Sitting Around (Jacobs)

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi was sitting at the top of the stands listening to an adapted cassette walkman that she had found in a muggle charity shop in london before she was picked up from the leaky cauldron by her mother. She was currently listening to the soundtrack of Oliver the musical, humming along to 'As long as he needs me' the lyrics and the conviction with which they were sung almost bringing tears to her eyes.

The wind had increased in speed since she had come up here and it flung the strands of hair that had come out of her loose french plait about her head in the most violent manner. It would start raining soon, and she would have to go inside so she didn't catch a cold, but she had brought an umbrella with her to make sure she didn't get too wet on her return journey to the castle.

She looked down at the stands below her to see someone making their way up the stairs to where she was. She sighed slightly, so far her visits up her had brought her complete solitude, apparently today was not going to follow the trend. She was left to hope that the person wasn't here to cause trouble.

[Thomas Jacobs]

Thomas found himself wandering the grounds aimlessly that afternoon until he caught a glimpse of a figure sitting right at the very top of the stands of the Quidditch pitch. He could tell even at this distance that the figure was female, the long dark hair blowing about in the wind was too long to be any male he had ever seen walking the corridors.

He decided to make his way up there to see who it was, that would then depend on the nature of the encounter. He did hope it wasn't a mudblood, that would mean a pointless walk up many stairs just to throw a few insults and leave again. He was soon at the top however, and the figure was definitely a girl.

She was holding something in her hands which was attached to what looked like earmuffs on her head by a black string. It looked suspiciously muggle.

"Windy up here isn't it." he said conversationally, deciding that jumping to conclusions at this height would be a bad idea. "I'm Jacobs, Thomas Jacobs, thought you looked a little lonely up here."

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi looked at the boy coming closer to her up the flight of stairs to her right. He was blonde, with a haughty air a suggestion of his blood, confirmed by the green badge emblazoned on his robes that she could make out as he got closer.

Great, disturbed by a Slytherin, while holding an adapted muggle device. Just great.

She tried to ignore his approach and just stare out across the moody sky, taking in the tranquillity of isolation like she normally did when the sounds of the word were blocked out by the muggle band known as Queen.

He stood in front of her, his body language and attitude clearly demanding her attention. She removed the headphones and looked up at him.

"It usually is, this high up." She turned off the player and put it in her bag, it was clear that this boy, whoever he was wasn't planning on leaving particularly quickly, Freddie Mercury would have to hold on with his wanting to break free until the boy had gone.

"Jaimi Willow, your father worked for the ministry." she said matter of factly. "My father is the deputy of the Auror department, I've heard him mention your surname." She leant back in the seat and crossed her right leg over her left. "I wasn't lonely though, merely up here alone." She held his gaze, trying to gauge his reaction to her dismissal of his reason to be up here disturbing her.

[Thomas Jacobs]

He shifted slightly awkwardly at her retort to his comment about the wind, it was a stupid comment really and he knew it, but tried not to let it show. He noticed that she put the muggle thing away in her bag once she had seen his house badge and smirked slightly.

It surprised him that she knew his father worked for the ministry, but she couldn't have known much, no more than any father would mention in passing about a colleague in a conversation with his daughter, the way she said father however reminded him of how he'd heard a Slytherin sixth year talk about her father in the common room a few days ago. Interesting.

He appraised her as she sat back in the seat and crossed her leg. The movement was graceful, more so than you would expect from some of the most impeccably trained pure blood girls a few years older than he was, his mother had almost the same grace when she had been alive. It was learned however, rather than natural, Jaimi's movement was natural.

"Well I was curious as to why someone would wish to be up here alone, often people pretend to want to be alone when really they need company. However, if you came up here to seek actual solitude I will not disturb you for long, you will soon be able to go back to your muggle device." he sneered on the word muggle, showing his distaste in more than just his tone of voice.

[Jaimi Willow]

She smiled indulgently as he covered up his discomfort at her dismissal. He seemed to make a serious appraisal of her as she moved, far from making her uncomfortable, this amused her. It was that same look her brother's regarded women or girls with trying to suss out their lineage, the amusing this was they were always a little off, she had the advantage of being a woman herself and, being in their company more often, was more used to the tells of movement and how it can be inherited though the generations as much as the shape of the nose or placing of cheekbones.

She had never had to put much effort into being graceful, the Veela blood saw to it that she had the grace and outward confidence of the highest of classes both Wizard and Muggle.

"I was actually seeking solitude, yes. As for the muggle device, it is more convenient than lugging a wireless all the way up here isn't it? Which incidentally is a Wizarding device and radio as a whole a concept based on one originally developed by Muggles." She took a steadying breath.

"Mr Jacobs this is not a conversation I wish to pursue with you, I have had many of them, they all sound the same, and they all end the same, with me hexing you right to the hospital wing. If however, you wish to have pleasant, intellectual exchange with me I would be happy to oblige you."

She gathered her hair at one side of her head and twisted it in a knot which she flicked her wand at to hold it in place, her hair had not been annoying her until now, but it seemed a new annoyance made an existing matter become one too.

[Thomas Jacobs]

Thom didn't know what to say to her rebuffal about WWN being based on a muggle concept. He was sure it was ridiculous, surely they had come up with it first. She must have lied to him, the idea that a muggloe could come up with soimeting that was now so much a part of daily wizarding life was insane to say the least. Yet she didn't strike him as one being out of her mind.

"Really, I'd hate to do enough research to discredit your theory." he said snidely, if she could brush off his comments like she did then he had the right to do that same to her. Didn't he?

Hang on had she just threatened him?

Wow, she'd had some kind of etiquette training, he hadn't missed a threat like that since he was last at a masquerade ball with his father. Some other pure blood hotshot who worked with him had threatened his job, but Thom hadn't noticed it until a few minutes later. Granted he had been younger then, but in both cases the lines had been said with such charm he hadn't noticed them.

He watched her for a moment as she twisted her hair into a knot at the base of her head. Again a graceful movement, but it was more staccatto than before, and the mix of the two oppositions was quite strange. It was as though the movement had been designed to make him feel uncomfortable. It worked.

"Well," he said grandly, trying to save face. "If solitude is what you desire, then I'll strive not to dis appoint you." He nodded politely and made his way down the stairs. Atticus would hear about this, this was one jumped up blood traitor who needed showing her place in life.

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi raised an eyebrow as he tried to brush off her comment. It was the truth and he knew it, he just didn't have the gall to admit it.

Ah, there it was, he'd just realised her veiled threat. True it had only taken a few moments, he was clearly more practiced at noticing than many other of his fellow Slytherins which would make any continuance of conversation more interesting. But maybe, considering the threat, he would decide not to.

She watched as he found himself studying the elegant knot in her hair with some interest, he couldn't take his eyes off it, and she found this amusing too. he seemed to almost shake himself into a taller, broader stance before he spoke again.

It soon aspired he would do the latter and leave, something about his voice told her he was trying to save face, and not risk that she would hold true to her threat. His polite nod was too practiced, and she knew she was in trouble if he decided to talk about this to anyone with any sway in the strange Slytherin/Pure blood hierarchy that existed within the walls of their dungeon lair.

"Until next time Mr Jacobs, lets hope our next encounter is just as pleasant." She let the sarcasm taint her words more than she would have normally, in that one sentence she dropped all pretense. Probably a mistake. However, it was done now, she knew he had heard, and would now almost definitely tell someone about the encounter.

Having waited for him to leave the stadium, she pulled out her walkman and put the headphones over her ears. Pressing play she breathed out a slow and calming breath. It didn't work. The sound of the music for a brief moment infuriated her, and without thinking she stood swiftly and threw the walkman with all the force she could muster. As it flew out of her hands it ripped the headphones off her ears, causing a pain she had not expected. The moment of anger gone and she found herself drained and upset, sinking to her knees in between the two rows of seats she put her head in her hands and sobbed.

Only someone who happened to be looking for someone there would be able to spot her up there, almost concealed by the row of seats in front of her. The walkman she had thrown lay smashed in the middle of the Quidditch pitch as the wind blew rain clouds over it and it began to rain.

[James Potter]

It had been some time since James had had the chance to get onto the Quidditch pitch to have an extra practice. He had hoped that Sirius would join him, but Remus was intent on getting him to do his with his History of Magic assignment, so Siruis made a hasty retreat and couldn't be found.

It felt good to be flying and as he zoomed around chasing the snitch, his keen eyes caught sight of a couple of students in the stands. He carried on flying, ignoring the exchange between them, and turned his attention back to locating the snitch. He found it, hovering near to where the students had been. He flew at high speed, and reached out his hand to grasp at it, but again he was distracted by seeing Jaimi throwing something, then slipping between the seats. He frowned and decided to see what was wrong.

James flew to the ground, and dismounted his broom, he then begasn the climb up to where Jaimi had been. Once he reached the place she had been sitting, he looked around to see her sobbing. "Hey what's the matter Jaimi? Did someone hurt you?" He moved slowly closer to her. "Who was that with you?"

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi knelt there for a while feeling the soft spots of rain falling on the back of her head, slowly soothing her. Until a voice to her right made her jump and look up. James was standing in the aisle, looking at her as she knelt on the floor. She hurriedly wiped the tears away with her sleeve.

"No, I'm fine I..." she felt him move closer. She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about this, he was concerned, that was obvious. But her apparent lack of control over emotions at the present time wasn't something she wanted to test this close to someone she liked. Taking a deep breath, and forcing the tears to stop, Jaimi looked up at him as he asked his next question. "I'm not going to tell you if you're going to go and do something stupid with the information. From what I hear you get in enough trouble with the Slytherins without my input." For the moment, her tears seemed to have dried up, but the pricking at her eyelids told her in no uncertain terms that the slightest thing would set her off again.

She felt like an idiot, kneeling there in the stands, but she couldn't bring herself to stand. She felt weak, like something wasn't right. Was she really that scared of a bunch of Slytherin know-it-alls?
Surely not!

[James Potter]

James could see something had upset her, but when she spoke he to a step back at her words. He stood there unsure of what to say, as he would no doubt say the wrong thing, as he always did when it came to girls who were in a state of upset. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to work out what to say, and then he said it...The thing that he probably shouldn't have said. "So it was a Slytherin?" His expression darkened a little.

He wondered why she didn't get up, and sat down a few seats away from her. Scratching his head, he gazed at the object of Remus's affections. "Look Jaimi, whatever's happened, I don't think sitting down there will help much. Why don't you get more comfortable and maybe we can sort this out." He gave her a confident grin. "I promise I won't hex every slytherin I meet if it makes you feel better."

He did think to himself however, that if he did find out who it was, he would organize something special for them.

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi sighed as he noticed her slip up, cursing his intelligence for showing itself at that moment. She saw his expression darken when she nodded, knowing there was no point in denying it now. She looked up at him and then out over the Quidditch pitch before she realised that James had his broom with him, so he must have been flying around the whole time she and Jacobs had been talking. He would have seen her fit of temper, throwing the walkman. She looked down at the hands that were now resting in her lap and took a deep breath.

"It's surprisingly comfortable down here you know." She said absent mindedly, "I just don't feel like I can move right now." she explained looking up at him and blushing slightly. "How pathetic does that sound?" She laughed shortly at herself and and what he said next. "Strangely not, sometimes I think they all need a good hexing. Not that I'm encouraging you in any way." She looked back down at her hands again, and could almost feel his eyes on her.

"I don't know how you'd plan on 'sorting this out' exactly, it's nothing of consequence, really. I'm just over reacting I'm sure. I've been known for having a short temper. I'm just being silly, just go and practice if you want to. I'm fine here. Really... I..." her voice faded into nothing, she knew he wouldn't listen. James was the kind of guy who knew that no one gets this upset over nothing and that fact that she was clearly making desperate attempts to convince him she was fine would only confirm it in his mind. Part of her at least, hoped it would, the part of her that made her voice fade at least.

[James Potter]

James sat quietly as she spoke, his eyes caught the smashed plastic object on the floor, and he fleetingly wondered what it was. He smiled at her comment about it being comfortable where she was. He looked up, the rain was starting to ease a little now, and as Jaimi tried to over exaggerate how fine she was, he shook his head slowly.

"Jaimi, I'm not judging you, but come on, we both know you're not fine." He said matter of factly. He went over to her and placing his arm under hers, he helped her to a seat. He then picked up the broken plastic thing, with strange wiry attachment. Turning it over in his hands, he looked back at her. "What is this thing?" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the walkman. "Repairo!"

Sitting next to her James handed the walkman back to her. "I know I don't need any encouragement to cause trouble with the Slytherins, but I think on this occasion it would be justified." He added with a grin. "Unless it was Snape of course. It's my mission in life to make sure he suffers."

[Jaimi Willow]

Jaimi let herself be helped up, and back onto one of the seats behind her. She slumped in the seat and watched as James picked up the smashed walkman.

"It's a muggle walkman that I've modified so it'll work here." She smiled as he handed the fixed walkman back to her. She studied it as he spoke, silently agreeing with what he said. "And we all know a certain person hates you for that." she said looking across at him.

She could hear the rain easing, the spatters were slowing down as they hit the plastic chairs around them. Getting steadily quieter as they sat in silence for a moment. She put the walkman away in her bag.

"When I said I'd over reacted I wasn't lying you know." she said quietly. "I wasn't angry until he'd gone. I hate having to defend my actions against pure blooded upstarts who don't even know me. I'd gotten used to not having to do it here. I just saw red I guess, so I threw the walkman, and because I'd already put the headphones on it pulled them off my head. It hurt, and I wasn't expecting it, and the next thing I knew I was crying and I couldn't stop."

[James Potter]

James nodded politely as she explained about the walkman. He'd heard of such things from his muggle friends. "Sounds like a fun thing to have. You're a clever witch, adapting it to use here Jaimi."

James slouched in his seat and shrugged a little at her comment about Lily. "Yeah I know. I'm trying to curb it a little, so she can see I'm changing, but it's so hard. I doubt Snivelus and I will ever find that common ground, where we can be around each other without hexing him within an inch of his life." He smirked at her and as she explained what had happened, his smile faded.

"You know its only the Slytherins that hold bloodline in such a closed minded way. They are indoctrinated with the values of their fathers." He sighed and absent mindedly allowed the snitch to flutter away a little, before catching it again. "You shouldn't allow them to upset you like that though. If he knew he'd got a rise out of you, he would keep playing on it." He added with a wry smile. "I know I would."

[Jaimi Willow]

"It certainly makes studying easier, I can't do it in silence, and it means I can listen to music in the library without disturbing anyone else." She blushed slightly at the compliment, "Well I'm in Ravenclaw for a reason."

Jaimi put a hand on his arm. "She'll see it eventually, another angle might be to stop calling her Evans all the time." she said with a smile.

"It's not only the Slytherins you know, there are other people in other houses who could have been in Slytherin and not all Slytherins are as bad as you think they are either." She was of course talking about Atticus, not that James would know that, or know how close she had come to not getting to know the marauders or Remus in the way she had.

"I could have been in Slytherin." It was the first time she'd admitted it to herself, let alone to anyone else. "With my bloodline, I'm a perfect candidate to end up having to marry any one of them. The worst part is I'm not sure I'll get the chance to choose between marrying for love and because my father tells me to. My children could be Slytherins, I could end up socialising with them, all day every day. Having to stop myself from saying what I really think, like I do when I'm at my parent's house." She sighed and looked up the sky which was now brightening up considerably.

"I guess that's what made me angry, the fear that I will never be able to get away from people like him until the day I die."