Together

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi very nearly tripped as he hurried over to the Gryffindor table. He regained his footing and rushed over to slide in next to Jingyi. He couldn't help the shy smile he gave his brother. "They didn't separate us, I was so sure they were going to separate us," he whispered, peeking back up at the sorting ceremony. "I don't understand, Jingyi. I understand Xiuying being in Ravenclaw, she's so smart, and you're certainly the bravest so Gryffindor makes sense," Xinyi's brow furrowed and he looked back to his brother. "But why am I here?"

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi let out a long breath he hadn't even realized he was holding in when the hat finally made it's decision. All that worry he had about being separated meant nothing in the end. Xinyi was going to be with him in Gryffindor and Jingyi simply couldn't be more pleased about it. "Of course it wasn't gonna separate us," he tried to sound positive, but it was hard to hide the fact that even he had been thinking it was going to happen. "But Nah, I'm not brave or anything," he shifted in his seat, feeling a little uncomfortable all of sudden as he glanced back to the sorting that was still underway. "You're here just because we asked to be together. That's it. Not like it matters why."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi listened to his brother a moment, his heart dropping at Jingyi's words. "Right, right, of course you're right," he murmured, switching back to their native tongue as he turned his eyes to the sorting ceremony. He was relieved that he could stay with Jingyi, but also a little disappointed. Did he really have no merits of his own? Even the sorting hat must have seen he was nothing without Jingyi. His brother was the better twin.

Once it had ended, he turned to look at the food that suddenly appeared. He started to gather some dinner. "What next?" He asked Jingyi. "Do we just settle into the dorm tonight and have class tomorrow?" He asked, looking to his brother. He hesitated a moment before asking another question. "Do you want me to sit with you during classes?" he asked, focusing on the roll he had picked up.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi tilted his head a little at his brother as it was clear that was not the answer he had been looking for. "Look, the hat said you were plenty brave yourself," he offered, switching to Chinese to get that message across away from any other listening ears, "You just need to believe it more." Which Jingyi thought was true. If either of them were supposedly brave, then it was Xinyi - not himself. His twin was the brave one, Jingyi had always thought that, so it was not really much surprise to him that he had been put into the house of brave. The surprise was why he was there.

"I guess," he responded and he easily changed back to English again, reaching across the table towards the chips. But he paused, turning to glance over at his twin again, "You can sit where you want."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi shook his head, peeking at Jingyi. "You're the brave one," he replied gently. "You're always protecting me," He looked down at his hands. Even though you hate me. He added in his mind. "I want to sit with you," he added in English, looking up to Jingyi. His brother was his hero. Xinyi liked to stay close to him. "Unless you don't want me to?" he added softer, thinking maybe that was the case.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jinyi sighed, poking a little at the chips he had already piled onto his plate. "It's not brave to just punch someone. It's braver not to," he offered with a small shrug of his shoulder. It was clear what he was trying to suggest, even if he wouldn't say the words straight. And again he shrugged his shoulders, "You can if you want to, I don't mind."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi studied his brother a moment before sighing softly and shaking his head. "Eat your food," he told Jingyi, nudging his twin. "Before Xiuying comes over here and kicks both our butts," he gave his twin a shaky smile before turning to his own food, taking a big bite to try and make his point.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi hadn't realized that he was just staring at the food he had piled onto his plate, not until Xinyi was nudging him and telling him to eat. The boy just blinked as he looked up, pushing a small smile onto his face, "Yeah, alright, mum." Though come to think of it, he suddenly found he wasn't very hungry.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi tried to give his twin his best smile. "You can whine at me all you want, do you really want to call Xiuying on us so soon?" He asked, glancing over to their elder sister. He was surprised she hadn't already descended. Maybe she wasn't as worried about them as he had thought she might be.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi just huffed slightly, "How is she even going to know I haven't eaten anything yet? She's the other side of the room." It was a little ridiculous to expect their sister to suddenly get up and come all the way over here just because he hadn't happened to put any food in his mouth just yet.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Jingyi tried not to laugh, shaking his head. "I wouldn't put anything past her." He ate a bite of her own food. "Come on, this is pretty good." He took another bite before picking up his drink and sipping it. At least the food here was pretty good, he was going to enjoy the feasts if he didn't enjoy the rest of their time here.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

He rolled his eyes, "I think you're being a bit dramatic. It's not like she's psychic or anything." There was no way their sister could possibly know from her own house table on the other side of the room that he hadn't eaten anything. "Besides," he added, shifting in his seat, "I'm not very hungry at the moment."

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi decided to let it go, nodding gently. He picked up one of the cloth napkins and started gathering things for later- a few biscuits, a sandwich, some crackers. "So, Gryffindor," he peeked at his twin. "Do you think we'll make any friends?" he asked, already worried if he wasn't careful someone would try to pick on him and his brother would get in the way.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi continued to simply poke at his food for the moment until Xiny spoke up again, at which point he stopped and turned his eyes back to his twin. "Course we're gonna make friends," he responded easily with a smile, "Don't worry about it." While he knew Xinyi could have some trouble in that department, he was confident things would be different than usual.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Jingyi smiled softly, nodding along. He peeked around as he chewed on his food. "There are a lot of people here, aren't there?" He asked softly, turning back to Jingyi. "I don't think I've ever seen so many people in one place before." He took another bite of his food.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

"Course there are a lot of people, this is a big boarding school," it would be ridiculous if there was barely anyone there. He didn't know why Xinyi would have thought it would be different. But Jingyi did have to admit that it was just a little overwhelming to see so many people and he could already tell that trying to find his way around this large castle was going to be a bit of a challenge at first. But it was a challenge he was ready to try and undertake all the same.

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi shook his head, looking around and trying not to look too intimidated. "Do you think we'll get lost here?" He asked, worried that if he didn't figure out how to get around, and quickly, that he would just upset his brother more than he usually did. Xinyi was supposed to start over here, make things better between them. But it still felt like an impossible task sometimes.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Xinyi really did seem to have a lot of questions about everything. Granted, so did Jingyi, but he just wasn't saying them out loud. he shrugged a shoulder, "I mean... probably. It seems like a pretty big castle and I've heard there are loads of passageways and shortcuts and dead-ends and stuff." But that all just sounded like an adventure and not something he was really worried about in the slightest. So what if he got lost?

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi didn't respond, losing himself a bit in thought as he considered that. He continued eating, wishing that Jingyi would at least take a few bites. He was quiet a while, mulling over everything that had happened. This should be interesting, at the very least. He wondered if he could really pull this off.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi frowned slightly when his brother didn't say anything in response, just tilting his head as he watched before simply shrugging a shoulder. Now he was starting to feel a little peckish, so quietly grabbed a bread roll to nibble on as he thought about things. "What class are you most looking forward to?"

 

[Xinyi Huang]

Xinyi looked to his brother, thinking over the question. "Does flying count as a class?" He asked with a small smile. "Charms, maybe. That seems useful." He commented, sipping his drink. "What about you? Anything in particular?" He asked, curious what his brother would be excited for.

 

[Jingyi Huang]

Jingyi grinned, "Course it does. It's just an excuse to get in some extra flying practice." He didn't need to learn how to fly, he already did and was already fully intending on trying out for the Quidditch team next year. When the question was turned back on him he just shrugged his shoulders, "Classes are boring."