the adults are talking open Closed

-Interacting with @Gem Stuart , @Alan Vanes , @Lizzie Verdine , @Maria Dee-

Lydia had always loved meeting new people and since she had come to Hogwarts, the majority of the students that she had met were nice human beings. As Gem introduced himself, the part-veela girl found herself giving him a warm smile, one of those that are properly genuine.

The way that the lovely Tiger pressed his temple against her fingers reminded Lydia of her own cat, and she couldn't resist the temptation of petting the cat, giving him some caresses and light scratches under the chin. As she did that, she listened to Gem talking about his cat Basil, and she chuckled lightly at the thought of that cat. "My cat back at home, Freddie, is just the same; he is always begging for food, and it doesn't matter if he has just eaten, he still comes to you and asks for the little cat-candies. My father always gives in, that's probably why he is a little bit bigger than normal," she said, before nodding along Gem's words. It was quite nice outside indeed.

She was going to answer to him, when a Ravenclaw girl joined them, and Lydia gave her a smile as she noticed what looked like a guitar case in her hand. "Nice to meet you Lizzie, I'm Lydia!"the red headed girl introduced herself, when a whiny meow coming from Tiger stole her attention, and she realised that another girl, a fellow Hufflepuff had accidentally bumped into Alan, all of her things scattering on the floor. Lizzie had immediately helped the other girl with her stuff, picking up some of the things that had scattered around the floor.

"You're not disturbing at all Lizzie, we were just chatting and enjoining the company of the incredibly lovely Tiger," Lydia said as she nodded towards the cat in Alans' arms, before she continued speaking. "Wow, 20 cats sounds like a dream come true! I know of a muggle musician that used to have that many cats, they were like children for him," she answered as she thought about Freddie Mercury - who had been the inspiration for her parents when they named their cat.[/color] "Are you a songwriter Lizzie? I can't help but notice the guitar by your side,"she asked her with a smile, before turning towards the Hufflepuff girl. "Hi, I'm Lydia, nice to meet you! Are you alright, did you hurt yourself?"

_{interacting with @Alan Vanes | @Lydia Cooper | @Lizzie Verdine & @Maria Dee}

Gem grinned at the possibility of Basil making friends with other animals; his only other cat friend had been Dorian, but he hadn't seen Catriona in a hot minute, so maybe he was feeling a bit lonely. "Of course, Basil is a friendly lad--" He could barely get a word out when a clumsy young girl bumped into Alan, making him lean his head back. "Oh, shite."

"Are you all right?" He asked, bending over to pick up a few pieces of parchment that had gone flying, patting them all together before he held a hand out to give them back; he simply smiled at her, reassuring as he possibly could in a situation as this one. "I get it, I fall a bit frequently meself."

"I've always wanted a bunch ov animals, cats, dogs - anythin' that in'nt a bird," It seemed ironic, considering his house, but Gem really did not like any kind of bird that wasn't his house stitched onto his vest or robes. "I used ta be a dog person, but... Basil managed to change me mind, he minds his own business, offers good warmth at night... wouldn't change anythin' for him." He sniffed, turning his attention back to the girl, Lizzie, his brows lifting high on his forehead. He quite liked her already, seemed polite and sensible; it brought him a bit of pride, knowing his house supplied the school with proper students-- not that anyone around him was improper, per se, but... well, he wasn't sure if he could call himself a proper student, so he relied on those around him for a good reputation, that was all.

"No, yer not imposing -- aye, you play? Me too," He gestured at her guitar, looking back up with another kind smile. "It's a bit difficult ta find people who play muggle instruments 'round 'ere. Bit of a relief, really. I'm Gem, pleasure ta meet ya." He stuck a hand out to greet her, using the other to tuck some hair behind his ear - long hair was such a pester sometimes.

Thankfully whoever she bumped into didn’t chew her out for not looking where she was going. Another person, a blonde girl and black haired boy helped her gather her things and some of her dignity. As soon as she was sorted she straightened up, still trying to put things back. She was about to apologize profusely another time, but another person began speaking first.

"Y-Yeah, no worries, M-Mulan, wasn't it?"

Maria’s eyes widened and her eyes snapped up at the source, and she saw it was Alan, an older Gryffindor boy she had met when he organized a game of Tug of War in the Courtyard. He carried an orange cat with interesting patterns on it. Apparently, he had never learnt her real name but assumed that Mulan was it because that’s what Rafael D’Spacito had called her during the game. The image of the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain’s smug face briefly flashed in her mind, and she could have sworn her eye twitched. While she didn’t exactly care for the nickname, she didn’t blame the meek boy for not getting the reference. “This is your fault, D’Spacito.” She mused internally.

“Thank you.” She said to the two before turning to Alan. He must have no idea who the real Mulan was otherwise he wouldn’t have assumed that was her name.

“And um no, uh, Mulan’s not my name, it’s kind of um…well you know what? You can ask Rafa when you see him. My name’s Maria. Maria Dee. I’m really sorry to barge in like this.” This time she addressed all of them, this time getting a full look at the Ravenclaw boy that she had never seen before and a red headed Hufflepuff girl she was sure she had noticed in the common room at some point, and the other girl that helped her was a blonde Ravenclaw carrying a guitar. She even managed to smile a little bit which to her was an achievement, given that she bumped into a bunch of strangers on a bad day.

@Lizzie Verdine, @Maria Dee, @Gem Stuart & @Lydia Cooper

Alan smiled at the girl who introduced herself as Lizzie. "I w-want lots of a-animals when I'm o-older, c-creatures mostly; a b-bit like Newt!", he explained to her with a childish chuckle. It's been his dream for years, his ambition was to grow up to be a magizoologist and he would do all in his power to achieve that goal. Lydia proceeded to talk about her own cat at home which had the name Freddie and the stories she told made his grin widen as he visibly could imagine the scene. Before he could get lost in his thoughts however, he also couldn't help but be amazed by all the cats. 20? That sounded like a big number and Alan wondered what it must be like to look after them. It sounded like a huge responsibility!

He spotted the girl with the guitar and apparently already two of them seemed to know what was up with the instrument, bonding over it in an instant. It reminded him of the time during his second year when his cousin tried to teach him how to play the guitar, but instruments didn't really seem to do it for the Gryffindor, he preferred using his voice. Even though he had to admit that the attempt to learn something new had been a great distraction when he most needed one.

He was a bit embarrassed when he found out that he had called the dark haired girl by the wrong name and her words made him curious. "I w-will, excuse m-me for my m-mistake please", he mumbled and offered her an apologetic smile. He was glad that she did not seem to be mad and made a mental note to go and ask Raf as soon as he had the time to write a short note.

@Gem Stuart | @Lydia Cooper | @Alan Vanes | @Maria Dee

"Freddie? Hey that's my favorite singer. Freddie Mercury. I could talk about him for days." She smiled and looked up to the sky, "I also love the other band members from Queen. Brain May, Roger Taylor (A.K.A the love of my life) and little John Deacon." Lizzie looked back to Lydia and grinned, "I'm going to get at least six cats when I leave Hogwarts It's just unfortunate my brother Luke is allergic."

Lizzie continued while crossing her arms, "I probably want cats more than children just like him." She laughed and shook her head. Her mother had told her about the pain of child birth and the Ravenclaw decided she would take the easy root. It wasn't like Lizzie was an only child. She did have 5 siblings so there was a high chance of Lizzie's mother getting grandchildren.

"Actually, I do. I write songs. Write music. I have a few pieces here with me right now." Lizzie moved her hand to show her shoulder bag that was overflowed with parchment, "Most of them will never make it to being released but I'm sure at least one will be a big hit."

She then turned to the boy who was holding his hand out for her to shake. She hesitantly lifted her own hand bu then confidently smiled and took it shaking it quite softly. "I do play guitar. I can also play some piano. My mum is teaching me. Except I can't practice while here since an owl can't carry a whole grand piano from London."

She let go of his hand and wiped another part of her skirt from the muck, "It was a big struggle getting my guitar here." She grinned and slightly shook her head to get the hair out of her face.

Abilities:

Reducio

Charmer
You are just distracting. Distracting to look at perhaps. Maybe it is your wit or your charm, your grace or something else about you that is intangible but absolutely present.

-Interacting with @Lizzie Verdine, @Gem Stuart , @Alan Vanes, @Maria Dee -

Lydia smiled back at Lizzie, feeling excited; it didn't happen that often that people at Hogwarts knew about Queen or the Beatles or of any muggle music, so it was always so nice to be able to talk about it. "My mom and dad are big fans of Queen, that's why they named Freddie that way! I quite like their music as well, it's amazing how many things it can make you feel," she smiled again and then continued listening to Lizzie, nodding along.

Her eyes light up in excitement when Lizzie and Gem said that they both played; she had been wanting to properly learn to play the guitar for a while, to be able to switch and not be "stuck" with just the piano, but she hadn't found anyone able to help her with that yet. "That's so cool Lizzie! I have such great admiration for people that are able to just, put their feeling and emotions into words and sing about them," Lydia sighed, before continuing talking. "I play the piano as well! I've been doing that for a while, but recently I've tried to properly comment to it,"

When the Ravenclaw girl said that she couldn't practice there at Hogwarts since there wasn't a piano, Lydia's mind raced to the rehearsal room. "Actually, there is a piano here, and a lot of other instruments as well," she said as she looked between Gem and Lizzie, "There's a Rehearsal Room on the fourth floor! I've found out about it a couple of months ago, and since then that place is like my second home," she admitted, her voice suddenly less airy and happy.After all, it wasn't long after she had found that room that she had also found out the truth about her mother, and her whole world had started crumbling down under her feet.

The sudden mention of Rafael's name got the red headed girl's attention, and she tuned in the conversation as she realised that she had been so focused on talking about music that she had almost forgot about everything else. "Nice to meet you Maria!" she said and gave the Hufflepuff girl a smile "And don't worry, please. We're just chatting! Plus, it's always nice to meet new people,"