A Different Face, a Different Attitude.

[Kovu Lothorien]

There were two students talking about an assignment to the left, an open book felt cool beneath his head and his arm was going slightly numb. Kovu's sleepy mind had shut off its productive thoughts and was instead focusing on the physical stimuli around him. It heightened his senses and made the voices sound louder, the book feel colder and his arm more painful. Finally, he lifted his head and opened his eyes, sitting back in his chair. Kovu shook his arm in a desperate attempt to get the feeling back. His blurry vision took a moment to focus and Kovu fought with the urge to let his eyes slip closed again. He shook his head, demanding his mind to wake up and he glared at the pages of the open book in front of him as if it was there fault for making him so darn tired. It probably was its fault though, if the assignment he was trying to get done hadn't been so boring, he wouldn't have felt the urge to doze off.

Groaning, Kovu picked another book off the enormous pile he had on his desk in the library. He flicked it open and chucked it down on top of his previous one. He wasn't getting anywhere. He had spent a ridiculous amount of time picking as many books off the shelves as he could. He had that many books, that quite a few students in his class had approached him and asked if he was willing to share his mountain because they needed to work on the project as well. However, even with his enormous pile of books, after collecting them he had found nothing of interest in actually using them. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed a hand over his face.

Kovu's thoughts drifted away once again. Wondering how he got to where he was. He was in his third year of Hogwarts and he still didn't have a single true friend to speak of. He had friends, yes. But one that he could trust? No. He had been bullied his whole life. He tried his hardest to be nice to people, but it did no good. They thought he was odd, that he was a little bit too outspoken. Kovu was just trying to be who he was. Maybe if he wasn't that person, people would think better of him. But did Kovu really want to act like somebody else, just to gain people's affection? At that point in time, he thought it could definitely be a possibility. He was sick of frustratingly boring library sessions and all the time that he spent by himself.

 

[Karah Love]

In the previous year, Karah Green had not done well but she had never done well in school. But now her "mother" had the gull to tell her that she had to improve. It wasn't something that she particularly enjoyed but her father had talked to her privately after she had simmered down from her anger at the woman that had been traipsing around as her mother for so long. It was hard to know that despite everything that her 'mom' was actually her mom, that she had been raised by her despite knowing of her father's infidelity and even loved her. The woman had cared for her when she was seven and had the chicken pox. She told her bed-time stories and kissed every ache and pain she had as a younger girl. But now all that went through the red head's mind was pain that she had to miss out on time with her sisters and real mother and now she had to actually do school work. It didn't take someone with a much higher intelligence level than Karah to see that she simply did not care about school or studying. She knew that there were repercussions to her wanting to drop out of Hogwarts but really... to her it did not matter and it never would. School was a terrible bore even if in this school you could learn about magic and the like. But still her parents had insisted that she at least try to make her marks a little bit higher than ‘Troll’ grades. They wanted her to succeed and it almost annoyed her that they were pushing it so hard and it certainly did when she grabbed her book bag and walked towards the Library.

Since day one at Hogwarts New Zealand, Karah Sapphire Green had promised herself that unless there was some excitement going on inside of it, she would never enter the library but here she was standing in front of the door to the library, feeling disgusted with herself. It certainly didn’t help that she was getting flack from some jerk lately and now she was going to be a nerd. How bloody fantastic, thought the British girl as she put her slender hand on the handle of the door and pushed it open as she walked inside. She shaded her freckled face from sight with her thick, red hair because if there happened to be any witches or wizards from Clovelly here, she did not want them to see her inside of a library of all places. Anywhere else and she might be able to stomach it but as she looked around at all the geeks, she knew that it would be impossible to lie her way out of this, even if it was to lie to herself. As she walked around the library, the Gryffindor girl felt utterly lost. She knew not where to begin her studying escapades or what to study because her parents told her to do better in general and not in one specific class. She wasn't aware how the books were stacked anyway and if she had to get a library card or something before she began, it had not been in her Hogwarts letter which had been pretty much the only text she had read that helped her along with Hogwarts - including her text book which had been purchased but not used.
​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

Kovu had never been great at sitting still, so he concluded that if he sat thinking about just how bored he was in the uncomfortable chair any longer, his brain would actually explode. And that would be unfortunate for everybody. Shutting his eyes and rubbing his hand over his face for a second time, Kovu planted his feet on the floor and pushed his chair away from the desk dramatically. He then stood and turned, intending on perusing through the library shelves again, regardless of how many books he had piled up already. Once standing, Kovu let the hand drop from his face and his eyes opened only to find he was inches away from a girl. He flinched, her presence coming as a surprise after his careless sleepy attitude had lead him there. "Woah, sorry." He mumbled, taking a step back, his hands held up palm-out in an apologetic gesture, to let the girl know he hadn't intentionally invaded her personal bubble.

A quick once over of the girl and Kovu concluded that she wasn't in his year, as he didn't recognize her from any of his classes. She was either older or younger, but only by a year or so. There was also a particular charm about her that Kovu couldn't quite put his finger on. He thought back to one of the many conversations with his Father and realised there was a chance she could be a veela. Kovu put an end to his thoughts after he realised his habit of reading people had not gone away. It had been one of those things he had done all his life. He couldn't help but be cautious of people after the bullying he had suffered through and you could usually tell which ones were going to be the ones to hurt you straight off the bat. This girl seemed harmless, but it was usually the first words that confirmed or denied Kovu's suspicions about a person.

 

[Karah Love]

In her confusion of where to begin in the the place called a library, Karah had nearly walked into somebody. An apologetic smile was placed on her lips as she said, "Oh sorry," just as he had made his apology, which she shook off. It hadn't been his fault, she just didn't have the grace that most veelas did but she was not going to share that with him. It would make her look like a freak and lately she had enough of this. "Guess I should pay more attention, next time," she suggested with a polite smile before flattening her dress and looking around wondering if she should continue this conversation, starting with introductions or if she should continue with her confusion in this place and possibly end up overwhelmed with the amount of books she would have to study considering Karah did not read without it being stuffed down her throat. Weighing the options quickly, the conversation seemed most appealing to her because she could procrastinate with the studying and at least she could say she had a step in the "right" direction even if there had not been steps after it.

Extending a slender hand and flashing the stranger a dazzling smile - not realizing she was letting off any of her charm - she said softly, "I'm Karah Green." As she waited for this person to do the same, Karah actually took a second to look at his face, take in the lines and commit them to memory should they meet again, which was very likely he looked about her age. In fact, he could be in her year because in class she never really paid attention to anything but the drawings she made in the class. As her eyes soaked this person in, she realized just how classically handsome he was. To Karah, he looked like the type of person girls would fawn over in the nineteenfourties – or at least what she imagined they were to look like but not living back then she really had no clue, only speculations. However, it didn't really matter to their encounter so she returned her gaze to his own.​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

Kovu returned the girls polite smile. "Guess I should too," He reasoned, knowing that it wasn't the girls fault. He had practically jumped out in front of her because he couldn't be bothered to look where he was going. He must have been picking up traits from his brother Demyx, that boy was as clumsy as anything. But out of his older brothers, he was probably the one Kovu was closest to. He wasn't as loud or as tough as the other Lothorien boys, so Kovu could relate to him a lot better. Kovu had a high expectation above his head, set by his brothers, and he wanted to meet it, but he had serious doubts about what kind of person he was going to be to impress his parents. He wasn't overly smart and he was good at quidditch but not great and did he have enough school pride to make prefect? It was too much pressure that Kovu didn't want to deal with, so for the most part of his first two years at school he had ignored it. Guessing that he would find out who he was in time.

Staring at the delicate female hand in front of him, Kovu reached out and took it, peering up at the girl and feeling the breath catch in his throat at her smile. Definitely a veela then, Kovu thought as he resisted the urge to walk forward and embrace the girl. Suddenly taken aback by his momentary weakness, Kovu returned the dazzling smile, his eyelids lowering and his pearly white teeth showing, trying in an almost competitive fashion to get the girl on the same level as him. Although logic in his mind reasoned that he shouldn't try to compete with a veela in the appeal category as he was sure to lose, he did so anyway. He had never been a looker, but as he grew older and hit puberty, Kovu noticed his appearance was improving significantly. He had always been a little cocky and overconfident, that had developed through his constant need to compete with his brothers, but at the rate that his physical appeal with going, he'd no doubt have a lot more to be cocky about. The lines on his face were becoming more noticeable, giving him a defined jaw and cheek bones. He had also grown his hair out a little longer, which further enhanced his features. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kovu Lothorien." He said, withdrawing his hand. "So, do you have an assignment due, or are you just the smart type that enjoys the atmosphere of the library?" Kovu asked in a playful tone, extremely glad the girl had chosen to stay and talk to him. If it meant he could avoid his homework for even a little while, he would jump on the opportunity.

 

[Karah Love]

As Karah and this boy held and shook hands, she looked into his eyes and became anxious when she saw his reactions to her. It was not the first time that her charm had ran away from her like that but she did not know how to control it because she did not grow up in a household where such things were the norm. The corners of her lips turned into a grimace, hoping that other than the smile that this stranger was giving her was the only thing he would do. She did not want this meeting to be more than what it was and she was sure that as she aged meetings would end up like that unless she learnt how to control herself which was why she had to meet with her biological mother and her two sisters. They had experience with it, surely they knew how to control it as they were both years older than she. As the boy, Kovu, introduced himself she dropped her hand to her side, before she snorted in amusement, “Like that movie, right?” The thought of meeting a person named after a lion pleased her, but she hoped that it did not seem like she was being rude to him. It just struck her as odd to be named after a character in a movie but then again her middle name and last name matched up with her appearance perfectly. If that wasn’t odd she didn’t know what was.

Karah stood corrected when Kovu suggested that she might be a person who enjoyed going to the library. “Neither. My parents told me that if I don’t get better grades that I have to go to Durmstrang,” she answered before explaining why it would be a punishment, “Apparently it’s really strict there.” Glancing over to the table he had been sitting at and seeing the collection of books he had she arched her brow and asked, “I presume you have an assignment due?” The twelve year old was certain that even people who did enjoy being in the library would not get that many books at one time. She didn’t have her classes on so she couldn’t read what the books were entitled and question him about his choices not that she really cared about books. They were just books after all, they would not influence her life so she did not pay attention to them outside of not tripping over a pile in her dorm room. Looking back to Kovu she asked, “Ravenclaw?” It was the only reason she could think that he would seem so at home in the library, Ravenclaws were supposed to be the smart ones after all. However, if she was brought back to her own sorting she had been told that the founder of her house was more intelligent than she, so perhaps they all had intellect in them? She didn’t really know and never cared much about anything to do with school.​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

When Kovu saw the slight grimace on the girls face, he crossed his arms over his chest defensively. Did he have something in his teeth or something? His defensive attitude rose even further when the girl snorted a laugh at his name. She wasn't the first one to do so, but Kovu still never understood why and he voiced as much. "Movie? What movie?" He shook his head, giving the girl a questioning look, not recalling any wizard film that had a character or place named Kovu. Being a pureblood, Kovu had little knowledge of the muggle world, much less of classic Disney movies like The Lion King. He had always liked his name, to him it was just original and his parents had told him once before that it meant Scar, which he considered to be pretty damn cool. So even though Kovu was a little disgruntled by her laugh, the fact that he didn't understand what she was talking about made it less distressing, so he chose not to take it to heart.

As Karah clarified the real reason she was in the library, Kovu nodded his understanding. His own parents could be strict at times, but tended to be a little more lenient with their younger children. Perhaps due to the fact that they already knew they had been the best parents they could be with the older boys and they were still brutes. Kovu tried to envision the girl standing in front of him attending Durmstrang and he found the thought alarming. She seemed far to dainty to be at that school. He was fairly sure a veela would not be safe amongst the crowd that attended there. "My brothers go there. I was meant to be sent there too, but I begged my parents to send me to Hogwarts instead. It is strict, from what I've heard." He confirmed, choosing not to go into the real reason he didn't want to attend that school. He barely trusted his family with the knowledge of his bullying, let alone a complete stranger he had met in the library.

"Err, yeah." Kovu muttered, turning his head to eye the mountain of books he had collected, he bit his lip, presuming she must think he was crazy or something. He didn't care if other people in the library had stared at him like he was mad, but now that he was actually communicating with someone and he had to clarify his behaviour, it seemed a little embarrassing. He turned back to Karah, mildly surprised by her question. Anyone that knew him would understand he was far from a Ravenclaw, but he could see why Karah had drawn that conclusion. "Definitely not. Gryffindor actually," it seemed necessary to point out. Even though house stereotyping wasn't technically fair, it was usually the case that you could tell a lot about a person by what house they were placed in. After all, there was a sorting hat for a reason. "Collecting the books involving the subject I'm studying is just far less boring than actually reading them," Kovu gestured towards his pile with a chuckle. "I don't think I know you from my year, but if you needed any of the ones I have there, feel free to take them," he offered with a lazy half-smile.

 

[Karah Love]

As Kovu questioned Karah, she looked at him curiously. “The Lion King,” she said softly, “It’s a classic.” She had been raised in a family with magic and muggle parents so she almost thought it odd that he did not know where his name came from. Or at least where it became popular, despite not being popular at all. She shrugged it off, it really wasn’t important; it was just a name and something about a rose or something and its scent. Karah did not know the saying and that the actual quote was that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet because she was not a person that enjoyed literature and would never be that person. She would never be the learned type because it did not interest her and that was fine by her, she was just annoyed that people chose to make fun of her for her interests and levels of intelligence. She knew that she was not smart but it still hurt her feelings to hear it said by people, which was why she thought attending Durmstrang would be worse.

Hogwarts was supposed to be the more accepting of the three main branches and if Karah was being teased at the most accepting she had a feeling that things would be much worse at this school that apparently held many sadists. As he told her that his brothers attended Durmstrang and he had begged his parents to go to Hogwarts New Zealand she understood completely. He seemed like he could handle himself but it was still likely that he could get hurt by the savages at that school, he didn’t look all that large and she automatically assumed that the people at Durmstrang were large and burly although the sensible side of her knew it was not feasible. “Well aren’t we glad that worked out,” she hummed softly to Kovu as she pushed her red hair behind her ear and looked into his eyes.

As Kovu told her that he was in Gryffindor she nodded her head but did not tell him that they shared a house. It wasn’t important anyway, she had just been curious looking at the large pile of books if the characterization of the houses were always correct and she found that they were not because someone who was clearly bookish was in the same house as someone who was not. A nod in agreement with Kovu’s words and Karah’s mind had drifted off to when she had done something similar. When she had to clean as a child she had gathered her things together and ended up playing with the toys rather than actually putting them away like she had been asked. This, however, was not toys and not cleaning so the comparison that Karah’s internal monologue had, had failed. So she swung her bag off one shoulder and in front of her chest as she dug around for her glasses while Kovu spoke. Putting the black, clunky things she blinked once before looking at the titles and shaking her head. “Nope. We aren’t in the same year,” she stated before adding, “I’m in my second.” Karah wondered what year this Gryffindor male was in and why they had not met one another before this date but if she thought on it, she had not really been very social and older years often did not speak to younger.​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

Lions that were kings? A classic? Kovu continued to look at Karah curiously, but then shrugged his shoulders, deciding that maybe he would look it up later and that it wasn't important now. "I'll take your word for it," the Gryffindor said with a wink. He assumed that it was a classic within the muggle world, but he still found himself curious as to what reference to his name it had. In a way one was at a disadvantage when it came to being a pureblood, because it meant they were restricted to only wizarding knowledge. However Kovu wouldn't trade his pureblood status for anything less, he wasn't the prejudice type, but he took a small pride in knowing that being a pureblood these days was quite rare.

Kovu nodded his agreement at being glad it worked out. He didn't know how well he would have handled himself at Durmstrang. Yes, his brothers probably would have looked out for him, but that would be utterly degrading. Thankfully he was a good, reasonably quiet kid and his parents had agreed to let him attend Hogwarts. He didn't need to extra discipline that his brothers did. Hopefully in a few years time his sister would be able to attend Hogwarts as well. He was extremely protective of her and just as he had thought about Karah, he didn't think Scarlette would be suited for that school at all. His train of thought left him as he looked back into Karah's eyes as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. He couldn't help but smile, admitting to himself that she was rather cute. He knew he was being hit with some of the veela's allure, but he had shielded himself enough to not let it overly effect him. He had met several family friend's that were veela's and he knew that many of them couldn't control their charm, especially if they were young like Karah was.

Kovu's eyes moved to Karah's bag, curious as to what she was rummaging for, until she found a pair of glasses. His smile widened ever so slightly. "Cute glasses," he commented, before recalling the girls grimace from before. He knew that sometimes he tended to act friendly with people before he knew them properly and so decided to let the smile slip away from his face. The last thing he wanted was for this girl to turn away from him like many others had. She seemed like good friend material and merlin knew he needed one of those. "Oh, cool. I'm in my third," Kovu stated before continuing, "It gets a lot harder, so enjoy second year while you still can."

 

[Karah Love]

Karah could feel the strain and tension between herself and Kovu, she could feel him fighting her charm and she wished above all else she could stop it so they would be able to have a regular conversation, free of all allure and intrigue not earned. It was hard for her to know that she did this but it was even harder to know that people hated her for it, more than she already hated herself. The tormenting that had been taking place was often but not often enough that people had noticed the mean words that were said to her by a Slytherin boy and this was why she was glad that Kovu seemed to not mind it. She could feel herself possibly being able to enjoy his company and for someone who was so clearly affected by her and did not leave or say harsh things to her. The only thing that worried her were the little compliments that he gave her so she simply thanked him with a nod when he commented on her glasses which were certainly not cute and often a source for people to make fun of her calling her ‘four eyes’ but lately ‘bird’ had seemed to work the best for people.

As Kovu told Karah that he was one year ahead of her and that things got harder, she winced inwardly. “Harder? Geez.” School was possibly the bane of Karah Sapphire Green’s existence and to know that between now and the next year things would get much harder did not appeal to her. She had known that over the next five years it would, but between second and third was a shock to her. She had thought these things would be gradual. “I’m not sure how I’m going to last with all this learning,” she said, not hiding her distaste for education like some might. “Are you at least able to have a little bit of fun?” she asked, hope in her melodious voice as she looked up into Kovu’s eyes with her pair of green orbs hooking his gaze with her charm which, like all things she did that involved her veela heritage, was accidental. Realizing that they were in a library and that for Kovu it could very well be considered fun to do school work she blinked and added quickly, “Fun that has nothing to do with school work.” Yes, this girl was so obviously not a Ravenclaw that it would almost be disturbing to some of the students that she was actually in the library, among the great pieces of literature and scholarly work. However, none of them knew this about her yet so she could only feel the gaze of a few males as they passed by but none of them muttering how someone so stupid should not be in this room.​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

Kovu let out a small laugh at the girl's attitude towards school. Granted that school didn't get that much harder from second and third year, it was just the added classes when one chose their electives, that made homework a little heavier. Homework, that Kovu had completely neglected on the table behind him in favour of talking to Karah. However the girl's company was far more pleasant than anything he could find in his huge pile of books. Kovu also found that the more he talked to Karah, the more he wanted to know about her. He was itching to ask if she was actually a veela to confirm his suspicions, but knew that if it turned out he was wrong, he could look like a complete idiot trying to hit on her with a pathetic pick-up line. Which was not his intentions at all. He simply wanted to discover who this girl really was, befriend her and hope that she held some interest in being his friend as well.

The question Karah asked passed through Kovu's mind, but it took him a second to process it, as his gaze had been captured by Karah's green eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but his brain was still trying to recall the question. It was only a slight delay, one that would be barely noticed, as Kovu forced himself back to the conversation as quickly as he could, but it would have been noticed nonetheless. He didn't want to throw the girl off, surely it wasn't her fault if she was a veela. She must get this all the time, probably gets bloody annoying. Kovu thought to himself, deciding in that moment that he was determined to steel himself against any more of her charm. He didn't want it to become a barrier for their friendship. Also, he hated to be beaten and being distracted by a veela allure counted as losing in Kovu's books. He would maintain the upper hand in the situation next time.

"Well of course. I don't think school work and fun really belong in the same sentence unless they have the words is not in between them," Kovu stated, knowing that even though he wasn't the smartest and he really didn't like school work at all, he had little choice in the matter of doing said school work. If he didn't pass his parents would kill him, especially since they had been generous enough to agree to let him attend Hogwarts instead of Durmstrang. So he would sit down and endure as much school work as he could just to please them, but when thinking about fun things to do, Kovu might have been lying when he had said that there was. Truthfully, there hadn't been much fun in Kovu's life while at Hogwarts. "Although it's always a lot better if you have someone to share the fun with." Kovu voiced his thoughts, knowing that he didn't really know if they were true, but assumed that they would be. His fun had been so limited because he didn't have a friend to hang out with or to laugh with. He may not be getting bullied at this school, but how much better was it from Durmstrang when he didn't even have a best friend?

 

[Karah Love]

Karah was actually finding herself enjoying Kovu’s company, he seemed nice and although he seemed like he was gawping at her, there was nothing neither could do about it because she did not know how to control it as the family she had grown up with had not had this annoyance and now she had to learn from her sister who she rarely saw because of the restrictions that the school had when it came to leaving the grounds. Over the winter and summer breaks, she would have to work at it though which was fine as long as she could stop the vibes from coming off of her and having people she did not know find out she was a veela faster than she had. Karah had only found this out eleven years after her existence and now people were discovering it five minutes after meeting her? It just proved to her how strong things could get so she had to learn how to control it and her anger because one of these days it would boil over and she would either attract people and get hurt or bird. Neither of these things were sought after. Karah also thought that if she learned how to control it, she could slip under the radar of the Slytherin boy who bullied her non-stop for her blood.

However, Kovu was not the Slytherin and she could not think on him because it would only upset her and the last thing she wanted to be was upset because of her own doings, she was being beaten up enough to do it herself. So she just smiled and enjoyed the company of this Gryffindor boy. As he answered her, appropriately enough so they could be friends after this meeting, Karah nodded her head. “Good,” she stated, not sharing that the reason for giving Kovu an affirmative grin was not just because of the fact that she would still be able to have fun but because she could be friends with him. This, she was sure, would be too forward if clarified. Luckily, Kovu almost said what Karah had been thinking so she did not need to because since the start of school, she had only made one friend and that was Michael Berg. The rest had been unfortunate events that lead to her being bullied one way or another. The Ravenclaw boy was so kind and now she understood why he thought that having a rat would make good company for they could not berate, degrade or insult you and would only listen to what you said. However, this was true of all pets and Karah did hate rats so she stuck to her cat, Bagheera.

“I agree,” Karah grinned before frowning momentarily as she remembered that they were still in the library and actually had to get work done. She weighed the options quickly, did she continue this conversation or let Kovu return to his work while she started hers? Perhaps they could help one another and at least attempt to mix the words ‘school’ and ‘fun’ together. “You… em… look like you have a lot to do?” she said, as she looked back to the pile of books before she looked back into Kovu’s eyes and offered, “I do too. Maybe we could work together without just talking about non-sense?”​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

To Kovu's relief, Karah didn't seem to be very bothered by his momentary weakness like she had been the first time. Kovu figured that if they did end up becoming friends - and Kovu hoped that they did - that they would both learn how to deal with the veela allure. Kovu had been able to get used to his family friend from his childhood that was a veela and although it might be a little harder now, with hormones starting to properly kick his butt, he figured he could do it if he set his mind to it and learn to ignore it. The last thing he wanted was for things to be weird. Karah was a very pretty girl, Kovu would admit, she had a sort of unique beauty to her, but friendship came before anything else. Kovu was sure that after he made a few friends at this school, girls would come naturally after that.

Kovu turned back to his books as Karah pointed out that he probably had a lot to do. She was right of course, and Kovu groaned, "Yeah, you're right." He turned away from the books, "Unfortunately." He figured that was a signal that their conversation was over. Kovu was regretful that it had to end, until Karah continued talking. He looked up at her and caught her eyes again. He felt the pull of her veela charm and managed only to respond with a small smile. "Sounds like a plan to me," his smile widened at the thought of spending more time with Karah. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to and enjoy the company of. He tore his eyes away from the veela stepped back to his table and moved the pile of books to the floor, so Karah had space to join him. "Lets get all this done quickly, I don't want to spend anymore time working on it than I have to," Kovu confessed, feeling a little more motivation to get stuck into his studies than he had before he had spoken to Karah.

 

[Karah Love]

Karah smiled light heartedly to Kovu as he gave her some room on the table. He seemed like a really nice boy and she was pleased that she had, indeed, made the choice to go to the library to do some of her course work. "Same," she said as she began to dig inside her satchel once more so she could grab her textbooks, quill, ink and parchment. The red head knew already that her work was not going to be much better than it usually was but at least it was a first step and that was all she could say. Baby steps were what Karah needed to succeed, as her 'mother' had told her. Putting the bag by her feet, Karah cracked open one of her text books and started to read it although she wanted nothing more than to stop and maybe play a game of quidditch or even watch one. Whatever it was, it would be better than this which almost felt as good as a root canal. "Ugh," Karah mumbled to herself as she found a word she had heard in class but now forgot because she had not really been listening. "You don't think that these things have a glossary or something, do they?" she asked Kovu, never looking up because now she was flipping through the book hoping to find it.

Only when Karah could not find a glossary did she look up sheepishly to the Gryffindor boy. A nervous grin danced on her pink lips and her eyes caught his in a stare and before she knew it she was giving off her charm. "Do you know what Praepilatus means, do you?" she asked in the voice that she had been told was alluring and without realizing it other male students were looking at the pair grumbling jealously to themselves. This was when she took her gaze away from Kovu and down at her lap, ashamed and disgusted with herself. She had done the very thing that the disgusting Slytherin boy had accused her of. "I'm sorry Kovu," she whispered lightly with her voice and lip trembling, "I didn't mean to..."​

 

[Kovu Lothorien]

Kovu took the seat next to Karah and picked up a book from the top of the pile. He glanced over at Karah from the corner of his eye, watching her for a moment as she read through one of her textbooks, before forcing himself to pay attention to his own book. He read through the words on the page without them registering in his mind. He inwardly cursed as he got to the bottom of the page and realised he had to start over. Kovu had assumed having someone to study with would make it easier to get the work done, not harder. Although he should have guessed having a veela sat close enough to touch if he chose to would be one of the biggest distractions a guy could get.

The Gryffindor boy jumped a little as Karah made a noise, distracting him out of his false concerntration. Kovu shrugged at her question, but noticing that she was still looking at her book and probably didn't see him, he spoke up. "maybe." He couldn't really be sure as he had been failing all day at being productive. However at that moment Karah looked up and any thought processes at all were lost. He heard the question and it echoed in his ears, her voice soft and enchanting. Time seemed to stretch on for a moment because Karah tore her gaze away, just as Kovu's hand had began to move of its own accord towards Karah. He snatched it back when the connection was lost, hoping she hadn't noticed. It was then that Karah apologised and all Kovu could do was blink. Does that mean he had been right in assuming she was a veela? He felt himself once again itching to ask, but thinking maybe it was overstepping a boundry. However, she confessed that she hadn't meant to and Kovu concluded maybe it was safe to find out the truth. "Praepilatus is a spell that turns a beetle into a button," Kovu answered from before - remembering some of the spells his Father had shown him as a kid - as a way to ease any tension before he dropped the question. "Hey Karah," Kovu said, tilting his head to try and capture her gaze, that was down in her lap. "Are you a veela?" He asked softly, realising there were still a couple of pairs of eyes on the couple from before.