Us Ravenclaw's have to stick together! [Pepper, Trisha and Adrienne]

It had been a few weeks since Pepper started her schooling at Hogwarts, and although she still loved the building, and was settling into the routine of getting up and going into classes there were still things that she struggled with. For one, she still did not really have a large social circle, there were people she nodded to while she was browsing the library, and there were people that she talked to while she sat next to them during lesson times. The issue was that, outside of those events, Pepper rarely made the effort to speak to people, deciding to prevent the awkwardness that she would no doubt feel.

Sometimes it made her feel down, but she would always manage to find a new book that would pick her back up again - writing to her parents helped too, although they were beginning to think that the schools owls were getting a little bit more use than they really should be.

It wasn't that Pepper didn't want friends, no she truly did, but there was something preventing her at every turn from actually making that leap into confiding in someone. She didn't understand why she couldn't open up to people, nothing horrible had occurred in her past to make her this closed off. Naturally, Pepper assumed that it was just who she is, and that she shouldn't force something that wasn't going to happen. Never the less, seeing groups of friends forming all over the place did little to inspire confidence and made it seem as if time was running out for her to develop into the social butterfly her family seemed to want her to be.

Sitting once again, with her back crammed into a small corner of the Ravenclaw common room, in what Pepper had christened her 'Reading Cranny' she pulled her owl beanie hat firmly onto her head again. It was a vague attempt to try and mask the rather wild curls that had grown back into her hair overnight.

Over the last several years of Trisha's schooling at Hogwarts, many, many things had changed. The bullying had stopped, which was a bonus of course, and making a new group of friends a year or so back had been the key to Tris's breaking out of her shell as well as the halting of attacks on her person. After all, with a family that was quite strange - not to mention a group of Muggles, Trisha had been an outcast and completely unable to find a way into the groups she perhaps should have been a part of.

So it wasn't all that surprising, she supposed, when she started to notice that one of the first years was on her own. Trisha had sort of ended up becoming a mother to several of the girls from Ravenclaw - although the redhead could point out that she was lucky to have escaped the part of the marriage law that required her to actually, physically have a child of her own. She did not think she was prepared for that. Besides, she was far too young. Luckily, Caspian agreed and would never dare push her into anything.

They didn't have to worry about it now, either, which made it so very much easier.

Trisha was actually on her way out of the dorm to meet with the current Transfiguration professor for some extra practice when she glanced to the side and her footsteps slowed to a halt. One of the first years had been keeping to herself more than the others, and it only served to make Trisha all the more concerned. She had never actually approached Pepper, but the sixth year had made it a point to learn the names of all of the new students, knowing just how hard it was to start out as an outcast from day one.

Nothing actually struck the older girl as off, though, so she wasn't quite sure why Pepper had been left to read on her own. Perhaps, she mused, the girl merely wanted to be alone. That was entirely plausible. But still. Everyone wanted to have at least one friend, didn't they? They weren't Slytherins, after all, and she couldn't help but think that it would be better if the girl wasn't alone.

So, though her footsteps were a bit hesitant, Trisha only moved quietly to keep from surprising the dark-haired girl off reading in her little nook. When she had approached, the redhead leaned against the wall and offered a smile. "Hi. It's Pepper, right? We haven't met yet. My name's Trisha." Holding out a hand, she added, "I hope your first few weeks haven't been too rough. Mine certainly were."

Pepper was just finishing up the chapter in her book, which had been one of the more lengthy and rather boring ones, when she noticed that one of the other members of her house had come over to stand beside her. She hadn't even heard her coming! Perhaps she hadn't wanted to disturb her? Regardless, it did give her a little bit of a start when she glanced to the side, and another person was standing so close.

The smile that the girl offered calmed Pepper's nerves slightly, and she replied in kind with a smile of her own. Simply because, although she had not met this student before, that was no need to be unpleasant to her with no cause. Being standoffish, and rude, was something Pepper just couldn't abide, even though she herself had been described as such in the past.

So her name was Trisha? It was not unusual that Pepper had never heard of her before, even in passing, she did not tend to keep up with the affairs of different students in her house. Inclining her head towards Trisha, very slightly, Pepper nodded in a greeting.

"Uhm, yes, that's me." she stated quietly, eyes narrowing very slightly when Trisha already seemed to know her name without having spoken to her previously.

It seemed to make sense, why she knew her name as the topic she seemed to wish to talk about came to the forefront of conversation. It made Pepper's smile grow a little bit wider. It appeared that Trisha was checking in on her, to see how she was doing. Honestly Pepper appreciated it, and despite the nerves fluttering in her chest, decided that perhaps this would be a good time to try and reach out and make a new acquaintance in her house.

"They have been going okay. Thank you for asking." Pepper replied politely, closing her book so that she could properly engage in the conversation.

Hesitating slightly, Pepper paused before saying her opinion on the lessons that she had attended in the first few weeks of Hogwarts. She was worried about them, and concerned about her performance - but there was no way she wanted a potential friend to know about her weaknesses. Surely then, she wouldn't wish to be her friend. So, altering what she had originally intended to say, Pepper delved down an altogether more neutral line of conversation;

"I uhm, don't recall seeing you in any of my classes. So, I don't know what year you're in."