Luncheon

[Maria Lohenstein]

It was the end of a quite long morning, and Maria, having stressed through her breakfast to maintain her punctuality due to oversleeping, was quite hungry.
She was feeling very dishevelled when she sat down at the Ravenclaw table, her hair having gone from neat and orderly to a messy mop, and she hated it fervently. At least her uniform wasn’t as dishevelled, thanks to a few tens of valuable minutes spent on ordering it. But the hair was a worse problem, for it had intermingled with perspiration and needed a shower to clear it, something she had no time for right now; she had only gone through it with a comb, hoping that it would hold.
So it was in this state of undress that she started to tuck in on her luncheon, still with her usual grace, all she needed now was company, but she was afraid that they would comment on her messy hair.

 

[Charlotte Williams]

Being just ready, Charlotte knew that most would question her motivates for taking so long to think herself presentable to the greater school. Charlotte had once more spent the good part of the morning getting ready. Getting her hufflepuff uniform to sit perfectly, for the skirt to be perfect, for the tights to both be perfectly clean and for no holes or ladders. Then, there were the blonde curls, that sat perfectly. She'd spent, like all mornings, the most amount of time on them. Perfecting each little curl. Each littel flick so that everything, looked perfect. Not one strand of hair was out of place. It was the way Charlotte loved it. She had always been so focused on looking perfect, but after spending so much time at the numerous events where she'd had people to her hair and make-up, without putting the same amount of effort into how she looked without these people, that she felt and knew she look ugly without them. It really was not a part of herself that she liked to show. Charlotte Edwina Williams was not the kind of girl who wished for people to know how self-conscious she is. Aware that it affected most, Charlotte felt like she had perfectly good reasons as to why it affected her. It was the fact she had to look perfect for her fathers family and friends, that she believed she had look perfect for everyone or they wouldn't like her at all. At 12 this wasn't exactly the healthiest of thoughts, but she wasn't endangering herself by wanting to look perfect. In fact it did actually help her, if she wanted to look perfect, then she just spent a long time getting herself ready, that wasn't it. She didn't feel the need to lose weight, or gain any. Charlotte knew that kind of thing would come with time.Charlotte was not actually a vain person, she didn't want to be. But, she knew in a sense she was pretty close to being one, and that others would think of her as one. However her friendly hufflepuff nature spoke against that, which most people realised after actually speaking to her. Yet, she'd really given little opportunity for people to get to know her thus far.

Arriving in the Great Hall, Charlotte was greeted with a very full and busy Hufflepuff table. It wasn't that great, since she couldn't make out a place for her to sit. Charlotte glanced around the rest of the hall, and noticed a Ravenclaw girl sitting alone. Charlotte took one small glance back at the Hufflepuff table and then headed in the direction of the Ravenclaw girl. She looked a little younger than Charlotte, but this wasn't something that bothered the Hufflepuff. Instead it just made her smile and remember that she was no longer one of the youngest in the school. Charlotte stopped just in front of the girl, she cleared her throat lightly, "Excuse me" Her thick British accent, which sounded very posh, made each letter sound as though it was being pronounced. Charlotte didn't actually sound as harsh as most did, her accent was a lot softer. Once the girl had noticed her, Charlotte quickly curtsied and smiled at the girl. "Would you mind if I sat with you," Charlotte had been brought up to curtsie whenever she greeted anyone. So, it no longer mattered who the person was, Charlotte greeted them all in the exact same fashion.​

 

[Maria Lohenstein]

Looking up from her plate at the sound of a throat being cleared, and automatically clearing her mouth from food, Maria found a slightly older Hufflepuff girl beckoning for the seat next to her. The curtsy didn't go unnoticed but Maria was in a position where she was unable to return the greeting without attracting a lot of attention, so instead of curtsying back, Maria just nodded back politely and said, in a typical New Zealand accent, but with a hint of "British upper class"-ness: "I see no objections Miss, please be seated." After her invitation to sit, Maria continued with the obligatory introduction: "How do you do? My name is Maria, Mollinary von Lohenstein. It's my pleasure to meet you." and gave a polite smile. Her hair was still a slight perspirated mess though after that class and she wondered what to do with it to make it look presentable.

 

[Charlotte Williams]

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<SIZE size="50">The small nod the girl gave let, Charlotte relax slightly. She could tell politeness when she saw it. Charlotte realised that the girl most liekly didn't want to draw attention to herself, since curtsies were not often done in an everyday situation. It was just something that she did for everything. She had to stop herself from doing a curtsey upon the professor arriving in a class. It was hard for the hufflepuff to stop herself from doing the little things which showed how polite she could be if her mind was in it. Charlotte gave a nod as the girl said she could sit down. Charlotte gladly took a seat, and said a small thank you in doing so. She smiled as she did at the girl. Who once, she was sat, introduced herself. Charlotte nodded, and took a slight opportunity to fix her blonde curls that had fallen slightly out of place as she'd sat. Everything caused her hair to fall out of place. She met the eyes of the girl and held out a hand to the girl. "It is a pleasure Miss Maria. I am Charlotte Edwina Williams. Your name sounds familiar. I feel I should know it, but I don't." Charlotte shook the girls hand and then proceed to take a bit of salad and put it on to her plate. As well as then pouring herself a glass of water. Charlotte lived easily in the silence of no one speaking. She was good at silence. However she felt the need to speak to this girl since she was sitting with her, and that she sounded fairly like Charlotte did. "Are you a first year, Miss Maria? I'm obviously not a Ravenclaw, but, Hufflepuffs all lunch at the same time. Leads to little room. Ravenclaw was empty. Smart people clearly know how to organise lunch rotas." Charlotte smiled at the girl, both politely and friendly. A possible new friend, always gave the Hufflepuff girl reason to smile.

Out of Character:

Mehh, Sorry

​

 

[Maria Lohenstein]

Taking time to observe the Hufflepuff, Maria was slightly comforted to recognize someone of her own status. Thus, she shook the girl's hand, smiling politely.
"Thank you Miss Charlotte." Maria said sincerely, replying to the compliment and hiding her mild mild exasperation from having to go through smalltalk. Although she had no problems handling it, being a German Countess and all, this was nevertheless boring and lead easily to exasperation while the two conversational partners were in this phase of a conversation. This was especially true for Maria's interactions with normal less well born children, for some of them teased her for her mannerisms.

Looking over to the Hufflepuff table, and confirming the crowdiness, Countess Maria Hermina Luise Mollinary von Lohenstein und von Neckarwald replied: "You are right Miss Charlotte. There is a sizable crowd by your table. But it does not matter to me. You are perfectly welcome to sit here. And yes, I am a First Year Ravenclaw." Details... and then the appropriate pause for breath came, "I hope that you will not mind the rest of us Eagles here, or my unfortunate state of undress. But the rest of my House tend to be quiet and this..." Flicking her hair to emphasise what she meant. "Is fixable with a well needed wash. I do apologise though if it offends you, Miss Charlotte." Smiling, Maria turned half her attention to her own glass of water, and said before taking a light sip: "Bon appetite."

Out of Character:

I am dreadfully sorry for the lateness of this reply, I hope I haven't put you off. Truth to be told, life has been hectic.