For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic.

[taegan]

xx-Rock and Roll Baby,
Give me something to SING about.

x-TAEGAN KEDARA-x


The house-elves had already taken in her trunk, so it was just her and a small black bag slung over her shoulder holding a few simple things. Her wand, a book, a small compact of concealer. She wore her long black robes with the Slytherin emblem upon them. She was a bit surprised she had been sorted into Slytherin. It had quite a reputation for holding evil wizards. But then, your house didn't make you evil. Your personality did. It was perfectly normal for a nice girl to be in Slytherin--even if others didn't accept it. She just hoped she'd fit in. She hadn't fit in at Beauxbatons, and that had gotten her expelled. But here was her second chance. This time, she'd do better.

She stopped in the grand hall, looking up and side to side. It was huge. Beauxbatons was a lot smaller and more...simple. This place was old and majestic. And she already loved it. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply. This was a new start. She just had to make it count.

[Kasen Kemal Kasabian]

It was a terrible day, the sky filled with dark, heavy clouds, rain pounding down to soak into the grounds. Scotland. Why would anyone want to live in such a place? Wistfully Kasen thought of Australia with it's clear blue skies and hot days with an actual sun. His summer had been magnificent there. The blonde seventh year glanced up at the sky and growled as he ran up the steps to the Entrance Hall. The small animal in his arms wriggled, it's fur flattened by the rain. Wallaby wasn't used to the rain either, as Kasen had just gotten him this summer. One day the little pup would grow into a singular dingo, but for now he was just a drenched pup. Well, at least the rain was relatively warm. With a grim smile the Slytherin bounded up the last step and burst through the door, water falling in rivulets down his face, draining from his thick hair. Pale green eyes stared around, checking for the presence of cats. For some reason Wallaby had developed an ardent desire to chase the felines, despite the fact they gave him a good thrashing as soon as he ahd him cornered. Hopefully he would gain some sense.

Kasen Kemal Kasabian belonged to one of teh purest families in all the world, far purer then the Malfoys who thought they ruled the place. Kasen had put up with the little albino twerps for teh few years they had been at schoo, but to tell the truth he was getting sick and tired of them. Someday he would have to hex the little beasts. What mad them think they could order him around? Finally convinced not cats prowled the Great Hall, the Australian Slytherin sat the pup down, grinning as he gave a shake of his fur. And then he was gone. Frantically he stared around, looking for the cause of the disappearence. Oh, there. A girl stood in the Hall, looking rather lost. Which should be impossible because she appeared to be a sixth year. Well, there was no reason to be unfriendly, was there? WIth a grin at himself Kasen paced over to her, moving with all of the deadly grace of his patronus, which was, absurdly, a lion; the mascot of the rival house at Hogwarts. Not that he cared for Houses. No, all he really cared about was honor. If Gyrffindors or even hufflepuffs displayed a sense of honor to him they were respected. Pehaps not befirended, but respected. Halting before the black-haired sixth year he gave a shallow bow, which was still customary in Australia. "'Ello mate, you lost?" There it was! The australian accent that had caused a few girls to sigh in his day. Smiling Kasen reached down and picked up Wallaby, who had been sniffin around her robes. "Sorry 'bout Wallaby."

[taegan]

<sup>She opened her eyes as she felt a breath on her ankles, and a biting at the hem of her robes. She looked down, a bit startled, to see an adorable little puppy. Immediately, a small smile appeared on her face as she reached down to pat it. But before long a boy came walking up, retrieving the dog. She stretched back up, scratching the dog behind the ears while in his owner's arms. Then she recoiled and looked at the boy. His accent was interesting enough. What was that...Australian? Yes, it must be. She listened as he spoke, quickly returning her explaination.

"Not so much lost. Just new."

She said pleasantly, offering the boy a smile. He apologized for the dog and her smile grew. Wallaby. What a cute name!

"Oh, its fine. I'm Taegan."

her words were kind. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to. She had thought she'd spend the whole day wandering around by herself.

"I Just transfered from Beauxbatons." Okay, so she was stretching the truth a little. She had actually been expelled--but noone had to know that, did they? Besides, it wasn't like she was a bad person. It was just that the conformists at Beauxbatons couldn't handle someone different.</sup>

[Kasen Kemal Kasabian]

The girl had to reach up to scratch Wallaby's ears, who in turn gave her a few frenzied licks. Stupid dingo. Weren't they supposed to be, oh, I don't know, mean? Or at least devoted to a single person, not the whole world. He was rather cute though, a rangy pup of a dingy yellow with white chest and belly, with the perkiest little ears you ever did see. Anyway, it was quite a stretch, seeing as how Kasen was easily 6'4", quite a tall height. Kasabian also got odd looks for his accent, back stronger than ever after a summer in Oz. Australia, that is, for all you blokes who aren't from around there. "No drama then, Hogwarts is pretty nice, though the professors tend you yabble." There went a wink, hiding his left eye from veiw for a mere moent, leaving the other pale green iris looking decidedly lonely.

Kasen grinned back at her. Taegan. That was a nice name, not one of those incredibly sisy names like 'Andromeda' or 'Frae', for example. Frae actually wasn't to bad, well, she wouldn't be if he didn't hate her. She had honor, that was for sure, and she cared about puries jsut as much as he did, but the way she went about things just made him sick. Not that she wasn't beautiful, no, that aspect of her didn't sicken him at all. "Kasen." Kasen struggled for a moment with teh wriggling bundle of dingo in his hands before finally tucking him beneath one arm and extending a hand for her to shake. "Nice ta meet ya Taegan." Beauxbatons, Beauxbatons.. After a few moments the Slytherin found the word in hsi mind, recognizing it as a French school. That had almost been where he had gone, before his father had discovered what the uniform had looked like. After that there had been no chance at all. Besides, it was primarily a girl's school anyway. With a raise of a single sandy eyebrow the Aussie scrutinized the shorter girl, looking her up and down discreetly. "France?"

ooc//ew. sorry.

[taegan]

<sup>She took his hand, shaking it gently before pulling away and clasping her own hands together before her. She glanced at the over-eager puppy pleasantly, then back up to Kasen's eyes. His voice had that rough accent, but was still nice enough-sweet and lyrical. She nodded as he questioned her. Yes, she was from France. However, she was schooled in both French and English, and could speak both fluently. However, her English was always affected with her wispy french accent. But it wasn't that noticeable. You should hear her talk to her snake. The composition of both the languages--French and parsletongue...it was beautiful, and melodic. It almost made it seem as if it wasn't such a curse.

"Yeah. My parents still live there."

She said simply. It was kind of strange, being so far from home and out of the country just for school. But she had objected to her parents moving to England. She loved France, and wouldn't give up summer holidays in their villa for anything.

"What house are you in? I'm a Slytherin. I was a bit surprised...they don't have the best reputation."

She said softly, her gazing catching his own emerald eye.</sup>

[Kasen Kemal Kasabian]

Her hands were soft, their palms smooth. Her black hair swayed as she nodded, sending echoing waves down her back in honestly fascinating ripples. Her English did have a slight tint of musical, a rippling rythym that seemed to nearly match her hair, undulating across the vowels and constanants like some whithering snake. His own vosce was slightly rough, but with a tendency to mellow out into a calm baritone uexpectedly, as it was now. "Yeah, Australia for me. Mine moved though." And what a move it had been. Saying good bye to the orange outback. Saying good bye to the rough waves and clear waters. Saying good bye to the sheep and camels, the dingos and camesl. Saying good bye to the rainforests and waterfalls. Even the koalas. But worst of all had been saying good bye to the Aborigines and their strange brand of magic that seemed almost connected to animals, and the spirit of the land. Saying good bye to Australia and her loving embrace and facing England with all of her stern mountains that hung over you like guards at a prison. A chilll seeped into his still wet skin and he cursed himself internally before casting a quick charm with his wand; Eucalyptus with billywig stinger as a core. Truly unique. "Slytherin as weel, they're not all bad, just keep away from the Malfoys, the clan of Root Rats and Galahs."

[taegan]

<sup>Australia, was it? That defenitely explained the accent. (and the dog, she supposed) And a Slytherin! That was a bit of a relief. At least now she sort of knew someone in her own house. And perhaps they weren't all that bad, as he said. But they all had their bad eggs, right? And it seemed to be these Malfoys he spoke of. Kasen seemed nice, so if he didn't like them they must not be the greatest of people. She made a mental note to stay clear of them. She glanced around the hall, looking at the large pendulum of the clock. They had about two hours until dinner. So what was she to do until then? She glanced back at Kasen.

"Do you have something to do? If not...would you mind showing me around? I hardly even know where the common room is."

She said a bit pleadingly. A teacher had given her faint directions but she hadn't understood them very well. I mean, what did they mean by 'catch a staircase'? They weren't like trains. And watch out for ghosts? Maybe it was just a cultural difference, but they didn't have ghosts at beauxbatons. And the prospect of seeing one made her a bit nervous.

-icky post.-</sup>

[Kasen Kemal Kasabian]

Kasen wondered if she was as homesick as he. Did she wish for days in France like he wished for the times he had played in the Bush, hardly even noticing the things he desired so ardently now? Oh, if only he had know he would have taken a moment, and stopped, his tan feet bare against the red dirt of the game path, his eyes closed, nostrils flaring as he took in all teh scents teh wind blew to him. Perhaps he would have bent down and scooped up some of the warm earth, raising it to his lips and tasting the iron, memorizing everything about his homeland, for this cold and dreary land held no comfort for him. Kasen started himself from his day dreams of fantasy taht would never be true as she spoke again, her intoxicating accent twining around his brain and deadening his senses. Finally what she had said broke through into his mind, and he couldn't help but smile, wondering what directions she had been given. The stair cases here were tricky, always shifting from up to down, and once he had found a first year wandering around the Astronomy Tower, insisting he was in the Dungeons. The Bloody baron was also rather tricky, scary the living daylights out of everyoen who didn't know who he was. After all, a bloody ghost covered in chains can be pretty intimidating. And then there were the dungeons themselves, dripping with the water that leaked through from the lake that st above them. Finally they would come to the blank stone wall, and search fro the eroded figure of a snake, placing your hand upon it you would have to whisper the newest password, Gillywater this week (a joke by some errant idiot), and the snake's mouth would gape open, revealing a hole into the green Common Room of the Serpent's Lair. Or so Kasen thought of it. "'Course Taegan, I'd be happy to." With a slight bow he swept his hand, the one that wasn't holding Wallaby, toward the staircase off to the left. This was a relatively trust worthy one, except for teh false step on the second flight. But they wouldn't be going up that far. No, their stop was far closer.