Why won't you open up? (Amanda)

Lyra glared at the picture. She had slept through breakfast somehow, and now was starving. She could always wait for lunch, but she'd stayed skipped dinner the night before to do some extra studying, hoping to try and catch up on the subjects that Hogwarts seemed to be farther in than they had been back home. Of course, that left her ahead in some subjects that Ilvermorny was ahead on, so it wasn't an entirely bad exchange.

The dark haired witch missed her home every. single. day. Her parents assured her that moving and adjusting to new places became easier with time, but Lyra wasn't quite sure that she believed them. Nearly everything here reminded her of home, or reminded her of why she would rather be home, or how much her friends back home would love the very few things that made this new place bearable.

That was by far one of the worst parts, was having to leave her friends behind. Sure, she now had Mimosa, who was her usual bomb self, and the girls in her dorm were perfectly kind, but none of this changed the fact that she missed her gals back home. Her friends had been like sisters to her, and a few even lived near her. The others she could hardly ever bare to leave over school breaks, but the idea that she may never even see them again....

She pushed the thought from her mind, as it was much to upsetting to think about in the moment, especially as her stomach complained loudly at the lack of food filling it. She had heard you could use the painting of a fruit bowl to gain access to the kitchen, but she couldn't seem to remember how you got the picture to move. She'd tried everything she could think of. Pulling, pushing, kicking, she had even tried a couple code words that she thought might work, but had eventually given up.

She sat against the opposite wall, glaring at the painting and trying to consider what she could be missing. She still hadn't thought of anything when she heard footsteps. She climbed to her feet, peering down the hallway to see who could be coming, and if they could be of any help.

Lyra put on a friendly smile as a girl approached. She seemed like she was around her own age, though if that were the case she wasn’t a Hufflepuff. She didn’t recognize the girl and she had made a point to be one familiar with the girls in her dorm, and at least could now recognize them even if she couldn’t remember their names.

”Yes I can’t seem to remember how my friend told me it opens. I’ve tried everything I can think of and it still won’t budge.” She watched closely as the other girl showed her how and she couldn’t help but laugh softly. ”Tickling a pear. As if that makes sense.” She offered a hand to the girl. ”Lyra. Nice to meet you. And thanks, I would have been standing here tripping if you hadn’t come along.”

She moved into the kitchen, eyebrows raising at the sheer size of it. She sighed softly as the girl asked if she was new and nodded. ”I’m surprised my accent didn’t give me away. I just moved her from California on the first. And now I’m a Hufflepuff!” She shrugged, not sounding entirely enthusiastic about the whole thing and moved farther into the large room, eyes widening as several elves rushed up to assist the two girls.