Open Break Blues

[Archer Thompson]

Archer had only been home from school for a couple of days now, but the boy had set a goal for himself and was keen on working on that. The plan? To get himself some new friends. Sure he had plenty of friends at Beauxbatons, but the downside of attending a school in a different country was that those friends didn't exactly live around the corner back here in New Zealand. It was something that hadn't really bother him untill his previous summer break. He had gotten to the realisation that he was getting older and so was his sister. Sure he still enjoyed hanging out with her, but she'd get her own friends at school to hang out with during the break and he desperately needed some of his own.​

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It had been a while since Archer had set foot in Brightstone, but it felt nice to visit the village again. Sure, it wasn't France but he liked New Zealand almost as much. One small downside of the country however, was that the seasons didn't line up with those in France. So whilst his friends were enjoying the summer sun he'd have to do with weather that was a bit less warm. No matter he still was dead set to head out and be away from the house for a while. At least to give himself an oppertunity to meet new people. The teen had been walking around the village for a while before he found himself a spot on one of the park's benches. Since it was break time here as well he had seen plenty of students around the village, he just needed to find the right way to go about this.​

 

[Emilia Manning]

While Emilia usually felt happy to be home in Denmark, this year she wanted some time away from her family. While Hogwarts hadn't been entirely good this year either,the Hufflepuff found herself longing to be back in New Zealand. She had told her parents she wanted to see if Evelyn's brand was in any of the stores yet, but really just wanted a moment for herself. There was something comforting about the cold winter air, and Emilia loosened her scarf a little as she walked. She had half hoped to run into any of her friends that lived in New Zealand. Jacob or Acacia would be a welcome sight right now. She thought Acacia was staying with her brother... though she wasn't entirely sure. Emilia turned a corner and headed over to the park. Maybe someone she knew would be spending time there. She did notice a boy around her own age, but it wasn't anyone she recognized from Hogwarts. Emilia hesitated. The company would be nice, but what if the boy wanted to be left alone? Not for the first time, Emilia wondered what Evelyn would do. Surely she would just approach the boy and talk to him, but it wasn't always so easy for Emilia. Hesitantly, she headed over to the bench the boy was sitting on, then took a seat as well with enough distance between them. She glanced at him and gave him a quick smile, though she averted her gaze. If he didn't want to talk to her, she didn't want to bother him, but it would be nice to talk to someone her own age. Emilia gathered her courage. "You... don't go to Hogwarts, right?" She asked after a moment, hoping she was correct in her guess.

 

[Archer Thompson]

Archer had been aimlessly watching people for a while now. He knew that at some point he had to get up from the bench and actually start to make an effort if he wanted to at least try and make one friend. And he did. He'd just been wondering whether a park would be the right place for that. Maybe he should move to a place filled with more people and actually start talking to people. Right now he was just being lazy and he knew it. Before he had even decided which way to go he noticed this girl approach the bench and to his surprise she actually sat down. Perhaps he wouldn't even have to put in too much effort after all. He put on a charming smile after the other teen shot him one, his mind trying to figure out whether she'd just wanted to sit or if she had other intentions. Then she spoke. "No, I don't." Archer responded to her question, only the faintest hint of his French accent left in his voice. Living in this country had practically made his accent disappear when he spoke English, but in all honesty he didn't mind. His French was still fluent and he had always thought his English sounded far better without it being laced with a thick accent. "If I did I might've been offended that you wouldn't remember seeing me around." He chuckled, slightly cocky as per usual. "I go to Beauxbatons."

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia smiled at the boy when he confirmed he didn't go to Hogwarts. This conversation was going alright, and Emilia was starting to hope that maybe she could make a new friend. The smile the boy shot her seemed friendly enough, but then he said something a little cocky and confident, and Emilia's smile wavered. She was reminded a bit of Shane, and he had definitely hurt her feelings. But it wasn't fair to judge this boy because of that, even if she felt like it was okay to be cautious. Emilia decided to focus on the information he gave her instead. "Oh... that's interesting. What's it like there?" She asked him carefully. "And what brings you here?" She herself was also from Europe, and she knew she had a faint Danish accent, but for Emilia it was family connections bringing her to New Zealand. She wondered if it was the same for this boy.

 

[Archer Thompson]

The girl he was talking to seemed friendly and Archer was glad he was getting ahead with his plan of making more friends back in New Zealand. Although it dawned on him that perhaps she wasn't even from here. Sure, he was pretty sure she attended Hogwarts by her question but that didn't have to mean she actually lived in the country. After all, he didn't live in France either. When the girl seemed to completely ignore his remark Archer made a mental note to maybe tone down the cockiness a bit, or at least try to. He had never thought anything wrong with it, but it wouldn't be the first time someone misjudged him because of it. "It's great." Archer started, almost every trace of his cool act vanishing as his face lit up when he got to talk about his school. "Couldn't imagine myself ever attending one of the other schools." He smiled. "Although my sister tells me Hogwarts isn't so bad either." He then added. "What do you think of it? Do you like it there?" The teen returned the question to the girl, sincerely interested in how she experienced the school. Perhaps she didn't like it as much as his sister did. Or maybe she was extremely fond of it as well. When she asked him another question the boy shrugged. "Just here for the break, my family lives here." He replied, taking a couple of seconds to think before holding out his hand to her. He'd always thought shaking hands was weird, but if he was going to be talking to this girl for a while he might as well know her name and be polite about it. "I'm Archer, by the way." He smiled once again, wondering what her name would be and if it would fit her.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia was surprised when the boy's whole expression changed as he spoke about his school. It seemed like he really liked it there, and Emilia wondered what Beauxbatons was like. Was it very different from Hogwarts? She always imagined it to be a more elegant school, but she had never actually known anyone who went there. "Oh, I'm glad you like it. But your sister goes to Hogwarts?" Emilia and all her cousins went to the same school, which was all she knew. Though lately she was starting to think it wouldn't be so bad to be away from them for a little while. "What house is she in?" Emilia wondered if she knew her. "I like it there, it's alright. It's a little difficult to compare, as I haven't gone to any other schools. But it's definitely not bad." Emilia felt like she wasn't quite as enthusiastic as the boy had been about his own school, but she had no complaints about Hogwarts. "Oh, did your family move here from France?" She asked, wondering why he want to school in Beauxbatons when his sister didn't. She shook his hand. "I'm Emilia. I'm actually from Denmark myself, but my family all goes to school here." She said, gesturing to the direction of the castle.

 

[Archer Thompson]

Archer smiled when the girl told him she was glad he liked it. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to attend a school that you didn't like. It sounded terrible. To him his years at the French school were flying by, but for someone who was unhappy seven years could be a very long time. He nodded at her question about his sister. "Yep. Our parents let us make our own choice between the two schools when we were old enough." He shrugged. He'd always been glad that he had still gotten the chance to attend Beauxbatons after moving to New Zealand, but he had also been slightly disappointed when his sister had chosen not to follow in his footsteps and attens Hogwarts isntead. "She's in Gryffindor." Archer needed a second to come up with the right house. His father had been a Ravenclaw so the boy grew up with stories of the house and now needed to remember his sister wasn't in that same one. "As long as you don't hate it you should be fine right?" He asked sincerely. "I mean you've just got like, what- two, three years to go?" He tried to make the right assumption about the girl's age and year, figuring that it wouldn't be far off from his. He'd still have two years to go, going into his sixth year after the break. "Yeah, we moved here when I was around eight." Archer nodded. He smiled when the girl introduced herself, slightly surprised by the fact that she didn't live around here at all. Then again, pretty much everything was possible nowadays. Yet it still left him wondering. "So what made you guys attend school here?"

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia couldn't deny that the boy she was talking to was good looking, though she was trying very hard not to notice it. She glanced away from him as he smiled at her, focusing her attention on her surroundings. "Oh, that's interesting." She said softly. "I think I would have picked Hogwarts anyway, my older cousin went there." She said with a sigh, remembering how much she had looked up to Evelyn when she was in her first year. She still admired Evelyn a lot, but the girl had graduated years ago by now. She missed her. "Most of my family is in Gryffindor." She added when the boy said his sister was. "Which year is she in?" She shrugged when he said it would be alright as long as she didn't hate it. "You're right, just two after this break." She said softly. "But I do wonder if things would be different at a different school." Emilia was just sad about her previous year and her fight with her cousin, and a part of her couldn't help but wish to be away from her ex boyfriend and cousin at some different school. She looked at the boy again, shrugging slightly again. "My cousin went there, it seemed nice to all go to the same school." She said quietly. "Don't you miss your sister during the school year?"

 

[Archer Thompson]

It was hard for Archer not to notice that the girl seemed to be trying her best to look anywhere but directly at him. Part of him wanted to make a remark about it, but then he recalled how the girl's reaction to his remark at the beginning of their conversation and so he didn't. She had seemed a little uncomfortable and he didn't want to make her feel like that again. "I've thought about going to Hogwarts for a while as well," He told her after she said she would probably have chosen Hogwarts anyways. "But I missed France." The boy looked at her curiously when she mentioned her cousin. Went. Her cousin went there. So either her cousin had left, or she had already graduated or something. "Did she graduate? It sounds like you miss her.." Archer asked her carefully, hoping it wasn't a too much of a sensitive subject for the girl. Then again if it was it might have been better for her not to bring it up. "She's a second year, her name is Chloë." He answered, the french pronounciation of his sisters name in heavy contrast to the English he had been speaking all the time. "Guess we'll never know." He shrugged. "I mean there's always transferring schools, but that seems a bit unconvenient with only two years to go. Although I hear there's this great school in France.." Archer chuckled softly in an attempt to lighten the girl's mood a bit. He had no clue what was going on with her- hell he didn't even know her, but to him she seemed a bit disheartened about it all. "And has it been? Nice?" He asked referring to her entire family attending Hogwarts. Which then also made him wonder how big of a family that was. "I do, sometimes." The boy answered honestly. "I mean she can be a pain sometimes, but she's a nice kid to be around." He smiled slightly thinking about it. It was unreal for him to imagine she would be heading into her second year already. She was his little sister, but time had gone by quickly since he started seeing her less when he was at school and she's be a teenager far too soon for his liking.

 

[Emilia Manning]

The longer they talked, the more Emilia felt at ease. Though it was still a little uncomfortable to talk to a boy she didn't know, especially once this handsome. She kept expecting him to realize she was really not that interesting to talk to and end the conversation, but so far it didn't happen.She nodded when the boy mentioned he would miss France. She could understand that, she missed Denmark too when she was here. She nodded at the boy's question. "Yes, she graduated a few years ago. She now has her own fashion brand." She said, both proud of her cousin and sad because she never saw her anymore. "I do miss her." She nodded when the boy said his sister was a second year. "I probably don't know her." She admitted. "Maybe if she's in Heta Omega, the sisterhood club at Hogwarts. I'm co-president." She admitted, though she felt a little like she was bragging. She laughed softly when the boy said there was a good school in France she could transfer to. "Maybe if things go terrible I can always flee there." She said, thinking of her cousin again. "It has been... different than I expected. I was in a different house than all my cousins, and I've been fighting with one of them recently." She admitted, not sure why she was telling her whole life story to this boy. The fact that he clearly seemed to miss his sister made her like him more, and she smiled a bit. "I'm not in Gryffindor, but I can try to keep an eye out for her?" She suggested softly.

 

[Archer Thompson]

Archer had spend the day at brightstone with the intent to make some friends his own age back here in new zealand. Untill now he had only met this girl, but he enjoyed chatting to her and didn't mind if she was the only person he would meet today. Even if she might not be interested in forming any type of friendship. At least he would've had a nice day. "That's impressive." He replied when she told him her cousin, who had indeed graduated, had started her own fashion brand. It made him wonder whether he'd know it and if it by any chance happened to be the new brand he had been hearing about. "I'm sorry you miss her, she must be pretty busy then." He continued empathetically. It sounded like she had a pretty good relationship with her cousin, so it was a shame if she didn't get to see her that much anymore. Something clicked in Archer's mind when she referred to some kind of club at hogwarts. "Well she has been talking about wanting to join some sort of all-girl club, so I guess that must be it?" He asked himself more than her, trying to recall what his sister had told him. Then again he didn't think there'd be more than one all-girl clubs at the school so he was pretty sure that would be the one. "That's cool! What do you guys do?" He complimented her. It must be something she was proud of or she would probably not have dropped it into the conversation so casually. Archer could appreciate if someone took pride in their achievements without actually bragging about them. "You'd be very welcome." He nodded at her remark of fleeing to beauxbatons whenever things would become terrible. At her next words his face showed a bit more concern. He had been joking, but it seemed like the girl honestly wasn't having the best time at school. "That.. sucks. What did you guys fight about?" The question left his lips before he could even think about it. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it, maybe it was a sensitive topic. Ofcourse she'd have every right not to tell him and she sounded like a reasonable enough person to just tell him she didn't want to discuss it any further. "Thanks, that's sweet of you." He smiled when she offered to keep an eye on Chloë. "I think she'd like you."