Cont. of "Back Down to Earth" [open]

Leo finally had had enough of the stifling and suffocating library, and she managed to muster enough energy to get herself down to the Hall without collapsing from starvation. Plopping down on a seat at the Gryffindor table, she piled anything and everything on her plate within sight - stealing a bunch of grapes from a bemused Weasley - and attacked her food with the enthusiasm of a starving Hippogriff. The Hall was filled with a soft, calming chatter, and the air in the Hall was warm and soothing. Leo would have marveled at the fact she had missed it completely - if it she wasn't stuffing her face with chicken.

Vine opened his eyes, the smirk already etched on his face. He was standing right in front of the hall door, contemplating on whether entering or staying to observe people. He had to wait for a while until it was full, what was the point of entering a hall without anyone to play with. He stayed until he spotted an old 'friend'.
Leo Montague. Cecilia's dear friend.
He put on a smile and stepped in.

After finally slowing down and feeling almost at exploding point, nevertheless happy and content, the next person to walk into the Hall brought her high spirits crashing down her ears. Lestrange. Vine Lestrange. Here. Leo frantically racked her brains for any word that she had received of Lestrange's return, but it was pointless - Leo had been so dead that even Mrs Norris' attack had gone swimming over her head.

ooc: Vinesterrrr, now that you're back at Hoggywarts instead of stuffy old Durmstrang, we could go through with that correspondence/world-making-better-club thing that you thought up for you, me and Scammy.

ooc Ill be back in an hour

ooc: Riiiiightio.

Valery entered the Great Hall. Just as yesterday, the eyes followed her all the way to the Slytherin Table. It seems like Cassius took the time to talk about it. She rolled her eyes and sat down, pouring herself a cup of steaming hot tea. While she sipped it, she looked around in the Hall, thinking about her behaviour yesterday.

Leo let out a long breath. So. Lestrange was back. She spared a thought to wonder if Cel knew about it - she had not forgotten the strangeness between the two of them last year - before thinking about all the possible things she could have missed out on. Seems I may have quite a bit of catching up to do.

A lone student was sitting at a table, tears welling in her eyes and milk dribbled down her front. Oh what a mess, Vine thought, amused. In an instant, he was there, standing in front of the girl. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked the girl. "Want some help?" he scanned the table again. My, this one was really a loner. The girl smiled and nodded at him, "Yes..."
Vine took the jug of milk and poured the rest on girls head, smirking at Leo while doing so, "Here you go. You look way better now."

Here we go.

With a roll of her eyes and a flick of her wand, the milk disappeared. The girl looked at Leo, startled, and Leo jerked her head, recommending her that she leave. The girl, who had burst into tears again, fled from the Hall, and Leo was once again grateful that she wasn't prefect anymore. 'Good to see you too, Lestrange. Please, refrain from greeting me with a jug of milk over the head.' Leo leant back in her seat and folded her arms. 'So, Durmstrang wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, hmm?'

"Durmstrang is the place to be, Montague." He leaned against the table and ran his hand on his chest, stopping on the slytherin symbol, "But my 'heart' is with Salazar."
He wouldn't tell her the actual reason, it was top secret: Malfoy's little plan. Little but great at the same time.
"Glacier says hi."
He said finally, waiting for her reaction. How could two people be so different? Glacier and Leo. Ice and Fire.

He strode into the Hall plaintively, his face scrunched up in a cold scowl at the people who were staring at him. He ruffled his hair as he made his way towards his respective table shooting glares at whoever looked at him. What is their damn problem? He had asked himself that many times, they still looked at him whenever he entered the Hall. He didn't enjoy his 'popularity' at all. He walked down the end of the table searching for an area where there were not so much people. He finally sat down, way at the end, the scowl still on his face. Last night, he tried to sleep in the secret place in the trophy room that Lily had showed him but he tossed and turned. He hadn't been able to get sleep, there was a faint hint of bags under his eyes. He grabbed a goblet wrought in silver and poured pumpkin juice into it from a glass pitcher.

Her eyes followed the people entering the Hall. She looked from one person to another, till Hex entered the Hall. Her gaze followed him all the way to where he sat now, and they kept hanging. He looked exhausted. People were looking and whispering behind his back, and she made soft 'tsk tsk' sounds. She kept looking at Hex for a while, before she looked to a couple at the Gryff table. Vine and Leo. Her shoulders moved slightly, in a small shrug and she sipped her tea, staring at the other people in the Hall again.

Lily had hovered outside the hall for a moment, trying to see who there was that she knew. Eventually she smoothed her robes and strode in to the room, heading straight towards the Gryffindor table. She kept her head down, and for a change did not greet people as she passed them. Her meeting with Val yesterday had put her in a rather unsociable mood. Her red curls bounced on her back as she walked rather quickly to the center of the Gryffindor table, the place with the best view of everyone. She smiled and took a seat, grabbing a goblet which she filled with ice cold water. She sat for a while simply staring in to the glass which she held with both hands, pensive and quiet.

Leo smiled as she looked away. 'Glacier? Merlin, I haven't talked to that girl in years. I very much doubt she would spare the breath to say hello to me, but I appreciate what you're trying to do.' She looked back at Vine, slightly curious. But she wouldn't admit it. 'How was she? Not complaining every time she spilt coffee on her robes, or dirtied up her nails, was she?'

He raised the silver goblet to his lips, which were parched and cracked since he had not drank anything for a few hours now. He upended the goblet and drained it all in less then a minute, he had a thirst for another so he redid the process again, gulping the liquid down his throat making it wet. He licked his lips quickly and set the goblet of silver back down, ruffling his hair making it even more untidy. It looked like he had just woken which was partially true. He had slept very little since he could not sleep at all. He did not take any notice of the other students and pupils of Hogwarts at all as he sat there, staring at his shoelaces.

Her eyes caught the figure of a still boy, sitting down the end. She moved a little, and his chest flashed. It took Leo a while to realise that it was the flash of a badge against the light. HE is our Head Boy? Leo looked away, back at Lestrange as she waited for his response. The boy is almost comatose.

Vine followed Leo's gaze to Hex. The new head boy. He snorted a bit, a part of him dying to scream out loud, burn everything to the ground. He was full of butthurtedness over the badge issue.
"Glacier is one of the most sensible students there." he said, "Nothing like you." he smiled softly. He was standing by the Gryffindor table, not his usual spot to stand by, Lily Luna was there too. He stared at her for a second before shifting his gaze back at Leo. Vine was a control freak and once he obsessed over someone or something, it was hard to get it out of his head.

Seeing Lily enter the Hall made her feel slightly nervous. She knew she shouldn't act liike she had yesterday, but she was not gonna apolegize. Her fingernails burried in the palms of her hands when she clenched her hands into fists once again.

'Sensible?' Leo laughed loudly. 'Oh, I'd love to see that. Glacier, sensible - I'm surprised she hasn't burnt the castle down through a Potions accident. And I know I'm nothing like her.' She shuddered. 'If I was, I'd never be able to live with myself. What're you ...?' Leo turned to see a fellow Gryffindor sitting nearby. She shrugged and moved to get a hot chocolate. Why is he still here? A Slytherin as ... Slytherin-y as him never stood this long by the Gryffindor table. Especially not near a known blood traitor. Perhaps Lestrange has forgotten that not everyone are perfect purebloods at Hogwarts.

He felt eyes upon him, he always could, he still didn't know how. He ignored them curtly, mentally waving them away. Arrogance showed in his eyes, and a cruel smirk filled up his face. He had a feeling he knew who were the people that were watching him and that widened his arrogant smirk further. He had heard the whispers, he knew that Vine had returned. He didn't need to turn around and look at them both to know. He grabbed an apple and slowly bit into it, letting the juice flow in his mouth. In a few minutes, he had reduced the apple into a core and he absentmindedly threw it away.

She felt eyes on her, and simply assumed it was people who had witnessed her in the hall yesterday. She did not bother to look up or around, instead keeping her gave to those close to her. She looked slightly to her left and jumped as she saw Hex, who look half dead. She frowned but did not speak, instead returning her gaze silently to her water.

"Leo, your friend here...Lily. I wonder how much does she know about me? Do you wonder?" He narrowed his eyes and turned Lily's water into ice.
"People are not so intimidated by me anymore, we must make a change and remind them the good old times." he said quietly, studying the expression on Leo's face. Where is your friend, Cecilia? Where is she?

'I honestly have no idea.' She hasn't spoken to Lily much, despite the fact they shared a dorm room. 'You do that then, Vine. Remind them of the "good old times", I'm sure it'd work out just fine. Just don't expect me to help you,' She sighed. She looked at him, slightly weirded-out by his stare. She swallowed, returning the stare. What does he want?

Lily watched as the water turned to ice before her eyes, but did not react. She simply blinked and watched as it turned back to water. Slowly she raised her head and looked down the table, spine tingling. Something strange was going on, barely anyone was talking yet there were so many students in the room.

She kept staring at Lily for a few moments, thinking about what to do. Her hand started itching and when she opened it, a drop of blood came out of a small wound in her palm. Her eyes closed for a minute and she growled. After drinking the rest of her tea, Val got up and left the Hall in a straight line, not looking back.