Meeting Friends (open)

[Ruby Chargott]

Ruby sat in the squashy arm-chair by the fire. She was new at Hogwarts and was hugely glad she got put in Ravenclaw.

But Ruby was lonely. She wanted some friends. She dozed in the chair for hours. No homework to do.

It was very late when Ruby awoke. She looked around. The common room was almost empty. She supposed it was time to go to bed. And tomarrow she could make friends.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah was sitting in a far corner of the common room, deeply immersed in a book. Elliott had gone to bed hours ago, but Savannah simply couldn't tear herself away from Jane Eyre, which happened to be one of her favorites. She read it every year, imagining herself as the shy, well-mannered governess who fell in love with her mysterous employer.

She felt a cold chill, and she looked up to see that the fire was starting to die. This was probably a sign that she should get up and go to sleep, but then she noticed that she was not alone in the common room. There was a girl sitting on the other side of the room, looking as if she had just woke up. Savannah smiled shyly. "Oh, hello," she said. "I didn't know anyone else was here."

[Ruby Chargott]

Ruby had been nodding off to sleep slightly when she heard a voice. She jerked into a sitting position.

There was a girl standing in front of her. She looked friendly.

"Oh, hello" Ruby replied. She hoped she wasn't being rude, but sometimes she had a tendancey to stare into space.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah still had her book open, but she quickly closed it and held it down by her side when the other girl spoke. It would have been rude to talk to the girl with an open book in her hand. She managed to smother a yawn, which would have also been rude, and instead focused her attention on the girl in front of her. She looked to be younger than Savannah, and she seemed shy. She could relate to that.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she smiled shyly. "Hi," she said. "I haven't seen you around before. What's your name? I'm Savannah."

[Ruby Chargott]

"Hi I am Ruby" Ruby said. She was shy but despretly needed friends, and the other girl, Savannah, seemed shy too. "I think I saw you in Divination" she continued. "But we haven't met properly before". Ruby managed her best friendly smile. "I am in my forth year" she said.

[Savannah Lyons]

"Nice to meet you, Ruby," Savannah said, smiling.

Ruby seemed like a nice enough girl, but Savannah wasn't always the best at having conversations. It was her parents' fault; they had raised her not to express her own opinions or to do anything that might offend someone else. The trouble was, she was never sure what would offend someone, so most of the time she kept her mouth shut. Cameron was pretty much the only person she ever felt brave enough to talk back to.

"Er... how do you like Divination?" she asked politely. "Professor Simple is very nice, don't you think?"

Actually, she thought Professor Simple was a bit dotty, but she didn't want to say that to Ruby. It wouldn't be polite.

[Ruby Chargott]

"Oh, yes. She is very nice" Ruby replied but she was lying. She didn't like her and for that matter she didn't think anyone did. Maybe Savannah was a teacher's pet. But she seemed nice enough, so Ruby tried to carry on the conversation.

"Um.............. What is your favorite subject?" she asked, hoping this was something people talked about a lot and that she was not prying. She smiled. "Mine is divination. I know must people don't like it but I do" Ruby continued.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah's smile was polite. "I like all of my classes," she replied, as was proper. It didn't seem right to her to claim a favorite above any others. Of course, her answer was completely untrue. She loathed Transfiguration, and she wasn't very good in Defense Against the Dark Arts, because she was too shy to fight back during the practical sessions.

"But I am best in Charms and Potions," she added, which was true. "I also like Herbology. Professor Black... er, Tonks... is very nice."

[Ruby Chargott]

Ruby smiled while listening. She didn't get the feeing she was getting the whole story from Savannah but that was ok.

"Yes, I like potions and herbology, too" Ruby said. Then she stood there, feeling stupid, because she didn't know what to do next.

[Savannah Lyons]

Much of what Savannah said was different from what she was thinking. It didn't occur to her that she was, essentially, lying. She merely had been taught to censor her thoughts out of politeness. So she kept her true thoughts tightly supressed, while she gave polite, bland answers that expressed no true depth of opinion.

"How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?" Savannah asked after a long, awkward pause. "Have you had a proper tour of the castle?"

[Ruby Chargott]

"Oh yes, I love Hogwarts" Ruby said. "It's so interesting. And no, I havn't had a proper tour. I don't really know anyone here". Ruby glanced at the clock. Hopefully she wasn't being rude, but it was getting awefully late.

[Zoey Harper]

Zoey walked down the staircase from the girls dormitories. She couldn't sleep for some reason what so ever. She was tired and she usually could get to sleep, but today was different. As Zoey walked down the stairs she heard voices. What were people still doing up having a conversation? It was pretty late.

Zoey sighed as she continued slowly down the stairs. If she just randomly went and sat down they would stare her down. She realised she would have to talk to them. At least it would be an oppurtunity to make some new friends.

As Zoey got to the bottom of the staircase she saw who was there. It was a younger girl than her as well as a sixth year that she had never talked to. She wasn't really sure what the Ravenclaws would be like. She didn't have a friend that was in Ravenclaw yet. Her only friend so far was a Slytherin Girl, Colette.

Zoey took a deep breath and pretended to just notice the girls standing there. She then slowly walked towards them thinking of what to say. Zoey wasn't looking at their faces so she didn't know if they spotted her yet. Zoey quickly searched her mind and found something to say.

"Er... Hi. What are you guys doing up so late having a conversation?"

She didn't know if she sounded rude, for all she knew she did. She sounded rude a lot, not meaning it of course, but she was a bit picky. She thought it would be a bit nicer to introduce herself.

"Um, I'm Zoey by the way. Zoey Harper. I'm a fifth year. I'm pretty sure we haven't been introduced."

Zoey slowly turned her head to look at their faces. Would they think she was butting in?

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah always panicked a little inside whenever someone pointed out that she was doing something that wasn't quite normal. Staying up late and talking... well, it hadn't been intentional, but most of the other students were in bed, and she probably shouldn't have been up.

"Oh, we were just getting ready to go upstairs," she said nervously. "You know how it is... sometimes you get caught up in a book and lose track of the time..."

She bit her lip, realizing she was babbling. She didn't need to be nervous; this was just another student, she wasn't even a prefect. She wasn't in trouble.

"Nice to meet you, Zoey. I'm Savannah, and this is Ruby. She's new." She extended her hand, as was proper.