Lone Wolf PV Ross

Ross had never been fond of the outdoors. As much as he enjoyed them, he much did prefer finding himself cuddled up reading a nice detective novel within his room. However, ever since that wise older Gryffindor had given him advice he had been working on changing that. Introverts stayed in their rooms all day. Extroverts went outside and actually explored for once in their lives. He needed to put himself out there- platonically, of course. If for some obscure reason he were to get shot in the back of the head, he would like to have at least one friend go and investigate who his murderer could have been.

Still, there were exceptions to his rule. Worm Weather. That was what the soft trickle of droplets from the sky signaled to him. The time he had heard the light flutter of rain dance against the windows of Hogwarts was the time he decided perhaps the bitter air of the outdoors would feel wonderful against his skin once more. Rain was common, worms were common, yet Ross loved them just the same. Sometimes 'common' just meant underappreciated.

When the classes finally signaled there was a break, he had rushed outside with his robes still on. It had been a rough couple weeks for worm hunting- so much snow; so little rain. He only hoped the worms had not been warded off by the harsh weather that tended to surround Hogwarts at all times. The land never seemed to catch a break until the students left for the summer, but just as it seemed to recover it seemed to get always end up in chaos once more. That seemed to be the Hogwarts rule.

The grounds seemed relatively empty. Not many people preferred to spend their possible free time within the rain, but Ross was not many people. Carefully allowing himself to tread against the soaked glass, he finally got on his knees right in front of a tree and began to use his long, pale fingers to dig around in the mud in front of him. If he thought too hard he would likely begin to get anxious over the mud on his robes and the grass stains that came with them. His mind slowly went blank, only searching for worms at this hour.

Who

Ross was startled out of his thought process, all too familiar with the noise as he had found himself trapped in the Owlery earlier that school year. He cringed at the thought, but before he could even consider getting back to work he heard a voice. An actual voice this time. It could not have been a ghost- no, it sounded too clear for that. Yet somehow he could not see anyone in front of him. In fact, it sounded as if it was coming from behind him. He froze up, before he forced himself to swallow his fears. A true detective never feared danger. He cautiously turned his head to look around the tree, only to see a girl. A quite familiar girl. A girl he had thought about not long ago.

The wise Gryffindor!

He snapped his head back forward before she could catch a glimpse. As she began her monologue, Ross could not help but feel a twinge in his heart every time he heard her voice break. She was damaged- hurt in a way he had only heard once before. A girl so willing to help others, harmed beyond belief. As she rambled on and on to herself, a lightbulb struck Ross. He began to dig around, covering his hands in dirt and mud until he found it. A worm. A wiggly, lovely, scrawny worm. The perfect worm.

Taking in a deep breath and gathering all his courage, he pushed himself onto his arms and quietly crawled over to where she was. It was difficult with only one arm functioning, but it worked. Was it as sneaky as he had intended? Not at all, but as long as the worm was safe he was fine. He proceeded to make himself comfortable next to the girl, unsure if a greeting was vital for a proper conversation in this case. The look on her face only broke his heart more, causing him to look down at the ground instead. It was better to keep a positive attitude in these types of situations. He gently held his palm out to the girl, revealing the worm as if gesturing for her to take it.

"I erm.. gotcha this." he awkwardly paused, looking at the girl and feeling the pang in his chest once more. "I dunno who Flutters is but I bet they'd want you to have it."

@Ross Stephens

He eased up as she recalled his name. He had already created some form of back up plan in case she did not know- which would have been simply introducing himself; however, it was a relief to be able to scrap that hastily made plan from his memory. There were far too many thoughts and anxieties floating around in his head, but Ross had learned to censor them out for a bit. It made it easier on him, at least. It was partially due to Elena's help. Ever since he had started writing in his journal again, everything had become slightly easier for him. His thoughts had become sorted- in fact, now the only thing he could concentrate on was wanting to help her and make her life easier. Her weak voice and her red eyes almost made him want to sob along with her. She was so mature when he last saw her, it was odd to see her in such a sad state.

As the worm wiggled out of his hand, he made himself more comfortable on the ground and brought his knees up to his chest. Ross rested his now free hands on his knees, attempting to make it visibly clear that he did not plan on ditching her any time soon. Also- he really wanted to limit the amount of mud he got on himself. He truly only liked mud on worms. He once again was put at ease as she clarified his beliefs. She could have gotten angry at him and told him to leave, yet she warmly accepted the comfort. Every action seemed to reaffirm she was someone to aspire to be like in an obscure way.

"Must of had great taste then." he quietly joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

He was not looking for laughter, no, he was simply looking for a smile. Just as she looked for in him. It was payback in one of the best possible ways. Despite how red her eyes were, they still seemed to look at him kindly. He could not help but wonder how she thought he was looking at her.

And then a question came out of the blue. Was she trying to distract herself? Whatever she was doing, he decided to play along. "Never really had any pets, Mum was allergic to cats and dad always wanted one. I sorta want a rat though. Sucks dad hates that sort of thing, but at least mum isn't allergic." he answered with a ramble to the sudden question, pondering if she was simply attempting to get her mind off of the topic.

It was only when she revealed that 'Flutters' was her Owl did he go dead silent. oops. That ramble of a reply suddenly felt far less fitting for the mood. He truly needed to learn how to read the room- or in his case, the entirety of the Grounds. It seemed even less fitting now knowing that he would have loved the worm because he would have loved to eat it. Chances are, he would love his little rat pet too.He remained silent, listening through her explanation. He let out a tiny gasp as he heard about the crash, face matching concern as she began to ramble about how she was unsure if he was going to survive.

And then she pointed it out- the tree. Ross looked up, and sure enough it seemed to be the perfect place for an Owl to perch. He stared for a moment, taking in all of the details that she had just dropped on him. He recalled being in a similar venting situation the year prior- a girl sobbing over her dead grandmother, he believed. It broke his heart to hear over it, but the newfound experience gave him a one up knowledge-wise on the matter. He looked back to Elena, attempting to show he was sympathetic in the best way he could.

"I... accidentally set my foot on fire last year in the middle of the night by the great lake last year. I didn't think I'd walk again, but magic fixed me right up." he began with his attempt at an anecdote. He paused for a moment, attempting to gather what he was originally saying. "Magic can fix a lot of things, but I dunno if it can fix feelings. I betcha it's a pretty strong owl if it belongs to you. Don't think some train crash can stop that and don't think some magic can hurt its chances either." he attempted to explain, unsure if the approach he was taking was the morally correct one. It was an approach though, and that was what counted. If he thought for too long he assumed it would have come off far worse.

@Ross Stephens

As she vented, Ross only nodded his head. He had learned from her listening was a rather handy tool when it came to these things. Ross was not much of a listener- far more of a talker; however, in every detective novel it was blatant that listening was the key to finding the truth. She had taught him not every conversation was a mystery- not every conversation was a game; however, perhaps right now it would be best to treat it as one. A game to help calm her down in a way, yes yes that would certainly make sense. Now, how could one win this game? Well.. listening was one. Understanding was another. Yes, yes he was already winning!

Yet somehow, Ross could not help but know it was no game. This was something his... hopefully one day, friend, was going through. The tears that pricked the corners of her eyes made his heart ache. Her eyes were rubbed red from sobbing and wiping away the tears. Attempting to put on a strong face- something he had assumed she would do based on her prior encounter. The cracks in her voice formed cracks in his heart. As concerned thoughts rushed through his head, reassurance came out of his mouth.

"You don't gotta replace 'em. If he's anythin' like you he'll make it through this." he reassured to the best of his abilities. "Don't think a couple leg bones gone can ruin a whole owl's life."[/color] he attempted to explain, but for once he meant it.

He had never broken any bones- he was not that reckless of a kid. Sure, fire happened; however, he was not athletic enough to even be given the chance to break some bones. But he had seen people with broken bones- having to walk to school on crutches, having to hold their arm in a cast. He had never signed one, but he had always wanted to. As jarring as it was the first time he had witnessed it, they were always okay. He was unsure how this girl grew up, but he knew well that it was going to be. It had to be. She just needed a bit more hope.

"Maybe he'll even get out with a cast or somethin'- there's a spell that does that. I could sign it!" he offered, attempting to lighten the mood once more.

He himself coped with humor in some ways; however, he much preferred when people simply listened to his problem. He was shocked the girl did not hit him with a book she summoned from the void with all of her anger by now. If she had said any of what he had said 'he? Cast? i dunno what you're talkin about now leave me alone'. Or if she had something far more fitting for his circumstances, he probably would have stormed out of the room and sobbed more. Still, he was doing his best and he was going to continue doing his best to calm down the older student.

The fact she was even willing to bring up the topic of his foot burning surprised him. This was such a difficult topic for her, and yet she was willing to mention one of his issues was interesting. Yet for the sake of her, he chose to brush it off.

"yeah, but the nurse fixed it up real quick. Nothin' to worry about." he hoped it reassured her in some way that an inexperienced fool like him could even handle that sort of thing, and if he could an owl CERTAINLY could.

Much to his relief, she continued. He did not prevent her from being able to discuss her feelings with his ridiculous remarks. They were short sentences, but Ross had a feeling that was because she could not muster the ability to say anything more than that. It seemed difficult. Ross had never lost someone in the way she had. The pain seemed unbearable from what he could tell. As soon as she said she could not do it, Ross instantly felt a wave of emotions.

"Of course you can!" he interjected before hastily covering his mouth, noticing the shift in tone. "I mean.. I dunno.. i sorta think you could do anythin. If Fluttles? Flutters! If Flutters dies, then they'd want you to carry on too. I betcha a million coins." he elaborated, adjusting his tone.

he hoped he did not come off as too aggressive, that would be the OPPOSITE of repaying a favor.

@Ross Stephens

The weak smile was enough for Ross to feel mildly accomplished in his attempts to make her happier. Sure it was not much, but it was a start. The girl's tears made him feel miserable as well, but they had since at least softened a little. He hoped it was the fact he was helping and not that she was attempting to stay strong for the sake of his own sanity. It was always possible she was trying to put on a facade, but how weak her voice seemed made his mind well aware that that was not the case. She was hurting, and he was glad she was not trying to hide it. His detective skills would not need to come in handy after all.

As she brought up the bandaging spell, he could not help but feel a bit proud of himself. He knew that spell, and often times when others said they knew the spell he was caught off guard. But as she was blatantly older, he expected her to know it. It was nice to feel as if he was on the same level as her despite being a whole year apart.

"Ferula." he simply stated, acknowledging that he knew the spell itself.

It was not much, but he hoped at least establishing he understood what she was talking about made it clear that he could understand her worries as well. On top of that, he really was excited to know someone else who knew the spell. There were so few out there that it gave him a sense of pride, but that certainly did not fit the situation at hand. If it did, he would be rambling on and on about other spells she could know. He noted he would like to discuss that with her at a time that was far less... grave.

And what she said next, he did not expect. Her sorrow and worries of if he would die had been so clear. The tears that streamed down her cheeks that came from the thoughts that he might not recover were there to prove it. So when the girl looked directly at him instead of looking anywhere else, it was startling. The juxtaposition between her five seconds prior and now hit deep in his bones. Was she confident he would not die or was she hiding it? It seemed genuine in a way, but the contrast had caught him off guard.

Just as he was about to respond to her, lightning struck the ground. He let out a high pitched yelp, clinging to the grass with his long, pale fingers. As the rumbling stopped and he unclenched his eyes, he noticed all was fine. He removed his fingers from the grass, now the bottoms all covered in mud. It was as if the world had just agreed with her. He took in a deep breath, allowing the adrenaline to run off. He laughed uncomfortably at his own reaction and scratched the back of his neck, getting mud there too. Still, he felt the need to weigh his opinion.

"Heck yeah he isn't!" he finally stated as the sentence he wanted to say came back to mind.

As he calmed down, he watched as she patted the tree like some dog when it did a good job. As she explained her story, he nodded as if he entirely understood. The tree reminded him a lot of her, as clearly she was going to go through hell and back before getting her hands on that owl of hers again.

"Don't think he's gonna go, but I betcha you'll be the tree's friend." he informed her, attempting to make the best statement he could with as little words in order to avoid messing up.

@Ross Stephens

Ross had never been fond of symbolism. In fact, he had never been great at literature in general. Sure he loved to dive into long stories of murders and mysteries; however, to him that was different. Analysis came far differently to him than reading and writing whatever came to his head. When she mentioned in the rain however, he could not help but understand. He had never thought of rain as an omen good or bad, and more of if it was an excuse to remain inside for a day. Yet somehow, he could not help but agree with the girl in his own little way. Sometimes storms were nice- they allowed one to remain inside or go outside and discuss with the worms; however, at times it was frightening. He was not scared of lightning, no, it was startling was all.

"I dunno, it's sorta just a time when worms come out to me. Guess there's some storms better than others for worms, though." he remarked, bluntly. "If I were a worm, I wouldn't really wanna go out in lightning." he confessed.

As silence settled upon the both of them once more, Ross found himself digging through the mud once more. He hoped it did not come off as inconsiderate, but the reminder of worms had reminded him why he had come out there in the first place. At times like these, he wondered if worms could drown. It would certainly be a shame if they could. Imagine how many perfectly good worms would have gone to waste just because a couple rain drops decided to invade their home? He decided he would not like the rain if he was a worm, but he was not a worm. It did not bother him that he was likely going to get a cold after this or that he would seriously need to take a warm bath afterwards. No, as long as he was not drowning like a worm he assured himself he would be quite alright.

As she broke the silence, Ross looked at her once more and stopped his digging. She deserved his undivided attention, after all. But as she finished talking, Ross was left confused. Why did he stick around? He felt it was obvious. He owed her, and she had taught him that when a person needed help it was best to deliver on that help because chances were nobody else was going to.

"Well, you did the same for me. The fact there weren't like a million people here already to help ya out is what surprised me." he remarked, putting fourth the assumption she was the type to help whoever she could.

Still, as he examined the girl he realized she was soaking wet. Surely she could not be enjoying staying out there, right? Worm weather was only fun for so long, and clearly she had not been out here for fun in the first place.

"I betcha they have some hot chocolate inside though if you erm... want any." he offered, hoping maybe she would not continue to sit here and soak herself with her sorrows.