A New Face in a New Place PV Luna Choi Closed

After what happened at the party, Luna decided that she had to read more about the rules in Hogwarts, and the information about places here. Although she has already had the Hogwarts, A History book, she still decided to go to the library. Of course, the reason was not that she did not want to read in her dorm or common room. She might need to find more pieces of information, and the library was the place that had a lot of books, the purple hair girl believed that she would need to borrow some soon.

Crowded. That was the first word popped on her head after entered the library. Since when were the students so hard-working? Did they all have a test tomorrow or something? That was none of her business, so she decided to ignore it. But there was another problem, was there any free table? Didn't seem like there was... Finally, Luna picked two books from the library and wandered around the place. If there wasn't any free table, she might go to the ground, or maybe the Great Lake to read...

After a few minutes of walking, Luna actually managed to find a table that had a free spot. There was actually another girl sitting there and based on the hair color and style, the little snake was sure that it was Nico. Still hugging the three books, two from the library and Hogwarts - A History, she came closer and asked. "Miss Shymane, it is nice to see you here. May I ask if there is anyone who sits there?" It didn't seem like there was, however, Luna still thought that she should ask about it. If Nico's answer was 'Yes, there is someone', she wouldn't mind leaving. It was her fault, after all, not picking up the right day to read books.

"Miss Shymane, it is nice to see you here. May I ask if there is anyone who sits there?"

A bit startled, Nico sat up, as if she was busted on committing a crime. It was an old habit. Guys who used to pick on her would always corner her in places that were kinda hidden. Especially since this table was put at a slightly more desolate spot at the Library. But it was not the face of a stranger she saw.
It was Luna Choi. Prefect and colleague. Her distincting lavender eyes gazed down at her as she asked if the seat was free. 'A-Ah! Miss Choi!' Nico pulled her books abit closer to her, even though there was enough room to spare. She only made her own space smaller and inconvenient. 'Sorry, I... I didn't .. Ofcourse!' She coughed as she felt she was rambling again. Her voice sounded alot softer, lower now. The high nervous pitch was still there but... under control. 'H-Have a seat, Miss Choi.'

Nico had already been sketching a Hippogriff. The shading was still abit off but it already became sentient. Hovering a few centimeters above the sepia colored pages. Embarassed, she sat up another book infront of her sketchbook, like a wall. Making sure Luna wouldn't be able to see it clearly.

At the party they actually never had the chance to get to know each other. They only briefly introduced themselves, mentioned they were both Prefects and the rest is history. This could be a chance to grow together and ... who knows. Maybe they could even become good friends.

Luna was confused. Was she that scary? Enough to make Nico that surprised? She confusingly looked at Nico but decided not to ask anything.

'A-Ah! Miss Choi!'

"Yes, my last name is Choi." Nodded, Luna answered her. Did not expect her to remember her name, but well since she did, it was nice to hear that. Maybe she tried to remember all the names of the prefects just like her? Who knew...

Sorry, I... I didn't... Of course! H-Have a seat, Miss Choi'

She didn't... what? But once again, the girl decided not to ask about that. Nico seemed like she would be scared and ran away if the lavender hair asked her, just like how the bunny did, the little bunny that liked playing with her brother. "Thank you." Sitting down and put the books on the table, she quickly glanced at Nico, right before the girl could put the book in front of something. She was not really sure, but that looked like a drawing?

"Your drawing skill is quite nice." Oh god. She was not going to say that... Although she actually thought so. It was hard to see, yes it was, but since she saw it before Nico could do anything...

Embarrassing. That was how she felt right now. First of all, the red hair did not seem like she wanted Luna to see it. Second, she did not want to hear a thank you. It was kind of... weird? Didn't really know how to describe this feeling. And last but not least, that was not how she should act like. Ignoring it and acting like she didn't see anything, that actually sounded like a better idea. What had been done could not change, unless she cast a Memory Charm on Nico, which was impossible. She was just a first-year student after all.

Surprised and embarassed Nico blushed at Luna's remark. This stuff still confused her. Drawing was all she ever did and what she nearly always did. She improved alot over the years and she was proud of what she could create with just a pencil or a quill. And yet... Her instincts told her to hide her hobby and to not speak of it.

The only time she did felt comfortable with showing it was when she fully trusted the other person. when she knew how they thought about certain things, what interested them,... She almost wanted to be able to read peoples minds... But what then?

She wouldn't just know what they liked and were interested in. She would also know what they hated, what made them sad. And honestly, she didn't want to hear everyday how people didn't like her or how she annoyed them. It was better not to know...

'T-Thank you.' She averted her gaze at her desk. Nervous, but why. She had swam across a crowd to reach Luna. Because she was the only person she could depend on back then. Another Prefect, another Slytherin girl. Nico sighed and rubbed her forhead, with slightly teary eyes. She noticed how she was overreacting to the situation. Trying to focus on what she was doing and where she was, it calmed her down... The voices of other studens, the smell of the dusty, calm Library... It brought her back on her feet.

She sniffled and rubbed away her tears. 'S-Sorry Luna. I...' She sat up and took a deep breath. 'Don't mind me' She smiled and looked up at her. 'I'm happy to see you... How have you been since... the party?' Nico carefully blew her nose in her handkerchief, sniffling still.

It wasn't hard to see that Nico was blushing. Luna rolled her eyes, realizing that she was not the only one who felt embarrassed. She nodded after hearing a thank you from the red hair girl. But then, she noticed that Nico looked like she was going to cry. Wait, what...? What did she do? Did she say anything wrong? Although Luna was actually panicking inside, she didn't show anything on her face. She just opened one of the books and acted like she was reading it.

Luna. Not Miss Choi anymore? She turned her gaze back to Nico. If she called Nico 'Miss Shymane', would the young girl cry right after hearing it? No, she did not mean that Nico was a cry baby, but she seemed like a sensitive girl... Calling her by "Miss Shymane", that would sound cold, but she knew she should continue calling the red hair girl that way. But.. she didn't want to see her cry. She didn't want to hurt Nico, they just met a few times Well, calling her by her name didn't mean that they were friends or something like that, so let's just go for it.

"Do not worry about it, Nico. Right, the party..." Luna lowered her voice when she said the last word. After the party, she did not know how but her mother heard about it and sent her a letter. It wasn't a Howler, but the content was really... The young Slytherin closed her eyes to hide the sadness and answered, "Good. Nothing bad happened." What a liar, Luna... She opened her eyes again and looked at Nico. "How about you? Anything interesting?"

Nico blew her nose, finally being able to breath again. Some sort of tension had fallen from her shoulders. But it wasn't all over. Luna and her weren't that close yet. For now, they just seemed to be two colleagues. Reading up on books at the local Library.

Nico had tried to hone her social skills and Luna seemed like the perfect challenge for that. Nico straightened her back and rubbed away the last teardrops that didn't manage to roll down her cheek. She did all this, while Luna answered her question. Concerning the Potion Room Party. The answer she got was rather short and vague. But Nico wasn't someone to push other into talking with her.

Actually, she just wanted to have some sort of bond with Luna. To have another friend. As she thought of it, she didn't have any Slytherin friends. Nico could say a few names of people she heard of, but not a single Slytherin friend.

Although, she met a Slytherin boy at the Great Lake once. He had the attitude of a bully. Except behind his icy heart, he did seem to be a kind, caring person. Too bad she hadn't seen him since that day. She owed him her life.

Nico looked up at the other Slytherin and scratched her elbow. Something about Luna seemed abit off. She looked... sad? On the other hand, she didn't have much emotion in her face. It was hard to read.

This time around, Luna turned the question to Nico. "How about you? Anything interesting?"
Nico wasn't sure what to say. 'I've been holding up... okey. It was quite a adventure.' To be fair, Nico really didn't feel like talking about the party. It was a disaster to begin with. She wanted to ask something that was about Luna. That could help her to get to know her...

'So... What... incident brought you to Hogwarts?' She asked, her finger playing with her red hair. 'I-I mean... only if you want to talk about it ofcourse.' Nico slid her hands to her sketchbook and hesitantly pulled it up. Showing the blank pages, filled with moving creatures. 'I ehm... This got me to Hogwarts.' She smiled abit sheepishly.

An adventure, she meant that party right...? Or was there something more interesting happened to the red hair after the party? She did not know, but alright. Yes, the party could be called an adventure, it was a bit interesting, although she didn't like what happened after at all. And if there were any other things happened, then alright, Nico was still alive, talking with her so... it was fine.

Changing the detail? Alright, Luna wouldn't mind. She didn't really want to talk about the party. There had to be something not really good happened to Nico after it... But if it was like that, why did the girl bring this up?

"If you are asking about the first time using magic of mine, then it was when I was holding some books and... accidentally made them bigger." That was actually not really intelligent. She totally forgot the reason why she did it. Maybe because she saw something shocking? Who knew, she might ask her brother about that... or not. Actually, nevermind. She didn't want to bother her brother because of a boring question like that.

"I assume that you come from a Muggle family, no?" The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance were the things that would "bring" them to Hogwarts. She knew about them, and she thought that everyone knew too. It would be understandable if Nico came from a Muggle family. Not her fault that she didn't know the other prefects' status... But, if Nico came from a Wizard family and still asked that question, well... No comments then.

"If you are asking about the first time using magic of mine, then it was when I was holding some books and... accidentally made them bigger."

Nico blinked at Luna for a moment before she bursted out into laughter. Making books bigger. That must've been a sight. For a moment she forgot her surroundings. The Library. Her laugh was exceptionally loud and in a flash, she quickly covered her mouth. Luna gave her a cold, emotionless stare.

Agreed. That was rather rude of Nico.

She cleared her throat and put her hair behind her ear. 'S-Sorry. That was ... mean of me'

Luna mentioned something about a 'Quil of Acceptance' and a book. Nico hadn't heard of it before. Was that how it worked? A quill and a book decide if you come here?

'I... Yes. I'm what you call..' She averted her gaze and let a pen wiggle between her fingers. She couldn't help but think of her first few days at Hogwarts. The trip on the train, the boat trip,... There were always kids teasing her. Especially as soon as they heard she was a Muggleborn.

She held the pen in both hands and looked back at Luna. Finally able to collect her thoughts. 'Yes. I'm born from a Muggle family. I had no idea... that some quill and a book, decided if you could come to Hogwarts or not.' She felt abit stupid. Was she supposed to know that? Was she an idiot for not knowing what seemed 'basic knowledge'? 'I ... wasn't told. I guess.'

Although Luna still gave Nico that kind of stare, behind the lavender hair, her ears were a bit red. Alright, was it that funny? She was not mad at Nico, just feeling embarrassed. It had been quite a long time since the last time she felt like this. Not to mention, this was the library, wasn't this girl afraid of being in trouble? Even if Nico wasn't, Luna was.

"It is okay." Shy mode turned on again, it seemed. Well, at least from what she just saw, Nico didn't think she was a monster, Boggart or something like that anymore. She always had a question on her mind whenever she saw Nico, was Nico scared of her? It seemed like the girl thought she was going to bite or hurt her, or something similar.

"I... Yes. I'm what you call.." What you call? Did the Slytherin dislike talking about where she was born? The fact that Nico didn't come from a Wizard family made her feel uncomfortable? That might be possible.

...Or not. Nico didn't show any sign of uncomfortable or things like that when she said that she came from a Muggle family. That meant the girl might be good at hiding. Another possible answer was that she was scared that another person, in this case, was Luna, to hate or despise her. Not sure why, but it was possible.

"I'm surprised that you talked about the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance before I mention about them." Gently picking up one of the books, Luna quickly flipped through a few pages and then stopped. She put the book down and pushed it towards Nico. "You can read more about them here... And since you are a Muggle-born, not knowing about this is normal. And now someone told you about them, no?"