Beckett's Back in Town PV Ruby Closed

~ * ~

Ruby was sitting in the Great Hall, although she couldn't imagine why she had chosen to do that. There were always students there; she could have chosen plenty of other places to read that would have been less busy. As no one was talking to her, though, it was background noise and she could mostly ignore it. Perhaps she would go somewhere else in a couple of minutes.

A book lay open on the table in front of her, and she seemed to be engrossed in it. That changed when she thought she heard her name being called and footsteps nearing her. She finished the paragraph she was on and then glanced up, blankly searching for who it was. A familiar figure was nearing her. Eyes widened in shock as she whispered, "Ana?" A second later, they lit up with excitement and she leapt onto her feet. "Ana! You're back!" A wide grin spread across her face as she took in the sight of the Gryffindor that had come to be one of her best friends.

"Why didn't you tell me? I wasn't expecting you. It's been so long, although I can't say that there's much to catch you up on." It was true; the two of them had been exchanging letter after letter ever since Ana's departure and had grown very close. For a moment, everything was perfect. They could be together again and actually see each other. They could talk and interact without having to wait for an owl to return each letter. This was amazing.

~ * ~

Ana could hardly contain her excitement as she reached her friend. The Gryffindor was nearly bouncing up and down. She generally wasn't a hugger, but she couldn't help giving Ruby a quick hug. She was so thrilled to be back, so thrilled to actually see Ruby in person instead of writing to her. "I'm back!" she exclaimed. "I would have written but I only just found out I was coming back. My aunt died on Wednesday and then it was the funeral and all that, and then we were traveling and then yesterday my parents said I was coming back." 

She could hardly believe it. It was so good to see Ruby in person. This was going to be even better than the time she'd had at Hogwarts before she'd left. She actually had a best friend now, which was nice, seeing as she'd made a fair amount of enemies her first year. She wondered how many of them would still hold a grudge. There was only one or two that she still considered enemies, she didn't care much about the rest since they weren't even formidable enough opponents for her to actually remember them. Still, it was going to be amazing to be back at Hogwarts with actually more friends than enemies. 

~ * ~

Ruby was not a hugger. She was most definitely not a hugger. However, it was Ana who had done this. She could forgive it this one time. A smile was on her face as she hugged back tightly, overcome with joy at the return of her close friend. “Oh wow, so you really didn't know in advance. I'm glad to have you back, Ana.” Her smile got especially warm at that, and she really meant it.

It was true that she had grown more unfriendly in her second year. She was dealing with some internal turmoil, which was not too uncommon at that age, but she had become more snappish because of it. Perhaps the return of a friend could change things. After all, she would have a chance to spend more time with her and that might mean that she would be happier.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by her cat pushing against her legs. She looked at him fondly before turning back to Ana. “I forgot… you haven't met my cat yet. Ana, meet Apollo.” She grinned at her, hoping that Apollo wouldn't try to hide. He was an adventurous, bold cat when he was alone or with Ruby, but he tended to be shy when other people tried to interact with him. He generally got used to Ruby's friends after the two had been around the friend a lot, but that took a long time.

~ * ~

Anastasia couldn't stop grinning. She was just so glad to be back at school and reunited with Ruby. This was going to be like first year, but even better. She actually had a best friend, and she assumed something like a fresh slate with most of her enemies. She hadn't so much as thought about the likes of Aurelia in nearly a year, and it had been lovely. She was going to be more mature and just bully some first years, as was her right as a second year. 

At Ruby's mentioning the cat, Ana grinned. She was definitely a cat person. No question about it. "Awww, hello there, Apollo," Anastasia cooed. She was reminded of her own cat, who was napping up in the Common Room. "Oh, remember Jaz, who I wrote to you about? She's gotten so big now, and she's so curious. When we were at my aunt's house, my father got so angry that she had eaten one of my aunt's pygmy puffs, but Jaz was just so proud of herself."

Ruby practically already knew Jaz, from all that she had written. Ana considered her the spoiled cat's auntie. Just then, it was seeming really real. She was finally back and reunited with Ruby. Their cats could play together - actually, no, that was a terrible idea. Jaz tried to hunt everything smaller than her and tried to eat things larger than her. Maybe they would have to wait for Jaz to get a bit more mature.

~ * ~

It was crazy to have Ana back, in a good way, of course. The letters had cheered her up a bit, but life had been so dull without her best friend by her side and she was looking forward to having her around again. She was pretty sure that her grin physically couldn't get any wider, as it was currently stretching so far that it almost hurt. It didn't show any signs of vanishing any time soon, either.

She watched fondly as Ana cooed over Apollo. The Slytherin nudged him gently with her foot, pointing at Ana and trying to encourage him to go to her. His curiosity won out over his wariness and he padded forward, staring up at the Gryffindor with wide eyes. Ruby's own eyes widened at her friend's comment about Jaz. “Really? That doesn't sound like curiosity, more like she's being a menace. I can't imagine how awful it must be to see a pet die at the hands of another pet. And it belonged to your aunt as well? I thought I wanted to meet Jaz, but maybe I should be scared for my health if I do.” A chuckle escaped her lips. Would Jaz progress to eating humans someday? That would be terrifying.

~ * ~

Ruby wasn't the only one whose smile was so wide her face hurt. Ana honestly was overjoyed to be back. She was pretty sure that if she had continued to travel with her parents, her brain would have melted and she would have died from the stiffness. Things weren't boring by any means, but they were incredibly tedious. In Ana's opinion, the parties that they had attended on all the other continents were pretty much identical to the parties that they attended in London, differing only in theme.

"Oh, Jaz is a complete menace, but she's a curious menace," Ana laughed. "She hasn't tried to eat any people yet, but she tends to get into fights with any animals that are even a little bigger than her, so I imagine it'll happen at some point." Ana loved Jasmine more than life itself, but her cat was definitely insane. She shuddered to think what Jaz might occupy herself with all day while Ana was in class. Was she running around eating other people's pets? She made a mental note to make sure that anyone that she liked with a small pet knew to keep theirs away from her demon kitty. "So, what have I missed?"*cue What'd I Miss from Hamilton