Friends or Foes

Evangelina sat at the Mórrígan table with a few of the other students. She didn't talk to anyone on the SWI Express, nor did she talk to anyone one during the sorting. In fact, she didn't talk to anyone at all besides the Phoenix and the few words with Professor Sladen. Evangelina sat in silence listening to others as they spoke about classes, the prior year, and other various topics.

With nothing better to do, the Asian girl took out a small book of general spells and charms and started to read.

Sitting at the table next to an avidly conversing group of second-years, Kieth stared off into the hearth until his attention was caught by another first-year who was absorbed in reading a small book. She was seated at the Mórrígan table. He remembered seeing her emerge from her sorting on her knees and shaken.

He wanted to talk to her, but he was uncertain whether or not sitting with other covens was allowed. He was also too afraid to ask. Looking around at the other tables, Keith realized that he could not yet distinguish members of one coven from another.

Not knowing what else to do, he stared across the tables at her.

Madeline saw the newly sorted 1st Year gaze over to the Mórrígan table and focus on the girl ready. Knowing they had some time before heading off to the towers, Madeline didn't see the harm in letting the new students mingle.

"Keith," she said. When he looked up she added, "Go on over and say hello. We're all friends here, you know." She added a smile and nodded her head in the girl's direction.

Keith had nearly jumped out of his seat when Professor Palmescoff addressed him. His first reaction would have been to deny any intention of talking to the girl at the Mórrígan table, but he had a feeling that the professor would know better.

"Oh. Um, okay." Keith said. It was his voice that gave away how nervous he was.

Spurred on by the reassuring tone in his head-of-house's voice, Keith walked over to the seat across from the girl while trying his best to ignore the glances and stares he was attracting from both tables. A bit of fatigue from all the food he had eaten dulled the effect.

"H-Hi," Keith said to the girl. He had forgotten to smile, but his greeting was as friendly as he could make it sound.

Evangelina looked up from her book when she heard someone saying "hi." In front of her she was a boy that she didn't recognized, after all, she didn't pay attention to anyone's sorting and she didn't see him on the train. The fellow Asian didn't smile, and his voice was contradicting to his body language.

With a smile on her face, Evangelina replied, "umm...Hi."

The words left Keith's mouth as if he hadn't thought them up himself. "It is alright if I sit here?" He started to feel lightheaded.

He numbly reached for the nearest chair and pulled it back a little, causing a scooting noise that attracted even more stares from around the table.

Evangelina stared at the boy again. "The last time I checked, America is a free country," she replied, "and besides, no one is sitting there."

Evangelina ducked her head down to continue to read, 'Incendio, a fire producing spell. Incantation muttered to produce flame. Only small flame (like lighting a match), unless the caster is an adult and very powerful.'

The familiar, yet inescapable feeling of lost confidence returned to Keith for the second time tonight. He sat down and thought desperately for something to say. This time, he caught himself before any half-formed words could escape his mouth.

"Watcha readin'?" Keith said as he stared at his fingers and drummed them on the table, trying extremely hard to sound as casual as possible. He tentatively glanced at her to see if she heard him.

Looking back up from the book, Evangelina gave the boy a slight smile and replied, "Mahō no Chīsana Hon...it's a book of simple spells, charms, and potions. I got it over the summer when we went to Tenkawa Jinja." Her Japanese fluently flowed from her tongue with easy and her English without an accent. If fact, you would never guess the girl was from Canada, seeing that the girl didn't have a stereotypical Canadian accent.

Evangelina shook her head to remove the memories of her family trip, looked up, and smiled, "so...umm.. my name is Evangelina and, umm, yeah...what's your name?"

Absorbing only half of what the girl said, Keith was glad that Evangelina changed the subject.

"I'm Keith. Um... Do you like it here?" he said, grabbing the first question that came to his mind.

The girl had a confused look upon her brow as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I guess it's ok," she replied slowly, "but I've only been here for a few hours."

Evangelina started to fidget a bit from the awkwardness she felt between the boy named Keith and herself. "So...umm, are you a first year too? And, ummm, what coven are you in?" she splurged out of her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm a first year too," Keith responded with enthusiasm. "I'm in Bloeddewedd." He glanced over his shoulder at Professor Palmescoff.

"Where are you from?" he continued, feeling more settled into the conversation. He managed to pull this off a few times to make a handful of friends at Livermore Elementary when he first transferred there, but Evangelina intrigued him on a much deeper level.

"I'm from Canada. You?" she asked intently.

"I'm from Hawaii, but I moved to Livermore two years ago when my mom remarried." Kieth explained.

He started talking about how different living in Maine was, interspersing questions like "Did they have that in Canada?" in his recount.

The boy gained a dreamlike expression and stared off across the room when he talked about certain things. When he said how he had never seen the trees change color in the fall and when he talked about the first time he saw snow, he looked as vacant as a volunteer at a hypnotist's show.

He would occasionally snap out of it glance back at her to see if she was still listening. Someone once told Keith that he tended to babble a lot. Hopefully that still wasn't the case.

Evangelina intently listening to what Keith was saying. She learned more about the island of Hawaii and about living in Maine, and overall America, than from what her parents told her and her occasional trips to Nevada to visit her grandparents. Living in one of the major cities in the world, she never knew what it was like living in a small town.

Evangelina also told him about Canada. "If you ever go to Vancouver, make sure you ride the Skytrain. It's one of the best Muggle way to go to from one place to another."

Emma was pretty lost by now. Her sorting had gone a bit crazy and she was still having problems figuring out what came next. So in the mean time, she noshed on this really delicious roast beef that sort of just appeared before her.

She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but the two students who were chatting right next to her... She'd been watching the Asian girl since she'd wandered out of the Flames looking like she'd seen a ghost. It wasn't long after they started the feast that this boy from another coven rolled up and was chatting away.

Emma's curiosity about who her new coven mate was got the better of her, and she just had to butt in.

"Hey guys!" She smiled big time. "I'm Emmalene, but everyone calls me Emma. Sorry, didn't mean to cut in, but, well, how you doin'?"

"Hi! I'm Keith and this is Evangelina." Keith said as he gestured across the table. "Where are you from?"

"Hi, Keith. Hi Evangelina." Emma grinned broadly. "I'm from Denver, but my dad went to school here, so I'm here instead of goin' to the School of Crazy Mountain Witches!" Emma didn't know if she should have said that, but that's what her dad always called Sky and Summit, so she figured, why not?

"Keith, I saw you over at the Bloeddewedd tables: is that your coven, or were you just slumin' with them?" She grinned again and her entire body shook as her dimples showed. "Not that there's nothin' wrong with that, you know."

Keith was about to explain himself when attention was called to all first-years. He scurried off to join his coven after quickly saying "nice to meet you" to both girls.