"Hi Care! My name is Rachel, its fine, this room is amazing, isnt it!" said Rachel cheerfully.

"That may be," Spike answered slowly with a glance towards the entrance, "But it still didn't want to let me in anytime soon." He shrugged, and a smile broke across his face as Finn nudged him. Even if he still wasn't sure about the brains and wit thing, he had friends and felt totally at home. He wouldn't think about wanting to be anywhere else.

His face fell though as Finn's voice dropped. "But..." He looked at Finn sadly, wide eyes peering up through his curly hair. "I was trying to help," he said softly, his lips pouting. "You're best mates. I look up to you. Both. Together." He frowned. Fallen out big time? Spike getting hurt? If he got hurt but they were speaking again, at least it'd be worth it.

Sigh.

"Well, the easy answer is to just SORT it out then." It wasn't that hard, was it? Spike and his mates fell out and were fight one minute, and then talking again like nothing had happened the next. It didn't even cross his mind that something BIG might have happened to prevent such a thing happening with Finn and Jimmy.

He looked up. "What's the issue, anyways?"

Ellie saw a girl, probably a few years younger than her, sit nearby to her. She looked seriously tired. She herself wasn't too awake, but she might as well start a conversation with someone.

"Hi, I'm Ellie Summers, a sixth year," She said sweetly, moving shyly to sit next to the girl, holding her adorable kitten tight in her hands, "You don't mind cats do you?" She asked politely, not wanting Nico to bug anyone.

"I know." Finlay said sadly, looking at Spike. He didn't look physically upset, but something in his eyes said something different. He was kicking himself for making them fall out. It was all his fault...and he hated it. "I don't think even I can make us friends again." He shook his head. It'd do no good to look upset infront of everyone. Taking Spike's arm, he lead him over to a quieter part of the common room, and sat down on a sofa.

"The thing is Spike....I really betrayed him." Finlay was gonna tell Spike what happened. Not that he thought he'd understand. But Spike was little, he wouldn't really care. "You know Marie? I told you about her last term." Marie who'd dumped him. "Well...she used to be Jimmy's girlfriend. And I went and got with her....and betrayed Jimmy. You don't do that...get with you best friends ex." He had been rather stupid. And he was paying for it now. "Thats why we fell out..." He nodded, sighing again.

"Thing is....it wasn't worth it. She dumped me on the train. I lost Jimmy....for nothing." At least that was how he felt anyway.

"I love to swim. That's my favorite." Rowan ate a bit more rice then said, "I also draw and of course I love to read. I guess I'm kind of boring, huh?"

No your not Boring i can't draw if my life depend on it Rowan.Cool I have two pools at my new House in Tampa.My mom quite teaching at Drumstung and works for the American Ministry of Magic and my dad works for the puerto Rico Ministry of magic hes The ministry of magic there.I was Apoted when i was 10 untill my mom and dad Were found they were missing over 2 years.

Spike rubbed his lips together, not really sure what to do or say. He was getting the feeling it was probably grown up stuff he wouldn't understand, and was almost preparing for Finn to tell him to go away and stop pestering him about Jimmy.

"Course you can," Spike said confidently. Anything was possible. And if anyone could do it, Finn and Jimmy could. They were amazing. Look at what they could both do on the pitch. Not just anyone could do that and hold their nerve. And they were older and had more experience too. Though Spike's mind was probably thinking along far more simplistic lines to what might have actually happened.

And then rather than pushing him away, Finn took Spike to one of the quieter sofas. Spike sat on the sofa next to him, and bounced lightly with his legs swinging. Figuring that maybe that wasn't appropriate, and now was a time to try and act a bit more grown up, he hastily pulled his legs up and crossed them in front of him. Matilda too had noticed something, and his hair moved as the tarantula changed position.

He nodded as Finn spoke once more. Course he remembered Marie. "Your girlfriend. A snake. Well, not a literal snake. But, yeah. You held hands and stuff." He bit his lip, trying to follow everything. Admittedly he didn't really understand. Something to do with Marie being Jimmy's and then not. And an X. "Jimmy has buried treasure?" Spike enquired, not understanding Finn's meaning of 'ex'. To Spike, an X marked the spot, and treasure was underneath worth fighting for. Even if that treasure was only chocolate, and they were all going to share it anyway after a battle of rather 'epic' (and imaginery) proportions. But maybe Marie was that treasure?

He shook his head, a confused look on his face. "She dumped you on the train...like threw you? Weren't you gonna be on the train anyway?" And surely you'd be thrown OFF the train? Not that Spike had seen Finn for any of the journey.

HMMM. Hmmm.

"He's still here," Spike said quietly after a while. "He's not properly lost. You just need to find your friendship again." Matilda made her way on his shoulder, and he gave her a small smile. "You miss him, right?"

Apparently, Spike wasn't as oblivious as one might think. Or he'd just taken a good guess. Either way, he was making his best effort.

Oh. He really had forgotten how little Spike was. He didn't understand did he? "Oh Spike..." Finlay laughed, shaking his head. Oh mann. This was going to be difficult. He rested his legs up on the coffee table, and watched Spike for a few minutes. He was really going to have to think about what he said. "Jimmy doesn't have any hidden treasure...or at least i don't think so." Surely he would know. He'd known Jimmy since they were babies. If jimmy had hidden treasure, then surely Finlay would have hidden treasure too.

"Marie used to be Jimmy's girlfriend." Used to be Finlay's girlfriend as well. Not anymore. Maybe it was good thing. "But then she was my girlfriend...." And that's what had gone wrong. Finlay had practically stolen Jimmy's girlfriend, and thats why they had fallen out. It was pretty clear to him. He'd been such an idiot, and he was only really realising it now. It was weird how a little second year, who had no idea about relationships was really making all this clear to him. It was good though, maybe it was making Finlay a better person.

"She didn't throw me off the train...I mean I'm here aren't I?" Seriously. He wouldn't be here if he'd be thrown off the trian. "She broke up with me. Decided that she didn't want to be my girlfriend anymore." Which really did suck. Finlay hated being dumped. It was such a bad feeling. He was the heartbreaker. He was the one that was supposed to dump people. This was all really the wrong way round.

Did he miss Jimmy? "I miss him...so much Spike." Finlay sighed, frowning a little. "It's wierd...I miss him so much." Because he'd always had him. He hoped that Jimmy and Finn would be friends again soon. He wished that it would happen.

Spike hugged his knees into his chest, and Matilda walked slowly down his arm and rested upon his knees. He watched her, trying to make sense of things. It didn't work, so it was a good job Finn decided to re-explain it all in a way he could understand. Even if the older boy had laughed at him first. Spike was trying. Really.

No treasure? How boring! Everyone had to have some treasure. However small. "Maybe he don't doesn't have the map anymore..." he muttered. Even Spike had 'treasure'. Of sorts, anyway.

"Right." Marie was Jimmy's. He'd kinda got that bit the first time. "Right. Jimmy's then yours." He nodded, to show he understood. "Is that bad?" Apparently it was. Else there wouldn't be a problem, would there?

"I did wonder about that fact," he commented with a smile. He didn't see that Finn would let himself be thrown off a train either. Not literally whilst it was moving, anyway. And definitely not by a girl. He was far too manly and strong. "So 'dumped' means she didn't want to hold hands and do eww-y thngs with you anymore?" Good to learn such things. Not that he was going to be dumped in a hurry...because girlfriends just sounded acky.

"Does Jimmy know you were...dumped?" Spike asked, wrinkling his nose. He didn't understand if that'd help things. But it showed he was trying to talk things through. Or something grown up like that. He stroked Matilda, tilting his head thoughtfully.

"If you miss him...he probably misses you too, you know." He could it was like that between him and Matilda. Or when him and the lads got back together over the summer in the woods. "I....I could try asking him, if you want." He didn't like seeing Finn like this, and Spike was sure he could do something. What would Quidditch be like if they were just glaring at each other? "A good ol' punch up usually works otherwise." Not that Spike had done that of course. Ahem.

"Very bad..." Finlay nodded, with a frown. Part of him felt really bad now. But maybe it was a good thing that he was telling someone. It did make him realise things, and maybe it could make him change a little. "My best friend liked her, and I just went and wanted her too." It was different from what Jimmy and Finn had done in the past really. "i kinda wish I hadn't done it now." Becuase he really regretted doing that to his best friend. He missed Jimmy more than anything right now.

"No...he doesn't." Because they weren't talking. "I want to tell him...but we're not talking....kind of makes it a bit difficult." Yeah. Didn't really help. He frowned again. Not looking happy at all. "He'll probably say I disturb it anyway." Yup. He could see that coming straight away. He knew that it wasn't going to make things any better, not for a long time anyway.

"I dunno....he certainly doesn't look like he misses me." Nope. Jimmy seemed to be coping quite well without Finlay. "No..." Finlay shook his head. "Don't do that Spike, he might get annoyed with you." And that would be really bad. Punching? Finlay laughed. "Me and Jimmy have hit each other enough..."

Still stroking Matilda, Spike wriggled to face Finn more. He was kinda lost on why the girlfriend was quite SO important. But if someone had taken Matilda, he'd have been annoyed. Angry, even. So maybe it was something like that? Just...with Marie? He puffed out his cheeks, wondering if he'd finally kinda cracked why their friendship had suffered quite so much.

"You could try talking," Spike said sadly, though he knew really it wouldn't (or maybe couldn't) work like that. He glanced round to see if Jimmy was there yet...he wasn't sure what 'missing a mate' might look like to tell. As for Jimmy getting annoyed with him, Spike shrugged. Spike could be getting annoyed at them BOTH for not speaking. He was. It wasn't right. It'd always been them both since he'd known them. Except when Jimmy was injured, and Finn was ill...but that was different. His bottom lip wibbled, even if really their problems shouldn't have been his business.

He brightened up a bit as Finn laughed. That was something, he supposed. "Maybe I could hit him then?" he said brightly. If he couldn't talk to Jimmy, then he wanted to do something. Probably more to prove he wasn't really ickle any more and could deal with things than anything else. But still.

"I suppose I could." Finn didn't really know if that would really work though. So far when ever he hd been near Jimmy the guy had totally ignored him. That hadn't been too fun. Finlay hated being ignored. It was kind of why he hadn't been hanging when Jimmy was around. "He'll probably still ignore me." Yes. He would. He knew it now. Finlay looked up, seeing if Jimmy was around. This really did suck. He was getting advise from a second year, about something that he really should never have done in the first place. He really did feel horrible. "I might talk to him a few weeks..." Let things settle down.

"Spike..." Finlay laughed, grinning at the young boy. It was funny how he was talking aobut all this horrible stuff, yet Finlay did feel quite happy. "I don't think thats such a good idea..." Because jimmy would probably kill him. "I don't think you're tall enough..."

"But at least you'll know you tried," Spike pointed out, somewhat more philosophically than might be thought of from the young boy. Was being in second year actually having an effect already? Surely not. He'd just not done this kind of sitting down and talking thing before. Running round was far more his usual style.

"Yes?" Spike replied, a twinkle in his eyes. "Why ever not?" He looked at Finn, trying give him the best angelic look he could. The result being...he couldn't. At all. Matilda would succeed more than Spike did. But whatever. He gave a crooked grin instead.

"So...I'll be more agile? Harder to hit back?" Spike countered enthusiastically. "Or, I could go on stilts?" It might be a distraction.

Ember sat down and grabbed a book. She was finding it rather hard to make friends in her house, as far as she was aware she had not made any. All of her friends were in Gryffindor. It may have something to do with being brought up by a load of Gryffindors that had made it easy for her to interact with them. She loved Hogwarts all she needed now was somebody in her own house to talk to.

Ember dropped the book to the floor, she could not be bothered to read right now. Instead she got out her chocolate frog cards and flicked through them. Being a Weasley she loved finding her relatives on the cards. She had collected her uncle Ron, Her Grandfather Harry, And her Grandmother Ginny. She put them back into her pocket and decided to watch the other Ravenclaws in the common room get on with what they were doing.

When Jeanne was about to finally take her rest it was interrupted by a voice nearby. She slowly opened her eyes. Not that she was annoyed, she's thankful for the girl in doing so. She can't afford to be sleepy on the first week of term. She slowly moved her head to where she had heard the voice.

Sigh.

Her name is Ellie Summers. Jeanne tried to smile but her head is very much aching. Not only was she tired of the first day of term but she had a little argument with Jonathan awhile ago. Yeah. Tough luck. First week of term and Jonathan just suddenly became a pain in the... "Hi" she smiled but it was not her usual sweet smile. "I'm Jeanne Morgan." she tried sitting straight and offered her hand for a handshake. "Fourth year" she added.

The girl is apparently 2 years older than her. Nice. She doesn't have many friends that is in the higher years. She was quite scared to do so. Ellie is holding her cat or rather, playing with it.

Jeanne loves creatures, that's for sure. She wasn't allowed to have pets though, except for an owl. Her father is very allergic to fur. So she and her mother tries to deal with that rule at home: No pets. "No. Not at all" Jeanne doesn't mind the cat. In fact, she loves taking care of pets. If only she was allowed though, probably their whole house will be filled with animals. "What's her name?" Jeanne asked.

She didn't want to but she just couldn't help it. YAAAWWNNN!!! She covered her mouth. Wow, she's very sleepy. She looked at Ellie and her cat.

Smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd (:

Dallin chuckled when she nudged him with her foot, wondering what that was for. He thought about her question for a second before answering. "The people," he said with a sharp nod. "I've met some pretty cool people here." One of his closest friends was here - well, she was, but she left and... anyway.

"And the food. The house elves are some great cooks." Typical boy answer, right? But it was true.

"What about you? There's gotta be a reason why you've stuck around here for five years." He turned toward her, bending his knees up.

When the younger boy asked his question, Dallin had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. A lost cat? He did try to remember if he had seen a stray cat around the castle, but came up blank. He couldn't help Ivory with this one.

"All very valid reasons." she agreed with a nod. "Especially about the pretty cool people," she added whimsically as she shrugged her shoulders and inadvertently pointed to herself with her thumbs. Because, she was cool right? Heh.

With a lopsided grin, Ivory tilted her head back eyes tracing the pattern on the domed ceiling painted with stars as she thought of the answer to his question. Why had she stayed?

Unconsciously, she sucked on her lower lip for a second biting it in thought before she realized that she was thinking on the fundamental, philosophical reasons when she could easily answer with the basics.

"My best friend's here, of course." she replied with a bright smile. Not here, here. But over on in the Hufflepuff common room. "And I love the grounds, and the library, and the way rather than being intimidating most of the time it just feels like a huge house...one you just happen to share with hundreds of other people." Hugging the pillow tighter to herself, she sighed. "And yes, the food. If you ever find yourself in the kitchen you've just got talk them into letting you try the baked potato soup. It's heavenly, really." Mmmm, soup.

"Oh, and the Professors." She added nodding matteroffactly. "A few of them have their quirks, but I must say they all try to teach their subject in the most unique of ways rather than straight from the book."

---

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlewis

"I... I last saw her with my trunk..."
As he said that, Gavin realised he had no idea what happened to his trunk either... What did his mum say about that? He just couldn't remember. He was so tired.

"Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, where is my trunk? I saw my cat with my trunk last," he said, very unsure of himself.

He may be half-blood but all things considered, he may have known more about Hogwarts if he had been a muggle.

"With your trunk..." Well, that she could help with on the spot. Feeling a bit useful, she piped up. "Well, that you'll find right through those doors and up the steep stairs. All our belonging get automatically delivered to our dormitories." With a small nod, she continued as helpfully as she could. "She might be waiting for you there," Cats were intelligent like that. "Why don't you give the male dormitory a look around, and if she's not there then well then we'll get to looking."

Olivia had somehow gotten seperated from the Ravenclaws when she'd left the hall and had almost gotten in trouble for following the Gryffindors. Once she'd explained she was sorry and that she was a first year and hadn't even noticed, the Gryffindor prefect had given her a much softer expression, smiled, and helped her find an older Ravenclaw to follow.

Much relieved, Olivia finally entered her common room and her breath was taken away. Stars and blue and beauty were everywhere. She loved it already and she was beginning to be more than grateful that she'd been sorted into Ravenclaw. "It's absolutely gorgeous in here," she whispered to no one in particular.

After her moment of shock passed, Olivia's head turned here and there as she looked for Emmy, Luna, or even just someone new to talk to. She was suddenly more excited than shy, especially when she noticed the bookshelf by the fireplace. It completed the room perfectly. She would definitely have no problem with this being home for seven more years.

Eventually, Olivia noticed a lonely girl sitting in one of the chairs, dropping down a book and looking slightly upset before shuffling through some chocolate frog cards. Olivia, through that strange instinct all children have to find children their own age, thought the other girl might be a first year herself. She put on a smile and approached the girl just as the girl put her cards away. Holding out a hand, Olivia introduced herself brightly. "Hi. I'm Olivia Hughes. What's your name?"

She had to admit it was lame and probably overly-eager but what the heck? She was a first year, she'd never have another excuse again to be this overly eager in meeting people. She might as well take advantage of it now and meet everyone she could before people started to clique up without her.

Hey I'm Hannah Malfoy she said with a smile.Looking at her arms and checking out her tattoo.Being A rebel for two years of missing Parents sure got me a lot of tattoo.

Ember grinned as she saw a girl introduce herself. She was a first year it appeared. Ember took the girls hand and shook. " Hey, im Ember Weasley." Ember was glad that she was tlaking to somebody in her own house, this was exactly what she needed. "This Common room is amazing isnt it."

A Malfoy in the Ravenclaws? Now that was really odd. She has heard from her father about the Malfoys, how they are always loyal in being Slytherins but probably this one is different. Jeanne smiled "Hi..." she paused for awhile and stared at the girl's tattoos. Yes, Jeanne has a staring issue and she's making sure that she can get rid of such habits as fast as she could. "I'm Jeanne" she felt intimidated by the girl. Was she like some sort of black sheep in the family or something?

She wanted to ask but that was just impolite and mostly rude. You can't just ask people about their personal lives.

"Of course you're included with the cool people," Dallin said with a laugh as Ivory pointed to herself. Of course he had just met her today, but from what he could tell she was a pretty awesome person.

He nodded in agreement to her reasons for staying. Although he couldn't agree with the best friend part, because he didn't really know if he had a best friend here. Good friends, yes. But best? He wasn't sure. "I love the grounds, too. There's a lot of different things to do, ya know?" Plus there was the lake, which although wasn't near as good as the ocean, it was better than nothing and Dal was glad it was there.

"Baked potato soup," he repeated with a nod. He'd have to remember that.

Finally he decided to pipe into the conversation with the younger boy. "I'm sure the cat's waiting for you on your bed," he said brightly. "Pets have an odd sense of... I dunno the word." He paused before adding, "And if she's not on the bed she's probably somewhere in the dormitory, like Ivory said." Yep. Wasn't Dallin such a great help?

How are you,I Guess your Wondering a malfoy In Ravenclaw.This may seem funny to you but My mother was a ravenclaw and so was my Father he is Malfoy,so was my grandma and grandpa and so was both of my great grandparents.You might think I'm a trouble maker i was At a stage where i wanted to get all of the pro wrestler tattoo i like and then i got all 25 of randy ortons tattoo.Sorry I talk to much and i dont Mind you looking at them.

"Wow. That's impressive. I don't know what my real parents did." Rowan thought for a moment about it but really was too young to remember. "I was just adopted by the Smithsons last year. So your dad lives in Puerto Rico?"

Not Anymore They gave him A free pass to Fly into the Puerto Rico anytime he wants.Yeah It is But my Older Siblings live in UK and one married and ones Engaged.

Olivia nodded. "Absolutely beautiful," she agreed before sitting down in a seat next to Ember, making sure to turn slightly so that she was still facing the other girl. "You're a Weasley? That's amazing. I've had people assume that about me, but I'm not nearly that cool." Olivia brought a handful of her hair to eye height momentarily in explanation before letting it fall back down to her shoulder in seconds. "You must get hounded about it though, especially when people figure out they're right." Ember definitely had even redder hair, a fountain of fire when compared to Olivia's gentler shade, just the right hair for a Weasley.