Mon, Aug 2nd
Early Morning

Ayla sat at a table on the outdoor patio of Alohomocha while her cousin fetched a pair of iced coffees and some breakfast pastries. After she had returned from her school trip, and many hours of begging, her father had consented to allowing Ayla to spend the rest of her Summer Holidays working at Lexus' shop in Knockturn. She was subsequently living with her cousin as well. The pair had spent most of the night brewing potions and decided to go out for breakfast before bottling them.

She looked up to the sky as a flock of owls flew over the main street of Diagon Alley delivering the morning post. She knew her Hogwarts letter was due any day now, letting her know which books and supplies she'd need for her fifth year. She absently wondered if her letter would be delivered to her penthouse flat in London or to Lexus' Apartment in Knockturn. She was anxious about her course load. She wasn't taking that many electives - only Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Divination - but she'd be sitting her OWLs at the end of the year and had heard nothing but horror stories about how much homework the fifth years normally received.

A tawny barn owl swooped down and landed on the table she was sitting at. It dropped her School Letter with a click. Ayla spied the letter suspiciously. Her School Letter had never clinked before. She swiftly opened it and pulled the letter out. A louder clink was made as a silver broach fell out and landed on the table. The shield shaped jewelry was silver with a large P embossed on top of yellow lacquer. Ayla stared at it uncomprehending. Then she turned to the letter in hand finding an extra sheet of parchment from her Head of House. Ayla's eyes grew wide as she read the words that explained the badge, "I'm a What?!!!"

Lexus thanked the Barista as her order was handed to her. She was quickly becoming fond of the little coffee shop. While she didn't exactly count herself a regular she was a hard face to forget, especially on days like this when she hadn't taken the time to cover up her altered appearance. Her honey hair streaked with white and silver, her amber eyes glowing in the early morning sun and her fangs peaking over her blood red lips. The only thing she had taken care in covering were her scars. A nice cropped, short sleeve sweater took care of those on her back and some fashionable cuffs covered the burns on her wrists. Though she did cut an intimidating image, her smile helped soften it.

She exited the shop with her goodies in tow and looked to where her cousin had claimed a table for them. Though the pair were a decade apart, they had gotten closer over the years. Ayla had once tried to convince her to become registered with the British Ministry to which Lexus had almost violently refused but after the Ideas of March and her short incarceration it had been the friendship of her cousin that had helped her along, the pair exchanging countless letters while the younger attended Hogwarts. As she approached the table she growled at the owl who soon took flight. She couldn't help but chuckle at her cousin's expression as she handed out their breakfast, "what's with the face?"

The Alohomocha door bell clanged loudly as another customer entered, awe sketched on her face. People could see her properly now that her usual curtain of dark brown hair was pinned out of her face. In her first year at Hogwarts, she had been more like a mouse: squeaking when she talked, not making eye contact, and shying away from her peers. She had grown confidence over the past couple of years after making friends. This year, her third year at Hogwarts, was going to be different, she assured herself. It was a lovely idea. Unfortunately, the crowd made her once again self-conscious and she timidly scurried to the counter to wait in line.

She had just paid for a cup of steaming hot chocolate and was searching for a table when a girl just behind her shouted. Serenity whirled around to see a girl in her sister's year opening her Hogwarts letter. She didn't say anything at first. Her brown eyes swept over the table and she had to lean around the honey-and-silver-haired lady in order to see the Prefect's badge.

"Are you all right?" The words slipped out before she realized what she was doing. What was she thinking? It wasn't like her to just join in on the conversation. "I mean... Sorry..."

Somebody had screwed up.  Not only had Erin somehow managed to get served at a coffee shop, they managed to serve her hot chocolate.  Though she was bad enough with just chocalate, Erin was consequently off to wherever her mind took her.  Which, like most times, tended to make leaps of logic.  Erin had no business today, so she was wearing a relatively medium quality green witches robe with a matching hat. 

"I think you're a hufflepuff?  Are you having identity issues?  Or maybe just normal issues? I'd offer advice but I'm less use than a muggle broom at that sort of thing.  Anyways, how have you been since Hogwarts?  Ooh- hey whose your friend.  Um, also is it rude to suggest she get a hair stylist?  Her hair kind of looks like silver and gold tinsel.  I guess that's kind of a moot point now.  Whatever, not like I ever mean to offend anyone it just happens.  This is the first time I've had chocolate in months!" Erin responded to Allya, whether she was wanted in the conversation or not.

At first, Erin did not notice Serenity, but her ADD mind as always was jumping from once thing to another, and she managed to spot her.  "I don't think I know you?  You go to Hogwarts?  You appear about the age for it. I guess your in another house.  I'm Erin, pleased to meetcha," Erin  spoke at a thousand words per minute, still somehow managing to speak English.

Ayla was still staring at her letter dumbstruck by the time her cousin arrived at the table she had grabbed for them. The strawberry Danish placed in front of her went unnoticed and it wasn't until the gust of wind caused by the Owl's departure that Ayla looked up. Lexus was already digging into her bagel after making her inquiry about her face. Apparently Ayla had made quite the expression borne of her shock. She still had a hard time processing it and was soon drawing attention to her outburst.

She turned to Serenity who had arrived first and without really thinking blurted out, "the bloody idiots went and made me a Prefect." She put down the letter and picked up the badge to emphasize her point. Although she still held her natural accent like her cousin her many years in the UK had started to affect the way she talked.

The arrival of the youngest Dark sister made her realize that she hadn't been talking to just her cousin. She blushed a bit and gave Serenity a sheepish grin, "Sorry Serenity, yeah I'm okay just shocked is all. It is Serenity right?" she had been a bit out of practice when it came to knowing everyone at school but the younger Ravenclaw was the same age as her brother and sister and was at least friendly with them from what she had heard from Dahlia.

She took a deep breath before addressing Erin. The Slytherin was no where near as bad as her older sisters but she was still quite the handful. Four years of classes with her had gotten Ayla used to the way she sporadically talked but didn't really make it easier. She exchanged a look with Lexus who had growled and bared her fangs when Erin suggested she see a stylist, "not really an identity crisis, at least I don't think that's what you'd call this. I'm just really super shocked. I never thought they'd make me a Prefect. I mean I'm not a trouble maker or anything but I'm not the best student either."

"This is my cousin Lexus. Lex this is Erin and Serenity." Though she supposed by now her cousin could have already figured that out but it was the polite thing to do.

Serenity froze at the sight of Erin Dark and tried to become invisible again. She knew the Dark twins, since Beatrix was in her house and Bellatrix was, well, notorious. While there was a school-wide understanding that Erin was not as bad-tempered as her siblings, she did have a reputation. The last thing Serenity wanted was to get herself cursed or hexed. Unfortunately, in the end, hiding behind her curtain of hair did no good because Erin noticed her and was already introducing herself before Serenity had time to react.

"I don't think I know you?  You go to Hogwarts?  You appear about the age for it. I guess your in another house.  I'm Erin, pleased to meetcha."

She lifted her head and pulled back some of the dark brown hair curtaining her face, tucking it behind her ear with a timid smile.

"Serenity Blackthorne, third year Ravenclaw."

It was funny how students introduced themselves. Name, year, house. Students like Serenity were easily forgotten by other students whereas others, like the Dark twins, had such a vast reputation that people knew them just by name. Serenity liked her status among the rankings of her fellow students. She didn't want to be famous like the Dark twins or Harry Potter. She just wanted to be... Her thought process derailed itself. What did she want to be?

"The bloody idiots went and made me a Prefect," Ayla's voice caught Serenity's attention again. "Sorry Serenity, yeah I'm okay just shocked is all. It is Serenity right?"

"Y-yes, it's Serenity."

See? Absolutely no one knew her name. Though, she expected Ayla might have. After all, Dahlia and Serenity had become quite close in their first year at Hogwarts. Then their friendship just sort of...drifted apart. Serenity imagined it was because they hadn't been sorted into the same house. Dahlia was a Hufflepuff.

Being introduced to the intimidating woman with silver-and-honey hair and claws drew Serenity out of her thoughts again. She smiled.

"Nice to meet you," she mumbled. Then she turned back to Ayla. "Being a Prefect is a good thing, isn't it? I mean, I heard from my sister, Angerona, that Prefects get special perks."

She gave Erin an awkward glance. Angerona was a Slytherin fifth year. She probably shared a dorm with Erin. It suddenly occurred to Serenity that her sister never talked about the girls she shared the dorm with. Did she and Erin get along? Did they hate each other? It really made her wonder... Then again, Angie didn't share a lot of information with Serenity. Even though they were sisters, they didn't have a close relationship.

"Ooh, a prefect.  So you have some semblance of power, congrats!  The little raven is correct.  You should figure out how to abuse it right away without getting caught.  Cause that makes life funner.  You'd be amazed with the stuff I get away with just for being on the quidditch team.  Eh, anyways, you seem kinda surprised by this fact.  Well if you aren't a trouble maker now, you should become one.  Especially now that you have excuses to be in places you normally would not be.  Bella and Bea have all sorts of fun with that.  Bella's awesome.  I try to follow her example, but I keep getting distracted by things.  Though I did get on the team to follow her and Bea's example" Erin's admiration of her sisters showing through, warranted or not. 

As with most conversations, the conversation did not stop, just because one person stopped talking.  After hearing Ayla's introduction, Erin responded in kind, before she was distracted by the growl.

"Hi Lex, nice to-.Did you just growl?  Nice teeth by the way...but maybe you need some food?  I'm jealous of people who get to eat what they want.  This is the first time I've had chocolate in months.  They say it makes me too hyper or something?  Can you believe that? " Erin commented, clearly offended at the injustice of common sense and the power of observation.  After the young raven introduced herself, Erin fired off a couple of quick statements, that really had nothing to do with prefects, but felt the need to state regardless.

"Ooh- Ravenclaw.  You should follow Bea's example.  She's awesome.  I'm sure she'd look out for you too, especially if I asked her," Erin did not really have anything meaningful to say to her underclassman, but that did not stop her from making conversation.  Without preamble, she jumped onto her next train of thought.

"So yeah - Ravenclaw.  I actually had to model a bronze gown once.  It was kinda odd, more so for the fact you do not really see them that often.  Do you have a lot of bronze clothes or not really?" Erin asked, not really curious, but somehow caught up in the flow of conversation.

There was clearly a difference in opinion when it came to being a Prefect. Ayla had no idea how she felt about being a Prefect, Serenity felt it was a good thing with special perks and Erin seemed to think it was an excuse to get away with murder. Both girls had older sisters that were prefects, Ayla wasn't personally familiar with Angerona but she was all too familiar with Bellatrix. She felt very uncomfortable with how much Erin adored and emulated her older sister considering just how much grief the crazy Slytherin had caused her. Ayla had even gone as far as to say that Bella had ruined her life.

When Erin rambled at Lexus, Ayla non chalantly threw out, "she's a werewolf."

Ayla couldn't help but smile when Erin's ramblings led to talking fashion. For a moment she wondered if Serenity did have much bronze clothing. It wasn't really a requirement but it was sort of something that Hogwarts's students did. She was thankful she looked good in yellow. She found that there were countless outfits that matched yellow with black (that didn't make her look like a bumblebee)

"I heard they have there own washroom." Truth be told she didn't know that much about the Prefects but sharing a bathroom with only twenty three other students instead of hundreds did sound much better.

"A werewolf?  Never met one before.  Can't be any worse than the vampire I dealt with that one time though.  Wait, that makes me sound like an auror or something.  I actually meant to say that vampire I modeled for once.  She was a real piece of work.  Probably the only person I won't follow the golden rule for.  You seem like a nice enough person though, if strangely hungry?  So besides the full-moon thing are there any other effects?" Erin asked, not really curious just once again caught up in the flow of conversation.

"A washroom?  I guess there is some potential in that, but I think you are missing the larger picture here," Erin commented, eerily insightful for once.  She would not hesitate to take advantage of the other benefits offered, but maybe Ayla was not as self-serving as Erin was.  Erin did very little (intentionally) that was not for her own gain, though she did get distracted a lot.  Admittedly, the only thing Erin could think of was conducting business deals at later hours, but she was pretty sure there would be more benefits just from the increased access to the castle alone. 

As Erin's brief bit of insight was over for the time being, she once again tasted the hot cocoa.  Erin thought the beverage was magical.  She could see it.  The other models hid cakes, candies.  Erin would be the one hiding chocolate.  For the Nth time, Erin cursed her profession.  She really just wanted to let go and eat endless amounts of chocolate, but knew she would not be able to work for at least a couple of weeks afterwards, and would only be drinking potions until she was back in shape.  Still, no reason to let the chocalate makers starve.

"You should try the hot-cocoa, its really good here," Erin offhandedly commented, after sipping it.