Trade Sapphires for Emeralds PV Dee finished

Dealla had left her new bed this morning with a little less than her usual enthusiasm for everything new and exciting. Everything was so blue. Not that she disliked blue, but it was a fact that she had been expecting green instead, so the experience was a little disconcerting to her.
Truth be told, Dee wasn't used to not getting what she wanted. While she hadn't been exactly spoiled so far, she had always been the centre of her parents' attention, and with her smarts and extroverted, mostly likeable personality, she had never had any trouble with teachers nor students, either.
The Sorting Hat was the first serious encounter that she had had in which she had not been able to charm the other person into making the decision she had wanted. Maybe it was because it wasn't a person - it was a hat.
So, Dee wasn't... unhappy per se, but she was still a little miffed, and the worst part was that she still didn't understand why. The Hat itself had said that she'd make a perfect Slytherin, but then, out of nowhere, still decided to throw her into Ravenclaw instead.

With thoughts like this, it was not surprising that the usually infectiously cheerful girl trudged down to the Great Hall for her first ever breakfast at Hogwarts with a somewhat morose expression.
Thankfully, it didn't last that long. It took Dee exactly until the last landing of the stairs leading down into the Entrance Hall, when she looked up and spotted her new friend waiting for her. Her first friend at Hogwarts! She had somewhat forgotten about Ileen last night, too busy with her own crisis to spare a second thought for anyone else, but now she brightened visibly and conquered the last few meters with a bit more spring to her step.
"Ileen! Good morning," Dealla greeted the girl cheerfully. "Did you sleep well? At least one of us made it into Slytherin, I suppose. Although I would have preferred for it to be me, of course." This had more or less slipped out - Dee didn't intend to make Ileen uncomfortable, and she didn't blame her for being in her dream House while Dealla had ended up in Ravenclaw. Still, it was at least half-true, and Dee quickly put on a brilliant smile to cover it up. "I'm just joking, I'm sure you'll make a great Slytherin. It's your loss, though - if you had ended up in the same House as me, we could have won the House Cup together. Now you'll have to lose to Ravenclaw, I'm afraid."

Ileen was kind of relieved when Dee finally showed up at the top of the stairs. To be honest she had already lost faith. She had been worried that Dee had decided to miss her first day of school - which of course was complete nonsense.
Still, her queasy and worried feeling got better when Dee started smiling the moment she saw Ileen and came down the last few steps a bit faster, heading towards her. It was a good feeling to see her first friend at Hogwarts.
“Good morning to you, too. How was your first night here? Everything blue up there?” In fact, she was very curious. She woudn’t tell anyone and especially not Dee in this situation, but she would rather live in a tower and have a nice view over the grounds than be sent to the basements with no windows to see the outside world.
And I would have prefered it to be you who made it to Slytherin. But she wouldn't say that out loud ever. It was not that she was unhappy to be there. She was just not sure if it had been the right decision. “Best Slytherin ever - my parents will be so proud!” slipped out of her mouth.
To defuse her sarcastic tone, she grinned. “It’s a great loss for Slytherin!” With exaggerated desperation, she buried the face in her hands. To overact and take it with humour was, in this case, what she instinctively fell back on, although both of them would have liked the idea of Dee being a Slytherin.
“And sure - you might win the House Cup. But you still have to beat me. And as you know, I’m super proud and ambitious.” She hesitated. “Well - but you are supposed to be super smart and nerdy. Could be hard for the both of us!” With a twinkle in the eye, she added, “Very brave of you to say that. Maybe you would be a fantastic Gryffindor?"

Ileen pointed at the Great Hall. “And since I have been waiting here for you since forever, can we please have breakfast? I’m starving.”
She glanced at her new friend. She felt a little pity for Dee, but she was also sure that she would be an excellent Ravenclaw. It was just sad that they were not in the same house and that Dee’s wishes had not been fulfilled. But if she had been in her place, she wouldn't have wanted pity. And it wasn’t so bad - Ileen would have willingly traded places with her.
“What did the Sorting Hat say to you?”, she asked. She knew it was a deeply private question, but since Dee already knew so much about Ileen, she didn’t think about that at that very moment.

Dealla shrugged nonchalantly, an expression of indifference on her face. "Yeah. Everything is blue. But hey, at least the colours flatter me, right? Maybe the Sorting Hat was just worried that all the green and silver down there would make my eyes look washed out, what do you think?" She grinned. In truth, Dee thought the Ravenclaw Common Room was really pretty, she had fallen in love right when she had stepped into it for the first time last night, and it had blown her away again this morning. She was, however, not quite ready to admit that yet. "But yeah, the Common Room is kind of nice, I suppose. Apparently we have the best view over the Grounds out of all the Houses so that's pretty cool. And we have our own library! It's not very big but there are so many books in there, it's got to be magical. I'll have to take a closer look at it at some point." The excitement Dee felt of about that had bled into her voice while she spoke, and she cleared her throat to mask it.

Something loosened and relaxed in her chest as Ileen dramatically exaggerated the pain she felt at Dee having ended up in Ravenclaw, and Dee laughed, a clear, tinkling sound. "Ugh, I know - Slytherin himself must be regretting the moment the Hat put me into Ravenclaw." She sighed, theatrically, and wiped a non-existent tear from the corner of her eye. Apparently the language of excessive drama was one that they both spoke.
"But at least they got you, that's a small compensation, I think. Still doesn't make up for not getting me of course, but it's a start." She winked at Ileen as a sign that her words hadn't been serious - Dee thought that Ileen was pretty amazing herself, so far. Slytherin should be glad to have her. "But not enough for you to win the House Cup, sorry. You shouldn't entertain unrealistic hopes. It doesn't matter who is ambitious and who is nerdy - it's simply my House that's going to win. Nothing to be done about that."
However, honest offense spread across the Ravenclaw's face in response to Ileen's next words. "A Gryffindor? Take that back, immediately! I do not deserve to be insulted like that. I bet that every day I would have to spend in that Common Room would kill a few thousand of my brain cells." She sure hoped that this comment in particular had not been serious. A Gryffindor - please!

Dealla made her face at Ileen, but laughed. She hadn't been that late - it wasn't her fault that the path from her Common Room to the Great Hall spanned like ten floors! Ileen probably only had to fall out of bed and walk up ten steps to get here. "Sure, let's go get breakfast, before you die of starvation," she said mockingly and linked arms with her new friend to pull her towards the portal.
Ileen's next question made Dealla sober up a bit, the exuberant energy draining away a little. Despite all the joking, she was... still a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten into Slytherin. She didn't dislike Ravenclaw, not at all! But Slytherin would have symbolized a connection to her father, and now that was gone. It was a strange feeling.
Still, she shrugged and tried to play it off as not that big of a deal, her voice pointedly light. "Oh, it said that I would be a perfect Slytherin, but that I would be better for Ravenclaw, whatever that is supposed to mean. Something about helping me grow, I don't know. I didn't really understand it." She made a dismissive gesture, then glanced over at Ileen curiously. "How about you? Any world-shattering revelations?"

Ileen giggled. “Sure. Imagine that would be true! All these profound characteristics are just something we tell ourselves and the truth is that everything is about fashion.” She sighed theatrically. “Then it's a good thing the Sorting Hat took care of it. I'm sure the blue and bronze will make your eyes sparkle.”
A little embarrassed she looked down on herself. “In fact, green is my favorite color. Do you think it suits me?”
A bit wistfully she listened to Dee's description of the Ravenclaw Common Room. “Sounds amazing. I guess it's appropriate for ravens to have their nest high up in the sky. Do you think you can bring me some time? I would kill to see Hogwarts and its Grounds from above.”
Ileen thought about the Slytherin Common Room. Of course, it was cozy and just beautiful. The magic there was definitely influenced by the fact that they were under or at least close to the Lake. Honestly, she liked it there. Everything was so beautiful and elegant. Nevertheless, it was just as untidy as Ileen needed it to feel comfortable there. The only thing that bothered her was the fact that they were so far down. She had always preferred to be in high places.

Dee's next words ripped her from her thoughts. “I’m sure he turned in his grave. Such a proud and ambitious girl doesn't come to Hogwarts every day.” She nodded unctuously. “And thank you. I will do everything to do justice to this honor.” Ileen smiled ironically, but in truth she was very flattered. It meant a lot to her that Dee seemed to think so much of her. And that she didn't seem to believe that Slytherin was the wrong choice for Ileen.
“Maybe that's the reason we were not sorted into the same House," she thought aloud. “That just would be unfair for everyone else, since we would totally win the House Cup.” Then she shrugged her shoulders. “And since I don’t know anyone at Slytherin yet, I can’t be sure we actually would win the Cup. Maybe they are all dumb and I can't do much on my own.” She turned to her new friend and crossed her arms with a grin. "But I'll try. How about that? We make a bet out of it. If Slytherin wins, you have to eat the first week of the next year at the Gryffindor Table?” Ileen grinned. “And I take it back. As a Gryffindor, you would fail.” She smiled to show that she was just teasing Dee.

Ileen frowned while Dee dragged her into the Great Hall. “Looks like the wise Sorting Hat's a mystery lover. To me he said that Slytherin is the right house for me to fight my inner enemies and to find support that makes me strong…”
She hesitated. “Actually, I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean. Maybe it’s about our biggest challenges? I ended up in the house my parents were in as well. And now I got the chance to disprove all the rumors about the evil Slytherin Knights.” She put finger quotation marks around the last words sarcastically. “And for you… I don’t know, you are supposed to be clever! I’m just proud. Tell me.” She grinned. “Or it was just about fashion, as you said!”
She looked at the four tables. “Where should we eat?”

Dealla grabbed Ileen's hand in both of hers, squeezing it tight. Something about her friend's demeanor told her that they were talking about much more than the House colours here - while Dee had been moping about not getting the House she had wanted, Ileen had struggled with her own doubts.
"Oh, Ileen, of course it suits you!" she exclaimed, letting go of her joking facade for a second. "You'll fit in beautifully there, don't worry."
Dee gifted her new friend with a brilliant smile as she let go of her hand, putting her hands on her hips, and lifting her head. "You could do with a little more confidence," she declared. "The right attitude can get you to a lot of places. But we can work on that together."

At Ileen's request, she dropped her hands, and tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "I don't know? We could try, I suppose, I don't see any harm in that. I don't think we're supposed to bring students from other Houses into our Common Room, but what are they going to do? Worst case, they kick you out again, no harm done. Oh - but have you been to the Owlery? I mean, probably not, since we only arrived yesterday. It's in our tower, too, although not as high up I think, and all the school owls live there. It has a nice view, too!" She gave Ileen an encouraging smile, positivity emanating from her like warm light. "We should go there together, soon, okay?"

Dee burst out laughing at Ileen's expression. "You better!" she laughed. "It wouldn't do at all if you didn't at least try to make up for losing me. I'm sure you're qualified for the challenge." She grinned impishly. "And yes - together we would have been unstoppable. They all should thank the Hat for splitting us up and giving them a fighting chance."
At the proposed bet, Dealla waved her hand dismissively. "Sure," she agreed. "You're not going to win that bet anyway, so I might as well indulge you, right? And if you lose..." She tapped her nose in contemplation. What should she suggest? Something fun, something adventurous, that would be good for Ileen. "You'll have to help me play a prank on whoever we hate the most here at that point, okay?" Her eyes sparkled at the prospect.
It didn't even occur to her that the two of them had only known each other for a day, and that they might not even be friends anymore at that point. Maybe it was childish and short-sighted, but for Dee, it already seemed crystal clear that the two of them would stay friends.
"And please, I would rock whichever House I ended up in," she teased back. "Even Gryffindor."

Dee shrugged, letting her gaze wander along the House tables, trying to decide where they should sit. With her own House? She should get used to it, after all. Or at Slytherin, to get Ileen to feel more at home there? Or maybe Hufflepuff, for neutral territory. Gryffindor was obviously not an option.
"Maybe the Hat is just senile," she suggested, a little distracted. "I don't think anyone really understands it. I don't even know how it is supposed to know where we fit best, anyway. It's weird, that's what." However, her eyes flickered over to Ileen when the girl mentioned the prejudices against her family again. Something inside of Dee itched to ask more questions, but she was aware that her prodding wouldn't be welcome, and she didn't want to scare Ileen away. She had made that mistake before. "And honestly, we would have looked good it any House, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"
She stopped. "Where do you want to eat?" she asked curiously.

Ileen gave her new and only friend a weak, but thankful smile. “I guess, when it comes to confidence I’m lucky having you around. I can learn from the best.” There was nothing mocking in her tone. She really meant it completely seriously.
Thoughtfully she looked at the freshly baked Ravenclaw. She indeed was lucky. It was a weird feeling that someone wanted something she didn't want. This gave her the overall feeling that she should be more happy about being a Slytherin.

When Dee listed the other possibilities where they could have a great view, Ileen’s eyes sparkled with delight. Gratefully she took up the subject to distract herself from her dark thoughts. “Owlery sounds nice.” She sighed. “I don’t want to be ungrateful, but I love high places. And where do I end up? In a dungeon.” After a short hesitation she threw a furtive glance to the ceiling. “I wonder how Hogwarts and its grounds would look from above.”
She turned to her friend with a small smile. “What do you think? Should we find out one day?”
Indeed, high places were her secret escapes. When she had been sad back home she had always climbed the highest tree around. Height just gave her the feeling of freedom - leaving all her sorrows and fears behind on the ground. So, being forced to go with all her doubts to the basements last night had been a great punishment for the young Slytherin. In a nutshell, she was excited to enjoy the view over Hogwarts together with her newfound friend.

“Yes, Your Honor. I shall not disappoint you!” Ileen made a theatralic bow to Dee with a cheeky smile on her lips. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and put her hand at her hips. “And playing pranks?” With a snort she shook her head in playful disbelieve. “Not my style, but okay. I will do it. Deal?” She gave Dee a smile and reached out to offer her a handshake. Even though a small part of it was honest, she enjoyed the jokes and the bet.
Playing pranks never had been hers actually. Normally, she just stayed away from it. She never had wanted to give anyone that much attention before. Playing a prank meant interest. But for Dee - maybe she would play along. Dee was different. Maybe she would make different experiences with her.

Still discussing about the hat, Ileen frowned. “Yeah, maybe his riddles are just about making us think. Without any other goal then the process itself,” she thought aloud and shrugged her shoulders. “Or it’s like these horoscopes which can mean anything and nothing. And in the end it will always be like: sure, I knew it.” She made a disparaging gesture with her hand. Then she grinned. "My father always said the hat is wise. He knows what he's doing. Maybe we're just too young to figure it out." She gasped. “And then, when we are old cool grandmas, we can say: ahhhhhh now we get it.”

She stumbled when her friend, who had still grabbed her by the elbow, suddenly stopped. Ileen looked around in the Great Hall, a bit overwhelmed with the decision put on her shoulders. “We can eat at your table, if you want?”
Her gaze wandered through the Hall and she sighed. “Or we could go to the Hufflepuffs. They are like neutral ground I guess?” She turned to the Ravenclaw, excited how she would decide.

Dealla's responding smile was bright and slightly mischievous. "You are lucky, no doubt about it," she retorted, no sense of shame or self-consciousness in her voice. "But I get the feeling I'll be lucky to have you, too."
Her smile turned a bit more serious, a bit more sweet, as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "We'll just have to stick around each other and reap the benefits, right?"

Dee smiled and squeezed Ileen's hand, hoping to distract her from her wistful mood. "Well, just because your common room isn't in a tower doesn't mean you can't ever see the castle from up high," she said pragmatically. "It doesn't really matter whether you sleep in a tower or in the basement, does it? Also," her eyes sparkled, "isn't the Slytherin common room below the Great Lake or something? That sounds cool."
Dee's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Why one day? Let's go up to the Owlery tonight."
Dealla didn't share Ileen's excitement for heights - in fact, she was really not looking forward to the Flying lessons this year - but it obviously meant a lot to the kind, if careful, girl she had met in the Hogwarts Express yesterday, so this was an easy thing to offer. It wasn't that Dee minded heights all that much, either. As long as she had solid floor below her feet, or a good hold on a cliff, as long as she was in control, she was basically fearless.

Dealla snorted at Ileen's bow and stilted words, and returned the gesture with a lopsided, bobbing curtsy. "Go forth, my warrior, and conquer!" she declared, and reached up to pat Ileen on the head. "I'll make you see the joy of a good prank," she promised, eyes twinkling. "Next year."

Dee tilted her head to one side, looking at Ileen as the girl went over their options. That wasn't what she'd asked - she'd wanted to know where Ileen wanted to eat.
But she'd let it go, for today
"Hufflepuff it is," she declared, and pulled her new friend forward, to their first breakfast at Hogwarts.