Mess Halls Back Home Didn't Have Assigned Seats

[Ursula Ciccone]

There was a distinct difficulty, Ursula thought, to the navigation of the Hogwarts Halls. The stairs moved firstly, and nearly threw Ursula down them when they shifted without her being prepared. She'd become lost at least once - but she supposed it was good she was trying to get used to the area before classes started, that was she was able to find her way there quickly and efficiently. Since it was a casual day, with no classes, the dark haired girl decided it would be best for her to dress comfortably so that while exploring she didn't have to worry about the skirt of her uniform being uncomfortable, or the hem of her pants becoming worn.

Once Ursula had made her way to the ground floor, the steps almost knocking the breath out of her, she entered the mess hall where she would enjoy a brunch. She glanced around, the tables fairly full, except the yellow one. At the end of the table sat a few people scattered about. She found though that one person in particular drew her attention. It looked like a girl judging by her frame, but her hair was buzzed. Ursula approached with curiosity. "What rank are you?'"She asked, half as a joke, half hoping the girl was in boot camps of some sort as she was.

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Without the distraction of classes, Hogwarts was seriously unbearable. It was bad enough that Vilhelmine had to be here in the first place, thousands of miles away from her dad, but to be here with nothing to do was driving her crazy - and she'd practically only just arrived. She'd heard the gardens were vast and tranquil, but she hadn't yet ventured out to confirm or deny the rumours. She didn't really want to do anything except sit by the window in the owlery and wait for post.

But at some point, the Hufflepuff needed to eat. Reluctantly she peeled herself away from the window and made her way down to the great hall, wearing the house robes she'd been provided with upon sorting. Many of the other students seemed to be wearing clothes of their own, but Vilhelmine thought this was too much hassle. The robes made her look plain, and boring, and so far nobody had really paid much attention to her. But at brunch that morning her solace was ripped suddenly from her as a student she recognised from the sorting ceremony approached to ask a startling question. Vilhelmine blinked. "Rank?" she repeated, clueless.

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula was met with confusion and she gave a smile to the girl. "Well, you've got a buzz cut. I assumed military like me." Ursula without waiting to see if she'd be allowed to sat down, making sure to give the girl some space. "Regardless, you're new right? I saw you at the ceremony I think." She spoke while gathering ingredients for a plate of food. "I'm Ursula." The black haired woman offered her hand for a hand shake to the petite girl next to her. She tried to read her energy, but wasn't sure how the girl felt to be addressed. It wasn't as if Ursula thought herself to be an intimidating girl - but her aura sometimes came off aggressive. She tried hard to keep that from being an issue within these walls. She didn't want to stir up trouble.

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Vilhelmine shook her head slowly, sitting otherwise perfectly still as the Ravenclaw sat down beside her. She watched the girl load her plate with food, suddenly becoming disinterested in her own. "Yes," she said, her quiet tone nearly lost beneath the excited morning chatter. She considered the hand for a moment before shaking it. "I'm Vilhelmine." The Hufflepuff picked up her orange juice and took a sip, afterwards hiding her chin beneath the rim of the glass. "What's it like?"

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula smiled, now satisfied with her plate, and turned to face the girl as she spoke. For a moment the Virginian cocked her head to the side. "What is... being at boot camp like?" She asked to be sure before continuing. "It's hard work, and a lot of yelling. And Yes sir no sirs." She spoke with a smile. "What about you, you've got an accent - well so do I - but where are you from?" She inquired, picking up a piece of bacon and munching shortly after.

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Vilhelmine didn't like yelling. "Why would you want to do that?" she asked, wondering if there was some kind of reward in it for her. Then the Hufflepuff blushed and looked away, putting down her juice and stuffing some food in her mouth so that she wouldn't have to talk too much. "Denmark," she said, when she had a moment, unwilling to reveal anything much about the place she came from. "We have bikes."

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula shrugged. "My dad is in the air force, he requires me to go to the youth camp every summer - since I was old enough for entry." She spoke, meaning she'd gone three years in a row. The girls next words nearly made Ursula choke on her food from giggling. "Bikes? We do too in the US. I've been to Denmark's Thule base before, I think it's owned by Denmark anyways - it's in Greenland." She chewed on some of the toast which had jelly smeared across it's brown center. "I don't think I've ever been to Denmark's mainland though. Do you like it?" She asked, feeling she'd talked too much about herself.

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Being required to go to a camp that made you yell and obey orders sounded even worse than going willingly. And there was no reward! Vilhelmine just wouldn't have shown up. She smiled very faintly as Ursula began to giggle, not realising she'd said something funny. She was serious - Denmark did have a lot of bicycles. The Hufflepuff shrugged tightly, avoiding Ursula's gaze. "It's OK," she said. Then she glanced around the table and frowned. "We don't have any leverpostej."

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula was glad that there was some sort of light after she'd laughed. Though the way the girl had answered her concerned her a bit. Why was she so stiff about answering about her home life? Perhaps she was thinking too deeply. The black haired girl then furrowed her brows deeper. "Any what?" She asked, confused as to what she'd said. She was unsure what was was. Was it a kind of drink? Or maybe a food?

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Stuck for the English translation, Vilhelmine picked up a piece of toast and a knife and mimed spreading something on top of it. "Spread. Meat spread." It was a very popular thing in Denmark, and here Vilhelmine couldn't even find a tolerable substitute. She eventually settled for some jam and began to eat. "What's the US like?" she asked, mentally kicking herself again immediately afterwards.

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula had no idea what meat spread was. What was it made out of- what meat? Or was it even real meat? "Would you like me to ask someone if there is anything that they can do?" She inquired, wiling to do it for a fellow sol - student. However she was mildly distracted by the question. "It's okay. i live in military housing so it's pretty comfortable. But not everywhere is like that."

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

"No!" Vilhelmine said suddenly, staring at Ursula with round eyes. Then she shrank and looked away, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "It's fine." She didn't want anybody doing her any favours. Then she'd owe Ursula one back, and where would that lead? Besides, she wasn't important enough to have something like that done for her. Grateful for the distraction, Vilhelmine nodded. "That's nice," she said, thinking that if she could just finish her piece of toast quickly enough, she could excuse herself from the table and go back up to the owlery.

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula was shocked, that was the loudest the girl had been. "Hey, at least I know you can speak up." She laughed, adjusting in her seat to be more comfortable. Ursula could feel the girl was not as into the conversation and decided before she ran away to say a few more things. "Hey, so I'm new-ish to magic, and you're at least new to the school. We should study together sometimes. I've heard you learn more that way."

 

[Vilhelmine Dahl]

Vilhelmine couldn't help but smile, despite wishing she could be by herself. It seemed, however, that Ursula had noticed her discomfort, for the tone of the conversation quickly changed to that which she suggested they were about to part ways. Vilhelmine stopped chewing mid-mouthful. Study partners? Well... it wouldn't be so bad to have a friend around the castle. And if she had to pick anybody, Ursula seemed like a fairly safe bet. "All right," she said quietly, without meeting the Ravenclaw's eye. "Tomorrow at four. In the library." Then she pushed the last piece of toast into her mouth.

 

[Ursula Ciccone]

Ursula smiled, the girl making a complete sentence of more than four words. That was an accomplishment, considering if someone had to say more than a few words they were normally calling her maggot adn telling her to drop and give them a ridiculous amount of push ups. Ursula nodded. "At sixteen hundred hours, got it." She spoke picking up her plate and looking for a trash. After a moment the girl realized there wasn't one. "I think.. I'll leave this hear. They must have someone on clean up." she said, before getting an apple off the table and walking away. It seemed to Ursula that she could consider today a mission complete.

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