What flourishes at dawn PV Astrid

Astrid had gotten little to no sleep last night. She lay awake, hanging upside down out of her bed, long red hair spilling onto the floor, staring at the ceiling above her four poster bed. She loved Hogwarts, it felt like a home away from home, her dormmates were nice, her classmates were nice, everyone was nice, so far at least. But school was hard, homework, drama she didn't want, and it was very loud, and noisy, Astrid may be a bolder girl, but she preferred the quiet, alone, where she could sing.

She sighed, lifting a hand from her stomach an running it down her face. She really wanted to stay in bed, but she knew she couldn't. With a groan she toppled onto the floor in an undignified heap of black sweatpants, red hair, and a cameo hoodie. Picking herself up, she grumbled about having to summersault onto her feet next time instead. She walked into the bathroom and glared at the mirror, she had slight bags under her different colored eyes and her hair was a mess. She grumbled and headed out and rummaged through her trunk, grabbing her school robes and throwing them on carelessly, she didn't give a piece of crap how they looked, no one else should either. She threw her hair into a half up style and headed down to the Great Hall to get something into her empty stomach, even though she wasn't that hungry.

Her different colored eyes scanned the hall as she hummed to herself quietly. She spotted a seat beside a tired and serious looking boy, she shrugged to herself and went to sit beside him. Eh, nothing bad could happen sitting next to the boy, he looked decent enough, more put together than she did right now, but also tired, maybe he had nightmares too.

She continued to hum quietly to herself as she helped herself to eggs and toast, thinking back to a conversation she had a while ago with another girl, the girl had said Astrid had an amazing singing voice, she sighed to herself quietly, maybe she should sing more often. She shook the thought from her head as her eyes scanned the hall. The girl had also said her eyes were pretty, one gold and one electric blue, the girls were pretty nice here, Astrid thought to herself, biting into her toast as she stopped humming, then decided to maybe talk to the boy beside her. She cleared her throat, hoping the slight bags under her eyes weren't to noticeable.
"Hi," Astrid said, a bit nervously, "What's your name?

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| Location: Great Hall, early morning | Date: 12/11/25 | Word count: 316 |
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Still somewhat lost in thoughts of Quidditch and dulled by his restless night, Frederick took a fraction of a second longer than usual to realize that someone had sat down beside him. When he glanced around more carefully, he noticed the Great Hall was beginning to fill up, though it was still far too early to be considered busy. The usual morning bustle hadn’t quite arrived yet, leaving the space wrapped in a calmer, quieter atmosphere that Fred didn’t mind at all.

When he heard the soft “Hi,” Fred blinked a couple of times, clearly pulled back into the present. He turned his head toward Astrid with a polite, slightly sleepy smile, one that was tired, yes, but genuine all the same. “Hi. My name is Frederick. But you can call me Fred,” he said easily. “What’s your name?”

He paused there, taking a moment to resume his breakfast, pushing a bit of toast around his plate as he listened for her answer. Up close, Fred took her in a little more carefully. The first thing that caught his attention was her eyes, one gold, the other blue. He didn’t stare, and he didn’t comment on it either, simply filing the detail away as something striking and memorable. Rather than pointing it out, he picked up the conversation again, his tone light and unassuming. “Do you usually wake up this early?” he asked, glancing briefly around the hall before looking back at her.

Fred remained turned in Astrid’s direction as they spoke, his posture relaxed, one arm resting casually on the table. His body language made it clear he was open to continuing the conversation, in no particular rush to be anywhere else. With classes still some time away, he seemed content to linger over breakfast, quietly appreciating the Great Hall in its more peaceful state, a rare moment of calm before the day properly began.

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| Interacting with: @Astrid Thorneblade |

Astrid fidgeted with her robes when the boy, Fred, spoke to her. Ah, tough it up and suck it up, Ash! The voice inside her head seemed to say, she glared at the air for a moment, contemplating before she finally realized the boy had spoken to her, asked her a question. She shook herself out of her thoughts and turned her eyes to Fred again, smiling a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, my name's Astrid, but you can call me Ash if ya want," she said, shaking a loose strand of red hair from her face and looking him up and down, he seemed nice, maybe a good friend, she got lost in thought again, gazing at a point slightly above his head for a moment, before realizing he had asked her another question, her eyes snapped back to him.

"Shit, sorry, I ain't paying attention, erm, no I try not to wake up this early, kinda hard not to," she said, grumbling the last part, then mentally shaking herself again, hopefully he didn't think she was unfriendly. Uuuggghh. Why was it so hard to make a friend? She swore under her breath, also mixed with hopes that he didn't think she was crazy, or mean, just the fact she hadn't got enough sleep, stupid nightmares and school. She quickly snapped her eyes back on him again, shooting him a small, apologetic smile. She cleared her throat, "What about you, Fred? D'you wake up this early or is it a one time thing?"

Outfit:

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