Surprise, Surprise

[Sapphire Weasley]

14 September, 1886

Sapphire wasn't sure how she felt about being in Hufflepuff. Especially since she was just starting to get used to being in Gryffindor, and mostly having to rely on herself. She'd asked her sisters questions the first few days, before she'd felt comfortable asking her temporary house-mates who had turned out to be quiet friendly!

Was she uncomfortable in her now permanent house? Probably, but she'd adjust. At least she wasn't crying this time.

She spun around to go exploring her new home for the next seven years. She yelped when she ran into a fellow Hufflepuff. "I'm sorry!" she squeaked. She didn't want her new housemates to think she was a klutz on her first night in Hufflepuff!

  

[Madeleine Backus]

Maddie had been coming back from the kitchens and the beginning of her visits to Mitzy and the other house elves. She has been looking forward to them all summer becsuse she dearly enjoyed her time with the elves, they had so much to teach her about cooking and baking and she was eager to learn. She treated her evening sessions like another class, an hour in the kitchen learning some new techniques or new recipe. Tonights had been how to make profiteroles! They were delicious and she had headed back to the common room with a stacked plate of them- as per usual. Being a prefect had its perks, being able to spend time in the kitchen was one.

The bump brought her back to the present and took her mind off the pastries. The little first year looked terrified. It had been a stressful Start to the year chopping and changing like that. She offered the girl a pleasant smile. 'Oh hello, you are one of the new badgers!' She greeted, putting down the laden plate o. One of the tables in the common area for others to pick at. 'I'm Maddie on of the prefects' she motioned to the plate 'would you like one?'

  

[Sapphire Weasley]

Sapphire looked up at the upperclassmen with wide eyes. The prefect, after seeing her badge, wasn't upset that she wasn't paying attention and ran into her? She smiled shyly when the older girl, Maddie, stated that she was one of the newer badgers.

She really wished she had stayed in Gryffindor, at least she knew some of her housemates. Now it felt like she was having to start all over with making friends. "I'm Sapphire." She finally said, introducing herself after a few awkward seconds.

She looked at what was on the plate. "What are they?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "Are they a tasty snack?" She hoped she wasn't being rude, asking questions about the snack Maddie was offering her to try.

  

[Madeleine Backus]

It was clear that the little first year was very nervous about the prospect of being in a new house, it must be hard, she couldn’t imagine being chopped and changed like that. It must give them a bit of a head rush. The prefects had all discussed the need to be a little nicer, and perhaps (in some of their cases) be a little more patient as the new students adjusted.

’pleasure to meet you Saphire’ Maddie said with a broad smile, and dropped herself into one of the soft couches beside the fire. She was dead tired now, her time in the kitchens was fun but rather tiring. ’Please help yourself’ she gestured to the plate. ’My father owns a bakery and I love to cook, so I try to bring sweet things back to the common room most evenings.’ she explained, to the established members of Hufflepuff house, the plethora of baked goods which were left stacked in the common area were an established reality of their existence, especially since Maddie had been made prefect and got her permission to attend the kitchens.

’These are called profiteroles, they are little balls of soft pastry, filled with crème patisserie and covered in milk chocolate’ she gushed, about the desserts, before popping on in her own mouth. Maddie worried that sometimes she might just be in a risk of becoming portly later in life!

  

[Sapphire Weasley]

The tiny Bagder picked up one of the profiteroles and took a small bite. "I want to learn how to bake tasty snacks." She finally decided after tasting the treat. It was rather good, like Maddie said! Why had Hesita not felt comfortable, at all, in this house? Then again, why hadn't she originally feel uncomfortable. Maybe she had just needed someone to talk to that wasn't her sister. "Thank you for the treat!" she said brightly, not wanting to seem rude.

  

[Madeleine Backus]

Maddie grinned broadly at the little girl, pleased at the reaction to her treats -she loved making her housemates happy with her cooking. ’Perhaps when you get a bit older I can teach you something.’ she gave an excited shoulder twerk, like she was hugging herself in glee. Maddie flopped onto the nearest deep yellow velvet sofa ’How are you finding the move to this house?’ she asked with a rueful smile, knowing the upset and confusion that the change had caused for all of the new firsties.

  

[Sapphire Weasley]

Sapphire was slightly dejected when the older Hufflepuff said she'd have to wait until she was a little bit older-- maybe in her second year, after she turned 13?-- to learn how to bake tasty snacks. She didn't have a chance to ask before the older girl asked how she was finding her new house. "I... Don't know. I was just getting used to being in Gryffindor..." she said with a small frown. "I did want to be in this house, to be with Emerald... but I guess I just got used to not being with my older sister?" She wasn't sure how she really felt about being sorted by the teachers and then the hat. It was very confusing.