It's Been a While Closed

Euphrasia hummed as she explored the endless corridors of Hogwarts. And, they literally were endless. It seemed that no matter how far Euphrasia walked, and no matter how many times she twisted around the corners, Hogwarts never ends.

But finding beautiful places like Hogwarts ballroom was something like good karma for exploring the castle. The ballroom always glittered, and always shined with color every time Euphrasia entered the room.

A shock that came one time Euphrasia entered the room was when she found another girl already sitting there. It made the raven-haired girl hide behind a wall, and listen intently. The already-there girl was playing a piano. She sounded very good.

Euphrasia couldn't play the piano, but she could tell when it was and wasn't being played well. Playing musical instruments was easy for Euphrasia, like the violin, or the ukulele, but not piano or the drums. Not everything was her cup of tea.

When the song ended, Euphrasia stepped out from behind the wall from which she was hiding behind. She clapped her pale hands together, letting the sound echo throughout the room.

"You sound very good!" Euphrasia chirped, her American accent flushed through her words, making Euphrasia blush slightly. It must sound so weird to someone with no American accent.

"My name is Euphrasia, but call me Millie."

Eloise jumped slightly as a girl emerged from behind one of the tall, white walls behind her. Spinning around, the felt herself blush.

"Hi! I'm Eloise. And, thank you." Eloise looks down at her feet sheepishly. "It's really been quite a long time since I've played. It wasn't as well as I used to be able to play it."

It was easy for Eloise to find things to critique herself on. Her ability to play piano, among many other instruments, was definitely one of those things. Any time she couldn't correctly play a rhythm or a chord, she would force herself to start the song over. If she failed again, the process was repeated until she played it right. Eventually, she learned that she absolutely despised doing this and began playing things correctly the first time.

"Do you play any instruments?" Eloise was well versed in the musical world. She intended to join choir here, although she believed she couldn't sing very well. When it came to music, she called her voice her worst instrument. Although, others opposed this fact.

Eloise felt awkward just leaving Millie to stand about, so she scooted down on the piano bench to make room for the girl she'd just met. Patting the bench slightly, she smiled warmly. The piano bench was longer than most, capable of holding three people if need be.

Millie felt nervous that she had scared the girl when she peeked out from behind the wall, luckily enough, the girl didn't overreact. Or, at least not enough for Millie to take notice.

"Do you play any instruments?"

Millie nodded her head to Eloise's question. She took her time answering as she took in a deep breath, the cold air of the ballroom froze her lungs, but it still felt nice. It wasn't anything like the Scottish air outside of Hogwarts, or the British air when Millie was at her home in London. The air almost reminded her of America, back during Winter times. Good times.

"Yep! I play the ukulele, violin, guitar, and I can sort of play the harp. I'm not good at playing it, though." Millie giggled. She enjoyed playing the harp, but had little experience, whereas she had been playing the violin for seven years, and the ukulele for three.

When standing in the ballroom began getting awkward, Millie felt a wave of relief when Eloise moved over on the piano seat and offered for Millie to sit next to her. It made the raven-haired girl silently thank Dumbledore.

Millie took a split second to analyze Eloise. Eloise had dark brown hair, and it was pretty. Or at least Millie thought so. Eloise, like so many other girls, had light brown eyes, and it was nothing new, but it still interested Millie.

"So, what do you think about Hogwarts?"

Eloise smiles. The girls who had approached her had black hair with bangs that came down, resting just underneath her eyebrows. They weren't too long to where the girl couldn't see, though. They looked good. "So far, I think that it's wonderful." Eloise looks at the room she was in, marveling at just how beautiful it was. The castle and it's grounds were no different.

"Everything is so beautiful here..." Eloise gestures to the grand ballroom. It was slightly colder in the ballroom, but it wasn't too terribly freezing that it wasn't a comfortable chill. The air was light and cold inside her lungs. It reminded her of when she would run cross country so her Muggle school. Sometimes the meets were early in the morning, and the cold, bitter air would soothe her lungs as she ran.

"So where are you from?" Eloise longed to continue playing, but the girl wasn't bothering her at all. In fact, she was happy somebody from her own house had finally come and said hello to her. She hadn't talked to anybody from Gryffindor except for the head of house, who had simply greeted her and helped her to get her bearings. For that, though, she had been thankful. Typically, she tried to busy herself with things while she talked to keep her mind sharp. It was an odd thing to do, however, it helped Eloise. But she didn't want to seem rude or disrespectful, so instead she listned intently to the girl, going over melodies in her head.

"So where are you from?"

It was the question Millie had been dreading. She wasn't from anywhere, but she was also from everywhere. It seemed almost impossible to explain everything in one sentence. In a book summary. Millie's deep, violet eyes flickered nervously from Eloise to the ground. They fluttered constantly in a nervous frenzy.

Millie softly took in a deep breath, it seemed that her worrying put her off ease. Yet it took everything to continue trekking on.

"Well, get ready for a story," Millie smiled and pushed back her hair, "I was born in London, England, but everyone else in my family, except my dad. My entire family lives in the United States. I travel frequently between the two countries, and have my entire life. My grandmother passed away last month, and I'm still a bit upset-" Though Millie never showed it, "But I've been traveling a lot. Even to different countries!"

Though Millie tried to be happy, her bright smile faltered, yet she covered it up. It took everything to not cry to this girl. Millie knew the true troubles of traveling. Her parents almost always ignored her for work, and family, and when she was in America, her entire family would just destroy her self esteem.

Maybe Hogwarts was good for Euphrasia Destiny Millie.

Eloise's smile faltered when she saw that Millie was a bit hesitant to answer the question. Immediately she felt bad, but it only made her listen more intensely. She could tell that Millie needed somebody to talk to about this, and Eloise was ready to be that person. However, she didn't expect Millie to confide in her right away. Perhaps if they got closer, though.

"Ah. I'm from Bath, England. I have family in the states, but I don't see them very often. Only on holidays." With a smile, she looks to the ground, unsure of what to say next. She could ask a simple question about her favorite color, or something along those lines. But that was extremely basic, even for muggles.

Looking to Millie, she says, "So, how are you liking classes?" Personally, so far, Eloise had only taken Transfiguration. She had a free period currently, which she'd decided to take to explore the grounds more thoroughly. But as soon as she had come across the ballroom, and saw the piano, she'd been plopped down on the bench ever since, tapping away at the black and white keys, creating melodies that she'd thought she had long forgotten how to play.

"So, how are you liking classes?" 

Millie groaned. Classes were unbelievably, atrociously boring. Everything about sitting in a tiny room for long periods of time made Millie cringe. She just wasn't the type of person to sit silently and do nothing. Heavens, she was the type of person to jump up and scream about how boring that was. Millie would never back down.

"So boring. I hate sitting in this tiny room for so long, then getting quizzed on everything you get told. Its torture!" Millie said, brushing a piece of unwanted hair back.

But taking a deeper thought on it, Millie compared all of her classes. She enjoyed History of Magic, and the professor, and she also enjoyed Herbology. Transfiguration and Charms were cool too, but definitely not something like Potions. God, even the word made Millie shudder. But she blushed instantly when she did so.

"I really like Herbology and History of Magic. Maybe Transfiguration and Charms, but never Potions or Astronomy. The professors are kinda mean, too. But I like Professor Davis, she's very nice," And though Millie hadn't really cared too much about Hogwarts, giving everything a deeper thought made it seem just that much more important.

"Anyway, enough about me. What about you? Do you like classes so far?"

Eloise wasn't offended or taken aback, let alone surprised that Millie was bored in her classes. That was how most students acted towards their classes. Even Eloise felt that way sometimes, even though she loved school. But she wasn't one to change her opinions because somebody else didn't agree. "I actually quite like classes. I have a history with the stars, so Astronomy is definitely a fun one. I'm excited to take flight classes, which I haven't done yet. I really like Herbology too."

Eloise had an affinity for plants. Her love for the things that provided her with oxygen had begun almost spontaneously. Although, now that her likes and personality seemed to go through a major change just before she received her Hogwarts letter, Eloise wasn't really surprised. She was obsessed with aesthetics, whether those be online or in real life.

"When I can, I think I'm going to join the choir. I can improve my voice that way. It isn't the best right now, but I'm hoping that it can be improved upon with practice." Looking up and surveying her surroundings, Eloise saw a mouse puttering along the floor, a boy from another house, presumably another first year, chasing it around. With a laugh, Eloise turned to Millie, trying to hide her smile behind her hand.

Millie shrugged her slender shoulders. It was obvious this girl enjoyed her classes. Maybe worshipped them, to Millie, it didn't matter.

"When I can, I think I'm going to join the choir. I can improve my voice that way. It isn't the best right now, but I'm hoping that it can be improved upon with practice."

"Join the Choir?" Millie giggled, "That sounds fun. I'm more interested in instruments, and I don't think I can sing too well-" Without even hesitating, Millie rolled her eyes at her own statement, "That sounds stupid. I know I sound good when I sing. I enjoy it, but maybe not enough to boost my small ego."

Taking in a deep breath from her small rant, Millie smiled apologetically to Eloise. It seemed that her face said everything, but maybe not everything.

It only took Millie ten seconds to break down into a full-blown emotional breakdown, five for a panic attack, one second for her to spill her entire life story to some random stranger she met in the Hogwarts Ballroom.

Time seemed to fly by like magic, but the magic seemed corrupt, broken. Heartless. The same words Millie would use to describe her archenemy. Maybe anyone she just disliked. Yet Millie wasn't able to pinpoint where she had heard the words before.

"Do you think our ministry is corrupt?"