The Duel (Riley)

[Jack Reid]

Jack Reid had had quite the good week. At the beginning of it, he had been not looking forward to the days ahead whatsoever. But the first day of the week had changed his outlook almost completely. That Monday, he had gone to the courtyard to read one of his spell books for a bit, and had been quite annoyed by the lack of respect held by the numerous people who had decided to show up and talk their little heads off to seemingly no content. Jack had been so bothered by all the talking that he almost had gotten up and left, when a girl sat on the bench he had been sitting at for the past hour. Through somewhat awkward and interesting conversation, Jack had found that she was Riley Coxen, a Gryffindor 5th year. Completely unplanned, Jack ended up falling slightly for her, and she for him. What apparently had started as a simple dare from the group she was involved in (Godric’s Daughters) eventually became a fun-filled afternoon of surprises and antics. Jack had showed her his favorite secret spot, and to top the early evening off right, he had whisked her off with his broom, a feat Riley had given him quite the hard punch for doing.

Through their conversation, they had mentioned how they would both like to see how the other would do in a duel between them. Jack knew in his mind that if he really wanted to, he could wipe her with the floor, based on a few of the spells he knew. He had agreed to the duel, but the two of them didn’t actually set a time for their “date”. He assumed it would happen whenever they ran into each other again, because their first meeting had ended up that same way. Even though he had seen her occasionally throughout the week, it was now Friday and they hadn’t had their duel. Was Jack getting anxious? Of course he was. He could never pass up a chance to show off what he was learning in certain classes. Riley had told him she would give it a go, and he knew by the look in her eye she would genuinely try, which meant he had to as well. Now, he was walking through the cluttered hallway, where some light construction was being done on a broken wall. He saw Riley come out of one of the classroom doors with her girls, Mia and Erica. He decided she would have to stop him, rather than it being his job to stop for her.

Jack walked briskly, his robes flapping lightly from the large strides he took. Riley hadn’t seen him yet, and they were about to meet and pass. To get her attention, he purposely bumped into her shoulder, making her squeal the way she had the last time they had been together, when he had surprised her with their first kiss. “Oh, I’m sorry miss...Oh it’s just you Riley. Watch where you’re going next time.” He smiled at her, to make sure she knew he was of course kidding. He quickly grabbed her hand, squeezed it, and let go. “You know, we haven’t had our duel yet, like you promised me. Maybe you’re just scared because you know I’ll beat you. Don’t worry, I’ve taken down worse than you before.” He laughed, knowing she would get a kick out of his statement, and she would likely have some kind of horribly simplistic retort to follow it with. “Maybe you should just forfeit now. Of course we’d have to come up with something new for our date. Or are you still up for a little bit of a challenge from a Slytherin?” He drew his wand and poked her nose with it, playfully. He was lost in her eyes again, as he awaited a response from the beautiful girl in front of him.

[Riley Coxen G7]

“Aw, c’mon Riley! I still can’t believe you won’t tell me what happened between the two of you! I mean, we’re friends right? I tell you everything, well almost anyway. And it’s pretty obvious to say that you’re definitely one of us now, and the bond between daughters always has to be stronger than any stupid guy. What did I tell you? Boys will always screw you over in the end. Godric’s Daughters are forever. Now are you absolutely positive you don’t want to tell me what happened? It won’t kill you, you know.I mean, if it wasn‘t for me, you wouldn‘t even know the guy. Please?!” Erica spoke pleadingly in the middle of the Entrance Hall. The scene was much like the courtyard had been the Monday, with every social group separated in their little groups. Riley remembered Monday afternoon quite well. She was sure she’d remember the evening for the rest of her life. It was definitely something that could be considered memorable. Riley had been put up to a challenge. Erica and the rest of the girls had dared Riley to come and talk to what they felt was the most unapproachable boy in the entire school. Jack Reid kept to himself, always had. The girls knew this. Mia, the known seductress of the group had even admitted to trying to catch his interest, but admitted that she had failed miserably. However, with Riley, the situation with Jack had been completely different. He had taken an interest to her quickly, and she with him. He’d been her first kiss, and since then, Riley couldn’t wait to see him again for this so-called “date” of theirs. It wasn’t really going to be a date, they had simply decided that they were going to duel with one another. Riley was intent on showing him that she wasn’t a ‘simplistic little Gryffindor’ like he thought she would be.

“That’s nice Erica, coming from the girl who’s been dating a hunky twenty year old male model for the past seven months. And I already told you all there is to know. I did what you asked, didn’t I? He asked me out, and I got a little extra along the way.” Riley said with a small laugh. Erica shook her head sadly and Mia rolled her eyes. It was obvious she was jealous that Riley had actually managed to pass the challenge, something that Christy told her she had failed miserably with. Mia, the one who was known to literally charm the pants off any guy in the world had failed to do something that Riley had succeeded so easily with. Riley was proud of herself, but Jack was more than just some trophy. After the initial awkwardness was gone, she found herself very comfortable around him, which was surprising considering the many little tricks he had up his sleeve. Any normal person would have found him to be too spontaneous and far too bold. But then again, Riley wasn’t exactly normal was she? Riley smirked in Mia’s direction, loving every minute of this. Revenge really was as sweet as they had claimed it to be. Riley had to be sure to thank Jack about that later. She subtly scanned the crowd quickly, not noticing the one person she’d been looking for. “But what exactly did you guys do? Where did you go? Me and Veronica were looking around for you guys for ages. I saw you guys all over each other in the corridor and then we went to go get Erica and Christy and you guys were gone.” Mia said suspiciously. Riley couldn’t help but laugh again, remembering the moment where he had randomly decided to kiss her. Riley had been surprised by the gesture, but she was even more surprised by the fact that she had kissed back.

But even though Riley had seen him a few times here and there along the week, she had been too shy to bring up the duel. She supposed they’d probably get to it over the weekend. She was excited about it, of course. She couldn’t wait to prove him wrong. She wanted to wipe the floor with him using her surprisingly advanced spells. Even though school wasn’t Riley’s strongest subject, she did a lot of reading. She loved learning and mastering new spells and showing them off as she pounded people to the ground during duels. Riley’s small and petite figure did not do her justice. Erica sighed as Riley felt someone brush past her shoulder. Riley turned on her heel, her wavy blonde hair whipping around as she turned to face none other than Jack Reid. Riley smirked at the mention of their plans to duel. Riley felt his hand grip hers quickly and then let go. Riley glared at him playfully. “Oh, please, you want a duel,” She lowered his wand easily with her two fingers and drew her own to his face all in a matter of seconds. “You’ve got one. Let‘s go.” Riley walked away, sure he was following just behind her without even having to look. She felt the confused stares of Mia and Erica as she walked off. “So where do you want to do this thing? I would take you right here and now if it wasn’t for the fact that our asses would be sent to detention.” Riley said as she walked out of the Entrance Hall. She was completely unsure of where she was going, but she led the way confidently anyway. Riley smirked. "Expelliarmus" Riley muttered as she walked. She chuckled as Jack's wand came zooming into her hands. Riley smirked and turned to him, brandishing the wand in his face. "Going to be hard to duel without a wand, isn't it?" She said with teasing and challenging eyes.

[Jack Reid]

Jack smiled at Riley, chuckling that she had stooped to such a simplistic spell right off the bat. This duel would prove to be quite interesting, and would no doubt get them in some trouble if they decided to do it all right here in the hallway. Even though there weren’t that many other students around, Filch would likely be roaming around and catch them in the act. What did he care, though? He had been in enough trouble before, particularly from arguments with his brothers. He remembered last year when he had pushed his youngest brother Bronsen against the wall, scaring him half to death. Jack had had enough of his youngest brother’s antics and showed him that day who was boss. Fortunately he had let him down quickly, before anyone had showed up to see what the noise had been. His thoughts drifted to his brothers, how useless Bronsen was and how seemingly clueless August was. They wondered so much why he never wanted anything to do with them. Wasn’t it obvious? After Mum had gone crazy and Dad didn’t care anymore, what else was he supposed to do? It wasn’t his job to take care of his brothers anymore. In fact, Bronsen had apparently been hiding out in his classes and his bed in the Common Room because Jack hadn’t seen him in months, at least since the first of the year, when they had been on the train together. August had been around a bit more, but he had stayed quiet. Typical of him, of course.

Jack’s mind returned to Riley and the duel that was beginning in front of him. She made mention about detention if they were going to do this thing right in the hallway. “And you care why? I’m sure you can handle yourself in detention, Coxen.” He decided to call her by her last name, as a little pet joke, to see what she liked better. She took his wand and brandished it in his face. “Bad idea, little lady,” he said as he snatched it out of her loose fingers. With his wand at a firm grip, he spoke the levitation charm and hovered back about thirty feet away from his opponent. “Let’s do this, Coxen.” Taking a challenging stance, he skimmed his mind and picked a relatively common spell. “Aguamenti!” he said firmly, and water spewed out of the end of his wand, drenching Riley’s head in the clear liquid. He laughed and knew that would likely aggravate her to no end, sure that she had spent more than enough time that morning on her hair alone. “Oh no, is your image ruined because of a bad hair day? Let me fix it for you.” He spoke another spell, and a forceful wind came out of his wand, spraying the dampness away, but making Riley’s once perfectly flowing blond hair stand straight up on end, resulting in her looking like she had stuck her wand in an electrical socket.

“Had enough, Coxen?” he asked, smirking and laughing as the people around them watched. Some laughed, while others shook their heads in disapproval. He figured he would finish Riley off, at least for this round, with one more hit. She was only a year younger than him, but he was sure that since they had decided on a duel, she had been studying up on her spells, to try and make sure she could at least have some chance of beating him. What was she thinking, she could beat a Slytherin? That was nonsense, especially for a Gryffindor. It reminded him of one of his favorite older wizards, Lucius Malfoy. While Jack was never the kind to experiment with helping the Dark Lord, he praised the elder teacher for his skill with a wand. It amazed him as he read in his history classes of the spells the teacher had used, and especially the times he had gone against the legendary Harry Potter himself. Jack got his mind off that and focused on Riley, in front of him. “Better watch out, I’ve got more up my sleeve. Let’s see you beat this.” Jack looked around him, making sure people were watching. He wanted people to see him take Riley out, and let her and the rest of the school know what house reigned supreme. “Stup---” was all he got out before he got hit with Riley’s surprise next spell.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley had purposely chosen to hold the wand loosely, giving him the opportunity to snatch it back when he wanted to. She wasn’t going to stop this from happening, in fact, it was rather amusing watching him this way. He had a bit of a craziness in his eyes, a wildness that she had never seen before. He challenged her to make a move and Riley would have liked to very much so. There was a crowd starting to form around them. Mia and Erica had of course stopped to watch, along with many others who had been in the Entrance Hall. Riley smirked as she noticed his first spell headed her way. She was about to protect herself, but it was too late. Jack’s spell had already soaked her, ruining the hair that Christy had worked so carefully in curling. Today, Riley had refused Erica’s plans for that heavy clown makeup she loved so much. She had agreed on very light white eye shadow and her classic chap stick, much to Erica’s disappointment. Thank god she wasn’t here, otherwise Riley was sure she would have attacked Jack with her bare hands. Her eyes merely narrowed and another spell hit her before she could see it coming. Her hair was now standing on end. Riley shook her head and reversed the spell, making her hair lie in its natural state, wavy and natural.

“That was not a smart move, Mr. Reid..” Riley said smartly as she noticed Jack getting ready for his next spell. She wondered what she’d hurl his way. It wouldn’t be the cutesy little spells he had sent toward her, but what fun was just getting someone’s hair wet? No, Riley had to think of something much better than that. Riley felt the thrill of the game course through her veins. She was excited about this. High risk games like this were the reason Riley existed. Her eyes danced as she came up with the perfect spell for him. It was risky, and if she was an inch off, she could really hurt him. But it was worth the risk. After all, the guy had risked killing her just a few days ago. He’d jumped off a building with her, so she had to get him back somehow. She smirked as he was about to try and stupefy her. Before he could even finish the spell, Riley spoke out a spell of her own.

“Flagrate!” Riley spoke clearly, swinging her wand around like a lasso and sending a line of fire shooting at him quickly like an arrow shot from a bow. She smirked as the flames circled him, creating a spiral cage just far enough from his body to make him sweat, but not to burn him. The crowd gasped, Mia’s the loudest of the bunch. She smirked confidently. He couldn’t even lift his arm without burning himself. “I did say I’d get you back for that stolen kiss of yours, Reid.” Riley said, starting to use his surname as he had used hers. This was all too fun. “You know, I actually thought you‘d be a challenge…but seriously. Messing with my hair? C‘mon Jack, I‘m sure you can do better.” Riley said from her position across the corridor, gripping her wand tightly so he couldn’t summon it away from her. She wondered why he wasn’t putting up more of a fight. Was he going easy on her? She raised her eyebrow in challenge, wondering what his next move would be. It seemed he wouldn’t be able to move without catching fire, so what else could he do? “So…give up yet?” She challenged as the crowd (which was growing considerably) watched intently.

[Jack Reid]

Jack watched as his stupefy spell was cut short by Riley’s slightly more powerful flaming spell. He stood motionless as the flames licked high around him. He could still see the look on Riley’s face, a look of pure aggression. This is how he liked her. Unpredictable and up for anything, just like he had been earlier that week. He pointed his wand at the base of the flames and spoke the water spell, putting the fires surrounding him out quickly. He hadn’t underestimated her, he had just played nicely first. Now he wouldn’t be playing as nicely, and she didn’t know what she was asking for. He laughed as she fixed her hair before continuing with their duel. If he wanted to, he could have blocked her flagrate and still hit her with a stupefy. But he figured why not let the little girl have some fun? This game was getting more high risk, and he lived for it. Where were August and Bronsen to watch him beat this silly little Gryffindor? It didn’t matter. He had enough of a crowd right now. He assumed he should finish this quickly, in hopes he might get out of a detention with Filch.

Riley mentioned how she said she’d get him back for this kiss, and the flames were her way of revenge. “Couldn’t you have been simpler and given me a kiss back? Too simplistic for Miss Coxen, huh? Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to play with fire? Let’s see what you think of this!” Jack gripped his wand tightly and yelled, “Confringo!” as he pointed his wand right below where Riley was standing. The spell made the wooden floor beneath her explode with force, and he knew Riley had to hover herself to keep from falling into the basement of the castle. He yelled the spell again, right next to her, making one of the loose bricks of the wall explode. He had made sure not to point it directly at her, for fear that he would unintentionally actually harm the girl. Jack cared about Riley and didn’t want her to get hurt in this little game. At least not too badly. He walked closer to the girl, still far enough distance that he wouldn’t be affected, and spoke the blasting spell once again, shaking the other side of the stone bricks aside of them. Jack knew that these were simple spells but they seemed to be doing the trick. He was sure Riley was shaking in her boots by now, and if she wasn’t, he had another trick up his sleeve that was sure to end this right now.

Jack smiled an almost crooked smile at his counterpart, and asked simply, “Had enough?” He looked around the room, making sure people were watching. “Well try this on for size, Riley.” He whirled around and yelled, “Incarcerous!” and watched intently as the thick ropes appeared from his wand and wrapped tightly around the girl in front of him, rendering her helpless. She couldn’t get her wand, as it had fallen to the ground. He picked it up, dangling it in her face. “Oh, did you need this? Ah, well. You have no way of holding it right now, so I’ll just keep it for you.” He turned around, walking away slowly, chuckling. Jack turned his head, asking the tied up girl, “Still wanna play?” He knew she'd have a bit of a challenge, trying to get out of his current charm. He kissed her forehead and sighed. "Well at least you tried," giving her the aggression boost he knew she'd gladly take.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Jack seemed to be enjoying himself almost as much as Riley was. She knew he was going easy on her, she could tell. She wished he wouldn’t. She could handle herself fair enough without him going easy with little cosmetic spells and tricks that could only really affect a first year student. She was impressed that he had managed to lift his arm and cast the water spell without burning himself. Though, he did look like he had a bit of trouble doing it, he was talented she had to give him that. But she couldn’t let him win, not this easily at least. She was hell bent on proving to him and this entire crowd that she was the better player and if that took a few dodgy spells, then so be it. “You know, I did think about that. But you’re right. Too simplistic for my style. I’m almost surprised. You know me well.” She said teasingly as she cast another spell his way. She was unable to even utter the first syllable though, because he had more tricks coming for her. Riley really was impressed. She had taken him for the kind that would fight and would fight well, and now he was finally starting to step it up.

She felt the wood crack beneath her and actually fell down for a moment. It looked like she really had fallen down, but what Jack (and the many onlookers) hadn’t noticed was that Riley had cast a quick summoning spell making her broom glide to her aid from a direction that no one had seen it coming. She landed swiftly on her broom, clearly remembering the night Jack Reid himself had done something similar to her by sending them both plummeting off a tower only to have them be saved by his broom. Riley lingered in the school’s basement for a moment, just to make him freak out a bit. She knew Jack didn’t intend on really hurting her, and would probably worry like crazy if he had managed to put her in any serious danger. Riley smirked silently, concealed in the dark basement, knowing she was probably driving Jack crazy with every second she waited down here. Finally, when she felt the time was right, she emerged seemingly out of nowhere on her broomstick. She had managed to scare the living daylights out of the students who had been looking curiously into the hole to see if Riley had been knocked out or something. Riley emerged from the whole laughing. “Miss me?” She teased as he started to blast various spots around her, trying to knock her off her broom. She had managed to cast a “Locomotor” spell before his next one, causing him hurling hard into the wall and angering many paintings there as they came crashing down on top of him.

Riley smirked and chuckled to herself before Jack’s last spell knocked her off her broom onto the floor. Next, she found herself bound in ropes, unable to break free. Her wand had unfortunately fallen to the floor in the process. Riley still wasn’t afraid, this was all just a game to her. She glared at him as he approached her, taking her wand. It took all the strength she had not to growl at him. Riley was in quite the predicament. She tried to break free of the thick ropes, but she had no such luck. Riley’s eyes darted around her, searching for a way out. Then, she found it. Erica was standing just near her, watching the scene in awe. “Erica!” She called out. “Your wand!” Erica looked at her with a confused expression for awhile but then tossed the wand to her. Riley caught it with her teeth with skill. It was amazing how much Quidditch had helped her aim. She had been practicing non-verbal spells recently, and hoped this one would work. Diffindo! Riley practically screamed the spell in her head, and the next thing she knew, the ropes that bound her had been cut loose by the spell. Riley smirked and winked in Erica’s direction, thanking her for the way out. “Oh now, you really don’t think I’d give up that easily, did you?” Riley said as she summoned her wand back to her with a simple charm. “Now, where were we?” Riley questioned, her eyes sparkling with the challenge of the duel. Suddenly, she heard the sickening sound of a cat’s meow. Riley’s head spun around and she groaned. She was this close to finishing him off. “Off to detention, that’s where. Both of you, here. Now.” He spoke in that eerie scratchy voice of his. Riley rolled her eyes and sighed, throwing Erica back her wand. “Break it up you delinquents! Back to class!” Filch growled as the crowd began to disperse, leaving the torn scene behind them. Riley flipped her hair away from her face, glancing up at Jack as he walked beside her. She shook her head sadly. “So close..” She muttered bitterly.

((permission to g-mode Filch has officially been granted. *salutes* haha. ))

[Jack Reid]

Jack watched as his blasting spells exploded around Riley and she actually did fall beneath the floor into the basement, but he hadn’t heard her scream like the last time she had fallen. When he had surprised her and jumped off the pillar at the top of the castle, she had screamed because she didn’t know that Jack had already summoned his broom. She had likely used his own idea against him, summoning her wand as she saw his blast coming. She waited down there, trying to freak him out, surely. Jack looked around the room and noticed that everyone had fallen for her trick except for him. “She’s obviously just hiding. She’ll be back in no---” but that was all he got out before she zoomed out of the freshly blown hole in the floor. As soon as he saw her, he threw more blasts at her, trying to knock her off that broom of hers. She was excellent at Quidditch, so he knew it would be slightly difficult to land a direct hit on her, but he didn’t want to actually hurt her. He laughed as he sent more spells her way. “And to think, you might have thought I was actually worried about you! Stop playing around and give me a duel!” he yelled.

As he finished his sentence, Riley threw a Locomotor spell directly at him, one he wasn’t expecting. It caught him off guard, and he flew hard into the wall near him, paintings crashing down around him as he fell down to the ground. Jack picked himself up quickly, ran his hand through his matted hair, and chuckled. Now they were getting down to the good stuff. She was then tied up from his Incarcerous spell, and she quickly cheated and had Erica toss her wand to her, likely using Diffindo in her mind to free herself. Although they hadn’t said they couldn’t use their friends skills, it still wasn’t the correct way of dueling. But he shrugged it off because he was having fun with Riley as it was. He loved her aggression and watching it build was so satisfying. He knew she had this in her. He held her wand and she easily summoned it back to her using Erica’s. She asked him subtly where they had left off, but before he could get another spell in his mind or even respond, Jack heard Filch’s scratchy voice yelling at them about detention. His head fell, knowing this had been coming. They had gotten away with more than usual for the duels that seldom broke out in the hallways and corridors of the school. As they started walking, Jack looked at Riley and smirked. “You had to know I was going to go for you hair first.”

Jack looked behind him as he walked to the side of Riley towards the one hall for detention. “Well,” he said, admiring the trashed and broken corridor. “Guess we did quite the number on that hallway, huh?” He couldn’t hold in his laughter as he walked with her. “Maybe we should have done it outside! But it’s more fun this way.” He wanted to grab her hand and kiss her, just to give her a bit of another surprise, but he thought it would be funny to give her a new idea. “Why don’t we act like this was a lover’s quarrel? Make Filch and the other bad eggs in detention think we hate each other, and the duel got a bit out of hand? After all, it did get a bit out of hand, because of you.” He smiled as he looked down at her, assuring her he was kidding. “If I had been given a bit more time, I’m sure I would have crushed you completely. You would have been begging me to stop.” Jack smirked again, resisting the urge to skip detention and just fly her up to his secret spot again. That had definitely been a good time between the two of them, and had definitely been cut too short. He listened as she began to respond.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley merely laughed at Jack’s comment when she emerged from the hole. Sadly, he was smarter than to expect Riley to actually get hurt. She had obviously done something wrong to give it away, for he was expecting her to emerge. Perhaps if she had stayed a few moments longer, he would have started second guessing Riley’s safety and would have come running. Riley knew that for sure. In the meantime, it did please her to know that he was genuinely surprised that Riley had decided to send him flying into the wall with a loud crash. It was true, they had done a hell of a lot of damage to the corridor near the Entrance Hall, damage that would probably take some pretty complicated spells to fix. Riley was no stranger to getting in trouble though, so she really didn’t see the ’seriousness’ of the situation she’d put her and her classmates in. She always got that line whenever she got caught. However, Riley had a record. She hadn’t been caught doing something wrong since the beginning of her fourth year when Oz and Riley had been caught bribing Peeves to cause some trouble in the Great Hall during dinnertime. They had been young and naïve back then, but Riley knew better than to get caught now. Well, usually.

Riley didn’t know what had driven her to duel in such a public area in the middle of the day, it was rather stupid now that Riley thought about it. But she just couldn’t pass up the challenge Jack had given her. Waiting to find a private dueling spot was simply out of the question at the time, even though now that they were probably heading off to probably a month’s worth of Friday detentions and lost house points, their idea seemed a bit stupid. She supposed it would be fun though. At this moment, everyone thought that Jack and Riley hated each other. Most had already heard about their little fling last Monday, being that Riley was supposedly now the hottest school gossip, even when there were celebrities in their midst. Half the school probably thought the duel was just a very public and very dangerous way of breaking up. Some of the smart ones in the school would have picked up on the details though, but no one said Filch was smart. He’d likely think they never wanted to look at each other again, so as the ultimate punishment, he’d thrust the two together to make the detention just that much more painful for them to serve. Riley knew the drill. Filch already knew about Riley’s issue with Oliver, so he tended to have Oz serve his detentions alone, and Riley’s with Oliver.

She glanced up at Jack again and smiled mischievously. Riley loved another opportunity to act. Riley would never really announce the fact that she loved acting, but anyone who knew her well enough would know that it was one of her favorite pastimes. Filch and his disgusting cat were hobbling off, leading them down to the dungeons for some reason. “I think that would be fun. Though I’ve got to say, I wouldn’t be doing much acting.” She said with a teasing smile, as if pretending to hate Jack would be all too easy. “And why is that? I actually thought it was quite unlike you actually, going for my hair. I figured you’d probably want to try and fling me off the Astronomy tower first.” Riley said with intense bitterness a bit louder so Filch could hear. He chuckled hoarsely. She merely glared at him when he said the part about finishing her off. Jack should have known that even if she had had enough, she still wouldn’t admit it. She’d continue to fight until they were stopped, which is what happened in truth.

“Oh please, I was so close and you know it. If we hadn’t been stopped, you know I would have found a way to beat you. I can’t tell you how amusing it was seeing you crash into the wall like that.” She said with a wink as Filch led them down to the dungeons, where about six other miserable looking people were scrubbing bars on the prison cells. Riley couldn’t believe they even still had those in the school. “Well since they won’t let me lock you brats in here, you’ll just have to keep the place nice and tidy. No magic. Hand over your wands. You are not permitted to leave until I say. Mrs. Norris will stay here to make sure you’re doing what you are supposed to.” He said wickedly, leaving them in the dungeons, which were only illuminated by the dim light of the candles lining the walls and Mrs. Norris's creepy red eyes. Riley sighed and reached for a dirty towel in a pile of many. She threw the first filthy cloth at Jack’s face, making sure the smell was able to sink in. She chuckled before retrieving her own towel and began scrubbing the rusty, filthy bars clean. Riley was sure she wouldn’t see the light of day for a very long time.

[Jack Reid]

Jack and Riley followed Filch at a safe distance, to keep away from the annoying smell of both the man and his cat, Mrs. Norris. “That’s quite the freaky looking cat, isn’t it? Those eyes look like they follow you wherever you go,” he said quietly to her, so that neither Filch nor Mrs. Norris would catch wind of his comments. Dueling in a public place such as the hallway proved to be quite satisfying, especially with such a good competitor such as Riley. She had definitely gotten the best of him a few times, but he would never admit that. In his own mind, he had won the duel anyway. While he had been surprised at a few of Riley’s actions and spells, they were good competitors, and that was another thing that drew him to Riley. She had a good head on her shoulders, and for a fifth year, she had an impressive number of spells in her arsenal. While the flagrate wasn’t too difficult, he hadn’t expected her to cast so damn close to him. It was easy to put out, but he had felt the beads of sweat form as the flames had licked high. Overall, it had been a great duel, and they both had come out unscathed. He had a minor bump on his shoulder from being thrown off by her Locomotor, but other than that, he was fine.

Many of the people watching likely thought Riley and Jack had gotten into a very dangerous fight after their little rendezvous in the courtyard. What they didn’t know was that Jack was quickly falling for Riley. He couldn’t speak for her, but with the way she looked at him from time to time, he could guess she was beginning to feel the same way. She made mention that she wouldn’t be doing too much acting for hating Jack, but he could see it in her eyes that she felt pretty much the exact opposite. Riley asked about him going straight for her hair. “Well I was thinking of going easy on you first, to which I would up my spells as you fired them back at me. I was sure one of those Daughters had worked on your hair for hours this morning, so why not mess up such a perfect creation? Pissed you off enough, didn’t it?” He chuckled through his words, thinking of how quickly she had fixed her hair and fired off another spell at him. “No, the Astronomy tower is later. Maybe you’ll jump off there sometime with me and not scream your little head off, like last time.” He was bad at this acting thing, mainly because he couldn’t get his mind off how good she was at dueling and how attracted he had become to this woman next to him.

He had vowed never to let another woman hurt him like Juliet had, and he had sworn off of girls for a while. Even though it hadn’t been too serious with Juliet, it had been serious enough for him, and her abrupt break up with him had come as a shock. After the countless hours he had spent by her side in the Hospital Wing, after the drinks and tidbits about life they had shared, she had just wanted to drop it all in his lap and leave him. Jack was still bitter, which may have fueled part of why he wanted to be with Riley and show the school (and Juliet, wherever she was) that he wasn’t just some monster that couldn’t stay with someone for long enough. Riley was what he needed right now, what he wanted right now. And he had it in his mind to not let her get away. She teased him about the duel being close, and it shook him out of his thoughts of Juliet that haunted him. “You think you would have found a way to beat me. You can read all the books you want, you’ll never have the attitude or mindset of a Slytherin. We always win in the end,” he said triumphantly, knowing that his house was the best of the four.

She didn’t know what she was getting herself into, being this close to a Slytherin. But he intended to show her the ways, and indeed, it was one of the few friendships he had outside of his own house. Most students stuck to their own respective houses and people within them, save for those Hufflepuffs that wanted to be friends with everyone. He couldn’t stand them the most, and that was how it was going to stay. He turned to the Gryffindor girl aside from him, as they listened to Filch’s instructions. They had been left in the charge of Mrs. Norris, that ugly, evil looking cat. Riley had picked up one of the many disgusting cloths and had thrown a particularly gross one at his face. “Ugh!” he said softly, hoping Mrs. Norris wouldn’t hear their fooling around. “What was that for? I’ll get you, come here!” He grabbed the same cloth and reached for her face, wiping her cheek with the caked blackness from the bars leaving a mark on her. “Ha,” he said, smugly. “Now you look like one of those muggle indians.” He laughed and began scrubbing.

Jack caught sight of Riley looking at him every time she scrubbed further down the bars, and he had to know what she was up to. “What are you looking at? You’re the one who got us in this mess. I think you should come up with a way for us to get out of this disgusting place.” He said his words accusingly, and pushed her lightly, teasing her. “Since you seem to be good at spells without a wand, I’m sure you and your fifth year mind can come up with a way for us to get our wands back and out of here.” Jack scrubbed harder as he waited to see if Riley had a way to get them out of there so they could have some more fun.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley could tell she had impressed him with her skills, even though he refused to admit it. Riley wasn’t kidding when she said she knew more than your average fifth year. She’d spent hours learning new spells and trying them out on the brother of her choice. Most of them had no objections attempting to beat Riley in one of her favorite games, but after a while of getting pounded to the ground, they decided against trying to mess with Riley. Though she had to admit, Oz was pretty good as well. He always put up a very good fight and sometimes he would even beat her. Jack was pretty good as well, she hadn’t expected him to actually blow the castle to pieces in an effort to get Riley off her broom and onto the floor where he could safely cast that spell on her. She pushed him lightly, noticing him grow silent for awhile, and his face was no longer amused but rather serious. Riley had noticed that Jack tended to do that a lot. Riley laughed when he finally landed back on planet earth and responded. “Well I suppose that was smart of you, but I wouldn’t have bothered. And yes, you’re lucky the girl who slaved over my hair didn’t see that spell of yours. I’m sure she would have ripped you to shreds.” Riley said lightly, imagining Christy attacking a very unsuspecting Jack. It was a pretty funny image, but it was gone in an instant as Filch led them down the long corridor down to the dungeons. Riley didn’t particularly like dark places, simply because there was really no fun to be had there.

Riley laughed quietly. She really hadn’t been expecting for him to send them both plummeting down off the tower last Monday, so of course she had reacted by screaming. She was terrified for those few moments before Jack’s broom arrived. She would have liked to go up there with him again. The place was beautiful, and she was sure that he’d try to pull something like that again. Riley was actually looking forward to the thrill. In fact, lately, she just found herself looking forward to seeing him in general. She didn’t know what had attracted her to him in the first place. Riley normally wasn’t into romance and relationships. They were a waste of time to her. But that was before all the drama with Bruce Coxen started. After he died, everything went downhill for her. Riley still didn’t know why his death had stirred up such a change in her. Perhaps it was because he died hating her, or because he would never know what a great person Riley was because she had never cared enough to show him. Riley had no idea, but she didn’t want to linger on thoughts of her father for long. Thinking about him never did any good when he was alive, and it was even worse for her to think of him while he was dead. “Maybe..” She said quietly in response to his comment about pushing her off the Astronomy tower.

“Oh please Jack. Don’t even try and start with that Slytherin pride thing. I’d like to think that Gryffindor trumps Slytherin any day, I mean, look at our last Quidditch match! We beat you guys bad. You didn’t stand a chance. And then today, in the duel…had I been granted a bit more time, you know you would have been begging for me to stop.” Riley said with amusement before Filch read off his instructions in that horribly raspy voice of his. The moment Filch left, Riley began to think up a plan to get them out of here. Riley glanced over at Jack. She knew a way she could easily get out of here herself, she’d done it many a time when she was serving detentions by herself. But she needed a way to get both of them out. Riley smirked as the filthy cloth landed flat on his face. What she hadn’t been expecting was for him to grab hold of her and wipe the filthy towel across her cheek. She laughed as she wiped the black filth off her face with her sleeve. There was still a bit on there, but not much. Riley continued scrubbing and thinking of a way out when Jack spoke once more, his voice challenging and his eyes boring into hers. “Oh shut it. I’m thinking.” She said, sticking her tongue out at him childishly. She noticed Mrs. Norris’s illuminating eyes rest on Riley and she rolled her eyes and continued scrubbing. “Damn cat..” Riley muttered, before an idea suddenly popped into her head. “I’ve got it. Jack, did you notice Filch stored our wands in his left robe pocket?” She said quietly. She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Well now you do. Be right back.” Riley stood up, wiped the dirt off her hands and walked up to one of the candles that was burning bright. She lifted the tall candle and made it look like she was about to walk out with it. At this, of course Mrs. Norris called for her master to report Riley’s misbehavior. He came limping down into the dungeons moments later.

“What’s the meaning of this?!” He called out angrily to the children. Riley had long since gotten back to her original position. Mrs. Norris walked over to the candle, which had fallen to the ground because Riley had pushed it. The cat then stared back at Riley to signal that Riley had knocked it over and Filch glared at Riley, his back turned to everyone else, including Jack. Riley glanced at him before her eyes darted back at Filch’s unguarded pocket, hoping he’d get the message. “Sorry sir,” Riley said innocently with wide eyes. “I was just getting very cold so I decided to place my hand near the fire for warmth. Then I accidently dropped it. I’m very sorry, Professor Filch, it won’t happen again.” Riley spoke kindly, batting her eyelashes innocently. Filch merely rolled his eyes and grunted. “Damn right it won’t. Back to work, Coxen.” Riley smiled sweetly. “Yes, of course sir.” She said sweetly as he limped away. Mrs. Norris had returned to her original spot. Riley continued to scrub and spoke to Jack without looking at him. “Did you get them?” She whispered so the guard cat couldn’t hear.

[Jack Reid]

Jack continued scrubbing, even though he wasn’t really trying very hard. This was a pretty pathetic punishment for a simple duel in the nearby corridor. Filch was just disgusting, and so was this scrubbing. As he talked with Riley, he hoped she was coming up with a way to get them out of there. The dungeon smelled horrible, and these rags weren’t even helping to scrub the dirt off of the bars. In fact, he was sure the dirt was collecting. Riley made some comment about the House war, and he just shook his head. Riley didn’t get it. Even though she was a Gryffindor, she had to understand that in his mind, no other house would be better than his own. Of course that was the same thought in any of the houses, except again for that dumb Hufflepuff. They thought they could be everyone’s friend and still be superior in the houses. Completely pathetic. “Well I guess each house is superior in each house’s mind. Guess that’s where we’ll leave it.” It was true, in its own right. That’s where he intended to leave it.

“You think you would have had me. Maybe we’ll just have to have a rematch outside and use some better spells. We’ll see what you’ve got on the outside.” Jack meant the challenge, and he knew she’d likely be up for a rematch with her, seeing that their little battle had been cut short by Filch and that damn cat. The two of them played around a bit, hitting each other with the filthy cloths and making looks at each other that make them stifle right out laughter. It had been quite a while since Jack had been happy. Yet he was embracing it, and loving this time he had with the girl next to him. She was attractive, even with a smudge of black tar and grime on her face. In fact, had the light been better, he would have seen the full outline of her face and might have even want to get closer to Riley. But right now, with that damn cat watching their every move, he didn’t dare do what he was thinking.

Riley thought of a simple plan to hopefully get their wands back. He was drawing a blank at what to do afterwards, but it would have to wait, in case they didn’t get their wands back. But he had faith in Riley that she could use her charm to somehow work them back into their hands. She asked him if he had seen the wands go in Filch’s left pocket, and he was about to shake his head no, when she said that she’d be right back. Where was she going? Jack watched as she walked off with the candle. Mrs. Norris jumped up and ran off to get Filch from his post, almost immediately. Jack kept scrubbing profusely as Filch came back. It wasn’t that he was scared of him, it was that he wanted to fool the old man into thinking he was actually working while Jack tried to get the wands out of his pocket. Riley made subtle advances and small talk with Filch, and he turned around, his back (and Mrs. Norris’) was facing Jack. He saw Riley look his way and he quickly scooted over and slipped his fingers into Filch’s pocket. He felt the soft wood of Riley’s wand and his wand, but Jack was only able to grab one because Filch was starting to turn around. He didn’t care which one, it didn’t matter. He grabbed one quickly and scooted back over to the bars.

Riley went quickly back to scrubbing as Filch walked off and Mrs. Norris watched them intently. Jack was scrubbing and responded, “Yeah I got it, but I couldn’t get both. I think it’s yours, because it definitely doesn’t feel as thick as mine. Here,” he said, as he slipped her wand to her under the filthy rags between them. “I’d do the spell, but wands pick their casters, don’t they?” he winked as he told her the simple fact that any first year would learn. “So get us out of here, will ya?” he said, almost impatiently. He hoped she had some kind of spell in mind that would get them out of there, and quick. He thought of apparating, but he didn’t think Riley as a fifth year could do that yet. It wasn’t likely, but he knew she’d have something in mind.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley smirked. She was surprised that he didn’t have the intention of fighting back. Normally, Jack was always up for a bit of playful fighting. But Riley wasn’t stupid. She knew about this age old battle of the houses. No one would ever come to an agreement because each house believed they were the best of the lot. Riley laughed at Jack‘s challenge for yet another duel. “Maybe some other time. I think it would take one downright idiot to try and start another duel while they were supposed to be serving detention for starting the first one. Maybe if you get me pissed off enough.” Riley said with a smart chuckle. “But I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

Riley already had a plan brewing in her mind. The first half was completed, and the other children in the detention stared at Riley and Jack in amazement. They all seemed to be first and second years, and Riley wondered why on earth a bunch of kids had gotten themselves locked up in the dungeons in detention. Riley didn’t know, but they all seemed to be rather quiet the entire time as they scrubbed away. Riley couldn’t tell, but they seemed to be Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. It was odd indeed that such innocent looking children had managed to already get on Filch’s bad side. She almost felt bad that Riley and Jack would be leaving soon and they’d be stuck inside the dungeon by themselves. Now that Riley had been handed her wand back, she felt like she had been given one of her limbs back. She knew what to do, she had a secret stash of this potion always in her robes in case she was ever put in this situation again. Riley was always prepared for times like this, because frankly, Riley was no angel. She was put into these situations often. Riley smirked at Jack, she now had the plan all thought out. She was all too used to this.

Riley reached into her pocket and removed a small vile that contained a small amount of blue liquid. The contents of the vile would only put Mrs. Norris to sleep for a few hours, so she’d be awake again by the time Filch came in to check on them. Riley placed a simple confundus charm on the cat, and if it worked, she’d think that the small vile of liquid was a rather tasty vile of fresh cold milk. If things had all gone according to plan, Mrs. Norris would take a little nap, and they could leave for just about three hours before she awoke again and Filch returned to let them go back to their dorms with just enough time to scarf down their dinners and just barely make curfew. Riley chuckled softly, patting Jack’s shoulder as if he was some kind of ignorant child, just to tease him. “You know, for a big, strong Slytherin man, you sure do rely on me a lot. I thought I was a simplistic little Gryffindor girl?” Riley teased lightly before turning around and feeding the cat the contents of the vile. Sure enough, moments later, that fould ugly little cat swayed off to sleep. Riley smirked.

“You know, she’s so much less creepy and grimy looking when her eyes are closed. Riley did still feel bad for the silent miserable looking children, so she cast a quick cleaning spell to clean up the bars. She couldn’t leave them there scrubbing the entire time. “So, you coming or are you gonna sit there and stare?” Riley said teasingly. “C’mon. It’s high time I led the way for a change.” Riley took Jack’s hand and walked quickly but silently throughout the dark corridor. She listened for footsteps out side the door and when she heard none, she opened the door just a crack and slipped through. “Well, come on!” Riley said quickly, glancing over her shoulder for any signs of a professor. She remembered Jack’s secret place clearly. It seemed the only place Riley knew they wouldn’t be caught. She walked quickly and swiftly through the corridors, making sure not to run into anyone unsuspected. She led him up the familiar stone steps and when she reached the door, she finally let go of his hand to grab her wand again and magically open the door. “Hmm..does this situation seem familiar to you at all?” Riley asked with a mischivious smile as they walked on to the very same place Jack had led her just a few days ago.

[Jack Reid]

Jack knew it would likely surprise Riley that he didn’t want to fight over the houses. For some reason, he wasn’t in a fighting mood at the moment. He liked spending the time with Riley, even if they were stuck in the dungeons, mindlessly scrubbing the bars of the cells that just seemed to get dirtier the more they scrubbed. Jack chuckled softly at Riley’s comment when he brought up a second duel. “So my idea makes me a downright idiot? Thanks, Riley. I needed that vote of confidence.” He poked at her, making sure she knew he was joking. He was sure she would know he was. She said if he pissed her off enough, he might get another duel. “Well, I’ll just have to make sure I get you to a point where I've pissed you off again. Sound good?” he laughed, and he knew she would laugh at that comment.

Jack watched as Riley came up with her plan to confuse and drug Mrs. Norris. Jack noticed the kids around them, and even though he didn’t feel compassion for them, he knew Riley was watching them intently, wishing they could free them somehow. They all looked like very young years, and it seemed like Filch just liked giving the youngest students the hardest torture, no matter what any of the rest of the Ministry or the school said. It frustrated him, but didn’t bother him much. Maybe that was his Slytherin blood pumping, making him want to care about no one but himself and the people he was close to, people like Riley. Jack turned away from the children, and pretended to be scrubbing as Riley worked her magic on the cat. Riley made a comment before she fed the cat, about him relying on her. “Haha, please, Riley. I don’t need you. I just keep you around for show. Good arm candy. And you are simplistic. Just not as much as some of your household counterparts. I may keep you, actually. You might be of some use, eventually.” He poked her side, seeing if she’d giggle, which would make him laugh in turn. He was half-joking of course, He didn’t need her at all, but he wanted her around, because he genuinely liked having her around. Plus she was smart and had tons of potential in her. Oh, if she was only Slytherin. That would be perfect. But, it was what it was.

“Yeah, she is. Still a demented cat though,” Jack laughed with Riley as they got up to leave, with Mrs. Norris fast asleep. He watched as Riley seemingly felt bad for the children in the dungeon. She spoke a quick spell and within a few seconds, the bars were all spick and span. “That should show Filch. Good idea, miss.” She rushed him, so they could get out of that damp dungeon as quickly as possible. “Oh, you think you’ll be in charge? I highly doubt that.” He looked towards the floor and noticed that Filch’s pocket must have had a whole in it, because his wand was laying there on the ground. He picked it up, and spoke a firm spell as they took hands and walked through the dark corridor. The wand he held lit up at the end and illuminated the small passageway. Jack followed her, wondering where she was taking him. He looked around him and realized slowly that she was likely nearly dragging him to his secret spot. She must have wanted more alone time with him. That he could definitely muster up.

Jack had been thinking about asking Riley to be with him, exclusively in a relationship, pretty much ever since that last time up on the pillar, before he had decided to jump off with her in his arms. They walked up the familiar stone steps they had climbed the several days before, except with him in the lead, and it felt so familiar, and so right. Now would be the time he asked her. While Juliet still invaded his mind at times, he wanted to move on, and Riley was in front of him. She wasn’t begging him for it, but he knew it would likely surprise her as much as his last few stunts had. She used her wand to open the lock on the door, just like he had the few days before. Jack smiled at Riley, as she asked him if the situation felt familiar. “Very familiar, actually. Although, now it’s my turn for leading.” He took both her hands and guided her through the doorway and up into the cool air. He knew the wind was a bit more bitter than it had been on Monday, so he instinctively took his outer robe off and put it around Riley. He could have used some spell to keep her warm, but this was an old muggle way of showing compassion for the opposite sex. Jack had read about it years ago. The muggles apparently also thought that throwing a perfectly good jacket down over a mud puddle so that the female could walk over it was nice to do. He shook his head at that thought. Impossible to even think of, he thought.

Jack lifted Riley up to the other side of the tower, showing her one of the other views from the same section, and sat her on his lap. “Don’t worry, I’m not up for jumping today. Unless you’d like another scare. It can be arranged, if you would like.” He chuckled at her, getting lost in her eyes once again, as he had a tendency to do, already. It was now or never, as he held her atop this pillar. “Riley,” he began, slowly, looking deep into her glass-looking eyes. “I don’t want to talk about my past with you at all. It hurts too much sometimes. In the past week you’ve seen a side of me that, frankly, I don’t show anyone.” He knew he was putting himself in a very dangerous position, exposing who he was, completely, to a woman. Again. But he kept on. “Since Monday, I’ve been thinking of how much we enjoy each other’s company, even if we jab and make fun of each other. I want to ask,” his mouth went dry, with nervousness. This never happened. But he needed to say the words before he lost the nerve. “Would you consider seeing me, exclusively? I’d love to have you in my life, spending it with you each day.” Jack tried to think of more to say, but couldn’t. He felt he didn’t even need to. If Riley needed more of an explanation, it wouldn’t be right. She had to understand, and she had to do it now. Jack took her hand, as her other hand and arm was wrapped around his neck, so that she wouldn’t fall. He looked deep into her eyes, and kissed her firmly. He pulled away, not immediately, but quickly, and looked at her, awaiting her response.

[Riley Coxen G7]

Riley decided it was finally time to place the horrible rag down on the floor. She had long since given up on trying to scrub these bars clean. The task was downright impossible, and while both Riley and Filch knew he wasn’t supposed to be locking children up in the dungeons, he did so anyway by turning it into a chore that could have been completed in a matter of seconds if any of those students had a wand handy. But of course, they weren’t allowed to use magic. Just because Filch was a squib and didn’t have the talent needed for magic, he liked to make the students at Hogwarts do many muggle-like chores to give them a feeling of what he had to go through everyday. There was a time when Riley almost felt bad for the old man, but he was far too grimy and bitter for Riley to give a damn about him anymore. She smiled but rolled her eyes at Jack’s comment. “Oh, you know what I meant. And you better not. Because next time, I’ll make sure those flames do burn you.” Riley warned lightly, though it was obvious she was joking by the light tone of her voice. Just looking at Jack and his challenging eyes made Riley just that much more eager to get out of here. She would have liked to be anywhere, as long as it wasn’t here under the watchful eye of Filch’s horrible cat.

Riley glared at him playfully. Of course he didn’t need her. Riley didn’t need him either, she was sure of it. Both of them were very self-sufficient people, though both of them somehow seemed to enjoy having the other around. Riley knew she didn’t need Jack around her, but she wanted him there. He was fun to be around, and Riley found that she could actually be herself when she was around him. She didn’t need to drink or smoke or even wear a ton of makeup to impress him like she did for the girls. She didn’t even have to act like a complete tomboy around him like she used to do with Oz and Oliver. It was all just a desperate attempt to fit in with someone or some group of people. But when she was around Jack, she didn’t need to pretend. The idea was completely cliché and totally corny as it ran through Riley’s mind, but it was also completely true. “Aw Jack, that hurts.” Riley said dramatically, letting out an obviously fake gasp. Moments later, Riley instantly broke into laughter as Jack tickled her. If only he had known her one weakness, her one form of kryptonite while they had been dueling. Riley was incredibly ticklish. Not just a bit ticklish, but very ticklish. Especially around her sides where Jack had just poked her. “Aw, come on! Stop!” Riley managed to say through fits of silenced laughter. Finally, Jack stopped and she was able to accomplish her goal.

Once Mrs. Norris was sound asleep, Riley led Jack out of the dungeons and walked rather quickly. Not only had she been almost desperate to get out of that dark and dreary dungeon, (not to mention she wasn’t in the mood to get caught again) but Riley was eager to go back to that spot on Jack’s tower and see that breathtaking view once more. Riley only stopped so Jack could retrieve his own wand, which had somehow managed to find its way onto the dungeon floor. Once they arrived at the top of the steps once more, Riley opened the door silently and slipped in just as she had slipped out of the dungeon moments before. Riley looked out across the horizon. It must have been about four in the afternoon, but because it was wintertime, it was already getting dark. Riley shivered slightly, since the wind was much colder than it had been during their last meeting up here. Moments later, Jack took his cloak and draped it around her shoulders. She thanked him softly.

She took that same position on Jack’s lap, her arms wrapped around his neck once more. Jack seemed to be following yet another one of his random though trails, as he grew silent for quite a while. After a few moments though, he spoke again. Riley honestly hadn’t been expecting the nervousness in his voice. Jack Reid always spoke with an air of confidence, always using that ‘I don’t need you’ tone of voice. But now, his voice was timid, shy almost. It was quite unlike him. But then again, Riley had only known him for less than a week, and she already knew that he was prone to random personality changes. She sighed, mulling the words over in her mind. This was what she wanted, it was definitely what she wanted. She didn’t care how quickly it had happened, who he was, or what his past was like.

All Riley knew was that she enjoyed spending time with him, and that was all that mattered. She smiled up at him, only this time the smile was different. It wasn’t the teasing, challenging smirk that she had on her face during their duel. It wasn’t even the large excited grin that had made an appearance as the two zoomed around on broomstick just last Monday. It was a calm, this moment couldn’t be more perfect smile, one that Riley was not used to. She nodded slightly as he spoke. She accepted his kiss gladly, but when he pulled away, Riley found there would only be one possible way that could answer his question the way it needed to be answered. She leaned him and kissed him again, drawing it out for a bit longer than his had been. She pulled back and offered him a smile. “Does that answer your question?”

[Jack Reid]

Jack knew he was putting himself in a very vulnerable state at the moment. He didn’t want to scare Riley away or give her the wrong impression. For some reason, Jack had been drawn to Riley the whole week and knew he wanted to see where it could go. As far as he knew, Riley felt the same way, but their upcoming conversation would prove to be the test, whether they would be together or not. He laughed at some of her comments, and tickled her until likely her breaking point, and he had so much fun with her. As he thought of what he wanted to say to her, to try and show her how much she meant to him, even in the past few days, he held her close and searched his mind for the right words. He nodded as he draped his cloak over her, protecting her from the slight bitter wind. He had overdressed this morning purposely, because he had known it was likely to get colder. He hadn’t planned on bringing Riley up here once again, but he found it fitting that she had rushed him back up here.

The tower was his place of solitude. Many times he came up here to just vent his frustrations out in his mind. In fact, he hadn’t told Riley this, but he had jumped off the tower many times, only to summon his broom at the last second before he splattered his body onto the pavement at the bottom of the tower. It wasn’t suicide attempts, at least he thought and convinced himself. Jack had convinced himself that each time he jumped off the tower he was doing it for show, to practice his summoning charm and see how quickly his broom would get there. In reality, it was dangerous and he should have stopped long ago. But each time he did it, he felt a peace. A peace that seemingly fixed everything, made all his stress go away. The hatred for his father. The disappointment from Juliet. At the center of it all laid his brothers, and how much he actually did care for them, even if he didn’t show it, and never wanted to show it. When he jumped and started falling, everything went away. He lived for those times. But as soon as he reached out to grab his broom to save him, he wished he hadn’t. So it would all be over. But something kept him going.

Maybe Riley was part of the reason why he wanted to keep going. In the past week they had spent a little time together, but through the duel and the bonding they had had down in the dungeons, getting out and such, he knew something was different about her. Jack knew something made her stand out to him. He intended to find out what that was, and if something more could be reached. Jack knew that the words he was saying sounded frail and timid, but he needed to get them out. As he asked her to be with him, his heart and his breath caught in his throat. When he felt her lips press against his, he knew he had his answer. She took the passion he had given her with his first kiss and turned it back around, ten fold, back onto his lips. She smiled him, asked him if that answered his question, and he nodded slightly.

Jack and Riley sat there for a little while longer. To Jack, it felt like an eternity when it could have been only a couple of hours. He looked down at his muggle watch and saw that it had indeed been a few hours. It was getting close to when Filch was going to be coming back to let them out for dinner and curfew. Jack nudged Riley and said softly, “I know you probably don’t want to leave, but we don’t want Filch on our cases. Time to head back to the dungeon for a little pep talk and then dinner. Don’t worry, I’m not jumping tonight. Ready?” Without waiting for an answer, he helped her down from the pillar and took her hand. “Let’s go, love.” With that, they walked hand in hand back to the dungeons, making sure no one saw them. Jack could hear Filch’s footsteps as they snuck back into the dungeon, where the children were sleeping already.