Details for Model Students |
Summary: | Three prefects exchange harsh words until a voice of reason steps in. |
Date: | September 8, 1937 |
Location: | The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade |
Related: | None |
Characters |
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The Sykes twins made good timing seeing as Three Broomsticks isn't crowded just yet. Perhaps its because it was a bit too early in the afternoon. Thanks to Ria's nifty charm, the two walk in absolutely dry despite the rain outside, and she'd have it no other way. "Did you hear about what happened at the Auror office? Dark Wizard attack apparently," she walks with Kaiden to slip into a booth. "Tried to owl father and find out more, but claims he didn't know anymore than what's been printed. I kind of don't believe him though." There's a rogue smile that curves her lips.
Lucian perks right up at the sound of Ria's voice, suddenly ignoring the handful of other Slytherins at his table. He rises to greet her, even giving a slight bow in gentlemanly fashion. "Ria, saved you a seat. Oh, hey Kaiden." He moves to pull another chair over for Ria's brother. For this trip he has dispensed with his school robes, donning the riding leathers he is so fond of.
Briar is looking a bit, not exactly glum, more like extremely bored. She's sitting at the booth close to the Slytherin table. She's picking apart a scone until it's nothing more than sand on her plate.
Kaiden looks over at Ria as he sits down on the chair, sliding his jacket off and throwing it over the back of his seat, "Yeah. Heard about that. Rough stuff." He gives Lucian a nod and then looks back at Ria, "You mean…you think dad's lying about not knowing everything that's going on? Shocking."
"Oh Lucian, You're here too, and…what are you wearing?" Ria gives him an up and down look before slipping over to her housemate's table. She too has ditched her robes for a tasteful and clean pastel green dress. A snicker goes to her twin's reply as she says, "It doesn't make you curious just a little bit? We're a bit older now. You think he'd disclose a couple things with us." And over Kaiden's shoulder she spots the ho hum Huffie prefect with a raised brow. "Briar, did you buy that thing to eat it … or…?" She's unsure of the girl's intentions.
Lucian arches an eyebrow at Ria as he moves to tuck her chair in for her. "My leathers," he says in a tone that suggests it should be obvious. "Thought I might wrangle a centaur and go for a ride." He gives a teasing smirk.
Briar says from her place at her own table not afraid to correct Ria at all, "There wasn't an attack. And I didn't buy it. It was sitting here cold and stale when I sat down. Nothing better to do than to…" She just gestures to the little crumbs on the plate that were once a scone.
Kaiden looks over at Ria and raises an eyebrow, saying, "You think father would ever disclose anything to me?" He scoffs slightly and looks over at Briar as Ria points her out, "Oh, hey Briar." He shoots his fellow Hufflepuff a sweet smile and says, "How's it going?" He turns his head back and raises an eyebrow at Lucian, saying, "Whatever you say, man."
Briar gives a friendly smile and a wave to Kaiden, she looks to the many vacant spots where she's sitting. "Feel free to join me, thought I'd have a visitor. But he might have had to go into training this weekend."
The exterior door swings open to admit a young witch. Only slightly older than most of the Hogwarts students here, Annie scans the room for any familiar faces. Some of her Ravenclaw housemates are at a table, and they garner a special wave and smile as her steps veer in their direction.
Ria sighs and places a hand upon her brother's shoulder before looking at him and saying, "You know…I really don't think he dislikes you as much as you think he does…" Lucian's reply makes her brows raise though, "Centaur?! You're not -serious- are you?" Her polished finger nails go over her mouth at the dangerous idea. Sometimes even Ria can be gullible. "If it wasn't an attack, what was it?" she tilts her head at Briar, earnestly asking for more information.
Kaiden stands up from the table with Ria and Lucian, picking up his jacket and ruffling Ria's hair with a smirk. He looks up as Annie walks through the door and those big green eyes of his get even bigger as he sees her. He catches himself staring and moves over to sit with Briar, "So, who was coming to join ya? Got a date?" He smirks, looking at her.
Lucian chuckles, brushing an errant lock of blonde hair from his eyes as he sits down. He doesn't exactly answer Ria, though, his attetion drawn momentarily to her brother. "Merlin, Kaiden. Just invite her over here."
Arriving at a table of mostly Ravenclaw students with the odd boyfriend for another house (and some of them are, truly, odd), Annie exchanges pleasantries and hugs. Comfortable with those she knows well, her eyes do wander over the rest of the room, nodding to a few, and her attention turns back to a question from one of the girls next to her.
Kogrod the goblin shuffles into the room just after Annie, looking around with a frown at all the young wizards and witches in training. "Oh, right, it's Hogwarts season," he says as he moves to a table. "I hope you're all working hard on your studies," he comments further. "You're going to need that knowledge to be useful to society."
Ria groans as her hair is ruffled, "Oh Kaiden, please!" And immediately she pulls out a mirror from her purse to check the damage on her do. Minimal, nothing a comb couldn't fix, which isn't bad given the damage her twin has done before. "Don't entertain him too much Briar, his head'll puff up," she says to the Huffie prefec as she fixes her hair. "So Luc, what'll we be having to drink today?" she asks Lucian, putting away the mirror. An eye follows the goblin though and in reply to his sermon she says, "Aye, father. Thank you."
Briar starts collecting the bits and bobs of shakers and creamers and sugar cube containers. Seems she feels like Ria might need a more visual representation. "This is the Villian." The pepper shaker is lifted. "This is The Banshee." The salt shaker is lifted up. "These are the auror's at their nice cozy desks in their office." She lines up some sugar cubs. "This is the fireplace in the Auror's office." She taps the small plate piled with the scone dust. "So over here… The Banshee comes across the Villain." She taps about the shakers like they were walking on the far side of the table from the Auror's office mock-miniature is. "Muwahaha, I'm bad, I'm evil, I've given the Auror's the slip…none can catch me! Muwahahaha, evil laugh etc. etc." She then clarion calls and flies in the salt shaker. "Halt Villian!" She uses a heroic deep voice. Then The pepper quivers, "Oh no! My ears, the banshee's scream made me deaf! I can't hear what he's about to cast!" Briar shakes the salt onto the pepper casting in 'hero voice'. "Petrificus totalis!" The pepper is then knocked over like a stone. Then comes the pantomime of The Salt Shaker dragging the Pepper to the plate of scone dust. "So then the Banshee tossed the Villian into the Floo Network and sent him…." *Cue Poof noise from the prefect* "To the Auror's Office. Hence making them look like idiots. Hence your dad being tight lipped no doubt."
Annie glances over at Briar's voice, the name The Banshee catching her attention. She doesn't intend to eavesdrop, but having just heard the name on the wireless the day before, she can't help her curiosity. Her interest holds throughout the little play, a smile touching her lips at the girl's theatric interpretation.
Lucian gives Ria his best charming smile. "We're drinking whatever your favourite is, of course. Wine? Rum?" Briar's condescending speech earns a glower from Lucian, who shakes his head. "Crocker, don't be daft. You can't throw someone into the Floo network. You have to state where you're going and visualize it. That whole story is such obvious sensationalism."
In the back of the pub, there comes the sound of a slow hand-clap from a rather scruffy-looking young man. Jack's got a smile on his face, however, and dark, gleaming eyes are looking right at Briar as he offers the applause. "Well done. I think that'll hold up in court.. as a proper and faithful accounting of what most likely occurred."
Kaiden looks over at the goblin and smirks in reply, obviously not entertaining any such notion. He sits there with a raised eyebrow and a look of confusion on his face at Briar's story. "Well…I suppose that just about sums it up…" He peers at her for a moment before looking off and back to Annie, flashing her a smile.
Annie notes that most of the group at Briar's table look at least vaguely familiar, by benefit of her being little more than a year out of Hogwarts herself. Her eyes shift from the little tableau to the lad who smiles, and the smile on her own lips lingers. Until a voice comes. Her smile vanishes and she doesn't even look, she doesn't have to look to recognize the voice. Really, is it Friday the 13th? Did she anger some higher power? Her attention turns back to her tablemates, and she writes something on a paper offered by a red haired girl next to her.
Briar gah's and squees grinning to Kaiden and points to Jack, "That's who I'm waiting for." a split second before she hops and leaps and dodges and bolts the distance to launch herself at Jack and gives him a bear hug and a kiss, though the kiss is rather mild, since she has to put forth as a good role-model and all that. Still clinging to the old young man she glowers at Lucian, "I didn't say I believed it, I said that's what the story is Lucy." She gives him a nyah face but its mostly just a playful, 'so there' "Don't call me daft." Now she pokes her tongue out at him before she turns her attention to Jack again, "I was worried that they had you in training this weekend. How's it going? Gotten in a plane yet or is it all still books and chalkboards still?"
"And exactly what crime did this villainous pepper shaker commit?" Kogrod asks, watching the presentation. "I try to keep up with the current events, of course, but as I focus on business matters I usually have no time for tales of crime and punishment," he explains, looking around for someone to make an order from.
Lucian rolls his eyes. "Yet you'll treat Ria like an idiot for questioning it. Daft." He looks Briar's beau over, appraising the man that could quickly become her champion if he keeps pushing her.
Ria is simply captivated by the re-enactment and her attention never leaves Briar's shakers (pun intended). "Huh!" she simply says at the end taking in the story and considering Lucian's input. "He has a point…this Banshee fellow. Have they any clue to who he is?" The question goes to both the Huffle and this new arrival since he seems to know just as much. "I think a White Zinfandel will have to do. I don't think the Three Broomsticks has anything too fancy. Will you be having one as well Kaiden?" Come join in on the girly drinking party. Though she does snicker and smirk and repeats the name, "Lucy." She does pat him on the shoulder though before pulling out a pack of chesterfields from her purse.
Jack's gaze does move around the tables, and brows rise at the sight of Annie. He offers a lopsided smile, and would wave at the assistant librarian, but he's got a Briar that's launched at him. Putting out his hands, he catches her as she leaps, keeping hold of her once she's arrived beside him. He gives Briar a kiss, a little more brief than he'd like, and his lips moves as he whispers something to her before he lifts his head to look out before him once again. "Not interrupting anything, am I? What was all that about anyway?" Wizarding news isn't something that he's up on..
Kaiden looks over at Lucian and says, in a straight to the point kind of way, "Don't talk to members of my house like that, Lucy." Slytherin boys know what Kaiden does to those that say cross things to people he cares about. He looks over at Ria and says, "Nah…I think a beer will suit me just fine. I will bum a cigarette off of you, though."
Annie passes the paper back to her friend, her address in Hogsmeade hastily scribbled on it. She stands, exchanges more hugs with the girls at the table. As she moves away, she might be heard to say, "Right, see yeh t'morrow then." She sidles through the students, heading unobtrusively toward the door.
Lucian gives Kaiden a warning glare as he rises to order some drinks. "Or what, Katy? I'll see you in Dueling Club any time you want to try and prove a point." Lucian has a reputation of his own, and it isn't for backing down from confrontations. Reaching the bar, he orders a White Zinfandel for Ria, and a mug of rum for himself.
Ria blinks at Jack and Briar's kiss, and her eyes narrow to observe him closer. She never seen the bloke before. "You boyfriend Briar?" she asks and tilts her head curiously, before offering a cig to her brother. She even lights it for him, the motion seeming natural as if she's done it a million times. What sibling love! And so as to avoid a fight, she waves her hand around in the space between Lucian and Kaiden saying, "Now now you two. This is our first weekend. Let's try and keep it civil for at least a month in." And with her own polished hands she plucks a chesterfield, holds it delicately between her lips and puffs away. Seeing Annie leave though makes Ria look at her for a moment. "You graduated just last year didn't you?" she asks the Librarian just before she heads through the door.
Kaiden smirks at Lucian and says, "Didn't know baby snakes had fangs." He takes a draw from the cigarette as Ria lights it and walks over to the bar where he receives a mug of beer. He flashes a smile at the tender and places his money down, taking a big sip of his glass. He does seem to take an interest in the woman being questioned by his sister and he glances over his shoulder, waiting for an answer.
Looking at Annie's departure, Jack calls out, "Don't go on my account. Swear I'm not following you, even if you've got a nice bum to follow.." and it's followed with a cheeky grin. Now he's picking. It's back to Briar now, his eyes flickering from the American (Briar) to the table that she'd left (and Ria) and back again, his brows rising in question. He begins shaking his head in prelude to an answer, but he's going to let Briar field that one, though he doesn't let her hand drop now. "In from London is all. Summer fling an' all that.." His accent is all scouse- cockney, and unless he enunciates, it may be a little hard to follow.
Her time spent as an aide in the Hogwarts library exposed her to a lot of students in passing, and Annie's face may well be somewhat familiar. So close, and yet so far; she stops before taking leave, stepping back and out of the doorway politely as someone else comes in, and she looks toward Ria with a smile. "I did. Annie," she offers, with a nod. Jack is ignored, her pleasant smile not faltering.
Lucian smiles warmly to Ria as he sets down the wine in front of her. "That's what Dueling Club is for, Ria. It keeps these things civil. Unless your brother would rather settle it somewhere else." He flashes Kaiden a smile laced with menace as he takes his seat.
Eventually Kogrod just moves to the bar and orders a drink for himself, looking about the room again. He wishes there were some other goblins around, so at least he'd have someone to talk to.
Someone interesting anyway.
Briar gives Kaiden a friendly look that promises that she could kiss him, if she weren't tangled up in her visitor. "This is Jack, Jack this is Ria, Lucy, Kaiden, Annie… aww hey Annie!" Briar's sad to see the fellow Muggle-Born leave, she wanted to catch up and gossip about Jack! Wouldn't that have ended splendidly! "You were the only one that was treating anyone like an idiot Lucy. It seemed that Ria didn't get a good grasp of what was said on the news. I know visuals help me…" Then Jack is piping up at Annie and he gets a very high raise of her eyebrow. "Did you drive up in your truck?"
Kaiden looks the woman up and down and says, "Annie, huh? You were Ravenclaw, correct?" He leans back against the bar, takes a short drag from his cigarette and taps the ashes from the end of it as he crosses his arms, looking at her.
"Me? Yeah.. I don't get the liberty of the quick way," Jack murmurs. "'Member?" He might be able to see such things, but to use them? Not everything, and certainly not all the time. And, he's got to watch his step lest he catches the eyes of an Obliviator. But, for the moment, it's very likely that he's a useful idiot, as it were. Most squibs are! As the introductions come around, he nods to each, catching the face to the name, his gaze lingering on each to remember them. It lingers the most on Annie, easily explained away as she's the last in the line, and that smirk plays on his lips. Now, he guides Briar back to the table from whence she came and pulls out a chair to sit down, sitting in it backwards. He pulls out his cigarette case, now autographed by the great Quidditch player Hadrian Higgs, and takes a cigarette.
Smoke floats up from Ria's cigarette when the wine is set before her. She throws a quick thank you to Lucian. "As much as I love hearing venom in your words Kaiden, I'm not sure I can protect you as well as you protect me if a fight were to break out. You have a hair out of place," she says gesturing to the spot on her own head so that he may know where to fix. Ria's not too entirely sure if he would care though. But Jack's admission of a summer fling, makes her brows raise and she snicker/giggles. "Well I certainly didn't take Briar to be into such things. Where're you from Jack? You look like a young fellow but I've never seen you before," she asks.
"You say you write about business then?" Ria asks Kogrod, not being able to take her eyes off the goblin because well…he's a goblin. "What kind of writing? Business books? Journalism? For the Prophet maybe?"
Annie gives a very understated wave to Briar, but her smile is warm, and her attention shifts to Kaiden, meeting his gaze evenly. Clearly, she's a bit pleased and surprised to be remembered. "Aye." She pauses a moment, then nods, "And you're Hufflepuff. First Hogsmeade weekend then?" It's pretty obvious, but it's polite small-talk. Jack gets a glance and a half nod for politeness, and her attention is back on Kaiden.
"That's right, I write for the Prophet," Kogrod answers Ria. "I usually have something in there… an interview, an opinion piece… I tried to start my own newspaper once, you know," he adds, actually smiling slightly at the memory. "I was proud of it… but it just couldn't compete. So I went over and worked for the Prophet."
Kaiden waves a dismissive hand to both of Ria's point and takes another drag from his cigarette, having moved over to where Annie is standing. He makes sure to blow the smoke away from her face and says, "Yeah, that's right. So…what's it like? On the other side. Outside of Hogwarts, I mean. Not like…dead or anything. If you're dead that's okay, though…" Seems the boy's a bit flustered.
Lucian watches Kaiden with a hawklike gaze and an amused smirk. It seems the Hufflepuff has put himself in Lucian's sights, and that is rarely a good thing. "He protects you, Ria? Funny how he chooses his housemate over blood, tossing threats at the one defending you from the daft Yankee."
Annie doesn't quite stifle a soft laugh. "No, last check I had all the signs of life that are usually required," she jokes lightly. "It's good, though. Gettin' along. How's Hoggys this year?" The consideration with the cigarette smoke isn't missed, and Kaiden's thoughtfulness is appreciated.
"Indeed the Prophet does tend to dominate the market. Rather unfortunate your paper had to go down. What kind of news did you print?" Ria asks curiously, taking a drag in an uncannily similar manner to her brother. My they must be related! In regard to Briar, she replies to Lucian with, "Come now, she can't help but be a little silly. She's -American-, they don't have the … finesse that we have," she sips at her wine, choosing her words carefully. And at her brother's words she sighs and rolls her eyes as Kaiden fumbles over his words.
Kaiden smiles at her and rubs the back of his neck, "Heh…well that's good. I mean, you being alive and all." He quirks his lip and turns slightly to snuff the cigarette out in an ashtray before returning to the conversation, picking up his mug, "Absolutely terrible. They keep telling me I have to go to class. Not a fan of that." He smirks a bit at the woman as he says this.
Briar shrugs her shoulders, "You don't know me very well." She comments to Ria about her perceptions of Briar. But the whole time is starting to glower at Lucian, "Look you…" She looks to Jack for inspiration, "Horse and trap, stick of a rock, elephant and castle!" Seems the "Yankee" was in fact paying attention to the few weeks stuck in London traffic she's spent hanging out with Jack and has just flung her new found Cockney vocabulary. Everyone in the room that knows cockney and more so knows Briar has a jaw drop moment because basically the Hufflepuff Prefect just called the Slytherin Boy Prefect a Crap Cock Arsehole. Jack's been such a good influence, can't you tell? "I was bored, I was having a little fun with Ria. Speaking of which, stuff it Ria, I'd rather not have finesse then belong in the metal ward of Mungos if a speck of dirt gets on her. By the way, I think a bird shit in your hair before you came in…you've got a little something…" She points at Ria trying to help show her where there's supposedly the filth on her.
"The same sort of things I write about now. Business mostly, and issues of interest to goblins," Kogrod explains. "I even printed a Gobbledegook edition. But, I didn't want to write for just my own people," he explains. He scratches the back of his head slightly as he looks around. "All this talk about America reminds me… I should try to visit there sometime. My mother was born there, you know. A resident of Goblintown in New York. But I've never been," he states thoughtfully.
Annie has to look up at the taller Hufflepuff beside her, but she's used to the posture of having to look up toward faces. "Still with the classes? Positively archaic." She banters back easily, but her glance slips toward the others, landing on Briar. Never really comfortable about House rivalries, indeed even personal rivalries, the young woman automatically looks toward the door again, judging the distance should things get distasteful.
At Briar's outburst of Cockney slang, Jack's jaw begins to drop, then he coughs, before he barks out a laugh. "Tha's m'girl.." is murmured, and he takes a pull from his cigarette. Dark, gleaming eyes turn towards Ria, and he blows smoke, "'S for where I'm from, 'ere and there. Poke my head in places, like as not, then gone again." He offers a smile after, and watches Annie, brows rising.
Ria tilts her head at the cockney, not understanding any of the nonsense that came out of the girl's mouth. And she looks around the room to see if anyone else did. Leaning in close to Lucian she whispers rather loudly, "Luc, I don't want to be rude, but do you have -any- idea what she just said? Even after all those Ancient Runes classes, I really can't grasp Native American jargon…" She takes another sip of her wine and with a snaky grin waves her hand in dismissal, "Oh darling, I didn't mean that as an insult whatsoever! Simply an observation, that's all. Americans simply have a… burly way about them that I simply cannot replicate." She does however take interest in Jack's reply. "Hmmm, interesting … I see why it's a summer fling then. You never get tired of moving? Never want to stay in one place for a longer period of time?"
After another drag, Ria turns back to Kogrod and suddenly as an 'ahhh' look about her face. "Oh, Goblin news," there's a plucky tone to the way she says that. "Well its noble of you to come bring your expertise to the wizarding masses. Perhaps it'll enlighten us more about your kind."
Lucian chuckles to Ria's words, shaking his head. "Street rubbish. Nothing more." He grins malevolently at Briar. "Did I get under your skin, Crocker? You sure think you can dish it out, but you don't like the taste of your own medicine, do you? Next time, think before you speak and you won't end up looking like a fool. But you're right. I shouldn't be so harsh. One hardly expects brilliance from a Hufflepuff."
Kaiden just speaks up over the crowd and says, "Hey! Can we just settle down for a minute? Drink our beers, smoke our cigarettes. I think that'd be just…downright cool, y'know?" He takes a sip from his beer and looks over at Annie, raising his eyebrows and quirking his lip to her in a sort of 'that's Hogwarts for you' kinda look.
Annie looks up to The Voice of Reason, catching his eye, inclining her head with a grateful smile. Not to say anyone will listen, but Kaiden did try and that counts for a lot. Rather than adding to the fray, like some.
"Of course, of course," Kogrod says to Ria, sipping his drink. "Enlightening the wand-carrying people of the nation is my goal, after all."
Jack's cigarette lies ignored in his hand for a moment as he turns his gaze towards Lucian, his eyes narrowing, "Oi, mush.. back'ff..". The smile is there, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Takes a fool to try and make mores' a company. Feelin' lonely and need a pretty girl wif you so you feel better?" Kaiden's words brings a barked chuckle, and he begins to push himself up to his feet again, mashing his cigarette out. "Bri, come walk."
Briar crosses her arms, "Harsh? Please, you're about as sharp as the shit you love to shove stableboy. The only thing you could possibly get under is a horse blanket. Why don't you go back to where you're actually wanted? Three inches from a hippogryphs ass. Here Ria, let me speak in a way that you might understand…" Now she makes a horse like face, scrunching it up and putting on airs sounding like the most pretencious British person alive she can manage. "You are a both as messed up and truly all things considered, worse off than the people you try to mock. In otherwords are as idiotic and flawed as the rest of us." She slings her arm around Jack's neck and lets herself be led away. "Excuse me…but I have someone that actually cares about me and /wants/ to spend time with me. You two have fun with your mates…oh wait I'm sorry, you'd need to have some to do that." Jack's cigarette is stolen before it's mashed out so she can have a drag. "You two want to walk? It smells like snake shit in here." She asks Annie and Kaiden as she moves to leave with Jack.
Lucian snorts. "Typical. He starts a fight he can't finish, and then tries to play like he just wants to get along. My offer's open, Kaiden. You really should consider joining the Dueling Club. I could teach you a lot." Such a generous offer, but his tone doesn't quite match the words.
He looks over at Jack, barely realizing the man is speaking to him. "Mind your own business, old man."
Ria opens her mouth to come up with another one of her "unintentionally" spiteful remarks until Kaiden talks over the group. She clears her throat and straightens up and with a sigh says, mostly to Lucian, "Okay, Kaiden's right. Let's remember ourselves for a moment." Her twin certainly has a way of reeling her in back to reality. Ria takes another delicate sip of her wine to calm herself does whisper something to the other snake prefect while patting on his arm to calm him down. "And do feel you've progressed any closer to your goal?" she asks Kogrod.
Afterward, she pulls her mirror out again checks her hair. If you ask her, it won't be for bird poop, but something about the slight panic in her eyes as she shuffles through her hair says different. Looking back up at Briar and Jack as they leave she blinks, lost at the girl's saltiness. "I don't understand why she's suddenly so bitter like that. I was simply making observations," she asks Lucian and then turns to Briar with a bright snaky smile, "Don't you worry Briar. I know you're a bit rough around the edges, but I don't hold that against you." Okay, clearly Ria misunderstood the statement.
The very last thing Annie wants to do tonight is spend any more time in certain company than she absolutely has to. She falters, looking up toward Kaiden then to the retreating couple, "Well, actually… I really ought to make my way home. Getting late," she says, knowing how weak it sounds.
"I'd like to be a well-known voice for goblinkind, but I don't think I'm quite there at the moment," Kogrod admits. "But I am making some progress at least."
Kaiden looks over at Ria and smiles. Yay, he made her use her brain! He shoots a snide expression toward Lucian that's fit for a Slytherin. Hey, he was raised by a family of them. When he looks over at Annie, he's still riding that high of his sister saying he was correct and says, "Well, it's kinda dark. I could walk you home, if you like."
Briar looks disappointed again that her time she could have spent with Annie was wasted on the Snakes. "Oh, we'll we can walk you home? Yeah." Briar is a bit oblivious that the guy she's cuddle-walking with is the very thing that's chasing the Librarian away.
Briar is yes, just completely ignoring any further remarks from the other Prefects. All in all Kaiden snapped her back to her senses as well. "I swear if she weren't your sister…" Seems that what Ria experienced from Briar was actually Briar keeping it tame and not hauling off and punching Ria because she is the sister of someone she considers a friend. Which in this Hufflepuff's rule book makes Ria strangely part of her web of friends and extended Hogwarts family.
Lucian smiles softly at Ria, "You worry too much." He throws a cheshire grin toward Briar. "Hey, Crocker, did you know hippogryph dung makes for fantastic fertilizer? Think about that the next time you're elbow deep in your garden." He gives her a wink over the rim of his cup as he takes a sip of rum.
Jack scoffs at Lucian's words, though he doesn't say anything. Why waste his breath? He holds Briar close and begins to lead her from the pub, his head swiveling around to look at Annie, the smile tinging his face again, though now, there's a slight echo in his eyes. "C'mon Annie.. home, then?" He'll discover that she also has a place in Hogsmeade? "It's a dry night, which is a far cry from London's streets."
Cor, this just gets better and better. There's no graceful way to beg off Briar's suggestion, and Annie would actually be grateful for Kaiden's company. It's not a long walk, but he's easy to talk. Not bad on the eyes, either, truth be told. Handsome lad. Of course she'd noticed him in the library, she's not dead. There's nothing to it but to accept. "Ta, the company would be welcome." Most of it, anyway. She looks to Ria, clearly not taking any quarter in this skirmish. "Enjoy your weekend out, Ria. Lucian," with a nod as well, ever polite. There is something of reluctance in her step and Jack's cheekiness grates lightly at her nerves, as she moves to follow, looking to Kaiden as she steps away.
Ria sputters and coughs on her wine at Lucian's last comment. "Cut it out," she whisper and lightly whaps him on the shoulder. Though its clear she's trying to hold in her own laughter. She smiles to Annie though, giving the woman a polite, "Thank you. Have fine evening, Annie." And to her brother…well when the librarian isn't looking she gives him an warm and encouraging, wink, "Be safe Kaid." But she turns back to Kogrod, "Well that's fortunate to hear. You sound fairly positive about it, so I'm guessing I shouldn't feel too worried about any dashed hoped for you. Are there other goblins at the paper? The only ones I know work at Gringotts."
Briar blows Lucian a kiss. "Oh I promise I'll think of you whenever I'm elbow deep in shit." A seductive wink is added to float across the room along with the blown kiss towards Lucian. She then takes another drag and steps outside, kissing Jack's scruffy cheek as she goes. Oh and just in case Ria was even considering hooking up with Lucian she offers in a stage whisper to Ria, "Just imagine where those hands, those clothes have been!" Then away they go, after giving Jack a kiss she peels away from him to catch up with Annie and take a hold of her hand so they can walk together. "So you know Jack huh?" Her black eyes twinkle like a mountain midnight sky as she looks back at Jack with that devilish smirk that can only come with two girls talking about an obvious 'common acquaintance'.
Kaiden just sort of peers at Jack. Cockney weirdo. He offers his arm for Annie to take and looks back to Ria, "Hey, Aria…find some…nicer friends. Not that there's anything wrong with your current ones." He offers a smirk to Lucian and with that he steps out of the pub.
Lucian has no quarrel with Annie, and gives her a respectful nod and a friendly wave as she goes. If a snapshot were taken at that moment, no one would be the wiser that he had just been butting heads with the Hufflepuffs. When Briar steps out, he chuckles and shakes his head. "I think you're right about Americans, Ria. She completely falls apart when she's off balance." Then he turns to the rest of the Slytherins at the table, especially the younger ones. "Remember this lesson. Never strike first. Let your enemy bluster, and give them all the rope they need to hang themselves."
In the middle of her drag, Ria turns around to quickly add to the younger snakes, "And know when to quit. If you can tone it down with the upper hand, all the better." Exhaling, she immediately turns to Lucian with a slight frown on her face, "Merlin, Luc! I'm not worried for your safety, but that native was a ticking time bomb. Its difficult to think of an alibi that would've saved us from questioning later on. I -like- being a prefect just so you know."
Lucian waves his hand toward their housemates. "Don't listen to her. Never quit. Ever. Until your opponent is defeated. If it were war, a living enemy is just someone you have to fight again. In school…well, if you give them excuse to think you weak, they'll never stop coming at you." He shakes his head at Ria, "What's Crocker going to do to me? If she had pulled her wand and I'd Stupefied her into a drooling mess, I was just defending myself. She'd lose her prefectship, not us."
"I'm not quitting, I'm simply saving my ammunition," Ria defends herself, pushing a stay hair she feels behind her ear. "Look, I don't want to come off weak, and I don't think I am. But if Briar -had- lashed out at you, I have a feeling Kaiden would have -definitely- said you provoked it. And then what could I say to go against that? Point the finger back at my own brother?" she sighs. "Just…tone it down a -little- bit. You're fantastic dueler who knows it good to be aggressive in a fight, but now you've got to learn to differentiate when you're not in one."
"Let Kaiden say what he likes. I'm a Prefect. My word means more." Lucian casually shrugs, apparently unworried. "Besides, you had better point the finger at him if he lies about me. It was him and Crocker that started this whole thing. I was defending your honour. You're welcome."
Ria can't help but grin widely at Lucian. Another sip of the wine is taken before she pokes him on the cheek and looks over at him. "You already know I'm grateful for your friendship. You're a right mate," she smiles and then adds, "But its hard to come against family. I'm not entirely sure if you understand that, and I'm not expecting you to. But it's tough. My father makes me really watch over Kaiden." Her arms and cross as she leans back in her chair and takes a drag.
Lucian smirks, disarmed by her smile. Well…partially disarmed. "You think letting him get away with going up against me is helping him? I cut him a lot of slack because he's your brother. But I won't let him walk over me, especially not when he's choosing that American twit over his own sister. That's what irks me most about you standing by him. Tonight he stood by and let her say what she liked about you, but he was all too eager to step up to the one person defending you. Seems to me he's the one that doesn't understand family."
Ria chews at the inside of her cheek and swished the contents of her wine glass around as she listens to him silently. "He spreads his alliances too thin sometimes. Wand to protect everyone in the world. He can't help it, he's a Hufflepuff," she sighs not arguing with Lucian but afraid to admit and agree with him. Looking back up at her fellow prefect she says, "He has defended me before though … I'd like to think it's all just Hogwarts. I feel that once we've graduated, he'll see that family is the most important thing. It's the only thing. Am I foolish for hoping that?" She asks him earnestly, expecting an earnest answer.
Lucian sighs, and looks up to see the younger Slytherins eagerly listening as the conversation gets deeper. He shoos them away with a wave of his hand. "Go on. Find something else to do." Grumbling, they slither away, and he turns back to Ria. "Honestly? How can you even ask me that? 'Family is the only thing'? Family is meaningless. Blood is meaningless. The only real loyalty is the kind you earn. Like ours."
Ria rolls her eyes at the leaving student, giving them all a 'I'll hex you in your sleep' look. Exhaling a smooth stream of smoke she asks, "You don't think even blood relations can earn loyalty." She grins widely at the last part. "We've got something thicker than blood though. We've got…," she looks around the table for inspiration and then raises her glass to click it against his, "We've got wine and rum!" A smirk and then she takes another sip. "The Proudmores are fools just so you know Lucian. As wonderfully reputable as they are, they're fools for rejecting you. I don't doubt that one day you'll show them, and it will be sweet."
Lucian clinks his glass to hers, taking a drink. "I don't want to show them." He explains, staring into his cup. "I couldn't care less what they think. I want to show me." He looks up and gives her a smirk. "But if I happen to embarrass them again while I'm doing it, so much the better."