The First Encounterance PV Cleo Cabello Finished

Ruby knew that even if she used magic, she definitely wouldn't be the first of the first years to get detention. She knew others had already had it from talking to various people and the information they gave her. Even so, she didn't want detention for several reasons, not to mention the Howlers that she'd undoubtedly get from her parents. However, she really wanted to do some magic. It was a desire, an urge, and it felt like something was pulling at her, telling her to try something.

Magic flowed in her blood, and it was hard to deny it when it wanted to be released. The desire was strong enough and her magic wanted to be released enough that her determination not to use any faltered for a second. In that split second, lots of colorful sparks shot out of Ruby's left hand, which wasn't even on the same side as her wand. It was magic entirely of her own.

The small release of Ruby's magic happened right after Cleo finished saying "I want to try magic so much but I think we need to fully assess our likeliness of getting caught and all escape routes and hidden places before we start doing secret magic." Ruby glanced at her hand and then farther down at the sparks that finished flying onto the ground before disappearing. Oh, heck. I didn't mean to do that. What do I do now? How can I pretend that didn't happen? At least it wasn't nearly as bad as other times my magic has been uncontrolled…

Ruby looked back up at Cleo a little sheepishly. "That didn't happen?" she tried, but it sounded like a question. "And, uh, yeah, I agree with what you said," she replied, letting out a small laugh. I need to remember to keep a better hold on my magic in the future… my concentration can't slip…

"My wand is made of cherry wood," Ruby began, hoping Cleo didn't know much about wands and purposely using the least amount of information she could to answer the question. A person's wand could tell you some basics about them. "It's in the sleeve of my right arm, and I see yours is made of… fir wood? What's the core?"

Ruby continued almost how she would normally, trying to play it off like nothing had happened. How many people saw? She couldn't suppress the tiny smile that formed on her lips, however. Magic, whether it was good or bad, always made her feel a bit better and gave her satisfaction.

“My core’s dragon heartstring.” Cleo said quietly, staring at where sparks had come from Ruby’s hand. How she wished that she could do that, how she desired so deeply to do something to prove to herself that she was a witch. She knew the magic was there, but it was locked, unreachable and she didn’t know how to touch it. 

Cleo hated herself for it, but she was insanely jealous of Ruby. What must it be like she wondered to know exactly who I am. What must it be like to know that I have the power to belong. What must it be like to have a family you can be yourself around. She hated where her thoughts were going and with an immense show of willpower, locked them at the back of her mind. She hadn’t wanted something with the same desire as she had  wanted Ruby’s life before. It scared her and brought to mind the conversation she’d had with her mother before going to sleep the night before Hogwarts.
“What house do you want me to be in?” She asked her mother sleepily after getting all the information she could out of her about Hogwarts.
“It does not matter what I want, only what you do.” Her mother had told her. “I know that you’ll stay true to yourself, Cleo, but don’t play around with things you don’t fully understand. Some magic isn’t just helpful tricks. People can get hurt.”
Cleo had been sure that her mother was just worried like any parent sending their child away, but now she thought that her mother had meant something different. It hadn’t occurred to her that magic could be used to fight before. Cleo recalled the name of one of her lessons, defense against the dark arts, she knew then, that just like in the human world, some wizards could have very bad intentions.

Ruby noticed the change in Cleo's tone and the look in her eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked in a soft, genuine tone. She was also cautious, wary of what Cleo's response to the little outburst of magic would be. Why did I have to let my determination not to do anything slip? She looked into Cleo's eyes and saw a storm of emotion in there, too much to be properly dissected. Oh, great. Did I just lose the possibility of a friend?

Mentally, she sighed. She always did something to screw things up, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident. This time wasn't on purpose, but it was undoubtedly her fault. She wished she could tell Cleo something to reassure her or take away negative feelings she might be experiencing, but until Cleo voiced something that hinted at what she was feeling, Ruby was helpless. She gently bit her bottom lip without realizing she was doing it – which was a habit that only occurred sometimes and that Ruby was trying to get rid of. It could give too much away about her feelings.

Was that hatred in Cleo's eyes? Ruby shuffled her feet slightly. I guess I really did screw up…

Ruby wasn't particularly bothered about whether people hated her or loved her, but she liked to at least have an idea of what they were feeling when it concerned her. Ruby didn't need anyone, really, but sometimes she felt a bit lonely. At least she would always have her cousins. She met up with them on her second day, and they all hugged her and ruffled her hair. They didn't care that she was a Slytherin, they had predicted it for years, and they were quite proud of her. It didn't change anything between them, and now that Ruby had joined them at Hogwarts, they had all started to plot things together.

Cleo looked up as Ruby spoke. She was surprised. For the first time, Ruby actually looked nervous. She was standing the same way, her expression mostly unreadable but there was a look in her eyes that Cleo couldn’t quite place, and she was biting on her lip. 
“I’m fine. Good actually. It’s not you, I guess I’m just not used to being at home.” 
It wasn’t a lie Cleo was speaking, not at all. She did miss her home, especially her mother, who, despite the fact she had kept so many things from her, Cleo couldn’t be angry at. 

“So... could you tell me about your family? Their names and, ooh, do they have wizarding jobs?” Cleo asked. She hadn’t really thought about where she’d go after hogwarts, but there had to be wizarding proffesions, probably a government to keep people from going out of line. 
“Are there exams you have to take at hogwarts?” She asked, wishing that there weren’t. She had been in a region in England where you didn’t have to take the eleven plus to determine your secondary school, but she had taken year 6 SATs and hated them. She could imagine trying to remember her grammar lessons in her old school while recalling the correct theories for spells. In other words, if she had her magic under control by then, she’d probabky make something explode.

“I’d probbaly fail any history exams.” She giggled. She’d had her first history of magic lesson and was sure she would die of boredom after 5 minutes. 

What Cleo had interpreted as "nervousness" vanished immediately. "Is this your first time away from home?" Ruby asked curiously. "Are your parents at home a lot? What are they like? What do they do? You never told me if you have any magical relatives."

Ruby looked at Cleo properly again. "Sorry for all the questions. I just don't know much about you. What do you like to do and where can you normally be found? Do you have many friends here? Have you talked to lots of people?" Ruby tried to restrict the flow of questions and held back some of them to ask after Cleo replied next.

Although she could see that Cleo really was curious about Ruby's family and the wizarding world, Ruby didn't want to talk about them right now and hoped Cleo wouldn't notice. She could answer other impersonal questions though, if she were to be asked them…

When Cleo asked about exams, Ruby nodded and groaned. "The biggest ones are OWLs – Ordinary Wizarding Levels – and NEWTs. There are also end of year exams, which are stressful too." She smiled when Cleo giggled. "I'm sure you'll be fine, especially if you've only had one lesson for it so far. There's plenty of time to get better, and I'm sure there are people who could help you study. There are books in the library to aid your learning too."

“I thought I’d gotten away from big exams.” Cleo smiled. 
“This isn’t my first time away from home, I went  on a school trip last year for a week to a sort of adventure park. My mother is a witch but she works and she didn’t tell me about her true identity until about two weeks ago...” Cleo frowned slightly. “My father works for a computing company and my mum is kind of a retired journalist. I think she has a brother but they don’t get along and she lost contact even before leaving your... now ours I guess, world of magic. 
I used to go to the beach all the time. These last two weeks I was going to learn to surf but I can’t really decide if I’d rather be doing that or here anymore. I don’t know if you’d really understand, but without magic my life would have gone on normally, growing up in the modern day. However, I am here and it doesn’t matter if I  want to be or not. I won’t grow up to be the person I would have been and I’m fine with it. I miss the sea and everything but when your life isn’t perfect and something big changes, at least a small part of you is glad for the change. I’m glad that now I’ll hopefully have some true friends and I know who I really am.
I havn’t socialised a lot here yet but a lot of people in my house are quite outgoing so I’ve had a few nice conversations. What about you?” Cleo asked. She hadn’t talked to somebody so personally  after just meeting them before. Here she felt as if it was almost a different time. There were no phones iPads or computers, not really even electric lights. People talked and gossiped but it didn’t depend on computer games or anything like that. It was a big change from her normal life and she sort of envied any grownup for being oblivious to what it was like to be a child in the muggle world today. 

Ruby laughed. "There is nooooo escaaaaaape from big exams," she said dramatically in a fake spooky voice. She thought about Cleo's next comment and then gave her a concerned look. "Do you think you're going to be okay? This is a lot longer than a week away. You can go back at Christmas and stuff, but it's a long time and can seem like longer if you haven't been away from home for that long before. Are your parents kind? Don't blame your mother for not telling you about magic: there's a law that prevents that and she's sworn to secrecy. It's not her fault if she didn't know if you'd be magical or not."

When Cleo mentioned the beach, Ruby instantly remembered the few times she'd been there. The most recent one had been with her three closest cousins a couple of years ago. There had been laughter, screaming, splashing, and playing, and it had been a lot of fun. Ruby liked that memory. The smell of the sea, the sand beneath her feet, the birds making noises, the waves lapping at the shore, the sharp coolness of the water, the warmth of the sun… it all came together to make Ruby love the beach even more.

"Where are you from? I've been to the beach a couple of times, but I live mostly inland, switching between two or three main houses. I do understand, although if I hadn't come here I would've gone to some other magical school. I'm accustomed to the Muggle world though, so I get it."

"I'll hopefully have some true friends and I know who I really am." Cleo had said that, but Ruby kind of agreed. Wouldn't that be nice? I wish it was that easy to know who I am… true friends would be great too, not just people to manipulate and use for my own selfish purposes… Ruby was a tad bit surprised at the last thing she had thought, but she realized that it was true. She was a bit manipulative.

"Yeah, I haven't talked to people much but I'm looking to get to know more people… I'd say there's someone in my house that I'm friends with now, but I really need more interactions. In my house, you have to be quite… alert and on your toes, I suppose."

Cleo laughed. “Then you must be pretty tame in comparison to some then.”  She said, smiling teasingly. “Maybe they’re watching and sense your weakness.” 
Cleo didn’t want to think about the next time she’s see her family. She thought that boarding school must be a little difficult for everyone, and either that Ruby was very unusual or feeling similarly. 
“My mother is really kind, she wasn’t a very good journalist because she wouldn’t expose bad things about people, although her writing is really good. And my father, well, people say that it’s common for teenage girls to not see eye to eye with their fathers. He works just inside Bournemouth, so very close to home, but quite long hours so there was a lot of time without him this summer. The cliffs we live close to are beautiful. They’re white and steep and when you look down to the waves below you feel like you’re flying. The beaches in the town are sandy but the beach I usually go to has pebbles on it. The white of the cliffs is behind and in the evening you can see the sun setting over the ocean, staining the cliffs pink. That beach is one of my favourite places in the world, the noise of the waves against the pebbles just washes everything away.”

"Does your mum work from home then most of the time? What's the problem with your dad – why don't you see eye to eye with him? Do you live near Bournemouth then? Those cliffs sound amazing… I have no doubt that I'd be completely blown away by them." She smiled.

"Do or did you have many friends back at home? You said that people here at Hogwarts in Gryffindor are quite outgoing… I don't doubt that you'll make lots of friends there." Ruby meant it. She could see Cleo being accepted into Gryffindor house easily if she wasn't already, and she thought that the girl would get along with Hufflepuffs well too.

Wouldn't it be nice to be accepted so easily, to be a part of something, to have lots of good friends? In some ways, Ruby also envied Cleo's lack of knowledge, her naivety, her easy kindness, apparent trust, and seemingly inherent goodness. It would be kind of nice to be oblivious, just for a little while. But Ruby knew she belonged in Slytherin. She made a mental note to talk to more people there and form friendships and alliances. She was looking forward to this year, oh yes. Maybe she could rise to the top and be happy with people who were like-minded and possibly began to understand her. Sometimes it was tiring, trying not to scare all these good, innocent students away. She longed for one of the sarcastic friendly exchanges she could get with a fellow Slytherin. For now, Ruby was fine with Cleo. She could still have friends in other houses, and maybe if she was there to help teach Cleo some things about the wizarding world, Cleo would trust her and like her – possibly admire her. They could be friends, and Cleo hadn't made any big mistakes yet.

That changed quickly with Cleo's comment about being tame compared to others. Although a voice in Ruby's head reminded her that Cleo was joking, she couldn't stop the sneer that twisted her lips. She spoke coldly, articulating every word clearly. "This is not my weakness. You don't know anything about me." Her eyes were directly challenging and pretty hostile. The smile she wore earlier had vanished.

So Ruby doesn’t like jokes when they’re at her expense, then. Cleo thought. She could feel  anger spreading through her. 
So the girl thinks she’s untouchable does she, she thinks that she can use people, make them trust her and confide nothing of herself to them. Cleo thought, anger causing her face to turn slightly pink. Ruby thinks she’s better, so amazing that she could take advantage of everybody and be liked all around. She stacks up the weaknesses she thinks she has in her mind in order to block out the horrible selfishness that really blackens her entire being. She wants everything. It makes me sick. Cleo screamed internally. She thinks she’s so perfect with her family who takes some notice of her but not enough for her giant ego. She lives half in the muggle world and half in the wizarding world, liked by all. She knows everything about everyone because she’s highly intuitive but really a nosy worm. She thinks to herself in a way that is so grown up and sophisticated that the professors think she could be in 7th year. She’s Ruby, a queen amongst all, a queen with a cold heart and a selfish mind.

Cleo was filled with rage inside, she wanted to scream at Ruby, but knew that the girl, with her faults and definitely ending intelligence, was in fact clever and would probably think up better retorts than Cleo ever could. So, doing one of the hardest things Cleo had ever done in her life, she turned and walked away. She did not know how grateful she would be later that she had not voiced those thoughts, some of which may have been true, but others that made her a very big hypocrite.

(OCC: I am very sorry for Cleo’s words they are not from me and I like Ruby. Cleo doesn’t mean much of what she thinks or says when she loses her temper.)