Side RP: In the Great Hall

Lunch time, between classes, any generic day

Students filter back and forth out of the Great Hall during the noon hour, some sticking around for lunch, older students ducking back to their common rooms to polish off a homework assignment, other students taking a moment to catch up with friends. Ava walks in to the Great Hall, having just come from Transfiguration, clutching her book bag to her chest and looking as though she's half in shock: wide eyes, a bit of a shake to her hands, no apparent direction in mind.

Caroline is sitting all alone at the end of one of the tables. Phoebe had to talk to some teacher about something - Caroline hadn't really paid attention - and since nobody else is willing to hang out with her, she's just quietly eating by herself while reading in a book she borrowed from the library a few days before.

Ava blinks, shudders herself out of whatever traumatic reverie she was experiencing, and seems surprised to find herself in the Great Hall. She spots Caroline nearby. Twisting her mouth up in thought, chewing a bit on her lower lip, she reaches a decision and nods resolutely.

"Hi Caroline," she says, as she comes to stand next to her train companion. Not too far off, a few other students look from Caroline to Ava and back again, as if confused or even scandalized as to why this Ravenclaw would be talking to the infamous Scrivener the Slytherpuff.

Caroline looks up from her book and smiles when she recognizes Ava. Then she stops, forces herself not to show her happiness at seeing Ava, thinks for a moment and apparently decides that it's okay to be friends with her, since she is a Ravenclaw.
Caroline closes her book and puts it on the table next to her. Once the book is just lying on the table, Ava can read the title: "The Not Quite Complete History of House Slytherin"
"Hey, Ava! Do you want to sit with me? I have some Every Flavour Beans we can share", Caroline offers, indicating the spot next to her on the bench. She doesn't pay attention to the glares from the other students. She is used to them by now.

Ava is taken aback for a moment at the cheerful reception. Maybe she's become a little swayed by the rumors about Caroline's less than welcoming manner. But her reluctance fades fairly quickly, and she offers a shy smile in return. "Actually, I'd love to. Thanks," she says, plopping her bag down with an audible thud. She rests her elbows on the table and her chin in one hand. "You're doing... okay? There's never any time to actually talk in Astronomy," she says, referring to the class the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs share. She reaches out and takes a bean, studies it for a moment, and pops it in her mouth. Must not have been an earwax, given that she's not grossed out.

Or maybe she likes earwax. Ew.

Caroline sighs. "This school is the worst. The other students hate me, the teachers are always watching me, I haven't had time to talk to my sister at all since the year started... And all of that just because that stupid hat is broken and put me in the wrong house."
Ava can see that Caroline's eyes are glistening wet as she says this but she quickly rubs them dry with her sleeves before a tear can form. "What about you? How are things in Ravenclaw?"
Caroline grabs a small handful of beans and throws them into her mouth all at once. She chews them and then makes a disgusted face as she forces herself to swallow. "Eww, that was a bad idea!"

It's clearly hard for Ava to know how to respond, as a number of her own personal issues go to war inside her head.

She pokes at her book bag on the floor with one toe as she swings her feet idly back and forth. She graciously decides to avoid talking about her own personal problems, and says, "Um..."

Ava winces. Eloquent, Richardson. Very eloquent.

"Why do you want to be in Slytherin so badly? I'd hate to be in my brother's hou..." Again, really smooth, considering her brother's house is Hufflepuff. "...se," she finishes lamely.

An enticed group full of excited whispers stops right before the doors of the Great Hall, being led by none other than Rafa. She seems to be explaining how the Headmistress herself was personally worried about her performance in her class, and how much it meant to her that Rafa had decided to take it more seriously. "So yeah, I mean, I guess the Headmistress cares about what I do..." She says, uncaringly shrugging McGonnagal's implied favoritism off. A small, smug smile pops up in her face as she twirls around and faces the group, half-raising both her arms as well. There are a few conspiratorial grins shared between a few of the girls — Rafa's roommates, more precisely. "But hey, it's okay! Not everyone is special enough to draw the attention of someone like McGonagall. And yeah, we're on surnames base already." The students start to excitedly ask Rafa questions, but she simply shakes both her hands. "Now, now, c'mon guys, you know I like to talk, but we have some stuff to do. In fact, a few of you are having Potions next period, right? Me and my roomies would really appreciate if you got us some aconite and dittany." The students immediately start to look uncertain, but Rafa doesn't give any room for doubt. "I mean, making me feel grateful is pretty much the same thing as making McGonagall feel grateful. I can't promise any favors, 'course... Buuuut if old Slughorn doesn't seem to be paying attention and you suddenly realize that your pockets feel really light, well..." The conversation drops a tone, and soon enough the students disperse, leaving giggly Rafa with her roommates. They talk for a minute or so until one of them gives Rafa a book — Her book, she managed to win a bet and now Maddie has to carry Rafa's stuff for her for the rest of the semester — and they too disperse, Rafa walking into the Great Hall with her chin up and her shoulders down.

She quickly takes notice of Caroline and Ava, and energetically raise her unoccupied hand from far away. "Hey, dweebs!" She screams with a playful grin, as she starts to trot to the table, nodding and saying hi to more than one person in the way. When she's finally there, she drops her book with a thud and sits on the bench, leaning against Ava and maybe a bit forcefully resting her arm on the curled girl's shoulder. "Hey, Richardson!" She says, cheerfully beaming at her as she fraternally shakes her shoulder with her rested arm. She also stares at Caroline, her expression dissolving into an inquisitive twinkle. "Hey, Scrivener... Been some time, right? I was starting to think that you were avoiding me." Says the blonde girl as she raises one of her eyebrows. But any seeming suspicion fades away as the girl half-giggles at the prospect of someone wanting to avoid her. "But nah, that'd be too lame, even for you. Anyways, what were you two whispering about?" She suddenly rotates her head to stare at Ava. "Was it about me? Or maybe..." She narrows her eyes and slowly turns to Scrivener.

"Well, you wouldn't understand. You're from some random family that doesn't matter. I'm a Scrivener. My family has been in Slytherin for generations. I... And... And after I was such a disappointment for my father as a kid, this..."
She stops talking as Rafa approaches their table.

It's difficult to be around Rafa. On the one hand, she is cool and tough and smart and popular and Caroline wants to be more like her but on the other hand she's mean and called her a wimp. And, most importantly, she's a Gryffindor. That alone already means they can't be friends!
Who has ever heard of a Slytherin being friends with a Gryffindor?
"Why would we... anyone be talking about you?", Caroline replies. "You're boring!"

Was on his way over when he saw Raffa approach. Damn it all if that girl didn't rub him thw wrong way. She was entirely too loud. He sighed, and walked over.
Afternoon His hair is slightly damp, and he runs a hand through it. It had been raining again, and he'd tried to use part of the break for practice. He could study in the dorm later.
Everything alright over here?

Caroline looks at Bex. It's hard to read her face at the moment as there are a bunch of different emotions all mixed together in there. "Everything was okay. Before the Gryffindor had to butt in!"

Gives Rafa a look. How are things going Bold one?

Ava takes in a little gasp at Caroline's reply, and her features tighten with some sort of obscure pain. That particular remark definitely hit home. Thankfully, Rafa's arrival saves her from having to respond. Rafa's ability to instantly become the center of attention is awfully useful sometimes.

Having Rafa seem glad to see her perks Ava's mood up a little, and she offers a small smile, just at one corner of her mouth. "Hi, Rafa. We were..." She pauses, looks across at Caroline and some of that slight cheer fades a little. But she puts on a cheerful tone that sounds a little flat even to her own ears. "We were just talking about how things are going in our new Houses."

Rafaella cocks her head to the side with a clearly bothered expression. "Am not." She counters, a small pout creeping in her face. She shoots Bexley a quick glance of recognition and not much more, though she rolls her eyes at Caroline's sudden answer and chimes in mid-conversation to answer him. "Well, I'm feeling great!" Says the blonde girl, slightly leaning off Ava and to his direction, a predatory expression slowly forming up in her face. "It's not like of lions to be bothered by a badger's fit, anyways. That would be silly!" Her stare slowly starts narrowing on Scrivener.

She clicks her tongue at Ava's response, a relaxed giggle escaping through her lips. "Is that why Scrivener's so cranky?" She asks the group, as she grabs a bunch of her uneven hair and pulls it to one specific her side, so it all falls from there instead of having her face covered around by it. She shrugs Caroline's motive off nonchalantly as if making it not a big deal. "That's super dumb. It's been weeks since then, and you can't possibly still be hung up on that. That's why people don't talk to you, you know?" She sighs, putting her elbow on top of her book and resting her face on her hand. "I dunno why you even care about the snakes so much. They clearly don't care so much about you as you do about them, otherwise, you'd be hanging around with them instead of us. Food for thought, Scrivener." At this point, Rafa is deliberately prodding Scrivener's feelings. Despite seeming to be offended by Caroline's attitude, the whole thing clearly left Rafa with a sour taste on her mouth.

Plus, Caroline definitely couldn't talk to her like that and get a free pass.

Still, she doesn't leave Caroline much space to answer yet. Her stare sways between Bexley and Ava, a small, mischevious smile appearing in her face. "What do my favorite dweebs think?"

Caroline rises from her place. Rafa is so mean. She always keeps digging right where it hurts.
"Well, people are only nice to you, because... because you're... because you're a bully and they're scared of becoming your next target. Nobody actually likes you!"
Caroline has no idea if what she's saying is even remotely true but she had already started the sentence so she needed to finish it somehow and this was the only thing that came to her mind. "At least I have real friends!", she adds, turning to Ava. "Right?" She silently wishes Phoebe was here. She's only a dumb Hufflepuf but she would support her. Although she's way to nice to be mean to Rafa.
Caroline clenches her hands into fists, less from anger and more from frustration. If only she was better with words. Maybe she would be able to shut Rafa up then.

Ava looks back and forth from Caroline to Rafa so often, a tennis match must have broken out. She opens her mouth to answer Rafa, then when Caroline speaks up first, she turns there and opens her mouth to answer Caroline. All that comes out, though, is "Um... real friends. Right."

She starts to sink down at her seat. Being taller than the other girls usually isn't a problem, but suddenly she's not sure she wants to be one of the visible members of this little soiree.

Rafaella frowns annoyedly at Scrivener but lazily smirks after the curled girl's response, turning her face to Ava to check her reaction. She lets a soft giggle out and faces the Hufflepuff once again. "Um... real friends. Right." She repeats her train friend's words while watching the poor badger. She's not mocking Ava, but rather making sure that her words don't sound so certain.

Rafa exaggeratedly rolls her eyes as she leans off the table. "Scrivener, c'mon, what would you know about having friends?" Says the blonde girl, taking a quick pause to predatorily narrow her eyes at the girl. "Wowsers. Here I am, taking time off my busy schedule, mind you, to hang out with little lonely you, and you're lashing out because you didn't get into a dumb house. Why is all of that so important to you? That's super silly" Rafa shakes her hand dismissively, but keep staring inquisitively at Scrivener. She was starting to get under her nerve, but a true heroine wouldn't lose her patience so easily.

... Right? Yeah, 'course, right.

Caroline starts tearing up again. Is she being silly for caring about which house she was in? Maybe...
No, it matters. She had seen Mallory's face when Caroline had been sorted into Hufflepuff. She could only imagine how her Dad would look at her if she came home as a Hufflepuff. She has to switch into Slytherin before the year is over if she ever wants to have his respect! There is nothing silly about this!
Caroline sniffs, trying to hold back her tears. Rafa is right, she really doesn't know what it's like to have friends, she's never had any after all. And now, not even Ava seems to be on her side.
"I'd much rather be lonely forever than be like you! You're just a spoiled brat who needs her stepmommy to watch over her even at school!"

Oh well. Rafa tried. Kind of.

Plus, Scrivener's pretty much asking for it.

Rafa's smile breaks at the mention of her villainous step-mother, her expression dissolving into an angry glare, her eyes full of fire. She immediately gets up the bench and walks through the table, stepping off right in front of Caroline. "You know what, Scrivener? You deserve the cold shoulder everyone's giving you. But unlike that Hufflepuff, I don't take crap. Especially not from you!" Rafa suddenly pushes Scrivener really hard and starts marching toward her again. "I don't know what your problem is..." Rafa pushes Scrivener again, and once again, starts closing in between them. "But everyone has to deal with tough stuff!" Rafa finally gives her one final push, maybe strong enough to send her to the floor. "Richardson, Merlin, and Bexley may pity you, but I don't! You're just a big baby that don't know how to deal with her problems and take it off on the world! Grow up, Scrivener, we're almost teenagers!"

Caroline yelps in shock and pain when she lands on the floor from Rafa's last shove.
She quickly gets up again, tears in her eyes. "What do you know about tough stuff? You've been handed everything in life. You don't even know what it's like to have real problems!" She shoves Rafa back. Caroline is not very strong so Rafa should be able to withstand it without falling, even though she can feel that Caroline is putting all her strength into the push. "You don't care about which house you're in because you don't care about anything. You think that makes you cool but it doesn't. If nothing is important to you, then you are also not important to anyone!"