To Study or Not to Study PV Alan Vanes Reop.

The fourth year would approach a girl that seemed a little odd as she was blowing puffs of air against a book that wouldn't budge and a amused grin would tug at the boy's lips as he stepped around the tree the girl had been leaning against. "Can I help you with something?" he wondered and was kind of genuine with the choice of words but could not help the little hint of amusement that would swing with his words as he let himself drop down next to the girl in the grass. Tiger, his cat, was in his arms as he did so and was nagging about this occurrence but also did not seem to mind the rough landing; the feline must have been used to it at this point or simply did not mind. In the end, which only Alan would know for sure, it would be both. In return the Gryffindor would start to pet the feline, scratching him behind his ears as he knew that Tiger would absolutely love that treatment and as if he had cast a spell upon the four legged creature, he went limp in his arms and pressed its little snout into the crook of his arm, nestling against the red hoodie the fourth year was wearing. "I'm Alan, and you?"

It wouldn't budge with every puff of air blown. Perhaps she was on a roll of not needing to study. So entranced in her new game, she did not see that someone had plopped down right next to her. Bloom took a deep breath in and blew out once more on the books, finally having them topple over on top of each other.

"YES.." she whispered excitedly to herself. She then looked up to see a familiar face sitting next to her. He asked if he could help her with something and Bloom paused in her tracks. She began to think what her game looked like in a different perspective. She took her right hand and slapped it to her forehead, giving herself a facepalm. She probably looked stupid during her game of procrastinating her studies.

"If you have any other games that prevent me from studying, that would be helpful," she joked, laughing approximately three times before stopping and sighing. She's a fourth year who hasn't really studied for her classes. She wasn't going to get far in the Wizarding World, that was for sure.

The familiar face introduced himself as Alan. Bloom had never spoken to Alan before but had seen him around. He was probably her age, too, if she guessed correctly.

"I'm Bloom," she responded. Bloom took out her hand for a handshake, but quickly brought it back to her body. Sitting on Alan was a cat. "Is he friendly?" she asked, looking at the beautiful feline. Bloom had only one encounter with a cat and it was not friendly at all. Though from the way the cat was interacting with Alan, maybe it was.

@Alan Vanes

He would give a small laugh as he would let himself drop into a patch of grass close by, exhaling deeply as he fell and landed. Making Tiger momentarily reveal his claws as they grabbed his robes before the feline would nuzzle back into the student's robes without so much as a voiced complaint. Clearly after over a year of being with Alan the feline had grown used to the Gryffindor's antics and did not seem to mind them too much. "Yeah, he is! 'name is Tiger and mine Alan, it's a pleasure to meet you!" he would smile at her with a somewhat calm and pleasant smile as he would lean back a bit. Winter would be approaching soon and you could already feel it in the air with how the weather began to cool down whereas the trees would shake off their leaves until their bark was bland.

"And a game?" he had to think about that one for a moment as he scanned their environment for anything that they could turn into a game and when he saw a stick lying around he would snatch it from the ground and proceed to draw two vertical and two horizontal lines into an earthy area, having to scratch it in a bit for it to be visible. "Do you know tic tac toe?"

It was nice to hear that his cat was one that was friendly. Perhaps when Bloom was able to feel courages, she would go ahead and pet the feline. But for now, it was a pet that was easy to stare at in awe. The way it stuck with Alan while he sat on the floor near her was graceful, even if its claws needed to be used.

What was also in awe was Alan's smile. His smile was quite relaxing and very cool. How was it that they had never crossed paths throughout their time in Hogwarts? Perhaps it was that she spent a lot of time at home during the holidays or kept to herself. It was as though her time around Hogwarts these past couple of years were a waste. But she was going to change that. She wanted to make more friends and what better than with someone her age? As most fourth years were already in their friend cliques.

"Who doesn't?" she joked, watching him create lines on the ground from a stick that he found nearby. "I call X's," she said quickly, figuring that it would be a lot easier to make X's than O's with a stick. "You go first," she offered, being nice. Although, deep down, Bloom had a small competitive streak. She hoped to win no matter where Alan was going to place his O. "Be careful where you start. I'll win," she said, her tone slightly competitive.

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@Alan Vanes

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Alan would hum slightly, his gaze would wander down to the tic tac toe table that had been scratched into the dirt, before he would move on to mark down the first area that came to his mind after he was done with the game field and she actually offered for him to be the first person to go. "Okay!" he said with a little hint of excitement, sure that this could be fun. He has not played this with anyone in ages and it kind of filled him with some childish excitement. It definitely would help the both of them to defeat their boredom and possibly get to know each other a little bit. What was wrong in making one more acquaintance? Alan would finally mark down the first area after putting just the bare minimum of thought into his decision.

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Alan would glance over to Bloom now that he had made his decision and would hand over the stick, it was surprisingly well and making scratches into the ground. If it would break or stop being as efficient they could simply move on to find a pointy stone or something which they could use from then on. They were outside, so their possibilities should be endless! Or at least the fourth year was quite sure of the fact that they would not run into any issues in an attempt to finish a game of tic tac toe, though he was quite curious about the move the girl ahead of him would choose to make so he would try to focus his attention onto her.

Bloom's thin lips could not help but to smile at the boy who was starting the game of Tic-Tac-Toe. The game was pure nostalgia for anyone. Bloom watched him make the first move. He placed an "O" at the bottom most corner of the frame. Bloom tilted her head in interest.

"Interesting...," she teased, grabbing the stick from the Gryffindor. Typically, most people liked to grab the middle spot. It allowed them an overall advantage in all directions-- horizontal, vertical and diagonal. For him to choose such a spot made Bloom wonder. A part of her wanted to remember strategy, but for the life of her, she could not remember the special strategy from starting on the side.

"I'll... Go... Here," she said, taking the stick and drawing an "X". Bloom wondered if it was the right move. She didn't want to look like an idiot during a preschool game. A "Cats Game" was more like it than to lose.

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Bloom handed Alan back the stick, wondering where he would go next. A slight competitive streak began to slowly seep out of Bloom. Perhaps getting Alan to not think well about his strategy would help her win. "What do you like to do for fun?" she asked.

@Alan Vanes

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Alan hummed and looked at the field, the strategy he had tried to go for was already compromised by her, so he had to think of something new. After just a bit of thinking he would tilt his head before glancing back at her. Did she have a master plan as well? Alan wondered if she played this game a lot and was some kind of pro at it, but he quickly shook his head noticing how ridiculous that made him sound. Who really practiced at this game? Alan hummed again as he tried to think of his next best move before he took the little stick and scratched his marking into the dirt. He truly hoped that this spot would be able to lead him to victory, though she knew it would not be victory right away, because clearly she would not let him win so easily, right? But perhaps? Alan would hand the stick back to the girl, grinning slightly, hopefully for her to mess up in some way. "Your turn," he muttered kindly, watching her.

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It seemed as though the Gryffindor was stuck in their mind, thinking of the next possible strategic move. He did not answer her question which made Bloom wonder if she was loud enough. Or, perhaps, he did not do anything for fun and wished not to answer. His humming was soothing to listen to, but did give her a bit of anxiety in wondering where he would go next. Would he go to the middle, side or corner? What was his strategy? How did Alan Vanes think?

When he took the stick and created a circle, he put it on the upper most corner. It was clear to Bloom where she needed to be. However, it was also clear that she could have been cornered and lost this round, too. Bloom took the stick from Alan who grinned slightly at her and kindly told her it was her turn. Bloom couldn't help but to bite her lip in frustration that she did lose no matter if it was this turn or the next.

"You're good," she said, creating an X in between his O's. " Random question... Do you see a career for yourself?" she asked, wondering if other peers her age thought of the future, too.

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@Alan Vanes

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The fourth year gave a light smile, seeing victory in front of him already. He had successfully trapped her now. She had to block of his attempt so that he wouldn't win right away, but now there was nothing she would be able to do with what he would choose next. He marked down a circle in the middle most space on their field of tic tac toe and it would be the last attack, she was beat. But he would finish off the game despite knowing it was over, it would be disrespectful to leave a table before every card was played.

Her question surprised him and he hummed slightly. "I would like to work with creatures and give them a safe place, even for endangered or injured creatures. I wanna make a sanctuary or dragons and also keep the world a safe place for witches and creatures... I have a lot of silly dreams I guess, but I am set on achieving them nonetheless," he would let her know with a pleasant smile that reached his eyes. "How about you? Is there anything you wish to achieve one day?" A personal question, but the young boy was curious nonetheless. Goals were something any person would cherish and he found it was a good way to get to know a person. He would listen for her answer, but also try to focus on her reaction and whether she wished to finish off the game properly.

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