Small Troubles

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had all but fled the castle, wanting to make sure he lumped himself up with the big crowd leaving before his mother caught him and made him do some more studying. He was definitely a lot better about handing in homework this month, but it was all so boring. The eleven year old couldn't wait for the month to be up, even if he was going to miss the cookies that his mother usually gave him during his sessions. It wasn't until he was standing in the middle of the village that Jacob realized he didn't have much of a plan of what to do today. Really, his plan was just to escape the castle.

What was worse, he quickly realized, was that he'd forgotten his small sack of allowance money. And, as he glanced back at the castle, he knew there was no way he was going back. That would just be asking for trouble. Kicking at some of the fallen leaves, Jacob grumbled to himself as he stuffed his hands in his hoodie and kept walking, watching as his school mates flooded in and out of shops already with candy and other stuff.

 

[Zennon Baros]

The Brightstone weekend was finally here and Zennon almost cheered. He'd been looking forward to the weekend because he had to buy some more treats or something to make things better. He was hoping to maybe find something he could buy for Gwen, since she was probably still mulling over their encounter in the Courtyard and honestly, Zennon was a little concerned about seeing her. He'd made it down to Brightstone in record time and raced through the shops to find what he wanted. Zig zagging around people to avoid getting stuck behind slow walkers, the bane of his existence. Finally he broke free of the crowd and slowed down somewhat, pulling his money out of his pocket to see how much he had to work with.

He hadn't been expecting to walk into someone though and looked up when he did so, grinning at the back of a familiar head. "King Jay!" Honestly he was a little surprised he'd managed to get out of the castle. He wasn't sure what Jacob had done though, Zennon didn't like not seeing him. "Hey, are you okay, you look all broody."
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Hearing his nickname, Jacob turned and gave his friend a small smile. Outside of classes, Jacob didn't see Zennon all that much lately. He'd been busy getting tutored by Tristan and then stuck in the common room during curfew. Jacob was trying to tow the straight and narrow, not wanting to run into Pendleton if he snuck out. Jacob was about to explain to Zennon what had happened, that he'd come to Brightstone with no money, but then stopped himself. He didn't want Zennon to think he was asking him to share money. Jacob was too proud for that. "Nah, I'm fine. Just trying to figure out what I'm gonna do. What about you? What have you got planned for today, Boxers?" he asked, hand still stuffed in his pockets. Since they hadn't seen each other, they hadn't made any plans. Jacob figured Analei was probably involved. He hadn't realized how close they were until the Valentine's day party. Not that Jacob would bring that up. He hadn't been especially proud of how he'd behaved once he'd had some time to think about it all.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon nodded at Jacob, but wasn't sure he believed him. Oh well, he was sure Jacob would tell him if it was something really important. He nodded as he looked down at the money still in his hand and pushed it back into his pockets. "I don't have any plans as such, though I want to do a bit of shopping. I may or may not have said something not so nice to a friend and I want to apologise to her. It wasn't so much what I said really as the way I acted, which wasn't really great." He said, shrugging. Hopefully if he found something, he would be able to give it to Gwen as an apology and hopefully she would understand that he hadn't meant any of what had happened. He didn't want her to think that he just want around like that all the time. He was usually really nice person. "Did you have any plans, I'm thinking of going to get something to eat, I skipped breakfast in all my excitement, did you want to come?"
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob listened to Zennon and nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. He was just surprised to hear that his Slytherin friend had done such a thing. As far as he knew, Zennon was always friendly and funny and just all around great. To know that he wasn't perfect made Jacob like him even more because he definitely wasn't perfect either. Hesitating for only a brief second, Jacob agreed to go with him. He did want to hang out with Zennon more, especially since they hadn't done much of that this semester. "Sure, I'll go with you. I ate though so hope you don't mind me just watching" he nudged his friend's arm with his elbow. As they walked on, Jacob kicked at the dirt still as they walked. "Your friend probably knows you don't always act that way, right? And that you were probably just having a weird day?" he asked, also sort of talking about himself. He wasnt really concerned with what Analei thought about him as much as he cared what Zennon did.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon grinned as Jacob agreed to go with him for food. "Awh, that'll be really weird, how were you not too excited to eat?" He asked, shkaing his head and heading in the direction he'd been going before he ran into his friend. Having Jacob watch him eat was going to be super weird, so maybe he'd just get something quick and easy to go. He wouldn't feel as weird if they were walking and talking whilst he was eating. Zennon shrugged and sighed when Jacob spoke again. He really wasn't sure by this point, he thought Gwen might have been avoiding him actually. "Erm, maybe. I don't know. I reacted badly to a confusing situation and I think I scared her, or hurt her. Either way I'm almost positive she's actively avoiding me." He admitted. Surprised he was willing to talk about it. "She completely ignored me in Herbology the other day. It upset me, you know?" Maybe what he really needed to do was just talk to her. Maybe not tell her the truth, he just couldn't do that, but maybe make something up that was more believable than the excuse he'd pulled out of nowhere originally.
​

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob shrugged his shoulders, a smirk on his face. The Gryffindor never turned down food, but today he knew he’d have to hold out until he returned to the castle. As they continued to walk, Jacob listened to Zennon explain his situation. When Zennon mentioned that the person was in their Herbology class, he knew it was either a Slytherin or Gryffindor since they were the ones in the class. Out of curiosity, Jacob wondered who it was but he knew that he didn’t really need to know in order to give advice. Not that Zennon was asking for any, but Jacob couldn’t hold his tongue when it was clear that his friend was upset. “Have you tried talking to her, Boxers?” he asked. It was what he would do if he was upset with someone, go right up to them and ask them what was going on. “Maybe she wants you to say sorry?” he added, feeling once again, that perhaps he should probably take his own advice and seek Analei out. Really, he hadn’t known what had come over him that day. It wasn’t that he was particularly concerned about their friendship since they weren’t great friends, but it wasn’t as if she was Diana, and he didn’t want it to become that kind of situation.

 

[Maggie Majors]

Being out in Brightstone was one of the only times Maggie felt like she could actually breath. Once she'd been excited to attend Hogwarts, curious to learn real magic and not just play fairytales, but the reality of it had been much scarier for the Hufflepuff, and if she could avoid it she most certainly would. With Chaser busy visiting Aminia, Maggie had been left to her own devices but that didn't mean she wouldn't be exploring by herself if she had to. She'd been tempted to invite the one friend she had managed to make, although before leaving the school Pippa looked much too comfortable to interrupt, and as such the first year had disappeared by herself.

Headphones securely over her ears, blasting out the songs that gave her a familiar comfort, Maggie was walking in time to the beat as she peered through the windows of the shops. There really were some unusual things on offer, and some that seemed as though they'd stepped right out of one her games. She practically felt a chill run through her body when she passed Honeydukes and spotted the moving chocolate frogs. She saw the students before she heard them. Glancing up to confirm that she was definitely looking at two students from her classes, she pulled back from the music, letting the headphones rest at the base of her neck, "Hi," she gave them a small wave, although only now realising they looked as though they were in the middle of a conversation.
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[Zennon Baros]

As they continued walking, Zennon started wondering if maybe Jacob was right. Perhaps this was escalating like it was because he hadn't just tried to sit and have a conversation with Gwen. He wouldn't even know where to start though. "You're probably right. I guess I was avoiding her about as much as she was avoiding me." Talking to Jacob about this had been a good decision. Though he didn't know what Zennon had actually done, it seemed he was pretty good at advice. Zennon shouldered Jacob slightly. "Is it because of your dad you're so good at advice?" He laughed poking his tongue into his cheek. Spending time with Jacob always managed to make him feel better. It was good company that he was sincerely glad for. After everything between him and Analei he had hoped their friendship hadn't taken a hit, though he still wasn't sure what that had all actually been about. "I'll go talk to her after this I think. She's probably going to be in the library, so she shouldn't be too hard to find I hope."

Zennon was about to say something else when they were interrupted by another voice. She had to be in about their year. Zennon turned and gave her a pleasant smile. She had interrupted the flow of conversation, but that didn't matter. "Hi, I'm Zennon." He said, before noticing the things in her ears. Headphones? "Listening to the radio are you?"
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Zennon seemed to agree with his advice, and that made Jacob smile. What made him smile even more was when his friend bumped into him slightly. He shrugged. "I guess so. Probably doesn't help my mother's a Head of House too" he replied. He'd never really thought of himself as a good advice giver, but he figured when you asked for so much of it yourself, you ended up remembering some of those nuggets of wisdom to help other people. "We have a library?" he asked straight faced for a few seconds but breaking into a grin a few moments later. He couldn't say more though because there was a girl waving at them. Jacob briefly wondered if she knew Zennon, but realized he didn't know her when he introduced himself. "Jacob" he added after, vaguely recognizing the girl from flying perhaps. "Anything good on the wizarding network?" he asked. He loved listening to music at home.

 

[Hudson Worth]

Hudson had never considered going to Brightstone during his first year. He often thought it would be smaller than the castle grounds and he'd more likely run into his older cousin there and would rather stay out of her vision. She tried to be nice but he knew she thought he was weird and odd. He knew he was. Walking along this time however he thought she might be too busy with her boyfriend and friends to even see him if they did cross paths. Heading out with a bit of money in his pocket, it felt like a nice day. He wanted to buy some candy, the tasty kinds he never got to enjoy at home. The first person he spotted was the first year he helped with the stairs, he stopped in the distance unsure what to do. He hardly ever saw anyone more than once a year it seemed. Now this younger student seemed to be popping up. He learned from talk around the school he was the son of the Gryffindor Head. He did recognize the other students standing nearby so he decided to turn and pretend he wasn't paying attention to the group. Hudson was really just an awkward conversationalist, he couldn't imagine talking in a group and having to pretend they were all interesting. He mostly wondered if the young student managed to figure out the stairs or if he used the stairs Hudson had shown him.
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[Maggie Majors]

Maggie thought it was too late for her to turn back now, she'd already made her presence known. She nodded to one of the boys as they spoke to her. "I am Maggie." she said in her light Korean accent. Being in New Zealand had certainly helped her vocabulary, and she was finding that she was picking up words much quicker now that she was constantly saturated with English. "There are a few songs of pop if you like that sort of music," she said with a smile, knowing that Pippa would have liked to listen with her if she was here. The first year nodded her head as the second boy introduced himself, and she was pretty sure that he had been the one to make the funny yet inappropriate joke in their class recently. Maggie pulled the headphones from around her neck, offering them towards the pair as she'd been taught that it was kind to share, "Do you want to listen?" she asked, knowing it was not always easy to listen to the radio now that they were at school. If they were anything like her they would have missed the background noise, especially when they had work to do. Maggie's voice was intentionally getting quieter as she subconsciously became aware of more students in the vicinity, suddenly feeling more vulnerable now that she didn't have the headphones on to block out the rest of the noise. "Are you shopping for something on purpose?" she asked, curious to know if there was a shop in mind they were going to. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to make new friends.
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[Zennon Baros]

Zennon nodded and laughed at Jacob. He was sure having a mother as the head of house was pretty terrible, but then, he'd also heard about that lady who'd died in the Daily Prophet. He'd heard through the grapevine that it had been a friend of Professor Kingsley's so he could only assume that Jacob had known her too. Maybe these were the kind of conversations that they had regularly. They were a family who was quite clearly thrust into the spot light after all. Zennon had never felt like it was his place to comment. He raised his eyebrow at first when Jacob mentioned not knowing about a library, but the facade fell almost as quickly and Zennon found himself laughing again. "Aye, a bloody big one too. Every time I go in there I have to find my way out again, it's like a maze in there and there's a restricted section and everything." He winked at Jacob.

Zennon smiled at Maggie as she introduced herself. He watched the headphones and grinned wider at her as he took one and stuck it to his ear to listen. He wasn't used to a lot of music unless it came out of the radio in his room, but it was never a good idea to turn the radio on in the common room. Especially not with some of the people he had to share a room with. "I mostly listen to wicked rock, you know it? The one with the fancy sounds?" He asked as she listened to some of her music before handing it back. "I want to go shipping a little later, but we're going for something to eat at the moment, do you want to come?"
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob's interest in the library had been piqued by the mention of a restricted section. Now that was an interesting concept, and he wondered what it would take to get in there. Listening to the girl, Jacob looked around, his eyes falling on a familiar face a small distance away. A smile crossed the eleven year old's face and he held up a hand in greeting to the slightly older boy though he wasn't sure if he noticed since he wasn't looking in their direction. He hadn't seen him since that whole embarrassing encounter a few months back.

He tuned back in when he heard Zennon mention what type of music he listened to. The Gryffindor' s nose wrinkled slightly, wondering what kind of rock he liked. He could hear the music faintly as Zennon listened. The song sounded vaguely familiar. "He's going for something to eat " Jacob corrected, letting Maggie know that she wouldn't be alone if she chose to not eat. "Mostly I'm just following him" he grinned.