when i saw her standing there -- louis weasley

chapter three

The next couple days passed and the curiosity about Ava slipped from Louis' mind. He would see her every now and then since they were in the same year and the same house, but he hadn't picked up her book since the start of term feast. That weekend, he and his friends decided to spend a day outside on the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts, away from their books and parchments. 

"Hey, Ava, wake up!" Naya hesitantly shook the girl awake. "It's Saturday!"

"Yeah?" she mumbled sleepily. "Okay." She rolled to the other side of her bed, facing away from Naya. 

"Come on, wake up!" She finally obliged and cracked an eye open to see the curly-haired girl standing next to her bed and Emory leaning against the door frame. 

"What is it?" 

"We, well the boys and us four girls, are hanging out outside on the grounds today and I was wondering if you'd like to join us. So what d'you say?"

"Uh, sure, I'll come. Give me a minute to get dressed."

"Great! We will all be in the common room when you're ready! Oh, and wear something casual like jeans and a sweater." Naya gave her a huge smile and then skipped out of the dorm, Emory following her. 

Ava sat up and rubbed her eyes free of sleep and blinked, looking around at the dorm room that had become her home in the past couple of days. Her first night sleeping in the same room as Naya, Emory, Saylor, and Hadley had been nerve racking, as she had no clue who the girls were, but she felt a little bit better about it now. She tossed the large black and yellow comforter off of her body and stretched before getting up. She rummaged through her trunk for an outfit and once she had it, she padded over to the bathroom to change.

She changed, and after a quick brush stroke through her short hair and a light touch of mascara on her lashes, she was ready. Her outfit for the day was simple, a pair of high waisted jeans and a tight fitting cable knit sweater that she had cut into a crop top a year before. On her feet were her favorite pair of white high top converse, with the laces tied around her ankles. After grabbing her wand and sticking it behind her ear, she exited the dorms and joined the rest of the group in the common room. 

They were all seated around the cozy fire, laughing and talking. Some lounged in the armchairs or on the couch, some were on the floor, and even one person was sitting cross legged on the coffee table. 

Ava approached them cautiously, and Emory saw her, "Hey, Ava! Alright guys let's go."

Louis looked up from his conversation with Torryn and saw her, his brain reminding him of something. 

"Oh, you guys go on without me, I forgot something in the dorm."

"Really, Louis? We've been sitting here for fifteen minutes and you didn't get it then?" Saylor joked before rising from her seat on the coffee table. Louis rolled his eyes at his friend before darting up the stairs. 

The rest of the group started leaving the common room and Ava lagged behind, unsure of how to interact with them. Once they were nearly to the entry hall, Louis caught up with them and fell into step next to Ava. 

"Hey, you forgot this the other day at the feast. I meant to give it back but I forgot about it. Here," he handed her the book he had retrieved from his dorm and the two started a conversation as she took it from him.

"Oh, thank you so much! I thought I'd misplaced it somewhere in my room. I've been anxious to get back to reading it, but haven't found the time to look for it between classes."

"Yeah, the first week back at Hogwarts is a little chaotic but soon everything will settle down and it'll be normal. How are you liking everything so far? I know this must be a huge change from what you're used to."

"Definitely. I like all my classes, they're mostly the same, I really like Professor Darrow. But I've noticed a severe lack of peanut butter, what's up with that?" She tucked the book under her arm and fiddled with her ring once again as she spoke. 

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about, isn't that the stuff you put on sandwiches?" 

"Yeah, why haven't I seen any here? Is there a secret stash somewhere that I need to find?" She joked, causing a small chuckle from Louis. 

"No, we don't really have peanut butter, I've only had it because my Uncle Charlie visits many different places and likes to bring back stuff for us."

"Oh that's cool, what does he do? I'd love to travel around for a job."

"He works at a dragon sanctuary in Romania, but he gets to go all over to bring back dragons that need their help."

Their conversation continued and soon the large group was outside, enjoying the sun and a nice September day.

Ava took a seat next to Naya on the grass and tucked her feet under her. Saylor noticed her and quickly came over and started talking to her.

"Hey, Ava! I'm so glad you came with us today. I've been meaning to talk to you all week but ... school," the girl smiled at her. "So, how is Hogwarts different from Ilvermorny? Like I know they're across the world from each other but what is Ilvermorny like?"

Ava opened her mouth to answer, but then a ball came hurtling towards her and she barely managed to duck out of the way in time. It hit the tree behind her and bounced into her lap where she picked it up and looked around to see who had thrown it.

"Sorry," one of the boys came over with a sheepish grin on his face.

"It's alright." She tossed it back to him and then pulled Saylor and Naya to their feet. "Come on, let's join them."

Emory and Hadley had already been throwing the ball around with them but once Saylor, Naya, and Ava joined, it became a full game of keep away, boys versus the girls.

After the girls almost beat the boys, but ended up tieing with them, they headed inside for some lunch and ended up in the Hufflepuff common room until late in the night, where most of them fell asleep. Ava of course, was unable to sleep, so she lounged in one of the armchairs with her legs hanging off one of the armrests in front of the crackling fire. As it cast shadows across her face, she started humming to herself, just a short melody that she had heard somewhere recently and couldn't get out of her head. She looked around the cozy common room at the sleeping faces of her newfound friends before smiling to herself and opened her book once more.