Flashing Cassi a smile Jenna leaned forward and patted her hand once more. "I don't know how you deal with it. I would go bonkers! Oh and no problem sweetie. I think were going to become amazing friends!" Sitting back she gave her a grin then glanced at Ewan and Maddelynn as they spoke. "Your Grandmother is certainly right about that. Though showing some skin does the trick to," she said with a wink to Maddelynn before smiling at Ewan. "I should probably know this but were going to say that I hit my head earlier and lost all my memories. Who's your father?"

----------

Your totally right lol!!

"I certainly hope that we become friends... but I guess it's like Maddelynn; you get used to it," Cassi responded, stroking Fang's back as he looked to Ewan and flicked his tongue out repeatedly, getting the boy's scent and heat signature. Absently, she wondered how the boy would react considering his aversion to serpents.

"I don't know any of you, but why would mentioning Ewan's father get me laughed at?" she asked, puzzled. She'd get laughed at one way or the other, so she didn't really care that she would, just the reason for it. Surely, Ewan was a richer student, which meant that his parents would be wealthier, right?

Maddelynn shook her head lightly and blushed deeply. She looked to Ewan, then back to the others, "Ewan's father owns a paper mill. He makes parchment. It's not like he's a Ministry official." She smirked and shook her head again.

Ewan looked slightly uncomfortable at being around the snake, but she seemed to have a handle on it, so he stayed calm. For the moment, anyway. He grimaced when Maddelynn spilled what his father really did. "It's an honest profession, Maddelynn. And he does supply the Ministry with parchment. So, in a way, he is a Ministry official."

"Oh we will!" Jenna responded quickly to Cassi and gave her a smile. She just knew that all of them were going to be great friends. As Maddelynn began to speak Jenna turned her head to look at her. A small grin began to spread across her face as she finally knew who Ewan's father was. "I knew it! I was just having trouble remembering that." She grinned at Ewan nodding her head. "My mother owns the owl keep in Diagon Alley and my father is an Auror. What do all of your parents do?" Someday Jenna wanted to become an Auror just like her father. She always loved to hear his stories when he came home from work.

Looking at Ewan a bit curiously, Cassi shrugged. "It's an important job. Someone has to do it. I don't see anything wrong with it," she said, shrugging. Not everyone could be a Ministry official after all. He was apparently embarrassed at about it though, a silly reaction to Cassi.

"He is really scared of me, huh?" Fang asked, conveying the appearance of smiling if possible. Cassi nodded as the cobra turned towards her, smiling softly. It was a brave person who could keep from feeling, at the least, uneasy about being around Fang. Her affirmation just seemed to fill him with pride though, causing her to chuckle. The joyful sound died in her throat when she heard Jenna ask about her parents though, a small blush rising to her cheeks.

"Well... about that... see, I don't really live with either of my parents," she answered slowly, allowing her fiery red hair to hide her face. She really didn't want to see the others' faces at the moment. "They... They always dropped me off at my Aunt's house for babysitting and stuff when I was little, but, when I was around seven years old, they didn't come back. I remember that my Aunt wasn't really surprised, but, to answer your question, I have no idea what they do. My Aunt runs her own little potion shop though, and I help her out in the summer. We're not really all that close though." Shrugging weakly, Cassi stopped rambling, still wary of her new friends' reactions. Honestly, she had hoped that she wouldn't have had to tell them, but lying was never good.

Elina Bennedict sat in an empty cart on the train. Transferring to Hogwarts wasn't want Elina had in mind, but then again...she had to do what her parents said. The Dementors incident really shook her up, but she was getting over it. As the trolley of sweets passed by, she had made sure to buy a couple chocolate frogs. She wondered if this place would be any different than her last school. She puffed a sigh and pulled out the latest book she had been reading. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen, a muggle writer who she loved dearly. She sat waiting in her Hogwarts robes, excited to meet new people.

Maddelynn shrugged lightly at Jenna's question, "I never met my parents, so I don't know. My Grandfather is the head of the Third Floor of St. Mungo's hospital. My Grandmother doesn't work, of course. I've lived with them my whole life." When Cassi mentioned her parents abandoning her, she frowned. She knew what that felt like. She sat up in her seat and looked to Cassi, "You mustn't feel sorry for yourself. They lost you. You didn't lose them. If they were selfish enough to leave you, then forget about them."

Ewan bit back a yawn and looked to Jenna, "Well, as we know, my father runs a paper mill and my mother doesn't work. Unbecoming of a woman, I'm told."

~: Sorry it took so long! We all know me lol ADD to the max :~

As everyone talked Jenna's face became paler and paler. Why of why do I always do this! She thought furiously at herself. Good old Jenna making everyone uncomfortable again. She needed to just keep her mouth shut on the personal questions. Swallowing thickly she glanced at Cassi and Maddelynn. "I am so so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any touchy subjects. Not once more will I ask a personal question, for I always chose the wrong ones." Feeling absolutely horrid she fell silent but then added something else. "Quick chit, I think everyone's jobs are so interesting!" Then once more she fell silent, refusing to ask another question.

((Sorry!! I got really sick and couldn't get on....))

Cassi was a little heartened to hear that Maddelynn's story was so similar to hers, but it didn't fit quite as strongly as one might guess. For all intents and purposes, Cassi's Aunt acted like she was a tenet in her apartment. She even took off a bit of her salary as an employee in the shop for what she called expenses. It didn't matter though; Cassi had hardened herself to the fact that she lacked a family a long time ago. So she just nodded in response to Maddelynn's encouragement. She'd heard it all before, which meant that she was fairly numb to it.

"It wasn't your fault, Jenna," Cassi said, hoping to make her friend feel better. "You had had no way of knowing that it would be a touchy subject. And even if you had, it would've come up sooner or later anyway. So don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm just glad to have some friends who don't run in terror of Fang, or, y'know, make fun of me." Scrambling for a question to ask to change the topic, she heard Fang hiss something, perking up at hearing it.

"Fang's got a good question! He wants to know what magic everyone's good at," Cassi relayed, smiling hopefully. "We could make a game of it if you guys wanted! For instance, we could guess each other's abilities on a scale of one to ten. Say Jenna guesses Maddelynn to be a nine in Potions. What do you think?"

~: I'm sorry for skipping your game, Angelo, but I have decided to jump ahead to the feast. Mainly to advance the story enough that all of our players can join in. If there are any objections, guys, please feel free to PM me and we'll work it out :) :~

Maddelynn walked into the Great Hall with her head held high. She was in her Gryffindor robes, of course with her own personal touch. She wore, instead of black flats or Mary-Janes, she wore velvet Victorian boots that stretched up to her mid-calf. She wore thick, black stockings on her legs, blocking the view of her bare, pale legs. She gave the ghost of a nod to a few girls known to be from the same Victorian class as Maddelynn.

Ewan hurried in amongst the throng of students. He grabbed a seat with a few other boys and immediately began chatting.

Almost giddy with happiness of finally being in the school, Jenna began to dance. Instead of just walking to her seat like a normal person she swayed her hips and played music in her head. She was quite good at that, making up the beats and lyrics. Spinning around she laughed and continued her boogie down the table. Passing Ewan she stuck her hand out and ruffled his hair. Grinning she finally sat down, across from Maddelynn. Like the Victorian girl she forgo'd the stupid shoes everyone else wore and had on a pair of black leather ankle boots instead. She also had on a pair of black leggings that were ripped up, showing her pale skin. "Hey Maddlynn," she said with a smile. "You don't mind that I sit by you right?"

Elina looked up as she entered the Great Hall with her group, restlessly pulling at her Ravenclaw robes. The place was so beautiful here and Elina couldn't believe her eyes. It was just so...beautiful. Her eyes moved from person to person that she looked over. This wasn't like her old school, which made things weird, but this was definitely a good start, so far. But everyone looked so nice and welcoming. Even the teachers sitting at back of the hall. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Everyone had someone to talk to, causing her to instantly feel left out. But she reminded herself, things haven't really started yet. She has plenty of time to make new friends.

Cassi stood at the door anxiously, staring in at everyone while she thought. Should she just stay away and stall the torment, or should she suck it up and deal with it? It was a tough question to answer. She noticed Jenna, Ewan, and Maddelynn a few times among the crowd, but, as they were all Gryffindors, they wouldn't be able to really hang out, at least for the time being.

Taking a few deep breaths, Cassi adjusted Fang around her neck and walked in. Her small size meant that she was effectively hidden in the crowd, but she broke off after a few moments and headed for her table, sweating and clenching her hands as she did. As soon as the Slytherins saw her, the jokes began. They were numerous. Most of them dealt with the fact that she was a Parselmouth, her size and stature, her condition, and her heritage. But she just sat down at the end of the table and let it go on, trembling with the effort of not reacting.

All she wanted was to rejoin her friends; her first in ages.

Ewan glanced up and shot Jenna a smirk. He fixed his hair and continued chatting with his friends.

Maddelynn smiled as she settled into her seat, "Of course, Jenna. That would be lovely. I was supposed to sit with my betrothed, but..well, I just don't want to." She leaned her elbows on the table and waited for the feast to begin.

Jenna had been waving to one of her friends when Maddelynn spoke. Spinning her head around she looked at her in shock. She was betrothed at this age? "You have a fiance? I take it...you don't like him that much?" With how she said it, it seemed to Jenna like Maddelynn wan't all that happy. She figured it was some Victorian way of life, like an arranged marriage perhaps. Though what did she know, Maddelynn could be madly in love with the guy. "May I ask who it is?" It was said with a small smile on her lips.

Whispering to Fang in Parseltongue, Cassi sent him off towards the Gryffindor table. She just wanted them to know she was still around, though she was also hoping that they could sort of chat through Fang. Of course, seeing her speak to her snake in Parseltongue made the Slytherins start up again. Though she didn't realize it, part of the reason was because they felt inferior. It was Salazar Slytherin who was the first Parseltongue, so it seemed to make her important as a Slytherin.

Even knowing that wouldn't take the bite from their words though, and Cassi found herself tearing up as the jokes finally began to subside, her shrinking in her chair further than normal. This was why she hated going to school. She had told her aunt the same several times, but she had refused to listen. Thankfully though, else she wouldn't have met Jenna, Maddelynn, or Ewan. Every cloud really did have a silver lining it appeared.

Maddelynn shrugged, "It's not that I don't like him. It's more that...I don't know him. I know his name and that he's the captain of the Quidditch team. That's about it." She motioned down the table, "He's down there. I'm sure you know him; Oliver Wood." She crossed her legs and made herself as comfortable as possible on the bench seat. She shrugged again as the sorting ceremony began. She lowered her voice, "He's very sweet, if a little distant."

~: Couldn't help myself. I :heart: Oliver Wood. :love: Also, Beautiful decided not to play anymore :( So we'll be continuing without her. She said it was nothing we did, she just couldn't get into it. So I'll be recruiting again. :~

((Mmm Oliver Wood:heart: I love him to lol. Ahhhh....ok..))

"Ahhhh.." Jenna said quietly, making sure her voice was also lowered. "Oliver Wood is one of the hottest and nicest guys in Hogwarts. You are one lucky girl Maddelynn." Tapping her chin she pondered for a moment. "Why not ask him on a date? That way the two of you can get to know each other better." Jenna was just about to say something else when she spotted Fang. Grinning the red head slowly stuck her hand out to it. She made sure to move extra slowly so not to startle him. If the snake wanted he could slither up her arm so she could talk to him better. Though she wasn't even sure if the snake would understand her.

Slithering up Jenna's arm, Fang laid his head on her shoulder and licked her cheek, showing his affection. Of course, a few of the Gryffindor students went pale and deathly quiet as they noticed it. King Cobras weren't known for their passive nature after all. Still, he was unfazed, turning his head to point to Cassi at the Slytherin table, who waved with a small smile on her face. The smile didn't mask the sadness she was dealing with though, her heart tattooed all over her face.

Maddelynn shrugged, "I'm not really supposed to go on a date without a chaperon. Perhaps I can arrange something for Hogsmeade. If he has time." She smiled when Fang joined them and she turned to look at Cassi. Maddelynn knew that look. The 'I'm pretending to be alright' look. She frowned, then smiled warmly and waved to her, indicating she wanted her to join them. She didn't much care what the others would think.

Feeling Fang lick her cheek caused Jenna to giggle. Then seeing her fellow Gryffindor's faces made her laugh harder. "Right on Fang, way to make them fear!" She herself wasn't the least bit afraid that she had a king cobra wrapped around her arm and so close to her face. That's just how Jenna was. Turning her head she grinned at Cassi and waved to her. Then she patted the empty space next to her, telling her to come sit by her. Like Maddelynn she didn't care what the others thought either. "Oh and as to your comment about needing a chaperon to go on a date. I'd be more than willing to," she said with a grin and a laugh.

Biting her lip at her friends' surprising invitation, Cassi glanced back at the other Slytherins, noticing that they were bashing on someone else at the moment. Her petite frame inflated visibly as she took a deep breath, slipping underneath the table before crawling over to them. Fortunately, the Sorting Hat yelled out the House of a new student, drawing all the attention away from her.

Quickly, she slipped into the empty chair that Jenna had indicated, a deceptively large sigh rolling from her lungs as she did. Of course, she got a few pointed looks from some of the Gryffindors, but most of them acted like she wasn't there. Or they didn't see her. It was most likely the latter, as the Sorting Hat sorted another student. Her theory was proven by their surprised faces and the hostile frowns directed at her. A few of them looked to Maddelynn and Jenna like they were crazy... or diseased.

"Jenna? Could I please take Fang back now?" she asked, her voice a bit strained. She felt naked without him, which explained why she kept fidgeting with her clothes. Her silver eyes were shimmering like a pair of new dimes with moisture, and her breath was coming out a tad raggedly as she waited fora response, the whispers running up and down the table about a Slytherin sitting with them.

Thalia still felt physically sick from the train ride, and clung onto her heavy, leather bound hardback tome like it was a life-line, to keep from swaying too obviously on her feet. She, of course, had entered the Great Hall with the rest of the students—she had walked far enough behind the horde of youths that she didn’t get swept up in their chatter and whatnot, but close enough to the assembly, that she didn’t get reprimanded for lagging too far behind.

When they crossed the threshold of the dining hall, and the students began trotting over to their house tables in large throngs, Thalia shook off the blanket of anxiety that settled heavily onto her shoulders like Atlas’ burden. She could do this! If she hadn’t been set against in the first five years she attended Hogwarts, why would anyone notice her now?

Perhaps, this year, she could finally meet some worth-wile people; get a mate, or two if she’s lucky, to write home to gran about.

‘Yeah, like that’d ever happen.’ She thought, comically bitter, as she smiled impishly to herself, and made her over to the Gryffindor table. Since she was of average height—give or take a few inches—she wasn’t immediately swallowed up in the mass of teenagers. Instead of being pulled under the sea of bodies quickly, she slowly sank into them like quicksand—without the ability to see, and whilst being herded along by the larger students she stood against, Thalia could hardly control where she was going.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with two tall boys suddenly didn’t seem like a fantasy to her—it was a nightmare! She couldn’t move—there was nowhere to go, but where the teens were heading; so, she had to let herself be guided her to the table, lest she get trampled on her first day back at Hogwarts.

That would be embarrassing—becoming someone’s hearth rug—if Thalia cared for her reputation; which, she didn’t… or atleast, tried not to. Reputations were for social lives—and last time she checked, she didn’t belong to any sort of caste.
As Thalia fought to release herself from the crowds' hold, and found an available spot on the bench at the Gryffindor table, she felt a bout of her forgotten vertigo coming on. Almost falling onto the bench, the brunette slipped her legs under the table, and began fanning herself with a piece of yellowed parchment she found in her tome.

Knowing her faintness wasn’t going to go away without an actually effort to make it leave on her part, and doubled her waving labors. Her grandmother hated muggle doctors; and made it no secret that she did, and Thalia vowed that—if she continued on with her bothersome black outs—that she would take her own self to be seen by a non-magical physician.

When her arm grew tired, she stopped fanning herself, and went onto the task of reading her book. She hoped to do atleast some light reading, before the feast began.

As she peeled back the hardcover of the book, Thalia found herself immediately engrossed in the text on the paper. If only the schoolbooks were as captivating as this one; she’d be at the head of her class, for sure.

Giddy voices and lively conversations flew over her head and passed through one ear and out of the other, and though usually, she didn’t pay them any mind, she felt a little lonely listening to the sounds of friends speaking excitedly to one another. 'Lonely in a room full of people—how poetically melodramatic.' She thought, closing her book and placing it on her lap.

Steeling her nerves, Thalia let her brown eyes scan up and down the table for someone who looked friendly enough for conversation. Her gaze immediately locked on a rather peculiar sight. An unfamiliar girl—oh, wait! No, she wasn't unfamiliar, Thalia knew who the girl was; her name was Cassi, wasn't it? And she was a Slytherin—a Slytherin at their table? Was she mad—under some sort of spell!? Why would she be sitting over here with them. Slytherins and Gryffindors hated each other; Cassi did know that, right?

The whispers that voiced the other Gryffindors obvious dislike of the girl's presence reached Thalia's ears a bit late; but, she paid them hardly any thought, as she got up from her spot on the bench and sauntered over to where Cassi sat.

Thalia wasn't going to tell the girl to bugger off—like most of the others wished to—she was just going to figure out why she was sitting where she was. and not at her own house's table. As she grew nearer to the girl, the brunette almost lost faith in herself—almost returned to her seat—and then she found herself standing over Cassi and those around her. "Urm... Wotcher...?" The words stumbled from her lips much like she'd stumbled over her own feet.

Maddelynn smiled when Cassi joined them. She glanced to the other Gryffindors, but paid them no other mind. She straightened up in her seat, well, straighter. Her corset didn't allow for much slouching. She smiled when Jenna mentioned she would volunteer as her chaperon. "My Grandparents would think it was highly improper." Maddelynn's head lifted when she heard Thalia say something to Cassi. Maddelynn said nothing. She wanted to let Cassi defend herself, but her aqua eyes watched Thalia closely, as if daring her to object to Cassi joining them for supper.

Narrowing her eyes Jenna glared at her fellow classmates. So there was a Slytherin sitting at their table, so what? "Piss off!" She said angrily. Then hearing Cassi she looked at her and smile. "Sure thing," she said and held out the arm that Fang was wrapped around. "I will see you later handsome," she said with a wink. Jenna was trying to show her stupid class mates that she wasn't afraid of the snake and they should be either. She then winked at Maddelynn and said, "ahh come on! I'm not chaperon material?"

When a girl she had never seen before stumbled right behind Cassi she looked at her with a frown. She then wrapped a protective arm around her new friend. Then gave the girl a look that said I dare you to say something about her being here. Jenna was so sick and tired of how the houses feuded. Why couldn't they just all get along? Not all Slytherin's were bad she actually liked a few of them, like Cassi.