"It's great to meet you, Erin!" Aurelie replied. She reached forward and touched her fingertips to the back of Erin's hand in a gesture of friendship. She would have actually sat up to shake Erin's hand properly, but she really was quite comfortable...
At the younger girl asked a question, Aurelie raised her eyebrows, slightly surprised. "No, we aren't friends...not yet, anyway!" She tacked the last bit on hastily, so as to not seem rude. "Actually, we haven't really spoken at all..." She glanced back at...Bee? She still wasn't sure of the girl's name. But she looked back to see the girl's reaction to Erin's assumption, and maybe to start a friendship with her as well? Friends are nice.

Gwendolyn continued to flip the pages of the book until she finally managed to come across what she was looking for. A moment later, she heard footsteps approaching the place where she was sitting, but didn’t mind to see who it was. Mehh. It was probably not someone she knew, so then why bother? Her eyes continued to scan the page, but then a voice interrupted her. What now?, she thought as she raised her eyes from the book. Ah. It was that Elliot girl she met not long ago. What did she want? Gwen looked a bit puzzled at the younger Ravenclaw for a moment.

What now?

‘Is there anything I can help you with?’, the fourth year said curtly as she raised an eyebrow. Seriously, after their last conversation, Gwen figured the girl wanted peace and quiet… and now she was the one who came to talk to her? Hmm. If there wasn’t something important, than Gwen would appreciate it if she could just return to her book. Before drawing her attention back to the chapter she had just started reading, the fourth year decided to wait for Elliot to reply to her question. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, she really didn’t want to be rude this time.

Elliot, upon hearing Pam's reply, stiffened a bit. She saw the crazy look in the other's girl eyes. Her haughty attitude disappeared. What replaced it was seriousness, coolness. Her smirk had gone.

"This is...something serious, isn't it, Pam?" she asked softly, looking very closely at the girl. And by something serious she meant...something outside Hogwarts, something scary. She leaned in towards the girl, and kept her voice lower than a normal whisper.

"Pam...my father has...many allies," she began, trying to keep the family secrets but offering something at the same time. "the business he does...he has many...friends in low places..." not that she knew what her Father did...but she knew it had to be illegal. He was always gone, away, and on the down low. He didn't even tell them what the family business was...said Elliot would find out when she turned of age. "He can take care of people...given good reason. Do you or your family need his help?" she asked, seriously.

Of course, Elliot didn't even know if her father would listen to her. And she only just met this Pam girl...but she couldn't get the fear in the other's eyes from her mind. It had shaken her up a bit.

Elliot simply grinned. "No. But I haven't forgotten what you did for me..." she said with a shrug. She reached into her bag and pulled out a little pouch. From the pouch she produced three shortbread cookies, sent from home. Her mother was beginning to bake again after giving birth two months ago, and good thing, too. "Mother forgets I don't like many sweets...and I thought that I should give these to you, since you showed such compassion in my dire time of need," she spoke confidently, almost haughtily, but then again, Elliot was an arrogant girl. The crying, miserable fool seemed to have gone. Elliot looked much happier this time around.

"Please oblige and take them...I don't like being in debt to someone, Gwen," she added, using one of her favorite words, oblige. It just sounded so...fancy.

she watched Gwen closely...would she take the cookies? What if she didn't like shortbread? it didn't seem much like Elliot's problem, though.

Gwen looked at the book again in order to memorize the page number. She sensed the conversation would last for a while, so it seemed her reading time was over. Hmph. The fourth year then drew her attention back to Elliot, who started talking. Fine. The first sentence sounded promising enough. Elliot had her full attention. Even though Gwen was a bit annoyed that she had been disturbed.Anyway. She remained silent for a moment. For what seemed to be the first time, Gwendolyn wasn’t sure what she should reply. ‘Ummm…’, she mumbled as the younger Ravenclaw started telling her that her mother sent her sweets she didn’t even like. Whatever. Not my problem, Gwen thought, but managed to control herself, and didn’t reply anything to Elliot… yet.

She was not very fond of this offer, since it was just not ‘to be in debt’, like Elliot said, but the fourth year decided to accept it. If else, Elliot was probably going to hate her. Not that she really cared, but Gwen seriously didn’t want any more frienemies. ‘Thank you’, the fourth finally replied to the girl, trying to smile, but only a grin came out.

‘Are you any better?’, Gwen heard herself asking. She was obviously referring to the last time they met. When Elliot seemed to be really upset.

Elliot nodded as she took the cookies. Good. Now Elliot felt balanced. She placed the box the cookies had been previously resting in on the ground...she would pick it up later. It was a pretty box.

The third year raised an eyebrow at her question. "OBviously," she replied in her drawling voice. I'm all smiling, aren't i? she though, but she didn't say this aloud. "I'm not going to bore you with details, but my parents sent me something the very next day in apology," and she reached at her neck. Sitting there, looking so perfect and, in Elliot's opinion, classy, were a string of very real pearls. Of course, Elliot loved pearls. Pearls and lace...no outfit was complete without them. LAst year she had gotten simply pearl earrings...and this year a necklace...what would be next year, hmm?

She smirked smugly, and said nothing more about her...upset time. "I apologize that we met under my own stress. I am usually not such a pansy," she said bluntly, still smirking.

Even though she might have thought Elliot was up to something, since she gave her the cookies, but Gwen immediately changed her opinion. Not that it sounded better, but the younger Ravenclaw probably didn’t want to be ‘in debt’. After all- wasn’t that what she had just said? Hmph. Gwendolyn glimpsed one more time at the book before putting it on the closest table. There. She was gong to try to be nice. Actually- nice was too much. But, after all… this Elliot girl didn’t seem to be that bad. At least she seemed to be thinking straight.

Oh. And she was not going to bore her with details?

Guess what.

She just did.

Though, to Gwen’s surprise, Elliot finished her little speech quite soon. Not bad, the fourth year told herself. It was good to come across someone who was not that talkative that it would make her dizzy. So some people could manage to spare her the details. Lovely. But… what was she saying? Gwendolyn drew her attention back to the girl… who seemed to be apologizing. Somehow. ‘It’s fine’, the fourth year said with a small smirk.

.......

‘So what do you think about the Quidditch championship?’, the fourth year asked, in attempt to change the subject. She was not in the mood to continue talking about why Elliot was upset and yada yada yada. And that was the first subject that crossed her mind.

Blair watched both girls talk in front of her for a moment not sure what she should say to jump in. Hm. But then the older student, Aurelie turned to look at her and she blink. Woah.."Blair Taylor" She said to introduce herself, just like the older student before she didn't move to shake her hand. It was far to comfortable here anyway.

Then she turned towards Erin and raised her eyebrows just a fraction then smiled, "Nothing much, just chilling out actually. Homework done and all" She said shifting slightly to get into a better position on the seat, "I just happened to kick Aurelie as I sat down" She said as an explanation for where she was. Wait why did she have to explain? Sigh.

"Anyway..." She said them to really move the subject into a direction.

Elliot wanted to scowl, but she managed to hold that in. Quidditch. All of things...sports. "Well...erm, I know we're in it, correct?" she asked, a little unsure. She thought that Ravenclaw had made it...right? "To be frank, I'm not much into Quidditch. I never liked flying, and I don't really understand Quidditch all that well, though I'm sure it's quite simple. I just never took the time..." she explained with a roll of her blue eyes.

"What are your feelings for it, I suppose?" she asked, clearly not really interested in Quidditch...but she was being polite. Gwen had asked her about Quidditch...so she should return it, right? Sure. "I will be going to the final game, though. Gotta' support our house...and with the stupid puffers in first for the house points right now, we need to win to pull up the points..." she scowled, this time, thinking of the evil puffers...ew.

This help that Elliot offered seemed like a good idea. If her father could really have someone 'taken care of', then her friends and herself wouldn't have to worry or run. She wanted to tell this girl that she would gladly accept the help. But it wasn't her place to say. It wasn't her place to accept. Because although she and her friends were on the run, it wasn't really them they were truly after. Also, as far as Pam knew, Elliot's father couls have been the ones who hired the attackers.

"Thanks Elliot, but I've got it covered. But if I ever need someone like that, i'll be sure to send you an owl." She wasn't going to completely turn down the offer, just in case they needed it. But she was confident that they could do this.

Elliot saw Pam's eyes flitter with hope--but just for a second. Then it was gone when she opened her mouth. Elliot sighed.

"Okaaay, whatever you say. I don't know what you're dealing with...but I hope for the best. And just let me know. Father listens to me..." that he did. But would he, now that the boy was born?

"Father doesn't let us go out the manor without him...and we have bodyguards...all around our manor. Sometimes I feel unsafe, you know, but then I remember who my father is," she didn't know why she was telling the girl this, but she felt like it. Darius Morganzo was a dangerous man, Elliot knew so. But why did he take so much caution when it came to his family? It was weird.

Presley was so glad to be back at Hogwarts. Even though it was the very end of the year. She had missed it so much in the months that she was gone. Now that she was back, and her things put properly in her dormitory where they belonged she skipped down to the common room, glad to see a familiar face right away.

But Elliot was talking to someone that Presley didn't know. And to be honest Presley felt a little left out, as if she'd been gone for too long. But she would never let anyone see that. She was Presley Black. Her image had to remain perfect, and jealousy tarnished images.

Presley sat down in the chair next to Elliot and grinned. "Hey," she said casually, glad to be speaking English once more.

Was that-?

PRESLEY! PRESLEY BLACK WAS BACK! Elliot immediately jumped up, ready to pounce on her friend, but as she was in the process, she stopped herself. Feeling a little silly, she blushed, and sat back down instantly. "Hey...Presley. Where have you been?" she asked, in a voice that resembled a mother scolding a child who had come back after curfew.

She missed Presley. Where HAD she been, though? She had needed the other claw! All those miserable days, Elliot's birthday...and Presley hadn't been there for her. Elliot wasn't angry or anything..but she was a bit...irked.

She glanced at Pam, noting that the two didn't seem to know each other. "Pam, this is Presley...Black," she said her friend's last name...this name deserved respect...not just anyone is a Black, right? "Presley, this is Pam," she smirked, looking back and forth between the two.

A house like that sounded really... safe. That was something that Pam wasnt sure if she was going to get this summer. She just hoped Jez's siblings would find a place to stay. Tthat is if they weren't found first. With each day that passed, Pam's fear increased. She wasn't sure what would happen over the next few months, and weither or not she was going to be able to make it to her fourth term. The fact that she didn't know really scared her.

"Being in a situation like that is probably more safe then you feel." She knew how that felt. To feel unsafe. During a certain point last summer, she felt really unsafe, and she was always on her toes. She didn't like it, and she didn't want to feel it again. But that was a wish that wouldn't come true.

Presley's eyes flicked as Elliot stood and then immediately sat back down. What was she doing? Had she been about to leave? Presley felt a little bad for keeping her there and practically forcing Elliot to introduce her to the other girl if her friend had been planning on making a dramatic exit or something.

"Beauxbatons," Presley answered the question with an eye roll. "My father thought it would be good for me to have a change of scene and study with people who were really motivated to go somewhere in life. As if Ravenclaws aren't." She rolled her eyes again. There was of course, more to the story, but that was for another conversation. A little more private than with some random girl sitting there.

As Presley thought that, Elliot finally introduced them. Presley noticed Elliot emphasizing her last name, but not Pam's. Presley wondered idly if the girl was pureblood. Pres didn't recognize her, so it was quite possible she wasn't. Presley held out her right hand to the girl, "it's nice to meet you, Pam." Was "Pam" short for "Pamela"? If so, Presley quite thought that Pamela was a prettier name. But she wasn't rude enough to comment on it.

Hmmm.

The Quidditch game.

Gwen was actually looking forward to the last game of the year. She glimpsed out the window and started remembering the last games, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by something Elliot said. The fourth year watched the girl’s reaction and suppressed a smirk. ‘That’s right’, she said simply. Ravenclaw was going to play. Pft. Talk about house spirit… ‘I see’, the fourth year mused, remembering how much she really disliked flying and anything that had to do with it in her first year. ‘I wasn’t a great fan of Quidditch either...until recently’ Somehow, she learned to like that sport. A lot.

Ah. But Elliot told her she was going to be there. Gwen responded with a small nod, but Elliot said something that made her stop. Stupid puffers? The fourth year raised an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of an explanation from the girl. Well, even though she would never admit it, Gwendolyn was sure that her boggart in her first year would have been herself dressed in Hufflepuff robes. That and failure, of course. But not all Puffs were bad… One of her best friends was in that house! Still, she had to admit, some of the badgers were really not the best people to spend your time with.

Sure...maybe. "Perhaps," Elliot shrugged. "But I trust my father. He's got a temper..." she suppressed a shudder. Never had he laid a hand on her...but she had definitely seem him flare a lot. She then looked into Pam's eyes..."You don't have anyone to...protect you?" she asked, a little out of curiosity. she couldn't imagine not having her father...he always slipped her and her family out of trouble, always knew how to get out of things. And he wouldn't ever let anything happen to them. Over his dead body...

Elliot didn't like to think of that, though.

Elliot snorted. "Dani is going there...it's official, I don't know if you heard..." she, too, rolled her eyes. "And Beauxbatons, motivated? Aren't they all snobs?" of course, that was a nervy thing of Elliot to say-the queen of snobs. At least Elliot didn't walk around with her nose stuck in the air...hmmph.

"Well, how was it, then? And I didn't know you knew French..." Elliot raised an eyebrow. Elliot knew Latin..but her father hadn't bothered to teach her any other languages. Obviously Presley had to know French, though, right? "And Darius was born, too. Look," she pulled out the picture. "Cute, right?" she asked bitterly. WHY WAS HE SO CUTE. it was simply infuriating...

Until recently. "Well I wish i could like it since most of the school adores it..." Elliot sighed. She mused for a second about flying on a broom...and shuddered. "I once tried to fly, back at the manor, and I could barely get two feet off the ground. i hate heights. Must take a lot of courage to play Quidditch...hmm" she didnt know if Quidditch players were to be admired or if they were just plain dumb... wasn't it a dangerous sport?

She saw Gwen's face fall a little, and laughed haughtily. "What, have friends in Hufflepuff? I have a total of ONE friend in Hufflepuff...but also many enemies. So there," she said with an evil smirk.

Enemies.

Elliot liked haveing enemies. It was boring to have too many friends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demented_death_eater

"Listen to me very carefully," Vindictus said sternly. "You will not attempt to hex another member of Ravenclaw House while you are in school. In fact, you shouldn't be hexing anyone at school unless you're in DADA and it's part of the lesson . . . or if someone attacks you first and then it's okay because you were defending yourself." He took a deep breath. "Do you understand?"

Aspen had already planned to listen carefully, but at his warning to listen very carefully - she perked up. Challenge accepted.

She wouldn't attempt? Okay.

... to hex. Okay.

Another member of Ravenclaw? ...okay.

The rest was more suggestion than demand, but Aspen was listening very carefully, as directed.

"Perfectly." Aspen actually looked up to the Prefect and smiled. Had that gone as the Prefect wanted? Did she feel better? Her eyes dipped down to the Prefects fingers,then back up to her face.

...smiiiiiiiiiiiiiile.

"Is that all, Professor?"

Caboodles had gone through the contents of his owner's bag. Nothing interesting today. He poked his little furry head out of the bag and trilled quietly. He heard something. His tiny ears perked. He heard the ting ting ting of something metal... something shiny. A person was sitting not too far from where his owner sat... She had a small shiny thing hanging around her neck. Small shiny things were his favorite kinds of things. Except for food things. Food things were easily the best.

Kit jumped out of the back and hunkered low to the ground next to it. He was a ninja ferret extrordinaire.

He was invisible...

Or, so the ferret thought. He crept quickly under the table, staring his beady eyes up at the shiny little thing. Witnesses, witnesses everywhere! Blast! Put on your cool face, Kit. You're going in.

Caboodles sprinted for the side of the chair where the girl sat, then leapt up lightly onto the armrest, trilling very softly. They loved it when he made those noises. He took a second to clean his tiny little face with his tiny little paws. Then, flicking his tiny little whiskers, he leaned in for a closer look at the object around her neck.

As professor Vee laid down the law before this girl's eyes, Louisa's eyes twinkled with pleasure... and she wouldn't jumped on her toes to give him a big kiss on his cheek for being so stern and clear with someone manipulative like... her. Her pleasure, however, didn't last because as soon as her eyes fell on the girl's face she caught them eying her fingers, LOVELY long and solid fingers, then offering Louisa a creepy smile of hers.



WHAT DID THAT MEAN?

Louisa frowned and stared back at the oh-so-obedient Odessa. This was wrong, very wrong. First, smiling and nodding her head meant she was taking this too lightly and was going to find a loophole. Second looking at Louisa's fingers was strictly prohibited especially by this girl. And third the poor boy standing nearby slightly concerned for his... whatever, was the most out-of-place thing in this whole picture. How, just HOW, would a boy with such a cute face and friendly demeanor sit with someone as obnoxious as her? The sixth year Ravenclaw found herself, involuntary, giving him her unspoken sympathies, her eyes fixated on his face. Tsk tsk tsk... he was done for. She bet her pinky pygmy puff love potion was involved.

Heh.

Gwen couldn’t help but grin while listening to the girl talk. Seriously- the two of them seemed to be so alike. The Ravenclaw could only remember how much she disliked flying, and how scared she was ( even though she would NEVER admit that to anyone) in her first year. But not anymore. She somehow managed to start enjoying the flying classes and even Quidditch. So… the two of them were not that similar, after all. It took Gwendolyn a moment to realize the following: she had changed. Since her first year, her opinions have changed about a lot of topics. Oddly enough, this hadn’t crossed her mind until now. ‘Maybe we should go flying sometime’ When the Quidditch pitch is free, of course. Because Gwen was absolutely sure it would make Elliot change her opinion about flying.

But then the younger Ravenclaw went on talking, making Gwen draw her attention back to the girl. One friend in Hufflepuff? ‘That’s a start…’, Gwendolyn said, obviously only mocking her friend. Come to think about it… that was sort of true. She remembered she had started by only talking to one Hufflepuff, and eventually ended up with quite many friends in that house. Though, she had to admit, Hufflepuff first years were the worst. Those were the ones who couldn’t even find their common room. That thought made Gwen want to roll her eyes.

From Elliot’s behaviour, the fourth year could only conclude the fact that the girl liked the idea of having enemies. Hmm. Gwen, out of all the people should know. Hehe. It was good to have someone to whom you don’t have to be nice... But still, the person she disliked most wasn’t a badger.Odd. Pft. No one could be as annoying as Zeke. Anyway, not anyone that Gwen could think of…

Hmmm.

Hmmph. Elliot didn't like the idea...but she decided it might be good for her. Besides--a Morganzo shouldn't be fearful of something so trivial as a broom. That was just pathetic. "We should. Maybe you'll be a better teacher than my Father...and Professor Vindictus..." she lowered her voice, for he seemed to be in the common room. That was weird to her. Why was their head of house in here, anyways? "Not that he's bad. I just...am impossible, it seems..." she rolled her eyes. Yep.

"Yeah...I have the most friends in Ravenclaw, obviously. I just don't get along with Puffers..." she shrugged. IT didn't bother her one bit, no. Maybe because was allergic to stupidity...she would never admit that not all of puffers were okay, because that was a broad statement. Thus far, she had only been proven that ONE Puffer was okay. So there.

"DO you have any enemies, Gwen?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow. arch-nemesis? Yay, nay? Elliot was just curious.

‘Good, then I guess we’ll leave this plan for the beginning of next term, right?’, Gwendolyn said, actually willing to keep this in mind this. After all, she was the one who suggested the two of them should go flying. Besides, Elliot was not an annoying person, and not someone the fourth year would hate spending time with. Somehow, Gwendolyn started considering the younger Ravenclaw her friend. Elliot didn’t seem to be a hyperactive person, nor very talkative- and that was a good thing. Besides, she was sorted in this house, so the girl just had to have some brains. Gwendolyn gave a small nod, letting the other girl know that she agreed with the plan, until she heard Elliot say something.

Erm.

Professor Vindictus… was not good at teaching? ‘Hmm?’, Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow, expecting the younger Ravenclaw to explain herself. Sure, Vindictus had some crazy ideas, like bringing flying squirrels to class, and making them fly through burning barrels… but still. Ah. But she didn’t have to wait for long until Elliot spoke up. ‘You can’t be that bad…’, Gwen rolled her eyes, though it was probably obvious that she didn’t believe what she was saying. Errr. But… why did Elliot lower her voice? The fourth year didn’t mind to look around, but she assumed there was someone in the Common Room who shouldn’t be hearing what Elliot said.

Meh…

Moving on…

‘Well… If I think about it, I have the least friends in Hufflepuff… but not all the badgers are that bad’, she said, accentuating the ‘that’ in the sentence. But- one of her best friends was a badger, so Gwen didn’t categorize all of the Puffs as annoying and insufferable. Just… most of them, anyway. But then she heard Elliot ask her something. ‘Doesn’t everyone have enemies?’, Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow, doing that very typical of her thing- answering with another question, in attempt to make the other person give up asking her anything related to that subject.

Would it work this time?

Plans for the next term already? Wow. That was quick...and nice. Elliot even felt a little bit excited. "I think we have extra brooms lying around at my house...the ones here are awful..." she said with a scoff. So she better bring one. And who knew...she might even like flying after this...maybe.

Elliot snorted. "Oh, you haven't seen me fly. I just really don't like heights. It might be because back at home the manor is surrounded by mountains, and I hated going up there as a child with my parents..." she sighed. She didn't remember any near death experiences, though...so why did she hate heights so much? it was weird, and not logical...and Elliot was usually a logical person. So it irked her.

Yes. Most people do have enemies. And not only had Gwen NOT answered her question, she had said another in response--to Elliot, questions were NOT responses. But she didn't say anything. "I suppose. Even the nicest person in the world has enemies, because someone somewhere is jealous. Often times jealousy is the leading factor to hatred...I'm not jealous of anyone, though. i mean, I'm blonde..." she pointed to her head. "And so are you. So people are jealous of us.." she chuckled a little. Blondes were just better. "And we're in Ravenclaw, easily the best house," though she hadn't always though so.

She grew silent, her blue eyes flickering to the window before returning to look at Gwen. She couldn't explain it, but she was already fond of her. She hoped their friendship would continue..."You won't back out on those flying lessons, will you?" she asked softly, her voice losing its haughtiness for a moment...it would be something to look forward to, overcoming a fear.

[Spoiler='you too'] [/spoler]

Pam thought for a moment. She did have people to protect her. there wetent many, but there were at least two people. They both had to look after themselves, and the four 'kids'. It was something Pam couldn't thank them enough for. Since Pam wasn't really in the mood to talk, she just nodded at Elliot's question. As she was thinking, a small furry creature came onto the arm of her chair. As it leaned closer, Pam leaned back. "May I help you?"

Knowing Elliot's little sister, it was just the sort of place she would thrive. Not Presley though. She was definitely more of a Hogwarts kid. Or maybe she'd gotten into the whole thing just to irritate her father? Who knew. Presley actually laughed out loud when Elliot asked if they were all snobs. That was rich, coming from her. She shook her head. "Not all of them, but definitely a good majority."

Elliot didn't know she spoke French? Presley shrugged off-handedly "First language actually." It had been her mother's best language, and she had only spoken in French to Presley and Leo when they were young. As Leo got older--he had informed Presley--their mother began to be more comfortable talking to them in English, but Presley didn't remember that much.

The other Ravenclaw pulled out a picture of her new little brother, who Presley had been dying to hear about. She scanned it quickly. He was dang cute. Of course, she knew that would only infuriate Elliot more. She glanced at Elliot's face and searched for a betrayal of emotion, but of course there was none. She nodded "he's adorable." Boy did they have a lot to talk about.