Ruth is the youngest of the Ash triplets. Born only three minutes after her sisters, Ruth has always been the odd one out.
She's been invisible all her life.
She's been stuck in the shadows of her sisters throughout her five years at Hogwarts. She...
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Soon the year 1994 was over, and the students and staff at Hogwarts were thrown into 1995. The new year brought a chance to change, to forget old problems and focus on the new.
Ruth didn't forget her old problems. She had now made it her life mission to ignore Fred Weasley as much as possible. She began dreading Herbology class, more than usual, because she'd come face to face with the ginger boy.
When the first Wednesday of the year rolled around, Ruth did not make her way to the library at 12pm. Instead she returned to the Gryffindor common room, and spent her free period in her dorm, Herbology books out.
Ruth did feel bad when the dorm clock read 12:30pm. She had, in dating terms, stood Fred up and the guilt was starting to settle in. Perhaps he was still waiting for her in the library, coming up with different reasons as to why Ruth was so late. Maybe Ruth should go to him, with a laugh and an apologetic smile...
Ruth shook her head violently, as if to scold herself. This time next year she would be preparing for her N.E.W.Ts. She needed to start taking her studies seriously, and Fred wasn't helping her with that.
Ruth dived into her books, using a quill to write down anything she thought seemed important. She ended up writing most of the textbook down on a piece of parchment.
After she had basically rewritten the entire chapter on Snargaluffs, Ruth held up her piece of parchment proudly, as if to display it to the world.
Ruth's smile faded when she began to read the words.
She didn't understand a single thing.
Ruth groaned in exasperation, throwing the parchment harshly, and feeling annoyed when the page slowly drifted to the floor. She threw herself back onto her bed, feeling defeated.
A tapping on the window made Ruth jumped. She eyed the owl she didn't recognise that was asking to be let into the room. Ruth rose from her bed and opened the window, letting the Hogwarts owl in.
The letter tied to the animals neck was addressed to Ruth. She took it off the owl, full of curiosity. The owl flew back out the window as soon as the letter was detached.
Ruth unrolled the letter, unsure as to who in Hogwarts would be messaging her.
I'm at the bottom of the girls' dorms stairs and I have snacks. Help me up. -Casp
Ruth smiled and moved quickly out of the room. Indeed, she saw Casper at the bottom of the staircase, with a brown paper bag.
"I wanted to surprise you but the stairs turn into a slide whenever a boy tries to climb them," Casper explained. "Levitate me up."
Ruth chuckled before pointing her wand at her best friend. Muttering the levitation spell, Casper glided over the steps of the staircase and landed beside Ruth.
"You missed lunch," Casper informed her as they moved into the dorm.
"I did?" Ruth checked the clock to see that two hours had passed since she began her 'study'. "Guess I lost track of time."
"Well I thought you'd be hungry," Casper said, holding out the bag to her, before eyeing the endless amount of parchment on her bed. "What are you studying?"
"What do you think?" Ruth sighed.
"How was your tutor session?" Casper asked.
Ruth shrugged. "I didn't go."
Casper's eyes widened. "What?"
"I didn't go," Ruth repeated innocently. "I stayed up here and tried to learn something, but it didn't work."
Casper smiled. "Here, I can help," he said, sitting on Ruth's bed and patting the space beside him, inviting Ruth to join him.
Ruth nodded and settled herself next to him. She watched as Casper flipped back to the start of the chapter.
"Don't tell me you're that childish," Casper asked, pointing at the picture of Tilden Toots.
"Fred," was Ruth's brief reply. Casper only sighed and began going through the chapter.
Ruth listened to every word Casper said and took down any key words and notes that Casper said we're important.
"Ok then," Casper said after they'd been studying for almost an hour. "Question time!"
Ruth groaned. "Go easy on me."
Casper chuckled. "How do you safely extract a Snargaluff pod?"
"Never do it alone," Ruth began. "Two or three people is best. The vines must be held tightly while someone reaches into the stump and gently grab onto the Snargaluff pod."
Casper broke into an applause. "Now was that so hard?"
Ruth smiled but in reality, it was hard. Terribly hard. She was glad when Casper didn't ask her another question, as she knew she wouldn't know the answer to any other one.
Ruth learned a bit from Casper, she'll admit. Much more then she ever could from Fred. But she didn't have as much fun with her study time with Casper then she did with Fred.
It pained her to think that, and she felt extremely guilty as Casper tried his best to help her, while all she wanted to do was have fun with Fred again.
