A Guiding Hand

[Emilia Manning]

Hufflepuff. That was Emilia's house, and she wasn't happy. It wasn't Hufflepuff that was the problem, not really. She liked the yellow and she had to admit the common room was great, but she wanted to be with Evelyn. Now that she wasn't even in the same house as her cousin, she really wasn't sure how often she would see her. It wasn't anything like how she had imagined. Before coming here she had daydreamed about how it would be, how she would spend all of her free time with Evelyn and Espen, and sometimes Athena. How much fun they would have! She'd even dared to hope they would teach her magic so she could be very good in her classes too. But in reality the school was so much bigger than she had imagined, and there were so many people. She had set out to find her cousins, but right now she didn't even know where she was anymore. She just felt lost as she aimlessly wandered the corridors, looking around with wide eyes. What if she would never find her way back to the common room? Biting her lip, she tried to muster the courage to ask an older student, but no one seemed to be paying her any mind. She twirled her hair around her finger nervously, hoping someone would help her out.

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

Anastasie was happy to be at Hogwarts and sorted into Slytherin house. She knew that she still had so much more to learn but she already knew most of what there was to know anyway and would walk around the castle with her held held high, confident that nothing bad would happen to her. The girl felt like having a look around the castle by herself and headed out of the common room in search for the library. Her step-brother had told her that there was a library somewhere within the castle and Ana was eager to find it. She made her way up to the first floor to begin with, looking around at all of the different rooms. There were several classrooms and offices on that floor and Ana would soon learn what they were all for and she couldn't help but feel excited to do so. As Ana walked along the corridor she noticed a Hufflepuff student who looked pretty lost and Ana stared at her, wondering how she could be lost. After all, they were on the first floor and all she had to do was walk down a set of staircases and she would find the entrance hall. The Slytherin rolled her eyes, thinking of walking away as she had no idea how to address the situation, but she spoke nonetheless. "What?" she said, not meaning to sound rude. The girl was obviously stupid but Ana wouldn't tell her this.​

 

[Emilia Manning]

The older students walking past were quite intimidating, and Emilia really wasn't sure what to do. All the corridors looked so alike, and Emilia was already scared to think of how she would never be able to find her classes. Maybe she should take to following some of her fellow Hufflepuffs around? Or, if she could find Evelyn, she would just ask her to show her the way to the different classrooms. But her cousin wasn't anywhere in sight, and Emilia had no clue how to find her. She was snapped out of her worries by a voice, and she turned her attention to the girl that was speaking to her. She blinked at her, unsure what to say. "Um." She said quietly, her eyes darting around nervously. "I didn't say anything, sorry." She said quietly, assuming the girl thought she had been speaking and had been unable to understand her.

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

As soon as Ana opened her mouth she really wished she didn't. The girl obviously belonged in a mental asylum and Ana did not want to be responsible for anything the psycho was about to do. What she said however didn't make any sense at all and suddenly Ana didn't really care if she was being too blunt and spoke yet again. "What... as in what's your problem?" Ana said, a hint of attitude in her voice. "Why are you so weird?" Ana rolled her eyes, obviously not impressed with how immature the girl was acting. Sometimes Ana wondered if she really wanted to go to that school, especially if there were people there like that girl. Nonetheless, Ana knew not everyone was like that and was thankful for that. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, hoping the girl's response wasn't going to be as stupid as her last.​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia blushed when it became clear she had completely misunderstood the girl, though she didn't think it warranted her to get angry either. She bit her lip. "Well, um, I didn't mean to be weird." She said, shrugging nervously. "I just thought you thought I said something... and that's why you said what. I have no problem. Well, maybe I do a little..." She trailed off, looking around to see if she could see anyone that seemed more friendly than the girl in front of her. "I just don't really know where I am. I was trying to find the common room." She explained, feeling more and more stupid by the second. "All the corridors look alike, don't you agree? I didn't mean to bother you." She added quietly, hoping the girl would leave her alone now. Or perhaps help her, even though she didn't seem all that helpful so far.

 

[Anastasie Vernier]

Out of Character:

I'm so sorry, I completely lost track of this!

Ana listened as the girl continued to speak, clearly looking like she didn't know where she was or what she was doing. The Slytherin wondered if maybe she had some sort of problem inside her head and Ana had never met anyone like that before. She watched as the girl looked around, trying to find something that clearly wasn't anywhere near. At the mention of her looking for the common room, Ana thought perhaps she could try to find her step-brother. After all, they were in the same house and Ana knew he would help her as that was just who he was. "I have a step-brother in your house." she told her. "He'll know where the common room is, but don't ask me where he is." Ana rolled her eyes slightly, folding her arms across her chest. He had obviously made a friend or two since he had been at Hogwarts and that somehow made him extremely hard to find. "Yes, the corridors do look the same, but in case you didn't know, we're on the first floor right now. Below us is the Entrance Hall and above us is the second floor." Ana spoke slowly, pointing down and up to indicate what she was talking about. Ana knew she wasn't very much of a helpful person but at least she tried.​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Out of Character:

Don't worry! Same thing happened to me

Emilia frowned at the girl as she started to talk again, as she was starting to worry the girl would be mean to her again. She said her stepbrother was in Hufflepuff too, which sounded helpful until she also admitted she didn't know where he was. Emilia wasn't sure why she mentioned it then, but nodded silently, hoping the girl would leave her alone. Then she finally said something Emilia had wanted to hear, and she smiled in relief. "Oh! That's good to know, then I know where to go." She said happily, relieved to have a grasp on where she was. "I thought I was a bit higher up." She explained with a small shrug, playing with her hair once again. "Thank you. I can keep an eye out for your brother- or step-brother. If you want?" She offered hesitantly. "I'm Emilia." She added.