Camping Out in the Hallway

[Connor Manning]

It was actually kind of an admirable thing that Drew had had it all figured out for such a long time. Even for Connor, who naturally was impulsed to plan and organize things, could hardly imagine having something as big as his entire future planned out from the time he was eleven. " Eh, that's really brill. I'd kill to have known what I wanted to do back then. " He admitted, almost truthfully. Connor wouldn't exactly kill someone to know, but he wanted to get his point across about it. It really was a cool thing, and Connor was a little jealous of the older boy's knowing what he wanted to do.

The Slytherin's interest grew slightly as Drew mentioned the States. " Oh, yeah? I lived in Florida until I was about ten. " He shrugged his shoulders slightly, trying to remember if he could think of anyone else at Hogwarts that he knew of to have lived in the U.S. before. Connor had moved around quite a bit himself and getting used to moving around from city to city and even country to country had taken some time for the Slytherin. " So does your family live here, then? "

" It's just not interesting to me, I guess. " Sometimes it was, other times... it bored him half to death to listen to his father drone on about animal regulation and guidelines that had to be written for keeping specific animals as pets, yada yada yada. " My sister's in muggle college, though. " He commented with a light smile. He had mixed feelings on his sisters attendance of a muggle college. He just didn't feel comfortable bringing them up.

[Drew Thornton]

Drew nodded. "No, most of my family lives back there," he answered. "Well, my sister lives here, and I have a great-aunt in London, and when my cousin turned eleven, his family moved over here to be close by. My mum and dad come out every vacation even if my sister and I are planning on going home, so we still manage to see them a bit."

"A muggle college, really? Is she Muggle?" Drew asked, knowing she didn't have to be to go. His own aunt had gone, and there was talk of Felicity going. Even Allegra had been thinking about it a little to help her figure out exactly what she wanted to do.

And then Drew realized that is curiosity had probably been appropriate. In this time and age, you just didn't ask if people were Muggle or not. "I mean... it's not like it matters," he stumbled, feeling like he had once again stuck his big feet in his mouth. "Magical people go to Muggle colleges all the time. My aunt said it really gave her a leg up on being a healer."

[Connor Manning]

Connor nodded, he had known that the older Thornton sibling lived here at the castle, working as an administrative assistant of some sort. His stomach burned slightly in shame and slightly anger as he recalled his first and possibly last encounter with Allegra Thornton. He didn't say anything about it and did his best to ignore the feeling. " That's cool. I couldn't really imagine not living near my parents. Which is strange, seeing as how we don't see them for months at a time anyway. "

' A muggle college, really? Is she Muggle? ' Connor looked back to the seventh year, doing his best to contain a small glare the threatened to spill over in his eyes at the idea. He softened his features slightly as he shook his head. It wasn't that Connor truely hated muggles and what they stood for, but he did have an obvious dislike for them and their ignorance towards the wizarding communities.

He let the older boy finish what he was saying before he said anything else. " No, she's not. She went to wizarding school in a couple different places, France as well as the States. She decided to go to muggle college, though. Wants to... expand her horizons, I think she said. " He snickered slightly, but shrugged his shoulders. It was her life to do with it what she pleased, so Connor couldn't really say much on the topic.

" Who's your cousin? " He asked, deciding that it was a safe topic to bring up with the Ravenclaw.

[Drew Thornton]

Drew had heard about the little gathering in the Great Hall, and while he hadn't said it to Allegra when she had told him what happened, it sounded to him like his sister had over reacted a little. The Ravenclaw had kind of mentioned his sister on purpose to see if Connor had anything to say about the incident, but since the Slytherin hadn't, Drew dropped it.

It was because of the incident in the Great Hall that Drew thought Connor might be Muggle-friendly, something that had been somewhat confirmed at the mention of his sister's schooling. But when the Slytherin answered, there was something that didn't sit quite right. Drew wasn't sure what, but he had sensed something. The small snicker alone told the Ravenclaw that Conner didn't hold much importance with the idea.

"That's what my aunt figured too," Drew answered, letting the subject drop as well. Then again, he wasn't too thrilled about the new discussion, feeling quite protective over his cousin.

"He's a second year... in Ravenclaw too," Drew answered, knowing that was pretty much common knowledge. He wasn't sure how much more information he'd want to give though. The little guy already had enough problems without his older cousin making more.

[Connor Manning]

Connor sighed inwardly slightly, thinking that he had possibly just ruined any sort of friendship he was beginning to form with the Head Boy. Usually Connor was alright with muggles, they didn't pay much attention to wizards, and therefor wizards shouldn't pay too much attention to them in turn. He knew he didn't have to explain any of those thoughts to the Ravenclaw, but figured he probably should, just in case.

" Look... it's not like I hate them. I don't, it's just... they're kind of ignorant when it comes to our way of living. But as long as they leave us alone, then we should leave them alone... " He was tempted to add ' right? ' in after he stated his opinion, but realized that it was sort of likely that the older boy wouldn't agree with him.

Muggles and blood lines and things such as that weren't things that Connor talked about easily with others, mostly because different people had different opinions on what should and should not be discussed. Connor nodded his head slightly, not having known that Drew had a little cousin at the school. " I don't think I've ever met him. " He commented with a small shrug.

[Drew Thornton]

The Slytherin, in Drew's opinion, was just digging himself in deeper. So maybe Allegra hadn't over-reacted about the Great Hall. Drew wasn't about to go as far as appologizing to the girl, but he made a mental note to trust her next time.

"Ignorant..." Drew repeated, frowning slightly at the boy's use of the word. Sure there were Muggles like Felicity's dad who had no desire to learn about Magical ways, but there were also folks like Uncle Mike who loved that there was a whole world he hadn't known and now wanted to learn all about it. It was true that most Muggles were unaware of the Magical community, but to use a word like ignorant to describe them just didn't sit well with Drew.

"So you don't think there's anything we might be able to learn from one another?" he asked, totally dropping the subject of Jeremy. It was best to keep Connor from even thinking about the young bird. In fact, Drew didn't think he wanted Felicity near this Snake either. "Total segregation is the way to go? Keep those bloodlines to themselves?" It was the same line of thought that the Nazis and the KKK publicly stood behind... and of course everyone knew what they thought privately.

[Connor Manning]

Ignorant, yes. Connor nodded his head, muggles were ( mostly ) ignorant of wizards, just as wizards were ignorant of muggles. There were exceptions to both rule, wizards who loved the muggle world and came from it, and muggles who knew of the wizarding world as well. All parties were at least somewhat ignorant when it came to that, Connor was almost sure of it.

The Slytherin shook his head, just now realizing that the topic shouldn't have been brought up with Thornton. " That's not what I said... we're all ignorant. You don't know what it's like to live as a muggle, and neither do I. Muggles don't know what it's like to live as wizards. " Connor was assuming that the seventh year didn't know, he was guessing by now. " I'm not saying we remain segregated by any means. Integrate, do whatever you please. "

Connor paused slightly, knowing the Ravenclaw probably wouldn't like what he was going to say. " We're different. " It wasn't something to fight, because it was true. And it wasn't necessarily a bad thing sometimes, to be different from muggles. Because wizards were different from them as well.

[Drew Thornton]

The boy was changing changing his tune and Drew wasn't about to let it go. He was well aware that there were many ignorant people in the world, but the Ravenclaw didn't count himself or any member of his family in that number... well, except his Nana. She was about as ignorant as they came... way more than the Slytherin sitting across from him.

"There's a difference between ignorant and unknowing," Drew said calmly, though inside he was seething. While the book definitions might be similar, the conotations that came with the words were vastly different. People usually didn't like being labled as 'ignorant' and Drew wasn't willing to let Connor get away with throwing a word like that around. He wouldn't even begin to venture into what he knew or didn't know. It was none of this guy's business.

"But that's what you said," he added in regards to segregation. "You said they leave us alone and we leave them alone. I just made the next logical conclusion to your statement is all."

"So we all do whatever we please... right..." Drew continued, smirking at Connor's blessing to mingle with muggles. The Head Boy didn't believe the Slytherin was Deva-in-training, but some of his attitudes were dangerous. Whatever you please... Shaw was pleased to keep Muggles and Wizards seperate, so pleased with the idea that he wanted to make sure everyone knew about it. People tended to share it when they were especially pleased about something.

"Of course we're different. Everyone is different," Drew answered, still calm, but obviously not happy with Connor's attitudes. "It would be an awfully boring place to live if everyone was the same."

[Connor Manning]

Connor turned his head to the side slightly, glancing down the hallway in an attempt to find an escape from the current conversation. The Slytherin normally didn’t agree that it was best to stick with like mind people, but Drew was doing a fine job of making him think perhaps things would be better off that way.

He disagreed with him, there wasn’t a difference in his mind. When you were ignorant of something, you were unknowing. When you were unknowing, you were ignorant on the subject. He failed to see any difference. “ I’m not sure I know what you mean. “ He mentioned to him, looking back to the Ravenclaw. They were in dangerous waters, and Connor was tempted to leave. That was what he always did when put in a stressful situation. He left, cooled down, then came back. He had a feeling there would be no ‘ coming back ‘ when it came to this, so he remained where he was. For the time being.

’ You said they leave us alone and we leave them alone. I just made the next logical conclusion to your statement is all. ‘ Connor shook his head, clearly frustrated and angered by this. “ You’re putting words into my mouth, “ he said in a slightly accusing manner. The Slytherin had never mentioned anything about segregation, and it was Drew's own business what conclusions he drew based on what Connor had said.

The Ravenclaw’s smirk was infuriating to Connor, and he bit down lightly on the inside of his cheek, wondering where the conversation had gone wrong. There was now a tension in the air that Connor would have preferred to avoid with most, especially the seventh year sitting before him.

" Ah diversity. A thing of beauty. " Connor knew joking was not in his best interest at that particular moment, but he said it with with a small smile, even if the smile was more for himself than anything else. His luck, Drew thought he was going to start cursing muggle borns and muggles into oblivion.

[Drew Thornton]

"Obviously..." Drew mumbled to himself, thinking that if the guy really thought it was okay to go around and publically label people as ignorant, then he totally deserved anything he got. People were generally accepting of the fact that they did not know everything, but in most cases would take unkindly to being called ignorant.

"They leave us alone and we leave them alone, right?" Drew challenged, thinking that was an awful thing to say and Connor couldn't just brush it off like he hadn't said it. It was segregation he was talking about, plain and simple. "How about we insure... just to make sure we know who we're supposed to leave alone...we make everyone wear a symbol on their shirt. Something really bright, so everyone will see it and know right away! Or how about putting them in camps! Because camp is fun, huh? Then for sure we can leave them alone and they'll leave us alone." Drew wasn't sure how read up Connor was on his Muggle history, but didn't like the boy's attitudes one bit. On the other hand, the guy might very well think Drew was making some wonderful suggestions.

The Slytherin's last statement sounded sarcastic to Drew's ears and the Head Boy's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists and did his best not to haul off and hit the guy.

[Connor Manning]

They were treading in dangerous waters, and Drew’s tone wasn’t sitting well with Connor at the moment. The Slytherin boy couldn’t say that things were simpler when muggles and wizards were separate because of things that neither parties could ever understand about the other, but Drew could accuse him of being in the leagues with Hitler and the Nazis when it came to terms of thinking? Self control was never something that Connor excelled at too well, but he resisted the urge to wipe the look off of the Ravenclaw’s face.

“ What Drew, you can put words into my mouth and accuse me of being a damn Nazi just because I think things would be simpler if they were different? You’re jumping to conclusions, and you’re being an ass about this. What the hell do you think I am? “

This was why Connor had said ignorant. Wizards were ignorant, muggles were ignorant. Connor was ignorant, clearly, and even head boy Drew Thornton was ignorant. And he just kept proving it, too.

Connor turned his head, catching glimpse of the Ravenclaw clenching his fists, his knuckles cracking slightly. “ Look dude, I’m outta here. I’m not gonna stick around and have you accuse me of being a neo-Nazi. “ Connor stood, not wanting any more issues with the Head Boy.

[Drew Thornton]

"What do I think you are? I think you're ignorant," Drew spat back, still smirking at the stupidity of the Slytherin. "I think you're so ignorant you don't even know how ignorant you are, saying all this crap like you think it would be fine and dandy to keep everyone to themselves. YOU said that. I didn't put it in your mouth, Manning. You said it, so don't get all high and mighty about me putting words in your mouth. You're spouting the same exact crap the Nazis and the KKK do, pretending that all you want is for everyone to keep to themselves. That's called segregation so don't start pretending you didn't say it."

Drew really didn't care if Connor thought he was an ass. At this point, the Ravenclaw considered it a compliment. He sure as heck didn't want a bigot thinking he was a great, upstanding kind of guy.

"Yeah... great," Drew answered, thinking it would be better if Connor left, but needing to drill in one more time what an ass he thought the other boy was. "Can't handle a little bit of the truth. Just save your asinine, backwards-thinking, milquetoast-morals, patronizing attitude for some other guy, okay?"

[Connor Manning]

Connor smirked slightly as he listened to the older boy’s words. “ Oh no… the great Drew Thornton thinks I’m ignorant. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.... “ Being a complete jerk wasn’t on Connor’s list of things to do for the day, but he didn’t mind making time for it. The seventh year wasn’t making any amount of sense. Connor even took the time to think back, recalling exactly what he had said. Nothing about segregation, nothing about concentration camps, and certainly nothing about Nazis or KKK. It was a heavy accusation, and it infuriated him.

’ Can't handle a little bit of the truth. Just save your asinine, backwards-thinking, milquetoast-morals, patronizing attitude for some other guy, okay? ‘ Connor had been ready to walk away and leave it at that. He was prepared to cool down, and in fact, the Slytherin had already turned and started walking. The seventh year’s words stopped him, made him turn and glare at the still sitting boy.

In one swift move, Connor moved and stood in front of Drew. He pulled his right arm back before sending it hurling towards the Head Boy. Consequences or not, Connor didn’t care.

[Drew Thornton]

The great Drew Thornton ... Like he had never heard that bit of sarcasm before. Again, Drew took it as a blessing and a compliment that Manning hated him. The farther removed from a guy like him, the better in Drew's opinion. Though the Ravenclaw did find it rather telling that Connor didn't enjoy being called "ignorant". Surprise, surprise. Drew smirked again, knowing the Snake had just made his point for him.

Connor was leaving and in Drew's opinion it wasn't soon enough, but the Eagle's last taunt had obviously gotten under the Slytherin's skin. As Connor swiped, Drew lunged to avoid the punch, grabbing the guy around the knees in an attempt to bring the guy down.

[Connor Manning]

Connor was more than a little bit surprised when Thornton moved out of the way, lunging at his legs. In his surprise, the sixth year hadn't had time to stop his quickly moving fist and soon came into contact with the stone wall where seconds earlier, Drew's head had been. " Son ofa... " He trailed off, not giving his slightly bleeding knuckles a second thought as he was sent lurching backwards by the Ravenclaw pulling him down around his knees. Connor may have been being brought down, but he knew he wouldn't be brought down completely without putting up a good fight.

Connor's knee gave out and he stumbled back again instead of down, though this time as he moved forward again his hands reached to the collar of Drew's shirt, heaving upwards in an attempt to bring the Ravenclaw standing to his full height. Sure, he was a good five, six inches taller than Connor, but it hardly seemed like a clean fight if they were on different levels. Connor was usually a pretty level headed guy, or rather, he tried to be. Walking away would have been the smart thing to do, but with the Head Boy's one last dig at him, he couldn't help himself in trying to slug the guy's face into oblivion.