Badger Breakfast PV Clifton Troublefield Fin.

Clifton had been looking forward to a little extra sleep the next morning, but he should've known better. The boy in the bunk beneath him snored like the Hogwarts Express on its last run, especially when he hadn't slept well.

Clifton battled the sound with his pillow, resisted the urge to chuck something down at him, and eventually decided he might as well get up. He sat up and and rubbed at his eye. His clothes felt all rumpled and tight, reminding him that he was still wearing what he'd worn to the dance.

The memory of it banished his grumpy mood and he felt a sudden boost of energy at the happy thought that Alina would probably already be at breakfast.

He climbed down the stairs and crept past the other sleeping boys to get ready for the day.


Sure enough, he spotted her at the Hufflepuff table in front of the lemon poppy muffins, already lost in a book. For moment, felt a little thrill of nervousness. How did you even approach a girl after you'd kissed her?

He decided the best route was to probably just be himself. Mostly because that was the only route he knew how to take. She was still Alina, his best friend. And besides, she'd started it. He just hoped that after a full night's sleep she didn't regret it.

There was really only one way to find out. He took a quick breath and then made his way over.

"Morning, Miss Rosier," he smiled, plunking himself down on the bench next to her and grabbing for something smothered in frosting. "You're early."

"Yeah, well, the early bird and all..." she smiled and looked over his choice for breakfast. "I'd mildly like tocriticize you for practically having frosted cake for breakfast but isn't a muffin really just a breakfast cupcake?" she said of her own choice.

"So, guess what? Guess what?!" she was excited and pulled out a scroll of parchment she had sitting near her and unrolled it out in front of him. "So assuming that I didn't overstep any boundaries last night..." and of course she was talking about the kiss - it was only natural since it just happened the previous night, "...assuming that, you won't believe what I found out!" She pointed to Surrey, where she lived in England, and then traced the line on her sketched map she copied from a map in the library to the eastern coastal area of England where Rye was. "So there's no direct train from Surrey, where I live, to Rye, where you live...there will be some transfers but it'll only be 2 and a half hours!" That was closer than she ever imagined it would have been.

"And if somehow you can convince your parents into staying with us, we've got TONS of room. I mean...Wings left unoccupied and guest houses and everything." That might be a long stretch though because most parents at their age weren't going to let their child roam all of England on their own. Luckily for her in this case, no one really cared.

Clifton stopped mid-chew, amazed that she'd already worked all that out. Did she even sleep last night?

He finished swallowing and nodded. "Wow, yeah! That'd be awesome. I bet my parents would let me if I can get them over the magic stuff. I mean, they let me go off to sports camps for a few weeks every summer. They'd probably line me out with a bunch of rules though. So heads up."

"And if we're that close, we could probably hang out at my place too," he smiled. "I can show you the seven wonders of the muggle world: the smartphone, the microwave, Mario Kart, pizza delivery, ...And of course bucket loads of cassette tapes."

The idea that all the fun didn't have to stop at the end of the term actually made Clifton excited for the upcoming finals. And, wanting to prove to her that she hadn't overstepped in the least, he slid his fingers through hers and began rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb as he looked over the route again.

But a sudden thought occurred to him that dampened his mood a little. It was actually something he'd been wondering about for awhile, what with some of the more heated conversations he'd heard around the school. About family lines. And though the remarks had never been directed at him personally, it felt odd learning that the wizarding world had a foul word specifically to describe him.

"Alina," he began, "Your family. You guys are pureblood wizards, right? Would they be okay with...?" He sighed and slowly released her hand. "Well, with me? I don't want to get you in trouble. I know some families are more strict about that stuff than others. I don't want to make things worse."

Okay, I'm really impressed you actually went and looked that up. Bravo!

He was doubting himself. One of the most brilliant people she had ever met and he was doubting himself! Alina's eyes narrowed a little before she shoved his shoulder - not hard, because she was one of the weakest people to walk the Earth, but she was rather upset with him. "To Hell with any of them that mind," she snapped. "I decide who is good enough for me. Got it?"

Realizing she was getting a bit too much she sighed and glanced down. "I'm sorry, ...I just...I really truly don't care," and she looked back up to him. "Don't allow anyone to think you're anything below greatness," and she looked away, not able to have the courage to see his face when she said this. "You're the best person in my life."

She cleared her throat softly and finally looked back to him and laced their hands together again. She hadn't wanted him to stop. "Besides, remember? It's not like I'll be seeing anyone, really. I truly go for weeks without seeing my father or grandmother," and the help didn't care what the girls did as long as they were getting paid for their services.

"So, sports camp, huh?" she smiled. That sounded fun for him. "What sports do you do?" She looked back over her route that include more trains but that was fine with her. If he was muggle-born, he wouldn't have the floo network and she couldn't use magic outside of school. She wondered too if his parents would like her but she was planning to visit that summer and would find out.

Her sudden temper startled Clifton. Mainly because he’d hadn’t been expecting it, but also because he’d seen it at work before.

But she was just as quick to come out of it, sighing and curling into herself a little. “I”m sorry,...I just...I really truly don’t care.” She looked up at him and, bright eyes still smoldering with determination added, “Don’t allow anyone to think you’re anything below greatness.”

Then she turned away again. “You’re the best person in my life.”

For once, Clifton had nothing to say. The ever-joking part of his brain commented that her life must’ve consisted of a pretty sorry lot of people for him to place first. But, in reality, the compliment was probably one of the most healing things he’d heard in a long time.

Ever since he discovered his magic, he’d felt like a burden to his family. His parents never said it in so many words, of course, but he saw it in their tired expressions. Heard it in their occasional arguments. There had even been a silly time when he'd wondered if his brand new baby sister was supposed to replace him. It had been a stupid mindset. He knew his parents loved him, otherwise they wouldn't have even bothered. He just wished he didn’t have to be the cause of so much stress.

It was a relief to know that, in some people’s life, maybe he could be the relief.

She laced her fingers back through his and smiled up at him, lifting his mood again.

“So sports camps, huh? What sports do you do?”

Clifton's smile widened. “Well, soccer mostly. Or I guess football. It’s called both at our house, I never know the right word. I tried rugby a couple times, but…” he laughed. “Let’s just say it’s not really a Hufflepuff sport. My mum said no more after the first concussion.”

Then he frowned, suddenly remembering what she had said before about being alone for weeks. “It...sounds like your summers are normally pretty long. What do you and your sister do?”

"Read," she smiled to him because how boring could one get? "I could tell you probably all about classical literature and tell you why some don't deserve to be a classic at all. We've got...oh gosh," she paused to think about it, "I think it's 58 acres of landscaped gardens and nature woodlands. I spent a LOT of time outside, climbing trees...breaking arms at least at the beginning. So many in fact I bet I could enter into tree climbing competitively now and come out on top because I know what NOT to do. ...If there was competitive tree climbing."

She watched him as she talked and loved how he never seemed to grow bored of her excessive ranting. How was that possible? "I do like to swim. We've got several swimming pools at the house indoor and outdoor. You know, I've always liked football, ...watching it. Sometimes I pass groups of people playing it in Surrey. I don't know the first thing about it except the ball is black and white and round and you run around and kick it. Maybe that's something you can teach me this summer."

"I like learning about art. Drawing, mostly. I know about the famous painters but I don't know much about the actual technical aspect and technique to do it myself. Haven't ventured there yet. I can sew...quilt, I do little these little creatures from crocheting called animurgi," and she laughed. "Sound like the biggest dork now... Good thing you didn't know about this stuff before you had asked me to our dance or I would never imagine an invite otherwise."

"Probably one of my top summer activities is playing pranks on the staff. Bella and I team up for that. Two against one, it gets quite brutal," but in a fun way. We've got a good handful that play them right back so it's like a game of war."

So Alina had a lot to occupy her time during the summer, but at the same time there wasn't a lot of interaction, not a lot of conversation, and certainly no family love. Still, it was what she was used to. Even when her mother was alive, they didn't see her either. It was like the adults just wanted their lives and not be bothered with the two little girls that came along.

Clifton was impressed. They were so independent. But it made him sad that they had to be. Suddenly, he was a little grateful to have rules at his house. Because he couldn’t imagine him and Clover trying to pull that off. Clifton probably wouldn’t last a week without accidentally lighting the house on fire or something.

Still. Several swimming pools?

“Sounds like fun. I’ll teach you how to play soccer. And in return,” he grinned and nudged her playfully, “You’ll teach me how to be a dork.” That is, if jumping off tables after pixies and tripping over his invitation to the dance didn’t already classify him as one. He hadn’t even told her about crashing the trolley on the train yet.

And, in all reality, he liked that she had so many unique interests and hobbies. He always felt like he did too, between his historian dad and his artistic mom, but he didn't usually talk about it. Mostly because his friends back home didn't do weird things like collect interesting seashells or attend theatre shows with their family. They liked gossip or binge-watching their favorite cartoons, which was fine. He always had a blast. But it was refreshing to talk to someone who actually experienced the world around them.

“But let’s be honest," he said. "You’d probably beat me at tree climbing. We don’t have too many good ones where I live. I tried climbing onto the roof once, but you can imagine how that went.”

He smiled over at her with another one of his characteristic shrugs, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that it was real. Real enough to have a map of train routes spread out in front of them. Real enough to be holding her hand.

Clifton had expected to make friends at Hogwarts, but he hadn’t really planned on making any lasting ones. After all, he was only supposed to be trying it out for a year. He decided that if Alina could draw up plans in a single night that he could at least get to work coming up with something to say to his parents.

“So,” he almost grabbed an orange, decided it wasn’t worth it to let go of her hand to peel it, and grabbed a slice of bacon instead. “Who's place first?”

"Your place first. I want to meet your parents and baby Clover. Plus, I don't see them allowing you to come to me if they don't know anything about me. Maybe I can find a way to be charming from now until then," she laughed a little. She also wouldn't have to ask for permission and could just up and go. She had the freedom for that.

Alina gave his hand a soft squeeze before letting go so she could scroll back up the parchment she had drawn her map upon. It was now a very important document. "Of course, if I mess up...and they don't like me..." she trailed off her words because she didn't want to think about it. She really didn't know how to be around parents.

"So guess what's weird? I stumbled across the Trophy Room and apparently my father played quidditch here. I've NO passion for that but I found it a bit interesting. I really don't know anything about him, well, not much about him. Definitely not much that is good."

She reached over him to grab the pitcher of juice and poured a little more into her glass before taking a sip. "This won't be your last year here, Mr. Troublefield. Not if I can help it." She knew it had been on his mind a lot lately, especially with Summer growing closer. "But for the sake of it being the last weeks of our first year...what are some things you want to do? Not involving pixies, of course. I thought it might be fun to change all the names on the plaques in the trophy room or put decorations on them to make them look ridiculous. Or maybe we could try and warm up The Great Lake and go for a swim. Something to mark the end of a great year."

"He was in Quidditch? No wonder you were so good at catching those stupid pixies," he grinned. Then, in a more serious tone, added, "I don't know him, but I bet there's some other cool things he did while he was here. Maybe the longer you're here, the more you'll learn."

At least he hoped. Because the way she described his carelessness sometimes made Clifton want to invite her to his house for the entire summer.

"But don't worry about my parents. They'll love you. In fact," he chuckled. "With your manners my mom might even decide she likes you better." Then, as an afterthought, added: "And they aren't the magic-haters that I've probably made them sound like. You'll like them too."

As for her end-of-the-year ideas, Clifton could only laugh with surprise. How was she so...awesome?! Each one of them was brilliant and he couldn't decide which one sounded more fun.

"I mean, I don't know. We could always decorate the trophy case to be a distraction while we heat up the lake. I'm headed to the library for homework later, I'll see if I can find any tricks for it."

Other Hufflepuffs began to shuffle in and, with a sinking feeling, Clifton realized the time. He'd nearly forgotten. He actually couldn't have slept in if he'd wanted to.

"I've gotta go early to Potions," he groaned, gathering his things. "Gotta make up a few things."

He hesitated, trying to build up a little courage. Then, in a way that was probably a little rushed, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"See you in detention."

It was only a joke, of course. A reference to past--and future--adventures, but at a table of fellow golden-hearted Hufflepuffs, he may as well have shattered the juice pitcher for all the attention it got.

Clifton only smiled to himself and headed out of the hall, his mind buzzing with new ideas and plans.