Closed Someone New PV Viviana De Santis

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@Wren Sinclair

Once the girl spoke, Wren realized another fascinating thing about her: her voice. If someone could sing without singing, that’s what it sounded like. Her speech had a melodic lilt to it that was very pleasant to listen to, alongside her graceful Italian accent. The girl introduced herself as Viviana. The name definitely suited her.

Wren glanced to the front of the room to make sure the professor wasn’t looking their way. To her surprise, she was, and so Wren reverted to taking notes for a few minutes. She found it extremely difficult, however, to take notes on whatever gargoyles were doing in the 1800s, when what she wanted to be doing was learning more about the person next to her.

Once she thought again that it was safe to chat, she turned back to Viviana and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“So…” she stalled, casting around for a subject to talk about, “do you have any favorite books?” When in doubt, Wren always turned the conversation to reading. “I just finished rereading The Chronicles of Narnia. It was one of my favorites when I was little.” Her parents, especially her father, had made sure that she was familiar with all the staples of classic literature, and she was thankful for it.

Taking careful notes, she was going to be prepared for any oncoming assessments, but she couldn't help but feel a little tired, she would have probably started falling asleep if she wasn't so interested to see what Wren would say next, she seemed very nice, and frankly, Viv needed attention right now.

Gargoyles... such interesting creatures, she wondered if they were all sentient and how they lived and what they ate.... could a stone creature eat? She wrote that in her notes, a question to ask the professor later. In the meantime, she chimed in with answers every once in a while, giving a satisfied grin when she got them right. She peeked over at Wren, seeing if she was invested at all, perhaps not, as her expression and extremely brief notes showed she wasn't really concerned about the history of Victorian Gargoyles...a fair assessment.

Soon she heard Wren speak and looked at her through the corner of her eye, nodding when asked about her favorite book. "It may seem basic but... right now I'm really enjoying Fantastic Beasts it really is a very interesting topic, magical critters."

"Narnia? I don't believe I've heard of that... would you like to tell me about it?"

Wren smiled when she heard the mention of Fantastic Beasts.That was a book her mother had read to her (naturally, since she was the wizard in the family.)"Fantastic Beasts is great! My favorite magical creature is a Niffler, how about you?" Following some thought, she continued, "speaking of magical creatures, what do you think your patronus would be, if you could cast one?" Wren wasn't quite sure yet herself. There wasn't any animal she could think of that really spoke to her in the way she thought a patronus should.

Though perhaps slightly disappointed, Wren wasn't surprised that Viviana had never heard of Narnia. It wasn't really a part of mainstream children's literature anymore, but it was definitely still a classic series. Wren began to explain the basic plot. "It's about these muggle children who get transported to another world full of magic, although it's very different from real magic- there's talking animals and everything, and they have to defeat an evil witch. That's a very, very simplified way to describe the plot of the first book, but the real thing is a lot more detailed. They're great books, I really enjoy them."

Wren smiled at Viviana. Then, she thought of something. "Viviana... do people ever call you any nicknames? Vivi or Viv or something?"

Once she'd said it, she wondered if maybe she shouldn't have. After all, they did just meet. Maybe it was a little early to ask about nicknames. Oh well, it was too late now.

Viviana felt impressed that Wren had in fact, read the book, which wasn't surprising as it was a first year textbook. The impressive part is that Wren seemingly finished it and enjoyed it. That put a warm smile on her face, to think she wasn't alone in thinking Scamander's work was great. "has to be puffskeins, I really love their cute little faces and long tongues" and she fawned after the image of one she had in her head. "My patronus? Uh... maybe a cat, or an owl? I guess I'll only know when I try"

Viviana saw the disappointment in Wren's face, but decided to let her speak before trying to explain. Perhaps she was missing out on something? Would her image be impacted by that at all?

"First? She thought about reading Narnia, but it became a bit intimidated at the idea of there being many "It does sound interesting, I will make sure to look into that, maybe if it's in the library, I'll read it." She hoped it'd be in the library, it was magic related, so maybe it was relevant to muggle studies? That then posed a question, she had never met a no-maj child long enough to actually know them, and she knew that they didn't know she could cast, since most of her life so far, she couldn't

"I wonder what muggles think of us, like if I went to one, and told them I did magic, what would they say? Would they be jealous?"

"I do have nicknames... yes, I know my name is a bit of a mouthful so, you can call me a nickname as long as it sounds nice." she shrugs, wondering if she would also come to regret this.

Puffskiens! Wren had seen the absolutely adorable creatures in Diagon Alley last summer, and thought that if she ever got a pet, it would either be a cat or a puffskien. This raised another question. “Do you have any pets? I don’t, but I hope I can get one soon.”

Viviana wondered if the Narnia books could be found in the library, which was a fair question. Wren hadn’t yet checked the library for fiction, she had mostly used it to find references for homework. There was no harm in looking, though!

Viviana then posed an interesting question- how would no-majs (muggles, Wren kept having to remind herself) react to being told that someone was a wizard? Well, she did have a satisfactory answer to this.

“They wouldn’t believe them! My mom’s a witch, but my dad’s a no-ma- I mean, muggle, and after they got engaged she told him she was magic. He thought she was playing a practical joke! He told me he started to think she was crazy until she actually showed him some magic, and then he thought he was crazy. He was pretty mad at her for a while, but then he came around. Anyways, he says he’s not as much jealous as he is lucky to be married to a witch.” Wren grinned slightly. It was an anecdote her father loved to repeat at home. Wren herself couldn’t have wished for two better parents.

After Viviana responded regarding the nickname, suggesting that maybe it was too difficult to say, Wren blushed profusely. “No, that’s not what I meant at all! Your name is absolutely beautiful, I don’t even know why I asked.” She gave a little embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t know, I just thought Vivi sounded cute. I might call you that if you don’t mind.”

Suddenly, she remembered they were still in a class. She turned, and realized to her horror that the professor seemed to be looking their way. Wren dove studiously into her notes. She’d get back to the conversation when the coast was clear.

Viviana shook her head, her expression an exaggerated somber face. "Unfortunately, no. But I will ask for a puffskein from my dad, hopefully he'll get it for me." She had faith he'd provide the little animal, but even if he didn't she'd end up buying it herself, after asking of course.

Viviana was endeared by the story, finding it very romantic, or at least, as romantic as a pre-teen could find it. She smiled warmly. "That's so beautiful and touching, your parents sound awesome, that would also mean... you have a real connection to the non-magical world, you have to tell me all about it! All about it." She says eagerly, even more invested in the conversation she was having with Wren, not to say she wasn't before.

She smiles at Wren's blushing, thinking she looked so funny getting flustered over that minor misunderstanding. "It's okay, don't worry, you can call me Vivi, I don't mind at all." She pat Wren's shoulder reassuringly, which was rare, as she didn't typically act so touchy toward people she just met.

Noticing that Wren looked forward, Viviana also looked forward to see the Professor's eyes, she didn't feel as worried, she took notes as she spoke, but she didn't want to be rude, so she looked away until she noticed she was not being watched.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention... would you like my notes? You can use them, as long as they aren't fully copied."