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Post by Chase Firebrand on May 24, 2010 8:03:56 GMT -5
Chase knew himself well enough to avoid the corridors in a mood like this. He'd take it out on the students and detention would be filled with wide-eyed third years and petulant sixth years who'd only broken minor rules. He normally gave warnings, but...
He hadn't even been mentioned in the article itself. No, it had been in a back section of the newspaper, a 'tip' some anonymous source had sent in after the fact. It had looked like more of Dahlia's work to him. He knew better than to hope that his father wouldn't read it, or that Mr. Singh wouldn't find out, and if there was anything worse than the rumor that he was seeing a halfblood behind his fiancée's back, it would be that he'd impregnated another one. At least the rumors about him and Dru were the truth.
Chase drew his wand. He'd already sent a few students out of the forest with detention for being in it, and maybe part of it was just that he needed to be alone. He needed to come up with a game plan before the inevitable owl from his dad arrived. He needed to vent.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on May 24, 2010 11:35:38 GMT -5
Vannah was furious, to say the least. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to read the article from the Prophet before the hushed whispers and judging looks began. Things had been going so well, Vannah had been making it to her classes nearly invisible since she had gotten back. Until now. It wasn’t until that day when a young wizard, a first or second year probably, came up to her and told her to Give that bastard what he deserves, and in the same day when a fellow seventh year had charmed her Potions book into yelling Whore! Sl~t! Whore! Sl~t! at her repeatedly, that she finally got a hold of a copy of the article.
Her thoughts were circling from Who could have leaked this information? to Could I kill whoever did leak it and get away with it? Only three other people had known about her son: Ryan, Adrian, and that b~ of a sister of his. She wouldn’t put it past any one of them to tell.
Vannah headed down to the Forest. She needed to get away before she did something drastic. The Prophet was clenched in her right fist and her wand was grasped firmly in her left hand in case anyone tried to follow her. She was in no mood for company. Vannah’s fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white and her face was red and sticky from the tears she couldn’t stop from falling.
She probably should have been relieved, at least a little bit. The Prophet hadn’t mentioned that she had been pregnant a second time. Even worse, she had been the one to end the pregnancy herself. It still haunted her now. Two children of hers, seemingly lost forever.
Vannah turned into the Forest and walked for a few minutes. She wanted to make sure that no one else would get to her. She couldn’t be responsible for what she did to them if they did. Vannah had been too occupied thinking about the article, about her son, when she literally ran into somebody. The impact of the collision caused her to take a few steps back. Her wand was still held high and as a reflex she began, “EXPELLIA—” but stopped suddenly. She squinted her eyes as if she couldn’t really believe the figure standing before her. “Chase?” She asked incredulously. Her eyes turned cold. She was more annoyed that anything else that she just couldn't seem to find a place where she could be alone like she wanted. He was the last person she expected to see.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 8:46:24 GMT -5
Chase had sworn at the unexpected contact, and his free hand had wrapped reflexively around the slender waist of the person he'd run into. How he'd run into someone he couldn't figure out, since he'd been hypervigilant, wand at the ready for even the sign of human life. How he'd run into her was a mystery, too. He swore again.
The fact that she was glaring at him didn't help at all, and he didn't feel like playing the stupid mind games they'd been playing since about fifteen minutes after they'd met. He released her without any lingering touches or heated looks and stepped back.
"You shouldn't be in here," Chase said. He didn't care how obvious it was or that everyone ignored it anyway. He was here to be alone, so he was enforcing the rules.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 9:58:31 GMT -5
Vannah’s voice caught in a soft gasp. She was still shocked to find anyone else in the Forest, but she was absolutely stunned that it was Chase who she had managed to run into. It made sense, in a way, considering the first place she had ever run into him was in the Forest, but for some unexplainable reason it still surprised her. Her mouth dropped open in a gape and her green eyes widened. She wondered for a moment if she was making this all up. Maybe she fell asleep by accident and all of this was some kind of sick dream. But it wasn’t. It was a harsh jolt back into reality. One she had been trying to avoid for quite some time now.
Vannah felt his arm snake around her waist. A familiar feeling of comfort from having been grasped like that conflicted with a stronger feeling of being invaded. Her eyes flew shut for a moment before narrowly opening again. She didn’t like being touched, even if it was something light and harmless. It was a fear she was trying to overcome, but it also seemed like it was a fear that was impossible to shake. Whether it was the light brush of a person’s knuckles against her forearm while she walked the crowded streets of Diagon Alley or the intentional brush of a toothless stranger’s hand against her ass, it terrified her. She shuddered, trying to block out the deep pain it automatically brought her. Vannah opened her eyes again, narrowing them on Chase’s face.
“Get the hell off of me.” She demanded in a low voice, yanking herself away as he released her. She took a few steps back and folded her arms over her stomach. She lowered her eyes, focusing on a spot on the damp Forest ground. She took in a deep breath and let it out, attempting to let all of the insecurity and rage flow out with it. It came out as more of a huff than a deep breath in, but at least it calmed her down a bit.
She slowly raised her eyes to meet his. Her eyes were still wary and cautious as she lifted them from the ground, letting them slowly trail over his body, but at least she had put the daggers away for now. The rigid muscles in her face relaxed into a smirk. “That’s never stopped me before.” Vannah said. “Or you for that, matter.” She tilted her chin up. If she shouldn’t be there, he shouldn’t be either. “Since when do you get to tell me what I should and should not be doing?” Vannah continued sharply. “You’re not my mother.” Vannah pointed out softly, although she didn’t really listen to that woman either. She hated being told what to do, by anyone.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 10:43:46 GMT -5
Chase arched a brow at Vannah, though his eyes still burned crimson with annoyance. Had she really just asked him that? If his having been Head Boy practically since the duel with Emilian wasn't enough, his recent promotion should have. He decided not to enlighten her just yet if she didn't know. The deeper she dug the hole she was already digging, the worse he could punish her later. That would help.
"Just turn around and get out of my sight," he said. "I'll let it go." If there was anything Vannah was better at than being an insufferable b~, it was walking away. Chase gestured with his wand in the general direction of the school, somehow sure that she wouldn't go simply because he wanted her to.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 11:05:02 GMT -5
Vannah stared at him for a good moment before arching her eyeballs back at him. Was he really being serious? Her eyes shifted uncertainly from his face to the tip of his wand. Apparently he was. She let out a light scoff as her lips formed into a smile that said Yeah, right. She debated whether or not to stay and play the game they always played. It certainly tempting, but she wasn’t quite sure she had it in her and it seemed like he didn’t, either. However that last bit was usually what drove her to hold onto the little game they always played. The smile faded from her face, although her hollow eyes didn’t change one bit. “Fine.” She said. “I’ll leave.” She had only come out to the Forest to be alone and dammit that’s what she was going to do! As she pushed past him, Vannah put a hand on his wand and lowered it. It was silly that he even had it out. She would leave his precious space, but only to go find her own somewhere deeper in the forest. She wasn’t ready to go back to the castle just yet. Vannah slipped past Chase, trying to determine exactly which path she was going to take into the forest. She used to be familiar with a few, but since it’s been a while her memory was a bit hazy. All she knew was that she wanted to be alone and the Forest offered that solitude she was looking for.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 11:44:08 GMT -5
Chase glared at Vannah, but what was he going to do, start a fight? Grab her by the wrist and pull her against him? Kiss her until she sheathed her claws? He couldn't do things like that anymore, and he reminded himself that he was above it all. And he didn't really care if she was in the forest, as long as she kept the hell out of his way. Still...
"Detention, Saturday," he said. "Be there." He lowered his want to his side and started to walk away, unsatisfied with the complete lack of verbal sparring, but able to hold his temper just long enough matter.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 12:24:13 GMT -5
Vannah stopped abruptly in her tracks. She had been doing so well, but there was that burning anger again. It pounded through her veins, causing her to purse her lips and swivel around to face him. “What the hell, Chase?!” She half-yelled partially due to their distance, but mostly because she was pissed off. She had heard something about his Head Boy status, but that was a couple of years ago and she waved it off for the most part. Did Head Boys even give detention? She probably should have accepted it and walked away before she made matter worse, but Vannah didn’t usually accept or walk away from anything. “Funny, you didn’t seem to have a problem with me being in here before.” Vannah folded her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to her right hip. She wanted to be alone, but she was too stubborn to let this go. “What the hell did they do to you?” It wasn’t like him to back down like that, she had expected him to at least make some kind of witty remark and she was a bit disappointed that he hadn’t.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 12:39:03 GMT -5
Chase stopped in his tracks, his jaw tightening painfully as he bit back a string of swearing. "It's been three years, Vannah," he said, finally turning to glare at her. "Some of us aren't in a f~ing time warp. Get over it." She couldn't seriously stand there and call him a hypocrite for having not cared about being in the forest so long ago, when he'd been new to the school and certainly not in any position of authority. It was ridiculous.
"Detention Saturday or I'll make it a week." He didn't want to deal with this right now. He had actual issues happening, not some stupid teen drama over who kissed who and who secretly liked it. It didn't matter anymore. They'd been fighting for years and he had other people to fight with now.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 13:39:28 GMT -5
“Right.” Vannah said rolling her already-arched eyeballs. “Since when do you give out a week’s worth of detention?” She said. She knew she was inching herself closer and closer to that fine line, but it didn’t stop her. It never did. It was weird how different he was now. Had she really been gone that long? Was she so out of touch that everything seemed to have been turned upside down while she was gone? In those last few months she had been at Hogwarts, she had changed so much. She longed to be the same person she used to be. Now she had gotten it back almost, but it seemed everyone else had changed. That realization hit like a fresh wound. She bit her lip, she was caught somewhere in between pissed off and wallowing in self-pity. Either way she was miserable. “You used to at least put up a fight.” She tut-tutted. “I thought you were better than this. Whoever you’re with now must have you on a pretty tight leash.” Vannah ventured. It was odd to think he was with anyone. It didn’t actually seem possible. She knew he had gone out with that Ravenclaw, but it didn’t seem possible that would last either. She could even be wrong in assuming he was with anyone. It just seemed that some girl was the only probable reason he was acting so…old man-like.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 13:52:51 GMT -5
Chase nearly sneered at Vannah, and his smirk held traces of it as he looked at her. "I graduated," he said, just repressing the desire to call her kitten. He loved to, he knew how much it pissed her off, but he couldn't do it without risking her crying sexual harassment. For all the crap he'd done at Hogwarts that the Headmistress had overlooked, that would get him fired. "How old is that Daily Prophet you've got?"
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 14:08:48 GMT -5
Vannah blinked. "If you graduated, then what are you still doing here? In the Forest? Giving me detention?" She asked in pieces because none of it made sense. At all. It was strange to think he had graduated. She wondered if everyone else did, too, though all she could think of besides Chase were Ryan and Storm. She blinked again because her eyes were dry and she really didn't know what else to do. Needless to say her face dropped in disappointment and confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face. She stopped reading the Prophet long ago. Most of what was printed was rubbish, anyways.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 14:36:01 GMT -5
"I'm Deputy Headmaster, Vannah. I graduated, but I'm not going anywhere, and you've got a week." Chase knew he shouldn't be power-tripping, but it felt so good. This was satisfying, far more than handing out detentions to stupid fifth-years snogging under the trees. "Headmistress Chloe left the school, he went on. "It's me and Hells now." And with the Headmistress as busy as she was, and gone most nights to visit Professor Sebastien in poorly-kept secret, he had a great deal more power than even his title implied.
"It's been all over the Daily Prophet. Half the prefects transferred. None of your minions are around to be lorded over." He tucked away his wand to distract him from the desire to drop his gaze any lower than Vannah's eyes.
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Post by Savannah Brooks on Aug 19, 2010 14:59:15 GMT -5
Vannah's mouth dropped wiiiiide open. This couldn't be right, though she wasn't entirely sure what she was hearing. It sounded like he said he was Deputy Headmaster, but how could that be? As far as she could tell, Chase spent his time running around with more girls than he could keep track of. How is it possible that he would hold such a position of power, such a great responsibility? "They let you be promoted to Deputy Headmaster?" Vannah repeated. "Yeah, right. I'm not an idiot Chase." She added with a sarcastic laugh. "Is Emilian the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, too?" She drawled on in a sarcastic tone. She couldn't quite wrap her head around such an absurd idea, but then again...she had been gone for a while.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Aug 19, 2010 15:11:58 GMT -5
"You were there when Emilian got expelled," Chase said, annoyance hardening his voice. "You were there when Hells gave me Head Boy. She didn't let me be promoted. She asked." And he'd accepted, glad to hold onto the power he'd spent years building, entirely separate from home and his father. This was his, and the school was his, at least as much as it was the Headmistress's.
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