Vulpes held Aurora's hand as they made their way back to the school. Being in such a nice mood, Vulpes skipped the whole way. He considered for a moment letting go of her hand as they reached the entrance hall, but decided against it. People were sure to talk about the fact they were sitting together anyways, the gossip would start whether or not they held hands. Assuming anyone noticed them that is.

He pulled her along into the Great Hall, heading for his normal spot at the end of the Slytherin table, closet to the door. Vulpes stopped and motioned for her to sit, as he stepped around to the other side of the table. "Welcome to Slytherin," he said with a grin. "Make yourself comfortable."

Vulpes sat and pulled a serving of shepherd's pie towards him, deftly placing a fork in it and beginning to eat. 'So far so good...' he thought idly. No one had seemed to notice yet that the two were sitting together. Vulpes gave a nervous glance over to the Gryffindor table, searching for any sign of Cytherea. But from what he could tell, she wasn't in the Hall yet. That could be good or bad.

"Sorry," he muttered facing Aurora. "I just thought about what my sister would do if she saw me eating with someone." Vulpes smiled lightly. "If you see a First-Year with pink tips in her hair coming this way, let me know so I have time to duck." With a laugh Vulpes took another bite from his dinner.

Aurora felt a little out-of-place on her way to the Great Hall, holding hands with Vulpes.  Because never having held anyone's hand, or went anywhere with anyone, it felt as if she was part of an out-of-body experience.  She wasn't nervous with what others would think of her and him eating together; she couldn't care less, but she was nervous about the whole idea of having a friend.

She wondered if he'd get bored with her and decide not to be her friend anymore, and it made her cringe inwardly.  After what she shared with him, she couldn't take him bailing out on her at the last second.  Looking at Vulpes as he led her to the Slytherin table and let go of her hand to sit down, she knew he wasn't the type to do that sort of thing.  Relaxing, she took the seat across him and eyed the food available in her vicinity.

Picking up a piece of roast chicken, she listened in amusement as Vulpes mentioned her sister.  "She's a violent one, is she?  What sort of thing do you think she'd do?" she asked casually, piling mashed potatoes on her plate.  She smiled at the goblet filling with pumpkin juice and took a good swig.

Vulpes gave another laugh. What exactly was the best way to describe Cytherea. Punchy. She was certainly punchy. And loud; there were enough times when Vulpes wanted to just tell her to shut up. And one could never tell what she would do. She had a bad habit of acting on random impulses.

He smiled and opened his mouth to try and explain, but the words took a moment to form. "Well..." he said slowly. "She's... basically how you would imagine a typical Gryffindor." Vulpes tilted his head slightly. "You know, loud, adventurous, impulsive. Punchy." He smirked and took another bite of food before continuing.

"As to what she would do..." Again Vulpes glanced over his shoulder. "That's a bit of a mystery. She may try and start a fight with you. She may eat all of our food. It's possible she'll bombard us both with questions." He thought for a moment of any other possibilities. "Or, she'll do all three in one order or the other." Vulpes rolled his eyes at the thought of this.

Aurora swallowed her delightful drink and raised her eyebrows at Vulpes, setting down her goblet.  "Start a fight with me?" she asked, a little unbelieving.  She shook her head and looked down at her plate of food.  "I don't want to hurt your sister, Vulpes." she said lowly, thinking about what could happen if a fight did occur.

She was taught by Eric in martial arts for the past few years, so she had the instinctual defense moves down pat.  If his sister attacked her, Aurora didn't know if she would be able to defend herself without actually harming her.

She sighed and looked up at him sheepishly.  "If she does try to attack me, I may accidentally harm her.  The entire time by the lake, I had to fight the urge to kick you in the throat or knock you out with my elbow or something."

Having just finished with one of his unofficial study sessions with Mr. Morgan, Sasha ducked out of the library, his bag slung over his back.  They were just coming in on their two week warning.  Two weeks from now, strangers would start trickling into the castle to put the fifth and seventh years through their paces.  Given the state of this past year, it was remarkable Sasha felt as confident as he did about the upcoming exams.  School had only been 'normal' up until about mid-October.  Then, there'd been detentions.  The accusations of cheating and the chain of events that seemed to follow like links on an anchor's chain being lowered into the water.  The suspension.  Kronos.  Almost changing schools.  Christmas and Ava and Fergie.  And Fergie.  The one consistent thing he'd had to rely on since Christmas. 

All totaled, he'd missed sixteen weeks of school.  And, the weeks following his family's deaths and Ava's death had been a blur.  But, help had come from such a variety of different places.  His professors had almost all pitched in to help him catch up during his absence between February and the beginning of May.  Most of them were helping him now as he finished catching up.  Mr. Morgan, the librarian, was also pitching in - even if it wasn't by choice.  Even so, any free, waking moment he had was being spent with his nose shoved in a textbook or stacks of study flashcards flipping through his fingers.  He'd always been so careful about not bringing anything too muggle to school with him but he was now quite grateful of the last minute decision to toss the several packs of three by five black flashcards into his bags at the start of the month.  The wizarding world just simply didn't have a comparable equivalent that he'd found. 

A stack of flashcards had found their way into his hands by the time the main library doors had swung shut behind him.  The cards were a jumbled collection of potion recipes and ingredients.  He relied on his peripheral vision to help him avoid running into anyone as he weaved through the hallway towards the Great Hall.  There would be fifteen minutes to eat as he finished his stack of potions flashcards and then it'd be back up to the Astronomy tower to put in two hours on his History of Magic notes.  Then, two hours on his Ancient Runes practice translations.  And, then he'd relocate to the Ravenclaw tower where another two hours would be put into reviewing DADA notes and then another two hours on Arithmancy problems before finally heading to bed. 

His chemistry and French would have to wait until tomorrow. 

He found his way to an open seat at the Ravenclaw table and only put down his cards long enough to investigate what Sasha-friendly foods had been provided for dinner.  Hogwarts meals didn't usually feature a wide array of vegetarian-friendly dishes; even a simple pasta dinner was hard to come by.  He'd been taking as subtle a look at the peas as he could (to check to see if any of that invasive bacon was hiding in it) when he noticed he'd missed the Ravenclaw table by one row of seats.  Luckily, despite being at the Slytherin table, he was seated next to a Gryffindor. 

"I don't remember them always being so punchy."  Sasha offered than quickly realized he was inserting himself into a private conversation.  The Ravenclaw blushed.  "I - sorry. I ... think I got lost."  In the Great Hall.  Splendid admission. 

Vulpes was about to respond to Aurora's remarks on how she knew martial arts when the strangest thing happened. Someone actually sat down with them. Quite unsure what to think, Vulpes merely blinked a few times as the boy apologized. He recognized him from class as Sasha something-or-other. He was the Ravenclaw Prefect.

Finally Vulpes shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said lightly. "Sasha, right?" Vulpes offered his hand over the table for Sasha to shake. "You probably know of me from class but, Vulpes Connor."

With a smile Vulpes continued talking to Aurora. "And it doesn't bother me if you accidentally hurt my sister. Probably nothing she hasn't endured before. Or that magic can't fix." He laughed and turned his attention back to Sasha. "What exactly are you going over?"

Aurora eyed the Ravenclaw curiously.  What an odd boy... she thought and shook her head with a smile.  "Aurora Bainsadottir," she said politely and bowed her head.  Looking back at Vulpes, she sighed in relief at his indifference toward her concerns.  Well, maybe she can handle herself if it gets too physical, she told herself and started taking bits of roast chicken into the pile of mashed potatoes.

While eating her concoction, she listened to Vulpes's and Sasha's conversation in interest, reveling in the fact that she was a part of the odd group.  Social situations don't have to be so awkward, if you're with the right people. she thought idly with a smile and hummed in appreciation at the tasty food.

A few scattered specks of brown revealed the presence of bacon in the peas and, with a slight sigh, Sasha set the serving dish to the side.  By the looks of it, it was going to be another potatoes, fresh fruit and bread dinner.  Or, maybe he could talk Professor Trishna into ordering something for him once he got up to the Astronomy tower and bypass the mashed potatoes.  They weren't bad but they did get old after so many dinners.  If not, he might have some muesli bars left in his trunk. 

With that thought in mind, Sasha took a wheat dinner roll and an apple and set just the two of them on his plate.  "Ja," Sasha offered, quickly brushing his hand on a napkin before taking Vulpes' hand and shaking it.  "I recognize you."  Given the ... hair ... it wasn't hard to recognize him.  "Sasha.  Sasha Schlagenweit."  Subconsciously, Sasha felt the urge to check the placement of his own hair and, as subtly as possible, ran his fingers over his head.  He recognized Aurora as well though she wasn't quite as ... distinctive.

"Potions," Sasha confessed, lifting a card that had "Fluxweed" written on the topside of the card.  "I know it's one of our last exams but it comes at the end of a Tuesday.  Four exams those days."  And, it would be the last big push.  There was only the Herbology practical after that.  And, finally, Muggle Studies.  The dessert of exams.  "And ... why would you want to hurt your sister?"  Sasha assumed the statement had been made in jest.  Or, at least, not as seriously as it might have been interpreted. 

Vulpes gave out a light hearted laugh, just now realizing what it must of sounded like to a passerby. "No,no," he said cheerfully and waving a dismissive hand. "It's not that I want he hurt, I don't," he added quickly. "But I figure she's been injured enough that a few more bruises wouldnt hurt." Vulpes gave a shrug and nodded at Aurora. "Actually it may teach her a lesson on picking her battles," he muttered just loud enough to be heard. "Just try and go easy on her if it happens, yea?"

With a smile Vulpes took another few bites of his dinner. "And I have to say," he continued, facing Sasha again. "Nothing wrong with studying early. Probably a good idea to do so, actually." Vulpes smiled, but inwardly shuttered at the thought of their potions OWL. "That's actually one I should be studying." He shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

"What about you Rory?" he asked, hoping to bring her into the conversation. "Any OWLs you're worried about?"


(OOC: If anyone else wants to jump in still, feel free!)

Aurora paused when Vulpes called her 'Rory'; her forkful of roast chicken and mashed potatoes hung in midair just below her chin.  Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Vulpes questioningly.  Is that supposed to be a nickname?  Rory... Aurora... I guess it makes sense. she thought, a warm smile spreading across her face involuntarily.

I like it.  I think I remember mamma calling me that when I was little.  I had almost forgotten. she flushed lightly at the term of endearment and felt warm and fuzzy inside.

"I don't care much for Herbology and Muggle Studies, but I'm not really worried for any subject." she said lightly and gave a thoughtful look at Vulpes before taking a bite from her fork.

Figaro had been eating at the Hufflepuff table with his mates, and a loud conversation about the last quidditch match had ensued.  Something to do with Seekers not being allowed, by most expert opinions, to ask other Seekers for directions.  Figaro only laughed at his accusers.  "I was the least totally bandy thing to happen in that match, I'll have you know.  Razzy broke his bloody arm! And there was that Pavee playing on our team from Gryffindor.  It was a mess, true.  Was it partially my fault?" 

He paused as the admission of guilt hung in the air.

Fig bowed his head with a grin. "Yes!"  His classmates clapped.  "But!" he called over the noise, "but, there were other contributing factors!" 

He got up from his seat, leaving his food barely touched.   "Save my seat."

Figaro then trotted off towards Ravenclaw.  Professor Reid had been riding his ass and Sasha was helping him study, but the studious German kid wasn't at his table.  His classmates pointed over to the next table Slytherin, were Sasha was sitting on the end.  Figaro couldn't really conceive of that - Slytherin roundly hated Sasha.   But all the same he slid up to the end of the table.

He looked from his right to his left.  "Vulpes.  Aurora.  Good day, gents."  Figaro was one of those students who seemed to know and be on generally good terms with everyone.  Or at least he acted that way.  Slytherins tended to be the least tolerant of his loud mouth, however.  On his way over, he'd dug out a quill from his pocket.  It was badly mashed and the tip was blunt and split. 

"Thanks for letting me borrow -" he began, then, he stopped himself.  And looked from Aurora to Vulpes again.  He furrowed his brow.

"She's in Gryffindor," he said to the trio, as if that observation carried with it its own implicit set of questions.

Once again Cytherea found herself tardy for dinner. This time, however, she had been soundly passed out in the common room, when one of her second year friends had the courtesy to rouse her. In return she ended up shoving her friend aside (as per usual), and sprinting down to the Great Hall, screaming "Food, food, food!"

By the time she arrived the majority of the school was already there. She considered for a moment going over to Hufflepuff and sitting with Mary. But with a casual glance towards her brother's usual spot, she noticed he wasn't alone. Not only was he with a girl, but two other boys who Cytherea knew for a fact were not Slytherin's were sitting with them.

Cytherea's jaw dropped as she sprinted over to them. 'He didn't tell me he has friends!' She thought excitedly. A wide grin played across her face as she thought about all the explaining Vulpes would have to do, especially about who this mysterious new girl was.

But as she reached them her expression changed. "She's in Gryffindor," the boy with dirty-blond hair said. And regardless of how Figaro actually intended, to Cytherea it sounded like he was implying it was a bad thing.

Cytherea jabbed him on the shoulder. "Yo!" she hissed. "You got a problem with the Lion?" Cytherea glared at him for a moment before turning to the girl. "And you!" she said aghast. "How exactly is it that you're sitting with Vulpy?"

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows at the Hufflepuff's statement of her House.  What does that matter? she thought curiously and looked at the young Gryffindor with pink tips, whom she assumed was Vulpes's sister.  "How exactly is it that you're sitting with Vulpy?" the girl said, aghast.  Aurora stared at her a moment, immovable, unsure of what to say.  Vulpy? she thought in amusement, but shook those thoughts away.  She is a little spitfire, isn't she?

"I'm sitting with Vulpes because he wants me to, and I want to as well." she answered simply and looked at the Hufflepuff curiously.  "Yes, I'm in Gryffindor, very good observation," she added evenly and took a swig of pumpkin juice, hiding her amusement.  "I take it you're Vulpes's sister?" she said conversationally at the girl and smiled politely.  "I'm Aurora Bainsadottir, Vulpes's friend as of fifteen minutes ago."

"Ow!"  As he stood by the table, Figaro was assaulted by a small, compact package of fists and blabbermouth.  He turned to see that a first year with pink hair had shown up and was demanding answers. 

Figaro, holding his arm, looked to the other fifth years for validation that the little girl was over-stepping.  Figaro was friendly as they came, but he wasn't exactly tolerant of the younger years.  He had enough of his little brother Frank when he was home that he kept mostly away from them at Hogwarts if he could. 

"What is that?" he asked, perhaps rudely referencing the first year as 'that'.  "Is that yours, Vulpy?"

Dinner was normally a quick in and out affair for Casey, fuel for further practice with spells. However tonight he had been chatting with a roommate, Buster Mastiff[1], a boy shaped like an orangutan with beady little glasses that was much more cunning than he looked. The chat had been coded conversation about Buster's "side business" of getting test answers out of the smarter students and trading them to those that wanted a quick and easy exam week. Casey neither was part of the venture nor in need of answers but he was offering Buster spells that might be useful in...information gathering.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to have such stilted conversation. Over the course of dinner a mass of people were filling the space between the third year Slytherins and Vulpes Connor. First, Vulpes had a girl with him, Gryffindor. Okay...you didn't often see house members at the wrong table but Vulpes and the girl seemed to fall under the "couples" category, he might make zest of that later. Then Sasha showed up, lost in intellectual fatigue, clearly not caring what he was doing as he was making up those weeks of school he had missed. Then Figaro, then another Gryffindor, a little girl with hair much like Vulpes. What was next? Was that supposedly fish blooded and potential dementor victim Hufflepuff girl going to show up, confused by Fig's presence? Casey sat open mouthed at the sudden chaos at the table, food falling from a fork in his hand, ignoring Buster's question.

Although the din of conversation was loud Casey made himself heard. "All right, time out for a second! What have I missed? Is there a convention going on here? Are we bringing extra color to the tables, what?" The notice of bacon bits on the table also got to him. "And who's throwing bacon about?! Can't a man enjoy his dinner of grilled chicken breast, green bean casserole, lentil slaw and gluten free biscuits in peace?"

1.	just got the NPC entry up!