Breakfast Chaos
"Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw
Cale has always been a mommy's boy. Cale loved his mother more than anything, but not in a way that renders him completely dependent on her, or just because he won't admit it himself.
His mother has always been with him since he was a young child. Every time he had a nightmare, his mother was there to wake him up and tuck him in until he had a pleasant dream.
Even though they have little money to be able to call themselves poor, she's still trying to make him as comfortable as possible, so it's no wonder why he's so fond of his beloved mother.
That's why he felt so much fear when he unexpectedly parted ways with her at that moment. It wasn't like the fear of the monster in his dream or of being snatched up by a man-eating mud.
It is the fear that you will lose the place where you truly, finally belong. Again... Again.
"Cale."
"Two more hours, mum." He said.
"Firstly, I'm not your mother, and second, 2 hours, really?" That voice is clearly not like his mother's.
The typical response should be, "If you don't get up right now, then," indicating that this person is not his mother.
Cale gradually opened his eyes. He silently turned to face the intruder to his precious slumber.
He looked at Blaise Zabini in front of him and remarked, "Oh, it's you."
"I have a proper name, not 'you,'" Zabini replied, adjusting his green tie.
"Zabini..." Cale yawned. He turned his gaze to the window next to his bed. The sun is almost up.
He stared at Cale for a good while before saying, "Blaise. It's strange to be called by your last name by someone your age." He then pulled something from his pocket.
It is a white handkerchief. Blaise gave it to Cale and said, "Here."
Without understanding why he would give him that, Cale took it cautiously.
"You're sweating too much."
Just as Blaise noted that he was sweating, Cale became aware of it. He thanked the boy after using the handkerchief to wipe off the sweat on his forehead.
"You seem to be having a bad dream. Are you-" "Thanks, Blaise." Blaise paused after hearing the remark.
"What?" Cale asked, as he continued to wipe his face and neck. Just why would he sweat too much in this cold place? He wonder.
"Are you going to keep lying down now? It's almost breakfast." Blaise turned around and left their room for their common room.
Cale groaned. Knowing that it'll be their first day of class, he's never felt this tethered to his bed before.
But when he finally stood up, he saw that the two cats had already woken up. They appeared to be waiting for him to awaken. Hong swiftly leaned on his arm and stood up.
Cale examined his belongings. It appears that someone has already taken care of it. He muses on who that might be, but eventually he settles on expressing his thanks to whoever it is.
Then Cale took his Hogwarts robes from the small cabinet and entered the restroom. Fortunately, he wasn't hindered from taking a shower by anyone. Namely, Fred and George
He murmured, "Hm." He finished up, grabbed his two cats, and entered the common room.
There were few people there, most of them are most likely in the Great Hall to eat right now. He looked at each of them and saw Blaise. He is reading a newspaper's daily prophet. Upon hearing his steps, Blaise turned to face him and murmured, "So you're done."
Cale asked, "Where's Draco?" as he failed to spot the boy in the crowd.
Blaise grumbled in a very monotonous manner, "He's already in the great hall. He told me to let you sleep more and drag - guide - you there after you wake up. Really, did I come here to become a servant?"
"Oh." Cale decided not to say more as they began to walk in silence.
- He seems more chattier now. -
'Right?'
Blaise doesn't seem to be the casual type of person, and Cale thinks he won't care much about many things.
Cale looks at the kids in the area after they enter the great hall. He felt someone tapping his shoulder, so he looked at it and saw two familiar blondes.
Anthony Goldstein, wearing a Ravenclaw outfit, says, "Hi'yo. Got a good sleep, buddy?" Standing behind him, holding a large number of books, is Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff.
He replied, "Yes." Hannah moved closer and gave him some biscuits.
"Don't worry, it doesn't contain anything harmful for the kittens, I think your cats will like this." she remarked.
'I haven't said anything, though.'
"Ohh! I didn't notice you were a cat person, Cale! Look, they're cute. Wanna switch pets?"
"No."
Anthony laughed and stroked the cat on Cale's arm, "Ehh, I'd really love to take care of them."
Behind them, Blaise smirked and whispered, "You seem to have many connections." He said as Cale raised his brow. Blaise just ignored it and continued his way to the Slytherin table.
'Connections, my ass.'
Cale stops listening to whatever Anthony is saying. At the end of the hallway, he turned to stare at the golden chair. It is where Hogwarts' headmaster is seated. He and the other teachers appear to be enjoying a satisfying breakfast.
He looked up at Anthony's question, "Have you seen your schedule yet?"
He questioned, "Schedule?" not understanding what the other person was saying.
"Sigh, though so." Hannah whispered as she showed me a piece of paper with a timetable on it.
Hannah said in a very courteous but slightly demanding manner, "You should have this on your house's table. Please make sure to look at that later."
"She can be like that, you see." Anthony whispered like he'd known Hannah for a long time.
"Is that so.. Then I'll do that. Thank you, um, Hannah." Cale thanked her as she smiled warmly.
Anthony then started to talk about cats, including the fact that he forces his cats to chase various rats and then let them kill them. Cale trembled at what he was saying and cautiously reached out to pull his kittens away.
Following with Hannah explaining to Cale that the residents of her house are considerably warmer compared to the Slytherin's.
"Oh, did you know, someone has tried to steal something in Gringotts!" Cale's interest was piqued by the new subject.
Hannah, who was likewise unfamiliar with the news, questioned, "Isn't that almost impossible?"
Anthony tightened his fist and seemed more delighted than terrified. "Almost? It's understatement! Last time someone tried stealing stuff, they starved to death! It's impossible to leave there unless you're guided by goblins."
"Did they get caught?" Hannah asked the question, curious about what happened.
"Unfortunately not; however, it shouldn't take long, though. Goblins are diligent workers, they are."
"I hope they don't die..." Hannah wished, thinking that the culprit should be captured alive instead of dead.
"..." Cale didn't say anything and chose to be quiet. They split up and went to each other's tables after going to the hall.
Draco, who had come behind him, questioned, "Is something matter?" It nearly caused him to have a heart attack.
He picked up the piece of paper in front of his table and muttered, "Nothing." It is the schedule the two have been talking about.
The first class is potions. He checks to see which house they will be taking it with and sees that it is Gryffindor. Gryffindor, ah. He doesn't have any problems with the house, but he is still unsure of how to approach his siblings.
- It's not your fault, Cale. - Glutton comforts him, which is, for him, is unneeded.
Cale replies briefly, 'I know,' and then stares at his schedule without touching his food.
- What are you contemplating so intently, then? -
'Hm.. I just wonder if my "funds" in Gringotts are secure in the face of a thief who is undetectable by even those goblins. -
- ... Hah, you're so, Cale. -
'I am.'
- Yes, of course. -
Before arguing again, Draco was there to interrupt him whenever he had a chance to.
Draco placed a spoonful of soup in front of him, saying, "Eat your food." As he took it with a sluggish frown.
On the other hand, Blaise simply observed them, perhaps ultimately enjoying watching them like an interesting show. Uncomfortably, Cale raised his brow, to which the latter responded by raising his brow as well.
Cale grumbled and grabbed up the plain bread that was sitting next to him as he put down the paper. Naturally, as soon as he is free, another person will eventually interrupts him.
"Cale." He tensed up. When he turned to look at the recognizable voice behind him, it had picked him up, taken him away, and seated him at Gryffindor's table.
"Wha-" The abrupt disturbance made Cale feel like throwing up.
"Oh, oh, oh. Here, water. Did they bully you? Don't tell me they-" Fred started asking him a series of absurd questions, but he was more concerned with gulping the water from the glass.
He observed that, in contrast to their silver cutlery, this place uses gold flatware. Cale felt slightly annoyed. Is this what is referred to as favoritism? He's curious. But since he has what Blaise called "connections" in this house, he thinks he can still stealthily take two to five spoons there.
He doesn't have time to consider that, though, for fear of being squashed by his brothers' hugs.
"Stop-" Of course, no one listened.
It took them a while to settle down. Cale is baffled as to why they act as if they haven't seen him in years despite only separating with them last night.
"Stop it, you bunch are chocking him." His savior, Hermione Granger, taps the twins, who are actually considering the chocking part, which is meant to be an exaggeration, due to Cale's frail body.
Ron took a 360-degree glance at Cale and determined that he was healthy, so he simply nodded without objecting. Harry, on the other hand, smiled while closely observing them. If Cale or his friends are doing well, he is happy enough.
Looking at the table, Percy inquired, "How's your house?"
"It's alright, I guess." He answered.
He's not lying. He's confident that everything is fine because Draco takes care of everything for him, no one notices him, and he has a comfortable bed. If we didn't consider the early time they need to wake up, he thinks that it is quite good.
"I see." The conversation ended briefly, like it always did.
"Did they treat you unfairly?" The twins questioned like they were in an interrogation.
"they didn't." Of course, it's not a lie if you don't consider Theodore Nott's ignoring him last night an unfair treatment.
"Did they try to pick up on you?"
"They did not." And yes. For him, what Pansy Parkinson said last night is not 'picking up on him'.
"Did they give you a midnight snack?"
"They... did not." That's the truth.
The Weasleys yelled, "They didn't?!" drawing strange looks from others around them.
Lee Jordan couldn't believe what the twins told him was actually true, saying, "Wow... It's really mandatory."
"Are you alright then? You didn't, um, wake up at night or something?" Ron asked, avoiding saying a specific word.
Cale said truthfully as Hong continued to tap him, "I didn't."
Percy says, "You should at least take some snacks here in the evening before going to bed. It's better to be sweet." Hong nods.
Hermione questioned, staring at the magic book in front of her, "Is that allowed?"
The twin responded instantly, "It should be."
Harry second in action, "It shouldn't be bad," while Hermione simply nodded without offering any objections.
Hermione referred to the lesson schedule and said, "Hey, look, potion class' first. With Slytherin."
The twins began, "That's..."
"That's?"
They said, "Snape for first class? Worst."
"It shouldn't be that bad."
"Oh, how I wish. That guy hates everything except for his little snake~, not you, Cale; you're not a snake," Fred defended before continuing, "He takes our house points just by existing, you know?"
Harry questioned, beginning to feel a little afraid of the professor, "Is that supposed to be allowed?"
"There's no rule to it, so no. That's why you should at least stand 1 km away from him if you don't want to get noticed." George explained.
"That is harsh."
Lee Jordan smiled at the,'memories', "Right? That's why a little prank on him wouldn't hurt."
"I'm curious as to why you haven't been kicked out yet."
"Just experts," said Fred with a smarty-pants grin.
As they discuss how they played an 'innocent prank' on the professor, they also discuss how they got away from it. And surely, those kinds shouldn't be allowed to be put in here.
"And~ oh, you're still here, Cale?" George waved his hand to catch Cale's attention, which somehow worked.
"I'm low on sleep." He said, gaining a nod from his siblings.
"You should skip the potion class and sleep. I bet he will just bully all of the Gryffindors there, especially Harry." Fred said, with George agreeing with him.
"I think I'll attend now."
"I figured you'd want more sleep, but are you sure?"
"Maybe it's because of the bread, but I feel a little energized today."
Fred patted his head and said, "I see. Then, see you at lunch later then."
"Hm."
'It shouldn't be that bad getting out of bed early sometimes.' Cale thought.
- I'm glad -
Hong smiled contentedly as he warmed up in Cale's arms.
Then, an owl came.
"That's Eroll!"
As it flew toward them, the owl caught Cale's attention.
'Mum...'