Running Into Trouble... Again PV Harvey

@Piper Hart

Classes had wrapped for the last time in Harvey's first year. As his little legs carried him out of the classroom and into the corridor, his mind began to wander which it rarely ever did. However, with the semester coming to a close it prompted him to begin thinking back on the year. There were successes and failures, friends and foes, the normal stresses and elations of everyday life, but for the most part he was happy with his achievements along the way. There would be plenty of room for growth of course. He had mastered most of his first years spells and charms. History class was boring, but he had aced that too. Flying and herbology remained a constant headache, so there would definitely be room for improvement when he returned next year. No one could really look at the year he had and have much to complain about. No one besides his grandfather anyway.

The A he received in his end of year herbology exam was going to earn him a verbal lashing for sure. No amount of arguing that such a task as gardening was beneath him would save him from Larnak's strict and rigid ways. Yet despite the old goblin's cold demeanor towards Harvey, the boy was ready for a break from school. It would be so nice to be back in his private room with Burok there to attend to his every need. Hogwarts was an awe inspiring castle that much could not be argued, but the lavish accommodations of their upscale London townhouse were difficult to top. Yes, he would soon be sleeping in his bed with blankets and sheets with a thread count too high to even bother with labelling...

CRASH!

Harvey's world was turned upside down as he rounded a corner and smashed right into another person. He bounced off of them and went sprawling backwards to the ground. The embarrassment and soon to be sore elbow were one thing, but the real horror was that his satchel had fallen from his shoulder and spilled its contents all over the floor! Carefully organized folders dumped chronologically aligned parchments everywhere! All expertly headed with the name Harvey Barrows of course! "Merlin's beard!" He nearly shrieked in frustration and anger. Harvey sat up and tried to get his bearing straight. He brushed aside bits of brush and wire before his eyes focused on a notebook that had fallen right into his lap.

Piper Hart.

The name didn't ring a bell, but this person was about to get the verbal lashing of a lifetime! Harvey's beady little eyes focused on the witch before him and he rose to his feet, notebook in hand. Then it struck him. Rosy cheeks, bright blue eyes, curly brunette hair...piles of junk everywhere! It was her! The girl from the classroom tinkering away with muggle garbage. "You! Piper Hart I presume!" Harvey held up her precious notebook as evidence. "Look what you have done to my things, you greaseball! Do not touch anything! Damnit! Look at this mess! Now it's all out of order!" He looked down to the disaster before them. All of their stuff was now mixed together and disheveled. As much as he wanted to tell her to piss off, they had no choice but to sort it out. Harvey bent down on his knee and began rifling through it all. "Come on. Get down here and get your junk out of my way!"

Piper glanced over at the folders spread across the floor. Harvey Barrows. So that was his name. The boy who had ruined her day in that classroom all those months ago and would probably do the same thing again.

Looking back over at this boy, Harvey, who was now standing and studying her closely, she noticed her notebook in his hands. What’s he going to do with it? She thought, I hope he doesn’t damage it.

And that was when she saw it, the recognition and following anger in his eyes. He knew who she was and he was about to tear her a new one.

Piper barely listened to him, until he called her a greaseball. A greaseball! It’s okay, she told herself, you’ve been called worse.

“Greaseball?! You’re the one squealing like a banshee over a few papers. Why don’t we talk about that?” Piper smirked slightly while keeping a close eye on her notebook. “Besides, Harvey - the world won’t end just because your folders aren’t alphabetised.”

Watching Harvey bend down to go through their things, Piper decided to help. So she crouched down, her eyes never leaving her notebook.

“Fine. I’ll get my so-called junk out of your way before you have another meltdown.”

@Piper Hart

Squealing over a few papers?! Harvey fumed as his black eyes turned to slits. She didn't understand. Barely anyone did. Harvey's sense of order kept him grounded. It kept him centered in a life that was full of chaos and disorder. Especially in a boarding school that was filled to the brim with other people. Gone was his private room and his sanctuary, in its place a shared dwelling in which he had no control. Sure, the house elves kept the place tidy, but how many hours had he spent cleaning up the disorder around him? How many arguments had he fallen into trying to get his housemates to clean up after themselves? Now here she was calling him a banshee because she was careless enough to run into him! No freakin' way!

"Yes, Piper. I understand the world will not unravel over a spilled satchel." Even though it kind of felt like it would, Harvey was not going to let her see anymore weakness than she already had. "However, that does not excuse your carelessness." He quickly tried to turn the argument back onto her as his scheming mind began to churn. The physical nature of this encounter had left him rattled for a brief moment, but he was now determined to make sure he left with the upper hand. Why couldn't he simply just realize that this was nothing more than an accident and if he had not been so nasty, it could even have been a chance to make a friend. Perhaps it was the cold manner in which he was raised? Reared to see his place in the world as superior to others because his grandfather had deemed it so. Or perhaps it was just a part of his personality. The timeless argument of nature versus nurture. Either way it did not matter. Would Harvey learn a lesson today or not?

As Piper kneeled down to help sort through their things, Harvey took a deep breath. His temper was strong and sometimes that energy could be used as helpful fuel but he did not want to let it get out of hand in this moment. His eyes fell to her notebook that he held and swallowed the impulse to chuck it down the corridor for her to go fetch. There just wasn't much to gain here. Harvey set it on the ground and scooted it over to her. "Here's your notebook." His gaze shifted to the bits of brush and wire that had spilled around them. "Why do you insist on tinkering with all of this stuff? What does it mean to you?" As much as Harvey had been irritated by it all, the process was starting to spark some curiosity.

Piper looked up at Harvey as he gave the notebook back to her. She hadn't exactly expected him to give it back. Honestly, based on everything she thought she knew about him, she was fully prepared to have to take it off him.

Caught, yet again by surprise when he asked about her tinkering, she took a moment to respond. “I... ummm… well...” She paused and took a breath, trying to decide how much she should tell him “my Mum and I, we used to make things together using left over parts we would find around the house and street. So, I guess it’s just something I grew up doing.”

Piper turned back to sorting through their things, careful not to give anything else about her life away to the boy. Piper had not told many people about her mother for she didn't the want the pain that would undoubtably surface, or the sympathetic gestures that would follow from those around her like it did back home.

Still gathering her things, Piper glanced over at Harvey and asked him, “Why do you insist on organising your stuff all the time? I mean, I know its nice to have things neat and tidy but I see you reorganising the same bag nearly every week.”

@Piper Hart

The girl was right to worry about Harvey's reaction to the notebook. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't tempted to rip it up or light it on fire with a well cast incendio. He had always had a bit of a nasty streak and it was only amplified when his temper got out of hand, however this time he was able to keep that monster at bay. Perhaps a sign of maturity coming with age or maybe he was just a bit tired of making enemies. Harvey may go down in history as a villain, but no one could go through life without showing a bit of vulnerability. No matter how hard of an exterior you kept up along the way.

When Piper mentioned her mother and how they bonded over their creations, Harvey's eyes would flash with envy. He of course did not know that her mom had passed away, but it made him think of his own mother. Harriet was still very much alive. Yet the half-goblin was very far from flourishing. Harvey's mother had always been defined by her depression. A life being unwanted by her father and mostly abandoned by her other family members had left her with a bruised and broken spirit. Even Harvey's father hadn't stuck around to help her and now that they were under the care of grandfather Larnak and he had taken control of the boy's rearing, it made it all the easier for Harriet to get lost in the blues. It wasn't that she hadn't shown Harvey love. He had that from her in spades, but she never seemed to have the energy to engage with him in a meaningful way.

"Well, I still don't understand how that could be pleasurable, but to each their own." Harvey dismissed it quickly and he too turned back to sorting their things. His expression may have given away that moment of vulnerability, but he sorely was not going to open up about it.

Then it would be his turn to be questioned. Piper was surely not the only one that had observed Harvey's tendency to clean and reorganize things that were already neat and tidy. "It calms me." There was something about that methodical approach that quieted his mind. The boy was a thinker, a schemer, someone that thought it all through and then thought it all through again. If he didn't find a way to find moments of peace it might threaten to spin out of control and no one would want that. "Don't you have something like that? Perhaps your tinkering?" Most people did. Some exercised or meditated. Maybe journaled or got lost in their music. "Don't things just get...too loud sometimes." A rather long index finger gestured towards his head for emphasis.