Class of 2013 (Richard)

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

Early July 2028

Isabel had moved into the house in Hogsmeade that she was sharing with some other LIFE students the previous day, but she had spent the night without the company of her pet toad, Sapito. Subjecting him to the stress of moving while she made sure that she had everything set up in her room how she wanted it didn't seem fair to her, so she had left him at home in London with her parents temporarily. It would take a few more adjustments to ensure that he would be comfortable in his new surroundings once she brought him back with her, but he wouldn't have to switch to living in a new terrarium.

The one downside to being apart from Sapito and in Hogsmeade was that there was too much magic around for Isabel to attempt to use her mobile phone to contact her parents, and she no longer had as readily available access to the Hogwarts owlery or the computer lab at LIFE to get around that little detail. Isabel had lived with the issues related to Muggle technology, especially electronics, for as long as she had known that she was a witch, but she supposed that she was going to have to get herself a magical mobile phone. The other issue she had was where and how she could get one. Obviously, she would have to purchase it, which she wasn't opposed to doing, but they didn't exactly hand out magical mobile phones at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron for anyone who might require one.

Letting out an audible huff when she realized that she was going to have to figure all that out, Isabel decided that she could skirt the issue temporarily. It was one of those Muggle-born problems that would undoubtedly make her seem like an outsider to her new housemates, and she would rather Apparate to London and use her existing phone to message her parents and arrange to pick up Sapito and his things than bring up her predicament to someone she didn't really know.

Having decided her immediate plan of action, complicated though it was for the sake of picking up her pet toad, Isabel left her new bedroom with her purse on her shoulder and locked her door after she had shut it.

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE MOVE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROMOTE RICHIE to be more 'independent'. To break away from the chain of medical command that had essentially propped him up since he'd been dragged out of his coma. This was said much more delicately by professionals, but the reality was that Richie was staying ten minutes up the road from his school and with two girls whose names he kept forgetting. It wasn't exactly 'rebellious', nor branching out. Plus, his sister had already Floo called him twice already, once while he'd been in the shower, and asked if he had enough clean clothes - which was essentially the same as asking if he'd like his arse wiped, Richie had thought in broiling humiliation. He didn't feel particularly independent.

With his headphones slung over his ears, Richie had ventured out of his room only when his basic needs demanded. The music creating a barrier around himself and his roommates, lest he make another social faux pas before his first week closed. He ate cereal sitting atop the kitchen counter, unfamiliar with the norm of dining outside of the Great Hall. Eating ladle's of honey glazed cheerios out of very large stainless steel pot. Milk dribbling down his chin as T-Ray Spex garbled on about Germ Free Adolescents. With every twang of the bass, Richie's heel dully thudded against the cupboard door under him.

Richie only almost choked a little when he saw the shadow edge passed the kitchen door. His entire body freezing like that of a deer caught in high beams. Maybe, if he sat very still he would turn invisible. Maybe, if he paused chewing with a milky chin, he would blend into the sunny yellow kitchen cabinets. Alas, the glass door was wide open and Richie had been inadvertently playing the drums with his socked foot and the furniture. The girl stood in the doorway with full access to his sorry state. He felt a cheerio unstick from his bottom lip and drop back into the pot he had held under his chin, the ladle hanging from a loose wrist. In his ears, the song rambled to its end and there was a pause where Richie could feel the silence pressing in on them. "Mornin'?" He asked, with only his mouth a little full. 

isabel alejandra moreno-hughes

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

Early July 2028

With her mind focused on her plan for picking up her toad, Isabel anticipated being able to walk out of the house without having to say a word to anyone. For the few hours that she had spent living there so far, it had been relatively quiet. No one had caused any disturbances. There were no wild parties or pranks being pulled, either. She preferred it that way.

When she heard the sound of knocking coming from the kitchen as she was about to pass by it, though, Isabel reflexively jumped. She hadn't always been a nervous person, but years of experiencing life-changing events in the magical world had made her into one.

Following the brief scare she got, Isabel regained her composure and stepped into the doorway to the kitchen to see who had been making the noise. A young man was perched on the counter. Isabel recognized him from Hogwarts as a fellow Gryffindor who was in the year above her, a Richard Woods-Knox. She didn't really know him, but he had always seemed nice enough.

"Mornin'?"

Isabel assumed that that was a greeting and not his asking her what time of day it was. That wasn't the only strange thing, though, realized Isabel after another moment. He was eating breakfast cereal out of a pot rather than a bowl, using a ladle rather than a spoon to do it. He also had headphones on, which was the more normal thing about how he was choosing to eat his first meal of the day.

"Good morning…" replied Isabel hesitantly. She was really trying to look past the strangeness of watching someone she hardly knew eat what looked to be Cheerios from a pot with a ladle while sitting on a countertop, but it was hard not to look confused at the sight before her.

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE PAUSE BETWEEN LADLES OF CEREAL AND wide open stares from his roommates seemed to stretch on endlessly. Richie only broke into it because he'd rather like to move the exchange along and eat the rest of his cereal without an audience. The girl, with a curtain of dark hair that partially hid her face, she appeared no more pleased to see him than he to see her. They shared a beat of unintentional eye contact before Richie broke, dipping his chin and dropping the ladle to wipe the milk from his mouth with the sleeve of his jumper messily.

Richie could only presume she'd shared his morning sentiment, he couldn't exactly hear her, though her expression was veering on suspicious. Like maybe she was considering if he'd broken in, or something. Richie wasn't even certain she was his roommate, if he were entirely honest with himself. They'd hardly shared more than a few partially formed words of assurance. From under a fringe of hair, Richie watched her feet for movement as he chewed. His headphones had ticked on to the next track and 'I Am A Poseur', was playing heartily, the drums and bass buzzing audibly into the quiet kitchen.

As the music ramped up, a slight movement made him look up. Eagerly, Richie thought she was leaving, instead he was concerned she'd said something as she was still sort of looking at him. With a huff through his nose, Richie used the crook of his arm to shift the headphones from his ears. It took him a few tries, but eventually they slumped down to rest around his neck. "Did you say something...?" He asked quietly, not entirely enthused by the notion that he was wanted for something. "I-I didn't eat all the Cheerios... if that's... what you were asking." He muttered, looking down into his makeshift bowl and then back up again with an expectant lift of his brows. 

isabel alejandra moreno-hughes

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

Early July 2028

After moving his headphones down to his neck, Richard asked her if she had said something. Instead of yelling over the volume of whatever he had been listening to, his voice was relatively soft. Isabel was able to make out his saying, "I-I didn't eat all the Cheerios… if that's… what you were asking," though she hadn't actually asked him anything.

"Oh, I just said good morning…?" Isabel explained perplexedly, not sure how Richard would have assumed that she was asking about the breakfast cereal. That he actually referred to the cereal as "Cheerios" rather than any sort of magical equivalent took Isabel by surprise. She hadn't had any intention of eating cereal then, however, and she couldn't picture herself sitting upon the kitchen counter to do it. Living with other people at school had made Isabel realize just how different her upbringing had been to those of some of her peers. Not everyone lacked manners, especially not at Beauxbatons, but still.

Other than Richard's unconventional cereal-eating arrangement, though, Isabel remained stuck on the Cheerios. "Sorry," she started, "but are you Muggle-born?" Someone who was probably would have known that it wasn't the standard practice to consume Cheerios from a pot with a ladle, but it didn't look as though he'd tried to cook them like porridge, at least.

Richard Myron Woods-Knox

[Richard Myron Woods-Knox]

blowin' in the wind.

THE REALISATION THAT HE WASN'T WANTED FOR some social faux pas should have been a relief. Instead, Richie was just annoyed that he'd taken his headphones off for a 'good morning'. Feeling as if he'd been tricked somehow. He grunted in acknowledgement and dropped his gaze back down to his cereal. He spent the next handful of seconds contemplating whether or not he should just leave with his cereal. They were at a sort of stalemate, both in the kitchen, neither exactly open for pleasant small talk.

Richie had about decided to cede his ground, shifting on the counter so that his feet brushed the tiles, when her voice cut into the silence again. As if in an afterthought, and Richie almost lost his footing, gripping the bowl closer and using the counters lip to steady himself as he lifted his head in surprise. She was staring at him, not exactly glaring, but as if she were trying to figure out a complicated equation. Richie blinked dumbly, setting the bowl back in his hands properly and clearing his throat awkwardly. He didn't answer immediately, sorting an equation of his own in his mind as they stared at each other.

"Half..." Richie finally offered, his cheeks feeling a bit stiff from the confession. He very nearly just walked out, but stopped after one step and pursed his mouth carefully. "Isn't that sort of a personal question?" He asked with a tilt of his head, more curious than offended. "Dad's a muggle," He added, as if it really mattered. "If that helps." Richie wasn't sure what it was she was trying to surmise, but she had apologised. Somehow, that mattered to Richie, like she was soothing a backhanded slap. 

isabel alejandra moreno-hughes

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[isabel alejandra moreno-hughes]

Early July 2028

Isabel realized that her question about her new housemate's blood status was probably too invasive to ask as soon as he called her out for it. It made her feel like shrinking and walking away, but Richard had answered her that he was a half-blood before he asked about the appropriateness of her asking him. "Dad's a Muggle," Richard added, "if that helps."

"Sorry, I…" Backtracking wouldn't really work, so all Isabel could do was apologize. "I'm Muggle-born," she explained, "so I was curious." Hopefully, she thought, that would soften the blow. "Erm, with the headphones and then the 'Cheerios'…" Isabel elaborated what her thought process had been there. People at Hogwarts ate breakfast cereal, too, but it was of the wizarding variety. "I haven't seen anyone eat Cheerios like that before, but…"

Richard Myron Woods-Knox