Stealing is an Art [Peaches]

Aragorn slipped a book into his bag quickly, glancing around for the librarian. He didn't need to get caught stealing from the library right now. Of course, it wasn't like he wasn't going to return it before Hogwarts for good. He'd never take the property forever. He wasn't that disrespectful.
He grabbed another book quickly and hurried over to an empty table, opening the book and pretending to read over the contents like he was studying them. Of course, he didn't take the class this book was for, so it looked peculiar to anyone who was with him in all his classes.
He glanced around, his dark curls hiding his wandering eyes. He didn't need to get caught, and he wasn't going to. He'd make sure of that. He flipped the page and stuffed his bag onto the ground, grabbing a quill and a piece of parchment and writing down something that he was pretty sure not even relevant to what he was reading.
Crazy, that's what I am. He thought quietly.

It wasn't in her nature to go off and talk to a stranger. Actually, most of the people were strangers for her, she wasn't the social type, except for Cepheus and JJ, there was no one else on her 'friend' list.

So Peaches shocked herself when she took the book she was reading (an awful, corny, old love novel) and went over to the younger boy. She even went that far to sit next to him and whispered to his ear.

"What are you doing?" the girl started, widening her eyes. "Are you not aware of the new book securing measures? If you're trying to steal them, there's no point in it, you'll start beeping as soon as you reach the door."

Aragorn didn't look up when she sat next to him, ignoring her completely as he usually would. She was a Huffer Puffer, probably older than he was too. She was also a ginger. It wasn't until she leaned over and whispered into his ear that he stiffened and looked at her.
He swallowed back his surprise and blinked at her, "I have no idea what you're talking about." It was a complete lie. He had no idea that she'd seen him, and if she'd seen him than there were probably others who'd seen him. It was a great thrill, certainly, but it was irritating to get caught.

She kind of smiled when she noticed that he was also a loner like her, but not as nice. Still, she wouldn't give up on him, there was something in him that made her want to help him.

"Of course you don't", she whispered again, "but if you get it a situation like that, just so you know, the door is also cursed. Last week I saw a girl that first started beeping and then when she reached the door, fell on the floor because her legs became boneless. Looked really painful also."

Aragorn's eyes widened and he glanced towards his bag on the ground, swallowing regretfully as he looked back up to her. He wasn't sure that he should believe her but it could be true, and if it was, he would be in the hospital wing AND have detention for sure. He grimaced and gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he thought it over. He sighed and looked her in the eyes, "Is that true?"

She smiled to him and then her face went all serious. "I don't lie. Do I look like I'm joking with you? I was nice to you, right? I'm trying to save you from the Hospital wing, detention and shame."

Her voice remained still but her eyes were almost red and told the truth - she finally managed to lost her temper. That was a first and she wondered what else could she experience after this.

Aragorn was alarmed by the color of her eyes, sitting back and watching her carefully. He took a slow steady breath and nodded slightly, making his decision. He grimaced and looked away from her and then back again before saying, "Thanks Huffer Puffer. Sorry I accused you of lying."
He doubted that calling her Huffer Puffer was going to get a nice reaction out of her, in fact she'd probably get mad at him and go off but what could he say? The words just slipped out without warning when he was talking to a Hufflepuff.

Did I really just lost it completely? the girl wondered in her head, surprised by everything she said and thought. "I'm sorry for being kind of rude, and I'm sorry if I raised my voice. I'm usually really, really peaceful. And don't talk to strangers also, so this is all kind of new to me, communication I mean."

She smiled. "How did you call me? A Huffer Puffer? That's kind of cute."

"Er... yeah. A Huffer Puffer. Just slang, sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, glancing down at the book that lay open in front of him and shutting it quickly. He looked back up at her with sincere dark eyes and smiled slightly, "You shouldn't be sorry. Of course I was quite rude as well. I understand you being angry at all."
He frowned slightly with his smile still in place and cleared his throat, "I'm Aragorn Hawthorn. May I get your name?"

"It doesn't matter, really", she tried to convince him, afraid that he'll get the wrong idea about her, maybe think she's impulsive or bitchy or something, which she certainly wasn't.

"I'm Peaches, Peaches Reynolds", she told him and raised an eyebrow. The apologetic look on her face was replaced with one of pure excitement. "Aragorn? Like in those muggle books about dragons and elfs that look like humans but only prettier?"

Aragorn laughed at that and nodded, a grin sprouting from his small smile. He had forgotten about that, how he was named after a character from Lord of the Rings. His mother had named him after the muggle that became king. Most people didn't know about that series of books.
"Yes, I'm named after the king in the third book. I had no idea people still read that." He said happily to her, a fire burning his eyes that said he was pleased that she knew and that she was excited over it. "Peaches is a very cute name."

They both laugh and Peaches thought about how pretty that scene was, almost a gift card one, two young people sitting in the library and smiling, until the librarian shushed them, like she did to almost anyone that dared to do things like talking, breathing, laughing and similar.

"My mom gave me the love towards muggle books. Aragorn and Legolas are my favorite characters, and who are yours? Guess I'm an old fashioned girl, yes."

The girl frowned a bit. "It's cute if you're not the one called Peaches. People call me Princess Peach and joke about it all the time."

"Pippin and Merry," Aragorn smirked, throwing a glance at the librarian and ignoring her as he smiled at his new friendly friend. He shrugged and chuckled, "I like that. Old fashioned is good, better than what we have now."
His eyebrows mashed together with the smirking smile still on his lips and asked, "Princess Peach? As in Super Mario Smash Bros. Peach?" He enjoyed video games. He especially enjoyed Mario and Sonic and other such things like that, blame on the muggle in him if you will.

"Oh you do look like their fan, you know?" she told him, smiling, this time quietly. "You kind of remind me of Pippin. I mean, no, you're not small, hairy and ugly, I mean, you know what I mean, right?" As she said that, her cheeks filled with blood and she hid her face in her palms. "Oh, God, you made me blush", she whispered to him and then laughed it all off.

"Yes. All my muggle neighbors play them and somehow, probably because I also have wizards leaving nearby, it gotten to Hogwarts."

Aragorn admired the blush that tinted her cheeks. It was adorable, really. Most girls just looked flushed and sort of disgusting but she was very pretty. He nodded, almost laughing, "Yeah I know what you mean. I got that a lot from my mom."
He shook his head slightly, "People these days. To be honest, I would think of Princess Peach as a compliment more than an insult of sorts. I mean, she's a gorgeous princess. Who wouldn't want to be her or to have her?" He shrugged as he thought over the situation between Bowser and Mario, "Mario and Bowser fight over her all the time, that would mean you are a very wanted person. And considering they fight over her beauty, it means you're beautiful. Princess Peach is a term to compliment you but tehy mean is as a bad thing. Sure there comes naivety with Peach but she has all the rest of her positive qualities. Do you know what I mean?"
He had tried to describe it as best as he could without offending her. But he wasn't sure if that had worked. Peaches was unpredictable so far and he wasn't sure how to act with her. He did note that if he acted like an asshole, she became angry. So he couldn't use that front, not that he would be able to keep it up.
He gave a puff of air and smiled at her brightly, his wide grey-green eyes were full of curiosity as he stared at her.

She covered her face again and laughed in her hands. "Okay, great actually, because I don't even know what I was saying so... You must have a super power or something! Awesome, and oh, poo, I'm constantly making a fool of myself in front of you. I wonder what you're going to think of me after this."

Peaches looked around to see if anyone else is around them, surprised by his words, by compliments she got, thinking that he has to be saying all those nice things to another person. When she finally realized that he was in fact talking to her, she smiled and looked away. Suddenly she felt popular like never before in her entire life.

"Sure, I believe that everyone said that as a compliment to me, and not just because I hate that nickname. Nice try kid, but the fact is that people of our age are pretty much cruel to each other all the time."

The girl raised an eyebrow and continued. "Speaking of age, how old are you? You're probably a year or two younger than me, even if I'm smaller than you and look like a little girl." He looked at her with his eyes wide and she wondered what he was thinking about. Probably that you're a freak, the little voice in her head responded to her thought.

Aragorn raises an eyebrow, amusement shimmering in his gray-green eyes. He could tell that, even though she accepted the fact that he was complimenting her honestly, she wasn't buying it at all. "I'm serious. Kids are cruel, yeah but still. Its true."
Her self-esteem must have been mighty low. When she asked him his age, he started to regret being young. He looked her in the eyes and sighed, "You're going to think of me as a child when I tell you but.... Oh well." He took a deep nervous breath as if this was one of the most painful things he had ever had to say to someone. He let his breath and muttered, "I'm twelve."

She frowned for a while, then raised an eyebrow and smiled honestly at the boy. "You really are adorable, do you know that? Fine, I'll trust you on this, but only because you're so cute when you're trying to convince me that."

"Indeed, you are a child. But so am I. It's okay if you're younger than me, we can still talk, I really don't mind." His big, greenish eyes looked weird when he said that. "What's wrong?" she asked him suddenly, regretting everything she said if something of that made him sad.

(OOC - sorry for waiting, my computer broke and also, when did you join the concubine army? )