When the Sun Goes Down

As the fading summer light glanced off the lake, turning the midnight blue water into a fireball, Juliet couldn't help but what the warm weather meant. Summer was coming. In fact, with final exams done, there was nothing left to do at school at all. The train was taking them home tomorrow. Even though the young girl adored Hogwarts to no end - it was her home in so many ways, she couldn't help but be excited to leave. She wanted to go for the very reason that this sunset made her sad.

There was someone out there that she wanted to be able to watch the next one with. Running her hand along the chain that was around her neck, her fingers got closer and closer to the small items nestled at the end. Dimitri's ring still hung there, a fond memory of the past, but the other one was the more important object. The thing that she wanted now.

Playing with the small piece of glass, for a moment, she seemed to hesitate before she brought it closer to herself, looking at the reflection for a long moment. She knew it was pointless, he was probably doing something somewhere far off anyway - but she figured she needed to say it once, at least for herself.

"I miss you."

Folding the glass up in her hand, she looked out over the water, completely ignorant of the other person approaching the lake.

The fresh air filled her lungs and Jess, all truth be told, felt a little sick. She knew that she should get out a bit before the summer, maybe get used to a bit of fresh air, or just seeing the sunlight again. She'd be seeing a lot of it over the holidays anyway. She didn't even know where she'd be going. No family left, and it wasn't like anyone would want to look after a brat like her. The Slytherin was a cow, and she knew it. Heck, she prided herself on that. But no-one would want to look after her.

Kicking into a run, she took off towards the lake. Her first week of her first year she'd spent there. Just her, watching the way the sun was sort of looking at itself. It was a strangely lonely time for the girl, but she knew that when she was lonely, she was... Somewhat... Happy? Was happy really the right word? Probably not. Happiness was an alien concept.

Losing herself in her pace and her thoughts, Jess ran straight into someone else, literally. Her head collided with the girl's chest and she landed square on her rear. Wincing, she stood up. It was too easy to feel like lashing out. It was how she'd lived her whole life; getting by with slaps and kicks to the shins. But she was determined to lose that. "Oh, sorry," Jess mumbled, staying on the floor. "Didn't see you there."

With a start she found herself rocking on her feet, and only by some miracle of grace she did not own, staying upright. Unlike the younger girl who smashed right into her. Patting herself down slight, looking for wounds she did not actually have, she was too surprised to feel anything like irritation or even concern. She had simple not been expecting it in anyway.

"That's okay. After all I can say the same about you can't I?" she let out a soft laugh, forcing her shoulders to relax as she looked at the girl. Her instinct was to panic at what had been close to an attack - although completely accidental- but she wasn't going to let herself do anything so foolish. "And I think you did more harm to yourself than to me - so even if it was an attack, it was a poorly planned one. I think you've managed to punish yourself enough."

Taking a slight breath, she folded on hand back around the glass for her own conscious strength and held out her other hand. "I'm Juliet."

Jess tried to stand back up, but constantly found herself falling down onto her back again. She was tempted to reach up and take the stupid bloody back-brace off, because it was so restricting and annoying. But no, that wouldn't get her back any better. She rocked forwards onto her knees and stood up that way, brushing herself off slightly. Nothing hurt, but nothing ever really did.

It took a lot of effort, once again, to not scowl and take her pent up anger out on the older girl. A sharp punch might do it- No. Jess wasn't allowed to just lash out at every person she met. It wasn't fair. "It wasn't an attack. It was an accident; not looking where I was going," she mumbled, hands behind her back and her gaze low.

Looking down at the girl's hand, Jess scowled. She didn't know if a simple hand-shake meant that she was expected to trust her. Trust wasn't really her forté. At all. "I'm Jessica," she said, shaking Juliet's hand quickly and softly, before bringing it back to meet the other behind her. "Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."

{OOC - OMG! I'm soooo sorry. I lost this in the mass list of my threads, and just found it now D: I'm a horrible person. I really am. Forgive me?]

"Don't worry about it," Juliet said easily. She really did mean it, it wasn't like she was harmed at all. Besides Juliet really couldn't get mad at someone for doing exactly what she did all the time.

As she watched the girl struggle, Juliet bent, ready to offer help but the girl was already getting up. Shrugging, she smiled slightly at the way the girl looked at her hand, "Its just a handshake. Its not going to commit you to anything. I'm not asking for your soul. I'm just... being polite."

"And I really don't mind Jessica. Honestly, I can't count how many people I've run into. Its not even funny, they tell you you'll get more graceful with age, but I think they lied to me. I'm pretty sure I'm worse."