There he stood. In the middle of a busy street slap in the middle of Diagon Alley. In front of him being The Leaky Cauldron, a restaurant visited by both Witches and Wizards. Now the boy didn't know much about this place. Or Hogwarts in general. The only thing he did know was that he was going to attend said school, and if he even had a sliver of surviving the whole year, he would need to befriend someone to converse with, just to keep his sanity and help him get around when he needed it. For he wasn't used to being alone. He always had his siblings beside him, and now that they were at home where he was supposed to be.. well it just felt weird.

The hood of his black cloak was pulled up over his head shielding his raven hair and porcelain face. As he finally grew brave enough to step forward, his hands drew up out of his large and dark sleeves and tugged the hood back and down to reveal his identity to those around him. Inside he couldn't help but blink and stare in awe, and for multiple reasons too. For the first reason, it smelled absolutely delightful. For second, the tavern gave off a warm and rather comfortable vibe as well as a sort of magical one. And for third, there were so many people like him. By that, so many kids his age.

The boy stepped forward, finding himself a seat more out of view to simply watch and observe for a moment or two more. He'd order himself a drink or something small in just a moment, right now he just wanted to take it all in. That he, a so-called 'muggle' was here in such an amazing and dazzling world as this. Gifted with the chance to actually become more then what he could ever imagine. A new wizard, a first-year Hufflepuff...

Just for him to sit there and let it all soak into his head drew a smile back onto his pink lips. He'd probably never been more excited about anything before in his life except maybe when he got his German Shepherd Leon. But this was a whole lot bigger, and dare he say better.

But in a moment he was drawn out of his thoughts when he felt a pair of eyes stuck to him. He figured he was hidden well enough to not be noticed, but he guessed not. He felt himself draw back into his coat as the feeling of the eyes on him still stayed put...

Verla looked away quickly after looking at a boy she'd never seen before. She blushed immensely also. He was still looking at her when she looked back and she let out a small squeal and hid her face, she must've looked ridiculous. She hated feeling like an idiot, though she didn't know anyone who did. 

She didn't have the nerve to approach and begin a conversation with him. If she tried, it'd probably come out in gibberish. She sneaked a glance at him once more, and was relieved when he was looking back past the counter. Her bowtruckle, Oliver, began crawling down her back and began walking towards him. When she noticed he was gone, she looked toward the ground by the boy and saw him crawling up the counter and studied the boy.

Ugh great, now I have to approach him, it's fine Verla, just to speak. Well he needs an explanation of course, he deserves it right? Just go! Verla yelled at herself in her head as she approached him and grabbed Oliver "hey, I'm sorry if Ollie here gave you any trouble. I'm Verla, Verla Harness." She extended a hand out to him and smiled sweetly.

It took the raven rather a long time to find the holder of the eyes that were glued to him. He was expecting someone mean looking, glaring him down because he wasn't originally from this world. Wait was that.. would that be noticeable? Would someone from this world be able to notice that without Ven having to tell them? Thinking about this as he still searched only made him tenser...

But all that tense energy he held inside him melted away as he found blue eyes looking directly at him. The holder being a girl and a really pretty one at that. Ven's heart throbbed in his chest, this was something he definitely wasn't expecting. A faint wash of color ran over his cheeks as his lips parted more as if he were to say something. But how could he? She was tables away and most likely wouldn't hear him unless he yelled. And he certainly wasn't about to do that. When he came back to earth, Ven realized he was staring right back at the girl, and quickly decided to look away to decrease the chances of him being rude.

The warmth radiating off his cheeks wouldn't go away, no matter how many expressions he made as he glared at the wall beside him. Back in his thoughts he went, but was quickly pulled out of them as he felt something brushing along his hand. Naturally, he looked down at his hand, and what he saw almost made his soul leave his body. A creature, that resembled a plant, was chirping and gazing up at him. It seemed harmless yes, but who actually knows what the little thing could do.

He looked up from the creature when a voice caught his attention. It was the girl from earlier, and boy she looked even better up close. Though that thought would stay in his head. Yes, yes in his head it would stay and never surface. Yes.

Ven looked up at the girl, suddenly standing up and realizing he was only a smidge taller than her. Still, he offered a shy smile. ''Ven, Ven Alice." he replied, taking her hand in his and shaking it in a polite manner.

The warmth of his hand made her heart throb. She definitely wasn't expecting him to take Oliver so kindly, or to shake her hand at that. She smiled brightly when he did though. He knew how to take people by surprise. He was extremely handsome, and looked like he was from Hufflepuff too at that. She loved his ravened hair and wanted to ruffle it in an affectionate way, but it took a lot for her to refrain from doing so. She smiled at him sweetly. She honestly wanted to kiss his pink lips and make them have color again. But she had to remember that she was 11 and that it would be a bit inappropriate since he just met her. 

Kissing a stranger? Sounded like a nightmare to remember if they didn't want to be. What was this? A crush? On a boy she just met? She didn't know, but she wanted to find out. She looked at the time and it was around noon, then she heard her stomach rumble. Oliver was getting hungry too, she could feel it. "I'm a tad bit hungry, want to get some lunch?" Verla asked him kindly. She always made herself look vulnerable in a cute way, always looking like the attractive type.

| yikes! I'm terribly sorry for the long wait! I had a function I had to attend and I couldn't get any reception on my phone! I apologize once more '' |

A smile stayed firm on his lips. It wouldn't go away even if he wanted it too, and good thing he didn't. This girl, this beautiful and what he could already tell sweet girl, actually came up and started a conversation with him. Him! Ven Alice! Of all people! He felt the wash of color on his cheeks grow warmer as he took a minute to go over her details in his head. From her fiery red/orange hair that was curled ever so softly in what he also assumed to be a natural way, to her cute little stature and the way she carried herself. And those eyes of her's were simply breathtaking. So bright and blue.

She also seemed to be in the same house as her, in 'Hufflepuff.' Why knowing this only made the quiet and normally very shy boy want to know more about her. He already could see them becoming close friends in the near future, why not try to make it into a reality? It was worth a shot truly. He was almost too ahead of himself to realize the girl had asked him a question. He blinked a few times before mentally having to slap himself to force out his reply.

"Oh, I'd love to. I'm a tad bit hungry myself." he replied politely, and in a very happy and kind tone.

"Wonderful!" She sat down in the stool next to him and waited patiently. Was he looking at her? The feeling of him studying her made her blush, though she was excited to get to know a fellow Hufflepuff such as herself. She never expected the raven haired boy to want to sit with her. While they waited, she played a bit with Oliver on her finger, noticing he was still studying her. She smiled sweetly at looked at him and asked him "so what do you like to do for fun? Like out of classes and such? I like to read and draw and play my violin. Do you play any instrument or are you a singer? I don't mind for both, I just have a terrible singing voice." She giggled and then froze. She was babbling, oh no! Boys like him must hate babbling girls like her! She bit her bottom lip and looked down "sorry, I babble when I'm nervous." She smiled at him kindly. The lady behind the counter asked us what we wanted, I looked at her and politely asked for fries, just fries and a ham sandwich. Then she waited for Ven to reply his order.

She was nervous, though for a while when they began talking and conversing about each other, she began to feel relaxed. Getting to know the raven haired boy with somewhat dark eyes, made her feel like the most luckiest girl in the world for some reason, it made her feel....Special.

Ven had crossed his arms over the table in front of him, the sleeves of his robe drooping down to his bent elbows. One arm propped up and bent to serve as something the boy could rest his chin on. Head turned still with a soft smile playing on his lips. She had caught his attention for multiple reasons. For one her little creature fascinated him, he had never seen anything like it. Well, if he was going to be honest, he's never seen a lot of things that he's seen these past few days. So it wasn't saying all that much.

He had glanced away for a split second, something sparkling from another wizard's coat catching his eye before he turned back to Verla, hearing her voice once more to ask him a few questions. He leaned more into his palm. His smile growing wider and wider as she rambled on. She was nervous, but so was Ven. It was natural to feel like this, no? To feel a little shy upon meeting someone new. Ven realized he was probably staring again, and it probably wasn't helping the girl's nervousness. The raven the pulled his arms away from the counter and let his hands rest in his lap, glancing down at them as Verla's voice came to a short halt. Was something wrong?..

The words fell from Ven's lips before he could think twice about the already said sentence. His lips suddenly sealed up, a shy little grin pulling at them softly. Before he could add on his attention was pulled to order something to stop his hunger. Just to save time he ordered the same as her.

"I've been told that I have great talent for my voice and my sketches. Would you like to see some of them? I created every angle of the lake so I made it like the flip book, all I did was sit and move over once and continue drawing on a fresh new page." Verla took out her sketch book and flipped through all of the pages of the lake, all in one big circle. Then she stopped when she found a page that had her friend Levi looking down at Oliver. She quickly put it away and fought back tears. Her friend Levi had gone home and figured that Hogwarts wasn't really for him. Rubbing her eyes and hiding the wetness on her hands, which she quickly rubbed off, she waited for her food. "Do you like to write? I love writing books. I want to be an author and find new species of beasts when I'm older." She stopped there before she babbled again, knowing it probably annoyed him. She didn't mind him staring, a lot of people did since they thought she was a Veela. Though she couldn't remember if she was a third-of one or not since her grandmother said she was, but her grandmother wasn't a reliable source at that time either. 

Ven sat quietly once more as Verla spoke on. She was really something else but in the best way possible from what Ven would know. And once she pulled out her sketchbook Ven became more and more intrigued. The sketches and drawings she had from the lake at the school were gorgeous and so overly detailed, it looked like he could reach in and fall into the piece of paper. Though now thinking about it and considering where he was at, such a thing might be very possible.

A breathless 'wow' escaped Ven. His eyes flickering over the pages as the animation began, and came to a stop. A picture of a young male was drawn, but before he could take notice of all the thoughtful details, Verla had hurriedly closed the book and put it away. He brought those blue hues of his up to give her soft questionable look but felt his heart sink low in his chest as it seems the sketch had brought a saddened look onto her features. Ven sat up and a little away from her to give her some space. What had just happened? What should he do? Should he say something? Should he sit idle? All these questions flew through Ven's head as he became flustered on what to do. He wasn't good at comforting others but always wanted to try and help. Eden, his older sister, always gave him tips, but he only ever remembered a few...

"Yeah, I did a lot of writing back home u-uh.." He began, wanting to ask if she was alright and all without being completely awkward about it. "Verla.. That drawing... It seemed to make you upset.. are you ok..?" He added on, asking the question made his heart thump hard in his chest but it didn't stop him from making sure she was all alright. Worry stitched into his pale features, as those blue hues of his searched for anything close to a change of expression or sudden glint in the girl's eyes.

She was his friend after all. Er-... Starting of a friendship, and don't friends look after each other?... Of course, Ven wouldn't push her to tell him anything if she didn't want to, that would just be rude. But he did want to know what was bothering her if anything was..