Catch The Snitch

Date: October 14th

Yuriy had been asked by the Astronomy professor to help tutor a classmate who wasn't doing so well in the class. He had no issues helping out and helping the student because he loved the class, it was his favorite class. He was asked to meet them the following evening in the Courtyards to help teach them astronomy. It would a lot of fun to teach someone else the ways of the stars. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it yet, but he had some ideas. He had an arm full of books and his telescope of course. He made his way towards the Courtyards with a bounce in his step as he headed that way.

Once inside the courtyard he looked around and his eyes fell upon the only other person in the courtyard. He froze and his breath caught in his throat. He wasn't expecting it to be a girl, let alone a very attractive girl. He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath trying to calm himself down before making his way over to her. After he got a grip, he walked over to her and stepped in front of her. "A-are y-you the...person I'm supposed to tutor?" His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke to her. Perhaps his tutoree hadn't shown up and she was just there taking in the moonlight.

He waited for her response but took a seat across from her just in case. He laid out his books and rested his telescope against the bench, making sure it wouldn't fall over. He was nervous, girls made him nervous, but to be fair everyone made him nervous. [/post]

Out of all the classes for her to struggle with it almost amused Iliana that the one she had the most trouble with was Astronomy. Like how hard was it to look at the sky and name the stars? The constellations? Apparently, given she was preparing for her N.E.W.T.s in the subject the Professor suggested tutoring immediately with their best student. Iliana hadn’t asked who or any of the normal questions she’d merely asked two; when? And where?

It was all she cared to know everything else could be a surprise, hopefully a pleasant one. All the times she’d tutored she felt like it was a little easier if she was allowed to make the first impression herself rather than the Professor doing so beforehand. Waiting in the Courtyards she was staring up at the sky, normally by now she’d have been comfortably settled back in her room studying for one of her other subjects but this one needed attention. Uncle Arseni always insisted she needed to put effort where it was most needed and her Astronomy skills were certainly lacking.

At least she’d had the good sense to change into something a little more comfortable than her normal school day robes choosing instead a pair of black jeans and a dark blue mohair yarn quarter length sleeved sweater and her favorite black heeled boots to give her just a bit more height. She’d only just let her hair down and shook it out before the sound of steps began to approach her, when the figure finally appeared in front of her she found her gaze moving up and up until he decided to sit down across from her. Iliana was immediately caught off guard by the familiar accent and her head tilted curiously at him for a moment before she smiled. “I am actually.”

Offering out her hand to him she hoped a proper introduction might at the very least help settle him, “Iliana Tsankova. You can call me Ili or Ana if it’s easier for you to remember. Most do.” She almost doubted he would though if the accent was anything to go off of he wouldn’t have any issues with her name, hardly it might be easier for him to pronounce than the more normal ones often encountered around the school. He looked familiar and it dawned on her after a moment they had several classes together this year but she couldn’t quite recall them having any classes together before. “We have Charms together this year too I think.”

Yuriy felt his chest tighten slightly as she stated that she was the student he was supposed to be tutoring. She was beyond beautiful and it was hard for him to even think of what he was going to say. Perhaps if he focused on the subject instead of who he was tutoring it would help. He fiddled a bit with the hem on his sweater as he looked down at the parchments he had brought along with the books that lay in his lap. His telescope was next to him, against the bench and he cleared his throat nervously. "Right then." He muttered more to himself than to Illiana.

She offered him her hand, and he stared down at it for a brief moment as if it were going to bite him before he took her hand. He shook it gently and returned the name exchange. "Yuriy Belikov." He shook his head at her comment about shortening her name. Illiana was a beautiful name and he would not disrespect it by shortening. "Illiana is alright by me." He offered a lopsided smile and nodded. "Y-yes. We have charms together, we also share Defense Against the Dark arts and Transfigurations as well. I apologize for not speaking with you sooner, then again...I make it a habit to not speak to a lot of people." He felt his cheeks turn a dark shade of red and he spoke to her. Why was this so difficult for him? She was just a human being, a beautiful one yes, and as it turned out from his home country. But still human.

Perhaps breaking the ice would make it easier to talk to her. "You are from, Russia, are you not?" He could tell by her name that she was from some part of Russia but he wanted to confirm and it might help him set his mind at ease if they had something in common. He took in a deep breath and grabbed one of the parchment papers that was rolled up in his lap. "I also have some notes we could look over, or if you are more of a hands-on person, I have my telescope and we could just find the stars in the sky...it's clear enough a night to do so."

Smiling brightly when he shook her hand and introduced himself she didn’t miss the shake of his head when she’d told him he could shorten her name. So he’d rather use her full name? When he said it she understood why immediately, he didn’t butcher it. Outside of her remaining family very few could say her name with the correct inflection but he said it perfectly causing her to smile brightly, “Well if you are comfortable with it that’s fine.”

When he continued to speak Ili blinked and had the good sense to look a little sheepish at his words. They had all those classes together as well? And she hadn’t noticed? Reaching up absently she brushed some of her hair back behind her ear, “Obviously not being talkative means you are more observant than I am, I can’t believe I didn’t notice we have that many classes together.” And he was cute! How did she honestly miss him?

If nothing else the unique dual-color of his eyes was enough of an attention grabber that she was rightly surprised she hadn’t noticed him due to that alone but the name also should have gotten her attention. At his question she blinked and her smile faded just a little before she nodded absently, “I am but it’s been a long time, I grew up in St Petersburg. You?” Obviously if he was asking and given his accent he was from Russia as well, so turn about was fair play. Looking over everything he’d brought she had to admit he’d come prepared and she giggled some, looking thoughtful for a moment. Iliana knew where she was suffering the most and it wasn’t over notes.

She could look at star charts and recognize which constellation it was easily enough, it was trying to find it in the real thing she struggled with. The sky was just so vast and there were so many stars, how on earth was she supposed to be able to identify specific ones? “The telescope would probably be best… I just can never find them in the sky, I mean honestly… it’s..” she motioned up above them and sighed, “...it’s so vast! How on earth does anyone manage to find Andromeda or Delphinus without a ‘start here’ flashing sign.”

He smiled awkwardly and nodded his head at her comment. "Comfortable yes. I also wouldn't want to ruin a name so beautiful by shortening." He hadn't realized what he had said until it was out of his mouth and his cheeks were turning a bright red. He didn't often hear names from his home country, so yes, he thought it was a beautiful name. However, he didn't make it a habit to compliment people on them. "I uhm....Er...I just mean it's not often that I hear names like yours in the UK." He tried to recover but it was already out there now.

He hadn't spoken to hear, but he had noticed her. How could he not notice someone as beautiful as she was? He smiled a bit and shrugged his shoulders. "I tend to keep to myself, I cannot blame you for not noticing the amount of classes we have together." He ran his hand through his hair and looked down at the ground. He was doing really poorly at this talking-to-girls thing, but at least he was talking to her and not running for the hills. He only hoped that the Small talk was ending soon and he could teach her something he really understood. Because wasn't something he really understood well.

I see. I had assumed it had been a bit since you had been in Russia, due to the fact that your accent is all but gone. However, your name gave you away." He nodded at her return question. "Moscow...Belikov family have lived there for years, but my father got a job out here. So we moved." He wasn't happy about the move, but now that he was here, it wasn't as bad as he had thought it would have been.

He chuckled a bit at her explanation of her issue. He couldn't say he blamed her, a lot of people struggled to find the constellations in the sky without some sort of map, or obvious markers. "Telescope it is then." He reached down and pulled it out of the case he had it before setting it up. He stood up, adjusting the knobs and fine-tuning the stand so it didn't fall over. "Well, I can help you find the marks in the sky that will help you identify them." He offered his hand down to her to help her before motioning to the telescope. "Look through there, let me know when it's clear and not blurry." This was something he could do without embarrassment or second-guessing himself.

Iliana smiled brightly genuinely, unable to help herself, it had been a long time since anyone had called her name beautiful. When he mentioned how her accent had completely gone she unconsciously bowed her head, almost ashamed to admit that she had worked towards that effort purposefully. Ili had wanted to blend in as much as possible to draw as little attention to herself as she could, her name drew enough. His mention of where his family was from made her nod lightly, “That seems to be the reason for many to have relocated here.”

It wasn’t hers but then again few knew precisely why, hardly any knew she didn’t even live with her guardians when school wasn’t in session anymore. Watching as he moved he seemed to relax into the role of tutor almost instantly and she smiled absently before he turned offering a hand to help her up. Placing her hand in his she stood and moved to where he guided her listening to his instructions before doing as he told her too. Looking through the eyepiece Iliana closed her other eye, absently responding each time he asked if it was still blurry until she could finally see the twinkling stars clearly through the lens.

Lifting her head up she glanced at him realizing now that they were both standing close to one another how much taller he was even with the bit of extra height the heels on her boots gave her. “If it helps, the only one I have ever been able to find is Orion and that is entirely because of that silly belt.” It was probably the easiest one of all of them, small children could find it and she wasn’t the least bit ashamed it was the only one she could find. Shrugging her shoulders she absently worried her bottom lip before she sighed, “I’ve tried all the tricks the Professor suggests and I just can’t ever seem to find the correct starting point.”

It was obviously terribly frustrating for her. She was used to applying herself and seeing at least some success, this was the first thing she’d genuinely struggled terribly with regardless of how hard she tried. Turning she picked up the book she’d brought with her and flipped through the pages of impressively neat cursive writing before she stopped and pointed to a section. Indicating which star constellations she needed to focus on learning to identify first given the time of year,, “I feel like I’m a bumbling first year again, how do you do it so easily Yuriy?”

Yuriy didn't worry about fitting in, to be quite frank, he didn't know a lot of the students here. It wasn't because he didn't want friends or was trying to avoid them, but he was nervous around people. He got the looks, the stares and the fact that he didn't sound like them. He didn't think he'd ever lose his accent though. It was so heavy in his household that it was hard to lose. Not to mention, in the home, Russian was still the language of choice. "I suppose that is true. Although, I do love it here, I do sometimes miss my home." He shrugged. He was excelling much better here and had less pressure from his parents here, so there was a positive. He also wasn't going to be forced to marry, like his mother and father had been.

He didn't have any idea of Iliana's past, not that it truly mattered. However, it was nice to meet someone who had something in common with him. Even if was the place they were from. He watched as she stood up and placed herself in front of the scope. When she was finally fully focused on the stars he smiled and looked up at them ready to help her, and guide her through how to map each one.

He grinned, "Well, that is something we can use. If you know the location of one of them, you can use it to map out the rest." He laughed and shook his head. "The professor can be a bit...vague at times. There is no real 'correct starting point.' I find it is easier to start with a constellation you know and work out from there." He stepped behind her a bit more and pointed up to the sky. "You see Orion, yes?" He then guided her hands left and upward to move the scope of the telescope. "There, above Orion...do you see it?" He smile and helped her focus on the next set of stars.

"Your starting point, Iliana, can be Orion. You can find all of them from there." He nodded to the scope. "Look, tell me what you see. He grabbed his own book and flipped it open to a hand drawn map of the stars. "Look here...compare the stars in the sky to the map here, in this book." He could tell it was difficult for her to grasp the fact that she was unable to map them. But with his help she would be a whiz at it.

When he pointed out that Orion could be her starting point she head tilted absently though she didn’t move her head from the telescope immediately. Moving it as he directed though she struggled to recognize exactly where the next set of stars began when he spoke again she glanced from the telescope and glanced at his book he opened, this wasn’t the same map she’d been using obviously not.

Comparing it to what she was seeing in the telescope she glanced back and forth between the two before she gave a little exasperated noise, “I only recognize Orion because of how obvious it is with the belt… the others just never seem to stand out so clearly.” Motioning to the hand drawn map he held she frowned, “I mean even with that, I can see Orion on it and I can see there are stars above it… but I cannot recognize which constellation it is supposed to be.”

Ili just couldn’t seem to visualize them as a whole and that was what frustrated her because Orion was just so easy to spot. Motioning up towards the sky she sighed heavily, “There are just so many… that have absolutely nothing to do with the constellations; it just makes it that much harder to pick out which ones do at least for me.” Even as she complained she still shifted looking back into the telescope, she would still continue to try but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t complain about it at the same time.

He could see she was still struggling to find the next set of stars. When someone struggled to find them in the sky, the next thing that might be a help to them, would be, as he did, and map themselves. He had spent an entire night, looking from a telescope to a blank map and drawing them out as he saw them. Then, he drew the constellations among the mapped stars using the book from class.

"Alright, that's okay. We will find another way." He smiled reassuringly at her. "I drew this map myself, I did exactly what you're doing now. Star gazing, I mapped out the stars without knowing the constellations. From there, I studied the books until I mapped each constellation with their name. Perhaps we could do that. Tonight, we will just...study the stars. Tomorrow, or erm...whatever other night you have free, we can map them out together?"

He laughed a little, her frustration wasn't funny, but the complaining had amused Yuriy. Mainly because he felt the same way when he first started looking at the stars. Perhaps that was why their professor paired them together. "It is alright to struggle. I struggled quite a bit when I first started, it wasn't easy to differentiate the non constellation stars from those that are part of it. But with work, and practice, I know you'll get there."

Ili only just felt slightly better when he explained the star map and how he’d come to have it. She’d never considered just studying the stars themselves and then creating a map on her own, she did always learn better in the harder subjects if she did things the hard way. Nodding absently she was okay with his suggestion and even found herself smiling when he sort of stumbled trying to make plans for their next session as well. “I’ll focus however much time I can into this, I can’t afford to not do well on my N.E.W.Ts…”


She wasn’t annoyed by his laugh; hardly Iliana knew it was easier to laugh at frustration than get angry about it. Shifting her attention towards him she smiled softly and nodded, “I think the Professor knew who would understand my struggle the best then and so long as you are available, I’ll be available.” She could work her schedule outside of classes easily enough it wasn’t as if she’d gotten involved with any afterschool activities. Iliana studied, hung out with her handful of friends, attended Quidditch matches to support her house of course and when she had time went to her apartment to just not exist for a while.

Shifting her attention from him she glanced up at the sky, “So does studying the stars tonight require using the telescope then? Or can we merely just stare up at the sky?” Truthfully she felt like using the telescope would make it difficult for them to build any proper kind of rapport with one another for future tutoring sessions. Iliana just hated trying to hold a conversation with someone and not look at their face, it was sort of a pet peeve of her Uncle’s that she’d grown accustomed to herself.