Open Spring Cleaning

[The Blue Lady]

Open after Maria posts with Alexander

It was that time of year again, where the quiet chill of the castle had lifted and the students were beginning to come back. Not that Blue could feel the cold, but looking out the window into the slate grey sky of winter she could just tell. The gloomy skies often matched her mood over the school breaks, the quiet of her hallway feeling particularly oppressive until Spring when the school finally woke up again.

Classes weren't quite back in full swing yet, and without swaths of students to chide, Blue had busied herself with her frame. She could swear there was a dust mote that had settled on the lower left corner, and while it was unlikely she was going to be able to do anything to it, Blue still swatted at it intently, huffing to herself when the dust stayed unsurprisingly unaffected. "You're being quite obstinate, you know." She scolded the dust sternly, hoping maybe she could shame it into leaving her frame. If she had to wait for one of the caretakers to come take pity on her it would drive her crazy.

 

[Alexander Rogers]

Alexander was walking around the castle having a small adventure for himself. No scratch that, he was totally lost and couldn't find where the Ravenclaw Common Room was. The castle was so huge to him that he still couldn't find where he was going. Journal in hand and nervousness slowly creeping up his body, he was almost just going to give up looking for the common room. He was walking around the fifth floor corridor, still not sure where he was, until he heard a voice. He was still getting used to the wizarding world and hearing imaginary voices weren't exactly helping. "H-Hello? Is a-anybody there?" Alex stuttered out, looking around the corridor, making sure he wasn't imagining any voices.

 

[The Blue Lady]

Blue looked up when she heard a timid little voice, immediately feeling pity for the poor little boy she spotted not far down the hallway. Though Blue often struggled to keep track of how old many of the students that passed her by every day were, the new students were often easier to spot, tending to travel in packs with that same slight nervous expression about them. "Oh, hello over there! Could you do me a favour?" She called to him, waving exaggeratedly from her frame to beckon him over. The hallway was mostly empty and it almost seemed to make the little one look even smaller than he might have normally, and Blue felt a pang of protectiveness. If she could lure him over here, perhaps he could help her with her dust problem and she could make sure he was alright.

 

[Alexander Rogers]

Alexander turned anxiously when he heard the voice again. He saw a frame of a woman, as she was beckoning over. He looked behind him and up and down the corridor to see if anyone was watching him and the moving painitng. Once he noticed that the coast was clear, he slowly made his way to the painting. "Uh, s-sure. What d-do you need h-help with?" Alex says nervously and curiously with a stutter. Alexander had never really interacted with a moving painting before, only seeing them around the school when he was walking around.

 

[The Blue Lady]

Blue smiled sweetly at the young boy as he came over, folding her hands and sitting up, aiming for somewhere between 'proper classy portrait' while staying approachable. "Thank you, sweetheart," She said warmly. "There's a bit of dust, right down there, see it? Poor caretaker must have missed it," Blue said, trying not to fuss as she motioned down at the corner of her frame. "Maybe you could just brush it off for me? Gently though, don't wanna knock me off the wall." She laughed, a touch nervously. She'd been knocked down once before after some older kids rough housing one year that had bumped into her and it'd take hours before someone had picked back up again.

 

[Alexander Rogers]

Alexander nodded and listen to the woman in the painting. He walked slightly more closer to the painting, gently brushing the dust off the corner of the frame that she was pointing at, also making sure that he doesn't knock her over. "I hope t-that's okay. I don't really h-have anything to b-brush the dust off w-with" Alexander says nervously, as he looks up at the painting. Alex looks at both ends of the corridor, making sure that he isn't being watched. "D-Does it get l-lonely here?" Alexander stutters out with slight nervousness and curiosity.

 

[The Blue Lady]

Blue watched cautious as the young boy brushed away the dust, giving him an encouraging smile the whole time. "Oh, perfect, thank you," She said when he'd finished, visibly relaxing now that that infernal dust bunny wasn't niggling at her consciousness. "I couldn't even think straight with that in the corner of my eye all the time," She said, smiling an honest smile of relief at the young boy. He still looked pretty nervous, and Blue hoped a little chat might calm him down, though his question took her a little by surprise. "There's always lots of people around once the school year's back in swing," She said politely, aware that it didn't exactly answer the boys question. "Though it's always lovely when someone spares a moment for a little chat, I'm not really one for wandering about with the other portraits," She added. Blue had always been perfectly content to stay put, and now she'd done it for so long she feared popping in on the other portraits would just be plain rude. "What about you, are you a new first year? The school's awfully big, even for someone like me who's been here forever." She said, leaning down to whisper a bit conspiratorially, hoping to set the poor thing's mind at ease about being so nervous.

 

[Alexander Rogers]

Alexander smiles shyly at the portrait and listens to the woman carefully. He wonders what the lady does everyday in that portrait of hers. Does she get to talk with many people? Was she always lonely? Alexander wasn't sure. Alexander smiles towards the lady in the portrait. "Yes, I-I am a f-first year" Alex stutters, as his stutter comes back to life when he speaks. "The s-school is q-quite big. Still g-getting used to where e-everything is. A l-learning about m-magic" Alexander says with stutters and a small smile, slowly becoming more comfortable.

 

[The Blue Lady]

Blue smiled warmly down at the young Ravenclaw as he managed to make his way through a sentence. "Well, welcome to Hogwarts, it's a pretty exciting place, once you get used to it, promise," She said, encouragingly. "If you need directions, I can do my best. I don't 'get out much' as you could say, but I chat to some of the ghosts sometimes and they know a lot of things," She said, making air quotes like she'd seen some of the students do. Honestly, Blue wondered if the castle would be just as confusing for her as it was for her new little friend. She swore every time she thought she had a handle of what month it was or which student was the head girl this year, she'd blink and everything was different again. "You being in Ravenclaw, I bet there's lots to learn. What's your name?" Blue was doing her best to try and remember more students names. She had a bit of soft spot for Ravenclaws especially lately. They tended to be a bit of an odd bunch, but Ravenclaw drew artists and wanders alike, who were some of Blue's favourites, whether to chat or just simply observe.

 

[Alexander Rogers]

Alexander smiled warmly at the woman in the painting. He had found that the woman in the painting was nice and found that her welcome made Alex felt a little included in the school. He laughed a little when the lady in the painting did air quotations. He hadn't seen painting move or talk much like the painting that was speaking to him before we came to Hogwarts. "I'm A-Alexander" Alexander had stuttered out with a small smile. "Do y-you have a n-name? or a s-special name" Alexander asks, as he fiddles a little with his uniform.

 

[The Blue Lady]

"Nice to meet you, Alexander," Blue said with a small smile, sparing a moment of sympathy for the boy's terrible stutter. "I'm called the Blue Lady, though sometimes I'll let students I really like call me Blue," She said, giving the boy what she hoped would come across as a comforting wink. "How's your first year going at school?" She asked, genuinely curious. Blue didn't always have the best grasp at time, so she wasn't really sure how long Alexander had probably been at school, the days seeming to blur together, but judging by his rather frightful nerves she was hedging her bets it was still pretty early in the year for the poor thing.