Chapter 6: Accents and Heartbreak
"So you're telling me that you spent yesterday evening in the library?" Spencer asked disbelievingly.
"Yes, practice was getting discouraging and I had to do something- Is that a green wristband you're wearing?" I interrupted myself mid sentence.
"Yeah, it's for Muscular Dystrophy or something. Dad said they're all the rage in the United States."
"Oh," I replied. I had thought that maybe it was one of the other team's wristbands.
"What did you think it was?" Spencer asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, so are you ready for the test in Potions?" I tried to change the subject.
"No," Spencer babbled on and I lost interest.
I found myself looking for wristbands everywhere. Hell, I'd even looked to see if Malfoy had one.
"Riley, I need to ask you something," Logan didn't wait for a response but grabbed my arm and yanked me into an empty classroom.
"Ouch, that hurt," I snapped rubbing my sore arm.
"Sorry," Logan replied absently, he was trying to open the new clue.
"You should be," I muttered, moving closer to see what the note said. I read over his shoulder:
Very good, you have found the first clue. Now here's the clue to finding the second. Roofs can be sloped, or Ruffs can be slanted, find the ceiling that's neither sloped nor slanted.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that you two were in her, I'll just leave. I honestly didn't know that you two were cheating on Spencer Wood together in here, I'm just going to go!" A little first year had walked in the door and seen me peering over Logan's shoulder at the note.
"Oh, we're not…" I trailed off; the first-year was already gone, "Great, that's just great!"
"I wouldn't worry about it. She's terrified of anyone older than her. She's not going to tell Spencer some crap about you cheating on him," Logan laughed at the idea of us being together.
"I hope you're right," I muttered, thinking about the clue.
"Have you been spending a lot of time with Logan lately?" Spencer asked that night in the Common Room.
"Not really," I replied not quite understanding where this was going, "Why?"
"I hear you're cheating on me," I finally picked up on the anger in Spencer's voice.
"Who told you that?" I already knew the answer.
"Kaitlin did," Spencer pointed to the first-year girl that had come into the classroom earlier that day.
"It's not true," I said honestly, but that apparently didn't make much difference if Spencer thought I was lying.
"Well, I've heard from other people that you've been together a lot lately, Riley. I'm sick of you not talking to me, and I'm not going to put up with this!" Spencer screamed a little too loudly, seeing as how the whole Common Room turned to face us.
"So you're…"
"I'm dumping you Riley!" Spencer yelled before turning and stalking off.
"Not again," Celeste muttered as I sat and absorbed what had just happened.
"I'm s-s-sorry," Kaitlin stammered as she tugged on my sleeve, "I didn't know he would d-d-d-dump you."
"It's okay, but Logan and I weren't…" I trailed off, "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."
I got up and walked proudly out of the Common Room and got all the way down into the Captain's office in the Gryffindor locker room before breaking down. I pulled myself back together and started to file papers on the different Quidditch players.
As I was flipping through files I saw one on my grandfather. I pulled out Potter, James and opened it. There was a picture of him attached to a biographical sketch and a couple of newspaper clippings. I flipped through the contents and out fell an envelope. I pocketed the envelope and placed the file back carefully.
"Riley, I'm sorry about you and Wood," Logan said as he sat in the only other chair in my office, "I would tell him the truth if he wouldn't beat me to a pulp if I got within reach."
"Yeah, don't worry about it. He should have trusted me, but whatever," I replied as I propelled the chair over to the desk and grabbed a few papers off of it before gliding back to the open file cabinet.
"Why don't you do that magically? Wouldn't it would save you a lot of trouble," Logan watched questioningly.
"Why use magic if I can do it just as well by hand?" I replied.
"But if you use magic you wouldn't get paper cuts, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't, would I?" I retorted, nursing my fresh paper cut.
"Are we playing that question game again?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't think I want to, do you?"
"Was that a question?"
"Yes, it- hey, that's got to be against the rules!" Logan exclaimed.
"It's a gift," I responded, spinning the chair around to face him, "So, what can I do for you?"
"Can you help me solve this?" He asked waving the clue from earlier in my face.
"Can you think about it for a minute?"
"Why would I do that if you already know the answer?"
"So that you can lean to solve these on your own," I replied, then realized I hadn't asked a question when Logan smiled a triumphant grin.
"I know the answer now!" Logan exclaimed, "Roofs can be sloped, or Ruffs can be slanted, find the shelter that's neither sloped nor slanted. 'Roofs' and 'ruffs' are different pronunciations, or accents, of the same word. Where we want to look is the roof of the greenhouse that was just built, the one with the flat roof!"
"Way to go, Sherlock," I responded smiling, "You just have to think about these things a little bit."
"What are we waiting for?" Logan jumped out of his chair and grabbed my hand, pulling me along behind him. We ran over Spencer in the hallway.
"So, it is true, isn't it?" Spencer asked angrily.
"What's true?" I asked, completely forgetting the days earlier events.
"You are seeing Logan, aren't you?"
"Does it look like I'm 'seeing' Logan?"
"Yes, it does!" Spencer exclaimed.
"Oh, because I'm not, but you go right ahead and think whatever you want to think,' I grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him out into the grounds.
"He wants to kill me," Logan said nervously.
"He does not," I replied smoothly.
"I'll kill you, Logan, don't think I won't!" Spencer Wood was in a rage and screamed after us.
I spun around, "Spencer Cedric Wood I'd like to see you try! Now leave him out of this, this is a problem between us, Logan's just helping me with something if you must know, not like it's any of your business!"
"I told you he wanted to kill me," Logan muttered.
"Oh, shut up," I snapped.
AN: And there you are, sorry to all of you Riley/Spencer lovers but, alas he had to go. It's all part of the master plan. Anyways, I hope you liked it, Pleas review!
Love From,
MotherCrumpet
