Switcheroo

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich could remember Leila mentioning that she and her friends would hang out in one of the towers but she had been very vague about the details. They probably kept their location secret to keep out people like himself, people not in their group. It made tracking her down all the more difficult. Ulrich had been to every tower barring the house ones as he doubted a group of girls from different houses would hang out in a random room in the Ravenclaw or Gryffindor towers. The North tower was the final stop, it wasn't his favourite place as usually every time he was there was to attend Astronomy lessons, which he hated.

There was no sign of Leila and to make matters worse Ulrich had no idea who her friends were, they could walk right by him and he wouldn't have a clue. Every room behind an open door was empty and Urich was about to give up when he noticed a girl making her way up the stairs. "Hey, can you help me, I'm looking for someone,"

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Behind her the door of the Indigo Crusaders headquarters closed with a snap. She had become fairly acquainted with the Alohomora spell, it was a success each time she would cast it. The room had become their relaxing place at Hogwarts, their own private sanctuary. Elly looked behind her and she saw no one, they kept this room secret. It was only for the Indigo Crusaders, but the room wasn't invisible or anything. It was just really hard to find.

Elly took a detour and found herself somewhere in the middle of the stairs of the North tower. She started to walked up when she heard someone talking. At first she hadn't noticed if the person was addressing her. ''Sure, depends on who you are trying to find.'' Elly barely knew people at the school. She knew the members of the IC and had some friends outside of that group, but that was where her knowledge stopped.

 

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich was glad that the girl turned when he started talking to her, he had wondered if he had spoken loud enough for the girl to hear. He was glad to know that he had. "I'm not sure if you know her or not," Ulrich began looking at the girl, she was cute and looked to be about the same age as he and Leila so perhaps she was one of the Gryffindors friends. "I'm looking for Leila Walden, I don't suppose you know her?" He asked walking closer to the girl. "I think she hangs around here but I'm not sure," Ulrich shrugged his shoulders, if he couldn't find her then he would no doubt see her in their next lesson together, he was just excited to see her after the holidays.

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Standing mid stairs talking wasn't something Elly liked. She was already clumsy on a regular floor let alone on steps. ''Who is it?'' Elly asked politely and looked at the person that spoke to her. ''Yes I know her, we are good friends.'' She didn't really know if Leila also felt that way, but from Elly her perspective they were good friends. What she didn't know was where Leila was hanging out currently. When Elly got sorted in Ravenclaw the original group got separated. Only Jess and Leila managed to be sorted in Gryffnidor.

''I really don't know where she is'' Elly shrugged and looked at the boy in front of her. She wouldn't have told him anything if she knew were Leila was. What if the boy wanted to harm her, she didn't know his intentions nor his motives for seeking out Leila. ''Why are you looking her anyway?'' Elly wanted a motivation at least.

 

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich couldn't believe his luck, the first person he ran into not only knew Leila but they were close friends. The seemed unsure about him, he believed her when she said she didn't know where she was, but it didn't stop the girl from wanting to know who he was and what he wanted with her friend. Ulrich smiled, seemingly comforted by the fact that Leila had such protective friends. "I'm Ulrich, I don't know if Leila has mentioned me," While the pair didn't talk much about their friends when they were together, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that she had mentioned him to her friends. "I haven't seen her since last semester and haven't had chance to talk to her in lessons, I was just hoping to catch up with her but I'm sure I'll run into her eventually,"

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Come to think of it Leila had never mentioned a Ulrich, but then again she hadn't seen Leila for a while. Elly didn't care a lot about the love lives of her friends, so she hadn't put much thought in her friends already having boyfriends and girlfriends. Elly had to think real hard if Leila had mentioned a Ulrich. ''No, I don't think she has, but maybe she told Jess'' Elly paused ''They are like glued on to each other'' Elly smiled, if you looked for Leila you needed to seek out Jess and vice versa. ''I am sure you will, not like she can run off'' You could hardly run away from Hogwarts, since there was nothing to run of to. If you wanted to leave your parents needed to take you away or you needed to get expelled. ''How did you and Leila meet, if I may ask?'' Elly was a curious soul and he talked to her first. She wanted some information so she could tell Leila about her stalker.

 

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich felt slightly disappointed when the girl told him that Leila hadn't mentioned him, the feeling surprised him and it was something he would have to ponder on later. The girl did offer some hope that he had been spoken about when she mentioned Leila's best friend Jess. Leila had mentioned her friend before and he agreed with the summation that they seemed to be glued together, he got the impression the two were very close so that would be the true test. "Yeah, I've heard about Jess," He said with a smile remembering one afternoon when Leila had talked his ear off about her best friend. "We met in flying class, or rather after flying class. After her first lesson, she seemed upset because she had had some trouble, so I followed her to make sure she was okay, we've been friends ever since," Ulrich paused, Leila was probably the first friend he made outside of his own house, he was incredibly grateful for her friendship, she always brightened his day. "How did you meet Leila?"

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

She really did not know what to think of this guy. Leila was busy with Jess and whatnot so Elly had not talked to her for a while either. When the boy said they had met at flying lesson Elly nodded. That was very possible and Elly eased a bit. When Ulrich asked Elly how she met Leila she had to think really hard. ''Ehh, four girls including Leila and I wanted to be sorted in Gryffindor, but unfortunately only two ended up in the house'' Elly smiled, at the end they made another group. The indigo crusaders, so it didn't make any difference any more. ''I think if you want to find Leila she is at Gryffindor common room now to think of it.''Elly smiled and giggled.

 

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich listened to Elizabeth, it must be awful to come to Hogwarts in a group only to be separated into different houses but from what he had heard from Leila they had found ways to work around it and they seemed to spend a lot of time together. It was nice, Ulrich didn't have a group like that. "That sucks, you're a Ravenclaw right? Are you the only one in your group or did you get sorted with someone too?" Leila didn't go into much detail about all of her friends. He knew all about their adventures but he didn't know what the house makeup of their group was, other than her and Jess. "I'll catch her later I'm sure. If you don't mind we could hang out? I'd like to get to know Leila's friends if I can, or do you have somewhere to be,"

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

The conversation finally switched subject and Elly didn't feel like walking away anymore. She actually liked talking and making friends, especially when they didn't notice her clumsiness. When Ulrich asked if she was the only one getting sorted in Ravenclaw it somehow sounded sad. It was bad at first, but she had found friends in Ravenclaw. ''I was the only one getting Ravenclaw, but I kind of expected it really.'' It was either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, so she hadn't done that badly. ''What about you, got what you wanted?'' Elly smiled and looked at him. She was legitimately curious about why he got what he was in now.

When he asked if she wanted to hang with him for a while, she had to think about it. He clearly was looking for Leila, so maybe he wanted to use her to get to Leila. For all she know, she didn't even know this guy. ''Ehh.. sure'' Elly paused ''I have nothing to do now anyway.'' She didn't want to deny, because she was hesitant. What if this boy wanted to hang out for real, not just for Leila. ''What do you want to do?'' Elly looked at him with her hazel eyes.

 

[Ulrich Snyder]

Ulrich wondered if the girl was starting to relax around him yet, it didn't appear to be the case. He was a strange boy asking about her friend so she was a little on edge which was understandable. It was a shame though as it did mean that Leila hadn't mentioned him at all to her Ravenclaw friend. "Its a shame you were separated from your group though I'm sure you made new friends in your house to make up for it," The girls next question made Ulrich think. What did he think of his own house selection? Sorting seemed like an eternity ago and he was so a peace with being in Slytherin that he could no longer remember what house had wanted when he first walked through the doors to the Great hall. "You know, as strange as this may sound, I actually don't remember what house I wanted to be in but I wasn't unhappy being sorted into Slytherin, I do know that," Ulrich laughed a little at his poor memory. The Ravenclaw probably thought he was some kind of freak.

It seemed Ulrich wouldn't find Leila by looking, perhaps if he stopped he would bump into her as she came flying around a corner and hanging out with one of her close friends certainly wouldn't dimish his chances of running into the Gryffindor. "Maybe we could go for a walk? Or something more exciting, what do you normally do when you're not hanging out with the girls?"

 

[Elizabeth Chatwin]

Getting boys their attention wasn't anything Elly was expecting. Nor did she like boys that way, she was still in the friends fase. When Elijah had kissed her Elly was absolutely shocked. ''That is true, but we had such great plans.'' Elly smiled, she thought back about the time they talked about the all Gryffindor group. Ravenclaw wasn't that bad and the riddles at the entrance were easily solvable, but it wasn't Gryffindor. She must say that she had made peace with the fact that she was a Ravenclaw now. ''Ah, there is something extra in all houses and I don't think there is a worst house.'' Although personality wise she wasn't a Slytherin, she could still see the benefits of the house.

When the boy said he couldn't remember Elly smiled. It was funny to hear that he forgot about it. ''That sounds like fun, I got enough excitement with the girls already'' Elly smiled, then they both left for a lengthy walk.

Fin​

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