It's ok Moon Moon PV Hein B. FIN

Having grown up on a farm for most of his childhood till he was taken in by the Bezuidenhouts not too long ago, Heinrich was not the brightest of the bunch. He was also new to magic, and to say the least, Defense against the dark arts was his least favourite class. There was no fun in learning the offensive when he could not so much as perform the most basic of charms to lift a feather. Today, Heinrich decided to skip the whole lecture.

Sure, it was a risk for detention, but that he would be a lesson for later. There was nothing much on his agenda actually. Heinrich found himself wandering across the courtyard. Finding a bench where he plopped himself down. He wrapped the coat tighter around himself. Although he had long abandoned the search for Aurelia, Heinrich still wore her array of coats and cardigans. Those apparel still held the subtle scent of her, one that brought him ease.

Heinrich was spent the next few minutes simply staring at other students as they passed. Until his attention was summoned by a light tugging on his coat. The boy let out an embarrassing yelp when he noticed the critter on the bench next to him. His legs curling to his chest almost instinctively. However, that did not hinder the rodent from knawing on his clothes further. Frustrated, with a not-so-gentle swipe of his hand, Heinrich would attempt to swat off the tiny intruder.

A yelp from not too far away jerked his attention, disrupting Andrew's focus from reading as he looked over his shoulder. Indeed, that kind of yelp was all too familiar to him, the sound whenever someone came into surprised contact with his rat, and his eyes were already scanning for the bundle of silvery gray fur that soon had him up on his feet, making his way swiftly to a boy on a bench.

Not just any boy, Andrew quickly realized the mop of brown hair, whose identity was more or less confirmed by the clothing he recognized as belonging to someone familiar, aside from its current occupant, Heinrich Bezuidenhout.

Stubbornly, Penelope had engaged in tug-of-war over Heinrich's sweater, unfazed by her larger opponent, and perhaps underestimating the small, frightened boy's capability when his hand suddenly swiped her off the bench, earning a rather loud, pitiful squeak upon impact with the ground. Perhaps a bit more dramatic, throwing a temper tantrum with flailed limbs as Penelope's plump body bounced back to its feet and scampered over to Andrew, crying like a spoiled child for its parent.

"Pin!" He exclaimed, a bit exasperated as the rat burrowed under his robes in hiding. Andrew wasn't about to fall for his rat's antics and crocodile tears squeaks, not disputing that she hadn't gotten what she deserved whenever people retaliated at her jump-scaring and invading their personal space, but neither was he about to let anyone hurt his precious pet. "What're you doing, huh?" He relaxed a little with concern. "You alright?" He picked up Penelope and felt her for any broken bones. Nope, she was fine. But she had lost ground privileges for now, so Andrew continued to hold her in his arms to prevent her from causing more mischief.

He then turned to the boy, more embarrassed than upset by Heinrich's reaction towards Penelope. "Sorry 'bout that. She's…" He wasn't really sure what excuse or explanation to pull up at this point, as he tried to apologize. Him being the owner, all the responsibility and blame for Penelope's actions fell on him, and while half the time he could trust his "magic" rat to behave as well as any trained dog, he was convinced that it was personality rather than mere animal instincts that prompted Penelope to disobey and run havoc underfoot, just for the fun of it.

There didn't seem to be too much harm done to the sweater. Perhaps it could be fixed with the Mending Charm? Andrew would pull out his wand and do what he could to help fix the situation, if Heinrich would allow.

"Heinrich, right? Bezuidenhout?" He actually got the pronunciation right, this time, recalling the start of his first year when a certain someone whose Remembrall he had returned to, had corrected him at the Owlery when they first met. "I'm Andy, by the way. Andrew Vance. Third year Slytherin." He smiled kindly. "This here's Penelope. Pin-pin, or Pin, for short." The rat sniffed her nose at Heinrich but would otherwise stare and watch from the fortress of her owner while the two boys talked.

He had been wanting to introduce himself to Heinrich for a while actually, but with school demands and different Houses and Heinrich being a bit shy and elusive himself, it had completely slipped Andrew's mind, at least when it came to timing a private conversation. Now was as good and golden of an opportunity as he was ever gonna get.

"I…heard what happened, with T. Ruth. You and Howard." Just by admitting that, implied a lot of things as to what Andrew might have heard. Indeed, he had borne witness to the commotion that took place in the Small Hall a few months ago, learning about Aurelia's relations to Howard White and Heinrich, the latter of whom was confirmed according to Andrew's suspicions all along. Forget the Dhampir talk. (Sure, the article could have been worded to fit a more neutral approach, but at the end of the day, Andrew didn't view Dhampirs as any more dangerous or less than human than he had before reading the article.)

Not that he meant to sound prying by bringing up the incident to Heinrich, but he couldn't ignore the elephant in the room either.

He took a seat on the bench, briefly eyeing the sweater Heinrich had on. Whether or not the other boy could tell he knew whose sweater it belonged to, Andrew supposed those words would come out eventually, so he wouldn't try to rush them, for fear it might come out as an accusation too soon.

"I dunno what's really going on, but…I suppose everyone's all wondering where Aurelia is. I wish I knew, myself, but…" He trailed thoughtfully with concern.

He didn't really know where he was going with this or what to say, where to start, but he could sense that Heinrich was lonely and scared, and it wasn't that Andrew had ulterior motives either, but just in general wanting to greet the first years and help them feel at home at Hogwarts. Two birds with one stone, hopefully. If it helped to talk about Aurelia, maybe he would get some answers (some long-lost ones he felt he deserved a long time ago, last he saw Aurelia), and maybe it would help Heinrich feel better too.

He smiled fondly, blue-gray gaze wandering to the ground and around him, letting old memories take over his rambling. "I remember your sister. We went to the same primary school together. I didn't really know her then. She was a grade older than me, but one time, I…we… She had a picture book in German about Hansel and Gretel, and she told me she and her mum were witches, and that was how I ended up with her Remembrall—It's all a bit fuzzy, then; I didn't even know I was a wizard, then—But then I returned the Remembrall to her when I first came here to Hogwarts, so it all worked out," he chuckled. Just thinking about his first year made him feel excited all over again. Mind-blowing how far he had come, since the Letter. To think he and Aurelia had met way before they knew the other was a wizard/witch! Strange how the stars aligned... "I didn't really talk to her much, but I saw her around. She actually attended Pin's birthday one time, though her owl Aspen nearly made off with her as a snack." No hard feelings against Aspen though. Andrew could laugh about it, now.

Then came a flicker of worry, hesitating in doubt as his memories caught up with the latest, recent ones, whether or not it was his place to disclose them. He sighed.

"I'm…not sure if Aurelia told you, but…" His tone lowered to something serious, locking eyes with Heinrich's.

"Last summer, I saw her in London. She was…walking around at night and, me and my Muggle friends, we saw her and she passed out. We took her to my house in London and I and my family helped her heal up a bit, before she left. She didn't wanna stay long, mainly because my family's are all…Muggles. I'm Muggle-born," he clarified that needless detail a bit under his breath, before focusing on the heart of the matter.

"When I saw her, she was…bleeding, all over on one arm. Bites and scratches all over." He gestured to his left arm, for illustration. "She didn't say anything about what happened to her, before she left." In hindsight, he was beginning to regret being too nice and allowing Aurelia to walk free without an explanation as to what happened to her.

"I don't think she wanted her mother to find out. Your mother," he quickly corrected. "So…maybe…don't mention this to your parents?" He hinted with a little playful gaze of scrutiny at Heinrich.

Of course, it was no skin off his nose if the Bezuidenhouts found out. So long as he wouldn't get himself or his family into trouble by admitting it. Andrew would do what he could to prevent Aurelia from getting in trouble as well; if Heinrich could keep a secret. But since Aurelia had gone "missing", he felt compelled to confess whatever interactions he had had with Aurelia, if any of it would help solve her "disappearance". That last encounter with her in London had stood out to Andrew as insanely odd. Frightening, even. He dreaded to think what the worst was, for Aurelia to end up in that state. If he and his friends hadn't found her in time…

"I dunno what beat her up, that night," he continued gravely. "But I don't think it was caused by something natural, if you know what I mean."

He gave Heinrich a discreet side-eye. Not that he could suspect the Bezuidenhouts of anything to do with Aurelia's injuries (still, guilty until proven innocent, in Andrew's book), and he wasn't about to spill out his whole boring knowledge about Magical Creatures and his own assumptions of what he thought said injuries were caused by, unless Heinrich asked him to.

Aurelia, what did you get yourself into? A small pit of fear swelled in his gut.

"I just hope your sister's alright," Andrew commented, partly to himself.

Heinrich was very protective over any of Aurelia's apparel, they carried her scent, this subtle cocktail eased his usually anxious lycanthrope self. He was offended that this rodent had the audacity to puncture a hole into such a precious article of clothing. With his unstable emotions, a presentiment of the nearing transition to occur on the full moon, Heinrich had lashed out at the critter. However, as soon as his hand connected with the rodent, the guilt immediately washed over him. His eyes narrowed in a cringe as he witnessed the rodent flung across the courtyard.

This guilt grew as the owner of the animal came to its aid. Heinrich's gaze dropped to the ground sheepishly as he fumbled with his fingers nervously. It wasn't until the boy called him did he finally make eye contact. How does he know my name? Unlike what Heinrich expected, there was no factor of anger present on his visage, instead, his blue eyes held an aspect of concern.

Andy as he introduced himself, was a Third Year. Older Years, perhaps even anyone in general were those he went out of his way to avoid. Not that Heinrich was not taller than the average 11 year old himself, but their knowledge of spells made them superior. But this Slytherin wasn't as intimidating as the others. Despite the cordial introduction, Heinrich still remained silent. Upon the mention of Howard, his lower lip protruded into a pout.

Heinrich knew from the events in the great hall that his sister had been quite well known in the school, yet no one seemed to talk about her before then. Aside from Howard and Kazuo whom he had spoken to not too long ago, her disappearance didn't seem to affect anyone in the school until the whole mess of an ordeal which was t.ruth. It was true, there were a lot of concerned individuals wondering where the former Gryffindor was, but none of them actually taking the initiative to look for her. It troubled him, he thought he known a lot about his own sister, but it was evident that Aurelia was an enigmatic individual, no one in the school really knew much about her. Then again, Heinrich was only taken in by the Bezuidenhout a year ago.

His boy piqued his interest, claiming that he knew her in his earlier days. Yet Heinrich, spoke not a word, instead, choosing to hide under the helmet of brown hair. Until the mellow tone of his voice transitioned into a more serious lowered whisper. "S-summer? She was supposed to be at her Grandmother's. Her grandmother wanted her to go over to her place to stay. It's far from London. A-are you sure?"

Heinrich's lips moved, as if wanting to respond further but unsure what words to make up. He had only noticed the scar on her neck, perhaps he had not been paying much attention around her. He wished he had. Aurelia was always so prim and proper, she carried herself with grace and a perfect visage, one would never have noticed the little integumental flaws which she had made a conscious effort to conceal constantly.

"A-a dhampir?" Heinrich guessed. It was the only creature he knew that ever harmed Aurelia, moreover, there weren't many other magical creatures Heinrich was knowledgeable of. "Aurelia never gets herself in trouble. E-everyone says she blood baited, but she would never do something like that. Mrs Bezuidenhout compares me to her, tells me to learn from her. She's perfect. But people keep talking bad about her... Maybe that's why she doesn't want to be in school. They're bullies. She's the best person ever."

He didn't mind Heinrich's silence and the largely one-sided conversation between the two, which didn't seem to make Heinrich uncomfortable. Any more uncomfortable than the Hufflepuff already was. Andrew kept his eyes open for any signs of discomfort, but otherwise took it as a sign to keep talking and act as normal. Which eventually drew Heinrich out of his shell, asking for confirmation of whether or not Andrew's eyes had deceived him that summer.

"Unless if Aurelia has a doppelganger. Or Polyjuice," he replied, now only 99% percent confident when the latter possibility popped into his head, but was otherwise his indirect way of stating, "Duh. Yeah it was her".

At Heinrich's innocent guess, Andrew found himself shaking his head in automatic reply.

"Nah, not a Dhampir," he said, summarizing the science so as to not overwhelm the new kid at first. "More like Doxy, is my guess. I was able to look at her arm, when I was cleaning it up. Dhampir would've done much deeper damage. Doxy bites: Tiny. Two rows of teeth," he listed out, recalling the pattern of the lacerations and puncture marks. "Little hairs* I found in the blood of her wounds. I kept them just in case, and since CoMC**, I know for sure it's Doxy hair. Plus, it's the only tiny creature I can think of that can live in London. Unless if it happened outside of London."

His guess was as good as any, but suppose if it was correct: Why would Aurelia have been bitten by Doxies? Who knew how long she had been wandering the streets of London before Andrew found her. Doxy bites required an antidote, and Aurelia sure hadn't gotten one from him at his house. If she hadn't taken an antidote before then, Andrew doubted she would've ever come to, after she had passed out…

It just kept leading into more and more questions. Most importantly: Why was Aurelia alone that night? A pure-blood in a Muggle city? How negligent could her parents be, not looking after her? Or her grandmother, in that case.

Heinrich's choice of words was disconcerting. "Mrs. Bezuidenhout"? "Her grandmother"? A very strange sense of detachment, referring to family members that way. But hey, pure-bloods loved formalities and were known for being cold and distant like that, Andrew supposed.

With every year at Hogwarts, learning about the brokenness of other students' families, he had grown to appreciate his family more and more. Loving, down-to-earth, no drama, and no tragedy. He was lucky. And he wouldn't trade his own for anything. Even magic, if he had to give up one or the other.

At the mention of "bullies", Andrew nodded with a pensive frown, recalling his own less-than-savory experience with Jack Warren and Donnovan Perrywinkle. Hufflepuffs. Just like Howard White. The most sensitive House, seeking to people-please. Yearning for acceptance, deep down; even with the bullies in that House. Which was why he could be a little more forgiving with them, unlike Slytherin bullies who were mostly products of nature, not so much nurture like Hufflepuff ones.

Hearing Heinrich vouch for Aurelia, calling her the "best person ever", resonated with Andrew and his own strong relationship with his siblings. Stacy and Kyle were closer to him than any best friend, and Andrew would defend them too, if anyone spoke ill of them or tried to hurt them. Not many siblings had as openly affectionate and tight-knit of a relationship as theirs, so it was sweet to hear Heinrich's adoration of Aurelia, implying that the two of them must be close.

"You really like your sister, don't you?" He commented, softening with a smile.

"Well." His smile fell into a tight-lipped grimace, wishing he could do more to remedy Aurelia's disappearance. "I dunno what goes on in her personal life. I dunno what happened between her and Howard. I dunno of any bullying going on with her."

Hearsay and other witness statements, yes. But his own eyewitness testimony, Andrew didn't have, and he wasn't about to claim to "know" anything unless he had seen it with his own two eyes, or heard Aurelia's side of the story herself. He would take those T. Ruth admissions with a grain of salt.

Heinrich had dangled plenty of lures for Andrew to bite on, and Andrew wasn't forgetful in the sense that he purposely chose to ignore them, simply to record this conversation and save for a rainy day to analyze when needed.

His own words echoed back to him:

"I dunno what's really going on, but…I suppose everyone's all wondering where Aurelia is. I wish I knew, myself, but…"

Surely if the reason for Aurelia's disappearance wasn't so taboo to discuss, Heinrich would have been more forthcoming and honest about it. Judging from the subtle cues of fear and tensity in Heinrich's mannerisms, his hesitance… It was clear. Heinrich didn't know where Aurelia was.

Missing, indeed. Thus far, his gut instincts hadn't betrayed him.

"I'd…do what I can to help, but… I'm not really sure if it's my place to…intervene and all," he went on, partly to himself, sort of a scrambled train of thought as the realization dawned, worry and guilt gnawing at him. "I thought all the adults'll have it under control."

Aurelia's parents, the school staff… Andrew didn't think it was any of his business to go prying his nose into Aurelia's disappearance. Nor did he feel the need to act the detective and interrogate poor Heinrich for answers. He was fairly certain everything would work out in due time, and didn't want to start a fuss over what might turn out to be nothing. He didn't have any more solid proof to convince him otherwise.

Remembering what Heinrich said about his mother comparing him to Aurelia, compelled Andrew to add,

"It's always good to learn from our siblings. I have two of them, myself," he pointed out with a genuine smile. "We're all different. I'm sure Aurelia has a lot to learn from you, too."

He gaze flicked over with a gesture of his head at Heinrich's sweater. "That's hers, right? I recognize it. Don't tell me your parents can't afford to get you new clothes?" He teased slightly. "Is it a…hand-me-down?" He asked, curious as to how Heinrich came by the garment, whether Aurelia had given it to her brother.

From what he had witnessed in the owlery not too long ago, Aurelia indeed had a doppleganger. Or at least, an impersonator. But Xailah's relationship with his sister was still unclear to the young boy. "A metamorph could have done that. That person you saw could have been that Gryffindor metamorph and not Aurelia." He pointed out. Even after what he heard, even after the scars he witnessed on her neck, Heinrich was still in disbelief that Aurelia was anything but a good role model. Perhaps that was because she showed him the most care and concern out of all the Bezuidenhouts.

It was made very obvious that he liked her, they shared a strong bond of siblinghood. "She doesn't have anything to learn from me, I'm not very smart. " Heinrich stated, shaking his head lightly. Aurelia was always the one teaching him, how to act, he was a farmer farm boy and the transition into a pureblood family was a struggle.

As the conversation directed towards his clothes, Heinrich would self-consciously pull the robes tighter around his torso, dropping his gaze to the ground. He would nod in response to Andrew's question. "It smells like her. Her scent is very... comforting. " Heinrich admitted.

Gryffindor metamorph? His memory would serve him later, but for now, Andrew let it slip over his head, focusing on the present concerns with Heinrich's theory.

"I was watching her the whole time," he explained. Not shutting down the possibility of an intruder, but he would sooner trust his intuition unless proven wrong by Aurelia herself. "She passed out. I don't believe metamorphs can keep up their disguise while unconscious."

Honestly, he would rather talk about Heinrich, getting to know the Hufflepuff better, rather than his glammed ghost of a sister.

Everybody asks "Where is Heinrich?"
But no one ever asks "How is Heinrich?"

He felt bad for the poor kid, being popularized over his "dead" sister. He himself now wished he hadn't brought up Aurelia to Heinrich in the first place. Why hadn't he just gone back to basics with the usual friendship starter? "Hi, I'm Andy. What's your name?"

At this rate, Heinrich would never have a chance to make a name for himself, or have any normal experience at making friends, if people kept comparing him to his sister, using him as a means only to get close to his sister. Andrew hadn't even realized he had stepped foot on that bandwagon, until now, deciding to step down and switch the subject.

People neglecting the living in favor of the dead. Quite sad, really.

Seeing Heinrich's self-doubt tugged another warm, playful smile from Andrew.

"'Course you are," he reassured optimistically. "We're all smart at something. Doesn't have to be school and books. It could be…sports. Or horseback riding, like my sister. Or computers, like my dad. Or…farming, like my aunt and uncle." His eyes lit up, thinking about his Aunt Cynthia's farm in Taunton. One of his favorite places to visit, spending time with the animals and exploring the countryside. He wished his parents were farmers too, but no - they were city folk. His cousins were so lucky to be living on a farm!

Then again, how lucky was he to be surrounded by the beautiful Scottish mountains?

"I can help you, if you like. If there's any subjects you need help with," he offered Heinrich, while on the topic of school and books. He was always willing to help tutor, Transfiguration especially.

At Heinrich's reply about the sweater, Andrew nodded in understanding.

"Ah." A quiet word of surprise slipped out, as the chiming of the Clock Tower snapped Andrew's thoughts back to the present. "Well, I better head off to class." He rose from the bench, gathering Penelope in his arms. "Nice meeting you, Heinrich." He paused for a brief second of farewell. "If you need anything, just owl."

He meant it, but doubted a shy type like Heinrich would be reaching out to him anytime soon. And to be frank, it was none of his problem. Not if Heinrich didn't make an effort to try and meet him halfway. Andrew wouldn't force his presence on anyone.

"See you around."

With that, Andrew slung his bookbag over his shoulder and turned heel, walking briskly away from the courtyard.