Dragonfire [Tree]

The other girl hadn't left that long ago, had she? Brynn flew out onto the street, looking both ways down the road to see any sign of the curly hair that she'd seen in Ollivander's. She didn't have to look hard, the girl wasn't actually that far away. Truth be told, Brynn didn't even know why she wanted to talk to the girl. Maybe it was because she wanted to sum up the coming year's newest students. Perhaps she wanted to talk magic. Or maybe it was because she wasn't set to meet her parents for a long time and didn't have anything better to do.

Whatever the reason, Brynn was desperate for someone even remotely close to her age to talk to, and soon caught up to the girl. Unfortunately, now that she was within hearing range, she could not think of a single thing to say. "So . . ." She began, stretching the word out, "Is that your first wand? This is my first wand." She said, holding up the remnants of a once beautiful piece of wood. "My sister broke it."

Then Brynn realized that this girl probably thought that she was a weirdo. After all, a stranger starting random conversations with other strangers was a bit . . . interesting to say the least. And besides, she hadn't even introduced herself yet! "I'm Brynn by the way." she said after a moment. There, that was better! Now perhaps she wouldn't come off as quite so strange.

Tree left Ollivander's elated she had gotten her wand, the thing she had wanted more then anything. She opened the box that contained her new wand and she brushed her fingers across the blood wood and silver serfuce, "you need a name," she mumbled. Tree stopped in the middle of the street and closed her eyes thinking, "who are you?" She asked her wand, hoping it would tell her. She stood there for a good number of minutes trying to figure it out, but much to Tree's dismay her wand remained nameless, "well we'll figure it out soon. We have the rest of our life's to figure it out" She said taking the wand out of the box and gently placing it in her pocket.

Tree started to move again when suddenly out of nowhere there was a voice right behind her. Tree jumped and looked behind her,  the girl she had just seen in Ollivander's was standing there. Tree then looked around to see who the girl was talking to, when she saw no-one else around she determined this girl must be speaking to her.

As the girl spoke Tree watched her mouth not her eyes, Tree didn't like to make eye contact especially with strangers. When the girl showed Tree the remnants of her wand Tree's eyes grew to maximum size, how could you ever let something as wonderful as a wand get torn apart like that? Tree made a mental note to never let this Bynn girl ever touch her wand. Once Bynn stoped talking it took Tree n minute to realize it was her turn to talk, "I'm Tree" she said with a scowl at the mention of her name, Tree hated her name "And yes this is my first wand." She said with a small hint of pride, "Blood wood, 28 centermeaters, dragon heartstring. She doesn't have a name yet." Tree was not good at small talk, she stood there trying to figure out what to say next. After a long and very awkward pause Tree announced, "I'm going to get some food." Another pause, "are you hungery?" It was times like this Tree wished she had and social skills.

"What kind of a name is Tree!?" She blurted before she could stop herself. Whoops! Insulting someone's name probably wasn't the greatest thing to do on the first encounter. Or ever. What was really confusing to the ginger was the fact that, although she clearly didn't like her name (or at least she assumed that was the case as she herself used to make the same grimace whilst introducing herself) Tree hadn't done anything about it.

When Brynn had decided that she didn't like the name Brynlee, she'd shortened it to Brynn and refused to respond to anything different. So why didn't Tree do the same thing? Unless 'Tree' was the nickname she'd given herself. Maybe she just really liked trees. "Sorry," she said hastily, "I didn't mean to say that." Then, after a moment of thought, "Actually that's a lie. I did mean it. Really though, what kind of name is Tree anyway?"

Brynn listened to Tree describe her wand with only a hint of interest. Until, that is, she said something about the wand 'not having a name yet.' The ginger's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Your wand doesn't have a name? Is that actually what you said, like, are those the actual words that you just said?" Oh wow. Clearly it was time to gain some social skills. Brynn made a mental note to ask Brietta and Annika to teach her in September.

Breakfast! Hallelujah! "Yes, I'm half starved! I haven't eaten breakfast yet." There was only one problem "Where are we going to go?" Brynn had only ever been in Diagon Alley once before, and she hadn't really done anything other than get whatever was on her list. "I suppose if all else fails we can to to that place Mr. Ollivander recommended. The, uh, Leaky Cauldron was it? Or," she said with a mischievous grin "we could just get sweets."

Tree gave this Brynn a look, Tree didn't much enjoy people making fun of her. If this Brynn girl kept being mean Tree may just fall back into old habits and punch her in the jaw. But for now she would give her another chance best not to make enemies before school even started. Tree looked over at Brynn and stated, "I didn't get to pick my name. If you wanted to know what my parents were thinking when they named me you would need to ask them." She thought for a moment then added, "well you could ask them if they weren't on something every minute of every day." Dollars to donuts Tree's mom River would be in the hotel room taking her 'medicine' for her 'headake'.

"As for wanting to name my wand, she's a part of my life now like a friend or a pet. So why not give her a name?" Didn't all witches name their wands? Well if Tree was odd for naming her beautiful friend she didn't care "maybe you should name your new wand, it may help it from suffering the same fate as your last one." Tree glanced at what was Brynn's obliterate wand in her hand, " I know I won't let mine get dirty let alone hurt or damaged in any way, because I see her as a friend." She gave it a second to let her words sink in, "but that's just me."

Just eat sweets? Was this girl crazy?  Sweets were one of the worst flavors of foods. Tree much purifier soar flavors, like pickles or lemons. "I think we should go to the Leaky Cauldron, it's what Ollivander said was the best." Without waiting Tree started to walk down the street. "Its where we came into diagon ally."

Okay it's time to be social, "so are you from a wizard family or are you muggle born? Because I'm from a muggle family myself. I mean I wasn't shocked to find out I was a witch because I had done a lot of magic without knowing how I had done it. So I tried to do magic again so I got magic books written by muggles, none of those worked, but that was to be expected. Then out of nowhere the lady from the ministry of magic came and told me what was up and I was like, yep. But then she said I wasn't  alowed to do any more magic until school and I found that annoying but that's life." Tree had two speeds awkward silence and rambling crazy person, and at this moment she was the ladder.

"But . . . why?" Brynn struggled to comprehend. Well obviously she didn't get to pick what her parents named her, but she didn't have to be know by that name, did she?. "I mean, if you don't like being called Tree, why don't you pick something different? That's what I did. Certainly you could come up with something better than . . . Oh."

Brynn suddenly felt ashamed. While there were certainly issues with the twelve year old's home life, she'd never have to deal with her parents doing drugs. Or at least, she hoped she'd never have to. If there was one thing that Brynn knew, it was that people rarely enjoyed having other people butt into their personal lives uninvited. So, although she desperately wanted to ask Tree what she did all day, she didn't, figuring that it would only worsen her already poor standings with the girl.

Oh. "Well, I suppose that isn't too strange. I've never thought about it that way before." She said thoughtfully, "But then, I've never had a pet before. Only an Alys, but I suppose that's kind of the same thing." Brynn took a moment to glare at Tree. She wasn't quite sure whether or not she liked the younger girl, but then, who did Brynn actually like? Hardly anyone, that's who. Of course, she'd barely met Tree, so she couldn't form her complete opinion just yet. No, she'd have to observe Tree throughout the year, although her sorting could prove to be a hindrance. What house would she end up in? Ravenclaw? Gryffindor? Her own house, Slytherin? Yes, it was most definitely going to be interesting.

The ginger was pulled out of her thoughts when Tree started speaking again. Ugh fine. If she didn't want to have any fun, then so be it. Brynn trudged along, quickly catching up to her companion but stopping dead in her tracks at the mention of blood. What did she say? The entirety of her first year she'd claimed to be muggleborn because she was ashamed of her mother. Now that Eillyn would be joining her, the story might be called into question, or worse - Eillyn could expose it herself. Well, it seemed like Brynn had another thing to go over with her sister. Lovely.

Of course, she wasn't nearly as ashamed now, but if she told Tree that she was halfblood, Tree might tell other people, who would then tell other people, who would tell those who she'd met last year, who would then confront Brynn on the subject and she'd be called a liar. Nope, best to stick to the same old deceptions. Good thing she hadn't mentioned her mother's wand! "Same." She stated rather stiffly, "Except I never suspected a thing until I got my letter." Brynn took a deep breath and tried to relax. Time to attempt to turn the conversation away from blood. "Are you going to bring a pet to Hogwarts? I'm trying to convince my parents to let me get an owl this year. I mean, they do have school ones that you can use, but I'd really like my own."

"Actually I never really thought about changing my name. I don't talk to people a lot, so my name doesn't get said enough for it to bug me." Tree said mater of fact way. Tree wasn't laying she avoided most conversations at all costs especially among people her own age, "And when the kids at school talked to me they mostly the called me weirdo, or freak. But alas people from my town are total jerks so it's to be expected." Tree contemplated for a moment, "maybe if I make a friend or two at school they could come up with a nickname for me." Tree almost added, 'but me making a friend is very unlikely.' But thought better of it, She didn't want to convey of a complete sad sack.

When Brynn told her age had never had a pet before Tree looked at her in shock. How could anyone live without pets?! They were one of the things that made life with living. Tree couldn't remember a point in her life she didn't have a ton animals. Tree's. Life would be completely miserable without her pets.

Tree was about to talk about all her pets when Brynn said she was also muggle born. Tree thought about what Brynn did for a moment then Tree said, "They just sent you your letter? Because they sent a lady to give me my letter and tell me about magic, school, and all that jazz." The revaluation that some muggle born students needed someone to explain things to them and others didn't made Tree uneasy. Why had they felt the need to send someone to talk with her and not Brynn? Did they think Tree couldn't handle learning she was a witch?

Tree opened her mouth to inquire about who got letters and who didn't, but then Brynn brought up pets again. Tree was happy to talk about animals she loved animals, "yeah I'm bringing a cat, his name is Wedge. He's a long orange and white kitty with good eyes. He's super smart and weird he plays fetch and likes to ride around on your shoulder for hours. Here I have a picture of him." Tree pulled out a photo of her cat sitting on the top of her head from her bag and handed it to Brynn, "this was from when still a kitten and could ride on my head, but he's to big for that now." Tree wished he could have stayed that size forever she liked her little cat hat, " I wish I could bring all the pets we have at my house, we have a ton of them and I'm going to miss them all." Tree paused for a moment then added, "Well I won't miss the goat because he's a jerk." Tree was convinced that goat was out to get her, he was always looking into her bedroom window when she was I the house never taking his eyes off her and would ram her whenever he could, "then there's the fact doesn't make normal goat sounds he screams like an old man, and when I say that I mean he sounds like a 60 year old man screaming at the top of his lungs. Its creepy..."

After walking a bit more Tree realized she could help Brynn out, "you know if you want a kitten there's a letter at my house ans they could use a good home. If you wanted you could swing by and take one of them. They are all super nice and fun. There is this little gray girl that loves sleeping in your jacket pocket or bag when you're walking around more then anything. Another little boy is the most fluffy thing you have ever seen with huge blue eyes and white soft fur." Tree could go on and on about how cute they were but held back, "your sister could have one also. We have a million cats so no big deal if we lose a few to people who need pets."

Brynn fixed her newest acquaintance with a questioning look. "You do realize, people are completely unavoidable at Hogwarts. Trust me, I know. Last year, I tried to hide and avoid being noticed, but it didn't work very well. You'll be talked to no matter what; even if it's just by your dormmates." The bits about school and not having friends gave her pause. Perhaps it was because it brought back memories from before she found out she was a witch, but Brynn actually felt bad for Tree.

"No. You are going to sit next to me on the Hogwarts express. I'll introduce you to my sister, maybe you'll like her, she's starting this year too. I'll have thought up something to call you by then. Hopefully." She just couldn't bring herself to actually call someone Tree, and besides, if she could come up with something better than Tree to call her, Brynn wouldn't be too embarrassed to be around her on a somewhat regular basis.

Oh snap. Now she'd really screwed up. At least Tree wasn't someone who knew a lot about magic; if she'd slipped up like this in front of the twins the jig would be up, but perhaps she could just like her way out of this one.
"Ye-es," she said, stretching the word out, "that's what I meant. A man from the Ministry of Magic came and explained everything." Hopefully Tree would believe her. Brynn wasn't quite sure she wanted to come up with more lies that she'd have to remember later.

Brynn laughed when Tree mentioned the goat. Who had a goat for a pet!? Nobody Brynn had ever known, or at least nobody she’d known until today. "Why do you even have a goat? Do you . . . milk it or something?" Brynn shuddered at the thought of goat's dairy products. Every once in a while her mother decided to get goat cheese and the ginger despised it.

Wait, was Tree actually offering her a kitten? While Brynn was tempted to agree on the spot, she knew her mother was already irritated with her, and would be even more so if she found out that Brynn had agreed to take a cat from a random stranger. "I'd love one! Except . . . I can't take one. Not yet anyway, I'll have to check with my mum. She'd kill me if I told her we had to go pick up a cat from a person I've only met once."

Oh no, no one told tree she was going to have bunk mates at school! This revaluation made her shutter, the last time she had to share a space with anyone was when her mom had her spend a summer in a hippie commune. and that was one of the most unpleasant experiences she had ever had to deal with. Maybe Tree could talk to the head of her house and get her own privet space.

Wait did she just offer her a place to sit on the train? Because if that was true that would be a weight off her shoulders, Tree had been worried for weeks now about the train ride. The thought of her sitting alone as everyone else had fun had crossed her mind a lot, "um, thanks." she said in a coy little voice, "that could be fun. I'll make snacks for everyone." Tree was staying in a hotel that had a kitchen so she could do a ton of baking the night before, "What kind of cookies do you like? because I'll make some."

Brynn had also gotten a visit from a wizard telling her about magic, that was good. Tree wasn't some special case after all, she didn't need guidance anymore then any other student.

"You can't get milk from a boy goat." Tree stated, "Vader, that's the goat's name, is there to take care of the lawn. He just wonders around eating grass and weeds. Well that and screaming at me when I'm trying to sleep... It's because of him that i started sleeping in my walk in closet, if he can't see me he stays quiet." Tree really hated that goat.

Tree nodded as Brynn turned down her offer for a cat, "well if you ever want one there are always kittens at my house, or barn actually. Ever scene we got rid of the sheep the cats have taken over the barn, there is a whole kitty colony in there." Tree thought for a moment, "If you do want to come by I'm letting you know that it's a pain in the butt to get to my place, it's like a 9 or 10 hour trip from here by car. I live on the Isle of man, right outside Foxdale. It's a nice place, but a long trip to get to it. I bet there is some magic way to make the trip much faster. But who know's you may live close to me, where do you live?"

Cookies? Oh yum! Hmmm, what were her favorite cookies? Chocolate chip was always good, as we're snickerdoodles, but her favorite cookies of all time were made by accidentally spilling salt on top "Salted caramel cookies? Those are my favorites." Oh yes, she was definitely going to have to make a batch when she got home.

So many things in that sentence puzzled Brynn, from the goat's name to the fact that he was pretty much their lawn mower to Tree apparently sleeping in her walk in closet. "Wait, wait, wait," she said, trying to make sense of the whole thing, "so your goat's name is Vader? As in . . . Darth Vader? And apparently he knows the lawn for you? Also, you have your very own walk in closet!? My closet's small and I've got to share it with my sister. It's also cluttered up with all the boxes we haven't unpacked yet." Or rather, the boxes she hadn't unpacked yet. While her mother constantly reminded her to either unpack or throw away, Brynn still had yet to actually do it.

Sheep, cats, a goat, "Do you live on a farm or something? I have seriously never met anyone with even close to as many animals as you do." It came out sounding more rude than she had intended "Not . . . that that's a bad thing exactly, it's just . . . yeah." Okay, so she thought it was more than a little weird, but she hoped Tree wouldn't pick up on that little detail.

The question about where she lived, however, gave her a bit of pause. Brynn hadn't told anybody magical where she lived before. On the one hand, she'd been taught that that was a bit of a safety hazard, but on the other, Tree had already told her, so it was only fair that she too disclosed at least the city in which she lived. "I live in Leicester for now." She stated simply. Athough her father had promised that the last move would be, well, the last, Brynn was still a bit iffy in that regard.

After a bit of an awkward silence, or at least Brynn felt terribly uncomfortable, she decided to stir up the conversation again "So what do you actually know about Hogwarts?" To be honest, she expected it wasn't much. Would it be more than she had had going into her first year? Most likely, but she'd had a year to explore it, and while she knew that there was still a lot more to learn about the castle, Brynn was going to play expert.
Leicester

The talk of food made Tree's stomach rumble, she almost reached into her bag to pull out one of the jars of pickled foods she always kept on her, but seeing as they were on their way to eat she thought better off it. Tree made a mental note of the cookie and said, "I've never made those before but I'll make em', I can't promise how good they'll be." People always complemented Tree's cooking but she didn't know if they were just being nice or really liked them, She thought she was an okay baker but not the best.

Oh think the gods someone in the magical world knew what star wars was. Tree had been quoting movies to magical people for the last few days and none of them knew what she was talking about, "Yep like Darth Vader. The goat and him have a lot in common, they are both black, breath to loudly and are evil. And he is in fact our grounds keeper. We had a service take care of our property for a bit but my dad got upset about them useing leaf blowers, because of how bad they are for the environment, and fired them. A few days later here came this goat." Tree sighed she much preferred the grounds keeper service, she would make them lunch and talk to them, and that was sone of the only normal conversation she would have.

"All the bedrooms in out house have walk in closets." Tree blushed, she always forgets most people don't have the money hers had, "its kind of a big house." That was an understatement, in fact it was 3 floors 4 if you include the basement, and then there was the fact that it wasn't the only house they owned. Her family had places all over the world, none as big as the main house but that wasn't the point. When Brynn asked if she lived on a farm it made Tree sigh, "it was a farm when my grandparents owned it, they raised sheep. But when they passed my dad built a ton of addictions to the house to make it into... well..." Tree stoped talking for a moment, should she say it out loud?  It was one of the most embarrassing things ever. After a few more awkward seconds Tree finally said, "a nudist colony..." Tree frowned, that was the main reason kids made fun of her when she was younger, "luckily the nabors made a huge fuss and they stoped doing it there. Didn't stop them opening them a few more in the United states, but I didn't live with a bunch of naked people anymore. Now it's just me and the animals living there, well and whoever is taking care of me that week." Tree put a nasty little emphasis on the word 'care' to show her displeasure whit the people her parents chose to watch her when they were off doing stupid stuff all over the world.

Tree was happy to get off the subject of the house, it was starting to annoying her, but that wasn't anything new her home life always annoyed her, "I only know what the lady who told me I was a witch told me about the school, and that wasn't a lot. She suggested to get a book called 'Hogwarts a history' if I wanted to learn more about the place, I'm going to pick it up at the bookstore today." Along with every other book in the place, "but a first hand account of the school would be wonderful." She looked at Brynn intently, Tree was ready to absorb any and all information she could could give her.