Holiday Mode

[Abel Smith]

Abel Smith was excited to be back at Hogwarts New Zealand. He had enjoyed his time here, even if he had been a little quieter than he had first expected. He had done a few things - though most were not really noteworthy at all. He had thought that things would be easier once his sister began attending, but it turned out that they just got harder. Kialla was in his house, something he had a first not really cared about, but then she started hanging out with that guy all the time. Abel did not like him. He was, after all, Kialla's brother. It was virtually his job to not like his sister's boyfriends - or whatever they were. They sure acted like they were dating. The Slytherin was not sure, but he didn't like it either way. She rarely looked at him these days. They were siblings and she barely communicated with him, it was not right. The brunette sighed and ruffled up his hair. Breakfast would wake him up. No matter how excited he was to be back here, waking up in the mornings with the knowledge that classes were coming was enough to make him want to crawl into a ball and go back to sleep. However, this year he was going to try and make a good impression on his professors and apply himself in classes. More fails and he was sure his grandmother will pull him out or something. The last thing he wanted was to be taught anything by that woman.

Abel tottered slightly haphazardly towards the Slytherin table and slide into an empty space. He had an empty bowl in front of him and considered what to eat. As usual, there were people talking about their holidays, and about friendships, and about anything else that seemed to come to mind. Abel chewed on the inside of his cheek, still wondering on what to eat. He could go for the healthy option - some apples, lettece and other plant-ey stuff. His nose crinkled slightly as others dove straight for salad. In the morning? "Bunny food..." he squinted up his face - much like a smelling rabbit at the thought. Salad was okay, but preferably not in the morning. The Slytherin relaxed his face and slouched. His stomach felt flat and abandoned. Maybe he wasn't as hungry as he had first thought? The bags under his eyes felt like they were pulling on his face, and he rested his forehead on the table. The Slytherin was still in holiday mode, even though classes had begun. Abel doubted he would ever leave holiday mode. It was too good.
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[Preston Paine]

As the sunlight streamed in through the windows, Preston squinted his eyes and pulled the covers over his head. It couldn't be morning already. It couldn't. Preston felt as if he had just fallen asleep! Hearing his roommates get up one by one, Preston slowly opened his eyes under the cover of his comforter. His eyes adjusted easily enough to the darkness, but they kept drifting closed and Preston knew that unless he made a real effort to get up, he would easily fall back to sleep. It had happened to him all the time last year and he would wake up with only enough time to pull on clothes and dash to class without any breakfast. This year, he was determined for that to be different, and he knew that would begin by him getting his ass out of the bed. With a groan, the boy threw off the covers and shuffled to the bathroom, bedhead in full effect. He was glad that his roommates knew him well enough to not force him into conversation at this time in the morning.

Dressing in the least wrinkled of his clothing, Preston yawned as he finally left his room. He followed the crowd heading up the dungeon steps to the Great Hall for breakfast. It wasn't often that the boy woke early enough to enjoy breakfast. If he was lucky enough to have time, Preston would usually dash into the Great Hall to grab the warmest thing he could see before dashing out again. Today, he wouldn't have to do that. Entering the Great Hall, anyone who didn't know Preston would have thought he was pissed at something. Anyone who knew him would know that was just his morning face. It usually lasted until he got some food into his system. Giving a quick glance to the Gryffindor table, the boy was disappointed to not catch a glimpse of his girlfriend. He wondered where she was. Slipping onto the bench, Preston really felt like laying his head on the table and going to sleep for a while longer. His stomach had other ideas though. It was much more awake than he was and demanding attention. Looking at his options, Preston's face showed his disgust at the students who were reaching for, of all things, salad. He angrily stabbed at some waffles and then some sausage and put them both on his plate. "Can you pass me the syrup?" he mumbled, pointing in case he hadn't been heard.

 

[Abel Smith]

Abel slowly looked up when he felt the table moving. He found the culprit. The boy looked familiar, and it took a little bit of hidden staring before Abel put a name to his face. Preston. They were in the same year, did some classes together and everything. They even hang out for a bit, and that was such a relief. Preston wasn't a bad guy at all, in fact, he was pretty cool. However, Abel soon returned his face to the table and continued to imagine how great it would be if holidays spontaneously returned, or if, for some reason, classes were called off and he had more time to sleep and just gather dust in the Great Hall, maybe continue smelling the food and judging rabbit-food eaters. When he heard someone speak - Preston - he snapped his head up, and followed his finger. Abel smiled, somehow finding the energy he had once lacked, and passed the syrup. Preston looked about a good as Abel was feeling. And considering Abel was not feeling his best in any way, that probably was not much of a compliment. So he strategically remained silent on that topic.

"How're you, Preston?" he asked, his Scottish accent still staying strong. He also hoped that Preston was the right name, otherwise this all just got super awkward. Awaiting the other boys reply, Abel's blue eyes ingered over the tables goods. The waffles didn't look half bad, only being noticed once Abel had touched the syrup to give to Preston. It wasn't bunny food, and syrup was sweet and goopy and delicious. The perfect thing to throw on something early in the morning. That'd wake him up. He still looked tired, and he felt tired, so sugar was definitely the way to go. Hopefully that would help him have the mental fortitude to tame his dishevelled hair. "If you're done with that," he said, meaning the syrup. "I'd love it back for a sec."​

 

[Preston Paine]

Taking the sticky jug in his hand, Preston tipped it over and watched the brown liquid slowly make its way onto his waffles. He moved it slowly, allowing every square to get its fill before moving on. When he had finished with the top one, Preston lifted it slightly so the syrup could reach the other waffle. He heard Abel speak, but forming actual words required more effort than he was willing to put forth. He'd already spent enough energy to ask for the syrup.

"Alive" he answered, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Preston actually liked Abel. They shared classes together and lived in close proximity, so they were around each other often enough to know that Preston knew he liked the guy's personality. Passing the syrup back, Preston spoke as he dipped his sausage into the syrup. "Here you go, Abel. Thanks." The boy took a bite, the heavenly sweetness mixing with the meat. Already, Preston could feel his spirits rising. "Nothing like sugar in the morning" he added as he dug into his waffles. With each bite of real food as opposed to the salad that some were eating, Preston felt more and more human.

 

[Abel Smith]

Abel chuckled at Preston's response. Yes, his fellow Slytherin was just as tired as he was. He wasn't the only person that seemed to be a little less than ready for learning. He still had 'the fuzzies' as his grandfather would call them. Where ones vision was still lacking around the sides, making everything that was not being focused on, rather fuzzy. But now he was focusing on Preston, so the fourth year was no-longer some strange, vaguely humanoid thing across the table. Even though it was a simple, one word question. Abel felt as though he had heard an hour-long lecture from the boy about his current state, since he felt very much the same. However, while Preston looked like he had actually attempted to look somewhat presentable, Abel looked like he had just walked through a tornado. He did not mind, since his first priority was not to look dashing - it was the morning. Seriously, all thoughts of presentation were not lasting. He'd probably do a comb-over later in the day, but in the mornings the pure-blood was anything but self-conscious.

"Thanks," Abel said, reached over for the syrup. Oh how tempted he was to just pull off the lid and drink the stuff straight. He stared at the lid for a moment - seriously considering this idea. Everyone was eating bunny food for the sake of Merlin's robes, they probably wouldn't care. But, if Preston wanted more, Abel doubted his fellow Slytherin would appreciate him lipping the bottle for kicks. So, being somewhat mindful of the table manners that his grandmother had attempted to drill into him at a young age, he removed the lid, and dumped a good margin. But he was still somewhat mindful of table manners, and so just removed the entire lid and dumped a good margin on his plate of waffles and pancakes. With a fork in hand, he quickly cut a bit of (partially drowned in syrup) pancake and chewed on it, feeling the sweet, sugary goodness of the syrup on his tongue. He placed the syrup down as Preston spoke again, and nodded whole-heartedly. "Too right you are - much, much better than the rabbit food they've been trying to shovel down our throats." Like, seriously. The amount of salad the school served was tear-worthy. Who cared about vegetarians and vegans and all of those other weird diet-eaters? "Sugar and meat is the way to go in the morning, not leaves."
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[Preston Paine]

Preston was tempted to ask for the syrup back to add a dollop more, but when he looked up again, he thought better of it. Abel looked like he could do with some sugar in his system. At least he wasn’t eating salad like some of the other Slytherins. Who does that? the boy wondered to himself. He barely ate salad when it was on his plate at home. There was no way the Slytherin would choose salad, especially not when the school had so many other tasty offerings. Preston loved the food at the school. Taking another healthy bite of pancake, Preston nodded his head in agreement with Abel. He didn’t have to be told twice. “Definitely” he agreed, a genuine smile on his face as he reached for some orange juice. "Here's to staying away from rabbit food" he chuckled as he held up his glass of juice. Now that he had some food and drink in his system, Preston was beginning to become even more aware of his surroundings. He casually glanced over to the Gryffindor table, his eyes brightening when he spotted his girlfriend. She was busy talking to another Gryffindor. It was moments like these that Preston found Indiana at her prettiest. He often wished he carried around a camera so he could catch her unawares.

Turning his attention back to his house mate, Preston scrounged around for something to talk about. He wasn’t particularly in the mood to talk. It was much too early for him, but he knew that it would be rude of him to not pass some pleasantries. “Do you think we’ll ever not have to be up this early for classes?” Preston asked with longing in his voice. He’d heard somewhere that seventh years didn’t have nearly as many classes as they did, but that the classes they did have were more difficult. Preston was pretty sure he’d be ok with that provided that he could just sleep in until ten or eleven in the morning.

 

[Abel Smith]

As time passed, Abel slowly began to feel less groggy. With the help of the sweet smelling syrup, his brain functions were beginning to awaken. If he was still tired after all this syrup, pancakes and waffles, he might as well quit living as a wizard and find some bears to hibernate with. This could wake anything up. So, he could barely wait to eat it, but he tried to remember some manners. There was no sense eating as if he had never been fed in his life. He was glad to hear Preston agree with him. He wasn't sure he could stand to eat with someone that ate salad - not today, anyway. Any other day, sure, but today his capacity to be friendly was a little lacking, and he was sure the irritable morning would backfire on him if he got into an argument over proper meals. Abel grinned back and quickly poured himself some juice before clinking the glass with Preston. "Words to have tattooed." He laughed slightly and sipped the drink, before eating more of the pancakes - paired with waffles. He could feel himself brighten considerably. The morning sun was no where near as irritating as it had be earlier. Now all they had to do was convince their deranged housemates that eating leaves was unnatural. Especially in the morning. The morning was reserved for sugar, sugar and more sugar. He looked back at his plate and returned to eating the food that gave him energy happily.

Abel looked up for a moment as Preston spoke, and then shrugged. "Maybe if a professor dies or something," he was being sarcastic, obviously. Even if the professor was some mudblood, he wouldn't wish death on them. That was such a permanent thing. Maybe a fall down the stairs or something, but not death. "Then again, they'd probably clean the room and throw in a sub." That was probably what would happen. The Slytherin had no idea how many substitute teachers there were here, but he knew there was probably a fair number. His mind began working better with every bite and he looked up for a moment, remembering that Preston could draw really well. Well, that's what he thought, anyway. He wasn't an art critic or anything, but he had liked his housemate's stuff. "Do you still draw and stuff?" Since Abel had absolutely no talent in the field of drawing, he was naturally interesting in someone that did.
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[Preston Paine]

Preston nearly snorted some orange juice out of his nose at Abel's words. He looked up, a shocked expression on his face at what Abel had said about their chances of starting classes later. Sputtering as he swallowed his drink, Preston broke out into laughter. He waved his hand dismissively at the girl beside him who jumped, startled at his outburst. "I bet they would. They'd probably make one of the ghosts come teach us to make sure our substitute doesn't die" the Slytherin finished, still chuckling. He put another bite of food in his mouth, his last one, so he savored it for a long moment.

Finishing up, the boy pushed his plate towards the middle of the table. He swallowed the last bit and washed it down with the last of his orange juice as he nodded his head. "Yea" he replied shortly, "Why? Do you need something done?" he asked. In his old school, some of the older guys would come to him to get him to draw things for their girlfriends. It wasn't for a while that he learned that the guys had been passing off his work as their own. Abel didn't seem like that kind of guy, but you never knew. Preston had been working on a couple of things here and there, but he hadn't really done any serious work since before the summer.