Entrance Hall

Entrance Hall
ground floor of hogwarts

The Entrance Hall, also known as the Front Hall, is located on the ground floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a wide marble staircase opposite the oak doors. It is so big you could have fit a whole house in it, with stone walls that were lit with flaming torches. The ceiling is too high to make out, with ghosts flittering about in the atmosphere.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Her descent down three flights of stairs has been unceremonious, and she temporarily ceases her crusade against Frog Choir when she starts to wonder if Ant had even followed after her in the first place. It's either that *or* she's just too lightning fast for him! With how slowly the coggs in his head turn when she's talking to him, she is willing to argue that she *is* too lightning fast for him. Lemon laughs to herself at that, not minding the heads that turn in her direction when she does. After hoisting herself onto one of the large bannisters, she begins her wait for him with one hand theatrically resting behind her, putting her weight on it as she holds the gentle-minded creature in the air near her face. Her brows are furrowed just as dramatically, pretending to interrogate the toad over its association with the poorly named *Frog Choir* and ordering it to start croaking certain notes to figure out how they perform. Occasionally, she would gently pet the creature and give it a little tender love and care, but the charade must continue. Even if Frog Boy doesn't show, she supposes she wouldn't mind caring for it as she continues to hold it for ransom. Sometimes you really have to commit to what you're doing! Lemon wonders if her parents would be pleased with her committing to *this*, and she laughs to herself again.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant had asked one of the paintings to lead him towards where Lemon had run off to and when he finally spots her on one of the bannisters, he says his thanks to the acrylic viking and turns towards her. He sighs, not really knowing how he's going to navigate this conversation, but resolves that he has to in order to get Gren back. Just as he had expected, his inbox was full of messages from various club members in the younger years who were too anxious to admit in the group chat that one of the toads had gone missing despite their best efforts. Apparently Jolie, who had reassured him that everything was fine, was insistent that she'd be able to find Greninja before Ant could even realize that he was missing. Too bad all the other first to third years tattled, but he appreciates her efforts. At least Ant knows that he's with Lemon, though he's not sure if that's supposed to be any consolation. Approaching her, he clears his throat to alert her of his presence. She seems to be busy... interrogating(?) the toad, and although he actually really wants to let her continue so that he can see where this is supposed to be going, it would probably be for the best if he interrupts now. "Darling." he starts, too frazzled by the situation to register how that sounds. "Can I have Greninja back now?" He doesn't need to ask *how* she came into possession of the toad now that he knows about how they were all accidentally set loose, so might as well get straight to the point.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Casually, her brows raise and she rolls her head over onto her shoulder to face him. Her eyelashes bat with faux naivety. "Darling?" she teases, a growing smirk appearing on her face as she maintains the eye contact. "I don't know *who* you are talking about– Greninja? Isn't that a Pokémon? What a *ridiculous* name." Lemon scoffs mockingly, turning toward the creature in her hand and briefly getting a glance at Ant from the corner of her eye. Not hesitating, she lets the following words roll off of her tongue with little thought. "Their name is Lollihops Paddington III." A lot of restraint must be exercised to not laugh at herself, knowing that is equally as (if not more) ridiculous than Greninja, but that's the point. When her head rolls to turn towards him again, her eyes are challenging him, smirk still taunting him. Lemon has started to really enjoy toying with Ant, and it's very obvious to anyone who lingers around them for too long. Speaking of, her eyes glance over towards a party of students hanging out around the opposite bannister, lifting her free hand for seconds to wave at them without moving her head toward them. A little laughter erupts in reaction, and she huffs out a little stifled laugh. "It's a little disrespectful for you to just storm here– Wait, what was your problem again?" Lemon laughs more now, earrings jingling as she leans forward with laughter. Lollihops is brought closer to her chest absentmindedly, subconsciously hoarding the toad to herself.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant turns a bit red when she asks him if it's a Pokémon because it *is* and he had helped choose that name (one of the muggle-born second years had come up with the idea of naming it Froakie, which Ant thought was too on the nose). "We actually *do* have another toad named Lollihops..." he says, not really knowing what else to say. Around Lemon, he always seems to be at a loss for words, and saying whatever comes into his mind first seems like a better option than saying nothing at all. "My problem?" he repeats, sounding a bit incredulous. Ant seems to take everything she says a little bit seriously, which is harmless but only serves to confuse him more. "I think it's actually a bit disrespectful for you to hold Gren hostage, actually – " He does not sound irritated at all, actually, mostly just confused, which is the tone Ant possesses in most conversations but it really jumps out in conversations with Lemon. "Hm." he says, trying to figure out how to get through this conversation with her. He glances at the giggling students who have just passed by, distracted, then realizes he should probably focus before she says more things and confuses him more. "I would like the toad back." he says, extending his hand. After a couple seconds of debating whether or not it's worth adding, he finally finishes with a "Please." Might as well be nice. Their best friends will probably be dating by tomorrow anyway.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Mocking laughter slowly spills from her body at the confirmation that a Lollihops actually exists, and Lemon bends forward again. When she glances at Ant, his hand is outstretched rather pathetically and the added *Please* is enough to send her over the edge, sending her body into an eruption of laughter. Her arm shoots around her stomach to hold it, and by the time she's done, her free hand is wiping away tears from her overly amused eyes. "*Please*," she repeats, laughing a little again before starting to actually compose herself. "Not going to cut it, Travert. Right, Lolli Padds?" Lemon turns towards the toad, lifting it with both hands and gently rotating it to pretend it's shaking its head. Afterwards, she turns towards him with a smug expression, not a very unfamiliar one. "See? You will have to do better than that. We wouldn't want to return them to such negligent care so easily... Tsk." Her eyes roll jokingly, but her voice is riding the thin line between being seriously concerned and not caring in the slightest. Accidentally, she totally glosses over her new admission that this *is* Greninja and that they do indeed belong to Frog Choir. "A little reward might be nice, considering they were *saved*. Alternatively, it's *ransom*. Oooh!" she coos softly, eyes widening before she grins at him and they're screwed shut as that spreads into a little huff of laughter. "I'll trade them for something then. How about that?" It's not entirely serious, but there's no reason to think that unless someone knows her well enough considering her hand falls flat out for him. Her fingers curl as if gesturing for him to hand something over, and her face is as smug as always with one brow raised. Lemon just wants to know what he will say, what he will offer her, and see how bewildered he gets. Oh, it's glorious.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant blinks, his brain going blank as it often does in Lemon's company as he attempts to process everything she's just said. "A... trade..." he repeats slowly, as if to make sure that he's heard her correctly. That seems to happen very often when he's in her company. It would be annoying if it weren't for the fact that it's so overwhelmingly baffling that it's hard for him to feel anything else. "I wouldn't know what to trade you." he says. He isn't sure if this is an Eagle Choir vs. Frog Choir matter anymore or if it's simply Lemon vs. Ant since she apparently loves to mess with him so much. It could be both, but knowing which one specifically would make it easier to bargain with her, probably. "Is there something of Frog Choir's you want?" Ant realizes belatedly that it's a bit ridiculous of him to be engaging with her over this, but he already said what has been said so he might as well stick to it. Besides, he wouldn't want to just tell her to just stop with the whole ransom act and give him back the toad already. She looks like she's enjoying herself and well, he's never wanted to be the type of person who squashes someone else's enthusiasm. Surely, they can reach some sort of compromise here without anyone's feelings getting hurt. "Or something of mine? Like you said, I'm pretty boring, though, so there isn't much to offer..." Ant rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Boring isn't much of an insult. Valya had told him he wasn't *that* boring, too, which definitely helps.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

If mentioned, she would toy around with the idea that it's *still* an Eagle Choir vs Frog Choir thing, but even she knows that it wouldn't matter if he was in Frog Choir or not. Ant amuses her, nerdy interest in musically-inclined amphibians or not. Lemon finds him hilarious and just *goofy*, and he doesn't really fight her. He just rolls over and accepts it like a poor roly-poly. Him calling himself boring though is almost offensive to her. Her nose scrunches, and when she releases it, she rolls her eyes and huffs, blowing her bangs. "Boooo," she lets out unceremoniously. "Snooze. What happened to Lord of the Frogs? I thought you would have more to offer me, really! It's ridiculous. What use is *trying* anymore?" Her voice is exaggerated for comedic effect, and her free hand flies through the air as she waves it around to fit the points as she's making them. Likely unbeknownst to Ant, she's mimicking how her mother acts on the Real Housewives of Moonstraw City. Eventually, her hand falls onto Lolli Padds, gently petting him as she continues to hold him close for safekeeping. "Why don't you trade a *fun* fact about yourself? And if it isn't deemed *fun*, then you tell me more until it is!" Her eyebrows raise with excitement, grinning at him. It's almost an unfair agreement, swaying to heavily in her favor. Is she really interested in caring for a toad until the holidays come? Absolutely not. It would benefit her to pass Lolli Padds over, but she hasn't gotten anything out of the creature in terms of how to use it for music. A good test on how truly boring Frog Boy is is at least something to complete her day. "Oh, and a coke! But that can be... What's the word for something you collect at a later date?" Heath is always on about this or that finance-wise as if he has ever done his own finances. "Whatever it is, it can be *that*!" Lemon settles down then, clearly ready for him to start responding as she tilts her head curiously.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant leans against the nearby handrail of the grand staircase as he thinks over her request. Surely, it cannot be *that* difficult to come up with a fun fact about himself, so that should be easy enough. He doesn't mind buying her a coke either. That's fine. He can get Rayy to give it to her. As he continues thinking, every time he thinks of something to possibly share, almost immediately a voice pipes up in his head telling him that it's not very fun or interesting. Getting shot down every time you talk about your interests will do that to you, he guesses. Not wanting to keep Lemon waiting though, Ant comes to the conclusion that he shouldn't have to worry so much anyway about impressing Lemon with some sort of super interesting bit of trivia about himself. Honestly, she seems plenty amused with him already (much to his confusion) and she *already* finds him boring. Nothing to lose. "When I was younger, I wanted to become a mapmaker." he says, looking a bit embarrassed. His brothers used to think that was ridiculous. Of course, given the fact that he was really young and didn't know enough about any place to properly map anywhere in particular, it makes sense to him that they would find it stupid how Ant would invent whole terrains or make maps of fictional places. He hasn't mentioned it to anyone else outside his family except for Marisha, though it used to come up every once in a while whenever he and Max would hang out with friends last year, and his brother would take the piss out of how 'nerdy' Ant was growing up. He frowns. "I'll get you two cokes if I don't have to come up with something else." he offers. While Ant doesn't look too uncomfortable sharing about himself, it would be a lot easier he thinks to just buy her something to express his gratitude for her returning Gren. Sharing about himself has never ended well.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

It's a little delayed, but she laughs a little so that her eyes crease, visibly satisfied and amused. Ant is sort of parchment as a person (or at least as far as she is aware), so the idea of him being interested in cartography is too fitting. It tickles her, and she decides that that's a fine place to start. Briefly, she's distracted by the desire to have *two* sodas, but she has an unlimited supply at home and at Seven's apartment when she tries to bully him into crashing there. Lemon doesn't actually *need* anymore, so it doesn't really do her any good. "Nooo. No. No, I don't think so. What about a burger? We can swing by the McDonald's outside King's." Her offer is said smugly, and she smirks at him to pull it altogether. "It can be a beautiful, poetic goodbye– the last time we see each other in 2047." If her hands were free, she would have brought them together to one side of her face to pretend to daydream while staring at the sky. It's a shame this creature is starting to interfere with her theatrics. Surely, when the time comes, Lemon will be dramatic in her goodbyes, wanting to leave a lasting impression on his year before they move onto the next. At least in 2048, he will have known her since the beginning; that ought to make it better. "Anyways! Lolli Padds isn't yours until you tell me *why* mapmaking and when you *finally* saw the light." Her smirk is a little more gentle this time, but she isn't doing it on purpose. Lemon just doesn't feel as strongly about him having actually 'seen the light' and only says it to poke at him. "And you earn bonus points if you have an embarrassing story." Getting boys to admit to something they're embarrassed by is nice. It humanizes them, and Lemon is naturally quite skilled at getting them to. Alternatively, the boys that want to hangout around Lemon are just in a constant state of embarrassing themselves.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Arguably most of Ant's life is an embarrassing story, he thinks, but he chooses to not go into so much detail about it considering he isn't even sure if these 'bonus points' would be worth it. Instead focusing on the suggestion to eat at a McDonald's together, Ant's eyebrows furrow in confusion. Coming to the conclusion that she meant just swinging by to buy her something then not actually spending more time than necessary together, he shrugs and acquiesces. Fine, it shouldn't be that bad, and they can go with Rayy and Marisha anyway so that they have a buffer if it ends up being any longer. "I don't see why a goodbye between us has to be poetic or beautiful," he says, sounding confused, as always. Honestly, most of what Ant says while talking to Lemon is just him thinking out loud as if to buy time while he thinks of the next thing to say. It would be much more awkward to sit there in silence, definitely. "I liked knowing how far places were from one another." he says, firstly. It would be a bit depressing to overshare and say that it was born out of a desire to run away from home and wanting to understand the feasibility of that mission. "Then, I don't know, I realized that it wasn't a very cool job." For a while in fifth and sixth year, Ant was convinced that he wanted to be an auror. Now, though... Not so much. Actually, not at all, even. He isn't particularly sure what he wants to be just yet. "It's kinda nerdy, if you think about it." Talking his interests down because no one else is around to anymore has become a bad habit of his as of late, but not one he is especially self-aware of. "Uh, but I made a map of Hogwarts for my friend sometime in fifth year, 'cause she's always getting lost." he mentions, just to let her know the hobby is not completely dead. Ophelette is rather *mean* now, though, and she and Ant no longer talk. He swallows. "I'd show it to you sometime, but we're not friends anymore and I'm pretty sure she lost it." He would not put it past her. Shifting uncomfortable in his place (as always), he looks up at Lemon again. "I think that might be a bit embarrassing?" That he put so much effort into something someone *lost*. "Do I get Gren back now?"

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Her McDonald's adventure *does* account for the lovebirds joining them, assuming that they survive even though Rayy has appeared *set* on painting that as an impossible feat until a few days ago. Something changed their tune, but she doesn't care what exactly. Lemon assumes it has been her endless teasing over how Marisha is so *obviously* in love with them, but who can say for certain? When he comments on their departure not needing to be poetic, she rolls her eyes. "Obviously not, Travert. It's calling *joking around*. Ever heard of it?" Her signature laughter soon follows before she tilts her head with an eyebrow raised as if to tell him she's *genuinely* curious. Ant is so dry; it's no wonder her shoulders hurt after talking to him for too long. Lemon wants to say that, but by the time she's thought of it, he's telling her a rather depressing tale about a poor friend. Her nose scrunches in disgust before her expression falls into a portrait of bewilderment. Her eyes glance down at Lolli Padds, who she supposes she ought to call *Gren* now even though she's never going to, before she slowly extends him out towards Ant with both hands. Suddenly, it became a lot less fun to mess with him. Surely, her energy to do so will return eventually, but for right now, she's been caught off guard. "Whatever. Here, but you don't earn any bonus points for *that*. It's not embarrassing, Travert. It's just fucking depressing." Her tone isn't that serious, but then she withdraws her arms before he can get ahold of *Greninja*. "And it's *a lot* nerdy, but there's *no shot* you give a shit about that, right? You still play Realm, and apart from Twigg, you're the highest-in-command of Frog Choir. So, you were joking, but you're just dry about it, right?" Lemon scoffs out a faint laugh, eyebrows raised as she continues to stare at him in disbelief.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Ant shrugs. "Lots of people play Realm." And he had *quit* for a very long time too, though he isn't sure if saying that will help his case. It's a bit embarrassing to have gotten sucked back into it so quickly, but Ant tries not to dwell on it too much because he's having fun and he should stop keeping himself from doing things that he enjoys in favor of things that don't really spark that much happiness. He reaches out to get Gren, but then she withdraws her arms and he has to stop himself from rolling his eyes. That wouldn't be very nice, and besides the annoyance is very quickly replaced with a small bit of amusement at *Twigg*. He even huffs a little when she says it. She's a bit annoying, sure, but at the very least she's witty. "For the record, I don't *know* how I ended up being highest-in-command of Frog Choir." To this day, Ant is still extremely baffled by it. He had never meant for it to get this far, not that he's complaining. He has always loved music and for some reason being president means that the younger years feel as if they have more of a right to approach him and ask for help with things, which he is always glad to do. It's nice to be able to look out for them. Not that Ant wants anyone else to have to experience the misfortune of being a member of his family, but it would have been nice to have younger siblings. He thinks he would have made a good older brother, or at the very least, certainly a better one than his brothers were to him. "I joined in third year for extra credit and because a friend wanted me to join her – " A friend he spent the better part of his early years at Hogwarts crushing on, but that's hardly the point. His face turns red when he mentions it and he feels the warmth in his cheeks, so hopefully Lemon gets the message and that can count towards his bonus points for embarrassment. " – and then Logg just sort of kept... giving me things to do?" Ant looks confused just recounting it. "Where'd you get the idea for *Eagle* Choir anyway?"

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

A long silence follows Ant's defense, and she stares at him the whole time. Any amusement has fallen from her face as she remains puzzled with his insistence to distance himself from this nerdiness. "Hm, you found that witty, huh?" she teases him over the slight huff, reaching forward as if to poke him but purposefully not getting anywhere near close enough. Ant might have cooties, duh. Lemon laughs at him, but she thinks it counts as *with* him. "I don't understand your complex... Honestly, it's a *disgrâce*." Shoutout to Yves' dramatic flair for teaching her enough French to bully the tallest Frenchman she's ever seen. "Sure, a lot of *nerds* play Realm," she says, rather pointedly before laughing again. "And you're one of them! *Oooh, guysss, Frog Boy is a nerddd!*" Her voice lowers to a whisper, not thinking it's worth possibly actually embarrassing him. Still, she acts as if she's telling the world by holding a hand to her mouth as if amplifying her words. Afterwards, her eyes roll, far less shy about rolling her eyes at *him*. "Whatever, Travert. Identify however, but everyone knows the nerdiest boys are the fucking hottest– *Sizzling*. Oh, my God! Knox is dating one of the most sought after students at Hogwarts, a *princess*. What does that say? Given he's actually fit." Seeing them around the common room hasn't convinced her that they're *in love* per se, but there's something strange between them for sure. Getting distracted by that thought reminds her that she was supposed to be answering something else, but it's easy to just go on and on and say just random shit when she's around Ant. After all, she isn't too convinced that he's truly listening half of the time, and there's nothing quite like wasting someone's time. He *could* leave. Oh, Gren, right. "Are you dense, Travert? Or– *Oh!*" She laughs, patting her leg as she bends over while remaining mindful of Greninja. "You're toying with me! Right?" A few residual chuckles of amusement sputter out. "Anyways, good story, simp," she says, holding the creature out for him to take.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Taking Gren back, Ant very gently takes the toad into their hands. He inspects Gren very quickly just to make sure he isn't hurt, not that Ant believed Lemon would have allowed for that to happen. The toad, recognizing Ant immediately, lets out a croak and perches himself on Ant's shoulder. Ant shifts a little to balance the animal properly. After five years in Frog Choir, he's more than used to the toads deciding to rest on him. At least it isn't on his head this time. They're sure Lemon would've gotten a hoot out of that, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Ant thinks if his face turns any more red then he might as well just get transfigured into a tomato. "Thanks," he says. When he realizes that he wasn't being specific and could very easily be thanking her for telling him it was a good story and calling him a *simp*, Ant clarifies immediately. "For returning Gren." The mention of Darshini does not fluster him as much as he thought it would, which confirms to him that was just a passing crush. Besides, she and Knox are kind of cute together. He isn't too pressed about finding a girlfriend anyway. So far this term, there haven't been any girls in his year that have caught his interest. He looks back at Lemon, interested in what else she might have to say to him, but mostly just confused at why she would think he's *toying* with her. "I'm not toying with you." he says, trying ot make that clear before she uses it as more ammunition to escalate this 'rivalry' that the two of them have. Ant did not think having a 'rival' would require as much energy as it has already, but hey, at least his rival is pretty entertaining.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Watching Gren perch himself on Ant's shoulder is enough to fuel her for the rest of the night. Covering her mouth, she bursts into another little fit of laughter. It's so terrible that she doesn't catch the expression of gratitude. Once she's collected herself, it's obvious that any attempt at eye contact is pointless when she can be staring at Gren instead. From time to time, a little chuckle leaves her, but she's mostly settled into a far politer grin. "Oh, you're *serious*?" Her eyebrows raise, head jutting forehead as she tries to process that. Ant is a little dry, so she assumed his humor would be too. Well, that could still be true, but maybe she will have a harder time distinguishing the two. *Well* 2.0, she isn't too sure that Ant knows how to be funny anyways. Maybe there isn't anything to worry about. "Nothing is more enjoyable than irritating Logg, and my good faith attempt at forming a choir that utilized the beautiful sounds of nature was a completely unintentional means of doing so." Her hand is rested on her stomach, mimicking how her brother stands during his inspirational speeches. After considering it earlier in September, she recognizes that she really shouldn't admit that Eagle Choir's existence is purely an attempt to annoy Hogwarts' beloved Professor Logg since she wouldn't want it shut down for being formed out of ill faith. "If you're interested in our inspiration for the name, a child was heard screaming and pointing at an owl, calling it an eagle. It gave me a good laugh! It reminds me of when Muggle-borns get teased for calling the pet toads *frogs*." Her grin spreads into an amused smirk, tickling herself with her seriousness. It's quite dickish, she realizes, but she isn't really doing anything to *Ant*– or Logg really since Frog Choir wasn't their invention.

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

During Lemon's explanation, Ant glances at Gren as if sharing a look with the toad to make sure that they're hearing the same thing. She can be so strange sometimes that it's almost as if she's come from another planet and is speaking in some sort of language that Ant barely understands. He *wants* to understand, though – at the very least so their encounters will not leave him as baffled as they normally do. Letting out an amused huff at the mention of irritating Logg. "Well, they *are* a bit – I wouldn't say *irritated* – " Except Logg most definitely *is* irritated, and Ant doesn't think he's ever seen the professor get irritated because of anything. *And* Logg had to put up with Ant in fifth and sixth year, which arguably, is plenty frustrating considering the amount of times he would be late to meetings with them and Venus. Remembering their so-called 'rivalry', Ant very quickly clarifies, " – I wouldn't say *threatened* either." Ant fumbles with his words. "They're just... *very* aware of your existence." Settling on that, Ant realizes he might be instigating her. It's fine. It seems to bring her joy anyway and Ant does not see Eagle Choir as a legitimate threat. It's a bit ridiculous, sure, but so is the notion of Frog Choir and surely two animal choirs can exist without much fuss. As long as Eagle Choir doesn't resort to sabotage or anything drastic like that, it's okay and not Ant's problem. The real enemy is WADA. "When can the school expect to see a performance?" Admittedly, Ant's very curious about how this whole endeavor is going. "It would be nice to finally get to hear 'the beautiful sounds of nature' you mentioned." he adds, a bit dryly.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

It doesn't matter if Ant clarifies *anything*. "A-HA!" she exclaims, pointing a finger at him. Skirting around the issue only confirms that Logg *is* irritated, not just a bit aware of her and Eagle Choir's existence as Ant wants her to believe. Lemon isn't a total fool. For years, she has spent her idle time creating little scenarios to bother them, and she believes quite arrogantly that she knows better than anyone how to get under their professor's skin. "Logg *is* bothered– easy peasy, Lemon squeezy." Amusing herself, she winks at him with a satisfied little smirk and begins settling into the warm satisfaction that this confirmation has brought her. Giving it more thought, she wonders if she shouldn't mention it to Rayy because of their positive (unfounded) feelings toward the Herbology professor, but the worst that they can do is roll their eyes at her. It isn't as if that hasn't happened before, and she's still here and alive. If something actually happened to her every time someone rolled their eyes at her, Lemon would be six feet under by now surely. His dry attitude brings her out of her joy, but she switches herself back into her joyous mood soon after. His dryness is lame, but not going to kill her own energy, she reminds herself. "For your information —" She's started using this quite mockingly after an overexposure to a particular housemate of hers. "— Riddletross said we can perform in February at the earliest! How exciting that we have fansss! *Except* if you're going to form some sort of fan organization, we were thinking our fans should be called the Know-It-Owls." Sometimes she says things that she doesn't even find particularly funny but so annoying. Lemon enjoys seeing how others react to her saying just about anything, but when it's ridiculous and cringey, their reactions are worth even more. "Sooo cute, huh? I bet the Wasp would love that," she laughs a lot at that. Marisha probably would or would at least pretend to (and that's what matters).

Ant

exochorda, seventh year
paintedred

Flustered by the wink, his brain short-circuits as he takes the time to process that, only snapped out of the momentary haze of confusion when Gren lets out a small croak. Luckily, his mind is now clear enough to fully appreciate the pun that is 'Know-It-Owls' and even he cannot help but let out a snort at that. As if he would *ever* start a fan organization for Eagle Choir of all things, but in case it does miraculously take off then he really hopes that whoever founds it is as annoyingly clever as Lemon is. Nevertheless, he is rather certain that if some pesky second years do decide to start up a *fan club* (nothing is too strange for a twelve-year-old to 'stan', he thinks) then Lemon would probably give them the name herself. "She would, yeah." Mitzi is tickled by Lemon often, which is great considering that he's pretty sure she'll be dating Lemon's best friend before break starts. He cannot imagine dating someone and hating their *best friend*. It's a good thing he gets along with Rayy. That saves Mitzi a lot of grief, definitely. "Hm. Good luck with your performance." He wonders if them beginning to perform from time to time at school events will mean that Frog Choir will have to perform less, which is honestly great so that they can focus more on preparing for inter-school competitions. Remembering something from their very first conversation, he asks, "I never found out – Were you able to get one of the 'Big H's' as your moderator?" Ant realizes that referring to the trio the same way she had all that time ago is some sort of admittance that he retains a rather vivid memory of their first meeting. As if anyone could forget the first time he met Lemon Darling, though, he thinks dryly to himself. "You wanted Haji." he adds, not wanting to end there.

Lemon Darling

slytherin, sixth year
ateleia

Appreciating the responsive audience, she grins when he snorts at her little *Know-It-Owls* comment. Even if it's meant disrespectfully, she received some sort of response from him. Lemon wouldn't have survived Hogwarts thus far if she responded to every condescending snort or grumble seriously, and she instead chooses to believe the best and accept it as begrudging amusement. It's never a stretch; a lot of the other students react to her that way. A little mean-spirited, she wants to mention how different he is from Marisha and question how that even works out. Even though she would be inquiring seriously, she remembers that she is supposed to be playing nice right now– for Rayy. Yes, this *is* playing nice. "Thanks!" she exclaims, quite happily. Lemon is quite satisfied with how this conversation has gone. "Oh, wouldn't you *looove* to know? Well, you're not finding out. How about that?" Honestly, she just doesn't want to admit who their moderator is. With her track record, you never know when a moderator will quit from exhaustion, considering how often she is bound to hassle them about this or that each day. Maybe she should start exercising more to get out some of that extra energy. "It's a mystery!" Her fingers wiggle towards him, still maintaining her own space away from him. Once done with that charade and there's a lull in the conversation, she hops down from the bannister (not that there was much of a need to *hop*). "Anyway! Let's not start a snoozefest." Lemon laughs at herself though maybe it's at him. She doesn't know. Her back is facing him by the time she actually announces any sort of goodbye, tossing her hand in the air to wave at him. "Stay nerdy, Stick Bug."