On the Roof, alone with thoughts

Keith sat on the roof of Hogwarts castle, idly studying the lake. The day was warm, the sun was shining, and life was good. Spice flow was at an all time high, and he was gearing up to expand. If all went well, he'd quadruple his revenue within the next few months.

Only one thing nagged at Keith, and that was Jack. He hadn't seen his friend in a while - he had written the second issue of Keith's Korner without consulting her - and he felt like they needed to have a chat. But he wouldn't seek her out. She'd come to him, once she read the article. So he sat back, and looked at the sky, and waited.

Pumpkin juice sprayed all over her paper.

Jack stared at the paper in front of her,eyes wide,mouth open, juice dripping from its pages as people around her yukked and slid away. She read and reread the last few passages. There were several things that were haunting her... Apparently...she was in "danger." But even worse... now everyone knew. She would not be able to hang out with Ari without people thinking something, thinking there was more...

She glanced over at the Slytherin table but she could not pick him out. He must have been in the hospital wing again... She looked to the Ravenclaws...

Keith.

She stood and left the great hall, pulling out the Marauder;s Map. She took a second to review the map and then headed out on her mission...

...

Jack rose up on her broom leveling out in front of a lone figure sitting on the roof.She turned so she was pointed straight at him, her glower even more dangerous than usual. "What the hell, man?" she said loudly, wanting to catch his attention. "You have about five seconds before I kick your ass. Explain."

Keith arched an eyebrow. He had been practicing in the mirror lately, and was getting very good at it. He liked the eyebrow arch - it was the perfect combination of disbelief, wry amusement, and contempt that showed he was very confident of his ability to handle any given situation.

He wasn't scared. Alright, maybe he was a little, but c'mon, it was Jack. She was a pranker, not a bully. At worst she'd dangle him over the edge of the roof, and honestly he was pretty sure she wouldn't even do that. Even if she did, she'd never drop him. It just wasn't her nature. So while there certainly was a measure of surprise in keith's expression, and perhaps a bit of trepidation, there wasn't any fear. Fear was for enemies, something Jack was not.

Yet.

"You know," he said lazily, looking back up at the sky, "I'm constantly wondering how you find me. I'm pretty sure you can't see me from the grounds and I'm certain you can't see me from anywhere in the castle, so it's got to be magic. Or I just smell worse than I thought." He grinned and looked up in the sky. He wasn't stupid, he knew what Jack was talking about, but he'd be damned before he let her intimidate her way to the dominant position in this conversation. "What do you want from me?" He asked with a shrug. "I write what I see and what I think. Can you honestly accuse me of doing anything beyond that?"

Jack knew people wondered how she always managed to place herself where it was best to be. She knew that once she graduated the Map should be passed on to someone else, and she had always figured it would be Keith. However, he would need to play his cards right... Maybe she would wait to see who took over Potter's Army... But she really did want it to be him to get the Map.

She flew forward and slipped off the broom, standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at the boy. "You know you didn't have to get me involved. Now everyone's gonna think I've gone soft, that I like Ari-el," she had to quickly add the el to have his full name. She had gotten used to Ari... "My reputation is going to be hurt, people are going to think that I'm not tough. Do you know what kind of trouble it's going to get me in?"

Keith snorted, but he didn't actually find this amusing at all. Jack had a million reasons to be pissed at him - he had invaded her personal life, spied on her, ridiculed her boyfriend or boytoy whatever Ariel was to her, and called her out in as public and humiliating way as possible. Not to mention the article had a fairly racist slant against the werewolf.

But of all things for her to get mad about, her reputation? He had thought better of her.

"Oh whaaaaaah," Keith said in a mocking tone. "Please. Your reputation?" He stood, and he was angry now. He had looked up to Jack, and this was a serious blow to his perception of her, a blow Keith in no way appreciated. "Your reputation? Screw that! Of all the...screw your stupid reputation!" he ran his hands through his hair. "Is that all you are?!" He said. "A reputation? Is the Jack I knew, the Jack everyone else sees, just a front for yet another whiny little girl who gets puppy eyed at the first 'bad boy'"- he made air quotes around bad boy- "that walks by? I mean how stupid are you, falling for his tricks like that?"

Jack stared at Keith. "What if suddenly people went around saying you got in trouble with a teacher and begged your way out? Or something that you just don't need everyone knowing? Keith, my life is difficult enough, and that is with people being too afraid to mess with me. If they think, even for a second, that I've gone soft... I'm dead." He didn't realize she was in a bad position. If Dark Followers found out and thought she could be messed with... well, she was already surprised she had not yet been jumped in the halls.

Jack shook her head. "I am my reputation. When you start saying part-truths that make me look like someone I'm not, people start believing lies." When he said whiny girl, she made a violent motion, as though to pull the younger boy into a headlock. "I am NOT yet another anything, I am not a whiny little girl, I do NOT GET PUPPY-EYED!"

Maybe it was just the use of the word puppy that had gotten to Jack.

"Keith, really? Are you going to give me so little credit," she snapped, pulling away from him. "Ariel is my friend. I don't like him because he's a 'bad boy' or whatever. If you remember, I'm not exactly a teacher's pet. I don't deal with people if they don't have an edge to them. That's just me. There are no tricks here, okay? If anything, be worried for Ariel. I'm one of the 'most whispered names in Hogwarts' right? Might be bad, a 'monster' hanging out with the girl that is either loved or hated."

"Well then this shouldn't be an issue," Keith said, "if all I'm saying is 'half truths' and 'lies' - which they aren't by the way - then the tough Jack...the real Jack should still be there and be able to handle anything that comes her way." He shook his head. "And to answer your question, I wouldn't give a shit if someone started spreading lies about me because I'm not who I am because of my reputation. I've got my reputation because of who I am."

"If you remember, I'm not exactly a teacher's pet. I don't deal with people if they don't have an edge to them."

"Nobody's arguing that he doesn't have an edge to him!" Keith shouted. "But there's a difference between a 'skips class' kind of edge and a 'rips your throat out' kind of edge!" He pointed at her. "He's an animal, Jack, plain and simple. The second you kissed him in the Room of Requirement, you lost any protection you may have had. You gave him the dominant position in your relationship and eventually he's going to abuse that!" He dropped his finger and turned around. "And don't give me that 'friend' bullshit either Jack. I'm not a little kid and I'm not stupid. I can use magic too! Hell, I probably know what you were feeling better than you do!"

Not technically true. The Watch could tell him what Jack was feeling at the time, yes, but the Room of Requirement was hardly the place to get an accurate reading out of the damn thing. Not to mention that it wasn't so good at dealing with conflicting emotions, and boy had she been conflicted. It was the only reason they were having this conversation - if Keith had thought she was beyond saving he wouldn't be speaking to her.

"I can handle whatever comes at me," she snapped, "I'd just appreciate if 'friends'" she used air quotes to mock him, "would not set out to make it harder for me to." She glared at him, "And they are. Just because Ariel and I hang out does not mean there is anything else. You published opinions and assumptions as facts. You didn't even warn me."

She started to argue but he went on to mention the Room of Requirement.Her jaw dropped and she waited until he was done speaking before blowing up. "HOW THE F*CK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" She bellowed. She snatched Keith, trying to grip his arm so she could yell at him. "Have you been spying on me? Keith, you brat! What the hell? I've always helped you out and that's how you treat me?!"

"Ariel and I have been friends, good friends, for awhile. He is a good friend before anything else. And what's this about him being a monster. Because of his dad? My mom's a lying, slutty, b!tch and my dad's a crooked businessman. My uncle's involved in the mob, I think, and my cousin is a gambler. Does that make me something along their lines? What proof do you have of any throat ripping? Huh?!"

"Ack." Keith said, genuinely surprised when Jack lashed out at him. He stumbled back and fell, landing hard on the roof, and there was a sharp pain on his wrist - the Watch was acting up again. Jack was pissed if it was reacting this strongly. "It's not because of his dad," Keith said, pushing himself to his feet, "though the fact that his dad is a psychopath doesn't exactly help my impression of him," he added. "It's because of what he is Jack. He's not like you and me. We're human, we're in control of ourselves. He's just...something...in a human body." The Watch started to burn more, and he absently rubbed it, which only served to burn his right palm. He grimaced. "And I haven't been spying on you, I've been investigating. I heard you went into the Room of Requirement and...he paused, trying to think up a suitable lie, "and I...thought it was for Potter's Army...so I...so I...."

Used the Watch.

The heat on his wrist intensified, and Keith let out a yelp of pain, swatting it. The Watch, always helpful, if a bit misguided, read Kent's thoughts as a command to playback the last scene Keith had watched.

The Watch began to glow with a blue light, and Keith cursed slightly, trying to turn it off. But it was too late now - There was a flash, and suddenly a phantom image of Ariel appeared in mid-air, reaching out and kissing a phantom image of Jack before disappearing.

Keith bolted for the nearest window.

Jack didn't react to Keith falling, or yelping. She did not care. He would survive, he could be roughed up a bit, he was not weak. She kept him pinned down, glaring at him. "That's despicable, Keith. What about muggleborns? They're just humans in wizard bodies, right? Vampires and werewolves are no different than someone with a slight psychological disorder. ADD. Depression. It's not a definitive of who they are, it's a part of them they can't completely control, but they can handle. There are things to help. People who treat them any different are the monsters..."

She glared at him during his explanation and suddenly felt warmth beneath one of her palms. She yanked her hand away, glaring at his watch and suddenly, there was a projection. Jack's mouth tipped open and she looked in shock at Keith. He scrambled away and she numbly watched him before springing into action.

She grabbed his legs and pulled, before launching forward and pulling him by the arms. "What the hell is that, Keith?! Keith? KEITH! What is that!?"