+ B R E A K F A S T, open

[Dominic McLaggen]

Time passed on by no matter what we could do. We might be able to go back to change the future, but the future would always come one way or another. The sun moved around in the sky due to the orbital structure of the earth and with the orb rotating on its vertical axis. Morning became afternoon, afternoon became evening, and evening became night only to repeat the process in another twenty-four hours. It sounded boring when it happened, but it was actually kind of intriguing. That day, Dominic McLaggen was able to experience all points of a day – morning to night. He was going on twenty-six hours without sleep, not that it had really been his goal that night. It had been extremely difficult to go to sleep. That brain of his just kept racing around with thoughts that would cause unease or stress. Too many would have said that it was some internal thing that just needed to be let go and put out there in the world. It wasn’t that and no matter how many times they got told this, they didn’t believe him, which would ultimately make him boiling over with rage. It was true that the only McLaggen boy kept a lot of things to himself, mostly not to worry other people or it wasn’t exactly relevant to a conversation, but no matter could tell him what he should do with feelings that weren’t real. It was rather irritating to go through such a thing.

The realm of watching the stages of a day was rather incredible. Yes, a sunrise had been witnessed before, several times actually, but being able to perch oneself at the window to actually look made it kind of surreal. It made things look so perfect, but then, like life, it turned into something flawed and equally as good. The sun had moved into a big patch of thick, puffy clouds so the yellows seemed a different tone of color that shouldn’t have been on a spectrum making the clouds look like they were promising buckets of rain. It wasn’t supposed to rain that day, but just like everything else, things could change no matter how well they could have been predicted. How he prayed with Merlin that it wouldn’t rain. It was bad enough that Dominic was completely wiped out and tired, bags starting to hollow out his eyes, sleep ebbed its way into the aura around him yet wouldn’t fully swallow the tired Hufflepuff, but if it went to rain he’d be ultimately sleepier and probably even depressed. The rain could usually wake him up in the right atmosphere, but there was just a dawning feeling that today would just make the boy moody, depressed, and even more tired then before. It would always be nice not to sleep, to experience the day more, but not only did the lack of sleep destroy ones brain cells, the human body also depended on it not just because their vitals needed it, it was because a person slept from day one and became accustomed to it.

Listening to one of the other boys snoring decrease, signs that morning would sure ensue within the next hour or so, the only one awake changed out of the sweats and shirt that he wore to go to sleep in, more like he laid awake tossing and turning most night if he wasn’t reading, and put on the black slacks, a black button down shirt, rolling the sleeves partly up, and wrapping the yellow striped tie around his head imagining it was more of a noose then anything else. Grabbing a book that was required for magical creatures, one that he had read some time ago and re-reading it for fun, Dom moved as silently as a cat on the pads of their feet walking down all the flights of stairs to the Great Hall. There were shortcuts, that was true, but there wasn’t exactly a rush since many of the students weren’t completely up yet, or even close in some cases, so the leisurely walk was welcomed. Finally entering the Great Hall, the Hufflepuff made a trip to the table in the middle of the room. Nobody was really there so he just chose a table, not caring whom it belonged too. No food had been out, but as soon as butt met seat muffins, rolls, juice, and other morning delicacies apparated in front of him. Grabbing a roll, stuffing some of it in his mouth, he opened the book only to rest the eggish head on it, eyes slowly blinking – the sure sign somebody was dead tired and probably didn’t want to be bothered. When did that stop anybody though?

[Victoire Weasley]

]Toire had never been much of a morning person before. Some would say that the teen lived by the mantra of needing her beauty sleep, but that was hardly her reasoning. In truth she really had no reason for much of what she did, including the hours she kept for waking and the hours she kept for sleeping. In her childhood she had reveled in the sunrises spent at Shell Cottage with her father. It had been something just the two of them shared as her mother hadn’t been very fond of getting up so early to spend outdoors where it was likely to be damp and chilly. The only reason Toire had ever been allowed to go outdoors was because her father had agreed to dress her up warmly, and there might have been the occasional fit when told no. Like most young children the blonde had not taken to being told no very well. At the time it had been sort of magical; her father would be outdoors doing nothing more than sitting and thinking – there had to have been some sort of magic in it, or so she had thought. It had been her excuse to try it out as well. Like father, like daughter … something that as a teen she now took to heart. As it was, the sunrises spent with her father had been crucial bonding time for the pair, but as she had grown older, and her siblings had been born, Toire had begun sleeping through her sunrise moments until they became little more than pleasant memories from her past.

While she didn’t particularly like sleeping in for fear of being late for a class, something Toire had trained herself not to do, she couldn’t say she rightly remembered the last time she had managed to awaken from a slumber before the sun had risen. Today just happened to be one of those rare days, and for the life of her the blonde Gryffindor could not think why. She supposed with the new school year she was a tad bit more stressed than normal. How could she not be when she had thoughts of her future looming over her head like a giant rain cloud, the kind that never spouted rain but simply threatened to do so by looking ever so malicious? Or there was the fact that she and her sister hadn’t gotten along for quite some time now and the day before they had departed for Hogwarts their mother had made mention of that little fact. Then there was the possibility that she was still worrying about Teddy and her lack of progress in the oddness of their relationship. She was quite willing to admit she liked him, but figuring out just how he felt was as much of a mystery now as it had been all those years ago when she had first met him. That part was something for which she blamed her mother – Toire was fairly sure the romantic side of her nature came from her and not her father.

Knowing full well that sleep would not return in the light of a new day, Toire made herself get up as quietly as possible. Her roommates would sleep a while longer, but Toire couldn’t wait for them to accompany her out of their house. No, she would simply have to find another means of entertaining herself, like starting the next chapter of her arithmancy class and getting a balanced meal. The blonde prided herself on knowing how to eat right and never missing a meal, or managing to gain an unwanted amount of weight. She had good genes, something she was grateful for as being anything but the size she was would be akin to sacrilege. Toire knew this part of her character was shallow and unbecoming, but as of yet she hadn’t found a way to change herself. Things like appearances did matter to her, and try as she might she couldn’t seem to look past them for what really mattered. This was why Toire kept to her small circle of friends as much as possible. She was afraid to branch out and allow people to see that she really wasn’t that great of a person; she was just as human as the rest of them, even with that small ounce of veela blood in her system. Naturally she had never asked for it, and for as long as Toire could remember she had tried finding a way to rid herself of it, but she supposed if she ever managed to do that she would run out of reasons to excuse her habit of judging people by their looks and the like.

Once she was dressed Toire grabbed her book bag and silently made her way out of the dormitory. The Common Room was quiet as well, only a few souls making soft snores atop their books where they had fallen asleep the night before graced her presence. After a quick check that none were sleeping in pools of ink, Toire slipped out of the Gryffindor House and made her way towards the Great Hall. There were few others awake, though she did manage to give a quick nod of her head to her arithmancy professor in passing before coming upon the giant oak doors of the large gathering room. As she entered Toire had to stifle a small sigh upon seeing that there really wasn’t anyone else within the hall. She recognized a studious Ravenclaw seated at one table, but she wasn’t a girl that Toire knew very well so she couldn’t walk over there and chat away about nothing in particular. It was a good thing she had grabbed her bag so she could pretend to be studious as well, but there was now the problem of sitting alone. If Toire did that she would feel like a complete idiot and only set herself up for disaster should someone, like a certain boy or two, walk in and make it a point to try and flirt with her. The ice queen image could only last for so long with the boys before they started making cruel jokes behind her back about why she really didn’t feel flattered or enamored by the attention given to her. It was bad enough a few girls gossiped about her little crush on Teddy as though it answered everything. It certainly was part of Toire’s reasoning behind not wanting to attract too much attention, but it was hardly the sole reason for not wanting to encourage a gaggle of males to follow along at her every beck and call.

Luckily Toire was able to escape from her own thoughts by the mere sight of Dominic McLaggen sitting with his head upon his book at a table in the middle of the hall. He was a good guy, and certainly one she trusted more than most, though she couldn’t give an honest reason why. He was a friendly face and one for which Toire could sit with until her own friends appeared and she could make a mistake. Besides, how often had she honestly spoken with Dom this year? Aside from the Prefect meetings they attended the blonde teen couldn’t remember the last time they had simply talked … though by the looks of things talking was out of the question with the Hufflepuff boy snoozing as he was, but that hardly mattered. Torie made her way over to the table, quietly taking a seat on the bench as she placed her bag beside her. Dom was still blinking, so it seemed he wasn’t completely asleep yet. “Long night?” she asked softly as she reached towards the middle to grab herself a banana nut muffin. To her right a bowl of fruit appeared, placing another smile upon Toire’s face. Magic truly was wonderful in that it had managed to cater to her normal preferences during meal times. Fruit, a muffin, and occasionally some egg were all the teen needed to keep her going until lunch time. “Or are you studying?” Her blue eyes went down to the book that Dominic was resting his head on, though she couldn’t see for sure what the title was.

[Dominic McLaggen]

Numerous things in life brought happiness to different people. One person might love apples while the next might love a pear. Most drastically, a person might think that Muggles were worthless and the next might be from Muggle parents. It varied from which person one analyzed. For this particular Hufflepuff boy on the verge of drooling in the pages of the book, blurring the text, he realized how much that sleep meant the world to him, sleeping and lounging around. It wasn’t that he was lazy, even though that was probably how so many saw it, it was just that there was a certain satisfaction of being strewn across the couch in a pair of sweatpants and an old shirt. You could do so many things like that; watching television or other people whom study or play chess, reading a classic piece of literature that broadens the mind, or to just reflect on the day and the days to come. Sleeping was just so…blissful. It was like heaven; laying on a cloud, the way his muscles relaxed and his mind just let all the thoughts stored away in his brain go, and the possibility of having such a far fetched fantasy that it left him thinking or desiring. Just waking up rested and relaxed made the day seem bearable. It was the love of rest and relaxation. This trait made it possible for him to be one of those guys laying on the beach on a towel or in a hammock with a drink in a coconut cup with a little umbrella in it reading a book, a cover for checking out the babes, and just laying around when not in the ocean.

Smells and sounds wafted around the Great Hall. Students quietly chatting away, the ones that had a partner to chat with that was, the creaking of the old school, birds chirping from where they rested on the stoop of the window, the smell of muffins and rolls and other pastries, pork products, and freshly squeezed juices. It all smelt wonderful really, causing his stomach to growl quietly. However, if more food weren’t ingested, then the next growl would surely bring down the Great Hall and all its furniture. Whilst his eyes were still open, the pupils had dilated to the point where everything was blurry and they naturally moistened themselves so they didn’t have to blink. It was a sort of a coma; Dominic could barely feel his body and had someone yelled boo right in his ear, it would take a good several seconds before any sort of reflex occurred. One of the sounds that should have registered into his ears and brain was the sound of an approaching student, but he was so far out of it that it didn’t really click at all. When she sat down, he didn’t even see her, just a bunch of distorted objects moving around much like a kaleidoscope.

Yet when Victoire Weasley spoke, it seemed to wake him up, or at least tussle him a little bit to stir and actually blink.

Setting up, eyes seizing with rapid blinks, his hands came up to wipe away the almost-sleep and stretch just a little bit, feeling the muscles of his arms, back, and abdomen tense in a relaxing sort of way. The questions finally echoed through his brain causing his eyes to turn and look at her, eyes blinking out of the fact of who was sitting next to him so early in the morning. This girl naturally didn’t need beauty sleep, but it still seemed odd to see her. He would be one of many to first admit that Victoire was absolutely breath taking and she knew it as well. The Slytherins were probably upset that she wasn’t in their house. He was kind of taken aback really that she had chose to sit with him instead of anyone else, but he knew that when her friends came, she’d go with them. He was just one of those people anybody could sit and talk with yet not look like a complete loser. “Uh…it would be…the first one,” he said kind of slowly as if it took a lot of neurons to come to that thought. “What about you?” he asked, trying to stay calm because that little bit of veela was playing through. Stretching out his arm, he picked up a piece of watermelon, some pieces of bacon, a spoonful of eggs, and a toasted raisin muffin complete with butter and jelly. Food was another fancy, especially the exotic kind, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner were some of his favorite past times. “Not to jump to conclusions, but aren’t you one of those people that think they need so many exact hours of sleep?”

[Victoire Weasley]

Toire frowned ever so slightly as she studied Dominic. She could never be sure when or if the veela part of her blood was shining through – she had asked her mother countless numbers of times whether there was any real way to tell, but thus far the only answer she ever received was that it was an automatic part of her that she could not turn off or on at will. That hadn’t comforted the teen any years ago, and as a result there were times when she felt talking with a member of the opposite sex were downright troublesome. She could never be sure what type of impression she was making, and whether or not it was her tiny bit of veela gaining the attention for her. It was almost enough to make her want to avoid men altogether, though she supposed then she would never be able to marry and have a family in the future. Perhaps it had been a mistake to turn down her mother’s school all those years ago – there were certainly a great deal less men there than here at Hogwarts, but like all things, it was quite useless to cry over something she couldn’t change. It was what it was, and what it was in this very moment was Toire wondering whether to hate her cursed blood and leave poor Dominic in peace while he was still sane, or if she should bulldoze her way through this conversation and pray against all odds nothing awkward or downright silly would happen.

Apparently Toire was going to sit it out, for at Dominic’s voice she smiled pleasantly and steeled herself in her seat. It wouldn’t do to look all skittish and run off, not unless Dominic started acting unlike himself, though she honestly wasn’t sure how that was supposed to be. Even so, her wand was tucked away in her robes should the need call for it. “Ah, lack of sleep. Any particular reason for that, or just one of those nights where you couldn’t quite settle in and ended up awake far earlier than you would have like?” She blinked at his question to her, nodding her head as she conjured up an answer in her mind. “Actually, I’m not quite sure why I’m awake so early. I normally don’t get up, but this morning I simply woke up wide awake. It’s rather depressing given that it’s going to be a late night studying for my exam in the morning. Everything’s been so hectic this year as I’ve been preparing for graduation and the like – I suppose a large part of my lack of sleep would have to do with stress. I feel like I’ve got the world on my plate, too many things to do at one time and not enough time in the world to do it all.” Toire didn’t feel as though she had accomplished half as much as she had wanted to accomplish by this time this year. It was as though time had slipped through her fingers and here she was with the final remains of her last year at Hogwarts. It was a depressing thought unto itself for the blonde teen was rather fond of her school, and leaving was going to be rather difficult by year’s end.

Her eyes followed Dominic’s movements as he picked out what seemed like a mountain of food to place on his plate. It never ceased to amaze her the appetites males seemed to possess. Her brothers ate quite a bit as well, and it had been something of a wonder whenever they got the entire Weasley clan together. How her grandmother had ever done it was beyond Toire, but she did admire the older woman for putting up with such a silly lot. Whenever she was ready to have children Toire was fairly certain she only wanted one – one was such a nice little number, though she supposed to be fair to her future husband one of each wouldn’t be so bad either, though in her blue eyes girls were ever so much easier to care for. Her attention returned to the present, all thoughts of her imaginary family and future that seemed so far and near at the same time erasing so that Toire could concentrate on what Dominic was asking now. Sleep? Oh, right. A small chuckle escaped her lips. “I suppose I do seem the type,” she admitted with a shrug. “I mean, I have veela blood and as far as anyone is ever concerned all we seem to care about is ourselves. I suppose I’m a bit shallow in that regard – my appearance is rather important on all days, and at times my sleep is very important … but I think I might have to say that school comes before sleep, especially give the end of year exams and the like coming around the corner.”

It was a bit odd to mention the veela bit as though it were normal. To others it probably seemed anything but normal. Yet at the same time Toire liked to use it as an excuse for her actions, it made better sense than to simply say ‘I don’t rightly know’, which would be her answer were she not in possession of that tiny amount of veela blood. Toire had very little idea what motives drove her to do half the things she did unless it was the matter of a certain boy or something. “This time of year I’m usually going on a lack of sleep for all my studying – you wouldn’t believe the half of the homework I get in arithmancy every week. A few of the girls in my class have already been to the nurse for over exhaustion and wrist cramps – too many essays at once, I suppose.” She eyed her own small portion of food, her fingers picking up the fork at her side. “How are your classes going? Something about magical creatures?” She indicated the book the Hufflepuff boy had been sleeping upon moments earlier, her curiosity about her fellow student getting the best of her. More often than not she was too busy going on about nothing in particular with her group of friends that she forgot what it was like to talk with people she didn’t know quite as well. This was as good a time as any to rectify that minor problem, and who better than someone she had to sit with at Prefect meetings?