He grinned and sat down next to Echo for a bit. "Heyy Echoo!" he greeted her just as enthusiastically. He knew the topic of Emmy would be in this conversation somewhere. "Oh she is by the lion table. She is talking to other people. She likes to be social.." he grinned. I mean no wonder they got along so well. He laughed at her tot's awesome. "Yeah Hogwarts is tot's awesome. Can I use that phrase now?" he teased her a bit.

After talking to Echo, he noticed Grayson made his appearance. He seemed different to Kace somehow maybe it was because he was dating Ruby? I mean he was different in a good way of course. They both had girls now. Score one for both of them. "Sup Grayson." he greeted him back with a sup nod. "How was your summer?" he asked. Now he needed to mention this. "Isn't it quite freaky we are both seventh years?" I mean where did the time go?

"Sup dude?" he asked him in greeting. He knew his last year would be mentioned. "Yeah it is my last year actually. It is quite crazy and I mean it is Grayson's last year too..." he gestured back to him. "It doesn't feel real mate. Like at all." he told him honestly. "I guess we won't have much more kitchen gatherings too much when I leave.." he told him but he didn't wanna think about that anymore. "So you excited for the new term?" He wasn't steering the topic of graduation. Noooo not at all.

Henric nodded back at her."Yeah, there's always the ride back," he agreed, smiling.Snake symbol? What was she talking about?Ohh rigghtt, he remembered now...at that time, when they first met they were talking about snakes!
He laughed,"Yeah! I didn't quite expect you to be in Slytherin though, wish you could be in Hufflepuff, we need someone like you in the team,"he added, lightheartedly.

"More importantly, Princess has been jumping around a lot lately, I guess she knows that she is going to meet her other owner again,"he chuckled."She is now enjoying her new scenery down in my dormitory,I will bring it to you as soon as we finished eating, I bet she is hungry again, honestly that little toad of ours need to watch her eating habits,"he joked.

"It's like yew're performing legilimency." He said closing the space between he and Adi and leaning his head against Adi's shoulder. "Yew say the most beautiful things ter me, Adi Rehman." He said stroking the side of the Hufflepuff Prefects face playfully and flirtatiously as his head rested on the boy's shoulder. He knew Adi wouldn't take it seriously and even if he did he wasn't likely to lose his cool over it.

It was Caleb Cutty was taking a risk with. But the reactions tell one so much. So he had to do it. Probably not tonight, though. Cranky Caleb would be alive and well after a train ride home and if IF there were incidents it was a no go. Thinking of Caleb...




"Playing? I prefer to think of it as applying the practical knowledge of what we learned in class and in our textbooks." Which was a pretty solid yes. "Booht, thanks for not narkin' on me. I thought yew'd sussed me out earlier." But there again Caleb Newell did have a front-row seat to the Cutty Mordaunt experience.

"I'm trying out a new thing." He began, going into explaining how he planned to apply a system of credit to his candy selling business for repeat buyers and some of the older students. But that was about when they were joined by Puck Greyvson herself.



Cutty looked over at Puck amused at her threat. He wasn't afraid of loss. And anyway, how was she going to do that. He had the Slytherins above and beneath him. Perhaps, though Rorie would help her. Though there was the glaring fact that at that moment in time, he had something Rorie wanted. And it was as for sale as it had always been. The price, though could've been negotiated.

Also, who said it was hair?

"The nerve of some people!" This could be kinda fun. Before he could say much on the matter, however the girls began to talk.


Cutty caught the hardlook Dot was giving him and sorta correctly interpreted it. He raised his eyebrows once and smiled faintly with a smirky sort of smile at her. Whatever she'd thought of him, whatever she'd heard, no matter how nefarious, he was sure he'd done it. Even if he hadn't done it. Even if he'd been in Cleveland the entire time. He'd done it. Oh yeah, baby. That was all him. The smile then disappeared behind Dante's water goblet.

Moments later some of that water came spurting out across the table and probably hitting Beverly, Dante and Rorie, perhaps even Puck herself. What the hell did Goosey just say? In the wild, it was the baby rattlers that were considered most deadly for they never knew exactly how much poison to inject and would often over do it.

"What if yer not the real Puck Greyvson either?" He asked the real Puck Greyvson enjoying the opportunity of messing with her a bit. Not maliciously of course. There was no benefit and she came him no cause. Also, it was hella impractical to try to take all things all the time.




"Hey Lecium." It had been fun that duel they did. He'd only just met Kace, but so far so good. He wasn't a total brick and didn't get hung up on his own personal ideals or try to shove them down Cutty's throat. Nothing petty either. Not that the snake could see.

And the little flirting girl. Her name was apparently Echo. And she apparently shared an acquaintance with Kace. She seemed awfully young too now that Cutty got an up close look at her. He hadn't noticed that before. There again, some individuals looked a great deal off in the ages here. And after that term that he'd turned into a raisin he'd sort of abandoned judging people for not looking their age. It was hard to tell anyway with magical interference always ready to rear it's head. If Caleb flirted back with an equally engaging Heeey! maybe he'd be double datin' with Kace. Cutty thought that'd be interesting.

"Oh, Braedon. Yeah." Cutty thought back to his first encounter with Braedon. "I'd actually met him quite a while ago in Diagon Alley, but we didn't say much to each other then." What did he think of Braedon? Cutty's thoughts were electric with all manner of uses a guy like Braedon could have. "He is a wise man, Kace. A very wise man." He knew pretty much everything and just volunteered information too. No manipulation necessary.




They were soon joined by another young snake. It was Barrington. Silent as ever. But who at this school hadn't witnessed a thing or two. It gave Cutty the impression that Dante was very good at keeping secrets. Also, looking hungry. Which gave Cutty the opportunity to introduce a new form of chocolate.

"Try a snapping turtle. It's the snack that bites back." The little chocolate turtles, in much the same way chocolate frogs were charmed to leap, would snap down upon the eater's tongue once in the mouth and cling until melting. Which meant that you could run and jump and play til your hearts content without fear of losing your chocolate. Although, the makers claimed that it prevented choking, a rival chocolate company argued otherwise.




"Hey. Welcome to Slytherin." He said smiling at the wee firstie. He wanted her to say something, because he liked to laugh to himself about the squeaky voice they still had, but this one was very quiet. "I'm Cutty Mordaunt, 6th year and best friends with both Prefects. If yer need anything don't be afraid to ask." He offered perhaps unintentionally reading as a bit poisonous.





Spending more time with his cousin was an idea. He didn't dislike Ethan. At all, really. Had he changed like night and day? Cutty thought so. At least from his initial introduction to the boy. He was more of a goofball. Playing the mandolin poorly in the common room and ill-fitting at the Slytherin table. He still was a bit. Despite having worn the title of prefect. Ethan was a diamond amongst razors. And he stuck out all the more with Simon scarce these days. "Hey Ethan." There wasn't anyone there to buddy up with. And he'd seen a sort of fierce loyalty from Ethan that was rare.

"We should hang out more." Okay, but that was a little random.

With Caleb and Ethan talking, Cutty actually noticed some similarities between the two boys. Healer Murdoch was totally type casting.




"Nar! Mine was awful! Course it twas. I didn't get ter see yer beautiful face!" He flirted with Grayson Whitlock as he often did.

Then he heard it.

Then he saw it.

Then he had to do everything in his power to keep from making jokes about things in clothing and gladness to see even though they wouldn't have worked because Ruby Banner was a girl.

"Ruby Banner, why is your tummy going Mew! Mew!" And that last part he actually did raise his voice an octave higher to imitate the kitten.




"Burton." Cutty greeted the 7th year back. "Ready for yer final year?" Which reminded him. It was Grayson's final year too. And Toby's. He tried hard not to smile creepily at the thought of influence a 7th year has. Maybe he'd asked Zhenya to mentor him. If she had time. Sometimes the entire year is spent studying.




Cutty caught the deadish expression of the tricked-fairly-pseudo girlfriend in the reflection of their shiny dinner plates before her attention was turned to Puck. "It was delicious as every pie stolen with love inevitably is." He shot a look over at Gryffindor, his big dark eyes searching for Damien Anderson-Belfort and making plans to meet up with him.




Cherry Blossom something was wafting through the air announcing the best-friend's presence. Cutty turned his head to see the not-disappointing sight of Beverly Wayne. Another terminal termer. Boo! Maybe he could mess with her grades and hold her back. But then he'd miss the benefit of having a friend out in the real world making that elephant path.

He still hadn't met her dad, though. Why? Was Bev somehow asham...

Bev's tiny little arms were around his arms and he was being squished. Was he cursing him? Had someone started a rumour that he needed to deny? No, wait, no...This was...Bev was HUGGING him.

When she did her usual greeting, though it was as if someone had wiped his memory clean. "Wayne." He replied casually taking a drink from his Dante's water glass just in case his was poisoned. "Have a good summer?"

Penelope had her stack of posters that advertised the pet rock adoption fair. She approached the Slytherin table and spoke to the students near her, especially the younger ones who didn't seem as intimidating as some of the older ones. "Does anyone want to adopt a pet rock? They are very low maintenance pets and literally live forever! If you come by the table by the entrance to the Great Hall now, you can get a pet rock that comes with a care manual and rock candy!" Some of these Slytherins might be more likely to start their own pet rock business if the pet rocks proved to be popular. Eyes on you, Cutty Mordaunt, the one who was apparently in the business of selling sweets. He had better stick to sweets.

The train ride had been uneventful, for her anyhow. Brooklyn had meant for it to be, after the craziness of the field trip and everything. Being stuck for extended periods of time around people she was trying to ignore did that, and as she’d gotten to the Slytherin table, she’d narrowed her eyes a little as she saw said Hufflepuff there. Oh well, she could still pretend he wasn’t there. She still chose to sit across from Ethan, almost as if that was her accustomed spot since first year, giving a smile to him, Cutty, Caleb, Beverly, Dot, Dante and even Grayson and Ruby. The Slytherins of the group, although she’d looked sideways at the Gryffindor (Puck) she’d sat next to. Why were all these non-Snakes invading? It was weird.

And a Ravenclaw advertising pet rock adoptions? Even stranger. Unless she could make the rock into another Balerion, she didn’t care. The mewing from Ruby’s jumper was more intriguing.

"Cutty, hush." Ruby told the sixth year imperiously. And that went for the inappropriate thoughts that he was probably entertaining. Or not really. Ruby actually didn't mind Cutty's dodgy mind. In fact she encouraged it, as long as he kept his musings to his own self, or used them appropriately to scandalize entertaining individuals.

You know, like Agatha.

In any case, right now, there were more MEWs coming from her jumper. And she was about to break Grayson Whitlock. Was everyone watching? Because she was. His heart would implode and he would be at her mercy, she just knew it, and was smug about it in advance.

Another demanding little MEW was all the encouragement she needed. They were getting louder, those noises, so she reached under her jumper and extracted the culprit.

"I got you a kitten. You have to name her."

"I did," Zhenya said, a big smile on her face. "I think all transfer students have some Lion in them." Yeah, becauuuuuse it took guts to join as anything other than a first year. At least firsties were all together. But it would have been nice for another snake friend. Though Adi was a friend and he was a badger friend, so a lion friend was great too.



Burton? Zhenya recognised her surname, and looked to the voice. "Hi," she greeted with a friendly smile. But the smile drooped a little. final year… that meant only one thing. "Oh… I guess so. Not looking forward to exams. I think my hair's already falling out. How'd your OWL's go?"



Zhenya almost choked on the air… adopt a pet rock? Err… was this actually a thing? She looked at the young Claw and narrowed her eyes to focus on the poster she was holding. Yep, Pet Rock Adoption Fair. Riiiiight… a care manual and rock candy?
"Um… is there some kind of reason why there are rocks for adoption? Like… some kind of charity event or fundraiser or something?" she asked gently. Like… did they have to pay, donate money or something? Or was it just to adopt a pet rock? What if she accidentally killed it or something? Did she have to find sponsors for something? But she already had an owl. And he sent letters. What would a rock do?

Ilia was glad that he agreed and she smiled back a little. She liked having a snake as her symbol and thought it was a funny irony. She was a little sad when he mentioned that she wouldn't be on his team. It was a good house but he wished she was with him in his. She felt that was the first compliment she'd received since she'd been here, but it made her both happy and kind of sad. There wasn't any changing it at this point though she didn't think. The hat told her she was very ambitious before it called out slytherin. Maybe he meant the toad situation. "I was surprised too, but I guess its because I am still learning about the houses maybe. Its really different for me."

Now that he was speaking about their little girl Ilia smiled brightly. "I will be so happy to see her. I'm glad she is happy." When he said that she needed to watch her eating habits , she giggled a little. "She is a growing girl, she needs to eat. I can bring the things I got her to you. I packed food for her and a little house and some other things." Honestly , Ilia went a little crazy with getting things for their little princess toadette.



Ilia heard pet and adoption, so she looked over at the girl who had come up to the table. A pet.....rock? Was that some odd British common name for some creature or.....did she actually mean a rock? From the description and the posters.....she was pretty sure the girl really did mean a rock. She was very confused by this and wondered if it was just a British thing. Rocks weren't alive........an idea dawned on her though. Something that might.....just might.....bug her mother. She said she couldn't bring any pets home, but had emphasized with the words 'no more animals in this house'. A rock wasn't an animal. So....in a sense.....she could get a pet without disobeying. Loophole! She thought it was odd and possibly silly, but she knew it would annoy her mother without actually getting her into trouble. "I will take a poster?" She offered to the girl that looked around her age. She smiled at Henric, they could get princess a pet rock! Yup she was being a crazy toad mom.

Abby made her way over to the slytherin table and looked up and down the table to see if Hady was about but she wasn't so she thought that she would wait and see whether anybody would talk to her

The Slytherin table was being very Slytherin at the moment.

So NATURALLY Hughbert had to waddle in all gangsta-like to mess up that equilibrium. He fumbled into his usual seat slightly apart from the people so that he could philosophise and eat without mouth breathers getting in his way. This curvaceous miracle body took a lot of upkeep, yo.

Slamming his Freud book on the table, the one he didn't get to finish on the train because of rude cats and compartment interrupters, Hugh flipped to his page and went on reading. He probably should have been more careful with hiding the pictures in the book. Because Freud. But he didn't see much problem with it.

Educational, really.

Henric noted the facial expression from llia and felt a little bad because he thought he might have said something wrong to her.He made it up by saying to her,"llia,don't worry,we can still meet up whenever if you like, we still need to train Princess to do some tricks and who knows enter a toads race competition or more, we are both not going anywhere, you still have us Hufflepuffs to show you around," he grinned.

Henric nodded,"Sure,I'm afraid I've run out of crickets to feed her, lucky to have you to take care of her,I'm sure she will love having a new place to stay,"he told her.That little toad would be so pampered, he still couldn't believe he almost spend all of his dragon cards collection money on her.That was how much he cared for that toad...yup.

Henric turned around and faced the Ravenclaw girl.She was giving out posters and yelling about anyone willing to adopt a pet rock? What was that? A new magical creature? He most certainly never heard of it before in his life. Why would anyone adopt a rock? Henric was more surprised when llia had taken her poster. Was she serious? No way...He wondered what was she on about?She had that idea look again.
"You're not serious on adopting one are you?"he asked.
"What would you do if you got one?" he asked again, peering at the poster. He saw Adi already heading out towards the entrance too, he sure had some strange yet incredible friends.(Haha)

Tabby headed straight from her sorting to the Slytherin table without a second glance at any of the other houses. Her mum would be OH SO PROUD that her eldest daughter was following in her footsteps.

ALL these people were BIG.

Tabby wasn't phased though, nor put off by the Slytherin banter of the older kids, and took her rightful place at the table, squeezing in next to one of those said older kids.

“Hello.” She beamed. “I'm Tabby.” In case anyone was interested. She then sent smiles around to EVERYONE. *beam* Look how cute and little and friendly she was.

...But where were the other first year Snakes? Gosh.

Layla had watched the sorting of the first years from her spot on the Ravenclaw table. She usually wouldn’t take that much notice of what was going on but she had promised Tabitha’s parents that she’d look out for at the school. Her mum was clearly being a little overprotective but she would honour her words. The little blonde was kinda cute anyway, she had the same hair and eyes as her own Nephew Felix.

The Broadmoors and the Ackerly’s were close-knit families. Although Layla had no direct familial relationship with the Broadmoor’s her sister-in-law would often have both sets of families around for dinner parties and that meant that she knew them very well. As far as kids went they were okay. They were all ridiculously pretty though thanks to their genes.

As soon as she found the opportune moment she headed over to the Slytherin table where she found Tabby sat amongst the other snakes introducing herself with that ‘wide-eyed excited expression’ that reminded her of Samson when he had first come to the school. High hopes and expectations. She tapped her on her shoulder. “Hey” she smiled being welcoming and all despite it not being her house. It was Sammy’s though, she’d make note to bug him after the feast was done with. “You got the same house as your parents then? Bet they’d be proud.” And Layla’s brother for that matter, Tabby’s Uncle. She was pretty content with what house she had been sorted in but at the time she hadn’t really cared. She didn’t feel like she belonged to any of them in particular, Ravenclaw at least felt like a sort of home.

Henric made her feel a little better, saying that they could meet up when they liked and that Hufflepuffs could still show her around. She had a feeling as long as she was around Henric, moving here wouldn't be as awful as she had feared and she nodded with a small smile. "Toad races and competitions? They have those?" She asked with interest. That was a thing? Would that be a good way for her to meet other toads? Would the other toads like her? Maybe she would like being a competitor? The only way to know would be to let her do it, and if she didn't like it she didn't have to. She was very devoted in her mindset to be a good toad mommy.

"I will set up her room in my dormitory once I unpack. So she can have two places to stay now." She smiled as she said it. She knew they would spoil her rotten, or at least as much as you can with a toad. "I brought her all sorts of food and treats, so it won't be a problem." She made sure to get things for her family owl that she had taken with her, but she brought just as much or more things for the toad.

When Henric gave her an expression that was asking if she was serious, she smiled. The gears in her head were turning for sure. "Well, mother said no more animals. Rocks aren't technically animals, unless its not what it seems." She could disobey without technically disobeying, it sounded golden to her. What would she do with it? "Its not just for me, princess might like one." She could find her a comfortable pet rock to have when she came over to her dorm. The plan was brilliant in its own way.

Tabitha saw Layla get up and start toward the Slytherins, clearly making her way to greet her—y'know, Tabs wasn't even sure in what way they were family--but Layla was family according to her father. Her Aunt's husband's sister.. or something along those lines. Her own sister, Ruby, would have been able to explain it to her, but sadly she wasn't here yet. *sads*

“Layla!” The eleven year old exclaimed brightly, getting up on the bench to give the older (and waaay taller) girl a big hug. “Mummy will be proud but I don't think daddy really cares about these things.” She confessed, beaming from ear to ear.

“Sit down.” She sat again, squishing along and patting the bench beside her. Sit down, Layla.

Third year. THIRD YEAR, yeaaaah.

Hugo was not longer a little kid, a firstie, a baby, he was a third year. Okay, he wasn't that old but who cares? He walked proudly towards his house table and greeted everyone, "Hello!" and sat down next to Dante because he was cool and his friend.

And now, food.

There she was! Another one of his favourite Slytherins! “Don’t I get a hug too, Bev?’’ Adi asked jokingly. Come to think of it, he had never seen her show that much emotion. Maybe it was because it was her seventh year and she was getting all sentimental. Whatever the reason may be, he was going to going to get that smile this term. Riiiiight, Beverly?

And there was Grayson’s girlfriend. “Looky, it’s the cutest couple!” But then wait… what was that? Meow? It had only been one meow but his hearing was reasonable. The Hufflepuff tilted his head trying to figure out where the sound came from. “Did you guys hear a kitten or something?” Oh, wait! Never mind! “I knew I heard one of those.’’ For Ruby had brought out a little fluff ball. “Name it something macho, Grayson,’’ Adi suggested. It was a guy kitten riiight?

“Pretty impressive hair flip you got there, Dot.’’ He figured it hadn’t taken the little Snake to master the move. Little Snake, though? Riiiiight. The girl was already in THIRD year. Gosh, where did the time go? Oh! A method of contact? “Hmmm. You could always enchant a parchment airplane to zoom into my dorm through a window,’’ he suggested, very much liking the idea of that. Hehe. Guys. Some of them really never grew up. Speaking of third years… “Hey, Brooklyn!’’

“It sounds like you’ve got them all figured out, Zhenya.’’ Adi hadn’t noticed any Puff transfers as yet. Or maybe he had missed them since he left the Hufflepuff table. Ah, well. There would be plenty of time to catch up with them later. “Looking forward to your last year? Want it to go by fast?’’ Because Adi knew some students were eager to graduate.

What, what, WHAT was Cutty doing? O__O Adi sat there not sure of what to do as Cutty narrowed the gap between them… and then Cutty’s head was on his shoulder. Then there was the whole finger thing against one side of his face. This was one of those rear times when Aditya Rehman was lost for words. LOL.

So how did the Puffer handle this situation? The same way he handled loads of stuff… he got his sense of humour out. “It’s easy to do whenever I look into your eyes,’’ he said and straining not to laugh though he did pull back his face out of Cutty’s finger’s reach. Noooooo giving his friend the wrong idea here. “I try, Cutty, I try. But it’s difficult to find the right things to say to you sometimes.’’ A bit of a snigger escaped from him. “I hope you got loads of sweets for your best customer.’’ There was no way he was letting Cutty be occupied with… whatever it was he was doing here.

With his attention back at the Staff Table, Ethan mulled over the possibility that Millard was already replaced. The thought made him gloomier because the Herbology professor was a good guy, and the Slytherin didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye. He was able to excel in one of his worst subjects in school under Professor Bentley, and learned more from Professor Millard. All thoughts about the Herbology professor was pushed aside as soon as a familiar voice boomed behind him.



Oh hello there GrayGray. The semi-buffed teen slid sideways to give the older Slytherin more space, and clapped his back as soon as the cool kid took his seat. “My summer was grand. Finally got to show off...stuff.” Grayson would know, yeah? Ethan has been wolfing down a 3,998 calorie count meal to build up his physique, and he was sure Grayson had a glimpse of him taking off his shirt during the Field Trip. That was...rather epic, to be honest. “Last year, eh? We have to make it count!” Ethan gave Grayson a knowing wink, and mouthed the word ‘Dungeon’. Teehee!



Then there was, “Caaaleb. Sit down, sit down.” Ethan gave the empty spot beside him a solid, single pat. “My summer was eventful,” the Slytherin nodded his head, “but it wasn’t long enough for me to recuperate from the OWL preps.” Speaking of OWLs, the fair-haired boy smacked his forehead as soon as he remembered something that concerned the prefect. “I forgot to tell you about my Astronomy OWL. Aced it by the way, and thank YOU for helping me revise.” Ethan will be forever thankful. “How was your summer?”



Tiny Brooklyn. Ethan watched as the tiny redhead made his way towards their table and claimed her spot across him. The older Slytherin can’t help but think about her seat as her observation perch. Merlin. Her brain must be so interesting, no? Even those eyes that glanced irritatingly at Adi...and the Gryffindor beside her. Ethan smiled at the tiny monster, and got his last packet of candy from his pocket. The older Slytherin slid the packet across, towards the tiny Slytherin without a word.



He turned just in time to see their female prefect, and Ethan gave her a nod back. “Miss Wayne.” The fair haired Mordaunt watched as she interacted with the rest of the Snakes, and was...kind of surprised when she made contact with Cutty.

Oh?

Interesting.



Distracted, Ethan shifted to face his cousin. “And here I thought you won’t acknowledge me, Cuthbert.” Yes. Finally, he now knows his real name. How? Well. Let’s just say that he spent a good time at the Mordaunt’s private library, and that he caught his own father mentioning the name from the next room. It didn’t take long for him to connect the dots, really.

And should they hang more often? “Of course, Cuttyboy. But first, GIMME A KISS!” Now that, is random. Ethan had roughly cupped Cutty’s face and made kissy faces at him.



He was, however, distracted too with the MEWs. Still cupping Cutty’s face, and the kissy face stuck on his visage, Ethan turned towards GrayGray and Ruby. “N’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwww.” Exaggerated much? Yep.

Rorie was about to retort to Cutty's 'with love' comment, when her ears caught the snide remark Dot made to Puck. She had promised to herself that she'd keep her mouth shut and was trying to do so by gritting her teeth. Yet, the thought of all the times Puck had stood up for her was nagging at the back of her brain. "Oi, why don't you back off, Dot?" She sighed, "She's just here to visit me, her friend." Ror kept her voice low, but stern enough to get the point across. If you only knew how much control this was taking and Cutty's spit take was making it even harder. Her body trembled with rising anger as she wiped off Cutty cooties off her face. "Nice."

Finally, the beginning of my last year at Hogwarts. I haven't had much friends though, just a person to talk to every once in a while. maybe that'll change this year. It is my last year so....we'll see what'll happen.

Dante was still basically silent and playing with the culinary in front of him. It passed the time until he saw Grayson. Was it really Grayson's last year. Weird to think about that sort of stuff. He gave a totally awesome sp nod back. Because it was awesome.He had been practicing.

He gave another one and a wave to Adi. Who he really should talk to this term before he leaves also. Shocking right. Actually talking to more than the couple of people he usually talked to.And Cutty did have some candy and whatever kind of chocolate it was. It did sound alright though. "Alright, what do i owe you for a snapping turtle" Now all he could hope was it's purpose was not to bite your tongue.

Pet Rocks, Seriously. Sounded like an idea endorsed by Professor Airey. With his pet rocks Pebble...Pebbles or was it Boulder. It was a pun. Dante knew that. Well he guessed that low maintenance was a good thing. Though it was in the end a rock. He would rather talk to his toad than a rock. So no pet rock for him.

"So you hang out with Marigold anymore over the summer?" Hmm....Hmm...Dante asked Hugo as he sat down. He had no idea where he was going with that.

But yeah, whatever.

Caleb Newell. Jeez, hadn't the OWLs engulfed him and sucked him up into a wormhole or whatever? Why in the freaking name of Merlin was he still around?

Grayson tried not to roll his eyes and make a sarcastic comment, which was VERY hard to do, by the way. Where was his medal? His award? His celebration party? "'Sup, Caleb? Had a horrible summer? Did you miss me?" It's okay to admit it, Mr Prefect. No one is gonna judge you.

Ugh. NEWTs. "Not in the slightest. It's gonna suck the fun outta life." What? It was true! "Looking forward to sixth year?" And really, what was up with that grin?



"'Sup, Adi!" he said, smirking slightly at the Hufflepuff. Dude was cool and all and always sat here. GOOD. Keep coming, Adster. And his advice had helped? "See? I'm not just a pretty face." Wink. Brains AND brawn. The world was such a lucky place, wasn't it?

"But FREAKING YEAH, YOU PASSED THEM! Give it here!" he called, holding out his hand and clenching his fist. Fistbump? Yeah?



If anyone else -- minus a select few, of course -- had given him a thump on his arm, Grayson would have seriously considered whacking them one. But, after a moment of looking confused, the boy realised who it was from and -- yeah, you guessed it -- smirked at the newcomer.

"You checking to see if your bodyguard's ready to do some protecting?" He even flexes his muscles for the girl and kisses his bicep. Because, you know, they looked great and all. Even if you couldn't see it through the sleeves of his robes.

And yes, he had been working on these bad boys.



How was his summer? "Dude, it was freaking awesome!" Well, kinda, but how could he miss an opportunity to brag? "Tons of pool parties and I got to stay at Ruby's for a bit," Which was fun for obvious reasons that he wasn't gonna mention out loud. "How was yours? Do anything fun?"

Seventh years. SEVENTH years. "It kinda does sound freaky and all." Shrug. "But I like the thought of being top of the school. Man, does it feel GREAT!" Obviously, he was forgetting about the NEWTs LOL.



SMIIIIIRK.

"Oh Cutty Mordaunt, you sure know how to make me happy." Wink. "We should fix that, you know. The not seeing my beautiful face thing. Maybe we'll end up seeing more of each other this year." You know, maaaaaaybe.

And then Ruby Banner made her entrance.

And Grayson Whitlock was just staring. Partly because she was hotter than lava and partly because the sight of her with a small bump under her jumper was............ well. It just hurt his heart, mkay? And it was kinda becoming harder and harder to breathe. Or he'd just forgotten how to. You know, whatever.

So, naturally, he stared at her as she sat down next to him. He hardly even registered the fact that there was a mewing coming from her jumper because of that. FREAKING. Bump! JEEZ, man. How was he meant to concentrate on anything with THAT?!

And then she spoke and brought him riiiiiight back to earth. She had something for him? "Did you get me something dirty or something inno--"

Wait.

WAIT. JUST HOLD THE FREAKING PHONE.

Eyes wide, Grayson STARED at the kitten. Yeah, that's right, he was being given a KITTEN. Why? Merlin knew, man. He wasn't forgetting their anniversary, was he? "You........ you got me a kitten?" A cute one too but NO ONE is gonna EVER know about that. Reaching over, the seventh year took hold of the little girl kitten and held her in his arms. No smirking was happening, only a warm smile and some stroking of the kitten's fur. "'Sup, little dudette. I'm Grayson and you're mine, mkay?" MINE.

.......... What was he meant to do with this thing again?

"What's the special occasion, Rubes?"



Getting a smile from Brook meant one of three things:
a) She had gotten nicer over the summer and actually acknowledged and appreciated his handsome appearance
b) She was only pretending to be nice
and c) This wasn't actually Brooklyn Andrews.

All sounded pretty realistic and all.

Still, the boy smiled back at her and have her a 'sup nod before saying, "'Sup, Brook! Had a good summer?"



Cutest couple? LOL, this was because of the Yearbook, wasn't it? The thought of it made him smirk because heck YEAH, they were the cutest couple. But also...... "More like hottest couple, my man." WINK.

He couldn't resist, mkay?

Name it something macho? Grayson held the kitten up and tilted his head. The kitten ended up tilting her head the same way as him, making his icy cold heart melt a little. Just a little. "I could but she's a girl kitten. Need to find a nice name for her and all."



MAN, Ethan was looking so buffed up recently. Grayson couldn't help but admire it juuuuuust a little. Not that he was into the dude, but he kinda liked to think of it as his own handiwork. Kinda. They DID have an interesting talk in the boy's dorms about......... lulz. LULZ.

What was discussed in the boys dorms STAYED there. No one else needed to know.

And cue a wiggling of the eyebrows. "Bet you were walking around topless more times than Bellaire has told people off." Which was probably a lot but whatever. "Did you get to show your special lady friend the goods?" Oh, how he had missed this over the holidays.

'We have to make it count' Now THERE was a line that he DEFINITELY liked the sound of. So, smirking was happening. Uh huh. "Another boy's talk is definitely in order. It'll be interesting, to say the least."



Seeing Dante doing the sup nod only made Grayson smile and feel proud inside. Was this what it felt like to be mushy gushy? Kinda sickly sweet wasn't it?

He hated that.

"You're getting better at those, you know." Which was a huge compliment coming from Whitty.

Was she really running that late? By the time the small teen got close enough to her house table she was seriously considering turning around and walking the other way. It was crowded and right now she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with so many people. Letting out a small breath Hady quickly scanned over those already seated.

Finding an empty spot at the table she slid onto the seat without so much as a sound. She wasn't much in a talking mood but that didn't mean she'd be rude to anyone if they were to speak to her. Hady knew better then that no matter how she was feeling or whatever the reason she wasn't disrespectful. What she really needed right now though was coffee...iced coffee actually. Could she possibly get that here? Probably not. Sigh.

With her eyes fixed on the table and one of her hands fiddling idly with the locket around her neck it was somewhat clear she wasn't currently paying full attention to anything around her. Or so that may have seemed anyways.

"Don't smile at me. I'm thinking of a hundred ways to set your pants on fire," Dot groused at Cutty. It was very difficult for her to figure out how she felt about him at the moment, since she was mad and protective and grumpy and possessive. Feelings were terrible, especially when the source of her wrath was smirking at her.

And the spit-take. How did she feel about that? HOW DID SHE FEEL? "You are impossible. Don't you sometimes look at yourself in the mirror and wonder how nature produced such an enigma? You're like a platypus with a giraffe neck." And it made her grumpy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noodles

Tabby headed straight from her sorting to the Slytherin table without a second glance at any of the other houses. Her mum would be OH SO PROUD that her eldest daughter was following in her footsteps.

ALL these people were BIG.

Tabby wasn't phased though, nor put off by the Slytherin banter of the older kids, and took her rightful place at the table, squeezing in next to one of those said older kids.

“Hello.” She beamed. “I'm Tabby.” In case anyone was interested. She then sent smiles around to EVERYONE. *beam* Look how cute and little and friendly she was.

...But where were the other first year Snakes? Gosh.

Her grumpiness was reprieved by the appearance of a new face. A firstie with smiles for everyone. That was endearing, it was. "Tabby, like a cat? I'm Dot, like a polka. Fourth year. You'll like our common room. We can watch the squid right out the windows."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

“Pretty impressive hair flip you got there, Dot.’’ He figured it hadn’t taken the little Snake to master the move. Little Snake, though? Riiiiight. The girl was already in THIRD year. Gosh, where did the time go? Oh! A method of contact? “Hmmm. You could always enchant a parchment airplane to zoom into my dorm through a window,’’ he suggested, very much liking the idea of that. Hehe. Guys. Some of them really never grew up. Speaking of third years… “Hey, Brooklyn!’’

"Thank you," Dot propped her fist on her chin and looked up at Adi with big eyes. She'd learned how to hair flip with much much practice, and it was nice to be noticed. Of course, with the girls at this school, it wasn't like there was a lack of viable hair flipping candidates to observe.

"I know that spell. That's how I talk to my Ravenclaws. I can use it, but do you promise to come when I ask? Otherwise, what's the point?" She could just send airplanes to herself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

Rorie was about to retort to Cutty's 'with love' comment, when her ears caught the snide remark Dot made to Puck. She had promised to herself that she'd keep her mouth shut and was trying to do so by gritting her teeth. Yet, the thought of all the times Puck had stood up for her was nagging at the back of her brain. "Oi, why don't you back off, Dot?" She sighed, "She's just here to visit me, her friend." Ror kept her voice low, but stern enough to get the point across. If you only knew how much control this was taking and Cutty's spit take was making it even harder. Her body trembled with rising anger as she wiped off Cutty cooties off her face. "Nice."

So there were two ways to play this. Take the call out and come back in kind.... or play dumb. Dot was a snake, not a foolhardy lion, so she didn't feel like she had to man up to her feelings. But she also didn't trust that Puck would know what she'd done wrong without being led by hand all the way to the moral of the story. Gryffindors. Sigh. FEELINGS WERE AWFUL.

"She shouldn't threaten my housemate. Only Slytherins get to threaten Slytherins. It's like how siblings work. But I'm honestly sorry if I made you mad, Rorie, because you have the best hair in the house and I regret upsetting you." Circular Dot logic.

Zhenya was clapping as the sorting hat was announcing the new houses. She clapped for ALL of the houses, because it was SO EXCITING! But she clapped especially loud when they announced a new SNAKE!

So when she was still clapping and the first year came and sat at the table, Zhenya was impressed she didn't seem intimidated by the group. She certainly was in her first year. The girl introduced herself, and Zhenya said "Hi Tabby, welcome to Slytherin! I'm Zhenya."



Zhenya just shrugged with a sly smile. Maybe it was the slight shyness within the girl, but facing a group of people, older and younger, who had already established friendships and a way of life inside the castle, was brave. Yep.

Last year. Zhenya wiggled her head from side to side "Oh yes and no, I suppose. I want it to be quick so I can leave and become an adult, and get a job, and travel, but I don't want it to go too quickly. If it goes too quickly I'll forget to study, and I won't be able to spend the year making last memories with friends." It was a balance…