And the boredom begins... [open]

Alone at a table in the Leaky Cauldron, sat Wendy Rain. She didn't look particularly happy, even though it was, as many thought of it, the perfect time of the year: summer holidays! But summer holidays were only fun if you had a lot to do, and many friends to go to. Wendy didn't have either of those things. She had a room in the Leaky Cauldron for three weeks. Three weeks to spend in the amazing magical street of Diagon Alley. At first, it seemed perfect. She could go eat ice cream everyday, gaze at the expensive flying broomsticks, read some interesting books in Flourish and Blotts and watch first years get their wands at Ollivander's. She had done exactly that for a week now, and much more, but it just seemed to get...boring. But only because she was alone.

Wendy cursed herself for not making any really good friends in her first year of Hogwarts. She was just so busy learning spells and getting to know the school, that she completely forgot to work on relationships. She had a lot of aquaintances, people she really liked, but she didn't know them well enough to see eachother outside of school. Wendy hadn't thought that was important, because the only weeks out of school were the summer holidays. As she now realised, summer holidays were long.

She took a sip from the Butterbeer standing in front of her, and looked at the other people in the café. In the Leaky Cauldron, she always felt quite young. There were so many old witches and wizards here. The Hogwarts students who visited, were mostly in a higher year than Wendy. She sighed. She really, really craved some interaction with another Hogwarts student. She almost wished it was time for school again.

Rory sat, quietly watching the pub around him. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit he was looking for Lily Luna. He wasn't sure what it was about her, maybe it was similar appearance to himself, or maybe it was her gentle way of talking, he didn't know. He looked down at his drink. With a sigh he waved Tom over. "'ow bout another one, yeah?" He called. Idly he turned back to his watching of the inn. It was a bit sleepy, not a lot people out and about.

"Ow bout another one, yeah?" A voice with a very heavy Irish accent called. Wendy looked up, interested to see the owner of the voice. She was always very interested in accents, and when she was sure she was alone, she always practiced them. Her favourite to try out was the Scottish accent, and Irish on second place. She was completely rubbish at both of them, though, because no one had ever properly taught her.

The Irish boy had red hair and was quite tall, Wendy observed. He was a Hogwarts student, she was absolutely sure of it. They had never talked, because he was in a different house and a lot older. But desperate for some social interaction, Wendy stood up from her place, took her drink, and walked over to the Irish boy.

"Hello, I'm Wendy," she said. "You're a Hogwarts student too, right?"
Actually a bit stupid to ask, because she knéw he went to Hogwarts, but she needed something to not turn this conversation into a very awkward one.
"I'm staying in the Leaky Cauldron for three weeks, and I'm getting a bit bored. May I sit with you?"

She didn't know this boy, but just a friendly talk would lighten up her day. Maybe they could even become friends! It would be cool to have an older friend at Hogwarts.

Rory nodded to the innkeeper as he brought the drink. He was more than a bit surprised when a young girl walked up to him. He stared in confusion before nodding. "Spot on." He answered her question. Of course he was a Gogwarts student. "'m stayin' 'ere fer a while, to. Go 'head." He gestured to the seat next to his. He sipped again at his drink. He tried to talk the least amount he could, not wanting to flash his thick accent. His accent was something he was often picked on for, that and his hair, his freckles, his height... Ok maybe there were a lot of things he was picked for. But usually he laughed away any jabs at himself.

Wendy took her place on the seat next to his, and wondered if this was all a huge mistake. First of all, he had stared at her like she was some potion gone horribly wrong, second, he hadn't even told her his name, and third, he didn't seem interested in starting a conversation at all. Leaving now, though, was completely rude, not to mention incredibly strange. Perhaps he was just a bit shy, and a fun guy if you got to know him. Wendy sipped from her Butterbeer. For a while, she sat there in silence, mirroring his behaviour. But she had to talk about something!

Wendy decided on a topic she was sure they could both talk about: school. She hoped he wasn't one of those people who couldn't even hear the word school in the holidays, let alone talk about it.
"Last year was my first year at Hogwarts," she said with a slight grin. "I loved everything about it. Of course I had heard so much of it already from my parents, but actually going there...wow."

The twelve year old Hufflepuff didn't want to be seen as someone who just couldn't stop talking, so she should ask him a question. She had almost said 'What's your favourite subject?', but just before the words could escape her mouth, she decided that after hearing that he would think of her as a girl that was only interested in studying. So she asked him something else, about the only thing she knew from him: "You're from Ireland, right? Your accent is..." She paused to find the right word. While pondering, she took another sip from her Butterbeer. Finally she decided on: "...the most perfect thing ever! I wish I talked like you!"

The boy was probably the quiet one. Oh, he wouldn't enjoy her company for a moment. But at least Wendy hád some social interaction right now!

Lily Luna looked through the window of the Leaky Cauldron, she couldn't help but look for Rory, and she found him sat with another young female. She hesitated going in for a moment, but entered eventually and walked over to Tom. "Butterbeer please" she said, throwing coins at him before heading over to a table by the window where she could bury herself in a book and listen to the conversations taking place around her.
It was quiet again today, making it easy for her to eavesdrop. She would never have dreamed of it before yesterday, but her eyes had been opened to a world of friendship and kindness that she had not witnessed in a very long time..

The Irish boy listened intently to the younger girl, somewhat glad to have someone to talk to, or at least listen to. He noded when she talked about her year. Second year, huh? That explained a lot. "Parents, huh?" He said it quietly, not really wanting her to hear him. He stared down at his mug, trying to think of what that felt like, having parents. Idly he wondered what house this girl, Wendy, was in. She wasn't in Gryffindor, Rory would have recognized her then. He highly doubted she was in Slytherin. Hufflepuff? Ravenclaw? One of thoose most likely. "Spot on." He answered her question. He was quite obviously from Ireland. He bit his lip when she started on his accent. He smiled thought when she finished her sentance. Such a nice girl...
Rory heard the the smalll bell on the door ring. He looked up, and smiled at the girl from yesterday, Lily Luna. However, she didn't seem to want to talk to him, instead moving to another table. He frowned a bit and sipped again at his drink.

Lily had noticed him smiling at her, but being one who didn't like to interrupt conversations she had simply smiled back from her table. Instead of going over to the pair, she instead sipped her drink then took out her book and hid her face so that the sadness in her eyes could not be seen.

Again, the boy didn't really respond to her. He smiled, nodded, said 'Spot on' quite a lot, but there was nothing else. Wendy decided that he really was the quiet one. She couldn't do all the talking by herself, so she just sipped from her drink and looked around the inn. Luckily, it didn't feel awkward anymore, now that she had simply labeled him as 'friendly, but quiet'. She smiled when she added 'with an amazing accent' to that label. Labels were fun, and it was even more fun when they were proved incorrect.

But when the bell rang, and another redhaired Hogwarts student walked in, something seemed to happen to the Irish boy next to her. He obviously knew her, because he smiled. When she didn't come over to sit at their table, his expression grew darker. Wendy took another look at the girl, who was reading a book, then took another look at the boy, and quickly drew her conclusions. He liked her! He liked her liked her! A giggle escaped her mouth. Being a twelve year old, she herself never had a boyfriend and wasn't really interested in it either.

"So...why don't you go to that table and talk to that girl? I'm okay on my own," Wendy said with a grin. Of course, she could be wrong about the liking thing, but it was fun messing with the Irish lad. It would also be fun watching him try to make an impression on the other redhead. Wendy smiled. This day just became a lot more interesting.

Rory continued looking down into his drink untill Wendy spoke again. He looked over at her, confusion on his face. "Huh? Lily?" He looked over at the other redhead and then to the second year girl. And then he saw the grin. And then it hit him. It hit him like bluger. "Oh! N-No, it ain't like that!" He felt himself blush. "Sh-she's a frien' o' mine, 's all." He said quickly. He frowned a bit though. Why did everyone think that he thought that? Paris had thought the same thing...

Lily felt herself blushing behind her book upon hearing the direction of the pair's conversation, knowing how he'd react before he even did. She stifled a giggle when he finally blurted something out but thought to herself that's two people who've thought that now.. how odd which made her smile. She dared to peek over her book to see the grin on the second-year's face and the blush that had spread across the Irish lad's face which made her laugh even more. To hide her laughter she quickly started to gulp down her drink, hoping that they hadn't noticed her laughing.

The Iish boy heard the quiet laughter from the table where the other Gryffindor student sat and felt his blush increase. He sighed and took another drink from his mug. Why does everyone think that? I don't think of her that way! His internal rant continued.

After a while she stopped laughing, she couldn't help it but it had been funny! She decided that she just could not read so put her book away and began to stare out of the window, the light reflecting off of her red curls and green eyes. She smiled to herself, thinking about the beauty of life and the new lease that this boy had given her. She looked over to him again, and smiled, her eyes twinkling, before draining her glass and raising it to be refilled.

The redhead boy pushed his mug back a bit to have room for his elbows. He propped them up and rested his head in hands, hoping to hide some of his face. Of course the first friend he would make out of school would see him this way, a flustered, mute boy. He sighed and brushed the hair from his eyes.

Lily could see that Rory wasn't all that happy so decided she would go over to their table and introduce herself to the other young girl. Gripping her mug with two hands she walked over to the table where they sat, "Hey Rory and.. Wendy right? I'm Lily Luna, can I join you both?" she beamed at the pair, her green eyes sparkling.


(i'll include her even though she's disappeared, just in case)

The Irish boy looked up at the girl who had walked over to their table. He gave a bit of a smile and gestured to the other chair next to him. "I'm... 'm so sorry, I hav'n introduced meself. I'm Rory. Rory O'Conner." He sid, a bit rushed and embarassed to the second year girl. He was really off his game today...

"You okay Rory?" She asked, concerned about his behavior, yesterday he had seemed much more comfortable.. She placed her drink on the table and took a seat, "I'm a sixth year" she said turning to Wendy "and in Gryffindor" she smiled showing her dimple

He slides out of the Fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, he groaned. There was Soot and Dust all over him and his clothes. He wiped it off the best that he could but there were still a little of the remnants of the Soot over his robes. He rolled his eyes and he Walked over to the Counter. "Wotcher Tom." The old innkeeper smiled at him. "I'm fine, you?" The innkeeper said. "Same, except the Soot. I hate Floo." He replied, grinning and he tossed the correct amount of Galleons on the table. "I'll have a Butterbeer please. But if you please." He leaned closer and whispered in Tom's ear. "Firewhiskey." Tom shook his head smiling. "I can't, against the law." He sighed and said. "Let's go with the Butterbeer for now, I'll be back next year Tom, for Firewhiskey." Tom laughed. "You'll be of age then, and you can." Once Tom had polished a Mug and poured some of the rich and hot Liquid into it, he had stood there frozen. Most of the table's were filled. Scrap that, every table had a occupant. Where to sit? He thought as he sipped from his Mug. He might as well stand there.

"Yeah, yeah 'm fine." Rory tried to give his best convincing smile. This really wasn't what he was lke at school, not at all... Usually he made company with a different crowd, a louder, crowd. He was a loud one to. But that was when other people were talking enough to drown him out. He noticed someone walking out of the fireplace. He looked back though to his table.

"You're clearly not." She'd always been good at knowing when people lie or deceive her, it was a gift from her mother's side, many often thought she was psychic. She turned to the bar and recognised a fellow sixth year gryffindor stood there so waved and smiled before turning back to the table. "What's wrong?" Her tone was caring rather than quizzing, she was genuinely worried and that made her frown. She take another gulp of her drink and held it in both hands, staring at it's contents.

"Lily, 'm fine." He insisted. He didn't like the way the word 'Lily' came out with his accent. "Nothin's wron'" He continued. There was that ay she talked again. It sounded weird, no one had ever spoken to him like that...

"If you say so.." she trailed off and smiled at him warmly, her green eyes sparkling. "It's nice to hear your voice again." His voice gave her confidence, security. She idly twirled her curls with her fingers, smiling at how her name had sounded in his accent.

He smiled a bit at the girl. Honestly, it was a bit easy to see why everyone thought that they were....they were... But they weren't. He sipped again at his drink.

"You're a bit quiet today, c'mon, talk to me! Tell me about yourself." She genuinely wanted to learn more about him, and it showed in her voice. Lily did not often care for the lives of others but when she found someone who she deemed to be something special, she liked to know more, to find common ground. She didn't have many friends for this very reason, often people tended to dismiss her, even those who she found to be different often excluded her. She grinned at Rory, the smile reaching her eyes.

Rory laughed a bit at the girl. "Alrigh' alrigh', what d' ye wanna know?" His voiced was laced with humor. He wondered what it was this girl was so interested in. He guessed it was accent, which appearantly if it wasn't hated, was overly liked.