round up them badboys;; hallie

[braden royce barbary]

All in all, having a job at Hogwarts wasn't so bad. Free room, free food, cool kids, no real responsibility. Basically, it was the perfect place for Braden to have a job. He wasn't exactly the type of person that could handle any reasonable amount of responsibility, so this was a good starting job for him. Whenever he didn't do something himself, the house elves were there to clean up behind him. At least he did things sometimes and the headmaster was good about giving him tasks every now and then that were meant to "teach him" and help "build character" or whatever. Braden didn't see the point of it, but since he didn't exactly have a whole lot lined up in regard to a job otherwise, he did them. Of course, he did them kicking, screaming and complaining the whole way, but he still did them.

Today, for example, he had been asked to clean Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It was a well known fact that it was meant only for show by now, but some kids still seemed to insist on using it when they were in the area and really had to go. Myrtle most definitely didn't take kindly to that. Hence, the mess. Technically, it should have been a fairly easy thing to accomplish. A few swishes of his wand and it was done. However, were Braden that talented, he could have gotten a job elsewhere. He hadn't paid enough attention in class to learn shit and so, here he was, unable to perform a simple cleaning spell. He'd intended to sit in on that lesson when it came up in one of the charms classes, but he had been busy that day. Or maybe he'd just been sleeping. Yeah, probably just sleeping.

Loping down the hallways with a scowl on his face, Braden made his way up to the bathroom. The stench was enough to make him turn around, but his desire to keep his job overrode that and so he stood there looking at the puddle on the floor and Moaning Myrtle sitting there crying or whatever. "Fuck you, man. Can't you clean this shit up yourself?" Braden complained, setting the bucket he was carrying down and kicking it over at the ghostly figure. The thought, to Braden, made sense. She made the mess, so she could damn well clean it up herself, right? Of course, things were never that easy. With another raucous scream, Myrtle fled from the scene, not at all pleased with the treatment she was receiving from Braden. With another irritated curse, Braden stood back a bit further to look at the situation in front of him. Where were the house elves when you needed them?

Stooping down, he tugged at his boots to be sure they were on tight and he moved to slosh through the ever growing puddle in front of him. Clearly, the damn headmaster had it out for him with this mess of a job. Bending over a bit to look at the toilet that was causing the problems, Braden reeled back in disgust. Like hell did he know how to fix it. Stepping back, he reared back and sent a well placed kick right at the base of the thing, assuming that this was the best he could do to help fix it. "Bloody fucker," he screamed out as his foot was sent back, now throbbing with pain, and the toilet continued to spew forth a mess of water and other unmentionables. With a scowl, Braden retreated to recuperate and come up with plan B. "Fuck you, man! Fuck you," he yelled out to the Headmaster that was quite clearly not even close to the area and couldn't hear him in the least.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

If there was one thing that Hal hated from fighting, it was difinitely the feeling of intense bitter hatred she felt after she walked away from the bickering. She hated Alexandria with every bone in her body, but she wasn't exactly sure why. Of course, Alex started it because Hallie had been nothing but nice to the girl. It didn't matter though, because whatever she tried to do, Alex only hated her more. And she didn't need Alex to be friendly with her, but she just didn't like to know that people hated her, or her choice of activities. And this last fight with Alex definitely didn't help the situatution between the two girls. Hallie tried her best to avoid Alex when she was in her cheer squad uniform, but it never fails that Alex would spot her; and then the latter girl would make fun of her for being so preppy, and Hal would have to once again defend her decision to cheer on the Quidditch matches. She just couldn't understand why Alex would constantly harrass Hal, instead of just shutting her mouth.

So because Hallie doesn't typically fight with her hands, although she has a real talent of yelling at the top of her lungs, she just wanted to get away. She couldn't take it anymore in that room, which was too stuffy to her. And anyone who knows Hallie knows that there is no way to calm her down, except for letting her just blow off steam. She walked aimlessly around the halls, letting her feet guide her to a place that was populated with petty littler fakers--you know, those people who pretend to be a friend. She came across the moving stairs, and let them travel a different path while she was still on them, eventually making her way to the second floor bathroom. She wasn't really sure where she was heading, because she wasn't exactly one for exploring. But the last time she checked, exploring never killed anyone, and she wasn't exactly up to talking to someone cheerful like Aspen.

Hallie took her time wandering down the hallway, just thinking about how some people can be such jerks. However, she heard some banging and screaming coming from one of the doors, and decided to investigate. Her investigation led her to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, so she pressed her ear up to the door, hoping to hear better. Hal could barely hear what was coming from the otherside of the door, but it sounded like someone was cursing up a storm. She sighed. This is definitely not what I need right now. So she turned on her heel and went back towards where she came from. But of course, her curiosity got the better of her, and she just couldn't leave things alone, so she quickly jogged back to the door. She quietly said a spell under her breath, to hear better, and the words "Fuck you, man." exploded towards her. Wow, must be something big going on. Well, I've got nothing better to do, so I might as well go in.

Hallie slowly turned the door knob and step into the bathroom, which had a horrible odor about it. But what surprised her the most was a guy standing in the middle of the room, throwing water all around the place. She couldn't tell if he was trying to clean the bathroom, or the cause of the mess. Whatever he was doing, he definitely upset Moaning Myrtle greatly, as she dissappeared in pain. Hallie barely had time to move out of his way before he moved back, but he obviously didn't hear her. As much as she was startled by his behavior, Hallie couldn't help but notice how gorgeous the man was. His tone body was obviously in great shape, and his ass was difinitely appealing. But she was brought back to reality when the stranger decided to randomly kick a toliet, causing him pain. Ohmigosh, what the hell. She couldn't just stand there without helping him, whoever he was. She walked towards him. Are you okay?

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[braden royce barbary]

The last thing that Braden would have expected to see was someone coming in to the bathroom with him. The smell wasn't exactly inviting and certainly, his yelling wasn't something he would have wanted to stumble into. Honestly, he would have turned the other way and hightailed it out of the place if it weren't for the fact that he had his job to think about. Though, at that point he was starting to wonder if having a job was worth all the trouble. Hell, it wasn't like his family was hurting and they could have given him his own pad or whatever. Yet, even though he was one of the most unmotivated kids ever to have existed, he didn't want that for himself. He did want to try, at least a little bit, before throwing in the towel and letting his parents support him fully for the rest of his life. That wouldn't exactly have been the most appealing to women, besides, and that definitely didn't fly with Bray. He clearly needed his women.

So, when he heard someone walking towards him and asking questions, Braden turned around with a rather surprised look on his face. He didn't recognize the girl, but it was obvious that she was at least a year or two younger than he was. Than again, most everyone in the school would be younger than him, since he was graduated. However, Bray didn't think about things like that and so gave her a slightly irate look. The manwhore inside him's first thought was irritation that she was too young and therefore illegal, but then it was just pissed that she had seen him there in the bathroom flailing about with a bucket and looking like a total dumbass. Of course, he didn't realize it, but he more or less was always doing something that made him look rather stupid. That was just part of who he was.

Grunting slightly, he settled down and folded his arms across his body, attempting to look all tough and menacing. Though, considering he was covered in toilet water and wincing in pain from his foot, it was hard to look all too threatening. "Yeah, what's it to ya?" he asked, wriggling a bit to show that he completely didn't care who she was. Running a hand through his hair, he gave her another critical look before turning back to his task at hand with a frown. He still had no hopes of cleaning it up with just a bucket of water, but either way he had to try. Picking the bucket back up, he turned it over to let the remainder of the clean water spill out over the mess. Of course, it didn't do a damn thing to clean it and simply spread the mess further so that it washed up over his rubber boots, as well as over the feet of the girl that had come up next to him.

He snickered slightly when he saw that she had gotten in the mess, feeling quite satisfied that he wasn't the only one that looked stupid anymore. "You wanna clean this shit up?" he asked, looking over at her. There was a chance that, perhaps, she was slightly talented with her wand and could clean it up right fast. Braden wasn't above using the people around him to do his work for him, since in his mind that was just resourceful thinking. After all, if he could get it done and not have to do it himself, than that was like a double win on his part. "It's all over the fuckin' place and the fuckin' toilet is broken," he added, attempting to make the situation much worse to the girl, just in case somehow he could get her to feel bad for him or something. Girls totally fell for that shit all the time.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Hallie seemed to have a talent for making people hate her, or at least, become angry with her. This was evident by Alex's reaction every time the girls were in the same room, and apparently by the behavior from this unknown stranger staring her down. She couldn't tell what his problem was, other than that she was in the room, giving the impression that everything was her fault. Obviously she didn't like to be put down, but what could she do if he was a teacher? Regardless, she wasn't in the mood to have someone else hating her.

She glared at him, staring at him with icy blue eyes. It was the same look she generally gave Alex, but of course the other girl could return the look just as well. Look, I was just asking a question. It's not everyday that I see random guys kicking toilets. But ya know, if I'm not wanted here, bye. Hallie had every intention of turning on her heel and walking out. But something about the stranger made her interested, pulling her in. She watched him as he threw the rest of the water on the floor. Hal knew that wasn't going to help the situation any better, in fact only making it worse, but she wanted him to suffer. The mess sloshed over her shoes, and she looked down disgusted.

What, you want me to just whip out my wand and clean the mess up for you? Not! You made it, you clean it. She shook her head. Some people just don't have any manners. What are you so mad at anyway? She was cringing inside, acting so mean. Normally she would give a person some help, even if he was a complete stranger. But Alex just made things inside of Hallie snap, and typically it took two or three hours for her to calm down before she was herself again. Hal felt terribly bad though, because she could clearly see the frustration on the man's face. Giving him an icy stare once more, she pulled out her wand, and stepped around him. Tergeo bathroom. Hallie watched as the room cleaned itself, satisfied with the results when the spell wore out. While watching the room put itself back in order, Hal quietly whispered Is this good enough for you mister?. She obviously didn't want another confrontation. By the way, my name is Hallie. She walked towards him. Tergeo, it's a helpful spell to clean rooms. Just in case you ever want to kick another toilet. She laughed slightly, while watching for his reaction out of the corner of her eye.

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[braden royce barbary]

Braden was a bit taken aback by the rather mean look that the girl was giving him. Hell, he hadn't done anything wrong. At least, he didn't think that he had done anything wrong at least. So he sure as hell didn't think that he deserved such attitude from her. Plus, she didn't even know who he was and there she was, glaring up a storm at him. She was probably just some dumb bitch then. Typically, he wouldn't have cared, but he was pretty worked up at that point. Obviously he was losing the battle against the toilet and he sure as hell wasn't about to go and lose another battle to this kid. "Well, fuck that. If you want to go, than go right a fuckin' head," Braden shrugged, frowning slightly. He probably should have been a bit more considerate, considering she was probably the last chance he had at getting some help any time soon.

However, she didn't seem to be leaving just yet, which he was quite pleased by. Clearly, she couldn't resist him and wanted to be there, even if they were in a nasty toilet room. "Yeah, do that. And I didn't fuckin' do it. I was cleanin' this shit up," Braden countered, rather angrily. He sure as hell wasn't about to take the blame for this one. Clearly, it wasn't his fault and he was being a good person by trying to clean it up. Well, even if he was required to for his job, he still felt that it was quite noble. "And that's why I'm mad. 'cause of the shit all over the floor that I've gotta clean," he added with a nod, his voice much less irritable now that he could complain about his shit job. After all, complaining was something that Braden excelled at and could most definitely do. The situation lent itself well to such things.

Moving as she moved to get around him, Braden watched closely to see what she was doing. Much to his surprise, and relief, the bathroom quickly cleaned itself at the tap of her wand. "Fuck yes," he commented with a nod. That was the closest thing that he would give her to a thank you, since he wasn't exactly the most mannered of young men. At least he somewhat showed his appreciation with his statement. "Yeah, whatever. Better than before, so yeah," he nodded. Honestly, he couldn't have cared less about how clean it was. To him, if it was at least a little bit cleaner than before than it was good enough. It would show that he put forth some amount of effort and that was obviously more than anyone could or should ask from the young man. Work just wasn't his forte.

He eyed her somewhat nervously as she walked toward him, but didn't back down. Obviously, he had no reason to be afraid of her, even if she was clearly better with her wand. "Hallie. Cool. Bray," he nodded. His introduction wasn't exactly very eloquent, but it got the job done. Even if he was sometimes more akin to a caveman than a civilized human being, that was okay. "Tergiggio, right," he mumbled. He might have attempted to commit that to memory, but he found that to be a rather hopeless endeavor. "What the fuck, it was supposed to get fixed when I kicked it. That's how shit gets done," he grumbled, not at all amused by her laughter. Stupid, superior bitch. She was probably just laughing at him for his job and his fail and all that shit. Not cool.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Hallie wanted nothing more than to just go far, far, very far, away. She wanted to get away from the people she disliked, but here feet were glued to the floor. No matter how much she willed her body to move away Bray, she was paralyzed from the waist down. She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling very exposed. In the few short minutes that she met Bray, she felt an attraction for him that she's never felt for another guy. Hal didn't know if this was what love felt like, especially because she knew this wasn't exactly her top choice of a man. Well, to make it blunt, Hal could do without the cursing, and his bad boy image would be enough to turn any girl off...if they didn't like that. Hallie, on the other hand, found herself wanting more of him, wanting to know everything about his person. A strong sense of attachment to the man washed over Hallie, making her emotionally and physically exhausted.

She sighed, and walked over to the bucket that he had tossed aside. She flipped it over and sat down on it, thankful to be off her feet for a moment. She glanced up and him, soften her eyes, in an attempt to show him that she cared. Yeah sorry, that was wrong of me to blame you. She added a hint of sweetness to her voice, while still trying to be tough. Hal wondered if fluttering her eyes would be too much. Her eyes wandered around the room, and she caught herself in the mirror, playing with her earrings. Hal giggled at the sight of herself. Here she was in her cheer sqaud uniform, with wet shoes, and a messy hair bun; the perfect sight to win a guy over. Well, are you going to kick anymore toilets. 'Cause if not, I've got to go. She stood up, and guickly threw him a please don't let me go look. She never wanted someone to want her as badly as she did with Bray, and she didn't believe in love at first sight. And even with all the coaching in the world from Megan about not falling in love, Hallie could more or less say she broke all rules of gravity.

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[braden royce barbary]

Shifting a bit, rather awkwardly, Braden wasn't sure what else he was supposed to say to the girl. He probably could have thanked her again for helping him out, but that wasn't exactly something that Braden ever did. He wasn't the type that ever did such things, so he left it at that. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he fumbled back a few steps so that he could lean up against the wall and look down at her. Moving his hand, he reached into the pocket of his jacket to drag out a pack of smokes. Frowning, he felt around a bit more in search of his apparently missing lighter. "Shit, got a light?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and motioning the smokes in her direction. He didn't really care that it wasn't the most appropriate place to be smoking, since he was long overdue to a quick light. Of course, he'd forgotten his lighter.

He nodded a bit at her apology, grunting a bit in response. "Yeah, whatever. Lots of people think it's always my fault," he shrugged, quite honest with what he was saying. He was the sort of guy that got blamed for things, even when it wasn't his fault. Of course, that was mostly because in many instances it was his fault, but of course that didn't mean that he enjoyed being blamed for things. "Probably because I'm hot shit," he added with a bit of a smirk. Braden, at times, could be something of a cocky bastard and he certainly had no problem letting people know that. As far as he was concerned, he was sort of incredibly hot and that was plenty of reason for him to be quite confident in himself. Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't realize that herself. She was a girl after all and all girls thought he was hot. Mostly.

Now that he was thinking about it, she wasn't so bad herself. Not so much his typical type, but she was a cute kid. A little messy at the moment, but it worked for her. Although he probably shouldn't have been thinking in that line, he was. He couldn't help himself. A slight frown appeared on his face as Hallie started to get up to leave. "Well, you know. I might have to, so you should probably stick around," he shrugged. He wasn't sure why, but he definitely wanted her to stay. Perhaps it was because he was simply just bored at the moment and needed someone around to talk to, but he wasn't usually the type to get like that. "Might want to watch out though, yeah? It could get messy," he warned. Rolling the cigarette between his fingers, he glanced over at the girl with a sly grin. Maybe he could have a little fun, see how long he could get her to stick around without getting pissed at him.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Hallie couldn't help but to roll her eyes, because she felt like a little school girl. Good grief. He probably thinks I'm an idiot, but that's only because I'm acting like one right now. She looked around the now clean room, then glanced casually at him when he asked for a lighter. Uh no, I don't smoke. But.. She pulled out her wand, and flicked her wrist in Bray's direction. Incendio! She put the wand back into her shoe, where she normally kept it. Did you forget about the little fact that I could do magic? Hallie only hoped that she wasn't coming out too harsh, and that he took her playing manners; because he looked like the guy who would have a good time.

When Bray told her to go on, Hallie couldn't help to feel a little annoyed. She felt the shock flicker across her face, and stared blankly at him. But what was she honestly expecting him to say? That he fell in love with her, and wanted Hal to stay by his side 24/7. Obviously, that only happened in fairy tales, which was far from the life that Hallie lived. Regardless, Hal stood up, in an attempt to leave once more. But then he started talking to her again, so she just stood in place watching his features. Not only did Bray have a good body, but he also had an amazing face. Some girls would just say that he was flat out hot, but Hallie noticed the soft edges around his lips, and the gold flecks in his otherwise brown eyes.

Hal shook her head and folded her arms. She placed one foot on the bucket to retie a loose shoelace. Well, if I'm going to stay, I believe I should know more about you. I've never seen you on campus, and considering you were attempting to clean the bathroom, I'd say you're working here. Hallie waited for a couple of minutes, giving him an ample amount of time to answer her. However, when he didn't, Hallie continued on as if nothing happened. Okay, well I'm Hallie Beatrix Cauldwell. One of three crazy ass sisters. I'm a sixth year Ravenclaw, and obviously on the cheer squad. Please don't hate me for the last part; I already know someone who hates me for it, and I soooo do not need another one. She flashed him a smile of pearl white teeth.

She could tell he was bored just talking to a nobody, but it's not like she had any better options. So, Hal wanted to get as much information from the complete stranger as she could. Did you previously go to Hogwarts? She gave him pleading eyes. Hal had to get something out of him, otherwise this conversation would crumble, and the she wouldn't have any other reason to talk to him. She really shouldn't have expected anything different from someone she didn't know, because as she learnt the hard way, not everyone was opened to obtaining new friends.

Hal found herself becoming genuinely interested in the guy standing in front of her. Not because he was hot and she was totally crushing on him, but because she had a habit of knowing almost everyone in the castle. So it bugged her that she didn't know anything about the person leaning against the wall. You know, if I'm boring you, I can totally leave. She pointed her finger towards the door, and angled her body so it would look like she was walking at any moment. She pulled her hair down, and rearranged it to frame her face. Of course, then you wouldn't be in the presence of me. And I certainly make everyone's day more happy.

The flush of embarrassment spread across her face, as Hallie couldn't believe what she just said. She found herself wishing that she paid closer attention to Megan and her two older sisters when they told her about how to interact with a guy. Of course she knew how to act around guys, that is, guys who were her friends. Ah, what the hell. If he hasn't killed me by now, then I'm good. She smiled silently at herself, then looked at him. So yeah, what should I know about you?

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[braden royce barbary]

A slight snarl of irritation crossed his face when she said she didn't smoke, since that probably meant that he wouldn't get to smoke either. However, when she pulled her wand out again, a curious expression appeared on his face as he watched her light his cigarette from where she was standing. "Fuck, yeah. Sweet, brah," he nodded, taking a drag from the stick before holding it down for a second. "You want one?" he asked, holding the rest of the pack out in front of him. The fact that Bray was even considering giving away one of his smokes meant a lot and was, in his own special way, a sign of thanks. Of course, it was rather unlikely that the girl would take it as such, but that was fine by him. He didn't have to impress her anyways.

He raised a brow slightly at her comment about magic and shrugged lightly. Considering the fact that he had more or less resigned himself to the fact that he would never master any smidgen of magical technique aside from the basics that he'd needed to mess with people, he tended to forget that there was an easier way to do things that the arduous things that he went through. "Man, where'd you learn all that shit. I can't do none of that," Braden said, scoffing a bit, though he was clearly impressed. He probably was coming off as pretty stupid at the moment, but that was just a typical day for the young man. He'd never been known for his smarts, that was for sure. Hell, his only talents seemed to be looking sexy, as far as most people knew and he was happy to let them believe it.

As he turned back to his work, he glanced back at Hallie for a moment as she started to talk again with some bull about wanting to get to know him better. Braden had never really been asked to talk about himself before and for the moment, he ignored what she was requesting. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about himself, since that was definitely something that he had no trouble doing, but it was because he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to come off looking like a total failtard, since that was never cool, so he simply listened to what she had to say first before making any decisions on what he wanted to tell her. Of course, she had to be a Ravenclaw and could already tell that he was some failed worker here at Hogwarts, which he wasn't pleased by, but perhaps he could still salvage the situation.

Nodding back at her comment about the cheer squad, he waited a moment to see if she was done. "Cauldwell. Like, the hot ones in Slytherin?" he asked, since of course that was the first thing that came to mind with the Cauldwell name. Though he'd never been in the same year as either of the others, he'd definitely known them somewhat. "And yeah, you know. Cheer squad is whatever. I guess someone has to do it?" he shrugged. Honestly, he was pretty ambivalent to the subject and since it seemed like a bit of a sore spot with the girl, he wasn't about to push it. Braden was a button pusher in most instances, but for some reason he didn't feel obligated to test her anger. Of course, how long that would last was to be determined, since it was unlikely that the moment would last for long.

Rubbing at his nose a bit, he shrugged slightly at her question. "Yeah, Slytherin grad," he grunted, not sure what else to say on that subject. He could easily have gone into more detail, such as when he had graduated, what he was doing now, that sort of thing, but he was still slightly unsure if he was really interested in giving out so much information. He wasn't used to being confronted by people that were just looking for a conversation, having been in the Slytherin house all his life. It was easier to believe that she was in it for some ulterior motive than it was to believe that she was just being genuinely friendly. Besides, he had no idea who she was, more or less, so that didn't make it any easier to trust her at all. Than again, she did seem rather harmless and had a cute smile.

Given her reaction, Braden realized that he probably didn't seem all that interested in listening to her. Which, technically was a bit true, but he was at least listening. That in itself was quite the miracle, since he usually just tuned people out when they were talking. "Nah, you know, it's cool," he shrugged before raising an amused eyebrow at his second comment. That definitely wasn't something that he'd been expecting from her, but he kind of liked it. Braden was such a cocky bastard himself that he liked to have a girl around that could be the same way. "Aha, well, hell. I suppose I'm honored to be in the presence of such a Hogwarts legend, yeah?" Braden said, shaking his head a bit. Perhaps she wasn't so bad after all.

Chewing on his lip a bit, Braden wasn't sure what to say about himself. Hell, he wasn't exactly the most interesting guy to run into, but then he could be pretty damn cool. "Uh, well. Name's Braden Royce Barbary. Former Slytherin and resident badass of the castle. I smoke, I curse, I drink and I have sex. Parents worst nightmare. But I'm also incredibly sexy, rather charming and a total catch. What more do you need to know?" he asked, turning away from the pipe he was tinkering to face her with a rather smug look on his face. He had more or less managed to skip over giving her any real information about himself, which he was quite pleased with himself for. That was definitely an accomplishment in his book and had definitely kept him from looking any dumber than he already did by talking about his job.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

Hallie found herself completely at ease with just sitting around and getting to know Bray. She couldn't tell if it was because she was away from any potential confrontation with Alex, or if it was because she had nothing better to do. Regardless, striking a conversation with a random, hot guy was definitely something Hal could get used to. She watched him as he took a quick drag of his cigarette, and offer her one. No thanks. I think they are absolutely disgusting. But carry on with that one as you please. She flashed him a smile, simply to show that she wasn't being sarcastic. Hallie didn't care if other people smoked, drank, or did drugs, because it was each individual person's decision. And although she tended not to get drunk too often, she had plenty of experience with her two older sisters, holding back their hair as they were puking into a toilet. Besides, she was quite amused watching him blow smoke rings towards the ceiling.

Hallie couldn't stop herself from raising one eyebrow when he asked where she learned all of her magic. Maybe Bray didn't have any common sense, or maybe it was just one of those moments that he completely forgot where he was. She cleared her throat and looked at him for a couple of seconds before answering. Um, in class? And yanno, my sisters and Megan taught me a few things that teachers wouldn't typically show their students. She shrugged. If it wasn't for her two older sisters and Megan, Hal probably wouldn't be doing so well in school. Being the lazy students they were, the three girls found shortcuts in every spell and potion, and generously gave Hal all the information. So I'm assuming that you didn't exactly pay attention in school, huh. Otherwise, you'd be able to clean this room yourself.

As Bray turned back to his work, Hallie couldn't shake the feeling that she was boring the poor kid to death. Maybe he did have a lot of work that he needed to get done, or maybe he was trying to send the impression that he was done talking. Either way, Hallie ignored her intuition to leave, and sat down once more on the bucket to get comfortable. She watched the sun rays streaming through the windows dance on the floor of the bathroom. She started mentally humming one of her favorite songs, unintentionally tuning Bray out for the moment. But she came back right as he said "Cauldwell. Like, the hot ones in Slytherin?"

Hallie could physically feel her face darken, as her stare intensified while avoiding his glaze. Yeah, those. Her voice lowered, and she shifted on the bucket in an attempt to let her anger go. Hal absolutely loved her sisters, including Megan, to the end of life. But they were all in Slytherin, and always known as the life of the party. Hallie couldn't go one day without without someone asking how her older sister was, or if the middle one was pregnant yet. And of course, Hallie was the one that had to defend her sisters' reputations, knowing more than anyone how whorish they were. But if you asked any one of her sisters' 'friends', they would tell you that Hal didn't even exist; nobody knew about the littlest Cauldwell simply because she wasn't sleeping around with every guy, or girl, in the school.

She sighed quietly, getting angry at herself for becoming angry with them. It wasn't her fault that they knew how to have a good time, and that they were popular at the school. She glanced up at Bray. Why, do you know them? Let me guess. Did you sleep with either or both of them, or did you supply them with beer and smokes? She nodded towards the cigarette in his hand. Stupid sluts. She whispered it more to herself than to him. If he answered 'yes' to the first question, Hallie knew for sure that she would be completely devastated, especially because he already told her that he is a Slytherin grad. There was no doubt in her mind that one of her sisters already got to him first, and she could feel the tears water in her eyes, but she definitely would not let them fall. She was pretty sure that Bray would not be happy if he had an emotional girl on his hands to deal with.

Hallie shook her head slightly to clear her mind, and looked up once again at Bray. She gathered her inside thoughts, and was ready to face him once again. Besides, she was quite delighted when he said that it was cool for her to stay. She grinned, seriously hoping that she wasn't coming off as a bipolar drama queen. It's just that certain topics really hit sore nerves with Hallie. Even though she didn't typically hold grudges, there were a few subjects that Hal just couldn't let go. She paid close attention to Braden once more, and felt embarrassment wash over her once again when he went on about her being a Hogwart's legend. Oh yeah. Only the best! She couldn't help but to laugh and roll her eyes. She shrugged. It was weird that this person who she barely knew could get her so worked up one minute, and make her so happy the next.

The girl could see that Bray was ready to speak about himself, after a few moments of careful consideration. She wondered if he was choosing his words carefully, as to not set her off into another rant. But Hallie did in fact receive a formal introduction to the man. Hmm, Braden. That's a nice name. Oh yeah, total badass, but I don't think you would be a nightmare in my house. Just a typical guy. She couldn't help another eye roll, and found herself silently agreeing when he said that he was sexy and a charmer. A look of amusement flickered across her face, trying to mask the under feelings she really had for him. Hmm, a bit vain, aren't you? And although she obtained information about his real name, and apparent self-description about Braden, Hallie wasn't quite satisfied in what she should know about him. She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to know, but mainly right now she wanted to know what his connection was with her sisters.

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[/center]

[braden royce barbary]

Though Braden didn't see why other people thought smokes were disgusting, he simply shrugged it off. If she didn't want one, than all the better for him. They could be pretty damn expensive sometimes and if he didn't have to buy another pack anytime soon than that was alright by him. "Yeah, alright," he nodded, breathing out another ring of smoke. He probably should have known not to even bother offering, since more or less she seemed like the innocent sort. Of course, that was rather strange to him, especially if she was a Cauldwell like she said that she was. They definitely weren't known for their innocence, that was for sure, but this girl seemed quite different from them. Whatever, it wasn't his problem to dwell upon. "Still ain't gross, though," he added after a moment, feeling the need to defend his habit. Even if everyone seemed to believe that it was bad for a person, he didn't care. It relieved the stress, so he was all for it. People needed some way to get rid of the stress and this was a lot better than doing hardcore drugs or something.

Her pause in conversation after he asked about the magic she'd learned caused him to look over with an unsure expression, not knowing what the big deal was about his question. It was a perfectly legitimate thing to have asked, after all. At least, in Bray's world it was. "Oh, class or whatever. 'course you show up for that," he nodded, snorting a bit in amusement. She was definitely one of the good kids, even if she was caught up in the crazy that was the Cauldwell family. "I was more of a do it my own way sort. Class didn't work for me, yah? You know how it goes," he shrugged, though he highly doubted that she did. She was one of those Ravenclaws and probably had no idea of the value of a good day of skipping class. Hell, she probably hadn't even ever even considered doing something rebellious. Poor kid.

Hearing the tone change in her voice, Braden wasn't sure what he had done wrong. Usually, when people got all huffy it was because he had said something wrong and as far as he knew, asking about her hot sisters wasn't a bad thing to say. In fact, some might even have taken that as a compliment. Perhaps she just didn't get on well with the bunch of them. She was quite different from the others, after all, and it stood to reason that this could have caused some sort of conflict. In fact, that made a lot of sense to Bray. He'd know both the girls pretty well and had never even known about the existence of a younger sister. They'd probably disowned her for being a lameo or something. Though, she didn't seem all that bad so far. A bit of a goody-two-shoes, perhaps, but not the worst sort that he'd ever come across before.

Leaving it at that, Braden simply watched as the anger in her eyes showed through. Honestly, he was quite amused by her reaction to his simple question. It said a lot about the relationship between the sisters and even someone as slow as Braden was able to pick up on it. "Aha, yeah. We were in the same house, so of course I knew them," he nodded, leaving the rest of her questions for a moment. He didn't want to answer it wrong and then get her all worked up about it, but it wasn't like it was something she should have been surprised by. "Ah, I was the alcohol boy for a few of their parties, yeah. I never minded making the trip to Hogsmeade to pick things up," he shrugged. It was a fairly safe answer, he thought, and didn't go into the realm of sex at all. He figured that probably was a bit place to go, since obviously that would spark some sort of insane jealousy in the girl. After all, he was hotshit and anyone would be jealous of such things.

Shaking his head a bit, Bray chuckled at the situation. He probably shouldn't have been making light of it like he was, but he couldn't help but find it funny that he was sitting around talking to a girl that, for the most part, he had nothing in common with. "So, you're not much like them, huh? Not a big slut or whatever?" he asked, looking over at her with a subtle smirk. For a moment, he considered stopping there, but he couldn't. "That's too bad. We could have had some fun," he added with a wink before turning back around. Though he honestly couldn't say he knew her that well, he had a feeling that this would get quite the reaction from her. Good or bad, he couldn't say, but either way it went, he was sure to get something out of her from it and that was Braden's favorite thing to do. Getting a rise of someone was just fun for the guy and quite honestly he loved doing it.

Feeling that she had calmed down a bit and wasn't nearly as mad as before, Braden relaxed slightly. He wasn't the sort of guy that could deal with girls when they were upset or crying or whatever and avoiding that at all costs was something he strove to do every day. So, when Hallie put on another bright smile and started to laugh, he was relieved. He could live with this. "The best? Kid, you're sorely mistaken. I most definitely would be the best," he corrected her, turning around for a brief moment to flash her a grin. Honestly, he wasn't actually doing any work on the toilet and was mostly just pretending, but it made him more at ease to act like he was doing something other than just talking to Hallie. It was much easier for him to be that suave, badass, cool guy when he was only partially focused on her.

Braden was quite pleased by the fact that she seemed to accept his rather vague nonanswer as good enough, since that was about all he had to say about himself for the time being. "Ah, good point. I bet your place is crawling with men like me, huh?" he asked, shaking his head slightly. It was definitely something that he wouldn't have been surprised by, considering the Cauldwell sisters and their general antics. "Bet you don't hang around too many of us badboys though, yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked back at her in question. It wasn't something he really cared about, but maybe she was into that sort of thing. After all, it was hard not to be into a guy like Braden. Right? "Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd like to think that I have every reason to be a cocky bastard," he nodded, quite seriously. Braden had no problem letting people know just how sure of himself and his attractiveness he was.

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[hallie beatrix cauldwell]

And all you’d ever hear me say
Is how I pictured me with you

Raising her eyebrow in question at his comment about cigarettes not being gross, Hallie just shrugged it off. It was obviously his choice the smoke, and she didn’t have much jurisdiction over what he could and could not do, considering she had only just met him. She understood that people had different reasons for drinking and smoking, and she wasn’t going to call him out for being a bad person because he smoked. Everyone has flaws, and if he was enjoying a cigarette, then Hallie could deal with it.

It took every bit of Hallie to stop herself from straight up laughing in his face when he mentioned that he was a more ‘do it yourself’ type of guy. Sure, some people seem to learn better while practicing the motions to a spell, but to skip class altogether? Yep, he was definitely a typically Slytherin. She didn’t want to sound rude, so her stopped laugh came out as a gagging sound. She coughed, to cover it up. Actually, Braden, I’ve never missed a day of school in my life. So no, I’m not exactly sure how it is. She was a bit amused, as she watched his expression to her response. If she didn’t sound nerdy enough, that reply would definitely put her high up on the geek scale in Bray’s eyes. She shrugged her shoulders again. That was just a part of her, not being rebellious. Unlike her sisters, who didn’t hesitate to cut class and go party, Hallie had never considered the option once. Would she like to have fun sometimes? Yeah, but she had the opportunity to do so on the weekends that she wasn’t volunteering at St. Mungo’s, or studying with her homework group.

Recognizing the tension in Braden’s position when she scolded at the sound of her last name, often in association with her sisters and not her, Hallie sighed. She didn’t mean to pour all of this anger on Braden, but she just couldn’t help it. The situation was obviously a lose-lose for Hallie, because she knew that she’d never lighten up to the point that she would go to a Slytherin party. That just wasn’t in her academic focus. Shaking her head once more, Hallie turned her attention to what Braden was talking about. The alcohol boy, hmm? Wow, you must have been pretty popular huh? Everyone wanting a piece of you. The flush of embarrassment passed once again over her face, and quickly faded. She smiled, as this seemed to be becoming a routine.

Hearing him chuckle made Hallie dizzy. He had a very nice laugh, not hearty like some guys she knew. Paying close attention to his laugh, Hallie almost missed what he said. What? Oh no. No, I’m not. She looked down at her shoes, using the edge to trace the lines in the tile. She sighed, wondering if she should be telling the guy about her dilemma with her sisters. Nope, I’m the boring Cauldwell. But I’m sure you’ve already figured that out. Rolling her eyes, Hallie wondered if she really was all that boring. Her friends seemed to have a good time with her. But then again, that’s because she only saw them in class or in the study group. Wow. I definitely need to get out more. Looking back up at Braden, a smile flashed across Hallie’s face. We could still do things together. Like, I’ve been dying to take a look at those biting flowers. Could you possibly show me one time? She knew it wouldn’t exactly be his first thought of fun, but Hallie really did want to take a look at the blossoms. And having him there would only sugarcoat things.

Noticing that he had relaxed a bit, Hallie faced him full on, with her hands on her hip. Excuuuuse me. Are we talking to the same person. Clearly I am the best in this room. Duh! She stood like that with her lips pursed for a few seconds longer, and then broke out laughing. Obviously this stranger was pushing her comfort limits, and she was quite okay with that. Hallie became something different, more daring, around him, and maybe it was a good thing. She glanced around the room, breath taken by its ever present beauty, even if it was just a bathroom. She nodded her head towards him, answering his question in the simplest of words. And women too. Not mine of course, but my sisters can get a bit crazy when they’re drunk. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her arms on both sides. It seemed to get chiller in the room as they were talking. Well, they’re around the house a lot. But no, typically I go up to my painting room or down by the beach. I cannot deal with most of my sisters’ friends.

Looking up at his face, Hallie saw the questioning look in his eye. Of course, there are a few that are nice to me. If you’re one of those, then maybe I’ll like you. She shrugged her shoulders. Of course she didn’t mean like like, but she could tolerate a person, regardless of the fact that partying might be their best subject, if they were nice to her. I bet you don’t hang out with too many studious girls like me. Her voice was light, but Hallie found herself genuinely wanting to know. Perhaps it was because she wondered if it was possible that two people from completely different worlds could cross the social barriers and become friends. And what would give you the right to be a cocky bastard, if I may ask? Hallie glanced over at him once more, and giggled. It intrigued Hallie the way Braden was so sure of himself. And even though he never answered her question fully, Hallie was getting a sense of exactly who Braden was.

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outfit;;
cheer squad uniform
words;; 981
tagged;; braden
lyrics;; since you’ve been gone-kelly clarkson[/size]