Late Night Snackage OPEN

Deidre sat in the deserted kitchen, picking at her late night snack. She had done this so often it felt normal. She didn't mind being alone, but sometimes one has a desire for company. Deidre was angry with herself for allowing herself to have gone so long without making friends. She only had so many years left here before she was in the 'real world'.

She scoffed at the Muggle term. Because everything before graduation was totally fake? She looked at a clock on the wall, and her eyes rolled as she took a deep breath. It was too late to go to sleep and too early to do something productive. She thought about a run, contemplating where to go.

Frodo didn't know why he was up so late. It was so unlike him. Maybe it's the effect of his mother's death on him. It has been a couple of months but sometimes, he still couldn't believe it to be true.

After walking around for what felt like ages, he looked around and realized he was at the kitchens. He pushed the doors open and entered, making sure not to make any noise. Not expecting to see anyone, he was quite startled when he saw someone else sitting at one of the tables.

"Hello there," he greeted quietly with a small smile.

Paloma walked quietly through the halls of Durmstrang, careful not to make any noise. Once again, she couldn't fall asleep. She had promised herself she would sleep earlier than she had the past week, but how could she sleep when she was so hungry? She had missed dinner because she had been studying in her dorm and she had tried to fall asleep and ignore the hunger, but she couldn't. She had to eat something.

She pushed the kitchen doors open, but stopped dead in her tracks - eyes widened - when she realized there were two other people there.

"Oh. Um, hi?"

Deidre looked up at the two new people and smiled. She nodded towards the chairs at her table, inviting them to sit down. She was happy to have company. She hadn't been expecting anyone to show up, but there stood two people.

"I'm Deidre." She said, attempting to be sociable. She had never been the greatest at making friends, or talking for that matter.

Frodo walked in and sat at the table. He asked for a glass of warm milk from one of the elves and smiled at the two girls. "Hello, I'm Frodo. And nice to meet you Deidre." He was never the talkative type but there was no harm in trying to be friendly.

Deidre smiled at him. "I like your name." Deidre said, smiling at him. It was a nice name, and not one of those strange common names. She knew so many John's, and Riley's and Jacob's. Frodo was a name one didn't hear often.

Not to mention the Lord of The Rings trilogy were her favorite books.

Paloma smiled and sat down at the table with the two students, "Nice to meet you both, I'm Paloma."

She called over one of the elves, "Do you think you could maybe get me some toast? Thanks."

"Nice to meet you, Paloma. I can't believe we haven't met before. We're in the same house, aren't we? I guess I really lack in the social department." Deidre laughed at her own mistakes, her eyes drifting back down towards the table.

She was looking down at her raspberry coffee cake, suddenly very interested in it.

Paloma thought the older girl looked a bit uncomfortable, and a small smile formed on her lips. As weird as it seemed, it was nice to know she wasn't the only one who had a bit of trouble socializing. Not that she wasn't friendly, she got along with everybody pretty well, but that was just it. Paloma was never the girl who could start a conversation with a stranger out of nowhere... but that was something she was trying to change.

"Oh, I do too, don't worry," she said. It was then pretty awkward and Paloma really had no idea what to say. It wasn't as if she could suddenly ask Deidre about anything, she had just met her. And that was the part she always hated the most: she never knew what to say.

"So," she said, trying to keep up a conversation, "You like raspberry?" She mentally groaned. If she's eating a raspberry coffee cake, of course she likes it.

"Thank you, both your names are pretty uncommon as well." Frodo replied with a smile. It was true; he wasn't accustomed to knowing people with such names.

"Oh how nice, all three of us lack social skills. This should be quite interesting then." He commented and laughed lightly. "So what brings you both here at this time of night?"

Deidre laughed a little. "I'm here cause I couldn't sleep." She looked over at Paloma and answered her question.

"Yes, I love raspberry. It's actually unfortunate, because I'm slightly addicted to them. I tried them a few summers ago on a trip to America, and ever since then, everything is raspberry for me. Raspberry jellied donuts, raspberry iced tea, raspberry smoothies, raspberry vinaigrette, raspberries in general, and raspberry coffee cake." She said holding up her plate.

As she said this, a large smile grew on her face. Remembering how she would try anything with the words raspberry in it wherever she went.

"What about you?"

"Honestly? I have no idea why I'm even awake at this time." Frodo admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Wow, sounds like someone has a raspberry obessession." He grinned. "I don't think I have any favourite fruits but, I do love a good fruit salad."

"I understand," she smiled at the girl, "I have a slight chocolate obsession. Sometimes I just have an urge to eat chocolate, for no reason at all. My sister has a melon-obsession. Melon juice, ice-cream... She loves everything that has to do with melon."

She looked at Frodo and gave a small laugh, "Psh, what are you even talking about? We have amazing social kills!" She wouldn't usually joke around with people she barely knew, but she was trying to socialize wasn't she? "And to answer your question, I couldnt sleep cause I was hungry."

"Absolutely amazing social skills." Deidre said sarcastically, a small smile on her lips. She was enjoying this. Frodo and Paloma were fun to hang out with.

"What's it like in Hitrost?" Deidre asked.

"Hitrost is alright I suppose." Frodo replied with a light laugh. "Besides, all houses are unique in their own way. Which brings me to the question as to how is it being in Uchitel?" He asked the girls.

He wasn't usually this talkative with people he just met, but maybe it was the late night that was making him act like this. Either way, he was liking it.

"Uchitel, it's pretty cool, I guess," Paloma bit her lip, "It's not as if I hang around the common room all the time, but it's pretty fun from what I've heard." She made a mental promise to herself, to try to hang around the common room more and meet new people.

Deidre nodded at what Paloma had said. "I tend to go from class, to meals, to my room with a visit to the library every now and then. Plus there's always people already in conversations and such in the common room. I just feel awkward butting into their conversations..."

Paloma grinned. Finally! Someone who understood how she felt! "Yes!" she replied, "That's exactly it! They're always chatting between them, or doing homework or something. It's not like I could just enter the conversation or disrupt someone who's working.:

"Doesn't help that our social skills are not up to par." Deidre said laughing. This was so much fun, actually talking with people. She took another bite of her raspberry coffee cake, glad that she had been hungry tonight.

Paloma smiled and looked up when the house elves brought her toast. "Thanks," she murmured.

"This is really fun, you know," she said, after a while.

"Yeah, it is." Deidre said, smiling at her and Frodo. She brushed her hair out of her face, her bangs starting fall over her eyes.

"I'm not much of a great conversationalist either." Frodo admitted. "I tend to bore people because I'm usually the quiet and shy type." He commented and laughed lightly. "I guess I'm used to it since my home atmosphere is usually silent; even more so recently." He suddenly thought about his mother and instantly felt sad.

"This is quite a nice change, though," he said with a grin. "So do you both have any siblings?"

Paloma saw the boy sadden a little when he spoke about his home, but she decided to ignore it, it wasn't her place to say anything.

"Uh, yeah, I have a sister," she answered, "Name's Alice, she's about four years older than me. And a little brother, Robert."

"I have four siblings. Aidan, Alonna, Shay and Cathleen. What about you?" Deidre asked. She had noticed the sadness in his eyes, and hoped he didn't have to go through those things alone. She had always envied only children because of the lack of privacy she got. But she could see how sometimes it was good to have people to rely on.

"If you don't, you can have one of mine." She said, hoping to cheer him up.

Frodo laughed lightly at Deidre's offer. "As much as I appreciate it, I'll decline because I already have a younger sister. She goes to Hogwarts though, so I don't see her much at home either." He smiled fondly. "I'm glad I have her because otherwise, the past few months would have been more difficult."

"Does it get really noisy and all with you and your siblings?" He asked them curiously.