Making Friends and First Steps! Closed

The smile broadened upon Liam’s face as the girl seemed to perk up, introducing herself as Andrea. He was somewhat relieved that she had accepted the offer, if she hadn’t then things would have been rather awkward - then everyone would have seen the shade of red that this Gryffindor was able to turn. His actions may have seemed brave, and in a sense they were, however the waters of anxiety had a tendency to churn even in situations where the outcome didn’t really matter. Thankfully that wasn’t something to worry about for now. Instead, Liam accompanied Andrea over towards the group, and stepped aside so she could properly introduce herself. He caught Gabriel’s thumbs up and offered a subtle one back of his own - it felt good to have that support, even just in a place like this. In all honesty he wasn’t expecting to make many friends or acquaintances this early on in his Hogwarts career, but it appeared that the courtyard was the place to be to meet new people. It was a good thing they all seemed rather friendly.

The pat on the back that followed was also reassuring, it was a gesture that the blonde boy appreciated more than he would let on. “It’s nothing really, I just count down from three in my head and then do whatever it is that I want to do. Helps with any nerves.” He continued to watch as the new Hufflepuff girl gradually grew a bit more comfortable and nodded along with Gabriel as he spoke reassurances. It was true, she was more than welcome, as was basically anyone. His eyes widened slightly as Andrea explained her lineage. “A muggleborn? Nice! This must be quite a change for you then.” He smiled in the girl's direction, occasionally catching her eye as the others talked - each time he offered a reassuring smile before his attention turned elsewhere.

With new friends on his mind, Liam’s deep brown eyes scanned the immediate environment in search of more lonely souls out in the courtyard. They fixed on one individual who was sitting not too far away, it seemed as though she was a Gryffindor too and didn’t present as being in too much stress due to her loneliness. He looked down, finding a small pebble on the floor which he kicked gently in her direction, hoping that she’d raise her head from the book for just a moment. For a little while it seemed that she wasn’t going to look up, but regardless Liam gave a broad wave of his arm in an effort to invite her over - hopefully she noticed before he returned to regular conversation.

“Anyway Andrea, I don’t know how much you know about Quidditch, but Gabe, Matt, and I are going to dominate this coming season.” He gestured to each of his fellow Gryffindor boys as he spoke, partially introducing Matthew in the process. “If you didn’t know already, it’s basically the best sport there is. You’ll have to come to some of the games.” Liam repositioned himself, arms wrapping around both Matthew and Gabriel as he spoke. His smile was broad as ever and for a moment he looked up into the sky, his eyes seeming as though they may glint in the light at any moment.

@Gabriel Palmer @Lizzie McGregor @Ayuna Baudelaire @Renée Danvers @Andrea Daniels @Matthew Robertson@ Irina Shevel

A boy named Gabriel reached his hand out to Andrea. She shook it, trying to make sure it was firm. just like her father had taught her. The whole group seemed so comfortable with each other already. Andrea thought about how crazy it was that a group of complete strangers could grow so close in a matter of minutes. She had zoned out for most of what the group said, only catching bits and pieces of their conversation. But she still tried to atleast look interested in their friendly banter. She was thinking about how excited she was to have met a group of people she could call her friends when Liamspoke to her. "Anyway Andrea, I don't know how much you know about Quidditch, but Gabe, Matt, and I are going to dominate this coming season." he said. Andrea was thinking about how cheated she was, being a muggleborn. She knew nothing about whatever 'quidditch' was. "If you didn't know already, it's practically the best sport there is. You'll have to come to some of the games." Liam told her. "No, I didn't know. But if you guys are on the team, I'll definitely be watching you play when the season starts. Is it just a boys team? I love playing sports and I might want to check it out." Andrea said to him. She would love to be on a team, she would feel more like she fit in then. She realized there was a girl looking lonely not far from where they were standing. Maybe I should go over there she thought. After all, she knew how it felt to be all alone, she wanted to invite her over. After all, what's the worst that could happen? She turned to the group. "I think I'm going to go over there." She said, gesturing to the girl. "It would be rude if we just let her sit there all alone." She started to approach the girl, unsure of herself. It was too late for her to turn back now. Andrea knew that everyone was watching her. She extended her hand. "Hey! I'm Andrea! Sorry to disturb your reading." She said, with a smile plastered across her face, even though she was so nervous she thought she would puke. "How about you come join me and some friends over there." She said, pointing to where everyone else was standing. "I mean, there's no use in just sitting here alone."
@Gabriel Palmer @Liam Bennet @Irina Shevel

Irina peered over the edge of her book and saw a pebble flying past her left foot. She lowered her book indignantly, ready to shout at someone, when she saw the blonde Gryffindor boy grinning and waving her over. She grinned broadly and shut her book, stuffing it hastily into her bag. She began to move forwards when the Hufflepuff girl, the newest arrival to the ever growing group, shuffled nervously up to her, her hand extended.

"Hey! I'm Andrea! Sorry to disturb your reading." Andrea looked like she was about to throw up, Irina gave a broad smile and shook her hand vigorously.
"How about you come join me and some friends over there? I mean, there's no use in just sitting here alone."

They began walking towards the large group of first years. "My name's Irina! Nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting me over - talking to new people isn't really your thing, is it. You did pretty well though!" She gave a small wink before looking around at the first few people. The boy from her house, ('Liam, I think,') was talking animatedly to another guy from her house, ('Someone might have called him Gabe?') about Quidditch. She immediately perked up and sat down next to them, dragging Andrea with her.

"I LOVE quidditch," she exclaimed, extending her hand, "Name's Irina. Nice to meet ya." But she didn't care about formalities. Now she was among a group of people her age, her inner extrovert came leaping out. "What position do you guys prefer to play? I've never been able to play in a team before, but I can't wait to get started."
She turned to Andrea who had sat down next to her. "What about you? Ever thought about playing Quidditch?"

She closed her mouth quickly, fairly certain she had heard Andrea say she had never played before and also fairly certain she was talking way. To. Much.

@Andrea Daniels @Liam Bennet @Gabriel Palmer

Irina took Andrea's hand. Andrea smiled at her, relieved. Irina said, "My name's Irina! Nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting me over - talking to new people isn't really your thing, is it. You did pretty well though!" "Not really." Andrea told her. "But thanks!" They began walking to the rest of the group. When they came into earshot, they heard the boys having an excited conversation about quidditch. Irena immediately jumped into the discussion, asking them what position you played. Andrea sat down next to Irena. "What about you, Ever thought about playing Quidditch?" Irena asked her. "Well, I'm muggleborn. So apparently everyone else knows about it except me." Andrea said with laughter in her voice."But i'll be looking into it for sure, since everyone thinks it's so amazing." She looked around, wondering how she could contribute to the conversation. "What kind of broom's do you guys own? They do play Quidditch on broomsticks, right?" She asked them."I saw this really cool one when I was shopping for school supplies. The Nimbus 5000, I think." She hoped this was relevant and she didn't sound like a fool. "If I start playing maybe i'll but that one." She was proud of herself for sounding interested and maybe even like she understood the topic.
@Irina Shevel@Liam Bennet@Gabriel Palmer@Matthew Robertson

Realising she kinda zoned out, Lizzie suddenly snapped back to reality. New people had joined the group and continued the topic of quidditch, discussing positions and broomsticks. She grinned at the new arrivals and then back at the gryffindor guys again before speaking up.

"Well personally I love the idea of being a chaser. That way I would always feel the wind on my face; that's one of the best things about quidditch in my opinion. I learned quidditch from my brother- he has the newest broom! I just use our old nimbus 2001 at home. It's a bit sad that we can't bring our own ones to school with us though. Andrea if you ever need an explanation of the rules, I'm sure anyone here would be happy to explain.
"Also this is so random but it feels cool to have a circle of people from different houses here. Really speaks to the school's spirit. Such a shame it'll all go away when Ravenclaw plays Gryffindor." Lizzie grins teasingly at them, sarcasm laced in her voice. "I'll wear red whenever you're facing Slytherin or Hufflepuff though, support my friends and all, if that's what we are now."

Andrea was still discussing Quidditch and listening attentively to what they said. She was so wrapped up in the conversation that she hadn't noticed there was another girl sitting near her. "Well personally I love the idea of being a chaser. That way I would always feel the wind on my face; that's one of the best things about quidditch in my opinion. I learned quidditch from my brother- he has the newest broom! I just use our old nimbus 2001 at home. It's a bit sad that we can't bring our new ones to school with us though. Andrea if you ever need an explanation of the rules, I'm sure anyone here would be happy to explain." Andrea was startled. "I'm sure I'll pick it up soon enough, no need." She said with an awkward smile. Lizzie went back to talking about the different houses and Quidditch, but Andrea stayed quiet. She was trying to remember anything she had learned about the sport so far.She remembered seeing something about the different positions in a book... but she couldn't quite recall what it said. "I think I would rather be a seeker, I read that some famous-hero guy was a seeker in a book somewhere. Howard something I think." Although Andrea had no clue what a seeker was, or who "Howard" was, (She was referring to Harry Potter) She was sure they would be impressed with all the details she knew already. "Also, I know this is random, but I'm thinking about dying my hair. I've been considering pink, but I want to know what you guys think about the idea. And also maybe give me some recommendations for the color." She said nervously.

@Gabriel Palmer@Liam Bennet@Irina Shevel@Matthew Robertson@Lizzie McGregor

"Pink is an awesome colour! Especially for hair as well. I have a friend in Ravenclaw whose hair is currently pink but she said she's probably gonna change again soon. I think people who dye their hair two different colours are quite cool as well, but no pressure of course. I mean if worst comes to worst there's probably a spell to undo it if you don't like it."

Lizzie grinned at the thought of her friend's bright pink hair and thought it'd be cool to have other people she knows dye their hair. She'd probably not do it herself but who knows really?

"Oh also I think that you're referring to Harry Potter. He was Gryffindor's youngest player in a century. Since then I believe that people have been more open minded about younger players. It's quite cool that you know about his quidditch playing as that's not what a lot of people talk about when the topic comes to him in a conversation."

If Andrea knew about Potter then it was to be assumed that maybe the muggle world was picking up on some magical celebrity names. If she was asked about anything else, she'd probably just suggest a time where they could meet up privately and discuss the rules and players in their own time.

Irina listened with interest as a Ravenclaw girl called Lizzie began talking animatedly about quidditch. She was happy to listen and observe everyone else, something she often did when trying to make new friends. She heard Andrea mention "Howard Potter" and gave a small chuckle. But she stopped immediately, worried she might have offended Andrea - but she was already quite impressed Andrea knew about him at all if she came from a muggle home!

But now, instead of quidditch, the girls were talking about dying and hair? Her mind was filled with confusion and she scrunched her eyes up, trying to piece together what on earth they could be talking about. After a good 2 minutes of silence, she finally remembered something she had overheard in one of the girls' bathrooms.
"Oh yeah, I know what you're on about! You use hair death to make your hair go a different colour! Its some sort of slime isn't it? And it goes different colour depending on the different slime?"
She sat back, grinning. She knew more about muggles than most due to her muggle aunt, but even so, she was proud of that small information. She thought for another few moments before saying, "I reckon I would death my hair turquoise - my favourite colour - but only on a few strands. I like my hair!"

The group was starting to clear up, some people leaving but mostly replaced by others. He shook the outstretched hand of the newcomer Irina he thinks she said. Out of all, Matt and Liam gave the most impression on him. He'd hoped they'd run into each other sooner or later in the year ahead of them. As they started talking about Quidditch positions, he decided to chime in.

"All positions are really cool honestly, but I'm thinking chaser or beater." Beater was a cool position, stopping people from having the chance to score. Though chaser was the more likely option. Hearing of Quidditch since an early age, he always knew he wanted to play.

"My brother told me about it, he couldn't ever show me, but I got the gist of it. I'm just hoping to get a better broom than the school ones, the better broom always gives soe sort of advantage." He thought aloud.

The conversation shifted to dying hair, something Gabe had never done. "Pink's a cool color, not something I'd ever do honestly but it'd suit your hair. If I had to choose for my hair being dyed, I'd probably do some sort of blue. Never my whole hair though." He liked his natural hair color so it would never really do well to dye his, but he liked the idea she had for hers.

It seemed everyone was quite impressed about Andrea's knowledge about "Harry Potter's" Quidditch
skills. And she got pretty good feedback on her pink hair idea. She laughed softly at Irina's "Hair death" comment. "It's hair dye, but i definitely understand the confusion. Because it actually isn't all that good for your hair. If anyone of you would like to dye your hair too, I'd totally love to help you. My sister's hair's naturally blonde, but she bleaches it a lot with my help." Andrea may not know everything about the wizarding world, but she knew everything there was to know about the muggle world. "Also, I'm saving up to buy a pet. Which one do you guys think is the best for Hogwarts?" She asked, "Right now I'm thinking a cat. And if anybody says a rat, I'm leaving." She joked. Shivering at the thought. "I have a cat back home, so I might be just a little biased, so I need your opinions." She was planning on going to Diagon Alley as soon as she had enough, whenever that would be. Maybe she could invite one of them to come with her, she especially liked talking to the girls, she just wished they were in the same house.