Historical Friction PV Alan Vanes Finished

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Alan walked into the school's library as he was looking for some book he could read and maybe lend for a few days so that he could take notes. Alan sometimes would do that, reading through books even though he hated reading. He rather much would run around than sit still and stick his nose in between the covers of a book. But there were some books that even he could not resist, books that he was basically obsessed with. He walked through the aisles of the library, unbeknownst to him he would not be far away from a certain Ravenclaw girl.

He stopped at one of the aisles with high bookshelves that read 'Creatures'. A smile would pick at the corner of his lips, as he looked up at the arrangements of books. He was looking for a book about Creature Care and another one about the Creatures living in the Forbidden Forest. Not because he planned on going in there, not anytime soon anyway, but he was just interested in the creatures that lived there. He could ask Griffith about them, but then he would have to owl him again. He would probably soon, but he was a bit anxious about writing him another owl.

When he spotted one of the books he wanted to get further up on the shelf he tried to reach it, by staying on the tips of his toes. However he was still not able to reach said book so he took a look around and found a stepladder. He nodded and took it to help him. He stepped on it and tried to reach up, again he would lean forwards while staying on his toes. As his fingers brushed the cover, he started to loose balance and before he could avoid worse, he fell backwards and landed on his behind. He would let out a surprise grunt of pain, as the book that more or less got ripped from the shelf, hit him on the head.

”Bloody hell”, he winced in pain as tears began pooling in his eyes. No. He thought, no crying! He tried to stop the tears from falling, but his feet was hurting very badly.

Standing on her toes, Phaedra lunged forward to hoist the heaviest book onto a shelf just barely within her reach, sticking back one of her legs to balance herself as the book was slid into place. She stood back and took a moment to dust off her hands before searching from where she had taken out the other book, but was stopped in her tracks from the sound of something heavy making an impact with the floor, accompanied with a grunt and a final thud.

Whatever had happened seemed close and one corner of Phaedra's mouth curved in disapproval as she glanced over her shoulder, listening. Was the person okay? Maybe checking out the potential damage would be the right thing to do, and besides, she had heard that the librarian could be quite unreasonable towards even the slightest racket. Deciding to return the remaining book in her arms later, she spun around and strolled for a few feet until she was out of the Reference section. Swiftly, she head west, passing one, then two, aisles until she caught a glimpse of what must have been the culprit; some poor boy sitting on his bum directly in front of a stepladder.

Ah, a ladder mishap. A typical source of agony to the students of Hogwarts. Her head held high, she turned into the rows and walked towards the young wizard. Though she could not otherwise name him, she was clearly able to recognise that he was a Gryffindor; one she knew to be in her year no less. Her first action was to squat down and pick up the book laying next to him to bring it close to her person, before finally giving the boy a quick once-over and questioning, "Are you okay?"

It took exceptionally longer than it should have for her to notice that he was holding back a cry, and she stared down at the floor, an uncomfortable wave of panic washing over her. She was not good at handling tears - not even her own. They just weren't supposed to be made public.

Bringing both volumes to rest in the nook of an arm, she instinctively swat one free hand to her pockets for her wand - empty. She had left it in her bag up front, but it wasn't as if she knew any healing spells anyway, she realised. Her hand fell limply against her side. She wouldn't be able to solve this problem so easily.

"...Can you get up?" Phaedra asked, the inquiry probably coming across more apathetic than she had intended. She didn't know why, but before she knew it she had offered him a hand.

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For the young Gryffindor who was sitting on the ground the pain became bearable, as he looked up to the other student. It was not difficult to notice that she was a girl. Her long her fell in clack curls over her shoulder. She was holding the book that Alan had dropped, making him look around stupidly as if to make sure if she was really was holding that book or by coincidence had the exact same print. But no, there was no book around the second year, making him look back at the girl before he quickly wiped over his eyes with the back of his hand. No tears were shed, making him send out an internal thank you to his brain. He hated crying in public and his mother told him not to, so he would try his best to not cry in front of other people. He is a strong lion and he would not give in to sadness or pain in places where people could see him.

”Yeah, I am okay... It did not hurt much..”, he mumbled, very much a lie, ignoring the throb in his ankle. It did hurt and he would probably limp for a bit of time as he was not sure if he would be able to put enough pressure on his leg. Well he would see about that, but what he was sure about was, that he probably could not get up on his own, which made it kinda difficult.

When she offered him a hand, he smiled brightly, yet the pain he felt was evident in the way he had narrowed his eyes in concentration to wish the pain away. He withdrew the hand covering his aching ankle and took the offered hand. ”Thanks...”, he said, his breathing seeming stressed. His other hand took a hold of the ladder as he pushed himself up with both the help of the offered hand and his own strength. It was probably difficult for the girl to help him up, as he struggled a lot to get back his footing by just standing on one leg. It took him a few seconds in which he lightly clutched her hand for support, before he let it go with an apologetic look.

”Sorry for this... my name is Alan...”, he mumbled as he looked at her. He might have seen her before but he was not sure. It could have been in class or if she was a pureblood maybe their parents knew one another. Alan had no clue, but he was thankful for her help.

With a strained expression, Phaedra pulled back as much as she could to bring the boy back onto his feet. She wasn't physically strong by any means, but with him diverting some of his weight elsewhere, the action became a tad easier for her. Alan had insisted that his injuries were nothing of concern, and Phaedra took his word for it. Clearly, he was managing to stand now, with no bleeding or anything broken from what she could see, so he must have been fine (if not just a tad humiliated and sore).

“Oh, well, that's lovely... If you say so...” she trailed on, the corners of her mouth twitching into an artificial smile. She really was relieved that he hadn't been too badly hurt. Despite her lonely nature, she wasn't entirely uncaring— that was a side of her that just needed a little spurring to surface. But when Alan held onto her hand for what she felt was a moment too long, her eyes shifted in discomfort before it was let go, and she brought it back to her side. “Erm, no need to apologize.”

There was a brief pause as she took in his first name. Introductions; those she was good at. “Phaedra Stavrou,” she announced after him, leaning her weight on one hip. “Pleasure.”

Suddenly, she held up a finger. He hadn't asked for her opinion, but Phaedra was not one to shy away from bestowing advice onto others or giving someone an earful if she believed they could've been more careful with their choices. What was the point of attending a magic school if no one would take advantage of the things that they were taught? Magic made most things easier, after all. “Next time though, I recommend that you try using the Levitation charm instead. Works wonders, you know. And don't worry, there aren't any rules against it. I've asked. Just don't disturb the quiet here.” The librarians and assistants were quite defensive with the state of Hogwarts' books.

As a realization came to her, she looked down at the uppermost volume in her arms and held it out for him to take. “Here's the book you dropped,” she said. Though it was upside down from her perspective, she was able to glimpse at its cover and discovered that it was something pertaining to magical creatures. Only a second-year and already studying ahead? Yes, he definitely seems the type, the Ravenclaw thought to herself after drumming her nails onto the hardcover book that remained. She felt that Alan was probably a bit awkward, and the awkward kids usually did prefer the company of animals, didn't they?

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Alan looked at the girl and noticed that the way she acted, while friendly was rather formal. He wondered if she too was a pureblood or if that was just her. Alan was rather open minded, he knew that a lot of pure blood families valued their history, but Alan seemed very forgetful; not only about names but also about dates. His smile wavered a bit, he was getting nervous and wondered if he was supposed to know her name. Maybe, he probably should, but was not all too sure. So to not leave her in the open, he added:"Vanes. My surename, I mean...".

He was glad that the girl did not seem all too bothered by his incident or about helping him. If she was she hid it well, or not. Alan was someone who usually trusted into what people told him, something that often bit him in the end, however he could not help it. He did not want to not trust people, why would they lie to him anyway? They truly should not have a reason to go around with a mask on their face, or so he believed.

He blinked when she suddenly held up her finger, getting his attention in an instant as his lips shut close to listen what she had to say. Her words made sense and a hint of a blush krept on his cheeks, tinting them in a slight red. "I guess you are right...", he mumbled with a slight nod, however he was not sure if castng the spell would disturb others when reading. Well it probably would not disturb them as much as crashing down with a yelp.

He gently took the book from her and carefully held it, as if afraid to drop it again. "Thank you again, Phaedra", he said with a soft smile as he double checked the book for damage. However it seemed fine and even if something should have happened it was nothing a spell couldn't fix. Still, it seemed alright, making him sigh in relief.

"You're welcome." It felt strangely good to do something nice for once. The previous year she probably would have ignored the situation, considering it was none of her business if someone else fell and hurt themselves. But now she was too familiar with the feeling of helplessness and took pity on it. She took on a forced smile as he thanked her again, seemingly the sheepish type. Damn it all, was she turning soft? 

Phaedra took her book in both hands again and held it underneath her chin, wiggling it a bit before speaking. "Well since you're alright, I've, uh, I've got to put this back." After waiting so long for a polite moment to excuse herself, she made her way around Alan, sighing in relief as she left him behind her. "Bye, Vanes," the Ravenclaw waved back over her shoulder.

Relaxing, she would bring her book back to her side while she turned a corner. She strolled to the very next row of shelves, reading labels as to ensure she found the correct spot to leave her book. And after that, she would return to what she had initially planned— something for Herbology would be an afternoon well spent.

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