O.W.L PV Ruby Cazares Finished

A girl of average height with brown hair in two plaits, pretty blue eyes, and a skin tone that was a variation of white walked in right as the owl flew away. Her name was Ruby, and without realizing it, she carried herself with an air that spoke of sharp intelligence, quiet confidence, sophistication, and something strong, like passion, ambition, power, or a combination of the three. She was straight-backed and moved with a soft grace and elegance that made her seem like anything but the typical 11 year old girl. She was highly analytical, calculating, and observant, with a good enough memory to remember most of the things she noticed.

She felt Koko's presence before she actually saw the other girl, but when she looked up, she noted the girl's apparent loneliness and longing. The dejected expression on her face signified either that something was wrong or she just needed a friend. Not that many people hung out in the owlery. Of course, the only reason Ruby was here was to see the owls – some of her favorite companions – but that was beside the point. Ruby was pleased to see that the girl was a Slytherin, as she could see the familiar crest on the girl's robes, and a fellow first year, which was easy enough to deduce from the looks.

"Hello," Ruby began. "Who are you, and is there something you were posting?"

Koko glanced up, surprised to see someone talking to her. She reached out to pet the owl, but then she realized that it had already flown off. She sighed, taking in the girl's appearance. She had an air of kindness to her, as well as all of her other traits. Koko smiled to herself. She didn't know who the girl was, nor did she really care. She had found a possible friend.
"My name's Koko Riddle," she said softly, yet confidently. "I was just sending a letter to my mother. And talking to my friends." She guestured at the owls that flew around the room. Feathers were everywhere, and she picked one up, cradling the soft white quill in her fingers. There was an inkwell, so students could dip a quill in ink to write a letter. She dipped the quill in ink and started writing on her forearm, an old habit.
Koko rested her piercing hazel gaze on the new girl. Brushing her hair out of her face, she let her expression return to one of caution. "What's your name?" She asked, and then returning to her normal attitude of optimism, she said, "Might we one day become friends?"

Although Ruby's air had been described as many things, kindness was not normally part of it. Sometimes she put on acts to make others more at ease and easier to be manipulated, sometimes she did it to try and make new friends. Most of what Ruby did had selfish purposes or motives behind it, but she didn't think of it that way or consider that this might be the truth.

Ruby gave Koko a nod of acknowledgement. The other girl had an interesting name, certainly, but more importantly, she liked owls too. She noted Koko's smile and apparent friendliness as well as the caution when asking for Ruby's name. After saving the information into a corner of her brain and finishing her brief analysis of Koko, Ruby spoke. “My name's Ruby,” she said, choosing to leave out her last name. Koko hadn't explicitly asked for it, and so she wouldn't receive it. If she had heard of Ruby's family name, it could tell her several things about her.

“So you like owls too then, considering you called them friends?” she asked, gesturing widely at the room full of owls. What might have been going on that meant that Koko was only writing to her mother, and not her father? Ruby decided not to ask… not yet. She shrugged at Koko's question, making sure to seem open to it. She made her body language tell that she was open and receptive, even if she didn't entirely feel that way. “Yes, we might,” she said with a slight smile.

Koko felt a frown tug at her carefully set lips. However, she didn’t let it ruin the expression she had so carefully crafted: that of someone lonely, longing for a million friends. Sure, she was alone. But alone wasn’t the same as lonely. She didn’t absolutely need friends. It wasn’t a top priority, after all. She had the owls. “Yes,” she said carefully, noticing how Ruby had been, in her perspective, a tad reserved, and she decided not to overstep anything. “I like animals.”
She was happy that she might have a friend, but it hadn’t exactly made her day. In fact, Koko’s day had been better than most others. It still wasn’t a good one, but she was happier than usual.
As she eyed the other girl, her hazel gaze caught on something: the Slytherin crest. So this girl was a Slytherin, too. Perhaps her and Koko could get along, after all. Koko finally felt the frown stop urging her muscles to compel to its wishes, and a real smirk edged its way into her expression. Koko allowed her sight to travel to another owl, one that looked exceptionally fluffy. Wanting to know Ruby better, Koko asked, “Do you have any siblings?” She had felt the urge to comment on the weather, but she decided not to.

Ruby studied Koko's expression ever since she had spoken. It was so interesting to meet new people and watch the way they reacted to things, to analyze them piece by piece and watch relationships form. Ruby hadn't meant to be particularly reserved, but the questions hadn't been things she wanted to talk about too much or give away much information for.

She smiled slightly at Koko's comment about liking animals. She adored them and the rest of nature and would gladly have pets of all kinds if she could. The topic of animals could possibly be something they could explore in conversation, but that would have to wait a bit. Ruby resisted the urge to move herself into a position that she knew would cause several of the owls to come over, and she stopped herself from petting some of the ones that looked the softest. She had human company in front of her today, and she wondered if they could become friends. The distraction the owls would provide if Ruby paid too much attention to them would become a problem for sure, so she prevented herself from doing anything owl-related, for the moment.

“No, I don't have any real siblings, but three of my cousins are like older brothers to me, and we pretty much treat each other like siblings too. How about you?” Ruby answered, following up with the same question but directed at Koko this time.

Koko hadn't expected to answer her own question, but it was only fitting. However, she really, really,really did not want to talk about her family, not in the slightest. Koko let her gaze drift away uncomfortably, and she toyed with a quill sitting on the windowsill, which she was sitting on. Of course, there was no glass, so if Koko were to lean too far back, she'd fall--not that she cared very much, if at all.

Even though she wasn't enchanted by the school of wizadry as many in her year were, she certainly preferred it to her own home and would avoid talking about her home situation at all costs. Koko had a sudden flashback of a family picture, the one girl with hazel eyes and caramel hair standing off to the side, uncomfortably, while the blonde boys, their mother, and their slightly eccentric father seemed overjoyed. She shook it off, a light scowl settling on her face as her eyes darkened with the memory. In contrast, however much she didn't want to, she felt obligated to talk to Ruby. "No biological siblings, as far as I'm concerned," she said, her tone echoing around the circular room darkly. She didn't elaborate, and Ruby hadn't specified too much. Koko went back to sitting silently, but as the air between the two Slytherins grew a tad strained, she spoke again: "Sorry if I'm asking too many questions," she said quietly, bitterly, "But it gives me something to do, so perhaps you might have a hobby of some sort?"

Ruby was glad that Koko had only asked about siblings – it was the easiest family-related question for her to talk about. Anything else and she would have been unable or unwilling to answer the question. Ruby could understand Koko not wanting to talk about her family, and hoped that nothing too bad had happened to the other Slytherin. She didn't press the topic any further.

“Questions are good. Personally, I have a love for information and I like it when others are inquisitive too, so don't worry about that,” she said reassuringly. “Even so, I can't promise that I'll answer everything. We could take turns asking questions, if you want, and we can both just say if we don't want to answer. To answer yours, I have many hobbies...” Ruby paused for a moment to think about which one to mention to Koko. She had a couple of ones that were a bit immoral and some that she didn't spend as much time on as she'd like to, so she went with one of the most simple. “One of the things I do the most is draw. I've been drawing at least once every day this year, and my 2018 sketchbook is almost full. My question for you is do you sing, dance, or play an instrument at all? If so, which thing, and if you play an instrument, which one?”

A smile lit up Koko's face before she could get a hold of herself. "You love to draw? That's great; so do I! I only have one sketchbook with blank pages!" Koko remembered the sketches she'd drawn in it to calm herself, and for birthday gifts to Charlie, Holmes, Rosalie, and Victor...

Her gaze darkened bitterly, thinking of them. They weren't her family, nor would they ever be. Koko tried to think of a way to answer Ruby's question without seeming too reserved, as she'd tried not to be. Koko loved playing instruments, but she wasn't usually allowed to. The Wreaths owned a grand piano that Koko could play very well, and she'd even written a few pieces to play on it. She could play a clarinet, but she preferred piano to it. She could sing, too, but yet again the piano was her favourite. "I can play a few," Koko said, careful not to let any of the bitterness she felt travel into her demeanour more than it already had. "However, the piano is my favourite, I prefer it to singing." She felt like she should be a little specific, not that she knew why, so she added, "My... family... owns a grand piano."

She'd almost said too much. Why am I even hiding it? Koko thought angrily. It almost didn't matter. Koko clenched her jaw and finally decided to ask Ruby yet another question as to not seem like a maggot. "Perhaps you could tell me your favourite colour?" Koko asked. Her voice had a dark undertone to it, and as much as she had tried to get rid of her emotions, she still felt them lingering. Everything that had happened at the flat was still bothering her.

The genuine smile that had appeared on Koko's face at the mention of drawing made Ruby feel happy. This cause of happiness was unusual for her and she was a little shocked by it, but she continued on. “That's really cool! I haven't really met anyone here who likes to draw as much as I do,” Ruby said, surprised to find that a grin lifted the corners of her mouth. “The only problem is, I haven't really been exposed to lots of art and I haven't had anything much to compare my drawings to, so I'm not sure how "good" I am.”

Ruby watched Koko's gaze darken again when the conversation paused enough to allow them to think. This disappointed her and she was beginning to become a bit worried about the other Slytherin, her family situation, and her past. Of course, Ruby could relate to having family issues, but she really hoped that it wasn't anything too serious. She wanted to comfort the girl but also didn't want to seem prying or be over the top, and she was fairly sure that Koko wouldn't want her to suddenly start saying "oh, I'm so sorry" and all that nonsense. Ruby would only resort to that anyway if there wasn't another, more preferable option left.

“Yeah, that's nice, being passionate about music and playing it is quite respectable and a good choice, in my opinion,” Ruby replied. She noticed the hesitation when Koko said "family" and decided that it wasn't healthy for this family-related thing to be affecting the other first year so much. Koko's tone and mindset showed through in her question as well, and Ruby couldn't help but ask about it after she had answered. “Ah, I'm sorry, I don't have a favorite color. So many of them are so pretty or appealing to me in different ways, which makes it so that I can't pick a single favorite.”

“I guess this counts as my question, but, hey, are you okay? You don't have to properly answer me or talk to me about it, but something's clearly happened to you or your family and it's affecting you a lot.” Ruby surprised herself when she decided that she had another thing to add, and even more so when she realized it was completely genuine. Her tone softened slightly as she said, “I… know you don't need me, but I'll be here for you if you ever want to talk or if you need someone to comfort you, spend time with you, or just sit quietly with you…” She trailed off at the end, not really knowing what else to say and hoping that Koko wouldn't be mad at her.