Sick of Predictable [OPEN]

Nessa had spent too long hiding out and waiting for the Ministry to come and get her. Once the Marriage Law broke, and the hunt for magical creatures was less overpowering, she had started looking for a chance to get out again without fear of being had after by someone who would not accept who she was. Then again, Nessa herself didn't want to accept it. She hated what Dylan had made her into, and though she cared for him, she was starting to wonder if it was even possible to forgive him.

She had long since stopped attending Hogwarts, and was half waiting for someone to come get her and tell her she had to pay a fine for truancy or something equally stupid. She studied what she was interested in, and worked to be better at those things that might help her in the future. Her nearly-forgotten vendetta had returned in full force the moment Nessa stepped into Knockturn Alley, when she realized just how much time she had wasted in dealing with her own problems rather than those that belonged to the daughter her adoptive parents had sent away upon learning she would never be able to use magic.

In her head, Nessa had taken to simply calling her 'The Girl,' but more and more frequently she found herself wanting a name to put there. Eventually, she was determined to find her, though, so giving a name to someone who would almost certainly have a different one made her nervous. That likely wouldn't go over well.

Regardless, she was upset with herself for almost forgetting. Things with Nathaniel and Dylan had only helped to confuse her, and she wasn't really interested in dealing with them anymore unless they intended to help her in her endeavors. Thus far, they had managed to confuse her, but not much else. That is, except for the werewolf thing. That was Dylan's fault. But, besides all of that, she now had things to accomplish, and needed to find someone who might be willing to help her investigate. Or, at the least, might have known her parents. They were purebloods after all, so wouldn't other purebloods have heard about her? Surely. They likely knew she was "missing," too. That was bound to draw some heads - especially in a place like Knockturn Alley.

She just needed a little more, and she'd be done with it all.

Stewart was a sweetheart for allowing her to have a normal life, to let her roam as she wanted. Somehow, though, it was not like her brothers, who had left her to do anything she wanted. She always felt welcome when she finally returned to his place, always felt like he had missed her and hoped she had been good. Really, since she had moved in, she had been trying as hard as she could to be better. She didn't want to put Stewart through what her brother had gone through. She'd rather leave his apartment before making him discover her, near-death.

School had been difficult. She was surrounded by people who had the same nerve and arrogance of Alexander Nott. Most of her time had been spent in her dormitory, studying material she already knew, reading the books she had nicked from the Potter household. But when she did venture out, as she had do on occasion for class and meals, she often had to face whispers, looks, and even comments on occasion. And while it was empowering to finally be mocked for something of her own doing, not of her family's, it still sucked to get out of bed. Her pride, especially, hurt every day.

But she had made it. And so she deserved it... just a little bit of Spice to get her through the holiday.

Her old dealer usually hung out in Knockturn on Tuesdays, so she headed out right after lunch in the hopes if tracking Luz down. Her bones quaked with guilt, as Stewart had no idea what she was out and about for. It made it worse that she had stolen one of his flannel shirts, all of her clothes still wet in the laundry. She walked through Knockturn, hands reaching up to brush her bangs in front of her eyes, not too keen on being recognized, when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry-"

She looked up. Speaking of recognizing someone... "Nessa?"

Fingers gripped around the collar of her jacket, Nessa was starting to pull the item closer around her when her shoulder was pushed forward and surprised her into turning around and looking to find who had run into her. She most certainly did not expect to run into someone from school in a place like Knockturn Alley, but of all the people she had to run into, she definitely would not have supposed it would be one of the Potters.

It wasn't as though Nessa disliked Lily or anything. They just hadn't had very much reason to interact. Now that Nessa wasn't attending school with the Gryffindor, and now that her situation had changed so much, she had to wonder if it would actually be worth making making small talk with the other girl.

Still, she supposed that it would be best to try and be polite to everyone she could until she had figured out how to go through with her plan of searching for The Girl. Surely that would win her some allies in the end? So she straightened up and tried to muster a believable smile.

"Hi, Lily," she offered, shifting her weight as if to prove that she intended to stay where she was and talk if the other girl wanted to do so. "I didn't expect to see anyone from school here. Holidays going well?"

This was really weird for Lily. Obviously, Lily knew that the Bridgewood girl had dropped out of school. Everyone knew. It was the nature of Hogwarts, which seemed to spread gossip just as quickly as it spread finals-panic. Even someone like Lily, who spent no more time socializing than was required when walking to the bathroom, could find out about the juiciest scraps of gossip, such as Hogwarts losing another brooding girl to the outside world.

And that meant, of course, that Nessarose must have heard last year when it had been Lily who had run off. Since her return, since last year's graduation really, even more gossip had taken to the students like wildfire. Rumor had it that Lily had become a burn out druggie, had over-dosed and almost died. No one knew the truth, that it had been her weakened state plus a particularly bad transformation on the full moon that had nearly killed the girl. No one knew why she had left, and no one knew why she had bothered to come back.

She couldn't blame Nessarose. She had no desire to convince Nessa to come back - she hated school, hated her peers, hated most of her professors. She could not think of a real reason to convince the Slytherin to return. So she wasn't going to.

"Neither did I," Lily said. "They're fine. Better that I'm not at school," she said. She paused. "And you? You're doing well?"

She wasn't going to get the girl to come back to Hogwarts, but she wanted to make sure she was at least surviving. Lily remembered how she had been forced to 'survive' and she would not wish that on anyone else.