Study Group? Finished

I jolted awake, sitting up straight in my bed. I looked at the alarm clock on my bedside table, it read; 2:26. Shoot!, I thought, as I realized that I was supposed to be at a study group right now, but I (as usual) slept in. I ran out of my bed and quickly looked at myself in the mirror to see if I looked like I just slept. Luckily I didn't, so I just grabbed a hair tie and put it around my wrist, and put my charms and potions books into brown, leather shoulder bag. I ran down the halls and to the Grand Staircase, rushing down each moving staircase trying not to run into a gap and fall to my death. On the way I quickly tied my hair into a messy bun, I honestly didn't care how I looked, as long as I don't get embarrassed for coming in late. I managed to get to the Second Floor safely, and sprinted to the Study Room door, I opened it slowly, hoping to try and sneak in to make them not notice the fact that I'm late. But when I opened it, I only saw a single person there, her dazzling red hair, flowed down to her shoulders, but a gorgeous rose gold pendant caught my eye, it seemed like it belonged to royalty. I then realized that this was the study group, and fortunately for me there was no one else here to judge me, but I kind of felt bad since no one is here to show. "Sorry I'm late", I spoke.

Zoe looked up to find a blonde girl standing by the door. She had lovely straight hair, a slender figure and the most beautiful pair of blue eyes, almost looking like sapphire stones. She had a nervous smile, and Zoe realized, she did not think this through. This girl must think Zoe's a complete loser, since no one else had shown up.

As she thought about her embarrassing predicament, she became aware that the girl was probably waiting for a response, and she had answered with a stare. "Hi! No worries, come sit down." Zoe finally said.

Zoe looked down at the table, which was once very neat and tidy but she was not a very patient person, and in frustration had sprawled her books all over the table. She quickly stacked up all her books, except her beginners guide to transfiguration text book, which she planned to read soon. She opened it to page fifty eight, and put down a pen so she wouldn't lose her page.

Zoe realized she didn't introduce herself or ask for the girl's name, so she looked up again, and said,

"I'm Zoe, by the way, and I don't think I caught your name?"

As I walked over to the table that looked neater than it just did a couple seconds ago, the girl which I now know, name is Zoe, asked me my name. I looked at her attire and saw that she was wearing her Gryffindor robe, in seeing that, I felt a bit more comfortable, as I somehow feel like since we're both in the same house, we're destined to be friends already.

"Oh, um I'm Emma", I tried to say as politely as I could, because I obviously want to make a good impression, since I really want to make new friends.

I pulled out the seat across from her on the table and sat down, taking my books out from my shoulder bag, and placing them both down neatly in front of me. I saw she had a transfiguration book open before her, and I realized she must be pretty dedicated to bother to read and learn the most boring subject not only school can offer, but the whole universe.

In my seat, I played with the ring on finger, spinning it around my ring finger. It's a habit I usually do when I'm nervous, and right now I do see a reason why I should be. It's not that I'm not social and stuff, because I am. It's just that I sometimes take time to warm up to people, and making friends myself has never really been my forte, people have kind of just come to me. But Hogwarts is a new place and a new life for me, away from all my old friends in the Muggle World, and time to make some new friends here, which I can spend the rest of my time in Hogwarts with.

Zoe carefully watched the girl who she now knows as Emma, take out her books, and noticed the ring she was fidgeting with. Zoe felt her mouth open in shock, since it looks exactly like a ring she used to have, but lost nearly 3 years ago. She quickly recovered though, sure it is a coincidence and decides to fill the silence before it gets awkward.

Zoe knew she was being tense and timid, which was unlike her normal bubbly and extroverted personality. Hogwarts was throwing her off her game, but she was determined to get back to her normal persona.

"What do you plan to study? I have to catch up on my transfiguration homework, and maybe some charms" Zoe says.

As she waits for a response, she remembers the chocolate frogs in her pocket. She reaches down to the pocket of her denim skirt, and struggles to take out the chocolate, but as she was about to bring it out, she thinks that it may be a bad idea, since Emma might not be much of a rule breaker. But then again, she was in Gryffindor, right? The house of the daring, nerve and brave of heart? Zoe decides to risk it, and puts a packet on the table . "Chocolate frog?"

As I'm sitting at the table, Zoe offers me a packet of chocolate frogs and places it on the table. I gladly take it, gratefully saying, "Thanks" with a smile to show her I appreciate it. It was only up until when I saw the delicious treat, that I realized how hungry I was, even though it's probably not enough to fill me up, at least I won't die of starvation.

I opened the packet and popped the frog in my mouth before it got time to jump away. I then took the trading card out of the packet and turned it over to see what famous wizard or witch I got. The result was nothing to exciting. It seemed to be one of the most common cards I got whenever I had a chocolate frog, it's like since I come from generations of Slytherins and I'm now a Gryffindor, they've got to rub it in my face anyway they can, and in this instance, it's by giving me the trading card of 'Salazar Slytherin'.

I sighed, and placed the card into the pocket of my bag, keeping it to add to my collection later. As I finished chewing on my frog, I remember that she asked me what I was going to study.

"Um, well I'm planning on studying both my potions and charms. But to be honest I don't really know which one to study first, since they're both really hard and boring" I say, looking between my two textbooks, contemplating which one to read and bore me to death first.

Okay. Okay. I know I sound really lazy and stuff, and act like I hate school work and just school in general. It is kind of true, but it's not the whole point. The truth is, I actually do like some parts of school, and I'm pretty good at it too, but I guess going to Hogwarts has kind of changed my mindset. That's another reason why I went to this study group, since I was struggling so much, I thought I'd meet other fellow students who could help me.

Lets hope that one person is enough...

"Yeah, potions can be pretty hard. Mostly because the teacher hate me and.. well the feeling's mutual." Zoe says with a laugh. "I can't stand history of magic, but defense of the dark arts are pretty good, in my opinion. Oh, and I can help you with charms. I'm pretty good at it" Zoe remarks. She's actually very good at charms, but she didn't want to seem narcissistic or too full of herself.

After giving Emma a chocolate frog, Zoe opens one of her own. The frogs a bit melted, so she quickly pops it into her mouth and looks at the card. She got some wizard named Almeric Sawbridge, who she had never heard of. She put the card into her pocket and started reading a bit into her book, waiting for a response.

The tranfiguration homework is dull and her mind starts to wander. She wished more people had showed up, since you could hardly call this a "study group", but she's happy at least someone showed up. Emma seemed nice, but Zoe was pretty sure she was still nervous and the ice was yet to be broke. What could she say that would make her more comfortable? A question? Zoe hoped Emma would try to break the ice herself.

When Zoe offered to help me with my charms, I was more than happy to let her. If she wanted, she could do the whole piece of homework for me, but I'm not going to ask her that, she'll think I'm dumb and a user. And I don't want her to think of me as that, I want her to be able to trust me, and eventually think of me as a friend.

"Thanks for the offer. But I can do my potions first, and then you can maybe help me with my charms after?" I suggest, "Since your obviously studying stuff yourself, I don't want to get in the way of that". I don't want to be rude or anything, and have her give up her time to help me. I may need the help, but I'm not selfish.

I figured that maybe while we're studying we could take a break and get to know each other. Because this is the closest I've gotten to making a friend here at Hogwarts so far, and I don't want her to think that I'm this ultimate loser, who gets nervous whenever she meets new people. I want people to imagine me as confident and social, and someone who isn't afraid to step up or talk to others.

That's why I differ so much from my family. They're all so outgoing and talkative, and they have so many friends and stuff. They always say that I should talk more and meet new people, and well, it's not like I don't try, usually they're just not my type or they're just not interested in getting to know me. Which is usual.

It's been silent for a while and I'm thinking for a way to break the stillness in the air. I spin my ring around my finger, pondering about what would be the right thing to say. A compliment maybe? I did like her pendant, and it would hopefully start up a conversation about where she got it from.

"I like your pendant"

Zoe looked up, surprised at the sudden comment, but happy for the opportunity to speak. "Thanks, I..." She was about to tell the truth, that she got it from her mother, before she was abandoned, but she didn't really tell people that, until she knew more than their house and name. She decided to give a shortened version of the truth. "Yeah, I got it from my mother. It was really important to her that I had it. I tend to fidget with it when I'm nervous" She didn't have more to say after that, but she didn't want to the conversation to die, so she decided to let her do the talking. Zoe noticed the ring on Emma's finger, as she spun it around and round her finger.

"Your ring looks really pretty, where'd you get it from?" She asked quietly.

At that point she was done (well, not finished, but she was completely bored) with transfiguration, and decided to switch to Charms. She wished she had more defense of the dark arts homework, it was her absolute favorite. She tells Emma that she's doing charms, and then says looking up,

"So, how has Hogwarts been for you so far?"

Luckily, my compliment on her pendant started a conversation. And her story about her pendant is pretty interesting. I would like to know more, but it seemed like she was done with that topic of conversation, amd I didn't want to push her. "Well, Hogwarts has been a bit more dull than I expected" I stated, "I just imagined this place to be more eventful and stuff, considering it's literally teaching magic, and has ghosts roaming the castle."

When I got my letter from Hogwarts, I was more than excited, as I couldn't wait for all the adventures I was going to be on. My Dad had told me all about his experiences, and the mischief he'd made back in his school days. Life in the Muggle World, was fun I guess, but flying brooms and magic. That's all anyone could ever ask for.

I just remembered that Zoe had asked me about my ring too. I didn't want to be rude and avoid the question, but I don't think I want people to know that the ring comes from generations of my Slytherin family. I don't really know how people would react if they found a Slytherin heir in Gryffindor. After all, we're supposed to despise Slytherin, and they despise us back. So I'm just going to come up with something.

"And um, my ring. Um." Wow smooth, I thought. I've never really been much of a liar, because I've never really needed to. So I don't really sound that believable. I need to come up with something fast. It was about five seconds later, that I finally thought of something.

"I got my ring when I went on a vacation to... Brazil?" I just thought of a random experience I had and where it was, "We were at the markets and I saw it, and I really liked it."

I honestly think it sounds pretty convincing. Lets just hope she does too.