Brewing Bonds PV Ruby Cazares Closed

Elena Jangleton had a feeling Ruby Cazares was the exact type of person, the exact type of girl that her father would tell her to stay away from. They would tell her to shut her out, that these type of people would infleunce her, feed thoughts into her and yet the exact opposite was truth. She found herself warming to the girl, the brunette couldn't quite place a finger on it but given just how much they shared over something so seemingly simple, and the sparkle in her eyes, the light laughs, it made her happy.

Fulfillment. Complete. That was a feeling Elena Jangleton had not felt in a very long time if at all. It was something her own blood ties had failed to provide for her and now this gem of a potion partner was filling that picture in for her.

She nodded in genuine and whole-hearted agreement. "I never really understood the value of friends and people before, you know? I waas always really scared of other people, strangers and whatnot. But they're such a valuable resource moreso than you know, they're like the family we wished we had, I'd say and that's good enough for me."

The Jangletons wouldn't give her that, that support and whatever esssentials was needed to get her through life but she had people, friends, professors and others to do that for her and they hated that with every fiber of their bones, no wonder she was categorized as the sole rebel of that horrid household.

She paused for a moment grinning. "How did we get from introductions to digging out the secrets of each other's bloodlines and whatnot?" She expressed with another light chuckle. It truly was a joy and wonder what words could do when you were with the right person.

And she was, that much she was sure of.

The converstation veered back to normal waters, not that Elena minded talking about the philsophoy of friendships, families and whatnot but her own family wounds were still something that she carreid heavily and that would take time to carry out.

"Charms, without a doubt." She said without even pausing to answer that one. All of her assignemtns for that particular course still bore the fresh ink of an 'Outstanding', nothing less, nothing more.

"I'm hoping to get into the Aurors after graduation so maybe in hindsight, Duelling would have been a better extracurricular but their academic requirements are just as rigorous so have my fingers crossed I scrape through the N.E.W.T.S"

As if the O.W.L.S weren't bad enough.

"Also, I have an somewhat of an unhealthy habit for knowledge or exploring or whatever you want to call it, this place has so many secrets and I want to commit as much of it to memory before I leave."

That approach might have wound her up in a spot of trouble once or twice but nothing too serious.

"Hogwarts, A History is a nice start but there's some stuff you just got to see for yourself, you know? Like apparently, rumor has it Salazar Slytherin built a whole scriptorioum or some sort of room down in the dungeons!"

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Elena explained how she didn’t understand the value of friends before and Ruby nodded. “It does make you appreciate friends more. You’re forced to rely on them or yourself when your family provides less love, but friends can definitely fill in some of those gaps.” It was hard to imagine Elena being scared of people—she seemed friendly and thus seemed like she would attract people and be good with them, but it was possible that she hadn’t always been like that. "They're like the family we wished we had," Elena had said. When Ruby thought of the people she had been closest to at Hogwarts, such as Margo, Ana, Marla, Xailah, and all her other friends of varying degrees of closeness, she realized that Elena was right. They were sort of like her own, better family.

Elena grinned. "How did we get from introductions to digging out the secrets of each other's bloodlines and whatnot?" Ruby laughed. “I don’t know, sometimes it just happens. Although I’d prefer to call it relating to one another rather than digging out the secrets of our bloodlines,” she responded with lighthearted dramaticism, smiling. There was no threat here—they had already started to bond by sharing the overview of their family issues, and the easy way they made conversation only furthered that bond. She trusted that once they were finished here, there wouldn’t be some exposé of how her family mistreated their daughter, because she knew the situation was the same for Elena—well, at least Elena didn’t seem like the type to lie about it.

The Gryffindor labeled Charms as her favorite subject without hesitation and Ruby gave an approving nod. “Charms is a good one. Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts would have to be up there with it for me, though.” Elena then explained that she wanted to become an Auror after graduation and Ruby’s eyebrows raised. “That’s impressive. You could be a good fit for it though—you’re adventurous, meticulous, and you seem intelligent.” She smiled encouragingly. But why was she offering up all these compliments? She had only just started to get to know Elena—but perhaps that was why she gave the compliments, since those traits of Elena’s were already rather visible within a few minutes, which meant they had to be strong. “I could see how duelling would be useful, yes, but I’m sure it’s not a big deal. Besides, I bet you could find people to practice with if you’re concerned about that.” There was a hint of an offer there, although she couldn’t quite bring herself to say it directly.

Elena voiced her desire to uncover the secrets of Hogwarts and how she loved gaining knowledge and exploring almost at an unhealthy level, offering up a rumor about a room in the dungeons. Ruby smiled. It did seem like she had found a kindred spirit in Elena—this sometimes-dangerous desire was something Ruby was well-acquainted with herself. “Maybe we’ll have to go check it out.” And there it was, an offer to spend more time with Elena. Already. For Merlin’s sake, they hadn’t even sliced the Mandrake yet. They hadn’t even been here for half an hour. “Once you’re done here at Hogwarts, I’m sure the way you like to be around things, staying busy and active, would serve you well as an Auror. It certainly seems like it would require you to stay on your toes.” Another smile. There was something about Elena that just felt pleasant. The Slytherin wanted to stay around the other girl, finding herself grateful that the lengthy brewing process of this potion would likely allow them to cement a friendship.

“Well, I think the Mandrake might just about be ready.” She began slicing it into small chunks, the plant’s flesh crumbling as she did so, indicating that it was indeed ready. She passed it to Elena to add to the cauldron, measuring out and adding a tablespoon of Essence of Wormwood and then reducing the heat of the cauldron, leaving Elena to manage the pot that the Mandrake had been in—they would no longer need it. “We have ninety minutes of waiting...” She sighed. “What now?”

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Elena had the feeling, no rather, it was confirmed in her mind that this had been no chance meeting. No, there had to be some sort of magic at work here because seeing how they talked and interacted, shared similar viewpoints and the list could go on, it was a rare, golden moment and Elena was still having diffculty processing that this was actually happpening but as the minutes drawled on, the more she began to feel more and more comfortable, relaxed around the girl, a sort of solace and relief she hadn't experienced with anyone else and while it was different, it certainly was welcome.

She grinned in response. "Works for me, sounds more passive if you put it that way." Not that the Jangletons had a shred of passiveness in them, she thought that while her parents might not have approved of the shared ideals that her and Ruby shared, the sheer fact that she was a Slytherin might have swung her opinion of them in her favor and wasn't that something? You could have been one of the worst of the worst but if you fell into their idea of 'perfect, then you could do no wrong.

She didn't know where the thought of Ruby ever meeting her parents had come into play wondering where that sneaked into her mind, a distant possibility perhaps but the more that they engaged with each other, the more likely things that were not feasible before became.

"Transfiguration is defintely a fun one. I know most people grumble and moan about the theory about it, me included." Guilty as charged. "I'm more fascinated by the whole ability of being able to change things and whatnot."

Well, that defintely was the nerd in her talking and Elena put the brakes on before she veered into dangerous territory that would involve her introducing Ruby to the variety of concepts that that had probably been offloaded into them in Transfiguration and Elena wasn't even sure if she recalled all of them.

The brunette smilied lightly at the compliment. "Thanks, though I reckon being able to duel and whatnot might be pretty important too. " Elena said, an amused sparkle dancing across her eyes at the thought.

Dark-wizard catchers or that was the alternative name for them at least, she had an alterior purpose of that career of choice as well but that was a converstation for a later date. "Maybe I could take a pointer or two from you if you ever have the time?"

She had never asked anyone before, not for help at least so Elena marveled at the question that sprang from her lips wondering where that had come form. It was like something within her was carving her own words for her and throwing them out there.

Ruby's agreement however to be a willing participant to Elena's more adventourous and fiery spirit however was something that she jumped on all too enthusically.

"It's a deal then! Mystery scriptorium, here we come wherever it may be." Elena had a few ideas to that theory but right now, they had a rather complicated potion that captured their concerns and attention.

But still, it was nice to connect like this. Most of her group partners that she had taken on in similar assignments, Elena didn't think she had ever dived this deep into getting to know them as silenced filled their gap for a second.

So, why was this different? She supppoed she felt complete, was that the word? Joyful perhaps, it was like Ruby provided her the energy she needed and she felt almost drawn to the other girl in a manner of speaking as it seemed the potion required a bit more maintenance.

"This is nice though. When I think of brewing potions, I imagine it's like a chef preparing a dish, careful and step-by-step." She took the neatly sliced chunks that was all that remained of the Mandrake carefully dipping it down into the cauldron.

Ninenty whole minutes. Minutes that she typically would pass by perhaps seeing if she could catch up on some of heer other assignemnts, a book perhaps but she would be spending those ninety minutes with Ruby Cazares and for some reason, Elena thought that could be a very pleasant option than her other two.

"Well.." Elena started with a smile.

"I'll admit, this is one of the more lengthier potions and I usually bring a novel or two to pass the time but this is fun too."

She said gesturing as if to imply their converstaion they had been having.

"Thought I had my wizarding chess set on me but must have left that in that common room." That, and probably having a chess match next to a bubbling potion probably did not seem like a very wise idea, all things considered.

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Elena grinned again, and Ruby couldn’t help but think that the Gryffindor had a beautiful smile. She felt as though she could get lost in those eyes, shining with happiness or mirth as they were now. "Works for me, sounds more passive if you put it that way." Ruby shook her head, but there was no harm or negative emotion in the disagreement. “Not passive. More positive. A choice to connect rather than to delve into drama.” After all, wasn’t it quite a pure thing to relate to someone? Digging out “secrets of their bloodlines” was as if it would be used as ammunition—the exposure of something vital, to be used against them. But the words were unimportant, even though Ruby preferred to turn them positive.

At first, she thought Elena’s comment on Transfiguration being a fun one was sarcastic or that she just meant an interesting choice, given that she mentioned the theory being something she didn’t necessarily enjoy. However, her second statement changed that, showing that Elena did enjoy the subject, or at least transforming things. “It is fascinating, isn’t it?” she mused. “Taking what you have available and turning it into a new thing with completely different qualities… It’s interesting, but also very useful.” But the topic of Transfiguration allowed a memory to float itself into the forefront of her mind—the incident a couple of months ago when she had been turned into a duck by the people she hated most at this school. A frown flashed across her face before she brushed the thought away, staring at the bubbling liquid, refocusing herself. She had to stay in the present.

Elena reiterated the importance of duelling for being an Auror and Ruby shrugged slightly. “True, but you have time before you’ll need that. Plenty of opportunities to practice before then.” It was then that the Gryffindor asked if she could give her pointers, directly asking to confirm the idea Ruby had implied. “I’m sure we could arrange that.” Interesting how she was so willing to offer her time and energy to this girl she had only properly talked to today when she had rejected others who had made a similar request or brushed them off after a few minutes. It was rare that she hit it off with someone so quickly. She supposed it had been a similar case with meeting most of her close friends, but this felt… different and exciting, in a way that just likely gaining a new friend didn’t quite measure up to. Maybe it was just that Elena was adventurous and there was the potential to have fun together because of it. Yeah, that must be it…

She was smiling again once Elena confirmed that they could go seeking out Hogwarts’ secrets, calling it a deal. “Perfect. I look forward to it.” It was true—she would be looking forward to it. A bit of adrenaline exploring the less favorable parts of the castle alongside this girl she wanted to know better? Sounded fun. Even just duelling practice with her would be nice. Elena’s company made the sometimes-tedious process of brewing a long potion more fun, too. The Gryffindor echoed the sentiment by saying that this was nice, comparing brewing potions to being a chef. “They’re certainly similar, I like that comparison, although personally I prefer the magic and result of potion-brewing.” Ruby smiled.

Elena indicated that talking had, so far, been a fun way to pass the time and Ruby nodded. There was something about Elena’s smile and willingness to engage with her that made the Slytherin feel warm inside. Safe, almost. Like she was around company she could trust. Elena had none of the distance and hesitancy to engage in connection that some of their peers—and admittedly Ruby, on a typical day—did. She was so willing to admit that the conversation and company was nice without fearing judgement, just stating it as it was for her. Her down-to-earth, straightforward nature was refreshing. “Yes, this is quite pleasant, although we do still have about two and a half hours left of the potion and I fear if we talked all that time, our throats may become sore and I would begin to bore you.” She chuckled. “Perhaps we could talk for a little longer and then read or work on other assignments for a while, if you brought anything? Just so we can rest a bit.” Besides, they had already mostly agreed to meet up again. Their conversations and acquaintanceship didn’t have to end with the end of the potion.

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Elenacould not help but notice the warmth and the way Ruby's company seemed to draw her in. Elena wasn't quite sure how to process this newfound warmth she was feeling, it was like something was bubbling up inside of her the more they engaged in converstation, not a feeling that she minded glancing at their bubbling potion that lay before them demanding their attention and their eyes in case something would go awry although between the two of them and from what she had seen of her partner, Elena very highly doubted that would be the case but it would never hurt to be sure. "I suppose that's true. Make the best out of our time here, that's the way I'm looking at it." And she didn't think there could be a truer statement, they had only an handful of years left and Elena knew just how vital the relationships they built here could help later down the line.

"It's settled, then. I'll make sure it's worth your time, I'll think of something." She said although in truth, she was thankful that Ruby was receptive to the idea. Sure, the Gryffindor could handle her own in a duel or at least, she could scrape by with just enough but 'getting by' wasn't enough if you were going after a demanding positon like an Auror which required certainly more than that. The brunette was pleasantly surprised by how willing Ruby had been to take her up on that but Elena was not complaining in the slightest. If anything, she was getting the understanding that Ruby and her had a sort of mutual understanding about things given what little they had shared so far and that, Elena thought was something that she didn't mind at all, all things considered, if anything, it only made her warm up to her newly-established friend even more.

"Trust me, you haven't experienced boredom unless you've sat through one of the upper-year History of Magic lessons. " The girl said with a shudder. It was pure theory, through and through and you might learn the occasional spell every now and then but for the most part, the class was built on dates, names and places understandbly so but that didn't make it any more attractive. Ruby Cazares on the other hand, Elena thought to herself fell far from the scale when it came to things of disinterest but rather it was her sheer personality and the way they engaged that mad her interesting but Elena chose to hold that comment to herself for now.

"Well.." She began stooping down to where her bag lay resting against one of the tables. A rather burdensome thing to carry around given it's weight was often the sheer size of the textbooks and the ever-increasing pile of assignments that seemed to be added day by day as Elena reached in to pull out a quill and point it jokingly at Ruby. "Now that you mention it, I do have a few things to catch up on for Charms." It seemed like that with every year that passed, the professor's expectations for them soared higher and higher which she guessed made sense in a way but she didn't have to like it now, did she?

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"I suppose that's true. Make the best out of our time here, that's the way I'm looking at it." Ruby nodded in agreement. It was a fair point. Many years had passed as they attended Hogwarts, and now they just had a little over two years left. How time flies. They did have to make the most of their remaining time here, because they would never be in this environment with these people again after they graduated. But they still had some time. Time to pursue new connections—time to see where this would go, to see if this potions partnership would evolve into something more. It was promising thus far, but whether it continued to progress or whether it fizzled out and faded was yet to be determined.

They had some exploring to do, though—an activity they could use to get to know one another better after this ended. There was also the fact that Elena had asked for help with duelling, and that meant that they would see each other again for that, at least. It wasn’t the first time people had asked her for pointers and it surely wouldn’t be the last, but she found that when Elena promised to make it worth Ruby’s time, the Slytherin didn’t doubt that it would be. Elena didn’t really need to come up with something extra—Ruby found herself just wanting to spend more time with the Gryffindor. And if she got to show off a bit by being in her element while duelling? Well, that wouldn’t hurt either.

When Ruby insinuated that she would bore Elena, the Gryffindor fired back that true boredom was found in History of Magic lessons. Ruby laughed. “Oh, I’m well familiar with those lessons. But I think some of them are interesting—I like gaining knowledge about anything, and it’s important to be informed about the past.” She shrugged. It certainly wasn’t her favorite class, but there wasn’t really an academic subject that she disliked. If History of Magic wasn’t Elena’s cup of tea, though, that was fine and understandable.

While Elena was much more interesting than any homework assignment could be, her lingering incomplete assignments were something she was all too aware of. She preferred to do homework as soon as possible—ideally the day it was assigned—and then use the rest of the time for studying, practice, or pursuing her own private/extracurricular studies. She was highly motivated and ambitious, and she liked to always keep her mind active and ensure that she was continually learning new things and pushing herself to accomplish ever-higher goals. That meant she had to stay on top of her schoolwork, and this was a good time to work on it. Besides, they had hours before this potion would be completed. They could always decide to put down the homework and talk more when they were ready. She nodded as Elena mentioned her Charms homework, pulling out her own assignments and beginning to work through it—although Elena’s presence was surprisingly distracting, in an oddly good way (Lovely Creature).

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Ruby, Elena thought to herself had turned out be much more than a simple partner she had been stuck for the sake of a grade to scrape by this year with. Even has her quill trailed across the parchments, she found her eyes wandering every now and then before her mind would pull her back in to the task at hand. The remants of their earlier converstation a lingering presence in the back of her mind. Elena Jangleton wasn't the type of person who opened up easily but the fact she had shared more than she typically would with any newcomer in the time they had already indicated that Elena perhaps saw something, felt something around her newly-established companion and it was a feeling she welcomed all too openly as both of them labored there in their own assignments.

The brunette had come into this school with such a reservation and a hesitanty towards anyone from House Slytherin, presumably perhaps because her own parents, Slytherin graduated had berated her for not securing a place there that might have contributed to her own distaste but that had gradually faded her as most of her friends, a good majority in fact wound up not to be Gryffindors but rather Slytherins, a surprising statement to her at the time but had quickly showed her how wrong she had been. Perhaps, another fault she could attribute to her parents, the list just went on and on and yet, she found a source of calmness, composure perhaps even within Ruby when they had been mentioning their own familial gripes earlier.

The minutes drawled on, second by second ever so aware of the potion that could make or break this project but moreso found herself keen, curious even to familiarize herself with the girl that had gone from stranger to friend just like that. Silence hovered in the room, the only sounds of the bubbling potion and the scratch of quill against parchment and before long, it was broken by the brunette herself with a gentle clearing of her throat to catch Ruby's attention.

"I think it's almost ready, been long enough if I calucated correctly. Reckon I should say something before we got too focused on our work and totally forgot about this."

She said nodding to whatever work they had laid out for them.

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Before she knew it, Elena’s voice cut through the silence, pulling the Slytherin’s gaze back to her. Having been awfully focused on her homework—the only major interruption of their quiet activities until now had been to add the Vervain Infusion and Billywig Stings—Ruby had been less mindful of her surroundings and, as such, it took a second to readjust. Elena was so effortlessly beautiful, and Ruby found herself getting lost for a moment in those warm, dark eyes… “Right, yes, good idea,” she said, refocusing herself with the act of speaking. Sure enough, the smell of the vapors were becoming particularly strong, an indication that the potion was nearing its end and then all they would need to do was wave one of their wands to complete the potion.

Ruby found that the thought of this ending felt… disappointing. She should be glad, considering how many hours this potion took, and yet she couldn’t help but wish that there were more than just a few minutes left or that she had stopped working on assignments a little earlier. Elena’s company had been far from unpleasant. Why couldn’t they have been paired together before? The Gryffindor was much more competent than many other classmates, and they made conversation relatively easily, already finding shared interests and experiences to connect over. It was unfortunate that in all five years they had spent at Hogwarts thus far, they had existed separately without properly speaking, but at least they were talking now.

She looked at the potion, which seemed to be doing well, everything proceeding as expected. It was evidence that they had been a good team, especially considering that this was one of the more advanced potions they had learned this year. Perhaps the potions O.W.L. would go equally as smoothly for them. “Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?” she asked curiously, an attempt to continue to engage with Elena. “I don’t know about you, but I managed to get quite a lot done, which puts me a bit ahead of schedule regarding my homework, so that’s nice.” Granted her “schedule” for homework tended to involve completing it long before many of her classmates even considered working on it. “It feels like the workload is increasing a bit more, since we’re only a few months away from taking O.W.L.s… how are you feeling about them, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Maybe it was boring to ask about school-related matters, especially considering they were presently working on a project for class, but it was something common between them and therefore would hopefully be able to get conversation going again. Ruby wasn’t sure what topics Elena was most comfortable or interested in talking about, anyway, and she would have to continue to feel that out as they talked more, or Elena could choose to guide the conversation in a different direction herself. Besides, it was unusual enough that Ruby was even trying to keep talking to Elena. It wasn’t a matter of making the hours less awkward anymore, because they were almost done and they had just been sitting in relative silence a moment ago and that hadn’t been particularly uncomfortable. It was just… genuine interest that motivated her to engage with the Gryffindor.

For a girl who was typically so aloof and disinterested when interacting with people, it was significant that she was breaking that for Elena. Ruby’s attitude was still not warm—that was reserved for only close friends and they couldn’t have reached that level yet—but while a slight sharpness and coolness to her demeanor remained, there was none of her usual hostility, none of the arrogance that placed others far below her. She liked the fact that Elena was intelligent enough to help the potion-making go smoothly, and she realized that, so far, she did enjoy the Gryffindor’s company… It was a pleasant feeling, one that was perhaps worth pursuing.

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