There had been only a slight delay, inconsequential really, in their reaching the Great Hall for the feast. A slight detour, a quick return, and Nem had appeared at the feast to take up a place at the Gryffindor table. For reasons only tangentially related to the table switch, Nem's school robes were devoid of Slytherin crest and green fabric lining, school tie abandoned entirely; they'd done the dismantling on the way up here, on a whim.

One benefit of this particular bit of Gryffindor territory was that it was positioned along the perimeter, like the Slytherin table, but on the opposite side of the room. Nem had claimed a place on one of the far side benches, back facing the wall. Picking up a fork, they began spinning it around their fingers, quietly scanning the other faces in the Hall.

Okay but walking into the great hall as a seventh year was weird and Cece found herself feeling incredibly nostalgic as she made her way to the Gryffindor table for her last opening feast. Last one. Last. HOW? It was literally yesterday that she was going to Beauxbatons for her first year because they couldn’t come to Hogwarts and then second year she finally got to experience the castle, the myth, the legend that was this school..and now she was nearly done and it all just felt strange. And sad. And she wanted things to slow down.

Lucky for her that feasts had a habit of being slow, huh?

The blonde settled into her seat and propped her chin on her hand and let out a little sigh. She was going to need a lot of cuddles this term. Merlin. She didn’t even notice that Nem had found themselves a seat at the wrong table, which was another strange thing to think on, but one the emo lioness didn’t have the brain for just yet.

Feast time.

Valentina walked into the great hall, her gaze immediately shifting towards the Hufflepuff table, wondering if a certain someone had arrived yet. Nope, couldn't see him. Wait, what was wrong with her?? What was the point in liking someone she simply had no chance with?? Why even look for him?? Turning slightly pink, she headed towards her table, looking and feeling a tad bit disappointed in herself.

Val gave the super pretty older girl a bright smile as she sat down, glancing at the Puff table once again. Ugh, no!! Self control, Valentina. She turned to notice a Slytherin student sitting at their table but didn't really give it much thought, simply wanting the feast to begin.

As always, by the time the feast rolled around, Kinsay was so tired. Like dragging-her-feet-into-the-Great-Hall-even-though-she-wanted-to-nap tired. She was trying to be excited though. She really, really was. This term was going to be a fresh start full of not being involved and taking a backseat and no drama whatsoever! She was already off to a good start too, thankfully having missed some fight that took place on the platform. Maybe the universe was granting her a free pass this term because it felt so bad about the last three.

That was nice.

Also nice? Seeing friends at her table already.

"Hi Cece, Hi Val," she waved at them both as she walked by, noticing that neither looked super present. Maybe they ALL needed naps. But she didn't linger on the thought for that much longer because once she spotted Nem, she had a sudden abundance of energy. Out of nowhere!

She made a beeline over to him, curious as to why his robes looked funny, but even more curious to know- "Are you sitting with us tonight?" She was all sorts of hopeful. Nevermind the why.

So. Here they were. Another term of Hogwarts and despite the total benevolence that had been the bread last term, Atlas still did not want to see so much as a dinner roll at the feast. How about they just had a big basket of...of...of baked potatoes? Yeah. Just a huge mountain of those. Both dinner rolls and potatoes tasted great with butter so it really was the perfect trade off. The third year supposed he would find out once the headmaster had given his speech and the term OFFICIALLY officially under way.

Knowing Aries would catch up with him soon, he had gone on ahead to secure them some seats and found his heart racing and palms sweating so much that he shoved them into his pockets so some of that moisture could absorbed. Nemesis Upstead...was at his table. Well, not HIS table but the Gryffindor table and the blonde's cheeks probably matched the crimson detailing of his own robes. Would...they be impressed by his robotics rewards? Probably not...especially seeing as Atlas was entirely too tongue tied to say anything. Add the presence of Kinsay James and there was no way he would be opening his mouth.

Whenever he did...it was always wrong and the reinforcements came torpedoing in to let him know about it. He wasn't sure he could stand the embarrassment again.

So, stupidly for someone who wanted to avoid embarrassment, Atlas sat himself across from Nemesis Upstead and kept his hands in his pockets were some bits and bobs from the build your own fireworks booth still were. Couple of random gears too. Cecelia and Valentina were also noted but...both seemed to be off in their own little worlds so he would leave Aries to be the one to disturb them. People always took better to Aries doing that than himself.

Hearing Kinsay's question had Atlas waiting on baited breath for the response and tried (read: failed) to not stare.

Also, was he petty that Auntie June was now the Head of Slytherin House? Yes, yes he was. Maybe he would boycott Herbology this term.

AAAAND they were back.

Unlike his twin, the air-head gryffindor made his way over to the table without thinking who was sitting where. Smiling bright, especially at Kinsay, and winking at his own brother - he plopped down next to Nemesis Upstead and grinned at the Slytherin, "hello,"

Blink. "What happened to your robes?"

The vast majority of students sitting here, Nem paid little to no attention to. Easy when there was a mutual, or even one-sided disinterest. It wasn't until the arrival of little Limpet James, and then the Attack of the Clones, that they gave any discernible reaction at all. They set the fork down, and smiled briefly.

"I am. Come sit." The lack of inflection was not for want of trying. Nem gestured to the seat right beside them, then glanced at each Flamsteed Clone. Though that wasn't accurate; near identical in features they may be, subtle distinctions in things like hair and clothing, and a marked divergence in demeanour made differentiating a simple matter of paying attention. Atlas, with his hesitance and staring, sat across from them. Aries, less inhibited in several contexts, on their other side.

They flashed another smile at Atlas, then shifted to address the twin sat beside them. "I fixed them," Nem stated, regarding the robes. "Embracing island life."

Without warning, before it could be clear whether they were going to elaborate on that comment, Nem felt themselves lifted up and out of their seat, as a magical force took them by the robes. "Back in a sec," they said, showing no signs of surprise as they were pulled unceremoniously towards the Slytherin table.

After acing his OWL exam, and winning their last U17 Quidditch match of the season as a new full-time member player for England, Noah Mordaunt arrived at the Great Hall in good spirits, but kept his cool as he walked with confidence towards the now all too familiar Gryffindor table. As usual, it was the calm before the storm, and he thought it weird that it was too calm.

Not feeling chatty, the sixth year sat on his usual spot, facing the rest of the hall, and tried to spot his friends from his seat. As he did so, he noted that it was bizarre not to see his twin sat at the Ravenclaw table. It was both their first time to be "separated" from each other, and he had to admit that he felt incomplete, but at the same time excited. He'd always longed for the day when they get to go their separate ways, but he did not expect it to be so soon.

It wasn't until his sight reached the staff table and noted the changes. It was too bad Uncle Oakey had to go. Noah wasn't going to blame the poor man, though. He did enjoy teaching, but perhaps it was too much for him. Professor Williamson was no longer there too... but he was more than pleased to see a familiar face: his cousin's best friend and Watson, Professor Simon Holden. Basing his experience from last term with Uncle Oakey, he thought it was best that he wasn't overly familiar with him. At least the pressure wasn't that too great, however, he still needed to keep up with appearances. An old Mordaunt family code of some sort.

And speaking of professors and lessons, Noah fished out his OWL result from his shirt pocket and re-considered taking History for the term. He knew he was going to go Professional after Hogwarts... but he took his grandfather and great-grandfather's advice to look beyond Quidditch, as professional players usually get retired prematurely.

Well, at least the family he came from's filthy rich, so he there was no need to worry about acquiring his own galleons, sickles, and knuts. All he needed to do was to figure out how to propagate his would be inheritance. Right now, he was content with Quidditch, and modelling, and attending the never-ending after-parties.

Sighing, he folded up his OWL result and spared the staff table another glance. Like everyone else in the room, he willed for the Headmaster to get on with his speech.

Remy never really enjoyed herself whenever she sat at the Gryffindor table, and shot some longing looks over to the Ravenclaws as she traipsed down the Great Hall. Apart from that, she felt all sorts of excitement about being back at school, and had major plans to completely OWN second year and be top of her class. Her first year had gotten off to a strong start, academically. The start of term feast was just a nuisance to get out of the way and then she could unpack and neatly decorate her area in the dorm room. Eeeeeeeeeep!!!

Slipping into a seat, feeling completely unnoticed, Remy looked over to the staff table to see if any or her favourite professors had left. Awww, where was Professor Schmoe!? Since Professor Flamsteed was still here, she figured that Schmoe hadn’t run off into the sunset with her. There were a few more new faces, but she was too distracted to take them in as she had to smile at her friend, Atlas, if he happened to look her way. She was sat a bit further from everyone after all.

Her eyes fell upon the Ravenclaw table again, in a trance, as she twirled one of her long curls around her finger. In such a daze that when she yawned, she didn’t even cover her mouth or even try to be discreet about it.

Oop.

AAAND there was Aries. With a wink. Atlas offered an eyeroll in return.

Atlas posture suddenly straightened, as though doing so would increase his eyesight, when his brother mentioned something about Nemesis' robes. How...had...okay, well, the third year knew perfectly how he had not noticed this and now was set on the curiosity of why. The lack of house crest meant to serve as some sort of rebellion to the house system? Was Nemesis implying that they were rightfully in a league of their own? Free from the chains of societal norms? Or...was it just for sticks and giggles? The final thought was one that Atlas could identify with the most, probably.

But before he could ponder this more, the very "Slytherin" in question was [s]smiling[/i] in his direction and he was almost feeling like a mouse who had just been spotted by a large barn owl...only instead of running away, the mouse wanted to be caught in its talons. Weird illusions were broken as soon as the owl took flight, literally, and started floating away before Atlas could inquire what 'island life' was supposed to mean. Weren't they already on an island, technically?

Eyes wide, he easily caught the arrival of Remy (and another quiet older Gryffindor. Sheesh, what was up with the older students?) and flashed her a smile that faltered a little when she sat...all the way down there? And looking at the Ravenclaw table like that? "Oi...Remy...," he grunted while leaning over a bit to hit the vacancy on the bench between them for emphasis on drawing her attention back towards him. "What gives?"

Aries received a warm smile, while his twin received a more subtle one. Kins didn’t want to all out ignore Atlas. Because. Well. It was. It was just that she didn’t want him to hate her even more than he already did. It was bad enough. She could always feel how his energy shifted when she was around and it. It just. It made her feel all the awful ways. Quite the opposite of how Aries and Nem had her feeling, actually. So she focused her attention on them and took the other seat next to Nem, pulling her legs underneath her bum. ”You should sit here more often,” she added, as she shifted slightly to give him a quick side-hug.

Except maybe she should have held on longer because Nem was suddenly yanked upwards? Um. What?

She reached out to grab his hand, but was, unfortunately, a little too late.

...........

”Do you know who did that?” The question was meant for Aries, though she wasn’t sure he’d know any better than she did.

Also, hi Noah and Remy. How come everyone was being so quiet this year? That never happened. Usually Kiz was the quiet anomaly at the table.

Phoebe watched with raised eyebrows as Nem was removed from their table, but she shouldered on without comment and dropped down to sit beside pretty pretty princess Cecelia. She had an eye on Kizzy (doing amazing, sweetie) and the others as they settled around the table.

"What was that... anyway. How was your train ride? I didn't see you, but I suppose girlfriends have to sit with their boyfriends, huh?" She gave Cece a wink. It still felt a bit weird to have to share Cece with Kale, but since Cece was her roommate, they'd still get plenty of quality time. RIGHT?

It seemed that, as usual, she was far too in her own head at times. While she felt like maybe Atlas wouldn’t wanna sit with her allllll the time, there he was, calling out her name, and despite her initial cringe at being called out in front of everyone, Remy felt a little comfort and warmness at the fact. Her eyes widened a little and she looked over, then shuffling to the space he was patting. “I didn’t see you, was in a daydream.” That wasn’t entirely a lie, she was daydreaming about Ravenclaws, apparently. Evan Nam was a total cutie, maybe he had something to do with it.

She didn’t know why she felt awkward at the start of term feast, they had feasts all the time, but the first one felt more official and she felt more on show. Remy returned Kinsay’s small smile and then continued to twirl her hair, but nervously this time.

Valentina felt just a little relieved when Kinsay arrived. It felt a little awkward to be sitting on her own with older students she didn't know so she had kind of zoned out a bit. The blonde smiled brightly at her friend before glancing at the twins for a second but she didn't really know them?? Should she greet them or no? And the younger girl? Social interactions were super stressful sometimes!! Also was it just her? or were people unusually quiet? Just.. no. She'd rather just stay quiet and continue thinking about things, watch the sorting and not look at the other tables at all.

One moment Nemesis Upstead was confusing him some more about their robes being fixed and the next he was flying away. And it looked so cool.

"Bye then" he waved after him before turning to look at Kinsay, "maybe someone from staff? though I am not sure what's so wrong about him sitting at this table"

HMM.

Speaking of ..... "there are so many new faces up there," he said after a moment of looking up at the dias.

Robes abandoned at the Slytherin table - wardrobe malfunctions were such a drag - Nem headed back to Gryffindor side of the room, reclaiming their spot on the bench and responding to Aries Flamsteed's remark as they did so. "Stressful job, high turnover rate. A wonder the Headsman himself hasn't had an unmitigated breakdown yet."

Then again, maybe he had. If his little sabbatical in the mirror had addled his senses, that would explain a lot of things, and if he wasn't so cagey and paranoid, they could have confirmed or ruled the theory out by now. Nem glanced up and down the table then, before it occurred to them that the person they were looking for wouldn't be here, as Tiny Trent had, of course, transferred to Beauxbatons.

"I will," they said, in response to Limpet's question, without a word as to what had just transpired, as though there had been no interruption at all. They looped an arm around her and gave her another quick side-hug. "Tonight especially. Been a long and lonely summer; could do with some friendly faces." Et cetera, et cetera. Flamsteed Singularity would be proud.

Well. Probably not.

"Competitions, Atlas?" As in, had he done any this summer. Nem noted the kid - Gaeltheos - now sitting beside Flamsteed, and half-smiled, lifting a hand by way of greeting.

Malachi was in no rush as he made his way down the table to one Nemesis Upstead. Instead, he took his time to think his words over carefully. By the time he got to the Slytherin, there was little more than the smallest of grimaces. Displeased as he was, he understood yelling would solve nothing.

"Upstead." He started. "That you continue to behave no different than a poorly regulated toddler into your final year comes as little surprise at this point." What with the running away and the drinking random poisons and the like. "However, we both know you know you shouldn't be here. Return to your table. Now. I'll see you tomorrow evening for detention, 5 pm, my office."

The man paused a moment before turning to those sitting closest to Upstead.

"Why you've chosen to entertain this nonsense, I don't think I want to know. This is your table. This is your responsibility to maintain order. That will be 30 points from Gryffindor for collectively doing nothing when your table was invaded. That goes against every principle of Gryffindor House. Doing something doesn't mean trying to tackle anyone or being abrasive, taking a stand or making a report is often enough. I hope you all take that into serious account for future."

He looked expectantly to Nemesis again, waiting for them to move.

Speak of the devil.

Nem looked up at the Headsman, face betraying neither surprise nor triumph. No anger or irritation, no reaction to the weak attempt at an insult, no indignation at the sentence passed. Betraying nothing at all, in fact, a default which had somehow managed to become more pronounced over the last few months. Not to be a walking contradiction or anything.

Still sitting in place, Nem watched the Headsman as he addressed the others at the table, still largely expressionless but for the slightest cold and calculating glint in their eye. A shrewd look, searching for something, quickly finding it.

When Trent turned back to them, there was a pause, before Nem broke into a wide grin, wild but mirthless and distinctly incongruous. It dropped away after a moment, and they stood. "Divide and conquer." Sewing distrust, alienation, enmity. Nem knew the game, saw it for what it was. A clever enough tactic, given those things were hardly in short supply already. "I don't belong here, I know. May I wait in the Entrance Hall until the feast is over instead."

Phoebe was fully prepared to let Nem play whatever little game they were playing by hanging out at the Gryffindor table during the feast. There was no harm to it. Nem wasn't hurting anyone, and people changed tables all the time.

She blinked in surprise when Nem reappeared, apparently determined to be a Gryffindor for the evening, and she actually rose a bit in her seat when the Headmaster appeared. He was taking POINTS from the Gryffindors for Nem sitting with them? They were supposed to throw people away from their table? Wouldn't that cause a disruption, which would result in even more point loss?

Ugh. "NO, NEMESIS UPSTEAD. YOU CANNOT SIT WITH US." Phoebe pounded her fist on the table. "Can't you see that if you hang around here, the Headmaster will continue to punish us to try to turn us against you? I'm sorry that Gryffindors seem unusually fond of you, but you must take your Slytherin self back to your own kind. Division is the theme this term! Go. Shoo!"

So while Atlas was over here trying to pretend that he did NOT see and become jealous Kinsay give Nemsis a hug (Atlas could never), his cool blues shifted on to his brother when he spoke and offered a shrug - even if the question had OBVIOUSLY not been in Atlas' direction. Was there a good reason? Did Atlas care if there was one? The answer to the second question was a resounding 'no'...because why would it ultimately matter? Everyone was here to eat food and listen to the speech, the end goal was the same. The only crime, of sorts, the third year had witnessed was the destruction of Nemesis' school robes - but he wasn't sure how obvious that was from the staff table considering the sea of black robes that lined each of the tables. But, honestly, dad would have flipped his lid over the disrespect to the threads so...he got it.

What he did NOT get was Remy being all...this. His brows arches and lips pursed a bit as she spoke like someone had just poorly performed a Memory Charm on her. "...a daydream..." His own eyes flicked back towards the Ravenclaw table and then to her and then back again and then resettled on Remy. "...a daydream about what?"

Was he being huffy? Maybe just a little. Sometimes he wished he were more like Aries, who seemed entirely unfazed that Valentina had ignored his entire existence, but then...that was the whole point of everything. Not being like his twin.

It also seemed like as soon as Nemesis Upstead was gone...they were back, and a knot fitted in their stomach wondering if now they may be purposefully trying to cause trouble for Auntie June...but the mention of friendly faces made the Gryffindor hopeful that it wasn't as simple as that. Though he did not want to be too presumptuous that these friendly faces included his own (in case of disappointment and embarrassment) ... until Nemesis addressed him directly and even asked about the very things on his mind that he was being all sorts of reluctant to bring up. His face went as red as his robes, something tickling the back of his mind about this situation but was entirely too flustered in the moment to dwell on the spot for too long. "I...well..."

But before he could get even a full sentence out, the headmaster had swooped in and was chastising Nemesis for sitting with them (which he supposed meant Aries had an answer to his question) ...and then the man turned on all the Gryffindors gathered and...WHAT?! Unable to hide his shock, Atlas' stomach churned in disgust for the reasoning behind the lecture. They were...being punished for...not being elitists? Where was there even chaos going on at the table?! Tonight everyone seemed like they were half melted chocolate frogs and, in actuality, Nemesis was the one doing the most talking...the one engaging with a lot of them...the one bringing them together almost. His nose scrunched up at, right in front of the Slytherin, his own head of house calling them an invader. While he and Nemesis had never exclusively shared any sort of heart-to-heart (Atlas could never), the Gryffindor nonetheless felt this sort of kindred undertone about being an outsider...and now...that was exactly what they were being told they were. Not to mention they were now being encouraged to be snitches which, well, suppose you had to know what the rules were first to be able to snitch and Atlas had not. And no point deduction would make him feel bad about that.

Nemesis' departing words only sunk in to the narrative he, Atlas, was constructing and projecting and...well...making people feel like they did not belong...that sounded an awful like what had been attempted to be engrained in all their heads a few terms ago. Just sayin'. So Atlas watched the older blonde walk away and, well, maybe he could dare to do ONE thing. Tomorrow. So he had time to give himself the appropriate pep talks and rehearse certain opening statements.

And, as if he could not love his unrequited love and future back up bride also known as Phoebe James...she went and put to words essentially a good chunk of what he was feeling but concisely and poignantly. There was a heavenly sigh and a not-so-subtle swoon as he watched her pound on the table. So much so that he did not realize his elbow had pushed its way into one of the bowls of mashed potatoes and was now covered with the creamy buttery goodness. Oh well, more for him.

He probably should say something, but just as he had been back then in defending his muggleborn friends...Atlas found his tongue glued to the top of his mouth for fear of further punishment upon himself and, maybe, on his housemates.

But it was okay that Phoebe did it because she was amazing.

******

And once his stomach was full, which did not take too long since he was not feeling all that peckish after what had happened at the house table, Atlas left with the rest of his housemates and headed back to the common room. He couldn't even think about this big project that had been announced during the speech or what it meant that the Board of Governors had been named dropped. Instead his thoughts would drift and ebb between many a subject, one of which was Nemesis Upstead and how Atlas wanted to tell their older pseudo-mentor-and-barn-owl all about their robotics competitions and how they were not an imposter.

But also how he wanted to play Acid Lollipop Roulette back in the dorm with Aries and his other dormmates before they went to bed. He was likely to be hungry by the time they got back there since all he had really eaten was that giant bowl of mashed potatoes.

Third year...let's go.

Nemesis was back????

Did he forget something??? Was someone helping him quickly get it by flying him there??? Nevermind HEADMASTER TRENT WAS THERE?

THEY WERE BEING INVADED?????

THIRTY POINTS ALREADY LOST????????

(this was an event recap - brought to you by Aries Flamsteed)

Aries' head whipped back and forth as the conversation unfolded and Pheobe James got up to fight off the invasion by Nemesis Upstead. "Yes, what she said" the boy nodded, wondering if gryffindors were back to keeping slytherins at a distance. Did he miss a memo????

His head hurt --- where was a bowl of mashed potatoes when you needed one? Oh right. ATLAS ATE IT ALL. Their first night back was so weird.

Why was Atlas making such a drama about it?! Remy had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at him. Instead she settled with a shrug and a smile, shifting her attention fully to her friend. “Daydreaming about the feast, of course!!” Which was now right in front of them! Remy had half listened to the speech, but nothing particularly stood out to her as interesting. Okay, she hadn’t listened to any of it.

Remy only noticed Nemesis at their table when they gave her a little smile and a wave. She felt herself blushing a little to even be noticed by them, not even thinking about the fact that a Slytherin was at the Gryffindor table. It hadn’t crossed her mind that it would be an issue until Trent walked over to lecture them.

Thank Merlin she had stuck to their home table rather than following her heart to go sit with the Claws, otherwise there could have been even more point loss. Speaking of, Remy’s face showed nothing but FURY but she was careful not to look the Headmaster in the eye as she expressed this. The Headmaster was hella scary, but she always thought him as a fair man. How was it fair that Slytherin didn’t also face a loss???

Remy thought Phoebe James had put it perfectly so she felt no need to add to it, although it wasn’t really her place to comment anyway. A mere second year, after all. Her attention turned to Atlas who was displaying some sort of… something in response to the older James. Interesting. She adjusted her posture and sat up a little in her seat, trying to appear taller, apparently.

Charlie had changed into the absolutely horrible robes that she still disliked. But she'd gotten over that when she'd talked to the gracious shopkeeper who specially lined every single one of her robes for her. Her smile faded as she noticed one Nem Upstead at their table and the Headmaster yelling. She had been much further down, how was she to know that he was at the table. It was a really long table after all.

Sighing and minding her own business she glanced at the headmaster who just took... oh Merlin was this term starting out with a quick downward spiral. 30 points gone already and the governing board was coming. She was absolutely over whatever was about to happen.