Your Move ((Payton))

[jillian]

Was it her, or every time she had free hours or free time she ended up going to the Student Lounge? Maybe it was her away from her away? Oh, well, whatever it was - Jill was kind of getting old of going to the Student Lounge when she was looking for solitude; especially when all she ended up doing was reading or studying. It appeared that she never had spontaneous bursts of joy or entertainment while she was in the Student Lounge. Maybe she was missing all the excitement. Maybe the excitement was in the Great Hall now-a-days. Now-a-days? Oh, God, I sound old. Well that just had to be it. After all Parvati Patil was kidnapped in the Great Hall, maybe people gather there because they want to get kidnapped too. Oh, but that would be pathetic.

Jill leaned her head back on the arm chair she was sitting in, feeling comfortable already. The fire was crackling in the fireplace and it really was the only sound in the room. There wasn't anyone in there aside from her and Jill found it rather relaxing. It wasn't too late, but people did enjoy the common rooms somewhat more than they did the Lounge. Jill wasn't complaining she liked quiet time. Her aunt used to tell her too much quiet wasn't a good thing, because then people could be plotting behind your back. If you are succumbed in silence for too long, chances are you were going to lose your allies in a weeks time. For the longest time, Jill had believed her. Jill had believed a lot of the stupid things her aunt had said; but then again, a lot of them made sense at the time. A lot of them still did.

Jill stood from the armchair and made her way over to the small tables set up for Wizards Chess. Her first year at Hogwarts, she had immediately fallen in love with the game. It kept her mind off things. It sharpened her senses as well, but if the right person came along and challenged her at the right time it was possible for her to lose. A lot of the days she played against someone good, she wasn't herself. She didn't think straight. She had too much clouding her mind. One time she had received a letter from her roommate in London, saying Michael had found the flat and was asking questions. She had a challenge that night, and she had lost. After that - she quit playing for awhile. There was too much stress to even think of playing. And here she was, alone in the Student Lounge, and she wanted to play. For once, when she wasn't surrounded by people, she wanted company. Jill sighed and sat down in one of the seats, imagining an opponent across from her. She was about to imagine herself making a move when a noise startled her out of her reverie and turned her attention toward the door.

[payton]

There was something nice about Sunday afternoons. They always had a sort of lazy, easy-going feeling that seemed so comfortable, and that seemed to lend itself to bundling up in something old and familiar and settling down with a book. Today though, the charms book he flipped through, his legs cast over the side of the overstuffed chair he had found himself in for the entire morning, has lost some of its appeal, and after he ate a late lunch he wrapped his yellow and black scarf around his neck, and pulled on his trademark plaid hat and headed outside to the Student Lounge. He wanted a change of scenery, and something fresh to jump start his mind again. He had a passion for charms, but after reading so many incantations, everything started to blend together.

As he pushed the door open he didn’t bother looking around. Instead he pulled off his head and unwound his scarf. After he did he glanced at the corner where the wizard chess boards were spread out across small tables. He had decided on the walk over that a game of chess was exactly what he needed. As he returned his hat to its place on his head he noticed that there was a girl looking over at him. He smiled at her, that way he always smiled like it was effortless and genuine. In a way it was his thing, he could always smile or laugh and make it seem real. Casually, he returned his hat to its rightful spot on his head before he made his way across the room to where the girl was sitting. “I was hoping that there might just be someone sitting here looking for a chess partner, and I was wondering if you could tell me whether I happened to luck out and that’s just what you are, or if I have to fumble around and try to recover from coming up to you like this.”

[jillian]

Jill shook her head with a small laugh; "Now, as much fun as seeing you fumble and recover your self would be, I have to say I was looking for a chess partner as well. I'm sad to say though, I'm not very good. I haven't played since third year. It's been awhile. Are you game?" She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. Jill wasn't one to interact with other people, especially those she didn't know too well...but if someone approached her she wouldn't tell them to get lost unless they deserved it. When she approached someone else it was usually because she needed a place to sit, or to borrow notes from class. That was it. Black and white; no grey in between. Jill didn't like lucid approaches. She didn't like people who approached her with a said reason and then a total different one in their mind.

"But," Jill began as she looked over the board, "don't let me fool you. I was quite the player in third year. Then again, most of my opponents were afraid of me. Tell me, do I frighten you?" Her mind was racing with names and faces. This was how her mind worked. It was sort of like a catalouge. Everyone she'd met, heard of, or seen before was catalouged into her mind with name, house, age, and year. Now, knowing she had heard of or at least seen him before - he had to be someone in her year. Oh, that's right. He was Payton Moore. Seventeen, seventh year, Hufflepuff. Maybe I should be a secret agent; I could be a robot, I swear. Jill sighed and smiled at Payton again. Just because she knew of him, that didn't necessarily mean she knew him. There was probably a lot about him she didn't know, and vice versa. But there was also probably a lot about him that she didn't want to know. She didn't exactly like getting too close to people.

Getting too close to people meant there was a possibility of getting hurt. Jill didn't want to get hurt; in fact she protected herself so much that she blocked out just about anyone who cared. She was afraid that if they cared enough, she would start to care back. Not only was Jill afraid of getting hurt, she was afraid of hurting others. That was another reason why she didn't get too close to people. At first it was hard not to make friendships, but over the years it became quite easy. So easy in fact, that when she did want to make friends - she never could; she couldn't remember how. But playing a game of chess wasn't like a friendship promise or anything, just a polite game of chess - where was the harm in that?

[payton]

He flashed her an easy going smile as he took the seat he was standing next to. “I’m always came for chess, besides I’m not that good either.” He smiled again, almost brighter than before and his raised his eyebrows when she said that she was quite talented years ago. He glanced down at the board, trying to remember the last time he had played. He couldn’t even remember to be honest. It had been some time in the previous year, but he couldn’t remember exactly when. When he looked up again, he shrugged. “Then I guess I will help easy you back into the game.” He wasn’t exactly sure how much of the game he really remembered. He could recall the basics, and he could recall that he didn’t exactly have a talent for the game, but he also knew it was a rather entertaining pass time, mainly because you could get to know your opponent. After a moment, leaning back in his chair as he studied the girls face for a moment. He knew a lot of people, especially before the summer and the attack on Diagon Alley had messed with his memory. He knew her. He was rather sure he did. “I’m afraid that my memory isn’t as good as it use to be, as horribly old as that statement makes me sound…your…Jill right?”

[jillian]

Jill smiled as she began to set up the pieces, taking the black for herself so he would get the chance to go first. Her mind worked like a puzzle as she strived to remember where the pieces went. Pawns went in a straight line on row 2. She arranged those, resisting the urge to turn them so they were all perfectly even. Then she grabbed up the rooks, put those in the corners. Next was.... the knights, those went next to the rooks, bishops next to knights, then the Queen on her colour, and last left was the King. OK. She was set. She hadn't spoken while she had set up the board, having not remembered it as well as she should have, but now she spoke with an easy tone; "Yeah, I'm Jill. You're Payton right? I'm assuming you aren't Dillion, I've heard he's pretty...hyper, would that be an understatement?"

Jill looked back at her pieces, and then instantly became astonished. She looked back up at Payton, her face twisted into an apologetic and nervous smile, "I hope you don't mind being white. I just...thought you might like to go first?" She smiled again and felt her easy demeanor slip back into place, "Sorry, like I said, it's been awhile since I've played. My chess etiquette isn't as nice as it used to be, either." Her aunt would have chastised her for her "rude behaviour" hence her sudden apologetic tone. Jill looked up at Payton, awaiting his move.

[payton]

He watched Jill carefully place the pieces on the board and he tried to recall all of them as well as the rules that revolved around them. He had meant it when he said that he wasn't good at the game, and remembering its rules was not exactly a great skill that he had. It was just something he had picked up at Hogwarts and had turned into an odd pastime when he simply needed something a bit different to liven up an afternoon. When she asked if he was Payton, followed by a reference to his twin he glanced back up on her and smiled, his eyebrows raising with thoughts unsaid. "Yes, I'm Payton, and everything is an understatement when it comes to Dillion." he laughed softly, snaking his head as he pictured his twin. There was no way to describe Dillion, you simply had to experience him.

He looked down at the board again when she said that she had put him as white and he could go first. He nodded, not caring if he went first or second. "No worries. I'm afraid that my etiquette is far from perfect, but it does manage to stay a bit better than my chess skills so you may just have to bare with me on both." He grinned for a moment, reaching forward and moving his first piece.

[jillian]

Jill smiled at his comment about his brother. She was an only child so she never had the luxury of experiencing a sibling, let alone a wild one. She hadn't any cousins either, as far as Jill knew she was the last one in the Sawyer family. The last generation. She wasn't sure that was something she wanted, maybe then the stress wouldn't have been put on her so much as a younger child. Her brown eyes followed Payton's move, and then she took in her pieces that were near the one he had just moved. Her fingers drifted over a pawn on the right, and then picked it up and placed it two squares up; "You can't be that bad." She told him with a smile as she looked up.

The truth was, he couldn't be any worse than Jill. The way Jill played chess was an awful lot like the way she played life. She didn't think before she moved. She saw an oppurtunity, and she went for it. That usually ended up in her piece being captured; and you would think that would teach her to consider her options longer than she did, but it didn't. She continued to dive in head first, where was the fun in the game if you thought about it? Of course, that was what the game was about. Sharp thinking and strategic wit - but Jill didn't necessarily like that. She wasn't exactly a sharp thinker, nor did she have strategic wit. She was just...a thinker and she just had...wit.

"It's kind of creepy," Jill suddenly spoke. She looked around the Lounge, taking in the complete emptiness of it all; "being so empty and all. I'm used to third years asking me about classes or something of the sort. But it's so silent...eery. But comforting." She looked back at Payton and grinned again. This was the first real conversation she had in years; sure there was the polite talk and the chit chat - but a conversation over a game of chess was rare.

[payton]

He smiled as he watched her move, glancing up at her with an easy-going gaze as she said that he couldn't be that bad. He shrugged, and reached his own hand hand forward again to take his turn. "Oh, but I can." He grinned after he spoke and leaned back comfortable int he chair. He took a very easy going approach to the game. Sometimes he glanced over the board before he moved, somethings he considered the possibilities, and sometimes he simply moved the pieces. It was a game and he played it for leisure. He found it was a good way to get to know people; that is as long as they didn't take the game too serious either. It was easy to talk over chess and not realize the time, or think about what assignments you had yet to do or the quidditch match coming next week. It was easy to get lost in chess, and in a conversation with another person.

He didn't look down at the board when Jill moved, instead he kept that soft, friendly gaze on Jill until she commented on it being creepy that the place was abandoned. He glanced around and when he looked back a Jill he shrugged again, perhaps a bad habit he had considering how often he actually did it. "I honestly had hardly noticed. I admit that its a bit strange not to be surrounded by chaos, but right now your company is more than enough."

[jillian]

"That's surprising," She replied, her words drawling out slowly as she chose her next piece; she picked it up and set it down, "my company is never enough for people. I'm either too moody, too peppy, too serious, too comical. I don't seem to fit under one category. People get sick of me easily. Either I'm too much of something, or not enough." That was another reason why she kept to herself a lot of the time. She was a handful, or too dull. Sometimes, when she got bored, Jill would purposely be either of those - just to see people's reactions. She knew it wasn't nice; but really, who could blame her?

"Are you usually surrounded by chaos? I mean, aside from Hogwarts. What about holidays, and such? Don't you get time away from the chaotic world of tweens and teens?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Whenever there was a holiday, Jill stayed at Hogwarts - it was just as empty then as the Lounge was now. But during the summer holidays, she lived with her flatmate Joann in London somewhere near the Leaky Cauldron for easy access to Diagon Alley. Jill had lived there for seven years, when she first started Hogwarts. It was kind of odd when she wasn't at Hogwarts, she felt so out of place - as if she didn't belong in London. Maybe she didn't. Maybe her place was in the Wizarding World, following the news there instead of the news in the Muggle World. Who knew? She was still confused about where she belonged, probably as much as the next person.

[payton]

He glanced down at the board as she made her next move, and looked back up at her as she commented on his last remark. It had been true what he said. He had perhaps noticed that the room seemed rather empty when he first came in, but his thoughts were on chess, and he almost immediately saw Jill sitting her, and then it was as if the rest of the room faded away. He had a bit of a habit of doing that thought. It was easy for him to give his total and complete attention to one thing and forget the rest of the world completely. He smiled, but didn't answer yet. Instead he looked down at the board and made his own next move as Jill continued and asked him about his life outside of Hogwarts, and if it carried the same chaos that life within did. Simply the thought made him grin.

"I happen to have 10 siblings, one of which is Dillion, which simply speaks for itself. You can be as moody, serious, wild, lazy, or comical as you want and I can assure you that not only will it will be more than enough. At this point I think I just may have seen it all, and in case that doesn't completely answer you question, life outside Hogwarts is if anything crazier than it is inside. I wish I could give you an easy answer, but I'm afraid the explanation is a bit long, so I will to try give you the least amount of details while still getting the generally feeling across." He paused for a moment, flashing her a bright smile, his eyebrows raising as he did as if it happened the moment his brain started working. "Well, I'm muggle born, and we all still, or when were not at school at least, in a far, far too small flat right in the heart of London. I am somewhere in the middle, but we are all between...lets see...2 and 22 I think it is. And I'm not sure if you managed to meet a rather...intresting little Hufflepuff first year, Rowen...but he is my foster brother, so that brings the totals up to twelve of us, not including my Parents, pops, and Mum N. Who I think is the 4th wife, but then I never really paid much attention to counting them. I've also move around a bit, in case you find I have a bit off an off accent at times. I'm a bit lucky in that sense I think though. I've live in America and Australia before we moved back to London." He paused again, smiling at her as he shrugged again. He never meant for the explanation to be long, but his family life simply seemed to have an existence all its own and he had long given up giving out small details when it seemed necessary. He found it much easier to just tell it all right from the beginning. "I know it may sound a bit dreadful. We don't have money, I have to work for everything, I never get to be alone, nothing is off limits to siblings...but I couldn't be happier. As...chaotic for the perfect word it is, as my life is...its perfect."

[jillian]

Jill listened to Payton describe his homelife, and she forgot all about the game. She was so engulfed in his description that she had forgotten it was her turn at all. When he had finished she shook her head with a slow smile creeping across her face; "Not to me. To me it sounds wonderful. I'm an only child, so I never had the problem of my privacy being invaded unless it was by my aunt; which wouldn't be all that nice anyway." Jill looked back at the chess board, now realizing that it was her move. She moved another piece, taking one of his before looking back up and smiling again. If she remembered correctly this was how conversations went. Someone would ask a question, and then another person would reply; then the first person would answer their own question. Jill looked at the fireplace before speaking again.

"I lived with my aunt for as long as I can remember. It was always the two of us, and if you really think about it - it was only me. She wasn't well so I took care of her a lot. I cleaned the house, cooked the meals, everything. But I never complained once. I liked feeling needed, you know? Then when I was ten she passed away, leaving me with some uncle I didn't even know." She bit her lip gently before choosing her next words carefully. She didn't exactly like to spill all her personal words out in the open. But she had a feeling Payton wouldn't react like some others would; "So...when I got accepted to Hogwarts, I knew he wouldn't understand. So I ran away. I was staying the night at a shelter and this young woman came up to me and found me, offered me a place to live. And I took it. Joann's only 31 now. I live with her in London during the holidays." She watched for his reaction. Not sure exactly what to expect. Then again, she could be completely blowing out of porportion. After all, it wasn't as bad as some people had it. It's just, a ten year old running away from her home because her uncle wouldn't let her attend Hogwarts wasn't exactly the everyday story you heard.

[payton]

He smiled at her when he realized how entranced she was by his family life, and when she suddenly seemed to realize that it was her turn and she moved her piece. This was how he liked to play chess, with conversation first and the game second. As he did he thought about being an only child and what it had to have been like. To him it was unimaginable. He had never been the only one, he was never with out family. Even Hogwarts came complete with Dillion, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. He listened as she described her own family, trying to take it in. He couldn’t even imagine. His family was so intertwined into who he was he could not even imagine having to grow up with out that. He stayed silent for a moment, the fact that it was now his turn forgotten.

He wasn’t normally at a lack for words, normally things could simply come to him, but for this no words seemed quite right. Finally he took a breath, knowing he had to say something. “I’m sorry…that you don’t really have a family. I can’t even imagine it, or how hard it had to have been to leave your uncle.” He glanced down after a moment, remembering their game, but not yet moving. When he looked back up at her he smiled, never really being the type to stay melancholy for too long. “I would have run off if I got a letter in the mail saying I was magical too. After all, what muggle would turn down the opportunity to be able to turn someone into a toad.”

[jillian]

Jill shrugged before thinking of replying to Payton about her uncle; "Well, I mean, he was this man that I never met before. I wasn't very comfortable living with him. But I had no choice. So when I did move in with him, I was given this whole list of chores to do and such, which wasn't that hard because I had been taking care of Aunt Lucille practically since I was five. But you would think he would let me grieve a bit, you know? I mean, I had just lost the only connection to my immediate family - that I knew of." She smiled a sad smile, and continued; "It was hard though, I had to think of what I was risking. What if I got lost? Or kidnapped? After all I was only ten years old. But I made it, and here I am." She spread out her arms for emphasis before tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she did when she was nervous or felt she had said too much.

When he made a comment about turning people into toads, Jill laughed. An actual laugh, not a chuckle, not a giggle, an actual laugh. A whole hearted one at that. "That doesn't quite work. Well, not for me anyway. I tried it. Actually, that thought weighed into my decision a lot, the one about coming here or staying there. It was one of the big pros on the list." She replied with a twinkle in her eye that said she was joking. But honestly, she had tried turning someone into a toad when she was a third year. It hadn't worked. But then again, Jill hadn't payed much attention in Charms even if they had gone over that, which she doubted they had; "I don't know why it didn't work for me...maybe you have to be incredibly gifted in Charms or something. I know I'm not, even though it is my best class, but the most I could probably do without a step by step instruction would be turning my hair a bright pink."

[payton]

When she laughed, he laughed like it was the most natural reaction. It was a rather entertaining idea, and it was something that muggles everywhere always seemed to be fascinated with. Wasn't there always something in movies or books where a evil witch waved her wand and poof some poor little boy was turned into a toad? So perhaps that wasn't how magic really went, but maybe it was better to let the non-magical world believe some elaborated version of the truth instead of discovering how things really were for witches and wizards everywhere.

"Well...I it crossed my mind when I saw my letter as well. I thought strongly about how Dillion would act as a toad, mainly trying to consider it if would mellow him down a bit." He laughed again, shaking his head at the thought of his brother. In the end it was Dillion who had developed an obsession for amphibians. "I never really tried though--I never found a spell for it...and I always had a fear that in someway turning someone into a toad would require some ability in transfiguration or potions, and while I can charm my way out of anything, Transfiguration and Potions are far from my strengths." He grinned at her and shrugged before glancing down at the board, still ignoring that it was his turn. "If you every want some help in charms though, I would be happy to. Or if you just want to try to figure out some spell to actually make that toad thing happen. Its my best class too."

[jillian]

"Can anything mellow Dillion out?" Jill asked with a raise of her eyebrows. She smiled and leaned back in her chair, beginning to relax. This was easier than she thought it be, and yeah, they weren't exactly playing the game but a little friendly conversation was very much welcomed. Jill picked at her fingernail polish as Payton continued to speak, when he offered her help with Charms she looked up and smiled, "I might actually take you up on that offer..." Truth was, Jill didn't go to class. That was her problem, and when she did go to class she rarely ever payed any attention. She bit her lip and tucked some of her hair behind her ear before looking over the game board.

"Are you even paying attention to the game? I can't remember what my last move was, and if you ask my aunt, she would say that is the most important thing. And all these years I thought it was to win." Jill looked over her pieces again and finally remember what move she had done, but that didn't matter because it was still Payton's turn. She didn't point this out, because like before; she didn't mind the conversation. She would rather have someone to talk to and not play the game then have no one to talk to and play the game as if it were life or death.

"You said you lived in Australia? How was that?" Jill asked. She hadn't been anywhere outside of the United Kingdom, so she hadn't experienced anything glamorous. She had always wanted to travel. But she never got to, after all she was living with someone who liked to stay in place - no matter how out there Joann was, London was her home. In that cluttered little flat with art all over the place. And as small as it sounded, Jill thought of it as her home too. She couldn't live anywhere else.

[payton]

He laughed at her comment about Dillion and nodded in agreement. As far as he knew there was nothing that would mellow out his twin, now that he truly wanted to if push ever came to shove. He was just glad that over the years Dillion had found Jordan and he was now able to be left out of their chaos on occasion. Trying to keep up with Dillion’s constant ideas was exhausting after a while. The one thing that his brother still needed him for was whenever one of this ideas involved charms. He was called in by Dillion and Jordan on a rather regular basis for just that, but at least it gave him a little extra practice, just as helping Jill with charms would. He had meant it when he offered to help her.

He glanced down at the board and shrugged. He remembered that they had been playing, and even distantly that it was his turn, but he didn’t mind if it took them all afternoon to play one match either. “Ah, so that is the secret? All there years I thought the most important thing was to enjoy yourself.” As he looked over at her his eyebrows raised for a moment, a long known expression of his for when there were things in his head that he wasn’t thinking about, and then with out looking down at the board he moved the first piece he could reach, not even caring where exactly it ended up. After he had made his move he leaned back in his chair again, resuming the comfortable position he had before.

“Australia” he repeated when she asked about it. It seemed almost long ago now, and it blended into a past full of vacations and travel. That was something he was always grateful to his father for. Money was always tight, but somehow Pops always seem to somehow save enough money to take them somewhere. He thought it was important for them to all see the world. He had taken them all over the UK, to Ireland, Paris, Rome—every place that seemed important for his children to see Pops had taken them. Taking a moment for his attention to return back to the topic he smiled at her “I was pretty little when I lived there. We moved there from the United States when I was one, and we moved back to the UK when I was 6 after my Pops third wife died.” He found himself falling silent for a moment after he said it. It didn’t bother him anymore, he was too young, to remember much about her, most of his memories being with Mum N, who his Pops married a bit over a year after they had been in the UK and had been in their lives ever since. Somehow his past always sounded worse that it really was. He was happy, he had always been happy, even if growing up in the Moore household, which ever country they were in seemed to be complete confusion. “That probably needs a bit more explanation huh? I didn’t explain the details much before. My Pops is from the UK, but he moved to America, where Dillion and I were born, but then after a problem with his second wife, my birth mum, he met this Australian woman who was vacationing in America, and Pops married her, and we moved to Australia. It was nice living there, as much as I can remember at least. We were right in Sydney, I don’t remember much other than the fact we were all happy, and I got a brother and three sisters while we were there. Then she got sick, and when she died, Pops decided it was best to move back to the UK, that way none of us would have to live with the memories, and the UK was still home to him.” He smiled again once he had finished. It all sound worse than it was. Telling it always made it seemed like a whirlwind, when really it didn’t seem like that unless you were locked inside the flat with Dillion.

[jillian]

“That too.” Jill replied calmly about the having fun part of chess. It was fun at first, then it got kind of routine; and when her aunt started pressuring her to be better, it just lost its appeal all together. She let a smile cross her lips as Payton moved his piece without glancing down at the board. He obviously didn’t care about winning the game. And for once Jill didn’t either. She was enjoying the conversation they were having. She ran her fingers through her hair, a for sure sign she was contemplating a move. It was a nervous habit she had picked up way back when. Knowing what move she was going to make, she sank further in her seat – but didn’t move her piece just yet. Payton had started talking again, this time about his past.

It probably sounded worse than it really was, after all if it were truly that bad wouldn’t he be completely different? Wouldn’t he be a little bit less contented with his lifestyle? Jill bit her bottom lip and thought about this for a moment. The way she spoke about her past, she made it seem as if it were simple and not too dramatic. If a stranger had seen Jill on the street they would assume she was happy, when inside she was completely torn to pieces because of her past. But it wasn’t something she dwelled upon. Sure, her past made her who she is now, but it wasn’t something that she blamed. Her past was her past. Nothing more and nothing less. Payton’s past sounded horrible, but it couldn’t be as bad as it sounded simply because of who was sitting across from her now.

“Sounds rough.” She said after a moment or two of silence. She looked up at him and tilted her head inquisitively, “But it wasn’t too bad was it? I mean, I don’t mean to pry or anything – but you don’t seem to be completely…um…mental, for lack of a better word, because of your past. You seem completely happy, God, I would give anything for that kind of happy. That family happy.” Jill looked down at her hands again, hoping she hadn’t said too much. She had a tendency to say too much at the wrong time, and to top it all off she said the wrong thing. It got her into sticky situations a lot of the time. She was cursed with it. Remembering it was her turn; Jill picked up the nearest clear piece and moved it.

“So, let me see if I got this correct. You were born in the United States to your father’s second wife, and then he met an Australian woman vacationing. They get married, and then she fell ill and passed away. So, you moved back to the UK where your father is originally from and there he met Mum N. and you have been there ever since. Do I have it basically down?” Jill raised an eyebrow and grinned again, “Maybe you should hire a biographer – your life story might sell millions.” She teased.

[payton]

He didn't say anything until she commented on the biographer, and then the soft smile he had ever since he told her more about his past and how he had grown up, widened into a grin. "I figured that would be my backup plan. In case the whole culinary thing doesn't work. Maybe I will need to elaborate a bit to sell millions though, my muggle life was interesting, but I have managed to avoid most of that since I got my Hogwarts letter. Been in London since the summer I turned 7, and even in the same flat since I was 11. Muggle flat too so we don't have any...magical enhancement, shall we say, to make the small thing more comfortable." He grinned again, knowing that he had not yet actually addressed what she had said about his past. He paused for a moment, and glanced down at the board, pushing another one of his pieces onto a different square, still caring very little of which one he moved it to.

"It never felt rough. I didn't really know that it was different from anyones else. I wasn't in the US enough to remember anything from there, my birth mum left us before Dillion and I we left the hospital, so I really only felt like I lost one mum. The furthest back I remember was living in Sydney, and we were happy. We were always happy, until my mum got sick, but even then, I never remember being really sad. She was still happy, and Pops was still happy, and it was like you couldn't be sad when everyone around you, the ones it was effecting more, were still enjoying whatever life they had left. It was hard when she died, but right up until that day, it was as if nothing was wrong. And after she died, we were only in Sydney a few more weeks, we moved to London as soon as we could, and it felt like...starting over or something. It was easier to be far away." He smiled at her again, thinking that he hadn't revealed this much about his past in a long time. Only Sethia had ever know the complete story. Only she knew about his birth mum and how she had abandoned Dillion and himself at the hospital after they were born, only she had known about the number of countries he had lived in. She understood things differently though. She didn't think how things were rough. All he could remember about the night he told her everything was the fact that she thought he should meet his birth mother one day.

He smiled after a moment, looking back up at Jill. "So what is it about chess that makes a guy give out his entire life story?" He laughed as he leaned back a bit in his char, having leaned forward to move his piece and stayed there when he gave more detail of what his life had been like. As he saw it at least, her life had been harder than his had. His life was always failled with people who loved him, he was never alone, and his Pops was always working to do whatever he could to make their lives better or happier. After a moment he shrugged, smiling at her again. "You know, the way I see it, I'm lucky to have the family I do. And I know your there putting on a tough act, but your life, or at least how I can see it, has been the hard one."

[jillian]

Sometimes, Jill regretted saying something and sometimes she couldn’t take it back. Sometimes she wished she could and sometimes she wished she had found a way to take it back, even if it was impossible. This was one of those moments. She wasn’t regretting what she had said per se, but she was in fact regretting that she might have seemed very nosey. But she wasn’t, she was just interested, and if her being interested was causing him any pain or anything like that – she didn’t think she could handle that as a person. After all, it didn’t appear he spoke about his past too often. She knew she didn’t like talking about her past, so she often didn’t.

When he spoke about chess, Jill looked up and grinned; “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the idea that you have to know your opponent to actually get a strategy? So you feel like you should say as much as you feel comfortable with saying?” She asked with a wider smile than she had before. Maybe that was the case, she wasn’t too sure. After all, all her opponents in chess were just that, if not enemies. She wasn’t allowed a nice friendly conversation so this change of pace was very much welcomed. When she realized he had already moved a piece, she silently cursed herself for not paying attention which was an old habit, and then moved a piece without exactly looking where she was putting it or if she was setting herself up for a trap, after all what did it matter? There was no trophy at stake here.

“Yes, you’re very lucky, and it’s nice to see that you’re aware of the luck and you don’t take it for granted. I mean, I know some people who look at their nice family with the loving relatives and they just…don’t care. It irks me, because they can’t possibly know what it would be like without their family, and then they would really be sorry.” Jill shrugged, releasing a bit of anger toward a few people. There were always people like that who ticked her off because of the way they treated their family, as if they didn’t realize how special they were or how lucky they were. Not every family was like that anymore, a lot of them ended in divorce or something else completely dreadful.

Jill didn’t need a large family though, sure, she had wished for one a lot of her life growing up. But now that she had Joann it really wasn’t needed. Joann was more than enough to be a family; she could be everyone if she tried. The tough act Payton had mentioned was there, and Jill knew it was. Joann had pointed it out when she had first moved in with her. Jill kept up barriers that kept people out; it was the way she survived. So far only one person aside from her aunt had taken the barriers down, and that was Joann. Maybe it would be a relief for someone else to do that too. She shrugged and looked at him again; “Some people hide behind friends or family, I hide behind an act I suppose. You’re right, my life has been rough, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world; especially since I’m living with Joann.” Jill smiled and shook her head at the thought of Joann, “She’s crazy, really. She’s artistic, very eccentric. She goes through these phases every month. One month she was a singer, the next an actress, the one after that a playwright. It’s like she can never make up her mind on what she wants to be, and the nice thing is…she doesn’t have to. I admire her for that. She’s just…being.”

[payton]

He glanced down and watched her move her piece but didn't move one of his own just yet. Instead he looked back up at her, as she spoke for a moment again. "Well, you are doing very well at having a friendly conversation for someone who this you talk to figure out your opponents strategy." He grinned as he spoke, leaning forward in his chair instead of comfortably back as he had been before. He was just as comfortable, and jut as realized, but now it was her turn to pour her heart out a bit more, and leaning back seemed too distant for that.

He glanced down when she said that mos people didn't appreciate her families and then he nodded in agreement. It was true. A lot of people found something to complain about, some problem with their family. He knew he was lucky to have his family, even if it was a bit messed up at times. He loved them, every single moment.

He smiled when she talked about Joann, and he watched her expression. She looked happy when she talked about Joann. "She sounds wonderful. Maybe we should all be like that, stop worrying about like and whats going to happen next and just be who we want to be and do what we want to do right now. I guess it would make us appreciate the moment more." He smiled at her again, glancing down at the board again and moving one of his own pieces, still not mating attention to where it went exactly.