#3 Lunch

Hanna skipped into the great hall, her cupcakes in hand and a smile on her face as she took a look around. Not everyone had arrived and the room was filled with chatter but Hanna chose to ignore it as she searched for her friend; sighing when she realised Elara had yet to arrive. The Slytherin girl took a quick look at her cupcakes before singling out the best looking one and placing it in Elara's usual place.

"I still have so many cupcakes"

She sighed aloud as she looked down at the sweet treats before her eyes travelled towards the teachers table. Maybe she could give one to each of the Professors, she did have a lot and she knew she couldn't eat them all.

Hanna made her way over to the table and placed a single cupcake at each seat, not all the Professors had arrived yet but she still hoped they'd enjoy the thought; stopping in front of the Headmaster and Madam Pomfrey.

"The house elves and I made cupcakes and I had some left over so I hope you like them. They're a vanilla cake with a honey frosting and some strawberries and blueberries for decoration"

The Slytherin girl smiled at the teachers as she made a note to give the last three cupcakes to some of her house mates.

Having spent most of the morning getting to know his toad, Ryan finally made his way out of the Ravenclaw tower and down all those stupid stairs. He paused to catch his breath, though felt he was getting better at the long journey at least, and headed to the Great Hall.

He looked around for any of his friends, though noticed a familiar Hufflepuff girl by that house table. Ryan had enjoyed his quiet time to himself, and wasn't ready to jump right back into being social just yet. He walked to the Ravenclaw table and sat by himself, looking hungrily at his lunch options before deciding on making a ham and cheese sandwich.

Munching his food, he kept an eye out for Dani or Gerald, wondering how they'd spent their morning and if either were interested in doing something together in the afternoon. He checked his schedule to be sure, and groaned at the fact he'd forgotten all about that homework session.

Well, he'd done most of it already so he should be okay. He had his bag with him, luckily - this time not bogged down by way too many books. If he had to trek up and down all those stairs again, Ryan was convinced he'd be faced with the worrying choice of if he thought his classes grade were really worth that torture. 

Ryan glanced over when someone sat by him, a smile forming as he recognised Gerald. 'Hi,' he said, waving back at his friend. He expected the anxiety to return at being social again after his isolated morning, but it was just Gerald. He felt much better talking to either Gerald or Dani, and that was something Ryan didn't know how to feel about. He wanted lots of friends, but maybe that wasn't something he could do all the time?

'Er...' Ryan quickly tried to think of something to talk about. 'Are you ready for the homework thing? I've got a few paragraphs to finish, and I need to double-check some bits, but I think I'll be okay.' He shrugged, taking a big bite of his sandwich.

Chewing fast then swallowing, Ryan grabbed a drink and gulped it down. Ears a bit pink in embarrassment, he forced himself to keep talking as if he was okay. 'Do you like reading?' He was sure he'd seen Gerald with some comics before, right? Was that Gerald's thing? Ryan didn't know much about them himself but was really curious and secretly hoped Gerald would get one out.

Ryan was glad to hear he wasn't the only Ravenclaw who didn't have all his homework done and ready in time for the session. He'd heard some others whispering about how studious their house was meant to be, but from what Ryan had seen so far - he wasn't convinced. A lot of his housemates seemed more curious or creative than anything else, but it was still nice to hear Gerald had some stuff to finish up yet too.

Gerald liked reading! Though, now Ryan thought about it, that probably wasn't a weird thing to like. He finished his sandwich, disappointed Gerald didn't just start showing him comics or talking about them. Ryan would have to actually ask then. It was easier just wishing people had mind reading abilities.

'That sounds cool,' Ryan said. He was finished with lunch, so turned to give Gerald his full attention. 'I like all sorts. Mostly adventure stories and stuff that are fun, but pictures are great. I've not really seen many comics before.' He shrugged, averting his eyes. Was he supposed to have seen some? Oh no, what if he sounded weird?

Blushing, Ryan grabbed a grape and picked at the stem for something to do. He tried to muster the courage to just ask Gerald if he could see some comics, but that was too hard so Ryan just picked at the stem some more and hoped the bravery would come back at some point.

Ryan listened intently.

He tilted his head, trying to envision it. 'I think so?' Ryan frowned, deep in thought. 'So it's like a picture book but not for little kids? It's a picture story, I mean. I think I've seen one before so I sort of get it but...'

He put the stem down and considered it some more, then sighed. 'What's a Bugali then?' Ryan asked. 'I mean, what's it look like? Tell me about it. I have a pretty good imagination, so I reckon I could figure it out if you described it.' He was determined to to know what Gerald talked about, or else he'd have to come up with another conversation topic.

This was was interesting and he wanted to know more, but still didn't really know what the heck Gerald was trying to tell him about.

Jacob couldn't tell if his mood had improved somewhat since that morning or if he was just really looking forward to eating lunch. It'd been a quiet morning in the courtyard for him, and he was already itching to find something more exciting to do. Instead, he had class - which he groaned at, while plopping himself on a random seat at the Gryffindor table.

He ignored some traces of the rumour still going around, not bothering to pay attention to who was nearby. Jacob grabbed random things he liked to eat and put them on his place in no sort of sensible arrangement. He yawned and stretched lazily, finally glancing around enough to see if anything interesting was going on. Nope. Just boring old Hogwarts in the middle of the day.

He cast a glance at the Slytherin table, relishing the memories of last night's prank. Oh how he wished he knew who the mastermind behind it was. He needed to up his game. Maybe that dare list would be a good start? Plus, it would get his mind of...other stuff. But first he had to survive Defence class with a new Professor. Jacob groaned again and rolled his eyes, taking a big bite of cheese.