Riddle me this. What time is it?

Seoul was drained. His friend had dragged him down to the Quiddich pitch against his many excuses, reasons and pleas not to go. The Swiss boy wasn't a fan, infact he wasn't interested at all in the sport which seemed to be ingrained in majority of the Hogwarts population. He couldn't understand what people saw in it. Sure the snitch was an interesting piece of magical construction, zooming around and dodging players like it was a little instinctual animal frightened of being caught and doing everything in its power not to be. The bemusement Seoul felt for the thing was quick to wear off and left him benign and sluggish to his surroundings.

Maybe he would have been okay just turning to people watching and waiting out the match patiently for the sake of a friend but this particular buddy enjoyed explaining to him with avid fever the rules of the game and all the reasons why it was in fact so great. When Seoul attempted to explain why he didn't like the sport his friend would cry in outrage and double his efforts. Finally Seoul gave up and pretended to watch the game only to be poke, prodded, high five'd and occasionally accidentally spittled on in excitement. Being a pretty nice guy Seoul rode it out with a carefully placed smile while his energy ebbed away.

He'd managed to escape in the last half hour of the game with a white lie, he'd told his buddy he had been studying late for a test and was dead tired. It was true he had been studying the night before but he wasn't tired because of it. The common room was where he wanted to be, it had been nice outside in the sun but now he was back inside the castle the spring air was fresh and a little chilly. All he wanted was to sit on the mat infront of the fire, one of the last he'd be able to enjoy as spring was getting warmer, and maybe practice some transfigurations.

He approached the door and with lazily knocked once. The bronze eagles eyes snapped open and appraised him.
"You have returned!" Seoul gave a small smile in reciprocation and awaited his riddle hoping that today of all days it would be a simple one. The eagles head lifted to look down its beak at the Ravenclaw and continued on.
"Answer me this riddle and you can enter! A father gave one of his sons 10 cents and the other son was given 15 cents. What time is it?" Seoul groaned, sinking his head back, extending his neck and slumping his shoulders.
"Bird, seriously. Can't you give me one of the easier ones? You saw me leave like an hour ago, I've been here for five and a half years, I really can't be bothered today..." He pleaded. Well if the eagle had feathers they certainly would have been ruffled by Seouls disinterest.
"Can't be bothered? Can't be bothered!. Well I'm sorry to inconvenience you. Never mind protocol! How about I let that Hufflepuff in from yesterday that wanted to visit his girlfriend? Hmm?? Maybe next time a troll? I have a job to do and I can't make it easier just because you can't be bothered! What do you think the headmaster would say if I..." Seoul let out another groan, louder than the last and put up his hand to halt the rant.
"Alright, alright! What was the riddle again?" The eagle snorted in distaste at being cut off but repeated the puzzle once more. Seoul scratched his stubble absently while he mulled it over, in his current state he had an awful feeling he'd be here for a while.

"A qurter to two," Quelyn whispered in a small voice from behind the elder student. the first year had approched just as the egal sceeched and complained about the tiered looking boy who stood infront of her. "May we go in now mr. bird?" she asked tilting her head to the side and looking up at the door innocently. she didn't want to make anyone mad or anything. she was tiered of people being mad. Then she started to explain, "the man gave away twenty five cents in total and it was split between the two." She murmured

"A quarter to two, may we go in now Mr. Bird?" Seoul was pleased to see the eagle turn appreciatively to the new arrival before turning back to him with a scowl, "That is correct". Seoul smiled sarcastically crossing his arms and tapping his finger impatiently against his skin as he waited for the door to open. He glanced in the direction of the girl as she began to explain her reasoning thanking whatever god that sent her along at the right time to answer the damn riddle for him. She was quick, quicker than him that was for sure and he was very grateful that she was otherwise who knows how long he would have been waiting out the front of the common room with his brain feeling as lethargic as it was.

"The man gave away twenty five cents in total and it was split between the two."
"Ahhh..." Seoul cooed appreciatively understanding finally how she had arrived at her conclusion. "Clever girl." He replied with a dimpled smile before turning back to the bird. "Pretty retarded riddle though bird, I liked the one about the river bed yesterday and the one with the towel the day before but I feel like the quality of your material is really reaching. Running out of riddles hmm?" The eagle scowled, scoffed and opened the door muttering to himself.

Seoul put out a hand ushering the young girl in before him. "Thanks for that, I couldn't deal with a riddle right now". He smiled.

"T-thanks," Quelyn stuttered as the boy complimented her. "Y-your w-welcome," she said. The young girl was getting better with talking to people but her fearful stutter still over shadowed her personality. "I've had a lot of time on my hands to figure out riddles." She looked up at the boy who was smiling at her. "Why do you smile so much?" she asked walking through the door backwards so she could look at him as she spoke to him, It was always nice to look at the person you were talking to. "You smile yet you look tiered and irritated with the bird." she stated quietly

Seoul didn't pick up on the stutter, his brain was addled with relief for being able to get into the common room so easily. When she looked up he noticed for the first time how petite she was. All first years looked small, especially so since he'd hit sixteen but this one was particularly small, fragile even. Her face still had the child in it, with her soft cheeks, rounded nose and baby mouth. He wondered briefly about how she'd look when she was older and imagined she'd be the kind to suddenly blossom like he'd seen others in his own year levels do in his time at the school.

Seoul chuckled at the girls observation about his discontent with the bird.
"Eh, to be honest I'm not really cranky. I'm just too tired to be bothered with the eagles pompous lectures and riddles this afternoon." He was glad he was at least getting into the common room before the Quidditch game was finished. The way the hallways always became overcrowded with frivolous victors and the depressed losers intertwining into a rowdy, loud mob usually didn't bother him but today it might have given him an unwanted headache. Next time he would have to have a plan ready to get out of his friends encouragements to come along.

He walked through the doorway behind her, feeling like a giant as she walked backwards talking to him. He really did tower over her, he usually did with first years anyway with his height already being over six foot but she was so small he felt the difference between them even more so.

"Do you have a fondness for riddles?" He asked with a curious tone wondering if she perhaps studied them in her spare time. He certainly understood her having a lot of time on her hands, in first year he'd been quite shy and had spent a lot of his spare time studying or in the library and intuition told him she might be similar.

"N-not really," Quelyn answered quietly looking away, "But I've always had time to read, My mum use to keep books in the house with all kinds of stories, some had riddles in them, some where fairy tales, some had poems, I managed to save a few from my f-father." The small girl looked up at the boy once again, "D-do you?" She asked tilting her head to the side with the air of curiousness floating around her. As she watched the boy she wondered if he picked up on how she spoke of her parents in past tense. She had noticed how not many people did until they found out about her parents.

Seoul tilted his head from side to side and sucked on his cheeks considering his answer.
"I have read some riddle books before but I haven't studied them much no." In his first year when he had little to do he'd read a few of the thinner books in the Hogwarts library on riddles to give him a base knowledge of what he could expect to be asked by the Ravenclaw eagle. It had helped him gain an understanding of the critical thinking needed but since then he hadn't bothered to research further into them and relied just on his intellect to provide answers. Not that that was hugely apparent today.

Seoul hadn't picked up anything unusual by the way the girl talked about her family, most students talked about their parents in a similar way but simply discussing the past or the christmas period.

They passed the threshold of the common room and with sight of the fire Seoul felt a great surge of relief pass over him. He made a B-line for the hearth and warmed his hands infront of the spitting flames.

"So why aren't you at the Quidditch match?" He asked.