((I've decided that Ruana needs a new acquaintance ^^
Oh hey, let's make this BEFORE the masquerade. Otherwise, Ruana may decide to drink Yuko's blood.
can't have that.))
It was right after lunch, and it was Ruana's first time attending a meal for several months. One of the first year Hufflepuffs, being worried for the girl, brought her some food every day after dinner. Ruana would eat it, but reluctantly, just to make the younger girl happy. People need not worry about Ru; in fact, it seemed like this younger girl was the only one who did, besides Elle.
Malcom seemed to enjoy these changes; Ruana losing too much weight, not being herself, and slacking off in her studies. Ike was too preoccupied with Elle to notice that one of his best friends was experiencing depression. Braedon knew, but didn't really know what to say. Elle tried to cheer Ru up all the time, and Ruana plastered on fake smiles from time to time, hoping that Elle could believe them.
Everyone was so cheerful all the time; so condescendingly cheerful, and the joy made no sense to Ruana. As head girl, she felt she had to set some sort of example, but what example does she set? "Hey, everyone, let's be fake and pretend we're happy because bottling up our emotions is the better decision"? No. Ruana would normally be all for that idea, but what good did it do anymore? What was she trying to prove? Who was she trying to impress? Two months ago, the answer to the latter would be Malcom, but she didn't even try for him anymore. The feelings would always be there, but she just didn't feel the need to try to prove herself to him. Not anymore. That Ruana died when Malcom went.
But the depression seemed to be leaving her a bit, for she actually mustered the energy to wander down to the Great Hall--on a weekend. This would not have happened a week ago, but Ruana figured she might as well set a better example to the younger students. So the head girl ate lunch, if only a little bit. People looked pleasantly shoked to see her, and she forced little smiles at all of them before nibbling on a grilled cheese sandwich, which she only ate half of. It was a start, right?
And now, outside of the Great Hall was a bulletin board. Audition results for the jazz band vocalist were up, and Ruana stood in front of the easel holding the corkboard, scrutinizing all the different flyers. Everything from Gobstones Club to pep rallies (Hogwarts held pep rallies now?) to information about the masquerade was posted, and Ruana found herself interested in several different flyers. Smiling, she ripped a few of them off their hooks, and they replaced themselves. Ah, magic. The things they could do. And finally, Ruana's gaze rested upon what she'd been originally looking for.
TAKE FIVE VOCALIST
Gulping, Ruana took a deep breath and let her eyes scan the paper. This was it. What she'd been waiting for for weeks. Had she gotten it? Had she? Her grayish-blue eyes froze on the name.
Ruana Sremmos
A wave of excitement flooded through the melancholy girl as she read her name. She'd done it! Her audition must have been really good, because there were some extremely talented people who'd tried out. Smiling, Ruana turned around--just in time to be smacked into by someone else. She stumbled backwards, knocking over the bulletin board, but caught herself before she fell. The papers she'd been holding went flying.
"Oh...I'm sorry!"Clutching her arm, Ruana shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said, scurrying around to gather the flyers. "It was an accident." Once she had all her papers gathered, Ruana looked at the girl who'd run into her. She wasn't sure if she'd seen her before. She didn't have her uniform on--it was a weekend, who did?--so Ruana didn't know what house she was from. Looked like a Slytherin, she thought. But then again, she
did apologize. Ruana mentally kicked herself for stereotyping. Not all Slytherins were horrible. Malcom wasn't TOO bad...well, maybe... And look at Amanda! She's a mother AND a teacher, and she's really nice.
And this girl might not even
be a Slytherin. "I'm Ruana," Ru said and forced a miniscule smile.
[[Edit: 2 galleon given by The Galleon Mistress]]