Perfect Stranger

Ruby was always good at making friends and thought that it was pretty fun to make new friends. So, every year she ordered a butterbeer and tried to make at least one friend. It would be Ruby's fourth year at Beauxbatons, she couldn't believe it. She was getting so old! Maybe she'd turn into one of those people that lied and said they were young when they were actually older than they said. Fourteen was such an old age, she could already feel her bones aching. Okay, maybe not, but she still thought she was pretty old. What did fourteen year olds do anyways? She knew her friends Grace and Tamara were a couple and that they kissed and held hands. Is that what fourteen year olds did? Date each other? Who would she even date? Was there anyone that would even date her? And what did dating even mean? She made a mental note to ask Grace or Tamara when the school year began.

She found herself at an empty table, sipping a nice cold butterbeer. She loved the cold sweet drink, it was nice on the taste buds. "Oh! Hello!" She suddenly blurted out to what looked to be a new student, an eleven year. "I promise I do not bite, you can sit down. Are you going to Beauxbatons?"

Serah didn’t plan to walk into La Petit Dragon. She wanted to get her shopping done and over with, but all the people walking in and out had made her very curious. She thought that maybe she could just go in and draw, but of course, her plan didn’t fall through.

A girl, probably not much older than Serah, randomly spoke to her.

Serah turned her head to see if the older girl was speaking to her or if there was someone more important behind her that the girl could be talking to. But Serah was the only person she could be talking to. The place was full of adults, or at least full of people too old to go to Beauxbatons.

Serah gauged her other options. She could pretend that she didn’t hear the girl. She could slowly back out the door to avoid talking. But the option that made her look the least stupid was to sit down and talk to the exotic-looking girl who had spoken to her.

“Yes-s-s,” Serah stammered. “I’m S-s-erah. Serah Palmer.”

"Ruby Thomas at your service," she held out her hand for the girl to shake. "Beauxbatons is an exciting place, I assure you. When I got my letter, I was so excited. Over the years, Beauxbatons has proved to be the best school I've ever been to." Of course she had attended a muggle school before getting her letter, the students weren't quite as interesting as the people she had met over the years.. "This will be my fourth year there, so I can say from experience, that it is a great school."

The girl, Serah, spoke with a stutter but Ruby chose not to comment on it. "So, are you excited to join the Beauxbatons family? I think you'd be a great addition." She smiled at the girl, she hoped that she could make a friend out of this girl. Hopefully she wasn't coming on too strong. "Want to play a game?"

"M-m-more ner-r-vous than excited-d," Serah admitted sheepishly. "I'll probab-b-ly feel better t-tomorrow."

Serah crossed her legs and fidgeted in her seat.

"I'v-v-e never been to a big sc-chool before. It's kinda nerve-wrack-k-king. And I've never been away from home."

Serah was surprised at how open she was being. Where had all this boldness come from? Maybe it was just from being around someone who didn't comment on her stutter. Or maybe it was just because someone had talked to her in general.
But whatever the, reason was, Serah had gotten a necessary burst of confidence.
"S-sure. I'll play. What ar-r-e the rules?"

"There's nothing to be nervous about," she assured the girl, there really wasn't anything to worry about. She knew that most people were nervous to go somewhere they had never been before, but not Ruby. Ruby loved to explore and wasn't afraid of a little adventure. She wasn't even scared when she encountered a ghost, the ghost turned out to be friendly and she spent some of her free time having conversations with her see through friend. "Nothing to be nervous about at all," she repeated with a smile.

She had a game that she usually played with the people she met at the pub and clapped her hands when the girl agreed to play with her. 'Okay, the rules are simple. We look around the pub and point out people and tell their story. But we have to be nice about it because we would want people to say nice things about us."

She paused for a moment to look around the pub then she continued, "I'll go first. See that guy over there?" She nodded toward a young adult that looked like he was about to fall asleep. His head kept bobbing up and down like he wanted to sleep but he was fighting it off. "He didn't get much sleep last night because he was up all night outside. See the mud on his shoes? It's dried up and looks like it's been here there for a while. Maybe he's a werewolf."

Serah giggled at Ruby’s comment.

Serah looked at her surroundings. Many people had filed in behind Serah, so La Petit
Dragon was now full of people.

Picking a person was a tough decision, since Serah saw so many interesting witches and wizards. Some were talking and laughing, some were eating and drinking, while others were casting spells and putting charms on objects.

Serah finally decided on a woman to her right. She had very long, blonde hair and was stirring her drink with a wand.

“That-t woman,” Serah said, cocking her head in the woman’s direction. “She’s trying to make a potion to cure ly-y-y-canthropy for the werewolf guy. She’s at-t-t-temp-pting to avoid suspicion by sitting at-t another t-t-t-table”

"I think you're onto something," she said with a grin then took a sip from her sweet drink. "I wonder if we can catch them making eye contact." She looked from the man to the woman then back again. Over and Over. Nothing changed, he still looked as if he was about to fall face first into his meal and the woman was still doing whatever she was doing. "They're good," she stated. She would have to keep looking at them while she was there.

"Okay, that witch over there," she nodded towards a bright haired young witch. "She possesses the ability to change her appearance, she makes people fall in love with her by looking exactly like their dream person."