Room of Requirement

"FRY!" she squeezed him in return. "I--brought rolls. I forgot they were in my bag until I saw everyone going in and... well, I bet you're hungry."

Nicolas shook his head. "No, I don't mind!" He scooted over on the cot to make room for Eric. Then he looked up at Eric, and stared. Just stared. He seemed... familiar. Like some sort of long-lost brother.

"Oh, um, thanks." Selia said, smiling and looking at her feet. "I really like the strawberry scent. It even smells good in the bottle."

"Hey, look, beds!" Jake jumped onto a bed, and bounced a bit. "Cool!"

Fry stared at Holly. "Give me them. Please." His stomach growled.

Eric looked properly at Nicolas. "... What?" he grinned.

Selia sat down on the bed too, not bouncing, just sitting there. "This is depressing. It was cool at the beginning, but.. It's just depressing."

She dug around in her bag, and pulled out the rolls. They were a bit misshapen from being in her bag, but they were still edible. She handed them to Fry.

Nicolas shook his head. "It's nothing. I, uh... so, Fry's your friend?" he said, trying to make conversation.

"What's depressing?"

"Ohhh, thank you." He took one, and bit into it. "Mmmm..."

"Yeah, he's my best friend. Since our second year."

"All these people are trapped. Because of tyranny and selfishness and.. racism. Just think of all the other people who are out there, suffering, or even dead." Selia said quietly.

"Is it good?" Holly asked sweetly, feeding him another one.

"Oh! I have a good friend that goes back about that far, too."

"I LOVE rolls!"

"Really? What's his name?"

"You'd love ANYTHING after being here, wouldn't you?" Holly said half-jokingly.

"Max. Maxwell, actually... he's a Gryffindor. What House are you in?"

Fry shrugged. "It's not bad... Just really lonely and boring."

"I'm a Hufflepuff." Eric responded. "How about you?"

"Oh... it's pretty much the same on the outside, too."

"Hufflepuff!" Nicolas grinned. His eyes squinted semi-shut.

"Aww... Thanks for the rolls." He hugged Holly.

"Really?! I've never seen you around!" Eric began to grin too, and he sighed. "That's awesome. It really is."

Holly hugged him back. She had to stand on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "You're welcome."

"Yeah! Everyone else here is Ravenclaw or Gryffindor... except for your friend's sister. Kelsi. She's a Hufflepuff too."

And they began snogging.

"Oh, must be tough on you two!"

Because they love to snog.

"Yeah... but, she doesn't really seem to mind."

And they snogged like bosses.

"Do you mind?"

"I wish we could go somewhere more private," Holly said after a few moments. "It's weird doing this in a big communal room."

"A bit. I don't know, it's because your house says a lot about you, you know? People don't think much of Hufflepuffs."

Fry was quiet for a few moments. Then he looked up. "What's communal mean?"

Eric shrugged. "I like it in Hufflepuff, because the people there are nice. But, I get your point. It used to embarrass me at the beginning of Hogwarts. But, I had other things on my mind, so yeah. Anyways, what year are you in? Five? Six?"

"You know... like, communal. Community. Anyone can really come into this room."

Nicolas stared at the floor, and clenched his teeth. "... Seventh."

"Oh. Of course. I knew that." he scoffed.

"... Oh."

"It's fine if you didn't, Fry."

"What year are YOU in, huh?!" Nicolas got all in Eric's face, getting defensive. "Huh? Fifth? Fourth? THIRD?!"

"But I did! I know what Communal is!"

Eric didn't answer. He looked a bit annoyed, though. "I'm in sixth, thank you."

"Then why did you ask?" Holly retorted playfully.

"Then don't talk so rudely to your upperclassmen!"

[Foreshadow much?]

"I just had to make sure if my ultimate smartness was correct! You know, I know so many things that it's hard to keep up with simple words like communal!"

"I can talk rudely to anybody who talks rudely back to me!"

[[Yesyesyes. :A]]