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Post by Stella Meade on Jul 20, 2014 17:24:35 GMT -5
Wearing her deep midnight blue cloak, Stella pulled the hood over her head as she strode out of the castle at dusk one evening. She had sent Jared a message during lunch hour to meet her in the gardens at this time so she could tell him about what had occurred in the trophy room the night before. She did not assume he would be angry with her, but she wanted to let him in on her suspicious feelings about the Pendergrast twins. She knew Holly didn't like her, and if Holly didn't Calliope was sure not to as well.
Stella never understood why the headmistress before Marevas had decided to plant a maze of flowers and herbs near the greenhouses; plenty of students, especially younger ones had gotten lost trying to find their way out of the maze. Tonight though she was quite thankful for the twists and turns. She had been wandering the gardens since her first year at Hogwarts and knew how to get anywhere. She found the bench near a small pool of koi fish she had specified to Jared and sat down on the bench. A breeze filtered in and she drew her cloak closer around her to keep out the chill. She was waiting only for a few moments when she heard the crunch of grass being trodded on. Hoping it was who she thought, she still kept her hand on her wand that rested in her pocket, just in case. "Hello?" she called out in a whisper, waiting for the answer.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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Post by Jared Carmichael on Jul 20, 2014 17:58:56 GMT -5
When Marevas had been alive, Jared had never given much thought as to what would happen to him if he were to get caught sneaking out of the school late at night. Detention, most likely, but Marevas never would have expelled him. She knew about his situation, had even helped him find a place to stay, but this new Headmistress probably wouldn't even blink an eye expelling him for breaking a rule. Truthfully, that made Jared a paranoid mess. Not even the substances he had picked up from a guy in Knockturn Alley could calm him down. Whenever Stella asked him to meet up with her, he wondered if it would be the last. With his record, one word from the Headmistress' creepy daughters could send him packing from Hogwarts.
Black was the color tonight. His dark hood concealed his blonde hair, and his shaking hands were stuffed into dark jeans. Stella had chosen the gardens as their meeting place tonight. It was easy to get lost in there, but Jared had a fairly good sense of direction, and was able to follow the sound of bubbling water to find Stella seated on a bench by a small pool with a trickling fountain. She was looking in the opposite direction, and called out in a whisper. He approached from her other side and slid towards her on the bench. His sudden presence was sure to startle her, but before she could let out a shriek he kissed her on the lips. "Shhh," he whispered huskily, drawing away. He looked around to make sure nobody had followed him out there before turning back to Stella. "So what's up?" he inquired, wondering why she had requested to meet him out here tonight.
tag/Stella Meade
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Post by Stella Meade on Jul 21, 2014 8:36:32 GMT -5
Stella had jumped when someone had snuck up behind her, but when the lips met hers she surely could recognized Jared. She let out a breath of laughter, but the smile faded when he asked her why she had requested this outdoor meeting. She raised a hand and gently pressed it to the side of his face, letting it sit for a moment before moving it down to his shoulder. "I wanted to see you," she breathed, scooting closer to him, only partly for warmth. "I feel badly that it ended a bit abruptly last night, but it was one of those twins, the Pendergrasts, who decided the trophy room was where she absolutely had to be last night," she finished, a poisonous bite in her voice when she spoke of the sister. She wrinkled her nose with disdain.
"They just rub me the wrong way; Holly acts like she is queen of the universe because she is the Headmistress' daughter, and Calliope...well she doesn't really talk much, but she is rather odd as well. That whole family still just gives me an uneasy feeling. It doesn't help that Holly doesn't think highly of me either," she said, waving the last bit off. She could care less what the Pendergrast twins thought of her, but she wouldn't put it past Holly to try and gain her Prefectship. She let her hand rest on his knee now and squeezed it lightly. "You got back down to the dungeons alright?" she asked him, her eyes wide.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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Post by Jared Carmichael on Jul 22, 2014 11:45:39 GMT -5
Jared's expression was stony as Stella described the incident from the night before involving the Pendergrast twins. He had never personally encountered either of them outside of class time, but they both seemed like stuck up snoopy prisses. "They don't scare me," Jared replied after Stella concluded, his gaze fixated straight ahead on a clump of bright yellow jonquils. He didn't want to freak Stella out with how paranoid he was these days. Every time he went somewhere he was constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being watched. This new Headmistress used her daughters as spies, he was sure of it.
Jared exhaled sharply, and realized it was a mistake to withhold his feelings from Stella. She was the only person he could be vulnerable around, and if he couldn't confide in her, then it would stay bottled up, eating at his insides. "I made it back fine," Jared murmured. He let a few moments of silence pass. A mosquito kept buzzing around his ear and he waved his wand to swat it away automatically. A couple more moments passed before he spoke again. "You know what would happen if we get caught," he said tonelessly. He finally let his gaze shift sideways at her. He didn't even need to say it; she would understand. Stella would get a slap on her wrist and he'd be kicked out on his arse.
tag/Stella Meade
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Post by Stella Meade on Jul 23, 2014 9:06:11 GMT -5
Stella laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not scared, just merely suspicious of their true intentions here," she said nonchalantly, slipping her hand into his. He seemed nervous, jumpy, and jittery, and she knew why. She knew if he got into trouble and was expelled he would really have nowhere else to go. The former Headmistresses' death had hit him harder than he would ever admit out loud, but it was not Stella's job to pry something out of him. She knew if he ever wanted to talk about it, he would.
She checked her watch to be sure of the time. "We have about an hour until curfew, so we still have some time," she said with a small smile. She leaned in and kissed him again, fully on the lips, long and slow. When they finally broke apart she planted a kiss on his forehead. "You know I'd never get you in trouble, as long as it's in my power," she said, cocking her head to one side and looking at him. She was sure people thought their relationship as odd; indeed it had been born out of a love-hate sort of trial, and if someone had predicted this in earlier years, she probably would have laughed in their face. She felt that Jared made her a better-rounded person, and she hoped that he could see that she could be fully trusted.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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Post by Jared Carmichael on May 12, 2015 21:58:10 GMT -5
Jared felt her lips brush against his own and he was thankful for the physical affection. He would never admit it out loud, but underneath his tough exterior he really was quite sensitive. He hated change, and his life recently had been one big change after another. His parents kicked him out, and he dealt with it. He was finally moving on when out of nowhere, the Headmistress dies, who strangely was the one adult figure who actually gave a damn about him. Now he would have to readjust all over again.
"I know you would never get me in trouble. But I'm a screw up. And with the way things are in the school right now, I feel like I'm just a ticking time bomb. I'm gonna screw up, and I'm gonna be out on my arse. Again," Jared said, coming off a little harsher than he had intended. He realized he had raised his voiced slightly and he cleared his throat before continuing on. "You're the only constant in my life right now, and if something were to happen..." he drifted off, his thoughts darkening as he thought of the Pendergrast family. He would not let them infiltrate his life or Stella's. He had worked too damn hard to make this relationship work. After years of bickering and basically hating each other to pieces, they had somehow channeled that rage into love, an emotion that Jared had tried to suppress for so many years. Now that he finally felt something worth feeling, he wasn't about to have that ripped away from him.
tag >> Stella Meade
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Post by Stella Meade on May 12, 2015 22:26:45 GMT -5
Stella smiled and gave him another quick kiss on the lips. "Don't you worry about me Jar, I'm not intimidated by the twins or their mother. For now I will toe the line and make sure we don't get caught." She took both of his hands in hers and squeezed them gently. She knew that Jared was concerned with his status at the school with Marevas dead and the Pendergrast woman taking over for her, not knowing about the predicament her boyfriend had at home. She knew that soon the topic of what he would do over the summer break but she would let him bring up the topic for discussion whenever he was ready. "And don't be calling my boyfriend a screw up sir, he has his quirks but he is definitely no screw up!" she said with an exaggerated accent.
She shook back the sleeve of her cloak to check the time. They still had approximately one hour before curfew set in for the older students, and as she looked up at the sky, she saw the stars begin to appear. Tiny dots added pinpricks of light in the midnight blue that matched her own cloak and she closed her eyes. The idea that billions of light years of way those tiny pinpricks were gigantic balls of gas and flames giving light to another galaxy completely fascinated her and she was glad the early afternoon clouds had blown away to give them such a spectacular view. She pulled out her wand and swept it across the gardens, dimming the fairy lights that gave the garden a warm yellow glow. She reached up and undid the clasp of her cloak, letting it float down to the ground. She sat down on it and reached out to take Jared's hand again. "Come and lie with me, and look at the stars. They are so beautiful tonight I almost cannot take it," she said softly, giving his hand a kiss.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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Post by Jared Carmichael on May 13, 2015 16:49:02 GMT -5
Jared squeezed her hand. "Thanks Stell," he responded. He trusted that she would keep herself in check around Pendergrast and her twin daughters. It would be most difficult because from what he had heard, they were manipulative brats, but Jared only had a short time left at the school and he didn't want to spend it in detention everyday, or worse, expelled. Then, he would have to move permanently to Lichfield, in the inn where he worked during the summer. In exchange for his work, the innkeeper let him stay in a small, cramped room and gave him food. It wasn't ideal, but Marevas had ensured him that the innkeeper was a good man who would let Jared stay as long as he could. Now that Marvels was dead, would the innkeeper still honour the deal? Jared wasn't sure he was ready to find out.
Jared crawled down onto the ground and laid on Stella's cloak next to her, staring up at the stars. He had never been one for Astronomy, but there was no denying that one could easily get lost in their thoughts looking up at the universe stretching above them. "D'you think we'll be alright, after school is over?" Jared murmured softly. They hadn't really discussed much of what they were going to do after graduation in terms of their relationship. Stella no doubt had several aspirations and plans of becoming a successful witch. Jared simply didn't know his own plans, but the thought that his father was still out there left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he itched for revenge.
tag >> Stella Meade
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Post by Stella Meade on May 14, 2015 22:04:40 GMT -5
Stella scooted over and laid her head on Jared's chest and sighed contentedly. She knew Jared worried about his life almost every day, but at least now when he was with her he seemed to relax somewhat with her. They really had come such a long way since they first met a few years ago; if she knew then where they'd be today, she would have thought she'd been bewitched. Perhaps, in a way she had. She had finally let herself see the person behind the tough devil-may-care exterior and fallen in love with what she found. Love? Was it too soon to even be thinking that? She didn't know, but she knew she cared for him deeply and wanted to see him happy and at peace.
He asked if they would be okay after school was over; in truth Stella was no Seer like her acquaintance Aurora, nor could she predict the future. But she had the power of knowledge that she had within her, and she tilted her head upwards to look at him. "There was once a time where I didn't think I could stand the sight of you, you know," she said quietly, a small smile coming to her lips. "When we first met you were an arrogant prat who knew how to push my buttons," she laughed, then sobered up. "But yes I do think we'll be alright after school and you know why? Because after everything, the thought of you not being in my life is not a life I want any part of. I want to be with you throughout the good, the bad and the ugly." Stella stopped short; the words were bubbling at her lips, but she still couldn't be sure of his reaction if she said them. "Besides, I want you to meet my sister Bridget, she was a Slytherin as well as a bit of a rebel herself," she added quickly, hoping he didn't sense that hesitation.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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Post by Jared Carmichael on May 25, 2015 17:39:28 GMT -5
Jared let a chuckle escape his lips as Stella mentioned their first few encounters together. Jared had been rather unpleasant in all those circumstances, but that was when he was dealing a some personal demons - namely his parents. He refused to feel sad and so he had channeled all of his energy into bringing other people down, including at the time, Stella. It wasn't the healthiest coping method, but it was the only defense mechanism he knew of to protect himself from the stress and anxiety his situation was causing him. "Yeah I was a real arse," he admitted. "Still am, others would say."
Jared listened to Stella speak about him meeting her sister Bridget, who had been a Slytherin while at school. It seemed very comical to him that Stella, who used to seem so anti-Slytherin and so completely pro-Gryffindor, actually had a sibling in Slytherin. He had never had any siblings, or any semblance of a real family. He was raised by different nannies all his life who attempted to be substitutes for his mother, but always failed. The one thing Jared had craved most as an infant had been denied to him. No wonder he had been such a shell of a person. "What's it like? Y'know, having a real family," Jared inquired quietly, letting his eyes focus on the constellation of stars spread above him.
tag >> Stella Meade
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Post by Stella Meade on May 28, 2015 10:26:25 GMT -5
Stella laughed. "Yes, you were an arse, but people can change and you have, whether you admit it or not. You are dating a Gryffindor," she reasoned. She tilted her head up to look at him as he asked her what it was like to have a real family, a pang of sympathy echoing in her heart. She knew Jared was the way he was due to his detached upbringing by his parents, unloading him on nannies while they went off and did who knows what. Her family hadn't been like that; it had been loud and crazy especially with the triplets being born the year she went off to Hogwarts but she wouldn't ever trade the experience for anything.
"It's different, and loud. It was just my sister and I for so long and we had our moments of battles for sure but there was always something....soothing about the controlled chaos that surrounds my family. I remember when the triplets were born it was the month before I was to go to Hogwarts and I felt so upset that my mother couldn't take me to Diagon Alley to buy all my school supplies and see me off on the Express that I actually didn't write home for two months. But then when I came home for Christmas that first year and got to play with my baby brothers I realized that they were worth it," she told him, the anecdote from her first year as a Hogwarts student just spilling out. She chuckled to herself. "I can't believe they're six almost seven now. They all look quite alike too so they get into so much trouble," she told him. She wondered if Jared would have been any different if he had had parents who actually paid attention and cared for him; she wondered if she would still be with him if that had been the case. "I've told you my mother is a Slytherin alumna too right? My father was in Ravenclaw; I'm the first Gryffindor in about...three generations? My great-grandfather was a Gryffindor I think," she added, knowing he'd probably find the idea of her sister AND mother being former Slytherins a little interesting.
TAG - Jared Carmichael
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