Someone's Hungry

Hester had been wandering around the castle, getting to know its twists and turns, when she stumbled down some steps and found herself outside the kitchens. Her stomach rumbled; she was really hungry. She pushed open the door, wondering if she could 'borrow' some food without the chefs noticing.

"What-" The room was full of tiny people. One of them came up to her and asked her what she wanted.

"Uh... A jam sandwich, please," she said, and watched in amazement as the creature hurried away and then came back with exactly what she had asked for. "Thanks," she said. She sat down against the wall and watched them work away. She wondered who they were.

She looked up when she heard the door open.

Louis Weasley walked in the door, grinning like a fool.

So this was the infamous Hogwarts kitchens, then? The ones that his cousins had been talking about since their first years at Hogwarts.

"What would master like?" Squeaked a house elf.

"Oh nothing," he said smiling pleasantly. "Just coming around to explore."

That was when he saw a girl standing in the room. Oh great.

"Uh, hello?"

"Hey," said Hester, trying to be friendly. She was quite surprised that someone else had come down here. It was a boy, a Ravenclaw, in Ravenclaw robes. He looked as if he knew exactly what he was doing with these tiny servant people.
"Would you-" She paused. She didn't like asking for favours. "Would you be able to tell me who they are, what they are?" she asked, waving her hand at the tiny people.

She hoped that the topic of blood status wouldn't come up.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. He had a strong speculation that the girl was Muggleborn, but he felt it'd be rude to bring up.

"They're house-elves, a type of creature that is bound to it's master by some sort of magic and has to do whatever their master tells it to- unless it gets freed, of course."

"Oh," he added after a second, " and I don't mean to be rude, but who are you exactly?"

"Oh, sorry," said Hester. "I'm Hester. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

She smiled.

"Thanks for telling me about the- house elves."

Then she thought for a moment.

"Do they- Do they mind being captive? Being servants?" she asked. She was just curious, because they seemed so... human like. Everything was so different in the magical world than it had been at home.

He grinned a little, "I'm Louis- Louis Weasley, if you need to know surnames."

He thought for a moment on what to tell her.

"No, I'm pretty sure they don't mind being captive. Most of them go crazy if you so much as mention setting them free. But, if you're really worried about that, you could always talk to my Aunt Hermione. She's really outspoken on House-elf rights, you know. Started up some organization called Spew or something crazy like that back in her Hogwarts years..."

He almost decided to let that sink in, before realizing that if she were to be a Muggleborn, like he thought she was, the names would likely mean little to her, if anything at all.

"Oh, by the way, you're a Gryffindor, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Gryffindor. I gather you're a Ravenclaw? And your aunt sounds pretty cool, although if they go crazy then I guess setting them free isn't the kindest option."

She smiled. Louis seemed nice, and Hester was more used to getting on with boys than she was with girls.

"Done much exploring?" she asked, because she recalled that he had told the house elves that he had been exploring.

"Oh, a bit! I've known people who've been here- my parents and siblings included- who told me of all of the secret passage ways that they found, and all of the exploring they got to do, so I decided not to waste any time."

He was grinning again, clearly Hester seemed nice- for as well as he knew her, at any rate.

"Actually, I could show you someplaces, if you'd like?"

((I'll start a new topic in Room of Requirement?))

"That would be great," said Hester happily. She seemed to have made a friend, which was great, because he was the first person who she actually felt close to at Hogwarts. She had spoken to others, but this was better, more friendly.

She followed Louis out of the kitchens, wondering where he was taking her. She hadn't got much exploring done, so she was quite excited.