your true nature is luminous

“… And, I’m going to go now, bye!”

“It wasn’t that embarrassing,” Lux promised, chasing after Aurora, “I’ve done far worse.”

landon knew that it probably seemed odd for her, that he was trying to help. after all, landon had no idea who she was, but based on her knee jerk reaction, she wasn’t in the same social circles as him, to say the least. “well, i’m sure there are some in the restricted section that i don’t know, but i’d be able to figure it out,” he replied with a small smile. “and no, but i did check that out last week for an essay of mine. it just goes on the second shelf,” landon laughed slightly. 

“Oh,” she breathed with an embarrassed chuckle. That made so much more sense as to why he knew where it went. Lux mentally scolded herself for being so quick to judge. Others did the same of her and she was always determined not to be that person and there she was getting caught up in it. “I’m sorry I tried to punch you,” she vocalized this time, rubbing her closed fist to relax it, “I had a...weird upbringing.” The way Lux said it, it sounded as if she was already grown.

it really took all of his self control to not let out a big laugh. not that he was laughing at her, moreso the fact that he was shocked that her first resort was her fists instead of her wand whereas he had been taught to reach for his wand first. the rambling made it obvious that she was flustered, so he put a hand up to dismiss it. “it’s really okay,” he told the girl with a small smile. “though next time, we could maybe ask questions then swing first?” he offered as an idea. “now, did you need help with finding where that book actually goes?”

There was so must distrust in her eyes, it was practically a laser pointed directly at Landon. How could she trust him? He was the epitome of bad news for her - handsome, sure of himself, pureblood... The boy standing in front of her practically screamed danger. “Knee jerk reaction,” she summarized with a deep breath, “Are you truly going to tell me you know where every last book belongs? Seems to me someone like you would have far better things to do with his time than memorize the wizard’s dewey decimal system.” 

Lux wasn’t the only one surprised to be seeing someone else out here, Benjy hadn’t been expecting to run into anyone either. As had become his Thursday routine he left the castle after dinner, and gone to Hagrid’s. Often they went to feed the Thestrals together, but tonight Hagrid had other business and had given Benjy a bag of dead chickens and the usual instruction to go to the clearing. However, upon seeing Lux he realized this probably wasn’t a normal thing to be carrying around. 

“Uh, er, hey Lux!” Benjy greeted with a slightly nervous smile, “Oh, yeah I do this pretty much every week,” He paused then added, “Feed the Thestrals I mean, I don’t just carry raw meat in the forest every week. What about you?”  

Lux’s guard immediately went up when he mentioned thestrals. Although Benjy wasn’t known as someone who mocked others, Lux was known as the girl mocked for her ability to see the “dead horses”. Those who taunted her acted as if she had a choice in the matter. People always mocked what they couldn’t fit into their boxes. At the end of the day, it scared them how they couldn’t get these instances to conform. Her hair practically stood up on her neck, not unlike a cat. It was all possible this was a trap - the start of a huge joke of which she would be the butt.  “And you see the thestrals?” she questioned cautiously, peering around him to see if any were currently present.

thankfully, due to his athleticism and quick reflexes, he got out of the way just before her fist came into contact with his torso. he blinked at her, shocked at the fact that she actually just tried to punch him. “merlin’s beard, you actually just tried to hit me?” landon wasn’t necessarily angry, more shocked that she instinctively didn’t use her wand. “you know, you do have a wand, right?”

Her face immediately flushed with embarrassment as she regained control of her basic thoughts and actions, dropping her fist, now a two hundred pound kettlebell threatening to drag her beneath the floorboards. “I didn’t!” she quickly protested, but began clumsily backtracking, “I mean, I did, but it wasn’t really me... I mean, it was me, but not on purpose. Well, it was a purposeful punch but it wasn’t a conscious acti-- I’m far more accustomed to my fists than my wand...” The last sentences was stated almost as an apology, as if she had somehow offended him with her choices. “Though, it’s never a bad idea to be equipt with both...”

despite showing everyone that he really couldn’t care less about school, the library was easily one of landon’s favorite spots on campus sans the quidditch pitch. it was somewhere he could actually just be, no faking anything, no pressure to do anything. turning one of the corners, he saw lux struggling to put the book back where it belonged. “you know, that’s not even where it goes,” he commented, leaning up against one of the shelves. although he wouldn’t admit it, he did know where a majority of the books went due to the fact that he was always in there. 

Landon was opening a can of worms he didn’t even know existed in front of him. His voice broke through her thoughts, immediately putting her into fight or flight syndrome. Unfortunately, her body took over before her mind did, resulting in a fight response. Without much of a warning, her right fist jutted out in front of her as she let out a cry of shock. Lux’s mind finally caught up and went into panic mode. Did that really just happen? It did. No, it couldn’t have. Holy fishsticks maybe it did. Did I hit him? Oh, mother trucker I’m so dead.

“I know what you’re talking about. I didn’t drop my books on the floor this morning. I dramatically knocked it out of my own hands because I was experimenting.” He told her with a sweet smile on his face. “Do you need help?”

“Know how to reverse a potion when you don’t know how it messed up in the first place?” she questioned with a light chuckle, her cheeks glowing.

his gaze finally moved from the book in front of him as he took a puff from his cigarette, only for mere moments to look at the other before moving back. obviously eric was not interested in whatever the other person had to say to him and he was starting to grow irritated. “that’s nice..“ the blond responsed casually, a hint of sarcasm clear in his voice "and why would i care about this?”

It had already taken Lux a considerable amount of courage to approach him in the first place. His icy glare intimidated far beyond a necessary reach to keep those around him at bay. Repeating herself was not easy, but she had a task at hand. “I only need you to scoot slightly to the left and then I can retrieve my parchment from under you,” she paraphrased, wondering if he had listened at all the first time.

“wow, that was not cool. is it just me or are you a bit cranky today?”

“What? No,” she spat out, pink immediately rising to her cheeks, “I wasn’t groaning at you - I swear. I just was reading this.. just some letter and I suppose I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome. I’m sorry. I didn’t even hear what you said before.”

“It’s the last month of good weather, so either join me or continue sitting there on your lonesome. Come on, the water is really warm.”

She blushed and gaped for a moment. “I- I don’t have a bathing suit. Or anything,” Lux excused, not having expected to find anyone in the lake at this time.

“it’s definitely different – not that you need anyone’s validation, but i dig it?” 

“I look like a cartoon character. Maybe some can pull this off, but I can’t. It needs to go back to normal,” she whined, pulling at a pink strand as her cheeks began to match, “I just have to figure out the right potion...”

she should head for the infirmary but she wouldn’t, stubborn arse she was. she’d spent the last week there and she wasn’t ready to go back just yet. it amazed her that she even needed to so soon, what and who had she become in so short a time period? the sort of girl who got into duels and punched bigots and yelled at —well, idiots. what was she trying to prove with all of it and what had she learned? “do you know a good healing spell?you know just—-for minor cuts and scrapes is all, really.” she tried to work up a grin that morphed into a wince as she hid the bleeding wound from sight until she got an answer. no use riling up someone who couldn’t help.

Lux was startled by the look of Hestia. Almost immediately, she began fumbling for her wand, nearly dropping it twice as she tried desperately to help. “What the hedgehog happened to you?” she blurted out, finally getting her heads steady before performing a solid Episkey.

She didn’t look much like she was ready to enjoy herself in the sunlight, but Elsie didn’t want to let her go sulk alone somewhere else either. “That’s a great idea! C’mon, let’s go! I’m terrible at studying, you gotta teach me your ways.”

“Really?” Lux lit up like someone had flipped a switch. Friends weren’t easy for the girl and she was used to the only person needing her being her mom when she was drunk. “I mean, I can help you in any subject you want help in. I’d be more than happy to,” she sputtered.

“Idiots will be idiots, but at least they’ll be idiots who leave you alone.” Elsie sighed put her wand away, but made a mental note of their classmate’s house and face. Just incase she ran into them again. “Where are you headed now?” she asked, handing over the last book still in her hand.

“I was hoping to go outside for a bit. Study in the sunlight before it goes down,” she admitted with a long sigh. After that, she was quite disheartened and considering just hiding back in her dorm.