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He shifted his head back at Lexi and listened to her with downcast eyes. He heard her... it wasnt his fault. She was going through a lot. But why is it that he still feels responsible somehow? Like he wasnt doing something he should and instead kept stumbling and making mistakes? Lost in confusing thoughts and emotions, he could feel her come closer, and finally raised his eyes to see her kissy face. That got him to smile broadly, he loved it when she'd make kissy faces, one of the little things about her that meant the world to him. He swung his arm over her shoulders and kissed those succulent puckers, then leaned in again for a longer, more passionate kiss. He loved her, there was absolutely no doubt about that.


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Maddox, very interesting name, and on a girl nonetheless. He took her hand and gave a friendly shake "Good to meet you Maddox, just call me Salander. Everybody does." he grinned. "So your a transfer?" he guessed, she certainly wasnt one of the young ones "Where you from?"

She smiled back at him briefly and then puckered back up just as he caught her lips with his. Oh how she loved Salander kissies. Mhm. Oh! And longer kisses now. YAY. She took it that her crazy was forgiven. YAYYAYAYA.

Sliding her arms around his waist she kissed him back trying to put as much emotion and apology into it as possible. Coming up for air, her cheeks slightly flushed she breathed, "I love you Stradivarius Salander. With every fiber of my being. I just... dun wanna do anything to lose you. So please... tell me if I get too crazy... or push you. I want to communicate about these things." It was true. She was GROWING. She knew what she needed to do to make this relationship work. And she would do what it took. Mhm.

"So what do you say? The house in France? We can go there this Christmas break and redecorate... and get things ready to move in. If you want... do you think your family will mind?" she said with knit brows at the end.

She wanted to be with him so badly... forever...

Georgiana was talking with someone at the Slytherin table, when she spotted one of her friends...Helenaa! The slytherin excused herself and approached to where Helena was sitting with...some other girl. "Heeeeeeeey there!" she exclaimed and waved. The girl beside Helena seemed new...was she? maybe not. Georgiana couldn't remember if she has seen her last term or not...which was ironic because both were errr slytherins. She finally reached both girls "Helenaa! how are you?" the girl said to her friend and hugged her. It was great to see her again even though they'd hang out at DA during the holidays, but now they were going to see each other everyday. Georgiana noticed that she hasn't introduced herself to the other girl.."Ohh sorry, I'm Georgiana" she smiled and took a seat "And you?".

The ship couldve jumped onto the shore and breached into the Great Hall, but not even that would've distracted him, so lost was he in the passion that was Lexi, feeling all the raw emotion that words simply were inadequate to convey. "I dont want to lose you either Lexi..." he whispered in reply, the whimpering fear in his heart taking form in a sound only loud enough for her to hear. He nodded his head in agreement that they must keep all lines of communication open. "I completely agree with you Luv." he added intensely. It was one of the things that eventually destroyed his parents. Too much lies and misunderstandings until all trust simply vanished.

He squeezed her shoulders lovingly as she spoke about the house in France "You bet. Christmas break. Me, you and France." he replied with certainty. He decided that he doesnt want to see the lawyers for a while-- at all if he could help it. "Who knows, maybe we might even bump into my mom when we're there. She loves France." yeah definitely a good place to speak with his mom without legal matters hanging over both their heads.

"I hope so." he spoke in almost a whisper. He felt a little overwhelmed, he needed to write a friend and he would definitely be writing that letter to Ryoma before bed tonight. He was still battling with his feelings about everything that had been happening lately between him and Kurumi. He looked over at her as she spoke again. "Year that's her. Her brother Luke was me best mate at Drumstrang." He wished they were alone and could talk. But there they were in this sea of people. Feeling frustrated he sighed. He rubbed his hand over his face before speaking again. "Mike told me you knew how to get down to the kitchens. Could you show me?" He asked.

"It was probably because Quidditch was returned." Cass answered, voicing her earlier thoughts. Then she asked in a puzzled manner. "Movies? What are those?" It sounded familiar though...hmm..why did it sound so familiar?

Cass applauded along with everyone else as the headmaster finished his speech. It turns out she was wrong about the ship...it was perfectly safe for students after all...not that she would ever admit it.

Then she smiled as the food appeared in front of them. Finally! She can eat!

"I guess so. " She stated carelessly. If anyone stole any of her things, she wouldn't think twice before hexing them. Hmph.

"Well..It was weird." The blonde admitted with a frown. She never thought the day would come that Levi and her would get along in such a civilized manner.

Then she smiled , not wanting to worry the girl "But it was fun too. I got to play my new song for the guys." She said, referring to her friends of course "Too bad we didn't run into you though, your presence would have been welcome."

"How about you? Aside from the book stealing of course." She asked as she placed a couple of spoonfuls of mashed potatoes on her plate before doing the same with the peas.

"Everything I do is exceptional." said Aurora, raising her eyebrows. "If it wasn't I would have been disowned long ago!" She grinned.

"Brilliant! Let's go as soon as we can!"

Tired of being ignored by the man, Rufus put on a little sadface, let him go and went to curl up in Lexi's lap. Sad monkey would get lovin' from his mistress. Mhm.

She heard the fear in his voice and it made her happy and sad at the same time... sad that he was scared, and happy that he too was afraid of losing her... if that made sense. "Well if I have anything to do with it... I will keep you forever," she whispered before laying a little kiss on his nose. "I dun want there to be anything we can't talk about, Sal. We make a vow right now... we talk about it all, communicate about all things. That is the only way we will last, babe," she continued whispering. He agreed, she was on board. They had a plan. They WOULD work. She had no doubts about that... much.

"Maybe you could invite her over for tea? I would be honored to meet your mother, Sal. Maybe I can convince her I am good for you..." she said with a happier tone than she had before.

Laying her head on his shoulder she sighed slightly and said, "Perhaps I should get back to my table. I need to eat and et up to bed... Madame Donovan wants me in her office first thing in the morning. And I need to go do my Mama Lion job." Lifting her head up she put her arms around his neck, smiled seductively at him and whispered, "I will see you in the corridor tonight though, yeah? Or the kitchens?" Then she leaned in and kissed him so deeply it could have set the whole Hall on fire. Pulling back she wrinkled her nose at him, picked up Rufus from her lap and stood up. "I really DO love you. So much." Then blowing him a kiss she started to make her way toward her table.

He could feel a scuttling about him and only realized that the little monkey has been hugging him all that while. So preoccupied was he in their emotions with his Luv that he missed the little one that wanted to share too. He gave Rufus an apologetic smile and reached out to scratch its back with his finger.

He looked at Lexi and his eyes lit up "Hey yeah you should meet Mom!" he grinned and with stark clarity realizing now how she and his Luv had several things in common-- and it wasnt just because they were both blonde. "I should owl one of her PAs... or Finchley, check her appointment and all that...." he nodded eagerly. He still found it ridiculous that he had to go through a schedule just to see his mother, but when it comes to Lexi, he didnt want to take chances and end up with a disappointing no show he often had to endure.

"Whereever and whenever Luv" he smiled back naughtily. Now those are the kinds of meetings he would LOVE to to keep attending, better yet, they dont need to go through a PA and check a schedule. Specially he's always been an impromptu kind of guy heh.

A stupid grin was left on his face after that one heckuva kiss. With dreamy eyes he watched his Gryffincess head back to her table, once again resting his face against his palm. And his elbow on a plate of pasta. Ah amore!

Kurumi leaned in a bit thinking that she had heard Connor say something, but it was so quiet that she hadn't be able to make it out. "So you must know her well," Kurumi half smiled. "She mentioned that you and her were very close." It had almost been threatening actually. "I talked with her a little in Diagon Alley before the term began."

She noticed Connor struggling with something, so she thought now would perhaps be the best time to present him with the gift she had bought during her trip with her mother and brothers. "Hey, I have something for you," she chirped hoping to cheer him up a bit. "Remember I went on a trip with my mother and brothers? Well, I got you this. It's a charm for good luck. I got it from one of the strongest power spots in Japan. I hope it will bring you good fortune."

She pulled a small white envelope out of her pocket and handed it to Connor. "You can open it now if you want." Please?


Kurumi blinked. She had forgotten that Cass had grown up in a pureblood family and was unfamiliar with non-magical things. "Well, movies are moving pictures. Kind of like the photographs we take in the wizarding world...only they produce sound, are about 100 times larger, and move for hours at a time to tell a story."

"Oh, wow." Cass said in amazement. If those were muggle things, then she was hoping that maybe Professor Zookara could show them one during Muggle studies soon. They seem really awesome "They sound really cool. I wish we had those here in the wizarding world." She stated. She was getting tired of the pictures always moving around in the same manner. Although, they can be quite nice too if its a picture of an absent loved one waving at you.

Connor opened the envelope and smiled when the beautiful, delicate charm fell into his palm. He put it on and looked into her eyes. "Thank you Kurumi. It's beautiful and I truly appreciate it." He took her and in his and gently squeezed it under the table. "I love it." He replied, his smile back for now. "Can we not talk about Dani right now please? Yes she is a good friend whom I've known since she wore pigtails. I just want to hear about your trip and just to spend some time with you."

K-Lee had lost track of the conversation she had been having and just listened to various other peoples conversations. She as usual was happy, but still felt sort of lonely. She kept her eyes peeled for someone to talk to while she finished up her dinner.

Maybe another table had people to talk to? She'd look in a minute, she should finish eating first.

Helena was just about to take a sip of her juice, when she heard a familiar voice. A very familiar one, actually. The girl turned around to face Georgiana, who was already hugging her. Even though it didn't pass a very long time since they had last seen each other, Helena missed her extremely enthusiastic Slytherin friend. "Georgiana!" She said, then grinned. "I'm good, how about you?"

Fee giggled a little,why was it that everyone was so unsre about getting their feelings out and making something out of it?Well,it was kinda hard after all." Ohhh i knooow",she nodded,"at first its not really helpful to express your feelings.I dunno why though."To be honest,Fee never made first steps maybe hat was making it extra difficult.

Awwwww was Iris blushing?Oh my god,that was soo adorable.Little Fee just made the head girl blush.Wooohoo to that.Sure it wss a little early to think about babies but it just had crossed Fee's mind while they were talking about Iris and her boyfriend."I am sure you'll make awesome parents",she nodded,"even though i am gonna miss you here."Oh yees,Iris was a fabulous person to be with.The blonde would miss her loads.

Fee smiled at the thought of New York,it had been more than amazing.It had been wonderful."You traveled Europe?",the blonde asked wiggling her eyebrows,"that sounds suuuper exciting."Maybe she could be able to go to Paris one day,that would be great."Where have you been?"Aww,Emma had visited her bestie?How amazing.Braeden?Who was Braeden?And then the third year noticed the blush on her fake sis' cheeks.Awww."Do you want to tell me something about that mysterious boy?",the Slytherin winked.

The girl just shook her head at Emma mentioning William being all flirty."Yeahh i dont know but he finds me hot for some weird reasons",she chuckled.Ohhh Hugo's reaction to it.Not to good."They kinda had a fight about me earlier",the third year whispered and sighed.It would be so much better if they both liked eachother.OH TEAM FEALEM FOR THE WIN!"Yesss i am going to try out again",she nodded,"i hope to make it this time.What about you?"
Nothing could stop her this time,nooooothing and if she neededa time turner to be at all the tryouts she would get one.

"Noo dont worry about it"Fee smiled,"of course we will stay friends."A common denominator?Hugo and William?!"What is it?",the blonde asked raising one eyebrow.Ohh yeeees little P was missing.Where was the girl?!Probably surrounded by guys.Hehe."Yeees i knooow why",the girl chuckled and patted Willy's arm,"you got a little crush on her huh?"


Fee let her eyes wander the Slytherin table.Where was Peyton?Fee missed her little sweetheart kinda much.The little red head had grown to her soo sooo sooo much.And then the food appeared.Ohh yaaay,the blonde was really hungry.What do eat first? Mhhh... Noddles.Definitely noodles.

Reaching for the bowl her eyes caught someone.Ohhhhhh there she was.Sweet P, seemed to be kinda hungry too.Hehe.Taking some noodles,the blonde put the bowl back and waved at her friend."Hiiiii",she said excitedly.Midnight hot chocolates,here we come.

Aurora looked around her, the others were eating. "K-Lee, look!" She pointed to the staff table. "Looks like Gryffindor are 15 points down already!"

Rozanna studied the prideful girl's face, wondering whether to test her patience or not. Ehh, why not? "Fine... but that's a little biased, because you are a Slytherin." Her point was, if Samira was a Hufflepuff, she would be bursting with Hufflepuff pride. That's how it worked. Woah, looks like she had touched a nerve there. Rightly so, she had just called Slytherins 'mean', which judging by Samira's attitude towards her, they kind of were! "I suppose you're right. You're the only Slytherin I have met, so I can't really make a judgement just yet." Something told her that her lack of snake pride wouldn't get her too many friends, though. Never mind, she wasn't going to act fake around people just to make friends. That is just as stupid as buying friendship.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I know I'll enjoy it here, and it is a really pretty place..." She trailed off, not wanting to go into her house-hatred details again. "I'm sooo excited to start the lessons! Are they good?" Rozanna asked with a bright grin, finally warming to the other girl's presence. It did take a while for her to actually feel comfortable with new people, but as soon as she was, she was like a bouncy, cuddly teddy bear. "I went to Beauxbatons Academy for two years. But my family didn't like living in France so we moved back." Because Rozan actually grew up in the United Kingdom.

Changing the subject, out of boredom but also curiosity, Rozanna mentioned, "did you hear about the ship on the lake?" She had only read a bit about it from the Daily Prophet, but really had no idea why it was such big news. Perhaps this girl knew more than she did.

She gave him a hearty shake when he grasped her hand. "Pleased to meet ya Salander." she answered and returned his grin with a toothy one of her own. She scratched her nose and thought about his question. "Um yeah a transfer that sounds about right," she nodded. She would have to remember that for future reference and questions. She forgot how annoying kids could be with all their questions. She scratched her ear as she thought about that question, "Oh well you know different places. I moved around a lot." There that was a great answer. She clapped and giggled at her own cleverness.

Whn Lara heard the reason Elle was upset about, she was disappointed! She thought that it might have been something that really matters! But because a BOOK! that wasn't one of the subjects that Lara might get upset about. However, she thought that gr her own good she mustn't see this, not now that Elle is upset, what if she called one of her brothers. So Lara pretented to be conserned "Oh! really? that's awful, why would anyone do such thing?" Lara said hoping that it was obvious that she was faking it!

Anyway she was glad that elle moved on to eating ,and Lara did the same!

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Lara was glad that Elle didn't comment on what Lara said to Cody, so she just went on talking "I see" Lara nodded "Aren't you excited about the new term, Cody?" Lara asked then she thought that it was a stupid question to be asked! Of course he is!

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Then Lara looked at both Elle and Cody as she glanced the Staff table and said" Do you think that the headmaster will talk about the ship that was found in the black lake?" Lara asked curiously. She was so curious about this, in fact it was one of the most exciting reasons that Lara was thrilled to know about.

"There are many fascinating movies out there," Kurumi nodded as she scratched the back of her head nervously. At least she had been able to explain herself this time. Explaining airplanes had been a mild disaster.

"I am glad you like it. It reminded me of the cherry blossoms in your garden," she smiled as her cheeks turned pink and her eyes flicked down to where his hand held hers. She didn't jump with surprise this time, which surprised her, and she returned her gaze to his face as he continued to speak. "I-I-I'm sorry," she squeaked tugging on her pony tail. He seemed...upset about her mentioning Dani. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything." She looked down for a moment and swallowed.

"My trip was a lot of fun, surprisingly. Mother showed my brothers and I around all the shrines and temples. One is a part of the sect of the shrine she used to work for as a shrine maiden, so that was really interesting. I got to watch a non-magical fire ritual..." she paused for a moment and squeezed his hand realizing that she had brought up a sensitive subject. "...one of my favorite places we went was this giant park filled with deer. I got to feed them and everything. Oh, everything was so beautiful Connor! We even got to see a dance performance put on by geisha in training. I wish I could be as elegant as they were. It was amazing!"

When Green started squealing about her loss of appetite Lulu Patterson couldn't help but sneer. "Too bad! So sad!" responded the brunette with zero sympathy. "If it bothers you so much you can sit over there," suggested Lu pointing at a rather empty space with some lonely looking Slytherins who kept looking left and right as if hoping someone would hear their mental cries of sorrow. "Sir Robin isn't going anywhere unless he spots a brand new sparkly bracelet."

Green's obnoxiousness knew no bounds as she invited a Puffer to sit at their table. Lulu picked up a fork and pointed it in their direction. "Puffer, if yer have a brain, you'll just be going away from this girl. Her brain isn't human."



Lulu watched Greingoth's explosion quietly. She was honestly surprise by the girl's outburst. She was generally congenial although picky about who she associated with but Patterson never pegged her as volatile. The third year was about to butt in, partially because she was bored and partially because she really didn't like Green's attitude but Sierra was making a quick exit. In her efforts to leave as soon as possible, there had been an altercation of sorts. A flash of something blinded Lulu for a moment and next thing she knew Sir Robin was leaping off from Minnie's shoulders and onto the green hair tangled in Sierra's bracelet.

Sir Robin attached himself by teeth and claws to the bracelet and wig, unwilling to let go.

"WORR!" exclaimed Lulu standing up and slamming her hands on the table loudly as consequence. "SIR ROBIN, THIS IS NOT HOW YER DO THINGS. DISCREET. BE DISCREET." Bloody ferret couldn't get anything right! Lulu reached over in an effort to rip her pet away from the bracelet and mess of green hair when Lulu noticed something suspicious. The hair, which was supposed to be attached to Green's skull, seemed to be shifting oddly. Hair didn't move that way. "Oh..."

Lulu reached over and snatched the wig off the girl, Sir Robin attached to it. "Look, Greingoth!" exclaimed Patterson proudly, holding up the wig. Sir Robin chattered in annoyance as he was tangled amongst the colored synthetic strands of hair. "I think this is my first scalping. I should get a sparkly sticker at least."

Lulu disentangled Robin from the wig. The ferret squirmed away from its owner as soon as it could and returned to Greingoth, holding on to her wrist and looking up at her with beady eyes in a futile effort to cutely beg for a sparkly item.

"Here," said Lulu tossing the wig at the Puffer. "Congratulations. Yer a Puffer. Yer table is that-a-way," finished Patterson, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "You can frame that," continued the brunette flicking an index finger at the green wig. "No need to thank me, though. Just take her with you," finished the girl with a nod at the de-wigged Slytherin. "Free of charge."

"I guess it is just human nature," Iris suggested, shrugging. It didn't matter to her any more, nor did it concern her, how and why asking people out was a difficult task. She had exactly who she wanted; had done for 4 years. Where was Aaron, anyway? He HAD to be in the Hall somewhere... but there was lots of new Snakes. Far too many to see everyone. Maybe he was sat on the table somewhere and hadn't seen Iris...

Babies.

Right.

Babies... They certainly did NOT need to think about that. NEWTs. Yes. They were what Iris needed to focus on. And this student event that she, Finlay and the other prefects had to organise. But not babies. Nope. ESPECIALLY not her own babies. "We WILL be? ... Maybe... one day." Heh. Fee was saying it as if Iris was already pregnant!

She smiled a little at Fee's next comment. Nothing to do with babies. Good. "I'll miss you too, Fee. You're a cool kid." Kid. GAH. Babies... Iris didn't want to grow up, and she did NOT want to have children! Not before she was forced to grow up into a proper adult.

Mummy Iris...

Nuuu. There was going to be none of that. Not any time soon, anyway.



Iris was distracted from Fee and her baby talk (and the thoughts which were provoked from those comments) when Tate stood up. OOOH. Speech time! She sat straight, looking up at the Dias.

As Tate talked, Iris frowned. A LOT. She was right, with what she said to Hugo. The other two teachers WERE some of Borr's lot. Perfect, there is THREE classes that she obviously isn't going to like.

What is the point, really, in having staff members who aren't even going to be there all the time? It was ridiculous! Sure, there are study groups, like Tate suggested, but isn't that the TEACHERS job, not the older students' jobs? Hmpf. Iris already wasn't liking these teachers, and she hadn't even met any of them yet!

As his speech moved on to the mysterious ship, Iris frowned even more. Yes. Lets just let the kids go play on the odd ship. That's a good idea. At least he did say it wouldn't be right away...

FINALLY.

Food!

As all the food appeared on the table, Iris looked away from the Dias, and back to Hugo and Fee. Only when she was picking up some potatoes onto her plate, did she realise that Tate mentioned NOTHING about not dying. That was very unusual... and not like him to say "Oh, and don't die" in his opening feast.

It didn't seem good, for him to NOT say that...

I wonder if that pumpkin pasty was laced with felix felicis. Or lose-all-common-sense potion, Melina wondered as she made her way over to the...gulp...Slytherin table. She hoped her blue Ravenclaw collar would appear more green in the candlelight as she approached the girl she'd met on the train.

Ok, Melina was scared of the Slytherins. In her head, she knew that they couldn't all be as bad as the rumors implied. But her 11 year-old head also housed a rather large imagination and a flair for drama.

Thankfully, she had just enough of her Gryffindor dad's genes to chuck caution to the wind. She didn't know many people at all, and so she wanted to keep the connections she'd made with the students she'd met at Diagon Alley and on the train.

She made herself as inconspicuous as possible as she sidled up to Peyton. She tapped the girl on the shoulder and smiled. "Hey Peyton!" she whispered, as if her voice alone would give away her non-Snake status. "Remember me? Melina- we hung out in the middle cars on the train? I wanted to say congratulations for getting into your house! How do you feel?!" Her excitement was slowly winning out over her Snake-o-phobia as she looked in her friend's familiar face.

"I wonder what's inside the ship though." Mordred scratched his ear.

"I know! That's what's so exciting!" She fiddled with her hair and helped herself to a scoop of ice cream. "Ooh, violet flavour!" The sweetness melted in her mouth. "I can't resist a bit of ice cream."

"When do you think we'll be allowed to go in?" She said, licking every bit of ice cream from her spoon before dipping it back into her bowl.