The Worst People You'll Ever Meet

[Diana Hollis]

While Diana wasn't pleased about what happened with Sapphire, at least it seemed to have brought her and Domi closer together. Or maybe she just found it less irritating to hang out with Domi now that she knew she didn't have many other options. It was probably the latter. The two were sitting at the house table for lunch, though Diana had already finished eating. She was entertaining herself by looking at the students entering the great hall and occasionally commenting to Domi about them. "Look at those shoes, it's almost impressive someone found a pair that seems to clash with plain back school robes as well as any of the house colors." She said, giggling behind her hand. "Sometimes people really want to stand out too much. It's kind of sad." She glanced over at the other girl with a slight smirk, wondering what she would have to add.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

The letter Winnie received from her dad that day had been stock standard, scattered with 'I love you' and 'I'm proud of you' between updates on everything that was happening at home and with the election. Nothing to fuss over really. That was until she realized the envelope didn't solely contain a letter for her, but also included four christmas cards written for each of the Holland sisters in a promise to somewhat continue their tradition of exchanging gifts as the holidays drew closer. Winnie frowned as she pulled the cards out, looking over them as she attempted to think of four different messages to write. When she figured out what she wanted to say, she quickly wrote her own well wishes for the holidays on each of the four cards before heading down from her dorm in search of one of the Hollands she could hand the cards over to.

Her search led her to the great hall where she inevitably spotted one of the Hollands almost immediately. Putting on a polite smile, Winnie approached Diana at the Slytherin table. "Diana, it's lovely to see you." She greeted, not waiting another moment to place the cards in front of them in an explanation of why she was approaching her. "Dad sent me cards for you and your sisters. He's sorry that our families can't exchange gifts this year like we usually do." While Winnie appreciated her dad's sentiment, she didn't see the point of giving cards to replace gifts. However she did understand she didn't have a say on whether she was the one to give the cards away and knew it was what she needed to do on her parents behalf.​

 

[Dominique Malone]

Meals were always more fun with a friend, and Diana had been spending more time with Domi recently, a fact she was grateful for. Diana didn't hold punches, and it was fun to chat with someone who shared Domi's views. As Domi took another bite of salad she followed the direction Diana was indicating, giggling loudly at the girl Domi had indicated. The shoes were awful, though Domi couldn't help but think that with a more impressive outfit they would have been really eye-catching. "Her roommates must hate her, letting her go out like that." Domi giggled back to Diana.

She was still giggling slightly when Winnie approached, giving her friend a cheerful wave. "Winnie!" She said happily, pleased to have another friend join them. She listened to the card exchange, pouting a little. "No card for me?" She asked Winnie with an exaggerated pout, half-joking. She didn't actually expect Winnie's family to have a card for some kid from drama, but it would have been nice to be remembered. "Is your dad still doing shows?" She asked a little wistfully, nostalgic for their childhood together in the theatre.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana smiled at Domi approvingly as the girl went along with her comment. It had been her main reason for saying anything at all, just to see if Domi would go along with it. She had the feeling Domi would wear something like that if she had the chance, so it was nice that she at least outwardly went along with Diana's opinion on the hideous shoes. "Please, it's not a roommate's job to protect a girl from her own terrible fashion sense." She said, checking her nails. "Besides, she probably just wanted the attention."

Diana looked up as someone approached and quickly conjured a smile onto her face at the sight of Winnie Marsh. Their parents were friends, so she had known the girl for a while, but they hadn't really spent much time together at Hogwarts. It was with some envy that Diana looked at her red curls. So much more special than her own brown hair. "Lovely to see you too." She said quickly, though she was glad when the girl placed cards down on the table. So that was why she approached. Diana was ready to thank her and dismiss her after this, but Domi's reaction to Winnie surprised her. She frowned slightly, looking between the two. "Wait, you two know each other?" She asked suspiciously. For some reason, the idea of Domi and Winnie being acquaintances without her being a part of it annoyed her. "I didn't know that." She smiled up at Winnie again and scooted to the side. "Come join us." She said, her tone sugary sweet now.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Focusing on her duty to hand the holiday cards over, Winnie wouldn't have realised Domi was sitting next to Diana if she didn't exclaim her name in greeting. It being the more enthusiastic greeting of the two slytherins however, she fortunately did notice Domi's presence and smiled still as she looked over to the fellow theatre kid. Ignoring the first question, Winnie focused on answering the second with honesty and a slight hint of disdain, the subject striking a chord in her. "Not recently, he's busy helping Diana's mum run for minister." If Winnie had her way, her dad would be organising shows every year and spending time with her instead of working on some pointless campaign. Though she kept these thoughts behind her teeth, not thinking it was relevant as she wouldn't stay there much longer, fully intending to keep her parent's happy by handing the holiday cards over, leaving, and then promptly enjoying the rest of her day alone.

Though it seemed Diana had a different idea. When the girl scooted over, suddenly interested in Winnie's familiarity with Domi, it seemed she had no choice on whether she could leave. Feeling obliged to join the slytherins simply because she had been invited, Winnie followed the instruction, sitting herself next to Diana and Domi to join them, and sliding the cards over as well. "We used to be in drama classes together." Winnie admitted, answering Diana's question. "One of my dad's classes, of course." She added for good measure.​

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi giggled and nodded in agreement with Diana's comment about the girl wanting attention, though she quietly hoped that if she ever tried to go out in anything so hideous one of her roomies would be nice enough to let her know. She let the fashion talk go though, listening to Winnie's response. "Oh, fun! Aww, I miss the shows though. You should tell him to do one in the next holidays, I miss drama so much!" She sighed, thinking of the fun of their days on the stage together.

Domi laughed slightly at Diana's confusion, nodding excitedly. "Yeah! Winnie and I have known each other for aaaaaaages." She beamed, scooting up too to make more room for Winnie to join them. "How do you know Winnie?" To Domi's dismay Winnie had been sorted into a different house and she couldn't figure out how the girls knew each other, Winnie's earlier statement already having slipped her mind. "That's so cool though! We should all hang out together!"

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana noticed that Winnie didn't seem thrilled about how her dad was helping with Diana's mum's campaign, but she was still too focused on the mystery of how these two knew each other when Diana had no idea. She was glad when Winnie didn't protest her joining them, and glad she quickly had an explanation as to why these two knew each other. It made sense. Domi was definitely the type to take drama classes, and she knew Winnie's dad did that sort of thing. "Oh, right." She said with a nod. It still irked her how Domi felt the need to emphasize just how long they had known each other. "Well, you can't blame me for being surprised when I've never seen you two talk after being at school for more than a year." She said to Domi, her comment slightly pointed. "I know Winnie because our parents have been friends for years. I probably know her longer than you." She turned to Winnie with a smile. "Right?"

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Winnie's entire interaction with Diana and Domi that day was weird in a way she couldn't comprehend, but she could admit she was enjoying how the conversation between Diana and Domi felt like fighting over her in so little words. It made her feel included and as if they wanted to spend time with her which no one else in school had been able to do thus far. A wider and more genuinely happy smile appeared on her features as her eyes moved between the two slytherins, noting Diana's pointed comment. When the attention was turned back on her, Winnie met Diana's eye and nodded in agreement, sure that despite the years spent with Domi during her dad's drama classes, she had known Diana for much longer. Their parents had been friends for their whole lives as far as she knew, so it made sense that she had known Domi for a lesser amount of time. "Our parents have been friends since before we were born, I think." Winnie added to back Diana up, feeling that she should cater to the girl for some unknown reason no matter if it felt a little like ganging up on Domi. She tried to ignore this feeling and attempted to change the subject to something more positive by agreeing with Domi's suggestion to hang out together. "We all should hang out, yeah. We know each other anyway, don't we? Why not call ourselves the best of friends already?" Winnie said, again moving her eyes between Diana and Domi to see their reactions.​