A Different Type of Party closed

Interacting: @Gia Adelard | Loki(cat)
Mentioning: N/A
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit
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Gift 1 | Gift 2

Rumors/gossip you might have heard about Henry ~

Reducio

Henry Knight is quite quiet and mostly a background type of guy, not many rumors or gossip are about him however there are a few going around. Most students have heard that the boy is a know it all and it's rumored that he teaches himself advanced lessons while also there's word around hogwarts that he purposely loses points for his house so his friends in other houses can win the cup. Then there's gossip/rumors about how dreamy his blue eyes are or that he's kind of cute. Then there's also the rather popular and true gossip that the boy is on the slytherin dueling team leading to the popular rumors that the boy knows a few advanced and dark spells

Henry would awaken early on the 23rd of February, the sun would just be rising as the twelve year old would slip out of his bed as quietly as he could. Change out of his pajamas into a pair of well worn jeans and a second hand sweater along with the slytherin watch that Rose Moon gave him for the Christmas holidays. Even though the second year didn't really like wearing items that supporting his house, he still wore the watch because it was pretty cool.

It was just barely after the morning curfew lifted when the twelve year old set a gift wrapped in a brown parchment on his nightstand before exiting the dormitory to head down to breakfast. That day wouldn't be like the others for it was the birthday of a Gia Adalard; a rather close friend of his before hogwarts and now at Hogwarts.

So the twelve year old had agreed to help her set up a birthday type area for her. So the second year spent majority of the in the library waiting for 12:00 which was the set upon time Henry told his gryffindor friend that he would meet her to help set everything up.

The twelve year old must have gone through close to a hundred books when the time struck 12 and the second year would race from the library back toward his common rook then the snape dormitory.

He would take care to not run into any of his dorm mates as the boy reached his room and bunk. Lifting the gift for his friend off his nightstand and holding it under his right arm as the second year took his wand to and placed it in his back jean pocket for the time being before calling his orange feline; Loki to follow.

Just around 1:30 or so the second year would arrive at the courtyard and instantly look around for his friend. After a moment, the boy would see the girl and jog over to help her set up the area before the rest would arrive.

"Happy Birthday Gia!" Henry would say to his friend while engulfing her in a hug when he would reach her. The second year would then hand her the gift before taking the plates and other table settings materials from her hands as he spoke" it isn't much but I hope you like it", as the boy started to set up the rest of the area thinking that his gift wasn't much but it was handmade if that counted for anything. The gift was made up of two parts; one was a small crochet lion that represented his friend being in gryffindor but also Henry thought it was rather adorable to create for her and the second was a friendship bracelet since he was rather good at creating them, now the second year has four bracelets on his right wrist each having a matching bracelet with his close friends.

Loki would greet Gia by sitting in front of the girl and giving a meow as to say "pet me" but he will not purr nor show any other signs of affectation like always. After a few moments of being with Gia, the orange feline would start to walk around the area on the lookout almost for the other guests to arrive.

After he was done setting everything up and still eyeing the gift, Henry smiled a bit as he spoke toward Gia in a jokely manner, " so, how does it feel to be twelve now?"

Tuesday the twenty-third of February; Gia's birthday. Today was a special day for Gabriella, too - granted, the reason for it being a special day wasn't as important as Gia's reason - but it was Gabriella's first ever proper birthday party, and that was reason enough, she thought. Well, it depended on whether you counted her own birthday party the week previously as a 'proper party' or not. Only two people had been there - Gia and Gabby herself - and then the intruder, Tory Williamson. Gabriella's mortal enemy, and the gatecrasher of her first birthday party. It sounded grand, until you realised you were talking about a birthday party, of all things - then it just sounded pretentious. Ah well.

Basket in hand, Gabriella skipped merrily down to the courtyard. She was a few minutes early, but that didn't matter - it hadn't been said out loud, but Gia and Gabriella were practically best friends, and that was a good reason to show up early. It had only been a month since the girls had first met, but already Gabriella thought their friendship had blossomed - how many times had they met up now? She counted in her head. Once, when we first met and helped each other with our History of Magic essay. Twice, if you count later that same day when we got to know each other in the Great Hall. Three times, when we met at the first Outdoors Club meeting. Four times, at my own birthday celebration last week. Gabriella frowned. Had they met on more occasions than that? Probably, but those four were the main four that stood out in Gabby's head.

As the Ravenclaw approached the place where they had arranged to meet, she noticed that another boy was there too, with Gia. A boy she recognised from... somewhere, but she wasn't sure where. A second year, she thought to herself, and shuddered. She didn't know that Gia had friends in other year groups, and her respect for her friend instantly shot up even higher. Personally, Gabriella had always had problems speaking to those older than her, and it was only the previous week - when she had met Serena, a second year, and had a conversation with her - that she had begun to realise older students weren't so bad after all.
However, her phobia of older students wasn't quite completely gone, so it was with a trembling voice that she spoke to him.

"Hi!" she cried. What she said was directed primarily at Gia, but she still quivered with nervousness - she was talking to an older student she didn't know, too. She reached out and hugged her friend, before setting the basket on the ground and taking out its contents. A gift for Gia, wrapped in silver paper, and some cupcakes she had baked herself. "Happy birthday!" She thrust the items she had brought hastily into her friend's hand, then turned to the second-year.

Gabriella took a deep breath to calm herself, then spoke. "I don't think we've met before," she smiled. "I'm Gabriella - call me Gabby." Now, she told herself, that wasn't too hard, was it? You're beginning to get the hang of this now...

Gabriella craned her neck round to see if any of Gia's other friends were coming.

Word count: 555
@Gia Adelard @Henry Knight

Reducio

The gift is a woollen hat Gabriella knitted in the Gryffindor colours. It isn't very good, but it's from the heart.
The cupcakes are chocolate with chocolate icing and pink sprinkles.

@Gia Adelard | @Henry Knight |@Gabriella Haworth

Outfit

Haley had gone straight to the library after class to do some of her homework and essays. She was so absorbed that the time went by far too quickly and after a few hours she looked at her watch, startled. Damn - she didn't have much time left before she had to go out to the Courtyard. She quickly packed up her things and ran up to the Gryffindor common room and straight to her dorm. She threw her bag on her bed and quickly went to her wardrobe to change. She grabbed a white chunky jumper, a pair of blue jeans and the present for Gia and as quickly as she had arrived in the dormitory she was on her way back down.

She walked quickly down the stairs, but was still well on time and would definitely not be late. With each step she took down the stairs she became more nervous. It wasn't because she was meeting people she didn't know, but because of their reaction. It had only been a few days since Haley had received her mother's howler and yet she was sure that surely half the school knew about it. Even if only a few had noticed, the whispers started as soon as the letter was done shouting. She tried to swallow the fear of the reactions towards her, but it was difficult. But as soon as she walked through the door into the Courtyard, she put on a smile and didn't let on.

From a distance she could already see Gia and two of her friends. The closer she got, she could tell that the boy was Henry. The two had last met at Simon's birthday party but otherwise had nothing to do with each other. The other was a girl Haley did not know. As soon as she arrived at the small group, she took Gia into a tight and long hug. They hadn't known each other too long, yet she was incredibly grateful to count Gia among her friends. Not only had Haley been there for Gia in a difficult time, no, Gia had also been there for her when Haley had received that awful red letter. "Happy, happy Birhtday!" she cheerfully wished her friend and handed her a small box. Inside was a necklace with a round transparent pendant. Inside were seeds from a dandelion and a small note that only the wearer and owner of the necklace could read. On it was written "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of time." And Haley knew she didn't have to explain this further to Gia. Haley's grandmother had helped her with this gift. She wanted something special for Gia, because Haley knew what she was going through. Something to show her that she was not alone and that she could never lose hope.

Now that Haley had handed over the gift she turned to the other guests, "Hey Henry" she greeted the boy she already knew briefly and smiled at him and then turned to the unfamiliar face. "Hi, I'm Haley." She smiled warmly at her too. And now as Haley stood there, the nervousness returned. Did the two of them know what had happened a few days ago? Did they both know what Haley was? Did they condemn her for it? Or were they ignorant? Haley didn't want to rack her brains over it, but it was hard for her.

Present

Truth be told, Elena had been pleasantly surprised when Gia had extended the courtesy of inviting her to her birthday celebration. She had gotten along rather well with the girl through the interaction of their various errands from freezing their skin off in the blistering cold to having to play babysitter to the most repulsive creatures on the planet. Through it all, Gia had an extremely positive attitude and upbeat demeanor to her Elena had been all too willing to make it a point to attend her birthday festivites, given enough time, she was sure if not already, they could defnitely make this a friendship that would last throughout the decades.

Only thing that was troubling her was a gift. A gift, people always brought gifts to these things and the Gryffindor did not want to look out of place or the only one there who arrived unprepared. That would just be an embarassment and a social dilemma that Elena rather wanted to avoid. A couple of Transfiguration spells later and after many frustrated attempts, the girl smiled proudly at the object of glory that was going to be her present to Gia. It was fitting, Elena thought to herself given how they had met. The gift in question happened to be a necklace held together by a silver chain that had a jeweled snowflake as the centerpiece. She might have had to alter some of the colors and whatnot to what she thought was appropiate via use of her wand but overall, it was a nice little thing.

Carefully wrapping it in giftwrap before placing the precious heirloom into a small red pouch, the third year decided she had better head on down. It was bad enough not having a gift, it was going to be even worse if she was late. Armed with her red pouch and dressed in something appropiate for the setting which happened to be a a sleeveless informal yellow summer dress, the girl made her trek out of the portrait hole tracing her steps to the courtyard where they were all due to meet. How old was Gia turning again? As she walked, she racked her brains trying to recall that particular fact.

It seemed however that Elena was not the first one there, there were rather a few people there. Looked like she'd invited Haley as well, the brunette shooting her a small smile as she joined the fray of students making a beeline for Gia. "Happy birthday, Gia!" Elena held out the pouch which contained her little snowflake necklace hoping it hadn't got tossed around too much on the way down. "I got you a little something, I'm really happy to be here." She would grin eyes briefly flitting around to see what the other Gryffindor had done with the place. The plates were laden with food and it defnitely gave off the vibe that there was some sort of celebration to be had here.

The other faces present at this enjoyable setting were not as familar to the Gryffindor female save for one other giving a little wave to Haley Rose. Partner in crime on the flobberworm errand, she had defintely made caring for a bunch of slimy, boring wriggly creatures all the more interesting. As for the others, they were total new faces to her but that didn't mean introductions weren't due, the girl deciding to extend the common courtesy. "Elena Jangleton, Gryffindor." She said nodding politely at the other two students.

@Simon Kincaid @Haley Rose @Henry Knight @Gabriella Haworth @Elena Jangleton

23 February, 2021 Gia's Birthday!

The footsteps quickened and grew slightly louder, signalling to Gia that whoever it was was now running. Only a few moments later a figure came into sight, and the first year grinned broadly at her friend that had just arrived."Henry!" The Slytherin boy wished her a happy birthday and gave her a hug immediately after reaching her, and the twelve year old(!) giggled. "Thanks—and I'm sure it's wonderful," she said, taking the gift he handed her and setting it on one of the stone benches that surrounded the area they were in. She normally would have opened it right away, to be honest, but she thought that it was better if they continued to set up before she did so. It would be weird if everyone else arrived before they'd finished doing so, she thought. Henry had already gotten started, so she hurried to his side.

A few minutes later the two of them had completed their task of getting the Courtyard ready for her party, Gia sat down again and pet Loki, the second year's cat, a couple of times. She had met the orange feline only the month before, since Henry had gotten him at the end of the summer and had not had him when they were younger. Hearing Henry's voice, the young Gryffindor looked up with a smile on her face. "Great! Although. . . I'm not sure if that's because I'm twelve or because I'm super excited for the party. . . it's weird, I can never feel any big difference on my birthdays, you know?" She laughed. Just then, Gia heard another voice coming from the entrance to the Courtyard and she turned, recognizing the figure standing there right away. "Gabby!" she exclaimed happily, hugging the Ravenclaw in return.

Two people were there now, and Gia could feel her excitement for the rest of the afternoon growing as she took the gift Gabriella offered. Hastily unwrapping it, eager to see what was inside, the brunette grinned when she saw what it was. A hat, in the colors of Gryffindor house. "Thank you so much! Did you make it yourself?" she asked to her friend, giving the other first year another hug. It was quite unusual for the girl to be doing so, but today, on her birthday, it just felt right. Honestly, if she ended up going around hugging every single person that came to her party that day, Gia wouldn't be too surprised at her own actions. Remembering the cupcakes that had been given to her as well, she set them down with the other platters of food that were on one section of the stone wall and looked at them hungrily. Still, there were other things to do before they ate, such as opening Henry's gift, which she had almost forgotten about.

"Ooh, this is so cute!" said Gia, now turning to Henry. "Thank you!" Resisting the urge to give him a hug too when she realized that Gabby had begun introducing herself, she simply gave him a grateful smile instead. Immediately tying the bracelet she'd been giving around her wrist, she noticed for the first time that the boy already had multiple around his. Setting the crochet lion on the wall and placing Gabby's hat on it's head just for fun, she turned back around to see if anyone else had arrived. And she was not disappointed, for the instant she did so, the first year was wrapped up in yet another hug. So far, Gia had received a hug from every person present. . . not that she minded today, though.

Grinning at her red haired friend, the twelve year old quickly accepted the gift she'd been given and thanked Haley, too. The two of them had only known each other for a little while, and yet they were already quite close. Over the last week or so, both of them had gone through a tough situation and the other had been there to comfort them. That wasn't something to be taken lightly, either, for the hardships they'd been through were not something to be comforted by a simple pat on the back. But that was not something Gia wanted to think about at the moment. . . no, she didn't want to ruin the nice, bright day with thoughts of what had recently happened to her and her friend. Getting the smile that had slipped off of her face back onto it was a little hard, however, and took a few moments. "Um—sorry—thank you, Haley." said the Gryffindor, once she had gotten her composure back.

Opening her fellow Gryffindor's gift certainly cheered Gia up, luckily, and soon she was looking down at the necklace she'd been given with wide eyes. It was so beautiful. "Wow," the first year breathed. After about a second, the girl couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry," she said quickly, not wanting the other first year to think she was laughing about the gift, "It's just that I'm going to be covered in new accessories and stuff when this party is over." Pointing to the hat and bracelet she'd already been given, Gia laughed again. "Can someone help me put this on?" she then asked, motioning to the necklace. The first year had never been one of those people who was able to tie or fasten things behind their back, and had always needed help with such things.

Once she had received help with putting the necklace around her neck, Gia waited for Simon and Elena to arrive. The other three around her were busy with introductions, and, even though she knew all of them already, it never really crossed her mind to help them out until they were finished. "Oops," The brunette said softly to herself, quiet enough that no one else would hear her. Spotting another student making their way towards them, Gia waved. The person looked too tall to be Simon, so therefore it must be. . . "Elena!" called Gia, grinning at the third year. "Hi! And ooh, thanks!" she added, taking the pouch from the older girl and examining it carefully. It looked nice. . . what could be inside? When she saw what it's contents were, the first year gave a small laugh. "I love it," she said happily. "And a snowflake—perfect!"

After everyone had finished introducing themselves to Elena, who had just arrived, Gia spoke up again. "Okay, so, there's only one more person coming. If you guys want, you can help yourselves to the food—there's definitely enough for all of us." The brunette shot a sideways grin at Gabby, who had brought plenty of food to her own birthday celebration as well—definitely more than the two of them had needed, but like the Ravenclaw had said, it was her birthday after all. "Anyway—Simon!" Gia broke off her sentence after abruptly saying her friend's name as she spotted him walking over. The first year noticed how the Hufflepuff's eyes slid over to Haley quite quickly, and grinned to herself but didn't say anything on that particular subject. . . yet. "Hi! And, uh, not really—I'm just been opening them as you guys come, honestly." she laughed and took the gift from him with a smile.

"Thanks, Simon!" she said happily when she realized what the present was. "I'll definitely use it often!" Setting the case next to the stuffed lion wearing the Gryffindor hat Gabby had given her, she looked around at everyone there. "You can eat whatever you'd like," the girl told her friend who had just arrived and had barely missed her last announcement. Sitting down between Gabby and Elena on the blanket she'd spread out with the help of Henry, she picked up one of the Ravenclaw's cupcakes and took a bite. After swallowing, she said, "So wait. Henry, you know Simon and Haley, right? And me, of course, but that's obvious. . . And Elena, you know Haley from the errand we did together; Haley, you know Elena, Henry, and Simon; Simon, you know Henry and Haley; and Gabby, you know. . . do you know anyone else here?" She frowned. When this was confirmed a little while later, the twelve year old whispered a quick "sorry" to her friend. Gia had thought everyone knew at least one other person besides herself. . .

1377 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

Reducio

Note: Sorry that this is so long! I had so much to write. . .

Interacting: @Gia Adelard | @Simon Kincaid | @Haley Rose | @Gabriella Haworth | @Elena Jangleton | Loki(cat)
Mentioning: N/A
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit

After the hug, gift giving, and greeting the twelve year old then started to help set up the area as he listened to Gia talk. Loki seemed to enjoy the attention but as usual the feline wasn't purring and after a few minutes the orange feline would leave the first year Gryffindor side and start to walk around the area as if he was waiting for others to arrive.

Henry would listen to his friend before laughing a bit as he spoke mainly as a joke" maybe it takes a day for it to set in that your older," laughing a bit as the second year pushed a few strands of hair from his face and took a step back to eye the decorations that he just set up.

A moment later another join them and from what he heard it sounded like her name or nickname is Gabby. The second year stood back while Loki went to investigate the newcomer after a moment of the orange feline sniffing it seem as usual that the cat didn't trust the girl which wasn't odd for the feline since he was wearily on who he trusted.

The orange feline who then duck away and refuse the newcomer to trust him and basically ignore the girl as the feline went back to looking got others.

Henry would notice Gia opening her gift and at that time hear the ravenclaw girl introduce herself to him. Henry would gale a few steps forward as he spoke with a smile, " hello, it's nice to meet you Gabby. I'm Henry Knight," odd the second year was using his surname a lot more now out of habit maybe? Either way it was a habit that he had to stop.

Henry would smile toward Gabby as his eyes lingered between the two girls now watching Gia open both of their gifts. Smiling a bit at her comment toward her before casually showing the gryffindor his own friendship bracelet that matched Gia's. Bracelets or specifically friendship bracelets were something that both the second year was good at making and enjoyed creating so he had a few on his right wrist each matching to a specific friend; Logan, Rose, Gia, and Alexa.

After a bit with Loki a bit far from the party and without another showing yet, Henry would smile toward Gabby as he spoke" are you a first year Gabby? I'm a second year, any classes that you like?" the boy officially was the worst at small talk.

Luckily another joined them; Haley Rose. After the two girls shared a greeting, Henry then waved back to Haley as he spoke with a smile,"Hey Haley, nice to see you again," the boy kept on his smile as he moved to one side of Gabby watching Gia open the gift that she just received from the other gryffindor.

Meanwhile Loki gave Haley a sniff before as usual deciding that he didn't trust her and left to ignore the party as the feline went a few feet away from the party. How that cat decided who and who not to trust was a mystery to Henry since it seemed like the feline didn't trust his friends at points but did trust people like Selim Faust who was rather odd, creepy, and occasional mean.

Henry turned back to Gia at the sound of her voice mentioning a necklace which even the second year had to agree it was beautiful as he spoke mainly to Haley, " that's beautiful Gia, how did you get it Haley?" However when he heard her question about helping her put it all Henry rather accidentally lifted his left hand to his chest where hidden underneath his shirt laid a fox shaped heart necklace that Logan had the other half to and his gold rusted pendant which was the last gift he received from his mum.

A small part of him wanted it help Gia with the necklace but his anxiety was pushing in making the boy quite nervous and awkward as he hid these emotions from the others the boy just spoke" I'm not great with necklaces," a smile still on the boy's lips.

Another joined them and after a greeting between the to girls, Henry noticed that the new comer seemed at least a year older than him before hearing her name and house. In his mind the boy couldn't help but think the girl sounded agnorant but kept those thoughts to himself as he spoke" hi, I'm Henry," as his feline gave Elena a sniff before deciding that he didn't trust her and turned and went again away from the party.

Henry turned his attention to Gia as she mentioned only one more coming and the food, looking over at the cupcakes the second year spoke" the cupcakes look brilliant, did you make them yourself Gabby?" however the final person joined them and it was Simon.

After Gia and Simon had their greeting and she opened his gift the second year old would wave over to Simon as he spoke" hey mate," Henry was glad that Simon was from London mainly since he didn't look at him weird when he often used the word 'mate'.

Loki gave jogging over ignoring Gabby, Elena, and Haley as the orange feline bounced all the way to Simon before sitting in front of the boy and giving a short meow to sso him to pet him. Still no purring but that was usual for the feline at least the cat trusted Simon.

As people stayed to sit down, Henry leaned against the stone wall and turned his attention to Gia as he heard her comment before taking a moment to think before speaking, "sounds correct."

As soon as Gabriella broke out of the hug, Gia hastily began to unwrap the gift. Her friend grinned; evidently, Gia liked the present.
"Yeah, I made it," Gabby replied, in answer to Gia's question. She hesitated. "Uh, sorry, it's not that good. I'm quite a beginner, you see..." Either way, Gia seemed to like it, which was all that mattered really.

Gabriella smiled as the second year - Henry Knight, it seemed his name was - greeted her. There was no sign in his voice that he was judging her, whether for good or for bad. It was strange, but Gabby didn't even like it when people thought highly of her, not unless she knew them really well. Or at least, she didn't like it when people showed they did. Of course, she wanted people to think good things about her on the inside, but as long as they didn't externalise their thoughts, that was good. And that was exactly what the Slytherin was doing. Whether he had any thoughts about Gabriella, good or bad, he hadn't mentioned them or let them show, and she was grateful to him for that. "Nice to meet you too," she replied, lamely.

"Are you a first year, Gabby?" Henry asked. "I'm a second year. Are there any classes you like?" Gabriella nodded.
"Yeah, I'm a first year," she replied. "My birthday was just last week, in fact," she continued, shooting Gia an apologetic look. "My favourite lesson is Charms," she said. The Ravenclaw was considering telling the boy she didn't like Herbology, but decided it was best not to focus on the negatives the moment she met someone. Suddenly, a thought hit her - she had been having this conversation, at relative ease, with a student older than she was! A second year! Hmm, maybe that encounter with Serena last week really had done something.

Just then, another student came walking down the path towards them. Gabriella didn't recognise her, but she looked like a first-year, and she was in Gryffindor. First, the girl hugged Gia, then greeted Henry - evidently, they already knew each other from some place - before introducing herself as Haley to Gabriella.
"Hi, Haley," Gabby said in response. "I'm Gabriella. Gabby. You can call me either, I suppose."
Gabriella detected a hint of nervousness on Haley's face, as if she had something to hide, but the Ravenclaw dared not mention it. No, that would be a bad idea - it wasn't something you spoke about with a person you'd just met, and, as nosy as Gabby was, she wasn't going to push it. This was something Haley knew about, and possibly nobody else. Gabriella had no right to know what it was.

Next, another girl came wandering down towards the group, and Gabriella had to hide her gasp of terror when she realised it was a third year! Wh-what if she had to speak to the girl? Maybe Henry, the second year, was alright, but a third year? Why, this girl could be fourteen! Three - no, two years older than her! Gabby calmed her breathing down. It was ok, she was twelve now. Fourteen-year-olds were only two years older than her, there was nothing to be worried about. She thought about how she was at age ten, two years ago, and how she hadn't changed too much. Then she looked at this new third year girl, and thought about how she wouldn't change much until she herself was fourteen. While she was thinking all this, the Gryffindor was busy engaging in conversation with Gia, but after that she turned and introduced herself as Elena, for the benefits of those who didn't know her. "Hi, Elena," Gabriella whispered. A whisper, yes, but an improvement - maybe even two weeks ago she wouldn't have been able to do that.

Gia mentioned something about the last guest arriving, and Henry turned to the Ravenclaw and asked her a question, taking her by surprise a little bit. "Yeah, I made the cakes," she replied, grinning at the compliment. Although she didn't like it when people gave away their thoughts of her implicitly, through facial expressions, she loved to receive affirmation that people appreciated her through their words, and especially through their compliments. "I really love baking," she added.

At last, the final guest arrived, another boy, this time from Hufflepuff. Gabriella hadn't met this boy before, either, but she had a feeling he was a second-year. Unfortunately, however, the Hufflepuff didn't introduce himself, but Gabriella was easily saved - just moments after the boy had walked in, Gia exclaimed, "Simon!" - which she assumed was the Hufflepuff boy's name.
Gia and Simon quickly exchanged greetings and gifts, and Gabriella decided she should probably introduce herself to him, seeing as he hadn't introduced himself to her. And Elena might hear her, too, which would be great, as it occurred to Gabby that she hadn't actually told the third-year her name yet.
"Hi," she said. "I'm Gabriella, Ravenclaw." For some reason, she didn't offer Simon the opportunity to just call me Gabby like she usually did, but she hoped he would pick up on her shortened name once people started with her more.

The birthday feast, it seemed, had begun, and Gabriella got hit with a wave of nostalgia from the previous week, at her own birthday. It had gone perfectly well, until she came - "she" being Tory Williamson, of course, her Gryffindor arch-nemesis. Gabby found herself wondering whether any of Gia's friends were also friends with Tory, and the chains of mutual friends that linked up the whole school.

Gia was talking about who everyone at the party knew - it seemed everyone knew at least one other person there, besides her. "Sorry," whispered Gia. Gabby shrugged.
"It's fine," she replied. "It's good to meet new people. And-" she raised her voice so that she was talking to everyone- "I hope I can meet up with some of you again after today. I mean, you all like Gia, so I'll probably like you too!" she laughed, hoping she wasn't making the entire situation awkward.

Word count: 1027
@Gia Adelard @Henry Knight @Haley Rose @Elena Jangleton @Simon Kincaid

@Gia Adelard | @Henry Knight |@Gabriella Haworth|@Elena Jangleton | @Simon Kincaid

Haley was very pleased that Gia was happy about her present and had to laugh with her. When she asked for help and no one had agreed to help so far, Haley took over. "Of course." She spoke with a smile directed at Gia and took the necklace from her, walking around her. "Could you take your hair down for a moment?" inquired Haley and once Gia had done so, she would lock the chain.

Haley tried to relax and before she could have lost herself in her thoughts, the next guest arrived. Also a Gryffindor and the two knew each other from babysitting worms together. Haley smiled at Elena before turning her attention to the conversation and for a brief moment she also turned her attention to a cat, but it was clearly not amused by Haley. Too bad, Haley thought to herself. After all, they had a similar mane and Haley loved animals but she would have to live with that now.

"Oh, my grandmother is a great helper when it comes to gifts," Haley started laughing and answering Herny's question, "a good friend of hers makes necklaces, bracelets and rings like that and I had asked her if she could make one for Gia." Haley smiled at the thought of the old woman. She had known her since she was a child, as she had often visited her grandmother when Haley was there too, and she had made Haley necklaces and pendants like this before. She hadn't thought about it for a long time, but as she sat in her bed for the third evening thinking about what she could give Gia, the memory suddenly came back to her.

It wasn't long before Simon arrived outside in the courtyard and Haley was immediately worried. She knew it wasn't good for him to be exposed to the sun and hoped it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she smiled broadly at him and winked when he pointed at her. And now that Gia had greeted everyone for now and accepted all the gifts, Haley paid attention to the food and it all looked so great. "That looks great, thanks Gia!" Normally Haley would not let herself be told twice that she could have some of the food but currently she had the problem again that she was not hungry and had already hardly eaten in the last few days.

She gave Gabby another smile and wanted to show her that she shouldn't worry just because she didn't know anyone here except Gia. But her attention was quickly drawn back to the cat, who was now heading straight for Simon and she was clearly envious of him. After the group of students had spread out a bit and sat down, Haley walked over to Simon, "How did you do that?" Haley asked with a giggle, pointing her gaze at the cat who was obviously waiting to be petted by Simon. Standing next to Simon, she leaned over slightly so that only he could hear her and asked with concern in her voice about the sun. "Um, are you okay? I mean, is it okay with the sun?"