Jay had been in Hogsmeade for a few days now and was still loving it. He had spent most of his time so far checking out all the buildings he could without being rude. The shops were fascinating, but every so often the sight of the Hogwarts Castle off in the Horizon caught his eye. He was counting the days until he could walk the corridors of the magnificent structure. There was no other building like it in all of Europe. Most said that the building itself was being held up by magic and most of the architecture didn't make sense to the average witch or wizard. Then again Jay wasn't average, at least that's what his design Professor had said when he had suggested Jay enter the Tournament. Most overlooked Jay's skills since he had never aimed them towards athletics or even academics but he rarely came across a problem or a puzzle he couldn't solve. His naturally strategic brain was what had brought him here but he doubted he would go very far in the tournament if he even bothered entering.

For now he was enjoying the scenery and today that included Hogsmeade Owl Post. He had entered under the pretence of writing a letter back home to his father but he was really just interested to see how they had managed to merge an owlery with a post office. Where did the creatures sleep, how did they enter and exit the building, where did the clerks sort the mail coming in and going out. Millions of questions swam through his mind as he stood in the middle of the post office a blank parchment clutched in his hands. His baby blues were staring up into the ceiling that seemed to stretch on forever, above the colour coded shelves the owls sat on waiting to deliver letters. Up in the rafters those that weren't currently on duty slept or hooted cheerfully down at him.

He was caught up in his own little world completely unaware of anything or anyone going on around him. His father had once teased him about it being a curse. Whenever Jay got his mind focused on something it was hard to get him to come out of it. He was off in his own little world, working out angles and fixings, weighing the structural stability of the objects around him and wondering how he could duplicate them, make them better, improve upon the original design.

Jordyn had been spending quite a bit of time in Hogsmeade recently.  It was fun, even if she had to floo in all of the time.  She sometimes just went to see if she could catch glimpses of the students from other schools, having seen one or two around – and hearing them talk in various languages.  She had studied French when she was younger, so she had a smattering of that under her belt, but not enough to decipher the rapidly speaking French students, and the schools from the continent catered to a host of countries, so she was at a loss. 

It was fun though, and she was able to pick up some quills and things, as well as just have time to herself.  Sitting in the house was so boring, and only having her mother to talk to, she was loathe to do that for too long.  The woman was delusional, still acting like they had their old life, and beyond that, spending like it at times!  It made Jordyn insane.  At least Huxley’s parents managed to be frugal.

She sighed, carrying her small bag of quills inside of her purse, as well as her letter for Fergie.  She could have sent the family owl, but it was occupied with her mother’s correspondence for the time being, and she figured she could give him a bit of a treat with a Hogsmeade postmark.  That would tickle him, for sure, since it was so rustic and opposed to what Jordyn would typically do.  But, it was the best option right now. 

She sauntered toward the post office/owlery, letter in hand.  It was not busy, she shouldn’t have been surprised, most families owned their own owls at this point, so she walked straight in, going to select one of the owls – hopefully the prettiest she could find, and quickly so she did not end up ruining the outfit she had put together.  She thought she would get to go straight in, but she blinked as it seemed a young man was poking around the owls, but did not appear to be picking one to deliver his mail.

“A connoisseur of owls?” she drawled, somewhat sarcastically, though a smirk was apparent on her lips.  “Any will do – public use and all that, nothing that quality in here,” she looked around – to be certain.  It was quite loud and she was not a fan of the smell… but she had this letter! 

The gentle voice of the young woman barely broke through Jay's private world of wonderment, "Que?" He moved his baby blues from the rafters above and let a small blush cross his cheeks as he looked Jordyn over, "Pardon." He thought back to what she had asked him and shook his head. It took him a moment to register that she had been speaking English, or rather the Queen's English as in she wasn't one of the Salem kids.

"Umm well I was supposed to right a letter to my dad but this place is just so fascinating." He spoke in almost perfect American English. If he hadn't distractedly answered her in french to begin with he may have passed as a Salem student himself. He pointed up to the ceiling just beyond the shelves where the active owls were sitting, "Look how they managed to put in roosts for the owls not on duty without compromising the original structure of the building. They've even put them far enough back that you don't get as much mess down here." He looked back to Jordyn and blushed once again as if he had just realized that he was speaking to an attractive girl who likely didn't care about any of it.

"Pardon my enthusiasm, I'm a design student at Beauxbatons." He nodded to the letter she was holding, "Owling your boyfriend?"

Accent! It smacked Jordyn in the face and she gasped a little, jumping back as though to show she meant no offense - like putting more physical distance between them could communicate such an idea.  She thought she registered what he said as French, but then he started to speak in what seemed like an American accent...

Jordyn furrowed her brows.  Both schools were in Hogsmeade... it was possible he could have come from either.  She supposed though, if he was French, he'd have a French accent - and he sounded... so American, the way he said Dad and the wide-eyed look, it smacked of American, rather than the cool sophistication of the other French students she had seen in town.  She wondered if all of the Americans were so wide-eyed and ready to talk your ear off the second you spoke to them. 

She glanced up, taking minor note of what he was saying, though eyed him curiously.  It was such an odd thing to talk about - or even notice - it was an owlery, not a palace. "That's... interesting..." she said with as much feigned enthusiasm as she could muster - none at all, but she tried, for the sake of being half polite.  She was a prefect, if he was a visiting student, she'd surely have to make a good impression.

Of course, her eyes jumped wide as he said he was from Beauxbatons.  How bloody strange, she thought to herself!  And so forward.  She blinked rapidly. "Em... no," she regained composure, though still retained a tight smile, "Just a friend," she explained, moving into the space, now not afraid he was going bonkers and she could pick an owl closest to her to tie the little note onto.  "Are you enjoying Hogsmeade?" she asked, making polite conversation as she tried to tie the string - frowning at its short length.

Jay couldn't help but chuckle at the response he was physically getting from the raven haired beauty. She almost seemed polite enough to be a Beauxbatons girl herself and no doubt he had just shattered her preconvienced notion of a Beauxbatons boy. It was a reaction he was getting used to and one he found highly amusing. Jay had always seemed like the outcast amoungst his peers but his talent and charm had always kept him on par with what was expexted of the pretigeous Beauxbatons breed - even if his personality didn't.

Now that it was clear she didn't share his enthusiasm for architecture Jay let the subject drop and instead poured all of his attention unto the beauty before him. He had to admit the UK girls he had met so far were gorgeous and jordyn clearly was no exception. He took the time to admire her while she appeared to struggle with the tiny string provided by the owl. He moved in close to her placing his hands on the creatures leg till she moved hers away, "here, letme help you with that." With deft movements Jay had the string tightly secured and gently passed the small creature to Jordyn. With his model making for design he was used to working delicately with small things.

"I'm very much enjoying Hogsmede. It's rather quaint but to be honest I can't wait to get to Hogwarts." Jay winced slightly at how much of a nerd that made him sound but he didn't think explaining his excitement for the ancient castle's arcitecture would make it any better so instead he decided to deflect, "Enjoying your summer?"

Jordyn did not know what to make of Beauxbatons boys.  They were a mystery to her, particularly as they had strange turns of phrase – and their forward nature.  There were not many who felt so inclined at Hogwarts, at least not from her experience, that wouldn’t even ask permission to approach so rapidly and encroach on her personal space. 

She removed her hands quickly, not wanting to give the wrong idea and even took a step back.  Unlike some of the girls at Hogwarts, she wasn’t about to fling herself at anything that looked her way – especially competition.  That was just a recipe for disaster, and all of this was probably carefully planned.  Using Beauxbaton charm and all of that to get the upper hand – ridiculous!  Thankfully, Jordyn was smarter than that and the rumors of her status as an ice queen was not a complete falsehood. 

“Thank you,” she sad stiffly and took the owl and stroked its head once – not totally afraid of his beak – but wary, just in case he decided to bite.  She gave him a treat from the box and indicated Fergie’s address to the bird, and sent it up.  It flapped its wings and flew upwards, and finally out.  She didn’t much care, as long as it made its way and she refocused her eyes on the young man in front of her.  “Oh!” she breathed, somewhat surprised, “Yes, I am.”

She cleared her throat and smiled awkwardly, and lopsidedly, just because she couldn’t imagine what else to do.  “And yourself? I trust English weather has been treating you well?” And the perennial English thing to do – talk about the weather, in the absence of anything else legitimate to talk about. 

To say that Jay was naive when it came to the opposite sex was being polite. While those at Hogwarts may have picked up on Jordyn's cold behaviour the France native was completely oblivious to it. Far as he was concerned he had helped a pretty girl with something she had been having trouble with, end of story. While he had always chosen not to get involved in romantic relationships Jay had to admit (at least to himself) that he wouldn't know the first thing about doing it. Sure he had all the charm in the world but charm only got you so far.

After he watched the bird take flight exiting one of the holes that had been smartly designed in the ceiling for outgoing and incoming fowls he turned his attention back to Jordyn, the smile having never left his lips. However now that her business was done and he found someone to talk to (rather than wile the hours away literally staring at the walls) he began to subtly make his way to the door, still very much interested in continuing their conversation.

"Weather's been alright, little chillier than I'm used to this time of year and wetter but I really don't mind, just gives me an excuse to stay indoors more often." He chuckled to himself though after he doubted she would have understood the joke, "I'm from Marseille, it gets pretty dry there." He smiled slowly inching towards the exit wondering if he managed to get outside, would she come with him, "And you? Are you actually from Scotland?"

She suppposed it was not so bad, having someone else tie the letter to the leg of the bird was indeed a plus.  She hated the things, really didn't get along with birds, and worse than that, they were just dirty.  Often times, they bit, as well, and she did not like marks on her hands.  She tried to keep them as well-maintained as possible, something owls did not help with. 

She was also eager to get out of the owlery, it smelled.  Birds had the uncanny ability to be disgusting... She wrinkled her nose and less subtly than the French boy, made her way toward the door.  It was a good thing he wanted to leave, or at least seemed like it - she wasn't about to stay.

"Marseilles is lovely," she complimented calmly.  Safe topic of conversation, an true enough... Of course, then he asked if she was in Scotland and she immediately, without thinking made a face.  She didn't mean anything offensive by it, but she wished he wouldn't have asked.  It wasn't as though she had the horrific accent.  "No, not at all, actually," she responded in her most crisp language, "I'm from London."

She looked at him, gauging his expression.  "Have you ever been there?"

Given that Jordyn was making her way towards the door as well Jay slipped ahead and held it open for her. He stepped out to the warm sunny cobbled street of Hogsmeade and took a deep breath. While he was completely awed by the architecture, even he had to admit the place had a funk to it. His lungs were thankful for the fresh air. With his smile still wide he turned to his companion for the moment, he figured she was just as thankful for the sweet smelling air that carried on the breeze.

He chuckled, "Didn't mean to offend you cherie." He smiled sweetly, vaguely wondering where he should go from here, "I've never been to London myself though I'd love to visit some day. The Big Ben has always been a draw for me. A clock at that magnitude, brilliant." He blushed slightly realizing he had gone off again.

Suddenly Jay looked as though he had been smacked in the face, "I just realized I hadn't introduced myself," He held out his hand to her, "My name's Jean-Paul Valjean, though most of my friends call me Jay."

Jordyn could do small talk - one of the skills being part of the social set facilitated the skill.  She smiled and put her hands behind her back.  "You know," she started, "Big Ben is actually the name of the bell - not the clock." 

It was true - a London fact straight from the source.  Alright, she had gone on the tour, but only because it was something to do and she couldn't afford much else - plus, she had read about a strange magical phenomenon that happened there, so she went.  There had been a lot of muggles, unfortunately, but it hadn't been all that bad.  Just noisy, and a lot of ignorance.  She had just been glad she didn't need to talk to anyone while she was there.

As they exited, Jordyn smiled.  "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Valjean," she spoke easily, "Jay."  She extended her hand in return and squeezed, just enough to be polite without being overbearing, she had been told she toed that line, occasionally. 

"I suppose it's my turn," she shrugged, glad to be out of the owlery and walking down the street of Hogsmeade.   "Jordyn Dimbleby," she motioned to herself, "no nickname," she added, for good measure.

As they began to walk, with no particular direction in mind, Jay briefly considered pulling her hand and giving it a kiss. While it was always shown in the movies as something French boys did to impress other women it was actually a little hard to pull off especially when you were dealing with someone like Jordyn. She had such a strong presence about her he doubted she'd be charmed by such a gesture and instead decided against it.

"Pleasure to meet you Jordyn, no nickname." He chuckled a bit and gave her a wide smile. He moved his gaze over the many buildings that made up the small wizarding village. He made a mental count of how many of them he had already visited and tried to think if there was somewhere else he should go. Nothing immediately came to mind and so he continued walking hoping that Jordyn had an idea. Then again he wasn't sure if she would actually want him continuing to tag along. He supposed if there was somewhere else she needed to be he could easily find somewhere else to amuse himself. As inspiring as it was, Hogsmeade was small and being trapped there for a whole month with not many places to go was wearing on him.

"So what do Hogwarts students do for fun?"