Red and Gold

Jane looked around herself in satisfaction.  She was finally done moving in, and her side of the dorm room looked fantastic.  Everything was red and gold—Gryffindor colors, of course.  A poster for each of the five movies covered her walls, the spaces in between filled with pictures of midnight showings and smiling girls in robes.  Her bedspread was red, with gold sheets, and one of her pillows had a smiling Harry Potter on it.  On her chair was draped the traditional red and gold striped scarf. 
         Her roommate had not yet arrived, but was due any moment.  Jane imagined the happy times the two of them would have, discussing Harry Potter trivia, Oliver Wood their favorite couples pairings, and what the final two movies would be like.  She walked over to her desk, and picked out Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  It was not her favorite of the seven books, but she couldn't seem to remember what color dress Hermione had worn to the Yule Ball, and that was completely unacceptable. 
         Jane was so absorbed in the story that she didn't hear the cart coming down the hall.  The doorknob turned, and she jumped up, startled as her new roommate came in.  The girl was short and skinny, with straight shoulder length brown hair pulled back into a half-ponytail.  Using her left finger as a placeholder, careful not to place too much pressure on the digit, Jane held the book with one hand and strode forward excitedly.  Offering her right hand to the new girl, she exclaimed,
         "Hi!!  I'm Jane!!  You must be Stacy.  It's so good to finally meet you!  I hope you don't mind I took the right side—my key fit the closet on that side."  The girl readjusted the bags she was carrying so she could take Jane's hand.  Stacy's parents crowded the door, carrying more of her stuff.
         "Hi.  I'm Stacy.  It's nice to meet you as well."  Her eyes roved Jane's side of the room.  "You've really...occupied your side of the room quite thoroughly,"  she said tactfully as she put the bag down on her desk. 
         "Well, yes.  I'm a huge Harry Potter fan.  Aren't the books amazing!” Jane played with the tassels on the end of her Gryffindor scarf.  “I love them.” She continued chattily.  “If you didn't bring yours, you can borrow mine anytime, as long as I'm not reading it at that instant, of course."  Jane was proud of her generosity, but the girl just looked at her sideways, beginning to unload the other manner of carrying cases she had draped around her body. 
         "I'm not really into fiction," she said a bit haughtily.  "I prefer reading things that really matter, like history and politics and economics."  Jane's heart fell.  "Let me introduce you to my parents though, and we can argue about the merits of different types of books later, alright?"  Stacy amended as she saw Jane's face.  After all, starting off on the wrong foot with your roommate was never a good idea. 
         As Stacy went through the introductions, Jane numbly shook their hands and murmured the appropriate Hellos.  Not like fiction?  What kind of person was she going to be living with?!  What would they have in common!!  What would they TALK about?!!  She began to panic slightly, and the extra bodies in the small space did nothing to ease her mounting anxiety.  Hastily she decided to go buy her books, and, making her excuses, fled the dorm. 
         It was a cloudy day, and the humidity was almost oppressive.  Jane wore a jean skirt with a black t-shirt whose sleeves she had rolled up because of the heat.  On the front of the shirt were a picture of several of the main characters from Harry Potter, and the words “Dumbledore's Army” written on the back.  Passing by a major bus stop, she noticed several general announcement boards covered in fliers.  All of the campus groups were having their first general meetings the following week, and signs covered the boards.  Curious as to what there was to do on campus, she perused the collage for a minute.  A witch's hat caught her attention, and she read with growing excitement:

                                  HARRY POTTER FAN CLUB!
            Do you love Harry Potter?  Do you want to meet other people who do too? 

            Come to the first general meeting of the Harry Potter Fan Club!
            Thursday August 25th at 7 PM in 241 Zingly Hall

         A Harry Potter Fan Club?  Perfect!!  Jane's thoughts soared.  Here would be people who appreciated the genius of J.K. Rowling.  Here she would find her friends, friends who shared her passion.  She fumbled in her purse for a pen and paper to write down the time and place.  Finally, something to look forward to. 

         A week later, Jane tossed her backpack onto the floor of her room and fell back on her bed.  Her red and gold socks peeked out from under her jeans as she used her feet to push off her shoes. 
         "I'm done!" she exclaimed victoriously.  Stacy looked over at her curiously from her perch in front of her computer.
         "Done with what?" she asked, while taking a bite out of her sandwich.
         "Done with all my classes before the Harry Potter meeting tonight!" Jane smiled happily up at the ceiling.  Stacy rolled her eyes and returned to her computer, one hand on the mouse, the other holding her food.  Since the first day they had moved in together, an unspoken truce had been settled upon by the girls.  Jane would ignore Stacy's lack of comment on her Harry Potter questions and exclamations and Stacy would ignore the constant stream of jabbering on the subject.  They got along well enough when Jane deigned to talk on another topic, however, that hadn't happened enough for them to really strike up a friendship yet.  Jane suddenly sat up as she had a thought.
         "Oh my God I have to get ready!"
         Stacy didn't even look over at her as she stated, "The meeting's not for three more hours.  You've got plenty of time."
         "No I don't!!  I have to make a good impression!  I need to review my trivia notes.  I would be so embarrassed if someone asked me a question and I didn't know the answer!"  Jane got up and sat down at her desk.  Stacy turned around to throw her sandwich wrapper in the garbage and paused, looking skeptically at Jane.
         "What about your homework?  Didn't you say you had some reading to do for your history class for tomorrow?"
         "Oh yes," Jane waved her hand in dismissal.  "I'll do it after the meeting.  Who could think of homework at a time like this though."  Stacy opened her mouth to say something, then shut it, deciding it was better to keep quiet on the matter.  She rubbed her hands together to get rid of any excess crumbs, then returned her attention to her own homework. 

         "Bye Tammy!  See you later!" Stacy waved down the hall as she opened the door to her room.  As she walked in, her eyes fell on a figure with what appeared to be an ankle length black cape on.  She stopped dead in the doorway, worried that the fabled intruder had come to steal her stuff.  Jane turned around.
         "There you are!  I was hoping you'd come back before I had to leave.  What do you think?" she asked, twirling around in her full Hogwarts school robes.  Stacy was speechless. 
         "You're...wearing...that?" she asked incredulously as she cautiously made her way into the room. 
         "Well of course I am!  It's the first meeting.  I want to make a good impression."  she twirled around again and the robes billowed out around her.  "I love wearing this.  I wish I could wear this sort of outfit all the time."  She gathered up her keys and cell phone and put them in the pant pocket.  "I do wish I hadn't made the sweater out of wool though."  She itched her neck with her free hand and tried to readjust the outfit so the blouse underneath kept the sweater from touching her skin.  "It's so...itchy." she confided.  She finished scratching and looked around her once more, trying to see if she'd forgotten anything.  "Well, wish me luck!" she said cheerfully as she waltzed out the door. 

         The meeting was in a medium sized auditorium, which was almost packed by the time she got there.  Only one other girl was dressed up, so Jane sat down next to her and they chatted while waiting for the meeting to start.  After a few minutes, the officers gained everyone's attention and began discussing the planned events for the semester.  These included a costume party on Halloween (which Jane heartily applauded), a trivia contest to raise money for charity, and a movie marathon.  There were also several reading groups that would meet and discuss one of the books each week. 
         After the meeting there was pizza, as well as a several bowls full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  Jane said goodbye to her new friend, who had to leave and went over to the food tables.  The Every Flavor Beans looked just like jelly beans, though Jane knew better.  As she reached in to grab a few, her hand collided with someone else trying to get some. 
         "Oh, I'm sorry.  You go ahead."  A pleasant-looking boy said. 
         "Thanks," Jane replied as she took fewer beans than she might have. 
         "I'm Travis by the way," he stated as he grabbed his handful.
         "Jane." 
         "Nice to meet you.  I think you're in my history class, although it's a little hard to tell with the uniform."  He gestured at her outfit.
         "History 105?" she questioned, a little miffed at the slight insult to her attire. 
         "Yah.  What do you think of Professor Trombley?  He gave a pretty exciting lecture, don't you think?”
         “I don't know.  I can't get the image of Professor Lupin from Harry Potter out of my head when I see him.  They look so similar!”
         “Yah, I guess.  Have you looked over the readings for tomorrow?"
         "Oh, um...no.  I just got so excited about the meeting tonight that I couldn't sit still.  I can't wait for Halloween, and the marathon sounds like a blast too!  This semester is going to be great!"  She was getting excited just thinking about them. 
         "Yeah, it sounds like a pretty good time," he answered noncommittally.  "Are you a freshman here too?"
         "Yah.  I live over in Weldon Hall.  God, I couldn't believe it; I had such high aspirations for my first roommate, but she doesn't even like Harry Potter!"  She complained.
         "Wow."  Travis looked surprised.  "Which of the books has she read that turned her off so much?"
         "Oh...I don't...I don't know" Jane said, embarrassed.  "I don't think she's read any of them—she said she didn't like fiction," she rushed on.
         "Ah."  Comprehension filled Travis' face.  "Well, not much you can do about that, I suppose."
         "Nope."
         "What other classes are you taking?"
         "Oh, hmm...I'm in a bio class, calc one, and history, of course. Oh, and I'm taking this hort class- we're studying plants and stuff- it's just like Herbology at Hogwarts!"
         "Um...cool."  Travis shifted uncomfortably.
         "Which book is your favorite?"
         "I don't know...I don't really have a favorite.  You?"
         "I just love The Chamber of Secrets."  She began to extol the virtues of her beloved book, not noticing the irritation Travis was showing.  Finally he spoke up.
         "Look, I've got to get going.  If you ever think about something besides Harry Potter, maybe we could study together.  The Renaissance is fascinating stuff, although obviously not as fascinating as gushing about HP,” he said sarcastically.  “Later."
         Jane was indignant. 
         "I do too think about other things," she muttered.  "How rude!" she stated to no one in particular.  A few people looked at her oddly.  She huffed her way out of the hall. 
         The evening had been going so well!  Then that...that...BOY had to ruin it all.  Of course she thought about other things!  She thought about...well...she thought about JK Rowling!  She must be so angry that it was precluding her thoughts.  Obviously she couldn't think of anything else when she was in this state of mind!  That Travis hadn't seemed all that interested in Harry Potter things anyways.  Why was he at the meeting in the first place!  He didn't even have a favorite Harry Potter book!  EVERYONE had a favorite book!  What a fraud.  Her robe billowed in the breeze as she pounded her way home.
         When she got back in her dorm room, Stacy wasn't in.  Jane was glad; she was a little worn out from all the roiling emotions that had followed the meeting and she just wanted to relax.  Having her roommate there would only increase her stress.  Stacy was sure to ask about the meeting, and Jane did not want to divulge how horribly it had ended.  She was sure that Stacy would agree with Travis, and she did not want to deal with that right now.  She changed into her red and gold pajamas and snuggled up in her bed with her ipod.  She'd deal with the history readings later—she couldn't bear to work on them now, not with Travis's words still playing in her mind.  As the classical music assailed her sense, she slowly fell asleep.
         The next morning, Jane was slowly woken up by noises in the room.  She turned over and peered out from under one eyelid.  Stacy was zipping up her backpack.  At the movement from Jane's bed, she glanced over at the mass of covers. 
         "Good morning," she said.  "Sorry for waking you- I have a ridiculously early discussion on Friday.  It's only the first week, and I swear I'm NEVER signing up for such an early class again."  She shouldered her backpack, adjusting the straps.  She did a quick survey of her desk, the slipped out the door, whispering "Goodbye" on her way out.  The door clicked closed, and the lock turned.           
         Jane groaned.  “It's too early!”  she thought.  She had stayed up until almost 1 trying to finish the history readings after her nap.  Luckily, Stacy still hadn't been back when she'd finally put her books down and climbed into bed.  How Stacy was able to get up and go on such little sleep was beyond Jane.  Ah well, she was awake now, and there was no helping it.  Jane sat up and pushed the covers to one side, sliding her legs out from underneath.  As they touched the floor she shivered a little from the sudden lack of warmth, then went to turn the light on.  She covered her eyes as she flipped the switch, slowly lowering her hands as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. 
         After a nice shower, Jane fumbled around in her closet.  She wanted to find that one pink tank top that went so well with her Capris.  Unfortunately, even though she had just moved in, her closet was already a mess.  That stupid uniform was getting in the way.  She'd just sort of shoved it in last night, and the multiple parts were taking up so much space.  It kept falling off its hanger as she riffled through her clothes!  Seeing it only brought back her bad memories of the night before, and she grew even more frustrated as the search continued to be fruitless.  That stupid cloak!  She grabbed the hangers that all her Hogwart's clothes were on and yanked them out of the closet, throwing them to the ground in the middle of the room in anger.
         THERE!  She finally found the shirt she was looking for.  Slipping it off it's hanger, she pulled it over her head.  As she adjusted her outfit, she surveyed the clothes heaped on the floor.  From this angle, they looked trashy and a little fake.  She thought back to the night before as she paused, staring at them.  They seemed so lifeless and dull, the faded black from so many washings a contrast to the forest green carpet.  Maybe it was time to put the robes away for a little while.  They did look a little worn.  She gathered the clothes up, taking out the hangers and replacing them in the closet.  She bundled the robe, skirt, sweater, blouse and tie all together in a ball and tossed it onto the back of the top shelf in the closet.  Closing the closet door, she sat down on her bed, and opened her sock drawer.  Perusing its limited contents, her brown hair fell in her face and she pushed it back behind her ear.  For a while she aimlessly pushed the pairs of socks around, before eventually settling on a nice pink pair.  It would match her shirt, after all.  Closing the drawer, she walked to her desk and sat down to finish her history readings.