Tears Have Been Shed Finished

~ * ~

Ruby had come out here to think. She sat near the water's edge, quietly taking in the shimmering expanse in front of her. It was peaceful out here… surrounded by nature without many people to disturb her. She was tucked away in a far corner so that she could be alone. She was tired. Tired of… everything, really. She wished that she could just stay out here forever, and never have to deal with the rest of life's troubles. She was fed up with it.

Then, along came another girl. She was unfamiliar and looked young—probably a first year. Ruby could make out the glistening of tears falling down her cheeks, and felt… sorry for her. Slowly, carefully, the Slytherin stood up and approached the girl. Perhaps she didn't want company, but Ruby could at least try to do something to help. “Hey there,” she said softly, her voice gentle and soothing. “I'm sorry to disturb you, but I want you to know that you're not alone. I may not know you, but you don't deserve to be suffering. It's okay to be upset, but… I'm here if you'd like to say anything.” She offered a small smile to the girl.

Perhaps the girl would lash out or Ruby's words would make it worse, but at least she had tried. In her second year, Ruby had become far from the nicest person, but that didn't mean that she was completely incapable of trying to help. Maybe her current anger and being upset herself allowed her to be more empathetic. She… wanted to be there for someone in a way that people weren't for her.

~ * ~

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares and @Breana Oliveire

Ivy found the Hogwarts castle beautiful, but at times it could be so noisy. The Great Lake, on the other hand, was quiet and peaceful. The young Gryffindor often came here to read a book, or simply stare into the water and think.
Sometimes others would come down, but Ivy never spoke to them, instead choosing to nod at them before returning to her book. She didn't mind it if they didn't make so much noise, like the Slytherin second year sitting at the edge. Ivy often saw her at the Lake as well, but had never spoken to her or ventured to ask her name. Why would she, when her book was much more interesting?
Ivy took a break from her book and looked out at the large, mirror-like Lake. It was so beautiful and calm that day.
Well, not for much longer. The peaceful silence that Ivy treasured so much was suddenly interrupted by someone's loud sobs. Ivy slammed her book shut in annoyance and stuffed it back into her bag as she stood up, looking around for the source of the noise.
It was a girl, sitting on the wet grass. Ivy recognized her to be Breana Oliveire, a Ravenclaw first year she had a few classes with. The Slytherin girl approached her carefully and talked in a calm, soothing tone. Ivy could hear some snippets of the one-sided conversation as she made her way over as well. It was clear that the Slytherin girl was much nicer than Ivy was feeling.
"Could you maybe consider finding another place to cry?" she snapped at Breana, unable to hide her annoyance. Realizing that she would've sounded incredibly rude, she sighed and tried to backpedal. "I'm sorry. That was rude. Are you alright?"
She sat down on the other side of Breana. "What happened?" Life could be tough sometimes. Trying to make up for her previous harsh words, Ivy offered the Ravenclaw a smile.

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares and @Ivy Bellamy

Breana continued sobbing, her face and eyes now visibly puffy when she heard someone's voice speak up towards her. She jumped for a moment, looking up and seeing a girl, older it looks like, wearing the same dreaded colors that drove her into this state. "Great... She must've seen what I did at their table." She thought, sniffling as she wiped her nose. "C-can't... Y-you've already seen that they've made me c-c-cry..." She said, some of her words getting muffled by her sniffling. "C-can... c-can you just... l-leave well enough a-alone?" She tried raising her voice, but the incident earlier tired her out. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst to come out of the older girl's mouth, but instead she heard a more... softer tone? She looked up at the dark haired girl, making sure that she's not a figment of her imagination. Her lips curled into a small smile, nodding at the Slytherin's offer to lend her an ear. "I... My name's Breana... Oliveire." She was about to divulge the girl about her troubles when another girl stopped by. Maybe she'd have the same tone as the older girl?

Unfortunately, she didn't. She quickly made up for it as soon as she snapped at Breana. The little Ravenclaw glanced down at the Gryffindor girl, noticing the book she had in her hand. Breana figured she disturbed her reading, but still. "Sorry if my sadness disturbed your reading..." Breana retorted, wiping her eyes with her robe. "I... I really am sorry about it. I didn't know how many students stop by this place..." She said, her crying dying down now. "It's... well..." She glanced over at the Slytherin girl. "I... I accidentally sat on the Slytherin table... and... Let's just say the people I talked to weren't keen on a Ravenclaw stopping by there..." She chuckled, but her smile quickly faltered.

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares and @Breana Oliveire

Ivy couldn't help but raising her eyebrows at the source of Breana's tears. A group of mean Slytherins... didn't seem that horrifying to her.
"Um... really?" Ivy tried to sound sympathetic and failed miserably. Even to herself, she sounded cold and indifferent.
Ivy cleared her throat and tried again. "That's horrible. I think the table organisation is stupid, anyway. The teachers are always like, teenagers are so competitive! But then they go and divide us up into houses for everything." She flicked a brown braid over her shoulder and smiled at Breana before turning to the Slytherin girl.
"So, you're in Slytherin?" Ivy narrowed her eyes at her. She momentarily wondered if she had been part of the incident Breana had described before realising that if she had, then she would still be up at the castle, not down here. "My family wanted me to get into Slytherin," she recalled with a sigh. "They've all been there, except for-" Ivy paused wondering whether she should tell them about her 29-year-old sister, Lillian, who had eloped five years ago with a Muggle boy she'd met in town. She decided against it - she had only just met them. "Never mind," she said, smiling tightly.
Ivy looked at the Lake and sighed softly, remembering what a good sister Lillian had been. She shrugged and looked at the Slytherin. "And what about you?" Ivy said inquisitively. "Are you alright?"

~ * ~

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. “Hey, you can read somewhere else. There's no need to be so rude. This is a perfectly fine place for her to be crying. She clearly has troubles bigger than you reading your book,” she snapped back. The girl had then apologised, but Ruby was wary. Who changed their mind so quickly? Couldn't she see that the other girl—Breana, she said her name was—wasn't doing well? What an idiot. Even a moment of snapping could break Breana further.

She focused back on Breana's words. “It's okay, Breana. You aren't disturbing us too much.” She shot a glare at the other girl. “My name's Ruby Cazares. I'm sorry that you had to experience that, but everyone makes mistakes. You accidentally sat at the wrong table, and perhaps they made a mistake with being mean to you. Not all of us Slytherins are that bad.” She smiled again. “Besides, I wouldn't mind if this particular Ravenclaw happened to end up where I sit at the table some day.” Yes, that was an invitation to sit with her, and Ruby would protect Breana if she happened to take her up on that offer. She had scary prefect powers to help defend her with, anyway.

Ruby listened to what the other girl was saying now. She seemed… fake. Why bother talking to someone and attempting to comfort them if she didn't really mean it? Ruby didn't trust her. “Yes, I'm a Slytherin,” she confirmed. Her tone was even but there was a hint of a threat, a challenge in her eyes as she stared into the girl's narrowed eyes. The girl's parents had wanted her to be a Slytherin? Ruby's had wanted the opposite—they wanted her to be a Gryffindor. Any house but Slytherin. Yet here she was, and she was doing better than she ever would have in Gryffindor. They were not proud of her in the slightest, but they couldn't do anything about it now.

Ruby was learning to break free. “I'm fine.” A short reply. It was a lie for sure, but there was not much about her that would betray that fact. Why was the girl interested? “What's your name, anyway?”

~ * ~

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares and @Breana Oliveire

Ruby stated that she was fine - rather shortly, Ivy noted. It was the way she herself would often act when trying to hide her feelings. She opened her mouth to ask her again, but as the Slytherin seemed annoyed at her already, she decided not to push it. Ivy couldn't really blame her for being annoyed - she knew that snapping at a crying person wasn't the best way to make a first impression.
"Ivy Bellamy. It's a pleasure to meet you," the Gryffindor replied, in response to Ruby's question.
Ivy turned back to Breana. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," she said sincerely. "It's just, the castle can be so loud and there's really nowhere else that's quiet and peaceful."
Ivy looked at Ruby now. Swallowing her pride, she then went on to apologize to her as well. It was only the morning, and already she had made so many mistakes.
"Ruby, I'm sorry if I offended you," the girl admitted, a little more stiffly. She offered the Slytherin girl a smile, hoping that she would return it.
Ivy often wondered if she was the only one in Hogwarts to make mistakes. By the way some people acted, it was as though they were angelic beings who had never sinned.

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares and @Ivy Bellamy

The little blue bird frowned at Ivy's response. She was at a low point this morning and she reacted like that without any hesitation? The way the Gryffindor spoke afterwards didn't help her case either. If she was on a better mindset, she would've poked the girl at how the table organisation didn't even connect to Breana's troubles. However, she's too emotionally drained to use her brain right now. Breana simply nodded at the red-clad girl, not really denying nor confirming what she's saying.

Fortunately a small hint of a smile crept up at the corner of Breana's mouth as Ruby comforted her, and even offering a seat with her? Her senior? "T-thanks... I don't think it'll be allowed, but thanks for the offer..." She sniffled, the tears finally stopping. "Maybe we can just hang around during free period? Like, going to the Leaky Cauldron and stuff...?" She asked softly to Ruby.

She turned back to the Gryffindor, Ivy was her name, nodding as she introduced herself. Despite the girl having a rather flower-esque name, she felt like an unpleasant thorn to Breana. "As much as I'm happy for you two cheering me up..." She said, slowly standing up. "I think... I-i think we should head back inside... I-i mean, I dunno about you, Ruby! But... it won't be a pretty picture, a first year like me and Ivy missing class..." She said, rubbing her arm meekly.

~ * ~

The girl who had been rude introduced herself as Ivy and proceeded to apologise. It seemed… pretty genuine, but Ruby was desperately fighting the urge to raise an eyebrow or act on her cynicism. She would not pretend to herself that she liked the girl, but there was no need to be openly rude back after an apology. Ivy even smiled. Ruby gave a small nod, and smiled back. She did not feel the emotions behind it, as she was still wary, but she felt obligated to acknowledge the younger girl's attempt. She understood that it was hard to apologise, so there was some respect that she held for Ivy's ability to do this.

The Slytherin's cold blue gaze travelled back to Breana to check how she was doing. She also seemed wary of Ivy, but seemed to be moving on. She smiled. “Yes, hanging out would always be fun.” She was glad if she could do anything to help the little Ravenclaw and calm her down. She understood that it could be tough to cope with embarrassment and the first year at a new school, but there were people who were there to help, too. “And that's a good idea. Wouldn't want you two to miss anything because of me. Academics are important! If you don't arrive in time, though, I could probably talk to your professors and say that you were with me. A prefect guiding you seems a lot more forgivable.”

She would wait until they were ready and then walk back to the castle—likely alongside them. She would not try to escort them to their classes unless they felt like they needed it. If the girls walked with her in the direction of the castle, she would gently nudge Breana and murmur, “You feeling a little better now?” She wouldn't want her efforts to be wasted. It had seemed like she was better—perhaps knowing that people supported her helped—but Ruby just wanted to make sure.

~ * ~

@Breana Oliveire @Ruby Cazares

Breana didn't seem to take to her apology, nodding stiffly with a frown on her face. Ivy understood why, as she really had been rather rude, but her heart still gave a little squeeze of disappointment. The Gryffindor usually did not care what people thought her, but the people she had wronged were different. Apologizing did not come easily for Ivy, and Breana's stony reaction only injured her pride more.

Ruby's reaction was a lot less injuring. The girl returned the smile, although her blue eyes were still suspicious and untrusting - once again, understandable. She turned to Breana and Ivy tuned out, vaguely noting that Ruby had responded rather positively to the Ravenclaw's offer of hanging out in the castle.

For a moment, her heart squeezed achingly again. Ivy knew that she wasn't naturally appealing to people, with her sharp features and tendency to speak her mind, and the Gryffindor did not make friends easily. This was not something that generally bothered her, as she preferred to keep only a few people close to her anyway, but hearing Breana and Ruby kicking off what seemed like would be a rather promising friendship made Ivy wish that she was a nicer person. For just a second, sadness passed over the brunette's face. Then she shook her head, as if shaking the wistful thoughts from her mind, and the sadness was gone.

Breana had stopped crying and was now saying something else. Ivy's ears pricked up at the sound of her name - something about not wanting to be late for class? Ivy pursed her lips in an attempt to smother her smile. Typical Ravenclaw behaviour - they never wanted to miss classes, no matter how boring the subject was.

If she remembered correctly, the two first-years had History of Magic next. Ivy hated the class - not just because it was boring, but because her parents had made sure she was fully educated in history prior to Hogwarts,meaning that the things they were learning were not in any way beneficial to the her. It would be another hour of just sitting there, zoning out and staring at the wall until the professor yelled at her to pay attention. Honestly, Ivy could skip the lesson and it wouldn't affect her grade at all.

"We have History of Magic next. I was planning to sk-" Suddenly, Ivy's eyes dropped to the badge on Ruby's robes. The Slytherin was a prefect. Oops. "Never mind," the Gryffindor said, eyeing the badge. She looked apologetically at Ruby, who was now agreeing with Breana, talking about how important academics were.

Ivy turned to the Ravenclaw. "Um, yeah, you're right. We should probably get going." The Gryffindor sprang to her feet and looked at the watch on her wrist, then up at the castle. She grimaced. They had spent way longer down at the Lake than she had initially thought. If they wanted to be on time, they'd have to get moving.