Eager for freedom

[Calum Lloyd]

After coming across a familiar face who wanted to join his dueling team during the school holidays, Calum found himself much more quieter than before. He refused to tell anyone what had happened and, due to the lack of people who ever dared to talk to him, he luckily didn't really find that very hard. The only people that would pester him about it were his parents which made him even more distant with them to avoid the large number of questions he knew that they were itching to ask. Better yet, Calum was no longer moving schools anymore which made him hate the both of them with a burning passion. If they weren't his parents then he would definitely hex them the next time he saw them. Who did they think they were getting their son's hopes up and then cancelling it last minute? It infuriated him that they thought they were able to do that. Calum always considered himself to be much better than his parents, despite how they were still his legal guardians for yet another year. Surely by now they would realise how hot-headed their own son is.

The sixth year ran his fingers through his hair as he opened up the door to the Leaky Cauldron and stepped inside. It was much warmer than being outside and, at that current moment, anything was better than not spending time with his family. He sat down at the bar and asked the barman for an exploding lemonade, hoping that the sign about it possibly being damaging to your health was true. Truthfully, he couldn't wait until he was seventeen. There was only one more year until Calum was freely able to do whatever he wanted and the freedom was probably all he needed to clear his head. The Slytherin took his drink and payed the man his money once it was ready before taking a long sip, releasing a small sigh of relief when he did so. He knew that the upcoming year was going to be difficult, especially considering he didn't have long before the end of school, but he was determined to just get through it.

 

[Emeric Lancaster]

The holidays were always a welcome break from school life, only less so now that Emeric had left the Durmstrang Institute for the golden temple structure of Castelobruxo. With all of his older siblings graduated and no one left to look out for him, he was too much of a target to remain at such a place, and the exchange program offered by the South American school was exactly what he had needed. It took some convincing, especially with his father, who believed the Scandinavian castle was better suited toward their ideals, but Castelobruxo offered advanced studies in his particular area of expertise and it was decided that it was best for him to work with his strengths, as few of those as he possessed. So, it was a little saddening to leave the school for the few, short weeks they had, but the boy was looking forward to being able to see his family again. It was lonelier without his elder siblings or cousins around, even if they seemed more to tolerate him than want him around. Emmett at least showed interest in the same topics as the younger wizard, but the others didn't share much else in common. That aside, they were family, and he enjoyed the familiarity of being around them.

Leaving the Lancaster home situated at Hallow's Bridge, a small wizarding community founded at the supposed location of the Three Brothers tale, Emeric joined his brothers and sisters for a trip to Diagon Alley for holiday shopping. Emmett required core components, Lythande was after robes, and Emeric was happy to just follow along. As they went into their respective stores, Emeric headed toward the warmth of the Leaky Cauldron on his own, or, more accurately, mostly on his own. A small clay pot with a bright yellow daffodil-esque flower was tucked safely under his arm as he traversed the street, emitting a small honking sound every so often and slowly turning in its rooted position. The boy pushed open the pub door, glad to be away from the cooler outside air, and seated himself on the only other free stool by the bar, where he gentled placed the plant on the countertop in front of him. Signalling the bar-tender, the Lancaster wizard ordered two small glasses of water. As soon as they had arrived, he set one aside for himself, utilising the other to water his floral companion. "There you go." He whispered softly, seemingly unaware of the others around him. The daffodil itself simply honked a content response, as satisfied as a noise-making flower could be.
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[Calum Lloyd]

The thought of finally being able to leave his home in another year was still on Calum's mind as he continued to drink peacefully, not wanting to let anything around him bother his thoughts. Calum rather enjoyed his own company and it was the main reason why he never had many friends and wasn't particularly nice to those he met. Talking to other people also seemed like too much of a challenge, especially when all he really cared about was himself. Adding someone else to the list of things he cared about just seemed too complicated and he didn't know how people could ever handle that which was probably why the world was full of so many fake friends.

Just when Calum thought that he was free from the outside world in the warm pub, he jumped slightly when an unusual noise sounded from an ugly looking plant beside him. It seemed to have belonged to the person next to him who didn't look much younger than Calum at all. The boy seemed to be talking to it as if it were his son and Calum just rolled his eyes, wondering how on earth he could bother carrying that thing around all day. On top of that, the plant was loud and seemed extremely annoying. It genuinely looked like it belonged in the wild. "Do you mind?" Calum snapped, giving the plant and the boy a dirty look as he placed his drink back on the counter, wondering how the bartender was allowing such a creature to enter the shop. It was filthy and Calum just kept staring at it, hoping the boy would somehow get rid of it before he did himself.

 

[Emeric Lancaster]

So drawn into tending to the flora on the counter top, the Lancaster almost didn't hear the wizard at his side. Looking uncertainly to his left, and double checking over his right shoulder to make sure no one behind him was the recipient of the unpleasant tone, Emeric became slightly confused. Surely he wasn't being spoken to in such a manner? After all, he'd only just entered the building, and hadn't even noticed the person at his side. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he could possibly have done to offend him. The honking of the daffodil was music to his ears, and the fact that anyone would find it annoying was beyond his comprehension. "No?" He questioned, shrugging his shoulders and not entirely understanding what the problem was. "What should I be minding? I haven't done anything, have I?" Part of him still wasn't completely certain it was even he who was being spoken to, but the boy's eyes were on him, not anyone else. Perhaps he should have followed his siblings, after all. The herbologist wasn't used to confrontations, his family usually dealt with them for him instead.
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[Calum Lloyd]

The fact that the boy seemed completely oblivious to his wrongdoings was slightly annoying. Calum rolled his eyes at him. How could he just walk into a public place with a loud creature and not get any complaints? Surely someone had complained about it before? It was filthy and Calum was sure he would be sick if he stayed around it any longer. He refrained from grabbing his wand as he spoke and simply tried to stay calm. "What even is that thing you're carrying around? Please get it away from me." he muttered sourly before taking another sip of his drink. He didn't think he could ask him any better than that and hoped that he would take the hint and leave. Calum hated to potentially ruin his day but he was certain that he was speaking for the majority of the pub. After all, it's not everyday that someone walks in with something as ugly as what the boy was tending to.

 

[Emeric Lancaster]

Emeric's brow creased as the boy spoke to him, making it abundantly clear that the source of his discomfort was a flower. The Lancaster boy had never come across a situation quite like this before. There was a clear difference between leading a frothing wild boar on a leash into a pub, and a pot plant, but here he sat, faced with someone acting as if he had done the former. He should be so lucky that it wasn't a potted shrub of devil's snare - something that posed an actual problem over the innocence of a delicate flower. Some people just enjoyed being blatantly rude. "It's a Honking Daffodil." Emeric explained, somewhat surprised the boy couldn't have figured that one out on his own. It was a daffodil, and it honked. Whomever had named the plant wasn't the most creative of wizards, but it got the point across, and it didn't take a genius to determine what it was. He complied with the boy's request, rearranging the plants position on the table by shuffling it further to the other side, but he had absolutely no intention of leaving because of some arrogant prat. "Is this better?" He said, subtly shuffling further to the side himself. If he were more like his siblings, he was sure he would have had more to say. Just the thought of his sister coming in and leaving the rude wizard suspended upside-down in midair brought a small smile to his face.
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