PV Simon Tilia Stars and Smiles Completed

@Simon Tilia

Irina listened, open mouthed, as Simon described his encounter with an eagle. After he had finished speaking, she sat there for a few seconds, remaining silent. "That . . . sounds . . . AWESOME!" she yelped, sitting up onto her heels. "I love animals and having a connection like that with one? Amazing," she breathed.

"Hmm … Answer both! And why bowtruckle? I think this is like fifth time you’ve mentioned bowtruckles. Is that your favorite magical creature or something?"

"I don't think it's my afvourite magical creature, but everyone always compares me to one . . . and I can kinda see why." She grinned and started listing the reasons on her fingers. "Super, super small. Surpricingly vicious. Loves to be in trees (and in my case, practically lives in them). Have a certain connection to wand trees, and I'm a huge wand nerd!"

She grinned and then answered Simon's origional question. "Okay, sooo both. Well, what would I smell like to someone else? Probably . . . hmm. Ermm . . . oh, okay! Probably the smell of spring. You know, when you can tell winter is coming to an end and then you just smell the air and it's the first sign of spring. Ooor . . . or trees. I love trees." She grinned awkwardly, aware that her answer had been slightly too nerdy and deep for an answer to a game. She continued with the question, trying to slide over the slightly embarrassed moment.
"And then the other question was what do I smell. Well, outside our house we have a huge magnolia tree, and there are wysteria flowers growing up our wall. I'd smell that. And I'd also smell that really 'old book' kinda smell. And then also the smell of night time, when dusk is coming and everything just smells pure and fresh and clean and - "

Irina stopped abruptly, silently berating herself but outwardly gigling in a nervous manner. Why did she have to keep on giving such randomly detailed answers?
She decided to gently turn the question back to Simon. "What do you think about the love potion then. You can answer whichever question feels easiest."

She felt fidgety again so she jumped off of the table, causing it to wobble crazily. "Whoops," she muttered as she walked over to the railing again, leaning over it and breathing in deeply, the scent of dusk suffusing her scenses.
"Ooooo, I've thought of a new addition to the game! What would your polyjuice potion colour be?"
She turned her head slightly to look at Simon, still leaning over the railing. "Go on, what colour do you think I would be?"

”... Have a certain connection to wand trees, and I'm a huge wand nerd!"

Simon could definitely see the resemblance between Irina and a bowtruckle. No further explanation was needed. He considered whether he should use that as a nickname for her, but it was not the most beautiful or smooth word to pronounce. He liked 'Irina' better. Simon was very interested in wands too, but had not read so much wand lore except for flipping through one of his dad’s old books, so when she mentioned wands, he got curious.

”Are you that kind of nerd who is just fascinated by them or do you actually know stuff about them?”, he asked jokingly. ”For example, what can you tell me about my wand?” He pulled it out from his pocket and held it out to her. ”Come on, you can take it, it’s not like it’s going to bite.”

Hearing someone like Irina answer the love potion question was one of the most interesting bits of the game so far. His mother always emphasized that there were many different kinds of love: the love you felt for your parents or siblings, the kind of love you felt for your friends (‘yes, even of the same sex’) and then there was this other kind of love that apparently made it feel like butterflies in your stomach. Simon had only felt something like that when he was riding roller coasters or perhaps that time he answered a question correctly in Charms class and Professor Fresnel complimented him. But he was not in love with Professor Fresnel, was he? No, of course he was not. But what was Irina’s concept of love? She loved her family, that much he knew. But he was well aware that love potion was about this 'other type of love', causing a powerful infatuation or obsession. He just could not imagine Irina ever becoming 'romantically' in love with something else than perhaps food or chocolate.

When Irina described the scent of spring, it was almost as if he could smell it in the air around them and he wondered if it actually was a scent coming from her. The same thing happened when she mentioned wysteria flowers, which his parents had in their backyard as well. He was quite familiar with all those smells. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden giggle from Irina before she spoke again:

"What do you think about the love potion then. You can answer whichever question feels easiest." She jumped off the table causing it to wobble so heavily he had to put down his hands to catch his balance. "Whoops... Ooooo, I've thought of a new addition to the game! What would your polyjuice potion colour be? Go on, what colour do you think I would be?"

"Hmm... What would I smell like? To someone who would be in love with me?", asked Simon and felt a slight heat on his cheeks again, but this time it quickly cooled. "I don't know. Shower gel from my sister's brand..." No, that is what I DO smell like. "... or books, because I like to read, or like the leaves of lime trees, because that is usually where you find me when I'm home. And the other question has been answered already, I believe. Or was it not satisfying enough?" He chuckled nervously. "Which Polyjuice potion color I am is impossible to answer though! How would I know? It could be any color!" He laughed. "Okay, okay... Erhm... Purple. Because it's a mix of blue and red. I believe spending time with a certain Gryffindor has made me slightly more red than I was blue a couple of weeks ago." He was quite satisfied with that answer.

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

@Simon Tilia

”For example, what can you tell me about my wand?” Irina paused, unsure what to think. She loved examining people's wands, and it was normally something she tried to look at early on after meeting someone. It gave her information about the person that she hadn't necessarily picked up - but they never offered to let her look! Normally she had to, at the very least, ask, if not persuade them to let her examine it!
”Come on, you can take it, it’s not like it’s going to bite.” She smiled and gratefully took the wand, carefully spinning it over in her hands. She loved the feel of this magical wand piece of wood in between her fingers, the patterns and engarvings and twists all forming a character that matched it's wizard or witch. It fascinated her endlessly and suddenly her entire focus was directed completely towards the wand.
After a few seconds of studying it, she muttered, "Oak wood . . . make that English Oak Wood and . . . Pheon - nope, Unicorn Tail Hair." She looked up briefly and gave a distracted smile, saying "Perfect for you," before quickly going back to the wand.
"Oak Wood is incredibly loyal and coupled with the loyalty often found in Unicorn Hair, it's likely to work for you and only you, reguardless of possession or winning. It also suggests that you have a loyal character. This didn't surprise Irina in any way, as all of his actions so far had suggested this, but she did feel a slight sense of reassurance, as the fear born from all new friendships that he would ditch her, abbated slightly.
"Unicorn hair is least likely to turn to the Dark Arts but it's counteracted slughtly by the fact that the wood is . . . well, it suggests that the Wizard might do things to impress others. Then again, the core and wood balance each other beautifully due to the fact that they are not prone to accidents and even when they do happen, you're able to get out of it."
She looked up suddenly and smiled shyly, handing him back his wand. "Sorry about that. But erm, I think it has chosen well . . . you seem to be very similar together and it hints at a strong connection. But I'd be careful cause Unicorn Hair will often cause the wand to wilt if you mishandle it or abuse it's power, as Unicorns are inherently good creatures."
Irina laughed apologetically, aware of how completely nerdy she just was. "Ahah, um . . . I'll try and shut up. And I've only been studing wands for a little while so I could definitely be wrong."

Listening to Simon's answer about Amortentia scents, she thought his answer was reasonable. She desperately wanted to smell the lime trees he had told her about - gorgeous scent and fun to climb! What could be better!
She laughed at his response of 'purple' nodding her head in agreement. "You may be right on that one. I do tend to have an unfortunately strong influence on new people. It's a good answer though! Well thought out." She winked cheerily then hung her head in mock-dissapointment. "Sad to say I've probably not grown any wiser since knowing you - I tend to be an annoyingly stubborn person when it comes to change."

Irina tilted her head backwards, thinking of what her colour would be. "I think I'd probably be a really bright yellow. It's not my favourite colour but I can't escape the fact that I'm a pretty bubbly person with a bubbly personality. I'd like to be blue though. It's a nice colour - strong, calm, determined and, I dunno . . . quietly fierce." She chuckled. "But I'm not quietly fierce at all. Or calm!"

". . . Ahah, um . . . I'll try and shut up. I've only been studying wands for a little while so I could definitely be wrong."

Simon looked at Irina with his mouth wide open. "Okay. You totally sold that better than the salesman at Ollivander's. And you provided me with much more details. I didn't even know half of these things. I should probably study wand lore a bit more to get to know my wand better", said Simon and chuckled. He always enjoyed learning new things from other people and was quite impressed that Irina knew so much and could tell all that just from examining his wand.

". . . Sad to say I've probably not grown any wiser since knowing you - I tend to be an annoyingly stubborn person when it comes to change."

Simon chuckled. "In some strange way, I feel like that's one of your best abilities."

"I think I'd probably be a really bright yellow. It's not my favourite colour but I can't escape the fact that I'm a pretty bubbly person with a bubbly personality. I'd like to be blue though. It's a nice colour - strong, calm, determined and, I dunno . . . quietly fierce. But I'm not quietly fierce at all. Or calm!"

"No, you're certainly not", said Simon, laughing. "By the way, if the description of blue was somehow a description of me, then thank you. At least I'm pretending it was. I don't know about fierce, though, quietly or not. Except when my friend is about to get her butt kicked from a whomping willow. Or when people are mean or picking on the weaker. Few people have seen me angry, but trust me... I can get angry. If I were to describe you, however, I would say –" Simon put his hand to his chin and studied her carefully. "– Strong. Independent. Brave... and good-hearted." He emphasized each of the words with his eyes locked in hers. "Beyond all that 'bubbliness' of course. Yep, that’s a word from now on."

He smiled and felt a mild breeze in his hair before a familiar screech was heard from above. His family owl Hoax, a morepork owl, came flying towards them. Simon held out his arm for him to land.

"Hey there!", said Simon and chuckled. "Didn't expect to find me out here, did you? Have you been out hunting? Wow, really?" (Simon did not know what Hoax said of course, but always enjoyed talking to him as he was sure that Hoax was trying to tell him things). "Have you met Irina? Say hello nicely." (Hoax screeched and tilted his head before reaching towards Irina). "That's a sign that he wants you to pet his beak", Simon whispered with a lopsided smile, before continuing: "Okay. The usual introduction of Hoax – and this you need to know – is that he is an extremely emotionally intelligent owl. He is very observant and sensitive to emotions and moods. Quite like yourself, in fact. When you're sad, he picks that up and usually tries to comfort you. When you don't know what to do, he tries to give you a nudge in the right direction. And when you're scared or threatened... well, this owl can be quite fierce. He means the world to me." Simon chuckled.

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

@Simon Tilia

Irina tried to take the compliment gratefully, but it had never been her strong point. She gave an awkward smile, blushing uncharacteristiclly. She eventually decided to brush past the compliment by saying, "Oh don't worry about wand lore. First of all, you have me," she gave a cheeky wink, "And secondly, even the greatest Wizards and Witches who had the strongest connection with their wands didn't know it's characteristsics or qualities! It's just me being nerdy."

She was able to take the second compliment more easily. "Aww, thanks. Best ability and greatest downfall - awesome combo!"

Irina was impressed to find how quickly Simon made the connection between her description of blue and himself. She hadn't expected him to pick up on it! 'I need to stop underestimating him! Well, this is the first time, but I need to stop underestimating him from now.' But her respect for him grew as he described his loathing for injustice. If there was one thing Irina hated, it was injustice and cruelty. She found herself intrigued as to what calm and collected Simon looked like angry as well as the all too familiar desire to know him more.

When he complimented her for a third time, she noticed the sincerity in his voice - he kept his eyes locked on hers and she didn't look away, trying to maintain the eye contact. She could feel her cheeks go slightly rosy, but dismissed this and gave Simon a small smile, devoid of cheek and mischief. Instead, she tried to put all the thoughts and emotions his words had caused, into that smile. "Thanks Simon," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "It means a lot that you think so highly of me."

Irina struggled for a moment, unsure of what to say next when a screech rang through the silence and a gorgeous owl flew over the railing and onto Simon's arm. She yelped in delight and stood from the table to get a closer look. She laughed as Simon pretended to understand the owl's hoot. As he leaned his feathered head towards Irina, she hesitated, only petting him when Simon confirmed it was okay (she had had to much experience with acting first asking later).
"Wow! Hoax is almost as interesting as you are!" she teased, gently stroaking the owl's beak. She then looked Hoax in the eyes, saying "It's lovely to meet you Hoax. It's good to know that Simon has someone to point him in the right direction in life. I fear he's gonna need you more than ever now that he knows me!"
As she continued stroking, she thought about her own owl. "Our family has an owl called Artemis. She's a Great Horned Owl and she's an amazing hunter. I normally see her quite often cause she has letter's for Idril and me." That made her stop stroking and look at Hoax's legs. "Does Hoax have a letter for you or is he just popping over to say hi?"

When he complemented her, he noticed how her cheeks gained a slightly pink color. She did not look uncomfortable, however, only glad, which led him to believe that this small acknowledgement of his meant more to Irina than he had anticipated. Perhaps he did not give her the credit or appreciation that she actually deserved? Over the last weeks, he had almost systematically avoided giving her compliments. He did not fully understand why, but the look of her face told him that she could use more of that acknowledgement. He draw the conclusion that he should be more honest henceforth and stop keeping his admiration for Irina to himself.

"Wow! Hoax is almost as interesting as you are!"

"Did you her that, Hoax? Almost", said Simon, dodging the compliment (which actually spread a warmth within him: I'm interesting?).

"It's lovely to meet you Hoax. It's good to know that Simon has someone to point him in the right direction in life. I fear he's gonna need you more than ever now that he knows me!"

Simon laughed again. "Just don't intervene too much", he said, tickling Hoax in his neck. "After all, what would life be without a little danger every now and then? And since Hoax is such a good judge of character, I'm sure he thinks that I'm already in the right direction when I'm with you."

That came out a little more cheesy than Simon had planned and he silently cringed to himself. Just because I'm going to be more outspoken and generous with compliments does not mean I have to sound like those black and white 50's movies that my dad used to watch. . .

"Our family has an owl called Artemis. She's a Great Horned Owl and she's an amazing hunter. I normally see her quite often cause she has letter's for Idril and me. . . "

"Wow! Like the Greek god? That's a cool name."

"Does Hoax have a letter for you or is he just popping over to say hi?"

Simon looked around the place but could not see any letter.

"Nope. I don't think so. Hoax is actually staying here at Hogwarts with me. I got to borrow him for this semester. . . He's a piece of home. And we have a special bond. When it got up to him that something was wrong, that I was about to leave, he was completely changed for a couple of days. Looked away when we talked to him. Just starred silently at us, and did hardly ever leave me out of sight. He only went out for short flights also, which was quite out of the ordinary. When we decided that he was going with me... Well, that is the Hoax that you see here." Simon watched as Hoax rubbed his feathery cheeks on Irina's hand, like a cat, with a pleased look in his big yellow eyes.

"Anyway...", said Simon and met Irina's eyes. "Yeeees, I know you hate it when I say 'anyway' like that... But we should actually start heading back to the castle."

Interacting with @Irina Shevel

@Simon Tilia

"Just don't intervene too much. After all, what would life be without a little danger every now and then? And since Hoax is such a good judge of character, I'm sure he thinks that I'm already in the right direction when I'm with you."
"Aww, thanks!" Irina gushed, feigning embrarresment and lightly punching Simon's arm.

"Wow! Like the Greek god? That's a cool name."

"It is indeedio! Sadly, I can't claim credit for it - Aunt Liz (who's a muggle) taught us about the Greek gods and helped us name her. She lived up to her name though!"

As she listened to Simon describe his bond with Hoax, her heart melted a little. If there was one way to truly judge a person's character (besides inspecting their wand or getting her intuitive mum to check them out), it was by watching their relationships and who their relationships were with.
It was endearing and sweet to watch how Hoax kept his eyes on Simon, despite Irina stroaking his beak. To see how much Simon loved him in return, purely from the way he looked at the owl.
It was the clear friendship between the pair that made Irina make the conscious thought, 'I wanna be friends with this guy.' She'd obviously wanted this for a while, but she'd never clearly thought it. A warm feeling sparked in her stomach and she smiled softly.

The moment was broken as Simon gave a cautionary, "Anyway..." Irina looked up and met his eyes, pointing at him accusatorily whilst shouting over him, "No, no, no, no, no! I hate that tone! That's the tone you use when you suggest something really smart and sensible and responsible!"

"Yeeees, I know you hate it when I say 'anyway' like that... But we should actually start heading back to the castle."

Irina jumped off of the table, putting her hands over her ears, screwing her eyes shut and shouting, "LA, LA, LA, LA, LA! Not listeniiiiing!"
After a while she stopped and lowered her hands, sighing, a wry grin on her face. "Yeah, I know you're right. This has been really fun though!" She looked around the little room. "We should come back here though! It's a nifty little room and a nice private place to chat!"

Irina walked around the table and stroked Hoax's beak one final time. "Sorry bout the loud noise, bud. Seems we have something in common - we don't like leaving our good friend Simon!" She looked up at Simon and smiled.
Finally, she walked over to the door and held it open for Simon, bowing and saying, "After you, M'Lord," in an overly posh voice.