Closed New Home, Old Friends

[Lucy Holland]

As time passed and she got more settled at Hogwarts, Lucy was only getting more and more homesick. Now that the novelty was starting to wear off, the gaps were starting to show. Things she would have talked to Dad about, little habits she hadn't noticed until they were broken - all the small things that made up her normal, every day life were all in disarray. She was building new habits, of course, and surrounded by more friends than she had ever had in her life, but nothing was quite the way she was used to.

It was a relief, at least, that some of her school friends were old ones - catching up with Fiona and sharing a dorm with Elise had already gone a long way to make her feel at home. The combination of old friends and new adventures was making the whole situation easier to distract herself from, and she knew that it wouldn't be long until Hogwarts started to really feel like home. In the mean time, all she could do was eat her breakfast and think about the day ahead, trying to focus more on what was than what wasn't.

 

[Miro Morales-Albertson]

Miro would say he was settling into Hogwarts well. He had been wandering the castle whenever he could to get a better idea of where the possible secrets of the castle were - and to avoid getting lost and seeming like a clueless first year when it was obvious to everyone but him that he undeniably was - and he felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be, metaphorically and both literally. It was with this air of confidence, possibly arrogance as he was more confident than usual if this was possible, that Miro walked into the great hall, his shoulders squared and his head held high. He headed at first to the Gryffindor table for breakfast, however was soon stopped in his tracks when he spotted a familiar face in the form of Lucy Holland. Miro then bee-lined to the Ravenclaw table to sit next to her, smiling wide and pleased with the fact he had finally managed to see a familiar face amongst all of the older students and first years he didn't know just yet. It was refreshing and a relief to see something familiar in the middle of what was still a place so unknown to him, even in spite of his exploring.

"So you're in Ravenclaw." Miro said to announce his presence, nodding his head as he sat down. He thought there wasn't any point properly greeting Lucy, deciding that the manners his parents had taught him didn't truly matter when he was speaking to a friend instead of a professor or prefect. "That's cool. My dad was in Ravenclaw, he's smart or something." He kept talking, reaching in front of Lucy slightly to pick up a piece of toast and begin to add jam to it. "You're smart too then, I never would have known." Miro added jokingly, sticking his tongue out for a moment before he took his first bite of toast. "Are you enjoying it?" He added as he chewed, uncaring that he was talking with his mouth full.​

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy was jolted from her thoughts by a familiar voice, looking up with a bright smile. "MIRO!" She said cheerfully, pulling him into a quick one-armed hug as he sat down. "Yeah, it's really cool! The common room is so nice..." She said, trying to focus on the parts of Hogwarts that felt more welcoming. She rolled her eyes at his teasing, giving him a light elbow in the side in hopes of interrupting his toast-jam efforts. "I'm totally smart." She said pointedly. "And it's great. My dad and Phoebe are so stoked, they were both Ravenclaws too." She grinned. "How excited is Kauri for you? Gryffindor's pretty cool too."

 

[Miro Morales-Albertson]

Miro smiled a jammy and crumby smile as Lucy explained her dad and Phoebe had also been in Ravenclaw. He could imagine they were happy for her in the same way his own dad was for him even if he ended up in a different house to both his parents. Of course even if he wasn't in the same house as his mum or dad he did know his step dad Kauri was in Gryffindor and this was the next best thing for him. It was nice to know he shared a house with at least one person in his immediate family and he looked up to Kauri greatly, hoping the fact he was also in Gryffindor would mean one day Miro could be as fun and cool as Kauri was. Miro continued eating his toast, swallowing his mouthful and taking another bite if only so he could continue talking while he was in the midst of chewing. "Kauri's happy, even if I'm not Hufflepuff like mum or Ravenclaw like dad I am Gryffindor like my other dad, you know?" He answered, hoping even if he couldn't find the proper words to explain what he meant, that he was happy with how his sorting turned out and his family were of course equally as happy and supportive of him. "We should like look at yearbooks and stuff to see pictures of everyone when they were young." He suggested, thinking it would be fun to see Kauri at least when he was younger or at least get an idea of whether Hogwarts had changed since his parents had left.​

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy nodded when Miro explained, pleased that things had come out so well for him. "It makes sense that you'd take after him a bit, since he's been around forever." It was always a bit weird visiting Miro and seeing her scout leader just hanging out at home, especially knowing that he used to date Rose. It had never been an issue though, and Lucy had always liked Kauri. Her eyes lit up at Miro's next suggestion, nodding eagerly. "Yeah! They've gotta have the old yearbooks in the library or something, we should see if there are embarrassing pictures or something like that." She grinned at the thought, hoping to find really dorky pictures of her sisters she could tease them about later.

 

[Miro Morales-Albertson]

Miro nodded as he listened to Lucy, and continued to bite and chew mouthfuls of jam and toast. It was hardly the breakfast he needed to start his day, but similar to the day his breakfast was also getting started and he would gladly make himself a plate with eggs and fruit and even cereal if he felt like it if only so he could explore the castle for the next few hours with a contently full tummy. He laughed a little at Lucy's comment of Miro taking after Kauri. "Well I'd rather be more like Kauri than dad, he's too serious and Kauri's more fun." Miro wished he would end up just as fun and happy as Kauri was when he was an adult, and not boring and serious and... most importantly not boring. He liked to think he was much too fun to end up being a boring grown up. "I really wanna see the photos of the quidditch teams, so I know what to expect when I try out next year too." Miro added, not really giving a chance for Lucy to talk but also hardly noticing. "I bet there's some real funny ones of your sisters. You gotta owl them and tell them when we find them in the yearbooks okay???" Miro continued eating, kicking his feet that didn't quite touch the floor as he chewed. "Oh, what classes do we have together?" He soon asked after a pause, as almost an after thought as he finished eating his piece of toast. Classes were yet to start and Miro hadn't paid any attention to what his schedule would be, but he wouldn't be surprised if Lucy had, and she would be able to tell him which classes they shared so he could sit next to her.​

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy giggled at the comment, raising an eyebrow. "Hey, don't knock Ravenclaws!" She teased. "We can be fun too!" She knew what Miro meant about his dads, but she couldn't help teasing. She nodded eagerly when he mentioned the Quidditch teams. "Yeah, totally! I asked the Ravenclaw captain and he said I could try out this year if I wanted, so even if I don't make it I'm getting some practice for next year when I'll definitely get in." She grinned, flexing one arm and kissing her bicep. She nodded in agreement. "Totally. Oh man, Rose used to go out with Kauri, I wonder if there are pictures of them together! SO weird!" Lucy was usually able to forget that her oldest sister had had a bad breakup with Miro's stepdad so long ago, but it was definitely a weird thought. "Oh, hmmm..." Lucy got her schedule from her bag, skimming over it. "Let's see... I've got Potions, Transfig, Astronomy, Herbology, and Flying this semester."

 

[Miro Morales-Albertson]

Miro laughed a little at Lucy's comment Ravenclaws could be fun too. He was sure that was the case given Lucy was a Ravenclaw and in every other way he thought she was fun but at the same time he was sure he would also have fun pestering her about it. "Oh, I dunno, most of them are boring aren't they?" He joked, picking up a glass from the table and pouring himself some orange juice. "That means if we're each on a house team we can play against each other." He added, soon moving to take a big mouthful of his orange juice and afterwards wiping away some of the mess of jam on his face with the sleeve of his robes. "I bet I'll win." Miro added as another joke, entirely content to continue joking until Lucy commented her sister used to go out with Kauri. He felt his nose scrunch up and his brows furrow in disgust, not at Kauri nor roses sister but over the idea of dating in itself. "Ew." He said in response, thinking for a moment how gross and weird it would be to hold hands with a girl before shaking his head. He was thankful it wasn't long before Rose answered his question about their shared classes and changed the subject. "I think I have potions, I'm not sure. But if we have a class with Ravenclaws I'll sit with you, okay." Miro was happy to sit with students he didn't know when he needed to but as this was the start of his first year he also was happy to seek solace in being near the people he was already familiar with, Lucy being an example of this.​

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy crinkled her face up in distaste. "Nope, Ravenclaws are all super cool. I should know, I've been hanging out with loads." She said firmly. Her face lit up at the idea of playing Quidditch against each other. "Totally!" She said brightly. "What position are you trying out for? I wanna play Beater..." She flexed her arm and kissed her bicep, though there wasn't much there to kiss. If she got onto the team, she would have to start working out WAY more seriously. She beamed when Miro promised to sit with her in class, nodding eagerly. "We can be study buddies! As long as Ravenclaws aren't too boring." She added with a pointed look.

 

[Miro Morales-Albertson]

Miro still entirely thought he would win if he both made it on to the Gryffindor quidditch team next year, and also managed to play against the Ravenclaw team if Lucy made it on her own house team as well. He was border lining on arrogant about it and more so happy to playfully banter with his friend because that was the point, wasn't it? "Maybe I'll try out for beater too, just so I can hit you with bludgers. Good luck hitting me back with one!" Miro joked, truly having no idea of which position he wanted to try out for, but thinking he had plenty of time to decide during the year. Miro couldn't help but scrunch his nose again when Lucy suggested they study together, while he appreciated the offer he couldn't really see himself choosing to sit in the library and read books and write notes, which is all he imagined studying to be. "I'd only study if it means practicing all the cool spells we learn." He added, soon drinking another mouthful of his orange juice.​