Accidental Meeting PV Ruby Cazares Closed

A fairly pretty girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, wearing impeccably clean robes with not a fold out of place, was wandering through the library, running her fingers over the spines of the books as she looked for one. She was an unusual girl, even for a magical child. For one, she carried herself with an air that made her stand out. It radiated intelligence and confidence in addition to ambition, power, intensity, and determination. All of this combined made a kind of fire blaze in her eyes, flickering and dancing, alight with strength and passion. This fire, however, was masked by her cool, calm, calculating stare. Because of that, her eyes were a strange mix of being like ice shards, molten silver, and a sky-colored flame at the same time. Admittedly, her gaze could be piercing and cold, but she didn't always intend it to be that way.

By nature, Ruby was clever, analytical, calculating, and extremely observant, with a good enough memory to remember what she learned. The first thing that she did when walking into a room was to analyze it and its occupants, or at least the furniture and what kind of person might have put it there if there were no humans currently in it. Ruby's observations were usually scarily accurate, but to others' great relief, she didn't normally say them out loud. This way, they would never find out how much she knew/could guess about them, and they would be spared from being quite as unnerved by the young Slytherin.

The way she moved was another thing that made her different. Her constantly straight back and her air wasn't all that was put into her movements. She also seemed sophisticated – with a pure-blood upbringing, it was hard not to – and moved with a fluidity and grace that sometimes attracted attention. It was smooth and quiet, and she almost always moved without making a single sound – something she had learned to do from years of mischief, rule-breaking, and occasionally stealing.

Ruby continued to make her way through the rows of books, wandering to the place full of books on dragons. She loved animals, and dragons were no different – they fascinated her, and she had so much more left to discover about them. They were beautiful creatures, too. She had found herself here in the section on dragons a couple of times before, but never really stopped to select one of the books, as she had always got distracted. It didn't particularly matter, though, as she spent a lot of time in the library and vowed to return to this area at some point. Ruby loved reading and flew through books at an impressive speed.

One particular book finally caught her eye and she wrapped her slender fingers around it, beginning to slide it out. She was surprised to find that there was resistance, and knew that that almost certainly meant there was another person trying to get this book. When that person came to investigate and asked if she had been going to take the book, Ruby looked up, scanning the girl briefly with one quick glance. She then stored the girl's appearance away in a specific section of her brain so she could analyze it later, as she had to speak now. One of the most important things that stood out, however, was that the girl was a Ravenclaw.

“Yes, I was,” Ruby answered, keeping her tone neutral. “However, you may have it, if you would like,” she offered. Of course, this was a strategic move, like almost anything she did. The girl was now more likely to assume that Ruby was nice, and maybe feel like she should repay her or be kind to her. That was always something that Ruby could use…

She plucked the book off of the shelf, handed it to the girl, and then asked cordially, “What's your name?”

Ruby had not meant to give the girl any unpleasant thoughts or feelings regarding her. However, she was still wary, as she knew the stereotypes regarding Slytherins and the way that members of other houses could react to them. It became rather tiresome having to fight and dismiss all the stereotypes and wariness just to have a conversation with someone that had these kinds of prejudices. Sometimes, she wished that things would be easier, that the fact she was a member of Slytherin meant nothing except that she had admirable qualities and was driven to make something of herself later in life. But, no, because some people that just so happened to formerly be in her house turned out to be bad, and because people tended to remember the bad more easily and not think about/search for the good, the house of Slytherin was plagued by its past and its former members.

Although, perhaps Ruby was being unfair to this Ravenclaw girl. Her fellow student might not believe in these stereotypes and letting the past haunt the present – maybe the look in the girl's eyes was not one of wariness and unease stemming from Ruby's house. Maybe it was caused by something else, like the fact that she was a stranger – or maybe the girl wasn't up for social interaction or feared that Ruby would react badly to the situation. Whatever it was, Ruby was determined to try and be friendly and help the Ravenclaw ease up a little. After all, the girl belonged to the house with a reputation for intelligence – maybe Ruby could have a good, intellectual conversation that didn't involve meaningless, idle small talk. Was that too much to hope for?

Ruby shook her head at the girl's – Mae's – first comment. “Don't worry, it's okay. It seemed like an interesting, informative book, that's all. Although I welcome any new knowledge, I'm sure I could find it again after you finish, or just some other time. There are plenty of other books out there that I haven't read,” Ruby said with a small smile, her tone warmer now.

She hoped that she could get along well enough with Mae. Maybe she could make a friend! If not, anything other than enemies would be acceptable too. She really did not need to make an enemy over a book that she could easily find again later. It took the young Slytherin a moment to realize that Mae had continued speaking, but she managed to catch the end of it and understand that the girl had been asking for her name. “Oh, I'm Ruby Cazares. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mae,” she said, extending a hand for the other girl to shake. Her smile was becoming larger and more natural now, and her eyes sparkled perhaps as a result of it.

Ruby hoped that she wasn't making Mae feel uncomfortable or too awkward, especially considering the awkward situation they had just been in of grabbing the same book. “I agree – finding someone with a shared interest is quite nice. I haven't seen many people around here. Do you know a lot about dragons?"

Reducio

I'm so sorry that this was so late. I hope you can forgive me!