Broken Birthday (Autumn)

[Esmeralda Mendez]

The wind hit Ezzie’s face hard, stinging her eyes and her already red cheeks. She was finally back in her Hogwarts robes, but she wasn’t happy about it. Today was January the tenth, 2000. More importantly, today was Ezzie’s fifteenth birthday. It wasn’t like anyone cared. In fact, Ezzie barely cared herself. What did it matter if Ezzie was fifteen now? Adding another year to her life was never going to help add another year to Ethan’s. It just wasn’t fair. Why did Ezzie get to live while Ethan was dead? It simply wasn’t right. She sighed heavily. The press were not about to back down. They were determined to somehow prove Ezzie was guilty of Ethan’s murder. In fact, some crazed Ethan fans pooled money to hire a private investigator to try and find Ethan’s killer. Ezzie didn’t care. Let them search. Ezzie had absolutely nothing to hide from the press. Although she wasn’t going to lie, there was plenty to be discovered about Ezzie, and she’d much rather no one found out. She hated mooching off the Jacobs family for money. She wasn’t their child. She had always been responsible for herself, and that was the end of it. Ezzie liked to think she didn’t need anyone to help her get through. But now that Ezzie’s wealth was dwindling, she was starting to worry she’d have to start performing in small clubs or on the streets again or something. Over time, Ezzie had become so used to performing in large stadiums. She just couldn’t imagine going back to the small stage.

Ezzie kept walking, her guitar slung over her shoulder. Ezzie enjoyed the outdoors more than the indoors lately because of the sheer absence of people. Everyone was inside, huddling around the fire and eating their meals. Ezzie didn’t eat anymore, nor did she care for warmth. As long as she was away from the constant staring, the hurtful snide comments, and the whispers, Ezzie was happy. Well, to be truthful, Ezzie was never happy anymore. Not truly anyway. She looked out at the black lake. Her lips curled into a small smile and she sat herself down on a cold hard rock near the glassy looking water. It was starting to freeze over, and Ezzie could see her reflection in the icy water. My, my, how she had changed. Her sweet girlish face had been changed into that of an angry teenager. Her face was much more thin and angular, and if it wasn’t for the magical concealer make-up made by Amanda Jacobs herself, the dark circles would be obvious around her eyes.

Ezzie looked away from the icy surface and grabbed her guitar. She didn’t even know what she was going to write. She had absolutely nothing in mind, and she hadn’t written a song since before Ethan’s death. But just thinking about Ethan filled Ezzie with emotion and inspiration to write. She strummed on the guitar. The tune was new, one that she had been humming for the past few days. Ezzie did tend to hum random tunes, and most of them turned into her songs. Ezzie had a few more songs until she would complete her first album, but she was almost there. She let her fingers fly across the strings. Out of nowhere, words flowed through her body and out her mouth, forming a song.

If I had any meaning in this ol big world
Can you tell a lost and lonely girl
If I was happy for a day I'd risk it all
That's why when I'm with you I'm not afraid to fall

And if you left me, and if you leave me
At least I'd have a cherish all the memories

I've been having trouble
With keeping up this smile
I've been having trouble-

Ezzie stopped mid verse as she noticed someone else’s reflection turn up behind her. She placed her guitar down but did not turn around to face the girl behind her. Instead, she looked blankly, expressionlessly at the reflection of the girl. “Can I help you?” Ezzie said quite rudely. There were times when Ezzie would smile and introduce herself to the older Slytherin, but those times were far past due. Ezzie just wasn’t the same girl anymore. No one treated her with respect, so why should she waste her time giving them hers?

((The song Broken (How Much For Happy?) was originally written by Cassie Steele, like all Ezzie's songs.))

[Autumn Leeves S5]

Autumn tucked her red hair behind her ears, a small but sincere smile on her face. She looked over the dress with satisfaction, that grin still on her face. Amanda, her cousin, had been sending her new dresses that she had found in stores – dresses that she thought would fit Autumn perfectly for when she performed at Dazzle. She really did miss that club; she didn't feel nearly as whole when she was away from it. Never mind the fact that she never saw Eden, Dazzle was a completely different feeling. The dress that Amanda had just sent was a deep red. It was floor length and had a small slit up the left side. The slit, to Autumn's pleasure, didn't go up too far, and instead of it being left open, had a black see through material in the gap. Autumn pulled it out of the box and flared it out around her. The shimmering red material flowed around her and felt smooth against her skin. It wasn't strapless, but it was off the shoulder, and the centre was pinned together with diamond clips. Autumn let out a breath that she had been holding as she scrutinised the dress, "Well, Amanda, I must say; you've done perfectly this time." She smiled brightly to herself and laid the dress over her bed, eyeing it still; not being able to take her eyes off it. Amanda had been sending her dresses since the first week of school, and the routine was always the same. Autumn would look at the dress, and then send it back either with a 'yes' or 'no' note attached to it. She had said yes to nearly all the dresses, but there were two so far that really made Autumn excited – this red dress, and an emerald velvet dress that was magnificent. Amanda and Autumn had agreed that since she was going to live with Amanda in San Francisco during the hols and perform at Dazzle at the same time, that Autumn should have the right attire. After all, Eden got his zoot suits, why shouldn't Autumn get her evening gowns?

It took Autumn all of ten minutes to rewrap the dress, attach a note, and then send it off with a school owl – and then Autumn wasn't quite sure what to do with her time. Classes were done with for the day and dinner wasn't for awhile, and so Autumn was presented with her usual dilemma. Normally, she would go off and read or do her homework, but she had already done all of that. She could only read for so long before she got a headache, and she had finished her homework, and so Autumn was left with the looming prospect of doing absolutely nothing until meal time. Oh, how joyous that seemed. Autumn ran her fingers through her long hair and then grabbed up her cloak and hurried out of the dormitory and common room. Soon she had burst out into the cold January air and was walking around aimlessly. The wind snapped at her hair and bit her cheeks into a red that was ten times redder than what they normally were. The snow beneath her feet crunched almost soundlessly as she walked past trees and rocks, down the steps toward Hagrid's hut, around that, and back up the hill to the front stairs. When she reached those, she leaned against the stone railing to catch her breath, closing her eyes to the biting cold. Autumn wasn't quite sure how long she was standing out in the cold, but she felt like an icicle and so she pushed away from the stones and headed back across the grounds toward the lake. Autumn always loved the lake, even in the winter when it was black and frozen, silent. Sometimes silence was good. It didn't give you headaches.

Autumn folded her arms over her chest and bowed her head against the angry wind as she headed closer and closer to the lake. The wind was blowing everything certain ways, sounds and noises were whistled past and incoherent. Perhaps that was why Autumn hadn't heard the singing before or hadn't even noticed that someone else was by the lake until she stumbled upon her. The girl then stopped and turned to Autumn, saying something with a rather rude tone. Autumn recognised her as Ezzie Mendez, someone who was very popular with the tabloids that Autumn refused to read. She was a singer of sorts, but not Autumn's kind of music. Obviously the fame had killed her, that or the recent death of the Jacobs kid…perhaps both. Autumn raised an eyebrow slightly at her before replying in an even voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." She tucked her hair behind her ear again and stood in silence, looking out at the lake for a moment, "I didn't hear much, if you're worried about that, and I'm not some crazed fan nor a paparrazo. I'm Autumn Leeves, and I more than anyone else can understand the need for privacy," she looked back at Ezzie before nodding toward her guitar, "You're rather good, from what I just heard – the little that I did. Not my type of music, but it's rare you find someone who sings modern music that can actually do it without the digital altering. I sing, too, not for money or anything – just for passion."

[Esmeralda Mendez]

Ezzie was nothing short of surprised. The general reaction she received from students around school was ‘Watch out! It’s the murderer!’ Ezzie definitely hadn’t expected to complimented; especially by a Slytherin. Ezzie had never heard anything about this Autumn girl, but she was somewhat glad she hadn’t. Based on her past experiences, Ezzie tended to steer clear of rumours. If she heard one, she ignored it completely. She knew what it felt like to be talked about. She knew what it felt like to meet people who already knew you as the ‘psychopath who murdered Ethan Jacobs and got away with it’ even though you were just a fifteen year old girl trying to save your career. Normal people didn’t understand Ezzie. She was fifteen years old now, and yet she had been working all her life. She knew the value of a galleon like some students may as well, but she knew how hard you had to work for that galleon. Some kids got many simply for taking out the trash or cleaning their room. Ezzie used to get their daily salary in a week. But, she supposed some people weren’t all that bad. If they respected Ezzie, then she had an obligation to at least act decently toward them. If there was something Ezzie hated more than judgmental people, it was hypocrites. If Ezzie were to judge this Autumn girl by her house, or anything else for that matter, that would make her both of her two least favorite things.

Ezzie crossed her arms and shrugged, her jet-black hair blowing behind her. “It’s fine I guess. I just expected…” Ezzie searched for the right words. “..I just expected a different confrontation, I guess. I don’t really get complimented much anymore to say the least, so my guard was up.” She said with a casual shrug of her thin, fragile looking shoulders. Not getting complimented anymore was a bit of an understatement. Ezzie was hated so much around here to a point where people were throwing things at her and shooting random curses at Ezzie as she walked by the corridors to class. Ezzie couldn’t just sit there and take that kind of attitude, so she constantly had her guard up. She was rude to anyone who came along unless they could prove her that they weren’t only in Ezzie’s presence to try and make her feel guilty for killing Ethan. Please, like she needed any of their help to feel guilty for what she had done. Sure, she may not have paid the guy who shot him or held the gun to his head like most people in this damned school thought, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t her fault. There was an endless list of things Ezzie could have done to stop Ethan’s death, and she just stood there and watched him die. So for all intensive purposes, she did kill Ethan Jacobs. That mere thought sent chills up Ezzie’s spine, making her shiver.

“Thanks, I guess. I play base mainly, but I’ve been sticking to this baby while I’m here. Let’s just say I used to play base on a much smaller stage.” She said vaguely. Autumn obviously didn’t watch the news or read tabloids, so if she didn’t already know the past that still haunted Ezzie to this day; she’d rather not clue the girl in. The less people who knew about Ezzie, the better. She sighed, absentmindedly brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “And it’s great that you only sing for passion.” Ezzie said, emotion finally filling her voice for a moment. “I wish I could do that.” She said, feeling a lump rise in her throat. If only she could go back to just singing because she loved to sing. If only she could just sing without worrying about fans and tabloids. But she had gotten herself into this mess, so now there was no going back. The only way to go was forward in her career, and that’s what Ezzie intended on doing. She would move on, and never look back. The idea was harder than it sounded.

[Autumn Leeves S5]

"Hmm," Autumn replied evenly, looking back at the lake again for another moment, "well, I suppose that's fair." She looked thoughtful for a moment as she stared at the lake, her mind reeling for any piece of information on this girl she could. Nothing. All she knew was that she was famous, her boyfriend died, and now the paparazzi was stalking her. Autumn couldn't relate to anything, but she also knew that sometimes people didn't need to be related to. She smiled sardonically and looked at Ezzie, "I figured out fast that it's best to stay away from those who confront you in a bad attitude. I try my best not to confront others that way." Autumn took a seat beside Ezzie, deciding it was safe and that Ezzie wasn't going to lung at her and throw her into the lake, "As for keeping your guard up, I've done that. Ha! I think every Slytherin on the face of this planet has!" She rolled her eyes and looked at the water again, not exactly sure what she was doing. All Autumn knew was that she didn't have anything else to do and that Ezzie didn't seem like terrible company. Sure she was a bit, scarily, thin and she seemed to be on the defensive for a good portion of the time – but Autumn didn't like to judge. She hated being judged so she didn't judge. She never listened to rumours, and she hardly ever paid attention to other peoples' opinions of other people because half of the time they were biased. Autumn had done everything she could to detach herself from the rumour mill that seemed to possess the school she attended. When she was home it wasn't that difficult because everyone was honest with each other, but at school? Good luck finding someone who will be honest with you at all.

Autumn looked at Ezzie again when she replied to her compliment, saying she normally played bass. A smile curled at her lips and Autumn nodded, "You're welcome. Got to give compliments where they are due." She smirked and looked away again. That was Autumn's problem for most of the time. She couldn't keep eye contact with someone she just met. After awhile, once she had gotten to the comfort zone she liked to be in with that person, she would be able to keep eye contact with them. But as this moment, she couldn't. She hoped Ezzie didn't take it the wrong way. It wasn't because she was nervous or anything, it had just always been that way for Autumn. The wind blew her hair behind her and she let it, deciding it just wasn't worth the trouble of pulling it forward only to have it blow away from her again. Autumn sighed slightly and looked over at Ezzie when she mentioned that she thought it was great that Autumn sang for passion and that she wished she could do that. With a raise of her eyebrow, Autumn looked at this girl. She was in the year below her and a Gryffindor and that alone told Autumn that she had gotten herself into a mess she couldn't get out of. There was a girl in her house two years above her, that had gotten her own record deal – sold two albums and went on tour three times, before she realised that life was much more than money. Then again, Mackenzie Holden had come from a completely different background as this girl and Autumn knew that. "You know," Autumn said after a silent moment, her eyes locked on Ezzie but not on Ezzie's eyes.

"It's possible. You can still sing for passion. As long as you love the singing, the feeling it gives you, who cares about what everyone else says? If it makes you happy, Ezzie, then you should give it the benefit of the doubt. Singing didn't get you into any mess, it didn't ruin your life, it didn't kill anyone…" she gave Ezzie a pointed look, "singing brought you to life and you're just letting it dwindle away because it has negative connotations. My suggestion to you, if you even want to hear it, is to go to a place where people won't care who you are, they'll only care about what you can do. I have my own club like that, but it isn't your cup of tea – jazz music and all. If you're ever in San Francisco, look it up," Autumn grinned at Ezzie, "You can see me in my element, and who knows? Maybe it will make you realise that singing isn't something to loathe, but something to celebrate and as long as you can make beautiful music – you can get past anything bad. But then again, who am I?" she looked away out at the lake again, "a Jazz singer who doesn't get paid for her voice, who knows nothing of fame, but I might have some interesting points."

[Esmeralda Mendez]

So she was a jazz singer. Ezzie figured that was pretty cool. She had never really been into jazz herself, but that was probably because she’d never had a chance to hear it much. Sure, she’d seen street players like herself in the past play jazz on their old rusted saxophones, but she didn’t even know of any jazz players. Ezzie had been so busy all her life, that she didn’t have spare moments to enjoy jazz. But it wasn’t just jazz music Ezzie had missed out on growing up. There were a million and one things Ezzie had never done because of the situation she had been put in. She’d never gone to a sports game that wasn’t Quidditch, she’d never been out of Europe unless Cuba counted, and she’d never gone to the circus or the zoo. Ezzie could go on forever listing things she’d never done and places she’d never seen. She was too busy working all her life. This was something this Autumn girl didn’t understand. Ezzie did sing for passion. She sang because she loved to sing. But she also sang because she needed to. She sang because she had no other choice but to sing or go back to that dreadful hotel and work her life away at minimum wage.

Now that Ethan was dead and the paparazzi were stalking her again, she had to sing more and she had to be better than ever. More importantly, she had to make a statement. Even though Ezzie could not imagine a life without Ethan Jacobs, she was living in one. She had to show the press and everyone else that Ezzie could move forward and go on with her life, even though she couldn’t believe she could do it herself. Autumn sat down next to her without meeting her eyes. That was perfectly fine with Ezzie. She hated making eye contact with anyone anymore. Ezzie did consider herself a decent liar, but she knew that the second someone looked into her eyes, they’d see the pain in her eyes and they’d know. Every lie Ezzie had ever told to the person would be revealed and that person would know exactly what was going on in Ezzie’s head. All with one look in her big mysterious dark brown eyes. For Ezzie, eyes really were a portal to the soul. She had to watch out and make sure no one was able to enter that portal.

Ezzie stared into the water, which sparkled in the dim sunlight. “No offense to your house or anything, but I think some Slytherins have done more than just keep their guard up.” She said, returning to her expressionless voice. This, again, was an understatement. There was one Slytherin in particular that Ezzie hated more than anyone else in the world; except maybe the girl’s mother. Aimee Sinclair and her gang of annoying and sometimes vicious Slytherins had made sure the second half of her fourth year was hell. They were mainly the ones firing curses at Ezzie, and the rest of the school followed because they loved Ethan and blamed Ezzie for killing him. Again, she didn’t blame them. No matter what her stupid therapist said, Ezzie should be held responsible for what had happened to Ethan. If only she’d seen the bullet first, then…No. Ezzie told herself. She wasn’t going to get into that self-induced guilt trip right now.

“Ha. You have no idea how badly I want to get out of Europe. I would kill to even go back to Cuba-“ Ezzie stopped herself. There she went again. She had glanced at Autumn for no more than a second, and already she was starting to blurt out her secrets again. “…but I have to stay in school. Who knows? Maybe when I graduate I can go to San Francisco and check out that club of yours.” She said with a dry, emotionless shrug. She started to pick at her deep black nail polish. It was a far cry from the electric blue Ezzie used to wear, but Ezzie had changed. She wasn’t the electric blue type of person anymore.

[Autumn Leeves S5]

Autumn picked at a loose strand on her skirt as the silence settled around the two very different girls. It wasn't hard to be different from Autumn. Autumn wasn't part of the ordinary crowd. She didn't really fit in with the Slytherins who tried to be bad, and she wasn't nice like any of the other houses were. Autumn just tended to be herself. If you upset her, you'd know it; if she was happy, she smiled; she felt, hurt, cried, and had fears like all other human beings – and she didn't try to hide it like the rest of the Slytherin house was known to do. That was a common misconception with the house of Slytherin. Everyone thought they were nasty mean things who were bent on destroying the world, when the truth was that Slytherins just did anything to get what they wanted. It didn't mean they would sit there and torment other students for the fun of it. People looked at Voldemort and they thought about how evil he was, when really he was just a selfish pig. He wanted to control the wizarding world and he would do absolutely anything to get it. He nearly did, too, but he was too stupid. Autumn didn't agree with the dark arts in the least, and she didn't care much about blood, but she understood the differences in the houses and she understood them correctly – that was the important thing. If she had understood them incorrectly she would be like every other student at Hogwarts and that would further the segregation. Further segregation was the last thing this school needed.

As Autumn pondered all of this, Ezzie seemed to be reading her mind, as she came back with a smart remark. Autumn looked over at her and shook her head a bit, "No, I beg to differ. You see, it's the other houses that make Slytherin the way it is. Everyone seems to believe we are far from human, but we aren't. We just do what we want, when we want to and how we want to. You Gryffindors or the Ravenclaws or the Hufflepuffs might disagree, but that is how it is and it's always going to be that way. It's you all that makes us put our guard up. If you just… forgot prejudices – we'd all be okay." Autumn looked away, staring coldly at the lake before her before muttering, "I really wish people wouldn’t look at one person from a house and then deem the rest of that house the same way." Stereotypes went in a vicious circle. It did not begin in one place and it did not end in one place. People just needed to grow up and stop trying to place the blame because the blame never takes you far. Autumn closed her eyes against the approaching wind, letting all of her negative emotions fall out of her into the black expanse of a lake below. She hated feeling negative about things, negative feelings were never fun. Not when she had been feeling positive feelings for so long. Autumn really couldn't say much about negative feelings or circumstances because she had never been placed in a situation like some other people had been, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate the positive feelings she did get.

Autumn was lucky. She knew she was lucky. She didn't have to deal with a lot of the things her fellow housemates had to do deal with. Parents who tried to control their lives, poverty, etc. They were all things Autumn didn't have any clue about. Her parents had been nearly nonexistent until she had asked for some form of emancipation and then she had moved in with Kindra and Paul, her aunt and uncle. Now, her cousin Amanda had her own apartment in San Francisco and Autumn was staying with her. She was happy. She had a place to live and she had money. She hadn't anything to worry about and it was this that made most people look at her as if she were a spoilt brat. But what they didn't see was that Autumn chose to lead a modest and muggle life during the vacations. She found it was less complex and that it was just easier to live without all of the problems that existed in the wizarding world. Of course, Autumn wouldn't ever deny her roots, and she would never say that she wasn't well off; but sometimes Autumn found herself wondering whether or not it would have been easier to be a muggle. Presently, she pulled herself out of her thoughts to hear Ezzie say she would like to get out of Europe, mentioned Cuba, and then caught herself and recovered by saying she might go after graduation. Autumn smiled kindly at her, "I'm sure it will still be there. I'm hoping I will be."

[Esmeralda Mendez]

There she went. Just when Ezzie thought this girl was different from other Slytherins, she just had to go and say something like that. Ezzie wondered when the girl’s true Slytherin colors would finally appear. Ezzie rolled her eyes at Autumn’s comment. “Right. That’s why when I’m not doing anything wrong and minding my own business, a giant hoard of Slytherins comes and gives me hell. We Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws just mind our own business. Now, I’m not going to stereotype and say that every Slytherin is cruel, and I’m not going to say that everyone in the other houses aren’t judgmental. I can only speak for myself. I do not judge based on house, and neither do most people in my house. We simply mind our own business when they ‘put their guard up’ on us. So don’t give me any of that crap saying that it’s our fault most of you act that way.” Ezzie finally stopped her small rant and looked down at the frozen water again. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This girl; this Slytherin girl was trying to tell Ezzie that it was her fault the Slytherins were so mean.

Why was everything being blamed on her? She didn’t do anything to make the Slytherins act so cruel and heartless. Aimee Sinclair was simply born that way. She didn’t need the non-existent prejudice of the other houses to help her be cruel. Holly Sinclair didn’t need non-existent prejudice to write that horrific article about Ezzie. No, they did those things out of their own accord. And it wasn’t just Holly and Aimee Sinclair either. People like the Sinclairs had influence over those around them. Even before the article, Aimee had most the Slytherin population wrapped around her pale skeletal looking fingers. If she said Ezzie was a murderer, then the Slytherins believed it. Holly had influence over the entire wizarding community, so once she said Ezzie had killed Ethan, even the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws were behind her. Before long, the entire school was against Ezzie and there was no longer anything she could do about it. Nothing except prove her wrong of course. But of course, being locked up in Hogwarts meant limited time to search for Ethan’s killer.

Ezzie wondered what she’d be doing come time for the summer holidays. She wanted nothing more than to search the entire world to find that man in the small white car, but she did have other responsibilities. She had concerts to do and appearances to make. Not to mention the fact that she was a godmother now, and with that came responsibility. She wanted to make sure she was always there with Alex and Gwen. Of course, it wasn’t like Ezzie was their mother, but if god forbid anything ever happened to Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs, Ezzie probably would be. Ezzie imagined herself five or six months from now, traveling the world like she used to. Ezzie never had to answer to anyone. She came and went as she pleased, never having to worry about leaving friends and family behind. Back when she was younger, Ezzie wasn’t very close to Casey or Carson. Sure they were decent friends, but Ezzie would never feel sorry or saddened to leave England if she found an opportunity somewhere else. During the summers, Ezzie used to take one month off to just travel and see the world. She’d walk all the way from London to Italy or France and then come back just in time for school. She was free. Like a bluebird. But now, she was being held back by her career and her loved ones. Ezzie was never sorry for meeting Casey or the Jacobs, but sometimes she did wonder what her life would have been like if she had never met the Jacobs family or gotten close to Casey. She looked up, expecting a fierce retaliation.

((Eh, not my best. The next should be better.))

[Autumn Leeves S5]

"If I recall correctly, Ezzie," Autumn stated quite coldly as she looked out at the lake, "Slytherins are not the only ones being mean to you," she smirked. If Ezzie was going to hold stereotypes against Slytherins, Autumn was going to show her what a true Slytherin was. "Now, I don't follow tabloids, and I don’t read trashy magazines, I don't listen to gossip – but your story, is all over the actual news. I know you're being accused of Ethan's death, and maybe in some way you are related to that. But I'm going to tell you right now," Autumn stood from the ground and looked at the girl as the light started to fade and the sun set, "Those stories wouldn’t have been published without reason. Even trashy journalists have a reason for it. Maybe they're jealous, maybe they hate you, maybe it's the whole world against you, hell, maybe it's for revenge. But there's a reason, and you might want to pretend like you did nothing and that you're completely innocent. But somewhere down the line you pissed someone off, and this is what results. People aren't just mean and cruel because they're born that way. It's a cycle," Autumn tucked her hair behind her ear, "someone does something, someone else responds with a vicious reply, the first someone gets upset and does something just as bad. So you pretend that Slytherins are the evil ones, when you and everyone else, including me and the Slytherins, share the blame for stereotypes. It doesn’t just land on one group." Autumn stared at this girl before turning to take her leave.

"Oh, and one more thing," she turned back to look at Ezzie, "best of luck with your career, because after this – you're gonna need it." The sun had successfully set now, and Autumn smirked at Ezzie, "And minus 15 points from Gryffindor for being out on the grounds at night." She pointed to the dark spot where the sun had been moments before. "Good night." Autumn took one last look at Ezzie and then headed back up toward the castle. Yes, Autumn had been cruel, and yes she had said some hateful things, but Autumn wasn't the type of person to allow her house to be bashed because it speaks its mind more than the others. The difference between the Slytherin house and the rest was that the Slytherins weren't afraid of letting their voice be heard. Gryffindors tried too hard to be better, Ravenclaws didn't care one way or the other – they just wanted to do well, and Hufflepuffs tried too hard to please everyone else. She hadn't met one person from any of those three houses that told her what they were thinking the moment they thought it without someone else backing them up. Slytherins were seen as evil simply because they were honest. They were cunning, sly, and deceptive at times - but if asked their opinion, they gave it and they gave it honestly. There were, of course, the few Slytherins who manipulated and used their manipulation to get them in higher places and those were the people that everyone hated and labelled the rest of the house that way. What everyone else didn't understand was that Slythreins did absolutely anything to get their means. Sometimes it meant manipulation, and sometimes it didn't.

What really made Autumn mad was that people tended to sit there on their high horses and look down at Slytherins for their attitudes, but then they turned around and did the same exact thing the Slytherins got bashed and hated for. Hypocrites. The entire world was full of hypocrites. Autumn scowled as she reached the large double doors to the main entrance, and then pushed them open. They creaked and the warm air rushed over her as she stepped into the dimly lit hallway. She headed down the main corridor, humming one of her favourite jazz tunes, her hands clasped behind her back as she strolled. Autumn smiled smugly to herself, sometimes it did feel good to get the frustration she kept locked inside her about house prejudices, even if it was at other people's expense. Autumn took a sharp turn and headed toward McGonagall's office to report Ezzie's being out on the grounds at night like she was supposed to.

((I know she was mean :-\ but it's Autumn for you. Sorry for deducting points, but it is what Autumn's supposed to do as a prefect...))