x__Firelight[Open]

[elleashford]

The day was beginning to drift into evening, and most classes would be over by now. Elle had done some of her homework, and then gone for a quiet walk on the grounds. However, she found the temperature too cold for her liking. After all, autumn was venturing closer and closer to winter these days. So she had walked up here and took a seat by the fire to warm up, preferring the Quality Quarters to the Gryffindor common room at this moment. Elle wasn't exactly someone you could call a loner, after all. She loved the activity of the Quality Quarters, people from all different houses murmuring and bustling around...and yet somehow, everything was subdued into a relaxing state. Presently, her deep blue, slightly green-tinted eyes were fixed on the bright flame. Its mixture of oranges and yellows and reds seemed so intricate as it crackled and sparked. Elle's gaze never left it, fixed to the fire as though in some sort of hypnotic trance, although her thoughts wandered elsewhere.

Pantalaimon, her tawny eagle owl, perched quietly on the arm of her chair, his feathers flickering golden in the light of the flames. His orange eyes were narrowed contentedly as Elle stroked him absentmindedly, her thoughts still elsewhere. It had certainly been a wild first few days at Hogwarts. She had just barely begun her year at the wizarding school, and was already intrigued with the secrets that the castle held. She found herself wanting to explore every nook and cranny of the place already, simply desperate to know of the secrets that it held. Still, Elle knew that she shouldn't let her adventurous nature get the better of her. This had gotten her into trouble before. Best not to let her mind linger on it for too long.

Finally, Elle lifted her gaze to glance curiously around the quality quarters. She didn't see too many familiar faces, but then, she had not been at Hogwarts very long to have met many. Still, perhaps now was the time to start. Pantalaimon startled her slightly as he rustled his wings with a soft hoot, most likely hungry. He gave her finger an affectionate nip before flying out, probably toward the Owlery. Elle smiled briefly at this before leaning gently back in her chair and allowing herself to relax.

[absentminded]

Alyssa was glad that she had brought a warm jacket and a scarf when she had left the castle for Herbology, her last class of today. The subject hadn't really caught her interest, so during the class she had mostly just stared into nothingness, thinking about what the evening would bring for her. Last day was her first day at Hogwarts, but when she arrived in the late evening she didn't have much time to go to the usual evening ritual of the castle, so she was excited to experience it. Finally the TA told them class was dismissed. After zipping up her jacket and putting on her scarf Alyssa left the warm greenhouse and walked over the grounds towards the castle, swearing at the cold wind, though it probably didn't hear her.

Her jacket still on and the messenger back over her shoulder, Alyssa stepped into the comfy Quality Quarters. She did enjoy the Slytherin common room a lot, but somehow the Quality Quarters attracted her in a different way. She liked to be surrounded by loads of people, this took the attention off of herself and though the common room probably would be packed with students, the Quality Quarters had Alyssa's preference. The warmth of the fire place filled the room and brought a scent that reminded Alyssa of the winter. Noticing an empty seat near the fire, she decided to sit there.

She placed her messenger back next to the seat and threw her scarf and jacket upon it after pulling them off. Then she plopped into the seat. This was just perfect, Alyssa realized, after putting her feet upon the table that stood in front of the fire place. She could sit here forever without getting bored.

[elleashford]

The hazy warmth of the fire was relaxing to say the least, and the warm scent was almost enough to lull her to sleep. But instead, she was merely content to sit by the fire and enjoy the evening, although her relaxed state was making her a bit less observational that usual. So when, out of the corner of her eye, Elle noticed someone sit down nearby, she jumped slightly out of surprise. Well, that had been a bit embarrassing, to say the least. Wincing slightly, she glanced up, tearing her gaze away from the fire once again, and gazed curiously at the other girl. Elle recognized her vaguely, having seen her in several of her classes before, but realized that she had never actually learned the Slytherin girl's name. So why not do so now? She offered a small but friendly smile before finally speaking.

"Hey," Elle greeted, her voice soft as if she was wary of breaking the sense of calm that seemed to have fallen over the Quarters. She surveyed the girl briefly, before speaking again. "I've seen you in a few of my classes, but I don't think we've met. I'm Elle." She added, introducing herself conversationally. The Slytherin girl seemed quite relaxed by the fireside, as Elle herself had been several moments ago, so she hoped that she wasn't bothering her any by speaking to her.

Although her long blonde hair had been pulled back into low pigtails that day, a few strands of it still seemed to have somehow found their way into her line of vision. Elle brushed them away almost absentmindedly before waiting for a reply.

[emmawinters]

Emma had just walked into the QQ when she spotted Alyssa and Elle sitting together near the fire. She quickly took off her damp jacket (she had been outside with a friend) and walked over to the two first years.

"Hey," she said, smiling from ear to ear. "You may not remember me but I'm Emma, I've seen you two around in my classes."

[elleashford]

Before the Slytherin girl answered, someone else entered the Quarters. At the soft sound of approaching footsteps, Elle glanced up and recgonized the Hufflepuff girl. Glad to see a familiar face, she returned the smile warmly, before nodding a greeting. "Yeah, I remember. We met in Transfiguration, didn't we? How've you been?" She asked cheerfully, making a little motion with her hand that offered Emma to sit down in the other chair nearby. Her gaze flickered from Emma to the Slytherin girl who's name she did not yet know, and she wondered curiously if the other two already knew each other.

[absentminded]

After staring at the bright flames for a moment, Alyssa was confronted with her surroundings again. She had almost forgotten that she was in a room packed full with students, instead of a place with only her and the flames. Glancing at the friendly looking girl she smiled back at her, happy to see that she was noticed by others and glad to have the opportunity to get to know somebody. Being alone was, well, lonely.

She had just opened her mouth to introduce herself to Elle when another girl walked towards them. Alyssa could recall her from some classes but they had never spoken to each other. Turning her head to face her she also gave her a warm smile before looking back to Elle and saying. "Hey. I'm Alyssa." this was of course also addressed to the other girl who introduced herself as Emma, but it was pretty difficult to look at two persons at once.

What else was there to say? "Uhm.. which house are you guys in?" she asked both girls.

[emmawinters]

Emma gratefully took a seat next to Elle, and pulled out a Rubix Cube, which she twiddled with in her hands. The box had always amused her since her childhood, keeping her up late into the night, as well as being the cause of many pillows thrown against the wall. Those days behind her, she now spent a little time playing with the cube, never quite getting it to work.

Emma smiled up at the girl who introduced herself as Alyssa. She remembered her from History of Magic, the girl who had come in late. Emma had naturally given her her own notes to copy down, not wanting her to get behind in class when it wasn't even her own fault that she was late.

"I'm in Hufflepuff," she stated proudly, her hands absentmindedly twisting the cube. "It wasn't one of my top choices but now I can't think of any other house I'd rather be in."

[elleashford]

Elle's blue-green gaze switched to Alyssa as she introduced herself. After a pause, she asked them what Houses they were in. Emma answered first, stating that she was in Hufflepuff and proud of it, too. Elle smiled at these words. She'd always been curious about the other houses, though she loved Gryffindor, wondering occasionally what it would be like to be in one of them. Even through her short time at Hogwarts, she'd not been an active participant in House rivalries, even when it came to Quidditch. Maybe it was just because she was a first year here, but she doubted it. Elle just didn't see the point of hating each other over things, like Houses, that would hardly matter in the long run.

"I'm in Gryffindor," She replied with a grin, her thoughts drifting back to the day she had been sorted. It had been a thoroughly nerve-wracking experience, if you asked her, with all of those people staring at you in the Great Hall and that hat murmuring in your ear. Still, it had all worked out for the better, hadn't it? "Lucky I wasn't in Ravenclaw. I can never figure those things out." She added humorously with a glance at the Rubix Cube Emma was fidgeting with.

Turning back to Alyssa, she asked. "What about you?", returning the girl's previous question.

[absentminded]

So neither of the girls was in her house, Alyssa noticed as they told her they were in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Her parents had tried to talk her into hating everybody that wasn't in her house [they had already supposed she'd become a Slytherin, how had they known?] but it hadn't work, since Alyssa was too nice to hate people she didn't even know. "I'm a Slytherin." She said. She knew that most people thought that everybody in Slytherin was cold-hearted, selfish and cruel, but the truth is, Alyssa wasn't. Yeah, she wasn't exactly the person to start making friends and quite often people misjudged her by thinking she was cold because she usually acted to be like that since her whole family was. Basically it was just the way she had been raised. "But don't worry, I'm not one of those people who likes to make enemies instead of friends." Alyssa decided to add, making sure they wouldn't run away as if they were scared of her or something.

[emmawinters]

Emma stopped twiddling with the Rubix Cube in her hand and looked up at Alyssa. "You know I hate that," she said, an edge in her voice. "I really don't like how if someone hears that you're in Slytherian then they automatically judge you. I mean they don't even know you and they just...ugh!"

She glanced over at the other girls and gave a weak smile. "Sorry, that just really...irks me the wrong way. I give every single person a chance to prove who they really are, not judging them on clothes or anything." She grinned sheepishly. "I guess that's why I was put in Hufflepuff, huh?"

Everything got pretty quiet then, Emma fiddled with the Rubix Cube a little while but she wasn't thinking about it. Great, now I've probably ruined the moment with my outburst...

[absentminded]

Alyssa listened to Emma as she rattled on about the houses. She couldn't agree more with her. So yeah, she shouldn't be socializing with others then Slytherins if it was for her parents to decide, but the rebel in Alyssa made her ignoring their instructions. It was for her to decide who she wanted to be friends with right. And the fact that people were in other houses didn't mean they were different people. "Maybe that's the reason." Alyssa said with a wink. "I agree with you, I don't judge people before I get to know them." she paused. "It's useless, how do you know what a person is like before having a normal conversation first."

Her eyes focused on the rubicscube. She had never seen such a thing before and it seemed pretty boring, but maybe that was just her. She wasn't the kind of girl to sit for hours trying to solve a puzzle. Maybe it could keep her busy for five minutes before getting frustrated and throwing it out of the window.

[emmawinters]

Emma smiled in relief. "Thanks," she said. "Now I know that I'm not crazy." She noticed Alyssa watching her fiddle with the Rubix Cube and held it out to her. "Wanna try?" she asked. "It gets kind of boring after awhile but it's fun to try to match all of the colors up, though it seems near impossible at times."

[absentminded]

"Though it sounds very tempting." Alyssa started. "I don't think I should do that. Really, I can get really annoying when I'm frustrated and these things are just made to drive me crazy." she grinned. Really, if there had been a spell she could use to solve it, maybe she would have given it a try.

She looked at the flames again. They made you sleepy if you kept staring at them for a while but it was very relaxing.

[emmawinters]

Emma nodded, understanding. She herself was a bit temperamental at times, I guess you could call that her biggest weakness or flaw. She glanced over at Elle who had been very quiet. Not sure what to say, she just looked ahead at the crackling fire. It soothed her, the smell and the sound of it, it reminded her of her days as a Muggle when she would go camping with her family. Her head nodded and she finally drifted off to sleep, a smiled on her face.