Open Now That We're Here

[Simon Thorne]

Simon wasn’t sure how to feel about the events of tonight. He had avoided Delilah all day and yet couldn’t help but hold his breath as she went up to be sorted. He would be lying if his heart didn’t skip a beat when the hat mentioned Hufflepuff, knowing how their father was likely to react to that. He had sighed with relief when she was finally sorted into Ravenclaw. At least it was a house that was at least respectable in their father’s eyes and she would be literally as far as possible from him. It felt like forever but he finally spotted her familiar black hair and called out to her. “Hey, Lila!” he said and saw her start walking faster. He groaned and jogged lightly to catch up with her. “Miss. Ravenclaw, where could you be off to so quickly?” he asked, but she wouldn’t look at him. “So are you going to tell father or shall I?” he asked and finally grabbed her arm gently to get her to stop walking.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

As Delilah left the great hall and made her way with the rest of her class she was feeling a wide range of emotions. Relieved that she was sorted into a house her parents wouldn’t be disappointed with, and absolutely terrified she almost ended up in Hufflepuff. Rationally she knew there was nothing wrong with ending up in any of the houses. But it felt like she would have to fight even harder to make anything of herself if she had ended up there. As she entered the courtyard she heard her brother call her name. She winced at the sound and started to walk faster, not wanting to talk to him right now. Eventually he caught up and grabbed her arm to stop her. “What do you want Simon?” she snapped. “And don’t call me that.” she said stubbornly and rolled her eyes at his attempt to tease her. “I can tell him myself. There’s nothing wrong with Ravencalw. Our mother was in Ravenclaw.” she pointed out and crossed her arms over her chest.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie had plans to go out to the quidditch pitch, as a one part of the captain team, she knew she had to be on her best game. She had begun leaving quidditch gear at the pitch so she wouldn't have to carry it with her, just as it was something she was doing every day. As she was heading out of the school she spotted a pair of students, one of them was a girl in her house, one of the new first years and the other was that boy Simon from the valentines dance, was that perhaps his sister? They looked similar enough but Minnie had never been good at telling, despite the fact she definitely had different places she needed to be Minnie approached them, "Hey Simon," she greeted before glancing towards the girl, "Hi, I'm Minnie," she introduced, "Is this your sister?" she mostly addressed Simon with the last sentence but flashed a polite and almost friendly smile at the girl she didn't know. Mostly Minnie now hoped that she hadn't interrupted something here, she didn't usually come over to people like. she had but she hadn't spoken to simon in a while and wanted to see how he was doing.​

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was thrilled with Gryffindor, even if her roommates were a bit frustrating. At least it was only a few of them, and Ivy was confident many of the others would still want to be her friend. Especially when they saw she really was good at classes, she figured they would be impressed by her. But even if not, Ivy knew she had Brooke and Delilah. They weren't best friends or anything, but they all had a similar drive. Ivy would like to spend time at Hogwarts with them, even if they were in different houses. Ivy was happy when she spotted Delilah in the courtyard, and headed over to her. She realized as she approached that she was talking to two older students. "Hi Delilah!" She said brightly. "Hi other people." She added with a wave.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon gave Delilah an amused look as she acted like she was annoyed at him. He folded his arms too, and mimicked her stance. “That’s true, she was.” he admitted. “But you also know how he is.” he added, softer this time. Not that she needed to be reminded. Someone called his name and his head snapped in that direction. When he realized it was Minnie he put on one of his more charming smiles. “Hey!” he replied with a laugh. “She sure is.” Simon confirmed when she asked if Lila was his sister. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her still even though he could feel her tense under his touch. “This is Lila.” he said. “A fellow Ravenclaw. Hopefully you can keep an eye on her.” he suggested as another, younger girl approach who apparently knew his sister. “Hello….strange girl.” he said in response to her equally vague greeting.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah stood her ground and continued to scowl at her brother as he teased her. She was just about to roll her eyes at him again when some girl who looked like she was Simon’s age approached them. Before she could react or say anything Simon had wrapped his arm around her, pinning her next to him. She was going to complain but noticed his shift in attitude as he smiled at her. She sighed and figured she should try and make a good impression as well. Her smile was tight but she tried to look pleasant but couldn’t help but correct her brother when he introduced her. “My name is Delilah.” she corrected. Thankfully Ivy seemed to appear out of nowhere and she was grateful. “Oh hi Ivy.”‘ she mumbled and then glared at Simon’s rude introduction. “Sorry, This is my brother.” she apologized.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie wasn’t sure if she’d perhaps interrupted anything, but she gave Simon a smile as he looked at her with an expression that she certainly found charming. Simon was charming. She looked at the girl as he introduced her as Lila and a fellow ravenclaw, ”Of course I can,” Minnie looked back at Simon and gave him a little smile as she said it. The girl took that moment to introduce herself not as Lila but as Delilah. Before Minnie could say anything on the matter another young girl, not a ravenclaw appeared, greeting the younger of the two. ”Hi,” Minnie said, ”I’m Minnie, happy to help around Ravenclaw if you need it, Delilah,” she opted to use the name that the girl had called herself and not what Simon had said. She glanced back at the two girls, ”Or if you want quidditch help, I can do that too,” Minnie said with a shrug, but there was a smile on her face. She looked back at Simon and nodded ever so slightly, ”How was your break?” she said it while looking at him, but wouldn’t mind if someone else answered it first. She just knew Simon more than she knew the two girls.​

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy laughed as Delilah's brother called her a strange girl. She had guessed he was her brother before the girl confirmed it, and then waved at him. "Hi Delilah's brother." She said, greeting him in return. Delilah and Brooke had both talked about their older siblings already attending Hogwarts, and Ivy had always been a bit jealous of that. There was another girl there, an older one. Ivy leaned towards Delilah and whispered a bit too loudly. "Is that his girlfriend?"

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon sighed as Lila corrected him about her name. He would never understand who she cared so much about something so insignificant. “It was good. Was nice to spend time with my siblings.” he said and put his hand on Delilah’s shoulder before smiling at Minnie. “How was you break? Did you do anything exciting? Travel anywhere?” he asked before glancing at Lila’s friend. “I’m Simon.” he said, his tone not as friendly. “And..no. She’s not.” he said simply and flashed an apologetic smile to Minnie, In a way that seemed aloof rather than embarrassed.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah tensed up as Simon placed his hand on her shoulder and quickly shrugged it off. She wanted to roll her eyes yet again. It should have been expected that he would try and act like he was a good brother, and of course it made her skin crawl. But Minnie seemed nice, much nicer of a friend then Simon deserved. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” she said with a small smile. “I don’t think I’m going to be much of a quidditch player. I don’t think flying is going to end up being my best subject.” she explained with a light laugh. But when Ivy leaned over and whispered her question to Delilah, she had to cover her mouth to keep in her laugh. “She could do better.” she whispered after Simon answered, hoping he wouldn’t hear her.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie smiled easily at Simon before shaking her head in response, she thought it would be nice to spend time with a sibling but she didn’t have any, so all she could do was imagine it. However she didn’t necessarily want to talk about how she’d spent most of the holiday studying and doing different pieces of work her parents had wanted her to do. ”Oh no, no travelling, just stayed at home, reading and stuff,” which was the easiest way of saying she’d studied without actually saying those exact words. She was pleased that Delilah seemed to take on board her words, ”Well, if you need help with any of it, flying included, just ask,” she wanted to be encouraging and nice, knowing it was important to help the younger students. However, she blushed furiously at the comment the other girl, Ivy or something made and felt her blush deepen as Simon replied, he didn’t seem too embarrassed. ”I’m too busy to have a partner anyway, all those library books won’t read themselves,” she added as a little joke trying to keep it light. ”How are you finding Hogwarts?” she asked the two girls mainly, but also was somewhat asking Simon too, this was only his second year at the school after all. ​

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy couldn't help giggling a bit as it was clear that Delilah's brother overheard her. She grinned at him. "Oh, okay." She said, though she didn't think it had been a weird assumption. They were the same age and talking together, clearly it could have been possible. "Hi Simon, I'm Ivy." She added. Then giggled more at Delilah's whisper, ducking down a bit and covering her mouth. Ivy looked up as the girl said she was too busy for boyfriends or girlfriends because of library books. she could understand that. "Oh, I'm going to attempt to read them all." She said with a grin. "Hogwarts is amazing." She added quickly.