A Book in Common Finished

"Once we meet up with Mae-again so sorry for the mess you're in now- would you like to go to the Small Hall and dine? It's not really possible in the Great Hall, and I'm sure I can get permission from a teacher-the head of your house seems nice enough- to get some food and take it out there. Sometimes other Slytherins can be so dreadfully boring, especially when they have no manners, have inflated ego's, and prank everyone they meet. Honestly. So immature." Ami giggled a little at Mia's description of her fellow housemates, feeling sympathetic.

"Or," Mia's eyes sparkled, idly reminding Ami of an anime character, "We could take some food from the kitchen and bring it back out here. What's a friendship without a bit of mischief?"

Ami's heart fluttered at the mention of friendship. Friendship. Ami repeated the word to herself, smiling. A friendship. Thomas wouldn't be totally replaced, of course, but a friendship. A friendship where the other person (possibly people, once they met up with Mae) was willing to get into trouble for her.

"I've actually been meaning to go down to the Kitchens," Ami admitted. "I just have no idea where they are. I'm a, uh, vegan, and I don't know what they use to cook, so I need to drop by and figure out a meal plan with the cooks."

Mia quickened her pace because of the cold. They were nearing Mae, but still nowhere near her. Honestly. Mia sighed and listened to Ami talk.

"I've actually been meaning to go down to the Kitchens, I just have no idea where they are. I'm a, uh, vegan, and I don't know what they use to cook, so I need to drop by and figure out a meal plan with the cooks."

The girl looked back at Mia and she laughed.

"Vegan. That's cool"-Mia shot her a smile-" ButfFigure out a meal plan? Merlin!"-Mia tossed her hair-"You do know that they're house elves right? They are the cutest things, and will bend over backwards to serve anyone. That's just their nature"

Mia was reminded of Willy, her house elf. She felt nostalgic for a moment and then fixed her attention back on Ami.

"Sorry if this comes across as rude"-Mia swallowed, nervous-"What is your blood status? I don't care really, I'm more tolerant than others, but I'm just curious"

Mia closed her eyes. Slytherins could be annoying, yes, but made sure to announce their blood status, especially if they were pure-blood. That made it easy for her to expect certain things from them.

"Vegan. That's cool, but figure out a meal plan? Merlin!" Who on earth was this Merlin person everyone kept yelling about? Ami thought to herself. Probably their God, or something. Were wizards religious? She mentally noted to research this topic a bit more. "You do know that they're house elves right? They are the cutest things, and will bend over backward to serve anyone. That's just their nature."

"That seems kind of... rude," Ami said slowly, trying not to offend Mia. "Like, oh, hey, I just showed up here, and now I'm gonna yell at you, because you've gotta prepare a whole separate meal for one girl just because she went to a meat processing farm in second grade."

"Sorry if this comes across as rude. What is your blood status? I don't care really, I'm more tolerant than others, but I'm just curious," Mia asked. Ami laughed slightly. "I know, I know, I probably seem like an ignorant Muggle-born, but believe it or not, my mother is a pureblood. I know, shocking. I spent most of my life with my Muggle father, though, and my parents had made a pact that they would only tell me about this whole... wizarding thing if I got accepted to Hogwarts. And, well, here I am."

"That seems kind of... rude,"-The girl said this slowly-"Like, oh, hey, I just showed up here, and now I'm gonna yell at you, because you've gotta prepare a whole separate meal for one girl just because she went to a meat processing farm in second grade."

Mia mentally slapped herself. Now she sounded like a complete idiot.

"No. Not yell. Sorry. Ask. Sorry, I'm a complete idiot!"

She exclaimed casting her gaze down. After a minute Mia opened her mouth to talk again.

"Sorry if this comes across as rude. What is your blood status? I don't care really, I'm more tolerant than others, but I'm just curious,"

Ami laughed slightly and opened her mouth to answer.

"I know, I know, I probably seem like an ignorant Muggle-born, but believe it or not, my mother is a pureblood. I know, shocking. I spent most of my life with my Muggle father, though, and my parents had made a pact that they would only tell me about this whole... wizarding thing if I got accepted to Hogwarts. And, well, here I am."

Mia's eyes sparkled, as they did when she got exited.

"Number one, you don't seem like an ignorant Muggle-born, I just was curious. Number two, I might know your mom! What family did she marry out from? And three, you never knew about magic? That's so strange-but in a good way. That must be interesting. To go from no magic to tons."

"Number one, you don't seem like an ignorant Muggle-born, I just was curious," Mia said, and Ami barked out a laugh. "Really? Even I think I'm an ignorant Muggle-born; and an American one, at that!"

Number two, I might know your mom! What family did she marry out from?" Mia asked, interested. "Marie. Her maiden name was Marie- Abella Marie. The Sorting Hat said that she argued with him until she got sorted into Slytherin," Ami replied, chuckling at the memory. "Yeah, it makes sense you might know of her- you're a pureblood, right? That's why you asked about my blood status? Just a head's up, I look more like my dad than my mom. She says I have my grandmother's eyes, though- her mom; her name's Olivia Marie."

"And three, you never knew about magic? That's so strange-but in a good way. That must be interesting. To go from no magic to tons," Mia continued. Ami smiled. "Yeah, it's definitely interesting, to say the least. When my mother said that she needed me to sit down and have 'The Talk' with her, I thought she was talking about the birds and the bees- but nope, instead, I ended up taking fifty pages worth of studious notes. I still have them somewhere," Ami chuckled at the thought, remembering her total shock and confusion, only being convinced when her mother made water boil on the stove with no fire, and from fifteen feet away.

Mae saw the girl run towards her and she stopped in her tracks. The girl seemed to know who she was so Mae believed it was Mia but she was still unsure who the other girl was. Mae stopped their and looked she could finally see what they looked like. Mia appeared to have brown hair and was wearing green robes which could only mean she was a slytherin, she looked like she had her hair pulled back into a ponytail but Mae was still a bit far away to see. The girl standing next to Mia had brown hair too but to Mae it looked a bit red. Since it was a bit dark, she couldn't see perfectly her robes they looked orange to her but they could be red. So she guessed that the girl was either a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. Mae thought if she was a hufflepuff that would be cool because she had only met one as of yet. She's met a few Slytherins and Mae doesn't think it's true that their all bad. She's met a Gryffindor and she was very sweet. Since Ravenclaw was her house she'd met a bunch of them, and she only recalls meeting one Hufflepuff.

Yeah, it's definitely interesting, to say the least. When my mother said that she needed me to sit down and have 'The Talk' with her, I thought she was talking about the birds and the bees- but nope, instead, I ended up taking fifty pages worth of studious notes. I still have them somewhere"

Ami laughed, and Mia laughed along with her, casting a glance towards Mae, who was standing not 15 feet away from them.

"That's amazing."

Mia smiled and looked at Ami, a twinkle in her eyes. The two girls approached Mae and Mia stood still, wondering what she should say.

"Mae! Hello. I'm Mia Alexander. And um..This is Ami Procoppio."

Mia gulped and smiled at Mae, nervous. She had been owling this girl for weeks, and she was finally here, in the flesh. Mia tapped her foot. Mae was just as she had expected her, taller than Mia, whith browner hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose.

"Ami and I were talking about going to the kitchen and getting some food for her, as she is vegan and cannot consume much of anything here, really, as she is not sure what's in it. Then we would eat in the corridors or in the Small Hall, or maybe even here, outside."

Mia smiled and waited for Mae to respond.

Mae stood there as she seemed to see the two girls walking towards her. They were laughing about something, which made Mae feel a little less tense. When they approached her they were laughing a little bit. Mae finally got to see what she looked like, she was slightly taller than her and Mia's hair was a bit lighter brown as well as the other girls. Since they were closer she could finally see the girl. She had orangey auburn hair and brown eyes. Instead of Mae not seeing what robes she was wearing they finally seemed plain as day she wasn't a Gryffindor like Mae thought, but instead she was a Hufflepuff, which Mae found cool as she had only met a Hufflepuff. "Mae! Hello. I'm Mia Alexander. And um... This is Ami Proccopio," Mia said, her voice sounded way different than Mae expected. Ah so the girls name was Ami, which Mae thought was especially nice. "Ami and I were talking about going to the kitchen and getting some food for her, as she is vegan and cannot consume much of anything here, really, as she is not sure what's in it. Then we would eat in the corridors or in the Small Hall, or maybe even here, outside." Mia then said. "Hi Mia, my names Mae, and it's nice to meet you Ami, ooh your a vegan cool, yeah sure we could head to the kitchens," Mae said with her crazy Irish accent, usually people thought it was cool, she hoped Mia and Ami thought that. 

Ami wanted to melt inside, for two main reasons:
1. MAE HAD AN IRISH ACCENT? Not fair! All Ami got saddled with was a boring, dumb American accent. Not cool, Fate. Mae, Ami noticed, was about half a foot shorter than her, but that was almost to be expected- you didn't see many 11-year-olds standing at 5'2" (she blamed her mother for this bothersome height). Short brown hair that curled at the ends, and a brilliant smile like the sun, Ami decided she most definitely would like this girl.

2. PANIC. Ugh, Hogwarts was so not good for her mental health. So many new people, so many unknown reactions. She tried to breathe, in through her nose, out through her mouth, but she could already feel stuttered words and rushed sentences begging to flow out of her mouth. She tried to imagine swallowing them down, lining them up into a neat, single-file line, but she only managed to, uh...

Ami's thin frame start to shake from her coughing, having choked on air (she certainly did that a lot nowadays). She tried to breathe, remaining upright so her trachea remained clear, but she ended up having to bend over, coughing until the world ended. Finally, she managed to regain control over herself, and heaved herself upright. "I- I'm sorry," she wheezed, coughing into her elbow. "That was a sucky introduction. Yeah, hey, I'm Ami."

It was only her first year but Mae was struggling to make friends, although she was enjoying the company of Ami and Mia. Mae thought that it was cool that Ami was a Hufflepuff, she had only met one once and from what she'd heard they are mostly all nice people, and that was proven true in the time of her meeting the other Hufflepuff Girl. Personally Mae thought that Ami was more of a shy at first girl then a super sweet person once you got to know her. Being a muggle born around Halfbloods and Purebloods she was unsure of how Ami and Mia would treat her or if they were muggles themselves. Mae was still unsure of where Ami was from, if she was from Britain, Scotland, Ireland (like herself), or from somewhere else. She knew for sure that Mia was from Britain the way she spoke and it was nice. Being Irish Mae believed her accent to be weird sounding and ungraceful, although she could symapthize with people who were Irish or Scottish. All of a sudden Ami looked like she was going to choke, she bent over and started coughing and wheezing. She pulled herself up and said "I- I'm sorry," still wheezing she added "That was a sucky introduction. Yeah, hey, I'm Ami." "Nice to meet you Ami, and OMG are you okay, also your from America that is so cool." Mae said with a concerned face she then thought to herself Oh my god Mae, why did you have to add she is from America you probably made her uncomfortable. Which she definitely believed to be true.