Of Crows And Ravens Closed

𝗳𝗮𝘆𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Date:some random sunday| Time: around 1pm| Outfit: X| CC: #369676
────────────────────────────────

───── Was the library always this packed? During this time nearer to the end of the year, the library was always housing many students under the mental boulder of exams. Faye made her way through the swarms upon swarms of students, keeping her head down and mumbling apologies when she bumped into people.

The Ravenclaw had a set route. It all played out in her head as her steps moved before her mind, making her way behind the shelves of books, although she did stop when she got distracted by a particularly shiny book spine, taking up valuable minutes of her mission reading the back. But she put it back on the shelf and continued, a faint, heaving smile appearing on her lips when she reached her destination:

The armchairs. Faye collapsed into one, her smile melting from her visage. She reached into her bag and produced her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' and, opening the book to where the green ribbon bookmark was placed, began to read from where she had left off. Her expression was now one unreadable, her eyes slowly moving with each word, processing each term with settled difficulty, like she's done it a million times before and it had started flowing, a difficult dance.

Nobody could bother her here. She didn't have to hold up a conversation. She was free to loose herself in Pemberley, forget all about Hogwarts. Not that she wanted to forget, as there was someone who was always on her mind.

A blinding flash of colour took her out out of her trance. Her head tilted slowly up and stared the figure down. It was a expression you would never see the girl wearing. It was an expression of distaste, like she was personally offended by being distracted. But there was something else, a flicker of lonely behind the flat eyes.

Honestly, the figure reminded Faye of herself. But, she was not in the mood to be upbeat.

“Yes.?”

She said blankly, blinking slowly, a look of incoherent disdain on her face.

────────────────────────────────
| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Qrow McCloud | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @ |@
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

─────Qrow had been starring. Anxiety flooded the young Slytherin's brain.
Gods, we're going to have to talk, aren't we?
They had never understood the reason most people decided to indulge themselves in pointless chit-chat, however, Qrow knew enough about how society worked to know that when you've stared at someone for a ridiculous amount of time that it is only suitable to provide an answer as to why. Before Qrow could fully think of what to say, the words tumbled out of their mouth...

"Um... Your book! It's just, that I've been scouring this library all year and I've never been able to find a single muggle book. It's rather daft actually, despite there being loads of students that are at least somewhat acquainted with muggles, Hogwarts has no muggle books. Can you believe that? You have an excellent taste by the way. Pride And Prejudice is fantastic. Actually, I suppose you think it's rather weird. A Slytherin student that not only likes a muggle book but strives for Hogwarts to have more of them... Oh, my gods, I'm rambling..."

Whilst Qrow was generally well-spoken for an eleven-year-old, they often spoke fast (faster if they were nervous) and their strong Scottish accent, which they could never quite change despite moving to Newcastle, was never easy for people to understand. Their voice, however, was quite pleasing to listen to, or that's what most people had said upon hearing the smooth silky sound of Qrow's speech.

The girl looked at Qrow in silence, as if sizing them up, so Qrow decided to do the same.
They had always prided themselves on their ability to read body language, gaining it as a result of preferring to watch the interactions of others, more than indulging on their own. Of course, as much as this interaction was disliked - most likely by both parties - Qrow needed to know how this blue-clad redhead had gotten a copy of a muggle book.

Qrow could very clearly see an expression of distaste that was plastered on her face, it was like she was personally offended by being distracted, and honestly, Qrow couldn't blame her, they would have been too. But there was something else, a small, minuscule flicker of loneliness behind the flat, hazel eyes of the girls' unwavering stare. Most people wouldn't have noticed it, but after eleven years of seeing the same look every time they had looked in the mirror, to Qrow, it was obvious.
Honestly, the girl almost reminded Qrow of themself.
Great minds think alike, but fools rarely differ I suppose...

𝗳𝗮𝘆𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Date:some random sunday| Time: around 1pm| Outfit: X| CC: #369676
────────────────────────────────

───── Faye didn't expect much from the fellow first year, but she definitely wasn't expecting that. Streams upon streams of words cascaded unmannerly out of the Slytherin's (She assumed they were Slytherin, because of the green-lined robes and trademark snake stitched onto the fabric) mouth. It was almost an assault on the senses, like an aggressive bird swooping down, talons out, and slashing over and over again. She almost wanted to go back to her book and tune out all of the ungodly words. Almost.

She managed to sit there, her figure sunken into the plush fabric, and listen to the ramble. And what a ramble it was. It sounded like she was listening to herself talk. Oh god, was this what she'd sounded like talking to Kim all those months ago? It had worked, though. She'd been able to talk about her favourite book whilst gaining a new friend in the process. Thank God that the Slytherin was asking her about 'Pride and Prejudice', she wouldn't have wanted to talk about anything else.

"Yes, you are. Luckily, I want to listen."

Faye said, almost in a monotone, before coughing and trying again. She'd have to at least try. This person liked her favourite book! Perhaps they could start a book club? No, Faye, that's silly. You're already part of the book club. Besides, who would want to spend all their time with one other person?(that wasn't Regina, Faye has ungodly standards and could listen to her talk for hours.)

"It's from back home. They don't have many muggle books here, I don't think."

Another coarse, snappy response. Faye wasn't even trying now, she just wanted to read her book in peace, thanks. And think about Regina. And catch up on all her school work that she's failed (it's a big pile).

────────────────────────────────
| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Qrow McCloud | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Kim Sato @Regina Miller|@
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

─────Qrow took their fellow first years' response to their rambling as an invitation to all but throw themself onto the plush chair opposite her, pulling their feet up onto the seat and sitting cross-legged, before tossing their forgotten book on the small side table next to them with a resounding "thud". Qrow's original plans were long forgotten anyways, besides, they had read that book so many times they could basically quote it word for word.

Slapping their hands on their knees, they began on another rampage of aggressive rambling.

"So, who's your favourite character? Personally, mine is Mr Darcy. I know he's rather arrogant, to begin with, but most of the people who truly know him, speak kindly of him, giving the impression that his generally aloof nature isn't a true representation of his character. Besides, I think the way Austen writes about him is fantastic, especially the way we get to see him undergo his character development through Elizabeth's eyes"

Qrow took a breath, absently twirling a purple lock of hair with their finger before going back to vomiting out a seemingly endless stream of words.

"Do you like any other classic muggle books? We have quite a few back in our library at home. I'm quite a big fan of Frankenstein personally. I have a copy of it in my dorm, though I often like to annotate my own books, so if you'd like to borrow it, there's that. Oh, if you like Pride And Prejudice, I'm guessing that you've probably heard of The Great Gatsby too? I've had it in my to-read pile for ages, and I just keep forgetting about it. Do you know if it's any good?"

Finally taking another breath - it was a miracle that the young Slytherin hadn't passed out from a lack of oxygen yet - Qrow kicked out their legs in a swift, sudden movement, hitting the table and resulting in their book and the Ravenclaws bag falling off the small coffee table and landing splayed open in front of their companion's feet, followed by a long string of curses, rude enough to make a drunken wizard blush, and a mumbled apology for both clumsiness and bad language.

Blood rushed to Qrows cheeks, making their face hot with guilt, and a bit of embarrassment. Finally, Qrow looked at the redhead that they had most definitely blown their chances of being friends with.
Wait a minute, when did Qrow care about making friends? Friends meant socialising with a person often, even when interests weren't involved. Friends meant Qrow would most likely need some form of verbal filter. Friends meant knowing personal things about each other... Wait a second...

Suddenly, a startling realisation dawned on the young Slytherin...

"Oh my gods, where are my manners? My name is Qrow McCloud, and you are?

𝗳𝗮𝘆𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Date:some random sunday| Time: around 1pm| Outfit: X| CC: #369676
────────────────────────────────

───── The Ravenclaw's eyes crinkled slightly, flinching as the Slytherin thrust themselves into the chair opposite, her mouth morphing into a scowl at the sudden interruption. She was always wanting a chat about Pride and Prejudice, sure (sometimes she even stopped people in the hallways to ask them about it), but right now, at this moment, she was not in the mood. She'd finally had the chance to strip off her exterior that she showed at all times and finally relax. There was no need to laugh or smile or even bat an eyelid, she could focus on herself, rather than the haze that she showed in the corridors. Peace, at last.

This peace had been interrupted, sadly. Faye closed her book with a loud bang! and sighed, leaning further into the chair and closing her eyes, tuning her ears to the Slytherin's babble. She so desperately wanted to drown out whatever nonsense she was being cursed to listen to and get up and leave, possibly try some of that work she was struggling with. Although, that'd be even worse, so she forced herself to call and respond to the Slytherin's words. They talked a lot about P&P, which would have made Faye smile if it wasn't for the pained expression already taking occupance on her face. When the conversation switched to something foreign, her attention slipped. She didn't have much care for what the Slytherin said was 'good'.

"I would hate Mr Darcy if it wasn't for," Faye said sharply, opening her eyes and smiling slightly "other reasons. Lots of people at this school speak like him. Rich people. People with two bathrooms."

Faye paused, her arms folding over each other for a split second until she unfolded them in preference of holding her right hand up into the air, staring at each one of her nails in detail, picking at the impurities.

"I like Lizzie Bennett's character. She stands up for herself. Makes for a good role model. I started Frankenstein, but I never finished it. The font's too small, makes the words go all funny. Plus, it's boring. Great Gatsby is for wannabes and rich people. You're wasting your time."

The sound of wood hitting wood broke her out of her opinionated speech and she sat up quickly, her grimace clear on her face. The Slytherin had knocked over her bag. And wasn't even bothering to pick it up. God, where were their manners? Her hazel eyes flicked violently towards her (unworthy) companion, rolling up to the sky. Faye stood up and swiftly bent down to gather her belongings, grumbling insults in Irish like she always did when she was annoyed. In her hurry, she accidentally began to drop items as well, a folded piece of parchment falling to the floor out of her eyeline.

"Oh, thanks for helping Qrow." She spat in a deadly monotone, pronouncing every syllable of their name with exaggeration. "I really appreciate it."

────────────────────────────────
| 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉: @Qrow McCloud | 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @ |
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

───── The Ravenclaw's venomous tone did little to deter Qrow, however, upon hearing the grumbled Irish, and rather rude grumbled Irish at that, Qrow finally snapped back into reality and out of their own thoughts, their sights falling on the spilt contents of the bag that now littered the floor in front of the pair. More curses and apologies escaped their lips.
"Crap, sorry! Here, let me help!"
Qrow immediately went to pick up everything they could, their eyes settling on a folded piece of parchment that had fallen under the table, just out of the redhead's view. It felt different to everything else, somehow more important than the rest of the bag's contents. Perhaps it was the care that it had been folded with or the slightly worn edges that showed it had been opened and reopened again and again? Whatever it was, Qrow didn't dare look, no matter how curious they were, this could be private, and the young Slytherin had already made enough social mistakes with this girl.
With gentle hands, Qrow picked up the parchment and looked back towards the pile of mess from the bag, taking note of the mighty collection of sweet wrappers, hastily scrawled notes, doodles and... was that a blue hat? Picking everything in their reach up and putting it back in the student's bag, as neatly as possible, (Pocketing the sweet wrappers in mild disgust of the girl allowing her bag to become so messy.) Qrow noticed just how much of the stuff in the bag had been school work, and not just any school work, the same work that was given to students when they didn't seem to be doing well in classes.
BINGO!
Qrow was an amazing student, always on time, (a miracle considering the child's sleeping habits) fantastic work ethic, a smart student with above-average grades and not to mention, most teachers loved them!
Without much thought, Qrows mouth started to move.
"Hey, I see you have a bunch of extra work there. I know I haven't made the best first impression, but if you let me try again I'm sure you'll find I'm much smarter than my rambling shows me to be, and I'd be more than happy to help you with any of that work!"
Flashing the Ravenclaw a grin, Qrow stood up, holding out the now fully packed, and much tidier, bag as well as the note that they had found under the table.

𝗳𝗮𝘆𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Date:some random sunday| Time: around 1pm| Outfit: X| CC: #369676
────────────────────────────────

───── Her whining continued as she thrust belongings back into her satchel violently, taking no care whether things crumpled or teared, she just wanted this over with. Qrow had caused nothing but trouble for the young Ravenclaw, coming into her life and tearing it up like the hastily scribbled notes in her hand. She just wanted to leave now, go somewhere quiet and procrastinate all her personal life.

Once everything was back in her bag, Faye began the rigorous process of sorting everything. Every little thing in her bag had it's own place, like peas in a pod. There was a large back pocket for her hat and spare jewellery, a side pocket for all her stationary and wand, each pile of notes was organised by subject, there was a little space for her sweet wrappers- They weren't there. An underlying sense of panic began to settle in her stomach. Something wasn't right. Sure, they were sticky, but they reminded her of the good parts of her childhood, eating sweets whilst she worked through the next chapter of her book. She always refused the sweets her mother offered her in bait for her finishing her homeschool work, they didn't feel right. There was something about eating those sweets that made her feel bad, like she'd been betrayed.

"Where did you put my sweet wrappers?" It was basically a whisper, her doe eyes wide with doubt, blinking rapidly. She didn't look up, her hands moving through her bag at an extreme speed, ghosting over the top of every item, trying to find what she was looking for.

Her head shot up, scanning every part of Qrow's face as she took the bag and swung it over her shoulder. Hazel eyes moved down to their other hand, where the note was clasped. She made a quiet squeak of distrust as she pointed at the note. Doubt faded into fury and selfishness.

"Where did you get that? I-" There was a tremble in her voice, like she didn't know how to be angry. She tried again. "I underestimated you, Qrow. Pretend to like my books so you can weave your way into my bag, is that it? I haven't done anything wrong, you know. I'm good now. I've got friends. Kim. Regina. They'd protect me. Wouldn't they?"

Her lip wobbled slightly at the thought of her friends not caring about her. Regina not doing anything. What would she do? Without Regina she was-

No, Faye. Forget that.

"Is this some sort of spy action? Oh my god, did Mammy finally snap and send spies or something to make sure I'm alright? I am alright. Better than I was back home. She only restricted me, I-"

Faye didn't know what she was saying and she couldn't stop. All the words were just pouring out, and she found herself revealing things she didn't want to. She was being paranoid, sure, but she couldn't help herself. Guilty tears began to form in her eyes, her eyes widening like a deer's.

"I'm sorry, I'll just go-" She whispered again, snatching the note out of Qrow's grasp, bitten nails passing over skin. She turned and made to leave, unless she was stopped.

────────────────────────────────
| 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵: @Qrow McCloud | 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: @Regina Miller @Kim Sato |
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿

─────
Obviously, the Ravenclaw hadn't heard Qrow's heartfelt speech on the idea of the two of them starting anew, much too focused on her missing sweet wrappers which, in fairness, they had been wrong to take without permission... Not that that made the young Slytherin any more pleased in having to continue with this interaction.
When Hephaestus had told me to make friends, I hadn't expected it to be this damn difficult!
Instead, upon seeing it, the redhead snatched the folded parchment from Qrow's hand and began ranting about questionable conspiracies about whether they had been sent to spy on her.
Me, a spy? Don't make me laugh!
Suddenly, the girl turned to leave, and in a last-ditch effort to save this interaction, the Slytherin put their arm out to stop her, before pulling half a dozen assorted sweet wrappers out of their pocket.
"Hey, don't leave just yet, I still have your sweet wrappers if you want them? Sorry, I probably, actually no, I definitely, should have asked first, but I assumed it would help clear some space in your already overflowing bag. You've got some quick grabbers by the way! About me being a spy? God's, no. I'm nosey as hell don't get me wrong, but why would I be a spy when I could become a Magizooligist? Being a spy seems far too political to me, besides, do you know how cool it would be to travel in search of magical creatures and document them?"
Finally looking down at the girl before them and taking notice of her appearance, Qrow realised just how badly they had messed up. The tears that welled in her eyes, the way in which her voice shrank to a whisper and her paranoid rambling.
Looking into the gap in between the girl's eyes, Qrow's bright smile faded, their poker face mask taking its place and showing a calm but unreadable expression. This time, they thought before they spoke, speaking with purpose and a stern sense of certainty that wasn't there before, making sure to be calm and gentle. Hopefully, the girl would be more open to Qrows apology if they calmed down. They just wanted to fix this mess they had made.
On the outside, Qrow was calm and much quieter than before, however, on the inside, their thoughts were rocketing, bouncing around their brain without a sense of order.
They needed to think of the exact right words, otherwise, this whole interaction would figure out a way to get further than rock bottom.
If the girl thought Qrow was a spy sent by her "mammy", she probably didn't get much privacy. They were right to not look at the note then, that most likely would have made this conversation a lot more difficult. She also seems paranoid about her friend's loyalties, perhaps reassuring her would help? Though if they even give her a reason to question their loyalty towards her, their probably crappy friends. Honesty seems to be key here, perhaps if I open up a bit, she'll feel less awkward about her own rambling?
"Listen, this interaction didn't go the way I planned, and for that, I apologise. Honestly, I don't have any friends here yet, and when I saw someone who seemed to have an interest in common with me, I couldn't help myself. I didn't mean to knock over your bag and I didn't read the note, I just found it under the table, and thought it looked important, so again, I'm sorry. I can assure you, that I'm no spy, nor do I have any interest in ever being one. You seem like a very private person, but I meant what I said about helping with the extra school work if you want and the offer will always remain open, hell, even if you just need someone to talk to, come find me. You seem like a great person, if not a little paranoid, but I'm sure your friends are lucky to have you."
With each word, Qrow signed along, their hands taking the shapes of BSL in practised grace and fluidity, in an attempt to redirect their usual boundless energy.