Learning Who You Are PV Gabriella Closed

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Gabriella took a little while to think about her answer to the question she'd just been asked and Gia used that time to take another bite of her sandwich. When her friend finally replied, the Gryffindor hurried to finish chewing and swallow so that she could speak without her words sounding unintelligible like they most certainly would if she spoke now. "Yeah, all of them are." Gia agreed with a small laugh. It would be almost a miracle if a pair of siblings didn't think each other annoying at least once, the girl thought to herself. She'd certainly thought it about Vance multiple times, that was for sure, and she knew that he'd probably thought it about her many times too. It was just part of having a sibling, really.

"Okay," Gia replied when Gabby said she might just sign up for some other club instead of contacting the leaders of Les Amis de l'ABC. She could tell that her friend was a little unsure of doing so and didn't want to force her to do it if she didn't want to, so the Gryffindor didn't say too much more on that particular subject. She did, however, suggest one last thing: "Hey, maybe we could both sign up for some club together! That would be fun, right?" she asked. "I don't know what other clubs there are at this exact moment, but I'm sure I could find out. . ." Gia shrugged and wondered what the Ravenclaw thought of this idea.

There was a short pause in their conversation as both first years tried to come up with something else to talk about. Gabby came up with something first, and asked about Gia's other relationships at Hogwarts so far. The eleven year old thought for a moment before answering. "Well. . ." she hesitated, unsure of what to say. She did have a few other friends, but most of the people she'd met were all just acquaintances. There was Simon, of course, and. . . and. . . maybe Paisley? Oh, also Aspen, she supposed. . . Realizing how long she was taking to reply, Gia hurried to say something. "I haven't really made too many close friends," she started. "I mean, most of the people I've met, well, we've just lost touch. I met my friend Simon Kincaid on the train coming here, and I met a girl named Paisley Brown in the common room once, but I haven't seen either of them for a while."

Who else have I met? Gia wondered to herself, trying to think. "Oh!" she had just remembered one person she'd continued meeting up with over the past couple of months. "There's a boy named Henry Knight, he's a second year. Anyway, I actually knew him from back before Hogwarts - he knew about magic the whole time, though. It was just a few weeks ago that I learned he was here, actually!" she paused, trying to see if she'd met anyone else. "I did a couple errands with a third year named Elena Jangleton, who's quite nice. . . I've also run into a girl named Arissa - I don't know her last name - a couple of times, but, uh. . . they weren't on the friendliest terms, really. ." Gia shrugged. Although she wouldn't necessarily call the Slytherin an enemy, she wouldn't call the girl her friend, either. "What about you? Who're your friends - and or enemies?"

When the two girls had moved on from the topic of friends and enemies and all other relationships they may have, Gabby surprised Gia by asking if she'd like to celebrate her birthday with her in a few weeks. "Yes!" the eleven year old exclaimed, a little loudly. "Sorry - and actually, it's my birthday soon too! What day is yours on? Mine's the twenty-third." She hadn't even thought about celebrating her birthday yet but perhaps she should begin doing so, Gia thought to herself.

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

Reducio

Sorry for the late (ish) reply - I have so many threads going on at once and everyone replied near the same time, lol, so I needed to catch up on some of those.

Gabriella beamed as Gia suggested they sign up for a club together some day. "Yeah, sure!" she cried, and made a mental note to bring this up again at a later date if they forgot. Or she could just join the Outdoors Club... Gia had mentioned it, and it sounded good. She had heard about the club on occasion too; apparently it hadn't had any official meetings yet, but their first one was on the first of February. Gabby would have to check that she didn't have any Quidditch practices that day, but if she didn't, she decided she would probably sign up and come along. She didn't tell Gia this, however. The Ravenclaw didn't want to get her friend's hopes up before actually deciding that she was going to come.

Instead, Gabriella listened to what Gia had to say about friends. She smiled sympathetically has the Gryffindor revealed that she, like Gabby herself, hadn't had many friends so far. Gabriella didn't recognise any of the names Gia listed, although the name Simon Kincaid rang vague bells. "Me too," replied Gabriella, once Gia had finished talking. "I haven't really met any friends, either. I met a girl named Blair on the train, and she seemed really nice, but since she got sorted into Hufflepuff I haven't been able to talk to her since." Gabriella had fond memories of that train journey spent with Blair. Although nothing had come of their friendship, it was when Gabby realised things would be ok, and that she would be able to make friends at some point. She thought, although she didn't say this out loud, that the only reason nothing had come out of her friendship with Blair was because other first-years had joined their carriage after not very long. Gabriella tried to think of their names, but nothing came. There was... an Amelia, possibly? Oh, and a mysterious boy named Mathias Pride who she had seen being sorted into Slytherin. She had only exchanged a few sentences with them though, so she didn't want to mention them out loud.

"I met a girl named Joyce Corcoran on the Ravenclaw table," she continued aloud. "She was muggle-born like me, so we did a bit of research together on the wizarding world. I haven't really spoken to her since then, though. I also met a boy named Henry Llewellyn on the Ravenclaw table. He seemed really nice, actually. I should probably try to get back in touch with him..." The Ravenclaw let her mind wander back to the day she had met Henry. He had been doing his homework, but had got distracted, and had started making these really cool origami stars. He had been going to teach Gabby how to make them, but that had never come to pass. She blushed as she realised how many of these failed relationships were Gabriella's own fault, and vowed never to let her friendship with Gia go the same way.

"And... and then there was Elliot Jones," she continued, "who was a bit distant at first - she said I would have to pretend to be pure-blood in front of her parents, which I didn't like - but we got to know each other better. But then, one day I sent her an owl, and she just... never replied..." That one, at least, hadn't been Gabriella's own fault. "Let's see, was there anyone else? Oh yeah, there was Evangeline and Wendy, who were my friends for a bit, but then they didn't talk to me much after we had met a couple of times." She inhaled, preparing herself for the big one.

"Enemies-wise - yeah, I have an enemy," the Ravenclaw laughed. "A Gryffindor called Williamson. Tory Williamson, sorry if you're - friends... or anything... but we had a fight in a corridor once, and then it escalated..."

Gabriella took a deep breath. "That's it," she said. "Nobody I've really kept in touch with. I'm kinda - hoping - we can be different, though?" She frowned. "Oh yeah, and there was this girl called Ellie Griffin who I met a couple of times."

Once they had moved on, Gabby listened as Gia explained that her birthday was coming up on the twenty-third. She made another mental note to bring her friend a present and a cake on her birthday, if she didn't have any big celebration or party. "Mine is the sixteenth," said Gabriella. "Do you know yet if you're going to do anything for your birthday? I'll probably just invite you to some nice place on the grounds and we can eat food together, or something. It'll probably just be us, unless I make some new friends quickly!"

She took a sandwich and grinned at her friend. She could tell that there was something different about this friendship - something that would go a long way.

Word count: 811
@Gia Adelard
OOC - I saw what you wrote on the absences page, and that's fine - I'll still be here when you get back, lol...

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Gia grinned. "Really? Great!" she replied, happy that Gabby thought joining a club together was a good idea. "It's fun that they have all sorts of clubs here—at my old school, we didn't have many. Maybe even none, honestly." she paused to think for a couple of moments but couldn't quite recall anything for sure, so she continued, "And it's even cooler that the clubs here are actually run by students, don't you think?" Suddenly, an idea hit the first year and she looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Ooh, Gabby, what if we started a club of our own? I think that'd be fun, right?" Her mind getting slightly ahead of her, Gia wondered what types of clubs there already were and what type of club the two of them could start someday—and then realized that her friend hadn't even said anything in reply yet.

When their conversation turned to who they'd met over the past couple months since arriving at Hogwarts and it was Gabby's turn to speak, the eleven year old decided it was a good time for her to eat a little more of her dinner. Nodding a couple of times as she finished off the rest of her sandwich, she listened to what the other girl had to say. It seemed to Gia as if the Ravenclaw had met a lot more people than she had, but in most situations Gabby hadn't really talked to them again after first meeting them just like Gia herself. None of the people that the other girl mentioned were people that the first year had met, though, but hearing little things about them was sort of interesting, in a way. "Wait, why did Elliot say that you needed to pretend you were a pure blood when you met her parents?" asked Gia with a small frown. A few seconds later though, she realized what the reason must've been. "She was a pure blood, I assume? And. . . was her family the type who are really. . . attentive to people's blood status?" That would make sense.

Gia honestly didn't understand many things about the Wizarding World. Just learning what "muggle" and "muggleborn" meant had taken quite some time—and those words she had learned because people kept asking her if she was one or said it constantly when talking. For a little bit, it had almost felt as if she were learning a new language, there was just so many new words, phrases, and other odd new things that people said! Now, though, the brunette felt like she had the gist of everything—well, almost everything. Although she had learned the words themselves, Gia knew that it would take some time for her to actually start using them. It did help that she was surrounded by people who said them every day, though. . .

Hearing the word "enemy" from Gabby, the Gryffindor girl payed closer attention. The cheerful, smart Ravenclaw already had someone she thought of as an enemy? Her brows raised, Gia cocked her head slightly to the left as she listened. "No, no, I've never even met any of the people you've mentioned so far." she reassured her friend. "And I know that there are some people you just can't get along with, no matter how hard you try, so I won't judge you or anything," the first year added with a grin.

When Gabriella said that she was finished, Gia couldn't help but laugh a little. "It's hard trying to remember everyone you've met, huh? It was definitely hard for me—I don't have the best memory ever, so. . ." When the other girl said that she was hoping that the two of them would keep in touch unlike the rest of their acquaintances, Gia's smile became more genuine. "Yes, me too." she agreed. "Maybe even. . ." There was a slight pause, and then she shook her head. "uh, never mind." What she had been about to say was that she was sort of thinking that the two of them could become best friends after a while, Gia felt like it sounded too. . . cheesy or weird to say aloud, so she didn't.

Hearing that the Ravenclaw's birthday was on the sixteenth, Gia nodded. "Cool! They're actually pretty close." Then, in answer to Gabriella's next question, the eleven year old said, "No, not really. . . I'll probably have some sort of celebration or something, though. Well, obviously," she added with a laugh, talking about her own statement. "Birthdays just need parties." The girl shrugged, and then nodded at what Gabby said next. "That sounds perfect!" she said with another bright smile. "But who knows, you might make some new friends really fast! It's weird, but I feel like I met a lot of people in the beginning of the year and then it kind of. . . I don't know, fizzled out in a way. Maybe we'll both make a bunch of new friends super fast!" Laughing, Gia thought for a moment. It really was high time for her to get to know some new people, she realized. But hopefully Gabby and her would get together often as well. . . Her mind went once again to thinking about what it would be like to have a best friend here, at Hogwarts.

Wonderful, she thought to herself. It would definitely be wonderful.

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

Reducio

Note: I'm back!

Gabriella squealed at Gia's suggestion that they could start up a club together - a possible overreaction, for sure, but it wouldn't be the first time. "That's a great idea!" she cried. "We probably should... wait a while first, though. To see what some of the other clubs are like, so we can follow in their footsteps, I guess." Personally, while Gabby really wanted to start a club with Gia, the prospect was pretty overwhelming to her at this stage - especially seeing as she hadn't really checked out the clubs system yet. The Ravenclaw didn't want to be seen doing things wrong, if it could be avoided.

"Yeah, she was a pure-blood," sighed Gabriella, "and I guess her parents are just those purebloods..." She shrugged, hoping the Gryffindor would know what she meant when she said those purebloods. The sort that thought they were superior to everyone else just because they could do magic, that their blood was clean, as if wizards were the original humans and muggles were just an unfortunate mutation. Mudblood, they would call muggle-borns. Dirty blood. Luckily, nobody had said that to Gabriella so far, but it sounded like Elliot's mum would be just the sort of person who might if she had let anything slip. In that sense, then, she was quite pleased to have drifted from Elliot - knowing herself, the Ravenclaw would be sure to let something slip.

Gabriella frowned as Gia said she wouldn't judge her based on the fact that she had an enemy; it wasn't a factor the girl had even considered when she said it. Of course, it didn't matter, because Gia had said that she wouldn't judge Gabby, but even so, the fact that judging was a possibility that had sprung to Gia's mind made her feel a bit on edge.
It was true, though; she did have an enemy in Tory, and for good reason too. The Gryffindor had been totally unreasonable when the two of them had met in the corridor that time, forcing Gabriella to defend herself with insults such as You quintessence of dust! from Shakespeare, which she did not appreciate. Subconsciously, Gabriella knew that it was her own fault as much as it was Tory's, that they had both been having a terrible day, but that just made her even angrier when she thought about it. She wanted to blame it all on Tory.
Anyway, now's not the time,she said to herself, decidedly. Come on, Gabby. You're trying to have a civilised conversation with your... best friend?

Best friend. The words had just flowed comfortably into her mind, but she had no clue where from. She wanted to be Gia's best friend, of course, but they had only just met today, after all, and she didn't want to ruin her chances with Gia by taking it too fast. Jeez, I'm making this sound like a romantic relationship, Gia chuckled in her mind.

It seemed to Gabriella that Gia was trying to say something, but she couldn't quite get the words out. The Ravenclaw frowned and cocked her head. "No, you can say it," said Gabby as Gia said never mind. She hoped it wasn't rude, that it didn't seem like she was trying to force information out of her friend. "I-if you want to, that is. I don't mind, and I won't... judge you... or anything... so..." Her voice petered out; maybe she shouldn't have chased Gia up. What if the Gryffindor had been about to say something highly personal, but thought better of it? Quickly, Gabby tried to change the subject.

"So... have you done any of the errands?" she asked, wondering whether they could bother do errands together, some time in the future.

Word count: 639
@Gia Adelard

@Gabriella Haworth

24 January, 2021

Grinning at the excited way Gabby had responded to her suggestion they start a club together, Gia gave a small laugh. "Yay! And yeah, we probably should wait a bit. . . I didn't really mean right now, of course." This was not entirely true, for the first year was definitely not a patient person, but she supposed she would be all right with waiting for now. As long as the two of them actually did start a club sometime in the near future, that would be okay with her. After thinking about it for a few seconds, she realized that Gabriella's suggestion was actually quite smart. Neither of them knew all too much about clubs—or starting one, at least—so if they waited a while and learned more about the process, it would most likely go better than if they were to start one that instant.

"Got it," Gia nodded, showing she understood. Things were a little confusing in the wizarding world, what with blood status and such. Honestly, Gia had no clue why it mattered to anyone that someone's descendants or even parents had married muggles or not, but to some. . . well, it did. "I honestly don't understand why people even care," she said, voicing her thoughts out loud. "Like, honestly. . . the world is full of non-magical people. Of course there's going to be witches and wizards who fall in love with some of those people!" Gia sighed. She hadn't been unfortunate enough to meet someone like that yet, and she was very grateful for it.

Seeing Gabby's frown, Gia wondered what was wrong. "You alright?" she asked curiously. "Did I say something wrong?" she hoped it wasn't that, but what else could it be? Perhaps one of Gabby's own thoughts, she supposed, but that didn't seem as possible as her saying something wrong. Before the other girl could say a single thing, though, Gia hurried to apologize just in case she had. "Um, I'm sorry if I did, Gabby. . ." Hopefully it hadn't been something too bothersome, if it had been her at all.

When Gia let her next sentence trail off slightly, she had hoped that the Ravenclaw wouldn't notice. Unfortunately for her, Gabriella had, and now she kind of felt like she might as well say it out loud anyway. Hadn't Gabby already said something quite similar back in the Study Room when they were writing their essays together? Yes, she definitely had. . . Then what's the point of repeating it? Gia asked herself. Shrugging in response to her own question, the eleven year old quickly muttered what she'd been about to say. "No, it's fine—I'd just been about to say that I thought that maybe we could become really good friends if you wanted. But I know you already said that, so, uh, that's why I said never mind."

Grateful for the change of subject, Gia nodded and gave her friend a quick smile. "Yes, actually, I have." she said. "I did this one where we had to make a snow. . . creature. . . and then the house elves brought it to life for us. It was really fun, actually. Mine was kind of odd looking, though. . . it was sorta like a snow caterpillar." Laughing, Gia shrugged. "I also did this one where we had to start a fire in the middle of a snowstorm. . . it was so cold, but it was really fun, too." she paused, thinking about the past errands that she'd done. They were always very interesting, Gia thought with a small grin. Then, turning to face Gabby once more, she asked, "What about you?"

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

Reducio

Sorry for the wait, Gabby! I'll also try to reply to the party thread soon - so sorry again and again and again (lol) for how long everything is taking!

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically as Gia spoke aloud her thoughts about the "blood status" obsession so many pure-bloods seemed to hold. "Exactly!" she added, excitedly."Besides, 'status' could have two meanings, just a state of being, which makes sense I guess, 'status' - the state of your blood, but then there's also that sense of hierarchy that comes with it..." The Ravenclaw trailed off; when she was younger her parents had always made fun of her for being a walking talking textbook, and she didn't wish to repeat that experience.

"I'm fine," replied Gabby, shaking her head dismissively as her friend asked if she was ok. Gia didn't need to know what had been going on in her mind, Gia didn't need to know that their whole Hogwarts life had just been spun out in a matter of seconds in Gabby's brain. "You said nothing wrong, I was just thinking..."
"I'd just been about to say," said Gia, that I thought that maybe we could become really good friends if you wanted. But I know you already said that, so, uh, that's why I said never mind."

Gabriella beamed. "You - really?" exclaimed the Ravenclaw, excitedly. "You really want to be good friends? Oh - Gia - really?" Gabby squealed, showing all her front teeth. If they had been standing up, she would have wrapped her arms around her friend, but as they were sitting on opposite sides of a huge table, that wasn't really practical. She couldn't believe it. Through all her time at Hogwarts she had never really had a proper friend, and here was a girl she had effectively only just met, saying that she thought they could be good friends!
Good friends... thought Gabriella. Really good friends... that could mean best friends, right? She didn't say anything about this, however, and waited for Gia to take the initiative. After all, she had already made her views on the matter quite clear.

The Ravenclaw turned her attention to Gia's description of the errands she'd done and beamed as she discovered she'd done some of the same ones.
"Ooh, me too!" exclaimed Gabby. "I did them both! I don't think I saw you at either, though..." She frowned slightly, searching her memories for a small, bouncy girl with light brown hair. No image came to mind.
For a moment, Gabriella considered mentioning that she had ended up building a fire with none other than her own arch-enemy, Tory Williamson, but decided against it - she remembered the look of slight discomfort that had appeared on Gia's face the first time she had mentioned her enemy, and decided not to bring it up again. After all, there was still a chance Gia did know this girl, but hadn't mentioned it to save Gabby from embarrassment. If so, Gia's really nice, the Ravenclaw thought. Well, she's nice anyway, I suppose. I'd be privileged to have her as a best friend.

"I hope we can be friends," she blurted out, again. "I - I haven't been very good at... staying in touch... before, with other people, I mean, but I'm not going to do that any more!" She stuck her fork decidedly into her food, but it missed and made a loud clanging noise on the plate. A few bemused faces turned to look at her, and Gabby sniggered and blushed. She could tell this was the start of a blossoming friendship.

Word count: 571
Interacting with: @Gia Adelard
I FINALLY DID IT!!! Lol, sorry this took so long let's just say neither of us are the best at replies