Lost

[Jeanne Le Doare]

It had been 40 minutes, Jeanne had to face the facts: she had seen this armor before, she was nowhere near the Hufflepuff common room and the pictures on the wall were making fun of her.
She was totally lost.
Earlier, she had gone to the owlery to send a letter to her parents, telling them about her first day at Hogwarts, but when she tried to go back to her dorm, she got turned around and now she couldn't find her way back.
She had read somewhere that one could escape from a maze by placing a hand on a wall and walking with that hand always on the wall. But obviously, that didn't apply to a castle full of moving stairs. .
She couldn't bring herself to ask someone for direction either, the corridor was full or students way older than her.
Tired and discouraged, she started to feel tears welling up in her eyes.

 

[Andrew Poltergest]

The newly sorted first year was growing wearier by the minute, as he pasted armour after armour, all of which looked the same, and his stomach filled with disappointment. Andrew had been sitting bored in the common room, not having a clue what to do with himself, when suddenly the thought had hit him. You are in a castle of magic, how could you possibly be bored? After that the urge for adventure had risen and he'd decided to go exploring, being the wondrous boy he was. But now as he wondered the castle bored as could be, he thought maybe he should have just stayed in the common room. As he was about to turn back, when he was up at least two floors, he saw a girl. He knew the girl was in his house, he had seen her being sorted and then lead back to the Hufflepuff Common room with the rest of the first years, but as he began to approach her, a grin wide on his face, he stopped. There were tears in her eyes, and she stood small and frail with one hand on the wall, oblivious to him. Maybe she was upset? Or homesick? Andrew thought to himself, and for a moment thought of his own homesickness, and instantly decided to make this girl not so sad, whether it was because of homesickness or something else. "Hello? Are you ok?" Andrew asked as he stepped in front of the girl, and smiled friendly. "I'm Andrew, we're in the same house." He stuck out his hand, only hesitating for a moment.

 

[Jeanne Le Doare]

Startled by his voice, Jeanne finally noticed the boy that had approached her. He seemed about her age and she had seen him before, but the last couple of days had been so full of new faces, she wasn't sure where and when. Fortunately, he introduced himself and it turned out he was a fellow Hufflepuff. Not used to handshakes, Jeanne stared at him for a second before extending her arm. As quickly as she could, she tried to compose herself and blink away the tears, but as soon as she muttered "Hi, I am Jeanne, I... I think I am lost", she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She hated that she couldn't hide her emotions better, making her look so vulnerable when she wanted to appear strong and confident in this new school.

 

[Andrew Poltergest]

Andrew noticed how hesitant the girl was, and then realized it was due to the fact that she was lost, as she told him, tears rolling down her cheeks. Andrew hated when people cried, especially girls, they reminded him all the more of his little sister.Andrew smiled at the girl, trying not to scare her or anything like that, and gestured down the hall. "It's ok. Easy to get lost in a Castle as big as this, you're actually one of the bravest people I've met yet, everyone else isn't as brave to explore this castle." He smiled when she began to smile. "Come on, I know the way back," He Began to walk down the hall, only to realize a moment later that the girl wasn't following. Andrew turned back to see Jeanne looking unsure, which he understood, but knew that he couldn't just leave the girl standing there, lost and upset. He smiled again and walked back towards her. "If you want to get back, you'll have to follow me, but there's nothing to be afraid of, honestly."

 

[Jeanne Le Doare]

Andrew was being so kind and was trying so hard to make her fell better, it made Jeanne smile. He seemed to have his mind set on taking her under his wing. Jeanne had been so afraid of not making any friends and being picked on, it was a nice feeling to have someone who wanted to look after her. However, when Andrew started to show her the way back to the common room, she hesitated. Once again, she felt embarrassed. Andrew, still patient and kind, came back and tried to convince her to follow him, but Jeanne still had one little problem. Looking at her feet, she said: "I need a minute" and, wiping the tears with her sleeves "please don't tell anyone I cried".

 

[Andrew Poltergest]

Andrew watched quietly as Jeanne looked down at the floor and whipped her tears away with her sleeve, and shook his head when she finally spoke. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." He told her, being completely truthful. When Andrew promised something, he stuck by his word, he guessed that was one of the reasons the sorting hat had chosen him for Hufflepuff. Andrew looked around, a window at the far end of the hall catching his eye. It was still early, he'd say, they had plenty of time. Andrew walked back over to the wall, turned his back to it, and slid down it to sit on the floor resting his back against the wall. He looked up, smiling, to see Jeanne looking at him strangely. "Well, if we are going to wait we may as well get comfortable." He laughed, gesturing for her to sit next to him. Andrew had no problem with waiting, he didn't mind at all actually. This girl seemed nice, so he wanted to be able to call her a friend, but friends normally knew a little bit about each other. "So, Jeanne, where are you from? If we are going to be with each other for a while I'd like to get to know you. For all I know you could be a psycho path." Andrew laughed, trying to make a joke and make the girl smile, and grinned when he saw that he had succeeded. Jeanne smiled at him, her tears almost completely gone.

 

[Jeanne Le Doare]

Jeanne had felt so dumb getting lost and crying about it, and just like that, by making a silly joke, Andrew had made her feel better. She went and sat beside him, her legs crossed and started fidgeting with a loose strand of her Hufflepuff robe. "I am French" she said, aware that her accent would have given that away from the start. "My family moved here a year ago, my mom was offered a job at the university". Moving had not been a great experience so far, Jeanne had barely made any friends during the past school year, learning and speaking a new language all day long was exhausting, and now she was away from her family. Fortunately the excitement from going to Hogwarts and being surrounded by all this magic made it a lot more enjoyable. With the tension relieved by Andrew's laid back attitude, Jeanne was starting to relax, she was glad to have someone to talk to, someone she might be able to call a friend soon.