Run PV Aly Salinger Finished

@Aly Salinger

|| Interacting with @Aaron Jones ||

Aaron was grinning at her inability to get this clingy, transparent - whatever it was off of her hands, and Aly flushed lightly pink with embarrassment. Clearly, he knew far more about Muggle things than she did; briefly, the thought crossed her mind that he was likely doing way better in Muggle Studies than she was - she was pulling high grades, sure, but only after hours and hours of study - and perhaps she should ask him to study together sometime.

Then again, Mother always tells me to steer clear of troublemakers in my classes... but... he doesn't seem like a slacker? Aly eyed Aaron's face apprehensively as he carefully plucked the offending material from her hands, balling it up (quite carelessly - she could have used that!) and stuffing it back in his bag with reassurances that she was not, in fact, a dolt. Just someone who enjoys a bit of fun, and I can get behind that...

Apparently, the sticky material was used to keep food fresh. Enthralled, beginning to walk once again with Aaron toward the Great Hall, Aly dug into the satchel she was still carrying over one shoulder, shifting the bag portion to lay in front of her waist instead of along the side to make for easier rummaging. "Keeping things cool... that's like those refrigy-things," she mused, casting her eyes downwards into the satchel so that she could peer into the absolute mess of parchments, glass ink bottles, textbooks, and stray flower petals that was her bag. (There was also a small inner pouch stuffed full to the brink with whole flowers, freshly plucked that morning from the flowerpots in her dormitory, but those were kept separate for a reason - she didn't want her preciously cared-for blossoms to be crushed by heavy books and pierced by sharp quills.) "You're right, I suppose those aren't sticky, they're just co- aha!"

That last exclamation of elation was brought on not by the very thought of refrigy-things, or whatever they were truly called, but by Aly's fingers' encountering of a very special little tin. The third-year carried this tin with her always - in her robes during Quidditch practices and matches, in her bag during everyday classes and meals, and even on walks around the grounds, because although she doubted she'd find herself in serious injury during the latter, it was never a bad thing to be overly prepared.

Pulling the tin deftly from her satchel and popping open the lid, Aly withdrew one of the paper-wrapped marvels inside and held it up to Aaron's face as they strolled along together. "You know about all this - you've seen these, then?" she questioned, an excitable grin spreading across her face. "These are called band-aids, apparently - I assume because they're bandages that aid you in staying on your skin. These are sticky, too - and absolutely wonderful - they heal just about anything, so I keep them on me at all times!" She beamed proudly, stowing the tin of band-aids away once more and sending a silent thank-you to the Hogwarts nurse, who had graciously granted her this precious cargo.

"And as for why I wasn't in the Great Hall..." This was a bit more embarrassing of a question to answer, and again, Aly felt an awkward tint of humiliation paint her pale, freckled face. "Er, let's just say that I have a hard time being on time. The clock is not my friend." Trying to chuckle to keep the edge of mortification away, Aly peered up at her much taller new friend - at least, she considered him more of a pal than she did the clock - and tried to deflect the conversation away from her as they turned another corner and descended another staircase, just a corridor or two away from the Great Hall now. "What about you? What will you do when you get back to the Great Hall, and the person you tricked with that - stuff - sees you again?"

@Aly Salinger

|| Interacting with @Aaron Jones ||

Refrigerators. Right. That was what those Muggle cooling contraptions were called. Aly made a mental note to not forget that next time, just in case it happened to make its way onto her upcoming Muggle Studies exam. Her mother already thought Muggle Studies was a soft option compared to things like Transfiguration or Defence Against the Dark Arts - things you needed to become an Auror, like Hesper Livingston-Salinger herself - and Aly couldn't afford to get a low grade on anything her mother considered "easy", lest she end up pulled from the class. Refrigerator. Re-frig-e-ra-tor. And now, she also had to remember that many Muggles also used this sticky material - what had Aaron called it? Cling-wrap? - to cover food that they put in the refrigerator, for an extra layer of freshness and chill.

Muggles were so fascinating.

"I usually call them plasters, but I've heard them called band-aids, too," Aaron informed her about the band-aids, and again, Aly jotted it down on her mental list: Plasters = band-aids. When he continued on to explain that they didn't just come in this light brown flesh-coloured tone, like the ones Aly had on her person right then, but could also come in bright colours and patterns and designs... well, Aly had to stop herself from grabbing his arm right then and there and interrogating him further about the wonderful creations of these band-aids. I'm sure he doesn't want to talk about these all afternoon long, she reminded herself. I will just have to ask for clarification... and maybe an example... some other time!

They were almost to the Great Hall now, with Aaron joking that homework was never on his side, just like time was never on Aly's; that made her feel a tiny bit better, and she couldn't help thinking how empathetic he seemed to be, like he could read her mind and calm her down whenever she got to worrying. It had already happened a couple of times, and as someone who tended to worry and fret over the tiniest of things, it was rather nice to feel calm for a change.

She grinned up at him, fingers already nimbly undoing the latches on her satchel without even looking as she tried her best to make eye contact with a strangely elusive Aaron. "That all sounds fantastic. And don't worry - I've been told I make a good Aly-bi," the girl joked, teasingly, as they entered into the Entrance Hall, with the giant wooden doors to the Great Hall lying just ahead. Delectable smells and the muted chatter of good conversation floated down the hall towards them, and her stomach growled loudly. "Something about being a... teacher's pet, I think? But what teacher's pet do you know who has jumped out of windows and illegally flown brooms - er, tandem on brooms - on school grounds?"

A shiver traced down her spine. She was making light of this, yes, but if her parents ever found out... well, she'd never hear the end of it, that much was for sure.

With the Great Hall doors just a few steps away, before Aaron could reach for one to open it, Aly picked up her pace and jumped ahead of him with a few fast steps. "Hang on - before you go in there," she said quickly, opening up the inside pouch in her satchel. "I've got a little something for you, as thanks for saving me from - well - from getting in trouble for your prank today..."

This time, she did look down, to see a bevy of fresh blooms waiting before her very eyes. She always had a few different colours on her person at all times, and though she didn't know Aaron's favourite colour, she knew he was a Hufflepuff, and one could never go wrong with giving a Hufflepuff more yellow. After thanking her morning History of Magic partner for a job well done on a discussion about some battle or other, she only had one yellow flower left... an imperfect little daffodil that was slightly crushed on one side. It would have to do. Carefully pulling the daffodil from the tangle of other stems and leaves and petals, Aly pinched off the lower part of the stem with her fingers to make it shorter and more adept for wearing, then reached up - and up - and up (Merlin he's tall, a good five inches on her at least) to tuck the brilliant gold blossom behind Aaron's left ear.

"It's a daffodil," she explained, a bit sheepishly, because he had eyes, lovely dark brown ones in fact, so of course he knew it was a daffodil. "I- I'm still trying to learn what all of the flowers mean, I've checked out books on flower language in the library, but I know daffodils mean something positive, like..." Aly squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to remember, and really wishing she hadn't left The Floral Lexicon, her latest check-out, in the Ravenclaw dormitory. "Like happiness, or gratefulness, or..." Her eyes flew open, sparkling with delight as she remembered. "New beginnings! That's what it means. New beginnings."

This was certainly a new beginning, after all, so the flower was fitting... both for her new friend and for his House. She closed her satchel, fingers busying themselves with re-doing the latches up tight.

@Aly Salinger

|| Interacting with @Aaron Jones ||

Smiling, Aaron repeated the bit about new beginnings, clearly intrigued; this, in turn, brought an equal smile to Aly's face. Aly loved flowers, partially because they were beautiful and meaningful and thoughtful, but mostly because of the joy they brought others. In her opinion, a flower could do wonders to cheer somebody up or brighten their day, and she was always just glad to be a little part of that brightening, if she could be.

Today, though, it was her turn to have her day be made. As she finished re-latching her satchel and looked back up to the dark-haired boy in front of her, some claim or other about needing to grab a quick bite of food before their afternoon class, she found a gift of his own being offered. The box of cling-wrap. Aaron was holding it out, accompanying the present with an oddly dubious look on his face, and a cacophony of emotions blared through Aly's mind in rapid succession.

First, elation. Oh! How exciting! For me? Aly was nearly as much in love with Muggle things as she was with flora, as was, of course, shown by that tin of band-aids - plasters, right, they're called plasters. To be offered technology with which she could play and study and have positively a blast... well, it made Aly think that perhaps Aaron knew her better than most of her classmates and friends, even after spending just a short ten or twenty minutes with her.

Then, doubt. Why is he offering this, one of his precious possessions? He knows he doesn't have to give a gift back, right? It's just a flower... Aly didn't expect anything back except for a smile whenever she gave somebody a little something. Seeing them be happier, even if it were just by the ever-so-tiniest margin, was enough of a reward. So why was Aaron giving her something back? Did he feel like he needed to, or was it just that he really wanted to and thought she would enjoy it? If it were the former, she'd feel awfully guilty taking it from him... well, she'd feel awfully guilty either way...

But finally, a sense of reassurance washed over her as she looked up into Aaron's deep brown eyes. He seemed so genuine in his offer, so surely this dubiousness in his face was not due to the fact that he didn't actually want to give her the cling wrap. Maybe he was nervous about going back in and finding his friends, or maybe he felt guilty that he'd kept her from lunch for so long, but whatever it was, Aly had the kindest feeling that it was nothing negative about her. And so, finally, calm, she took the box of clingwrap from his hand with a grateful grin and clutched it to her heart like it was her most prized gift, ever.

"How very kind you are, Aaron," she gushed, beaming brilliantly, her gaze surely sparkling with the pure excitement rushing through her veins at the thought of all the things she could do with this cling-wrap. Obviously she wouldn't be covering over doors, but wouldn't this be a lovely little thing to test out on her flowers, or perhaps an inkwell, or a goblet of pumpkin juice someday? Since Aly had no specific connection to the Muggle world, for her, Muggle things were few and far between, very hard to come by... so receiving something out of the blue was unexpected, but not unappreciated in the very slightest. "I will absolutely treasure this! And if you ever decide you want it back, just let me know and I will give it to you - or buy you some more!" She nodded once, precipitous, and wondered to herself, It can't be too expensive, right? How much could it possibly cost, a couple of Galleons? Wait, no, Muggles don't use Galleons...

The chatter on the other side of the wooden doors was growing louder suddenly, and the doors burst open nearly as soon as Aly had registered the volume difference, with a crowd of students of all Houses, ages, and other quality characteristics pouring into the Entrance Hall. Lunch had finished, and Aly again felt her stomach grumble with disappointment - but, as she glanced into the Great Hall, she could still spot a few rolls and such left over on the Ravenclaw table. She wouldn't have time to grab a full-fledged meal before Charms, but perhaps she could stick a few items into her satchel and eat them sneakily during class, hiding them in her lap or the folds of her skirt or the pockets of her robes or something.

Whirling back to Aaron, she gave him her absolutely brightest smile, reaching up again to adjust the daffodil in his hair, which had already become lopsided. "Well, it was a pleasure actually meeting you for once, albeit I wish it had been under different circumstances," she teased. "I'm going to go and snatch a roll before Charms, but we ought to do this again sometime - without all of the illegal bits like flying brooms through windows and sprinting away from professors, okay? I'll see you later!"

And with that, the curly-haired girl bounced off, throwing one last wave over her shoulder on her hunt to find a snack before her afternoon block. She would never have admitted it, least of all to herself or her mother, but she'd actually rather enjoyed her time with Aaron - even with the rule-breaking. Now, if she'd just liked the adventure or if she liked the company she'd kept, or perhaps both... well, only time would tell that much, and the clock was ticking away the seconds with every passing moment.