actual-dragon-fangirl:

Jake was curious by the sudden question, assuming she would have just up and left after all her papers were together. But, after running into her, he figured he at least owed her something – answers would have to do. “Yeah, man. I mean, it’s totally sick.”

She frowned. “It made you sick?” She drew away from him a little.

sarabiqueen:

Sarabi took that advice to heart.  She had a lot to get used to,  and she knew a lot was going to change when she took the potion.  She was going to have to be tough to be able to make this new life for herself to work out.  “Thank you.” She said seriously, following the younger woman.

Roz nodded, pleased with the manners the other woman was showing. If the newspapers were to be believed, which was hardly ever the case, muggle wizards were a bane against magical society. This woman was more humble and polite than most wizards she had met. If the horrible nature of which the papers spoke was human decency and manners, well. Please. Let the wizarding world be overrun. Reaching the wand shop, she pulled the door open and held it for Sarabi. “This is the place.”

gentleman-blood-addict:

She was wrong, he did do something wrong. He was wrong…but there was little he could do about it at this point. At the very least he hadn’t been as wrong as he could have been. “Okay, good,” he said, “do you need a lift out of the woods? I need to take a walk by myself to clear my nose…”

Roz’s independence spiked as he offered to carry her. It had been amusing before, a novelty. But she had enough people fawning over her at home with her gradually worsening disability. She did not need it here as well. Before she could stop herself, she said hurriedly, “No, I can manage on my own, thank you.” She bit her lip. It came out colder than she wanted it to. Most things did these days. Her chest hurt. Mike wasn’t someone she wanted to be that person to. Reaching into her bag, she quickly rummaged through and pulled out a quill and scrap parchment. Scribbling down her phone number, she took his hand and placed the note in his, holding his hand between both of hers longer than necessary. “...For if you need anything. Food, to talk...I’m studying to be a lawyer, so that as well, if required...” The coldness had left her voice, though she was a little unsure of her words. She’d observed people making friends many times, but she still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it. She meant every word she said, though. She nodded. “Yes. Well. I’ll let you have your alone time.” Releasing his hand reluctantly, she made to leave. Hesitating, she let out a slightly-annoyed-at-herself breath and turned back around, kissing him quickly on the lips one last time, if only for the small, rare thrill of pleasant emotion it gave her. “Goodnight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” she said with a smirk, before turning and walking back towards town.

actual-dragon-fangirl:

“No, I’m okay.” He sighed, offering her the stack of papers he had picked up.

“Well. Good. Saves me a hassle.” She was starting to feel bad about being rude. Not that it usually stopped her. But she was an avid people watcher, and this was one person she had not seen before. She narrowed her eyes at him, studying him. “Are you one of those potion wizards? Or just moved here?”

Especially not you. She looked at the ground. She was the one people just assumed didn’t have feelings. Which was fine by her. It helped keep up her cold Slytherin image. The flip side of that, of course, meant that not a lot of people wanted to be friends with her, which despite her attitude was something that she wouldn’t mind, really. Her eyes flicked back up to meet his after a minute of expressionless silence. “Call it my comfort zone. But if you insist.” She sighed, rubbing her arms. “Just a little dizzy, which is to be expected. You didn’t do anything wrong, don’t worry.”

“Not this one,” he stepped closer to her, “I…don’t know if I should feed on you if you won’t tell me if something’s wrong. Not everything is my business but if it’s because of something I’ve done I want to know. I should know. I don’t want to hurt people, especially not you…so don’t bury it before it’s too late for me to back off or fix it.”

Roz snorted, gathering the last of her papers and shuffling them into a neat - if a little disorganized - pile. “I usually am,” she deadpanned, then looked him over. “Now, are you alright? I’d hate to take time out of my busy schedule to drag you to a hospital wing, but I couldn’t very well leave you in the middle of the street. I suppose.”

The stranger was absolutely correct – and he hadn’t even considered it until now. What if he had done it to Gramps? The thought squeezed his heart uncomfortably. Would he have been able to get up after that? Grandpa was old, ancient by human standards. He sighed, rubbing his neck. “…I mean… You’re absolutely right…” Jake wasn’t sure what else he should say.

Roz frowned, crossing her arms. “Let me tell you something. Be a hassle. As a muggle wizard, you’re going to need to be to get anywhere. Otherwise the rest of them will just walk all over you.” She sighed. “A pureblood is a wizard of magical parentage. If both your parents are wizards, you are a pureblood. If one is a wizard and one a muggle, you are a mixed blood, half blood. Those who have two muggle parents are muggleborns.” Roz almost smiled. She remembered her first wand buying experience. No matter who you were, where you came from, or how hardened your heart was, the first wand was a wonderful memory. “There’s Olivanders. I’ll take you there,” she said shortly, and walked off at a brisk pace, assuming she’d be followed.

“What’s a pureblood?” She asked apologetically, then averted her eyes.  “I mean, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, I don’t want to be a hassle.”  She shrugged non-chalantly and then grinned.  “Well, I still have to get a- I can’t believe I’m saying this- a wand.  I’ve already been to Diagon Alley but my experience there wasn’t that great.  Do you have a wand shop here in Hogsmeade, or do I HAVE to go to Diagon?”

Roz shrugged a shoulder indifferently, her face expressionless as always. “To some wizards, it is. The more...elitist purebloods.” She raised an eyebrow. “Anywhere specific you were looking to go?”

“Muggle Wizards?”  Sarabi looked at her with confusion, before remembering.  “Oh.. OH yeah.  Muggle yeah.  I forgot that’s what I was called.  Kind of makes it sound like some kind of curse word when you say it like that though, doesn’t it?”

“Some ‘accidents’ have terrible consequences,” she said evenly, swallowing to hide the emotions brought by the flash of memory depicting what her father had ‘accidentally’ done to her eyes. “This might not have been something you could have ‘made up’ if I was an older man or woman.”

As the papers settled, Jake panicked and began to help scoop them up, careful not to damage any of them. He looked up apologetically, biting his lip for a moment. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! It was a complete accident! I didn’t mean to!” Wizards and witches seemed to be notorious for also not watching where they were going – though, this was largely his own fault. The woman’s gaze sent a chill down his spine, leading him to quickly look back down. “I-I’ll make it up to you!”

“Yes...” She tilted her head, studying the woman. “Though you seem a little old for classes. Are you one of those muggle wizards?”

“Excuse me, sorry.  This is Hogsmeade right?  I’m trying to find my way around before classes start.”

Roz had organized all of her files into separate folders; blue for apartment hunting, manila for pet research, red for job applications...and now her papers were everywhere. She took a deep breath, forcing her annoyance down as she always did. “Awful big street. Couldn’t find another space to ride your...whatever that is?” Her voice was cool, even, deadpan, her face expressionless as she picked up her files, though her eyes were cool as ice.

Aw man! I am so sorry! -hurriedly tries to pick up the other person’s stuff as well as his own-

She shrugged. “There’s always an exception to the rule.”

“No one is always okay,” he says, returning her gaze. 

Roz’s eyes widened as he kissed her cheek. As suddenly as he had pecked her, he was turning away. Her hand came up to her cheek in surprise. “Right. Goodbye, Flick.” She watched him leave, her hand not leaving her cheek. It was stupid, and gross, and everything she was against...but...she wondered what life could have been like if that kiss was something a little more than friendly. But it didn’t matter now. He had Nala, and adventure, and what sounded like a great life ahead of him, and she was truly happy for him. She turned as he walked out of sight, headed her own way, her solitary path, one she’d always preferred, and it was no different now, though she’d await his letters.

As he felt her stepping away, he dropped his arms, giving her space. There was something so final about all of this, and he had never been any good about goodbyes. Not real ones. But he supposed he had chosen to do this to himself so it was time to make it work. “Right. Right I should…Nala and I are heading out tonight so I should go meet her. Um, right. Bye Roz.” He followed his impulse and kissed her quickly on the cheek before smiling at her and walking away. He had to remember that he was moving toward something, and that this wasn’t for forever. It was just for now. And it was time for him to let her go.

She raised her eyebrows. “Well. Have to grow into those new fangs, I suppose.”

She looked him square in the eye. “I’m always okay.”

“It should satisfy the craving until tonight…probably at around one. New vampires need to feed more I guess.”  He glances away and at her again, “are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “Could be good money in that. Especially with bloody rich snobs who want you to train hippogriffs to like them. But I imagine that wouldn’t be the most rewarding job.”

“I know, and I think that’s totally wicked. Oh trust me, I plan to. It’s not my best subject, but I’ll work on it.” She shrugged. “Anyway, maybe it won’t be all creatures; I really love Hippogriffs.”

“As am I,” she said with a wry but sad grin. She held on to him for a few minutes longer, as if she could just make him stay by never letting go. But she had to let go. She let space drift between them, and though she was well practiced with shoving things away what with her usual tactic of dealing with feelings, no matter how much she lied to herself, it never did get any easier. Not for the strong emotions. “And I’m also saying you should probably get out of here before I knit you to a lamp post in Hogsmede.” She was kidding, of course, in her own deadpan way. But there was truth to it.

As Roz agreed to look after Mabel he sighed, feeling a small knot of tension loosen. He didn’t have many friends, and he had no idea if they would get along at all. But with everything else that Mabel had gone through, and the fact that he couldn’t even find her now, it made him worry. At least this way he could count on someone helping her when he wasn’t around. And despite what Roz said, he knew he couldn’t manage the job nearly as well as she would be able to with the place he was in. For a moment it was nice to just stay like this, feeling the embrace of another person and feeling more alive than he had in weeks. “Just saying what I see.”

Roz snorted. “Thank you, doctor,” she deadpanned, before motioning at him with her chin, her arms crossed. “So how long will that last you?” She wasn’t sure how much blood he’d taken, but she was a little dizzy. She refused to show it though, and stood tall and proud as always.

He did well…he actually, really, truly did. He hadn’t expected that really, it was a dull relief. He smiled, looking down before looking up at her, glancing away to lick the last of the blood from his lips and then back at her “Yeah, maybe,” he said, taking a sobering step back, “for now, I think you should probably find yourself a B-12 vitamin, their supposed to help with blood production.” Had Michael looked into this sort of stuff after his turning? Yes he had.