"Oh." Theodore coughed shortly and stopped the ridiculous singer-foolishness. He was only giving himself away! His eye caught on her Prefect badge.

OH NOOOOOOOES. THE PREFECT WAS ON TO HIM.

"Nothing. I'm just being a Gryffindor, you know." Face palmmmmm. Singing was a Gryffindor thing, was it? Theodore shuffled so he wasn't facing the old student. Maybe if she didn't look him in the eyes, she would buy it.

He WAS a lion.

Don't stomp on his dreams.

Anya frowned and crossed her arms. Spoil sport! The Headmaster probably had LOTS of toys to play with. He wasn't going to miss one. Especially a SHINY one! Boys didn't like shiny. Especially old boys that ran schools.

Humph! And now ickle!elffie was off at another table.

How was she supposed to keep entertained now?

She looked around the table. Maybe Kurumi had more cookies? That would make her feel a little better.

Ooh! This would work just fine. Yes it would.

"I liked his singing." Anya said with a nod. "What's your name sing-song song singer?"

*giggles* That was really fun to say.

And did he not realize that everyone could watch the sortings? Anya kept really good count of all the new lions. And this boy was not on said list.

His opinions on Gryffindors was very slowly decreasing. They made him feel VERY nervous... And now someone else had begun QUESTIONING him....

"Thank YOU." Wooh, a Gryffy compliment.

"My name is Theodore, and I am a Gryffindor." Yes. If he hadn't made that already clear...

D:

Anya smiled. "You are welcome. Are you any good at lullabies?" Because. You know... just because. She didn't have to have reasons for these questions. Gosh people.

"Hello Theodore. I'm Anya. Welcome to the Gryffindor table." We have cookies over here!

She smirked. Awww! He wanted to play Gryffindor! "So what do you like about being over here?" she asked. Over here as in... the Gryffindor table?

And the girls were cuter was a perfectly acceptable answer.

Aww!! That baby elf was sooo cute! Ira watched in fascination as it bounced and jumped over the table, though she did NOT appreciate it spilling water and juice around on her robes.

But still, Toddles was CUTE.

And then she saw the fat cute little boy. Who had been sorted into Slytherin. Yep, Ira definitely remembered seeing him being sorted into Slytherin.

So why was he so adamanty about being a Gryffindor? Huh?

*poke* Ira went over and poked the boy with her finger on his shoulder. "Hey.. weren't you sorted into SLYTHERIN?" So no, he wasn't a Gryffindor.

Maxwell continued to laugh a little. "Well, someone's go to be and I'm not that funny without a polka-dotted mullet, thanks for changing me back by the way." He said noting that he hadn't thanked her.

Derrick stared around until someone said something.He looked at the girl who said something to him and said''I'm fine.''He said smiling.''Yeah,I came from A Brittish Wizarding School.''He explained.He wanted to forget everything about his past.

Oh, wasn't he cute pretending like he didn't enjoy being huggged. Clearly Toddles was just very shy and needed some easing in to the whole hug notion. Besides, Kurumi knew how very odd it could be for a house elf to be hugged by a witch - even if said witch was rumored to be part house elf.

Wait...he found it where!? "Toddles...you can't just go taking things from people's offices like you did before..." Especially now that she had spoken for the elf and, well, the Headmaster had told her to keep an eye on the elf whenever she could. Clearly, she was failing. But wait, what about Nimma? Shouldn't the other house elves have a better grip on Toddles?

Merlin.

Watching the exchange between Jezz and Toddles take place, Kurumi opened her mouth to tell Jezz that she didn't have the orb in her hand, but the second year was gone and so was the house elf. Wait...NOW just where had it run off to? Should she go after it?

Seeing as it had run off to the Ravenclaw table now, Kurumi sat back down in her seat. Looked like Louisa was about to get a crash course in how to be a prefect under pressure just ignore that Kurumi had only been focusing on hugging Toddles just now.

Now that things were settling down, sort of, Kurumi's attention went back to the obviously none Gryffindor boy at the table.

"Oh? And what does being a Gryffindor mean, exactly?" she asked curiously. She wasn't teasing him, quite the opposite really. She was genuinely curious what he thought being a Gryffindor meant. Actually, that was something she wanted to pose to all her lions.

Eyeing Anya for a moment, Kurumi focused on the little Gryffindor's face. It didn't look like there was anything wrong with it, despite the orb having just stuck to it.

"Of course," Kurumi nodded with a faint smile. Not that Kurumi doubted Anya would make it. Selina was always raving about how brilliant the girl was as a Seeker. Hopefully this term their house would win more than one match. Kurumi was certainly crossing her fingers for that one.

"He is?" Kurumi asked. Not that she knew Destiny all that well besides her challenging Kurumi to a cookie duel. They had never been able to actually do that, sadly, seeing at the kitchens had been closed all of the term due to Toddles and all that chaos. "I'll...I'll see if I can manage a visit. I'd really like to see him again as well."

Kurumi smiled again sheepishly, bowing her head slightly in gratitude for Anya's words, but not saying anything else.
Kurumi frowned a bit. She had obviously said something to upset him judging from his tone and the way he sort of went off into his own thoughts. "I just mean that you don't have to let the past entirely dictate your future. Who you are," she clarified. If Kurumi did that, let the past tell her who she was, then she would still be locked away in her shell attempting to avoid the world.

Kurumi glanced back at the staff table. Judging from all the conversation going on there...it was still going to be a little while until the Headmaster gave his speech. Which meant they were going to have to wait on food. "I'm....not sure," she said with a heavy sigh. "I hope so though...I really want some pumpkin juice."
Kurumi nodded. "I've been hoping for a little more....hands on sort of lessons," she admitted, laughing a little at his comment about parties. She was in total and complete agreement. In fact, if the first lesson of the term was about food or a party again, she was tempted to go directly to the Headmaster and speak with him about it.

Kurumi raised an eyebrow. Selina knew that Kurumi was not the most vocal of people, choosing to show her house spirit in other ways. But that wasn't what Selina had meant by her words, at least Kurumi hoped so. She was a bit off this evening with reading people, her own emotions still not entirely in check.

"I don't think you would be able to fly very well if you were dressed like a lion," Kurumi replied shaking her head. "Although I'd like to see you try. Use it as a Quidditch practice or something." You know, force the team to be out of their element by wearing bulky things. Could actually prove to be a good training method. Sort of like when they had had one of their senses taken away during Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Derrick turned around to see another girl saying something to him.''Hey I'm Derrick.''He said smiling.''I'm new here by the way.''He hoped that Hogwarts would be nice for him.

louise walked up to the table "hi everyone though i would came over and get to know you all" I am a 3 year

Don't let the past entirely dictate your future...who you are. It was exactly what he was doing, he was letting his past get in the way of his future. He lived in the past, everything about him seemed to be in the past. That was why he never actually made any progress in the present and would certainly not progress in the future if he kept on his lifestyle. He bit his lip then proceeded to try to curve it into a smile as sign of understanding, but he still didn't agree to it.

Really not the time to start thinking of the past again, Zeke. You've had plenty of time to do that for quite a while. Make today a little different than the other. Besides, today's the beginning of everything right? "Pumpkin juice?" It really shouldn't be a wonder to him anymore that a lot of people liked pumpkin juice, but he still found it weird to make juice out of pumpkin. He was used to apples, and mangoes, grapes, orange, and all those common fruits. Yeah, pumpkin was a little out his usual preference. "You're thirsty then?" She did want a drink rather than all the delicious food they served at the feasts here. And again a cookie was nearby so he just grabbed one again and began to eat it. Oh brother, maybe once the Headmaster decides to put out the food, he was already full of eating almost all the cookies he could get his hands on. But for Zeke, that wasn't mostly possible. He never gets full, not at all. One day he could just use up all his savings to buy all the food he wanted in a restaurant or something. His ideal day.

Out of the blue, he just suddenly asked, "So how's this whole prefect life beating you?" Where did that come from? Blink. "Sorry, I meant treating you." He smiled apologetically.

And now she was apologizing again? But at least she hadn't asked him what HE had thought she was talking about. That would have been very awkward seeing as he'd encouraged her to do it. If only he'd been right. Not that her thinking he was encouraging her to pull him to the ground more often was any less awkward. "N-not entirely your fault." Lewis muttered while his hands had gone up to the bridge of his nose again, pinching it absently to try and sort out his thoughts...and emotions too. What HAD he been thinking? Of course she hadn't been serious.

So she did want to repay him in some way. He had learned that she took things like that very serious, even if he told her that she didn't have to give him anything. Like with the cake. And the kitchen. The way she was still looking at him, a smile playing around her lips, made him bite his lip a little. So she expected him to tell her how to repay him? Before he could stop himself - maybe it was partly because he'd thought about the kitchen, and maybe it was partly because of the whole situation - he swallowed again and whispered, "W-well, you know what I want." He allowed his eyes to rest on hers for just a moment longer before averting his gaze some place else.

Of course this was a very vague statement but hopefully she would get what he really meant.

Lewis tried to calm himself down a little by taking a couple of deep breaths but while he might have looked more or less calm on the outside, his heart was beating out of control, making it very hard to think straight. Especially when he followed her gaze to the Slytherin table and hence confirming his suspicions as to who the 'he' was she was talking about. She was going to tell him. She was going to tell him about what had happened. Was that all she was going to tell him? Maybe she had just felt the need to tell him since well, he deserved to know. Maybe that was all there was to it. Maybe she just had a bad conscience that was all.

Maybe this was just that and had nothing to do with choosing someone.

His eyes were back on hers, searching them, trying to find an answer to exactly this question. Why was she telling him? Lewis tried to suppress the feeling of panic threatening to overcome him when he thought about what Jonathan's reaction was going to be. Somehow he doubted it would be too good. But somehow that wasn't what bothered him the most. It was more the question about what Kurumi wanted to happen now. What she expected from her impending talk with Jonathan. Did she want him to...end this? Or was she going to?

He swallowed again when she said his name, quickly followed by a small shiver running up his arm and down his back when she touched his hand. The owlery? Lewis' eyes narrowed a little at this suggestion, trying to figure out if there was some kind of hidden meaning behind her words. Did she remember? Like...all of it? Or was she just...but he should stop thinking about all of this now. It was no use and he was going to find out soon enough. He just nodded in reply to her question before squeezing her pinky finger with his softly. Yes, the owlery it was then.

He wasn't sure he was ready for whatever she wanted to tell him but he was going to be there.

Kurumi continued to chew lightly on her bottom lip while her one hand tangled itself in her hair. Lewis was right...they both were at fault here. On so many levels actually, but especially when it came to confusing each other. She didn't want to. Didn't want to confuse him anymore. Didn't want to be confused herself about it all. But most of all, she didn't want to see him pinching the bridge of his nose like he was doing now. It meant that he was frustrated, nervous, confused and part of her just wanted to reach up and remove his hand from his nose and look him in the eye so that he could see that he shouldn't be feeling that way.

Only that would confuse him more...given the circumstances that still surrounded them.

So, she didn't say anything and instead continued to idly play with her and suck on her bottom lip nervously.

Trying to push the memories that were fogging her vision and making her heart race out of her mind, Kurumi attempted to figure out some way that she could repay him when he whispered. You know what I want. Kurumi's eyes widened and she gasped. Her eyes, that had been looking off in no particular direction, were back on his and searching for an answer that she already knew. It was only a flash, happening so quickly that it was gone almost as quickly as it had happened, but Kurumi's brown eyes were no more, a familiar color in their place. Of course, Kurumi had no idea that this was happening but was all too aware of just how hard her heart was pounding to the point that her ears were throbbing as well.

There was so much she wanted to say, convey, but she had no means of doing so right now. Not to mention she really had no right to. What she saw reflected in Lewis' eyes right now was everything she had wanted and hoped for, but it didn't make her feel as happy as she wished. You know what I want. His message was clear and she understood, only she didn't understand why. She wanted the same. Or thought that she did. But she was afraid. So afraid. Looking at him again, having the messaged delivered to her again, felt incredible and the corners of her lips curled in to a smile as her eyes flickered colors again.

Looking at the Slytherin table now, seeing Jonathan smiling as he caught up with all his housemates that he hadn't seen because of his father pulling him from school...it broke her heart. After everything they had said to each other, the things he had said to her, kissing her on the train ride to Hogwarts and telling her she was beautiful... Kurumi knew what had to be done, but it seemed like a task that only the mighty Hercules would be able to accomplish. And she was no Hercules. Not by a long shot.

She wished she knew how to perform Legilimency so that she could see what all was going through Lewis' mind right now. She usually had some sort of hint by looking in his eyes, but there were far too many emotions coursing through the two of them to make sense of it all. She whimpered softly when his pinky returned the squeeze and he nodded in to their meeting. Her chest heaved again and she exhaled with shaky breaths. Again, here they were at a point where they were supposed to be parting. Saying goodbye. But neither of them was able to let go.

That should be a sign to him. To her. To them.

"I'll...see you soon then," she whispered shyly, a hint of reluctancy in her voice as she looked to their entwined pinkies.

Kurumi simply observed Zeke for a moment, choosing not to make any further comments about their rather heavy conversation. A little too heavy for a first meeting. Best to just...let this go for now. Pick things back up when they knew each other better. Kurumi certainly wasn't ready to open up to him about her past, so she shouldn't expect that he be willing to either.

"Um...a little," she said with a nod. "I just really like pumpkin juice to be honest. There isn't anything like it back in Japan." Despite her efforts to replicate it even. That had been a mild disaster. Wait, actually, remove the mild from that statement and then you were closer to the truth. Japanese pumpkin was not the large orange ones like were used to make pumpkin juice here. So...yeah...bad idea. Really bad idea.

Kurumi blinked in surprise at his statement. "B-B-Beating?" she repeated, a look of shock still written on her face. Beating like...with a Beater's bat? Why did she suddenly have the image of Selina looming over her with her Beater's bat threatening her to get all her tasks done or else. Not that Kurumi really needed a reminder to get things done. She kept a color coded chart and calendar to keep her life organized almost down to the minute. "Oh...um....treating me well...I think. I mean, it's a lot of work and responsibility, but I enjoy it. It has helped bring out the true Gryffindor in me."

Minerva chuckled a bit, "Oh your welcome. I wasn't going to leave you like that." She looked around.."I hope this ends soon. I'm just so exhausted."

"No, we had a family owl, but my dad has her right now. I want a cat though, they're way cooler than owls!" she smiled, Eliza really wanted a cat, but her parents weren't so keen on the idea. If only. "Do you?"

Well, the chaos at their table was becoming unbearable already. Mordred decided to cross the hall and stand at the back of the Gryffindor table. “Ah, this side is better.” He thought to himself as he crossed his arms. It still was noisy, but not as much on their side. Looks like the hyperactive first years ended up in their house.

Le sigh.

Not that he hated the little snakes, but their hyper activeness can somehow drive the older students nuts. He spotted a seat beside a boy—about his age and he reluctantly approached him.

“Hey is this seat taken?” he better say no because he’s itching to relax his legs. The usual problem of tall boys, yes.

Lea was not excited. Not even a bit. Of course she was not as now she was a big second year girl. The dark-haired girl was playing with her fork as her dark brown eyes watched the people around. She did not feel like talking to anyone but, on the other hand, she was pretty much bored too. The girl had to find something to entertain herself.

Or...someone had to entertain her. That could be just way better. Narrowing her eyes, she started to eye every single person at the table one by one trying to choose a victim.

This one or this? Ooooooooor this...or those who were not Gryffindor, at all.

It was hard to choose.

Japan...ohh. So that's where she came from, the eyes gave it all away. Like the Xing guy he met at the train. Only, he seemed like from somewhere else, but still they both looked different. "A pumpkin fan, I see. You ever tried riding in one?" He smirked and remembered that silly show Jane used to watch when they were kids. Well, that movie that Jane forced him to watch with her. What was the title again? Something like Cinnamonella? No, too long. Cin...ella. Bleh, he couldn't remember. But it sounded something near that.

Yeah, he expected that reaction and really wished he could smack his head on a wall right now. Or a table, it was the closest. But she got the message anyway, but still he wished he hadn't let that slip off his tongue. Beating.

She enjoys it. It brings out the true Gryffindor in her. W-o-w. Kurumi was really taking this whole thing seriously. Oh well, each person's unique and different. Maybe that's what makes her stand out above the rest. As for him, he's just enjoying a laid back life without having to worry about anything or anyone at all. Just going with the flow. "That..." say something nice, like "that's really nice that you're being responsible" or "that's very nice of you." ANYTHING WITH THE WORD NICE. "..sounds like a lot of work."

........okay, or that. And he bit his lip a little.

Zeke still on the verge of wanting to hit himself in the head for all the wrongs things coming out of his mouth when someone came up, wanting to occupy the empty seat beside him. He looked up, a bit distracted. Though he was glad the distraction came. Oh, not a Gryffindor, I see.

"No, not really," he said. Well at least now he was meeting more guys. Zeke was getting a bit overwhelmed by the large number of girl population around. It feels like the only boys around his age he's been around were a handful. Oakey...Xing...and Oakey...and Xing. Or just two. Well, there were younger ones and older ones, though Zeke wasn't really that excited to meeting them. He wanted people his own age, people he could relate to mostly.

"Good. I'm okay, I guess..." The last bit was very quiet. The Quiddich captain probably hadn't heard her. Well, better than Lilly was usually. The thought of a treehouse made everything okay again. A little, at least. Well, actually quite a lot. Yeah, quite a lot. "I'm great!" she beamed instead, genuinely beaming and not faking it either!

"RONNIE!" Lilly ran over to her with a giant grin. True, they had seen each other only a few hours ago, but it felt good to see Ronnie back at Hogwarts. "How are you?" That sounded casual enough, didn't it?

IT WAS A HOUSE ELF! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! Ryffinblor? Maybe he didn't hear things so well. She would have to go to the kitchen to see the elves later. That would make her even more happy than the fact that she might be able to build a treehouse in Rupert's garden.

"I'll play ca-" The orb was flying through the air. THE ORB WAS FLYING THROUGH THE AIR! Lilly lunged forward to catch it. Then missed. Oops. Phew, other 'studentsies' were going to catch it. How did he even get that orb?

"Welcome to you too!" she squeaked. Lilly was actually lost for words, for a change which was very unusual. She just sat silently and awkwardly with nothing else to say until Ira spoke once again.

"No, just in the branches," she said, vaguely, clearly thinking about somthing else. A treehouse, that was what. IT was actually quite uncomfortable playing and singing in a tree, but she had found a thin branch, just safe enough for her to sit on, growin right out into the sky so it felt like she was flying. Ahh, where memories were made. Of composing music. Ooh, somethin to say! "I wrote a few songs this summer."

Ahh! Scary now second-year had that evil look on. And Lilly didn't want to be the opposite end of the next prank, which was obviously very, very soon. She fiddled with that annoying strand of hair again, nervously trying to think of a way to apporoach gently. She could hold her hands up and promise that she came in peace, but then she would most likely be embarassed. And she didn't want that either.

"I'd go for some sort of Slytherin, if I were you," she whispered, with a quick glance at Mordred, the one who Rose so often talked of. Well, not so much recently, really. Then she turned back to her plate and hoped that the victim would not be her.

Goodie. Mordred gave a small smile and made himself comfortable at the red table. “Well, this is weird…and awkward.” He thought to himself with a half smirk on his face. He leaned back on the wall and looked at the Slytherin’s table. “Things have gone haywire on our side. Really not in the mood to join in the chaos.” He addressed the boy. Since when did he become a Hufflepuff?

“Introductions, Mordaunt.” A tiny voice in his head said as he straightened up to face the boy. “Mordred Mordaunt. Fourth year Slytherin.” He said as he extended his right hand to the Gryffindor. Here’s hoping that this boy is on the same year as he is. Because if he was, then Mordred will be assured that he didn’t end up in Beauxbatons.

Eugh.

She didn't know what to say. Term starts and everything is haywire. "I guess I'm" she said, with sigh. She couldn't wait to get started with the classes, especially DADA. "Are there going to be any Quidditch tryouts? New players?" she asked, quite interestedly.

Hm, join the club. That little elf caused enough commotion around the Gryffindor table, though he wouldn't exactly classify it as chaos which made him wonder what was up at the Slytherin's table. "Really? What's gone up over there?" A food fight, maybe? It was common around these kind of occasions.

More dread more daunt? Whaaat? Was he trying to say some kind of idiom that Zeke didn't know? Blink. Oh well. Zeke just thought that maybe saying idioms was a way of greeting someone. Who knew? "Twopeasinapod?" Seriously Zek-o, what are you saying? OH COOL, a fourth year. And a guy, at that matter. FINALLYYYY. Where have you been all the while Mr. Idiom guy? "Fourth year, Gryffindor." He grinned as he reached out to shake his hand.

Maybe he should go ahead and introduce himself. "I'm Zeke by the way," he said, smiling but still confused.

"Ummm..... Lullabies are for babies. And I'm not a baby." He wiggled his finger as if he was genuinely establishing that he was not a baby. Nope. Eleven. Double FIGURES, bro.

"Hi, Anya. And thank you." Finally, a Gryffindor that didn't question him and his snake-ness.

Errrrrr... NO.
He wasn't 'over here' for a visit. Theodore was staying. Unless the lions forced him out with magic, or if they scary teachers pulled him by his ears. "I like being a Gryffindor cos..."

"... cos they're red."

That's right.. That was his only reason.


WHAT THE DEVILLLLLLL...

Theodore was being POKED. Not acceptable. Nobody pokes a SLYTHERIN and gets away with it. The boy frowned and... wait for it.....

"Ouch, that really hurt!" Ooooooh, take that. -_-

"NO. You must have mistaken me for someone else. And I'm wearing these robes cos they ran out of RED ONES."

The boy stuck his hand in front of the girls face.

Mean.

"Umm... It means being red and brave like a real lion." Ya know?

And Theodore was very brave. He was very tempted to add in a ROOOOOOOOOOARRRRRR to his comment. But he quickly realized he was standing on thin ice whilst at this table. No one bought this...

Theo sighed heavily.

Mika ran down to the Gryffindor table. She was skipping all the way. She couldn't help but chuckle when she stopped infront of Theodore she just glared.

Evil. He was the Chocolate-frog-thrower. MEANIE HEAD. She just stuck out her tongue almost playfully and then turned to other LOVELY gryffindor's near him.

"Hi do you guys want cookies?" She asked smiling kindly. "My mum made them and told me to make new friends - well to meet people who were real and not imaginary" she giggled. She didn't have imaginary friends she was actually pretty nice. She wasn't CRAZY.

Lets face it she was crazy.

Smirk.

Was he making fun of his name? Pssh.

“This guy should be in Hufflepuff.” He thought to himself. “Be nice, Mordaunt.” He reminded himself in his head. The boy’s population seems to be dwindling in Hogwarts, so he better stick to this kid a tad longer. Girls? They have lots back in Slytherin—so he need not worry.

“You want me to spell my name for you?” Why was he doing this again? Gaaah. “It’s M-O-R-D-R-E-D. Best you write it down if you still can’t pronounce it.” Seriously.

He eyed again his table to see if the ruckus has subsided. Apparently, their table’s infested with first years whose bloods are made of sugar. “You can say a little food fight happened over there.” He smiled at what he witnessed earlier. A first year threw a chocolate frog on the culprit’s face as a form of retaliation. Not really, the best retribution but it definitely was hilarious. He looked down the Gryffindor’s table and found the same boy who threw the chocolate frog. “Huh. Looks like he got tired of their game.” Mordred gestured his head toward the boy.

“So…Zeke. Are you new? I haven’t seen you around before.” He asked as he searched for a chocolate frog in his pocket.