Roars and Hisses

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley sat inside the warm castle, not really being able to bring herself to go outside on a day like this. Being brought up in England, Riley was used to being cold, the chill in New Zealand hadn't effected her much since she had been there. But today, she'd prefer to be inside, feeling warm and happy. The overcast weather wasn't something that was going to get her down today. Grabbing a pumpkin pastry, Riley munched on it slowly as she waited for Jerrod to meet her. They had been going out for some time now, and Riley was becoming really comfortable with him. There had been no more verbal diarrhea, her sentences made complete sense. She was so happy with Jerrod, he had helped her learn how much more there is to life.
Riley was stoked that she had become a Prefect as well. She desperately wanted to be an Auror, and being a prefect was definitely a good step forward. Being her OWL year, Riley had to step it up a bit, make sure she was doing her homework and studying so that she would be ready for her exams, and ready to be an Auror when she left school. It was all coming so fast, but she was excited, and excited to be spending this time with Jerrod - perhaps even more in the future.

 

[Jerrod Green]

Out of Character:

Sorry it's taken so long sis.

Jerrod walked into the great hall ready to have some food and get a bit of homework done. He had already managed to get a bit behind on what needed doing. It was weird for him to do that but then again this was OWLs year so it was going to be harder than his fourth year and he needed to make sure he stepped his game up enough to keep up to date with everything.

Jerrod looked around the hall and saw Riley sat at one of the tables. He smiled at the sight of her. It had been a while since he'd last seen her and he'd missed her especially during the holidays. They hadn't seen each other much at all then and he'd spent the whole time trying to keep Lily happy after the argument they had. Jerrod sat down next to Riley with a smile. At least now he was feeling comfortable with her. She wasn't upset about the argument either. Or at least she didn't show it. "Heya. How are you??" He placed his books on the table and held her hand feeling the warmth of her's against his cold one.

 

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley looked up and saw Jerrod sitting down next to her. A huge grin rose on her face, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders to give him a half-hug. She hoped it was okay, knowing the fights he'd have with his sister about it, but in Riley's defense, he was the one that sat next to her, so she assumed it was okay. Her heart soared when Jerrod placed his hand in hers; it was crazy that she still felt like a little girl with a crush around Jerrod, even though they had known each other for so long now. Riley squeezed his hand softly before saying, "I'm great! It's awesome to be back at school!" She smiled again. "Just getting ready to study for this year I suppose. OWLs, scary right?!" She laughed. "How are you? What classes are you taking this year?"

 

[Jerrod Green]

Jerrod was surprised when Riley hugged him but he liked it. It was a warm feeling that he hadn't felt in a while. Jerry shrugged slightly, his normal cocky self back to the surface again. "Not really. I need to step up my game a bit with homework but I'm confident about getting good marks in all my subjects." Then he decided to tone down the cocky and go back to the sweet. "Especially with you there to cheer me on." He smiled and ran his fingers lightly down the side of her face. "Same as last year basically. I figure I might as well do as many subjects as possible in case my plans go down the drain and I have to try and find a different means of employment." He saw that as the smartest option. He didn't know how students could fix their eyes on one career so much. What if they suddenly decided they didn't want to do that any more?? Then they'd be doing pointless OWLs.

 

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley smirked when Jerrod became cocky. She found it very attractive on him, for reasons unbeknown to her; Riley usually preferred humility. But she supposed that she found most things about Jerrod attractive, which could be a bad thing if there were anything unpleasant about him. But Riley knew nothing unpleasant of Jerrod; in her eyes, he was quite perfect.
A warm tingling feeling lingered on Riley's smiling face as Jerrod ran his fingers down her face. The couple had only kissed each other once before, so tingles still remained after every meeting with him. Riley nodded her head at Jerrod's explanation for the classes he was doing. "That's fair enough. I'm only doing the classes I need for what I want to do though, I think if I had any more, I'd freak out." Riley laughed. "What are your plans once you leave here Jerrod?" She asked sweetly, surprising herself that she didn't actually know yet.

 

[Jerrod Green]

Jerrod thought for a second. On the one hand there was the fact that he trusted Riley with his life. On the other there was the fact that he couldn't see into the future and if anything went wrong she could quite easily tell everyone about his plans so he'd end up the same as Ana. That was not something he wanted. Azkaban would separate him from all his family. From Lily and Dervish and even Woody. He didn't want that. He only wanted to make his father proud of his youngest son.
He shrugged slightly before deciding he should be able to trust her with his little secret. "I'm not sure job wise. Probably a library or something seeing as I love books. All I know is that I want to follow in my dad's foot steps and become a death eater." He had to keep his voice down so no one else would hear. He knew how much the hall echoed and he didn't want everyone here to know. "What about you??"

 

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley smiled when Jerrod said a librarian. She thought it was so cute for him to be one, especially as most people wouldn't see him as a librarian. Riley wasn't much of a fan of reading but knew that she would make an effort for him. Her stomach dropped at his next words though. She knew Jerrod's dad had been a death eater, but she didn't expect it from Jerrod. Jerrod...a death eater? The two words just didn't work together in her head. The way he dropped his voice so no one could hear him, and the tone of his voice made him sound very convincing; but Riley knew it had to be a joke. She let out a little laugh. "Haha Jerrod, thats not funny. But yeah- a librarian would be cool! You think you would want to run the schools one, or maybe a muggle one?" Riley questioned. She smiled at him asking what she wanted to be. "An Auror." Riley said proudly. "My brother is one too. It would be cool to work along side him."

 

[Jerrod Green]

Jerrod frowned and huffed slightly. He was about to protest and say he wasn't joking when Riley carried on talking. He thought his heart had stopped for a second before he realised it was just the shock of what she was saying. He knew she was telling the truth. There was no way her words were lies. For starters, he could always tell when she was lying because her eyes told him the truth. Also, he knew she liked her brother and she'd love the thought of working with him. Then there was also the fact that it was a job a lot of people would want to have and didn't have the grades for and Riley could get the grades quite easily. Jerrod suddenly felt a hole in his heart and did the worst thing he could have ever done. Instead of lying and saying he had been joking about wanting to be a death eater he gave her a dirty look and replied "I wasn't joking. I cared about my father more than anyone else in the world. Even when he went crazy he was still the man I aspired to. I want to follow the path he led out for me and I don't care what it takes. The only reason I want to be a librarian is as a cover and because in my house it's always been mum working her arse off to bring in money and keep the place running and dad never did a thing. I want to be able to earn a living at the same time as following in my father's footsteps." Jerry suddenly realised what he said and the look on his face turned to guilt. He cared about Riley and didn't want to lose her. She wanted to be an auror and could easily arrest him the minute she got the job but he still wanted to be with her.

 

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley felt her heart drop and shock run through her body when she saw the dirty look Jerrod gave her. It wasn't something she had ever seen him do, and was scared of it. Riley felt herself slightly cower as Jerrod spoke. Later she would assume that she had finally seen the Slytherin side of him, but in that moment, she was shocked at what she was hearing. She knew that Jerrod loved his dad, and would set his snake on people who bullied him about it, but that was the extent that she knew. It took a moment for what had been said and the way it was spoken to sink in, Riley looked up at Jerrod, not realizing that she had looked away from him, and down to her feet like a child being scolded. "I-i didn't say that you didn't c-care about your father. But-I mean, you don't have to - you just can't, you can't be a-a, a thing!" Riley stuttered out. "It just isn't plausible- if I'm an Auror- and your a nice person - you just can't." Riley spoke. It would never work. A Death Eater and an Auror could never be together. But Riley had dreamed of being an Auror since she was young, and watching her brother become one only strengthened the dream. There was no way she would change what she believed in- not something this big.

 

[Jerrod Green]

Jerrod shook his head at Riley as she seemed to be trying, and failing, to make excuses. He couldn't help but roll his eyes when she called them 'things' though. It was like she was turning back into the child she always used to be when he first met her. Jerrod had thought that she'd grown out of this childish behaviour but guessed the shock was bringing it back out of her. Jerrod shook his head again when she continued to talk. "Riley, you don't know me. I have never and will never be a nice person. This is who I am and I'm not going to change so you can either accept it or you can't." He figured what he had just said spoke for itself really. He didn't want to be with anyone who didn't accept who he was. Even if it was someone who had turned his world around more than once. "I can learn to accept you wanting to be an auror if you can accept me wanting to be a death eater but only if. What's your answer??" He looked at her, deep in her eyes. Waiting and wondering. Which option was she going to take??

Out of Character:

Sorry for the late reply sis.

 

[Riley Sparkles]

Riley flinched when Jerrod rolled his eyes at her. She couldn't help but let tears well up in her eyes; and she frowned at this. The only other time in her memory that she had cried at Hogwarts was because of Jerrod's sister. A time where she had stood up for Jerrod where his sister accused him of being a terrible person. Where Jerrod had expressed that he had changed. Riley flinched again when Jerrod spoke. It was like knives to her stomach, but she hastily wiped away the tear that fell. Riley was starting to believe that Jerrod was a mean person; after all, he was being so nasty to her now. She shook her head, wondering if anything Jerrod ever said to her was truth. If he really wasn't a good person, why had he been so nice to her? Was it all an act? Riley swallowed hard when Jerrod asked her if she could accept him being a Death Eater. She took a deep breath and decided to speak her thoughts. "If you aren't a good person, then why the hell have you been so nice to me? Are you just playing a friggen game? Try mess around with the nice girl? Because I'm not going to allow that Jerrod. I'm not. I'm-I'm sorry Jerrod, but I can't. I just can't." Riley finished tearfully. She looked down at the table for a moment before rising from her seat, and walking away; wondering if he was going to chase her at all.

 

[Jerrod Green]

Jerrod had been about to reply to what Riley said before she walked away. He had never treated their relationship as a game. He loved her. She was the first girl he had ever had feelings for outside of his family. He had always thought she was the one for him. That's why she treated her so nice. He treated her like a member of his family. He hated having arguments with his mum or siblings so he treated them nicely and with the respect they deserved just like he had done with Riley. Now he'd ruined that though. Just because he wanted to be a death eater. That was it though. That was his proof that he'd never be able to have a decent girl friend. All the nice girls had things against death eaters. There was no point in even trying to get a girlfriend when it would just end in disaster every time. He should have listened to Lily in the first place. She was the girl who cared about him the most in the world and he'd almost thrown away their relationship by standing up for an auror wannabe. He started feeling a longing to run after Riley and tell her he was the guy she knew with no changes but his feelings of regret with his sister took over. He waited for Riley to disappear then he got up and walked to the Slytherin common room ready to find his sister and apologise for everything he did to her.