Embrace It

[Jacob Kingsley]

Breakfast really was the best meal of the day. Jacob had been so tired and so in need of food that he'd forgotten his glasses and his wand upstairs. Thankfully, he had no classes this morning so he'd have time to go upstairs and get both. He usually wasn't this much of a mess, though he'd never been a morning person.

Scooping some eggs into his mouth, Jacob turned the page of the Daily Prophet someone had left on the table. He couldn't read it very well, most of the writing looks like fuzzy squiggles more so than actual words and letters he recognized. It might as well have been written in runes for all he could read without his glasses. Jacob hadn't realized his vision had gotten quite so bad. Reaching for his glass, Jacob knocked it over accidently. "Sorry!" he exclaimed, "forgot my glasses." Blaming his glasses seemed to make sense, though he'd really just been clumsy in that moment. He couldn't admit that though. Jacob reached for some napkins to dab all the orange juice up, before he looked around to see if he'd messed up someone's breakfast though he was hoping he hadn't.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio thought he was more or less settling into Hogwarts quite well. He'd made a few acquaintances that he may have even been able to call friends, and even though he didn't really know what he was doing in his lessons, he'd yet to cause a fire hazard and therefore he considered himself a success. It may have been breakfast, but the Gryffindor was halfway through eating a baked potato, complete with cheese and beans. He was so accustomed to being told what to do by his parents that he was making every effort in his daily life to do things a little differently, and so now nothing was out of bounds. The first year glanced up from his plate though when he heard the sound of a glass hitting a surface opposite him, orange juice swimming around on the wooden table. It barely phased Elio at all, who kept eating his potato, stringy cheese wrapped around his fork as he made the most of it. That was until he realised just how far the orange juice had spread, and that his camera had been up on the table a little way from him as he'd been planning to head out into the grounds after he completed his meal. "No no no no.." he said, mouth still slightly full as he dropped his cutlery on his plate and leaned across to scoop up his camera from the mess the other student had made. His parents were not going to be impressed if he told them he'd already managed to break his camera before he'd even been at the school a full month, and the first year proceeded to grab some more napkins, wiping down the equipment and testing to see if it still worked. "Come onnn.." he mumbled under his breath, pushing his own glasses further up his nose as he did his best to get the camera back in action. He'd just joined as a member of the Accio! team, and this was the last thing he needed to explain to those he was trying to make a good impression with.
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Moving along the table and dabbing at the orange juice he'd spilled, Jacob was glad that most people seemed unaffected. He apologized anyway, his cheeks slightly red. "Sorry" he mumbled as a girl walked away, though he was unsure if she'd been affected. Nearing the end of the trail, Jacob glanced up as he heard someone muttering. He held the sopping mess, orange juice dripping onto the seat he'd stopped in front of, which was thankfully empty. He squinted, even though he easily recognized it. A camera.

A pit dropped into boy's stomach as he realized he might have damaged it. "I'm so so sorry " Jacob said, clearly full of remorse. "Did I break it?" he asked slowly, hoping that wasn't the case. He half expected to get told off or yelled at, both of which he'd deserve. Cameras, good ones anyway, weren't cheap and even if they were, he knew it would be hassle to replace. Jacob had his own camera so he knew from experience though he'd be loathe to give his away. Hopefully, his mom would have some galleons on her if Jacob ended up needing to replace it. He doubted his allowance would cover the cost. "I can ask my mom to try and fix it..." he added, squinting up at the professor's table. Of course. She wasn't there.

 

[Elio Zephyr]

It always took a few seconds for the camera to do anything, but those seconds felt like an eternity when Elio was waiting to see if it would work at all. He barely even registered he was being spoken to by the boy who'd doused his camera, his mind just willing it to turn on so he could relax. It had been an expensive present from his parents when he joined the school, and the last thing he needed was to admit it was ruined before Christmas. Luckily for both Elio and the other boy, it seemed to be working perfectly fine. Perhaps the juice hadn't managed to seep into the tiny crevices yet, but the first year took a few more napkins to finish drying it off so that no more damage could go on. It was only when the boy mentioned something about his mum fixing it did he bring his eyes up to meet the student who'd almost cost him a year's worth of presents, if not more. "Why would your mum fix it?" Maybe she was a camera expert or something cool. His own mum worked in Amsterdam hanging up old bits of clothing on mannequins which really wasn't that exciting to the Gryffindor. His dad at least did something magical, although he'd never been allowed to tell his son was it was. Working with cameras though could have been interesting. Elio shook his head, glad he wouldn't have to be parted with it for a while if it did need to be fixed, "I think it's working at the moment." he said, still clutching it in his hands. Dry or not, he trusted that the table wouldn't be sticky about as much as he trusted this kid not to do it again. As a way of testing it out, he brought it up to his eye and took a quick snap of the student, as a memento if he will. "Yep, seems fine!" he announced with a little more confidence, sending him the smallest of smiles by way of forgiveness.
​

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Because I broke it?" he replied, a little confused. His mom fixed all of his mistakes. Surely, she could fix this one too. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief as the boy determined that his camera seemed to be working. He was happy to hear that. He would have felt guilty about ruining anything, but especially a camera. They weren't cheap, he knew. Hearing the click and seeing the flash, Jacob blinked himself back to attention, alarmed that he'd just had his photo taken. A wizarding camera would capture him probably apologizing for the rest of his life, just like it seemed he'd be doing in person too. "I'm glad it's working. I'm really sorry about that" he said, dropping into the seat beside the boy. Now that he wasn't nervous, he was incredibly thirsty again. The boy eyed the jug of orange juice on the table and then thought better of it. Surely, the camera guy wouldn't want to see him and orange juice together for a while. "Do you use the dark room in the conglomerateds arts room? It's small but nice" he added. Jacob hadn't used it yet. His mom hadn't let him bring his camera this year, but he had visited anyway at the advice of one of his cousins to see what supplies they had. The answer was everything and then some.