--WALK MY WAY |Theresa|

[blakers]

The apple of his parents' eyes. That was Alexander Lucian Rookwood. He was a perfect Slytherin, in every imaginable way. And he did not spare the rest of the world from knowing. Handsome, cunning, charming, and occasionally cruel. These were just a few of the words that were imbedded into Alex's mind and body. And yes...they fit into the Slytherin mold so seemlessly, so effortlessly. His parents had brought him up among families of prestige and honor, the oldest wizarding families to grace this world. Proper Slytherin values were instilled into him as an imperative tradition.

Amongst the winding staircases of Hogwarts, Alexander Rookwood gave into his boredom and laziness. The Slytherin boy paused in front of a large stone and glass window, peering outside in mild curiosity and wonder. It was dark and foggy, and not much could be made out due to the dew setting upon the sleek glass windows of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The edges of the windowsills had begun to freeze due to the constantly dropping temperatures. He could almost feel the cold, night air seeping all around, engulfing him in its animosity and malignance. Alex closed his eyes and listened to the movement of the waves in the Black Lake. Creatures were making noises every now and then, but nothing disturbed him for some reason.

Throughout the years, he had grown to embrace and harness his fears. Simply because the boy had no choice. His parents were staunch followers of Voldemort, still living and breathing the Death Eater ways. It was a lifestyle Alexander Rookwood once wanted. After witnessing the horrifying things they did to people all in the name of a greater good and a greater world ruled by them...he was not so sure that was what he wanted. Day in and day out the Slytherin would try to wrap his mind around his future...but all to no avail. He was still stuck at square one.

Subtlely was never one of Alexander's virtues. He was deliberate, decisive and occasionally...a little reckless. But wasn't that all part of the Death Eater brood and upbringing? But appearances could most definitely be deceiving. To the untrained eye, the Rookwood boy was a charming, yet dangerous Death Eater wannabe. To his closer friends, the boy who seemed to live for excitement had a softer, sensitive side; a side that was dabbled with fear. But Friday evening was not a night to reamin fixated on the past and the future...regardless of how gloomy and uncertain it was. In his deep, meaningless train of thought, Alexander Rookwood completely disregarded the presence of another figure.

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[THERESA JAY KELSEY]

theia shot a glare to the professors turned back as she finally allowed her to leave the room. detention was never worth the time it took to get to the assigned classroom, and yet teachers insisted on handing it out to students like some sort of candy. theia did not nor had she or would she ever apprechiate being given detention. yes, theia did rather enjoy her smart mouthed comments, to both student and teacher alike, but she did not believe it needed to result in a dark classroom, long after lessons were over, for several hours.. sorting through ridiculously old, pointless to keep files.

oh yes.. that idiotic professor had her tidying up some stupid decrepid files that were obviously no longer needed... that smug look said it all. theia frowned, but said nothing, biting her sharp tongue and enduring the heavy silence in her own stubborn manner... not giving in to complaining. this wasn't teaching her anything.. only that theia would need to be a little more clever in her undermining of the teacher next lesson, to avoid saying something so obvious that would earn her this irritating, infuriating torment.

yes, theia did seem like rather the typical, evil minded slytherin, trying to undermine people, plotting, planning, throwing out biting, bitter responses. but actually she wasn't all that bad, she just had a reputation to keep up. after all, being slytherin champion she needed to show those others that she was damn well worth something..and to finally make her parents proud. that was ultimately behind everything theia did.. she both resented and admired her parents for being so hard on her.. they pushed her with their lack of affection or pride in her, and so she did better..worked harder to make them proud, though they never were.. and thats why she resented them. because nothing she could do or say was good enough. a bit of a complex senario but theia could deal with it.

as soon as the clock struck the designated hour of her leave, theia stood and sauntered out of the room without a word from herself, nor 'permission' from the professor. oh please, like she needed permission. swinging her bag onto her shoulder she headed along the first floor corridor, eager to make up some time with one of her friends, whether it be albus, scorp, makenna or alex.. whoever she happeened to scout out first. she was in no particular hurry as she headed along toward the staircase, a figure catching the corner of her eye and she turned, a half smirk, half grin pulling at her full lips. ah.. alex.. just who she'd been hoping to see.

he looked preoccupied as she switched course and moved over to him, reaching out to graze his arm with her fingertips to catch his attention. " trying to blend into the scenery, xander? or were you ignoring me? " she teased, raising one finely plucked eyebrow and gazing up at him with her familiar chocolate eyes, the edge of her half smirk, half grin teasing. it could have sounded sarcastic if it'd been someone she disliked, but alex was a good friend of hers, someone she'd known since childhood, and she tended to rein back the sarcasm with him and try for some nice.

[blakers]

Beyond physical features that were irresistable by every lady in this school, Alexander Lucian Rookwood was quite mesmerized by the prospect of power. At first it may sound somewhat childish and vague, but the world of wizards was run on that boundless, endless circle of life. The powerful lived lavishly, while the weak suffered the consequences of society. The ambitious Slytherin lived for that excitement; lived for that influence. But Alexander's careful, deliberate alter ego revealed another side to it all. Some said that thoughts like that held you back from your goal and ambitions; some say otherwise. That power hunger could just make you reckless, greedy and end up in demise. It was a never-ending conflict that Alex truly hoped to put an end to.

Alexander Rookwood kept his eyes fixated against the foggy glass window. Waves of downpouring rain crashed against the glass pane like the dull clang of swords. He allowed himself to indulge in the momentary amusement of the war between the window and the rain. Slowly, his eyes seemed to phase past the tall, looming fixtures and out into the deep beyond. Alexander seemed to fly past the courtyard, the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest. He did not know what was past that point. But he squinted his eyes in some ridiculous, hopeless attempt at sorting it out. Obviously, it was all to no avail. Finally, Alexander allowed himself to get sucked back to reality. He settled down with his arms crossed behind his head in the u-bend on the bottom of the windowsill. Before he knew it, the Slytherin boy had closed his eyes and began to indulge in his past, present and future.

Growing up as a child in Ottery St. Catchpole, Alexander was almost always away from the hustle and bustle of London and, of course, the Muggles that inhabited and scoured over it. That was only true until his first visit to Diagon Alley. He was immediately enamored by the abundant selection of wizarding knick knacks and gadgets. Everyone was having a wonderful time...until they noticed his family standing near by. Knockturn Alley, on the other hand, gave him a whole new, but refreshing sensation. A chance to experience the best of both worlds. It was a dark, ominous and silent grouping of buildings and streets. The loudest noises that penetrated the air were the sharp caws of the crows. No one dared to speak above a whisper in this town. No one knew who to trust, and whom not to. But it certainly did not bother the little Slytherin-to-be one bit. People cringed into a bow and made way while the Rookwood family passed by. Even at that age Alex enjoyed the power and spoil of being one of the oldest Death Eater families in wizarding society.

By this time, Alexander was completely immerssed in his thought. Who knew how much time he had wasted just by this one insignificant, trivial piece of history. It was rare to see the boy venture into his past or even his future. He was more of a 'live in the moment' type of guy. And a newly-arrived friend of his lived much the same way. A distant voice called out to him. "Trying to blend into the scenery, Xander? Or were you ignoring me?" A shiver ran down Alexander's body as the voice's fingers grazed past him.

Without even opening his eyes, the boy realized who it was: Theresa Kelsey. They had been friends since childhood, having grown up in prestigious Slytherin-dominant families. They had also gotten a certain fancy for each other in terms of flirts and flings. But the pair had learned to keep their friendship intact. Alexander had kept Theia waiting long enough for a response by this time. "Maybe a little bit of both. Does it bother you, love?" replied Alex, with a hint of sly sarcasm. His eyes opened to reveal a pretty Slytherin girl standing in front of him. Stunning in fact. Every physical feature of her body was immaculately flawless. And Alexander wasted no time in indulging in that blissful ignorance of his.

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[THERESA JAY KELSEY]

his eyes were closed, though it didn't surprise her that he was evidently caught in some thought or other, and she caught the shiver the touch of her fingertips had enduced. a smirk flitted across her face at the sight of it, as she often would whenever the actions of her flirtatious nature caused such reactions in a man - she would say boy, but theia didn't play with boys, they were too young, too immature.. and they didn't know the game. men on the other hand - such as xander here, who could certainly be classed as more man than boy, knew such games.

oh yes, he was a friend, but that had never stopped either of them from the occasional flirt, as it was naturally for most men and women. they'd never ruined their friendship over it, and she doubted they ever could - childhood friends almost forced together through pureblood parents (well, the fact that one of her parents was a halfblood had never stopped them from claiming otherwise) intent on keeping their children away from the 'riff raff' had caused them to become reasonably close over the years. normally theia dislike who her parents insisted was worth her company and who wasn't, she knew for a fact they disliked the idea of another of her best friends being a potter, but when they'd once even tried to mention that she'd cut them off and told them where to shove it.

theia was strong minded, strong willed and stubborn, and though her whole life had been a desperate struggle to finally earn some sort of affection or pride from her parents, there were somethings she did not condone and that was the choosing of her friends. then again, they'd make a good choice out of the rookwoods, theia had always enjoyed alexanders company, even as children, and so she'd kept pretty close to the man infront of her during hogwarts - helped by the fact that the two were both slytherins. oh how glad theia had been on that first time to be announced as slytherin, she didn't think she'd have been able to face home if she'd been pronounced 'gryffindor' .. or god forbid 'hufflepuff' - whom her mother classed even lower than gryffindor.

theia herself didn't really get the big deal, she wasn't all that predujice between houses in honesty, and in fact she had a good puff friend in makenna, not that she would admit that to her parents yet, but of course, she did favour slytherin over the other houses. it was naturally - the competition - what with her being the female slytherin champion .. chosen before scorpius she might add, though she knew scorp didn't look at it that way. "Maybe a little bit of both. Does it bother you, love?" oh so he had decided to answer her, oh good, she was wondering if he'd lost the ability to speak or something of the sort. she laughed lightly, her eyes on his face as the soft sound filled the near empty corrider. "it takes more than that to both me, you should know that by now." she said simply, a shrug causing her long mahogany curls to tumble over her shoulder. they'd learnt over the years what made the other tick, though theia was generally difficult to piss off - usually throwing aside taunts and such and responding with sarcasm and a laugh ... but sometimes it was just a few well chosen words that could get to her (like that damn jacob warrington)... but no, he could ignore her if he wished, she'd continue to bug him for the sake of it anyway. there was nothing more fun than imposing company on someone who didn't want it. but that aside, she knew he was joking. "so, what brings you along to this part of the castle, xander?" she asked, pushing back her long hair and glancing at him.

[blakers]

That moment of peace; that moment of just lazing back against the cold, stone walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It seemed so far away now. Just a fleeting memory. Almost a figment of his imagination. Maybe because something so sweet such as that shouldn't have lasted for such a short time. But really, Alexander couldn't complain. Here was a beautiful Slytherin girl standing in front of him, willingly flirting with him and also letting him return the favor. This also had a sweetness about it. And it would have been a shame to let her slip away so easily.

Theresa Kelsey was one of those few people who could say they really knew Alexander Rookwood. The real one at least. They had grown up together so, unlike the vast majority that was privy to his true personality, she was the opposite. This isn't to say the boy poured her heart out to him. But Theia would always be a good friend, though occasionally more than that. The pair had had a couple flings here and there, but nothing really serious. Always flirting of course. But there was that small piece of Alexander's heart that wondered: What if? Maybe under the right circumstances it could bloom to be something more than good friends with the occasional benefit. It may not last, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of yearning to see how it went. He did not feel an ounce of doubt about it and doubted it could harm their relationship whatsoever. Then again, Theresa Kelsey was more definitely an independent woman. Of her own account and completely in control of her life. Of course, Xander liked to think there were a couple times here and there where Theia let loose of her protective boundaries.

Alexander quickly traced her bodice from head to toe. Enjoying every moment of examining her curves and crevasses. Finally, his eyes rested upon her intense, passionate eyes. He certainly did not dare break that eye contact with her. "It takes more than that to bother me. You should know that by now." Theia's reply oozed with sweet sarcasm. To him that was just one step below a flirtatious comment. Alex nooded and present her with a smug grin. "Well I certainly know what pushes your buttons Miss Kelsey. Just consider this as...a preview." he whispered with a smirk gracing his lips.

He sat up with a quiet groan and met Theresa's eyes once again. Alex's hand drifted toward her own. Taking it softly in his, Alexander allowed his thumb to rub softly over her smooth skin. He jerked his over to his side, beckoning her to take a seat next to him on the large windowsill. "Your honorable throne awaits you." he remarked with a humble nod of his head and innocent smile. Alexander laid back against the cold glass, the sound of quiet rain pattering against it. His eyes roamed Theia's face, occasionally drifting off into the distance to break the intensity. The halls down here were generally empty for some reason. Only the rare underclassman scurried down, seeming to move a little faster at the sight of sixth and seventh year Slytherins such as Theresa and Alexander, respectively. The sight brought a little smile to his lips, as he allowed himself to be amused for just a moment. Careful not to adjust his attention away from the heartstopper sitting right next to him. Almost mesermized by the aroma of her hair, Alexander barely caught her question. "So, what brings you along to this part of the castle, Xander?" Hesitating for a moment, just indulging in the smell of the air around her, Alex himself began to wonder why the hell he was sitting here. He simply shrugged to acklowledge her question, permitting himself with more time to ponder the question. After a minute he responded. "Why am I sitting in the middle of a hall on a dreary day? He paused for a second, as if for emphasis. "Well you're here too, aren't you? A sly grin creeped its way onto his face as he waited for Theia's priceless reaction.

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[THERESA JAY KELSEY]

"Well I certainly know what pushes your buttons Miss Kelsey. Just consider this as...a preview." theia let a smirk cross her lips in response to his own, the smirk widening slightly to flash her perfect white teeth a little as she shook her head. "are you surnam-ing me now, master rookwood?" she questioned teasingly, tilting her head slightly as she asked, "whatever for?" the remark light, face jokingly confused as she shook it off and smirked. she caught his glance over her body, which tingled slightly under his gaze and she raised an eyebrow slightly.

oh she wasn't bothered.. no.. with her curvy and yet slender figure she was used to looks - both from jealous girls, and hopeful boys. she knew it was a figure a lot of men wanted for their women, and so they were bound to look. theia took it in her stride, used to the looks and accepting them..welcoming them. people could look all they wanted, she was going to flaunt it with her short skirts and her heels if and when she so desired. she didn't even mind xander looking, he may have been a good friend but he was still male, she would have called him a saint and thought he was odd if he didn't. perhaps that was egotistical and vain of her to think such things..but she was like that on occasion, and she wasn't going to change anytime soon.

ashe hadn't mean to make him sit up.. to ruin his relaxation. no, she'd only been passing by and caught sight of him; wanting to kill a few moments with his good company but she hadn't meant to disturb him. but as xander took her hand, she knew she hadn't really, and he wouldn't want her to just leave now. she felt his thumb trace over the smooth skin of the back of her hand and she was unable to help the small shiver that traced down her spine. over the years her and xander had had their moments - their small flings, moments of 'benefits', and over time the feelings that his touch had elicited over the years had lingered...and so she couldn't supress a shiver at his touch.

"Your honorable throne awaits you." she laughed quietly, going to move toward him without hesitation and sliding onto the seat beside him. "oh how kind, your highness" she retorted lightly, a hint of playful sarcasm behind that words, his hand clasped in her own for the moment as she got settled beside him. she was only a small thing, and so she fit perfectly beside him, releasing his hand only to rest her head upon his strong shoulder. they had been friends for so long it felt only natural for her to do so, and she was so comfortable around him anyway that why shouldn't her head find the comfortable perch of his shoulder to rest on?

it was times like these that caused her to think..about things that could be. there had always been that wonder in the back of her mind of what her and xander could mean to each other. after all their little flings and such they'd stuck pretty close together..and she pondered as to whether they owed it to themselves and each other to try more than this... to see if it could work out. she didn't doubt that it would work for a little while at least; they were already so comfortable with each other, and flings over the past had proved they could be together without ruining their friendship. she thought that, perhaps..she'd be interested in trying something with xander..but she had no idea what he was thinking, nor if should even broach the subject at all.

"Why am I sitting in the middle of a hall on a dreary day? she rolled her eyes lightly and gave a small shrug of her shoulder. "well when you put it like that..." she returned lightly, slight sarcasm to her own words as she then caught his added. "Well you're here too, aren't you? " a smirk flitted across her full lips, and she turned her head to glance up at him, chocolate orbs glistening playfully. oh how much fun it was to be around xander...particulary on such a dreary day. "indeed i am.. and i have no intention on going away for at least a little while..so you'd better think of something to entertain us both." her words touched a teasing note, allowing a flirtatious lilt to colour them, despite the light seriousness behind them. hoenstly she truly had nothing else to be doing, and she rather was in need of some entertainment, whatever it happened to take the form of.