SPOILER!!: Quite a feat! Ella officially deserves a medal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TakemetotheBurrow 
Ella watched Edric's reaction to her year and smiled. The second year nodded, indicating that yup, she was indeed a youngin. "It's kind of cool this year because I'm not as nervous about everything like I was last term." Yup, that was definitely one of the perks of returning to Hogwarts this year.
Edric was right, he didn't really have a choice about what house he was in. Perhaps that had been a dumb question. Ella would have frowned but he continued to answer it anyway which stopped the frown from forming. Her eyebrows raised when he told her that the school was too safe. Huh? She had had some scary experiences in her time and she was only a second year. "You should have been around on the pathways last term then. A blast-ended skrewt shot itself at my friends and I! It was so scary. I really don't like those creatures. Who farts fire? Dumb skrewt..." She'd show that creature if it ever showed up again, though. She had learned how to deal with it in CoMC. Ella couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the boys in Gryffindor daring each other to prove their bravery. Seemed kind of barbaric or something. "They really do that? Boys are so weird." She looked up at Edric sheepishly, realizing that he was in fact a boy. "N-not that you're weird." Nope, he seemed pretty normal. "Besides, bravery doesn't have to be just facing dangerous stuff. People are brave when they do things that scare them despite the fact that they're scared...like public speaking." Shudder. Ella hated public speaking.
She watched curiously as Edric dug in his pockets, wondering what he was searching for. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that he had gummy bears. GUMMY BEARS! She smiled at him expectantly, eyebrows raised. He wanted to share with her, yeah?
Ella nodded enthusiastically when he inquired about her liking having a common room near the kitchens. "It's awesome! To have ice cream that close to me at all times is kind of a dream come true." No lie. "Plus the elves are quite cute and really nice. They let you cook down there, you know? And they don't even mind sharing their supplies." Not that Ella was a good cook or that Hogwarts hadn't provided all the pots and pans for use. "I think Hufflepuff is a pretty great house." She said sincerely, and it wasn't even because of the proximity to the kitchens.
"I bet," murmured Edric as Ella expressed relief. He hadn't started coming to Hogwarts until his fifth year, but it was still a scary experience. So, he was kind of in the same boat as Ella there. They were both sorta new but more used to it all now.
And then.
And then Ella was going on about… a blast-ended skrewt? Shooting itself? The event sounded mildly amusing - but her
reaction to it all, the way she went on about explaining the incident… Well, Edric had no choice but to burst out laughing. Which trust me, is a very weird thing to see this boy do. Who knew? He was actually capable of laughter.
Eventually Edric's laughter faded away, a bit abruptly, as his expression turned shocked. Had he just
laughed?! No time to freak out, Ella was already going on about something else.
"Oh, it's fine. I agree. I used to go to an all-boys' school before coming to Hogwarts," said the fifteen-soon-to-be-sixteen year old as Ella said boys were weird. Pshh. She had that right. Girls were weirder though, but that's only because Edric has no social skills.
Edric popped a handful of gummy bears into his mouth absentmindedly, staring off at the topiary as Ella talked about having ice cream close all the time. Lucky girl. When he turned to her, he could see that candy had caught her attention, though. Edric smirked slightly. "I wonder if the topiary would like gummy bears too…" he wondered aloud. "Or maybe I should just share them with someone more human instead?"