It was hard not to feel just a tad bit nervous - alright, really nervous - while waiting to see if people would show up.  The pessimistic voice in the back of his head kept reminding Sasha that he'd be lucky if anyone showed up.  Partly because, like any time an invitation was issued, it was about popularity.  There were some people in the world that, if they threw a party, even people who had never laid eyes on them would show.  Then there were people who just hoped at least one person would be willing to come. 

Most of the time, Sasha belonged to that second group.  And, under normal circumstances, Sasha would be anxious enough, waiting to see if anyone would come to his function.  But, these weren't exactly normal circumstances.  Sasha was trying to organize a muggle cultural awareness club in a wizarding school.  He'd consider himself extremely lucky if just one person showed up. 

He'd considered a couple options for meeting places but decided one of the empty classrooms would be a good place to start.  He planned on talking about some of his ideas and seeing what whoever showed up was interested in.  Again, if there was interest, he had an activity planned. 

Sitting at one of the empty desks, Sasha read over the list of ideas, again.  He had no idea what people would be interested or even who would show up.  He figured muggleborns were the most likely candidates.  There had to be a few others at the school who wanted an opportunity to play football or participate in other 'muggle' activities even at school.  He hoped there were some purebloods that were curious about muggle culture that would come but that seemed like a long shot. 

Still, the pessimistic voice was trying to urge him to keep a practical (and pessimistic) perspective.  He had to keep his expectations reasonable and be prepared for disappointment.  Which, in all reality, he didn't need this new extra curricular activity.   

[[Outfit]]

Though Beatrix wasn't in the Muggle Appreciation Club, didn't mean she couldn't waltz right in. She didn't even know there WAS one (Of course, there wasn't one before, but Bea didn't want to admit to her pureblooded meanie friends that she was interested in muggles) and was quite excited. Though, her hair was the same flaming red one may see when she's angry, it was simply to match her color scheme. Bea, for some reason, wore a lot of red... And was once mistaken for a Gryffindor by Gavin Snark. Oh... That bloke needed a good smack in the face, no matter how handsome he thought he was.

Beatrix had many encounters with muggle activities before. Card games and strange magazines with Zee, football with Sasha, and a bad encounter with Gunnar and his ramblings of auto-mo-feels. Of course, Sasha hit her with the ball a few times... And Gunnar was half-naked... But, everything else was wicked.

An empty classroom was a good spot to hold the meeting, but Bea was paranoid and believed that someone was luring her in and was going to kidnap her and hold her for ransom, only for her mother to not care. Beatrix hoped to the gods that person would be either Vincent Pennyapple or Graham Bombay. Then again, why would either of them even hold such a meeting? Wait, to lure Bea in! IT WAS THE PERFECT PLAN! But, Bombay didn't even like Bea... And Vincent didn't even have to try. He could just walk up to Bea in the hall and say "Hey, can I steal you?" and Bea would just shrug and they'd live happily ever after. But then what was the point of the ransom money? Beatrix's mind was torturing itself.

Beatrix opened the door and trotted in, scowling at herself, when she turned and saw Sasha, lil' innocent Sasha, looking as if he was about to die. And naturally, Beatrix immediately smiled and flung herself at the poor boy. "Sasha! You're running the Muggle Appreciation Club?! Should of guessed!~ Awwe~ You're growing up to be a big boy, aren't you!? Who's running his own club? YOU ARE!" All while hugging him and possibly destroying his dignity. Bea finally set him loose and smiled, brightly, "Awe. This year is just great... Just great... Wait-- You're not going to kidnap me and hold me for ransom, are you?" Perhaps he understood Bea just loved his reactions. If not, well... Bea would feel awful but probably wouldn't stop.

The Muggle Appreciation Club. Meg saw these signs around Hogwarts before, knowing that she was going to attend. While in a conversation with Sasha last year, they were thinking of joining this very group, and possible ideas for different activities for the members to partake in. They both signed up for the club, and now, there was about to be a meeting for the club.

Being a muggleborn, it would probably be perfect for her to join this club. But, Meg was unaware of the existence of this club before. It wasn't as if she took the Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts anyway. She suspected that the class would be too easy for her, and thus opted out of taking it. Besides, she was a muggle, and didn't really need to be taught on how to be one.

However, the Muggle Appreciation Club would hopefully be different. Well, that was exactly what Meg was thinking as she walked down the corridor to the classroom that was listed on the fliers. She certainly hoped that no muggle-hating purebloods tried to join the meeting. If so, she would have hold herself back from misconduct that she would undoubtedly perform, especially if the misconduct is anything like what happened during the Qudditch match last year.

Meg opened up the door to the classroom, and found Sasha and Bea in the room. She had no idea if either of them started the group or not. She smiled to both of her fellow Ravenclaws. "Hi Sasha, Hi Bea," she said to both of them as she walked into the room. With both of her house's prefects in the room, she would definately have to watch her actions in the room, depending on if any muggle-hating purebloods tried to join the group.

((outfit))

Pax walked along the corridor to the room the bulletin had specified, glancing over at Eirene every so often to make sure she hadn't bolted. He was fairly sure he didn't need to worry; Eirene had seemed sceptical about the Muggle Appreciation Club, but see seemed to have warmed to the idea. Pax could almost certainly pinpoint the moment that she started to come around to when he mentioned to her that he'd found out Sasha Schlagenweit was involved, but he tried not to pay too much attention to that coincidence.

Pax liked new experiences and wasn't unable to face them alone, but it almost always helped having someone there that he knew. He hadn't heard of anyone he knew already signed up to the Muggle Appreciation Club, so he'd decided to find someone he knew to bring along. Eirene was the most obvious candidate; Pax liked her company and she seemed to like his okay too, plus this would be a good learning experience for her. Pax tried to think the best of everyone when he could, but he had his doubts about that Effie girl to whom Eirene was so attached. She came across as the sort who put too much emphasis on blood purity, and Pax was worried she would be a bad influence on Eirene.

'It should be really interesting,' he spoke up, as if trying to remind Eirene that this was a good idea. 'I mean, I don't know much yet about what exactly we'll be doing, the poster mentioned football-- that's a muggle sport-- but that's not really my thing...' And given Eirene's past reaction to outdoor activities, he very much doubted it would be hers either. 'So I've brought some of my muggle stuff in case anyone's interested.' He nodded his head back towards his backpack. 'I'll show you when we get there, if you like.'

As soon as those words were out, he realised they had just reached the door opposite the library. With a quick grin that only betrayed a little of his nervousness (Pax was always at least a little nervous when he didn't know quite what to expect), opened the door and stood back to let Eirene in.

“Football?” Eirene repeated cautiously. Anything with the word ‘ball’ in it meant things flying at her and kids like Keegan having the time of his life. Ah, so it was a muggle sport!

“Well, at least we wouldn’t be in the air,” she said loftily. “We’d be on nice, safe, solid ground.”

As the two first-years neared the empty classroom, Eirene glanced around furtively, worried that Effie would pop out of the castle walls at any moment and chastise her for going to a muggle meeting. She hadn’t told her parents about it, either. They always said muggle activities wouldn't teach her anything useful, and that she should spend her time on magical pursuits at Hogwarts.

Eirene didn’t know how she felt. She was curious, and she liked learning new things, as long as those new things didn’t involve researching dark spells with creepy Elias and her best friend Effie. However, when Pax held open the door for her, she felt like she was walking into the Forbidden Forest again. Did she really belong here? She was a pureblood, after all.

“Thank you!” she chirped at Pax, and then looked back at the room. She recognized all the faces- Ravenclaws, like her-

Eirene froze, blocking the doorway a bit. There was Sasha, with Beatrix hanging on him. Eirene pursed her lips primly, wondering why this disturbed her so much. Teenagers ran around the corridors leaping on each other all the time! Especially Beatrix.

“Pax?” she said, trying to be quiet. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

Pax's face fell a little. It was partly disappointment, as he'd been hoping that Eirene would find this club interesting if she gave it a chance, but it was mostly concern. He glanced into the room to see if anything in there might be cause for alarm; just three upper-year Ravenclaws. One of them was Sasha, and there was also the other fifth-year prefect, the really outgoing one who kept changing her hair colour, and Pax recognised the third as Megan from the art club. They weren't particularly intimidating by Pax's standards. Well, maybe the fiery-haired prefect was a little, but he was pretty sure she didn't mean to be.

Stepping away from the door a little and lowering his voice so as not to draw their attention, he asked Eirene, 'Why, what's up?' He wondered if it was because of learning about muggle culture. Maybe her pureblood upbringing was catching up with her after all, he thought fretfully. He didn't want to push her into the club if it made her uncomfortable, for fear of scaring her off being openminded about muggles entirely. Glancing towards the fifth-years, he wondered briefly if instead she, like him, was just a bit apprehensive around new people, and people a good few years older than them at that. Pax was by this point getting used to clubs that had hardly any members his age. At least they were in Eirene's house though; they surely weren't total strangers to her.

'I'm always a bit nervous about joining new clubs,' he added, hoping to be empathetic, 'but it usually turns out okay. If you don't like it we can always leave.' He pulled a lopsided grin in what he hoped was an encouraging expression.

The tip of his quill tapped against the piece of parchment on the desk in front of him and left a small dot of ink in front of each note on the list of ideas.  The bullet points had all been written in German - not out of a fear of retaliation from those that might disagree with them, though.  It hadn't really occurred to him that there might be trouble on the account of the club.  No - the clandestine nature of his notes were, purely, due to the self-consciousness with which he approached the ideas behind the club. 

The door creaked open and Sasha just managed to spot a flash of red before someone trotted towards him and wrapped around his shoulders.  He cringed slightly and ducked his head, bracing against the impact as color flooded his face.  "I...um... yeah," he admitted, patting Beatrix' arm gingerly with a hand.  "I mean, I'm ... well, trying to.  If anyone -"  He grew quiet as Beatrix seemed to praise him in an, admittedly, slightly patronizing way.  "Well, we'll see if anyone comes but - kidnap you?"  Puzzled, Sasha glanced at Beatrix.  "... why would I ... do I seem like the kidnapping kind?" 

The door creaked open again and Sasha grinned when he saw Megan Ruiz come in.  He wasn't entirely surprised (though he was pleased) to see she'd come.  But - it did mean - at least someone was joining!  There was someone coming to the muggle culture club.  It was a start - and if they could recruit more - well, maybe it might actually work.  "I ... you came!  I mean, thanks for coming," he added, trying not to sound too surprised.  "I don't know how many will but - we can try to do ..."

The door creaked open again!  Two first years came in - one Hufflepuff who Sasha didn't really know and Eirene, the first year from his own house he'd swum across the lake.  The former seemed to be leading the way, the later didn't seem exactly thrilled to be there.  Was he supposed to encourage her?  Or, give her permission to leave? 

"Allo," he offered the two younger students.  "I'm-"  Sasha grew quiet, glancing up at Megan and Beatrix in hopes of finding some advice when the girl expressed some doubt about being there.  But, as much as he wanted this to work, it wouldn't be fun if he thought someone was being compelled to be there.  "You don't have to be here, you know.  It's not required.  But, ... you know, it might be fun to try something new."  He shrugged slightly, oblivious to the reasons for Eirene's unease.  "And, you won't be graded," he added.

Outfit

Blake checked his watch again, taking note of the time and comparing it to the calculation he had made in his head regarding what would be a reasonable delay for arriving to the Muggle Appreciation Club to minimize the attention given to his attending. He felt bad for not being open about his interest in the club and all things Muggle, but it was hard to do that with the knowledge that his brothers would be all over it and make his life hell.

Thus, when enough time went by, Blake flipped the hood on his hoodie up over his dark head just so it would effectively cover his face. Then he shoved his hands into his pockets and headed out of the Ravenclaw common room.

One of the benefits of being so tall for his age was the likelihood that he could be mistaken for an older student and thus not be thought to be who he was--Blake Robbin Knight. Younger brother of Callum and pure as the falling snow. In other words, someone who should not want to have anything to do with the Muggle world.

But Blake did. He craved knowing as much about it as possible and even though he continued to doubt whether attending the meeting was a good thing right up until he stood outside the empty classroom door, his curiosity got the better of him and he ducked his head and slipped inside.

He quickly moved to the back of the class and found an empty seat. At first, he kept his head down and waited for some of the conversation to die, but when Sasha spoke and mentioned it might be fun trying something new, Blake finally tilted his head up so that his face, though still hidden from the sides, was finally visible from the front, and should Sasha catch sight of him, he didn't look away.

Eirene thought about telling Pax what was wrong, but realized that she wasn’t quite sure, herself. Now that Sasha and Beatrix seemed to be done hugging, she felt rather silly about her reaction.

When Sasha told her that she wasn’t required to stay, Eirene frowned. She’d been really happy to hear that the nice boy who had saved her from the lake was leading his own club, and it might have influenced her decision to attend. Just a bit! However, his indifference (or what she perceived to be indifference) hurt a little. She supposed she’d expected him to greet her by name and ask how she was doing.

Eirene shoved that thought to the back of her mind for now, and smiled at Sasha, feeling too shy to say anything to him just yet.

“I’m sure you’re right,” she finally replied to Pax, moving forward into the room. “I’m sure I’m just nervous,” Eirene decided. Normally, she got so excited about extracurricular activities that she didn’t question too much whether she’d do well at them. And she appreciated Pax’s offer that they could leave if she didn’t like it, but she’d never given up on something once she started. It was rude, and her parents expected her to ‘follow through’ and all that.

“I wouldn’t ask you to leave,” she told Pax in a surprised tone. It was nice to know, however, that he meant it. Few of her friends made those kinds of gestures. “Besides, didn’t you say you brought muggle things that don’t involve sports? Can I see?”

Beatrix's arms fell back to her sides, Sasha seemingly confused. But, Bea couldn't help but be happy to see the timid boy every now and again outside of class. "But, really. It's great that you're doing this, Sasha. It's really about time we had a club like this!" She grinned before sitting on a desk not too far away from him. She sat a bit too pompously, of course, but she WAS one of the only prefects in the room besides Sasha, whom could never really stand up to her if she decided to rampage the room (Of course, Bea would never do that to the poor soul). A younger student, Eirene Antonopoulos if Bea wasn't mistaken, then asked if she was welcome to leave. Beatrix's brows furrowed and she stared off at the girl.

"Why the bloody devil would you want to leave, Ms. Antonopoulos? You just got here." A sweet smile fell on her face, "I'm sure Sasha won't beat you. Not unless you cross him, of course." Her eyes flickered over to Megan and she waved enthusiastically before glancing around the room once more.

A Hufflepuff Beatrix never seen before was also in the room, and some boy with a hoodie over his face that made Bea a bit nervous. She couldn't tell his size, nor could she see his face. She began to assume it was one of Devlin's creepy gang members. Probably Callum... Trying to pound Sasha into conformity and not letting his true rebellious self pour out. Anger began to rise in Beatrix at this thought. How dare that boy even lay a hand on sweet, innocent Sasha!

Whilst everyone else chatted mindlessly to each other, the strange Eirene girl admitting she was a fool and Sasha still confused with everything, Beatrix glared at this boy before finally speaking up. "Who are you back there?" She hopped off the desk, trying not to seem as angry as she really was. Beatrix had the temper of a wasp, making herself angry because someone was attending the meeting secretly. Beatrix was a pureblood, too, and she didn't hide away from muggle activities. "Come join us up front, silly. You wish to participate don't you?" Bea called back to him again, still not recognizing the fellow as the second half to B-Squared.

"Thanks," Sasha offered Beatrix, earnestly grateful for her reassurance.  While Sasha wasn't always the most comfortable with public signs of affection, the vote of confidence and encouragement was appreciated.  "But, I ... you know, won't beat anyone, even if they ... cross me," Sasha added, quickly, glancing towards young Eirene.  Did he really need to say that?  It seemed almost unnecessary. 

And, it was starting to look like he was going to need the encouragement.  For one who'd been expecting no one to show up, Sasha was amazed, thrilled and slightly anxious to find five people had shown to the first meeting.  It was 500% better than he'd been expecting!  Well, actually - that didn't work.  500% of zero was still zero - Sasha knew that.  But, over analysis didn't help his analogy much.  Either way, he was still thrilled to see so many show up!  And, now that they were there - it would probably be best to get started.  To speak up and start leading the group.  Public speaking wasn't, exactly, his thing - but Beatrix was right.  It was about time Hogwarts had a club like this. 

"Yeah - I thought, you know, this would be something we should do.  Since," Sasha's gaze shifted from Beatrix' to the fellow sitting in the back.  From where Sasha sat, he could recognize Blake's face under the edges of his cloak hood.  Having been on the receiving end of Blake's brother's insensitivity, he understood the reasons for Blake's discretion.  "It's harder to fear or ... you know, dislike people if you understand them.  I thought it'd be good to, you know, explore muggle culture.  Not just in class but ... Beatrix, it's alright."  After living in the same house with Beatrix for five years, Sasha could see her annoyance, even if she was trying to hide it.  Sasha pushed himself to his feet as Beatrix moved towards Blake.  They were here to learn how to get along, weren't they? 

"But, I thought we could, you know, collaborate between muggleborns and purebloods and such so people can learn more about, you know, how muggles live.  I've got lots of ideas, you know.  Especially if we get big enough to ... well, be more public.  Maybe - take field trips to muggle sports events or ... I don't know ... maybe spend a day in a muggle school.  We could read muggle books - like a book club or even start a Big Brother / Sister program for new muggleborn students.  And, there are muggle sports but I thought we could start with doing something non-sports related today," he added, nodding towards Eirene. 

"Like, I thought we could start by talking about muggle art forms.  And, trying some of it.  Like, you know, muggle photography.  You know muggle pictures don't move, right?" Sasha pulled a couple manual, muggle cameras and a small photo album from his bag and set them on the desk. 

Pax gave Beatrix an uncertain look. Yes, he was still fairly certain she didn't try to be intimidating. But then she didn't really need to try. Her mere presence was enough to make a slightly-nervous first-year shrink back a little farther. Pax unconsciously shrank a fraction of an inch closer to Eirene, as if he wanted to shield her in case Beatrix got more boisterous. Eirene was seemed uncertain enough about being here as it was. When the older Ravenclaw girl's attention was diverted elsewhere, to a hooded boy Pax hadn't noticed before, Pax almost visibly relaxed a little. At Eirene's inquiry after the muggle things he had brought, a smile instantly lit up his features, and he hurried over to the desk, propped his backpack on it and was just unzipping it when Sasha spoke up. Endeavouring to be polite, Pax reluctantly set his bag down and turned his attention to the Ravenclaw prefect.

'Oh, good one Sasha!' said Pax as Sasha started producing photography equipment. For Pax, living in a house so often visited by muggle relatives that they didn't keep many magical pictures, it was easier for him to forget that moving photographs existed, and he found himself duly impressed at Sasha for bringing up the difference. 'Because they're not developed in potion, right, they're developed in... Well, something. Some sort of chemicals, I think. Unless they're digital photos and don't get developed at all but I guess we can't have digital cameras here 'cause they wouldn't work,' he gabbled happily, pleased to be effortlessly knowledgable in a subject for once. He glanced momentarily at Eirene, partly hoping she would be impressed, but not quite realising it. 'I have some muggle art too if you're interested,' he chirped, turning to Sasha again, a hand tentatively resting on the backpack he had started opening. 'Well, if you count comics as art,' he added sheepishly. He did, personally, but was aware older and less-geeky students might not share such a mind set. He didn't have time to look too apologetic before the photo album caught his eye, however; 'Oh, what're the photos of?' He strained his neck a little to get a better look.

As Meg sat down on one of the desks in the room, she wondered what was planned for the club. She remembered what she talked about to Sasha before, but that didn't really mean that she was aware of what was going to be done. After all, she was still unaware that he was the one that was heading the group. She believed that it was someone, who had yet to enter the room. Despite that fact, she assumed that they were going to plan something. What that happened to be, she had no idea. So, she would have to wait and see.

Meg smiled to Sasha. "You're welcome. It shouldn't be a surprise that I showed up," she joked with him, noting the surprise in his voice. Sasha was cut off, as the door opened, with two first years walking in. She frowned as she heard, despite their whispers, about being concerned about joining the club. She wasn't offended, but wondered what was the reasoning behind wanting to leave early. She assumed it was nerves, but she couldn't read minds. Although, that would be nice to be able to.

"It would be good to stay. Hopefully after today, you'll decide to stay," Meg offered the two first years with a smile. She noted that she recalled seeing the girl in her house, and the Hufflepuff was a member of the Art Club with her. Yet again, the door opened, and someone who apparently did not want to be noticed entered the room. She frowned at this display, hoping that it wasn't someone to sabotage or something. Even though she wasn't sensitive on being a muggle-born, that didn't mean that she would enjoy being made fun of.

Noting that Bea didn't appear to like the masked appearance of the newest arrival, Meg noticed that Bea was trying the entice the boy to show who he was. "But..." she started, but trailed off. Clearly her protest would have no effect on the outcome. Besides, Bea was already enticing the boy. She had no idea that her suspicions would be futile when the boy showed who he was. Yet, that did not necessarily mean that she wasn't wrong to question. After all, nothing would get done without some questioning.

Meg looked back over at Sasha as he seemed to take control of the group. She didn't mind, but started to wonder if he was actually their leader. Certainly he was acting like it, considering on what was happening. Clearly she must've missed something since she didn't notice this right from the beginning. Despite being a Ravenclaw, she still managed to become lost on pieces of information like this.

As Sasha pitched ideas, Meg nodded her head at what he said. Certainly that was a good start. "Or maybe a visit to Muggle London, maybe even visiting a theatre," she offered in addition to what Sasha said. Despite the club mainly meeting while at Hogwarts, they certainly could meet during breaks if possible. Naturally, that would have to be discussed. As the discussion went on to muggle photography, she listened to the discussion. "Sometimes photographs take some time to appear if you try to process the photographs yourself," she added.

Kat slipped into the room as quietly as she could, what with the typical creaking door. Glancing around the room uncomfortably, she hesitated at near the exit, wondering whether or not she should really stay for the meeting. Then again, people who wouldn’t judge her for her heritage were few and far between, she told herself. Kat took a couple of hesitant steps forward before choosing to perch herself on a desk. She tried to look like she wasn’t quaking in fear at the thought of so many new people around her, and being Kat, she was likely failing. Of course, she had a system for looking relaxed: step one, drop the perfect posture. After reminding herself to try and blend in, Kat lost her rigid posture, and began to breathe normally. She bit her lip as Sasha started speaking, mentioning possible field trips. “Erruh… maybe we could try to, to introduce the wizarding world to some, uh, muggle electronics, or other muggle conveniences? Like a telephone, or even a-a ballpoint pen. Small things to, y’know, make life easier.” Kat gave a small smile at having finished her sentence. She was so bloody done with this whole ‘quill and ink pot’ business. Not only was it more expensive than buying a pen, it was also a hassle, one that usually resulted in ink all over her face.

Kat nodded enthusiastically on hearing the proposed muggle London trip. Even with a muggleborn mum she’d only ever been there a couple of times. Kat was really happy the club had been established, if only people didn’t feel the need to hide their involvement. She sighed, hoping that one day somebody’s personality wouldn’t be determined by their blood status.

At being addressed so abruptly, Blake practically jumped. He turned his head from the front of the room where Sasha was and finally turned towards Beatrix.  He should have known that she wasn't going to be quiet about his presence, even if he didn't realize why. It didn't occur to him that she might not recognize him and when she demanded to know, he nervously stammered, "Bea....it's....me."

Reluctantly, Blake reached up and lowered his hood, offering her a sheepish smile. Then he glanced around to the others assembled and gave them the same. He hadn't meant to cause a commotion and surely his presence at the meeting wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things. He really just wanted to sink further into the chair and be forgotten. With a sigh, he realized that the only way to be successful at that was to blend in with everyone else. He stood from his seat and moved closer to the front, sliding into a seat next to Bea.

He listened to Sasha's ideas for the club and a feeling of excitement swelled within him. He longed to experience things like muggle sporting events or even sit in a muggle classroom learning some of the things that they learned. Blake was excited about all of it and he was grateful for Sasha for having the courage to pursue the club.

Blake leaned forward at the sight of the muggle cameras and his eyes lingered on the photo album. But his attention was immediately diverted by Pax's mention of comics. He had heard about some of them and the more iconic figures that had been created over time. "Well, comics are drawn and then colored, right? So that is art, isn't it?" Blake admitted that he wasn't very artistic. He appreciated it, but he had difficulty in being able to produce it himself.

When Megan chimed in about the process of photography, Blake inquired, "So how do you process them by yourself? Is it hard to learn?" Most of his hang ups about being at the meeting had been forgotten and instead his attention was turned towards enjoying all the ideas that were being shared.