Searching For Connection

[Satchel Howard]

Stacks of books almost obscured Satchel Howard from view. He'd finished his homework well over an hour before, but since it was quite close to dinner time, wanted to avoid being around the halls in case he ran into some cousin or other. He knew Sybil was likely to physically harm him should she find him. He hadn't seen his cousins since returning to school, and barely saw his siblings. None of them knew why. Usually at this time of year, they had a big family meeting, to discuss tactics for the year, pick out which professors they liked, which students required particularly "special" attention and such. Satchel hated it.

He'd decided to amuse himself by looking through old yearbooks, and had stumbled upon a picture of his father in his fifth year in the 2029-2030 edition. He'd taken after his mother in looks, he had her dark eyes and hair; understandable given his blonde, blue-eyed father, but Danton was the parent he was closer to. Looking at him beside his aunt, Danielle it was easy to see how alike they were. Aunt Danielle had long hair in the pictures, but neither of them looked particularly different. Then again, wizards aged slowly. He couldn't help wondering what his Dad had been like as a teenager, he was certainly the softer of his parents. Had he always been that way? He knew his father hadn't particularly liked school, but it seemed like none of the Howards did, another way in which Satchel was something of a black sheep.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

It wasn't unusual for the Slytherin to be in the library already, at this time of year. in her mind, she had plenty of things to do and one of them was to write a letter to her cousins from her father's side about how Lavinia was doing. Of course she had to be the one to do it, since Lavinia forgot and it had been requested of her from her aunt and uncle. Apparently, Sara was the most responsible and the least forgetful when it came to these things. She was almost done, and she'd decided not to include the part about the Revolution thing that had gone wrong. She knew they didn't need to hear that sort of thing, especially since Sara's cousin liked to get involved in things she believed in, and well, it didn't always go as planned. If things calmed down, maybe she would let Lavinia mention it to them herself, if she wanted.

The third year folded up the letter and placed it safely in her bag before taking out her homework and finally starting on it. The reading part of it was good, it was an easy task, however the actual writing bit of essays wasn't. Not always, at least. Sometimes, she had a lot of inspiration. Sara furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as she worked, trying her hardest to complete it to the best of her ability in the little time she had left before she had to go back to the common room to put away her things before she would meet up with her family. Sara grinned as she finished. Just as she was packing up she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. Confused, the girl got up, leaving her belongings and walking towards the sound. It turned out to be one of her classmates, though she didn't know his name. "Hi," she spoke up and looked at what he was holding. "You okay? You look a bit troubled," she said gently, noticing the expression on his face.

 

[Satchel Howard]

Satchel sometimes wondered if other people had the same odd relationship with their parents as he had. He didn't like his mother. She was loud and hysterical, she annoyed him. He liked his father, Danton was a quiet man, and his temper had cooled with age. He was unhappy, Satchel had been able to see that from a young age. The only people he lit up with were his children, and his twin. Even Danielle couldn't get a smile from him sometimes. Satchel's fondest memories were sitting on the floor of his father's study scribbling on old potions orders while his father worked. For everyone but Satchel, the study was off-limits, but the boy was quiet, and disliked the loudness of the rest of the house. Someone was always running or arguing. Danton had recognised quite early on that of the triplets, Satchel was the most like him, if a little more gentle, and so the boy had been allowed entry.

He heard other people talk about missing their family when in Hogwarts, but he liked to escape. He liked being away from the noise. Staring fixedly at the picture of his father, he couldn't help wondering if his children would one day feel the same way. He hoped not. The voice pulled him away from the book and he looked up to see a girl who looked vaguely familiar. "You're in my year." was his first greeting, before he checked himself, "I'm okay, I was looking at the yearbooks, this is my father." Pointing at the blonde in the picture, he held it up for her to see, "I don't look like him, I look like my mother, but I'm more like my father." The words Mum and Dad had never crossed Satchel's lips. "I'm Satchel, Satchel Howard." A lot of students had laughed at his name before, but he was proud of it. He was a Howard, and even with all their problems, they were a proud and ancient family. He was proud to be one of them.

 

[Sara Benivieni]

When the boy responded, it wasn't really what Sara had expected, but then what did she expect? She smiled at him, trying to make the situation seem less awkward and more friendly. She didn't want anything from him, just maybe befriend him. That was always a possibility, wasn't it? "Yeah, my name is Sara! You're in Gryffindor, right?" she asked, though she was sure she was right. It wasn't that hard remembering who was in which house, though if Sara had hardly spoken to the person then there was less of a chance she would remember correctly.

She glanced at the picture of his dad, maybe he missed his parents. Sara squinted as the boy talked, and she didn't say anything until he finished and then introduced himself. The third year furrowed her eyebrows because his name sounded vaguely familiar but she wasn't sure why. Satchel, as he had introduced himself, didn't look like his father, that she could agree with. "More like your father, in what way?" she said curiously, glancing at Satchel and then back at the photo.

Out of Character:

I‘m sorry this reply kinda sucks!