Closed Not Quite A First Impression

[Summer Irvine]

Summer had decided that she would put the days she had untill classes actually started to good use. Not only did she want to get to know her classmates, she also wanted to know the castle. See if there were any cool places and find out where people liked to hang out. Know all of the ins and outs even if she had only just gotten here. She was sure making friends would be way easier once classes had actually begun and so she'd decided to take a little tour of the castle today. Ask some students in passing which places she had to see and maybe just try to open a random door every now and then. Which was exactly what she did when she passed another door: try to open it. Summer grinned when the door wasn't locked, stepping inside the room. It didn't look like the room was still used for classes, but it also didn't look like no one ever came there. She reckoned it was a place people hung out every now and then. There was a small layer of dust on the tables but that wasn't strange since everyone had just been on break. Stepping towards a table in the corner she suddenly noticed a spiderweb, just a little too late to avoid walking straight into it. If there was anything Summer hated with every fibre of her being it was spiders. She let out a shriek loud enough for anyone walking the halls to hear her, moving her hand through her hair in a reflex only to be met with a crawling sensation up her arm. "Ew! Ew! Get if off, get it off!" She called out to no one in particular, waving her arm like a madwoman trying to get the spider off.

 

[Noah Cosgrove]

Noah was so psyched to be at Hogwarts. He knew he would miss his family, especially his siblings, but it was also good to be away from them a little. He felt so much pressure to be the responsible one at home, and although his parents were the best parents in the world, he felt like he needed his own space. Especially as sometimes he felt like he didn't have much room for mistakes. Mostly when it involved Alana and James, if they were up to no good. Since he was the oldest, he was the one who should know better. He was very happy that he had been sorted in the same house as his mother had been, he wouldn't have minded being a Ravenclaw either like his dad. All of this thinking made him realise he had yet to send a letter home, as his mother had asked him to do when he was all settled in. Well, he was, for the most part. He really wanted to make his first friend, however, as he hadn't quite managed to do that just yet. After he'd gone to the common room to get a parchment and quill from his bag, the Hufflepuff decided he'd find a quiet spot so he could write a quick letter and send it. It seemed like finding a space that wasn't occupied that wasn't the library seemed near impossible, as the castle was massive. Noah was just about to give up on finding the perfect spot and head back to the common room, when the loudest shriek he had ever heard in his life made him jump. It sounded like someone was in trouble.

Without thinking twice, the boy ran towards the commotion, figuring it had come from...aha, behind that door. It looked like the door was open a smidge, so he pushed it completely open, discovering some sort of classroom that seemed to be way out of use. His eyes darted around the room, before recognising the girl he'd met over the winter at the park just before coming to Hogwarts. "What the..." he glanced at her waving her arm like a mad person. She looked purely insane. Noah covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing because, well...was she scared of bugs? After a moment the boy thought that despite the live entertainment he should probably help her out. Phobias weren't funny, but the sight of this girl frantically waving her arm around like she was on fire was quite the show. "Here, let me," Noah said, trying to get her to stop moving so much. He placed his parchment next to her arm to where a spider was crawling up and, sure enough, it eventually left the girl's arm and went onto the piece of parchment. Then he went over to the nearest window, opened it (with much effort) and set the little creature free. He quickly closed the window, and turned to the girl. "Funny meeting you here," he said with a grin, wondering if she'd remember him. "Oh, and don't worry about the spider, it's gone now, so you're safe." He looked around. "Want me to scout the place for other...unwanted friends?" Noah had a lot of experience with this, his sister really wasn't a fan of creepy-crawlies either.​

 

[Summer Irvine]

Summer could feel her eyes starting to tear up as she waved her arms around like crazy, not wanting to touch the spider but also not wanting it to crawl further upwards. What if it crawled onto her face? Bugs were one thing, she disliked them, thought they were dirty, didn't want to be near them. Spiders were in their own seperate category. She didn't just dislike them, the idea of them genuinely caused her heart rate to go up. No matter how small. She was too busy panicking to notice someone entering the room, only realizing another student was there when he spoke to her. Processing his words Summer stopped waving her arm, although she couldn't quite stop it from shaking. Once he moved away with the parchment that now held the spider she took a step back, carefully reaching for her hair and attempting to get the remaining strings of web out of it. "I wouldn't call this funny.." She muttered almost too soft for him to hear, wiping her hands on her skirt before looking up and only then realizing she had met this boy before. "Yeah, uh, thanks." She replied with the best smile she could muster, still feeling itchy just at the thought of the spider. "Oh, no, that's fine." Summer shook her head. "I'm just not going to move from this spot until I'm leaving the room. And when I do I'm sure you'll offer to walk in front of me." She added in a light tone. "What was your name again?"

 

[Noah Cosgrove]

Noah realised that even though it has first seemed that the girl was being dramatic as it really wasn’t actually that big of a deal, it could happen to anyone and everyone, she was being totally serious and she was scared senseless. His smile slowly turned into a frown as he helped her and noticed that she was shaking. “Yeah, I’m sorry,” he said more gently, just catching what she’d muttered under her breath. “Being scared of something is totally normal. And being scared of spiders is one of the most common fears in the world,” he said, and paused here, not wanting to ramble unnecessarily or make her feel worse than what she probably already did. He didn’t exactly want to know how she was feeling, probably embarrassed and all, although he could sympathise. Noah returned the smile she have him and hoped that he was able to cheer her up a little, make her forget this ever happened. He was sure that she would, in no time. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would fret over stuff like this. “Alright, if you’re sure,” the Puff shrugged. She seemed to be recovering pretty quickly from the freak-out which was a good thing. Besides, maybe forgetting and not being aware that this classroom was most likely infested with bugs was the way to go. Noah took a seat on the desk nearest to him and grinned at the girl. “Yeah, I’d like to think I could protect you from any nasty creatures we may run into on the way out of this classroom,” he stated, in a semi-jokingly way. “I’m Noah,” he reminded her, though for some reason her name was escaping him as well. “What’s yours?” He thought it may have started with an S, or C or something…but he couldn’t quite remember. “So, why have you come here in the first place, anyway?” He asked curiously.​

 

[Summer Irvine]

Summer was serious when she mentioned she wouldn't be moving until she decided it was time to leave the room. Coming here in the first place had turned out be a huge mistake, but at least she had found someone new, or somewhat new, to talk to. She didn't want to just leave and ruin her chances of making a new friend. Which was why it was a good thing he apologized. "Right." She nodded, not too keen on sticking on the subject or spiders or him lecturing her on it any further. "I'll hold you to that." Summer grinned, ready to have him walk in front of her should they leave the room so she wouldn't be walking into anymore bugs. He was already volunteering after all and she'd happily let him do so. "Noah. Got it. I totally knew that." She replied before tossing a lock of blonde hair back over her shoulder and shooting him her most confident smile. "Summer." It took some effort not to make her name sound matter of factly although part of her thought he should've remembered, even if she had also forgotten his name. "I was looking to see if there were any cool places around here to hang out. This room's not going on my list."

 

[Noah Cosgrove]

When the girl agreed with him, Noah felt his shoulders relax, although her response was kind of short. Well, she was probably embarrassed and didn't want to dwell on her mini panic attack anymore, which was fair enough - if that was the case, anyway. But his attempt at cheering her up seemed to be working, at least a little. She actually smiled at him. In Noah's eyes, that was always a good thing. Especially after having one of the biggest scares ever. "You can definitely count on me," he said confidently, being totally serious about protecting her from whatever bugs they'd possibly run into on their way out. Something made him think she was pretending to have remembered his name once he mentioned it, though the first year was none the wiser. Maybe that hadn't really been sarcasm, maybe it just sounded a little sarcastic. "It's nice to meet you again, or properly this time, Summer," he responded using her name, more than happy to make a new friend. She was nice, and so far it looked like their interaction was headed for a wonderful friendship. He considered what she said. "That's fair, it's a pretty boring room," he said. "I don't think anyone uses it anymore. I'm sure there's places around here that are actual cool places for us to hang out. Like maybe the lake. Or wherever secret passages lead to. But I need to explore some more to find out." Noah noticed Summer hadn't relayed the question back to him but that was okay. He highly doubted him writing a letter home was of much interest to anyone else.​