Phloem

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

It's narcolepsy, this time. xD

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Can you help me get to a quiet place?" There was a pause and the only warning Gus got was the girl's head drooping before her knees buckled. He reacted immediately, stooping down and looped an arm around Elina's shoulders to keep her upright. Shit. Now what was he going to do? The Sorting Ceremony was bound to begin soon, but what kind of guy would he be to abandon someone in their time of need? But he didn't even know what was affecting the girl. Was it something serious or just a simple fainting spell? Well, whatever it was -- he was going to get her some help.

Right as he was about to sweep Elina into a bridal carry, Grace ran over. Listening to the quick instructions he was given, he simply nodded in reply. He had been just about to do that, anyway. He shifted Elina a little in her seat so that he could actually carry her properly. Tucking one arm under her knees while the other supported her back, Gus easily lifted her up. Even without his training as a Beater in Quidditch, the girl was as light as a feather. Suddenly, he felt as if he was being watched. Inclining his head ever so slightly, he noticed a rather tall-looking man staring at him and Elina. He shook his head a little, momentarily ignoring the man and quickly maneuvered through the throngs of students still milling about, before bringing her out to the entrance hall. Thankfully, most of the students had already in the Great Hall, and it only earned a few curious looks from the stragglers outside.

Gus spotted the benches by the huge double doors and made his way over to one, lightly setting Elina down so that she was lying on her back. Stepping back for a moment, he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around. Was Madame Pomfrey going to get here soon? He hoped so. Right now, there wasn't really anything he could do other than worry.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"You didn't."

"I did! Oh my god, he screamed so loud. You should've seen the look on his face!" A blonde sixth year named Leonard -- one of Gus's closest friends, recounted the incident to him between fits of laughter.

"Lenny, you're a genius." Gus couldn't help but laugh with him. The story wasn't particularly funny, but the way his friend told it with exaggerated hand movements and silly voices was absolutely hilarious. While Leonard was doubled over in laughter, however, Gus caught a brief glimpse of the girl he had met on the train just earlier that day. Her name was Elina, wasn't it? Surprisingly, she looked more than a little miserable; which was something Gus found quite strange. Most students couldn't wait to get back to school, and yet there she was, sitting by herself and sulking. And if he saw correctly, she seemed to be on the verge of tears, as well. Well, that settled it. This wasn't going to stand. Gus was no prefect, but he wasn't going to just sit around when someone was upset.

Excusing himself from his group of friends for the moment, Gus began to make his way over to the girl. Seeing that she currently had her back turned to him, he contemplated calling out to her to get her attention, but ultimately decided against it. It'd be pretty hard to project his voice over the chattering of everyone in the Great Hall, and he didn't want to startle the girl. To be honest, she seemed like the jumpy sort. When he finally reached Elina, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey. Elina, right?" Gus said, a small smile on his face. The first and foremost priority was checking if he actually got her name right, only after that could he move on to what he came over for in the first place. Once the introductions were over and done with, his expression changed into one of mild concern. "I just saw you from where I was sitting and you looked a little upset. So I was just wondering if you were okay."

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Gus was one of the last people to get onto the Thestral-drawn carriages, having spent a good amount of time wrangling Charlie and trying to her back into her carrier for the time being. The cat had bolted as soon as the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and Gus had been forced to scour the vicinity for any sign of her. Thankfully, he'd been able to locate and recapture the long-haired calico before everyone had left without him.

When he actually managed to get to the carriages, most of them had left already. The only ones left were either empty or had tardy members of the school faculty in them. All Gus knew was that there was no way in hell he was riding with any of the professors. Especially not when he managed to miss out an entire month's worth of coursework due to his rather unfortunately timed injury the previous school year. Picking an empty carriage, it was soon time to take off. While he couldn't actually see the Thestrals pulling the carriages, Gus knew what they were. After all, they did cover the topic of Thestrals in Care of Magical Creatures.

As the multiple carriages glided through the air, Gus could see Hogwarts slowly coming into view. Silhouetted against the backdrop of the night sky, the castle was slowly beginning to light up. Soon enough, they had arrived at their destination. Students began to pile out from the carriages onto the bridge leading to the school. The chattering of excited students filled the air as everyone began to crowd into Hogwarts. At the corner of his eye, he spotted some of his buddies from the Quidditch team. Grinning, Gus made his way over to them, expertly weaving through the crowd.

Within moments, Gus and his friends were engaged in a conversation about anything and everything under the sun. They hadn't seen each other since for a long while and had a lot to catch up on. Finding their seats at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, Gus spotted Grace; one of the prefects sitting at the head of the table. She was in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, too. Giving her a little wave, he briefly turned his attention to the high table. The sorting ceremony was going to start soon, and he wondered which of the first-years would end up joining Hufflepuff.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The conversation was interrupted when the door to the compartment slid open. Standing at the door was a girl from Hufflepuff... if he remembered correctly. Gus had seen her sitting a good distance down from the house table in the Great Hall a couple of times, so that only confirmed his suspicions. Through the door, he heard some sort of commotion coming from somewhere done the corridor. It was muffled, but he could just barely make out what the voice was shouting about. Something about clearing out a compartment? He didn't think too much of it, though. Maybe it was a spell gone wrong. That was actually something that happened quite often. To put it gently, the wizarding world was a health and safety nightmare. Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, he said a quick greeting to the newcomer before welcoming her in.

"Sure, come on in. There's plenty of room." Gus smiled, briefly glancing at the long-haired calico currently sprawled across a good portion of the seats. "Mind the cat, though. She gets scratchy sometimes."

Honestly, he barely even noticed the nickname Frankie had just came up for him. In his mind, it was like they had already been friends for years. Which was obviously not true, since their first meeting was less than ten minutes ago or something to that degree. Gus vaguely pondered whether he should invent a little nickname for Frankie. But then again, Frankie was pretty much already a nickname in itself.

"What's your name? I don't know you, so you're probably not very popular."

Wow. That was very forward of her. Gus was just scarcely able to stop himself from clamping a hand over his mouth in sheer shock. Almost immediately, the inner-mediator inside him surfaced. He had to do something to smooth out this awkward situation.

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way." He quickly cut in. Oh god, what if the Hufflepuff girl started crying. That would be bad. Pushing that foreboding thought to the back of his mind, he opted to rationalise the statement. "There are a lot of people in Hogwarts."

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Gus leant back further in his seat, nodding a little every now and then while he listened. While he wasn't a huge fan of books himself, he knew that they could be pretty interesting. Except for textbooks. After all, who would ever want a six-inch thick tome on all the different kinds of fungus you can find around the world? It wasn't exactly the most exciting of topics. Now a book of advanced Quidditch techniques he'd be fine with, but Gus was a hands-on kind of guy, he preferred actually trying things out for himself rather than just reading about it.

The Hufflepuff blinked in surprise when Frankie started going on a bit of a rant about how he was "sorta kinda" awesome and how they should be friends. It stunned him for a few short moments, but he was quickly snapped out of it when the redhead offered him a Hershey's chocolate bar. Uttering a quick thanks, Gus took the candy bar from her. Cookies 'n' Creme it said on the packaging. Quickly unwrapping it, he took a chunk off of it. As he chewed, only one thought was in his mind; Hershey's really was the best. Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes? They didn't even come close to the heavenly goodness that was a Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme bar.

"Yeah, sure! We should hang out." Gus concurred around a mouthful of white chocolate. No doubt he both looked and sounded ridiculous but at the moment, he could care less. At the question about what his favourite class was, he thought about it for a moment before answering. "Charms, I think. The Levicorpus Jinx I learnt last year? It's pretty useful for dealing with those prats who pick on first years."

"Herbology, though... I'm not too great at it." Gus slumped a bit in his seat, with a dejected shrug of his shoulders. Straightening back up again, he decided it'd be best to quickly change the subject. "Anyway, enough about me. Your turn, what's your favourite class?"

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Speaking of Cap 2, can we talk about the mid-credits scene because I nearly screamed when I saw Quicksilver.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Alrighty, I gotta go. My eyes are burning from staring into my laptop's screen all day. Anyway, if things get too far ahead, feel free to puppet Gus a little. Timezones are a bitch and I don't wanna hold anyone back. c:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Gus nodded sagely when the Ravenclaw introduced her cat as Jabber. It was a good name. Not like he was an expert on cat-naming or anything, but at least there was an interesting explanation behind it. Unlike Charlie, which was literally just something that popped into his head when he found the kitten mewling at his doorstep. It had been fortunate that Charlie was a name viable for both genders. Otherwise, he might've had to come up with another one. But that was besides the point, and Gus stopped following the asinine train of thought before he managed to space out and make a fool of himself.

"You talk a lot.

"I know. It's one of my many charms." The Hufflepuff joked, raising an eyebrow and smirking with mock-smugness. He withdrew his hand once the basic formalities had been taken care of, slipping it back in his pocket.

"I'm Frankie Blackwood, Ravenclaw fifth year."

"Ah, right. I'm in my sixth year." Gus's eyes lit up at the mention of Quidditch, even more so at the almost-compliment. He wasn't about to start bragging about his skills, though, that would be horribly un-Hufflepuff of him. But he was pretty good, if he did say so himself. Though part of it was attributed to his Moontrimmer, as well. The last time Hufflepuff won in the Interhouse Cup, Gus had successfully managed to knock off the opposing team's Chaser with a well-aimed bludger, allowing their own Chaser to capture the Snitch. Of course, Gus didn't take all the credit for himself -- it was a team effort, after all, but his teammates sang his praises for a good number of days after their win. Owning a limited edition Moontrimmer didn't hurt, either. Shrugging diffidently, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I'm alright, I guess? It's a hobby, mostly." He clasped his hands together, grinning sheepishly. "What about you? What do you like to do?"

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

“May I sit in here? I swear I don’t have a disease.”

Gus snapped his head back up at the voice, turning to the source. Standing in the doorway was a girl -- a year or two younger than him, he reckoned. And if his memory served him correctly, the redhead was a Ravenclaw. He'd only seen her in school a few times and they didn't know each other too well, if at all. But, if there was one thing Gus was good at, it was meeting new people. Snapping the book he had been reading shut, his lips formed themselves into an endearingly lopsided grin. The Complete Encyclopedia Of Toadstools wasn't exactly the most exciting reading material, and now he actually had a reason to put it off.

"Yeah, go right ahead." Gus replied, motioning at the cushioned bench opposite of him. It was only then he spotted Charlie unceremoniously sprawled all over said bench as if it was her territory and hers alone. An exasperated sigh escaped from Gus as he grabbed ahold of the cat, translocating her onto a spot beside him instead. Despite the cat's initial protests, she ended up deeming her new location as good as the previous one and settled down, curling up into a multicoloured ball of fluff. "Sorry about that. Charlie here thinks she owns the entire world."

Right as he was finished apologising for his cat, Gus noticed that the newcomer had a cat as well. Truth be told, it wasn't all that surprising since cats were one of the more popular choices of pets here at Hogwarts. Don't get him wrong, toads and owls were great and all, but they lacked the cuddliness that most people looked for in a furry companion. Not to mention that toads lacked the furry part entirely. And cats were a personal favourite of Gus. Back at home, in spite of his parents' objections, he routinely made the rounds of the neighbourhood with an extra large plastic bag filled with tinned cat food for the strays. So it was to his utter delight that this girl from Ravenclaw had an ocicat cradled in her arm.

"Oh, you have a cat too!" Gus blurted out before he could stop himself. "What's his name?

A moment later, Gus realised that he hadn't even introduced himself yet. "...Oh god, sorry. Where are my manners? Augustus Stoker, very nice to meet you." He stuck a hand a for the redheaded girl to shake. "And you are?"