As he flicked through the pages of muggle sports magazine his dad had sent him, Caleb as per usual blocked out anyone who was around him, even if the common room was literally bare right now, he still kept to himself he barely spoke to anyone, in fact the most anyone ever heard Caleb speak was when he was answering a question in class but that too was very rare. The particular magazine he was reading was about Basketball. The boy greatly wished he could play that sport here but of course Quidditch always won out at Hogwarts. Luckily he enjoyed that and Flying in general too.

He knew that his father always just managed to cope with having a wizard for a son; it was ten times easier for the man when Caleb’s mother was still alive. At least she put everything into perspective for both Caleb and his dad. The sixth year missed her greatly, he remembered how much she had laughed when he had come home from his first and showed her everything that he had learnt at school, while also scaring their cat at the same time.

Caleb was reading an article on one of the American teams when he heard someone come over to him. Looking up he smiled “Hey @kiki” he smiled at the girl. Even if Caleb didn’t talk to his peers, he still knew their names, well most of those in his house. “What’s up?”

As a person who loved dancing to hip-hop, Kiki had always had a bit of a hard time with the prohibition of electronic devices at Hogwarts. Sure, she had her radio, but it didn’t pick up any stations that played anything she could move to. The Hufflepuff thought she had her fill of dance over spring break, but she was itching for some more. Alas, she resorted to singing. Kiki had picked it up as sort of an interest in her first year when she listened to the radio hoping to catch a song that would force her into movement. When they didn’t, she realized she had been learning all of the songs and singing along, so it became her go to at school. It provided some solace for the music lover.

Today was no different as Kiki tried her hardest to keep it to a hum as she bounced around picking things up in her room, hoping to be inspired. She had no idea what she was planning on doing today, but that was half of the fun for Kiki. Her mind filled with possibilities. Hm, read? Go out and fly? The volume at which she hummed increased. Play a game? Oh! Scrapbooking! Words were now forming and replacing the hum. In no time, she was bursting out in song. The song she had chosen for this moment was a song she heard recently called “Budapest” by some muggle artist she had never heard of prior to this song. She smiled as she realized that she had started to belt out the words that were previously in her mind and decided that was her mind’s way of telling her it had chose the activity for the day.

Kiki gathered her scrapbook from the floor and placed it in the bag with her camera and all other materials. She had recently had photos printed when she went home, so she had plenty to work on, but it never hurt to have her camera with her to take photos of things that came up. It was so hard to believe her fifth year was coming to an end and her birthday was coming up. The only thing that reinforced these thoughts was just how full her scrapbook for the year was.

Needing more room than what her little dormitory would offer her, she pranced down to the common room still with a song on her lips. “My acres of a land, I have achieved, it may be had for you to stop and believe, but for you,” she sang as she walked into the common room and took a seat at a table, “oh you, I’d leave it all.” She emptied the contents of her bag that included not only the scrapbook, but glue, markers, stickers, photos, and cardstock. As she organized these things, she went into the chorus of the song, and only stopped singing when she heard a voice call out to her.

“Oh, hi Caleb,” she beamed with a huge smile. Noticing the boy had a magazine in his hand, she quickly covered her mouth. “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry I was singing so loudly if I interrupted your reading. I didn’t even know you were in here.” The words raced from her mouth so quickly that a person that was not used to Kiki’s personality probably would have no clue what she said. “And I was just going to do some scrapbooking so I don’t get too far be-... wait,” She squinted as she realized what he was reading. “Caleb, no way! You like basketball? I love basketball!” The fifteen-year-old darted over to the boy faster than you could blink and left her stuff scattered on the table. “Do you like playing? Or do you just watch? I like both, but I prefer playing.” Once again, her speech was so rapid that one could argue that Kiki never breathed while she was talking.

He looked around the common behind where Kiki was, it was rather sparsely populated for the moment, so it would have been easy for her to miss him. But then again, even at his height, Caleb did prefer to stay inside. He of course through his observation abilities had seen and heard her sing many times before, with his small interest in music, Caleb thought she had a good voice. Not that he would ever admit that to her or anyone. He was often fearful that if he ever were to share his thoughts on anything, they would not be welcome. Truth be told he was often like that even when he answered questions in class.


Waving off her apology about the volume with her singing, he offered her one of his rare smiles. “Your volume is fine, I doubt there are such restrictions around here” he joked', gesturing around the room. He figured the common room was a place for students to be themselves and to be able to sing as loud as possible, especially as it wasn't past curfew now.


The pace at which his fellow Hufflepuff had spoken had confused Caleb for a second, why would people ever need to speak that fast, but then he gathered he rarely spoke so perhaps it was just common amongst people who were ‘normal’. Caleb was not a normal teenager. Sure his interests were normal for someone his age. But that’s where it stopped for him.


“What is scrapbooking?” he asked before he could stop himself. Wait! What! Oh god, why was he curious about something that he just heard about, he curse in his head. He sighted her things on the table and wondered if what was inside was for this 'scrapbooking. His eyes danced between her and the magazine he held following her question. “We…. we… well….. yes?” he stuttered, unwillingly asking a question, why the heck would he be uncertain in his answer. Of course he loved Basketball, he played it most summers with his dad when he was home from school. It was one of the rare things he and his dad could do together since he was magical and his dad wasn't. “I love playing as much as I love watching it” he smiled, finally being able to form a coherent answer once he had gathered an ounce of confidence. “I wish it could be played here” he shrugged in addition.

A huge sigh of relief exited Kiki, indicating that she actually did have the capability of breathing, unlike what her rapid speech would make one think. A big grin also crossed her face. She was happy to hear that her singing had not disrupted her fellow Hufflepuff. He even assured her that she was probably safe from any noise restriction. “Well, maybe, but if someone was sleeping or studying or something like that, I’d probably have to be quiet,” she said almost as if she was speaking from experience in the matter.

For a brief moment, Kiki just observed Caleb. He took a minute to spoke, almost as if he was trying to figure out what she had said. The girl was used to this. People often took a minute to comprehend the words she spoke. At one point, she had considered maybe she should slow down, but thought against it. Instead, she decided it was a great way to teach her patience and prepare for whatever response someone may give. However, she wasn’t prepared for Caleb’s response.

“You don’t know? Wait just a second! I’ll show you!” Kiki moved as quickly as she spoke to the nearby table where her scrapbooking stuff was. She picked up the scrapbook and scurried back over to where Caleb was and sat next to him. As she opened the book, she indicated for him to look. “This is my scrapbook for the year. I make one every school year. There are actually some pictures of you in here,” she said as she flipped to the page that showed some of the Quidditch games and practices. It was decorated with little stickers and makeshift drawings that Kiki had done of the goals and a snitch (she wasn’t that good of an artist in the sense of drawing). Since Caleb and Kiki were both on the team, he would naturally be part of her project. “Basically it is like a really decorated photo album. There are lots of things in here from the year. Obviously the Quidditch matches, trips to Hogsmeade, some magical creatures, my herbology project before it died, and so much more,” she scanned through pages showing him certain memories she thought the boy may be interested in and ignoring others such as her at home during winter break practicing her dancing.

She closed the scrapbook and let it sit on her lap as she listened to the sixth year talk about basketball. Kiki couldn’t contain her joy that someone loved basketball like her. “I completely agree! I so wish it could be played here. I keep wondering if there is some way to make a temporary court or something. OH! Maybe with enough interest, they would do that. Don’t you think?” She was very cheerful in the way she asked him. Her eyes practically lit up at the idea of having a basketball court at Hogwarts. If she couldn’t have her mp3 player, then she at least wanted the basketball court.

Caleb cracked a small smile at her mention of possibly waking someone, if anyone was sleeping around in the common room. She sounded as if she had previously woken someone up before. But he chose not say anything since he didn’t want to embarrass his friend. The boy wished he did smile more but often he had nothing to smile about or couldn’t be bothered to do so. Since his mother’s passing, he felt guilty for being at Hogwarts when the accident had happened. But his father had explained it to him that it wasn’t his fault that he was born with magical abilities and to be the only one in the family to possess them.


“No I don’t know…” he trailed off in answering her question. Was he supposed to know? As a Muggleborn was it compulsory to know everything about the Muggle world? Well if anyone was going to question his ignorance of scrapbooking, he was going to use his excuse of being a boy. Sure that might have been the cliché excuse but for teenage boy what else could anyone expect his answer to be. His eyes widened as she sat next to him. Caleb was not expecting that, people rarely sat next to him willingly. They probably thought he was the weirdo who never spoke and therefore avoided him. “Photos of me?” he asked in disbelief. She had actually been taking pictures of him, he wondered as he continued to look over the book in front of him. “I like your drawings” he smiled at her before looking at the page again. He did draw too, one day he’d be confident enough to show them to someone other than his father. The boy listed as the witch explained what other things were in there, he of course partook in trips to Hogsmeade often on his own, it was normally to replenish supplies of sweets or Quidditch things. “It’s brilliant Kiki….wait why did your Herbology project die?” he wondered.


He nodded his head as he spoke, once again he took a second to process all that she had said. “I’d be happy just shooting a few hoops every now and then. Do you think we’d need a spell to create a court or could we do something the muggle way, you know draw it out with chalk?” he asked her. Wait was chalk too childish, well it’s not like they had paint around the castle.

If one wasn’t paying close enough attention, they could miss it. Fortunately for Kiki, she caught it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caleb crack a smile. She hadn’t really seen the boy smile much recently, and she wondered why. Maybe he grinned more than she thought, and she just wasn’t too observant. She had been known to miss things, hence disturbing those who were obviously studying with her singing. Regardless of how often her fellow Hufflepuff really did show he was happy, she was just glad that she was around to see it this time.

Caleb showed a fair amount of interest in Kiki’s scrapbook, or at least he pretended to. When she had flipped through the pages, she realized that her little scrapbook shared a lot about her. In fact, her life was sort of like an open book. Her personality was loud and it was easy for people to pick up on her interests and life. This scrapbook was no exception to providing a key into her life. It showed her strengths, like some of her artistic skills, like her acting, photography, and music. She wouldn’t put drawing in this category, but Caleb seemed to think she did well at it. “Well, thanks Caleb, but honestly, drawing is not my forte.” The scrapbook also showed her weaknesses, which the boy was also quick to pick up on. “Ah, well, you see… I’m just not very good at herbology. Sometimes I forget to water the plant or use the right type of soil. I didn’t even know there were different ‘types of soil.’ I just thought it was all dirt,” she said with a laugh and wondered if different types of soil were common knowledge.

Yes, it was hard for Kiki to hide anything. She wore her emotions and pretty much her whole life on her sleeve. Since she was young, she always thought it best to just be genuine and be yourself. To her, it was way easier than being fake to try to make friends only to lose them when they discovered the real you. No, the challenge when someone lives a genuine life such as Kiki comes in getting to know other people. Luckily for the fifteen-year-old, friendliness came naturally to her. She never minded going out of her way to befriend someone or invite a random stranger to join her on an excursion. These things were highly beneficial to have in a time such as now. “So, I know we’re in the same house, and we’re on the Quidditch team together, but I really don’t know much about you, Caleb. I mean, I know you like basketball now, WHICH IS AWESOME,” she said louder than necessary, “but what else? What do you like to do? What’s your favorite subject? What do you want to do after Hogwarts? Oh, sorry,” she cupped her hand over her mouth. Kiki took a deep breath and gave a small giggle. “I didn’t mean to keep going. I just had so many questions. Don’t feel like you have to answer them all,” she gave a sincere grin.

She was very glad that they shared a common interest of basketball. Kiki considered what the boy was saying, and she honestly didn’t know what the answer to his question was. “Well, I don’t know if there is a spell. Maybe we could ask a professor? Or we could do a chalk one I suppose, but we would need a place to use the chalk and still probably need hoops. OH! Maybe there will be a muggle studies class on it!” The young Hufflepuff excited herself with this news and practically started cheering at the idea. Now, who would I have to petition to make that happen?

So okay yes, Caleb was happy whenever he was with his friend but that’s usually where his happiness stopped unless he got praise from a professor in class for doing a practical exercise correctly. Which was often though his happiness never surfaced with anything in particular. If he did smile in it was normally on the inside. He wondered how many people at school actually saw him smile, even what Kiki had seen just now as rare, extremely rare. His father had always encouraged him to be happy at school to embrace his magical powers, but Caleb always felt guilty.


As he looked over her scrapbook he realised how diverse Kiki’s interests were, though it was a similar story for him, though no one knew exactly what his interest were, apart from Quidditch. Caleb was constantly weary of sharing too much of himself with others because he felt guilty he had magic inside him and his parents didn’t. Caleb constantly wanted to do muggle activities with his dad during winter and summer breaks because he thought he had to compensate for his extra abilities though Zachary tried to convince his son it wasn’t necessary. He meant what he said about her drawing ability, he sketched from time to time so he would know. “Everyone criticises their own artistic abilities Kiki” he said as he continued to examiner her scrapbook. He looked up as she explained what had gone wrong with Herbology project. “Well now you know that plants need water right?” he asked, teasing her. Wait! Where did that come from? He wondered, he didn’t normally tease anyone good naturedly. “As for Soil, I only know about the muggle kinds since my dad likes to garden” the boy shrugged.


Since Caleb hid so much of his life, barely anyone knew much about him, his family, his interests, or even when his birthday was. He preferred to keep both lives separate but as he started to get into his teenage years, he came to realise it was becoming an impossibility. When Kiki started to rattle off questions at him, he froze, not because he was upset with, no, he just didn’t know if he wanted to share so much with her about his life, but she was his friend, his team mate and fellow Hufflepuff so he might as well and it wasn’t like she was going to judge him, he couldn’t see Kiki judging anyone. He offered another smile be replying to questions. “No it’s fine, I’m a private person by nature but I’ll answer your questions, I like to draw, I love flying and I like music, though I can’t play any instrument” he paused trying to remember the next question she had asked. “Favourite subject is charms. As for what I want to do after Hogwarts I have no idea right now” which was true, though he had considered applying for internship at the ministry in the next school year. “Now, what’s your favourite subject?” he asked the girl sincerely.


He pondered her words for a bit before answering. He hadn't thought about Muggle studies having a class on it but it was possible if the professor wanted to how the students any muggle sports. “I suppose it’s possible we could have a class on it, if the professor wanted it. There are so many spells, so anything is possible” the boy shrugged.

Since arriving at Hogwarts, Kiki had found it difficult to really just fit in with the magical world. Sure, she was friendly and could get along with anyone. However, most of her talents rested in normal or “muggle” activities. There really wasn’t much of a magical area in which she excelled, except for maybe flying. But she seemed to forget all of that when she talked to Caleb. It was nice for someone to not only know a lot about basketball, but to enjoy it as well. It made her feel just a little bit more at home and not so unusual.

Caleb reminded Kiki that everyone can be hard on themselves when it comes to their artistic abilities. Kiki knew this to be true, and she figured if she was being honest, her drawings weren’t terrible. Still, she wouldn’t consider them anything above mediocre. Her artistic talents rested more in the ones that required some degree of performance. “I guess you’re right, but I still prefer for people to see my other artistic talents,” she said as she leaned back into couch and let her feet shift a little bit to the rhythm in her head from the song she had been singing earlier. Before it could be noticed too much, she stopped and continued listening to her fellow Hufflepuff.

At his comment about watering the plant, she smirked at him. When she met his eye, she realized that he seemed like he had been taken aback at his own words. Is he worried he offended me? Ha, he must not know me too well. To show that no harm was done, she stuck her tongue out at him. “Hey, I did water them, but I swear those plants prefer butterbeer or something,” she said with a smile. “And you know more than me. I didn’t even know there were different types of muggle dirt.”

Kiki had been afraid that her rambling off so many questions would confuse the boy, and her fears were confirmed as the boy temporarily froze. She was about to ask him if he was alright or apologize, but he finally began to speak again. The fifth year sighed with relief and listened to him. It didn’t surprise her too much that he considered himself a private person. Most Hufflepuffs were. Hell, anyone was in comparison to Kiki. “I like to do all of those things too! Music being my favorite, of course. I can’t play anything either, but I would love to learn. Maybe guitar? I don’t know. Oh! Caleb! You look like a violin player! You should learn to play violin! Only if you want to of course.” One could realistically argue that Kiki had decided that she wasn’t going to breathe in that whole phrase. When he asked what her favorite subject was, her expression shifted a little to show that she was a little uncomfortable. She didn’t really like to talk her classes because she struggled with a lot of them. Between her dyslexia and just in general not being too talented of a witch, there weren’t a lot of classes she enjoyed. “Uhm, well I do like charms as well. It’s one of the few classes I’m really good at. I guess I also like muggle studies.” I should have known he would ask that after I did. But who says muggle studies is their favorite class? And one of the few classes? He probably thinks I’m really stupid now or something. Ugh.

Her spirits lifted a little bit when he said that it could be possible they would have a class on basketball. “Maybe if we can find a place where the basketball court should go and we ‘present’ it to the professors, they would put one up? I mean, you did just say anything is possible,” she said with a huge grin.

Caleb wasn’t often comfortable discussing muggle activities with anyone at Hogwarts, he usually left to his Owls home to his father or when he was actually at home. He never really was open about his home life at school, not because he was ashamed of his life away from school, the exact opposite in fact, he just felt the two should never really mingle. Even him reading a basketball magazine in the common room today was a stretch. But just uncovering that he had a fellow lover of basketball within his own house made a little happier. His mum would have been happy to know that.

He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. ‘Other artistic abilities?’ he wondered for a second before he realised what she meant. He really was out of it today, must be all this talking he was actually doing. Well he of course he had heard her singing and caught glimpses of the photos in her scrapbook of dancing. “Well, do you prefer dancing or singing better?” he came out and asked her before he saw her tap her foot. Sure he liked music but tunes did often come to mind, at least not as easily as they appeared to do for Kiki. “What song is in your head right now then?” he asked her, as he nodded to her tapping foot. 

 
The boy saw a smirk appear on her face and he arched his brow and gave her a questioning look. He was about to ask ‘what?’ just before she spoke. He laughed at her suggestion that the plants preferred. “I don’t think the Herbology professor would appreciate us getting the plants drunk” he smirked at her. Of course he knew that the alcohol content was tiny in Butterbeer and wouldn’t affect humans but if given to plants who knew what the effect would be. “And its not like I want to know about Muggle dirt, my dad just has a stack of it in the shed at home and since I have nothing much to do in my summers I help him” he shrugged. It was also a muggle activity so Caleb could partake in it without feeling too guilty.

“I look like a Violin player?” was his first reaction. He had never considered playing that even if his mum had liked the violin. His thoughts momentarily drifted back to his younger days when she once took him to the local town all to watch a local strings quartet playing. “My mum loved the violin, I think she used to play when she was in high school” he could ask his grandparents about that he supposed. Shit! He thought when saw Kiki’s expression change, he hadn’t meant to make her feel uncomfortable. To him it seemed like a normal question. “Charms is a great class and I’m a Muggleborn so I split my life between the two worlds, it’s almost as if I have two different lives” he laughed nervously. The rate at which his feelings were changing, Caleb was beginning to feel like a yo-yo. “Well let’s see, another question, your favourite Quidditch team?” that was always a fun question.

“I did say anything is possible” he confirmed, sound very confident for a change. “Maybe we can ask Professor Copeland, maybe he knows a charm for that?....although Basketball is a muggle sport so who knows..” he trailed off as an afterthought. But it was worth a try.

When Caleb asked her which of her talents she preferred, she almost laughed. To her, it was quite obvious which one it was, and she was sure her siblings would agree. However, not having much music to move to at Hogwarts would probably leave the students here to wonder. In fact, if many students probably didn’t even know that Kiki dance. The thought saddened the poor girl. In her neighborhood at home, everyone seemed to know. It was just simply the biggest part of her, as she had been dancing from such a young age. Singing had only been something she picked up due to her not being able to dance.

“Honestly, I prefer dancing, but it is hard being here to dance… at least, my style of dancing,” she said, adding the last part quickly. If Kiki had stuck with ballet like she had started with, then maybe dancing around Hogwarts to pass the time wouldn’t have been so difficult. However, hip hop was kind of hard to do. Caleb also asked what song she had stuck in her head and she smiled. If she had to be real with herself, it was pretty obvious she had some tune on her mind. “Oh it was the one I was singing earlier. It’s called ‘Budapest.’ Some muggle artist sings it. I think his name is George Ezra. I hear it on the radio a lot.”

A hearty laugh escaped from Kiki as she imagined the look on her face if she were to find intoxicating plants. The fifth year wasn’t much of a rule breaker, but that seemed like it would be worth a try. “Hmm, maybe we could sneak some butterbeer back from Hogsmeade sometime and give it a try,” she said indicating a bit of a joke just to sort of gage the boy’s reaction to her suggestion. Her fellow Hufflepuff had indicated that he knew a lot about the soil types from helping his dad. “Do you mean you help him with gardening stuff? Do you like it?” Kiki couldn’t help but notice that he had something about not having much to do with his summer, and that saddened her. “I mean, if you don’t like it and are looking for something to do, you could maybe get a job. You’re old enough now, right? Oh! Wait! Or I could come visit you, and we could play basketball!” She was almost squealing with excitement at this idea.

Caleb seemed to be a little taken aback that she had suggested that he play violin. However, he did mention that he thought his mom played. “Well see, maybe I’m on to something here. Maybe you could ask her to show you how to play if she did that is. Of course only if you want to learn that is.” As her fellow Hufflepuff continued speaking, she realized that he had said something she could relate to: feeling split between the two worlds. “I think I can kind of relate. I’m not muggleborn, but my mom is a muggle and my dad is a wizard. I actually havent told many people this, but I don’t feel like I fit in the magical world too much.” Kiki had no idea why he told Caleb this when she didn’t really talk about what was bothering her. Maybe it was because it sounded like he could relate. Maybe it was because being in the same house and on the Quidditch team together had made him trustworthy in her eyes. Whatever it was, she had told him. She hated to convey something so serious on someone. Usually, she was all about being bubbly and cheerful, but it felt good to tell someone her real feelings. It was bound to come out though. Kiki did wear her emotions on her sleeve.

She was delighted though that he changed the subject to something more fun like their favorite Quidditch team. “I am actually a big New Zealand fan. I’m so pissed about the World Cup when that referee ruled Moon crashed into the Bulgarian chaser on purpose. When multiple people in the stands claim it seemed accidental, I don’t see how the referee could say it was on purpose. Sure, Moon has that feud going on with that chaser, but he wouldn’t be stupid enough to throw the Cup away,” Kiki paused. She realized that this particular game was something she could bitch about for days if given the chance. “Sorry, I’m still not over it. Anyway, who is your favorite team?”

Kiki squirmed with joy in her seat at Caleb’s suggestion. “Caleb! That idea is absolutely brilliant! We should ask Copeland about it. Do you know him well? Do you think he would do it?