I should mention; Charlotte is an OC of one of me best mates; I would just like to thank her for the brilliant roleplay she bought me into; without her I would not be writing as many fanfics as I am; nor would I have met so many awesome people. Thanks mate; you know who you are.
Quirinus gave a slight shy smile, he thought over Charlotte's words and looked up at her, "b-b-but G-G—G-G-G-Gryffindor's c-c-c-cool..." he paused a moment, "R-Rav-Rav-Ravenclaw just has in-in-intelligence." he stammered, he frowned at this and sighed, 'something I would never have...' he thought to himself. He looked back up and hunched himself over as much as he could, he hesitated a moment before looking back up at her, kicking the ground shyly with his foot, "c-c-c-c-could I-I-I-I-I-I m-m-m-maybe b-b-b-b-be in-in-in-introduced?" he asked, 'it would be cool to have friends... I think.' he thought.
Charlotte eagerly nodded, "definitely! I don't know where James and Remus have gone off to but I can introduce you to Sirius and Peter if you like?"
Quirinus' eyes lit up at this, his fear was evident, "Y-y-y-you c-c-c-can...?" he stammered, shaking slightly. "W-w-w-w-will th-th-th-they l-l-l-l-like m-m-m-me th-th-th-though...?" he frowned as he thought over the odds of them liking him; he had heard they're awesome people and knew he would never fit in.
Charlotte nudged him lightly, "of course they will; Sirius is one of my best friends and I consider Peter a friend too; they're really nice." she said reassuringly.
Quirinus gave a nervous laugh, hesitated and nudged her slightly back, he instantly felt guilty for it, 'why did I do that?' he asked himself, "S-s-s-sorry." he smiled timidly, "An-an-an-any fr-fr-fr-friend o-o-of y-y-y-yours m-m-m-mu-must be ni-n-n-nice." he stopped for a moment and looked away from her; 'sounding like a flirt now, are we... no.' he pulled a face at himself and hoped she didn't see it, 'I am so awkward...' he quickly recollected where he was and looked straight back to her as she began to speak.
'He seems so shy... like I'm going to bite him or something... I hope I'm not giving off the wrong impression...' Charlotte thought as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "Well thanks! I bet your friends are nice too Quirinus." she said.
It was now clear to Quirinus that she saw something in him that no one else did; why would she tell him his friends are nice when he had none? Did she really think he was something worthy of friends? It seemed so.
Quirinus looked down and sighed, "Oh... m-me?" he looked at her; Charlotte swore his eyes were welling up with tears, "I-I-I-I-I do-do-do-don't th-th-th-think I-I-I-I-I h-h-h-h-have an-an-an-any fr-fr-fr-fr-friends..." he stammered; fear crept through him and bombed the pit of his stomach; he felt sick as he waited for her reaction. 'For six years I've had no friends... why would it be any different? Who would want to be friends with me anyway?' he thought. He smiled weakly at Charlotte unsure of what to say to her now, "y-y-y-y-y-you're a-a-a r-r-r-really n-n-n-nice per-per-per-person." He smiled again at her; this time his eyes seemed brighter though his face whiter than it had been before, he ran his fingers through his hair; again mistaking Charlotte playing with her hair as a sign something was wrong with his.
"Well you'll make them soon enough I expect." She paused and smiled, "you've already made one haven't you?" Charlotte was very much unaware just how much this meant to Quirinus; she had no idea he had not had a single friend his entire life.
Quirinus missed entirely what she had said, 'I have...? Well... there is Charlotte but this would just be another one-off wouldn't it... like the others who talked to me and I've never seen again... right...?' he didn't want to show off any sign that could tell her he hadn't had any friends all his life. He looked up at her and grinned shyly though his eyes sparkled brightly, "wh-wh-who...? ...y-y-y-y-you?" this sounded quite mean in his eyes; he frowned to himself, "Y-y-y-you're considered my friend... bu-bu-bu-bu-but me...Your friend?" he grinned at this thought though he felt utterly unworthy.
"Of course I mean me, silly!" Charlotte giggled, "Unless you'd rather not be friends?"
Quirinus looked at her rather taken aback; he had no idea what to see. He felt as though all thoughts in his mind had ran away from him and every word he could think of just disappeared in mid air the moment he thought of them. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again; he felt a fool for this. 'Friends with this Charlotte... AWESOME!' he said in his mind, however found it best not to say anything out loud in case it showed her that he hadn't had a friend before. His beaming face told her everything, though he couldn't say any words.
Charlotte gently took his arm, "come on, let's go get some pumpkin juice alright?" she smiled and the two headed towards the Great Hall; their arms linked together.
Quirinus thought for a moment; he really didn't know how to react, "O-o-o-of c-c-c-c-course!" he beamed finally able to find some words, "s-s-s-so you r-r-r-r-really w-w-w-want t-to b-b-be frfr-fr-fr-friends?"
"Of course I do!" Charlotte grinned, "you can never have too many."
Quirinus smiled brighter than he had done before, "I-I-I-I-I g-g-g-g-guess n-n-n-n-not!"
As the two walked, Quirinus took note of their surroundings, beaming like anything, his arm still linked with Charlotte's, looking at various people, he looked at Charlotte, smiled shyly and quietly asked, "Who's that?" as he gestured with his head, to a boy who was with a group of other boys walking the opposite way to them, He knew it was rude to point and could only hope that she knew who he was talking about. He had had a run in with Severus just moments before meeting Charlotte; he'd been caught looking at Severus and Severus had taken it the wrong way; the two ended up sorting it out and had a chat but it was nothing more than a one-off chat; he didn't want another moment like that... or worse.
Charlotte glanced over in the direction Quirinus had pointed, "oh him? That's Luke Harper. I believe he's a Gryffindor too."
Quirinus looked at Luke and smiled shyly, "w-w-w-w-one o-o-of y-y-your fr-fr-fr-fr-friends?"
Charlotte shook her head slightly, "no actually... I don't know him that well; I've never really said hello to him to be honest." she said as she frowned slightly.
Quirinus looked at her and smiled shyly, "oh... n-n-n-no... I-i-i-it's o-oh-okay... may-may-maybe w-w-w-w-one d-d-d-day y-y-you w-w-will?" he stammered reassuringly, "I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't n-nor-norm-normally s-s-s-say he-he-hello t-t-to t-too man-man-many p-p-p-people." He felt rather relieved that he wasn't the only one who didn't say hi to people, especially when he could see Charlotte was a good person; he really felt a bad person for it; he didn't like how he had no courage to say hello to people; he actually hated himself for it. "D-d-d-d-don't fr-fr-fr-frown... i-i-i-it's okay... r-r-r-really."
Charlotte couldn't help but smile, "maybe one day I will." she said and winked at Quirinus and slid into an empty chair at the Gryffindor table.
As Charlotte slid into the empty chair at the Gryffindor table, Quirinus couldn't help but feel out of place and scared; he stood behind the chair hesitantly; he was scared someone would see him and kick him from the table as he was a Ravenclaw... or someone would see him with Charlotte and pick at her for being friends with the weird kid.
Charlotte looked at Quirinus and smiled, "Don't worry about not being a Gryffindor. No one will give you any trouble here."
Quirinus looked at her and smiled timidly though his eyes sparkled bright, he slouched low as he saw a crowd of people and quickly slipped into a chair beside her, hoping no one had seen him. He looked at Charlotte not wanting to look behind him, however something told him if he looked at her, he would give her the impression he was staring at her. Quickly, he took his eyes from her and focused on the table as though waiting for it to transfigure into something. "R-r-really?" he smiled, still looking at the table but not wanting to seem rude, he looked up at her quickly and smiled, "w-w-w-well I-I-I-I do-do-do-don't th-th-th-think y-y-y-you'd l-l-l-let th-th-th-them." This was his way of saying he trusted her; she was the first person he had ever trusted and he hoped she wouldn't let him down. "I-I-I-I w-w-w-won't l-l-l-l-let a-a-an-an-anyone gi-gi-give y-y-you t-t-t-trouble ei-either." he added. His mind quickly raced, 'not that anyone would give her trouble anyway... who would... who could? I may seem a coward but I will stand for her... and do my best... oh what the heck. I'm a useless friend... I will still do my best.' he wanted to say his thoughts to her but was to shy for that.
Charlotte smiled weakly, "Mm... well believe it or not, I get quite a bit of trouble from people..." she sighed, grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice from the table and slid another glass to Quirinus, "and don't worry... if anyone bothers you... I will take care of it."
Quirinus was shocked to hear this, "Y-y-y-you do?" he looked at her sadly, "W-w-why?" he asked her, unable to find reasoning why someone would give someone like her trouble. He smiled timidly as she handed him the pumpkin juice, "th-th-thank y-y-y-you." He looked at the glass and waited for her to take a sip, before taking a small sip himself, not wanting to finish before her or after her; he didn't want to seem as though he were a glutton if he finished too quick, or come off that he didn't like the pumpkin juice if he finished too slowly. "Y-y-y-you're r-r-really a-a-a gr-gr-gr-great fr-fr-fr-friend y-y-you kn-kn-kn-know?"
Charlotte didn't say anything, she sat deep in thought, 'Poor thing, he seemed absolutely terrified of me when he first introduced himself, but he also seems so nice. Well I guess its true what they say, you can sometimes find friends in the unlikeliest of places.' she saw him as a nice kid, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for him; she couldn't help but wonder the reason behind why he was so scared of her; though she didn't want to say anything just yet.