Rain.. it's always raining

Rise sat huddled beneath an overhang, staring at the rain that splashed upon the pavement in front of her. She had found her way somewhere into London, she wasn't even quite sure where. She couldn't go back to the Longbottom's.. she didn't know where they were. They hadn't picked her up from King's Cross, and so with that.. she had wandered off. Dragging behind her trunk, with a potted plant sitting on top of it. She was cold, wet, muddy, hungry, and exhausted. The holiday's had just begun, and she was out of money, she didn't even have any wizard money left. With no one to look after her, and no job, she was alone.. so horribly alone.

She knew she could sell some of the stuff she DID have.. and she wasn't too terribly worried about school. There were programs she could enroll in to get money for books, and supplies, and things like that. Her main concern at the moment was food.

Someone passed by her, splashing her with water, and dropping a pound note onto the ground in front of her. "Get something nice kid." The person muttered, walking off. Rise looked up, and then back down, quickly grabbing the pound and stuffing it into her pocket, to keep it from getting even more wet. She looked around, her hair stringy, and falling in her face. She wasn't sure just what she could get with it, but she could try somewhere. She might have some change in her trunk anyway. Digging into her trunk, she pulled out some spare change at the bottom and counted it out.

Hurrying off, she found a bakery, and pulled her trunk just inside the door. Setting it down, she rushed to the counter and held out the money. The man took one look at her, and sighed, shaking his head, before pulling a roll off the shelf behind her, taking the money, and waving her away. "You're getting my floor dirty, you brat." He said in a growl, shooing her out. She grabbed her trunk and slid back out into the rain, finding another overhang, she bit into the warm roll happily, sitting on top of her trunk, and munching on the delicious food right there, completely oblivious to the stares she was getting. A 17 year old girl, who looked well in shape, and totally unaccustomed to living it rough, eating like she had never eaten before, sitting on top of a trunk with her initials on it, in robes with an odd crest on it. You could say she was causing a small scene.

Jimmy trudged on, head bowed, through the rain soaked streets of London. It had been weeks since he last had the good fortune to have been fed and cleaned. His once clean, well kept hair was now a tangled mess that stretched to his shoulders. His clothes were a tattered, grass stained testament to the realities of being on the run. Jimmy longed to return to Hogwarts, the one place where he didn't have to look over his shoulder constantly.

Taking brief respite from the never ending rain, Jimmy huddled under an overhang, contented slightly in the knowledge that his school things were in a safe place, albeit a very mossy one. Peering out towards the endless stream of traffic and pedestrians, Jimmy's eyes were drawn to a small group of people who appeared to be gathering around something. Braving the cold and the rain, Jimmy stepped out onto the street again and approached them. Curious to know what was going on, he pushed his way through the crowd to be met by a familiar sight.

"Risé??"

Rise looked up sharply when she heard her name said aloud. Who in the hell would recognize her here?! Of all places.. it wasn't like she was exactly the most well known person, and even if they did know her, they would have just walked on by, laughing at the werewolf girl who couldn't even look decent on the side of the street, with people gathering and pointing, and laughing. But there stood a boy who had a very kind face, a shocked look, but she could tell he had been living it rough as well.

"Oh.. hello Jimmy.. want some? You look like you could use a bite to eat." She said smiling at him, blinking back the rain that fell into her eyes, as she smiled at the boy she had only ever met once before. "Sorry it's a bit wet.." She held it out to him, the roll looking damp, but still good, and half eaten. She was smiling brightly at Jimmy, her eyes partially closed, and her head turned to the side. She looked... well she looked a right mess, but she smiled so brightly, it was almost like she didn't care.

Jimmy politely shook his head when he was offered food, though his stomach instantly yelled at him for it. He carefully sat next to Risé, studying her with obvious curiosity. "Are you alright, Risé?" he asked timidly, remembering the not so friendly terms they had last seen each other.

Jimmy's eyes couldn't help but widen slightly as he remembered something else about their last meeting. "She's a werewolf, remember?" nagged the tiny voice in his head, "Get out of there!". Jolting slightly, Jimmy managed to drive the voice out for now, instead deciding to make himself as comfortable as he could and find out what was distressing his fellow student. He didn't know why, but Jimmy felt a strange sense of duty, something he thought he had abandoned along with his father.

Rise looked at him and slowly nodded, her eyes moving to stare at her lap, the roll falling limply into her lap as well, warming her hands against the warm dough. "I'm fine.. I just, I erm.. I bought a roll.." She said slowly, knowing she looked the worse for wear. People had finally stopped staring and moved on their business, leaving the two strange kids alone on the street. They both looked pretty beat up, she didn't know if Jimmy was homeless, but she knew she was, and that was tough in itself. She was absolutely delighted to have been given the money for the roll, and she was trying to eat it slowly.

"Are you? You look pretty rough.. I mean, last we saw each other, we were both well fed and taken care of at school.. and now.." She looked up at the sky, watching the rain fall down from the heavens, her chin was trembling slightly, like she was trying to be a lot stronger than she felt, and keep back the tears that threatened to cripple her. "How has your vacation been going?"

Jimmy's head tilted to the side in curiosity as Risé slowly answered his question. "Yep, something is not right with her" his brain mused, as if Jimmy needed the confirmation as he observed her peculiar mannerisms.

"How has your vacation been going?"

That one innocent question caused Jimmy to hastily avert his gaze and stare intently out at the rain sodden streets. His knees dragged themselves up to his chest, his arms wrapping around them and grasping tight. Jimmy felt like he had slipped into his own little world, darkness crashing around him, unaware of Risé's attempts to hold back tears.

"Fine...just fine...." Jimmy muttered quietly after what seemed like forever. his hat stooped over his face as he grew increasingly paranoid over who might be watching them.

It took all of Rise's focus to draw herself out of her own mind and look at Jimmy concerned. His reaction to her question was unsettling and she knew right away he was lying when he stated that it was fine. She slowly reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, not sure how he would react to her touch, she kept it there for a moment. "No it's not.. what's wrong?" She looked at him, concerned, watching his reactions.

She knew enough about people to tell that when they recoiled like that over a simple question, it meant that something bad had happened. She wondered what it could be that had caused him to end up looking the way he did, out on the rain drenched streets of London, wandering around just like her. "It's okay.. you can tell me, honestly." She smiled at him kindly, taking her hand off his shoulder. She also knew enough about people to know that if she touched them for too long.. they didn't like it, maybe it was because humans could sense when something wasn't quite human around them.. or they already knew, but they didn't like being touched by her.

Jimmy couldn't help but recoil ever so slightly at her touch. Not because she was a werewolf, Jimmy never had issues with that for the most part. It was his growing distrust and disillusionment of humanity that was causing this fleeting distrust.

Sighing heavily, Jimmy pulled his collar up around his neck, the cold air becoming more pronounced and noticeable than it had been for weeks. "It's nothing...I'm fine" Jimmy murmured softly, his face strewn with raindrops and a slight mix of tears. Wiping his eyes, Jimmy looked over at Risé "What brings you to a place like this?" he asked her firmly, his eagerness for the attention to turn to her showing all too plainly in his voice.

Rise could feel her heart beating hard as he recoiled from her touch. She knew that people didn't like her.. it was all to evident.. odd that even though she had met him before, well, he didn't seem to fully recognize what she was, even with the rumors.. and she was slightly glad for it, good to know someone didn't know she turned into a cold-blooded killer every full moon.

"I erm.. was getting a roll.. as I said." She said gesturing towards the bakery behind them. "Got.. hungry ya know.." Her stomach made an unmistakable growling sound, and she took a bite of the roll that was still warm, and pretty large, she was happy for it, but she knew she should share. She held it out for him again, hoping he'd take a bite.

It was odd to imagine that just a few weeks ago, they both had been eating feasts every day, full course meals, and soft comfy beds at night.

Jimmy shook his head limply as the roll was offered to him again. "You need it more than me" he said, chuckling softly at the growl of her stomach. His tendency to be a gentleman was something that no amount of living in the rough could drive out of him.

Jimmy's eyes couldn't help but be drawn towards Risé's neck, his mind drifting towards when they first met. Although he had his suspicions, Jimmy had never confirmed that Risé was in fact a werewolf. "Should I....ask?".

Sighing deeply, Jimmy decided to bite the bullet. "Is it...true what they say..? You know...about you being a werewolf?" he asked timidly. "N-not that I mind..if it's true..was just wondering." Jimmy added quickly, glancing up at her with eyes filled with innocent intrigue before hastily looking at the floor.