Quiet in the Library? PV Charlotte Winfield Closed

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Before attending Hogwarts, Lottie had been overwhelmed by the idea that her time would be constantly filled with classes, homework, and millions of other out-of-school social activities she would have to attend to fit in with her classmates. Now, sitting with her nose in a Charms notebook, sh realized just how dull the school could prove to be.

She had been keeping up with most of her classes, her grades likely boosted by the extra time her parents had set aside when she was young just for her to study the topics that would be brought up at the magical school, which just meant that she had very little to do outside of those classes, especially being the introvert that she was. She had taken to spending most of her free hours sitting around the library and prepping herself for future assignments. Not very fun, but it was familiar.

Most chose to study in the Study Room, which was put aside just for the act of studying, but Lottie much preferred the atmosphere of the library. The scent of old books wafting through the seemingly endless aisles of stories upon stories filled her to her core and brought on a sensation of completeness that she rarely had the pleasure of feeling. It also reminded her slightly of home, a distant, bittersweet thought.

While the library was usually fairly empty, today many students had taken shelter in the library to get away from the rain outside, speckling the other tables and either chatting quietly or perusing through books of their choosing. One of the sounds, however, dragged Lottie's mind away from the book in front of her, to her slight annoyance. It was the sound of singing.

She looked around confusedly, eyebrows knitted together as she searched for the source of the noise. Her eyes trailed around the room until they landed on another student, older than she was. She tried to decipher the words, but it wasn't a song she had ever heard before. She hadn't realized she was staring at the boy until her thoughts came back to her and a flush of embarrassment filled her.

@Simon Kincaid

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Lottie turned her head down, ashamed for being so careless with her body language. Her time at Hogwarts was already off to a rough start as she began to realize how difficult it really is to make friends in such a large school, so the idea of making enemies sent chills down her spine. Her Charms textbook was looking mighty interesting right then.

She barely realized he was approaching until his voice cut through the air, almost causing her to jump back with surprise. Looking up, the boy had approached with an apology that included the names of a few words that sounded like gibberish to the first year. Lemon drop was the only one that rang a bell, but the rest may as well have been a foreign language. Curiosity got the better of her, and she gently closed her textbook to give him her undivided attention.

"Is that wizard candy?" She asked a bit bluntly. One of the worst things about her parents cynicism was their hatred of all things that didn't come with a monetary or social benefit, such as the tasteful and wacky themes of magical candy. After a few the brief tastes she had received of it from her sister's letters, she had gained somewhat of a hunger for it.

As the boy continued on with a few more... morbid suggestions of things Lottie could inflict upon him in order to ensure his apology was set in stone, the girl's eyes widened a bit with frantic confusion.

"Public humil- no, no!" She shook her head quickly to solidify her insistence. "It's not that big of a deal, really I just- I didn't mean to stare. I don't 'fancy' making a fool of you!"

@Simon Kincaid

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His relaxed tone was enough to ease some of the tension that held Lottie up like a marionette. Carefully, she let her guard down enough to crack a humorous smile at his words. The smile quickly turned into a curious frown as she studied the candy he held out to her. They reminded her faintly of home, and it made her stomach turn.

"I wouldn't know." Lottie replied to his comment about the differences between muggle and wizard candy, mostly out of an ingrained need to establish her position. She kept having to remind herself that there was no need for that here.

The next candy was one she had heard of only faintly from her sister, one that both interested and revolted her. She scrunched her nose up a bit, mumbling, "Grass?"

Finally, the last item he pulled out was a single chocolate frog, and this one he handed right to her. She looked at the packaging carefully, absorbing his words with mild intrigue. Her nimble fingers unboxed it slowly, before she cupped her hand over the top to avoid any jumpy mishaps in the library. When she was sure the coast was clear, she plucked the frog from the box and held it out in front of her.

"They're not... alive, are they? Just chocolate?" She turned it over in her palm, giving him a questioning look.

@Simon Kincaid

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At the blunt question, Lottie's eyebrows rose a bit and she quickly shook her head. "No, no, I'm just- I don't really eat sweets a lot is all." Her face flushed a bit, and she carefully watched the frog while listening to the boy's explanation. Before she could hear the end of it, though, the little thing leapt from her hand and right into her face, smacking her in the nose. She winced, exasperatedly plucking its now dormant body from her face and placing it onto her lap.

As he continued on, her mind caught onto the last word he had used. Dhampir. She recalled reading about it in her magic research a few years back, connecting it with the muggle term "vampire". She was at once intrigued by the boy, but bit back the long line of question she had queued up in her mind for his sake. Instead, she just gave a tight nod, replying with a restrained, "Yeah. Maybe."

The rainfall outside had seemed to calm down a bit, and now a small crack of gray light shined in through the thin library windows. Lottie embraced for as long as she could, knowing that it was only temporary and the rain would surely be back by the time dinner started. Distracted by the shifting weather, she had only just caught the tail-end of the boy's offer, which was just enough for her to be taken aback.

She stuttered a bit before finally managing, "You mean to sneak out?" She felt a bit embarrassed to say it, as he likely was of the proper age to attend Hogsmeade and she was only a first year. Still, as she thought over the idea, something about it excited her in a way that she couldn't place. It reminded her, faintly, of life before her sister left, sneaking out of bed to play in the gardens and going into town when her parents were out of the house. "Well, I... I suppose if there's a way for me to get there without any trouble then it may be an interesting adventure."

@Simon Kincaid

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Prefect. The word dropped from his mouth and hit Lottie's ears with the strength of a boulder. Her angle of him changed entirely, and her jaw lowered slightly. With as much formality as she could muster, she muttered out, "Prefect. Of course." It took her a moment to register his proposal, but after a few brief seconds she gave it some consideration. "It could be a fun time. And I don't have much else on my schedule, of course. So yes, I'd be happy to."

She let him continue on for a bit, allowing herself to relax as his outgoing personality relieved her of her need to come up with educated responses to his foreign talk. His short movie quote caused her to furrow her brow, but she tried her best to hide the fact that the only movie she had ever seen was a grainy showing of Bambi her sister had snuck over and played on the (mostly unused) family television. She made a mental note to sneak more movies once she got back home.

"That sounds wise," Lottie smiled and nodded down at her lap. "Charlotte Winfield. You can just call me Lottie, though." Instinctually, she held out a hand for him to shake, and almost immediately regretted it. She was still figuring out the proper way to speak to other teenagers, and so far it wasn't going to smoothly.

@Simon Kincaid