Would you mind helping a short stranger? Open Closed

"Xarea," he repeated the name to help him remember it, as it was one he hadn't heard before. There were a lot of unique names there at Hogwarts, far contrasting what he was used to back in muggle London. There, his school was full of Olivias, Graces, Chloes, Lilys, Olivers, Jacks, Williams, and Dylans. Nothing like Xarea. It was a nice name. He liked it.

"I'm Simon. Simon Kincaid. Second Year, Hufflepuff," he said and pointed to the Hufflepuff emblem on his cloak, which made it terribly apparent, an it caused him to smile more. Simon was a boy who liked to smile.

"I saw you having some trouble moments ago. My apologies for not getting here sooner. One of the library elves tripped and dropped her books and I helped retrieve them for her. Turned out to be quite a bit, and so I helped her to the Circulation Desk before circling back."

"Whatcha up to?" he asked casually, trying to make some conversation with this new acquaintance of his. He liked to turn new meetings into friendships and perhaps this could be one of those. "Researching for class? Curiosity? Killing some time?" he asked. Hopefully she didn't mind the intrusion of questions, he was just using it as an opener to maybe get to know her a little better.

[Word Count: 221]

Xarea smiled at Simon. “I’m researching different ways to neutralize poisons while still keeping some of their properties.” She said. At Simon’s blank look, she further explained, “Some poisons are actually used for health reasons, like snake venom. I find it interesting so now I spend my spare time trying to neutralize poisons.” Simon laughed and smiled at her, and Xarea smiled back before saying, “By the way, it was very nice of you to help the library elf. Most people don’t pay attention to the elves.” Simon smiled at her and said, “I like to help them, they do a lot for a Hogwarts and the students, it’s the least I can do to help them.” Xarea smiled, kind people are her favorite type of people, she then asked, “So, do you spend a lot of time in the library? Like to read, or research stuff? Or are you working in homework?”

"Glad to know I'm you're favorite kind of people," he said and laughed. For one, it was a little interesting since he was a halfbreed and not technically human in the standpoint of the wizarding world but the most important reason - well, he was going to get to that in his next statement. "I'll be sure to have to stay one of your favorite kinds of people. You seem to know far more about potions and ingredients than I and could be potentially dangerous, if not lethal, if upset or angered." He was joking. Sort of.

"I'm almost always in the library," he said as he motioned for her to follow him. Her stuff wasn't too far from where he sat so he walked back to the table she initially started from and then held up his index finger for her to wait as he quickly went to a comfortable chair in the corner, grabbed up his bag, and brought it over. Hopefully she didn't mind the company.

"I come here for all sorts of things. I have a notebook where I write out questions about the wizarding world, like how the founders met or how to the cores work in wands, or uh..." he paused to think of another, "what makes magical portraits work?. Anything and everything that pops into mind. My mum, she was a Gryffindor but she died when I was three so I didn't grow up with any of this stuff. It's all so new and all so amazingly wonderful. I want to know about it all. That, or I research things of interest to learn more like magical creatures and plants or I read a little for hobby. I also like to write music here or do my homework since I was banned from the Study Rooms, unofficially. Sometimes its just to chill. When I'm not here I'm usually in the Rehearsal Room because of the piano and gramophone."

"What about you? Where can Xarea be found when not in the Library? If it's stealing ingredients from the Potions Storeroom, you're secret will be safe with me. Hufflepuffs are particularly good secret keepers."

Xarea laughed and said, “I don’t have the guts to steal something from the Potions Storeroom. I would probably steal something and then turn myself in within the minute.” Simon smiled at her. “Anyways, I like to sit near the lake. I love water, because water can be lethal but you need it to survive. Think about it, you can die if you don’t have access to water, but there are floods and tsunamis and thousands of people drown to death each year and-” she cuts herself short, thinking it would probably be better if she didn’t list all the ways water could kill someone. “I just think it’s really cool how the universe made us reliant on something that has killed so many people.” Simon smiles at her and jokingly says, “And where else are you when you’re not thinking about the ways people can die from water?” Xarea laughs, and responds with, “Usually the common room or the study room. I write poetry, although it’s not very good.” Simon shakes his head and he says, “I don’t believe that.” Xarea smiles at him and says, “Anyways, how about we get into the more common questions. Favorite color? Animal? Song, artist, genre?”

Ah the Lake. To be honest, Simon had only been there a handful of times despite this being his second year at Hogwarts. With such an early curfew, he didn't take to being outside too often and if he did so, it wasn't to go as far out on the Grounds as the Lake. Not that he had anything against it...even if it was a vast body of deadly water.

"Ah, favorites, favorites..." he repeated, trying to think of what his answers would be. At least her last ones all centered around music and he knew he would have absolutely no trouble at all with that. Music was his life.

But first, favorite color. "Favorite colors are more a color combination. I like navy blue and gold," he said. That's what his bedroom was all done up in back in London. Mostly navy with some gold accents. "Favorite animal?" he paused. Simon had a friend that had a cat back in London and he had a couple friends at Hogwarts that had rats. He had been part of the Frog Choir but...what was his favorite? "You know, I don't think I have a favorite animal."

"Now music, music I could go on with forever so I'll do my best to keep it basic. "Favorite song ever...I don't know, perhaps "My Girl" by The Temptations. Favorite artist, only able to pick one, would probably be Frank Sinatra. I like lots of music like hip hop, R&B, Big Band Jazz, but my favorites are probably the Crooners and Motown. Now back at you, same questions. "Favorite color, animal, song, artist, genre...but after answering those, tell me about where you're from." He'd add on another.

Xarea was impressed, “Wow, that’s a lot of music,” she said. “For me, my favorite song would have to be “The Whole ‘Being Dead’ Thing” from Beetlejuice the Musical. Favorite artist would probably be AViVA though, and for favorite genre I like Alternative and if musicals are they’re own genre then I like musicals.” She paused for a second to catch her breath before saying, “And for your last question, I’m from Liverpool.” “So, where are you from? And…what’s your favorite class?” She asked, giving Simon her full attention.

Simon was pretty sure he'd liked some Alternative. Things like Saint Motel and that sort of thing - was that Alternative? As for musicals, he wasn't all that knowledgeable of them but the ones he had seen he had enjoyed very much. It helped now that he could watch some on the television back home or stream some on his computer. Before, when you just had to wait for a show to come to London, or save up for a ticket which cost a pretty penny -well, it wasn't in the budget. He just lived with his aunt who was around the age of twenty-five and she was doing well to work all the time to keep the utilities going some months. They never went cold and they never went hungry, and while they had a nice home in South Kensington, it was far from a lavish lifestyle but he was okay with that.

"Ah, Liverpool, like The Beatles." He knew they were from Liverpool but he didn't know all too much about it. Besides Hogwarts, he had only been outside of London once and that was as a baby when his mother and aunt took him to the coastline of England to visit the beach. Not the best of ideas, not that they knew it at the time.

"I'm from London, born and raised. Live off the South Kensington exit of The Underground. Love it there though and don't know that I'd want to be anywhere else." Although here was nice, at Hogwarts. Simon didn't see him moving off to the Scottish Highlands after graduation though. No, he'd probably end up residing in London someday unless a future wife had another opinion to weigh in on the matter.

"Favorite class, that's a hard one," he said as he looked to his bag and played with the clasp a bit as he thought about his answer. "I don't know. Probably Herbology or Potions. I really look forward to taking Care of Magical Creatures next year." That one wasn't available until Third Year. "Everything about magic amazes me, to be honest. I didn't grow up with it. My mum...she came here and was a Gryffindor but she died when I was three. My aunt's a muggle and her and my mum didn't talk about it too much because my mum was afraid she might make her sister jealous."