Alice was cautiously walking down the stairs, not knowing to where the stairs were leading to. All she knew was that she was trying to get to Transfiguration, before she was late for class. These days, or today, however, Professors were understanding her predicament. They were understanding why she was late (because she was 3 floors to high.)

The stairs was full of students, none of which Alice could distinguish between. They all looked the same to her! Alice moved her foot a little trying to get comfortable as she walked down the stairs, when suddenly, her foot slipped off the step, and she began to fall face forward, down the stairs.

Addison was in a hurry to arrive to Charms. It wasn't like she thought that she was going to be late. But, she never wanted to take the chance, especially with the rather unpredictability with moving staircases in the castle. Now a days, she didn't get lost quite as easily as she did when she was a first year. They still happen, just very rarely. When it does happen, she never did like to admit to it.

As she walked down the stairs, Addison noticed a first year behind her starting to fall. Quickly turning around, she attempted to think of a way to help the girl before she hurt herself in the stairwell. The girl fell face forward, so she grabbed one of the girl's shoulders, and used her other hand to grab onto the girl's arm. While doing so, she tried to steer the girl away from the incoming traffic of students, so she wouldn't get hurt. "Are you alright?" she asked when she thought the first year was out of danger.

Alice looked up, or rather to where the voice was coming from, at the girl. It was definitely a girl, with the voice pitch? No way it was a guy. "Yeah, thanks." She said. Alice was relieved that was a close call; closer than she liked. And she hated that she couldn't see. Alice had been trying to look at this positively all this time. She was trying to be happy about it, but nothing was going right because of it. Alice stared, almost creepily, at the girl who had saved her. She was trying to make out her face.

"I'm not being rude, I promise, but who are you exactly?" She asked as politely as possible, which is harder than you think, when you are asking someone's name who you know. Or are acquaintances of. "A boy stepped on my glasses yesterday. I can't see a thing." She smiled meekly, as though that was some kind of excuse. She didn't like having to ask people for their names. It made her feel stupid for not remembering them.

"Good, you're welcome," Addison responded to the younger girl. Even though she didn't know the girl, she could tell that there was something wrong with her vision. After all, the girl almost just tripped down the stairs. On top of that, she started to stare at her. Quite honestly, she didn't mind the staring. Her own first year at Hogwarts was full of experiences of her staring into disbelief, mostly about magic.

Addison couldn't help but smile at the girl's question. "Oh, you're not being rude, it's perfectly fine. I don't think we met before anyway. Hi, I'm Addison," she introduced herself brightly. Her earlier suspicion turned true when the girl confirmed that her glasses were broken. "Oh? I'm sorry to hear that. I'll take it that you have no one to help you around the castle, then?" she asked. Suddenly, she remembered that she hadn't helped the girl up yet. "Sorry! Here, let me help you up," she offered with an apologetic smile. Using both of her hands, she attempted to assist the girl to get up.

Addison was a nice girl. She had helped Alice up, before Alice saying, "Thank you, again. You're really nice. I'm Alice by the way. Alice Hunter." She wiggled her toes a little, not really knowing what to do. Usually she'd just look at her feet, but that seemed rather silly at the moment.

"No one has helped me around the building yet. Not that I mind, of course! I figure I'll find my own way around sometime or another." She blankly looked around the castle walls. "This is the second floor, right?" She said, hoping she was looking in the general direction of the girl. Alice wasn't. Poor Alice had her back now to Addison, and really did not know.

"I just want to get to transfiguration. A little confused, that's all." She smiled brightly, as she looked around. "Honestly, I cannot see a thing! Everything is just so blurry!"[1]

1.	Sorry! I've been super busy lately, but I'm finally back!

"You're very welcome Alice," Addison responded with a bright smile. Alice seemed nice herself. Of course, there was probably really no other proper reaction to have, while walking around without being able to see. Just because she couldn't stand the thought of seeing the younger girl hurt, didn't mean that everyone else in the stairwell believed in the same thing.

"I'm sure that you could get around in your own way. But, blimey, it wouldn't be too good for you to get hurt on your way to where ever you're going. I don't mind helping you if you'd like," she commented, immediately shaking her head at Alice's question. It took her a second to realize that the girl had her back to her, realizing that she probably wouldn't have even seen her response. "No, this is the fourth floor actually. They do all kind of look the same, save for the different portraits," she mused.

Addison smiled as Alice admitted her confusion, which was likely to have been caused from breaking her glasses. "Don't worry, you'll get there soon enough. I know, the castle has many different confusing pathways," she conceded with a nod. She had no idea how well Alice knew the castle so far. It had only been a few months since Hogwarts started. Back in her own first year, it took her several months before she could remember everything. She couldn't help but to feel sorry for Alice not being able to see a thing. Apparently, she had a soft spot for such cute little first years.

"The fourth floor? The fourth! My oh my, am I in the wrong place!" She admitted. Alice smiled. It was never good to be lost, but sometimes, it wasn't bad. Some people learned things from being lost. Many times it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. She looked up at the girl, focusing deeply. The girl had... was that blue hair? Nope. Nope. That didn't happen. There were only 2 metamorphagists in the school, Ted Lupin, and Mercades Posada. Unless of course...

"You don't have blue hair, do you." She stated, a keen smile on her face. "Odds are, I am seeing things." She replied.

Addison nodded sympathetically to Alice. Being lost in such a big castle was never a good thing. "Yeah, it's further away from Transfiguration," she agreed with a nod. Of course, who was she to judge? She had spent nearly her first year, and admittedly she still had some trouble with this through her second year, of being lost all the time. It was natural, especially for a muggleborn witch like her.

"Do I have blue what?" Addison asked, instinctively reaching up to one of her braids and tugging it lightly. The last time she checked, her hair wasn't blue. She wasn't aware about being pranked either, so she doubted that her hair was blue. "No, I don't ... My hair's blond. I have on a blue tie, blue earrings, and I have blue nail polish on, but certainly not blue hair," she reasoned. Was Alice really this blind where she couldn't make out a single thing? How could she even manage to walk then?

"Blonde? Well, seems as I really can't see! It may just be something blue behind you. A portrait or something." She shrugged her shoulders. Alice tilted her head as she looked up at Addison. "So, I'm taking it you're a Ravenclaw? I mean, it seems that you are wearing a lot of blue, so, I'm just guessing."

"I'm a Hufflepuff. A first year Hufflepuff." She smiled brightly. She loved her house. Alice once again looked around the castle. It was odd. Everything was so blurry. She couldn't see anything!

"More of a darker blonde, but yes," Addison responded and then peered behind herself. Indeed, the painting behind her was blue. Yes, the girl's eyes must be pretty bad for her to not see a thing. Looking back to Alice, she smiled at her question. "Yes, I am a Ravenclaw, and I also happen to like the color blue too," she responded with a slight laugh. It was such a mesmerizing color, in her opinion.

Addison smiled at nodded to Alice as she confirmed that she was a Hufflepuff. "Yes. I'm sure that you'll do fine in Hufflepuff," she responded with encouragement. Each house was certainly very different, with its own focus on certain attributes and personality characteristics. "Anyway, here, let me help you to Transfiguration, so you get there safely," she offered. Taking the girl's hand, she gently encouraged the girl to walk fully down the stairs with her help.

Alice's eyes lit up. "Really? You'd help me?" She smiled brightly. "I don't usually count on the kindness of older kids! Usually, they just push me around, but you, you are really really nice!" Alice smiled again. Addison took her hand, and helped guide her down the stairs. It was nice for once being able to count on the kindness of strangers.

"Wait." Alice looked up to Addison. "I don't want you to be late to your next class. I'd hate to have you get in trouble because of little old me." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'll find my way, I mean, I'll probably only fall down one more stair. Maybe two. But I'd really feel bad if you were late because of me."

Addison smiled as Alice seemed to become happier at her offer. She'd take it that most students didn't even bother to try to help her, let alone any of the older students at the castle. After all, first years were notoriously ignored by most older years. "Yes, of course I would," she confirmed with a nod as she helped the girl down the stairs. She could remember her own first year, knowing how the older years tended to stay clear from the first years. When she was a first year, she was lost a lot herself, but at least she could see. Alice couldn't see now at all. Knowing how she would have to practically beg for directions from strangers, she knew that it would be even harder for Alice. So, she wanted to help the younger girl.

Shaking her head, Addison smiled to Alice. "Don't worry about me. If I was concerned about being late, I wouldn't have stopped in the first place. I'd worry more about you, since I would hate to hear that you were injured because I failed to help you," she responded with a hint of concern in her voice.

[1] Alice smiled. This girl was so nice! She actually, like, actually cared for her safety! And she was older! What are the odds of that! Alice knew that bad eggs in the school existed. She was well aware of them. But it was refreshing to see a smiling face who actually cared if Alice broke her neck!

"Thank you. I mean, I don't even know what to say, I mean, really, people aren't usually this nice." She smiled. "It's refreshing. Actually it's innovative!" She blushed. "Sorry. Bad habit of using really big words. Some kids think I do it to show off." Her ears flushed red.

1.	GAH! SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!! It got marked as read, and then I thought "Gee. I wonder what happened to it! Did I post in it? Am I waiting on her?" Well, seems as my subconscious decided that I was not going to post here for several days. So, here I am, and expect no more delays!

Addison started to help Alice down the corridor from the stairwell. It felt as if she was helping a younger sister through Hogwarts, and it was kind of refreshing. She had an older and a younger brother in Hogwarts as it was. She remembered having to act like a guide for her younger brother as it was. So, this caring attitude that she was using to help Alice wasn't entirely foreign for her.

Addison couldn't help but to smile at what Alice said and nodded her head in agreement. She could definitely vouch for that. Back when she was a first year, she had to not only deal with the older years ignoring her, but any teasing about being a muggleborn as well. Sometimes, the other students were rather intolerant of others, in her opinion. "You're very welcome. I figured that you deserve the help that seems to be rarely offered in this castle," she responded. She let out a short giggle at Alice's use of innovative. "I actually disagree. I don't think you're showing off, since it's better to grow your vocabulary if you think you know how to use it. But, I wouldn't really call this innovative, since it's not really a new idea. I'd call it more of a radical move, since it's different and not too many people do it..." she cut herself off, her cheeks flushing. "Sorry, feel free to cut me off if I'm blabbering about something!"[1]

1.	It's perfectly fine. As it was, I was particularly busy the past few days and got no posts out, so I would've kept you waiting as it is.

"It's just innovative to me." She smiled a small smile. "People tend to just over look me sometimes. I don't mind, though. Really." She shifted a little. "I know I'm probably hurting your reputation. You can leave. It's totally fine. I don't mind." She smiled a little, but it quickly faded. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel insignificant. Do you ever get that feeling?"

Addison seemed so kind. But seeing the girl's tie only made her want to question if she knew Alexandra Castairs. But that was not the goal of this. They were having a discussion. About themselves. Not others. It was not an appropriate time to bring someone else up.