#1 Welcome Feast

Julian just ate the last morsel of the food on his plate when it disappeared. He waited with bated breath until the dessert appeared. He took a moment to breathe in the delicious dishes, allowing the smells to settle in his nose.

After a few moments, Julian picked his favorite dessert and allowed himself to take a large piece of chocolate cake. The explosion of taste on his tongue reminded him of home and his mother's cooking, making him a little homesick.

To his surprise, the dessert vanished soon after and the curfew was announced by the new Headmaster. As the prefects started to gather the first years, Julian looked around for the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. He wanted to ask them if he was still a Chaser on the team or not, but he could not see them anywhere.

Shrugging, Julian stood up and dusted off his uniform, taking a familiar route to the Ravenclaw Common Room. He wondered if he would survive the trip, since he ate an unusual large amount of food tonight.

Thomas smiled smugly throughout the next part of the feast. He believed himself to have won. After all, surely Jacob wouldn't chance anything else at the Welcoming Feast. They had pushed their luck already, even he knew that. Knowing it and caring were two different things though. Even Thomas could imagine tossing at least one more thing...

He only entertained the idea though. When one of the sixth years beside him started a tale of a professional Quidditch match they'd been to over the summer, he forgot about his little war with Jacob and listened intently.

Thomas nodded and laughed in response to one of his housemate's comments about a professional Quidditch player. The moment that his hand closed around his goblet though, something grabbed ahold of him. "BLOODY HELL!" He shouted as he shot up off of the bench.

Since that earned him more than one stern look, Thomas hunched down over his plate and bowed his head. After a couple of moments had passed, he shifted a bit on the bench and glanced toward who he assumed the culprit was. Seabrook.
However, movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned just in time to see Jacob readjusting his robes. Thomas narrowed his eyes at his best friend but he couldn't hold the stern expression for long. He grinned back at the other boy and shook his head in mock defeat. In reality, though, he was already cooking up his revenge. He had all year, after all. Jacob may have won this battle, but Thomas was determined to win 'the war'.

When dessert appeared, all thoughts of pranks faded to the back of his mind. Thomas descended on the chocolate cake like a starved man, despite eating two full plates during dinner, and drank his fill of hot chocolate too. By the time he was done, the first years had already been escorted out and most of the Professors had finished up. He yawned, stretched and then stood up and strode toward the huge double doors.