She's wandering down the various corridors of the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, looking for lost first-years, when it happens. The youngest inhabitants of the castle are doing a remarkably good job of keeping on track this year, she thinks. She hasn't had to point a child the right way as of yet, but she rounds a corner into an open, sunny hallway, keeping an eye out.
And she sees a little, lost girl, a first year; tugging anxiously at her blue-and-bronze tie, looking around with wide eyes and clutching her books close to her chest.
She moves over to the child, into the shadow so that she can be seen, watches her eyes widen with hopeful relief. "What class are you going to?" she asks, calmly. Not quite indifferently; the child is, after all, lost and alone on only the first day of classes. She ought to have someone's aid.
"I– I'm supposed to be going to Defence Against the Dark Arts," the girl says, breathing out a small sigh that would pass anyone but herself by.
"Go to the end of this corridor, turn left, then left again, and the classroom will be on your right," she orders, and the little Ravenclaw bobs an odd sort of cross between a nod and a curtsy, smiling brightly from ear to ear.
"Thank you so very much, Lady–" she says, leaving a little upturn in her voice at the end of the sentence.
It takes her a moment to realise that the girl wants to know her name, and she is strangely touched. Nobody has cared enough to ask in a long time.
"Helena," she answers finally, softly. "My name is Helena."
"Then thank you, Lady Helena," the child says, still smiling (although it has softened from that blindingly sunny brightness to something altogether gentler), and she waves. "I'd best be going. Goodbye!"
And thus, she scampers off down the corridor, repeating "Two lefts," once more under her breath.
It isn't earthshaking. It is, frankly, an encounter of trivial importance. The girl would have found her way eventually, and Helena is only doing her duty.
But the little Ravenclaw girl makes a tiny half-smile curve her lips as she goes about her business for the rest of the day.
Author's note: I feel like I should point out that,
a) this has never been beta-read
b) there was no real point to this story?
c) the only reason I'm publishing this is because otherwise it would moulder in my hard drives for evermore.
But if you're reading this anyway, thank you! I appreciate it greatly. Reviews, especially concrit, are awesome if you'd like to give me some!