Izzy-ly.

This place never gets old, that’s for sure. 

"I just dont know how the soft spoken, careful boy I had met, is the same mean, nasty boy that you know…" He bit his lip. The boy wanted to shake his head and run to the boy, having all his fears put to rest. For Casper was just so sweet, and shy… 

"W-what?" Otto wanted to cry he was so confused. He was usually a very smart boy. And after a minute or two would be able to figure something very confusing out. He didnt like this state of drowning he was in. He looked at Izzy, his blue eyes fogged with confusion. 

A short, barking laugh, stifled when she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry," she mumbled through her fingers. "Not funny. You just had a weird look on your face." Izzy slowed down, sighing a little to herself. "I dunno what to tell you, Toto. That's all I know about him."

Otto just couldn’t make sense of the information that Izzy had told him. It just… didn’t make sense… Casper was so soft spoken. One part of the Hufflepuff wondered if they were the same Casper, and something happened to the Ravenclaw boy in order to change him from the boy Izzy spoke of to the boy he knew. The other part of Otto was convinced they were taking about different people.

Instead, she shrugged. "Just telling you what I know. Kid dated a Slytherin a while back, too." She started walking again, trying to avoid seeing the surprise on Otto's face--she was at least mostly sure that Casper hadn't mentioned that to Otto and it would be new information. She didn't want to see what his reaction would be.

He slumped back in his chair, growing more irritated by the second. This girl, whoever the hell she was, refused to leave him alone. What did he have to do, blatantly walk out and hope she didn’t follow? It was ridiculous, having a clingy girl talking to him the entire time. Couldn’t it have been Alecto or Andromeda or anyone else? He groaned, closing his eyes and pinching his nose, trying to drown out her voice.

She grinned at him rakishly. "Why're you so angry?" she inquired. "Were you just waiting for someone to walk up to rage at, or is it me in particular?" Of course, she knew the answer to that. He would have been rude to anyone; she was just the lucky one who presented herself as a target.

Not that that was going to stop her. Izzy shrugged and hopped off the table, her hands disappearing into her pockets. One thing she loved about this outfit--the freedom of pants. She hated skirts. Too open and billowy and useless.

"of course I am not on something." Otto scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "Why would you ask such a silly question." He didnt even smoke, let alone take any other drugs. He used the excuse that he wanted to keep clean for Quidditch when someone offered him drugs or alcohol.

She slumped against the wall, still giving Otto her squinty-eyed look, steepling one leg against the stone wall behind her. "Ravenclaw. Fifth year, I think? Smart kid, looks underfed most of the time, cringes away from physical contact like he's afraid of being hit." Izzy nodded at the boy. He looked like he was following, at least.

"Maybe he was nice to you, but in my experience, he's not a nice person. Likes to snap at people who try to talk to him or even look at him wrong. Gets bullied a lot because he mouths off and acts condescending. Not a good move for a little kid like him."

Maybe, though, Casper was smart in a way most Ravenclaws weren't--maybe he had that cunning, manipulative intelligence and had, for some reason, set his sights on Otto.

A piece of gossip sprang to her mind, courtesy of Rita Skeeter. Casper's little relationship with Rosier, and how Rosier had apparently strung him along for months to do his homework and carry his books, and how easily he'd wrapped little Casper around his finger. Of course, he'd only started talking publicly about this relationship once the rumors about Casper actually dating Evan had started going around...Rita thought that Evan was trying to cover his tracks. As soon as the rumors started, according to Rita, Evan had dumped Casper without a word, and began bragging about how stupid the kid was.

"He is not scrawny." He snapped, not meanly, just quick. As if he had the words forced from his mouth. "Casper is small and sweet. And when he blushes I just melt. He is so cute. And so nice…" Otto gushed a bit. He had no idea why the small boy had such an effect on him, but he did. Otto would never call it love, no sir. But he did call it fancying. 

"You on something?" she queried, only half joking. Otto wasn't the addiction type, but maybe someone had slipped something in his drink. A love potion, perhaps. Maybe that would explain why her friend was so head-over-heels for a nondescript little squirt.

Izzy shook her head more decisively now, leaning back against the wall, arms hanging lax and barely even holding onto her books anymore. "This is ridiculous," she laughed. "He's been in my house for years. All he's ever done is snap at people and be as rude as possible. I've had more than one unpleasant encounter with him."

The boy was never shy about saying his opinion, it just was that he didnt really care for giving his thoughts out to other people. He prefered to keep to himself and just kept his head down. Otto knew that if he said something out of turn, he might get in trouble, and he didnt really like getting into fights. 

She expected to hear the name of some pretty student, someone funny or ambitious, likely to get Otto's attention. Otto's answer, though, stopped Izzy dead in her tracks.

She halted without warning, abruptly in the center of the hall, causing a mild backup of foot traffic behind her. "Casper Scott?" Izzy said incredulously, staring straight at Otto with consternation and something like mirth. "Ravenclaw kid? Scrawny little thing?" Maybe there were two Casper Scotts in the school, and she'd just met the least pleasant one.

For all of her knowledge--five or so years of knowledge, since Casper was Sorted into her house and she was forced to share a common room with him--the boy known as Casper Scott was a real ass. She couldn't remember ever hearing a nice word out of his mouth, even when he'd helped her with homework. He was smart, sure, but he was condescending and rude and often snapped at people for no reason.

Some, apparently, had managed to bring out a more friendly side to him, like how Mary MacDonald defended him and said he really was a sweet kid deep down. But Mary was capable of bringing out the nice attitudes in everyone, not to mention her penchant for defending people even when they didn't deserve it.

He sighed, turning irritated eyes over to his companion. “I believe in respecting the wishes of my parents, I was raised better than some common street dweller and aim to please my mother and father,” he bit out, placing his cup on the table with a bit of force. “What about you, come to irritate everyone you can this evening? Don’t you have friends to dance with or be annoying with somewhere else?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

She grabbed her own cup, dipping it straight into the punch bowl and taking a large gulp. "Eugh!" Izzy gagged. "That's not firewhiskey. That's the cheapest whiskey I've ever tasted. You need your taste buds checked. Specifically, your liquor ones."

The Hufflepuff’s heart picked up at the very thought of the Ravenclaw. Casper was just so sweet and cute. And when he stuttered, Otto just wanted to kiss him for it as so endearing. It might be annoying to other people, but the boy loved it. And when he blushed! His blush! It made Otto want to kiss his cheeks and coax the pink from the skin.

Of course, Otto looked positively smitten, like he'd just fallen in love. And Izzy figured that's probably what had happened--Otto was pretty incapable of hiding his feelings from her.

"I’m here mostly because my mother believes in me mingling with the common folk and being social at least once or twice before I graduate. I only plan to stay for about five more minutes before taking my leave." He hated the fact that he had to stay even this long. just to appease his mother. He was going to have to have a talk with the wretched woman on his next trip home.

This was more fun than she thought it might be--the anonymity was enjoyable. She could do anything, literally anything, and nobody would ever know it was her. Usually, Izzy was quiet and reserved, preferring to keep to herself and laugh at her own jokes.

But she liked this. She liked nobody knowing who she was. Especially people like this guy, who was clearly from the highest rungs of society and would normally not give her the time of day.

Otto’s heart was pounding when he left the small room with Casper in order to go to dinner. He couldnt focus all through the meal and he was excited to get to a friend and tell them his news. Casper was so sweet, so cute, and for some strange reason, the Hufflepuff found himself rather attached to the smaller boy. Otto waited patiently for dinner to be over and immediately went in search of Izzy. She would want to be the first to hear the news.

He looked all around, in the Library, on the pitch, even in a few classrooms, and didnt find her. Maybe she was taking a walk? Or was in the her common room. Otto bit his lip, thinking of some way to even get into the Ravenclaw Common Room. Those buggers were, if nothing, smart. The Hufflepuff doubted he would ever be able to get in. He slulked for a minute before thinking one one last place that Izzy could be. He made his way down the corridors down a hall that, when they were younger, used to walk to avoid getting caught by the Prefects doing rounds.

Izzy cringed back instinctively, relaxing only when she recognized Otto--well, Toto to her, ever since he'd admitted to that embarrassing childhood nickname. He was a gentle giant of sorts, much shyer and more demure than he seemed at first glance.

Sitting up, he took a better look at the person, whom he could only tell the gender of. It was ridiculous, seeing someone who he could have shagged or even cursed and yet he had no idea. It was a terrible idea for him to come here, he figured, as he motioned to the seat beside him, glancing for even a hint of recognition at the girl.

What stuck out about the woman was her outfit. Every other female in this castle was wearing the best dress money could buy, or at least their worthless money. But not this one. She wore pants. A pantsuit, let alone. It was not the most pleasant thing he saw on a woman, but it suited her, he supposed. Not that he could tell from her face, but it was alright enough for the night.

"If you grow another arm, it'll be entertainment enough for me," she laughed. "I'll wait and see." There was an empty edge of the table behind her; she hopped up on it, swinging her legs a little. "What are you doing here, anyway? You look like you'd rather be anywhere else."

Of course, he looked charmingly annoyed and put out, like he was used to this kind of scene and simply accustomed to attending with this sort of nonchalance and distaste for the proceedings. This was his natural, comfortable state.