when i saw her standing there -- louis weasley

chapter two

After he entered the hall, he immediately caught sight of his friends, most of them already seated at the Hufflepuff table. He waved goodbye to his cousins, as they all went to sit at the Gryffindor table, and started towards his friends. 

As he took his seat, Torryn Bird asked him, "Hey, Louis, how was your summer?" 

Torryn was one of Louis' friends and dormmates, they had become friends in their first year at Hogwarts. He and his cousin Naya were both very studious and it was because of them that their friends always got their work turned in on time. 

"It was good, yours?" After a look around the table, he added, "Where's Caspian and Emory?"

"I think they are talking to McGonagall about something? I thought I saw them come into the Entry Hall but I'm not sure," Saylor replied. The petite girl was chewing some of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum very loudly, blowing a bubble in it every now and then, and swirling a strand of her dark hair around her finger. 

"Oh, did you guys hear about Miranda?" The group shook their heads in response to her question. 

"So apparently something happened with her brother, and her parents moved them to the United States, so she's going to Ilvermorny now." She said the word cautiously, as if she wasn't sure how to pronounce it. 

Miranda had been the other girl in the Hufflepuff dorms with Naya, Saylor, Emory, and Hadley, as all the dorms were occupied by five people. 

"Then is it just us in the dorm now?" Hadley piped up. 

"I guess, but I also heard a rumour that there's a new girl..." Louis looked around the Great Hall for any unfamiliar faces but didn't see any. He started to say something but was interrupted by Emory and Caspian joining them. Saylor and Hadley immediately jumped up to give Emory a hug and the twins, Finley and Rowan, nodded to Caspian as he sat down, as they were busy playing a card game. 

A couple minutes later, Professor McGonagall called the attention to the front of the Hall and started speaking. Soon after, the great wooden door of the hall opened a tiny bit and a girl slipped inside and took a seat at the end of the Hufflepuff table near Louis and his friends. Louis noticed her sit down a couple seats down from him and leaned over. 

"Are you the new girl I've heard about?" he whispered. 

She looked taken aback when he talked to her but quickly whispered back with a smirk on her lips, "I don't know, am I?" He frowned and tilted his head a bit at the sound of her accent and turned his attention back to the Headmistress and the Sorting that was happening while she pulled a small paperback book out of her bag and started reading it. The rest of Louis' friends hadn't even noticed that she had sat down next to them, they were focused on clapping for every first year that got Sorted into Hufflepuff. Ten new Hufflepuffs were added to their table and were warmly welcomed. 

The Sorting finished and the feast began. As soon as the food appeared on the table, the girl's eyes strayed from her book and to the food. She put her book away and started serving herself. 

"So, what's your name?" Louis started up another conversation with her as he served himself food as well. 

"Hmm? Oh, I'm Ava, Ava Mackenzie." She put her hand out and he took it, shaking hands. 

"I'm Louis. These are my friends," he gestured vaguely to the group on the other side of him who paid no attention to him. "You're new, do you know where to sit?"

"Yes, I sit right here."

"Are you sure? This is the Hufflepuff table."

"Yes.... I got Sorted into Hufflepuff....." she raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." After a minute of awkward silence which Ava filled with eating her food, Louis asked, "So what book were you reading?"

"The Giver," she pulled it back out of her bag and handed it to him. "You can look at it for a bit if you want. Just be careful, it's a paperback." He nodded and turned the book over to read what it was about. 

"This sounds like a good book. Also, just curious, where are you from? Your accent is different."

"Oh, I transferred here from Ilvermorny."

"Ah, America. Wait," he turned to his friends. "Saylor, did you say Miranda moved to America?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Guys, this is Ava. She moved here from America." Ava gave a timid wave to them. 

"Oh my gosh, hi! I was right, there is a new girl!" Saylor moved to a seat right across from Ava, followed by Emory. "You're in our dorm! I'm Saylor, this is Emory, you've already met Lou of course, that's Finley and Rowan, that's Caspian, then there's Hadley, Torryn, and Naya over there! Welcome to Hogwarts!"

"Uh, hi?" Ava looked very overwhelmed with Saylor and Louis stepped in, saving her, "Guys look, dessert!" 

They all returned to their food, flocking to the different dessert options on the table, and Ava mouthed a small "thanks" to him. She then blinked and looked at him weird but took off her round glasses and started cleaning them with the hem of her shirt. With the glasses off, Louis noticed she had light brown eyes and a small scattering of freckles across her nose. 

"That's better," she commented and slid them back on her face, the ends disappearing into her short brown hair. Ava returned to her food and Louis to his. She finished before McGonagall started talking again so she picked up her book in one hand while using the thumb of her other hand to twist the butterfly ring on her index finger. 

Louis started to say something but was interrupted by McGonagall saying, "Time for bed! Prefects lead the first years to their dormitories please!" 

"Come on, Ava!" Saylor suddenly appeared at her side and linked arms with her, whisking her away to the dorms with Emory, Hadley, and Naya following close behind. 

Louis didn't move from his spot, as he had opened The Giver and started reading it, making sure to leave Ava's bookmark in. 

"Mate, you coming?" Caspian asked, as Finley, Rowan, and Torryn had already left. 

"Oh yeah, let's go." He stuck a small piece of paper in where he had left off and carried it with him back to his dorms, planning on finding Ava later and returning it.