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Lloyd Vrancing

"Aww, bloody! I just broke another string, didn't I!?"

0 · 754 views · located in Magus Grex School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

a character in “Magus Grex School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”, as played by Skwidge

Description

Lloyd Vrancing

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Basic Info

Name: Lloyd Vrancing.
Age: 15.
Gender: Female
House: Ferre.
Pet: Sand cat named Dorremoon.
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Birthplace: Born in New Zealand, but lives in Casselton, North Dakota.
Wand: Beech wood, core of Dragon Heartstring, 11 1/4 inches, surprisingly swishy.

Patronus: A gazelle.
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Likes
  • Violin.
  • Dorremoon.
  • Peaches.
  • Caramel.
  • Flat shoes.
  • Wildflowers.
  • Choir.

Dislikes
  • Arietem House.
  • Arithmancy.
  • Chocolate Frogs.
  • Her violin being harmed in any way.
  • Rejection.
  • Stuck up people.




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Personality

Lloyd is actually really thoughtful, and tends to make comments to people's conversations only in her head. However, that doesn't mean she's a shy little thing either. She's just usually going over sheet music in her head for her precious violin. She doesn't open up to anyone at anytime, and instead expresses herself through playing her violin alone.

She loves to laugh, and is actually pretty quirky, always stuffing some random trinket into her hair; mostly bells, feathers, and all manners of other things. Everyone usually wonders why she didn't get chosen into Vulpes instead.

When Lloyd is alone with her violin, and perhaps her cat watching, she really does open up, and has the most expression on her face than at any other point in time. She just loves the instrument to death, and devotes a lot of her free time to practicing. Though she'd probably die if someone was actually watching her, and she has stage fright, oddly enough or not.

History

Lloyd was born to a pureblood father and a muggle mother in New Zealand. From the start her father told her that about the wizarding world, even if her mom wasn't that supportive of the idea. Of course, Lloyd was beyond eager to receive her letter to attend the wizard school in New Zealand.

At the age of seven, she received her first violin, and immediately fell in love with the instrument. Each day she only grew in fascination, and, in the beginning, she was absolutely horrendous at playing it. All that came from the object was screeching and moaning. But her father encouraged her to keep trying, so she did.

However, at the age of nine, her mother passed away, and her father couldn't bear to live in the country any longer, so they moved to the U.S. and settled in North Dakota. Lloyd was a little disappointed to leave all her friends behind, but, with the consoling words of her father, she became eager to learn all about the new area she was living in.

When her magic first started blossoming, Lloyd accidently caused all of the school's plumbing to break simultaneously, as well as have one of the boys in her school get utterly stuck to one of the toilets. After that day, her father warned her about being much more careful. "Magic is first created through emotions and thoughts, so you must keep them under control." He'd always tell her, until she knew it by heart.

At first, when her mother passed, Lloyd put he instrument away until they came to the U.S. She regained her courage to play it, as it was the only thing she truthfully expressed herself through. She still continued to practice day by day on her violin, and became better and better at it. She also has ADHD, so sometimes she can be really hyper and outgoing.

On her eleventh birthday, she was jumping up and down, the letter clutched in her hands. Her first year at Magus Grex, she was absolutely cautious about her violin, having no idea what the other kids might do to it. She mainly kept it hidden, and no one really knew about it. She played only in secret, and quietly at that.

However, as the years progressed, she became a bit more bold and began to play outside. Albeit far away from any other student, but nonetheless. She also joined the school's choir, and it's easier to play her violin there, hiding behind the others.

So now it's her fifth year, and she really hasn't made a name for herself. Well, a good one anyway. So perhaps this'd be the year where she lets herself shine a little bit more.

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OOC

Do you know much about the Harry Potter Universe?: Read some of the books, seen the movies, played the games, wiki, Pottermore, etc.
How often do you get online?: Everyday.
How often can we expect you to be able to post?: Everyday.
Password: Copper Cauldron.

So begins...

Lloyd Vrancing's Story

#, as written by Skwidge
Teiver Morn


Teiver rolled her eyes, listening to him breathe as she finished up with the doorway. "Why, I thought I said we were going to the astronomy tower, didn't I?" She smiled sweetly at him, dropping her wand down her robe sleeve and into a hidden pocket there. "Try your best not to break a leg." She muttered at him, one hand placed on the side of the stone and looking down cautiously.

Once there was an all clear, she crouched a bit and then hopped down the fifteen feet between the opening and the stairs. She landed a bit roughly, but hey, she was a little bit out of practice. She clutched onto the railing, and Garrison immediately hopped out of her bag and stretched with a yawn. Teiver's gaze returned to the opening, waiting a few moments for Finn to decide to join them. 'Well, I suppose that wasn't too hard. At least now he's out of our little area.' The feline mrowed towards the girl, quickly ascending the stairs.

Teiver kept her hand on the railing as she followed her cat, until finally they made their way to the astronomy tower room. She smiled brightly, heading straight towards a bookshelf and sweeping her hand along the spines until she found what she was looking for. She pulled the grey book from its rest, flipped it open, and placed it into her satchel.

She then wandered towards a table and shifted through a couple of the charts.

Naire Harth


Naire smirked, hearing his closest friend's voice. "Sorry, Chopstick doesn't take food from strangers." He then turned to her, a teasing smile on his face. He ruffled her hair. "Hey bookworm. It's been forever since I saw you, eh?" He turned back to watch Chopstick poke at the grubs Myra had dropped into the river for him. He hooted quietly, then hopped onto the riverbank, shaking out his feathers and drying himself off.

He chirped, and then flicked over onto Myra's shoulder, clutching her robes to keep balance. He blinked his large eyes, then opened his beak cheeping quietly, rubbing the top of his head against her cheek before blinking once more and gliding down onto Naire's kneecap. In the meantime, Naire was scratching Kaplan behind the ears and along the shoulder blades. "Oh nothing, just photo shoots. Hey, did you know that I got to return to Australia over the summer? It was awesome." Another faint smile was on his lips, and he continued to stroke the feline.

He leaned comfortably back against the bark of the tree, watching the sun set and the lightning bugs come out, blinking on and off and just floating around. "It's quite a nice night for our first day back. Much unlike last year when it rained almost nonstop." He chuckled, looking up at the sky.

Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd had only been paying half attention to the speech, her hands in a position as if she was holding the bow of her violin, she only blinked occasionally, and she had a thoughtful look on her face as she arched her arms and made smooth motions. That is, until she saw the food in front of her. She immediately abandoned what she was doing, being shocked back into reality, and tucked into her meal eagerly.

The food here was always amazing, and she had missed it dearly over the summer. Well, as much as you can miss something while not being completely distracted by violin work. She was quick to fill herself, and then quickly excused herself, wiping her mouth with a napkin, and waving to Rose quickly before disappearing out of the Great Hall.

Lloyd stretched, feeling the comfort of her food in her stomach, and then made a small skip out of the corridor and into the setting night. She held a case in her right hand, and she quickly scampered across the lawns till she was at the back corner of the castle. She smiled, the wind kicking up and ruffling her hair slightly, causing the grass to flicker and sway in the new breeze, and cause the scents of all the wildflowers around her to spark up.

She took in a deep breath, then set down her case, unlatching it and taking out her violin carefully. She attached the chin rest to the instrument, took out her bow, and then set it. Another deep breath, and she hopped on top of the large stone before her. She set her figure in the beginning position, placed her left hand at the side of the violin, and protruded her right elbow outwards. Lloyd repositioned her head, getting a more comfortable spot on her violin.

For practice, she tested out how well the bow meshed with the strings and if it slid easily. A satisfactory note emanated from the strings, and she let out a small sigh. She glanced around her, first making sure no one was watching. Another calming breath escaped Lloyd's lips, and she closed her eyes. Dorremoon had made her way after Lloyd, and sat down in the dirt, paws tucked under her chest, and focus on the girl, her tail sweeping through the terra and causing lines to appear.

Lloyd then swept the bow across the violin's strings, and began to play. The noise ran out through the air, and she hit the notes spot on. Her eyes were closed at the beginning, but she opened them, and began to let herself out, expressing her joy to be back at Magus Grex, and also what was to come. But it was also to define the hardships that would no doubt present themselves along the way. Lloyd spread out a bit, sliding from one side of the rock to the next, even so much as pivoting along one foot as she played in order to have the notes come across more smoothly.

#, as written by throne
Vance Abernathy – Arietem House


The truth about Nevaeh. He’d have his measure of Fletcher yet. It would be interesting to watch what the boy did with the information Vance had promised. A part-truth was what he planned to deliver, and if the Ferre had even a shred of the conscience that he demonized others for lacking, he wouldn’t breathe a word of it. Perhaps he’d even take pity on Vance. A year ago, the very thought would have brought the taste of bile to his mouth, but now… now he needed every tool at his disposal. If he were capable of trust he might have taken a far more direct route in all this, but trust was a luxury that not even all the gold in the Abernathy vaults could buy him.

His eyebrows lifted slightly when Felix added a vague secondary term, but he hardly cared. The champion of the meek could easily have asked for more, and Vance would gladly have complied. Not playing Quodpot, pretending to care about the weak links scampering about the school, doing his damn homework; all of it came secondary to survival, which was only primary until he could get his revenge.

He’d been watching him all the while. He might not have been as predictive as he’d liked, but he’d achieved more or less the effect he’d desired. Fletcher was questioning his motives, then questioning his own questioning, and likely even questioning that as well. Vance’s unfailing commitment to the arrangement was truly shown when Felix slung an arm over his shoulders. Unlike mention of his sister, that little bit of incendiary failed to find any tinder.

He listened to the logistics. Was it some sort of trap? A clandestine meeting, alone? And why in the world would a dog be involved? He’d slowly chew on that for the remainder of the evening, ultimately deciding that it would be worth the risk. In the very least, if Fletcher was somehow a part of the conspiracy, he’d likely not expect Vance to be more than ready to use lethal force if need be. I already did once, he couldn’t help but think, and his stomach lurched. He found himself thankful that he hadn’t eaten too much.

As Felix walked off, he conjured a characteristic smirk and raised his gloved hand to lightly brush at his shoulders, as if the Ferre had left some tangible residue on his robes that needed to be returned. He smiled icily as he was given the finger, and then Felix was off. Statue of the dog, midnight. Now to see to the rest of it. A few Ferre students who were still feasting were sort of staring, likely freaked out by the fact that Vance and Felix somehow hadn’t come to blows after a conversation. A practiced baleful stare, approximately two seconds worth for each of the two boys and one girl, was enough to have them looking dutifully at their plates.

Clasping his hands behind his back once more, he strode off, his strides as long and full of purpose as ever. Fletcher was heading toward his table, which meant that he’d have to touch bases more definitively with Zachariah later, and Lee…

… where was Lee? The smitten Beauregard was one of the few he trusted to watch his back, if only because he was so literally invested in “watching his back”. You can take the Beauregard out of the swamp, he remembered his father saying once, But good luck taking the swamp out of the Beauregard.” More than likely he was off in the midst of some torrid interlude, something which Vance would spare no more thought than that. He hardly cared about the boy’s proclivities, only how vocal and crass he could be in satisfying them.

As he passed the table, he made sure to catch Zachariah’s eye, and offered an all but imperceptible nod as well.

A thought crossed his mind; more an image that he’d not deigned to process that suddenly had meaning. Quite uncharacteristically, he paused in place and glanced over his shoulder, taking a quick survey of the Vulpes table. The bulk of the school’s magical talent was concentrated in that House, and one in particular… but she wasn’t there. No matter. He’d find her when he was more sure of things.

It dawned on him that he’d simply been standing in place for several seconds, thinking. Alertness flooded his eyes once more, honing his gaze into something sharp and formidable, and he resumed his stride, headed for the Arietem common room.



Lyle Brightham – Ferre House


When the conversation finally tapered off a bit and Lyle was nice and full, it occurred to him that he hadn’t seen Naire yet, or Lloyd. He got up out of his seat as if someone had threatened to set him on fire, all flustered and grabbing at his bag and laughing. ”Yeah, I’ll see you lot back at the common room, “ was how he excused himself before, hugging his backpack to his chest, he scampered off at full tilt, piping a quick ”Sorry!” to a seventh year girl who was forced to sidestep to avoid the bundle of energy that was Lyle.

He charged up to the Vulpes table, skidding to a stop to seek out his best friend. He rocked on his heels, eyes darting about. Where was he? Probably outside, but there was a lot of outside that he could have gone to. He did find a few fellow fifth years and flashed them an antsy smile. ”Hey, did anyone see where Naire went? Did he say where he was going?” The questions were fired off one after another, a barrage of the rapid patter that passed for speech from Lyle. Heads were shaken, and he sighed exasperatedly but said ”Thanks anyway!” before wheeling off and skittering out of the hall. He looked over the Arietem table, too, but Gwen was gone already, probably off with her girlfriends or some guy or something.

* * *

He stopped off at his room to stow his bag and pick up Skip and Scamp. The ferrets were no longer allowed at meals after an incident the year before. Much like their owner, they had a tendency toward excitement, and well… the ferrets simply weren’t allowed anymore.

He opened the large cage they were cooped up in and thrust his arms in. In a flash, the creatures scurried up either sleeve of his robes, and Lyle wound up bursting into ticklish laughter as the climbed up his body to pop out his collar and take up perches on his shoulders; Skip, a soft gray, on the right, and Scamp, a healthy brown, on the left. He grabbed a notepad and a quill and set off in search of his friends.

He burst out of one of the castle’s many exits at a dead run, stopping briefly to catch his breath and get the lay of the land. He tilted his head a bit, listening, and would have sworn he heard soft strains of music in the distance. It took him a moment to get a sense of where it was coming from, and a grin slowly blossomed on his lips, followed by a pinkening of his cheeks as he bolted off toward the sound of a violin being skillfully played.

He slowed down once he caught sight of Lloyd perched on a large rock. He didn’t want to scare her, or interrupt her, or anything like that. He was still beaming as he approached, lifting an arm to flap it in an exaggerated wave (the ferrets were used to such actions, and scampered about on his body to stay put) to her. He just stood there, grinning idiotically, and waited for her to finish up. Of course, if it took toooo long he’d start getting fidgety, but even his feisty ferrets seemed to have calmed down to listen to Lloyd play.

#, as written by Skwidge
Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd had once again let her eyes flicker shut, letting the instrument take her mind completely, and her arms move out of memory and strict learning. She listened carefully to the notes emanating from the violin, and the faintest of smiles was placed on her lips. Dorremoon was patiently watching, her ears flicking every so often, until Lyle appeared out of no where with his ferrets. The cat made a soft yet somewhat rough meow in their direction.

And then Lloyd opened her eyes once more.

Immediately her bow slipped up from her initial shock, and a painful note screeched from the strings. An immediate blush spread across her cheeks from embarrassment and shame, and she quickly moved the bow from the instrument. She smiled sheepishly at the boy, rubbing the back of her neck. She then dropped it a few seconds after, and her cheek moved up a little as she squinted, a faint grin still remaining.

Lloyd hopped down from the rock, not meeting his eyes and then she set down her violin into the cushions of its case including the bow. She pushed down the cover and flipped the latches back on, locking it. She quickly picked it up and held it with both hands behind her figure. Dorremoon entwined herself between the girl's legs, successfully rubbing off some of the dirt she had amassed in her fur.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked casually, glancing up at the quickly dimming sky. "Er, not to be rash, but perhaps we should head back before some creepies come out of the woods. Or worse, the prefects." She made a mock shudder, and then walked slowly past him back towards one of the castle doors. "Unless you only needed me for a question, that is. Which is totally fine too!" She mumbled quickly, a half smile and an apologetic look to her eyes.

Naire Harth


He looked at Myra thoughtfully, an unbelieving smile on his face at her comment about the actress. "Psh, nah. You know me with famous people or people of higher standings. I'd much faster chuck my camera at their head than have the decency and a hold of my thoughts to be polite. But I did have a superb time." He put his hand to his chest poshly, and formed a very refined British accent with his tongue.

He smirked, patting her head resolutely. His face then turned into that of a bad poker face as she mention the pictures of that year. "Eh-heh. Whatever floats your boat." Another nervous chuckle, and then he shook his head. In truth, he kept most of his personal pictures in a photobook in order to go over in the summer during free time to help remember the memories better.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Plus the mosquitoes are probably gonna be out soon too. I mean, Chopstick is usually good with them, but, he's so small...." He complained without any enthusiasm. Chopstick hooted in protest, flickering up to Naire's finger as he got up. Naire shifted his hand in front of his chest so that Chopstick would not be upset by the onslaught of wind as he sped after Myra.

He then fell in place next to her, scritching his head softly as they walked, using his peripheral vision so he wouldn't trip or run into anything. "So sleep is soon to come. It'll be nice to get back in the beds here. It's always been a second home, to everyone I'd say. At least sleep'll come easy." He nodded, continuing along.

#, as written by throne
Lyle Brightham – Ferre House


At the sound of the screeching note that Lyle’s unintended stealth had resulted in, the boy winced and his pair of ferrets quickly scurried for cover. Two mobile lumps appeared on his shoulders as Skip and Scamp disappeared into his collar once more. Even with the sunlight faltering, Lloyd would easily be able to see the lumps scurrying in a spiral down his torso beneath his robe. Despite the fact that he felt really, really bad about interrupting her, he couldn’t help a bit of giggling as their little paws danced over him. Realizing how much worse that probably made things, he quickly stifled. His cheeks flushed red and he reached up with one hand to rub the back of his neck as well.

”Oh, um, I was actually looking for Naire but I heard you playing and couldn’t help but come over.” His mind caught up to his mouth a few seconds later, and he realized that he might have just insulted her, sort of. ”But I was hoping to see you too! We didn’t get to talk at dinner, haha, sorry, I got all wrapped up in stuff. Did you have a good summer? Mine was great. I’m really glad to be back, and oh! I’m going to try out for the Quodpot team this year, isn’t that something? I’ll have to find someone else to take over the sports column, because I’d probably be biased, but I’m really excited. So excited. This is going to be the best year yet, I can feel it, can’t you?”

He never quite seemed aware of how hard it could be for people to keep up with his rapid-fire manner of speaking. His father often remarked on how little he seemed to need to breath, if only when he was talking, which he almost always was. There was a brief pause, where she might have been able to get a word in, but probably not. Again, he only seemed to have digested what was said, this time by her, once he’d quieted a bit and had time to actually let the words bounce around his skull a few times. ”You’re right though, we should head in. I guess I won’t see Naire till tomorrow, that’s too bad.” His brow creased a bit. ”Should I have a question for you? Did something exciting happen?” His eyes were wide, eager, waiting. Quite reminiscent of a puppy, he scampered after her towards the school.



Vance Abernathy – Arietem House


He nearly flinched when Lee mentioned that his siblings were at the French wizarding school that Nevaeh would supposedly be attending. He’d nearly forgotten that little fact, forgotten it enough, at least, that he had to rapidly make several decisions. He had faith that he could convince Lee not to share anything that would disrupt the cover story, but very little faith that the boy would have the good sense to keep his mouth shut on the matter unless expressly told to. That meant he needed to tell the flamboyant younger man even more than he’d intended to, which didn’t sit well with him. This was the one area where he’d always trumped his sister. She’d ruled her flock of female friends and male admirers exclusively with fear, but he was much better at the game. It was his grandmother who had called it that, the concept of identifying people as pieces and maneuvering them across a metaphorical board. No doubt, if Nevaeh were in his shoes rather than the cold ground, she’d already have her wand to Lee’s throat, a threat ready to pour like poison from her lips.

”Very eventful, I must say.” He had taken a bit longer in coining his reply than was required, something that Lee would surely notice. ”But all in good time.” His fingers unwound, and he reached over with his remaining hand to give Lee’s shoulder a brief, Vance’s-version-of-friendly squeeze. ”This year will turn out to be just as eventful, I think.” That should have been sufficient to whet Lee’s appetite for secrets while satiating his appetite for affection, however brisk.

He lengthened his stride by a half-pace as they drew nearer to the entrance of the common room of Arietem House. ”Lordly lineage,” he whispered into a brazier by the door after a quick, surreptitious glance to ensure that no one was in range to eavesdrop. The heavy stone door slid aside, revealing the short flight of steps that led down into the common room proper, plushly appointed as it was in the greens of the house’s standard.

Normally, Vance relaxed ever so slightly upon entering the Arietem-only cloister of the school. In part, it was to convey a bit of trust that barely existed; it was also because maintaining poise could be laborious throughout an entire school day, even for him, particularly on a day where he had to deal with Fletcher. Not so, this year. This year, anyone could be an enemy.

He vaguely remembered Bellona mentioning something about a gift when he spied her by the fire. He offered her a courtly nod, then allowed himself to sink down into an overstuffed chair across from her. He was careful to choose one with another adjacent, so that Lee wouldn’t have to pout, or worse, make a show of dragging a seat closer to him. ”What a tiresome evening this has been,” he remarked earnestly. He’d sleep well tonight, if he didn’t dream of fire, green light, and cold, pale girls.



And then there’s Justin – Vulpes House


Normally, lazing about on a cot for a spell with nothing more intensive to do thank keep track of time would have been restive for Justin. He couldn’t keep unbidden scenes from the past from his mind, though. Two young boys, on a slender whip of a thing with spikey hair, the other a bit sturdier with a shaggy mane and a goofy grin. The former leaning heavy on the latter, practically clinging to him as he limped along toward a first-aid tent a stone’s throw from the cacophony of a Quodpot stadium teeming with fans.

That same spikey-haired boy never failing to notice when the shaggy-haired boy was about. They were both a little older than they had been, both a little more certain of what they wanted. A dozen or so instances of the two of them avoiding one another’s gaze or presence, the cloying desire to break their shared silence, the cold stare of another boy, indistinct in memory, who might ever be a wedge between them.

A kiss, the first and only kiss they’d shared, only they hadn’t really shared it. The formerly spikey-haired boy, who’d finally realized that gelling his hair into tines didn’t do all that much to make him look badass, had stolen it. The true punishment for his crime: the only chance he might have had stripped from him.


Justin’s dark brown eyes snapped open. He planted his feet on the ground and stood, using his wand to carefully levitate the boiling cauldron from the flames onto a rack, where it could cool. While it did, he busied himself with changing out the cartridges of sleeping gas in the hutch and restoring the protective enchantments he’d layered upon it. It was tedious, but he didn’t mind just them. The images from his reverie were hovering at the fringes of his mind and the task helped keep them at bay. He was nervous, he realized. This whole affair was a Hail Mary, an act of desperation, almost certainly doomed to fail.

Justin never wore insecurity well, and so he clamped down on those thoughts. Instead, he focused on a siphoning spell, drawing the brown liquid from the cauldron in a thin stream that he snaked through the air, passing it through a cheesecloth set up for just this purpose in order to filter the scum away. A bit like making consommé, really, he never failed to think. Maybe he could conspire a way to cook for Emerson. The boy loved food, and anyone who was successful at Potions was a worthy cook with his mind set for the task.

Something to think about later. When the Betterbeer had cooled enough, he began drawing up pipettes of it and transferring it into glass vials, which he stoppered with tiny corks and then threaded through loops of cloth he’d sewn into his messenger bag for the express purpose of carrying potions. The bag itself was ridiculously enchanted, Extended, of course, but it featured a few other Charms as well, similar in nature to the Breaking Charms used in broom-making. In the event that he took a tumble with his bag, the contents would remain relatively undisturbed. It was a necessary safety measures; there were times when his little bag held enough volatile potions to take down an entire hallway of the school, never mind any unforeseen reactions that some of his more interesting concoctions might have had with one another.

All that was left now was to ascend. He lit his wand, and once outside the chamber, brought it through the reverse of the motion he had used to open the titanic door in the first place. It groaned closed, and he stepped lightly over the sheet of wood covering the hole to take the stairs two at a time on his way up. He’d need to hurry, if he wanted to be back to the common room by curfew. Not that he was worried about being caught; it was more a matter of getting to socialize with the friends he’d missed in the Great Hall. Thank whoever that Bliss and Flint get along. It’d be Hell if the two of them ever decide to become those sorts of exes, particularly on me.

The clutter above the trapdoor silently arranged itself once more, and Justin clambered out as quietly as he could. He’d never been at all athletic, and actually hoisting his own body weight out of the circular aperture put more strain on him than he’d ever admit. Once the flooring and rug were back in place, he moved to the door, waving his wand a final time in order to restore the mess to its natural state of messiness. He extinguished his wand silently, then cupped a hand to the door to listen.

The long hallway was a perfect conductor for sound. Hearing no one, he quickly slipped out, simply flipping the switch on the knob to re-lock the door. No magic needed. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes, he strolled on out of the Astronomy area and started for the small stretch of school that he thought of as home more than the house he’d been raised in.

Myra Magaly


…but, he’s so small…” Myra slowed down a little as she heard Naire’s footsteps following her and Chopstick’s little hoots. How can an owl be so darn cute? She smiled softly to herself. Turning to Naire as he fell in step with her, “You know I’d never really ask you to burn a picture you’d taken, right? You’re too talented. It’d be a waste.” They entered Magus Rex and Myra enjoyed the quiet the building was taking on as students found their ways to their beds. This large building was so comforting to her, even with her bumpy start. It was like she knew she belonged.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Naire stated, “So sleep is soon to come. It’ll be nice to get back in the beds here. It’s always been a second home,” Myra nodded agreeably, “to everyone I’d say. At least sleep’ll come easy.

Myra had half a smile as she bumped him with her shoulder, “Yeah, one of the only things that comes easy living here. But you’re right, Near, I feel so safe here, especially because I have you…” She trailed off as she caught sight of Vance and Lee walking out of the great hall. Her chest got tight and her body tensed, momentarily stunned. Myra let the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding go as the boys didn't take notice of her or Naire. She shot a glance at Naire, to see if he'd seen her reaction. She hadn't shared her thoughts on Vance's new attitude yet, and wasn't sure if she should. She also wasn’t sure of exactly what emotion had coursed through her as she'd seen the two Arietem's, and she didn’t have time to think on it more because Kaplan had turned and started heading the direction they’d just come from. Not one for making noise, he uncharacteristically mewed happily as he trotted up to the jeaned pants of a very familiar figure. Although Kaplan adored Myra, he was very close to Vin as well. Myra turned and stopped, giving her brother a once over she tapped Naire’s shoulder and cocked a hip. With a smirk that announced victory she crossed her arms and simply stated, “Vin, I told you so.”

Vin Magaly


“Hey, thanks man!” Vin drawled casually, smiling as he gingerly stepped off the rickety boat that had brought him to the island. Caretaker Wicks gave him a steely-eyed glare as he pulled the small rowboat by it’s rope to the dock.

“This was no gift, Magaly. 10 points from Ferre and you just arrived,” Wicks barked at him, “You’ve missed the dinner. Head straight to your commons. I don’t want to see you out and about tonight, you hear?”

Woops… Finn’s not gonna be happy with me for that one. Vin thought of his pal and his insatiable urge to win house cup for a moment, then shrugged. “Alright then.” He grabbed his duffle bag with all his clothes in it. It wasn’t the first time Vin’d missed the cruise over, and it wouldn’t be the last, he knew. He didn’t understand why Wicks always came and picked him up though, he was willing to wait until it got dark and fly over. Vin may not have been as good at flying as Myra was, but he wasn’t inept. With a sly smile at Wicks he said, “I’m just gonna stop by the kitchen on my way up there, kay?” Before Wicks could reply, Vin had placed his headphones in and pressed play on his MP3 player. Give him all the magic in the world, Vin just couldn’t help but love technology and it’s ease of use. No remembering silly Latin words for things… then again, that did come in handy every now and then.

Vin pulled his hood up over his head and, sauntering up the hill towards the school, couldn’t help but bob his head the bass beat of the song in his ears. A little Soundgarden tonight, “The Day I Tried to Live.” He smiled and waved at random passerby, knowing full well they hadn’t noticed he was gone during the feast, but that they’d still be surprised that he wasn’t wearing his robes and was carrying his belongings. He shot a large wave to Lloyd and Lyle, then entered the huge front doors of Magus Rex. He noticed Naire and Myra walking up ahead and a lazy smile crossed his face. His sister had an “I told you so!” waiting for him for sure. She’d tried in her most non-confrontational way to get him to skip the beach and make it to the dock on time, but god those waves!!

The swell had been perfect and Derek, his best muggle friend, had promised to keep an eye on the time so that Vin wouldn’t be late to his “flight to boarding school.” An hour after the cruise had surely left him behind, Derek and Vin had finally called it a day and gotten some In ‘N’ Out burgers before heading to their respective homes. Good ol’ Mums and Daddy-o hadn’t been too pleased with him and sent an owl off right away. An hour after that Vin had found himself sitting face to face with an extremely grumpy and gruff caretaker as he had worked out the chords on his bass to a Black Sabbath song. Occasionally he’d paused to try and chat with Wicks, they’d had the long ride many times before and Vin had a soft spot in his heart for the angry-esque guy, if only because his constant scowl was amusing. Wicks had only ever grunted in response, … or was it that he was just over-exerting with the boat. Maybe I should have helped? Vin chuckled softly to himself then stooped to pet Kaplan firmly along his spine and tail. “Hey cat daddy!” He looked up as Myra smiled at him with that gleam in her eye, “Here it comes! ‘I told you so!’” he said simultaneously with her, removing his right head phone. “Hey Harth-man!” He held his hand up for a high-five. "How's the portfolio coming along for the year? I'm sure you've already captured all the drama-rama of the first feast." Vin let his voice get low and conspiratorial, a mischievous grin on his face, "Have you heard? Houses are intermingling." He looked at himself, then looked at the too Vulpes, "Wait! Aren't you two... Vulpes? Our friendship is doomed." He laughed softly to himself.

#, as written by Skwidge
Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd flashed him a small smile, shrugging nonchalantly in a slightly forgiving manner. I'm sure he didn't mean it like that.... Dorremoon's head tilted upwards as she watched the girl walking a little strangely. Her paws hit the dirt silently as they neared the door. "Oh yeah, Naire. I think he was out here, not sure though. But you know him, always so eager to take his pictures. Outside is always one of the best places to do that."

As he rambled along, Lloyd walked quietly through the doors of Magus Grex, her head positioned upwards as her eyes flickered to and fro, taking in the building's architecture. However, inside she was actually quite embarrassed and mortified he had been listening to her play. "Yeah, that's no problem though. I'm sure you were just working hard at more petitions, right?" Her voice was soft, and she had a small smile on her face as she turned back to him.

"Yeah, I had a pretty good summer. Worked at the violin almost a third of my twenty-four hours every day. I also did a bit of hiking, you should have seen where my dad and I went. It was amazing." She nodded softly, sidestepping a few students rushing past. "I'm extremely glad to be back as well. This year is going to be pretty great, I can feel it."

Lloyd paused, waving at Vin as he ran by. "Quodpot, huh? I'm sure you're going to have a great time! Just be sure to practice a lot." She smiled once more, reaching the great steps to the Common Rooms. "But you're going to have to-" But she was cut off as he finished what she was going to say. She nodded with a small chuckle. "Yeah, you're going to have to find someone to fill in for you.

She laughed quietly. "What with you being in the papers, I don't think I could tell you, even if something exciting did happen." She set her hand on the railings of the stairs, but spied Myra, Vin, and Naire again. "Well, there's Naire. I guess you should probably go join the conversation. I'll meet you up in the Common Room, or see you tomorrow. Night."

Lloyd quickly scaled the stairs up to Ferre's Common Room, leaving Lyle to whatever it was Lyle did. Dorremoon silently padded after her before catching up and walking beside the girl.

Naire Harth


Naire chuckled lazily. "'Course I know that, Myra. I was just playing along." He smirked at her, ruffling her hair with that smile of his. He continued to walk, stuffing his hands into his pockets and fiddling around with his wand. She then bumped him and he flashed her a teasing frown. "Yeah, well. It's what I do." He grinned cheekily at her, scratching Chopstick gently above the right wing.

He then noted her sudden change in body language, and nudged her with his shoulder. "Ah please, it's just Lee and uh, Vance." He rubbed the back of his neck with a lopsided, comical grin.

He then turned, hearing the voice of Kaplan. He let out a warm chuckle, waving at Vin. He paused though, looking back at Myra with a confused appearance. "Wait, wha'?" He then looked back at Melvin, finally taking note of his belongings. "Oh, miss the ship again?" He said in a faked Swedish accent, mimicking Myra and put his hand on his less prominent hip, a mocking pout on his face.

He let out a laugh, dropping the act and meeting his high five. "Good to see ya, Vin." Chopstick hooted his own cheery greeting, flapping his wings for a second. "Dude, cut me some slaaackk. The year's only begun. I did get some good shots of what you missed." He stuck his tongue out, arching his eyebrows mockingly with a smile and a snicker.

Naire's eyes suddenly widened, and he put his hand to his mouth with a sarcastic gasp. "Nooo! We must tell the presses!" The boy then turned and began to run forward slightly in slow-motion, over-exaggerating his movements. He then rolled his eyes, putting his hands back into his pockets and leaning against the stair railings. He then saw Lloyd and Lyle making their way over.

Once more he removed his hand from a pocket and waved once towards their direction before turning back to the twins. "Aww, only for a coupe hours a day, Melv!"

#, as written by throne
Lyle Brightham – So Confused!


Lyle nodded profusely. Naire did like taking pictures, and Lyle couldn’t really get upset about how inaccessible it made him sometimes. After all, a lot of those pictures wound up in The Scrivener, and Lyle was well aware of how crucial pictures were to the success of a paper. People needed them to break up all the columns of letters and words, especially him!

He listened to her recount her summer, grinning incessantly. ”Oh, really? Where did you guys go? I don’t think I’ve ever really been hiking before. Not on purpose anyways. There was that time I got lost outside my grandpa’s house, and wound up wandering in circles for hours, but I don’t think that counts, haha!”

His eyes lit up when he spotted Vin waving, and he practically threw his arm out of socket returning the gesture. Skip and Scamp, not so fond of the mini-earthquake that his exuberance had subjected them to, made him aware of their displeasure by digging their claws in a bit, almost simultaneously. ”Yeow!” He did an awkward little dance in the aftermath of it as they scurried about, repositioning. It didn’t hurt so much as it surprised him. What had Lloyd said? Oh!

His brow knit up, lending him a bit of a resemblance to his ferret’s as suspicion showed itself on his features. Did she really think he’d go and print something secret she told him? No, she couldn’t think that, he would never! He decided she was joking, and relaxed a bit, but then she made her fairly hasty exit, barely giving him time to say good-bye himself. Huh. It didn’t make much sense. It wasn’t like she didn’t get along with Naire or his sister or Vin, as far as he knew. His tongue poked out from between his lips, a sure sign that he was thinking hard about the conundrum of his friend’s behavior.

With his teaspoon-sized attention span, Lyle didn’t have much of a chance of figuring it out with two of his best friends approaching, along with Myra, who Lyle actually found sort of intimidating, what with her being smart, and better than him at Quodpot, and a girl. ”Ohheyguys!” He said the words so fast that they sort of bled together, and even though they were nearly upon him, he darted forward to meet them, beaming. ”I was looking for you!” he exclaimed to Naire. Fortunately, they were outdoors… otherwise someone might have had to tell him to use his indoors voice. His eyes flicked from Naire to Myra to Vin, and his cheeks grew just a bit scarlet. Skip and Scamp poked their heads out of his sleeves, sensing something was up, but then quickly engaged in a tactical withdrawal when they spotted Kaplan.


Justin Hardy – Totally Not a Jerk


”Well, you are the most complicated guy I know,” he replied to Flint with a brand of scathing dryness that the other boy would have no trouble interpreting. More or less, it said this: You’re getting off easy, boy-o, because I’m actually a little irked about the sudden cancellation and tonight's disappearing but I know you would only do it for good reason, and if you don’t want me to ruin you in front of these two girls, you’d very much better come clean before we go to bed. In a nutshell. Bliss and Summer would likely be unaware of the subtext of the tone of voice; he was a snarky bastard almost constantly, but rarely employed it with Flint. It would also probably show that Justin, in his own contrived way, was somewhat hurt by the secrecy.

Just like that, the bit of subtle moodiness passed, and he was grinning, nodding in reply to Summer, offering the Betterbeers. To Teek, he extended his free arm, offering it as a perch if the owl was so inclined. He wasn’t nearly as good at reading animals as he was people, but Cougar tended to do the same thing when he wanted to roost on the Vulpes bean-pole.

When Garrett went to quaff his vial all at once, Justin reached out and slapped him on the hand. ”Ep ep ep ep. Not the intended mode of use.” He shook his head. ”Three drops in anything but milk or orange soda; four if you’re feeling adventurous. I call it Betterbeer.” He quickly glanced between the two of them, always curious about how his branding was working out. He wasn’t about to let Flint drink it all and turn into some kind of werewolf for who-knew-how-long, but he had no qualms at all letting him grow some mutton chops. Flint could take a joke, he knew well. ”You know, you’re entirely too trusting about drinking stuff I give you. For all you know, that was magical date-rape juice.” He grinned enigmatically as he continued. ”Mmm, the musical number went well. The needs-to-get-laid club didn’t seem to approve, but overall, it was a success.”

He spotted Bliss coming towards them and upnodded to her. The plot thickens! His eyes wound up bulging as she bear-hugged him, and if Teek had alit on his arm, he would somehow manage to keep it extended so that the owl didn’t get crushed in the process. ”Woah there, She-Hulk. Happy to see you too.” He returned the embrace, one-armed and not nearly as fearsomely, and then offered her a vial of Betterbeer as well, repeating his instructions, less the four drops part. ”And I don’t know what place you’re referring to. I was out picking flowers.” He said this, of course, despite the conspicuous absence of any flowers.

He eagerly drank in the slight awkwardness of her greeting Flint and then realizing her sister was there. ”Mmmmhmm. Heading back to the common rooms,” he agreed. Again, Flint would no doubt catch the fact that Justin hadn’t mentioned anything about his just happening upon the two of them exiting the library together. ”Oh, Bliss, how was your summer? Not her,” he added, jerking a thumb towards Summer. ”You know. Your break.”


Vance Abernathy – Not Amused


The desire to physically strike Lee was almost overwhelming when he noticed a certain protuberance, but Vance had the sneaking suspicion that physical violence would have the opposite of its intended effect. Pointedly looking anywhere but at Lee, he did his best to maintain a thin smile. Bellona was particularly smug, so he had a feeling no good could come of whatever this was. A gift, she’d said in the hall. She certainly wasn’t being remotely pleasant, so it couldn’t be a token of affection that he’d have to suffer through accepting graciously. He almost wished it was. It would have been an amusing diversion to see Lee and Bellona claw at each other for a while. When she spoke so dismissively of the Beauregard, he thought his wish might very well come true.

Of course, that was before he noticed the rectangular bit of paper in her hand. An envelope. With his family’s seal. His expression didn’t change in the slightest, even as he ground his teeth together. A missive from Nevaeh, most likely, before her… accident. Even more likely, it contained some tidbit of information that didn’t gel with the story he was selling. It was the only possibility he could think of that he actively needed to worry about, but if it was indeed that…

His attention turned to Lee, in the wake of his whisper and her “request” for privacy. ”I need you to await me in my room, please, since apparently discretion abounds tonight.” His tone could scarcely have been drier, on the final phrase. Being dismissed would surely irk the saucy boy, but then of course, Vance had dismissed him to his bedchamber. He put a mental image of Lee rifling through his undergarments aside, pressing his lips into an even tighter smile. ”This shouldn’t take overly long, and then we’ll be able to speak.”

He hadn’t noticed Wahl even before the Concealing Charm; the boy might as well have been furniture, so far as Vance was concerned. With the spell in place, it would have taken a parade of acromantulas streaming toward the dumpy boy’s seat to call Vance’s attention to him. He was waiting now; waiting to see if Lee would go without a fight, and without upsetting Bellona, whom he did not want too upset at the moment. Just enough, actually, to suit his purposes.

His eyes slipped to the potentially dangerous witch. ”You know,” he drawled, slight amusement flickering in his eyes. ”The common room is an interesting choice for a private conversation. They do call it common for a reason.” Let her think he didn’t suspect anything, for now; after her haughtiness, he had to at least make a semblance of putting her in her place, lest he weaken his position if it came to a negotiation. Plus, it would go a long way towards smoothing things over with Lee for him to witness Vance returning a bit of her trademark bitchiness.

#, as written by Skwidge
Naire Harth


Naire shrugged, giving up the battle as soon as it started. "Yeah, guess so." He spoke to Melvin, toning in to him missing the ship. His face scrunched up as he frowned. "For your information, I keep myself out of almost all of my pictures. Besides, my faces are only reserved for my friends." With a resolute nod, he stretched fleetingly, his feet shuffling against the floor as he shook his head.

"Nah, I haven't been with her all night, so I don't particularly know. But mainly she's been a good little girl." As he watched Vin pull Myra to himself in a display of affection, Naire cocked his head, a huge grin sprawled across his face, one eyebrow cocked as he splayed his arms out wide. "Yeah, I love ya too, Myra." He then made a move forward to hug her, but then chuckled, putting his hands back in his pockets and leaning once more against the railing.

Naire took a split second to watch Lloyd move past the small group up the stairs. Something seemed slightly off with her, but he didn't linger on it for long. Lyle was demanding his attention as of now.

"Yeah, what'd our little scribe dig up over the months of absence?" Chopstick chirped, hopping onto Naire's shoulder and peering over at Myra with his large eyes before tilting his gaze elsewhere. Particularly up at the stairs to the common rooms. The avian watched the slim silhouette of Lloyd disappear behind the rest of the staircase.

The bird drawled out another hoot, jabbing at Naire's ear. "Yow! Ya little thing." He exhaled at the owl as he flickered from the boy's figure and up the stairs. "Looks like Chopstick is pretty ready for bed." He commented before listening to the others. Almost as soon as he said it, the large clock began to toll, but he stayed to finish their little run in.

Naire chuckled, nodding in agreement to Vin's comment on their little story. "Oh, have you now? Need pictures already? Like I said, give me a wee bit of slack. It's only the beginning of the year!" He flailed his arms in exasperation, then hinted on a smile to show he was kidding. "But really, it is the first day, and I wish not to get in trouble. Lyle, it'll probably have to wait till the morrow, forgive my absence." He grinned again, and took Myra by the elbow. "Night guys."

And with that, he practically dragged Myra along with a short wave to the other two guys, quickly scaling the stones. Once they were out of earshot, he poked her in the side. "Lyle doesn't bite, ya'know." He tsked at her disapprovingly.

Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd silently hopped from step to step, Dorremoon sharing in her voice and the feline's gaze fixed ahead of her. The torches flickered in the darkness, lighting the way sparsely for the straggling students of the first night.

There was a soft thunk every four steps by the violin case at her thighs, supported by her right hand, her left softly clutching the railings to support herself. She was lost in her thoughts as her figure listlessly continued the ascension. It was no more than going through the motions, having almost little to no realization of doing the actions. And where were her thoughts based? On her relations of course.

She was trying to figure out how she could possibly grow a bit closer to the people she knew while still staying relatively comfortable and herself, but mainly they were on Lyle. Of course they were simply friends, and he didn't show anything other than that, but it was still difficult deciding on what to do about it.

In all honesty, she just wanted this day to be over. Now, she really was excited to be back, but it was probably just the ride over that was making her tired. Not to mention her very uncouth run in with Lyle. Lloyd's thoughts returned to how he had reacted, yet struggled to defend the theory it might have just been chance at the way he reacted.

Lloyd settled that she'd just have to find a new place to practice, further away from the castle. Perhaps she could find a place in the cliffs, like when she went hiking. That'd be ideal for certain. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and then Naire's owl hooted, surprising her. She nearly fell down a few stairs from the response, and the small bird alighted on her violin case, which was then brought to the front of Lloyd's being. "Chopstick." She muttered, remembering the name. That would probably mean that Naire himself was heading up soon. All the more reason to make it to the Ferre painting.

After shaking the case a couple times in attempt to upset the owl's balance, Lloyd finally huffed, stamping her foot on the ground and overturning the case softly. The owl seemed to spill from the object, and flickered off. She sighed with relief, and then walked the final distance with Dorremoon to the common room, whispering the password quietly, and then she slipped inside, heading to bed.

Myra Magaly


Myra hid a smile for the ever-decisive little owl. She loved Chopstick almost as much as she loved Kaplan, and when he took off up the stairs towards the commons, she was more than grateful. Vin had prompted Lyle into an excited and quick narrative about a house-elf that Myra only half-followed as she picked up Kaplan, rubbing him behind the ears for comfort.

Oh, have you now? Need pictures already? Like I said, give me a wee bit of slack. It’s only the beginning of the year!” Naire’s honest nature made it hard to pick out when he was joking on occasion, but Myra knew he was now and giggled quietly to herself. She stopped, though, as she watched Lyle’s face go from excited to slightly crestfallen. Poor thing, he must not have picked up on it. She wanted to pipe in and explain that Vin and she had just been talking about pictures and giving Near hell, but she wasn’t really able to make any audible sound come out. Instead, she just chewed on her cheek in small concern toward Lyle.

But really, it is the first day, and I wish not to get in trouble. Lyle, it’ll probably have to wait till the morrow, forgive my absence.” Myra’s whole body radiated warmth as Near swooped her arm under his and pulled her around and up the stairs, escorting her back to the Vulpes commons. Elated, she let Kaplan drop softly to his feet next to her, tossing an apologetic but loving smile over her shoulder to her twin and Lyle, calling quietly, “Have a good night gentlemen!” She relaxed into Naire’s arm, whispering, “You are my absolute hero!”

They walked arm in arm in silence for a moment when Naire spoke up, “Lyle doesn’t bite, ya’know.” She rolled her eyes and half-smirked half-smiled at his pointing out of her nerves. Sighing, she looked over at him, “I know, Near, but I can’t help it. Guys make me nervous.” She playfully pinched his arm. “I mean, Lyle’s my brother’s favorite, but he’s a guy, so…” She mocked a zipper across her mouth and ‘locked’ it, throwing the key down the hall. “It’s like I can’t find my voice sometimes, does that make sense?”

When they had finally climbed all of the steps into the tall tower were the Vulpes dorms were, she turned to him “Who’s turn is it this time?” Myra asked with a grin, referencing their long-standing tradition of trading off who would guess the riddle to get in. It changed weekly, so they both always got to be mentally stimulated. As they turned onto the hidden hall where the entryway came into view they reached the painting of the scholar. He looked up and peered at them squinting. “Ah, the Boy with the Camera and the Bookworm. How are we this year?” His gravely voice came out and Myra knew it had been a while since the last Vulpes’ had entered the Commons, he’d obviously been studing a while. “We’re well, Didimus, have you had a fine summer?” She answered for the both of them.

Vin Magaly


Good ol’ Lyle, Vin thought to himself as his bubbly partner in crime started rambling. He was such good energy, it was difficult for Vin not to smile around him. Yep, definitely the yin to my yang. While Lyle could cause more excitement in Vin, and Vin could coax the calm out of Lyle, it seemed tonight they were both on their own tracks. Vin stuffed his hands in pockets and leaned back on the wall. Enjoying the company, he watched and listened for a bit.

Vin’s chuckle rumbled in his chest more than flowed out as he let Naire’s photos joke set in. Noticing Myra’s concerned look to Lyle he turned and saw his buddy hadn’t really gotten it, and softly punched him on the arm. “Lighten up, Near’s just giving you hell.” Vin winked, emphasizing that all was in good fun. Vin then turned and smiled cooly as Naire excused himself and tugged Myra with him. He waved lovingly at his sister as she shot a glance back. “Night-o guys, sleep like rocks,” he drawled out.

I… just wanted to say hi because I missed you at dinner. Good night Naire. Good night Myra.” Vin looked side-long at Lyle, he could hear more than see or feel the small despair that his pal was feeling. Looking after Naire and Myra one last time he grabbed his bag off the ground again and chucked it over his shoulder. “We should probably head back to Ferre anyhow.” He scratched Scamp now, who had poked his head out of the same area Skip had been. “Hey buddy. Sorry, didn’t mean to ignore.” Then Vin turned and headed down the hall toward Ferre.

After a step or two of not hearing Lyle either speak or move, Vin turned back around, non-chalantly leaning against the wall again, one foot crossed over the other. “What up, bra?”

“[b]Did I… do something wrong?” Vin’s eyebrows creased into a small frown as he saw how upset his friend had become, seemingly out of nowhere. Quickly going over events in his mind, Vin remembered Lloyd passing and leaving Lyle with them, then how Lyle’d asked for Naire almost immediately, and then (light bulb) Naire left almost as quickly. Besides Lyle always being awkward around Vin’s twin, he was confident he knew exactly what had happened in Lyle’s mind.

“Dude, don’t sweat it. It’s the first night back and you know how Myra is, always the stickler for curfews. Near probably just picked up on that and was doing her a solid, y’know? Getting the girl to bed before she got all antsy and weirded out.” Lyle had begun worrying his lip. “Alright, slow that mind down.” Vin moved forward and placed his hands on Lyle’s shoulders, “Lloyd’s an odd one, she probs just forgot her meddy’s today, and Naire definitely didn’t mean to give you the cold shoulder. You know him better than that, he wouldn’t ever do that to you, ya dig?” Vin gave Lyle an extremely warm and reassuring smile, then threw his left arm around Lyle’s shoulders and started maneuvering them down the hall toward Ferre. “Let’s just get some shut eye.”

#, as written by Skwidge
Teiver Morn


Teiver was so engaged with what she was doing, she didn't hear Victor coming in. It wasn't until he sat down next to her that she realized he was there. A soft half-smile, half-smirk played her lips, until his voice came out softly with, "So I was thinking about trying out for the Quodpot team this year." She had just taken a sip of water until he finished his sentence, and she almost did a double take.

She chuckled into her hand, a wicked smile on her features now. "Yeah, right. When Herve casts a decent spell." Teiver turned to look at him, setting down the glass before turning back up to the mimicked sky. "I'm working on star patterns for this month. Some of the corridors change with the shifting of each constellation, and some disappear and appear at different times of the month, day, year, etc. I'm still trying to discern whether or not it's with the actual sky, or if it's the constellations in the Great Hall."

She turned back to her charts, tracing some of the pointed stars, placing her pencil under her lip in thought, flashing Garrison the smallest of smiles. "I couldn't even do things properly last night," Teiver placed her chin in her palm, an exasperated look to her figure. "Finn decided to join me last night, almost got me caught by Herve, now he knows something's up, and he kinda freaked me out with how he acted. I mean, it's like he didn't trust me. Me of all people!" She joked, knowing full well how devious she was. "He always had his hand in his pocket, which was obviously where he kept his wand."

The girl set down her pencil, collecting the papers and placing them back in her satchel. It was about that time when a few more students would be waking up, and she had been at her work for awhile now. "So what's up with you, where'd you disappear to last night? I don't remember seeing you in the Great Hall as of the first day."

Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd stretched with a small feminine grunt, getting up and shuffling quietly over to the table at the foot of her bed. She grabbed the clothes she had set out previously, putting on the dark khaki shorts as well as a white button up shirt with a collar and an epic pocket with the Ferre House symbol on it. She had had her friend do it for her over the summer. She looked out the window to see what time it was, and noted that it was still fairly early.

After lacing up her sandals, she picked up her violin case and walked towards the door, Dorremoon following after her somewhere in between. With eyes half closed, Lloyd descended the steps of the Common Tower. She had a sleepy smile on her face, contently carrying her case without a thought to yesterday. She entered the Great Hall, realizing that there were only so many students up and about.

She scanned the Hall to see if she recognized any faces, and she did, of course, but sat down quietly at her own table. A bowl of bacon and cream of wheat appeared before her, as well as a glass of orange juice. She smiled exuberantly, quickly wolfing down the food and drink, her violin case settled beside her, and Dorremoon underneath her.

Once she finished, she immediately hopped up, tangling her legs a bit from the awkward positioning of bench and table, but reorganized herself, grabbing her violin case once more and dashed out of the Hall with a huge smile on her face, Dorremoon following closely behind her.

Lloyd burst through the doors to the outside, quickly opening up her case and taking out her violin and bow. She held the instrument by the longer length at the tip, bow right next to it, and open case in her other hand as she went to go practice and wake herself up. She settled for a space right underneath a huge oak tree, and put the violin up to her chin. She was still pretty close to the castle, but of course she'd need be. Lloyd couldn't miss classes just to go find a new practicing place.

She placed the bow on top of the strings, and did a customary practice swipe. With another sweet smile, she began her music carefully. It was supposed to be a guitar song, but she had gotten the sheet music for the violin, and instead hummed the guitar part, the actual lyrics being only played in her head for now. That bright smile never left her face, and she eagerly played the notes, closing her eyes.

Dorremoon lounged beside her, the cat's eyes closed and ears just slightly bent backwards with paws outstretched on the grass. A purr rumbled through her vocals as she listened.

Vin Magaly


The chill salt water sluiced off of Vin's face as he came up from another dive under a wave, his surfboard stabilized beneath him by his hands. Breathing in deeply through his nose, he pushed himself into a sitting position, one leg over either side of the board. Rubbing his face, he let his hands push up and through his hair, slicking it back in the way his mom always told him looked "so handsome!" Smiling he closed his eyes and stretched, soaking in the warmth of the sun as it was beginning to rise. Here is where he felt the most at home. In the waves, with nothing to do and no one to bother him. Keeping his eyes closed, he let his hands drop to swirl the water with his finger tips just slightly.

A swell rolled under him and he let the current lift him a tiny bit and bring him back down. A small but lovingly soft smile crossed his face. That was the ocean: his beautiful love. A fickle beast, she had the power to kill and did more often than many people knew or chose to know, but Vin knew her softer side. The side that sweetly caressed you and held you up, even when you felt as though you were falling. He'd gone "over the falls" more times than could be counted by even an army of mathematicians, but he kept coming back for more.

The next swell he felt more than heard or saw. He felt the current as it pulled away from the beach, swishing him out to sea momentarily. She was preparing to strike and he was ready. Sighing, he knew he'd have to head in soon if he didn't want to miss breakfast. Opening his eyes he saw the swell headed towards him. It would be a good end to his early morning rides. He settled onto his chest again, pulling his legs up onto the board he used his arms to turn himself back towards the shore. Just as the wave was getting near to him he began to paddle with his arms, hard, "swimming" his board toward the beach but being tugged back by the current of the infant stages of the wave. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as the swell pulled him up it's face, as the white foam began to grow while the swell reached it's crest and became a wave, crashing over itself. His heart raced a tiny bit as he waited for the moment, where you knew it was now or never, where the board felt just stable enough and the ocean was holding you strong in her delicate and powerful hands.

Now! In one smooth motion, Vin stopped swimming and used his hands to help push himself into a crouched position on the board, then stood. He was elated as he swooped up and down the wave, choosing not to pull any tricks but just to enjoy the ride as far in towards the beach as he could. His heart hammering in excitement and exertion while the muscles in his legs maneuvered the board, the muscles in his abs held him upright and the muscles in his arms helped him to balance. He mentally thanked his body for supporting him so well, being strong and healthy and ensuring that he could do the things he loved to do. He also made sure to send out thankful vibes to whoever or whatever had chosen to bless him with a fully functional body and mind. His breath was coming quickly, the burn in his lungs reminding him that he was alive. The rush was gone all too soon as he felt the familiar upward tug of the wave beginning to close on itself, the tunnel was forming behind him. He let himself be pulled into it momentarily, dragging his fingers along the closer wall of water while enjoying the splashes of color that played through the water from the sunrise. Then, feeling with his board the current that would pull him out he shot the tunnel and rode in front of it for a bit until, finally, almost achingly, he loosened his muscles and dropped from his board into the water.

Letting the wave roll past him, he emerged and breathed in the salty air, shaking his hair out. Pulling himself onto the board, he swam it in towards the shore until he could feel that the ocean floor was close enough for him to walk on. Sliding his board under his left arm, he walked up the shore and headed South to the front doors of the school.

Myra Magaly


Myra woke with a sneeze as Kaplan's whiskers tickled her nose. He was purring and nuzzling her face, which would have been extremely pleasant if it hadn't been for those damn tickly whiskers. Pushing him away from her gently she smiled and whispered, "I'm up, pushy." Kaplan gave her a look and jumped from the bed. Trotting over to his food bowl he sat and waited patiently. She rolled her eyes. Snuggling into bed for a moment longer, she absorbed the warmth of her blankets one last time before sighing quietly and throwing them off. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she opened Kaplan's food container, scooped him some dry food, returned the scoop and locked it up again.

Once she was up, she was fully awake, so she got to work. Diligently making her bed, she grabbed her toiletries and made her way to the restroom. Quickly showering and getting ready, applying a small amount of make up and dressing in a simple floral summer dress and kitten heels. Taking one last look at herself in the mirror, she approved of her outfit and hair then returned to the bedroom. Throwing her blue house robe over her arm, she grabbed her book bag and headed for the door. Turning just before she left, she blew Kaplan a kiss, "Stay out of trouble kitty cat!" With that, she quietly made her way through the Commons room. There were a few students moving about, some yawning and stretching, some sipping coffee, some studying already. Myra smiled to herself, her house's "nerd" reputation was well earned. Ducking out past Didimus, she made her way down the stairs towards the great hall.

As she was entering the hallway, something inside of her told her to stop. It was a familiar feeling, this odd out-of-body "knowing." It had been happening to her since before she could remember and there was only one other person in the world who felt it too. It was as though something was pulling her toward the front of the building. Smiling, she turned and started toward the front door of the school. Just as she was getting there, Vin walked in, sopping wet, carrying his surfboard. "Good morning!" She said brightly with an equally luminous smile.

"What up sis!" He smiled at her warmly and moved in for a hug. She backed away quickly in a smoothly serpentine move, shaking her head.

"Nope. You are soaking wet. How was the beach?"

"Bees knees sis; pure nature zen." His smile was large and relaxed, and his eyes were clear. Myra's smile mirrored his own.

"I'm glad. I'll walk you to the commons stairs." She fell in step with him as he shrugged and moved foreward. They walked in silence for a few moments. They were more comfortable with one another than with anyone else, they didn't need to fill the silence with idle, meaningless chatter. The twins were usually content to simply be in each other's presence. This time, though, Myra got the feeling that Vin had something on his mind. Then she caught Vin chewing his lip out of the corner of her eye. That, paired with the odd feeling that he had been wanting to say something but wasn't, prompted her to elbow him. "What is it?" She asked, knowingly.

"Uh... well... See, I gotta ask you a favor." He said slowly, she could tell he was piecing together his thoughts, formulating how to say what he wanted to say.

"Shoot. You know I'd do anything for you." She smiled reassuringly. Vin considered her for a minute, his eyebrows knit together slightly, then shrugged again.

"Alrighty. I told Lyle I'd ask you to help him get on the Quodpot team. Practice with him and ish. Ya dig?" Myra's smile dropped slightly as her eyes widened, Vin's closing slightly as he watched her reaction. Her mind took off, she was so shy and secretive about her Quodpot practices. How had Lyle figured out she knew how to play? She wanted to help Vin's friend out, but she could barely even choke out a 'hello' around him, much less help him with his game skills. Not to mention, what if she just made him worse? For all she knew, she wasn't good at all and their dad was just really loving and didn't want to tell her. Slowly her face morphed into a look of nervous apprehension and concern. "Look sis, calm it down. I know how you are about that stuff, but give Lyle a chance, yeah? He's really chill if he's got his mind on something. And stop thinking you're not good, Dadds wouldn't lie to yeh. Do me a solid, yeah?"

Myra looked into her "older" brother's eyes and saw the earnest question. Letting a couple of doubts fly through her head, and feeling the pounding of her heart, she finally made up her mind. Rolling her eyes at him she let out an overly-exasperated if fake sigh, "Alright, alright. But you owe me."

"You're the top, sis. Truth." He punched her arm lightly then took the stairs two at a time as the clock chimed. Shaking her head in minor disbelief, Myra decided to wait until it was time to work on actual practices before putting too much of her mind to work on the matter. Classes started in 2 hours and she wanted to get through a couple more chapters in her book before she had to make her way to a classroom. Finally making her way back into the Great Hall she looked around. Teiver and Victor were chatting at one end of the Vulpes table. She watched as Teiver's cat eyed her curiously and she nodded a greeting to it. Her stomach grumbled audibly and she was suddenly overcome by how grateful she was to have chosen the other end of the long house table to sit at. Three plates of food appeared before her, pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and various berries, and assorted fruits. Add with the large glass of water and a smaller glass of milk and Myra was extremely content. She would have to send a thank you to the elves for remembering just how much her slender frame could and loved to pack away, she pulled out her book and began to dig into both reading and eating.

Back to Vin real quick


Vin meandered into his room in the Ferre part of the commons tower and slid his board under his bed. After a quick shower, he put on jeans and a grey t-shirt, he threw his flip flops back on, dried his hair on a towel, and put his robe on. Plugging Mumford and Sons into his ears, he noticed the slip of paper on his bed stand just as he was leaving. Drifting over, he grabbed it and tried to discern it. Undoubtedly it was Lyle's doing, no one else in the school had handwriting that was worse than a doctor's. He could make out enough to know that Lyle seemed to be doing much better today, there was an exclamation point after all. An easy smile lit his face and he tossed the note on his bed, making his way towards the Great Hall. He caught sight of Lloyd as she left the hall and started heading towards the front doors, violin case in hand. He entered the Hall, snagged a couple pieces of toast and large glass of chocolate milk. Taking it with him, he followed her out and lounged silently against the wall of the school a respectful distance away as she played, waiting until she was done or taking a break before saying casually as he approached, "G'morning Ladylloyd. Thank you for sharing your lovely music with the world so early. That was wonderful. How's it?"

#, as written by Skwidge
Teiver Morn


A small frown formed on her lips for a moment as he answered her question based on his disappearance. So it was his father. Again. She really didn't particularly like the subject on his parents because... well anyway, she just gave him a small nod. "Mh, say no more." Teiver flashed him an almost sympathetic smile, but she always smirked a little into it.

"Well yeah, I ended up saving both of our butts, he's not going to be particularly grateful, because he isn't- well, he's a Ferre, not a Vulpes. They don't get the concept of deeper meanings. So he's bound to go snooping around again." She had simply shrugged off the extra concern written on his face as his rivalry between himself and Finn.

"Pollack didn't do anything stupid, did he?" The girl let out a minuscule laugh. "Well, for one, he ran blindly up one of the stairs, almost ran into one of the few abandoned girl's bathrooms. Which is just such a shame. It would have been a huge laugh if it wasn't abandoned; can't you just picture it? Well anyway, two he also almost ran off the side of Magus Grex. He thought I was kidding about that one. You know there are a couple of... injuries in the castle."

Teiver brought her hands up and shook them lightly. "No, no. That's alright, I'll take care of him myself, thanks." Not to mention that's going to flare up a couple of things. She thought silently to herself, a sheepish grin on her face.

However, before she could actually start eating any food, they were interrupted by a very uncouth voice. ”Morning Boris, Natasha.” She clenched her left fist irritably. By the sound of his voice and the positioning of his eyelids, he was probably drinking last night. She forced a tiny smile onto her face, looking up at him. Her wand was right on the table in front of her.

So tempting.

With that strained, tiny smile, Teiver picked up her wand leisurely. "Hey, Victor, think if I use the jelly-brain jinx on him, he'd sound and act any different?" Her now forced emotion turned into a lazy grinning smirk. Sure, she was a lot more expressive when he was around, it's what you did near- close friends. She flashed that dangerously sweet smile towards Justin, Her wand lowered and in her lap, yet subtly pointing towards him. "Garrison." Her voice was short and a little stiff.

'Yeah, thanks. I don't like him mocking me.' The cat looked up at her for a second before slinking out from under the bench, hopped on top of it, lazily leaned forward towards the other Vulpes boy, leaped up onto his shoulders, balanced for a second before gaining control, and then he slipped down his left arm. The feline then lazily looked up at him once more, then he sank his fangs right into the boy's hand.

"Stupefy." She whispered in an almost undetectable tone, sure that he was focused on her cat instead, and also probably still a little groggy. Garrison's ear twitched, and he immediately hopped off, releasing his hold on the boy as soon as she began the first part of the spell. He returned to his place under the table.

Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd had just finished her playing, a satisfied smile on her face and her eyes closed, taking in the warmth of the early morning's sun and the fresh air. "G'morning Ladylloyd. Thank you for sharing your lovely music with the world so early. That was wonderful. How's it?" She jumped back, her eyes wide. For a split second she had thought that it was Lyle again. Only a bit of relief replaced the uncertainty as she saw it was only Vin. Even with him, it was still a bit nerve wracking to play in front of him.

"Oh would you stop doing that!? I mean, it's like you guys can't help but bloody embarrass me!!" She said in an almost whining voice. Oops, looks like someone forgot her meds again. She gave him a small smile. "Thanks though. I-I guess." She quickly put her violin back into its case and walked over to him, Dorremoon walking a few feet behind her.

"It's... good, I think?" She gave him a goofy smile, plopping down and sitting right on his feet, looking up at him with a now sweet, cheerful grin, her eyes half-closed for effect. After opening them once more, Lloyd gave him a thoughtful, naive look. "Do you know who the author and singer of the music is?" With a grin, she waited for his answer for a few moments before saying it herself.

"It's Jason Mraz. Gosh, I really love his music. It's so spunky and heart-warming. Great music, great music." She nodded resolutely, placing her hand on his shin lightly to balance herself. Now that she had a little time to think, she did recall a small fight in the Great Hall, didn't she?

She paused in her antics with Melvin's feet, a studious look on her face as she thought in trying to recall what had happened. She put her finger on her bottom lip, her lips slightly parted. Oh yeah, Delilah, wasn't it? And... that other kid. What's his face? She shrugged, but then remembered that it was a fight. Delilah was uncharacteristically violent towards him, which was obviously strange. She must be pretty upset.

Lloyd gave Vin a stray smile, patting his leg. "I gots ta go. I'll catch up with you later, kay?" She pulled herself up from his feet, picking up her case and quickly ran back towards the building. She turned around, waving back at him before returning to face the right way and dashed inside of the castle, heading straight for the bathroom she thought Delilah disappeared into.

She breathed quietly, hearing the small crying coming from one of the stalls. Lloyd felt a pang on sympathy and related a bit. So she leaned down, settling herself on the floor and unlatching her case once more. She smiled just a bit, bringing the violin back to her chin, and readying the bow once again. She played the same song, but a bit more slowly. She also softly sang the actual words in hope that Delilah could relate. Surprisingly, the lyrics were very fitting for the situation.

It helped that she was running on ADHD energy and mentality, otherwise she'd be extremely too shy about this.

Naire Harth


Naire rubbed his forehead a bit groggily, carefully leaning up in bed. He was among one or two who had refused to over-drink last night, but that didn't mean he didn't partake in a little bit. Weren't they supposed to be the smart house? He groaned, slipping out of bed silently and heading to the showers to prepare for the day.

After that bloody refreshing frigid cold shower, he shivered, stepping out and wrapping a towel around himself, dressing in tan cargo shorts and a striped t-shirt. It was like he had to be the one to get the only non-properly-working shower in the whole school for the first morning back. He sighed, running his hand through his wet hair before brushing his teeth and then went to grab his camera.

To find that it wasn't where it was supposed to be.

His eyes immediately narrowed, and before panic could set in, he made a quick assumption that it was none other than Justin who had to have taken it. He grumbled quietly under his breath and left the Vulpes area, quickly heading to the Great Hall. He spotted the guy over by Teiver and that Victor guy. He was watching all three of them like a hawk. He would refrain from going over there at the moment.

His eyebrows suddenly arched in surprise, watching Teiver mouth the words of a spell. He almost laughed, but refrained from doing so quickly. His wand was up in his hand in a moment's notice, subtly pointing towards the group in fight warily.

He spotted Myra, and put a finger up to his lips, hoping she wouldn't draw attention to himself. He put on a fake exhausted look, and slouched forward a bit, his wand leaning downwards, but still in their direction.

#, as written by Korrye
Image

The girl’s lavatories in Magus Grex were cold places to be. The stone brick was as grey as ever, with the old marble stalls chipped and scratched in places from the desperate ones who wished to leave a mark behind. As Delilah sat on the floor, her arms hugging her knees to her chest, her eyes couldn’t help but wander. The corner stall she’d chosen was one of the worst for student graffiti, almost no different than a typical American high school. It seemed tradition to leave the wall be and as a result it was marred with line upon line of desperate pleas for…most anything.

“R and E! Sound’s nice to me,” one girl had written. Delilah swallowed, feeling her cries quiet in her throat as she began to read. Her mind wandered so easily it seemed. “I’m transferring to Hogwarts!” another wrote, the letters etched so crudely. “Kill me now,” a girl wrote next to it. There were swirls and lines through a lot of love confessions and poetic lines. Others had hearts around them and confirmations. “Vance is a GOD!” one pronounced in bold black letters. It was closely surrounded by various hearts and a rather large "EW!" as well. Delilah leaned her head into the wall, bringing a hand to her eyes to wipe the tears from her face. As she tried to regain her composure she heard the doors open again, and feet shuffling as well. She could make out the popping of latches and her lip only trembled, recalling Sam’s gesture to help her with her trunk. “Stupid ass,” she thought rolling her eyes, closing them again as they stung with more tears. “He knows how I hate people helping me. I’m a clutz, just leave me be.”

And then it started, a melancholic violin began to play and slowly Delilah straightened, knowing without question that it was Lloyd playing by the sinks. As the melody began, Lloyd began to sing and Delilah felt her heart sink. “This girl is too nice to me,” she thought lowly, tucking her chin into her knees to listen as her cries quieted and only her shoulders shuddered every so often.

He had made such a scene of it. Did Sam not think of what she’d been through? Delilah knew her mother would pull her by her ear from the bathroom if she could see her there, a mess on the floor, her cheeks so flushed with her own tears. She’d already been slapped the morning before. It had been ridiculous really, and the memory of it hurt. “Of all days for her to come back from where she’s been,” she thought sullenly.

It was clear to her, and haunting even though it had happened only the day before. Her father had pulled her trunk onto the porch early in the morning, readying it for the car. Delilah had tromped down the stairs with screech in her cage. Setting the owl by the door, she’d slipped her shoes on and gone into the library to see her mother. For the past three years the elder blond version of herself had sat in a rocking chair in her favorite room, sitting and rocking but not saying a word. The family nurse Fiona tended to her and fed her, wheeling her in a chair to the bedroom that had become hers on the main floor. The woman hadn’t said a thing to her daughter in three years and even before that, when she had been mobile, she’d said so little it was as if Delilah had never been born or a daughter to her.

As she had for the past three years, Delilah knelt at her mothers feet and took her hands into her own. “I love you so much Mama,” she said, smiling. As she leaned in to kiss the crown of her mother’s hair she felt her mother grip her hands tightly, pushing her away as if repulsed. “What daughter of mine would stand to be so slighted by some idiot boy?” she’d snapped, whirling Delilah’s touch away to draw a hand violently across her cheek. So shocked by her mother’s words and actions, Delilah had stumbled back losing her balance completely until she fell on her butt right in front of the woman who had born her. “W—what?” she’d stuttered, not even knowing if it was real.

“Linnea!” her father had said, moving from the doorway where he’d witnessed the action. He was swiftly at his wife's side, so overjoyed that he seemed to have forgotten his daughter on the floor. “Linnea!”

He was so happy. His wife was not catatonic. Delilah’s lip trembled then, so hurt by what she saw. ”He loves her too much,” she’d thought. As she held a hand to her cheek where her mother had hit her, she couldn’t move, much less speak. While Samson tried to coddle his wife she smacked him away, leaning forward as much as she could move herself in her chair to glare at her daughter, extending her to point a long ringed finger at her.

“You waited for months to hear from this boy? Like a puppy! What good is it to sit around and wait for him Delilah? You have wasted yourself away all this time and for nothing. He does not care for you Delilah and I will not have you moping around like this. I won’t.”

She hadn’t even been able to nod or anything. Delilah watched as her father moved to turn his wife towards him, to hold her shoulders under his hands. She watched them look at each other, him lovestruck and her nearly vehement. “Take me to my mother Samson, after you take this worthless girl away to the boats,” Linnea demanded.

Worthless, she called me worthless. And she was leaving. Leaving them. Actually going though, not just into herself but out of the house. It was like living with a dead woman, having her there and knowing that she was breathing but not herself. This was so hard.

“No, no Linnea,” her father had begged. He had just gotten her back it seemed. The argument began then and Delilah had barely enough sense to stand up and leave. As she entered the kitchen and wet a cloth to hold against the sting of her mother’s slap, she’d been forced to wait nearly two hours before her father walked briskly in to collect his keys. “I’m sorry love. She wants to go and now,” he said sullenly. It took so much for her father to look so upset. “I’ll take you first thing in the morning. I wrote a letter ahead of you to the headmaster. They know you’ll be late, family matter.”

And that’s why she was there. Her mother thought so little of her now because she had been aware of Delilah’s moping around the house for three months, clinging to the hope that she might hear something from Sam. She'd been aware of it all. With the accident she’d become so bitter. There was no give and no sentimental recollection of when she had waited on pins and needles to hear from a boy she’d liked. There was just near verbal abuse and a clear message beneath her words: he’s not good enough for you. Grow up and get over it.

As Lloyd finished the song Delilah could do nothing but sigh. Clambering to her feet, she allowed herself to sniff once more. Wiping her eyes again she pulled open the door, smiling weakly at Lloyd. Positive that she looked like a mess, Delilah adjusted her robes and wiped at her cheeks again. “I’m sorry,” she said weakly, apologizing for the mess that she was and even more so the ridiculous display that had gone on before. “That was so beautiful. Thank-you.”

#, as written by Skwidge
Lloyd Vrancing


Lloyd quietly let her lips return together as she finished her playing, removing the chin rest and setting her instrument back in its case. She then pushed herself up off of the ground, and smiled brightly at the Cervus girl. "Why thank you, milady." She made a sweeping bow, a shy and sheepish grin on her face, even if her actions did speak otherwise.

She then tilted her head back, looking down at her pants. "Yuck, these floors are positively filthy!" She stuck out her tongue, picking up her violin case. "So yeah, wanna go grab some breakfast?" Truth, she had already eaten, but it wouldn't hurt to get another few plates of food. She was running on ADHD energy, after all. And that did make one a bottomless pit.

The girl flashed Delilah a small grin once more, turning on the sink and grabbing a couple of paper towels, running them under the water and then stepping over to her, gently dabbing under her eyes with a cheery, naive smile. "There we go, you look a thousand times better already!" She stepped out her front foot over-exaggeratedly, and stiffly stepped forward, rocking just a tad before walking normally out the door.

Naire Harth


Naire immediately returned his wand back to his pocket, and quickly walked around the other side of the Vulpes table towards Myra. He gave a stunted grimace, sticking his tongue out. "I thought you'd save me a seat! But look at this, you're taking up, like, five bloody seats!" He was overexaggerating, of course, but he settled down next to her, taking the mug of coffee that presented itself gratefully.

He smiled sweetly at her, taking a big gulp of the steaming drink, clenching his eyes shut for a moment before shaking his head. "Much better, eh? What are ya reading?" He pulled back her book gently so she wouldn't lose her page, and scanned over the pages with a grin.

However, his gaze went back over to the fight up the table, and rolled his eyes. But he was soon distracted by a first year tugging on his robes warily. He turned with a big grin. "Yeah, what's up?" The boy looked a bit troubled, continuously eyeing his house mates fighting. "Uhm, won't we get points taken away for this from the prefects?" Naire smirked cheerily, rustling the boy's hair.

"Eh, who really cares about the House cup? Vulpes House may not win a lot, but we definitely have the most fun. Even if there are a few... bumps in the progress." His own gaze fell back to the trio, which had now grown to a... five-o? Whatever. The boy gave a small laugh, and then returned to his own friends.

Teiver Morn


Garrison struggled only a bit when he was caught off guard, but quickly remained standing still so as not to pose a moving barricade for Teiver. Of course, she was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events that Justin threw at her. Man I must be pretty rusty. She thought distractedly, her wand tilting downward of half her own doing. One because she was surprised and shifted a bit for worry of her other set of eyes, and two because it was pretty innocent. And hell, she'd get some sort of laugh from it.

So it ended up pointing towards his shoelaces.

She cut off her previous spell, and instead decided to go with a tongue tying curse. Sure, it was created by an idiot, but it had so many other uses than just for tongues, though retained its initial use.

Thus his shoelaces retied, triple knotting in place. And what with the tongue tying spell preventing a person from talking about a specific subject, why not have shoelaces refuse, or be very almost impossible to untie?

Teiver smiled cheerfully with a laugh. "Well played kind sir, though you should really be more careful with your footwear. Your poor ass might just end up on the floor, and we wouldn't want someone gluing it there, right?" She leaned forward, propping her chin on her wand, sticking her tongue out through another grin.

She then looked over to the two kids from other Houses with a subtly mocking, sympathetic look. "You didn't really think I'd hurt Justin, right? We are somewhat of friends, though some of his antics are a bit questionable. You'd know what I meant easily." She nodded in assumption, turning back to the table and scratching Garrison behind the ear.

Rosina Garenne



Her eyes opened, staring at the clock on her nightstand. It was early, but that was alright. She sat up in bed and stretched, then gave Belle a scratch between the ears. She purred softly in response. She smiled as she hopped out of bed, took a quick shower, then put on some simple clothes, donning her robe last. She decided to let her hair stay down, flowing softly over her shoulders. Before exiting the room, she remembered to grab her wand. The common room was pretty empty, so she didn't bother talking to anyone before she left. Instead of heading straight to the Great Hall, a visit to courtyard was in order first. The morning air was slightly cool, and it felt wonderful to her. Rose absolutely hated when it was too warm outside.

She lingered outside for longer than originally intended, and eventually entered the castle once more to eat some breakfast. As she was walking through the hallway, the sound of music caught her ears. Immediately, she knew who was making it. Quietly, she tiptoed to the doorway it was coming from, and edged it open slightly so she could peek inside. Sighing happily, she saw Lloyd playing the violin. Not many would know it was her, since she didn't choose to play for others most of the time. But she had for Rose, and it had made her feel extremely special. A smile couldn't be helped as she listened. The Ferre was more talented than anyone Rose had ever met. She contemplated entering the bathroom to say hello, but normally Lloyd didn't like to be disturbed while she was playing. So she respected her friend's wishes, and silently closed the door before continuing her trip to the Great Hall.

As she walked, her thoughts crossed to the night before. This morning, she was feeling particularly silly about everything she had felt the night before with Micah. She'd been so flustered, and almost angry. He wasn't trying to be mean to her, he had just been occupied. It had been the first night after all, and she couldn't expect him to give her all his attention for the entire night. He had many friends, and had wanted to talk to all of them. If she could muster up the courage, she wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly.

Then her thoughts shifted, and she remembered that Felix had been absent last night. Or he had been too busy, but she couldn't imagine him not saying hi to her. He was practically her best friend, after all. He wouldn't have ignored her, she decided finally, so something else must have been going on. As she walked through the large doors, he was the first person she saw. He was looking handsome this morning, she noted, and a smile crept across her face.

Then her eyes registered the rest of the scene, and she noticed him holding his wand, aiming at some of the other students. "Oh dear..." she said to herself, taking a few tentative steps forward. She knew he was fiercely loyal to his friends, so she assumed it was Justin that was in trouble. That was hard to believe.

Rose bit her lip, eyes shifting back and forth between all the students involved. And just as quickly as things got tense, they just seemed to dissipate. Justin was making jokes again, and had lowered his wand. She took that as a good enough sign to approach. She just had to say hi to her best friend. She crossed the rest of the distance quickly, then threw her arms around Felix. "I missed you!" she exclaimed happily, a little chuckle escaping her lips afterward.

"Come on, let's sit..." she said, grabbing his hand. She practically dragged him back to the Cervus table, wanting to get him away from the situation in case something worse happened, and made him sit down next to her. She was so excited to see him, she didn't even realize they were seated across from Emerson. That was the effect her best friend had on her. He calmed her tenseness, and just generally made her more relaxed. She didn't worry so much about things, or what everyone else thought of her. Her eyes then focused on Emerson, and she ran a few fingers through her hair, a nervous habit of hers. But she managed to give him a small smile and wave before turning her attention back to her friend. She was still aware of Emerson's presence, however.

Finn Pollack



When his eyes saw the time on the clock, he groaned, but made himself get up. The first day of classes was an extremely important one, and he wanted to get to the Great Hall as early as possible. As Head Boy, he wanted to be there for all the students of Ferre House, but mostly the first years. They'd no doubt have questions and concerns, and it was his job to answer them and make them feel at ease. He showered quickly, leaving his hair to air dry in the messy, windblown look that he enjoyed so well. A white polo and dark jeans were his simple choice of outfit for the day, before he put on the red-lined robe. Before leaving the room, he grabbed his wand, sticking it in his pocket, and made sure to pin his Head Boy badge on his robes for everyone to see.

As he walked down the steps to the common room, his thoughts drifted to the previous night's events. While he was still extremely interested in what Teiver was up to, his major feeling was guilt. He hadn't returned to the Great Hall after the adventure, which meant that the responsibility of directing the first years had been left entirely on the Head Girl's shoulders. He knew he'd get some grief about it, because he always did the right thing. At least that's what everyone seemed to think. And of course he strived to, but sometimes he fell short of his extreme expectations for himself.

Down in the common room, a first year ran up to him immediately, a panicked look on his face. "Finn, did I miss something? I don't know what my first class is, or what time! Where is my schedule? Was there somewhere I needed to go to pick it up? I don't kn-"

"Woah, dude, chill out," he said, laughing and clapping the boy on the shoulder. The first year didn't seem to know what was so funny, and still had a frightened look on his face. "The Heads of Houses always pass them out after breakfast in the Great Hall. The boys shoulders sagged, and he gave out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," he said and walked away. Finn answered a few more questions, before informing them all that he was heading for the Great Hall, and if they needed anything else to seek him out there. After leaving the common room, he walked slowly through the halls, not feeling any need to rush. It was still pretty early, and most students were likely still asleep in their beds. He started humming a general tune, last night entering his mind once more. He just had to figure out what Teiver was doing in her secret tower. It would take considerable time, he was sure, but he was determined. It was something against the rules, he was confident about that, and it was his duty to put an end to it.

He needed to find time to actually go searching, though. He couldn't do it late at night, because of curfew. He wasn't going to break the rules, being Head Boy and all. Perhaps whenever he had free periods, since studying wasn't that important to him anyway. He just couldn't force himself to sit and read a textbook on some historical wizard, even if their actions changed the face of the wizarding world. He couldn't even force himself to read for the slightly more exciting subjects, like DADA. He liked learning by doing, which was what made him excel in subjects like Charms and Transfiguration, but his grades in History of Magic were well below standards.

He walked through the doors to the Great Hall, and a cluster of people caught his eye. Nothing was happening yet, but it certainly seemed as if tensions were high. And Teiver was in the middle of it... big surprise there. The red-haired girl, Rose was her name, walked up and pulled one of the students away, but the others didn't move. He walked up to them, and crossed his arms, a frown on his face. He wasn't especially surprised to see Victor was part of it either. "Do we have a problem here?"




Priscilla Barsotti



When her eyes opened, she expected to still be in Paris. It was only after a few moments of staring at the stone ceiling that she remembered she had returned to Magus Grex for her final year. Groaning, she made herself sit up, and rubbed her eyes to make herself wake up. Sluggishly, she got out of bed, and Princess mewed at her, obviously annoyed to have been woken up so early. "Oh hush," she said, rolling her eyes. Sometimes her cat was more of a diva than she was.

Upon entering the bathroom, she stared at herself in the mirror, and frowned. She had a serious case of bed head going on. She was gifted with natural beauty, of course, but it also took work to achieve her level of good looks. After showering, she took quite a long time applying her make up, and gave her hair some loose curls. Picking out her clothes was slightly more challenging. After about fifteen minutes, she decided on a black v-neck tanktop, as well as a black pencil skirt. And true to her nature, rather high black heels adorned her feet. After one last look in the mirror, she deemed herself ready for the public to see her.

She said her goodbye to Princess, and locked her door behind her. Her heels gave loud clicks as she descended the staircase. She absolutely loved heels, for more than one reason. Of course because they always made her look amazing, but also because everyone would know when she was coming. Which normally meant all the young kids got out of her way, or her friends and guys showered her with compliments and praises when she passed. A smirk crossed her lips, as she continued her descent.

Suddenly, she remembered Zack from last night. Immediately, anger filled her tiny little body, but it quickly dissipated. Crazily enough, he had actually apologized to her, and even more had admitted to missing her. The thought of it actually made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She would have to play it cool today, though. Act as if she hadn't truly been bothered by his japes, and pretend that her heart didn't race faster every time he talked to her. It just wasn't her character.

About halfway down the dormitory stairs, a loud knocking interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see what it was, and almost laughed out loud. It was none other than Vance Abernathy himself. Of course, that wasn't what made her want to laugh. It was the fact that he was knocking on Lee Beauregard's door. She walked up behind him, and crossed her arms, a cold smirk on her face. "Why, Vance, is your true nature finally coming out?" she asked, his back still turned to her. In all truth, she didn't really hate him. It did annoy her that he seemed to act superior towards her. They were both from extremely respected families, and yet he couldn't even be bothered to be friendly with her? It was just atrocious. She was just as good as he was, and he had to know it. So until he decided to be a little more civil with her, she would just poke some fun at him. He dished it out enough, so it was only fair he received some himself.

"Need to get in a little quickie before breakfast?"

#, as written by Korrye
Image

Edited away accidentally. Going to re-write to fill what was lost. ;_;

Myra Magaly


The fringes of Myra's mind pricked as a distraction forced it's way into her story. One moment she had a vivid mental image of a 6-legged creature, the beloved pet of the main character, bounding happily away from her towards impending doom, then (to Myra's great annoyance) there was a bunch of movement to her right and someone across the table from her. Sighing she looked up, straight into Near's clear blue eyes. She opened her mouth to great him cheerily and he sternly put a finger to his lip. Her brow furrowed as she followed the line of his wand tip, towards Teiver, Victor and Justin. Obviously faking exhaustion, Near made his way towards her and she sat up a little straighter, a frown of confusion on her face. She did as told though, and kept her mouth shut.

She watched, wide eyed, as wands started appearing around the Vulpes table from Vulpes and non-Vulpes alike. Her mouth falling open in silent astonishment at the blatant disregard of school rules by so many students. She glanced over at the head table, there were only two professors present and they weren't even paying attention. The rules, what had happened to the rules? And why in the world were the teachers oblivious. Squinting she realized it was Applebome and Ashby, undoubtedly too busy flirting to even realize anything was happening. She was earnestly considering a mass Expelliarmus charm when Justin started dancing and she snapped her mouth shut, her face immediately twisting into a mix of confusion and humor. Relieved, she ceased the movement of her hand toward her wand. She watched intently as Garrison was unceremoniously dumped onto the table in front of Teiver and wands began to disappear into robes again. She bit her lip in concern, Poor Garrison! And poor Teiver, having to watch her little guy get all tangled up. I wonder what all that was about anyway... She was pulled out of her thoughts by Naire putting his wand away and starting to walk back around toward the table to come up next to her and sit. She watched him, her finger in her book still.

"I thought you'd save me a seat! But look at this, you're taking up, like, five bloody seats!" She smiled and looked around, "How was I to know you'd be up in any sort of timely fashion this morning, boozy?" She winked at him, "Yeah, don't think I didn't know you were down there with all of them."

Myra wrinkled her nose at the coffee that appeared in front of Naire and watched as he took a large sip, practically humming in contentment. "Much better, eh? What are ya reading?" She let him take the book from her. Had it been anyone else she would have clutched it, but she trusted Near to treat her books the way she did. Even if he didn't read as much as she did, he understood her adoration of the written word. "Biting the Sun," she mumbled, "by Tanith Lee." She'd read it at least 14 times but she didn't care, it was a wonderfully amazing story that left the reader questioning and excited and dreaming up possibilities. She watched as he gingerly flipped through the pages, losing herself in the memories and musings of the books, a content smile prettily gracing her lips.

"Eh, who really cares about the House cup? Vulpes House may not win a lot, but we definitely have the most fun. Even if there are a few... bumps in the progress." The sheer blasphemy shocked her enough to squeek. "What?!" She quickly assed the situation and looked at the concerned first year. Giving Near a look to kill she turned to the kid, "I think we've gotten away without getting any points deductions, but always be concerned with the house cup. It's a challenge meant to make us all work at being proper people. Besides, how would our Quodpot team feel if we didn't win this year because of bad behavior and not because they never win games? Wait... oh god..." her face turned bright red and she just stared at the kid, "That didn't come out how I meant... I just... I meant something about their efforts... Like.. oh god. Just try your best to be good. Run along now!" She shooed him off. The first year, who had just looked sincerely confused shrugged, shook his head, smiled at Naire and ran off to join some other first years who had showed up at the end of the table.

Myra, who's face was now the decent red-purple of embarrassment, snatched the book back from Naire and began to stuff her face again. "I'm blaming that on you," she mumbled through her food, swallowing as she caught sight of Finn walking proudly towards the scuffle. She watched him discreetly, attempting to hide the blush that was now created by something else. His jeans and collared shirt fit so well, and she'd always felt the red-lining on his robe had complimented his skin so well. Her heart was beating a little too fast for her comfort, so she turned back to her food, grabbing her water and downing it. She placed the bookmark back in her book, and the book into her bag, then turned back to Naire, who was staring at her. She smiled cautiously, then cleared her throat, "Uh... aren't you hungry?" She motioned toward the empty table in front of him, "You know they'll send it up whenever you're ready."

Vin Magaly


Vin supressed a chuckle at Lloyd's dainty jump of surprise and leaned forward, elbows to his knees and chin on one hand, considering her. "Oh would you stop doing that!? I mean, it's like you guys can't help but bloody embarrass me!!" Her voice was an impertinent whine and Vin's eyebrows slowly raised, one corner of his mouth a smirking jest of her tone. He watched as she talked to herself in her head, as she did on occasion, and responded in a more calm manner, "Thanks though. I-I guess." Vin shrugged, leaning back again, "No prob babe. I speak truth." He sweeped an arm over the rock next to him, beckoning her to take a seat.

"It's... good, I think?"she questioned him. He gave her a strong, sure nod of "yes" then raised his eyebrows again, looking at the seat next to him. She surprised him then as she walked over and sat right on his feet. One eyebrow raised ever so slightly. This was new, when had she ever been this comfortable with him before? They'd jammed a couple times sure, but she usually just took off before he got a chance to really get to know her. A softly enticing scent caught his nose and he looked down at the top of her head as she looked out over the grounds. He frowned.

"Do you know who the author and singer of the music is?" Jason Mraz. The answer was in his head before she'd even finished her question, although he didn't speak. Of course he knew, he'd played the song himself plenty of times on the guitar. Thinking about it though, it had never been as emotion-filled and delicate as what she'd just played on the violin... there's so much life energy in her music, "like the instrument is a part of her, not just a hobby." Lyle's words popped into his mind and he shook his head, realizing he'd just been watching her. No bueno. He looked out over the grounds as she continued, taking his silence as a response of "no."

"It's Jason Mraz. Gosh, I really love his music. It's so spunky and heart-warming. Great music, great music." Vin could feel her warmth over the song more than hear it in her voice, and just sat, enjoying that warmth. He really didn't feel the need to respond, so instead placed his hands behind himself on the rock and dropped his head back to bask in the warmth of the sun and Lloyd's radiant aura. Almost smiling, he frowned ever so slightly when her hand caught his shin, helping her balance. He was suddenly only aware of her lithe fingers on his shin. He looked at her again, watched as she played with the laces of his right shoe, then stopped, a thought striking her. Then, before he could blink she was standing, patting him on the leg, "I gots ta go. I'll catch up with you later, kay?"

He was looking at his leg where she'd just pat him, and he squinted again, his brow furrowed. What. The. Hell, Magaly? It's Lloyd. He realized he hadn't responded to her and looked up, but she was already back at the front doors. He stared after her a moment, chewing on his lip, then jumped up and rolled out onto his back on the grass, a long sigh escaping him. As the breath left his body, he focused on all the weird energy in his body leaving with it. After a few deep breaths like this, he sat up and crossed his legs. Time to get back in touch with me, he thought and began to meditate, letting his mind take him on a sweltering hike across an unknown desert, asking himself questions about enlightenment. Eventually his thoughts grew silent and he knew he was in touch with his soul again. Getting up, he grabbed the piece of toast that had been left forgotten on the rock and began to eat it as he made his way back into the castle. Having been inspired by Lloyd, he mumbled "Accio Guitar" and waited patiently as it made it's way to him. Grabbing it, he sat down on the steps just outside the door and began to jam out, singing softly to himself.

#, as written by Skwidge
Lloyd Vrancing


"Ya ya, let us go!" She shrugged lightly, falling into step beside Delilah as they made their way back to the Great Hall. However, she soon fell behind her in following as they both made their way to the Cervus table. Lloyd sat right next to Delilah on her other side as she greeted her friends. Rose was there too, and Lloyd smiled at her, though wasn't recognized. She would have frowned and announced: "Hey, I'm here too!" But that would only make her feel bad, and she wasn't just about to do that to the little Cervus she treasured.

So instead she just smiled and waved, and as Delilah apologized for interrupting, she put in her own rebuttal. "I'm not." She threw Felix W, or at least that's who she thought it was, a cheeky grin, picking up some bacon and chewing into it eagerly. She fell silent as Rose continued to ignore her, but still reassured herself that it was totally fine and she probably just didn't see her, or really... hear her.

Brilliant.

However, Dorremoon sauntered into the Great Hall and leaped onto the bench beside her, thus saving her thoughts on the Cervus kids surrounding her. She scratched the cat lightly behind the ear, then wiped her hand on a napkin before returning to eat again.

Naire Harth


He stuck out his tongue. "Well you did promise! Besides, I know only one guy who decided not to join those two idiots in their drink fest. And that's Victor over there. And he wasn't even really in the dormitory anyway!" He threw his hands up in defeat, soon crossing them in defiance.

He then began stifling laughter as she screwed up the kid, not him. "Woow, smooth one there, Myra. And how is this my fault!?" However, he realized that her focus was on someone else, and he turned to see who. Annd it turned out to be none other than Finn Polluck, goody two shoes of Fe- the whole entire frickin' school, really.

He put his elbow up on the table, resting his chin in his hand with a look between boredom and glum despair. However, he realized that she was looking back at him, and he shook his head. "Sorry, the coffee isn't as good as it usually is. But not the house elves' fault, they do have hundreds of mouths to feed anyway." He gave her a smile, then turned his head, as if hearing something.

But instead he subtly mouthed the word baka before turning back. And he found Finn right before them. He gave him a nod of acknowledgement as well, and turned back to his coffee. "Yeah, I'm not too hu- oh hey there's Lloyd, catch ya later!" He managed, quickly getting up and striding right over to the Cervus table where everyone seemed to be gathering today.

He was greeted by a hardy, "Hey Mr. N." And flashed her a smile, settling down next to her and managing a few blueberries and kiwi. I mean, seriously. Who really likes Finn in the Vulpes House? He rolled his eyes, staring down at his food for a minute before tucking into it.

Teiver Morn


Teiver smiled sweetly at Justin, watching his shoes pop out a bit more. "Well, good luck with having loose shoes all day." She nodded towards him, then smirked at Garrison. The cat merely peered up at her, his eyes unwavering. 'Bastard child. I mean, who does that? I hope he screwed some part of him up by doing that little rain dance.' He then turned down, hopping off of the table with a meow.

'So exotic.' He purred, his gaze falling on Dorremoon as she decided to enter the Hall. He was about to go over to her before Teiver whispered his name a bit harshly, demanding he stay. 'But she's so exoticcc....' "Yeah, I got that." She muttered quietly to the cat. Teiver then flashed him a look that spoke, She's not interested, and Garrison almost rolled his eyes. 'Oh, you don't know that for sure. You wouldn't understand us.' "Oh please, I unde-" She suddenly cut herself off, realizing what she'd just ... almost said. And then Finn decided to grace them with his presence as well, and she clutched the wand in her hand irritably.

She let out a silent huff of breath, allowing the wand to slip down her robe sleeve and into its pocket. She glanced down at the French bread before her, and the small dish of oil and ignored it for now. "Good, just keep it that way, Calza," Suddenly, she rose to her feet and stepped out of the bench. She threw Finn a poisonous frown as soon as he turned around, still pretty pissed he had found her tower. Well, at least one of them. Perhaps the other room she valued was far more important than five years of work, but nonetheless.

Teiver sighed, bringing her hand up to her forehead in confusion. "I'm gonna head out." She didn't even mention a bye, and simply left the Great Hall with her cat following behind her, casting a glance back to the Cervus table where Dorremoon was hiding.

She walked a couple of steps away from the doors, and then leaned against the wall, her fingers up to her temple and rubbing quietly. Bloody hell, so confused. Ugh, I managed to piss both of them off, and now I'm not happy with them. She shook her head, putting the problem between the two boys away for now, and started walking to her first class early. She peered down at Garrison. "I want you to go check on that little project of ours, and make sure the room is clean." Garrison froze in mid-step, looking up at her in disbelief. 'You want me to do what!? But, but Teiver, I'm so small, and I can't clea-... yeah, sure whatever....' He finished lamely, disappearing down the halls.

She let out a loud groan of frustration, glad she was the only one around. I'll just eat at lunch, I've done it many times before. She made the rest of her journey silently, quickly ascending the stairs to the third floor of the science building. Looking up, Teiver threw a sidelong glance at the Head of her House who was involved in some writing and preparations. "Morning." She mumbled, and he looked up, nodding his head in greeting as well. "Morning, Miss... Morn."

Walking over to a wooden table, Teiver pulled aside a chair, took out her cauldron and set it up, making preparations herself.

As Rose described her trip to Washington, Felix tilted his head slightly with a lopsided smile, listening intently to her words. Once Delilah and Lloyd showed up, he had a brief tinge of disappointment that it wasn't only him and Rose anymore, but he liked having Delilah around so it was ok in his mind. "Nice to see you too Fel. Sorry for interrupting." Felix just waved his hand in response. She was a year older than him, but a kind young woman; however, his heart broke for her over the situation with Sam. Having heard about it, he empathized with the feeling of loneliness before clamping down on that thought instantly.

Once he did that, he registered that Lloyd had said something. He didn't exactly hear it over his own thoughts, but the cheeky grin she gave him just brought out a smile of his own for her. "Hey Delilah, it's good to see you. Lloyd." He greeted to the two newcomers as they sat down before he turned his attention to the smiling Rose as she asked, "I'm sure both of your summers were far more exciting then mine. So you just have to tell me about them!" He realized that Rose had grasped his hand and was holding it, and the realization sent off a very pleasant realization through his mind. He then grasped her hand back, and held it until she decided to let go.

"Well, my summer was rather uneventful really. Finished building my house in the mountains out in Alamosa, you'd love the area. There's a small farm, some animals, an outdoors potions area and a training field to practice magic, two story log house that's been furnished with a camping/fishing spot next to it. It's my own little slice of heaven really, especially since it's next to a natural waterfall that drains into a river nearby. I talked to the utilties people in the town and they ran some pipes for indoor plumbing too. Other than that? Not so much happened other than the usual visitation to my family's graves." He's told the ones sitting there before that his family had died in an accident, his grandparents that raised him dying of old age just after the Christmas holidays during fifth year. However, only Rose would know the real story about how his parents died.

He smiled to the three of them, deciding on the fly to include Lloyd. "How would you all like to visit sometime? It's in a lovely spot up in the mountains with a beautiful view." He then muttered to himself, not knowing if they heard him or not. "Would be nice to not be alone..."

The wolf spirit in him then registered another presence sitting nearby and he glances over then grinned to the newcomer. "Hey Flint. Welcome to the Cervus table." He greeted kindly. "What brought you over here?"