Ventriloquism When It Suits(Mikayla)

[Julius Lionheart]

Julius happiness couldn't be contained, and showed blatantly on his face. She shared yet another of his passions, this conversation had undoubtedly been preordained by the fates. perhaps it had been better that the two actually talked when they were older, maybe they wouldn't have gotten along much when they were younger, for Julius had been a bit of an hot head back then. He too liked the muggle worlds rock music, and respected it; music was something both worlds shared but not with each other, just the love for it. His features showed a wondering aura in them when she said the word skateboarding. Wasn't that the four wheeled piece of wood? He had seen it somewhere during summer three years ago. A guy was roving around London shooting video for some big event, his name had been Wham Margera, yeah something like that. In turth he had liked the looks of the object, and how it handled.

He smiled at her astonishment about his parents. She was one of the few who had never heard of his parents before. " It wasn't really scary, I knew they could handle themselves, but I did worry about them a lot." he replied. He laughed as she said Voldemorts name. It did make no sense for anyone to say You-Know-Who anymore, he was a thing of the past. He had been saddened though when the life of his friend and teammate had ended, perhaps one of the only times that Julius had ever cried was when he had heard the news. Putting that saddening thought out of his head, he replied to her next quiestion, " Oh, my parents aren't exactly thrilled with my intentions, but they realize I am of age and can make my own decision." He paused, a grin spreading on his face, " They do however try and convince me to become an auror hen they believe I am not on guard."

[Mikayla Moon]

Mikayla had no idea what it would be like to have to worry constantly about her parents. If they had been wizards and alive, for that matter, she probably would have learned to worry about them. As it was she had learned at a very early age that death was inevitable, no matter what age you were. So she was at peace with that fact, not even worrying about her grandparents, or her grandfather who’s health was failing. It was a difficult notion for her to grasp really…though her grandparents were basically her parents to her so maybe that was the same concept. No matter she knew a part of her would never understand even if she wanted to. There were just some things she could never understand because she her parents had died when she was young.

“I don’t know how I would have handled that situation…” she admitted in a quiet voice…her smile having slipped away during her thoughts. She had dealt surprisingly well with her parent’s death, but some times, even now, it was hard to think about. It was just a split second that the smile was gone as her smile returned by the comment about his parents not being thrilled with his decision. This was something she couldn’t understand either and she supposed she was one of the few that couldn’t. Her grandparents had been extremely supportive of her, wanting her to do whatever she wanted to do. Part of it was because they had never had the money to do what they wanted to and partly because they wanted to make her happy. “I’m afraid I don’t know what that’s like either. Grams is always proud of me and supporting everything I do…though I supposed she’s never too thrilled to hear from Filch or McGonagall about the latest prank I’ve pulled.”

The conversation had taken a slightly more serious turn and Mikayla felt comfortable now to ask the questions she hadn’t even ask some of her closest friends. “So can I ask you? What are your parents like? Are they like your grandparents? Or are they stricter, sweeter, or more persistent? I’m always curious to know…” Mikayla said, her voice fading off a little as her eyes flickered over to the dying flames of the fire. It wasn’t meant to be a moment of pity for her…it was simply a moment for her to know what she was missing out on…or if she was living a better life than most. She just didn’t remember what it was like to have parents and that was a blessing as well as a curse to her.

[Julius Lionheart]

A look of concern had appeared on Julius' face when he saw Mikayla's reaction to their talk about his parents. He regretted having talked about them, just for the pain it seemed to bring out in her. He had been very fortunate not to have lost his parents during the recent struggles in the wizarding world. Watching her he thought that perhaps this might be a good subject to broach, just for the fact that it was usually a good thing to get the stuff that hurt out. He knew from experience how it felt to let it all out, but he hadn't had exactly the same experience as her. His heart had been broken when he had been unceremoniously dumped. If it hadn't been for his best friends at the time, he would have fallen into a major slump.

Her features had changed though upon the mentioning of his parents thoughts about his future. Girls were such a mystery sometimes. One minute they were sad and the next suddenly cheerful, it was trully odd. He smiled as she told him about her grandmother. It was a part of laugh, he thought, that grandmothers were always sweet to their grandchildren. His own grandmother, on his fathers side, thought the world of him and always bought him extravagant gifts. What really always pleased him was just being around her, hearing old stories, about how she had met...... his grandfather. The last words had seemed to be drawn out in his mind. It was always oddly comforting and at the same time discomforting to think of the grandfather whom he had never gotten to know. It was lucky then, that he still had his grandfather on his mothers side around, although they lived in the United States. Thinking of the few visits he got to them, he smiled.

It came as a surprise to him, when Mikayla asked about his parents. He had not expected a question such as this, but the look on her face told the story of a longing wonderment. He understood slightly, what she was really wondering. She hadn't really gotten to know her parents, which Julius was sure must be a torment when she saw others with their parents. He smiled sadly at her, not knowing the right thing to do. He would of course reply to her, out of courteousy, yet he didn't know if he should comfort her or not.

" My parents are....." he said, pausing to gather his thoughts, " strict, sweet, persistent, loving, and especially fun. My father is like my grandfather, at least my grandmother says he is, I wouldn't know, Death Eaters got to my grandfather before I was born." He said the last bit with some vehemence. It had been his deepest, darkest wish of rage to get the ones responsible for the death of his grandfather. He saw that the fire was dying, but they had run out of logs to fuel the fire. It would at least stay warm for a little while longer. He looked at Mikayla, and went on about his parents, " My mother is very beautiful, both in looks and in her personality. She loves jokes, which is good, because my father is a big joker, much like me. She is really a good shoulder for when I am feeling sad, and when I was younger and scared of the dark, she would hold my hand while I drifted off to sleep." A warm smile appeared on his face from talking of his mother, but it was his father who was his idol. " My father however is my hero. I am, in almost every way, him reincarnate, except I have my grandmothers eyes. My father loves to joke, as I've already said, but he can be serious if you need him to be. Both of my parents are slightly strict, but lenient as well, accepting that my misbehavior at school is quite comical." It was true, he had two wonderful parents. The smile was still on his face as he looked at Mikayla and asked, " Do you remember your parents at all?", his voice ever so polite. It was an tough subject, but he wanted her to know that she could trust him.

[Mikayla Moon]

Mikayla wasn’t sure if she was going to get an answer out of Julius or not. A part of her regretted even asking the question. She probably sounded like some pathetic lost child in a supermarket searching for their mother. She hated that about herself…hated the curiosity to know what it was like to have parents readily in one’s life. Brown eyes settled back on the dying fire, she couldn’t look at Julius…not right at the moment. There was too much fear in her that she would find some sort of pity written across his face and that she couldn’t stand. She was a strong woman…pity was not something that she neither needed nor wanted especially from others.

Her breath caught in her throat when Julius began to answer. It seemed he was just as unsure about his answer as she was over the question. He had his own story of course…something that made her heart jump into her throat. Losing her grandfather was always one of her biggest fears. She connected the most with him and with his health failing recently it was something that had begun to become the topic of her nightmares. Now, sitting here and hearing Julius’s own story about how his grandfather was killed by Death Eaters…it was almost too much even for her. She felt a twist of pain and heartache for her new friend and a part of her wished she could comfort him. Her hand reached out to find his, covering the top of it. She gave his hand a quick squeeze, trying to give him an iota of comfort from the rage that seemed to find him so quickly, before withdrawing her hand from his.

A small smile fell over Mikayla’s face as he talked about his mother and father. She would have loved to get to know her own in such a way and perhaps she did a little. After all, her grandparents made sure they told her stories…just somehow it wasn’t the same and never would be. “They sound amazing,” Mikayla said softly when he had finished. His question had thrown her off guard, but if he was going to be honest and answer her question the least she could do was answer his. “I know I look a lot like my mother…I still remember when she used to tuck me in at night and sing to me. Dad was different though; he’d come in when he thought I was asleep and kiss me lightly on the forehead. Sometimes I’d pretend I was asleep just so I could remember him being there. He worked a lot, to keep mum and I fed. Other than that…I remember the accident mostly. Sometimes I wonder how I even survived…” She let those words fade out before she took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Guess we all have our little demons we have to get over though right?”

[Julius Lionheart]

Perhaps it was usual for someone to squeeze the hand of a friend, for a comforting effect, yet it had never been done to him. Albeit that his closest friends had been guys, and their version of comfort had been some firewhiskey, an irrate Filch, and a very big bag of dung bombs. Still, it was one of those rare sources of comfort he had never gotten before, and so he smiled at her, with a hint of the sadness that memories can sometimes bring.

It seemed that Mikayla had read his mind and voiced his own thoughts of his parents, they were amazing. He was caught off guard when she answered his own question, but it his shock was soon dispersed by his lips twitching to shape his smile. His parents had done the same for him, and it was always great to remember those times, it was like remembering an old friend who left and would never come back. Her mother must have been very pretty......her parents sounded much like his had been when he was younger. His smile began to disappear when she mentioned the car crash, and really did pull a Houdini when she trailed off. He wondered whether he ought to do the same thing for her that she had done for him, but she regained her course, and managed to say something else.

" Yes, I think we all do have our demons, but there are often angels lurking behind them." even as he said the words, he didn't really grasp what they meant. Maybe he was subconsiously trying to comfort her with words of....was it wisdom? He couldn't dwell on it for now, he had to try and comfort her in some other way, but how? Loosening his tongue once more, he said, " It's odd, of all the other people I've met here, I've never met someone who shared so much in common with me, and yet, led so vastly different a life. "

[Mikayla Moon]

Mikayla smiled at Julius, his comment about angels made a little bit of the sadness go away. It was a nice thought…if one could truly believe in angels and demons. It at least was a good way to remember that the bad things in life aren’t always the only things in life. Her parents’ death had been a tragedy…for everyone. It was quite clear that Mikayla had idolized her parents’ when they were alive and now…now they were much further up on the pedestal that she had always placed them on while they were alive. Mikayla tried to push the thoughts of her parents away. She didn’t want to seem weak…at least no more than she had already showed. It was true, her parents were her weakness, their death a harsh reality to Mikayla’s harsh world, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be happy. No, it meant the complete opposite…it meant that Mikayla would find happiness more readily because nothing could ever be as bad as her past…only good could come to her now.

A wide smile pulled at her lips at Julius’ next words. “Vastly different?” she laughed at the words. “I wouldn’t say it’s vastly different, it’s really just one or two differences really. Depending how you look at it it’s not like it couldn’t have happened to you. One moment was all it took for my life to be so ‘vastly different’ as you say, but really that same moment could have happened to you as it could have anyone.” Mikayla pulled a wave of blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Truth was she couldn’t have cared less how different her life was from others; she only wanted to look at the positive whatever that might be.

Lips twitched upward in a sly smile as she dug into her pocket, momentarily distracted by a thought that came to mind. Pulling out the small item she held it up to Julius. “Want to go cause some mayhem near the Slytherin’s secret entrance?” Mikayla asked in a soft, but excited voice, the dung bomb in her hand swinging just enough to try to entice the other Gryffindor to follow, though Mikayla was more than sure he would join her. After all, they did have a lot in common and playing pranks on others did seem to be one of the main commonalities.