So... When Does It Get Better? (Open)

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Jade stood outside the Three Broomsticks and watched the world pass her by once again as she smoked a cigarette. She looked down just in time to see some of the ash fall on her waitress' apron.

"Damn it," she scowled. She was going to have to pay for a new one out of her pay now. She needed to pay more attention... or maybe quit smoking. She decided to just learn to pay more attention. She finished her smoke and threw down the butt before stepping on it. She looked at a clock near the village center. Six o'clock.... time for her shift to begin. She was so tired from classes, but had to resist her exhaustion for the next however many hours before the owner had no choice but to allow her to go back to Hogwarts. She would then get enough sleep to survive another day.

Walking in, she said nothing to the rest of the staff before grabbing her tray. The place wasn't too busy at the moment. At least there was that.

[Ronan Alexander Fylan]

Ronan had skipped classes for the day to cover a shift no one else could cover so he was just getting off from work. He knew Jade would soon be starting her shift so he thought he would go and pay her a visit. Plus he wanted to find out if he was going to be in trouble for skipping classes or not.

So he washed up and changed his clothes and headed over to the three broomsticks. It wasn't the best pub, but it was a lot better than the one their parents owned and definitely less dangerous. Their seemed to be the occasional mean drunk from time to time but nothing like what they were used to. Which is the only reason he would let her stay working there. If things got bad like it was at their parents' pub he would drag her out of the place and help her find a different job if he had to.

He opened the door and stepped inside, looking around for his sister. It didn't take long before he found her. He walked up and smiled. "Excuse me miss, can i have a butterbeer please?" he said.

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Jade knew Ronan was trying to make her feel a bit better about her shift when he showed up. He always tried to pep her up, and she did appreciate it. He was still her anchor a lot of times... her sanity. Their bond was so damn strong, they were almost one person.

"Butterbeer... bull****," she chuckled, placing down her tray. "Something stronger I think." She then sighed when she recalled him missing earlier that day. "You had to miss classes again today, didn't you, Ronan? That post office job is screwing you over. I thought the plan was to prove to our parents that we were worth more than they made us out to be. We can't do that if we fail at the end of the year."

Speaking of jobs, she worked about as she talked to him. She had already been yelled at for talking to Ronan on her shifts, and she didn't like the idea of her being fired and/or Ronan being banned from the place.

"Can you walk me back to the castle when my shift ends?" she asked.

(Will bump up time.)

Ronan Alexander Fylan

[Ronan Alexander Fylan]

Ronan chuckled. "Of course something stronger, but I figured I'd start light." he joked. When she started on him about missing classes he sighed. "Don't worry Jade. It's not going to become a habit. Just the post office owl handlers are short staffed right now so the few we have have to pick up the slack." he said.

"We will prove our parents wrong, and I'll pass. I'll talk to Grimp about making up homework, say I was sick. either way I'll stay on track." he said reassuring her.

When she asked if he would walk her back to the castle when her shift ended he smiled. "Of course!" he said. "I'll just go hang out around town until your shift ends." he said with a smile.

[Deleted]

Jade had to trust that her brother would stop skipping classes. Ronan was all she had to trust in.

"Alright," she said. "Just make sure to..." She sighed, not wanting to give him a lecture. The two were done with "lectures". Merlin knew they got enough of them from their parents, filled to the brim with profanity of course. "I know you'll be fine."

As she put in the order for Ronan's Butterbeer, she smirked about Grimp.

"Good luck with Grimp," she said. "The man shows us about as much mercy as he once did to the dark wizards he caught."

Jade was relieved Ronan would walk her back. Hogsmeade could be a scary place at night.

Later...

Jade stepped out of the Three Broomsticks, holding an ice pack over her left eye while smoking a cigarette. She then remembered her brother was waiting for her, and couldn't wait to see his reaction to the fresh injury.

Ronan Alexander Fylan

[Ronan Alexander Fylan]

Ronan smiled. "It will be. No need to worry Jade." he said. "I'll take care of Grump." he said. "I'll figure out how to get on his good side." he assured her.

When she brought him his butterbeer he quickly drank it, gave her a hug and left to go explore the town for awhile.


LATER...

Ronan had been sitting for about a half hour before Jade's shift ended just outside the building. He was finishing a cigarette when he spotted her walking out. He stood up and walked over to her. "Hey! Ready to g..." His eyes widened when he saw the ice pack over her eye.

"What happened?!" he said angrily. "Who did it? I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." he said getting ready to waltz right back into the bar to return the injury to the culprit who had hurt his sister.

[Deleted]

Jade had faith in her brother. She didn't have faith in... well pretty much anyone else, but she did have faith in him. She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Love you," she said. "See you soon."

Later...

Jade had been through this before. Just as her brother was really all she had, she was all he had as well. When she sported a bruise, he went into action, and often nothing good came out of it, at least in Jade's opinion anyway.

"It's nothing, Ronan," she said. "Just walked into a wand fight that wasn't my business." She wanted to lie, and tell her brother that the two guys had left, but they hadn't. For some reason, the two arse-hats were still in there. So she said nothing... but that proved useless when one of the guys walked out, drunk as the stinking skunk he was. Without even seeing Ronan, he pointed as Jade.

"Hey, little girl, you stay out of my business from now on okay, or next time me blasting you with my wand might not be an accident," growled the guy, an eighteen year old who never actually graduated from Hogwarts.

"Bugger off, jerk," sneered Jade. "Go home and sober up." The drunk fool then went for his wand.

Ronan Alexander Fylan

[Ronan Alexander Fylan]

Ronan was angry that Jade was hurt, and even more angry when she said it was nothing. "Nothing? You're injured!" he said angrily. "Is the one who did this still here?" he started to ask but his question was answered when the drunk guy came out to tell Jade to stay out of his business.

Ronan would have spit fire just then if he could. He was furious, and the guy coming out drunken and threatening his sister again had him ready to draw blood.

Jade told the guy to bugger off and to go home and sober up and the guy went to reach for his wand. Ronan moved quickly, instead of reaching for his wand he hauled his arm back and slugged the guy on the bridge of his nose, making sure he'd have 2 black eyes when he woke up the next morning. The guy stumbled and then fell back.

Ronan turned to Jade. "Come on, let's get out of here." He kicked the guy in the side. "Don't you touch my sister again or 2 black eyes will be the least of your worries!" He said yelling at him before grabbing Jade by the arm and dragging her far enough away to stop and talk to her.

[Deleted]

"Yes, nothing!" said Jade, not wanting it to be a big deal. She didn't mean to yell at her brother, but she just really wanted the hell of a night to be over.

Jade watched as Ronan knocked out the guy and threatened him not to hurt her again. Jade got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The guy was one of the usual night patrons and made the Three Broomsticks a lot of money when he got piss drunk. She hoped there wouldn't be consequences with her boss.

The next thing she knew after that, she was being dragged by her twin brother far from the pub. She finally stilled her body, not allowing him to drag her anymore.

"For Merlin's sake, stop!" she said. "Look, I know why you did that and all, but... well that guy spends big galleons at the Three Broomsticks and I could get into some deep s*** if he stops coming and they connect the reason why to me. And damn it, Ronan, they're already pissed at you enough for talking to me while I'm working."

She then sighed and shook her head. Ronan was being a good brother there, as he had always been. She had no right to snap at him. A lost job was a lost job. She could get another. She only had one brother... and he was really all she had. She embraced him, a tear falling down her right eye.

"I'm sorry, Ronan," she whispered. "Thank you for sticking up for me."

Ronan Alexander Fylan

[Ronan Alexander Fylan]

Ronan had been angry. They both had been through enough and he wanted to protect her. So he had not thought it through clearly when he hit the guy. He was a bit hot headed, especially when it came to his sister. The only person in the world he had and cared about. He did not want her to be hurt or to have to go through more pain.

"I'm sorry Jae but I couldn't help it. I don't want you getting hurt anymore. If they fire you, I'll pick up more hours at the owlery to cover it until you find another job. I didn't want to cause you trouble, but I also can't let a slug like that drunk hurt you. You're my sister and I want you to have a better life." he said, still a bit angry but mostly apologetic now that they were out of the situation.

When she hugged him he hugged her back. "Don't apologize. You have every right to be upset with me, but I just don't want to see you getting hurt." he said.

Tag: @jadefylan

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Jade smiled at her brother once things were resolved. She was glad he wanted a better life for her, and she wanted no less for him.

"We'll both get that better life, Ronan," she whispered, still holding him. "You deserve it too. You've always been there for me. My best friend and my protector. I love you, Ronan." She kissed him on the forehead and smiled at him.

"I do have some good news though," she said. "You know Owen, right, charming little guy in our House? Well his sister and I have become pretty good mates, and we were talking about going to some beach when summer begins. We want you to come along too, get away from all this. Besides, you like Owen, right? And his sister Evie's really cool. You'd barely know she was a Hufflepuff. So what do you say- sand, ocean, barbeque? And it would just be us there."

(Should wrap this one up since we're doing the other one.)

Ronan Alexander Fylan