Great Hall
The Great Hall certainly seems to be the heart of
Hogwarts, as every day the four houses of Hogwarts and professors alike join
together in this magnificent corridor.
Even the elitist wizard or witch would be bedazzled by the sheer
brilliance of this hall.
The room seems to be lit by an endless number of candles
floating atop the five tables set up here.
Four of the tables are evenly placed beside each other, measuring at
least a hundred meters each. These
polished tables seem to possess an endless number of golden goblets and
platters, which are empty at the moment, but rest assured; any decent magical
institution would fill them with many eats as breakfast, lunch, and dinner each
roll around. The walls adjacent with the
four tables are decorated with elaborately ornamented flags of the four houses:
Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,
and Slytherin.
Of course, seated at these four tables would be the students of these
houses.
At the front of the room is another table, identical to
the other tables in the room except for the fact that the professors at
Hogwarts dine there. Above that table is
the crest of Hogwarts, proudly displayed in all its glory. The occasional suit of armor is placed around
the room, as well as a few framed pictures, but it's not like the room really
needs to be decorated by things such as those.
Above the tabletops is a magnificent ceiling, if it's a
ceiling at all. It seems to be the
starry sky itself; the ceiling stretches upward so
high, it certainly is hard to tell if there's a rooftop covering the room or
not. Although someone who has been
reading his or her books about Hogwarts would tell you it's bewitched to look
like the sky outside. Nevertheless, the
room as a whole certainly is a breath-taking place.
Yesterday was probably one of the best days that a
certain Ravenclaw Seeker has had for a long time.
Though the sleeping thing was still a problem and kind of made the day go
downhill. Her friends had noticed how she came back to the Common Room smiling
more than she did when she left, and of course they tried to pry it out of her.
Cho insisted that it was just that she had a little
friendly competition over a Snitch that had her exhilarated. She didn't even
win, and still, she felt great. Having come down to breakfast early, she picks
at a plate of eggs and muffins and as with most popular students, she isn't
sitting alone. Her friends are all giggling excitedly, talking about their
dress robes or their dates to the Ball. She just politely smiles and sits there
in silence. She's only going because.. well.. you know. :P
Unlike Cho, who sits with her
friends over at the 'populated' Ravenclaw table, he
sits by himself over at the Slytherin one, not that
it's a big deal. Those who are late to bed are late to rise and he just missed
them by only a few minutes, not that it really matters. A few moments of
silence at breakfast is always welcome once and a while. He will take this as a
very rare opportunity. Draco sits with his head partially
bent half over his bowl containing today's meal, or a portion of it, and half
over a sheet of folded parchment, marked with his neat printing. Boy, he really
hopes that this is all written down right, it certainly does look free of
errors, and otherwise results could be very dangerous. Hmmm...
o.o He lifts a spoonful of
the cereal to his mouth and munches. Mmm. Hard,
crunchy stuff.
Glancing up from her food that's rather too cold to be
appetizing now, Cho happens to glance in the
direction of the Slytherin table, and catching the occupent sitting by himself. The white blond hair name the occupant quickly, as do the small size and
stature. There's a pause, then she turns and asks her friends to excuse her for
a few moments. She stands up, leaving her plate behind and walks around the
table and towards the Slytherin table. Once she's out
of ear shot, whispers start behind her, wondering where she's going, why she's
heading in that direction, and they only grow more fevered when they see her
destination. "Good morning, Draco." She
says with a friendly (yet a tad distant) smile. Oh yes, there go her friends. (Why is she talking to a Slytherin!?
Why is she talking to Malfoy!? Isn't he their
Seeker?? *whisperwhisperwhisper* At least they're not
giggling.)
If this were a romance movie, like a lot of rumors that
suddenly start immediately floating about make it out to be, the scene would
start with Draco lifting his head from scanning over
his paper, looking up towards Cho with wide eyes
before she would just.. throw her arms around his
shoulders and cry away the morning, saying 'I love you' and stuff, over 'n over
again. *wretch* Thank god it isn't. But it does start an awful lot like that,
because he does look up from the sheet of parchment, folding it over in his
hands back into a neat little square before tucking it back away into his
robes. "Good morning, Cho." The young man
dawns his charming smile, again. Normally, he probably would have just said
something else, instead of being friendly, but... why not? He's in such a good
mood from yesterday that being semi-nice and civil until it wears off certainly
won't kill him. Draco'll be back to his usual, nasty
self by dinner, no worries. He isn't ill or anything.
Oh, does that mean there’s going to be no kiss? *drat* --
Kidding, kidding. -- She'd probably slap him if he tried to kiss her. But
anyway, the gossiping does indeed take this as something more than it is. (Is
he smiling at her!? He is! He is! I didn't know he could smile! He's actually
kind of cute like that! What is it with Cho and Seekers?)
Luckily, Cho can not hear what they're whispering
about, or she'd probably be quite unhappy very fast. As it is, she smiles back
lowers her voice just enough so that she doesn't worry about the closest people
listening. She rather doesn't want people thinking... odd things. Or at least
she won't add any more fodder to it if she can stop it. "Are you still
going to go to the Ball?" Now see why she lowered her voice? Most of Ravenclaw now knows she is indeed going to the Ball, though
she insists she's going /alone/. No need to give them reason to think
otherwise. ... Well, more reason.
Because Seekers are really good at
seeking other... Seekers? But of course Draco can smile, his fellow Slytherins
certainly know this (Hey. He isn't mean to THEM, after all.). The young, blonde
Malfoy heir isn't smirking or appearing insufferably
smug ALL the time in front of the other houses, either. There are
circumstances, like when he's using sarcasm, or using them, where he will smile
in the most pleasant of fashions. n_n
Moods were he isn't, though, such as this one, are one in a million (And for
those who know him well enough, they'd realize that it's either because he's
about to get Potter back at something or already has.). It's an actual, genuine
'No, I'm Not Using You, This Time' smile, so be happy while it lasts, because
it is very, very extremely rare. This is Draco we're
talking about, after all. "I will be. There's no reason for me not to go.
Though I can't be sure whether or not I'll be there right in the beginning. It
all depends on Aranea." He could always just
hand over the slip of parchment right here and make things a whole lot easier,
but naaaah. Why be a bad guy
if you're just going to do favors so readily?
Yes, it's not unlikely that some of the students have
seen him smile, but they're gossiping, so likely they are exaggerating a great
deal. In fact, (She's really smiling! I haven't seen her smile like that
since-- Oh! You don't think he's the reason she's going to the Ball do you?
Maybe she's just asking him when the Quidditch teams
will play. Oh, what do you know? u_u) At least
there's one word of wisdom in the group. They're supposed to be Ravenclaws! Stop being so fickle. >.< Cho nods, still smiling,
"All right. I'll keep an eye out for you." Though she's
curious how he's going to hand her the list of components without anyone
noticing. Then her eyebrows raise, "Aranea? Is
she the person you're going with?" Aranea... Aranea... She doesn't think she knows her, but then she
doesn't have many friends in Slytherin. Too bad her
friends can't hear that. They would be so disappointed! She doesn't even sound
jealous or bothered at all that he has a date.
"Indeed, she is." Aranea, a rather plain looking girl
in seventh year whose opinions of the 'Potter fanclub'
seem to generally follow along the same lines of his own. He's not
exactly looking to take the most beautiful girl in the Slytherin
house to the Yule Ball, just one that he can at least converse with. Although
most girls in his house don't seem to like Potter, either, and take great joy
in putting him down, the word 'bubble-head' would come to mind if attempting to
list off other traits. Despite his excellent choice in picking a match, it's
truly a pity that Aranea is two things: 1. Dead. 2.
Actually Rita Skeeter in disguise. Hopefully, she
won't show her true colors at the Yule Ball. "Will you be attending with
anyone, Cho?" He'll be keeping a look out, too,
if she's alone, that will make things easier... because how many people
actually tend to be alone during such a social event? Don't worry about the
list of components, though, for he will be able to easily think of a way to
sneak them to her... Draco wasn't sorted into Slytherin for nothing, after all.
One reason he would certainly never be able to be around Cho for more than a couple conversations at a time. She
doesn't hate Harry, and she doesn't speak badly of him. She certainly never
wore one of those stupid anti-Harry badges last year. And she actually glared
at any of her friends who did. At the question, she shakes her head, "No,
I'll be going alone." A pretty, popular girl going to a
dance completely alone. The tragedy. Pah, it's her own choice and if anyone says anything about
it... well... she won't beat them down or anything, but she certainly won't
listen. But if she has one more friend try to set her up with someone, she may
not be inclined to just politely decline anymore. And it's a good thing one of
them is in Slytherin, because she's about as sneaky
as peacock on a turkey farm.
That's some rather funny imagery, peacocks in a turkey
farm. Are there even such things as turkey farms? Who'd want to raise an entire
farm of those things, anyways? Ugh. They're so ugly. It is a tragedy, kinda, but not one that he'll acknowledge, nor is it any of
Draco's concern, so why should he express more than a
little hint of sympathy, probably the most that he can muster. "That's a
shame. It really is. I'm sure there is quite the number of young men pining for
your attention." Giggle-giggle-snort-snort. That
was sounding more like Draco, back to that nice but
still an asshole sort of personality. "Anyways..." Casting
a glance over at his watch to check the time. "There are a few
things I still have to do today before the ball, tomorrow. You don't mind if I
excuse myself right now, do you?" And if she does, well, tough. He doesn't
care! "Have a wonderful morning." >D The boy leaves his dish at
the table, along with the girl, too, because if he didn't get up right away,
his player will probably pass out on the keyboard. x.@;
Oh there are, believe me. And they are really ugly. And
the bit about young men pining for her merely earns a shrug. Cho knows she's got a few admirers, and she doesn't mind it
(as long as they don't turn all stalkers at least). People are free to admire
who they please, and she certainly wouldn't be insulted by the attention.
"I'll see you there. Good day, Draco." She
offers a final smile, then turns and heads back to her table... to hear the end
of a cutoff conversation. (They'd make such a weird couple! At least they're
nearly the same height!) ... Is she going to have to glare? "Excuse
me?" -.- "Oh! Nothing,
nothing. We're talking about.. those Gryffindor's over
there."