Quiet Time

[Taylor Mercer]

The silence that the Library granted was great. Taylor was curled up in the corner reading a book on magical creatures. At the moment she was reading a section on Hippogriffs. Sighing she flicked the page, nothing really appealed to her. Skimming through something about Veela, she reached under her Gryffindor robe to scratch her stomach. As she did, the letter from her Mother she had placed there when in the Gardens with Aeon fell out of her pocket. Frowning she picked it up, staring at it for a few seconds, she then from where she was sitting hurled it at the nearby bin. It missed and hit the floor. Scowling she made a metal note to pick it up later, she wasnt going to deal with it now. She then tried her best to settle back into the book she held.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

Brian entered the library figuring the best place to study would be there. The workload that the third years had was unfortunately alot more even after the Christmas Hollidays and even though a student had died only a few days prior it seemed as though some of the Professor's felt it better to pile more homework on them then to just let them sit alone with their thoughts. Brian carried with him several books on potions, charms, and defensive theories for the classes he would be attending once more, he needed to be on top of his game. More importantly than that was the fact that Zazuka and Andromeda had been on his mind too long and with the guilt he felt for Kailey he needed to get those three out of his head and replace it with something else, something that wouldn't destroy his friendships but still allow him to maintain his classwork.

Brian noticed that the library was pretty empty aside from a first year girl that had unfortunately missed throwing a paper ball into a bin. Brian smiled slightly as he pulled out his wand 'windgardium leviosa' he said quietly levitating the small peice of trash into the bin. "it's bad to litter you know" Brian whispered to her as he stacked his books on the table she was sitting at pulling one open and begining to read. He didn't know this girl but that didn't matter these days. When students' just died simply for being in a play it became important to meet other people and get to know them after all the next day they could end up blown up and buried.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

Taylor jumped as someone spoke to her, telling her it was bad to litter. Damn, I thought no one had noticed. She thought to herself. Looking up innocently she saw a boy, who looked a little older than her. He had already got stuck into a book by the time she looked up, so the facial expression was pointless, she let it fall off her face as she mumbled back, "Sorry, I was going to pick it up after." She didnt know if this boy was a prefect or not but she didnt want to risk getting in trouble, he seemed to not care anyway. Taylor tried to get back into her book, but the distraction of having another student near her was taking away the attention that was already limited.

Taylor looked around at the expanse of books near her and wondered what else there was to read, deciding not to select another book she looked over at the book the boy was reading. Curiosity getting the better of her already distracted brain she whispered. "Whatcha reading?"

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

Brian looked through his book on Charms trying to let the girl study. She wasn't from the House of Rowena Ravenclaw however so Brian had to wonder how her study habits were, while it wasn't completely unusual for a dilligent studyer to be sent to another house it was rarely ever done. Sure enough as Brian made his way down the page he heard the voice of his table mate. Brian smirked slightly from behind his book wondering if it was because of her House or her age why she had decided to cease her studying and speak. She had been smart enough to keep her voice down and that was lucky as Brian didn't want to get in trouble with the librarian, it was often too easy for that too happen.

"I'm reading a book on Charms" Brian whispered back though not putting his book down, he had to give a good impression even if he wasn't a Prefect. The fact that he was a third year and she was a first year meant that Brian was suppose to be a role model, Brian didn't want to give the young and impressionable firsty any wrong ideas especially in light of everything that had recentely happened. Kailey had been sure it was one of the first years that had killed Njord with the fireworks and even if it had been an accident Brian knew that Kailey and Professor Heimdall as well as most of the Hufflepuffs felt horrible and that they deserved their justice, more important then them even was Njord who was no longer around to speak for himself. Brian would start his investigation right by slowly speaking with this first year and finding out what she knew.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

The boy informed her his book was on charms. It lead Taylor to wonder what year the boy was in, which in turn intrigued her on what they learnt when they got to whatever year the older boy was in. She nodded and pretended to get back to reading. She realistically could not get back in to her book though. Merpeople were only fascinating for a short amount of time before Taylor attention span ran out. She think she needed a trip to her Mother's store to purchase a book that she actually held interest in. She could get caught up in books if they were a topic Taylor liked. The world that is held within the pages of a book is easy to get sucked into.

The silence pressed on for a short time longer, before Taylor couldnt look at the page blankly any longer. "What year are you in?" She asked quietly with a tilt of her head and a curious expression on her face. She realised he probably found that question a little strange so she added in a whisper. "I was just curious about what you might be learning." She allowed a small smile to reach her face as she nodded to the book held in the boys hand.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

Brian smirked from behind his book once more as the girl once again spoke. Brian was a bit curious as to whether he was like that when he was a first year but quickly threw out such a notion. When Brian was a first year he rarely spoke with anyone in a higher year then him and even though he had made a few of the older girls mad he didn't constantly ask questions especially when it came to their year. "I'm a third year, this isn't for class though" Brian whispered back referring to the book he was reading, Charms was perhaps one of his top three favorite classes and he often enjoyed reading books that were advanced. He often practiced them so that if the opportunity rose during class he would be able to get the more advance charms without too much trouble.

Brian remebered the day he stepped into Ollivander's pretty well. He had been told that his wand was very powerfull and for a while during his first year Brian's wand had been tempermental to say the least. After time past though Brian's wand became more obediant and now was a pretty trusty wand that Brian enjoyed alot. "Ravenclaws like to study" Brian added in a whispered tone, so that the girl wouldn't have to ask as Brian was more than certain she would probably do; then again it would've been obvious to deduce that Brian wasn't a Gryffindor and he probably would've felt more than a bit insulted if she had thought of him as a Slytherin or a Hufflepuff. Brian continued to look at his book as he turned the page.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

"Oh, ok." She whispered, realising she didnt really have anything more to say on the subject. She tried to get back into her book, but it really was going no where, so she stood and went to find another. It wouldnt do to have her continue annoying the third year boy while he was trying to study. She found one called Which Broomstick? Thinking she might like to read a bit about flying, she made a note to organise that trip to the pitch with Sam, Knight and Hoshi that she had thought about as she returned to her seat. She brought her legs up and began reading about the different brands of brooms there were.

She wished she had something to do as reading was becoming quickly boring, but she had already explored many areas in the castle and the lake front held no interest to her today as the weather was cold and dull. Reading had seemed like the best option but she was becoming quickly bored. So this boy is in Ravenclaw, her mind wandered off into other thoughts as her eyes blankly skimmed the pages. Taylor remembered her Mum saying she wanted her to be in Ravenclaw, but didnt mind either way. Taylor knew she would be placed in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Something in her had wanted to be in Slytherin, but that was only because she loved a challenge. She let out a yawn, then placed her book on the table and put her legs down. Curse her for lacking an attention span.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

"you look nervous" Brian said a bit questionly as he placed his book down "something your nervous about?" he asked looking her over as he closed his book. Njord's death had been an accident however it didn't mean justice could be ignored this first year might know something about the play that could help Brian's investigation and Brian couldn't afford to dodge around the point all day however he also needed to be tactifull "I recently learned a cheering charm, you wanna see?" Brian asked politely wondering how the girl would respond, happy people were often alot more honest with people than sad or nervous people so placing her under the effects of the charm would most likely give him positive results.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

She almost jumped as the boy spoke, she was fidgety and that made her easier to fighten. She snapped her head up and looked at him. "No, no im just bored." She admitted with a small sigh. She started to feel a little guilty she had distrupted his studying. "Sorry if im being annoying." She said quietly with a quilty look on her face. She tried to be quiet and read her book, but he asked if she wanted to see a cheering charm he had learnt. "That's one of those spells to make the target happy isnt it?" She asked with a tilt of her head. She had briefly heard of them, but wasnt sure.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

"your not being annoying" Brian said with a smile. "It's a charm that people use when things get a little more stressfull" Brian said with a smile "but it can also be fun to just use it once in a while and see where it gets you" Brian said as he looked around to see if any of the librarians were around and pulled his wand "planerio" Brian said with a slight smile as he pointed his wand at one of the nearby books. The book flew up into the air, Brian moved the book slightly in order to open it while it floated a few of the pages moved slightly. Brian looked at his other books "it's good to practice spells sometimes, planerio" Brian said as another book floated up "sometimes you just have to live a little" Brian said with a laugh as he pointed his wand at another book "planerio" the third book floated up into the air.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

Taylor gave the boy a small smile as he declared she wasnt being annoying and he explained the idea of the spell he had newly learnt. He then looked around and Taylor followed his eyes, what was he looking for? Taylor furrowed her brow then watched as the boy cast what was most likely the charm he had just learnt on some nearby books. She raised her eyebrows, impressed. It was easy to impress Taylor with spells, she couldnt wait to learn some, but they hadnt done much in Charms yet. "I wish I could practise my spells, but I dont know that many, hopefully we get into actually learning them in Charms." She said voicing her thoughts, she realised her voice was a little loud, so she made a note to keep it down the next time she spoke.

She watched another book float up and then she smiled back at the boy. "Thats pretty neat." She said honestly, she didnt know you could cast cheering charms on objects.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

"Well I'll make you a deal, I teach you a spell if you let me practice my Cheering Charm on you" Brian said with a smile as he looked at her. He knew that he would need to practice the charm as it would be important for them to use in their fifth year. "It's the Accio Charm" Brian said as he pointed his wand at one of the nearby books "Accio!" Brian said with a smiled as the book came flying towards him. "It's a pretty usefull spell and you might enjoy it" Brian said with a slight wink, "It won't hurt and I'm not trying ot play some joke on you either" Brian said with a smile hoping that the girl belived that he was being genually nice.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

He made an offer and Taylor had to think about it for a moment. He is a third year and he might be trying to take Taylor for a fool, but then again he didnt seem like the kind of person to pull something horrible on Taylor. He showed her which charm he would teach her and she nodded briefly knowing which one he was talking about. She had nagged her Dad for ages to teach her how to do it before school, but her parents had been strict on what they wanted to teach her and what they didnt.

She looked up at the boy again and he confessed that he wasnt trying to play a joke on her, his smile genuine. Taylor guessed that he needed to use such spells for class and maybe trying it on a person would work better? She did want to learn accio so she guessed it would hurt. "Alright you have yourself a deal...Uhh" She realised she didnt know the boys name, she screwed up her eyebrows giving him a questioning look.

 

[Brian Getathorn XIX]

"My name's Brian Getathorn XIX" Brian said introducing himself "sorry I didn't say so in the first place" Brian said with a smile as he stood up from the table "What's your name, if you don't mind me asking" Brian said as he walked over towards the floating books "If we have a deal then stand here in front of me" Brian said pointing where the younger student should stand. Brian looked around realizing that his voice wasn't particularly low and that he should try to be more careful unless he wanted to get the attention of the strict librarian. "I promise you'll like this charm, it's not called the cheering charm for nothing after all" Brian said with another smile.

 

[Taylor Mercer]

She gave the boy a small nod when he said his name, she then returned the favor. "Im Taylor Mercer." She said simply, she didnt particuarly like her own name and there was something she hated about saying it herself, it just sounded weird on her tongue. He got up and Taylor watched as he stood near the books. He told her to stand in a particular place and Taylor stood a little wearily. Walking over to him she stood where he indicated. He promised she would like it and she didnt know what to expect, she didnt want to look like a fool, so she hoped that didnt happen. She instead muttered a small. "Okay." With a light shrug.