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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Dec 21, 2016 6:18:21 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2016 6:18:21 GMT -7
Might time was one of Rubeus' favorite times of day. Not because it was dark or because he could sleep, but because other people were sleeping and tended to leave him be. He was a large kid, and while students were more accepting of him than most people had been in the past, Rubeus stayed his quiet, shy self and let others come to him.
The Hufflepuff Common Room was empty, thank goodness. He had brought his bags of gifts downstairs along with wrapping paper and tape. Unfortunately they didn't make tape large enough that he wouldn't have issues with his hands, but he had done it the year prior and would do the same now. His best friend Cordelia was in the same year and house as him, so he had been smart enough to wrap her gift upstairs in the privacy of his own room where she wouldn't have seen it.
He set out all of the gifts on the table in front of the fireplace and sat down on the couch, taking a deep breath and wondering where to start first. He decided on Carcer's gift and pulled out the snowflake paper, laying it out to measure where he needed to cut it.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Dec 21, 2016 23:21:10 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Dec 21, 2016 23:21:10 GMT -7
@jill5 Cordelia wasn’t sure why she was still awake. Studying, for one, but she also wasn’t really that tired either. She could probably call it quits once her last roommate was in; sometimes the drapes around their beds didn’t block out light as well as they were supposed to. While she liked to think she got along fairly well with the other sixth year Hufflepuff girls, she also really only talked to a few of them regularly. Her late night studying had never bothered anyone before, but that also meant it might not always be that way. Whoever was the last one to shuffle in from the common room (most likely Ripley since she was always bouncing around late into the night) eventually collapsed onto their bed. Cordelia waited a few extra minutes to ensure said person was asleep before gathering up the book she had been reading and her notes. Wand stuffed in her pocket, she slowly walked out of the dorm room and into the common room. She wasn’t even sure what time it was, but by the sound of it, most of the students were out cold. That was good. That meant she could study in peace for an hour or two before calling it quits as well.
Shuffling through the dimly lit common room, Cordelia tossed her book and notebook on a coffee table, wand to the side of them, and dropped into one of the chairs. They were the best chairs by far. She had to be careful though, because it was extremely easy to get too comfortable in them; more than once she had woken up just in time to make it to class. Other than the possibility of waking up late, the fact that every Hufflepuff had to walk through the common room to leave was not really what she wanted, especially if she was sleeping. Pulling her legs up underneath her, she took the book and opened up to where she had left off. It didn’t take long for that to become boring, and writing down notes wasn’t much better. Setting both items back down on the side table, she glanced around the empty room. Or what she had thought was empty.
It was funny, Rubeus Hagrid was easily the tallest student at Hogwarts. And yet he was also one of the easiest ones to miss, next to her of course. Cordelia initially felt her breath catch, the mere fact that he had been sitting there on the couch the entire time without either of them noticing the other was both hilarious and somewhat scary. They really did disappear when it came down to it. She couldn’t get a clear sight of what he was doing over at the couch, a pile of objects lying around on the ground and the table in front of him. It really wasn’t her thing to speak up and disturb others from their work, but they were friends, and no one else was in the common room, so she figured he wouldn’t mind a little company. Neither of them had ever gotten on the other’s nerves before, as far as she knew. “Evening R-Rubeus.” Cordelia said quietly, hoping it wouldn’t startle him. Surely he had seen her, she had passed right in front of the couch after all.
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Dec 27, 2016 14:04:03 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2016 14:04:03 GMT -7
As soon as he opened the roll of paper, he placed his brother's gift on top to see how much he needed to cut for it to fit around the entire gift. Rubeus didn't have a ton of people to shop for, mainly just his parents and brother, and the few friends that he had. And although there weren't many people, he had many gifts. Christmas was one of his favorite Holiday's. Rubeus is a very generous boy, and he tended to over do things sometimes and spoil those he loves. He didn't find it to be any type of issue, as he had the money. It would either go into the bank for safe keeping or to someone else and that's what he enjoyed.
Thankfully, he knew wrapping wouldn't take long. Many of the gifts were odd shaped, giving him a good reason to buy tons of bags instead of wrapping paper. He only had one tube, mostly for the square objects. Rubeus finally cut a large enough piece and grabbed the tape, wrapping the gift. A soft voice shocked him out of his concentration and he dropped the roll of tape, the clang of it hitting the wooden surface beneath him making him jump. Rubeus knew the voice, but the sound of silence in the Common Room had overcome him, and he truly hadn't realized that Cordelia was sitting right next to him on the couch.
His eyes widened and he smiled shyly at her. "I hadn't seen you there, Cordelia." Rubeus was sure the couch had been empty when he had arrived, but apparently not. He wondered what could've been on his mind that he had so blindly missed his closest friend. It made him seem quite rude. "I'm sorry for that, how are you?" He reached his arm down to pick up the tape and set it back on the table in front of them. The wrapping could wait for now, he had plenty of time as he sat back and smiled at the blond girl.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 1, 2017 19:32:37 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Jan 1, 2017 19:32:37 GMT -7
@jill5 It seemed like the two of them had been in the exact same position: neither had noticed the other sitting there, even though they were only feet away. Strange how that could happen. She had been so fixated on doing her work, and obviously he had been the same way, that the concept of another person being that close had clearly gone over both of their heads. When it came down to it, it was quite comical. To add to that, the Hufflepuff common room was pitch black, even with the fireplace roaring. No wonder she couldn’t concentrate on her work. The combination of the silence (which she wished happened more often but was more focused when there was noise) and the dark lighting, or lack thereof, had made it impossible to have any of the concepts in her book stick. Talking to Rubeus, which was probably going to be minimal between the two of them, was far better than studying. “I-It’s o-okay. I didn’t s-see you either…” She let out a small awkward laugh. Any other person in the room witnessing this would probably be in a hysterical fit right about now. Possibly the two quietest students in Hufflepuff, maybe even the entirety of Hogwarts, being unaware of each other and then trying to hold a conversation was one for the history books. Just thinking of someone else seeing this odd exchange was enough to leave Cordelia ruffled. “I’m good. C-Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d d-do some s-s-studying.” She glanced down at her notebook on the table next to her again. So much for that. She would have to attempt it again in the morning. Thankfully it was only extra Charms lessons. She had a knack for that. Hopping out of the chair she had called her own for the past few minutes, she moved over and sat next to Rubeus on the couch. On the table in front of them was wrapping paper and presents. That made sense. He probably wanted to wrap everything when there was no one else in the common room. Doing so in the dorm rooms was a little difficult with the amount of space given to each of them. Less so because of his height and all. “Christmas p-presents?” She inquired. (These darn awkward turtles)
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Jan 2, 2017 10:15:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 10:15:45 GMT -7
Rubeus was still in thought as to why he hadn't seen her sooner. Mostly, trying to remember what exactly had been on his mind when he had entered the Common Room. It seeemed to him that it was likely his gifts that lay in front of him and nothing more. Cordelia's laugh gave Rubeus the laughs as well. To the outside world, the two of them probably looked like lunatics, but Rubeus was enjoying himself much more now with the presence of Cordelia. "That's shocking, Cor, I am a giant." Rubeus laughed again, this time quieter, not wanting to wake anyone up or draw attention to the two of them.
He glanced down at her Charms book and nodded. He could see why she'd come down here to study. Much easier than the snores of all of her roommates distracting her. That wouldn't be good, especially for Charms class. "Studying...is not all that fun. But, I suppose it could help you fall asleep." Rubeus' tone of voice was now much quieter as he spoke. Cordelia got up and moved closer to him and he turned to look at her, his smile turning quite awkward. She mentioned the gifts in front of them and he nodded. "Yes, Christmas presents. Your's is wrapped upstairs already."
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Jan 26, 2017 21:51:13 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Jan 26, 2017 21:51:13 GMT -7
@jill5 It was a little shocking, actually, that she hadn’t noticed him there. At the same time though, she understood quite well why it had happened. They both liked their own peace and quiet. Anything that disturbed that was typically ignored or would be disregarded as an annoyance. Normally Cordelia would get up and leave if there were more than four or five students in the common room. If they were quiet and studying, then she was fine. The second loud noises and talking started though, she was out. Obviously Rubeus stuck out like a sore thumb, being the size he was, but at the same time she had found out that he had the abilities to make himself almost non-existent to other people. Most would think that was a bad skill, but to them, that was key to getting through day to day activities. Having both the ability to ignore things outside their tiny bubble and becoming invisible in social situations seemed to lead to encounters like this all the time. She didn’t mind though, Rubeus always took his time while talking to her so that she could keep up and think things through.
She smiled as he said studying would help fall asleep. Typically she was fine working at this hour. Today was just different though, and apparently the content of her book was too dry to keep her eyes open. Probably didn’t help that she had read this one cover to cover twice already. What she considered studying Charms was complete memorization of everything in the book. That was the only way she could get through the class easily without standing out. Quick completion of in-class tasks meant she could skip out before anyone else. Professor Zhu seemed to understand that too.
So they were Christmas presents. And hers was already wrapped upstairs. Cordelia didn’t catch on right away, nodding her head a few times. She had kind of forgotten that Christmas was coming up. Outside the fact that she had willingly been dragged by the Charms professor to find a tree for the school. That had turned into a strange turn of events, but she had been granted the opportunity to flex her healing spell muscles. Remembering that the conversation was about Christmas presents, Cordelia stopped to think about what she had gotten for everyone…which was nothing yet. She could sense the panic start to kick in slightly, realizing that she didn’t have much longer to get everything. A week, maybe? And by everyone, that included friends and family alike. She also didn’t have the time to develop photos, which was always an easy cop-out present if she couldn’t find something to buy. “Y-You didn’t have t-to you know…”
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Feb 4, 2017 11:37:40 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 11:37:40 GMT -7
Rubeus knew how with how large he was, it would normally be quite obvious to spot him. Though he has mastered walking around quietly and keeping himself out of the most blatant spots and positions. And when it came to Cordelia, with the two of them being so awkwardly lovable, they also came as the hardest to find around other people. It was as if they were as small as lady bugs, which humored Rubeus to no end at least for himself.
He knew she might not fall asleep while studying, though most did. That also made for an easy get away for Rubeus in the Common Room. Many people ended up with their faces in their books down here, and Rubeus tended to stay away from them no matter how much it made him laugh. But he'd been in those types of positions before...he just made sure to do so in private and not where anyone could find him. Embarrassment was not something Rubeus liked, and he made sure to stay far away from any sort of thing that could make him feel that low.
"Well of course I didn't have to, but I wanted to. You're my best friend, Delia, I've got to buy you a Christmas gift!" He didn't mind if he wasn't going to receive one from her, not many students or peers of him always had money, or the time to go buy gifts for people other than their family. Rubeus definitely had only come into a decent amount of money this current year. "But you'll love it, don't worry." He laughed quietly, and grabbed one of the gifts from the bag and began wrapping it. "Have you finished your shopping?"
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 6, 2017 15:56:00 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Feb 6, 2017 15:56:00 GMT -7
@jill5 Cordelia tried to keep a straight face, not wanting to prove to Rubeus, and to herself, that she was not in full time panic mode. Pangs of guilt each time he talked. She knew fully well that this following weekend’s Hogsmeade trip was going to be spent trying to find things that weren’t normally found. While she had disregarded the photo prints, those may very well end up being her life line here. What a mess this was turning into. Who would have thought that she, of all people, would forget to get gifts? “Th-thank you…” She trailed off, thinking of how much work was ahead of her now. Luckily she was ahead in both Charms and Transfiguration, so that was less work to do on the weekend.
“N-No.” Cordelia responded quietly, unsure of where she was going to go with this. It was Rubeus after all. If this same situation had occurred with her parents, she may have been scolded for being lazy or pushing the time frame of gathering together gifts. It was just a holiday. She still didn’t understand what all the commotion for it was. “I m-mean, I haven’t g-gotten any y-yet soooo...” She bit down on her lip, staring down at the presents laid out on the table. She knew a spell or two that would make her time wrapping go far faster. She supposed that wasn’t for everyone though. “Wh-which one is for your b-brother?”
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Feb 7, 2017 16:50:06 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2017 16:50:06 GMT -7
Rubeus grinned. It had taken awhile, but he had finally become as comfortable with Cordelia as he was with his own family. It made every conversation, every question, easier. He knew she wouldn't judge him, or make fun of him, and that they could be their own people with each other. "You don't have to thank me, Cordelia. You deserve it." He finished wrapping the first gift, and wrote the to and from and set it down on the floor beside them. Grabbing the bag of pixie sticks out of his back pocket, he took out four, holding them in his large hand and sucked them down. "Would you like one?" He held the bag out to Cordelia, offering her his favorite sugar addiction.
"Oh, don't worry. You've got plenty of time. And I'm sure most of your family will love your wonderful photos." Rubeus hadn't meant to offend her or make her nervous. That's the last thing he wanted, and he knew Cordelia usually gave her pictures as gifts. He even had some of his own from her, not necessarily from Christmas, but ones that he just found wonderful. She asked about his brother and he smiled, reaching down and taking the item out of the bag. "It's not much, but I know he'd like it." It was a newer book on Transfiguration, one of his brother's favorite subjects.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 7, 2017 22:15:05 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Feb 7, 2017 22:15:05 GMT -7
@jill5 Rubeus saying she deserved the present ended up making the guilt of not having purchased anything yet that much worse. She knew this was an easy problem to fix, but it was still difficult not to think that she could have been on top of all of this by this point. The worst part? The reason it had gotten pushed back was because she was studying. Having fun studying for that matter, and for curriculum that was far above sixth year level. There had to be something wrong with that picture, because Hufflepuffs were social butterflies (for the most part), not super intelligent beings that thrived on doing school work. It was six years too late to be thinking of it, but why was she placed here and not Ravenclaw? It didn’t make sense.
He offered her a bag of candy. Cordelia instinctively reached inside, pulling out two of the same sticks that Rubeus had just eaten. She had seen these before. Sugar wasn’t really her thing, her rush coming from the small dosage of caffeine in the tea she drank. Then again, it was late at night and she had nothing going on the following morning, so a little sugar rush to stay up later wasn’t going to kill her. Ripping the top off of the paper straw, the sugar formed a dust cloud as she tipped it into her mouth. It was amazing how dry and chalky the stuff was. While there was some flavor to it, something like grape maybe, it tasted more like chalk than anything else. “I th-think one is enough for m-me.” She reached her hand back to the bag, dropping the second stick into it.
“I m-might have to g-give a f-few of them…” There was still that time constraint though. Finding the availability to get them developed and printed to her high standards could mean somewhere close ten hours. That was without any issues. The other problem was that she didn’t know if she had anything good on her undeveloped film. Going through that process just to have nothing was a huge waste of time in a crunch like this. Hogsmeade it was then. Rubeus looked down at one of the presents, stating that his brother would probably like it. Cordelia often wondered what having siblings would have been like. They definitely wouldn’t be like her. “That’s what c-counts, right?”
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Feb 9, 2017 15:03:46 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2017 15:03:46 GMT -7
Rubeus couldn't help but snort at her reaction to the pixie stick. He was shocked at how many people actually grabbed one from him and tried them. He knew they were different, and completely bad for you, but he enjoyed them. They kept him calm when he was having anxiety or couldn't think straight. And if you asked him, he'd say he'd rather be addicted to sugar than anything else. But he found it nice that so many people were willing to try such a sugar stick. "That's alright, Delia." He laughed.
'That's a perfect idea. They're easy to wrap, and everyone loves your photos." He grinned. Rubeus knew how much work Cordelia put into her photography. He wasn't too educated on the subject, but he had a small look in of her life to see how much work it took. It wasn't just snapping a photo and you're done. Developing it took a long time, especially to get it perfect. "That is what counts, yes. I just wish I was able to get him something more, something bigger." Rubeus shrugged. His brother was a very important person in his life, and he felt bad just giving him a lousy book.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Feb 12, 2017 0:44:24 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Feb 12, 2017 0:44:24 GMT -7
@jill5 The chalky feeling from the pixie stick was still in her mouth even though she thought it was all gone. Apparently that stuff liked to get everywhere. Muggle candy was definitely strange. No wonder they didn’t live as long as magical people did. All those pixie sticks probably stunted their lifespans. Still, she smiled as Rubeus laughed. Clearly it wasn’t the first time someone had had a similar reaction to the candy. “H-How do you eat so m-many?” It was actually kind of impressive.
Everyone loved her photos? Really? There was certainly an endless amount of interest from other students whenever they saw her out taking them, but there were never a ton of inquiries about the final results, which was actually strange now that she thought about it. Were they more interested in what she was taking a picture of more than what she wanted the subject to look like? Obviously not everyone thought on the same fundamental levels of photography that she did, but it would definitely be interesting to figure out why they stopped in the first place. “S-Some are k-kind of c-cool.” For every good print, there were a dozen or so failures. That was just the nature of the medium. She was still learning after all.
Cordelia was unsure if Rubeus was making a joke about being a giant or not when he said he wished he could get his brother something bigger. Unless it was rather obvious, she wasn’t going to get it. That’s why something as ambiguous as his statement may or may not have been a joke. “I l-like to think that anything is b-better than n-nothing.” As long as his brother was a reasonable person. She didn’t know him, so she supposed anything was possible. If someone gave her a charms book, or a book in general really, she would be over the moon. It wouldn’t really matter what it was.
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Feb 12, 2017 12:27:29 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2017 12:27:29 GMT -7
"I don't really know anymore. They've been my addiction since about my second or third year. I just remember trying them from a muggleborn student and well...I never stopped." He smiled back at her, placing the empty wrappers in a nearby trash can. Most would think that it was terrible for your health to be eating such a candy, but with Rubeus', it was all different. Something he assumed had to do with his giant blood. The sugar didn't give him a rush of energy, it gave him a rush of calmness and it was incredible. "I suppose I'm just used to it now."
Rubeus knew Cordelia sometimes didn't have as great an opinion on her photos as others did, so he tried his hardest to compliment her and make her feel good about the work she did. Sometimes she tended to keep them hidden, but whenever she had them out and was looking at them, Rubeus made it obvious to go over and look at them all. She was incredibly talented, whether she'd believe it or not. "More than kind of cool, Cordelia. Amazing."
He was not making a joke about being a giant, but that would've been good of him to do! Sometimes he forgot how big he was, and the fact that he was half giant. It never really crossed his mind unless someone pointed out or he thought about how much taller he was than most students. Like right now, sitting next to Cordelia, she didn't even come up to his shoulders. He leaned back on the couch, sticking his feet out. "That's true. Thank you." Rubeus smiled genuinely, happy to have a friend such as Cordelia Smith.
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last online Apr 25, 2024 18:51:07 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Mar 1, 2017 21:35:24 GMT -7
Post by cordelia regan smith on Mar 1, 2017 21:35:24 GMT -7
@jill5 Cordelia could understand the sugar addiction thing Rubeus was explaining. In a way, wasn’t that the same as how she was with cameras and photography? Obviously one was something that was a hobby and the other a treat. “D-Does it n-not affect you?” She felt like that was a question worth asking, seeing as Rubeus had put down an ungodly amount of them. Barely being able to finish one wasn’t that impressive in her opinion, but it was a far stranger candy than anything they had in their world, moving bits and nasty flavors aside.
Rubeus complimented her photos, and she took the time to look down at her at her book in her lap, wondering if her work was really as good as everyone said they were. Not having anyone else at school to compare them to, or really help her out at all along the way, everything she did was straight out of the books. Literally. That probably made her work slightly more intriguing, not having any formal training. But did that really make her photos that much better? “Th-thanks.” She supposed it was the taking the compliments that really made her question a lot of it. Rubeus was of course sincere with everything he said, but she had trouble determining if others were like that. There were also some students that she was aware of that would have no problem lying that they liked something and turn around and say the opposite minutes later. Being practically invisible had its bonuses sometimes.
“S-So you’re staying here for b-break then?” Almost everyone seemed to be. In a weird twist of fate, she was as well. Had the notion of the tournament and a ball on Christmas been brought up to her the year prior, she would have laughed at it and said staying at Hogwarts for the holidays was silly. And yet the deadline to sign-up to go home had passed and the proper signatures from her parents had already been sent in. The mere fact that she could take pictures the entire time was what had been the draw to stay. There weren’t many opportunities like this.
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last online Apr 26, 2024 12:13:31 GMT -7
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Mar 4, 2017 8:49:41 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 8:49:41 GMT -7
"Not in the way most would think, no. They don't make me hyper or anything, they actually calm me down loads. So, when I get stressed out or need to relax I just...eat a ton of them." He smiled. It sounded terrible, as if he was on some type of drug, but of course it was just candy. Sugary candy, but candy all the same. Rubeus had always taken it as his giant blood making the reactions switch, but he'd probably never find out, so he just kept on taking them. "You're very welcome, Cordelia."
Rubeus placed a few of the wrapped items down on the floor and decided to switch to using bags; much easier. He opened a couple on the table in front of them and ripped open the tissue paper wrapping, stuffing different colors in each bag. "I am staying, yes. My brother's been traveling to different countries for work, and my mum and dad are in France...I supposed I'd just give them this Christmas to themselves for once." Rubeus smiled. He didn't mind; he loved his parents and wanted them to know so, even if that meant spending a large Holiday on his own at school.
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