A Little Reading (for Miles)

Blake made his way into the library, breathing a sigh of relief as its solace washed over him. It had become a place of retreat for Blake in recent weeks when the common room had become too crowded for him or things got on top of him. Blake enjoyed reading, but it was never encouraged in the muggle world, he was actually given out to for showing any promise. Plus, since he was constantly moving he never had the opportunity to join a library and he never had the resources to buy his own books. Here, Blake had a multitude of books to read from and he was taking advantage of it. He made his way over to the fiction section, knowing he would have plenty of time to read the non-fiction with all the study he would be doing throughout his years at Hogwarts. Or not, Blake thought moodily to himself. He had only started at Hogwarts and already felt so far behind, he hadn't come from a wizarding background, or any form of background come to think of it and he had no family to write to and ask for support. That was why Blake's visits to the library had become more frequent in recent days. He hated mornings at breakfast when a parliament of owls would come flying in and the morning chatter would be about news from home. Blake never felt more alone and never had any conversation to contribute, so he did what he knew best and retreated into his shell, snapping at people and being moody. He didn't know why he acted like that, but he couldn't help it.

Blake sighed in exasperation to himself, as he scanned the shelves. His eyes rested on the sports section and his face lit up. He had enjoyed sports in the muggle world, it was always a comforting outlet and he had heard many people talking about a wizarding sport. It seemed as popular as football was back home. Blake ran his fingers along the binds, his finger resting on a colourful book; Quidditch through the ages. "This looks interesting." He muttered to himself as he stood on the tips of his toes to grab it off the shelf. With the book in hand he proceeded off to the nearest desk to begin reading and forget the happiness of the other students currently breakfast.

Miles was gathering up books to take back the books and the last set went to the sports section. As he walked by he saw a student sitting at a desk seemingly glued to a book. Walking up to him and saw he was reading about quidditch. It had been one of his favorite sports in school. "Hey there are you enjoying your book?" he asked the young boy.

Blake jumped as he was approached by an adult. Great some old dude was talking to him now. He wondered if he kept reading would he leave him alone, but he knew that he should at least acknowledge him. He raised his eye line and made slight eye contact with the man and noticed that it was in fact the librarian or some library assistant that was talking to him. Blake didn't know the staff around Hogwarts, but he had seen him working in the library before.

"Yeah." Blake shrugged and returned his gaze to his book, wondering if that would suffice enough as a conversation. He was also wondering why the guy was talking to him, he hoped he wasn't taking pity on him or anything stupid like that. That was the last thing he needed!