Exploring the Castle (Open)

"Oh..." She put her arms around him and closed her eyes.
After the hug she smiled widely "Thank you. It's been... too long, since anyone showed compassion towards me."

"Er... You're wwwelcome?" Jackson stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked his other foot, not really sure how to respond. "Do, er, d-do you want to t-t-talk about something e...else?" He sighed quietly, telling himself it was understandable for him to stutter after hearing what Ruby Rose had been through. He was still a little frustrated at himself, though.

Her face turned into a mask, not showing any emotion for a couple of seconds, but then she closed her eyes and sighed. Hogwarts was safe. Her sister would never get her there. She could trust again.
"Alright! So tell me about yourself. Who is Jackson Smith?", she let out a small giggle, but put her hand over her mouth realizing how girlish and childish it sounded like.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm blind." Jackson grinned and waved a hand in front of his face. Other kids had trouble with the 'tell me about yourself' question, but he had an easy go-to answer. "So I bet you have questions, and it's ok to ask them. You won't sound stupid."

She stared at his eyes for a while, unsure as to what to ask. When she finally decided her voice showed no hesitation.
"How did you get blind?"

Jackson waited patiently, it sometimes took people a little while to figure out what to ask. Ruby Rose simply and calmly asked how he had lost his sight. Most folks were nervous when they asked that, scared of offending him or something, but not Ruby.
"I was born blind, I've never been able to see. My eyes didn't get enough blood when I was in mum so they just don't work." He tried to make it sound like he wasn't just reciting a memorized script, but he wasn't sure how well he did.

"I see... must have been tough... Have you ever looked for a cure? S.Mungus might have a way to fix your eyes."
She didn't pity him, because he looked like someone who did not need it, but she still felt horrible for him. To have never seen the world... Even in it's screwed up state with all the dark magic and things ike that, the world, both wizarding and muggle were a sight marvelous to be seen.
Plus, she knew what it was like to be blind. On one of her sister's experiments, she got hit by a spell that took her eyesight away for a full week. It had been horrible. She didn't even want to imagine what it was like to be like that for a lifetime.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, when I got my Hogwarts letter we went to St.Mungo's, but after 11 years they couldn't do anything." He shrugged. It was just a fact of life for him, he'd always be blind.

"I see... You can't miss what you've never had, right?", she pat him the shoulder, trying to lift the mood in the air. In a probably failed way of changing the subject, she made another question, "What do you want to do once you graduate from Hogwarts? I want to either work in the Dpt. of Mysteries or I want to be an Auror... I still haven't chosen... But hey I have time right?". She laughed.

"Yeah, it's all I've known." Jackson only jumped a tiny bit when Ruby patted him on the shoulder. "When I finish school? I don't know. Probably just be a cashier at a shop or something. I don't even really know what all jobs there are, maybe I should talk to my head of house." He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "But yeah, you've got loads of time to pick."

She turned around. "You should! You might not know it, but the future always depends on the younger generations. We will be the ministers, aurors, teacher, even death-eaters", she almost spit the word with disgust, "of the future. And you Jackson, I don't know for sure, but you seem like something. Take my advice for it. I know alot of stuff"
Jackson might notice this is coming from an eleven year old that didn't even know how to hug.

"Are you a Seer?" Jackson chuckled. "I don't doubt that you know a lot of stuff, but I can't really imagine being a someone when I grow up. And hey, think about this, there's hardly any Death Eaters anymore, maybe when we finish school there won't be any." He smiled.

Her face turned deadly serious "Even if the Death Eaters stop existing, their ideals will never truly vanish... Evil is eternal..." She closed her eyes and sighed "As for you... I'm not a Seer, but greatness is not usually achieved by those that seek it. It's attained by those who are great because they need to be. Those who are kind and friendly, but also experienced pain or know what hardship is... My father told me this when I was 3... I may have forgotten alot about my parents, but these words will be in my mind until the day I die. But still... don't you have a dream? Either it is being the best duelist in the wizarding world or being the best potion maker, everyone must have a dream..."

Jackson was kind of impressed by how much more mature than him her thinking was, and she sounded about his age.
"I don't want to be best at stuff. I dunno." He shrugged. "I just want normal stuff. Finish school, get a job, maybe get a flat, get a nice girlfriend, maybe break up... Get married eventually, get a house." He shrugged again. "Normal stuff. If I can find out how to fight against the Death Eaters when I'm older, and they'll take me, I'd like to do that." He thought for a moment. "If I could, I'd like to duel the Death Eater that used to teach here. So I guess that's something."

She didn't know anything about the Death Eater that teached at Hogwarts, so when he told her, she couldn't avoid letting out a suprised gasp.
"*GASP* There was a Death Eater teaching here? Who was he?"

So Ruby was younger than him. "It was a woman. Professor Bontravola or something. I think she taught Divination, but I never went. My first year, I was in the b-basement alone, still learning where everything is, and a girl at-t-t-ttacked me with a sssnake." He stuck his fists in his pockets and reminded himself it was okay to stutter when he got nervous and stuff. "A f-few weeks later kids were saying Bontravola had been fired and jumped out the Headmistress' window and also she was a Death Eater. The girl hasn't been mean to me or talked to me or anything since so I think it was the professor in disguise. But even if it wasn't, I want to duel her just for being a Death Eater teacher."

She grabbed his hand, trying to confort him. "You will one day... All you have to do is believe" (cue emotional music and a epic sunset to walk into the distance to)

Jackson jumped a bit when she grabbed his hand. "Yeah, sure." He chuckled. "Just believe that the blind guy can find the right Death Eater with nothing to go on but a name. And it might be a fake name." He squeezed her hand and shook his head. "Thanks for being optimistic about it, though. What about you, any big life goals?"

"Well... Once I graduate, I want to join the Ministry. Maybe become an Auror... But my ultimate goal is the one I'm the most afraid of actually doing. Once I become powerful enough I will face my sister and kill her.", she sounded scary as she spoke of her sister "That one must and will happen, whether I' afraid or not. But it will take a long time... I'm still far from my sister... She's walked a dark path, delving into the secrets of the black magics. Last time I saw her, I almost died."

"Almost died?! But- but you're still just a kid!" Jackson protested. How could someone attack their kid sister?

"Yeah... She got really mad at me because I stood up to her in front of some associates of her, so she grabbed her wand and threw a curse at me... Next thing I know I'm laying on the ground with a 15 inch gash on my back, bleeding out and she and her friends were gone. I passed out and two days latter I woke up in St.Mungu's. They said it was a miracle that I was able to survive. But next time we meet, things will be different. I will defeat her, and then she won't be able to harm anyone like she harmed me."

"Wow. You're uh, you're really brave." He squeezed her hand again. "If I knew someone that mean, I don't know if I'd be able to do what you did."

She laughed and blushed "I-I'm not that brave. I just... It kinda is my job you know... Since our parents are dead, it depends on me to undo the damage my sister has done and stop her from further doing it. Plus, I'm really afraid of her, despite my need for revenge. She is really something when it comes to infect her victim's hearts with fear." As soon as she said this, she sneezed again "Darn cold... ehehe"

"Being brave isn't not being scared. Being brave is doing what has to be done even though you're scared." He grinned, near all his old fantasy books and audiobooks said that at some point. "Gesundheit. And your sister isn't your job or responsibility or anything. You don't HAVE to duel her. I can understand why you'd want to, but you don't have to."

"That's nice of you to say, but I... don't know. She's my older sister you know... okay, she was kicked out by my parents when I was a toddler, but she was still their daughter... By doing what she's doing, she disgracing their memory. It's kinda of a whole, honor thingy."
(this reminded me of that asian dad meme eheheh)