Avis Oppugno (Open/Accepting)

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

What a ********' night.

Liesel Dolohov was known for throwing great parties, unless the Marauders interfered--and last night, the Marauders had interfered. (Or maybe Dane, but Danny was pretty sure it had been the Marauders. She knew her brother's patterns, and his pranks weren't usually so subtle as truth potions or hexes or whatever had happened. No, it wasn't a true Dane Callaghan masterpiece unless it involved an explosion, a spring-loaded boxing glove, or the breaking down of at least one door.)

Danny had met a cute, sweet girl at the party, who, just her luck, liked girls, and things could have gone better if not for that prank. As it stood, she'd ended up delineating all the ways in which she was a total walking disaster...not that Toni was immune to the prank, but there was always that human impulse to be harder on yourself than you were on others.

And then there was the fight that had broken out between James and one of the new boys. At that point, Danny had had the bright idea to walk Toni back to the Hufflepuff basement when the fighting got too intense...and while her alcohol tolerance was pretty good, she wasn't entirely sober, and before they parted ways, she gave Toni a shy little peck on the cheek.

She didn't know what she'd been thinking...but maybe she could pass it off as platonic if Toni wasn't into her. Lesbians were still allowed to have female friends, right?

Sure they did...but they probably didn't spend their entire morning routine thinking about how said 'friends' had called them pretty. It was a memory she wanted to hold onto, though, because...well, it was the first time someone had honestly, unironically called her pretty. Even from her own parents, the best she ever got was "pretty in the face," and while Dane had told her to "just ******** the haters" on several occasions, he'd never given her an outright compliment.

Uniform on, makeup subtle but well-placed, she made her way to the Great Hall, where a number of her Housemates were already sitting down to breakfast. She settled into the crowd, helped herself to some eggs and potatoes, and listened to the conversation at hand.

"Well, if you must know, someone's offered to do something nice for me..."

"Phil offer to take you to some big comic book convention or something?"

"Does Travers owe me thirty galleons?" Danny interjected.

She shared a glance with Liesel and Kiera in which the three of them seemed to exchange an understanding of the events at hand--the bet she had with Travers, the turn Liesel's love life had taken, the whole kit and caboodle.

"Please tell me you weren't betting about what I think you were betting about. Callaghan! You sicko!"

"Says the sicko..."

"Wait, so you...and...?" Kiera stammered, before her face lit up with a smile. "Oooooh! That is sooo post-modern Gatsby! Except instead of re-inventing himself by accruing a giant fortune through bootlegging and fraud--"

"Stop talking," said Liesel, and about that time, Rose came along asking to borrow Kiera.

Meanwhile, at the Ravenclaw table, Dane looked on, laughing incredulously at the back of his throat at the way Danny and her friends seemed to understand each other in so few words: "How do you Slytherin girls even communicate? Smoke signals?"

"Ha!" Danny smirked, whipped out a cigarette, and lit up.

[The Impossible Fii]

❝ Nessa had arrived to the party late that night, and luckily she did. Because as soon as she came, it was shut down. She had found Avery on her way back to the dorms and asked what happened, but it didn't seem he was paying much attention to the drama going around the party, he shred a few details, but no much honestly. She'd heard other stories from her other housemates. She was definitely glad she didn't make it to the party. It sounded like a complete disaster.

But at the same time, seemed like quite a show with all the drama. She wanted to meet the new transfers though, that was the main reason she wanted to go, since she didn't like parties anyways. But there was always meals and classes to get to know them. But after the story she'd heard about one of them starting a fight with James, she was wary of them. Surely they were all reckless and impulsive like the one she's head about right? Well, she'd have to wait until she made her way to the Great Hall.

She woke up a little later than usual, spending a bit too long on her latest page-turner and stayed up later than she should have. She finally managed to roll out of bed and get ready. She met with Avery on her way out of the dorms. "Avery! Morning, are you on your way to breakfast?" she asked as he stopped and turned to her. "Oh, Inessa. yeah, I am. Morning, are you on your way as well?" he asked as he suggested walking together.

When they got to the Ravenclaw table, it was filling up rather quickly. He'd spotted Caroline who was sitting with a few of the other transfers that he hadn't met yet. Nessa followed behind him as he took an empty seat beside Joshua Walker, who's eyes immediately went to her without greeting Avery. "Well, who's this pretty face? I don't think I saw you yesterday." he asked, nudging Avery, as if wanting him to introduce himself to her.

"Inessa, this is Joshua Walker, and beside him in Caroline Hamilton, and the one across her is Jason Kane, and I'm sorry, I don't think we've been formally introduced yet," he said, looking over at Aurora.

"Well, it's great to meet all of you, I'm Inessa Markov," she greeted the bunch with a smile as she started to fill her plate with pastries.

"Oh, Jason Kane was it? I heard you caused quite a commotion at the party yesterday, pity, I missed the show." she said with a small laugh in between bites of her pastry. Her tone oozing with sarcasm. Nessa was known for being sarcastic, and even if she'd only just met him, she didn't have the best first impression of him. First impressions were everything to Inessa. If she didn't like you right off the bat, chances were, it wouldn't change over time.
❞

[The Impossible Fii]

❝ Fabian had made it to the Slytherin party just in time to see the duel unfold between one of the new transfers and James Potter. Apparently he also missed a cat fight between two girls over Ivan Travers. And he also missed the moment of embarrassment of Liesel Dolohov. Apparently the punch was spike with veritaserum. Tonight was definitely one of the more exciting parties he'd been to in a while, a Slytherin one at that. But the party was soon broken up and he made his way back to dorms. After getting ready he made his way down the the Great Hall and headed towards the Gryffindor table. He took a seat beside Molly and Gideon who happened to be at their table.

"Gids, nice to see you this morning, I feel as though I hardly see my own brother anymore!" he said, giving him a pat on the back. Then he glared over to his sister who was making eyes at that damned Arthur Weasley.

"Molly! Stare any harder and your eyes will fall out!" he exclaimed with an eye roll. He started to fill his plate with food. "Honestly Molly I don't know what you see in the bloke," he told his sister with a sigh. It wasn't that Arthur was that bad of a guy. Hell, they were pretty close before he started to like his sister. But once he noticed the way the two were staring at each other and how he was always walking her to class, well, no way in hell was he going to hand over his sister to the likes of him.

He was protective of his sister, smothering and overbearing as she always liked to complain to him. Gideon would tell him to lighten up about it, but no way was he going to listen. He was stubborn as hell. If Arthur could withstand the hell he'd give him for liking in sister, maybe, just maybe he'd let up a little. But for now, he wasn't going to give in so easily. Molly rolled her eyes and ate her breakfast in silence and he turned his attention to the others at the table. He turned to Lily who was a few fests away for him. But even at th distance he could see her fuming as she ate her breakfast.

"So, how are these new transfers? I've yet to meet them yet. I've heard a few things about them, but nothing that good honestly. Do ya' think they'll get suspended or somethin' for the duel last night?"
❞

[The Impossible Fii]

❝ Alecto was more than glad that Josh left and set his eyes on another girl for the night. How many ways did she have to show her disdain for him for it to set in that she didn't want anything to do with him? Obviously more than she already had in one day. The party ended up a bust and was shut down as soon as the duel between one of the transfers and Potter finished up. Apparently word got around after what happend with Liesel that night that the punch was spiked with veritaserum.

Thank goodness she didn't seem to have anything embarrassing to spill to anyone, let alone that Walker bloke. But she'd had far more alcohol than her tolerance would allow. She made her way up to her room, not wanting to deal with anything else because of her headache. And of course when she woke up the next morning, she had a raging headache. Her head felt like it was going to burst, and she definitely wasn't in the mood to get out of bed. So she lagged getting up and getting dressed and finally made her way out of the dungeons and through the corridors to the Great Hall.

When she walked passed the other tables, she spotted a few faces from last night, not really getting a chance to mingle with the new transfers yet. She made her way over to the Slytherin table and took an empty seat near the usual lot of Liesel, Tara, Kiera, Rose, Edward and a few others. Her head as still pounding and she didn't even bother to eat. The sight of food made her want to gag. She filled up her cup with coffee though in hopes that it would rid her headache.

"And her I thought I was the only one," Alecto responded to Ares' comment about being hungover. "It seems everyone's all bright and cheery this morning, I'm thinking I need a better tolerance for alcohol because this headache is killing me," Alecto said with a sigh. She looked over to the others and then glanced and Mikki. She'd seen her briefly at the party, she was one of the new transfers, but with all the chaos going around, she hadn't introduced herself. And what better time than now? Even if she wasn't in the mood to be social, she couldn't be rude. She could tell that Liesel was taking a liking to her as well. So it was probably best to be at least cordial.

"Mikki right?" she asked. "Alecto Carrow, and this is my brother Amycus, I don't think we've been introduced yet." she said with a small smile, gesturing over to her brother who was too engrossed in Carmen to even hear his sister. "Anyways, how are you enjoying Hogwarts? What do you think Dumbledore will do to you guys after what happened with Kane and Potter?

❞

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

It wasn't smoke signals, not exactly, but Dane Callaghan might just be onto something. Kiera had always had a certain gift of intuition herself, so naturally, it didn't take her long to deduce exactly what was going on in the love life of Slytherin's resident post-modern Daisy Buchanan, but she wasn't the only girl in her House able to effectively communicate with and receive messages from the others in a minimal amount of words. It was as if they had...not exactly a telepathic link...more like an empathic sisterhood? Which was funny, considering Slytherins, and Slytherin girls especially, weren't known for their empathy.

As the table started to fill up, it occurred to her, as it never really had before, that Slytherin had a rather high concentration of girls. She wondered if an oppressive society was to blame--women were always sidelined, always shunted away or bowled over by the men in their fields, so they had to learn to fight smart, to use subtle manipulation because when they fought forthright, they just weren't taken seriously by western culture. (Over the summer she'd begun to read Adrienne Rich, this American, lesbian-feminist, Muggle poet, and more and more she was realizing just how unfair the world was for women--as if she needed one more thing to feel pessimistic about. Rich was pretty good, though; maybe once she was done she'd pass Dream of a Common Language off to Danny.)

For a few minutes, she chatted freely with the others, enjoying her grapefruit (well, actually no, there was nothing enjoyable about grapefruit, but a girl had to watch her figure, because unfortunately, she didn't have her own bloke-equivalent-of-Liesel to tell her it was okay and in fact preferred if she would put on a few) when Rose showed up at the table, asking for her.

She kept her smile in place, but her breath quickened.

Oh no, oh no, oh no...

What if she knew?

What was Kiera going to do?

Fall to your knees and apologize profusely! Wait! No! Maybe it isn't even about that. Just play it cool and don't make yourself look any guiltier than you have to!

"Morning, Rose," she said, hoping she could chalk up the crack in her voice to hangover-related dehydration. "Ah, you know...throat kinda hurts, head kinda hurts, but at least I already puked up the worst of the hangover. Anything you need me to do for you?" she offered, standing up, stepping over the bench and getting ready to join Rose.

She was going to be fine. Right? Rose had promised to deliver her right back to the rest of their friends...which probably meant in one piece...

A little voice at the back of her head said, see, when these are the kinds of questions you have to ask yourself, maybe it's time to get some new friends.

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

Dane wasn't feeling much up to a conversation today, which was unusual for him. Ordinarily, he was animated, unless he was in a depressive phase--well, it looked like he was spiraling downward already.

Who would have thought it--the devil-may-care, punk-a** rebel Dane Callaghan, all beat up over a girl.

Well, at least if the truth got out, now everyone would know that he did, in fact, like girls, a fact he'd been trying to keep them convinced of for years, but somehow, people kept thinking otherwise.

Maybe it was the dark skinny jeans.

Or maybe it was the menthol cigarettes.

He watched as Avery, Nessa, and a few of the others chatted with some of the new kids, all of whom seemed happy to be talking together--well, except for Kane and Hamilton, but Kane probably had detention for life after the fight people kept whispering about, and Dane had a feeling that Hamilton just wasn't a particularly cheerful person in general. He might have scooted over and joined them, but he wasn't feeling it this morning.

He just sat there picking at his assortment of different breakfast meats until he noticed the one person at the Ravenclaw table who looked as miserable as he was. "Rough night?" he asked, scooting over for a seat closer to Camden Davenport.

He didn't miss the way he kept glancing up at Dolohov and her friends. "Look, you've gotta forget about her," said Dane. "She's no good. But if it makes you feel any better, I ran into her last night while everybody was still hopped up on truth serum, and I can say with about a hundred percent confidence that it was nothing you did."

He'd go into detail, but he did rather enjoy having his head attached to his body, and he had a feeling that would cease to be the case if he went around disseminating the information he'd learned from Liesel last night. He was self-destructive, sure, but he'd never been suicidal.

[NightisDark21]

Edd couldn’t help but smirk when Liesel jumped and snapped at him about sneaking up on her. “And what would you rather have me do? Just come up and say morning? What kind of greeting is that?” he teased her. Edward always tended to startle her the way he did whenever he could, just a small game he enjoyed now and again. Besides he was in a good mood, sex did that to him. He didn’t mind her taking one of his cigs, it’s become so common that he put his pack there for a reason. So she wouldn’t need to ask, saved both of them some time.

He was getting into his food when she talked about what had happened, more members of his house started to join them. Tara mentioning how she missed him last night, he glanced up and flashed a smirk before putting out his cigarette. “oh I’m sure you were entertained fine without me there” he said before turning his attention back to Lise.

He raised a brow when she went onto say that she got one of the americans to beat the crap out of her. He knew how good of a dulist she was so seeing her this beat up made him wonder, but thankfully she had confirmed she did not raise a hand and she wanted it to be done. Her thought process was always a little twisted, but this wasn’t the first time she wanted to be hurt. Shaking his head he went to take a big bite out of his waffle before speaking up again.

“So you got an American to do it hm?” he swallowed, taking a sip of his coffee to go with the food. “Was it the American that I heard kicked Potter’s arse last night?” He asked curiously.

He didn’t get to see the fight himself but his name was all over the lips of the school so he wondered if she got this guy to do it. “would have loved to see that” he mused before he noted the look Lies, Kiera and Danny shared. And he felt like something happened last night that he missed, and one thing he didn’t quite like was not knowing something. “So from those looks I assume something other than Potter’s fight happened?” he questioned looking back at Lise.

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

Remus showed up at the Gryffindor table for breakfast exhausted, and for once, it had nothing to do with his condition. He'd spent much of the night and morning trying to contain the aftermath of the fight, and as much as he cared for James and was fully invested in making sure he was alright, a labor of love was still a labor, and it could be pretty draining.

He found Lily sitting alone, looking rather irritated as she ate her bowl of cereal. "You look upset..."

"OF COURSE I'M UPSET! I could have had a student killed on my watch all because some cocksure American couldn't hold back his bloody urge to maim!" Lily snapped. "Oh, I'm sorry Remus, I didn't need to lash out..."

"No, no, it's okay, best to not bottle it up. Better out than in," he reassured her.

This coming from the bloke who spent most of his time working to contain the madness within, though.

"...How is he? Have you been to see him?"

"He was asleep when I went to see him--skipped rounds," Remus confessed. Somehow he didn't think she'd mind--her anger was focused elsewhere this morning. Plus, after what she'd said last night under the influence of truth serum...

"If you'd like to see him--"

"I probably should, shouldn't I? Head Girl duty and all..."

Out of courtesy to her, he didn't try to pick apart her other motives, at least, not out loud.

"If you see Sam," said Lily, standing up, "will you just tell her I'm on school duty and I'll be right back?"

"Sure, if she's inclined to believe anything I say ever again after I helped spike that entire party with truth serum..."

"So that's what it was...I thought it'd be something like that."

"I'll try my best," he called after her as she left the Great Hall. He glanced over at Fabian, wincing a little, and said, "Lily's on a bit of a one-track mind this morning. She takes her duties very seriously." And that's all he was going to say about that. Her temper was nothing like, say, Sam's, but he didn't imagine he'd want to deal with what she'd have to say if he told anyone she'd said some words last night that might just indicate the possibility that she could return James' feelings.

"Me, I've only had the, uh...pleasure of meeting Kane...can't say I'm a fan. But we'll just have to see how Dumbledore takes this..."

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

Mikki looked up at the sound of her brother's voice and smiled. "The same to you, brother mine. How was the party? Meet anyone you liked?"

As he started to ask about school, she dug the timetable she'd been issued out of her bag, where she had it folded between a pair of pastel-colored composition notebooks--she hadn't gotten the memo about the whole parchment thing, and she'd be easily distinguishable as half-blood or less, but it wasn't as if she wasn't used to being stared at. She was a performer, after all.

"It says here I'm supposed to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts first," she read off, then lowered her voice and added, "Do you think that's the Brits' version of an anti-terror seminar?" The HHA was all about containing Dark magic and other threats to the security of the state; maybe she'd have an advantage in that class. Or at least, maybe people like Jason, Owen, and Caroline would; Mikki never had been the greatest student herself.

But what she lacked in book smarts, she made up with in street smarts and charisma, which came in handy as the other Slytherin girls started to show up at the table. Mikki had only been here for barely a day, and already she could fit herself pretty seamlessly into her Housemates' conversations. It was as if it was meant to be.

A few seats over, she watched Liesel stare after Kiera as she went off with a younger girl--Rose, Mikki was pretty sure she overheard. Liesel let out a groan and said, "I thought she didn't even believe the rumors! She's always been on my side, always my most loyal--"

"Oh, she knew it was true all along. Divination whiz and whatnot," said the Callaghan girl between puffs of her cigarette. "She just didn't want to believe anything that would drive a wedge between you and Phillip--she's just about your number one cheerleader. She's like that about Sirius and Rose, too. Y'know, for a girl who hasn't had a steady boyfriend since fourth year, she sure is a hopeless romantic."

"Is it hard, getting a boyfriend here?" Mikki asked Callaghan, who scoffed and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Beats me, beautiful--you've just asked the wrong lesbian."

"...Oh."

Liesel was still griping about the public's invasion into her personal life, so Mikki thought it wouldn't hurt to intervene: "Okay, but seriously, what about that fight between Kane and Potter, huh? Wicked, right? Isn't that what they say over here, wicked?"

"Oh, yeah, that was mental," Danny agreed, and soon, the table was abuzz with that news again.

You're a lifesaver, Liesel mouthed across the table.

"I can do this all day."

"I might just make you."

She looked up at the sound of her name as another blonde girl, Alecto, approached her. "That's my name, don't wear it out!" she said with a cheerful grin, reaching across the table to shake Alecto's hand. "It's so nice to meet both of you..."

Already she was beginning to see patterns in the way the Slytherins fell into line. There were those who were in charge and those who followed, and by the way Alecto carried herself, Mikki could tell she was a take-charge kind of girl. It kind of made her wonder where she'd fit into the hierarchy herself--she was as much a helper by nature as she was a showstopper. Maybe she could switch off roles depending on the situation? Time would tell, she supposed.

"Yeah, that fight got a little out of hand...but the Headmaster wouldn't punish all of us, would he? Not for one little fight started by one guy? Or I don't know...you know him better than we do, I guess," she said. "And it's nice. Hogwarts, I mean. Everyone's made me feel really at home so far." Well, the word home was a little spotty for her, seeing as she was a born-and-raised carny with abandonment issues from her apathetic father, but what she was getting at was, Hogwarts had been welcoming so far. "Guess I have you all to thank. It's great, really, and I'm looking forward to the year!"

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

“And what would you rather have me do? Just come up and say morning? What kind of greeting is that?”

"A nice one," Liesel retorted. "But then again, I can only expect one act of kindness out of you a day, can't I? And you've already let me bum a smoke..." She took a drag and sighed.

"Actually, it was Miller. Kyle Miller, he's one of ours for the time being, staying in Regulus' dorm," she explained. "He wants to try out for the duelling team, and I think he might just have what it takes. I'll have to see in tryouts, though, when I see him in, you know, an actual duel against an armed enemy." Despite her initial impression of the kid, she was rooting for him. He was still a goddamned smartass, but he was a goddamned smartass with nerve, if he was provoked.

"Lo, Ares. Alecto," she said as her friends and comrades showed up. "If you still feel like Hell after breakfast, I can get my brother to whip you up a hangover cure potion? And hey--keep drinking with me and soon you'll find keeping a buzz is downright impossible." By the time last night ended, she was probably about a quarter Firewhiskey by volume, and yet, she still remembered all of it, in vivid, embarrassing color.

Speaking of which...

She thought she was through answering for last night, she thought Kane was going to be the subject of this morning's conversation for the remainder of breakfast, but apparently not. Edward had to go and ask about what had happened last night, and Liesel so didn't feel like talking.

"Can we just suffice it to say that my love life is going splendidly, and just leave it at that? You don't see me prying for all the dirty details of your life after dark--by the way, it's completely obvious. You may be fresh out of the shower, but you still reek of smug male satisfaction," she smirked. Call it one-for-one, for sneaking up on her.

As she was raising another bite of beignet to her mouth, she spilled a dollop of jam squarely between her crossed thighs. She wiped it up with the pad of her thumb and sucked it off, fork in her other hand with her cigarette held between her pinky and ring finger. "What?" she said, as a few of the boys looked up with interest.

[mandygurl71]

XXXPrudence McKayla BakerXXXXXX

From what Cailyn had been hearing since she woke up that morning it was a good thing that her and Kyle had left the party when they did. She knew about the american, Jason, getting into the fight with James, since that was about the point when she decided the party was too much. Dane who had made her come with him had disappeared, and she was just not one for wild crowds like that. Though she could not really say she regretted going since she as able to get to meet someone knew, Kyle Miller. He had kept her entertained for the remainder of the party she had stayed for and even willingly left with her when she decided she had enough. It was a nice quiet walk back to her tower that she lead the way for. She could have used that time pointing things out for him, helping him learn the layout of the school, but she had just found herself enjoying the quiet much more than the talking they had done before. It was always how she found her peace.

Then again, most of the time, like now, the noise did not matter because she had been able to train herself to be able to block out the sounds she did not want to hear whenever she was reading, like she had decided to do when she was getting ready in the morning for classes and her housemates were talking about the way the fight had ended the night before in the dungeons and everything else as they took longer than her to get ready than she had. Since she had a bit more time than they had Caitlyn had decided to read some more of her boyfriend as Dane had called it the night before, and block out whatever it was they were talking about. It was always the same, who did what when and with who else was involved, who was cuter than who and how one couldnt like someone else because another person liked that person. It was stupid stuff, and they wondered why the last seven years they had yet to make friends with Caitlyn Mina.

One of the girls laughed loudly enough just at an interesting part in the book that made Caitlyn jump at the sound and startle her out of her trance that she had been in. Huffing in annoyance as she glanced up at the girls who had just ignored her, she figured that it was now probably the right time to leave and head down for breakfast in stead if her roommates were going to be like that. She gathered her things and left out of the dorms, through the common room and into the hallway. Glad to be alone on her walk for now, since she knew at this point the Great Hall was probably going to start filling up.

As she walked, she considered if she would stay in the great hall or take her breakfast outside for a morning walk in the cool air before her classes were to start. She knew she had to at least find out what her class schedule was and that would be in the great hall too so she had to make an appearance otherwise she might have been daring and skipped breakfast all together. The peace and quiet was something she was enjoying really well right now, well enough to make her take the long way down, passing the Defense hall on her way.

The new professor was someone she was curious about. They all left ever year for one reason or another and each year Caitlyn became more and more interested in seeing what the new teachers style would be like. She had met Professor Sandra Potter many times in school before, and she knew it was going to be her husband teaching, so she hoped he was just as nice as his wife was.

Her thoughts lost on that as she walked down the hall, considering looking into the classroom, she almost did not notice the only other person standing in the hall until she was right next to him. "Oof, oh, sorry...Kyle right? Hey! Almost didn't see you there, you alright? Lost on your way to the Great Hall? You are pretty far off from the dungeons that is." she commented, knowing that this was not really on the way to the great hall from the dungeons at all. In fact, he had to have gone past the great hall to get here. Unless he had been wandering the halls all night before when he left her at her tower...which she might have felt badly for if that was the case.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[LittleStevieHorseAndPhone]

That...had to have been one of the most surreal experiences of Kyle's life.

Usually, he was used to knowing who was his friend and who wasn't. And friends didn't beat the stuffing out of each other, so a big part of him was still reeling from what he'd just done to Liesel Dolohov...but she'd asked for it! Not day-after-a-party, oh-yeah-she-was-totally-asking-for-it asked for it, no, she'd quite literally asked for it.

He thought he'd seen it all, but he was going to need some caffeine to process this.

He was trying to figure out the way back to the Great Hall when Caitlyn Mina, the girl from last night, happened along him in the hallway. "Oh, hey Caitlyn," he said, falling into step with her. "Actually, I didn't come from the dungeons. Well, I did at first, obviously, but I was just at the...Defense classroom, I think? I was...okay, 'dueling' isn't the right word," he said with a shrug, palms to the ceiling. How exactly was he going to explain this.

"You know Dolohov, the girl who threw that party? Well I asked her about joining the dueling team, like I was telling you about...and she made me beat the crap out of her. It's not like I wanted to do it," he added quickly. "But she put her wand down and had me go at her disarmed, and she said she wouldn't even consider me at tryouts unless I drew blood."

And it wasn't like he was new to the sight of blood. He went to military school, and he'd been sent there because of his participation in riots. But violence on the individual level? Unless someone had really, really done something to deserve it, it didn't sit right with him, especially when it came to beating up on girls. He'd watched his awful stepdad rough up his mom and sister enough times that now, he felt sick with himself for this morning. Maybe he should have just foregone the opportunity to join the team.

But maybe then, Liesel would have just found someone else. She had said she was looking for a fight...not that that had exactly been a fight. As he'd said to her, her issues probably ran pretty deep, but didn't everyone's?

"Anyway, we should probably go to breakfast...I don't mean we, you have your House and I have mine and I wouldn't want to hang around like a stalker, if you don't want me yakking like a radio while you're trying to eat," he said. "Although we probably should walk there together, because right you are, I am pretty damn lost."

[Kaida the Dancing Dragon]

{ Location; Great Hall | Company; No one...technically | OOC; oh Violeta, my bitchy Violeta }

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Violeta woke nearly an hour before any other girls in her dormitory, which was the way she liked it, having plenty of time to get ready for the first day of school before any of her classmates woke up. It would be quiet and she could move around freely without having to dodge all of these girls getting ready for school. She sat in a chair at one of the many vanities in the room, looking in the mirror at her disheveled features with a sigh.

The next fourty-five minutes consisted of make-up application just as she always did, without missing a beat she went on to doing her hair. By the time other girls started to wake up for the day, Violeta was already dressed in her school robes and grabbing her books and her wand. She didn't even talk to any of her fellow Ravenclaw girls. Instead, she headed down early, going to the library to relax and do some light reading, getting a headstart on one of her classes. It was never a bad idea, after all.

Before she knew it, she had lost track of time and cursed under her breath at the time. She rushed to the Great Hall. It was buzzing with the events of last night's party. She had supposed she had missed quite a bit. Baxter had actually gotten her to partake in one of the drinks they had at the Dungeon party, but Violeta still found herself annoyed with the atmosphere, so she had held his promise against him that he would go with her to the Ravenclaw common room to sip on wine and listen to classical music, things that were actually civilized in Violeta's eyes.

Good thing too, for it seemed they had missed a fight between one of the American boys and Hogwart's Head Boy, the James Potter. While that was the main thing on the lips of her fellow students, there was also the underlying rumor about waht Liesel Dolohov had said to many students while she was under the influence of the truth serum that someone had managed to spike the punch with.

Violeta also noticed a large group of students sitting at the Ravenclaw table who were most definitely not Ravenclaw students. Most of them were from the American school, and from what she cold hear, one of them was the barbarian who had landed Potter in the Hospital Wing. Violeta sighed, not one for violent behavior. It was a waste of time, really. She just didn't understand why anyone would get into a fight just to prove who was stronger. It wasn't as if they had any sort of underlying cause to do it for. Not like the Dark Lord. Violeta hoped she would live to see the day when Purebloods were set above the rest again, but that was mainly her parents' teaching coming out.

”Must you all sit at the Ravenclaw table?” she commented in passing.

Violeta couldn't care less what they had to say to her about that. She wasn't there to please them and Violeta was notorious for simply being a callous, apethetic person. However, she didn't like the idea of some of those being in her house, yet alone those who were not in her house sitting there. She didn't feel like listening to their stupidity while she was trying to eat her breakfast. Violeta took a seat as far away from them as possible and then glanced over at the Hufflepuff table, wondering if Baxter had came down to breakfast yet. She didn't see him.

Phoenix Rowle waved erratically at her and Violeta sighed, waving a hand for a moment the blonde's way. She only knew the girl because of her family, but Violeta didn't like her. Still, it seemed that Phoenix Rowle enjoyed the company of everyone, no matter who they were, or how they acted. The poor girl was bound to be walked upon. Howe Baxter could be in the same house as that girl was still quite the mystery to Violeta. He seemed much more suitable for Slytherin or at least Ravenclaw.



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[iMissKittyx]

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"ѕσ ωαℓк α ℓιттℓє ѕℓσωєя
αи∂ σρєи υρ уσυя єуєѕ
ѕσмєтιмєѕ ιт'ѕ ѕσ нαя∂ тσ ѕєє тнє gσσ∂ тнιиgѕ ραѕѕιиg ву."

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tab Last night had not gone well at all. After not being able to find Jason within the crowd before the rest of the professors got there she still had his jacket. Not to mention when they did got here they had picked him out to lecture him and then they lectured Nina heavily; Lily as well. They were prefects and were supposed to be equipped to deal with this. For them to partake in such a party and allow it was not acceptable. Nina had been mortified and so she made her way to bed clutching the jacket. All she wanted to do was sleep since she had been one of the last few people to leave.

tab Once in her bed it didn't even happen because her mind kept wandering to the stupid American Gryffindor boy who started a fight on his first night here. It made her sick because she wasn't supposed to be thinking about him with butterflies but more with resentment. For Christ's Sake she barely knew the guy and she already felt in such a turmoil. After a on and off night of sleep she had been dragging herself out of bed and into the Hufflepuff colors she was usually so proud to wear but not this morning. This morning she felt disgusted with herself and unfit to wear the colors.

tab Correction she felt more disgusted with herself than she usually did which was saying something. Shifting through her blankets she found the jacket she had fallen asleep with hanging off her bed. Bundling it up she held it to her chest again and watched as Luna had jumped up and curled up in the sheets where she once resided. The small cat meowing at her before putting it's head down. Today Luna would not be joining her for breakfast and Nina was alright with that.

tab Stopping in the restroom she stared at herself in the sink above the mirror. The stress had her losing it even more. A look of disgust had formed though as she looked at herself. Her hips were too large and her face was messed up. Shaking off the thought she stepped back and made her way to the Great Hall. Shaky hands tumbling the jacket in her hand as she wondered what would be happening within the Great Hall. Last night had gotten pretty hectic and at this point it felt almost like a blur. Once one thing happened everything else seemed to happen like it triggered off hell.

tab Entering meant eyes now turned to her or well people who weren't too hung over that they could lift their head. Nina's hang over was faint but nonetheless there. Eyes swinging to the Gryffindor table she noticed not only was Jason not there but neither was James or well it had been rather empty then it usually was. Swinging her eyes over to the Slytherin table she saw Liesel and part of her wanted to go rest her head on Liesel's shoulder and talk to her but she was surrounded by people and she seemed happy.

tab No point in having someone as miserable and terrible as Nina was crash the party. Swooping over she looked for Sarafina at the Ravenclaw table but she wasn't there. That was when it clicked too because Sarafina had disappeared before the fight even started. When she made her way to the circle and turned around her best friend hadn't been there. In fact Nina had even forgotten to stop by which sent a long lasting wash of guilt over her. Which was when she spotted Jason with the rest of them. Looking at the jacket she used the chance to glance back over at the Hufflepuff table. Something in her didn't want her to go over and face her house.

tab So she made her way over to the Ravenclaw table where the small group set. Stomach doing flips as her mind bolted between Sarafina and Jason. Glancing over at Camden who had Dane next to him almost made her emergency side scream to just stop by them. Sit there; anywhere other than where the small group of Americans were or what seemed to be mostly Americans. Despite that though her feet didn't stop and suddenly she was sitting not to far from Jason as she held onto his jacket letting the conversation continue around her as she tried to work up the courage to say something but she just couldn't.