Gwen walked towards her house table. She did not know many students, since it was her first year at Hogwarts. However, she saw Ari and waved at her, but she was talking to someone and Gwen did not want to interrupt.

Gwen took a seat at the table and looked around as if to see a familiar face.

"Hi I'm Rachel, whats your name?" Rachel asked the girl who was sat on her own, she needed to make some new friends. "What do you think of the classes?"

Fee took a sip of her pumpkin juice and smiled at the girl."Oh you are new?",she said,"sweet.Nice to meet you Presley."It was always nice to get to know newbies,they were all innocent.Hehe.The blonde remembered exactly how it was when she was new.Unbelievable that it was already two years ago ans she was in her thrid year now.The girl would be turning 14 the end of this month.Oh my glitter."Sure you can ask my anything",the Slytherin nodded and smiled,"go on."

"okay, number one, Hagrid. Was he a magical accident, or what?" Presley asked. The man was GINORMOUS there was no way that was any kind of natural. "and my second question, you're Slytherin, right? Can we just sit at any table we want to?" She had always thought, based on her dad talking, that you always sat with your house.

Melina rolled her eyes at Ari's story at the gypsy lady. "Exactly- that's why I thought they were all nonsense. But hey, if you end up with that fortune, just keep me in mind," she said, winking at her friend.

"Yeah, we can totally go up to the Tower! I asked a 5th-year, and she said it was fine. I'm dying to go! Wanna go up with me tomorrow night before curfew?" She wanted to test her new telescope soooo badly!! Plus, it would make her feel a little closer to her dad.

She pulled on her auburn pigtails and bounced in her seat- she was a real bouncer when she was excited! "Oooooh I hope my dad sends my iPod soon! It helps me fall asleep. Do you have any Muggle music that you like? I'll see if he can put it on before he sends it. Maybe I'll owl him everyday and be like, 'where's my iPod' and 'sent my iPod yet?' He'll send it just to stop me from driving him mad!" she laughed, and took a huge bite of her chocolate doughnut.

Melina cracked up again when Ari told her about her mum's cooking. "Oh that's hilarious! Though I don't think my mum has prepared more than a poached egg herself. We have a house elf who takes care of those things, though I've gotten her to teach me how to bake the best brownies. Ok, now I'm hungry for a brownie!" She took another huge bite of her doughnut, hoping the chocolate would cancel out her brownie craving.

Thinking about what she'd miss, she sighed. "My dad, first and foremost. Followed by dancing with the LBT. Then my Muggle friends, for sure. And just my room, stuff like that."

Melina was so touched that Ari had remembered her plan to start ballet at school. She reached over and gave her best friend a huge hug. "You remembered! Oh, that means the world to me!! I've been too nervous to go to the headmaster about it," she admitted. "I'm trying to pluck up the courage!"

"OMG, did you hear about the psycho they have teaching transfiguration?" she asked with wide eyes.

'If I end up with a fortune, it would definitely be due to my own efforts. I have nothing of value to inherit, except the house where I live now with my mum, and some family jewelry.' Ariadne replied. 'But I don't think I'll end up rich anyway.' she chuckled. After all, money wasn't everything.

'Sure, I'd love to go! What time? Do you want me to bring anything?' Ari asked. She had never done professional star-gazing. Hehe. 'Hey, are we allowed to bring food up there, you reckon? I could get something from the kitchens and we could have dinner there, like an unconventional picnic.' the firstie laughed.

'I like really old Muggle music, the kind my mum used to listen, which is old for her too. Mostly 20th century rock, like Aerosmith or Scorpions, and early 21st , like Muse and Coldplay.' she confessed, a bit embarassed. These were so old for 2074.

'So you have a house elf?' Ari was surprised. 'I've always wondered about them. One girl told me not to pity the elves, because it's their life purpose to clean and cook. Is that true?' She knew Melina would answer with honesty.

'Yeah, I'll miss my room too, I forgot to mention that. It's great here, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to share the dormitory with so many girls.' Ari explained. 'How could I have forgotten about your dream?' Ariadne said, returning the hug. 'You should go talk to him as soon as possible, I'm sure he'll be okay with it. If it'd make you feel better, I can come with you.' the brunette offered.

'Ah, don't get me started on that!' she rolled her eyes. 'I had classes with that Shaw guy, he's raving mad, that's what he is!' the firstie exclaimed. 'Using a chainsaw in class? Letting students invent spells? How can he be allowed to teach in this school?' the girl wondered, indignated.

Hagrid an accident?Woah that was such a mean question.The girl shook her head at the first year and raised one eyebrow."Noo he wasnt a magical accident he was the son of a giant and a human.",the blonde said looking at the other one weirdly.Oh man this girl had weird thoughts in her head seriously.What was going on with her at home?"You can sit at every table",the Slytherin nodded,"Hogwarts is there to make friends not matter what house they are in."What time did Presley live in?!

uh oh. Fee sounded a little angry. Presley hadn't meant to be mean, but she didn't want to ask Hagrid if he'd come out on the wrong side of a spell, it might have been a touchy subject! But it was so cool that he was half-giant! And well, she had never been to Hogwarts before, she didn't know the rules of sitting at tables. She smiled at Fee, and tried to pretend that she wasn't scared to death that the older girl was angry. "That's cool. I mean, I didn't want to ask Hagrid, in case it was rude. Thank you for answering my questions. I just, well, my dad doesn't talk about Hogwarts much, and my mum was a muggle, so I really don't know anything. Sorry if I seemed weird or stupid or something."

Ariana walked up to the table and plopped down in a seat. She was exhausted! Exhausted but still super-happy. Lessons had gone well, and now she just wanted to eat dinner, get in bed, and sleep! But she still had that History of Magic homework... she served herself some peas as she tried to think of a new house.

Nika was done. After all of the lessons and what not she was just completely worn out. Which is weird because usually she is the hyper one. But not tonight. She had already gone up to the Gryffindor dormitories and put on her Pjs to get some sleep when she realized she didn't have any dinner. So instead of changing back she just put her Gryffie robes over her PJs sloppily. Who cares if the robes were inside out? Who cares if you could see her polka dot pants? Not Nika. She didn't even bother looking at herself before she headed down to the great hall.

With her bunny slippers still on she walked towards the tables slowly rubbing her eyes. Now which table is which? "They're all so blurry.." She murmured as she glanced at each one. "That must be it." she kept talking to herself silently as she made her way towards a table. She sat down not realizing that it wasn't in fact the right table. It was Ravvie territory. Her eyes were half shut as she reached over to grab a near by plate and poured some who-knows-what on her plate. She didn't care she just wanted sleep.

She shoved a spoon full of whatever into her mouth and spit it out immediately. "Ew. Broccoli." She reached over and poured some different-who-knows-what onto her plate. Maybe this time it would be something yummier. She took another spoon full into her mouth and chewed. Not bad for a spoon of who-knows-what. She slowly opened her eyes just a crack more and noticed Ariana sitting near by. Now what in Merlin's name is she doing at the Gryffindor table. "Ari-ari-ari-.." What was she saying again? oh yeah, "Ariana? What are you doing here?"

Ariana was startled when Nika walked up to the Ravenclaw table, looking like, well, a mess. Her hair was a bit tangled, her robes were inside-out, and it looked like she was wearing... pajamas? Oh well, at least they were cool, polka-dot ones! Still, Ariana was confused on why Nika would be here. And then she served herself some broccoli... but Ariana thought Nika hated broccoli! Had someone replaced her best friend's mind? Because that was sure what it looked like!

Well, at least she was acting a little more normal after a minute, even though she was eating potato quarters with a spoon... strange girl. Either more out of her mind than usual, or just very, very sleepy. Ari? Since when did Ariana have a nickname? Not that there was anything wrong with it, just that it didn't seem very... her.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Of course, Ariana was happy to see Nika, but... wasn't she supposed to be down at the Gryffie table?

Nika yawned and slowly raised an eyebrow lifelessly. She looked at who she thought was Ariana and let out a breathy "Huh?" What does she mean what is she doing here? She's here to eat. It's sort of what you do in the Great Hall. "I'm-I'm eating? But why are you sitting? You've never sat at the Gryffie table before." She tried to phrase her words so that she spoke as little as possible.

Nika was starting to get a little frustrated at her food. Whatever she was eating didn't want to stay in her spoon. Stupid food. The arm she had under her chin gave out and her face went straight for her plate. Ow." Even her "ow" was without energy. She must be very, very tired. She lifted her head up and failed to notice some of the bits of food that stayed on her forehead.

"Hey Presley! Hi!" said Rachel, running over to Presley.

"Hi I'm Rachel, whats your name?" Rachel asked the girl who was sat on her own, she needed to make some new friends. "What do you think of the classes?"

Gwen looked around, when suddenly she heard a voice right near her. She turned around quickly and saw a girl of about her age.

Rachel,eh?
‘Hi…I’m Gwen….Umm..nice to meet you’, she said. Right after she introduced herself, the other girl asked Gwen what she thought about the classes….What a topic to start a conversation…Gwen grinned and replied: ’They’re all right. I love Potio….’, she began saying, but, after thinking that a lot of students are rather scared of the teacher, she coughed and continued :’History of magic is great…., it is one of my favourite classes already. How about you?, Gwen asked.

"Hello, Rachel!" Presley laughed as her newest friend ran over to her. "How are you?" The girl seemed pretty happy, and that was a slight releif from Presley's other, slightly tense conversation.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Now Ariana got it! Nika thought this was the Gryffie table...... ohhhhhhhhhh!!!! Well that was silly of her. She was obviously tireder than Ariana had ever been, and this being Nika she was talking about, that was saying something! After all, she was usually the happybouncycheerful one...

She was still trying to eat potatoes with a spoon. Didn't one normally eat them with a fork? And then... faceplant. That was hilarious! Ariana burst out laughing, and in between laughs she said, "This is the Ravvie table!" After her laughter died out, she commented again. "You've got potato on your forehead, you know."

Melina chuckled along with her friend as Ari laughed off the idea of having a fortune. She was stuck with her own, and couldn't care less about it either. Of course, she'd never known anything but wealth. Even her friends were well-off. It's just the circle her family was part of.

Being here at school was Melina's first chance to know people from all walks of life, and she loved how different the world actually was! Ari may not have grown up with the trappings that Melina had, but she sure turned out swell enough. Too bad her stupid father can't see past his own bigoted nose to appreciate the daughter he could have, she thought darkly, feeling incredibly protective of her best friend.

Shaking it off for the time being, she grinned in excitement as Ari agreed to come up to the Tower. "Let's meet tomorrow night at 8, ok? Do you want me to come down to the Gryffie house and we can go together? I don't know if we can eat up there, but pack a snack in case!"

She had never heard of any of the music groups that Ari mentioned, but laughed at her friend's description of them as "old". "Hah, you call that old? I dance to music written by men in powdered wigs from the 18th century!"

"I'd love to hear your music, though. I'll owl my dad and see if he can find any of it to put on my iPod for you," she smiled.

Giving herself a mental smack in the forehead, Melina remembered that not everyone grew up with a house elf in residence. "Oh, yeah," she replied, feeling a little self-conscious. "Our house elf, Mimsy, has been with us since I was one- she's really awesome! She used to always stop to play with me when I was little, as long as she thought she was "working" while she did it. It's really weird- I used to try and help her do things around the house- I didn't want her feeling like a slave- and every time she would just freak out about it. It like completely hurt her feelings! So it's weird, but they really do take such pride in their work that to stop them is, well, mean. I just make sure to thank her for everything- it's the only thing I can do for her that she's comfortable with." It still didn't make total sense to her.

"Oh my Godric, would you?!!!" Melina grasped Ari's hands with utter relief and gratitude. "You'd come with me to the Headmaster's office? Oh, you are the best friend ever!!!" she cried, hugging Ari again. "When do you think you can go? Maybe I can pull this off if I know you're there with me!"

Yeah. She knew it when she saw Ari in Ollivanders that they were gonna be great friends.

Nika nodded slowly. "I know. I'm just gonna leave it there." She's just too lazy to wipe it off. Besides it's not like it was harming anyone. She'd just get it later when she was back in the dormitories laying on her comfortable bed at last. Ahhh she got happy just thinking about it.

But wait huh? What was this about Ravvie table? And what's with the laughter? "Hey. Don't laugh at me." It would have been more convincing if she was able to speak up. But it didn't even sound like she meant it the way she said it. "I think I would know if I was sitting at the Ravvie table." She said with a big yawn. "Maybe your just tired or something Ariana. You need some sleep don't you?" She added with a slight smile. That's as far as her cheek bones would let her go.

"Nika. Listen. This is the Ravenclaw table. Just look around you!" Looking around herself, Ariana saw people everywhere wearing Ravenclaw ties and Ravenclaw badges, even a prefect! How on earth had Nika failed to notice this? Ariana had nooooo idea. She was obviously more tired than she seemed. Apparently, yes it was possible.

Nika couldn't believe that Ariana would even suggest that she was sitting at the wrong table. Okay she's tired, but not that tired. Besides she did the same thing last term when she first came because she didn't know any better, but this is different. She made sure to remember and check the table every time before she sat down. Always.

Nika shrugged lazily and looked around the table rubbing her eyes. "Ariana- I don't see anyything. Everyone's so blurry." EHHH no. Her vision is even starting to fail her. She turned back to her potatoes and tried eating them with her spoon. "Stupid food won't go in fork." WHyyy Nika. Merlin why Nika?

Pres sat down at her houses table for dinner. She wasn't planning on eating, she wasn't hungry. But it was good to make an appearance. If you showed up and didn't eat, people were less likely to notice than if you didn't show up at all. So Presley sat, and looked for someone to talk to. Could mealtimes possibly be more tedious?

Ariadne nodded. 'That'd be great, thank you. I will definitely bring something to eat. I'm thinking...cheesecake? I haven't had any in ages, but if you don't like it I'll think of something else.' The girl waited for Melina's reply, looking forward to star-gazing later that evening.

'Hehe, really? 18th century music? That must be cool. Let me know when you get your music-thingy, I'd love to listen to what you've got.' Why couldn't she just say iPod, the proper Muggle word? Maybe she was reluctant when it came to non-magical items with a brain of their own.

Ari was sure that Melina and her family were the type who took care of all beings, and elves weren't an exception. 'Mimsy does sound more like a friend than a servant.' she nodded, with a smile.

'Of course I'm going to come with you, that's what friends are for, and I'd like to think of myself as a good friend.' the brunette chuckled and hugged back. 'Anytime you decide. Just let me know.' she added.

ooc: I'll post on the 7th floor corridor so our charries can meet and go star-gazing

It was another early morning for Mia and the only reason she was up so early and standing at the Ravenclaw table was so that she could catch up with James. She was already late with his birthday present. But better late than never her mother always said.

She just hoped that he hadn't already had his breakfast or decided to eat somewhere else because that would mean she had got out of bed early for nothing and did her hair and dressed properly as well.

Jim WAS an early riser, mostly because he went running before breakfast most mornings and it had NOTHING to do with bloody Borr, it was just something he'd always done. Actually the bloody Borr list had a bunch of stuff that Jim did or could do, and that made the whole thing even more irritating. He didn't want people to think he was doing a thing because Borr said so.

Jimmy only did things because JIMMY said so.

Having finished his run and taken a shower, Jim appeared at his house table with slightly damp hair and an energised spring in his step to go with that enigmatic little smile he sported most of the time.

He spotted Mia and his eyes lit up.

"Hey Mi, this is my table y'know." Brows.

While she had been waiting to see if James was going to turn up, Mia was trying to find a place to hide his birthday present. At one point she had shoved it up her jumper and realised that it was NOT a good look. In the end she had placed it under the table.

Which had been good timing on her part because her favourite Ravenclaw had just walked into the great hall. Mia watched him as he walked over to the table and she gave him an appreciative look. She could totally see why the girls went nuts over him. He was almost as hot as Nik. Almost. Hehe.

"Didn't think you would mind sharing James."