Cleo laughed and took her hand and they walked over to the table. She ignored the looks, but for a slight narrowing of her eyes as she filed the information away for later. Cleo sat down and rolled her eyes as Brandon placed a plate before her. A smile lit her face up as she recognized all her favorites. She ate slowly, her eyes watching over the first years as they all ate their food as well. A hand of hers twirled Skyfall's tail in her usual way and he ignored her, simply twitching it in her grasp while he ate. When he finished he found his way into his mistress' lap and curled up, cleaning his face.
"Merlin, don't eat too much. You'll feel sick after wards." The owl hooted at her and she turned her attention to what Brandon was saying about the dragon. Cleo smiled as Hagrid sat down and smirked as he was soon surrounded.
A peculiar thing happened, while everyone sat eating. The Great Hall became... homey. As if it was suddenly the safest place on earth. Cleo took a breath and let it out, silently thanking the castle as Dumbledore nodded to her and smiled, the familiar twinkle in his eyes.
Remus, James and Sirius sat down across from them and Cleo nodded in greeting to the three of them. They started up a lively discussion on Quiditch and Cleo sat and listened.
A large black eagle, bearing the crest of the Gale house, dived down near them and gently tapped her shoulder. It passed her the letter it carried, before flying off, too proud to eat anything offered, as usual. She smirked as she tapped the letter and it opened, first turning into a water lily before unfurling completely. She read her father's letter quietly to herself, and snorted at the way he threatened Brandon for spoiling his baby girl. However he was happy she was happy and he was inviting Brandon over for Christmas break, along with an invitation for his family to their annual New Year's Formal. Cleo was tickled pink over her parents' acceptance of her relationship with Brandon. So happy in fact that she did something that was usually kept under wraps...
She squealed. Like a female. In front of everyone. As if that wasn't enough for the usually quiet female, she turned to Brandon, grabbed his face with both hands and proceeded to kiss his brains out before letting him go and passing him the letter her father had sent her, bouncing in her seat impatiently, while waiting for him to regain himself to read it completely.