up to no good {harlow}

[jack stephen carlyle]

Jack was not a library-goer by nature, he didn't put much time or effort into studying, he felt he was smart enough already, and his grades demonstrated this. He wasn't top of the class, but he didn't need to be, he did well enough. Jack figured he could be top if he applied himself, but that wasn't very fun, he'd rather play Quidditch or chase after a good-looking girl. So why he was in the library might be a bit of a mystery to an outsider, but to Jack it made perfect sense. Girls. They were more apt to hang around the shelves of books, mostly Ravenclaws, who were sometimes a bit more difficult to seduce, but he liked the challenge.

Of course, loose girls wore every house colour, it was just a matter of finding them. Smirking to himself, Jack walked among the shelves, pretending to be looking for a particular book (as not to get the annoying elderly librarian on his case), while in reality, he was looking for someone worth his while. Jack might be promiscuous, but he did have some standards when it came to women. He liked them gorgeous, petite with good curves, nice face, long hair. But when it came to particular colours, he wasn't picky. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, they were all lovely in their own right. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, it was insignificant.

Shifting his bag a bit on his shoulder, Jack frowned to himself as if he were concentrating. Perhaps he ought to have re-thunk his tactic, it was Saturday afternoon, not many would be in the library studying, even if it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend. He figured he might only have the misfortune of finding girls annoyingly dedicated to their studies, who wouldn't give even him, Jack Carlyle, the time of day. But at any rate, he had little interest in nerdy girls, they weren't pretty enough, and they were incredibly annoying.

Jack decided he'd give the library a little time, fifteen minutes at most, and if he didn't see anything promising by then, he'd move on. It was a nice enough day out, sunny, but chilly, perhaps he'd walk the grounds in pursuit of a lovely creature. He stopped pacing, grabbing a book off the shelf at random and leaning against the desk that ran along the base of the shelf. Jack pried the book open a little ways in, pretending to read while he waited for activity to pick up a little. Just as he flipped one of the tarnished parchment pages he heard the sound of footsteps. Slowly, he looked up from the runes to see...

Wearing

[harlow christine knight]

Harlow was itching to get out of the library to practice her violin. It was a bit of a pain, to have to get some homework done for Transfiguration, but it was something that she loved, so she didn't mind. Still, sitting in the stuffy library, running the peacock feather quill across her cheek absently as she thought about how to finish her homework. Normally, the subject was simple for her. In retrospect, the subject material that she was learning currently was simple for her; she was simply too distracted to get anything substantial done.

It had been a full twenty-four hours since Harlow had gotten the opportunity to practice her violin, and it was driving her mad. Since she wasn't taking formal lessons whilst at school, she had a strict regimen that she needed to follow. She rose before anyone else, at 4:32 am to get in exactly two hours of practice before eating breakfast. After her classes in the morning, she rushed through lunch so that she could have at least another hour of practice before her afternoon classes. Once those were over, at approximately 5:02 pm most every day (sometimes 5:04, if the Defense Against The Dark Arts professor ran his lecture a bit too long), she had dinner, then had an hour allotted for her homework, then she had three hours and fifty-four minutes before her bedtime, which was strictly at 9:04 pm, so she had enough energy to get up in the morning.

The weekends were a godsend, when Harlow could spend all of the time in the world playing her violin and composing music to her hearts content. Normally on Saturdays, especially on a Hogsmeade weekend, Harlow would grab her violin and head to one of the empty dungeons to rehearse to her heart's content. Unfortunately, she needed to complete her Transfiguration homework first. She'd missed her deadline (2:34 pm -right after lunch) and it was starting to bother her.

As she sat, trying to finish her homework, Harlow's head was over-flowing with melodies that she was finding difficult to keep from writing down right then and there on her homework. She softly hummed them, bringing on leg to rest underneath her on the chair, the other lightly kicking out rhythms against the leg of her table. There was't anyone in the library that could bring down her mood, that she knew of. Most of her regular bullies were no doubt out having fun with their friends down at Hogsmeade. Harlow was too wrapped up to notice who was skulking through the bookshelves...

Harlow's Outfit

[/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

Jack looked around for the source of the footsteps, only to find a scowl dashing across his face when he saw it was just the librarian. Just his luck, he was about ready to give up on this place, though a quick glance of the old grandfather clock told him he had dedicated only five of his allotted fifteen minutes here. Still, though, he was bothered by the place. Bothered by the lack of pretty girls, bothered by the silence, bothered by the fusty old librarian who automatically assumed he was up to no good. It seemed she was the only adult in the school who didn't like him, and Jack had given up on trying to win her over.

As it was, he only had about seven months left in his schooling, he could put up with her for that length of time. All the other staff members were on his side, to them, he was delightful, attentive, and generally pleasant. Jack found it did him good to be on the right side of people in charge, it was probably how he had gotten the prefect's badge. True, he was a bit of a brown-noser, but it worked for him- his efforts usually always paid off. Except with the librarian. No matter how charming he was around her, it was like she caught on to his ruse.

Whatever, it wasn't like he ever did anything inherently wrong whilst in the library, he just did little in the way of studying, and more in the realm of flirting and snogging. But he always did so quietly... Rolling his eyes after the gnarled old woman had turned the corner, Jack snapped the book closed and slid it back into the gap where it had been on the shelf. Today, he figured, he'd abandon his fifteen-minute rule and go somewhere else, though as he happened upon a group of desks, he saw a girl who changed his mind.

He knew she was one of the odd ones, nowhere near his status, but she was attractive enough, and that might work in his favour- she might be attracted to the novelty of him being way out of her league. And, well, in Jack's mind any girl would want to be with him, why wouldn't they? He was handsome, tall, a star Quidditch player, and intelligent to boot. Who wouldn't want him? He strode confidently to the girl's table, and leaned up against it, not paying much attention to what she was doing- he was definitely more interesting than any homework assignment. "Now what's a pretty face like you doing here on a day like this?" said Jack.

[harlow christine knight]

Harlow was trying extremely hard to stay focused on her Transfiguration homework, not with all of the music flowing through her head. It was a bit bothersome, but she was far from annoyed. Music flowing through her brain never annoyed her. In fact, it was actually a rather common, everyday occurrence. The day that music ceased to flow through her head was going to be the day that she grew concerned for her health and sanity. It was simply who she was, and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Harlow much preferred it to be that way.

Unfortunately for her, the louder the music in her head got, the more distracted she was from her Transfiguration homework. She desperately needed to get this homework done before Monday. There was no way she was going to miss the deadline. This was a very large project, one that she'd opted to do solo. Harlow wasn't really a people person, and besides, Transfiguration was the subject she was the best at, other than her extensive knowledge of healing spells. At this point in her life, she desperately wanted to do something dealing with either of those two things for the rest of her life.

Harlow wished there was more for her in the magical world in regards to her music, but she was very content continuing her passion as a hobby or a way to make small amounts of money on the side. So long as she was able to play her violin - her current violin, one that she'd had since her thirteenth birthday, was affectionately named Delilah - and write music, she'd be a very happy person. Shaking her head free of most of what was distracting her, if only temporarily, Harlow began softly scribbling answers and notes onto her homework.

She hadn't gotten very far when a masculine figure leaned against her table, standing incredibly close. Harlow stopped writing for a moment, peering up at the boy. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she quickly turned her head back towards her work. This boy was unfamiliar to her, which wasn't very uncommon. She didn't exactly have suitors breaking down her door for a date, and this boy was very handsome. Harlow vaguely wondered what he want, but she chose to remain silent for the time being. She wasn't exactly social and preferred to be alone...

"Now what's a pretty face like you doing here on a day like this?"

Harlow blushed again. Pretty? She wasn't pretty, he was just saying that to get her attention. She glanced up, awkwardly clearing her throat before turning back towards her homework, delicately scribbling some notes down in her elaborate, neat, and looping handwriting. "Uhm... Transfiguration project..."

[/color] she replied quietly, avoiding his gaze. He seemed different than the others, different than the few friends she had, and much different than the many bullies that tormented her... still, Harlow was too socially inept to do much else but give out her simple replies.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

Jack looked the girl up and down, gaze lingering a bit longer on her chest and face than anything else, while he waited for her to respond. Really, she wasn't bad to look at, and that would do for him. Jack didn't really do the whole relationship thing, he just wanted the sex. It made things so much easier that way, skip all the boring, droning aspects, the cheesy romance, and just get to the fun stuff. Made finding a match simpler, too, one didn't have to worry about things like interests and personality. Just a night of fun. Possibly more than one if said partner proved any good.

Jack did still have his small list of women that he knew were reliable for fun whenever he was in the mood, but there weren't many women like that. They got too involved with their emotions, ended up wanting a relationship with him. That was never anything he was interested in. Jack knew that eventually his parents would expect him to settle down and get married- pick another equally rich, equally attractive, pureblood woman to carry on the Carlyle name. Really, it was his legacy, after all, given that he was the eldest son. True, he did have an identical twin brother, but his being born first by fifteen minutes was enough to make him the heir of the family.

Something which Jack was sure would come in handy when it came time for him to pick a wife. Though even now that idea wasn't very appealing, having to actually fall in love with one person, and only have sex with that one person 'til death do us part. Really, it was not interesting in the slightest. But Jack wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon, he was only seventeen, he had a lot of life left, and plenty more wild oats to sow. Hopefully with this girl, she was certainly pretty enough.

Jack watched the girl blush with a slight smirk, he always liked having that effect on women- it meant that she was genuinely flattered, and thus less likely to shoot him down. But really, he hadn't even been trying, if this was how she was reacting to his opening line, he was curious to see how she was going to handle herself when he actually started flirting. Jack was now quite confident that this was going to be easy, he just needed to lure her away from her papers.

Of course, she could be one of those annoyingly moral-having ones who wouldn't just sleep with him because she could. Jack hated those types, always thinking they were above him, though he tried not to dwell on rejection from their kind, there were plenty of girls who would have him without any effort at all. He turned his head a bit to glance at her paper, though didn't really read it. "Looks dull, lovely, wouldn't you rather do something fun?" said Jack, turning himself so he could forcibly meet her gaze and flashing a charming smile.

[harlow christine knight]

This guy was making her a tad bit uncomfortable. It really was a nasty thing, her socially awkward behavior. It made life difficult. Making friends was rare, and bullies were common. She was weird, she knew that, but she didn't really care. She'd much rather keep to herself as it was, her unique take on things just made it that much easier to stay away from people. The torment she got for it was really the only downside, and she wished for it to simply stop. It wasn't anything she could really help, unfortunately.

Harlow was simply very different from most people her age. It caused a lot of ridicule, but, the way that she saw it, it simply kept people from bothering her too much. As someone who preferred solitude to anything else, it was both a blessing and a curse. She'd appreciate a few friends here and there, but too much attention towards her simply made her uncomfortable. The bullying drove people away, which was both a good and bad thing... even if she didn't like people hanging around her, she'd appreciate some friends from time to time...

Harlow did have friends, yes, but they were far and few in between. Sometimes, she wished she had more people to confide in, more people who understood what it was like to be as ridiculed as she was... Biting her lip, she attempted to ignore the stranger before her. He really was very handsome, but that usually meant that he was like all of the others who bullied her. Why would someone so attractive and tall and masculine want someone like her for anything other than to push around, something that Harlow found was a very easy thing to do.

She really hated how weak she was in regards to standing up for herself. It really was exceptionally difficult, and she just wanted to be loved, truly loved. Harlow only had a few friends, and she'd never had someone ask her out on a date before. There had been no first kisses, no intimacy of any kind. As a fifteen-year-old, she watched her peers begin to experience things like that, and it made her very sad... The boy peered over at her paper, and she scribbled down a few more notes.

"Looks dull, lovely, wouldn't you rather do something fun?"

Harlow blushed, looking up at him. He had very pretty eyes, she had to give him that. But why was he trying so hard with her? Something was up, certainly. "I do find this fun..." she replied sheepishly, biting her lip slightly before turning back to her project. She continued to work on it while this boy stood before her, attempting to meet her gaze, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

[/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

Awkward, fumbling with her words, seemingly entirely engrossed in some dull project... It seemed like he had managed to pick himself one of those annoying nerdy girls. She was lucky she was hot, otherwise Jack might have just given her a rude comment before slinking off in pursuit of someone who knew how to handle herself. Really, she was bordering on pathetic. Though perhaps that might work in his favour, her innocence might make her easier to corrupt. Something told him that she didn't get all that much attention from boys, and really, why should she? Looks could only do so much, no matter how gorgeous someone was.

Even Jack knew that. Luckily, his personality was also stellar. Or, at least, that was what he thought, but why shouldn't he? He was great. Attractive, intelligent, wealthy, and a star Quidditch player, it was no wonder that he had girls falling at his feet. Though this one was a bit different, it was like she had no interest in him whatsoever. It was weird, and Jack didn't like it. Every woman wanted someone like him, he was perfect. The fact that she was immediately buying into his games was something that would never do. Perhaps Jack just needed to coax her a little, she might be completely innocent in this regard, too.

And then she said that she actually found the assignment fun. Jack held in his typical reactions to statements such as those, which would typically be eye-rolling, groaning, snickering, or some sort of hurtful comment. He was trying to win this girl over, and insulting her wouldn't get him anywhere. Though her purposefully avoiding his gaze was a bit more of a challenge, was she really not that interested? Who didn't want to look into his self-described "stormy grey" eyes? Maybe he was reading her wrong. Or maybe she was a lesbian.

Nevertheless, Jack did still have his usual fifteen minute rule, if things didn't turn around by then he would excuse himself and look for someone else. That tactic usually worked for him- if things weren't going in the right direction after a quarter of an hour, they likely never would. And he'd yet to even spend five, so he'd give it a little more time. But Jack didn't take rejection easily, and he was more than convinced that he could win this girl over. She just might be more of a project than the others.

Jack wasn't really known for his patience, but she really was attractive... "Well, then..." said Jack, craning his neck to look at the upper corner of her paper, "Harlow, you're quite the rare breed. I like that." He added a wink, though she might not have seen it owing to her refusal to look him in the eye.

[harlow christine knight]

Harlow was getting extremely uncomfortable by this boy, wanting nothing more than for him to simply get to the point. She almost wished that he would drop this charming act and being harassing her the way everyone else like him did. Harlow knew who this boy was, though she didn't quite remember his name. He was a Gryffindor Quidditch star, handsome and charming and someone the ladies swooned over. He was just like everyone else who'd ever tormented her, and Harlow knew it. She wanted to know what game he was playing with her so they both could go on their merry way.

Still, this stranger was incredibly handsome. He was tall, strong, possessing the features akin to that of a Greek god. His eyes were impeccably beautiful, he was quite the rare man. Still, she knew what boys like him did to girls like her. They preyed on the weak, the innocent, and Harlow knew that the more she responded to him, the more likely it was that he would whisk her away and take everything that was supposed to be loving and romantic and turn it against her until she was used and abused, then he'd leave her to rot.

She just didn't understand why he was doing this to her. It wasn't fair, why did she have to spend all of her time being tormented? Harlow almost brought herself to tears just thinking about it. She didn't understand why some people were just so cruel. It wasn't her fault that she was unique, it wasn't her fault that she enjoyed school and music and that she showed it. Why did she have to undergo so much pain because of the things that she loved, of the person that she was?

Harlow didn't understand. She wanted this handsome stranger to go away and leave her be if he didn't just start pummeling her with insults. She continued to answer questions and write things down on her project, wanting to finish it as quickly as possible so that she could leave this uncomfortable situation, lock herself in a room somewhere, and play her violin until it was time to go to bed. It was agonizing, and she was getting enormously frustrated by this boy. She felt him shift over her, glancing at her name on her paper, and she flinched slightly.

"Well then... Harlow, you're quite the rare breed. I like that."

Harlow flushed, not saying a word as she continued to write on her parchment. No one had ever said that before... maybe he really was different... Harlow shook the thoughts from her head, knowing full-well how silly she was being. That's what he wanted her to think. She left him in silence as she formulated a response to his statement, allowing her brain to come off of the high that it was on from the unexpected, never-before-heard compliment. She glanced up at him and smiled nervously. "Thank you,"

[/color] she muttered in response before anxiously returning to her work.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

Jack was perplexed by this girl, he wasn't quite sure what to think of her. She was acting almost as if she weren't interested in him (which he had decided was impossible unless she was either a complete bitch or homosexual), but she hadn't expressly said anything otherwise. It was a rarity enough for Jack that his intended target didn't immediately throw herself at his feet, or at the very least make a move to return his advances. Though as he hadn't yet been specifically rejected, he was going to keep moving until he was. What could he say? She was still attractive, and there was something enticing about having to work for her.

Little by little he could chip away- Jack really was no stranger to being persistent. She'd see it his way in the end. Yes, in a way it was frustrating to know that he wouldn't get what he wanted precisely when he wanted it, but it would happen- Jack would be sure of that. Nobody was allowed to reject him.All the same, though, it was odd, the way she was acting. Any other girl of her social status would be thrilled that he even looked at them, let alone stopped and started talking.

Maybe she was smarter than she let on, able to see through his ruse. Jack had little interest in her as a person, merely what she might be able to offer him. All the same, she should be flattered that he had picked her. Sure, there wasn't much to chose from in the library at the moment, only the librarian and a bunch of uglies, but all the same, Jack could have his pick of all the girls he wanted, and here she was, not throwing herself at him. Interesting. Very interesting indeed...

The blush was a reassuring sign, though she took a long time to respond. Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes, couldn't she see how much more interesting he was than some stupid Transfiguration assignment? Maybe he was wasting his time, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. She'd be his eventually. In the meantime Jack pretended not to notice, and continued projecting his smooth confidence, not backing away from Harlow even as she displayed signs of not being comfortable with the proximity. That might just be from not being used to it. She'd love it in the end, they always did.

Finally she answered with a simple "thank you." Really? That was all she had in her? Maybe she didn't know how to flirt either. This could end up being either excellent or even more pathetic than it already was, only time would tell, he supposed. Hopefully not too much time, but he could wait. He wouldn't like it, but it was possible. "You know, darling, there's no need to be so tense, I'm not going to bite," said Jack with an encouraging smile. Were he talking to someone other than Harlow, he might add unless you want me to, but something told him she wouldn't go for that.

[harlow christine knight]

Harlow continued to write calmly and smoothly over the parchment, turning the pages of the stack and examining what she'd done so far. She was nearly finished, it would only take a few more answers to wrap up her Transfiguration project. Once she was finished, she could leave and go back to being alone, leaving this strange boy alone with his pretty eyes and smoldering stare and no-doubt dark intentions. Lightly kicking her boot against the leg of the table, Harlow absently began humming a melody that had been stuck in her head since breakfast.

She had a very bad habit of coming up with things and then forgetting them before she had the opportunity to write them down. It was a bad habit, one that Harlow hated, and she was determined not to let this particular musical progression escape her head. However, if this boy was going to keep bothering her, the melody would be lost and she would kick herself for hours, possibly days. Why did he have to be such a distraction? Couldn't he just skip the pretty boy act and simply get on with the torment that was bound to come?

Jack. The name came to her out of no where. Harlow remembered hearing this boy's name during Qudditch matches. The melody disappeared from her head as she began searching her brain for everything that she knew about this charming boy. He was a virtual prince of his House, that much she remembered, and that could only come with trouble. If someone like him was flirting with someone like her, he was only trying to use her. Harlow bit her tongue, knowing better than to express this outwardly. Of course, she doubted that she really could, even if she had wanted to.

Harlow was shy, painfully so, and it caused more trouble than anything. At her response, he looked at her and he could barely mask the shock on his face. Harlow just wanted him to go away and leave her be, it hurt more for him to try to use her and get her hopes up so high just to drop her to the floor than it would if he were saying all of the things she was used to hearing from people like him... Harlow turned to the last page of her Transfiguration homework. It was the final stretch...

"You know, darling, there's no need to be so tense, I'm not going to bite."

Much,

[/color] Harlow thought bitterly. She looked up at him and smiled brightly, faking it more than she had every thought she would have to. Why did people have to be so cruel? "I'm fine. Just trying to finish this so I can go do other things,"[/color] she responded, hoping desperately that he'd get the hint and leave her alone...[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

Jack honestly had no idea what was up with this girl. Perhaps she had been living under a rock for the past few years and had no idea who she was talking to. Or she was a lesbian. Though both of those situations did seem unlikely, otherwise she would have shot him down by now, these more passive ways weren't going to work with him, unless he got a firm denying of his advances, he would continue until he got one. And even if he did, Jack didn't always leave his intended targets alone, he was a persistent young man, and sort of took rejection as a challenge.

Once he got over the initial negative feelings associated with it, of course. But Jack Carlyle was not a man that people said "no" to, he wouldn't allow that. He always got his way in the end, and the sooner people accepted that, the better off they were going to be. It would save them a whole lot of trouble, too, since really all anyone getting in his way was doing was simply delaying the inevitable. Much like this girl. Her defensiveness was irritating, he knew she wanted him, what girl wouldn't? He just didn't see the sense in her denying what they both wanted.

It never came to Jack's attention that Harlow simply might not be interested, the concept was foreign in his brain. Everyone was interested in him. He'd make her see things his way eventually, he had assigned himself this particular endeavour. If it didn't happen today, he'd make it happen at some point. Most of the time he didn't have patience for things like this, but with Harlow... Well, she was different mostly in the case that she seemed to be a lone anomaly. Not interested in him, yet not acting as if she were disgusted by his very presence, either.

And then came her next statement, yet another passive sort of thing, as if she were trying to give him a hint. Well that simply was not going to do. Jack really had no idea what her problem was, any other girl in her position would be thrilled to talk to him for more than two seconds, and yet here Harlow was, treating him as something of an annoyance. Really, it was beginning to get under his skin. But he didn't let this show, however, he had become an expert at the art of keeping a smooth exterior.

At least when it came to flirting situations, but woe to anyone who pissed him off otherwise. Jack did have quite a temper on him. "What sorts of things?" Jack inquired, he wasn't going to just let her keep giving these half-assed responses, she was going to at least talk to him for a bit, whether she wanted to or not.

[harlow christine knight]

Harlow bit her lip, waiting for Jack to leave. She turned back to her homework, writing down more answers. It was almost finished, and then she could pack up and go. She gently kicked the leg of the table as she wrote, humming a bit to herself as if Jack wasn't there. She wasn't a rude person, but, at this point, she would do whatever she could to do get the handsome stranger away from her. She wanted to leave the uncomfortable situation and never come back. People were terrifying and she hated having to socialize with them.

The only people she found easy to talk to and befriend were others who were interested in music. They were just as introverted as she was for the most part, and it was wonderful. She had a few friends, and they were all like her. It was the best kind of thing, bonding over the art of making and writing music. It made her smile just thinking about it. Biting her lip, she turned her attention back to her work. Just a short ways to go, and she'd be finished, and she could leave, and everything would be fine.

Harlow still didn't understand what Jack was playing at. It didn't occur to her that he actually might have found her attractive. It happened in books, popular boys falling in love with nerdy girls, but she didn't ever think that things like that could be real. It simply didn't happen, especially to someone like her. There wasn't any way he really was attracted to her in any way, he was just hoping that she would swoon, fall for him, and then give him what he wanted before he left her and never returned.

"What sorts of things?"

Harlow brightened up a bit at the question. Even though she didn't trust Jack, she wouldn't have a problem telling him everything that she loved. It wasn't anything she could help, she just loved music so much that she couldn't contain it. Harlow looked up at him, beaming. "Music. It's a really, really beautiful thing. I'm going to go play my violin after I finish this,"

[/color] she replied before turning back to her work. Just one more question to answer. She scribbled in her response before straightening up the pile, tucking her quill away and standing. "Well.. that's now, I guess. I'm going to go write. Thanks for being so nice but... but I'm not interested,"[/color] she replied. Harlow was never one to lie...[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[jack stephen carlyle]

((OOC: So I'm sort of getting the feeling that this one's done...))