The Gryffindor Table 2021-2022

Juniper, having settled at the Gryffindor Table, took a moment to let the fact that she was not in the same House as her siblings sink in.

Gryffindor.

Elijah, Timothy, Willow, Poppy... they were all Hufflepuff. As had her father been, and her grandparents before him. It was a strong trait in the family, to be kind and loyal. And no doubt she was that too in many ways... so it was understandable that self-doubt rippled beneath the surface. No doubt she was smiling now, but later on when she was alone she knew she'd be deep in thought over this whole thing.

Ah well... it didn't do to dwell on these things. She glanced back at the Hufflepuff table over her shoulder - no doubt her siblings were worried about her - but then went to start pulling portions of food onto her plate. A bit of steak here, some veggies there, the sauce... ah, it all smelt amazing and her tummy was growling for food. She did look around for people to talk to as Elijah had advised her on the train ride, but Juniper was just too timid to be the one to speak up first.

Maybe someone else would approach her. They all seemed relatively nice, right? Some a bit more boisterous than others, something she'd have to get used to. Timothy and Poppy were pretty loud individuals themselves and the family home was quite busy so it wasn't as though she wasn't used to crowded settings. Trying to tuck that pesky stray hair behind her ear, Juniper began getting her fill of food and silently pondering to herself whether her siblings were upset at her for being in a different House or not. A silly thought, but one that worried her nonetheless.

Food was literally the best thing on earth.

If you couldn't taste, you were missing out on one of the great joys of life.

Kim put another bite of his shepherd's pie into his mouth and chewed it, relishing the taste. The flavors were delicious and although it was pretty simple to make, it was one of his favorites. A few minutes ago some conversation had been going on around him, some had even deigned to speak to him, but as of right now things were quiet. Probably because everyone was eating and their mouths were full. It was around this time that he heard a voice.

It wasn't from someone sitting at the Gryffindor table but from the Slytherin table. Kim looked over briefly, his eyes flickering over the students there. It looked as if some of them were staring at his table. At who? Kim's eyes alighted upon a girl with pale skin, covered in freckles. The girl's hair happened to be a nice shade of purple. Well, that was nice. Kim's own hair was currently dyed a silvery-white right now. A normal person would greet/welcome her.

But Kim was not a normal person.

And so, he continued to eat his food, without saying a single word to the girl.

However, if she spoke to him, he would respond back. As long as it wasn't some kind of small talk, which he hated to engage in. Why? Because most small talk was pointless, the person who started it most likely didn't even have an interest in hearing what the other person had to say to them. In fact, they only spoke to them in order to be seen as polite. Kim thought that small talk should be avoided altogether. He didn't have an issue with any other type of convo.

It was just the small talk that bothered him.

Why speak to someone to portray a fake side of yourself, just to make it seem as if you are polite? If you're not interested in carrying on a conversation, why start one in the first place?

Kim reached over to grab some gravy to pour over his shepherd's pie and caught sight of a girl with blond hair and glasses. She was looking over at the Hufflepuff table a lot and he wondered if she'd seen some friends of hers there. Or if she had family there. The girl was quiet and looked a little out of place, was that the word he was searching for? Part of him wondered if she just needed someone to talk to her. Not that he'd be the one to do something.

Well, maybe he'd throw her a lifeline.

She was sitting directly next to him, so it would be easy to give her an opening.

"Excuse me. Can you pass the glazed carrots over here?" Kim asked, raising his voice a little as he nudged her ever so slightly with his elbow.

A ricochet back into reality. Where the blonde had been quietly mulling over her newly-acquired plate of food and hardly touching a thing, someone had spoken to her. Usually she wouldn't register it immediately in this odd sense of fright she felt, yet Juniper had been asked a question and it was rude not to respond. "Ah, of course-" As if practiced - and in many ways it was, what with a family of four other siblings and a huge array of home characters in her life besides - Juniper immediately reached one of her slender arms out to the glazed carrots and passed them over to Kim with a forced smile, only now registering the boy's look properly.

Goodness, he was really pretty.

Juniper for some reason immediately knew this would be someone she'd remember. Why? Well, there were a few factors. For one his face simply had a grace to it that many of the younger years didn't; soft, yet his gaze was anything but. There were tell-tale signs of hair-dying in the texture and roots of his hair but she tried not to stare too much, and whilst most of the boys of her age had shorter, tidier hair, his was fair and a touch longer, wispy.

Usually she'd not take the time to start a conversation and she'd not realised this was his way of 'throwing her a lifeline', so to speak. Yet in between her thoughts about being sorted into Gryffindor, and already feeling a sinking pit in her chest regarding her siblings, Juniper needed a distraction and what better way to distract one's self than attempting to make new acquaintances? Right? What could go wrong?

"What's your natural hair color?" It was the first thing to come from her mouth, the observant girl not trying to be rude but genuinely curious. Often she found that the best way to start a conversation - on the rare occasion she did - was pick up on someone's interests. Vanity was as valid as any. "I mean- i-it looks nicely done. My brother dyes his hair from time to time, though he usually goes with vibrant colors."

She'd glance back at Hufflepuff table, and point him out. Timothy Evans, in his fifth year, wasn't all that difficult to point out. Right now it was the most electric shade of blue one could imagine, short and slightly messy. He was surrounded by three other people who looked very similar to Juniper, and the bunch of them had the same verdant green eyes save for the third-year girl who appeared to have hazel orbs.

When they looked back in her direction and waved, she did the same and peered away quickly, forking a mouthful of peas closer to her lips. Prepared to be told to shut up or that it was none of her business, Juniper seemed awfully tense.

As the plate of glazed carrots was passed to him, Kim nodded his thanks.

Carrots were delicious.

He wasn't much of a vegetable lover but carrots were an exception.

They were supposed to make your eyes better, right?

From her actions, it seemed as if she'd done this a million times before, as her movements were practiced, fluid even. But then, it could have just been the way she moved her body too.

Kim took a big spoonful of the glazed carrots and placed them onto his plate. It was only after he did this that he became aware that someone's gaze was on him. He looked up and over to the side to see the new girl staring at him. Before he could ask her what she wanted, the girl spoke letting him know exactly what she was thinking about at the time. He liked that, she was direct and to the point just like him. "Black." Kim told the girl seated right next to him.

"I haven't had that color in awhile though." The boy added. "I change hair colors once a month to keep things fresh." Kim told her. The girl spoke of her brother and Kim looked over his shoulder at the Hufflepuff table. Ah, so that was why she kept staring back at them. From the look of the boys and the girl waving at her, they were all related to her. That or she had some serious dopplegangers out there. Kim looked back down at his seatmate.

"I'm Kim. You are?" He asked, waiting for a response.

Amethyst listened to the conversation between the two people near her. She knew she probably should say something but her anxiety said no. She was still wondering how she even got into Gryffindor. She was nothing like them. She sighed. She needed to stop thinking about it. The hat clearly thought she was supposed to be in Gryffindor. She just hoped that she wouldn't get bullied by the Slytherins. She knew how they were with Gryffindors. She grabbed a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy. She put some on her plate. She knew most people would think it was weird that she would mostly only put one type of food on her plate at a time. She did it because she had a sensory problem. It wasn't major for the most part but when it comes to food and clothing it was mostly bad. There were certain foods she couldn't eat just because of the texture of them. She listened to the boy say his name. Kim was a nice name. She liked it. She bit her lip trying to gain the courage to talk to them. She knew Amber would like it if she made some friends. "H-hey." She looked over at the people she was sitting with.

Taizu had just sat down after being sorted into this house. The sorting hat had called him brave. Was it joking? He was anything but brave. But here he was, surrounded by boisterous folk. Well... Mostly boisterous. the girl across from him was certainly not boisterous. Rather, she was nervous like him. But the boy named Kim was certainly not nervous. He was not too energetic, and not to sluggish. He seemed to be a calming person in his own way, which seemed to help the girl across from Taizu speak up finally, saying only one word, and nervously at that. Taizu could clearly see that she was just as nervous as he was, and for some strange reason that reassured him.

Taizu began formulating a response to talk to the people around him, and was about to finally speak up, when the thoughts left his mind. Panicking, Taizu began frantically speaking in Japanese, saying, "<No, no, no no no! I can't just be a coward for my entire life! I have to say something to these guys!>" Eventually though, Taizu looked up at the people surrounding him, and with a shy smile, said, "Hi. I'm Taizu." Immediately, he went back to berating himself in Japanese, saying, "<Fool! I know better than to say that! I need to start a proper conversation, not make things awkward!>"

As he waited for the girl beside him Juniper to say her name, Kim glanced over to his right where another girl Amethyst Morningstar sat, a short distance away from him. There was room for her to move closer but she had chosen to remain apart. Perhaps she was regretting it now? It was around this time that the girl decided to speak and seemed to look over at him. Kim nodded in her direction. "You should try the shepherd's pie. It's full of flavor."

He told her, using the food as an icebreaker. This was the best he could do, Kim wasn't the type of person who was too friendly when it came to strangers. And he didn't like being around people too often. Not because he didn't like people, it was more because of his social anxiety when it came to large groups that he wasn't familiar with. Most of the time he was fine, unless they got too close to or tried to touch him. It was something he was working on.

And then a boy came and sat down next to Kim, filling the last empty space beside him.

He looked over at him as Taizu suddenly started speaking Japanese. Kim regarded him for a few moments. "Why do you feel the need to say something to us? Not talking to us doesn't make you a coward like you seem to think. In fact, I'd like you more if you were true to what you were feeling at the time. There's no need to force yourself to talk if you don't want to." He told him and inclined his head towards him.

"Kim." He said, after Taizu introduced himself in English. But the Gryffindor raised a brow when Taizu quickly reverted back to Japanese again. Ah, had he read him wrong before? Maybe he wasn't 'forcing himself' to talk but actually really wanted to talk to others but didn't know how to? "Here. Try some shepherd's pie." Kim said as he pulled the tray close to Taizu and offered it to him. "You ever have this type of food before?" He asked him.

Kim was giving him a chance to start a conversation.

Yes, he was nicer than it appeared, although he would never admit this to anyone.

Taizu was just finishing berating himself when he realized that the boy across from him had spoken Japanese, specifically in reference to him. This was definitely not going to plan. The boy, who had introduced themselves as Kim, knew that he was an idiot and couldn't properly talk in the slightest without criticizing himself. Taizu began to sink lower in his seat, as if he would magically fall through the floor and never be seen again. Maybe he would.

Then, Kim spoke up again, this time in English. He offered Taizu some food, which was completely different than what he usually ate at his house, due to his parents usually only eating at home or at a Japanese sushi bar that had recently gained popularity in the community. Thus, Taizu felt so far from home that he began to realize that he wouldn't be seeing his mother or father for quite some time. Taizu began to faintly cry, before shaking his head. No. What would Michael say if he saw him crying? He had to be strong. At least, strong enough to talk to the people around him.

Taizu eventually sat up in his seat, he had been almost about to fall out of it, and spoke up in Japanese. "<Forgive me, I am not that good at speaking in English. It makes me less confident. I've honestly never had Shepard's pie,>" Taizu stumbled over the words, them not being in the Japanese language, before continuing on. "<Before, but I thank you for offering it to me.>" Taizu carefully grabbed the Shepard's pie, trying not to drop it, and scooped some onto his plate. Taizu then spoke up in English, his confidence greatly diminished, "Uhm, wh-what are all of your n-names?"

Taizu looked over at the food Kim had offered and then shook his head.

It was then that he seemed to actually start to cry a little?

Kim blinked. What was going on? Did he not like the food he'd offered? Did he have some kind of trauma related to it? Before he could ask, Taizu had responded again in Japanese.

"Ah, I see. What food do you usually eat? Only Japanese?" He asked, curious. Kim himself preferred Asian food and snacks but you couldn't be too picky at Hogwarts. They weren't in Asia now, therefore naturally most of the food would be non-asian. Unless, there was an asian market nearby or the house elves specifically made that type of food. Or students who could cook/bake made it themselves. Kim regarded him for a few moments.

"If you don't like the food, follow me to the common room after dinner. I have a snack you might like." He told him, deciding to be nice for once. Kim finished up his glazed carrots and the shepherd's pie on his plate. And then reached over for a custard tart, which looked simply divine. How could someone not like something like this? They had to be nuts. Kim picked up his mug and drank the ice cold water from it. The drink had changed.

Courtesy of Hogwarts.

When it came to drinks, it tended to change to be whatever liquid one wanted to drink.

Taizu smiled as Kim started talking to him. It felt so much easier to talk to him in Japanese then English. Awkwardly picking up a fork, (he was used to chopsticks, not a fork) he scooped some of the Shepard's pie onto it, and took a bite. Instantly, his face lit up. The flavors were different than he was used to, but the food was still good.

Looking to Kim, he said, "<This is really good! Thank you for this!>" Continuing to eat it awkwardly, he began to smile for the first time at the school.

Taizu glanced up at Kim's question, which seemed to have been directed at him eating awkwardly with the fork. looking up, he said, "<I usually only eat Japanese food. The only time I had normal food was at a friends house. It was something called crisps, but it was too salty with not enough flavors.>" Taizu finished the food he had placed on his plate, and carefully reached for more. He didn't want to seem greedy.

Afterwards, Taizu was done eating the second helping, he looked up at Kim, trying to work up the courage to ask him a question. He didn't want to annoy this nice person, so he was going to be calm with it. Just as he thought he was ready, his nerves hit him and he blurted in full English, "Do you want to be friends?"