Skipping Stones

Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-12-04 Age : 30

Ian sat at the edge of the lake with his coat wrapped tightly around his body trying to shield himself from the cold. Not that ti was going a whole lot, even with Ian's higher than average body heat he was still freezing. Or maybe it was mental thing making him shiver and he wasn't really cold at all. So much had changed for him, so quickly. He wasn't really sure how to go about handling it. Although one good thing had come of all this...he'd met Jay. If he hadn't been at the three broomsticks moping then he never would have bumped into the confidant, good looking, and charming Gryffindor.

Unfortunately that added another level of complexity to his life and stirred up things for him once again. He'd been hoping that he could put off breaking up with Oliver for awhile, that maybe he'd get over his want of a more dominant guy. But within moments of meeting Jay, Ian was swooning all over him. Only in his mind of course. Jay might not have had a problem with Ian being into other guys, but he didn't know how he'd feel if he knew that Ian was into him.

He sighed again and picked up a flat stone and skipped it across the surface of the lake, with each bounce sending out ripples disturbing the water's calm. A month ago his life had been flat and calm, like the lake, and now it felt as if some higher power was skipping stones and disturbing his calm.

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Even though it was rather cold outside, it was the one place where she felt the most free. There were no classes, no professors, no homework...just lots of ground and fresh air. And maybe without the added pressures of school on her shoulders for a while, she could figure a few things out. Like why her brother seemed to be avoiding her. Or why her best friends just disappeared. It both saddened her and made her angry, and she refused to admit even to herself how hurt she was by the quick departures of two of her best friends. Merlin! She hadn't even gotten a bloody goodbye!

Skyler kicked roughly at a large boulder near the lake shore, which turned out to be not so smart considering the pain that shot through her foot in the next moment. "Bloody hell!" She glared at the boulder as if the whole predicament was its' fault, and then sighed and took a seat on it, rubbing the back of her head absently, brow furrowing in thought as her purple eyes gazed out over the water of the lake.

Rippling of the water caught her attention, and for a moment she was back in first year, watching the ripples as merpeople broke the surface and attacked. Skyler quickly shook her head to dispel the memories, and took a breath as she glanced around only to spot a boy nearby, skipping rocks. Cocking her head in curiosity, she regarded him as she watched him continue his rock skipping. He looked familiar, but she couldn't exactly remember...Oh! He had been there that day in the Three Broomsticks. When Xal had been picked on by those older boys.

Ignoring the stab of pain that was now a common occurance whenever Xal or Daryl came to mind, Skyler watched the boy carefully. Like she had been moments ago, he looked lost in thought. But unwilling to sit there and go crazy with thoughts of the two friends no longer around, Skyler pushed up from her seat on the rock and walked over to the boy in her usual and distinctive strut. Coming to a slow and easy stop next to him so as not to startle him, Skyler provided a grin. "Hey. Skyler Riddle." She introduced herself before continuing. "You're pretty good at that." She remarked, indicating the rock skipping. "I've never been able to get them skip. You just can't be talented in everything I suppose." A slow smirk made it's was to her lips, her purple gaze returning to the waters' surface. It was the kind of comment her best friend would've found amusing. Had he been there.

Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-12-04 Age : 30

Ian had been so lost in thought that he hadn't really been paying attention to what was going around him. His body had taken over the action of picking up a stone and skipping it across the lake. For a moment he'd even forgotten where he was and imagined he was back in Hogsmeade at the park with Jay. A sudden voice snapped him out of his silent reverie and caused him to jump up and squeak a little. "Bloody hell...you almost gave me a hart attack." He whispered clutching at his chest.

After calming down for a bit he looked up at the girl that had approached him and stood to properly greet her. "I'm Ian, Ian MacAllister...though I'm pretty sure we've met before." He stated tilting his head to the side. He couldn't quite put where he recognized her from. Then again his brain had been a completely jumbled mess lately it wasn't that big of a surpirse that he was a little confused sometimes. "In any case pleasure to meet you."

He extended his hand to her and offered a smile, as plastic and forced as it was. Being in a bad mood was no excuse to be rude to someone. "It's not all that hard, skipping stones I mean. You just have ones that are the right size and shape."

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Glancing at him with amusement in her eyes, Skyler offered an apology. "Sorry. Certainly didn't mean to startle you." In honesty, she hadn't. But she couldn't deny it was amusing. Shrugging slightly, she took his hand to shake when he offered it. "Yea, I think we may have run into eachother before, but it's nice to see you again Ian." She nodded to his words about skipping the rocks, and looked to the ground, brow furrowing as she searched for a rock that might actually skip.

Finding one that looked promising, she stooped to pick it up, and then straightened out and tossed it, where it went PLUNK in the water and dropped beneath its' surface. She scowled. "Stupid rocks." She muttered, even as her purple gaze turned back to the ground searching for a new one. Glancing at the boy as she did so, she noticed the Ravenclaw patch. "And here I had you pegged as a Puff." She smirked, before adding on, "And you hardly have to force the smile you know. I was watching you for a few minutes before i came over. Seemed pretty lost in thought, and didn't seem to happy about it either if I may add."

Picking up a new rock, she tossed it and watched it sail over the water. She was aware that might sound odd, but she hardly cared. It was one of the things she prided herself on. Being able to read people, their actions and their expressions. Noticing things and being aware of her surroundings and the people in them. And it was a good way to find openings to provoke conversation. In most cases. Now she had made a comment on it, it was up to the Ravenclaw to decide whether or not to remark on it.

Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-12-04 Age : 30

He chuckled a bit as he watched Sky attempt to skip a rock to no avail, "You need to find a stone that's flat and smooth." He offered as he reached down to pick one up and showed it to her. He flicked his wrist and let the rock fly and watched as it hopped six times over the water before finally sinking into the depth of the Black Lake. Ian returned to his current position sitting on the ground his his knees pulled up to his chest. He let out a sigh as she continued speaking , she was the second person lately to get a read on him. Was he really exuding that much distress?

"Me a Puff," he replied with a snort and an eyebrow raise, "No ma'am not me at all. I'm a Ravenclaw through and through with slight Gryffindor tendencies." He didn't look at Skyler when he talked, perfering to look out at the horizon. This girl had already read his mood from a distance., and Ian knew his eyes gave his emotions away. He hated to know what she could gain from looking into them. He rather liked his deep dark secrets to remain secrets.

After a bit of silence he finally nodded his head and started talking, "I've just been having a brutal couple months." He shifted his position so that his legs were outstreched and he was leaning back on his hands. "My dad and step mom passed away, I moved in with my eccentric mother and her equally crazy Aunt, broke up with my boyfriend, and I'm falling for a straight guy." He finished off with a shrug and a a sigh.

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Skyler watched him as he made his own rock skip six times, and crossed her arms over her chest raising an eyebrow at the show. But not one to be outdone, she found a rock that was flat and smooth and tried again. This time she atleast got it to skip. Once. Well this could get frustrating. She did turned highly amused eyes to him though. "Would it be the cowardly lion tendencies you have then?" She teased him, remembering how startled he had been when she had first approached him.

She leant on ear as she searched the ground for a new rock to skip, listening to him speak of what she assumed was on his mind at the time. She could understand. To an extent. She still had her parents, but she had lost two boys that were like brothers to her. Well, Daryl hadn't exactly fallen into the brother category, but it didn't matter anymore. He was gone. And so were those feelings she harbored. Atleast, thats what she told herself.

Granted they weren't dead either. Skyler found herself searching less and less for a rock and trying more and more to imagine being in Ian's place. Sure, she didn't know him well. Didn't know him much at all, but she knew you had to be either incredibly naive or just really ready to explode from everything you're holding in to go telling your issues and thoughts to a might as well be stranger. Thank Merlin for him she wasn't like most people, who would think to use it to their advantage.

Though she could see the advantage in having a persons trust, but Skyler found the advantage of keeping a persons' trust far outweighed any others. And now she couldn't figure out what to say to him. What did you say to someone whose parents just died? Im sorry seemed so....ridiculous, if she were being honest. A sorry, she knew, did nothing, in any situation.

She sighed and took her own seat on the ground, sitting cross legged. "Were you close?" She asked quietly after some time. "I mean, you and your father and all?"

Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-12-04 Age : 30

Ian offers Sky a half smile when she managed to get the stone to jump once, "There ya go, you're getting the hang of it." His expression and tone remained flat but his did chuckle a bit at her question. "I was in my own little world, under normal circumstances I would have been able to smell you coming." He didn't offer any explination further than that, he might have been quick to open up....but somethings he knew to keep to himself.

The blonde sat in silence while, he imagined, Sky thought about something to say. He really would have been fine if she hadn't said anything at all. So far since taking Jay's advice and letting people know why he was so bummed all he'd gotten were apologizes. What the bloody hell was he supposed to do with someone saying sorry to him. Sorry didn't bring his dad back, sorry didn't make his little brother feel any better. All sorry did was sincerely piss Ian off, luckily Sky seemed to know that.

He mentally thanked her for not being cliche and just further upsetting him. "Well my dad and I used to be like best friends. I'd always been closer to him than to my mom, cuz like I said my mum';s a bit off her rocker. He was the only person on the planet other than my older cousin that I've ever been completely honest with. But everything changed once he got remarried...." Ian mused sadly remembering how drastically their relationship had changed. "My step mother always disliked me; hell she actually hated me. She didn't see me as a person...she just saw my affliction."

Once again he left it at that and continued on with his train of thought. "Ya;know the last words I said to him were that he hadn't been the same since getting remarried him. I told him that I loss my father a long time ago." Ian bit on his inner lip and tried to reign in his emotions to keep from crying. In front of Jay or PAt breaking down was okay. He wasn't going to do it in dront of this girl however.

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Skyler's brow arched a bit at his statement. Smell her coming? Well that was an odd thing to say. Atleast to her it seemed a rather strange thing to say. But she didn't question it, though it remained in the back of her mind for consideration. Instead, she listened to him speak about his relationship with his father and smiled when he stated they had been like best friends. Skyler couldn't help but feel for him. She wasn't close in any sense of the word to her own parents, unless you counted they shared the same blood. And to her parents, that's all that really mattered. But Skyler wasn't so clueless to the bonds of family. She had witnessed the closeness some have with parents, and so she could understand how hard it must be for Ian, even if she never expirienced such a thing herself.

Her smile however faded into a small frown as he continued to speak. So the evil stepmother made an appearance huh? But more than that, Skyler couldn't stop herself from getting stuck on his statement about his affliction. She only saw his affliction? Brow furrowing in thought, Skyler nodded to show she were following, while her mind tried to connect something she felt was just out of reach. She knew she was missing something, something that she knew would nag at her until she figured it out. To Skyler, it seemed like she had all the pieces to a puzzle but couldn't find where they all fit.

His last statement though had her cocking her head, and she watched him through sad purple eyes, and sent him a sad smile. Skyler knew there probably wasn't anything she could really say to make him feel too much better, but the sadness he exuded sprung words from her mouth. "I can only imagine how hard that must be. It's probably hard enough losing him, but having your last words ring in your head probably doesn't help much. But look at this way, atleast you were honest with him, no matter what. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it's always appreciated. And I'm sure if you had been as close as you had been before he would hardly blame you for it. Probably even respected you more for it."

Skyler wasn't exactly sure if any of what she said made any kind of sense, but she could hope that somehow it did. "As for the stepmother, well, no offense, but screw anyone who sees you as less than you are. And any adult who goes out of their way to make a kid miserable ought to be ashamed of themselves, and doesn't deserve any form of respect." She said with a nod of her head to reinforce her claim. Skyler disliked alot of things, but people who judged others she hated. She knew all too well what it felt like to be judged based on things you had no control over. And then it clicked.

Smell her coming. Affliction. Being hated for it. It all clicked into place. Mostly because there wasn't much needed to be added. It was quite obvious basedon the clues he had given her, whether he had knowingly given them or not. But now Skyler didn't know how to approach it. Surely she wasn't going to hate him or dislike his for it. Though she had been raised on those kinds of prejudices, Skyler had always been strong and smart enough to form her own opinions. Based on what she knew and learned, and usually on her instincts and gut feelings. And though she knew it went against every rule the adult part of her family set for the youngers, Skyler decided to go out on a limb. Because it's what her instincts told her to do. Surely it could bring more problems to her already unstable relationship with her own family, but she hardly cared. The younger generation of Riddles followed her lead, and they were all she really cared about when it came to family.

She looked at him through piercing eyes, trying to decide what route to take. Finally, her lips parted and she spoke, keeping her eyes on him. "You know, there isn't anything wrong with being different. No matter who says so. It always surprises me how backwards our world is alot of ways. For instance, Purebloods can't stand muggles because of all the persucution witches and wizards in the early years were put through by their hands. Yet they persucute people in our world, such as werewolves and such, in much the same way. Hypocrites is what they are. They are just as unnaccepting of anything or anyone different as muggles are if you ask me."

Posts : 110 Join date : 2010-12-04 Age : 30

"You're absolutely right," Ian replied with a snort, "the woman was a complete and total bitch. She made my life miserable for years. I hated her, and I'm the type of guy that gets on well with everyone, but I truthfully hated her." He spoke honestly and from the heart feeling that he could trust Skyler. "And I feel so guilty for being happy that she's dead. She stole my father from me, I just...I wish that she'd been the only person in that car. Does that make me a bad person?"

Before she could answer Ian shook his head, "Never mind don't answer that..." Regardless of what she said Ian would feel like a bad person. He knew that human life was something that should be cherished and looked after. He shouldn't be enjoying someone's death, even if the person in question was a terrible bitch.

A tiny grin worked its way onto Ian's face as Sky continued talking. "Figured it out did ya? Took ya long enough. No wonder you're not a Ravenclaw." He smirked a little bit returning her earlier jab about his house. "But yeah I know exactly what you mean. It's stupid. I have diaries from my great grandfather. Fenrir Greyback, and on one page he talks about the struggle he faces as a known werewolf. And the next he's going on about filthy mudbloods. I'm just pretty much convinced that adults are all stupid..."

He took a sniff in the air memorizing Sky's scent so that he's always associate it with her. There was a slight bitter feeling in her scent causing Ian to tilt his head to the side curiously. "Are you...upset about anything? You smell sad..."