New Page PV Anna finished

The sky looked so beautiful. Limpid, bright, blue. One or two birds sang near a tree, and their melody was appreciated by a girl who had just left the castle. Anna stopped walking to hear their music a while longer, cherishing the harmony and dissonance they created; the joy they shared with the people and the world, this place looked much more beautiful. But they soon left, abandoning the hufflepuff and her poutful expression, which she soon shook off in order of continuing her previous activity. One might question which one is it, and their answer would be that she was doing nothing. Although she'd often go there to draw or read, today she had chosen to do nothing more than pay attention at her surroundings, maybe just stay there for a while. Maybe she would've happened to see a new plant that bloomed while she wasn't looking, maybe something new would happen, or maybe she would just admire one or another bug that crawled through trees and the soil, and stalk it for a concerningly long amount of time, as she has done before. Or maybe... She would just stay there for half an hour, get bored, and leave.
She circled the Great Lake, looking at the ground and the trees that surrounded her more carefully. She hadn't brought Aoibheann today, as her loyal stuffed penguin companion would hardly be of use to stalk insects or admire blooming flowers; as much as it's painful to admit, Aoibheann would only be a bother.
However, she didn't find any new blooming flowers other than some grass that now covered an extra piece of earth they didn't before. She stretched her back, and looked to her sides to notice something she hadn't seen before. Rather, someone. A girl, sitting by a tree not too far away from where Anna was. That girl was reading a book, and appeared focused on what she was doing, but that cover reminded the hufflepuff of a book she had been reading as of recently, so she quietly walked to her, and as she got closer... Indeed! Anna had read that book, just a few months ago. It spoke about hippogriffs, those majestic and savage creatures. Although she hadn't seen one with her own eyes, she certainly was curious about them.
That's when she got to the pretty girl who was reading the book, the pale girl with rosy cheeks and her hair gently decorating her face. Anna sat down next to her without question, although she may have gotten a little too close to her peer, as the hufflepuff girl never realized other people appreciated their own personal space.
"I know that book!" she squeaked, next to the reader. "I've read it a while ago. Is it your first time reading it?"

Sitting on her knees next to the pale girl, Anna listened as the girl said her mother used to read that book to her when she was a child. Anna's mother didn't often read to her, but that was because Anna preferred to read to herself on her own pace, with her own voice and intonation. But her brother enjoyed when people read him books, so in her childhood, when either of them lacked the energy to run but still desired each other's company, she would read him adventure books. Though nothing beated reading alone, she came to have a taste for reading to other people.
Anna nodded when the brunette questioned if she liked that type of book, though she took a few seconds to answer, as she always did. She couldn't answer people immediately, as she took long to fully comprehend what they said and form a coherent response, so for a few seconds, she just looked at the book in the hands of her new acquaintance without really reading it, and yet feeling some peaceful type of joy that she was bonding with someone so pleasantly over books, something that was such an integral part of her childhood; before Hogwarts, she'd spend so many hours of her day reading in the gigantic library of her house, sometimes telling her family or house elves about the plot of the story, sometimes talking to herself about it, though her father was the most frequent victim of her chronic chattiness. Though she now spends more time at school than at home (which she still misses every day), books are still a part of her daily life, as she is a common visitor in the school's library, and she has to read a lot of books for classes. She wonders if maybe her father bought a new addition to their library back at home? He recently bought a poetry book, so maybe he decided to find some more to read. If that was the case, maybe they could read together at home! What an exciting thought, it made her want winter's break to come even sooner...
Then, Anna began speaking again.
"I like re-reading too. But I didn't read that book again... But if you read so many times, you must know everything about it!"
Anna looked up at the girl with a delighted smile.
"And yes, I like books like these. I like most fiction books. And some informative books too, especially if it's about plants."
Her eyes lit up a bit when she said this last part. "Love" is an understatement. If given the chance, she would talk the ears out of whoever inquired about the treatment of one plant or another, although it was typically because she would go on a tangent about her own experience with that plant. Because of this, it's highly inadvisable to ask her to talk about plants if you're too polite to later tell her to stop talking.
"There are a lot of herbology books here in school, but sometimes I think the fiction is kind of lacking... or maybe I'm just judging the books by their covers..."

Anna paid close attention as the girl besides her spoke. She seemed hesitant to say the reason she had re-readed that book, but quickly changed subjects... "She must've just liked hippogriffs or something", Anna thought, carefree and blissfully unaware of the reality her new acquaintance had. She nodded vigorously when the girl asked if she liked plants, and just as she barely opened her mouth to go on a rant about what had read about dittanies yesterday, the girl offered two things and requested one. She offered her name (figuratively; not in the way you'd offer your name to an evil fae who wished to steal it), "Calista". That name should have been that of a shining star... No, not quite. It brought too much liveness in it to belong to something that wasn't sentient and alive. A beautiful, comely star that decorated the night sky didn't deserve that name; only the gryffindor with rosy cheeks and brown hair that sitted under the same tree as Anna, reading a book about hippogriffs and not yet revealing the reality about what it reminded her, deserved to be called "Calista". She was alive, and seemed so kind. Her beauty and amiability alone shone more than Antares and the Alpha Centauri twins; there was no need for that name to be shared with any other celestial body.
Before her name, however, Calista had offered a list of the interesting books she had seen in the Hogwarts library. Well, wasn't that perfect? Maybe Anna would even get to read some new and interesting ones! Maybe the ones she ignored due to a bad cover, back or description would turn out to be some of the best books she's read.
However, before she could properly answer any of those things, she first decided to comply with the one thing Calista had asked for: her name. The black-haired girl took a few seconds to answer, deciding the order in which she would act. Then, she slowly stood up, suddenly taking a much more neutral and maybe even solemn expression. She followed this with crossing her left foot far behind her right one, bowing her head and leaning forwards, holding out her carefully picked white and pink frilly dress with laces and false roses, and to finalize her curtsey, she bent her knees a bit deeper than you have to do in your average curtsey. It also made it difficult for Anna to continue standing on her position, but not only she had enough balance to stay there without shaking, she introduced herself in that position, with soft delicacy and firm politeness.
"My name is Anna Jasmine Blackberry. I'm the eldest daughter of the Auror Bethany Amelie Blackberry and Jacob Theodore Blackberry, who works in the Ministry of Magic, in Quill Control and Rune Translation."
She had been curtsying to introduce herself for quite a long time, ever since she was a child and was taught by her grandmother to introduce herself that way. She had grown so accustomed to this that, with very few exceptions, it was the only way she'd introduce herself, even in casual settings, and even if it meant she'd leave someone who expected a handshake to be left hanging while she curtsied and took her sweet time to say her parents's name as well. This was only her spontaneous and natural way of presenting herself.
After she finished this speech, she undid her curtsey and sitted on her knees again, not looking as expressive now, but that was quickly recovered when she smiled with calm poise and continued talking.
"And yes! I'd really like to read some other books, so you could give me some of your recommendations of books you liked!"

The girl with rosy cheeks nodded after Anna finished talking, and offered to give her recommendations another time. It made sense she didn't carry those papers around; the vast majority of people did not expect to be approached at random and requested for book recommendations.
"That'd be great! Maybe I can tell you about some books I've enjoyed, too!"
This girl was pleasing to be around. She was quiet, but appeared to be a good listener. Anna hadn't broken eye contact so far, nor did she appear like she'd do it anytime soon. Not looking away from Calista's eyes is how she managed to pay attention at the interaction they were having; though it did unsettle some people, it was only the natural for the hufflepuff girl.
It was a gentle moment. The waves of the water in the Great Lake brushed against its shore and reflected the sun in the clear sky. There wasn't much to hear except for the voices of the two girls that sitted together under that tree, and the ocasional sound of one or another insect crawling by the plants.
"And maybe I could lend you some of the books my parents give me, too. My father sends me books to read from time to time."
As it was natural. As opposed to her brother and mother, who were not particularly fond of reading, Anna and her father Jacob tended to spend hours in the library, flipping pages of books. However, Jacob preferred thicker books with a more advanced vocabulary and deep, philosophical contents of difficult comprehension, which as a result led him to spend even more time on his own, reflecting quietly about complicated metaphysical matters, whereas Anna, perhaps because she was a child, chose books that leaned more towards fantasy, though she had high standards for character consistency and didn't tolerate plot holes, especially the ones with flimsy excuses. If she read something, she'd talk about it incessantly until she covered every aspect and properly conveyed her feelings of interest, joy, sadness, irritation or boredom about it. Typically, she'd talk about it to someone who wouldn't interrupt her... Namely, her father. Since his daughter didn't learn to talk until she was six, he expected her to be quieter or less willing to talk, but it appears that once she learnt how to properly use words, she decided that for each day she didn't talk ever since her conception, in that same timespan she'd speak thrice the quantity of words a normal person would. Or perhaps she just really liked talking to her dad, since he never interrupted her.
"We could even read together! I don't often read with other people... It'd be nice to."
Anna's eye contact was intensely attentive. The sheer idea of reading together with someone, especially with this new acquaintance she already saw as a friend, already elated the black-haired girl, and her dreamy and joyful eyes demonstrated that clearly.

Anna didn't answer Calista immediately again, but now she seemed to be taking a little while to think. Like always, she hadn't quite planned the future ahead of herself, and her offer had been made on impulse. Would her parents mind if she lent a family's book to someone else?
Well... She doubted her mother would. Bethany would hardly ever find fault in her daughter lending anything to a new friend, as hardly any issues come with being friendly and meeting new people, regardless of who they were. Well, that's what Anna naively believed her mother thought; she had yet to figure out everything about the aversion to poor people and outcasts. Her father... Well, he liked the vast majority of intellectuals, and would even abandon his ideals of blood purity if a muggle or muggle-born was shown to be particularly renowned in that regard. Calista clearly enjoyed books and had a good vocabulary, and so far she's been serene, polite and kind, so in which way could Anna's parents possibly put her in a bad light? If the Hufflepuff was giving a book, then according to her parents's rules, she'd need to ask for Calista's last name so her parents would know who they're sending a book to, but just sharing something is hardly a process that'd require going through this type of trouble.
"I don't think they'd mind, no... I think my father would like that I’m spending my time reading and befriending people who like reading, too.”
As long as she didn’t send a gigantic letter to him about how their reading went and everything she thinks of Calista, that was likely true.
“If he gives me a new book, maybe we can read together, or I could lend it to you… While he doesn’t, we could just find a book from the Hogwarts library to do that!”
Anna’s smile turned somewhere between pleased and amused as a thought popped in her head.
“We could be book-buddies!”[color]