D.A.D.A., Class 2

[Evelyn Turner]

When Evelyn arrived at class she felt as though she might be the last one there. The room was nearly full with chattering students, the professor, and the professor's assistant. Evelyn knew she couldn't possibly be late, and she didn't necessarily like being first to class, but to be last? That was not good either. She slunk into a seat near a few of the other Gryffindors and pulled out her things for class.

[Leilani Evetts]

Lani's hair bounced as if it was one piece as she came into class, and may as well have been for all the muggle hairspray she used. She had a bright smile on her face, and not a care in the world.

Though she was holding the textbook, her mind was a million miles away from the class. It should fly by pretty quickly, she hoped. She had much more important things to do with her time.

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea walked into class with her head held high. A lot of her fellow students had been angry with her for getting twenty points taken away from Slytherin, but others had told her that she was "cool" for speaking up to the professor. Most everyone agreed that he was a loon.

But now she was heading to Defense Against the Dark Arts, being taught by Rothschild's wife. Andrea almost felt sorry for the stupid woman for being married to such a nutter.

As she walked in, she took a look around and noticed Regulus sitting in the back with the other Slytherins. She smiled--a rare occurrence for her. But Regulus was just about the only one who could make her smile. Now, if only he'd notice her...

She walked up to him and sat down in the seat next to him. "Hi, Regulus," she said in a singsongy voice.

[Adele Graham]

Adele came in, holding the door open for a second because she had seen a student coming down the hall behind her.

She was in a relatively good mood today, and this was one of her favorite classes, even if she wasn't wonderful at it. She was trying to look positively on each day.

She had also gotten a letter from her brother just before coming to class, and it made her smile as she quickly found a seat and opened it before the lesson started.

[Gage Oliver]

Gage ran across the hall, hoping he wasn't late, and slid through the open door.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly to the girl holding the door for him. He looked around the class at all the students and felt slightly overwelmed. He hoped he wasn't behind already, even though he missed the first class. Gage walked up to the teacher and handed over a note explaining why he had started school late this year and then went and took a seat next to the girl who had opened the door for him.

"Hi," he smiled widely. "I'm Gage."

[Adele Graham]

Adele gave the boy a small smile. She liked his charisma, she decided, thinking it was a perfectly good word to describe him. He was outgoing, to say the least, especially for being a younger student.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, and offered him her hand. "I'm Adele. Are you new, or have I just not seen you around?" She asked, careful to keep quiet in case the class started soon. She didn't like drawing attention to herself, or others around her. Plus, it was polite.

[Gage Oliver]

Gage took Adele's smile as a good sign. Making friends wasn't as hard as he thought it would be here.

"You too," Gage said. He lowered the volume of his voice to match hers. That's the last thing he wanted, to be the new kid AND the obnoxious student. "I'm new; my family and I just moved here from America, so i had to start Hogwarts hecka late," he bit his tongue, silently cursing his American accent. "I mean really late..." He laughed and put his book on his desk and prepared for class.

"So what year are you in?" He asked.

[Adele Graham]

Adele's smile widened a little. "You're American?" She asked. "So am I. Which state?" She wasn' discernable as American by her accent, which was distinctly British, since she had moved when she was young, but she remembered a few things about being stateside.

"Oh. I'm a sixth year," she said, answering his question. "Another year and a half and I'm done. You?"

[Gage Oliver]

Gage smiled wide enough that it almost hurt. Adele was American too? That was excelent.
"California," he said. "A little town a couple miles away from San Francisco. What about you?" he asked curiously.

"And I'm a second year," Gage said, shrugging a bit. "I'm nowhere CLOSE to being done." He laughed, glad he had sat down to Adele for his frist lesson here at Hogwarts.

[Adele Graham]

"New Jersey," she answered. It was refreshing to find another yankee... even if she wasn't sure she counted as one, anymore. Afterall, she did use the word yankee, and a whole slew of other British slang words. "Right on the Pennsylvania border."

She shrugged about him being a second year. "It's not so bad, really. And you're in Ravenclaw. That's the best house," she said with a wink.

[Gage Oliver]

"Yea, my brother told me I'd be happy in Ravenclaw," Gage said, putting his hand in his pocket and gripping the unopened letter from his older brother. He looked around and noticed the class was almost filled. "When does class start, anyway? I could have sworn I would be late..." He ran a hand through his brown wavy hair. Gage then smiled back at Adele. "Defence is my best class."

[Adele Graham]

Adele smiled again, softly, almost in a patronly way. "The professors are usually pretty lax. They start within ten minutes of when they're supposed to, but they don't mind us so much. Some to. You absolutely cannot be late to Professor McGonagal's classes."

He gave her a lot to work with to continue the conversation, and she very much enjoyed his enthusiam and openness. It was refreshing, and something she herself stayed away from.

"Is your brother still a student here?" She asked.

[Gage Oliver]

"Actually, he never went to school here. He went to the Wizarding school in America with my older sister." Gage said. He began to doodle on the margins of his parchment paper. "But he read all about Hogwarts and told me everything he learned so i wouldn't be nervous."

"And I dont plan on being late to McGonagal's class," Gage blushed slightly. "She scares me."

[Adele Graham]

"Oh. Why did you come to Hogwarts, then, if you don't mind me asking?" It would have made sense that he went to the same school as his siblings, unless they had moved here recently or... well, it was none of her business, really. She didn't let anyone pry into her life, she shouldn't pry either.

Even saying that to herself, she found herself curious. "Well, if it means anything to you, you don't seem nervous at all."

[Gage Oliver]

Gage almost released a sigh, glad that his nerves weren't showing.

"No special reason, My family moved here because my dad got offered a job. So we up and moved to London and ta-da! here I am!" He grinned. "I didn't mind, new town, new life. That's what my brother told me anyway..." Gage streatched in his seat and relaxed a bit, feeling more comfortable as their convorsation continued.

[Adele Graham]

She stayed in her position, slightly leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "Well, congratulations to your father," she said, not wanting to delve into his family life, except what he gave to her willingly. "I'm assuming it was a good job for him to move you to London. London is a good city though... I think you'll like it."

[Gage Oliver]

"I hope so," Gage said. "Granted, most of my time will be spent in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts." He smirked, thinking that being at Hogwarts wasnt all that bad, even if it wasn't the school his older sibilings had went to. He was here to make his own name anyway, not fall in the shadow of his brother.

"I guess it is a good job, I don't really know what he does though," Gage laughed. "All I know is that he works in the Ministry." He shrugged. "But I don't really get any of that stuff."

[Adele Graham]

Her smile widened a little more. "That's something else we have in common, then. My brother works at the Ministry, too. Do you know which department?"

Either he moved so much that he was used to it, or he was just a very naturally outgoing kid, because he didn't seem affected at all by the "new kid" syndrome.

"My brother is the Magical Law Enforcement," she said, offering up a bit before she let him.

[Gage Oliver]

"My Dad's an Auror," Gage said. "Or, WAS an Auror...he stopped going on missions when my sisters were board. He still works in the departmant, but I dont know what he's doing." Gage fiddled with his tie and continued doodleing on his paper. Then he looked up at Adele again.

"So your brother is in Magical Law Enforcement? What does he do? How long's he been there?" Gage then blushed. "Sorry, I'm naturally curious. Blessing and a curse my mom says..."

[Adele Graham]

She shrugged. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. I haven't been fantastic about keeping in touch with him." It was one of those things she swore she would get better about, and she really knew she should.

"He's been there for about six years... he's quite a bit older than me. Anyway, he really seems to enjoy it."