#7 Breakfast

Anjay smiled as his mother delivered her lame joke, happy in the knowledge that just because she was a serious and accomplished person, that didn't mean she couldn't be silly from time to time. Now that he was older he was getting to know his mother not just as a mother, but as a person. He saw snippets of who and how she was outside of being his mom, and it made him feel good.

News of tea with the Minister and his father filled him with joy. "Awesome!" he exclaimed at the news. Undignified, definitely, but he couldn't help it. His smile lessened, however, when he was handed a list of names of students to invite along with him. Elizabeth Doren? Jaxen Ashworth? Why were these kids getting invited? Was this some kind of publicity stunt?

Anjay knew of the other two fifth years but hadn't heard of a Lindsey Bryce. He had to invite each one and get at least one to accept... hmm. Not necessarily a difficult task, but again, why? Oh well. He would do what he was told. He bid goodbye to his mother and headed to the Slytherin table first, approaching Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was a pretty girl and had a dignified look to her. Plus, Anjay knew her family had a lot of money and she would definitely know how to behave in front of the Minister. Anjay spotted her at the table and walked up to her, lightly tapping her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Elizabeth," he said to her warmly, "Sorry to bother you. You've been invited to tea at Hogsmeade with myself and the Minister this afternoon. Will you come?"

Elizabeth had continued eating her breakfast silently, though she was sure she was observing things around the Great Hall. She wondered why exactly a Ministry presence was needed at Hogwarts, but she wasn't against it. She was still considering it when the boy who had been talking with Neith Xcalyn, Anjay, Elizabeth's classmate, tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see him.

"Good morning." she said, masking the feeling of alarm that had come over her at not noticing his approach. Elizabeth usually prided herself on knowing what was going on. She listened to what Anjay had to say, feeling rather shocked. The Minister wanted to invite her over for tea? Her parents would definitely like to hear about that, she decided. "Thank you for the invitation, Anjay." she said, kindly, "I would be quite pleased to join the Minister and you for tea."

Jamie sniffled slightly, his thought too absorbed in his self-pity slightly before he heard Gerald's question. Glancing up, he felt his eyes linger on his sister for just a moment before he shook his head and looked at the folded letter on the table that he would send to his parents today. "No..." He said to the guy and looked back at his food, taking another bite.

"Just... things." It was the truth... Things were bothering him and he really wanted to be home. But, it was nice to have someone to talk to this morning.

"What sort of things?" Gerald continued to query, turning to follow his gaze. Spotting Grace, he waved for a Moment, before looking back to Jamie.

"Do... Do you want to talk about it?" He asked slowly. Was it Something He did? "I'm sorry if Rook made a Mess of your Bed, by the way" It almost definitely didn't happen, but it was good to check, regardless.

Lindsey smiled at Tom as he spoke about being excited and she pulled herself up and turned fully to him. She wanted so badly to go home for the festival, to watch the traditions of the highlands with her family, but if she could do a few things here, she would be happy. The bonfires that the druids did at their community, their sunrise traditions... The pranking and mask making... Oh!

"Do ye want to go down to the pumpkin patch and get a small pumpkin or two? There is a tradition where we carve a face on it to scare away the evil spirits." She had so much stuff she wanted to do after homework, but some of it was easy, like making a mask. She had made her mask over summer and it was in her trunk.

"Oh... Want to do stuff with Me today then?" He was expecting mail to arrive for Him and Grace today, but otherwise, he could spend time with Jamie.

"Uh, do you like Mysteries?" He pondered. Maybe if he did, he could show him some of the weird things about the school? "Also, I'm planning to join the Quidditch Tryouts today, if you want to as well."

There was so much to think about, but Gerald wasn't sure if he could be a fun friend for Jamie. Where was Ryan and Toby?