He'd told his 'parents' that he'd meet them here once he had some supplies. And by 'parents' he meant the very non-parent people who he happened to be living with at the moment... for however much longer that lasted. He was used to being passed from person to person by now like some unwanted stray. They always felt obliged to be charitable at the start, and then they stopped, and he was moving again. The Willows seemed like nice people, but they always seemed nice. It was best not to let himself get settled. Hogwarts would be his home. He didn't need anyone else.
His dark green eyes scanned the room. No sign of the Willows. He shifted the bag of books from one arm to the next. They were heavy. He'd insisted on doing his shopping alone. He'd seen in Mrs Willow's eyes that she hadn't really approved of that, but he'd done this thing where he pretended he was about to cry in the middle of the street and then he'd seen the pity in her eyes and she'd caved in, on the strict agreement that they meet for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. But he was here a little early and there was no sign of them yet.
The table situation was also not great. It seemed like many families with Hogwarts-aged children had had the same idea and most tables were full of rowdy families showing off their new purchases and chatting excitedly. It made his stomach turn and a deep sadness gnaw at his insides. He pushed that aside.
There was one table free. It was right next to another family - obviously the two tables could be put together for a larger group, or left apart for two smaller groups... no-one was sitting there at the moment, probably because it was awkwardly close. But there weren't any other options, so J.J. headed over that way. He hovered awkwardly beside the table, waiting to catch the attention of the family. They had a girl that looked his age. He wondered for a moment whether she too was a first year.
"Excuse me, is this.. table occupied?" he asked, his words and tone sounding far more mature than his age, but in case they were confused about seeing an eleven year old by himself, he added "I'm waiting for my... uhm.. guardians."
