lost in the woods and alone in the world too PV

Janus had noticed the girl. The girl that was slumped right against where "Transubstantial Transfiguration" was housed and that had been sobbing. That girl.

He'd tried to wait for her to move but she seemed to have made that corner of the floor and surrounding shelves into her own personal bubble. Approaching her had been out of question, at least at first; he was usually interested when he saw people behaving curiously, often getting closer to understand what was going on, but heavy sobbing was a "no trespassing" zone. It simply made him uncomfortable and he never knew what to say or do in those situations; winging it like he did in other contexts never worked. At all.

So he'd waited for her to finish up the tears, eyeing the book she was leaning against from his corner. It was not like him to do extra work for his homework, but Transfiguration had questions that made his brain beg him to dive into the depths of the subject. As a result he'd found himself in the library, asking the librarian for a more detailed book on Transfiguration and trying to follow her offhand instructions into that maze of shelves.

It was when he'd been approaching his book's exact location that he'd heard those muffled sounds. He'd seen the dark-haired witch huddled on the floor, but she hadn't seen him because her face was carefully covered by her hands. Hadn't heard him either for that matter, probably because of her own sobbing. He'd also seen the cover of his book just behind the young witch's back, and he'd groaned internally. He was supposed to be lucky, for God's sake. After a moment of deliberation he'd retreated to the shadows behind the shelves, waiting.

And that was where he was now, red sunlight warming the nape of his neck and stomach feeling emptier by the minute. Just another second and he'd be able to run grab his book, he'd noticed she was getting ready to leave. The clock was ticking though; would he be able to make it to dinner in time? He could also just step in now, the girl wasn't crying anymore after all.
While he was weighing his options he made one step forward and one backwards, unconsciously producing a definite thud on the floor.

"Is anyone there?"
Well, looked like the decision had been made for him.
He stepped from the shadows into her line of sight like a creep like he was comfortable with the situation and met her slightly glistening dark eyes.
"Yeah uh, I- I just need that book over there." He pointed at the girl's back for lack of a better option.

As the boy stepped out of the shadows and said "Yeah uh, I- I just need that book over there," Asteria felt her entire face shut down for a moment and her veins felt as if ice ran through them . Someone had seen her- and she had chosen this section specifically because no one came here often. The Advanced Transfiguration Theory Section, even from her limited knowledge of the wizarding world, seemed to be the kind of place deep enough in the library that only students cramming for tests, or students with a need for private place to do any assortment of things, would venture into. 

She followed the path of the boy's finger and found that it led right to one of the heftier tomes that poked out behind her shoulder. "Oh, uh - sure," she said, again hearing that accursed quaver in her voice. It wouldn't do to be seen like this, but sometimes she couldn't control everything, she supposed, her face falling into a slight frown. Scooting away from the book, she turned around, pulling it out and standing up to hand it over to the boy. 

As she began to stand up, she fully took in the boy across from her. He seemed... nice? His blue tie marked him as a Ravenclaw, and he had an awkward expression on his face, as if he wished that he was not in this situation. Well, that made two of them. She met his eyes: a calm clear blue, that was not cold or cruel, but still felt as if they could see right through her. Suddenly, she became hyper-aware of her appearance: her hair tufting at awkward angles after falling out of her hair tie, her face - splotchy and red, her stomach grumbling,ready for dinner, and her sweater crumpled and tear blotted. If she could see herself, she was sure that she made a pretty picture (perhaps a Picasso?). 

There was something mortifying about this whole situation, of showing off the backstage of her mind to someone, when he hadn't asked or wanted to see it. A niggling sensation of duty demanded that she apologize, that she make something positive of the whole scenario. 

She began to hand over the book and as she did so said "I'm- well I'm sorry about all of this, I didn't, uh- realize that other people would be back here." In what she prayed was a joking tone, she continued "So it seems like we have two options: We could forget this whole thing happened, or we could introduce ourselves. Either way works for me really." The slight girl shrugged as she finished her proposition, drawing on ever performative bone in her body (of which there were few), to ease the tension of the moment, since every action she made seemed magnified in this space that only contained the pair of them.

Janus had watched the young witch stiffen up when he'd made his appearance; having the element of surprise gave you time to observe. Wait, "element of surprise"? She wasn't exactly an opponent, was she?
Wasn't she?
He tried to gauge that from her reaction. She attempted to pull herself together and reached for the very serious-looking book behind her with a "Oh, uh - sure". Her voice was still wavery.

Janus relaxed; not only she wasn't about to break down again but she also wasn't angry at him for intruding. In the few quiet seconds that took her to reach him, he tried to figure out what kind of person she was. Well, not that he could actually understand a person just by looking them over, but he wanted to know how to move in that particular china shop without being the bull the gets buried under it.

She looked a little tired, her dark sleek hair sticking up and down from the hair tie and her sweater had dark tear spots. He noticed the Hufflepuff colors; his father's house, the people-persons. This girl didn't seem to seek company though, crying as she'd been in a deserted section of the library. Something must have been wrong; from the way she'd hastily swept away her tears, she didn't seem to cry often. He himself would have chosen a less intimidating place to cry, you really could feel your own thoughts carry in that huge library.

He was brought back to the current situation by the solid weight of the Transfiguration book in his hand; he offered a small smile to the witch in response. He was already putting his weight on the back foot when she addressed him again.

Uh, he did not expect that. Why on earth would she need to apologise?
He almost wanted to add, Or we could introduce ourselves and then forget about all this but he was pretty sure it would have been considered tactless. Bloody hell, he didn't think things over so much when interacting with things, why were upset witches so complicated? Pretending to forget the encounter would be even more embarrassing and hard to do in the long term, so he chose the rip-the-plaster-off way.

He met her eyes uncertainly, surprised to find them careless and confident, and reacquired some of his usual calm.
"I'm Janus," he said, sticking his hand out. "Not a good place to cry, this one. Everything echoes around.
Hm, I hope this nasty tome wasn't too uncomfortable as a backrest," he tried to joke, slightly embarrassed. He wasn't a talker but he hoped he hadn't made any missteps for now.

As she handed over the book and made her proposition, she watched the range of emotions cross his face, all uncertainty and readiness to leave, noting the way his foot had shifted backwards, as if he was preparing to exit. So she was surprised when he did reply, sticking out his hand towards her. She took it and made a quick, but resolute handshake, saying  "I'm Asteria," as she did. 

She was ready for that to be it, for them to both make their way to dinner (which was really quite soon, she realized with a start), when he continued. "Not a good place to cry, this one. Everything echoes around. Hm, I hope this nasty tome wasn't too uncomfortable as a backrest." The awkwardness of the moment still lingered on his face, but she appreciated his attempt to try and bridge the silence, even if she didn't really want to answer.

A slight grimace passed over her face, breaking the mask of confidence that she had been struggling to maintain. "It, uh- crying here seemed right, I guess? Ugh... I don't really know what I meant by that," she said, shaking her head a bit, the remnants of the grimace still lingering, her fight or flight instincts screaming at her to leave, to get out of this whole situation, setting every tendon of her being on fire. Inside, she felt like collapsing to the floor again, or simply never talking to another person again - that might be easiest. Emotions were complicated, a boiling cauldron that threatened to spill over at any moment. It would be so much easier to simply not care, to ignore what others thought of her, but here she was, caring. Why am I prolonging this? she wondered, even as her mouth opened again, needing to clarify the situation and justify her actions to this person who was an absolute stranger. 

"Also, I've got this lovely tendency of getting lost here so far, so I couldn't really find anywhere else to go. And it's close to dinner, and the route between here and the library is basically the only one I know at this point and I didn't want to get lost again." And, and, and - is that the only word I know, she thought to herself. At this point, she had started rambling, her mouth moving faster than her brain, trying to fill the quiet of the space that he had pointed out. She rushed onward, words tumbling out of her mouth without her quite thinking about them, her hands fumbling awkwardly with the hem of her sweater, needing something, anything to do. "And well, I would say that it was nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances... Still. I'm sure I'll see you around the castle?" 

She almost hoped that they wouldn't, but knowing her luck they would. Especially considering their houses - they were likely to have at least a few classes together, since they seemed to be about the same age? She wracked her brain, trying to remember if she had seen him in any of them before.

Janus couldn't help but smile as Asteria struggled to find the right words. He didn't actually want to know why she'd chosen that place, he'd just tried to fill the silence. A silence he'd been able to maintain even when the girl had said her name and his mind had helpfully provided "Hysteria". He was sure that particular pun wouldn't be appreciated.

He watched as she fell into a nervous silence and shook her head, becoming more agitated. He hoped she wasn't going to cry again, 'cause at that point he'd have probably left. He was about to tell her that he got it, there was no need to keep explaining, when she resumed talking.
She soldiered on rambling about how she'd gone to the library because she always got lost, and her mouth was moving faster by the second; before Janus could reply, she'd reached the end.
"And well, I would say that it was nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances... Still. I'm sure I'll see you around the castle?"

Janus let his eyes roam across her tense expression. Typical of him; as soon as he became curious about something, it began to escape him and he had to chase. Well, the fact that he had to didn't mean that he did, his laziness often hindering his mind's initiatives. He was sure there was something interesting to discover there, but some small part of his brain advised him against forcing the conversation because it'd scare her away for good. And as much as he didn't usually consider pleasantries and manners, he could see that she was going to end their meeting there in any case.

As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. He shrugged, one corner of his mouth lifting slightly in answer to the sound.
"Yes, I guess we'll see each other somewhere. I reckon it's better if we go now, 'm starving."

As he started heading back towards the main corridor of the library he added as an afterthought, "Myself, I have no problems with finding my way in the castle; I'm actually pretty natural with the moving stairs, they're fun. So... if you ever need to go somewhere and you can't find it, I could help."
He only realized afterwards that if she was lost he wouldn't actually be able to appear at her side like a magical GPS. And they had no phones, of course. All in all, it had been a completely useless offer; he hoped Asteria wouldn't put much thought into it.

Again, she felt his eyes on her, a clear and analytic, but still gentle look, that felt as if it was staring right through her, trying to understand something about her. He's strange, she thought, but not in a bad way, in a way I could come to like, if this wasn't how we met. Even his response was delicate, a way of giving them both an exit after the awkward confrontation (and an exit to a place they both needed to be no less, as her empty stomach firmly reminded her). As they headed out, she laughed at his offer of navigational services. It was a quiet, hiccuping laugh, her voice still squeaky from her earlier tears, but the genuine offer was sweet. 

The main shelves of the Library were more open, already filled with the straggles of students who had left dinner early to get a head-start on work. It was there that she began to feel more self conscious, more prepared to bolt and run, even if she knew that most of the other students weren't looking at her, couldn't care less about her. But she forced herself to be calm, to pretend to walk casually, until she reached the entrance of the Library, thick, worn and engraved, an testament to the labor that went into the construction of this space. 

"Well... See ya," she said, exiting the Library, making a small salute with her first two fingers. She hoped it was casual enough, a way of regaining her cool after leaving the conversation where she had accidentally exposed too much of her emotions (in her own opinion at least). At this point, she really was sure she was sure she would see this boy again - but she wasn't sure of what she would do when that happened. With her footsteps reverberating against the stone floors, she made her way down to dinner.

Reducio

ooc: Asteria leaves the thread.

Janus was surprised to see her laugh at his offer; had it been that ridiculous? No matter, her building laughter was contagious and soon he was sporting a big grin of his own. The atmosphere seemed to have finally unwound between them and he was able to redirect his thoughts to the food he'd sink his teeth into in a minute. Trivial as it sounded, it was one of the things that had surprised him the most, how those amazing meals appeared out of thin air.

That reminded him of the book he was still holding more out of inertia than actual thoughtfulness. If he managed to read it without nodding off, he might actually be able to understand more about the unforgiving mystery that was Transfiguration. He rubbed his fingers absentmindendly along the hard cover as they passed tables of studying bookworms. He suddenly remembered that he wasn't walking alone and cast a glance at Asteria; she looked stronger now. Determined, that was a better word for it.

In another few steps of comfortable silence they reached the heavy doors of the library, and the young Hufflepuff didn't lose any time in bidding him goodbye with a casual "See ya."
He simply nodded in response, already speeding up towards the Great Hall and the Ravenclaw table. By the time he sat down with slices of beef in front of him, he'd already archived the girl as a one-off encounter.