Closed Be My Guest

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob kicked off his shoes as he entered his room, hoping Abian was behind him and not still being hounded by Eleanor. She'd been even more annoying than usual during their day trip to the sanctuary. Hearing her run into her own room, Jacob breathed a small sigh of relief. "Throw your shoes anywhere, Abian" Jacob nodded. His room was only a little messy. His mom had forced him to clean up in advance of his guest's arrival. That's how she'd put it anyway. Abian was his guest and couldn't see that he lived like a niffler who had just finished digging around for treasure, she'd said. Jacob didn't think it was quite that bad, but he did have to admit it looked better with his dragon figurines on the shelves above his bed and his broom and gear in its glass case and all of the dirty plates and cups cleared away. The stars on his ceiling twinkled slightly, the charm dimming. He'd have to get his dad to fix it when he came over tonight. Hearing his sister coming down the hall calling Abian's name, Jacob jumped up from his bed where he'd only just taken a seat and ran to the door, slamming it just as he saw his sister's face. He held the knob, feeling her attempts to turn it before yelling his name. A few seconds later he heard his mom at the bottom of the stairs yell his name and for him to open the door. Jacob grumbled but obeyed, flinging the door open where it slammed slightly against the wall. "But Mom" his voice cracked as he hollered back down and he flushed, "She keeps bothering me and Abian."

After another round of back and forth, Jacob turned back, feeling like he'd won. Eleanor was helping their mom cook now and he was free from her annoyance for a while. "Sorry 'bout that" he muttered. "So did you have fun? " Jacob loved the sanctuary and he knew Abian had never been. He wanted Abian to have a good time for the days he was staying and just wanted everyone else in his family to behave normally for the next few days. He'd asked his mom to please not sing around the house and Eleanor to please stay out of his room. Noah was hardly home anyway, and Jacob still hadn't spoken much to his dad. "I asked my mom if we could use the tent but she it's too cold to sleep outside" he rolled his eyes, "but my dad's coming tonight and if he fixes that" he waved at the ceiling, " we can use sleeping bags and pretend we're outside. Noah has an extra sleeping bag. I'll just grab it from his closet."

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian's head felt like it might burst from all the new sights, smells, and sounds. He had known visiting Jacob would be a strange but wonderful experience, but he really hadn't been prepared for how cool everything was. The sanctuary had been amazing, and Abian wished he could go back there anytime he wanted. He'd loved looking at the amazing creatures, especially those that just looked like they came straight out of a storybook. Which was really most of them. Jacob's sister Eleanor had talked to him a lot too, which Abian didn't mind. He had a younger sister of his own, but Aisa hadn't been this excited to see him in years. So it was kind of refreshing. But he also wasn't too sad when the girl left to her own room, as he was eager to spend some time with Jacob. He still felt a bit amazed that his older and cooler friend wanted him to stay over, and he grinned as he followed him inside the room. He nodded as Jacob said he could throw his shoes anywhere, but before taking them off he looked around the room with wide eyes. His gaze lingered on the dragon figurines, and he couldn't help a small noise of envy at the sight of Jacob's broom and Quidditch gear. When he'd tried out last year, he'd had to use a school broom. He hadn't made the team either, but he was sure that was more on his lack of experience. His gaze moved up to the stars on the ceiling, and he stared at them for a moment. They looked... real. "Wow." He said softly. "It's like the ceiling in the great hall, but in your room." He said softly. He turned around as he heard his name called from the hallway, only to see Jacob sprint to the door and hold it closed. Abian immediately felt awkward as Jacob's mother started calling up to him and he replied. He quickly took off his shoes and then stood around a bit uncertainly.

He was relieved when the conversation was over and Jacob's sister was gone. Abian didn't mind her being around, but Jacob clearly did. And he really did want to talk to Jacob. He nodded quickly. "I did!" He said, his eyes wide. "I didn't think real hippogriffs could be that big." He added, shaking his head slightly. "And I can't believe there were real DRAGONS there." He had known, somewhat, that they existed. But that didn't mean he had been prepared for one, even from far away. His eyes were glazed over a bit as he was thinking over everything he had seen today, trying to imprint the images into his brain. It was a shame his mum couldn't take him there too. At least, he assumed it wouldn't be an easy task for someone not magical. So it would probably be a while until Abian could go again, even if he was itching to see all the creatures again today. He blinked as Jacob mentioned a tent. "That's okay." He said quickly. "Your room is amazing." He gestured around, as if the sight of it spoke for itself. "What kind of broom do you have, is it the best one? I don't have one of my own. Maybe that's why I didn't make tryouts." He shrugged. "But it was probably because I hadn't practiced much." He added quickly, not wanting to seem like a sore loser. "Wait, your ceiling is broken? But it's already so nice!" He said, looking up at the stars again. "But that sounds awesome. We could pretend we're camping and tell each other ghost stories or something." He said, immediately enthusiastic for the idea.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob grinned as Abian spoke about the creatures they'd seen at the Sanctuary. "Yea! The dragons are always the best!" he exclaimed, hopping up onto his bed to bring down the dragons on the shelf. He held them in his arms as he let his legs go out from under him and bounced on his bed before tossing the dragons down. They were charmed to move around a bit and he wanted Abian to have a closer look if he wanted it. He'd always seemed to enjoy Jacob's toys and things. Jacob had enjoyed learning a little more about Abian's muggle life during the day. It had been years since he'd gone to visit his grandad in the muggle world. He'd been keeping busy helping Uncle Carter now.

"It's a Scarlet Streak" he boasted, sliding off the bed to go towards the case. He opened it and took his broom out, holding it out for Abian. "Just don't try to fly. Last time I did, I put a hole in the wall and my mom was not happy" he added, grimacing at the memory. He had tried to hide it from her, but she'd come up to clean his room after telling him for a week to do it (he'd been about to get around to it!) and found the hole. "It's not broken, broken. It just needs a recharge every once in a while, and my dad's better at the spell than my mom. He was a Triwizard champion once!" Jacob stated with a small measure of pride.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian grinned back at Jacob as he agreed about dragons being cool, then watched as he took the dragon figurines Abian had spotted earlier down from the shelf. Curiously, Abian picked one up and looked at it in fascination. "Why is everything you own so awesome?" He asked as he gently stroked the creature's wing. "If you ever visit my place I can only show you like, video games. Nothing I have is as cool as this." He said, picking up a few other dragons to examined them closely. Abian wasn't someone who got jealous easily, but he was a little envious of Jacob and everything he had.

That wasn't helped by the broom Jacob showed him. It looked beautiful, and Abian was a bit in awe as he took it from him. "Do you... think you could help me prepare for tryouts for next year?" He asked Jacob shyly, then laughed. "Not in here, though! I don't want to make your mother angry with me." Abian was intimidated by teachers, and Jacob's mother was no exception. He wondered if she knew he had bad grades and disapproved of his son's choice in friends. "Is a Scarlet Streak a good broom?" He asked, looking it over. "I bet it is, right?" He added. He nodded as the boy explained the spell just needed to be recharged, and that his dad was better at it. But at his next words, Abian just blinked. "He was a what now?" he asked. "A champion?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Are those those shows you play with the controller and you get to fight and decide what happens?" he stated, turning to Abian quickly. The excitement was etched across his face. The cool neighbors in his grandfather's neighborhood had always spoken about games but his grandad hadn't owned any for him to try on his own. Jacob had never really thought of his stuff as cool. Ok, he did think his ceiling was cool, but the toys and stuff were the same as any that could be bought in a magical shop. He didn't even really play with his dragons any more.

"It's the best" he boasted, always eager to talk quidditch. "Yea maybe after breakfast tomorrow? My mom doesn't like me flying around after dark because then Ellie" he rolled his eyes at the mention of his sister, "starts asking to go on her toy broom and she's not a good flyer yet. What position do you wanna go for?" Jacob would've talked about quidditch forever but he was thrown off by Abian's question and then chuckled a bit. "A Triwizard champion" he corrected lightly. " A long long time ago, three of the wizarding schools - Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and HNZ - used to have this tournament. And my dad was the Durmstrang champion and he won the whole thing." Jacob ran out of the room then and could be heard rummaging in a nearby closet. He came back with a framed newspaper clipping about his dad winning. "See" he held it out to the younger boy.

 

[Abian Hunter]

It delighted Abian to see Jacob so excited about something he had said, and something he could show him. He nodded eagerly, glad to share something cool with him. "Yes! It's not always with fights, sometimes it's just a story where you have to make choices or sometimes you have to explore or collect things. I could show you all sorts of games! There's racing ones too." He said, eager to share this with Jacob. More than anyone else, Abian always felt the urge to impress Jacob, to prove to him that they were equals. He wanted Jacob to like him as much as he liked the older boy, and was certainly thrilled at the idea that Jacob may find his house as cool as he found Jacob's.

He listened intently as the boy told him his broom was the best. That was about what he had expected. He nodded happily as Jacob went along with his idea. "That's okay, tomorrow is great. I don't want to endanger your sister either." He added with a small shrug. The girl was nice, and Abian could understand that she wanted to go flying as well if they did. "And I went for beater last year, uh, like you. But I think chaser suits me better, I practiced that during last year and it feels more like muggle sports I used to play." He felt a little foolish as Jacob chuckled, and resisted the urge to lower his head in embarrassment. He loved learning new things about the wizarding world, but sometimes he couldn't help feeling a bit stupid next to someone like Jacob, who seemed to know everything. But that feeling soon passed as Jacob talked about this tournament. His eyes grew wide, and his imagination immediately started working overtime. "Wow. Really? Wait, your dad went to a different school? I knew there were different schools, but I didn't know they competed." He took the clipping from Jacob and read it quickly, a smile spreading over his face. "That's so cool! Wow!" He handed it back to him, his expression delighted. "Do you think we'll see a tournament like that? Would you join? I bet you could win like your dad." He said, and it wasn't difficult at all to picture Jacob winning at some sort of trial. "Or do you think they would let people sign up together?" Abian's voice went a little wistful as he added himself into the imaginary scene, a team with Jacob. He blinked a few times to dispel the image, and a faint blush came over his cheeks. "Or was it only a long time ago?" He asked quickly. "Did they stop doing them?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob's eyes widened with delight as Abian spoke about different kinds of games. "I want to try the racing ones!" he exclaimed, not even knowing those existed before this moment. They sounded the most competitive to him, and if there was anything Jacob liked it was a fun competition. Case in point was quidditch and as the conversation shifted back to discussing practicing the next day, Jacob made a face. It would serve Eleanor right if she got hurt trying to keep up with him, but he knew it wouldn't be good to say out loud. Jacob had noticed Eleanor trying to ingratiate herself in their company the whole day, and he hadn't been happy about it at all. Abiann was his friend and Eleanor was a baby. "Yea, like football" he nodded with a grin. He was in his mother's house so couldn't use the 's' word that was often used to describe the game. She'd have a fit if she heard him.

"Yup, Durmstrang. It's in Europe somewhere. My brother went there too, but he just graduated" Jacob stated not too bitterly. He'd resigned himself to the fact that he was remaining at HNZ with all of its annoying people. At least there were people like Abian to balance out the Analeis and Dianas of the world. Jacob had never thought about joining a tournament and even less about winning. He wasn't anything like his dad, Noah was. He was more like his mom, and she always seemed to shy away from huge attention like that. Jacob did like the attention but wasn't sure he'd want the responsibility of carrying a whole school's hopes on his shoulders, though he figured that captaining the Gryffindor team would be some practice in that. Co-captaining, he reminded himself. "I dunno. I haven't heard of any tournaments, and my mom says they probably won't do one any time soon." He shrugged. " I heard the tasks are dangerous. People can die" he added with wide eyes. Jacob was about to say more when he heard his mom again, yelling from the bottom of the stairs. He perked up. "Come on. My dad is here!" he jumped up and reached out to guide Abian out by the shoulder. "Oh by the way, he used to be the Minister of Magic so sometimes he's a little...stuffy. But he's not Minister anymore, so it's ok." With that Jacob flung open his door and began to bound down the steps, calling out for his dad. Complicated though their relationship was, Jacob loved taking some of the man's attention.