New meetings

Alice entered the common room letting out a big sigh of happiness. After a long day the only thing she wanted to do was sit and don't think about school.

She made her way to her room, change to some comfortable clothes and went to sit close to the fire thinking about nothing to serious. Alice spent a few minutes like that until she started to get bored.

" Wow sometimes "Relax" can be boring " she told to herself resting her head on the palm of her hand and started to do the weird noises she would always do when she was bored.

Jimmy was already in the common room, his face buried in a book, seated in the very corner. The noise of Alice entering and walking about attracted his gaze, which he held for a short moment before returning to his book.

"Haven't seen her around before, but then again who DO I see around here often?" he pondered, his tendency to slip into the shadows was something that filled Jimmy with both comfort and regret. Alice's little noises attracted his attention once again, spurring Jimmy to set his book on his lap and respond.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" he tentatively asked.

Alice stopped doing the noises when she heard somebody talking. She saw the person with wide eyes "He was in here when I entered the room?" she thought a little surprise. When she realizes that he was reading she felt ashamed because she was really sure the main cause for him to stop was her noises.

"Yeah I'm fine" Alice told him with a smile " I normally do that when I get bored... which is often" she finish with a nervous laugh.

She look at him for a second before continue.

" I think I have seen you before somewhere" she said with a frowning " My name is Alice by the way" Alice told him offering her hand for him to shake.

Jimmy couldn't help but smile a little at her reaction to his presence. "Another person scared by you, good job buddy!" his brain mused mockingly. "Oh really? I don't usually suffer from boredom myself, there's always a book to read somewhere." said Jimmy, feeling unusually confident, his voice tinged with laughter as he spoke.

That confidence faded when Alice mentioned she had recognized him from somewhere. "Someone noticed me? Impossible!" he thought, showing noticeable signs of worry. Shaking it off and leaning forward, Jimmy politely said "It's nice to meet you, Miss Alice, I'm Jimmy." He then grasped her hand, shaking it meekly before leaning back in his seat again.

"So, um, where was it you've seen me before?" Jimmy inquired, with utmost confusion in his voice.

Alice notice his weird change when she told him she have seen him before, this made her look at him with big curiosity and with a frown, the first thought that came to her mind was " Why is he so worry that is not the first time I have see him?"

"Nice to meet you too Jimmy" she told him smiling and watching Jimmy carefully

She decided to ignore her first thought and answer the question he just made her, Still confused by his sudden change.

"Um I think in a class or something" Alice told him shaking her head a little bit trying to remember. "I'm sorry, I don't wanna sound rude or weird ... although I know I'm a bit weird" she told him with a small laugh trying to make him more comfortable " But.. are you ok?" She told Jimmy with a bit of concern in her voice.

"Oh..right, of course" Jimmy said, smiling a little as he noticed he was acting weird again. "I'm okay, so um...what classes do you take?" he said, tipping his hat slightly as a way of being polite.

Despite the warmth of the fire, Jimmy felt it was necessary to pull his coat around him a little. He wasn't used to interacting with people and it showed.

"Let's see .. I take Charms, DADA, Potions and Herbology" Alice told him counting with her fingers every time she named a new class. " What about you? "

She couldn't help notice how shy Jimmy was, it looked like he didn't speak with a lot of people. Deciding follow her instincts of always being a friendly person she decided to sit next to him. Alice started to drag a chair close to him and then sit in there with her hands on her lap and her head fully resting in the back of the seat.

"I like your hat" Alice smiled looking at Jimmy's hat while touching it slightly just like he did a few moments ago. "So tell me do you have any family who have magic too? Or you are the only one?" This time when she did this question she was looking at him while resting her elbows on her legs and her head on the palm of her left hand, just waiting for his answer.

"Oh um...I take DADA and Transfiguration" said Jimmy, smiling slightly. "I take it DADA was where you saw me then" he added with a gentle shrug of his shoulders.

"Wow um...she's....friendly.." mused Jimmy as Alice sat next to him. Whilst on the outside he looked uncomfortable, on the inside he was secretly glad of the company. "Well, it makes a nice change of pace I guess..."

Jimmy couldn't help but grin when Alice complimented his hat, it was one that he had for a couple of years now and he treasured it. Feeling a little bit more relaxed, Jimmy leaned back a little in his seat. Her question though, made Jimmy a little apprehensive. "I'm the only person with magic in my family" he said, his voice growing a little quiet as he contemplated having to discuss his very unfortunate past. "What about you, Miss Alice?" he added quickly, hoping she would talk about herself and leave his past buried where it belongs.

She couldn't help but smile when she saw him relaxing " Finally! Now you just need to make sure of don't say something stupid Alice" Alice thought making her smile even more big.

"You can call me just Alice" She told him, moving her hand in the air almost like telling him to relax " And actually I'm the only one in my family too" Alice told him while she started to get more comfortable in her seat again "You have no idea how scare my parents were at first when they find out, they thought I could be in danger"

In that moment Alice remembered the moment she was leaving her house to go to Hogwarts and her mother gave her a silver necklace that now she always wear. A sad smile came to her lips as she take the necklace on her hands.

"I'm sorry" she told Jimmy when she noticed of her sudden mood change " So now we have something in common... I bet you freak out when you discover magic" Alice smiled again, it was really weird when she wasn't smiling " I know I did"

"Sorry, it's a little habit of mine....M-..Alice" said Jimmy, taking great effort to avoid falling into that habit. He only ever talked like that around women and it puzzled him. Jimmy couldn't help but feel more relaxed, something about the way Alice spoke to him made him stop worrying as much as he used to.

"Do you still keep in touch with your parents?" he asked, noticing she was holding her necklace he added "That is a lovely necklace, where did you get it?". Jimmy then removed his coat,, laying it on the arm of his chair.

"Yeah, I guess we do have something in common, besides being Hufflepuffs of course" said Jimmy with a warm smile, despite smiling being something his facial muscles just aren't used to. "Oh, um...I wasn't very worried when I learnt I could do magic surprisingly" he said. "Can't say the same for my parents, but then again I barely know them anymore" stated Jimmy with a lethargic shrug of his shoulders. "So tell me, how did you discover magic, Alice?" he asked.