There's no room in war for feelings

Hurt me to the core, still healing
@emily @jesse | outfit

Summer was new and fresh and, somehow, she had gotten used to the purist tendencies of one of her friends enough to want to hang out. There was no hiding the fact that Emily and Delia were on very different ends of the spectrum when it came to their political beliefs. If it hadn't been for her mother's position within the Ministry Delia may have voice her distaste long ago, but she had kept somewhat quiet. Her mother had urged her to do so, so she had. As much as it pained her to listen to Emily's tissies about pureblooded pride and the death eater agenda she was so boisterous about. she did it. There had been many times that she had slipped and spoke her mind, though not enough to warrant any strong distaste from her friend. The way the two saw each other was quite comical. Each one so sure that the other would some day be cured of their afflictions. As if Delia could ever rid herself of the muggleness in her DNA. 

Her father had been a muggle, through and through, and her mother had never seen an issue with those types of people. In fact she enjoyed bouncing between their world and the muggle one. Since before Delia's birth she had worked two jobs, working between the ministry and the muggle foster care system. Sometimes her two careers even intersected, like it had with Jesse. He hadn't been the only one, of course. In most cases her mother would re-assign a magical child to a magical foster care home, but not Jesse. He was far too gone by the time she had reached him and with his track record no one wanted him. It was a shame, really. Delia had always found the boy to be kind to most people, though his mouth was a different story. And his temper? Oh Merlin, she'd never seen a fuse so short. Still, they had become close. At least, she thought they were close. Sort of brotherly, he was to her, and it was because of that she felt so strongly to root in the way of the muggleborns. 

Delia knew that if Emily really understood the level in which she cared for them she would disband their friendship immediately. That wouldn't be good. Especially considering the closeness of her, Terrianne, and Delia's friendship. It was mostly because of Terrianne that Delia kept her mouth shut. She liked the little clique they had formed, like the dynamic of it, and was not quite willing to see it change. This was to be her last year of school starting in the fall and she certainly didn't wish to enter it without friends by her side. Part of keeping her friendship with Emily included keeping her aloof to the fact that the flat she shared with her mother was, indeed, in Muggle London. Luckily she had the floo network to make sure she never had to really step foot outside the apartment for her friend and her to come and go.

Today the good ol' floo proved its worth again transporting Delia and Emily both back to the flat, Emily being none the wiser. The two had been on a girls day out, something she actually did enjoy doing with the girl. The plan had been for her to go home afterwards, get her things and spend the night at Emily's house. As far as she knew that was still the plan, and even if it wasn't they still needed to go to her flat so that she could take care of one issue in particular. First and foremost her job was to make sure her friend would be comfortable and secondly....she needed a damn shower. It had been nothing but hilarious to have that bloody owl shit on the sleeve of her top when she had been out. It also gave her an excuse to buy another top to wear after she had thrown the poo one out! Even without the damn shirt she still felt disgusting and needed the damn shower.

"Ugh," she grimaced throwing down her shopping bags onto her bed. The two had lead into her bedroom, her bitching about wanting a shower the entire way. "It's like I can still feel the ghost of it on my arm," she glanced at her now bare arm. She had been wearing a tee-shirt before and now she had on her brand new tank top. "I desperately need to wash the sins of all birds from my body," she joked, absentmindedly going through the motions of putting her hair up without having an actual hair tie. She dramatically let her blonde hair fall, shaking it loose as she looked at her friend. "Are you quite alright alone while I take a quick rinse?"
 

Bad blood

Outfit

Emily had enjoyed her day with Delia, almost enough to forget that she was a half blood, she had not anticipated liking the girl or Terrianne but she had to admit they were both actually fun to be around. She figured she had made so many enemies in the past and if they could stick around this long, why rock the boat in their already delicate friendship? She was hoping to help them become more purist in their views so that they would one day marry someone pure or at least half blood and at some point, their lineages would even out. At the very least she did not want another death eater camp to ever happen and she thought that if she could change their minds about death eaters it would somehow be a step towards preventing that in the future. 

Emily blamed muggleborns for all of her problems, the deaths of her grandparents and the subsequent issues that had taken place at Hogwarts. She felt that if they had just stayed in the muggle world where they belonged none of these issues would have ever happened. She, of course, did not wish death on muggleborns but she certainly did not feel they had earned the privilege of living in the magical world. If only she could somehow help Delia and Terrianne to think of their pure roots and ignore the other half of themselves then she thought they could truly understand where she was coming from, after all, it could have just as easily been their ancestors in those work camps. However, she could tell that Delia was much less likely to oblige her political conversations than Terrianne was and so she decided to let today be just about shopping and enjoying time with her friend apart from political agendas and views. 

She had thought it rather funny earlier when the owl decided to leave a sizable present on Delia's arm, but rather than mock her friend she suggested another outfit for her instead. Emily was not surprised at all when Delia wanted a shower immediately upon entering her apartment and when Delia asked if Emily minded her rinsing the filth of the animal off her she, of course, did not mind, knowing she would have felt the same way. She simply replied, "no not at all, go ahead". She sat down on the bed and began going through her enormous pile of clothes she had gotten while waiting for her friend to return. She wasn't sure how she had found so many items in one day but she was satisfied knowing that everything she got would look great on her.

Just as Emily was planning out future outfits she thought she heard someone at the door but before she could have time to answer it, a tall male covered in tattoos walked in through the door, she had never seen him before but she thought it might be one of the filthy muggleborns that Delia's mom was always helping. "Excuse me can I help you?" she said in a snarky tone with her hands on her hips. 

THERE'S NO ROOM IN WAR FOR FEELINGS

HURT ME TO THE CORE, STILL HEALING

There hadn't been too many times that Emily had agreed to come over to Delia's little flat. It was a cozy place, small and quaint, nothing like the homes of the pureblood elites like Emily. Still, she loved it dearly. She did feel a little bad to have to leave her friend stranded in her room alone while she took a quick shower but Lord, have mercy, she needed that damn shower. As much as Delia loved birds she did not enjoy their feces on her. Who the hell would? Certainly there were some strange hippie styled muggles out there who would. They'd put it on a face cream or something worse; though what could be worse than that? She didn't want to even imagine. If there was one thing that had always struck her strangely about the muggle world it was the lengths that they would go to in order to achieve 'magical' results. Women, especially older women, would slather their faces in cream after cream in search of the perfect anti-aging complex. She could recall having seen a bottle of eye cream at Morrison's gas station, where she had used to meet Jesse at in Peckham when he lived there, that said it's contents included pig fetuses. Fetuses! Merlin, if it hadn't been for the Ministry's ever watching eye she would likely have sold actual aging potions from her flat just to save the poor lasses who needed them so damn badly!

Delia rummaged through her dresser reminiscing about the older days when Jesse used to live in the muggle world during the summers. It was a lot easier to visit him then, and it also almost guaranteed that she'd see him more than she currently had been. He was busy now, which was understandable. Working in the mines, spending time with Truly, and....whatever the hell he was doing that left him so bruised up all the time. She knew the boy liked to fight but the frequency of which she had seen bruises on him had been quite high; higher than just the once in a while type fight would leave. Her mother, the batty woman she was, had went straight into CPS mode and began wondering if Truly had been beating him. Which was absolutely. Fucking. Hilarious. Delia had never laughed to hard at her mother's outlandish accusations as she had then. Truly? Beating up Jesse? Ten out of Ten, grade A comedy. Monica had found it quite hilarious too after she noticed the error of her ways. It wasn't her fault, really. She had been trained to assume the worst. Once she realized how ridiculous she had sounded both her and Delia laughed about the subject for days!

Honestly though, if she wanted to beat him she likely could have. He wouldn't hit her back, Delia knew this for a fact. Though Truly was quite a bit smaller than Jesse, she was pretty certain that if the head girl had tried to swing on him he'd have been able to subdue her. Or maybe he just likes it, she rolled her eyes as she picked through her clothes. He was a strange boy, she wouldn't have put it passed him. What was more likely was that he was fighting again. Delia had heard rumors of a fighting ring downtown London somewhere, exactly where she didn't know. Something told her that he had started putting his skills to use there, though he hadn't come right out and said it. He wouldn't, she figured. Not in front of mum. Mum was the only woman she figured could actually beat up Jesse. She figured that because for years she watched her give him a few good slaps that never once dodged. He took them with stride and a hint of respect. If Monica had decided to beat his ass he'd have likely taken it the same way. Delia pulled herself out a new set of clothes with a smile, imagining her mum and Jesse is an full out brawl. She might actually pay to see that. No, in fact, she would. Put twenty galleons on mum, Jesse would most certainly go down, if only in a fit of hysterics.

"Alright," she said turning to her friend who had begun sorting out clothes on the bed. "I'll be right back." Delia made her way into the bathroom, shutting the door and cranking on the shower. With the harsh sound of the running water she hadn't heard Jesse enter the flat.

You're just another reason why I stay inside

Just another reason why I hate this life
This has been a long time comin, i swear
outfit

Things were finally looking up. Jesse never really a knew time where he could say that as surely as he felt that he could now. There was still the dark looming clouds of registration hovering over his head but they weren't as heavy as they had once been. He was seeing sun again for the first time in a long time. He needed that. Kolna and the mines had been hard, harder than he would ever admit. He was strong and proud. It made him unwilling to open up and talk about the things that had hurt him. It made him feel weak if he did. And with society the way it was, he couldn't afford to show weakness. The only person he was willing to let in had been Truly. It was always Truly, ever since first year. She was the one, and only, person he felt that he could actually talk to without fear of judgement. Even more so than Monica. Even more than Delia.

Monica was a good woman, a kind woman, but she wasn't exactly what he would consider a parent. She was the closest thing he had ever had to one, but she wasn't his. She never would be. He knew that she had put up with so much of his shit over the years and in an earlier time in his life he may have thought her a saint for it, but not anymore. After Kolna, after her abandoning him for eight fucking months, he could never see her destined for sainthood. He knew that she had done it for her safety and for Delia's, but what about his own? She claimed to care but leaving him like that? It was a funny way of fucking showing it. Still, he had been relieved to have seen her at the Ministry the day he left Pyxis. Even a little touched that she had thought of taking him home with her, but after some thought he didn't feel that way any more. She was doing her job. He was still seventeen, after all, still a minor, it was her duty to make sure he was housed, fed and educated. Pyxis had knocked educated off the list, all she had to worry about were the other two.

He had relieved her of that burden, too, when he told her about Truly. She was the only family he needed, the only family he had. Her and Delia. Delia had at least visited him at Kolna. She had taken it upon herself to help him, and the others, something that Monica never fucking did. God, he was so angry at her. At the Ministry he had thought that he wasn't, thought maybe it was silly to be, but he still was. He was sure it was something that would pass, at least he hoped it would. In the mean time he still needed her help. He had to swallow his anger and make the visit to get some of his paperwork from her. Birth certificates, identification numbers, whatever the fuck he needed to open a bank account. He and Truly need to get one, a muggle one, if they were going to keep his earning from  the fights a secret. His life as he knew it depended on keeping it quiet. If his assigned auror found out....he didn't know what that could mean for him. He didn't know what that meant for him and Truly, and he didn't want to leave her again. Ever again, if he could help it.

In fact one of the only things on his mind was just getting home to be with her. He had been in the mines all day, finally free, and all he wanted to do was go home and see her and let the rest of the world just fade away. Jesse felt a little urgency as he waltzed into Monica's flat; he wanted to get in, get out with what he needed, while making minimal contact with her, and get the fuck home. He walked briskly through the flat in search of her but found no sign of her. There was a light coming from Delia's room and he figured she might know where her mother was. "Hey D-" he called as he walked in only to find a totally different blonde in the room. Jesse groaned looking up at the ceiling asking God why the hell he had to make contact with this demon spawn today. He knew the girl--well, knew of her. One of Delia's little friends, the purist-y one. Someone he had hoped to never meet. "Fuck, it's you, " he mumbled under his breath before asking a question she could actually hear. "Where's D? I need to find Monica."

we're not gonna take it

Emily now knew for sure after seeing him standing there, it was obvious based on his demeanor, the "I hate the world" attitude that he presented, not to mention his bruises and all around look of dirt from the mines. He was most likely muggleborn and she could not understand why anyone would allow him to be in their home. She thought he should be grateful to the ministry providing him with meaningful work to do in a world where very little prospects would be open to him, but of course, Emily thought, that was rightfully so. Muggleborns deserved the treatment they got after what they allowed death eaters and their families to go through. He probably would have her whole family killed if he had the chance, she thought. 

In truth she was afraid of muggleborns and all they represented, to her they made her less special in some way as her family spent centuries keeping their blood and their magic pure so that each generation could thrive, but he was somehow just lucky enough to have possessed this magic out of nowhere and from no one. It made very little sense to Emily, and it just seemed very unfair. However, there was more to it than that, she also worried that someday these muggleborns would rise up again and her family would end up in another work camp like the one her grandparents had died in. She felt the need to keep them in their place to protect her family in some way. This was why she was so supportive of the ministry's regulations against muggleborns, if they could not earn an income then they could not possibly build an army and that was important to Emily. 

She looked over at the young man and she felt disgust, how dare he feel the right to be here to be in this world instead of the muggle one where he belonged. How dare he feel like he could just waltz in and ask her questions so rudely. She did not know him, she did not care to know him and she could not imagine a time when that would ever change. She looked him over once more probably showing the faintest signs of repulsion across her face. Glaring at him darkly all while being too scared to move. She was intrigued by him in the way that someone would be intrigued by a zoo animal, they were fascinating to look at but also terrifying to be near when you did not know what they were thinking. 

She steadied her gaze and tried to act normal, she continued looking over her clothes if only to make him wait for his answer and to show him he barely deserved her time. After what felt like a long enough pause she looked back at him and said "DELIA is in the shower and I do not know where her mother is at present, shall I take a message for you? Or would you prefer to return later from whatever muggle hole you crawled out of?" She wanted to be sure to emphasize Delia's name as if to tell him he had no right to call someone of even halfblood status by a nickname. 

YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I STAY INSIDE

JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I HATE THIS LIFE
THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMIN, I SWEAR

In an earlier time in his life Jesse would have loved to waste all his time pissing this blonde bitch off. In fact, he used to find great joy in irritating purists. He found their ideals ridiculous, or as he put, fucking stupid. As far as he was concerned they were all the same, all possessed magic. In the muggle world there were people who would kill to have magic; there were people who made their living giving off the illusion of being able to do magic. The fact that he actually had the ability, he and every student that had attended Hogwarts... they should all be grateful to have that gift at all. Some people took it upon themselves to believe that the gift that had been given was somehow stronger or more powerful simply because their parents had been given the same gift. It wasn't. Not in Jesse's eyes.

In school he had been called Mudblood quite a bit. Many kids were upset about the work camps and blamed it entirely on the muggleborns. As if Jesse had a single fucking thing to do with any of that. He didn't like them being in those camps. Rumors flew about the conditions they faced and now...now he understood what that was like. He hadn't liked the death eaters facing it years ago, but he had said nothing. Just as no one had said a damn thing about the muggleborns now. No, instead he had made idiotic decisions and, instead of fighting for what was right, fought only for his own honor. He had even gotten the word mudblood tattooed down his forearm. It was a big fuck you to everyone who hated him for his blood, a ballsey move that said he didn't care what they called him. He was what he was. He could never change, didn't want to. Not until registration, anyway. For eight months he thought that he would have given anything to have had at least one magical parent. He could have been cosy at home instead of living in that hell hole they called Kolna.

Now he didn't really give a shit. He had Truly, he had a wand-- albeit a shitty wand-- and he was finally making something of himself. Sure, it hadn't been exactly what he had wanted for himself but it was something. He had wanted to be a professor once. Wanted to return to Hogwarts and teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, ha, as if that were even a possibility any more. There was no Defense at Hogwarts now. There was no way a muggleborn would be able to teach there either, let alone obtain the schooling enough to even be considered for a position. So instead of teaching defense he did the next best thing and practiced it in the ring. He had actually been doing quite well in his fights, winning more than he was losing. It was a steady progress, one that took so much of his time and effort and health. He knew that four nights a week was a lot to be in the ring, but he didn't care. The money was good, Truly was a healer, they were making it work. 

The only thing that hadn't been working was the amount of time he spent away from home. He was in the mines every day, fighting most nights. He was missing Truly, again. It was not nearly as bad as it had been, of course, when he was in Kolna or Pyxis. At least now he could see her! He could see her every day. Today that was the only thing that had gotten him through. The fight the night before had been taxing and working the mines all day hadn't helped. He was exhausted. He just wanted to be home. To be wrapped up on the couch with Truly, listening to her day, hearing how excited she sounded when she talked about new things she learned at work. What he hadn't wanted was to run into this pretentious little rat.

"Please, the only hole you want me crawling into is yours--" he scoffed, leaning back and looking down the hall toward where he knew the bathroom to be. He loved doing that to those prissy pureblood girls. Sexual little jabs like that always seemed to turn them flustered and disgusted and he absolutely loved it. If he hadn't been so exhausted he might have even smiled in amusement but he was distracted. He just wanted to get what he needed and get out. "Best not leave a message, not sure that your tiny purist mind can hold that much information all at once." Jesse looked back at her with the most feigned smile he could manage. His fingers, still blackened from the mines, rapped against the door frame and he tried to think of what he should do. Should he look for the paperwork himself? Maybe Delia could--"How long has she been in there?" He inquired, looking once more down the hall. Maybe she would know where Monica kept that sort of shit.

Look what you just made me do

Emily could not believe the audacity of this mudblood, he even had it tattooed on his arm as if it was a term of endearment. He had the nerve to think that she could ever want him? She was both infuriated by the thought and blushing at the innuendo. He was cocky, conceited, and foul-mouthed everything that someone below her should not be. Yet his ability to even entertain such thoughts intrigued her, she was fascinated by this creature while simultaneously wanting to run away as fast as she could from him. She could tell that her thoughts were showing through on her pale cheeks, but not wanting to admit defeat and look away she just kept her gaze on him, hoping her eyes would pierce his very soul and send him flying across the room, but she did not possess that kind of magic and even if she had, she wasn't even sure anymore if she could want him to be hurt for someone who could take the blows she had given with a grain of salt had earned her respect even if she was too proud to admit it. 

He was actually the first mudblood that she had ever really talked to, she had certainly made fun of them behind their backs and mocked them but it was different to see one this close and in such an intimate setting like a bedroom. She could not pinpoint her exact feelings towards him although she knew it couldn't possibly be attraction, instead she thought it was possibly admiration for his courage, she even somehow felt a little sorry for him. What had he seen, what had he been through in life to be so used to such things as people talking to him like this? She tried to remember a time when she did not hate mudbloods, when she did not even call them such things or wince in disgust when she saw them. She recalled her grandparents teaching her about mudbloods at an early age and how they explained the world to her in such a clear way. Mudbloods were wrong, a flaw in nature they would say. It was almost as if two dolphins had a horse for a baby, it made no natural sense for two muggles to have a magical child. He would have most certainly been a defect in their eyes. 

Her brother would not feel that way though, Ezra was kind to everyone, their grandparents had not influenced him in the way they had influenced Emily nor was he as impacted by their deaths as she was at least not in the same way. It had truly crushed her for them to die and knowing that people stood by and just let it happen, these perfectly normal pure magical people died in a world made solely for magical people and no one batted an eye, yet these glitches of magic these unnatural humans were allowed to walk around freely and continue living in this place. She no longer had a gaze towards him but rather a glare, she wanted to make him pay, although it should not have made sense to her, in that moment he was the reason they had died. In that moment his sole purpose was for her to take her revenge. 

She looked down very briefly as if to block out the twinge of pity she had just had for him only a moment earlier, but when she looked back up she saw him staring back at her asking her the simple question of how long Delia had been in the shower. She could have let it go, she could have resisted and said nothing but her heart had blackened and the only thing that could flow past her lips at this point were unkind words. She inched closer to him, she wanted to see him twitch with fear, she got as close as she needed so that her whisper to him could be heard by his ears only "It would be beneath me to respond to your comments in the way in which you were hoping for, but know this, you are not as brave as you think you are", she retreated back a few paces to give him room, "I can go and check on Delia if you would like, but I don't know if my tiny purist mind could handle such a task". She looked at him in a mocking tone with a half smile now laying directly on her lips. She was satisfied with herself and although he did not seem phased much, it was a victory to her nonetheless. 

YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I STAY INSIDE

JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY I HATE THIS LIFE
THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMIN, I SWEAR

Jesse had never understood why so many purebloods felt like they had the gall to take him on. They were all so loud with their distaste but couldn't handle it when he returned the favor. Over the years Jesse had become somewhat of an expert on how to piss off the purists and he did so very fucking happily. He liked to get under their skin. It was almost as though he could taint them, if only for a second. Like if he was able to get under their skin then his mudblood might mix with the gold they thought they had rushing through their veins. He would make sure it was rushing, too. Irritating, infuriating, astounding them. He would make their hearts pump louder and faster with every word that came out of his mouth. Every filthy, cocky word. He loved to have that power over them, over someone who believed that they were all-powerful over him. It was who he was. Jesse was a fighter, inside and out. Sometimes he fought with words, other times with fists.

Luckily for him his fists had actually begun to pay off, but if he could have been paid for the work his mouth made he'd have appreciated it much more. He was loud mouthed, everyone knew it. In fact his boss, Dion, liked to tell him all the time about how his loud mouth would fuck everything up. Jesse knew that wasn't true. He was obnoxious, not dumb. He knew better than to say the wrong things. Especially now with so much on the line. His lips knew the words to say and not to say, somehow they did. It was lucky the filter on them worked as fast as his wit at times or he'd have been in a world of trouble. That had been the only properly working filter on his body. The one that was supposed to filter his actions had broken long ago and no repairman had ever come to fix it. At this point, he imagined, the damage was likely permanent. Had it not been broken, however, he would have never signed into the ring that fateful night and fought U-Jin. He wouldn't have got his ass kicked either, but that was neither here nor there.

His filter was still broken, even now. It had been why, as the girl stepped closer to him, he hadn't flinched. Though a functional mind would have likely done so. He had been up against more purebloods lately than he ever though possible, they had power over him and knew it. Still, something about this tiny girl made flinching not even an autonomic response. Emily drew closer to him, looking like the epitome of a Slytherin. She was hissing her words like a snake. Venomous. If only she knew that even snakes cannot survive the flames that burned in him.

As she stopped before him, shooting poison through her eyes, his own caught fire. An inferno which blazed into her through both his blue eyes. Reaching out he grabbed her face in his one hand, squeezing lightly against her cheeks. He towered over her, much larger, much fuller in stature but he leaned down to speak directly in her face. "No, girl--" his face twisted into a devilish smile-- "I am even braver than that. Even braver than you." He released his grip on her with a light shove. Jesse would never brutally lay hands on a woman but he had wanted her to know that he could. If he had wanted to, he could destroy her completely. Her blood wouldn't stop him. Magic could, maybe, but in that moment she wouldn't have been fast enough. He would have made sure of that.

The girl retreated from him but the smile on his face remained, though faded. He couldn't deny that he had gotten a little rush from that. It felt good to stand up to someone who would have him oppressed. He wished he could do that to all the death eaters who crossed his path but, again, he was not stupid. In this society, he would take what he could get. Even if that meant standing up to a little girl who thought herself bigger than him. She continued snarking on and he shook his head, laughing softly through his nose. She was like him, in a way. Not knowing when to shut up. "You're right, it's a difficult task. Better stick to your clothes--" he nodded toward the heap on the bed. "I'll just do it myself." he rolled his eyes as he leaned against the door frame. He stared at the girl, intrigued slightly by her. She was fiesty for such a small thing. "DELIA," he yelled, glancing over his shoulder. He waited to hear if she had turned the water off.

I don't like your little games

Don't like your tilted stage

The role you made me play

Of the fool, no, I don't like you

Emily was unsure how to respond, no man had ever just...grabbed her like that. Although it was lightly and did not cause her pain, it was enough to make the slightest bit of fear cross her mind. She was now in a state of disbelief, no mudblood had ever had the courage to come near her much less to touch her in such a way. She could not decide if he was very brave or very stupid, but either way, she felt overpowered and Emily was not the type to allow that, she was stubborn enough to stand there and fight with him all day long. She did not like to lose but she felt there was no way to win an argument with a mudblood, in her mind their reasoning was simple, much like the muggles who gave birth to them, she thought. 

There was also Delia to consider, she had not wanted to cause waves with the girl who was becoming a close friend to her. However, this particular mudblood made it so hard for her to resist, something about his whole demeanor just bothered her to her core. Was he charming? She thought he had the potential to be. Was he an annoying, rude, egotistical, narcissistic parasite on the wizarding world? Emily thought yes for that too. She could barely contain herself from wanting to report him but she did not for reasons that she could not even explain to herself. She essentially just let him get away with it and she was already hating herself for it. 

Emily had just wanted some innocent time with her friend, but that was no longer the case this boy had come in and changed the whole scene and she had no option to her that seemed appealing enough other than to let him do so. This was not a position that Emily liked to be in, and so as he shoved her away she gave him a scowl that was meant to send hairs up all the way down his spine. She hated to admit it but she had sort of enjoyed this little game of cat and mouse and although she did not want to upset her friend by getting into a heated argument with this mudblood she still could not resist when he told her to stick to her clothes and even though he had called for Delia, Emily still had to reply to his arrogance. "I'll stick to my clothes, and you can stick to your grimy little job mudblood, but I think you have been all too worried about my clothes this entire time, perhaps no one teaches lowly creatures such as yourself to never touch a lady. You are not worthy to put your hands on me and I can tell by your cocky manner that you think I enjoyed it but your pride will have to be wounded because no pureblood woman of any class could ever enjoy being touched by something as wretched as you."

Her voice had been clear and a little louder than she had expected it to be but she was satisfied with what she had said and she felt that while she could not overpower him with might she could overpower him with words and with a look, she smirked as him as the words left her lips and she waited to see what would happen next as the thrill of the argument had kind of excited her. 

man, i wish i never met you in the first place

Yeah that karma's gonna get you in the worst way

There was a certain level of comfort whenever he was at Monica's. He had spent many days and nights there in his seventeen years, though not enough to have been considered a permanent fixture there. He had never saw the place as home though he had wanted it to be one time or another. As a small child he would beg and plead for Monica to take him home with her and she would always decline. He never knew how hard she cried in her car after dropping him off wishing she could have taken him with her. She had tried a few times to take custody but the muggle courts hadn't allowed it. He was a conflict of interest and she hadn't had the money or resources to house another child. Sure, the flat was big enough for the three of them but she needed more than just space. She needed proof of income, a supportive partner, a career that didn't have her running ragged all hours of the day and night. 

Had Jesse known about the struggles she had been through to try and give him a home, a real home, he might not have been so upset with her now. He hadn't known though and so the anger in him was real, so real it almost felt permanent. For her to just leave him at Kolna without a word. No visits, no owls, not even a message sent with Delia. It was like she had abandoned him for real this time. He was used to the temporary feeling of abandonment she gave him, after all. She had left him more times than he had cared to count at different foster families. Dropped him off and drove away. He was used to that, to the only person who actually stuck around and meant something in his life to just...leave. At least back then he knew she would come back. If he was in trouble or if he needed her she would come back. Well he had needed her at Kolna. More than he had ever needed her, he needed her then. And she had just been gone. 

The logical part of him knew that the world was a dangerous place and not just for people like him. Monica worked in the Ministry which was crawling with death eaters and she had an image to uphold there. Being a halfblood there was a risk, but being a halfblood with a soft spot for the very muggleborns which the Ministry sought to damn? That was a risk she surely couldn't take. He knew it. Didn't like it, but he knew. Still, when he had run into Delia and she had begun coming for small visits he thought maybe he'd have received some sort of condolence from her. He need to hear it. To hear that everything was going to be OK, that she was going to, somehow, sort this out. Even if it was a lie he had wanted to hear it. But he hadn't. Instead it was nothing but silence and it was like a twisting blade in his heart. 

And then at the Ministry? She had acted like there was nothing wrong, like she hadn't been just stabbing him in the heart for eight fucking months. He had been so filled with relief to see her he had almost forgiven all her sins right there. He almost believed he had, but now it was very clear that he hadn't. He wanted to fucking hate her for what she did to him, or didn't do. He wanted her to feel that twisting blade digging through her rib cage like he had. He wanted to make her feel like she was nothing to him, not anymore. There was no room for her in his life anymore. Truly was his family, the only family he needed aside from Delia, and Monica wasn't shit anymore. 

Walking into her flat he had been already stewing in his anger almost hoping she had been home so that he could make a show of loathing her. Instead he had walked in to find this....tiny feisty little thing. Mighty mouse, he thought with a huff. He wasn't sure where she had gotten her stubbornness only that she had been dealt it in spades. Was she really that full of herself or was she just fucking stupid? He was enormous compared to her, had just grabbed her like she was nothing, and yet she still continued on? It was amusing, almost endearing. What a shame to have wasted such bravery in the Slytherin house. She would have made a great Lion.

His appreciation for her attitude didn't stretch much further than that. He couldn't say he didn't respect her outspokenness but damn was she annoying. If not arrogant and pretentious. Jesse nestled against the door frame as he looked back at the girl. He could have swore he heard the sound of water shutting off in the bathroom but he wasn't exactly focused on that right now. He was focused on her, his face the picture of amusement as his one brow was raised. "A lady?" Jesse huffed a laugh a half-cocked smirk on his face. "You're no lady yet. Just an annoying little girl who needs to be put in her place, but by the sounds of it you must think that place would be a pedestal. Well, I'm not here to kiss your ass, twist."

"Oh I don't think, sweets, I know you enjoyed it--" his eyes smoldered with the fire they had held moments ago and he knew he could get further under her skin. Jesse leaned further against the frame of the door leaning his back against it and crossing his arms. "You can pretend to be higher and mightier if you'd like but we both know you'll be thinking of my grimy mudblood hands all over you later. Girls like you love to be touched by wretched things like me." He looked her up and down once for good measure before letting out a chuckle. "Unfortunately for you it'll just have to be a fantasy, I'm well spoken for." Just then he turned his attention back down the hall swearing he heard the creaking of the bathroom door.