Having a wander

Natalie grinned as Landon agreed to help her with her "essay".

"We're going to go, but it was nice to meet you, Lavender! Bye Bri!" Natalie said with a little wave as Landon started to carry her out of the library. "To Hufflepuff land!" she said, more loudly than she should. (But she had to say it. It was practically a tradition.)

Bri was curious where Natalie and Landon were off to, but she didn't ask because she thought it would be rude. Instead she just waved back at them and said, "Bye, nice to see you."

It was silly to stand while Lavender was sitting, so Bri sat next to her on the table. "My first year was like that. It was really weird, especially since my parents are muggles," she said. She noticed that Lavender was a Slytherin and she hoped she wasn't the type to dislike people based on their blood status. She'd encountered some of that the previous year and it wasn't pleasant.

"Do you like it here so far?" she asked, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

Lavender frowned as the other two left. It was a little rude, why didn't they offer for the others to join then. She waved goodbye anyway.

"See you," She called after them, though she doubted they could hear her. When Bri began to speak Lavender brightened up a little. At least she was making effort, so Lavender would return the favor. "Yeah it's been strange so far. But I like it none the less, it should be fun," She smiled before continuing. "How do you like it here? How has it been for you?" Lavender wondered if Bri was weary of her because of her house. Lavender was the last person to judge on blood status and the lark, it didn't matter. They were all equal in Lavender's eyes.

Bri relaxed when Lavender wasn't immediately put off by hearing that her parents weren't a witch and a wizard. "It's wonderful here, usually. It was a little overwhelming at first though. To be honest, it still gets a bit overwhelming. There are so many people here and magic can do so many things, and I didn't even know it existed until last year," she said. "Most of the people are really nice but some of them can be positively awful sometimes. I try to stay clear of the Slytherins, no offense, because frankly they're pretty intimidating."

She had heard rumors of some of the Slytherins, like Allison Walker and Aurora Greengrass, and she secretly hoped that she never had to meet them because they would probably just walk all over her. "Have you met many people yet?" she smiled at Lavender.

Lavender listened intently to the blonde, nodding occasionally to signal she understood. Some people could be horrible in this place, she'd met them for herself.

"No offence taken, don't worry. I understand completely, some of the girls are horrible." She shifted in her seat slightly before continuing. "I've met quite a few people. Most were nice, some not so much. Funnily enough the worst were my fellow Slytherins. Sometimes I wonder why I was sorted into it, I'm nothing like them," Lavender looked down in her lap. It was frustrating sometimes, though she wouldn't admit it. She was still a Slytherin, and showing signs of weakness were still not something she would give in to. Except around Hester perhaps.

Bri shrugged her shoulders. Sometimes the Sorting Hat did inexplicable things, but there had to be some reason that Lavender was placed in Slytherin. She looked over at Lavender and saw her looking down at her lap, something her mother did when she was upset and trying to hide it. "It's okay," she said quietly. She placed her hand on Lavender's back and rubbed it gently, a failproof way that her mother always made her feel better when she was upset. "Maybe you were put there so that you could try to make them nicer," she suggested with a slight smile.

Lavender saw Bri shrug out of the corner of her eye, so she was also ready when the girl places a hand on her back. It felt strange and took a lot of effort to stop herself from shivering.

"Maybe," She muttered. Then Lavender realized just what she was doing and straigtened up looking Bri in the face with a smile. "I'm fine," She tried her hardest to make it look believable. Lavender had been showing weakness. Weakness. That was something she never did. "Anyway, what's it like being in Ravenclaw. I haven't met anyone from your house yet. What are they like?" She could already guess they were nice. Bri was nice.

"If you say so," Bri took her hand away. She got the feeling that Lavender was lying, but her upbringing wouldn't allow her to push further. The polite thing to do was to back off.

She shrugged again at the question. "I suppose it's like all the houses really. Some people are nice, some are... mean wouldn't be the right word, I guess, but sometimes I think some of them don't like me for some reason," she said. She seemed to be having this conversation a lot lately. she still had no idea why Sami didn't seem too fond of her; she hadn't done anything to the best of her knowledge.

Lavender appreciated Bri's actions of backing away slightly, though she hoped the blonde didn't think she was rude. She hadn't meant to be rude. Now there was more space between them Lavender could breath a bit better and listen to Bri talk.

"Not like you?" Lavender questioned. "Well, I like you," She smiled. "I think they're mad if they don't like you too,"

Bri grinned back at Lavender. "Thanks, I like you too," she said. She wondered if there were more nice Slytherins like Lavender and she just hadn't met them because she never bothered to find out. She felt a little bad for judging a whole group of people based on what was likely a very small percentage of individuals. "Have you done much exploring yet?" she asked.