Closed The Snake and the Lion

[Apollo Bixby]

He thought that the Hat had made a mistake putting him in Gryffindor. He wasn't at all brave or courageous or all of the other traits that made people Gryffindors. Well, he was biased of course, the only two people he knew and somewhat trusted were both sorted into Slytherin, which he thought would be a good fit for him also after talking to his godfather about all the houses - the Hat obviously thought differently about that, and maybe he would too at the end of the year. Apollo entered the Great Hall, hoping that Juno would be here for breakfast already. Even though they weren't in the same house, the Gryffindor still wanted to be her friend and explore the castle together and even go the classes together, as surely they would have some of them with together this year. Once Apollo spotted the girl, he hurriedly walked over towards her. For a brief moment, he wondered if different houses were allowed to sit at each other's tables, though found that their friendship would mean more to him than some stupid rule. Apollo sat down next to Juno and smiled brightly at her. ''So, what're we having for breakfast?'' he asked the girl, hoping that he wouldn't have startled her by sitting down next to her all the sudden.

 

[Juniper Steele]

Juno was still fuming that she’d been put into Slytherin. All she wanted to do was hang out with her friends and watch the stars, and she’d been shoved in the dungeons with a bunch of strangers. Admittedly her new dorm mates seemed to have the same problems, so at least they could all bond together about how unhappy they were down there.

It was breakfast time though, which meant Juno was able to head back up to the Great Hall, which had already forgone the previous days decorations for a more traditional style, and she’d taken a seat at the end of the Slytherin table by herself, where she proceeded to pick at the food. It was meant to be a brand new start for the first year, in a place she could actually call her home for once, but she was already having reservations as to whether or not she even belonged in this school. She was shaken by thought last however when someone took a seat beside her, and the blonde shot her head up to see that Apollo had come to join her too. She was more glad than she cared to admit, that he’d come to keep her company, but she still had a looming sense that they shouldn’t be friends. If they didn’t stay friends for whatever reason, it would just be yet another person she let down and they’d both be disappointed. She shrugged when he asked her what was for breakfast. It seemed strange that they had an entire castle at their disposal, and here they were, sat at the most obvious table in the most visited part of the school. Wasn’t she here to find out things that people on the outside world couldn’t know?

Juno places down her food that had been tackling a single slice of bacon on her plate, and reached over to grab a couple of rolls and cakes, tucking them into her napkin and sliding them into her back with a small glance to the Gryffindor. “Have whatever you want. Might as well stock up though,” she said, closing her bag beside her. She wanted to go and enjoy her free days doing things that once classes started, would become more difficult.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo watched as Juno packed her back with food and furrowed his brows. ''Hold on, hold on,'' the Gryffindor said, ''I don't know where you're off to, but I haven't had a proper breakfast yet,'' he told her. He thought he had an inkling of what she wanted to do but it was way too early for him to start exploring the castle. And besides that, it had taken him at least twenty minutes to reach the entrance hall, he could to with a little bit of rest before he'd be off wandering through the castle. ''Do you know how long it took me to find my way to the Great Hall? It's freaking huge, this castle is. Let's plan a bit first, yeah?'' Apollo said. Ignoring a couple of odd looks thrown his way by other Slytherin students at the table, the Gryffindor chugged as much scrambled eggs and bacon on his plate as was possible and filled his cup with milk. ''Mom always says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day,'' he told her before shoving the scrambled eggs into his mouth. Sure he was just as eager as her to start exploring the enormous castle but not on an empty stomach.

 

[Juniper Steele]

Juno had been read to up and out there and then, and had just about stood up when Apollo stopped her. She signed, remaining in her seat as she received an earful from the Gryffindor about planning, as though the Lions were supposed to actually do that. Weren't Gryffindors meant to be fun and spontaneous? "Yeah, well did your mom get to eat her breakfast overlooking the mountains from the tower of a castle?" she retorted, putting her elbows on the table and crossing her arms. She was saving her food for when she was high up in the sky, somewhere she could actually enjoy herself rather than in the Great Hall. She suppressed and eye roll and he started to eat some eggs and milk, neither of which agreed with the Slytherin. She knew they'd have plenty of time to explore, but she also didn't have any time to waste. "Is that why it took you so long to get down here? You got lost?" she asked, unable to keep the patronising tone out of her voice. She didn't mean to be so cruel to someone who was probably the only person who would be considered a friend right now, but given how new everything was, her defences were high.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

He shrugged at Juno's reply and said, ''Well, you've got to ask her that, but I don't think Mom would have breakfast overlooking the mountains from a tower. Scared of heights, you know.'' Whether or not the Slytherin had forgotten that neither of his parents went to Hogwarts themselves didn't matter. ''Oh I'm sorry,'' the Gryffindor began. ''Didn't know that I was supposed to memorise the entire castle on my first day here'' Apollo retorted. It was just stupid of the girl to think that he would know the way down to the Great Hall on their first day here. They did not have a map nor someone who was helping them by telling them how to get to a certain place in the castle. And it wasn't exactly as close to the Gryffindor common room as her own common room was. ''Relax, will you? We've got seven years to explore the castle and learn every secret there is. For now, eat and tell me about the Slytherin common room, what's it like? Ours is really comfy,'' Apollo said whilst taking another mouthful of the scrambled eggs on his plate.

 

[Juniper Steele]

Juno just stares back at her food, resisting making some sort of remark to the boy she wished she could be friend with instead of argue with. Obviously if she had a fear of heights then it wouldn’t have worked. She was even more silent when Apollo spoke up about not yet knowing the castle. It wasn’t that they were meant to have learnt it, but it was the only route they’d taken so far since yesterday. Forced to sit and eat at the table, Juno picked up her fork once more, picking at bacon on her plate. She wasn’t used to others putting their foot down on her ideas. As the gryffindor told her about his common room, it angered her even more that she hadn’t been out into one of the houses she’d wanted. “Ours is disgusting. It’s damp and cold, nothing comfortable about it. There isn’t even a window in our dormitory,” she said, looking disappointed. “Me and the others girls are going to redecorate it though.” She was looking forward to being able to put painting around their room, but she had hoped she’d have been sorted into Ravenclaw and she wouldn’t have to.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Shoving his mouth full with the last of the eggs and bacon on his plate, Apollo listened to Juno talk. It saddened him to hear that Juno wasn't as excited about her common room as he was about his. The upside to it being that apparently she wasn't to only one in her house that disliked the look of their common room and dormitory. ''If you need any posters of the All Blacks let me know, I brought them all with me... the posters, I mean.'' Apollo didn't want for Juno to dislike Hogwarts over it as school would surely be less enjoyable without her. He downed the cup of milk down in one gulp and pushed the empty plate to the side. The sight of him having finished his breakfast would cheer her up for sure.

 

[Juniper Steele]

Juno watched with a face of disgust as Apollo finished off his dinner with very few manners. She could even look at him as he was eating, it out her off her own food. “The who,” She asked, she didn’t know who was all black but she was pretty sure she didn’t need any more black posters in her room, their dormitory was already too dark as it was. He seemed to be enjoying his breakfast and the girl had to look away, pushing her own plate to the side as she was now very out off. “Are you done yet?” She asked, hoping they could actually go back upstairs already. “This place is boring, it doesn’t make you feel like home, you’re just.. clumped together and expected to get along with whoever they deem to have similar personalities. This is so dumb,” Juno had been furious since she got here and it didn’t show any signs of slowing.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

He almost choked on his food when she asked him who the All Blacks were. ''You don't know? Man, you wizards are really missing out on something,'' Apollo said with a grin, happy to have finally found something that he knew more about than her. ''It's the New Zealand rugby team, you know what rugby is?'' If she didn't, she would most likely have to listen to him for hours explaining what rugby was and that his country's team was one of the best teams in the world. He smiled at her and nodded his head, cleaning his fingers with one of the many napkins on the table. ''Are you sure you don't want to eat something here?'' Apollo asked. He was about to repeat to her that breakfast was the most important meal of the day but after hearing what she said, almost wished that he hadn't asked her. He stood up from the bench and put his backpack on. ''Ready when you are,'' He saluted.