TERM 6 - The Story of my Life - Room of Requirement - Hunter, AOife, Aislinn, Darcy, Maya, Jen

Aislinn paced up and down the corridor. She was in desperate need of a place to go, someplace quiet. She desperately wanted a friend, someone to talk to. She was home sick, but for what? The orphanage that treated her horribly? That wasn't possible, was it? Suddenly, a door opened and she walked through it. She saw what almost looked like a lounge. Walking quietly across the room, she sat down in a comfy arm chair. She hoped that one day she would understand what it meant to be a wizard.

She was surprised when she hear a voice and the door open again. Maybe this was a chance to meet a friend or possibly a bully. She hesitated.

Jennifer had just been wandering about the castle. Classes were over for the day and she was bored. Nothing to do. She wasn't in the mood for reading or walking about the grounds and she didn't know where anyone she'd want to talk to was. She almost felt trapped within the castle walls. It wasn't like she was homesick or anything - she just wanted some freedom.

So she was walking along a corridor, singing quietly to herself. She didn't sing but when she was alone and nobody could hear her, it was okay. When she came to a door which she didn't remember having been through before, she stopped and opened it slowly.

Inside was a comfortable lounge, or that's what it looked like. Odd. She was about to go and sit down when she noticed the small girl in a big armchair nearby. Jen sighed. Just when she had found somewhere, some random girl invaded her privacy. Kids nowadays. Since she hadn't got anything better to do, she went to sit down in a different armchair.

"I'm Jen," she smirked. It was polite to introduce herself, yes?

Darcy felt like taking a round, but she didn't want to leave the floor she was on. She left the Gryffindor tower, and then thought, why not taking a trip to the room of requirement. She rushed to the room and opened the door after passing by three times.

The doors opened and Darcy swiftly walked inside. She grinned as she saw another person there. A Hufflepuff. Darcy had heard that Hufflepuffs were the kindest of the houses. She hoped it was true; she really did want a good friend. A good girl friend. She did have Lucy, but she hadn't talked too much with her yet. And there was also another girl there, older than Darcy, and a Slytherin. Not that it had anything to do with it, not as Darcy had felt at least.

"Hey there," she said softly, walking over to the girl in the comfy chair and the girl standing there, "Do you mind if I join you?"

Looking up, she saw two girls, one Slytherin and one Gryffindor. They looked nice, but nowadays, looks were deceiving. "I'm Aislinn," she replied quietly to the girl named Jen. She was extremely shy and often didn't like talking. As the other girl approached, she replied with a nod.

The girl that hadn't introduced herself yet, was oddly charming, though she wasn't quite sure why.

The girl obviously didn't want to make conversation. That was good. Because she didn't either. And wasn't planning on doing so. The reason she was here was to think and try and fix her mind, because she was pretty sure that she was slowly going mad and completely losing it. She just wanted to let out a scream.

Jen rolled her eyes when another girl turned up. Why not just throw a party here? There was something weird about the newcomer. She couldn't keep her eyes from the younger girl, and not because she was killing her with her eyes. Very odd. Oh, there was that word again. Odd.

Aoife skipped along corridors muttering to herself a lot. Imagining ways to KILL severely injure certain people. Today it was Jen, surprise surprise. There was a bit of Evan in there too, though. Blinding her. What was he thinking? True, she'd thrown a few snowballs his way but it was a bit drastic to blind her, wasn't it?

She was tired and she just wanted to rest somewhere, but it was only the afternoon and she couldn't be bothered to trek back to the Common Room. Which was why, when she saw an inviting door, she opened it just in case. And she wasn't disappointed. Well, she was. Because Jen was there.

"Oh...hi!" That was more directed to Darcy and the other girl, who were also there. "I'm Aoife!"

Maya began the long climb from the dungeons to the seventh floor, going to attempt to find a secret, hidden room that she was informed about.  She was incredulous about the credentials of this so called Room of Requirement as in her three years at Hogwarts she had done her fair share of exploring and had never once heard of or come across a secret room that only appeared when the user was in great need.  Maya felt embarrassed as she strode up and down a large wall, repeatedly thinking to herself "I need a secret place to hide," while hoping that no one would see her stupidly striding up and down the corridor.

Maya was about to give up and began cursing under her breath, feeling stupid for believing a string of lies.  Rolling her eyes at the thought of the descent back down to the dungeons she turned around planning on releasing her rage and kicking the wall when she stopped midway and stared, gaping at a door that had appeared in the wall.  Maya lost her balance as she was still in the process of kicking the wall and toppled through the door.  

Maya quickly clambered to her feet when she realised that she wasn't alone. Oh. She hadn't realised there would be people here. Maya chewed on her lip, embarrassed, until she recognised some of the students. Darcy was here and not surrounded by ogling boys, that was a first for Maya.  She had never actually been in her company without boys making fools of themselves in front of her.  Not that Maya minded, she found it quite amusing, but sometimes felt bad for Darcy.  She seemed to be able to handle herself as she was probably used to it Maya mused.  Maybe now was a good opportunity to get to know her better. "Hey Darcy," Maya greeted warmly and smiled in Jennifer's direction.  She knew the Slytherin, but had little contact with her since they organised the decorations for their Christmas party. The other two were first years as Maya recognised them from the sorting feast at the beginning of the year. "Firsties, I presume?" Maya stated in a friendly manner. "I'm Maya. How did you come across the room?" Maya couldn't help inquiring, they must have been some adventurous first years Maya couldn't help thinking, slightly jealous that they had found the room before she had.

Darcy gave a smile at Aislinn as she introduced herself, and ignored the look on the Slytherin's face. She did not look happy to see Darcy entering. Maybe the girl simply wanted peace and quiet? Darcy could understand that, given the fact that that had been what she was looking for as well, but she really thought this Aislinn could be really nice, even if it was solitude the girl sought.

"Oh, right! I'm Darcy," Darcy introduced, realizing she hadn't said her name. And then Aoife came walking in through the door. Darcy grinned, having already grown fond of Aoife without having really talked to the girl at all. Now was the perfect time, though! Darcy was just about to greet her when the door was opened yet again.

Darcy looked to the door and saw Maya tumbling in through it. Darcy grinned. It had been a long time since she last saw Maya, and their meetings had been rather friendly, even though Darcy hadn't gotten to know her very well yet. But that was about to change!

"Hey Maya," she said with a grin and gave a smile at Aoife as well. Darcy didn't know if Maya was asking her how she came across the room, but she answered nonetheless. "I was really just walking around on this floor when I basically bumped into it," she said with a shrug. It wasn't weird for Darcy to be on this floor, considering where her common room was. And she was glad about that. If not, she wouldn't have found this place, that was for sure.

Oh, great. AnnoyingAoife was here too.

And Maya. But Maya didn't drive her mad. The blonde, who was apparently called Darcy had got involved in conversation with the Slytherin girl. Aoife was standing there and Aislinn was just there. Jennifer was sitting in her armchair, not paying any attention to the others around her.

She caught Maya say something about how they got to the room, but she didn't know whether the question was directed at her too. "I was walking along the corridor," she said sarcastically. "I opened a door. Here I am."

Aislinn smiled at Aoife, Darcy and Maya as they one by one introduced themselves. She felt a little uncomfortable at the amount of people that was there but maybe eventually, they'd break her out of her shyness.

As Maya asked how they got into the room, Aislinn thought. She wasn't even sure what this room was, she thought it was always here. "Well, I was pacing the hall trying to find someone to talk to or a quiet place to think." she admitted shyly. She hoped they wouldn't leave her, because their presence was oddly calming.

YAY LOTS OF PEOPLE NEW FRIENDS EXCEPT JEN OBVIOUSLY!

Everyone seemed to be talking about how they got here - except Jen because she was a moody bum - but Aoife wasn't exactly sure what the answer would be. After listening to the others speak - even moody bum Jen - it was a little bit more clear what Maya meant with her question. "I'm really tired," she said, and couldn't hold back a yawn. It wasn't deliberate, it had just happened when she thought about being tired. "I was wandering about and I couldn't remember where the Common Room is. But I found the door so I came in!" Story complete.

The other younger girl seemed to be very shy and not really talking much, so she gave her a big smile. "Are you in first-year too? I am. I'm a muggle-born so it's all very different and-" No babbling. It made her seem stupid, according to her brother, so she was trying not to do it. Not that she cared what her brother said. But it was an experiment, to see whether people liked her more.

Maya felt some hostility coming from Jennifer and didn't know if it was aimed at her or not.  Maya decided to just ignore her, she knew all about Slytherin's and their moodiness.  Maya felt better after everyone had explained how they had found the weird room, she never had a hope seen as she never felt the need to go wandering around the seventh floor corridor.  Some people had too much spare time she concluded.  

Maya was glad that Darcy was here, at least she had a friendly face amongst all the strangers.  "What are you doing here?" Maya inquired.  It secret room didn't seem like a place someone would come to socialise in, maybe more like to get away from people.

That clearly wasn't the case now Maya thought to herself as she surveyed the overbearingly crowded room.  She glanced over at the two first years talking together and grimaced to herself.  One's voice was so shrill and excited Maya couldn't help rolling her eyes, no way she was like that in first year!

"Oh, yeah, I am." she smiled towards Aoife. "I'm apparently a pure-blood, but I was raised in an orphanage so everything is so confusing." she looked at everyone shyly. She truly hated being shy, but at the same time she couldn't help it. She was raised thinking everyone was harmful and that she wasn't supposed to have friends. She'd never met kids her age that were friendly to her and didn't throw things at her. She noticed Jen wasn't a very happy camper, maybe she just wanted to be alone.

Darcy smiled as the people replied, even Jen. She hadn't expected the girl to answer, as she seemed to not want to talk to them, but simply be left alone. Darcy decided that she shouldn't pressure the girl into the conversation either, since that could be a stupid move, rendering the older Slytherin to hate her forever. Not that Darcy would care, but she liked knowing she could walk around Hogwarts without being worried that she might be snowballed.

She turned her attention to Maya as she asked Darcy a question. Darcy grinned. "I actually wanted to find some place quiet and relax a bit, but this is actually really nice," she said softly. She usually went to the Room of Requirement for peace, but she was the sort of person that enjoyed herself more in others company than on her own. "Why did you come here?" Darcy then asked, curious as to how the Slytherin got herself from the dungeons to the topmost floor.

Darcy also kept an ear to the conversations around her and heard Aislinn tell that she was a pureblood, but had been raised in an orphanage. Something about the girl did make Darcy feel very welcome. She seemed pretty shy, but even so, the girl seemed welcoming and kind, and Darcy knew she was going to like Aislinn pretty well.

Hunter was just making his way out of the Gryffindor common room, minding his own business, when he caught sight of an older girl that he hadn't seen before pacing along one of the corridors. He should have just kept walking, but he couldn't help stopping curiously when she aimed a kick at one of the walls. What's her problem? To Hunter's surprise, it turned out that she had a reason to be interested in the wall, because a door appeared. She must not have expected it, because she fell right through it.

Once again, Hunter knew he should keep walking. But who knows what's in there. First of all, maybe the older girl was hurt. Maybe the room was full of dangerous things. Or maybe it was full of candy. The idea of a room full of candy was really what drove Hunter forward. He cautiously edged along the wall and put a hand on the door handle, pulling it open and stepping quietly inside - after all, if it was something dangerous, he didn't want to give himself away.

When he caught sight of what was inside, however, Hunter froze in his tracks. The room wasn't full of dangerous things or candy. No, this room was full of something much worse. This room was full of girls. TOO MANY GIRLS! Quickly scanning his surroundings, Hunter counted FIVE. There was the older girl he'd followed. And a blonde girl in his year that he didn't know. His face wrinkled up in disgust as he caught sight of Jen. Aoife was there, at least. Lastly, he noticed Darcy. NOT DARCY! That drew the line, right there. He couldn't be in a room with five girls. Especially when one of them was Darcy. He wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her for a second.

Taking a deep breath, Hunter slowly backed up as though the girls were predators. Maybe, if he was really quiet and moved really slowly, he'd be able to escape before they even noticed him.  Maybe, just maybe, the gods were in his favor today.

That was cool. A pure-blood but had as much magical knowledge as a muggle-born. Aislinn seemed really nice and Aoife hoped they could be friends. "I'm a muggle-born. It's so confusing here. Nothing makes sense. But good confusing, I suppose. How do you know you're a pure-blood?" she asked curiously.

HEY LOOK WHO'D TURNED UP TO JOIN THE PARTY? IT WAS HER BEST FRIEND. "HUNTER!" she shouted excitedly. "Come over here! This is Aislinn! We're friends. She's in Hufflepuff." Technically, Hunter and Aislinn were friends because they had a mutual friend.

Maya paused before answering Darcy's question.  Why had she come?  "I suppose for the same reason as you?"  Maya shrugged, not sure if she wanted to confide in Darcy about why she had actually come.  

Maya was still intrigued by the other first years and couldn't help butting in when one of them claimed to be a pure-blood.  "A pure-blood, in Hufflepuff?"  Maya nearly scoffed and couldn't help raising her eyebrows at the girl.  There were very few pure-bloods left in the wizarding world, but maybe they didn't all belong in Slytherin she reasoned with herself.  "Sorry for imposing." Maya said stiffly, hoping she hadn't made a bad impression.  It was probably too late for that Maya thought to herself as she remembered her grand entrance into the room.

Maya looked up when the door opened and another Gryffindor entered. Great, another first year. How did so many people know about this place? Maya knew that she hadn't really made an effort with the new students this year, not even the Slytherins.  Maybe now was a good time to start, she pondered to herself, as she hung back watching the first years interacting.  She stifled a laugh at the boy's reaction to the room full of girls, he didn't seem to have a choice in slipping away unnoticed though once the excited first year dragged him into the fray.  Maya let out an amused laugh as the boy (Hunter was it?), seemed to be regretting coming now.

Darn it, Aoife! Hunter froze. He'd been spotted. For the first time, he found himself silently cursing Aoife's indiscreet nature. Every girl in the room would have probably turned to look after Aoife shouted his name. What would happen if he just turned around and ran for it? Probably nothing, actually, but he'd look like a coward. And he didn't want a room full of girls to think he was a coward. Especially Jen. No, especially Darcy. He never should have followed that girl in the hallway. Now, what could he do besides grit his teeth and stride cautiously through the room to join Aoife.

Hunter glanced uncertainly around the room as he stepped between the girls to reach his friend. He felt very much like he was entering a lion's den. Don't stare at Darcy. Don't stare at Darcy. Don't stare at Darcy. It was a lot harder than it sounded it in his head. What the hell was with Darcy? Maybe she had slipped him a love potion after all - but he knew that couldn't really be it. Look at Aoife. That's more normal, considering you've actually spoken to her before. So he focused on Aoife's face instead, and kept his eyes as far from the blonde Gryffindor as he could once he'd reached his destination. This was not the place - SO MANYGIRLS!

"Hi Aoife..." It was a little easier once Aoife started talking and introduced him to the blonde first year. At least he had something to focus on besides the dangerous environment that he'd stupidly wound up in. She said the girl's name was Aislinn, and that they were friends. He offered the girl a smile. "Hi Aislinn! I'm Hunter," he said, his tone friendly. "It's nice to meet you!" He would normally say more, but he felt as though he was being watched because he was the only boy in the room. So, he simply added, "Hufflepuff's a nice house."

She smiled at the young boy Aoife introduced as Hunter. "Hello. Nice to meet you Hunter." her shyness shone through a bit as she ducked her head and looked down to her feet. She was scoffed at for being pure-blood in Hufflepuff not even knowing what any of it meant. "I'm not sure I understand the difference between the Houses and being a pure-blood or not. I ran into my grandmother on a misfortunate outing and she told me." Aislinn shurgged, she didn't know things happened toher, they just did.

"Hufflepuff IS a nice house," Aoife agreed. Not as nice as Gryffindor, though. "Hunter's in Gryffindor too! We're friends. Not best friends! Not anymore, anyway." Oops, that might have sounded like they'd fought or something. But she couldn't be bothered to explain the contract and how it needed renewal soon. Aislinn had a cool story. "I think that's cool!" she smiled. "Unique and everything!"

It was only when Hunter had came over and started talking to them that she realised he was the only boy in the room. "You know, Hunter, you're the only boy in the room!" ObservantAoife. He probably already knew that, but just in case, she'd had to tell him. That's what friends were for.

Darcy gave a smile to Maya, finding that to be a pretty reasonable explanation. After all, why wouldn't that be the case? Maya probably already knew of this room, so why wouldn't she think it would be the perfect place to go to if she needed space? Darcy looked at Aislinn and Aoife when they started discussing, and then back to Maya when the girl asked about being a pureblood in Hufflepuff. Something in Maya's tone was something Darcy didn't like, but hey, Maya was obviously a good friend of Kynan's, so it was probably more about house pride than family traditions. Maybe?

Either way, Darcy turned around when Aoife shouted Hunter. She jumped quite a lot as well, but offered a big smile to Hunter. "Hey," she said happily, completely unaware of his inner struggle. She did, however, notice when he wouldn't look at her. She wondered why? Somehow, it sort of made her think he didn't like her. And then, a small voice entered her mind. For a person studying as hard as you, Darce, you can be really thick sometimes it said. Veela! Jeez. Okay, now, how to say that to him without making everyone in the room annoyed with her or something?

She offered a short laugh at Aoife's comment of him being the only boy in the room. She then looked at the Slytherin girl standing there. She seemed to not want to join the conversations. Maybe she had come here to be on her own, and that blew up in her face? And maybe she wasn't like Darcy who loved to be around a lot of people who were chatting their faces off? She gave the girl a smile, and said politely: "I don't think I know you. What's your name?"

Hunter's first impression of Aislinn was nice, but shy. Aoife told Aislinn that he was in Gryffindor and that they were friends. Only, of course, Aoife made it sound a lot more complicated than it really was. Not really feeling like explaining the strange contract situation that he and Aoife had concerning their friendship, and not wanting Aislinn to feel left out for not understanding what Aoife was talking about, he moved on to a different topic.

"I thought for sure I'd be in Hufflepuff when I learned about the houses. It sounded like a really cool house," Hunter told the girl. Then, with a slight grin, he added, "But somehow I ended up in Gryffindor with this weirdo instead." He was quickly becoming less worried about hurting Aoife's feelings by teasing her. Nothing seemed to phase her, and she knew he was just joking. And if she somehow got offended, she'd probably just hit him and then they'd be friends again. It all worked out, usually.

Then, Aoife seemed to feel the need to announce to the multitude of girls that Hunter was the only boy there. As if it had slipped passed everybody's attention. "Really?" he said to her, sarcasm clear in his voice. "I hadn't noticed." Of course he had noticed. And of course Aoife's words had made him look around the room and get that self-conscious feeling all over again because there were SO MANY GIRLS! Not to mention, he still had to try to avoid looking at Darcy for fear of embarrassing himself and offending her. Not to mention, Aoife tended to slap him when he stared at Darcy. That would only add to the embarrassment. How had he ended up here?

That Gryffindor pretty girl was trying to start up a conversation. Ugh, she didn't want that. But maybe once she'd given her a short, hostile answer, she'd give up and go away. "I'm Jen. Sixth-year. Slytherin." No point elaborating.

Maybe she'd get more peace if she went back down to the Common Room and slept for a bit in her dormitory. Yeah, then she wouldn't have to be anywhere near AnnoyingAoife. "So...bye everyone," Jennifer murmured as she stood up and started walking towards the door. "Go die, Aoife. And Hunter." She had to get that in there while she could.

Maya looked back over at the Hufflepuff girl when she answered her. She was glad that she wasn't offended as that wasn't her intention but somehow Maya usually ended up rubbing people up the wrong way, especially during first impressions. "To be honest, I'm not sure I do either. I'm a half-blood, but was raised in basically muggle conditions so I don't really know how things work I just thought pure bloods ended up in Slytherin or something. But being a pure-blood in Hufflepuff is pretty cool." Maya shrugged trying to look nonchalant when she just admitted how ignorant she sometimes was to the wizarding world. She hated showing weakness, especially in front of first years.

Darcy obviously knew the first year that had just joined them as he was also in Gryffindor and she joined in with her laughter at Aoife's comment. Maybe now was a good time to introduce herself. "Hey Hunter, I'm Maya" and she left it at that, deciding she had probably done enough offending for the day.

Maya looked up when Jen went to leave, laughing at what she had to say in goodbye. Typical Jen.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Hunter," Aoife laughed, sticking her tongue out. "I don't know...maybe make cooler friends and be even more awesome than I already am? IF that's possible." She could tease him back just as well.

He actually cared? "Oh," she murmured quietly, almost disappointedly. "I didn't think you were the type of boy to care...and for your information, I do not count myself as a girl. I am, first and foremost, a sheep." He knew that. Maybe he was ill and not himself, therefore forgetting everything he knew about her? That would be bad.

Oh good, Jen was leaving. "Couldn't handle it?" Aoife shouted after the girl. "And I AM NICE SO I AM NOT TELLING YOU TO GO AND DIE, ONLY TO GO AND FALL OFF A CLI- SEVERELY INJURE YOURSELF." Pffsh Jen. She had some SERIOUS anger issues.