First year, New friends Closed

Maggie stood in the Small Hall, chatting aimlessly with her friends. “One sec,” Maggie said, quickly slipping away from the conversation as Tatiana began one of her notoriously long rants about Herbology and the new discoveries different witches and wizards were making on the subject. She loved the girl, really, and her passion for Herbology was truly admirable, it was just that Maggie hated Herbology, and she would be back in a minute or two, anyways. Maggie had noticed a first year looking particularly lost, and she walked over to ask her if she needed help with anything. She had bright blue eyes and brown hair, like Maggie. In fact, the two could probably pass as sisters, which sent a rush of protectiveness through Maggie for the Hufflepuff, though it was completely biased and irrational. The girl seemed to have noticed her, and she sent Maggie an apologetic look. “Sorry, I was thinking about stuff.” she said, causing Maggie to laugh. “Ooh, a scholar.” she teased, friendliness and humor lacing her tone. “You alright? You seem a bit lost.” she asked, casually, as she eyed Tatiana, Carson, Charlotte, Mac, and Min, four of which still seeming to be listening to Tatiana’s Herbology lesson. “I’m Maggie, Maggie Parker.”

Millie had been known for sitting and reading in the Small Hall, rather than the library or the common room- not that the Gryffindor common room was a good place to read, everyone was loud. However she enjoyed the passiveness of the Small Hall. Not to mention, it was close to the Great Hall, and the Grounds, so she always could go somewhere if need be. Like when Professor Bercegeay had made her entrance to Hogwarts, and, after a bit of chatting, Millie realized she was ready to bail.

Luckily enough, she had made a rather large group of friends, and she always had someone to talk to. Whether it be Carson, or Min- who had once been the girl's mortal enemy- it wasn't too easy to get bored around her friends. So being caught in the midst of them wasn't shocking, either.

The "Group Mom", Tatiana, had started on a rant of Herbology, one of the few subjects Millie was good at. Though, she didn't necessarily enjoy it, and her curiosity took over when she watched Maggie walk away. So excusing herself as well, Millie followed the other girl.

When Maggie stopped in front of a first year, and said something, Millie noticed that she was half-hidden in the dim light, and forced herself forward, smiling sweetly to the first-year, and Maggie.

"Hey," She started, hoping she didn't shock Maggie too much. "Hope I didn't bother your scholarly talk," She teased, the slightest trace of a laugh in her voice. "I'm Euphrasia, but I prefer Millie. You both alright?"

She had a hinge of a feeling this first-year girl was as lost as Maggie predicted, but the girl could only remember when she was a first-year, and terrified of Hogwarts, the big castle was always intimidating, even after being there for a whole year.

Koko was running.

Running was something that was usually banned in the hallways at schools. Was it banned in the corridors of Hogwarts? Koko still wasn't sure. But she knew she was going to have to run in order to get to Transfiguration, which was five floors up. Five floors to climb, not to mention the fact that the golden-eyed girl would be running full-speed up the stairs. Her thoughts were clouded with negativity, telling her that she couldn't do it, and she was so distracted by them that she hardly realised there were people in this hall until she ran straight into one of them. (Euphrasia).

Koko halted, backing away from the girl she had run into and muttering apologies. "I am extremely sorry," she said to the girl, who was apparently a Gryffindor, and then she saw the other two girls. Shit. What had Koko gotten herself into?

One of the first things that someone might notice about the second year was that she seemed a little dishevelled, as if she had not gotten enough sleep for a few nights. The area of skin under her eyes was slightly darker than the rest of her face, and she also appeared to be very tired. Seriously, who would be panting after running a few metres?

"H-Honestly," said the British - or was she now supposed to be American? - girl between pants. "I really am sorry. To all of you." Even though she had lived in Los Angeles for the summer, she still sounded quite British, just like she had for the first twelve years of her life. Koko kept apologising, her face red, wondering just how much these new people hated her. "I'm Koko, by the way."

“Ooh, a scholar.” The person had teased playfully as Jane looked up. She blinked as she looked at the brown hair, blue eyed girl and smiled reassuringly as the girl had asked, “You alright? You seem a bit lost.” She then introduced herself as Maggie, but Jane couldn't help but think that this girl looked as though she could have been an older sister to her. Their features were quite similar and it was a little surprising to her. "Oh, I'm fine. I was just waiting on someone I talked to at the sorting ceremony. We were going to meet up here but I haven't seen him yet, so I thought I would just sit down and wait. Then I started thinking about the school year and kind of got lost in my own thoughts for a second." She explained as she then noticed another girl had been near Maggie the whole time. This girl introduced herself as Millie and Jane grinned at them both hoping that they weren't too worried about her.

They had both asked if she was alright at this point and this made Jane realize she probably looked confused or a little lost. "Sorry, my name's Jane. Jane Owens. Nice to meet you both! Thanks for checking on me." She said, as she realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. She assumed that these girls were a year higher than her and she didn't really know that many older students yet. It was exciting for her to think about the possibilities of more friendships early on in her school year.

Though she was a little lost, the girl hadn't been to this part of the castle. She hadn't really explored too much as she didn't want to go wandering off by herself and get lost. Jane did want to get to the library at some point to check it out, but wasn't sure where to go. She was starting to wish she had a map of the castle because there were so many different places to end up here. The girl asked as she looked around the hallway, "Maybe you guys could help me find my way around the castle sometime? I was going to head to the library at some point, but I'm not really sure where it is. You know more than I do about Hogwarts, right?"

Jane had stood up from the chair she was sitting in and out of the corner of her eye she could see someone running down the hall. It was too late for her to react as the girl ended up running into the Gryffindor name Millie. The running girl apologized to Millie, but her face was red and she had been running for some reason. The new girl had introduced herself as Koko and Jane could only wonder if she was okay. "Hello, my name's Jane. Are you alright, Koko? Millie? Why were you running, Koko?" She asked, wondering if she was okay or if something had happened. Maybe she was in a hurry to be somewhere, but after that crash she wanted to make sure both of the girls were alright. There were quite a few new faces around her and she wasn't sure which to talk to now, but she hoped they all would get along.

The first year replied, explaining how she was waiting for someone on the bench. Millie made her way over as well, a bright smile on her face as she joked, "Hope I didn't bother your scholarly talk," She teased, the slightest trace of a laugh in her voice. "I'm Euphrasia, but I prefer Millie. You both alright?" she asked, and Maggie grinned at her friend. “Yeah, I just thought I’d help out— and get away from the famous Tatiana Herbology rant.” she laughed, knowing Millie would understand as she was also friends with the Ravenclaw girl. “Sorry, my name’s Jane. Jane Owens. Thank you both for checking on me!” Jane said, smiling brightly at the pair. “Maybe you guys could help me find my way around the castle sometime? I was going to head to the Library at some point, but I’m not really sure where it is . You know more about Hogwarts than I do, right?”. Before either of them could reply, however, she was interrupted by a Slytherin girl barreling down the hall at full speed. She knocked right into Millie, and Maggie instinctively held her arms out to keep Millie standing. The girl immediately apologized, “I am extremely sorry,” she said, still breathing hard from her running down the halls, “H-honestly, I am really sorry, to all of you.” Maggie laughed, “Dude, chill. It’s not a big deal— you’re all good.” she thought she recognized the girl— ah! She remembered now, she played for the Slytherin team in Quidditch. “You play for Slytherin in Quidditch, right? Beater? I saw that fall you took when you were helping out Dan, looked nasty, that. But thanks anyway, Dan and I are friends and I’m glad you kept him from dying.” she asked, a grin growing on her face at the thought of the sport. She’d wanted to play since she’d heard of it, but, as a muggleborn, she kind of had to practice a little before she tried to join the team. Jane introduced herself to Koko, asking her and Millie if they were alright, and asked Koko why she was running. Maggie furrowed her eyebrows at this, why was Koko running?

Maggie said something about Tatiana's Herbology rant, and Millie gave a knowing smile. "It's good to see someone so animated about something, though," The Gryffindor commented, before hearing the first year say her name. Jane Owens. It had quite a ring to it.

Before Millie could say this, however, she was suddenly thrown forward by such a strong jerk. So far forward, she almost toppled into Maggie's arms. Luckily, she was able to stabilize herself before that happened. She trusted Maggie to catch her, if she did fall, she just felt like she would be so awkward about it. Her social anxiety peaked up in times as such.

The girl who had came barreling into her, quickly apologized to Millie. "Yeah, as Maggie said, it's all good," She piped up. If she was being 100% honest with herself, people ended up knocking into Millie more times than not. The girl who apologized had a tinge of American to her accent, and the Gryffindor couldn't help but smile. Though she wasn't born in America, it felt nice to hear the accent from someone besides herself.

The new girl apologized again, and said her name was Koko, and Maggie made a comment about quidditch. Not that Millie would know anything about it- she didn't go to the match, nor did she have any interest in the sport.

"I don't really watch quidditch, but I also heard about you saving the boy. That was really brave," She said. "I'm Euphrasia, but I prefer Millie." She didn't speak in a Brit accent anymore, her voice converting to it's normal American accent, with a plead nobody would notice.

All was soon forgiven, to the blonde-haired girl's luck. She shot a smile at the three. It was a charming smile, the type of smile that one would give to win you over. She was asked why she was running. "My next class is Transfiguration," Koko answered. "Five floors up. With the moving staircases, I'm not entirely sure if I will make it in time." A bead of sweat ran in a small rivulet down the young Slytherin's face.

"Yeah, I do play Quidditch for Slytherin. It's pretty terrifying," Koko admitted, "But I love the rush of adrenaline that it gives me to be up so high. Dan's cool. He's a very determined Seeker." She didn't speak about the days spent unconscious in the Hospital Wing. That had been a serious ouch. A few broken ribs and she had almost had a concussion. That had been particularly scary.

"Thank you," Koko said to Millie. "You have a very pretty name." Koko wasn't sure what she thought about hers. It was quite exotic, but people sometimes didn't know how to spell it unless she told them how. Cocoa? Coco? Kouko? Koko? Those were all variations of how people would spell her name. Jane Owens. That name sounded very nice, as if it just fit the girl. Koko kept her smile, her heavy breathing lessening. She was becoming more comfortable. "What class do you lot have?" asked the British girl.

“So, what classes do you lot have?” Koko asked, smiling brightly at the three girls. Maggie sighed, she did not want to think about class right now.
“History of Magic.” she said, slipping her hands into her pockets as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “Which should be right about...” she pulled her hand back out of her pocket, glancing at the cheap digital watch wrapped around her wrist. “Now.”
A bell rung, sounding throughout the entire castle with a loud chiming sound. She grinned at the other three girls, slipping a piece of gum into her mouth as she leaned back on the wall behind her.
Time had passed rather quickly since Koko had run into Millie, and they’d all been too busy talking to notice how the corridor had begun to empty, and now they were some of the only students left there.
“Looks like we’re skipping class today, ladies.” Maggie said, wearing a lazy grin as she sat down on the bench next to Jane, leaning back slightly and letting her feet stretch out in front of her.
She sent a sidelong glance to Jane, who must’ve been worried about skipping class. “Welcome to Hogwarts, Owens.” she said, chuckling slightly at the nervous expression on the young girl’s face. In an attempt to make her feel better, she pulled a piece of gum from her pocket, silently offering it to her.
“Y’know, this is actually a very important initiation.” Maggie said, very obviously joking. “The first time you skip class, well, it great! Introduces you to the Hogwarts life.” she sat up, leaning last Jane so she could see further down the hall. A smirk grew on her face as she eyed the statue of the one-eyed witch, and she looked to the three girls with a spark of mischief festering in her baby-blue eyes.
“That, and one other thing... have any of you been to Hogsmeade?”

"What class do you lot have?" The Slytherin girl had asked them. Jane wasn't completely sure what class she needed to be at at that moment. She thought it was either Potions or Charms, but it was taking a little bit for her to completely remember her schedule. Her studies and classes were quite important to her as she wanted to learn as much as she could while she was at Hogwarts. The girl was already thinking of what she wanted her job to be in the future and needed to make sure she passed the right classes, if not all of them. Maggie had mentioned she had History of Magic and the Koko had said she was running, literally, late to Transfiguration. 'I wonder how she spells her name...' Jane thought as she looked at Koko then over the other two girls. She looked around when she heard the bell ringing, which meant they needed to be in their classes or they would probably get detention, depending on the teacher.

“Looks like we’re skipping class today, ladies.” Maggie had said to them. Jane started to look a little worried as she hadn't thought she would be one to skip out on a class, especially this early in the term. 'Skipping..' She thought to herself, hoping that this didn't mean she would end up getting detention. The girl already knew she would have extra homework to work on which would just mean she needed to stay up later to finish it all. Jane looked at Maggie as she sat down next to her and offered her a piece of gum. She gently took the piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. "Do a lot of people skip classes here?" She asked the girls around her as she also noticed that there were less people around them than before.

“That, and one other thing... have any of you been to Hogsmeade?” The Gryffindor had asked the group. Jane shook her head as she knew you had to be third year or higher to get in. And she definitely had a couple years until she would even be able to go. "No.. I have to wait, like, two more years.." The girl said quietly. She wasn't completely sure if Maggie had been to Hogsmeade yet either as she thought she was a second year. Jane wondered how she might have gotten in.