A/N: Finally! (I know, don't kill me.) I don't have any excuses for those reading this...
Y'know. Except the whole 'moving-halfway-across-the-continent' excuse. I know. Neither of you give a damn. It's no excuse. Doesn't explain away the absence of story from me.
I'll try to get the next chapter up REALLY soon. Especially since Bryar will be in it. ^_^ But NO promises when I finally get a job. ...And there's the anger again.
Dislcaimer: I have no witty way to say I'm not the famous J.K. Rowling. I'm just not that funny today.
Chapter Seven
Kismet Vangley was now truly panicking. Not only had her not-so-sworn-enemy kissed her, but her best friend was currently missing. Finding one girl in a castle full of students with magical abilities was no easy feat. Both Kismet and Siren had searched all of Jay's favorite haunts, to no avail, but neither knew much of where James usually was.
"This is so difficult!" complained Siren as she slid down a wall in the corridor, clearly frustrated. Kismet silently agreed, though she didn't voice it.
She scanned the halls searching for James or Jayden, eyes wary of any teachers that might pop up to take points for being out of bed after hours. After a minute, she heard footsteps in the silence and saw a shadow at the very end of the corridor.
"Quick," she whispered urgently to Siren, "Someone's coming!"
"Someone's coming?" asked Siren in a voice too loud for Kismet's liking.
"In here," said Kiss as she pulled her friend into a nearby broom closet.
She left the door open only a crack in order to know when the person had finally passed. When she caught sight of a tall boy with honey-colored hair and a scarred face, she shoved the door open.
"Lupin!" she cried out of relief. Catching herself, she lowered her voice to a menacing stage-whisper. "Where's your Potty friend?"
Remus glanced behind Kismet to see Sirenity and offered a wan smile. "I haven't the foggiest idea. I assume he's still at the Pitch with Jayden?"
Siren shook her head, "We've checked there. Empty."
"Well, he never returned to the dormitory, and he's not in the library or the kitchens," the girls raised their eyebrows at the part about the hidden kitchens, "maybe he's still outside, on the grounds?"
As one, Sirenity and Kismet turned on their heels and strode boldly down the empty corridor.
"Wait," called Remus as the two turned their backs on the Gryffindor boy. "I have a way to be sure of where exactly James is."
"Oh?" said Kismet as she stopped in her tracks, halfway turned her body toward the most polite Marauder, and raised an eyebrow. "And what interest do you have in finding James and Jayden?"
"You didn't say you were looking for Jayden," said Remus with his eyes wide and innocent. A little too innocent, Kismet decided. She'd keep an eye on him.
"What does it matter, Kiss," said Sirenity as she walked to where Remus nervously stood, looking anywhere but at the Slytherin brunette. Siren placed one pale, slender hand on the boy's forearm, causing his cheeks and forehead to turn a bright red color. "How do we find them, Remus?"
-X-X-X-X-X-
Half an hour later, Remus Lupin was struggling to keep pace with the blonde and brunette currently striding very quickly three meters ahead of him. He suddenly wondered exactly how much exercise could possibly come with a twice-a-week girls' school choir rehearsal, and decided that his monthly tyrsts as a werewolf couldn't possibly compare, if the current situation was anything to gauge by.
Finally, the three rule-breaking students had pushed open the large, oak doors leading out onto the grounds. No sooner had they reached the Great Lake, had they witnessed a fairly recognizable girl with red hair hop onto a broom and zoom off toward what seemed to be the Forbidden Forest. The three glanced to the spot the redhead had taken flight from and saw a young male with wild, ebony hair staring in shock at the fast fading dot that was his recently departed companion.
"Prongs?" said Remus as Kismet, Sirenity, and he had come upon James.
The bespeckled sixteen year old ran a large, callous hand through his hair, glancing at the three before him. "Er... hullo. Saw that, did you?" Casting a guilty peek at his girlfriend, he murmured, "how much did you hear, exactly?"
Sirenity, not noticing the meaning of James's look, answered with a slight smile, "Nothing. We barely got here when we saw Jay take off like a bat out of hell."
Kismet flashed Siren a quick look before turning to Remus, "Do you have the Forest etched out on that little amateur map of yours?"
Remus and James looked affronted. "Amateur?" "Little?" The boys looked at one another briefly before Remus answered tiredly, "Yes. It's there."
"Wait, we're going in the Forbidden Forest?" cried Sirenity, shocked.
"Jayden's in there," mumbled Kismet as she studied the Marauder's Map. "And I'll be damned if I don't have someone to rant at after..."
Siren rolled her eyes, "Oh just admit you care about us!"
"Just a second ago you were worried about entering the Forest," commented Kismet, eyebrows raised.
"I was never worried about it! I'm excited! Imagine what's in there! I'll bet we see-" Kismet tuned out her blonde friend and continued watching the Map as they walked to the edge of the forest before realizing the two boys had followed as well.
"Uh, excuse me, but what do you two think you're doing?" asked Kismet.
Remus and James exchanged a confused glance. "We're going with you."
"...Why?" This was asked by Sirenity as she cocked her head to the side and folded her arms under her chest.
"We can't just let you enter the Forbidden Forest alone," said James softly as he looked at Siren, hazel eyes smoldering. It didn't quite have the desired effect upon the blonde, however.
It was Sirenity's turn to snort, "Oh please. This is nothing compared to the war in Salem."
The boys looked at Sirenity with confused expressions before Kismet grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her amongst the trees. "You two, stay here. We'll be back before dawn."
"And if you're not?" asked Remus incredulously. "What do we do then?"
Kismet shrugged. "If we aren't, feel free to come in with all your Gryffindor courage and chivalry to rescue one damsel in distress."
"Only one?" asked James in confusion. He surely isn't the brightest male in this school, thought Kismet. "There are three of you."
"Jayden and I never need to be rescued. Sirenity sometimes does, though."
"And now we're back to the war in Salem... And that was once!" defended an irate Siren as the girls strolled away.
The last thing the boys heard before they were lost from sight was Kismet's voice drifting back to them, "...and you were rescued by a noe le mac!"
-X-X-X-X-X-
Jayden felt absolutely weak, and had zero desire to move an inch from where she lay on the grass, staring up at the night sky. Midnight blue velvet dotted with bright, silvery stars stretched its length from one side of the canopy of branches filled with leaves to the other. On the east side of the clearing, the very tip of a crescent moon was beginning to poke it's head between two large Rowan trees.
It's so peaceful here, thought Jayden sullenly as she anticipated the following morning before breakfast when she'd have a manditory Quidditch practice with James, which was sure to be awkward. Why can't I just live in the forest as an animal?
As soon as she'd finished the wishful thought, there was a stirring of leaves and a crunch of a broken branch to the left of her. She quickly rolled away from the noise, and scrambled to her feet, already set in a defensive crouch and half-hidden by the shadow of a nearby tree. She stared into the darkeness amongst the trees on the on the other side, waiting for danger to present itself...
"..don't understand. It says she should be right here." A girl with brunette curls emerged from the trees, holding a battered parchment between her fingers as she gazed down on it. She was unrecognizable to Jayden, as her face was hidden by shadow, due to her wandlight cast upon the parchment in front of her.
"You mean right here, under this rock?" inquired a blonde girl with curves as she stepped into the clearing behind her companion, finding purchase on a nearby boulder.
"Don't be stupid."
"I'm not! I'm just tired. Can't we take a rest," whined the blonde.
"Look, with the way she flew off, I wouldn't be surprised if something was wrong."
"Then why wouldn't James go after her?" Apparently, the blonde thought this point was very obvious.
"Because we showed up and he was blinded by..." the young brunette trailed off as she stopped in front of the very tree Jayden was crouched behind, and as the light emitting from her wand reached her face, Jayden realized who it was.
"My beauty?" asked Sirenity hopefully.
"-the brightness of your hair," finished Kismet with a smirk.
Jayden chose this moment to emerge. Listening to the talk of James was painful. No, it isn't, she told herself sternly. Cold as ice. Cold as ice. She began to chant.
She nodded to Kismet as she stepped out from her hiding spot, "Prude." She then turned to her sister, "Whore."
"Bitch!" Kiss cried happily with a wide, feral smile. Suddenly, she shone the light into Jayden's eyes, causing the redhead to take a step back.
"Jay, why are you-"
"Why am I the whore!" called out an affronted Sirenity from her perch on the rock. She took off her four-inch black heels and removed her muggle leather jacket to reveal a low-cut blue blouse that brought out her eyes. When it began to ride up to show her stomach, she glanced down lazily and tugged the shirt lower in order to hide the exposed skin.
Kismet raised an eyebrow at Jayden, saying conversationally, "Is she serious?"
"I heard that!"
"So what are you doing out here?" asked Kismet with calculating eyes. She hadn't forgotten her former, interrupted question, but she'd bring it up later if Jayden didn't give an adequate excuse.
"Oh you know," said the redhead as she looked away to the right of her. "Enjoying the scenery."
"Uh huh," scoffed Kismet in a disbelieving tone.
Knowing Kismet would never drop it until gave a slightly belief-worthy story, Jayden sighed dramatically. "Oh I just can't take it anymore!" She thought about putting her wrist on her forehead and dropping to her knees, but settled for sinking to the ground with her legs crossed and placing her head in her hands. If she was too upset, Kismet would never believe her. "...Uh, my broom is broken?"
There was a slight pause as Jay awaited Kismet's response. She looked once to the impeccably perfect broom on the ground next to her left foot, then looked back to Jayden.
"Uh huh."
"Alright..." Jayden took a deep breath, deciding to just wing it, "This morning I woke up on the floor with my sheets tangled around my ankles, accidentally put my socks on my hands and my gloves on my ears, my coffee was too watery, Sirius placed a dungbomb in Ernie Pallenski's backpack and he knows he sits in front of me in Transfiguration, I lost my homework for Charms and Flitwick gave me an Incomplete, at lunch Peter accidentally charred my treacle tart with wand sparks as he was practicing the new spell Flitwick assigned for homework, Old Sluggy tried hitting on me and comparing me to some student he'd once had named Lisa or Lilie Evage or Ever or Evangelista or something and simply wouldn't shut up, and I just wanted one measley little flight with Potter, but when we took a rest at the lake, he hit me over the head with his broomstick."
"Uh huh."
Jayden sighed as Sirenity finally made her way to where the other two girls sat. Well, Jayden sat. Kismet stood.
"Did I hear that correctly? My boyfriend hit you over the head?"
"With his broomstick," supplied Kismet unhelpfully as she stared Jayden down.
Jayden sighed again, "No, Siren. He didn't really."
"Oh," said Sirenity, completely lost as she hadn't been there for the past few minutes. "Then what did happen?"
"I..."
"You?" This was Kismet.
"Well, you see... I sort of..."
"Sort of...?" asked Siren.
Thinking quickly, Jayden said the first thing that came to mind. "I like the Ravenclaw sixth year, Bryar Wood."
Complete silence. Then-
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
-X-X-X-X-X-
"So, do you really have a crush on Bryar Wood?" asked Kismet skeptically. The three girls were now lying side by side on the grass in the middle of the clearing as they stared up into the night sky.
Jayden's forehead wrinkled in automatic distaste of the word crush, but neither of the other girls saw. "Yes." She said reluctantly. She would not dare tell them the real reason she'd been crying.
"Well, I think he's hot," said Sirenity, trying to be supportive.
"He's weird," said Kismet bluntly.
"I never said he wasn't," replied Siren.
"So Jayden," said Kismet conversationally, "Have you ever even spoken to Bryar Wood?"
Jayden swore silently before sliding in place the cold mask she'd worn years ago over her features. "Yes, I have, Kismet."
"Other than saying hi in the halls or pointedly glancing away from one another?"
"...Uh, no. No I haven't."
"Thought so," said Kismet smugly.
"She's probably just shy," shrugged Siren. Both Jayden and Kismet scoffed loudly. "I mean, I never actually have had a real conversation with S..."
"Yes? Go on?" said Jayden as she sat up and stared down at her sister next to her. Kismet followed suit and both saw the minute Sirenity's cheeks tinged pink.
"Uh, nothing." Sirenity immediately rolled over onto her stomach, hiding her face in her arms.
"Oh come on, Siren! You have to tell us now!" cried Jayden. "You've already let slip the S part!"
"I knew you weren't really into Pot-Head!" said Kismet triumphantly. Jayden looked surprised. "You aren't?"
"Of course I am," protested Siren as she sat up to glare at Kiss, who was still cackling with evil mirth. "Why else would I be dating him?"
"The usual things," said Kismet with a straight face as she began to tick off fingers with each reason. "Popularity, sex, attraction... You know, Potter's not that attractive. I mean at all. Who wants a skinny nerd with glasses, no muscles, and hair that looks like a rat's nest?" She put one finger down. "He's really not that popular either, especially with the males at this school. Or anyone in my House." She put another finger down. "And I'd bet that his wing-ding is in direct porportion to his manliness, so..." She put the final finger down. Glancing with amused confusion at Sirenity she asked, "So why are you dating him?"
Jayden rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and turned to her sister. "Yeah, Siren. Why?"
"First of all," the blonde began, sitting up and placing her hands on her hips, looking very affronted. "I am NOT that shallow! I also do not sleep with every male I date! I mean, I've only been with two guys!" Here, Jayden coughed loudly, though it sounded awfully similar to "three". "And James is popular and attractive, but those aren't the reasons I'm with him! He's sweet, charming, funny, a gentlman-"
"Have you even met James Potter?" cried a surprised Jayden at the same time Kismet asked dully, "Are you describing your boyfriend or brother?"
"My boyfriend! And yes I've met him, we wouldn't be dating otherwise!" yelled Siren, completely missing the sarcasm. "He's also interested in what I have to say, loyal to his friends, brave because he's a Gryffindor..."
"Okay, okay," said Jayden, putting her hands up in defense. "You've made your point."
The three girls sighed simultaneously and began to stare at the sky once more from their positions on the ground.
"Hey wait a minute Kismet," said Siren as she turned to their brunette friend. "Aren't you the whole reason we're out here?"
At that moment in time, Kismet very much resembled a large-eyed animal who was about to be attacked by a wolf at any moment.
"Er... about that. Mal-Er, Draco and I..." she stammered, looking hard at the ground and refusing to meet her friends' eyes. "We... we kissed."
For the second time that night, birds were startled from their places amongst the branches in a secluded part of the forest.
-X-X-X-X-X-
Jayden was still pacing and fuming. She began to run her fingers through her hair, only to yank them out in frustration and begin twisting them in knots.
"That foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach!" she ranted, screaming it into the sky above. "How dare he... he maul you in the middle of a common room!"
"Jayden calm down please," called Siren from her place next to a shell-shocked Kismet. "I think she's going into shock."
Immediately, Jayden leashed her anger in favor of concern for her best friend. "Fine. But when I get my hands on him..."
"Jay, don't." said Kismet. Her voice was muffled due to her attempting to speak through her hands.
Blowing air through her lips in frustration, Jayden made her way over to her friend and her sister. "What happened, Kiss?"
"We were sitting there in the common room, I was ranting about my family again," Siren and Jay exchanged looks at this. "And he kissed me."
Jayden looked down at her friend, concerned. Suddenly, she had an idea that could possibly cheer her friend.
Sighing dramatically, Jayden dropped onto the ground beside Kismet and lay her head in Siren's lap, only to end up being pushed off by her sister and rolling into Kismet, laughing.
"You okay, Kiss?"
Kismet sighed and looked at her companion, "Nope."
Her idea apparently failed.
"Well," began Siren, "You could always tell him how you feel."
"And how's that, Siren?" asked Kismet dangerously. "How do I feel about Draco?"
"Uh..." trailed Siren as she glanced to her sister for help. Jayden shook her head quickly, silently telling her not to say a word about Kismet's denied feelings. "That he's a foul, loathesome evil cockroach?"
"You forgot little," joked Jayden.
"Exactly!" Kismet exclaimed as she stood up, her hands curling into fists. "He's a horrible, slimy creep who should learn to keep his hands off respectable witches with a family backing such as mine!"
"Nevermind that she hates her 'family backing'." Jayden mumbled to Sirenity, who giggled.
Siren put up her hands to calm her friend, "Look, Kiss-"
"Don't say that word!"
Jayden snickered and tried to finish where Sirenity left off, "I'm sure Draco-"
"WE DO NOT SAY THAT NAME IN THIS HOUSE!"
Jayden and Sirenity blinked in confusion.
"Uh, what?"
"Nothing."
Jayden stood, placing her hands on her friend's shoulders, "Getting all worked up about it won't do anyone any good. I suggest you calmly talk to Drac-uh, Blondie about what happened."
Kismet nodded, taking deep breaths, "Right. Calm. Got it."
"You can do that?" asked Jayden suspiciously.
"Yeah, of course. I can do that."
-X-X-X-X-X-
"YOU CONFUSING ASSHOLE SNAKE IN THE GRASS BASTARD!"
Draco Malfoy looked up from his book that he'd sat reading for the past three hours waiting on the girl in front of him to return to the Slytherin common room where she'd told him to wait. He'd only left once, to retrieve the book he held in his hands, out of boredom. Very used to her violent mood swings, and knowing she could change her mood in an instant, Draco marked his page and set the book down slowly, thinking of something romantically eloquent and intelligent to say to her previous statement.
"Er, what?"
Kismet huffed in resent, glaring at the boy in front of her. "I said you're a-"
"I know what you said. What I'd meant was, why am I a...'confusing arse-hole snake in the grass bastard'?"
"Ass."
Draco blinked. "What?"
"Ass. Not arse."
Draco stood slowly, attempting to grasp the brunette girl's hands, only to find his own hands unsurprisingly empty, as she'd quickly scurried away from him the minute he'd risen. "That isn't the point and you know it."
"Then what is?"
Draco sighed heavily and ran both hands through his white-blonde hair as he sank down into the couch once more. "Why are you acting this way?"
Silence met his question. Draco sat with his head still in his hands, staring at the green carpet below in wonder at the girl's antics. Kismet stared out a nearby darkened window into the night, arms folded and a frown upon her pale face. Finally, Kismet broke the long silence.
"Why'd you kiss me?"
Draco pulled his head from his palms and stared at the previously angry brunette. "Why do you think?"
"To confuse me," she replied quickly.
"What would I gain from that?" he asked after a second's pause.
"Gratification. If you can confuse me, then obviously you're better than I am."
"Why would I attempt to best you in confusion?" he asked quietly as he stood once more to face Kismet.
"Not only confusion. Everything."
"I am not that competitive," snorted Draco.
"And I am not that smart. Oh look, two lies!" Kismet exclaimed, smirking.
"You're being difficult, Kismet."
"You're being confusing, Draco."
"Irrational witch!" Draco snapped in frustration and took a step forward.
"Stubborn male!" Kismet advanced on her adversary, unfolding her arms and letting her fists dangle at her sides.
He grasped her shoulders in an attempt to make her understand, "I'm not trying to be stubborn, Kismet. You can't possibly think that I'd stoop to kissing you just to confuse you."
"Then why did you?" Kismet was breathless. Her eyes kept darting to his lips of their own accord, anticipating the breath-taking release that kissing him gave her before.
"I-"
"Do you love me?" she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest at their proximity.
Draco's eyes widened in surprise. In them, Kismet could see the war that was waged as he fought to decide what he should tell her. She could see the shock, the desire, the happiness, the fear. The last emotion was one she couldn't decipher, and what he evidently decided upon.
"What is with you birds?" shouted Draco, finally giving in to his anger. He pushed her from his hands, pretending he'd never been holding her at all. "Why can't you just accept that a kiss might not mean anything at all? Must you all have some long-winded explanation as to what it could possibly mean? I'll bet you'll stay up all night long, deciphering what every single gesture I made this evening meant, and you'll come up with loads of conviluted schemes I simply must have come up with in order to gain your heart, or something! You're all the same!"
Kismet stared at Draco in shock for several moments. That wasn't what she'd expected at all. Deciding that he wasn't going to get a reaction from her, she took a deep breath before responding in the most calm voice she could manage. "Right. It meant nothing. Me too. Goodnight Malfoy."
She kept her pace calm and determined as she exited the common room and stepped through the doorway to the girls' dormitories, hidden by a false carpet which hung on the dungeon wall. She wouldn't allow Draco to see just how much he'd harmed her. She'd get through this with a fierce expression and an infallible air about her.
As she pulled the green and silver covers around her in her four poster bed, she began to reflect upon the last few months at this new school, in this new time. She decided that she was in the correct mind-set before ever meeting Draco Malfoy, and that she should never have strayed from her path. Love is for the weak and emotional, and Kismet Vangley would never be either of those.
-X-X-X-X-X-
"Jay? Where are you going?" asked Sirenity of her sister from across the Gryffindor table at breakfast the next day.
Jayden looked up from her schoolbag in which she was hastily stuffing her papers. She glanced toward the large oak doors once more to ensure that, yes, James was in the Great Hall, and what's more he was striding boldly between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables straight toward Jayden.
"Library," she shot quickly at Sirenity as she strolled the opposite direction from which her sister's boyfriend was coming. She shot around the room as fast as she could, nearly running, to the very same doors James had emerged from. Entering the corridor outside the Hall, she began to sprint. Up the marble staircase, hanging a left through a hidden corridor, cutting a right at a small alcove; Jayden kept running. Right into-
"Ouch! You idiotic-" looking up, Jayden gasped, "Bryar? Bryar Wood?"
Bryar Wood was a tall, unsociable boy with long, black hair that hung a bit past his chin. He had light hazel eyes that seemed almost iridescent in wandlight. Eyes that pierced into the most distant person and intimidated even Sirius Black. It was beause of this feature that Bryar had no friends of which anyone knew. Well, his eyes were only one reason Bryar was alone. The others were due to his widely known insanity.
He reached a single hand down, fingers extended, and Jayden tensed. She readied herself for the physical abuse that was sure to come. Everyone knew Bryar Wood was crazy, and he was possibly crazy enough to strike Jayden. Gripping her wand tight, she tensed her legs in order to spring-
"Need some help?" he asked with a small, crooked smile.
Jayden blinked, then grasped his hand. "Uh, thanks."
"Jayden, right?" he said not unkindly. He sat back down at his hidden window seat and set aside a long roll of parchement on which he was clearly previously writing.
"Uh, yeah," said Jayden uncertainly as she sat beside him.
"You seem to say 'uh' a lot," he replied quickly, turning his body so as to face her. The sudden movement he'd made brought him closer in proximity to the redhead.
"Uh, sorry. I mean, sorry." Jayden pushed her body slowly back toward the wall which sat behind her.
"So uncertain," he mumbled, pushing himself back as well. His ever-present smile never faded once, but his eyes seemed to unfocus slightly.
"Right. Anyway, it's a good thing I ran into you," began Jayden as she suddenly recalled her quick lie in the forest. "You see, I fibbed a bit and said-"
"That you had an undying love for me and we were to be wed and have millions of alien babies that will overtake the universe, make Earth their home base, and kill all of mankind making us the last two human beings on Earth until our eldest alien son decides we are not fit to be alive and attempts to kill me off and torture you in the prison chamber they constructed but I would escape, seek you out with the ultra-amazing alien binoculars I'd stolen from our former daughter, Electra just before her untimely death by our jealous youngest daughter, and we would run away to Mars to live out the rest of our existence as rock farmers to beetles?"
Jayden blinked. Three times. She still didn't understand. "Maybe you should've stopped at the 'undying love' part."
Now it was Bryar's turn to blink. Three times. "You love me?"
"No," Jayden replied hastily, shaking her head and holding her hands up.
"What?"
"What?"
"I said it first!" exclaimed Bryar with a wide smile.
"And?" shot back Jayden. She'd already forgotten what they were arguing about.
"Well, I expect an answer!"
"Expect all you want, I doubt you'll receive," said Jayden firmly with a glare.
Bryar smiled widely at Jayden, his eyes focusing on her for the first time since they'd begun the conversation. "You're fun!"
Rubbing her forehead in frustration, Jayden thought to herself, trying to remember why she was even...
Suddenly, she recalled the scene in the woods with Kismet and Sirenity.
"Right. Well, about the 'undying love' part..." Jayden trailed off. She didn't know where to begin.
"Let me guess. Your friends were trying to force something out of you and your immediate response was that you had a crush on the weirdest boy in school?"
Jayden blinked again. "How'd you do that?"
"You're easy to read."
The comment angered Jayden. It reminded her of someone. Someone with untidy black hair and hazel eyes.
"You're easy to hit," she said coldly.
"What?"
Jayden punched his shoulder.
"Told you."
Bryar smiled even wider, if that were possible. "Do you treat all your boyfriends this way? It's kind of kinky. I think I'll like it."
"Who said you were my boyfriend!" These mind jumps are killing me, she thought wearily.
"You did," he said calmly.
"When?"
"When you told your friends you liked me."
"Yes. That doesn't necessarily mean you like me back though," said Jayden slowly as if speaking to a person who was mentally ill.
"But your confession was fabricated from your own mind. Mine is as well. I now pronounce us husband and wife!" exclaimed Bryar. He stood and began marching down the corridor in the direction from which Jayden had come. He didn't even call back a goodbye.
"Why couldn't they have believed that Potter hit me with his broomstick?" moaned Jayden as she sat there alone in the dark. She glanced around the window seat, making sure she hadn't dropped anything as she'd sat down, and spotted a rolled up piece of parchment that Bryar must have left behind.
Curious, she unrolled it and began to read. She read and read, her eyes widening with each word they took in, her breath speeding with every sentence she passed. When she was through, she stood slowly, her knees shaking slightly, and tucked the parchment away into her schoolbag.
"No wonder the kid is nuts," she breathed.
-X-X-X-X-X-
"Where are Siren and Kiss?" asked Jayden aloud to the Marauders. Class had ended for the day and the boys and Jayden were sat around the fire in the common room. James was lying on the floor finishing a Charms assignment, he'd said, and kept balling up the parchement he'd used and casting each piece aside. Remus and Peter were playing a game of gobstones, and laughing about something funny that had happened in Transfiguration that day. Sirius sat in an arm chair beside the couch where Jayden lay, staring deeply into the fire as if willing it to dance and flicker as it did.
"No one knows, huh?" Jayden called to the others. James looked up briefly and met Jayden's gaze as she looked around at the boys, then suddenly looked away at Sirius, his cheeks tinged slightly pink. Jayden glanced toward Sirius as well.
"Mate, you okay?" That was James.
Jayden watched as Sirius slowly looked to his friend and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. James's eyes in return widened just as infintisemally.
"I'm fine." The ever-eloquent Sirius Black, everyone.
"Are you sure?" James asked without concern. He immediately stood and gathered his scattered parchement with his wand, vanishing most of the discarded, crumpled rolls.
"I said I'm fine, James." Sirius stood as well, gripping his wand tight in his fist.
"Well, that's enough of the testosterone war, boys," said Jayden as she rolled off the couch, gripping Sirius's forearm in her hand and pulling him toward the portrait hole. "Time to go, Sirius."
"Fine," spat James. Jayden watched on as he walked quickly to the foot of the staircase that lead to the boys' dormitories, stomping his feet on the bottom three steps that she could see.
"Let's talk, Sirius, okay?" said Jayden as she pulled her attention back to the boy whose arm she still gripped.
"I'm fine, Jay-"
"I said let's talk," she insisted, and she pulled him along down the corridor.
The two stopped outside an unused classroom. Sirius yanked her arm slightly, turning Jayden to face him.
She looked up into his eyes, questioningly, "You're tall."
"What is it, Jayden?" He asked, well, seriously.
"What was up with the brooding fire-gaze?" asked Jayden bluntly.
"I dunno what you're talking about," he grumbled, turning away from the redhead slightly.
"Come off it, Sirius," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Something's bugging you. Tell me how to help."
"I don't think you can help," he said, scuffing his feet on the stone floor. Jayden looked closely at his face, searching for signs of anger or depression.
"It's a girl," she determined.
Sirius looked up, surprised. "How do you know that?"
"You're easy to read," she smirked, remembering Bryar.
"You sound like James." Jayden flinched, and retreated to leaning against the far wall lining the corridor, hands clasped in front of her. She wore a determined expression, and stared down the boy in front of her.
Sirius sighed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes and shaking the fringe from his eyes. He leaned against the wall opposite Jayden, but remained silent. After a while, he finally spoke.
"Sirenity," he said quietly, bowing his head ever so slightly. "It's Sirenity."
Jayden nodded, "The mysterious S."
"What?"
"Nothing," Jayden said quietly. She nodded toward the closed door when he looked up. "Let's go in the classroom. There's something you should know, but I don't know how much I should tell you."
Sirius nodded his consent, and followed her to the door. Just before turning the handle, Jayden placed a comforting arm around his waist, and he returned the gesture over her shoulders. They shared a smile, then looked inside the now open door.
"Woah!" cried Sirius, taking a small step back. The shocked and hurt experssion that flitted across Sirenity Cortez's face went unnoticed by the newcomers. "What the bloody hell is going on here?"
There before Jayden and Sirius were Kismet, Sirenity, and Bryar Wood. The latter was currently tied to a chair by what seemed to be invisible ropes, probably conjured by Kismet. The witches stood on either side of the chair, their wands pointed like knives at Bryar's neck. He was softly singing something under his breath; Jayden caught only a few words of the song "-round and round. The wheels on-".
"Uh," said Kismet as she looked to Sirenity for help. When Siren seemed unable to give an answer, she smiled a fierce grin. "We're interrogating lover-boy."
"Hi honey!" cried Bryar as he, possibly, attempted a wave. His shoulders wiggled, and he still wore a broad grin, as he greeted Jayden.
-X-X-X-X-X-
A/N: I found time and inspiration to continue the story with what I have. Deal with it.
"...to strive, become greater than they ever were, have everything they never had, and I don't desire any of that. Am I to just walk away pretending that I don't hear the devastation and collapse of everything I've ever come to create? The wonder of what is going to become of everything I've left behind. To what will remain, still be standing, if I'm ever to return? How could I ever come back? How could I ever leave?"-..."Bryar Wood". (This isn't the piece Jayden read. This was freely given to me by the inspiration for Bryar, and I will not post the words that were on the rolled up parchement, as that is plagiarism...Even if it was a blog entry. ^_^)