Studying and Hanging out! (open)

[Ashlyn Caeley]

Ash walked into the library, adjusting the strap of her heavy bookbag. She had so much homework to do this evening it was unbelievable. Plopping down at an empty desk, she pulled out her quill, ink, and parchment. Ash glanced around in her bag for her Charms book, rescueing it from the bottom of the stack. Opening it to the correct page, Ash set off writting her paper on household charms. One hour passed and then two and Ash still worked diligently on her homework. People filled in and out of the library, ignoring the girl bent over her worn charms book.

Not that many people noticed Ashlyn anyways. She was tall and skinny, but still a little curvy. She had a pretty face and pale skin that sharply contrasted her long black hair. Ash liked blending in, not that a little attention here and there was bad. It was just, in the past, when she had been the center of attention, people were bullying her. But that was over now, Ash told herself, tearing her mind away from those sad memories. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced down at her finished Charms paper. It was one of her better papers, Ash thought with all modesty. Collecting her things, Ash packed up and began to wander the shelves looking for a new book to read. She had recently red one on Dragons and magical flying creatures that interested her, and she hoped to find another book on the related topic.

Heading over to that section of the library, Ash combed the shelves looking for a good book. Running a finger along the book's spines, she came across a title that looked interesting. "Flying Creatures: A Beginner's Guide to Magical Creatures" Ash whispered, reading the faded print. Ash stretched her hand up and pulled at the book, but it didn't budge. The book was in there tight. Taking two hands, Ash pulled with all her might, and to her dismay, the entire row of books came crashing to the ground. "Oops..." Ash mumbled, stepping back from the pile of books laying at her feet.

[Gabriel Hayes]

Gabriel was rushing towards the library in the hopes that he would be able to find the one book that he needed in order to finish his potions essay. He knew the material well but there was this nagging feeling that he was forgetting something important and not having that much money left for books meant he had to skip out on buying the ones for subjects he usually did well in and relying on the old, worn out copies in the library. It had hurt Gabriel's pride a bit, to go from having anything he wanted to having basically nothing and having to pass on some necessities.

Upon entering the library, he quickly made his way over to the potions section and started browsing the titles for the one he needed. He found it and make his way over to a table in order to copy the needed information down onto his notes for his essay. Finally feeling that he had everything in order to make this one of his greatest essays yet, Gabriel picked up the text and made his way back over to the shelves. Upon putting the book back onto the shelf, he heard what must have been a good amount of books hitting the floor and what sounded like a mumbled oops.

Curiosity piqued, Gabriel made his way down to the end of the aisle and walked over to the next one. Upon entering the aisle, he noticed a girl his age, perhaps a year younger, staring at the pile of books in dismay. It didn't seem that she had noticed him yet, so he pulled out his wand and with a swish and mumbled spell as he had yet to become proficient at casting silently, he put all the books back on the shelf.

"You know, you're lucky it was me that heard that and not the librarian." Gabriel said, deciding to speak to her. "I don't think we've met yet. I'm Gabriel Hayes." He said as he stuck his hand out to shake.

[Ashlyn Caeley]

Ash watched as all the books flew back onto the shelves. Alarmed, her heart started to pound, think the librarian was coming to give her detention. Ash tried to think of how she would word her excuse when a voice started to speak. It was a mans, musical and happy, not the rough sound of Madame Pince. Turning, she saw a tall, rather handsome Slytherin boy standing there with his hand out. He had straight caramel colored hair and a nice smile. Gabriel Hayes, that's a nice name Ashlyn thought to herself. She realized she was supposed to shake hands and hastily put her hand out.

"I'm Ashlyn, but everyone just calls me Ash. Nice to meet you Gabriel!" Ash said, shaking his outstretched hand. "And thanks for the help with the books, I can be a klutz sometimes," Ash said smiling, holding her book close to her chest and running her fingers through her long, dark curls. "I guess I am lucky you aren't the librarian. She hates me you know, I really liked a book in here during my first year and I tried to keep it. I got detentions for months," Ash said, laughing at her own silly mistake. Then, noticing he was staring at her, Ash's laughter died down.

Now why did I tell him that, Ash thought to herself. It's not like he cares! Ashlyn had a strong desire to slap herself for her stupidity, but she managed to keep both hands clasped to her book. He probably thought she was some stupid 5th year trying to sound impressive. She sighed inwardly, and decided to break the silence.

"I have to work on my potions essay, do you want to study with me? I mean, I'm not sure we're even in the same potions class, but..." Ash trailed off stupidly. She felt like she had seen him in her class before, but right now she just felt plain stupid for asking. Clutching her book tightly, she smiled at him and waited for him to answer.

[Gabriel Hayes]

After shaking her hand, Gabriel watched as Ash ran her hand through her hair in what he could only assume was a nervous gesture. He smirked to himself as he thought about the effect he has on people. He prided himself on being able to be quite charming when he wanted. He listened in amusement as she told him of all the detentions she had received all to keep a book. He noticed as she seemed to blush and was most likely mentally berating herself over telling a stranger that story if the death grip she had on that book was any indication.

Gabriel heard her ask if he would like to work on a potion's essay with her. He stood and silently considered his options. He had planned on spending the day alone and had almost finished his essay anyways, but on the other hand, this could be a chance to make an actual new friend, who didn't seem to know anything about his past. He supposed that he could go ahead and add his new notes to his essay and maybe expand on that section about the results of adding one extra counter-clockwise stir.

"I suppose that my essay could use a few touch-ups." He said smiling. "I had originally come in here to find the text so that I could fill in my missing notes." Gabriel could have hit himself for that last part. He only hoped that she was not curious and would not ask why he needed the school's text. He didn't think he could take the looks of sympathy that even his other friends sometimes sent him when they thought that he wasn't looking.

Gabriel walked over to the nearest table and sat down, pulling out his parchment, quill, and ink pot along the way. He looked up at Ash to see if she had followed him over.

[Ashlyn Caeley]

Ash grabbed her bag and sat down next to Gabriel, noting that he had already finished most of his essay. She wanted to kick herself herself again for asking him to work with her. He had probably just agreed so as not to hurt her feelings, but even so, this was still a good oportunity to make a new friend. Ash pulled her potions book from out of her bag, noting with disgust the spilled ink on the front. She flipped to the right page and placed it inbetween the two of them, remembering he didn't have one. That was ok, her's was a hand-me-down from her older brother Benson, and was in terrible condition. There were notes on every page and the cover was about to fall off. It wasn't that her parents couldn't afford new books, it was more that they were "waste not want not" type people and wouldn't let Ash get new books until Benson's were unreadable.

"Sorry about all the writing in here, the book was my brother Benson's. I tried to get the writing off, but my brother wrote in permanent ink. It doesn't come off with any spells or magic removers," Ash said, glancing at the book and then beginning her essay. They worked in silence, occasionaly asking each other questions about techniques. Ash noticed Gabriel didn't have much work to do, so she decided she could work on her essay later. After all, it wasn't due for three more days. Ashlyn rolled up her parchment and put a stopper in her inkbottle. Shoving them all into her bag, Ash leaned back in her chair and stretched.

"So do you have any siblings? I have two brothers. Benson and Percival, but I just call him Perc," Ash said, smiling. "They're both in Ravenclaw. My whole family was, but I was the first Gryffindor in a century. I think both my parents were a little disapointed, but they wouldn't say it," Ash said, trailing off. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, she had just had a different past then the rest of her family. Ash turned to Gabriel awaiting his reply.

[Gabriel Hayes]

Gabriel looked at her potions book as she pulled it out. He couldn't help but notice that all of the pages had writing on them. She must have noticed him looking for she said that it used to be her brother's book and she couldn't get the writing off of it. They worked in silence mostly except for the occasional question before Ash had apparently decided she had had enough and put her work away.

Gabriel looked up as she stretched and started talking about her family and asking if he had any siblings. He didn't say anything for a minute, keeping his face blank in true Slytherin fashion. He felt her stare on him but still didn't say anything, thinking about his family for the first time in awhile.

"No, I do not have any siblings. I'm an only child. I do not know if my family would have all been in Slytherin as I am the first one to come to Hogwarts. We're from Germany." he said, only answering her question and the obvious next few questions she would undoubtedly ask.

[Ashlyn Caeley]

As Ash watched Gabriel, waiting for his answer, she immediatley felt the mood change between them. He waited for a moment before answering, and Ash began to wonder if she had hit on some touchy spot. She hadn't ment to be nosey, Ash just found that Gabriel was easy to talk to, and he was a good listener. Ashlyn listened as he explained that he was an only child and that he was the first to go to Hogwarts. This suprised Ashlyn for a moment, but she hid it well. Ash had thought that most pureblood families, like her own, attended Hogwarts. But it didn't matter and Ash pushed the tought from her mind. Focusing her attention back on Gabriel, she attempted to lighten the mood.

"Germany, that's cool! I've always wanted to go there, but my parents won't take me," Ash said wistfully. "My family is originally from Greece, but they moved to Rome and then to Paris and finally to England. Of course, our family has gotten a bit smaller over the years so right now its just me and my brothers at school here," Ash said, frowning just slightly at the thought of her brothers. Ashlyn glanced down at her potions book, recalling how jealous she had been when her parents had refused to buy her new books, but gotten her brother Percival new ones. It wasn't that her parents didn't love her, they just clearly favored her brothers, especially Benson. Perfect Benson with his good grades, good looks, and of course, Mr. Popular. He and Perc took after Ash's mom like that, but Percival wasn't quite so stuck up.

Ash tried to ignore these angry thoughts though and come up with another question to ask Gabriel, but he had answered several of hers. Glancing around and the shelves for inspiration, Ash finally found something to talk about.

"Do you like to read Gabriel? I love too, but I'm not as good of a writer. I tried it once and it turned out awful," I said, smiling at him.

[Gabriel Hayes]

Gabriel was finding it increasingly hard to not talk about family when meeting new people. It seemed that even people who knew nothing about him asked the most penetrating questions, no matter how innocently or unknowingly. He noticed her slight surprise, no matter how quickly she hid it, at his mentioning that he was the first in his family to attend Hogwarts. He felt some relief as she started talking about her own family, taking the spotlight away from him.

Gabriel listened as she recounted every place her family had ever lived, and how it was just her and her two brothers. She seemed to be looking around for something to talk about. He smirked when all she could come up with was books. He thought about her question for a bit before answering. "Yes, I do like to read. I must confess that I quite enjoy classic muggle fiction. Though, I am currently working on the classic Greek epics. I find that I enjoy the works of Homer. Have you ever read any muggle writings?" Gabriel asked her, liking the subject of books.

[Ashlyn Caeley]

Ash noticed Gabriel relax as she droned on and on about her family. Ok, so now she knew that he didn't like to talk about his family. That was easy enough. She listened as he mentioned that he loved reading muggle fiction, especially Homer and Greek epics. Ashlyn was fascinated. She loved Greek epics and mythology. Homer was one of her favorites, the Iliad was such a beautiful piece of writing. Ash remembered sitting on her bed late at night eagerly turning the pages to dicover what happened next.

"Yes, actually! I went to a muggle elementary school and I find them so interesting! And I also love Greek epics! They're so interesting. I've read the Iliad twice, it's by far my favorite. I just love the way he writes, although it can be a bit confusing a times. Achilles is my favorite character, but Patroclus and Hector are a close second. Which book do you prefer by Homer?" Ashlyn asked eagerly. She loved talking about Greek mythology, but she could never find anyone to talk about it with. Most people found it an extremely boring subject. She leaned back in her chair, eyes glowing, waiting for his answer.