Trying to Socialize

R

Riley Wespurt

Well-Known Member
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118
Wand
Straight 10 Inch Unyielding Alder Wand with Boomslang venom Core
Age
4/2030
He had been spending time inside the Gryffindor common room so much lately that his sister had forced him to spend his time elsewhere in the castle in the hope to make a new friend. He appreciated the help from her but knew that it wasn't going to work - it hadn't done so last time she tried to help him so was a little sceptical about the idea that he would find a friend just because he went to read his Quidditch magazines somewhere else for a change. As he walked through the corridors, the Gryffindor started thinking about a place where he could go to that wouldn't be too noisy and crowded at this time of the day. Because it was almost dinner time, and most students started making their way towards the great hall, Riley figured that he might stop by the student lounge to check if it was empty enough for him to enjoy the silence and read for awhile before going back up to the common room. After quite a bit of walking he finally arrived and smiled when noticing that apart from another student, who was assumingly working on homework, it was empty in the lounge. Riley walked towards one of his favourite armchairs and sat down in it, opening his magazine and reading one of the columns on his favourite Quidditch team.
 
Fleur had just finished working on the latest homework assignment in the library and was thinking about heading towards the Common Room but she paused outside the Student Lounge. She hadn't hung out in the room for a long time, it made her wonder who was in there. Walking inside she could see two people, one dong homework which hardly interested Fleur to ask about and another reading a magazine about Quidditch. While she didn't play she loved the sport and her family all cheered for different teams which made any big Quidditch tournaments a really exciting thing in the Worth Manor. She debated on if she actually wanted to talked to the person who had the magazine in his hand or not. She was sure he was in her year, she remembered seeing him in classes but didn't really know who he was. She thought it might be Miley but then she thought that was the name of a female singer who had died a long time ago. Walking in she picked up one of the older magazines for Quidditch and sat down near the boy who was already reading. She didn't mind this sitting around and just reading. She wondered if this boy was on the Gryffindor team. She hadn't seen them play but she heard they won their first match against Ravenclaw.
 
Riley's lips curled into a smile whilst reading the column. He hadn't read such a good piece on the team he supported in a while so decided to read the rest of it instead of turning to another page to look at one of the posters which were folded inside of the magazine for children to remove carefully and hang in their bedrooms. It talked about the latest Woollongong Warriors win against their Australian rival team and what went down during the match. He wished he could have been at this game whilst reading about it, as it sounded like one of the most interesting and dangerous games the Warriors had had in a long time. Riley looked up from his magazine to watch the other person who had just walked in and followed her as she took a seat in a chair not too far away from him. His eyes moved to what she was holding in her hand and smiled when noticing that she was reading a Quidditch magazine as well, though not the same one as him. After having to convince himself multiple times that perhaps now would be a good moment to try out his sister's idea of finding people with the same interest as him, and then start a conversation with them, the Gryffindor lowered the magazine and asked, ''Anything interesting in that one?'' referring to the paper in her hands.
 
Fleur let her hair drop in front of her face to hide the small smirk that appeared on her face as she heard the boy talking to her. She wasn't sure why he had asked her about her magazine. It was clearly a gossip magazine about the sport and the people involved. Not nearly as factual as the one he was reading. Lifting her head she looked over at the boy, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Apparently there's this coach for a team in Australia who has gone off and married one of her players. Yet he was seen recently out with another lady," she said with a laugh. Fleur knew not to believe gossip columns, even when they had part of the truth, the writers always blurred the lines of fact and fiction. "Even better the New Zealand's coach is also in the mix, said to be the other rival for that Wooolongangang's coach, or however you say the name of that team." She wondered what he thought of the gossip of the Quidditch stars. It always fascinated Fleur the amount of things people could come up with about those they didn't even truly know. Fleur sat up in her seat intrigued to see what the guy would say in response. She pulled her legs on her chair in front of her, thankful she still small enough to do so and put her head on her knees looking at the guy sitting nearby waiting for his response.
 
Confused when she started talking about the latest gossip in the Quidditch world rather than which team played against which team and won or about an interview with a player because that is what he assumed the paper was about when he glanced at the cover of it, the Gryffindor narrowed his eyes to look at the magazine the girl was reading again only to see that it a gossip magazine indeed. He didn't know much about what she was telling him as he usually tried to avoid the gossip sections in his favourite magazine - he just wasn't interested in reading something that was so obviously based on a lie some desperately-in-need-of-money wizard told the paper's editors. ''Woollongong,'' Riley corrected when she was done talking, though smiling at the girl. He wasn't quite sure if she wanted him to say something about it but since he was the one who'd started the conversation, and with his sister's words roaming in the back of his head, decided that he might as well say what he thought about the matter. ''I think it's all a bit silly, honestly.'' he said. ''I did hear there was something going on with the Macaws and Warriors coaches, apparently, the sister of the Warriors' coach decided to join the Moutohora Macaws rather than her sister's team?'' He didn't think of it as gossip though it might as well have been since no one really knew the facts other than the coaches and the player. He then remained silent, curious to know if she had read this bit in her magazine as well, and what she thought about it.
 
Fleur just nodded as he corrected her, she had barely glanced at the names of the teams as she read the little gossip column. To be fair, she had hardly paid attention to the gossip in the column to begin with. She hadn't truly followed any Quidditch teams growing up not being a very sporty person herself. "Oh really? I mean I'd hardly want to be on a team any sibling of mine was the coach of. Other players might assume I got on because we are siblings and then special treatment, it would be a nightmare," Fleur said in return. Of course she wasn't the biggest fan of her older siblings who all were attending Beauxbatons school in France. Fleur liked being the youngest child of her parents, except now they adopted her cousins and she wasn't the youngest anymore. She glanced down at her magazine it did seem on the cover to have something about sibling rivalry on a page she hadn't gotten to yet. "Doesn't the coach of the Wollunggang team have a twin brother that plays for a team in the America's? Seems like they all want to be on different teams," she continued looking up at the guy across from her. Fleur wasn't even sure of his name despite being in the same year as him.
 
He had to agree with the girl when she said that she didn't want to be part of a team if her one of her siblings would be the coach and nodded his head to show the girl that he agreed with her. He loved Elizabeth but he didn't need her bossing him around on the field either. Luckily for him, though, neither of them played the sport so he wouldn't have to worry about it. ''Yeah, I don't think that you'd be the team's favourite player if people start to think that you only made the team because of your sibling.'' he replied. ''Unless you turn out to be really good at your position, I guess.'' Riley added. He enjoyed Quidditch very much but sometimes supporters could be the weirdest people in the world ever - they were always quick to judge if a new player didn't have a great first game, which annoyed him because obviously you were supposed to give any new player the chance to prove themselves over multiple games and not just one. Riley chuckled when he noticed that the girl had said the name of the team wrong again and shrugged his shoulders when she asked about the twin brother of the Warriors coach. ''I think so?'' He hadn't been keeping tabs on that family at all since he didn't really care much about the rest of them apart from the coach of his favourite team, obviously. ''Makes me wonder if there's something going on in that family, though.'' the Gryffindor told the girl with a slight grin.
 
Fleur agreed with what Riley was saying about the family. She wondered what he was saying about the family. She was starting to get bored of the gossip not ever having paid much attention to things like that anyways. She was sure that most of things printed weren't real anyways. She flipped the magazine shut and tossed it back over to the pile she had pulled it from. "Sorry, I don't remember your name. I'm Fleur in case you don't know mine either. You're in forth year too right? I've seen you in classes before," she said looking back over at the guy. She wondered why she hadn't ever talked to him before, but then again when they were younger boys seemed like gross pigs to her always making weird jokes and things like that. But not anymore, she thought the boys in their year had started to mature more. "I don't really know that much about the teams around this area, I'm from England so I guess my knowledge of Quidditch is more centered around those teams," she added in case he thought she might know more than she really did. She smiled over at the boy before glancing around the room. It seemed like the person who had been studying was tired of hearing them talk and had packed up and left without her noticing.
 
He smiled when the girl named Fleur said that she didn't remember his name. It wasn't surprising that she didn't know his even if they were in the same year. He wasn't much of a talker and tried to remain in the background for most of their classes, only answering a Professors question if he really needed to. The only person he could talk to for hours at school was weirdly enough a portrait on the second floor corridor, which wasn't even a person come to think about it which made him worry slightly about his social skills as he was sure that only being able to talk to a portrait for hours wasn't something usual. ''It's nice to officially meet you, Fleur,'' the Gryffindor said, his smile growing wider. ''I'm Riley.'' though right now, talking the girl across from him wasn't the hardest thing to do at all, it was actually rather easy. He listened to her as she began to explain to him why she didn't know much about the teams in Oceania and nodded his head in understanding. ''Well, I'd love to talk to you about British Quidditch teams if you would like that?'' he said, knowing only a handful of teams but confident that he knew just enough to have a conversation about them. ''Unless you want to talk about the game earlier today?'' he asked, being fine with either one of them since Quidditch was the only thing he knew something about that wouldn't be considered boring by most.
 
Riley. That's what his name was, she had been close in her guess, not that she was going to let him know what she thought his name was. She nodded to him as he introduced himself with a smile on her face. "Nice to meet you as well." she responded. Fleur put her legs down opening up more they talked about Quidditch. He was an interesting sort of guy even if all they were talking about was Quidditch. She thought the boy might be a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. She couldn't remember exactly but she also didn't think that the houses really meant anything. She didn't understand why they were put into separate groups. So far she hadn't really found herself relating or being interested in anyone in her own house more than any of the other houses. "Well, I wish I had paid more attention to the family talking about Quidditch at the dinner table then," she said with a laugh. "I know some basic stats and things like that but I've only ever really enjoyed just seeing matches. I don't really follow any teams or anything." Fleur shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't thought she was going to be talking to a big Quidditch fan but it was a nice conversation away from studying and the constant stream of homework they received all the time. "So I'm guessing you have a favorite team then?" She asked looking over towards the paper he had been reading to see if that's what he had been reading about.
 
Riley chuckled at what Fleur said about wishing she had paid more attention whenever her family would talk about Quidditch. Ah, don't worry about it. The only reason I know stuff about certain teams is because I read what is written about them in these magazines.'' he said truthfully. Because his mom thought that the sport was too dangerous to be played by a thirteen-year-old, she hadn't allowed him to play when he reached his third year, even if they had agreed on letting him at least try out for a position once he was of age, so the only way he would be able to still catch up on the latest Quidditch news and other interesting stuff was by reading these weekly magazines the school had put in the library and student lounge for their students to read. ''I have got one team that I like to follow, the rest I'll read updates on every once in awhile.'' Riley said. ''Ever since we moved from South-Africa to here, the Woollongong Warriors has become my favourite team, even though it's an Australian team and we live in New Zealand.'' he replied. ''What about you? Is there a team you like in England?'' the Gryffindor asked Fleur, curious to know whether or not she supported a team or if she only liked to watch games.
 
"Have you been to many matches?" Fleur said to Riley while trying to find a new comfortable position on her chair. She had seen plenty of matches with her family during her life, they were big supporters of the Appleby Arrows. The closest team to home, they never had to travel far to see a home match. She didn't know the line up for the Gryffindor team, not having gone to the last match so she wasn't sure if he was on their team or not. He seemed to really like Quidditch it made her wonder if he was on the team. She had shook her head when he asked about the last quidditch match. Now she wondered if he was asking because he was a player. Fleur hadn't come into the room because she thought he was an outstanding player and she was one of his fans. It made her blush when he mentioned the team she couldn't wrap her tongue around was his favorite team. "Oh well, we always cheer for the Appleby Arrows, they are the closest team for home so whenever there is a home match everyone who is home goes and watches in the stands," Fleur said shrugging her shoulders. She never really understood what the point of picking a team to cheer for was about, people still remained loyal to a team after years of not being the best, it didn't make sense to the Slytherin. But, she would have to say going to the games was always fun. That was why she tried her best to get to the Slytherin games, like the one coming up.
 
He nodded his head at Fleur's question. ''I have, yeah. I used to watch a lot of matches with my dad and my sister back in South-Africa, now, however, not so much because we're at school and dad's almost always busy with his job at the Ministry. Riley loved going to matches with them, it was something the three of them used to do on the weekends when his father wasn't around much during the week because of his job, and since his mother wouldn't let him play - not even in their backyard on his toy broomstick he'd gotten from his uncle - watching games with them was the only interaction with the Quidditch world for him. ''How about you? Been to many matches?'' he asked in return. The Gryffindor listened as she told him which team she was cheering for and nodded, even though he didn't really know much about that team. ''Are they a good team in that league? Riley hoped that Fleur wouldn't mind him asking her questions as he was genuinely interested in the team she cheered for.
 
Fleur smiled at Riley as he talked about going to matches. She couldn't exactly think of who his sister was, she thought most of the Gryffindor girls looked very similar, blonde hair pretty faces. But she didn't think knowing his sister or not was a big deal, she hadn't ever really talked to him before today so it wouldn't be that odd if she also hadn't talked to his sister. "Oh yes, many matches, like I said any time they the Appleby's played near home we would all go. I haven't really kept up with all the Quidditch chatter since coming to school. My siblings all go to Beauxbatons and they would know how the team fairs a lot better than I do," she said starting to bore of the Quidditch talk. It was interesting to hear about Riley's team and all that but she hadn't ever really paid much attention to any team she just really liked seeing the sport being played. "Of course, coming up I'll be in the Stands cheering for Slytherin, I didn't see the last game. I really only go to watch Slytherin, I guess I'm rather lame for that. Are you on the Gryffindor team?" She asked Riley wondering if he loved the sport so much if he was on the team or not. She thought it would be a nice way to bring the conversation back towards school and away from the stats of Professional Quidditch that she didn't really know a lot about.
 
Riley listened intently as Fleur answered his questions. He was glad that she didn't ignore them because he was actually interested in someone else for once. ''That's fair though, I'd be pretty up-to-date with Quidditch stuff too if I lived closer to that country.'' he said, knowing that he would know a lot more about the current situations in the African League if he was still living there. He smiled when she told him that she would be in the stands in the upcoming match and thought that maybe he should go to just so he got to see her around again, as he wasn't sure if they would talk to one another after this. He hoped he would because Fleur seemed like a cool person to be friends with, plus he could tell his sister off for once. ''I wanted to watch the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw game but got caught up with school stuff so didn't go.'' he told the girl across from him. Riley shook his head when she asked if he played for Gryffindor and said, ''Unfortunately not, I would love to though.'' Last year the Gryffindor wanted to try out in secret but in the end didn't take the risk because he wasn't sure if he or Elizabeth would accidentally let it slip in front of their parents if he would've made the team.
 
Fleur agreed with what Riley said about being up-to-date when you're far away from the team. She thought it would be pretty cool if Riley was on the Quidditch team, she herself was far too girly to want to play any sports. She did do yoga and a little ballet in the mornings and go running for exercise. She wanted to be fit but not risking her good looks for a sport. She couldn't imagine getting hit in the face with a bludger, she'd never look good after that. Fleur wasn't really into herself in that way, always wanting to look pretty, but she also didn't want to risk her looks either. "Really? I would have thought someone so into Quidditch would want to be playing all the time as well. I'm a pro-fan in the stands, really. I like flying but I'd rather not get hit with bludgers and by other players," Fleur admitted to the boy across from her. She didn't think there should be anything stopping him, unless he was actually rather bad at flying but with a good broom any witch or wizard could fly fairly well, she thought.
 
He blushed slightly at Fleur's comment. ''I do want to be playing all the time, but mom thinks that it is too dangerous for me to do so so I am not allowed to try out for a position.'' It wasn't like him to disobey his mother often but the more he and the girl were talking about the sport, the more he wanted to participate in the try outs next year. Perhaps he could disguise himself in some way during the match so that his sister wouldn't recognise him but then he remembered that players had their surnames on the back of their robes. He chuckled at the other thing she said and nodded in agreement. ''I get that, I wouldn't want to be hit by bludgers or players either.'' He had seen enough players get hit and heard enough bones crack by those nasty balls to not want to get hit by one of them ever. ''I wonder why Quidditch players are wearing protective gear if a bludger can so easily break their bones and stuff,'' he said.
 
Fleur thought what Riley said next was odd. It was his life and being here at school she didn't think any of their parents could control their kids. She was pretty sure you didn't need parental permissions to join a Quidditch team, although you did to go to Brightstone. Fleur thought the best position on a team would be beater, than you'd have the bat to protect yourself from the bludgers but she thought the guys and girls playing Keeper were the coolest, always moving so quick on their brooms from a standstill position to stop the quaffles from going in, they had the toughest position. "Oh, well. I wouldn't let my parents stop me from doing something I want to do when I'm at school. If I wanted something I'd go and get it, of course right now all I really want good grades and Slytherin to win against Hufflepuff this week at the match," she said leaning her head back trying to come up with things she wanted. There was a lot more but she didn't want this new person in her life to think she was snobby or mean. She didn't want to have little siblings, she preferred them to be her cousins but their parents died so her parents adopted them. Hudson was the most annoying little boy she had met in her life. Shaking her head out of her thoughts she looked over at Riley. "I guess there's one more thing, someone to be my chum and hang with me during the Brightstone weekend would be nice."
 
Fleur was right. If he ever wanted to play for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Riley shouldn't let his parents stop him from doing so because if it wasn't happening soon then he was sure that he would never be allowed to play professionally - he had to make them see that it wasn't as dangerous as his mother thought it would be. It was school competition, surely no one had ever died whilst playing for their house so neither would he. The Gryffindor nodded his head while thinking about participating in the try outs next year and said, ''You are right, if I want to play professionally someday I will have to start somewhere.'' He smiled when she said that she needed a friend to hang around with during Brightstone weekends. ''I would happily accompany you during those weekends,'' Riley said, shifting positions in the chair he was sitting in. ''It's not like I've got much to do other than homework and reading so it could be fun!'' He had to admit to his sister that her idea of finding someone who was interested in the same thing as you turned out to be much easier than he thought it would have been. ''That is if you would let me be that friend of course.'' the Gryffindor added, already excited about the idea of having a friend to go to the village with.
 
Fleur had to hide back a giggle as he said he wanted to play professionally. He wouldn't get there listening to his mother and not playing on the team at school. She wondered if he even got down to the pitch to practice flying since they took lessons in first year. Fleur had, but it wasn't to play Quidditch one day, it was to be able to fly confidently. She never wanted to be in a situation where she'd need to get away and the only way was one she didn't feel confident in. "You'll have to try out next year, it's decided then," she said to Riley. She smiled as he said he'd want to go around Brightstone with her. She was glad she had the permission from his mother to at least do that while at school. She had to nod her head, most of her days were filled with homework and all the reading they were required to do. School was starting to become more work and less fun. "Well, good. Of course I'll let you be my friend, for now," Fleur said with a smirk. She was just playing a trick on him to see if he'd get nervous or anything. That was just a part of her nature, probably the reason why she fit into Slytherin. That, and she could be a brat sometimes. Fleur hadn't spent much time with anyone else in their year so it would be nice to have a friend who was learning the same things she was and could talk it over with. She wondered if she should venture out of her small group like this and gain new friends more often. It'd help her get closer to guys to one day having a boyfriend like she wanted. At the moment, Riley was pretty much her closest option for that and she had just met him, so her chances of a boyfriend by Yule Ball this year were pretty much nonexistent.

OOCOut of Character:
She's waiting for Riley in The Stands :r
 
He grinned widely and nodded firmly. It was decided then, next year the Gryffindor would join the other students interested in playing Quidditch at the try outs and see if he could get himself a spot on the team. ''I'm thinking of playing either beater or chaser,'' he told Fleur. Most of his favourite players were chasers so he thought that it'd be cool if he would one day become a famous chaser himself. The only reason why he wanted to pick beater was so that he could, quite possibly, screw with his mother a bit. It had been nice of Fleur to let him hang out with her during those Brightstone weekends. He had never visited the wizarding village before so doing to it with someone who he had just met and already considered his friend was exciting to him. Of course, Riley had heard things about the village from his sister, as she had been to Brightstone at least once or twice before if he could remember correctly, but thought that she had been exaggerating a bit because it sounded better than he thought it would be. ''For now, huh? Well okay then.'' the Gryffindor said with a chuckle. He then remembered that it was almost Halloween soon and that he was supposed to attend it from his sister, and father, in the hope to make some friends. He looked up at the girl across from him and wondered if she wanted to go with him so he didn't have to bother talking to some stranger in a weird costume but instead spend his time with someone he actually liked. ''Do you have anything to do for the Halloween feast?'' Riley asked.
 
Fleur wondered why Riley had let his mother stop him from trying out for the team so far at school. If her parents told her not to do something she'd probably go out of her way to do it anyways. Of course, she didn't have any siblings at school until this year to tattle on her. "Oh cool, pretty standard positions. I've always thought that Keepers were the coolest. Being able to speed up so fast from their sitting position to stop the throws of the chasers," Fleur said with a smile. She wasn't meaning to insult his choice but just stating her own opinion on the positions. She laughed at his questioning of her statement. It seemed like he understood it was a joke, of course she never was too sure how long any friendships of hers were going to last. She was surprised he brought up the Halloween feast it wasn't till the end of the month. But, of course she did already have a plan for it. It didn't really seem very complete however. "Of course, I have an idea but it's sort of lame. I was thinking of going as a woman from the 1940s, it's a muggle thing with old mystery movies but I've seen them when watching muggle films before. But I thought it would be cool since it's been a hundred years since that great muggle war, so I'm sure it'll look kind of lame when it's just me," Fleur stated shrugging her shoulders. She didn't have a problem with people looking at her and thinking whatever it was they thought. She was comfortable in her own skin and that was something she was sure others didn't feel about themselves. "Do you have something planned?"
 
Riley shrugged. ''I don't know,'' he said, ''I would just like to score goals and make a difference to the end score, I guess.'' He listened as she told him the costume she was going to wear to the Halloween feast and smiled reassuringly at her when she said that it would look lame. ''It's probably going to look better than a carrot costume or something like that,'' he told her, chuckling because the thought of someone actually going as a vegetable was kind of funny. ''I told my sister that I would go so that she would stop asking me,'' Riley replied. ''I was thinking of dressing up as a soldier since that doesn't require a lot of work.'' he still had to get a costume but was sure that if he would ask his father to send him one he would get it without having to pay for it himself.
 
Fleur wondered why Riley didn't think the Keeper was important to the end score. That position was to stop the other team from scoring. But she didn't press the matter not fining much use in it anyways now that they were talking about the Halloween feast, she was glad they still had some time before it, as she still had yet to find the perfect hat that would fit with her outfit. "Oh a carrot,that would be rather lame," she said with a laugh. When Riley told her he was thinking of going as a soldier she was shocked. "Really? Like perhaps a soldier from the muggle's World War 2? We could go together! Both being people from the 1940's, end of the Great Second War. It would be so cool, please tell me you'll go with," Fleur said putting on a sad face with her lips pouting. She was sure after the years of practice with her parents the face could work on Riley too. She had a very good sad puppy face that people always wanted to make her smile.
 
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