Breakfast Time [Open]

[Jahan Samara]

Jay strode up the staircase and into the Great Hall. He went to the table, and sat down. He wasn't sure what he was going to have today, but he soon decided. He piled rolls, eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast onto his plate, and poured himself a goblet each of milk and orange juice. He started to eat, slowly, taking drinks rather often.

As he sat, he continued to mentally develop his newest song. It was halfway done, and he was working mostly on the vocals at the moment. Not the lyrics, he could not write lyrics for his life, but the tones of the vocals, which tended to go back and forth between long meandering verses and short, emphasized ones.

It occurred to him that he should probably be concentrating on being more friendly and socializing. He felt bad about not doing this, but he vowed to make an effort to this week. He felt another pang of regret when he remembered all the other times he had made that promise. This time, though, would be different. He was sure of it.

(Open)

[Maddyson Cross]

As the year progressed, Maddy found herself falling into a routine. She hated timetables, she hated having to be somewhere at a certain time, having to wake herself up at an hour that she was sure no one else even knew of, and having so much homework that a social life seemed to be out of the question. It was weird for Maddy to be so negative about something, as she was such a positive person, but she didn't have any time that she could be herself, as classes were restricting on her personality.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Maddy sighed. Staring into the mirror, she tucked a loose curl behind her ear and smiled. She was trying to right the wrong that her mood was inflicting on both her and everything around her. She knew there was no point being unhappy, as she hated it and she knew that her friends hated it.

Shrugging her shoulders, Maddy turned and wandered out of her common room. As she walked into the Great Hall, a skip evident in her step, Maddy noticed a lone soul at the table. Taking a few hesitant steps towards the boy, Maddy replaced her confused look with a smile, and seated herself across from him. "Good morning!" She said, as she took her bag off her shoulder. "Mind if I sit here?"

[Jahan Samara]

Jay looked up at the girl as she sat down. He had been formulating a plan to make friends or at least acquaintances, and now one had just come right to him. Pretty lucky. Then he remembered that she had asked him a question and that he should probably reply. Looking up from his piled-high plate, he said,

"No. That's fine."

Jay was not a man of many words. That is, until you became good friends with him. Looking at the girl, she seemed familiar. Yes, he was sure that she was in his year. Obviously she was also a Hufflepuff, sitting at this table. He racked his mind, trying to come up with her name. Then he came up with Maddy. That sounded right. He figured now would be a good time to introduce himself.

"Jay Samara. It's Maddy, right?"

[Maddyson Cross]

As she smiled towards the boy, the excitement of getting to know someone bubbling up inside of her, Maddy couldn't even recall the reason as to why she had been so negative. She was always a bright person, it was rare to see her with out a smile on her face. She always walked with a skip in her step, she always started conversations, which were the prelude to friendships, and she always had fun. Maddy even made her lessons fun, and with some of the teachers here at Hogwarts, that was not an easy thing.

"Cheers."

She spoke happily, confirmation that she was allowed to be in company of the boy. These days there were so many people out there, you just couldn't tell what kind of a person that everyone was. She recognized the boy, he was in her year and house, but she couldn't pinpoint a name to his face. She'd seen him around the common room, and Maddy kicked herself for not being able to recall his name.

"Yeah!" She said enthusiastically, half happy with the fact that she could give him a name, but also quite glad that he knew hers. "Nice morning, hey?"

[Jahan Samara]

Jay had always been the kind of person who became happy when others were happy, and Maddy was cheering him up quite a bit. However, she didn't seem to be one of those people who were so happy it was unbearably grating. Just someone who enjoyed live. Jay was almost instantly glad he had remembered her name, and it was evident that she was as well.

He glanced up at the sky-ceiling and saw a sunny, cloudless day. Nice. He briefly calculated about how much time it would take him to finish eating, and how much time he would have afterward. Maybe an hour or forty-five minutes.

"It is nice. I might have to take a walk or something before class."

[Maddyson Cross]

Maddy was the kind of person that made the most of every day. She knew her time at Hogwarts would not last forever, and that she would have to leave someday, although this didn't upset her. It just made her live every day that little bit more, smile wider and laugh louder. She was a naturally happy and optimistic, it wasn't a persona that she had worked hard to keep up, it just came to her.

As she watched the ceiling, she looked down to see the boy too staring up at the blue sky. There was nothing that she loved more than the sunshine, she couldn't see herself ever wanting to stay inside. Smiling as the boy made his comment, Maddy took a drink of her orange juice, before giving a quiet giggle.

"I might just have to join you." She said, raising her eyebrow and offering the boy a wink.

[Jahan Samara]

The wink was what did it. It drove Jay crazy. As terse and introverted as Jay tended to be., he always liked the more outgoing and playful bunch more than the one that people usually pegged him with. It was like the old saying that opposites attract. Except not really. Being with the more extroverted people brought out his own more outgoing side. This usually worked out well for him in that he was more accepted in those circles, but he still had to deal with how to break through the assumptions people made based on his normal behavior.

Jay felt that now-familiar friendly grin making its way across his face. It was the same grin he had given Connor when he suggested paint-bombing, and it was new. But it was something that came naturally, and it felt good to do it. First the Head Boy, and now Maddy, it was easier to make friends at Hogwarts than he had thought. And a thousand times more fun. He was a little regretful that he had never done this before now, but he pushed that out of his mind. No use worrying now.

"Sounds like fun."

[Maddyson Cross]

Maddy was quite happy to be with her new companion. She never had actually spoken to him properly, even though she knew basically everyone in her house, and most of the others. It surprised her that she knew nothing of this boy, after all, he was in all of her classes, except maybe the electives, he slept in the room opposite her, he went to all of the same feasts and dinners, and they were in the same year! Maddy was quite disappointed in herself, at the same times as being proud that she finally did break the ice.

Everyone knew that it only took one conversation to get onto the 'acquaintance' or even 'getting to know each other' categories, something that was aiding Maddy as she sat with her orange juice, her legs swinging excited under the chair that she was sitting on. Smiling at the boys own friendly grin, she took another sip of her drink, before tilting her head on the side. "It does." Simple, but sweet. Maddy wasn't in the mood for the usual over-excited intimidation that she usually portioned out.

[Jahan Samara]

Jay was definitely glad that things were going well with this new acquaintance of his. He finished his breakfast then, pushing the plate away from him. Now was when he got to find out who Maddy really was, on the inside. This was his favorite part of meeting someone new, when he learned who they were. Sometimes, the person's answers could tell you more about them than just observing. Jay was usually pretty close in his mental image of someone before the questions, but it was good to have a more complete picture. He found the best question was the most direct one in this case, and he put it to Maddy.

"So, who are you, Maddy? I mean really, underneath it all, who are you?"

[Maddyson Cross]

Although Maddy was as talkative, as well, possible, there weren't many people that knew a lot about her. She didn't talk about herself often, more so just situations that had occured, quidditch games, or even the soccer results (though there were only a couple of people that would actually give her the time of day when she was going on about West Ham, and how cute Lucas Neill was). But she always thought that talking about herself was quite rude. That is, unless someone asked, and Jahan had done that.

"To be honest, Maddy is just one of my alter-egos. My real name is actually Bruce Wayne. I'm a wealthy industrialist, and sometimes I save people, etc etc." She giggled, although it was quite a stupid thing for her to say. But she was a big Batman fan, if that counted towards anything.

[Jahan Samara]

Jay smiled and nodded as she introduced her "true self." He wasn't a HUGE comic book guy, but he could tell you the secret identities of most of the better-known characters, as well a a little bit of backstory for most. He was unsurprised, but happy all the same, that Maddy had a sense of humor. He just couldn't stand people who were so serious that they couldn't loosen up. He was always happy to joke around with someone, he just hadn't had anyone to do it with for a while. He remembered Galen, his old friend from his old life. The boy had joked around so much, Jay hadn't believed him when he said his grandfather died. That had caused the end of a good friendship, and Jay was always sorry about that. He leaned in closer to the girl and said in a hushed tone,

"Well, if you must know, I'm not really Jay, either. I'm actually Clark Kent, and I have all kinds of special things I can do. But anyway, tell me more about the Maddy side of you."

[Maddyson Cross]

To be honest, Maddy was quite embarrassed about her attempt at a joke. It was such an a obviously thing to say, although she continued to dumb it down quite a bit. She didn't the mental capacity of the boy sitting next to her, maybe he had grown up in a totally magical world, but Maddy was quite happy that he got it. And he came back with an almost sarcastic reply. This guy was awesome.

"Okay, well, um, I grew up in London. I didn't know I was magical until I got my letter." She said, her finger sitting on the corner of her lip, in a cute way. It was just a habit that she had developed over the years. "I'm pretty much always happy. Even when I'm in a bad mood, I'm happier than some people at their best times." Maddy continued with a giggle. "I eat a lot of sugar, thats probably the reason to both my thunder-thighs and my almost unbearable energy levels."

[Jahan Samara]

Jay felt the familiarity in her story resonate; it was very similar to his own. He liked that she was being serious with him now. He enjoyed a joke, but those people who were constantly joking and could never come down to a more serious level were just as bad as the ones who were always serious. It was difficult to find someone who fell into that happy medium range, but Maddy/Bruce seemed to. He thought, as he found himself thinking a lot lately, that it was a shame he never tarted this social thing sooner. There were just so many people he could get along with.

"I've never really been big on eating a lot of sugar. It just never had that much appeal to me. However, I do eat a lot in general." With that he gestured toward his empty plate, bowl, and both goblets. In retrospect it probably didn't make a lot of sense, seeing as how the amount of food that had been there was, by definition, no longer there.

[Maddyson Cross]

It wasn't often that Maddy was serious and honest to other people. In fact, Maddy couldn't even remember the last time that she sat down and talked to someone like this, she wasn't really close enough friends with anyone to be able to talk. People knew her as the over-excited, always active, forever smiling and giggling girl in her third year from Hufflepuff. You know, that or the little annoying chick that just NEVER shut up. But Maddy prefered the first one.

Giggling cutely, Maddy looked down at her own plate. It too was empty, but unlike the boy, hers had never been filled. She had never been much of a breakfast eater, something that didn't seem to protrude on her day; she just never liked eating early in the morning. Only if she had a test.

[Jahan Samara]

Jay was slowly becoming aware of a special ability that he possessed. It was nothing magical, but it was something that helped him out nonetheless. He had the ability to empathize with others. When someone around him was glad, he cheered up. If someone was sad, he felt their pain too. He was fairly sure it wasn't due to any kind of inert magical talent inside him, but more that it was a part of his personality. Some people, he reasoned, were just more able to feel with others, more sensitive to the emotions around them. That was one reason why he was on cloud nine at the moment.

The other reason, he was fairly certain, had something to do with that giggle. And that thing with the finger on the corner of the mouth. Not to mention that wink she had given him earlier. Yeah, he definitely wouldn't mind spending some more time with her. But he wasn't about to say that. As out of practice as he was with all things social, he still had a sense of tact.

Looking down at Maddy's still-empty plate, Jay chuckled a bit as well. "Not a big breakfast person, are we?"