Never Underestimate Grief (Ruby)

[severusmagic]

Ash was furious. Some Gryffindor had taunted her about looking "blue". Tasting the real world? He'd sneered and his little gang had given a pathetic little titter. If only they knew. Ash doubted they'd ever "tasted the real world". Fat chance.

And so Ash was pacing around the courtyard full of rage and fury. Possessed with thoughts about revenge and vengeance.

[Ruby Lehane]

Ruby wiggled her fingers in goodbye to her brother as he headed off to class and she headed toward the courtyard. It had been a long week...not just week, but month. It seemed that with O.W.L.s looming ever nearer, all of her professors thought it important to pile as much homework as possible upon them. Ruby hated that. By their fifth year if they didn't know anything that was their own darn fault and they shouldn't be giving out more homework because of it. But maybe Ruby was just ticked off because she hadn't gotten a perfect score on her latest Potions essay. Sometimes even her favorite professor got on her nerves and indeed when Snape had not given her a perfect score on it she was a little more than upset. So upset in fact that she went to talk with him about it afterward. Of course he wasn't going to change it, but she wanted to let him know that she wasn't happy with the grade. That's when he just gave her that look of utter annoyance and yet humor as he told her that she should have worked harder on the essay. Ruby had been even more upset with his answer to her, but she hadn't pressed the matter as she stuffed the parchment in her bag and had taken off with Wynd. Now she was on her way to down time. The courtyard...a small smile stretched across her face. The last time she had been out in the courtyard, she had run into a fellow Slytherin...Valmer to be exact. It had been a wild night. One that she wasn't likely to forget, not that she wanted to, but still sometimes she just couldn't help the small flare of happiness that came over her at the thought of being with him.

Laughter interrupted her thoughts and Ruby stopped in her tracks, watching the annoying first years dance through the corridors as they headed to their last class. Ruby wanted nothing more than to trip them, throw them down and practice her favorite curses on them, but she knew better. She was to remain a perfect example of students. Sure she got into trouble from time to time. Ended up in more detentions with Filch than she cared to admit, but that didn't concern her now. What concerned her was keeping her nose clean until she could get the wizarding world back into the right order of things. Or at least help someone to do so. In a way she wanted to be that leader, to be that dark witch that got things in order, with her twin brother by her side, but she knew she couldn't be the only one that wanted to, which meant that sooner or later she was either going to have to fight someone for that title or follow them and since she wasn't one to fight amongst other rightful pure-bloods she would follow, as long as they knew what they were doing. The thought struck Ruby deep inside and she tore her gaze away from the first years and their happy demeanor. Why was it that they always seemed to be so goody goody? They really needed to wake up and smell the roses. Find out that the world was not as they viewed it, that too many unworthy individuals walked the streets of the wizarding community. Too many muggles roamed around in a stupefied manner. Yes...Ruby hated them...hated them more than anyone else could. They were the reason her mum was where she was and they were the reason that Ruby held so tightly to her belief that mud-bloods and half-breeds were nothing more than dirt under boots. Nothing more than pawn scum.

Sunlight...bright afternoon sunlight hit her icy blue orbs and seemingly melted them as Ruby found the pillars marking the beginning of the courtyard. She could see the trees and marble benches that occupied the courtyard. It was actually rather beautiful in its design and architecture. The wizards or witches that designed Hogwarts were rather creative and intelligent. It was hard to think about how long ago the school had been installed and to think that it had stayed the same for so long was even harder to think about. Ruby's feet echoed through the corridor just outside the courtyard as she moved around to the exit into the stone paths that lead around the small yard. She stepped out, shielding her eyes to the best of her ability, not wanting to be blinded by the unnaturally bright rays from the sun above. How she loathed the sun...how she wished with all her might that the moon would just cover it forever. Hide it from her sensitive eyes. Mind continued to wander off on this topic, making her slightly less annoyed as she thought about her life without the sun and that's when she saw her. A Slytherin student pacing back and forth in the courtyard. Ruby could tell without really even looking that this girl was angry about something. She looked about ready to curse anyone that got in her way and as such Ruby, for whatever reason, decided that she needed to talk with her. Find out what exactly was going on, not that she really cared about others problems, but she was seemingly in a decent mood right then and she definitely didn't mind the company. "I'd ask if something was wrong, but I think both you and I know that I'd just be stating the obvious. So care to talk?" Ruby asked as she took a seat on a bench, one leg coming to rest on the other's knee as she leaned forward a little, in a very psychologist like way.

[severusmagic]

In normal circumstances Ash would have glared and made a cutting reply but this girl had something. Similar to what Pyro had although that might just have been plain love. Something that made Ash want to pore out her troubles like what had happened with Pyro, the sixth year Ash was deeply in love with. Unfortunately he was engaged. To Alexandra Ricci, Ash's hated enemy.

But that was not the present, something Ash had been trying to focus on.

"Don't ask me why I'm telling you this but here goes.

"My mother and father are a respectable Indian pureblood couple. Prejudice is there middle name but don't get the wrong impression, I was the same. Mudbloods, halfbloods, muggles and half-breeds were scum. This was also what my sisters thought. I have two sisters, one called Deeba from my own family and one called Medeia an adopted child from Australia.

"But one day I decided I was in a good mood and I'd talk to a pureblood Gryffindor. That was when Daddy decided it was okay to disown his own daughter and tell her that when she got home she'd be a house-elf and you know how they're treated in the usual home.

"Then another day a different Gryffindor came up to me and said in a typical Gryffindor arrogant voice, 'tasting the real world' and his little gang tittered like idiots.

"So that's it, how stupid do you think I've been? How much do you hate me? I don't care."

[Ruby Lehane]

Ruby didn’t act surprised when the young Slytherin girl began pouring out everything that was on her mind. Deep down she was though. A stranger had just come up and asked a simple question and you pour out your heart to them. Not a wise choice, especially with the blood traitors running around. But Ruby wasn’t going to call the girl out on it, not yet anyhow. She had other thoughts as she told her everything. It was the word was that caught Ruby’s attention, as the girl went on about how her parents were prejudice and she was the same. Was? As in past tense was? Ruby didn’t let her emotions show, unlike the girl before her that seemed to want to show every emotion she had ever experienced. It was a bit overwhelming to tell the truth. Ruby wasn’t the type of person that really wanted to listen to people’s problems and now…now she was listening to the entire life story of some Slytherin whose name she didn’t even know, but she did know the name of her sisters. She smirked a little to herself at that. The girl hadn’t told her her own name, but she certainly didn’t mind giving Ruby the names of her sisters.

Ruby sat on the bench, her leg rocking slightly on her other as she listened. She wasn’t about to pass judgment. Not yet anyhow. She had her thoughts, as all humans did, thoughts that weren’t necessarily for the girl’s side, but Ruby didn’t know the circumstances as to why she’d talk to a Gryffindor, pure-blood or not. The fact of the matter was, that they were blood traitors. There wasn’t a student in Gryffindor that she knew that was for the purity of blood and that’s all the mattered to her. Those that were for purity were the ones that mattered. And so Ruby’s believes on Gryffindor’s weren’t very high, okay so they were lower than dirt, but that didn’t mean she was cruel to them. No, Ruby had some decency in her. She manipulated them until they drew first, then she blasted them with a cruel curse, but it was self defense, after all she wasn’t the one that drew first; she just provoked them into finally drawing. Ruby was that sort of Slytherin. She manipulated and deceived so that she could get her way. Some Slytherins were stupid and just went at it without thinking about the consequences. Ruby did though. She did what she had to, to make sure that she wasn’t going to get into trouble.

Ruby finally let the girl subside in her speech without speaking up against or for her. And when the girl addressed her questions to Ruby, she merely smirked. “Hate you? I don’t even know you. You’re of pure-blood, disowned, but still of pure-blood. The fact that you’re consorting with Gryffindors is much to my dislike, but that doesn’t mean I hate you. I merely believe that Gryffindors cannot be trusted. They are traitors to the cause, of which you speak too loudly about,” Ruby said in a soft voice, hardly to be heard by the girl, let alone anyone that could be eavesdropping on their conversation. “Now there is one question I’d like an answer to. Why are you spending so much time thinking about what these foolhardy Gryffindors say about you? Don’t you realize you are better than that? You should never believe what anyone has to say about you. Make your own opinions about your character and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. If you do than you are no better than them…weaker actually. For you lack the strength of character to stand on your own two feet, but what do I know about such things?” Ruby let her hand wave away the thoughts as her icy blue orbs watched the girl carefully.

[severusmagic]

Ash blinked. Lehanes words were wise but Ash was changing even if she wasn't ready to admit it yet. Finally, without a word, Ash started to walk away. She turned around.
"Thanks for the advice, you've made me realise something." And with that, Ash was off.