Doing Research While Meeting Someone New (Tag Audrey)

It had become a usual habit for Jim now to browse through the library and see if he could find any new books on werewolves. People who had been watching him for the past few weeks would probably think that he was just really interested in the subject. But those who knew what he was knew that he was searching for answers to his big questions: Could werewolves be in long-term relationships? Were there any precautions they could take so they wouldn't hurt anyone during their transformations? Was there any way for them to gain control over what they did? So far, Jim hadn't found any answers. But he kept hoping he would. He brought a few books to a nearby desk, opened one, and started skimming through it.

Audrey grumbled after the librarian scolded her for popping her gum in the library. It wasn't like it was that loud. She was forced to spit it out if she wanted to stay in the library.

She went farther into the library and sat down at a table near another table that one student was at. She immediately put another piece of gum in her mouth and started chewing it.

She pulled out her Ancient Runes book to study. She glanced over at the table next to her and saw as the guy was flipping a page, a picture of a werewolf.

She gave a low whistle, careful not to be be too loud. "Doing a paper on Werewolves or something?" She asked, having her own interest in the supernatural creatures that were apart of their world.

{OOC: Sorry, didn't know how else to start it for her XD}

Jim jumped at the sudden sound of a voice. He had been so engrossed in the book that he hadn't noticed someone taking the seat across from him. Jeez, I really need to start paying more attention to these things so I don't get a heart attack when they talk to me, he thought. That was Jim for you. Get him startled and he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest like a jack in the box. "Um, more of a personal interest, really," he said. "They're always a subject in...Defense Against the Dark Arts and stuff, and...I just thought it would be an interesting thing to look into." Great. Now he wounded like a dork. So much for good first impressions. "I assume you don't read Ancient Runes for fun?" he asked, judging by the look on her face as she read her book. Ancient Runes could be a difficult subject and not many passed it without studying a lot.

Audrey couldn't help but chuckle a little when he jumped. "Didn't mean to make you jump out of your skin." Audrey said, slightly apologizing.

"The tales of werewolves are pretty cool, same with vampires. Have you looked up that book that lists all the known werewolves? Pretty cool seeing who's was or is a werewolf." She said, figuring he'd seen the book already.

Audrey shrugged about him asking about Ancient Runes. "I like it all right, not something you get a thrill out of, but interesting to know." She said, as she looked back down at her book.

She blew a bubble, before quietly popping it. "Want some gum?" She asked, pulling out a stick of gum.

"No, no, it's not your fault," Jim assured her. "I just...get too absorbed in what I'm doing sometimes. Bad habit of mine." He cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah, I glanced at that. It was a bit interesting." It didn't have much info on their personal lives, but it was a little comforting to Jim to see that there were a good number of people knew what he was going through. He just wished there was someone at Hogwarts who could understand as well. But it looked like he was the only werewolf here. "Oh, sure. Thanks." He reached for a piece of gum and popped it into his mouth. "Good thing we're out of class. I've seen some who wave their wands and make the gum fly right out of the person's mouth." He laughed a little.

Audrey leaned back in her seat, propping her knees against the edge of the table. She loved the fact that she wore pants instead of skirts. "Ha, yeah, had that happen to me once, now I'm just not as "showy" for lack of a better term when I chew in class." She said, smirking as she put up the rest of her gum.

"Anything in particular about werewolves you're looking for?" She asked, knowing when she's interested in something, she'd find every detail about the subject, like with Quidditch.

"Ouch." Jim winced in sympathy. "Well, I can't say I've had the same experience, but I have had teacher threaten to turn me into a frog if I fall asleep in class again. They probably wouldn't do it since they're not allowed, but who knows?" He shrugged. "Just looking for...their personal lives, really. I mean, yeah, we hear about how horrible the curse is, how they get grey hairs early, how if they turn someone else they live with the guilt forever, but...that can't be what they're all about, right? I mean, did these werewolves ever have friends? Romantic relationships? Kids? I want to find that kind of stuff."

"Hmm... they don't write about that a lot, do they?" She asked, tilting her head to the right in thought.

After a moment, Audrey smirked a little. "Sounds like a fun challenge." She said, before standing up.

"Got anyone else helping you search?" She asked, wanting to know how many people were looking.

Audrey wanted to help too? Well, that was nice. Jim hadn't expected her to be so excited about the subject, even though she saw it as a challenge while he saw it as very important personal matters. But he couldn't exactly tell all that stuff to Audrey now. She'd probably avoid him at all costs. "Um, my girlfriend's helping me, but that's about it," Jim said. That was true enough. Evaine was also pouring over books to find any useful information on werewolves that could help him out.

"Well, now you got me to help also." She said, before heading over to the shelves. She started pulling some books that had a mention of a werewolf in it.

She walked back over to the table with a few books in her arms. "You gotta list of what books you looked at already?" She asked, wanting to make sure she didn't look in the same book twice.

Jim blinked as Audrey went to get more books. This was getting interesting. Did Audrey normally do this for people she had just met? Either way, he was grateful for her help. "Um, yeah, I think I have it...somewhere..." He dug around in his satchel for a moment before picking out a wrinkly piece of parchment. "Here we go, the list of werewolf books I've already checked out," he said, handing it to her. "Sorry if it's a bit messy. Although it looks like all the ones you've got are ones I haven't read yet." He had just glanced quickly at the titles, but none of them seemed familiar to him.

Audrey took the list and looked it over. "At least now I know what to avoid..." She said, before sitting back down at the table.

"I've read a few of these books already, back when I was like, in year three or something." She said, shrugging. "When I in my third year, I could have sworn I saw some sort of animal on school grounds during a full moon. Only saw it once, so I have no idea what it was, but I got kind of hooked on what comes out on full moon nights." She said, as she opened one of the books.

Jim looked up at that. Had Audrey seen him as a wolf? No, no, he was just overreacting. Audrey had said she had seen the animal on the grounds. Jim knew that he always stayed in the Shrieking Shack during his transformations. He always woke up there in the morning, after all. "Just...be careful, if you go exploring at night," he said. "Animals tend to get more active at night. And there's always rumors about the Shrieking Shack being haunted and stuff."

Audrey smirked a little. "I remember that, I remember hearing stories of one of Harry Potter's Father's friends was a werewolf that hid in the shrieking shack or something, but that one I don't think has spread a lot like the others." She said, shrugging.

"If the guy was a werewolf, I think he had a kid with his wife, or something... I'm not sure about the stories anymore." She said, shrugging.

Jim bit his lip. He didn't want Audrey to get too curious about the Shrieking Shack and have her show up at a full moon one night. He had always tried to find a way to keep the scary rumors about the place alive, so people wouldn't be tempted to go near it. It was the only way to keep them safe from him. But there were some people who's curiosity was just too strong sometimes, like Emily, Maggie, and Evaine. They had come to the Shrieking Shack on a full moon, despite the rumors of it being haunted. "He had a kid? Really?" That interested Jim. Was this finally the story he was looking for, about a werewolf who was able to start a family?

Audrey secretly took note of him biting his lip, but chose not to question it.

"Yeah, I think the story goes that him and his wife eloped to try and avoid pressure from the Ministry of Magic, because I think his secret got discovered about him being a werewolf. This was during times of panic, so the ministry didn't take kindly to any werewolves, though they've never really been a fan to begin with." She said, shrugging.

"If I'm remembering right, the story is kind of sad, but not because he was a werewolf, though. The man and his wife fought against the Death Eaters and were killed while their son was still just a baby... But from what I hear he grew up fine with his godparents."

"That's true," Jim said. That was always something he and his parents were worried about. People didn't look too kindly on werewolves, and his parents worried that that might affect his future, his ability to get a job. Graduation was only two years away, after all. It might sound like a long way away, but Jim knew that it was closer than it looked. "Oh," was all he said when Audrey told him how the story ended. So much for getting more information on a werewolf having a family. As soon as he had started one, he and his wife were killed.

"But, hey, nothing says there's not a story out there where a werewolf actually has a happy life with his or her spouse and has a child one day. I bet, the reason why it's not in a lot of books, is because those families like to keep their lives private." She said, noticing he seemed to have an air of disappointment when she mentioned the end of the story.

"Not everyone gets cheated out of a happy life..." She said, a bit quietly, as she turned back to the book in front of her.

"Well, yeah, but...werewolves always have a history of being tragic and stuff," Jim said. "You'd think that anything that differs from the norm would get some kind of recognition. They have stuff on witches and wizards that have mermaid in their blood, or centaur, or vampire, that have become successful with, or despite, their heritage." So many other races got some recognition of their accomplishments, yet werewolves seemed to be left out. Jim figured it was probably because they were so much more dangerous than other species. Even vampires had some degree of self-control. Werewolves didn't have any at all.

Audrey nodded her head. "True..." She said, trying to think of other stories she's heard or read about.

"Werewolves are people too, an isn't there a potion out there that can keep them calm when they are in their wolf form?" She asked, thinking she's heard about it before.

"If I was any good at potions, I would learn to make that, in case something happens." She said, casually.

"I think so, but it's supposed to be pretty hard to make," Jim said. "I read that only a select few people have learned how to make it correctly." Jim doubted he could get anything that advanced at Hogwarts. He wasn't sure if Craig was that good at potions. "But maybe you can pull it off someday," he said, not wanting to kill Audrey's enthusiasm. "That'd be cool to see."

Audrey thought about it for a moment. "Usually I have a case of potions exploding in my face from time to time... but... that seems like something they should teach to everyone... would only seem fair, right?" She said, thoughtfully, her mind thinking of several things at once.

"If there was a werewolf here at school, I would think Dumbledore would issue someone to make the potion for the person so they could be calm and everything." She said, after a moment.

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I think it's a pretty useful thing to know," he agreed. "Granted, only a few of them will probably be able to make it, but hey, that's better than none, right?" He gave a little smile. Maybe he could get some Wolfsbane potion in the future, once more people learned how to make it. That would be a nice thing to look forward to. He glanced up at Audrey's statement though. Was she implying something? Or was he being paranoid again? It seemed hard to tell. "Well, maybe the Potions teacher here isn't advanced enough to know how to make it yet," he said, shrugging. "Isn't he kinda young anyway?"

Audrey shrugged. "I guess, don't know if age has anything to do with it too much." She said, leaning back as she read the book in her hands.

After a long moment, her brown eyes lit up. "I think I found something!" She said, excitedly, before getting up and moving over to Jim's side of the table to show him.

"Here it's talking about the McGreger family in Scotland, the wife, Anne McGreger was bit by a werewolf as a kid. She never thought she would have a family, but, forty years later, she's married, with two almost adult kids in her house. She's worked as a book keeper in a little village near her home. Her husband, John, makes the potion for her every month, so she can be calm in their barn on the nights of a full moon. She lives a quiet life in the country, living happily as she can with her family." Audrey read to him, as she showed him the moving pictures of Anne and her family.

"It even has a little interview by her in here. Pretty cool." Audrey said, before she nudged Jim, grinning. "Told ya that they would most likely be living the quiet life." She said, a bit smug.

"Good point," Jim said, nodding. "Although people always say that that wisdom and old age go hand-in-hand. Maybe...I'll ask him sometime, see if...it's something he can do. I mean, I hear it's a...complicated process. It might be interesting to see." He was just speaking off the top of his head now, but the more he talked about it, the more it sounded like a good idea. Maybe he could ask Alliss what Craig's abilities were like, and if he was willing to make it. Wasn't he her brother anyway? They had to be on good relations, right? But his thoughts were interrupted when Audrey said that she found something. He skimmed through the words over her shoulder, but that wasn't what really got him. It was the picture, of Anne and her family. "They all look...so happy." He couldn't believe it. This woman was a werewolf, and yet here she was with a family, happy and smiling like they couldn't have a care in the world. True, she had the potion to help her out, but her husband didn't care what she was. And it sounded like her kids didn't care either. She hadn't passed down the werewolf gene to them. Everything was fine. "I...never thought it was possible, for a werewolf to have a family like this." No doubt he would be ecstatic about it later, but right now, he was just amazed. This gave him a little more hope that he and Evaine would be able to spend the rest of their lives together.