This Can't Be Happening..

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca ran through the halls as fast as she could, classes were out so not many people were in the hallway and she was thankful for that. She had just been horribly made fun of by a Gryffindor about being an orphan. She always underestimated how low they would stoop to hurt someone. So that was how she found herself crying running through the halls, she hadn't wanted them to see her cry so she had run away. Finally she saw a place she could calm down, an old classroom by the looks of it. She hurried inside and closed the door. It was dimly lit by a few windows and very dusty. She wondered why it wasn't used anymore, but was glad for the safe haven. She wiped her eyes on her robe as best she could, but she knew her eyes were still puffy and red. Once she finished she looked around the room and noticed someone already here. Rebecca sighed stuff like this always happened to her. She thought she was lucky enough to find a room to herself so no one would see her like this, but she was obviously asking to much.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

Aedan looked up sharply as someone burst into the room. He watched her stand in a corner, her petite frame shaking. Hmmmm, he thought absentmindedly. I seem to be encountering all the girls these days. It was obvious to him that she was crying. She didn't seem to notice him, at least not yet. Half of him was debating offering his handkerchief, the other half was kinda hoping she would not notice him.

Of course, she picked this exact moment to look around and see him. Surrounded by books. He saw her sigh, then look away. Aedan carefully extricated himself from the stack of books, and moved to her side. Wordlessly, he offered his handkerchief.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca saw the boy come over, he didn't say anything but instead offered her a handkerchief. She looked at him and took the handkerchief. "Thanks." She said quietly wiping her eyes a bit more. She knew how she must have looked to him short, red, and wet. This almost made her laugh, she knew she looked awful when she cried but at the moment she didn't care. Looking at the handkerchief she wondered if he wanted it back, she knew some people would and others wouldn't. She had only wiped her eyes, Rebecca had always been a as they say a pretty crier, she had only tears and the shakes. "I'm Rebecca." She said after another moment. She figured it would be polite to introduce herself, and if wanted the chief back he would ask for it.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

"Aedan Steiner," he replied, "You can keep the handkerchief, I've got spares." He sat down near her, pulled his wand out and pointed it at the books. "Accio book," he said. One of the many drifted over slowly. He opened the book to a seemingly random page, and began reading. "You know, crying is a natural reaction when a person is sad. So sad, as it were, that he or she can no longer contain it and feels the need to express himself, in a manner of speaking."

He turned the page meticulously, and let the silence draw out.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca nodded and put away the handkerchief, it might come in handy again. She was surprised when Aedan used accio, they had been practicing it in class, but he did it like it was nothing. Rebecca had been doing well in most her classes but she wasn't to the point to use magic often. She wondered if he was a Ravenclaw, by the looks of all the books he was. Rebecca liked reading and doing school work, she probably would have enjoyed being a Ravenclaw and it would save her all this fuss with the Gryffindors. Rebecca listened to what Aedan said and nodded, "Even if it is natural I still don't like it." She looked at him, she was thankful for the though.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

"Well, just because we don't like it, doesn't necessarily mean it's good for us," Aedan pointed out. He shut the book, and looked up at her. "You probably don't like eating bittergourds, but they're really good for you," he added. "Judging from your robes, you're from Slytherin, is that right?"

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca knew that Aedan was trying to help, which was really nice of him. Most people would have saw she was Slytherin right off the bat and just laughed at her. "Yeah I'm in Slytherin." She looked at his robes and confirmed her previous though, "And your in Ravenclaw?" Rebecca had met a few Ravenclaw and she liked them the best besides Slytherin. She had a lot in common with them and they didn't make fun of her like the Gryffindors did.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

Aedan nodded. "Yeah, I am. Did the massive pile of books give me away, or my robes?" He got up, and glanced at her. Her eyes were still slighty red and puffy. "You know, even if I weren't in Ravenclaw you'd probably still find me surrounded by books." He absentmindedly began twirling his wand around his thumb, and tapped his head with his other hand. "I have what's more commonly known as photographic memory. I can remember things perfectly clearly, though I remember them longer and better the longer I look at something."

Aedan looked at her, small and fragile framed in the light from the dusty windows, eyes slightly red, with an aura of melancholy and sadness surrounding her. "... I generally try my best to remember things that especially catch my eye," he added.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca smiled, really with all the books it had been clear but his robes helped too. She nodded about what he said about books, even though she wasn't in Ravenclaw she could still be found in the back corner of the library reading. It was one of her favorite things and she knew if it hadn't been for her anger issues she would have been in Ravenclaw. But what Aedan said next was very interesting, he had a photographic memory. She knew what it was but she also knew it was very rare. Rebecca wondered what it must be like to just be able to pull up a memory at will. She would have loved to be able to remember her parents more clearly, currently it still hurt to try and think about them, she knew they had died quite a few years ago she just hadn't been able to deal with things just yet. She looked up and noticed him looking at her and was surprised to here what he said next. 'Does he mean me?' She thought to herself. "That's really cool." She smiled, "And very rare." She wondered how many people in the world had it. "Do you like it? Or does it bother you?" She said thinking about it she thought there were some things she wouldn't want to remember.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

"That ... really depends on the situation. I've found that remembering doesn't mean you understand something, and it makes it pointless to re-read a book I've enjoyed, because I can remember the story exactly." Aedan turned back to the window, scratching his chin thoughtfully, then winced at a memory. "There are also things I would've much rather forgotten that I still remember clearly."

He glanced back at the Slytherin girl. "Why? Something about the way you said that makes me think that you wish you had this ... ability, so that you can remember someone you love very much perfectly."

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca listened thoughtfully as he talked, it was pretty much like what she had thought. Then he asked her, no one had ever asked before, like the Gryffindors they just knew because of her brother. She looked at Aedan, he seemed to know just what she was thinking. "Yeah actually I would..." She paused for a moment, "My parent's they died. It would just be nice to remember them better." She thought about how hazy the memories she had were. She normally got upset when she thought about her parent's so she didn't think about them as often as she should. All she had let herself think about too much was the picture, she kept in her dorm, it was the last one taken of the whole family before the accident. She looked at it before bed and woke up to see it every morning, it helped her get through the day.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

"Oh." Aedan lapsed into silence. He spun his wand a few more times, thinking to himself. "Well ... an eidietic memory is something you're born with. One can't ... learn it. But I heard there are techniques you can use to improve your ability to recall memories." He shrugged. "I don't know them though, so I can't really help you there ..."

Aedan flexed his wrist out of habit. "I suppose you miss them greatly. I've never had the ... misfortune to experience such a thing so, I can't say I relate."

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca nodded, she knew she hadn't been born with anything special, she was just another ordinary girl. Aedan said that there were some things you could learn to help recall memories, she wondered if that was something she could do. She would have to look into it, "I know there's no way I could get a memory like yours but it's nice to think about." She smiled meekly. Aedan said he had never experienced anything like she had, she nodded, "I do miss them, but I'm learning to live with that." She looked up at him again, "It wouldn't be this hard if people weren't rubbing it in all the time..." Rebecca figured she might as well fill him in on the whole story why she was going, "Gryffindor's have been giving me a hard time about it, that's why I was so upset when I came in." She was feeling better now that she was talking about it, her tears had dried up and she wasn't shaking so bad.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

"Ah. Well. The qualites Godric Gryffindor had was courage and loyalty to friends, and late in life, and stark dislike of Slytherin, or so I grasped from his later works," Aedan mused. "I suppose the Hat must look out for those qualities in prospective Gryffindors before shunting them there. Thank God I had the brains to go into Ravenclaw."

"Well. Have no fear. If you ever need me, come find me. Anytime, after school hours, and any place, not out of bounds to us students, call me and, if I hear you, I'll come," Aedan said with a smile.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca again listened thoughtfully, she found herself captivated whenever he spoke. He just had so much confidence in what he said it made her listen and believe him. "I thought I wanted Slytherin but now I'm not so sure." She thought about the tantrums she used to throw and how mad she would get a people for the slightest things. But she had realized how wrong those things were and was trying hard to change, she knew that those were the traits that had gotten her into Slytherin. He told her she could come to him anytime and she smiled big, "Thanks, you don't know how much I appreciate that." She hoped she wouldn't need to find him, but rather she chose to find him. But the way things were going she was thinking it might be nice to have someone there if she needed them. Looking at the time she realized she needed to start heading for the dungeons that way she had enough time to get into the common room in case she got lost down there like she often did.

"I need to head back to my common room." She said again eyeing the clock. Rebecca still didn't know all the staircase and such through the castle and even with lumos it was dark in the dungeons.

 

[Aedan Steiner]

Aedan shrugged. "Well, the Hat dealt you the hand, so you gotta make the most of what you've got." He smiled himself as he saw her smile. "It's nothing," he said.

"Take care through the dungeons," he called after her retreating back.

 

[Rebecca Gemstone]

Rebecca knew he was right about everything, "Everything happens for a reason right?" She smiled as he said it was nothing it was defiantly one of the nicest things anyone had said to her so far, Then to top it all off he told her to take care, "Thanks you too." She said turning back to face him one last time, he probably never got lost either, he just had to think about it. She smiled as she got farther and farther away, today hadn't turned out so bad after all.

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END