Helping Hands PV Gabriella Finished

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Gia smiled when Gabriella told her that it wasn't selfish, what she had done. "Alright," the first year said, even though she still felt like it was. The other girl had agreed to work together on the essay, but instead of them helping each other out equally, she'd done all the helping while Gia sat there complimenting her. It was definitely selfish, the Gryffindor thought, and she decided that from then on she was going to try and help out the other girl as much as she could as well.

As she was writing, Gia looked over at Gabby to see how her essay was going. It seemed as if she was having a bit of trouble now, and the eleven year old wondered why. Maybe she could help out a little bit. . . Taking another look at the Ravenclaw's piece of parchment, Gia bit her lip in thought and then finally pointed out one spot in particular. "You could expand on that part, for your next paragraph," she suggested helpfully. "That was one of the parts I was interested in while reading the textbook, I'm sure other people will want to learn more about it as well, don't you?" the girl added.

Turning back to her own essay which was sitting on the table in front of her, the Gryffindor tapped her quill lightly against her bottom lip, trying to recall what her train of thought had been. Something about. . . Gia reread the last sentence she'd written before attempting to help Gabriella out a few times, hoping that something would click. Oh! she remembered, dipped her quill into her own bottle of ink, and started to write once more.

When she had finished her first paragraph, about as much as the Ravenclaw had had when Gia first saw hers, the eleven year old set her quill down. When she showed it to Gabriella, the other student smiled brightly, which Gia took as a good sign. "So. . . ?" she prompted, anxiously awaiting feedback. Before getting Gabby's attention, she'd read the whole thing over multiple times and tried to fix and couple of parts that she'd thought were a bit rocky. Overall, she had managed to do a decent job, the girl thought to herself, but there was that one part that was just so hard to fix.

Almost immediately after thinking that, the Ravenclaw girl pointed out the exact spot she had been thinking of, making Gia laugh. "Yes, that was the one part I was having a bit of a struggle with." the brunette admitted. "It's funny, I was thinking about that exact place when I handed the parchment to you!" she then said, explaining the reason for her laugh a few moments earlier. Picking her quill up once more, Gia thought for a minute about how to fix it, then crossed out a couple of the words and wrote new ones above the crossed out sections. "How's that?" she asked, presenting the parchment to Gabby once more.

Then, remembering what she'd decided a while ago, the eleven year old gestured to the essay in front of Gabriella. "Can I read yours?" she asked.

523 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

Gabriella was glad that Gia had been able to help her with something too - she knew Gia had asked for the help, so there was really no need for her to be feeling this way - but even so, Gabriella couldn't help feeling that the conversation had been getting a bit one-sided. "Thanks," she said, "you're right. I could write a bit more on that topic."

Gabriella dipped her quill in her ink as Gia, too, continued with her work. The bit Gia wanted her to expand on was in the middle of a paragraph, so she'd have to write an asterisk next to it and come back at the end, but that didn't matter. As long as it was neat.

Through her time at primary school, and then at Hogwarts too, Gabriella had noticed something that was likely to get her good grades. Neatness. If she wrote in small, even handwriting, she would be much more likely to get an O or an E than if she were to write the same essay in a messy scrawl. This was incredibly unfair, she thought, as handwriting shouldn't affect a person's academic performance at all, but at least she had nice handwriting herself, so didn't have to worry too much. She remembered Anastasia, a girl from her primary school, who had been able to do amazing calligraphy on her work and had always got higher scores than her.

Suddenly, Gia spoke from next to her. How's that? she asked. Gabriella leant over and read the essay over Gia's shoulders. The sentence that Gabriella had pointed out before was fixed, and Gia had written a substantial amount more. There were still a few grammar mistakes, but Gabriella didn't want to seem nitpicking and her own grammar was far from perfect, so she didn't mention it.
It's really good," said Gabriella. "See what I told you... it becomes a lot easier when you work together!"
Can I read yours? the Gryffindor asked in response.
"Sure," Gabriella replied, sliding her essay over to where Gia sat. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unsure why she suddenly felt so self-conscious about her essay.

Word count: 359

@Gia Adelard

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

The other girl seemed to welcome the help that Gia gave, something that the Gryffindor was grateful for. Some people, she knew, didn't like to receive criticism on their work - especially if they'd worked hard on it for a while trying to get it just right. Luckily, it didn't seem like Gabby was that type of person, and she hurriedly thanked Gia before turning back to the unfinished essay in front of her. Glad she'd been able to help, Gia smiled to herself. Their partnership was not going to be made up of only one person helping the other anymore, for she was going to try hard to help the Ravenclaw out as much as she was helping her.

About ten or so minutes later, Gia showed her essay to Gabby, not knowing what to expect. She had tried her best to write something that made sense and was - hopefully - alright, but since it was her own writing, the first year couldn't really judge it fairly. This was where having a partner really came in handy. When looking at your own work, you were biased. It didn't matter what type of bias you had, just that, well, you were. Your partner on the other hand, had their own honest opinion. If they knew that you were alright with receiving constructive feedback, then their opinion could become quite valuable as well. The eleven year old was almost positive Gabriella knew she wanted an honest reply, and was glad when the other girl gave her something to work on.

When she showed the essay to the Ravenclaw once more, the Gryffindor crossed her fingers underneath the table, hoping that she had fixed what needed to be fixed. It seemed she had, because although Gabby's gaze lingered on a few parts - probably a grammar mistake of some sort - she approved afterward. "It really does," Gia agreed readily. "And you were right, once you start writing something, the rest is so much easier!" She smiled, happy that the essay was starting to come along nicely.

In response to Gia's next question, Gabriella slid her piece of parchment over until it was sitting on the table in front of the first year. Gia nodded, and continued reading from where she'd left off the first time she read the essay. There was a lot more that Gabby had added on, but she didn't mind. That was the good thing about reading a good essay - or a good anything, really. You weren't bored to death, and instead could actually focus on and understand what the author was trying to tell you. This was the case for the Ravenclaw's essay, and Gia sped through it a lot faster than she'd read the other paragraph earlier. "Wow," the girl said, looking up. "It's great!"

Then she paused, and let her eyes scan the parchment once more. "There was one part. . ." she started, and then her gaze caught on the sentence she was looking for. "Here! You repeat this idea twice here, and then you do it a third time later on. Not in the exact same words, of course, but it's close enough that it sounds really repetitive." Glancing up again, she bit her lip. "Um, sorry if you didn't want feedback like that. . ." Gia hesitated as she waited for an answer.

553 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

Gabriella had experienced many awkward encounters during her time at Hogwarts, and she was immensely glad this wasn't one. She had noticed that when given something to do, you could get to know a person much more easily than if you just had a conversation with them. Gabriella didn't know anything about Gia's first instance of magic, family history, favourite subject, or any of the usual things people talk about at Hogwarts when meeting another student for the first time, but they had still managed to become friends and avoid awkwardness, too. Secretly, Gabriella was proud of that, but she dared not mention it - if you bring up the subject of awkwardness, the conversation, regardless of whether it was awkward before, instantly becomes awkward after that. That was another thing Gabriella had noticed. She was at wizard school to learn wizardry, of course, but Gabriella felt that she had learnt a lot more about socialising than she had about any of the magic stuff they learnt in class.

Gabriella listened to the advice she was being given and blushed slightly. "Yeah, I know," she sighed. It was true - Gia had found one of Gabriella's particular weaknesses. She often ended up repeating herself with different wording, hoping that it could pass as 'just highlighting the point' when in reality it was just her trying to fill up the space. "That's a problem I have. Irritating. But I don't know what else to put instead..." She sat quietly for a few seconds, scanning the textbook for something else she could add. "Ooh! I could write something about this!" She pointed to a section of the page which it seemed she had skipped before. "Wait a moment..."

Quickly, she crossed out one of the instances of repetition, and scribbled something down from what she had read on the page. "How's this?" she asked, showing her homework to Gia once more. "Do you think I need to add anything else? Or should I write my conclusion now?"

It occurred to her suddenly that the conversation might now be one-sided on the opposite side - she hadn't given Gia any advice in a while, but she didn't know what else to say. Despite all Gia's insistences that she was 'really smart' she really wasn't sure about that herself, and she definitely wasn't turning out to be a good teacher. "Uh - is there anything else you need help with?" Gabriella asked, uncertainly. "Do you want me to read some of it again, or..." Her sentence trailed off, and Gabriella really hoped Gia would say something that didn't turn the conversation awkward. Gia didn't seem like the sort of person who would make a conversation awkward, however - from this encounter, however brief it had been so far, Gabriella could tell that her friend was bubbly and extroverted, and not the type of person to notice, or care about, awkwardness.

@Gia Adelard

Word count: 486

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Gia was very pleased with the way her morning was going so far. Even though there was still a couple of hours until lunch, she'd gotten a good amount of her History of Magic essay done and met another student that she really enjoyed talking to. Gabriella was wonderful, and although they'd only just met Gia felt like she could count the girl as one of her friends already. The Gryffindor didn't say any of these thoughts out loud, of course, since she knew it might make Gabby uncomfortable if she didn't feel the same way. Instead, she waited for the other student to respond to her feedback - whether she would do that positively or negatively, Gia wasn't absolutely sure.

Seeing Gabriella blush slightly, the first year wondered if she had already known about this small error beforehand. When the Ravenclaw responded, Gia raised a brow. Somehow, she had guessed correctly! "It's not that big of an error," the eleven year old said reassuringly once she thought Gabby was finished speaking. "And here, I can - " She was cut off by the other first year, who had started speaking once more. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying?" Gia apologized. When Gabriella finished - actually finished, this time - the Gryffindor nodded enthusiastically. "Perfect!" she said with a smile.

When the Ravenclaw presented to her the revised section of the essay, Gia quickly read it over once and then nodded. "That's much better," she told Gabby. "And. . ." she paused, trying to think back and remember if there had been anything else. A moment later, she shook her head. "Nope, that was all! I think you should be good with writing your conclusion." she said. "I should probably continue mine as well, right?" She could see on Gabriella's face a realization of some sort, and so before turning back to her writing she waited to hear what the girl would say next.

"I think I'm good. . . for now." the eleven year old said. "I may need some more help later, though, if that's alright. Thanks for helping me with the last paragraph, by the way," she said gratefully, smiling brightly at the Ravenclaw girl. "How about we continue writing for a bit, and then once we both finish another paragraph or so we come back and take a look at the other's work?" That was what they had done for the last part and it had seemed to have worked quite well, so Gia decided there was no harm in asking if they do it again.

After receiving an answer, the Gryffindor nodded and picked up her quill once more. Just a few more paragraphs left, she thought silently to herself as she dipped the tip of the quill into her ink bottle. To be honest, Gia would be sad once the two of them finished their homework - something she never thought she'd say about History of Magic work, of all things! Although she supposed they could work on other essays. . . or they could just talk, if they wanted. Yes, talking is better than writing essays, the girl thought to herself with a smile. Definitely better. Then, she continued writing where she had left off.

530 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

"Ok, writing another paragraph sounds good," agreed Gabriella. It seemed that Gia would actually end up writing a little bit more than she did herself, but that didn't really matter. Quality not quantity, as her mother would say. Gia dipped her quill in her ink and continued to write, so Gabriella took that as a sign that she should do the same. Only the conclusion left...

Gabriella often found that the conclusion was the hardest part. She knew all the facts, and knew how to present those facts in essay form, but when it came to drawing her own conclusion, stating her own ideas, her mind always seemed to go blank. Nevertheless, she gave it a go. In conclusion... she wrote. At least all she needed was a few more sentences, not a whole new paragraph.

Gabriella finished writing, but didn't turn quite yet to talk to Gia. After all, Gia had been planning to write an entire paragraph in the time it took Gabriella to scribble out a conclusion. Clearly, Gabriella was going to be finished first. She tried not to glance over at Gia's essay, as the Gryffindor might notice her looking and try to talk to her. While she didn't mind talking to Gia - on the contrary, she loved talking to her - she didn't want to interrupt Gia when she was working. Instead, she read her essay over a few times, scribbling out sections that needed changing and making the alterations she needed to make.

It occurred to Gabriella that her essay really wasn't looking very neat any more. Yes, there were asterisks and symbols added in when she needed to add extra information at the end, but if she just needed to change something her only option was to scribble it out and write what she had meant to say over the top of it. Hopefully the teacher isn't one to grade essays on how they look, Gabriella thought to herself nervously. Oh well - I suppose I'll just have to turn it in and see what he says. I could write it out again, in neat... no, Gabby, that's a dreadful idea. Why would you give yourself extra homework?

Unable to restrain herself from looking at Gia - because, if she was trying not to do something, it instantly became ten times more likely that she would do that very thing she was trying to avoid - Gabriella glanced in her direction and smiled weakly. "Are you finished?" she asked, trying not to sound too rude.

Word count: 423

@Gia Adelard

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Gia smiled. "Great!" she said brightly, nodding once. Then, picking up her quill, the girl began to write once more. She was about three or four sentences in when she realized that the Ravenclaw had one less paragraph to write than Gia herself, since the other girl had already started when she approached her. Glancing over to see if Gabby had finished, Gia saw that the other first year was still holding her quill, but it's tip wasn't actually touching the parchment at the moment. Gia didn't ask if she was finished yet, however, because she knew that the other girl might just be thinking and didn't want to interrupt if that was the case.

A few minutes later, the young Gryffindor was reading through the paragraph that she had just finished, tapping the top of her quill against her lip. It was a habit she'd picked up, one that the girl mainly used when she was thinking about her homework for a class. It's alright, she thought, but there's something missing. . . She was silent for another couple of minutes but let out a small "Oh!" when she figured out what she needed to add.

Gia startled when Gabriella asked if she was finished, and a large blot of ink appeared on the parchment that she had been writing her essay on. "Oops," the eleven year old said with a small laugh. She had never really been one to care about making things perfect, and almost all her essays and other pieces of parchment where she wrote notes on had blobs just like that on them. Turning so that she could see Gabby, the girl nodded and then shook her head. Realizing how confusing that answer was, Gia hurried to say something out loud to explain it. "Well, I've finished with this paragraph," she said as she motioned towards the one she was speaking about, "But I still need to work on my conclusion."

Gabby's probably done already, the first year thought to herself. She wouldn't ask otherwise. Gia tilted her head slightly so she could take a look at the other student's work. "You finished the whole thing?" she asked. From the brief scanning of the parchment she'd done, the Gryffindor was pretty sure that that was the case, but she asked her question anyway. A second later she added, "Do you want to read each other's new paragraph now, or should I completely finish mine before we do so?" Gia honestly didn't care which option the Ravenclaw chose, and while the other girl was deciding, she looked her essay over once more.

434 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers
Sorry that my replies are a bit slow - I'll try to speed them up a bit, sorry once more!

"Oops..." Gia jumped as Gabriella spoke and a large blob of ink fell onto the page. Luckily it was parchment, and not Muggle paper, or the ink blob would have expanded on the paper. And while watching ink expand like this was fun, it did often ruin the paper, and Gabriella found she needed to start again. Gia's blob of ink just landed on the page, however - it didn't spread - and Gabriella was glad to see that Gia laughed a bit. This seemed to be a common occurrence - it wasn't entirely Gabriella's fault.

"Sorry," the Ravenclaw muttered, as Gia spoke again. "Alright," Gabriella replied, in response, "that's fine. You can just write your conclusion, then we'll check each other's essays over, and then... we're done..."
Gabriella never imagined that she would ever find herself sad at the thought of finishing an essay, but Gia was turning out to be a great friend and a helpful person to work with. Even though the girls were both working hard, the essay had become ten times more fun than if they had been doing the essay separately in different corners of the room, and they kept their voices low, so the other students didn't seem to mind them working together. "I hope we can keep in touch!" blurted Gabriella, suddenly. Too loud? she thought to herself suddenly, as other students in the room turned their heads. The girl flinched at her own carelessness, but couldn't stop herself. She lowered her voice. "What I mean to say is, we should be sure to speak again, seeing as you're in Gryffindor and I'm in Ravenclaw," she muttered fervently, "because I think we could be friends, good friends, you know, the kind that knows secrets about each other that nobody else knows, the kind that-"

She stopped abruptly. She had said too much, and had turned it weird, she was sure of it. They had only just met, and, whatever fantasies about the future seemed to live in Gabriella's mind, in reality she had just asked to know a stranger's secrets. Gia seemed great - it was likely that she would already have good friends, unlike Gabriella, who had only managed to scrape acquaintances so far. Nope - by asking, Gabriella had definitely ruined any chances she may or may not have had of becoming Gia's friend.

Gabriella winced, awaiting Gia's response.

Word count: 399

@Gia Adelard
(and don't worry about it, it's fine)

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

The first year shrugged in response to Gabriella's apology. "Oh, don't worry about it." she told the other girl. Then, with a sheepish smile on her face, Gia added, "It happens often, so I'm used to it. Too used to it, in fact." She laughed. It was true, although she honestly wished it wasn't. The Gryffindor couldn't be called clumsy, really, since it was only ink bottles that she tended to knock over so often, and nothing else. In fact, it was a little weird how it was just that one thing she ended up knocking over so much. . . but oh well. It happened.

The Ravenclaw said that it was okay if she finished her essay first, before the two of them looked each other's over, and Gia nodded. "I'll get to work on that, then." she said, turning so she was facing the almost-finished essay in front of her once more. Before she could touch the tip of the quill to the piece of parchment, however, Gabriella began speaking again - and in a much louder voice than before, if Gia was being honest. Looking back over at the other student, the eleven year old noticed out of the corner of her eye that others in the Study Room were looking at the two of them curiously, as if wondering what was going on. She ignored them, however.

"Me too!" Gia agreed quickly, sensing that Gabby had a bit more to say. It was a good thing she'd replied so quickly, because the Ravenclaw hurried on - in a much lower voice than before, luckily. Throughout her little. . . speech, of some sort, Gia's smile grew big and bright. By the time Gabriella cut herself off and looked away, seeming embarrassed, the first year was beaming at her. "I. . ." she said to the other girl, unsure of how exactly to phrase what she wanted to say. "I feel the exact same way!" That was good enough, but she decided to say more.

"I would love to keep in touch, Gabby! And I agree - I think we could totally become great friends. Although," she hesitated before continuing, even though she was positive that the other girl felt the same way, "I kind of think we're. . . already friends?" She bit her lip, wondering if it sounded weird, the way she'd said it. Hopefully not, since it was exactly what she'd been thinking for a while now. . .

It was hard to turn from such an important conversation back to their History of Magic essays, but once that conversation seemed like it was coming to an end, Gia looked back at her essay. "I'll try to get this done quickly, and then we can finish with all of this homework." she grinned. It was the last thing she needed to get done for her classes, and she was almost certain that it would get her a good grade. No, not almost certain. . . just certain. And honestly, that was an amazing feeling.

495 words
Stamina 8 ⋆ Evasion 6 ⋆ Strength 3 ⋆ Wisdom 7 ⋆ Arcane Power 5 ⋆ Accuracy 6
Evasive Maneuvers

Gabriella was glad that she wasn't the only one who had the tendency to spill ink everywhere. She remembered one particular occasion... drenched in ink... Tory Williamson... She shook that thought out of her mind. It wouldn't do to think of Tory now - she didn't want to turn spiteful again.

As Gabriella finished her rant, she realised that Gia was grinning broadly. She agreed! Gabriella's heart made a leap of joy, and a broad, almost maniacal grin instantly spread across her own face, too, and she felt as though her jaws were about to split her face apart. "I think we could totally become great friends," Gia said. "Although I think we're... already friends?"
"Yes! We are!" cried Gabriella, struggling again to keep her voice down. "I'm so glad you feel the same! I was really scared you would disagree, so scared you would think me weird - but you're not! And that's - great!" Gabriella struggled for the last word to say. She wanted to say something big and extravagant, but nothing came except great. Although, she reasoned with herself, that was probably a good thing - she didn't want to end up in another 'extrapolated' moment.

Gabriella wanted to fling her arms around her friend and hug her tightly, but more students were filling up the study room, and she didn't want to make a scene, especially as she thought the other students might get the wrong impression if they randomly started hugging. Besides, Gia still had homework to do. "Yeah... you better get started on your conclusion," said Gabriella. "But after that, why don't we go somewhere else and talk?" She checked her watch. It was five o'clock; January... "It'll be dark, we can't go to the lake," she said, "but I'm sure there's somewhere. Anyway, we can talk after you've done your conclusion."

Gabriella's head was bursting with joy. She was almost certain Gia wasn't as excited - Gia seemed like one of those people who actually had a life - but she still couldn't stop herself from imagining their future excursions. She imagined third year, when they were allowed to go into the village, both of them returning home with piles of sweets and bursting with laughter, memories of inside jokes that had stood the test of - two years, by then. She imagined the holidays, and Gabriella would invite Gia to her house to stay, and they would stay up all night and watch the sunrise. She imagined smuggling Gia into the Ravenclaw common room so they could talk freely without having to worry about the weather or the cold. No, Gabby. You're taking this way too far. All she said was that she wanted to be friends... But it was hard, having had no real friends to speak of before. Sure, she had had her Hogwarts acquaintances, those friendships that began promisingly, and thrived, too, until they stopped responding to her owls, and the friendship petered out...

Still, she was sure her friendship with Gia wouldn't be like that. After all, Gia seemed really genuine, someone on the same level of seriousness as her for once - serious in a loyal way, not in a businessman-like way. She just hoped she hadn't got the wrong impression of her new friend...

@Gia Adelard

Word count: 548