Due to some stubborn curiosity within him, Anatole Evans, a first-year, stumbled into a lounge. At the time, he did not realize it was quote-unquote "private."

They were quiet, indeed, maybe even silent would be a better word. It was even pretty eerie to Anatole, such a quiet place that was not a dedicated library. It was strange, as he listened to the faintest noise. "Hello...?" He remained curious, trying to find another book he wanted to study.

Slowly, he opened the door, stumbling upon a young girl. Instantly, he was flustered upon entry and his face was bright red. "Oh, ah...apologies for disturbing you," Anatole mentioned, clutching the handle and glancing back and forth between the girl and the door handle. "Would...my leaving you alone be better? I...I just need a book."

This was one of the few times the eleven-year-old had tripped over his words. Yes, the girl looked alright and not harmful in any sort of way, and yes, he did trust the school not to place him into any unfortunate situation, but alone in a lounge did not feel secure to him for some strange reason.

"Once again, sorry..." He noted with a sigh, beads of sweat building upon the door handle. "I hope you're not lonely."

Well, maybe the lounges were supposed to be private.

Anatole walked in, closing the door behind him and wiping his sweaty, anxious hand on his robe. Luckily, the stain blended in. Anatole liked that.

He bit his lip, still thinking. This isn't that bad. The boy took a seat in a chair in front of her. Hopefully she does not remember me. "As you wish," the small child joked. It felt still strange. New people, different places. "I'm here now."

He took a breath, controlling himself while remaining rambunctious and bold, introducing himself. "Anatole, by the way. Gryffindor." Once again, he outstretched a hand, hoping she would shake it.

His other hand took the Sudoku sheet, looking at it and fumbling for a pen. Usually, he tried to keep one with him, but today it just did not work. He was usually very on time and composed, but today he was not. Maybe he changed after he arrived here at this school. For some reason he was different.

And Anatole liked it.

"No, none of my assumptions was that you looked scary. Yes, well my mother told me not to talk to strangers, but how else are you to make friends? It's great so far here, I love the environment." He cleared his throat, breaking out laughing. "Also, I'm relatively broke. I was just...exploring...out of clumsiness..."

He sighed with a smile. "This isn't so bad."

Anatole looked up from his Sudoku, a little startled by the boy who walked in. It was odd to him. This was his first interaction he had with a boy student who voluntarily walked in on him. So far, all interactions he had encountered were him with girls his age and himself accidentally walking into boys (that shouldn't be mentioned! He just wanted to forget that there).

Once again, Anatole knew he needed to be nice. It was something his parents, and especially his nanny had continued to imprint on him. It seemed that this boy was very much like him. Interesting.

Anatole could only sense two options coming out of this encounter: best friends, or absolutely worse enemies.

Of course, Anatole prayed for the first of the two.

"Well," Anatole began, "I'm Anatole, also from Gryffindor. Pleasure's mine." Anatole would have introduced the girl if she ever brought up her own name.

He took a breath, smiling up at the boy. Anatole's brain tried to fathom at the level of this boy's intelligence...did he not know these were private? Either way, he couldn't escape it now.

"This lounge is the girl's, let her make the decision whether you can stay."

Anatole used his Sudoku sheet to wipe the anxious, runny sweat from his brow. He shouldn't be worrying; Anatole was supposed to be a strong, young, lion cub.

Anatole looked up from his Sudoku once more, this time at the girl. Clearly, like him earlier, she was flustered, almost embarrassed. It must have been extremely awkward for her to remain here, in this quote-unquote lounge, with two strange, unknown, and rambunctious Gryffindor boys. And with one blocking the exit, Anatole could only hope it turned out mutually.

Well, he had a relatively good chance with a Hufflepuff in the room.

Her response was oddly cheery and pleasant. It reminded him of Rosie a bit, and he liked that resemblance. Emily must have kept him sane, just like Rosie would.

But part of her reminded him of Marissa.

"Well, pleased to meet you," he noted, trying to hold back a chuckle. Had he created a new habit of laughing at Hufflepuffs who suddenly talked when he didn't expect it? If he let go of that laugh, would she have gotten embarrassed and called in someone higher to help her escape from these two nasty, atrocious fellows?

Anatole hoped not. She seemed nice, after all.

"Oh, my first year?" He cleared his throat, keeping an eye on equally peppy Cameron. "It's been alright, I suppose. I love exploring and meeting new people. Haven't delved into much of the magical sorts yet, but also cannot wait until that time reaches me. As for you?"

Anatole took another breath, looking down at the boxes and numbers. He scribbled down a three, still keeping an eye on the other two. Maybe they might need a little bit more help as well.

Sarafina awkwardly walked into the lounge. She was tired of people and needed some quiet time, but found several conversations going on in there as well. She sat down and pulled out a book. She was too distracted to read, but might as well pretend to. At least that way nobody would talk to her, probably... She studied the room and all the people, most of whom seemed freindly. She gazed off into space, thinking about how and why she got into Hufflepuff. It didn’t seem right. She should’ve been in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor! She didn’t think she was very kind at all! She tended to shut people out more than be their friend. In fact, she had no friends. Not here at Hogwarts. She sighed and rested her hand on her fist, trying to get all the confused thoughts to go away. She was new, and would hopefully get used to things. Maybe she would make some friends. She highly doubted it, but it never hurt to consider. She looked over at the other people having conversations, for once wishing she could be part of a group like that. Have some friends, someone to talk to. She was too shy to go over, so instead she sat there, hoping someone would come over and talk to her.

Sarafina listened as a conversation went on between two other people. Wait, one of the voices sounded familiar....oh! It was Anatole. She had met him earlier. She looked up and saw that she was right. She saw that the girl looked nervous. Maybe she needed to do something? She should introduce herself.
“Hi, I’m Sarafina,” she said. She nodded at Anatole, “hi again.” Turning to the other girl she said, “nice to meet you. Who are you?” She was so nervous that she would mess up or say something wrong. Her anxiety was coming back. She hurried through the introduction. It was always that was with new people. She rushed it or stuttered or something, but once they were her friends she felt comfortable talking with them. She brushed a strand of raven hair out of her face and focused her sapphire eyes on the wall, thinking. She thought a lot. Considering that she was the biggest introvert, this one small conversation was very good for her. She didn’t usually talk well with others. “How are you liking Hogwarts?” She asked. A simple question that would hopefully get the conversation going somewhere at least. She just wanted to talk with someone new for a while. Maybe make some other friends that weren’t in Hufflepuff. It looked like the other girl might be, but there was another boy who might not be, she thought.

Anatole's small mind was absorbed in the Sudoku sheet, his head challenged by maintaining two actions simultaneously. Logic puzzles always fascinated the young boy, but he never had the resources to complete one in any amount of time less than hours. He formerly knew kids who could solve Rubik's Cubes in the blink of an eye and Ken-Ken in a matter of seconds. Anatole never considered intelligence his strong suit.

So when the girl responded to his question, Anatole was forced to drop his quill and focus on her. "Oh? Success sounds great," he commented, "wish I had that. Got a D in Herbology, steady going." He snickered at his self-deprecating comment, knowing it was sadly true.

The girl smiled, suddenly happy. "Oh, great! Yeah, I'm still trying to gain my footing, find my place, my favorite classes, my people and all. It hasn't been the smoothest road, to say." For some reason, Anatole was back to not minding what he said...but this time, it came out alright? Nothing snarky, nothing mean? The persona must have been good as gone!

Anatole looked up from his Sudoku once more, waving at Sarafina again. "Hey again! Good to see you."

A little bit angered on how he couldn't focus on two tasks at once, Anatole scribbled down hard at his Sudoku. He got a good two numbers in their boxes before being summoned again.

"Aren't you....aren't you a writer? For the Hogwarts' newspaper?"

Anatole smiled at the girl, his dark eyes meeting hers. "Why, the Gryffpost more specifially. You hit it close enough." He scribbled down a few more numbers, taking about two minutes there. "I write the funny papers."

Sarafina turned as another girl walked in. She looked to be in Slytherin. Slytherins tended to have a reputation for being rude, but Sarafina knew better than to go by reputations. After all, she didn't exactly fit the stereotypical Hufflepuff. The girl asked if they minded if she joined. Sarafina didn't feel that it was her place to say that, but if no one else was going to, she might as well say something. She herself didn't mind. She made eye contact with the girl and smiled, shrugging.
"I don't mind." She looked at the others scattered around, all of whom seemed busy and engaged in their own little worlds. She was too distracted to focus on reading, so maybe she could make a friend. She had friends in every house but Slytherin, so it was worth a shot. She looked back at the girl, smiling warmly. "I'm Sarafina, but you can call me Fina for short. Who might you be?" she asked. A simple question, but one worth asking. That is how she made friends. By asking simple questions and getting to know them. She didn't particularly love talking to people, but it helped. After all, everything started with a name.