* that's not nearly ALL

[Linette Durand]

WITH EVERYTHING THAT YOU CONSIDER ME
you think you know me

but i am fragile too
I AM FRAGILE TOO, JUST LIKE YOU

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

She was so stupid! Any idiot would have thought to bring a watch along if they planned to be up late, especially if that idiot happened to be the Head Girl of Hogwarts School. It hadn't been her decision. Clearly, the Headmaster of the school was losing his touch. If Dippet had made her Head Girl, he may want to consider an early retirement before he put power in the hands of someone even more unbalanced and dangerous. Honestly. She tapped her foot against the stone floor, listening to the echo as the aging caretaker ranted about setting a bad example for the other students and being up after hours. Rules, she was a terrible influence on the younger students, how did she possibly live with herself, and it went on. The last made her smirk to herself. How did she live with herself, that was the question. That was why she had been outside at midnight, bringing one of her trusty matchbooks (magically setting fires held no satisfaction, anyone could do that) along to the edge of the lake.

It wasn't like she had been doing anything harmful. Linette had just been pulling leaves down from a nearby tree and setting fire to them, watching them burn then splashing water on the flames when they started to spread. No one would know she had been there, she'd already buried the leaves in the dirt. Being back at Hogwarts was stressful. Her cousin was still...herself, she now found that she knew a number of younger students because she owed Sabine, and the professors had already taken every opportunity to remind them that NEWTs were coming. The exams that would set their futures in stone or leave them ruined forever. No pressure. She didn't handle pressure well. Sure, she internalized and held it in, but eventually it spilled out. She didn't mean anything by it, she wasn't hurting anything. Of course, if anyone knew they'd cart her off to St. Mungo's and throw away the key more likely than not. Except Sabine, but the girl really was too nice for her own good.

"May I get a word in edgewise?" Her tone was dry and sarcastic, interrupting the old caretaker mid-sentence, leaving him looking scandalized. "I realize I was up after hours, but I'm not sneaking around with a boy-" all of the males in her year were either nice and boring, or idiots, she had no reason to be outside with one "-I left my Astronomy textbook in the greenhouse and I was retrieving it because I have class there tomorrow, and I didn't want to get in the way of the Herbology class." It was an impressive spur of the moment alibi, if she did say so herself. She had brought her bag with her, and as it only contained one textbook and some of her homework, she'd needed to think fast to remember which one she had and come up with a plausible reason to be outside because of it.

The caretaker glared at her suspiciously, apparently not entirely convinced of her academic honesty. How insulting. Linette had to stifle a smile. She ran her fingers through her brown hair and waited, twisting the tips of her curls around her fingers. She had left her hair loose, since she was out after hours in the dark, and had left her school robes behind. Standing in the Entrance Hall in only her white blouse and skirt (her shoes had mysteriously been left in her dorm to avoid the noise when she slipped past her fellow Ravenclaws), she found she was chilly. While she had been staring, mesmerized, at the dancing flames there had always been warmth. Now she was alone with the cold that was seeping through her system and the elderly man holding a gas lantern by his face. Somehow, it just wasn't the same when she couldn't see the flames, the raw power that was the source of the heat.

Had he not believed her story? She was beginning to feel anxious; spending the next several weeks in detention wasn't exactly how she had planned to return to Hogwarts for her seventh year. It was only September, but she was only a year away from graduating and...falling into whatever social circle her mother belonged to, marrying whoever her parents decided was a smart pureblood match for her, parroting whatever line they supported... The thought made her hands twitch, longing to reach down and pull out the matchbook hidden in a rip of the fabric on the inside of her bag. She wanted to strike one up, watch the flame spark to life and throw it - no. Deep breath. She forced herself to smile pleasantly at the caretaker and fold her hands neatly in front of her. "I'm terribly sorry to have bothered you." The hope had been that he would take the opportunity to leave. He didn't. So, what now stupid?

tag: lillsy? or open.
notes: i had an idea for linette
meeting him, and i was like hey, i
want to write a pyromaniac post, so
here's what happened.

[Riley Katon]

...nothings gonna change my world

He'd never had to go so bad in all his life. He couldn't imagine why it had gotten so bad. Sure, he shouldn't have taken in so much pumpkin juice at dinner, but he hadn't expected to feel like his bladder would explode! Waddling quickly to the mens room on the ground floor, he quickly entered a stall and relieved himself. Now he felt much more at ease. He didn't know how he'd have been able to live with himself if he had pissed his pants. How embarrassing would that have been for the professor? He'd shame his entire family, who were ashamed rather easily if truth be told. He belonged to a proud, pure blood family that didn't take the whole "muggleborn" thing lightly. Riley himself didn't rightly care. What was the big deal with muggleborns? They were just people.

Washing his hands, he thought of his last girlfriend, and how she hadn't been allowed to stay with him for long. She'd only been a halfblood, but his mother had disapproved. She ws deemed "unworthy" because their children wouldn't be perfect wizards and witches. They'd be missing magical blood, and that was unacceptable. Riles had dumped her without hesitation. This might sound like Riley had the same idea as his parents, but really the woman was just getting annoying.

Glancing at his reflection in the mirror, he sighed and grabbed a hand towel and dried off his hand, throwing the thing to the side and leaving the bathroom. It was rather late out, past midnight now, really the best time for Riley. He was the Astronomy Professor after all, the stars were his business. His classes were usually between ten and eleven, as he only held two per night. This was his personal time, and he loved it.
As he rounded the corridor, making his way toward the main staircase and up to his tower and beloved telescope, he spotted the caretaker with a female student. She looked to be in trouble, and with that old caretaker, trouble was usually two months consecutive detentions. Well, no one rightly deserved that, especially if they had a valid reason for being up, and who didn't? Stars were so beautiful.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he strode on over to the pair, looking from one to the other.
"What seems to be the problem here?" He continued to look from one to the other until he got a good look at the girl. He knew her very well, as she was the head Girl and took his class. "I can't see why you'd want to threaten miss Durand here with detentions. She's such an exceptional student."

[Linette Durand]

WITH EVERYTHING THAT YOU CONSIDER ME
you think you know me

but i am fragile too
I AM FRAGILE TOO, JUST LIKE YOU

Oh thank gods, finally someone with more than half a brain had come along. The caretaker was liable to keep her here all night before assigning her an endless succession of detentions, and most people had gone to sleep by now. Even students that had been in Astronomy earlier would be back in their common rooms. But it seemed that the Astronomy professor was not as early to retire as the students. She could appreciate a night owl. At night the pointless noise of the world faded away, and she could sit out in the courtyard or by the lake and watch the stars or the crackling flames she set to stray leaves. Well, most nights she could use her sleepless hours to sit outside. And then on occasion an idiot would show up to derail her enjoyment. She wished she could just...deep breath, deep breath. Lock it in and put on another smile.

She turned to Professor Katon, and put on her best socialite smile. Not too warm that it would seem friendly (because who would ever want to seem genuine or friendly?) but enough that it looked polite and alert. "Good evening professor," she said, emphasizing the word professor. He outranked the caretaker in the staff hierarchy, and she wanted the elderly man to be very aware of it. And how fortunate that she had discovered the very professor that would be most willing to validate her story. After all, her alibi meant that she was taking an extra interest in her subject. Professors always appreciated students taking a shine to the subjects they taught, for some odd reason. Perhaps it had something to do with the type of personality attracted to the profession, she had never really cared for it. Dealing with little first years that barely knew which end of the wand to hold to avoid shooting themselves in the eye with sparks wasn't her idea of fun.

Then again, this was one of the younger professors at Hogwarts. She looked up at him - literally up, he was much taller than her - with a slight frown for a moment. Perhaps he'd think that she was trying too hard to seem like a good student. It was good sign that he had opened with the fact that she was a good student, that meant he either thought she was or was trying to get the caretaker to leave her be. The grouchy old man was unpopular with a number of staff members, and younger individuals who might still remember their own days as students being hounded everywhere by the lantern-swinging fossil might be more likely to sympathize. In the minute of silence she allowed to accumulate, the caretaker said gruffly that he had caught her out of bed after hours.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and fixed her smile back in place. "Oh no, I wasn't skulking around the grounds," she said. Linette spared a glance at the now-sullen caretaker, and gave a tinkling laugh, still playing her part perfectly. "I just needed to retrieve my Astronomy textbook." She took it out of her bag as evidence, fingers tracing the corner of the hidden matchbook as she did so. "I needed it to do the homework you assigned, and I didn't want to interrupt a Herbology class to get it, or risk it being damaged. It slipped out of my bag, I'm afraid." Now was the part where her carefully constructed story could come tumbling down. In truth, she wasn't entirely sure if there had been any pressing homework that she would need her textbook for.

That might have been something she ought to have prepared for. She hadn't considered that when she thought up the story, since the first version had been without the professor in question in the audience, and if she altered it for the second version the blasted caretaker would know something was up. Behind her smiling facade, she held her breath, feeling her muscles tense as she held the textbook in front of her. She was once again painfully aware of her bare feet, and how cold she felt as she waited to see if Professor Katon was going to poke a hole in her story and leave her with a month of detention. When she was nervous, she always felt cold. And at parties she didn't want to attend, she always felt chilly no matter how warm the venue was. Right now she was plenty nervous, and she had already been cold before, not a good combination. Goose bumps were rising on her arms.

[Riley Katon]

...nothings gonna change my world

When Linette addressed him as a Professor, he grinned smugly at the caretaker. He pulled higher rank than the lantern carrying despot, though not as much as a Head of House or the headmaster. No, Riley would have applied for Head of Ravenclaw, but the position was already filled by the Divination professor. Drat. Well, Riley still pulled ahead of this clown, who was trying his hardest to send another student into the pits of the detention hall. Riley remembered the old man from his days in school, which weren't all that far off; even if Linette wasn't innocent, he'd protect her just to spite the old fool.

As she rattled off her excuse, he knew immediately she was lying. Riley hadn't assigned any homework, and wouldn't assign any for another week or so. Though, he wasn't about to throw her to the dog just yet. "That's very thoughtful of you, Miss Durand. That's very thoughtful, don't you think, "Mr. All Students Are Troublemakers"? Though, I would have guessed you were coming to find me. Tonight is the night you requested for and extra lesson, is it not?" Riley didn't actually offer extra lessons, as he preferred not to be bothered by the students...but the caretaker didn't know that. Why should he? The only thing that concerned him was the dust and the grime. "I'll escort you up to the tower than, shall I?" Riles said, tossing her a faint wink. As a Ravenclaw, Linette should have been able to determine that Riley was cutting her some slack. For those outside of his former house, he wouldn't have been so generous.

"At any rate, good night, Sir." Riles said with a smarmy salute, swiveling his body to face the steps, placing a hand upon Linette's shoulder and helping her find her way back to her dorm. "Might want to make sure your next alibi has no holes in it next time." Riley whispered to her as they went.

[...I feel like a bad person for how bad that was
so bloody short >.<]

[/size]

[Linette Durand]

WITH EVERYTHING THAT YOU CONSIDER ME
you think you know me

but i am fragile too
I AM FRAGILE TOO, JUST LIKE YOU

She dropped the textbook back into her bag, using the motion as an outlet for the sudden jump in her heart rate. He had realized she was lying, and was getting her out of harm's way anyway. So she had hoped correctly when she had bet on a young teacher being more sympathetic to her situation. It was a good thing she was used to maintaining a smile in public though. If she could keep smiling placidly when her father's business associates made inappropriate comments, she could keep her cool through her surprise. "Yes Professor. But obviously I couldn't come without my textbook." She flashed another smile at the staff, then turned and allowed Professor Katon to lead her away, still wishing that she was wearing shoes and socks to protect her feet from the cold floor. The chill from the stones was still seeping into her skin, a chill that hadn't been a problem while she was relieving her stress by lighting leaves on fire. It was just that blasted old caretaker.

Linette, though sorely tempted to turn and give the old man a sarcastic wave, kept her eyes carefully trained on the wall in front of her as they walked. A student passing by might think that she thought the stonework was the most fascinating thing on the planet - right before they were apprehended by the caretaker and slapped with a detention or several for being out of bed after hours. After one victim was snatched from his vulture claws he would be after the next blood he scented like a shark in the water. Honestly? As the Head Girl she was supposed to care about the rest of the students, help them, tell them to follow the rules, but she didn't care who got caught and tossed in with the coals as long as that someone wasn't her.

Even after they were out of earshot, she waited a moment before responding to him, just in case. No need to tempt fate to take another chance at putting her neck in the noose. "Why sir, whatever did you mean by that?" She batted her eyes, arranging her features in a wide-eyed expression of innocence, which was quickly replaced by a smirk. "In my defense, I didn't expect the professor in question to come strolling up, and it was the only textbook I had on hand." It was probably unwise to be so blunt about it, but he had just saved her skin, fully aware of the fact that she had been lying. If he tried to toss her in the flames now she'd take him with her. Besides, she was feeling better now that she had channeled her pent up stress. If he wanted the censored version he shouldn't be talking to her alone in the hallway at midnight. The portraits around them were sleeping, so there were no socialites waiting to pounce on her. The lot of them were vultures, just like the caretaker. The only difference was the former had money.

"I had to think on my feet; that fossil considers his time wasted if he hasn't attempted to get at least one student chained up in the dungeons per week." She turned suddenly and stood by a window, staring out at the grounds. "Are you planning to deduct any house points for my poorly thought out story?" The question was verging on sarcastic. It was implied, should he choose to take it that way, but if he started lecturing her she could fall back on the 'only kidding' excuse. Since he had gotten her out of trouble, she felt like pushing her luck. Being out from under the watchful eyes of the society crowd made her more dangerous. Just ask poor Miss Montgomery, trying to deal with all sorts of people besides her with "attitude problems." For the record, she didn't have an attitude problem. Around her parents she had no personality whatsoever. The role of public troublemaker was already taken by her cousin. She was there to sit still, look pretty, and marry well, spending the rest of her life as a door prize. Could she be blamed for needing to vent some stress?

--
notes: well, this isn't exactly
pulitzer worthy either. but it's nice
to have some quick responses.