Entering the Common Room

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail stepped up to the gargoyle in the corridor. Taking a deep breath, she said the password in a slightly shaky voice. As she knew it would, the gargoyle leapt aside to reveal the passage to the Ravenclaw Common Room. She hesitated to step forward, however. Gail remembered when she loved school as much as the rest of her House. Now, with challenges at home and at school, she was ready to get out on her own.

Granted, she hadn't helped the school aspect any. Heaven knew her behavior recently was enough to alienate anyone. She had always been shy, but last year, she had been nothing less than cold.

Looking down the passage into the bright Common Room beyond, Gail sighed. She could barely remember a time in the last year when her life had been simple. At least she was on her way back to solid ground, but undoing damage was always difficult at best. Trust didn't come back overnight.

"Ahem," the gargoyle said. Gail had never heard the gargoyle speak before, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, go clear your throat at somebody else," she scowled.

Gail could have sworn she saw the gargoyle smirk before he leapt back in front of the passage. Now she knew her jaw was on the floor.

She repeated the password. Again. Again. The gargoyle didn't move. Giving up, she went over and gave the statue a kick. All she got was a sore toe.

"Magic word," he admonished.

Gail bit her lip. "Fine. ***, please."

Finally, he left the passage clear once again. Not wanting to press her luck, Gail walked quickly past. However, she couldn't let it go without a final shot. "More temperamental than a bloody dragon, you are." Gail thought she could hear him starting to move, and she hurried down the passage. The next time she had to get in wouldn't be pleasant.

Finally, Gail stepped into the Ravenclaw Common Room. It was exactly the way she had left it before the Winter Hols. However, this was not the time to reminisce. If she wanted to avoid attention, standing in the entrance was not the way to do it.

She walked over to the fireplace and flopped down on a sofa that sat next to it. She always loved this sofa. It was the perfect color, size, and just the right firmness. Gail could fall asleep here, but she knew the penalties of that. She just wanted to avoid heading up to her dormitory.

Unfortunately for her, the nearby peace was broken as a shadow came and blocked her light.

((OOC: Two things probably need to be said about this. First of all, I am new to this site, but I'm playing this character as though she's been here for all five years. Other people can come in as transfer students, but I personally like to stick to canon, so that's what I've tried to do.
Second, Gail has some history behind her. She had a bad fourth year and is facing a lot of challenges right now. This is making her...aloof would be the polite way to put it. However, there are times when she borders on downright antisocial. Take that as you will, and run with it in your responses. I actually like all you guys and am REALLY excited to be here. Neither particularly applies to Gail.))

[Drew Thornton]

{I edited your post to take out the password. People have been known to get into common rooms without them *whistles*}

Drew wove his way between the furniture, barely giving the girl on the sofa a second glance. He plopped down into the comfy chair and dug his quidditch magazine out from between the cushions. It was onlyu then he looked up and smiled at the girl. "Don't fall asleep there. I heard Hiro came back from hols," he warned.

[Gail Lawrence]

((Oh, thank you. I didn't realize that could happen. Clearly, I'm not very computer literate, or I would have thought of that. Love the innocent-sounding whistle, by the way!))

“Don’t fall asleep there. I heard Hiro came back from hols.”

Gail tilted her head up and saw Drew with a Quidditch magazine lying in his lap. The smile was only slightly reassuring, but the magazine was highly desirable.

Rolling her eyes, Gail replied, "Of course he did. Everyone comes back from hols.” Her mouth quirked up. “Whether they leave again is another matter.

“Besides, is there any prank Hiro won’t pull?”

Gail had made the mistake of sleeping in the Common Room only once, as he had hit her with water bombs in the middle of the night, and she had been wet all night.

[Drew Thornton]

{he actually hits victims with water bombs... one of the reasons we discourage new people from playing liek they've been there all along is you don't know things about the peopole who have been here}

"Not everyone," Drew answered back, ignoring the girl's snippy attitude. They must be pumping something into the Ravengirl's dorm because all of the girls seemed to be out of sorts lately. "And there are plenty of pranks he won't pull. Some are just stupid."

[Gail Lawrence]

((So sorry. I've changed that, and I'll be more careful in the future!))

Gail snorted. “I thought ‘stupid’ was part of the definition of ‘prank’.”

She noticed absently that, although he wasn’t reading it, the magazine didn’t appear to be up for grabs anytime soon. She reached over her head and pushed his hands up so she could see the title of the magazine, acting as though she didn’t know what it was.

“What team do you root for in the League?” she asked. If she couldn’t get the magazine, surely asking about Quidditch would at least get some information out of him.

[Drew Thornton]

He pulled his hands back as she reached for his magazine. Though she didn't actually try to take it, she was eyeing it hungrily. He'd have to be more careful as to where he left it.

"Ashwinders," Drew answered, ready for her to look down her nose at American quidditch. Most Europeans didn't think much of the American teams.

[Gail Lawrence]

Gail saw Drew tense up as she touched the magazine. It seemed like he was suspicious of her. Or else rather possessive. She’d have to look very hard if she wanted to actually read it at some point. She pushed the thought aside. That would come later.

His response of “Ashwinders” left her far more curious. Having grown up Muggle, she had little knowledge of some common aspects of the wizarding world. Although she liked Quidditch, this was clearly one of those areas.

“I don’t know that team,” Gail said slowly. “Where are they from?”

[Drew Thornton]

"Los Angeles," Drew answered, keeping his hold on his magazine. He had lent one to Charlie once and the Slytherin had returned it with the pages all bent. Drew wasn't going to make the same mistake with someone he barely knew. "Top ranked in the states... them and the Finches."

[Gail Lawrence]

Whatever answer Gail had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. She raised her eyebrows. “Really? From the States? And all the way out in LA too.

“With the accent, though it’s not too strong, I’m going to assume you’re from around there.” She paused. She didn’t really care too much about American Quidditch, but it was the topic of choice. And any Quidditch was better than none.

“What kind of competition do they have out there in America?”

[Drew Thornton]

"I'm not the one with the accent..." Drew started, a small smile playing on his face. "Yeah, I'm from LA. The American leagues have gotten better since they've gotten involved in some international competions. I mean, before, it was like we got laughed at if we even attempted the Cup. Now... I mean, the US theam still have a ways to go before they could take on the Magpies or Puddlemere, but they could hold their own against quite a few of the others." It wasn't exactly the answer to her question, but something Drew felt was important.

[arianna]

Skipping down the last few steps, Juniper in her arms of course, Arianna wandered first to the table in the corner, then to the end table by the couch, passing by the other two as though they weren't even there. She was searching for something, that much was certain.

"Oh, hey Gail," Arianna paused as her eyes fell on the other girl. She found it odd that they had shared classes and a room for so long and yet knew very little of each other. 'Peacefully co-existing' one might say (which is how I lived with my college dormmate). "You haven't seen my paint set have you? It's disappeared."

[Gail Lawrence]

The question never directly got answered, but there was enough there to sufficiently answer nonetheless. Gail liked his comment about accent. This, she had experience with.

“Accent’s all perspective, though,” she noted. “My mother’s family’s from Wales. I can barely understand them sometimes, and I’ve heard it all my life. They think I’ve got the accent too.

“I bet you couldn’t even understand them.”

In the pause, Ari came up asking about her paint set. The two girls hadn’t talked much recently. Gail hoped the mere presence of words as a step forward. Or maybe she was just the closest girl to ask. Or… Gail sat up and shook her head thoughtfully.

“No. If it’s not in the bottom of your trunk, you might want to check under a sofa or something. Maybe it got pushed under there.”

[Drew Thornton]

"Where'd you last have it?" Drew asked, figuring she would have looked there first, but also figuring it didn't hurt to ask. At least it would be a starting point and possibly lead to some theories as to what happened to it.

[arianna]

Turning at the sound of Drew's voice, Arianna's nose twitched ever so slightly. The expression on her face read a slight surprise at the boy's presence. Or maybe it was surprise at the fact that he was talking to her. Even if was just a simple question.

"It was under my bed," she replied, facing Gail once more. "Where I always put it. And before you ask, I didn't forget it somewhere else. I know it was there this morning."

[Drew Thornton]

"This morning?" Drew clarified, thinking if it was that recent, it ruled out the house elves. "Did you check under the other beds? Maybe one of the cats was playing with it?" Again, an obvious thought, but sometimes the most obvious were overlooked. It didnt' hurt to ask.