Is This Seat Taken? (Gwendolen)

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Dastan walked into the Great Hall and looked around, trying to decide where to sit. When it came to mealtimes he normally just looked for an empty seat and took it. This was his method of trying to get to know more people from Hogwarts. Most of the time it ended up awkward and they just kind of ignored him, but Dastan wasn't really one for giving up. 

Today as he looked around the Hall, he saw a pretty girl sitting on the Ravenclaw table by herself. Her friends probably just hadn't shown up yet, so it was the perfect situation for him to take advantage of. Dastan walked over casually, "Hello, do you mind if I sit here?" he asked with a smile, gesturing to the seat next to the girl. 

@gwendolen

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Arriving earlier to the Great Hall than most of her classmates meant that Gwendolen had been sitting alone at her section of the Ravenclaw table for some time. She didn’t mind; they would be there before long, and she had been conversing very briefly with some first-years down at one of the ends of the table. There wasn’t much that she had in common with eleven-year-olds anymore, though one of them was apparently Welsh. There was no mistaking that accent, especially for someone who shared it.

There was also no mistaking the appearance of a Beauxbatons student as belonging to anyone from Hogwarts. The boys all seemed to be much more attractive than their Hogwarts counterparts, especially, and Gwen was flattered when a young man came up to her to ask if she minded if he were to sit beside her. Considering there were plenty of other spaces available to him, Gwendolen didn’t hesitate to answer him, although she became flustered as she did, trying to make herself sound less Welsh than she usually did. “Yes,” she smiled, “no, I mean.” She didn’t want him to think that she was turning him down, so, trying not to blush, she added, “You can sit here.”

@dastan

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She was blushing. Normally that wasn't something that Dastan noticed, but something about this girl was different. He wasn't quite sure what, but he wanted to find out. She was attractive, without a doubt. He just needed to figure what it was that stuck out to him. That shouldn't be too hard. Dastan didn't do a lot with people, but he was really good at figuring them out. 

He smiled and sat down next to her, not commenting on her blush or on how she stumbled over her words. She was already embarrassed and he didn't want to make it worse. "Thanks. I'm Dastan, by the way. What is your name?" He started loading his plate with some food, trying to act as casually as possible in an effort to help her relax. He didn't want to make her nervous, he wanted to get to know her.

@gwendolen

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Gwendolen was thankful not to have to talk for a few moments, so she could compose herself and not look like a complete idiot in front of the boy from Beauxbatons. If she couldn't even make conversation with a student a year older than she who had been at her school for only a few months, she wasn't sure how she would ever be able to handle an audition for entry into the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts. Breathe, she thought to herself, mentally going through the breathing exercises that she used for choir practices.

The young man sat down and introduced himself, saying that his name was Dastan. He asked for her name, as well, and Gwendolen spoke with renewed confidence.

“I'm Gwendolen,” she told him. “Or Gwen.” She added some food onto her own plate. “Do you like Hogwarts?”

@dastan

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"Gwen," Dastan repeated, liking the shorter name more. It was easier for him to pronounce, though he was sure he'd be able to say her full name if he really wanted to. He just ... didn't want to. Not at the moment, at least. 

He grinned at her, glad that she seemed to get her confidence back. He didn't really want her to be embarrassed around him. It wasn't as much fun to be with people that were nervous. "I do. The layout of your castle is a bit confusing, but I enjoy trying to figure it out," he told her with a smile. Especially now that he didn't have to prepare for the tournament, he had plenty of time to wander the corridors. "And you are all very nice and welcoming," he added politely. Really, not all of the Hogwarts students were polite, but he didn't have to tell her that. "What do you think of having so many guests here?"

@gwendolen

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“Gwen.” There was something about how Dastan said her name that made it sound so much more refined. He had a nice smile, too, she thought, though she tried to maintain normal eye contact with him, instead of just staring at his grin.

She had heard a few of the Beauxbatons students complaining about Hogwarts in passing—how it was too cold and how the food was unlike the cuisine they ate at home—so listening to Dastan say that he liked the school was a breath of fresh air. When he cited the school's layout as being one of his biggest challenges so far, Gwendolen had to laugh in agreement. “It is!” She knew the ins and outs of the castle after years of practice, but her first few weeks at Hogwarts had been difficult.

“And you are all very nice and welcoming,” Dastan added. Clearly, he hadn't run into many members of Slytherin House yet, Gwen thought. That wasn't important, though, especially since Gwendolen was beginning to get the feeling that Dastan might have chosen to sit by her on purpose. “What do you think of having so many guests here?”

Aside from a handful of foreign students and staff members who had come to Hogwarts more permanently, Gwendolen hadn't had much of an opportunity to interact with anyone from any of the other magical schools, of which there were apparently plenty. “I think it's great,” she told Dastan, leaving her food untouched because she was so engrossed in conversation with him. It didn't hurt that their guests were also very pleasing to the eye.

“Your English is really good, by the way,” she added, complimenting him and then taking a bite of the roll that she had put on her plate.

@dastan

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"I'm guessing you know your way through the castle by now, right? How many years have you been going here?" Dastan smiled again, but this time his smile was for himself. He wasn't really sure if that was as smooth as he thought it was, but it was a way of asking how old she was. Not that age mattered overly much to Dastan, but she seemed like she was about his age, which could make it easier for them to be good friends. As they spoke, he casually ate some of the food on his plate. He wasn't in any rush.

He grinned when she gave him another short answer. Apparently Gwen didn't really elaborate unless she was forced to. Dastan didn't mind that. At least it meant that he would get to spend more time talking to her. After all, if he had to make her elaborate everything, this conversation could last quite a while. "What do you like about it?"

Dastan nodded graciously when she said he spoke good English. "Thank you. I studied a long time with it," he told her honestly. Really, Dastan loved to learn. That's why he did speak English so well. It was one of the things he studied at Beauxbatons, in his free time. He liked being flexible, and languages were something that seemed to come easily to him. He was extremely proud of his English-speaking abilities.

@gwendolen

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Dastan asked her if she knew her way around the castle, not that it sounded as though he doubted her ability to navigate through her own school. He asked her for how many years she had been attending Hogwarts, and she realized that her age might not have been apparent to him. Gwen knew that all of the visitors from the other schools were in the year above her. Hopefully, Dastan wouldn’t bail on her when he learned that she wasn’t even of age yet.

“I do,” she nodded after a bite of food. “I'm in my sixth year.” Giving him an honest answer meant that she wouldn’t end up in any awkward situations at a later time, and there wasn’t that much difference between being sixteen and being seventeen, really.

He also asked her what she liked about having so many guests at school, and her first choice for a response would have been horribly embarrassing for her. Gwen waited until he thanked her for the compliment about his English to say more. “I've never met so many people—at least not witches and wizards—from other countries before.” She didn’t want it to sound as though she were uncultured. “I'm Muggle-born.” Gwen wondered if Dastan would know what a “Muggle” was and added, “My parents aren't magical.” That was the simple way to put it, anyway. “I mean, I’ve met loads of people from other countries—Muggles, like—but it’s for two or three weeks, maybe.” People came to the holiday park and then left to return home; there were some families who came regularly, but they were mostly people from other parts of Britain.

Realizing that Dastan would be confused by her mention of “two or three weeks,” Gwendolen felt the need to explain herself. “My parents run a holiday park.” Explaining that would be even more difficult. “It’s like a…” She gestured, searching for a word, and nearly knocked over her pumpkin juice when she did. Retracting her hand before she could end up spilling anything on herself or Dastan, she gave him a sheepish smile. “It’s a place where people go on holiday. Like, in summer.” That was close enough.

@dastan

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"Great!" Dastan enthused when she told him that she knew the castle well. Not that he expected anything else, but now he could ask her to show him around. "So do you want to give me a tour or something sometime? I hate not knowing where I'm going," he offered as explanation, just in case she cared. Then she said she was a sixth year and Dastan smiled more. Good. That meant that she was almost his age, which meant it wouldn't be weird if he did things with her, which was something that he wanted to happen. He didn't really know why, but he wanted to get to know this girl, Gwen.  

Dastan perked up a little when she said she was Muggle-born. So she didn't come from a magical family? Of course, he didn't care about things like that, but it was something interesting about her. He was about to ask her what she meant about only meeting people for two or three weeks, but she explained it before he needed to say anything. He smiled, ignoring the fact that she almost spilled her drink. No need to make her feel even more self-conscious. "So you meet people when they are on holiday and then they go away," he said, just to make sure he got it right. "That sounds like fun. How did you find out you were a witch?" He asked curiously. Then, realizing that was rather a personal question, he added, "If you do not mind me asking ..." There. Now if she didn't want to tell him, she didn't have to feel obligated. Still, he was enjoying the chance to get to know her.

@gwendolen

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Gwendolen could hardly believe it when Dastan asked her if she would be willing to give him a tour of the school sometime. That meant spending even more time with him. Perhaps it was that he really did need a guide, but there was something about Dastan that made her think that his interest might not have been about the moving staircases.

She nodded to him to agree to the job, but, by the time that she had finished nodding, she was grinning. “I'd be happy to.”

Following along with what she had said about the holiday park, Dastan seemed to understand, and he didn't seem to find it odd. (Of course, she had yet to explain to him that she lived with her parents and two brothers in a static caravan, which would be a process in and of itself.) In fact, he told her that her life sounded like fun, and he even asked her how she had discovered that she was a witch.

“Hogwarts… If you're Muggle-born, they send a representative to tell you about it,” she began, taking a moment to eat a few more bites of her food. Gwen wasn't sure if students who were accepted to Beauxbatons were notified in the same way, but that was how she had actually learned that she was a witch. “When I was younger, though, I set a curtain on fire during an acting class once!” Gwendolen laughed; it was hard to be embarrassed about the incident now. Back then, she hadn't been able to put two and two together. She had been angry when the fire had started, but she had no idea that it had been her magical abilities. Fires didn't just start at random. They weren't supposed to, at least.

“You?” Gwen suddenly realized that she had been talking about herself for so long that she didn't know a thing about him.

@dastan

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Dastan nodded, pleased when she agreed to his plan. "Are you sure? I really mean it, I am looking for someone who can show me around your school. I do not like getting lost." He wasn't trying to convince her to change her mind, but he also didn't want her to start giving him a tour only to realize that she wasn't interested in doing that. 

It made sense. Honestly, Dastan had no idea what Beauxbatons did to inform muggle-born students that they had magic. He had no idea how they were introduced into magical society. Being a pure-blood himself, it had never been a question that he'd thought to answer. He laughed when she told about setting a curtain on fire. That must have been interesting, especially since she didn't know that she had magic. At his house, showing any sign of magic when you were feeling any emotion strongly was only to be expected.

Dastan shrugged when she turned the question back on him. Wait, which question? Dastan couldn't really remember what he'd asked her. He didn't want to make her clarify her question, but he really had no idea what she wanted to know about him. "Well, what do you want to know?" he asked, hoping that anything she said would give him something remotely interesting to say. In comparison with the little he knew about her, his life was definitely boring.

@gwendolen

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“Are you sure?” Gwendolen was, yet Dastan continued to emphasize that he really needed someone who could show him around. Since they were the ones hosting the Triwizard Tournament, there were plenty of other Hogwarts students who were just as well-suited for the job as she was, but—now that she had met Dastan—she wasn't sure if she wanted someone else to give him a tour.

“I'm sure,” Gwen affirmed. “We could go after this?” It was only a suggestion, but she knew that she could use the excuse that she didn't want him to get lost on his way back to the Beauxbatons Carriage.

After having told him what felt like her life story, Gwen thought that hearing anything about Dastan's life would be interesting. He didn't seem to have understood her question to him, asking her what it was that she wanted to know.

Maybe it would help, she thought, if she were to restate it. “Did you ever do anything when you were little?” she asked. “Accidental magic or anything?” He must have had something to share.

@dastan

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Dastan grinned when she suggested giving him a tour after they finished eating. "That sounds good!" He told her, unable to hide his enthusiasm. Not only was he talking to her, but he now was going to spend some time with her outside of the Great Hall. Hopefully that would help them actually become friends, which was exactly what he wanted.

He smiled when she clarified. "Well, my family is full of witches and wizards, so I never really did anything unexpected like you did," he hoped she wouldn't get offended by that. Really, he'd never done anything that was super exciting. He tried to think of something that would peak her interest, however. "Once I made one of my brother's cupcakes explode," he commented, smiling at the memory. The thing was, in order to understand how big of an event that was, she would need to understand his brother's obsession with cupcakes. "My brother loves cupcakes. More than anything else in the world," he started off, hoping that would put it more into perspective. "One day I was angry with him because he was ignoring me while he ate one and I got so mad that the next thing I knew, it exploded in his hands." Dastan chuckled. "He was so upset at me, even though it was not on purpose. He would not eat cupcakes in front of me for the longest time." Dastan hoped that was a good enough story for her, that it made her smile. He looked over at her and shrugged. "Did that help?"

@gwendolen