Closed Une Surprise de Rion

[Rion Pendleton]

A little more chocolate spread here... A few sprinkles there... Perfect! Rion closed the lid on her sandwich. It looked like a last-minute exhibition entry at a modern art museum, but if books weren't to be judged by their cover, than sandwiches ought not be judged by their crust. The only problem was, she'd spent so long making it that she'd snacked her way through an entire bowl of crisps in the process, and now she wasn't hungry. A sandwich this good couldn't go to waste; she'd have to give it to somebody else. And she knew just the person.

It wasn't fair to say she'd been avoiding Ruby. She hadn't gone out of her way to talk to her, but with so many new things to see and new people to talk to, she was sure her friend had been too busy to notice. And she was going over to say hello now, wasn't she? She'd even brought a gift! Ruby couldn't be mad at someone who'd mad her a sandwich.

Rion delivered the plate in front of Ruby like a gourmet meal and hopped up on the bench beside her. "Voila! Une surprise de Rion," she said. "Banana, chocolate spread, crisps, marshmallows, strawberries, and sprinkles. Bon appétit!"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

It had been a few days of getting settled into Hogwarts, and Ruby was thoroughly enjoying herself. There was so much to do and so much to see, and oh so many adventures to be had. She was definitely missing something though, and that was her so called best friend, to do the adventures with. Ruby couldn't help but feel disappointed when she saw her best friend being sorted into a House that wasn't hers, into apparently the smart house, which Ruby thought was rather rude. She was smart too!
Reaching across for her second helping of mashed potato, Ruby turned as a voice spoke near her, surprised to see Rion there. She looked down at the peace offering the girl had brought and Ruby spent a moment or two, deciding whether she was still angry with her or not. It wasn't like she chose Ravenclaw House on purpose, right? Surely not. Looking back at Ri, Ruby's mouth split open in a grin, before she threw her arms around her. "RIRI! Where have you been all my life?! What is this monstrosity? I love it so much! We have so much to catch up on!"

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Those seconds of silence felt like an eternity for Rion. Would Ruby shout at her? Would she laugh at her for being sorted into Ravenclaw? Could they still be friends? The answers to her questions were no, no, and yes, and Ruby answered them all with a hug. Rion squeezed her back as tight as she could. When she pulled away, she was grinning from ear to ear. "When I make them at home, no-one appreciates them," she said. "I knew you would. How's Gryffindor?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby 'pfffted' when Rion said no one appreciated her magnificent sculpture. She grabbed a knife, shoved her mashed potaties out of the way and started to carve the sandwich in half; albiet, not that cleverly. Banana, marshmellows and strawberries squished out either side. Grabbing the bits that fell out, and placing it back on top of each half, Ruby pushed half to Rion before taking a mouthful of her own. "Well, dey're miffing ou-." She muffled through her full mouth. She finished her bite before answering. "Gryffindor is amazing, I'm so sad you're not in it, you would've loved it, it's all fun people who want to go on adventures and be friends." Ruby may have enhanced the truth a bit. "Except for our Quidditch Captain, he seems to suck. How's the nerd club?" Ruby teased, before taking another bite.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion hadn't thought it possible for anyone to make more of a mess eating than she did. She giggled as Ruby tried to talk through her mouthful of sandwich. Gryffindor did sound amazing - but now that Rion had settled into Ravenclaw, there was no house she'd have preferred.

Uh oh. Here it comes. Rion shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. It was a harmless comment; she knew that. But that was how it started. Then all of a sudden people were pretending they couldn't see her, referring to her as 'the wind' when she tried to join their conversations, turning their backs when she approached. And that led to giggling in the toilets and nasty letters in her bag and before she knew it, the whole class thought she was weird. She had to stop this now, nip it in the bud before playful teasing became mean-spirited name calling. But how? Ruby hadn't done anything wrong. Anything Rion said would be an overreaction, and then Ruby would think she was a cry-baby. She couldn't win.

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby chewed her mouthful, waiting for Rion's response, but she didn't reply, just shrugged her shoulders. "Wha'f tha ma''er?" She asked through her mouthful, before swallowing it. "Is it that bad?" She teased with a grin, before studying Rion's face properly. The smile fell from her face. Although they hadn't been friends for so long that they could read each other's minds, Ruby definitely knew enough about facial expressions to know when someone was unhappy. "Was it because I called it the nerd club? Because that was just a joke. I don't actually think you're a nerd."

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion was relieved Ruby voiced her thoughts so she didn't have to, but the way she phrased it upset her in a completely new way. There was nothing wrong with being a nerd. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that people used it as an excuse to bully her.

The Ravenclaw took a deep breath. "What if I am?" she said. It was supposed to be rhetorical, but a lack of confidence made it come out like a real question. "I mean, so what if I am? That's cool. Being a nerd is cool." She pinched a piece of banana that had fallen out of Ruby's sandwich and ate it. "And Ravenclaw is the best house. I thought it would be old-fashioned - like, stuffy, and serious, and no-fun-allowed-in-here-thank-you - but actually, it's like living in a massive observatory. And our head of house, Professor Josephs, is really fun. I wish you were there. And I wish there was an elevator. Apart from that - perfect." Really, Rion couldn't think of anything else she disliked about it. "Our quidditch captain seems nice. Do you think, if I befriend her, butter her up a bit, she'll be more likely to let me on the team, or less?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Though another messy handful of sandwich was on it's way to Ruby's mouth, it paused when Rion asked a question, then reasked it in a different way. Ruby wasn't entirely sure how to respond, she certainly didn't think being a nerd was cool, but she thought Rion was cool, so if Rion was cool, then what did that make all nerds? Being in a massive observatory didn't sound really fun, or being friends with a Professor, and Ruby wondered if maybe Rion wasn't as cool as she thought, before silently shooing the thought away - she liked her, and that was all that mattered right? Well, she did like her, up until the comment she made, showing off about how nice her Quidditch Captain was. Ruby dropped the sandwich from her hand with a huff, letting it splatter on the table. Maybe she should have done the same thing with her captain, rather than yell at him. She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't even know you wanted to be on the Quidditch team." Ruby said offhandedly.