Fancy Seeing You Here

Naomi would usually be down in the Slytherin common rooms pretending to struggle with concepts she knew by heart, coping with the mountainous workload during lunch. Naomi was surprisingly brilliant, and no one- not even her “best” friends- knew that. If it was common knowledge there would be expectations. She preferred to maintain an average grade scale and then there would be no pressure.

But she decided to come down for lunch today, and she took her seat at the Slytherin table, scanning the crowd for her childhood friend Selene, a Beauxbatons student. She had seen her when they had first arrived and managed to smile in greeting. She had glimpsed her entering her name into the Goblet of Fire and knew she needed to reconnect with her.

The two were connected by their fathers- Naomi's stepdad had been Selene's dad's boss. Both fathers seemed to think he other girl would be a good influence, so whenever the daddies talked business, the girls became friends. The two had been on the brink of puberty and got along fairly well. As they got older they saw less and less of each other, as Naomi's stepdad's corporation grew and his obligations changed. The girls visited each other over summers, accepted as family friends.

Naomi saw the main reason- excuse really- as the outward portrayal of the normalcy she feared she did not have. She knew she was different, an odd soul, and she liked to convince herself and the world outside by maintaining a popular reputation full of parties, friends, and boys. It would complete the picture to show Hogwarts that she had foreign contact. And, of course, girl talk was sort of a perk.

Selene walked into the Great Hall, and realized that for the first time in a long time, she might actually have time to look for her old friend, Naomi. They had been great friends for so long, that it was odd knowing that they were in the same school, and suddenly they hadn't seen each other. Selene had been taking lunches with her headmistress, and Dinners were usually strictly table controlled. So finally, Selene had broken out of the carriage, and was going to the Great Hall. She scanned the room quickly, and then realized she was looking at the wrong tables. She had gotten a letter from her when Naomi had started school, that she was a Slytherin. So Selene's gaze turned that way.

Selene had never had very many friends. But when your father was a lawyer, and helped one of the best Corporations this side of the Atlantic, well, there wasn't much time to take your kid to the park. So Selene had been brought along to meet the CEO's daughter. She could still remember their first meeting.

Selene curstied and smiled at the girl in front of her. "It iz a pleazure to meet you, Naomi Quinn-Greyback, I 'ope zat we become friends." She said in a very strong French Accent. "My Papa sayz zat it iz good to know people from ozer contries." She smiled at the girl, and flicked her hair back. The other girl had seemed so much like herself, and even though she didn't make friends easily, she had an air of being able to get along with well. She had looked at her and then grinned. "I have some very nice drezes, would you like to play drez up wiz me?"

It was a good memory, and suddenly Selene realized who she was looking at. A very beautiful Slytherin girl, slightly curly hair, blonde, and very popular looking. "Ah!" She called out, and then walked quickly to her friend. "Naomi." She said and then curtsied. "Vould you like to play Drez up wiz me?" She asked and then laughed, sitting next to her. "'Ow have you been?" She said looking at her friend happily.

A familiar French accent floated into Naomi's ears as she began piling various health foods- salads, fruits, lean sandwiches- onto her plate. She turned up and smiled a friendly smile, before allowing the smallest of chuckles to escape her lips, something she usually did not allow to happen. Smiles and laughs did not follow her reputation. But she could spare some now.

"Oh, of course. I get the green and black dresses of course, and you get the blue, pinks, and yellows." Naomi had always been the one associated with dark colors. Selene liked the happy spring colors, and it had been well known between the two of them. There was not much room for change. They had their little traditions and they kept to them.

Selene sat down and asked Naomi how she had been. Naomi drank some herbal tea and then replied, "Oh, I have been the usual. Homework, dealing with Mother. But how are you? I saw you put your name in the Goblet of Fire." It was a large bit of talking fr the usually quiet girl. She could speak with her eyes, and she intimidated people by doing so. But they should be catching up. She would allow Selene to carry the conversation, though.

Selene nodded to the girl and smiled again. "Yez, but I see zat zis is not far from how we are today." She said gesturing to the black and greens of the girl's Slytherin outfit, and the silks and pinks of the Beauxbaton's outfit on Selene. "Eet seemz as zough even our schools agree zat we look better in zese outfits." She said with a small laugh, before shaking her head slightly, her wavy hair flicking down to her shoulders. "Yes... I have come to compete, and I vill win." She said with a nod that was completely confident. "I have look through ze other competitors, and I am confident zat I will at least be chosen as my school's champion." She said and then grinned. "What about you? Are you going to put your name in? Or are you just going to watch?" She asked and then smiled at the girl.

She had never been one to talk much, it had been that way since they were kids. Selene would chatter as she put on the dresses that would fall onto the floor in puddles, and Naomi would sit in her dark dresses, staring at herself in the mirror, as Selene went on and on about her trip to the beach and her family, and her problems. Naomi had never cared much, and Selene knew she hadn't. It was a mutual friendship, Naomi wanted to listen, and Selene wanted to talk. Of course now that Selene was older, she was much more... disagreeable, but she still talked enough to hold up her end of the conversation with Naomi. "Fazer ez doing fine, I theenk you would know zat, he ez still working hard, as always, oh and Mozer got promoted to a higher job in her department at ze ministry, we went on vacation theze sommer, becauze we had enough to do eet!" She said and flicked her hair back, pouring herself some of the tea that Naomi was drinking. She took a sip and then laughed lightly.

"I do not theenk you need to be calm Naomi, Herbal tea? You should be dreenking... coffee or somezing. Not stuff to make you.. calmer." She laughed lightly and let her eyes roam over the hall of people as she took another sip of the tea. It was very calming, and the heat radiated through her cold joints. She wasn't used to this kind of weather, and she was about to die of frostbite if she didn't get into something warmer soon. As it was, she would have to deal until she could get something sent from her parents. They were very excited, and kept sending things, but only just in her last letter had she requested some warmer garments. Selene was sure that Mademoiselle wouldn't mind.

Naomi took in both of their outfits and allowed herself to smile at the irony of them, though she did not do much more. She felt them falling back into the natural rhythm of their friendship, neither leading nor following since Naomi was allowing herself to take the passive stance and not just falling into it. It was like this with all of her relationships, almost seeming like she did not like to work for her end. Honestly, it was work for her to even allow people in her life, because something about humanity just irked her... But that was not normal, so she had to allow herself to suffer through social situations. Though it was rather easier to be a pleasant being with Selene than with a lot of the other people that she claimed to call her so-called "friends."

Selene had always exuded the confidence she was expressing now, and maybe that was what had made her more tolerable than others. for Naomi was also very confident, though she was not sure if that was part of the act or if it was her true nature.. It was hard to tell some times... Selene expressed that she would be winning. "I'd believe it," Naomi said in her quiet voice. Naomi really did not know, having never been one to avidly follow competitions, but she also knew that Selene was worthy enough to be good enough for her to like, so she must have some extraordinary skills that would set her apart from the other hooligans who would be entering.

"I'm not entering. I don't need more stress in life. And I shudder to think how Mother and Reginald would respond to that." She had no idea how they would, but she knew that it would be revolting nonetheless. "I probably will not pay much attention unless you are chosen. Or one of my other friends." Friends... what friends? Oh, those people that she allowed to swarm around her and include in decisions in her life. The ones under the delusion that she actually cared about the petty matters that surrounded their lives...

Selene informed Naomi on her recent home life and Naomi nodded, saying, "Oh that's good," an umbrella phrase to cover everything Selene had said. Selene lightly teased her about her choice in drink and Naomi gave her one of her smile that did not actually exist, but was merely the ghost of a smile. "Oh, you know me. Always rather serene. And why mess with the status quo now?" She lowered her lips to the cup again, sipping more of the sweet tea, before lowering it to the table again.

Selene stared at Naomi for a bit before taking another sip of the tea and setting it down on the table. "Zere eez really only one ozer person I am afraid of competing against, zat 'ogwarts girl, Jack Dyllans." She said and shook her main of blonde hair so that it caught the light. A few guys at the table turned to look, but Selene ignored them, continuing to talk to Naomi. "She eez.... unique and I am slightly afraid of going against her, she 'as a way of making me feel... friendly and frightened at ze same time." She said and then laughed lightly before taking another sip. She caught the eye of a girl across the table who was glaring and scowled at her until she turned away and started to whisper with her friends.

"'ogwarts people... zey are rather rude.." She said sniffing slightly before looking up and down the table. "No manners, in Beauxbatons, we would not be allowed to sit with our elbows on ze table, zat is just... not allowed.." she said shaking her head. "I know you think of my school as... a beauty school, a stuck up girls school, but let me tell you, it eez a lot more work zen you would think eet eez. Zey expect so many zings zat they do not expect of you 'ere." She said and shook her head again, flicking her bangs out of her face before bringing her teacup to her lips again. "But technically I do not go zere anymore, after zis year, I am graduated, because I took all of my seventh year classes, last year." She smiled at Naomi again before setting her tea cup down and blinking at Naomi.

"I know you do not like to talk very much, but pleaze, humor me, tell me how your family eez doing. I love to hear about your fazer, even if eet eez only to report back to mine." She laughed lightly, a soft, pleasant laugh, that didn't exactly match the attitude she gave to the people of her own school. She looked like just another Beauxbatons girl. But that was all apart of the plan, make everyone think you're down and out of the count, and then when your chosen, make them all rethink, because obviously there was SOMETHING there that made the cup choose her, and nobody had seen it yet. Yes, she was going to get champion.. but after that? Well, she would have to watch her step.

Naomi found it strange. This was her second time talking to someone considering competing in the silly little tournament. She had discussed Danica Something-or-Other's chances with the Durmstrang girl as well. It was rather amusing that she helped the other contestants and had not discussed the tournament with any of her own schoolmates. If she did not know how to give mysterious glances and fake smiles, she would have been deemed a traitor by her peers, but luckily... she was manipulative enough to get away with it.

"Jack Dyllan is a scraggly little scoundrel. She knows how to talk loud, make things blow up, and get on the nerves of all of us good citizens who are trying to mind out own business." Naomi's tone was factual and resigned as though she were tired of people thinking that they should even take the obnoxious, short, and frankly b!tchy redhead seriously- though she would never be so crass as to put it that way. "Don't worry. She probably will be too late to even turn in her name. She won't get picked."

Selene said that Hogwarts people were rude and Naomi slowly closed her heavy eyelids for a moment and nodded. "Oh trust me. I know. All the boys want you for you-know-what, and all the girls hate you because the boys want you." She and Selene both had that problem at Hogwarts, both of them being rather pretty and well-liked. She shook her head and said, "Again, don't worry. The girls will be pleasant in hopes of befriending you. Trust me." She knew all too well it was true.

Selene asked about Naomi's own family and she shrugged, extending her fork towards her peaches, gingerly biting into one before eating it. She swallowed and said, "Mother is the same, and Reginald has not changed either. Still works around the clock. We don't see to much of him, though neither of us really mind. His business is doing well.. as usual." She was so over 'as usual.'