it was hard not to pinch her cheeks and squish her.Ohhh she was looking for her?Awwwww,this little firstie made her heart all warm."The train ride passed really fast this year",the blonde nodded,"but my train ride was good.How was yours?Have you met some new friends,sweety?"
Ari deserved to have loads of friends,she was amazing like that."I am happy to see you too sweety",the third year beamed.Ariadne definitely was like a little sister to the Slytherin.

The expectations people had for Gryffindor?Ari worried to much,seriously."I am sure you'll make a great Gryffindor dont think about others too much,just have fun",the blonde smiled and nodded.Who cared about what others thought?Awwww,no Fee definitely couldnt hold back and hugged her little friend tightly.This was soooo heart-warming."Of course we will see eachother often",she nodded,"what would i do without my little brunette?"She could show Ari around and help her getting used to the castle.It could be confusing E easily.ARI HAD BOUGHT SOME GLITTER?! Oh my glitter,that was fantabulous."I am so proud of you",the girl giggled,"how are you planning to use it?"

The Slytherin chuckled at the surprise in the little ones voice.Cuute."The brother of my boyfriend lives there and we visited him together",she explained,"it was amaaaazing i cant wait to go there again."
New York was definitely one of the most beautiful cities ever.Ohhhh the cat already had a name how nice."Pluto is a pretty cool name by the way",the third year winked,"unfortunately i didnt get my new cat because i already have two pygmie puffs and an owl.But i love them."

Who got Hugo to admit that?Now that was a weird question.Giggle."Oh he said it out of his own",the blonde beamed,"i am so happy i would like to jump around and hug the world but that would look so silly."
Maybe later in the dorms.Hehe."I think you two just had a bad start",she nodded,"maybe you well get along better when sometimes has passed."Hopefully that was.

Fee let her eyes wander the Gryffindor table.Where were her friends?She probably looked silly sitting here at the Gryffindor table all alone with her Slytherin uniform on.Gaaah.She had almost given up as a familiar head popped up in her view.Christopher.The blonde hadnt met since they've been at the ice cream parlor.Much too long.Getting up the blonde walked into his direction and smiled.Yaaay for finding your friends.Noticing the free sea next to him the third year plopped down on it and beamed at him."Heeeyyy Chrissibear",she said in a clam ton giggling a little.

Fee noticed sa guy sitting there all alone and decided to walk over to him.He seemed to be a little older but actually the blonde didnt care.Maybe he was nice?!Taking the seat next to him the girl smiled."Heyy",she said,"i hope you dont mind some company?"And then her eyes landed on the food.Ohhhhh delicious food.The Slytherin was really,really hungry but she needed to wait for his answer first.

Uh oh. Did Zara say too much? Gulp. Either way, Zara smiled despite being internally confused. 'I'm a Gryffindor, that's why I'm sitting on this table tonight. Be brave, Zara. Be brave.' Zara chanted in her head. She should be brave enough to tell the truth, but maybe leaving behind a few details wouldn't hurt anyone. "Well, don't get your hopes up too high. I don't think there's much of a difference between a regular house from a magical house. The house I live in doesn't really differ much from a Muggle house. The pictures on the photos don't really move, we have Muggle servants too and not house elves, we're living just like everyone else. Nothing new, really. Hehe." Zara explained, trying to convince Tayla that her home wasn't really interesting. "But you can still come over if you like." Zara fake-smiled. She hoped Tayla would lose all interest and say no. 'Say no, please. Say no.' Zara's house was situated near the Muggle part of Godric's Hollow so she was never allowed to go out, her parents were afraid that she would be rejected by her neighbors so they kept her within the gate of their house, providing her a playground of her own hoping that she would find happiness even without other kids to play with. Zara was doing fine, but when she saw how happy the Muggle kids were as they played with each other, Zara became lonelier and lonelier.

She decided to change the subject by answering Tayla's latest question. "Oh, that's so cute. I wanna meet your little sister." Zara squealed, hoping to distract Tayla's mind. But she decided to continue with her story because it was rude not to answer when you're asked. "Homeschooled? Well, my teacher is just one ever since I was still young. Her name's Miss Jenkins. She's a witch too, as mum later revealed to me just yesterday. I didn't know before, but she kept teaching me unfamiliar stuff. Only now did I realize their worth. She has taught how to read and write and all the basics. As I advanced, she started teaching me words that sounded strange. I think they're in Latin or some weird language." Zara explained further. Those words did bother her. They never seemed to be used in daily life, but why did Miss Jenkins teach her that?

"hey Thomas, It's Cleo. I was wondering if you knew where Rose was. If you don't I'll be glad just to talk to you." Cleo said as she approached him.

HE WAS STILL SMILING WHILST SHE WAS WORRIED SICK!!! BRAEDEN!! D'awwwww.... He didn't care about what nickname she gave him because she came up with it.. Awww... The blonde pushed a strand of her blonde hair back and blushed. "aww thanks Brae. That means a lot. To me." she said, smiling sweetly.

"SUPER BRAEMAN! That's perfect!" she exclaimed, giggling slightly. It was.. perfect. Wonderful, amazingly brilliant. It described his personality perfectly. The Malfoy girl beamed him a smile. "All right Super Brae" she said, smirking slightly. The smirk turned into a big smile.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. A date? He said a date? Did he mean deal or date? She blushed deeply at the thought. "A date sounds good," she replied, softly. The blonde felt special. Special.. Then he was talking about Quidditch. She nodded and laughed. "Aww.. It's okay. We can start from the basics. Don't worry. Soon you'll be trying out for the Quidditch team!" she exclaimed, happily.

"You know, Brae. I can't believe I've never asked you this and it makes me feel like a bad friend. When is your birthday?" she asked, the blonde's brown eyes sparkling when she talked.

'Hey, Thomas!' Rose called as she walked up to him and sat down.

After Zara explained that their house seemed like that of a Muggle's, Tayla couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Still, it would be nice to hang out at a friend's house. She also never had a sleepover with friends before, so it would be great to have one with Zara. "That's okay," Tayla replied. "We can still have a sleepover or something. If our house weren't too far away, I'd invite you, too. I hope we move to England someday soon."

"I think April will like you," Tayla continued. "It's just too bad that when she starts at Hogwarts, we'll have just graduated. But maybe you'll see her one day in Diagon Alley, or that village I heard about...Hogsmeade, I think?"

Tayla's eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Zara mentioned learning Latin words. "Maybe she was teaching you some spells. Did you check your books? You might know some words already!" Tayla grinned in excitement. She couldn't wait to swish her wand and learn magic.

She fumbled with the handle of her new wand inside her cloak. "11.5 inches. Cherry wood, phoenix feather, solid!" she recalled happily.

"Yeah - mum's a witch. Something at the Ministry...She don't talk about her job much; she don't talk much about the Wizard World either, which is annoying 'cause I find it fascinating." Matt smiled, letting the words roll happily from his babbling lips. Now he'd started, his waggling tongue was going to be hard to stop - a defense reflex. Talking helped him forget about Ari's her-ness. It was so her-y. Eek. Clearing his throat, he continued, "But dad's a muggle farmer. I grew up practically living like a muggle." He laughed a little at her quick cover-up. Deary me. "Don't worry, no offense taken. ...You a Pureblood then?" he asked curiously, before once again shoving a large spoon of mashed potato into his awaiting gob. *nom*

Floppy hair bobbing, he shrugged. "I suppose it'll be fun." Even if he missed her, it felt good to be the first kid in the family to go to Hogwarts (his brothers had decided to go to Durmstrang). It made him feel proud, like a somebody. And now his stoopid sister was, perhaps, gonna ruin that for him. "They went to Durmstrang - they're twins; they graduated three years ago."

Matt nodded. "Ok." He understood - it was a sensitive subject. He gave her a small, sheepish smile. He wouldn't press the matter any further.

A laughy one. Brilliant.

Swallowing nervously - for the fiftieth time that evening - he decided to attempt to join in with her laugh. Laughing was always a good way to form a bond with people, right? And if not that, it could always cover up his terrified screaming. "HAHAHAHAHA." Brilliant. He'd gone psychopathic.

"Don't worry." he said, laugh turning into sheepish chuckle (quickly trying to correct his mishap). "My stomach's like a bottomless pit."

Matt nodded, returning her smile. "Yeah, you too."

Rosemary smiled as she stroked Selina gently whilst listening to the others, in a world of her own whilst trying to stay awake.

Carter blushed slightly at the wink. "Yes we will." he said. He then remembered hearing about a boat in the lake. He hadn't seen it on his way in because it was so dark. The prophet did say that is was safe... so maybe walks by the lake would be alright.

"Oh. That sounds fun. I'm jealous." he said. He hadn't played... or even been on his broom... all summer.

It was definitely one of the downfalls of being a muggleborn. You had to worry about neighbors and little sister's adoption overseers. But luckily, last summer was the last summer that the overseer would visit. This summer he would be free to fly his broom and do magic (after his birthday of course). And there was also apparition to look forward to. Mina's aunt's boyfriend shared a few stories about the problems he'd worked on in the apparition department. But that didn't scare him one bit. Nope, he was excited to learn.

"So did you end up getting a new broom?" he asked.

Startled, Levi glanced up and tried to mask his look of displeasure when the younger boy occupied a seat next to him. He wanted to groan, but he did so mentally. He was hoping somebody else was going to sit there before Christopher did. Perhaps a girl or maybe a new person he could befriend. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this kid. He was tempted to inch away as a means to give himself space but he wasn't that rude.

What was even more surprising was how nice the shorter kid was treating him as well. He figured he would have tried to call him out for what happened on the train ride home last semester. The proffered handshake had almost resulted in Levi snapping one of his fingers in a fit of irritation. No matter what the circumstance was, the kid always seemed to appear at wrong and unwanted times.

He nodded at Christopher, quickly shoving a piece of bread in his mouth so he wouldn't have to say hi or smile at him. He didn't have the energy to feign cheerfulness at this time of the day. He was trying to mend his relationship with Cass and on the train, he had confessed to her about his not-so satisfactory home life, as evidenced by the new scar running down the side of his face. She hadn't even seen the bruises on his arms but he wouldn't subject her to that despondency. She already knew everything about him but Christopher had no clue...about anything. Why was he trying to be his friend? What was the point?

"Fine," the fourth year mumbled in response. When reality, his summer sucked. "Yours?"

"Well. Our head of house is the librarian Madame Donovan. I've only spoken to her once and she's quite mean." She accused her of not reading! Huh, the cheek! "And obviously the one in the middle on the big chair is headmaster Tate. To his left is the flying instructor Professor Vindictus, quite a strict teacher but he can be funny at times." She paused to take a sip of juise. "Next to Vindictus is Professor Bishop, divination teacher. And the good looking-I mean nice one next to her is my favourite teacher. Professor Descoteaux. Charms professor." she blushed and hiccuped a bit. Guess she had a crush on the teacher! "He put me on the charms star list last year." He was so sweet.

"Pirate spies?" she laughed, spilling a bit of juise as she did so. "Oops..." she added wiping it up. "We should go on it. Like Tate just said in his speech! Have you seen all the new teachers we have? Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures..." Yes. Many new teachers. Hopefully this year would be as fun as the last!

"I'm good, thanks." She watched Nika bounce around. "What 'bout you?" Elaine laughed, seems like someone was extremely hyper.


Elaine nodded and looked at each teacher as Emily pointed them out. 'Good looking, eh?' Of course she noticed Emily's blush but she decided to say nothing.
"Charms star list, huh?" she turned back to face Emily. "You must be good!" Elaine grinned.

Ella sighed and got up from her seat. Feeling slightly more cheerful, she skipped up the table towards Matt. Here we go.. she thought.
Ella held out her hand, trying to keep her 'scaryness' hidden when she smiled down at him. 'Nice to meet you, Matt!' keep smiling.. just keeep smiling.. ' You seem a bit nervous, did you like the fairycake I gave you? I didn't spit in it.. I promise..' Swinging her leg over the bench she sat, facing the boy.

This kid was papping his pants.. he would like her eventually. Still smiling, Ella again tried to start a conversation. ' So, have you got any other siblings here?' Ella ran her fingers thorugh her hair. She knew he was going to end up making her feel nervous, possibly even make her look like an idiot.
So there she sat, smiling at the shy boy while twirling a bit of her hair around her finger.



Now Ella was confused. 'Henry? He eats anything..' It wasn't a lie, or an exaggeration.

She smiled sleepily at her friend. Oh boy, she was getting very sleepy. Bundling her cat back into her arms she sighed.



Zara nudged Ella. "Who's that guy you've been messing with?" She asked, with her eyebrows raised. Obviously, Zara was curious. Very curious.

[/QUOTE]

Looking up again, she saw Zara's curious expression. 'I haven't been messing with him! I'm just making friends, that's all!' She smiled and looked down again.

How could she be expected to be a totally pleasent person all the time?! She had grown up the youngest out of 6 children for goodness sake! Oh, and she was the only girl!

Ella waved back again at Nika, she was pleased to see her again. She had missed her bright hair! Then, seeing her expression she just narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

Oh dear..


Waving again cheerfully she mouthed 'We can talk later?..' She seemed to be in a conversation at the moment..