YouKnowEmma
Hansi, Sensitive Poet
Posts: 6
(31/12/03 12:05 pm)
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First Day Back - Hufflepuff Common Room
Hufflepuff Common Room
Gwendolyn entered the cheery common room closely followed by Hannah, who was wielding a light blue hairbrush and two elastics. There were a few students already there, among them Aiden Jeffreys; grinning, Gwen took a nearby armchair - sitting sideways so that Hannah could get at her long blonde-brown hair. "Hello again, Aiden," she said.
Hannah sat on the big cushy arm of Gwen's chair and started braiding the girl's newly brushed hair into french braids. Her fingers moving quickly and easily. She looked over at Aiden and smiled shyly. "Hi Aiden! I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the feast--you and Gwen were quite busy talking to each other."
"Hey girls,” Aiden smiled. “Come on now, Hannah, we're best friends who haven't seen each other for two months. Of course we were talking to each other the whole time." Aiden grinned.
Hannah smiled. "Of course. I really enjoying watching you two get reunited." She finished off Gwen's first braid, and started on the second.
"So where did you go after dinner anyway, Gwen?" Aiden asked.
"A hairbrush," Gwen replied succinctly, before adding - "My hair was a mess from the trainride, and everything. Unthinking, she brushed a wisp of not-quite-blonde hair off her cheek and began to chew it absentmindedly.
"Stop that," Hannah scolded from behind her. "How can I braid if you're going to eat it?"
Gwen flushed. "Sorry," she said, flicking the lock back into its proper place.
"I wish you would have told me," Aiden reprimanded slightly. "All these people were trying to talk to me that I didn't know, and I go to look bewilderedly at you, and I realize you're not there! Not exactly pleasant."
"Sorry," Gwen said. She gave a small cry as Hannah finished off the second braid, pulling particularly hard at the end.
The hairband snapped dully as Hannah finished winding it around Gwen's braid. "Sorry! If it's not tight enough, it won't stay in." Hannah handed handed Gwen her brush and collapsed into a cushy seat near the fire, facing the other two students.
Gwen moved her fingers lightly over the braids, wincing ruefully as she touched her sore scalp. "They'll stay in really well, at least," she admitted. "Thanks."
Hannah grinned. "I didn't really pull that hard...you must have a tender scalp! Sorry, though." She looked over at Aiden. "So, what are you planning to do after Hogwarts?"
Aiden grinned and glanced at Gwen. "We were just talking about that. Like I told Gwen, I'm really not sure. Something with my hands...working with plants or building things or something."
"Something quiet?" Gwen said significantly, and dissolved into giggles. Aiden grinned.
Hannah laughed. "What about you, Gwen?"
"Raising venemous tentaculi and moliopods," Gwen responded, "and getting married - later. You?"
Hannah smiled. This didn't surprise her. "I really don't know what I want to do. I haven't thought about it much." She looked thoughtful. "I guess I'm in my seventh year, it's about time to start!"
"Probably," Gwen said with a smile. "Would you like your hair in braids?" she asked, eyeing the hairbrush critically.
Hannah yawned. "Yes, please! But after that I need to get to bed--it's been a long day."
"Okay," Gwen said, settling in behind Hannah - "How many, where?"
Hannah adjusted her position to make it easier for Gwen to get comfortable. "Hmm, how about just one braid down the back. That's easier to sleep in."
Aiden ran his fingers through his hair, "Before you ask, no, I'd really rather you didn't do my hair."
Gwen began on Hannah's hair, sighing in mock exasperation at Aiden. "It would be really lovely," she said reprovingly, eyeing his light hair critically. "I could make you look exactly like a yellow porcupine."
"Aw, heck, you've seen me in the morning before I've combed my hair, you know the yellow porcupine look is second nature to me." He grinned. "Oh, but I don't think I told you...I got my hair cut really short after the first week at my uncle and aunt's house---it was too hot to have it this long." Aiden laughed, "you haven't seen yellow porcupine until you've seen me with half-inch long hair. It was quite a sight to behold..."
Gwen laughed. "You could grow your hair out really long, in dreadlocks," she suggested. "Then you wouldn't have to have the yellow-porcupine look. You could be, er, a blond jazz singer."
Hannah smiled quietly as she watched her two good friends chattering back and forth. Stifling a yawn, she stared at the crackling fire until her eyelids drooped.
The peaceful atmosphere in the room was broken as a large group of chattering girls piled in, led by Chelsea Tompkins. Hannah heard snatches of conversation through the chatter. "Oh my gosh, did you see what he did?"
"I don't think I would have been able to bear it..."
"I know, me neither..."
Hannah groaned inaudibly. Chelsea Tompkins was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.
Hearing the voices of the buoyantly cheerful (and rather flighty) girls, Aiden involuntarily tried to make himself as small as possible.
A girl named Cindy spotted Aiden and squealed. "Ooh, look! There he is!"
They all turned, and several more girls squealed excitedly. More than half the group ran over and flocked around Aiden's chair, all trying to introduce themselves at once.
Gwen slipped quietly back down the hallway into the dormitory, yawning broadly. The Welcoming Feast had been long and tiring, and she didn't feel up to dealing with Chelsea Tompkin's erratic moods tonight. Without further ado, she placed her hairbrush on the bedside table, slipped under the covers, pulled the curtains shut, and fell promptly asleep.
Hannah spotted Gwen leave, and decided to follow her friend's example. Quietly, Hannah crept out of room unnoticed by the other girls, who were still surrounding Aiden.
Up in her dorm, Hannah remembered that Chester, her rat, was still in her pocket. She reached in and found him he had fallen asleep. She smiled and put him on his windowsill, then crawled into bed.
Aiden felt hurt and deserted as the only two sane girls in the room---one of them his very best friend---abandoned him.
Given to sulking, Aiden's entire person deflated and, looking abstract and sad, told the clamoring girls he was tired and was going to bed as well.
"Oh no, please stay," Cindy whined, clinging to his arm. "We hardly got to talk at all!"
Aiden shook his head and pulled himself free, wordlessly going to bed.
Gwen lay silent as Hannah came in - she was too exhausted to really want to talk much more, she had realized when she had lain down. Much more tired than she'd realized.
Chelsea Tompkins, who had purposefully hung back, now watched, smirking, as Aiden left the noisy scene. Chelsea hadn't wanted to lower herself to groveling at Aiden's feet along with several more of his fans. She would wait until she had him all to herself. Aiden was HERS, anyway. Of course, she'd have to get rid of that shy, awkward girl that was always with him--what was her name again?--oh yes, Gwendolyn. What a silly name. No wonder she always forgot it.
"Isn't he a sweetheart??"
"Oh, why'd he have to leave?"
"I touched his arm!!"
All the other girls crowded back around her, chattering endlessly. Chelsea sighed and pushed her way through them to get to the door to the dormitories. "Sorry, I need to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning!"
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