Another day, another lunch.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira walked in to the great hall, her backpack swung across her shoulders. The bag itself looked relatively empty, but to any one who could manage a muggle combination lock, they might find it quite otherwise. As she walked in she glanced around, some of the people she needed to be there were already there, others were not. It would just be a matter of time.

Keaira took her seat at the Slytherin table. Her book bag still draped across her shoulder. As she waited for the rest of the people she needed to be there she decided that she might as well eat. There was after all a very long trip ahead of her. So she pulled a plate close to her, and began too much on some sandwich stuff.

As she waited she noticed a basket of fruit at the center of her table. Knowing her plans for the rest of the day she grabbed a pair of green apples, an orange, and a pear, and tossed them in to her bag, after the quick lock manipulation. As she snacked she waited for the necessary people to show up for the show to begin. Knowing she would soon be on her way.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah made her way into the Great Hall quickly, requisite satchel of books on her shoulder. She knew when she received the message from Keaira that it meant she was ready to set off for her training. She was a bit anxious about the plan, and wished at the moment that she was up to doing it herself. Initially, she had delayed because of her own injury from the Shadow Realm. However, now that a good deal of that had healed, she had a new reason she could not train Keaira. D'rorah's Elemental Master, Mordred, had gone missing. He had been dismissed from the school apparently with not even enough time to tell anyone where he was going or why he was leaving. So, Masterless, D'rorah was no use in training a new Shadow Warrior, as she herself could no longer safely separate from her emotions. To do so would slowly draw her closer and closer to corruption. Even though Keaira and Dien would be separated by distance, he would be able to pull her emotions back for the few exercises which would require her to separate using their mental connection.

Spotting Keaira at one of the tables eating, she made her way over and sat in a seat across from her. "So, you are prepared to leave?" she asked quietly, making sure no one else was around.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira glanced around as D’rorah entered the great hall and sat across from her. She wasn’t sure if it was a great idea for them to be sitting so openly next to each other right before her plans went in to effect, but Keaira decided it would be fine for a few moments. As D’rorah asked if she was prepared Keaira nodded, all of the items she might need that couldn’t fit in to her bag had already been sent out to her parent’s home. And James would be bringing them along when he retrieved her from St. Mongos.

“Everything is in order, All I need is for Dien to show up and a few more people to open up to, and I’ll be set.” Keaira thought of the plan, it was a little dangerous to allow herself to be so mentally opened to the castle. There was the possibility of things going wrong bit it was slim. Especially with Dien to guard her emotions, and her memories, and D’rorah to guard her actual mind. Things were set, and James would know what to do when he got the message.

If only a few other people had arrived the show could get started. Her mind wandered. Thinking about a very specific person whom she wished was already here, to steal a few moments with. But she didn’t see that person yet. As she picked up another sandwich she smiled and looked at D’rorah, “In a little while.”

[Alessandro Darko]

This was it. This was the day Keaira was making her leave for China. He gulped as he was a little worried for her well-being as he had been made aware of her plan. It was definitely going out with a bang, hopefully the bang wouldn't kill her. As he walked down to the great hall with his bag clunking at his side, he brough his hand to the front of his robes and undid the front to expose his school uniform: black pants, dark grey, v-necked sweater, with a white collared shirt, and his blue and bronze Ravenclaw house tie, tied in a perfect double-windsor.

He entered the Great Hall to find it bustling for lunch. He stood at the top of the stair as he gazed out upon the active Hall. He didn't see D'rorah at the Ravenclaw table which was odd, but then spotted her sitting next to Keaira at the Slytherin table. His eyes widened as he was a little shocked to see a Ravenclaw at the Slytherin table. He swallowed again as he slowly made his way down the stairs. He saw curious glances as he passed his own House table and took a seat at Slytherin table on the other side of Keaira.

"Hey Keaira, Hey Dee..." He said jerkily as he keept looking around him. He gulped as he saw the three Slytherin boys, who had cause him to get detention the other year, glaring at him. "Nice company..." He nervously joked with Keaira nudging her side with his elbow.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah rose from her seat across from Keaira. "Well then, Miss O'Connell, I do hope you will return my notes in a timely manner," she remarked, her voice only a bit louder than its normal volume level. She gathered her things and looked at Alessandro, who had just approached. "Good afternoon, Mister Darko," she added with a polite nod, as though there were nothing in the world out of the ordinary about seeing a pair of Ravenclaws at the Slytherin table.

As she walked away, she carefully sent a thought to Keaira, shielding it so that it would not be intercepted by any unintended parties. I am ready whenever you are... simply signal me. By the time she finished the thought, she was already halfway between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables. Taking a seat at her usual, nearly vacant end, she turned her attention to a plate of food she wasn't entirely certain she intended to eat.

While Keaira's plan seemed quite risky, she had to admit that it was well-thought out and likely to succeed. She only hoped it wouldn't draw too much suspicion... it seemed that everyone in their group was under the scrutiny of the Headmistress. She could only hope that this whole scene would be acted out well and that Keaira would manage to get away safely.

[gatsoldier]

Gat walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Boy was he starving. He sat on the very end of the Slytherin table with no one around him. He looked down the length of the table and saw D'rorah and Alessandro sitting at his table. Gat immediately set up blocks in his mind. He knew that D'rorah was a telepath and he would not let her into his memories again. He waited for the food to appear. He was starving. His stomach rumbled loudly. He tried not to think about food for the moment and thought back to what the Ravenclaws were doing there.

[Keaira O'Connell]

Keaira wasn't surprised when Alessandro walked in to the great hall, and he captured her attention at the first moment. Everything about his appearance was perfect. He seemed to have taken extra care to make sure that he looked sharper than ever. As Keaira watch him make his way over to see her she found that she couldn't keep her eyes off him.

She herself had taken a few extra measures to make sure she looked a bit sharper than normal. Her hair was styled properly and accented with a small jeweled hair clip. She also had a little bit of mascara, and a light shade or peach painted on her lips. Aside from that she had made sure she was wearing her nicest school robes. properly cleaned and pressed, After all she had been intending to draw a bit of attention to herself today.

As Alessandro took a seat she found that she was blushing a little, after all he did look very good. Keaira took a moment to appriciate his look before she realized that she was gawking Quickly recovering from her dazed look, her face was replaced with a coy smile. "Hello there Alessandro, You are looking well today." She was a little worried at the looks that some of the other students were giving the three of them but knew there were things to change that.

To help ease some of the looks that they were giving Keaira made sure she put a bit of a show up for the spectators, giving Alessandro, an affectionate touch on the shoulder. As her hand touched she gently slid it down to his wrists, and then touched his hand as well. Keaira knew that it might be a bit of a push on his comfort so she quickly looked him in the eyes, and smiled, she knew he could read her face, and would be able to see that she needed him to play along, even if he didn't feel comfortable with her advance.

She really did enjoy the feeling of his hand on hers, no doubt about that in her mind. Whether or not he enjoy it was another story completely. She wasn't sure how he would react, but she only hoped he wouldn't pull away.

As D'rorah stood up Keaira answered in a similar volume to D'rorah comment. "Yes, I'll have them back soon, I promise." Keaira knew that such shows were necessary to keep her story believable. Once D'rorah had left there was only Alessandro and here left... well and a whole hall full of students. but they didn't matter, she wanted a stolen moment with him, and this was her last chance for a while.

As she looked to him she smiled, a sad smile. There was going to have to be a good bye for them in a few, and she wasn't sure she was ready for it. "Alessandro.....I really enjoyed last night..."

[Jason Cruz]

Down the grand staircase he came, slower than usual. He looked relaxed, not the show of confident nonchalance he'd always tried to put up when he was where he could be seen, but a genuine casualness of movement. Around some people at least, Jason was starting to actually become comfortable. He avoided eye contact with a Ravenclaw girl heading up the stairs, looking directly at the great hourglasses counting the house points as if they were far more interesting than another student. He kicked himself mentally after he'd passed her. He still felt ridiculous for his shyness, and now he'd gone and reminded himself of the points he'd yet to win back for Gryffindor. Time for that, it's still early in the year. Chill.

He'd taken his time coming down to lunch. He actually intentionally spent ten minutes more than he normally would in the library, waiting to make sure a decent number of students would already be in the Great Hall. He'd always tried to be one of the first Gryffindors so that he'd be assured a seat well away from the others. He couldn't stand the thought (and the thought had always been there when he approached people, making his hands shake and cutting off his breathing) that he'd sit next to someone in the hopes of being friendly and have them look at him as if he were intruding and slide down the bench away, or even ask him to sit somewhere else.

Jason had made some friends though, and he was starting to suspect people as a whole were less unfriendly than he'd always kind of assumed. And so he planned on sitting next to someone. He didn't know who really. He hadn't actually met many Gryffindors, and didn't know any of them well. He figured this was a good opportunity. He did have to breathe deeply and purposefully as he strode into the Great Hall, hoping he could maintain his determination to do this. Scanning the room to see if anyone he did recognize had arrived, he noticed Alessandro . . . but at the Slytherin table? Weird.

He'd been meaning to ask him or Dylan about that weekend trip, now that he'd found out a little info at least on the Gryffindor quidditch team and had secured the funds for his supplies. He headed that way, happy for any distraction from his intended course. He hadn't really meant to interrupt and certainly didn't mean to listen in on a private conversation, but as he approached he heard something. The Slytherin girl with her hand on Alessandro's spoke softly.

"Alessandro.....I really enjoyed last night..."

Jason nearly choked. He stumbled slightly but managed to catch himself before sprawling onto the floor. Not really having any clue what she was referencing, his mind immediately shot to what any teenage boy's mind readily shot to. He flushed a deep scarlet and hurried away, trying very hard to keep himself from running, and instead quick stepped in a ridiculous power walk all the way across the hall to Gryffindor table, where he sank sullenly onto the bench far from the other students. He kept his eyes firmly on the golden plates in front of him, waiting for the food and shaking his head slightly. Maybe at dinner he'd try again and not let himself fall into such an embarrassing situation. That was not the plan.

[Alessandro Darko]

(OOC: ROFLMAO....LIKE SERIOUSLY...LOL)

Alessandro's eyes widened as his mind exploded into shock. Whaaaaaaaaaat?! She's touching me! Like she's, like she's....interested.... He thought as he tried to hide his expression from the outside world. He let out a quick breath and went with it, finally gaining control of his hand, he removed it out from under hers and placed it on top, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I enjoyed last night too..." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jason approaching but he quickly made his way away from them after a short, awkward jerk he made.

Turning to look at the Gryffindor boy as he hastened away, he wondered what he was doing. He turned back to look at Keaira in the eyes.

"Anyway, yeah, I enjoyed last night too. I don't know who I'm going to share my late night kitchen excursions with anymore for the next two weeks." A sly smile spread across his face. "Perhaps Susan Matthews would be so inclined as to fill the position in your absence." He said jokingly as he looked over his shoulder to the Gryffindor table.

[Keaira O'Connell]

((I think my plan worked better than I originally intended.))

Keaira saw the look of shock that crossed Alessandro's face, and was very glad that she was standing in front of him blocking the view from others. If she hadn’t thought this out as well as she had his expression may have given too much away. Keaira however was very glad that it only took a moment for him to recover, and respond with something that could easily be interpreted the way she hoped. Her mind was already working on when, and how things would go down, and although she had invited Alessandro to be here, she hadn’t actually intended him to be sitting at the Slytherin table drawing awkward glances from every one. So she improvised.

Keaira knew that dodging questions about their relationship would be much easier for Alessandro to manage over the next two weeks, than dodging awkward questions as to why the two of them, with no reasonable explanation would have been sitting together in the first place. At least with her actions, people could assume that there was an involvement there. As Alessandro returned her advances by getting a better hold on her hand, she smiled. And managed to suppress a slight giggle, at the reaction of a boy who she had never met. Apparently he seemed quite embarrassed just be hearing a small clip of their interaction.

When Alessandro had mentioned Keaira leaving she narrowed her eyes a little, It was a dangerous plan as it was and here he was practically broadcasting that what was about to happen was staged. It wasn’t smart to bring it up so close to her departure, but she let it slip by, and chose instead to comment on his next statement, keeping her eyes narrowed. “Alessandro, You just better hope that I don’t find some one else to fill your position in my life, After all I hear that Dylan Cooper is quite the charmer, and there are always all of these nice boys that I share lunch with every day. I’m sure I can find some one else to join my in strolls by the lake.”

[Alessandro Darko]

His eyes widened as Keaira's narrowed. He had realized that he had been too loose with his words of Keaira's impending absence. He listened as she sent his joke right back at him, saying that he could be replaced with Dylan Cooper. For some reason, that sparked a lot of jealousy within him to think he could be replaced with Dylan.

He mouthed the words: "I'm Sorry!" to her as his facial color shifted to Gryffindor red. He fumbled for something to say in response, but came up with nothing. "So, Um, walk you to class after lunch?" He said looking around nonchallantly running a hand through his hair. He was growing increasingly nervous at the thought that someone had heard his slip and might put two and two together after Keaira's plan went into action.

"Oooh, Pumpkin pasties!" He reached forward and shoved one into his mouth to prevent him from saying anything to further exascerbate the situation. He turned to face her, with the pasty crammed in his cheeks like a squirrel saving up for winter, and shrugged in a sort of comical manner, as if to say "Ooops!"

[doppelganger]

Dien cracked open an eye to crisp sunlight streaming through the window and a bird twittering outside. He felt a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was needed in the Great Hall (having nothing, of course, to do with that large announcement on the front page). He looked down--sort of. He found himself in his bed, in his office. He pulled himself up and out, and got himself dressed. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and began walking down the stairs. He looked down at his hands and found that he couldn't see through them. He coughed violently, and grasped his right chest.

Professor Serlaen made his way down the stairs, almost in a fit of coughing, and into the Great Hall. He spotted Keaira near Alessandro first. Upon looking more, he spotted D'rorah and Gat, and a few other students he didn't know. He sighed and walked over to Keaira and Alessandro first. He spoke, his voice cracking, "How are we doing today?" For the first time in at least two years, his voice had an odd velvety pattern to it, and there was a slight warmth coming from it. His eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat.

[Keaira O'Connell]

When Alessandro reacted the way he did Keaira got over his slight Freudian slip. It was a slightly important slip up but she was sure that it seemed that no one had been aware of it. Her scowl of disappointment was swept away with his offer to walk her to class. It really was a nice offer, considering he knew she was headed away soon in to lunch.

“I think I’d love it if you would be so kind as to escort me to class, my fine sir.” Her smile was so broad, and she had to stifle a giggle. However, with his then reaction of shoving a pastry in to his mouth it became quite certain that the giggle was going to slip out. She giggled for only a moment, mostly due to the fact that she wasn’t the giggling type, although secondly to the fact that she noticed Dien approaching their table.

Keaira silently cursed, and wondered if every one planned on making it extremely suspicious when she left in a few moments. When Dien greeted her she smiled. “Professor Serlaen I know that the essay you assigned me for missing last class is due tomorrow, and I promise I will have it on your desk first thing in the morning.” She smiled politely and then switched to her mental connection with Dien. It was after all a privet connection that no one else should be able to listen in on. “I hope you didn’t forget that I’m leaving for China today? As it would be a bit more problematic to pull this plan off with out you to guard my memories and emotions,” As she finished sending the mental message she switched to a look of concern, and questions. “Sir, I hope you don’t think it to forward to ask, but, are you feeling well? Because there’s something that seems a bit off about you today.”

She wanted it to look like they were just a student and a professor conversing as she filled him in on the mental plans she had made. Sending him a quick synopsis of her plans by sending images, of what she planned to do. Opening her mind, absorbing the thoughts of the students around her, passing out in to a coma like state, it would take the hospital wing about 10 minutes to realize they couldn’t help, and she would soon be in St. Mongos where James would collect her, and bring her home. The next day she would be right as rain, after a short series of potions, specifically designed to close down her mind, and of course a day of isolation, then by the following day she would be in China… things were planned nicely.

She awaited his response, and sent a quick, “green for go” to D’rorah, so that she knew they were ready to get the show started. D’rorah would place the barriers around her mind, and they would be set to start this show. She gave Alessandro a quick squeeze of his hand, hoping that he would know that she was almost ready to leave. “Stay with me, and eat Alessandro, I’m sure your fellow ravens can miss you for one day.” “Don’t forget my book bag.”

[Alessandro Darko]

He was gulping down the last bit of Pumpkin Pasty he had managed to extricate from his cheeks as he saw Professor Serlaen arrive. He looked a bit odd today, and had been looking a bit odd for a while now. Alessandro couldn't help but think he looked a bit more firm, more solid. As a matter of fact, as hard as Alessandro tried, he could not see through his Arithmancy professor. He watched as he approached them and asked them how they were both doing. His voice had a strange warmth to it, and Alessandro drew a comparison of his voice to a velvety substance.

He choked a bit as he scrutinized his Professor for a moment. He was completely corporeal. "H-hey, Professor Serlaen....I'm doing rather well..." He stated. "You're looking rather well yourself...." Alessandro complimented with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression in his eyes.

Keaira's voice echoed in his head as his eyes tried to penetrate Dien's mid-section. Shouldn't he be see-through?? He thought. He turned to Keaira. "Yeah...I think I shall stay and eat with you." He reached forward and was about to pluck a biscuit from the plate when he heard a tiny, dark voice inside his head.

Alessandro.....you must read from the book again today.... Said the voice in his head. Alessandro's eyes seemed to lose their luster, and appear vacant as he sort of paused in mid-reach. "Yes, of course..." He whispered quietly. A couple seconds went by as he held that form, and then he shook his head, and blinked his eyes, now regaining their luster and warmth. He grabbed a biscuit and began to open it. "So, what's going on with Professor Serlaen?" He asked Keaira, oblivious to what had just happened internally.

"He seems to be rather....alive...lately, don't you think?"

[doppelganger]

Dien raised his eyebrows. "Yes, Miss O'Connell... that would be nice. I do feel a bit off today, but as I can see from your stares, it's not just my hands that I couldn't see through today. I swear... I wake up late and I'm alive again." So let me get this straight, he thought to her, you're going to risk it and expose your thoughts to the whole student body, overloading your mind and being sent to St. Mungos.. then you'll heal up and go to China? he shook his head, That's mad. I guess it'll work, though. He shrugged and turned to Alessandro. "And I noticed you were dozing off in class today, after coming in late." he smiled. "I'd dock points off for that if I didn't think it was for a good reason, and if I didn't like you." He noticed their holding hands as he began preparing to barrier her mind. He hadn't noticed them being together before...