Stay here in the dining hall with Winnie (ENCOUNTER her) and try to work as a team to pick up other Leontes (2d6+BRAVERY=4)

⚀⚀ Snake eyes! + 2 = 4, Miss.

You and Winnie take turns scanning the dining hall for anyone interesting. She poaches half the rolls off your plate in the process, but you let it go - best not to overeat if there's going to be a feast tonight anyway. You ask her a few things about her past and where she's from - the usual, typical stuff, favorite subjects, interests and all that.

"No Franziska," she says, "I wouldn't bring up dueling. I mean, okay - granted, that preoccupation of yours got you some rumpy-bumpy already but well, Dracos inn't precisely well known for being hard to entice into that sort of thing. Especially the guys, right? I'm not saying they wouldn't be impressed and think you're bloody brilliant, I'm sure you are, love - but there's really no graceful way to lead into askin' if they're taken and telling them you think they're fetching without being too on-the-nose about it."

"Ohhh..." you think to yourself for a minute, looking down. "That... that does make sense, Winona. Ach, this is complicated, when it's all a... free for all like this. Relationships were so much easier when it was just the children of a few families being tutored together. Hmm - there aren't many students coming in here, after all. Already an hour has passed, yeah? Maybe the game went into overtime?" Winnie shrugs. "Well, at least we can take the time to discuss our strategies." You giggle and nod to her. "Hah, it is quite funny to think about - but you are precisely correct. Every strategy must be used in love and war, as the saying goes, or something to that effect! So, we agreed that telling them we 'need someone to show us around' is **** at best and pitifully naive at worst. Asking for help with studies is usually not so good either, because it makes you seem dumb and so many girls take that help and then ignore them. We have to come up with some... some scenario, or script, that convinces them that we are genuine, not dirty, manipulative tramps like the women of Draconis and Minerval."

"By spinnin' a tale out of whole cloth for them... we'll show them we're genuine? Isn't that a bit squiffy, dear?" Your face sinks. "Ohhh... damn it all, you're ri-" Winnie giggles and gives you a light slap on the shoulder. "Awk! Fran, I was just teasing love, I think that's a cracking idea! Oooh, I have just the thing! So - we start off with you sobbing and all pitiful looking, and when they get sympathetic and ask what's wrong, I say that a ghost has been stealing your panties-"

"Why do I have to be the one sobbing and blubbering?" you ask with an indignant sniff. "You have a face perfect for tragedy, Winnie."

She wrinkles her nose. "The real tragedy here, Fran, is your lack of tits!"

You gasp, mortified, and make an enraged face at her. "You're... you're not exactly an underwear model yourself, Winona!" She backs off and holds up her hands. "Wait - bugger all, you get scary when you're mad. I'm ju~ust saying you look, well, sort of **** and we can us-" you thrust your hand in her face, shushing her roughly. She looks annoyed but you grab her chin and turn her head. "Look! There, Winnie!" you hiss to her. "First-years, returning from the game... two of them!" You swallow and take on a fierce, determined expression. "It is now or never! I'm going over, back me up!" She gasps, looks over, then nods.

You and Winnie hesitantly creep up on the three young men as they settle down into seats, talking and gesturing enthusiastically to one another in breathless tones. There's a tall, ruddy-faced, short-haired blonde with a scottish brogue; a stockier, dark-haired and dark eyed boy with an intense gaze, a short ponytail and an iberian look about him; and a smaller, paler boy with messy jet black hair, John Lennon glasses, and a slightly skeevy moustache.

"That was a bleeding killer!" the pale one is saying, pounding his hand on the table. "The quadruple pass, then shot on with no hesitation... POW! Bang-bloody-on!"

"Aye," says the blonde, "Fookin' aces comin' to Boarbristle this year aye? Ye all saw it, with this year's team, the cup is going to be Leontes, piece of piss! Any who can come back from that bloody cursed luck in th' first 'alf and win will steamroll anyone Minerval can put up, and not likely the other houses will be any more serious competition this year than usual."

"Damn it all." the tan one says. "Remind me again why we aren't yet allowed flying classes? I'd be trying out every day just to warm a bench if they would let me."

The slender boy smirks. "Oh, some rot about responsibility. Just another thing for the upperclassmen to hold ov- oh. Hullo?" He asks, raising an eyebrow as you plop down in the seat next to him. Winnie hesitantly slides in next to the blonde guy.

Your face takes on a wavy, somewhat nervous smile. "These... seats taken?" you ask. The tall boy takes a look at the two of you, eyes flicking back and forth, then half-turns and makes a funny, elaborate hand gesture to his two friends. One of them laughs, the other just looks confused - the short, foreign-looking student whispers curiously to the boy next to him, who whispers back and gets him laughing too, before the blonde shushes them. Your eyes crinkle in concern. The boy with the round glasses leans forward and nods condescendingly. "Of course, of course you can sit there. Plenty of room, right?"

Winnie smacks her lips for attention. "Sooo... shall we introdu-"

The tall one, apparently the informal leader of these three young Leontes, cuts her off, speaking over her and looking at the other two, going back to his previous conversation. "So like I was saying, 's all about the defense, statistically speaking. Gerry Fowling is the key-"

Not happy with that digression you try to break in. "Oh haha, yes, the game - that would make very stimulating conversation at tonight's feast, yeah?" you offer, doing your best singsong voice. "Me and Winona here have no-one to sit with, so we were just... um, trying to see if we could make any new-"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll see you there." the shortest one says, nodding hurriedly. "But we were in the middle of a conversation here, so if you'd not mind, ladies...?"

Dejectedly, you settle back. The chatter goes on and on, you and Winnie not daring to put a word in edgewise. Eventually you consider making a snide remark about them seeming to prefer the guys in broom polo to you, but such an insult would hardly help. The damage is done - poor, innocent Winnie trusted you and you led her into disaster. After a good half hour, you beckon her after you and she follows away from the table with nary a word. The both of you walk back to the dormitories with a slump in your shoulders.

"Stupid men. Stupid sports." you mutter, sighing.

"Nooo shite." Winnie concurs. "Listen, Franziska... I know you already apologized but like I said, you don't need to. Can't be helped sometimes! If some want to sit around forming their little clubs and excluding anyone else, well, at least they were obvious about what arseholes they are instead of stringing us along. Oh bugger it all... we should just go get cleaned up, get ready to salve the sting a' failure with butter and salt, aye? Anyway... I'll be busy the next week but look me up again in a few, Fran." The two of you have a friendly hug and then go off to your rooms to change and catch up on a bit of studying, knowing that after the evening you'll be too sleepy to get much done.

Franziska's options: (Note: like many students Franziska is sensitive to rejection and will usually not attempt another social encounter in a day after failing badly at one. However, if she continues to encounter Winnie she may become a FRIEND out of simple familiarity. Choose a subject to study up on, which will determine the class where the next scene takes place in the coming week.)

• Potions
• Transformations
• Divinations
• History
• Herbalism
• Conjuration

Franziska currently has 2 XP.