Sophia, was relieved to realize how fast the first week went by, and had forgotten how taxing the whole thing could be. Her first week of classes seemed to go well, but she still carried a few of her books around with her. Even now as she braved the lunch and dinner crowd she carried her Defense Against Dark Arts book with her along with her journal to help keep track of her progress. That little 'not perfect' grade nearly did her in, and her nerves about the whole thing made her lose sleep over the holiday.

Tensions were high in her house, at least between she and her friends who seemed to come back from their breaks with as much nervous energy as she did, but Sophia (for the most part) kept her opinions to herself. She didn't want to upset them, especially those close to her, and knew that her overbearing attitude towards things could often come across as rude.

"I'm excited for no classes today," She said trying to fit in, and took her seat at her table to look down the row and see who was here. She could hear that many of them were debating on playing a few games, and even just spending the first day back in the tower with a bit of fun. That sounded nice, but she would have to barrel through her work first.

And find Lucas. Something was going on with that boy, and today marked the day she would figure it out.

Oh, how he did not want to deal with all this anymore. Lucas liked being at school and was happy to have the distraction, but he was starting to get really tired of all the questions. The people at school had only known him a few months. They didn't know what was going on in his life. The didn't know anything of his home life so they had no reason to know what was happening on his personal level.

He made his way to the great hall for a meal. He usually liked eating with everyone but, as of late, he had started wishing he could take his meals away and eat alone. He saw Sophia at the table and sighed. He sat across from her and started to fix his plate. He wasn't exactly hungry but he knew he needed to eat. He glanced at Sophia and then back down at his food.

"Relaxing today? Or studying on your off time as usual?"

"Relaxing today? Or studying on your off time as usual?"

Sophia looked at him as if he were the very dirt on the bottom of her shoe. How DARE he try and insult her when he was the one acting like a total idiot with keeping to himself and brooding like he did.

"Obviously, it's not any of your concern Mister Trumble. Though I would suggest that you spend a few extra hours making up for your poor class room habits this week." Having never been one to eat with her fingers she even cut up her apple with her knife and fork. Lucas had been rather stiff all week, and this just wasn't like him.

"By the way, Hello to you too, Lucas. It's good to see you." Where was Frank. She would much rather be talking to Frank right now, at least he wasn't in such a sour mood.

"Hey, I wasn't insulting you. Was just asking a question. What crawled up your behind today?"

Lucas huffed. He wasn't trying to offend her. He saw her with books so he just thought he would ask. Apparently, general conversation wasn't available with her today. And who did she think she was anyway? She had no right to judge him right now. He had enough on his plate. He was still dealing with his emotions and being back at school. He couldn't focus on school right now! The only people who understood him right now were his sibling and Professor Kesali. He was in no mood to deal with Sophia's attitude today.

"I'll get to my studies when I can, so back off why don't ya?"

Sophia arched a very thin brow at him, and straightened her spine.

"My behind?" She asked him with a warning closer to anger than she had ever been, "I'm sorry I don't think I'm the one with anything up that particular part of my body, Mister Trumble. Nor, am I the one being a complete and total jerk to your classmates, and Professors. I'm also not the one arriving to class looking a frumpy mess, and half asleep." She placed her hands on the table beyond ready to imitate her father if need by, and did her best impression she could.

"I think I would be more concerned with the letters your mother and father are going to get instead of speculating what is crawling up my body. Which, by the way--is none of your concern."

"Sophia! Sophia!" Rowena had a wide grin on her face as she made her way towards her sister. "Mum sent letters, and packages. Did you get yours yet?" There was a small box cradled in her arms, and a white envelope with a circular stain atop it.

She stopped, the cloak waving around her. The comb she wore wasn't enough to keep her hair in too much order, but at least it managed to keep it out of her face. "Hello, Lucas." He got a wide smile. Sophia needed her friends. Even if they were boys who showed up to class with their shirts untucked.

The fact that both of them looked a little grumpy didn't matter. For Rowena had candy. And letters. "Do you want some candy? Mum always sends us too much. I think she wants us to share." She started to open the box. "Oooh, jellybeans."

Like his brother, Zel was also thankful to be back in school. Break had been stressful-- too stressful. Stressful in ways that he did not want to deal with. He had been keeping a close eye on his brothers ever since the trial. Emeric seemed like he was doing alright-- and he seemed to be  handling it much better than Lucas was. Zora was staying with Garrett, his girlfriend, and the baby while Rhys was getting everything figured out and taking care of Lettie. Emeline was now looking for a job, and things seemed to be falling in place for her. Still, that didn’t mean that this whole process wasn’t taxing on the Trumble family.

He was watching Lucas and Sophia from the corner of his eye, and it seemed like they were tense to each other. He thought they had been good friends? What was up with that? Luke had almost the same defeated look about him that Zel recognized in himself, and he didn’t want his brother to feel like he was alone in all of this. Zel felt like caused most of this! He made the initial report, and he got everything going. He just didn’t think it would have been so hard on everyone.

Zelig stood up and approached the first years, smiling stiffly at them. “Is everything okay here?”

"I think I would be more concerned with the letters your mother and father are going to get instead of speculating what is crawling up my body. Which, by the way--is none of your concern."

He gave Lucas a puzzled look. What in the world had he been telling Sophia to stick up her behind?! He didn’t want to know. “Letters sent to our parents aren’t a concern, miss.” Zel said politely.

Then her curly haired sister appeared! The way she talked about packages from her family made Zel’s heart ache, and he was sure that Luke was feeling the same thing. There would be no packages and gifts coming from Rhys and their mother anytime soon. Letters he had send to Rhys had only been responded to with short, concise answers.  Zel gave Lucas another look, a silent look that asked very clearly if Lucas was alright, if needed an out to leave. Zel was willing to give him one, if necessary.

"Are they the normal sort of jellybeans, or Bertie Botts?" Zel was much more comfortable talking to the younger years than he was to his own peers-- there was something less intimidating about being around children than being around older kids. With first years, he barely stuttered! With the older years, stuttering was the norm.

As Sophia was fussing at him, Lucas was getting more and more irritated. He hadn't been being a jerk to anyone! He had been keeping to himself and avoiding -any- conversation about how he was doing. That wasn't being a jerk at at. It was called dealing with things and learning to cope. The way he dressed was none of her concern and he had a valid reason for being so tired! He could barely sleep at night and when he was awake, the stress that was on him was exhausting!

Then the remark about the letters to his parents. He gripped his fork and it seemed as though daggers could come flying from his eyes at any moment. She had no right to talk about his parents! He was just about tired of her attitude toward him since they had come back to school. He was use to her looking down on him and judging his every move just like her father, but he was done with it. If Zel hadn't said anything, he was going to and it wouldn't have been in such a nice way!

Now Rowena with her presents and talk of gifts and letters and such from home. Things were just going from bad to worse. It started hitting him now that he wasn't going to be getting another letter from his mother the entire time he was in school. No more 'congratulations'. No more 'how are you doing?' No more 'Are you keeping Zelig in line?' No more 'I miss and love you.' Nothing. His eyes began to well up with tears.

Only the Trumbles and Professor Kesali understood what was going on. The whole world was still going on around them an only a select few knew the inner turmoil of the young boy. Then Zel was just going to eat jelly beans?!? He heard what Sophia said! Was that all he was going to say! Everything was hitting him at the same time and it had become too much. He slammed his fists on the table and stood up, silent tears falling from his eyes.

"Dammit, Sophia, I'm tired of this! You look down on me all the time! I know I'm not as good as you and I know I don't do things it the most perfect way possible like you, but there is so much more than appearance! There are more important things going on in this world than the way I dress or the fact I'm usually sleepy! There are reasons for everything that you won't understand! And don't you -ever- say anything about my ma again!!! My parents are -none- of your concern so keep your mouth shut!!" He turned his attention to Zel. "And you're just going to pretend everything is okay?!? That nothing is wrong? You know good and damn well they're not!"

His eyes got wide as he realized he was yelling at his brother. Did that really just happen? Did he finally explode? He wiped his eyes, sat back down, and looked down at his plate. He was going to get it. He didn't know if it would be Sophia or Zel or a professor heard him, but he was going to get it from someone. All he could do was sit and wait for the death he had just signed himself up for.

Wynter had been listening to the whole conversation while pretending to read a book of fairy tales her mother had sent her.  And while she could interact and try to figure out how to calm things down, she'd rather not.  While she may not know what was going on with Lucas, she knew what family troubles were like.  She was having a bit of it now, she'd written home a couple days ago and was now worried about her mother's absent reply.

She popped her head up from behind her book and looked in the direction of Sophia, Lucas, and the others and opened her mouth intending to say something, but shyness overcame her and she closed it rather quickly. She shouldn't get involved, but she was so curious as to what was going on and why Lucas just yelled at his brother.  She looked back at her fairy tale book, intending to keep her eyes on the pages {but conveniently forgetting to turn the page - she'd been on Hansel and Gretal for 10 minutes now}, and her ears trained on the conversation happening down the table.

Oh dear. Here comes the cussing! And there it went! In any other situation, Zel would have been appalled and probably would have gently reminded Lucas that some words were just not appropriate. However, his brother was so upset-- and reprimanding him was the last thing that Zel needed to do. It was the last thing that Lucas needed right now. Things weren’t okay, Lucas was right-- and things probably wouldn’t be okay for a long time. To Zel, it was easier to try to ignore it and move on. He did what he could do for Emeline, and it had been so incredibly hard.

It hurt him to have his little brother yell at him like that-- yes, they did occasionally get into arguments, but it was rarely over something serious! They had yelled at each other plenty in the past, like siblings do. But this yelling was different. It was more personal, to the both of them. “Luke.” Zel said softly, his voice steady. However, his trembling hands revealed his anxiety. He sat down next to Lucas  wrapped his arms around him, his hug gentle.

“I-I’m sorry about all of this. Really.” And he wasn’t pretending everything was okay-- it was just easier for him to deal with it in private, instead of in the Great Hall, surrounded by people that he didn’t know well. But, he also felt like this wasn’t the place for that kind of explanation, and he also didn’t want to embarrass himself for his brother by making some sort of emotional display in front of everyone.   

Eilidh dropped the rolled-up issue of the 'Daily Prophet' on the table and then slid onto the bench next to Wynter, murmuring a greeting to her housemate. She did not get all that much of an response, but considering that Wynter had her nose buried in a book that probably was no real surprise and did not bother her. Instead she took a look at the various food bowls and platters on the table and picked out a few things which she then placed on her plate. The girl took her time eating and unrolled the 'Daily Prophet', beginning to skim the articles, stopping here and there to actually read one that interested her. As usual there was not much in the newspaper that was truly interesting to her, but in her eyes being up to date on current events was the responsibility of every proper Ravenclaw.

Eventually she noticed that Wynter did not seem to turn the page very often and as she turned her head to actually look at the girl she realized that the other Ravenclaw just stared at a depiction in her book of fairytales. Eilidh reached out with a finger and poked the girl sitting next to her in the side: "Soooo, are you falling for Hänsel? Or did I just catch you eavesdropping..?"

Wynter barely noticed when Eilidh sat down next to her, she was so focused on the conversation going on a little ways down the table. She still wasn't so sure what was going on, but out the corner of her eye she saw when Lucas' brother wrapped his arms around him, she couldn't help but wish that she had an older brother, or a younger one.  It sucked sometimes living with just your mother and elderly great-grandmother.

When Eilidh poked her in the side she about jumped a half mile off of her seat.  "What... oh." she said very eloquently.  "Um... I guess I was eavesdropping, but only a tiny bit." she said and motioned with her fingers how very small that little bit was.  "I know I shouldn't, but I was curious."

The first week back was certainly the hardest so far, or at least that was how it felt for Michael. It was worse for him, than leaving for Hogwarts only a few months ago to actually start his first year. The break was definitely very short, and he believed that it should have been longer. Nevertheless, he had to appear at Hogwarts along with all of the other students as well.

On this Saturday morning, Mike had already glanced at a copy of the Daily Prophet while eating breakfast with his friends at the Gryffindor table. Even though it was a rather loud setting, he was still able to read the paper. Well, more like skim the paper. After all, he rarely found the stories that fascinating to hold his attention.

As he finished reading a fairly interesting article, Mike suddenly remembered that he forgot to tell Rowena something from last night's Astronomy work. With all of the stressing and rather lack of sleep that he had from the sudden reality of returning back to Hogwarts, he completely forgot! Looking up and down the table, he didn't see the red-headed first year. Thinking that she might be over with her sister, he got up and walked over to the table.

"Row-" he called, but was suddenly caught off as he neared the Ravenclaw table as Lucas started yelling. At Sophia, and at an older boy which kind of looked like Lucas. So, he naturally assumed that he was Lucas's brother. When the yelling stopped, and Lucas went back to looking at his plate. Apparently something wrong happened. He took a quick glance around the other students in the general vicinity.

Mike inched over to where Rowena was by her sister, already forgetting what he wanted to tell her. "Did I miss something?" he whispered to his fellow Gryffindor, slightly confused as to why Lucas was just yelling about something being wrong.

""Dammit, Sophia, I'm tired of this! You look down on me all the time! I know I'm not as good as you and I know I don't do things it the most perfect way possible like you, but there is so much more than appearance! There are more important things going on in this world than the way I dress or the fact I'm usually sleepy! There are reasons for everything that you won't understand! And don't you -ever- say anything about my ma again!!! My parents are -none- of your concern so keep your mouth shut!!"

That entire event of words made her at first gasp, but when he continued the digest filled in her stomach like a pit of dread, and she went stoically silent. There was a moment where she felt like the very mirror image of her father as she sat there and let him state his case. The boy was upset, this much was clear, but at what she still wasn't decided. However, it wasn't until Lucas turned on his brother did Sophia finally remove herself from her seat--so that she could stand on it.


"Mister Trumble. Are. You. Finished?" She said, each word punctuated by the steps it took to be atop the bench, and with her hands in tight fists at her side she glared back at the boy.

Because it's my turn.

"If you think for a matter of moments that you will get a single pass to ever speak to a young woman like that again, let it be known that I will rain my father's wrath down on you like Hellfire, but even beyond that, Lucas, let us put it on record that you will not, and will never AGAIN speak to one of your friends like that!!" Her little button nose was just as red as her face as she screamed.

"I don't put you down, to simply do it, Lucas Trumble, I do it to lift you up, because of all people here I would have expected you to have let me in on something that is very clearly bothering you. It's your business I won't deny that, but as your friend I have a right to know. At least before you start barking at me, Young Man, you better give me means to fix it. Now…" She said visibly calming and sank back to the floor, to hold out her hand to him.

"If you would like to excuse yourself from dinner, I think it best we continue this talk somewhere a little more private." Sophia spoke with such a confidence about her, that the fact that her bow was  bigger than her head made it very comical--don't tell her that.

"Normal ones. Mum doesn't-" And then everything exploded. Lucas was yelling, and Zel was apologizing, and some of the other students were leaning in and talking. She pulled one of the little bags of jellybeans out, tossed it softly at Zel, and was just about to go explain to Lucas why he should never, ever be mean to Sophia.

Then she heard Michael's question and turned back to look at him. "I don't know!" Lucas was upset and rude and Sophia was upset and then there was Sophia's voice as loud as one of Aunt Cullodena's howlers. There was something about that outburst that reminded Rowena a little of Father and so she just stood and watched.

She was very confused.