good morning, S U N S H I N E., great hall; opennn!

[Mary MacDonald]

Anyone awake on a Saturday morning at this particular hour would probably be categorized as an insane and mysterious creature, one of whom the likes of will never be completely accepted into society. Then again, Mary had never really been considered completely sane, either. But she seemed to get away with being a bit strange, so perhaps she was one of the rare exceptions to that general rule, seeing as she did, in fact, have friends, even though she was awake so early in the morning.

Really, there wasn't any purpose for her being up early; rather, she was just fond of being awake to watch the sun rise, and all that shpeel. Not to mention, breakfast was always fresh. So, Mary had slipped out of bed as quietly as she could, padded through the portrait hole, and headed downstairs. She hadn't even bothered to get dressed properly, or, for that matter, put on any shoes. Her feet were simply donned in her favorite scarlet woolly socks, and she wore just a tank and blue flannel sleep pants normally reserved for sleeping, and not for roaming the castle. But, really, who would be up to see her, anyway?

Bless those house elves; there was food spread out on all four tables for the few early birds in the castle. Mostly just toast, jam, waffles and the like. She plopped herself down on a lonely bench at the Gryffindor table, eyeing the possible meal choices before choosing just a piece of toast and rasberry jam. You could never go wrong with rasberry jam. Gingerly spreading it on her slice, the brunette absentmindedly let her gaze sweep across the entire hall. The only other occupants were a gaggle of third year Hufflepuff girls, giggling and obviously caffeinated, a sleepy Ravenclaw that looked like he was still getting over a hangover, and a Gryffindor couple, both in their sixth year, who looked a bit frumpled from...something. Nobody looked like they were up to having a nice conversation. She sighed dejectedly , reaching for a goblet and taking a sip without even bothering to see what was in it. Big mistake. Mary made a face, forcing herself to swallow the vile liquid. Pumpkin juice. Ew. Most students seemed to favor it, but just the smell of it made her want to gag. Her hand reached across the table to snag a goblet of what looked like water, which was always safe, taking a big gulp to wash the disgusting pumpkin taste out of her mouth. In the process, her elbow knocked into another wretched goblet of pumpkin juice, and it promptly tipped over, an orange puddle slowly forming in the middle of the table. "Damn," she muttered under her breath, trying to soak it all up with napkins and mop the mess off the table. The brunette hadn't been in the room for hardly five minutes, and already, she'd managed to spill something.

[Remus Lupin]

Sometimes, one couldn't help waking up early. Especially when there were three other snoring guys in the same room as you whilst you attempt to sleep. Remus was in just this predicament, which was why he was already roaming the corridors this early in the morning. Who else could be up? One thing was for sure; Sirius wouldn't be up for another ninety minutes, at least. He needed his full-- what was it? Nine hours? Wake him up before those hours are up and he was a grumpy bugger. Remus decided sneaking out would be more appropriate than waking any one of them.

So here he was, walking down the Grand Staircase at about five thirty in the morning. He had his book bag with him; perhaps he could finish the assignment due for Slughorn on Friday while grabbing a bite to eat. Although, Moony did tend to forget sometimes that he was supposed to eat instead of only doing work. He needed to remember that. Perhaps he'd instead eat first. After stepping through the doorway, Remus witnessed how few people were actually awake. Giggling came from the right side of the room as a group of Hufflepuff girls chatted away, obviously drinking something with plenty of sugar in it. Benjamine wasn't in the group though; that wasn't exactly surprising though.

He turned his gaze toward his house's table and saw a single person from his house there. But, she seemed to be having just a bit of trouble this morning. Moony rubbed his left eye sleepily and strolled toward her. There was pumpkin juice everywhere as he walked over. Sopping wet, orange napkins littered the table right in front of them. Remus looked from that, to her expression. "Need help?" he asked, pulling his wand from his pocket. His fingers held the wand loosely as Remus put his bag on the bench. The smell of warm foods filled the air. Just simple things, like pancakes and pastries. They made his stomach twist with pleasure. Moony looked back at her though, awaiting her answer. Clean first and eat second.

[Mary MacDonald]

Mary had managed to soak up the mess, but now she was left with a pile of sopping wet napkins. What in Merlin’s name was she supposed to do with it, now? She could probably just leave it there, and the house elves could clean it up. But that would be rude. She had just begun to consider tossing them underneath the table when a clear, polite voice shattered her thoughts. The first thing the girl noticed was the wand, held loosely between his slender fingertips, which made her look like a bit of an idiot. Her own forgotten wand was in her back pocket; why hadn’t she thought to use it to clean up instead of trying to manage on her own? Her friendly gaze rose to his face, confirming the fact that it was Remus, and not one of the annoyingly caffeinated Hufflepuffs on the other side of the room, thank God.

“Erm. Maybe.” She grinned sheepishly, shooting a glance at the mess on the table, knowing very well he probably thought she was completely ridiculous. Or, at least, he should. The two weren’t exactly friends, though they were on friendly terms. Mary knew him through James and Sirius, and that was pretty much it. She could probably count the number of total conversations they’d had before on one hand, seeing as he rarely participated in any of their shenanigans. She had nothing against him, though, and he seemed nice enough. “Sorry. Things tend to fall over whenever I’m in the room,” the petite brunette added with a light laugh, sliding a bit down the bench to make sure he had room to sit if he so wished to do so. He’d brought a bag, and the corner of their Potions textbook peeked out the top. Really, Mary should be doing her essay as well, seeing as it was due within the next few days, and she hadn’t even started.