Completely Uncharacteristic PV Ruka Tân

@Aaron Jones

Tuesdays were not particularly busy.

Still sticking to his schedule despite April having passed and the deal he had made with Jack had technically come to an end made Ruka feel like he was making progress on dealing with all the things he had been handling the wrong way for so long. He was finally breaking some bad habits, taking care of himself in more ways than mere survival, and he had to admit that it felt good in ways he hadn't expected. Even his grade average had gone up significantly ever since he had a structured study routine that he stuck to no matter what.

So the library was a place he'd been frequenting even more than usual for the past month and a half, and for a change it wasn't only to read through novels or randomly interesting seeming text books that had nothing to do with his curriculum; No, for a change he was actually doing homework research beyond general class requirements. There was just something about putting in extra effort and getting outstanding results as a reward that he hadn't realised to be this pleasing before, but now that he had it was almost like an addiction; Hard work and the ambition to exceed and defy expectations was all he really needed to feel better about himself than he had in years. Despite his lack of Primary School education, his struggle with numbers, his ignorance of most historic Muggle Events, doing this well at school actually made him feel as smart as his peers, if not smarter, for once.

Of course, hard work wasn't a one-time decision, but something that would have to be kept up at all times, regularly, with dedication, so Ruka found himself wandering the library with confident steps that particular Tuesday in between classes for some extra study time. History of Magic was something he needed as much time for as he could possibly get, considering his struggles with dates and numbers, resulting in him frantically learning text passages by heart to be able to remember absolutely everything he could possibly need for upcoming exams, so the aisle he had been walking through, dressed in his school uniform and with his wand at the ready in case he needed to levitate any books off the top shelves, was stocked with all sorts of Magical History Books, downright vibrating with the anticipation of being read again in what was probably the first time in forever.

However, Ruka had barely gotten the chance to settle on a book he was interested in before a voice close by startled him out of the solitude he had been enjoying thus far.

With a small frown creasing his forehead, he turned in the direction of his new unwanted company, tilting his head to the side curiously. He had seen this boy before, he remembered; Back at the Ball, a walking talking badger dressed in only vaguely subtle Hufflepuff colours to show off some House Pride Ruka thought to be thoroughly unwarranted.

Still, it wasn't entirely unsurprising to be approached by a badger, considering his previous encounters with Hufflepuffs. They seemed to be drawn to him like moths to a flame. What an eerily fitting metaphor. Mentally he was already preparing himself to be punched again, though unless this boy was somehow able to read thoughts he probably had no real reason to do something like that. Yet.

"Charms?" he asked, a small smile curling at his lips as he tilted his head up a bit to be able to look into the kid's face. Why were all these people so ridiculously tall, who had allowed them to grow a head taller than himself before they even reached puberty? "You're not here a lot, are you? You won't find much on Charms here, it's all History." He chuckled lightly before stepping past the boy, gesturing for him to follow along, two aisles down and to the left. "Down here," he said, gesturing towards the walls of books he frequently pulled out himself during his tutoring sessions with Jack and his own study periods. He was more than familiar with most of the literature to be found in this particular section, and thanks to his general feeling of productivity had to admit to feeling in a relatively good mood too, so he decided offering some extra help wouldn't do any harm.

"What kind of essay do you need to work on?" he asked, starting down the aisle, letting his fingers trace across the backs of the neatly arranged books as he walked. "Maybe I can help you find the right book for it."

The boy seemed kind enough, even making a little joke which Aaron grinned at. "No, I'm actually never here," he explained, though he wasn't sure if the copper-haired boy would take it literally or as just an exaggeration.

Aaron's smile brightened a little as he realized the guy was agreeing to help him. He quickly fell into step behind him, following his lead. He clearly knew his way around the place, which was impressive considering the size. Another look up revealed that the shelves of these bookcases almost reached the towering ceiling. He wondered who cataloged this place, and if the books themselves were magical. Like if you opened them, could they just read to you? Or maybe some of them opened up to reveal holograms, like the messages in Star Wars?

"Huh?" Aaron looked at the back of the boy when he spoke, having been broken out of his thoughts. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately - falling into his own thoughts in a matter of seconds. "Oh! Right, the essay," he said, digging into his robes pocket and pulling out a piece of parchment. On it, he had written down the gist of the essay and the names of the people he needed to research. "So, we recently learned the unlocking charm - Alohomora? - and we were told to write about the charms that came before it. Like porta- portaberto?" he tried to remember the pronunciation, but he knew he was butchering it. "And open sesame!" Aaron grinned slightly at that. Who knew that silly incantation was actually a real spell back in the day? It turned out that Muggles had a lot of things right, like the whole idea of witches riding broomsticks.

Aaron lifted his head to the other boy, and asked, "Have you done this essay?"

@Ruka Tân

@Aaron Jones

Never was an awfully big word that Ruka raised his eyebrows at for a moment, a little smirk playing on his lips as he mustered the boy before him. "I sure hope you don't mean that literally. This place can really come in handy when you're doing homework." He had to sound like such a teacher's pet, promoting proper research. "Sometimes a bit of extra reading really does make all the difference." Well, it was true, his own grade average definitely wouldn't have gone up so much if he had stayed out of the library the whole time.

Either way, the Hufflepuff was quick to follow Ruka's lead, the Gryffindor could hear his footsteps close by as he made his way to the section of Charms books. As he traced the backs of the books with his fingertips, Ruka turned around to face the other boy again, chuckling lightly at the way it seemed like he had just been pulled out of his thoughts. Had Ruka been boring him? Or maybe it was just about being in the library, surrounded by thousands of different worlds; It could easily make one's mind wander.

"The essay," Ruka repeated with a little nod, watching as the Hufflepuff pulled out some parchment, probably to double check his notes on what exactly he needed to do. The essay he was talking about was absolutely familiar to the Gryffindor, and a part of him wanted to offer his assistance in writing it, but what good would that have done? Nothing was learned if you just let someone else do things for you. "I've done it," he confirmed with a nod as he turned to face the books again now that he knew exactly what he was looking for. "Last year. Really handy little charm." He shrugged his shoulders lightly as he thought about the fact that he hadn't actually used Alohomora much since he had learned it, but knowing that he could if he ever needed it did make him feel strangely at ease.

Pulling out a thick book on spell etymology, Ruka hummed quietly to himself. In no time he had found two more books that covered the basics of the questions asked for the other boy's homework assignment, and he smiled brightly as he handed them over to the Hufflepuff before leading the way to a table close-by and patting the backrest of one of the chairs to offer the boy a seat. "Come on, I'll help you find the right pages," he offered, almost surprised with himself for how generous he was being with his time. "I'm Ruka, by the way," he added, thinking it rude that he hadn't introduced himself before offering to be the Hufflepuff's homework helper. "What about you, what's your name?"

With the way the boy raved about the library, Aaron couldn't help being reminded of Lydia. This is exactly the sort of thing she would say to him - about the library being super useful for homework and how he shouldn't be avoiding it like the plague. But with Lydia around, Aaron had no need for a library! She was like an encyclopedia for all of their classes and homework assignments, being the bridge between Aaron and the books. It was weird - asking this boy for help meant that Aaron wasn't really making do without her. He had just found someone to replace her for this assignment.

Nevertheless, Aaron relayed the information about the essay and the other boy confirmed that he recognized the lesson from last year, meaning he was an upperclassmen. Although Aaron had suspected as much, it was still a little shocking.

Even more shocking was when the guy started grabbing thick books from the shelves, then handing them all to Aaron. It would show on Aaron's face that he was a little intimidated about having three whole books to help him finish a single essay. Is this how normal people worked on their essays? He had never really thought to ask how much research Lydia normally did. Aaron followed the boy to a nearby table and was beyond relieved when he offered to help him find the right pages. "Thank you," Aaron said, putting the three books on the table and taking a seat. The thick book on etymology was right in front of him and he opened it to a random page to start.

Ruka. Aaron's head snapped up to meet the other boy's when he introduced himself, his eyes going wide. This was Ruka? The Gryffindor boy that Lydia had punched? Instinctively, Aaron got back on his feet with an angry expression. "You're the one who hurt Lydia-" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Aaron recognized they were wrong. In actuality, it was Lydia who had hurt herself while hurting Ruka. Over Rafael. Aaron's expression softened just a little, realizing that Ruka disliked Rafael and feeling an instant kinship. But he was still wary of him, to have worked Lydia up so much to bring her to violence was quite a feat. "I'm Aaron, a friend of Lydia's," he explained after the accusation. "She told me about what happened between you two.." Aaron's expression would display his caution in proceeding.

@Ruka Burnett-Tân