Beauty and the Books PV ⇉ R. Parker Closed

Elijah's hopes and dreams sunk down into the bottoms of the pockets of his jeans as the prefect admitted to not knowing if tea was allowed. Sighing heavily, he tried to prevent the disappointment from reaching his face, only letting the corners of his mouth turn down slightly, his eyes cast down at the ground- or, more accurately, the table, and the notebook lying open on it.

A quickly as flipping a switch, his mental mindset flipped from emotional to analytical. Scanning the page with astonishing speed, he picked out the necessary details without any trouble. The name at the top of the notebook page named the girl as Rosie Parker, who seemed to be an avid lover of Astronomy, judging by the mass of words scribbled in her notes. Before he could glance further down the page, however, he was startled out of his analysis by a sudden warmth surrounding his neck and spreading throughout his chest. What on god's green earth was happening?

Elijah's mouth dropped open wordlessly in shock as he stared rather uncomfortably into the eyes of the girl winding a scarf around his neck. "You don't-" he stuttered, eyes widening to the size of basketballs. "You really didn't need to..." The incomprehensible noises of protest kept flowing out of his mouth as the tiny girl finished wrapping his neck with her soft scarf. He trailed off, however, as her statement was proven true.

The lovely warmth spreading through his upper body was comforting, and truly, he was slightly warmer. Thus, her bold claim was right- Hufflepuffs really did have remarkably comfy scarves. He smiled as she laughed, and to his complete and utter surprise, his smile was genuine, through and through.

"Thank you," he mumbled quietly, blushing slightly as he tucked the slightly-loose end of the borrowed scarf around his neck. How could this girl be so unassumingly selfless with her belongings? She was so willing to help someone else in need, so open to human contact, so sweet and kind... She was, in short, perfect. She was a saint.

He wanted to be her. She could teach him how to be genuine. She could be his saving grace.

Taking a deep breath, he thrust his hand out for a handshake. He nearly scared himself with how direct and jerking the motion was, what would the girl in front of him think? Oh, this boy was a mess... "I'm Elijah Huang," he said, trying his best to be assertive and friendly at the same time. Was that even possible? Well, she had done it- she could teach him. "You're... Rosie Parker, Hufflepuff prefect?"

Elijah's cheeks flushed as he realized that his inconspicuous glance at her writing might not have been as stealthy as he had originally hoped it to be. Thankfully, Rosie didn't seem to mind, and merely laughed it off with a simple ease and grace, her hair floating around her like a caramel-colored halo. "No, they're perfect," he murmured under his breath, in reference to her notes, although looking back upon it in hindsight, that was kind of a creepy thing to say.

As Rosie's hand touched his, a jolt of electricity shot up his arm and through his spine, warming him up further. His long, thin fingers encapsulated her delicate hand, and his cheeks felt crazily warm as she complimented his name. Nobody liked the Chinese names, and yet this girl did. Really, she was a saint- an angel from the skies above. He didn't mind the barrage of questions she fired at him, even though he was usually annoyed by interrogative questions.

The best house- yes, Hufflepuff was the best house, nevermind whatever preconceived connotations he had collected from author biases in his sister's textbooks. If this girl, someone who was just so obviously right with her place in the world, decided that Hufflepuffs should rule the world, he'd gladly back her up without any questions. It really was truly miraculous what the effects of someone else's happiness could have on such a melancholy soul.

His sister had once compared him to Jaques, from Shakespeare's writing, as well as subconsciously quoting Mean Girls at the same time, quipping, "You're too sad to function!" She was right, of course. Celestine was always right. Truly, his seriousness had inflicted some limits and restrictions on his life that wouldn't be there if he simply chose to be like Rosie. Of course, he also had to commend her wonderful comparison of him to Jaques- truly, there wasn't any other Shakespearean character that he loved as dearly.

"I'm a, uh," he stammered, trying to collect his thoughts, before casting his glance to the ground at his vividly-colored feet. Of course! When everything went wrong, blame it on the socks. "I'm a Slytherin, first year- so yes, I'm rather new. Obviously." God, his voice was annoying. How did she do it? How did she make her voice sound so cheery, so delightful? Clearing his throat, and before he could even stop to choose his words, he rambled on without rhyme nor reason.

"I mean, my sister- she's older -was here, she just graduated... two years ago, I think it was? She spoke of this place, of Hogwarts, like it was her home- I feel like I know so much of it already, just through her." With a gulp, he clamped his mouth shut, utterly embarrassed of the word vomit Rosie had just had to experience. What would she think of him now? Just a nervous, first-year mess... what an awful dilemma.

She hadn't met a Slytherin before? Why, they were practically crawling all over the place! It was practically impossible to have not met someone from any of the four houses, not when they had those co-ed classes together with other houses. Maybe she just didn't make any effort? But certainly, he would have to try his best to do his house proud, proving to Rosie that indeed, Slytherins were wonderful human beings.

"We like Hufflepuffs just fine!" he blurted out, his words choked with anger, in response to Rosie's musings. 哎呀，你这次真的搞砸了. He could feel his cheeks heating up again in embarrassment, and he sniffed indignantly, mad at himself for getting so fired up about the stereotype. "Hufflepuffs are wonderful," he amended, his tone of voice calming down. He could feel his face finally retreating to its normal color, for which he was grateful. Who wanted to constantly look like a tomato? "My sister always joked that a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff would take over the world together because they'd be such a formidable duo."

Wait. Was that weird to say? After all, he was a Slytherin, and she was a Hufflepuff... he banished the thought from his mind, however. They were mature enough to know what he meant- that Slytherins didn't necessarily hate Hufflepuffs. Even if he didn't know for sure if cooties existed, you could never be too careful. Better safe than sorry, as his sister always said.

Oh, please talking, the back of his mind pleaded. The more she spoke, the more he picked up on. Her tone of voice was light and cheery, like she hadn't a care in the world. Her posture was far more relaxed than his was, although to be fair, his was ramrod straight from years upon years of insistence from his mother. His shoulders were tense and creeping up towards his shoulders, giving off the impression that he was trying to become a rectangle by utilizing his shoulders; Rosie was comfortable with where she was, and her shoulders were relaxed.

Her smile as she agreed that indeed, Hogwarts was like a second home, was the sweetest thing Elijah had ever seen. He wanted to take a picture of that smile and tuck it away in his pocket, so he could pull it out and look at it whenever he felt sad. It was the smile of a goddess, radiating pure joy and sunlight.

How could someone so amazing be present here, in front of him? Truly, he was blessed by her presence.

Enough idolizing! He wasn't to idolize anyone, with the singular exception of his family. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he nodded in agreement with her words. "Really, I'm quite lucky my sister and I are so close," he said quietly, a small smile spreading across his face- a genuine one, at that. His sister was his best friend and mother all in one, there for him when his mother was away.

"Do you have siblings?" he asked conversationally, and making a bold move, he sat down at the table Rosie had been sitting at previously. His homework could wait until later- right now, he wanted to talk to this angel, this saint, this fricking perfect prefect. 

Translations ↴
哎呀，你这次真的搞砸了→ Damn, you really screwed up this time.

Elijah chuckled under his breath, smiling at Rosie's small mistake. How good she was, to not make such a big fuss out of a small trip up. Filing the small observation away into a new file in the back of his head, he nodded, assenting to her comment. "Platonically. Of course." Under his breath, he added, "It would be my honor."

The way Rosie leapt up onto the table startled him, and he nearly fell over backward in his chair. The positive energy that encapsulated the word she spoke about her baby brother made his heart melt, and he just couldn't help but smile. If he was anything like his sister, Elijah was sure that Ben would turn out to be a lovely person.

Dads? Plural? He was sure that Celestine had mentioned things like that before, and it didn't really matter to him- not when there was the way grosser subject of marrying your mother or sister in Ancient China. No, he wasn't one to judge, not when it came to whom you chose to marry- but still, it was interesting. He'd never met a child of two men, nor two women; yet when you looked at Rosie, you wouldn't have been able to tell. Maybe love's imprint was invisible, in sight, smell, and surface appearance.

Maybe you just couldn't tell someone who to love.

"Adopting a kid..." Elijah said softly, shaking his head subtly. He couldn't imagine having another sibling- no, Celestine was enough for him. "Wow." He wanted to ask about her dads, and what it was like having two of them (imagine! double the dad jokes!), but he felt that it was impolite. He'd have to consult his mother in his next letter to her.

He reddened slightly at Rosie invitation to join her, and he slowly unfolded his thin frame from its tightly wound stance- arms crossed across his chest, hands tucked under his armpits, legs comfortably resting on top of one another. Gingerly, he sat down next to the Hufflepuff, as if he was afraid that she would spook if he made any sudden movements. She's a human, not a cat. Treat her like one.

"You?" he echoed, laughing a little at her words. "You want to know about me?" When was the last time anyone had said that to him? Everyone was so caught up in their own lives, in sharing whatever they could on the internet, and he'd forgotten that some people... that some people cared enough to ask about you. To ask how your day went. That there were people out there who truly cared.

Rosie wasn't one of those types of people who listened only to wait for the opening in which they could shove their voice into, who talked only to hear their own voice. It was a refreshing change, one that he relished and wanted to hold on to, even if that meant talking about himself to entertain her. "Families..." he mused, hating how he sounded like her echo. "I'm not sure there's much to talk about with my family. We're... I mean, I guess my parents are from China?"

Oh, well that was blatantly obvious. His last name was Huang, for crying out loud. How much more Chinese could you get than that? Maybe Li, but that was about it. His skin, his hair, and his eyes gave it all away, too. He was used to being the only kid with pitch-black hair at school, but he had hoped that there would be more diversity at Hogwarts.

He had thought wrong, unfortunately.

"We can take turns, then," he said suddenly, turning to meet Rosie's vibrantly emerald eyes, his own charcoal irises lighting up with an idea. "Asking each other questions, I mean- to sort of, get to know each other, I suppose?" Well, it had been a good idea in his head, but saying it out loud sort of took the magic away. "Sort of like Truth or Dare- but all Truths.

"You started, I guess, with that question about my family. So, my turn." Clearing his throat, he tried to think of a question quickly, as to not keep her waiting. "When... when is your birthday?"