Third Floor Common Room, Friday Afternoon

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle had only recently discovered the joy of iced tea and was thrilled to walk into the common room and find a large pitcher of it just sitting on the counter, ready to be consumed.

She poured herself a glass, rummaged through the cupboards until she found a package of cookies, and took a seat on the couch.

The TV was already on, so the book she'd brought with her was lying on the couch beside her while she decided whether or not the cartoon that was playing was worth watching. She did enjoy stories of princesses and this seemed to be one.

[Open common room is open, naturally]

Comments

[imawizard]

Harry was bored, and this found himself on the common room, looking towards the TV.

"What's this?"

He actually didn't have a lot of cartoon knowledge, here.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"There's a princess living in the woods," Belle said. "With some fairies. I don't know the name."

Eventually there would be a dragon and things would get very exciting!

"There's cookies and iced tea, if you like."

[imawizard]

"Did you say iced tea?" he had to check.

Oh no. Impending sacrilege.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Yes," Belle nodded towards the pitcher. "Would you like some? Or a cookie?"

[imawizard]

"The cookie I can do," Harry said, even if it wasn't supposed to be called that. He'd deal. "Why would anyone ice tea?"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

It said cookie right on the package, Harry!

"Because it's hot outside and it tastes good cold," Belle said.

[imawizard]

But it wasn't supposed to!

"I don't think I'm going to understand that one," he decided. "Add it to the rest of the culture shock."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Have you tried it?" Belle asked. "You might enjoy it. Or I'm sure you could make some that isn't cold."

Unless this was a weird island thing where all the tea was now iced for the day. That could happen.

[imawizard]

"I might not be allowed back into England," Harry joked.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"If they don't allow iced tea perhaps it isn't worth returning," Belle said, taking a very long sip of her own drink.

[imawizard]

"I'd agree with you if so could skip certain parts of it," Harry said. "But I think my friends would get very tired of having to always be the ones to visit me."

He said this because he couldn't Apparate yet. And nothing here was on the Floo Network.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"That would be unfortunate," Belle said. "I suppose we don't want you banned from your friends forever. But what England doesn't know won't hurt it. I won't tell if you won't."

[imawizard]

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "How've you been?"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I've been well." Belle was not currently being stalked by any holes looking to eat people, after all, and nobody she knew well had disappeared. That she knew of.

"Just considering what courses to take for the next session. And you?"

[imawizard]

"Good. I think I'm still adjusting to summer school," he admitted. "And all the rest of it."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"There wasn't any school for the summer where you were before?"

Too bad, Harry, it would have made your summers a lot more bearable.

"It's all quite new to me as well."

[imawizard]

He would have loved summer school.

"They always sent us home in June," he said. "Is this your first boarding school?"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It is. I hadn't been away from home much at all before I came here. I'd only read about schools like this."

Well, not schools like this. There were no other schools quite like this.

[imawizard]

"And then it ended up being like... this?" he assumed.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It wasn't what I expected," Belle agreed.

Nobody expects Fandom.

"Was your other school at all like this?"

[imawizard]

"Well... it was a school for magic." That one day had had him flying a broom in a common room, that meant he could talk about it, right? "Some things are similar, like people turning into things, but that's usually because of a spell."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Everyone there could do magic? That sounds very exciting."

Magic was exciting!

"Did you turn into anything else there? I was a child here one weekend." And Five had given her so much more coffee than any small child should drink. "I didn't know that could happen."

[imawizard]

"I didn't, no. I saw a guy I hate turned into a ferret once, though," Harry said, smiling. "What's it like actually turning into something like that?"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I've never seen a ferret." Draco deserved it though.

"It didn't seem odd at all at the time. Once the weekend was over and I was back to myself it was a bit odd."