First Time Meeting (Open)

When Amelia first saw the common room she was thrilled that it was so high up in a tower. She absolutely loved being able to look out over the grounds from her room and if she closed her eyes on a windy day she could pretend she was flying. It took her no time at all to unpack and organize all her belongings and now she was eager to get out into the school and meet her fellow students! In the short orientation they were given after the first banquet they were told that the common room is the best place to start, so she hopped downstairs with her cat in tow.

There were a few people lounging around, but as Amelia glanced around she realized that she wasn't actually sure how to approach any of them. An introduction would be the easiest, of course, but she didn't want to bother someone right off the bat and automatically have them hate her. That would be the worst. Instead she decided to plop down in one of the over-stuffed arm chairs by the fire and observe her fellow Gryffindors. Surely one of them would be open for a conversation.

Maybe even one of them will like flying as much as she does.

Daniel was amazed at his new temporary home. The Gryffindor common room was a nice, homey sort of place, with lot's of rugs, sofas, armchairs, tables and a big fireplace, most furniture in a shade of red. Although he usually liked modern interiors, he couldn't help but already feel somewhat at home in the warm common room. He couldn't complain about his dorm room either. His bed was big enough and he had a small dresser for his belongings. He needed no more.

Daniel cast a look at his bag containing all his stuff and sighed. He was in no mood to unpack. He wanted to meet his housemates and preferably make some friends. So, with his cat in his hands, Daniel quickly descended the stairs, arriving in the common room, filled with people. He looked around, wondering who he should talk to first. Before he could make up his mind, his cat made the choice for him; she made her way over to an armchair and hopped in it's occupant's lap.

Daniel approached the armchair quickly. There was a girl, looking a bit younger than him sitting in it. She had shoulder-length, blond hair, blue eyes, and a pretty face. She looked a bit lost, like she wanted to go and talk to others, but was afraid to do so. Maybe she was an exchange student like him?
Daniel came to a stop in front of her and offered her a warm smile.

"Hey" he greeted simply, "Sorry for Folt, she is usually not this straightforward" he said sheepishly.

He extracted a hand towards the girl. "I'm Daniel Héderváry, by the way."

Another day, another game of cards to play, another bet to lose. How fun! It certainly made the boring life that was Hogwarts, boarding school of magic things...and....other things. Nevermind that, he had a card game to play! But no one to play with, unfortunately. There weren't many people, and he couldn't find any of his regular card playing buddies. Damn, and he had a few hours to waste, too. Those days were the best, by the evening nearly all of them were servants to one another, dressed like girls, piled with everyone else's homework, or all of the above. It was great.

However, it seemed that this wouldn't be one of those sorts of days. Zaman sighed, as he shuffled the cards absentmindedly. Who would he play his games with? Then, as if Allah listened to his complaints himself, a girl he hadn't seen before sauntered in. A pretty girl. He immediately looked over at her, and was about to go on over to her in her armchair and ask if she was interested in a game of cards. However, he apparently took too long to get his lazy ass up and ask, because another kid he hadn't seen before came along, with his cat, who jumped up on the girl's lap. He could hear the other guy strike up a conversation with her, and he knew his chance was definitely missed.

Maybe he could turn it into something better, though. Get two people to play with him instead of one. He got off the table he was sitting on (for some reason, he had started to prefer to sit on tables. he wasn't sure why) and slowly found another place to sit that was closer to them. He continued to shuffle his cards, hoping that maybe one of them would become interested and ask him about said cards. Though he seemed like the social type, Zaman could hardly speak to people that he was unsure about, in terms of whether they liked the things he did. He could be especially raucous with the people he did know that liked cards, or swimming, or anything like that, though so...it was worth it, then?

Amelia was surprised when she felt a cat jump on her lap, but didn't see a sea of white fluff. Still, she loved cats and even if it wasn't her own she still affectionately rubbed its cheeks. When a boy came over she grinned at him, still petting the cat. "Folt, huh? That's a cool name for a cat! Reminds me of foal, like a baby horse!" Amelia snickered to herself and scratched the cat's head. "It's okay, I really love cats. My own followed me down here, but he's still checking the room out. My name is Amelia, by the way!" Amelia shook his hand enthusiastically, she loved meeting new people. Especially because that meant they might be friends. She loved friends.

The only other person in their common room moved closer and, easily distracted by the slightest things, Amelia immediately took interest. She would have felt bad if she got up and disturbed the cat, so she just settled for yelling at him from the chair. "Hey! M'names Amelia, who're you? You should come closer so I don't have to yell!" Really, Amelia should be the one to go closer. But again, the cat was happy on her lap. "You've got cards there, yeah? Why don't we play!"

Amelia wasn't very familiar with wizarding card games, even after she found out she was a witch she still had mostly muggle friends. But she was always eager to learn and ready to play anything fun, and this kid has a deck of cards so surely he knew something! She knew the common room was a good idea!

Daniel grinned at the girl, relieved. She didn't get angry at him because of Folt and she even loved cats! He liked her already. She looked like a cheerful, happy person; someone Daniel could easily get along with.

He looked around the common room, trying to find who Amelia was talking (or yelling) to. He spotted a guy sitting nearby them, shuffling a deck of cards. Daniel grinned at the guy. He loved card games! He wondered if he was willing to let him play a round of something with him. Well, it didn't look like he was too busy playing with someone else, so...

He was starting to get excited when Amelia said she wanted to play. Making friends through playing was a pretty effective and fun method.

He waved at the guy. "If you're not busy we could play something?" he asked, wondering if it was rude to just ask a stranger to play with them randomly.

It seems his plan had worked. Both Gryffindors noticed him, and his cards. He hopped off what he was sitting on, to join them as the girl called for him to get over to where the others were. Once he was within talking distance, Zaman introduced himself- Amelia, as she was known, had started the introductions, so of course Za would have to follow suit.

"I'm Zaman" He said with a smile "And yes, we should play a card game. It's too quiet, and none of the regulars are around" He shook his head with a faux-mournful expression "But! There's always room for more card players here" An impish grin made it's way across his face "We play games from Old Maid to Poker- but the best game is Go Fish, definitely" That was the best card game one could play, if you played it how the Gryffindors did "You guys want to play that?" He continued to shuffle his cards in preparation. No matter how they responded, they'd play cards. And there was little better than playing cards.

"That might be too hard for you, though" He teased, reminded of the distractions one had to face while playing the game. It wasn't so much difficult as it was exciting. The other games were okay, too, but Go-Fish took the cake.