Breakfast Buddies

Saoirse was a bit overwhelmed by everything that had happened. After the static nature of being at Hogwarts for a full year, she was suddenly in a completely new place with a new friend. On top of which, she'd met a new woman in her dad's life. Saoirse had suspected he'd seen women before- she'd seen him on the occasional date- but he seemed to be very serious about Varna. It had been almost a year now, he'd said, and Saoirse had the feeling it would become more.

If this had happened a year ago, Saoirse might have lost it. It had been just her and Dad, sailing around the Pacific, never needing anyone else. She would have felt somehow replaced, bringing a new person in like that. But Hogwarts had made her different. She had friends now, other people who liked her for who she was. Saoirse felt accepted by someone other than her father for the first time in her life. And so, she didn't feel threatened by Varna. Even if she was a bit weird. What exactly did she do for a living that meant she carried shrunken heads and skeletons around with her?

Those thoughts had consumed Saoirse's mind on the ride to Grace's home, even louder than the squabbling of her siblings. Arriving at Number 59 had been yet another shock- Saoirse had never spent time in a real residential neighbourhood before. She always lived in very small beach villages, and her grandparents had an old mansion out in the middle of nowhere. So many houses so close together- no nature, no water nearby- people really lived like that normally?

She had spent that first night staring up at a strange ceiling, listening to the odd sounds of the house creaking and tensing up anytime someone walked by her room for a snack or to use the bathroom. Having such a grown-up bedroom all to herself was also bizarre, after sharing a dormitory for so long. Saoirse had tossed and turned. It wasn't that she felt unsafe, but she wasn't used to such a difference.

As such, when Saoirse awoke to a knock on the door, she hadn't gotten much sleep. She blearily rubbed her eyes and got up from the bed, wearing her seahorse jammies. She padded over the door and opened it. The smell of breakfast hit her immediately, making her stomach rumble. Saoirse smiled at Grace, knowing her hair was probably a bird's nest right now.

"Morning," she yawned.

Saoirse rubbed her itchy eyes again as Grace spoke. It hadn't even occurred to her that this was her first time in a year eating non-Hogwarts breakfast food. And all the food sounded amazing. Saoirse was very much not a vegan, although the islands had wonderful fruits. She didn't think she could ever give up meat or fish, though.

"That all sounds good!"

She followed Grace downstairs and to the kitchen, where her entire family was. Saoirse felt herself feeling a bit shy, but it helped that Grace's father was listening to French music. Saoirse hadn't heard any of that since her dad's boat radio. Or even the French language at all, really.

Saoirse was technically a French citizen as well and realized she therefore could have gone to Beauxbatons. Or the magical school in Oceania, wherever that was. How different would her life had been? Would she have made friends as easily as in Hogwarts?

Sitting next to Grace's siblings, Saoirse started helping herself to food. She didn't take as gluttonously as she would have had at Hogwarts. There she had learned to eat fast and stuff her face, before the food vanished. But this was a real house now, and so she kept her plate modest.

Saoirse looked at Grace as she sang a few words of the song. "Parles-tu français?"

Saoirse smiled, amazed at how much she had in common with Grace. She had been so up herself at the beginning of the year, assuming no one could ever know or understand what her life had been like. But other students didn't need to have had a childhood in the Pacific to have something in common with Saoirse.

Saoirse wanted to say something else in French but noticed Grace looking at her dad suspiciously. So, she kept it English. "My French is good, but my English is better just because it's what most other people spoke growing up. But this is great! We can pass each other secret messages at school."

She nodded at Grace's next question. Saoirse had never properly explored in the British Isles before, outside of Hogwarts or her grandparents' big old manor. "That sounds like fun."

Saoirse smiled, happy that Grace liked her idea. The professors- and sometimes other students- did like to get in the way, and it didn't hurt them to keep some serets. It wasn't like she was using it to talk badly about them, either. Just for important secrets, like those bloody Sacred Four they never got to find out about.

Finishing the last scrapes of food as Grace spoke, Saoirse nodded eagerly. She was very much looking forward to visiting a real park. She'd seen them so much in movies. She got up from the table, brushing off her pajamas. She supposed she couldn't go out in these. Saoirse raced to the stairs, then remembered something and came back to the room.

"Thanks for breakfast!"

She was trying to work on her manners. Saoirse scurried up the steps and into her bedroom. She shut the door and quickly changed into her Muggle clothes. Blue jeans and a warm brown t-shirt. She stopped when she caught her reflection in the mirror, pulling her hair out of the shirt. Before Saoirse stood... an ordinary-looking girl. She looked like a normal kid again. It was bizarre.

But Saoirse knew Grace was probably waiting, and didn't have time to ponder her image. She pulled on socks and left the room, leaving the door open to air out. She pattered down the steps and made her way towards the front door. She put on her stained white sneakers and waited for Grace.