Common Room (Open)

Keiba sat in front of the fire just before curfew, reading another book. She flipped the pages as more students filed in, even though it was only just after sunset. The chair she was sitting in was very squishy and comfortable and the heat from the flames was welcoming. She lost herself in the story and didn't realise she still had a mountain of homework back in the dorm.

Sighing for a second, she half-closed the book and stared out the tower windows, into the brilliant young night sky. Stars twinkled everywhere in a massive blanket. Outside the grass shivered a bit, hinting that winter was drawing ever closer. it was really pretty. The view from in the tower was magnificent and she stared for a moment longer before deciding to finish her chapter.

Mace walked into the common room, eager to have some quiet time before bed. He decided to head over to the fire. It was a little chilly, so the warmth would be nice. Mace sat down and smiled when he saw Keiba curled up in a chair, reading a book.
"Hey Keib."

Keiba glanced up and smiled as Mace sat down in an armchair next to her. "Hello! It's really brisk tonight, don't you think? And I'm being lame by talking about the weather. Typical." She giggled. She couldn't help herself, it was cold enough tonight that she was wearing a cardigan over her t-shirt.

Keiba marked her page and set her booked down on the low-set coffee table, turning in her chair to face Mace. "So. I didn't see you in any classes this week. Were you skipping? Or did you forget to sign up again?"

"You are the queen of lame". At Keiba's question on classes, Mace blushed a little.
"Uhm, well, I may have forgotten to sign up." He said sheepishly.

She shook her head, eyebrow raised with a "tsk" look plastered on her face. "Mace! How many times did I remind you? Have you done it now?" Keiba sincerely hoped he'd signed up lately, otherwise, he was going through school not learning anything!

"Erm, well I was going to, but it just seemed to slip my mind...again" Mace lowered his head and groaned. this reminded him so much of when his mother used to rip into him. "I promise to do it in the morning, though."

"Okay. If you say so. I'll come with you, if you like?" Keiba offered, knowing it would be next Thursday by the time he got round to doing it.

Mace sighed in relief. That had been exactly what he had been hoping for. "Merlin's beard, that would be good."

Keiba grinned. "You were hoping I'd say that." She could tell, his sigh was far too animated.

She leaned back in her chair and watched the fire dance. "I'm going to ask the Headmistress if I can sign up for a wandlore apprenticeship. I saw a sign up in Ollivander's when we were shopping before school started. I think it would be really fun." And she did; Keiba was looking forward to learning wandlore. It was something that interested her to the ends of the earth!

"Oh! Mace! Have you gone to the Quidditch try outs yet? I know you said you wanted to... we can go put your name down along with your classes tomorrow if you like."

"Hey, good for you. I know you've always been interested in wands," Mace said. "It's great that you can get an apprenticeship." Mace shivered a little and moved closer to the fire. "I haven't signed up yet, but it would be fantastic if we could do it tommorow."

"Yeah, 'specially seeing as tomorrow is Sunday. We'll have to do it in the afternoon or right before school starts and during lunch. I have a spare then, but there still are some classes on Sunday so I don't think it'd be a good time to sign up for stuff." Keiba explained.

Mace studied the girl, noticing that she looked very self concious and shy. Have to change that, now wont we, Mace thought to himself.
Putting on his best smile, Mace stood up and offered her his hand
"I'm Mace Balfour. Me and Keiba are buddies from when we were little in Australia. How about you, what's your name?"

Keiba looked up and smiled as Salina came over. "Hey Salina. How are you? I haven't seen you around lately. Feeling a little better than usual? I noticed you've become really reserved. Nothing too bad happen over your summer break, I hope?" Keiba asked, already knowing that something terrible had happened to her dorm friend, but she wanted to hear it from the lady herself, in case other things were rumours.

Keiba listened to Salina's story with tears in her eyes. She'd heard that Corinne had been sent into a coma, but had no idea when or how. Hearing that she wouldn't wake up for 25 years pricked at her heart. And also being disowned? She was barely twelve for heaven's sake! "That's so not fair. You're such a nice, good person. This stuff shouldn't happen to you, Salina! It's just not fair." The only thing Keiba could do was lean forward and give a ginormous hug to her dorm member.

"I can't do anything for you, but wish you all the better from now on. I don't think anything worse could happen." Keiba wondered why the war instated so much loss and devastation into people's lives - first Haley, now Salina... it was just plain cruel.

Mace listened wide eyed as Salina told her story. He knew that there had been losses in the attack, but untill now, it had hit him how truly sad it was. It also made him realise how lucky he was. Sure, his family was a little boring, and they didn't always get along, but it was still his family. To be disowned and sent away to live with strangers would have torn him into pieces. And to have a sister in a coma as well. Things really couldn't get any worse for this girl.
"Oh Salina, I'm really sorry. It must be heart breaking. But hey, there are some really clever people out there. Maybe they'll find a way to bring your sister out of the coma sooner."

The other thing that occurred to Mace was how terrified he was. What if the Germans attacked again. Who would be lost this time? What if it was himself, or even worse, Keiba? Mace couldnt bear the thought of losing her. Apart from being his best friend, she was actually one his ONLY friends. Mace cast a worried glance at Keiba, thinking about what might be.

"Um, I haven't signed up for any classes yet." Mace replied a little absent mindedly. "Keib and I were gonna go tommorow," he smiled sheepishly, "I have a habit of forgetting stuff like that."

"Yes, Mace is really a shocker for that sort of stuff," Keiba said, shaking her head at her best friend. "I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, umm... Occlumency and Astronomy... oh! And Infiltration. What about you, Salina?" Keiba smiled warmly at her roommate. She was glad to see her a little bit more talkative after not talking to practically anyone since they got here.

Melody sat on the couch read in the common room.The she petted her cat Jinxy as she read and she hoped that no one would disturb her.
The book she was reading was titled Disappear.