Reading Requirements (Mike Shay)

[Rayne DiCostas]

Rayne had her book bag slung over her shoulder, and a decent sized stack of books sitting next to her.

She was sitting on the floor, cross legged, in front of one shelf, hers index finger running across the spines of the books as she read their titles. She had started out with the intent of getting all of the required reading for that ridiculous essay Rothschild had given them. Indeed, 3/4 of her stack of books were the ones he had written on the board.

The other 1/4, however, and the books she was skimming over now, were distractions. She had run across a section in the library she had never seen before just on the bottom shelf of the History of Magic section that discussed muggles in the wizarding world. It intrigued her, and now her homework assignment was forgotten for now.

She wasn't sure why the topic was so intriguing to her. She knew that they had spells to encourage muggles away from anything wizarding, and they did well at keeping themselves hidden, but appearantly, there were a rare few who made it past the spells, who wandered into the Leaky Couldron, one who even made it onto the field during a Quidditch Match.

Maybe it wasn't that fascinating at all, and was just keeping her from brooding about the detention she had gotten in Dueling, or the impossibly long essay she still had to finish.

She ran a hand through her fiery red hair, pulling out a book and opening it to the middle. The library was nearly empty today, and even still, she didn't bother to look up when she heard footsteps come and go.

[mike]

Mike had only been at the school for a few days, yet he had learned more than he had at his old school. For one, you should never, ever cross the Slytherins. Another was that you had to always make sure you were seated near the Shepherd's Pie on the nights that it was served, or else you'd be left with nothing - the other kids were just that hungry. Lastly, he had learned that when you were assigned a major essay for one of your classes, you had to go and get the books almost as soon as class had ended, or else you were going to regret it. He was in the process of learning that lesson right now.

He had assumed that he would have been able to just get the books as soon as he could, which would be after all of his classes had ended. But when Mike had gotten to the Library, he had found that nearly all of the books on the subject of the essay had been taken out already. He had searched high and low, and had only come up with one tattered book that hardly even mentioned what the essay was on. There was one sentence that made an offhand remark concerning the task at hand, and that didn't help him one bit. He was starting to feel a bit desperate, as he did a second sweep of the Library.

The other kids in his class couldn't have already made it to all of the books, could they have? Of course, the Professor had given the same assignment to another class, that had been held earlier, so that might have contributed to the lack of subject-related material. Mike had gone over to the librarian and asked if she could help him, but apparently, she was just as clueless as to where all of the books had gone as he was. He could truthfully say that he had never had such a problem at his old school. When an assignment was given, it was normally given weeks in advance, so that the students could have enough time to get it together.

Not to mention that Mike had been one of the only people at the entire school who was concerned about his grades at all. He wasn't one of those incredibly smart guys who was constantly being praised for his excellent work, but he tried. He tried hard. The other students would just skim over the material, and get a somewhat okay grade, and he would get a fairly good grade, but still. The kids in his class were never particularly bothered by the fact that most of them weren't getting the grades that their parents wanted, yet he was the one who was always freaking out about turning a report in or getting an essay back.

Mike turned a corner, not paying very much attention, and went sprawling over a stack of books and a backpack that were laying on the ground. A second later he was scrambling up and apologizing profusely to the red haired girl who was sitting next to the books and reading another one. As he bent down to help her collect them, he apologized even more. "I'm so sorry, really, I should've been paying attention. I'm a right clumsy git at times, and I hope I didn't interrupt you." He gathered the books into a neat pile, and then stood back up, giving her a small smile and hoping she didn't think badly of him now.

[Rayne DiCostas]

"Hey!" Rayne exclaimed, angrily, as her books went scattering across the isle. "How hard is it to walk with your eyes open?" she hissed, not even considering that those words were a little harsh.

This was a base reaction. She wouldn't have put it above some bored Slytherin to do it on purpose, or some clumsy first or second year who wasn't watching what they were doing. She grabbed three books before realizing this student was doing the same, and she finally looked up, really only catching the second half of his apology.

It was that apology, coupled with the yellow in his tie, that made her stop and take a mental step back. It was an accident, and the way the boy was apologizing so profusely only proved it. She ran a hand through her hair again, feeling like a right... well, it rhymed with witch.

"Stop," she said, putting her hands on the books he had gathered up for her. "It's okay. No harm done. I'm sorry I snapped at you." She rolled her eyes at herself. "I probably shouldn't be blocking the whole isle anyway, so I'll take the blame."

[mike]

Mike winced as the girl harshly berated him. He couldn't blame her. If it had been him in the aisle, reading, and someone had just come along and knocked his books out of his way...well, he probably wouldn't have said anything, to be honest. He would have been apologizing, whether it had been someone like him who had just taken a wrong turn and fallen, or if it where a Slytherin who was just having some fun and kicking his books around for a laugh. He never liked to make an argument with anyone, not unless it was something that really needed to be argued about - like when his brother, Mark, decided that it would be great fun to go and break his new broomstick.

"I-I'm sorry, really. I should've b-been watching out." he stuttered. He hated when he stuttered. It was only when he was facing an angry parent for something that Mark had done, or when someone was yelling at him that he stuttered, and made him sound more than stupid. As if it weren't enough that Mike was shy, and a bit...well, maybe dorky would be the right word here, he had to go and stutter. It was really no wonder at all that he was sixteen years old and he didn't have a girlfriend. He didn't look half bad, nor was he stupid, but it was just the fact that he sounded so...dorky, was the right word again.

Mike stopped collecting the books as the girl put her hand on the top, and looked up to meet her eyes. He could tell that she was regretting her words a bit, and he smiled a bit more. "Well, it wasn't really your fault...like you said, I should've been watching where I was going." He stood up, looking down at her. He felt a bit awkward, feeling that introductions were needed. "I'm Mike, by the way. Mike Shay." he said, before catching the title of the book she was reading. "Oh, you find Muggles interesting too? My grandfather's a Muggle enthusiast, so I grew up hearing about them."

[Rayne DiCostas]

That was where Rayne differed from him entirely. Anyone who knew her knew that she was always up for a confrontation. She had the added benefit of being girl, and girls just liked to pick fights sometimes. Whatever excuse she used, staying quiet and avoiding an argument was never her style.

"Stop," Rayne said again, smiling now. "Stop apologizing. It's fine, really." She really did regret what she had said, and the more he apologized, the more she regretted it. Rayne very rarely regretted her words, no matter what kind of trouble they got her in.

She widened her smile, hoping to show Mike that she was actually a very nice person. She got to her knees and stood up, extending her hand as he introduced himself. Mike Shay... it was a simple, unassuming name, that she supposed fit him well. Whereas her name was as loud and obnoxious as she was. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mike. My name is Rayne," she said, leaving her last name out on purpose, since he'd probably forget it anyway.

His next words made her look down at the book she had been skimming, then back up at him. "I'm guessing that makes you a pureblood, then?" She asked. She din't answer his question. Yes, she was interested in muggles, but only because she had been raised as one. For all she knew, she could have been one of those muggles who stumbled upon wizards. She doubted it, but not knowing her parents gave her the right to make up stories about being a lost princess, or a rare, special muggle.

[mike]

Mike smiled again at Rayne, feeling rather at ease now that he knew that she wasn't angry at him for knocking over her books and disturbing her afternoon reading. "Well...okay. But I thought I might go on apologizing for a few more moments, if you'd let me." Now that he had met Rayne, and they had been introduced, he was relaxing a bit. Whenever he first met someone, or they hadn't yet been introduced to each other, he always felt a bit nervous. Like they were judging him, and that if he didn't pass their test, they couldn't be friends. Not that he wanted to be friends with everyone, nor that everyone wanted to be friends with him.

Mike was practically a new person once the introductions were done and over with. Before, he was a stuttering, dorky kid who just couldn't stop apologizing. Now, he was smiling and laughing and even making a few jokes. It was almost as though he had done a 180 from his previous 'personality.' More than once had Mark joked around and told his younger brother that he had some sort of bipolar disorder, only to have his brother believe him and freak out. He was rather gullible, and he never really seemed to learn. If Mark told him that there was a snake in the bed, even if it was for the fifth time, he would still refuse to go in his room until it was checked out.

He shook Rayne's hand, chuckling as she stood up on her knees in order to shake his hand. He wasn't all that tall, maybe five foot seven, or five foot eight. Nor was he that muscular in build. A few muscles from playing Quidditch here and there, but nothing that would stand up to those guys who regularly worked out and went to the gym. "Rayne? That's a really pretty name." he offered, before taking his hand back and running it through his black hair, causing it to stick up. "How do you spell that? R-A-I-N? Or something different? R-A-Y-N-E? I'm sorry, I don't really know.

"Oh, look, there I go, apologizing again. I guess I just can't help myself." Mike said, with another smile, and a playful look in his eyes. For all of his dorkiness and shyness, he really did have a fun, playful side to him. "Yep, a Pureblood. I can't be all too sure on that, since I don't know if my great-grandparents are Pure, but I bet they are. And it doesn't even matter, does it?" He sounded a bit challenging now. "Because blood doesn't really matter, just the person, yeah?" He hated when people had to judge others on their blood, but it sounded like Rayne was just asking him a question.

[Rayne DiCostas]

She smiled at his joke, not expecting it, but deciding right then that Mike was a decent guy. She also liked the complete turn around in his personality, since he seemed more at ease now. Then again, her yelling at him had probably been what put him on edge in the first place.

Rayne's eyes widened a bit as she listened to him. He knew how to talk, that was for sure. Not that she minded. It made him seem extra friendly, especially after she had just insulted him for knocking into her things. Which, she mentally berated herself, wasn't even that big of a deal.

"No, you have it," She said to her name. "R-a-y-n-e. I might have changed it had my parents spelled it like the weather," she said with a little laugh, and his apology made her laugh again.

"No, I guess you can't help yourself," she agreed. "But I promise... there's no need to apologize."

She sank back to the floor at that hint of a challange in his voice, and it made her want to challange him right back, except for the fact that she completely agreed with him. "Relax," she said. "I'm not some pureblood elitist. I am in Gryffindor, after all."

[mike]

Mike grinned at Rayne, before gesturing at the floor, his way of asking if he could sit down. He sat across from her, drawing his knees up to his chest, and resting his arms on them. "I think I might've changed my name if it was spelled that way, as well. Thank God my mum didn't decide to have some sort of weird, sentimental moment and name me Thor or Atticus or any name like that. I like Mike. It rather suits me, don't you think? I mean, it's not one of those pompus names that just screams out 'Look at me!' nor does it suggest anything more than who I am. Just Mike." he concluded, cocking his head and looking at the books beside her.

"I promise I'll try to refrain from any more apologizing in the future, anyway." Mike said, amiably, before looking at the watch on his right wrist and rotating it around so that the face was upwards. More to have something to do with his hands, rather than to check the time. He could care less what time it was, really. He had all night to sit and talk. Then, he adjusted his yellow tie, untying it completely and letting it lay around his shoulders. "Well, that is true. But how would I know? You could be some sort of secret Slytherin, for all I know." he said, teasingly. As if. She seemed too nice.

[Rayne DiCostas]

She couldn't tell if he was talking so much because he was nervous, or he just normally purged his words like this. He seemed rather laid back, so she assume it was the latter, and she was fine with that. It was sort of refreshing, if she were completely honest.

"Mike is a strong name," she told him, tilting her head to the side. He was an enigma, she decided, choosing the word carefully. He spoke like he was nervous, acted calm. He checked his watch, like he'd rather be anywhere by right there with her at that moment, but then again, he had sat down on the floor with her. "Are you telling me my name is weird, sentimental, and or pompous?" She asked, half teasing him.

She ran a hand through her hair again, a habit that she did anytime, whether she was nervous, anxious, or completely relaxed. His words made her laugh, and when she laughed genuinely, it was a pretty, amost melodic sound. "Darn, you caught me. I'm an undercover Slytherin. However did you guess?"

[mike]

Mike smiled at Rayne again; she was one of those girls that had that air about her that told people that they couldn't mess with her, or there would be consequences. There seemed to be a lot of girls around the castle like that, but she also seemed to have something about her that made him relax - like he knew that she wasn't about to attack him or anything, unlike a few of the other girls around the castle who decided that picking on him for his shyness was fun. But they were mostly Slytherins, and when they attempted to goad him into arguments, he just walked away. He wasn't going to be stupid enough to challenge a Slytherin to a duel.

"It's got character, I suppose, but that depends on who's wearing it. A guy like me with the name sort of makes it a bit...weak, eh? But a guy who's older, wiser, stronger, he can make it sound all the better." Mike said, slowly drawing out his words in an attempt to get across the point he was thinking of. He sometimes had difficulty trying to explain to people what was going on in his head, and he had become rather accustomed to saying things slowly so that he could mull over what they meant in his mind. It had started when he was younger and his mother claimed that she had no idea what he meant half the time, and escalated from there.

Mike considered Rayne's question for a moment. "No, I'm saying that it fits you well. You just look like a Rayne, you know? But the R-A-Y-N-E kind, not the R-A-I-N kind." And she did. He wouldn't have expected someone like her to be named Mary or Eileen or anything half-way normal; but most of the girls around the school didn't seem to be named anything normal. It appeared that not many of the other students had names like him and Mark, names that could easily be lost in a sea of other Mikes and Marks. "I have my ways." he told her, mock-seriously, before running a hand through his own hair and causing it to stick up in messy spikes.

[Rayne DiCostas]

"What?" Molly asked, frowning at Mike's assesment of his own name. "I don't know you that well, but I hardly think you make your name weak. Why do you think that?" Sure, as a name, Mike was nothing like Hercules or Thor or anything quite so commanding, but she thought it had a nice, quiet strength to it. One of those ordinary names that extraordinary people could hide behind.

She shrugged, allowing them to turn to her own name. "No difference, really. I still get all the thunder and lightning jokes anyway." Though her personality added to that a lot, too. She didn't mind. She liked having a personality that people commented on. She liked be the center of attention, even if she went about it a different way than most.

[mike]

Mike shrugged, looking somewhat apologetic as she went on to talk about his name. Normally, he would refrain from saying anything that might cause a potential debate, but it seemed that his offhand remark about his own name was some sort of fodder for Rayne's cannon. Not one for confrontation, he seemed to shrink back a bit. "I dunno. Admit it. You think of a guy named Mike as some huge, Muggle-bouncer type guy, don't you?" That's normally what people said when they found out his name was Mike. Something along the lines of 'Oh, you don't look like a Mike' or 'Mike? Really, well, that's interesting.'

"Thunder and lightening jokes? Let me try to come up with one of those right now." Mike said, pretending to think. He gave up after half a second and then shook his head. "Okay, officially stumped. What sort of lightening and thunder jokes do people like to tell you, in accordance with your name?" He may have been in Hufflepuff, but anyone who was around him for more than five seconds would soon understand that he liked to use 'big' words. He supposed he was a lot different from Rayne, even more so than he originally thought. He would do anything to stay out of the center of attention.

[Rayne DiCostas]

Rayne shrugged. "Actually, when I think of a Mike, I think of a skinny, lanky kind of guy." There she went again... she really had to start thinking before she said things. "And look at you. You've got some muscles, so you've already exceeded my expectations."

She waved away the joke bit. "I don't, honestly. Very few of them are actually clever, and I don;t pay attention anyway, so I forget them." She left out the part that anyone who made a joke about her name only ever did it once. She put stop to them immidiately, and that air about her that Mike noticed, the one that told people not to mess with her? Mike wasn't the only one that noticed it. She was a spitfire at times that was for sure. "Mike's good though. You can't really make any jokes with Mike, can you?"