Just a little rest is all PV | Ruth Fairchild

—Sleeping boy, Sleepy trees—
𝓐h, bliss. Ruth could walk these grounds forever. Well, she couldn't, but the young badger knew she'd take it upon herself to scrounge up every leisurely moment she had to traipse along the pathways temporarily littered with the falling autumn leaves. Soon, winter would bless the grounds with falling snow, and Ruth wouldn't be able to grasp as much opportunities should that time come. Walks during winter weren't all that pleasant as compared to the beautiful Fall. For what felt like the umpteenth time, she silently thanked her parents for being so openminded about their agreement to send her to Hogwarts.

She wrapped the beautiful bee-patterned scarf on her neck tighter, shivering slightly in her cardigan. It was getting colder, now that the sun was beginning to set. She was bound to go back to the common room soon, or to the Great Hall for dinner. For now, Ruth was tempted to walk just for a few more minutes. While disappointed that she may not get the time to do a complete loop around the grounds, Ruth was optimistic and believed that even the shortest time there was sacred (silly girl, she still had 7 years of living in the school. That would make at least two thousand days, if excluding holidays and exeat weekends and--

Her pondering paused as Ruth reached the bit of the grounds shrouded by lesser trees than where she had gone through. The leaf piles were getting less abundant now, with the tree branches or begging to look bare and prepared for the upcoming season. It was funny to the girl, how people tended to call autumn the season of endings, as though they were saying the trees were dying in slow motion. She considered it otherwise--that they were simply shedding what they no longer needed, letting go so they could endure the blizzard and freezing winter. And yet, she thought to herself, her legs trailing off the path to make for touching the bark of a tree, feeling the roughness scrap gently against her skin, they do it so beautifully. Turning gold and amber, as if celebrating the very thing they were about to lose.

Maybe that’s the real magic of it. Knowing when to let go, and doing it with grace.

She sighed happily to herself, content with the image of her favourite season in her head, and happy she was at Hogwarts to enjoy it. Ruth fingered the wand in the back pocket of her corduroy pants, feeling the cool aspen wood. A wand. She was a true witch, fresh out of a storybook for...muggles. The word felt weird on the tip of her tongue. All her life, she was, to magicals, a muggle? Muggle. Interesting.

Ruth moved away from the tree and was about to venture onwards. A sudden change of colour in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned swiftly, slightly spooked but then relieved to see it was just a boy with lush blonde hair . Ruth hadn't been expecting anyone to be around the grounds at this time, and felt embarrassed, knowing how she had stood behind the tree he had been leaning against on. Ruth bent down to talk to him, a rambling gush of words coming out as though she didn't know how to explain herself, "Hi, sorry, I didn't mean to--" but she trailed off when she realised the boy wasn't responding back, and neither had he turned to look at her. How rude, she found herself thinking before walking to the other side in hopes of getting his attention.

She crunched through the leaves to loop around the tree and bent back down, only to realise his eyes were shut, his eyelashes fluttering every so often and mouth parted ever so slightly, his mind probably in a dreamless, blissful sleep. Ruth stood there before him, staring at the sight, then looked down towards his arms, hands clasped on an open book Ruth hadn't noticed from before. Almost hidden were the other books of study that he must have been revising prior to his dozing off. Embarrassment flushed her cheeks when it dawned on her that the sight would be suspicious to anybody coming across them. Gah, what was I doing? Best make an escape before she woke him up.

Ruth made to leave, but hesitated. It was getting late, and soon dinner would come and the grounds or anywhere besides the common rooms would be forbidden. She squirmed as she drew her gaze back to his youthful face, making a vague assumption that he was to be just about the same age as she was, maybe a little older. Ruth groaned inwardly at the decision she made and before she could change her mind, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hello?" she asked.

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