End of the Road

[Odette Madison]

Odette wasn't feeling herself lately. Her new style had gotten some reactions, but it still wasn't enough. Her encounter with Harley had been surprising and almost fun, but there was something itching in her to do more. She wanted people to know she was angry, for them to care. But no one really did, and that just infuriated her more. These feelings caused a constant restlessness in the girl, something she wasn't sure how to deal with. It had been fun and even freeing to write and draw out her anger on school property in the abandoned classroom, but it wasn't enough. Part of her wanted to do something that everyone would see, and especially Charlotte. The girl was so annoying and infuriating, and Odette wanted nothing more than to knock her down a peg. So late at night in her dormitory, a plan formed in her mind. She could admit to herself that it wasn't much of a plan, but she wasn't able to sleep anyway. Why not go out and do something risky? Who cared if she got in trouble, Odette didn't care about house points and if they owled her mother maybe she would actually get a letter from her about it.

She slipped into her clothes and headed out of the dormitory, successfully sneaking out of the dungeons and into the entrance hall. She wanted to leave a surprise for her sister that she would see before breakfast tomorrow, something everyone would talk about. It wasn't anything too groundbreaking, but it would do. She just hoped no one would get rid of it before the girl could see it. Once she arrived in the entrance hall, she wasn't sure where to write. In the end she found an empty space of wall, far away enough from portraits that she hoped they wouldn't start complaining loudly but still clearly in the line of sight of anyone coming down the stairs. With a smirk on her face, she took the sharpie out of her pocket and started to write in big, clear letters.

"CHARLOTTE HARPER IS A FAKE LITTLE TROLL"

That would have to do. But maybe she could write something else? Now that she had written this she didn't really want to stop. Underneath the text she started drawing a not so flattering portrait of her sister, giving her an ugly face and devil horns. Surely this would infuriate her. She just hoped Matthew wouldn't realize it had been her. She didn't want to bother with a lecture from him. Harley might realize it, as she had seen her do this before. But for some reason she didn't mind that so much. The girl wasn't the type to rat anyone out.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

The notion of patrolling still felt strange to Hayden, as was being out while other students were in bed. Hayden's first patrol had come to an end and he had left Amber at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. The girl was a pain but he still wanted to make sure she got back to her common room okay before he left her. As Hayden made his way down the stairs to the entrance hall he noticed someone out the corner of his eye writing on the walls.

"Odette!" Hayden yelled as he caught his girlfriend read handed writing on the walls. "What are you doing?" He asked though it was a stupid question as it was quite clear. "Who is Charlotte Harper and what do you have against her?" By the girl's name it sounded like she could be Odette's sister and given that Hayden didn't know anything about her family that could be the case but if it was what had Charlotte done to warrant such a message. "Explain yourself," Hayden was caught in a difficult position. As a prefect he knew he couldn't just let the incident slide but on the other hand how could he punish his own girlfriend?

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was kind of enjoying the drawing, as the thought of her sister laying eyes on it in the morning made her all the more determined to make it as awful as she could. She was so focused on her task that she didn't notice anyone entering the hall until she heard her name be yelled. She jumped with a curse at the shock it gave her, and the marker she had been holding tumbled from her grasp. She turned her head sharply to see who had caught her, relaxing slightly when she saw it was just Hayden. Of course, his new prefect duties meant he would be out of bed at night occasionally. "Jeez, you startled me, you didn't have to yell like that." she told him as she picked up the marker again. "I'm just leaving a message. Don't worry about it." Though he was a prefect, she was his girlfriend. Surely he wouldn't make a big deal out of this. He had always liked her less than nice side, something that wouldn't have changed with the addition of a simple badge. "Look, she's sort of my sister. If you really want to know. Well, half sister." She sighed, suddenly wishing she had clued him in before. "This isn't the best time to explain all that, okay? But don't worry, she really is a horrible little troll." She tapped the message with a slight grin. "I'm not lying." She stuffed the marker into her pocket. "I was done anyway. Let's go to the common room. You didn't see anything, okay?"

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden couldn't explain it but it bothered him when he saw Odette relax at the sight of him. He understood her thinking as he was her boyfriend after all but on the other hand, he was a prefect and she was breaking the rules. Odette clearly thought that she was going to get special treatment. "You never mentioned a sister," Hayden said. They had been dating for a while yet Odette had never really opened up to him about anything personal. It was obvious she had things going on her life, Hayden could see how it weighed on her but he had respected her privacy and didn't push her to open up. Maybe he should have.

"Odette I can't ignore this," Hayden sighed and raised his hand to his forehead. He was in a difficult position because part of him wanted to go with what she said, go back to the common room and forget he had seen anything, but he knew he couldn't.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette rolled her eyes dismissively when Hayden said she had never mentioned a sister. "Well, I haven't known about her for very long. If you really want to know. Only since the end of my second year." She said, somewhat defensively. "It's not something I just tell anyone, okay? Besides, I didn't know you had a sister either until you mentioned her on the train." She didn't know why, but him saying it annoyed her. She didn't owe him her life story just because they were dating, did she?

Then Hayden said he couldn't ignore it, and she frowned. "So, what then?" She asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. "Are you going to give me detention? Take points from your own house?" She snorted, scorn clear in her voice. "Yeah, right." She wasn't sure what she expected him to do, but it wasn't the things she mentioned. Maybe take a few points, but really, why would he bother? He liked her, didn't he? That wouldn't have changed just because he now had a stupid badge on his robes.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden had to admit that Odette was somewhat right to point out that she didn't know about his sister either. Neither of them had shared any personal information while they had been dating and in the beginning that seemed like a good thing but looking back, it wasn't. "You're right I should have told you about my siblings but if you've been struggling with this why didn't you tell me? I could have been there for you," Hayden was growing frustrated by Odette's indifference. When Odette began to list off all the things that she didn't expect him to do as a punishment. Hayden sighed, she was baiting him. He liked Odette, a lot, but it was clear the pair were at an impasse in their relationship and Hayden had to make a decision. "I'm not going to give you detention, Professor Styx can make that decision but I am going to deduct ten points from you and I don't care that its my house too," Hayden was making a big decision, his actions would likely cost his relationship but as much as he liked her it was clear Odette held little regard for it anymore.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette felt herself grow frustrated at Hayden's stupid questions. Couldn't he get that she liked having one person to talk with that didn't know all her drama? Where it wouldn't come up? She didn't want to say that, though, so she scowled at him more instead. "I'm not going to apologize for not telling you about every single detail of my life. Get your own." She snapped at him, though it didn't make much sense. In truth, she just wanted to say something that would get to him, and it didn't really matter what it was. Her mouth fell open slightly when he told her he would tell Styx about this. Surely he was kidding. "Ten points AND Styx? Really Hayden?" She put her hands on her hips. "Are you punishing me for not being the perfect little girlfriend you want hanging off your perfect little prefect arm? Because I thought you liked that I wasn't brainless and actually did things like this." She said, her blood boiling now. "If you do this, if you take as much as one stupid point, we're done." She threatened, glaring at him. Surely he wouldn't now, though she was starting to doubt.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden sighed and put his hands on the back of his head. Odette didn't owe him her life story but after they'd been together for a while he would think she would want him to know when she going through something tough. "Whatever, if you're so hell-bent on keeping me in the dark fine," Hayden was growing impatient with the girl's stubbornness. All the qualities he had found attractive in her a couple of years ago were now coming back to bite him. She was acting like a petulant child who had been caught doing something wrong yet was shocked that someone was actually calling her out on it. He didn't expect her to be thrilled by the points loss but he didn't expect an ultimatum. Hayden had never thought much of their age difference since he was only one year above her but it was quite clear that he was at a point where he wanted to take things seriously and grow up, Odette on the other hand still wanted to act out like she was a child. "If that's how you want to be then I guess we're done. Make it fifteen points and we're going to Styx now and you can explain to him why it was necessary to disturb him at this hour,"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette knew she would regret her words the moment they left her mouth, but by then it was too late. Her pride wouldn't allow her to take it back. Besides, she didn't really think he would actually end this over this incident. Would he? Did he like her that little? His comment about being kept in the dark made her roll her eyes. So what if she had kept it from him? Why would he care so much? She had expected him to at least argue the ultimatum, but he just seemed to deflate and accept it. Her shock was clear on her face for a moment, as she hadn't expected him to go along, but then she tightened her jaw and tried her best to look like she didn't care. "Fine!" She said, though a part of her wanted to argue, to plead. She wouldn't, though, she wouldn't show weakness like that. Which was why she fought the tears threatening to form, she would have time for that later. "Make it twenty if you enjoy the rush of power so much, see if I care." She spat at him. "Take me to Styx then, show him how good you are at being a little rule follower and maybe he'll give you a pat on the head." She mocked, trying to hurt him back as she always did when someone made her feel small.