#5 Lunch

"Afternoon, Nyx." He returned the pleasantry, nodding in her direction. Nyx Nordstrom was scary gorgeous, terrifyingly so. Many seemed to avoid her due to her mean temperament, but Kaspian didn't mind it. He could relate to her some. He couldn't manage a word however, not before his fool of a friend began to antagonize her. He wanted to facepalm himself, but only sunk into the Hufflepuff bench, feeling like he wanted to disappear. This wouldn't end well.

In fact, things became worse. After a head-on collision and a ton of apologies, a younger Hufflepuff scurried to pick up his things around the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. "Yeah, I'll be there." He snuck the words in, making an attempt to save the younger kid's life. He figured they'd work as a distraction. He didn't know why he felt inclined to help the boy as he didn't even know him. But any friend of Lucky's was a friend of his? Maybe. He wasn't sure yet.

Kaspian had scooted over on the bench, making plenty of room for Lucky to take his usual seat back. He took a couple bites of one of his sandwiches, watching as people trickled into the Great Hall, all flocking over to sit with Hufflepuff -- or more namely, Luckett Langford. His best mate was practically holding court. He had to be the most popular guy in the castle, at least in their year. "I wouldn't say she's a friend of mine." He responded to the fourth year, giving off a bit of a shrug. That wasn't to say Kaspian wouldn't mind being friends with Nyx Nordstrom.

"Shall we toast to your future losses?" He raised his sandwich at the approaching Slytherin girl, not entirely sure of her name either. He rarely sat with Hufflepuff, usually catching up with his best mate elsewhere -- if time permitted. It seemed like the Hufflepuff table was more of a house pride table however. All it was missing was a Gryffindor. There was still time though.

Arthur was nearly late to lunch, he thought. Having made time to put his pot upstairs, as he was pretty sure the fourth years had a class, he was shocked to discover through the chatter of others that they had none. Well, now he would have to go up and grab that, when Lunch was over. At least he could get it done quickly, but he was worried that he wouldn't be able to keep his mind off of Quidditch tryouts, even though his team's weren't until tomorrow.

He came up, about to ask Lucky if he had any chance, despite Arthur's yearly horrible performance in nearly every aspect of the Quidditch game, except for riding the broom. He knew it was unlikely--none of the other captains had ever chosen Arthur. But Lucky seemed busy, so instead he sat down next to a small first year girl he didn't know. "Hello." he said, unsure if he was happy or sad, but taking a plate just the same. "I'm Arthur." he added.

Declan almost spat out the water he was drinking upon hearing Lucky's suggestion. He shook his head wildly. "No, sorry, I'm not, I don't, I'd rather watch, really," he managed to muster. Then, he turned to Elara. "You, though." He pointed a fried drumstick at her direction. "You're pretty good with a broom, Ellie"

It wasn't that Declan was awful with a broom, but he wasn't the best either. He wasn't Lucky Langford. No one was Lucky Langford, though. Except the Lucky Langford.

It's just that you never know what could happen in a Quidditch match. So many things could go wrong. As the human embodiment of Murphy's Law, Declan made it a point to stay away from such highly entropic things.

And yet, he was considering it right there. It was true, what he said, he loved to watch Quidditch. He loved the cheering, the enthusiasm, the excitement of the games; it brought people closer together, and gave them something to root for and seek to destroy collectively.

Perhaps, it was pressure under the gaze of their quidditch captain that made him ask it. "When are tryouts?" He did enjoy flying and, he supposed, he was a fast learner, given the right teacher. Lucky Langford didn't look like a bad teacher. He didn't look like a bad anything. Declan just needed someone to show him the ropes and maybe he wouldn't get hit in the face by a bludger.

Realizing how his statement sounded, though, he immediately recoiled, "Because I wanna watch, is that okay?" He smiled at Lucky. "I'm just watching."

Entering the Dining Hall, he looked around for the Person that the Deal-kid had mentioned. Gerald had forgotten to get an Owl for this, so unfortunately, he still had to send it by himself. He had so much Planned, including that special trip for later with Grace to the Hall of Mirrors. He had seen something like that in a Carnival once, so he was especially excited to see a Wizard's Hall of Mirrors.

Spotting the Girl at the Ravenclaw Table, he made his way over to her. Ew, why did she have so much Tomato on her Plate? Not wanting to be seen, though, He went to run past, and as he did, he dropped the Letter next to her, tapping her shoulder. Hopefully, she fell for that old trick and looked in the wrong direction, and she wouldn't notice him darting off in the opposite direction and sitting as far away as he could.

Lindsey had grabbed a simple sandwich as she sat at the Slytherin Table, her eyes kept darting to the door when she heard something going on and glanced over to see an old Ravenclaw and what looked like a Hufflepuff in some kind of confrontation, which didn't last long. Taking a few bites, she heard the Gryffindor Captain come in and announce about Try-outs and she smiled, mostly because her own try-outs had just ended and she had made the team. It was exciting and she was sure others were excited.

As she turned back to the door, she saw Hanna come in, but she was making a line for the Hufflepuff table, probably to see her friend, who sure enough was already sitting at her table. Well, Lindsey didn't want to eat alone. Grabbing the last sandwich, she headed over to the Hufflepuff table, stopping by the Gryffindor's table for a moment. "Good luck with ye Try-outs... Canna(can't) wait for our first match." Lindsey was honest about that and she gave all the Gryffindors a warm smile before she headed over to the table.

She got over there just as a boy asked an older Hufflepuff when Try-outs are. Finding a place at the table she plopped down. "Hello... Hope ye dinna(don't) mind if I joined ye... Dinna(don't) want to be sittin' by meself."

Tiana was taking a drink from her goblet when Grace Babineaux showed up, practically shoving her pet rat across the table at Amelia. She made sure to move her goblet to the side when she placed it down, not wanting the rat to squirm free and land in her beverage. “She's a looker!” Tiana laughed, breaking off a piece of the baguette. She knew Grace wasn't introducing the pet to her, but Thomas couldn't help but compliment the creature. She wanted an animal for the longest, which is why she recently adopted an owl. She'd have to introduce others to him too!

She continued with her piece of bread, cracking it open. When she broke it, the yeasty warmth rose and filled her senses. Tiana smiled as she retrieved a knife, immediately diving into the butter. “I didn't sign up to take Care of Magical Creatures,” she said in reply to Amelia, a look of remorse on her face. Tiana wished she had, but didn't know why she didn't. “I wish I had. I don't know what I was thinking when I didn't,” she admitted honestly, beginning to spread the dairy product over the fluffy, white part of her bread. She listened to Amelia respond to her question about trying out, happy to hear that she was. The more that tried out, the better!

“Good! You better, Ro!” she blurted at Ronan when he arrived, before taking a big bite of her buttered baguette. She hadn't seen much of Ronan today.. or Jacob for that matter. And where was Jade? It seemed like the usual crew was busy doing their own things lately, but Tiana understood. She was busy herself, preparing to lead Quidditch tryouts and everything. “We were just talking about Creatures. You didn't enroll for that class either, did you?” she asked, swallowing her bread. She hoped he said he didn't, that way she wouldn't feel as bad about it.

“I wouldn't even bring the dirt to Potions, Ames,” she answered, looking at the pot of dirt the girl had seated next to her. Tiana couldn't imagine lugging around a big pot all day, especially all over the castle. Then again, that could prove to be an excellent workout for the upperbody! “You know how Snape is. He'll find any reason to dock Gryffindor some points,” she explained, rolling her eyes at her own words. Professor Snape was Tiana Thomas' least favorite teacher.

Food began to disappear from the tables, signaling the end of lunch. Tiana hopped up from her seat without pause, already climbing off of the bench and retrieving her bag from underneath it. “I'll see you two in class.. and then tryouts afterward!” she grinned at Amelia and Ronan, tossing her bag over her shoulder. She was already off in a hurry to class, ducking and weaving through bodies that stood in her way. Thomas wanted to get this Potions lesson finished with!

Arthur offered a friendly smile to Charlotte, about to start speaking of something when the table started to clear. "I'll see you later." he said, still smiling, and waved. He assumed she was just shy, but now that Lunch was over he would have the chance to talk with Professor Sprout, once he got his pot back, that was.

"Good luck in class!" he said cheerfully. Arthur liked to imagine he was greatly helpful to the younger years, and generally gave good advice. He did have mostly A's so far, and he was proud of that. Today felt like a good day, he just knew it.