Jackie bit her lip as she opened the door at the top of the stairs. She saw what was inside and smiled. It looked lovely and cosy. Jackie stepped inside and breathed in the soft, musky smell of the tower room. It had been decorated with a pink-and-white theme that was classy, modern and quite appealing to the eye. The couch looked very comfortable and Jacaranda slowly sat down on it's velvet surface, smoothing out the suede with the palm of her hand, a twinkle in her eyes.

The room was lovely and warm, and made Jackie feel something bubble up inside her. It was like she was safe and... and loved, perhaps. It was a wondrous feeling. Jackie curled into a ball in the crook of the sofa and relaxed, closing her eyes and covering her hands with the sleeves of her jumper.

Luca wandered through the halls with a sad expression as he stared at some students who walked past. His head was beginning to get dizzy from the spiralling staircases, and he paused to take a break. Seated on the staircase, he looked down at the students several spirals below that chatted happily amongst themselves. Their faces were lit up as they laughed, grinned and shouted at one another in their excitement. He listened to their voices with his eyes now shut and he yawned in exhaustion. It was an hour later when he woke up with a jolt, his head pulled away from the wall as he looked down once more. The silence startled him, and he pulled himself back up.

He didn't want to walk down all of those stairs and return to the common room where he would sit there bored out of his mind, so he continued on his way up the few stairs left. Once at the top, there was a door before him and with his curiosity aroused, he walked to the door and opened it. Before him, was the most girly room he'd ever seen in his entire life. His immediate reaction was to jump away from it, but at the sight of a beautiful girl curled into the sofa, he stepped inside and cleared his throat. He was disappointed to see she was an Eponette, but he didn't mind all that much. He just wanted a friend.

Jackie glanced up in surprise when a loud, rasping noise sounded throughout the cosy room. Her eyes landed on a first year like herself, and she smiled warmly. "Hello," she said softly. "Would you like a seat?" She gestured to the space around her.

Jacaranda didn't know many people yet, as she'd missed her first lesson. She wanted to make some friends though, so she thought this would be a great place to start. "You're the first person I've talked to since I came here," she said softly. "I'm Jackie Sand, by the way," she told him, holding out her hand for him to shake.

Luca nodded his head as she asked him if he'd like a seat and looked around for a moment, before he decided that the couch she'd seated herself at looked incredibly comfortable and he'd be quite happy to sit there with her. He moved over and sat at the other end though so as not to invade her space and smiled warmly. "Yes, thanks." He responded to her.

Luca hadn't been to any lessons either, as he'd been sick - so this week would prove to hopefully lessen his boredom. Already, the companionship of another person was beginning to make his boredom eb away and he smiled genuinely at her. "Same here, I was sick last week." He took her hand and shook it lightly, a tingling feeling left there as he pulled his hand away. She was very warm. "Im Luca Romano." He responded. "Thats a nice name, but I know Jackie must be short for something?"

Jackie laughed at him when he paused before taking a seat. He had a welcoming smile, she decided, and he would be nice company. He shook her hand and Jackie felt it was very light at touch, but though he barely touched her his hand was soft and warm. Jackie crossed her legs and sat up properly so she could talk to him.

Jackie grinned slightly. "Jacaranda Alice. But that's a bit of a mouthful so you can see why I shortened it," she replied. Jackei smiled softly to herself. It was nice to have company that wasn't tormenting her for once.

Luca settled himself in against the couch with his feet dangling off the edge as he placed an arm on the armrest, the other arm across his stomach lazily. Her scent drifted over to him and his pupils dilated, but with a blink he was back to normal with a smile on his face.

"Well, I think thats an even better name but Jackie is much shorter so I guess i'll stick with that for now." He grinned at her. "You're lucky you've got such a cool name, mine's just Luca. How boring is that?" He whined and looked over to her for a response, though despite his comfortable position his eyes still darted around at the pinkness of the room and he cringed a bit. So bloody girly.

Jackie glanced at Luca as he shifted back into a more comfortable position. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and smiled softly, a blush coming to her cheek. She blinked slowly and glanced up at him again. "That's the first compliment someone's given me for... a ... a while," Jackie whispered. And it was true - she couldn't remember a time when she had been told anything about her was nice.

She shook her head suddenly, breaking that train of thought. Jackie didn't want to think about it now; she'd only just escaped her family's harsh words after all. "Luca's not such a bad name," she said thoughtfully, smiling. "I like it."

Luca grinned at her blush, he'd never made a girl blush before, mind you he'd never made anyone blush before. He hadn't spoken to many girls before her either, so talking to her was weird. A good weird, but still weird to him. "Really? Don't your family compliment you, your friends?" He looked puzzled, his loving yet poor parents always told him how much they loved him, how handsome they thought he was, the likes.

Luca smiled as she said that she liked his name. "Well, at least one of us does." He rubbed at the back of his neck as it ached, before it stopped and he was able to relax once more. "What lessons are you taking?"

Jackie swallowed when he brought up her family, and a pained look crossed her face. "I don't know if my family even wanted me in the first place," she said in a hushed undertone. She doubted she could talk much louder about her family, her voice would surely crack and break and she'd cry - again. "And I've never really had any friends. I live on Corsica, see," she said, mentioning the island off the southern French coast where her family dwelled.

She smiled at Luca. Jackie bit her lip, trying to remember what she'd put down, but then realised she didn't have to think very hard about it. "Potions, Ancient Runes, Performance and Etiquette and... Care of Magical Creatures. I want to take up Herbology too. What about you? I don't think we're in any classes together," she said. Jackie really hoped they were, that would be nice.

Luca's horror was clear on his face at her next words. How could a family not want their own daughter? But his features soon cleared into one of understanding. After all, his birth family didn't want him and neither did his adoptive family. "My family didn't either, neither did my adoptive family. I understand where you're coming from," he head the way her voice cracked and wanted to hug her, but stayed firmly where he was. "Really? That's cool that you live there, kind of lonely though." Luca commented.

Luca frowned as he tried to recall all the classes he was in. They came back to him one by one, slowly. He pursed his lips once he'd checked to make sure he' remembered them all. "Um, I have," he paused again and nodded to himself. "Flying, potions, care of magical creatures, charms and music. So hey, we have potions and care of magical creatures together!" He grinned happily at her.