Tea & Scones {Open}

Natalie sat comfortably in the kitchens, her Runes Book, a  plate of scones and a mug filled with warm peach mango tea were in front of her. 

She was focused on her reading but every now and then her hand would reach out for a scone or a sip of tea. The house elves has learned long ago to just leave her be when she got like this. Since she only came down every now an then when Ravenclaw Tower became too noisy, which wasn't very often, the elves did feel compelled to feed her and Natalie couldn't help but feel a little awkward since at home it was she who did all the feeding. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, the information from the text swimming in front of them, that was usually a good sign that she needed a break. 

Last night had been quite an exhausting one for Todd, so he'd decided to spend today lounging around the castle instead of doing anything particularly productive. Trying to find hidden passages had proved to be too much work, so he eventually resigned himself to search for a snack.

He strode into the kitchens, making a beeline for the pantry. He grabbed a packet of crackers and some milk from the trudge before turning to the table. His eyes widened when he finally spotted the girl; he'd been so consumed with his mission, he hadn't even considered the notion that someone else might be here.

Natalie just stared at the boy who had dared to intrude on her solitude. He was a Ravenclaw, and in her year, she remembered his face from her classes but she had never bothered learning his name. 

She watched as he stormed through the kitchen grabbing crackers and some milk from the magical ice box that somehow held more than it should and nothing ever went bad. Seriously, she had done an experiment in her third year, she had placed a block of cheese down at the bottom in September and when she retrieved it in June it had been just as fresh as when she'd put it in. 

But regardless, when the boy finally noticed her she raised a brow. 

"What? Did you think you were the only person who knew where the kitchens were?"

Todd blinked at her, deciding to take a bite of cracker as he chewed over his answer. "No, ma'am, but I did think I was the only one who wanted to spend a Saturday sitting at a table and stuffing my face," he finally replied, though it was obvious that eating wasn't all she was doing. She seemed to he studying, mostly.

He recognized her as being from his house, but that was pretty much it. "I'm Todd, by the way. You are?"

"Natalie," she responded, "And I'm not sure 'stuffing my face' is an accurate way to phrase it. It's easier to concentrate when you aren't hungry."

And she needed to concentrate, she needed to do well on her exams and graduate with at least some honors so she could get a good job somewhere within the wizarding world. She needed to e able to get away from he family, as much as ah loved them, they were suffocating.

"Ah," he mused, taking a swig of milk. "It's probably also easier to concentrate when there isn't some guy smacking noisily on his snack. Would you like to be left alone with your books?" He really wouldn't mind if she did; he'd just go off in search of something else to take his mind off of...well, everything. The castle was full of things to do.

Natalie shook her head, an amused smile on her lips, "It's okay, home is noisy so I can easily ignore the sounds of snaking, besides, I don't own the kitchens."

She took a sip of her tea, the hot water and fruity flavor scaling her tongue. She loved that her tea never went cold, no matter how long she studied.

"Good point. Though I'm pretty sure the house elves would let just about anyone claim to own the kitchen," he replied, gaze flicking towards the book she'd been reading. "What're you studying for, anyway?"

"Ancient Runes," she replied, "It's one of mjt worst subjects so it needs extra attention."

She turned to the next page in her book and was greeted by more complicated symbols and explanations.

Todd picked up another cracker, inspecting it for a moment before popping it into his mouth. "I'd offer to help you, but I'm part of that 99% of students who have no idea how to read that gibberish, so you won't find any assistance here," he said when he'd finished chewing. He squinted at her book, which was upside-down to him at this angle, and found that, yep, he didn't get a word of it.

"Then I suppose I'm better off on my own then," Natalie commented with a grin. She looked up an watched for a moment as he put cracker, after cracker into his mouth.

"you know," she started, "Most people only eat like that when they're upset." she commented, she was probably overstepping the social boundaries but she couldn't stand for people to eat away their sorrows when there were much healthier ways to do it.

Todd blinked, tearing his gaze away from the sleeve of crackers to look at her. "Well, upset is a strong word," he answered slowly, not having expected a near stranger to pick up on that. He didn't think he was munching away because of everything that was going on, but he'd always been an emotional eater, so it would make sense. "Hungry is a less strong word. Maybe I'm a little bit of both?"

"Possibly," she tilted her head to the side, "but crackers aren't very filling, a hungry person would have chosen something with more protein, like a peanut butter sandwich."

Todd leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, considering this girl. "Alright," he drawled. "Maybe I'm not that hungry. Maybe your 'upset' diagnosis is correct. Got a prescription to suggest for that?"

"Mindless chatter," Natalie responded, making a small notation in her book, "You know why people go to phychologists? Or Bartenders? It's because they need to vent and a third party with no connection to the issue will neither judge nor offer advice."

Todd smirked across the table, bringing the glass of milk to his lips and taking a sip. "You rather sound like a psychologist yourself right now," he murmured, an eyebrow raised. "Wouldn't happen to be a bartender in training, would you?" Not that he was trying to vent to her - no, she obviously had better things to do, like studying, but the conversation at least was helping to take his mind off things.

Natalie chuckled "Bartender? Definitely not. Phychologist? Maybe, I'm currently undecided."

"Maybe you should be a nutritionist, what with your knowledge of the health qualities of peanut butter sandwiches versus a bunch of crackers," Todd mused, eating another couple of them just to give himself something to do other than talk.

Natalie laughed, "That knowledge comes from having five little sisters, all of whom went through a major peanut butter phase."

She put down her quill and closed the text book, leaning forward on the table, watching him carefully, Waiting for something she didn't know what but something.

"Pfft," he scoffed, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Please, there is no such thing as a peanut butter sandwich phase. Once you go peanut, you don't go back."

He cocked his head at her. "What're ya doing? Waiting for me to burst into tears?"

Natalie laughed, "I was under the impression that it was unmanly to burst into tears."

"But I am waiting for something, any observant idiot can see that you're a timebomb."

"Ah. So you're expecting me to explode," he mused with a smirk, though he figured she was right. He felt exhausted, emotionally, and didn't have any real idea of how to make that go away. You couldn't very well make your heart take a nap, could you?

"Yep," she nodded, "but then, I expect that from 90% of the student body."

There was so much angst and drama with teenagers and she knew that.

"Ah," he sighed, nodding. "Well, then I can promise I will try not to shower the shrapnel of my timebomb self all over you."

He leaned forward slightly, elbows on the table and expression a portrait of frustration. "I read in this book, once, that you don't get to choose if your heart gets broken or whatever, but you do have some say in who breaks your heart. But you don't know you're choosing them to break your heart, you never think you're inviting anyone to break it. You always think you're letting them in to make it, like, more whole or something." He wasn't sure why that quote sprang to mind, but he was pretty sure it was at least half true.

Natalie folded her arms on the table and leaned forward slightly, the aura of frustration that the boy practically exuded now made much more sense. He was stuck in some romantic trauma, Natalie was not well versed in how males of the human race dealt with such things but she knew how thirteen year old girls handled it. Usually, with ice cream, sad songs, and a big cup of hot cocoa. Natalie was actually quite thankful she had avoided the hole dating scene.

"So then did someone break your heart?"