Different kind of anger management ((Anyone))

[dana]

Dana was angry. Extremely angry. Dana was hard to get angry, as she had amazing self-control and was rather patient, but when someone managed to rub her the wrong way, then she was also known for a quick wand and some rather nasty jinxes.
Maybe that was why people let her pass without a word today, as she rushed down the hallways with a scowl on her face – a rare thing to be seen on Dana’s face.
Dana turned sharply and after a couple of more turns as Dana moved staraight towards her goal, the hallway was empty. Dana scowled at the painting in front of which she had stopped, before tickling the pear until it turned into a door-handle and Dana stepped into the kitchens.

Finally managing to send the house-elves that had gathered around her immediately as she entered, away Dana still had at least 10 minutes more to convince the creatures that she did actually wanted to cook herself. Dana hated cooking. But having spent a lot of her child-hood next to professional cook, who worked for her grand-parents, Dana was rather good at it. She just always cooked when she was angry. It was almost like anger-management for her.
Mixing the batter of cookies quickly Dana felt her mood slowly improving. Turning on some music with a wave of her wand, Dana stepped out of her heeled shoes and humming quietly along with the music, absent-mindedly brushed over his face with her hand, getting some flour on her cheek and nose without even realizing it.

Dana grinned wondering how intriguing it might have looked to anyone – a girl in the kitchens without shoes, wearing a short black skirt and a tight lilac sweater that fitted Dana very well. To add the jewels she was wearing and the rather sloppy pony-tail Dana had pulled her hair into – it might look rather curious, but Dana felt comfortable so she didn’t really care either. Humming softly Dana started to prepare the chocolate-pieces – cookies with chocolate in them seemed to be her specialty. But she would probably spend quite some time here today.
Pushing the first patch of cookies into the oven, Dana started preparing the next, calculating in her head that she had batter for about 7 or 8 patches. Wondering who would be eating all of it, Dana just continued shaping the cookies quietly enjoying the calmness in the kitchen-corner she had occupied, as the house-elves had retreated form this part.

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

((If you don't want me entering just let me know and I'll delete the post))

Caiest peeked out of the empty classroom. 'Good no one's coming.' She thought and grabbing her bag she quickly left the room to wander down the hallway. She had been in the empty classroom practicing sparring something that had become a sort of daily ritual with her. 1.Go to class, 2.skip class, 3.do some homework, 4.eat, 5.practice, 6.sleep. As she was walking along she heard some music it was faint but it was there all the same.

Caiests curiosity got the better of her turning around she followed the sound of the music. She was walking for about ten minutes before she finally arrived at the place where it was coming from. It was coming from behind a painting which she knew to be the entrance to the Kitchens. Tickling the pear she went in to investigate.

Looking in the kitchen she noticed Dana. She seemed to be cooking which was very odd to her as it was normally the house elves who did the cooking. Very quietly she set her bag down and leaned against the wall. "That's an odd sight. A magical person actually cooking. I never thought I'd see the day." She said with a teasing smile.

[dana]

Dana was mixing the batter once again, feeling it relaxing. SOemthign about the monotonous rhythm of fixing the batter and shaping the cookies was some-what calming and distressing. But Dana still found the fact that she actually hated cooking rather ironical. Maybe hate was a bit too strong of a word. But Dana really disliked cooking.

Hearing a voice speaking to her suddenly, Dana whipped her head around. Seeing Caiest Dana smiled calmly at the younger girl: ”What can I say? My grand-parents mansion still is in the muggle world so we have human maids. And I grew up around a professional chef working for us. I have picked up a little of her skills.”<br>Dana raised the spoon she had been using to mix the batter and stated, mimicking their cook: “Cooking is a form of art. It requires grace and passion to cook. Cooking can be even sensual if done the correct way!” Dana shrugged and lowered the wooden spoon again with a sly wink: “Then again Anna - she is our cook – has 8 framed pics of men framed on the kitchen walls with the guys in different state of undress. Nothing R-rated though.”<br>
Dana shrugged and glanced at the oven as it peeped once. Using her wand to pull out the first patch of cookies Dana smiled at the smell that reached her nose, as she sent the second patch in: “But I only cook when I need to distress. For some reason it works for me, even though I really dislike the activity.”<br>Dana shrugged and picked up a cookie while nodding to Caiest to try and one should she want: “The house-elves brought some butter-beer before so help yourself to everything. Came to grab a bite to eat yourself?”<br>

((Nah, why should I mind? It is open for anyone, so if someone else still wnats to join, then that's they're choice. ;D Glad someone joined))

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

Caiest relaxed a bit more as Dana didn't get upset at her comment like most people would. Setting her bag down she walked further into the kitchen and sat down on a nearby table listening to Dana tell about her cook Anna. She couldn't help but laugh when Dana started mimicking the cook. "The place I live is actually in the magical world but we have actual people cook for us as well as house elves. I remember one cook named Frabecio used to make me homemade chocolate chip cookies as well whenever I was in a bad mood. I actually like to cook but I usually don't get a chance. Glad to see someone else in this school doesn't have to rely on everyone else to do something as simple as cooking." she said hopping off the table and grabbing a cookie that Dana had baked.

"These are really good." She said after she finished the first cookie and grabbed another one. "As for me I was actually going to head back to the dorm only I heard the music. It's a good thing I came to investigate I haven't eaten much at all today." She said hopping back up on the table

[dana]

“I can cook but I dislike it,” Dana shrugged carelessly and nodded around the kitchen corner they were at, “Don’t let me bother you if you want to cook. I’ve already spooked away the house-elves so you get free reign here. I’m usually dying for something not sweet when I’m hungry. I need food and I need it a lot in a day. I can practically feel how my stomach skin is drying against my back-bone because of hunger when 10 hours passes between my meals. Luckily I can eat as much as a I want without it showing.”<br>Dana grimaced towards Caiest jokingly and heaved herself to sit on a counter there, while uncorcking a butter-beer bottle: “that Fraberico sounds nice though. I thought most pure-blooded families use house-elves when they live in the magical world though.”<br>
Dana picked up a cookie as well, having just shrugged off Caiest’s compliment as she suddenly got a question: “Hey, this may sound stupid, but I don’t have much experience with golems. Does Sennie need to eat or not?”<br>

[Nasser Salah G6]

Chocolate. Anything with chocolate in it, cake, cookies, anything. That ought to cheer him up. He didn’t care if it was stupid, miserable and full was better than miserable and hungry… even though he didn’t know whether he was hungry or not. He had never turned to food for comfort before, but he couldn't exactly see so many other options at the minute. And the food at Hogwarts was really delicious, so maybe it would make him feel better. He certainly wasn't going to turn to a person for comfort. The two people he thought he was closest to both seemed to be happy the way things were at the moment; neither of them seemed to mind how little time all three of them had been spending together for the past… month? Or was it longer? He couldn’t even remember the last time they were all together just talking and laughing, enjoying the company of each other.

Nasser didn’t know if he should be angry at them or at himself. Why should he care about them so much when they seemed not to care about him at all? Perseus was hanging out with the Slytherins he had always hated and he hadn't even provided Nasser with an explanation why things had changed between them. And if Perseus didn’t care, what about Sethia? Wasn't she a Hufflepuff? What happened to that loyalty all her house was known for? What had happened to his friends? Did Nasser's friendship mean so little to them? Sethia was always with that Payton Moore guy she had met at the ball, and now Nasser hardly ever got a chance to have even a short conversation with her. Well, if she was happy this way he was happy for her. No he wasn't. He was her friend; they had shared all their secrets with each other, supported each other when all the pureblood fanatics at the school had tried to insult and hurt them. Didn’t she remember all the good times they had had?

Nasser wrapped his robes more tightly around him and rubbed his arms to warm them. It wasn't that cold but he could he feel a hollow feeling in his stomach and his hands were freezing. The passage leading to the kitchen was completely empty. That was what he wanted; he didn’t want to see anyone right now. He was going to gorge himself and then go to the dorms and try and fall asleep immediately, he didn't want to think about anything anymore, it only made him feel more depressed.

The kitchen was unusually quiet. Where were all the elves? They were usually swarming all over the place going about their duties. Great. He should have guessed he would have bad luck with even this. He heard the sound of music coming from somewhere at the back of the kitchens, funny he would never have imagined that the elves listened to music while they were working. He followed the sound but there was still no trace of the elves. There were two girls though in the middle of a conversation, he would just have to ask them. He didn’t know them and he doubted they would know him, Nasser was a quiet person and the only people who knew him well other than his friends were the Gryffindor Quidditch team players and some people from his year though they weren't close friends, just people he liked to chat with occasionally. Nasser walked up to the two and recognised the face of the one who was in his year but in Ravenclaw. "I'm sorry to interrupt you conversation, but have any of you seen the house-elves?" he asked, wondering what they were doing the kitchens for a minute and thinking maybe he should just grab some food and try to find somewhere else to eat. One of them was nibbling on a cookie, maybe she knew where he could get some for himself.

((Will delete if asked to. )

[dana]

“The house-elves. I think they are angry at me, so they have retreated to somewhere,” Dana told with a quick smile appearing on her face, as a boy approached them and asked about the house-elves, who were usually always bustling around everyone who entered, “It only took almost half an hour of convincing that I really want to cook for myself today. But they still looked rather displeased even though they let me stay.”<br>Dana looked around herself and shrugged: “As you came here, then I guess you are looking for food, but I have no idea where the house-elves keep already prepared food, as there isn’t no refrigerator around. So if you want something you have to prepare it yourself.”<br>Dana looked at the patch of cookies already ready and smiled suddenly with a mischievous twinkle appearing in her eyes: “We basically only have chocolate chip cookies and butter beer. Rather large amounts of cookies to which you are welcomed to. I hope the squid is hungry today as well.”<br>Dana’s eyes shone cheerily as she looked at the amount of batter she had – doing a quick calculation Dana figured she had enough batter for 6 or 7 patches of cookies and each patch included about 60 or 70 cookies, making the last number of cookies go around 400. The great squid had hopefully been on a diet as Dana hated wasting food. But she couldn’t’ think of anything else to do with the cookies either.

Taking a closed bottle of butter-beer from beside her Dana tossed it over to the boy who had entered. Was it just Dana, or did he seem a bit down? Whatever the reason for that might have been, heading here to the kitchen had certainly been a right decision. Chocolate always helped. There was a reason why it was used as a cure against the impact dementors caused on people. The thought of dementors made a chill go down Dana’s back. She had only been a second year when the dementors had been a the school and the foul creatures hadn’t had as strong of an effect on her as they had had on Potter, but they still creeped Dana to no ends.
“But you are welcomed to join us or cook if you know how,” Dana adjusting herself to sit a bit more comfortably as she reached over and having already finished her previous cookie took one more. Luckily the cookies weren’t too hot to hold with a bare had before, now they were just very pleasantly warm, “I’m Dana. And this is Caiest. Pleasure to meet you.”<br>
Dana wondered how the boy and Caiest would get on. First impressions did matter a bit and Caiest left the impression of a tough and cold, even a bit distant girl until you get to know her better and get to look behind the hard core she had pulled around herself. Not very many people seemed to have gotten that far though. But then again – it wasn’t Dana’s place to get involved in. So she just tilted her head and smiled at the guy, wondering what his reaction would be.

((Sure you're welcomed here, Nasser. That's why it says 'anyone' in the title))

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser raised his eyebrows when he heard that Dana had managed to scare the elves off somehow. That probably hadn't been easy. "I'm no cook, I can make a few things, but I'm just not in the mood, I think I'll just leave," said Nasser in a defeated voice, cursing his bad luck. He just wanted to go somewhere and be alone, maybe some fresh air would do him good – who was he kidding? Fresh air? Dana was still talking and Nasser listened to what she saying, and his eyes drifted over the enormous amounts of cookies she had just baked. Nasser had always had a weakness for chocolate chip cookies. He as wasn't shy as he had once been and Dana was offering him the cookies in such a kind manner he really couldn’t refuse.

"I really don’t think – well I guess I could have one or two, it's very kind of you, thanks," said Nasser eyeing the cookies hungrily. "Oh, I'm Nasser, from Gryffindor, I've seen you in class, Ravenclaw right? It's a pleasure meeting you too, and you Caiest," he said courteously. Nasser was always polite though it was probably obvious he was feeling depressed about something, he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings. He decided to give in to his hunger and wish to somehow please himself and jumped up on the table with the nearest cookies. His short legs didn’t reach the floor and he crossed one casually over the other and leaned over and picked up his first cookie. He enjoyed the delicious smell of chocolate and bit into it, letting the chocolate melt inside his mouth. In a second he had finished the whole cookie, and he caught deftly the bottle of butter beer Dana had thrown in his direction and drank down three quarters of the bottle in one gulp. He started taking one cookie after the other without really completely realising what he was doing, just letting himself enjoy the delicious warm feeling of the chocolate and butter beer he was filling himself with. He was done with the first batch in a few minutes and licked his fingers clean enjoying the last bits of chocolate still on his hands. "You make some really delicious cookies," said Nasser, putting his hand on his stomach and smiling in satisfaction. There were traces of chocolate around his mouth but he hadn't really noticed and he actually looked quite funny.

He looked up at the two girls wanting to ask for more and then noticed that they weren't eating themselves. Suddenly he burst out laughing. "Oh my, this is so embarrassing. I swear I'm not usually such a pig," said Nasser. He suddenly felt his eyes sting and he wiped at his eyes under his glasses, what was he getting so emotional for? This just wasn't like him… what would the girls think? So he had lost two friends, it happened to everyone. It wasn't the end of the world. He jumped down and started searching for another butter beer bottle; he was going to have some more to drink, and maybe eat if he could somehow do that without the girls noticing.

((OK then. This post just seemed like the perfect chance for me to play depressed!Nasser))

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

Caiest was about to answer Dana's question on if Golems needed to eat when a boy appeared in the kitchens with them. He was a Gryffindor and probably much older then she was. He asked if they knew where the house-elves were and Dana explained all about scaring off the house-elves and offered him some cookies while introducing them to the boy. A part of Caiest was angry at Dana as she didn't really want the boy to know who she was. He seemed very nice and polite but at the same time she didn't enjoy complete strangers knowing who she was. She simply nodded in greeting as he introduced himself as Nasser and a Gryffindor.

She hopped down and went to get another butterbeer as he and Dana talked a bit. When she came back he had eaten an entire batch of cookies. She almost felt sorry for him. He was obviously hurting. He seemed like he was very sad. She Didn't ask about it though for one thing it was his buisness and she had no right to pry. For another as rude as it sounded she sort of didn't care. It was his problem not hers and she wasn't about to go getting into other peoples problems it only led to trouble she knew that from experience. No she had enough troubles of her own so she'd just keep quiet about it.

She took a bite of cookie and that's when she noticed that he had chocolate on his face. "You have chocolate on your face. Just thought you should know." She said taking another bite of cookie.

[dana]

“Nasser,” Dana muttered tilting her head and closed one way why looking at Nasser, “Right. Yes, I remember you as well now. I just a horrifying memory for faces and names until I speak with the person. And yes, I’m a Raven.”<br>Dana watched a bit amusedly as Nasser ate the cookies, but didn’t comment. She was just glad that the cookies were eaten. When he commented on not being a pig usually, Dana burst out laughing: “Don’t worry about it. I’m just thankful the cookies are disappearing. What on earth do you expect me to do with 400 cookies? I know I should have made less, but I was angry when I mixed the batter. SO help yourself to everything you can eat.”<br>
Dana’s eyes narrowed a little when she noticed Nasser wiping his eyes. She hated it when someone was hurt. It was part of Dana’s nature to solve problems – she could be accused of even being bossy sometimes, but Dana just couldn’t help it. She grinned a bit at Nasser’s appearance as Caiest pointed out that he had chocolate over his face, but didn’t comment.
“And I’m still on confused as to why I decided to try out for Quidditch. This year was practically the first year I even sat on a broom,” Dana grimaced and rubbed her face: “I’m insane. You know I’ve never really understood why it’s called insane. Think about it - if you’re sane, then you aren’t crazy, and if you’re insane you’re the same as crazy. But shouldn’t INsane mean that you are inside sanity, thus sane? Therefore, shouldn’t insane really be outsane?”<br>Dana mused out loudly, following a random thought with an easy tone, hoping to amuse the other two. Maybe even cheer the up a bit with such randomness.

Hearing the peeping coming form the oven which signaled that the second patch was ready Dana hopped off the counter and pulled the oven-door open. Taking hold of the pan the cookies were on, Dana burned her hand as she had so conveniently forgotten that the inside of the oven might be hot. Dana yelped loudly and let go of the pan immediately and let out a string of curses in a mixture of French, German and Russian. For some reason Dana always swore in those three languages, as often as Dana did swear out loud. Sucking on one of her burned fingers Dana glared at the oven-door angrily, causing the glass to crack. Dana had really good self-control so it was hard to get her angry. But people quickly learned to stay out of her way, when she actually was angry.
But Dana had incredibly low pain-tolerance so from time to time when she was hurt, things like these still happened around her.

Still glaring at the oven Dana whipped out her wand and casted a spell to send the cookies from an oven into a bowl and a new patch into the oven. Muttering a careless ‘reparo’ as well, Dana got rid of the crack in the class and closed the oven once again. Opening the taps Dana let some cold water cool her burned fingers as she reached over and grabbed one of the cookies with her free hand.
“Hot!” Dana yelped again throwing the cookie in her hand, before grimacing at Caiest and Nasser, while grumbling, “I hate it when that happens. I wonder how muggles can stand cooking like this absolutely EVERY day.”<br>Grimacing Dana noticed that nNasser seemed to have finished his butter-beer already, so she tossed her one more bottle, while showing where the bottles were placed.

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

Caiest allowed herself to space out as Dana began talking about quidditch. She seemed to be talking more to break the silence then anything so she wasn't really paying attention. Instead she focused on Nasser. He really seemed to be hurting. Why else would someone gorge themselves on cookies and butterbeer seemingly without meaning to. No that was something she herself had done when she was depressed a few years back. Maybe someone in his family had died. No that couldn't be it if someone in his family had died he'd be at their funeral wouldn't he? Maybe his pet had died or someone equally as close. She was growing tired of wondering. 'Just ask him' She told herself.

Dana cursing in three different languages pulled her out of her thoughts and she was almost thankful for it for she realized she'd been staring. Looking away quickly she turned her attention to Dana. Dana had apparently burned herself on the oven and then turned hot water on it. When she asked how Muggles could stand cooking like that every day she laughed. "Well normally muggles have a wonderful little invention called an oven mitt and that's what stops them from burning themselves...and was that Russian I heard?" She said still chuckling.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser didn’t notice Caiest’s lukewarm nod at him in the middle of his search for the butter beer. “Oh, um, thank you,” said Nasser and immediately started opening drawers searching in vain for a towel or tissue. He saw a roll next to Caiest and summoned it to him and pulled a tissue feeling himself redden as he wiped his mouth. This was stupid - he should just leave. But no - he wasn’t leaving before he had eaten to his heart’s content. He deserved some happiness and he really should stop caring what other people thought about him. He should look for his own happiness; he hadn’t done anything to deserve this. He listened to Dana and Caiest’s conversation though concentrating more on whether he should start on the next batch of cookies or not. He heard Dana say she had been angry and wondered what that had to do with the amount of cooking she had done but didn’t ask. Even though Dana seemed really sociable and a little less reserved than Caiest he wasn’t in the mood for a conversation. He just wanted to eat – that was the solution to his problem the way he saw it.

Their chatter though started to sound a little interesting. Dana was saying something about the word insane - that it should really be outsane. Nasser couldn’t help chuckling at that, in a way it was silly but in another her argument was logical. There were a lot of strange things in the English language, but he supposed that was true of any language. Speaking of languages, Dana had suddenly let out a stream of fluent – was that Russian? Nasser didn’t understand any Russian except for the word that sounded like “Kharacho” when written in the English alphabet, which according to his knowledge meant OK. In the muggle world he was taught the piano by a Russian teacher and that was why he recognised the language though he hadn’t understood any of it. He had heard his teacher converse with her colleagues before and that was why he had. Judging from the situation though it was probably better that he hadn’t understood what Dana had been saying. Nasser didn’t say much to the other two but seated himself next to the second batch of cookies and started nibbling on his first one. This time he was going to eat them a little more slowly… they tasted incredible. This batch was even better than the one before it. And the butter beer had left him with such a warm feeling in his stomach. Nasser shifted in his seat till he was completely comfortable. He leaned his head against the wall and listened but didn’t say anything. He didn’t know if the girls would like that and also he just didn’t feel like talking. It was so warm and comfortable here. He was eating at a much slower rate now. He wasn’t thinking of anything, just trying to lose himself in the relaxing warm feeling he felt inside his stomach that was slowly spreading to the rest of his body. He was feeling slightly drowsy, though his eyes were wide open.

[dana]

Dana grimaced towards Caiest curiously: "Alright, dumb question heading your way. I know some about muggles but just enough to manage on a street or in a restaurant or at a book-store. And enough to pass my driving-lessons. But what on earth is that oven mitt? It's warm enough in the oven - why should I put on mittens on top of it? AS for the language, yes, it was Russian. I've picked up quite a few languages over the years - from books I really wanted to read in an original language and during traveling with my grand-parents as well. Russina is one of those. Russia has some pretty nice places in Moscow. Then again - some alleyways were worse than Knockturn Alley."
Dana had visited the Alley with such a bad reputation. Her grand-mother had accompanied her and her cousin, since she guessed rather correctly that otherwise the two youngsters would go and start discovering it for themselves. Which would have been a lot worse.

Dana kept up an easy conversation, but was pretty much left alone to do it. Rolling her eyes at her two companions Dana fell silent and took them both in. Caiest - well, Caiest was always hard to read, but she seemed to be alright. Nasser however did look depressed. And that was something Dana didn't like. In her opinion life only came once so everybody should enjoy it and take the most out of each day.
"Nasser?" Dana asked, but the boy didn't seem to notice being deep in thought. Or whatever he was doing. Sending an almost amused glance towards Caiest Dana stepped further and waved her hand in front of Nasser's eyes: "Earth to Nasser? You ok in there? Wouldn't want you to pass out on us. I don't do C.P.R. nor mouth-to-mouth breathing to people I don't really know, even though you still have chocolate on your left mouth-corner. And I doubt that Caiest does it either. Besides we wouldn't know where to dump you as we obviously can't get to your common room. McGonagall's office perhaps? Or the Hospital Wing?"

Dana took a step back and leaned on a counter again letting the smile on her face fade a little: "You know, my grandma would kill me for being too curious and stepping out of the limits of politeness. But I'm going to do it anyway. What got you moping? Pardon the choice of words. Naturally you don't have to tell, but is there anything we - well, me, as I can't speak for Caiest. Is there anything I can do to help?" Dana asked with a softer tone, hoping she hadn't offended the guy. Dana was outspoken person and was even accused of being a bossy from time to time. But solving problems was just her nature and most of the time Dana couldn't help it. She just smiled, to show that she wouldn't be angry if Nasser told her to "bug off" and leaned her head back while closing her eyes, enjoying her butter-beer and waiting for someone else to react. She really liked the kitchens here at Hogwarts. Somehow they were so warm, comfortable and inviting. Event thought that might be because Dana usually visited the kitchens when she was hungry, so that might be her empty stomach deciding on that fact.

((It took me a while to understand what "Kharachoi" meant. ;D Didn't get it until read the word out loud. In russain alphabet it's "xopoØo" ))

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser's eyelids were drooping. He turned his head away from the others and pulled up his scarf a little. Dana and Caiest's conversation had become no more than just a low whisper in the background. He was very comfortable and warm. He had curled up his short legs to his chest and the drowsiness was increasing very quickly. Nasser had never been one to stay up late and the last few days he had had so much work to do he had been staying up late for several nights to get it done, not to mention his Quidditch practice and prefect duties which took up a lot of his time and left him exhausted. Lately he hadn’t been sleeping properly because of the problems he was having with his friends, but right now he was so happy and content, he didn’t want anything in the world but just to close his eyes and enjoy the bliss. Finally, he wasn't sad or worried or anything he was slipping into…<br>
Nasser's head snapped up and the spell was broken as a hand was waved in front of his face and a loud voice filled his ears. Suddenly he realised where and what he was doing and he lowered his legs and rubbed the seep out of his eyes. What had he been thinking of falling asleep in the middle of the kitchen in front of two people he hadn’t said except two sentences to? "What?" he ejaculated in surprise and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He listened to what Dana was saying, apparently she and Caiest had though he was having a fit or something. Great. But at least Dana was joking around about it and not talking to him like he was a weird person which she had all the right to think he was judging by his behaviour. He smiled in embarrassment at her joke and picked up the tissue and wiped his mouth again. What was he, a baby? Couldn’t he eat without making a mess? All the sorrow and pain came back in a second and Nasser felt the beginnings of a headache.

"Don't worry, there's still some life in the old dog, and you won’t have to do anything so drastic," said Nasser. Dana wanted to know what was bugging Nasser and if she could help and Nasser was thinking whether he wanted to tell her or he was just mad that she stopped him for enjoying the few moments of happiness he had experienced a moment ago. "I – you – just a minute," said Nasser, scratching his right eyebrow, a thing he did when he was thinking about something and not too sure where to start. To stall for time he picked up another cookie and took a bite out of it and then began to talk. He didn’t know Dana, and he didn't care that it wasn't like him to tell someone he didn’t know about how he was feeling - but then he had never been through anything like this before. Nasser didn’t trust people easily, and so it had taken him a long time to form such a strong friendship with both of them. He had never thought his friendship with Perseus or Sethia might end on these terms. He still couldn’t believe this had really happened between them. He wasn't angry at her, he was angry at… them. Not himself. He'd done nothing wrong. "Well, I haven't been getting any proper sleep for most of the week, I had so much to do these last few days," he began. He took another bite of his cookie and looked away from Dana. "But that's not why I'm – well – so sad. That's why I came here to eat and drink so much today, I wanted to cheer myself up, I can’t live this way anymore, it's just not me; I've never been such a gloomy person." He looked back and smiled at Dana but his eyes didn’t light up as they usually did when he smiled. "You make the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted so I'll try and tell you a bit more, it's just not so easy for me to talk about this. I've – I thought I had two friends I was so close to it was like we'd always be together forever. We did so many things – enjoyed so many thing – survived so much – I dunno - it's just, things aren’t the same anymore. And I don't why," said Nasser. He drunk the last of the butter beer bottle he was holding and wanted to get another one but waited to see what Dana would say to that.

((Yeah well I didn't know what to about the "Kh" sound or how to spell in Russian. The sound is just one letter in Arabic.))

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

Caiest looked amused as Dana asked what an ovenmitt was. "An ovenmitt is something you put on your hand to keep from burning yourself. It's made out of a special material that heat resistant enough to get the pan out of the oven and onto a surface before you burn yourself like you've just done." She said chuckling. She would've thought that someone who knew enough about muggles to cook their way would've at least known about an oven mitt but she didn't blame Dana. After all there were plenty of things she didn't know about muggle that Dana probably did. Like driving for instance she'd never bothered to learn about that but she bet Dana would know.

Caiest fell silent after a while. She really didn't know what to say or do. With the exception of Dana and a few others socializing wasn't something she did a lot of. This Nasser character was starting to make her uneasy. Not because he seemed like a bad person but solely because she had no clue what to do. She watched mutley as Dana began trying to engage him in a conversation. He must have been out of it as she mentioned neither of them knowing CPR or mouth to mouth. That wasn't entirely true as Caiest did indeed know both but she probably wouldn't need to use it. As if on cue Nasser woke up.

Dana asked what had been on Caiests mind all night what was bugging Nasser. Surprisingly he began to tell them. He said something about his friends deserting him and how he thought they'd be friends forever. Sadly Caiest couldn't relate. She'd never had friends so they'd never deserted her. If that's what friends would do then she didn't want any. "Obviously they weren't very good friends to begin with if they'd desert you like that." She said setting down the butter beer bottle she'd been holding. It probably sounded rude as hell but it was the truth and Caiest wasn't about to go consoling him if she didn't believe it to be true.

[dana]

Dana didn’t open her eyes. She was surprised Nasser even decided to tell them all of it. It must have hurt and hurt deeply. Loosing friends was never easy and especially not so, if they were good friends.
Dana listened to Caiest’s comment as calmly and quietly as she had listened to Nasser’s speech. The words might be sounding even a bit rude, but that was Caiest. You got what you saw – no false illusions, no false compassion. That was part of what Dana liked about the younger girl. Nasser would just have to deal with it – it probably wasn’t the first comment that was a bit harsher and most certainly wouldn’t be the last either.

“First of all, thank you for the compliment. I cook when I need to distress and when I do – I cook a lot. As for that ‘old dog’ comment,” Dana’s eyes shone with mischief as she grinned at Nasser, “You are a fifth year. Around my own age probably then and I most certainly don’t consider myself old. So neither can you be old. As for the dog part of it – you go on two legs, don’t have hair on your face and hands and manage to speak and don’t drool or pant all the time. Not too much of a dog to see there.” Dana figured it had been said as a figure of speech, but Dana sometimes chose to ignore just figures of speech. A bit pedant from time to time, if Dana hadn’t always turned them into a joke.
“As for the friends part – I don’t know what happened nor the people probably either. Sometimes people just drift apart, but when they are such good friends as they seem to be – it is their loss,” Dana fell silent for a moment, trying to imagine what it must feel like if your friends abandon you. She couldn’t really even start to imagine how empty it must leave you. Cold. Lonely. Dana shuddered involuntarily at the thought. Dana wasn’t really the most sensitive person – she was rather the type who’ll create havoc with you on a spontaneous Tuesday evening out and later laugh with you about how it went, rather than offer a shoulder to cry on.

“Comforting people isn’t really my forte, so I won’t offer much comfort. But as these kinds of things and situations cut deep, then you are allowed to sulk. And eat chocolate-chip cookies. But as you had the fortunate – or unfortunate, however you look at it – chance to run into me, with the problem, then I think I should give you a fair warning,” Dana almost smirked at Nasser, “You are allowed to sulk and mope around the castle as it is. But not for too long. If you are still so sad by the end of the week, then I’m dragging you out by your ear if I have to. Too much moping is bad for one's health. And I most certainly won't stand for it."
Dana shrugged - she was a book-worm part of a time and didn't mind studying. but as often as Dana could be found reading something, as often she was out doing somethning. Dancing, practicing, socializing. Anything fun mostly.
And when people where around her, then Dana just pulled them along.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser turned and looked at Caiest with his bloodshot eyes, a dark gleam in them that hadn’t been there before. He was no longer sleepy and the short moments of serenity he had been enjoying seemed like a distant memory. What she said, even though it had been brutal was what he thought himself to be true so it didn’t make him dislike her. He was just a bit surprised that she had said anything at all, he wasn't even sure she had been listening. He slid off the marble table top he had been sitting on and instead leaned on it and crossed his arms across his chest "Yeah, well if there's a prize for rotten judgment then I know I've already won that," he said bitterly. Nasser could be very sarcastic at times, especially when he was upset. "In my defence I must say we were friends for the past two years and I'm surprised you guys don’t know who I'm talking about anyway, at least you might know Dana, I don’t sit with anyone else in class most of the time," said Nasser. Perseus was a Slytherin and as such he wasn't expected to befriend Muggle-borns. Both Nasser and Sethia were Muggle-borns and until recently they had been the only Muggle-borns in the school with a friend from Slytherin.

Dana's words produced a completely different reaction from him. He turned to her in surprise. "Dana, it's a figure of speech," said Nasser with his eyebrows raised in surprise. "I don’t think I'm old and I certainly don’t think I'm a dog," he continued. He listened to what she was saying and started to wonder why he hadn’t just gone to bed instead of trying to make himself happy. He should have just surrendered to the reality that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Nasser raised his eyebrows and asked Dana with his eyes on his feet. "Oh indeed? And what is it you if I'm miserable or happy or feeling lonely? Maybe I'm not the kind of person you'd like to hang out with, I mean I've been deserted already by two people I call my best friends," said Nasser still bitter. He'd been keeping all this to himself and worrying and brooding about it so long he no longer cared what he was saying. It was just somehow better getting it all off his chest.

[dana]

Dana raised an eye-brow towards Nasser as he seemed to take her comment the wrong way. Dana thought about who Nasser might be sitting with for a moment, but didn’t recall much of anything. She was usually listening to the teacher, taking notes or talking to her friends or people sitting close-by at classes. Nasser seemed like the shy and quiet type and probably his friends weren’t very active either. Suddenly a shady image of a girl appeared but Dana didn’t have a clue what the name or house might be, so she refrained from comment.

What did cause a reaction from Dana was Nassers surprisingly harsh reaction to her words. Dana breathed in calmly though – loosing his friends must have been hard on the boy. So a bit snappish attitude wasn’t surprising, besides Dana had seen worse.
“My words weren’t said as something to offend you,” Dana stated calmly almost pulling on the emotionless mask Slytherins were famous for. Dana pulled it off better than most people in the school outside Slytherin house, but not nearly as well as a Slytherin would. Dana was known to have a quick wand when rubbed the wrong way, but her self-control was also very good, so it was rare for that side of Dana to be visible, so her voice was very calm and collected however.
“It’s your choice if you want to sulk and feel miserable. Not much I can do about it. I just think that if you don’t enjoy life while you’re young, then when are you going to do it?” Dana paused for a moment, tilting her head and looking at Nasser, who was examining his feet, “Besides I don’t really know you. So how could I know whether or not I’d like you or enjoy your company?”

The kitchen doors opened once again and Dana smiled as her cousin – a fifth year Slytherin - entered. Throwing a book at Dana who caught it easily, Kris grabbed a couple of cookies and turned to leave as silently as he came.
“How on earth do you do it? You always seem to know where I am?” Dana asked with a chuckle.
“Saw some freaked first years and the angry flash of your cloak,” Kris threw over his shoulder, “Don’t forget the game this evening.”<br>“Yeah, yeah,” Dana waved her cousin away as he excited the kitchen again and turned towards Nasser, “I have friends from absolutely every house. You seem like a nice guy, so why don’t you let other people let close to you? I’m sure there would be tons of people wanting to get to know the real you in there. So you got hurt once – happens. It’s life – deal with it. Everybody get hurt at one point of their lives. That doesn’t mean you have to pout and sulk for the rest of your life if the best thing that has ever happened to you may be just around the next corner.”<br>
Dana fell silent for a moment and pulled at her hair as she closed her eyes and biting her lower-lip collected herself once more. The emotionless mask had slipped and Dana had gestured to accentuate her words as she often did. Dana was social and active – there was nothing she could do about it and quite frankly she didn’t even want to change the fact either.
“No offence meant again,” Dana said more calmly and silently as she turned and sipped on her butter-beer. Comforting really wasn’t her forte so Dana didn’t really know how Nasser was expecting her to react. Or how to react in such a situation on the whole. So Dana just fell silent and slowly drank her butter-beer.

[Caiest Hamilton S5]

Caiest rolled her eyes at Nasser. He was being mopey and she hated mopey people. He of course had right to be mopey as he had lost two friends and from the sounds of it they were really close. Still she agreed with Dana on the whole only being mopey for a set amount of time. If he was still the same way he was now when the time limit was up she was going to have to help Dana. "I'm all for the whole being sad thing after all it isn't a nice feeling to get stabbed in the back. Trust me I'd know." She said scowling at the memory of Pyro helping blackmail her. "But that doesn't mean you have rotten judgement just that you were nieve. I mean you should always remember that anyone and everyone is capable of turning on you. At least that's how I do it." She said with a shrug.

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser raised his head at the sudden movement and a boy he didn’t know very well but had seen in class suddenly entered the kitchen. Nasser stiffened as he realised the boy was a Slytherin and he said nothing but didn't look as if he would have to anyway. He was Dana's cousin as it turned out and they exchanged a few words and then he left. "I could tell you the same thing about myself until recently. I mean about the friends in every house. My best – one of the people I was talking about was actually in Slytherin. I'm glad you don't think any less of me because my friends don’t seem to like me anymore," he said, and he felt a sudden relief fill him as he realised part of why he had been so sad at the end of his friendship with Sethia and Perseus had been that he was afraid people would start thinking he wasn't much of a friend because the people he had been so close two for the past few years had suddenly deserted him. What she said was very true and he knew he had to move on – he just never imagined it would be so hard.

"Tons of people?" said Nasser, turning to look at Dana with both sarcasm and sadness in his eyes at the same time. Nasser was a rather cynical person though he always tried to hide it as he knew it was one of the flaws in his character, but at a time like this when he was hurt he didn’t have as much self-control as usual. He was silent for a moment, thinking over what Dana and Caiest had said. "The only thing permanent in life is change," he said quietly, then turned to the other two, looking at each of them as he spoke. "I know that’s true, it's just we discussed the future so much with each other, and somehow I always thought we'd always be together for life. Sometimes you think you can deal with anything that comes your way, but without them, I don’t see myself being able to do that. But you’re right Dana, and you too Caiest, I suppose I always realised that in the back of my mind that I'm going to have to move on – I – I just didn’t want to do it right now, or maybe I was just scared," admitted Nasser. He suddenly decided to stand up, and as he did so he felt the weight of all he had eaten straining against his robes. "Oh my, what was I thinking, how on earth am I going to be able to practice Quidditch properly tomorrow," he thought to himself.

"Without them, I don’t see myself being able to do that. But I know I want to try now," he said resolutely. "Caiest, I don’t know if I can do what you say, I mean I don’t trust easily but when I do I do it completely, but I'll try and think about it. It seems a rather difficult way to live really, doubting everyone you know," he said, rubbing his nose again as he did when he contemplated something. "And I'm not offended," he said, suddenly giving Caiest and Dana a watery smile. It was nothing like his usual sunny one, but at least he was feeling a bit better and was trying to show it. "So, if I decided to take you up on you offer and stop sulking, what are you going to do to cheer me up?" he asked, smoothing down his robes and then his hair. He looked and felt a bit better already, though he also felt like he had just eaten a horse.