Lazing Under A Tree

James was tired of Diagon Alley's hustle and bustle and sort out the quietness of the park instead. He made his way there, carrying a bag of recently purchased goods under one arm. James saw, in the distance, a tree casting a lovely looking spot of shade not too far off; he made for it with haste.

Finally getting to his destination, James placed his bag down on the ground, sitting down beside it. He stretched his legs out and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the peace and quiet away from his family, and away from the noise of the streets.

Elise was done with her shopping, and was proud of herself for managing to stuff most of her things in three sturdy bags. She was on her way to the Leaky Cauldron and hurry on home, when she spotted the park away from the busy shops. A tingly feeling came over her as she began to make her way to the park.

Being outdoors always made her feel happy, and now she got to see a wizarding park. Elise spotted a fairly large tree, and quickly made her way to it. Carefully she placed her bought items onto the grass, and sat down only feel something bump onto her shoulder.

She turned and gasped when she saw that someone was already sitting under the tree.

"Holy! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." Elise said hurriedly and scooted herself away from him.

James was startled when he felt someone bump into him. He opened his eyes and looked at the girl who was apologising to him.

"That's alright," he told her, moving over so that she could sit down if she still wanted to. "No harm done. I was just daydreaming," he admitted, shrugging. That was no big deal if that was interrupted. He was up for meeting new people over a daydream any day.

He looked at her again, noticing that she looked about his age. Perhaps she was going to Hogwarts this year too. "I'm James by the way," he said, introducing himself.

"Oh, okay. Thanks." She said, a bit embarrassed to not have noticed him in the first place. "I'm Elise Hawkins. Pleased to meet you."

Seeing that James made room, Elise sat down again. Then she began to fidget with her arm warmers - a habit she picked up when she was embarrassed or nervous. Elise turned her head to him and noticed that he was around her age.

"Are you going to Hogwarts?" She asked.

James turned his body slightly so that his back wasn't facing her - as that was considered rude according to his mother - and smiled.

"No worries. Nice to meet you too," he said, yawning and looking down at the bags she had placed on the ground. "Been shopping too? Exhausting, isn't it? I had to escape before I got roped into doing shopping with my mother. Drives me mad, that woman, I swear."

James nodded, "Yeah. I'm a first year. What about you?"

Elise smiled at the boy, excited that the conversation wasn't going to be awkward like she would've thought. This was her first trip the wizarding world, and she had been jittery when her adult supervisor just dropped her off in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yeah. It's pretty tiring. I can't believe most of the girls my age love doing it." Elise admitted.

Shopping wasn't her ideal way to spend the day, and she would almost groan when her roommates insisted that she join them. Frankly, she thought it was a waste of money if all the clothes they bought would only be worn once.

Her smile widened when James mentioned what year he was going to be in.

"Same here. First year."

James grinned. "I know! It's painful, and annoying. I really can't understand how people do that for fun. Madness. I did enjoy the Owl Emporium though. Got myself an Eagle owl. He's a beauty. Have you been there yet?" He didn't notice an owl cage with her, but Elise might have given her owl to her parents as he did.

So, she is a first year, James thought. "That's awesome. What house do you reckon you'll be in? I'm thinking Gryffindor, myself. Both my parents were Lions and so's my brother, so it'll be rightly shameful if I'm not as well."

James realised that he was talking an awful lot and took a breather to let her answer the question.

She laughed a bit when James talked about shopping. Most of the things he said were quite true, in her opinion. Sure, it was nice to get some new clothes once in a while, but the girly girls were so picky when it came to shopping.

Elise smiled at the thought of having a pet. She never had one seeing as she lived in an orphanage, but once she returned then she could ask the "Parents" if she could buy a pet.

"No. I haven't gone yet. I got too tired after I bought all the things I needed. Besides, I'm on a budget."

Then her eyebrows knitted in confusion. House? They were going to live in houses? And Gryffindor? That was a completely new word.

Elise let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, but do you mind explaining that? I'm a... what was that term again..."

Then she hummed in thought, trying to remember it. "Oh! A Muggleborn."

James nodded. He knew what it was like having a budget.. He still didn't know what his parents would say if they knew he took out an extra 60 Galleons for Flash. He hoped they wouldn't notice, and that he was far away at Hogwarts when they did. James groaned, hoping they wouldn't think of sending a Howler... how mortifying.

James noticed Elise's expression change to slightly confused and he was about to question it, before she informed him that she was a Muggleborn.

"Oh! Sorry!" he said, "I guess the word Gryffindor would be like gibberish to you, hey? Sorry again." James started to explain.

"Gryffindor is one of the four houses at Hogwarts. There's that one and then there is Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well. I don't really know much about Hufflepuff, but something about them being good finders is what I remember. Slytherin are known to be sly and cunning, and Ravenclaw is home to the nerdy, riddle loving kids. Me, Gryffindor," he put his hand to his chest in mock patriotism" where dwell the brave at heart, is where I wanna end up."

He looked at Elise. "It doesn't really matter, I suppose. All the houses are pretty cool." He didn't want to freak the girl out if she didn't think that she fit any of those characteristics. James didn't think that he was particularly brave, but liked the sound of the Gryffindor house more so than the others.

He thought about her being a Muggleborn. "So, was this your first trip to Diagon Alley?"

"No problem." Elise grinned, thankful that he went ahead to explain what a house is and the characteristics of each.

Her lips pressed together in thought. Now she was really excited. James told her that all houses were great, but she was sure that she didn't fit in two of the houses. She wasn't sly like a Slytherin, and she didn't like riddles like a Ravenclaw. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff sounded more appealing to her. With her lessons in martial arts, Elise supposed that her fear for things was taken down several notches. And she was good at finding things around the orphanage.

"Now that I know what they mean, I think I'd like to end up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff." Elise had laughed when James put his hand over his chest.

"My trip was..." She laughed. "Magical? Okay. That was kinda lame and cliche. It was disorienting at first, and I got lost a few times. But it was amazing. Especially the automatic measuring tape! They were kinda funny."

James laughed, "I'm the same. From what my brother has told me, Gryffindor sounds like a good house. Nothing like the Ravenclaw house. He said that to gain entrance to their commonroom they have to answer a riddle. If I was a Raven, I think I'd be stuck out in the hallway for the majority of my schooling, if that was the case. He was probably lying though. He also told me that the sorting involves battling a full grown mountain troll, but my father gave him a whack over the head for telling me that. Do you have any brothers and sisters? Bloody lucky if you don't. They're a pain."

He smiled. "I've been a couple of times but I was allowed to explore on my own this time, and it was kinda fun. It's not the measuring tapes you gotta watch out for, it's those books that bite at Flourish. I nearly lost a finger when I was exploring."

"I'll agree with you there. I like books, yes, but riddles will be the death of me." Elise grimaced at the thought of being locked out of the Common Room. "Must be a nightmare for those who love learning, but are useless with riddles."

She raised an eyebrow when James told her how his brother lied about the sorting. "Trolls exist?"

Okay. So magic is real, but Elise never expected for mythical creatures to be real either. Another interesting piece of information! Elise let out another mirthful laugh at the mention of siblings.

"James. I have seven sisters, and ten brothers. And yes, they're a pain. Especially the young ones."

Her eyebrow was raised again. "A biting book? I don't think I noticed that."

"Oh yeah. Trolls, Giants, Vampires, you name it. We once had a ghoul in out attic, but lucky my dad persuaded it to leave. Dunno how he did it, but I was thankful not to wake up at 2am from banging pipes. The gnomes still tend to be a hassle though. Nothing a good old de-gnoming doesn't take care of, until they come back, that is."

James' eyes widened and his mouth dropped wide open until he remembered to close it, "You have 17 brothers and sisters?!" He repeated. James couldn't even handle one brother, let alone the idea of seventeen! That would be utter chaos.

James laughed, "Yeah. They're kept at the back for the especially brave souls that want to venture there. I think I'll stick to the front of the shop in future."

Her jaw dropped in awe. Vampires were real too?! Elise didn't know whether to swoon or feel fear at the mention of vampires. Books described vampires as beautiful but deadly. Like the graphic novel called 'Vampire Knight.' The vampire characters were really pretty, but they were also extremely dangerous.

She shook herself out of her stupor and shivered slightly at the mention of ghouls.

"You had a real ghoul in your attic?!"

Elise was afraid of the dead and undead. All those scary movies she watched scared her for life. And then she laughed when James gawked at the number of siblings she had.

"Haha! Yup. I live in a pretty well-off orphanage and so we get a lot of kids going in and out. And it doesn't matter how many there are. They're all a pain most of the time. But at least there's never a dull moment in the building."

She agreed with James's statement. If that book was kept at the back, then it was there for a good reason.

James nodded. "Yup. We sure did. I named it Bang, because of all the noise it used to make. I haven't really come across anything super exciting like a werewolf or a vampire, and our family isn't loaded enough to have a house elf or anything, not that mum would have one anyway, but I've seen a couple of things. Boggerts are particularly fascinating. We'll cover them in Defense, I'm sure of it. Phillip said they did them in third year, but maybe they'll let us first years have a crack. That would be fun."

James decided that he'd should really stop saying so much at once. He didn't know what it was like not knowing about the Magical world, like Elise. He would feel his brain going to mush if she tried to explain Muggle things to him, like elec-isa-ity or whatever that was that made the room's bright without a wand.

"Wow. I reckon there wouldn't be a dull moment, that's for sure," James said, wondering what life would be like living in an orphanage.

Gwen had been up in a tree and had fallen asleep. She woke up to voices and startled falling off but thanks to accidental magic she landed safely and softly. She looked at the two others, "Ehm.. Hi. I´m Gwen Cooper." She smiled brushing a few twigs out of her wild brown curls, her blue eyes curious.

"An appropriate name for a ghost." She commented before raising her eyebrows at the new creatures he named. "What's a house elf? And a boggert?"

The "house elf" didn't sound that much, but Elise guessed people bought them if money was involved. Boggerts on the other hand seemed somewhat dangerous if they were going to cover it in Defense. And she just smiled at his agreement. Being in an orphanage meant constant nagging, rooms dirty with clothes, and yelling.

She had been waiting on James's response when something fell out of the tree. With her reflexes, Elise was up and in a fighting position. Her eyes zoned in on a small girl (well, not really - she had the same basic figure for eleven year olds) who introduced herself as Gwen Cooper. Elise relaxed and dropped her stance.

"Eh... Hey." Elise smiled tentatively at Gwen. "I'm Elise Hawkins. Pleased to meet you."

James nodded. He was rather proud of his naming skills as well.

"Umm. A house Elf is an elf that rich people own that act as servants. Hogwarts is supposedly filled with em, but that could be another one of Phil's lies." He hoped he was doing alright trying to explain certain things, and hoped that she wasn't becoming even more confused by his crappy explanations.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters that live in dark places. I've heard that they change into a person's worst fear when approached. Sounds awesome and terrifying at the same time."

James blinked as Elise jumped to her feet, positioning herself as though she was ready for a fight. He raised an eyebrow but then saw the reason for her strange behaviour. A girl was standing behind Elise.

"Hey," he said to her, looking at the tree that she must have fallen from. Strange. "James Wilson," he introduced himself, his mind then focussing on the last name she said. "Cooper?" he asked her, "As in Professor Cooper, the Headmaster, Cooper?"

Elise sat back down, and offered the girl to sit. Then she began to think about the strange creatures that James had described. A servant and a shape-shifter? She smiled thinking about encountering them. Especially the boggart. Now, Elise was afraid of many things, but she wondered what her worst fear was.

Her thoughts were pushed aside when James asked if Gwen had the last name of the Headmaster. She didn't know who was their Headmaster until James just said it. Elise grinned a bit. She was learning many new things today.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at the girl but shrugged.
"Nice to meet you too. And Yeah. Like the Headmaster. He´s my Dad...well...adopted but that doesnt matter." She said smiling as she sat next to them. "James and Elise, right? Kay. So, you know which houses you want? I´m for Gryffindor all the way. Like my Mum." She said. Her birth Mum had been in Gryffindor. A prefect actually. Hmm..
"Did you say boggarts? Are we going to face one in DADA?" She asked curiously. She knew her boggart and didnt really want to face it at all.

Elise smiled at Gwen. She was happy that the girl had found a loving family. Some children were returned from time to time like they were bought goods, and that made Elise wary of adults looking to adopt a child. But Elise found it in herself to look past that because some of her brother and sisters had been taken in by many trustworthy families.

"Yep." Elise replied in reference to her questioned name. "And I think I'll be in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I don't mind either one."

She pulled her legs in front of her and used it as a headrest. "Uhm... James said that his brother told him they fought it in their third year."

James smiled. "I want to be a Gryffindor too, like the rest of my family. That would be awesome if all three of us got into Gryffindor," he said.

James listened to Gwen, "Wow. That would suck having the Headmaster as a parent. You won't be able to do any rule breaking." He smirked then. "I suppose you'll just have to be careful not to get caught."

He nodded, "Yeah. Phil said he did them in his third year, so I suppose we'll have to wait a bit for the, unless the DADA teacher decides to give us a go this year. Fingers crossed," James said, using a common Muggle saying. Speaking of that...

"What does that even mean.. Fingers crossed? Muggles are strange. No offense," he smiled at Elise to let her know that her being a Muggleborn didn't matter in the slightest, even if she originally did come from the world of the strange sayings.

Gwen nodded. It would be great to have friends in her house,
"I don´t really have to be more careful than normally. Dad knows I tend towards pranks. As long as I don´t get caught he won´t mind. He´s just worried about me, that´s all." She smiled.
"Oh are you a muggleborn? Cool." She nodded. Peter will be releived she thought, to not be the only one.

"None taken." Elise laughed then put on a slight frown when she thought about the saying. "Er... I'm exactly sure, really. It's been around so long that I don't know the real meaning towards it."

Her forehead scrunched in thought. "I think it's like... hoping for the best or something like that."

Elise turned her attention towards Gwen, and smiled more. "Yep. I'm a muggleborn. And I do hope that you don't get caught doing pranks."

James thought about Elise's answer, happy that she wasn't offended by his comments. He did find it amusing that Muggles came up with things that didn't really make any sense though. He shrugged, knowing that he would never really understand.

He laughed, "If you're into pranks you should check out Wheezes. I got some awesome things from there just before."

James looked at the two girls, "Are you two looking forward to starting classes? I'm super excited for Potions and Defense. They should be awesome. What about you guys?"