An Empty Classroom

She had to admit, after skipping class for the third day in a row, she was feeling pretty good. Her pink-streaked hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and her school skirt had a tattered bottom edge, making it just a bit shorter then would normally have been acceptable, but not enough shorter to be a problem. She had unbuttoned her shirt down, and messed around with how she looked in that sense before wrapped her robe around herself, donning her trademark Slytherin scarf, which she wore all the time, and grabbing some gum.

Airy never went anywhere without a piece of gum in her mouth, she was never seen heard talking without at least a stick heading towards her mouth, if not already in. It gave her something to do, she could pop the gum to annoy people, or blow bubbles, or just otherwise use it for a good distraction. Airy checked herself out in the mirror before leaving her room, smearing on some heavy eyeliner and eye shadow just to make it obvious that she didn't mess around, and she was ready to go.

She had an important meeting with a very important person who would help her in a very important way, it wasn't often she needed to do this, but after pocketing a thing of money, and opening her bedroom door, she was prepared to meet that challenge head on. She hadn't exactly had much conversation with the person she was about to meet, she had met them only once before, and not for very long at that, so she didn't quite know what to expect now that she had the money to do the things she wanted to.

But who knew.. maybe it'd be fun?

Airy skidded through the common room, past all the glaring and glowering people who hated her for her bright colors and occasionally threatening air. Airy gave out weird vibes to even the people in her own house, one moment bright and happy, the next in a fit of rage and no one quite knew when the fit of rage would happen. Airy was known to punch people, and green sparks almost always trailed after her if her wand was in her hand.

Airy skirted the edges of the Entrance Hall, and up the staircase in the quietest way possible. She hated that huge open space where everyone gathered to make a fool of everyone else. She avoided it when possible, but for now she just had to get by it. Once up the stairs, Airy breathed a sigh of relief, before disappearing behind a portrait, and up more stairs, around corners, half flying to the Seventh floor.

Once there, Airy only hesitated for a moment before sweeping herself along down the corridor and into an old empty classroom. It was one of her favorites, she had worked on making it not a creepy classroom, but a hangout of sorts, and a hangout only she was allowed in, or well, a hangout she knew of and if others came in and she was there she'd kick them out. It was her classroom, and she had decorated it as such. It wasn't dusty like other classrooms, it was neat and tidy, the chairs and desks that had been in it were all pushed against one wall and an assortment of objects had been placed there.

Some extra blankets that had been put in their room after washing had disappeared and had to be replaced after she had stolen them and brought them up here. Now she used it as a nap corner, having made a little blanket fort in the corner with chairs, she often took naps over there when school had been particularly hard on her that day. Other then that there was a bookshelf filled with crappy old books that she had started to use as a personal display more then anything.

An old mirror with a break down the side of it rested on a shelf at height level, where she could make sure of her good looks whenever she wanted to. A little box she had bought when in Diagon Alley sat next to it, and held some gum for her to have quick access to whenever she had none on her, or ran out while in the room. A lot of the books were still there, but had slowly been replaced with books of her own, books that ranged from, she probably shouldn't have bought that, to that's a pretty neat topic.

Books she had snuck into Knockturn Alley to get, books about odd potions, and curses you should try on your friends. Some of them were simple books that everyone had, her school books were often held here, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi lay open on a table near the bookshelf, where she had been flicking through the ingredients to figure out how hard it would be to make a certain potion or other.

Airy glanced around only once at this odd assortment of things in the room before heading over to a chair she had pushed up against the wall, and sat in it, her eyes trained at the door as she waited for her special guest to appear.

[OOC: Sorry about the length, don't worry about matching, I Just got carried away in detail!]

((so there was reference to Aurora expecting company... Should we ignore that? haha. Or maybe she's waiting for Wally, but Wally got the times mixed up and doesn't show.))

Ducky whooped, hooted, and hollered. Bruce Champion was presumably hot on his heels, for Ducky had pulled the poor boy's trousers down. It had not been a random act of malice - Ducky could be accidentally careless towards others, but he was never purposefully cruel unless his opponent was deserving of cruelty. No, Bruce's humiliation had actually come at the hands of Nora, who had delivered Ducky another dare. In all their time of playing the neverending game of proposing and accepting dares, he could not remember a time either had backed down. He would not let his downfall be Bruce Champion's trousers.

The bell rang, signalling the start of class just as he hopped the last few steps on the staircase that, for today, led to the seventh floor. Ducky twirled on his feet and looked across the maze of moving staircases. Bruce was cursing and kicking the marble as the staircase he was on moved him towards the fourth floor - away from Ducky and away from his next class as well. Ducky knew he would eventually make it up to Bruce. If he wasn't mistaken, Bruce had a big crush on Ally Nott. Maybe he could arrange a date for Bruce. It wouldn't go well, but at least Ducky would give them a chance.

And he could ensure Bruce didn't deliver on his promises and string him up on the Astronomy Tower.

He slowed down and tipped his head back, rocking back on his heels as he let out a hearty laugh. He recovered and thrust his hands into his pockets, his sunglasses falling onto his nose in the most swagtastic way. Hmm. Well, his Transfiguration class had started. No point in going now. Nora would be heading to class, too, so there was no point in trying to track her down. What to do, then? What to do?

He chose a meandering path down the corridor, talking to any portraits who caught his interest. A painting full of nuns blushed and giggled as he flirted with them, the oldest among them doing the worst and flirting back. The youngest of the group eventually left the frame to find the monk who most often berated the others for their unholy behavior. Pleased with himself, Ducky continued on his walk, happy to be such a troublemaker.

He spotted a door that had been cracked ever so slightly. Hmm. His interest piqued, he turned and approached the door and pushed it open with the palm of his hand. There sat Aurora Daniels. Ducky could not believe his luck. Airy was one of the few people in this school who managed to surprise him - she was moderately insane, and her company was always a mixed crowd, even if it was just a one-on-one meeting.

"Airy airy, bo barry, bo barry, fanna fanna, fo fairy, fo fairy," Ducky sang. He closed the door behind her, making a grand show of demonstrating that they were alone and could therefore cause as much trouble as they wished. He leaned against the door and crossed one heel over the other, drooping his head. One hand raised and his index finger hooked his glasses, pulling them down so he could regard it.

"How are you, Scrumptious?" These petnames were, of course, common. He would call Caspian that. And Caspian was married. And a bloke.

Time was passing. Actually a lot of time, and Aurora's air was slowly turning darker. Eventually Airy lost her patience and pulled a notebook out of her bag. A common muggle one that held huge lists and pages of notes that had nothing to do with classes. She kicked one leg over the other and leaned back in her chair, finding a muggle pen in her bag as well, she started to scribble in the notebook. If there was one thing Airy had managed to hold onto from the muggle world, it was her love for their writing utensils.

She'd never understand why anyone would want to mess around with gross ink and bird feathers. While Airy hated most things muggle, this was one thing she could actually stand, and used often. She pulled a desk closer to her and flicked through a couple pages of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, found a page and started to write things down.

Suddenly however, the door opened, and Airy immediately pushed the desk away and sat up straighter, expecting to see the person who she had been planning to meet all day. Instead she was greeted with the sight of a person that made her inwardly groan. If anyone could piss her off it was this kid, and the first thing out of his mouth made Airy carefully close her eyes.

She couldn't lose her temper today. He couldn't force her out of her classroom. This was one day she couldn't run off to be alone. She had an important meeting to make. So instead she sat up straighter, planted both feet on the floor and leaned forward, carefully setting her notebook down, before placing her elbows on her knees and looking at Ducky.

"Helly Ducky..."

Her voice was strained and on the edge of anger and forced patience. If Wally walked in here while she was with this goof, and she saw her exploding.. well Airy could well imagine she'd lose out on what she had been wanting. So Airy very carefully took a deep breath and stared at the boy who was intent in causing her as much emotional damage as possible.

"Is there something I can help you with? Or are you just here to cause problems.. cause I'm actually expecting someone today and it's kind of important." She spoke calmly, almost sounding like a boss in a major company, dealing with an idiot intern who didn't know what they were doing.

Airy often wondered if maybe she should put more work into school and not flunk simply so she could get a job that could sustain her rich lifestyle. Drugs and alcohol being the main influence of them. Though Airy hadn't tried this muggle stuff, before school her and her friends had gotten hold of some muggle drugs and Airy had been addicted since. It was only this year she had found out wizards even HAD drugs, and she had wanted in on that action right away.

And now here was Ducky... the trouble-maker who liked to ruin people's lives with his over-happiness and overall air of goofball. Airy had no patience for people like him, and it showed in her body language and tone of voice. "Seriously Ducky, what do you want?"

Airy leaned back in her chair again and stared at him, intent on either getting him kicked out quickly, or ignoring him and hoping he went away on his own.

Aurora was not like Ducky - she was not well liked through Hogwarts, and Ducky was not only known by everyone, but he was tolerated by nearly everyone. It was hard not to like him. Everyone knew he came from sh!t circumstances, and yet he was the most charming young man you could meet. He stood up for those who were bullied, he could play around with the most intimidating bullies, and he seemed to think everyone was worth his time. Something about Ducky made people feel wanted, whereas Aurora made a point of making everyone near her feel like they were vermin.

Ducky had always been kind to Aurora. Annoying, of course, but that was his charm. He was persistent in his flirtations, and consistent in always returning hate with love. He did not want Aurora - she was hot in all of her painted glory, yes, but she was also clinically insane - but he did not want to make sure she knew that someone did, in fact, enjoy her company. It was a chore, of course, but he always found himself pleasantly entertained when he was in her presence. She had an odd way of looking at the world and he could not help but want to hear from her perspective more often.

And he defended her. He did not think any talk of that had reached her ears. But the deception went even as far as his own group of friends, who wanted to discuss whether or not the Daniels girl was disturbed. He would shut them down with a joke ("Hey, that's the love of my life you're talking about!") but he would not stand to hear her talked ill of. From what he could see, she was a lonely girl. She didn't need the whole school conspiring against her. And if no one else was going to be her friend, he sure as hell was.

Even if she didn't realize that's what he was doing.

"You don't sound at all happy to see me," he said brightly. Not that he minded. Or that he would take the hint. No, he was out of class and in need of some company. Airy would more than do.

He strolled inside. "Wow - nice place you've got here. Very home-y."

She immediately began on him. Is there something he wanted? Was he here to cause problems. "You should know me better than that," Ducy said, smiling his lopsided grin. He reached out and plucked a book out, opening it to a random page. "Ah! Big words!" He hissed and quickly shoved the book back into his place, before grinning widely at her, as though to ask Am I entertaining you yet? Before she could answer, he added,  "You know what would really tie the room together though? A futon! Oh, yeah, that'd be the life, eh, Airy?" He smiled and flopped down onto the ground, content to sit there and stare up at the girl.

She was to the point. What did he want? He let out a melodramatic sigh. "Oh, that's the question, isn't it? I mean, do I want security, or excitement? The world's a big place and life is short and yet our choices last so long. What do I want, Airy? That's the dillemma I face everyday." He grinned widely again, hoping he had won her favor for the afternoon.

He was a troll, an absolute, kind of cute, troll. Or worse then a troll, what was worse then a troll? A hag, Acromantula, a Doxy maybe, yea... a Doxy fit him perfectly. Mischievous and annoying, but not much harmful if you knew what you were doing. A nice squirt to the face and they'd freeze on the spot, no more harm and incredibly useful in potions. Though he wasn't much useful, and at the moment he was distracting her from her main goal, which was one simple task she'd been needing for months. She just needed to get high, to sit down in a corner and let the pain go away for a mili-second. That's all she wanted in life.

Except here came in walking-headache. With his ability to be a complete moron and his attentiveness that no one else in the castle gave her. She had assumed the entire school had realized by now she wasn't to be messed with and she was to be left alone. However, here came in this incredibly popular guy. Everyone liked him... and he was talking to her?

He obviously had some sort of secret motive. He wanted something from her. Or better yet, he had been sent to spy on her by his friends, find out if the rumors were true and she was crazy. Well she wasn't, and acting like a civilized person might confuse him enough to leave her alone.

Her mind settled, Airy pulled the desk closer to her again and picked up her pen, staring intently at it as he picked up one of her books. It took every ounce of self-control not to jump out of her seat and grab it from him. She was protective of her books, she had spent every ounce of her summer-job money to buy some of them. She didn't want him to steal one, cause she'd do anything to get something like that back from him.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye until he put the book down, and visibly relaxed when he sprawled out on the floor. He wasn't here to bully her it seemed. Which is possibly the only thing she could expect from a person of his standing. What was he doing here anyway? Didn't popular people go to class? She was fairly positive there weren't any free periods at this time of day.

Airy settled on a weird mixture between decency and annoyance as she flicked her head towards the blanket fort in the corner. "Better then any futon you could lay your hands on." She said quietly, her tone and volume in check as she looked over the words in her notebook, and scratched off a few things with a small sigh. That'd take much too long to prepare, and she needed something that would help her in a reasonable amount of time. She couldn't spend every waking moment working on this stuff.

His use of her nickname was starting to grow on her nerves suddenly as he spoke about choices and life dilemmas. "Well I'm sure you could find the answer to your... dilemma, somewhere not where it's going to mess up my important meeting." She said in a very reserved tone. Normally by this point she'd be on her feet with her wand in her hand, shooting sparks at the ground. Instead she was trying so hard not to do so that she was actually shaking and had to put the pen down carefully as she returned her full attention to Ducky.

"Is there something you want from me? I'm sure your friends would love to know some horror stories about my reaction to you coming in here, or maybe you'd like something to blackmail me with? If so take your pick.. I don't have time to deal with you right now.." She said, looking towards the door in a nervous manner, as though expecting to see someone standing there, watching this whole scene. Instead she saw a closed door and no sign it was going to open any time soon.

She quickly looked back at Ducky, her body tense as she half-waited for him to jump to his feet and grab a book off her shelf, hold it for ransom while he teased and prodded her like everyone else in the school. She wasn't exactly a threat, especially to the upper-termers, and Airy had learned quickly that when people started to fight, it was her time to run. She wasn't much one for fighting, and had a few nasty scars on her back and stomach to prove it. Living in rough neighborhoods and having a temper was never good for your physical state.

He stared up at her and a slow smile unfurled on his face as he realized what he was about to say to her. "You know... your face will get stuck like that if you're not careful." He could not help it, she was looking at him as though he were a talking piece of dung. A talking piece of dung with a bomb strapped to him. He knew it would not help the situation much, but it would at least get her to relax her face muscles, and relaxing the muscles often helped soothe some of the nerves. There was also the chance that it would backfire completely and get her more upset, but at least he could not be accused of a lack of trying.

She motioned to a feature of the room that he had not seen and he was immediately enthralled. After all, Ducky was just an overgrown child, and a blanket fort was one of the most ingenius things since, say, drugs. "BLANKET FORT," he immediately barked, and he was on his feet in a second, and then diving into the fort in the next. He flopped around, wrapping one of the blankets around his shoulders as he twisted and flailed in an attempt to turn back around. It took several minutes of manuevering, and when he finally did turn himself around, he greatly resembled a dog turning in its bed.

Finally, he collapsed onto his stomach, propping his chin up on his arms, which lay flat on the ground. He smiled peacefully up at Aurora, the picture of innocent glee. He looked as though he could just lie in that fort for hours, though they both knew his short attention span would hardly allow for that. But, in this moment, this quiet moment on the seventh floor, Ducky lapsed into a childlike tranquility that came from security.

Peace did not last long in the company of Ducky Baker.

The word meeting had sparked his interest. He opened his eyes and kicked his feet back and forth, tilting his head. "Ooh, meeting? Aurora Daniels, did you hire a stripper?! What a waste, when you know I'm willing. And I don't have rules against touching." He winked and then could not help it - he let out a laugh, his head tossing back as his eyes squeezed shut, joy shooting through his body. He got a kick out of his own jokes. And he was just... happy today. There was very little that could bring him down.

Ah, he had thought too soon.

Aurora's words crashed against him and his mirth immediately stopped. His eyes opened wide as he took her in. She seemed earnest in the belief that he was here to purposefully be mean. Suddenly, Ducky was tripping over himself to get to her. Unfortunately, he had wrapped himself up tightly in blankets and now found himself horribly trapped. He rocked once, twice, thrice and then managed to stand. Almost immediately, he stepped upon his own blanket and twirled midair. As he fell, he called out "Oh, Airy!" his voice full of earnest sympathy. He crashed down, bringing about half of the fort down with him.

He looked up at her and began wriggling like a worm, until he was at her feet. He looked up at her, a serene smile on his face, wrapped up in his blanket cocoon. "Airy, I would never make fun of you! I don't have much room to, do I?" He attempted to flail his arms, but they were held tight in his blanket. It looked like the cocoon had suddenly begun panting. "I haven't heard horror stories, and I'm certainly not sinister enough, nor clever enough, to attempt any blackmail. My reasons for annoying you are honest - I just like annoying you 'cause you're a peach!"

Airy scowled when he spoke about her face getting stuck like that. "Oh really? Good. Maybe it'll make people go away." She shot at him, keeping the scowl firmly in place at the look of delightful glee he was wearing. How could anyone be so happy? What was there to be happy about? When your world was run in colors of red hot anger and Slytherin green, well there wasn't much point in being happy when it was stepped on so often by anxiety attacks and boughts of depression.

Suddenly he flung himself into her blanket fort. HER blanket fort. She winced as he started to make himself comfortable, dog like and content in his bliss at her blanket fort. She had worked hard to make it stick together in the right way. No, that was her space, her portion of silence and happiness in the world, and he was ruining it!

Airy almost got angry, she almost let her temper go past boiling point. But the thought of drugs, the thought of relief, the thought that once Wally walked in, she'd be home free, made her freeze. Her body tense and in a position as though she were about to get out of the chair. He went quiet and Airy was able to calm herself, regain her composure and momentarily forget he was there.

Oh if only Kelly were there to see how good she was being. She'd be proud of her older sister. Airy was relaxing for a moment, her expression calm, when her words suddenly startled him to the point of twisting in the fort. No.. worse, he was getting up, he was twisted, and she heard her name, and a crash as he took her entire fort down with him.

Airy jumped to her feet suddenly, shock and anger evident on her features as he crashed to her feet, still wrapped in her blanket. Airy was completely shocked at his outburst, and apart of her wanted to scream at him. Instead she took a deep breath in, let it out and crouched down beside him. Tentatively, she reached out and unhooked a portion of the blanket so he'd be able to get up out of it without further problems.

Instead of answering him however, she went to her fort to survey the damage he had wrecked upon it. Half of the blankets had been pulled down, and a chair that had kept one wall up had moved and the entire wall had fallen, leaving it exposed to the sunlight on one side. Airy was feeling strangely calm as she surveyed it and carefully pushed the chair back into position. She picked up a blanket and folded it gently back into place, her hands shaking as she did.

Deep breath in.

Long breath out.

Airy carefully turned to look at him again, staring at the blankets now strewn across the floor. "It's not... a stripper, I need drugs alright? And a supplier is supposed to be here.. and it's the first time I've had wizard drugs.. I've only ever done recreational muggle ones alright? And if I don't have something soon I think I'm gonna go completely insane."

Her words were short, snippy, and almost calm as she glared at him, slowly moving closer, her voice a deadly whisper as she spoke. "If you aren't here to blackmail me, or report your findings to your friends, then why are you here? Teasing me is not fun, people stay away from me. Why would you want to be any different? Follow the status quo and leave me alone!" She hissed and fell back into her chair, half collapsing as she strained to keep her nerves in check.

She wanted nothing more then to yell and curse and throw spells at this guy who seemed determined to cause destruction and emotional distress to her. Instead she was forcing herself to sit quiet and try not to make any sudden movements in case it set off an anxiety attack, or better yet, broke her calm and let her start firing spells at his head with no concern.

She approached and leaned down. Apart of him considered the possibility that she would kick him while he was down. She was obviously irritated with him and, though he liked to believe the best of people, he had also grown up with four elder brothers who had liked nothing better than making his life hell. They were possibly the only four people on earth who could not earn back Ducky's favor, though he treated them mildly. (What choice did he have? There was four of them. He could take Ignatius and Henry, but both Luca and Liam could kill him if they wanted. Even if he had Lydia on his side, he would fail horribly.)

But no blow came. See - his fellow man (and woman) was constantly proving his optimism to be well founded. In fact, Aurora freed him from his warm, fuzzy trap. He stretched his arms out and quickly peeled his cocoon off, wriggling out if and standing up. He turned to survey the damage he had done. A quick intake of breath, his shoulders hunched, and he slowly turned to look at Aurora, a mighty wince upon his face. He realized how bad he had just messed up. "Erm... I can fix that."

She began to put the fort back together, icing him with silence. He watched awkwardly, feeling like a child who had broken the rules in someone else's house during a sleepover, and the parents were too polite to let on how mad they really were. Ah, childhood shame never truly leaves, does it?

Finally, she spoke. And Ducky almost laughed. It was too perfect. She spoke with enough exasperation and hesitation to inform him that she was being honest. So he had killed her buzz! Now, that was an emotion he could understand, and one he could fix too. He plunged a hand into one of his deep pockets, feeling for the brown paper bag that Nora had helped him conceal. His fingers caught it, but he was suddenly distracted.

Aurora almost looked dangerous. He knew she wasn't. He believed lonely people could not be dangerous - they were so easily disarmed with a hug. Still, he dared not hug her now, as she got close to him, words venomous. He knew she was about to feel a bit foolish, so he did not smirk or smile. He let her feel dangerous. Sometimes, people just needed to feel like they had some power in their lives. He certainly understood that.

"I don't want to be different," he said, almost sounding serious. It was about as serious as he could get. "See, problem is, I can't help it." That's when the smile came out again, like sunshine moving from behind the clouds. Finally he put his hands up, as though conceding to arrest. "Okay. I'll tell you why I'm here." He reached a hand into his pocket and withdrew the paper bag. He upended it on the desk, and a plastic baggy fell onto the surface. Inside it was a pre-rolled joint. He grinned at her. "Had a feeling you might need a pick-me-up. Share?"

Airy very slowly looked up at the table as he pulled out the bag and let the contents drop. Her eyebrows very slowly rose to her hairline as she sat up a bit straighter and stared at the rolled up joint. She forced her body to relax and she let out a deep breath, as though she had been holding it for a long time. "That explains a lot." She said carefully, glancing at the door, and then back to him. "That's how you're so happy all the time... and why people like you... you're high." She couldn't help but let out a bark of a laugh and she fell back in her chair, almost exhausted.

"Is that muggle or magical?" She breathed, moving her hand to her forehead and rubbing her temples. Her self control was causing her to lose energy quickly, and at this point she was too tired to fight with this kid anymore. He had won this battle, though she was sure as hell he wouldn't win the war. He wasn't her friend, and she had no reason to believe that he wasn't here to torture her.

After sitting for a moment like that, Airy stood up and went to her bookcase, opening the little box on it and pulling out a piece of gum, which she shoved into her mouth and chomped on for a moment, waiting until it was soft before turning back around to face him. The joint sat in the plastic bag on the desk and she could feel her mind strain towards it. Wanting to grab it and smoke it all. Except he had said share... so she'd have to share with this childlike jock. Fine.. if that's what she had to do, that's what she'd do.

"How much do I owe you?" She asked, going to her bag and pulling out her wallet, finding some coins and counting them out. "Shared joint probably doesn't qualify I pay for the whole thing.. but... here." She said, holding out her hand with the coins in it, a look of determination on her face. At the very least she could pay for it and not owe the guy. She hated owing people, especially someone like him.

Of course she had no idea how much he helped her out when she wasn't around. Keeping people from talking bad about her and all that. But she was aware people talked about her. She wasn't popular, she was infamous. And not in the good way. Some people were infamous because they were with the Dark Followers, or had gotten into a fight. She was infamous because they thought she was off her rocker, her temper was short and she skipped class a lot. It wasn't a good reason to be talked about.

He could see it in Aurora's face, see the unwilligness to admit defeat. He had won this power struggle, this time. To be fair, there wouldn’t have been a power struggle if she had just allowed him to be a pal to her, if she had just accepted his kindness. She had not, though, so he had to beat her – and it had only cost him a joint. She was thinking through something, but he paid that little mind. He folded up the crinkled paper bag and slipped it back in his pocket, before leaning against her desk, smiling at her.

She looked away from him, and then back. He was eager to hear what explained him. He was heartily surprised by her response. And he was even more surprised to find that it sort of hurt. This sentiment revealed itself on his face, his eyes drooping, the corners of his mouth flickering downwards. "I'm not high that often." Not often enough to explain his happy demeanor. On proper weekends, he could maintain a high for days. But he was so accustomed to getting high that his tolerance was high enough to keep the drugs from being an excuse for any of his behavior. "And last I checked, these aren't much of an incentive for popularity. Hogwarts is full of goody-goodies."

He could not remember the last time he had felt offended for something other than his family.

"Muggle," he said, unable to sound quite as chipper as he had before, though he made a valiant effort of it. "My brother deals." He ever worred about saying this. He had five brothers total, after all, and no one knew Cain. Even if someone investigated, it was not like they could figure out which one he had spoken of.

She retrieved some coins for her, and he knew, despite his desperate longing to take them, that he would refuse. If he accepted the pay for the joint, much too much for half of one anyway, then she had no reason to relax in his company, to just trust that he was trying to be kind. However, Ducky was a poor, poor fellow. His mother had very little money as it was, and he was the least of her children that she cared to support. If it had been up to her, she would have cut him off completely. He was certain that would be the case when he came of age. And he needed to save before that happened.

Still, he pushed the coins back to her. "Nope. Consider it repayment for the destruction of the blanket fort." He handed the joint to her and pulled out his wand. "I'll light you."