February 28, 1888 — Hogwarts Library

The Hogwarts Library. It wasn't necessarily his favorite place in terms of functions (studying was one of his least favorite activities!), but it was one of the best places to escape to when life got tough. There was no one yelling at him, no one scolding him, and most people usually left him alone if they saw him with his nose in a book.

Today, however, it didn't seem he was getting this far.

While slinking through the bookshelves, it became apparent that he'd chosen the wrong one to go down. While passing who he thought was just another Generic Blonde, his eyes widened when the girl turned to face him. "Er - Miss Ruskin," he gulped. Sweetie's friends were not the type of people he tried to verbally engage with under normal circumstances.

  

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— set by MJ —

Crystal didn't like being in the library, not one bit. It felt like she was being tortured just to step foot in the general area. But, alas, the blonde needed to make sure she stayed ahead for the year and she wasn't going to fall behind. She refused to accept anything less than a O for the last half of her (second) fourth year.

"Mr. Whitledge.' she felt unsuprised to see the Head Boy, but she was slightly thrown off that he'd bother talking to the sister of a half-breed that he'd discriminated against without a thought. And she was the friend of Sweetie, who she gathered he was not fond of at the moment. 'What can I help you with?' she really didn't want to talk with anyone, especially not the eldest Whitledge who happened to be the Head-boy.

  

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MJ made the pretties

"Oh - er - nothing much." He didn't really want to talk to her.

Handsome, thrown off guard and scrambling, took a step backward and accidentally knocked into the shelf. While luckily the shelf wasn't knocked over the the average-sized male's body, it did kick a few books down: books that landed both on him and the half-vampire a few feet in front of him.

With a flinch, Handsome grumbled, "Oh Merlin." He rubbed the back of his head with one hand, using the other to stabilize the still-rattling bookshelf. He glanced up at the Slytherin, trying to read her expression. "Er - sorry about that." Hopefully he wasn't bleeding.

  

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— set by MJ —

Crystal was slightly annoyed that she suddenly had books falling on her, but also really amused that Mr. Whitledge also had the books falling on him as well. Once the shelf was stabilized, she noticed that he had a cut on his face. She could tell that it wasn't that bad, for the blood had already started to stop. The sight of the blood made her slightly uncomfortable, but she didn't want to point it out. The Head Boy would notice soon enough.
"It's... Not a big deal." she tried shrugging off the fact that he had a cut and that he didn't want to have a full conversation with her. Either because she was a half-vampire or that she was one of Sweetie's best friends. She was going to assume it was mostly the later, but the former may have had something to do with it.

  

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MJ made the pretties

After bringing his hand to a searing spot on his face, his eyes widened at the realization that he'd been bleeding. After that, he realized who he was standing in front of. "Don't come near me," he warned, though his tone was softer and less aggressive. He remembered Miss Acacia Ruskin's reaction and did not want to duplicate that, especially after their little meeting in the Great Hall.

Why in Merlin's name did he keep running into these two ladies? And more importantly, why did he only seem to bleed when he was around them? Maybe it was one of their evolutionary traits to feed or some shit, but he hadn't learned about that in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

  

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— set by MJ —

Crystal was slightly taken aback by his reaction. It shouldn't surprise her, because of what she'd heard from Acacia over the summer. While she was uncomfortable, she found the situation entertaining.

"Why?" she grumbled unhappily. Speciesist people are the worst. How could he and Sweetie be related by blood? Maybe Handsome was adopted and that was why they were so different.

She didn't exactly mean to move towards him, but the book she'd been looking for had happened to fall on the floor when he he knocked over the books.

  

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MJ made the pretties

Handsome, though not necessarily afraid, was spooked when she moved forward. Half-vampires were attracted to blood, yes? That wasn't just some fear-mongering tactic he'd been taught in both Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Yet standing here, it didn't seem to both Miss Ruskin at all.

"N-No reason," he responded, his voice remaining stiff while his eyes remained alert. He touched the top of his head, a small wet spot causing him to flinch. Blood. It must have been a sharp corner or something.

  

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— set by MJ —

Crystal was half tempted to roll her eyes at his words. He was obviously lying.  She wasn't going to call him on it, though. The Head Boy already had a dislike for her and her sisters, she didn't need to add her bluntness to his list of 'Reasons why to dislike the Ruskin's'. He could probably write a novel, with just his list and nothing else.  Would that even be considered a novel?

.... She'd have to ask Acacia.

'Well...' she started suddenly, and awkwardly 'I'll just go and do my school work. Have a nice day, Mr. Whitledge.' With that, she gathered what books she wanted and fled the scene.

If this were last year, she wouldn't've cared about what others thought. But, then again, last year, her brother was still alive. Last year she hadn't cared as much and would have been fine with tormenting her best friends older brother. But it wasn't, and her brother was still dead. How she wished she could return to last year and be mauled instead her baby brother.

  

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MJ made the pretties