Marvellous Mud PV Ruby Cazares

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Ruby lay on the ground, unaffected by the crumbling dirt that would indubitably find its way to her clothing. Short stalks of bright green grass tickled the exposed skin on her arms and legs lightly and formed a coarse bed beneath her. Her gaze reminiscent of shards of ice was currently directed up at the sky, which was mostly covered by ominously dark clouds, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. Her head tilted further backwards to allow her to glance at the luscious emerald leaves of the tree not far behind her. She had been in it only moments ago, sprawled cat-like across one of its widest branches, despite the rough bark that scratched at her. She loved being up high, and in nature in general, but she needed a change of scenery – which was why she had resigned herself to the grassy expanse below her. Although she regularly sat there, she didn't usually lie down in the grass at Hogwarts. Today was different.

She rolled onto her left side and removed her hands from behind her head, letting her arms fall beside her on the ground. She idly lifted a finger on her right hand to trace a pattern through the blades of grass. How wonderful it was to take a moment to act like she was without many cares, to act as if she had nothing better to do. There were, in fact, an abundance of activities that she could currently be occupying her time with, but she had left her books, sketchbooks, and notebooks beside her bed after she had used them earlier. She spent most of each day's hours reading and studying – pursuing knowledge, simply for the sake of it. She also drew a lot, practicing endlessly because she loved it. Her creations certainly had large flaws, but after years of practice, repetition, and observation, they had grown to have a rather lifelike quality to them.

She would also observe the people that were normally scattered across the expanse of land, but the typically crowded, life-filled area was gradually becoming devoid of many others. The rain-filled clouds with a promise of a storm were likely what was making making most people head inside. Ruby had been observing back when they were still outside, taking in every detail – gleaning every piece of information that she could from a person – before moving onto the next individual and repeating the process. Now, only a few students remained, and even they were starting to leave. There wasn't much she could do regarding people-watching, then. The Slytherin sat upright again, leaning on her arms as her gaze swept across the nearby area and the remaining people, searching for anyone slightly interesting or someone that would catch her eye.

She just so happened to spot one of these individuals. There was a girl nearby who still remained. She was hunched over interesting-looking boots embellished with brightly colored thread. This girl certainly seemed to be slightly out of the ordinary. Just as Ruby was going to approach her, the rain began. It was light at first and didn't bother her, so she admired the views and the feeling of the drops landing on her bare skin. The sleeves of her robe were rolled up far enough that most of each arm was exposed. Plenty of space for her to have contact with the gentle falling of raindrops. She was staring at the hauntingly beautiful scene, saving it in her memory to draw later, when the rain started picking up. It pelted her, dark hair getting plastered to her face and neck, clothes getting soaked through, water dripping off her sleeves and arms, a pool forming near her feet. Perhaps she should head in before she caught a cold…

It was hard for her to drag herself away, but then she heard thunder and knew it would be foolish to stay. If lightning started, it could be extremely dangerous to be caught out here. A sense of urgency settled in, and she took a step towards the castle. The dirt had now turned to thick mud, and she frowned. She wasn't scared of getting mucky – even filthy – but it would completely ruin her pristine, spotless appearance. Her parents had instilled in her the idea that she should always appear at her best. She had done the best she could to do that here – it was an automatic reaction now, but she had made an extra effort to keep her clothes and looks immaculate while she was at Hogwarts. This was because she figured that she was disobeying her parents far more than enough, and the least she could do for them was to keep this tradition. What would happen if she came across people in the corridors, in the common room, in the dormitory, looking like this? It could ruin everything.

A flash of lightning far in the distance reminded her that she needed to get inside, and she sighed. Fine, she thought, and began running as best she could, splashing mud and water everywhere, her robe flying out behind her. She had almost caught up with the other girl now, and then she slipped. She went crashing into the mud, and any care that she had had about her appearance vanished. A wide grin spread across her face and she chuckled as she stood up, attempting to sprint across the slippery mud again. She reached the other girl and turned to her with a smirk. “Marvelous weather, don't you think?” she commented, having to yell to be heard over the roar of the heavy rain. “Care to race me, or are you too scared of what your destiny would be – losing it?” she mocked, her smirk turning mischievous.

She then kept running as fast as she could, unable to keep the smile off of her face. She had got dirtier than this before. After all, she had spent a ridiculous amount of time outside in previous years, and she had been a part of many of her cousins' pranks and mischief-making instances, some of them involving large messes. She fell again, getting covered in mud once again, but she leapt up, recovering easily. Her heart pounded, she raced towards the castle, the rain continued to fall loudly with the wind whipping it against her face, squelching noises accompanied each quick footstep. She felt so alive. This was who she was, this was what she was comfortable with, not her parents' views or the masks she wore to gain an advantage. Competitive, slightly arrogant, free, uncaring, wild, she thrived like this. No one she knew well or was acquainted with was here to watch her, scorn her, or be surprised at the change from how she normally acted. It was just her, the storm, and the other girl.

She was free.

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Margo whirled around as wet footsteps sounded behind her. Her gaze focused upon a muddy girl with perfect posture and clear, calculating blue eyes. They seemed to shine in the surrounding grey, and Margo couldn’t help but wonder what the girl had been doing outside in the rain. However, she didn’t have time to wonder for long, because her sudden movement had upset her balance, and she started to teeter, her gaze growing slightly wider as she wobbled. She shoved her leather boots into the girls arms and proceeded to slide down the hill, only stopping when she dug her finders into the slippery muck. She could feel the dirt slide under her fingernails as she clinged on, and internally scowled at all the scrubbing she’d have to do later. Without further ado, Margo pushed herself to her feet and started to clamber back up to where the girl stood. 

“Marvellous weather, don’t you think?” The girl had shouted. Margo narrowed her eyes, if there was one thing she could do, it was sarcasm.

“Oh yes,” She smirked, and continued. “Why, I think the mud really improves the natural colour of one’s skin, wouldn’t you agree? You look absolutely fabulous in that getup.” She pointed to the mud smeared across the girl’s clothes. 

Now that she had time to look more closely, Margo realised that she knew this girl. Not personally, of course, but she’d definitely heard about Ruby Cazares. The way she held herself was very becoming of a young lady... or, at least, that’s what Margo’s muggle grandmother would have said. She had seen Ruby around the common room a few times, and had observed the way in which the girl held herself- as if she were on trial in court. It wasn’t something that Margo judged (she prided herself on her terrible jokes), in fact, she rather admired it, because it was unique. However, she couldn’t help but think of how boring it would be to always strive for perfection, as Ruby seemed to do. She knew that the girl couldn’t be perfect, as such a thing was impossible, so why would she make it into a goal? She’s very far from perfect now. Margo thought and inwardly congratulated herself on her last spoken comment. She was sure that Ruby wouldn’t be very happy with the state that she was in then- but perhaps she had a wild side. Oh, how Margo missed antagonising people. Since arriving at Hogwarts she hadn’t really had the chance, but Ruby had just watched her slide down a muddy hill, so she figured that there was a little room for snide comments. 

Margo changed her mind about that last sentence when Ruby next spoke, or, to put it more precisely, shouted. There was definitely room for snide comments. Nobody challenged her and just sped off like that- oh how Margo would show her. She took off, her bare feet squelching against the mud with every stride she took. She ran like the wind was chasing her, like there was no tomorrow. She ran so fast that the rain blew against her face and her next words were lost in the storm. 

“You call that FAIR?! You think you’re SUCH the winner. You’ll be choking on your words when I reach the castle first.” Margo yelled. Muddy droplets flew behind her as she sprinted, and amazingly, didn’t lost her balance. 

An aura of frantic competition filled the air as thunder boomed, echoing over the surrounding hills. Margo hoped against hope that Ruby had held onto her boots, but she scoped the ground in front of her wildly just in case. She was catching up with the other girl now, and could see the streaks mud on her bare arms and shirt. She pushed her legs faster at the sight, drowning everything else out in her determination to win. The entrance to the castle moved closer with every step they took and just when Margo could finally feel the tall turrets of Hogwarts looming over her, it happened. She reached forwards, trying to grab onto Ruby and slipped, crashing onto the grass. She went down with a cry of anger and regret, gritting her teeth as she looked up at Ruby through her mud coated eye lashes. The other girl had won. Won a race that had probably just cost Margo her dear boots. 

“Because you’re so perfect.” She muttered, not knowing or caring about the volume of her voice. She may have just lost, but Margo knew that she had just had the most fun in a while, and that the girl who had helped achieve it was somebody who she would think about quite a bit in the following days. 

~ * ~

The beautiful boots were shoved into Ruby's hands and she stared at them, silently swearing to protect them and keep them out of the mud. The girl rejoined her and, despite the mud, she realized that she could just about recognize her – a fellow Slytherin, a girl that she had seen around in classes and in the common room. Margo White was her name. A quick glance over the girl from head to toe was spared as she prepared to analyze Margo, but then she stopped. Now that she had run up a hill and was covered in mud, uncaring about all the formalities and her appearance, there was an urge to abandon some of the rest of it for today, too – the calculations and analyses that she normally cherished. She would save it for later. Despite what others might think, Ruby relished her current state.

Margo swiftly and smoothly responded to Ruby's sarcasm with more sarcasm, and she immediately felt a slight liking towards the girl. Not afraid to use sarcasm, witty, likely tough enough to withstand more sarcasm and potentially offensive joking comments… Margo already met several of the requirements for a possible friend of Ruby's. “Thank you, thank you,” she replied in a joking voice, taking a couple of playful bows. “My current looks could never be paralleled, but you do look quite stunning yourself.” Oh, how she missed having this kind of conversation since coming to Hogwarts. It was like a breath of fresh air after being in a stuffy, hot room for too long. Finally, someone who understood and seemed to speak part of her language.

The competition began and Margo started yelling at Ruby. Although Margo wouldn't be able to see it, a wide grin was on Ruby's face the entire time. This was amazing. “Of course I don't! Margo, darling, I'm in it to win it! Fairness is a false concept simply made up by humans, anyway!” she shouted back without much thought. The roaring sounds of rain and thunder only added to the intensity of the competition as they raced across the grounds – with Ruby determinedly keeping Margo's boots protected despite the competition and her sliding around in the mud.

She cast a brief look over at the other girl to see that Margo had almost overtaken her, and then her housemate slipped – a misfortune that would cause Ruby to win. The race hadn't really mattered to her, and neither did the outcome, but instead she cared about the way it had made her feel and the possibility to get to know Margo better. More of the qualities in a potential friend for the young Slytherin had been clearly demonstrated by Margo throughout the race than many people had shown ever so slightly over the course of months. She would definitely have to try to find an excuse to meet with her again soon.

Margo muttered a sarcastic comment about Ruby being "so perfect", but Ruby merely retorted by cupping a hand around one ear and saying innocently, “What was that? I can't hear you over the sound of my VICTORY.” She pumped her fist in the air at that last word, still careful of the boots in her other hand. There was a mischievous gleam in her eyes during this playful arrogance, but she became more serious as she extended the boots to the girl. “Really, though, this was a fun experience. It's a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance at last.” She stood just by the large doors, taking off her own shoes and socks as well as her robe so that she would hopefully not drip mud everywhere on her journey back to the dormitory. “I'll see you around, yeah?” she said with a final glance before turning to make her way as quickly through the hallways as she could, trying to go mostly unnoticed by others as she did so.

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