For her, the stars.

“So there’s nothing I can do, then?” he said with his little smile, trying to remember how he’d played the role of innocent when he was little. He hadn’t needed to do it for quite some time since his village rather…adored him. “Hopefully those two lucks might cancel each other out.” Gunnarr had amused himself with the words.

“Yes, the portkey. It does make traveling much faster, though it also makes me slightly nauseous.” That part of traveling she could do without. “Northern England,” she mused. She was always curious with the rest of the world, parts she was unfamiliar with. “It sounds interesting, did you enjoy your time back home?”

“You don’t like the cold? Is it colder here than at your home?” She couldn’t help the small smile at the girl’s antics, sitting on tables and complaining about the weather. “My home is in China, and it is.. about as cold. Where is home for you?”

Matilda blinked as she looked away from the other person and saw the Gryffindor right in front of her. “Miss Br- Bella.” The two knew each other enough that she figured she could afford to be less formal around the younger girl. “Good morning. Did you mean during the holiday? I went home, and what about yourself?” 

Roland opened his mouth and closed it again, honestly not sure what she expected from him. “You have made my mind go completely blank, I’m embarrassed to admit.” He couldn’t help but smirk, getting into the spirit of things. Flirting was a pleasant distraction. “You must be accustomed to such behaviour from men. You cannot blame us too much when we become imbeciles in your presence, it’s really your own fault.” 

“This is going to be beautiful. I also want to take Gunnarr down. As well as Os, and this giant here.” Bri jerked her head towards Dayo with a smirk. She was used to people being annoyed with her brother, so unless they actually insulted him, she was happy to ignore it. 

“You are little.” Dayo smirked, patting Bella’s head. “Bri is just littlest.” 

Bri snorted. “He gets it from his mother’s side of the family. Oloye is very tall.” It wasn’t the first time they’d had comments about how different their heights were, but then, they were half-siblings. 

“And Mama was short, just like you.” Dayo teased affectionately. 

“Still big enough to take you down, right Bella?” Bri leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” 

“Perfect hit list. They should definetly be our main targets,” her eyes darted to Dayo as she spoke, letting the threat sink in.

It doesn’t matter anymore that she doesn’t remember what he did to anger her before, he has regained her undying loathing. “Don’t touch my hair.” she snapped crossing her arms over her chest, hating how much he reminded her of her stupid brothers. 

He smirked at her as she listed the reasons he should be friends with her. “I am not lost. I am friendless, by choice.” Tomas leaned against the wall lazily. “Why does it matter? I am rude, mean. I choose it.” 

“I wanted to kiss George.” Even though she’d threatened to find someone else to kiss, she didn’t mean it. “Why can’t I want to kiss girls instead?” Other than that it’s a sin, the traitorous part of Leila’s mind added, but she was ignoring that part. “Girls are so pretty.” 

“You can. If you want to.” her quick tone was replaced by something softer, kinder, “there is nothing wrong with kissing girls.”  she knows that not everyone shares her opinion, but at least here inside of the castle she hasn’t had any problems.

Ahh, perhaps she was more upset than he’d thought. But he still wasn’t particularly sure how to fix it. “I’m truly sorry for the interruption we faced. But how is it that I might make it up to you?” He appeared as earnest as could be. “I’m just really not looking forward to the bad luck I’ll have.” Apparently, those words were actually quite truthful, as he grimaced a little with them. 

“Really? How convenient, then.” Freda replied, grinning back at the other girl. “Thank you so much. Sorry, it’s just that this castle is such a maze, I’m not sure I’ll ever know where I’m going.”

It was only getting worse, but her excitement simply grew. “They’ll hate us forever.” She grabbed her hand, dragging her into a run. “Christmas carols, just to spread the cheer.”

“They won’t hate us. They can’t,” lifting up Evie’s chin, she basked in her excitement, her grin wide and beautiful, “we are too pretty to be hated.”

Matilda stepped into the classroom with a sense of familiarity, and if she dared, even relief. The time back home wasn’t as likable as she’d wanted it to be, but what had she been expecting, really. She was early, and she quite liked the little time where everything was peaceful before it got busy. She wasn’t the only one in the class though and she greeted the other person before she took a seat, “good morning.” 

Bella had been trailing Matilda for two corridors, trying to make sure if it was really her friend or a stranger who looked like her. Standing at the door, she shifted from one foot to another, impatient for a glimpse of her face. That voice... definetly Matilda. 

Freda sighed. She had been living in this castle for months, and she was still nowhere near figuring out how to get to her morning classes. It was embarrassing, really, an adult, getting lost. She could walk through her local village with her eyes closed, but trying to find a transfiguration classroom? She’d have better luck conjuring the class herself. She cursed herself as she turned to the nearest person to her.

“Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know the way to the Intermediate Transfiguration class, would you?”

Bri was completely ready to start a war against the men. She stood besides Bella, a girl she didn’t know very well, but right now, she was united. “Wonderful. Os deserves it. They all do.” Truthfully, Os amused her, but she wasn’t going to admit that. It was more fun arguing with him. “We’re going to - " 

A heavy hand on her shoulder disrupted her. "Preparing to lose, little ones?” Dayo chuckled as Bri elbowed him. “Now now, save it for the battlefield. Because you ladies are going to be decimated. It’s been some time since I’ve had a good battle.” His eyes were lit up with excitement, the same feeling he always felt before a fight, friendly or not.

“They definetly do!” beaming, she wrapped an arm around Brigid’s shoulders, “They won’t know what hit them! Literally! I plan on covering them underneath several inches of snow!”

“Non. I don’t want. Friends are a waste of my time.” He hadn’t come to Hogwarts to make friends, he’d come to learn new skills. Friendship only ended in misery. “I don’t think so.” Testing a door, he found the library she’d been looking for. “Now stop bother me.”