The Snakes, The Hags, The Shelves. PV. Caoimhe Kyle Closed

• AISLE BEYOND THE HISTORIES AND CLOSE TO THE MAGICAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS •

10th January | The Library
wc: 508
Avery's Hex #136b5c

Outfit:

Reducio

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	-----B oldness, at last. It was an odd craving of his, but he desired that the people he associated with had something more to them. In some instances secrets would suffice, in others; a mysterious air was enough to bring him along but in the instance of all three it made him quite giddy at the prospect of decent conversation with someone interesting. It was both slightly childish, and slightly inimical, how he gamified and categorized people; but he wasn’t going to stop based on the morals of others. How thankful he was, that he had correctly pegged Caoimhe Kyle to be anything but normal. His countenance darkened, as an expression that mixed admiration and satisfaction for her daring, and disdain that she had taken him up on the gambit he had laid. Though there seemed a thread of hers to pull there, he was almost bodied by her tossing of the ball back into his court. He hadn’t yet inquired about her name, for the holidays didn’t really allow for the opportunity, but he reminded himself he should begin asking when he went home to Bath for the easter break. “No.” He declared, with a cutting edge to it. It was designed to present as a kind of porcupine spine, a defensive offence. He too had noted the change in the air, which was a regrettable progression of their relationship. Alas, now would be where the mettle of their strange entanglement would begin to show. “He worked in the department for magical transportation.” He gave, which wasn’t a falsehood, as he scratched the last of a sentence onto his parchment with a sharp flick and a harsh audible break. It was a subtlety that he had performed in an attempt to pull her attention away from the past-participle he had used. He didn’t want to give too much away, and her boldness could very well lead to some kind of ongoing interrogation; and that was a position reserved wholly for him. Avery was keenly aware that, whilst this seemed an innocent question from her, it was most certainly charged. It was a skill he had developed already, something he had prepared for during all of the engagements his mother had dragged him to as a child; but it was okay, he knew how to respond. “Though it’d make for an even better story were he an auror.” He said nonchalantly, as if he didn’t just condone his fathers’ behaviour. It was something Avery internally disagreed with at present, but this was designed to be bait; her reaction to such would be rather telling in either direction. He let silence hang between them then, shifting his piercing ebony eyes to her, looking to gauge her reaction quite visibly. All the while, he sported a very slight smirk that look as though it bordered between hope that she would step foot into the dark, or invited the challenge of her light.
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Interacting with @Caoimhe Kyle

DATE ┊ 1/10/23-----STYLE ┊ attire & hair-----MENTIONS ┊ @Avery Leveret -----WC ┊ 461/200
-----ENGLISH ┊ "words"-----FRENCH ┊ "words"-----ARABIC ┊ "words"

-----Once more, Caoimhe would find herself on the backfoot. His choice of words ruddled and vexed her. But what else could she have anticipated from an individual so wily, bold and brilliantly clever?

Although she would only associate with people who possessed these impeccable characteristics, Avery was the individual who caused her the most unease. She was unable to express the contradictory admiration and irritation she had for Avery. Caoimhe could admit, if she dared, that he was one of the more attractive students in their class, but he had an aura of mystery that she relished unraveling most of all.

Caoimhe could still sense the ominous feeling between them, but it appeared to merely be part of the perfect trap the boy would craft just for her. And here she was, yet again, falling down the rabbit hole attempting to unravel the significance of his cryptic utterances. Whether it was her bold ego or the thrill of solving his riddle, she'd fall for it over and over again. She would loathe him partially because of it, but couldn't help but admire the façade.

He played his hand; how would Caoimhe play hers?

Caoimhe glanced up for a fraction of a second to observe the smirk that struck her at the lake, but his words were acerbic and conveyed deeper meaning. It was as though Avery was silently daring her to find out, and he baited her with his dance of words. She would share a similar smirk upon her features, looking up at him briefing while dipping her quill in her pot of ink.

"Curious," she began with a smug chuckle, "We both know he did not work for department for magical transportation for long or full time." her words rattled with a deep edge despite her calm and plain smile, almost contradicting the venom behind her words.

She didn't detect a lie, but Caoimhe was certain there was more to this. Avery's degree of competence was not typical of someone who worked in such a mundane field. There had to be more to his story than he would allude, but she would conduct her own inquiry when she returned home for the Spring holidays, and would inquire their surname by her family and Pureblood registry.

"Alas, I suppose it would have made for a greater story if he had been an auror," she agreed with a playful sigh as she scribbled additional information worthy of note onto her parchment. "Was he also a Hogwarts alumni?" She would gaze back down at her page, awaiting his response and whatever other bait he would use to enchant her. Caoimhe was under the impression that if she had this piece of information, she would look for it in the Daily Prophet or in ledgers pertaining to that period of time. Only time would tell what would be in store for the two snakes, and she would ponder if they'd look back at this time with a change of heart.

• AISLE BEYOND THE HISTORIES AND CLOSE TO THE MAGICAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS •

10th January | The Library
wc: 739
Avery's Hex #136b5c

Outfit:

Reducio

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	-----S omehow, she had managed to find a path that wasn’t all that enlightening to her meaning. Having been pleasantly surprised that she had so deftly avoided that trap he had laid, he relented. She was a challenge, he knew; but he had suspected he had somehow skewed the balance they always seemed to strike; to his dismay. It was the cause of minor annoyance that she could dance so well, especially given the usual people he met throughout the school. Without giving anything away, and without also being aloof and distant to the question; she seemed to easily identify and step around the trap; any other should surely have fallen in, and he would have discerned their nature from friend or foe. He couldn’t classify her, and that was likely to remain the case for a time. Like her, there was an uneasiness about her, or rather; his interactions with her. His drive to understand people seemed to meet a wall when they spoke, which made her notable and an ever present question that he’d often come back to. Alas, right now, they were studying together; if you could call this odd game of chess that. He was comforted by the idea that they had both opted into this, and it continued as long as their willing of such, did. Though he was sure that her first retort was a wild bluff, it wasn’t so far from the truth as to be wildly unbelievable. “Do we now?” He tested, would she stick to her guns? Soon enough he let up and offered a humoured smirk. She could bite, and he liked that. Although she wasn’t to know, everything he is was not something that he could attribute to his father, the man who was missing for almost all of his life, to date. No, to his mother was his debt due. Though that included the good, the bad and the ugly, though some of that even he was unaware of, just yet. In the few years that his father has been back, their interactions were both hardly pleasant and few and far between. His absence was responsible for much in Avery’s candour but his mother and grandmother; moreso. “A greater story?” He said then, turning his ebony eyes on her then. She had earlier danced over a trap only to fall in the face of laying her own, and although it pleased him greatly, he didn’t let his face show it. Her response was favourable, if it was to be believed. He didn’t expect her to have lulled him with a false sense of security, and so completely believed it to be the case that she both knew the history, and thought of it favourably. If this was to be her play it was one of pure genius that, if exposed, could make or break whatever they were to be. However he thought, he knew better than to take that as a sign to expose his own opinions. They were not close enough for that. In lieu of that fact, it remained the case that he wouldn’t allow this to descend into an interrogation. She was playing along just fine, and smiling, and smirking and probing, and although he didn’t want to let her get closer; he found himself unable to resist rewarding her with another bit of untrapped honesty. “And my mother.” He answered with a smile, which was probably the first indication of warmth beneath what seemed an ice-cold exterior, as he spoke with fondness. “Both were Slytherins too, and my brothers, though they’re done with school now. -- He was in a number of departments, I’m told. Though, Magical Transportation was where he had the most experience. Not exactly exciting but that was made up for, I’m sure. He had given, with enough substance for her to be sated for now; he hoped. "And you, Ms.Kyle, what about your parents?” He gave, perfectly pleasantly, but she could well mistake this as yet another poised, venomous strike. All the while, he kept making ‘notes’ on the hags. In truth, he had made a few notes over the course of their spar, but in his defence he found this much more interesting than scribbling ramblings on hags in the limited time they had between lessons.
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Interacting with @Caoimhe Kyle

DATE ┊ 1/10/23-----STYLE ┊ robes & hair-----MENTIONS ┊ @Avery Leveret -----WC ┊ 784/200
-----ENGLISH ┊ "words"-----FRENCH ┊ "words"-----ARABIC ┊ "words"

-----Caoimhe made little progress toward her objective of learning more about Hags, but she did delve into the complexities of a subject that was significantly more engaging.

She led a brief existence, but managed to encounter enough people to be able to read, classify, and calculate them with ease. Whether it was her capacity to accurately assess people or their lack of significance that made them so predictable, she would be unable to solve the case of Avery. It prompted her to consider the possibility that they were not as dissimilar to one another as she would prefer to believe. The fact that she couldn't read him bothered and yet intrigued her. And Caoimhe would have known for some time that this was the case, yet it could be argued that she savored venturing into the shadows.

She was aware that she had evaded his snare this time, much to his dismay, but she was unsure whether her good fortune would continue. After hearing the vehemence in his remarks, Caoimhe would taunt him by saying, "Yes, a greater story." This would be her method of savoring her small victory before he rigged the board against her.

They were both aware of what researching hags together would entail, and they voluntarily entered this situation, so it was not for nothing. They appeared to be playing a peculiar game of chess, but were they actually inspecting hags or each other? Given that neither of their parchments contained many inscriptions, the Slytherin may have desired to believe that Avery shared the same beliefs. His smirk eliminated any lingering ambiguity; he enjoyed this as much as she did. However, would lifting the veil that separated them strengthen or destroy whatever they were intended to be? That was the source of her disquiet, but her facial features concealed any sign of apprehension.

She was aware that they were not in a position to express such emotions, but she eagerly anticipated the morsels they would share during their game. Caoimhe ceased taking notes, if one could call this taking notes, so that she could pay attention to what Avery had to say. She would examine his eyes and mouth for signs of deceit as she dipped her ivory quill into her pot of ink, but she would find nothing but the truth. Caoimhe could not deny the possibility that he was telling the truth, but she was convinced there was a deeper meaning. Or the actual truth was in his words.

By the time he concluded speaking, she would be wearing a simple, unpretentious smile. She would not be particularly astonished when he inquired about her parents. Caoimhe was well aware that his inquiry would be another minefield for her to navigate, but was she as skilled at dancing as she fancied? She would characterize herself as a verbal escapist in particular circumstances, but she was uncertain about her ability to avoid as carefully this time. Avery would not only test her, but she would also test herself.

"My mother, Hufflepuff. My father, a Slytherin. One of my step-brothers was a Hufflepuff and his twin being a Gryffindor. They're both done with school now, but my half brother is in his Fourth Year; Gryffindor." She began to tread cautiously, knowing that his question was about her parents and that she would have attempt to tiptoe her way to safety as she shared more information.

"Well, you know my father's profession. My mother worked as a secretary for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but she retired early after adopting my siblings and had my brother shortly thereafter. She'd meet my father some time later," she'd say, turning her gaze to the volume, turning the page and resuming her note-taking with the hope that her response would satisfy his curiosity sufficiently to keep Avery at bay. For now, at least.

Not to mention the fact that this was all she knew even if Avery beckoned for more. When Caoimhe inquired about her mother's early life, her mother provided a succinct account, and when queried about her step-brother's father, her mother would reveal that she could also dance quite well too.

But after examining her words to Avery for flaws, she had a realization that Caoimhe seem to have overlooked before. Did she know her mother as well as she wanted to believe? What did her mother have to conceal that enabled her to perform so well? Caoimhe knew the answer to the secrets that drove a wedge between them and the rest of her family; they were not Purebloods, but there was something missing from her mother's story. She might research not only Leveret's lineage, but also her own.

It's terrible when you can't trust the people closest to you.

• AISLE BEYOND THE HISTORIES AND CLOSE TO THE MAGICAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS •

10th January | The Library
wc: 608
Avery's Hex #136b5c

Outfit:

Reducio

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	-----C aoimhe taunted him, prompting a small smirk from the boy as he pushed his tongue into his cheek; buying him time to gaze at her. Something about her seemed drawn to the mystery, to the darkness of it all. Some were excited by benevolence and kindness, by good; and others just had to know how the other side worked, curiously inquiring as to their nature and what made them such and it seemed that each of the young snakes found a place in the ranks of the latter. It was a first for him, being able to recognise this. Most times he had discussed his family, somebody was already clued up; or already had an angle on him which put on the defensive; but her quiet acknowledgement was somewhat reassuring. In quiet respect of the veil between them, of the mystery that enticed them so, he’d leave it in place and tear his piercing gaze from her and back to the hag scripture; another move in their evolving game. Whilst his smirk was meaningful enough to her, he would leave it at that; leaving her with some such morsel that she awaited eagerly. She would have to decide upon any further meaning he meant, or any context he had purposefully left unsaid, later. He adopted a half-interested demeanour; he couldn’t well seem too eager to hear her speak of her background. Though he wished she and her family were peers that sat at the same tables as he and his did, he was already aware of a few signs that didn’t bode well. Avery’s head was half-cocked to her, angled down to view the text but so that he could comfortably flick his eyes to her as and when he desired; which he did more often than he’d care to admit. Caoimhe had detailed her close family, which prompted him to nod her on; to continue. Then she assumed he already knew of her, which was a challenge to the warning signs he had seen prior; was she of a notable name? Was he meant to know her father’s profession? – Now that was tricky, she had again shattered the expectations he was constantly rebuilding. She put him on edge, the kind that caused a knot in your stomach; that kept you on the edge of your seat in wait for her next gift. – She had put him on the back foot again. It was infuriating. Now he would have to keep the promise he had earlier made, to research this girl. For now he could only attempt to play it cooly… “Strange that, having a younger sibling I mean.” He said, out there, as though adopting another angle or subverting the prior context for something of his own. “I couldn’t imagine it, less so a half one and half-siblings.” “Though, I do not judge.” He lied. “We’ve a cousin on my mother’s side who was a Ravenclaw.” He teased, mirthfully. “I wonder, perhaps our mothers know of one another? - Well, mine was in the Wizengamot but I know she had a number of assistants within the department. Cadence Mallory.” Avery said, to prepare his next ask by indebting her with a name she could use to find the answers he knew she longed for. “And yours?” He followed up, as he wiped the excess ink off of his quill and set it down. He seemed to be wrapping up, their dance shortly coming to a close…
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Interacting with @Caoimhe Kyle