Open A Deep Ocean of Secrets

Ruto Vernier-Raison

'Roo' | carefree | enigmatic 🍃
 
Messages
406
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Too Young to Care
Wand
Knotted 15 Inch Unyielding Ebony Wand with Augurey Tail Feather Core
Age
10/2046
Open after Steven posts with Max.

Roo was back at Hogwarts again, and honestly the break was a lot shorter than she anticipated. She was now no longer one of the youngest people roaming the castle, and where familiar faces once were, there were new ones that were much younger. How was it that they also seemed so much younger than herself when it was only by one year? The Ravenclaw didn't feel any more superior than them however. Age was quite literally just a number.

It was Max's idea to hang out by the lake, and honestly Roo was excited at this suggestion. Max was the only person Roo very much wanted to hang out with. No one else seemed as interesting. And while she knew the most about him out of all of her classmates, there was still so much to uncover. The girl seemed to be the first to arrive at the lakefront, as she couldn't find him anywhere just yet. She took her shoes off and let the grass go in between her toes. The spring weather was warming up a lot and it was what she much preferred. It was definitely her favourite season. She sat down on the grass, stretching her legs out in front of her as she waited for him.
 
Max was running across the grounds and didn't stop running until he spotted his friend sitting down on the grass by the lake. He meant to leave the castle earlier but lost track of the time while working on a homework assignment. Wait, what? It wasn't like him to lose track of time over something such as a homework assignment, which meant that there was something wrong. There was, and as much as he wanted to get over it, he just couldn't let the disappointment of not making it onto the Gryffindor quidditch team go. Not only had he been rejected by Isaiah the previous year because he was too young to join the team, but he also didn't make it onto the team this year despite his age. What was worse was that Max seemed to have lost his confidence in riding a broomstick. Had he really been that bad during the tryouts? Apparently so. But he didn't want to think about that now. Part of the reason why he had asked Roo to meet up with him at the lake was so that he could try and get it out of his mind. ''I'm... sorry... I'm... late,'' Max said or at least tried to say in between breaths, dropping to the ground next to her to catch his breath. ''I hope... I haven't kept you... waiting.''
 
A soft smile fell on Roo's face as Max sat next to her on the grass. He was out of breath and apologised for being late, but Roo truthfully didn't care and just shrugged. "No need to worry. Nature kept me company." she said rather dreamily, looking out to the water. She stared as the sun shone down on it, outlining its beauty. Perhaps it already was her most favourite lake of all. Without turning away from the lake, Roo spoke again. "What have you been up to?" Roo wanted to know where Max had come from. Why was he so out of breath? Not only that, but she hadn't spoken to him for the whole break, and she wanted to know if anything had changed since then.
 
Max let his back fall against the grass as he tried to calm himself down again, relieved that she did not seem to mind that he was late. He couldn't tell why he thought that running all the way down from the Gryffindor common room seemed like a good idea at the time, but he was definitely regretting it. It took him several moments before he could talk normally again without having to catch his breath every other second. What also helped was that Roo was calm about things. He often found that it was easier to let go of things whenever he was around his Ravenclaw friends, probably because they were less chaotic. ''I was doing homework when I remembered that we were supposed to meet here, so I came down as fast as I could,'' Max answered. ''Oh, wait, you meant in general, didn't you? Well, in that case, not much. I spent some time with my cousin over the break and then school started again and now I'm here, and I have already finished a homework assignment,'' he added proudly. There were a few things about his break he decided to leave out of it, as he didn't want to bother Roo with his personal problems. ''What about you?'' he asked, turning his head to look at her.
 
Roo smiled softly and let Max talk as he responded to her. She never had to say very much to get things out of him, and Roo quite liked that about her friend. "Are you and your cousin close?" she asked curiously. She didn't have any cousins, at least not yet until her aunties and uncle had children, and she wondered how close cousins could be. "And that's very good that you've already completed a homework assignment. I am personally just taking them as they come. What will be, will be." Roo had quite a relaxed attitude about her school work. She knew that eventually it wouldn't really matter very much. However, she admired people that had a positive work ethic. "My break was good, I guess." she said with a shrug. "My mother and I moved out of my grandparent's place. The place we are in now isn't very fancy, but it will do." Roo didn't like to talk about it very much. If it wasn't for her father leaving then they would all still be living together. "You should come over one time during the next break. I'm sure my mother won't mind."
 
Max did not consider himself much of a chatterbox usually, so it was surprising to see how much he talked whenever he was in Roo's company. He couldn't tell why. ''I'd like to think so. I know he's been distancing himself a little now that he's a teacher at Hogwarts but before that, he would usually babysit me and we'd do all kinds of stuff together.'' He wondered if he should drop by his cousin's office more often, maybe have dinner with him whenever he didn't come downstairs. ''He lend me his broomstick over the break so that I could practice my flying skills. Dad still doesn't want me on a broomstick so I asked Charlie and he said that I could use it to fly around his backyard.'' He wasn't sure if the little patch of grass behind his cousin's apartment in Brightstone could be qualified as a backyard, but it had been big enough for Max to fly around. Roo's approach to homework wasn't something he would expect from someone sorted into Ravenclaw but it made him like her all the more. He was still looking up at her as she answered his question and listened attentively, wondering how much worse her new place would be compared to his father's new place. ''Well, thankfully, you're at Hogwarts for most of the year,'' he said, ''And this place is very fancy.'' Max sat up straight when she invited him to come over during the next break. ''Oh, I'd like that!'' he said excitedly.
 
Roo listened as Max spoke about his cousin, and her interest piqued as he mentioned he was a professor at Hogwarts. "Oh, I didn't know he was a professor." she said. "Who is your cousin?" She wondered if she knew him, but just hadn't made the connection yet. Max then spoke about Quidditch, which Roo was pretty neutral about. She didn't particularly think it was that fun, but knew that her aunt was in the Slytherin team and that her uncle used to be in the Hufflepuff team, so it was definitely a popular sport. "Are you going to join the Gryffindor team soon?" she asked, wondering if he had attended the year's tryouts. As Max tried to assure her that Hogwarts was fancy, the girl just shrugged. "I suppose so." she said, trying her best to stay positive. But she knew there were a lot fancier schools than Hogwarts, including Beauxbatons in France. She would have gone there if her mother hadn't insisted that Hogwarts was better for her. The Ravenclaw smiled as Max seemed happy about coming over to her new place during the break. "Okay, you're officially coming over to my place during the break. No take backs."
 
Max could have sworn that Roo had already asked him this question once before, but he didn't mind telling her again. Not everyone could say that they were related to a professor, so he would proudly tell anyone who would listen that he was Charlie's youngest cousin. ''It's our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Abberline,'' the Gryffindor said with a wide smile. His ears turned red when she mentioned the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He had trained so much over the break that he just couldn't shake off the disappointment, the jealousy and the resentment of not making it onto the team himself. Deciding against answering the question in case it might get him all riled up again, Max shifted his focus to Roo's less-than-enthusiastic response. ''Whatcha mean by that? Don't tell me you'd rather be at that French school. My sister goes there and she says that it's full of fancypantses.''
 

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