Dora perched on the stairs leading up to the door to Ravenclaw common room... and just SAT THERE. Yep. She'd sit there forever if she had to. She needed Sophie Brown and she needed her NOW! No none had told Dora that her first little while at Hogwarts would be so difficult.

SHE NEEDED HUGS FROM THE HEAD GIRL!!

And like... she had a lot of feelings that her little body didn't know what to do with right now.

Yep. So she just sat and waited, little elbows on her knees, chin in her hands.

Sophie Brown was going to go bake. In the kitchens. Because she was a HUNGRY GROWING SEVENTH YEAR and also she was going to surprise Zander with the other half of the batch (because duh she was going to eat the whole other half herself). So, with this goal in mind, she left the Ravenclaw common room with a spring in her step and a song in her heart - and a deep hunger in her stomach - when...

There was a child blocking the way on the stairs.

At first, Sophie squinted in confusion, wondering if it was one of the new 'claws who had just gotten winded going up all the stairs and needed a break, but then the girl's image clicked in her brain - it was DORA.

"Hey, kiddo," Soph greeted cheerfully upon approaching, not hesitating to plant herself on the stair beside her newest Gryffindor friend. "Whatcha doin' over this way?" Certainly she hadn't forgotten how to get to her own tower? Did she need directions? Was she okay?

Dora frowned to herself when she heard Sophie call her KIDDO. She really didn't like that, but she didn't correct the older girl either. What was the point? No one seemed to listen when she told them what she did or did not like. Bah.

"Came to see you. I feel a little sad. " Why not be totally honest about it? She needed someone that was actually caring and would listen. Sighs.

Sophie Brown LOVED to be called kiddo, even at her ripe age of seventeen, so she didn't expect people to not love it, too - but the Ravenclaw did notice the girl's demeanor deflate even MORE when she greeted the girl. It was either the nickname or the mere sight of the Head Girl that made Dora sad, and no matter which one it was...

It was a heartbreaking sight and a very drastic change from the way Soph had seen Dora before. Where was the excitement? The life? The joy?

...But then it was confirmed that she HAD come to see Sophie, so she decided it must've been the name by deduction. No kiddo, then. But... SAD? DORA UMBRIDGE WAS SAD?

"What happened, Dora? What's wrong?" Soph asked lightly, gently wrapping an arm around the girl and giving her a hesitant, soft side-hug. Uncharted territory with comforting this one, so she didn't know how the girl would react to affection. Treading lightly was the best way to go for now.

The younger girl sometimes felt like being called kiddo and other variations thereof was like being called a baby. Dora Umbridge was NOT a baby. She was almost a teenager and though she was short, she expected to be treated her age. Hmph. Not that Sophie didn't treat her like an equal or anything...

And yes, even Dora Umbridge got sad sometimes... more often than she let on actually. But being here seemed to amplify the sadness and her reason for it more than any place ever had. "I miss my Dad and brother. And most of all I miss my Mum. " She was positive she hadn't mentioned to Sophie that her mum was deceased, bUT she would do... in due time. It just really hurt being in her Mum's old house and the letters from her Aunties and Uncles made that feeling more real than before.

Oh. Hey. Sophie was hugging her? Dora took that as her cue lay her head over on Sophie's lap. She would pet Dora's hair, right? RIGHT? Sad Dora needed some love.

It was really, really depressing to see sweet Dora like this, and Sophie was even SADDER when the poor girl rested her head upon her lap. She looked very, very small, Dora did, like a little toddler curling up against her mother, and it tugged at the Ravenclaw's heartstrings. She just wanted to wrap her right up in a big ol' hug, but instead, she softly pet the girl's hair with a delicate hand, unsure of how else to comfort her in this position.

Missing her family was understandable. Soph had missed her mother something fierce when she first came to Hogwarts, but the friends she made in the first few months quickly fixed that. Maybe... Dora was instinctively gravitating toward that coping mechanism, too? Would Soph be Dora's Caterina Moretti Branxton?

WAS SOPH A MAMA NOW?

"S'gonna be okay, Dora," she started gently, lightly stroking her fingers through the girl's hair. "S'not so bad being here, away from family after awhile. Your housemates 'n friends become like your family, that's what happened with me. I had two older classmates named Mo 'n Cat who took me under their wing and they made me feel protected 'n safe 'n loved when I was your age. There's loads of fun 'n loving older kids here, if y'need someone to go to when company. Y'got me, y'got Dakest... 'n y'can write to your family when y'need, right?" Plus, the holidays were only a couple months away, but Soph wasn't sure if the girl was going to be going home to see her family... so best to not potentially make things worse by mentioning it.