Strangers Just Disguised as Friends [Liang]

[Jacob Baine H3]

It was one of Jacob's more remarkable (so to speak) traits, the fact that he had such a hard time concentrating on anything. He could barely concentrate in his classes, and that was only because he constantly reminded himself that his mother had to to work hard to send him to school. As a matter of fact, the only reason he put up with this place was because of his mother. She had gotten it into her head that her little boy could amount to something now that he was studying magic, although Jacob firmly believed he hadn't changed one speck from what he used to be before Hogwarts, magic or no magic.

Why was he at the library? it was question he found himself wondering. Outside, it was beautiful, and he thought that by all rights he should be out there enjoying it. When Jacob made his mind up about something, very little could keep him from doing it, and at the moment he was seriously considering ditching his books for the great outdoors. He hated everything about the library----the books smelled like throw-up, the chairs were uncomfortable, and it was so maddeningly quiet that he wanted to scream. From his seat he could catch a glimpse of the sun from behind a monstrous bookshelf, and if he moved his hand a bit to the right, he was able to get a ray of light to turn his fingers warm and gold. He amused himself a for a moment by moving his fingers in the sunlight, watching the particles of dust fly about, pretending they were little figures playing an imaginary Quidditch game. He scoffed, and cupped his face in his other hand. Forget this, he was going to go out and have fun.
Yet he didn't move.

In the back of his mind, he knew why he was here. The reason behind his uncharacteristic action of going to the library was not because he was concerned with his grades (although that was part of the reason, if only slightly), but because he was scared about letting another thing slip. Before Hogwarts, Jacob had just discovered hair gel and its almost magical side-effects of procuring friends and admirers out of thin air. But at Hogwarts, he had gone from the top of the social ladder to the bottom rung. For two years, he had gone about this miserable (at least to him) existence, and it seemed only yesterday that he bumped into (quite literally) someone who he hoped would be a kindred spirit.

Truthfully, his initial impression of Liang Jong did not give the taller (and smarter and better looking, Jacob mused) boy much credit. Jacob mistakenly mistook him for some awkward social outcast, a student even lower than he himself. The second time they bumped into each other (carefully planned by Jacob), he talked to Liang, and gradually realized his mistake. At first, Jacob asked Liang for tutoring to get to know the Ravenclaw better---was this someone who he could rely on to boost his own self-esteem? Or was Liang Jong a rising star who Jacob could latch onto? Eventually, he realized his own scheming, and was ashamed of his thoughts. He tried his best to make friends with Liang, but as he learned quite recently, this was not so easy of a task.

Jacob didn't arrive early, let alone early to the library, for just anyone.

[Liang Jong R3]

He strolled through the halls at a brisk pace, his long black robe whipping behind him as he slipped past loitering students and ghosts and bodiless knights in armor that waved at him as he passed by. Liang did not smile, or wave back to these bodies; he was known for his utter lack of emotion after all.

But, he had a passion and zeal for learning, which made sense since Liang’s destination was the library. He even seemed to skip as he neared the place; the scents and musk of the old and worn books, some that had been present since the very founding of Hogwarts itself, were just as comforting as the smell of boiling rice, or fried pork. He sighed, his dark eyes glowing just a bit brighter as he slipped into the library and, after speaking briefly with the librarian, he slipped on ahead to head deeper into the library.

Why was he there?

It was a common occurrence to find Liang here, since the library was one of his favorite stomping grounds. (Not to stomp on books, of course!) But, he was here for a much more ‘trivial’ reason than to sit and to read books…

‘When had we started doing this?’ Liang asked himself silently as he marched through the rows of books. It was a maze that he would like to get lost in, and as he weaved this way and that, he sighed as he neared the designated ‘meeting place’.

It was a strange thing, at least to Liang. He was popular if only because he was an exceptional student, Liang was suddenly everyone’s “best friend” when the end-year exams rolled around. He, however, had a strong distaste for slackers and had, since the first year, turned down any and all requests to share answers and other cheating ways like that.

…

But, he supposed that Jacob was an exception. Whereas Jacob saw Liang as a means to boost his own self-esteem; or perhaps as a stepping stone to rise in popularity – Liang saw Jacob as… Well, he was a project of sorts. Jacob was very much like the other students who had asked for help, however unlike such students, he asked to be tutored – not if he could pass his parchment around for a “quick comparison”. It had been something different for Liang, even his twin, An-Mei, didn’t even ask him for tutoring when they were growing up but would have preferred to see his answers instead of learn from them.

So Jacob’s “sincere” request for tutoring was – if anything – enlightening for Liang, and at the time he had happily taken Jacob’s offer. Besides, it wasn’t like he was doing anything else besides staring longingly at the empty Beater position in the Ravenclaw Quidditch, so yes, he had the time to help the other student.

That was what… The end of first year? The beginning of second? He couldn’t recall, all he knew was that today was not the scheduled meeting time, and that Jacob had yet to understand the lesson that Liang had carefully explained to him.

He was, if anything, just a little bit annoyed...

But, in any case, he slipped past another bookshelf, took a left and then – there was Jacob seated at the table that they had marked as their own and – despite his size – he moved silently over to Jacob’s side (He didn’t want to disturb other studious persons) and plopped down beside him as he usually did.

“Jacob,” he greeted, as he settled down beside him and – after depositing his books carefully on the table, he turned to his friend, eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“I thought you told me you understood the subject.”

[Jacob Baine H3]

Jacob had not seen Liang come in, and reacted appropriately when the other boy sat down next to him.

Appropriate being inhaling loudly, exhaling in the form of a mangled scream, and falling sideways out of his chair.

When he finally got control of himself, he hoisted himself back into his chair with one hand, the other being situated over his heart. "When did you get here?" he asked exaggeratedly. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Actually, I think you did! You killed me! You killed me with your stupid ninja wizard abilities," Jacob growled, not caring (or perhaps not even realizing) the full extent of what he just said. He seemed to have forgotten that Liang was Chinese and Filipino, and therefore most certainly not a ninja.

Brushing dust off of his robes, Jacob sniffed, and reached for his books. "Well, its not just the old stuff, now. I'm having some problems in a few other subjects." He ducked his upper torso under the table, and then reappeared with a stack of books. Plonking them down, he read them off. "Um, you don't mind helping me in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, along with our old Defense stuff?"

He looked up from the books to Liang, and then finally realized what he just said. Blushing, he hastily added, "if its not to much." Embarrassedly, he scratched his head, and looked around the library, avoiding Liang's eyes.

His hands went down to his pockets, where he normally stuffed them under stress. However, there was something else in his pockets. Horrified, he realized that it was Liang's quill from earlier. Which he had now just sat on and broke into two.

Make that three.

Gulping, he pulled the pieces out of his pocket as surreptitiously as he could manage. "Um, Liang. I have your quill. But. Now, its, uh. Plural."

He dropped the pieces on the table. "Sorry," he muttered.