(Untitled)

[rileymcgranahan]

Date/Time: Friday, April 1st, 8PM
Location: Hallway
Open To: Darin
Currently Involving: Riley, Darin
Warnings: Ahahaha. Possible violence, definite bitching.

Comments

[rileymcgranahan]

What Riley hated most about this bloke right here was that he was a complete and total hypocrite. He was prejudiced against her for something she couldn't help, because Slytherins were prejudiced against him for something he couldn't help. And the thing was, bloodlines had nothing to do with how Riley judged people at all. Her best friend was a half blood. The professor she looked up to? Also a half blood. Sammie? Aunt Cass? Uncle Ed? Blood traitors. Obviously she didn't give a rat's arse about your wizarding parentage or lack thereof. However, Darin failed to realize this. Or perhaps he just enjoyed hating her.

How Sam could tolerate people like this? Be friends with them? Riley'd never understand. Then again, her cousin only saw the good in people.

She managed a slight smirk; she was never one for grinning, especially not at Darin Delouise. So it was going to be one of these days, right? She'd tolerate him until he got bored or she lost her temper. Honestly she wished he could just leave her be. She wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone today.

She shook her head and leaned casually against the wall. "Oh and you can imagine my excitement at seeing you. There couldn't possibly be anyone else I'd rather see."

[charmingdarin]

Perhaps he did just enjoy hating her.

Truth was? Even Darin wasn't so blind that he couldn't tell she was different from her housemates. But he didn't care. First of all? Slytherins were notorious liars, so perhaps she was just especially good at it. Second of all? He just plain did not like her.

Which was funny, since if she'd been in any other house, they likely would have gotten along quite well. Not that Darin would ever think of this, but it wasn't like he spent all of his time thinking about Riley, so there you go.

"Aw, Riley, I knew you loved me," he said, rolling his eyes slightly. He took another couple of steps toward her, shaking his head. "Don't get it too far into your head, though, sweetheart. I'm afraid you just don't have any sort of chance."

Hm. And a sort of awful idea occurred to Darin just then -- he wondered if Sam had told her cousin yet, about them.

[rileymcgranahan]

Darin was right there. Riley was a fantastic liar. The only difference between her and the other Slytherins was she was using it to protect herself and her friends from them and not from the other houses. She also tended to omit the truth a lot. Especially with her family, Sam especially. She was hiding things, yes, but it was more the things she put up with than anything about herself.

Speaking of Sam, Riley hadn't seen her in a few weeks. Something about a social life. And Riley wasn't about to argue. Just because she didn't have one didn't mean Sam wasn't allowed.

Riley might have been able to tolerate Darin if she was in some other house, if he wasn't prejudiced against her, but the truth would be he was still prejudiced. Riley hated that more than anything.

"Damnit. There go all my dreams. I've always wanted nothing more than to be in a relationship with a bigoted arse," she said with a bittersweet smile, taking a step back. She preferred to keep this particular Hufflepuff at a distance. Quite a bit of distance.

[charmingdarin]

Darin tried not to hide things. Oh, he could, if he had to -- but whenever he could be, he was honest. Even with the people that he hated -- even with the people that hated him. If it was at all possible to be honest without endangering others, then he would be. Prejudiced he may be, but he was not a liar.

He took a great deal of pride in that.

The fact that she wanted to be at a distance from him almost made Darin want to step closer to her again, just to try and make her as comfortable as possible -- the only thing that really stopped him from doing so was the thought that it sounded like a trick a Slytherin would pull. No, thank you.

"Ah, well, you'd have to go somewhere else for that, anyway," he said with a casual shrug. "Besides, I am already in a relationship. Trust me, you're not someone worth risking that over." He smirked at her just a little, because he knew that she would hate who he was in a relationship with -- just, not for the reasons he was implying.

[rileymcgranahan]

The thing was, life would be terribly difficult for Riley if she didn't hide things. She lived with...well her housemates weren't exactly the best of people. To be herself with them would be beyond idiotic. As for her family, she kept things from them so they wouldn't worry about her. She hated to be a bother.

Honestly, if Darin had come any closer, Riley's wand would have been out. She trusted him about as much as he trusted her. While he wasn't quite as bad as her fellow Slytherins and she'd be safer alone in a corridor with him than she would be with Wes or Alex, she still didn't feel comfortable with him. Not in the least.

"Is that so? Oh Mr. Delouise, you break my heart," she practically spat at him, rolling her eyes. "Well, I send my condolences to the poor dear. She musn't know what she's getting into." She started walking toward the portrait again, intending to head into the kitchens as an escape.

[charmingdarin]

Ah, if only Darin would open up his eyes and see things that way -- but of course, all he would see it as was lying. He couldn't help it, that was just how he was.

As far as being safe alone in a cooridor with him... if she meant her actual physical safety, of course she was right. Darin never would have pulled his wand out first, not at her, not without some sort of huge provoction on her part. That didn't mean he wouldn't mess with her in other ways, of course.

Usually, he would have let it go at this point, her walking away. Hell, usually he would have walked away himself, anyway. Ignoring each other seemed to be the best way to go about things with them, since it rarely seemed to come down to actual fighting, and Darin was fine with that. He had enough Slytherins to fight with, if there was one that he was able to mostly ignore despite their mutual feelings of hatred, then that worked just fine for him.

Today, though...

He took the space on the wall that she'd left behind, leaning on it and watching her until she was just at the portrait, just ready to go inside. "I'm sure Sam would love to know you're that worried about her," he called after her then, voice almost casual.

[rileymcgranahan]

If Riley'd grown up in Hufflepuff, she probably wouldn't have her wand out at the slightest provocation either. But she grew up in Slytherin, where the men were sociopaths and the women were narcissistic backstabbing bitches. They'd never hesitate to pull a wand out on someone, so Riley turned out the same way, though it was more out of paranoia than the will to harm.

Then again, if she'd been sorted into Hufflepuff, or any other house for that matter, this wouldn't be an issue.

At that comment...Riley didn't even know what to do. He was lying. He had to be. Sammie would have told her. Sammie also wasn't that much of an idiot. He must have meant another Sam. She turned back to look at him. "I'm sure she'll be happy to hear it," she said, her attempt at seeming calm ruined by the shaking in her voice.

[charmingdarin]

She didn't believe him -- or she didn't want to. That was all that Darin could gather from the shaking in her voice.

That, or she wanted to rush over there and do something awful to him. Hell, it was probably both. In some ways, Darin couldn't really blame her. They did hate each other, after all, right? So him dating her cousin was bound to piss her off.

In other ways, though, even though he'd known this would be her reaction, it pissed him off. Why? Because he cared about Sam -- a lot. Because whatever Riley might think of him, or might think of how he would treat Sam, or whatever, the truth was? He'd treat her as if she were his whole world.

He'd never wanted to treat anyone like that before, which would be way he'd never had any sort of girlfriend before, and it bothered him that someone doubted him. Even if that someone was Riley. Even if he'd never, ever admit it.

"Maybe," he agreed with a small shrug. "Or maybe it'll just make her sad that you can't just be happy for her, who knows? Though if that's what happens... I won't be very happy with you."

[rileymcgranahan]

Of course she didn't want to believe him. Of course she wanted to do something awful to him. She hated Darin. Despised him. And she couldn't understand what her cousin could possibly see in a bigoted arse.

It hurt. It hurt a lot that Sam could date someone who does things like this to make her cousin miserable. It hurt even more that she had to hear it from said someone instead of from Sam. Apparently her cousin didn't care about Riley as much as Riley cared about her.

And it terrified her. Riley had no idea how Darin treated people he knew. She knew nothing about him and vice versa. All she knew was how he treated her. Wouldn't it make sense for her to fear for her cousin, given her limited knowledge of the situation?

And there he stood so nonchalantly, looking back at her. And what just came out of his mouth...it took all the self-control Riley had not to march over there and slap him. Instead she paused and took a deep breath to calm yourself. "Darin, how would you feel if your sister started dating someone you despise?"

Because that's what Sam was to Riley. A sister. Sam meant more to her than anything else in the world. She'd never do anything to keep her from being happy. "Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I won't at least pretend to be happy for her. So don't talk about things you don't understand."

[charmingdarin]

Riley's response was almost like an actual slap in the face for Darin. He didn't answer her -- not in words, anyway. Even for someone who didn't know him well, though, his answer was clearly written across his face for a moment, before he controlled it.

I would kill him.

Some small part of the tension in his stance leaked out of him, and a part of him hated her even more for the fact that with her words he couldn't pretend that Riley didn't give a shit about Sam, because he believed her, damn her, he believed her.

Which meant that he didn't know what to say, because no way in hell was he about to apologize or anything of the sort. He still hated her, whatever that small revelation may have been. Instead he just sort of shrugged. There was another long moment where he just looked at her, as if trying to put his thoughts together.

After that moment he gave a sigh and shook his head slightly. "Alright," he said quietly, and then repeated himself slightly louder. "Alright. I know what you think of me, Riley, and I don't care. I've never given a shit because lord knows I don't think much of you."

Brutal honesty? Maybe. Not like she would care about his opinion of her, but he wouldn't care if she did anyway. "But I care about Sam. A lot. I would never hurt her -- I would protect her from everything, if I could."

She probably wouldn't believe him, and he knew that. But it was the truth, and he would offer it to her, if only because of Sam.

[rileymcgranahan]

Riley caught the look on his face and was honestly shocked by it. He relaxed slightly and, while she did too, she had no idea how to react to this. It was as if they finally understood each other, to an extent. They may never enjoy each others' presence, but they understood each other. And sometimes that was more important.

Of course that didn't mean Riley was comfortable with the situation. She'd much rather hate him, and she couldn't now. At least not completely. Because now, as much as she'd like to deny it, she knew he was like her in a way.

And she believed him. Trusted him, with Sam at least. She would still worry, would still kill the bastard if he hurt her cousin, but realized that it was unlikely to happen. She would more than likely never be a fan of Darin Delouise, but she knew Sam was. And could almost completely trust that Sam would be safe with him.

She stood up straight, crossing her arms over her stomach and facing him. "Darin, I've never gave a rat's arse what you thought about me, other than the fact that your obvious disdain is an annoyance." She paused. "I don't like you, I don't expect you to like me, but I love my cousin. She's the closest friend I've ever had. She's my family. I want her to be happy and if you're what does that, then I'll learn to deal."

She looked down. "I believe you, and I'll hold you to that. Don't disappoint me."

[charmingdarin]

After this awkward encounter, Darin wasn't sure how he felt about Riley. Not as badly as he had before, anyway. They seemed to have reached some sort of... understanding, in any case.

"I won't," he told her, feeling odd to be promising Riley anything. But this was one thing he didn't mind promising to anyone, so...

He pushed himself off of the wall, ready to leave because this had not gone at all like he would have thought. Not that this was a bad thing, considering, but it gave him something to think about, in any case.

"I guess... we're good, then." That was rather an overstatement for them and he knew it, but he used it, anyway. He stood for a second, as if considering whether to say anything else, and then just turned to go.

He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of not hating Riley as much as he had.

[rileymcgranahan]

This was, indeed, odd. To think that Riley and Darin would come to some sort of agreement. Only for Sam would she have even considered tolerating the bloke. And for once, she felt like she could trust him. So she nodded and turned to leave herself. "I suppose we are," she said quietly, tickling the pear on the portrait the lead to the kitchens.

Of course, "good" wasn't quite the way to describe it. She'd tolerate him for Sam's sake, but things weren't "good" between them. Riley still harbored bitterness towards the boy for his outright bigotry and hypocrisy. Ah well.

This called for chocolate. And a lot of it. Happy Birthday, indeed.