It's Gonna Be a Long Night

[Kasper Snowhill]

There was no such thing as a quiet spot in the student lounge, he thought, Kas had forgotten the password to the Hufflepuff Common Room, and since it was close to their Commen room, it was the best place he knew of to find another Hufflepuffer, Kasper's assumptions, however, had been incorrect. In fact, the student lounge was as empty as it could be. The day had been long and exhausting, and all Kasper wanted to do was go to bed and lay down and fall asleep in his new bed. He sat down on the couch near the fireplace, trying to remember the password while enjoying the warmth of the fire that glowed.

He hoped that he had already made a few friends on his way to Hogwarts, but Kasper hadn't, he felt like he was alone, not because he didn't have any friends, but because he missed his parents, and school friends. Both Miles and his father told him that they also didn't made friends in the first few days, but according to the two of them it would change, everyone had to get used to his or her new home.

 

[Eilidh Evans]

It had taken a bit of wandering around, but Eilidh was finally getting used to this school, finally getting used to the twisting paths and hallways. She'd spent some time with her sister and her cousin the first few days, none of them were in the same house, so they had sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table for breakfast a couple of times, and her sister had shown her around, pointing out different areas, they'd had a good bonding session. As much as Eilidh was ready to go out and make some friends she liked having these people to fall back on during these first few days, it was nerves of a brand new place that had been getting to her. She enjoyed being the centre of attention much more than she enjoyed anything else, but it was difficult in a new school with people she didn't know all that well, in a place she wasn't yet familiar with. The girl was trying to in these first few days figure out her place, but it was proving hard, she didn't quite know what to expect from the school, and much less how best to go about things. She didn't know which clubs she wanted to join yet, and she had no clue about how she would fit into this house of hers. It was all just a whole lot of confusion and she was trying to learn as much about this place in the first few days to help her as time went on.

She had found herself wondering the halls, until she had finally stumbled upon a student lounge, and due to the fact it was a little after dinner she could tell that it was mostly empty. That was, apart from a boy around her age sitting facing the fire, looking just a little bit sorry for himself. She remembered him from the sorting ceremony, remembered his face, from it though not which house, he wasn't a slytherin, she was certain of that, but he was one of the others and she didn't know which. Figuring now was as good a time as any, Eilidh decided to make friends, she didn't care who her friends were just as long as they were loyal to her and paid attention to her, "Hello" her hello made longer as she sat down next to him, "What are you doing? Just staring into the fire? Are you missing home? We literally just got here, how can you possibly miss it?" she asked him all in one breath, both curious and eager to get conversation with this guy going. She didn't know how else to do that, it was so long since she had had to start from scratch when it came to making friends.
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

His imagination took over, and Kasper started seeing figures in the dancing flames, figures that were sort of fighting each other. While staring into the fire, several topics popped-up in his head. How hard were the lessons going to be for a Muggle Born wizard? Whether he should stay and celebrate his first Christmas as a Hogwarts student at the school, or if he should go home and celebrate it like he used to do, with his parents. Kasper was curious how it would be in six months, if he would be surrounded by his new friends, or would he be a failure to his family. But the only thing that mattered to him was surviving the first week of his new school.

He snapped out of his thoughts after hearing a voice, looking from who the voice was he saw a girl from around the same age as him approaching him and sitting down next to him. "Hey" the boy said with a smile on his face. "It is kind of relaxing you know, watching the flames." Kasper put his legs on the table for him. "I'm not missing home, just thinking about what will happen in the future." he smiled again, hoping that the girl wouldn't find that weird. "What about you? Why are you here?"

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh was glad that at least in the first instance the boy didn't completely reject her, she gave him a small smile as she brought her leg under her and sat crossed legged, eyes glancing over to the fire, watching the flames for a few seconds and then turning back to the boy. The slytherin girl frowned at his words, "We literally just got here," she said to him in disbelief, they had literally just arrived and he was already thinking about the future. Eilidh was a very much here and now kind of person, what happened after she was dead would be no interest to her as long as she had managed to achieve in this life. Eilidh wasn't sure therefore what to make of the boy, maybe he was a muggleborn, so therefore new to this world, perhaps that was why he was like that. She assumed that someone who was muggleborn that there would just be countless, endless questions about this world and everything that would follow it, everything that it brought.

The girl shrugged as a reply to his question, "Just wandering about, getting a feel for the place," she told him honestly, not sure why she'd been so plain about what she was doing, it shouldn't matter what she was doing, usually, well, in her last school she would've made up some story about how she was searching for the great art work, or something stupid like that, but she was just being honest. Perhaps her mind was deciding that it would need a friend at this school, a friend who could keep her company, though since he wasn't a hufflepuff and very possibly a muggleborn she wasn't sure how close she should allow herself to become to him. But in there and then, it didn't really matter, "I'm Eilidh," she introduced holding out her hand, "Slytherin," she added, wondering if that information was important, but deciding it probably didn't really matter, though it probably didn't hurt to say it, "I dare you to touch the fire," she challenged with a small slight smirk on her face, this place was magic, surely they cast spells to ensure students didn't get burned.
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

He knew that they just got here, but that wasn't stopping him from thinking about the future. ''Aren't you a little curious what might happen to you in two months? I know I am.'' The only reason why he was curious was because he was a Muggle Born and read that some people had a serious hate for people with that Blood Status. Although Kasper was learned that being a Muggle Born was something to be proud of and that you don't need to worry about it, even though he did it anyway. ''Kasper, nice to meet you.'' the boy shook her hand and smiled. ''Hufflepuff.'' Kasper added. His cousin had told him a few things about the houses, so he knew a bit about them. Kasper smirked too when she challenged him, he didn't know if this was magical fire, or real fire, but he used to put his finger above a burning candle. ''Alright, sure.'' He stood up and walked to the fire place, sat down on his knees, and carefully pointed his finger towards the fire. When Kasper's finger touched the flames he quickly withdrew his finger. ''Ouch!''

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh just continued to frown at him, "Well yeah, but also, not really, I mean I'm happier living in this moment," she told him as if it was stupid to be looking ahead when the time was now, when it was this moment that matter not a possible moment two months down the line. Eilidh was very much a right here and now kind of person, she dealt with whatever come her way as it happened, she did things in the moment, she wasn't the type of person who just waited or planned, so perhaps that was why she was having such difficulties coming to grips with what he was saying, why he would be like that. It was just strange to her why he would do that, "Have to live in the now," she told him, trying to sound like her mother did when she was telling Eilidh to do something that Eilidh couldn't do very well. The boy introduced himself and they shook hands, "Nice to meet you Kasper," she replied in kind, "Are you named after Kasper the friendly ghost?" she asked, that was the only thing she could think of when it came to his name. Daring him to touch the fire was pretty easy, she didn't think he would do it, and squealed with excitement when he did it, although surprised that the fire wasn't magical and therefore didn't burn his hand. She thought it was perhaps a little dangerous or the staff just assumed that they wouldn't try to touch it, "I thought they'd have a spell cast on it that would make it not hurt,"
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

Kasper agreed with her, it was much better to live in the now instead of thinking about a future that might never happen. ''Yeah, you're right, it's probably better not to think about it too much.'' He thought about what his grandfather told him: you decide your on future, it's all about the choices that you make. The boy began to laugh when Eilidh asked who he was named after. ''I don't know, probably not,'' he said while turning his head to her and lightly shaking it. ''Never asked them that.'' The tip of his forefinger began to be get slightly red, and Kasper started to blow on his finger. ''Alright, since I did my dare, you need to do one too,'' he said cheerfully, as of nothing had happened to his finger. ''Okay, I dare you to..'' Instead of knowing what he was going to say, he had to think about it for a second. ''I dare you to open a window and shout your name.'' while Kasper said it he was tapping his hands on the armrests in excitement.

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh's face broke into a smile when it appeared she had swayed him, it seemed like this would be a good friend, or at the very least a useful first friend. The girl thought it was better to live in this moment whatever this moment was and not in some future moment that he didn't really know. She thought it was strange that he didn't ask about if his name came from the ghostly character, but perhaps he just didn't know it, it was fairly old, and the only reason she knew even a little about it was her father and his strange love for the film. The young girl looked at him, expecting the dar to come, but when he said what it was she was to do, the girl just rolled her eyes, how simple. Eilidh leaned forward and then untangled her legs before getting up. She brushed strands of her hair aside as she made her way to the window, she opened and then wondered, full name, or just first name, the girl turned back round and shrugged, what did it matter. The slytherin grabbed a chair, and placed it just underneath the window, the standing on it to better lean out the window, "EILIDH EVANS," she shouted as loud as she could before listening to the slight echo and then looking back round at Kasper, "Good?"
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

''Perfect!'' the young boy said with a smile on his face. He thought that it was kinda brave of her to shout her name as loud as she could, especially since they're first years and probably shouldn't be in the Student Lounge at this time. ''Hopefully we didn't alert any of the professors, that would suck.'' Kasper was the kind of person that liked to do stuff that got you into trouble, but never got into trouble for doing it. ''So, what is your first impression of this castle? I think it's pretty cool here.'' Kasper asked her in excitement.

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh went back to sit with the boy and shrugged at him, "Well, if they do we can just pretend it wasn't us," she told him, as if that was the most obvious thing ever. A tone she was finding herself using a lot when it came to Kasper though she was actually really enjoying his company. He was nice, and though Eilidh doubted if they would be life long friends, she was glad to be spending this time with him now, a way to pass the time, at his question she glanced around her and then a small smile grew on her lips, "I like it," she told him, nodding her head as she said this, and it was true, Eilidh really did like it. It was spacious, she had friends, and family here, she could practice quidditch whenever she wanted, she could do what she wanted without her parents saying anything, it was the perfect sort of life for her, she had everything she had ever wanted right at her finger tips, "I really like it, the castle's pretty neat and plus that quidditch field is amazing," she told him, "Do you play?" she asked, since she did play and was really hoping to be able to try out for the team this year, if of course she was allowed to since first years generally didn't, and if they did try-out the generally they didn't get to play, but were on the team, she wanted to be on the team.
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

Kasper smiled and nodded in agreement, ''Or we can just run away, they probably don't know our names.'' running away sounded more fun than pretending, according to him at least, but he deep down knew that running away from professors could be a very stupid thing to do.The Hufflepuffer nodded again, ''Yes, I do. Well, I just started playing with my cousin, but I do.'' Ever since Kasper found out that he had a cousin he learned a lot about the Wizarding World he knew so little about. ''Too bad first years aren't allowed to play for their Houses, otherwise I would've definitely tried to get a spot on the Hufflepuff team.'' he said to her.

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Running seemed like a good enough way of dealing with this, since they could probably run quicker than the professor or any person trying to keep up. She looked at the boy with a smile and shrugged her shoulders slightly, "I guess so, we could also just act like we knew nothing about what happened, I mean they have nothing to tie us to it," she suggested, really the bottom line was that they weren't about to be caught for anything, it was very unlikely. She smiled at him, when he said that he played, "I play with my siblings, I have two, one of them is on the Gryffindor team," she told him with a proud smile, she didn't care about if she wasn't supposed to try out, she was going to try, and at the very least be an alternate, if she was allowed to, "I want to get a spot on the Slytherin team, what position do you play?" she asked curious to know if she'd be up against one another.
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

Kasper liked this girl, she seemed really nice to him. ''Probably not,'' he said, ''And if they asked for our names, we can always make them up.'' When Eilidh told him that she had a sibling playing for the Gryffindor team, he looked at her, astonished. ''That is so freakin' cool!'' Kasper exclaimed cheerfully, almost shouting it. ''We should definitely all play together sometimes!'' Like her, he also wanted a spot in the Quidditch team, but if the rules were that first years are not allowed to play for their team yet, then the only thing that he can do is to wait until he is in his second year. ''I enjoy playing as a Keeper or Chaser. How 'bout you?''

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh having played with her family had always managed to move between the positions, she had gotten pretty good at them really. The girl smiled at the boy, "Well, one of my siblings doesn't go here, but my cousin who goes to the school does and she plays too, so we should definitely get a friendly game," The girl was really excited by the prospect of being able to fly sooner rather than later, she loved flying and she enjoyed playing even more so. The fact she might have to wait until second year before she got on the team was silently killing her really, "I play either as a chaser or a beater, but because we play so much we switch roles," she told him, "Back home when my cousins come round we get massive games started, well, not massive but you know big," she smiled proudly at the fact she played often with her family, not knowing if he did or not, "Do you own a broom?"
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

At this moment, Kasper was very happy that he met his cousin, because Miles had teached him the basics of the game during stay in the summer holidays. Sure, Kasper's tactics needed improvement but he was working on that. ''I only have my cousin to play with,'' he said to the girl, ''My dad doesn't like Quidditch that much, so before my cousin showed up I had no one to play with.'' Kasper smiled at Eilidh, still having that cheerfull expression on his face. The boy shifted his legs onto the armrest of the chair, getting comfortable. ''Yeah, I do,'' Kasper told her, ''I own a Tinderblast, it isn't the best one out there, but it does its job well.''

 

[Eilidh Evans]

The young girl listened along, wondering if perhaps this boy's family was a little bit muggle like hers had been. She had mostly magical roots, but not all of her family were magical, which was a little sad since she couldn't get massive games of quidditch going like she wanted to, with her at the centre of them. She was glad at the very least that this boy wasn't too bad a person, "Are your family muggle?" she asked him, though unlike many of her slytherin counterparts, she didn't mind muggles or muggleborns, she couldn't care less if he was that as long as attention was on her, "My parents said I need to wait till I have a spot on the team before they buy me a broom, how unfair is that? Right now I use my cousin's old school broom, but I want one for me,"
​

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

And then the question came, the question he would have ignored if he could, would have lied about if need to, but that just wasn't Kasper. ''Yeah, we are,'' the young Hufflepuffer said, almost wishing he didn't, ''But my cousin went to Hogwarts, too!'' he told Eilidh. Kasper did not know how she would react; would she still want to be friends with him and play Quidditch sometimes, or was he not good enough for her, now that she knew his Blood Status? To change the subject, hoping that she wouldn't ask about it any further, Kasper replied to her, ''Well, my dad thought it was dangerous at first, and wouldn't let my cousin buy me a broom. But after dad and Miles were done talking, Miles bought me one, and started practicing with me.''

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh had expected the answer, but unlike many folks within her own house she had never once been bothered by the entire thing. She hadn't cared at all, she just much preferred when all of the attention was on her and not on someone else, which was mostly why she had been so jealous about the fact that he had a broom and she didn't. She wanted on the team, she was sure she was the better player, and yet she had a hand me down and he had a broom. That being said, Eilidh was still beginning to like Kasper, he was definitely nice and it would always help to have a friend, "We should go play, like not right now because it's late, but we should play," she told him, not really leaving much option for him to contradict her, but expecting that he wouldn't want to, "I could see if I can wrangle up my sibling and cousin to play too. We can get a practice game so we can you know practice," she continued, "What do you say?" she asked, though her tone definitely didn't leave any space for him to really say no without her just dragging him to play.
​

I figure we could wrap this up, and then start a new topic at the pitch for them. What do you think?

 

[Kasper Snowhill]

Kasper smiled broadly when she said that they needed to play. Did it meant that Eilidh did care whether he was a muggle-born or not? Kasper would've guessed so but left it alone for now, not wanting to push the topic any further. Kasper couldn't believe that he had made a friend so quickly after he arrived at Hogwarts. A friend who also liked Quidditch and was keen to play with him, even inviting her family to play along with them. Thus far Hogwarts was great, ''Hell yeah!'' were the only words he said to her, making is clear to Eilidh that she could count him in. And then it came back to him. The reason why Kasper was here in the first place. He needed to find a Hufflepuffer who knew the password for their Commen room. He quickly got up his feet, turning his head to Eilidh, ''I hope you don't mind, but I really have to go.'' Kasper told her, ''I need to find a Hufflepuffer who can tell me the password of the Commen room. See you tomorrow?'' he asked, but without waiting for an answer he already left the Student Lounge.


Sounds good to me!

 

[Eilidh Evans]

Eilidh smiled happily when he seemed to agree, though she hadn't expected him to tell her no, so she was more pleased about this than anything. She grinned at him, but frowned a little when he said he had to go, "Alright, yeah," Eilidh nodded in agreement with a small grin, she hadn't thought that she'd make a friend that easily, but she had and the girl was feeling pretty good about it too. Kasper had been pretty cool.

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