Heights are fun

[Samuel Sykes]

Although Sam had been irate at the mention of his parents, he was still Sam. The thought of violence made him withdraw even further, and he was quite shocked though he tried not to show it. "Oh, no. I couldn't think of hurting anyone like that just because I lost my temper. I'm a bit big, I could probably do some damage. That wouldn't be fair, but... I guess I'm not good at hexes, so I couldn't really defend myself in any other way." With a chastised look to Shaylah, Sam blushed. "It...wouldn't be right to cause pain because of words." That sort of situation wasn't foreign to Sam, for he was often pushed and shoved as a child for being so timid. There were never fights, because he had always been taller than the other boys, but never once had he raised his fist to strike back or defend himself.

Sam's deepest shame came from the time when he had, just once, knocked a boy over. The other child had stumbled upon his pet hate; a mention of his parents. Within moments the boy was flat on the ground and sobbing, and Sam had ran home in mortification and shame. He told Aunt Lola what he had done, of course; but she had not believed him. No-one would have believed that Sam had knocked a boy to the ground with one push; not only was it not plausible to cause so much damage in such a move, but also that no-one thought Sam capable of such an act.

"What is your father like, Steph?" he asked her without thinking, only to distract himself again. Carefully he sat on his hands so as to not clench them in fury at the childhood memory.

 

[Stephanie Duboit]

"Believe me." Steph grinned. "I used to be like that. No one ever thought of me as a bully in any sort of way but that's all changed now. If my family want to be the way they are then this is what they are getting." She grinned smugly. "I'm ever doing anything for those..." Steph tried to think of the word. "...people." People?? Really Steph?? Is that the best you can do?? She shook it off. "Now when someone annoys me I don't hesitate to hit them. It proves that they shouldn't try anything unles they want to truly know the meaning of pain." She grinned
Steph criged as the subject changed to her dad. Next to her sister, he was the person she hated the most. "He's a tw@t. He's a muggle who works for the government but he's not even allowed to tell any of us what he does. If I was told that my job required keeping so much secret from the people I love the most then I'd walk out and never return. Instead, he's decided he likes his job and has stayed in London while I moved here with mum and Les." She couldn't believe the hate that was welling up inside her. She knew she hated him but not this much. This was just unimaginable.

 

[Samuel Sykes]

But still, things weren't as simple as that. Sam would not be swayed from his deepest nature by a few choice words, and violence would forever be abhorrent to him unless he was angered on impulse. The girls could rest assured that he would defend them to his last breath if need be, and the same went for anyone else who needed his help, but anger simply wasn't a reason to lash out, and Sam would never understand. Yet still he nodded, and smiled, and accepted Stephanie's words like a friend should, hoping with all of his heart that no-one would speak of his parents again in case he struck them. I would never forgive myself, he thought gloomily, and forced himself to cheer up.

Sympathy welled within his heart when Steph spoke of her father, and he wished that he had not mentioned it at all. It had been very insensitive of him. Shuffling closer, her put a comforting arm around her shoulder, even though some people might not be happy with personal contact, and gave her a warm hug to his side before releasing her. Sam sighed. "Well, perhaps it's better than having no father at all. Having a selfish man as opposed to no-one being there to think about you at all... it must be hard, but it could be worse." He smiled a sad smile as he looked down at Steph. "And you have Shaylah's father. I think some father's have love enough to go around to children who aren't even their own."

 

[Shaylah Rouge]

Shaylah shrugged. "My dad's not usually like that." She grinned. "If he meets someone he doesn't tend to act nicely to them. Unless I'm around, he usually bashes them up then walks away. He doesn't realise that I know but I've seen him do it once when he didn't realise I was watching. He's kind to my friends though because he wants me to get on well with people." She laughed slightly at the thought of her getting on with people like Ava and the hufflepuff girl she had met a few days before. Her nose was still painful where it had been punched by the girl. "Dad's not usually the kindest of people exactly." She didn't know how she could explain why he wasn't kind. Oh yh. My grap went to azkaban when my dad was three and died when he was sixteen. Dad was then abandoned by my mum and became a death eater so he could follow in his dad's footsteps. Yeah. 'Cause that was going to work wasn't it. "My dad would have loved to have another daughter. Then again, he also wants a son to carry on the family name and neither of them are likely to happen any time soon." She laughed. Her dad wasn't exactly great with women.