Closed Fate's project PV: Rory Hara

October 2nd, 2023
Transfiguration

Rory was starting to become superstitious, even if that was an odd admittance for a young wizard. Maybe he accidentally incurred the wrath of some sort of cosmic force. Perhaps he did something awful in the past and was only getting punished for it now.

Because how else would he end up partnered with Damian Hills?! The world's rudest and snobbiest boy. A total control freak who might hex him for making a mistake, or berate him for asking a question. Damian- the boy who thought he was better than everyone. Damian- the boy who made enemies with Rory.

Well, actually, when he considered it, there were a couple reasons they could've ended up together. Rory was a rather bright student, but he was still new to most of the curriculum. Transfiguration, especially, was one of his weak subjects and he assumed that Damian had good grades. Sure Rory had high marks thus far, but it took more work than many of his peers. Alphabetically, Hara and Hills were close, too. They were both Gryffindor. Whatever the unfortunate reason, it was time to swallow the pill and get this project over with.

First step - finding his new, delightful partner. He figured that Damian would immediately seek him out after class. The strict boy was always concerned with his academics, from the moment they met on the Hogwarts Express. So, it followed that he would want to get started with the project as soon as possible.

Unless, of course, Damian planned on shutting him out of the project! He wouldn't... Of course he would. Where was he, anyways?

The short boy had stepped out of class to search the halls. Damian wasn't anywhere. It wasn't like Rory took that long to pack up. Did he slip out as soon as they were dismissed, maybe? New plan - they were housemates. He could hunt down the boy if he tried hard enough. Finally, he peeked into the classroom one more time and spotted a dark, lightly curled head of hair in the front rows.

"There you are! Gosh, I was about to search the whole school." Rory began speaking, employing an almost whiny tone. He was already a bit exasperated by the whole situation. "Now, this situation isn't great, but I think we can agree to be civil and work together on this project."

That was when he noticed what Damian was working on. A paper, which would be just fine if it wasn't the one they were meant to be collaborating on! He sucked in a deep breath, before pointing at the boy's work with his right hand. Rory put it back down when he remembered that the hand was littered with smudges of ink from his note-taking. A detail that would probably take a couple years off of Damian's life.

He tried to keep the tone neutral, but was never skilled at covering his emotions. "So, what's that you're working on?"

Private to @Damian Hills

October 2nd, 2023
Transfiguration

This was going to be a pain, wasn't it?. He was rather naive to assume that Damian would be reasonable and just let him help with the project. For as much as that studious boy obsessed himself with neatness and order, he didn't mind being completely rude to Rory. Manners, he supposed, must only matter if you cared about the judgement of the other party. And Damian couldn't care less about accommodating him.

Rory's suspicions were only confirmed when Damian finally looked at him and the boy's hair immediately transformed. Crimson red tips to his lightly curled hair. Rory, unfortunately, had begun to associate the color with Damian - and, well, his poor temperament. Not a great development, considering he was a Gryffindor. It was hard not to let the bickering get under his skin - it was Rory's first mutual disdain.

He deliberated on whether or not to inform Damian of his hair's change. According to the boy's curious Mood Ring Theory, Damian would be rather intense, probably angry. Simply from looking at Rory. He winced. It might escalate the situation, but it was dishonest to not be transparent. And what if someone else wandered in? He would want to know. It was better to hope that, miraculously, Damian wouldn't freak out.

"Um," Rory gestured to his own hair, "You're doing the thing again." Was he naive to assume that it was better to tell Damian? Well, too late.

And the boy that sat in front of him spoke in an immediately cold, dismissive tone. It was completely Rory's business! The keyword in the assignment would be 'partner'. The professor intended for them to work together. Rory's eyebrows furrowed, giving him a somewhat pouty look - like a child who was told he couldn't have another cookie.

Damian went on to explain what he was doing - he planned on completing the project on his own and just letting Rory take credit for the work! The tone of the speaker clearly indicated that it was an order, not a suggestion. His mouth open slightly, as if trying to immediately refute the idea but unable to come up with anything to say.

It was a truly horrible idea that Rory - a huge teacher's pet - would never go for. It was cheating! The teacher trusted them to work together - that the assignment would be evenly shared. It was dishonest, suggested a lack of integrity from both students, and completely wrong. Rory's parents had instilled moral values in their son before practically anything else. It was unthinkable, in Rory's mind, that anyone would agree to doing nothing in a partner project.

He hadn't even yet considered that Damian might think he wasn't capable of doing the assignment. Or that he wasn't smart. Rory assumed, thus far, that the issue was purely related to their prior conflicts.

So he stood there, baffled. Damian had already returned to his work. Rory deliberated what the best thing to do was, to say to convince Damian that they should just do the project together. The pressure was only heightened when the student inquired, sharply, why he was still there.

Rory had finally formulated a plan of attack. So he sat down, right next to Damian. Partially to establish that he was not leaving yet, partially so he would be able to get a better look at what was already done for the assignment. "Look, I get you don't like me, but that's not a good enough reason to not work with me." He began speaking, trying to sound firm but a bit too nervous to look straight at Damian. "I don't cheat, and I'm not starting now."

And then he added something that was a bit petty, "If you won't work with me, I'm just going to submit my own work and tell the professor you refused to work with me." Rory was trying to appeal to Damian's sensibilities. He reasoned that the boy wouldn't do anything that could potentially harm his academic standing.

Private to @Damian Hills

October 2nd, 2023
Transfiguration

Maybe it wasn't necessary to reiterate, but Rory Hara was astounded by how much of a jerk Damian Hills could be. It seemed any attempt that he made to have a normal conversation with the boy, even if it was strictly for the purpose of school, was immediately rebuked. The blonde let out a soft sigh.

Damian mimicked his hand movement - as if he needed to confirm that his hair was indeed crimson. Rory wasn't at all surprised that Damian blamed him for the occurrence - it was the third time, after all. He wondered if Damian would ever take even a bit of responsibility for his hair transformations. And then the irritated boy continued his accusation, claiming that before Rory's presence, it had happened ze-

Damian paused, as if realizing his statement was untrue. He attempted to move on, claiming that it wasn't important. Rory let out a strangled sound, as he had started laughing but immediately cut himself off. It may have been funny, even endearing if they were closer, to see Damian's mistake, but he knew the boy, who prided himself on his appearance, wouldn't see the humor in the situation. He needed to be polite, at least for the sake of this project.

Once again, there was a brief moment of calm before chaos. What Damian said next was both unsurprising and completely baffling. He didn't like Rory. Anyone could've guessed that from their interactions, maybe even simply from the cold looks Damian directed at him. He didn't like Rory's study method. Fair enough, he was a bit messy and had a penchant for taking naps. He didn't like Rory's... outcomes? When had he seen Rory's work? Or grades? Well, surely he hadn't since Rory was an O average student thus far.

But the insinuation made him sink a little in his seat. It was a question that Rory had pondered a couple times since he entered the school of magic -- why did people assume he wasn't smart? The young boy was a bit too self-conscious, caring more that people didn't think he was smart than that he actually was. Before he could respond, not that he knew how to defend himself, Damian continued.

It was like the boy was possessed by the ghost of academic excellence. He sounded, well, a bit frantic as he explained that he had to be the top student. Rory couldn't drag him down. If he couldn't get the highest grade, he'd- and then, he stopped himself, as if he was just regaining awareness.

The room felt a bit warmer all the sudden. And smaller? For the first time in their acquaintance, Rory felt a small but strange mix of panic and dread. He had a sudden inkling that Damian's feelings towards him were part of something bigger. It wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to consider right now, and apparently Damian didn't want him to consider it either, since he abruptly moved on.

And, well, it was cheating by Rory's definition of cheating. Not that it was a good time to bring that up.

Apparently Rory's plan had worked. The boy seemed taken aback by his threat to tattle. For all the points Damian had against Rory, he finally won something. No smiling, be mature. Then, the moody boy had to add a snarky comment about how he would cry to the professor, which removed his urge to smile. Add another point for Damian.

He was going to proofread. "Okay, sure." Rory replied, sounding, admittedly, proud that he was helping. Well, not the greatest task, but it was necessary. Sometimes Rory made silly little mistakes, so it made sense that Damian would need help with the task. He would rather help in a bigger way, but he reminded himself: baby steps. Damian had trouble giving up control, so he would just accept his orders.

Then he set to reading. Naturally, his head came to rest in his hand, his eyebrows knit in concentration. A frown gradually appeared on his face. There were no errors. Nothing. He looked over at his partner in disbelief. The boy had no interest in Rory's work, and had silently set to continue the essay.

Rory immediately spoke in protest, "You tricked me! There's no need to proofread this, and you know it. You're a... a.." He tried to come up with a good insult. Unfortunately, he grew up in a household without swearing. "You're a jerk!"

His face had transformed into a scowl. "I was being serious. We're partners - we work together. Fifty-fifty, ideally."

Private to @Damian Hills

October 2nd, 2023
Transfiguration

Was it really worth the pain? Arguing with Damian felt pointless - the boy was always two steps ahead, prepared with some sort of cutting or smart reply. And for what? He was basically fighting to spend more time with his partner. More bickering, more objections to any of Rory's suggestions. Most people would have given up by now. But not Rory.

His rule-abiding nature triumphed over his dislike for Damian. Well, it was more of an unwritten rule that you split a partner project evenly, but that didn't matter. Rory would be consumed by guilt if he accepted a free O, if he allowed the professor to assume that he participated. It was an issue of ethics. It didn't matter whether or not you got caught if you were your own personal judge. He couldn't back down.

And, goodness, what was happening to Damian? He had never thought of Damian as the cool-headed, reasonable type, but there was a point where anyone would be concerned. It was instinctual. First, the boy had almost revealed private information that he clearly didn't want Rory to know - going on a confusing rant about his need to get perfect grades. Now, he had been paused for a while, looking more intense than usual. There seemed to be some battle in Damian's mind.

Was it really that difficult for him to give up control to Rory? It was all a much greater deal than anticipated. Obviously, it was kind of insulting how upset the boy was getting over having to let him help, but Rory decided to let it go in consideration of the circumstances. Anyway, he couldn't imagine Damian working willingly with anyone - the boy was not only stubborn but sort of cranky, too. Oh, and completely bossy. He watched as the student's quill was placed on the page, a bit more forceful than necessary.

Maybe he shouldn't have called Damian a jerk, or called him out so brazenly, because Damian was clearly not amused. First, he attempted to deny Rory's accusation, claiming that sometimes you didn't find mistakes when proofreading. Well, it was almost believable, unless reminded of whose paper it was. Damian Hills - "Mr. Perfect." Who had woken Rory up from a nap to chastise him for having messy handwriting. Who spent all his free time reviewing, rewriting, probably reading the dictionary from front-to-back. There would be no mistakes.

It seemed that Damian had given up on that strategy. He let out a sigh, as if he was defeated - out of ways to deal with Rory's persistence. But it wasn't a calming action; in fact, the boy seemed more sharp than ever.

Damian snapped, admitting that he didn't know how to let Rory help. Well, that was a far gentler way to put it than what was actually said. His tone was raised, slamming a hand on the desk. Rory's eyes widen, and he flinched slightly at the outburst. It wasn't that the boy was scared, but that it was rather unexpected. Damian continued, asserting that he needed to be in charge. He left no room for protest, not that it was worth trying, even if there was.

Their eyes locked, a rare occurrence. Damian's dark blue eyes were intense, but almost... desperate? Or maybe Rory was reading far too into it.

Either way, he made a decision. No more snapping on his end. No more whining, either. It was clear that he was asking a lot of Damian, more than he realized. Sure, Damian was being unreasonable, and had a very poor attitude, but there was a give-and-take that needed to happen. Today, the best that could Rory could do was be obedient. As soon as the project was over, he could go back to being difficult. And cursing the day they met. And all the days they kept on meeting.

It was probably strange - how he shifted from scowling, accusatory to a much calmer tone. " Okay, I get it." He paused, clearing his throat, "Actually, I don't. Not at all. But, whatever."

"You've already done most of the work for the writing part of the assignment, so I'll just go along with it. Just, please, let me help out with the rest. You can be in charge, but let me assist. I'm good at following directions." He tried to persuade, gently suggesting how Damian could give up some of the work. "Um, and, I actually kind of need this practice. Some of the topics are confusing." Rory wasn't sure if the additional statement was a good idea. On one hand, he was admitting that he wasn't perfectly knowledgable. Not that Damian thought he was even knowledgable, anyway. But, on the other hand, he was appealing to the boy's emotions. Then again, Damian Hills had proven to be a heartless snake.

"Well, for now I can read what you've done so far. And maybe give suggestions if I think we should add anything?" He continued, before pausing. "It's getting kinda late, I don't know how much time we'll have after that."

Private to @Damian Hills

October 2nd, 2023
Transfiguration

It seemed that the height of the conflict had been passed, and the boys had finally arrived at a resolution. Or, well, a plan for how to finish the partner project without any more petty fighting. They both would surely continue to despise each-other, despite the truce they reached to earn Os; because, simply, any sense of agreeability between the pair was a front.

Their feud was both purely simple and unbelievably complicated. From a reasonable outsider's perspective, it may be seen that Rory and Damian met on a bad day. Accidents occurred, poor communication led to arguing, which never led to apologies. Sure, it wasn't Rory's fault that the conflict began, but by now, his grudge was one of the main fuels of their stormy relationship.

But why couldn't Rory find forgiveness in his heart? He was generally a very softhearted boy, resorting to tears before yelling. The answer was one he refused to admit - he was too proud. To him, seeing Damian as a empathetic person who simply reacted poorly due to stress would cause him to feel deep remorse for his own actions. After all, he cared deeply about projecting kindness to those around him. Without concrete proof, then, that Damian wasn't simply cruel, he would deny any possibility of his wrongdoing. It was a tactic to protect his own feelings, albeit extremely immature and irrational.

So, Rory told himself that he was being the bigger person in this partner project. He chalked up Damian's controlling nature to a simply personality flaw - one that he would considerately ignore for the rest of their partnership.

It almost felt like Damian was inspecting his face, oddly enough. It reminded him of a moment where the boy had teased Rory for looking at him too intently. He furrowed his eyes a bit, wondering what was going on in the mind of "Mr. Perfect." And it wasn't worth it to bring it up - they were both tired of bickering, and were desperate to get this project over with.

As Rory presented his plan for their work distribution, Damian looked annoyed, but wasn't immediately fighting back or making any sharp comments. It was like a beast who had decided to act tame for a moment - sure, it was nice, but you shouldn't turn your back. He felt that if he said the wrong thing, Damian would call his bluff and do the project completely independently.

Finally, Damian had said fine. He agreed. While Damian continued talking, likely applying conditions, Rory was too relieved to even pay attention. He tried to keep down the smile that kept threatening to appear. Finally, after all the back-and-forth, it was time to calm down and get to work.

Or not, because Damian hung on to the part about him not completely understanding the content of the assignment. The boy was immediately condescending, acting as if he was a complete fool. Rory opened his mouth to retort back, before closing it once again when he remembered his promise to hisself - no more snapping. Instead, he sighed, relaxing in his seat at the lecture that was sure to follow.

Yet, it wasn't what Rory expected. His head shot back up in surprise when Damian started forcibly explaining the content and the reasoning behind what he wrote. It wasn't necessarily nice, but it was the best he had seen out of Damian yet. "Huh," he quietly let out, a sign of amazement. Maybe Professor Hills would become a reality, even if he would be the kind of teacher that the students were terrified of. The thought would've been more amusing if Rory wasn't being subjected to one of his lectures.

And so he sat through it, and, although he would certainly wouldn't admit it, learned quite a bit about transfiguration. His areas of confusion were clarified during the extent of Damian's exasperated but thorough explanations. Soon enough, though, it was getting late. Surely they would have made more progress if Rory hadn't received help, or if Damian worked on his own, but it was a good start.

Rory's stomach grumbled lightly, drawing his concern to the topic of dinner, as well as the steady stream of voices coming from the hallway. His mind was suddenly far from the topic of academics. He was getting tired of sitting in one place for so long, anyway. "Well, I think it's about time to wrap things up." He broke the silence stiffly, as if nervous Damian would insist they stayed and worked during dinner; after all, the boy had insisted that he was in charge.

"Are you free tomorrow? We could probably finish this all up by then." He scratched his cheeks, eyes already to the hallway. Imagining what food there would be to eat. Sweets, hopefully. "I'll look over my notes before than, anyway, so don't stress out too much." He really did intend to look over his notes, although it wasn't his main concern at the moment.

That was his final comment before slipping out of the room, as quickly as possible while maintaining a bit of dignity. As soon as he got out the door, he stretched deeply, as if a great amount of tension left his body.

Private to @Damian Hills