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Post by Nieve Ramírez on Nov 20, 2018 16:27:39 GMT -5
Astronomy is easily Nieve's favourite class; she enjoys all of her other classes as well, of course, but there’s a quiet beauty to the stars that can take her breath away. Even with the sleepy grumbling of her classmates surrounding her, the night air feels so serene as Nieve inhales deeply. Most of the other fifth years will be dropping the class at the first opportunity, especially those who always complain about having to be awake at midnight just to look at the sky, but Nieve has already decided that this will be one of her NEWT subjects. There isn’t enough beauty in the world around her sometimes, and the freezing cold Highlands may be undeniably beautiful but Nieve truly misses the Spanish sun as she shivers and huddles further into her thick cloak. She has her cloak, a scarf, gloves, and a warming charm; she couldn’t be bundled up in more layers if she tried and yet she’s still shaking with the bitter November cold.
“Why is it so cold,” Nieve whines under her breath, sending an envious sideways glance at Gabriel, whom doesn’t seem to be suffering from the icy wind at all. Some of the other professors seem to have adopted Hawthorne's practice of pairing her and Gabriel together during classes; they’ve been partnered in Transfiguration, DADA, and now Astronomy already this year. Nieve had once asked Hawthorne why and the professor had laughed and told her it was because Nieve could be trusted not to throw herself at Gabriel and cause a distraction. Nieve thinks that’s rather more a case of her having the class and good breeding that Gabriel's usual girlfriends apparently lack, which she had felt it better not to say to her professor, but at least it means she’s doing a good job of hiding her crush on the boy.
“Oh, oh!” Nieve tips her head back with a bright smile, long dark hair tumbling down her back as she stares up at the sky. “Look!” She nudges Gabriel to get his attention, dark brown eyes reflecting the firelight from the lamps illuminating the Astronomy tower as she points to the shooting star crossing the sky above them. “Make a wish,” she prompts delightedly. “Quickly, before it disappears!”
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Post by Rister Graas S6 on Nov 20, 2018 16:48:55 GMT -5
Gabriel laughs quietly at Nieve's mutterings. It is chilly as winter hasn't quite set in yet, but that just makes it all the more better when they do get to go back inside and wrap their hands around a hot drink. Besides Gabriel has been in fare more uncomfortable and chillier conditions during his photo shoots. And he still doesn't quite understand who thought that it's wise to shoot swimwear and summer outfits in winter, because it means a lot of shivering models who will need regular breaks to warm up to not visible shudder on every photo. Of course it doesn't hurt that he is properly dressed for the occasion.
“Hm?” Gabriel asks, tilting his head to get the same line of sight as Nieve to catch sight of the shooting star. He doesn't entirely believe in wishing on shooting stars and they are supposed to watching Orion's belt instead, but then he has never really said no to Nieve. So he obligingly tilts his face up towards the sky, closes his eye and makes a wish. No harm in it. “Well, we'll see how that works, I suppose,” he murmurs to Nieve with a fond smile.
“Now I wouldn't presume to ask, but I think I can make at least one of your wishes come true,” he murmurs back, handing his telescope for Nieve to hold before undoing the silly one clasp holding the regulation Hogwarts cloak closed – and really not doing that job well – and then the leather jacket he had underneath. Tossing the jacket over Nieve's shoulders, Gabriel shrugs into the cloak again – there isn't that much of the class left and he does have a thick warm cable-knit jumper in Slytherin green underneath so that will serve him well enough. “You need leather to cut the wind,” he murmurs with a grin, adjusting the shoulders onf his jacket to fit better on Nieve's shoulder. With the fabric to keep the icy wind at bay and the additional warming spells woven into the lining of the jacket, it should keep her from getting a cold at least.
“Should I just get you a pair of gloves for Christmas as well, so that you'd stop stealing mine?” Gabriel teases in a soft murmur as he reaches over to take his telescope back. “My gloves are in the pockets, if you want them,” he concedes on the next breath however.
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Post by Nieve Ramírez on Nov 20, 2018 17:48:10 GMT -5
Nieve watches Gabriel as he makes his wish, her expression unwittingly softening into open affection. The other Slytherins in the class are all otherwise occupied with what they,re actually supposed to be doing; there’s no way Nieve would ever permit herself to be so unguarded otherwise. Slytherin is a hard House sometimes, and it feels all the harder this year now that her sister has graduated. Larisa was Head Girl last year, after years of being a Ravenclaw prefect and the perfect daughter and role model, so they hadn’t been able to spend much time together but Nieve misses her older sister fiercely. Larisa is beautiful and elegant in a way that Nieve will never be able to match but she also has a brilliant mind and a droll sense of humour that never fails to make people laugh. Natalia is a first year now, a new addition to the Slytherin House, but an eleven year old cousin just isn’t the same as an older sister. Besides, Natalia has to carve out her own place here; their family name has much greater status in Spain, naturally, but they have enough standing in England too that the worst of the hazing has passed her cousin by. A good bloodline and a pretty face are attributes worth having in many ways, not least the thin veneer of protection they offer under the right circumstances.
“I hope it comes true,” she murmurs lowly, a flash of humour brightening her eyes. “Especially if you wished for warmer weather. How the Scots cope with this weather, I'll never understand. I’d take even a Galician winter over this.”
“Oh, but you'll freeze!” Nieve protests futilely, even as she can’t quite help but to huddle further into the blessed warmth of Gabriel's jacket and the residual body heat clinging to the leather. Between his proximity as he fixes the jacket around her shoulders and the subtle scent that she can only identify as simply Gabriel, Nieve's breath hitches and she finds herself silently thankful for the olive complexion which masks the blush she can feel warming her cheeks. “You’re going to get cold,” she tells him weakly, holding his gaze for a few moments before deliberately flicking a glance over his shoulder, “and your girlfriends don’t seem best pleased,” she adds dryly. “I suppose I had best start keeping a shield up for a few days until their ire dies down.” The sharp reminder of Gabriel's fanbase is sufficient to cut through the illusion of intimacy that Nieve had allowed herself to build in her head; their glares bring her back down to earth neatly and force her to remember both that Gabriel is not and never has been interested in her and that she shouldn’t want him to be. She knows his reputation and she isn’t foolish enough to offer her heart up to him as a new toy.
“I have gloves,” Nieve comments glumly and holds her hands out as proof. Granted, the gloves are fingerless because they often have to track the movement of stars and planets during class and Nieve thinks it unbearably difficult and clumsy to sketch with thick gloves on. Still, she has gloves and warming charms are woven into the fabric. “It’s not my clothing that’s the issue,” she decides firmly, “it's this hideous Scottish winter. Five years and I still can’t get used to it. I must be mad, voluntarily choosing to continue with Astronomy for the next two years!”
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Post by Rister Graas S6 on Dec 27, 2018 9:19:45 GMT -5
“I like snow, so I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of it,” Gabriel counters cheerfully, “That's the one bad thing about home – we never get that storybook white Christmas.” Gabriel merely smiles fondly at Nieve as she snuggles into the jacket, not really bothered by the cold. He's always been fairly warm-blooded. Enough so to be made fun of by his brothers. “I don't have a girlfriend and I'm sure you'll be fine. And do let me know if anyone crosses the line – I don't like seeing anyone hurt because of me,” is all he says though, raising an eye-brow at Nieve and carefully pitching his tone to be heard near-by as well. After all, the Graas brothers don't make a secret of the fact they flirt – with the exception of Damon now – but they also make sure to take the brunt of any jealousy themselves. And ensure that if anyone crosses the line out of jealousy, it will mean absolutely no further association with not only the brother they were jealous off but of all Graas brothers. The lesson had been taught sharply a couple of times and had made it's impact pretty well.
“I'm glad to hear you have gloves though, because that means I can steal Gabs',” Jared interjects, joining the pair and sliding his arms around Nieve to fish the gloves out of the pockets of Gabriel's pockets betfore retreating a step to pull them on, “I'm with you. It's cold. I think Gabs is just suffering from some sort of serious affliction. Both mental and physical.” Jared merely grins in response to Gabriel's scowl, keeping on the other side of Nieve with ease to keep his brother from kicking him.
“You didn't forget we're heading out after class, did you?” Jared simply asks him, raising an unimpressed eyebrow when Gabriel blinks, clearly having forgotten. "Although I note that I didn't get a gallant jacket from him. Must be because he's jealous for me getting all the good looks in the family," Jared continued in a mock-whisper meant to be heard to Nieve, ignoring Gabriel's scowl even as he put on his best smile, "Nieve, pretty, sweet, lovely, Nieve? May I beg you to keep my notebook overnight? I can't be bothered to haul it with me."
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Post by Nieve Ramírez on Feb 15, 2019 17:08:58 GMT -5
“Snow,” Nieve scorns with a wrinkle of her nose. “The idea of snow is pretty but in reality it's all muddy slush and unbearably cold temperatures. I'm the only acceptable variation of snow, and anyone who thinks otherwise deserves the frostbite that they'll doubtlessly contract from their beloved snowflakes.” Her cousins all think it's hilarious, that Nieve is named for snow yet can't stand the frosty weather required to actually produce it. Not that the majority of them fare any better, of course. For all that Nieve and her siblings, and dozens of their cousins, have attended a British school, their bloodline is wholly Spanish. It's been many generations since a male Ramírez from the main branch of the family married outside of their country. Countless times during her childhood, Nieve traced a fingertip along her family tree during her lessons and marvelled at the sheer number of ancestors who came before her. Family is important. Even now, she could probably recite the last ten generations of her bloodline if she had to.
Nieve fixes Gabriel with a wry smile, one eyebrow arched high. “You have many girlfriends,” she corrects quietly. “They are all very pretty to look at and I'm sure they're excellent conversationalists also, but there are a great many of them and they often seem to be of a jealous nature. I do not, however,” she continues with a shrug of her shoulder, “require any protection from them.” Nieve doesn’t raise her voice while making her point but neither does she bother to hush herself to a whisper. This is not a secret, to be muttered in dark corners. This is mere fact and she allows the arrogant smirk which curves her lips and makes her eyes glimmer darkly. “They are very pretty and numerous,” she repeats because that also is true, no matter how much jealousy it stirs within her sometimes, “but I have yet to see any of them act in a way which would give me cause to believe that they could outmatch me in a duel. Should that change however,” Nieve adds with a sly smile, “please do give me fair warning that there may be an adequate challenger for the right to wear your jacket to avoid freezing to death.”
She stiffens almost imperceptibly at the feel of someone's arms around her, her expression sharpening at the idea of someone taking such a liberty without permission, before relaxing at the realisation that it's Gabriel's brother. Nieve isn’t partnered in class with Jared the way she so often is with Gabriel but she knows enough of him to have faith that he was raised correctly. He has better manners than to lay hands on a girl unless he's been allowed to do so. Other teenage boys haven't necessarily been raised to the same standard. “It's horrifically cold,” she confirms mournfully, and promptly snuggles even more deeply into the warmth of Gabriel's jacket. “I think my fingers and toes might be turning blue.”
“I suppose it must be something along those lines,” Nieve agrees with a laugh. “The good looks, the musical talent, the ability to register freezing cold temperatures. He's certainly lacking in some of those areas.” The Graas boys are heading out on an adventure of some description, she concludes with some degree of envy. It's been a very long time since Nieve was considered young enough to have freedom to create small adventures for herself. She's too old now for scraped knees, splinters, and unforgettably sweet encounters with other young adventurers in a field. “I am indeed all of those things,” she acknowledges with amusement, “and I suppose I am sweet and lovely enough to take charge of your belongings until tomorrow. Am I to take yours as well, Gabriel?”
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