june/james :: you'll have to cry me out

[NOVEMBER ELISE WELLINGTON]

OUTFIT

November didn't like weekends much, everyone was so loud and excited all the time. It was the same as any other day, just there were no classes. What she did like, was getting to dress however she wanted and eating breakfast basically alone. On Saturdays, no one was up early enough for breakfast, so she could eat alone and not have to gripe with Susan to pass the bacon or anything.

She sat down in the middle of the long table, far enough from the doors, but not near where the teachers sat, and smoothed her napkin in her lap and food magically began to appear around her. Magic was a wonderful thing, and muggles-- who lived without it, were simply inferior. She wasn't sure why everyone was so sloe on that fact. Muggles were helpless, and needed a firm wizard hand. So when she read about the incidents in muggle London in the open copy of the daily prophet, she had to smile. Her mother was head editor.

November tucked some hair behind her ear calmly, drawing little fangs on a picture of young school children in front of a new playground. She was enjoying herself, the little she knew how, and heard a commotion in the hallway and sighed. So much for her peace and quiet.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

outfit

Juniper, early bird and breakfast aficionado, had already been awake for a while, also relishing the calm and quiet of the weekend mornings. Normally, she had little to no plans on the weekends, but now she was a girl with a boyfriend. A popular, attractive, all-star boyfriend. Noah wouldn't be up for a while, June wagered, giving their energy-consuming late night activities. However, now that she was intimately tied with him, she found life as a Slytherin exponentially better. Members of her own house actually liked her now (well, except for a number of girls who shot her jealous looks.) Mostly guys on the team called her name in the halls and joked about how she shouldn't wear their captain out. Inappropriate, but Juniper believed it was friendly, jock humor, and therefore meant with the best intentions.

As such, Juniper was not sitting alone at a table. Some of her Slytherin classmates (all girls) decided to keep her company and asked about how Noah looked naked. Juniper had incredible fun making things up - particularly how Noah apparently had his whole back tattooed with talismatic spells, because he was very superstitious. And how one of his tattoos was of a bunny named Roger, so that he could always remember his first pet.

Then commotion broke out in the far corridor, and Juniper had to apologize to her new friends, but her prefect sense was tingling. Getting up, she walked towards the crashes and loud bangs. When she turned the corner, she saw, in horror, James Potter cartwheeling down the corridor, crashing face-first into everything, and propelling, due to built up momentum, straight at her.

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

In James' defense, it was a dare. A stupid dare, granted — a bet that he couldn't make it from the bottom of the grand staircase to the gigantic double doors of the Great Hall while cartwheeling. Nothing was wagered but his pride, and a sense of superiority. The guy who dared him didn't know that James was an expert cartwheeler. If there was a Quidditch-type game involving cartwheeling, he would be on the national team. If grades were given out based on cartwheeling, he would surpass all school records. If he could get paid for cartwheeling, he'd be a cartwheel hooker. He was practically a professional.

So with a handshake and a silent sigh for the soon-to-be loser of the bet, he was off. He had never been good with straight lines, so he headed right toward the nearest wall, bruising his nose against the stone. But, having long been accustomed to head injuries, it didn't shake him in the slightest, and he headed in the opposite direction. The pattern continued, causing loud crashes when he knocked over a suit of armor and screams when he hit into a painting, but he was not deterred. He was a cartwheel champion.

And suddenly a girl appeared right in his line of fire, but he was too far gone to really understand what that meant, let alone be able to stop. So as he turned, head over feet, faster and faster down the corridor, it was only a matter of time until he crashed into her. And crash he did.

Thankfully, he didn't fall, meaning he had completed the task at hand. He raised both his arms in triumph, shouting "cartwheel master!" as a couple of Gryffindors applauded, before turning back to the girl, now on the floor. He half-grinned sheepishly, his usual "I know I'm in trouble but I'm cute so forgive me?" look, and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the standing position. "Sorry love, didn't mean to knock you over," he explained, and it was only then that he realized who she was. The grin slid off his face, and he ran a hand through his hair, uncomfortable. "Oh. Juniper. Sorry."

[NOVEMBER ELISE WELLINGTON]

November watched apathetically as a girl got up from the Slytherin table and went out to investigate. As she did so, there was more crashing, something that sounded like a suit of armor. November pinched the bridge of her nose in distaste. "Really?" She muttered to herself. No doubt a Gryffindor was to blame, they were so foolish and rotten, maybe even a muggleborn no doubt. they had no sense of history or class.

There was another crash, this time it sounded like bodies and she smirked. She rather hoped someone was badly injured and needed to be brought up to the hospital wing. November loved when someone bled and sobbed. She rather hated people, and so hurt people was extremely amusing for her. Not like anyone would really be able to tell.

November wore pretty much one expression, uninterested, sullen, bored. She gave you nothing to work with, and she preferred it that way. No one had tried to break her shell and she was glad for that too. But, she was tempted to see the fuss, and hopefully see a few casualties of this prank gone wrong.

She grabbed a piece of toast and sauntered over to the big doors, watching none other than james Potter detach himself from the slytherin girl. November took a little bite and chewed it, her eyes glued at them unblinking. Figures it would have been him, by why weren't they hurt?

"Why must you ruin everything Potter?" She said in a flat tone of voice. Her eyebrows raised slightly and she leaned against the wall, looking at her toast. "Do you just happen to hate peace and quiet?"

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Unlike James, Juniper was not accustomed to head injuries. And so, once struck, she didn't just get up like he did, springing up like a daisy in the snow. Juniper marveled at the ringing in her ears and the blurrying eyesight. So fixated by those sensations, it took her a second to realize she wasn't breathing. When she inhaled, it was painful. She was pretty that was because James's elbow had collided with her stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of her. All this was disorienting, and so was James calling her love, which she was 69% sure it was a hallucination. So was his smile; that also couldn't quite be real.

He helped her up and when his expression chaned, she knew he suddenly actually noticed her. Which meant this was real. At least she knew that. It hard to determine though, as the room was still spinning. Teetering on her feet she almost fell towards James, but reclaimed her balance. How was he functional? Was his head made of iron? Or some steel alloy? "S'okay." she muttered, very nearly slurring.

Just as the sensations were starting to wear away, some random girl's voice addressed James. Juniper turned to look. She didn't know mystery girl, but she felt defensive and a little annoyed. Who did she think she was to talk to him that way? "And what concern is it of your's?" Juniper retorted, asking matter-of-factly. "It's the weekend and he didn't break any rules. If you don't like it here, then go elsewhere." That may or may not have been a lie, depending on how one interprets maintaining "orderly conduct" in the halls. Still, Juniper reasoned that no one got hurt. And it was James.

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

Upon second glance, Juniper didn't look so good. She was rocking back and forth on the soles of her feet, apparently unsteady, and her breathing was too shallow and random to be natural. He reached out as she stumbled a bit, grabbing the top of her arm, suddenly concerned. James walked a fine line between impulsive and reckless, and every once in a while someone was dragged to the other side with him, and this time it was Juniper who was hurt. He kept his hand on her until he was sure she had found her balance, then withdrew it, placing his hands in his pockets.

It was at that exact moment that a voice sounded from behind him, insisting he ruined everything. He assumed it would be a Slytherin, angry that he'd knocked over one of their House, so was surprised (and then not, once he placed a name to the voice) when he turned around. November was not the happiest of people, and they'd gotten into a few arguments in the past.

But just when he'd opened his mouth to push her buttons a bit, Juniper had stepped in at his defense. He watched her as she talked, wondering just how close they'd gotten from their run-in a few nights earlier. Weren't Slytherins supposed to be more about self-preservation? Why was she fighting for him, a man little more than a stranger to her?

So he stepped up himself, maintaining his grin. "I do, actually," he added, in response to the comment about peace and quiet. "What fun is it to be sitting around doing nothing? Though I'm sorry if I disturbed your poking holes into voodoo dolls or something. I'll do my best to keep quieter." With that, he winked at her, sure it would bother her, and had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

[NOVEMBER ELISE WELLINGTON]

November gave them both a cold stare. Really they were ridiculous, the pair of them. She watched as he steadied her with his hand and as the Slytherin nobody stood up for him. Strange. She cocked an eyebrow and continued to look at them blankly, secretly amused.

"I should have known you hated decency." She said to James when he informed he was against peace and quiet. Really, why did boys, especially gryffidor ones, have to be so utterly ill-bred. For the sone of a so-called "savior" he had no je ne sais quoi. It was really quite sad. At the mention of voodoo dolls a little smirk tugged at the corner on her lips. Voodoo was a ridiculous muggle system of superstitions, but she would love to shove a pin in him just now.

November turned to the girl. "You're the one dating your captain aren't you?" She said rather bored. "I doubt he'd appreciate you leaning on this buffoon." November said, her eyes flitting to the floor they had both been lying on, entangled moment ago.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

Juniper wasn't sure how she liked being referred to as "the one dating your captain" - more importantly though, she had realized she made a mistake in defending James. Bitch girl had a point. There was a considerable amount of mutual dislike between Noah and James, especially because of Quidditch. Juniper's advocacy for her former friend was suspicious, and Noah wouldn't understand or appreciate friendliness towards James for whatever reason. And James didn't even need her to defend him. She had mostly been disappointed by the girl's interruption, because ever since James left that night with the mysterious goodbye, Juniper had hoped for a moment to test their standing. That wasn't something she could own up to either. All of this went through Juniper's head as she maintained a stoic expression.

Of course, she couldn't let bitch girl know that she had made a point. Juniper pretended to nod seriously. "You're absolutely right." she conceded with mock severity. "Next time I'm unsuspectingly obstructed, I'll be sure to keep my boyfriend's feelings in mind."

[JAMES SIRIUS POTTER]

Merlin, why was everyone talking about decency lately? Brett's comment that she wasn't decent back during their first time sleeping together, now an accusation that he wasn't decent ... his mind drifted back to that night and he grinned, lost in the moment. It took a moment to snap back to reality, and he only grinned further, realizing that for all intents and purposes, he actually wasn't decent. So he told her so, saying simply "yes" with a cheeky look in response to her accusation.

And then there was talk about who Juniper was dating. She had a boyfriend? He was surprised in an unbiased sense — she always had a problem fitting in, and now she was dating. And it took just another second to remember who the Slytherin Quidditch captain was.

"Macnair?" he asked incredulously before he could stop himself, turning to face Juniper. "You're dating that git?" No grin could be found on his face at that point, and he realized that he shouldn't care. He and Juniper hadn't spoken for years — he had no hold over her, and maybe his original suspicions were correct. If she was dating Noah, maybe she really had changed for the worse since they'd been kids. So he shook his head, ignoring the fact that this newfound knowledge struck a chord with him.

"Why have you even ventured into the land of the living?" he asked November, eager to switch topics, a little more angry than he usually was. In other circumstances he would have continued trying to make her mad, keeping a calm exterior in place. "Don't you have some sacrifices to make or something?"

[NOVEMBER ELISE WELLINGTON]

November actually cracked a grin when James got angry about the girl's dating situation. She loved driving a wedge between people, it was enormously fun. It was even better that Macnair and Potter had a rivalry going, quidditch and opposite houses and all. She was jealous of all the attention those two houses got, like they ran the joint. The strereotypes were ridiculous and she was sick of the whole institution.

One more year Wellington, one more year.

She rolled her eyes at James' next words, her mouth an unaffected line. sacrifices? What was she? Ridiculous. "You really need to work on your insults Potter. Though the serious tone is new. Funny even." She said flatly. People could be so annoying and fickle. It was too easy to mess with them, they let emotions get in their way instead of using their brains. All of them, idiots.

[JUNIPER DAHLIA HOLLOW]

James's incredulity hit Juniper like a smack in the face, and she couldn't help but go red in the face. How dare James say that? Where did he get off thinking he could just have input on her life without speaking to her for so many years? Juniper knew she wasn't actually angry at James though. She was angry with herself for caring what he thought. His reaction was more than understandable. Well, actually no, it wasn't. It was understandable that James hated Noah. It's wasn't understandable why he cared who she dated. How dare he make is seem as though he cared about her life choices? So, yes, actually she was actually angry at James, at least a bit. She glared at him for a moment, before looking away and crossing her arms.

And Noah wasn't a git. He was her best friend and the best boyfriend ever. He was a collection of amazing qualities, and James only hated him because of their Quidditch and House rivalry. And that was a stupid reason.

Though still miffed at James, Juniper couldn't help but hate the girl in front of them. Everything about her ticked June off. Even her voice grated on her nerves. Juniper couldn't help herself, she was too filled with misplaced and properly placed anger. "Who are you even? Or actually, who do you think you are to come over here and speak as though anyone cares what you have to say?" Juniper had a serious dislike for people who had misplaced feelings of entitlement - like Nessie who couldn't stop herself from bothering her in the hospital wing the other day. Juniper always wanted to yell at those people: get over yourselves, you're not actually important!