Getting some Breakfast

Rolling into the Atium Kerry noticed how different the hall seemed in the thin light of day. It wasn't so much like being in a huge church as being in the atrium of an office building--albeit one that was several hundred years old with very high windows.

There wasn't a lot of activity this early in the morning. There was some activity in the dinning area, so people were used to getting out of bed as the sun was coming up. Kerry had thought he might feel a touch lagged, but that wasn't the case. Probably some charm in the room gets your rhythms in tune, he thought.

He looked over the menu, which was hung, restaurant-style, outside the entrance. This was another difference from Hogwarts: there you rolled in, grabbed a bench and started picking selections from the food before you. A menu indicates there might be some variety. And Kerry could use some variety. Though, he did admit, he might miss some Toad in the Hole--

And that's when he saw it: "Pumpkin Juice?" he said loudly. "Man, I can't shake this stuff!"

Annie giggled. “You don’t like pumpkin juice?” She dragged him away from the menu board and led him to a seat somewhere near the middle of their coven table. The smells wafting up from the students already eating were heavenly.

“I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” she said. “Last night was a little crazy.” She sat and nothing happened. “How do you suppose we order?”

Kerry didn't know how to answer the pumpkin juice question, though, to his ears, it sounded more rhetorical than an actual question. As they sat he looked around and said, "I have no idea," to Annie's question about the food. There wasn't food before then, and there didn't seem to be the huge buffet that The Warts use to lay out. So what to do? he wondered.

Then he was hit with a bit of inspiration. "Well, this is the U.S.," he said to no one in particular. Casting his gaze upon the are before him, he visualized the menu, then said, "Scrambled eggs, rye toast, butter, sausage, tomato juice."

Less than five seconds later the food appeared before him, wisps of steam rising off the items. He picked up the silverware and napkin that appeared alongside the plate. "Just tell the elves what you want," he said to Annie, smiling. "We're all replicator based here, Pumpkin."

Annie watched as Kerry spoke his choices, and they simply appeared right there in front of him. “You swear you’ve never done this before?” She teased him.

She looked down at the empty table in front of her and said, “Silver Dollar Blueberry Pancakes with Peach Topping…and a large glass of Pumpkin Juice, please.” She giggled and the food appeared in front of her. “Whoa.”

She grabbed her fork and tucked in. A few minutes later, she wiped her mouth with her napkin and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. “Mmmmm,” she said, exaggerating her enjoyment. She turned to Kerry and held out her cup. “Sure you don’t want some?”

Just to show he wasn't being mean, Kerry took Annie's glass and sipped a little of the juice from it. As he handed it back he said, "I don't know how to do this, but it's just like something from out of sci fi: you have a computer make your food for you, and all you have to do is ask.

"It's like something a writer, Larry Niven, said: 'Any sufficiently defined magic is indistinguishable from advanced technology.' This is advanced tech in reverse. You ask the elves for food and they make it appear before you." He tapped the table. "They probably have some kind of charm here that lets them hear you when they want, like the professor did with us last night."

He tasted the eggs and thought they were perfect. "The more I do this, the more I'm gonna enjoy it. Though," he looked at Annie, "I can't wait to do some real magic. Just a potion before those crazy--" He shut up when he realized that talking out loud about the Chocolate Loving Death Eaters Mob would be discussing an event that hadn't happened yet--and he didn't want to clue anyone in about the future. "I want to do some real stuff. I'm ready."

"“I’m frightened about our first taste of magic,” she said, chewing on a bite of pancake. “What if nothing happens…what if it backfires…what if I hurt someone…what if I…” she stopped talking and looked at Kerry.

“Last night I saw some things that frightened me. What if those things come true because of me?”

"Annie, you've probably done some magic before," Kerry said. "Little things. I've never done nothing, so anything could happen." He cut a sausage. "We just do it, okay? I'm going to probably be in your classes, and if anything happens--we're there, okay?"

He let his hand drift under the table to find hers. He gave it a tender squeeze. "As for the stuff you saw? When it comes, then we'll deal with it. If you worry about everything that you see happening coming true, you'll turn them into a self-fulling prophesies."

Annie wanted him to be right. She also really wanted to leave…right then, breakfast half eaten—she wanted to be alone with Kerry.

She took deep drink from her pumpkin juice. She didn’t say what she was most afraid of. She didn’t want to say that she was afraid of hurting him.

“I think we should go for a walk after breakfast,” she said, popping the last bit of her pancake into her mouth. “Maybe we can go somewhere quieter? We might even be able to find the divination professor?”

It was obvious something was suddenly bothering Annie. Wow, she's really hitting the mood swings this morning, he thought, watching her down her pumpkin juice. But he did agree with her about an after-breakfast stroll. "Yeah, a walk would be good," he said. "The librarian said to head through the history building and across the creek to get to the divination place--Memory's End," he snapped. "That sounds like a good walk unless the ground is muddy."

“Sure,” she said. “Maybe we should swing by the library first to pick up your books? If we’re going to go walking through the mud, I think I better swing by the coven and put on a better pair of shoes.” She looked down at her feet, which were covered in thin, black sandals.

“In fact, maybe my whole outfit needs an overhaul.” Tights and a skirt would make a long hike difficult.

“How about if you run to the library and meet me in the commons. I shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes, tops.”

Nodding, Kerry said, "Good idea. You'll get all muddy in those sandals probably." He sipped his juice. "Until we see what walking here is like, best to get in sneakers." And he knew getting the books was a good idea; there were a lot of them to bring back to the coven, and even though it wasn't that far, they were going to weight a ton by the time he hauled them down a flight of stairs and up two.

Annie stood and as she did, her plates disappeared. “I don’t think I’ll get used to that anytime soon,” she said. She laughed and then looked over at Kerry, wondering what to do next. Her stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of walking back to the coven tower alone. This whole boyfriend thing was all so new to her. Do I just say ‘bye’ and leave?

The dining hall was pretty full with students by then. She stood dumbly, fumbling with her skirt. “Uhm, I guess I’ll see you back at the commons then?”

Getting up, Kerry's plates vanished as well. "Sure, go back and change, and I'll get back as soon as I have my books." He walked her back to the atrium, since that entrance seemed to be the only pubic one into the dinning hall. "Lets meet by the main floor fireplace again; we have to pass that way, anyhow."

Outside the hall he turned, a moment of doubt hitting him. So, what do I do? He touched her hand. "I'll be back in a bit," he said, then turned away, smiling, and headed towards the library.

Annie watched him walk off toward the library and took the entrance that would lead her to their coven.