Call It Home - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter Six: First Impressions

If you looked at Roman, you wouldn't assume he was a big library person. Gryffindors weren't particularly known for being very studious, except for Hermione Granger, and they weren't seen in the library nearly as much as the other houses; there was almost always Ravenclaws looking for new books to read or studying at desks. However, Roman was an exception to the rule.

He loved libraries and the hundreds of books they contained within them. He was a very creative person and books brought out his ideas. The young Quidditch star was actually a talented writer, a skill he didn't share with many.

Libraries were a safe space for Roman to work on the stories he had in mind. He wasn't afraid of judgement from strangers who didn't know him. It was the judgement of his friends in his house that he feared the most. He was known for sports, so he wasn't sure house his fellow house members would react to him sitting down and working out the plot of a story. Sure, he spouted off crazy ideas from time to time, but they always thought he was joking and who was he to correct them?

He headed to the library early one Saturday morning after his first week back at Hogwarts, feeling rejuvenated from a good night's sleep. It was always after a full night of dreaming that he got his best ideas and the most motivation to do something with them.

It was practically empty just before sunrise, but Roman noticed a couple kids who had been studying or working the night before that were now passed out at the desk they were sitting at. He smiled a bit in amusement; they must be first years who got nervous about the amount of work they'd have to do over the weekend. They'd get used to it soon and learn how to manage their time. The work in the first year wasn't nearly as intimidating as it seemed after the first couple weeks.

He looked around for an empty desk. He was picky about where he wanted to sit, preferring to be relatively alone and near a window so he could see the outside. As the sun rose higher, he knew that the front of the library would get busier, so he headed toward the even emptier back areas.

The Gryffindor found a small desk by window in a seemingly deserted part of the library and sat down with his notebook and quill. As he began scribbling his ideas into the pages, he became aware that he wasn't quite as alone as he thought.

A few feet away, a boy dressed in all black was leaning over a notebook of his own. He was humming to himself softly. He almost blended into the shadows caused by the limited light of the dawn and Roman hadn't even noticed him sitting there until he'd started humming. He found himself staring at him, confused by the song that was barely audible coming from his throat. It didn't sound like wizard music, but rather muggle music.

Evidently his gaze was intense enough to catch the boy's attention. "Could you stop staring at me?" he snapped defensively, looking up with a glare.

He did a double take. He hadn't been expecting such a hostile reaction to him simply looking his way a bit too long. The Gryffindor peered at him, noticing the familiar strangeness of his black eye shadow on his cheeks. "Oh, you're that new kid."

"Yeah, I'm that new kid, now can you leave me to draw in peace?" he said as he ducked his head.

"Well, there's really no need to be so rude," Roman replied. The boy looked up at him with a glare before returning his gaze to his paper. "Honestly, all I was doing was looking at you, you seriously overreacted. Not to mention, you were humming and distracting me from my writing, so I'd say if anyone here had the right to be annoyed, it would be me."

The house-less student looked at him with an expression of disgust. "You're... you're like the perfect cookie-cutter image of a self-righteous Gryffindor," he said, almost to himself. "What else do you have up your sleeves? I bet you're on the Quidditch team, am I right?"

"And so what if I am?" he retorted, puffing out his chest.

"God, I'm so glad I'm not in a house," the darkly dressed boy muttered as he collected his belongings. He glared at him as he put his sketchbook away and pulled his small messenger bag onto his shoulder. "Especially Gryffindor if they all act like you."

With that, Virgil Black marched out of the library, leaving Roman fuming behind him. How dare he speak to me that way? he thought, feeling his cheeks flush with anger. I did nothing wrong and he snapped at me out of nowhere! What was he expecting me to do? Duck my head and say sorry for looking at him? That's ridiculous!

He huffed and closed his notebook, staring out the window. There was something about the way that new kid had spoken to him that had his skin crawling. He felt angry and that wasn't what he wanted to feel while writing the part he'd been working on.

Disappointed, he began to gather his things and left the library. He walked through the hallways with an uncharacteristically blank expression on his face. He tried to shake away the thoughts but he was having trouble letting his anger fade. Roman couldn't even focus on where he was going, running into another student.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Melissa, my bad," he apologized as he helped the Hufflepuff girl pick up her books.

She shrugged at him and looked him up and down. "It's quite alright, Roman. You seem... bothered," she pointed out. He ran his fingers through his hair quickly, making sure it was looking flawless. At this, she scoffed. "It's not your hair giving you away, it's your eyes. I've been working with all types of magical beasts since I was a kid, I know how to read expressions."

He had almost forgotten about Melissa's background. Her last name gave her statement context: Scamander. She was a descendant of the great Newt Scamander, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He should've know she'd be able to sense his agitation.

"It's really nothing, just had a run in with that new kid," Roman said, waving off her concerns as he forced a smile. "He was just kind of a jerk but I mean, whatever."

"Alright, but let me know if you want to talk," she said as she walked off.

He nodded after her and headed toward the Great Hall. The sun was in the sky now and they would be serving breakfast. He hoped that some socializing and some food would get his mind off the rude behavior of Virgil Black.