RP: Hidden among the stacks
Date: 9th June, 1998
Characters: Blaise, Hermione
Location: Hogwarts - Library
Status: Semi Private
Summary: Hermione stumbles across Blaise fixing books in the library.
Completion: Incomplete
Blaise ran his finger down the spine of the book his was currently working on, noting the damage to the binding. He placed it back on the table and reached across to where he’d pushed his notepad and quill earlier, jotting down its title and his initial damage observations.
This one hadn’t come off too bad. The leather of the cover was scraped from where it had been knocked about a bit, presumable falling from it’s shelf during one of the tremors to pass through the castle during the battle. And the spine was broken, some of the pages coming loose. But Blaise had seen worse in the last week.
There’d been a journal he’d come across Tuesday that would require more extensive renovation that he was qualified for, and Blaise wasn’t even sure if that would save it. The pages had been water damaged to a point where the ink had bled so badly a lot of the text had been lost entirely in sections. Blaise guessed it was from lying too close to one of the broken windows, though the extent of the damage done suggested that wherever it had lain had also been in one of the areas of the castle where the rain water had collected and puddled after sneaking in through the breach. He’d grimaced as he set it aside in the chest he’d warded to protect such texts from further deterioration. The fact that it had been an Arithmancy text, one he hadn’t come across before, had only added extra salt to the wound.
He pulled his wand from its holster and cast a quick sensing spell to access if this current book had any charms or spells woven into it. The repair spells he was using often interfered with such enchantments and the last thing Blaise had any intention of doing was causing more damage to them than had been done already.
McGonagall had set him on the task at the start of the week. And Blaise would have sworn her eyes had almost sparkled as she suggested the work might be of interest to him. He’d finished what repairs he could do to the windows the week before and had hesitated on taking up another task; they’d all seemed so - social. So, though the hairs prickled uncomfortably on his neck at how well the older witch seemed to be able to predict his interests, he hadn’t been able to refuse. He’d wanted something to do and this job had offered him both solitude and an indulgence of one of his few loves.
Sure that there were no magic entwined into the book he’d need be wary about, Blaise dismissed the spell and sat down, cradling the book carefully in one hand as he began to leaf methodically through it’s pages. He’d need to check they were all accounted for and in order before he repaired the damage to the binding.
He kicked one of his feet up onto the chair opposite and leaned back, eyes moving from one page to the next, catching the numbers he was looking for, but also the odd sentence that caught his interest.
At some point most of the jobs around the castle would be finished. And at some point someone was going to ask when he’d be going home for the holidays, and he still hadn’t quite decided on what he was going to do. He knew he wanted to finish his education and he had a few ideas for career options, but he hadn’t settled on a specific one yet. He supposed he should have by now, but Blaise wasn’t one to rush such decisions. He often thought it odd how early they were expected to make decisions that would affect their entire futures. It often felt too soon, but then he also wondered if there was ever a right time. The last year definitely hadn’t been, everything had felt too unsure and Blaise hadn’t even been sure whether he’d stay past his NEWT’s. But now, now he thought maybe it was time to start planning again.
Characters: Blaise, Hermione
Location: Hogwarts - Library
Status: Semi Private
Summary: Hermione stumbles across Blaise fixing books in the library.
Completion: Incomplete
Blaise ran his finger down the spine of the book his was currently working on, noting the damage to the binding. He placed it back on the table and reached across to where he’d pushed his notepad and quill earlier, jotting down its title and his initial damage observations.
This one hadn’t come off too bad. The leather of the cover was scraped from where it had been knocked about a bit, presumable falling from it’s shelf during one of the tremors to pass through the castle during the battle. And the spine was broken, some of the pages coming loose. But Blaise had seen worse in the last week.
There’d been a journal he’d come across Tuesday that would require more extensive renovation that he was qualified for, and Blaise wasn’t even sure if that would save it. The pages had been water damaged to a point where the ink had bled so badly a lot of the text had been lost entirely in sections. Blaise guessed it was from lying too close to one of the broken windows, though the extent of the damage done suggested that wherever it had lain had also been in one of the areas of the castle where the rain water had collected and puddled after sneaking in through the breach. He’d grimaced as he set it aside in the chest he’d warded to protect such texts from further deterioration. The fact that it had been an Arithmancy text, one he hadn’t come across before, had only added extra salt to the wound.
He pulled his wand from its holster and cast a quick sensing spell to access if this current book had any charms or spells woven into it. The repair spells he was using often interfered with such enchantments and the last thing Blaise had any intention of doing was causing more damage to them than had been done already.
McGonagall had set him on the task at the start of the week. And Blaise would have sworn her eyes had almost sparkled as she suggested the work might be of interest to him. He’d finished what repairs he could do to the windows the week before and had hesitated on taking up another task; they’d all seemed so - social. So, though the hairs prickled uncomfortably on his neck at how well the older witch seemed to be able to predict his interests, he hadn’t been able to refuse. He’d wanted something to do and this job had offered him both solitude and an indulgence of one of his few loves.
Sure that there were no magic entwined into the book he’d need be wary about, Blaise dismissed the spell and sat down, cradling the book carefully in one hand as he began to leaf methodically through it’s pages. He’d need to check they were all accounted for and in order before he repaired the damage to the binding.
He kicked one of his feet up onto the chair opposite and leaned back, eyes moving from one page to the next, catching the numbers he was looking for, but also the odd sentence that caught his interest.
At some point most of the jobs around the castle would be finished. And at some point someone was going to ask when he’d be going home for the holidays, and he still hadn’t quite decided on what he was going to do. He knew he wanted to finish his education and he had a few ideas for career options, but he hadn’t settled on a specific one yet. He supposed he should have by now, but Blaise wasn’t one to rush such decisions. He often thought it odd how early they were expected to make decisions that would affect their entire futures. It often felt too soon, but then he also wondered if there was ever a right time. The last year definitely hadn’t been, everything had felt too unsure and Blaise hadn’t even been sure whether he’d stay past his NEWT’s. But now, now he thought maybe it was time to start planning again.