Friends Made of Snakes and Griffins.

[Paul Skullebrew]

It was somewhat a cold evening. Most were inside the Castle getting warm by the fire in their commons. Not him. He was meeting someone. A friend. A girl named Rebecca. She was what he would consider his first friend made here at Hogwarts. Indeed there was a big twist to their friendship as some would consider it. They were from Polar Opposites of houses. She was a Slytherin, he was a Gryffindor. This did not bother him at all. It was just simply amazing to finally have a friend. She was nice to him, so he was going to be just as nice back.

Paul wondered if he would possibly see any creatures. Perhaps a centaur. He wanted to see a half horse half human thing. "Brr." Paul whispered to himself.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca smiled as she walked into the Forbidden Forest. She was going to meet her friend Paul. She made her way into the forest where she had told him to meet her using her wand for light. She had found the spot while exploring, it was pretty far back but there were some rocks and not a lot of trees so some moonlight came in. She saw Paul up ahead and stuck her wand into her jacket. It was cold, and as she approached she heard him say brr. "Yeah it cold isn't it." She said coming up from behind him. She hoped he wouldn't be scared.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

Paul nearly jumped into the nearest tree after hearing someone come up behind him. Apparently brave Gyffindor boys were quite afraid of Slytherin girls' voices. He turned around and smiled. "Hey there Rebecca! I suppose I'm just the littlest bit jumpy." He said kind of chuckling. Paul realized how embarrassing that was. Oh well. He looked at Rebecca than walked over to her giving her a hug. "It sure is nice to see you again." He said. I certainly was getting more cold by the minute. He wondered if her jacket was enough to keep her warm. Wanting to keep Chivalry alive he asked, "Want my coat? You look awfully cold there."

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca laughed in a friendly way when he jumped, she hadn't meant to scare him but it was quite funny. "Hey Paul, sorry to have scared you." She smiled at him, she was glad to be seeing him again tonight, she knew they didn't know each other very well, but she felt close to him already. "I'm glad to see you too." She said hugging him back, it was nice he was warm. He asked if she wanted his coat, "No, I couldn't you'd freeze to death." She said smiling still. she couldn't let him do that it was simply to cold out, "But thanks for the offer." She said suddenly remembering her manners.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Aww shucks, I won't! It's quite alright. We boys gotta learn how to toughen it out sometime or another!" Paul said taking his coat off then offering it to her. "Well if not, just please if yah get cold tell me and I'll give yah it." He said again. His father taught him to treat your friends right. Especially female. He learnt they were more delicate than males as any boy should know. He realized his father was a great guy. No wonder his mother fell for him. Thus Paul decided to lead in his father's footsteps and make him proud. He wanted to do well here both socially and educationally at Hogwarts New Zealand. "So Rebecca, where are yah from?" Paul asked.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca was glad that Paul had offered, it just made there friendship closer. "I will, but I'm not really delicate like some girls." Rebecca hated to admit it but her parents death had hardened her quite a bit. Paul asked where she was from and she wouldn't lie to him like she would have to most, "I live here in New Zealand. It's a small town orphan edge, nothing special." She shrugged and looked at him hoping he wouldn't pull the sympathetic card, "What about you? Where are you from?" She asked questioningly actually taking a great interest in the conversation.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

Not delicate like others eh? Paul had thought. "That makes you stronger then the rest. Bet you can beat any of the Slytherin boys." He said with a wink. An orphanage? He thought again. "I'm sorry! May I ask what happened? I mean, I'm sure you're a tough girl, but anything like that is deeply depressing. Nothing can stop that." Paul asked. He felt bad of course. It was just, he hated the thought of being an orphan. It seemed like a cold type of place with no love. Or at least that's the stereotype taught. "I'm from Maryland, USA. It's a nice home. My father has taught me a lot." He said slightly smiling.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca laughed at what he said, "I'm sure." But then she remembered him, the Gryffindor that had hit her. She had carefully hid the bruise, but she couldn't help but remember how she could do nothing when he hit her. It had made her feel helpless. "It's not your fault, We were all in a car accident my father, brother, mother, and I. But mom and dad didn't make it." She frowned slightly this was really the first time she had had to explain her family life to anyone. "America huh? That's cool, I'm sure your father is a good man then." She smiled if he was anything like his son, Paul had been nothing but nice to her so far.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

Paul was amazed at how easily she took this. Her mom and dad dead and she still revealed to him a smile. It was unacceptable. She was hiding way to much pain. If Paul knew anything it was that pain shouldn't be hidden and it was clear she had much of it. The death of your parents is almost like the death of a part of you. "Rebecca...." Paul said slowly, "I know you aren't okay. There is bound to be a lot of pain. That's just simply horrible. If you ever need to vent about anything, I'm of course always here for you. I don't want you to hide your pain. It is definitely not healthy at all."

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca knew that she was easy to read. It was one of her flaws. No matter how hard she tried most people could see through her act. "It is hard but I don't want to but all that on you tonight. I will sometime, but tonight I really would just like to talk about happier things." She realized how bossy that must have sounded, "If you don't mind that is." She said looking at him. She just wanted to get to know him better first. She sat down near a large rock and motioned for him to join her. "What do you want to talk about." She hoped he would change the subject. What with her knew bully to worry about she needed to think positively.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Of course I don't mind!" Paul said softly with a smile. He would change the subject and another time venture deeper into her secrets. She wasn't like most Slytherins. Then again, nor was his father. He wondered what Rebecca was like when she was angry. Anyways, all Paul knew now was that she needed some cheering up and some positive talk. He walked over to her and sat beside her. Close. To show he cared about their conversation and wanted to help her and cheer her up. After all, she was his friend now. "Well, I'd like to talk about you. However, let's save that talk for another time. A more appropriate time. Are you excited for your classes? And what about Quidditch? I hear that is a ton of fun. I simply cannot wait for that!" Paul exclaimed.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca was glad they wouldn't talk about her just yet. She knew that it would help her but today wasn't the day. When he sat next to her it wasn't so cold and she was glad truthfully she was cold but she would never tell Paul that. She couldn't have him giving her his jacket. "I'm very excited for school especially Astronomy." Rebecca loved planets and stars. They fascinated her more than anything else. "And Quidditch does sound interesting." Rebecca wasn't necessarily good at sports but it would be fun to watch.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Astronomy eh? I like learning that. My father taught me a bit of that. It's quite amazing." Paul said gazing off into the distance. He wondered if there were any creatures near by. Perhaps a centaur. He had always wanted to meet one. They were such mighty beasts. His father had told stories upon stories of wars they helped wizards in and wars they had with wizards. "Quidditch is what I want to maybe be my proffession. It seems so amazing." Paul said.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca smiled looking up a the stars. They were quite a sight. "I love Astronomy so much, I've studied it quite a bit." She listened as he spoke about wanting to be a professional Quidditch player. "I think that could be fun, I think I want to be a Astronomy Professor." She grinned 'Professor Rebecca Gemstone.' It sounded nice to her and she would be doing something that she loved to do. "Are you any good at Quidditch?" She asked nicely. She hoped he was, she wanted him to succeed in his wants.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Hehehehehe....Well actually I'm going to need a lot of practice. I'm an unfortunate failure at Quidditch. However that won't keep me from at the very least trying. My father was super good at it and he tried to teach me, but he really never had a chance since I only just recently started to get interested in Quidditch. It's gunna be a journey, but I'll try and complete it." Paul replied. No creatures yet, and at the looks of it, there was not going to be any showing up anytime soon. He hoped they were nice. He didn't want to meet a mean creature.
"So are you planning on staying at Hogwarts all 7 years? I know some people continue school elsewhere. I'd kind of like to complete it in my hometown." Paul said.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca laughed along with him, he had a nice laugh. "Well maybe I can watch you practice sometime." As long as no one was there she didn't see why not. He asked if she would stay all seven years and she thought about it for a minute. "I guess I will go if my brother goes. I just want to be in the same school as him." She smiled she was so happy her brother was here at Hogwarts and she was here now too. It was lonely at home without him. And to top it all off they were in the same house. So they saw each other nearly everyday.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Ahh, you have a strong connection with your brother? If he's anything like you, I'm sure he's quite nice. He's the one named Paul right?" Paul asked. He looked up. It was thick with trees. He wondered why it was such a forbidden place to be. It seemed so peaceful. Why was it so secured. Paul knew that answers would be given as soon as school started. As for now he'd have to wait.
"You know, I kinda want to venture further." He said.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

"Yeah we are pretty close it just being the two if us." She yet again smiled through the pain hoping that he wouldn't notice. "Paul is nice to me but he and I tend to have a temper." She didn't know why she was being so completely honest with Paul but she knew it felt really good to talk with him. He said he wanted to go further, it was dark and Rebecca liked the idea of that, "Lets." She said standing up and wiping off her pants, already missing Paul's warmth. She knew that they may run into a creature but she thought it could be fun as long as it was a nice one.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

It was colder and colder as the walked. However, it didn't seem to bother Paul. He knew that the cold was probably annoying Rebecca so he handed her his jacket. He really didn't need it. Whether she took it or not he didn't really care for that jacket. So it was either on the ground or over her. "It's so peaceful out here. There are no annoying people. It's like a nice little get away from life." Paul said softly staring in front as they walked.
"How do you like it here?" He asked Rebecca.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca took the jacket. It was cold and she wouldn't let him leave it, she was cold after all. She pulled it on over her jacket, it fit well over it, Paul was quite a bit bigger than her after all. "Thanks." She looked over to him seeing some movement in the trees. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. "Yeah, I like it, I've been coming out here a lot actually." She looked around and didn't see any other movement. "Surprisingly it makes me feel safer out here away from everything."

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"Of course." Paul said blankly.

For an odd reason, Paul agreed with what Rebecca said. This Forbidden Forrest made him feel safer as well. People were the source of destruction. It seemed creatures only wanted away from it. Thus whenever wizards came into site thy would either fight them off or something of that unless they knew the person was safe. He wondered what a Centaur would do if they ran into one. He really didn't know many spells, so the only way of fighting off was the use of his strength. Which honestly wasn't much of anything.

"You know, I agree. This place is a getaway from muggles, wizards, and chaos. People seem to be the cause of chaos. Creatures hide from it. I think that's why we haven't seen anything. They want nothing to do with us. Not that they're afraid, but they despise our destruction." Paul said.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca nodded in understanding, she knew that people were bad, especially muggles, look what they were doing to the planet. It was insane the way people treated nature, and other people for that matter. "I know exactly how you feel, it's just so wrong what we are doing. But here it's like it's still untouched." She looked at the small animals in trees and bushes hiding form them. They were afraid of them, and they should be. Humans could be terrible creatures.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

Rebecca was the first one he was being deep with besides his father. To him, he wouldn't even bother trying if the other person didn't get it. So many people didn't too. However she was different. She understood. "It's kind of sad we have earned this reputation. It's also very sad an 11 year old such as myself understands how horrible people are at such an early age. We have to make a difference though. Make a difference by befriending a creature. Like a Centaur. It's going to be our mission for our first year here okay Rebecca?" He asked. It really was such a shame people were so destructive. Even in primitive years. They ave always destroyed nature.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca nodded at what he said, she knew that she was more mature than some kids her age, but most like her got hard quick. "I think that's a great idea. Try and rebel against human ways. Prove to a creature we aren't like the others. It sounds like an adventure to me." She looked over to Paul, they may be from opposite houses but they had so much in common it was unreal. She hoped as they tried to accomplish their goal they could learn more about each other. He already knew more about her than no one else, but she did want to eventually tell him everything. She didn't wan to have any secrets with at least one person.

 

[Paul Skullebrew]

"I really wish that we'd run into a Centaur. I would really like to meet one. Just to like say I could have been in one's presence. They're such mighty beasts and they've helped us so much. All they really want is peace from us. They don't enjoy our invasive plots. They probably don't even enjoy the castle being built here." Paul said with a puzzled expression. He wondered what they would encounter. "We have a lot in common Rebecca. From opposite houses, yet so much in common. I really like it." Pal said with a giant grin.