Stranded

This sucks, was the first thought Eli thought when she halted at the pathway to Hogwarts, looking for a carriage to ride on to get to the castle. There was no carriage in sight.

She sighed heavily and shouldered the bag she carried, full of candy and pranking products. "Stupid owner of Zonko's," She mumbled to herself, "Wanting me to get every bloody thing in the entire store."

She tried walking towards the carriage tracks that trailed on the ground, but they were very faint, as though the wind blew all hope of her getting back.

"God damn it," She muttered, before running headfirst into a carriage. "Ow. How did I even miss that?" She asked herself.

She looked up at the person in the carriage. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked, "I can't find any other carriage because I was late in coming..." She felt the need to explain.

Airiana looked down, surprised when she heard someone hit the carriage. Her bright blue eyes looked over the other girl carefully. She hoped that she wasn't hurt, as it was probably Air's fault that she had hit the carriage in the first place. Why had she let them park here?

She smiled slightly, nervous, and nodded slowly, "You're very welcome to sit here. I don't mind at all." She tugged on the ends of a strand of blonde hair. She wasn't friends with anyone in Gryffindor house and the one girl in her classes that she did know was not nearly as friendly as she had hoped. Most likely because she was a Slytherin.

Eli gave a full out grin to the Slytherin. "Thanks!" She exclaimed, before climbing into it, as if she hadn't just hit the carriage itself.

"My name's Eli," She stated, right after putting her bags down at her feet. She poked her hand out to shake, "Eli Connors, 4th year Gryffindor. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance ma'am."

She stood up and bowed dramatically, taking off a non-existent top hat of her head in a mock-posh manner. Her hair stuck to her face, annoying her immensly. When she sat down again, she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail, and smiled in satisfaction.

Airiana was surprised by the wide grin and returned it instantly, eyes brightening as it reached them. She scooted over to give the other girl room as she sat down all the bags she'd been carrying at her feet. She reached out and shook Eli's hand with a soft laugh, "Airiana, Airiana W. Hawthorn. Very nice to meet you as well."

She laughed good naturedly and stood too, giving a dramatic curtsy in return bowing her head as her legs crossed. She made to lift edges of a skirt that she didn't wear. She stopped and giggled, "I must say, I've never met someone quite as polite as you are."

"Well thanks!" She exclaimed, "You must've never met any one polite though, because what I just did wasn't as polite as I could've been."

"You look like you haven't met any nice Gryffindors," she suddenly stated, "I assure you, not all of us are that bad - it's just that sometimes, old habits die hard. But the thing is, I've never been one for habits!"

She dug into one of her bags and took out a chocolate frog, and two bags of every flavor beans. "Which do you prefer?" She asked, holding out the beans and the frog.

"Politeness doesn't come often around here," Airiana admitted, meaning the Hogwarts students and the pureblooded adults that felt they were better than everyone else. She may be pureblood, but she still associated herself with those without it.

"I haven't met many Gryffindors in the first place," She admitted quietly, shrugging. She smiled, "No I don't doubt that. You're proof."

She blinked, surprised and looked at the candies curiously, "The beans. You never know what you'll end up with."

"I know the feeling," she mumbled, knowing from experience how some purebloods were. "You don't happen to be pureblood, do you?"

She offered her a smile at her next words, "Well, thanks," She said, not really knowing what to say afterwards, "I think you're... er... pretty... er, not habitual?" Was 'habitual' even a word? She chuckled, "I meant to say that you don't seem like the kind of person that follow habits..."

She grinned at Airiana's choice of snack. "Oh, I definitely agree with you," She grinned, handing a packet over to her, before digging her hand into her own packet. She took three beans: a bright green one with darker spots of green dotting it, a brilliantly white one, and a blue one. She put them into her mouth one by one and choked at the taste. "Oh Merlin-- boogers, paper and blueberries do not go well together!

"Unfortunately," Airiana laughed nervously, grimacing and shrugging. There had been one teacher that had caught her off guard by giving her the vibe that said "I-Know-Who-You-Were". That wasn't a good thing, though. Being a Wolfgang had given her a bad reputation as a child.

Air understood what Eli meant and nodded to show that she did. It made sense to her, surprisingly enough, as she often had to figure out what her scatterbrained brother and father were trying to say. Silly, silly men.

"Oh goodness, I would say they wouldn't!" Airiana said as she opened her own package, eyes wide. She took out two beans, a lush dark brown one and a pretty white colour. She smiled softly and popped them in her mouth, chewing and purring in delight. This was the first time she'd gotten any combination that tasted remotely good.

"Chocolate and coconut~!" She squeaked happily.

Eli caught Airiana's expression when she answered and shrugged it off, "Well, the past proved that blood doesn't matter," She stated firmly, smiling, "And anyone who says otherwise is stuck up and has nothing better to do with their life other than discriminate people."

She watched as Airiana opened her package of every flavor beans to pick out a couple of white and brown beans. "Chocolate and coconut?" She asked in disbelief, "I didn't even know that they had flavors that good!" She exclaimed, grinning. She had hope at this moment, so she dug into her packet again and took out a green one, and a red one. She put them in her mouth, trying to figure out the tastes.

"Well, it's not bad... It's pretty good," she added, chewing, "I think it's apple and... strawberry. This is the best I've ever had! Maybe your luck is already rubbing off on me," She nudged her lightly and playfully.

"You're right," Airiana said quietly.

"Oh yes! It's so rare to get those flavors though, you're more likely to get disgusting flavors like bodily fluids or other such things." She laughed, shrugging and popping another one into her mouth and holding back her gag.

She nodded in agreement, "Maybe! Though we may be switching. This is wood." She said as she chewed on the pale brown one.

She scrunched her nose in disgust. "Bodily fluids?" She repeated, "I was never than unlucky! The worst I ever got was rotten egg!"

She scrunched her face up when Airiana said she got wood, "Wood?!" She nearly shrieked, "That's absolutely disgusting!"

She tossed a light grey one into her mouth, without really looking at it, and swallowed it quickly, causing her to frantically cough, with her eyes tearing up slightly.

"Oh crap," She tried breathing, clutching her throat in pain, "Pepper. Need... water..."

Summoning all power she had left, she dove for a small bottle of butterbeer that she had stored in there and downed it in one gulp. "Oh thank Merlin," She muttered. She let out a watery chuckle while rubbing at her eyes. "Well, I guess we're not switching after all."

Airiana laughed in agreement, nodding enthusiastically. Eli was a comical person and she was very much so fun to be around. She had to wonder why she had never met Eli before, as she was one of those people that could tolerate Air's personality and understand the words that slipped out of her mouth.

"It's alright once you get used to it!" She admitted, swallowing hard and wrinkling her nose. She'd had to suck on wood once before for some strange reason, she remembered doing it but she didn't remember why she had to.

She snickered, "I guess not. Pepper is one of the worst ones, I admit."