A Few Tears and a Fit of Jealousy [tag: Liam and Ambrose]

Lucie sat cross-legged in the Owlery, holding a small pink document in her hands. It was from her father, telling her of her latest vault money amount. There was a good sum of money in her Vault from what her parents ha been sending her for the past 8 years, but she never got around to spending more than the minimum. She ran her fingertips over the printed paper, trying to remember what her parents looked like, and how their voice sounded.. but she just couldn't.

"Fuck," she whispered, throwing the parchment to the ground, the barn owl that had delivered the letter cocking its head at her. 'Why the hell did you do that?' it seemed to say, the girl sighing as she lightly touched a few of its feathers. "I wish animals could talk sometimes.. that way I'd always have someone to talk to about all the things I can't tell Ambrose about.. he knows too much right now anyway."

Drawing her knees up to her chest, the girl smoothed out the floor length multi colored dress she had on and laid her head on her right knee, looking out of the window. There were some moments where Luciana just dissolved into the real feeling of being alone.. and this was one of those moments.

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Liam whistled to himself as he stepped into the owlry with a decent sized package to send home. He was sending his sisters a rather large amount of candy from Honeydukes, yes he spoiled them but he loved doing it.

He paused, there was someone else in the Owlry, he cocked his head and squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the figure hidden in the shadows. The owls hooted soothingly around the figure curled up in the corner.

Slowly, he recognized her, it was Luciana, one of his housemates. Slowly, he approached her, it was kind of like trying to walk up to a spooked animal, they bolted at any quick movement.

He crouched down in front of her, setting his package on the ground, “Hey, why are you hiding away in here?”

Luciana looked up at the newcomer, her hands immediately zipping up to her face and wiping it. "N'appellerais pas le cacher, par dire.." she said indifferently, blinking as she realized. He couldn't understand French. "I wouldn't call it hiding, per say.. sorry. I forgot some people don't understand the language I was brought up to.."

She tried her best to muster a weak smile, brushing a bit of her hair behind her ear. "You're in my house.. Liam, right?" she said, hoping she was right. "Luciana.. I think you knew that already, though.." She sniffled a bit as the letter she had discarded caught her eye once again. Little bugger. "Well, um.. what're you sending off?"

"Its Candy," Liam replied, "for my little sisters, they're five and think the stuff is the key to all happiness." He opened the box and pulled out a bar of chocolate, "Want one? They aren't gonna miss one little piece."

The french had taken him a little by surprise and his understanding of the language was abysmal at best,"So if you're not hiding then why are you sitting alone in the dark? I didn't think the owls were such good company."

"..I feel alone even when I'm surrounded by people, so this isn't much different," admitted the blonde, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. She looked at Liam oddly as he offered her chocolate, giving him a smile. "That's sweet how you think about your sisters even when you're away.. I would have siblings.. but, um.. they all died when they were really young. I would have 5.. 2 brothers and 3 sisters."

The tears came back, and she tried her hardest to wipe them away, but they just kept coming. "I'd like the chocolate though.. even though I'm kind of a mess right now."

Ignore

"My parents are kind of obsolete, so I need to shower them with lots of extra attention," Liam explained handing her the chocolate, "Five is a pretty big number, I've only got my to sisters, but they're twins so they cause twice the amount of trouble."

He grinned cheekily when she called herself a mess, "We'll, you are sitting in owl shit so I can't really expect much more from you."

Liam felt kind of bad for the blonde, she was clearly pretty depressed about something, and he couldn't stand seeing people upset. It always made the world seem abnormally bleak and grey. So, his solution was that he would keep on talking and handing over chocolate, even if it meant going to buy more for Leia and Alanna, it wasn't as if he couldn't afford it, since the money came right from his parents' vault.

"Yeah.. yeah, it is.. kind of lonely being an only child," said Lucie, wringing her hands together. Her facial expression didn't change too much until Liam said..

"Well, you are sitting in owl shit so I can't really expect much more from you."

Her eyes widened drastically, her face paled, and even her nails seemed to drain of all and every color. Her breathing became panicked and rapid; almost to a hyperventilating state.

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"..What did you say I was sitting in..?" she whispered, getting up slowly and putting her hands out at her sides in obvious disgust, "..Ew, ew.. ew ew ew.."

After having a silent freak-out session that included lots of quick hand gestures and mortified faces, she calmed herself down, performing a quick cleaning spell aroun the area she was sitting in. Her fingers caressed the chocolate wrapper for a few moments, finally tearing it open. She looked up at Liam as she took a bite of it, chewing softly. "I bet you always have someone to talk to, don't you? Having sisters and all."

Liam laughed, long and hard as she stood and jitterbugged around before finally casting a cleaning charm, "Oh you're funny sweet cheeks," he commented with a wide grin, he had a bad habit of calling people by whatever name his mind decided was a good match, it sometimes got him into some pretty big trouble.

"Like I said, my sisters are five, they aren't ones for conversation just questions, over and over and over again," Leia and Alanna's current favourite game was the 'why' game in which they asked "Why?" No matter what response was given. It drove him to absolute insanity, it drove Nia to raucous laughter.

"I'm sure you've got people you can talk to. Friends? A boyfriend? A pretty girl like you has to have a boyfriend," he commented sitting down next to her and placing the large box of sweets in front of him. Girls often were cheered by compliments on their appearance, not to mention the fact that he believed it. The males of Hogwartsau were always quick to snap up whatever new prey ventured into the waters.

Lucie stuck her bottom lip out at him, turning up her nose. She certainly didn't think it was funny. "No, I most certainly am NOT funny.. being dirty is my least favorite thing, I'll have you know." She gave him a particularly annoyed look as she contemplated on what she could say next.

"I'm sure you've got people you can talk to. Friends? A boyfriend? A pretty girl like you has to have a boyfriend."

What could she really say? "Oh, I only have one friend, and he's also my boyfriend-figure but not actually my boyfriend?" When it was put in that state, it sounded so complicated and intricate that she herself couldn't even understand it if she hadn't been living it. "Well, I'm one of those pretty girls that doesn't," said Luciana, her voice turning sour, "I do have a friend, but.. they don't need to hear everything that I go through.. not like it's a terrible mess, but still."

She frowned at Liam a bit, tilting her head. What could he possibly be thinking about? "So what, are you trying to be my boyfriend or something? 'Cause, by the way you're talking to me, you're all charmed by my beauty, too.."

Liam grinned, "Honestly, I've been there, done that and would prefer not to go back and it'll take more than a pretty face to change my mind." Liam prided himself on being an honest person and after his last dating experience he found girls to be highly over rated.

"Aren't friends supposed to help each other out? Sounds like pretty lousy dealing with everything on your own," Liam reached into the box and pulled himself out a chocolate bar, to be fair he was just as addicted to chocolate as his sisters were, his entire family suffered from a major sweet tooth, they all really enjoyed overly rich foods as well.

"Maybe if you told your friend what was going on then they'd be able to help," he said through a mouthful of chocolate.

Lucie shrugged, taking a bite out of the chocolate bar that had started to melt a bit in her warm hands. "I only have one friend because that's all the people I can trust right now. Being a transfer student and all.. it's not easy. I've been on my own since I was 10, and life's been just fine."

She heaved a sigh, her eyes dulling just a tag, "It's only now that I'm starting to see what I've been missing out on.. and not the good stuff either. Teasing, mixed feelings.. not knowing what to do.. it's all coming at me full-force, and I'm just trying to get through it. My friend knows part of what's going on.. I just refuse to tell him the details because he doesn't need to know. I'd rather him not know than to know and be dwelling on it."

She grimaced at his mouthful of chocolate, chewing on her bottom lip, "It'd be nicer if I couldn't see your saliva and the chocolate mixing together.."

Liam rolled his eyes and opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, finding himself amused by her reaction, "You're an incredible priss, you're actually lucky you're an only child. You wouldn't have survived brothers." Liam had heard enough sibling antics from Fionn to have a general idea of what little brothers are like.

He swallowed his mouthful of chocolate before speaking again, "I understand that being a transfer student is hard and everything but maybe you should try opening yourself up to ther people. Us Gryffindors are awesome, you'll make feiends pretty quickly."

Lucie looked away in disgust as he revealed his eatings to her again, the girl snapping her head back quickly.

Had he just called her a priss?

Being 1/4 Veela had its advantages, but it did have extensive disadvantages as well. Luciana, absolutely appalled and disgraced by being called a priss, had begun to sprout razor-sharp looking feathers around her now scaly neck and wrists, her pale skin reddening and her eyes dissolving into a burgundy red shade. "What.." she started, her voice sounding oddly like an ugly, huge bird, "Did you just call me, Liam?"

In her changed state, she grudgingly replied to his other statements, "Other people need to open up to me. I don't work that way. I don't invite myself into people's days for a reason.. and this," she pointed a now long, bony looking finger at her scaly, reddened covered neck, "..is a valid reason. I'm 1/4 Veela. We turn into things like this when we're angry.. the full ones are much worse."

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(Yep, Lucie's gonna look like that if Liam makes her any angrier. xD)

Liam’s eyes widened and slid away from her slightly, “That is terrifying, awesome, but terrifying.”

“Note to self: Priss is a bad word,” He muttered under his breath, “How long does it take you to simmer down?” He was quickly getting over his initial shock, this was Hogwarts and things just happened at Hogwarts, which was all there was to it. So a girl turning into a freaky bird thing…not so abnormal, if she tried to kill him, then he would start to worry.

He was actually starting to become more interested that scared, “Quarter Veela, huh? That’s kinda cool, my family has fairy blood but its so diluted that its kinda useless,” he squinted at the feathers on her wrist.

“I do have one question, if you’re so worried about becoming this in front of other people, why even bother coming to school? Why not be homeschooled?”

((Sorry it took so long to reply....I was out with a friend last night and then I had to study for a test))

"Yes, priss IS a bad word," hissed Luciana, the scales slowly dissolving into her own radiant skin, "Doesn't take long now.. unless you want me to remain like this."

She sighed, curling up into a ball as she tried to calm down, "You might think it's cool and all, but I think it's barbaric.. wooing people out of their will. It's not like I asked to be.. attractive, not at all. And as for the homeschooling part of it.."

She leaned forward, the feathers simply falling off of her wrists, her face still as red as could be. "I live alone, Liam. Have been for.. hm, almost 8 years now? I really needed to be out in the world.. in the real world, so I can learn to deal with all the things you do."

"Well, that's pretty depressing," he commented, knowing he was stating the obvious. He picked up one of the discarded feathers and twirled it carefully between his fingers, " I sort of know how that feels. My parents are big party people so they're rarely home and when they are they're pretty hung over."

"You know what, enough of the depressing talk, let's play a game," he pulled out his wand and drew lines on the wooden floor creating nine sma boxes. "I hope you know tic tack toe." He said with a grin drawing a large X in the centre square.

"Well, I mean.. parties are fun, to an extent," said Lucie, making a face, "Too much of a good thing. You know.." She looked at him oddly as he drew a checkerboard-type shape on the floor, tilting her head at it. It was curious to her.. very curious. "..Is it supposed to be a cage? Maybe a.. um.. a plaything? A game?"

She blinked at him when he said 'tic-tac-toe', "Oh.. it's a Muggle game of sorts, isn't it? How do you play?"

"I dunno if its a muggle game or not, our house elf showed it to me when I was little. Anyway, the goal of the game is to get three in a row, so if I'm x, then you're the O. Just draw it in wherever you want."

Liam felt quite proud of himself for distracting her with such a simple game, "When you get three in a row then you draw a line through them to show the other player that you've won."

"It's a great game for classes like history of magic, that make you want to beat your head into a wall."

Lucie tilted her head as Liam explained to her how the game worked. "How simply stupid," she uttered, taking out her own wand and drawing an 'O' in the right handed spot next to his 'X'.

"..I like History of Magic," said Luciana, feeling a bit offended, and thus, the feathers started to reappear again, "..I like most subjects that people around her probably wouldn't. Does Arithmancy make you want to beat your head into a wall?"

(Sorry for the sucky post.. I just woke up and I'm having a bad day :/ Got my phone taken by the teacher today.. so I'm without a phone for 10 days.)

"Yep," He replied with a grin, "Numbers don't agree with me, so Arithmancy and I have a horrible relationship," He placed an 'X' in the box directly above her 'O'

"Simmer down," he commented, catching a glimpse of the feather's reappearing, "You don't need to get all up in arms just cause someone insults something you like. Otherwise you'll be pissed off ninety percent of the time."

"I'm a herbology guy myself," he said grabbing another chocolate bar, "the amount of people who call that class stupid and pointless is...kind of impressive actually."

"That's how I am, usually," said Luciana, scratching at the feathers, "I'm just on edge today. Usually I can keep it in until I get alone.. just bite a few things with my beak thing and stuff." Her facial expression was nonchalant as she tilted her head again, looking at the board, "Oh, that's not fair.. if you put another one down in the spot above the original X, you'll have double ways.."

She stuck out her tongue as she put an 'O' in the lower left box, diagonal from where his original 'X' was. "Herbology is fun, though.. it's very fun. Some people just don't appreciate it like they should.."

Liam laughed good naturedly, "That's the strategy of this game, it may be simple but it can get pretty frustrating." He placed an 'X' in the box she pointed out.

"Herbology comes easy to me, that's part of why I like it," He said with a shrug, "And plants are simple; sunlight, water and good soil and they're happy."

"So, your sorta friend doesn't see you like this often then?"

"NUH UH! Now you've GOTTA let me win. I haven't even played this game before and I helped you out!" said Lucie, laughing even more. Her smarter side was starting to let itself go faster than she expected it to.. and the only reason she hadn't let anyone see this side of her was because of the fact that it might ruin her good standings with certain people.

"Yeah, they're very simple.. but, um, no, my sorta-friend hasn't seen me like this at all. I refuse to let him.. if he did, he'd just leave me alone, and.. I don't think I could live without him, much less knowing he's scared of what I might do. It's.. um.. complicated, I guess. Surprised you didn't freak out as much as you could have."

"No Way, I refuse to surrender! its not cheating since you willingly pointed it out," He said with a grin, laughter was good, it meant that she was getting further away from the depressed state she was in when he first arrived in the owlry.

He smirked as she listed the reasons her 'sorta' friend hadn't seen her lose her temper, "Complicated huh? Sounds like more than a friend to me," He said eyeing her carefully. A girl with a crush was generally easy to spot, they all had similar tells, flushed cheeks, denial, and sometimes a slight stutter.