I Bet You Can't. ((Jez))

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia blew a puff of smoke in her friend's face, making her wrinkle her nose in disgust. Olivia had already finished her packing, and was simply killing time before she was just about ready to leave. To be perfectly honest, Olivia was definitely in no rush to get home, so she'd get to the train when she got there. And not a moment before. "Oh, will you put that thing out already?" Jennie said impatiently, clearly exasperated about the smoke that was now filling the room. Olivia merely laughed and exhaled, watching the cloud of smoke disappear into the air with a serene smile. Jennie merely rolled her eyes and Olivia brought the small white stick to her lips once more, which were today painted a bright shade of red. She was going back into the muggle world today, and she wanted to look her best for when she returned. Olivia would probably spend a total of about five minutes at home merely to drop her things off before she ventured back into the muggle world to see all her old friends.

"When I'm done with it, I'll put it out. Calm yourself." Olivia said with a light hearted giggle and a smirk. Jennie was simply too much sometimes. "Nevermind that. So as I was saying, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself all summer. I mean, James says he's going on holiday to Canada or Australia or some rubbish, and I'm going to be stuck in cold, quiet Wales doing absolutely nothing with my summer. But of course, we'll be writing quite often, you know. It will almost be like he's right next to me. Those letters are the only thing that are going to keep me alive this summer." Jennie sighed dramatically, making Olivia laugh. The sad thing about living in the dungeons was that there were never any windows. Olivia's dorm mates were constantly complaining about the smoke in here. But the smell died away in a matter of minutes. Olivia didn't know what they were all complaining about. At least she was kind enough to wait until they left. Nothing would please Olivia more than to shove a bunch of lit cigarettes up the nose of the very prestigious and very annoying Ruby Lehane while she was sleeping, but Olivia felt she did a great job of holding back.

"You know what, the day you stop talking about that damn boyfriend of yours is the day I quit smoking." Olivia muttered bitterly. She'd heard quite enough about how amazing James was and how much Jennie would miss her very special James over the summer. Sure, the thought did make Olivia quite bitter and jealous, but she'd never admit it. She hadn't had a good strong relationship in years. Sure, there were the little flings in Hogsmeade and the small little get-together's she'd had at parties and such, but she'd really never had a long lasting strong relationship.

But that was beside the point. Olivia was too proud to even think for a moment it could be something she was doing wrong. She refused to think it was because she was being too arrogant or too self-righteous. That couldn't possibly be Olivia's reason for a significant lack of a man. Olivia glanced down at the murky black tiled floor and back up at Jennie before she finally tossed it on the floor and put it out. The elves would get to it later. "You know, Olivia....I think I'd be willing to take you up on that offer. Fifteen galleons says you will pick up a cigarette before I stop talking about James again." Olivia raised her eyebrow at Jennie's proposition. A sick, twisted smile loomed on Olivia's beautiful face. She was never one to back away from a challenge. "Fine. You're on. Here's the last of my cigarettes. The next time you utter a word about James, I get those back." Olivia said with a wink. Jennie smiled and nodded. Olivia had no idea what she was getting herself into.

Ten minutes later, Jennie and Olivia were making their way (in a fast paced run) toward the Hogwarts express, in hopes of catching it before it was too late. Olivia grumbled. She didn't know why she always left these things for the last minute. Now there'd be no more seats left in the train for Olivia to have a compartment to herself. She'd hate for this trip to end up like the last, which involved a large headache and one of the Lehanes. Olivia rolled her eyes at the recollection. Olivia made it onto the train in time, with just about a second to spare. Once she made it onto the train, it immediately kicked into power and started to move, causing Olivia to sway back wards rather quickly. Jennie had already disappeared into a compartment with her boyfriend, and was probably falling all over him right now. (literally.) Olivia regained her balance and found herself the closest compartment to her, which only had one occupant. He looked familiar, but he had his back turned so Olivia couldn't really tell who it was. So, Olivia hauled her luggage with her as she slid the compartment door open. "Hey, do you mind if I....ohhh. Hi Jez." Olivia said in a calm tone, not knowing whether to be happy to see such an old friend or be annoyed because Jez happened to be one of her ex-boyfriends. Olivia didn't even remember why they'd broken up in the first place, but Olivia remembered being pretty angry about it before, so she figured she may as well act angry now. But then again....what was the use? Olivia may as well be civil, now that she had gotten herself into a five or more hour train ride with her ex. First Lehane, now Jez. How did Olivia manage to get herself into these situations?

[Jez Cuthbert]

"By all means, go ahead and abandon me," Jez acquiesced to Aurora, faking a puppy face. He laughed as he seemed to have momentarily convinced her that he might actually have some hard feelings if she did. Why she ever fell for it mystified him - didn't she know him better by now? "No seriously," he said, wanting to put an end to the ever-so-cruelly-induced hesitation. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm not going anywhere - all my vendettas are discharged for the present - so your trunk's safe here. And the less company, the more leg room so I'm content too." He stretched his legs out over the space she'd just liberated. "Go, go," he said, smiling at her. "Have fun with Juniorest Chan," he added, pulling the 'British Journal of Deadly Magical Fungi' out of his school bag and using his wand to retrieve his magically bookmarked page. He turned round to smile at Aurora as she left and then bent his head, poring over the article which detailed optimal concentrations and methods for the different uses the mycelium of a common fungus could be put to. Many of the uses weren't technically 'deadly', but it still qualified for the journal by fulfilling the latter two requirements (being magical and being a fungus).

Jez didn't bother looking through the window as he felt the train start moving. He did however put his reading material down when someone opened the compartment door. He always welcomed company. Well, so long as it wasn't that creep Tristan MacCay. Thinking that one over, he wouldn't mind his company either, for as long as it would take to land a square punch in the middle of his pretty face. Tristan MacCay wouldn't have asked him if he 'minded' anyway, Jez thought absentmindedly as he looked towards the source of the voice, thinking that it sounded familiar. He looked about as surprised as Olivia had sounded when she first identified him. He blinked at her stupidly for a few seconds, looking rather startled (it must have been the effect of emerging from reading about poisonous mushrooms), gulped, and then replied in a tone equally calm to hers, "Olivia. Just as attractive as ever."

It occured to him that she didn't seem particularly stable against the swaying of the train, and he sprang up to transfer her luggage to the rack overhead so that she could sit down. "How many trunks?" he asked, his eyes going wide as he assessed the situation. "You ever thought about prepacking some of your stuff a week before the end of term and sending it by post?" he asked as he heaved the baggae into a secure position. "Or are you accustomed to finding chivalrous young men falling over themselves to remove that necessity for you?" Rather unfortunately for young Barnabas, he proceeded to (quite unintentionally) demonstrate his point by tripping over his school bag as he returned to his seat. It had no disastrous effect - he sat down where he had intended to, just a little faster and with a little less dignity than would have been ideal. Jez had no reputation for being 'smooth' - he was the boy who couldn't stop running except for by running into something with less give in it than him (such as a wall) - but no seventeen-year-old boy would choose to make such a fool of themselves in such a situation.

Jez said nothing more now about the whole matter, but glanced at Olivia shamefacedly. Being so stupid at his own expense was probably about the best entertainment he could offer his ex-girlfriend. He had a little thought about that 'ex' part, still rueing it and especially the false impression that Tristan MacCay had facilitated. Jez wasn't sure whether enough time had passed that he might be allowed to correct that impression, or whether it would even be the right thing to do. It was his instinct to try to get her to understand the truth. He didn't mind people thinking ill of him particularly, but he really did prefer that they based their judgement on the correct facts.

"I um... um... I...", was all that he could come out with at the moment though. Jez actually blushed - he was completely unaccustomed to being tounge-tied. His complexion was completely unaccustomed to blushing. Finally he sorted his words out. "Um... you, Olivia, I think that you'd better... it'd be better if you start the conversation."

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia laughed. She hadn’t seen Jez since their breakup, and frankly, Olivia really didn’t care why they’d broken up. She was just such an angry person back then, it was probably for something really stupid. In fact, Olivia really couldn’t place her finger on exactly what had happened to her, but she didn’t really mind much. Olivia didn’t like to see herself as a woman of the past, or a woman of the future. Olivia lived for the present, and not a moment before or after. This of course, was both a gift and a curse. It allowed her to get on with her life and get over her problems, but this little habit was also one of Olivia’s main weaknesses (though she’d never admit it of course). She didn’t allow herself to plan for the future. Olivia simply couldn’t picture herself ten years from now. She didn’t know exactly what she’d become when she grew up, which frankly was really only a year away. She’d had minor dreams of traveling the world, but of course, she would need a bit of gold to do that. She did have gold at the moment, but the second she turned seventeen, all her funds and luxuries would be completely cut off. Olivia didn’t like to think of this as a problem, even though deep down she knew she had a serious issue on her hands. While Olivia despised Laura Dawson to a point beyond belief, deep down she knew she needed her. Laura handed her money that she needed to live off of, and without it, Olivia would be miserable. She was so used to such a luxurious lifestyle that would be simply snatched away from her the day she turned seventeen.

But Olivia didn’t like to think of a thought so depressing as the future. She simply didn’t want the realistic thought to enter her brain that one day, one day not so very far away, Olivia would have nothing. She’d have absolutely nothing. What Olivia didn’t know, was that this was Laura Dawson’s master plan after all. While Olivia had deeply despised the woman with every fiber of her being, she respected her. Laura was very wise indeed. Unlike her daughter, Laura constantly thought ahead, constantly looking at the grand scheme of things. What Olivia didn’t yet realize was that Laura expected this to happen. She knew that by giving her daughter all the money her little heart desired, she was in fact chaining her economically. Had it not been for the comfortable lifestyle Laura provided, Olivia would have walked out to live on her own ages ago. Now, in order to live the life she had become all too used to, Olivia would have to change her ways. She’d either shape up a lot and get a job for herself, or she’d end up marrying some pureblood maniac much like her father and mother, therefore chaining herself to Laura’s beliefs even more. Sure, Laura had to put up with Olivia’s rebellious behavior for sixteen years, but in the grand scheme of things, Laura Dawson wins again.

Olivia had been amused, caught in somewhat of a trance of memories as Jez struggled to get Olivia’s trunk into the compartment. Such a Gryffindor, the kid was. He was still just as confident as ever, but he seemed quite nervous, almost like a little school boy with a terrible crush on his older sister’s best friend. Olivia laughed slightly, seating herself in the chair opposite of Jez’s and smirking. God, what she wouldn’t do for a cigarette right now. Olivia cursed herself for even thinking of it. Olivia was not going to lose this bet, not in a million years. Olivia sat back and watched Jez with very much amusement, barely noticing the book he was reading, which had been left haphazardly on the seat. Olivia never really did take much interest in the matter of books. “A little bit of both actually.” Olivia said with a sarcastic smirk in response to Jez’s little comment. Then, more seriously this time, she added, “Well, quite frankly, if my belongings were mailed home before I got there, I don’t think I’d find them in quite the same manner when I returned.” Olivia said rather bluntly, thinking of how Laura would love to rip her old clothes to shreds.

Olivia actually managed to giggle for the first time in awhile. Olivia’s normal laughs consisted of nothing more than a simple chuckle or a confident smirk or grin. But at Jez’s clumsiness, Olivia couldn’t help but let out a full-hearted giggle. While Olivia couldn’t remember most things about their relationship last summer, she did remember how he was always capable of making her smile, and in this case laugh. Then again, Jez was the joker of the school. He did possess the talent for making others laugh. It was odd. She didn’t remember him being this clumsy, but it was actually pretty funny seeing him this way. “Yeah, that’s probably a better idea. So how have you been lately, Jez? What trickery have you managed to stir up this year? We haven’t talked since last summer I’m pretty sure.” Olivia said, feeling the urge for a cigarette once more. It bothered her that she found herself needing one this much so soon after the bet had actually started. It was sad how Olivia really needed those little ‘death sticks’ to survive everyday life. She liked to consider herself a very independent person, but how could she when she was so dependant off those damned cigarettes?

[Jez Cuthbert]

Jez wasn't sure that he liked having Olivia laugh at him. And she certainly was laughing at him. He cast her a short glance and decided that the rather harsh chuckle hadn't conveyed any particular hostility towards his own self. So he decided to relax. He had liked Olivia... he still liked her. It was her looks that had first attracted him, true enough - she had a stunning figure and her bountiful confidence made her more than pretty. She did smell of smoke, but it didn't bother Jez too much as to him she smelt like a potion gone wrong, which wasn't too bad. Her conversation had bite and she was an interesting person to know. She had far more qualities than some of his other ex-girlfriends; she was someone with whom he would have valued an amicable discharge. It hadn't happened that way, but this meeting did seem only awkward rather than unfriendly and he was glad for it.

He regarded Olivia curiously as she expressed a doubt for the safety of her possessions were they to travel before her. He didn't understand what gave her cause to believe that there would be a problem, though, and looked rather puzzled. Finally he decided to ask for further clarification: "How so?" he queried. "Have you had a bad experience using Owl Post? I've never had any problems with sending things home - they've always arrived in the same condition as I sent them in, as far as I can remember. But I suppose you are easily able to count on the surplus of gallant admirers instead, so it needn't be an issue anyway." He gave her a crooked smile.

Jez shifted a little uncomfortably at Olivia's first choice of topic - because what he'd devoted his time to this year had stemmed from what had happened only minutes before he and Olivia had broken up. He looked dubiously at his feet, dubiously at the luggage rack, and dubiously at Olivia. But she'd asked. So there was nothing for it but to answer her. He cleared his throat.

"We-ell," he said, in the process of cleaing his throat. "I don't know if you remember, Olivia, what happened immediately before I became your ex-boyfriend, but I had gone into the ladies' toilets because I thought that they were the gents. Which was an entirely innocent mistake, although you wouldn't believe that last summer. Anyway, finding myself in the ladies, I also -" here his conscience forbade him to reveal that Ariane had been crying because it wasn't as though she'd asked him to discover her crying anyway. "- I also find that a certain Ariane Chan - who I hadn't spoken to above twice in my life before despite sharing most of my classes with her, but you didn't believe me then so you may well not believe me now - anyway, I find that she takes very great exception to my presence in the ladies at this moment in time. And her annoyance manifests itself by attacking me in the g------ with a toilet door. So - and this is the only reason I've raised the subject - I've spent the past year exacting revenge on her for my injured pride," he finished. "Through various pranks," he added on further thought. "There are a few things that were for everyone, though... the frogspawn pudding at Halloween was mine. And that suit of armour that went beserk and started chasing people."

He gave her a small smile, hoping that she wouldn't be too offended that he'd felt compelled to bring up their last less-than-pleasant dealings with one another. Of course he was slightly bitter about the subject - he got tlike that when people wouldn't believe him - but he didn't wish to argue about it now. A long time, a whole year, had passed since then, he thought hopefully.

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia wasn’t aware that she had been laughing at Jez. She had simply been amused with this whole situation. She hadn’t seen Jez at all since their breakup. It was definitely safe to say Olivia had moved on. It seemed just weeks after Olivia ran out of that restaurant fuming, she met Julian Fallon. It was during that very same summer, too. They’d met in Knockturn Alley, the most horrifying of places. Olivia had been bored and had never really seen too much of the strange place, so she decided to check it out. However, the place had been more than she had bargained for (though Olivia still refused to believe that she even needed the help) and Julian came out of nowhere to help her out. It was quite sweet actually.

Olivia sighed, thinking about the whole Julian situation. She hadn’t talked to Julian in awhile as well. She wasn’t sure what had happened with him, but she had heard rumors that another girl was involved. Olivia didn’t mind, really. Olivia still loved Julian with everything she had, and Olivia had come to learn that if she wanted something, she’d get it. If Julian had a new girl on his arm, it didn’t matter. The second Olivia saw him again, that girl would be out of the picture once more. Olivia smiled softly at Jez’s comment. He had always been kind of sweet in that funny, comic type of way. Maybe if Julian hadn’t been in the picture, Olivia might have considered giving things another chance.

Olivia shifted uncomfortably in her seat when he brought up the topic of their breakup. Olivia had always hated talks like these. They were always so awkward and very unneeded. Olivia normally had problems with getting close to people. She tended to break things off for very stupid reasons and then when she started talking about those reasons with her ex’s, she remembered just how stupid those reasons were. She sighed as he explained what had happened the day they had split up. It seemed utterly pointless by this point. The entire day was starting to come back to her. She remembered how moments after the big incident she rushed over to Hogsmeade to her friends to get herself a smoke.

“Jez…I’m really sorry about that. I guess I sort of overreacted, even though the whole situation did look a bit bad. I should have stopped and let you explain yourself. What you said makes sense, and the big breakup probably wouldn’t have happened if I had just stopped and thought things out for a bit. I never really was one to think about my actions before I make them but erm…yeah. Well pranks sound like fun. I had no idea you were behind all those cool little tricks. I was almost falling on the floor laughing when I saw that knight running down the corridors.” Olivia added on a bit of a lighter note. She remembered those little pranks. It probably wasn’t the most productive way to spend an entire year, but who was Olivia to judge about productivity? She herself had spent the entire year spending time with Julian and skipping class to go have fun with friends. She had no idea how she managed to scrape an “Average” on all of her OWLS, but it had happened and Olivia was more than thankful.

[Jez Cuthbert]

Jez watched Olivia intently, forgetting that he might be caught staring at her. He hadn’t seen her for a while and he had forgotten quite how good-looking she was, complete with poise, expertly applied mascara (as far as he knew, but he didn’t know much about it) and, today, platinum blonde hair. The reason why she was a member of Slytherin flitted briefly across her face: suddenly a harsh, determined, relentless emotion showed there for a second or two. And then it was gone; she shifted uneasily as he re-explained the facts of their break-up for her. He felt sorry for making her do that – he really didn’t care enough about it anymore to want to make her feel uncomfortable. Alas for Ariane that he had not yet started to regard their point of enmity with any similar complacency.

“Don’t worry about it Olivia – there’s nothing to worry about.” He wanted to put her at ease, but was in danger of being a bit brutally honest. It was just as well that he didn’t mean much (and never had meant much either) to her, and that she had a pretty thick skin, or she would more likely have been a trifle offended by what he went on to say. “It’s been almost a year, after all… my resentment lasted – what… a few weeks at most? Probably about the same length of time as yours: I’m sure we both had better things to think about; certainly we’ve both had our fair share of relationships that didn’t go very far. Nothing earth-shattering about another one to add to the pile,” he commented, a few other ex’s flitting through his mind. “So it’s fine,” he shrugged. “You’re witty and interesting to talk to and… really attractive, but, that said… I don’t have any particular wish to see if we could make it work a second time. So there’s no need to worry about what’s in the past and doesn’t make any difference now.

“Anyway,” he continued, “ ‘The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.’ ”, he quoted and then laughed. “Not that there’s much chance of them making me a better person. Nope. Not bloody likely. Do you ever wonder about that?” he asked. “Whether you’re anywhere near being a ‘good’ person? Whether the good that you’ve done for your friends or family, strangers, the world in general… can ever be enough to cancel out all the times you’ve ever hurt or harmed them? Or even simply failed to live up to expectations… I do sometimes wonder about my own impact on people and things around me. Only rarely, though.” He grimaced. “It’s too difficult to admit to yourself that in all your life, you’ve been the cause of more evil than good. It’s much easier not to be accountable to your own conscience.” He paused, recollecting something that had made him feel guilty earlier on that year, something to do with a member of Junior Charms Club. “A second year fell down a flight of stairs running away from the suit of armour which I bewitched to go berserk, you know. She probably didn’t find it very funny.”

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia had taken notice to the fact that Jez had seemingly decided to put her under a microscope. He examined her slowly, his eyes practically scanning her from head to toe, something that Olivia merely noted in her head but really did not react to. She merely acted like she hadn’t noticed. It would probably make him a bit uncomfortable if Olivia had mentioned that she had caught him staring, so she decided to spare him the moment of embarrassment and simply go on talking like she hadn’t noticed a thing. It was odd being here on this train ride with him. In truth, he hadn’t been a very important aspect of Olivia’s life. They’d only been on their first date when she had discovered him in the girl’s bathrooms. It had angered her at the time, but now Olivia actually felt guilty that she had not waited for him to give her some kind of an explanation. But it didn’t really matter much to her. He hadn’t bothered to come and explain himself afterwards, so Olivia merely figured that he had moved on and didn’t have any interest in Olivia anymore. Perhaps if he had explained himself and begged for forgiveness, Olivia would have tried to give the relationship another shot. But in reality, Olivia was glad he didn’t.

If Jez had decided to come and apologize to Olivia, she highly doubted she would have ever gotten the chance to meet and become so close with Julian Fallon. They had of course lost contact a bit, but she was sure it would be no time before they were arm-in-arm once more. She really loved Julian now, even if she wasn’t with him. She intended on claiming him once more, knowing that the task would not be that hard to complete. She was glad that Jez didn’t harbor any bitter feelings toward Olivia, as that would have made the ride very awkward to handle. She didn’t really take offense at all that he had never really considered Olivia all that important in his life. They’d only known each other for a few weeks maybe, so it wasn’t like he was going to lock himself up in his room and cry all because of their silly little miscommunication. “Well that’s good. I would have hated for you to have been upset the entire year. I mean, after all, how could you have done any of those hysterical pranks and tricks if you were too upset to commit them? I’ve got to wonder though, it’s amazing how you never manage to get caught. I heard that they still have no idea who caused those knights to go crazy. And even though that little girl got hurt, I‘m sure she‘s just fine. It probably wasn‘t anything major, and I‘m sure she‘s laughing now, looking back on it.” Olivia said with a slight chuckle. The kid had some serious skill for causing some amusement for the students and trouble for the professors.

Olivia smiled. He really was honest with the way he felt about her, and any other girl would have been almost at the point of hurting him after what he said. Olivia was actually surprised, she was surprisingly at ease for a person who had just given up their worst habit. She supposed Jez was doing a very good job at distracting her from her cravings, though she couldn’t help but dispose of her current piece of gum and replace it with a fresh one as she chewed rather violently, suddenly feeling the urge to get herself one again. She shifted in her seat. It took a lot of strength not to go summon herself a box. She smiled thoughtfully. “Well I’ve never really thought of that too much to be honest. I try to convince myself that I’m a decent person, but I like to blame it on the age. We’re teenagers. I think we’re kind of expected not to be the image of angelic perfection. I personally think the judging starts in our twenties, when we can’t blame it on the fact that we’re teenagers anymore.” Olivia said with a slight smirk.