Lobatte Academy for Witchcraft and Wizardry

Sabine Lavoie stood on the platform, her hands tightly wrapped around the handles of her cart, her father standing at her side, his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Up until this summer, she'd been a student of the Baccalaureate Wizarding School in Northern Pennsylvania, but after the Ministry forced her to register as an Animagus and her little secret had been discovered, she'd been offered a full scholarship to Lobatte. A prestigious wizarding academy that was mostly attended by the children of rich or famous families or children who were exceedingly brilliant. But exceptions to the rule, like Sabine, sometimes managed to slip in. The back of her left hand still burned where the ministry had magically tattooed the Animagus mark, a mark her father shared with her. The shape of a crescent moon with an A in the center, which still tingled. Attempting to cover the mark and hide her face from stray onlookers, Sabine looked up at her father, who seemed to be casually looking about.

"Sabine when you get to school," he said as the conductor began allowing students to board, "it's your job to find the headmistress or deputy headmistress. They're going to place you in a house and such. Have fun," he finished speaking as he helped her load her trunk onto the train. Sabine took her cat into her arms, a grey cat with vivid yellow/green eyes and a soft mew, and kissed her father goodbye before hopping onto the bright blue train. Sabine and her father had always had an awkward relationship, but by no means did that mean they loved each other any less. She could, however, still see the embarrassment in his eyes when he looked into her multi-colored eyes, eyes that matched his so eerily. A rarity, even among wizards, her left eye was a sapphire blue, her right eye an emerald green. Coupled with her white blonde hair (with a bit of black underneath, giving a bit of a stark contrast) which was always pulled into pigtails that hung over her shoulders, she seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Being a new student was one thing, but being a new student as a fifth year was a completely different thing.

Rubbing behind her cat's ears, she dodged in-between students as she managed to weasel her way into an empty compartment and shut the door softly behind her. She intended to remain hidden from the rest of the world as long as possible, even if that meant up to her graduation! A group of loud girls stopped in front of her compartment, looked inside, and laughed viciously before continuing on down the hall. It was nearly ten minutes before the train lurched forward. Looking out the window, Sabine saw her father waving, a proud smile on his face. Waving back, she nervously sat back in her seat and hoped with all her might that nothing would go wrong. She'd managed to hide her secret for four years at her other school, she only hoped she could remain invisible for another three at this one. Gulping down her nerves, she leaned back in her seat, petting her sleeping kitten as they began to speed through the deserts of Nevada.

"I'm sorry I am unable to bring you to the station once again, but business has been working me hard again lately, and you know how busy your mother has been in Japan, but I hope going by yourself doesn't hurt to much, know that we love you very much, and be sure to take your medication each day when you wake!" Said a note inbetween a girl's fingers as she laid her back against the train wall before taking off. "Yea, sure. Right." The girl said as she threw the note straight into the trash bin. She began walking down the train hallways as she would stop and talk, only for but a moment to yell or straighten someone up. Her hair was tied into high pigtails, blonde and long enough to reach her shoulder blades. Her eyes were a bright blue which shone in every passing light from either the windows or lights, and she currently wore, not her uniform, but her 'street clothes,' and I say that lightly as her steet clothes consisted of an expensive designer dress with silver medium height high heels which showed off her perfectly pale skin among her feet, legs and arms. THe dress itself was pink, and had some fluffy edges on her sleeves, but i digress about her choice in clothes. Oh yea, and her name would help, wouldn;t it? Ahh, what was it now? Ah yes, Millia. Millia Hakumei! I'd introduce her animal, but he was already put away, guess you'll have to wait!

Millia marched up and down the entire train as she watched out for any trouble makers or those who required to be let know the rules once more as she had on her face a look of both annoyance and beauty mixed giving off mixed signals causing people to either respect or fear her as she viewed upon them. Millia was in her 6th year now, but only her second year attending this particular school, and in that time had achieved the rank of Prefect, and Quidditch Captain. Those who have been in the school since she has started, know her name pretty well, and it carried some good weight although she did not have much of any friends. She was nearly feeling happy on her beginning route as she had only need to correct four first years, and separated only one fight among a couple of 4th years, but now that her route was over she was heading towards the end of the train where there are usually empty compartments. Like hell she would sit with the other Prefects. But upon finding her usual empty room she saw a girl already sitting in there. With the same type of pigtails she wore, and the same hair color....and same disposition to be away from others. Obviously coincidences.... "Hmpf," Millia thought to herself as she sat across from the girl, and immediately looking out the window avoiding any chance of a gaze. Her prefect badge shone from the sunlight, and a few times shone into the girl's eyes as if drawing attention to let this girl know who she was.

It wasn't too long before boredom grew over Millia, so from within a small purse which was attatched to her one could now see, she pulled out a small book which had the label of something having to do with alchemy, which was all this girl could see from the cover. It seemed to be written by a person named Hakumei, but no first name was given on the cover. The book's name itself was, Process of Invention. At times Millia would scratch down with a pencil notes in the sides of the book or would search through her small purse, which now seemed like a massive black hole, and find what looked like different ingredients that she studied for a moment before puttingthem back into the bag, but even all this seemed to bore her before long as she put them all away and returned to look out the window, surprised that this girl hasnt even said a word yet.

Sabine tried with all her might to ignore the girl in front of her. The prefect and quidditch captain badges were shining brightly in the dipping sunlight, forcing her to avert her gaze. Lightly, she stroked the back of her cat's head with her right hand, her left hand carefully hidden around the cat's middle. It wasn't too much later that the girl who had decided to share her car began pulling on her school uniform, casting angry looks over at Sabine after she'd finished. "You need to put on your uniform!" she said in a bossy voice, wagging her finger at Sabine. Like a deer in headlights, Sabine merely stared at the girl before lowering her head, her eyes tracing the outline of the cat's fur. "I-I don't have one yet..." The girl huffed and relaxed a bit in her seat. It was nearly twenty minutes later when the train finally came to a stop in the train station in Villoba, the town just outside of the school. The prefect rushed out of the car and could be heard yelling at people as the train slowly emptied. Waiting a few minutes before raising, Sabine slowly exited the train, tightly gripping her cat.

Just outside the train, a few authoritative types were standing, checking people in. Walking up to a rather tall looking woman in flowing purple robes, Sabine asked, "excuse me? I need to find the headmistress or the deputy headmistress..." The woman looked down at her and smiled a kind smile. "I am Professor Ambrosia, the deputy headmistress. How can I help you dear?" she asked, a disapproving look quickly appearing on her lovely face as she saw Sabine's street clothing. "I'm new here...and I was told to find you about house placement..."

"Ah! You must be Sabine Lavoie! We don't get many new students that aren't first years, yes I was waiting for you. If you'll please?" she extended her hand in front of her and walked with Sabine up the road towards the academy. A great white castle lay ahead of them. Eight towers encircled the borders of the old building. There was a large lake with a small cliff above it to the left of the grounds and a quidditch stadium to the right. There was bright green grass all the way around the grounds up to the reddish mountains, which encompassed not only the school, but the village as well. The gate to the school was open ahead of them, the ten minute walk seeming a bit less tedious knowing that most of the students were still back at the train station getting situated. Once inside the grounds, Sabine took in the vast interior of the entrance hall. There were hourglasses with house names on the bottom, all in different colors. There were ghosts floating excitedly overhead and the clatter of noise from a large set of mahogany doors off to the right. Professor Ambrosia led Sabine up several flights of marble stairs until they reached a painting of an old wizard holding a crystal ball. "Fiddle Strings," she said to the painting. The old wizard grinned at her before swinging open and allowing them entrance into a rather large office. There were portraits of wizards and witches all around and lots of weird baubles and gizmos on shelves all around the circular office. On the desk sat a rather old looking hat.

"We need to make this quick because I need to get the hat down to the Great Hall, the room with the mahogany doors, for the first years," she said as she placed the cap onto Sabine's head. A small voice whispered in her ear, loud enough so that she could hear, but soft enough so as she was sure she was the only one to hear. "Ah...a very brilliant mind lies inside this head of yours. Quick wit, vast wells of knowledge, and a very strange secret. I've never heard of a reverse animagus before," the hat laughed in a low-pitched, raspy female voice. Sabine rubbed the back of her left hand, which still burned slightly. "Draconis!" it said dully before Professor Ambrosia pulled the hat off. With a wave of her wand, several uniforms of purple and white fell on the headmistress' desk. "I expect you in the Great Hall in no less than ten minutes! If you get lost, ask one of the ghosts," she hurried from the room, swinging the portrait behind her, the sound of her heels disappearing down the hall. Blushing at the thought of changing with all the past headmasters and headmistress' eyes on her, she quickly threw on her uniform, tucking the rest of the clothes into her backpack, picking up her cat, and hurrying to the Great Hall. Once outside the doors, she saw Professor Ambrosia attempting to corral a handful of scared looking first years.

"Alright Binx, come on," Sabine whispered as Professor Ambrosia opened the doors, leading in the first years. Sabine slipped in behind them and rushed over to the table at the front right that held the same colors as her. Overhead, the banners were purple and white, the image of a dragon in the center. Her eyes met with the female prefect briefly, a scowl on the girls face. She sat down near the front of the table, near a few empty seats, and watched as a handful of first years were placed in their houses. Afterwords, the headmistress, an older witch in bright white robes with silver embroidery stood up to speak. Her aged purple eyes were hidden behind a pair of thick triangle glasses, her face framed by long, grey hair that curled near her hips. With a soft cough, the room quieted.

"To all our new students, welcome. To all our old students, welcome back. I have a few start of the year announcements for you all. There is to be no wandering the halls after bedtime, going off into the mountains is strictly prohibited to all students, and by no means should any student go to the Alcove Tower. And for new students, that is the tower located all the way in the back of the grounds. That is all, enjoy the feast!" she finished her speech, and with a flick of her wand, food appeared on the plates in front of the students. Sabine nibbled a bit on her food, not feeling terribly hungry. She really just wanted to go up to bed and ignore the world. It was bad enough being out in the open, but even worse being the new kid. As a first year it had been hard enough, but now she was a fifth year, and on top of being new, she had her O.W.L.'s to contend with. After dinner, the headmistress directed the prefects to lead their houses up to their common rooms and situate all the new students. Sabine filed in behind the rest of her house and watched from a distance as their prefects led them up the stairs, just to the left of the Great Hall, and into the tower which was designated as Draconis Tower. Once at the middle, the prefect called out for attention and said the new password, so everyone would be able to get in on their own later.

"Rumpled Gumdrop!" she said loudly as the portrait of a young woman by a seashore swung open. She called out where dorms were, and when Sabine heard where hers would be, with the rest of the fifth year girls, she hurried up the stairs until she came to a door with the number five on it. Once inside, she found her trunk and tossed her manifested uniforms as well as her street clothes inside. Too tired to bother unpacking, Sabine quickly pulled on her pajama's, climbed into bed with Binx, and pulled the curtains on her purple bed shut. The sound of several girls coming in and talking in hushed voices lulled her to sleep, as well as the soft sound of Binx's purrs.

Millia had eaten gracefully as the dinner was placed upon them as she ignored any of the usual talkings of the headmistriss, which was odd considering her position. She simply ate enough to just fill her up, obviously trying to keep her super figure, before getting up twenty minutes even before the other prefects, so that she may show her house, Draconis, towards their painted entrance into their dorms. As she continued to walk this group towards the Draconis dorms, she would take glances back as she explained certain objects or places for the first years or any of those whom had just transfered in, and as she did so it felt as if that one girl always stuck out to her. She couldn;t for the life of her figure out why, but each time she turned her eyes were drawn towards this girl, and in the time she did notice the marking on her wrist. "Animagus eh?" She thought to herself a few times as the walk marched on, but not too much longer later and they had arrived at their dorm, and students either immediately sunk into seats to rest, or moved on up to their respected sleeping quarters. Millia was one to move towards her own bed, the same one from the previous year. She had the bed which had a window off the right side of it, and off the left side seemed to be a bed whose curtain was already pulled. "Someone got settles in before me then, did they?" She whispered to herself before preparing for bed in every girly way possible.

After a good half an hour she was finally ready to go to sleep just as she placed a small vial next to her own bed on the side table which was labeled morning medication. Sighing at the sight of the bottle with a saddened look on her face, she moved into her bed, and before should could even pull her curtains closed, fell quickly asleep. Throughout the night on the grounds of Lobatte one could hear several animal calls or sounds coming from outside the castle. It also became growingly hotter at the night went on as even it being night time, the Nevada heat wave was steadily rising. It was just five AM when Millia awoke, sweating from the sweltering heat. She cursed semiloudly as she chastised herself for forgetting to place a cooling charm over her bed frame which seemed to have awoken her neighbor who peeked with a eyeball out from behind her curtains. "If you've got something to say, say it." Millia said simply without care as she fell back onto her bed holding her wand which came from the case under the bed. Slowyl she began casting the spell as a cooling wind soothed over her bed, making her smile as the temperature for her own self quickly cooled her down. "It's only five a.m," Millia said aloud in case the girl was awake still. "Go back to sleep." It seemed she was a more caring person when she was sleepy, and over heated as if she didnt care to keep her own appearance up.

Sabine stared up at the top of her bed. Binx was snoring softly while he slept on her chest, seemingly undisturbed by the outcry of the girl residing in the bed next door. School would be starting in a few hours and their Heads of House would hand out their schedules. It was barely sunrise when she decided to crawl out of bed, no longer able to stand lying in bed absentmindedly. Rummaging through her trunk, she grabbed her schoolbag, which contained all of her books, some parchment, ink, and a raven feather quill her father had gotten her as a present before she'd left. She also pulled out her uniform and a few toiletries and walked into the bathroom all the girls in this room shared. Binx followed her, having been disturbed by her abrupt need to be upright, and sat patiently on one of the counters while she showered and made herself presentable for the day. After brushing out her hair and tying it in pigtails that hung over her shoulders, she absentmindedly rubbed her hand and left the bathroom after giving herself a once over. The light freckles that graced her cheeks were almost invisible today, making her less self conscious as she slung her bag over her back and tucked Binx back into bed, where he snuggled up with her now cold pillow and dozed back off.

Quietly, she snuck down to the common room just as the sun came up over the mountains and tried to occupy herself by reading the bulletin board. The first Villoba trip would be in the middle of October, which meant Sabine would have a chance to buy her own uniforms then. There were little notices left over from last year, most regarding the Quidditch Championship, which from the clippings of paper here and there, Draconis had lost. A few people began to descend the different sets of stairs from the dorms, some settling into the common room, others quickly exiting the dorm all together. It wasn't long until the entire common room was bustling with people and low conversation. It slowly emptied, giving Sabine the hint that she could go down to breakfast. Having been too upset and shy about arriving to school, she hadn't eaten much at dinner but was starving now. Following a few people who appeared to be in her year, she went down to the Great Hall, which was slowly filling with students. The Heads of House were walking around their respective tables, large stacks of papers in their arms.

After situating herself near the front again, she dove into a large plate of bacon, eggs, and oatmeal before Professor Ambrosia came around. "This is your schedule, Lavoie. I'm glad to see the uniform fits you well. Purple really suits you," she smiled as she flicked her wand, a thin piece of parchment nearly falling into Sabine's oatmeal. Scanning it briefly, she saw that she had History of Magic first, which meant she wouldn't be required to use her wand at all, but she would get a chance to use her new quill. Looking down the table, she saw the prefect girl she'd run into several times now. The girl looked positively radiant, like she'd just come out of a magazine. Shaking her head, she looked up as the morning owls flew in, dropping papers, letters, and packages as they went. A barn owl swooped down in front of her, dropping her edition of Wizardry Daily in front of her, refusing to fly off without a peck at her eggs and it's knut. Another owl, a grey one, swooped down over her, dropping a small package next to her plate. I wonder what I forgot... She wondered to herself as she watched her father's owl, Oswin, fly out the open windows. Ignoring the paper, she tore open the box and found a Rememberall, a silver locket, and a letter. The locket, which she promptly opened, had a picture of her father and younger sister, Ashlyn in the left side, and a picture of them plus her step mother Maggie on the right. Smiling, she fastened the necklace and read the letter. Which briefly stated that they were all doing well and missed her terribly. The Rememberall, surprisingly, was Maggie's idea. She worried that Sabine would forget things in the stress of being a new student and wanted to make sure she didn't forget anything, especially since this was an important year.

For being a muggle, her step-mother was very intuitive. Giving the Rememberall a quick squeeze, she was surprised to find it stay its clear consistency. Happy that she would start her first day with everything she needed, she stuffed the letter and Rememberall in her backpack before cracking open her paper. She remembered her father telling her that nearly twenty years ago, you couldn't open the paper without reading about the horrible events going on over in Europe regarding a very dark wizard, who's name no one spoke, and the legendary Harry Potter. However, today, there were articles describing how the ministry might be 'crossing the line' with the requirement of the marking of humanoids. Every creature that was being integrated into the wizarding community or was being openly accepted in society, was required by law to have a mark if they weren't human fully human. Werewolves had a full circle with a W in the middle, vampires had a triangle with a V in the middle, and animagus had a crescent moon with an A in the middle. The animagus law was something that had only passed in the last three years, and had caused quite a stir. Most didn't think it fair to have to be branded as 'non-human' simply because they could shapeshift. But it didn't seem to matter to the ministry. Apparently now they were debating whether or not house-elf employment should be monitored more closely as it had appeared to be more slavery than anything. Not caring much anymore, she tucked the paper into her bag and got up. She'd need some extra time getting to her classes since she'd never been to the school before, but she managed to find a few fifth years and followed them to the History of Magic classroom, which was on the second floor.

After waking up extra early in order to prim and proper herself up further, nearly an hour and a half process, Millia felt she looked satisfactory enough to head on down for breakfast, but on her way down, grabbing her small vial on the side of the bed. "Must take with food, hmpf." She whispered to herself as she began walking out of the house and down the many flights of stairs. She could easily cast wingardium on herself, but exercise is important to her after all, in order to keep her figure just right. This may be one of the few times she would ever be late to any sort of event as she arrived into the great hall to eat breakfast. By the time she had arrived and spotted a seat, the owls were already flying in, but maybe she liked that as with the commotion she was able to take a seat without having to deal with anyone, but as it turns out she may have just done the opposite as the seat she had found was right next to this girl she just seemed to keep running into.

She began to grab a few things such as oatmeal, or eggs without the yolks, or basically any assortment of food which was healthier than the rest, but without overeating whatsoever. As the girl next to her opened up her several packages and mail, Millia watched out of the corner of her eye as her curiosity seemed to peak while noticing the symbol once more on her wrist. "So I was not seeing things, she is an Animagus." She thought to herself as she viewed the girl put all her things away. Reading the paper which was now in her hands, placed gracefully by not an owl, but a streaking red bird which was taller then an owl, but skinnier, she read on while now ignoring this girl, but intrigued still. Not too much longer from that point breakfast began to wrap up as the tables began to clean themselves off. The girl got up pretty quickly as if she were afraid to be late to her first class, speaking of which, she thought to herself, "Which was my first class again?" She thumbed through a small booklet which was in her tiny purse and quickly found the info she looked for as she found upon the information that Defense Against the Dark Arts was her first subject this year. "Easy, but interesting nonetheless." She said as she got up and walked gracefully out of the hall which garnered the eyes of many people, good or bad idea throughout their heads of her.

The walk towards the classroom was quite uneventful, thankfully. She did not even have to stop once to correct a person, or straighten out an issue. The walk there on the final hallway had the walls lined with either photographs or paintings of many magical creatures or animations of spells and thier deflection counterparts, some of them even producing sounds. Some people had tried in the past to vote the school to stop the growing annoying sounds, but each time they silence them they just come back louder sometime down the road, but it may just be the work of the poltergeist or a prankster student. Upon arrival it had turned out that the class was mostly just an introduction towards the new year of the subject which even bored Millia as she thought of dozing off, but held against it as she sat straight up while writing down every aspect that was spoken. The class ended early as the proffesor had told them all no homework for tonight, but top expect some strong stuff coming soon to which Millia also noted down as she already began p[lanning in her head the best way to complete each assignment that she will get.

The next block was considered a break block, usually meant for studying inbetween classes, Millia had thought, but as she had nothing new to study as of yet, and the fact that two people who she did not want to see at all, or ever, were walking about the popular area to hang during a break, she decided to go on outside near the flower patch which was hidden from the rest of the school in a sense. Hiding in plain sight, one could say, but as she approached this beautiful array of flowers, she seemed to have heard a voice. Was someone in her spot already?

Huffing to herself, Sabine unfolded and laid out among the flowers. The soft breeze of the cooling air ruffled her hair, making the strands tickle her skin. "This damn thing is itching now! I preferred you when you hurt!" Sabine whined as she tapped her hand with her wand, hoping it would alleviate the incessant itching. "Excuse me, what are you doing here?" came a female voice. Sabine instantly flew up and came eye to eye with the girl she continued to run into. The prefect and captain badges reflected the light painfully into Sabine's dual colored eyes. Staring up at her, for the first time she got a really good look at the girl. She was very pretty, but looked stern and almost unapproachable. Grabbing her bag, she tripped over herself as she ran off, trampling some of the flowers in her wake as she bolted up to the castle again, where she promptly sat herself outside of the Potions classroom and waited for the bell. Finally the bell rang and she rushed herself into the classroom, where she sat in the back and readied herself for her lesson. She skimmed what was written on the board, they were apparently going to attempt some hard potions this year and would be starting with an attempt at the Draught of Peace. Sabine bit her tongue softly. She'd never perfected this potion before, but maybe she'd get close.

The first day dragged on, lunch passing without event, Sabine decided to skip instead of chancing another run in with the prefect, and soon classes were over and her stomach was rumbling for dinner. She arrived early, as usual, and took her normal seat near the front. Pulling out her alchemy text book, she began to skim the pages she was required to read as she stuffed her grumbling stomach with food. With her nose stuck in her book, she didn't see the prefect again until she was back in the common room. She'd taken a chair in front of one of the smaller tables and had begun homework, which mostly included a research paper on the Draught of Peace and a long winded essay about house-elf history. Not able to help herself, she peeked over and noticed the prefect reading an alchemy book and chatting idly to a handsome young man with deep brunette hair and baby blue eyes. He seemed to be more interested in her than she was in him, but he didn't budge and continued to chat with her. The common room slowly cleared out, leaving only the brunette boy, a few other fifth years, herself, and the prefect. She'd finished reading her book and was now giving the boy her fully attention, and seemed to be flirting up a storm with him. Either she was trying to get him to go away or she really liked him. Sabine couldn't tell, she'd never flirted or even liked anyone before. Soon the boy disappeared, at which point Sabine deemed her homework acceptable. Packing up her stuff with a yawn, she was greeted with a lazy meow as she stood, Binx having escaped her room.

"Come on, Binx. We're going to bed," she gently poked his nose and kissed the top of his head before cradling him all the way up to her room. Inside were three other girls who were changing for bed quietly, all looking too tired to bother noticing her. Once she'd dropped her stuff and had switched into her pajamas, she was ready to climb into bed and had done so when the prefect walked in. Their eyes met for a moment, an angry look flashing in the girl's eyes before she lowered her gaze and got ready for bed herself. Wanting to avoid conflict as much as possible, Sabine made sure she was out of the common room well before the prefect even woke up and was down at breakfast moments before even the headmistress walked in.

Packing some things away, and getting some things out, Millia was preparing for the next day's courses while she mulled over the subject which she and boy spoke of. They were speaking of a book entitled, "Love potions, can they be made to create actual love?" She was against the idea of a love potion to really exist and bring true love liek a fairy tail, but the boy believed it to be possible, but even with all the talk of the subject, she still had no care about it, and only used the talk to further any research ideas that she could use for possible essays down the road. After a seemingly long bed time preperation, Millia had laid her head down onto her pillow,an quickly fell asleep as her curtains blew a cool gust over her.

Millia had awoken early as she laid there, without a move as she thought of that girl once more. "Why do I care at all, the educational reasons?" She thought to herself as she now rolled around as the sun rose. "Well I did spend an entire evening listening to the matters of a subject I had no interest in, but even so my curiosity is getting the best of me, again." It seemed like she was settled with that thought as she heard early movement from the girls room here as it seemed someone was already getting ready. "Earlier then me?" Millia asked herself before thinking, "I'll wait until she's finished, then get on down for breakfest." After just a few moments later the girl had finished allowing Millia to come out of her bed and prepare for the day, making sure her pigtails were bound tightly, nad making sure her uniform was all prip and proper. As soon as she found herself looking satisfactory once more on this day, she began the walk towards the great hall although this time taking shortcuts as her duty as prefect did no matter when she was to be the first student down here, but as Millia reached the hall it had seemed like a single soul was there, even before the headmistress who was always half an hour or greater early. For reasons unkown.


Millia had noticed with a quick glance that the one who was down here was the girl with the similar pigtails once more, and each time she has seen her it seemed that her pigtails bothered her more and more as if pigtails with blonde hair was her own thing. Swallowing any assortment of pride or the such, Millia marched on into the hall, and in a near instant was sitting next to this girl now. Millia did not wait a second longer except to silent cast a weak spell of Petrificus Totalus, upon the girls feet. She had taken note that she seemed to run when confronted, and her curiosity was growing steadily way to high. "I'm going to be straight to the point, how could someone so young," She said before turning to look at her. "Be an Animagus?" As she asked the question she placed her finger on the table in a circle like motion as if talking in sign language. "Now, I realize you must be scared of myself being a prefect and all, but by no means are you in trouble as I am merely just interested in how a witch of such a young age could attain this power which requires many years of training for." Millia talked as cordial as possible as she went right to the point, hitting any note she cared to hit as she took a swig of juice from the small amount of plates and cups began to appear on the tables.

Feeling her feet frozen under her, the sensation keeping her locked in position, Sabine tugged at her pigtails and tried to hide her face from the girl. She'd gotten up early to avoid such a confrontation. How on earth had this happened? She'd been here two days and already she was getting questions. In nearly a whisper, she replied, "I-I was born an animagus." Her voice cracked, the words twisting in the back of her throat. She knew it was going to happen again. When she got too stressed she was no longer able to hold her form and would be forced to shift. Already she felt her teeth elongating against her will. "You were what?" the girl demanded, anger building in her tone. "I was born an animagus!" Sabine growled, her eyes now on the girl's face. "Now please release me from this spell or I'm going to hurt you!" The girl stood up, her hand held delicately in between her index finger and thumb. "How dare you threaten--" "I'm not threatening you I'm trying to protect you!"

In that moment, Sabine's skin exploded and she returned to her wolf form. Completely white except for streaks of black on her stomach and up her legs, she laid awkwardly on her back, her back legs still held down by the spell. With a nervous flick of her wand, Sabine flipped over with a growl and bolted from the Great Hall, running past the headmistress and onto the grounds. The elder woman looked back at the girl and then to Millia, a stern look on her face. "I don't know what happened, Hakumei, but I have an inkling that you may have stressed her out. As her Prefect, I think it best if you go calm her down before the school day starts," the look in her eyes told Millia she'd seen the whole thing and knew more about the situation than Millia possibly could. Unsure of what she did wrong or how to correct the problem, she bolted from the Great Hall and stood outside for a few moments, the humid air punching her in the lungs. Thinking hard, she wondered where the girl could have gone and thought of her secret spot.

Sure enough, after heading down, she found Sabine laying in the flowers, whimpering. She seemed so much smaller now, laying in the bed of flowers. She was a bit smaller than an adult wolf, but seemed docile and scared. Their eyes met, her dual colored eyes much more vivid and bright in this form. "Okay, so you were born an animagus. I didn't even know that could happen. The headmistress says we need to go back to school and we should probably both be human when that happens, so if you'd like to just go back to normal," her words hung in the air for a moment as she stared uncomfortably at Sabine. She looked like a wild animal, sounded like a wild animal, but Millia knew that under the snow white fur was a human girl. Reluctantly, she extended her hand in a peace-offering sort of manner. Staring at her hand, Sabine howled softly before shifting into her human form. It would be hard to maintain today, but she'd manage. Ignoring the girl's hand, Sabine got to her feet and brushed past the Prefect. "Don't try to pretend and know what normal is for me," Sabine said coldly, anger welling inside of her. Fucking humans. She thought angrily as she reached the Great Hall again and sat back down. The headmistress approached her, the hall still relatively empty, and told Sabine to go back to her common room. "I'll let your teachers know you are ill. I wouldn't want you having any difficulties today," she said with a kind smile and a pat on the head.

"It's alright, I can handle it," Sabine smiled back, thankful for at least one sane person. The headmistress smiled wider and stepped back, "if at any time today you feel you cannot handle it, feel free to stop by my office. I believe you know the password? Good. Have a wonderful day." She went back to her seat and began to idly chat with the other teachers while Sabine sat back down and began to eat her breakfast. This time when Millia walked in, she did not sit near Sabine, and their gazes never met.

The rest of the week seemed to pass by without too much trouble for Millia. SHe had nearly lost interest in that girl, and was far to busy with spending hours trying to perfect her homework, but there was one subject which she was stuck on for the longest time. Apparation on thursday drove her mind nuts with the difficulty level, even worse so is that she seemed to be one of the few in the class tp not understand the concept. Now this could of been because she was muggle born as she still thinks logically, but when other muggle borns were understanding it fine, it began to anger Millia. Much of each night she spent looking over the material, and although the class as a whole had not moved onto attempting actual apparation, she felt like she was so far behind as it slowly began to nearly depress her, but she was basically one of the queens of the school. one could say, how could she get depressed so easily?

Monday morning seemed to be a rough start for her, even still, she woke up early, this time earlier then Sebine as she got ready for the day, but not putting too much effort in her appearance as even the dark circles around her eyes began to show. Today she had planned, and made preparations from the teachers, to allow her on the quidditch pitch early just to let some stress out, so she was looking forward to moving freely through the sky, so much so that she had forgotten to take her medication before leaving the girls dormitory. Not once throughout the day did she even realize that she had forgotten to take it either as it was a pretty laid back day she was thankful for, in fact it went so far as to have plenty of people including Sebine to see Millia ignore plenty of trouble makers in the hallways. People looked on in surprise, and those closer to her even more surprised as she nearly looked unkempt, what with the dark circles around her sleep deprived eyes. As the day of classes drew to a close, it seemed many people went out into the great weather to enjoy the rest of the evening. Millia had paid them no heed as she walked past everyone, even ignoring Sebine while passing her close by as she approached the Quidditch pitch, and entering the locker rooms.

Not too much later, or rather quickly, Millia had exited with her quidditch robes, and broom, and not a moment later was soaring through the skies above the pitch. SHe circled around the hoops, towards each end, around the stadium, and she kept moving as gracfully as an angel while dipping an diving at random moments. Her speed continued to increase as she enjoyed each passing moment of free life here in the air, so much so was her speed noticeable that a few people seemed to have taken to watch her fly about as seeing that quidditch season wouldn't start for awhile longer still, this was their early chance to see one of the players, and the captain no less. In fact one of the onlookers just happened to be on her team, young Nami Nahime, the seeker, watching from the castle's 3rd floor. She watched her captain fly about lovingly as she noticed a small thing that others wouldnt notice so easily, a small dip of the end of her broom as if her focus was becoming lost, followed by a small grip on her chest to which she slowed down suddenly as she landed quickly, falling to her knees while her heart pumped and raced quickly as it pained her heavily while she grasped her chest as if for dear life.

Panic arose in Sabine's chest, the girl had nearly toppled off her broom and was now kneeling on the ground in the center of the stadium. Instantly at her feet, she ran down and was in front of her prefect within moments, who was muttering to herself. "Ac-cio...Medi-cine...Ac-cio Me-d-icine!" Pulling her wand from her back pocket, Sabine called out "Accio Millia's Medicine!" and within seconds a small clear vial was in her hands. She quickly handed it to Millia, who took the bottle hastily and downed the contents in haste. She continued to clutch her chest for a few minutes, her breathing slowly returning to normal. The Quidditch Coach, Mister Fitcher Valmia, a short, round man with balding black hair and dull hazel eyes, ran out and dispersed the crowd as best he could as he reached Millia. "Are you alright?" he asked as he helped pull the shaking girl to her feet. Unable to speak, she simply nodded, her fingers no longer death-gripping her chest. "Everyone clear out! Miss Lavoie please help me escort her," Mister Valmia requested as he slung his arm under Millia for support. Sabine hesitated a moment before taking Millia's other arm and helped lead her to the hospital wing.

Once there, the Healer, Madam Piper Selwyn, a slender older woman with greying hair and pale grey eyes, went quickly to work on settling Millia in. "I'll send an owl to your parents and let them know what happened. You should rest here for the rest of the day. We'll see how you're feeling in a few hours," Madam Selwyn said as she left to go into her office with Mister Valmia, who still seemed out of breath. Sabine stood over Millia's bed, not sure whether she should leave the prefect's side or not. They hadn't had much contact since they'd had their falling out previously and now here they were, in the hospital wing. "Thanks," Millia said rapidly under her breath. Sabine shook her head and smiled nervously, "I just did what anyone else would have done. I should be going, you need your rest." And with that, Sabine turned on her heel and sped out of the hospital wing. Within a few minutes, she was back in the Draconis Tower and was sitting at her small table in the corner, pouring over her potions homework. It was nearly nine before Millia returned to the common room, the bags under her eyes seeming to have disappeared and her appearance proving to be more Millia like than as of late. The gorgeous brunette boy instantly jumped from the seat she was in only a week ago and offered her to sit down. He began chatting her up again, but she seemed to only half hear him. Her eyes were glued to the ceiling, her wand tracing the air, making small stars appear and disappear quickly.

Sabine turned in early, her homework seeming satisfactory enough and she walked up to her dorm. The room was empty, it still being early, but Binx was waiting for her, his soft mew bringing a smile to her tired face. Picking him up, she cradled him and dropped him on her bed and dressed for bed before getting comfortable. Once she and Binx were tucked in, she drew the curtains on her bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

"What a dreary day,"  Millia thought to herself on and on as she walked back towards her house dorms.  Her mind was even too preoccupied to stop the few students bullying others although she did take notice to get them for it at a later date.  Upon her arrival the usual boy who seemed to be the only one she would talk to in a friendly manner began talking up a storm, but as people began to drift away from the common room he left as well, but one person seemed to arrive through the portrait later then anyone else.  The girl had a long ponytail, light black with dark red highlights towards her roots.  Millia at first averted her eyes while blushing as she knew what was coming for her embarrassment level.  Thankfully nearly no one was left in the room. 

"Millia, you must not forget to take your medication..."  She said with a slight accent of an Asian variety while stopping her walk to take notice of Millia trying to ignore her.  She soon walked closely towards her while her following words became whispers as to not arouse anyone's curious ears.  Millia stood her ground looking away as she blushed as if she has been told this a thousand times.  "I know you've heard this before...but it does need to be said, I don't want to see you hurt.."

"Then stop saying it as hearing it hurts!"  Millia whispered back in a hush as she stood up.  "You may be the closest I've ever gotten to a person, but this onslaught of reminders towards my condition does not help."  She said angrily towards her only real friend as she became taken aback with a hurt look upon her face.  "Just...just do what my friend should do, be a friend, not a parent or doctor, and do not worry as I have no need for worries as becoming worried does not help."  She said as she lifted a wall between these two close friends.

"Gomen..."  She spoke softly as Millia walked off leaving behind a hurt, Nami Nahime.  Slowly, after allowing Millia to attend to her before bed duties, Nami walked up herself and quickly fell asleep although tears lightly filling her eyes, "Millia..." she thought as she slept before dreaming of the worst case scenario of her heart condition.  Millia was awake through all of this, both regretting and not regretting how she spoke toward Nami.

"Just leave it already... sound like everyone else..."  She thought to herself as she rolled over on her side suddenly noticing a small crack in her curtains to which she could see next door of.  "I should thank her properly, this new girl.  I guess I haven't been all to good either...I'll try to talk to her in the morning.."  And with that, and her conflicted feelings Millia dozed off after half an hour of rolling around.

Sabine awoke early the next morning, before any of the other girls had even stirred. After quickly getting dressed and grabbing her school supplies, she rushed down towards the Great Hall, tailing several first years who were laughing about a joke that had been played on the caretaker. She hadn't had many run-in's with the staff outside of class, but she didn't really find much of a need to do so. The school was teaming with excitement, Quidditch try-outs were being held this weekend, however, since it was only Tuesday, there was time to kill. Sabine was beating herself up mentally as she fought herself back and forth with indecision. She'd always loved Quidditch, had even played it at her old school. She'd been pretty good too, but there was no way in hell she'd be able to make it here. The students who were on the teams here were being groomed for professional leagues, what shot did she truly have against people that good? She stood a better chance of being laughed out of the stadium than of actually getting a chance to be considered. Anger had bubbled in her stomach and she'd death gripped her fork. Sweaty palms made quick work of her silverware, and the fork slipped from her hand and flipped onto the floor, landing with a loud clang. 

"Careful now, you might put an eye out," Millia said softly from behind her as she cleaned the fork off on her napkin and set it back in front of Sabine. Gulping, Sabine squashed down the urge to run. This was always her first instinct, to flee. She was weak and scared and had no other choice most times. Anyone who had ever gotten close to her had found out her secret and made her life a living hell, there was no way she was going to allow a prefect that power, especially one as popular as Millia. On the other hand, she was also the Quidditch captain, and if by some miracle she actually made the team this weekend, if by some other miracle she actually tried out, she would have to play nice with not only Millia, but the other members of the team. You can do this, they're just people. They won't figure out your secret unless you tell them, so you're completely safe! This thought calmed Sabine substantially, because she was right. There was no way anyone would figure it out unless she told them specifically. 

"Sorry," she finally muttered, tracing the outline of the fork. "I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday down at the Quidditch field. If it hadn't been for you I'd be in pretty bad shape," Millia said rapidly, her words falling out of her mouth almost carelessly. Sabine shrugged and poked at her eggs with her spoon. "I just did what anyone else would have done," she replied softly, taking a small spoonful into her mouth. "So...you like Quidditch?" Millia asked after a few long minutes of silence. Sabine nodded and spoke before she realized what she was doing, "yeah, I played for my old school. I played a couple of positions, we always had people getting hurt or sick. I've done keeper, seeker, and chaser. I think I'm best at chaser though." She bit her lip hard, not having meant to ramble like that. Quickly stuffing more egg in her mouth, she attempted to try and eat the words that still hung in Millia's ears. Millia smiled, she had something in common with the girl. Quidditch. "Well try-outs are this weekend, you should definitely try-out," she patted Sabine on the back and got up to go talk in loud whispers to a strange girl with black hair and red highlights who looked very stressed out.

"There are already a mess of applicants this year...."  Nami said worriedly as she shuffled through a mass of papers with Millia.  "It's going to take ages to go through tryouts."  This wasn't usually like her, Millia believed as she watched her slowly seem more stressed by the minute while talking with her.  At one point her words became flustered with , umms, and ahhs and even mixed in Japanese while she got all the papers bound together in a nice tight roll.  "No point in wasting time.."  She said as she went to get up and leave quickly, but before she could do so Millia grabbed her wrist lightly to stop her.  

"Sorry, for last night."  Millia said in a hushed tone while blushing as she showed her embarrassment easily this morning.  Nami only nodded to these words before speed walking off in a near instant after hearing them which left Millia there with a saddened face. "Nami.."  She spoke softly as she turned around to stare blankly at her food, poking it with her fork; Her appetite suddenly gone as a now depressed look stretched along her face clear as day to anyone around her.  It even degraded her usual good looks, and she seem to not care at all at this moment while it seemed to show just how much Nami really did float around in her head even if asked she would reply she had no real close friends, Nami was one, and she treated her horribly the night previous.

"Hey.."  She spoke softly towards Sabine. "How do you like it here so far?"  She asked with plain smalltalk as she showed a small attempt at reaching out to another.  Sabine didn't seem to show a clear response as to being asked such a question from a person who just days ago seemed to be a heartless person.  "I likely haven't been all to nice to you.."  She followed up with when silence was her answer.  "I guess I deserve it anyhow, but.."  Her words became very melancholic as she now stared into the magical ceiling.  "Makes me wonder...why do feeling like this exist...and why should we live through it?"  She asked not directly towards Sabine, but made so it was only the two of them that spoke of it before she got up and began to walk off without another word as one could even see her usual walk was dimmed down to nothingness as she left the great hall to plainly sit outside in the morning sun while awaiting the first class bell.

Sabine stared off in the direction where Millia and the girl Nami had just fled. They both seemed stressed and upset over something. Although what that something was Sabine hadn't any clue. Scratching the back of her hand again, she finished her breakfast and darted off towards class. 

The day was gone in a flash and without much notice, the entire week had fled past. Saturday rolled around and the first bit of cooler weather began to roll in. Instead of scaling into the 90's and 100's, it was nearly 80 out today, which made it much better for Quidditch try-outs. Anxious, but having yelled at herself that she needed to do this for her mental health, Sabine pulled on her Quidditch robes, which were shorter than the ones at her other school because of the heat, grabbed her Firebolt Blaze, an older model that she got as a gift from her grandfather after being accepted here, and slowly made her way down to the field. Today was Draconis' try-outs only, but still the stadium was crowded. Anxious hopeful's stood in a circle around Millia, as well as older students who appeared calmer, possibly people who played on the team before. Sabine had decided to try-out for chaser, since seeker and keeper drew too much attention. 

Millia waved quickly at Sabine before she called attention to everyone else and laid out some ground rules. "Okay, so first off I want a clean try-out. No messing with anyone's try-outs with heckling, curses, jinxs, or hexes. I will be posting the team tomorrow night in the common room so do not, under any circumstances, ask me about your performance today and whether you are on the team or not. Such questions will result in the loss of your position if you were lucky enough to acquire one. Finally, do your best and have fun," Millia finished her little speech and pulled up a clipboard with a long list of names. "First up, Beaters!" she began listing off names of all those trying out for the two Beater positions before calling on people in pairs and releasing the balls from the trunk.

Apparently Beater was one of the most popular roles at school, because it was nearly noon before those try-outs were completed. Millia delicately wiped sweat from her brow before thanking those who tried out and hastily scribbling on her clipboard. After a few moments, she called out for Seeker try-outs. Only three people stepped forward, Nami, the boy that had talked up Millia for most of the beginning of the year, and a scrawny first year who looked all too scared of his own shadow. The first year went first, toppling off his broom mere moments after spotting the snitch and having to be rushed to the infirmary. Afterwards the older boy went and despite his charm, he wasn't all that good on a broom. Nami went next, and it was like watching a professional. She was frozen solid in the air for several minutes before spotting the snitch and diving for it rapidly, nose-diving and nearly hitting the ground. She pulled out at the last second and dismounted her broom with a grace Sabine had never seen, snitch in hand. 

Millia smiled sheepishly before writing on her clipboard and handing it to Nami. "Alright, so since role of Keeper is filled by me, we need Chasers. So I hope the rest of you are only trying out for that," Sabine looked around nervously and saw several disappointed faces drop and a handful of students walk off the pitch, leaving five. Sabine, three people she was sure had been on the team last year, and a tepid looking sixth year girl. Gulping, negativity set into her brain as she looked at her competition. She was no where near as good as the others here, did she possibly stand a chance?

"The best way for me to test you as Chaser's is for you to score against me, which, if you've attended school for more than a year, you know is quite a difficult thing to do. Now, I'm gonna have you go one at a time. You have five shots, starting with Jordan," she pointed to one of the three that had been on the team last year, a lengthy fifth year boy. He mounted his broom and only managed to score two out of the five shots. Sabine could hear Millia cackling from where she stood on the pitch and heard a bit of angry grumbling as the boy landed next to Nami and stalked off towards the stands with the rest of the hopefuls. "Alright...uh....Partruse," Nami's delicate finger hit the clipboard with a soft click and the tepid looking girl mounted her broom and kicked off. She also only managed two out of five and landed with a huff before leaving the stadium entirely. The other two ahead of Sabine went, the sixth year girl scoring three, and the seventh year boy scoring four. They both sat up in the stands and suddenly, Sabine felt all on eyes on her, being the last one to try-out. "And...Lavoie," Nami said, looking up at the short fifth year girl with loose pigtails and a nervous smile. Kicking off the ground slowly, Sabine caught the quaffle and circled the pitch for a moment, monitoring Millia. She looked exhausted, but she wasn't going to underestimate the girl, she watched her block some very good throws, but Sabine was confident in her abilities. She wasn't cocky or confident about many things, but Quidditch was the one thing she knew she was good at. Without much warning, she instantly sped up and launched the ball into the hoop that Millia was guarding and, as expected, she'd leapt to guard the left post instead of the middle. Millia threw the quaffle back to Sabine with an impressed smile. 

Taking a deep breath, Sabine examined Millia for a moment before knowing she'd probably expect the same move, but then maybe she wouldn't. Anticipating that she would expect the same, Sabine made like she was going to do the same move but threw into the right hoop and scored again. A hush fell over the crowd now. She had been the only one to get the first two. Confidence flooded Sabine and she spun around the pitch a few minutes, watching Millia. She was sizing Sabine up now, trying to read her. Wanting to remain a complete surprise to Millia, she flew straight at Millia, stopped short before the hoops and scored into the middle ring. A flush look came over Millia's face as she realized that she'd been doped. She'd never met a Chaser who was able to perform like this before. Smirking at the prospect of having the girl on her team but wanting to test her further, she pretended to look confused and tired.

Sabine knew she was faking though. Or maybe she didn't and just didn't want to take anything for granted. With full force she made it look like she was flying at the posts several times, each time forcing Millia to move but never scoring. Finally she ducked down and popped back up, tossing the quaffle threw the hoop before Millia even had a chance to blink. She knew she'd already done better than the rest of the people who'd tried out, but she still had one more shot and she fully intended to score. She took another moment to stare Millia down, their gazes locked, both of their faces drenched in sweat from a sun that had heated up exponentially. Wiping her face on her sleeve, Sabine faked a left, zigged straight and watched as Millia moved to guard the right post and at the last second threw to the left one and the quaffle scored. Flying backwards a bit, she made eye contact with Millia, who had a bewildered look on her face. After a few moments, she landed on the ground, dismounted her broom, smiled at Nami, and exited the stadium. Flushing, she made her way back up to the dorm and changed into casual clothing before heading back down to the common room with her backpack and working on some assignments that were due on Monday. Slowly, those who had been down at the stadium began filing into the common room, many eyeing Sabine with cautious smiles.

"That was quite good, by the way."  Came Nami's voice as she walked quickly and excitedly towards Sabine while Millia was right at her heels.  "I've never seen anyone get shots pass Mirria before.  Coror me impressede!"  She said so happy and quickly that her full accent was shown outright.  "What do you say, Milly-chan?"  She turned to her with a great smile on her face as Millia had to cover her mouth from the giggle she had let out from Nami's speech.  "Very good, but know that if you did make the team, I expect you to bring that enthusiasm each time, and of course....I'll be watching you."  Millia walked towards her closer now, and even sat across from her as she laid her elbows on the table, crossing her fingers and laying her chin upon them.  "Now that tryouts are over, the next meeting that shall be called will be how well everyone works together as a team." 

Sabine listened well towards Millia although not saying a word while she expected Millia to go on, but maybe not quite in the direction it would to which she soon held her eyes open wide in both surprise and wonder.  "I'm not going to beat around the bush,"  She said as she held out her hand toward Nami who placed the tryouts board in her hand.  "You are most definitely in, but I am worried about your team qualities as from what I have seen from you thus far worries me."  She let those words sink in well before she continues as Nami placed her hand on Sabine's shoulder.  "You seem to be nearly an introvert, you haven't tried to really talk to anyone or get along with them, which are a needed quality on my team, so what say you, could you be prepared to push yourself even further?"  From the way Millia was now speaking it was as if she were talking at a corporate board meeting, and just from how professional she sounded it seemed to deter Sabine in  small way before she could speak up.

Sabine's Quidditch performance suddenly went through her mind like an eagle soaring the sky as it gave her new found bravery in the face of this situation.  She began seeing her as the keeper once more, the talk being blocks of her throws, but she knew she could score against her.  SHe did it before, so of course she could do it again!  "I will be on the team, and I cannot afford to let you down."  Sabine said simply, but strongly as Millia smiled as if she was an older sister proud of her sibling.  Sabine kept on her powerful gaze as the shot went through the hoop after a glorious front flip dodge of the bludger.  "By the way,"  Millia spoke up once more, "We practice a far greater deal more than any other team you may have been with, so if you ever have trouble finishing homework then come to me, and I will help you as that is what the Captain should do, but it would be better to do it, for a friend."  The end of her sentence seemed almost melancholic as she stood up once more and saying goodnight to her as Nami and herself walked towards the dorm rooms.

 "You are lucky,"  Suddenly came the voice of the boy who had always talked to Millia, and who played poorly out on the field.  "She was nearly fawning over you."  He said with a smile as he sat in the spot Millia was just at.  "Don;t take it like she cares about you or anything afterall, she's just a spoiled rich brat who wants and gets whichever it is.  There have been far too many coincidences with how 'perfect' everything goes for her.  You of course know who the Hakumei family is, right?  Your not from some backwards as farm country are you?"  He said as he leaned back in the comfy chair.  "You will be used and disposed of.  Not that I have proof, but I did work hard today and I am sure that Nami girl whos she always with will get seeker, and I will get bench seeker, never to play, never a chance."  It was becoming clear to Sabine that this boy was blaming his failures on Millia, but she couldnt help wondering the bit about her being of the Hakumei family.  They were known, or at least her father was, as the business people who could achieve anything, and there was always rumors about their correlation with both the fbi and mafia.  At one point even there seemed to be a person who may have had something on her father, but rumor has it that the house she was in suddenly exploded into flames, killing her.  Or could all this really end up really a rumor made by the jealousy of everyone around her afterall, it seemed she did have a lot of admirers.

 "I'm going to bed."  Sabine said as she collected her things when she had had enough of this boys ramblings, to which he said, "Keep your head above the water!" before he walked to his own dorm.  As Sabine reached the dorms she could see Nami and Millia over on Millia bed talking persumably about the Quidditch lineup.  Seeing as her bed was right next door it didn't take long for them to notice Sabine as Nami waved her hand in a beckoning to come over and join them.  "How you feeling?"  Nami whispered to her as she got up to make room for her as Millia did not hear a thing with her nose deep into what looked like her playbook for her Quidditch plays.

"I'm okay," Sabine shrugged as she cautiously sat down on Millia's bed. Somehow it felt softer than hers. Binx mewed an objection and crawled into her lap where he promptly purred obnoxiously until she pet him. Nami smiled and looked over to Millia, who was lost in her book. Mumbling to herself, she jotted a note down on her parchment with a pink feathered quill before dropping the quill and turning the page. "You really did a great job, you know!" Nami encouraged, the silence almost too much for any of them. Millia dropped her book and began drawing on her parchment, the only sound for a solid ten minutes being the scratching of her quill. "Alright, it's time for me to decide the team. Shoo!" she waved her hand, shooing away Nami and Sabine. 

"It's alright, I gotta get some sleep anyway," Sabine said hastily before tucking Binx under her arm and dashing into the bathroom to change into her night clothes. Once changed, she snuck quietly into the dorm and closed her bed curtains, the soft sound of Millia's scratching quill lulling her into a deep sleep where she dreamt of scoring the final goal just as Nami caught the snitch and the entire school was cheering for her.

When she woke up the next morning, the dorm was completely empty. Rolling over, she checked her watch and realized it was nearly noon. Yawning, she wondered why she'd slept so long before pulling on an old white t-shirt and a flowing purple skirt as well as sandals. Patting Binx on the head, she walked down into the common room to find an amass of people hanging around the bulletin board and a lot of people talking excitingly. Too nervous to even check to see if she'd made the team, she slipped out of the common room and went down to the Great Hall, where she was stopped by Professor Ambrosia, the Draconis Head of House. 

"Ms. Lavoie, the headmistress asked me to check on you. You had an incident with your animagus abilities in the beginning of the year that I was made aware of and as a personal friend of your father I'd like you to know I'm here if you need to talk," Professor Ambrosia said, patting Sabine on the shoulder. Embarrassment crimsoned her cheeks before she slightly nodded and spoke, "I'm fine. Even making friends...I think," Sabine smiled and with a reassuring pat from Professor Ambrosia she walked into the Great Hall for lunch. Looking for a perfect spot, she was knocked into by the boy she recognized as Jordan. "Lucky bitch," he whispered under his breath as he pushed past her and out of the Great Hall. Ignoring the comment with a bit of anxiety in her chest, she sat down at the Draconis table and ignored all the glances and whispered conversations as she ate her lunch, knowing full well now that she'd been made a Chaser.

Nami and Millia had just entered the hall as people looked upon her now knowing the Draconis line-up.  Whispers could be heard of both good and bad words to be said such as, richy rich get's what she wants once more, while other people such as the younger girls fawn over her 'perfection' while boys would lust over her while some wished they were on the team to be simply near her more.  Yikes.  The two girls promptly sat next to Sabine as Millia stood quiet while grabbing her healthy breakfest while Nami spoke up to Sabine in a haste like speed.  "By the way, you may want to drop the shy act, not that you are acting, because you will soon be bombarded by excited team mates."  Nami herself began to grab food before talking once more as she patted her head.  "You may not know it, but you've already set a pretty high standard among the guys your age, and perhaps one day you could even give Millia-chan a run for her money!"

Millia giggled at the thought as her pompous attitude escaped for a moment.  "It is not too pretty at the top, and can be very degrading at times.  It would be best if you strayed away from the best, and just stay at...second rate..., right, Nami Nahime?"  Millia asked with a pun as she both teased and insulted her to which Nami just nodded and smiled like usual, taking any of the word beatings.  Nami was used to Millia speaking the way she did, but at one point it did hurt often, but since she never spoke out about it Millia never ad a reason to stop as no one seemed ot have the courage to go against her.  "Oh yes, Sabine, you do not understand Japanese.  You could translate her first and last name into, "Second-Rate Princess"  Millia laughed once more at her own pun as the doors to the room opened suddenly before Sabine could even answer this sudden information.

With a near splendor of an entrance four people of the Draconis suddenly entered together into the dining hall excitedly as they walked briskly right towards our group as they surrounded Sabine.  "Welcome to the team!"  They all said together as they bombarded her with questions, comments on her practice and welcomes as well as even invitation to go hang out promptly and asap.  All this sudden attention and swarms of people talking to her, wanting to shake her hand seemed to begin to get to her stress to begin to raise, almost as if it was claustrophobia.  Nami looked towards Sabine as she turned to Millia and whispered, "She looks like a trapped mouse, get her out of here."  Millia turned to see as well and nodded as she stood up and said aloud, "That's enough boys and girls,"  She announced towards which the team fell silent and assumed the position instantaneously.  "Let's leave to a more quiet place, Sabine.  Nami stay here and keep the rest of the team happy."  She said in what felt like a new voice to Sabine, a leader like tone which felt like commands.  She lightly grabbed Sabine's hand and helped her up and let go of it once more as she pointed towards the door with her thumb. "Let's go, Sabine."

"Outside...I have to get outside!" Sabine said through clenched teeth, her nails digging into her own fists as she pushed past Millia and down to their secret spot where she fell on all fours and transformed. With a soft whimper, she laid down, her legs tucked under her, and looked up at Millia. Her mix-matched eyes more dramatic in this form, the light capturing them more vividly than before. Millia sat down next to Sabine, a quizzical look on her face. "You don't seem to have much control over your wolf form. You say you were born an Animagus? How can you have fifteen years practice and not be able to hold back the wolf?" Millia's normally beautiful face was scrunched up in confusion. Sabine huffed, her ears dropping low. Covering her snout with her paws, she sat for nearly ten minutes before being calm enough to revert back to human form. 

Gulping, she looked up at Millia, not sure if she could trust the girl with her secret or what would come of it. "It's not the wolf part of me that I can't control," Sabine muttered. Millia gazed at her for a moment, not quite sure what this meant. "But I promise, Millia. I'll get better! And...and I'll get better at being around people! I can make friends and be sociable I just need...to be eased into it. We can all hang out together later tonight. And the Villoba trip is next weekend so we can all go together!" Sabine looked dedicated. She'd never really had to open up and be friendly to people before, especially not her team. At her old school they weren't as serious about Quidditch as they are here, and Sabine knew in order to be good and even better than she had been before, she had to push herself. And besides, if she never learned to control her human form around others under tension while young, she'd never learn when she was older. So now was the best time, when she had friends and was able to ease herself into a social life until it became something fun, and not stressful.

"I believe you will," Millia smiled, now masking her confusion and the hundreds of questions that hung on her tongue. What could she possibly mean that the wolf part isn't what she can't control? Maybe she's defective? The thought hung in her mind for a moment before Sabine got to her feet, a hand extended to Millia. Accepting it, Sabine led the two back to the Great Hall, where Sabine joined the team and began talking casually. Soon she stopped being the center of attention and the lights were set on other members of the team, the game itself, the latest gossip, and schoolwork. 

Unbeknownst to Sabine, Millia and Nami exchanged a small look and at the end up lunch watched as Sabine left with Professor Ambrosia, who had called her away. The two girls casually strolled outside to sit near Millia's spot. Not even Nami knew of the place and Millia wasn't about to give her secret away. "Does she have anxiety or what?" Nami joked lightly as she played with a floating leaf and her wand. "Or what..." Millia started.

"I any case, we'll have to watch over her.  That's all you need to know, and you may need to watch her more then myself."  Millia said as she began reading a new book it seemed she had gotten that morning titled "Alchemic Seals."  Her eyes moved upwards towards Nami as she saw her look of question to which Millia waved her hand.  "She's just a shy girl having trouble fitting in is all, no worries, but perhaps she could be your second rate princess now."  She joked once more in an attempt to end the conversation to which it did wonderfully as the words seemed to etch into Nami harder then earlier.

"Well, have fun with your extra studying, you know you really should take more breaks, your heart is'nt going to like all this stress."  Nami said in a whisper which was the only way she could even think of making a stab against her although it fell short as Millia ignored her while her nose continued to fall deep into her book.  "I wish she could be more of a person..."  Nami thought to herself as she got up to walk out of the dining hall briskly.

______


"So, looks like Miss Hakumei has yet again filled her team with people she has known although I am sure they are good, but it will soon seem as if she is only recruiting her 'friends.'  I bet she does not even remotely see the fools as such though, right brother?"  A girl said to the boy next to her, from the Wobbegong table.  These two seemed to be just as rich as Millia if not more so, but unlike Millia this girl seem to flaunt her wealth while always  wearing the top of the line clothes or fashion, and using the top of the line equipment. She also had this bitchy look on her face, the type that was always there even when she would smile.  Although the boy dressed nearly the same, he had a smaller demeaner about him, and even small sense of trust, but how his eyes were nearly always closed as he spoke could cause people to become wary of him.  Together they looked very alike, both brown hair, just s thick although the girl wore a ponytail while

"Don't be some mean, sister.  Afterall, she is a gorgeous one, and I am sure she holds some of them as friends, even if you may not see it, but I do, such as that Nami girl or that...new girl she has been talking to, and I must say I am interested in her."  THe boy said as he twirled a fork in his hand.  "I wonder though...new girl has been strange, already been late a few times and even absent in some classes, right my informant?"  He asked as he looked over his shoulder to his other side.

"Well yea, spying is my thing bro."  He said as he smiled like a chesire cat.  His hair was slicked back in a gangster like style as he even paired it with his expensive pinstripe suit. He wore a single glove over his right hand, white in color as he picked up his fedora hat off the table and onto his head.  "I haven't seen anything incriminating yet, but let us see, after all, can't be too obvious can I?"  He asked with a giggle which sounded like a purr.

The remainder of the day went off without a hitch. Sabine managed to control herself and hung out with the team, getting to know them. She realized socializing wasn't really all that bad and that she already liked her teammates. One of their beaters, a handsome sixth year boy with dark brunette hair and forest green eyes named Jared Collins seemed to be eyeing Sabine more than the others. She wasn't sure what his reasoning was, but his looks made her flush crimson, making the wolf inside of her cringe. Oddly enough, it felt almost good, like this was a positive feeling. She merely smiled at the boy as they made their way back to the common room where Sabine sat down with her bag of stuff and finished up all the work that was due that week.

Monday morning rolled around and in an attempt to avoid being extremely late like yesterday, Sabine set two alarms and was up just after Millia had exited the bathroom. They seemed to be on friendly terms, because Millia offered to save her a seat at breakfast as she flounced out of the room with her backpack over her shoulder. Yawning lazily, Sabine dressed and decided to leave her hair down. Running a brush through it quickly, she pulled on her purple and white uniform before grabbing her bag and following suit with Millia. On her way down to the Great Hall, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. She'd had this feeling quite often since she and Millia became mutual acquaintances, and even more so now that she as on the team. Turning on her heel, she looked to see if there was anyone following her. It was impossible to tell with the flood of students pouring into the hall, but she could have sworn someone was on her tail, watching her. Shaking her head, trying to get rid of the feeling, she entered the hall and sat next to Millia. 

The headmistress was standing, which was a bit unusual and was waiting for the students to finish piling in. Once the doors had stopped producing more children, she pressed her wand to her throat and cleared it. Instantly the chatter died away and all attention was on her. "Good morning, students. I have a few small announcements for you in preparation for the week ahead. This Saturday marks the first trip to Villoba. If you have not turned in a signed permission slip, you are unable to attend the trip. This Sunday marks the opening of our Quidditch season with Phoenixwing vs. Wobbegong. I hope you will all attend and I wish the teams both the best of luck. On a less interesting, but equally important note, the fifth floor corridor that normally leads to the astronomy tower is off-limits this week. All astronomy classes are cancelled for this week. Any student caught in that specific corridor on the fifth floor will be severely punished, should you manage to be found alive. That is all, enjoy your breakfast!"

The way she finished her speech, cheery and upbeat, sent a shiver down Sabine's spine. What could possibly be so dangerous about the astronomy corridor that it was off-limits and could possibly result in death? Gulping down her eggs, she waved goodbye to Millia and Nami as she made her way towards her first period.

The morning seemed to drag on endlessly as rain beat down on the classroom windows, even causing Millia herself to sigh as she realized that they could not practice today.  After the eternity of raindrops lunch period had finally arrived although the rain kept pouring on.  Millia's class was let out early it seemed as she was one of the first few to arrive at the dining hall; Among them the two twins, one of which hopped over to Millia as she entered the facility.  "M-i-l-l-i-aaaa,"  Called the girl in a sing song voice.  "How have you been?"  She asked further as she took a seat next to her as she plucked a grape from a bowl.  Millia ignored her as she went about her viewing of the windows wishing the rain to halt it's presence.  "How is that new girl, off the field, I mean?"  SHe asked, and without missing a beat followed up with another sentence.  Boy, what a chatter box.  "I think there is something strange to her, do you not?"  SHe asked it so quizzically as she stared into Millia's eyes who had finally turned to face her.

"Leave me be, Akatsuki-san."  Millia said as she turned her gaze back away from her, returning to the windows.  "And no, I feel nothing strange.  She is a normal shy girl, and leave her be as well, death eater in training."  She said mockingly with a smirk which dug into her skin. "Don't mock me Hakumei-san!"  She said with a gingerly raised voice as she, in a quick instant, drew her wand and pointed it towards Millia.  Millia did not even blink towards this, and even as a spell was mixing in the wand's core she sat there, ignoring her as the boy Akatsuki was suddenly between the two.

"Now now, little sister, that is not needed, but ah, what a wonderful reaction you have to her threats, completely ignoring my ignorant sister....or perhaps..."  He said with a thought as he turned to face Millia.  "Perhaps.....you knew I would come between the two of you..hm?"  He did not seem to expect an answer as he just bowed as he turned back to his sister.  "Now now sister, no attitude."  He said which taunted her well in advance as his wand was in his hand after being released from his long sleeve on his right side.  "Now, go and sit down."  The female twin crossed her arms in a huff and walked quickly back to her table before he turned back towards Millia, and even further sat next to her.  "As usual, I apologize for my sister, she never does think...or take an insult properly.  Not like us."  He said, his face still containing closed eyes creepily.

"At least she is kept in check, Kei."  She said in an informal manner which is strange as she talked to the sister so formally as if they had never met.  "How's the rumor mill been lately?"  She asked as she went straight to business.  "I assume there are still a mass amount of higher classmen who believe ill of me?"  She asked in a monotone voice although one could hear a slight melancholic voice behind it.  "Still the same as per norm one could say although I still have not figured the ones who began the rumor in the first place, but what of Sabine?  Does she know how some people feel of you?"  He asked with a worried tone in his voice.  "No, I believe she still believes that I am just oh so miss popular."  Millia said as she looked into his unopened eyes.  "Maybe it would be best...Millia."  He said soothingly as the two turned at the sound of the door creekin open as people began to file in, including Sabine.  "Well I best be back to my table.."  He said as he began to rise off his seat.  "No, wait, stay for a moment.  Introduce yourself, stay awhile....I don't think the team will mind for at least a short while.."  She said as she watched a few more pour on into the dining hall.

Sabine cautiously walked over to Millia. She was sitting with a boy she'd never seen before. He tousled back his brown hair, his green eyes burrowing into Sabine's face. Turning away, she took her seat beside Millia and pulled a few lunch items onto her plate. The boy whispered something to Millia, to which she went rigid before he leaned around and smiled at Sabine with an arrogance she'd never seen. "Hello there. I'm Aaron Montegue. But everyone calls me Kei Akatsuki. I'm a good friend of Millia's here. I'm the Wobbegong captain and their Keeper, so you'll get to know me quite well. I figured I'd introduce myself though. It's nice to meet you miss..." he paused, a gracefully pale skinned hand reached towards her, as if asking for her hand. "Sabine Lavoie," she uttered softly. "Such a beautiful name," he smiled at her, his eyes half open.

With an arrogant laugh, he pushed himself up and patted Millia on the head before heading towards his table to sit next to a girl who looked identical to him. With a hesitant laugh, Sabine looked over to Millia, a worried look in her eyes. "What was that about?" she asked carefully, not sure what to say. Millia chuckled lightly, "That's Kei-kun. He's...unique." Nodding slightly, she stuck her fork into a rather large sandwich when Jared and Nami popped down at the table, as well as the rest of the team. Jared took up the seat next to Sabine, while Nami sat next to Millia. "What's up with the Akatsuki twins, lately? Their eyes have been everywhere," Nami said quietly as she turned to grab some lunch for herself. "Yeah, I noticed. Their little spies have been looking everywhere. But for what?" Millia turned to look over her shoulder at the twins. Kei was smiling kindly over at her, his eyes nearly completely shut. Shaking the feeling, she turned back to the table, an uneasy feeling sitting in her stomach.

It wasn't until Thursday had rolled around that Sabine even knew what they meant. She was headed towards her potions lesson after the morning break when she found herself turned and pushed up against a wall. A guy she'd never seen before who wore a silver and black uniform had one arm around her waist, the other pressing her left hand up against the wall. He eyeballed the mark on her hand for a moment before smirking. "Animagus huh? Kinda young to be an Animagus don't you think?" he asked smiling. Sabine closed her eyes, felt her blood race and the animal inside her begin to panic. "Let me go...please!" Sabine begged, feeling her human form begin to phase. "Aww, little Sabine can't take being so up close and personal? Come on, tell me...how did you manage to become an Animagus so young?" he growled, his lips at her ear. A low growl emitted from her throat as she felt her skin turn to fire. In the next instant, there was a throat being cleared behind them. Professor Tiberius Belgarath, an older wizard with greying hair and aging blue eyes, stood there at nearly six feet tall with a stoic look to his demeanor, which was intimidating as all get out.

"Mister Harris, if you don't want detention I would advise you unhand the Draconis girl," Professor Belgarath said in monotone as he moved in to remove the boy from Sabine. "Move along, Mister Harris," he ordered, shoving the boy down the stairs toward the potions room. "Miss Lavoie, I believe you require a trip to the infirmary once more?" Sabine crimsoned as her body shook violently. "I'm-I'm so sorry Professor," she stuttered. He waved his hand dismissively before quickly escorting her up several flights of stairs where Sabine quickly threw open the doors to find the infirmary empty aside from Madam Selwyn. She sat at a desk mixing several potions when Sabine fell through the threshold. Without any warning, she howled and fell forward on all fours. "Oh you poor dear, it happened again? Thank you Tiberius, I'll attend to her from here," Madam Selwyn said as she turned to look at Sabine, Professor Belgarath merely nodding before turning on his heels rapidly. 

She whimpered at Madam Selwyn before jumping into one of the beds beside her desk. "Now dear, because your case is so unique I've had quite a hard time researching a way to help alleviate a bit of your stresses. But I have managed to find a potion that will make it easier for you to maintain your human form, even through stressful situations. I've just finished mixing it for you. When you're calm, change back and take this. I'll send you off with enough to last the rest of the week. Come back on Monday and I'll supply you with more. I'll leave it here for you," she finished speaking and patted the desk with the corked bottles. Sabine huffed through her nose before being able to change back. Laying on the bed, she took a full breath before chugging the potion and feeling something warm run all over her veins, making her tingle in the weirdest way. Shaking her head, she grabbed her bag, the other vials, and moving to look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was tousled and she looked like she had just fought a duel and lost. Running her shaking fingers through her hair, she took the hall-pass from Madam Selwyn and rejoined her potions class just in time catch the lesson on identifying rare ingredients with similar appearances to common ones.

"You idiot!  What happened to being stealthy like you claimed?!"  Cynthia screamed at Harris as she slapped him across the face just outside the castle after classes. "Woa woah there Cynch, I may take orders from your brother but I will NOT have you getting in that sort of contact of me."  He said with warning as he drew his wand while a purple glow overtook it.  "Well two could play at that game anyhow, but I think I'd rather yell at you nice and good!"  She yelled continuously as it began to draw the attention of others who were outside, including Aaron who face palmed from afar as he quickly ran up to them as he yelled swiftly, "Silencio!"  Which caused any sort of sound coming from her to no longer be heard, even footsteps.  The sight of seeing her yelling while not even noticing what happened to her was so laughable Harris fell to the floor in laughter as tears even formed in his eyes.  This was finally enough to cause Cynthia to realize what had happened to her as she saw her brother come right up in front of her.  "You really are an idiot."  He said as he tapped her head with his rolled up parchment like a dog.  "You've left me quite a mess to clean up, Harris."  He said as he turned his attention towards him, his eyes no longer closed and cool, but flared with anger.  "I haven't mastered the spell to implant memories, and I can't exactly erase that memory from her as other SAW YOU!"  He said in a hushed tone as he swiftly grabbed his sisters ponytail, and Harris' arm and dragged them towards their dormitory whilst Cynthia kicked and struggled as Harris just accepted it.

In Draconis' main hall sat an exhausted Millia as she breathed heavily while doing other work as if nothing could slow her down.  Even as Sabine sat across from her and attempted conversation Millia waved her hand as she attempted to ignore her increasingly rising blood pressure, and it wasn't until Nami arrived and laid a hand on her shoulder did she stop and rest.  Immediately Sabine asked what was wrong too which Millia ignored it by passing it off as a cold, and that was it as she stood up grabbing her things.  "I'm going to bed early."  SHe lied a she wanted to work by herself on her bed.  After she had left Nami sat down next to Sabine to try and explain, "You could say...what's wrong is that she has finally ran into a subject she is not easily acing, and in fact is in danger of failing already even after only three weeks.  You may say it's ridiculous to get so worked up over it, even more so when it is not a required class, but that's how she is."

Sabine seemed to look towards the floor unable to find any words to comment on before finally asking the obvious question, "What class?"  Nami stood up as she grabbed a book which Millia seemed to have forgotten, titled "Alchemic Transformations, and how to contain it."  "She is having trouble with Apparating which it is quite hard, but I do not think she likes that I have gotten petty close to achieving it while she cannot even fathom it at the moment.."

As they spoke someone cat it seems has strolled over to them apparently looking for attention as it rubbed up against the chairs they sat upon.  Picking the cat up, Nami looked towards Sabine and said quietly, "Don't mind her mood swings please,"  She walked the cat over a bit and dropped it on a chair as she turned back to Sabine.  Looking at the book she was also holding she questioned aloud, "I guess Millia is further diving into her Alchemy extra lessons, but Alchemic Transformations is advanced even for her, why would she be studying it so suddenly?" She asked as she looked towards Sabine, out of things to say and just smiled, and as she did so the cat seemed to walk away, and even out of their dormitory completely.

Tentatively, Sabine entered the Great Hall Friday morning tailing a chatty Nami and a nervous Millia. The two sat down, Sabine following suit, not wanting to stray too far from their protection. Tomorrow was the first Villoba trip, an opportunity for all third-years and older to spread their wings and spend their parents hard-earned galleons. Sabine's father had sent her a small amount for her to spend on her first trip when he heard she was going to Villoba this weekend. The morning owls came in, causing a small bit of commotion, in which Aaron slipped his arm around Millia and whispered in her ear. An angry look appeared on her face almost instantaneously as she whipped around and pushed him away. "How dare you sic your goon's on my teammates! Keep away from me and my team, Kei-kun!" The normally beautiful look on her face was contorted with anger, something Sabine was not used to seeing. Aaron simply brushed himself off and sighed at her. "That temper is probably why you can't apparate yet, Millia-chan," Aaron winked coolly at her before turning on his heel and heading back to his table, where his sister and Harris chortled loudly. 

The color drained from Millia's face as she sat back down and stared at her breakfast. Pushing her plate away, she flung her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of the Great Hall. Nami and Sabine sat idly by, not sure what to do or say. "I should go after her," Nami said finally after a long silence between the two. Waving a quick goodbye, she grabbed her belongings and rushed off. Sabine looked over to the Wobbegong table, anger boiling inside of her. How dare they attack her and then harass Millia the next day. The look quickly faded as she averted her gaze and she turned back around. They were getting suspicious of her, that's why he was all over her trying to figure out how she'd become an Animagus. But why do they care? Sabine asked herself as she turned again to look, seeing the trio still laughing.

It wasn't until dinner that Sabine even saw Millia again. She bumped into Millia, who was headed straight to the common room. "Not hungry, Millia?" Sabine asked softly. Shaking her head, she slowly climbed the stairs. Looking into the Great Hall, she saw the trio sitting at their table, watching the door closely. She also saw Nami talking up the rest of the team, and Jared looking toward the door as well. Blushing, she dashed up the stairs after Millia. She wasn't sure if they were friends yet or not, but Sabine decided she'd rather make the effort than be left wondering. Once in the common room, she saw Millia nudging the cat they had seen last night away from her leg. "Ugh, you're probably one of the first years cats. Learn to not be so cuddly with people who are mad," Millia chided as she sat down with an alchemy book. 

"You feeling alright?" Sabine asked as she sat down in one of the comfier chairs in the common room. "No, not really. I've been getting laughed at all day because of this damn apparition. Don't you start laughing either or I'll kick you off the team," she warned, a defeated look in her eyes. "I won't, I swear. Don't worry so much about it. You have until you're seventeen to learn it. My dad says it took him until he was nineteen to do well enough to get his license. So that probably means I'm screwed," Sabine sat back and looked up at the ceiling. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? Cause it doesn't. I'm doing just fine, thank you!" Millia slammed her hand down on the table, her hair tousled. "Hey, relax will you? I'm not trying to insult you, I'm trying to comfort you. Maybe you need to learn when to be defensive and when to not be. You'll chase off less people that way," Sabine got to her feet, nearly tripping over the cat. 

"Ugh! Get out of here you furball!" Sabine huffed as she stepped over the cat, glaring at Millia, who's angry expression had dropped to one of deep thought. A sad recognition came over her face as Sabine passed her to the stairs. "Sab..." Millia called over her shoulder, standing. Sabine cast a hurt look towards her team captain and marched up the stairs, slamming the door to their shared dorm room shut. Sitting back down in her chair, even more defeated, Millia muttered, "great..." The cat was nowhere to be seen now, probably scared off by Sabine and Millia's argument. Sighing to herself, Millia turned back to her book and read until the common room began to fill with the after-dinner crowd.