Closed New Friends

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie was looking for Eugene. Why, well, Charlie was just bored. Perhaps a bit lonely. Eugene was his best friend, so of course being with the other boy always helped him to feel better. Finding him, however, was proving to be a challenge. He had checked the dorm, the common room, the student lounge. He figured he might as well try the arts room before heading outside. He stuck his head in the door, looking around. "Eugene?" He asked, stepping partly into the room.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata was trying to study, but she was feeling restless. So she'd found her way to the arts room, although it was pretty quiet. It wasn't as though she was a great musician by any stretch of the imagination, but she felt comfortable being around music. She could at least keep a beat. It might not have been the best idea to pull out the drums though, so she'd slipped off her shoes and started humming, making up a dance on the spot while nobody was around, ostensibly to help her remember the names of different runes. She stopped mid twirl when she heard someone call out, flushing with embarrassment. "Ah! Oh, sorry, I'm not Eugene," she apologized, quickly turning to face the door with a slight smile. "It's just me here."

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled shyly at the girl. "Hi! Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just looking for Eugene." He ran a hand through his hair. "You're... the new transfer girl, right? Third year?" He took a small step into the room, but kept his hand on the door. "I'm Charlie. Eugene's roommate," He offered, hoping she wouldn't find his New York accent too out of place here.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata smiled at the boy, slightly self conscious as though she'd been caught doing something silly but at least he had the politeness not to comment, or perhaps just hadn't seen. She liked his accent - there were a lot of variants of accents at the school and she liked hearing them all. Her own was a bit all over the place, as the way she pronounced some words often varied depending on how she'd heard them growing up. She was trying to make it more smooth and sound more fitting with the New Zealand accents. "Oh yes, hello! I'm Renata. Nice to meet you, Charlie!" She was starting to get to know some of the fourth years as well as the third years, at least. "I'm guessing he's probably at Accio if he isn't here. I honestly don't know how he does it all."

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled as she said her name. "Oh, hi, I think I've heard Eugene mention you. You're another friend of his?" He asked. He took a small step into the room. "Do you mind if I come in? I've been looking everywhere for him, I could use a breather," He admitted almost bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "You just transferred in, right?"

 

[Renata Stepanova]

"He has?" Renata was a little surprised at that, but let it slide. She supposed it wasn't too often they got transfer students into the school. It was probably slightly noteworthy in daily happenings, at least when school started out for the year. "Oh, no, I don't mind at all, of course! Ah, what's the phrase? 'Make yourself at home?' Though I'm guessing you are more familiar with this place than I am." She'd watched enough muggle movies growing up to get a good idea of common English phrases - English was probably also her strongest language, as it had been the common ground between her mother and her father and was spoken in a lot of places anyway. "Yeah, just this year. Eugene was nice enough to show me around when I got here," she added, to explain, carefully slipping her shoes back on as she did. She wasn't going to continue to attempt to learn to dance in front of anyone, for fear of humiliation.

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled, moving in to take a seat. "Oh, sure, Eugene and I talk all the time, he tells me about all his friends," He told her. "I have been in here a few times," he teased idly. "I stole a violin from here in first year," he laughed. "Though my dad made me give it back and bought me a new one." He smiled, running a hand through his hair. "What're you doing in here?"

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata gasped a little at that - stealing a violin? At least he put it back. "That was nice of your dad," she responded, smiling. She wasn't sure her parents could afford to get her anything like that if she wanted, the school supplies had cost a lot. She'd tried playing her dad's old guitar though. It hadn't gone that well. "Oh, me? I was, um, dancing," she admitted, shyly. "I'm no good at it, though, never really learned or anything. I was just trying to use it to help me remember exam notes." She wasn't sure if it really worked, but it was worth trying, right?

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie settled into his seat, listening to Renata and smiling softly at her words. It was nice of his dad. When she said what she'd been doing, Charlie tilted his head. "You don't know how to dance?" He asked. "I could teach you if you wanted," He offered. His dad had taught him, after all. He saw no issue in teaching her the same way.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata reddened, feeling a little more embarrassed now she'd admitted it. "Well, I can dance a little, my dad and I used to, sometimes." It had mostly been on special occasions, and hadn't been for the last few years, but that was besides the point. "I can hold my own for things like the Yule Ball, I think? At least enough to not embarrass anyone. No stepping on toes...probably. Unless I try what I was trying out." She held her hands behind her back, kicking her foot along the ground with a shy smile. "I thought I could try and make something avant-garde and experimental up." It sounded even sillier to say it out loud. "It wasn't working."

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled, listening to Renata talk. She was a sweetie. "Hey, you never know if you don't try, right?" He asked. He propped his chin in his hand. "Do you want to sit and talk with me? I was just looking for Eugene for someone to talk to." He offered, motioning to the seat nearest to him. "You seem pretty cool, it'd be fun to get to know you some more," His smile turned a bit impish. "I won't bite, I promise."

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata wasn't sure she'd get used to compliments. It was certainly a change from being called a rat. A very positive change, but a change all the same. She grinned back at Charlie, lightly stepping over to the seat next to him and flopping into it very ungracefully. It was a bit softer and more plush that she'd expected. "Oh, that's not good, I'm going to wind up sleeping in a chair like this," she joked, though found she was not in any position to move out of it right away. Maybe it was one of those fabled cursed chairs, the ones that you thought were ordinary sofas and then they had the curse on them to make it impossible for you to get out. "So, you play violin? That's really cool," Renata said earnestly, rolling her ankles slowly as she spoke.

 

[Jordan Harris]

*insert long stream of cussing*

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie chuckled. "It is comfy, isn't it?" He asked, smiling. His smile lit up brighter as she mentioned his violin. "I do, yeah, I love it," He told her, gushing just a bit. "Do you play anything?" He asked, thinking it would just make sense for Eugene to go befriending more music kids.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata shyly shook her head at that. She really felt like she was kind of out of her depth, wanting to fit in with the really cool and nice musicians she met at school but knowing she just didn't have the talent. "I can play percussion a little," she admitted. "My mama- I mean, my mother, she's a singer, but I um, I like music but I'm not very good at it." She rubbed the back of her head for a moment, before putting a bright smile right back on. "I'd love to hear you play sometime, though!"

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled. "You don't have to be good at something to like it," He told her. "I could play for you whenever, I'm not in a band so I don't really have other people around often." He propped his chin in his hand. "I just find it relaxing. There's something about the music, you know?" He shook his head. "But enough about me. Tell me about you," He smiled at her.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata gave a very shy nod at that. It was true, really, that you could do thIngs without being very good at them, but it always seemed like everyone around her was disappointed with how average she was. It made her feel pretty worthless and desperate to find something she was good enough at that people might like her. "Oh there are some bands, aren't there? Violin always adds a little je ne sais quoi I think." She thought of the cool bands she saw at clubs she was far too young for when her mother and father travelled. "Me? Um, the most interesting thing about me is that I transferred here," she explained, with a light laugh. "I'm just your ordinary witch."

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie smiled. "I don't think you're just ordinary," He told her honestly. "As a reporter I happen to know you've got quite a few high profile friends- Jordie Harris, Eugene, Sky. Not everyone can just gather club leaders under their thumb like collector cards." He teased her gently. "You're a good kid, you know. That's worth something." He tried to encourage her.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata pulled a knee to her chest, hugging her leg and resting her chin on her knee to regard Charlie with mild curiosity. "Well, we are all Hufflepuffs. It helps that everyone has gone out of their way to be very nice," she explained, feeling the need to justify herself even if he was teasing. "Sometimes even unlucky people get good fortune. But thank you, I try." That was perhaps an understatement.

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie chuckled. "Thats some really good luck then," He teased her. "How are you settling in, by the way?" He asked her. "Do you like it better here than where you were before?" He ran a hand through his hair. He was trying to be friendly, though he wasn't sure it was working. He hoped so. She was nice, it would be nice to have her as a friend.

 

[Renata Stepanova]

Renata wasn't quite sure if Charlie was fishing for gossip or something, given how much he seemed to know, but she wasn't going to say no to making more friends. "It's because I'm cursed to only get bad flavours of Bertie Bott's," she joked, grinning. "There's gotta be an upside." She could only vigorously nod at his question. "So much better. Nobody has hexed me yet, so it's great!"

 

[Charlie Helkovaara]

Charlie chuckled. "That's rough," He chuckled. "We should hit up Honeydukes sometime, I'll help you get the good ones," He offered, smiling at the girl. "Maybe I can talk Eugene into coming along, I know he needs out," He mused. He was pleased as Renata spoke about enjoying the school, though his brow furrowed. "If anyone so much as tries, you tell me," he told her firmly. "No one is going to bully you, not if I have anything to say about it," He nodded.