Welcome Back Everyone!! Errand Closed

PV: @Opeila Winters
Day: September 3rd
Attire: Here
WC: 991

"Oy' bro, hope terms goods. Hadda' blast last month of the summer when I had the chance to get back to the good old Bally' and didn't think I'd miss home as much until I got back. The boys all doin good I saw and was awesome to get back to skatin' with ya. They got some funny' way of deliverin' mail out here since it's in the sticks and figured you'd get a good crack outta this feathery thing flyin' your way. Hope it gets to you in the middle of class or something and the teachers go wild. Anyways, I was just gonna say that we gotta hit that new rail that goes down that 20 step next summer and wanted to let you know things all good here. With some really hot chick right now so can't keep up too much with this writing stuff, sucks we can't just text like normal, stupid military schools right?"

-YA BOY Z

september 3rd, 2023
sunday
nara alora | werewolf, wandmaker
interacts with: technically just @Kim Sato, but i'm adding @Tesla Stone since she's in like 60% of this
mentions: @Simon Kincaid & @Sage Willows & @Colin McCoire (and then like everyone else as a group)
wc: ~800

Returning to Hogwarts was uneventful at best. The train ride was fun, and Nara found herself sitting across from a new first-year named Sage- but aside from that, uneventful. The upcoming full moon would probably the most eccentric part of September, with this being the first time Nara will transform as a second year.
There would probably be at least one new werewolf this year, and normally Nara was not a fan of new people, but there was something that felt a little right about welcoming the new wolves. Pride or something similar, mayhaps? It was still a few weeks before the full moon would rise once more though, so there was no need to think about it now.
Now was the time to think about heading to the Great Hall and seeing what was going on. Apparently, some guy was putting on a back-to-Hogwarts event, and while being a socialite wasn't her thing- there wasn't much else going on. Classes had yet to start and after taking an egregiously long nap, the boredom was beginning to set in.
To little surprise, there was already a gathering of people in the Hall. Most of the people there Nara was unfamiliar with, save for maybe a passing glance in the hall, but there also happened to be a few she did recognize. Namely that Hufflepuff prefect she had an encounter within the prior schoolyear- but his name couldn't come to mind. S... Sam? Scott...? It was probably something like that, and it didn't really matter. Nara was absolutely, totally and truly not going to even contemplate walking up to him. That was like a death sentence.
The other guy she recognized- well, she didn't actually know him. But she did know he was a werewolf too. And also, that him and Tesla seemed to be friends, his name was like Colin or something. Tes had mentioned it in passing a few times. Hopefully it actually was his name and not some friend nickname.
In Nara's eyes, there was no reason to linger and chitchat, so she leaned over one of the tables and began scribbling on a spare piece of parchment. The goal was to write a letter to someone, anyone, and tell them about your summer. Easy-peasy. Well, it wasn't that easy-peasy, especially considering that Nara had done maybe one thing the entire summer. She had slept a lot and also ended up getting her biological father's wand, so maybe that should be what her letter is about.

Reducio

Hey. I'm bored so I'm writing you this letter to 'tell you about my summer'. It's for some welcome back party that's going on right now, you don't need to reply if you don't want to. I'd like to read your response though.
Over the summer, little happened. Same old, same old. Me and my stepdad hung out some, but my mom was pretty busy with work. Apparently, she had some kind of promotion and has more stuff to do now. I don't really mind though, it's nice to not have her breathing down my neck about my sleep schedule all the time.
I got a new wand. I was gonna show it to you in person, but I haven't seen you since school started back up. Apparently, it was from my bio dad before he died, so that's cool. If you're free sometime this weekend, we can have a mock duel.
That was pretty much it. I think I did what I was supposed to, so I'll end this letter now.

Well... that was it, right? Was that all she was supposed to do? After finishing her letter and peeking at the other students, everyone else seemed to be too busy chattering. So, did that mean all she had to do was send her letter off and leave? That seemed anti-climactic. But interacting with her classmates seemed... no good. Most of the people here were friends and most definitely knew each other. Though she wasn't an outcast by any means, she wasn't... what was the word she used earlier? Socialite.
She took a glance around the Great Hall, spotting a few people sitting by themselves. To be or not to be, that truly was the question.
Opting to move away from the main group interacting, Nara slipped next to some older boy- a Gryffindor, by the looks of it- sitting a bit further away. He had a hard look on his face, and he looked kind of intimidating. Hopefully that meant nobody would approach. Fingers crossed. But it was kind of unusual for someone to look so unhappy. Why even bother coming in the first place?
After another moment of contemplation, she faced him. "Hey." She glanced over at him, leaning forward onto her palm. "You look miserable."

Open for interactions :]

______________________

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Bailey turned to Kim and asked "who do you want to say hello to first?", as they stood in the entrance to the Great Hall where the errand was taking place.
Bailey still had the letter to give to Kim, but she had momentarily forgotten about it. She'd remember before they left the party though, and give it to him upon her leaving his side (which she didn't plan to do until the end of the party).
Kim really didn't seem like the boy she had met, and she was trying not to be afraid that she had lost her darling. Shaking herself out of these thoughts, she was shocked when Kim actually spoke - not shocked at his words, but at the tone. All he said was 'no one' but he said it like he was mad at her... but at the same time the words had no emotions. Bailey drew a step away from him, fear momentarily clouding her eyes, afraid she had done something or said something wrong. maybe.. maybe he just needs space she thought, deciding to give him just that. With a soft smile that didn't quite go to her eyes she said softly "ok then - i am going to say hello to friends and such, but i guess you can.. uhhh write the letter like Damion wants..? i already wrote mine, so im just going to say hello to a few people... if you want to leave - just let me know.. ok? please"
With that, Bailey started walking over to where some of her dearest friends were. @Colin McCoire was one of bailey's closest friends, probably her second closest just after Kim. She saw he was surrounded by friends, all of which but one she recognized. Colin's hopefully girlfriend by now @Clair Fernandez, and the beautiful third year @Angelfyre McCubbin. She spotted @Simon Kincaid, AF's doting hufflepuff boyfriend in the vicinity and knew that he'd most likely join this little group soon enough. that makes my hellos quite easy bailey thought, putting Kim in the back of her mind so that she could truly be cheerful.
Making her way over to the little group Bailey would smile and wave, and once in ear shot she'd sing out a cheerful "hello!!!! Mind if i join you all?"
To the one that she didn't recognize, but that looked quite similar to Colin she said "hello!! i don't think i've had the pleasure of being introduced to you before, but my name is Bailey Glade!! im a third - nope sorry fourth year, in Ravenclaw. It looks like we may share a house..?" Bailey glanced at the boy's stack of parchment, clearly hinting at his affinity for her beloved house.
Looking him back in the face, she said "anyways, any friend of Coco is a friend of mine!!!" sticking her hand out for the boy to shake if he so wanted, she smiled welcomingly. i wonder.. i think coco may have mentioned his brother before.. but i thought he died... so this cannot be him, can it? i do hope this is coco's brother, Coco deserves all the happiness in the world!!
Turning to the others she said " hey Coco, Clair and AF!!! How were you guy's summers?"
Glancing between coco and Clair Bailey made a mental note to ask Clair if they had made it official yet. It was clear - to her at least - that Coco adored Clair, and she seemed to like him back. she wanted all the happiness for them both, and hope that things between the pair worked out.

After Madi received an invitation from one of her friends Delainie to go to a welcome party, she quickly jotted down a response and sent it off with an owl.

Reducio

Dear Delainie,
I'd love to do that! I'll be over in a few minutes, I'll look for you!
See you soon,
Madi.

She thought that looked okay. She was only sending an owl out of habit. She knew the owl probably wouldn't get to Delainie before Madi made it to the party, but she was really used to texting, where the response would be received really fast. She wasn't quite used to magical communicating, and neither was her family. Her father said it was always a surprise to see an owl zoom in the house and drop off a letter.

She grabbed her bag and started making her way down to the Great Hall. Once she arrived, she heard a bunch of chatter inside. She pushed open the doors and walked inside. There were a bunch of people standing around talking, and she didn't recognize at first glance anyone she knew well. Then, after seeing that she didn't know anyone well enough that she could go up and talk to them, began looking around for something she could do, and seeing tables with beverages, desserts, and food, she decided that her thing to do would be eating something. She made her way through the crowd and walked over to the food table. Having not had breakfast, she was extremely hungry. She took something she thought looked good and took a bite. She stood by the food table wondering what she could do. She looked around, trying to see what others were doing and seeing if she could get any hints. She then learned that she was supposed to write a letter to a friend about what they had done during summer. That made sense, seeing it was a welcome back party. She decided to send it to Delainie, because she had invited Madi to this party, so who else would she send it to?

Reducio

Dear Delainie,
I've decided to write the letter about what we did this summer to you. I know you already know some of it, but I'm gonna give the rest of it, and that it a little more detail.
My summer started off well, I went to summer camp and met a few new friends there. It was fun! I had a nice time participating in all the activities. My cabin was an absolute explosion of color, but I met some really nice people there.
Then, I went home for the rest of the summer. It was nice seeing my family and friends. I got to see some Muggle friends that went to my old school, so that was pretty cool. I missed them a lot, so it was awesome getting to reconnect with them and see how they're doing. I'm really glad to be back at school, though. It was great being home for a couple months or so, but I missed Hogwarts.
Sincerely,
Madi

Madi decided not to mention everything that happened during her summer. After she finished her letter, she folded it up and put it in her bag, deciding that she would give it to Delainie when she found her. She began to look around for Delainie, not wanting to stand alone. She also didn't want to forget about giving Delainie the letter in her bag. Eventually, she found her, made her way through all the people, walked up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Delainie!" She smiled.

Interacting with: @Delainie Silverwing
Mentioning: Other members of the party

Open to interactions!

3 September, 2023

Relief washed over her as Clair welcomed her to join the group. Then almost immediately, and simultaneously, she heard Colin raise his voice and call out to Simon as Clair excitedly shot off like a rocket to greet her bestie. At the sound of Simon's name being trilled out in Colin's lovely brogue, AngelFyre looked first to Colin and then turned just in time to see Clair envelop him in a hug.

She grinned and quickly turned back to her own, happily matched bestie and goaded him just a bit. "Dang, Colin, me lad. Does it strike you ever that if our current love matches were to fall through that you and I would not have to worry too long about the sore hearts we would be leaving behind?" Normally, there would have been a complete lightness in tone in such a statement made to Colin, but it fell a little more flat than she anticipated it doing.

She saw a flash of confusion streak across Colin's eyes, and she simply shook her head almost imperceptibly, and lifted her hand off the table and waved her comment off. She wanted to say more, but at the same time she did not. Not then and not there anyway. Her woofy did not know of her loss and ever since it had happened, Colin had been the one person she thought would be able to understand her grief better than anyone, having lost Liam last year.

Well, miracles really do happen...obviously. The fact that Liam was sitting across from her now, in the living, breathing flesh, did not negate the help she knew Colin could be to her. He had mourned hard for a year, but he had lived joyously as well. How he had managed to do so is what she wanted to tap into from her lupine brother, if at all possible.

Still looking to him she said simply, "I feel the need for an outcropping outing, Woofy," and she paused briefly before adding, "and the sooner the better." Then she smiled wanly at him and turned back to look at her handsome Hufflepuff, making his way over to her, with Clair by his side. That is when her real smile could not help but grace her face. I mean, how could it not? Simon was here now and that always settled and calmed her.

As he and Clair drew closer, she smiled widely at him and patted the place on the bench next to her. "I believe this spot is reserved just for you, Mr. Kincaid," and once he actually reached her, she then tapped her lips a couple of times while looking up at him and added, "as is this one."

After he had settled in and their hands were locked together and her ankle had snaked around his, she asked, "So, is there a point to this little get together beyond having friends gather together?

She had no sooner finished her question when she heard Bailey Glade calling out her hellos to all of them. "Hello, Bailey! Welcome back! How was your summer?" She looked over to her pretty Ravenclaw friend, expecting to see Kim by her side, and was surprised he was not. AngelFyre thought nothing more beyond it, quickly deciding Kim was likely more enthralled with the sumptuous displays on the food tables than he was in greeting throngs of people.

That crowd aversion of his was something AngelFyre definitely shared in common with Kim.

Her interest was definitely roused, however, when she caught sight of him, off in the distance, behind Bailey's slender figure, sitting alone at a table with no food in front of him. That was very odd. She turned a more discerning eye... and ear... towards Bailey and hoped she was okay.

She hoped Kim was okay.

She hoped "they" were okay.

AngelFyre then rested her head on Simon's shoulder feeling both grateful for what they had and feeling the need to connect to her "one" amidst the throng of many.

------- ----------- -------

@Colin McCoire @Clair Fernandez
@Bailey Glade

Well, well... It would be Koko's first year at Hogwarts. She was very excited be a first year was an amazing thing for the little girl she was.
She was at a party, a Ravenclaw prefect had organized it and Koko thought it was a good opportunity to meet more people at Hogwarts.
The party started, there was a very lively atmosphere, Koko had a great time, after a while her face was all red with excitement and joy.
She sat for a while, she wanted to write, she liked it a lot, in fact she had written since she was very little and she wanted to be a writer when she grew up but that summer she had neglected it a lot.
She decided to write a letter. Who could she write it to? He thought of an old friend of his, Sylvia Nightingale. Their parents were very close friends and the girls had ended up being friends.
They knew each other from a very young age and got along well but had been losing contact. Maybe Sylvia was or was going to go to the party so they could talk in person but Koko wanted to write her a letter.
Koko grabbed a pen and paper and started writing.

Dear Sylvia, how are you? I'm good. How it's all going?
We haven't seen each other or spoken in a long time. How are your parents? Me and Ava are fine. Ava is very happy at BeauxBatons and I am less happy that she is there. Sometimes I wish she were here to help me.
Aren't you at Hogwarts? I haven't seen you any of these days but I guess you're here.
My summer has gone well, I took a trip to Italy, we had a great time. We got tanned and had a lot of fun on the beach.
We were at the house of some Italian magician friends. We also visited some cities and tourism hicoms.
The rest I spent between Edinburgh at my grandparents' house there and at my grandparents' house in Glasgow.
Apart from the month we were in Italy, my parents have been working. But well, we have been comfortable. I still have to write Ava a letter to ask how she's doing.
And what have you done this summer? Boring or fun?
You know I love your name, it's very original. Why did you say your parents gave it to you?
I think it's a great name. Did you know? This Christmas we are going to France to visit Ava, I can't wait, I want to see my sister again and I have never been to France. It will be very exciting.
Well, I'm saying goodbye, I hope to see you at Hogwarts. (I'm sure you're here) And that we can live several adventures together.
See you soon and have a good time.
With love and joy
Your old friend Koko
P.S Can you tell me something about going out for ice cream one day, what do you think?

Koko

Koko just wrote the letter and went to the owlery to send it. There he met more students who were also sending letters. She then returned to the party and joined the general bustle again.
She had fun, made many friends and got upset. And the party had only practically begun.
Koko laughed with Gryffindor girls, she talked to a Ravenclaw boy. She wanted to go over and say hello to the guy who had organized the party and thank him but he was surrounded by people.
It doesn't matter, Koko thought, She would tell him another day.
Koko was happy, she had feared Hogwarts, she had feared not fitting in and feeling bad. But it was fine. And it was fun. The important thing.

Greebo's ears flattened slightly once he caught Kiwi's scent. Hmf. But he allowed Clair to scratch under his chin all the same. The human female reminded him of his first home. Kiwi, on the other paw, held no such warm associations for Greebo. And he registered his opinion by giving her his best and haughtiest glare.

Colin couldn't help but notice a slight blush work it's way up Clair's neck. He'd never known her to blush before! That was his own special forte. Liam and he shared a sly smirk --- after all, it was impossible for Colin to hide anything from his twin! And they'd spent the entire summer together, so naturally Liam had to put up with Colin gushing about Clair! Colin also noticed one more thing. Clair was surely going to explode if she didn't get out whatever it was she was going to say.

Colin realised that he hadn't written to her all summer. Perhaps she'd forgive him, what with everything that had been going on at McCoire House over the summer! There was so much to catch up on, Colin had reckoned that a letter just wouldn't suffice. Of course, Clair had written one for him, and she put that into hands. He was about to tear into it like an excited boy about to leap headfirst into a cool lake on a summer's day, but --- that look. Colin wasn't quite sure which look this was. It could have been the "I hope Colin doesn't do something crazy" look; or maybe the "If you do that I shall present you with a Lecture" look. Or --- no! Could this be the "Please wait for it?" look? Maybe there was something in here she didn't him to read just yet.

Girls were still so strange! And navigating their looks and moods was every bit as mysterious now as it had been last year. It was like playing gobstones or chess. Colin decided to play safe. He smiled and said: "I'll read this later, if it's okay with you lass?" He tucked the letter into his shirt so it would be close to his heart.

Colin noted Bailey's approach as Clair went off to get Simon. He was smiling as he watched Clair. AngelFyre said something at that moment: "Dang, Colin, me lad. Does it strike you ever that if our current love matches were to fall through that you and I would not have to worry too long about the sore hearts we would be leaving behind?" He blinked as he tried to catch up with what she'd just said. Colin now was practically bursting as Bailey introduced herself to Liam, saying her hellos to the rest of them and asking how their summers went. Leaving sore hearts behind? Current love matches failing!? What? Of course, Colin's summer was an absolute blast! And he wanted to hear about everyone else's too! Especially AngelFyre's. And he wanted to ask her about what she just said. Had she --- Seen --- something? Colin reckoned that most boys, if their best girl mate had said what Colin just heard, they would probably begin to wonder what the girl could possibly mean. But there was a curious connexion between himself and Fyre Angel. He knew well that she was a Seer --- he was sure of this even in first year. She knew things about him and his inner life.

But something was changed.

"Well, it is a great please to meet you at last, Bailey!" Liam said, breaking Colin's reverie. He gave Colin a quick grin. "Indeed I am a friend of Colin's --- you may not remember me, though I spent most of first year in the library, but I certainly know you! Cocoa," he said, emphasising Bailey's nickname for Colin, "has told me much about you. Clearly, Cocoa has not me everything!"

Colin blushed. "Bloody hell, mate! Some things you just don't tell your twin!"

Colin felt supremely happy in this moment. His girlfriend was at his side, as was his best friend and his brother. Other friends were nearby. Colin wondered about this as Clair came back over to their table. A disquiet arose from deep in Colin's heart. Not one of the dark shadows with the terrifying voices that he had experienced in the past, but rather a shadow. As if some pain or hurt stalked the happiness of all his friends.

Angel Fyre said that she needed an outcropping outing. Colin raise one eyebrow as she welcomed Simon. He knew exactly what she meant. And it was at that moment that he saw Kim Aoki waiting by the doors. Kim was one of Colin's first friends at Hogwarts. He knew that he and Bailey were close, and there Kim stood, looking sad and withdrawn. Was Kim's heart ache a sign of the disquiet that seemed to stalk them all?

@Clair Fernandez | @Angelfyre McCubbin | @Bailey Glade | @Kim Sato | @Simon Kincaid