"You're always on the move aren't you?" Clarke asked, "I feel like 95% of the whole time I've known you, you've been doing something." Clarke really didn't have a problem with this but he felt like since he had met her he was always playing catch up with her. It was an odd feeling for him because he was so used to being the one who was moving too fast. With no siblings and being from a "proper" pureblood family meant that a lot of the extra energy he had was seen as a bad thing. His mom, who was excitable and energetic herself, always said that Clarke was using his energy wrong, as if that was possible.

"Also I never asked what you're Hogwarts house is," he said, "i'm always so curious about how the sorting goes. Both my parents have been in Slytherin so they all think that's where I'll go but I'm not sure. Does the sorting take your parents into consideration? Because I don't feel like them a lot of the time," he admits.

It's not that the had anything against any of the houses and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to be in one over the other. But he thinks ending up in Slytherin only because his parents were also there would be kind of a let down. He already knows who he is in comparison to his parents, his whole life has been trying to mold himself into something his parents wanted. But if he could just, get away from that, have proof that he was his own person... That would be the dream.

"Oh, I'm always moving," Ami said off-handedly, following up with a shrug. She wasn't ADHD or anything, but sitting still had always been hard for her and seemed somewhat useless. On the other hand, she forced herself to stay still whenever she truly had to focus- and now wasn't the time for that. They had a hotel to find! With a hard shove against the pavement, Ami shot off, rounding the corner at a hair-raising speed.

"I'm a Hufflepuff, not that most people are able to tell," she added, in response to Clarke's question. "Everyone thought I would get Slytherin, like my mom- so no, parental lineage doesn't always factor into it. The Sorting Hat sorts you based on who you are, not who your parents were."

No one feels like their parents, she wanted to add, but she kept her mouth shut. He'd learn that soon enough, once he started to understand who he truly was. That had been an especially hard lesson for Ami to learn, considering all of the pressure coming from the combined bloodlines that she held. She had finally learned to accept that she wasn't like her parents, and never would be, and maybe... maybe that was a good thing.

"What house do you think you're going to get?" Ami asked, more out of politeness than curiosity. She herself never thought that she would get Hufflepuff, so really, your personal opinion didn't matter all that much.

Clarke shrugged, "I guess Slytherin I haven't really tried to think about it too much. I don't really think I have a lot of ambition if I'm being honest. I just want to go to school at this point," he laughed awkwardly, "but I don't feel like I really would fit in with the other houses either. I wonder if the sorting hat has ever not been able to sort anyone." he said.

The truth was that Clarke just didn't feel special in any way, not that he was torn up about that he just was so used to being a background character in his own life. He was surrounded by eccentric and crazy personalities, and he was just, quiet and mellow and unobtrusive. Clarke was generic, in the middle. There was a part of him though, deep within his mind that was quietly saying over and over 'if you don't fit anywhere maybe it's because you fit everywhere.' But Clarke didn't know what to make of that.

"I guess it doesn't matter what house I'm in as long as I get along with the other people there it doesn't really matter. I just don't want to hate it there, that's pretty much my only standard," he said.

Wanting to go to school? This child was one of the few, then- although, it must have been different, with Hogwarts teaching magic instead of normal school subjects. Ami, for one, hated going back to school- oh, how she loathed the homework! 

It was odd, though, that Hogwarts chose not teach them the normal, everyday things of life- like English, Math, Science, or Geography. How were they supposed to get into a good college if they didn't learn that stuff? For that matter, did they get some sort of high school diploma thing at the end of their schooling year?

"Not hating your house certainly is a good place to start," Ami admitted with a small smile. "I'm rather pleased I'm in Hufflepuff, if I'm honest. No one really expects us to be anything, you know? We just sort of... exist."

Suddenly, as if it simply wanted to spice things up, her skateboard hit a rather deep pothole right afterward. The sudden jolt sent Ami flying head over heels across the pavement, scraping knees and elbows and nearly cracking heads open. The skateboard itself shot off in the completely opposite direction, happily rolling along by itself before bumping to a stop in the grass.

Ow. Completely and utterly discombobulated, Ami struggled to her feet, the phantom pain reappearing in her knee once more. "Wow, that was... uh, quite the joyride, I guess."

Clarke stood up in alarm and cringed in sympathy as she fell. He hurried over to her looking concerned, "Are you okay?" he asked taking notice of the scrapes on her knees. He knew that stinging feeling and felt bad for her more than anything. Getting to know this girl though he wasn't sure if she was the type who would appreciate him feeling too much for her. It just wasn't in his nature to not try to help even if he was rather certain she would not want him to.

Politeness and tradition aside he would genuinely do this for about anyone. he had experience though, usually with girls about his age or a little bit older who for some reason thought he was doing it just because he viewed them as weak. He didn't know how to assure them it was not true without coming across as insincere. Clarke wasn't too offended by it though he understood the impulse. He tried to not let it stifle who he was though and maybe through his actions he could prove he just wanted to make sure everything was okay.

And he was very sympathetic to anyone who scraped their knees. What may seem like a small injury at first glance usually stung and ached really terribly. If dittany couldn't be used to heal it up it could even bruise and stick around for a while. It was the most likely injury one was to get when they were as active as he was. One memorable occasion he had fallen from his broom and landed on the stone wall in his back yard. The cut on his knee forced him to limp back to the house to call for his mother.

"Yeah- yeah! I'm fine. It doesn't hurt." Oh, how easy it had been for the lie to slip out, through her teeth. For her, the pain was a weakness, and her weaknesses would bring about her downfall. If she could just stop feeling the pain, everything would be so much better. She would such a better person, a better fighter, a better daughter.

Or, so she chose to believe.

“Pretty dumb of me to fall like that, you’d think after 6 years on a skateboard that I’d be better at it,” Ami grumbled lightheartedly, attempting to lighten the mood. She was a skateboarder by nature, as it was one of the most efficient methods of transportation throughout downtown Chicago. “Come on, let’s get you back to your hotel before I manage to scrape you up, too.”

Standing up, she got back on her skateboard, pushing off once more- although this time, with far more caution. Referring to her phone and the paper map, she continued on through the streets like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t just fallen two minutes beforehand.

The hotel now visible further down the block, Ami hopped off her skateboard, kicking it up into the air and catching it. “Next stop, Clarke Laredo’s Hotel,” she said jokingly, gesturing to the front doors. “It was nice to meet ya, yeah?”

[ AMI EXITS THE THREAD ]

Clarke looked at the front doors of the hotel recognizing it immediately. He smiled, suddenly feeling very tired after the long day. It was getting dark now too and he wanted to get back into his hotel room. Muggle London at night? It was not his comfort zone that was for sure.

He turned to Ami thankfully and smiled "Thank you, for uh, helping me get dinner and then walking me back to my Hotel. Or well... guiding me back to my hotel," he said and gestured towards her skateboard. "And yes it was nice to meet you hopefully I see you at school." he said.

He was a little anxious about school, worried he'd have no friends or that people just would not like him. The idea of not knowing what house he could be in also sat with him pretty heavily. Clarke was mostly excited, just to get away from everything and be on his own in a lot of ways. But that left him vulnerable to a lot of things as well.

"Bye," he said and turned towards the doors of the hotel, feeling just about ready to crash and go to sleep for the rest of the night. Hopefully not waking up until late morning.