Cruising

[Jean Snow]

No longer a first year, Jean had walked back into the castle with a small bit of confidence. He knew exactly where to go even if his sister hadn't been in front of him leading the quads along. He'd dealt with it, knowing that he would be off on his own before long. Early the next morning, Jean was one of the first ones up in his dorm. Hr quickly dressed and headed outdoors, his broom in hand. Jean was so pleased to have his own broom. The school ones he'd been forced to use last year for class had been terrible.

Entering the Quidditch pitch, the young boy brushed back his blonde hair, the smile wide on his face. He had worked up the nerve to go up to Tybalt, one of the Gryffindor captains, and had learned when tryouts were going to be held. Jean wasn't 100% sure he was going to try out this year, but he had certainly been thinking about it a lot over the break. His mother had encouraged him to try out, though she had also sternly warned him that he had better get his grades up if he planned on remaining on the team. She hadn't been happy with him when she had seen his report card, but he had promised her that he would try harder and that belonging to something like Quidditch would help.

Mounting his broom, Jean gripped the sleek black wood with his fingers before kicking off. He rose slowly, higher and higher until he finally leveled. Leaning forward, Jean began a lazy lap around the pitch to warm up.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had been thinking about trying out for the Gryffindor quidditch team. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to try out, or that she would be good enough, but she was definitely looking to try. Victoire for this reason had convinced her father into buying her the broom that she needed for it. It had been a difficult argument where she had finally won and been able to tell her father that she would put it to good use. However, there was just one little issue with that. Victoire was very nervous about quidditch. She loved seeing it being played, but actually playing it herself. That was an entirely different matter. She had liked the flying classes but, she wasn't sure about anything else. This meant that Victoire was just going to hopefully spend this year getting good enough to be able to actually get on the team while in her third year. She held the broom tightly in her hand as she made her way from the dorm and down to the pitch. It was pretty early, but Victoire felt like this would be the perfect time for her to be able to practice flying see how good she was.

Like most days Victoire, who had cut her blonde hair slightly during the holiday, had it tied back in a messy bun, some strands of the blonde curls falling down on her face. She was wearing her usual gryffindor t-shirt and her sports shorts from her last school, which actually still had the crest on it. She didn't wear them very often, just during the flying classes, or if she decided to go running. The young gryffindor stepped on to the pitch and glanced up and noticed that there was someone else already flying around the pitch. She wondered if perhaps she should leave, not wanting to interrupt this person. However the broom in her hand felt like it was weighing her down. Like the only way it would stop was if she took to the skies. So, Victoire took a moment to stretch and warm up before mounting the broom, and unsteadily shooting up into the sky. She spent a few seconds just hovering, attempting to get the broom steady. She wasn't very good at it.

Despite those lessons in the last semester, Victoire was glad that she hadn't decided to just try-out and not see how good she was before hand. Finally when she felt more settled, Victoire leaned forward and just began to fly slowly around at the pitch. She liked flying, but she was taking this slow. She honestly thought if she went any faster on her first lap she'd fall off the broom.
​

I hope you don't mind me joining this!

 

[Jean Snow]

Out of Character:

Of course!

When he was in the sky, Jean felt like nothing could touch him. The sun warmed his face and hands, but the wind kept everything just right. Even when it was cold, Jean felt like everything was perfect when he was in the air. It was the one place where he didn't have to take anything from anyone. If he didn't want to hear something, he could just speed away which was something he frequently did when he was with his siblings. He loved them but there were so many of them that sometimes a boy just needed to breathe...alone. Sometimes though, he appreciated all of the company. When they included him.

Finishing some laps, Jean glanced around the pitch wishing that there was a quaffle or two just laying around. He was here to practice, after all. His eyes drifted to the storage shed, wondering if students could just open it and take things from it. He knew that Lucien would just go and take what he wanted, feigning ignorance of the rules if he was caught. Jean wasn't Lucien though. He was far too meek to do something so bold. As another diversion presented itself in the form of another Gryffindor, Jean watched the girl get on her broom and begin some slow laps. The boy had vowed to himself to get to know some more people, and with a glance around, Jean realized that they were alone. For now, anyway. Drifting slowly towards her, Jean recognized her from his classes. This was perfect! Matching her pace easily, Jean spoke. "Can I fly with you? I got bored flying alone" he explained. It wasn't exactly true, but it was a good enough explanation to the boy as to why he was talking to her at all.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had just intended to practice flying and not actually do much else really. She hadn't really thought that the other person currently flying around the pitch would actually come and join her. It was pretty funny to her that he had. She smiled at him, as he flew in next to her. This was actually probably a good thing, since she had promised during this year that she should at least attempt to make new friends. If this actually happened was a different matter altogether, but it was what she was looking to do. Victoire smiled at the boy who was flying next to her. Who asked to fly with her. "Sure" she said to him, though she was sure that he was probably a lot better than she was at this. Victoire was unsteady on her broom, she was concentrating very hard on it. And wasn't really going very fast at all. She felt like she would probably hold this boy back from what he probably really wanted to do.

"I'm not very good" She apologised to him, looking between the broom and this boy. She recognised him, they were in the same year, the same house if she was remembering correctly. Victoire smiled slightly at him, wondering if she should try to convince him that he was better flying alone that with her. She came to a stop and looked down at the ground, "Victoire," she introduced extending a hand to the boy smiling slightly. "You want to play a game or something, so I'm forced to go faster than walking speed?" she asked him, unsure as to how interested he would actually be in flying. Victoire glanced around the pitch and shrugged slightly as she looked back at the boy. "We could play tig or something." she suggest with a small shrug. Hoping that this boy would actually be interested in playing, and maybe Victoire would have another friend, since right now, currently, the only friend she really had was Perseas, and she didn't really see him that often, since he was two years about him.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

For Jean, what he had just done was a big thing. Jean had always been one of the quieter siblings, usually forgotten as the louder, more outgoing and aggressive of his siblings took the attention that would have otherwise been handed out equally. Over the break, however, the boy had realized that in order to break away from his siblings, he had to actually…break away from them. Being in Gryffindor had provided him with a good start. Nearly all of his siblings had been placed in Ravenclaw or Slytherin. He was one of the few who had ever been placed in Gryffindor. Jean had come to terms and even begun to enjoy that he was different in a way that didn’t mean he was weird or stupid, words that his siblings had flung at him in the past. When the girl responded, which seemed to take an eternity for the boy though it was only a second or two, Jean grinned.

From this close, he could see her wobbling slightly on the broom. It was the sort of wobble that people with little confidence on a broom usually exhibited. He’d been the same way when he’d first climbed on one. As she finally stopped, Jean easily did the same staring at the hand she’d held out to him for a moment before slowly reaching his hand forward to take hers. “Jean” he stated, his accent doing what his name sometimes didn’t in letting people know he spoke French. As she suggested they play a game together, Jean’s blue eyes widened slightly. She actually wanted to play…with him? Jean couldn’t believe his luck. Nodding eagerly at the game she mentioned, Jean spoke. “Do you want to be it?” he asked politely. Jean knew that he was the better rider of the two and figured that it wouldn’t be much of a challenge to catch up to her if he was it. Of course, she could have been fooling him, but Jean didn’t think she was.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire gave the boy a smile when he introduced himself to her. Victoire thought that the name Jean sounded pretty french, and when she thought about it hearing the accent this boy had, he actually sounded french. Victoire smiled at him, "Do you speak french?" she asked in french with a curious smile. Since arriving in New Zealand, she had only met one other person who spoke french, and for Victoire whose english was not best, it was always nice to be able to switch to her home language if she had to. It would be good to have someone to talk to in her own tongue, rather than anything else. She grew bored of english at times, and having grown up with French as her first language, and English as her third it was good to see someone else sharing with her in the language. She hoped that he could. it would nice. But, of course, at this point, flying on these brooms, she realised that her mind wandering to areas of the language they could share was a little silly.

Victoire nodded at what he said, it would be good if she was the one chasing. It would really force her to try and fly faster. She smiled at him, and nodded. "Okay, sounds good" she told him brightly, although with this, she figured that she could give him a little head start. She steadied her broom, "Don't go slow with me Jean, I have to learn" she said brightly to him with a small smile, hoping that he would go slower, but that he wouldn't go too fast. She knew these brooms could go very fast. "I'll give you a little head start" She told him, distancing herself a bit from him, and waiting for him to fly off before she began to chase him. This would be a challenge to her, but, she was sure she could do it. As soon as she saw the boy set off, she urged the broom forward and was surprised at how fast it went. She had been expecting fast, but not that. Happily she slowed the broom slightly, trying to catch up with him, actually enjoying this much quicker speed.
​

Sorry about the ever so slight godmod.

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean's smile widened and he nodded his head eagerly. "Yes" he responded in French. He had thought she was French both because of her name and her accent, but he didn't want to assume. His older brother had taught him that odd saying about what happened to people who assumed. Jean listened intently to what she was saying. That she was telling him to not go slow put a smile on his face. He hadn't been planning on that at all. Jean knew from personal experience that the best way to push himself was to be forced into tough situations. Going easy on Victoire wouldn't help her any and hr was glad that she knew it. As she backed up to give him a lead, Jean adjusted his position on his broom thinking that she was pretty cool so far...for a girl. The blond boy took his time to be sure that she had enough time to get ready. Jean wanted to give her a challenge, sure, but he didn't want to rush and then have her give up before they'd really gotten started.

Deciding that she looked ready, Jean leaned forward on his broom. All he had to do was give the broom some guidance and he knew that he'd shoot off. With a glance over his shoulder, the boy stuck to his native French as he spoke to Victoire. "Are you ready?" he asked. When she nodded, he turned back around and with a determined look on his face, the young Gryffindor shot forward. He wasn't going anywhere near as fast as he'd been going when he was flying solo, but he was definitely going faster than the girl had been when she'd been flying alone. Jean flew forward for a bit, laughter escaping through his lips as he enjoyed the fresh air and the thrill of being chased. As he was nearing the hoops, Jean kept flying, rising slightly so he wouldn't crash into one of the poles. Rounding it instead, Jean slowed down a little bit and glanced behind him to see just how close Victoire was. While good on the broom, he still sometimes had trouble when he was making turns and was forced to slow down. If ever she was going to catch up, now would be it.

OOC: Feel free to godmod as necessary.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire was incredibly happy that this boy actually spoke french. She had assumed that he would, considering his french name, and the fact that he was very clearly not from New Zealand, much like how she sounded most of the time. She was happy that she had met someone else that she would be able to talk french to. She also figured, by the way he seemed a least a little happy about it, that he too probably really liked the fact that she was able to speak his native tongue. Which was clear when he spoke to her in it. She had switched back to English, but if this boy wanted to speak French with her, then she was more than happy to actually speak french, it seemed like a good thing. She definitely wanted to. She watched as the boy shot forward, she gave him a few seconds head start and then rushed after him. She shot of quickly, well as quickly as she could and began flying at a much quicker speed than before. She wasn't very good on a broom, and she was also trying her to be good for this boy Jean, so he wouldn't have to wait too much behind.

Victoire flew as fast as she could, which was actually much faster than she had ever actually flown, ever. She was going slower than a good quidditch player was, but she was really trying. Remembering to focus on what was ahead, not the ground. That the broom responded well to her and that she just had to keep going. As she watched the boy rounded the hoops, she geared herself up to follow. He too seemed to slow down, and this gave Victoire enough time to at least catch up, the turn for her wasn't as slow as she wanted, so she quickly tried to keep going. This corner had however helped her gain enough speed, and close the distance between them. However, tig on brooms would be hard surely. She knew she had to be as fast as him. So, Victoire flew to his side, and urged herself forward, extending out her hand to then be able to finally lightly touch his shoulder, "Tig" she said in a strong french accent. She smiled at the boy, before bringing her broom to an almost stop, and then flying off towards the tall stands. She was looking forward to seeing how good he was, though her flying was much slower, she was sure she could pose a little bit of a challenge.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Only a little more and Jean would have been free to speed up again. Seconds away from leaning forward to push his broom forward, the boy felt the unmistakable pressure of a tap on his shoulder and the girl stop before him to say the words to let him know that he was ‘it.’ Jean was disappointed that he had been captured so easily, never realizing just how bad he was at making tight turns. Still, he couldn’t be too upset. The game was meant to be fun, after all! Watching as the girl sped towards the stands, Jean counted to three in his head before taking off. Now that he wasn’t near the hoops, he could really put the speed on.

Leaning forward, Jean gripped the broom as he shot towards her. The breeze whipped through his blonde hair, tossing it slightly askew. Not that Jean cared. He only had eyes for the blonde in front of him, thoughts about how easy it would be to catch her. Closing the space between them, Jean reached out his hand to tag her, thinking that this would be a piece of cake. “Tiii…aargh” the Gryffindor bellowed as he held out his hand, a look of utter shock crossing his face when he realized that he was a good foot away from her, too great of a distance for his arm to reach. He was hurtling forward at such a speed that he was a good dozen feet away before he could right himself and go after her again. This game was proving much more useful to him than he’d ever thought it would. It was pointing out his weaknesses left and right. “I’ll get you this time!” he threatened good-naturedly in his native tongue as he sped towards her once more.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire didn't actually imagine that she was really that fast at flying. She managed to gain some speed when flying straight, but her turns as fast they could be were poorly executed and left her feeling pretty unbalanced. She thought that as she sped towards the stands that it perhaps wouldn't take long for the other boy to be able to catch her but she was wrong. As she glanced behind her. She noticed that the boy was still quite a distance away. Which was definitely a good thing for Victoire. As this temporarily caused her to slow down, she noticed that boy had gained a lot of speed. She shot of in as straight a direction as she could so that she would be able to gain some space between them, and it appeared to work, the next time she glanced back round at the boy who was playing with her he was a little bit away. It was of course a good feeling that she was. She didn't think she was that good a flyer, and while she'd been looking to improve for a long time.

Though as she continued to fly, she faintly heard her new friend's threat and she laughed slightly, knowing it was probably very true. She wasn't a good enough flyer really. She would eventually slow. Despite this thought, she continued to gain sped, until she was at the end of the stands and had to curve around the pitch, around the back of the hoops. A gentle turn, but it was in that moment, where she actually had to slow down. She was going too fast, and quickly felt like she was going to lose complete control of her broom. It was only in that moment when she began to slow the broom down, so that she could do it carefully and not end up falling off the broom. Thankfully, it was also at that point that she was sure that he would catch up. She hadn't planned to slow down quite as much as she'd ended up doing, and regaining speed once she had cleared the curve was a little difficult. She liked flying fast, she liked the feeling, and this game was a lot of fun, but there was no denying that she needed a lot of work on her flying, as well as perhaps a little more time to really get used to flying at high speeds.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean sped off towards the girl, determined to tag her this time and not bypass her. He focused, his eyes on her as he moved closer and closer. With every move, he was bridging the gap between them and getting ever closer to making her 'it.' As she rounded the pitch, he noticed that she was making the same mistake that he had. She was going into the turn too quickly. With a grin on his face, the blond boy pushed forward ever so slightly, going into the turn at just the right speed for him. He was nearly parallel to her and reached his left hand out to nudge her shoulder. "Tig!"he yelled to the world it seemed as he sped away, pointing the tip of his broom to the ground so he could begin a swift decline.

As the breeze made his hair a bit crazy looking, Jean enjoyed the ride. He loved shooting down to the ground even if it was a bit scary to have the ground rushing up to meet him. When he was a dozen or so feet from the ground, Jean leveled off and continued to fly at a slower pace. It was still a good pace. "Are you gonna try out for quidditch?" he called out to Victoire as he continued to push on. Like him, she still needed work. But he figured it would be fun to try out with someone who was in a similar position to him.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

For Victoire, she knew the moment she had to slow that she was going to end up being caught up with. It was clear that while she could now much better deal with the speed, and the heights, that turning while at speed was the thing that she needed to work on. It was the thing that needed to be done. Although, she was sure that it would take a little longer than just one session since flying for the first time since the class in the last semester. She was incredibly happy that she was able to fly. It definitely beat whatever sports she might've ended up doing had she not been able to go to Hogwarts. She tried to urge herself faster, but it seemed that like with her catching him, his opportunity would come as she got too slow and he was still pushing hard. it was alright though, since they were just messing around. Flying around. It was good. She felt a nudge on her shoulder, and then the distinct sound of the boy yelling tig, before he flew off. Victoire took a few moments to slow herself down, and get herself into a comfortable position before flying off again to try to catch Jean.

She followed her lead, though as he seemed to be doing some form of steep decline. Victoire who was not as confident on the broom, followed by a much slower pace, knowing she still had to fly fast, but realising also that she needed to maybe try and be careful. She knew how to fly back to the ground, but this wasn't the same as that, so she was at quite a distance following him. So much so, that she hadn't even noticed that he had levelled out until he spoke. She was still getting down to the level he was at, she strained to hear the question but managed to make out what was being said. The quidditch team. Victoire had been thinking about it. She hadn't in the previous year because she hadn't known how to fly at all, and though she still needed a lot of work, she was looking forward to being able to try to get better for the next year. "Probably not this year" She called to him, finally able to level out and push forward at a slightly quicker pace. "I'm not good enough yet. Don't want to embarrass myself in front of the captains" she continued, focusing more on flying now. She was speaking in French, opting for that with this boy who like her spoke french. "Are you?" she asked, as she began to be able to catch up with him.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Starting up a conversation probably wasn't the best of ideas when he was supposed to be keeping away from the girl during their game. In order to hear her reply, Jean had to slow down slightly. He was still moving quickly, brought on by the fact that he was much closer to the ground and less fearful of getting hurt if he fell. But, it was obvious that the girl was catching up. As she continued to talk, her voice sounded louder and clearer to him. "I bet you wouldn't. You're not bad" he replied in what he thought was an encouraging manner. Jean chanced a glance back and discovered he was right about how close she was. She was almost close enough to reach out to him. The Gryffindor turned around quickly, making the mistake of trying to adjust himself on his broom as he flew and overcompensated just a little too much. He slid right off the broom, his fingers scrambling and failing to secure a grip as his leg slipped off the broom. Panic crossed the boy's features as he glanced at the girl just as he began to fall.

Hitting the ground with his back, Jean felt the wind knocked out of him. He remained on the ground where he had fallen, too shocked to move though he was sure he was ok. Under his hands, he could feel the grass. It was dry, nearly too dry and he was sure it needed to be watered. This was embarrassing! Jean had not slipped off of his broom since he had first started flying. That had been six whole years ago. And it had happened in front of someone else...a strange girl, no less. Not that it would have been better if it happened in front of his siblings. He was pretty sure it would be worse actually. Closing his eyes, Jean sent up a silent prayer that he'd been dreaming and that opening his eyes would result in him being in his bed, having dreamed the whole thing.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had never thought about how flying and talking could be distracting. She hadn't meant it to be, nor had she thought it would be. She imagined it worked in the same way as when her father drove the car, and she sat in the back talking to him. But, this was clearly not the same. She had been looking at him, as he spoke to her, responded to her questions, but as she had been about to reply, she slowed down to adjust for the curve, and the boy seemed to begin to fall. She felt panic rise up in her as he fell to the ground. Landing on his back with a small thud. "Jean" she cried slightly. She flew carefully down a little along from where the boy was lying. She didn't really know what to do. She didn't know what she should do if the boy was actually hurt. She only had basic first aid training from primary school, and at that, she could barely remember it. It was a little beyond her knowledge. Beyond what she knew. Victoire placed the broom down, and then headed over to the boy. Kneeling down in front of him, she looked over to see if she could see what was wrong.

"Jean, are you okay" she asked, leaning over, so that she was a little above her. She brushed a few strands of her hair from her eyes as she leaned over. She couldn't tell what was wrong with him. She couldn't see anything wrong. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you fall" she apologise to him, thinking that it was her fault rather than his fault. She wasn't sure what else to do. "Do you need me to go get a professor?" she asked him, not really wanting to do anything else. Waiting to see if he would respond to her, or if she'd have to try to wake him up before she could do anything about it. She didn't want him to be hurt. She wanted him to be alright. She just couldn't tell if he was or wasn't.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Hearing Victoire's voice as she asked if he was ok, if he needed help, and if he needed a professor in quick succession, Jean knew that he wasn't dreaming. The boy desperately searched his mind for any sort of spell that he knew to make himself disappear, but he couldn't think of how to do it. Even if he knew, he likely wouldn't be able to work such advanced magic. You can barely stay on your broom, he thought to himself. Opening his blue eyes slowly, the second year was surprised to discover how close she was. He cringed back a little more into the grass, his face reddening even more, a mixture of heat from the exertion of their game and embarrassment at his fall. Struggling onto his elbows, Jean grumbled in French. "No professors. I'm fine, I'm fine." The blonde boy sat up slowly, shaky after his quick descent to Earth. He picked up his arm, feeling a bit of stinging and glanced at it to see that he had a scrape. The boy inspected the injury some more before looking at his other elbow which was fine.

" You don't have to say sorry, Victoire. It was my fault. I should've slowed down some, but I was having too much fun" he admitted. Jean didn't often get the opportunity to play with others and have fun doing it. Even when he played with his siblings, he was annoyed more often than not. At least none of them had witnessed what had just happened. The boy got up slowly, wincing and glancing at his elbow again as he moved it. A closer inspection revealed that it hadn't broken skin. He'd be fine. He was sure of it. His knees were usually full of scrapes from running around. This would be no different. " Sorry for ruining the game" he added sadly, his accent heavy as he switched to English. He wouldn't be surprised if she avoided him from now on.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire was incredibly relieved when the boy opened his eyes and then spoke. She was glad that he didn't need a professor of anything like that. She smiled at the boy, very clearly relieved that he was indeed fine. She didn't notice the boy's embarrassment, or anything like that. She was just glad that he was okay. She watched him carefully as he sat up, she wanted to tell him that he should take things slowly. "I'm glad you're alright, it was pretty scary" She admitted to him quietly in French. She was glad that he spoke French, it was easier for her to admit this in French than in english. She had maybe spent the past year in New Zealand, but she still sometimes struggled with some things in English. It was just easier in french. She watched silently, as he inspected the injuries that the boy had. She didn't notice much, she imagined that really it had been mostly a scare for them both apart from the little scraps that the boy had. Victoire just was happy that he was alright, she didn't particular know what she would've done if he hadn't been. She was a small girl, and while Jean was not big, she wouldn't have been able to carry him up.

As the boy apologised she just smiled a little and shook her head. She knew that it wasn't his fault either. It was an accident, it was just the way things were. Victoire gave the boy a warm smile. She shook her head at him again. "It's okay, we were having fun." She added, since they had both been having fun. It was in her mind the way to show that neither was really at fault. They were both guilty of something, but it didn't matter than much, he was fine, and aside from a little scare, they were all fine. She got to her feet as the boy did too. Stopping herself from reaching out to offer her help to him. "You sure you're alright" she asked switching to english, which was as heavily accented as Jean's english. At the words that he said, she just shook her head. "It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay" she smiled warmly at the boy, but resisted the urge to hug him, at the joy of him being okay. Victoire cared about people, and she would rather he was okay, that feel bad about an interrupted game. "You want to take a break, sit down for a bit?" she asked him, unsure as to if he'd want to go back up into the air so soon after what had happened.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

The level of concern that the French girl was showing him was nothing that the boy was used to. He injured himself as much as any boy his age did, and with the amount of siblings he had, his mother had long since stopped babying him for his injuries. And he certainly didn't expect it from his siblings, not even the ones who were years older than him. To be a Snow meant to toughen up early. Jean had always been told that his dad had been a tough man, and even though he couldn't remember him, Jean wanted to make him proud. He shook his head as Victoire continued to ask if he was ok. "Yea, I'm sure" he replied, slowly standing up.

Jean glanced around for his broom, not surprised at all to see it lying in wait a few feet away. It didn't look damaged at all which he was grateful for. It would have taken a lot of convincing to get a new one off it had broken or something, and he definitely wouldn't want to have to explain why he needed a new one. With a smile, Jean shook his head. He had already been out for a while before the girl showed up, and he was getting pretty thirsty from all the exercise. "I'd better head inside. I want to grab something to drink." The Gryffindor boy moved slowly towards his broom and picked it up. Still, he noticed no damage. "I'll see you around" he said, a smile on his face as he easily dwitched back to French. They had several classes together, all of them in fact. Jean didn't know if they'd become friends, but it would be nice to have a friendly face when he entered a classroom.