Cravings

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol couldn't quite explain it, but no matter how many burgers and steaks she ate, there was a certain craving for meat that she could never quite satisfy. She didn't know if it was because she wasn't eating enough so she needed more, or if she was simply wanting more protein, but tonight her cravings were worse than ever. She hated to think that it had to do with being bitten, but she had a suspicion, because ever since she'd gotten bitten, that's when her cravings started.

It was a few hours after dinner but curfew was not yet in effect so Marisol thought she could wander down into the kitchens and beg the chefs to make her something. She had a general idea of where the kitchens were but she was unsure exactly where, this castle was so huge and there were too many secret or trap entrances, she couldn't ever be sure she knew where she was going on a given day. She hoped someone would be nice enough to point her in the right direction, and if so perhaps should could persuade the chefs to make something for that person too as a thanks.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya still felt uncomfortable having dinner with the entire school. There were too many people and too much noise for her to concentrate on her food and Miya found herself still hungry after dinner. After an incident with mashed potato, she had decided to stop hoarding food in her pockets to eat later. She could have eaten something from the atrociously large pile of sweets in her dorm room, but Miya needed proper nutrition, leaving her with no option but to go down to the kitchen. She had been down there a few times over the term, so she knew her way.

She spotted the Gryffindor girl as she drew nearer to the kitchens. Miya knew the girl by face, but not name. She hadn't really talked to a lot of the students in her year and mostly kept to herself. Observing people was more interesting than talking to them, and Miya had found a lot of good places to spy during her exploration of the castle. She watched the Gryffindor for a few seconds, quietly walking up to her. "Um? A-Are you lost?" Miya looked wide-eyed at the other student. She hoped she wasn't intruding on some secret meeting or something. She only wanted to help, and getting in the way was the opposite of helping.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol had gotten down to the dungeons where she figured the kitchens were, but after looking for a door, she didn't know where to go. Either the entrance to the kitchen was not in the dungeons, or there was some sort of secret door that she didn't know about. It was hard navigating through the castle for that reason. Just then she heard someone ask if she was lost and turned around. She saw a girl and smiled nervously, she hated that it was so obvious how new she was at times. The girl didn't look much older than her, but hopefully she knew where the kitchens were. "Um yes," Marisol chuckled in embarrassment. "Do you happen to know where the kitchens are?"

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya brightened as the girl asked her about the kitchens. "Oh!" she squeaked. "I do, yes! I'm uh? Going there now, I can show you?" They weren't very far from the kitchen already, Miya was glad she'd spent the time getting to know the castle. She'd mapped out the school enough in her head that she almost wasn't late to class anymore. Miya poked her thumbs through the raggedy holes she'd made in her sweater and swung her arms by her sides, and then led the way to the kitchens. "Too many doors." she hummed softly, ducking her head in embarrassment as she realised she'd spoken aloud. She could still smell the cooking scents left over from dinner, so she knew she was in the right place. She smiled timidly at the Gryffindor. Miya wasn't quite sure if she should leave the girl alone now or stay to continue helping, but she was already ready to melt into the background at any time if her presence was unwanted.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol smiled instantly when the girl said she would show her where the kitchens were. "That would be great, thank you!" she replied, bouncing on her feet a little as she turned to follow the girl. As they walked, she heard the girl say something about too many doors and Marisol decided to speak up to make conversation. "Yeah I have the same problem too, which is why I get lost a lot," she smiled shyly.

Soon enough she could smell the familiar scent of food cooking and she could tell they were getting close. She supposed she could've just tracked the scent of food if she wanted to find the kitchen entrance, but she hadn't thought of that before. Instead, Marisol was glad she had run into this girl who was nice enough to show her the way, that way she wouldn't have to look so lost the next time she ventured down here. "I'm Marisol by the way," the latina said.

 

[Miya Bell]

"Marisol." Miya tested the name and smiled. She had trouble remembering names and often had to resort to nicknames, but Marisol's name seemed simple enough to remember. Some of the students names she'd seen had been impossible to pronounce and Miya was worried she'd run into of of such people and upset them when she couldn't say their name right. "That's really pretty. I'm Miya?" Of course she knew her own name, but always managed to falter in her words when speaking. Miya had probably done more talking since arriving at Hogwarts than in the entirety of her life.

She looked around the kitchen, trying to think of how to acquire food. Miya felt she bothered the house elves enough during the couple of times she had brought plants from the garden to them and didn't want to ask them for anything, but maybe Marisol would. "Did you, um? Want to eat something?" Miya asked. She assumed Marisol was looking for food in the kitchens, but perhaps not. Miya liked being in the kitchens for the warmth and it usually had less students than the library. "The elves make things? Or we could?" she continued, quickly offering suggestions.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol smiled brightly when the girl said her name was pretty. "Thank you!" she beamed. Her name was something she really liked about herself and she hated when people mispronounced it. Really she was just being stubborn, because she didn't like the way people Americanized it, but sometimes they couldn't help it if their accents didn't allow them to say it the way it was intended to be said in Spanish. "Nice to meet you Miya, thanks for showing me how to get to the kitchens" she said sincerely.

Once they got into the kitchen, Marisol looked around for an adult to request her meal, but she didn't see one. When Miya spoke up again, Marisol looked a little confused. "Yes I came here because I was hoping to ask the cooks to make me something, but I don't see any adults here?" she questioned. She had heard Miya mention something about elves but she didn't quite register what she meant until she heart a squeaky voice talking. "Excuse me miss, are you wanting more dessert miss?" Marisol looked around for the source and only looked down when she felt a tug at her robes. She gasped, a little surprised at the sight of the elf, who immediately looked horrified and began to bow and apologize. "I'm so sorry miss, I was not meaning to alarm you!"

Marisol was still shocked but tried to close her mouth as she looked back up at Miya. "Elves?" she questioned, but it was not in a negative way at all. She was simply surprised by all the different creatures and customs that the wizarding world was accustomed to. "Do the elves make our food?" she asked Miya, but then another elf came up to the pair of first years and answered her question. "Yes miss, we's make all the foods here at Hogwarts!" It was so proud of its duty that Marisol didn't really know what to say. She smiled at them and looked back up at Miya, giving her a shrug. "Sorry, I'm new to all this," she explained for her shocked behavior. "Uh, I don't really know how to cook, so I guess I could ask the elves for what I was craving?" she said. "Were you looking for food too?" she asked the first year.

 

[Miya Bell]

It felt strange to know about something another student didn't, and Miya couldn't help the irrational sense of pride she felt over it. She smiled nervously at the elf. Miya wasn't quite comfortable being around house elves, especially since learning they were also responsible for her dorm being so clean. At home, chores had been split between Miya and her mother and it was hard to imagine that some wizarding families actually had their own house elf to take care of all of that. The elves were so happy about what they did and Miya found them endearing, but she disliked feeling like she was taking advantage of their helpfulness.

Another elf answered Marisol's question before Miya could and an automatic nervous smile appeared on the Hufflepuff's face. She had never seen an elf before Hogwarts and could see how they could be surprising to Marisol. "Are you muggleborn?" she asked thoughtlessly. As the question slipped from her lips, her eyes widened in horror. Blood status could be a touchy subject, and Miya was furious at herself for asking something so personal. "You don't have to answer that? Um?" Miya rambled. Her face was quickly turning red, as it always did when she was embarrassed. "Uh, food? Yes! Maybe a pastry or something, I don't know? What did you want to eat?" ​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol, being Muggleborn, was not aware of the different types of blood and what their statuses entailed. So when Miya asked if she was Muggleborn, and then seemed horrified with herself and said Marisol didn't have to answer that, the latina was a little more than confused. It began to clue her in that perhaps asking that type of question was considered rude in the wizarding world, but she wanted to know why. "Um yes I am," she said, still answering the question despite Miya saying she didn't have to. "Is that a bad thing?" she asked cautiously, given Miya's reaction.

When Miya changed the subject to food, Marisol looked back down at the eager elves who had immediately rushed to get a dozen different types of pastries for Miya as soon as she had uttered the word. "Wow, fast service," Marisol commented with a chuckle. This seemed to please the house elves and Marisol couldn't help but laugh again; they were curious creatures. When Miya asked her what she wanted to eat, Marisol blushed faintly, hoping the other girl couldn't tell, and considered asking for a pastry as well, just like the girl had said. She really loved all the food Hogwarts had to offer, it was like going to a buffet every single day, for nearly every single course, so there wasn't much she was already offered daily. Except there was just something that she was craving no matter how many burgers and steaks she ate. "Well actually," she began nervously. "I have been craving a...a steak," she said sheepishly. The elves piped up, "Right away miss!" Marisol immediately added, "Except! I was wondering if it could maybe be...medium rare?" she questioned. That wasn't so uncommon to ask for, so she hoped that would suffice.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya worried the way she had reacted to the question had offended Marisol even more. She chewed her lip and willed herself not to cry. She hated how easily she cried when she was embarrassed. Or happy, or sad, or really any emotion could end in tears for Miya. "Oh, gosh! Of course not! I think it means you're extra magic?" Miya said, hoping to reassure Marisol that being muggleborn wasn't negative. She didn't really know how two muggles could have a magical child, but she had heard it was something to do with genes, like how Miya's mother had blue eyes and her own were brown. Science had never been something Miya had done very well in, much to the disappointment of her paternal family. "My dad is a muggle." she told Marisol.

The sudden arrival of the pastries surprised Miya. She hadn't expected to have so much choice in the pastries and was flustered about choosing one. She smiled and nodded at Marisol's comment. "Thank you." she said to the elves, and hovered around the tray of food. She gingerly picked up a small pastry and carefully pulled a flake of crust off the top. She hoped nobody would mind her habit of picking her food apart. Miya didn't eat red meat, so she didn't see anything particularly strange about Marisol's request for medium rare steak. "Steak is good?" She wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question, maybe both. Making conversation was not one of Miya's strong points. The elves returned with Marisol's steak and Miya eyed it warily. It didn't look like food to her, but she'd have to trust that the elves knew what they were doing.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol smiled politely at Miya when the girl said that being Muggleborn meant she was extra magic. She wished that were true but given the way she struggled with her classes, she doubted that was the case, at least for her. But she appreciated the girl's efforts to make her feel better about her incompetence, even if the other girl had no idea about Marisol's insecurities with magic.

Marisol watched the elves as they began prepping to cook her steak. When Miya said something again, Marisol turned back to her and nodded. "Yeah it's great! Do you not eat it?" the Gryffindor asked, but her voice trailed off as soon as she saw the elves pull out the raw slice of meat. Marisol bit her lip as her cravings intensified. This had happened last time when the full moon was getting closer. "Um, on second thought, can I have that done rare?" she asked the elves. It took all her effort not to say she wanted it so rare she didn't even want the meat to touch the frying pan, but she knew she would look completely crazy in front of Miya if she ate the piece of meat completely rare. Instead she decided to divert her attention from the bloody steak to the girl in front of her. "So Miya, what house are you in?" she began.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya slowly nodded as Marisol confirmed that steak was good. It was certainly interesting and didn't smell terrible, even if it looked unfamiliar and somewhat wrong to the small girl. "No? I never really ate meat?" The elves quickly returned with another steak for Marisol, eager to please, and Miya's eyebrows raised in curiosity as she saw it. It appeared that rare was almost the same as raw and seeing something that had been an animal once made her stomach churn. She put a flake of pastry into her mouth to stop the feeling of revulsion creeping up her throat. She hated the idea of eating a living thing, but Marisol wasn't exactly sinking her teeth into a creature in front of her, so Miya could ignore it and just hope the steak was good food.

"Hufflepuff?" Miya said cautiously. She wasn't unhappy about her house, but the other houses seemed so much more important and Miya supposed Hufflepuff fit her perfectly. She wasn't good enough for anywhere else. Being in the same house her mother had been in wasn't so bad though, and she liked the colour yellow. "It's got a badger on the crest. I've never seen badgers before?" Miya said thoughtfully. "You're in... Gryffindor?" She tilted her head to the side and smiled. Miya enjoyed trying to memorise faces of all the students, even if she didn't know their names.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Since Marisol had requested her steak to be rare, it didn't take long for it to be finished and the girl couldn't wait to bite into it. The house elves prepared it on a plate for her, garnishing and dressing the dish but the Gryffindor just wanted to bite into the meat already so she didn't care what it looked like. She was extremely grateful for the house elves' work though, so she wasn't going to rush them. It was definitely interesting to see elves in a kitchen instead of adult chefs, but the elves were much easier to convince to make her food than an adult would be, so she had a feeling she would be down her a lot more, especially around a full moon, to request a rare, or possibly raw, steak once her cravings hit again. Once the elves passed her the plate, it took everything in Marisol not to just grab it with her bare hands and bite into it. But she was in present company, and she was really trying not to tap into her "animal instincts" because the thought still made her bitter an uneasy.

The Gryffindor girl instead picked up a fork and knife that the elves had given her and sliced into the meat properly. "Really you've never eaten it?" she wondered, "you're definitely missing out," she chuckled as she took her first bite. The meat was still very bloody and Marisol instantly swallowed the bite and began cutting a second one, finally satisfying her cravings. "What do you eat then if you don't eat meat?" Marisol asked through a mouthful, unable to contain herself and throwing certain manners out the window as she devoured her steak.

Marisol listened to Miya as she talked about the Hufflepuff crest; she'd seen it in the Great Hall often above the house points. "I don't think I've seen a badger either to be honest," Marisol commented once she realized that. "I think they're like raccoons?" she wondered. When the girl guessed that she was a Gryffindor, Marisol nodded her head happily. "Yup I'm in Gryffindor! How did you guess?" she asked. She still didn't know much about the Houses other than what the sorting hat had sung in the sorting ceremony, but she seemed to be adjusting to her house well. "I gotta say, you're the first Hufflepuff I met," she said to the girl, giving her a small smile. It was meant to be a compliment, some sort of achievement in a way. It was like Marisol had a checklist in her mind and she was crossing off all the different types of friends she could make.

 

[Miya Bell]

If all meat looked like what Marisol was eating, Miya wasn't sure she wanted to try it. Most meat was too expensive, and fish was easier to obtain when one of your parents caught it for a living, so it wasn't entirely intentional that Miya hadn't eaten a lot of red meat in her life. She was slightly taken aback at Marisol talking with her mouth full, but it also made her a little more comfortable around the Gryffindor. Miya took a small bite of her pastry, the edge of the crust coming away in her teeth and revealing the filling of curried vegetables. She inhaled the scent and smiled, glad to have avoided the possibility of the pie containing pumpkin. She'd had an interesting time over Halloween, having to dodge around the carved pumpkins in the fear of setting off her allergies. "Uh, well, I do eat fish?. And vegetables and stuff? And... Candy?" Miya knew she ate too much sugar, but her sweet tooth would never be sated. She was happy she'd decided to find real food for dinner though, otherwise she would have missed out on meeting a friendly face.

Miya took another bite of her pastry and licked her teeth to make sure nothing had stuck to them. "Raccoons? Maybe!" she smiled as she spoke, but her head drooped a little. Raccoons were pests and she wondered if badgers were too. The house symbols weren't literal, but Miya found herself a little sad at the thought. If Hufflepuff accepted all students that weren't good enough for the other houses, Miya supposed that would qualify them them as pests. She didn't want to dwell on the thought and turned her attention back to Marisol.

"I know things." she said solemnly, then smiled, her attempt at a mysterious persona vanishing. She shrugged. "I've seen you around a little bit?" Miya hoped that didn't sound as if she had been stalking Marisol. It had probably sounded better in her head, but not as bad as admitting her tendency of watching the other students. "Oh, wow." Marisol's words made her feel like she suddenly had a lot to live up to for the representation of her house. "I think you're the first Gryffindor I've met? You must be really brave. To be a Gryffindor?" she said, returning the Gryffindor's smile. ​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol noticed that Miya seemed to be taken aback by how unashamedly she was eating her steak, especially considering their conversation was about how Miya didn't eat meat. The latina nodded her head when she said what she ate and made sure to swallow her food completely before saying, "Yeah that's all good too, sorry it was a dumb question to ask," she chuckled lightly. "So are you a vegetarian then?" she wondered. If she was, Miya probably got the 'what do you eat' question often and Marisol understood now how dumb it sounded. Yet if Miya wasn't a vegetarian Marisol was just curious what type of meat she did eat for protein. Perhaps in another life she would've been a vegetarian, but with her affliction, it would likely never happen, this bloody steak was way too good.

Marisol picked up the knife and fork again and took another bite, wanting to devour her food yet at the same time not wanting to finish it so soon. It was as if the house elves sensed her dilemma, because at that moment they asked her if she wanted another one. Marisol sheepishly said yes, asking for it to be 'extra rare' as an alternative to 'raw.' "Sorry," she muttered to Miya. This was probably not a pleasant encounter for the Hufflepuff girl.

When Miya said she had seen her around, Marisol shrunk inwardly on herself slightly. "Oh," she said, her face falling. "Like in class?" she wondered. She hated the idea of someone knowing who she was without being aware of it first. Ever since she had gotten bitten, all the Professors knew who she was even if she hadn't taken their class yet. She was constantly being watched; she was a threat to students after all. And yet when it didn't involve her lycanthropy, she hated being noticed by her peers because it most likely meant they saw how bad she was at magic in her classes compared to them. "I don't think I'm very brave at all," she shook her head, her confidence shot. "I'm not sure why I was placed in Gryffindor, maybe it was my pride," she rolled her eyes at herself, but gave a small weak chuckle in a poor attempt to lift the mood again. "Do you like Hufflepuff?" she wondered. "Maybe I would've been better there," she mused.

 

[Miya Bell]

"No, no, it's not dumb." Miya quickly batted away the apology. She was always so fast to call anything she did dumb, but she couldn't tolerate anyone else thinking that. Miya thought about the vegetarian question and looked puzzled for a second. "Kind of? Maybe? I think it's called something different because I eat fish, but? I don't know." she shrugged and pulled another flake off her pastry.

The meat Marisol ate was incredibly disgusting to Miya, but she really didn't mind. It wasn't as it was being shoved in her face. She only smiled and shook her head slightly as Marisol asked for another steak. Miya had memories of her breakfast being dumped in her hair, and smelling like fermented beans all day, just because some muggle kids thought her food was weird, and she didn't want to make Marisol feel uncomfortable about her eating preferences.

"Um, yes?" Miya couldn't remember if Marisol was actually in any of her classes or not. She had a tendency to blank out during lessons. Being in a room with lots of other people and not being able to leave made her panic, so her observation skills had to be shut off so she could cope. "And around in school places?" she faltered, worried she'd said something to upset the Gryffindor girl. She chewed on her pastry and studied Marisol quietly. "Hufflepuff is nice." Miya said. As it was the only house she had been in, Miya didn't have anything to compare it do. "Maybe. But, you might be braver than you think?" she hummed thoughtfully.

She took another bite of her pastry and gave Marisol an encouraging smile. "Hm. Do you have a favourite class?" Miya asked, after she'd swallowed. The classes at Hogwarts were so different from the lessons her muggle parent had taught her, and Miya was interested to see how Marisol felt about them.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol didn't like that people like Miya knew who she was outside of class, because she didn't like drawing attention to herself. She was not very good at magic and she often missed a few classes every month in preparation for the full moon, so if anyone was noticing her, it was definitely not for a good reason. Marisol didn't have many friends for this reason, she wanted to keep these things about herself as private as possible, but she did appreciate the friends she did have already, more than they could know. And she didn't seem to have very many female friends, and so far Miya seemed to not judge her at all, especially if they had their differences. Marisol appreciated that.

"Sometimes I think bravery is a synonym for stupidity," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at herself. Of course she was referring to herself mostly, and that night she got bitten. She had decided to explore New Zealand on her own at night, a terribly stupid decision, not at all brave. "Maybe Gryffindor does suit me after all," she decided. She smiled at Miya to let her know she was only half-joking. Just then her second steak was finished and handed over to her, and it was bloodier than the first. Marisol clapped her hands in excitement and thanked the house elves. As she began to slice into the new piece of meat, Marisol answered the Hufflepuff's question. "Hmm, well I really like Defense Against the Dark Arts a lot, but I think my favorite might be Potions," she said after careful consideration. Potions didn't require use of her wand, so she was able to keep up just fine. Plus she was rather fond of Professor Pendleton who made her feel like a normal kid, and not like a child with an incurable disease - which she technically was - and he knew that considering he was the one who made her Wolfsbane Potion every month - but Marisol felt like a regular student around him. "What about you?" she asked Miya.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya was a slow eater, but she finally finished her pastry with a last big bite and picked up a smaller one. She nibbled around the edges of the soft crust while Marisol spoke. She smiled, but her eyebrows knitted together in slight worry at Marisol's joke. If bravery and stupidity were the same, then that would make Miya pretty brave. She had no belief that she was in any way smart, bur it made her sad to hear someone else saying bad things about themselves.

She chewed on the inside of her lip and tried not to grimace at the steak Marisol was eating. Miya was too shy to say anything about it, but she couldn't imagine herself eating something as creepy looking as the steak. "Potions are so complicated." she commented brightly, clearly impressed at it being Marisol's favourite. She thought the Gryffindor girl must be very talented. It made her think of the 'potions' she used to make in the back yard out of flowers, although wizard potions were less like perfume and thinking too hard about what they contained made Miya feel a little queasy.

"Um." Miya tillted her head as she thought about the question. She enjoyed Herbology a lot because of all the plants, but it wasn't her favourite. "I really like Transfiguration." she said. Transforming things into other things hadn't lost its novelty for Miya. Barely pausing for a breath, she continued. "And the professor can turn into a dog and that's so cool! Being an animagus must be amazing." she said with a dreamy smile. Miya had read a little about animagi in the library after learning about them in class and thought it was incredible that some wizards could turn into animals at will. She wished she was able to learn to do it, but Miya was sure it was far too complicated for someone as useless as her.

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol was surprised when Miya said Potions were so complicated. "Not at all!" she replied, "the professor is so nice, for me, he makes it easy to remember things." All of that was true, Potions was just a lot of memorization of things, ingredient uses and the proper steps, but Marisol also didn't want to admit that she liked Potions because it didn't require her wand. Marisol was starting to believe that her wand was also playing a factor her inability to cast spells, it just wouldn't work for her.

When the Hufflepuff girl talked about Transfiguration, Marisol was going to tell her that she hadn't yet taken that class. But then she mentioned the professor turning into a dog and the Gryffindor girl was no longer excited to hear about the class she hadn't taken yet. Mari scowled and said, "Oh, I know that professor." She chewed on her steak to keep her from saying anything worse. "One time I was in the Forest with my friend, and he snuck up on us, in his stupid dog form, and growled at us as if he was going to attack us!" she said, completely glossing over the fact that she was not even supposed to be in the forest in the first place. "It was terrifying! I mean what kind of Professor does that?!" she huffed, taking another bite of her steak to calm herself. She was careful not to mention the fact that she had had flashbacks of her attack since it was so similar, but that was why she disliked that professor so much. "I haven't even taken his class yet, but I pretty much hate him," she said sourly.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya's memory for names and measurements was not very good, but she hoped the Potions professor was as nice as Marisol said. She had never been able to remember the correct amount for ingredients when she was baking at home, and making potions looked a lot more dangerous. The worst Miya could do with cookies was make them taste bad or end up burnt.

Her happiness over her favourite class drifted away at Marisol's reaction, but her eyes widened a little as the Gryffindor girl mentioned she had been in the forest. Miya wasn't really surprised, sneaking into it almost seemed like a rite of passage for first years from what she had caught in the whispers of other students, but it cemented her opinion that Marisol must be very brave and definitely a Gryffindor if she would break the rules like that. She wrinkled her nose, and felt a snarl inside her chest that could have been anger as she heard what the professor had done. "That's... really awful!" she said. It was worse than awful, but Miya was unable to describe a situation she hadn't been in and didn't know the full story. She couldn't understand why somebody would try to scare students, but she was hardly surprised. Miya had been terrified of all her professors since her first lessons and now it looked like that fear could be justified.

"If I was an animagus, I wouldn't do stuff like scare people." Miya said determinedly, her face still set in a mask of disgust. She greatly disapproved of using magic to do bad things, no matter what the reason. "I'd be a bunny, or something friendly? Or a bird. Because flying!" she thought out loud. "Magic should be used to help people." Miya nodded firmly. She hated the idea of it being used for anything else.

 

[Marisol Woods]

For some reason, Marisol was suddenly regretting telling Miya about the story in the Forbidden Forest and the Transfiguration professor. So far she had gone against everything the Hufflepuff girl had said or done, and it made Marisol feel awful. The girl was disgusted by meat and yet here she was eating the bloodiest steak she could get her hands on, and she had just ruined the image of the professor of her favorite class. This caused Marisol to speak up again and clarify some things. "Well, I mean, I guess it is a little justified because he was trying to 'teach us a lesson' or whatever, since I shouldn't have been in the Forbidden Forest," she said weakly.

She sighed and said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you think less of Professor Summers," she caught her lip between her teeth. "I still don't like him, but I'm sure he's a nice guy," she shrugged. As Miya talked about Transfiguration and what she would like to turn into, Marisol smiled. Truthfully, she hated turning into a werewolf every month, but perhaps if she had gotten a choice on the matter, it would seem cool to her as well. "Flying does sound cool," she commented with a small smile. When Miya said magic should be used to help people, the Gryffindor girl grimaced a little. "I wish magic was good enough to help people, but it's not always," she said sourly. When she had first found out about magic, she thought it was the greatest thing ever, but after finding out that magic couldn't cure her lycanthropy, she became completely disillusioned with magic. It wasn't almighty like everyone made it seem.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya gave a minute nod as Marisol explained, and bit the inside of her lip at the words 'teach us a lesson'. Mean things were still mean even if there was a justification. "I-It's okay." Miya squeaked, smiling to show that it didn't bother her. She didn't have much of an opinion about Professor Summers yet anyway, and probably still would have thought he was cool even if he turned out to be made out of pure evil. It was difficult for Miya to dislike somebody, and she was terrified of people by default anyway. She flinched at Marisol's grimace and wondered what kind of magic the Gryffindor had experienced to make her feel negatively about it. "If magic can't help, then people can help people." she said, trying her best to keep her tone light.

Miya's body was starting to like it was being squeezed by nerves and she didn't feel like eating anymore. Her hands had started shaking a little and she kneaded her pastry softly with her fingers to keep them busy before it got too obvious. She was enjoying talking to Marisol, but talking to people was just as scary as performing on stage with a spotlight on her and only got worse the longer she talked. "Are we going to break curfew?" Miya asked. Everything was getting to be too loud and she was beginning to feel a little light-headed. "Not that I want to leave you, but? Curfew?" she said quickly. She didn't want Marisol to think she'd done something wrong or that Miya didn't like her, but curfew sounded like a weak excuse to leave in the Hufflepuff's head.​

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol smiled brightly at Miya at what she said about people helping people. "I've never thought of it like that, I like it," she said honestly. It was such an interesting way to look at it all. Mari thought that since magic couldn't cure her, she would just be afflicted with this disease forever, but the thought of people helping her made it seem better. Sure, people couldn't "cure" her, but they could possibly make her transitions better with their support. The Gryffindor liked how positive and optimistic Miya seemed to be. Marisol needed to work on that, and she knew someone like Miya would help her learn to see the bright side of things. Although she doubted there was a 'bright side' to being a werewolf.

Marisol continued eating the last few bites of her steak, feeling stuffed but not wanting to waste any of her food because the house-elves had been so eager to accommodate her requests, especially since she didn't know when she would next be able to have such a bloody steak. Just as she was finishing up her meal, Miya pointed out that they had a curfew to abide by. "Oh yeah I forgot," the Gryffindor said in between mouthfuls. She had forgotten that they would get in trouble if they were caught out of bounds and she had already lost so many points for her house for disobeying rules, she probably shouldn't get into anymore trouble; she was a Gryffindor through and through. "Yeah I guess I should get going, I have further to go to get to my dorm," she said with a light chuckle.

As she got up from the counter she had been sitting at, Marisol thanked the house elves and turned to the Hufflepuff. "Well Miya, thank you so much for showing me where the kitchen was!" She had a feeling she would be down here more around full moons. "It was so nice to meet you!" she said truthfully. Miya was the first friend that really made Marisol reflect on her own thoughts and actions, and the impulsive short-tempered girl really needed someone like that; though she doubted Miya wanted someone as 'opposite' of her as a friend.

 

[Miya Bell]

Miya beamed at Marisol's approval of her statement. Whenever her mother had cast a spell that backfired, which was often, it usually hadn't been more magic that fixed the mess. Miya would always help carefully pick up whatever had accidentally broken in the chaos and they'd laugh about it together. She tried to remember those times whenever she couldn't get a spell right or didn't know a charm that would fix her problems, although it always made her miss home.

She was relieved that Marisol didn't appear to think the Hufflepuff was trying to get rid of her. Curfew didn't make sense to Miya, but she didn't want to needlessly break rules and get in trouble for breaking it. She kept her unfinished pastry in her hands, planning to eat the rest of it somewhere with less eyes watching her, and whispered a thank you to the house-elves after Marisol.

The elves took the tray of uneaten pastries away, and Miya almost regretted not taking a few more to stuff in her pockets. She brushed the crumbs from her clothing and quickly checked nothing had fallen out of her pockets. "See you around, Marisol?" she smiled at Marisol, and headed up towards the Hufflepuff common room. Seeing and talking, she hoped, instead of just spying from afar. Miya was curious about Marisol and wanted to get to know her better. It would be good for the Hufflepuff to have more friends, even strange ones who willingly ate suspiciously bloody steak.​