Just like Beauxbatons

[Stephen Duquette]

Finding he had a free slot in his timetable Stephen decided it would be a good time for him to go practice his flying skills. He had no practice during the holidays and even though he felt he did well in his try - out for the Quidditch team, he still felt as though he needed some practice. Making his way down to the Quidditch Pitch - a lot easier than the last time - he made his way over to the broom closet and took one of the best looking ones out, it was really a case of the best out of a bad bunch.

Walking out to the center of the pitch he got on his broom and kicked off. He missed his old firebolt, which unfortunately broke during his moving and packing of things during the holiday. He made a mental note to himself to see about getting a new broom as soon as possible, especially if he were to get on the Quidditch team, he didn't want to be lagging behind on one of these old things. Finally finding his feel to the broom he did a few simple maneuvers before picking up some speed as he flew around the outside of the pitch. He stayed low for a while, wanting to get the feel of the broom properly before making his way up to the air.

 

[Galileo Costa]

It had been a very slow day for Galileo. His homework didn't appeal much to him at the moment and neither did a nap. He found himself in his room, laying on his back, thinking about home, which was something he hadn't done in a while. Suddenly, he was struck with the urge to practice his flying. It was something he hadn't done in what seemed like ages which Galileo found to be odd. He wasn't half bad at it and it usually helped him unwind. However, before he could take to the sky, he needed to find a broom first. Having never seen the broom closet, he set out to look for it. Though trial and error, he'd managed to find it. It took him longer than it should have to choose a broom but he needed to be sure it was the best one. After making his decision, he made his way to the Quidditch pitch without much difficulty which surprised him a little.

He had hoped the pitch would be deserted in case his skills weren't as great as he'd remembered but it wasn't. It had crossed Galileo's mind to just leave and try flying another time but decided he still really needed to unwind. He mounted his broom and kicked off the ground. It didn't take Galileo very long to get used to the broom which was surprising. With slightly more confidence he began flying around the pitch more and noticed that the other boy flying around looked a bit familiar.

 

[Stephen Duquette]

Stephen loved the freedom he felt when flying. It felt so good to get out of the castle and away from his books, he remembered why he hardly attended many classes, the work was so hard but he was determined to stick it out for his OWL year - at least. Gradually getting higher and faster on his broom Stephen felt the wind blow his hair back, a smirk spread across his face, he felt the adrenaline pumping through his body, just like a Quidditch game. He loved going fast on his broom, especially when he was going so fast he could only hear the wind in his ears.

Feeling himself forget about classes and everything that was getting him down he leaned forward on his broom again for another lap of the pitch. Turning round he saw he was no longer alone on the pitch. Stephen didn't mind, he was actually surprised that the place was as quiet as it was when he arrived. Ignoring the other boy Stephen continued to fly. As Stephen flew closer to the other boy he stopped dead in his tracks. Following the boys course for a few seconds his mouth dropped. No way! he thought to himself. "Hey Costa!" he called over to see if the boy would respond to the name.

 

[Galileo Costa]

Galileo continued flying around trying his best to ignore the other boy flying thinking there was no way he could know him. He continued to soar through the sky finally freeing his mind from everything. It was amazing to him that he'd forgotten what it felt like to live in the moment and leave his troubles behind. Flying did that for him sometimes but it became more difficult for him to fly often. Most of the time, Galileo's mind was too occupied to even think about flying. He planned on making the best of this moment. He leaned forward on his broom a picked up speed.

Suddenly, he heard the other boy shout something to him. As he slowed to a stop, it took him a while to process what he had heard. "Did he just call my name?" he thought to himself. Galileo looked over at him and realized he did know the boy! "Duquette?!" he shouted back wondering if it really was who he thought it was. He turned his broom and flew towards him to get a closer look. As he neared the boy, he realized that it really was his old friend. He was filled with excitement. At last, he knew someone here.

"What are you doing here?!" he asked only a few feet away now.

 

[Stephen Duquette]

So sorry

Stephen stayed where he was, waiting to see how the only other occupant of the pitch would react to his out burst. It just had to be Galileo, it had only been a few months since Stephen had last seen his friend – still angry that he hadn't told him about his transfer for the new year – so he had a clear image in his head of what he looked like. It just had to be him! Seeing the boy slow to a stop Stephen smiled as the boy turned round and recognised him. Stephen flew forward to him, excited beyond any he had felt since seeing Becky in the common room at the beginning of term. Stephen honestly hadn't expected Hogwarts to be that good, apart from having Becky there with him, he hadn't expected to make any friends let alone have an old friend already there.

Now face to face with Galileo, Stephen smiled from ear to ear. “I could ask you the same thing mate.” he said with a laugh. “Urgh, dad moved jobs again, so I had to move school – to look after Zach mostly.” he explained, after all his younger brother, Zacharie, was a second year Slytherin at the school and Stephen's dad wanted him to have an eye on him during the school term for some reason. “What about you? Spill.” he urged his friend to explain why he too was attending Hogwarts New Zealand.

 

[Galileo Costa]

Galileo was thrilled to see his old friend. Aside from a few people here and there, he hadn't really felt as though he'd actually made any new friends. He listened tentatively as Stephen explained to him why he had come to Hogwarts as well. However, when it was Galileo's turn to explain why he was now attending Hogwarts, he couldn't help but let his smile slightly fade.

"Things weren't going too well for me back at Beaxbatons so everyone decided that coming here would be a good idea for now." he explained hoping that he wouldn't have to go into much more detail. He still wasn't ready to admit that Beaxbatons held him back one year for missing one too many classes. As soon as he was ready, he now knew that Stephen would be the first to know. "I'm so glad you're here! I honestly have no idea how I haven't seen you in any classes but then again, I've been trying to pay more attention to my lessons. It is OWL year after all!" he said flashing an exaggerated smile.

"So how are you liking it here so far? Meet any interesting people yet?"

 

[Stephen Duquette]

Stephen frowned his eyebrows as Galileo informed of why he had left Beauxbatons also, but Stephen couldn't really understand what was wrong, as far as he could tell Galileo got on just fine – maybe he wasn't as perspective as he thought. Clearly seeing that Galileo didn't want to remain on that topic he allowed for the quick change. He chuckled at what his old friend had to say, it was all true. “Likewise. I'm actually trying to do some work this year. I just wish the Professors would lay off with the whole OWL thing, it's not like we don't know, am I right?” he said with a groan, OWLs were going to be hard enough without the daily reminders.

Stephen shrugged lightly, “It seems pretty good so far, it's still hard to get used to the whole place, must have gotten lost everyday during the first week.” he said, laughing through his embarrassment. When he was asked if he had meet any interesting people yet, a smile spread across Stephen's lips. He highly doubted Galileo would have remembered Becky, not many did – she wasn't at Beauxbatons for long. “Actually I meant an old friend,” he said, not sure how to explain the situation to Galileo, “I'm actually in the same house as her, it's amazing that it turned out like that. And of course there's Antionette's,” almost everyone knew Antoinette, she did have a certain reputation within the halls of Beauxbatons, “Cousin. She's our year, and same house as me.” he continued. “What about you? How's it been?” he returned the question.

 

[Galileo Costa]

Galileo was sure his friend had gotten the hint and was relieved that he wouldn't need to explain. He laughed at Stephen's remark. "You are most definitely right good sir!" he said still chuckling. He had often felt as though he would explode if another professor reminded him about the OWLS.

Galileo nodded as Stephen informed him on his experience in the school so far. He wasn't too surprised to hear that their experiences were very similar although Stephen was having more luck meeting people. The only person Galileo had met so far was Andromeda and he'd only spoken to her once. He couldn't help but be slightly disappointed that the only people Stephen had met were in Hufflepuff. He had hoped that maybe his old friend could introduce him to some fellow Ravenclaws. He didn't know whether to ask more about Stephen's other old friend. "What's her name?" he asked thinking there was no harm in trying to find that out. Galileo remembered Antionette as they had met on several occasions. Collecting his thoughts, he began telling Stephen what his time was like.

"Well, you're time has been more exciting than mine to be honest." he said trying not to sound too disappointed. "I did meet this one Gryffindor girl named Andromeda but we've only spoken to each other once." he said recalling the moment he'd met Andy and the conversation they had that followed. It was a shame he hadn't run into her a second time. He was actually looking forward to it. "I haven't really met anyone else." he added with a small sigh. "I've been focused on my classes and trying to learn how to get around on the damn moving staircases!" he said holding in his frustration with the stairs. It was mostly because of them that he always got lost. He had hoped his friend was disappointed with his experience so far. After all, his time at Hogwarts wasn't what most people would call exciting.

 

[Stephen Duquette]

"Becky Gale" Stephen replied to Galileo's question. Admittedly he hadn't spent as much time with her as he would have liked but he savoured any time that they did spend together. Of course having been away from her for so long the fact he got to see her beautiful face everyday was enough to keep him content. Everyday he kept reminding himself of the words Antoinette told him, don't be too eager, too clingy and even though it was hard at first he was happy that he was doing a good enough job.

"It's still early days mate. You'll meet more eventually. Seemingly the Ravenclaws are friendly people, but not as friendly as us Hufflepuffs." he said with a laugh. "Do you understand this whole, different houses thing?" he asked randomly. He was just about getting the hang of having four houses each with their own traits, but it still confused him. Stephen nodded his head, understanding Galileo's position. When he mentioned the stairs Stephen laughed, "Oh geze those things. I swear the founders must have been drunk when they made this place." he said, shaking his head at how stupid of an idea it was.

 

[Galileo Costa]

For a brief second Galileo stayed quiet trying to figure out why that name sounded familiar but decided to give up. He was fairly good at remembering people he's met. "Nice name." he said putting his thoughts behind him. "Maybe I could meet her some time." he added thinking nothing of it.

Taking in Stephen's words, Galileo couldn't help but feel a bit foolish. "You're right. I'm just getting ahead of myself." he replied. It was easy for the Ravenclaw boy to do this when he was looking forward to something and although he wasn't too excited to start meeting new people, he couldn't help but be curious.

He chuckled at Stephen's joke about Hufflepuffs being nicer than Ravenclaws without taking any offense. The houses were a still a fairly new thing to him so he didn't feel the attachment to his house that most of the other students might. "It was fairly confusing at first but I'd heard and read enough before coming here to understand what they were all about." he said answering his friend's question. Thinking about it now, he had to admit that Ravenclaw did suit him quite well. Upon hearing Stephen's joke, Galileo let out a huge laugh at the idea of the founders of Hogwarts being drunk when they decided to build moving staircases. It had been a while since he'd laughed this much.