The First Ride: Part 2

The sound of the door sliding open catches Valeria off guard as her eyes detach themselves from her book and latch onto the brunette figure standing just outside the compartment. Uneasy about the new presence and incompetent in dealing with strangers (particularly those of her age), Valeria’s arms quiver ever so slightly as her book, weighty, drops to be ground with a loud thud. 

“Great,” Valeria thinks to herself, “she made me lose my page.” 

Bending over to pick it up and dusting it off, Valeria mumbles a “You can come in.” Thick strands of auburn hair fall in front of her eyes as she cooly leafs through pages, trying to find out where she left off - something about Potions class, she recalls. 

A few moments later, Valeria is interrupted once again, this time by a girl - holding a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, she notices - almost face-planting onto the compartment window. Valeria lowers her book so that just her large eyes and the bridge of her nose are visible. After giving the newcomer a brief look of discontent, she returns to her book, silently. Just as ‘Beedle the Bard’ girl steps in with a squeaky “Hi,” another slides open the door, announcing that all the other carriages are full and requesting to join. 

“So much for peace and quiet,” Valeria mumbles to herself as she turns away from the three girls, her book-ridden head back to being buried behind the pages.