#18 Breakfast

Toby hadn't imagined he'd get so much support from standing on a table. It hadn't crossed his mind, all he was thinking was that he had to do something and launching himself head first at the Slytherin had seemed like a bad idea at the time. Worst than simply climbing on a table and making a bit of noise.

He felt Joe take his hand and felt his anger fizzle a bit at his best friends touch, until he dropped his hand promptly as the teachers swooped in. He glared defiantly at McGonagall as she ordered them down from the table, did she not see what that ogre did?

Begrudgingly he stepped down from the table to stand by Joe, his jaw clenching in barely contained rage and he and Saoirse received a punishment and Seabrook walked away with nothing. It wasn't fair. Obviously the teachers cared very little for their younger students if they were ready to just allow them to be bullied and thrown around- well Toby wasn't having it.

If the staff weren't going to stand up for them, then they would have to stand up for themselves.

Detention and loss of house points seemed a small price to pay, it was the ban on sitting with his Ravenclaw friends that made Toby's blood boil. He'd find a way around that, and if he failed... At least he still had classes to sit with them.

McGonagall was right about one thing. He had handled it badly. He should've gone over to the Slytherin table and thrown a pot of scalding tea at Seabrook's fat head. She wouldn't be so keen to come at his friends after that, he was sure. He'd happily sit a hundred detentions if he had to.

"House traitor" he muttered behind the teachers back as she swept from the hall- obviously their antics had gotten under her skin. But she should really be upset with herself for not backing her own students and instead getting offended when they tried to defend someone who wasn't in a place to defend himself.

"Come on, I'm in the mood for more torture" he grumbled, taking Joe's hand as they walked from the hall. Obviously his morning would soon get worse, he still had to attend his potions class.

[exit]

It took Oscar a moment to realise that the echo of 'spring' was not in his head like he thought and so he turned to blink at the small bespectacled human that had said it. Oh right, a first year. In his tired state he had temporarily forgotten that younger students existed. Little babies that were sent away to school.

...What was he doing?

Right, the first year was talking. Sleepy? Him? Only a little bit.

"Mm? Yeah," he yawned, scrubbing a hand over his face. He took a moment to eat more of his breakfast, pulling a face at his mishmash of fruits as he did so. It wasn't his best selection.

He was about to try to think of something to say to the excitable first year, when he heard a commotion at another table. Was.. was that another firstie on a table? What was wrong with that year group?

Oscar blinked confused eyes before turning back to the Hufflepuff kid near him, looking at him warily.

"You're not gonna jump on the table too, right?" he asked. He wondered if it was time to make his escape from the hall, but the call of breakfast kept him in his seat. Well, at least until the food disappeared, then he had to resign himself to going to class.

As he picked up his bag with one hand, he checked his watch with the other. Nope, still morning classes. Oscar sighed and made his way from the hall, a 'see ya' thrown to the first year that he was pretty sure was not a figment of his sleep addled mind.

At least he had managed to avoid whatever drama had gone on at the other table.

[exit]