The More Friends the Merrier!

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Ariah had done a lot of growing up over the summer, not only body-wise but also personality wise and she could actually admit that she was pretty happy with the change. Instead of being the over active and bubbly blonde that she used to be during all of last year she was just more of a peaceful and sweet hearted person that people seemed a lot more bearable with. Over the Break in Russia Ariah had also finally developed to actually catch up with her friends, too bad she was still as short and petite as ever. So far the school year had turned out pretty awesome, she hadn't seen any sign of Leviathan at all so she wasn't sure if he would like that she changed at all or not. 'Come to think of it I haven't seen Charlie either, are all the boys hiding or what?' The blonde sorely rubbed her head as she walked into the Hogwarts Garden, thoughts were boggling her head over all sorts of things that she needed to do or was curious about. And this is when her klutzy side also happened to be at it's absolute worst for her, it should have been no surprise to her that something bad was probably going to happen to her.

Suddenly Ariah's foot had gotten stuck under a root or something of the sort and she suddenly felt herself being tripped and stumbling to the ground. "Oh shoot, ow!" Her knee hit the ground but that was about it for her falling, she didn't feel very injured either since it was only a small fall but man it still hurt. Glancing around the area carefully she hoped that no one had seen her fall like that.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii was relaxing in the garden wasting time before she had to do homework. Dannii gripped her pencil tightly as she tried to get as much detail as possible Maybe I can hand this into Professor Styx and get some extra credit. Merlin knows I need it. They only pick people with high grades to be prefects. Dannii snorted at the idea of her being prefect. She had never been much of a rule enforcer, or a grades person. Dannii finished shading in one of the leaves and sat up to wipe her sweaty hands on her jeans. "Oh wow, I need a looser grip" Dannii said to herself as she opened and closed her red hand. Dannii looked down at her drawing and smiled, it had always been a passion of hers. Maybe I'll be an artist one day... Although there probably isn't much work for them in the wizarding world... Dannii thought trying to think of the last time she saw a painting in a wizards house hold. Most pictures she saw were photographs. Dannii sighed and laid back down in the grass looking up at the puffy clouds. She would have to start thinking about a possible job soon, OWLS were just next year, and then NEWTS just two years after that. Thats insane, I can't think of what I'd like to do by then if Quidditch falls through Dannii told herself.

Dannii was considering a ministry career when she heard someone yell out in pain. Dannii hopped up and looked over one of the bushes she had been hiding behind. Dannii saw a girl there who she recognized from class Oh yeah, shes the one that called that really cool plant gross Dannii thought walking up to her. "Are you okay?" Dannii asked in a less then friendly but not mean way. Dannii held her hand out to help the girl up from the ground. What is with me lately, I'm acting so nicely Dannii asked herself confused. Maybe the loneliness was finally wearing her down, or maybe she was just growing up. What ever it was Dannii had found herself reaching out to people more then usual. It was weird, but in a good way.

 

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Ariah let her sparkling mint green eyes look up when someone spoke to her and held their hand out for her to take, once again her klutziness had forced someone else to help her out of a sticky situation. Softly she took the girls hand and gave her a pretty but still peaceful smile when was fully standing and looking straight at the girl, she recognized her from some of the classes she was taking but that was about it. "Yeah thanks. I swear to god my klutziness will someday kill me." She still kept a small smile on her face, as friendly as she was to most people her Slytherin side was still coming out more and more every day that she stayed at this school. That sorting hat obviously knew more about the inner Ariah then she ever figured it would have, and that scared her a little. This being the first time that she had been around the girl that helped her up Ariah made sure to get a good look at her, she was awful pretty and seemed really nice but the shorter blonde couldn't be really all that sure about which house she was in or anything.

"I'm Ariah Rowan, I remember seeing you in classes sometimes. But...sorry to say I don't really know your name." The Slytherin female shrugged her thin shoulders, she really needed to get to know her classmates better so she wouldn't have to feel like an idiot whenever she didn't know one of their names or something. Ariah had made so many friends recently too that she also needed a way to keep track of them until she knew all of them better, maybe if she were less friendly than she wouldn't have to worry about this. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you." Her head cocked out to the side as she gave a soft wave to the girl, she seemed to be a little cold or maybe she was just shy and unsure about being Ariah. They hadn't known each other long enough for any real judgements to be made between each other.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii nodded and offered the girl a smile at her thanks. Dannii had reverted back to her cold self now that she knew the girl was alright. Dannii hated that she had to look up at the girl to see her face, she was always the shortest. Stupid stubby little legs she cursed. The taller girl looked really nice, she certainly smiled enough. Dannii decided she could drop her icy armor just a little and loosened up a bit. Dannii listened as the girl introduced herself as Ariah Rowan, and apologized for not knowing her name. Dannii smiled at that, not many people knew her name, because she didn't feel not many people needed to know it. "I'm Dannii Merrythought, and don't apologize, I don't really put myself out there. Yeah nice to meet you" Dannii replied before pushing her hair out of her face. I really need to get a hair cut Dannii thought seeing how long her hair was getting. Dannii looked at the ground awkwardly not knowing what to say next. What did people usually say when they met a new person? I wish we were younger when making friends was as easy as asking someone to play with you Dannii thought wishing she had the chance to make more friends back then.

Just then Dannii remembered she had left her sketch book behind the clump of bushes were just anyone could get it. Oh poop! Dannii thought before dashing off and jumping over the bushes to reach her sketch pad and pencil. Thank Merlin it was still there, there were some things in that book that Dannii hoped no one would ever see. Dannii stood up from the ground hugging the black book close to her chest and saw that she had left Ariah standing there. "Sorry about that... I forgot I had left my sketch book over here" She said walking towards Ariah her face a little pinker then it was minutes ago. Well thats a great way to make friends Dannii, run away like a crazy person she told herself sarcastically.

 

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Even though Ariah knew Dannii from classes she somehow felt like she had seen her around from somewhere else too, then again maybe it was just her imagination as well. It didn't long for the Slytherin female to notice that the other girl looked like she was feeling a bit awkward and uncomfortable right now, which was totally understandable because it was never easy to make new friends at this age. "I'm a space ball anyways so it could be my fault too, what house are you in again?" A person's House was also something that Ariah paid little attention to but noticed that it did sometimes affect how she got along with people and everything, personally she liked all the houses as much as she liked her own. Sometimes it paid not to be shy and sometimes it did, Ariah had never been shy so she was never really that bothered by meeting or having nothing to say around new people. Even her new peaceful nature still allowed her to be as much as a social butterfly as she was before.

When Dannii suddenly dashed off and jumped over the bushes for something, Ariah's mint green eyes blinked in surprise and wondered what on earth was going on right now. Then she saw the girl stand up clutching some black book close to her, which Ariah assumed was why she had jumped into the bushes, to retrieve it. The girl apologized about the whole situation and Ariah could not help but shake her head at the girl to tell her she had no problems with it. "It's alright, I wouldn't want to leave anything important of mine behind either. But a Sketch book, eh? Are you a really good artist and everything?" She cocked her head to the side as she stared at the book curiously, she had almost been tempted to ask if she could see some of the drawings but thought it would be a little rude to ask. Ariah couldn't draw to save her own life, so it would be interesting to see what someone who actually had good art skills could create.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

"I'm in Hufflepuff" Dannii told Ariah as she placed her pencil behind her ear for safe keeping, "What about you?" Dannii asked. She had seen Ariah headed down the stairs after classes rather then up them with the Gryffindors so Dannii guessed that she was a Slytherin, because she certainly wasn't a Hufflepuff. Dannii smiled when Ariah said that she understood. Thats a relief Dannii thought her stance relaxing a little. However Dannii looked back down at the ground at Ariah's question, "Not a really good artist really, my shading is kinda sloppy and I'm still getting used to drawing people" Dannii said shifting from foot to foot. She was itching to show someone her work and get criticism but she didn't want to seem like she was showing off. Her art was personal, not like in sports where all you did was show off your skill and try to beat everyone. Dannii thought about it for a few seconds before bursting out with her question, "Do you wanna see my drawings?". Almost at once Dannii regretted it but she resisted the urge to run away.

(( sorry its so lame >.< ))

 

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Ariah managed to raise an eyebrow when she heard Dannii tell her that she was in Hufflepuff, she had nothing against any of the houses but this probably had to be the first Hufflepuff girl she had actually spoken to while the rest had been only really cute guys that were always too old for her. "I'm in Slytherin, but I assure you I'm not a huge bully like most of them seem." Some Slytherin were quite nice actually and she happened to be one of the few that were, so far because there was always that impending darkness and knack for disliking others that they all shared, all she needed to do was have someone unlock it. It would be interesting to see what the girl thought of her now, then again Ariah did remember seeing her around with some Slytherin boy once or twice to maybe she wasn't as against Slytherins as others were.

The smallest hint of a smile formed onto Ariah's face when Dannii said that she wasn't a very good artist, at least this girl was either trying to be modest or was just really not that good but now the blonde was interesting to see them. "Chances are your better than me. Let's see them then." She stepped her short legs closer to Dannii and appeared at the book curiously, it would be really interesting to see if she was a good artist or not. Ariah hadn't seen good Art in the longest time.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii shrugged when Ariah said she was in Slytherin, honestly Dannii didn't really care about houses anymore. You could find decent people in all of them, even Slytherin. I didn't think that way back in first year... I'm so glad I'm not like that anymore Dannii told herself. She really hadn't changed that much, she had grown up though(even if just a little). "I know being in Slytherin doesn't make you a bully. People are bullies, not the houses there in" Dannii commented. It was probably the wisest thing she had ever said. Dannii forced herself not to step away from Ariah when she stepped closer to her. She was the one who wanted to make friends, even if that meant putting herself out there and not avoiding human contact.

Dannii handed Ariah the sketch book but wished she hadn't. Dannii was just now remembering some of the comments she had made on her pictures and they were throughly embarrassing in Dannii's opinion. Especially the cartoon picture of Azerail. Dannii cursed herself over and over again in her head. Ariah was going to think she was some stupid bubbly girl. Dannii had worked hard to get rid of that image after her first year and if this girl was lying about not being a jerk then Dannii could kiss all that goodbye.

 

[Ariah Zhefarovich]

Ariah flipped open the sketch and carefully looked at each page, this girl had to be kidding because these sketches were beyond amazing to look at, she knew she would never be able to draw like that even if she wanted to. It even began to show progress too because the further she had gotten into the book the better the drawings began to look, one of them in particular caught her eye and she froze before she turned the page. It was a cartoon looking drawing of some boy, it was really good but also really cute to the point where it made Ariah grin like a Cheshire cat. "This one is really good and sooo cute..is it...Azerail?" The blonde cocked her head to the side as she asked, she knew the boy a little because he was the first person who had ever spoken to Ariah when she had come to Hogwarts a few years ago, he was really nice. Maybe this was Dannii's boyfriend or something, or maybe even just a huge crush, Ariah didn't know but she could just guess that he was somehow important to her if she had drawn him. For a moment Ariah grew envious and wished she had someone to care for her like that, it was cute to think about.

"Okay Dannii these are so good, especially the one of yourself! Either you have been drawing for a long time or you have some serious talent going on. You make my drawing look like chicken scratch!" Ariah giggled as she flipped through the sketchbook one more time, some of these she wondered what the inspiration was and others she thought must have been just drawn out of boredom. Her talent did not lie anywhere near drawing, she was more of a gardener and singing type of person, it would be cool to be artistic like that though.

 

[Dannii Merrythought]

Dannii watched carefully as Ariah looked at each of her pictures carefully. So far so good, no one was making fun of her yet. Dannii was starting to calm down a little when Ariah paused at a picture longer then the other ones. It was the one of Azerail. Oh no this is it Dannii thought waiting for whatever was coming her way. Instead what she got was a compliment and a question. Dannii was to shocked to answer at first but she soon got her wits back and managed an answer, "Yeah it is... We've been going out for a while now..." Dannii said a blush creeping up on her face. Five years in fact... Wow time sure goes fast she thought thinking back to when she first met Azerail. They had both changed so much since then. Dannii waited until Ariah finished going through her book. So far nothing bad had been said, despite that Dannii couldn't help but be nervous. This was the first time someone had actually seen her work.

Relief flooded though Dannii when Ariah said her drawings were good, even going so far as to say Dannii had talent. "Wow thanks... Yeah I've been drawing for a while now, just starting to get the hang of things really" Dannii said happily. She was glad Ariah had pointed out the self portrait. It had taken her hours of sitting in front of a mirror to finish it, she couldn't feel her butt for days. "So what about you? Do you have any talents?" Dannii asked. Dannii had seen her in Herbology and knew for a fact that Ariah was amazing with plants, that was defiantly a useful talent. Way more practical then drawing or playing sports.