An encounter within the shelves [tag: Irene]

Alexandra was back in the library, scavenging for new books to read. She had whizzed through a pile of 3 or 4 thick books in the last week, and she was hungry for more.

Irene was a fairly fast reader, and she'd just finished this totally great book about a witch who invented a spell to transfigure herself into water. The ending was kind of weird though; she'd ended up being turned into a mermaid. Anyway, it had been about the creation of aquatic spells, which sounds boring, but it'd ended up being really cool. She needed fresh books now, though, and she was hoping to find a few in the library. Also, she needed to find a few reference books for Potions class. Irene wasn't very good at Potions. She slowly made her way across the room, towards that section. She would've usually just used Accio, but she wasn't sure if any other students were here, and she didn't want them to report her for improper use of magic out of class.

Alex watched as an older blonde girl walked into the aisle she was in. She looked away - to some, the library was like a sanctuary, and she didn't want to annoy her, or disrupt her peace if she was looking for that. She cursed as she clumsily dropped one of the older books onto the floor. Way to be subtle, Alex thought. Smoooooth.

Irene heard a loud thump and turned towards the noise.  A younger girl, maybe third year, was unsuccessfully trying not to make a disruption.  The girl picked up her book and nodded to Irene apologetically.  She seemed nice.  Irene decided that Potions could wait for now.  She wanted to go see what the girl was working on and what had caused her to drop the book.  She walked up to her. For some reason, the younger girl looked annoyed at something.

"Is everything okay?  I heard a noise, and in the library you don't hear much so I assumed..." Irene trailed off as she looked at the girl questioningly.  Maybe she'd been surprised when Irene had walked in?  Irene had been under the impression that a lot of people used the library to do more research for classes or simply to get books to read, but maybe that wasn't the case.  Maybe, this girl was one of the only people who used the library and she wondered what Irene was doing here.  "I'm sorry if I distracted you."  Irene decided it would be best to apologize.  The girl did drop her book after all, and she hoped it wasn't damaged or anything.

Alex blushed. "Sorry - butter fingers," she explained, waggling her fingers at the blonde. "That's what my nan always says, and to be honest, I think she's right." Alex stooped to pick up the book and she held it in her hands, inspecting it, checking it for damages. She noticed a little crease on the leather spine of the book. She frowned and smoothed it out with her thumb. Nearly as good as new, she thought.

Turning to the girl, Alex shook her head. "It's not your fault - I was just startled." She shrugged, and by way of introduction, pointed to herself and said, "Alex. Alexandra, actually."

Irene smiled at Alexandra. "Irene. You're name is so much prettier than mine." She sighed wistfully. Irene was an okay name to say, but when it was spelled not capitalized it was ugly and didn't look like a name at all. She'd never liked her name. Irene noticed Alexandra stroking the spine of her book. Why didn't she just use a spell and fix it? Maybe she was on of those by-the-book Ravenclaws who cared about rules more than anything else. After all, no magic was allowed out of class. Then again, maybe it was just because it was a really old book and she didn't want to damage it further if it reacted negatively to the spell. The more Irene thought about that, the more she thought it was something along the lines of the second option. Alexandra already seemed like a nice, friendly person (Excuse my boring vocabulary please haha) who wasn't a troublemaker and wouldn't report anyone for a little bit of magic here and there. Alexandra was lucky to have a grandmother. Hers had died before she was born, but when she was young her parents had always said...the world swam before Irene's eyes as she quietly fell to the ground. This was SO not the time for this. Even as she was crying, Irene was annoyed that Alexandra would have to watch this and that she would have to answer her questions when she cam out of it. As her eyes closed, she briefly wondered what she would see this time...

Alex was at a loss for what to do, and slowly sunk down so she was on her knees beside Irene. She awkwardly patted the older girl's back. She never really knew what to do when someone was crying - if she was honest, when she cried all she wanted was to be alone. But not everyone was the same, so Alex continued to pat her back. "It's alright," she murmured, trying to sound soothing, like her mum did at home when she was upset.
She had no idea what had sparked this change in emotion in Irene - had they not just been introducing themselves? Alex racked her brains, trying to remember if she had stupidly said anything that might offend the girl, but she just couldn't think of anything. Alex felt guilty - she didn't want to upset anybody, but it seems she had.

And all she had come into the library for was another book.

Irene was really, really angry. She could tell that Alexandra was feeling awkward, but she appreciated that she didn't run off and get a professor, because that would be really embarrassing. She sat up. "Thank you Alexandra, sorry about that, really. I have this condition." Irene didn't elaborate any more. Usually this only happened when she was thinking about her parents or her siblings. Sometimes though, it just seemed to happen randomly. Irene stood up and said, "I'm going to go to the bathroom for a second. I'll be back in a flash." Irene walked calmly out of the library and to the bathroom.

After cleaning up and checking to make sure everything was okay, she went back to the library. Irene wondered what Alexandra would say. After all, she'd just seen her, and she hoped Alexandra wouldn't make fun of her for crying. She never really cried unless it was like this.

Alex waited helplessly as Irene walked away. She hoped that Irene didn't just say she was going to the bathroom because she wanted to get away from Alex. Obviously, Alexandra had done something - something to spark this... condition/i] - of Irene's. She felt like an idiot, and continued to replay the last few moments in her head. She still couldn't work out what it was. Lex didn't know if it was worth sticking around - would Irene actually come back? Yet something told Alex that she had better stay... if she stayed and Irene [i]didn't turn up, the worst that would happen was her looking like an idiot. If she didn't stay and Irene did turn up, she would look horrible and rude and mean -

Alex shook her head, getting rid of her thoughts. Her head tended to do this, that is - get so.. busy. Sometimes her head got so busy that she felt lost inside it. Running her hand through her hair, Alex looked up to see Irene returning. Rocking onto the heels of her feet, with her clammy hands clasped behind her back, Alex bit her lip. "Um," she began. She was scared of saying something or doing something that might make Irene upset again. "At least you clean up nicely," she said shrugging. "When I cry, my face gets all red and puffy and it stays like that for years and years and years - my mother says I get it from my dad but he says I get it from mum. Neither of my two sisters have a puffy crying face, so I guess I'm quite unlucky really, but you, you look absolutely fine! Better than fine really I mean, you look great! I - "

Alex stopped, eyes widening. She then closed her eyes, clamping her lips shut. Mentally cursing herself again, she slowly opened her eyes and squinted at Irene. "Sorry." She paused. "I tend to ramble."

Irene smiled at Alexandra. Not a mean smile, but a friendly smile. She was glad the girl hadn't asked questions about her, and said, "Sometimes I do too. And I know what you're probably thinking, that you triggered this somehow. That's not true, actually. I triggered it myself by not being careful. I'm such an idiot. Thanks, though. For not running away, I mean. A lot of people do that." For a moment, a dark shadow passed over Irene's face, and she looked troubled by something. Then she shook it away, smiling. Irene could tell Alexandra was nervous, and she was trying to calm her down. She seemed to be more worried that Irene herself, which definitely showed her personality. Irene liked Alexandra a lot so far and hoped they could be friends.

"Can we just like, ignore that somehow?" Irene laughed. She hoped this encounter hadn't ruined any chances of friendship, because she really wanted get to know more about Alexandra and maybe eventually be friends. The year difference didn't really matter after all.

Alex beamed. "We can always talk about something else," she said, standing up and dusting down her pants. She held out her hand, offering to help Irene get up. "What book were you looking for earlier?" she asked, looking towards the spot where Irene was browsing earlier.

Alex of course was still wondering about what had happened, but she chose not to say anything. Sometimes, it was better to let things rest a little. She was sure that Irene would be fine. She looked at the older girl as she helped her up. She was pretty, with lovely blonde hair. Alex glanced at her own frizzy brown hair and sighed quietly, so quietly that Irene probably would not have heard. She looked back at Irene and smiled.

Irene hadn't heard the sigh, but she had seen Alexandra look at her hair. Irene looked at her own. It was a boring stereotype blonde, and she'd always hated it. Alexandra's hair was more, what was the word, natural? Irene would've rather had Alexandra's hair than her own. Alexandra had a smiling, cheerful face and she seemed really nice. Irene's mind stumbled back to the present, to the question that Alexandra had asked.

"Oh, I just had to pick up a few books for Potions, and I was hoping to get a few about the History of Magic as well. Especially fire elemental magic." Irene blushed, hoping Alexandra didn't know why. She wasn't a fire elemental herself, per say, but she loved to play with fire. Literally, not figuratively. That made her laugh. Usually, Irene took a lot of risks and loved surprises. And she always did do magic in class while the professors were talking, unless they noticed of course. So Irene supposed she did play with fire, a little at least.

(can we continue this tomorrow? I'm super tired ^.^)

Alex cocked her head to the side. "Fire elemental magic?" She made a mental note to do some research on that. She loved learning new things - she had an amazing mind, which always seemed to effectively store every-well...most- things away. And they were stored in easily accessed folders as well. Or at least, that was how Alex imagined it. Whenever she thought about the brain, and human memory, she always thought of little elves inside her head, running to retrieve the piece of information she was looking for. She knew it wasn't the case, but it was a cute thought anyway, and it always made Alex smile.
Her smile widened as Irene laughed. She was glad Irene was okay now.

(Sure, no problem.  I'm just going to post one more time.  Good night, see u tomorrow!)

Alexandra seemed to be in a good mood.  She was smiling a lot, and she seemed to be interested in fire elemental magic.  Irene nodded.  "Fire elemental magic is magic done usually by creatures, not witches or wizards.  They have an aptitude for the element of fire, and some humans do too.  For example, a veela is a fire elemental.  Someone who is at least three-quarters veela might also have an aptitude for fire magic.  Some creatures hate certain elements as well.  Like vampires hate fire, and it's supposedly one of the only things that kills them.  It's the same principle with light, which is a branch of the fire elemental tree."  

Irene hoped she hadn't confused Alexandra.  The younger girl seemed to be taking in every word she said, and processing it and filing it away in her brain.  She must be in Ravenclaw, Irene decided, because she was obviously smart and clever, and was in the library on a weekend.  Students from other houses might also be, but it seemed that Ravenclaw was there most.  Many people said that Irene should've been in Ravenclaw, but she disagreed.  It didn't quite seem like she would fit there, so the Sorting Hat had placed her in Gryffindor.  The biggest house was Ravenclaw though, for some unkown reason.  It was a good house, and Irene knew that to get inside the Ravenclaw Tower, they had to answer a riddle, instead of having a password like the Gryffindors.  It was a test of their logical sense and such, which was important to Ravenclaws.  Irene wasn't sure how you got into the Hufflepuff Basement, but she knew that you answered a password to also get into the Slytherin Dungeon.  It always was something that had to do with purebloods or whatever Slalazar SLytherin held in high regard, etc.

Alex nodded, half confused. She didn't let this show on her face though - she reminded herself to come back in a while, to do some more research about elemental magic. It sounded interesting. "Why are you interested in it?" she asked, while plucking a book out of the shelves. She looked at the cover, then flipped through the book - nope. Nothing. She put it back on the shelf and turned to Irene.



(hehehe good morning~)

(Good morning :D)

Alexandra was flipping through books rapidly, so fast that Irene could hardly believe she was actually reading and looking at them. Yup, Irene was almost positive Alexandra was a Ravenclaw now. Irene loved elemental magic, and she'd heard that some of the students here had some. For example, the half-veela students might have a smidge of fire, and the vampires would have water. It was surprising how well vampires could swim, according to the many books Irene had read on the subject. A few other wizards and witches here might have an aptitude for a certain type of magic like Irene herself, who had a slight natural talent in fire. She loved it, but one downside was that she naturally hated water. She wouldn't have liked it anyway. Stop thinking about that. Irene forced herself to be calm and not to think about that now. This was not the time for another trance. Then Irene remembered that Alexandra had asked a question.

"I have a slight bit of ability in one element, fire," Irene explained. "Then again, I've studied fire magic for years just because I love it. Also, some students and apparently one professor would have some talent for certain elements as well. Elemental magic is more powerful and can sometimes cut directly though wards and other protection spells or charms. This is rare, however, and you would need to be a pure elemental creature to do that. Or at least, that's what most books say." Irene knew that elemental magic was confusing and hoped that Alexandra would understand most of it. "If you want to know anything else, you can just ask and I'll try to answer the best I can, although I'm definitely not an expert." Irene laughed. "Oh hey, I just realized something. Every single living thing on this planet and in outer space has a natural inclination towards one element. What do you think yours is?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know if I really have an affinity with anything, if I'm honest," she said. Plucking another book from a shelf so high that she had to tiptoe, she glanced at Irene, while looking at the title out of the corner of her eye. It was something about the uses of wormblood.
Grabbing another book from another shelf, she bit her lip. "What's it like?" she asked, fingering the spine of the book. "Having an ability with fire - I don't really feel like I have any special attraction to any element. I wish I did though."

She had noticed a change in Irene's face, but she didn't know what to do. Clearly Irene was trying to hide it, so Alex guessed that she shouldn't say anything. She was at a loss for what to do though. She was responding to all of Irene's questions and comments, nodding and adding the appropriate 'mmhmms' at the appropriate places, but she felt really...awkward. Lame, kind of. The words that came out of her mouth felt sad, and... fake, even. Not that she was being fake, but... she felt like Irene was trying to hide away from a problem that needed solving.

Alexandra Brazell wrote:

She was at a loss for what to do though. She was responding to all of Irene's questions and comments, nodding and adding the appropriate 'mmhmms' at the appropriate places, but she felt really...awkward. Lame, kind of. The words that came out of her mouth felt sad, and... fake, even. Not that she was being fake, but... she felt like Irene was trying to hide away from a problem that needed solving.

(I'm not exactly sure I understand who "she" is in each sentence, do you mean that Irene is feeling awkward or Alexandra. And the words coming out of Irene's mouth? I'm sorry, but I'm sooooooo confused right now xD. I'm just going to rp like Irene is the one whos words are fake/sad and Alexandra's the one who feels awkward.)

Irene regarded Alexandra for a moment carefully. She knew that the girl believed that she didn't have any aptitude, not at all, for any elements, but Irene didn't think so. Most Ravenclaws were Air, which was associated with being quick and clever. Air magic was the most agile and seemed to fit in with Ravenclaws. Irene wasn't sure whether Air was fight for Alexandra though. "Hmm, well to answer your question your aptitude or inclination doesn't really affect you much unless you decide to study that magic. But, if it's really strong, say if you're three-quarters veela and you got a double dose of the element when you were born, you'll probably feel a strong hatred of the opposing element, among other things. And the more you train the element, the stronger your dislike will become. Otherwise, your element doesn't really affect you very much." Irene hoped she'd explained clearly enough for Alexandra to understand basically what she meant. She could go into more depth if Alexandra seemed interested.

(She = Alex! On here you're not meant to dictate other people's characters~)

Alex nodded. "That sounds really, really cool." She paused. "Is there any way to find out what your element is? Can you do anything? Like, something really special?" Alexandra regretted blurting out the last three questions: they made her sound immature, silly.

Irene thought that they were good questions, not silly ones.  She could tell that the younger girl felt uncomfortable and thought she'd asked a stupid question, but all of them were good.  She had to think about them for a minute too.  Well, she could do a few things, but she was pretty sure they wouldn't be great spells for a library where there's lots of old, old books and dry paper...a fire seemed unpreventable.  Then again, together they both could probably put it out.  As for Alexandra's element, well, that was hard.

"I suppose you could conduct a test yourself.  Hmm, let's see.  Well, what subjects are you good at?  If you're good in Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Potions you could probably be Earth or Land.  If you like Flying, Charms, and Birds, you're probably Air or Wind.  The other two are kind of tricky, most students aren't Water or Fire."  Irene was kind of both glad and felt unlucky about that.  She had no one to talk to really about fire, but she was a rare talent.  She half smiled.  Water, was graceful, also agile, but not as much.

"As for what I can do..." Irene drew her wand from her robes and tapped it against her skin.  Once it started to glow red, she wrote ALEXANDRA in the air and watched the giant red letters light up the library.  "Something I learned a long time ago.  My wand is special, see, and the core is from a phoenix, which gives it certain abilities when combined with golden wood."  She'd always loved her wand and been so grateful that she'd been able to find it.  Golden wood was expensive these days, if you managed to find some.  Irene had gotten her wand at a very good price for her twelfth birthday.  Her old one had snapped after an accident involving some fire. Then again, she'd never liked it anyway.

Alex gasped as her name was written in the air. "That is really, really cool!" she exclaimed, holding a hand out, almost as if to touch the words. She then remembered where they were, and panicked. "The books!" she started blowing into the air, worried that if the fire wasn't put out, the books would burn. She wasn't sure it'd work - but there was no harm in trying, right? She kept huffing, worried.

Irene laughed and then quickly muffled it.  She didn't want to offend Alexandra, but the way she was blowing with all her might in a way that wouldn't affect a fire at all...well, it was a bit funny.  There were plenty of spells to put out fires and such without damaging the books, and there were many restorative ones as well.  Plus, this wasn't exactly much of a spell.  It was more of like something that had come with her wand.  She told Alexandra these things in an attempt to reassure her that the ancient, crumbling books in the Library would be fine.

"And you can touch the words if you want." Irene said, gesturing towards the apparently burning letters in the air before them and remembering Alexandra's hand before. "After all, it's basically just light and a little heat.  But that goes away pretty quickly.  Your wand can probably do a million cool things too.  What kind of wood is it and what's the core?  If they match up..." she trailed off.  Sometimes, really awesome things happened when people's wand wood and wand core were either related or tied together somehow.  Like if someone had a black ebony wood wand and a strand of nightshadow inside, it might produce shadows?  Irene wasn't so sure about that one, but it was kind of an example she decided.  And there can be naturally pure wands like ivory wood and unicorn hair.

Alex stopped blowing when Irene laughed, and stood up straight, blushing. Her shame grew as Irene explained that blowing wouldn't do anything, and that magic would solve the problem. Truth be told, Alex didn't really like the idea of using magic like this unsupervised in the library of all places, but she trusted Irene to know when the situation was out of hand and to know how to solve the problem.

"I can?" Alex held out her hand again, and cusped her hand around the letter x. Her hand felt warm, and she felt a smile spread across her face. Turning back to Irene, she plucked her wand out of her back pocket and showed it to her. "It's oak wood and veela hair," she said.

"Pretty," Irene commented. Oak wood and veela hair...well, Irene was certain Alexandra wasn't Air, Wind, or Fire. She was probably Earth or Land. There was a slight difference between them, as well as a difference between Air and Wind. Earth was more growing things, life, plants, etc. Land was the soil itself, rocks, and the different parts of the ground, etc. Veela hair was natural, but in most wands, it was changed a little and only certain hairs were pulled. This way, if a wand with a veela hair core was used by a part-veela, it wouldn't affect them unless it was natural. It was the same principal with normal students. Oak wood was strongly tied to Earth. And since veela hair was natural sometimes, Irene was inclined to believe that Alexandra was Earth. But after all, Irene definitely wasn't an expert. There was a distinct possibility that she could be absolutely wrong. Now, Alexandra had been asking about what her wand could do. Well, oak wood wasn't often used in wands, but when it was, tied with the right core, it could produce some powerful magics, but Irene wasn't an expert. She decided to tell Alexandra such and explained that she could do some research about Earth and Land magic if Alexandra wanted. She'd wanted to learn more about the other elements anyway, she told Alexandra. Irene hoped she'd take her up on her offer. After all, it would be fun for both of them. Wands were mysterious and no one really knew much about them so...

"Would you do some research?" Alex grinned. "That'd be really cool - I hope there is something cool I can do.." She admired Irene. She seemed to know what she was talking about, and she seemed, besides this, really smart and confident. That were the very characteristics Alex wished to embody herself. She knew people weren't perfect - even Irene had this selfnamed" condition" - but she thought that Irene was a very remarkable person.
"So what subjects do you take?" she asked, wishing to know more about the older girl.