Open Riddle Me This

Aonghas Fergusson

listless; robe-maker; father
 
Messages
637
OOC First Name
Emzies
Blood Status
Pure Blood
Relationship Status
Married
Sexual Orientation
not interested
Wand
Oak Wand 14 3/4" Essence of Raven Feather
Age
8/2036 (24)
Aonghas didn’t particular know what had brought him to the wild patch gardens, but following the club fair and signing up for it Aonghas had spent a few days staring at the flower crown that the boy, whom he knew as Rory’s friend had given him. Aonghas was enjoying school, coming had been a good thing, he’d made some friends and spent time with a number of others, he’d explored a bit and it was all quite nice. However there was the problem of his family lingering over in his mind. He had been writing to his parents and getting letters back and though he did occasionally mention Rory his parents had said nothing about it, had done nothing about it and it was a growing concern for him. He wouldn’t mind being the one to inherit the business, he did like working there with his dad and he liked what they did, the wealth and status that gave him. He could appreciate and talk to people who were by his family’s view below them, but he wasn’t interested really in dating anyone other than a pureblood. If Rory didn’t want it then fine and Aonghas would do what his family wanted, but the harshness with which they were treating him was what sat on his mind.
Aonghas didn’t have anyone to talk about it with and it was heavy on his mind, he loved Rory he hardly wanted to see the older boy driven out. The flower patch leader was the only person who was old enough and in Rory’s year that he thought might provide some insight, answers to some questions he had. Who he could maybe tell about it. She probably wouldn't tell anyone else, and he knew it might at the very least give him a little peace of mind. Telling professors might get his family in trouble though Rory was seventeen, but Aonghas didn't think telling professors would be a very good move, they wouldn't understand the complexities of his family, not that would Ainsley would necessarily, but he didn't know any professors yet. Though perhaps even talking to her about it wasn’t a good idea, but he just needed someone to tell about it really. So after days of just staring at the crown he had decided to go and seek the girl out. He had put on his warm clothes and headed to the gardens, going through the normal gardens and to the specific bit he’d learned was the wild patch. ”Ainsley?” he called out not wanting to venture much more if she wasn’t there.
 
The Wild Patch hadn't yet begun meeting for the year, but Ainsley had a lot to do to get the garden ready for them. She had finally finished weeding all the beds that had grown wild over the holidays, and was now in the process of turning a patch of earth for a new planting project she thought would be fun to start the year off. It was the kind of task that could be achieved much more easily by magic, but Ainsley enjoyed working with her hands, dirt staining her dress and arms as she went through the earth slowly, turning and lifting the dirt to prepare it for planting. Although the air was chilly she was beginning to work up a sweat, enjoying the satisfaction of a task well done. Ainsley was surprised when she heard her own name, popping her head up and peering over the shrubs that had survived the winter. She smiled when she saw the boy she recognised as Rory's brother, giving him a cheerful wave. "Hi!" She said happily, glad for some company in the garden. "Were you looking for something to work on? I could use a hand."
 
Aonghas looked at the older girl and couldn’t help the frown which crossed his features as he spotted the dirt on the girl’s outfit. He didn’t really care what people wore, but he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to get his clothes dirty. It wasn’t like his parents wouldn’t be able to afford other ones he just liked them and they weren’t exactly the cheapest clothes. But, he returned the wave that she gave to him and considered the question, he didn’t particularly want to work, but if that would help get his mind off it, and let him talk to her then maybe it was a good idea. ”Aye sure,” he said with a shrug, but he glanced down at what he was wearing, ”Ye got anythin’ ah could wear o’er this?” the boy didn’t want it to seem like he didn’t want to get his clothes dirty but he really didn’t want that, ”Ah wouldnae usually mind but ah’d appreciate somethin’” the boy tried to explain, ”What dae ye want me tae dae?” Aonghas stepped a little more towards her, glancing about not sure what could be done in this garden, it seemed fairly dead at this point, surely magic would help it.
 
Ainsley was pleasantly surprised when Aonghas agreed to help her, though his request surprised her a little. "Oh, of course." She smiled, turning towards the greenhouses where she knew there were a few spare gardening smocks stored. "Accio smock!" As the garment flew over to Ainsley she caught it easily and handed it to the younger boy. "This will keep you clean, and I'll give your clothes a cleaning charm once we're done to be sure." She never really paid much mind to her own clothes, happy to walk around with dirt on most of what she owned, but Ainsley had learned very well from Amber how much some people valued their clothes. "Grab a trowel and a gardening fork, see these lines I've been working along?" Ainsley said gently. "We just need to follow these along here and sort of wiggle the dirt around a bit and turn it over, to loosen the soil and make it ready for planting." She knelt down again, demonstrating for Aonghas as she explained.
 
Aonghas felt a little silly in front of this girl asking for something to cover his clothes with, he liked what he was wearing and though he wouldn't have it any other way, he needed the clothes to be protected a little dirt would be fine but a lot was out of the question, it just felt a bit silly next to her who clearly didn't care about it, and Aonghas was keen to be liked by her and this probably was not helping his case much at all. . However, he gratefully took the smocks and replied, "Ta," as he put them on. He was glad she didn't seem to make any further comment . on it and let it just get to her showing him how and what to do. He took the tool and copied according, his movements weren't perfect and there was a little reluctance, he wasn't quite feeling it, he knew that the wild patch club existed here and they must look after some of the gardens, but surely the school could've gotten some to do this, a professional or something, "Does hogwarts no have a gardener?" he knew it probably wasn't the best thing to say but there was a genuine curiousity to his tone, "Ah mean, it looks good an' that, but surely they dinnae need a club ae students tae be daein' what they could pay someone tae dae?" he knew that the people in the club did it for fun, but maybe it was a bit of both, perhaps the wild patch could've just been about learning plants and doing things that were wild, not gardening. He also had no idea how the LGBT things even factored with it, "Did ye start this club?" he asked Ainsley perhaps this was all her doing.
 
Once Aonghas began copying her movements Ainsley paused, watching to make sure he was doing it correctly. "Good job!" She said encouragingly. Turning soil was one of the easiest tasks in a garden in Ainsley's opinion, though also one of the most physically taxing. She knelt down and returned to her own soil, continuing to work alongside Aonghas. She looked up at his next question, startled, then gave a soft laugh. "Of course! Hogwarts has groundskeepers who look after most of the grounds, but this little patch is ours. It's not about it needing to be done, it's about us wanting to do it. I love gardening, I think everyone in the club does, and it's nice to have our own space to do whatever we like with." She explained, leaning down to yank the remains of a dead root system out of the earth, making space for whatever they grew in this space next. She shook her head in response to Aonghas's question. "I think it's been going on as long as Hogwarts has been open, I definitely didn't start it. I only took over leading the club this year." She smiled, setting the roots aside with a few other weeds she had pulled as she was going. "Why do you ask?"
 
Aonghas felt himself smile a little at the encouragement. He continued to work away though of course asking his questions about all this. It was good to know that there were groundskeepers who took the time to look after everything, but there was a little section for them. He thought it a bit weird that the school would allow such freedom to the students to just plant what they wanted, but there was more than enough space for it and if the people who did liked it, then why not. ”Aye, its nice,” he said in reply as she then went on to answer the further question, ”Ah wis mostly curious, cause ye said it had some other activities, other than ye know gardening, and ah wondered about it. This place, Hogwarts wasnae whit ah expected really,” the boy replied, he liked the school, was looking forward to the seven years at it, but nothing about what had happened before the school and the school itself were what he expected. He wasn’t quite sure what he had expected but Aonghas had heard so many stories about this magical place, and the magical place he should’ve gone in Scotland and he wasn’t sure this, the reality was what he had thought it would be. He wasn’t sure Ainsley would help him know any better, but he didn’t know anyone else well enough to talk to them about it.
 
Ainsley smiled when Aonghas agreed with her, pleased that the boy seemed to be taking to gardening well. She didn't know if he had any background with it, but she was happy to see him enjoying himself, whether he was familiar or not. She glanced over at the boy's next question, a little surprised. "Oh... you mean the Pride celebrations?" She asked, smiling. "Well, I'm not sure why they're part of the Wild Patch. I just inherited the tradition from people who ran the club before me. Pride is very important to me though, I'm very happy to be a part of it." It was through the Pride celebrations in her second year that Ainsley had begun to realise her own sexuality, and she wanted to make sure the help was always there for younger students who needed it. "How is Hogwarts different than you expected?" She asked curiously, wondering what the boy had thought his new school would be like.
 
Aonghas nodded and listened to her explanation, she had inherited the pride celebrations, this group was something passed down and perhaps the person who had started that part had felt a deep connection in the two than anyone else subsequently had, but if this girl liked it and she was in charge of it, then who was he to question keeping the two. Aonghas had heard about pride celebrations, he had heard about things associated with it, but he had never interacted with any of it. It wouldn't really matter what it was to him, for him, if his brother stayed away, he would have little choice about who his partner would be and he would just have to be happy with that.

The hufflepuff shrugged at her question, it was difficult to explain really without going into too much detail, "Ah dunno, really," The boy replied stopping what he was doing and looking between her and the work he'd done, "Ah grew up hearin' aboot Hogwarts Scotland, its like next door tae us and until Rory all ma family went tae Hogwarts Scotland. Rory's never really talked aboot Hogwarts New Zealand, only aboot how much he didnae like it." Aonghas paused, keeping his gaze on her for a moment before continuing, he wasn't sure what to say . but he could imagine that Ainsley probably wouldn't be too surprised to find out Aonghas' brother didn't like the school, from what he'd learned that fact was clear, "But ah wanted tae come here tae get a little away fae the family legacy, plus, when ah applied here it didnae much matter, ah hink now ma da would rather ah went to school back hame, if there'd been mare time he'd have changed it," Aonghas bent back down and continued doing what he was doing, it was nice and distracting. he'd never really done any manual labour of this kind before so this was a first, and he didn't particularly hate it. it made for something different, his life post school would largely be manual labour in his family's business, of a different and more lucrative kind but still manual labour, he could also see himself really coming to appreciate this space over the next few years. "It's no bad, ah like it, it'll be a nice place fae seven years, but it's just no whit ah expected. At first ah 'hink expected it tae be horrible cause ae how much ma brother dinnae like it, then I 'hink ah expected this place tae be so fantastical, ah could understand why ma brother despite how much he hated it, pick it o'er his future," He wasn't sure she would know, he didn't know if Rory had told her, or if they were even close friends.
 
Ainsley listened to Aonghas talking as she turned the earth below her, pausing to wipe some sweat off her brow. As much as she enjoyed it, gardening could be tiring work at times. Ainsley didn't even notice the dirt she had smeared onto her face as she returned to work, listening to Aonghas speaking more about his family. It wasn't much of a surprise to Ainsley that Rory didn't like school much, given his general demeanour, but some of what Aonghas said didn't make a lot of sense to her. She didn't know anything about Rory having a family legacy, or any future Rory had chosen. "Oh..." She said uncertainly, not sure where to start. "Well... I can understand expecting it to be fantastical." She said slowly, latching onto the only thing she felt really qualified to respond to. "I expected Hogwarts to be like a fairytale when I got here, but things are... different. It's a nice school though. I like it here a lot." Ainsley never knew when her questions would be considered prying, but she couldn't quite help wanting to understand Aonghas and Rory's situation better. "What... do you mean, Rory chose Hogwarts over his future though?" She asked, baffled by the suggestion. She couldn't think of anything that would explain that.
 
Aonghas felt a little better having said a little about it. It felt like talking to someone about it was likely to help him a lot. It would make him feel a lot better than if he were to just keep it all inside himself. He worked away a little as he'd spoken, but now that he was done, he stopped for a little bit. He just leaned back and looked towards the leader of the club. He nodded, "Aye, it's nice," he agreed with her, though the question she asked caused him to pause a little. He knew that the pressures of family were quite universal, but perhaps given his family and the difficulties they had, weren't nearly as common or universal. "It's complicated," he started unsure of how to phrase it.
"Ma family's an old, successful wizard family, generations of wizards," the boy started, picking his words carefully, hoping that she might read a little between his words for his blood status, "Ma brother wis supposed tae be the one tae take over fae ma da, but he wanted tae make his own choices, he didnae want tae just marry for the sake of the family line or run the business just cause he wis now the oldest child tae ma parents," Aonghas knew how this likely sounded to her, the problems of a rich and privileged family, keeping a pure line. He looked back down at the dirt in front of him, there was a hint of embarrassment on his face and he wasn't sure if he should say anything more about it. "Ma parents didnae take well tae it. He picked this place o'er his family and a sure future fae uncertainty," Aonghas sighed heavily. he knew it was probably the dumbest problem to Ainsley, but it was unfortunately his family.
 
Ainsley didn't know what to expect Rory's family to be like, but as she listened, it actually answered a few questions she had always had about her classmate. Ainsley had never really spoken much to Rory, but she knew he had a bit of a strange reputation, and never really knew why. If his family was well known in the wizarding world though, that would explain a lot of things she never understood. The rest of what Aonghas said completely flabbergasted Ainsley though. It sounded like something out of a storybook, and though coming to Hogwarts had shown Ainsley that a lot of things she previously thought were from storybooks were in fact real, this was a situation she was far less equipped to know how to deal with than magic existing. "Oh..." Ainsley said softly, absorbing everything Aonghas had said. "That... that's a difficult situation." She said softly, trying to put herself in Rory's shoes. She didn't know anything about his love life, but the thought of being told to marry who her parents wanted hurt her heart when she thought about Amber, and it was a little easier to see where he was coming from. "I know your parents must have been disappointed, but I don't think that's a very fair thing to expect from Rory." She said hesitantly. "I don't think he chose this place over the family as much as choosing himself. Everyone has things they want to do with their future, and if your parents were insisting he has to live a life that's not the life he wants, I can understand him wanting to make his own path. That doesn't mean he doesn't want to be around you, just that he wants to make his own choices. Does that make sense?" Ainsley didn't know how much of what she was saying was right, but as she said it she couldn't help thinking of Rory as the protagonist of some tragic storybook, one she would have quite liked to read. It made it easier for her to understand his situation, where she usually floundered trying to give advice or understand other people's lives.
 

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