One Autumn Day Open Closed

Beautiful mornings deserved a nice walk, in Avianna's opinion. She'd just finished doing her chores, like cleaning her bed area and finishing her homework so with nothing else to really do she decided to go outside and enjoy the day.

The dungeons were a pretty cold place, another reason why she didn't want to be down there, especially during the colder months of the year. Although they had some fires in the Slytherin Common Room the ambience was just cold in general sometimes, and Avianna liked warmth much more than the cold.

She had a book with her, something concerning muggle science dealing with outer space. Avianna loved anything to do with science fiction, aliens, or just space in general. The stars and beyond were her forte. She also had a handful of letters she'd received in the owl that she'd avoided reading for the past few weeks, her family members loved to write really, really, really long letters that were an eye sore most of the time.

Avianna opened the doors leading outside and sighed at the smell of fresh air. She had her eyes closed and a bright smile on her face, her curly hair blowing the light breeze. She felt like running around crazy, jumping and twirling like she had no care in the world, but people would probably send her straight to Azkaban.

She was walking across the lawn and noticed a girl sitting under a tree with her school work surrounding her. She looked like she was resting, an obvious sign that Avianna should mind her business, but curiousity rose in her. She walked towards the girl, accidentally dropping a letter or two in the process, but picked them up hurriedly. She had about a dozen in her arms and couldn't wait to sit down somewhere to put them down.

Grinning apologetically, Avianna returned the greeting to the girl, noting the sharp tone. "Hi! Do you mind if I sit with you, at least for a moment?" She didn't wait for an answer before plopping down across from her and releasing the letters into her lap. "You look like a first year, like me...are you? A first year, I mean."

It would be an understatement to say she was taken aback by this girl, little in stature but poofy brown hair making her look almost doll-like in proportions.
It was nice enough outside that she understood why the majority of students had migrated towards her general vicinity, but none had come close enough for her to worry about social interaction so far.
"Uh," Eleanor sputtered but the girl in green robes hadn't waited for a response to her question, promptly sitting next to her in the sunny spot regardless; and she almost found herself respecting that. Eleanor probably would have refused the offer without a second thought.
Her grey-brown eyes flicked over the new arrival as she spoke, taking in the variety of clips and barrettes sticking out of her curls and the incredible thickness of the letters sat on her lap. Someone was popular.

"Yeah," She forced the words to come out of her throat, "m' a first year, yeah." Eleanor had no reason to be rude to her, really, and it wouldn't be any good to alienate the first person who seemed intent to associate with her. Inherent house competition aside, she had nothing against Slytherins and hoped she would be able to make at least one friend in her first month of attending Hogwarts.
The decision held strong in the front of her mind, she pushed herself to sit up and extend her bony hand out in a weirdly formal gesture which she regretted almost immediately. "I'm Eleanor."
Warm sunlight danced around the two girls as the trees waved in the breeze, the subtle scent of apple cider washing over them from the great hall. Someone had obviously visited the kitchens and collaborated with the kitchen staff to stock the room with midday snacks.
Her gaze was drawn back from the forms of other children playing games in the courtyard to her new acquaintance, stopping at the book held in her lap. "What are you reading?" She asked before really thinking, voice lighter and tinged with a small amount of excitement at the colourful paperback.

Avianna pretended to be interested in her letters but she noticed the girl look at her. She wondered if she liked her hair or if she thought it was too childish. Either way it didn't really bother Avianna. She took the short time to study the girl too. She had pretty reddish hair and grey-brown eyes. Avianna liked her freckles, they reminded her of her little sister who was the only one in their family who had them.

She went back to look at her letters, about to open one. The girl confirmed she was a first year too. That sort of relieved Avianna, she wouldn't have to worry about trying to prove she wasn't just some little girl to an older student. Besides, why did she even think she was older? She looked as small and frail as Avianna herself. That comforted her, a lot of other kids in their year were so big and mature and they were all only eleven or twelve.

She accepted the hand shake and shook it, meaning to do so firmly but it came out sort of weak. Nevertheless she grinned at Eleanor with a strange expression on her face, she wasn't use to having to shake someone's hand who was so close to her age. "I'm Avianna! Nice to meet you, Eleanor. Pretty name." She hoped she wasn't being too weird.

Avianna caught a wift of apple cider. Her nose scrunched up at first but she rubbed her nose and looked down at her book just as the girl mentioned it. *Oh, this? It's about outer space...fan-fiction stuff, I'm into this thing—this series called Demy Dagon, this space pirate who goes on adventures but he also teaches about the universe and how it works, so you learn a lot of stuff while you read. I want to learn all about astronomy, my Aunt—she's a muggle, she says I should become an aerospace engineer, they build spacecraft." Avianna shut her mouth for a moment. "Ah, sorry, you probably didn't care that much about it." She looked off to the side.

Wanting to change the subject for Eleanor's behalf, she lifted up a letter. "These are from family and friends, mostly family. All of my friends from before here go to this school, but they're all in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff so I don't get to see them much...Have you received any letters, from anyone?"

Eleanor caught the faintest hint of a blush forming on her cheeks as the other girl shook her hand with a slightly confused expression, realizing a little too late that it might not have been necessary. She found herself taken aback by Avianna's compliment after introductions were finished.
"Oh," Eleanor struggled with responding to her name being called lovely, unsure of what to really say in acknowledgment. "I think my mum named me after the Beatles song."
A beat passed and as she realized she forgot to actually thank Avianna, the red flush present on Eleanor's freckled face darkened. She quickly noticed the mood under the tree changing as the other girl's attention was dragged back down to her book she had asked about a moment ago, watching as Avianna's face lit up as she rambled on about the novel.
She started explaining all about Demy Dragon and her muggle aunt and her engineering dreams. It was a little overwhelming, all the information being given to her at once, but Eleanor understood the excitement one felt when talking about a very good book.
"That sounds really neat, actually," she dismissed the girl's concern towards her rambling. "My parents are muggle academics, nothing in the sciences mind you, but they tried to teach me about astronomy and engineering for a while. Maybe I'll check it out, but I don't think the library here has muggle books..." She drifted off. Eleanor took a second to realize that was probably the most she had said to another first year since she had arrived at Hogwarts. She was glad she had an opportunity to talk, even if she would be terribly awkward the whole time.
Avianna's question about letters drew her back to reality, and she mused on it for a second.
"Not that many," Eleanor admitted. "But my parents have written a few times. I think the owl system confuses them, to be honest." A small smile grew on her face.

Three weeks into term and her new life at Hogwarts and Mari still felt like she lived in the shadows. She was beginning to meet people, yes, but relationships were a tricky and slow thing. Even though she loved her growing independence, Mari sometimes wished that she could go back to Holt and just be Lucy's "younger" older sister again. It was not always fun, but at least she knew her place there.

But alas. Hogwarts had claimed her and there was no turning back - there must be some purpose for Mari's life here, even if she could not see it yet. For now, she supposed she just needed to continue the process of completing classes and meeting people.

Immersed in these thoughts, Mari sighed as she leaned against the old tree that had a clear view of a girl in Gryffindor robes who was doing what appeared to be homework. Mari gazed at the girl as she twirled her quill idly and hoped for motivation to complete her studies for the day. No wonder the hat did not place her in Hufflepuff, like her mum; Mari and homework were like pickles on a cream cheese bagel. Actually...that sounded pretty good. What time was it again? Was it too soon to have a snack? She had only eaten an hour ago... Apple cider wafted onto the grounds from the castle and complemented her reverie appropriately.

She looked up. Another girl, this one clad in Slytherin robes, had joined the first one. Mari tensed. Maybe she should leave; Mum had told her all about the fierce rivalry between Gryffindors and Slytherins and how, no matter what, Mari should avoid the combination of students. They seemed to be talking kindly, though? Mari blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. Maybe Mum was mistaken?

She dropped the quill and picked up her most recent letter from Grace; her six-year-old sister had even caught on to Mum's warnings. A childish drawing of a snake (she had drawn the mascots of all the houses) accompanied haphazard letters, saying: "snakes bite grrrrr." Besides the fact that she hadn't gotten the sound right, she wasn't wrong... This snake, however, seemed to be grinning at the Gryffindor.

Mari stood up and curiously inched closer, now mere feet from the unlikely pair. She was close enough to catch the last statement from the Gryffindor: "Not that many. But my parents have written a few times. I think the owl system confused them, to be honest."

Mari giggled, thinking of Dad. If he didn't love his daughter so much, she knew he wouldn't write using an owl. The wizarding world made him uncomfortable, and before she had gotten on the train, he had continued to ask Mum if she thought the Muggle postman would be able to make it to Hogwarts. Her giggles escalated as she remembered the memory fondly, as it was one of the few times Dad hadn't looked completely cross with the idea of the wizarding world; he simply couldn't comprehend that owls could be more reliable than postmen. She continued giggling for a few moments more when it hit her - these girls could likely hear her. She was far too close; it was obvious that she had been listening to their conversation.

What would Lucy do? Mari thought quickly. Confidence. Lucy would have confidence. She would ignore it and even though that terrifies me, I can't look like an utter creep my first month, I must pretend that I had intended this and maybe they'll forget and it'll all be okay and...

"My dad always said that he thinks the Muggle postman would do a better job than the owls," she blurted without thinking. "I always add postage to his letters so he can pretend; it's kind of a game with us. And he'll add one back and even write my full name - Joy Marianna Haynes - and then write in the note, 'I don't think owls have bird nicknames so I hope you forgive me for writing your full name' and even though I hate the name Joy I always squeal with delight when I see those words because that means he believed in the owls once more. Though to be quite honest, I think my mum sends them off. I'm just lucky I have one magical parent to help my Muggle side out."

She froze. "That was a lot of words, sorry. I'm Mari. Pleased to meet you."