Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
One Nice Bug Per Day
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@emeryparson
America looked up and raised an eyebrow at Emery; she rolled her eyes and looked back down at her book, turning the page and pretending that she didn’t care… because she didn’t. “Nothing. What’s up with you?” America matched the tone that Emery was using.
“You’ve been weird lately. All quiet and shit.”
Jack shrugged and looked down at his feet. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed new shoes. The ones he was wearing were absolutely filthy, one even having a hole in the side. He could feel the moisture of the grass through the thin, well worn fabric. Wiggling his toes to test the sturdiness of the material, his mind zoned out. His attention span only allowed him to listen to Emery’s beginning few words. To him, this was a waste of someone else’s valuable time. After a moment, Jack looked up at the girl in front of him––now closer than before. The boy furrowed his brows and took a step back. It had been a long time since anyone had stood so close to him and the feeling made his skin crawl.
He thought about Emery’s first question for a moment and glanced at his housemate for a few seconds. Repeating his last year of school wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. In fact, it sounded like a good idea. What was the worst that could happen? More classes? At least he would have a home, food, a safe place to stay. He hadn’t thought about life on his own after school, he hadn’t thought about a job. After all, what did it matter? He thought his shady deals with the death eaters would last him the rest of his life. He’d forgotten about his feelings and pushing them aside just wasn’t good enough anymore. “I don’t care and you neither should you,” he looked back at the ground. “None of this is your business anyway.”
It was obvious Jack was only half listening to what she’s saying and as much as Emery tried not to be bothered by that, it still rubbed her the wrong way. There were more productive things she could be doing with this time than worrying about her housemate, and Jack wasn’t doing anything to make this easier for her. Now that she had started, however, she wasn’t going to give up until she met her goal.
“Jack, listen to me.” Her voice came out even sharper than usual in an attempt to hold Jack’s attention for long enough to get her point across. “No judgement from me, nothing. What are you upset about– depression? Guilt? Grief? For God’s sake, I can help. Stop trying to do everything alone.”
Even after staying absolutely silent, Emery still looked like she wasn’t going to move. Jack knew she was stubborn, but he thought it would be easier to get rid of her by dwelling on her patience. He didn’t want to go back to the castle, he wanted to be alone. Jack thought for a moment that if he actually answered her questions, she would leave and in a few minutes, he’d get to be alone.
It was obvious that now Emery was trying to be more considerate. It was a nice gesture, but one Jack didn’t have time for now. He wets his lips and looks past the girl in front of him to avoid eye contact. “No,” he shakes his head. “Thanks.”
The uncertainty of the situation was starting to make Emery uncomfortable, so she gave up on the softer tone faster than she had taken it on. Jack’s change in attitude wasn’t subtle, and she doubted she was the first to try to get answers or lend help, so clearly she needed to try something new. Speaking to him gently in an attempt to not scare him off might work for a few minutes, but Emery didn’t want to comfort him. She didn’t even know what he was upset about to begin with.
“I’m gonna get right to the point,” she announced, drawing herself up and crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re lyin’, that’s obvious. You’re clearly not okay. You wanna repeat the year? ‘Cause that’s what’ll happen if you keep skippin’ classes. That happens, we’re both still at Hogwarts next year, I keep buggin’ you. I’m not lettin’ this up.” She paused to take a step towards him. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into or what’s goin’ on in your life, but I want to help. Are you in trouble with someone?”
Since the moment Emery showed up, all Jack wanted to do was leave. Even still, he kept his tired gaze fixed on Emery and gave her his attention. His attention was by no means undivided and as the girl spoke, his mind went else were. Jack didn’t realize it but he was fragile. If he let even the slightest thing go, it all would come pouring out of him like a river. He had been keeping so much in for so long, he felt like he was ready to burst. At times as dumb as it sounded, Jack felt like a balloon being blown up with hot air. He was stretching thin trying to hide too much. It was only a matter of time before either too much air or the slightest touch caused him to blow up.
There was no use coming up with an excuse, it wasn’t worth the effort. Jack wanted to deny all of the accusations but they were true. He had been missing classes and avoiding his dorm. He had been steering clear from the common room and the Great Hall. He looked sick and strung out because he was, plain and simple. The reason behind it all, however, much more gruesome than anything Emery realized. It was of some comfort to hear that someone cared, but it simultaneously scared him. If Emery pressed too close Jack was afraid of what the repercussions would be. Still stuck at his own mental block, he kept quiet.
The lack of response from Jack, while frustrating, was expected. If she had imagined this to be easy, she wouldn’t have put the effort into finding him somewhere far away from everyone else. Still, she hisses a breath out through her teeth as she pieces together her next sentence. It’s encouraging that Jack hasn’t tried to leave yet, at the very least. She wouldn’t put it past him to try at some point in this one sided conversation, just as she knows she’ll be there to stop him from walking away.
“Do you need help?” she asks, trying to be to the point but still somewhat gentle. Gentle doesn’t come easily to her, but she hopes she seems more concerned than angry with him.
Jack found himself wandering outside towards the Quidditch pitch. He didn’t exactly know where he was going, all that he knew was that he needed to be alone. The weather outside was in reality, mild, but to Jack it was cold. Everything was nowadays. Cold was one of the few things he still felt and he’d become an expert at hiding his shivers. Even after practically sneaking out, Jack still somehow managed to be followed. He didn’t realize who it was until the fellow housemate was within arms reach. But, before he could open his mouth to speak, Emery was already cursing at him.
Jack didn’t have a good answer for her, actually, he had no answer period. His ‘deal’ was something punishable by death and certainly not something he’d mention to anyone, especially anyone with morals as clean cut as Emery. He stared at her for a moment before shrugging silently.
Emery realizes she’s not going to get an answer from him after the first few seconds of silence, but she doesn’t speak again immediately, spending the next moments trying to piece together a sentence in her head that won’t come off as though she’s angry with him. It’s a broad question, and she isn’t used to asking questions that don’t cut directly to the point, but if she doesn’t want to scare him off she knows she’ll have to figure something out. In any case, she can always revert back to her regular interrogatory tone if this doesn’t work.
“You’ve barely been in your dorm or at classes, I’ve seen you wanderin’ around and lookin’ like someone just slit a kitten’s throat in front of you, and you’re pale as one of those bloody ghosts.” She pauses to make a sweeping hand gesture at him, head to toe. “And I haven’t heard you tell a joke in a fuckin’ eon. I’m worried.”
It took her a week, but Emery finally manages to catch Jack somewhere alone– beneath the empty Quidditch stands. It’s not an ideal location, but she’s starting to get annoyed with how long it’s taken for this opportunity to come, and she isn’t going to let is waste away while trying to wait for something better. She doesn’t give him a chance to say anything before she starts speaking. “Westfall, no bullshit. What’s your deal?”
America had been keeping her head down for the past few weeks. No matter how annoying everyone was, she made sure that she didn’t get into unnecessary arguments with people that she didn’t care for to begin with.
Emery drops her bags down heavily on the table and clears her throat. “What’s up with you?” Despite the wording, her tone makes it clear that what she’s really asking is ‘what’s wrong with you’.
Lara is sitting at the small table in the kitchens, a mug of tea resting on the table in front of her, along with a small plate of the meal the house elves had made for dinner. She looks up when she hears the door open, giving the student that walked in a small smile in greeting. “Did you want any tea? I have extra.”
Emery drops down onto the other chair and presses her palms face down on the table like she’s bracing herself. “Fuckin’ Christ, yes. D’you know what I just found? A list, a bloody list that some twerp made to [i]rank[/i] the Hufflepuff fifth year girls. Left three of ‘em in tears. When I get my hands on that fuckin’–” she pauses and lets out a controlled breath. “Tea sounds lovely. Thanks.”
“You’d be able to tell, don’t you worry.”
“Go on, then.”
“I don’t like to draw attention to myself…”
“It’ll be subtle.”
“Yes, we are quite different aren’t we? We’re half sisters.”
“You fight a lot for family.”
“If I were drunk could I recite all of the potions I’ve learned this year backwards in alphabetical order?”
“You can do that sober?”
“I’d say so but, I can be an asshole if you’d prefer…”
“Dunno if I’d be able to tell the difference.”
“Hey, I’m being nice to you right now, aren’t I?”
“Are you?”
“Same rules apply. I’m nice when I wanna be… believe it or not.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it. ‘Til then, I’ll stick with not.”
“Yeah, like people ever want help from me in the first place.”
“Good point. Who knows, they might if you were less of an asshole.”
“Hey, you know, I can be helpful when I want to be”
“Shame you never want to be helpful then.”
