Aha. Tension breaker.

Koala Boy's smile was infectious. As he talked, Ryden took the time to compose herself. She brushed away thoughts of trust and being alone and all those silly things that she shouldn't have even thought of in the first place since they got her absolutely nowhere. Blinking, the brunette refocused back on his words in time to hear that all his family - him included - went to Hogwarts.

Quite the Hogwartians, them. Grinning, Ryden nodded and raised her eyebrows as he told her about his parents. Hmm? Interesting. "That's pretty cool, actually. That your roots are all in this one place. My.. My mother went here, too. My father was in Italy at the time and then when my mum moved back they met," she said, not really believing the words that were tumbling out of her mouth.

When was the last time she'd even THOUGHT about her mother, let alone talked about her? Had to be at least a few years. Perhaps more. Looking down, she prepared herself for that terrible feeling she knew she got whenever the topic of her mother came up. Biting her lip, she refused to let herself get down again. Her mother was no longer. She hadn't even known the woman. NO GETTING SAD OVER HER.

Grrr.

Orlando nodded. She was right, his roots were all here. It made him want to gloat - he really was proud of it all. Of his family and of his heritage. He never talked about it much but it was all there, inside him.

When she started telling him about her mother, Orlando was quite genuinely shocked. Was Ryden actually sharing with him? It was like a small window had opened inside Ryden's mind. And yes, Orlando was very very curious to look inside.

So her parents were from Italy. Wow. It was strange but at that moment, he decided after graduating - he would visit Italy too, one of the few places he had planned on touring once he left Hogwarts. Yep.

Maybe it was because he paid too much attention on Ryden's expressions when she was around him but nonetheless, he did not fail to notice how her face slightly fell. "Are you okay, Ryden?" he asked, his hand itching to reach out for hers but he resisted.

How did he know? How on earth could he tell? Looking up at him, Ryden caught the worried look he had, and her heart warmed. He cared. He wouldn't ask her so many times if he didn't care, or if he was going to use it as ammunition later. No one could be that good an actor. Or, rather, no one could fool her that well. Not Ryden, Paranoia Queen.

Letting out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, she met his eyes with her own, noting for the first time that they were green. "No, Orlando... I'm not. My mother died giving birth to me and my twin sister, Bridget. It's been just us and Father, but Father's always working, so it was technically just Bridget and I. But Bridget was sent to a school in Italy and is having the time of her life there, without m. I never wanted to come here, but I got expelled from my school because they just couldn't handle me anymore... I live with my Aunt in Liverpool when I'm not at Hogwarts and I haven't seen South Africa for almost a year, and Bridget for even longer," Ryden blurted out, unable to stop herself once she'd started, her voice softer than ever before.

And that was all the tip of the iceberg. Tearing her gaze away from Orlando's face, she looked back down at her hands, unable to get a grasp on the situation. She'd let down her defenses, and had no idea how to pull them back up now. The brunette dearly hoped she hadn't made a grave error in judgement by telling the boy sitting next to her practically everything. The implications of this going around the school were horrifying. Even worse; Father might find out.

Orlando was almost ready to get disappointed again. For a second, it felt that he really just pushing his luck and Ryden would dismiss him again. Or most probably tell him to shut it and not try to ask her again and again, if anything was wrong.

To his utter surprise though, Ryden did no such thing. Orlando watched as her expression fought hard and suddenly it was as if something fell. She turned to look at him, directly in the eyes - Orlando felt as if they were looking at each other for the first time. And then words came tumbling out, words that he had not imagined Ryden ever saying.

He listened, patiently - his heart saddening by the second as she went on. Orlando could not believe how vulnerable she was being in front of him, how vulnerable she was from inside. It was strange but Orlando wanted to make sure no one else saw her like this. It was certainly a part of her, he did not want her to share with anyone. It was really strange, how he was feeling at the moment.

She had a twin sister. Her mother had died. She had been moved away.

Orlando wanted to hold her hand so bad. But he couldn't. It was not him. Again, comforting KT - hugging KT, holding KT's hand was one thing, it came naturally but Ryden was a different territory. And despite all this, he still wanted to comfort her like he comforted KT .. even though, they didn't know each other as well. That was big .. really big. For Orlando, anyway.

Deciding to stay true to himself, he did what he did best. "Ryden .. I really want to hold your hand right now, Can I?" he asked, politely and sincerely.

Bridget. Mother. Aunt Lea. She had no female person in her life. She could hardly remember her grandparents. Father was just a person who provided her with more money than she could ever need, and who was there to tell her off when she was misbehaving or being a nuisance. Never to support, never to tell her that everything was ok. Never to-

Ugh. Ryden couldn't even THINK it, let alone say it. Closing her eyes, she allowed the brief silence to help her relax, still her rather shaking self, calm her overtaxed brain and build back her walls around her. The only problem was, they wouldn't come. She couldn't bring back the usual impatient, permanently annoyed Ryden... The brunette was stuck. Stuck with thoughts of her insanely messed up life. Bloody fantastic, that.

Then Orlando spoke up, and those thoughts were swept away to be replaced with thoughts of the boy before her. He wanted... ? Heart beating a tiny bit quicker than normal, Ryden nodded, glancing at their hands, noticing for the first time that they were rather close anyway. He hadn't laughed. He hadn't left immediately to go tell his Gryffindor friends. He, rather surprisingly, stayed put and now wanted to take her hand.

"O-Orlando... What is your last name?" she piped up, realising she didn't even know his last name. The one nice person at Hogwarts. The only person she could trust right now. The only one in this castle who knew. Koala Boy. Orlando.

Braeden was in one of the aisles, leaning against one of the many enormous bookshelves with a book in hand and the goofiest of his lopsided grins on his face.
He was holding a comic book.
Exactly where he'd found a comic book in Hogwarts's library was a mystery, but he'd found it, and now he stood reading and laughing to himself like the big dork he was.

The Gryffindork caught movement and a silhouette nearing him from the corner of his eye, and looked up to find… WELL, WELL, WELL. None other than RODERIGO DE LACERDA. Whaddaya know?! Brae figured he shouldn't be surprised, though. This was the library and Rod was a Ravenclaw. Was that stereotyping? Yes, probably.

"Rod!" he called out to his friend, only to receive in a return a crowd of "Sshhhhh!!"s being sent angrily in his direction. Oh, oops. Brae continued in a whisper, "Fancy seeing you here, mate." He was being sarcastic.

Just as Roderigo was placing a rather large, moldy book back onto its shelf, several things happened. Someone yelled Roderigo's name, which startled him. He dropped the book onto his foot, swearing loudly. However, his swear was conveniently subdued by a loud outburst of shushing that came from all around. Hopping up and down on one foot, holding his injured foot, Rod spun around on the spot, looking around with a mixture of anger and confusion. He looked over a few feet and saw his friend, Brae, standing there with an extremely goofy grin. Gingerly placing his foot back onto the ground, he half walked, half limped over to Brae.
"Was that you?" he said, wincing slightly. "You made me drop a book on my foot! And it was a really big book!" he shouted, which in return a loud shushing came. He shook his head. "What are you doing here?" he asked, a bit more calmly. He supposed his unsuccessful search for the book on Patronuses could wait.

It was surprising, how calm Orlando felt. Even though, he had just asked a Ryden, if he could hold her hand. Ryden: FIST GIRL. The girl who finds reasons to punch him, the girl who calls him Koala boy.

Noticing her small nod, without any hesitation - he moved his hand forward and took her hand in his. He held it softly, did not squeeze it - did not cling to it. He made sure, he did not disrespect her personal space in any way. Because from what he knew till now about Ryden - she didn't trust people here. And since she had decided to trust him even a little for now, Orlando had to make sure he did not exploit it.

He wanted to say something assuring but nothing came out his lips. He realized, maybe Ryden just needed a friend right now - a friend, who could just sit with her, while she goes through it. He could see, she was not the Ryden - he had seen around the castle. However, what he did need to say, he did. "I am here." It was small, it was accurate. She was his friend now. No matter what she claimed later.

In the brief silence, Orlando's thumb moved a little to stroke the back of her hand. He wandered what would happen, if he let his fingers slip and their hands intertwined. Strange, strange thought.

Orlando smiled warmly when she asked his last name. Perhaps, it really was time - they knew each others last name. "Hi. I am Orlando Albie Renaldi" he stated, squeezing her hand softly. "And you are?"

Orlando was holding her hand. A boy was holding her hand. Koala Boy was holding RYDEN'S hand. The brunette kept very still, unable to tear her eyes away from the most foreign sight she'd seen about herself. The only other person she'd ever held hand with was Bridget, and that had been once when they were very young. Ryden usually liked her personal space and did not appreciate it when people started to randomly touch her.

But this... This was ok. It didn't feel weird. It didn't feel strange. She almost didn't mind the fact that her own hand was infinitely smaller than his own. Because this was actually not that bad. As he spoke, Ryden's own brown eyes went up to him, and she found that she liked what she saw. A good guy, a person whom she could call... Well, yeah. Y'all know. She just can't say or think these things.

Ryden briefly closed her eyes and tilted her head downwards, a gesture of gratitude to him. The brunette had a feeling, a small yet pronounced one in her gut, that Orlando wasn't going to be a mistake. And her gut was usually right, even if nothing was foolproof. Eyes glancing at their hands, Ryden blinked as she saw that her own hand had wrapped his, rather than just lying limply.

That was... Odd. She hadn't even felt that. She DID feel his thumb, however, and she'd be flat out lying if she said that she was uncomfortable. There was something very NOT uncomfortable about this, something completely foreign to her, but not in a bad way. It was. . . Well, making her very inarticulate.

Blinking as he said hi, the brunette's face broke into a warm smile as he finally shared her whole name with her. Albie? Hehe. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Renaldi," Ryden replied, her voice a little lighter than usul. "I'm Ryden Ari Di Marco," she added, not fully disclosing her middle name. It was a horrible one anyway and he didn't need to know. Then again, Albie was certainly short for Albert, and Ari was short for so very many things... Oh well. He'd ask if he wanted to know.

Looking down at their hands, Ryden tightened her grip a little -nothing too strong- as he squeezed her hand. She had no idea why, and would dissect the situation later once they left and she was alone again. Too many things were starting to get REALLY unfamiliar and confusing, but right now they didn't bother her. Much. Meh. With a small sigh, the brunette slowly leaned towards Orlando, her gaze still downwards on their hands and lightly rested her head on his shoulder. Or, technically, upper arm.

"Renaldi is a nice name, Orlando," she added softly. It really was.

Caroline wasn't sure how much about Italy she would find in the Hogwarts Library. But Whatever information she could find here would be helpful. She could seen if someone had been there, or send an owl to her brother or sister to send stuff about Italy. " Italy. Italy..... Italian wizardary.... no..." Was there anything about Italy in here at all? She stopped looking for books about Italy. Forgetting that she still had her mothers letter in her hand. It had been crumpled up a few times, She reread the letter, but she could just about quote it by heart, with as many times as she read already.

Kita wandered along the library bookshelves, her hands dug in the pockets of her robes. Her lips were puckered up and she kept on blowing out air into the air around her. Why? Because the girl wanted to learn how to whistle.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIBRARY!

There she was, expelling air and randomly coughing every couple of seconds as she walked along the aisles near the bookshelves. The brunette didn't even know where she was going. Or how she ended up in the library in the first place. It's not like she had any work to do and she could just be in the Great Hall pigging out eating some chocolate cake.

But nooo! Kita had to walk along the bookshelves and disturb everyone else. Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried her hardest to whistle but...

OOMPH!

Yes. She had bumped into someone... AGAIN! She shook her head whilst saying, "Sorry i-" But it was at this very moment that her eyes opened and rested on the blonde girl who was standing in front of her reading a letter. "Caroline?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Caroline folded the letter that she had been reading, and was about to stick it back into her when someone had ran into her. Turning around she came face to face with a brunett, just one of the people she needed to see. What great timing. "Kita!" she said quietly almost forgetting that they were in the Library. The voice didn't even sound like her normal cheerfull voice when she spoke. She was just so torn up over this letter. She held up the letter and handed it over to Kita. "Read this, It's from my mum."



When Kita took the letter Caroline contined her book search as Kita read the letter. There they were books about Italy, on the top shelf. Seriously why did she have to so short or why did the book shelf have to be so tall. She really wasn't that short but compared to the bookshelf she was. She went to get a stool to stand on. Ah much better she grabbed a few of the books that looked most helpful and walked back over to where Kita was still reading the letter. She stood here until finished.

Orlando waited for anything. Anything that Ryden would do. Yell at him. Struggle away. Punch him. She did nothing. He watched her, watching their hands together and then he felt her hand wrapping round his too. She was holding his hand back.

That was just something different - the sixteen year old felt his stomach tighten, his heart drum a little harder and skin heat up a little. Was that possible? All that from a simple gesture of holding hands? It seemed impossible yet it triggered a part of him, he never knew existed. It got him confused, it worried him - what was happening to him?

If they were friends now. He was suppose to feel like he felt when he was around KT. Not like this. He certainly did not feel like this when he was around KT. He didn't like it so much. Holding hands. HOLDING HANDS. How was holding hands with Ryden so different than the rest.

When she spoke, Orlando tried to concentrate all his attention toward her words. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Di Marco" he replied, smiling wide. But it was so hard not to think of their hands right now - especially when Ryden squeezed his back. He noticed how small and delicate her hand felt in his hand - Orlando adored it. He was afraid it admit it, aloud or even only to himself but he did.

Nobody, not even the rain has such small hands. The line, it went alive in his head again but he dared not say it.

His heart hammered then, hammered because Ryden chose to lean against his arm - Orlando felt something so strong hit him, it surprised him that Ryden or anyone else in the Library did not notice it. It was so new. It was so unfamiliar. He smiled a little when she said something about his name. Orlando was not really listening - his heart was beating too loud, he could not hear her.

Kita smiled down at Caroline, rubbing her stomach as she did so. Boy was she hungry! But wait a minute... there was something about Caroline that suggested that the girl was... upset? Angry? Both? Kita hoped not! But then her suspicions grew when Caroline spoke. Not that there was anything wrong with what she said, it's just the way she said it. As if she was completely and utterly miserable. The brunette frowned."Caroline, is ev-" she started but it was at that point that Caroline had asked her to read a letter. From her mum. Awkward much? "Ok..." she said slowly, taking the letter and opening it.

Her eyes moved back and forth as she read the letter. From the moment it started, there seemed to be something wrong. After all, Caroline's mum never really asks about Carter now does she? But then again, Kita had never met Mrs. Scott. As she continued reading, her mind went blanker than it had ever gone before. And she found a lump growing in her throat. A huge lump that was stopping her from saying anything. The last time this had happened, she had found out about her adoption. She was so caught up in what the letter had to say, that she didn't even realise that Caroline had disappeared and reappeared again.

The sixteen year old looked up at Caroline, concern and sympathy etched on her face. She gulped, trying to find the suitable words. "Oh Caroline!" she said, giving her best friend a hug, "It'll be ok, it'll be ok." 'Cause it will be... Letting go, she looked back at Caroline. "Are you going to go and find him?" she asked, "If so, you have my support, ok?" After all, that's what Caroline had said to her all those months ago when she had been confused about whether or not she should find her real parents. And she still was confused! No, this was about Caroline now!

Reading the title of the book that was on the top of the stack of books that she had, when she was being hugged and the books were being squished between the Slytherpuff besties. That's when she broke down completely, she had felt awful since she had read the letter. She hadn't cried until then. She had thrown stuff, kicked things, sceamed and yelled, Luckily this all had happened in the room of requirement last night. She snook up there late last night. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand "I know it will be"

Why did her mum have to tell her? She would have much rather had never known. The past six years had been so hard on her, after her father well the one who she thought was her father and who had been until the day he died. Nodding "I have too, Kita, he's my real dad. For the past 6 years I haven't had my dad around I miss that so much." This dad wouldn't replace the father that she knew. If by meeting him it would help fill the void in her life. As soon as she found where in Italy he lived, she was going to go find him and talk to him. "I wrote mum back and asked her Where in Italy he lives? And if she would tell me " She hadn't gotten a reply yet. Not even sure if she would half of the letter involved her fussing at her for no telling her and how much she hated her and the other half was her beging for her to tell where in Italy he was and if she would tell her anymore about him.

Walking over to a near by table Caroline sat the books down and give Kita a hug she was pretty much excited to hear the she had someone who was on her side. So Kita was the only one she had told, and of course any of her friends that she told would agree that she needed to go find him, and possibly get to know him. "Thanks, Kita I know that I can always count on you"

"Arwen?" A speck of brown caught her eye. A smalll brown owl landed on top of the stack of books. She looked at Kita "My step fathers owl."
She told her. The owl had a piece of paper that looked it had been ripped out of a book or something. Untying the paper from the owl's leg and read it:



Seriously that was all she sent back. No letter. She was probably to upset to write her back right now. "Naples?" She said out loud, as she looked at the red circle. This was so like her mother. No words. She let out a heavy sigh and flopped down in a chair at the table.

Gavina entered the library and took a seat at one of the tables. She pulled out her Transfiguration book and opened it on the table. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to read past the first paragraph. She found her eyes wandering to the different students milling around.

Vashti entered the library with the intention to get some homework done. The only problem? She was dead tired. She had been unable to sleep the past couple of nights, and she probably should've been taking a nap at the moment to gain back some energy. Instead, she was here. The common room was probably a better place to do this, as the noise likely would've kept her awake, but it didn't process that way in her mind. Noise meant less concentration - quiet meant lots of concentration. Quiet also meant sleep, but this didn't really cross her mind.

Glancing around, stifling a yawn, it seemed nearly all the tables were taken. Even the one she usually took near the bookshelves. Maybe the common room was a better... Nah, she was staying. There was no harm in sharing a table. There was only one girl there at her usual table. Surely she wouldn't mind another person sitting there too, right?

So Vashti made her way over, stifled another yawn, and asked kindly, "D'you mind if I sit here?"

Gavina swung her head around at the sound of a voice. An older girl was standing above her table, looking at her expectantly.

"Um...no, not at all."

Gavina pushed her books aside to make sure the girl had room, although it was highly uneccessary. The table was large and her books took up almost no room at all. But Gavina moved the books anway, so excited was she that an older student cared to talk to her.

She realized the girl probably wanted to study, but she couldn't stop herself from saying, "I'm Gavina Parker, by the way. I go by Gav. I'm a second year."

Not feeling any guilt over causing his friend to turn clumsy and injure his foot, Braeden beamed as Rod limped over to him. "Yeah I saw," he said with a nod as the Ravenclaw pointed out that he'd made him drop a big book on his foot. "You alright there? Trust me, I can understand your pain… I drop things on my feet all the time," he continued with a laugh.

Of course.
Leave it up to dorky Braeden to do nothing to help but rather just chat like all's good and his friend isn't suffering internal bleeding from a book crushing his bones.

"Reading, of course!" the Gryffindork replied when Roderigo asked what he was doing in the library. To prove his point, he raised the comic book he was holding a little higher. "I've turned into a total bookworm these past couple weeks," he added, as if reading comic books counted as… well, reading. Serious reading, anyway. Reading that would earn you the title of 'bookworm'. "What about you? Trying on books for size?" he joked, as if Roderigo was dropping books on his feet to use as shoes. He laughed loudly, as if this was the most clever joke on earth.

No one in the library was amused.

As the pain in his foot slowly subsided, Roderigo ignored the fact that Brae was completely oblivious to the pain of others. Shaking his head as if to feel sorry for him, he began to laugh at the sight of his friend reading a comic book and considering it legitimate reading.
"Is that a muggle comic, then? Where did you even get that?" he asked, leaning forward so he could see the title of the comic. Failing to do so, he stood back up. "Well, it's a start for you." He joked, ignoring his witty comment. He gave a tiny jerk of his head at the shelf behind him. "I was trying to find a book on Patronuses. But I've gone down four different aisles and I can't find anything. I might have to go find the librarian." He sighed.

"Oh, well… honestly? I smuggled it. Had my little sister owl it to me last week," Brae confessed in a whisper, with the most devious of grins on his face. Yeah, 'cause getting comic books owled to you from your little sister made you a con. "I just decided to read it here 'cause… well, it's the library. It's the place for reading, y'know? It wouldn't be right to read it elsewhere," the boy continued, as if this all made perfect sense and was full of logic. It kinda wasn't. But since when was Braeden known for being logical, of all things?

Clearing his throat, the boy reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He put them on and grinned at Rod. Clearly, he was trying to play the part of intellectual, bright mind doing some serious research at the library.

No, but honestly. They did help him see better.

"Oh… patronuses, huh? What for?" asked the Gryffindork as he adjusted the glasses that were slowly slipping down the bridge of his nose.

Roderigo was quite sure that no one at Hogwarts read comic books, unless one were to count The Adventures of Martin Miggs, The Mad Muggle to be a comic. But the fact that Brae was reading them, and had gotten them from his little sister, was somewhat humorous. Trying not to laugh much, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the Gryffindork boy put on a pair of glasses.
"You don't seem like the glasses type," he said honestly. However, he shrugged the idea away and gave Brae a small nod when asked about Patronuses.
"Well, you see," he began, "Patronuses are NEWT-level magic, and, since I'm in my seventh year, I need to be able to produce some kind of Patronus. Who knows if it'll be on the exam?" He crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't expect to make a Corporeal Patronus, but you never know. . ." his voice trailed off as he looked at a book behind Brae's head that had exceptionally shiny gold lettering. However, it wasn't a book that could help him. He looked back at Brae, standing there with his comic book, and couldn't help but ask the next question.
"Aren't you going to study for your exams?" he asked. "I mean, it's February now. . . " he added, as if it was perfectly normal to start studying four months before their exams. It was true, though, that Roderigo was somewhat of a bookworm, and was most apprehensive of his final tests that will assess his ability as a fully-trained Wizard. He had been studying since December, actually. He sighed heavily and leaned back against the bookshelf.

lily walked in through the doors of the library and saw a load of books *yup this is home* she thought as she scanned through the shelves, her fingers brushing against the books until she ccame to the charm section pulled out a book and sat down at a table and read

Great... Now...chair?

Vashti had sort of gone off into space for a second after the girl spoke, but the sound of moving books brought her back. She blinked sleepily a couple times before looking down at the empty chair across from the younger girl. Right, there was a chair. She pulled it out, plopped her bag of books on the ground beside it, and sat herself down in it.

Hm... Now what?

Introductions? Sure, because suddenly Vashti couldn't remember why she was here.

"Nice to meet you," she replied, managing a smile. "I'm Vashti. Fifth year."

Gav smiled politely, noting the girl's blue tie as she did so. "So you're a Ravenclaw, huh? Taking any hard classes? I wish I could take some of the upper classes, but I'm stuck in stupid Care of Magical Creatures."

She picked up a pencil and doodled mindlessly in her notebook, her thoughts suddenly lost in dreams of being top of her Arithmancy class.