13th June, 1895 — Streets of Pennyworth, Hogsmeade

He had been sulking for most days of the summer holidays so far, angry at Angie and hating the smallness of the Pennyworth house they had moved into and resenting his parents for having upended his life this way. Also, it was sunny.

Which meant he had been in no mood to go outside for long during the day for the last fortnight (and he didn’t dare go out at night – he had read enough penny dreadfuls to be suitably afraid of beggars and thieves and murderers who might spring out from the Slums and commit heinous deeds under the Pennyworth streetlamps). Today, though – today was overcast and cloudy and Connor had decided today was the day to explore Hogsmeade.

He had bought his schoolthings and spent the winter holidays in London, and only third years got to go on Hogsmeade trips in the school year, so he had never been before. Lots of people lived in Hogsmeade, he knew – but today was not about seeing anyone. Today was about learning his way around, and seeing what was worthwhile about this place, in his own time, on his own terms.

Except – he had just stepped out the new Pennyworth house and made it about three terraced houses along the street when he heard someone say Sinnet! Connor started and glanced up, feeling an uncomfortable twist in his stomach. If it had been the High Street, fine – but no one was supposed to see him here, in this part of town. They might think he was actually poor.

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open to another Hogwarts student!

  

Caspian was not typically this far on this side of town since Pennyworth and the Slums had been ingrained in him as a place to avoid. Which only made him more curious about them, honestly. So when he had attended a play date in the Bartonburg side of things, he had all too easily convinced his friend that they should teeter along the edge of Pennyworth to see what they might see.

So far it was rather boring. Clothes on lines and stuff. Then Caspian saw a familiar figure. Why was his Hogwarts roommate roaming the poor side of town? Far as he knew, Sinnet was not impoverished or anything. "Sinnet!" He called out, waving from the brick fence he had been leaning over.

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Connor only hoped no one else could hear his heart thundering in his ears the way he could as he (slowly; to give himself time to plan) turned towards Pettigrew and paced over to the low brick wall he was leaning over. Peering into Pennyworth – but obviously not from here.

“‘Lo, Pettigrew,” Connor said, at his best attempt at casual bordering on cheerful; he folded his hands into his pockets, to seem unconcerned. Hopefully his roommate hadn’t been watching over the wall long enough to see Connor leaving his house, and he could play this off. “Are you exploring too?”

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Sinnet came over to him and Caspian beamed at him. "Hello there," he greeted in return. It sounded like Sinnet had been of the same mindset as himself. "I was curious about Pennyworth. I heard someone say its a lot cleaner than the slums. Though its yards seem very small."

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Connor swallowed, feeling caught. He daren’t defend Pennyworth, daren’t insist that he wouldn’t want a big garden anyway or that the nicest houses in Hogsmeade were still probably much smaller than his old house, his parents’ manor he had grown up in.

“It seems pretty boring so far,” Connor said with a sniff, his stomach uncomfortably twisted, “but yeah, I guess it’s clean. I think the slums are – that way, if you want to see them. You – we might get mugged, though.” (But maybe it was for the best they moved further away from Connor’s house, he thought. He would risk a mugging for that.)

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"Yeah, we probably shouldn't go there," Caspian mused. He had obviously never been to the slums but even Pennyworth had kind of been pushing it. He did kind of really want to go see it though. "But isn't it kind of mean to assume we'll be mugged?" Caspian knew poor people at school but they had never stolen anything from him that he knew of. "Why don't I steal you for an ice cream trip instead?"

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Pettigrew thought that was mean, did he? Connor wouldn’t have blinked at saying it before he had moved here, and even now he thought people in the streets nearer the slums would look at him the wrong way, like he didn’t belong here, wasn’t one of them.

He supposed he didn’t belong with Pettigrew’s sort either, now. Still, it wouldn’t do to say no to his dormmate’s offer – it was better to be friends, if he could. “Ice cream might be more fun,” Connor agreed, almost relieved at the easy save to get them out of Pennyworth. “Only – I didn’t bring any money out.” He patted his pockets and pulled a face, as if to say in case it got stolen, see.

Connor had a small piggy bank of his own, but he hadn’t asked Angie for an allowance lately, because that meant actually talking to Angie. And he still had some money, he muse do, from his parents or the old house &ndash but he could hardly stop back in the new Pennyworth house if Pettigrew was watching him.

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