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Post by aiden on Jan 5, 2009 15:48:41 GMT 1
That was sweet. Aiden's only family was his mum and his dad. No one else seemed to want to step forward and claim they were related to them. It must have been so nice to have such a loving, caring family. Aiden wondered if they all pulled together closer after the accident that took Ashley's parents. Aiden couldn't even imagine how horrible that was.
Aiden looked down on the weird book and made a face. If Ashley couldn't explain it, it couldn't be explained. All the information inside talked about roses and not one word about onions. Not even that they grew up well near each other like Ashey said and Ashley would know.
"Thanks. I'd love a book on roses." Aiden smiled brightly. "I need all the help I can get." Aiden went back to his flashcard making but wanted to continue this conversation. He loved hearing Ashley talk about plants. He knew so much. His face brightened when he spoke about them. It was very sweet and welcoming. "Tell me about some magical properies. How about how the relate to vampires." If they do, Aiden thought. His father mentioned roses and vampires in one of his books and Aiden sort of needed to know if there was truth to it.
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Post by ashley on Jan 5, 2009 17:42:14 GMT 1
They weren’t really close. It was just Ash and his aunt left now, and they both felt awkward and hurt because of who they had lost. It was painful for him to look at his fathers sister, someone who resembled him a lot, and it was painful for her to take in her brothers son, someone he would never see growing up. They had each other, but in a lot of ways they were still alone. Yeah, he cared about her and she loved him, but this was a situation born from necessity, nothing else. The blonde didn’t really want to dwell on that though, so he turned his thoughts back to the conversation, tuning in just in time to hear Aiden mention that he’d love a book on roses. It made him smile, making a mental note to find the book later and hand it to his housemate.
The question about vampires and roses made him smile. The older Hufflepuff seemed genuinely interested in magical properties of plants, and Ashley couldn’t help being enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. ”It isn’t actually well known, but rumors among Herbologists say that if you grind the thorns of wild roses and make them into a sort of wooden stake, it’ll kill a vampire faster than anything else can. And white roses are also supposed to have something to do with being able to stay human once you’re bitten. It’s all pretty vague though..not many people face a vampire and survive to tell the tale.” He wondered how Aiden had heard about it, but decided not to ask, simply smiling at him instead.
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Post by aiden on Jan 8, 2009 15:44:49 GMT 1
"That's cool!" Aiden said with wide eyes. This was the same wide eyed look that often got Aiden teased for being as clueless as his father. He couldn't help it. He loved these stories about vampires and things as much as he dad did. And truth was better than fiction.
"It might be cool to make one of those stakes. Not for us to use. Maybe to give to the dark arts professor for extra credit. Or he could use it on that vampire I heard about around here." Aiden was bursting with enthusiasm. So much that he moved his chair closer to Ashley's. "I'm sure we could come up with a decent grinder someplace. This could be awesome!"
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Post by ashley on Jan 8, 2009 17:17:57 GMT 1
Ash couldn’t help but chuckle softly as Aiden seemed so excited, his eyes going wide with enthusiasm. He didn’t know much about Gilderoy Lockhart, but damn, he just looked so adorable and cute with his eyes and face all beaming. A little bit like a little kid on Christmas, the mere comparison making him smile. When Aiden began to ramble about making a stake for extra credit, or even for the vampire that had been lurking about in the forest, Ashley grinned.
”We’d have to get into the Forest to get the wild roses, but yeah, we could. It’d be an awesome experiment...I’m sure Professor Longbottom has a grinder...it’s not the only plant that needs turning into dust to release the magical properties” He was pretty sure that the Professor wouldn’t mind them using his equipment, especially if they were going to try out something that had always caused a lot of debate among Herbologists.
Ashley was beginning to get really excited about his working with Aiden. The Seventh Year had great plans to improve their grades and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about Herbology. He could definitely see them getting along and having a lot of fun, next to their hard work.
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Post by aiden on Jan 8, 2009 17:34:42 GMT 1
"Great! It's all set then! We can make this work!" Ashley was so brilliant. Aiden was so excited that the two of them could work together like this, with such combined enthusiasm. Aiden missed having a friend like this. Truth be told, he was hiding from his old friends. They didn't seem to notice he was under and crippling love spell and bailed on him when he became weird and stayed away even after. Aiden believed they were showing their true colors. Not friends at all.
But Ashley was there for him in a way that he missed. It was then that Aiden looked down at the flashcards he'd been writing. The current was was covered in writing where it should have only been one word.
It was a poem!
"Your smile is sweet, Your eyes are so lovely, Your skin must be soft, Let me touch you, Ashley."
Aiden gasped and blanched horribly. He had no memory of writing that at all. Must have been when Ashley was discussing roses. Roses were romantic and Aiden was triggered. But boys? Aiden didn't fancy boys! Not one bit. Why now?
Aiden cleared his throat and crumpled the flashcard and slammed his fist on the table. Aware Ashley was still nearby, Aiden blushed. "I misspelled something. I hate misspellings."
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Post by ashley on Jan 9, 2009 16:56:14 GMT 1
Ashley loved how Aiden could get so excited over things. It made him think that maybe they would get something other than good grades out of this deal. He’d like to think that they could be friends, since they were both the odd one out in their year, and also because they seemed to bring out the best in each other, corny as that might sound. He was definitely looking forward to spending more time with him, and wondered if the older boy would mind hanging out sometime, without studying being involved.
When Aiden gasped he glanced at him, wondering what had gone wrong. The boy blushed, crumpling up the card and tossing it away, mumbling something about misspelling a word. Wow, the boy must really hate misspellings if he responded to them so intensely. Ash gave him a smile though, not wanting to make him feel like he was being stupid over something so minor. ”Probably a good thing you noticed in time, or we’d be misspelling the word in our exams” He joked, giving the other another bright smile.
Running fingers over his scalp, he noticed the scars there, but barely thought anything of it. It was something that he’d grown used to, though it did make him wonder how Aiden felt about his own situation. The last thing he wanted was for the boy to pity himself. Sure, the situation they were in wasn’t all smiles and roses, but they’d get through it. He wished he could tell him something of the sort, but only ended up giving him another smile.
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Post by aiden on Jan 9, 2009 18:07:05 GMT 1
"Yeah. This shouldn't end up on our exams." Aiden agreed. And smiled. A very fake smile. This was bad. Ashley was just a friend. Nothing more. Aiden was equally worried that he was now blacking out about writing poetry. How long before he was writing odes again and singing serenades to Ashley without being able to stop himself.
Aiden wanted to change the subject fast. Very fast. "So... yeah... we'll get to work on that stake. Can you even get into the Forbidden Forest okay in your chair or will I have to go alone?" Maybe not the best diversion. Sloppy at best. Awful. Aiden bit his lip. "I mean, I don't understand how it works. Is it magical? That would be cool if it was." Aiden wouldn't have minded if a big black hole were to open up beneath him right then and there.
Meanwhile....
Rosencrantz hopped off the table and onto the floor nearby to pick at carpet threads when he came upon the crumpled piece of paper. He chewed the edge and it dodn't taste like food. It made an excellent toy though.
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Post by ashley on Jan 11, 2009 17:13:46 GMT 1
Ashley glanced at Aiden, who looked upset about something. His smile was definitely fake, but the Hufflepuff didn’t want to make his new friend uncomfortable, so he just smiled back, attempting to look like he hadn’t noticed it. One thing that he definitely hated was other people asking him if he was okay when it was obvious that he wasn’t. He didn’t like talking about his issues with random others, and he figured that maybe Aiden was the same.
"So... yeah... we'll get to work on that stake. Can you even get into the Forbidden Forest okay in your chair or will I have to go alone?"
He hadn’t actually thought about that. Parting his lips to say exactly that, the older boy continued. "I mean, I don't understand how it works. Is it magical? That would be cool if it was." Running fingers through his blonde hair, Ash wondered for a moment whether he was talking about the roses, then figured he must mean the wheelchair.
”This chair? No, it’s a Muggle thing. I mostly depend on people to help me out...Like, putting a Hover charm on the chair to get me up the stairs. It would help if Hogwarts had an elevator or something...” He briefly wondered whether or not the other blonde was familiar with the muggle elevators, then decided he’d probably ask if he didn’t understand. ”But mostly the Professors here help me out. It’s not really easy for me to go everywhere, but I manage. The Forest would be tricky though...”
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Post by aiden on Jan 14, 2009 15:28:22 GMT 1
"We can manage it." Aiden smiled, feeling a little relieved Ashley wasn't mad. He didn't want to put Ashley on the spot by pointing out Aiden might have to go himself. He didn't want to go by himself and it would be excellent if Ashley could join him. "Charms is my best class. I'm positive something can be done."
Aiden was so thankful he hadn't been to insensitive. The poem just got him so angry and he didn't want enyone to ever see him get angry. Anger was an emotion he was unfamiliar with until this curse from Harmony. He learned to be hateful from her and being that way for the wrong audience was like walking off a cliff to Aiden.
Aiden pulled over a book on charms and forgot about the flashcards for now. "There has to be something in here. I'm sure whatever we do must be modified from a simple elevation spell. You'd be moving more horizontally than vertically and we'd have to allow for a deviation in path."
Rosencrantz picked the poem up in his teeth and hopped around a bit without Aiden noticing, then flew up into Ashley's lap. Aiden should have felt the chain attached to him moving but he didn't and he didn't catch the jobberknoll delivering a shamefull bit of verse to Ashley.
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Post by ashley on Jan 16, 2009 16:47:00 GMT 1
Ashley grinned when Aiden lapsed into an explanation of how they would be able to make him enter the Forest. It was nice that his friend would go to such lengths to help him out and he was thankful that Aiden was so smart. The only thing he had considered was trying to wheel himself into the Forest and clearing the path in front of him, but even that was tricky. The older Hufflepuff was definitely coming up with a much brighter idea, and he could see it working, which made him just as enthusiastic as it had made Aiden.
As the Jobberknoll flew into Ash’s lap, he smiled down at it, petting it for a second before it dropped the poem on his left leg. He couldn’t help himself, unfolding the little note and reading the words. Your smile is sweet, Your eyes are so lovely, His brow furrowed, eyes darting over the last two lines of the poem. Your skin must be soft, Let me touch you, Ashley.
Whoa. That was...Had Aiden written that? It seemed to be the others handwriting, and Ashley suddenly found himself blushing. However, it wasn’t because he felt flattered, more so that he felt bad for the older male. This must be highly embarrassing for him. The Hufflepuff found himself wishing that he could say something, anything, to make this situation any less awkward, without just ignoring it alltogether. ”Thanks. I’ve never had a poem written about me before.” It sounded stupid, but the smile on his face was amused rather than annoyed or as if he was making fun of the other.
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