Hot Chocolate and Happy Days

Lana Di Angelo liked to think of herself as "creative," rather than smart. She fancied herself as "challenged," rather than childish. But while these words often changed, Lana never really changed. For ANYONE. Did she need to act cultured? Maybe. Did she want a lollipop? Yes.
Did she need to say hi to every person she passed by? Maybe. Did she have a compulsive attachment issue? Definitely.

What did she want in life?

Better question: Did she care?

Lana never considered these questions to be pressing issues. She just opened her eyes when she saw fit. She closed them more often than not. But on this fine morning, there was a certain energy that kept Lana from falling back asleep. Maybe it was the fact that she was at Hogwarts. The thought set her mind aflame. What kind of chaos could the students cause without getting caught? She paced about her room first, but as it wasn't enough to keep her from doing something crazy, she started walking outside. She certainly wasn't properly dressed to leave the Carriage (No coats, no scarves, no go) but she needed to go somewhere.

Finally, Lana flopped on the couch in the central meeting room of the carriage. She considered what to do. She could go back and get ready for the day, but it was something like six in morning. That was not a good time for Lana, and she had a feeling that nobody would appreciate a cheery Lana in the morning.

Peter never woke up at a consistent time. Some days he would sleep in until noon. Other days he was up at the crack of dawn. He often just did not go to bed. He thought that maybe with the upcoming tournament and the fact he was not staying at Beauxbatons but at a foreign school would make his sleep patterns a little more temperate.

And yet, here he was, six o'clock in the morning, realizing there was no use pretending he was going back to sleep. He rolled out of bed, barefoot and pajama-clad and did a few stretches to pop his groaning bones. He cracked his knuckles and let out a roar-like yawn, walking towards the main room, rubbing his eyes.

Lana was already there. He grinned widely at her and flopped down in an armchair near her, grinning his wide bemused grin. “Good morning, Mees Lana. I 'ope you slept well enough?” He smiled nicely at her, before letting out another monstrous yawn, scratching his head and further messing up his hair, which was already sticking out at crazy angles.

"Bonjour Peter! I slept pretty well," Lana replied, smiling cheerily. "I would ask you the same, but I guess it goes without saying," she continued, noting Peter's yawn. Poor thing- he probably had trouble sleeping. She considered asking him if anything was wrong, but from the looks of things, he just seemed tired. And tired was good. Mostly. Lana shifted in her seat a bit. Why did she sit down? She had so much energy, she did not know what to do with it.

Peter grinned at her, glancing up at his tussled hair, a hand going up to brush it down so he did not resemble a monster so much. "I did not get as much sleep as I 'ad 'oped." It was not that he had slept poorly, just that it would have been nice to sleep later than the crack of dawn, but eh... What could you do?

Lana was a nice girl and Peter wondered why she had come along. She seemed to be mostly preoccupied with social matters and the tournament did not seem to fit her; though it did not fit him much either. "So, are you excited fort ze tournament? Fame, richees, eternal glory, all zat fun stuff." He grinned at her.

"I don't really kn0w- on one hand, it's all so exciting. The challenges, the passion- the very talent behind the entire tournament..." Lana cut herself off. She was about to say that she wanted no part of it. But she couldn't just lie to herself like that. There was so much riding on the cup, but she felt she didn't really deserve it. She only worked hard to do something fun. That's what it had all meant for her- it was all part of a game for Lana Di Angelo.

"I mean, I don't really need anymore money, and fame would be nice, but if I kind of feel like the entire competition is only counter-productive. You know, because we're supposed to make friends with other students." Lana smiled, hoping she had properly conveyed the way she felt. It was difficult to put her thoughts and emotions into words, and when Lana thought about it thoroughly, the more prepared she felt to take on the championship.

But the more she thought, the more scared she became.

Peter chuckled, following her train of thought with ease. "I defineetely do understand what mean, Lana." He smiled. He was not an overly competitive person, he was too friendly to fall for trash talk and high tensions. Not to mention he was an utter goof ball and was very laid back. Therefore, he could understand her mixed feelings.

"I sometimes wonder eef I want to be champion because I will surely make many friends or because eet should be fun." He chuckled. "Zat's all I really want. Fun and friends." He laughed cheerfully. "Eet is hard to make friends with people who are trying to beat you, and to have fun in a deadly situation." He, again, burst into laughter.

"You're good with words. I never would have been able to put that into speech." Lana smiled and let her mind stray to different topics. "Hey, do you know when breakfast is?" Lana asked. Her first meal in the Great Hall was amazing, but she wanted to know if the food was that good every day, every meal. Who in their right mind make that much great food?
"We seriously need to start hanging with some of the Hogwarts kids. Everybody's so SERIOUS about this tournament," Lana suggested. What better time to know someone could there be but breakfast?

Peter grinned at Lana, flattered by her words. He knew that he did sometimes have a way with words, but it was nice to be complimented of course. He waved a hand and said in a modest voice, "Ah, eet is nothing, I just ramble and sometimes I get eet right." He chuckled good-naturedly and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes again.

She asked about the time breakfast started and he shrugged. "I'm not sure, though our headmistress will let us know, I theenk. I don't theenk it had began yet, eet is still rather early." He was looking forward to another delicious Hogwarts meal. At Lana's words he grinned and said, "I wholly agree! Adam has already made some friends and I am very jealous! I theenk making friends is more fun zan some silly tournament."

"Adam? Really? Well, we're going to need to change that," Lana replied, smiling coyly. "Making friends is definitely more fun than risking your life for Merlin-knows-what." This, of course got Lana thinking. Generally, this was not a good sign. But Lana was not thinking mischievously, nor was she considering new food combinations. No, she was trying to come up with more ways to meet the Hogwarts kids. How could she gather students from all three schools without causing any real fights. First of all, she would need to attract the students who weren't attracted by the thought of fame and glory. The point of this was to avoid Ego altogether. Greed too, but people were naturally greedy. Whatever Lana planned to do, food had to be involved. No matter where you were from, you could appreciate good food. And since they were all students....

Wait a second. They were all students, but Lana witnessed multiple types of magic that she had never heard of. It wasn't fair, but Lana was fairly certain that she knew some spells that these kids barely understood. Weren't all students supposed to have a common base of knowledge?

"Hey, Peter... would you join a cross-school study group?" Lana asked the boy.

Peter grinned at words but said no more because he could see something going on in that pretty little head of hers. She was planning, plotting, coming up with some idea for some sort of dilemma and Peter was not the type to interrupt it. Peter did not come up with the ideas, nor did he try to stop them. He was a let's-jump-on-the-bandwagon sort of guy. And he was interested to know what he would be jumping on next.

She asked if he would like to join a cross-school study group. Peter was not the type to study or to work overly hard on his studies. He was just above average and he did not need more really. But the second she said it he imagined the group. It would not be the anti-social overachievers joining, but the kids more interested in the adventure of meeting new people more than anything. He grinned widely, the scheme unfolding in his mind. "I would love too! That is a great idea, Lana!" He vaguely wondered if any studying would actually get done in this little group, though if it did not, he would not mind in the least.