Expelliarmus! » Places

         Aleera stretched out in her lovely, warm bed in the Ravenclaw dormitory. She had been awake for about an hour, but had felt no desire to get up and head downstairs just yet. Her eyelids drifted closed as she listened to the wind blowing softly across the windows. Yesterday had been a long day indeed. Her father had was coaching at a match yesterday morning, so he couldn't see his daughter off at Platform Nine and Three Quarters. However her older brother, Chris, had only been too delighted to take his place and escort his 'darling baby sister' across London.
When they finally reached Kings Cross, it wasn't long before he found some girls, witch and muggle alike to chat-up instead. Aleera was boarding the train by the time he noticed she was gone. Tall, broad, and handsome with dark blonde hair, hazel colored eyes, and a hint of their ancestral Scottish accent, he couldn't have looked more different to his sister. Aleera was average height, slim, with natural ebony coloured hair, green eyes and ever-pale skin. The only time she sounded Scottish was when she got overly stressed. Nonetheless, they generally got along like a house on fire.
This year, as a leaving present, he'd gifted her his old Quidditch goggles (' I thought Ravenclaw might need some extra luck...'), a couple of chocolate frogs ('...To fend off the Dementors...') and finally several canary creams and toffees designed to make the male eater sound like a eunuch. ('...Be sure to tell the Slytherin Team they're from me.')

The train journey was rather uneventful; Aleera met up with some friends, ran into a couple of members of the Quidditch teams, and threatened to hex a simpering Hufflepuff fifth year who was completely besotted with her brother. Aleera yawned as she finally swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She didn't put herself in much of a hurry to shower and dress, especially when she heard Gabriel yelling at her to hurry up. Tempted as she was to roar back down at him, the dark-haired adolescent chose instead to ignore the racket and continue applying her eyeliner and the search for her jewellery. Breakfast was a similar affair to the journey to the school, without the threats, or the Hufflepuff girl. Aleera had made an effort this year to try not to intimidate the tiny first years too much on their first day of school, like wearing plain Docs with her skirt and leaving the chokers behind in her dorm room. By the time she arrived down into the common room, the mongrel was gone. So much for "I'll wait for you'.

Any resentment towards Gabriel had dissipated by the name she had reached the Great Hall, picking out her part-giant friend out with ease. Stuffing his face as usual; She grinned as she approached him from behind, a little thrown by the sudden appearance of the team beater, Thersea Dodemond. None the less, it didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing the side of his head.
"I thought you were waiting for me, wolf-boy." She frowned slightly, starting to play with his hair. Her eyes flicked to his plate for a moment, the smirk re-appearing on her dark lips. "You'd better be watching what you're eating, mon capitan. I want you to be in top shape this year." She teased, ruffling his hair as she slid in beside him.
Aleera chose some cereal and some fruit for her own breakfast. "Love, you should have come with us to France. The Beauxbatons boys were beautiful creatures, much nicer than those Romanians. You would have loved it." A crooked smile crossed her face as she stabbed a strawberry with a fork and popped into her mouth. "How was your summer, Theresa?"