Jen Ashford, Tuesday, July 30, 2002 @ 03:08 p.m.
Note: This post overlaps with Ly’s!
Jen decided that this was quite possibly the longest week she had ever spent in her life. Granted, every time you have such a week, it feels like the longest in your life. It wasn’t bad, really, just stressful and tense. Between having to guard Lyra from Gerald Tarrant, studying for her Arithmancy quiz, and practicing like a sadomasochistic Tasmanian devil for the upcoming quidditch trials, it had been a nutty week.
Luckily, she had Hermione to help her with the rather unfortunate situation with Gerald. They had roped Harry and Ron into helping them as well, so between the four of them and Laurel distracting Gerald, Lyra had managed to avoid any truly potentially embarrassing situations. And though she’d never tell Lyra, she did find the whole thing kind of amusing....although she was sick and tired of trying to convince Lavender and Parvati that they were NOT a “thing”.
The Arithmancy quiz went well, and that was a load off of her mind, because it was over a particularly difficult section on the relevance of angles between dimensions 3 and 4.
The quidditch practicing wore her out, but it was well worth it to her. Harry had offered to help her, and there was no way she was going to turn that invitation down. Every afternoon he spent a few hours with her going over technique, giving her speed pointers and that sort of thing. Ron usually joined them too, and the three of them had a blast… although Jen preferred the private sessions.
When Saturday rolled around, Jen was ready to get the trials over with. She knew she stood a good chance of getting on the team, but that didn’t keep her from worrying. Practicing alone with Harry was one thing, performing well under pressure in front of all of the people turned out to watch was another thing altogether. Gryffindor was the first team to do trials, as they had been the last ones to win the Cup. There were a few other people going for the Keeper position, most of them a year or two younger.
The position Ron was going for Chaser, and there was only one of those open as well—Alicia Spinnet had graduated the previous year. There were a lot more people going out for that position, but Jen had a lot of faith in Ron’s abilities, as did Hermione and Lyra, and most importantly, Harry.
The Keeper trials were first, the youngest going first. Jen sat with Ron, who was just as fidgety as she was. She knew that Lyra, Laurel, and Hermione were behind her in the bleachers, so she was happy about that. She watched as the others tried out; some of them were quite good, and some looked like they needed to go back to first year flying lessons.
Finally, Harry called her name out- it was her turn. She took a deep breath, grabbed her Nimbus 2002, and stood up. She glanced quickly behind her, where Lyra waved and smiled at her, Laurel winked, and Hermione gave her a thumbs up. She gave them a wavery smile, then mounted her broom and flew into position.
She looked down, waiting for Madame Hooch to blow her whistle. Harry met her eyes, and winked at her. She suddenly felt much more confidant. The whistle blew and she began. She smiled when she heard all of her friends cheering her on.
She flew in and out of the goals, doing the most impressive flying tricks she knew, and she managed to block every quaffle that came at her except one. When the whistle blew signaling the end, she felt pretty good about her performance. She landed gently on the grass of the pitch, and dismounted. Harry looked delighted, and all of her friends were going nuts. She beamed at Ron, who grabbed her into a bear hug. “You were amazing!”
She blushed. “Thanks Ron!” She couldn’t help but notice that McGonagall looked happy as well.
Two more people tried out after her, both of them very good. She was a little worried after she saw them, though Ron assured her they weren’t as good as she was.
She then heard some commotion behind her, and she looked up to see Quicksilver forcefully leading Gerald Tarrant away from a chagrined Lyra, and a weary looking Laurel talking rapidly to her. Her eyebrows furrowed, but she figured she would hear about it later.
She absently bit her nails as she watched McGonagall talk with Harry and Madame Hooch, the rest of the Gryffindor team surrounding them, nodding on occasion. Then Madame Hooch walked over to Lee Jordan and whisper in his ear. He smiled and nodded, and Jen grabbed Ron’s hand and squeezed it hard. Lee picked up the enchanted megaphone and said “And the new Gryffindor Keeper is… Jen Ashford!!”
She jumped up, and said “Oh my god! I MADE IT RON!” He grinned widely at her, and everyone behind her began to cheer. Ron pushed her toward the team, who suddenly surrounded her, all talking at once and hugging and shaking hands with her.
Harry hugged her and said, “I told you that you’d make it! You were amazing up there!” She blushed and looked down. “Thank you.”
McGonagall even shook her hand and granted her a rare smile, then shooed the rest of the team away so that the Chaser trials could begin.
They were even more intense, as most of the players were fairly evenly matched. Ron did quite well though, and Jen was sure that the time that Harry had put into helping his best friend practice was a big factor. The twins had helped him over the summer as well, so he was quite prepared. She was also extremely glad that the captain wasn’t the only one to choose players, so that way if Ron got the spot, Harry couldn’t be accused of putting him on the team just because of their friendship. She knew Harry would never do that, but not everyone would.
After it was over, she and Ron watched tensely as Harry talked with Madame Hooch and McGonagall. The team was a bit more vocal in this decision, and occasionally they overheard things such as “She had excellent form, though” or “Yeah, but he over shot too often” or “No, but his flying is pretty damned good.” Ron was looking greener by the minute.
Finally, Madame Hooch went to Lee Jordan, who smirked and announced, “Well folks, looks like we have another Weasley on board! Congrats Ronald, you’re the new Gryffindor Chaser!”
Ron blinked a few times, his mouth hanging open. Harry led the way as the team rushed over to them, and Harry pulled Ron off the bench and hugged him in a rough-housing guy sort of way. “Way to go! I knew you could do it!” Jen high-fived him, and the twins hoisted him up on their shoulders and ran around the pitch barking like dogs. She and Harry grinned at each other. “It’s going to be an interesting season,” she said, shaking her head. “Yeah, and our team is going to be amazing,” he replied. He then threw an arm companionably over her shoulder, and gave her a small friendly squeeze. She willed herself not to swoon.
Jen saw her friends making their way down to the pitch out of the corner of her eye. Laurel smirked and winked suggestively at her. She bit her lip, trying not to react. “I think I’m going to head in and shower. See you at dinner?”
He nodded, and said, “Yeah. I’ll be out here watching the rest of the trials.” He didn’t move his arm.
“Ok.” Jen didn’t move either.
“Ok.”
She gulped, then moved away from him quickly, as if he’d burned her. “See ya later Harry!” She practically ran past her friends.
Lyra, still chagrined over the happenings of earlier, grabbed her arm as she passed and said, “Whoa, where are you going?”
“To shower. Gotta go. Come talk to me in a few.” And she ran indoors.
Lyra watched her friend go, her expression bewildered. The she felt an elbow in her side, and she turned to Laurel, who grinned conspiratorially and nodded her head toward the pitch. Harry was standing there, staring after Jen’s retreating form with an absent sort of expression on his face.
Laurel pulled her arm, and whispered “Let’s go in.” And they headed toward the Gryffindor Tower together.
Lyra Stormrider, Friday, July 26, 2002 @ 02:43 a.m.
Lyra Stormrider found herself stomping all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, not caring who saw her. Her face was red and she felt rather humiliated. Knowing some of the incurable gossips that had witnessed that, namely her roommates Lavender and Parvati, this was going to be all over the school before the day was out. Her robes billowed out behind her menacingly as she made her way through the halls, making some compare the sight to that of Professor Snape at times.
Snapping the password to the portrait of the fat lady, Lyra stepped into the tower and ignored all the questioning glances thrown towards herself as she made her way up to the dormroom and threw herself on her bed. What in Merlin's name had possessed Gerald Tarrant to grab her like that? She knew he didn't care for her usually, but could be counted on to be as polite as possible when he had to. Quicksilver was usually up to something, but she seemed to be quite attached to Gerald and she doubted that the green-haired girl would have put him up to it. Most of the same applied to Laurel as well...well, the attachment to Gerald part.
"What on earth is going on?" Lyra moaned quietly, burying her face into her pillow. She just wanted to forget this humiliation.
"That's what WE would like to know." a pair of voices chimed together, and raising her head, Lyra came face to face with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.
"Since when have you and Gerald been an item, hmm?" Lavender asked, arching her eyebrow and sitting down unasked on the edge of the bed. "How could you keep news this big from us? Do you have ANY clue how envious most of the female population in Hogwarts is going to BE of you?!"
"Yeah, Gerald Tarrant is like...THE biggest catch Hogwarts has seen in a long, long time. Not counting Harry, of course." Parvati added in.
Lavendar shot Parvati a dubious look. It's true that Gerald was almost certainly 'with' either Laurel or Quicksilver, though no one was ever
sure with which. Part of the Slytherin's reputation in the school as such a desirable 'catch' had come from Laurel and Quicksilver fighting over him so vocally. More often than not, Gerald Tarrant had both of the girls draped over him like extra body parts.
Lyra groaned and laid her head back down. This was horrible...and no matter what she said she knew the two of them wouldn't believe her. She would have to try anyhow.
"We are not an item, contrary to popular belief. It was just some stupid prank that someone put him up to, that's all." she mumbled.
"Sure, we believe you. You just don't want to admit to it because of the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, is that it?" Lavender patted the top of Lyra's head and stood. "Talk to you later, Lyra!"
She and Parvati left...presumably to study, though everyone knew it was to gossip.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Most of the week was spent trying to avoid Gerald while still getting to class and doing the usual routine. Fortunately, Lyra had Hermione and Jen to count on when she really needed help hiding from a certain blonde. They, in turn, had roped Ron and Harry into helping out as well. Everything was going fine...until the day of the Quidditch tryouts.
The brunette had figured she would be safe enough, since she'd be with the Gryffindors, there to support Jen and Ron during their tryouts. And since it was only the Gryffindor team tryouts right now, she was fairly certain that there wouldn't be many Slytherins around. Spotting Laurel, she waved and moved over to stand next to her.
"Hey, Laur." Lyra murmured with a slight smile. "Jen stands a good chance of being chosen for the team, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I think so. It would make her estatic if she does get the spot." Laurel nodded her head, then looked down at Lyra.
The two stood there yelling out encouragement to Jen (and Ron in Lyra's case) for a while before Laurel ended up heading over to check on some rowdy behavior on the other side of the field.
Lyra glanced up, wondering if the tryouts would be over soon. They had been out here for a while. She stiffened as she felt a pair of arms steal around her waist and the spicy scent she had come to associate with Gerald drifted pass her nose.
"What...do you think you're doing?" she asked, voice coming out slightly shrill.
Gerald smiled beatifically down at her, his blonde hair like a halo around his face. "Spending time with you, of course."
Lyra groaned and put her face into her hands, hoping desparately that Parvati and Lavendar (and anyone else who might REMOTELY know her NAME) was no where near her. A crackle of frost suddenly appeared on the bleachers around her, and Lyra tried hard not to panic. Gerald, for some reason, took no notice of the cold. He didn't seem to notice her death glare either.
"Unhand me," she hissed. Lyra wondered what her odds were of managing to hex him-- something really awful, like making him sprout donkey ears, or coming out all over green!
Lyra scooted away from the blonde Slytherin rapidly as he tried to cuddle up next to her, hand over her shoulders. She spotted Laurel making her way back through the crowds and waved rather frantically at
her, not caring if anyone saw.
Laurel's mouth opened in an 'o' of dismay when she caught sight of Gerald draped all over a miserable Lyra.
Lyra glanced up at Laurel with wide, pleading hazel eyes, trying her hardest to get Gerald off of her. Of course, trying being the operative word. There was no budging Gerald Tarrant when he had his mind set on something...and unfortunately for her, his mind seemed set
on keeping hold of Lyra.
Quicksilver seemed to appear out of nowhere, attaching herself to Gerald's arm and pulling. "Gerrrrrrr-beeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaar. You promised to help me with an experiment." she growled, glaring up at him.
Gerald turned to blink down at Quicksilver, a frown on his face. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Ger-bear in public? Besides, I'm busy spending time with my darling Lyra..."
Lyra shrieked and tried stomping on Gerald's foot again. "Damn it, Tarrant! I'm not your darling Lyra, I'm not your anything!"
Frowning, Quicksilver tossed her long green hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms. "You promised me, Ger. If you don't keep this promise, I'm going to tell everyone that you're not as honorable as you like to make out." She knew that she would have him there. To Gerald, his honor was his life, it had been instilled in him by his father.
Gerald sighed and squeezed Lyra tight once more before releasing her. He was totally ignoring her protests, almost as though he hadn't heard them. "Fine. What is this experiment anyways?" he asked, even as Quicksilver looped her arm through his and began leading him back towards the school.
"I'm really sorry about that, Ly." Laurel began, rubbing the side of her face, pondering how to explain this to the girl. She quickly outlined what had happened, and again told her she was sorry about everything.
Before Lyra had a chance to respond, a voice boomed overhead pronouncing Jen to be the Gryffindor's new Keeper.
Laurelgand, Saturday, July 6, 2002 @ 10:06 p.m.
Laurel barely had time to shoot Quicksilver an incredulous, horrified look before Lyra protested Gerald's actions-- forcefully. The red-headed witch brought her sharp heel down on Gerald's instep, hard. Simultaneously, she jabbed him in the midriff with her elbow and slipped from his surprised arms. The blonde Slytherin grunted in surprise and stepped back momentarily, allowing Lyra to dash out of the Library without a backwards glance. Jen and Hermione closed ranks in her wake, preventing Gerald from following her. Jen crossed her arms and glared at Gerald, while Hermione stared at the three Slytherins with something akin to fury.
"Lyra!"
Laurel snatched up her books and the remaining wands while snaking an arm through Ger's. Temporary truce declared, Quicksilver did the same on the other side without missing a beat.
Laurel smiled brightly at her Gryffindor friends, even as she clamped a firm hand over Gerald's mouth to prevent him from embarassing himself further. "Er... sorry about that..."
"He was hit by a bad Confoundus Charm," Quicksilver continued smoothly, and they dragged their poor friend out between them, leaving behind several confused and suspicious Gryffindors.
Once out into the (relative) safety of the hallway leading to the Slytherin dorms, Laurel rounded on Quicksilver. "Oh, nice save!" she hissed, scathingly. "I can't believe you did this!"
"Oh, shut up," Quicksilver retorted wearily. She couldn't believe it either-- why, why couldn't Laurel have just eaten the damn green wand herself? Definitely not her most sucessful scheme. Still... the potion had worked.... "Calm down... it's only for two or three weeks..."
Meanwhile, Laurel was on the verge of hysterics. "Weeks?! Merlin. What were you thinking-- do you have any idea how many points this is going to cost Slytherin?!"
Gerald, who had been staring bemusedly into space, echoed her question. "How many points what is going to cost us?" He looked suspiciously at Quicksilver. "You haven't been up to your old tricks again, have you?"
Laurel and Quicksilver stared at each other in horror.
"Uhm... Gerald, don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"What happened in the library just now?"
The two girls held their breath for his answer... it seemed too much to hope for, but Gerald was a dhampir after all... maybe the potion would work out of his system faster.
"Of course I do. We were in the library and wanted to leave before those pesky Gryffindors friends of Laurel's came in. But... did you see Lyra? She's so-- so beautiful! That hair! Those eyes...." Gerald continued to rant quietly about Lyra even as Laurel's heart sank.
"Snape's gonna kill me," she moaned quietly. "Forget me, he's going to kill you!"
Quicksilver shook her head impatiently. "Forget Snape! What about Ger? God... when he comes to his senses...."
The two girls' eyes met. It was just too ridiculous. Gerald Tarrant, mooning about over Lyra Stormrider. Laurel couldn't help herself. She started chuckling. The laughter was infectious, and soon both she and Quicksilver were giggling helplessly, much to the bemusement of various students passing by.
"What's so funny?" Gerald asked with a touch of irritation.
That set them off again, and they had to leaned on each other for support, catching their breaths and clutching their sides.
LAUREL'S NOTE: With sincere and humble apologies to Ger and Lyra for making them endure what is quite possibly the longest glomp in the history of fanfiction. I may add a more to this before someone else posts, but at least there's something here now. Sorry.
quicksilver, Monday, February 18, 2002 @ 10:12 p.m.
It had been a week since Snape had left, and Quicksilver knew that the Gryffindors were rejoicing. Laurel wasn't nearly the harsh taskmaster Snape was, and Quicksilver was bored to tears. It wasn't fun unless Potter and company were squirming.
Her project had taken longer then she had originally thought it would. Snape had pretty much cornered her into creating a new potion, and it took her four days o figure out what to do. after a little bit of experimenting, she'd finally managed to come up with a magically hair dye that changed your hair to match your mood which doubled as a wand cleaner. As soon as Snape checked her work, she'd send away for a patent.
The passed three days had been spent working on an infatuation potion. The ingredients for it weren't that fard to find- with one exception. She'd needed something belonging to a Gryffindor. ANY Gryffindor. Needless to say, that wasn't easy for a Slytherin to come by. She'd finally had to trade Neville a day's worth of potion's notes for his herbology project from last semester.
Neville wasn't her favorite person to deal with, but he was amazingly easy to outwit- even for a Gryffindor. Sometimes she wondered if one of the Sorting Ha's criteria for Gryffindors was a certain lack of brains- but Hermione Granger would prove that theory wrong. Still, the Granger girl could act mighty witless when she was around her two partners in crime...
She shook her head as she added a shred of the manuscript to the mixture. To her satisfaction, a bright red smoke started to come off of the cold liquid, a sign that the potion was complete. She giggled to herself as she grabbed a package of Wizard Wands, a particular favorite of Laurel's, and dipped one of the green ones into the mixed. The potion absorbed satisfyingly, and in second the now-dry wand appeared no different then the others in the pack.
Snickering, she winked at Yogi. The cat purred in response.
******
"Laur?" Quicksilver munched on a red wand as she walked up to the other Slytherin.
"Yes? I'm grading these damn scrolls," she muttered.
"Want some wands? I've eaten half the box..."
"Sure!" Laurel perked up, taking the box. "Is this your way of trying to get a better Potions grade?"
'Caught!" Quicksilver laughed as she slumped in a seat beside her friend. The library was mainly empty at this time of day... a few Ravenclaws were spread out over the room, but aside from those studious students, Laur and Quicksilver had the run of the place. "Actually, I'm hoping to get a headstart on my music project- Rain agreed to let me do a paper instead of a performance, thank the gods."
"You? A headstart?" Laurel pulled out a wand and munched- a blue one, Quicksilver noted with disappointment. There was only one green one in the box....
"I hate music classes, but I need to know about the basics if I want to be a true spellcrafter- a lot of magic is tonal. It's gonna be hard, probably the hardest class I've taken."
"You can always ask Gerald for help," Laurel suggested as she started on a orange wand.
"Did I hear someone speak my name?" a pleasant voice asked, and they whirled around to see the male prefect.
"Course you did, handsome!" Quicksilver teased. This was working out even better then she had thought. Now Gerald could see Laurel's humiliation!
Gerald rolled his eyes at her teasing.
"You two might want to leave.... I have some friends coming here shortly..."
"More Gryffindors?" Gerald said, hiding the disdain in his voice quite well.
"And a Ravenclaw... I understand you met her?"
"Yume," Gerald said. 'Come on, Quicksilver. We should be leaving."
Quicksilver rose to her feet reluctantly. She really didn't want to miss this, but the spell would last for several days, maybe evn up to two weeks. here would be plenty of time to laugh at Laurel later."Later, Laur!" she said.
"Oh, Ger... want one?" Laurel said, proferring the wands.
Quicksilver felt her stomach drop. Oh, Gods....
Predictably enough, Gerald grabbed the green one. "Thanks!" he said. Before Quicksilver could stopped him, he bit into it.
"Cover your eyes!" she demanded, jumping up and slipping her hands over his face.
"Huh?" Gerald said, shrugging her off his back with ease.
"What did you do, Quicksilver?" Laurel asked with suspicion.
"It was a prank! I put-"
She was interupted by a familiar voice. "Something wrong?" Lyra Stormrider asked sweetly.
Ger looked at the Gryffindor, and the spell took affect. Before anyone knew what was happening, he had his arms around the girl and was professing undying devotion. Lyra squirmed fiercely against his hold.
By now the entire library was watching the spectacle. "...an infatuation potion on the green wand. It causes whoever inbibes it to become deeply infatuated with the first Gryffindor they see."
Note from Ger: QS!!!!!! YOU ARE SOOOO DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!
Gerald Tarrant, Sunday, February 17, 2002 @ 07:31 p.m.
The day had passed uneventfully - just another regular school day with regular problems. A Slytherin first year had accidentally stuck his hand in a boiling vat full of who knew what and had to be taken to the infirmary. Another Slytherin first year and accidentally gotten locked in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and Laurelgand had had to go rescue the poor girl. Gerald hurried back towards the Slytherin dungeon, glad that the hectic day was finally over. He'd spent the entire evening after classes helping Madame Pince in the library, and while it was nice to have the librarian not be scolding him for once, sorting books under her beady glare wasn't the best recreation he could think of, either.
He'd turned the corner and was heading down the last few feet towards the Slytherin door when he heard a meowing behind him. Puzzled, he stopped and turned to see a cat staring at him from behind the bend in the corridor. He blinked.
"Are you lost?" he asked it. It blinked back at him, and then trotted out from behind the curve. He realized it was a Maine Coon, since he could see no tail.
"You're not a Slytherin cat, are you?" he asked, and swore that the cat smiled and shook its head. He sighed.
"Let me see..." Bending down, he took the tag on its collar between gentle hands and brought it into the dim light. He could barely read the writing on the tag.
"Boo? That's your name?" The cat seemed to nod. "Yume Arashi." He frowned. "I don't know a Yume Arashi. That means she's not in Slytherin or in Gryffindor." His line of reasoning made him laugh, and he picked up the cat. "Well, Boo, it looks like you'll have to bear with me for a little while until we find your master or mistress."
He pushed open the door to the Slytherin dungeon to find that it was mostly empty. Quicksilver was sitting by the fire, probably planning something mischevious. She did that a lot these days.
"QS?"
She turned, apparently irritated at being interrupted from her schemes. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"
"Ever heard of a Yume Arashi?" Gerald asked, as he sat down on one of the chairs. He was used to the mercurial moods that gave her her name and thought nothing of it. "This is her cat."
"Yume Arashi? Sounds familiar." The green-haired girl turned her face back to the fire. "I think she's that Ravenclaw that Laurel and all those Gryffindors hang out with."
"Ravenclaw?" He couldn't remember seeing Laurel's gang hanging out with any Ravenclaws, but Quicksilver was probably right. "All right, I'll go check."
Being a Prefect gave him certain authorities, and going into the common rooms of other houses was one of them. A few heads turned as he entered, but most turned away when they noticed the silver Prefect's badge on his robes. He cleared his throat.
"Is there a Yume Arashi here?" he said.
A host of curious eyes regarded him. "She was until fifteen minutes ago. Then she went up to her room."
"I have her cat," he said uncertainly, holding up Boo. "At least I think this is hers."
"Oh!" exclaimed a girl across the room. "Yeah, that's hers. It got bored when she was doing her homework and left, I think."
Gerald laughed. "I found it near the Slytherin dungeon. Why don't you ask her to come down so she can take him back?"
"Right away!"
He settled himself near the wall and watched the Ravenclaw students settle back down to business. He knew what was going through their heads: why would a Slytherin be so nice? He smiled at the thought. He really didn't mind any of the other houses; it was Malfoy and his goons that gave Slytherin a bad name.
The brown-haired girl who appeared at the bottom of the stairs a few minutes later was slightly familar to Gerald. He'd seen her around Laurel and Lyra a few times, but he had never learned her name. Her eyes behind her slim glasses lit up when she saw the cat.
"Boo!" she exclaimed, rushing over to take the cat gently from Gerald's arms. "Where did you go?"
Gerald explained the situation and she paled when he told her where he'd found the cat, and then smiled a bit shyly. "Thank you for bringing him back," she said. Both of them heard the unspoken appended remark: another Slytherin might not have been so nice.
"I think you're in my Melody and Sorcery class," Gerald said after a moment. "Aren't you?"
She nodded again and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
He shook it solemnly. "I'm Gerald Tarrant."
She laughed. "Everyone knows who you are. You're the only male Slytherin Prefect, and half the females in the school are crazy about you."
Gerald blinked self-consciously. "Um..."
Yume grinned. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your duties. Thanks again!" She waved and disappeared up the stairs. Gerald shook his head slowly and then bid the Ravenclaw students good night, heading back to the Slytherin dungeon.
yume, Sunday, February 17, 2002 @ 02:08 a.m.
Yume Arashi stepped into the Ravenclaw common room, affectionately greeting the purring tabby who'd been waiting for her. Most of her fellow Ravenclaws were used to this and made no comment, but she glared around slightly to make sure that no one felt the need to ridicule her and Boo. Message across, she settled at a table in the corner nearest the fire to start her homework. Melody and Sorcery looked interesting, despite that she'd signed up for the class primarily to give her parents an excuse not to sell her beloved viola. And, of course, it was nice to have another class with some of her friends. Though she hadn't studied music in years, the knowledge returned fairly quickly, she was pleased to find. That taken care of, she decided (not without reluctance) that it was time to go be social. As her friends often pointed out, Boo was hardly enough to fill a person's need for conversation, tempting as the idea might be. Maybe she'd go hunt up that little first year, Bran -- he'd seemed rather timid about the whole Hogwarts concept, he might welcome someone to show him the ropes. Yume chuckled quietly; it was about time she got herself a pet first-year.
