Too Excited to Think

Rebecca skipped to where she was told was the Gryffindor common room. She was new to Hogwarts and was overloaded with excitement. But all she saw was a big portrait of a fat lady. Confused, she looked around, hoping to see someone to help her. Her mother was a Hufflepuff so she didn't know what she was supposed to do with a portrait of a fat lady. Rebecca looked a bit closer, hoping to achieve a clue. Suddenly, the fat lady moved!
"Password?" it said.
Password?! Rebecca screamed inside her head.
"How am I supposed to know it?" she exclaimed. Now what did she do?

On his way to the Common Room, Ryland carried a book over simple charms that he'd checked out from the library. He was on his way to practice some simple spells and getting a good night's sleep when he got there and realized that the entrance was blocked by a girl. She seemed to not know the password as she asked the Fat Lady how it was that she was supposed to know "it".

"If you are in Gryffindor, you should know the password." replied the Fat Lady, with smile on her face that showed Ryland she thought she had won. Approaching them both, the girl and the portrait, Ryland greeted the Lady and said, "Burning Day."
After hearing the password, the Lady gave him a playful look and the door to the Common Room opened.
"It's Burning Day, because apparently that's what happens when a phoenix dies and comes back to life." he explained to the girl, "It's rather complicated to understand why we'd need a password anyway."

"I'm Ryland by the way" he said as he shyly extended his hand.

Rebecca was too busy being mad at the Fat Lady portrait to notice another Gryffindor walking up to her. She looked towards him and rolled her eyes.
"How am I supposed to know the password if I am new here?" she asked him as he said the password.
Burning Day, Rebecca thought, determined to remember it. She watched as the Lady portrait swung open, revealing an entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. She looked back the boy just in time to see him introduce himself.
"Nice to meet you, Ryland!" Rebecca said, smiling brightly and shaking his hand. "I'm Rebecca."
She hoped that she wasn't annoying this person.

"A prefect must have given it to you upon getting sorted..." Ryland explained. "It's kind of his fault if he didn't. Just think of a phoenix and it should be easier."

As she shook his hand, he was glad to know he wouldn't have to do much of the talking as she seemed to be a very friendly person. "Nice to meet you too, Rebecca." he said, the thought about something else to say.
"It's really nice to see more Gryffindors around. All I see are Slytherins." he said with a smile.

"Wow," Rebecca said at Ryland's remark about Slytherins. "Then how many Gryffindors are there?"
She stepped into the entrance to the Common Room and looked back to check that Ryland was behind her. Upon entering the room, she tried to keep herself from gasping. It was miles better than her family's living room. Then Rebecca noticed another Gryffindor girl walking up to them.
"Hi!" she replied. "I'm Rebecca."

"Don't know exactly how many, but very few." Ryland replied with a smile. Walking behind her, he noticed a girl he'd met before already but couldn't remember her name. All he knew was that he'd met her at about the same time he'd met Aurelia.

Seeing the look of surprise on Rebecca's face, he looked around trying to look for something that might have caused it, but found nothing but the red haired girl. Ignoring it, Ryland took a seat in front of her and said, "Hello, you're a second year, aren't you?" He needed someone with enough experience to teach him the spells he was supposed to practice.
Looking back at Rebecca, he wondered whether she would take a seat or not as he had grown to like her in the first few seconds of being around her. Glancing back at the older girl, he was glad they were all much friendlier than him.

"Well, I guess we have to try as hard as we can to win the House Cup, right?" Rebecca grinned back at Ryland.
She watched as he settled in one of the chairs. Tempted to do so, she did the same, almost jumping into one of the armchairs without waiting for the red haired girl to introduce herself. It was a bit rude, but she couldn't resist it and it was the first time in ages she was comfortable. As Ryland asked the red haired girl something, Rebecca stared around the room, admiring everything in it.
She pushed away a few hairs that were dangling in front of her eyes and stared at the window, watching the sky turn dark blue.

Rebecca grinned as she looked back at the girl was called herself Shah. She hoped that Gryffindor would win the House Cup too.
"Hi, Shah," she said. "I'm Rebecca."
She glanced at Ryland and saw him looking at her. Quickly, she looked away and felt her face going red.
"So," she exclaimed, trying to hide it. "Are you guys on the Quidditch team?"

Severine walked down the stairway, her shoes making little thudding sounds. She paused when she spotted several Gryffindors all talking together. One of the girls was blushing red and so was another guy.

"Hullo fellow lions," she called. She stepped into the little group, "Why are you two blushing?" Severine pointed out in her usual blunt way.

Rebecca heard another voice and looked up to see another Gryffindor.
"Am not!" she exclaimed.
To her, it was a bit rude for a random girl to come up to her and ask why she was blushing. A frown spread on her face as she didn't feel it hot anymore. Then she looked at Shah, wondering if she was going to answer her question.

"Hi, I'm Ryland." He said quickly, trying to move to the point of his first question. "I was actually wondering if you or anyone you know could help me out with some apparently simple spells I still haven't been able to master in class? I know it may be too forward to ask since I just met you, but I really want to pass the year." he explained as he held the book in his hands, desperately wanting her to say yes or to introduce him to a tutor.

"No," Ryland replied to Rebecca as he looked at her. "I applied a few days ago but I still haven't gotten an answer." Deep down, he was scared of what the answer would be. They could easily decline his application, and that would be terrible. But they could also accept it, and that made him nervous.

At the sight of another person joining, Ryland smiled at her. He remembered her introduction from the Gryffindor Meeting but he couldn't quite remember her name so he did not say anything. After hearing Rebecca's answer, he chuckled. He never did quite understood why girl's blushed anyway.

Severine looked at the book in Ryland's hand. "I can help if you want,"she offered. "And no," she answered Rebecca'a question, "I'm not on the Quidditch team. I suck at Quidditch, most probably gonna fail the final flying exam."

"I wish I could," replied Rebecca a bit upset. "But I heard you need your own broom. I don't have enough to buy a decent one."
She just shrugged and listened to Shah and Ryland's conversation.

"No, that's not it." Ryland half smiled. "I just don't feel very comfortable around the professor." In a way, he felt terrible for judging the man before knowing him, but something about him just did not feel right to Ryland. It was something that he did not know how to explain.

Ryland then turned to Rebecca when she said she didn't have enough money to buy a broom. "Neither do I." he explained, wondering how many students in the castle were truly rich. So far, from what Lucy had told him, it seemed it was only Slytherins that were born into great, powerful families. Ryland hated that unfairness.

Rebecca grinned, feeling more hopeful.
"What models does the school have?" she asked Shah, excited.
Maybe she could apply for the Gryffindor Team! By that time, she might earn some money and buy a broom of her own. Then she turned to Ryland.
"So what classes do you take?" Rebecca asked, curious.
He might be in one of her classes. It would be great to see a familiar face somewhere, since she didn't know everyone. Rebecca herself didn't take on much classes, although she especially liked Astronomy, outer space was super interesting to her.

"Thank you." Ryland smiled at Shah. She seemed to be a nice person, and Ryland felt blessed to not have to go through any troubles with people yet. After Shah replied to Rebecca, his eyes widened with curiosity. "We don't? need our own?" After a few seconds though, a question crossed his mind. "How much does a broom generally cost?"

When Rebecca spoke, he turned to her. "Um, I'm taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, History of Magic..." he said as he counted the classes with his fingers. "I think that's all." He looked at her then added, "I'm a muggleborn, so I'm trying to learn as much as I possibly can."

"It depends on the model," Rebecca explained to Ryland. "The slowest broom is, I think, about 35 Galleons. But it's super slow, I forgot the model. You need about over a 100 Galleons to buy a decent broom that's not slow."
Sighing, she listened to Ryland speak again.
"I'm a half-blood," Rebecca replied, grinning. "I take-" she held up her fingers to start counting her classes too. "Flying, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Astronomy and Transfiguration... I'm pretty sure that's it?"
She had forgotten to make a list. Shaking her head, she stayed quiet, with no idea what to say.