A little help? ((Gary))

[illiya]

The resounding echoes of laughter stole what little pride Illiya had been clinging to as she sat waist deep in muddy water, the swirls of sediment dancing around her like a mockery of a skirt. Several very disturbed fish swam nervously past her to escape the shallows and head for deeper water. Illiya could feel the mud squelching between her knees as she sat hunched over searching desperately for her glasses. They were lost somewhere beneath the opaque waters, her fingers sliding across the muck in a desperate bid to find them. Finally, Illiya pulled up what she thought would be one arm of the frame only to discover, instead, a small slimy stick. She bit her lip as the warmth of tears welled up in her eyes. She would not cry. The laughter of the older Slytherin boys finally faded as they moved away, quickly escaping the crime scene. Illiya had been minding her own business by the lakeside. The day held a small note of chill so not many students were out this close to the waters edge, this was exactly the way Illiya preferred things. She liked being able to walk alone down the shores. While she could not go into the woods without permission, the lakes skirted just enough of them to offer several turns and paths which were hidden from the view of the castle.

It was down one of these hidden paths that Illiya had found herself wandering only moments before, her head buried in a book as her feet found the familiar paths of their own accord. Tendrils of her hair, as usual, hung limply in her face; Illiya had long since stopped trying to tame them. Perhaps if she had, they would not have obscured her view of the three older Slytherin boys sitting quietly just up the bank. But Illiya did not see them and did not register their presence until she was flying towards the water, her book leading the way. One of the boys had pushed her fairly hard, though later she was sure he would say they were merely witnesses to Illiya’s usual clumsiness. She had landed hard, face first, in the reed filled shallows; her glasses had flown off into the shallows with her book, both lost in a loud splash that left ripples of water washing up onto the normally still banks of the lake. Sputtering and coughing, Illiya had pulled her face up from the water. Her uniform was coated entirely in mud and her hair was now weighed down as rivulets of water dribbled off of each loose tendril; her bun was hanging off to one side of her head now as it struggled to get free of the small barrette holding it. Illiya had gasped for air in small ragged breaths but as her breathing slowed she had finally heard the laughter signaling her tormentor’s position.

Now she was alone, without even an explanation for why she was left muddy and cold on the shallows, not that she really needed one. Illiya knew exactly why they had done this. They saw her as weak. They knew she couldn’t stand up to them and knew she wasn’t popular. Not many would rush to defend her and there would be no huge uproar that she had been bullied yet again. Illiya tossed the small stick she was holding back into the water and once more felt out between the reeds for any sign of her glasses. Her fingers finally found one corner of her book, what had once been a story about a young woman sent back in time where she falls in love with a brave knight, and lifted the now saturated book from the mud. It resisted for only a few minutes then came loose with a rather disgusting noise. The book was so swollen with water that its cover wouldn’t even close properly any more, and Illiya was sure the pages would dry so wrinkled she wouldn’t be able to read it ever again. Perhaps Professor McGonagall would have a spell to fix her book. Illiya tossed the novel up onto the shore where it landed with a disheartening THUP, then she turned back to her search once more.

It was only when the sound of feet, crunching across the few dead leaves that had already fallen, came close to where she sat, still waist deep in water, that Illiya looked up in surprise. Some one was standing just up the bank looking at her. Without her glasses, Illiya could only make out a vague, blurry, masculine shape standing about 6 feet away. Who ever it was seemed to have just come around the same corner she had only a few moments before and Illiya hoped that it wasn’t one of the Slytherins coming back for round two.

[crane]

Gary was wearing a pair of rather torn jeans and a blue sweater. He knew he was a muggleorn or a ’mudblood’ as Slytherins refered to him. But it had never bothered Gary. He loved his 3 sisters and mother. Her mother hadn’t had an easy life raising 4 children alone after the death of Gary’s father. She deserved a lot of respect. And Gary very dearly cared for his mother.
Ignoring the bunch of Slytherin boys passing him Gary didn’t pay any attention to the few insults thrown his way. Yes he wasn’t dressed very nicely and her books and things were second-hand often. But it was the best their family could afford. Gary had decided a long time ago that he shoudl accept and be happy with what he had. Yearning for things out of his reach was just a waste of time. Time that could be spent better.

The Slytherins were alughing and congratulating someone so Gary listened a bit. Had they been going against someone with a group? Wondering what the poor person was doing now Gary walked a bit quicker towards the direction the bullies had came from. Walkinmg to the edge of the bank Gary couldn’t help but smile at the site that greeted his eyes. A girl was sitting waste-deep in water, covered with mud and looking completely soaked with her hair adding a bit sheepish look. As it must not have been as fun for the girl Gary let his smile leave his face as easily as it came.

„Are you alright?“Gary asked with sincere concern in his voice as he took a few more steps forward so he was standing right at the edge of the water. „The water must be cold and it’s not good to catch a cold. Come on out.“ Pulling out his wand Gary started a small fire on the shore noticing a poorly looking book on the shore. Most likely it belonged to the girl so Gary picked it up and placed it gently on a rock next to the fire he had started.
Looking back at the girl Gary reached out his hand to help her climb to the shore: „Were you hurt too? It might be a bit slippery here. I’ll help you up the shore.“
Looking at the girl more closely Gary recognised her faintly from some of her classes. She was a fourth year too. But didn’t she wear glasses? By the way she was squinting it looked as if she had lost them.
„Accio glasses!“ Gary pointed his wand towards the lake and a few moments later the frames flew into his hand but both glasses were a bit cracked. Muttering a quiet spell Gary fixed the glasses before smiling at the girl and raising his finding in his right hand with his left still reached out to help the girl climb to the shore.
„Were you looking for these?“

[illiya]

The figure on the shore line spoke to her in a friendly concerned voice belonging to a young man, and most definitely not a Slytherin. The boy started a fire up on the shore and remarked that the water must be cold, a fact which, until that moment, Illiya had not even thought much about. As she stood though, she felt a shiver run through her body until it reached her lips and set her teeth to chattering. The water had indeed been cold and now the chill wind of coming autumn was blowing over her damp skin, sufficiently turning her flesh to ice. Illiya, shaking from head to toe, trudged miserably up onto the bank. ‘Th-th-thanks,” she managed through chattering teeth as she finally got close enough to place one muddy, cold, clammy hand into his. With one last sucking pop, Illiya got her trainer out of the mud and stumbled onto the shore, looking utterly pathetic. “O-Other than s-s-some bruises, I think I’m o-ok.” Illiya began a small check of her person to see if any other damage bad been done, but aside from a scratch on her left knee where she landed on a stick, she had come out relatively unharmed.

Illiya looked back to Gary and squinted at what was in his right hand, sure enough, he’d found her glasses. “Y-Yeah, those’re m-mine. Th-th-thank you, s-so much.” She sputtered as one trembling hand reached out to take the glasses from him. Illiya frowned at the frame, still coated in muck, and shook of a few pieces of dead vegetation that had attached itself to one arm. With a shrug, Illiya put the glasses back on and began checking her pocket for her wand. There was already muck in her hair anyway so a little more from her glasses wouldn’t do any more harm. Once she had secured her wand’s position and was satisfied that it wasn’t lost, Illiya moved toward the beckoning warmth of the small fire Gary had started. She sank, still shivering, to the ground next to it and tried to get some feeling back into her quickly numbing fingers.

Illiya sniffed heavily and looked up at Gary who was now clear and distinct thanks to her glasses. The boy way fairly handsome, with dark hair, big brown eyes and a fairly good tan. He was in her year and Illiya recognized him from a few of her classes, a nice guy…Ravenclaw, she was pretty sure. Illiya couldn’t quite place his name at the moment though. He was dressed casually in torn faded jeans that had seen much better days and a blue sweater. Illiya looked back down at her own clothes, the once khaki corduroy pants were now caked in filth and her muggle sweatshirt with the rainbow colored unicorn (who had already been cracked and peeling off of the shirt to begin with) now felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. Illiya was pretty sure she had soaked up half the lake in the thick cotton fibers.

Illiya offered Gary a small, weak smile and then looked back down at the fire. “T-thanks again. I h-hadn’t thought to use the ac-accio spell.” Illiya’s shivering had decreased a little though her lips had taken on a nice tint of blue from the cold. She swallowed the lump that was once more fighting to get out of her throat and stared resolutely at the fire. Illiya felt humiliated. She didn’t want to concern Gary with her silly problems though and so she offered in a small voice “Nice day h-huh?” It had been a nice day, she thought unpleasantly. “W-what brings you out here?”

[crane]

Gary smiled and transfigured a tree-leaf into a blue towel before offering it to Illiya. „No need at all to thank me. Any none-Slytherin would have done that. I should have a band-aid for your knee.“ Rummaging through his pockets Gary was finally able to come up with a band-aid that he offered to Illiya. „I have a tendency to get hurt sometimes. Mom’s a doctor so I carry some band-aid along to calm herself usually.“ Gary gave a bit sheepish smile at the mention of his mom. Hopefully the girl wouldn’t laugh at it, but Gary loved his mom and sisters. He wanted to become a doctor or a healer one day himself.

Crouching down in front of the girl Gary offered a small smile. „Accio. It’s funny really. I didn’t know a thing about magic before turning 11. The owl flying in during breakfast cost an uproar at my place. Me trying to photograph Shirley chasing the bird Janey trying to get it outside Lindy screaming on top of her lungs. And mom trying to save the owl and force everyone to calm down. It was quite a site. But now everytime I do something casual I can’t help but wonder. Could it be done better by magic? Some easier way? Some spell to do something? And there usually is. I still can’t be amazed enough by it.“ Gary smiled happily. A smile that touched his wl face and brought a twnkle in his brown eyes. He had been babbling. But it must have been pretty bad for a girl to end up sitting in the lake before a stranger. Especially in front of a boy. His sisters had told him that much. So perhpas him talking would calm the girl a bit and let her relax.

„I was just. Out. I was just out I guess. No special direction until I happened to heard a few comments made by the Slytherins. Came over and then discovered you. Are you getting warmer? Perhaps we should get into the castle and get some hot chocolate. Is there even something hot chocolate can’t fix? It’s your choice really.“ Shifting his weight from his leg, Gary sat down promptly on the ground. It would effect te state of his worn trousers much. And it was much more comfortable than crouching. Pushing a hand through hsi hair Gary thought yet again that he should get it cut. He had thought the same all through summer. But somehow he never reached the hair-dressed to actually do it.
„I’m Gary. Gary Michael Crane. We have a few classes togehter. So you wouldn’t think I’m a stalker for knowing your name. Illiya right?“ Gary smiled at the girl while letting his hand fall away from his hair once again.

[illiya]

Illiya accepted the towel gratefully and began drying off her arms as best she could. She struggled with her tangled barrette for a few moments, wherein she bit her lip and looked up at Gary from under a tangle of wet hair, apparently interested in what he had to say. As Gary offered her the band-aid, Illiya struggled all the harder with the barrette so she could free her hands to accept it. After a few seconds of mumbled apologies and “just a sec’”s, Illiya finally managed to free her hair from the resilient little clip with a resounding POP that sent a piece of metal flying into the wood line. Illiya looked over to where it had flown and then frowned down at the remnants of the clip she had lowered back to her lap, where it lay cracked, broken, and still defiantly clinging to a few strands of hair.

Illiya sighed heavily and sent the rest of the clip following behind with a dejected flick of her wrist then accepted the band-aid and let it fall to her lap. Her hair was a mass of tangles, from which several twigs and dead leaves dangled like deranged Christmas ornaments. Illiya lifted the towel Gary had given her and ruffled it through her hair, sending bits of debris out in all directions. Suddenly she stopped and a small chuckle emitted from under the towel. Illiya’s face peered up at Gary from within the thick blue terry cloth folds and she gave him a bright-eyed smile despite her situation. “Does it seem funny to you that I’m drying my hair with a leaf?” Another small chuckle erupted before she disappeared back into the towel.

As Gary began to recant the tale of how he received his first owl, Illiya slid the towel off her head and looked at him with genuine warmth. She completely understood, being from a muggle family herself, the excitement of getting that first news of Hogwarts. Never had she imagined in her wildest dreams that she would be here studying to be a witch. A big grin slipped onto her face and she laughed a little when he talked about his family chasing around the intruding bird that brought his letter. “My family just thought it was a barn owl that got into the house by accident. There’s a nest of them in the big barn behind our home so we were all used to them. You can imagine dad’s surprise when he found a letter attached to the poor thing’s leg. We got it off and dad re-read it about a hundred times before he’d finally give it to me.”

Illiya smiled a little sheepishly. “I admit, I really don’t think about the spells to use when I’m stressed out. It never occurred to me to use Accio. I’m muggle born too.” She set to wringing out her sweatshirt, the rainbow unicorn on it’s front now all but utterly destroyed as little flakes of the print fell off and floated to the ground with each wring. Illiya seemed to be relaxing a little more around Gary, despite her embarrassment over the situation. The boy was very nice and his friendly demeanor caught her off guard and helped reassure her that he didn’t think her a complete idiot; though she did cringe a bit at the mention of the Slytherin boys. “I’m a little warmer but not by much” Illiya admitted, pulling up one sleeve to reveal rows of goose bumps on tan skin. “And hot chocolate sounds brilliant! Chocolate fixes everything.” She beamed at him as he plopped to the ground.

As Gary ran his hand through his hair, Illiya self-consciously put her own hand to hers. Illiya had never much cared for long hair before but she had to admit it didn’t look bad on Gary, a thought which left her blushing and looking away quickly. In all her years here, she had only had a crush on one boy, Liam, who had captured her attention as soon as nature decided she should notice such things. But here and now, Illiya could at least admit, Gary was sort of cute in his unassuming clothes and easy manner. Illiya chuckled a little at the stalker comment. “S’ok. I recognized you from our Arithmancy lesson. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have a reason to stalk me. and yes, it’s Illiya.” She smiled at him again, gratitude written on her face, “Illiya Jenkins.” Illiya offered Gary her cold hand again before realizing it was still a bit dirty. She withdrew it with an embarrassed smile and nodded her head back down the trail from which they’d both come. “Let’s go get that hot chocolate. I need to change out of this anyway.”

((Sorry for the delay.))

[crane]

((S'ok))

Gary watched as the girl started drying herself witht towel. Her comment caught him completely off guard and Gary joined gladly with Illiya’s laughter. „You have enough leaves and weed in your hair. What bad could one more leaf do?“ Gary smiled at Illiya as he dropped himself to sit on the ground. Crouching wasn’t the most comfortable position to be in and Gary was glad to move his legs again as he shifted himself.
„Spells are strange for me. Perhaps that is why I always think of them,“ jumping to his feet Gary trotted off to retrieve the hair-lip Illiya had so carelessly discarded. After making sure that he had picked up all the pieces Gary slowly retreated to Illiya and reassumed her sitting position. Trying to put the pieces of the hair-clip back together Gary bended the metal-work slightly as he repaired it.
„Why did you throw it away? I think it can still be repaired. But if you don’t want it, then I’m sure we can throw it away in the castle. Wouldn’t want some poor little animal or bird hurt himself on the sharp piece of it. Ah.“ The final metal piece snapped to it’s place. Gary looked at the clip in his hand opening and closing it for a few times. It seemed to work relatively well. But Gary wasn’t completely sure for how long it would hold.

Looking at Illiya Gary smiled at the words „Chocolate fixes everything”. “My mom is a doctor in the muggle world. And when I came to Hogwarts I naturally was curious about how illnesses are cured here. And when I discovered that chocolate seems to work like the ultimate cure I was shocked. Honesty, I was. I didn’t have to take the foul-tasting medicines or cough-mixtures anymore. I just had to eat a piece of delicious chocolate and it made me feel alright again. What could be better?” Gary smiled brilliantly. He had sent a few pieces of wizarding candy at home and heard only positive comments. Everybody had been charmed of the sweets so Gary made sure to send some home now and then. Not that he managed to do it very often. He just couldn’t afford to buy sweets daily. Not even every week. But that only made Gary savour the sweets when he actually could buy them.

„Hot chocolate sounds good. Come on,“ Gary stood againm, brushing her pants clean as he reached his hands towards Illiya to help the girl get to his feet. „House-elves are fantastical. Extremely friendly and nice and the way they cook is absolutely awesome. If I had to make the list of all the dozens of little things I simply adore at Hogwarts. The welcoming feast and actually most of the meals would be part of my favorites list. Not very meaningful, but I’m a victim of my body and it’s demands and my body often demands foog.“ Gary grinend boyishly at Illiya.

[illiya]

Illiya watched Gary rush after her hair barrette and she offered him a sheepish smile when he brought it back and explained the harm in just throwing it aside. “Sorry.” She mumbled, “I was just frustrated. I doubt it’ll ever hold my hair up again and it was one of my better barrettes.” She quickly went back to drying her hair and as much of her clothes as she could. Illiya’s attention was peaked as Gary talked about his family and especially that his mum was a doctor. She grinned openly when he mentioned the uses for chocolate here in the wizarding world. Illiya’s family had very little in the way of money and so it had been a rare treat for her to get wizard sweets. Her father would send her a little money for her birthday and for Christmas of course, and always with the explanation that she could get much better things from the wizard world than he could ever afford to get her from the muggle one.

Illiya’s mouth was watering just thinking of chocolate frogs and so she accepted Gary’s hand and offer of hot chocolate eagerly. She scrambled to her feet and noted that there was still a slight tremble in her bones from the chill. She would be glad to be out of these heavy wet things and into a nice warm sweater. Illiya grabbed her tattered and soaked book, thick with water and gunk and followed Gary back down the trail, walking on his left side. The day was still beautiful and the leaves were turning to brilliant shades of red, brown and gold. They rustled now and then, disturbed by the chill wind, and Illiya tried hard to put the unpleasant lake episode behind her. She had just made a new friend (she hoped) and they were on their way to get hot chocolate. The day couldn’t be a total waste.

As the castle came into view, its many windows sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight of bright afternoon, Illiya was struck again by how dream-like the whole thing was. “You know, we’re pretty lucky really. How many children spend their whole lives wanting to live in a castle?” Illiya smiled at Gary, a look of contentment stole over her features. “I would never have imagined this in a million years. It changes everything. I don’t even know what I’m going to do when I get out of school. What about you? Do you have plans?” she asked pleasantly. “I’m good at Transfiguration but that’s about it.”

[crane]

Gary walked easily by Illiya’s shoulder looking at the scenery as they passed it. He had spent 4 years here in Hogwarts and he still couldn’t marvel the beauty here enough. It was like you were put into a magical world. Actually were but that was besides the point. The magic being practiced daily in the Hogwarts castle didn’t change the shape and glory of the landscape here.
“Hogwarts is amazing. Lindy is my little sister and after I got the owl she has been dreaming of becoming a witch too. At least she dreamt of it until my older sisters explained to her that it was much better to be princess Lindy than witch Lindy.” Gary chuckled a little as she thought back to the summer night this conversation had taken place.
“My older sisters point was that if she was a princess then she could order around knights and wizards and witches and meet her prince one day. If she was a witch she would be ordered around even after years of studying the art and she would have a very big chance of sprouting warts over her face at one point.”

Gary looked Illiya as he thought about her question and how to answer it. “Trandsfiguration? Wow. I’m not completely bad at it but I do have some trouble with the subject. I still can’t get the two inks separate from each other completely. I can get the main part of the ink leave but on the letter the two inks remain mixed.
For future. I wanted to be a doctor before coming to Hogwarts. Now I have to choose. I still want to become a doctor and help muggles as they can’t have magic helping them. Being a children doctor would be lovely. But I might also ecoem a healer. Healers are needed now as much as aurors almost and learning magical healing techniques would be just as enchanting. I can’t really make up my mind which I would want more.
But whatever I choose I must tkae Potions and Herbology. Herbology is good and luckily I am not completely hopeless in Potions either. At the very least Snape hasn’t picked on my potions overly much.“

Pulling the door to the Hogwarts castle open Gary let Illiya walk in before slipping into the castle himself. “But what are you planning to do? Actually do you want to go and chance into something dry first? The castle is a bit chilly and I would hate for you to catch a cold here.“ Smiling at Illiya Gary waited for his answer as he stepped out of the way of some older student who was heading outside.

((Do you want to continue this post or should we start a new one in the castle itself?))

[illiya]

((Let's set up a new thread inside the castle itself. ))


Illiya laughed aloud when Gary talked about his sister and her career choices of witch or princess. Her own brothers were a little jealous of her sudden new-found powers so she could well understand what he had gone through. As the two continued toward the castle and the discussion turned to the future, Illiya wondered for what would not be the last time, how much of a future any of them really had. Gary’s talk of trying to decide on being a healer or a doctor brought this point home all the more clearly. Illiya suppressed another shiver as the sweatshirt around her seemed to be steadily transfiguring itself into ice, and replied “I think you should go for being a Healer. You’ve got a great bedside manner.” She chuckled lightly, “and well,….with everything that’s going on in the wizarding world right now, we’ll need all the healers we can get. Anyone can learn to be a doctor. It takes a special skill to be a healer.”

Illiya gave Gary a shy smile tinted with a little blush to her cheeks, made all the more obvious now that her skin was chilled and pale in the fall wind. “We’re in the same year, I think, so if you…you know,” Illiya tried to find the right words that wouldn’t scare Gary off, “Well, we could maybe study together if you want.” Illiya didn’t have very many people she could count as friends as most of her four years had been spent cloistered away in the library studying. She hoped maybe Gary could be counted among those few who she now felt comfortable hanging out with. They had only just met and the critical little voice in Illiya’s head that had spent most of those four lonely years convincing her of her own lack of self worth was screaming that this boy owed her nothing and she shouldn’t push. Despite this, Illiya decided she’d never have friends if she didn’t ask.

“I could use the help in Potions,” she pushed on, “Professor Snape all but thinks I’m single-handedly going to destroy the school. I’m afraid he may not be too far off sometimes.” Illiya offered Gary a small mischievous grin. “But I’m fairly good at Transfiguration. So if you’ll help me with potions, maybe I could help you with the ink removal trick.” As she said this, they finally reached the door and to her surprise, Gary opened it for her. Illiya was used to most people not even noticing she was around and she’d been hit in the face with a swinging door more than once. Illiya bit her bottom lip, a habit she had when nervous or unsure of herself, and offered Gary the best smile she could manage. At Gary’s question, Illiya remembered how cold and dirty she was. She certainly had already given the Slytherins more than enough to harass her with so wandering around looking like this was not really an option.

Illiya quickly made her way to the stairs, turning in place so she could talk to Gary once more before darting away to her common room. “Uh…I’d better change. I look a right mess and would probably give the poor first years a fright if they saw me wandering around like this.” Illiya gestured up the stairway behind her and offered Gary one more beaming smile accompanied by its usual blush before she turned and raced up the stairs.

Her voice drifted back down the stairway as she disappeared around the bend, “I’ll meet you in the Great Hall in a few minutes!”