Life's Little Quirks ((Drake))

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Brianna didn't wear the robes that were normal for pureblood's to wear, especially anytime they decided to go out shopping. Instead Brianna adapted style to something a bit more contemporary. Her heeled feet hit the cobblestone with a click as her black pants hung from her defined legs and her dark blue blouse hung from her shoulders in waves of dull color. She had a blue book bag slung over her left shoulder as she walked through the alley, eyes passing over the mass of people around her. She was in a hurry, to where she wasn't quite sure, it was just how she felt at the moment. It was like fate was calling her and she knew she had to answer. That small feeling you get in the pit of your stomach telling you that something's going to happen and it's important that you are ready and prepared for it. Of course that feeling had it's fall backs. Sometimes it wasn't useful at all and instead just made you sick to your stomach as you realized that what it was leading to was so horrible that you could only try to turn and run. Brianna wasn't like that though. She ran face first into fate, it was the only way you could survive. If you turned and ran from fate where would you end up? In the same place of course, just not bruised and battered from going face to back with fate. In a fight you don't turn around and let your opponent beat you up from behind. It's the same with fate, you stand and face your opponent, you charge your opponent, you fight back, as much as possible. Fate was something Brianna had never truly turned her back on. She always felt there was a reason and rhyme to everything. There was a reason her father was taken from her at such a young age. There was a reason her mother went to work and left her to raise her two little sisters. And there was a reason she was in an arrange marriage. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was a reason and she was going to go with the flow until that reason revealed itself, if it ever would.

The soft summer breeze ruffled it's way through Brianna's short dark hair as her pace slowed and she found her eyes traveling over the brooms in the Quidditch shop. The feeling of flying...that was something she couldn't ever get over. The way it seemed like you were a shooting star, having someone wish upon you, and hoping that their wish came true. Fingers touched glass softly as she thought about the last time she flew over the grounds and lake of Hogwarts. The breeze had been warm that day, or maybe she had just been flying around so much that she had caused friction to build up around her own body that day. She sighed as the feeling of the breeze brushed her face again and she felt almost like she had that day in the air, meters above the problems of the flesh. In the only place where the soul could really be free.

Brianna took a deep breath as she pulled her hand away from the window. Her deep brown eyes turning from the brooms and the hope of freedom for her soul. Instead she stepped lightly in the direction of the small coffee shop that had appeared when Diagon Alley had been rebuilt. It had been the perfect place for sophisticated conversation, with a quiet atmosphere where conversation didn't seem to drift. Brianna guessed it was a spell that had caused that, but still it wasn't what mattered. It was the joy of being able to sit in peace, drink some coffee, and read some literature. On that day in particular Brianna wasn't even about to mind a deep, meaningful conversation with someone else, but she didn't hope for one. She had stopped hoping for those kind of conversations when she found that she didn't open up to people, especially about anything that was deep or meaningful. The clicking of her heels stopped in front of the door of the coffee shop and her heart fell as she read the small sign outside the door. For Sale How long had it been since she had visited the small coffee shop? She felt for sure it had been there last time, but now...now it was gone. A soft sigh escaped from her lips again as she tried to come up with somewhere else to go, her form turning quickly. Her blue bag swung out and caught on something, ripping the material so quickly and spilling out the books and notebooks from her bag that she didn't even have time to cry out. Bending quickly she began to collect the odds and ends that had fallen out.

[Drake Manning]

Drake walked to the edge of the steep cliff and peered out at the ominous horizon before him. The dark gray storm clouds matched the color of his eyes, which stared blankly at the crashing waves below. Instinctively, he turned, sensing the presence of someone behind him. Alone. Always Alone. Turning back to face the raging sea, Drake stood still for a few minutes that seemed to pass like seconds. Almost as if his being there was angering the threatening clouds above and the churning waters below, Drake did what he always did when he found himself in this familiar place. Free falling momentarily, Drake felt the wind pressing against every part of his body. With his arms stretched out and his eyes closed, he welcomed the feeling of freedom. As he fell, the dark gray sky began to fade into a soft blue. The waves subsided, and the surface of the water stilled until it resembled a sheet of deep blue glass. Just before he crashed into the sea below him, Drake's eyes flashed open and a blinding white light filled his view.

Drake woke with a jolt. Shining through the nearby window, the sun's rays cast a glare on his tired eyes. Rubbing away the night's toll with his knuckles, Drake blinked a few times and then sat up. It was always the same dream, and it was always right before he collided with the sea of glass that Drake would wake up. Just like in the dream, he would always wake up alone, too. As he pulled away the blankets that were tossed and tangled on the bed, Drake made his way to the bathroom where he splashed some cold water on his face. He looked into the mirror and the same empty face looked back at him. "Why do you do this?" he asked himself rhetorically. Because it angers them, and because you can, a voice in his head answered.

He turned, collecting his things, and scanned the small room before leaving and checking the number on the door. Then, Drake made his way down the hall and took the stairs to the main lobby where he walked up to the front desk. "Room 11-B," he informed the young witch who attended the guest window. As she calculated his fee, Drake glanced curiously around the lobby. The place wasn't familiar; not one of his usual locations for staying after one of his random nights of fun away from home. "The girl that I came with, did you see her leave this morning?" he asked the attendant with a curious glance. The witch gave him a stare of confusion as she looked back over the paper-work in front of her. "It says here, Mr. Manning, that you checked in alone. If someone else stayed with you, we'd need to know..." she answered before Drake interjected. "Oh, no. My mistake then. Sometimes I loose track." He winked at the girl with a hint of coyness before handing her his payment. "The extra's a tip," he explained, "for the next time I'm around." With that, Drake turned and left the inn, leaving the bell on the door ringing on his way out.

Once outside, no longer shielded from the bright sunlight, Drake squinted and began to feel a dull pounding near his temples. Not having any caffeine yet that morning, he looked back and forth at the shops as he walked, searching for somewhere that sold coffee. As he walked, Drake had to laugh at his own ridiculousness. if he hadn't been with a girl that past night, it meant he must've spent it alone. Alone and probably drunk. The sad thing was, he wasn't sure which scenario was worse. In the end, he always felt alone either way.

Nearing a corner, Drake turned to his right when he almost tripped over a girl who was bent over in front of an empty shop, gathering a slew of items that had apparently fallen from the torn bag that hung from her shoulder. She had most of the items collected and Drake stood waiting until she finished and was aware of his presence. He planned on just walking around her with a disgusted look, thinking that he remembered a coffee place nearby. Then, he noticed the sign though. "Bloody hell, how am I supposed to get rid of this damned headache?" he questioned aloud. His anger must have caught the girl's attention. When he caught her eye, about to make a smart comment, Drake realized she looked familiar. "You... you go to Hogwarts, don't you?" he asked. He vaguely remembered seeing her before, perhaps in a class with him even. He wondered if she recognized him, but didn't bother to ask. Instead, he asked bout what was more important to him at that time. "Where's the nearest place I can get a caffeine fix since this dump of a shop apparently closed down?"

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Brianna sighed to herself as she picked up the last few items. She was holding them awkwardly in her arms as she tried to decide how she was going to fix her bag. Magic was not possible, since she still had a couple weeks to go before she turned 17 and she wasn't about to ask anyone to help her. She'd just have to make due with shoving the items into her pockets. She knew it looked tacky, but what else was there to do? Her bag was slashed and she wasn't 17. The only other thing to do would be to buy a new bag and she wasn't sure she wanted to spend the sickles on that sort of a purchase when she had plenty of bags at home. This little hiccup in her day seemed to disappoint her a little, but she tried to remain upbeat as she got to her feet, a voice making her jump slightly as she realized it was right behind her.

Brianna's brown eyes fell on the tall guy before her and she recognized him almost immediately. She tried to keep a reserved and nonchalant look on her face, but a hint of a sour look snuck past the barrier before returning to her reserved face. Drake Manning was his name and Brianna knew him well, or at least his reputation. He was a player and a womanizer. Some of her friends had actually fallen for his commanding presence and regretted it later, when he sent them crying home after one night. She had warned them far in advance about him and of course no one listened to her. She was used to it now though. Her friends had learned their lessons in the end though. Of course why any of them would even think about going after Drake was beyond her. He was far too cocky and he was undoubtedly full of himself and not to mention the amount of girls he had been with probably couldn’t be counted on both hands and feet.

Brianna fought back against the need to make some unnecessary comment about Drake’s habit of cursing and the fact that it sounded like he had a hangover, but decided it would be a losing battle if she tried. So she just nodded at him and held her bag to her as her dark eyes surveyed him. She realized somewhere deep down he was quite attractive, but the attraction stopped short with his personality. Physical looks weren’t important to her really, she thought someone was attractive through their personality and so far everything she had ever heard about Drake made her attraction to him dwindle quickly. Guess I better say something… she thought to herself. Shoulders moved up and down softly as she shrugged away his comment. “Yes…Ravenclaw,” Brianna found the words soft and rather weak as she heard them. However she didn’t care to say it again as she looked away from him and down the alley and then back at him in annoyance. “This was not a dump of a shop just to let you know and frankly it’s one of the only shops around with good coffee and company. However if they’re letting your sort into it now, then maybe it’s a good thing it closed up.”

[Drake Manning]

From the instant the girl set eyes on him, Drake could tell that she wasn't thrilled with his presence. He assumed she must have recognized him as well, knowing that his reputation was notorious to say the least. Grinning at the thought, Drake half expected the less than friendly tone that the girl spoke with when replying to his inquiries. As well, seeing as how she neglected to give him a name, Drake picked up the hint rather quickly that she knew of him and had failed to stop herself from making a quick judgment of his character. He was used to it though, and it wasn't like he didn't deserve it anyways. Still, part of it was what gave Drake the pleasure in acting like he did most of the time.

"Well, I can't say your argument holds much weight seeing that it apparently wasn't good enough to keep business of any kind." Drake spoke with little emotion, not really caring to win the battle of words with the girl, but rather just wanting to put his two cents in as always. "Never mind then," he continued, just like he always did. When Drake found someone who immediately pegged him as the arrogant hot-head that he was, he found it more interesting to shower them with pleasantries if he could. Being his normal, crude self was never any fun when someone already hated you anyways, he thought.

"I'm Drake," he continued, still acting rather casually. "And you are..." he paused, waiting for the girl to answer. When she was silent for a moment, he improvised. "... and you are going to join me for a cup of coffee," he concluded rather matter-of-factly. "Unless of course you'd rather go alone," he said with a raised brow. "But you already said it yourself that you like company, so turning down my offer would be just slightly on the rude side,now wouldn't it?" It came so naturally for Drake- the smooth, suave way of simply saying whatever came to his mind without a hint of guilt or embarrassment. He did it so often that he never even realized he was doing it. It had become a way of life really. Bouncing from one girl to the next until he was bored with them or they eventually saw past his hollow personality. He didn't care though, one way or the other. It was his life and it was his way of doing things. So, he stood there and waited, wondering if this girl had more sense than the others or if she too would be just another way to numb everything inside of Drake that had been lifeless for so long.

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Brianna pursed her lips in annoyance at his words. What gave him the right to condemn such a place, especially one of the best little coffee places in town. Brianna didn't know what she was so upset about, maybe it was the fact that she was turning 17 soon, or maybe it was because her favorite little shop had closed down, or maybe it was because she had run into the one person she would have paid money to avoid. She frowned to herself as she held her belongings close to her trying to fade away. Sometimes she didn't want to be seen or heard and right now she definitely didn't want to be standing in front of the one guy that had a reputation for playing women. But what was worse about the whole thing was that Brianna still couldn't get that nagging in her mind to go away as it seemed to enjoy causing her confusion...especially over Drake.

Brianna quirked her eyebrow up as he introduced himself, like she didn't already know who he was. When he asked for her name she had half a mind to tell him to leave her alone, but thought better of it and just stayed quiet. It was Drake's next statement that really got Brianna as she stood almost dumbfounded at the fact that he was telling her that she was to go get coffee with him. Didn't he get it? She didn't want to be around him, but yet here he was insisting on hanging around her, like it was a competition or something. Maybe it was...Maybe Drake was simply just trying to get into her skirt like he had with so many other girls. Brianna wouldn't stand for that, not after what she saw her friends go through. Besides Drake wasn't her type...he was too...arogant, egotistical, and pig-headed.

"So you think buttering up to me will let you get into my skirt?" Brianna asked innocently. "Well, Drake, you'll never touch this. I don't go for losers who think that sleeping with every girl they run into will somehow make their lives better. Besides that you're not really that good looking, not for the way you act. You might want to tone down that ego of yours just a little bit, it might actually help you get women." The words left her lips so quickly and for once in her life she didn't really care. She wanted to let her aggression, her anger, and frustration out on Drake and in some form or fashion she wanted to see if she could hurt him. See if he was actually as numb and cold hearted as her friends had told her. She didn't know why she wanted to do it, but she did. Deep down she hoped she hadn't pushed too hard.

[Drake Manning]

Brianna's reaction was not what Drake had expected. He simply starred at her for a few seconds after her little outburst and then he couldn't help but laugh just slightly. "You give me too much credit," he said, shaking his head at how forthright Brianna had been. Drake had went a long time without a girl telling him off so adamantly. At first, he wasn't sure what to say next. But, as always, his smooth social skills were at their best and he had recovered from the initial shock.

"Well... let's just say that I don't want to get into your skirt, because, after all, perhaps I'm not the only one who's not very good looking," he commented with a glare. Drake really wasn't about to stand there and critique Brianna based on her looks. He just wanted to make sure that she knew he wasn't going to just be all fake and gentleman-like with her. If she knew his reputation so well, he wasn't going to bother trying to hide anything from her. If she wanted the real Drake, the jerk-of-a-guy side of him, he had no problem dishing it out.

"Plus, who says that what you hear is always true anyways. Sure, I might have a reputation, but did you ever stop to ask yourself if all of those girls who claim to have been hurt by the evil Drake Manning are really just bitter because they realized that they never had a chance in the first place? And, it's not like I am the only bad person here. I'm sure you've heard, it takes two to tango... unless of course you haven't been educated in that aspect yet." Drake's voice was cold, but he was still just making sure that he didn't back down at all. Drake knew girls like Brianna all too well, and he knew the repercussions of giving them just an inch of weakness.

((I'm so sorry that I never realized you had replied... I guess I should start bookmarking threads instead of relying on my constant checking of the boards to see when I owe a reply. ))

[Brianna Bowman R7]

((Don't worry about your reply. As you can see I'm not doing any better myself. Hopefully I'll be around more often now though so you won't have anything to worry about. Hopefully...don't quote me on that though.))

Brianna tried to hide her stunned reaction as Drake laughed slightly. It was not the reaction she was hoping for, in fact it was far from the reaction she was hoping for. All she wanted was a short argument, one that she would win, but now...now it looked like Drake was going to win. Brianna knew better than to attempt to fight anyone, hated doing so really, but from the very beginning Drake had set her off against him and she wasn't about to let him get the upper hand in any sort of argument. However, deep down she knew she was in a losing battle. Drake had far more experience defending himself than she had ever had. Of course she had never found the need to defend herself. Not until now of course. And right then she would have given anything in the world to not have to defend herself, but she knew she would have to. Why? Why did she have to get herself into this mess? Especially when she wasn't good at arguments...wasn't good with words in general.

Brianna felt the blow from his lips hit hard in her stomach, almost knocking air from her lungs. She couldn't believe he had just said what he had, but then again why was she so surprised? Her friends had told her that Drake was nothing more than a womanizer. A man who wanted only one thing out of a relationship and if he didn't get it he was on to the next hopeless fool, to the next girl that would sleep with him. But still she couldn't believe he would call her out on her looks. She subconsciously began to fix her hair and clothes. Her looks were the one thing she took extra time at making good. She had always found herself to look good, but here...here Drake was demeaning her physical appearance. Her eyes dimmed in annoyance as she forced herself not to lose her temper.

Brianna's temper rose quicker by the second as Drake's words struck cord after cord in her heart. Her fists were balling slightly as her knuckles turned white from holding onto her things that had fallen out of her bag earlier. She glared at him in anger as she waited for him to get done speaking. She needed him to shut his mouth for 10 seconds so she could get her side in...her words that she hoped would hurt him as much as his words had hurt her, though she would never admit that they had, especially to him. No she would keep strong and not show her anger, her hurt, or her frustration at the words he had said to her. Instead she simply clung to her belongings and stared him down, his words stinging her to the very heart of her. And as he finished she took a deep, quiet breath in order to make sure she didn't fly off the handle.

"You seem to think me a fool of some sort Mr. Manning. An uneducated, innocent fool. But I assure you, I am far from being uneducated in the matter of your affairs. So don't treat me like I'm a child. And if you're not as evil as your reputation says you are than by all means...prove it," Brianna said in an equally cold and bitter voice, her dark eyes challenging him.

[Drake Manning]

Drake liked seeing Brianna squirm, which was exactly what he had accomplished. He watched as she adjusted herself, probably wondering if his harsh words held much truth to them. If she really knew how little Drake actually meant by his words, she'd have realized that her response was more valuable to him that whether his statement was truthful or not. She even seemed to be getting a bit angry with him, which was even better in Drake's opinion.

At her challenge, Drake simply let out a spit of laughter. "You want me to prove to you that I am not the person that my reputation says that I am?" Drake shook his head in disbelief. "Tell me, Brianna, can you prove to me what you had for breakfast this morning? Can you prove to me that the world didn't just start five minutes ago? No? No? Yet you expect me to prove something to you that is likely something subjective anyways." Drake pointed his finger at Brianna before giving her a thoughtful glare. "You don't even realize that your definition of proving something is so obsolete that it really shouldn't even exist. Plus, if I could prove it to you, why would I want to? What does it matter to me if you believe me or not. For all I care, you can blindly follow everyone else in assuming whatever you want, true or not." Drake knew he was probably being hypocritical, but he really didn't care. Normally, Drake was kind to people, even if it was a fake kind of kindness, but with Brianna, she seemed to have irked him from the start.

((Sorry so short... Drake isn't usually mean as much as he is just manipulative. I have yet to have him actually get mad at someone, so we'll see what happens. ))

[Brianna Bowman R7]

((sorry it took so long...totally forgot that you had posted until a friend reminded me))

Brianna's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Yes, she had gotten what she wanted in a way. She had made Drake Manning angry and she revealed deep inside at that fact, but the way he was treating her at that moment made her blood boil. What was it with him? Did he just think he could go around and treat people like that? Did he think it was okay to treat women like trash and sleep with whoever he pleased because he was just looking for some sort of attention from someone else because he was obviously too lonely in life to realize that friends would do much better than a one night stand? She didn't care if it was a lasting relationship. She didn't care about anything other than the fact that she wanted to see him hurt. She wanted to see that annoyance for a man to fall in love and then have his heart crushed into a million pieces when she used him like he had used so many other women.

Brianna felt her arms shake from her anger and the contents from her bag that she had been holding plummeted to the ground once again, in a shattering of noise as the ink bottle in her bag seemed to explode everywhere, especially on her nice clothes, but she didn't care at that moment. She didn't care if people were staring at her or if she was doing something so out of character for herself. She had to. She had to show this Manning guy that she wasn't afraid of him. That she didn't think of him like the other girls seemed to. After all, how could she fall for some low life, self-centered, pig who enjoyed being a player. The words seemed to reflect in her mind, but not in her heart, which is where she wanted them to be. She was beginning to become more angry at herself for actually thinking the pig before her was attractive. But there was no way in hell she was going to admit that...EVER!

"Drake Manning you are probably the most aggravating man I've ever met! You think you're so suave don't you? You can say what you want about me and my ideas of who you are, but the fact is that I know I'm right about you. I've known plenty of women that have stepped into that bed of yours or wherever you take them and I know fairly well how they return. You can try to pull this good person persona over everyone else, but I won't stand for it," Brianna growls as she crosses her arms, not even caring about her things on the ground. "Besides if it wasn't true then you'd be able to prove it, but it's obvious that you can't. You're just a lost little boy that doesn't know where to turn. So you look to sex for acceptance. Well here's a newsflash, that's not healthy." Brianna glared at him before letting silence fall again.

[Drake Manning]

Though he had reveled in the assertions he had made, Brianna's reply made the conversation turn boring for Drake really fast. Perhaps it was because she made some good points that he didn't want to admit to, or perhaps he just got bored when somebody tried to ridicule him period. Regardless, the fact that Brianna had lost his attention caused him to drift off into a state of random thought while she continued to criticize him. He did have to laugh to himself when he watched her become so furious that she dropped her bag. Seeing Brianna so livid was somewhat amusing, and Drake couldn't help but think he might actually try flirting with her if she wasn't in such a bad mood. Most girls were turned off to him after getting to know him, but Brianna, she had it out for him from the start, and he figured that it was to an extent that even his charm couldn't change her opinions.

After she finished, instead of offering another defense, Drake did something that was more like what he would normally do. Not doing it out of keeping in character though, he did this to simply get even more under Brianna's skin. Walking over to her, Drake got close to her. Close enough that he could feel the quick spurts of hot air coming from her mouth; the breaths that seemed to be so full of hatred toward Drake that they might as well have been poisoned air that he was breathing in himself. Having done nothing more than what he might have done in a given day, Drake found it intriguing that Brianna had become so heated. With that, he bent down in one fell swoop, using his wand to collect the items back into Brianna's bag. Quickly, he forced it into her arms and then forced a quick kiss on her lips. "Better be careful that you don't get infected then," he said wittily as he spun around, cloak spinning with his momentum. Pop! Drake disapparated before Brianna could get another word in edge-wise.

It wouldn't have been right without a dramatic exit, and so Drake couldn't help himself, smiling when he finally appeared back home. At least now Brianna wouldn't forget him, and seeing the look on her face the next time they had a run in would be priceless.

((I wrapped it up because I have Drake posting a lot of posts after this happened, and I didn't want to get too far into those without having finished this. We need to discuss when their next post will be. I assume it will be the one in which they find that they are to be... well, you know. ))

[Brianna Bowman R7]

Brianna frowned in annoyance as she saw the small smirk cross Drake’s face and he laughed to himself when she dropped her bag again. She didn’t care though. She was so furious with him that there was no way she could get any angrier. She wanted to throttle him. Tear him apart and then throw him in a vat of polyjuice potion or something of the sort. He was so infuriating. How could he be this way? How could he just sell his body…strike that not sell, but use his body like that? What did he get out of it other than one night of pleasure? Surely that wasn’t all that great. Or maybe Brianna was just naïve about such things. She had never given much thought to it that was for sure. How could she? She’d been in an arranged marriage all her life and she didn’t care one way or another about men. She knew she wasn’t going to be happy in her life and she knew that. All she could hope for was someone that wasn’t like Drake, someone that would be sweet and kind to her, not annoying and infuriating all at the same time.

Brianna waited for it, waited for his, more than likely, annoying response, but it never came. Instead she found her personal space invaded by his intoxicating presence. Her breathing increased, heart rate pounded against her chest as he got so close to her she could nearly feel his body against hers. It was unnerving. She was getting angrier by the second; having him so close to her was driving her to conniptions, especially since her body seemed to want that. She had to fight within herself to shut off all physical reactions to him, not allowing herself the embarrassment of being affected by him. She was shocked as he bent down then and collected her things. This was not the Drake she had heard so many stories about and then as he stood, handing her bag back to her, his lips touched hers and she cried out in shock and anger. At his words she tried hard to throw a good punch at him, but he had already turned and disapparated without a further response. She glowered as she rolled with more anger than ever before.

Brianna flung her bag over her shoulder in complete annoyance and stormed off. She needed a cold shower and a nice cup of tea. His actions had made her want to hurt someone and she’d never felt such strong hatred for anyone. Or maybe it wasn’t hatred, maybe it was something else. The thought just fueled Brianna’s temper more, knowing that his words could very well be right. She felt more like a Slytherin at that moment than a Ravenclaw as she barreled over a few young children not caring as she moved to the Floo Network and quickly called out her house, stepping into the green fire and disappearing, arriving home she quickly fled to her room, where she spent the rest of her evening tearing apart anything that came within reach.