Too Quiet

[Stella Lagowski]

Despite the muffled conversations going on in each corner of the Student Lounge, Stella's ears felt like they were ringing. In fact, they'd felt that way since she'd arrived at Hogwarts. The other students would have called her crazy for saying that Hogwarts of all places was quiet, but to Stella, it felt completely silent. It was strange, being away from the pursuit of cameras and fans, to be able to take a walk outside and not see bright flashes out of the corner of her eye. To be able to cry and not have it spread across the muggle media. But in a way, Stella missed it. Despite it's cons, she really really missed it. Acting was her dream, and there was very little of that at Hogwarts.

The door of the lounge creaked as it swung open, and closed with a thud, alerting Stella to the presence of a new student in the library. She didn't bother to look up, partially because she was reading a book about magical plants and partly because she didn't expect to recognize them anyway. In her short time at Hogwarts, Stella had made a couple of friends, yet somehow she still felt more alone than ever. Friends were OK, but they didn't give her the same feeling stardom did. How could they ever replace such a huge part of her life? Stella sighed, skimming over the words in her book without taking any of it in. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts of home and what she was missing. Well, Quidditch doesn't seem too bad.. Stella thought, but bit her lip in guilt as soon as it crossed her mind. She couldn't afford to think like that. As soon as she finished her seven years, she was going straight back to acting. All of a sudden, Stella realised she had company.

 

[Emily Richardson]

It was a lovely day, just as always on hogwarts for Emily. Emily felt really at home at hogwarts, people could accept the way how Emily was and she had met some people who were familiar with the muggle world, so that was one thing to talk about. Everywere Emily went, it just seemed to go wrong on first meetings. She always made a fool out of herself, but people here at hogwarts could laugh about it, in a positive way. Emily did not get it at all, she said the most stupid things on wrong timings, but what evere she was who she was. Some students of her own house Hufflepuff said there was a student lounge and Emily did not went there. She wanted to know everything about the castle, so including the student lounge. She grabbed some books from her dorm and ofcourse not one but three, because Emily could not choose between them. Emily missed her mom sometimes and the computer the most! On hogwarts they did not have any computers, not for so far. But she heard from a student that they had muggle studies at here, so she was wondering if there was a computer. Emily was good with computers and the ICT stuff, her mother was a doctor at the hospital and she worked with them. When Emily learned how to use a computer, she helped her mother with some patients file's, you could see it like a tiny job.


When Emily arrived at the student lounge, she looked around her.
''Ow yeah, that is what i am talking about. I have found my chill out place.'' Emily realised that she was saying that by looking at someone next to her. The person looked towards her, but did not seemed pleased.'' You can chill with me too, if you want? Or just study? Ow i reall- .... ok you are not interested ok so bye.. jep. Emily did it again, she made a special appereance, but gladly she saw that nobody was looking. They were to busy with their own stuff. Emily just walked at a free spot by a chair and there was somebody sitting there. The girl had blonde hair, and Emily guessed she was the same age as herself. She had a uniform on her with the colours of hufflepuff, Emily did saw her before. But never got the chance to say something. When Emily went sitting, she looked at the face of the girl. And she knew her from something. ''Ow bloody hell, i know you.'' she said not to loud, that everyone could join there conversation.

 

[Stella Lagowski]

As Stella read her book, she vaguely heard the student who had just entered mumbling something. Odd, Stella thought, I thought only one person came in. She shrugged it off, assuming she was speaking to someone she knew, still not daring to take her nose out of her book. The more friends she had, the harder it was going to be for her to hate Hogwarts, and she had to hate it. With that thought, the student who had entered made her way over to a chair near Stella and sat down. Stella briefly considered getting up and leaving, since she could now see out of the corner of her eye that this student was from Hufflepuff, but she felt glued to her seat. Not only this, but the harder she tried not to look up, the more tempting it became. At last, she raised her head, briefly making eye contact with the girl. She was a fellow first year; Stella recognized her from lessons, and how could she forget that bright blonde hair?

Apparently, the eye contact had struck a chord with the girl, since she quickly made a remark about knowing who Stella was. Stella tried not to gasp, quickly looking around the lounge to make sure no other students had overheard. It didn't matter too much either way, since the majority of Wizarding folk had no idea who she was. She wondered whether this girl was talking about her films, or just seeing her around in lessons. Deciding not to bring it up unless she really had to, she said, "Yeah, we have lessons together but I sit across the room." She almost added a 'Right?' to the end of her sentence, but managed to stop herself. That would've given the girl a reason to respond, and as lonely as Stella was, she knew it was what was best for her. Stella quickly went back to reading her book, appearing extremely rude to her acquaintance, but she didn't care too much. Nobody knew her here. She could do what she liked and nobody would talk about her, so why not pretend to be tough? The only thing she worried about was failing in classes. If someone did know who she was, and they realised how little she knew about magic, they would probably find great amusement in teasing her for it. Luckily, as long as she kept acting the 'hard nut', nobody seemed to bother her.

 

[Emily Richardson]

When Emily saw that the girl made eye contact with her and respond of what she was saying, she started to smile.
'' Yeah from that too haha, that's funny. But i know you from something else..'' Emily pushed her chair something to the front, towards the girl. That was really not so easy, so it most seem like a really clumsy thing from a far. The girl in front of her started to read again, but Emily did not care. Whenever she opened her mouth it was hard to stop for her. Emily started to speak soft, because what she was about to say maybe the girl did not wanted that everybody heard it, and Emily does too because if it was not true it would be a akward thing to say. '' I know you from.. I hope i'm right, because maybe you take me for a fool but you are Stella right? From the movies, you most be really rich.. right?'' Emily looked at her, but looked at a girl who read her book.

Emily blew a tuft of hair away from her face. She looked after waiting for a repond at the book the girl was reading. '' Nice book do you have there, I like to read to. Sometimes books are more interesting then people, but they don't talk back that is a pity.. They have so much to tell us, history of themself how they were made by who etc...'' Emily sighed after another stupid thing that she said, but it would be interesting if books could talk right?

 

[Stella Lagowski]

Much to Stella's dismay, the first year clumsily pulled her chair closer, clearly unconcerned by the fact Stella was busy reading. She closed the book on her lap, guessing that the girl wasn't going to go away no matter how preoccupied she seemed. Suddenly, the girl made a comment which filled her with fear. Her eyes widened slightly, darting around as she tried to figure out what to do next. Hardly anybody at Hogwarts knew who she was, and that hadn't been such a bad thing. Whilst she missed the excitement of it all, at Hogwarts Stella could relax, not having to worry about rumours or gossip or people who were out to make her life miserable. But this girl knew her, and Stella didn't know how much of a gossip she was. She looked down at her book, fingering the edge of the cover slightly as she decided what to say. There was no use denying it, this girl was obviously persistent.

"Yeah, yeah I am," She looked up at her acquaintance again, a fake smile plastered on her face. Luckily, it was hard to tell when Stella was being acting, as she'd had years of practice. Stella almost visibly grimaced when the subject of money came up. She's not only persistent, but blunt as well, Stella thought. Reminds me of me... She laughed, shrugging. "I guess, I'd never really thought about it," She said, blushing as she wondered for the first time what it must feel like not to be able to afford anything you wanted. "I don't get to see my money, my parents have it put into a bank account I can't access 'til I'm 18. I just act because I love it," Stella explained, wondering if she had already said too much. Fortunately the girl quickly changed the subject to her book, which Stella was much more comfortable talking about. Stella grinned, nodding in agreement. Books had been such a huge escape for Stella recently that she was starting to wonder why she wasn't a Ravenclaw. "I know! I'm starting to love reading. Have you been to the library? It's huge! There must be a book on everything in there," Stella enthused, but quickly stopped talking when she realised how much she was enjoying talking to the girl. This was bad, especially since she knew who Stella was, but she had long missed her opportunity to get away.

 

[Emily Richardson]

When the girl said that she was THE Stella, Emily her eyes started to shine. She could do a dance or something, because she saw the movies that Stella was in with her mother. Emily watched them a lot and one of them was her favorites. It was weird to meet the person you saw at the tv when you were little. What was her business at hogwarts? But just like Emily the girl had some experience with the muggle world. Emily was wondering what Stella her thoughts about the computer were. When Stella told her that she did not get to see her money, Emily laught. ''Oh that's a pity, i always thought that you would live in a barbie castle or something. You know barbie? The doll from the muggleworld?'' It was strange to talk with a person who might knew some stuff from the muggle world. Emily grew up with it all, so it was known area for her.

When the conversation went to the book what Emily did bring up, she smiled. Stella had also a facanation for books. '' Nice to hear! I love books too, are u kidding me? The first place that i've been here WAS the library! It is heaven really. I think you are right, almost everything is a book about. Is there a book about you? Not here maybe but in the muggle world?.'' Emily had a lot of joy in the conversation, she did not had such a nice conversation besides with Avery. But Stella seemed like a very nice person, different from the tv. Émily put out her hand towards Stella. '' I'm Emily Richardson, First year hufflepuff, as you well know I guess. Because you apparently saw me in lessons.'' Emily laughed about her own comment, but quick after that she stopped. Because she realised that it was not funny at all.

 

[Stella Lagowski]

Stella started to blush, momentarily remembering what it felt like to be able to make someone happy just by being herself. It was a gift, really, to have been born the daughter of a film director. She hadn't even had to try to get into the career, she had simply been cast in one of his films after he watched her perform in a play at school when she was five. Luck had been on Stella's side ever since she was a baby. But all of a sudden, her luck had vanished as quickly as her career. It was strange, since most students at Hogwarts probably felt extremely lucky to have magical blood, yet Stella was dying to go home. Hogwarts was nice and everything, but she missed the feeling she was getting now, watching her acquaintance smile just because she was in Stella's presence. Being able to make others happy like that made Stella happy, in a way that nothing else could. Besides acting, of course.

Stella laughed when the girl thought she lived in a barbie castle. "I wish!" She exclaimed, refraining from mentioning how many bedrooms and bathrooms her huge house had. Making others jealous was not something Stella enjoyed doing. "Of course! I actually had no idea I was a witch until my eleventh birthday, so I grew up with those dolls. I've got about thirty of them in my-" Stella stopped quickly, realising that she was starting to brag. It was difficult not to, especially when the majority of her friends at home were other young actresses, who were all as privileged as she. Stella wasn't used to being around anyone who wasn't extremely rich and influential. After the girl asked if she had a book about her, Stella shook her head. "Naw. I bet I'll write one some day though. I wasn't interested in reading until I came here," Stella admitted. "I was more into films I suppose. But then, this whole Hogwarts deal feels like a film to me. It's weird to see things floating around in the air. Normally we shoot things like that in front of a green screen," She laughed. Taking Emily's hand and shaking it, she began to explain, "I'm Stella-," But quickly stopped as she realised how pointless it was to introduce herself. "Right, you know that already, too. So how come you know about Barbie and muggle films? Are you muggle-born?" She asked bluntly, oblivious to the fact that may have been a rude question. Stella still had a lot to learn about the wizarding world.

 

[Emily Richardson]

Emily was so excited, a lot of people would take her for a fool because, Emily thought that that not everyone would know who Stella was. Maybe Stella liked that, or maybe she missed the fame. Emily would wanted to know everything. But first things first, she would not scare Stella with her fangirl talk. Emily herself lived in a nice house with her mother, they had it good at home Emily did not wished for more. Emily laughed when Stella answered the question about the barbie dreamhouse. '' OMG! I did not met anyone who knew barbie, i do not play with them anymore ofcourse, but when i was little i loved them! Brushing their hair and that kinda stuff. But my evil nephew cut the hair of my favorite barbie, my world collapsed at that day..'' Emily sighted for a second and looked at Stella. It was nice to talk with someone who knew stuff from the muggle world. Emily had not problems with talking to strangers, but when you could talk to a person with same interests it would be easier to avoid akward conversations for Emily. '' But you were saying on your eleventh birthday you knew, you was a witch. That is not a long time ago, how was that for you?'' Emily played with her hair, she liked that. ''I know it for a long time, when i moved with my mother from USA to New Zealand she found out. I was I guess four years or five. But my mother is a muggle, so she could not teach me, only tell some things that she knew.''

When Emily shaked the hand of Stella, she laughed. She was happy she was not the only person who makes sometimes akward movements.'' As i was saying before, my mother is a muggle and my uhm father is a wizard. But i don't see him anymore so yeah..'' Emily looked away for a second, try to cover her sad face. '' ''And how about you?'' Emily smiled again.