You gotta take the plunge! PV Nico Finished

A deer. A rabbit. A squirrel. They filled the page she had first been staring at. Tiny clouds of breath blew through her scarf as she scribbled some more. Soon the rabbit wiggled its tail, running circles around the deer. Drawing didn't go as well as ususal. Frustrated Nico put her notebook aside and stared at the lake. She couldn't help but ponder about the results of the sorting ceremony. The Sorting Hat was always right, you weren't supposed to question it. He made the decision for a reason. But still... Her arms gently wrapped around her knees as she sighed. The voices of students making fun of her, echoed in her head.

Suddenly someone approached her from behind. He did very carefully but she got startled anyway, accidently knocking over some of her supplies. He introduced himself and she noticed he might be just as nervous as she was. Not sure of what to do, she ended up staring at his feet, looking for the right words to say. '...Ehm..' Trying to calm herself down, she looked at his appearance. She noticed his uniform wore the emblem of Gryffindor and swallowed. Quickly she turned away and collected her pencils and pens, putting them in her bag in a clumsy way. Nico put her bag on her lap, holding it closed tight. As if all her sorrows were trapped in her bag, she took a deep breath and calmed down. Slowely she looked over at the boy named Hugh keeping her scarf over half her face. 'Ehm.. I'm.. I'm Nico..'

"Hey! It's okay really. Nice to meet you." He noticed she wore the green of slytherin. Darn, that might be trouble. He thought by himself. He eventually opted to sit next to her, she didn't run away... yet. She seemed very tense. He wondered if she was being bullied somewhere in school. Lonely people often got misunderstood. or were easy to pick on.

"Well... it's nice to meet you Nico" He began talking quietly. "What makes you come and sit here? Were you lost or hiding?" He couldn't but ask her questions. Something was off about all this. He was convinced she had trouble at school.

He noticed her bag she was holding on so tight. "I saw you draw earlier. I draw as well." He tried to think of things to say that would shake her a bit loose. "What do you find hard to draw? I find fingers just absolutelty annoying to draw. I never get them right!" He exaggerated his wording a bit to sounds a bit more comical, hoping his tone would make her smile a bit instead of the frightful staring at her shoes.

He sighed as he kept thinking. This is going to be a tough nut to crack isn't it?

As soon as the boy decided to sit next to her, she tried to hide behind her red hairbangs. Her fingers tightly wrapped around the leather strap of her bag. Her other hand made sure her scarf stayed up, only revealing the bridge of her nose. She kinda wished she didn't end up sitting here to have this awkward coversation.

'I... wasn't happy with... my House..'. She gently mumbled, looking at the lake. A small wall of mist quietly glides over the lake. It was so peaceful. So quiet. The view made her forget her social anxiety and let her relax abit. 'And... I.. do love drawing.' Nico said while slightly fumbling with the end of her scarf. 'I mostly like to draw animals. They seem more fascinating to me than human beings do. Like.. They vary in so many ways while humans are just dull and similar.'

Her gaze dropped to her hand which was holding her bag closed tight. Should she..? Would he..? Her hand shivered as she overthought her situation. What would happen next? For now it was untouched and blank. Everything could happen, which frightened her. Did she talk too much? Would he find her weird? She thought about how she didn't have any friends because she was too shy to start a conversation with them. A mixture of emotions, thoughts and feelings filled her entire existence. She felt dizzy.

Quickly she looked back at the lake. Just in time. A second later and she'd be crying in silence. The view of the lake put her at ease. Without thinking she dropped her bag next to her near Hugh. 'If you want... You can have a look. I mean... It's not good but...'

He immediately accepted the offer to peruse through her book. He got quite excited after that. She seemed to have quite the talent too. As he went from page to page she mentioned she wasn't happy with the hat's choice. Something he had heard before. Some stufents had their eys set on one of the houses before even stepping onto the train. Which could in some cases result to the student ending up disappointed at where the hat felt they belonged. Though Hogwarts had always claimed the hat was never wrong.

She seemed to open up on her own already. Explaining she preferred animals over humans. Not too crazy of a thought Hugh found himself thinking. But friends were important. Also, it was clear she was very shy in the first place. Probably leaving her sidetracked in conversation and groups. She seemed unwell after the last word she spoke. Hugh guessed it had to be the nerves.

"These are reallyyy good" he noted in an attempt to ease her stress. "You should hang them somewhere in your common room. I'm sure there would be students who'd love that!" if she actually did that, he was certain others would find their way to her. He did feel a bit worried about her though. "Did someone hurt you? He asked, just to be sure.

She blushed after he praised her work. Never sure what to do with compliments, she smiled abit and brushed her hair out of her face. 'Thank you...'
His question if someone hurt her, suprised her abit.

'Ehm...' Images of a few Gryffindor students throwing her stuff on the floor flashed by her. She cleared her throat and watched the lake. 'No. I eh.. just have trouble opening up to people. I must look like a fool, being all nervous and stuff.' She didn't want to show how vulnerable she was. That she ran to the restrooms afterwards to cry in a corner. That after she calmed down, she cleaned up her face and wandered off to finally sit here.

'So.. ehm.. Hugh. What do you do?' She carefully looked at him, her scarf still covering half her face. Small clouds escaped through the fabric. Nervously she fumbled the edge of her coat, hoping he wouldn't see through her lie. She had always been good at them, sadly. Nico didn't like lying but usually thought she had no choice. She didn't know for sure if this Hugh would end up bullying her aswell. No chances were gonna be taken. Some small bats clicked in the air, looking for food.

The girl was troubled. that much was clear. And here he had shown up once more as a knight to the rescue. Quite the cocky line of thinking one might say, yet Hugh only saw it as a sense of duty welling up in him. A fierceness could be met in his eyes as he stared at her. He tried to smile, but felt very serious in this. He wanted to help. Yet she didn't want to divulge anything... yet. She quickly followed up her explanation with a question of her own.

"What do i do?" he gave her a bit of an odd look as he quirked one of his eyebrows. His response was a mixture of a shrug and him shaking his head. "I don't do much. "I'm just Hugh." He smiled. "I draw too, but I can't show you anything now. Perhaps one day." He nodded as if he promised.

He averted his gaze towards the water. The large black mass stretching far away and eventually leading somewhere between the mountains. He closed his eyes a bit as he felt a light breeze caressing his skin. He then looked back at Nico. "If I can help. Please tell me. We don't have to be in the same house to be friends." He stated. She needed to be made clear about this. She was not alone.

He drew too? Curious, she glanced up at him. He didn't have anything he could show right there, but in the future he most certainly will. Now she had something to look forward to.

Nico's face flushed red after hearing his answer. Friends. He... wasn't a bully after all. She smiled warmly, still hiding behind her scarf. After all the times other students picked on her, she could barely believe if this warm feeling was... correct. If it was right to feel this. Did she really got lucky and meet a person who didn't intend to harm her?

A tad embarrassed she averted her eyes to her shoes, lightly tapping the tips together. She sighed and hid her eyes behind her hairbangs. 'You don't think i'm weird?' Nico just wanted to confirm if what she heard, was right. 'Do you really want to... be friends with me?' If what he said, was true... He'd be her first friend on this school. She always thought that the first friend she'd make, would be a girl. But the girls in the Dorms all seemed rude and mean. They all knew everything better, they looked better, ... And here she was, bonding with a boy. A Gryffindor boy.

"Weird?"
The boy scoffed at the girl's question. "I'm crazy, i wouldn't know." He smirked at his own joke as he leaned backwards and let his elbows rest on the ground. The girl was immensely shy he reckoned. And probably had been on the receiving end of some dumb bully's frustrations. Her next question made him frown some more. "Well o' course silly lass. I wouldn't be out here listening to ya if I weren't up for that task." he grined widely as he reached out with his hand. Offering to shake on it. "Mr. Lowe is at your service." He winked. he was getting quite good with talking. In hindsight, people weren't so bad after all. There were some scum, sure. But most had been rather scared of life , much like him. In a strange way, he felt himself getting braver by the day in this castle. As he kept his hand hanging there til his companion would take the offer, he pondered quickly on what else would lie in store for him around these parts. The young scot was convinced this year would prove tremendously interesting for him and his friends. "How about we go grab soemthing to eat after this? I'm starving really." He grimaced a bit as his tummy grumbled under his sweater.

Nico looked over at the boys remarks. He reached out his hand, suggesting a handshake. He sure was something else. With a red glow on her face she took his offer and shook his hand. It felt warm in contrary to their surroundings which got more misty by the minute, as if an eraser slowely rubbed their reality away. But Hugh did have a certain way to make a person feel at ease. She finally allowed herself to relax, another wall of anxiety crumbling down in her dark universe.

A humble smile appeared on her face, but yes, her scarf did still hide that part of her face. Some puffy clouds of warm air slide through the fabric as she spoke: 'I'm.. honestly quite hungry aswell.' Waffles, pancakes, waffles, more pancakes... The golden color of the sweet food echoed through her head. It made her even more hungry and before she knew it.... A loud growl could be heard from her stomach. Embarassed, she quickly wrapped her arms tightly around her belly. 'I mean! Ehm... I.. could eat something for sure.'

Nico got on her feet and brushed off any dirt the grassy floor left behind on her robes. With a graceful flick of her wirst, she threw one side of her scarf neatly over her shoulder. 'I-I'm sorry but I have no idea where we could fetch something to eat. I.. rarely go anywhere where people are, you see..?' Awkwardly, she fumbled with the edge of her scarf.