Can't Explain ((Jez))

[Ryann Taylor G6]

Ryann wouldn't have assumed she be like one of those girls who ended up packing half a dozen suitcases to carry all of her belongings home for the summer; however, she still found herself with more baggage than she had hoped for. With a bag over each shoulder, a cauldron full of random junk in one hand and her large suitcase in the other, Ryann made her way recklessly toward the Express's resting place while navigating the busy station. Students cluttered the platform, each buzzing around busily as they prepared for the trip home for the summer. Once she had loaded her bags, she let out a breath of relief as she blew away some of the stray hair that had fell from the band holding it up, landing in front of her face. Pausing for a moment before entering the train, she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her mini wireless. It would be another train ride with just her and her music- or at least she thought.

As she boarded the train, Ryann weaved through the crowds of younger students who bustled with happy energy, plans for the summer filling their minds. Glancing back and forth, Ryann realized that she had waited a bit too long to be able to find an empty compartment. Settling for one that had an older couple, seemingly distant from the rest of the world as they were lost gazing into each others' eyes, Ryann figured she could turn up her music and take a nap while minding her own business. She made her way past the boy and girl, neither of which even seemed to notice her presence. Ryann didn't mind though, why, she preferred they stayed to themselves the entire trip. Nothing was more awkward than playing the role of a third wheel. Part of her even hoped that maybe one or two more people might join them, just to make it seem less awkward when the finally would notice she had joined them.

Hearing the train whistle which indicated that they would be departing in the next five minutes or so, Ryann put both of the headphones in her ears and turned the volume to half power- loud enough to block out the couple sitting across from her, yet soft enough to hear if anything important was happening. As the sound of guitar resonated through her head, Ryann sang along to the tune in her mind for a few minutes. Just as she felt the sudden jerk of the train leaving the station, a loud crack alerted her to the arrival of another person in the compartment. Ryann opened her eyes to see who it was, a bit relieved to recognize the boy as one from her year and house. Shooting a glance at the others, she patted the seat beside her with her hand as she pulled the headphones from her ears. "Hey Jez," she greeted, "thanks for saving me from a trip of total boredom and awkwardness." Ryann smiled and then glanced back over at the couple. She thought that the girl had given her a look of disgust, but Ryann simply turned back to Jez, ignoring them for the moment. "So, another year gone, yeah? Have any big summer plans? I heard a rumor that your parents are supposed to be releasing a new and improved line of the Doxycide they created. You know how rumors are though," she added while rolling her eyes.

[Jez Cuthbert]

Jez didn't really relish going back home. It was less fun than at school. He couldn't just pick fights as he chose - his father was not someone you argued with, and customers were there to be satisfied rather than insulted. Most employees of the family business either had access to some rather nasty potions and chemicals that Jez did not want to be on the receiving end of, were too flighty but also too valuable to be worth the risk, or were helpful personal suppliers that he had his own reasons to keep on the good side of. Jez could almost claim that he learnt more while he was at home than he did all year long at school, simply because he didn't have any more exciting distractions than to familiarise himself with the properties of every herb, animal part and poison in their inventory as he volunteered to do stock checks. Making himself useful did mean that he got to go out quite often, though. He spent his long summer months trying to be up to no good in Diagon Alley, occasionally venturing into Knockturn Alley if he was feeling especially foolhardy, or taking a day trip to Hogsmeade to familiarise himself with back alleyways he didn't have time to discover during their restricted termtime visits. Really, he preferred being at school, where his troublemaking could be more high-profile. But perhaps it wouldn't be so successful without the knowledge he gained during the holidays.

Jez had been a bit delayed getting onto the train as he felt he should maybe return a few things people had been missing for a while because they'd annoyed him. Fair was fair - in the wrong though they might be, Jez was a mischief maker, not a thief. The delay had been caused by one girl unfortunately not being distracted enough by her diary (unread, it was the thought that counted, after all, and Jez hadn't wanted to invade her privacy in the first place) levitating in front of her to give Jez sufficient time to melt into the crowd. He'd had to stop the spell to slip away before she saw him, and that had meant that the book had fallen on the ground, been trodden on and generally soiled. Jez had never intended to spoil her actual diary, just her peace of mind, so he'd felt obliged to retrieve it, clean it up for her and hand it back to her. She hadn't even remembered who he was... she'd thanked him for his help. Jez didn't feel he should be thanked for rectifying problems that he had caused. It made him feel bad. He wished none of it had ever happened, and that was unusual. It was probably just being thanked, Jez assured himself.

It wasn't time to despair yet - there was still time for some mischief. He'd boarded the train as he heard the guard's whistle, and soon found a compartment he could sit in and spend only half of the journey in a contentious manner. The compartment door banged open as soon as Jez unfastened it, nothing to hold it back from opening with the motion of the train stuttering into motion. He quickly jumped inside the compartment before the door slid shut behind him, using 'Mobiliarus' to move his trunk in with him. They practiced that one in Junior Charms club, and his positioning was accurate enough to get his trunk right between the feet of the couple who were most rudely ignoring his Gryffindor classmate. He and Ryann got on fine - she was all right in Jez's books as far as girls went. He sat down on the seat beside Ryann and grinned at her. "G' morning, Ryann." He glanced at the couple again, reckoning that unless they were terribly aggravating, they would consider the two fifth years beneath them. He moved his trunk across the floor using his wand and rested his feet on it, still observing them. "So which one's Boredom and which one's Awkwardness?" he asked, as though she'd been introducing the couple when she spoke.

He shrugged at her questions and spoke very quickly as he answered all of them at once. "Yes. No. Aren't they always doing that? Wouldn't presume that I do." He slowed down as he elaborated a little on the one thing out of the four he felt vaguely like talking about. "New Doxycide, yes, new Anti-Tangleweed formula too, though that's not ready yet because it keeps on killing off... well, other things too. One of the employees' dogs died, actually." His bottom lip protuberated for a moment so that his expression indicated this wasn't such a good event. "Bit sad, I quite like dogs. That one's not alive anymore, though. Um... and a new version of Sprayaway, this one targets gnomes. I like Sprayaway, means that you just pass the problem on to your neighbour the problem rather than actually killing the creature. Quite a good business plan too actually, because it means everyone has to buy some to sort out the problem." Jez winked at Ryann. "When I'm in charge, I'm going to find a more permanent humane solution to pestcontrol. And then we'll go bust. But for now..." Jez rummaged in one of his pockets, pulling out first a toad which he placed on the seat beside him, and then a sample bottle of the product he had just been talking about. "Want a demonstration?"