The streets of London

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

Kyle was finally in London. It felt so good to be home, even if it was going to be just for the holidays. The seasons felt right again and he was loving the winter snow. He had been very delighted and a little surprised when his father had managed to find some time and take his whole family for a skiing trip. Kyle had never enjoyed himself more and he was in a very good mood. His grades too were excellent and he had got straight O's in all the subjects. He hoped he would maintain the same grades for the subjects that he would be taking next term. His happiness however had soon faded as the new year came. It was just second of January and his father was back at work. In fact, this time his father was invited to a witches and wizards gathering to celebrate the coming of the new year and new hope. Kyle wondered why the party had not taken place on New Year's eve but his mother had been kind to explain him that many people would be busy and so it was happening now. Wizarding or muggle associated, this young gryffindor was not a big fan of parties especially where he was told to behave and look 'presentable' Kyle had to put on a suit. Luckily even his father thought he looked bad in robes and he was allowed to wear suits. He stood there in a circle which involved many witches and wizards, all from England dressed in fancy and rich robes and wearing different sorts of exotic wizard's hats. Kyle greeted a few of them with a smile fake smile as his father introduced him. He was not at all interested in knowing how much land which wizard owned where. He knew his father was a very rich and they had many estates all over the world and their broomstick manufacturing company made some of the finest brooms. He did not need to hear that information being repeated time and again by his father and people who saw his father as a role model. "Excuse me" Kyle said as he stepped out of the social circle where the witches and wizards stood chatting away.

Kyle walked a little watching the other guests trying look for people his own age. There were very few people he could see who were his age and apparently all of them seemed to know each other. The obvious reason for this was that they went to Hogwarts Scotland. Kyle knew that his family was very rich but he knew very well that other teenagers from wizarding families were not going to find this to be a good enough reason to get to know Kyle. He had felt neglected many times and he was not knew to this feeling. Sighing he walked a little more in the hall were the party was taking place. He took a glass of butterbeer from one of the waiters that was serving drinks. He sipped some butterbeer and he wondered if he would be able to escape this party.

 

[Collin Cambridge]

Out of all the 'things' Collin hates, parties are definitely on the top 5 list. Being a rich man's child and all, people expect him to be used to this activity but he knew better than to have any common interest with his sister Jessica. Most of the parties Collin attend are mostly about his father's clients' special events or his mother's fashionable friends' tea or birthday parties. It was pretty tiring, really. To attend all these nonsense parties. He guess he have to attend his father's friends' parties since he'll be taking over the company eventually but he doesn't get why his mother have to bring him on one of those boring parties that only Jessica and all the other girls would be happy to attend. Collin tugged his suit uncomfortably. It was clearly uncomfortable, this one. It was much too tight for him and he doesn't fancy the color. Collin was now inside this huge mansion along with his mother and Jessica. The entire Cambridge family were invited to this party but his father would not come due to certain meetings with his coworkers and their clients. This party was intended for people with magical blood (although, nobody mentioned it was so) as what Collin guessed so he thought that maybe another reason why his father refused to come had to do with his blood status being Muggle. Collin looked at Jessica suspiciously as she chatted away with a couple of girls. Collin never understood how quickly Jessica blends in the picture. Despite of being that brat girl, she never fails to be that social butterfly. Collin, on the other hand, remained lukewarm. There weren't many teenagers in this party. The majority of the population occupying this mansion were middle-aged and it was pretty hard to find any social interaction with whom Collin is sure that is not one of Jess's clones.

As Collin was busy drinking the rest of his pumpkin juice, a loud crkk! came across the room. Collin jerked his head in curiousness and found that old woman his mother introduced to him earlier, spilled Butterbeer on a waiter and dropped the glass too. Collin smirked at what he saw. He guessed maybe the Butterbeer eventually made the woman too drunk or if she was simply really old. Collin shook his head and went through the crowd. He decided to explore the party. To see if there were any familiar faces on this event. Eventually, he found one, as he was walking near the window pane. He doesn't know what the boy's name was but Colin was sure he'd seen him walking along the old corridors of Hogwarts New Zealand. Collin approached him and took a closer look at his features. He recognized his young sturdy face as one of the freshmen Gryffindor students. He seen him on the common room a lot but never had exchanged conversation with him. Although, he remembered to congratulate him when he got into Gryffindor. Collin eyed his Butterbeer, impressed. The third year never drinks Butterbeer. He dislikes the taste. He prefer pumpkin juice, like what he was drinking at the moment. He made a tsk noise loud enough for the freshman to hear. "You shouldn't drink too much of that." He said, nodding towards the glass's direction. "You heard the loud thump back there, I presume. Wouldn't want that to happen to you now, would we?" He joked as he gave him a teasing smirk and a shrug.

 

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

Kyle stood in the hall watching his father continue talking with people. He wasn't interested in watching his father. No, he was watching the man because he wanted to escape this party, for a while, at least and he wanted to make sure his father would not catch him doing so. The manor were the party was located was very big, not as big as theirs but big enough to make one forget where they had entered from. Kyle took another sip of his butterbeer as he tried to recall the way in and out of this place. His thoughts were interrupted as some woman dropped her glass on a poor waiter. He walked a few steps away from the scene because he did not want his father to catch him lurking around and not going back to join his group. As a voice spoke to him, Kyle was a bit startled. He was not expecting anyone to talk to him at this party other than his father but the voice and person whom it belonged to were quite young. He watched the familiar looking face for a minute taking in the words that were being said to him. His cheeks turned red as the boy told him not to have too much of butterbeer. Kyle knew he was just being teased lightly and he did not mind but he knew he would never be drunk like the old woman and spill stuff on waiters. "She probably had other alcohol stuff mixed in" Kyle said trying to hide his smile as he indirectly tried to defend butterbeer. Kyle had only been allowed to drink it after he was ten and only a glass at one time. He was very sure that it was not alcoholic. "Don't you get tired of drinking pumpkin juice?"he asked the boy eyeing the drink he had. Kyle liked pumpkin juice but it was always being served in Hogwarts and everywhere else and sometimes that was just boring.

"I'm Kyle Cavanaugh by the way. You're in Gryffindor right, from Hogwarts New Zealand?" he said introducing himself and making sure that he was right in identifying the boy. Kyle remembered to have seen him around and maybe even gotten a congratulations from him on making it into Gryffindor. "Happy New Year" he said trying to be nice because he did not know what else to say. It was a late New Year's Party and he did not expect everyone to hate parties like he did and not wishing someone would be rude. Kyle looked a little around where they stood and no one else seemed to be hanging around waiting for the boy to finish his conversation so Kyle took it he was not in a hurry. "You're here with your family?"he asked wondering if the boy's parents knew his father. He wouldn't be surprised if they knew each other. After all, there were a few rich families in the wizarding world in England and London to be specific and they would be bound to know each other.

 

[Collin Cambridge]

Collin Cambridge continued to drink his pumpkin juice. It reminded him of Hogwarts and how much he missed it. The party was getting more tedious as it is. There's nothing to do except eat and talk. Collin would pretty much give everything just to go back to his family's mansion and inside the drawing room where he could find peace. The Gryffindor watched intently as the boy's cheek turned bright red. "Probably" Collin repeated with a shrug. "But you never know" He added teasingly. Collin took another sip of the juice again. It tasted perfect and he would never give it up. He raised an eyebrow when he heard his fellow Gryffindor's question. Frankly, he found it ridiculous but he didn't say it out loud. "No. It's the best beverage in the world, why would I get tired of it?" He said simply. As he was talking, Collin saw a huge jar sitting quietly on the table near him. Inside it lay a thousand pieces of beans and Collin immediately knew it was the Every Flavor Beans. A grin crept on his face. A rich kid he was, he rarely get to eat an Every Flavor Bean. His dad refuses to buy him any since he thinks it's bad for the health. Collin honestly thinks his reasoning is completely rubbish but doesn't corner him. The boy loves Every Flavor Bean as much as he loves pumpkin pies. Although, he completely hates the wicked tastes of some of the beans, he just loves guessing what flavor the next bean he'll eat will contain. He slid his hand inside the jar and took three beans. He doesn't know what flavor they contain which what made him excited. He popped the first bean inside his mouth and began chewing it. His face made a weird look as his tongue calculated that the bean tasted like toothpaste. It was unusual but nobody really knows what an Every Flavor bean is going to taste.

Collin nodded casually, impressed by Cavanaugh's memory. "Yes. And I am Collin Cambridge" He added casually with a friendly smile. "You're a freshmen, right?" He asked for some reasons even though he already knew the answer. The third year took the second bean and popped it into his mouth. This one tasted like a mixture of vinegar and chocolate. Collin made a sour face. This bean just tasted ludicrous. Collin tried a smile when Cavanaugh greeted him. "Likewise" He replied, still caught up by the previous bean's ridiculous flavor. Collin looked at the last bean. He was now doubting if he should eat it. He hoped it didn't taste too sour now or he'd give up beans forever. He just hates all sour food. Before he could eat the last bean, Cavanaugh asked him if he's with his family. He shrugged and popped the last bean on his mouth. Thankfully, it tasted like soda which made him relax. "Partly. My dad's not here due to an important meeting." He explained, while chewing on the last bean. If his mum ever caught him talking while eating, he'd be dead meat. But he knew it was New Year and he's suppose to enjoy himself, so he grabbed another three beans inside the jar and hoped it tasted anything but sour.

 

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

Kyle always liked trying new things. If he didn't like them he wouldn't try them again but when someone asked him to experiment and do things that were new he was always willing and happy. Pumpkin juice was obviously very nice but Kyle liked drinking different seasonal juices like pinapple, watermelon, orange or even fruit punch. He chose not to answer Collin because he knew that their conversation would not last very long and be on friendly terms if they argued on why one could get tired of drinking pumpkin juice. Maybe it was just the way Kyle was raised that had made even so fond of fresh juice and such. His parents never allowed him to drink tea or coffee in the morning for breakfast;no those were for adults who needed caffeine to make their systems work, Kyle drank juice instead. He glanced sideways to look at his father who had still talking to people and then happily took the liberty of picking up a few every flavoured beans for himself. "Did you get any good flavours?"he asked as he watched the older boy try his. Putting the first one in his mouth he made a quizzical look on his face as he tried to figure out what flavour it was. As the juice from the candy hit his taste buds, Kyle made a disgusted face as his mind processed the bean's taste. "Blood!" he informed Collin quickly popping a brown every flavoured bean in his mouth hoping for some caramel. It was not caramel but it was better than blood. It turned out to be honey and he savored the taste as it masked the blood taste in his mouth.

"Lucky you. My father is right there and soon he will be wondering where I am" he said with a sigh. He wanted to badly escape this party. He hoped his mother would find some excuse and explain his absence to his father. "He'd want me to meet some more of his business associates if he finds me" Kyle explained wondering how to ask Collin if he would be willing to get out of this boring party for a while. He did not know if Collin would be allowed to leave and whether or not he would end up in trouble if he did but he left all his assumptions aside and managed to ask "Do you want to leave this party for a while?" He could only hope that Collin would say yes and they would be out of sight before his father turned and found him lurking around.