The Comrade's Table

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry entered The Three Broomsticks and shook the rain off of his cloak. He lowered his hood, and straitened his glasses, looking around. The entire place was full of students, teachers, and residents of Hogsmeade, all laughing, chatting, drinking, or otherwise socializing with friends or acquaintances. Henry moved through the crowd toward the bar where Madam Rosmerta was sorting out orders.

"Could I get one butter-beer please?" Henry asked Madam Rosmerta, who nodded with a smile, and handed over a bottle.

After slipping several coins across the counter-top to Madam Rosmerta, Henry turned and looked around for a table; Only one still stood unoccupied, and Henry made for it before it was taken. It was a rather large table in the corner, but he wasn't exactly fussed about letting people join him at his table, and he was willing to let anyone who might come have a seat.

(Open to those invited; You know who you are )

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

The only thing that could have made this Hogsmeade trip better for Tianne, considering this was only her second time ever going to the village, was if it had not been raining. It was a bugger for the girl, as she was hoping for some sunlight, maybe picnic whether, and she knew that if it was raining, the shops would be even more crowded than usual. She was happy to be down in the place that had the blatant label 'fun' for Tianne, but to be honest, she could have stayed at Hogwarts just as easily.

Walking in after a boy that looked quite familiar to Tianne, although she couldn't give the face a name or a location. It was annoying, but Tianne figured that she'd soon enough find who he was in the birdnest she called her brain. Following the boy up to the counter, Tianne dipped into her pocket, before realising that she had no money, she must have left it back at the counter. Pulling her lucky knut out of her shoe, Tianne smiled at the barkeep. "Uhm, I'll just have a water please." She said, placing her coin down on the table. After hearing a reply to 'Not worry, it's free of charge', Tianne grinned and picked up the bottle full of icy water. "Thanks." She said, tapping her finger on the stool next to her, scanning the room for a seat.

Wandering past the boy that she knew, but couldn't put a name to, Tianne bit her finger, attempting to source the name out. "Aha!" She said, just as she ended the boy's table, and before realising that shr must have looked quite stupid, balled her fist up and hit her leg in triumph. Turning around to face the boy, Tianne blushed, before taking a dip of her water. "I'm sorry, are you Henry? You study" She said, hoping that no one knew what she meant, except for the boy.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Hmm?" Henry looked around at the girl; It was Tianne, the girl from the study group.

"That I am, and that I do." said Henry, giving her the tiniest of winks to try and communicate that he had understood her meaning. He considered her for a moment, and then, noting the bottle of water in her hand which seemed to be all she had gotten, signaled Madam Rosmerta for a second butter-beer. "Tianne is it?...why don't you have a seat?"

Henry gestured to one of the empty places around the large table he had procured. Just as he did so, Madam Rosmerta came over with a butter-beer, and traded it to Henry in exchange for two silver sickles. He slid the bottle across the table toward Tianne, saying "My treat."

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

Tianne felt a sweep of relief flood through her as he got the 'hidden' message. She was glad that he was the person that she thought he was. It was always embarrassing for the girl to get people mixed up, and she was glad that she didn't with this one. Tianne knew that when she was nervous she got muddled up, as well as when she was concentrating on something, and she was afraid that it might have been one of those incidents. With the wink that came with the reply, she smiled happily, nodding to herself.

Taking a seat at the boy's offer, Tianne really hoped that she wasn't intruding on the boy. Did he have people coming? Was he expecting his friends? Tianne didn't know the answer to either of those questions, but she felt that the answers would come as soon as conversation began. As Madam Rosmerta came with a butterbeer in possession, Tianne couldn't help but note on the fact that Henry had a butterbeer, which was looking a heck of a lot nicer than her bottle of water.

"You serious?" Tianne asked, much differently to what she usually would have done with people that were still only acquaintances. It made more sense, he had gotten her a drink, but she couldn't take it, could she? It looked much more appealing to the bottle that she had, and they couldn't return it now. "Thank you so much." She said, holding the bottle in her right hand. Sweeping her fringe out of her eyes with the other, Tianne grinned. "Silly me, I left my money at the castle."

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"You serious?"

"Think nothing of it, what are friends for, eh?" said Henry, waving a hand airily as he took a swig of his own butter-beer. "Besides." he continued "Seeing as how I've got a butter-beer, letting you go without just wouldn't be proper."

He smiled across the table at her; His father had always been the chivalrous one, a quality that hadn't fully rubbed off on Henry over the years, but he had his moments. Henry was quite glad of a bit of company in the packed and noisy establishment; Now that Tianne was here and willing to chat, he didn't feel quite as left out by the cheery babbling crowd in the place.

"Thank you so much...Silly me, I left my money at the castle."

"Ah...It happens to the best of us unfortunately." said Henry with a wry smile "Do you know, I can remember whole books, word for word for weeks, but the other day, I forgot my watch down in the dungeons!" he pulled the gold pocket watch from his pocket by it's gold chain and let it swing back and forth gently, like a pendulum, before him so Tianne could see. "Family heirloom, you know, fat lot of good a perfect memory of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 would have been if I had lost this, eh?...My father would have killed me!"

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

Tianne felt grateful to now have a butterbeer sitting in front of her, she didn't even know the boy that well. Of course, he went to the study sessions that Tianne also attended, and next year Tianne would probably be depending on his, as well as a few other peoples help to keep them running. She didn't want to be left in charge, and she knew that with the people that she was with, she wouldn't be. Gently taking a sip of the butterbeer, grinning at the taste that had filled her mouth, Tianne didn't want to be rude around the boy, so she knew that she couldn't scull the whole thing; not that she would have anyways.

Listening to the boy, with great interest, she found it incredible about the boy's talents. She would have loved to be able to remember books, but even after just a year or so, she would read books again, forgetting that she had already done so. Another thing that Tianne was slightly jealous of was the gold pocket watch.

"Oh, that's beautiful." Tianne spoke, her eyes stuck on the watch as it swung back and forth. She would love to have an heirloom of some sorts, to be trusted with something that obviously would have been worth a lot. But Tianne's family didn't have those sorts of things, the most valuable thing that Tianne was standing to inherit was her mothers white wedding dress, something that a fifteen year old like Tianne wasn't too keen on. "Hey, you memorised The Standard Book of Spells, at least you'd have accomplished something." Tianne said, with a grin quite evident on her features.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Oh, It's nothing special really." said Henry, leaning back, and looking down at the pocket watch. "I've always been good at memorizing books; The core of the information sticks with me for years, I don't know why."

Henry ran his thumb over the coat of arms that was engraved upon the watches door; He had always wondered what it meant, what the symbols suggested, and why, on earth, it would be the coat of arms for the Lordings house. His grandfather had always worn the thing, everywhere he went, the chain of the watch could be seen running out of the old man's left pocket and looping around one of his belt loops, glinting, occasionally, when light managed to slip past his vest. It was in the same fashion that Henry now carried it; He had never quite worked out why his grandfather had passed him the watch. Surely Henry's father, first born son of John Lordings, would have been next in line for the watch. Henry's Uncle Peter had always been the teller of Henry's grandfather's favorite jokes, surely he would have been far more deserving. James Lordings, Henry's other uncle, had always seen eye to eye with his father, always he shared his father's opinion, always they two would nod in agreement if one would, surely he would have been his father's favorite...but no, the watch passed them all and landed in the care of Henry, who had managed to loose the thing more times than he could count, who had caused every form of trouble for his grandfather before the old man had died...

"My...grandfather left me the watch when he died..." said Henry, tucking the beautifully engraved gold time piece back into his pocket, it's gold chain tied to his belt loop just as it had been when John Lordings wore it. "...I never could work out why; It's been tradition for over two hundred years to pass it to the eldest son...instead he left it to me, his youngest grandchild...I think he was going a bit batty towards the end because he kept insisting the thing was over a thousand years old before he died."

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

Smiling at the 'talent' that the boy was giving information on, Tianne couldn't imagine what that would be like. With all the books she had read, it would have been bliss, but she didn't know whether it would be an advantage or not. Of course, it could never hurt you to do that, but did it get him anywhere? After deliberating over it for little over ten seconds, Tianne guessed that, yes, it would be helpful. It was stupid to keep wowing herself over this, but she couldn't imagine anything else like it. Superpowers, eh?

Another thing that Tianne couldn't quite bring herself to believe was the fact that this; sixteen year old, Tianne had guessed; was already in possesion of a family heirloom, one that looked as priceless as it was flawless. It was beautiful, probably one of the nicest things that Tianne had ever laid eyes on. She wished that her family even owned things like that; maybe they were going to surprise Tianne with an heirloom one day, but the girl highly, highly doubted it. This boy, Henry, must have been rich, but not in a bad way. He was nice, and Tianne had respect for him already.

"I'm sorry." Tianne said simply, not really knowing what else to say. She didn't know when the Grandfather had passed, but she presumed that it would have been fairly recently, in the last few years or so. She hadn't lost anyone close to her, so she could only imagine what it must have felt like. Unless you count her father, although he has not actually passed, Tianne is not allowed, nor wants, to see, she hasn't known anyone that has gone away

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"It's okay." said Henry in the kind of dull voice that rang hopeless sadness. "He was getting on in years, and wasn't quite himself anymore..."

Henry paused for a moment; His grandfather had been one of his favorite people in the world. He still remembered the days he spent at Northwall when he was younger; His grandfather, teaching him chess, taking him into London to see the museums and zoos. It was more than just what his grandfather did with him, it was what he did for him, for it had been John Lordings and no other that had instilled the great value of books upon Henry. He remembered, as if it had happened just yesterday, the moment that Henry had first stepped foot inside the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. His grandfather, a retired but still extremely well respected professor of history, had asked a friend, old colleague, and Oxford Professor, Reginald Wilkes, if he could convince the Dean to let Henry have a look around the ancient store of knowledge. He remembered the millions of books, and papers, leather bound or loose leaf laying on wooden tables, or stacked upon miles of shelves. It was the beginning of Henry's love for books; Now...the man who had gifted him that was gone.

"Well...he was a great man who lived a full life; I can't imagine that it would be his wish that people find sadness in his moving on." said Henry with a valiant attempt at a even tone; The truth was that almost four years was not enough, it seemed, to let him recover from the loss. "But...enough about my woes; Let's hear about you, eh?"

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

Biting her lip as she gave the boy a symphathetic smile, Tianne felt guilty for having stirred up memories that she wasn't sure the boy actually wanted to relive. She had a knack for doing this though, many of the people she had met had confided with her about things like this, never something that seemed so sad, however. She didn't know the full story, but she could tell that he had meant a lot to Henry, what with the pocket watch and thoughts that the boy had expressed. Tianne felt for Henry, she truly did.

Continuing to flash a sweet, simple and sympathetic smile to the boy, Tianne didn't really know what else to say, and didn't really want to say anything, she didn't want to destroy the boy's impression on her. Tianne never had been good with first impressions, and boy was she trying with this boy to not stuff everything up. He seemed nice, but respectable, and oddly outgoing. He wasn't shy, and Tianne didn't want it to seem like she was being the opposite of him.

"I'm sure... um..." Tianne spoke, before deciding that it was smarter not to. She probably wasn't going to say anything that would help the situation, anyways. "Me? I wouldn't want to bore you to death." She grinned dismissively; her past, personality and well, everything about her wasn't interesting, to say the least.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"What utter nonsense!" said Henry with a laugh "I seriously doubt there's anything so boring about you." he winked across the table at her, though this time it was full fledged "Bore me to death indeed..."

Henry had met many people in his life, many, many people, but almost never had he come across a person who looked less likely to spout a boring story. He knew she was trying to be modest, but that simply wouldn't do, it was the Hufflepuffs what were known for being shy. He cast around for a specific topic that might interest her to speak of, and found it quickly.

"...Personally, I'd be interested to hear what you wanted to do for a career?" he said with a hint of off-handedness to make it appear a completely casual question; He had always liked hearing about what others thought they'd like to do after school, it was always fascinating to catch someone who was interested in a field he hadn't heard of before, though that rarely happened. "After Hogwarts, I mean."

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

Smiling at the boy as he dismissed her comment about being boring, Tianne shook her head. "No, really!" She grinned, almost playfully. She was being serious however, ruffling through her personality and past, she couldn't find anything worth talking about. She lived in between the lines, excepting a polar swimming expedition one time, and she followed the rules. Tianne was a nice girl that behaved herself and never really had that much fun.

But modesty did come into the whole thing. Tianne had learnt that she shouldn't speak about herself too much when meeting new people, something that had slightly haunted her. After having learnt that, Tianne has been considered to be withdrawn. She didn't mean to, it just came naturally with that knowledge.

Career? Yet again something that haunted the girl; she knew she should look for something, but she hadn't been motivated to. Ever since Professor Griffiths had offered her the internship she knew that she should have given her future careers some thought, but the willingness had escaped the girl. "Well, now that you mention it," She grinned, pausing a moment before continuing, "I've actually haven't been thinking about it too much. I've been offered an internship, but I never got back to the person, and I'm guessing that its out of the question. Maybe a teacher? Maybe an Auror?"

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

"Auror or a teacher?" said Henry thoughtfully, he could easily see himself as some sort of teacher in the future; He did quite enjoy feeling of teaching somebody something they didn't know, and, of course, he had wanted to be an Auror since he was ten. "Maybe both?" said Henry with these thoughts in mind "You know, start as an Auror and get some experience, then, once the Ministry figure out they need to re-instate the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, the school will probably want some experienced ex-aurors to teach the Defense classes..."

He took a deep draught from his butter-beer and looked around the room; He and Tianne weren't the only ones at Hogwarts thinking about, or determined upon becoming Aurors. Henry knew that Drew also wanted to be an Auror, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Eaden wanted to be one as well, though she had never said so directly. He turned his momentarily wandering attention back to Tianne, and continued.

"I mean, it makes sense that teachers should have experience in their subject...I mean real experience, not the classroom brand before they start teaching others how to do stuff, you know?...I mean...If you had to teach something, what would that be?"

[Tianne Webster-Barrett]

With the answer that Tianne had given, it had taken her a while to process what she actually said. Sure, every kid dreams of being a hero sort of character, but Tianne could never be an Auror. She was the quiet, sweet, nice person. She couldn't attack anybody, even if she was being defensive, it was just wrong. It was okay to have aspirations of becoming a person that was universally, well, almost universally respected, but Tianne didn't think that she could honestly demand attention like that.

"I don't really know why I said that. Teacher. I'd like to be a teacher. Auror is just a little out of my league." Tianne said with a light laugh, thinking about the grades that must be required to become an Auror. But all this talk about defensive careers and all tha jazz slightly scared the girl, she was only in her fifth year! Tianne really was waiting until after her OWLs to decide on what path she would like to follow for the rest of her life.

"It does though. It would be good for the students, having a teacher that really knows their stuff, but I think that if you wanted to be a teacher, you wouldn't want to do that all your life, you might as well go out and explore or whatever, a little before you do so! I think it would also give you more of a love for the subject, you know, the passion re-ignites." Tianne said, going over the top quite a bit. "But if i had to teach, I'd want to do History of Magic, Charms or Potions." The fifth year commented, going a little bit red over the amount that she had spoken without realizing it.

[Henry Lordings Jr.]

Henry smiled thoughtfully over his butter-beer at Tianne; Something in her tone told him that she was a bit uncomfortable with the subject at hand. There was something in the way that she said I don't really know why I said that that told him she didn't think herself capable of being an Auror, but he wasn't about to force the subject. He might bring it up again some other time.

"So, your O.W.L.s; You're a fifth year right?" said Henry with a sip of his drink "Looking forward to your O.W.L.s at all?"

Henry had taken his own Ordinary Wizarding Level exams the previous year, and hadn't done at all badly. He had walked away with seven O.W.L.s, five of which were Outstandings. His experience with the O.W.L. exams had been one of, in his mind, pleasant work loads, and intriguing questions, but his classmates didn't seem to have enjoyed it quite as much as he had. There had been a couple that had broken down into fits of hysterics and panic at their immense amount of work and studying. He knew that the fifth years this time around had had a few episodes as well, but nothing quite as bad as Miley Dames' break down last year, where the poor Hufflepuff had yelled that he was just too stupid after falling down the marble staircase one morning due to the immense load of books he had been carrying. Still, Henry heard Miley got four O.W.L.s, so he must have worked it out.