Mackenzie skipped into the great hall.. It had been a wonderful year despite the loss of her parents, but she had managed to cheer up at least while around her friends. She now would have to settle everything over the summer before heading off to Diagon alley for the remainder of the summer. She needed to decide if she wanted to sell the house or keep it but she shoved those thoughts aside and realized she was alone in e great hall. So smiling she picked her favorite spot in the middle of the Gryffindor table and waiting to see some of the others.

This was by far the strangest year she'd had. More than half of it was spent lost in some state of ultimate happiness, that quite frankly when she thought about it now...gave her a headache and the latter part so utterly out of it and at a loss of energy that she didn't know what to make of it. When they said there was something in the food, they weren't kidding.

Alexa hobbled her way to the table, one hand then the other. Her shoes weren't as comfy as they would have been if they were on her feet but this was okay too.

Everything looked so strange from this angle but she didn't right herself until she got to the Gryffindor table at which point she fell into a bridge, kicked over and got onto her obviously bare feet. There! That wasn't so bad. From what she saw after sitting, there were hardly any other lions. "Hey Mack!" She called to her friend just down the table. The term was over and she'd hardly seen her at all. Maybe it was all that ice-cream?

Lex looked to the other tables, she would have to visit them later on.

Tag was sitting at the Gryffindor table, just waiting for the food to come and this night to be over. As he merely glanced around the hall he saw a head bobbing nearby and he leaned over the table to get a better loo. He raised one eyebrow exceptionally high.

Oh, finally she took a seat. "You all right, Lex?" He asked her slightly confused. Had Lex taken the happy then sad ice cream? Maybe this was her after effect if she had consumed that ice cream?

The food hadn't arrived yet so there was no reason to remove the shoes from her hands. In all honesty, her feet were enjoying the freedom, she wondered how long she'd leave them like this. Probably until someone asked her to right it or until she got bored. As it were, the night was still young and there was still lots to see.

Like Tag, he was something to see! She grinned over at him.

"I guess. Going home tomorrow, already mostly packed--can you believe I can't find my socks again? They go missing every year." It was like a curse and her stockings always tore, leaving her to shop every summer for new ones. "You haven't seen them have you? Maybe lying around the Common Room or something?"

Worth a shot. Jake had found her shoes down in the great Hall one year. How it got there, she had no idea but she wouldn't question it much. Nah.

There was one lion who could not possibly be happier about going back home. And that Gryffindor was Melanie. She had a giant smile on her face as she walked towards the table. She didn't even care that there were the same eating utensils from earlier on in the term at the table. Nope, she did not care a single bit because she would just have to stick with this for the day and then BAM. Train ride home.

"Hey hi hello~" Melanie called out, waving at the Gryffindors who were already there. "Mack, it's nice to see you again. It was awesome being on the same team as you," she said sliding into a seat not too far from everyone else. "Lex, always great seeing you. Aren't you excited for summer?" She felt particularly chatty. "And Tag, it's been a while since I've seen you around. Hope you had a pleasant term."

Y'know... despite... everything. Melanie pushed that to the back of her mind though. She didn't need to worry about that stuff when she was at home. She didn't need to worry about magic and the whatnot once she was off the Hogwarts Express and back in the muggle world. Just because she was an adult now did not mean she had to use magic out of school. Nope~ She straightened out the eating utensils in front of her just a bit, still smiling.

Going home. Oh how she missed that place.

She had mentioned not being able to find her socks again. That was a new one. "Did you lose them or did someone steal them?" Though Tag couldn't understand why someone would want to steal another person's socks. Especially if they were stinky ones. "Every year?" He blinked some more at that. That was a very unfortunate thing to go through. "Errr, no. I don't think I've seen any socks around. Sorry. Err, why were you crawling around?" Gryffindors could be a bit odd, but what Lex had been doing was really odd.



Tag then turned around to hear a familiar bubbly voice. Oh, he knew he greeted people like that. All happy like and beaming brightly it had been Melanie. And she began to say hello to everyone at the table, which sadly enough at the moment were not too many people. Where was everyone? "I've just been kind of busy, you know." Like not trying to get his, or Alec's soul sucked out by Dementors or being hyper and then saddened by the ice cream. "It was rather pleasant, with its slightly modifications, you know. And how are you today, Melanie?"

Ronnie slowly made her way into the Great Hall, holding her breath. She paused for a minute, standing at the double doors, taking it all in. She watched as the students entered and took their seats, chatting and laughing with each other. Almost everyone smiling. This would be the last end of term feast she'd ever attend. This was it. She slowly let out her breath and made her way to the Gryffindor table, taking a seat with the few students who were already there. She didn't know what to think of right now. It was almost time to leave Hogwarts for good, and she was not ready. She'd never be ready.

The food still hadn't arrived and wouldn't be here for the longest time so there was really no immediate need to fuss over her hands stealing her feet's attire...Come to think about it...the food probably wouldn't be any good...she could probably just leave them like this oh, until she found Oakey, she had something for him.

OOoh, lookit! Melanie!

"Hey!!" She beamed over at her. Melanie was always happy to see her, not like some other people she could think of. " You bet I am. It'll be the most eventful yet! If the train got here tonight I wouldn't complain at all." That was how ready she was to be rid of this place, but not all that ready because she still wasn't done packing. "And you're in an extra good mood, I take it you are too?" GRIN.

As she and Lottie had guessed, the school year was a disaster. It needed to end, quickly.

Lex shook her head with a grin. "I'd like to think lions don't go around stealing shoes and socks. I dunno...they just...go missing just when I'm ready to go home. I suspect Felix might have something to do with it but I have no proof so I can't really accuse him." Speaking of the kneazle, she needed him to dig up the gems so she could take them home. She didn't waste time stealing them just to leave them here.

But he hadn't seen them. Pity.

"Well, keep looking will you?" Maybe he'd have better luck than her. Others usually did. As for crawling on the ground. She tilted her head and gave him a curious look. "You know...I'm not exactly sure. I just felt like something new for the feast. This whole year's been weird."

The first 7th year she'd seen since the feast started. "Hi Ronnie!" This was always the part of the feast that had her feeling the strangest. The thought of some people not coming back was odd in and of itself. To not come back to Hogwarts? She knew she'd be back in September but there were some that wouldn't. "Last feast....uh...you excited?" Vivi had been VERY excited. It had taken her the entire feast to not take the girl's enthusiasm personally. Some people liked the thought of moving on. Maybe she would when it came time? For now...she was happy knowing she'd be coming back, even if she did want to leave right now.

Jake had considered skipping the feast this year. He hadn't been feeling well since the ice cream party and he didn't feel like a feast was the right thing to do right now. But it was the end of the term, and it was a tradition, so he made himself go. He was here at the Gryffindor table, his hand gripping Anya's, and he was actually feeling better than he had in since the party.

As he sat on the bench and looked around, his eyes fell on the Snake table. Jake had thought about stopping by and saying goodbye to Dylan, but had decided not to. Sure, it was sort of sad that his best mate was leaving... but the two were getting a flat together over the summer holiday, which meant that there was no reason for a dramatic goodbye scene. The Gryffindor would leave the Slytherin to his other friends and whatnot. No big deal.

Reaching for a cup, Jake filled it with water and took a drink. It was nice that there were new sets of things here. Apparently the end of term feast was fancy enough for new paper plates and sporks?

Setting down his cup, Jake finally looked around to see his fellow Lions that were at the table. Not nearly a full crowd yet.

Anya yawned as she entered the Great Hall with Jake. Everything had just seemed... off since the ice cream party. Of course... that... probably was normal given the things that happened there.

Her eyes scanned the staff table and immediately welled up.

She turned her face into Jake and willed herself not too look back up. Or think of anything sad. (Which... had been nearly impossible to do lately. She seemed to be always sad.)

...
...
...

But to her relief, this time, she was actually able to think about how nice Jake smelled right now. And how warm his hand was. And how lovely it was that she could look at him and not the staff table

Tag shook his head like a puppy very furiously as Lex spoke again. His words had been said in the wrong manner. "No, no. I'm sure none of the lions would steal," Lions could be odd, but this family of lions seemed pretty trustworthy. "It was just the first thing that popped into my head. An, if someone did steal your stuff, I don't understand why someone would want socks, of all things." Again with wearing a person's clothing, especially a piece of clothing that can get stinky very fast and stay stinky for a long time.

"Well, its quite unfortunate that your stuff goes missing. Maybe, almost like you said, Felix and Spot are scheming against you? Perhaps they'll, if they took it, return your socks all clawed up tomorrow morning." He said with a little smirk as the image popped into his head of two felines clawing at socks and then bringing them up to Lex, the socks clenched on their teeth. "Of course I'll search tonight and tomorrow morning." Gryffindor word.

"Right. Crawling on the ground just blends in with the weirdness that this term had turned into." He said in a matter of fact voice. Also, it was Lex, she probably would do that on any condition.

...oh. That worked.

Jake wrapped his arm around his girlfriend as she suddenly leaned into him. He held her, rubbing her back lightly with one hand as he turned his gaze to where she had been looking before she had fallen into him.

...The staff table. His eyes moved down it slowly, landing on the empty chair. The groundskeeper. A knot formed in Jake's throat and made it hard to swallow. He looked the opposite way quickly, not wanting to dwell on the fact that the man wasn't where he was supposed to be. Where he would be, if the dementors hadn't... happened.

So Jake watched the few other students at the table, trying to distract himself with them. Lex was there... and Tag. How long had it been since he'd even said a word to Tag..? It seemed sort of petty, with all that had happened this term...

Mack smiled as Lex entered the great hall, she had been so distant even from her teammates since her parents had died. "no Mackenzie, we aren't going there... This night has to be a good one!!" she quickly scolded herself and pushed those thoughts from her mind. "Hi Lex!! It's crazy that its already time to go home..." Then she watched as Melanie walked in, ahhh another Gryffindor teammate "It was a great season!! You were awesome!!" the blonde beamed at her friend. Seriously this girl was a beast on the pitch! Mackenzie could definitely see her going pro after Hogwarts.

Then soon after Melanie had taken her seat at the table, Ronnie made her way inside. "Ronnie!!" Mackenzie stood and hurried over to the older Gryffindor, hugging her tightly, it was Ronnie's last feast... What would Mack do without her? She was seriously one of Mack's best friends and she was leaving "don't cry, don't cry, don't cry" the small girl chanted to herself. Surely they could still see each other I mean for heavens sake there was still Diagon Alley "yes, that's it, we can still hang out in Diagon alley "

The read head forced a smile to Alexa, giving her a small wave. "Hey, Alexa." she said to the girl. She'd definitely miss her a lot, she was so awesome. Then she shook her head, laughing softly. "Not too thrilled, not really." she said with a small shrug. But she should just forget about leaving until she ACTUALLY was leaving on the train. Right now, she should just be happy to spend this last night here at Hogwarts and be with her lion family.

And then she was almost knocked over by...Mack! Smiling a little, she hugged her back, not letting go. This girl meant the world to her pretty much and leaving her behind at Hogwarts would definitely be hard. All of Gryffindor house was pretty much her family, and she had no clue how she'd manage without being around them every day. "I wrote a little something for you in th-the memory book..." she said quietly, still holding the girl tightly.

And hearing Ronnie tell her this was the last she could take... Tears began streaming down the pale child's face. "Ronnie, you can't go" Mack sobbed into the seventh years robes, refusing to let go of the red head. "sorry" she took a step back away from Ronnie and flashed her a smile.

Okay, this was it. Now Mack was crying and...now...Ronnie...was crying. Oh, Merlin. She cried along with the girl, not caring what anyone around them though. "I...I don't w-want to.." she whispered between sobs. And slowly, she started to calm down. Quickly wiping her tears away, she watched as the girl backed away from her and she shook her head. "Don't be sorry, it's totally fine." she told her, smiling. "Just let's try and keep our chins up. Can we try and keep my last feast happy?" she asked, cocking her head slightly and flashing the girl a smile.

He had a valid point right there. "That's what I'm saying. There's much better things to steal than socks and mine are all worn from this long term. If they wanted nice ones they'd have to take them within a week of me getting here." Not to say there was someone taking them, it was just a thought. The same went for her stockings too, though she wouldn't mind those going missing but they never did.

There was now an amused look on her face. In her mind she was imagining the felines scampering about with her things. If Felix had them they were safe. He knew how to protect her things and she trusted he wouldn't allow Spot to damage them...but that was only if it were really him. For now she didn't know. "It sounds like something he'd do if he was bored enough, I just find it weird that it happens every year. Thought maybe this year would have been different but I guess not." Lex gave a casual shrug, she'd just buy more when she went shopping for her school supplies down in Diagon Alley. "I appreciate you're wanting to help! Between the two of us we must be able to find them!" GRIN.

Oh. Heh, the crawling. "You could say that. Only...a new brand of weirdness that doesn't involve anyone losing their souls." Then, without thinking about it, her eyes flickered to the staff table. He wouldn't be at the feast, any feast for that matter. "I'm glad it's over."

Was it just her or did the girl seem a bit out of it tonight? It could have been her over-thinking but there it was. Oh but there was a smile? Okay. "Not crazy, more like appreciated. I've had enough of the term. I miss my bed, my father, GOOD food--merlin, I want a burger, pizza, anything besides the mush I've been having all term. It's making me sick, positively sick for that matter." She didn't even wanna get started on the dementor invasion. THAT was a completely different rant altogether. "But, it'll all be behind us. Aren't you looking forward to going home?" She knew she was!!! HOME. Tomorrow was her birthday and she wouldn't be here.


Well that was new. A 7th Year who wasn't excited to be going off into the big world. This was something she could identify with. Despite the dementors and the horrid food, she actually liked this place. Leaving was...weird. "I'm sure you'll grow to like the idea more and more but anyway," because she was going to be changing the subject right abut now, "crazy term, huh?" There was hardly ever any time to take a breather with the way things had been going.

The red head nodded at what Alexa said. "Yeah, of course. It's just hard leaving but I'll learn to love moving on, doing something new." she told her. She hoped to get a position in the ministry by this summer. But she wasn't going to get her hopes up or anything. Anyways. She nodded again, chuckling. "Yeah, definitely. Especially those dementors." she said with a shudder. Oh Merlin, that had been scary. Ronnie hoped to never have an encounter with those things ever again. Scariest things on this planet in her opinion!

Ameliah sauntered into the hall, looking for a familiar face...and she found one. Ronnie, unfortunately, had reached the end of her time as a Hogwartian.

Please, Am didn't note that so calmly. She was practically in tears once she arrived at the table, glomping the Lion. "Ronnieeee!" she shouted into her friend's shoulder. "I'm so so-sorry we never got to hang out in your last year!!" she whined.

Suddenly, she felt arms around her and blinked at the familiar voice. Was that...? The red head turned to face Ameliah. Blinking, she stared at her for a minute. "AMELIAH!" she then practically shrieked, her voice echoing throughout the Great Hall. Blushing slightly, she placed her hands over her mouth and giggled and hugged the girl tight again. "Where have you been?! I've missed you so much!" she squealed as she squeezed her friend.

"Do your socks have holes in them?" He was curious. Besides, his socks usually ended up having holes in them sooner or later. Sometimes his entire toe could stick right out of the material. "Or the person could do the really nice thing and borrow them, with your permission, of course."

Tag was smiling as he saw Lex's expression change into a funny, happy looking one. Yes. She looked to be in a good mood now. " Perhaps he's plotting something for you. You better watch out, you better not cry, You better not pout I'm telling you why Felix, Mags, and Spot are doing something suspicious." Tag sang to the Santa Claus song's beat. He fake coughed and looked around the great hall. What was that? What just happened?

Maybe Lex's choice of words were a bit off? "Yeah, this year was pretty bad. An I'm glad its over as well. We won't have so many dangers going back home." No more dementor attacks. No more goblins. No more having to pay every single little thing.

Melanie almost started to use her spork as a drumstick to whack her plate and cup. She was close. But she didn't because she was going to be all proper. Or something. And she also knew exactly what Tag meant by busy. Schoolwork was busy and this year was definitely busier than last year. There was cleaning and stuff that had to be taken care of in addition to normal school stuff so it made sense. Which was why Melanie nodded her head. "Well, regardless, as long as if you've made memories you want to keep, it's a good term." If you wanted to forget about the term completely, then it wasn't as good.

How was Melanie today? "Fantastic. I'm feeling fantastic. It's going to be a great ride home and it'll be a perfect summer and all that." Because home was where her family was. And it wasn't Hogwarts. As fond as she had once been of the school, she wasn't so satisfied with it now. Not that she minded a lot... but it didn't hold the same shine it did when she first came to the school.

And not because of the plastic cups instead of polished goblets.



She grinned at the younger Gryffindor. It was so nice to see the girl. She glanced over the shoes on the girl's hands for the moment. She was too excited about it being the end of term to really say anything about it. However, if Alexa started to clap her hands-shoes together, she would say something.

Laughing, Melanie readjusted her plate's position then her spork's. "I wouldn't complain either. It's been... quite a year." Melanie wanted to just go and ruffle Lex's hair a bit, but she could refrain from that. "I just hope that you've finish packing before getting on the train," she teased. Though Lex had probably done it already. Because the train was going to be here soon... and stuff, right? Of course.

"I'm excited about going home, aren't you?"



"Thanks, but not really," Melanie said, laughing and blushing slightly. She brushed her hair away from her face. It was definitely a good season though... and she had two shiny medals to hang on her wall back home to prove it. She was definitely proud. "You were just as amazing. I hope to be able to play with you again next term." Right? Because Mack had been awesome flying around. And it'd be nice.

"I'm sorry!" Am exclaimed again. "OWLs are officially on my top ten things to hate now." She pouted. Why, exactly, did Ameliah's OWLs have to be the year that Rons graduated?!?! It's just not faaaaiir!!! Am thought with a deeper pout, looking up with near-wet eyes...

Then she realized something.

"Ohmigosh. Your hair..." She grinned, tugging at a strand for emphasis. "It's epic!! When'd you do that?" she asked, referring to the red dye with a broad smile.

Anya stayed nuzzled into Jake for several more seconds. She then swallowed and turned her attention to the table. "Heh. New cups." she said with a small smile. This was really good news. Especially since she forgot her cup. And spork.

She didn't however forget one of her books.

She took out a shrunken book and made it its normal size with her wand. She plopped it down on the table with a heavy thud and flipped it back to where she'd left off. She rested on of her hands on Jake's leg and used the other to prop her head up.

Jake would let her know if something interesting was happening.