It was the first Saturday evening of the term and corridors, common rooms and sitting areas throughout the castle had become bustling social greeting spots.  There was homework, of course, but with finals, O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts months off, most of the castle's residents were ignoring their studies for the evening in favor of socializing, games of wizard's chess or, otherwise, trolling the castle for fun.  There were a few studious exceptions and the blond Ravenclaw was amongst them. 

So far this week, Sasha had managed to avoid the need to venture to the library; a distinct deviation from his normal routine.  He'd never been exactly thrilled with the new librarian.  Sasha had had the impression all last term that he'd never quite recovered from his unfortunate first meeting and impression with the young man - at least, that was what he'd always attributed the subtle, though recognizable, cold shoulder to.  The ... interactions at the Bombay's Christmas dinner had given Sasha reason to pause.  He'd never suspected his misunderstanding that first day would lead to such a persistent grudge but, for whatever reason it had.  And the grudge seemed significant enough to encourage Sasha to find alternative study spots.

The common room was a logical choice but inaccessible to many of those Sasha was finding himself in the company of with increasing regularity.  Or, in some cases, those whose company he hoped to share but who still seemed to be avoiding him.  Most seemed to be in Slytherin House, coincidentally enough - Fergie belonging to the first group; Ava belonging to the second.  Loitering near Slytherin House, though, wasn't wise.  There were plenty who were angry with him or who just found making his life miserable a casual sport. 

This evening found him in one of his newest regular haunts: perched on one of the broad stone sills of a window along a quiet corridor on the third floor.  His back was pressed against one side of the window frame, his feet braced against the other side.  The sun had dropped behind the top of the mountains but had yet to set for the night.  Soundlessly, flakes of snow continued to settle against the window pane.  His History of Magic text laid open on his knees, a collection of notes from other students tucked between random pages.  He had another seventy pages to read before he'd be caught up enough on the material he'd missed to stand a chance on the makeup midterm.  If he could get through forty-five tonight, he could read the rest tomorrow and copy the notes and would be ready for Monday.  Then, he could turn his efforts to tackling his arithmancy midterm. 

The occasional student had made their way down the corridor throughout the evening so, when the door to the stairwell opened, Sasha spared the older student only a fleeting glance.  He turned back to his book, convinced the person was going to pass him by.

There was no denying that Eli loved to socialize and be around other people.  That was the main source of his energy - being surrounded by people having a good time.  Ever since the return to Hogwarts after the holiday break, Eli had done plenty of socializing.  With his new baby sister and new hair color, he had a lot to tell people.  Of course, in the midst of talking about his baby sister and how she was the most adorable hairless being on the planet besides himself, he would be interrupted and asked about his past kissing escapades - particularly the kissing booth at the Winter Festival and kissing Erin Harper (yeah, people were still asking about that).  Normally Eli was all words when it came to reminiscing about the people he’d kiss but he had been finding it rather irksome lately, especially after he had been interrupted. 

So, Eli had decided to escape the Hogwart-ian social society for awhile and go on a walk... in the castle, of course, he was definitely not an outdoors person.  Outdoors there was snow.  Snow meant a possibility of getting his hair wet and he hated that!  The only way his hair ever got wet was in the shower.  His appearance was always of importance to him.  Not that he always tried to look amazing all the time (because that came naturally), but he liked expressing himself through how he did his hair and what he wore.  Since his older sister always insisted he hat feline eyes, Eli had gotten attached to the idea he looked like a cat... an attractive cat.  Thus began his love for the muggle brand Hello, Kitty!  It was a kitty, it was cute - perfect!

Eli wandered down to the third floor, figuring since he never spent a lot of time there he might as well explore.  Maybe he could find an empty room or something to turn into a karaoke place?  Shrugging to himself, Eli opened the door to the stairwell and stepped into the abandoned corridor, stopping to take in the surroundings. 

‘This place is a little.... creepy.  I’m pretty sure the house elves missed some huge spots here... It smells funny.  This atmosphere is not very karaoke-friendly, damn..... I don’t like it here.’ Eli thought as he looked around, ’Oh, but, HELLO THERE PRETTY BOY!  You’re making this scenery much better!’

He smiled upon seeing Sasha in the window sill.  It wasn’t like Sasha was a friend or anything, but, well, with all the stuff going on involving him, Eli had heard things and whatnot.  Then someone had put a face to the name and then Eli didn’t much care what all was going on with Sasha that was ‘scandalous’.  It was probably just all talk, right?  That’s what most gossip turned out to be anyway. 

Eli walked quietly up to the younger boy.  “Hi, Sasha!  What are you reading?  It is Sasha right?”

Eli's outfit

Sasha reached the end of the page and turned to the next with hardly a missed beat in his reading.  He wasn't aware of anything else going on around him whether in this hall or beyond it.  Which was the benefit of studying.  If one threw their whole mind into it, there wasn't room for anything else.  There was no room for doubt or uncertainty or worrying or guilt.  No opportunity to obsess over missed classes, worrisome kissing-partners-turned-half-sisters, curses flung in class or the subsequent pages that were spreading quickly through the school.  No, for the time being, there was just Sasha and Cornelius Agrippa.   

The only drawback was it did leave him somewhat oblivious to the fact that the older student who'd just entered the corridor was not passing through on his way to whatever prior engagement he might have had in mind.  It wasn't until Sasha heard his name called in a noticeably unfamiliar voice that he looked up from his reading.  He took one quick glance at the other boy's outfit before scanning the corridor.  Was he serious?  Really, truly?  Granted, Sasha had looked away pretty quickly so he might have misinterpreted what he saw.  But, no, another quick glance at the boy confirmed it.  He was, really, wearing a Hello Kitty bag and sweatshirt.  And, had that been ... lipstick? 

To Sasha's dismay, there was no one else around to verify what he'd seen.  No one to assure Sasha he wasn't going crazy.  And, most unfortunately, no one to divert the other boy's attention with idle conversation.  No, it was being left to Sasha and Sasha alone to find a way to discuss something that didn't involve gaudy animated cats.

His eyebrows arched questioningly and uncertainly, Sasha looked back at the fellow and,noncommittally, nodded his head.  "Um...yeah.  I am.  I mean, it is.  My name's Sasha.  Why?"  This type of scenario was recurring with considerable regularity.  Over and over again, Sasha found himself faced with situations where most people he ran into now knew who he was but he still knew very few outside of his year or house.

"I'm catching up," Sasha offered, answering the boy's first question.  "History of Magic.  I've got three chapters to read before Monday."  If the other young man was at all verse in subtle cues, Sasha hoped the other boy would recognize his declaration of being busy.

"Um...yeah.  I am.  I mean, it is.  My name's Sasha.  Why?" 

Eli couldn’t quite tell if the younger boy was put-off, nervous, flustered, or a combination of the three.  In his experience, Eli was used to this.  The way he dressed often raised some eyebrows, the way acted certainly did, and his reputation for kissing on a whim often made other chaps quite nervous around him.  But that didn’t bother Eli really.  He found it amusing.  Behavior like that only made him what to hang around longer.  It wasn’t like he had anything else to do that day anyway.

“I know a lot of people in your year and I’ve heart about you.... just around, you know,” He didn’t quite think it was necessary to explain where.  Sasha surely knew about the things people were saying about him.  Eli wasn’t a bad guy... he wasn’t going to rub anything in.  “I’m Eli, by the way.  Eli Park,” Smiling, Eli made the peace sign with both his hands before letting his arms fall back down to his sides.

"I'm catching up....History of Magic.  I've got three chapters to read before Monday."

“Oh wow, that sounds like a whole bundle of FUNnel cakes!” Eli quipped sarcastically, not able to hold back a smile.  “You know, I could probably sum those whole three chapters up for you and save you some very valuable time.  A long-long-long-long time ago there lived a bunch of middle-aged guys who did ‘outrageous’ for the time things and then died.  And now they have their names in books.  The end!  See? Easy!”

Sasha was, largely, oblivious to any kissing- or behavior-reputation this Eli might have gained for himself.  He'd heard scattered rumors and stories about some stray kissing at the end of last semester but he hadn't put any names or faces to the rumors.  However, on first impressions, he could make some educated deductions about the type of personality that could be paired with one who sported that sort of fashion sense.  What, then, drew Eli's attention to Sasha?

So, Eli knew people in Sasha's year and he'd heard about Sasha.  Whether or not Eli was actually trying to rub anything in, it was easy to assume that was the case.  Sasha closed his eyes, letting out a long, slow sigh.  "Great," he muttered under his breath.  It was hardly a surprise.  Even those who'd managed to miss the the series of Skeeter articles since the beginning of the year couldn't have missed the most recent round of rumors.  The article that had come out a few days ago had only fueled the rumors about Sasha using dark magic on Callum Knight. 

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's what you're here about." 

Bunch of funnel cakes?  What did this Eli think?  "I'm not reading it purely for fun.  I've got a lot to catch up on."  Sasha's expression was completely blank after the older boy's summary of History of Magic but, after a few seconds, a slight grin twitched at the corner of his mouth.  "Something tells me Frau Austerlitz wouldn't be too pleased if all my essays come back saying that.  I appreciate the recommendation, though.  I don't envy them."  He nodded down at the book.  Having your name in a newspaper was bad enough - he couldn't imagine being in a history book for the rest of eternity.

"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's what you're here about." 

Aish, Eli thought, Bad move, bad move...   It could not have been easy on the kid with all that stuff going around about him.  Eli hadn’t thought much of it, most of that stuff was probably made up by those stuck-up Slyther-stick-in-their-arse people, and he tended to let that stuff slip right past his ‘radar’.  Stuff like that had happened to him before when he was about Sasha’s age, around the time he was questioning his sexuality and coming out, though probably not to the extent that Sasha was getting.  In a way, though, that was how Eli came to be the way he was.  He just adopted the ‘I am who I am’ attitude and said that everyone else could either love him or hate him, he didn’t care.  Once his so-called ‘haters’ realized their attempts to put a damper on his mood no longer had any effect, they eventually stopped.  The same solution probably would not work the same way in Sasha’s situation, but maybe if Eli hinted that he wasn’t one of ‘those’ people, that would at least let the boy know he wasn’t out to target or make fun of him.

“No, not at all.  Honestly, I’m assuming all that is a bunch of flobberworm goo.  So, yeah, I’m not here to bother you about....well, whatever that is,” Eli reassured him, smiling, “I’m just, well, here.... talking to you... just because I can.” And you’re really cute... He thought, but refrained from verbalizing this thought seeing as he didn’t want to freak the guy out.

"Something tells me Frau Austerlitz wouldn't be too pleased if all my essays come back saying that.  I appreciate the recommendation, though.  I don't envy them."

Eli shrugged, “Well, what can you do... Professors will be professors and they will continue to insist that all this information will somehow help us in the future.  But I guess they need someway to keep us occupied.  Who wants a school full of rampant teenagers with too much time on their hands?”  Oh wait..... it already was....

Okay.  So that was good.  The older boy wasn't here to get a first hand account of the rumors from the source.  With a slight nod, Sasha took this Eli at his word - mostly on the sheer strength of the conviction that not a lot of bullies went around wearing Hello Kitty attire. 

"Talking to me?"  The confusion this brought was readily apparent in the Ravenclaw's tone and expression.  Despite himself, he couldn't resist a quick glance over his shoulder at the rest of the sitting area.  But, the room remained empty of any distractions or more probable targets of the boy's conversation.  He turned back to the Gryffindor and gave a slight nod of his head.  "Okay," as if he were giving the seal of approval for said pending conversation. 

Now came the hard part.  Striking casual conversation with a peculiarly dressed (and lipstick wearing - though Sasha was trying really hard to ignore that fact) stranger.  He scanned the room yet again, this time hoping someone might have appeared with some cue cards containing recommended conversation topics.  But, still, no such luck.  "Okay," he repeated, again, as if a second commitment to this conversation would somehow spur it into action. 

"I - yeah.  That would be bad."  A school full of rampant teenagers sounded like something out of Sasha's nightmares.  "I don't mind most of our professors, though."  Except, of course, for the fact that this fellow probably wasn't looking to talk about professors.  Considering his initial paranoia, Sasha couldn't help but feel like he was failing this little social encounter completely. 

Perhaps, being totally honest was the best way to go.  "What are we, you know, supposed to talk about?" 

"Talking to me?.....Okay,"

Curious to see why the other boy was looking around, Eli did the same, only to find that they were the only two occupying the area.  He turned back to Sasha and shrugged his shoulders as if saying ‘why not?’  It wasn’t like he had anything else planned... and he wasn’t about to pass up talking to a good looking boy, seriously, who did people think he was?  He knew an opportunity when he saw it.  As for Sasha, well, Eli had completely brushed off the fact that the Ravenclaw was trying to catch up with his reading.  Reading could be done anytime.  And schoolwork honestly wasn’t Eli’s first priority (it had absolutely nothing in relation to his top few priorities) and he figured Sasha could use a little break, right?  And maybe even a little socialization.  He didn’t really act like the type who was used to just talking to people.

"I don't mind most of our professors, though." 

“Most of them aren’t bad, no, but...... Do you mind if I sit there?” Eli pointed to the empty space in the sill next to Sasha.  It wasn’t much room but thankfully Eli was a small person.  He could thank genetics for that.  Without waiting for an answer, Eli went ahead and hopped in place on the sill, letting his bag rest on the floor by his feet, “....But they really ought to make their lessons more appealing....”  Because as it was, Eli spent most of the time in class looking at his classmates backsides rather than the professor’s front.

"What are we, you know, supposed to talk about?"

Eli turned his and looked at Sasha.  How cute!  The boy was not only shy, as it seemed, but apparently a little lacking in conversation skills.  And, yes, Eli did find that adorable.... so much so that he had the urge to give Sasha a hug and tell him just how cute he thought he was.  But, of course, that wouldn’t be the brightest idea considering it might completely freak the Ravenclaw out, and Eli had already sorta (not really) learned his lesson with Kelyn about self-control.

“Anything and everything!  Life, love, drama, food.... um.... yeah, anything that pops into your mind really,”  Eli smiled, “So, what exactly has been on your mind, Mr. Sasha?”

It wasn't that Sasha didn't have experience talking to people.  High-powered, status-seeking social events were a common place during his childhood.  His parents were always throwing or getting invited to some suit-and-tie event that were filled with those banker-types or mid-ranking nobility types that made up their social circle.  Sasha knew how to conduct himself in those settings: be quiet, be proper and only speak when you had the chance of coming across as subtly inferior to those around you. 

He'd been his father's bragging rights.  Top grades, student leadership positions and his equestrian scores and rankings were all there to prove his father's reproductive prowess.  Little did any of their family friends know that Gerhard's genetic prowess had little to do with Sasha's success.  And, heaven bless anyone that would enlighten anyone outside the immediate family to Sasha's bastard status. 

Now, casual conversation amongst fellow students was an entirely different situation.  "I ... um ... sure."  Of course, saying no, I don't want you sitting too near me, your lipstick might be contagious - but that chair looks comfortable wasn't exactly a polite thing to say.  He did shift, though, taking care to ensure there was at least eight inches between his toes and where the Gryffindor sat. 

"Their lessons aren't appealing?"  Sasha scowled before shrugging.  "I don't think ... classes aren't intended to be appealing.  They're education.  Not entertainment."  Why, exactly, was he having to explain that to a seventh year?  He was a NEWT student.  He had enough experience with classes. 

"Life...love?"  Sasha repeated, those two topics having more of an impact than the topic of food.  "Those are ... big topics for casual conversation.  Especially with, you know, new acquaintances."  What has been on his mind?  Sasha looked down at his book and gently closed it, resigning himself to the inevitability that was the value of casual conversation.  "I ... I don't know.  A lot, I guess.  I just ... trying to get back into the rhythm of classes and everything.  Everything's changed."  No - Sasha really wasn't that good with this whole light-hearted, casual conversation with strangers thing.