(1938-12-13) Dawn in the Snake Pit
Details for Dawn in the Snake Pit
Summary: Various Slytherin emerge to sink their teeth into the day; holiday plans are discussed and some teasing establishes the pecking order.
Date: 12/13/1938
Location: Slytherin Common Room

Stepping out of the girls dormitory, Alyssa is dressed, complete with thick robes worn over her uniform in an attempt to ward off the chill. Hooked under one arm are a couple of thick tomes, with a sketching pad at the bottom of the stack. The blonde's other hand comes up to stifle a yawn as blue eyes sweep across the common room. Spying Peyton and Esther, she lowers her hand from covering her yawn to wave at the pair, "Morning girls." She wanders over to drop onto a couch, settling the books across her lap and looking towards Peyton again with a grin as she inquires, "Can I get a cup of tea, cousin?"

And out of the dormitory steps Marcus, stretching and yawning. There are dark circles under his eyes. Someone either had a bad night, or was up far too late. He is dressed, minus the robes. A faint smirk touches his lips as he notices others already in the common room.
"Crabbe, Slughorn," he says in way of greeting, adding a lazy wave as he looks for a couch to plop down at. "How's things?"

Re the cup of tea; Peyton obliges as AJ drops onto the couch, pouring one for the lanky blonde. "I've a mind to charm the seats in here to scream in agony whenever someone just flops down onto them. Have a little class, won't you?" Of course, in comes Marcus, plopping down as well, and she simply pinches the bridge of her nose. "I don't know why I try, some days." She carries the teacup over to Alyssa. "And you as well, Goyle?" she asks, glancing back over her shoulder. "I won't read your leaves again, lest they contradict our last session - I'm still looking forward to this holiday adventure, even if I still don't know where we're going."

Lucretia walks into the common room and heads straight for one of the available chairs that are placed closest to the fire. A spring to her step, the dark-haired Black girl looks more than pleased with with herself and wears a mysterious smile as she flops into the squishy cushions. There's a protested *whuffing* sound from the ancient upholstery and a slight raising of a dust cloud to accompany it. Gaston is quick to claim a place with her, the silver cat sprawling half on her and half on the arm of the chair, tail flicking lazily as he makes himself supremely comfortable. Ever-friendly, and not one to be too intimidated by her elders, she hitches one leg over the side and offers a friendly smile to the Slytherins present.

"It's way too early for class. I spent all my energy getting dressed," Alyssa answers Peyton before lifting a hand to stifle another yawn. She glances aside to Marcus, "Good morning, Goyle." The blonde wiggles her fingers at him in a wave before glancing back to the brunette girl as she approaches, sitting forward to take the cup, "Dear cousin, we're going to my parents' cabin in the Pyrenees. Annnd I just got a letter yesterday saying they're going to be a few days late themselves. Unsurprisingly. I'll be more surprised if they actually bother to show up at all. So, we'll have the place to ourselves for a few days." She glances aside to Lucretia and the girl's cat, offering a tip of her head in a nod, the small smile on her lips easing the intensity of her gaze.

"Try what?" Marcus asks Peyton, looking all innocent for all of three seconds. He sees the teacup, considers and shrugs, frowning just a tad. "Sure… thanks," he actually says. A grin follows, "Why would they contradict? Maybe it's a cumulative thing, it's just new stuff that can pile up on the old stuff that was predicted. And good, I was worried you were going to chicken out on me. I need something to do, other than put up with my brother this holiday season."
Lucretia's arrival is noticed, but Marcus barely manages a nod in response to her smile, before his attention flows back to the older girls. Glancing at Alyssa, he smirks. "So far it is quite good. We'll see if it stays that way." Curious, he arches a brow at Alyssa's words to Peyton. "You didn't mention you were going anywhere," he says toward Crabbe.

Peyton is, by this point, inured to the flopping and dropping going on, so when Lucretia sits, Peyton barely flinches. "Dust," she says, the word carrying all the weight of general disgust. "Add it to a long list of things wrong with this school these days." Her eyes shift to the out of order bathroom for a moment before she turns to pour yet another cup of tea, this one for the male relative. "I wasn't planning to," she tells him, eyeing Alyssa speculatively. "But it looks like our adventure now has a setting - the french mountainside." She glances over at Alyssa. "We're bringing Goyle," she says, as if that hasn't already been implied. "I've a duty to keep him out of trouble this holiday; I caught him fraternizing with Dingle or whatever her name is recently, we can't let him be corrupted or we'll come back after New Years and he'll be president of the Mud Club."

Lucretia scritches the top of Gaston's head, the delicate dome that rises between his ears the perfect place to bestow such attention before the tips of her fingers trail back and down the length of his neck and along his spine. Halting her teasing at the base of his tail, that the cat enjoys the attention is in no doubt; his back arching up and the slow thrum of a building purr vibrating in his throat. Unlike Alyssa, Lu herself is not as yet dressed; a thick fleecy dressing gown gapping at the front to reveal red tartan flanelette pyjamas beneath, sheepskin slippers dangling precariously from arm-slung tips of toes. She pendulums that foot now, fussing her cat with one hand whilst the other twists through the waves of dark hair that's drawn forward over one shoulder. Her attention is fully caught by Peyton, Alyssa and Marcus however when talk of holidays comes around, and she can't help but lift her voice, dropping into French as she does. "Oh J'adore les montagnes francaises, je vous envie vos vacances!" And that's the thing with Lu, being fluent in so many languages, she sometimes speaks without necessarily wondering whether anyone else might understand her.

Lifting her cup to take a sip, AJ flashes a smile Peyton's direction, "Thanks for the tea, cousin. And yes, the french mountainside. A cabin tucked away into the cold wilderness. No parents. What better way to spend the holidays?" Her blue eyes cut across back to Marcus, grinning now, "Oh, are we taking him with? Well, that will be fun. Look, your morning just got infinitely better, didn't it." Tapping fingers against the teacup resting in her lap atop the books there, she looks towards Lucretia when the girl bursts out into foreign language. She waits a moment, watching Lu and then glances back to Peyton, "That's French right? Does somebody know what she just said."

"I don't need anyone to keep me out of trouble," Marcus protests, frowning but then shrugs. "But I guess that's as good a setting as any." He rolls his eyes at Peyton as she mentions his encounter with Elizabeth. "I wasn't fraternizing with Dweeders. She was just standing next to me, talking at me." Lucretia's observation just causes Marcus to blinks a few times. "I'm going to assume she just said, France is awesome," he replies to Alyssa, and then adds. "As for my morning, that remains to be seen," that is said with a small side-glance at Peyton. "But sure, I'll go on this trip," he decides, just as he takes a sip from his cup of tea. "Thanks," he says again to Peyton, the word rolling out almost awkwardly.

"I wouldn't get too carried away," Peyton demurs, vis a vis Marcus' 'translation'. "The mountainside is lovely, but this will likely be the last time we'll visit with ease for a little while, what with things mounting as they are with this nasty Muggle war business." She settles onto the sofa beside Marcus where she'd left her duvet, rather pointedly snatching the edge he'd sat on away. "Ugh… it's warm." She draws it about her shoulders anyway, the high-necked gothic-style nightgown she wears hidden away beneath the elegant brocade of the blanket.
"Little Black," she says then, turning her sea-hued gaze toward Lucretia suddenly. "I forget who you are sometimes, your smile isn't exactly a family trademark." No smile is. "Will you be attending Alphard's party this year? Esther mentioned it this morning, but without much in the way of holiday verve." She turns to Alyssa again, though the words are spoken with a clear intent for Marcus to hear them as well. "Reminds me, we'll need to go shopping soon - I've heard a rumor there's a secret Christmas party happening and it's really only a matter of time before the details leak."

"Lucretia Black. And I'm not sure if I'm attending Alphard's party or not. I suppose I probably will since we do tend to gather as a family at Christmas. That is, unless my parents pull me somewhere else," Lucretia says in response to Peyton's question, her nose wrinkling a little as she slides her hand around and under Gaston's belly, pulling him down so he's flopped properly in her lap, boneless and cuddly like a stuffed toy cat. Settling him there, she makes a fuss as she goes on to repeat what she said, this time in English since Alyssa had remarked on it. "I just said that I love the French mountains and that I envy you your holiday there. Its so pretty at this time of year, as if a blanket of white has been thrown over everything then sprinkled it with glitter. Not that different really from Scotland I suppose, but there's just something completely wonderful about France." She pauses there, nodding when Peyton mentions the muggle-borne war. "We won't be going to Europe this year; my father says the Huns are pushing too hard and that it'll be France they'll be invading next. If not next year, then the year after.This might be your last chance to enjoy France for a while so I hope you have a wonderful time." Either terribly thick-skinned, or just oblivious, the third-year apparently has no problem with interjecting her own views into the conversation of the older students.

"Pleeeease," AJ draws out the word in Marcus' direction after a laugh, "Boys always need someone to keep them out of trouble. If we left you here alone, we'd come back to you dating one of the Gryffindor mudbloods or something." Blue eyes remain on the boy a moment before Peyton's voice draws Alyssa's attention again, "A secret christmas party! Oh, who did you hear about that from? That could be all sorts of fun. Depending on who's invited and who actually shows up."
She takes another sip of her tea and then leans forward to set it and all of her books but one on the coffee table in front of the sofa and sits back with a book of Ancient Runes and her sketchpad in her lap, offering towards Lucretia without really seeming to pay much mind to the younger girl, "That's nice, Black." Opening her book, she looks to Peyton again, "We should take care of that shopping trip as soon as the chance arises."

"They have to ruin everything," Marcus muses about the Muggles, shaking his head. "Oh well, we better enjoy it while it lasts then." A faint grin touches his lips as Peyton sits down next to him. "You're welcome," is his response to her comment about the duvet being warm. "Do you know the details?" He asks of Peyton, regarding the party.
He looks at Lucretia as she speaks and can't help but grin a little at her words. "You're way too… what's the word, cheerful? Yes, that fits, way too cheerful, Little Black," he notes.
A flash of something dangerous shows on those hazel eyes of his as Alyssa teases him. "Slughorn? Don't be gross. And keep tour twisted little mudblood fantasies to yourself." The talk about shopping, causes him to yawn. So, back to sipping from his tea he goes.

"Been eyeing up the Gryffindor mudbloods yourself, Slughorn?" Peyton teases mildly. "The day any relative of mine," And here she looks pointedly between the two, "Dates a Gryffindor, is the day I personally transfer to Durmstrang." She sips from her tea, watching Lu prattle on with some amusement. "Why weren't either of you that adorable when you were babies?" She turns to Marcus then, pointing out, "The details haven't leaked yet, or I'd be sharing. But you'll be the first to know," she promises. "Or second, it depends on how much AJ is trying my patience that day," she says with a glance toward the blonde Fifth Year girl. "Have you finished your tea yet? I want to read you before class," she tells Alyssa with some growing impatience.

"Cheerful? That's good, and so completely the opposite of rude, dismissive and insulting as I was told I was earlier." A wonderful smile melts Lu's features with that, and hefting Gaston to one side, she unfolds from her chair with a small yawn and a stretch. She's a daintily-framed little thing, almost doll-like in appearance so that she's practically swamped by the oversized dressing gown which she pulls tight about herself. Crossing the room to where all things necessary for making oneself a drink might be found, she proceeds to make hot cocoa for herself, tapping the rim of the mug twice to ensure lashings of cream and just the right amount of sugar are added. "I'm not a baby, you know," she says, just catching that part of Peyton's remark to the others, turning as she says it to fix the three of them with a diminishing smile."

"I hate you both," Alyssa groans in response to Marcus and Peyton, waving the quill she's fetched from a pocket at them as she mock-threatens, "Don't make me draw a picture of you with mudblood dates." She laughs at Peyton's answer to the boy about the party, "I'll be on my very best behavior from now on, to make sure I get told first, then."
The brunette's query about her tea has the blonde glancing down at her cup, on the coffee table, "No, it's not done yet. Should I fix that? You're going to tell me something awful, I can sense it." AJ glances aside to Lucretia at the 'not a baby' comment, wondering dryly, "Are you sure you aren't? You could almost pass for one wearing her mother's dressing gown, right now."

Marcus laughs at Peyton's 'threat'. "If I ever do such a thing, please, I beg you. Curse me and send me to jump off a cliff and end my miserable life right there," he replies, amused. "Now can we please stop talking about mudbloods," he coughs, like a cat trying to unclog a hairball, "It's making me ill."
As for the party, "I guess I could let you know if I hear anything about the party as well," he decides. Glancing over at Little Black, he smirks. "I'm called dismissive and insulting all the time, you should own it. If they don't like it, it's their problem," he waves his hand in dismissal. "See, just like that." He turns to Alyssa and snickers. "No you don't, Slughorn. You loooove us," he teases her. Glancing at Peyton he dubiously adds, "Do I need to behave if I want you to tell me first?" When Alyssa teases Lucretia, Marcus grins and stage-whispers to the younger girl. "Remember. Be dismissive. You can do it. I know you can." There's nothing better than corrupting the young.

"Gryffindors," comes the terse voice of a lean sixth year student who's just entered the Slytherin House. Edgar only comments that for a moment before he realizes that, hey, you can't just walk in and mutter a single word, "always have something to prove and almost certainly will fail to do so. To their frustration, anyway." With a difference of over four hundred, anyways, it doesn't look good for them. "And since I've apparently forgotten my manners, good evening, fellow Slytherin."

Lulu glances over to Marcus when he offers his advice, and she gives an almost indeterminate nod of her head before looking back to Alyssa. "Do I? Well its not my mother's, its my grandfather's. I'll tell him you admired it so that when you're next in his ancient runes class he'll be able to give you particular attention. I'm sure you need it. Or maybe I could help you a little, runes are rather a favourite subject of mine, but then they would be." Dipping her head, she takes a wary sip of her cocoa, allowing the intensity of the heat to indicate whether or not a scald is likely to happen. Apparently its not. "Gryffindors aren't all that bad, some of us quite like them."

"Do I know?" Peyton wonders idly of Lucretia. "There's nothing like petulance to prove a point, Baby Black." She leaves the teasing of their younger housemate to Alyssa and Marcus for the time being. "If you want to keep all your fingers, Slughorn, I suggest you not draw any such thing. And I won't know how dreadful your leaves are until I have a look at them, so drink up." She looks askance at Marcus. "You do, which is why you most certainly better hope AJ acts up, since we all know you're allergic to decent behaviour." Edgar's arrival draws her attention for the moment. "Carrow," she says by way of greeting, offering the Sixth Year a vague smile. "Apparently some of us quite like them," she says conversationally. "Because of course, when one Gryffindor is dating a Slytherin, we suddenly love them all, like good little suck ups."

"Hello, Carrow," AJ greets Edgar with a smile before her attention returns to more pressing matters, like Lucretia, "Oh? The Blacks can't afford new clothes for their children anymore. You do wear petulant oh so very well," the blonde smirks at the third year girl. She lifts her sketchbook from her lap, holding it up for display and flipping through the pages rapidly, which flashes glimpses of nearly perfectly drawn runes with the occasional aerial sketch of the school's grounds interrupting. "Threaten away, Baby Black."
Setting her sketchpad down, she leans forward to gather her teacup again and finishes the remnants off before waving the cup at Peyton, "Go for it, cousin. Tell me I'm going to die horribly before the next full moon, or whatever it is."

Marcus offers a single nod to Lucretia, grinning as he then turns to Peyton. He chuckles once. "Got me. It's true, I am allergic to decent behaviour," he admits. "Hey Carrow," he nods in the direction of the other boy. "How goes?"
Glancing at Alyssa he shakes his head. "Don't be so dramatic Slughorn. Peyton is not going to kill you, she likes you too much to do that. And if she were to have you killed in a divination, I'm sure it wouldn't be too horrible, right?" He side-glances at Peyton.

Too bloody early in the day, is what it was. Too early. And Jenny looked…like she felt like it was too early, evidenced in the fact that she was still in her pajama's. No fancy silks here, no heavy fluttering robes; the Slytherin Chaser was clad in long johns. Black ones, because occasionally it paid to be fashionable unless one counted her socks, which..alas, bore all the colors of the rainbow instead. The haphazard state of her hair suggests that she'd either been flying in her sleep, or had an awfully intense case of bedhead with the way it seemed tousled in absolutely each and every direction and she is…oblivious.
Oblivious and walking with a pointed determination towards the small counter that held at constant the makings for both coffee and tea. A cup of coffee was required in hand, before the chaotic blend of voices behind her were acknowledged.

Lu carries her cocoa back to her chair and lowers herself into it; more carefully this time since she has to wedge herself into the cushion whilst avoiding squishing Gaston and avoid spilling her drink on either him or herself in the process. Legs pulled up, she hitches her shoulders in Peyton's direction, a half-shrug given. "My mother's cousin is in Gryffindor, and I've a friend there also. Its not really sucking-up when one is family or a person has earned the title of friend." A careful balance is made of the cocoa on one updrawn knee, brows knitting faintly behind her straight-cut fringe when Alyssa's taunt cuts in. Apparently not even worth a response from the precocious third year, a dark head is dropped close to Gaston's and she murmurs something quietly to him instead: "Alcune persone sono cosi ignorante che a volte non sono degni nemmeno di una risposta. Si, d'altra parte carissimi Gaston, sempre degni del mio tempo." Which, were any of those present able to speak Italian, might earn her a smack around the head. Or worse.

"Crabbe, Slughorn. I am well, Goyle, and yourself?" Edgar seems in the business of making double-greetings if he is acknowledged by surname. He approaches AJ since she appears to be reading a book on Ancient Runes and by god, he is interested enough in that topic to take it as an elective. "An interesting read, that." The topic of Gryffindors and someone in House Slytherin dating one elicits a smirk on his lips. "Maybe I will go against the grain on that one as it doesn't change my opinion on that House in the slightest." Lucretia's statement in Italian draws a confused look from him but nothing else; his attention drifts to the Slytherin Chaser instead.

"Jenny, you look fabulous. In that 'I survived the end of the world and all I got was this wacky hairstyle' sort of way," Peyton teases the Sixth Year fondly. Lucretia's continued babbling in another language goes unacknowledged, since by virtue of using a different language it isn't meant to be understood or responded to, obviously. "Going against the grain; why am I not shocked?" she asks Edgar. "Good morning to you, all the same." Peering over at Alyssa, she queries, "Finished with that tea yet? I'm starting to think you're avoiding this," she accuses mildly enough. "Goyle, tell her that my readings are perfectly harmless?" This is less a query than a command, which may or may not sit well with Marcus, but there it is.

Using one hand to tuck her sketchbook under the actual Runes book, Alyssa answers Edgar with a mild smile, "I like it. One of the few things that's kept my attention. Elective every year so far. Partially because I like drawing them." She uses the other hand to wave her now empty teacup at Peyton, "Read away, cousin."
When Genevieve wanders in all zombie like, "Heeey, Jenny. You look -terrible-," the blonde calls fondly, half a heartbeat after Peyton's greeting.

"I think she just called your mom fat," Marcus tells Alyssa, of Lucretia's Italian. So helpful. Seeing Jenny steps out, he grins in her direction waving. But he makes no attempt to try and get her attention, other than that. The girl needs her coffee, and he's quite aware of that.
"Her readings are perfectly harmless. Strange, but harmless," Marcus apparently decides to play along. "You should have her do yours too, Carrow. I still think Arithmancy is a much better way to do this, mind you, but," he shrugs.

"Pay no mind to Princess Peyton," Jenny intones in a solomn voice, after that first surviving and decidedly refreshing sip of coffee. "Who dresses so that she may play the part of perfect gilded damsel, even in her sleep. Why, she even goes to sleep in perfect pose; hands folded every so delicately across her chest," a pose that the chaser mimes, by holding her coffee up and folding her fingers around it. "Listen naught to her handmaid, either; who's cheeky bookishness is forgive only by her love of Quidditch."
"Goyle, Carrow, tell them to be good to me until I've had my coffee. I am not a proper person, until there's been coffee."

A 'look' is given the room at large, a look that might well become something trademark to Lucretia in years to come. Being a third year is so terribly difficult though; too old to be silly like the Firsties and too young to be taken seriously by those older. Another mouthful is taken of her cocoa and she curls more deeply within the cradle of her armchair, a small choke when Alyssa talks about runes. "You like them because you enjoy drawing them?" So captured is she by the other girl's admission, that she tunnel visions on it, missing just about everything else.

Esther re-enters the common room, fresh from the shower. She looks almost normal right now, dressed casually for another Hogsmeade weekend, with the notorious 'hair' wrapped up in a towel. You can even see her face. The slender girl walks to the kettle, and silently begins preparing coffee for herself. It's a necessary evil.
At least with so many people here, she wouldn't be the center of attention. A blessing in disguise.

"They're pretty, and it makes them easier to memorize," Alyssa remarks idly in response to Lucretia's query. And then her attention returns to the others. She snorts in amusement at Jenny's comments, grinning, "Bookishness. Only because I'd freeze to death if I didn't wait for the sun to get a little higher before going out to fly a bit."
The blonde laughs at Marcus' translation of Lu's words and glances over to the third year, "Did you, Baby Black? Why don't you tell us what you said to your kitty cat. Are you over there whispering insults to yourself?"

"Accio, Divination textbook," Peyton says with a dramatic swish of her wand, and if the book nearly bashes everyone in the head as it flutters through the room toward her lap - GOOD. "While it is heartening to know that you watch me sleep, Solomon, really, I realize that what you really want is a frilly nightgown for Christmas. You may just get your wish," she portends with a violently sweet smile.
"Now - cup." This is aimed at Alyssa, and she takes the teacup from the blonde, studying the dreges left in the bottom. "Huh," she says, clearly intrigued. "Marcus," she says, using the boy's first name and indicating some elevated level of warning, "Arithmancy is not an /art/, and the future is not a science. So stop peddling your elective at me, thank you." She eyes her 'handmaiden'. "Leave the little girl alone," she says idly. "And pay attention. This is your future I hold in my hands." She wiggles the teacup.

"When have I ever told someone to be good, Solomon?" Marcus asks, amused. Lucretia's reaction to Alyssa catches his attention, briefly, but he quickly turns to Peyton again. "I like art. Maybe I should have taken Divination then," he says. "Except, not. But fine, fine. Do your thing," he gestures to her.
"Hey Lowe," he offers greeting in Esther's direction.

"I might just do that, Goyle. Should be interesting." He replies to Marcus. "Ancient Runes is one of my electives as well," Edgar comments to AJ, a thin smile flashed at first to Peyton, then it decidedly deepens at Genevieve's sight — he looks at her for a moment and nods affirmatively. "Solomon, hello. I don't know that they'd listen to me, though."

"I said something?" Lu asks of Alyssa, giving her a look of pure innocence which is coupled with a brilliant smile. "I can't recall what, perhaps you'd remind me?"

"Yes, be careful," Jenny warns Alyssa, "She holds your future in your hand, which means should anyone upset her while she does, your future may well end up flying at their head. Hope you don't mind one that's brief," the chaser teases, offering a wink to her cousin before flashing an all too brilliant smile at Peyton.
"You buy me frills and I'll coat your sheets in slugslime for a month, I can promise you that." Ah, coffee. It really did help things go soo much smoother. And, as Jenny was still standing near the coffee, it made it all that much easier to loop an arm out around Esther's waist and haul the girl in closer for an absent hug. She was still awake. She was still in one piece and she didn't look like she was moping. Naturally it meant Esther deserved a hug.
"Carrow," since Edgar had greeted her, it was inclination and second nature to return it proper with actual words rather than passing direction. "One day you'll learn to speak louder." Wink.
"But!" Jenny's attention swept back to the room at large, "It has occured to me, in my vast wisdom and infinate knowledge that…Goyle here becomes legal over the holidays and as such, AJ, Peyton, while you remain children yet…," that grin was probably going to get her in trouble, "We should throw him a party. A proper one."

It is early enough, but Zayn comes down already dressed and ready for the day. A few minor adjustments are made to his robes as he enters the commons from the way of the Boys Dorms. His brown eyes move across the commons room slowly, stopping on everyone for a moment, as he looks at them. His hand moving up and running through his hair slowly, though he doesn't say anything at first he just moves todays his standard place on the sofa, after sitting down he nods slowly, "Morning." he says to everyone.

"Hello Marcus." Esther responds. First names. Her spoon taps the edge of the cup three times, and then she lifts it to her lips for a slow sip. Jenny's sudden, albeit absent hug is returned for a moment, before she subtly pulls away.

Alyssa, thankfully, does not get brained by a divination textbook. She offers the cup to Peyton when prompted, and swats at the brunette in promptng to settle onto the sofa next to her. She glances away a moment to nod at Edgar, "It's been the only one I've taken ever year."
And then Lu is answering her and the fifth year blonde starts to respond and then waves the young Black off as Peyton speaks, "Fine, fine, fine. I'm paying attention. Let's get to the part where there's great danger looming in my future." Jenny earns a laugh, "That would be a likely end to my fate. Thrown in a fit of temper."

With so many fifth and sixth year students now gathering like vultures over a corpse, Lu makes her escape. She disappears into the dormitories and appears a few minutes later, fully dressed. Skirting the edge of the room and dressed in casual garb suited entirely not for school itself, she heads out of the dorm. There's places to go, and one of them is definitely the hallowed corridors of Hogwarts. Apparently.

"A bow," Peyton observes, looking between the cup and the textbook. "Black, I realize AJ has written off decorum as a myth, but surely you don't plan to be an insufferable little prat all morning long?" This to Lucretia, though her attention doesn't waver from her reading. "This means you'll be spending a lot of time thinking about the future," she tells Alyssa thoughtfully. "Though who doesn't, with holiday around the corner." She points to a series of dots at the bottom of the cup. "But this is where it gets interesting. A cluster of berries; there is a decision to be made soon, one that will either lead to sweet reward or a poisoned opportunity. Between you and Goyle, this should be an interesting New Years indeed." She looks up in time to see Jenny and Esther hugging, and offers a playful, "Get a room."

"Esther," Marcus greets her again this time, using her name, and then squints at Jenny. He can't keep himself too serious as he smirks. "Throwing me a party does seem like a wise and knowledgeable thing to do," he agrees with the Sixth Year. "I don't say no to parties, regardless of the occasion," he adds after a moment.
"Disregard that, don't feel like you need to get a room," he gestures to Jenny and Esther, event though he isn't quite looking at her, he was actually paying attention to Peyton's divination.

"One day," Edgar echoes, slightly — and he's furiously fighting against it - reddening at the wink. Mentions of party just draw a sort of indifference to him, but the context of it does not. "Congratulations, Goyle," he mentions amicably to Marcus, "I suppose gifts are in order." Peyton's divination draws a curious look from him but he understands the prediction well enough.

Zayn sits quietly watching everyone his brown eyes moving between person to person and conversation to conversation. A small smile creeps on his face, once he realizes all of his housemates are getting along this morning and their is no chaos brewing in the mists of these conversations, his hand moves to his black satchel, removing the strap from around his chest and shoulder, his hands move inside for a brief moment, before he removes a small black sketchbook and a few pieces of charcoal and a pencil, his fingers gripping the pencil, he silently starts to press the tip against the paper.

"No one else seems of a mind to help," Jenny muses, in regards to Marcus; easily letting the little introverted Esther slip away as she pleases. "Which is fine, I am more than capable of planning the thing without assistance. It will ensure that there are no frilly things." Which was a bonus point, as far as she was concerned.
Yet, while future's are being read, the chaser doesn't seem to pay it the last bit of attention, more inclined to weave her own fate than think some nonsense in the bottom of a cup might hold the answer. Instead, she focuses more on Edgar. "One day might come sooner than you think, you know. But I must say that's quite a fetching color on you." What with the way that red was warming his cheeks. "Very in theme with the holidays."

Esther returns a mildly playful, part-tired look to Peyton, cradling a coffee in one hand as her other releases Jenny. "We share it with /you/." And then to Marcus. "Trust me, we get up to /far/ more in the room." Sarcasm, much? She's lingering for now, close to Solomon…

"I am perfectly interested," Peyton asserts, taking a momentary break from the reading to look Jenny's way. "And no, I won't frill up Goyle's party." Much lower, she adds "Much." Giving Esther a perfectly aghast look, she shakes her head. "We do share a room, don't we. Something must be done, here." She looks back to the tea cup then, mentioning as an aside to Alyssa, "Oh look," and she gestures toward Zayn. "You match." And perhaps in context it is his sketchpad she's gesturing toward.

"Thanks. I don't say no to gifts either," Marcus replies to Edgar, with a lazy salute. Looking over to Zayn, he arches a brow. "Shafiq, why are you hiding over there?" Glancing over at Jenny, his expression softens and he shrugs. "I didn't expect people to jump up at down at the chance, I admit," he says, like he's used to it. "I'm sure Pey will have the frilly things covered, though," and then Peyton confirms just as much, since well, Marcus is sitting next to her and caught that and he laughs, lightly nudging her with his elbow. But then he has to grin at Esther.
"Far more? Well then, don't keep us in suspense, do share."

"You're not serious," AJ scoffs in amusement as Peyton offers her divination results. The second part in particular having her laughing as she shoots a look towards Marcus, grinning. And then Peyton is waving towards Zayn and his sketchbook, watching for a second before telling her brunette cousin, "All the cool kids draw. It's the hobby of champions."

"This is true," Jenny agrees with AJ, a fond and overly affectionate smile settling on her features as she continues, "Sy draws." But then a shake of her head and a sip of her coffee put her back into the present. Enough so that she can both glower for the implication that she's up to unseemly things, and more Goyle's prodding at the entire thing. So of course, Jenny helps it along.
"Well for one, Crabbe snores."

"You think so?" Edgar seems skeptic at Jenny's first statement, then the mention of his slight blush just intensifies it. Damnit. "Thanks — I guess." Yeah, he's not sure what to say. Then, thankfully, Marcus grabs his attention a moment with the reply. He salutes back. "Yeah, it is no issue at all." Since he cannot draw, he makes no comment.

"And painting is the hobby of kings." Esther adds with a small little smirk for AJ. She shrugs at Marcus again, and suggests. "Come check it out sometime. We need to be seen to be believed." She rolls her eyes, and yawns again. More coffee to be poured in there, methinks.

Zayn says simply, "I am not hiding, I am using you all, Crabbe." he says looking up from the sketch book, his pencil tapping against it softly for a moment as he stares between them, "As far as the cool kids drawing, I think that certain individuals are more inclined towards the arts then others, view it as a way of expression, certain individuals feel it easier to express and understand the world through a medium, Goyale." he says with a small nod, turning the sketch book to show a barely started sketch of the current happenings in the Slytherin Commons.

"I do no such thing, take it back, Solomon," Peyton insists, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Anyway, everyone knows Goyle is the one that snores," she says, throwing Marcus under the broom. "Is this a bird or a fish?" she ponders, giving the cup a shake. The wing falls off. "Fish." She studies the textbook for a bit. "Where should we have this party?" she asks, more to Jenny than Marcus, since of course he gets no say. "Oh, look. Apparently a fish means you'll go fishing. It's hard to tell if this is literal, which is possible since you're an odd duck," she tells Alyssa. "Or if it's more an indication that you will encounter a mystery that needs you to investigate; this is less likely, because you're lazy," she says matter of factly.

"Personally, I prefer dancing and music," Marcus side-glances at Jenny as he says this, before he looks over at Esther, smirking. "Oh, come on Esther, you need to try harder than that. I mean, if you really wanted to, you could give us a demonstration right here," he gestures around the room and then shrugs.
He arches a brow as Peyton throws him under the broom, "You know they're going to wonder how you know that I snore, right?" He grins oh so sweetly at Peyton.

It's too busy in here. Esther taps Jenny on the shoulder, and whispers a faretheewell - She makes an effort to find Zayn through the crowd as well, sparing a quiet word to him through the crowds. Peyton is given a wave as well, before she whips the towel off her head - Revealing the bountiful locks that give her nickname. They're as soft, wonderful and out of control as ever. Bizarrely, she seems to be smuggling the towel out of the house too, but… Still.

Zayn smiles slightly, "One day I will learn to dance, Goyle." he says tapping his pencil against his sketch book still, "Perhaps someday Lowe will teach me." he says nodding slowly, his gaze moving to Esther and offering her a polite smile and nod, then his gaze moves back towards his sketchbook as he turns it back around, bringing his pencil back to the page he starts again.

"I don't fish. And the only mystery to be solved is who's going to save dear Peyton next time a mouse wanders into the room," Alyssa answers her cousin with a grin and then she oooh's softly as something occurs to her, "I wonder if I can try to chart a map of the mountains while we're on holiday. That would be fun. And it'd get me out of the cabin." She looks aside to Peyton with that last bit and then turns her attention elsewhere.
"Goyle, what were you going to do, stay here over the holidays? How terribly dulllll," she draws that word out, shaking her head and then glancing to Jenny, "What are you doing, Jenny?"

"All I hear is you inviting me to come over there and break your face, Goyle," Jenny was quick to snipe when Marcus suggested that Esther demonstrate things of an improper and personal nature. The smile had a lot more teeth than necessary in it too and Marcus had completely derailed her from further teasing at Peyton like she'd wanted to. It eased somewhat, at Esther's whispered words and the girl's grip on her coffee cup relaxed.
"There's some space at parents that we could easily use. Don't see why we couldn't. Give us a place to meet up at without issue." Suggested, as to a space, before AJ's question caught her.
"Sy and I are going to France, for most of them. With a few guest appearances in London for a couple of parties that we've promised to attend. What about you, Aly?"

"He was napping out here one day, Esther and I could hear him snoring from all the way up in our dormitories, no mystery there," Peyton retorts when Marcus starts teasing her. "See you later, Esther," she bids her farewell to the massive-haired girl. "I should be getting dressed, it's getting a bit late in the morning for pajamas." Easing from under her blanket, she sets the teacup aside. "Looks like everyone will be in France over the break," she observes. "See most of you in class," she says as a general forewell, though she pauses near Jenny. "Yes, I am escaping before you can start up again," she claims with a fond half-smile. "If you and Sy fancy some skiing, we've got AJ's parents' lodge up in the Pyrenees for a few days. There's plenty of other trouble for you all to get into though, so if you can't make it, no worries." She wiggles her fingers in true princess-like fashion then, heading for the stairs.
