| Details for Pendant and Exchanged Words |
| Summary: | Gabby's luck runs true as she gives Jackson one of the charmed pendants, and some how they end up exchanging rather harsh words about how everything is going to end. |
| Date: | March 16,1938 |
| Location: | Rooftops Hogwarts |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
  |
Windy and cold are the apt descriptors of this afternoon, with the clouds covering the sun just as it always does in Great Britain. It is doubly so along the rooftop of the castle, where both factors are magnified, mostly by each other. Jackson Jacob Potter, Jnr is sitting in the tight space between the crenellations of the battlements. Each arm is holding onto one side, and his legs are hanging out over open air.
Gabrielle 's been just about everywhere looking for Jacks. She only has her robes on, no jacket, so she'll quickly pull it in tight as she shuffles her feet to make enough noise as she walks up. If he falls to his death, it kinda defeats the purpose. Gabby'll walk up,and softly ask "Hey Jackson.You ok?"
Jackson leans back slightly to look towards Gabrielle with a raised eyebrow. He then nods his head quickly, "Yes, of course." He tilts his head slightly, "Are you alright?" He leans back a little further, bringing one leg up to push his foot against his seat, and ultimately push himself up. He jumps back, falling the five feet or so to the ground with a slight bend of his knees. He turns back towards Gabrielle, peering.
Gabrielle will give him a nervous smile, "Well, you know me, things can't ever be simple…" She'll sigh and pull out her sketch book."Right after the…mirror, after they dismissed me. I went to sleep, or tried to…and the next thing I know, Ophe's holding me and freaking out" As she's talking softly, it's clear she's upset,she'll flip through her sketchbook. She'll not look up, her cheeks are flushed, but that could be from the wind. "And I had drawn this in a trance…" It's a double page in colored pencil, a golden heart gleams brightly, casting warmth all around it. But a dark and twisted hand reaches out to touch it. From where it is touched, the heart begins to tarnish, like a disease spreading over the heart, leaving it black and cold. Gabby will try to hold the sketchbook still, but is shaking slightly. "She said I was in the trance for at least an hour…"
Jackson blinks, "Is that so?" He reaches out, holding an edge of the sketchbook to steady the effect her shakes have on it. He hmms, looking over the drawing with a concerned expression. He looks up after a thought seems to occur to him, "I like your use of shading in the drawing. You don't… really see that everywhere." He blinks once, and then looks back down to the sketchbook before he nods his head, "That's definitely the Heart of Gold. I remembered where I saw it and found the book again. It's an artifact called The Heart of Gold. In the 1490's, a Romanian alchemist named Dragostus worked with a British artificer named Opifex, Opiferus or both depending on if he owed you money, to create it. Supposedly, it would transmute the holder's love into energy and amplify it. Dragostus believed it could be used to study the magical properties of love, which of course is considered by many to be the most primal and ancient form of magic. Nobody knows where it is, currently, but I'm betting whoever Callus Vengal sent that message to did. Your mother, I expect."
Gabrielle blinks….that's a lot to take in, but she'll nod slowly." Ok …so …I’m not completely insane…that's good to know." She'll give a nervous smile and then shake her head no, "I don't think it was for my mother…Vengal said sister…and my mothers sisters are both alive.And he said that …woman was a muggle…My mother was full blooded….Unless I'm half blooded and don't know it." Gabby's got this look like she really doesn't know anymore. "There's..another one.Ophe said I just turned the page and started this, " and she'll flip the page. again, it's a color pencil drawing of a shining knight,his battles all behind him kneeling and opening a large box. From within the box spill out numerous terrors and screaming shadows, which spread across the world, leaving darkness in their wake. "This feel like a good intention gone bad….like a Pandora's box."
Jackson glances up towards Gabrielle, shrugging his shoulders and responding, "Well, that remains to be seen." He then frowns, "I don't know, and I'm not sure how to find out. Was your father a pureblood or did he have any extra-marital affair?" He tilts his head to look at the next drawing, nodding his head, "That very well could BE Pandora's Box… I'm surprised you even know about Pandora's Box."
Gabrielle throws her hands in the air slightly, "I have no idea…although, wouldn't it be all my grandparents then? If it's mother's wand, and supposedly her sister was a muggle…then wouldn't it have to be one of them that had a "extra-marital affair"?" Gabby will make a thinking face, "I honestly don't know if there's a way, besides records, of telling. Maybe I could Divine something?" She'll shrug, and then look slightly offended. "Hey!I'm not dumb despite what everyone thinks. I took ancient runes and magic history like everyone else. And I'm a Ravenclaw!I study!" she'll sigh and start digging in her robe pocket, "Look, the other reason i was looking for you…" and she'll pull out a necklace, very similar to the one she gave JAcks for christmas. It's smaller though, and has a Lions head painted on it.there's a cord going through the top. "Conall was able to make three. They're all charmed together, so, if someone gets in trouble, the other two will know." She'll hold it out to him.
Jackson glances up towards Gabrielle, his eyes narrowing, "Hey, calm the hell down. If I want to intimate that you're stupid, I'll say as much. Until then, don't put words in my mouth." His expression softens, "You could try Divining." He glances down towards the necklace, raising an eyebrow, "Who has the other two?"
Gabrielle 's got a look that kinda implies she's gone through this a lot lately.She'll just shift her gaze to the ground, "I'll send and see if my Aunts have anything of my grandparents they can send me." She'll wrap her ams around herself as the wind picks up, "Conall has one. He's a prefect and made the charms. The other one is for me."
Jackson takes the charm, looking down towards it for a moment and then asking the most obvious question, "Why me? Why not … Ripley?" At least he isn't holding the charm at arms length anymore. Rather, he is examining the craftsmanship of the pendant. His wand is produced a moment later, and he points it towards the charm.
Gabrielle raises an eyebrow and smirks lightly, "Because Ripley didn't stupefy Callous into next week. He's not going to be wanting revenge on Ripley." She'll place her hand on his, staying his wand, "Don't activate it..I don't know if the charm is a one time thing, or what. Conall says he can try to connect the other two…but it'll break the connections the three have to try." she'll shrug, a little nervously., "This way, if you want to go to Hogsmeade, you have a little more protection." When Jacks examines the pendant and flips over, the other side has a small painting of the world on it.
Jackson shakes his head, "I'm not going to activate it." He then glances up towards Garielle, "I just don't trust Conall." He looks back down to the pendant, taking a deep breath and then releasing it in a rapid string of muttered incantations. Finally, after a few minutes, Jackson nods, "Well, it's meant to do what he says it's meant to do." That being said, he slips the pendant around his neck, "If I were you, I wouldn't tell Ripley about this."
Gabrielle blinks, she's clearly surprised by that answer, "Wait, what? why don't you trust Conall?" She'll raise an eyebrow, "and why wouldn't I tell Ripley?" She'll narrow her eyes, trying to figure out his angle.
Jackson shakes his head, "Not really, no. I don't trust his motivations." He then adds, "And I wouldn't tell Ripley because I don't want him to get jealous. If I was still with you, and someone pulled your sweet, sweet bacon out of the frying pan, then you gave them a locket representative of that continued protection, I would be quite jealous." He then shrugs his shoulders, "That's my thinking on the matter, anyway. It's your argument to deal with, but if Ripley comes for me, there'll be no free punch like Theodore had."
Gabrielle rolls her eyes, "Conall's only motivation is to help. Merlin, he's my friend." She'll huff, clearly getting riled up, "This isn't about protecting me, you jackass. It's about protecting you. All I did was say no and fall down like a sack of potatoes. He's not going to need revenge on me. " Her eyes flash some, "What is your problem? No one is going after anyone. There was no free punch. You have a problem with Teddy, you deal with it. With Teddy.I had nothing to do with that." Gabby's voice starts to crack, "I don't understand …"and then she'll shake her head,closing her eyes for a moment, trying to get control of herself, "You know what, fine. I was going to try to get everyone together to try to brain storm this and figure it out, but that's not going to work."She'll look down at her sketchbook and shiver, while tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear, "I'll let you know if anyone else comes up with anything."
Jackson's eyebrows raise, "Oh, is that so?" He then shakes his head, "You haven't had this scenario play out in your mind over and over and over again. You haven't sat down for hours at a time asking yourself what you would do as a Vengal. To consider your motivations. To watch each and every possibility work itself out in your mind's eyes. Well, I have…" He then adds, "And it all comes back to you. Who held the wand for all these years? Who was the one that ran down the fact that there was a memory inlaid in it? Who is the Seer who is divining the only courses of action that we have? Gabrielle Evans." He huffs, taking a step towards Gabrielle and almost snarls, "You want to see a body hit the floor hard? You cut off its head first, the only damned part of it that knows what the hell is going on. In every scenario I've come up with, you — die — first." He takes a calming breath, which only seems to take him down about a notch, "So don't tell me this is for my protection. If these things go off, who runs where? You and Conall run for help. I run to you." He then snickers, "What's my problem? Good — fucking — luck. Oh wait, no. You already know what my problem is, don't you? I'm an asshole, right? I'm mean sometimes, and you can't be with people who are mean sometimes." He scoffs, "Just go. Brainstorm. Do what you want to do. Owl me if you need a book or a head cracked." With that, Jackson turns around, walking back towards the edge of the battlements.
"Oh! So you get to say it, but I don't? I’m just trying to make sure I'm the only one that dies. " There's a finality to Gabby voice, underlaying the anger. She knows. She'll snarl back, "That's what this is about? Gods, Jackson! You walked away from me! I could have dealt with it, but , Merlin, it's like some switch was flipped and you turned into the horrible person. You basically told me you were this mean person, who was acting nice sometimes, not that other way around. Yes!You're an asshole, guess what, so am I. I thought that's why we got along . " Angry tears are starting to fall, and she'll move to get between him and the battlements, "Don't act like I was oppressing you. No one said you had to have the same opinion as anyone else. It's just damn common sense to not talk to others like that. Would you talk to your parents or my aunts like that? To Dumbledore? If they disagreed with what you were saying?"
Jackson shouts back, "And I'm just trying to make sure you're the only one that doesn't!" He then continues, "I walked away from you because you said you could never be with someone who was mean. Well, I am! It's not exactly like I could pin a fucking ratio on it. So yes, I walked away instead of letting you set us up for a life on disappointment after disappointment after disappointment that would have only served to destroy us in the end. I walked because you said you couldn't be with someone like who I was, and life is too short to be with someone you would ultimately grow to hate." He then throws his hands up, "Nobody said you were oppressing me, least of all me. I got out of a bad situation, not an oppressive one. And yes, I'm very blunt with my parents, your aunts, Professor Dumbledore, the Minister of Magic, and Christ coming through for the second time, should he stop by!" He then gestures over his shoulder, "Gabrielle… move."
Gabrielle still has tears rolling down her cheeks, but it's hard to tell if she's upset, or angry, or both. "That doesn't make any sense! One death is better than everyone else! This whole thing has already broken me, it shouldn’t be allowed to break anyone else!!" Her eyes narrow and the snarl is back on her face as he describes their relationship. She'll not say anything till he tells her to move, and then all she says, with her chin jutted forward slightly is, "No."
Jackson places his hands on the crenellation behind Gabrielle, deeply invading her personal space (but not in the good way) as he growls his response, "Not yours." He pushes himself away, glaring towards her as he turns and begins walking down the battlements towards the stairs leading up to this place.