--

(Hope it's okay for me to bring Trini in. I need some threads for me Puffs, haha)

Trini had a small list of favorite things in the world, but each and every one of them were important to her. There were her friends, family, going outdoors as much as possible... and cake. The girl felt if she had to, she could live off cake, especially chocolate with chocolate icing. Sitting in the Hufflepuff Common Room, she found herself craving a piece of it. She thought she could hold out until the next meal in the Great Hall, but it was driving her crazy. Fortunately, she had befriended the House Elf Tippy, and the elf always tried to save her an extra piece of cake that was not brought up to the Great Hall. Not being able to stand it anymore, she leaped up from the sofa and the History of Magic book she was reading, and made her way to the kitchens.

Trini touched the pear a swell to get in. She learned about it from Tippy. She looked about to make sure no one was coming and then sneaked inside. She smiled and waved to a number of the busy House Elves until she saw Tippy. Tippy got a hug.

"Hi Tippy, I was just wondering if you had an extra piece of cake tod..." she began before she noticed the Ravenclaw girl. She smiled and waved at the girl. Trini was one who was very open to making new friends, no matter what year or what House they were in. She knew not every older student wanted to hang around with a Third Year, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to turn down a possible friendship.

"Hi there, I'm Trini, Tippy's friend," she said. "Ooooh, are you baking something? Can I help?"

AINSLEY MARIE SELWYN

(Not a problem, it is open =D)

Rummaging through the cupboards, she frowned as she huffed thinking about where the grater could be. She was sure that she had left it here the last time and as she continued to pull saucers, pans, and whatnot out, each one disappeared as one of the house-elf 'snapped' them into place elsewhere. Occupied and on a mini-mission, she missed the sound of the kitchen doors opening and admitting another student into the noisy room. Sighing, she turned around to put the small pile of utensils away when another elf popped beside her holding the grater out to her with an amused expression. "Mizzy only need ask. Easy for Mizzy." Ainsley had a distinct impression that the unsaid part of 'and easy for us' was on the tip of this young elf's tongue. The teen smiled sheepishly when she caught someone waving to her out of the corner of her eye. Taking the grater while thanking the house-elf, she returned to her station just as the Hufflepuff spoke.

"Hello Trini! Nice to meet another friend of Tippy's," she greeted. It wasn't unusual to see another student down in the kitchens. She was pretty sure that a good number of students knew how to get in and out of the kitchens as long as they didn't get caught by a professor. For some, like the Hufflepuffs she suspected, they probably knew how to get in and out much easier than someone from another house. They were so close to the kitchens that sometime she was slightly jealous because of the journey between the Ravenclaw tower and the sub-levels. Some late-night runs to the kitchens for snacks must be nice to do when staying up. Or when a Quidditch game was won... As it was, it was nice to have company besides house-elves while she tried to make something today.

Using a light sticking charm to keep the book open and the recipe in front of her on its book cradle, "I'm trying to make this cake today. If it comes out right, I was thinking of trying to get my dad to let me take care of dessert this holiday." The chance of that was really nil but it couldn't hurt to try. She didn't think she could have another Christmas pudding again this year, even if it was tradition. "Oh, I'm Ainsley by the way... And I'd love for some help. I'm, uh, not really the greatest when it comes to baking. Trying to though."

@hennah

The girl seemed friendly, and that was a great start. And the two had Tippy in common, which helped things along. Trini never treated a House Elf like a servant. She treated anyone and everyone she met kindly until they gave her a reason not to like them. Most didn't, so Trini didn't have many enemies, which was a good thing given her young age.

"Tippy's the best," she said. "Whenever they have extra cake down here, Tippy saves me a piece to take back to my Common Room. Plus Tippy is fun to talk to. We always come up with the most interesting things to talk about!"

Trini smiled as the girl spoke of trying to make a cake and wanting to help out her father with the desserts for Christmas.

"That's a nice idea," she said. "I can cook and bake a little bit. My mum taught me. My dad who's a Muggle doesn't cook, but he can make a nice Christmas punch. It's very fruity. I just found out he's not my real dad, but I don't know who my real dad was, so he might as well be my real dad because he's helped my mum take care of me since I was born." This was Trini... everything out in the open.

Trini beamed when the girl said she would like the help and introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Ainsley," she said. "And that's a nice name. And thanks for letting me help. I usually go outdoors before curfew, but it's all rainy out today. I would have been terribly bored, especially because I've been studying for my History of Magic class. It's a nice class, but can be dull at times."

She then looked to see how far Ainsley had gotten so far.

"Hmmm, maybe you should add some extra sugar here, but that depends on how sweet you want it," she said.

AINSLEY MARIE SELWYN

Nodding, "She is, isn't she?" She had a particular fondness for the house-elf that Ainsley even considered her family-away-from-family. "I hadn't really liked it here too much when I first arrived. Dad tried his best to get me all gung-ho but Tippy did a better job of it than he did- she was also the first house-elf I've ever met here at Hogwarts and even showed me around the school." Holding out some measuring cups to the younger girl, "Do you mind measuring out the dry ingredients while I get to the wet ingredients?" With a quick wave of her wand, she temporarily duplicated the recipe and had it pinned up for Trini to read through as well. Pulling the bits and bobs that they would need for the cake, she started to divide them into their proper groups. She hardly noticed as she read through the instructions that the salt canister she thought was sugar had been discreetly swapped with the real thing by the house-elf.

"I'm sure your step-dad is your real dad- as in, he's been the real deal by helping your mum take care of and loving you as any father should... I only live with my dad. Never knew my mum and I still don't." Not that she minded because if the woman had really cared, she would have shown up a long time ago. As it stood, she only needed her father. And Ainsley could understand the Hufflepuff's sentiments on the History of Magic class. It was an unbearably dull class that she could only get through by using the time to do homework for the other classes (on the sly when she could). "What do you usually like to do when you're outside? Do you help out in the gardens? Or maybe Hagrid?" Hopefully, if the young girl was working with Hagrid, that she wasn't actually helping him with his crazy breeding experiments (her father had a lot of those kinds of stories from his students days).

@hennah

Trini gave Tippy another smile after Ainsley agreed with her and spoke of how Tippy helped her when she first came to Hogwarts.

"I met Tippy in my First Year too," she said. "One day I was running with some schoolbooks in my hand and Tippy was walking about with some pans. We ran into each other and I felt so terrible and I quickly helped Tippy pick everything up. But Tippy was so sweet to me and we became friends right away." Trini hugged Tippy again just for the sake of hugging the house elf. She then looked back at Ainsley as the girl asked if she could help with the dry ingredients.

"Sure!" she said. She was happy when Ainsley made a copy of the recipe. Trini definitely couldn't cook without the aid of one at this point, though she hoped she could do so like her mum one day. She didn't notice the swap of the canisters by Tippy as she was intrigued with her new friend.

Trini listened as Ainsley spoke of Trini's parents and then how she only lived with her dad and didn't know her own mother.

"Yeah, he's definitely my real dad in my book," she said. "Sorry to hear about your mum though. Do you and your dad get along okay?"

Trini was glad to discuss something more cheerful when Ainsley asked about what she did when she was outdoors.

"I do a lot of stuff!" she said. "I climb trees, I play with my squirrel Scatter, I go exploring in the woods... the safe woods I mean. Not the forbidden places. And yeah, I go visit Hagrid some times and I see what he's up to and if I can help him in his big pumpkin garden. Some times Hagrid lets me visit the Hippogriffs with him." She then smiled at Ainsley. "What else do you like to do?"

AINSLEY MARIE SELWYN