Lilith's thin finger tapped at her glass of water as the perspiration dripped down the cup and onto the wooden counter. The barista behind the counter frowned at her and Lilith glared back sharply before looking back to her drink. Money was tight. She didn't have the cash to spend on some expensive butterbeer or pumpkin juice. The two galleons she had left giggled around in her pocket.

She was going to need to go back to the Ring--a Muggle children gambling arena where most of the homeless and street kids went to see if they could win some of the cash. Lilith quickly discovered after a few rounds of how good she was. She has a sneaking suspicious it wasn't all fair with how often and unpredictably she won. Some may even say magic.

Lilith's dirty and worn-out sneakers hung above the floor. The eleven-year-old looked out of place among the other older wizards and witches who hung about, laughing loudly as they drank their feeble minds into oblivion.

"And people thought that Muggles were lazy," Lilith muttered before she took another sip of her water.

The thought of Hogwarts only being a few days away brought from excitement and maybe even a hint of joy into Lilith's bleak expression. Just a few more days of sleeping in a musty old room and dealing with the whiny home-runners before she would be far away from this place. Her mother used to tell stories about how the ceiling looked like the night sky and how the corridors moved and disappeared.

The sky inside Lilith's own mind darkened. She tried to distract herself with more water.

Evelyn had convinced her Governess to drop her off here while she looked for new quilts. She had accidentally torn the last one to shreds during a magic outburst. It wasn't her fault, really, she just had the nightmare again.

None of the patrons that usually had good stories where there so she was left sitting at the counter next to a gloomy girl her age. With barely a moments consideration she decided to cheer her up, mostly because it might make herself feel better. So she ordered two glasses of warm honey milk and couple lemon pastries for the both of them in case she wanted some. While her things were being made she decided to tell a joke and start a conversation.

First she had to get the girls attention. Which she did so by nudging the foot closest to her and starting to speak. The girl was a good four inches shorter then her so she was able to brace herself against her elbows and still be able to comfortably speak.

"A cat walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender hands them a glass of milk but the cat says their Lactose and Tolerant." She cracked a smile. To her it was hilarious, even if nobody else tended to get her jokes she was sure this one was an ice breaker.

Just in time the mugs of milk came along with the pastries. She pushed the mug she didn't take for herself to the girl and left the pastries in the middle. All to hope for now was that she wasn't Lactose and Tolerant like the cat. Well, that and that she didn't come of weird.

Lilith blinked at the girl.

Did she just . . . make a joke? Lilith thought, bewildered. Her mind spun as she tried to make sense of it.

"I don't get it," Lilith said in monotone. She narrowed her blue eyes at the taller girl suspiciously, but she seemed mostly harmless. It struck Lilith as odd to see someone her own age in the Leaky Cauldron except herself. Sometimes she would catch others coming in and out, but that was mostly to get to Diagon Alley. None of them ever stopped to sit by her.

Next thing Lilith knew, her sulking was interrupted by a cup of warm milk being slid in front of her along with a bunch of pastries.

"Why?" Lilith questioned, uncomfortably. She wasn't used to getting gifts, especially when she didn't have any way to pay the girl back. That just put her into debt. Now the girl might expect them to become . . . friends. Lilith almost shuttered at the thought.

Darn it. She thought that joke had been golden. Instead she ended up taking a long suffering sigh and bracing her head on the hand holding her mug. She swallowed the sip she had taken and started her explanation.

"Cats can't have normal milk once they wean off their mothers. They stop producing the thing that lets them digest Lactose. I thought that one had been good but I guess not. I'm Evelyn Moore but you can call me whatever you want." She was already comfortable around this girl so she decided to leave open that option of first name, last name, or something else.

But it seemed the girl was still suspicious of something. Maybe her? Did she look strange. Evelyn took another sip of her drink while she thought. The girl seemed to be uncomfortable though and had asked her why. She set down her mug and licked her lips, tugging them back with her sharp canines out of habit.

"Why? I guess you seemed a bit desolate, I was desolate earlier and that was no fun. So I decided to try and cheer you up with food! It always works for me." She snatched a pastry for emphasize and tore it in half. It was one of the crumbly kinds so it didn't leave any big chunks on the plate. Evelyn held out half to her and placed the other in her mouth. She sucked on it quietly while waiting to see how she'd react.

Darn it. She thought that joke had been golden. Instead she ended up taking a long suffering sigh and bracing her head on the hand holding her mug. She swallowed the sip she had taken and started her explanation.

"Cats can't have normal milk once they wean off their mothers. They stop producing the thing that lets them digest Lactose. I thought that one had been good but I guess not. I'm Evelyn Moore but you can call me whatever you want." She was already comfortable around this girl so she decided to leave open that option of first name, last name, or something else.

But it seemed the girl was still suspicious of something. Maybe her? Did she look strange. Evelyn took another sip of her drink while she thought. The girl seemed to be uncomfortable though and had asked her why. She set down her mug and licked her lips, tugging them back with her sharp canines out of habit.

"Why? I guess you seemed a bit desolate, I was desolate earlier and that was no fun. So I decided to try and cheer you up with food! It always works for me." She snatched a pastry for emphasize and tore it in half. It was one of the crumbly kinds so it didn't leave any big chunks on the plate. Evelyn held out half to her and placed the other in her mouth. She sucked on it quietly while waiting to see how she'd react to the offer.

"Lilith," Lilith said, unsurely. "Lilith Westlocke."

Her fingers hesitantly grabbed the other slice of the pumpkin pasty and set it down next to her water and newly acquired glass of milk. "Thanks, but I can't pay you back."

What Lilith really wanted to do was tell this new person to bugger off as she was having a silent cry to herself, but her throat wouldn't force her to do that. Instead, she frowned as she watched the new girl.

"Umm . . . don't you have something to do?" Lilith asked before realizing how rude it sounded and rolling her eyes at herself. "What I mean is, usually people just move through here. What makes you so special?"

Brilliant! Lilith mentally face-palmed. Even ruder!

Lilith seemed rather nice, then again everybody seemed nice. She even had such a pretty name. Which Evelyn couldn't help but comment on.

"You have a lovely name. Like the Owl that watches over travelers in the dark." It was an obscure piece of text she was referencing. Though Evelyn herself didn't consider that.

For some reason the girl wanted to pay her back. "It's fine! Money's not a problem anyway. My governess is probably glad I'm not squirreling it away. Her and my parents want me to use it and get out more.-" She humphed before taking a sip of her milk. "-That's off topic though. I'm here because I convinced my governess to let me hang out here for the good half hour or so it'll take for her to find a new quilt after I broke the last one."

It really wasn't her fault that the thick fabric felt like she was being drowned again. Her fingers tangling in the seaweed like lace as she thrashed around.. She blinked and smiled out of habit. Evelyn always smiled when she got distracted. It was normally just a flash of her teeth like now but sometimes she'd end up practicing different smiles during a conversation. Luckily that was not now.

"So what are you doing here then? You said it yourself, people don't tend to stick around." Her eyes didn't really linger to much on Lilith. Instead they were fighting back tears as she yawned. The milk probably wasn't helping her constant need for naps. Still she took another drink.

This new girl, Evelyn, reminded Lilith of a cat. She yawned like she was about to fall asleep and liked milk. Lilith remembered her cat, which she left at home with her mother. She hoped her mother still remembered to feed it. It was sad to think poor Sebby was going to be staying home instead of joining her on her adventure to Hogwarts.

Lilith had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the thought. It was just a cat. Or, that was what she tried to convince herself. Reminding herself that her old life was gone, a steely expression grew back onto her face like vines over a chain-link fence. It hurt her to lie to herself.

"Er-Thanks," Lilith said. It felt like she was falling behind in the conversation. She felt like an idiot. Only saying a couple of words at a time she probably seemed like she never held a conversation with someone before.

"I'm just . . . sitting here," Lilith said, shifting on her stool. "What do you mean the governess? Are you a maid or something?" Lilith finally gave in and took a sip of the milk, appreciating the warm tingling it left in her body.

Maid? Where would she get that idea? Evelyn rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes before explaining.

"The governess is Ms. Miller, she's my teacher and doubling as my legal guardian in case anything happens while my parents aren't around. Technically I do have maids, but I don't tend to leave much of a mess outside of the occasional magic outburst. Not including that one time I broke the bathroom after trying to take a bath for the first time after the incident. I think the groundskeeper ended up fixing that though. But I can see where you would get that confused. Kinda. Not really but it seemed like the right thing to say to end my tirade?"

She shrugged. It worked in the end, hopefully she wouldn't question the entire bathroom thing. It had been an accident, she had fallen asleep while taking a bath and panicked. But when she meant broke she meant broke. The water from the pipes had broke and the bathtub itself had multiple cracks. It wasn't as bad as the mirror though. Which had completely shattered and strewn across the floor. She could've sworn she still has a couple scars from that. After that Evelyn had only taken showers. There was no repeat of the incident after that.

Though as she thought about it she realized there were multiple incidents. It wasn't as if she was eager to name them so she returned her attention to the abandoned pastries. She took one and began nibbling on it between drinks. "Hopefully that wasn't weird. Sometimes it can be but i'm not sure right now."

Lilith stared at the girl, only half listening to what she was saying. She seemed to have been talking for an extremely long time and Lilith surprised she could even breathe between all those words. Social exhaustion was already beginning to take its hold.

Lilith wanted to ask about her parents. She had a lot of questions to ask but remained silent for the time being. If Lilith started to pry into other's lives, then that would make it seem like she was interested and invite more conversation. That was the opposite of what Lilith wanted.

Maybe this girl was here to spy on her. The Ministry was about to swoop down and take her away. Lilith shook the crazy thoughts out of her head. That was stupid. Her mother would never go through the trouble of contacting the Ministry for help. Not only would it seem low and begging but it would prove what an awful mother she had been. If there was one thing her mother loved, it was her image.

"That's cool," Lilith muttered. The milk that was in her stomach didn't feel as comforting as before. Maybe it was just Lilith, but the air seemed thicker. "So, since it doesn't seem like you're going to leave anytime soon, uh, do you like Quidditch? Or . . . school stuff? Do you go to school? Hogwarts, yeah?"