Books and Their Serenity (OPEN)

Isobel found that her feet were carrying her to the library at Hogwarts while she was wandering around the corridors aimlessly. The building was breathtakingly beautiful, and the views even more so.

She slowly entered the dim lighted room. The books were ancient, thick and a few smothered in dust. The room smelt like fresh parchment and ink, and the old pages of hundreds of books. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. The books carried a certain...serenity with them. Their very presence seemed to hush students, or lull children to sleep. She ran her fingers along the spines of the books as she skipped through the aisles. She began to sing a french lullaby her mother used to sing to her as a baby-

"Do, do, l'enfant do,
L'enfant dormira bien vite,
Do, do, l'enfant do,
L'enfant dormira beintot"

Although she sang softly, her voice carried through the empty corridors of the library.

J. J. walked along the rows of books, letting her hands trail along them. She loved books, the allure of written words always drew her to them. It was the only way to know what they say, a thousand mysteries hidden behind their covers. The plainest books could tell the most fascinating story.
J. J. felt like they were like people in that way.
After a moment she shook her head. She couldn't lose herself to browsing she was here for specific books. She needed to know more for her Charms Essay.
"Charms, Charms, Charms," she mumbled to herself as she looked down each row. She was about to turn down one that looked promising when she heard something drifting down the library to her.
It was a voice.
Someone was singing.
She followed the noise, along the rows of books, suddenly curious beyond restraint. She wanted to know who that was.
As she got closer she realized that the person was singing a song in another language. She thought it was french. She could pick up a few words that she knew, enfant was child, and she thought dormira was a form of domir which she thought might be to sleep, but she had never been that good at learning other languages.
Suddenly she turned the corner, and found a Ravenclaw girl, blonde and definitely a year or so older, walking amongst the book.
J. J. blushed at being caught snooping.
"Oh! Hullo there... sorry to intrerupt," she stumbled as an apology, "I just heard your singing and was... I mean I wanted... I'm J. J."

Isobel smiled softly, her eyes slightly gazed. Her mind was still caught up in the song and the sweet memories it revived with it.

"It's quite alright. I'm Isobel." she introduced herself dreamily. She looked at J.J- first year, Hufflepuff.

"J.J..." she tested her name on her French tongue.

"...what are you doing in the library this late?" she asked gently, humming the tune to herself as she waited for an answer and shifted her gaze back to the books.

Her name sounded slightly strange in her accented voice, but J. J. liked it. The girl was obviously French, from the song and the voice. She seemed a bit like the dreamy sort. Her mind was obviously else where when she first appeared, however she slowly seemed to be focusing on J. J.
"Nice to meet you Isobel."
J. J. looked at her watch in surprise. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten. Again she hadn't been paying attention.
"I was looking for a book for class - I have homework on the first day," she smiled ruefully at that. "I guess I got busy around the Castle and didn't even realize the time."
J. J. paused to run her hand over a book before looking at the girl agian.
"What about you?"

Isobel.

The name sounded so foreign to her. No one had spoken properly to her in a while. She hadn't spoken to anyone in a while. What was it?...6? 8 days?

"Please, call me Belle." she said, smiling softly.

"Would you like some help to find the book?"

"Just wandering." she answered simply. She didn't like small talk, but she would answer. J.J seemed sweet.

"Belle it is," J. J. smiled.
"Sure," she said with relief, "I'm not exactly sure what book I'm looking for, which may make it hard to find, but I need a book on Charms, particularly of the Hover kind."
She paused a moment blushing at her slightly garbled way of stating that.
"Though if that's too vague, I completely understand if you're not able to help. I'm not sure if the librarian could help me with that lack of information."

Isobel hummed to herself.

"I think I saw a few Charms books over there-" she skipped around the corner. A few shuffling sounds were audible, and a large thud. She came back a few minutes later, struggling to carry a pile of dusty books. She looked over the edge of the pile.

"Extreme Incantations, Achievements in Charming, Quintessence: A Quest, The Standard Book Of Spells, Carpe Retractum spellbook and-" she heaved the pile a little.

"-a couple more." she finished breathlessly, dumping the books on a nearby table.

J. J. looked at all the books that Belle set on the table in awe. There was so many. She glanced at the covers.
"Thank you," she said smiling, "I should be able to find something useful in all of this. This really was a big help."
Smiling she sat down and started flipping through the books. After a moment a thought struck her.
"We can sign books out of the library, right? Do we needed something to do that... a card or... do you just take the book to the librarian?"

Belle pulled up a chair next to J.J and delicately picked up the closest book to her.

"No problem." she said gently.

"Take them to the librarian." she smiled encouragingly.

She didn't want the conversation to end. J.J was the first person she had spoken to properly since she arrived.

"Where are you from, J.J?"

"Oh thank you. I will have to do that when I find something useful."
"Here in england," J. J. looked up at the girl with a smile. She was more than happy to talk, she just hadn't been sure Belle had wanted to, "A town called Whitby, its in Yorkshire, right around the Moors there."
"How about yourself?" she assumed that Belle was from out of country, but she didn't wish to say that outloud for sounding rude.

"I moved from Paris with my mother." she said softly.

"I miss France...not that I don't like London- which is where I live now. Do you miss your town...Whitby?" The word sounded out of place on her French tongue.

J. J. sighed longingly, " I would love to go to Paris. I always thought it sounded beautiful there."
She flipped the page slowly and thoughtful as thoughts of Whitby, of home came back to her. It was a completely different world than here.
"Yes, and no," she said softly, almost to herself, as if she was thinking aloud, "That's where I grew up, its where my family is. I miss my family... and I miss the nature so close, but..."
She paused and thought for a moment, "Sometimes I felt like an outsider there... even though I was always there. I haven't felt that here yet. Somehow, I think Hogwarts might be able to be home too."
J. J. paused and then smiled, "You know?"

Belle's face became grim. She wouldn't know if Paris was beautiful. Well, she couldn't remember. She had been locked in the black and white walls of Bourque Manor for 3 or 4 years. But there was a window in the attic. And there was the most beautiful garden across the street. With a magnificent water feature, and red and white roses, and lush, soft grass. A lemon tree grew at the back, and an old cherry tree stood by the door. In the spring, it was amazingly gorgeous. She imagined the whole of Paris to be like that.

"Yes, it's...breathtaking." she sighed.

Belle picked up pictures of J.J's home through her natural Legilimens. Her heart ached as she saw a happy family and a gorgeous home. Part of the emotion was from J.J, but the other part was from Belle. She yearned for a home like that. She hoped she could find it in Hogwarts.

"I know exactly what you mean." she sighed.

J. J. looked at Belle for a moment. She had a longing look in her eye - almost envy in someway. She wondered what she had found to envy. J. J. couldn't think of anything herself.
"So, Belle..." J. J. paused a moment, "We've talked about home, what about the people who live there? Do you have any family? Siblings or..." J. J. shurgged and flipped a page in her book.

"My father died. My mother's insane." she shrugged lightly.

"Nothing much I can do about it." She said it as if it were nothing, but it wrenched at her heart.

"I don't have any siblings." she sighed longingly.

"Do you?" she smiled.

"Oh," J. J. looked down at the table for a moment. Belle said these things as if they were no big deal, but she felt as if something that big couldn't be no big deal, "I'm sorry."
She smiled fondly at the mention of siblings, "Yeah, I do; I'm the youngest of four. I have two brothers and a sister... I miss them like anything."
She paused a moment, "They're just muggles, but... they are my family. And Zach was... I was really close to my brother Zach. Still am, though it is strange to be this far from him... from all of them."

Belle looked at J.J for a long time, her eyes full of envy. She had everything. But her eyes lit up at the sound of her family.

"You're a muggleborn? Could you tell me about Muggles?" she asked, resting her chin in one hand and leaning closer.

J. J. looked startled for a moment, but then laughed, "Sure I could do that. Umm... what do you want to know?"
'Muggle' was a broad topic, and Belle was probably the first person she met here that was so interested in the Muggles... but no matter what J. J. was going to have a bit of Muggle in her, that was how she was raised, what her family was, she was more than happy to share what she knew to someone who was interested.