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Edith yawned as she waited for Natasha. They had decided to meet up in The Leaky Cauldron for a game of Muggle Connect 4, since it was always quiet, the perfect place to think and a very small chance of being disturbed.

As she waited, Edith set up the pieces. She loved that game, first of all because she liked thinking, and secondly because it was fun anyway. Edith waited for a long time. Why wasn't Natasha coming? she thought, fiddling with one piece. Perhaps she had forgotten? Edith wondered.

She checked her watch, as she had been doing for the past 9 minutes now. But every time, the time didn't even sink into her brain. They were supposed to meet at 11.

11 : 12

said her watch. Edith yawned again. She was starting to attract some weary looks, sitting with a muggle game, as if playing with a ghost. To make matters worse, Natasha still wasn't coming.

Edith waited for another 5 minutes, before she decided it was no use. Collecting up the pieces, she glanced at her watch once again.

11 : 12

Maybe Natasha doesn't know where the Leaky Cauldron is, decided Edith, setting for the door. The Barman frowned at the fact that she wasn't buying anything. Edith, almost automatically, lifted her right arm to see the time.

11 : 12

it said. Frowning, Edith tapped her watch. Wasn't that the time it was last time... 10 minutes ago? Then Edith remembered with a pang that she had left for the Leaky Cauldron at 11:12. She groaned loudly.

Her watch! It must have been broken the whole time.
"Excuse me," Edith asked a lady nearby, "could you please tell me the time?" the lady stole Edith's watch a furtive glance, before answering irritably "10:57." then she shook her head, muttering something about 'time wasters'. Edith looked downhearted. She had been waiting so long for nothing!

Then she realized the funny part, and laughed.
"Thank you," she muttered to the lady, but the latter didn't seem to be interested anymore.
Edith went back to the table, and set the pieces out again. So Natasha wasn't late after all! How stupid am I? Edith thought. I failed to notice that it was the same time every few minutes! Yawning once more, Edith placed her red piece and waited for Natasha to come.

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OOC notes:

Word count: 394 WORDS

Mention: @Natasha Jones

Day: Saturday, 13th October, 2025

Natasha walked down the street of muggle London, excited about meeting up with Edith to play Connect 4 with her. When she was younger, She used to play it for hours to end with her childhood best friend, Gary, and she definitely missed that. They had played it for so long, there had been a point where they practically knew the rulebook by heart, but it had been a long time since the 2 of them last played, and she had forgotten most of it, except for the general rules.

She reached the entrance of the leaky cauldron, and after a quick glance around to ensure no muggles were watching, she pushed open the door and entered. It was relatively quiet compared to the last time she had been here, when there were quite a lot of people out and about.

She looked around and smiled as she spotted Edith, before walking towards her, grinning at the already set up connect 4 board, complete with Edith's first piece already inside. "Hey Edith!" she said, "Guess you were eager to get started huh?"

Natasha quickly glanced at the board before plucking a counter of the table and putting it in the board. She sat down across from Edith and asked, "How are you doing today?"

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Natasha came in, smiling. Edith straightened up and smiled back. "Hey Edith!" Natasha said, sitting down opposite her. "Guess you were eager to get started huh?" Edith grinned, and quickly hid her watch from view. Natasha glanced at the board, picking up a yellow counter off the table and putting it onto the far right side of the board. Edith picked up a red piece, and bit her lip.

"How are you doing today?" asked Natasha, and Edith turned to her.
"I'm okay, actually," she restrained from telling her that she had been waiting half an hour, and instead said "what about you? Any news?"
Edith threw her piece up, and caught it again. She then placed it onto the board on top of Natasha's piece.
"Your turn," she said, as it seemed that Natasha didn't notice.

"So, how're you finding Hogwarts so far?" Edith asked. She remembered her first week too well: getting lost too many times and almost getting in detention. She even remembered one of her teachers wanting to put her in detention, but the bell saving her.

Her couple of first months brought a lot of good memories too, though. For example, when she had made her first friend in her life. Holly, her foster mother's daughter, didn't really count as she was 4 years younger than Edith.

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OOC notes:

Word count: 222 WORDS

Mention: @Natasha Jones

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Edith smiled as Natasha said "My first week's going good so far actually! I've gotten lost more than my fair share of times, but most of the upper years are kind enough to point me in the right direction. I've made a few friends and they seem really nice so far. Plus, the library is amazing! I love the smell of all the books, and the collection of books is so big, I feel like i could get lost in the shelves," Edith tried to fit a word in, but she continued without taking a breath. Edith was happy about how much Natasha was enjoying herself, and she remembered her own few weeks here. Luckily most of the memories had been good...

" The castle's kind of overwhelming though." she admitted, "it's so big and there's so many corridors and classes"
" You should have seen me the first time I saw a ghost, I think I jumped 3 feet in the air! He seemed pretty kind though, but I just made awkward small talk and went on my way, too shocked to do anything else!"

Edith remembered the first time she had seen a ghost. She had screamed so loud, that eventually she decided that she had scared the ghost more than herself. In fact, Edith had really enjoyed her beginning at Hogwarts... actually, she had enjoyed her whole time and still did, and she said as much to Natasha.
"I love Hogwarts, the lessons, the students, everything really! What's your favorite thing to do in your spare time?" she asked, and, not waiting for an answer, replied "I adore going to Hogsmeade..." she lowered her voice, "though I'm not supposed to!"

"Yep, I was the same on my first few days," Edith recalled. "What about your lessons? Which are your favorite so far?" she asked, holding her counter above the column she was about to drop it in, checking that it was and OK decision.
"Yes, I think I'll do... this!" she dropped her counter on an empty column and smiled. "Your turn then!

Game:

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OOC NOTES:

Word Count: 221 WORDS

Mention/s: @Natasha Jones

Natasha grinned, relieved that she wasn't the only one who was slightly overwhelmed, as Edith said "Yep, I was the same on my first few days,"
"What about your lessons? Which are your favorite so far?" asked Edith
Natasha thought for a minute before answering, " Well, before coming, I was really excited for DADA, but while I find that quite interesting, I've realized that I find potions the best! I loved baking and cooking at home, and potions seemed to remind me of it. Plus, I love the way the Professor takes the lessons, he's kind of scary, but really cool!"
Seeing that Edith looked slightly tensed, or weary, she tried to think of a way to get her to relax.
She glanced at the board, an idea forming in her mind, "Looks like you're a tough player Edith! No one's ever played that move with me that I can remember" she said, in a mock-mysterious voice, still smiling, so Edith knew she wasn't serious.
She then looked at the board and still in that same ridiculous voice said, "Interesting...very interesting, I shall have to rethink my strategy.. Perhaps I can.." She stopped for a minute to stifle a chuckle, and was glad to see that Edith was smiling, and seemed to be relaxing. "Yes, I shall play here" said Natasha, and plopped her counter into the board.
Then, continuing the conversation, she asked Edith, "What about you? What are your favorite subjects?"

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Edith stared at the game, her eyes unfocused. She remembered playing chess for the first time with a girl at her school. It ended up with the board blown up and the girl almost shocked to death. Edith sighed.

Does Natasha even want to be my friend? she pondered, absent-mindedly fiddling with a yellow piece. Or does she, like almost everyone else, think me... odd? No one knew the answer apart from Natasha herself. Edith imagined asking her
"Hi Natasha! Do you want to be my friend?" and Natasha looking at her and saying "No, why would you think that?" then the scene dissolved. Edith sighed again.

She got brought to the present with Natasha smiling and saying, "What about you? What are your favorite subjects?" and Edith tried to smile too. In truth, she liked most of them, but she despised Potions unlike Natasha.
"Uh, well... I like History of Magic," she began. It was indeed a very good subject, especially learning about Hogwarts and how the school was founded.
"Erm, well, I guess astronomy's pretty fun?" she tried to sound confident, but instead managed a squeak. Sighing for the final time, she dropped her piece on the board. Then she realised that it was the piece she had been holding, which had been yellow. Struggling, Edith used her finger to pry it out, and before Natasha understood why, she slotted a red one in it's place.

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Word Count: 238 WORDS

Mention(s): @Natasha Jones

Natasha could feel that Edith was acting slightly off, and wondered whether something was wrong, or whether Edith simply didn't want to hang out with her. She decided that Edith was probably just nervous, rather like she was, and decided to make sure to be extra friendly with her until she relaxed.
"History of Magic is really very interesting" agreed Natasha. She loved reading, and reading about the history of the magical world was amazing! "I don't like astronomy as much, but the subject's still really nice", she added.
Then, adopting her ridiculous, teasing voice yet again, she said, " I see that you are so scared, you are simply placing my pieces to help me win... Are you worried that you shall lose tragically Edith?... Hmmm" referring to when Edith had accidentally put a yellow counter on the board instead of a red one.
" Or perhaps.. SABOTAGE!..." she said dramatically, but grinning all the same, "You are trying to place my pieces in place where you can win!"
Natasha was smiling all the while, to ensure that Edith realized she was simply joking, and didn't actually mean what she said.
Then, she turned her attention to the board and thought about where she should place her counter. Deciding on a spot, she plopped it into the board, and gestured for Edith to play.

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Edith took a look at the atmosphere of the room; it was gradually getting busier, as people came in for breakfast, of just for a drink. Edith heard a person shouting nearby "What do you mean?" but, not wanting to interfere, Edith closed her ears to the shouting.

"History of Magic is really very interesting" agreed Natasha, and they continued chatting away, sometimes glancing at the game. It was a good position, and although Edith had been playing all her childhood (not necessarily Connect 4, but other strategic board games like Chess), but Natasha seemed really good at it.

Edith frowned at the board. She had been wanting to place where Natasha had just placed.
Hmm. Where should I place now? she thought, examining a red piece. It was pretty simple but Edith thought it would have been hard to make.
How was this even carved? she wondered, Wood? she thought, as Natasha continued talking. No, probably plastic.

Then she picked up a yellow/gold piece and noticed that i was very different, in texture and in looks, to a red. Edith preferred the red; smoother and more... delicate. She scratched her neck, and dropped the red piece in without hesitation.

Mention: @Natasha Jones
Word count: 202 words

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Natasha heard someone in the background yell "What do you mean?", but seeing as she was a first year and they were probably fully trained wizards, she wisely chose to stay out of it.
She glanced at the board, before turning to Edith and saying, "You're really good at this! If you were one of my friends from primary school, I would have beaten you twice by now!", "Do you play a lot of board games?"
Then, glancing once again at the board, she said, "You really are a tough competitor, there are several ways this game could go, but I'm definitely rooting for a win for me! "
As she mentioned her childhood friends, a memory stirred. A memory of her and Gary, sitting on a tree, carefully balancing a Connect 4 board between them, drinking sodas. Her face softened, and she wished once again she could tell Gary about Hogwarts and her new life as a witch.
Realizing that Edith looked a little worried at her sudden change in expression, she said, "I'm missing my childhood friends. This is nice, you know, playing board games together with a friend, reminds me of home."
Then, snapping out of her sudden sappy mood, she plucked up a piece and put it in the board, grinning. "Your turn."