It was clear to Charlotte Quirinus had no self confidence at all; she could also see the intelligence inside this shy stammering boy, who claimed he was of no special intelligence; if he believed he had any at all. Was it now that after his first six years of Hogwarts; had Quirinus finally found a friend?
Quirinus felt so timid on the inside from sitting in the common room; he felt he had to go cool off; the fear had settled in the pit of his stomach; he tried hard to ignore the distractions around him as he read his Potions book, not because he found them annoying but because they terrified him; he was insecure, what if they were talking about him? Secretly mocking him? What if they were planning something like an evil prank on him or something; Quirinus couldn't bare the thoughts any longer. He stood to his feet and walked out of the common room; he had no idea where he was really going; he didn't care. He had to be away from people. As he walked he thought of the various places he could go hide out; his first thought was Dumbledore but he didn't want to bother the headmaster because he was scared of people; what if he were kicked out for it? What if Dumbledore laughed? He continued walking, taking no notice of anyone who passed him; he was terrified and wanted to avoid all contact. He walked down the hall when suddenly cowered backwards, his hands held in front of him as though he were about to be attacked. He had ran into a girl; he had no idea what her name was, nor had he seen her around but he ran into someone; a girl who didn't know him; a girl who would torment him for the rest of his life for cowering the way he was. He thought about running away but wanted to make sure he hadn't hurt her.
He looked at her and shook, "s-s-s-s-s-s-sorry... uhhh... h-h-h-hi." he stuttered. "S-s-s-sorry a-a-a-about th-th-th-that..."
The girl looked at him; he could have sworn she was going to attack him but of course that was his mind playing tricks on him; the girl smiled softly. "That's alright. I wasn't watching where I was stepping either." she said and extended her hand towards him. "I'm Charlotte, and you are?" she asked curiously.
Quirinus looked intimidated by her as much as he felt it as he shook her hand gently and quickly let go. "I-I-I-I-I-I'm Qu-qu-qu-Quirinus." he hunched his head into his shoulders as he realized just what a stupid and weird name he had. 'What if she thinks my name is stupid; what do I say then?' he asked himself in his mind. He focused his head to the ground and said in almost a whisper, "Qu-Qu-Quirinus... Qu-Qu-Quirinus... Qu-Qu-Qu-Quirrell... N-n-n-nice to me-me-meet y-y-you, Ch-Ch-Ch-Charlotte." he said as he looked up at her slowly and smiled shyly; his fear obvious.
Charlotte looked at him, "Quirinus?" she asked sounding interested in his rather unusual name, "that's an interesting name." she added and flashed him a grin. "So... what house are you from?"
'She hates me already... my name is too weird; she's trying not to laugh.' he thought as she grinned at him. He decided not to say anything in case she saw him as stupider than she already saw him, "I-I-I-Interesting...?" he asked, smiling weakly as he felt his intimidation grow stronger, "I-I-I-I'm a R-Ra-Ra-Raven... Ravenclaw..." he paused and decided it would be polite to ask her what house she was from seeing that she asked his, "w-w-w-what a-a-a-about y-y-your... yourself?" he wondered whether he asked the right thing as Charlotte motioned to her Gryffindor crest. He felt stupid he hadn't motioned to his.
"Gryffindor of course!" she said proudly and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "I always thought I was more geared to Ravenclaw though, so lucky you for being one of the brilliant members of the house." she said and winked at him.
Quirinus didn't know how to react to this; he felt completely stupid; the truth was he didn't have a single clue how he passed his subjects because of the shame that was put on him for how much he studied; he decided to go with Charlotte to save any disagreements; he didn't want to fight with someone he had just met, again. "W-w-well I-I-I-I kn-kn-kn-know a b-b-bit." he stammered and paused for a moment to think about his next words, 'or a lot from what teachers say, a lot... but they're probably just lying to me to make me feel better or something; no one else has told me so apart from teachers... I don't wanna sound too stupid nor do I want to come across as a boaster.' he thought to himself. He quickly refrained from his thoughts and cleared his mind, focusing back to the conversation; he knew he looked awkward. "G-G-G-G-Gryffindor... eh?" he stammered quickly, "y-y-y-you m-m-m-must kn-kn-kn-know Th-the m-m-m-m-marauders then?" he said suddenly.
His mind raced instantly, 'Quirinus you idiot! You've heard of the marauders yes but what gives you right to ask about them? You're a Ravenclaw you idiot!' his mind seemed to yell at him. "I-I-I-I-I m-m-m-mean y-y-you're l-l-l-lu-lu... lucky to b-b-be a Gryf-Gryf-Gryffindor." he said quickly hoping she didn't catch what he'd previously said about the marauders. He smiled awkwardly as Charlotte moved her hair from her face; his mind told him he had something wrong with his hair; hoping to not seem cocky, he smoothed his hair down and looked at Charlotte; he hoped with everything he had he hadn't come across as something or someone he wasn't.
Charlotte smiled at him, "well to be honest; Ravenclaw could probably top us easily... and yes, I do actually; I'm fair friends with all of them..."