A Simple Evening Chat OPEN to Slytherin Table Closed

Interacting: @Koko Riddle | Wearing: uniform | #607832 | #786072

Live spotted the gray-purple hair of Sadie’s new friend, whose name was something like Mirren Gale, at the Slytherin table. The immediate spots on Mirren’s right was taken, and there were two empty spots to Mirren’s left. Sadie wasn’t there. If she were, she’d prefer to sit between Live and Mirren, and Mirren would probably prefer that regardless of what happened. Live chose the selfish option of sitting next to Mirren because expecting Sadie to show was wildly optimistic, neither of them would have a ‘friend’ next to them if Sadie didn’t show, and three seats over was Koko Riddle.

She really didn’t want to bother Riddle. She saw her last at Slytherin's Quidditch match against Hufflepuff a couple of weeks ago. She remembered noticing that tall, older girl with unkempt blonde hair which the wind whipped into her eyes, so far above the ground, untouchable and invulnerable. How did Riddle do? Live had been ecstatic with the outcome of the match, although that didn’t narrow it down because she always cheered for everyone. There was too much fog.

But if reading her words counted, then Live saw her yesterday. She spaced out her reading of the articles of the Hogwarts Headliner so she had something to keep her going every day, and yesterday she had gotten to Riddle’s. While Live didn’t respond to the survey, she occupied herself by writing a couple of responses other people might’ve sent. The queasy feeling she experienced near Riddle wasn’t jealousy. Live knew she could never be like Riddle, but at any rate Riddle was the one she was cheering for.

Mirren turned to look at her. “There’s someone sitting where you’re sitting now.” Straight thin brows, mouth set in a thin line, and two strands of shorter, bright blue hair framing her forehead. It was a relief to know she was at the right place, even if the person she was at this table for was absent.

“Sorry. Where’s Sadie?” Live had slept through less of class than usual and was too tired to pretend to have a pretty voice. She shifted into the seat adjacent to Riddle with her head turned to face Mirren, giving her the appearance of an animal being backed into a corner, in order to avoid looking at Riddle, although Gale scared her nearly as much.

“How the hell am I supposed to know. She said she’d be back.” Gale pointed at her plate, fiercely. “I’m going to eat.”

So that left her with no one. Live carelessly looked to her left and saw someone whom she’d forgotten was there. Her eyes lurched away from Koko’s perfect blonde hair and met her own plate, which was empty. She really wanted to talk to Koko. And how was she going to do that when she couldn't even look at Koko's hair? She made a deal with the plate: she wouldn’t leave to get food until she had at least said hi.

She still had yet to get used to the heavenly smell which pervaded the Great Hall at every meal. “Hi,” she told Koko, her voice strangely monotone. This fulfilled the minimum requirements of the plate deal, but she remained sitting, because she really wanted to talk to Koko. “How’s your, um, water?”

For a while, Koko ate in silence. Eventually, her muscles loosened, and she found herself hungrier than she'd thought she was. She stared at the sausage remaining on her plate and wondered if she should get more or if she should try something new. Shepherd's pie sounded amazing, but Koko knew if she ate too much too fast, she would be risking very unfortunate consequences such as a major stomachache later.

Thus, she continued to eat relatively slowly, punctuating each bite with water because, even after two glasses, she was still dehydrated. Exercising did that to you. Koko thought that after years of Quidditch she would have learned, but here she was, her throat parched despite her meagre attempts at self-care. She wanted tea, or perhaps something a bit more flavourful, but she knew she needed water until she no longer felt minutes away from passing out.

Despite her tiredness, she sat relatively straight in her chair. It would take knowing Koko very well for one to be able to notice the slightly abnormal squint to her eyes or the way her shoulders curved inwards this evening. To most people, she would just look shy and quiet, which she was. She couldn't deny that.

Koko unravelled her scarf, and when she glanced up from her plate, she noticed someone had sat near her. She didn't immediately recognise the newcomer, but judging from her robes, she was a Hufflepuff. She looked a bit younger than Koko, but Koko had never been that great at guessing ages. She did know she didn't share any classes with the other girl, so she had to be in a different year, and since Koko knew a fair number of fourth and sixth years, she doubted the girl was in either of those years. She didn't really look like a third year either, so Koko would guess she was in her first or second.

Koko loved seeing younger students enjoy themselves at Hogwarts─in her own first and second years, she hadn't really done much 'enjoying' and had instead been bombarded by threat after threat─but this girl didn't seem to be very happy. It wasn't any of Koko's business, and she didn't have any right to impose, so she quickly glanced away and tried her best not to overhear any of the girl's conversation. It was rude to eavesdrop, after all.

Koko finished her sausage and started on her last potato. She savoured the hint of rosemary in the vegetable, noting that it was similar to how her grand-père made roasted potatoes back in Rioux-Martin. « Comment dit-on ça en français ? » he would ask whenever he served certain foods, and when the food in question was potatoes, Koko would reply glumly, « Les pommes de terre... »

The memory soured the potato's taste, and Koko sighed. She really hated the French language. It might have been better had she not been forced to study it, but alas. Her smile had turned into a frown as she thought about Rioux-Martin, but she was drawn out of her thoughts by a single word.

Koko turned to face the girl seated next to her. Was she closer than she'd been earlier? Koko would have sworn they had been further apart, not that it mattered. Koko blinked and waved to acknowledge the girl's greeting. She would have said hi, but she figured she could at least swallow her potato as quickly as possible so she was available to talk if the girl wanted to talk any more.

Live. Koko would do her best to remember the girl's name. She surveyed Live's face, trying not to seem too obvious, but it was easiest to match a name with a face when she had a person's facial features memorised.

'Hi,' Koko said softly, 'I'm Koko.' She paused when Live asked about her water, and she glanced at her cup, which was nearly empty, before responding. 'It's very refreshing, thank you for asking. I think I need more, though. Just got done with Quidditch practice, and I forgot to bring water with me.' She would chuckle just a bit at her error. Oops.

Hopefully, she didn't seem intimidating or weird. Or irresponsible, with regard to her inability to remember water of all things. Koko glanced at Live again and noticed that the other girl's plate was empty. 'Have you already eaten, or did you have something you were planning to get? The roasted potatoes were really good.'

@Live Makela

Reducio

« Comment dit-on ça en français ? » -> 'How do you say that in French?'

« Les pommes de terre... » -> '(The) potatoes...'

Interacting: @Koko Riddle | Wearing: uniform | #607832 | #786072

Live was uncomfortably aware that Koko was looking at her. Her eyes darted around the room, occasionally landing on Koko during spurts of bravery. In an attempt to draw attention away from her eyes, Live smiled and waved back with both hands. Koko's clear, soft voice stuck out to her. It'll be over soon.

Koko glanced at the cup while answering, which brought Live a moment of respite. Live was grateful that her awful question elicited a detailed, serious answer which also assured her that she wasn’t wrong about this being Koko the Quidditch player, among other equally impressive things. She sounded so admirable all the time. Live quit her HoM homework because she didn’t want to go up to her dorm to get a refill of ink and Koko was flying, untouchable, even without water. “That’s really impressive, you know, to have that kind of resolve. And you can have my water, I haven’t touched it yet.” She nudged her goblet slightly towards Koko without pushing it far enough for it to end in Koko’s space.

Live considered asking how the Quidditch game went, but it’s better to not bring it up at all than bring it up just to forget about it. Not asking keeps them, well, somewhat closer to being on the same page.

Koko’s eyes found hers again, and Live did her best to focus on the question and not her eyes. “Haven’t eaten, haven’t planned. I’m glad you liked the potatoes,” which made it sound like she was taking credit for the house-elves’ work. “Ah, I didn’t make them or otherwise have a vested interest in them, and they’re not poisoned, haha, thanks for the recommendation and I’ll go get some right now.” She stood up over the course of two seconds, stepped to the side of her chair (Mirren’s side), stepped back, and pushed it in, slowly. She walked calmly to a platter of roasted potato further down the table, hoping her incompetence would convince Koko that she didn’t skip the closer platter on purpose.

She filled her plate with potatoes, and perhaps too late looked at the other dishes. She wondered if she should get anything else, but she didn’t want to eat anything other than what Koko recommended. Would this look weird, or would Koko not care about some random potatoes that were about to be eaten anyway?

How long has she been standing there for? Live didn’t want to keep Koko waiting, which was one of the reasons, but the most pressing reason was that Live missed Koko. Her sudden sprint surprised herself, and she stopped abruptly, leaving a trail of fallen potatoes on the ground behind her but fortunately a presentable amount in her plate. She slowed down to a hurried walk. Before she was able to reach Koko, she felt light tap on the back of her hand with the middle three fingers reaching skin in quick succession, Sadie’s tap. She stopped as fast as she could and additionally took a step backwards.

The fingers were attached to Mirren’s hand. Mirren was twisted in her seat so that she was hugging the seat’s back and had her neck craned upwards at Live. Mirren retreated her hand and settled it over her other arm. Live restlessly pressed the top of her toes into the floor. Mirren said, “Hey. Do you know what Sadie’s doing?”

Sadie had instructed Live to tone down her liking of Gale to the best of her ability so she could have a friend to herself. She wanted to give Sadie what she wanted, but she also didn’t want Koko to think she was a cold person, and besides she wanted to talk to Mirren in a space more conductive towards thinking so she could try to be cold and friendly at the same time to her. “No…Do you want to meet up later? I can wait for you near your common room.” If Gale accepted Live’s offer, she’d be able to be more impolite than usual without Koko seeing her.

“What?” Gale’s incredulousness was probably due to Sadie having described Live as someone who’d act differently. It only hurt slightly to learn that Sadie didn’t think Live was capable of listening to her. “Sure, okay. See you.” Gale turned away from Live, and after waiting to make sure she wouldn’t spin back around with a creepy smile plastered on her face, Live continued onwards to Koko.

She plonked the plate on the table and sank into her chair before noting Koko’s posture and attempting to imitate it. She didn’t look stiff; instead, she looked elegant and composed in relaxed way, like it was natural for her. She looked timid as well, and in the back of her head Live told herself that if this went poorly and when she was pushed away, she could always tell herself that some people just don’t want to interact with people in general and it wasn’t her fault. Like Sadie, for instance. Koko’s been so nice to her though. “I’m back,” Live said, with a desperate grin.

Koko would keep her gaze trained on Live, hopefully in a way that seemed curious rather than intimidating or rude. She'd always been taught that it was incredibly rude to stare, but she liked being able to look at people when she was talking to them. It was easier to read people that way, and she liked to think it made her seem more personable. Eyes were supposedly windows to the soul, after all, and if Live could see Koko's eyes, maybe she could also see that Koko was an animal lover that just so happened to love potatoes with a touch of rosemary.

Live's compliment made Koko smile, but she still laughed awkwardly. One would think that since she'd been a quidditch player for so long, she didn't mind attention, but it was actually the opposite. She hated attention, but on the quidditch pitch it was bearable. She could forget about it, actually, and imagine that the crowd's gaze was on something else. It was actually far more likely that spectators were watching Dan, the Chasers or the Beaters─not the Keeper. People liked action.

'Thanks,' Koko said. She glanced at Live's drink. 'I'll have to respectfully decline, though. You also need water.' She hesitated, realising how weird that probably sounded. 'I mean, it's good to hydrate, but in moderation.' Now she sounded like a nutrition counsellor her dad might have seen on TV. Not quite the goal. 'Like... I shouldn't drink too much at once, and water's always good with a meal.' As if that didn't sound worse.

Koko tilted her head when Live mentioned the potatoes─of course, Koko had mentioned them first. But poison? She hadn't thought of that. She glanced down at her plate, which still had a potato on it, and she smiled wryly. Maybe they would have been poisoned if her grand-père made them, but not here at Hogwarts. She watched, a bit reserved, as Live rose to get some food. Koko furrowed her brow in slight confusion, but she wouldn't say anything. She wanted to ask if Live was okay, but she held her tongue and focused on her potato.

She thought for a moment about getting more food, but she also knew she'd eaten a lot and that she didn't want to make herself ill. If she were either of her brothers, she might have loaded her plate with dessert. She was certainly thinking about it. Instead, she finished her remaining potato and decided to let her stomach settle before she got anything else. She scanned the Great Hall for her brothers─short kids in their uniforms, hopefully, one in red and one in yellow. Koko was still surprised that Holmes was a Hufflepuff. She'd never quite gotten along with badgers, but she supposed Annie was a Hufflepuff and she was fine, and Live was a Hufflepuff who was also rather nice. And Holmes was Koko's brother, so she had to love him no matter what.

It was just that she'd had some interesting experiences with Hufflepuffs in the past. However, Koko had been trying to move past that recently. She wasn't like other Slytherins, not like the ones who had forged the house's reputation as being unaccepting and rude. Koko was nice, right? She could be nice and inclusive and still be a Slytherin.

She was pondering this─genuinely asking herself how she was a Slytherin even though she'd been in the house for nearly five years─when Live returned, announcing she was back.

Koko turned to the younger girl and smiled. 'Wonderful!' she said, and she was being completely genuine. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Koko didn't have many friends who were still at Hogwarts, and she didn't talk to most of the ones she still had very often.

Speaking of friends, she remembered the people Live had been talking to earlier. It didn't really seem her place to ask, but she was curious. 'If I may ask... Those people you were talking with earlier, are they your friends?' Her tone was even and polite, although it held an intrigued undertone. There was no malice in her words─she just wanted to know more about Live.

@Live Makela

Interacting: @Koko Riddle | Wearing: uniform | #607832 | #786072

It had escaped her notice that Koko was constantly smiling, like it was her resting expression. It was baseless and shamefully hopeful to believe that Koko was genuinely happy. How do you tell if you’re doing something right when they smile regardless of how uncomfortable they are? Perhaps her beauty meant that her smile more distracting than most, or perhaps Live was just easy to fool. With her eyes locked on a patch of wall sort of close to Koko’s head, Live decided it would be best to avoid looking at mouths in addition to eyes.

Live obediently took a sip of water, which made her thirstier because it reminded her that humans had to hydrate, and when Koko said that water was good with a meal, she forked some potato into her mouth with the intention of washing it down with more water. The potato was topped with that spice called mint or something; unsurprisingly, Koko’s choice was delicious. Given the house-elves’ prowess though, she imagined it wouldn’t be possible for Koko to recommend her something that didn’t taste good. Live nodded along as Koko gave more water advice, relaxing a bit because Koko sounded so trustworthy and caring. Live might be easily fooled, but she was convinced that her kindness was genuine, and after all her smile was for the people around her. Fortunately, her deep-rooted habit of not talking with her mouth full prevented her from further embarrassing Koko. The rim of the goblet crashed into her lips rather belatedly, and she drank for the sakes of keeping Koko and her parched throat, until she remembered—right, in moderation. I realized while proofreading that at this point in time Live didn’t have the potatoes yet. So…I guess this should happen later? Like the whole water conversation

which also means this part of the conversation doesn't make chronological sense :') Live wanted to thank her. There was a potential loophole of indirect compliments, which she could give by comparing Koko to someone imaginary who's also amazing. "A friend told me the same thing once," Live said. She'd need to be more cautious to not embarrass Koko, since her thoughts usually revolved around how wonderful other people were. Ah wait, that's not true, she had also been thinking about potatoes. Switching the topic, she waved her fork at the potatoes and said, "They're really good. It's um, well I'm no food connoisseur, but the stuff goes well together. It's elegant in a relaxed way." Like the way you sit, which was something she should never say out loud because firstly it was unwanted attention, and secondly she didn't think most people would interpret sitting like potatoes as a a good thing.

Koko smiled down at the potatoes like she knew something about them Live didn’t, which was so obvious she was taken aback that she’d really thought about it. For instance, she probably knew the actual name of the spice on the potatoes. Live pushed down her paranoia and concentrated on escaping her seat properly.

As she made her way back, Live noticed Koko was looking around the hall, as if she were looking for someone, her gaze lingering on the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. What was it that her family said about Hufflepuffs? Maybe Koko liked flawed people, which was great news for Live, although the other Hufflepuffs didn’t seem very flawed at all. Actually, what did the Sorting Hat say, patience and…it was just patience, wasn’t it? As for Gryffindors, they were supposed to be chivalrous and brave. Her mom didn’t like these either. Live resolved to become more Hufflepuff-y; she could not delude herself into thinking it was possible for her to gain the hallmark Gryffindor traits.

Or maybe Koko was just curious why she wasn’t sitting at the Hufflepuff table, or somewhere with a higher opinion of Hufflepuffs such as the Gryffindor table. Koko had given her the perfect opportunity to explain, if she found it in herself to tell the truth. Since Gale was right there she probably should, although she wasn’t sure which direction she’d lie in even if she were able to get away with lying.

“Mirren is… ” Live began, but halted when Gale turned her chair with a scraping noise to face her. Mirren’s expression was one of daring apathy. Assuming she had permission, Live continued.

The Truth: “We just met. This is our first time seeing each other. She’s a friend of a friend, who’s Sadie, but Sadie’s not here right now. She could be in detention, or her room, which means she’ll miss dinner. Oh, I should bring her food then.” Live stood up, but the dropped potatoes earlier were fresh in her mind and she knew that she wasn’t nearly dexterous enough to carry a plate of food to the Hufflepuff dorms without incident, so she sat down again. There was probably a spell for times like this. Should she put food in a goblet? She took another sip, wanting to empty the goblet at a healthy, scientific pace.

Despite Koko trying her best to pay attention to the conversation at hand, bits and pieces would evade her hearing as she glanced at her plate and then forlornly at macarons across the hall. She kept her gaze level, only allowing the most fleeting of glances across the room ─ but they were still there.

'...elegant in a relaxed way.'

Koko blinked, her attention once again fully on Live. She tried to school her surprise away, but her smile would fade slightly as she tried to puzzle out what Live had said. 'You're right,' she said in response, her words slow and slippery like oil on her tongue. Did that fit with what Live had said? She hoped so. She didn't want to admit she was at fault, but deep down, she was terribly sorry that her attention had lapsed.

Resolving to give Live her undivided attention (and to get dessert later), Koko folded her hands in her lap and tilted her head to show she was listening when Live began talking about the girl ─ Mirren.

Koko's eyebrows raised slightly when Live mentioned she had just met Mirren. They had seemed to know each other better than that, but then again, what did Koko, a troglodyte of a fifth year, know? She didn't have many friends, so she couldn't speak to knowing people well. For her, learning someone's name was often the most she got out of an interaction before she was spooked away.

However, she was still seated here with Live. Perhaps it was because eating helped take Koko's mind off of everything that could go wrong. Or, maybe ─ and this was a big maybe ─ Koko was beginning to outgrow her near-constant apprehension. It was still there, in the back of her head, that worry that the candles floating above her would fall, or that some crazed child would find a knife and run around... But talking to Live, the voice in her mind quieted. Maybe Koko did need to talk to people more often.

'I would have assumed the two of you knew each other,' Koko said, her voice soft with a careful note of surprise in it. 'If you want, you can get food to bring to Sadie. I don't mind.' Koko chuckled and glanced at the macarons again. 'I actually might go find something else to eat, if you don't mind? I'll be right back.'

She walked rather quickly to retrieve the French desserts. She put four on her plate but then grabbed a fifth in case Live wanted one, and then she hurried back to the table. Luckily, her plate was textured enough to stop the macarons from sliding off.

Koko arrived at the table.

If Live hadn't gotten up again (or if she had left and come back quickly), Koko would sit down and offer the younger girl a macaron. 'I grabbed a lot of these, and if you'd like to try one without making another trip, just let me know.'

If Live did get more food and wasn't back yet, Koko would set her plate down and hurry to refill her goblet with water. Then, she would sit down and wait to see if Live would return. She would smile gently and offer a macaron if Live came back.

@Live Makela