Catching Up

Arya yawned and made her way into the Great Hall. It was the first Saturday since school started, and she was exhausted. Week one left her with two short essays, a worksheet, and (of course) at least two hours of spell practice.

"Saved you a seat," Gavin said, waving her over.

She looked around the nearly empty hall. "Must not have been difficult."

"Just sit down," Ash rolled his eyes.

With another yawn, Arry plopped down in between Gavin and Asher, and checked out the breakfast spread on the table. There were platters of bacon, sausage, eggs, pan-fried potatoes, and at least three different kinds of toast. Bowls of honey and butter, even a couple of apple pies. And, of course, pitchers of pumpkin juice.

"I've missed the Great Hall over the summer," she said, filling her plate. "Don't think I've had honey since the end of the year feast."

Good food was hard to come by for a peasant. Her family mostly lived on flavorless loaves of bread and gruel. Arya bit into a slice of bacon and waved as more of their friends joined them.

"Glad the first week's over?" she asked with a smile.

((OOC: I don't remember how and when we all met Walt))

Arya glanced between Walt and Asher, bacon in hand. There was enough tension in their group already with all the underlying feuds they had: Asher-Adele, Symon-Seamus, Asher-Jacob...come to think of it, maybe Asher was the real problem here.

"So anyway, what do you guys think of the new Potions master?" she asked, not being able to think of a better topic.

"She's a far sight better than Aitken," Gavin laughed. "I can at least tolerate her."

"Right," Asher agreed, sipping his pumpkin juice. "She doesn't seem to be out to get everyone who's not Slytherin."

They all laughed, but hushed up quickly as a group of snakes walked past. One of them was Symon, and he separated from the crowd and joined their table.

"Morning, everyone," he greeted, pouring juice into a goblet.

"How's it goin'?" Ash replied, pushing an empty plate his way.

"I've been talking to Renoir all morning," he mentioned, piling his plate high with potatoes. "She wants to start up the first year scrimmages soon. And we've set a date in October for team tryouts."

Adele practically dragged herself out of bed that morning and got dressed. She'd slept in for the first time all week, and it had been so nice - until she remembered all the homework she had to finish by Monday. With a sigh, she wandered down to the common room.

"Ah, decided te join the livin', did ya?"

She turned and saw Seamus sitting by the fire, grinning at her.

"Have you gone down to breakfast yet?" she asked, her stomach rumbling.

"Nah, been finishin' an essay," he shook his head.

"Wow," Adele rolled her eyes. He was even more on top of things than she was. "Well, come on, I need food."

Seamus shut his book and jumped up, following her out the door. When they arrived in the Great Hall, they found that all their friends were already halfway through a meal.

"Are we talking about Quidditch tryouts?" she asked excitedly, scooting in next to Marigold.

"No, choir," Asher responded with mock enthusiasm.

"Very funny," she smiled curtly. "When will they be?"

"The first week of October," Symon told her, avoiding a look at Seamus, who had quickly sat down right next to Adelaine.

"Marigold, are you trying out?" Adele wondered, grabbing a piece of bread and slathering butter on it.

Marigold sighed. Quidditch would be fun. And, she would be there anyway, with the healing team. But, she was actually scared to get back on a broom. There was this instance over the summer......Marigold felt a shiver go down her spine.

"Mari?" Asher asked when she didn't answer. She snapped out of it and looked at the table. They seemed to be waiting for her answer and Gavin looked hopefully.

"Yeah. I'm trying out. Although, I'm a bit rusty," she told them. Gavin smiled and Marigold smiled back at him. Gavin no doubt wanted to captain more than being a seeker.

"What about the healing team Marigold?" Walt asked a few spaces down from her.

"I can work the games that Ravenclaw doesn't play. Simple," she said, wagging a piece of bacon at him.

"You know Robert isn't going to like that," Walt commented.

"You also know that she's allowed to have a little fun," Asher said back to his fellow Gryffindor. Marigold put a finger to her lips when Walt opened his mouth to say something. Walt got up and walked away, no doubt going to the hospital wing. Marigold groaned, but didn't follow him. Asher and Walt were similar in that they need space when their tempers flare up.

"So, Symon, Asher, have you recruited anyone for your team yet?" Gavin asked the Quidditch captains, making it less awkward. Marigold ate in silence, trying to get some fuel for her body and trying to wake up. She needed a nap.

"You better be recruiting me," Arya spoke up, elbowing Asher lightly in the arm.

"Of course," he chuckled. "Aside from you, I need Chasers."

"Who're you thinking of?" Symon wondered. "Edwin Goddart, I'm assuming."

"Definitely," Ash nodded. "He's a damn good Keeper, so we'll take turns. Theo and Alec are both going for Chaser, too."

"The only 2nd years that impressed me last year were Devan Rainey and Osmond Tanous," Symon chimed in.

"Adele, Marigold, and Roger," Gavin listed.

"And Finn said he's interested in Mick, Jack, Elsa, and Jon," Asher threw in. "And Deirdre probably has a good chance, too, if she tries out."

Arya pushed her eggs around the plate with her fork as everyone chatted about the upcoming tryouts. She hadn't even practiced over the summer. Would she still be as good as she was last year?

"Marigold," she said quietly, leaning over. "You and I should sneak onto the Pitch tonight and practice."

((OOC: the practice thing doesn't have to be a thread))

Deirdre had been up for a few hours trying to get all of her homework done. while ignoring her need for food. She just figured that once she was done she could grab an apple and some cheese from the kitchens. She wasn't very hungry these days, anyway.

The girl finished earlier than expected and decided to meet with her friends in the Great Hall instead. She missed them, after all, and she wanted to see how everyone was faring.

She ran quickly to the Great Hall, grinning brightly when she saw them all. "Oi! Sorry I'm late. I was gettin' my work out of ta way first." The Irish lass sat at the end of the bench and grabbed a few apples and some cheeses to eat.

"I'm not sure I should try out this year, really." She told them. "I haven't been able te practice. Not sure I could keep on the broom, ye know?"

Marigold smiled at the opportunity to practice a little bit. The last time was a bit traumatizing, but it was raining and perhaps she shouldn't have been flying anyway.

"That sounds great Arya," Marigold confirmed. The boys were in a deep conversation about Quidditch.

"Morning," Jacob greeted, sitting next to Symon and getting some food. He got a few greetings from the friendlier people. Marigold looked around the table. The key people were here. But, she knew that people with the most concern and reason weren't. She looked around the Great Hall and saw Elsa and Edwin come walking in.

"Hey!" Marigold said loudly, standing up and waving to them, making some people jump. Edwin and Elsa waved back and came up to the table and sat down. Everyone greeted each other and Marigold sat back down. Before anyone could start another conversation, she cleared her throat. Everyone got sorta quiet and looked at her.

"So, since everyone is here, let's discuss 'the issue'. Templar?" she started. Everyone seemed to get a little tense.

"I mean, we have to consider the pros and the cons," Jacob started.

"Exactly," Symon agreed. Peyton got some paper and quill out and made two columns.

"Well, pro: it has expanded lots of people's combat abilities," Asher threw out there.

"But, con: it's gotten us in major trouble," Elsa countered. They started a debate about Templar in general and possible new locations. Marigold looked around and saw Dierdre. She didn't know. Marigold leaned over to Dierdre.

"Templar is a secret club we started to practice magic and to learn to project ourselves. It's great and we have a good time with it, when people aren't trying to hurt us, like Davy and his crew," Marigold explained to her with a smile

Arya finished the last bit of breakfast on her plate and refilled her goblet with pumpkin juice.

"Aw, Deirdre, you have to play," she pleaded, making her eyes as big and puppy-like as possible.

"Yeah, Finn said last year that you'd make a great addition," Gavin agreed with a smile.

Peyton shifted in his seat. "I could always help you brush up before next month," he offered.

"You don't even play," Asher laughed loudly.

"By choice," Peyton retorted. "Not because I'm not any good."

They all laughed, and then the conversation turned to the Templar. Arya took a sip of juice and listened to everyone's opinions. She rolled her eyes when Elsa spoke. Since when was that Hufflepuff a rule-follower?

"Look, the only con is that Davy discovered us," she interjected. "We can't afford to quit, we have to know how to defend ourselves. Are you forgetting the massive ambush the Ministry attempted at the feast last year? Or Davy trying to actually kill Adele?"

After Arya's input, the table was practically a battlefield. It seemed that the majority of their friends were for continuing, but a few still thought the best thing to do was end it.

"For all we know, the Ministry has spies in the Templar," Edwin said. "Unless we got our hands on a gallon of Veritaserum, there's no way we'd ever discover them."

"But there are ways of weaseling them out," Asher huffed. "I mean, we could think of something."

"Aye, we could trick 'em," Seamus nodded. "Give some bogus information an' see who goes te Davy."

Argument after argument ensued, but Adele stayed quiet. There had to be a solution that appeased everyone, right?

"I've got it," she announced, and waited for everyone to listen. She leaned in. "What if we changed the location of each meeting?"

"That still wouldn't help with spies," Ed sighed.

"Just hear me out," she rolled her eyes impatiently. "First of all, we already know who the spies were. They joined Davy's side in the Templar fight. Of course, they were all Slytherins. What we'll do is spread word only to the loyal members. And we'll call it something else on the notices...."

"Herbology Club," Symon suggested. "Not a single bloody person in this school would ever want to join a Herbology club, so it'd be just us. Davy's too much of a dunce to suspect."

Marigold was trying to keep people civil and made sure tempers didn't start to rise. Then, Adele and Symon chimed in with the fake club name. Marigold smiled and watched as Peyton wrote all this down. We need to promote him to a secretary on the executive board. Actually, we should maybe get an executive board. A Parliment, Marigold thought to herself.

"Okay, so, we're getting somewhere. A fake herbology club. Are we all in agreement?" Marigold held to a vote. The table seemed to get uncomfortable and Marigold knew that some people were maybe still a bit concerned.

"Alright. Everyone close your eyes," Marigold told them. Everyone did as they were told. When did I get in this position?she thought.

"Everyone who has no problems with the fake herbology club, raise your hand," she instructed. 7 out of the 12 people raised their hand. And, count yourself, she reminded herself. So, it was 8 out of 13 with no problems. That meant that 5 people did have a problem.

"Alright. All of you put your hand down and open your eyes. The score is 8 with no problems and 5 with problems. I would like to hear what problems could arise," Marigold offered. Everyone was silent. She glanced over at Jacob.

"I'm interested too," he offered, so people can come forward.

"I mean, secrets are hard to keep in Hogwarts. The walls practically have ears. We have ghosts that love to gossip. One way or another, this secret is going to get out. This secret is going to be hard to keep. Someone could be listening to us right now. Someone might stumble on our new place. How are we going to be able to do this?" Elsa brought forward. The four that had problems nodded and other people nodded as she made sense.

"Those are good points and you're right. We will have to be very, very, cautious. So, I'm putting this on the floor. Can anyone come up with some solutions?" Marigold threw out there. She  somehow became the moderator. And, she liked the role.

As the arguments grew louder, the group was starting to raise suspicion from several other tables around them. It's a good thing Renoir or Ellington aren't here, Arya thought. She rolled her eyes and stood up.

"EVERYONE SHUT IT!" she shouted. The table immediately went silent, and her friends all stared at her, wide-eyed. She turned to the rest of the hall. "Alright, you can go back to your food now, nothing left to see here!"

That seemed to work, so she sat back down.  

"Did you...have a solution?" Gavin asked cautiously.

"The solution is right in front of us," she snapped, pointing to Peyton, who gulped. "Give me those notes."

He slid them over to her. Arry skimmed over the parchment, reading under her breath.

"See? It's already been said, we just have to stop and piece it together," she huffed. "Honestly, you all are the most hot-headed people I've ever met."

Everyone exchanged looks - this was coming from the girl who just screamed at the top of her lungs? Arya cleared her throat and handed the paper back to Peyton.

"Here's what's gonna happen," she began. "We will change the location of the meeting every month. We'll put a notice in the common rooms under the name Herbology Club and give the month's location there. No one will suspect a thing, and amongst ourselves we still call it the Templar. Got it?"

"Aye...but should we still flush out potential spies?" Seamus asked.

"Alright, I'll get some practice in before tryouts." She promised Arya. Deirdre smiled gratefully at Peyton's offer to help. "That'd be lovely, thank ye."

Deirdre listened to their conversation though she was still confused. So much had happened since she fell ill and wound up stuck in the infirmary. She wished she'd been able to have them visit to tell her everything. Then she wouldn't feel so out of place.

Arya's shouting made her jump just a bit. It hadn't crossed her mind that they all had been so loud. Why did they even need a dueling club like this? And who was this Davy?

"I'm sorry if this comes across as thick," She began, "but what exactly happened this last year te cause all of this?"

Marigold sighed as Arya yelled. That wasn't her intention of the discussion, but it worked. Marigold looked at Dierdre.

"Well, there was Marigold's incident with Victoria. We decided that everyone should learn to protect themselves. So, we formed Templar. Long story short, there's the Ministry of Mischief, which Davy runs, and it was their personal mission to disrupt our club," Gavin told Deirdre, while Edwin and Elsa were talking quietly.

"They almost killed Adele," Symon added onto Gavin's explanation. Edwin and Elsa seemed to remember that and stopped talking.

"Alright. We're all on the same page. As for spies.....we'll have to be careful," Marigold confirmed.

"We can't let them continue with us. They'll tell Davy everything. Those Slytherins..." Elsa started.

"What about Slytherins?" Jacob snapped at her.

"Jacob," Marigold stopped him before he could go any further. The tension was in the air.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," Elsa told him. Jacob nodded, accepting her apology.

"So, what's our plan for spies?" Peyton asked. Marigold had an idea.

"We form a committee of loyalists. They can question new and current members, making sure that their intentions are pure. Unfortunately, we'll have to use this or a spell, to make sure they're not lying," Marigold said, reaching into her back and taking out a small vial of Truth Serum, or Veritaserum. The table went quiet.

"Where did you get this?" Symon said, a little impressed, taking the vial and looking at in fascination.

"I.....ummmm....well.....it slipped into my bag," Marigold lied. Many people groaned as they picked up on it immediately. Marigold was a terrible liar.

"You took it from Robert?" Asher asked her. Marigold nodded and shrugged.

"I wasn't going to use it. I just wanted it for my potion box and he wouldn't let me try to make it and he had a whole pouch of these vials so.....yeah," Marigold explained. A few people seemed disappointed that she would be devious like that, but she gained a high five from Jacob and Gavin, both of who seemed to approve.

"Well, this should take care of the spies. Just one drop would do the trick," Symon hypothesized. Marigold smiled.

"But, is that invading people's privacy?" Elsa asked. Marigold looked at all thirteen of the people at the table. A few did look concerned about that.

Adelaine was glad they'd finally gotten everyone on board. However, there was still a risk. As the group debated using Veritaserum, she cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Guys, listen," she said, exhaling. "There will always be a possibility that Davy will recruit new spies. We can't interrogate our members, our friends, every day. You realize that's what we'd have to do? One chat won't guarantee someone's future loyalty."

She paused to let that sink in. Seamus was the first to speak.

"Aye, she's right," he nodded. "Ev'ry single day is a new opportunity fer Davy te bring someone over te his side."

"We can't let it stop us," Asher agreed. "We have to be ready."

"But what if there's another ambush like last time?" Ed reminded them, shaking his head.

"Then at least we'll be skilled enough to fight back," Elsa said firmly, to everyone's surprise.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement. Adele looked to Marigold for her opinion.

Marigold had slipped the potion back into her bag, once they decided that it was off the table. She smiled, seeing everyone get along.

"Alright. It's settled. Templar will continue. Let's get an executive board and a few committees up and running," she concluded, Peyton handing her some pieces of parchment. Everyone seemed to smile and went back to eating and discussing. Marigold wrote down the list of potential executive board members along with positions. She got input from the founders on who should go where. Then, she formed a few committees, each of which would be ran by the exexcutive board member who claimed it.

"If any of you are interested in the Membership Committee, go ahead and sign up. You'll be in charge of spreading the word of meetings and getting new members," she said, passing Elsa the piece of paper.

"Who's in charge?" Elsa asked.

"Vice President of Membership. We'll vote on it at the first meeting, when we have more people. The committees will be there too, so more people can sign up," Marigold told her. Elsa nodded and Marigold went on to form two more committees.

"Anyone intrested in the Secruity Committee or the Relations Committee?" Marigold told the table. A few took the paper and wrote their names down. Secruity was in charge of...well, secruity. Making sure that everyone was safe and that the club was still a secret. Relations was about keeping everyone happy and making sure that tensions don't run too high. Also, Relations was in charge of any rumors that might arise about spies. Marigold looked around the Great Hall, looking for any familar Slytherins. A few Slytherins on the committee would be good; they're cunning and easy to overlook. Plus, they could spy on Davy if there was a threat.

"Hey. Eat," Asher told her, pointing at her plate. Marigold was writing and talking so much that she hadn't even touched her food. She took a deep breath and put the quill and parchment down, taking a moment to eat. Asher smiled and Marigold smiled back. Everyone was having conversations, about classes, about Quidditch, about everything. Marigold smiled. She couldn't have a better set of friends.

“So we’ll set up a meeting before the next Templar,” Arry stated, making sure everyone was clear on the plan. “And we’ll explain the new rules there.”

Everyone nodded, and finally the tense discussion was over. She could eat her bacon in peace!

“So, Quidditch tryouts,” Ash brought up again.

“So bloody excited,” Edwin grinned, grabbing the bread basket.

With that topic on the table once again, everyone was in better spirits. Arya looked around the hall and noticed Davy sitting with his friends at the Slytherin table, eating. He's usually got an evil, psychotic grin, she thought, noticing the sour look on his face. She wondered if the guy had a soul or a heart, if he could ever possibly be talked out of the war he was creating. Doubt it.