Closed An Unfamiliar View

[Harper Alston]

It occurred to Harper that during her three years at Hogwarts, she'd never sat at the Ravenclaw table before. She'd spent many mealtimes at either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff with her friends, but never Ravenclaw. Maybe she needed to expand her friendship circles. But that would be a mission for another day. Today, Harper had a breakfast planned with Hunter so that they could catch up after the break. That was the plan, at least. She had a feeling they would spend most of the time talking about Hogwarts's newest Gryffindor.

That was why she'd suggested they meet at Ravenclaw. Harper had heard enough stories about Asteria to know that it'd be best to avoid any chance of the other girl overhearing them. She also got the vague sense that Hunter was scared of his 11-year-old sister, and even though Harper found that incredibly amusing, she'd decided to take pity on him and choose a spot where Asteria couldn't find them.

Harper was absentmindedly flipping through a nearby Daily Prophet when she finally spotted Hunter near the entrance. "Hunter!" she called out, waving him over. Once he was closer, Harper adopted a pensive expression and stroked her chin as if she were in deep thought, before grinning. "What do you think of my Ravenclaw impression? Am I blending in?" she joked, ignoring a glare from a nearby Ravenclaw.

 

[Hunter Robinson]

Hunter had arranged a meeting with Harper for today during breakfast at the Ravenclaw table, clearly the Gryffindor girl had a great idea, there was no way that Asteria could find them in there or at least he hoped. Before leaving the dorm the boy grabbed a blue itchy sweater, a pair of fake glasses and some random books he had laying around there.
When he entered the Great Hall he located the Ravenclaw table and focused on looking at the floor and keep his head down but that way also made him not know where Harper was. Suddenly he heard his name being called by someone close to him that made him jump for a second until he realised it wasn't Asteria's voice, it was Harper's. He looked up a bit only to verify it was indeed the Gryffindor girl.
He sat down in front of her looking round in case someone had heard her but no one had seemed to pay attention. He chuckled at Harper and her ravenclaw expression "Very nice, Gryffindor who? On the other hand I'm not blending that well since you recognised me so easily".

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper laughed as she got a better look at Hunter. His outfit was... really something. "Thank you, thank you," she said haughtily, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Her easygoing smile reappeared, and she shrugged. "To be fair, I think I'd recognize you anywhere." He was one of her best friends, after all. "At least you dressed up. Where did you even get those glasses?" Harper was just wearing her usual t-shirt and jeans. The muggle clothes did make her stand out a bit though not nearly as much as if she'd worn her Gryffindor robes.

She moved the newspaper aside so that Hunter had some room and set about filling her plate with food. Maybe the food at Ravenclaw would be better than the stuff at Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. "So how was your break? It must've been eventful considering, you know..." she lowered her voice slightly even though there was no one else paying attention to them, "...she's here." She took a bite of some eggs. Nope, the food was still the same.

 

[Hunter Robinson]

Hunter started filling up his plate with food as he saw that Harper was doing the same "Well... I should wear glasses to school, like, for studying, going to classes and stuff, like, glasses to rest my eyes, it's not like I can't see" he explained to the girl "I just don't, ever, it's not like I actually need them" he added, this last part as to make Harper and himself to stop worrying about him not wearing the glasses.

Before taking a bite on one of the buttery toasts he had in his plate Hunter stopped to think for a bit about his summer "Well, not as eventful as you think it would be, I mean, Crimson did make a fit about..." and before continued he leaned over the table to whisper "...Asteria", and after he proceeded "...coming here without her but that was about it... I think". He didn't wanna tell Harper than he was happy his sister didn't end up in Hufflepuff as he didn't exactly wanna seem rude, after all he should try to like her and he would feel bad saying he didn't want her with him but he didn't. "She's a Gryffindor so, that's your problem, say goodbye to house cup this year" he said mocking Harper, after all, Hogwarts needed new winners, both of quidditch and the house cup. "How about you, how was your summer? Any interesting boy drama?" he said looking at the girl blinking his eyes exaggeratedly only to crack up laughing after.

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper nearly choked on her food. "Since when do you wear glasses?!" She was fairly sure she'd never seen Hunter with glasses. Then again, they spent most of their time together running or flying around, situations that weren't exactly conducive to glasses-wearing. She nodded slowly at his explanation, still skeptical, but she'd trust him if he said he didn't really need them.

She sipped some water as she listened to him recount his summer. "Aww, that's sweet," she said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure Lila was thrilled when I left for Hogwarts. I think she was glad to finally get the room to herself," she said with a laugh. At least she knew her brothers missed her when she was away — even if they vehemently denied it. "When will Crimson come to Hogwarts again?" Harper shook her head when Hunter tried to claim Gryffindor would lose the house cup. "Yeah, right. Asteria can't do that much damage. As long as Ronald and your girlfriend are in Gryffindor, the house cup is ours," she said with a smirk. She knew Hunter and Em hadn't actually started dating yet, but she enjoyed watching him squirm. Besides, the broader point was true. She was pretty sure Ronald and Em were responsible for half the points Gryffindor earned every year.

Harper snorted at his question. "It's kind of hard to have boy drama when there are never boys around. Most of them have school all day." That was another tough thing about Hogwarts. Its breaks never lined up with the rest of the muggle schools,' so Harper spent a lot of her days alone, waiting for all of her friends to get out of school. She'd had a few crushes throughout the years, but acting on them always seemed pointless given that she barely even had time to just hang out with them. "My break was... okay," she said, figuring she might as well be honest. "Lila didn't get a Hogwarts letter." Her face fell for a second before she forced a smile. "But there's always a chance Ryland will, right? Anyway, I think all our morning workouts are really helping. My team made it to semis this year. I think we'll finally hit finals when the summer league starts up." Getting to play sports again was always one of Harper's favorite parts of the break.

 

[Hunter Robinson]

Hunter found Harper's surprise amusing "Like I said... I should...but I don't" he told her one last time. That was not the topic at hand nor he needed to be lectured by Harper about using his glasses, maybe someday he would wear contacts or maybe he would heal himself with a spell one day, who knew.

Hunter laughed at Harper's statement about her sister, he didn't exactly knew how Crimson felt but he was guessing she would feel a bit down now that Asteria was gone but eventually he believed she would get used to the perks of it. "She is coming in like...two years I think? She's nine now" he explained not really sure if he was right, Crimson was either eight or nine, going from only child to having two sisters he couldn't honestly keep track of everyone's age now.
Hunter stopped a bit to think, Ronald, that name was oddly familiar, probably a guy in their year, the name was familiar he just couldn't put a face to it. But when Harper mentioned his girlfriend he knew exactly who she was talking about, Emmaline, to which Hunter just responded by blushing noticeably, rolling his eyes and spitting a "She's not my girlfriend" and tried to change the subject.

Hunter rolled his eyes, again, "Well you have school all day either, literally!" he told her "We need to find you someone, someone from school so you can take a break from them during school breaks" he added "You don't wanna be always with them" he said concluding his point. "And you happen to know probably the friendliest and most social Hufflepuff at school so if there's anyone who can find you someone is me!" he said trying to focus on her love life rather than his. Hunter felt some of Harper's pain when she talked about her siblings, to which he just smiled, he didn't wanna exactly say anything because he wasn't so sure about Ryland getting a letter, he could be wrong but he just felt like the odds were pretty low.
Hunter gave Harper a cocky look "Of course! I'm your personal trainer and make sure you stay in shape, I take full credits for that thank you" he told her still looking smug.

 

[Harper Alston]

"That's not too far away." Two years was also how long she'd have to wait to find out if Ryland would be coming to Hogwarts. Maybe their siblings could even be friends. Harper grinned when her girlfriend comment provoked just the reaction she knew it would. Sometimes Hunter made it too easy to tease him. "Suuuuuuure," she said, lacing her voice with as much insinuation as possible. "If you say so." She gave him a wicked grin before taking a bite of some toast.

He tried to turn the conversation to her love life, but she was ready. Harper peered at him with wide eyes, the picture of innocence. "Did you figure that out from dating Em? Do you need breaks from her?" All joking aside, she thought it a somewhat strange comment. Why would you need months-long breaks from someone you're dating? But maybe he knew something she didn't. Harper laughed as Hunter boasted that he could find someone for her. "Consider yourself in charge of my love life then," she joked. She wouldn't be surprised if he actually did try to play matchmaker, but she didn't expect him to be successful — not that it bothered her. She wasn't all too fussed to start dating, and she figured it would happen when it happened.

Harper could tell he was just humoring her, but she resisted the urge to insist that Ryland would get a letter, just wait and see. And even though she knew it unlikely, she couldn't help but believe it. That was just the way she was. She'd held onto the hope that Lila would get her letter all throughout the winter, only giving up on the possibility the day she boarded the New Zealand Express, leaving her sister behind on the platform. Harper had always thought her inclination towards hope a positive thing, but now she couldn't help but wonder if it would just bring her disappointment.

It was somewhat of a relief when Hunter followed her lead, refocusing the conversation on her football success. Harper rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'm the one keeping you in shape." Really, it was probably both. Keeping a dedicated workout routine — especially one that took place in the early mornings — was much easier when you had someone to train with. "But I guess you can have some credit as long as I get credit for your Quidditch success," she said, returning the smug look. "Is this the year Hufflepuff finally takes the cup?"