A Fresh Face, A New Game

[Andrea Focoso]

Andrea was just wrapping up the end of her first semester here at Hogwarts New Zealand and, thus far, she'd enjoyed her time here. But recently, she'd begun to realize she didn't actually have any friends or ties to the community; she mainly entertained herself by reading obscurely titled books in the library. Ensconcing herself in among the shelves was not a good way of meeting her fellow peers...allow several people seemed to enjoy hovering in the ancient collection of texts as well. But there were far too many distractions in the library where it was easier to converse with a book than with her fellow readers.

So here she was, in attempt to mingle among her peers, sitting alone at the Slytherin table in the midst of the clamor of the Great Hall. She did little but peer around through narrowed golden eyes, not trying particularly hard to entice everyone over but wishing someone would come and sit and talk with her; she could use friends, but she also wanted to get more involved so perhaps, in due time, she could be considered for prefect or even Head Girl. She wanted the best for herself and getting in with the right people would be good for her goals. And if her fellows were smart, they'd try and get in good with her; her family name carried some weight in the world.

 

[Paige Rivers]

Paige enjoyed every second and every minute in the castle, she loved exploring it and she was still not done wandering around the Castle. Paige did not have lots of friends in Hogwarts, but Paige did not have lots of time left for friends she had studied a lot for her exams. Paige did not like the library very much, it was always crowded and with all the chatter going on there she could not concentrate well. Paige useally borrowed a book from the Library and chose a nice quiet spot in the castle to read it, she hated noise when she was concentrating or reading books. Paige was getting hungry and decided that it was time to get something to feed herself with and the only place where she could find food was the Great Hall, or you needed to steal something from the Kitchen and that was not something Paige would do. Paige found the long Slytherin table easily and decided to sit down, next to another first year which she knew from her classes, she was smart, but sometimes she could be a bit arrogant and Paige did not like that very much. Paige took a biscuit from the table and nibbled on the far right corner of it. ''Mmmm'' she muttered with her mouth full of little pieces of biscuit.

Paige glared next to her and saw that the girl had almost golden eyes, she had not noticed that before since she was always busy with Bex, her cat and Alan (The name made her almost choke in the biscuit).
Paige was the type of girl that was brought up by having manners and by being respectful to elderly and people with authority, so she decided it was time to formerly meet the girl. ''Hello, I am Paige Rivers'' Paige slowly said to the girl, not wanting to scare her, since she did not know if she even noticed Paige sitting right next to her. Paige nibbled on the biscuit again and her blue eyes were looking at the girl, this was the first time she was even close to this girl, normally she would only hang out with Bex in the dorm or Common room not paying lots of interest in the other Slytherin First Years.

After she finished her biscuit, she took her charms book out of her bag already learning for next semester when they would be having charms. The other girl must think that was an incredible Ravenclaw trait, but Paige could not give a flying salamander about that she liked reading if it was a text book for next semester.

 

[Andrea Focoso]

Andrea was steadily making her way through her second slice of cheese danish when another girl, a fellow Slytherin, suddenly occupied the seat next to her. It made the girl freeze, not certain how to react; she was not good in such situations as these. However when the other girl began to chew at a biscuit (Andrea was pretending not to notice her though was watching out of the corner of her eye), she relaxed a bit and returned to her very orderly dissection of the danish. She didn't respond at the girl's utterance but the slight tension in her shoulders was enough to know that she'd heard it.

Quietly, Andrea slipped a bit of the danish into her mouth, feeling eyes settle on her a moment later and causing her to stiffen; she was unused to be so blatantly watched. Then the girl spoke and Andrea looked at her fully for the first time, golden eyes wide with surprise. Was she addressing her? Clearing her throat slightly, she adopted her usual look of icy disdain, worthy of the Focoso family name and inclined her head politely, "Andrea Focoso. Glad to make your acquaintance." She'd know the girl from some classes especially flying; she was an excellent flier. Perhaps they'd be teammates during Quidditch next year, she intended to join.

Another awkward silence fell and Andrea looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the intense blue-eyed gaze. After a moment, she glanced back over at the girl...Paige...and saw she'd drawn a book. Instantly, Andrea's demeanor changed...but only slightly; anyone who read for pleasure was her kind of person and she leaned over to see the title. It was the Charms textbook for next year. Paige was shrewd enough to want to get a head start and Andrea was beginning to like her. "So...are you looking forward to Charms then?" Andrea asked hesitantly, unused to small talk; she didn't talk to many people.

 

[Paige Rivers]

The girl introduced herself after Paige had finished her introductions, Paige her blue eyes were still resting on the girl. Paige had stuffed all of the next semester books in her brown leather bag, she loved reading and the charms book was really interesting. The Charms book in front of her rested on the Wingardium Leviosa page and Paige loved this spell it sounded so interesting, she was already done with reading her Transfiguration text book she had done this between studying for her exams. Paige could still hear the girl asking her a question about charms, the girl was smart and Paige liked that although she was not the one that could talk for ages and have one long boring conversation. ''Yes, I am looking forward to some wand waving'' Paige said in her usual clear voice, she liked that the girl took time to talk to her most of the people thought she was a freak they had all read that horrible magazine called Rumour has it. Paige tucked a stranded hair back in place and her blue eyes rested on the girl, she was kind of curious about the girl she wanted to know more about her. ''What do you look forward to in the next semester?'' Paige asked with a smile on her face, she did not smile often but when she did it was a sign that she was liking the girl.

Paige found it kind of inappropriate to read while the girl was talking to her, she closed her Charms book and stuffed it back in her brown leather bag. Paige her bag was full of books and all of the books made the bag heavy to carry around the school. The girl must be hungry too, Paige had noticed that she was eating a piece of cheese Danish. Paige was rethinking every moment that she had seen the girl and the only moment she could think of were the flying lessons, the girl was an excellent flyer and Paige thought that she wanted to be a seeker. Paige did not want to create a really awkward silence and waited for the girl to speak her thoughts about the subject.

 

[Andrea Focoso]

Paige's response made her chuckle slightly before a pale, thin hand came up to cover her mouth in surprise as golden eyes widened in surprise. A laugh from her was a rare thing; it was a display of emotion, something which she'd been taught, been raised to hide. It wouldn't do to break everything she'd learned simply because she wanted a friend...and she wasn't even sure she wanted one at that. However, Paige was endearing and there were pieces of her, Andrea was starting to see, that reminded her of herself. Slytherins to the core then at least they had that in common.

The question made her expression relax, certain that she wasn't going to be made fun or ridiculed for her reaction. "Transfiguration." She answered at once. She loved complicated things, difficult things...anything that challenged her. She'd always heard tell that it was one of the most complex branches of magic to perform, learn and teach. "I always crave a challenge and that is...well...I think it's one of the more difficult subjects to master." She smiled slightly, though it was small and didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I hope to be an Auror once I graduate...what is it you want to do?" Her words were still formal but she was far more relaxed than she'd started out and she lazily twirled her fork in the danish bringing another piece to her lips after she'd asked the question. She was surprised to find herself truly interested in Paige's response; perhaps there was something to this idea of small talk after all.

 

[Paige Rivers]

Paige decided that one biscuit was not enough food to satisfy her needs and took another one from the stack, her eyes still observing the Great Hall. The girl looked forward to Transfiguration, Paige knew it was a hard subject she had read it already and knew it was going to be a hard subject with lots of new spells and incantations. Transfiguration was interesting and Paige looked forward to it, but the subject was one big pile of Ministry rules everything got monitored by them. ''Yes, I look forward to Transfiguration too, it will be an interesting subject.'' Paige said with a neutral voice this time, not wanting to leak out the fact that she had read her whole book already.

''I don't stand away from challenges either, but Transfiguration is one big bunch of Ministry rules and that makes the subject less interesting'' Paige muttered from under her breath, every time she found something interesting there was a Ministry rule written about it and that made the subject less interesting. Paige did not have the desire to prove herself in everything, she just wanted high enough grades. The girl wanted to be an Auror, she would make a suitable one Paige on the other hand had no idea what she wanted to be after Hogwarts and was still thinking about various options. ''Hmm, I do not know, maybe I want to become a Professor or a Healer. '' Paige did not like to see people suffer, but she was a bit afraid of blood the sight of blood and the smell made her sick and she liked helping others. Paige was still a first year and had 6 years to figure out what she wanted to be when she was finished with Hogwarts. Paige was not the person to talk a lot and did not know what to ask the girl next, something about the weather just seemed totally cheesy. The biscuit that Paige was eating was almost done and Paige found that two biscuits could not cover a whole meal so she decided to take else and took a small pumpkin pie from the table.

 

[Andrea Focoso]

Andrea turned more completely to face the other girl, still messing with the food on her plate with her fork as she inclined her head at the girl's words. They seemed to have much in common...well at least thus far into their conversation; maybe this friendship thing wouldn't be too difficult after all. Taking another bite she blinked as Paige stated her reasons why Transfiguration wasn't as interesting as it could be. Andrea had to admit, she agreed. There were so many regulations and things you can and cannot do that studying certain forms of magic had lost its charm and worn many witches and wizards thin. But there had to be a reason such rules came about...not that she cared to research it.

"Both commendable professions." Andrea declared, smiling her usual half-smile and finishing off her danish with a flourish. "Well, I'm headed off. Perhaps we can chat another time...in the common room...or perhaps the Library? That's where I spend a lot of my time. Any way..." She took a breath realizing she was rambling, "...it was good meeting you and I do hope we can speak again soon!" She held out her hand to shake Paige's, a slight blush on her cheeks

 

[Paige Rivers]

Paige was still munching on her pumpkin pie, she liked the taste and texture that the pie had. Paige was not a big fan of rules and restrictions, she wanted to be free in her actions and not be restricted with a bunch of rules. The girl was going some place else and wanted to chat another time, Paige did not mind that very much she had enjoyed talking to the girl and would like to talk to her again. The girl spend lots of time in the library and that was by both girls did never see each other much, Paige did not like the crowded library. Paige liked the common room and liked to sit next to the mantelpiece in the common room. ''I don't like the library, I can't concentrate there.'' Paige muttered to the girl named Andrea ''But, we can chat again in the common room if you would like.'' Paige breathed in some fresh air, after taking another bite from her pumpkin pie.

Paige found that the girl spoke static almost robotic like, she was curious to find out why that was, but that would be a question for another day and time. ''It was good meeting you too, I am glad I have met you.'' Paige formally shook the hand of the girl, she could see the blush on the girls face and Paige could not help to slight blush herself. Paige stood up herself swinging her brown leather bag filled with books over her shoulder, looking for a new spot to read them.

Fin?
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