New Year, New Attitude

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy went down to the Great Hall, ready to get his day underway. When he had entered the castle earlier that week to begin his second year in the school, he had made two promises to himself. The first was to continue getting all O's in his classes, and he knew that unless something unlucky happened to him or he had a terrible professor or something, that it wouldn't be difficult to accomplish. His other goal, though, could be a failure right from the start. He wanted to make some friends this year and not just people he said hi and goodbye to in class, because he certainly already had a few of those. No, Jeremy wanted people he actually knew something about besides their schedules.

With this in mind, Jeremy entered the extremely large room and headed to his house table, which was relatively empty. A few of the older students were there, and if Jeremy were a little braver, he might have sat near them. Instead, he took a seat on the opposite corner and began to scoop some eggs and then some sausage onto his plate.

 

[Briony Harper]

It was about time for breakfast, and Briony's stomach growled quietly under her black and blue uniform. She was not to skip breakfast for she was generally unresponsive to any sort of lesson or conversation if she had missed the first meal of the day. "Good morning." She greeted nonchalantly to another male Ravenclaw. She had sat beside him before, and although he seemed like a nice guy they had never really spoken before.

She piled a few eggs on her plate along with some ham and chowed down, feeling better and better as she continued to eat. Her eyes grew more awake, and she felt the familiar burst of energy. "I'm sorry...but I don't think we've ever been formally introduced. I'm Briony Harper."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

With his mouth full of egg, Jeremy simply nodded his head as the Ravenclaw sat beside him. He'd seen her in his classes before so he knew that she was a second year Ravenclaw just like him, but he had no clue what her name was. He quickly realized that he should probably say something to her. You are trying to make friends and there's someone right in front of you, he reminded himself.

Before he could say a word though, the girl broke the silence looking more energized than she had a moment before. As soon as he heard her name, he nodded his head. That's her name, he thought to himself, knowing he'd heard it before. "No, I don't think we have. I'm Jeremy Thorne. Nice to meet you Briony." He gave her a small smile before picking up his juice. There. That wasn't so hard, he discovered, quite pleased with himself for having done that little bit. "How was your vacation?" he asked, knowing that it was a question that would require him to listen more than speak. Listening he was good at, speaking...not so much.

 

[Briony Harper]

"Nice to meet you too, Jeremy." Briony smiled a little shyly. She was unsure of what to say next, and was happily relieved when he asked her about her vacation. "It was okay. I visited Brightstone a lot with my family. Got my school supplies.... I didn't have to get new robes though...these still fit, luckily." Her family was not poor, but they had a lot of expenses now seeing as her little brother Daniel started Hogwarts this year. It could get pricey when dealing with a First Year.

"What about yours?"

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy continued to eat while he listened to Briony tell him about her summer. It sounded like she'd actually had a decent one even though she only spoke about going to Brightstone. When she asked about his summer, Jeremy finished off the last bite of his breakfast as he shrugged. "It was ok too. I was just in my backyard most of the time, and then I came to New Zealand with my mom right before school to pick up my supplies."

He picked up his juice and took a sip wondering what he should say next. "Did you see our schedules for this term? I don't think they're half bad."

 

[Briony Harper]

"You don't live in New Zealand?" Briony asked curiously. She was beginning to get more and more interested in Jeremy. He seemed like and interesting guy, and she wanted to learn more about him.

"Did you see our schedules for this term? I don't think they're half bad."

"I did. We'll have an easy term."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy shook his head when Briony asked if he was from New Zealand. "Nope. Do you? I'm from the United States. Maine. Have you ever heard of it?" he asked in a friendly way. Even some people who were from the United States barely knew the state. It was as far Northeast as one could get without leaving the United States. He was glad that she agreed with him about their having an easy term. "Yea, it seems so." The conversation seemed to be going fairly smoothly even if Jeremy wasn't saying much. Briony seemed to be a nice girl and as Jeremy finished his juice, he was thinking that he was glad she had sat down beside him.

 

[Briony Harper]

Briony thought for a few seconds when he asked her if she had ever heard of Maine. Although she had read a great deal of books set in the United States, she had to shake her head no. "I haven't...I'll have to look up that state." She wondered what kind of history it had, and how big it was. "Do you like living there?" She asked. Briony wondered why he insisted on coming all the way to New Zealand, when there was a Salem Witch's Institute in the USA for American witch's and wizards. She decided to ask, hoping he wouldn't take offense. "Why did you decide to come to Hogwarts New Zealand? There's a school in the USA..."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy smiled as Briony said that she would have to look the state up. He had half expected her to say that. When she asked whether he liked living there, Jeremy shrugged. “It’s ok, I guess. There aren’t many wizard families around though.” He only knew of one other family who lived in his area and they didn’t have any children his age, so he didn’t really care. Her next question made Jeremy pause for a second. No one had asked him that yet, though it was a rather obvious question to ask. It was probably because not many people knew anything about him. “Yea, I know…my parents went to Salem” he smiled and shrugged again, “but they didn’t want my sister and me going to that school.” He continued, saying more to Briony than he’d ever said to anyone else in the school. “My dad’s an auror and my mom works as a magical lawyer, so my parents thought it’d be safer to have us in schools outside of the states, so my sister goes to the other Hogwarts and I’m here.” He was glad that he hadn’t ended up in the same school as his sister as it would have been unbearable to live in her shadow.