Open Wherever I go, I'll Take It With

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper had taken it to herself to explore the castle and its grounds a bit, given she'd spend here the next seven years of her life it was best to get familiar with her surroundings. She was still a little nervous around the castle and all the people so she had taken her jar of sand, it was just something to bring comfort. She had tried to choose a normal jar, not too big but not too small, just perfect. Had even painted some small butterflies on the sides, different colours each. The Hufflepuff had just come from exploring the grounds and entered the entrance hall, it was still all so grand and beautiful that Juni stopped to look around, hugging the jar closer.

 

[Logan Ashworth]

Logan stepped out of the dungeons and stretched a little as he looked around He was heading to the great hall for lunch, but he was hoping to run into someone he knew first so he wouldn't have to either search the tables for a familiar face or sit by himself. As he approached the great hall, he scanned his surroundings. That was how he spotted the girl with the jar. Logan stopped in his tracks, then frowned. "Is that a jar of sand?" He asked loudly and a little incredulously.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper stopped her ogling as she heard a voice ask about a jar of sand. She looked around slowly to see if someone else might be carrying a jar similar to hers, anyone? Nope, no she was in fact the only one with such item at hand. Turning to look at the voice her eyes met a boy maybe a year above her or so. Blinking a few times she looked down on her jar. "Me? Oh, no... Well yes I suppose yes it is..." In the span of maybe ten seconds she had gone from confirming he was talking to her, to denying and then admitting it.

 

[Logan Ashworth]

Logan knew that he probably shouldn't be bothering some nervous first year on one of the first days, but she was the one who chose to carry a jar of sand around so it really wasn't on him, was it? He cracked a smile. "What, trying to start a beach somewhere around the school?" He joked. "Or do you eat sand, or something?" He asked jokingly.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper's eyes widened even more, to the size of UFO's practically and she looked back down to her jar frowning. She didn't want to start a beach, just carry a piece of her home with her. She didn't eat the sand either, yet she struggled to say that out loud to the boy. "No-" Juni began explaining but her words got stuck in her throat. She was too nervous to even say the truth what if he just found that even weirder. "I don't eat the sand... It's from my home beach, to take a piece of home with me..." The Hufflepuff's voice was so small at the end, she'd be surprised if it was more than internal talk at this point.

 

[Logan Ashworth]

There was a vague part of Logan's brain that was trying to tell him he was being mean, that the girl was clearly scared and he was now an older student and probably kind of intimidating to her. But he chose to ignore it. It wasn't his fault she was walking around with a jar of sand, or that she apparently couldn't take a joke. She said it was from her home beach, but then mumbled something he couldn't hear. He smiled and shrugged. "Okay, why?" He asked, unsure what the girl was doing that for.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

The weather was pretty miserable, but a bit of rain had never stopped Freddie from taking a walk. He paused on the courtyard step to stamp some of the mud off his shoes before heading inside. Nice. Lunch time. The doors to the great hall were propped open, and Freddie could see the tables within were laid with sandwich platters and tureens of soup. Mm. Maybe he could run in and grab a few snacks... No - he'd told Susie he would meet her in the entrance hall. She'd better hurry up; all the cheese sandwiches were bound to disappear first.

Freddie leaned on the wall, under an enormous portrait of a man on a horse, and studied the paintings hanging on the opposite side of the room. Who were all those people? Were they famous? Who painted them? Did portraits ever get bored? These were the questions on his mind as he stood there, gazing up into the heights of the hall and absently listening to a nearby conversation about eating sand. Wait. Eating sand? Who was eating sand? Freddie dropped his attention to the girl and boy chatting nearby, listening in now for a bit more context.

 

[Juniper Veritas]

Juniper hated the situation she was in. She would have much rather faded into the background and not ever been noticed by the kids in her own year never mind the ones above her. Looking down she paused for a second, wondering whether she should answer or not. "I wanted to take a piece of home with me. I thought it'd make me feel safer - closer to home." She explained her voice gaining a little strength from the anxiety and frustration of the situation. "But it's not working. I don't feel safe, I don't feel closer to home in fact I feel lost, alone and and stupid." There were tears now admitting that the jar wasn't working as intended. Perhaps it brought a sense of familiarity but it wasn't doing as much as Juni had thought it would, it had ended her in a situation with this older student who wanted to know why she was carrying a jar of sand with her. Perhaps it was a her problem more than it was a him problem at this point, she'd been foolish enough to think that a jar of sand would help her feel more at home. "I just miss my home." She finally said, defeated, maybe she could still ask her mum if she could continue being homeschooled?

 

[Logan Ashworth]

Logan frowned a bit as he realized the girl looked pretty upset. He hadn't asked a weird question, right? She was the weird one for carrying around sand. "Right... it was just a question, you don't have to cry about it." He said as he grimaced. He hated crying girls. "It's just weird- sorry, it is a bit. You couldn't take a photo or something?" He asked with a shrug.