February 2nd: An Ambiguous Meeting

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February 2nd: Blush - Sparkling eyes peek through the door. Character blushes at the attention. And then...?

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There was a skinny spit of a thing peering at Aaron through the gaps in the library books, hazel eyes huge behind thick glasses. Aaron kept quietly paging through the Transfiguration book he was sourcing for the essay Professor Blake had set them in retaliation for Prentiss jinxing all the stools to salsa dance whenever she said 'wands out'.

Aaron just kept quietly reading. If the kid wanted to talk to him, he could go right ahead. If he didn't… well, whatever. He didn't care.

But he did, a little. From glances out of the corner of his eye, he could see overlong robes poking out from behind the stack, where the kid was huddled up with his knees to his chest. The occasional sniff wasn't as sneaky as what he thought it was in the hush of the library. And eventually, Aaron couldn't take it.

"You're gonna get the books all damp," he said, stepping around the aisle and looking down at the shrimpy first year, wondering if he was ever that small… or moist. He certainly didn't remember Dave or Emily being that timid. "What's wrong?"

And the kid froze, staring up at him. Aaron blinked. Blue and silver tie, blue cuffs on his robes.

Kid was a Ravenclaw.

"I've never seen you before," Aaron said, frowning and scanning his memory. It had only been three weeks into the year, but still. He thought he knew everyone in the house, prided himself on it in fact. He run his fingers over his own blue cuffs self-consciously.

"I—" squeaked the boy, turning bright red. "I'm… quiet. I don't…" He shrunk back more, his arms folding tight around the book he was reading. Aaron glanced at it. It was the sister copy to the one he was working on, but bookmarked almost to the end. "Sorry I just… need… um."

"What year are you in?" Aaron asked curiously, hunkering down on his heels, his wand digging into his back from its awkward home in his waistband. "You a firstie?"

The boy nodding, inching out into the light properly. His glasses were broken, cracked across the middle, his hair wild and tumbling into his eyes. "But I'm taking some third year classes," he mumbled. "Advanced streaming. I guess. You're… Aaron. Hotchner."

"Yeah." Aaron sat back, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. A nice open gesture. Friendly. Aaron knew all about being friendly to scared people. It was the same kinda way of sitting that people used to do to him, before McGonagall came and he found Hogwarts. "So you hide, huh? Why's that?"

A shrug. Kid was still blushing. Aaron began to hope that Dave didn't come blundering in here looking for him, or Emily with her cool stare and dark eyes offset by the vivid green of her tie and cuffs. Bambi here would bolt for sure.

"Can I see your wand?" the boy asked suddenly, blinking owlishly behind the glasses. "Uh, I mean… I just really like wands, I guess."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you give me something in return," he said, receiving a firm yes nod in reply. "What's your name, kid?" He wiggled his wand out and held it out temptingly as he spoke.

"Spencer," the boy said, taking it with careful fingers. "Spencer Reid. Is this fir?"

"Yeah." Aaron took the chance to scoot a bit closer while the boy was distracted, examining the thin wrists poking out from the big robes critically. No bruises marred the white skin, but that didn't mean anything. Bullies knew where to hit to hide the marks. "Dragon heartstring."

"Ollivander's old stock," Spencer murmured, more to the wand than Aaron. "He favoured that combination. There are replications, but this is an original."

Aaron wasn't totally sure who Ollivander was, and felt oddly unsure about asking this odd kid for clarification. It was unsettling, being shown up by someone two years younger and half his size. A little impressive, sure, but also unsettling.

"I think we're doing the same assignment," he offered as Spencer handed his wand back and looked around, seemingly for an exit. "Want to study with me? We can swap books."

"I'd—" Spencer began, his face brightening, but it fell just as quickly. "Oh."

"What are you doing down here?" someone asked, poking their head into the aisle. Aaron bristled, jumping upright and spinning to face them with his wand tight in his hand. The boy who looked back was skinny, dark hair floppy and thin, his eyes on Spencer. "Thought we were gonna hang out."

"Sorry, yeah," Spencer said, sliding the book under his arm and standing, skirting around Aaron. "Thanks for your help, Aaron. I'm going to… go with my friend."

And they were gone, Spencer trailing two steps behind his mate with his head bowed and shoulders stooped. Aaron slipped out the stacks and narrowed his eyes, watching them leave as Dave bounded in through the doors and made a bee-line for him.

"What's up with you?" Dave asked exuberantly, missing his tie and with his robes in disarray. At a second glance, it became apparent that he wasn't missing his tie, he just appeared to be wearing it as a belt, for some reason, the black and yellow stark against his robes. "You look cranky. Crankier, anyway."

"What's that kid's name?" Aaron asked, jutting his chin after the boy Spencer had vanished with. "The bigger one, he's a Hufflepuff. You know him?"

"Who, Hankel?" Dave wrinkled his nose. "I dunno, man, weird kid. Greasy. His toad keeps getting in our dorm. Why? And where were you? Emily wants to go see if the giant squid will eat rock cakes. I've got two gallons down that it won't."

"Sure," Aaron said, packing his scroll and quills away slowly, but the kid lingered on his mind. He kept an eye out in the common room that night, but didn't see him, rubbing his hand gingerly from where the squid had almost yanked it off in an attempt to get more rock cakes. A few students wandered past, calling hi to him, but those that he asked denied any knowledge of a first year called Spencer—even the actual first years.

It was honestly like the kid didn't even exist.