Great Hall

[Draco Malfoy]

Vast chamber with an enchanted ceiling that mirrors the sky outside. Four long tables for the four houses. Closest to the doors from the Entrance Hall is Slytherin, then Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and next to the far wall, Gryffindor (this order may possibly be reversed, depending on how you orient the room to the entrance hall). The teachers sit at the High Table, a table on a raised platform at the front of the room.

A door behind the staff table allows a person to enter the Great Hall from outside without going through the main entrance (Hagrid enters this way to the welcoming feast in GF12); it isn't clear if this is the same door as the one leading into the antechamber.

There are windows into this room from the lawn outside (CS5).

[Theo Nott]

Thoe took a seat at his house table and began to gather some food for a light but delicious meal.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna stalked into the Great Hall. Her red curls a mess of tangles. She'd had the worst night's sleep and she felt like everyone was watching her. She clutched at the strap of her bag, keeping the satchel close to her as she made a beeline for the Ravenclaw table. Maybe food would calm her nerves. There was a frown on her face as she mentally scolded herself, telling herself that she couldn't be jumpy of the Death Eaters would know something was up.

She dropped into her seat and covered her face with her hands for a minute, just taking a long breath and releasing. Her hand reached out, serving herself some porridge. Picking up a shaker, Leanna tipped it over, watching cinnamon pour out into a large heap on her breakfast.

[Theo Nott]

Theo looked up when someone new entered the hall. He smirked at her haggard appearance. He watcher her for several moments and his amusement grew as he watched her. All of her actions were showing she was annoyed at something, or at least that is what he presumed. "Rough night?" he asked.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna jumped, the top popping off the shaker and dumped the entire load of cinnamon over her porridge. She stopped, taking a breath and putting the shaker back on the table. "Yes." she answered, not even looking at who was asking the question. Her spoon dipped into her meal and she stirred it, mixing in the cinnamon as best she could.

[Theo Nott]

Theo chuckled at the fact he made her jump. "You seem a bit twitchy today as well." he commented. "Is something wrong?"

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna turned, holding her bowl close so she could eat without worrying about spilling anything on herself. "There are Death Eaters all over the school. Aren't you a little jumpy?" she asked. She paused, pointing at him with her spoon. "Oh no, of course not. Little snake." The words lacked any venom but she still scowled at him. She dropped the spoon back into her over cinnamoned porridge and kept eating, making sure only to take small bites so she wouldn't drop food down her front. "How bad is my hair this morning?" she grumbled.

[Draco Malfoy]

"Horrible," Draco remarked lightly coming up behind her, he rose a brow at her and shrugged before taking a seat next to Theo and pouring himself a glass of juice.

To be honest he didn't look great himself, he was a bit more pale than usual (though in his defense considering how haggard he looked by the end of term last year it was still an improvement). His hair was combed though, perfectly and his robes pressed and made of the finest material. The blond looked at the breakfast spread, not really having much of an apetite and partially wondering what the hell he was doing here.

Oh yeah, big no-nosed dark lord currently camping at his place... this was probably the safer bet after all..

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna gave Draco a dirty look. "I wasn't asking you." she muttered to her porridge. There was far too much cinnamon in it, but she couldn't take it out now. Putting the bowl back on the table, the Ravenclaw combed her fingers through her hair, trying to get some of the bigger tangles out. "You look like crap." she said, glancing at him through the curtain of red curls. She let her leg shift so she was straddling the bench, looking over at the two Slytherins.

She pushed her hair back over her shoulder and found a hairband in her pocket. The mess of red was pulled up into a messy bun that didn't look half bad considering how knotty it was.

[Draco Malfoy]

"I look glorious every day of my life," the blond boy corrected automatically as he took a sip of his drink. Noting her posture he rolled his eyes "And even if you weren't asking, you left the question open I provided an answer. The correct response is 'You're welcome'."

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna lifted an eyebrow, pouring herself some tea. "Wouldn't the response be 'thank you'. If I am asking a question and you supply the answer, my response wouldn't be 'you're welcome'." She rested her elbow on the table, propping her head up on her hand. She sipped at the tea, a light smile playing around the corner of her lips. She yawned, turning her head to muffle the noise against shoulder. Her eyes flicked up to the Head Table, taking in the empty seats there before shifting away. Wondering where the monsters were would only bring them near. Her teeth caught her bottom lip, biting down hard.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco finally looked over from his drink, looked at the girl and blinked before having to admit grudgingly - "Point taken. *MY* response to you is 'You're welcome'. So... there you go." He noticed her gaze and asked dryly "Looking forward to classes?"

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna glanced back at Draco, taking another sip of her tea. "Oh yeah, I'm ecstatic." she said dryly. "Can't wait to have some Unforgivables thrown my way so I can curl up on the floor and cry." She closed her eyes, rubbing them a little. "Maybe I'll find a potion that stops the feeling of pain. Means I'll just have to become a really good actress and scream prettily for the monsters."

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco looked at the girl for a long moment before raising a brow and saying dryly "You *do* know you're sitting right next to the Slytherin table right? Though I doubt you'd be able to find a pain potion to withstand unforgivables if you're looking to give it a try I suggest being more discrete about it..."

Hell, half the people at the table were children of Death Eathers, him included. It seems Gryffindors weren't the only ones with no tact or sense of self preservation.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna snorted. "Like you said, there's likely nothing that will withstand them. Wishful thinking. Tried it lately?" Her tea found its way back to her mouth and she drank down the remaining half of the hot liquid. She felt it sliding down her throat, still a touch too hot to be comfortable. She tucked one leg up onto the bench and poured herself another tea. "How does it feel to have a conversation with someone without them calling you a monster?" she asked lightly, sipping the dark liquid. Using one hand, Leanna opened her bag and pulled out a journal, dropping it up onto the table and searching for ink and a quill.

[Draco Malfoy]

"Why?" Draco asked looking over at her "After all what's the point? Reality is reality, no getting around it."

The blonds gaze flicked over her face before he smirked "Like a majority of my other conversations. I'm guessing most declarations of me being a monster happen behind my back..."

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna tilted her head, then shrugged. "Touche." she said. "I'd call you a monster to your face, but I really don't care." She blew on her tea, wanting it to cool before she sculled it so she could head off to get her books for class. "I really just want to get through this year alive. That would be nice." she said to her tea. "With all fingers and toes attached. Could you do that for me? Great. Thanks." She rolled her eyes at herself and sipped the hot liquid, wincing as it burnt her tongue. The cup was placed back on the table and she lifted her arms above her head, leaning backward a little to stretch.

A happy sigh left her lips and she relaxed, leaning against the table and stirring her tea slowly. She could be invisible. It wasn't that hard. Everyone could be invisible if they didn't try to hard. Her hand went from her tea to pick up the cinnamon porridge and eat some more of the over-spiced oats.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco seemed to regard her in slight... confusion. She seemed... well to be blunt, pretty stupid for a Ravenclaw. He knew good and well that mouth of hers was going to get her into some big trouble. However, just like her mumbling to herself that seemed to be a personal problem.

"And why would you call me a monster at all? Out of pure curiosity," he wasn't sure why he wanted to know, but he did. She was odd, he'd give her that. Her best bet of making it out of here alive was to hide somewhere and not come out- either that or learn to curb her tongue and temper... but, even in their short acquaintance, he didn't see that happening so hiding it was.

[Leanna Barker]

"I said I didn't care." Leanna corrected. "Calling people monsters only make them more so because they feel like they might as well be horrible since everyone thinks they are anyway." She paused, looking up at the ceiling. "Or so my grandmother says. But she's insane so I don't really trust her."

She ate another spoonful, chewing it slowly, looking over at Draco in though. Briefly she wondered how many people actually met his eyes these days. Like everyone else, Leanna had heard the story. That Draco had killed Dumbledore. Maybe not himself but his actions had led to the death of their headmaster. She really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. Six years at Hogwarts hadn't taught her the skill, but she was willing to bet that one class with a Death Eater would leave her a mute for the rest of her life.

[Theo Nott]

Theo listened to the conversation amusement flickering in his eyes. He nodded to Draco when he sat beside him and turned to his breakfast for a moment.

"To answer your question, no i am not jumpy." He said to Leanna.

[Draco Malfoy]

"Ahh... your *grandmother* is insane... noted. I'll be sure not to heed her advice either," he remarked dryly, his gaze flicking to Nott as he replied to the girls earlier question.

[Leanna Barker]

"Lucky you." she said sweetly to Theo. "When you've lived with a crazy old bint your whole life, you kinda catch the crazy." Leanna muttered, scraping out the last of the oats in the bowl and putting the dirty dish down. Porridge and tea, the same meal for breakfast as long as she could remember, even here she couldn't shake the habit. "Don't you have some crazy family members?" she asked Draco.

She found her tea again and sculled it down, this time the liquid was cool enough not to scald her throat on the way down.

[Draco Malfoy]

"When you're rich you're not crazy, you're eccentric," Draco informed her with a subtle smirk.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna shook her head, an amused look on her face. "Eccentric? Really? I don't think so." She poked her finger at Draco. "You, my dear, are from one of the most insane families in the history of wizardkind."

[Draco Malfoy]

"Really? How so?" he asked tilting his head and waiting for her to continue.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna blinked. "You mean you don't think its a little crazy?" she asked. "Your aunt is practically a.. a... fangirl for the Dark Lord." She poured herself her third cup of tea and added two spoonfuls of sugar, stirring well. "And your fa... Okay, I'm not getting into this. I shall practise shutting my mouth." The Ravenclaw made a zipping motion over her mouth and sipped at her tea, looking over at Draco.

[Draco Malfoy]

The blond turned in is seat now facing her, the joking falling from his face as he took her in, his tone dangerously soft "My Father is what?"

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna's body became still, the tea cup held against her lips. She watched Draco closely, not wanting to be surprised if he decided that cursing her was a good idea. "It slipped out." she said softly. "I didn't mean..." she stopped and put her cup down so that she wouldn't spill hot tea over herself. "I'm sorry." the soft words were genuine, her green eyes lifting to meet his, almost certain that she was going to regret that syllable slipping from her lips.

[Draco Malfoy]

His gaze held hers, while he noticed that she did actually seem sorry that didn't change the fact that his Father was a *very* sore subject for him. Very. "Whatever. It's been fun," the comment was mocking and the tone implied it was anything but. That's what he got for playing nice. Grabbing a muffin the Slytheirn boy got up from the table and headed out of the Great Hall. He was going to get some air.

[Leanna Barker]

Leanna watched him go, narrowing her eyes a little. She turned back to her table and snatched up her cup of tea and drinking it down. Once the liquid was gone she rubbed her face, mentally kicking herself. "One day you are going to lose limbs if you don't shut your mouth." she hissed at herself. She picked up her journal, which she had been meaning to write in and slipped it back into her satchel. "Theo... How badly did I mess up?" she asked, turning to look at Draco's fellow Slytherin.