Lost? PV A. Ryan Closed

Aideen wandered through the Hogwarts hallways, unable to take everything in. The tall arched windows with sunlight streaming through, the moving staircases, the thousands of moving pictures on the walls. Just then, the young Muggle-born witch stopped straight. Charms! She was supposed to be heading to Charms!
Where was the classroom? She turned in a full circle. Taking in the view had come at a terrible price: not paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly she realized everyone was staring at her. Well. Maybe not. But it sure felt like it.
She could feel their curious glances at her. Aideen felt as if they were slowly peeling off her skin to see what was underneath. Can they tell? Just by looking at me? I bet everybody knows what I am. A monster.
Covering her head with her hands, she sprinted down the corridors, trying to escape. Now everybody really was looking at her. Eventually she pulled up short, panting. A second year towered above her. So big.
“You alright? ‘Fraid you’re looking a bit lost. I’m Maggie, Maggie Parker.”
Aideen sized up this "Maggie Parker". After a long moment she reached a decision.
Looking the Year Two in the eye defiantly, she proclaimed "Naw. I'm Aideen Ryan. I'm Muggle born and I was just looking around, but I'm not lost. Now, I better go or I'll be late for my next class."

The small Ravenclaw girl looked up to Maggie defiantly, a spark in her blue eyes. Maggie raised an eyebrow as the girl said, with niether the meek voice nor the politeness she’d been anticipating,
"Naw. I'm Aideen Ryan. I'm Muggle born and I was just looking around, but I'm not lost. Now, I better go or I'll be late for my next class." Maggie looked down to the girl, confused as to why she’d mentioned her blood type as a greeting, but happy she was a muggleborn too. Maggie gave the firey Ravenclaw an amused look as she replied,
“Well, Aideen Ryan, you sure you’re not in Gryffindor? I don’t meet a lot of feisty eagles.” she smirked at the girl, an inkling of a liking towards her growing like a seed in her stomach. She kind of looked like Maggie, too, which made her develop a strange sisterly protectiveness towards the Ravenclaw. After all, she did have seven siblings, so she supposed feeling sisterly towards this stranger wasn’t actually that strange.
“Where are you headed? I can point you in the right direction, if you’d like.” Maggie suggested helpfully, quickly adding, “Not that you’re lost, or anything.” with a chuckle and a smirk. If Maggie was right, and if this girl really was a spunky as she acted, she’d never admit to being lost, at least, Maggie never would.

Aideen looked this girl up and down. Was she serious with that smug expression?

“Well, Aideen Ryan, you sure you’re not in Gryffindor? I don’t meet a lot of feisty eagles.”

Aideen felt her insides uncoil a bit and warm up a little to Maggie. Not that they could be friends, 'cause first of all this was a second year who treated her like a child but also she didn't want to get her hopes up. No one would want to be her friend if they knew her secret.

“Where are you headed? I can point you in the right direction, if you’d like. Not that you’re lost, or anything.”

The "feisty eagle" tilted her head, considering. Finally, she spoke. After all, she had been raised to know that waiting people could become dangerous. Actually, anybody could become dangerous, even this girl, but there was no going back now.

"First of all, where I grow up you have to be a bit feisty in order to survive." Aideen felt her lips curve into a small smile. "And I'm totally Ravenclaw." She made her best boring professor/Ravenclaw face and said "Realistically, real eagles are very feisty. They are birds of prey and scavengers, as well as wild animals who have to fight for food. The typical yadayada. And yes, I'm definitely not lost, but I think that kid over there is."

She pointed at an empty spot in the crowd where no one was standing.

"From the looks of it, they need to get to Charms." Aideen kept her voice flat and void of emotion, as if there really was someone there. After all, there was a sense of humor buried deep within her somewhere.

"First of all, where I grow up you have to be a bit feisty in order to survive.” Aideen said, undeniable sass lacing her tone. Maggie couldn’t help but have a grin tug at the corners of her lips as the girl said this. To survive? Really? Maggie wholeheartedly doubted that, but she let the girl finish explaining what an eagle was before she replied.
“...And yes, I'm definitely not lost, but I think that kid over there is." Ryan said, pointing over to, well, nothing. Maggie rolled her eyes, smirking as the girl continued, “From the looks of it, they need to get to Charms.”. Her monotonous tone made Maggie chuckle lightly, she almost reminded her of her brother, Cooper.
“Where do you live, anyways? I mean, I’m sure I’ve never heard of it, being from such a comfortable lifestyle.” Maggie asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice like honey. The girl, if Maggie was being honest, was kind of pissing her off, and Maggie, being someone who “wore their heart on their sleeve”, which was kind of a nice way of saying that she had a bad temper, wasn’t going to be quiet about it.
“And,” she added, lowering her voice slightly, leaning down so the girl could hear her, “Realistically,” she looked Aideen in her eyes, fire burning in her stomach, as she gave the girl a kind of hate-to-break-it-to-ya look, “you’re pissing me off.” she straightened up again, giving the girl a wink as she continued to amble down the hallway, not waiting for her to respond. What could she say? Aideen Ryan had gotten on her nerves, and getting on her nerves wasn’t usually the best idea.

As Aideen listened to Maggie, a wall of feelings crashed down on her. All too familiar feelings. She had successfully kept them locked away since she'd arrived, but the way the Gryffindor girl's tone changed so quickly made her recoil. Anger. Fear. Happiness. Two kinds of sadness. Aideen cursed herself. She should never have let her guard down this much.

Anger, because this girl had earned her trust only to slam into her. Fear, because what if Maggie attacked her? She didn't look like the type, but you never know with people, as Aideen had just re-learned. Just a tinge of happiness, because if she already hated her, then she couldn't hate her even more when she, ah, found out. The feelings raged war inside her, and one of them one. Overwhelming sadness.

First of all, Maggie had been almost sisterly for a moment. Almost a friend. But the majority of the sadness was when she thought of Maggie's question. The strong walls she had built around herself began to crumble like castles of sand. A single tear slid out and landed on an essay she had been carrying under one arm, smudging a word and making it unreadable. It was trust.

"Yes, yes it was bad. There was no color. All my family ever ate was potatoes, every day, every meal. There were criminals around every corner. One time, the ceiling caved in on my dad. He broke his arm, and we couldn't afford a doctor, so it still hangs in a wrong sort of way today." Her voice was choked with emotion.

Maggie turned as the girl continued to speak, even as she’d been walking away from her. She was— crying? Maggie groaned internally, and she saw the tips of her light brown hair turning grey. Guilt— ew. Maggie hated guilt, and the girl was reminding her of when she’d accidentally make one of her younger siblings cry. She’d always have to shut them up before her mom came around the corner, otherwise she’d get into trouble.

Maggie glared, this was a little unfair. This kid was a feisty eagle one second, and crying in the middle of the corridor the next? Yeah, Maggie’s hair was now turning a red as a surge of indignant anger swept over her. She sighed, blowing air out of her nose. Maybe that was just her personality? Rolling her eyes, Maggie backtracked and stopped back in front of Aideen.

“Listen, kid. I’m sorry about the whole potatoes thing, but if you want to make friends here, you’ve gotta be a bit more, well—” Maggie cut herself off, mulling over her words for a bit. “kind. I mean, c’mon, you can’t expect me to act like we’re friends when you’re being rude.” Maggie sighed exasperatedly, this kid really needed to work on her people skills. She patted her shoulder awkwardly, shooting her a grin and practically bolting down the hallway. She did not want to get into a mess like that. This kid was guilt-tripping her for reacting like a normal human, Christ’s sake!

Aideen pulled herself together in time to see Maggie edge quickly down the hallway away from her. Whatever. She could do whatever. She gathered up her stuff a little bit better and scanned the hallway. She really needed to find the Charms classroom now. But she couldn't concentrate. Her mind was still wandering after Maggie, the girl who had found her, been almost a sister for a moment, snapped at her, and left. And, like, CMON, Aideen hadn't even done anything. Maybe at the beginning she'd been a bit sassy, but then she'd just tried to be FUNNY. I guess I have a really lame sense of humor, then. Note to self:- do not try that again, she thought glumly and then before she even knew what was happening, Aideen was sprinting down the hallway after her.

She didn't care that there was probably a prefect somewhere near by. She didn't care that people were looking at her like she was crazy as she ran past. All that mattered was Maggie. Aideen thought she could just make her out and turned on the gas. Go Go Go.

"Wait! Maggie! Wait! I don't know what I said to make you mad but I didn't mean it!

Aideen rather wondered how her emotions could change so quickly, from mad to funny to sad to pleading. She bet Maggie wondered that too. But she wasn't the only one like that. Cough cough.