The Answer is No | OPEN

Damian sat at the table, playing with his food rather than eating it. He wasn't hungry. He was seldom hungry these days. In fact, he was seldom anything apart from angry, lately.

The boy didn't even look up as someone sat across from him.

"The answer is 'No'," he gritted out, his tone suggesting that he'd been repeating himself far too often, "I'm not alright and I don't wanna talk about it."

October had just entered the Great Hall for breakfast, looking at the Gryffindor table she found that none of her friends were up yet. In fact, October didn't have any friends, yet.

Looking around the Great Hall she saw a boy at the Hufflepuff table, playing with his food. Thinking that the boy needed some company, October walked up to the Hufflepuff table, and sat herself across from the boy.

Ignoring the strange looks from fellow Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, she looked at the boy in front of her, who had spoken to her in October's opinion a rude way.

Deciding that he was just having a bad day October, for the first time she had come to Hogwarts spoke to someone, "I won't ask you, if you don't want to talk about." She took a sip out of her pumpkin juice, " If you don't want to talk about whatever it is your angry about then you could always write it down on a piece of parchment and then burn it in the fire, it works for me. Or if you decide to keep your problems inside you and not do anything about it then you'll be Mr. Grumpy Pants for the rest of the day."

Damian dropped his fork onto his plate, where it clattered loudly. He looked up and simply stared expressionlessly at the girl for a minute, then two. A few days of sympathetic looks and people asking if he were alright had done nothing to improve his mood.

"My sister was killed by muggles," he finally bit out. "A month ago. It was all over the bloody newspapers - the Prophet and the muggle papers. Know what would make me feel better? If my sister wasn't dead anymore. Think writing it down and burning it's gonna help?"

Scowling, Damian turned his attention back to his plate, picking up his toast and taking a small bit. "You're not even in this house," he muttered, "why are you sitting here?" And by me? he added silently. It wasn't like there weren't other people to sit next to.

October's expression changed when the boy in front of her told her about his sister.

"I don't know if my theory would work, I would need a family first to find out. My family died when I was two, I'm an only child, literally."She said tearing up a bit.

Changing the subject from family October answered to the boy's second question, "Why am I sitting with you. Well I don't got any friends in this school and you looked lonely, I'm what people call a loner in this school. Sorry if I disturbed you."

Damian stared at her again for another moment. "It doesn't," he told her, finally. "Nothing works."

The boy picked up his fork and took a bite of something from his plate, though, he wasn't paying much attention to what. He was either half-listening to what she was saying, or using his enhanced hearing to listen to everything around him at once. It was likely a combination of both, though, he simply appeared inattentive.

"Doesn't matter," Damian mumbled, giving an indifferent shrugs. "Food's the same at all the tables."

October looked at the boy, studying his face. His bright blue eyes were red and puffy, and chocolate brown hair, messy untamed.

"What's your name?" October said breaking the silence.

"It's Damian," the boy murmured. He finally gave up on his food altogether, pushing his plate away.

He gazed at her, then sighed. Looked like conversation was inevitable. "I don't remember seeing you last year. You a first year, then? How're you liking it? I hear Gryffindors stay up all night in the common room."

"I'm October." She said introducing herself.

October watched Damian as he pushed his plate away from him, and look at October.

"I'm a first year. So far I think that Hogwarts is great, but it could be better with some friends. About the staying up all night, well that's usually the older kids." She said answering Damian's question.

"So what year are you?" She asked taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

Damian nodded dutifully as October spoke.

"I'm a second year," he told her. "Hogwarts is brilliant, isn't it? Friends are easy enough to come by. You just talk to people." Damian shrugged a shoulder.

"Ya, Hogwarts is brilliant. I love it!. Daiman, are we friends?" October asked with wonder.

"Friends?" Damian echoed a bit incredulously. "Not yet. We've only just met, you know. I suppose we could be, but people don't become friends after talking just once. You've got to talk to them at least a few times to be considered friends."

"Right. Ya, you're right. Sorry for asking." October said with a frown, but quickly hid it by taking a bite out of her bacon.