A New Friend

Cecilia sat in the towers a lit cigarette in her hand. The small room was filled with smoke. she had her hair up in a ponytail with a few stray strands hanging around her face. She looked out the window at the night sky. Lately she had not been able to sleep and she came up here a lot. She put the cigarette to her lips and took a long drag before laying her head back against the wall. Leaving it there she started to dig through her bag looking for something but she didn't know what exactly. She didn't find it and tossed the bag across the room.

Cecilia got up and walked over to the window. She looked out across the grounds taking another drag on the cigarette then taking it from her lips. She sighed quietly she kicked the wall forgetting she was wearing flip flops, "Shit," she said under her breath fallowed by a few other words.

Angelique coughed. Cigarette smoke. Disgusting. She said as much.

"That's disgusting," she coughed again. "You can get patches. You should get patches. Save the rest of us from being poisoned."

"Why am I here?"

Middle of the night at the top of a freezing cold tower was not her idea of a good time. She had no idea why she was meeting Cecilia Krum except that Eli had told her their mother had been blasted off the face of the planet. Things like that made Angelique curious.

"They also make gum," Cecilia said snidely to Angelquie. She looked over at the girl, "Why did we come here again," she asked not completely sure herself. She looked out the window then pot out the cigerette. "I'd think you'd be use to the smoke. I mean you are in the same house as Elijah, I know he smokes. Maybe I'll get one of them after this pack. Just for when i'm at school." She picked up her bag and put the stuff that had fallen back out. "please don't tell me Eli sent you. I wouldn't belive it any way, he hates me."

Angelique just watched. Cecilia could probably feel herself being watched, and judged. It was just how things worked when you were a self-conscious fifth year girl.

"Don't be stupid," she said. "Nobody with an ounce of sense would believe Elijah has the ability to dictate my actions."

Now that the cigarette was out, she drew her wand and siphoned the rest of the smoke out of the room. Honestly, Angelique didn't understand why so many people at this school thought smoking made them cool. It was just turning them into corpses before their time.

"So... you smoke, you break curfew. You want to be a very naughty girl; show your brother he's not so special, yeah?" Angelique surmised. "The problem with doing it up here in the middle of the night is... nobody will ever see you. Part of having a reputation is being conspicuous."

“Do you really believe I want to be anything like Elijah?” Cecilia asked turning to look at Angelique, “Do you really think I’m that stupid? As he once put it. I’m in Ravenclaw I’m suppose to be interested in books not in guys or anything else. I’m just a stupid little girl in his eyes. I don’t care about some stupid reputation.” She turned back around looking out the window. “I’m going shopping this weekend in London, you want to come?” Cecilia asked. She first had stuff to take care off before she went shopping but then she would go.

"I believe you want to show Elijah you're not a stupid little girl," Angelique replied. "I think it would be a good thing if you did it, too. He's got no respect for women, so who better to teach him some than his own sister? You know he told me your mother was a b!tch? Told me she'd been killed and then insulted her in the very next breath."

It was a bit of a risk, using the girl's mother like that. Hopefully she didn't have the same opinion as Eli, but even if she did, Angelique knew most people shied from thinking ill of the dead.

The problem was that Eli really didn't have any respect for women. It was Angelique's biggest grievance with him. She'd have taken steps herself, except that he took no notice of her. His sister on the other hand... Even if Eli did hate Cecilia (which she didn't for a moment believe) he'd have something to say about that.

"Certainly I'll come," she agreed.

“At least you got that part right,” Cecilia said looking at the girl. She pushed her hair out of her face. She believed what Angelique said was true. Who better to teach Elijah this lesson than his little sister. She was bingeing to like this girl. “Eli, has many open opinions about our mother. He didn’t like her, as if that isn’t obvious. Though Eli was right, Mum could be a B****. At least she was when I bothered to spend time with her instead of reading or practicing.”

Cecilia had been planning on this shopping trip for a while. They would be going to London and going to a few stores she just had yet to find the money to pay for the stuff she wanted to get besides the other stuff she would end up getting. “Do you know that kid Keith?” Cecilia asked out of the blue.

Mrs Krum must have done something really horrible in a past life to end up with children as loving as Eli and Cecilia in this one. Perhaps it was better than she'd moved along so quickly. Angelique was about to repeat some tired cliche about people always loving and wanting the best for their children when Cecilia suddenly asked about the Ravenclaw boy.

"Shortstop with a scam up his sleeve," she summed up. "He puts the Weasleys to shame, but he can be bought off if you know your business."

"What about him?"

"nothing really,"Cecilia said looking back out the window, "i was just wondering is all." she shook her head and looked at the girl," you wanna know the truth? i bet you do. i was thinking about looking into this scam of his. you know that whole spice stuff." it was another reson for Eli to think she was stupid. to think she was inferior to him. though she felt that she could stand a friend ship with this girl it might help her in the long run.

Angelique did not know of "this spice stuff." So far as she was aware, Keith Nicholas merely took advantage of any opportunity that came his way. She supposed it wouldn't be uncharacteristic of him to attempt to sell off some rare ingredient he'd learnt about in Herbology, but what Cecilia wanted with it, she had no idea.

"No," she admitted. "I don't see why you'd care if Keith was scamming people with spices, anyway. He's always running little cons like that. Anyone fool enough to fall for it deserves what they get."