WELCOME

Zhou Maddock Davies, Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team, resident daredevil and crash test dummy, was bored.

He sat alone at the Ravenclaw table, face pressed down against the surface of the wooden table. His plate lay empty except for a few crumbs. He had eaten his fill and now he didn't even have food to distract him. What could he do? With Mallory so wrapped up in her boyfriend, he was often left to his own devices now. The couple was still in that honeymoon phase of their relationship where life was dandy, peachy-keen, tinted with rose-colored glasses, all sunshine, butterflies and rainbows. It was positively revolting, watching the two of them together. If he found them snogging on the Common Room couches one more time, well he would... he would... throw a dungbomb at them! With relish!

Who was he kidding? He would do no such thing, no matter how jealous/annoyed he was at the happy Papa Smurf (Ravenclaw prefect) and Smurfette (also a Ravenclaw and the coolest girl on the show, so it had to be a good representation for Mal) couple. That made him wonder if Smurfette got around. The only girl in a whole village of little blue people. Tough life. He felt for the poor Smurf lady. But at least her existence wasn't utterly and completely boring as his. Reminded of the abyss of his dejection, he groaned into the wood of the table, and lifted his head. A pair of third year girls were looking at him, and started giggling when he looked up. He frowned and growled out at them "What are you looking at?"

To his dismay, they weren't scared at all, but kept giggling in that annoying teenage girl way. Oh no. Even the third years couldn't take him seriously. HE couldn't take himself seriously. Not like this! Zhou needed something to occupy his time (besides the busy work the professors liked handing out). The Quidditch pitch had already been reserved by the Gryffindor Team (wankers) and, as previously mentioned, his best mate was off sucking face. He would have picked the same thing over Mal as well, so he couldn't really blame her. Except perhaps for her choice in boyfriends. There were so many more interesting blokes in Hogwarts than Calais. Augh. And it was weird to sleep in the same room as the guy who probably was fantasizing over seeing his best friend naked. He shuddered at the thought. Gross. Mal was like a guy to him. It only occasionally occurred to him that she had boobs and feelings.

Oh! He hadn't had dessert yet! There was something he could do! He piled his plat up with chocolate mousse, treacle tarts and pumpkin pasties. And don't forget the cauldron cakes. He shoved one into his mouth with all the delicacy an Seventh-year boy possessed and chewed happily. Yum... Sugar. He noticed a familiar face and asked around a mouth full of delicious cake, "Wofschehr. Cahn Iuy helbhf myoo?" Translation: Wotcher. Can I help you?

It was definitely one of those quieter days, though the brunette was thankful for it. Her week had so far been nothing but homework and prefect walks, so the lull in excitement was turning out to be quite enjoyable. Although she loved being a good student and keeping the school safe from all the troublemakers, everyone needed a break once in awhile and this was her perfect opportunity. Taking advantage of it, she put some light reading in her bag and started off by moseying through the castle, unsure of exactly where she wanted to spend her time.

Her first thought was to go to the library, a guaranteed quiet place for relaxing. However, she figured she'd eventually just end up falling asleep if she got too comfortable, so that was out of the question. Little Annabelle considered going outdoors, but the cool chill was still present. Just the thought sent a shiver down her spine. Instead, Annie decided that maybe it wasn't a day for just reading, maybe she should hunt down a familiar face. With a destination in mind, her steps became more determined and she couldn't help but smile.

It was a proven fact that the majority of the Ravenclaw house resided either in the library or in the commons. It was almost a sin to go outside of those two areas without good reason. Annie considered this reason enough, particularly since she was hoping to find the rebel that was never in either of those places unless seriously ill. If her analysis was correct, her troubled friend could be found in the sky or stuffing his face. Since she knew another team was scheduled for practice, she scurried over to the Great Hall and couldn't help but laugh in the doorway, just lightly. There he was, suffering and surrounded by food. Some things never changed.

Crossing her arms, Annabelle wandered over and sat across from her, her expression rather puzzled."You can, actually. You see, I'm looking for this crazy Ravenclaw boy that can never seem to stop eating long enough to get out an actual sentence." She let out a cheerful laugh, setting her bag beside her and resting her chin in her hands. "For someone so in love with food, he doesn't look all that happy, though." Annie's eyes narrowed, focusing in on her friend and studying him for a few moments. There was one point in time where she'd almost looked up to him as a model figure of how to act. Now it seemed her days were riddled with making him behave, compliments of her prefect duties. Annabelle couldn't help but smile, though, for at least he always managed to keep her entertained. "Why so glum, notorious-troublemaker? Not enough goodies to satisfy your tummy? Or are you finally sick of tormenting the first years?"

"AGHNNMIEH!"

The "crazy Ravenclaw boy that can never seem to stop eating long enough to get out an actual sentence" exclaimed around a mouthful of a multitude of delicious somethings all shoved into his face at once. It was always a pleasure for Zhou to see Annabelle Maddock. She was a good and loyal friend, and was always willing to listen to his whining. Since Mal was so distracted with her happy love life, he has often talked with Annie about some things. A little bit about his very brief relationship with Alina Weasley, the goddess of the Seventh Years. It must have been annoying to hear the same thing out of his mouth time after time and to see him moping about just as often. Well, that really only took one week. Otherwise he went back to his normal self, if I little more impatient and sometimes daring.

He vigorously chewed his food in an effort to sooner swallow. Since now he actually had someone to talk to. Already he wasn't feeling nearly as bored as he had been just a moment ago. The presence of someone interesting could have such a profound affect on one's boredom. He gave her a wounded look, even as he was still chewing away like a madman, and placed a hand over his heart. Finally he swallowed down the food packed into his mouth like first years into those dinky little boats taking them across the lake at the beginning of their first term.

"Annie! I thought we were friends?! Why, I never terrorize first ye- HEY! RUNT! That last one is mine!"

He saw out the corner of his eye the small hand sneaking towards the last jelly-filled doughnut generously dusted with powdered sugar. With a snarl and a lunging movement, he grabbed the doughnut and glared balefully at... yes, it was a first year. The frightened first year stared at him with wide eyes in a pale face. Instead of apologizing, Zhou pointedly took a huge bite of the doughnut, consuming half of the delightful pastry in one fell swoop. The first year skittered down the bench with a small squeak. Looking back at Annie, he grinned.

"See? I don't terrorize first years. Only people who try to creep in on my stash of food."

'His stash' included all the platters of food within arms reach of his plate, as well as any on the table that may hold his favorite culinary delights. This morning, that included the doughnuts, the hotcakes, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a platter of bacon, sausage, and eggs. It was beyond him why he wasn't so large he appeared as though he had eaten three Zhous and an Annie. Where all the food went, he had no idea. Probably burned it all off from exhilarating thrill-seeking. Yes the brief fear that he did feel while free-falling probably shocked all the fat right out of his body, which thereby enabled him to eat thrice as many doughnuts the very next morning.

"No, not so much glum. I'm just bored to tears. I want to.. do something fun! Exciting! But I haven't thought up anything new. I've already jumped off the roof countless times, rode my broom at high speed through the branches of the Whomping Willow, mattress-surfed down the stairs. I need to think of something new, something MORE exciting that all of those have been. I just feel so... blah. Boring."

He ended his dialogue concerning his 'blah' mood by shoving the rest of the doughnut into his mouth. Some of the jelly leaked from between his lips and took up residence at the corner of his mouth.

Annie’s faced formed a shocked expression at his mild accusation. ”Of course we’re friends! Aren’t good friends supposed to help their friends? Well, consider my good dead done for the day.” She was well aware that he’d been joking and a small laugh quickly followed. While she had a hard time dealing with the insane activities that he deemed ‘fun’, Annabelle somehow found his company an enjoyable one. If anything, he gave her plenty to think about and much to laugh about. His carefree nature had been a contagious one over the years. Though she hadn’t completely let go of her enjoyments, she did find such things relaxing.

Her head instinctively shook slowly as he berated the poor child. ”If you didn’t think with your stomach, the world would probably end. And you really don’t consider that terrorizing? That poor kid’s probably never going to touch the doughnuts again because of you. That’s six years he’ll go without that wondrous taste! All because of you!!” Although her statement was followed by a small fit of laughter, she did mean her words. The damage control she attended to as she followed behind Zhou had been tremendous, that was for sure. Even after their meeting now, she’d find herself searching for that traumatized first-year and hoping to set things right again.

Resting her chin in the palm of her hand, the elbow of which was planted on the table, she took to a more pondering moment. ”As for your boredom… Well, I’m the wrong person to ask, you know that. I’d rather sit and read a book and NOT get involved in one of your escapades.” Eyes glazed over just a tad, Annie thought of all the calming things she enjoyed, none of which would’ve sparked Zhou’s interest in the slightest. ”If it weren’t still chilly, I’d say we should take a swim. Then again, you’d probably terrorize the locals.” As much as she enjoyed the water, the consideration of Zhou angering a sea creature was a rather frightening one and she hoped he forgot it by the time the water warmed up.

”Honestly, it’s a bit shocking that you ran out of ideas. Does that mean your final year isn’t going to go out with a bang?!” As thankful as she was, it was very uncharacteristic of him to not have any ideas. Despite his current lapse in thought, Annie was almost certain he had his finale planned and prepared years ago and just added modifications along the way. Well, that would’ve been the smart thing to do. Annie shook her head again, a chuckle escaping her lips. ”Zhou, darling, you have a little something --.” She casually tapped her finger to the corner of her lips, ”What will you do without me next year? You know, not everyone is as patient and helpful. You’re honestly just plain doomed.” With that, she offered a beaming smile, curious as to just what he’d be doing after school ended.

"Oh, good! I'm glad we're friends. People need more friends in the world. Especially ones that give sage advice that I can nod my head at and then ignore it suits me. That must be frustrating for you. Sorry 'bout that."

His moment of empathy for poor Annie's fate of constantly telling Zhou what he really shouldn't do and then watching him do just that would be truly tiring. He felt for her. He really did. He just didn't intend to change himself because of it. If nothing else, Zhou was oddly proud of who he was and liked himself as he was very much. Perhaps the only thing he would change was that he wanted to climb Mt Everest, as it was something he heard was quite popular among the Muggle community. He didn't quite know what it meant to climb without oxygen, but he decided he could give it a go. That was part of his post-Hogwarts plans. He'd try to get Mallory to go with him. Maybe Annie could come too, if it was over the summer. He tried to imagine Annie climbing a mountain.

He looked over at the first year, who was eating his food quietly and making very sure not to meet Zhou's eyes. "What? Him? No, he'll be fine. Everyone trembles like a leaf for the first year. Hell, even I did. Especially when Emmaline Pearce was around. Seventh Year, Keeper on the Ravenclaw team, and so beautiful. But look, I grew out of it. I don't tremble in front of any of the Seventh Years now. One day, he too will be a man and have a backbone. Just hold out kid. You grow into it."

The last part he addressed to the first year since Annie seemed so worried about the kid. The boy tremulously smiled and then stuffed his face with food. Solid kid, right there.

"Oh, come on, Annie. Admit it. You secretly want to join in on all of our escapades. Staircase surfing? Who didn't want to try that? And with a few minor adjustments it would be very safe. Cushioning charms can help a lot. And I've become quite good at them over the years. My Cushioning charms are soft as a feather."

He grimaced at her idea of swimming. Ever since his winter dip in the lake and the resulting concussion, his fondness toward swimming in frigid water had decreased significantly. He would rather not jump in the lake until the weather warmed. When Annie pointed out the jelly at the corner of his lip, he reached for it with his tongue, swiping most of it off. Stil, the jelly persisted.

"Did I get it?"

"And I think I'll do just peachy, thank you very much. If Wendelin the Weird can get her own chocolate frog card, then I can make a living."

”Hey now! You better not ignore my advice. It’s specially picked just for troublemakers like you, Mr. Davies. Whether you heed it or not, you’d better at least sit here and take all of it in, word for word. At least I’ll feel useful. So long as I mind my own business, our house won’t lose too many more points to your antics.” Her scolding little pointer finger jabbed in Zhou’s direction, but her scowl wasn’t nearly menacing enough to actually do anything. With a shrug, she folded her hands back down on the table.

”Unfortunately, some people are beyond helping. I could even tell you about how unhealthy so much of what you eat is, but I’d clearly just be wasting that breath. You and food are inseperable.” Though Annie herself wasn’t nearly as bad, the food before her was appetizing. She snagged a piece of bread for herself and munched on it casually. At least her appetite wasn’t so unhealthy that she gorged on the delights for seven years. As much practice as he put into Quidditch, though, it was nice to know he worked it all off.

That little boy was on her to-do list for the day. She was gonna find him and give him pointers on standing up to people like Zhou. Then again, her tips would probably get him bullied into the Infirmary, so that was a no-go. She was just going to stay in her little bubble and hope he figured it out. ”I think I heard of her. Though I’m not sure I understand your illogical fear of her. I think I’d be more afraid of a beater than a keeper. Then again, I never did have the pleasure of meeting her. Maybe that’s why I don’t understand. Besides, at least she was “beautiful”. That first year probably can’t say the same about you, sweetie.” Resting her head on her hands, she added emphasis with a few bats of her lashes. He just didn’t have the charm to compete with the women.

”With my luck, I’d be the one injured. You of all people know I couldn’t lie my way out of punishment for not only promoting these events, but participating!” If she was so against it, though, why did it sound so fun? Part of her did want to attempt it, just once. Though the potential consequences and her position as a prefect were on the line. Two things that would’ve kept her locked in her room before she even dared to join in those activities. ”You did get pretty good at Charms, though. Is that really just because of all the dangerous stunts you participate in?” It was a good enough reason to perfect a certain category of magic, even if it was too dangerous for her liking.

Annabelle couldn’t help but laugh rather uncontrollably at his attempt and following failure. ”No, darling. It’s still there. Unfortunately, you do not have the traits of a giraffe with a long enough tongue to successfully conquer the jelly that so evades you.” It made her wonder how someone who conquered staircases couldn’t quite take care of something so simple as jelly. ”As for Wendelin, you should know better. She did that hundreds of years ago and those actions would land you in deep trouble with the Ministry these days. Stick to Quidditch, at least. At least they know how to fix those injuries.”