Bradson stepped inside the Great Hall. Why was there like no one here? The Hufflepuff looked around the hall, his blue-green eyes found themselves upon the Hufflepuff table, his house. There was no one there! Why was there no one here? Did he lose every Hufflepuff as he made his way to the castle?

FOOD.

..............

WHERE WAS THE FOOD?

The second year had to stop and think about what went on at one of these feasts this time last year. What really did happen? He couldn't remember?

........

He had to wait until the headmaster/mistress made their speak. UGH! This will be the death of him. Starvation was not the way to go. He was hungry and the candy he had on the train ride to the castle didn't really help with his hunger a all. Bradson walked down one of the aisles and made his way to his table. He sat towards the front of the table closest to the professors. Maybe that was a bad choice of seat? Who cares, he didn't care at all. The twelve year old just sat there looking around.

Norah, who had spent the entire train ride trying her very hardest not to mope, let out a long face or two as she wiggled into a spot at the nearly empty Hufflepuff table and rested her head on her hands. Hogwarts with NO Yoongi and NO Professor Moxley barely counted as Hogwarts at all. If she ignored the fact that she hadn't known either of them when she first started, that is. Which she was. In the interest of moping. On top of the fact that she knew her behavior was highly un-prefectlike (there had to be a REASON why she hadn't been good enough to be Head Girl. Penelope would surely be far less dreadful than she would've been), it was probably a big waste of her very last start of term feast for the rest of her entire life. It was too late now, though. The moping had begun. Call the authorities.

It only took about a minute for her to grow bored of staring at her reflection in the polished table. Even that was likely record timing, considering her attention didn't enjoy staying put on anything for more than a few seconds unless it was really really REALLY important. The seventh year lifted her gaze to the rest of the Great Hall, her eyebrows shooting upwards at the sight of a big cat sitting at the Staff Table. She was never entirely confident that she could trust her memory, but she was PRETTY sure the picture she'd seen of the new Headmaster in the Daily Prophet hadn't looked anything like THAT. A cat was still no Professor Moxley, but at least she would've been a bit more excited if she'd known THAT. Classic grown-ups, always keeping the best information to themselves. Norah had already elected to ignore the fact that she was technically a grown-up too now that she was of age 'n all that, because that didn't feel true at all. Numbers were liars. Everybody knew that.

When her eyes finally reached Brady at the other end of the table, she wiggled her fingers at him and called, "You hungry?" Hopefully he wouldn't start yelling like he had last year, but either way she had no shortage of pumpkin pasties stuffed into the bag at her feet in case he wanted one. Maybe she couldn't bring a whole lot of JOY to the table at that point, at least she could bring FOOD. Those were kind of the same, right?

Miss Katerina skipped off to the hufflepuff table after riding in some carrriages that seem to be pushed by nothing, or something under a Disillusionment Charm maybe. She had barely gotten half way to the table from the great hall before she seen Brady already there at the table. She ran the rest the way to the table. "BRADY!!!" Plopping down beside and tackle!hug him. Her best friend. He was loud and annoying at times. But still he was her friend.


Kat got all comfy next to Brady, but her eyes were already going to the Slytherin table for Cornelius. Seeing Noah the female prefect she smiled and waved at her. She didn't know her well but well enough but just to smile and wave.

Miranda took a seat at the table and looked at the few students that sat there... " Ummm Hi.... My name's Miranda." She said to the boy sitting there looking half starved.

Waiting.

Still waiting.

Where was everyone? Were they lost? Did they fall in the lake an drown? WHERE WAS KATERINA?! Where was his best friend? Why was she not here? Why did he not see her on the train? Why did she not sit with him? He just had way too many questions right now. He couldn't even focus on one thing.

As he was about to get up from the table and leave to go to one that was more packed with people...the Ravenclaw table more likely because he wanted to make sure that Azura was really okay, he saw one of the prefect stop over to the table. Brady nodded at Norah. "Yeah, the candy didn't really fill me up at all." The Scottish boy said.

As he wanted for Norah to say something else to him, his blue-green eyes scanned the room for his best friend. His eyes stopped over at the professors seating area because he saw a cat near Professor Baldy. O_____O Then out of nowhere there was a person tackle hugging him and he knew who this person was. Kat! IT WAS KAT! "KATERINA!" Oh my god it was his best friend! HIS BEST FRIEND WAS HERE! Bradson hugged her back tightly.

More people? Someone had just sat next to him. The second year turned towards the person (Miranda). "Hey!" The Scottish boy smiled brightly. "I'm Brady!" He greeted the girl. "Nice to meet you Miranda." He was pretty sure that he had never seen her before.

Miranda couldn't believe her ears.... Someone had said hello back... It was a miracle. Now the only thing she needed to do was not look like a complete newb..
" Hi, Brady. Nice to meet you. I'm a first year. I'm a bit nervous . I don't have any friends."
" OMG! "She thought to herself..." YUP that just happened. You told a boy you haven't any friends.... Good one" she just looked down at her folded hands on the table. She hoped he wouldn't mock her for her newness and general patheticness.

Bradson smiled at the girl. He knew what it was like to be a first year, he was just a first year last term. He still felt like a first year. He would have to get used to being a second year now. The Scottish boy nodded to the girl. "There's nothing to be nervous about." He reassured her. "You have your house now! We badgers are the most welcoming bunch in this whole castle." He knew it was true.

She didn't have any friends? What? "Well you didn't have any friends before you walked over here but you have friends now." Brady nodded. "I'll be your first friend here." He meant every single word!

Brady's warmed her up immediately and she smile back at him, " Really?... Thank you, Brady. I'm glad I took the chance on saying hello. "
She really was glad.. To think all she needed to do all this time was say Hello? Strange...
" I wonder when the feast will start... I'm famished.... Didn't get a snack on the train.... I didn't want to not be able to try everything at supper....." Miranda looked longingly for the Headmaster " How long are they gonna make us wait? " She asked as she fixed her Blonde hair behind her ear.

Brady shook his head. "No, you don't have thank me." He would probably do the same thing to anyone but then again he probably wouldn't but he could sense that she was new here and he really did want to welcome her to Hogwarts and the Hufflepuff house. "I ate some candy on the train ride here but it didn't really fill me up." It didn't fill him up but he was hyper even thought he was trying to hide his hyperness right now. Some people just couldn't handle him when he was hyper. "We have to wait until after the speech before we can eat." OH MY GOD! He finally remembered. He was trying to figure that out earlier when he was the only one at the table.

Miranda rolled her eyes at the thought of having to wait for some speech before food would appear her very hungry eyes. " You'd think they'd have planned to have an appitizer... What with all the house elves. They wouldn't mind.... You think they have a suggestion box somewhere? " She finished with a joke and giggled. Miranda took a deep breath and asked, " So, Brady... If you want you can call me Randi" She smiled at him. " You don't happen to have a spare pumkin pastie have you? "

This was it.

FINALLY Esme was back at Hogwarts. Not only that, but she could eat dinner. The Hufflepuff was STARVING after going through a long train ride without having anything proper to eat. As much as she liked Bertie Botts, they did not make up a meal. No matter though, because she was at the Hufflepuff table with her friends.

"Hey, everyone!" she said happily before taking a seat by Brady.

Was this right? Isabella looked up at the yellow and black banner above the table. Yes, that said Hufflepuff. This was the right table. Was there an empty spot? She didn't want to take anybody's seat.

Ooh, was that a spot? Yeah, there was totally room right there. Isabella hurried to the other side of the table and slid into the seat across the table from three older students (Esme, Brady, Kat).

"Hi!" she said excitedly. Hufflepuffs were supposed to be nice, right? Right. "I'm Isabella! This is the Hufflepuff table, right?" She felt like she should probably check. It would be embarrassing if they all started eating and then she found out she'd been at the wrong table the whole time. She bounced in her seat. All this excitement was making her hungry.

Miranda had been waitng for Brady to answer when another girl came to sit next him. She looked a few years older , but she was a fellow Badger was she not. Miranda struck up the courage to say hello.
" Hi..." she she sheepishly, " I'm Miranda. My friends call me Randi... Nice to meet you." Miranda said with a funny nervous smile. " I'm a first year.."
Miranda hoped that the older girl would want to be her friend like Brady... She was practically holding her breath.............. wait no she was holding her breath. She felt her lungs starting to scream for air.... When she realized this she took a huge breath; of course looking like a fish drowning out of water.
Gasp!Oh isn't that just great?! What a ninny! Why don't you just tape a sign to your back that says Freak" she thought to herself.
Now she really hoped that she could just crawl under the table and have Brady hand her some food during the feast so she could hide.

Carl skipped into the Great Hall and straight to the Hufflepuff House Table without hesitation. He might visit friends in the other Houses, but that could come later. His Badger family was top priority right now. He had missed them so much! He had missed the food! He had missed the castle! He was glad to be back.

Blue eyes rested upon the Sorting Ceremony at the front of the Hall. He remembered waiting for his turn to put on the Hat nervously exactly a year ago and grinned. Hopefully, there were many new Hufflepuffs! He was a good big brother figure, y'know.

Blue eyes moved on to the Staff Dais, where he saw some new faces, some familiar ones and a cat. Hmm, that was strange. Professor Cat, huh? The Second Year thought nothing at Hogwarts could surprise him anymore. He walked quickly down the aisle and sat down beside a new Hufflepuff (Isabella).

"Hey, guys! How are you? I am Carl!" He called to Brady, Katerina, Esme and another new girl (Miranda). The last sentence was obviously directed at the First Years. "Hi, Norah!" Was the Prefect offering food? He could do with some snack right now! So, back to the girl next to him. "Hi. Yes, this is the Hufflepuff Table. Welcome!"

Bradson noticed Miranda's eye roll. He totally knew what that was about and he couldn't agree more. "I know right?! That would be really amazing if they just put some treats out for us. You know to hold us over from the time being on the train to having to wait for the speech." Well after the speech but he really didn't mind at all, talking really helped him forget how hungry he was. Brady didn't know the answer to that. "I don't know. Maybe? But our common room is right near the kitchens so I suppose if you make friends with a few of them then you wouldn't have to have suggestion box?" Was that right? Yeah that had to be right. He felt like his words were starting to get confusing. Brady gave her a slight not. "You got it Randi." He grinned at her. "No I don't."

Brady turned his head away from Miranda and looked over at the girl who just sat next to him. "Hey Esme. How was your summer." He asked her. "Esme, have you met Miranda? She's a pretty cool first year." He smiled pointing at Miranda sitting near him. He would help her make other friends.

They Scottish boy looked around to see who else was arriving and if he knew any of them. He saw a first year (Isabella) coming over to the table and greeting everyone. "Hey!" Bradson said if a big grin. "Take a seat!" He waved her over to the side of the table he was sitting at.

That was Carl! The second year waved to one of his dorm mates. "Hey mate!" He greeting him. He was all parts social today. He was happy to be back actually.

Really, all Azura wanted to do was go find her cousin and hide behind him all night. Away from the noise and the din and clatter of people and the dreaded.. "How was your summer." Because really, how did she answer that without lying? Telling the truth wasn't an option right now..

Sadly her search for Wes hadn't turned up much at the Gryffindor table, so she decided to try the Hufflepuff table.. Some of her friends were there.. Brady, Esme, Torie., perhaps she could go sit with them?

Jace was no where to be seen and Azura was now regretting telling him about what happened.. She should have sat there.. and asked about his summer instead of spilling everything out..

"Hey Esme." She said with a smile as she sat down next to her friend.. and then waved at everyone at the table.. Was that.. Carl? She had dueled him last term but never really gotten to talk to him.. "Hello Carl, and Brady,, and everyone else I don't know." She said with a warm.. but fake smile on her face.

Seeing as the food had yet to be served, a starving Ariadne deciding to wander over to some of the other house tables, the Hufflepuff table to be exact. "HELLO, HUFFLEPUFFS!" she exclaimed. "I've come to spread some Slytherin green to your table." No, not really. "Actually, I've come for CARL." Their conversation had gotten cut short due to the train arriving at the station, so she was taking it upon herself to come over and finish it now. So...where had that Carl gotten off to, hmm?

OHHH! There he was!

Strolling over to her Hufflepuff friend, she took the seat next to him, feeling sort of odd sitting amongst the Badgers. "Whoa. This feels strange," she commented, even before saying hello. They were JUST talking on the train, so was a 'hello' even needed? "You'll have to introduce me to some of your Hufflepuff friends." She needed to get out more. WAY more. She planned to do that this school year, too! "I'm Ariadne," she said, looking around at a few of them.

Isabella overheard someone else say they were a first year and peered around her until she spotted someone equally young. "Hi Randi!" she said, disregarding all the people between them because this was a fellow first year Hufflepuff girl, and maybe they would be best friends. "I'm a first year too!" Then, to both Miranda and the people directly around her, she remembered to introduce herself. "My name's Isabella."

She grinned at the boy who sat next to her when he introduced himself and answered her question. "Thank you, Carl," she said gratefully. Gosh, she was really glad he hadn't poked fun at her for double-checking on which table this was. As several other people came over to the table and greeted the people around her, Isabella couldn't help thinking she'd gotten in the right house. Everybody was talking to everybody, and Isabella loved talking. To anybody. She liked everybody. Usually. Looking around the Great Hall, Isabella noticed all the teachers gathered at the teacher table. Wait. Was that a cat? She frowned and squinted to see better.

"Why is there a cat at the front table?" she asked the people around her. People who could tell her if the cat was normal or not. It didn't seem very hygienic to have an animal in the dining hall, after all.

Selina stalked over to the Hufflepuff table from the sorting podium. She must have looked quite terrifying to some of the more faint of hear badgers, Her pale skin looked almost transparent next to the black of her cloak, and it made her pale pink eyes look almost red, especially with them now being blood shot from the rage she was feeling from being sorted into Hufflepuff in the first place. Her Silver hair swirled around her face, moving simply from her fast pace, and the black clock swirled tirelessly around her feet.

Upon reaching the table, she slipped into an empty seat and glared around the table at all the happy friendly faces that surrounded her.
Oh Merlin this will be a very long seven years she thought, and took to staring at her plate with such force that it was amazing it didn't break. She took a swig from her goblet of pumpkin juice without looking up, and took a deep breath. She'd work through this, she always did.

Okay so of course Mel had to go over to Hufflepuff to see well…Carl really. He was her number one puffer friend. It also didn’t hurt that Esme seemed nice and maaaybe some of the first years were cool? Or good huggers.

Melbourne made her way over to the Hufflepuff table and gave a wave to everyone that was there. Oh…Azura was there! And Adriane! “Hey Azura, hi Adriane” she smiled over to the girls. “I see I wasn’t the only one that wanted to come over and say hello to my hufflepuff friends” she smiled and grinned at the newer puffs there.

“Hi! I’m Mel, Gryffindor” she added before looking around a bit. “Hi Brady, hi Kat” she smiled…”Hi Carl! How was your summer?” She asked excitedly. “Did you have a nice train ride?” Obviously not as fun as last terms right? When they all sat together like a bunch of awesome soon-to-be friends.

It was good to see Brady. He looked happy too, which was even better. Having to watch his friend go through horrible things last year was painful. Hopefully nothing bad happened this year, nothing that involved a Hag. Anyway, enough of the depressing thoughts. "Hey, how was your summer?" Carl asked him.

The Hufflepuff caught a glimpse of a pair of purple eyes before he saw its owner sit down next to Esme. It was Azura, one of his dueling opponents last term. "Hey, Azura!" He said with a warm smile of his own. That was when he noticed that something seemed odd. She looked ... sad. Maybe she missed her home. Or maybe it was something serious. "Uh, what's up?" Well, that was awkward.

Carl's attention was soon grabbed by the loud voice declaring to spread some Slytherin green to their House Table. Ariadne had decided to visit them! Him, specifically. He smiled as she took the seat next to him. "Hehe, welcome to the House of Badgers! This is Brady, this is Katerina and this is Esme. That is Norah, our Prefect. And we have new First Years, whom I don't know too well yet." He introduced, gesturing. Speaking of First Years ... "I see that both Vivian and Kye are Sorted into Slytherin."

Isabella, got it. "You're welcome. How do you feel? Do you like it here so far?" The Second Year asked. Some people did not like the House they were Sorted into at first. "Oh, I am not sure. I have a theory that he or she is a new Staff member." He answered, as if this was completely normal.

He had just turned around to face the Sorting ceremony when he saw another new Hufflepuff slipping into an empty seat. To be honest, she looked a bit scary. Still, Carl was determined to be friendly and talk to her. "Hey, welcome! My name is Carl, nice to meet you." She didn't ... bite, right?

All the while, the Badger looked around the Great Hall for a certain Gryffindor. He grinned as Mel, his number one Lioness friend (and fellow superhero) came over to their House Table. "Hey, Mel! My summer was cool, there was this Hufflepuff recording event ... I wished you were there. How was your summer?" He knew how much she liked music and how amazing she was at playing the cello. Oh, the train ride? "Yeah, I was with Ariadne and two First Years. I went everywhere looking for you, though. We had marshmallows. Are you hungry?" Now he sounded like he was rambling. But yes, he was kind of hungry himself.

Abby sadly made her way over to the hufflepuff table hoping that she might be able to talk to Esme somewhere in private she had to tell somebody about her summer and Esme she felt was someone that she could trust with her secret

Hufflepuff really WAS the best House at Hogwarts - at least in Esme's opinion. It never ceased to amaze her how friendly and welcoming her fellow Badgers were to new members, be they First Years or Sixth Years. She was getting warm and fuzzy feelings in her heart and it was making her want to give everyone a hug. She would refrain from that for the moment, however.

"My summer was great!" she told Brady enthusiastically. "I spent a lot of time with my friends and family and did a bunch of volunteer work. What about you?" She hoped that he had a good summer as well because holidays were meant to be enjoyed, not hated. "I'm doing great! How are you, Carl?" she said in response to her Housemate's question.

The girl who introduced herself as Miranda seemed quite nice if not shy. "Nice to meet you, Miranda. I am Esme. If you need help with anything just ask me." Of course there were also Prefects and Professors for that, but sometimes they were busy or not around. Besides, it never hurt to offer assistance and she was always happy to help others when they needed it. Not wanting to draw attention to the younger girl's obvious embarrassment, she instead offered her a smile. The expression faltered, however, at the appearance of another new Hufflepuff (Selina). It seemed as if someone was rather unhappy about where the Sorting Hat had placed her. "It will get better," she said in an attempt to be reassuring. "We are a very welcoming bunch." Esme wasn't trying to brag by saying that; it was the truth. Hufflepuffs ALWAYS tried their hardest to make everyone feel welcome and appreciated.

Melbourne, Azura, Ariadne, and Abby each got friendly greetings in turn. "Hey, girls! How are you all doing?" It was hard not to show concern at Azura, but Esme was not going to draw attention to what had happened. It was up to her friend to share things when and if she was ready to and there was no way that she would interfere with matters. She would keep her mouth closed until Azura wanted to talk about it further - which she might not want to, but that was besides the point.

As Isabella bounced in her seat, it was hard not to laugh. Esme found it so precious and recalled just how excited SHE had been when placed into Hufflepuff four years ago. "Hello, I'm Esme."

Almost as soon as she had sat down, there came another voice from above her and Azura looked up to see Ariadne standing there! The tiny twelve year old sent a wave to the Slytherin girl and gave her as much as a smile as she could muster. "Hey Ariadne, how was your summer?" She asked the Slytherin, hoping that she wouldn't return the question.. Ariadne was nice though, so she mostly likely would. Of all the times for her to wish people to be mean..

Meh..

And then there was Melbourne as well. Again, Azura gave the girl a wave and as much of a smile as she had in her. "No, I wanted to come see them as well." Seeing as she couldn't find Wes or Jace, Esme and Brady were the next closest things she had to good friends.. She just didn't want to be alone right now..

Even though she did. It was a very odd feeling, but.. still.

"Hiya Carl., How are you? How was your summer?" She asked him, again sighing at herself for asking that question that was so going to get turned back on her.. But the purple eyed girl was polite even in the midst of her denial about her mothers death. Though. the barest hint of a smile came at his question. "Waiting for the food to arrive, how about you?" She asked him before she turned to Esme..

"How are you Esme?" She asked her friend, really all she wanted to do was lean her head on Esme's shoulder and she made up her mind to tell her friend what was wrong.. Esme was too good of a friend to not tell the truth too..

Esme, Jace and Brady.. Hopefully they would be the ones to help her get through this terrible year..

"Can.. we talk Later Esme?" She asked softly as she looked up at her friend.