Shrink the World

[Violet MacFusty]

Violet grinned widely. She was quite proud of herself for guessing, although she had not known the answer right away. It had taken some reasoning, but she had guessed it all the same. Gryffindor house had been rather intimidating for Violet. Most of the students she had seen from there had been rather bold. They hadn't been afraid of anything and had risked their lives on countless occasions - the boys more so than the girls. It was often on dares and things that Violet had deemed foolish. Had Sebastian been one of those boys? It was then that she remembered his story of falling off of a roof and claiming many scars - yes, she decided, he had been one of them.



"It is a rather accurate vision," She admitted. Most of her days at Hogwarts were spent doing exactly that. Violet could probably count how many books she had left to read in the library on her hands.



After a moment, she teased, "I imagine you being one of the first years who tried to steal a broom from the broom closet because your friends dared you to." She did not know what a little eleven year old Sebastian might look like, but she was certain that he had been adorable. She had been rather cute. Freckles on a child were much more accepted than freckles on a grown woman.



Violet could imagine him getting into all sorts of mischief. He had probably had a few romantic trysts in school as well, but she did not want to think about that. She took to her chocolate again and such thoughts were erased by the delicious taste.

  

[Sebastian Havisham]

Sebastian laughed heartily. Despite being quite athletic in frame, he still laughed with his whole body attached, quite invested in humor. Not in a spastic way, to be sure, but in a way that made it clear the true nature of his agreement with whatever joke had been said. "I believe that happened more than once," he said, eyes glinting. He and his friends got into all sorts of mischief of that kind. "As I recall, we were quite investing in stealing portraits off the walls," Sebastian recounted. "which never ended very well considering they would scream like their life depended on it." It had been a secret dream of all the boys to walk away with a portrait from Hogwarts that they might one day hang on the wall of their den to admire. How wonderful it would be to say 'look at the work of art, do you recognize it from somewhere?'

He imagined she was much better behaved than she had been. She probably listened to her house master when they said it was time for bed, she probably did her nightly duties with the rest of the girls, and so on. Meanwhile, Sebastian was rarely in the common room by lights out. He caused quite the stir.

"You probably would have thought me overly rambunctious," he admitted. Most people had thought as much. "I have mellowed some," he promised. But that was not to be mistaken for mellowing completely. Some was the operative word. He certainly didn't take things off the walls anymore, but he still wrestled often, had trysts once in a while, and caused a commotion. He was not a mellow person. He was energetic.

He took a sip of the chocolate, studying her slender hands wrapping along the outer edges of the porcelain cup. "I admit, though, I do like some spontaneous fun once in a while still," he said. He wondered if she had ever done anything of that sort - if she ever had the urge to take a library book, or at least visit the restricted section, if she ever wandered to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, or stayed out past curfew, or went went skinny dipping with her friends at the edge of the Black Lake after sunset. He bit his tongue, and he was grateful for the rush of wind that passed them which could hide the true nature of the expression. That was an indecent thought to be sure.

  

[Violet MacFusty]

Violet was unable to refrain from laughing at his tale. Never before had she heard of students attempting to steal portraits from the walls, which was rather surprising. Then again, she was so shy that she didn't even speak to the portraits, much less anyone else. It wasn't a wonder why she hadn't heard of such a thing- she kept herself shut up in the library like she was in a protective bubble. "Which portraits did you personally try to take?" She asked curiously. It was a rather nosy question, but she was unable to resist. Out of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of portraits that hung on Hogwarts' walls, she wondered which were Sebastian's favorites.



"I would hope so - I don't know what the Ministry would do if they found out that you were trying to steal their artwork," She said in amusement. Most likely he would be out of a job, but as he had said - he'd mellowed down. Violet assumed it meant that he no longer tried to steal portraits. She hadn't a clue what the inside of the Ministry looked like, but she assumed that they had some of their own as well.



Violet had never tried to break the rules. Not once, in her entire seven years at Hogwarts. Of course, some may have been broken accidentally. She may have accidentally mixed the library's books with her own, but she never would have done it on purpose. She was too afraid that it would get back to her father and he would finally have proof of how horrible a daughter she was. "I can believe that," She said with a grin.



It wasn't hard to picture him being spontaneous. Well, actually it was - if only because Violet didn't rightly know what sort of spontaneous things he might do. She'd never done anything the least bit spontaneous. It was a world completely undiscovered for her.

  

[Sebastian Havisham]

"Well, it was considered the ultimate prize to get a portrait of Godric Gryffindor," Sebastian confided in her. "My favorite being the one on the way to the Astronomy tower, he wears an incredibly large hat with a feather and has the tendency to complain that his tea is perpetually cold." Sebastian generally did not keep portraits in his home, as their personalities were rather flighty. He had a portrait of his grandfather in the drawing room, and a few family portraits scattered here and there. Sebastian had many paintings of horses, which were his favorite because he liked to watched to gallop between frames.

He laughed, "I think that would spoil any chances I had of furthering my career there," Sebastian confirmed. At the ministry, Sebastian behaved like a saint. He went to work on time, was as respectful and polite as anyone could be, and excelled beyond his purpose always. It was a drastic switch from his careless self, but it was important to him. Sebastian's work was one of the things that he truly cared about more than anything else. It was a forum to do what he loved, and that made him extremely happy.

Sipping the warm liquid in his hands, he looked into her stormy eyes, which seemed a cool shade of blue when she smiled. "Perhaps you will find it bold of me to say... but I find there is certain pleasure in misbehaving." He looked wistfully down at the drink in his hands before continuing, raising a brow at her in a smirkish smile. "Have you never felt as much?" His voice was tempered in silence, for such things as breaking the rules were not on the list of proper conversation topics between men and women.

She was of course, rather perfect, and he assumed that if she had the urge to break rules, she had not acted upon it. Violet Ollivander was much wiser than he.

  

[Violet MacFusty]

OOC: Should we start wrapping this up soon? <3

Violet shook her head and said with a sincere innocence, "No, never. I don't think I've ever really misbehaved, to be honest." It was rather boring of her to admit, but it was the truth. Surely, he couldn't picture her trying to steal the paintings off of Hogwarts' walls? Perhaps he had some less drastic ideas about what she might have done, but she couldn't even think up what sort of mischief she might have gotten into.



"I've taken a library book home with me on occasion, but it was always purely by accident," She added. It wouldn't do to allow him to think that she was entirely faultless. She had many faults, but it seemed that he didn't agree with her on most of them. At least she could prove that she could be forgetful once in a while.



The pair were quite different from each other, but it worked. How did that saying go? That opposites attract? It was proven true by their very relationship. She'd learned of it in one of her romance novels, but wouldn't admit such a thing. Sebastian was quite different from herself, but they got along well because of it.



She took another sip from her chocolate and was disappointed to find that it was almost empty already. It wouldn't be very ladylike to go back for seconds. Ladies were not supposed to have a very large appetite. As much of a lie as it was, she felt as if she needed to keep to the laws of etiquette.

  

[Sebastian Havisham]

OOC: I was just going to suggest that :P

Sebastian smiled contentedly, "You are truly the perfect woman," he said. Most of the women he met had their streaks, their hidden agendas and secrets that made them act in ill repute. Sebastian could not claim an offense to such ill nature, as of course he was no saint. But, it was refreshing to meet someone who was on the whole good. She was pure, but she still surprised. He imagined that to be a rare feat. It was comforting there was something interesting left in the world of behaving correctly.

"Of course," Sebastian said, grinning, "It would surely be awful to deprive the library of one single book when it is completely short on books of all things." He was teasing her, again, of course. He thought it funny that this was the grievance she found in herself. It seemed to Sebastian that this was an honest mistake, and certainly not a fault at all.

He let the last sip of peppermint and chocolate warm him, breathing fire into his body amidst a sea of cold wind. Was it funny that they were so entirely different but still managed to at least like one another? He wondered though if she understood the entirety of their differences, and if she did, did she begrudge him for them? Or, once she learned how different he was, would that be the end of their friendship?

In a daze, Sebastian's eyes caught sight of an iron clock upon the nearest lamp post.It seemed that they had spent very little time together, but there was visible proof they had spent quite a bit of time in each other's company. Sebastian looked back at his smoky eyed companion. "I'm afraid I must leave you soon, Miss Ollivander, as much as it pains me. I had the unfortunate idea to take a Saturday meeting," he said, eyes glinting. Indeed, he was signing up for as many meetings as he could take, though he wasn't about to let on that he enjoyed such a concept.

  

[Violet MacFusty]

Violet blushed. She would have liked to argue with him about how imperfect she truly was, but she knew it would be pointless. Sebastian, she had learned, was an incredibly stubborn man. He would not listen to her, no matter how much she protested, about her faults. He had nearly scolded her upon her thoughts of how lacking in marriageability she was. While it seemed she could be stubborn as well, for her opinion had not changed, she had decided against arguing about it with him. They would get nowhere, that much was certain.



She laughed at his teasing, "As a woman who works at the library I can tell you that it is rather confusing when a book is nowhere to be found. Quite frustrating, even." It was all in good fun of course. Most students didn't take books back with them that they weren't allowed to. Those that did usually did so on accident (they were a bit like Violet, who respected books just a little too much) and returned the book after an hour or two.



His admittance was a bit of a disappointment to her, but a glance at the clock told her that they had spent a great deal of time together already. the light in her eyes dimmed slightly, but she refused to allow herself to appear saddened. A small, albeit a bit forced, smile clung to her lips. "Quite the hard-worker you are, sir," She teased, "But I suppose I ought to get Puck back to Hogwarts anyhow. I imagine he's rather excited to see his new home."



She took the last sip of her drink and then stood while straightening her skirts. Goodbyes for her, were always a bit awkward. She never knew what to say or do, other than what etiquette told her. Perhaps it was not really as awkward as she imagined. "Thank you again for Puck," Violet told him shyly, "I quite like him." She also had enjoyed herself immensely, but she was too shy to tell him such a thing.

  

[Sebastian Havisham]

There was no reason, in Sebastian's mind, for him to be reserved with Violet. She had already seen him drunk, already knew his personal frustrations, already knew his hopes... perhaps they were rushing into friendship, but Sebastian felt like this was all rather natural. So, he had no problem telling her how he felt. It might not be something that she agreed with, but no two people could agree on anything, or life would be incessantly dull.

Sebastian thought that stealing a book was perhaps the last thing that any student would purposefully want to do. It wasn't a very glamorous or showy thing to do, anyhow, and what was the purpose of a prank other than to show off? Sebastian had been in a shameless self promoter back in his day, but his disillusionment with society had tamed that side of himself rather quickly. "Yes I suppose as the librarian it would be quite the task if the students got such an idea into their heads," he grinned.

He simply shrugged, for he very rarely acknowledged that he was working hard on anything, despite the fact that he worked very hard indeed. He smiled at her, "I am sure that Puck will be completely pleased with his new surroundings," he said. Afterall, he would live with her and she was most agreeable.

Wondering her thoughts, for she wasn't as forward with her emotions as he, he thought, Sebastian took out the book from his overcoat wrapped in the enchanted ribbon. "Before I leave you... this is a book for your collection," he said, handing it to her. His eyes traced her lips as she spoke, and he bit his tongue. Brown eyes still full of light, he smiled at her. "You are truly welcome. As usual it has been absolutely wonderful to see you," he paused in a moment of hesitance before saying, "Violet," very softly as if her name were a secret between just them.

  

[Violet MacFusty]

The book that he pulled out of his coat surprised her. A delighted smile found its way to her lips, despite how much she tried to hide it. Violet adored gifts. It was probably because she hadn't been given them very often when she had been younger. The only birthday presents she received were from the housekeeper and the servants that liked her. Her father never remembered, and her brothers didn't either. Her presents for Christmas were usually as an afterthought and were coins that her father found in his pocket at that moment. She had been receiving a lot more gifts lately now that she was on her own, but she still treasured each one.



"Thank you! Oh you shouldn't have!" She exclaimed warmly, unable to keep the pleasure out of her voice. Her eyes were bright and the redness of her cheeks deepened. She was quite ecstatic about it. Now she had two books to add to her meager collection, rather than just one. She felt a bit guilty not speaking to him of Cage, but she felt that he might be a little overprotective of her - being her friend and all - and she didn't want to cause any problems. It didn't really matter if anyone was too forward with her, it wasn't like there were many who actually cared about her reputation anymore.



She took the book and placed it tenderly in her own pocket. The way he whispered her name created butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "Sebastian," She replied in a low voice so that he could be the only one to hear her. Violet quite enjoyed their friendship. Her eyes focused upon his lips for a moment. The realization that she would have liked to kiss him alarmed her and she turned away shyly.



"I suppose I ought to head back now, before it gets dark," She said, taking a few steps away from him, although she didn't want to. His presence was intoxicating - it made her feel free and comfortable, as if etiquette was not nearly as important as society made it out to be.

  

[Sebastian Havisham]

There was nothing about Violet that Sebastian didn't like. From the curl in her hair to the way she lit up at even the smallest of gestures, to the way she indulged his poor manners, to the way she teased him, everything kept him intrigued by her. Sebastian had been happy before his friendship with Violet Ollivander, but now that he knew her he doubted he would be as happy without her. She was a type of friend that he had never had before, and Sebastian wondered if maybe he had been missing someone he could be honest with and just hadn't realized it.

He grinned, at her reaction to the present. To see her in such a state was surely a wonderful thing indeed. Sebastian wondered if she was lonely at Hogwarts, there with only her books and children who would leave after only a few years. Sebastian hated being lonely. It was rather nice to be alone sometimes, but being lonely was horrid. He was lonely in his big house sometimes, and it made him sick inside. If it weren't for this, it was possible Sebastian wouldn't see his father nearly as much. The Havishams visited each other almost once a day.

Sebastian didn't like a lot of what his father had to say, but he loved his father immensely nonetheless. Mister Ashley Havisham was the only family he had left, and Sebastian knew he would do just about anything for him. The Havisham men had a complex relationship. Sebastian and Ashley were known for their back and forth witty banter, for they rarely agreed on anything but they were good natured about their lack of mutual understanding.

Looking at those grey eyes as if there was no way to look away, Sebastian nodded. "Of course," he said brightly, though of course there was a bit of hesitance to send her on her way when he enjoyed her company so much. "Good afternoon," he bowed to her.