[Drakonnas & Simple] Alis Volat Propriis [M]

[Drakonnas]

Amelia tried to remember what had happened, and it was just a big blank. "Well... I dunno what happened." She shook her head. "Maybe I just ate something bad." She shrugged. "Come on, let's get to the common room, Keaton! I wanna see it." She tried to sound excited. She still didn't want to be in Slytherin, but... Maybe there would be perks to it as well. "Classes start tomorrow, so I wanna make sure that everything is ready before bed."

Before anything else could happen, the nurse came back out, and took a few quick measurements before telling them they were good to go. "Just come back if anything happens, dearie!" She called as the trio left the hospital wing. They made their way down into the basement, where the Slytherin common room was.

"Password?" An old, musty painting of a scowling wizard in priest's robes spoke as they approached. "I've already been interrupted tonight, you might as well go on and interrupt me another time. And go ahead and tell all your friends that they can interrupt me whenever the hell they want, with no concern for my personal feelings."

Amelia looked up at the picture, unsure of what to say. "I... apologize..." She finally said, looking a little hesitant. "I didn't mean to interrupt you..."

The picture of the scowling priest seemed to cheer up a little bit at that. "Well, finally, we have a young witch with manners, hmm? Glad to hear it. If you'll kindly give me the password, I'll let you in, and can get back to doing my business."

[Alter Ego]

"Follow me, then~!" Ryan chirped, leading the way to the Slytherin common room. Keaton stashed the desserts back in his pocket, figuring he'd give them to Amelia later.

When they arrived, the portrait was already up and being a grouch. Well, the priest was always a bit of a grumpy-pants, in Keaton's opinion.

At least he seems to like Amelia, Keaton thought. If we ever forget the password, maybe Amelia can use her charm to get us or herself in?

"Step aside, underlings!" Ryan said, cracking his knuckles jokingly. "Pickled Prune Pulp!"

The priest nodded, swinging himself open. A small, dark tunnel that was tall enough to fit a six foot five man gaped in front of them. Ryan grinned, looking to Keaton and Amelia before heading in.

The common room was decorated to look like its sister, right down to the very fabric donning the chairs. The place glowed with a warm fire, and a handful of students were all playing wizard chess and messing around, talking about the new year.

"Welcome home, Amelia, Keaton!" Ryan looked to Amelia, crouching down so that he was eye-level with her. His brow furrowed, and his cheerful disposition turned serious. "I know you didn't want Slytherin, but we're really not as bad as everyone says. Sure, we've had our share of bad seeds, but every house has, including Hufflepuff. The other Houses just don't like to admit it." Ryan stood back up, brushing his robes off. "Now, Amelia... Your dorm is on the right, where only girls can get in. You'll have a few roommates, so be sure to make friends! Boy's dorm is on the left, and only boys can get into it. Keaton knows pretty much everything 'bout this place, but don't be shy to ask me! Now, go have fun!"

With that, Ryan jogged off to where the other seventh years sat around a table and chatted.

"So, Amelia..." Keaton said, turning and smiling at the girl. "Whaddya think? Pretty cozy, right?"

[Drakonnas]

Amelia looked rather impressed as the portrait opened up, revealing a huge passageway, which lead into a dark common room. She didn't like the lack of light very much, though there were a lot of people in the common room, though not as much as she might have expected. She looked around, trying to get used to it. They were near the dungeons, and thusly, were below most of the school.

Amelia turned to Keaton as he spoke to her. "Well... I wish it was better lit in here..." She admitted, but smiled. "I kinda like it. It does feel cozy, but I think..." Amelia was interrupted as a fourth year boy came over to her. .."

"Hey. I'm Brian." He said, smiling at her, but he scared Amelia. She backed up a bit, intimidated by this boy. "Let's get a few things straight. While you're a Slytherin... You will follow the "slytherin code". He glared at her, and poked her squarely in the chest. "We are better than everyone else. And you will act as such. Show some pride." He hissed, glaring at Keaton if he tried to interfere.

"Second of all. You will not have any friends outside of slytherin." Amelia was starting to get mad. This was not how she wanted to be, and being told she couldn't was pretty frustrating. But hey... he was just a student, what could he do? The professors could surely put a stop to this. If it got out of hand, she'd report him. Simple as that.

"Thirdly. Anyone and everyone from Gyrffindor are jerks. We do not get along with them. We play to win. We play dirty if we have to. Morals aren't important here. It's results that matter. You bring glory to Slytherin... or you don't belong here. There are other rules instead... and if you break any of them... I swear, you'll wish you never came to Falconreach." He said, and Amelia seemed to shrink in stature.

"But that's bullying." She said, angry, but scared. "You can't do that!"

"But I can." Brian said, glaring at her again. "You wanna do this the hard way, hmm? Well... Everyone obeys me. Sure, I might get in trouble. But the teachers can't put a whole house into detention. And if you don't obey me, you won't exist. You'll be alone. Friendless. In a hostile environment. We'll see how long you last before you crack like an egg.." He said with a bit of glee. "I love seeing that moment. How long will it take before you do? Or will you obey?"

[Alter Ego]

Keaton watched angrily as some jerk fourth-year walked up to Amelia, barking orders at her like some know-it-all. The boy knew exactly what he was doing; the same had been done to him only a year ago. At the time, Keaton was too intimidated to really do anything until the other boy jabbed him squarely in the chest. When that had happened, Keaton had spat directly in the boy's eye. Since then, the kid didn't bother him, though Keaton was rewarded with a black eye and quite a few nasty bruises.

"Hey, back off!" Keaton growled, stepping in front of Amelia. Luckily, he was taller than her, but just barely. "You aren't the Head of the House, and you're not a prefect, and you're definitely not special. How many times do you gotta dock points from us because of your bullying?" Keaton folded his arms across his chest. "Besides, we all know the real reason why we're here - we're in Slytherin because we're cunning, not because we're big jerks who pick on everyone. Stop living up to that expectation, or else you're gonna be like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

Keaton smirked smugly. The fourth-year was brawny, sure, but his intelligence was rather lacking. Though He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had died years ago, it still felt unsafe to say his name, and it was one of the worst insults you could tell any kind of magical folk. Keaton could easily take care of this brat.

"And besides..." Keaton added, "I'll still be Amelia's friend, despite what you do. Geez, you really are an attention-seeker, aren't you? You oughta be pissed at yourself for pickin' on a girl, especially a first year. You better watch your back, because if you keep picking on Amelia, we'll be sure to get back at you like no one ever has before."

[Drakonnas]

Amelia was grateful for Keaton's intervention. She did not know how to stand up to this boy, who seemed to delight in putting himself in positions of power over others. She glared at him, and shook her head. "You're not head boy, a prefect, or even a teacher. I don't have to listen to you. I'll do what I want, how I want. And you cannot make me any different." Her words were braver than she felt, but she wanted to try and stick up for herself.

The fourth year frowned. "You've just made a big mistake." He said. Glowering at the two of them, he hurried off, not wanting to start an actual confrontation this early on. Amelia turned back to Keaton, and gave him a smile that was both thankful and worried. "He... won't bully me too much, will he?" She asked, as if trying to reassure herself of that fact. Yawning, she realized just how tired she was. "I... I think I'm going to need to go to bed, if that's okay with you." She said, suddenly realizing how unsure she was about where to go. "Uh... which way to my room?" She asked, a little embarrassed.

[Alter Ego]

Keaton smirked, watching smugly as the fourth year went running off. Oh, how Keaton loved besting those older than him.

He turned to Amelia, his smile not fading. He'd relish in this victory until he got tired of it. Maybe he'd even tell a few friends of his feat. Doing something like that would embarrass the older kid even more, making Keaton happier. It really was too easy.

"He... won't bully me too much, will he?"

"Nah. If he'll pick on anyone, it'll be me, so don't worry. And if he does, I'll take care of it." Keaton winked at Amelia.

"I... I think I'm going to need to go to bed, if that's okay with you. Uh... which way to my room?"

Keaton chuckled.

"Heh, it's that way," he said, pointing to the right. "Boys dormitory is on the left. Only boys can get into it, and only girls can get into the girl's dormitory. You'll have roommates, so you won't be alone. Good night!"

After Amelia left, Keaton went up the stairs to his room. When he entered, he was happy to see that his friends from last year were roomed with him.

"Hey, guys!" he waved, immediately beginning to catch up with his pals.

[Drakonnas]

"Thank you, and good night!" Amelia called, as she walked towards the stairs that led to her room, and dorm. She gasped when she entered, it was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. Silver and green lined the walls, and everything looked regal and elegant, as if it belonged to royalty. She sat down on the bed, and realized that the other girls in the room had stopped talking, and were watching her with interest. She looked slightly embarrassed, but smiled. "Why, hello!" She said, taking a stab at conversation.

"Well, don't just sit there, introduce yourself." Another girl with long, red hair said, smiling at her. She was quite tall, and had an almost lazy appearance. She was quite pretty though, Amelia thought. "My name is Elizah Cormac, and this is Hazel, Tiffany, and Whitney." She pointed to each of the other girls in turn, and they all smiled, and nodded their heads.

"I'm Amelia." She said, looking them all over. They seemed nice enough, and she couldn't imagine that they would side with the bully she had just encountered. They chatted for awhile, before they decided it was time to go to sleep. Amelia was happy as she closed her eyes, sinking into the bed ever so gently. It would b a good year. She was sure of that.

When morning came, Amelia woke up to her alarm buzzing quietly. She turned it off, yawned, and sat up. Today marked the start of her day, the start of her classes. She was very excited for the day, and could not wait for breakfast, where she would get her class schedule.

Closing the curtains around her bed so that she could dress, she put on her robes, and made her bed, and then, headed down into the common room, where she hoped to find Keaton, if he was up. If not, she would simply head down to the great hall for breakfast.

[Alter Ego]

The next morning, Keaton was greeted with a blast of sunlight from the nearby window. He groaned and laid his right arm over his eyes, trying to block out the light.

"Five more minutes..." he mumbled, half-awake. He almost drifted back to sleep before he remembered something very important. Keaton bolted up in bed, startling his other roommates.

"Amelia!" Keaton shouted, scrambling out of bed. He hastily threw on his emerald-gilded robes and quickly combed through his hair, running into the shared bathroom to brush his teeth. As fast as his little legs could carry him, he sprinted down the stairs leading to the common room, searching for Amelia.

His friends looked at him, bewildered. Wasn't Keaton supposed to wait for them?

Keaton finally found the tiny girl near the entrance of the space. His chest heaved up and down from running, but he made his way over to Amelia as coolly as possible.

"Were you waiting long?" he asked, wiping his sweaty palms in the pockets of his robes. "Sorry, I kind of forgot that we had school today, haha..."

[Drakonnas]

(Hey, I'm so sorry I've taken so long. Again. I kinda lost the will to role-play after a certain... event happened. I think I'm better now though!)

Amelia looked over at Keaton with a slight look of surprise in her eyes. "Why are you in such a rush?" She asked innocently. "It's only 7:00! Classes don't start until 9:00. We have two hours to go down, get some breakfast, and make it to class." She said, looking at her schedule. "I dunno what I was waiting for, really. I guess maybe I hoped that someone would talk to me, and maybe we could go down to breakfast, and make a new friend." She said simply.

It was understandable that the upperclassmen wouldn't care much for the younger students, as they had their own friends, and the age difference was relatively clear. But she had hoped that maybe another first year would come talk to her. But maybe she'd have to be the one to reach out, if the others were as shy as she was at times.

"Did you sleep well?" Amelia asked as they made their way out of the common room, into the basement, and started heading up the stairs to the Great Hall. As they entered the Great Hall, Amelia was, once again, stunned by sheer magicality of the place. Floating candles lit the area, a huge variety of food was everywhere, and students both seemed to be thrilled and nervous for the first day of classes.

[Alter Ego]

((Don't worry about it. I'm just happy you're doing better!))

"Yeah, but... Well, I didn't want you to wait out here all by yourself," Keaton said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before shrugging. "Your first-year friends might be down there already. I don't think there are any rules about not being allowed to eat with each other at other house tables."

As they made their way to the Great Hall, there were already a handful of students at their respective tables. They all were talking quietly and were chowing down on pancakes, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, and a variety of other foods that Keaton had never even heard of. He didn't care, though; they all looked superb.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yup, I did. I forgot how nice my bed here, is..." Keaton smiled. "Nice and soft and warm... But not quite the same as my bed at home. What about you?" Keaton asked Amelia as they sat down at their own House table. Keaton began piling bacon and ham and cheese-covered potatoes on his plate, pouring himself a glass of milk. "Do you like your roommates? They nice to you?"