Kindred Souls PV Lorelai Wik

With some time free to one's self, what better thing was there to do than snoop? Lorelai didn't have a direction in mind, but that was perfectly fine, as the stairs here did the deciding for her. She set out from the Hufflepuff common room with a chocolate chip cookie in hand, and her house's scarf wrapped around her neck.

In all honesty, the stairs didn't get much of a chance to play their work. Lorelai's feet brought her down a level to the ground floor and she was about to head outside into the cool evening air when another door caught her eye.

Lorelai didn't mind books in the slightest, so it wasn't entirely unusual for her to be drawn to the library. That being said, she wasn't normally the type to leave off her own adventures in favour of reading about others. She took a thoughtful bite out of her cookie, shoved the rest in her pocket, then headed in.

The library was quiet. Lorelai didn't know why she expected anything different. After hallways of moving paintings, ghosts, and talking students, the library seem quite...mundane. Normal even. That is, it would be if it weren't the biggest library Lorelai had ever seen.

She wondered at the shelves of all things, wondering the size of the trees that must've been chopped down to make such things. She ran her finger along a shelf as she walked past. Dust smeared along. "Hm." She said to no one in particular.

The books themselves looked quite promising too. The girl knew that even reading a single one would tell her more about this new world of hers than her Gran had ever told her. So much knowledge trapped behind the pages. She nearly settled on pulling a book free from its sitting place when she noticed another girl sitting at one of the tables. The girl wasn't reading, but painting, of all things. She had never been the best at it, but her little brother Teddy loved painting, and it's something she would join him in while trying to keep him occupied on rainy days.

Curiosity once again pulled Lorelai along. She resisted the urge to pull the cookie out of her pocket and take another bite. No eating in the library. Was she even allowed to have the cookie in her pocket? For a moment she was torn between mashing it into her mouth so she wouldn't be caught with the evidence, and just hoping no one would notice. The second option sounded better, so she went with that one.

"Oh, that's marvelous!" Lorelai said as she saw the painting over the other girl's shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she realized her words may have rang a bit too loud. "Sorry," she said in a quieter voice "...absolutely fantastic, though." She noticed the book thick with what was most likely other paintings. "How'd you learn to paint so well? My little brother would kill to have your talent."

Minutes flew by, as if on wings, and Thora worked on, completely engrossed in her work. That is, until she heard "Oh, that's marvelous!" coming from just behind her right shoulder. With a small gasp, Thora jumped up a little in her seat, almost throwing her paintbrush in the process. 

"Oh, hi," Thora said shyly, color rushing to her cheeks, "I didn't see you there." Guiltily, the redhead watched as the other girl's eyes popped open. From the looks of it, the student behind her was a first year, as Thora hadn't seen her around Hogwarts. Also, the two were about the same size--Thora's tiny size made her about the same height as many new first years, much to the redhead's embarrassment. The girl had brown hair, cascading down in ringlets. Her yellow and black striped tie marked her as a Hufflepuff. 

"Sorry...absolutely fantastic, though." the Hufflepuff continued. "Oh, thanks," Thora answered, cheeks flushing again. Like most everyone, the girl enjoyed being praised, although she found accepting the compliments awkward. "How'd you learn to paint so well? My little brother would kill to have your talent." asked the brown-haired girl. 

"Oh... I didn't really learn anywhere," Thora began vaguely. Searching desperately for words to continue, the redhead's mind raced. She couldn't just leave the first year without a good explanation... what to say? "I kind of taught myself to paint with some old paints and paper. I don't think they're that good, but I just paint at home wherever I can... I live on a farm, so there's lots of scenery to paint." With that, Thora clammed up. It wasn't that she didn't trust the girl standing behind her--in fact, the redhead preferred to give strangers the benefit of the doubt. But not knowing the Hufflepuff at all, Thora wasn't exactly comfortable sharing too much.

Thora set down her paintbrush, trying not to smudge her painting. Trying to shift the conversation in another direction, the second year turned around. "So, what's your little brother's name?" she asked, smiling as to not seem prying. Thora felt bad leaving the conversation mostly to the first year, but she would try to steer the conversation if the other girl turned out introverted as well. Hopefully the conversation would continue, though, as the brown-haired girl seemed pretty nice. "Oh, I'm Thora, by the way." the Slytherin continued.