the dog days of summer: r. l.

quite right

The Great Hall was empty this time of year. Most students spent the holidays with their families so the empty hall is a nice change from the usual chaos. The most crowded by far is Ravenclaw with twelve lonely students. I guess school never really stops for them.

Across the table was Peter, a smallish boy, also in Gryffindor. From what I know he's quite kind and a little quiet. Not quiet, however, when he's around his other buddies.

I assume James, Remus, and Sirius all went home for the holidays. I was actually quite surprised to see Peter here. surely one of them would've invited him home as well?

"There's no point in two perfectly good Gryffindors to eat alone"

Peter had already made his way over to me. Maybe he caught me staring. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he came over. Like I said, he's a very nice boy, but there's something very strange about him.

"Quite right" I responded. Am I some sort of snobbish professor? 'Quite right', man I sound like an idiot. Peter gave a light chuckle. At least he found it funny.

"You're Beatrice, right?"

"Yes"

"Quite right", Peter corrected. He raised his eyebrows and lightly bit his top lip to prevent himself from laughing.We sat in silence for a few minutes, the both of us enjoying our respective meals.

"So... Beatrice, why didn't you go home for the holiday?"

"My parents are away at a wedding. They just figured it would be easier for me to stay here for the time being." Peter raised his eyebrows with a look that read 'gotcha'. "What about you?"

"Oh, my family is picking me up in a week. Something about 'letting my knowledge really stick'. I guess they don't want me to immediately jump into laziness". He looked nervous. Now I know where he gets his strangeness from.

"Well Beatrice, it's nice to meet you. I've got to go meet with my friend to... ummm... hang."

"Sure, see you around Peter". He grabbed a piece of toast for his 'friend' on the way out.

And just like that, I was alone again.