lies, greed, misery, OPEN

[RODOLPHUS JUDE LESTRANGE]

choke on your lies, swallow up your greed
SUFFERING ALONE IN YOUR MISERY

Quiet was how Rodolphus liked Hogwarts. He was more than content to live without the hustle and bustle of daily life within the school. He found it all so... suffocating and claustrophobic. It was just after dinner and so there were a few students wandering the corridors but overall everyone seemed to either still be dining in the Great Hall or found their way back to their various hiding places, common rooms, library, broom cupboards, wherever their favourite destination might be. Rod found his feet were carrying him towards the Astronomy tower. It was a long walk from the Slytherin dungeons but it was one Rod had no problems carrying out today. He wanted away from his housemates who were badgering him for attention, making racket or glaring at him darkly. Of course almost everyone seemed to glare at him darkly these days but when his housemates did it, it made him feel suspicious these days when he was hiding so much that could tarnish his reputation.

But he wasn’t going to think about that. He wasn’t going to think about the fact that he was fed up of the mundane rut. Fed up of the miserable autumnal weather that was already beginning to feel cold and wintery. Fed up of school and being stuck here, festering and wasting away his precious time that could be put to much better use worming out the muggleborns and half-bloods and blood traitor scum. Of course, he often did that, but even Rod had to admit that there was only so much he could do whilst at school under the ever watchful eye of the fool Albus Dumbledore. Rodolphus was a moaner. To himself at least. He kept all of these things that were frustrating and bothering him bottled up inside; talking to no one about it because it would do his peers (or himself for that matter) no good to see the so called ‘King’ of Hogwarts moaning about the weather. It made him dangerously volatile.

He’d tried escaping with drink but that had done him no favours. He’d tried escaping by torturing and admittedly that had eased his tension considerably but not for long enough. His attention span was growing ever shorter. And so tonight he was going to try peace and quiet up-top the Astronomy tower. Try and sift through his thoughts, clear his head and get himself organized because he only had seven months left to get through. He’d managed six years already, surely another seven months should be no problem. So far however his seventh year was proving to be the most difficult yet. What made it even more maddening was that he was so close to his goal; so close to graduation, coming of age and being able to join the Death Eaters. So close but it still felt so far. Apparently he had a few more hurdles to jump before his dreams came true. Why was it always like that? But they said nothing that you didn’t work hard for is satisfying.

Standing on the balcony, looking out across the castle grounds, Rod couldn’t help but think that the top was where he was destined to be. He rather liked this representation of himself; higher than everybody in the school, looking down on them and proving that he was better. A twisted smile twitched onto his lips which in itself was a major improvement since there had been nothing more than a scowl stitched onto his face for the past several weeks. He heard footsteps and his eyes narrowed in response automatically. A sigh that sounded much more like a groan escaping his lips. Could he not win with this place? Could he not have more than thirty minutes to himself?

words. 625
tag. open to anyone [:
lyrics. linkin park - lies greed misery
notes. ummm yeah, a post!

[ISABELLE GRACE LANGLEY]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]570 WORDS FOR ROD/JAZZZZ blahblahblah DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]There was nothing Isabelle hated more than fall weather. It was neither hot nor was it cold, and you couldn't really expect a certain kind of weather. For stargazing it was also not the best, making her job kind of difficult. During the chilly winter and fall months she usually resorted to giving written homework and tests, but that didn't keep her from hoping for a clear night. In fact, she had plans to go up to the tower right after dinner to see how the sky looked; if it wasn't promising she'd give a quiz on constellations or something, but if it was nice she'd obviously give a proper astronomy lesson. Most of the kids preferred looking up at the stars just like any other, but there was something about learning the science behind stars that fascinated her. In honesty some of the more 'boring' lessons were some of her favorites to teach. A couple of her friends had asked her to attend a little get together at the professor's lounge, but these days Isabelle was not really keen on girl's nights. Going up to check on the sky was a bit of an excuse to avoid talking about her problems with the ladies. Whenever she couldn't avoid going to one of them she had to lie about what was going on at home; the last thing she wanted was sympathy from her friends. Isabelle had told only a couple people about her husband problems, but the all tried to get her to take the blame off of herself. She wanted someone to give her sound advice, not try to make her feel like she had nothing to do with their quarrels. When the meal was finished she nearly sprinted to the tower to evade confrontation from one of the female staff members at the castle. She couldn't seem to do just that when Professor Sprout stopped her in the halls to try and convince her to join the get together. After fifteen minutes of explaining why she needed to go up to the astronomy the herbology professor finally let her go. Isabelle did hate hiding things from her friends, but she really was not in the mood to 'hang out,' or whatever they had planned. When she was finally able to get to her destination she sighed in relief. She entered the tower only to find the space occupied by Rodolphus Lestrange. He was a student at Hogwarts, but she also knew his family from those outlandish parties held for the 'elite' pureblood families. She hated going to them, but her husband managed to drag her to them. Only one of the many things they managed to disagree on. Isabelle didn't really agree with the whole blood superiority thing, but she wasn't verbal about it at all. She much preferred to stay neutral on certain things and that was not an issue was willing to tarnish her reputation on. As the young boy turned around she couldn't decide on what to do; did she want to stay or leave? If she wanted to she could tell him to leave because she had authority over him, but she wasn't that kind of a person. "Mr. Lestrange," she said in recognition. "I didn't know you'd be up here. I just wanted to see whether the sky was clear or not; I can leave if you want to be alone." [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[RODOLPHUS JUDE LESTRANGE]

choke on your lies, swallow up your greed
SUFFERING ALONE IN YOUR MISERY

He span around on the spot, irritated frown stapled to his face, ready to set his furious glare on the unfortunate soul that had wandered innocently this way. They wouldn’t have expected to be reprimanded for an early evening visit to the astronomy tower. He wondered who it would be that was about to feel his wrath; perhaps a young couple looking for a place to hide out. But no, it was a professor. The Astronomy professor Langley to be exact. He let out the frustrated, low sigh again. Rod was intimidated by no one and would always speak his mind, regardless of however much authority the other person thought they might have over him but it was so much more difficult with professors. In order to keep his life less difficult he generally strived to be diplomatic with them. Something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do due to his ever growing rage at the world.

Besides, the woman was a pureblood, not exactly as proud a one as Rodolphus would like her to be but there was something to be taken from the fact that she had married a pureblood as well. He wasn’t sure if that was out of love and so had just happened or because she was actually quite proud of her heritage. If Rod had to hazard a guess based on what little he did know about his professor then he’d say it wasn’t the latter. Everyone knew what Rod stood for. Even the professors weren’t stupid about it. They had long since stopped trying to lecture him on what was right and wrong and of course the pureblood ones who had turned up to parties in the past definitely knew what to expect from him and his family.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, his stance strong and unnerved. ”I didn’t realise you could be so accommodating, professor.” He said the last word with a slight sneer to his voice. Astronomy was hardly a subject he considered worth his time. Certainly not a topic worth having a profession in. Looking at the stars was to wish and dream, focusing on what was going on, on earth, was to succeed. He had dropped the class as soon as he’d failed it in his fifth year OWLs. It probably didn’t help that he had hardly ever turned up to the classes anyway. Not that he had any plans to continue it even if he had passed the stupid lesson. To some, his views would be seen as narrow-minded but Rod thought there was nothing to be found by staring at the sky.

His eyes appraised her, up and down, in an act of intimidation more than anything else. It wasn’t that he felt it necessary to try and intimidate her, it was merely a natural reaction; just extra proof that he would not be pushed around. By anyone. Although as he had already commented aloud, she seemed to be accommodating. Thus far at least. When he finally spoke again, his words were slow and considered. ”If I were you, I’d be more worried about what was going on down here than up there.” He nodded up and behind him, towards the slowly darkening and rather cloudy sky. The implied threat in his words was noticeable if one listened closely enough.

words. 555
tag. isabelle!
lyrics. linkin park - lies greed misery
notes. hmmm, this could be interesting.

[ISABELLE GRACE LANGLEY]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]564 WORDS FOR ROD/JAZZZZ soooo sorry this is late, and kinda sucks! DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]The student Rodolphus Lestrange was rather infamous among the school. Many students were scared of him because he had a rather intimidating air about him. Some of the professors were even frightened because of the power his family held, but Isabelle was not. Granted he had dropped her class the minute he could probably because she refused to pass him just because he was a "special pureblood." It also didn't help that he refused to show up to classes let alone do any homework. Luckily for her, she had patience with students like him, and she wasn't completely sure, but she figured that bothered him more than detention or punishment. In her mind Rodolphus wasn't a scary individual; he was simply a child who believed he knew everything. Teenagers like that were a dime a dozen. Isabelle could recall the days when Lestrange was a young boy. Some of the professors tried to make him more understanding towards his peers because pulling someone's hair or punching them because they were muggleborn wasn't acceptable. Having attended those lovely parties gave her a glimpse into his lifestyle, and no matter how much she wanted him to stop being a brat she knew there was nothing she could say or do to make him stop. At the time she had been very young--twenty eight to be exact. The older staff members were skeptical about how she was handling him, but she stood by her means of ignoring him even after she actually got him as a student. A smile came to her lips at his words (even though she wanted to roll her eyes at his sarcasm.) Isabelle was a very accommodating woman--even with students. Lestrange had beat her to the Astronomy Tower during his free time, therefore, she had no right to kick him out. If he was there before a lesson that would be an entirely different story. "Well, we all deserve a little bit of time to ourselves. Students get stressed out during the school year just as professors do." She hoped that they could share the tower, but if they couldn't she always had the option of looking out the window of another tower. The young man seemed to find it necessary to look her up in down; she assumed that it was a way to intimidate her. She surmised he got some sensation of having power over her by doing that, but she found it insecure and incredibly childish. To have complete control meant not having to worry about 'bullying' others, and he was doing that to her even if he wasn't aware of it. His next words only confirmed what she hypothesized. "I can multi-task." She said coolly. Many told her that the stars didn't matter; that astronomy wasn't important. People didn't understand that the Earth wouldn't 'be' without the solar system, sun, and many other factors. Astronomy was simply the study of the stars, but also the study of the whole galaxy. She walked to stand by him and looked out at the sky, letting out a defeated sigh. The exceedingly dark sky was not promising at all, and that meant another night would be spent doing book work. "What brings you to the astronomy tower? The last time I checked you dropped my class, and you never really enjoyed nor had the affinity for looking at the sky."

[/b] [/div][/style][/td][/tr][/table]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[/center]

[RODOLPHUS JUDE LESTRANGE]

choke on your lies, swallow up your greed
SUFFERING ALONE IN YOUR MISERY

He kept his expression dark and irritated as she came to stand by him. So apparently they were going to do this, teacher student conversation thing. It didn't surprise Rod that she was one of those teachers, the ones that would quite happily converse with students outside of lesson time probably in some vain attempt to feel young again or trendy. Rod found it to be awkward and unsettling she was trying to act as if he were her equal. Most students would see their professors as higher than them but not Rod; he pictured himself as better than Isabelle. He licked his lips, debating over whether to tell her to go away since she had made it clear that she would leave if he wanted her to. But he didn't. He made a show of stepping a little further away and leant forward against the railings but his tone was the least hostile it had been lately as he spoke. "Who said I was here to look at the sky?" his head bowed down to go back to staring at the castle grounds. "Nothing up there worth my time, It’s why I dropped your, ah, class." he sniffed, somewhat childishly. "I came up here to get away from everything." he decided to admit, maybe convince her that he was changed, earn her trust. "Clear my head."


He had a reason for not asking her to leave him; he thought this might be a good opportunity to question her on her views. Rod had always noticed that she never had time for pureblood gatherings and it had bothered him even as a youngster when he had had it drilled into him that these times were of great importance you must show your face, you must act properly even his father would pull himself from his drunken stupor long enough to attend; they had to put on the perfect pure blood family show after all. Rod had been questioned greatly at these events and then forced to mingle with the other children, something he had loathed being a solitary creature even as a boy he had not ever really bothered to converse with any of them even the Blacks who were held in such high regard. He was told to befriend Bellatrix, told that they could work well together... He snapped himself back to the present suddenly remembering that conversation and wondering how poignant that was. Did their parents still think they would work well together now? Rings, vows and arranged marriages filled his head rather disturbingly. It was family tradition to have your other half chosen for you but it wasn't that that was necessarily the problem; he supposed being married to Bellatrix wouldn't be the worst thing. No the problem was how soon it was likely to happen. There were people in his year already who were engaged... Another example of life rushing out at him.

He decided the best way to distract himself from such worries, (the thought of being a married man was really quite distressing) was to interrogate Isabelle. ”I don’t understand you. You were always so lenient towards me in class and I thought it was because you were pureblood,” He said the word differently, differentiating that he meant the right sort of pureblood, not a blood traitor one. ” You were always at the gatherings. But then you failed me.” He looked across at her for the first time since she had entered, remembering the times when he had been a pupil in her class. She had been extremely lenient with him at times; it had irritated him that he was unable to get a rise from her. He wanted to see that he was pissing his professors off, to look like a trouble maker. He was now above disrupting lessons, his studies had become slightly more important to him as he started taking exams but acting out in lessons as a first, second and third year was a guaranteed way of fitting in and being popular. Things like that were important when you were eleven. Not so much anymore but then Rod had forged his reputation.

words. 693
tag. isabelle!
lyrics. linkin park - lies greed misery
notes. :] it didn't suck at all!

[ISABELLE GRACE LANGLEY]

[style=font-family: times; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: lowercase; color: #989898; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;]607 WORDS FOR ROD/JAZZZZ LATE! I finally got computer time...I'M SOOOOOO SORRY DREAM [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #6d6d6d;] [style=padding: 10px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; height: 475px; overflow: auto; color: #1e1e1e;]Isa liked understanding her pupils because she felt that was the only way she could successfully teach them. The generations before and after her own had certain flourishes and traits that hers didn't possess, and as a professor it was her duty to understand them. A lot of her fellow colleagues were simply in the profession because they weren't creative enough to come up with something else to do, or they thought it would be an easy occupation. Isabelle strongly believed that teaching was an art form, and one had to have a certain quality that was not learned. Just because one was good at something didn't automatically make them a good teacher. "If a meteor collides with this planet, Mr. Lestrange, then I guarantee it will be your problem," she said with a raised brow. The chances of that were slim, but she never failed to defend the studies of the planets and solar systems. The professor was expecting him to give the response he gave. A lot of people found it comforting to look up at the stars. In a way it allowed her to understand that there was a world far away from the one she was currently on, and just for a second she had the ability to ignore the life she was presently living. "It seems a lot of people enjoy coming up here to escape their problems," she paused. "Which is alright as long as you realize you have to face whatever is bothering you." Life taught her many lessons, but the one that seemed to always appear, and always get her into trouble was the fact she loved to hide from her problems. Isabelle's fatal flaw was the fact she liked to believe that her world was perfect even though it was so twisted. She hated seeing students start picking up such horrible traits at a young age; there wasn't anything in the world she'd like more than the ability to face her problems head on. A gentle laugh escaped her lips when he said his next words. Yes, she was a pureblood, but she wasn't what one would call a 'traditional' pureblood. "I never give special attention to anyone because of their blood status, and you certainly weren't an exception." Her words weren't cold, but they were truthful. There were many professors who gave out special attention to students who were from rich, well off families, and even though she was from the elite she believed in justice. "No student goes to that amount of trouble to make others miserable unless they are miserable with themselves." She didn't specify whether she was talking about him or not; they were simply words of wisdom. To say she was surprised when he said she failed him would be an understatement. Belle was not expecting that from Rodolphus Lestrange, and she had trouble finding a way to answer him. "I had no idea I mattered that much to you." Her response, although sarcastic, held a bit of truth to them. "My beliefs never matched what you would call, uh, traditional purebloodism. Is that what it is called?" To be totally honest Isabelle just didn't want to get involved in any of the class warfare, but if she had to she'd be against the purebloods. That option, however, didn't seem an option as she grew older and realized she'd lose everyone she ever cared about including her husband. Isabelle had lost enough when her mother died; she simply wouldn't be able to lose her father and her husband to a silly cause. If her silence meant she kept her relationships that was enough. [/style]

TABLE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING @ CAUTION 2.0

[RODOLPHUS JUDE LESTRANGE]

choke on your lies, swallow up your greed
SUFFERING ALONE IN YOUR MISERY

”Of course.” He said dryly, his eyes rolling, moving his head back to stare at the view one last time before it disappeared into darkness. Rod liked the idea that if a meteor did hit the earth he would survive, left alone standing in the ruins like the villain in those muggle stories that just couldn’t be killed whatever you threw at him. He had an obsession with being invincible. This was the time of day that Rodolphus preferred. Night time was when he was at his best, when he came alive. If he could live nocturnally then Rod would do just that. There was something about the silence that came with the dead of night, the darkness closing in on you, it was poetic and beautiful and it allowed for certain poetic and beautiful things to be done. At night he felt as if he could become invincible.

You would think then that Astronomy would be something that he enjoyed since you were required to study it at night. But that wasn’t the case. Quite frankly, he had things he’d much rather be doing when darkness fell and studying, not surprisingly if you knew Rodolphus’ personality, was really not one of them. It struck him that the two of them standing here like this in one of Hogwarts’ most prolific date spots was strange and he was suddenly thankful that she was the astronomy professor and therefore it wasn’t so odd for her to be here. Though he would prefer even more if he was alone. His jaw clenched slightly at her words. He didn’t particularly like being bundled in as one of ‘a lot of people’ he was Rodolphus Lestrange, he wasn’t just another brick in the wall. But all of the professor's words were true and that was what irritated him the most because he did not want to face what was bothering him.

He let out a small snort of derision. ”Is this the part where you ask what’s bothering me and give me some life changing advice?” He asked the sarcasm evident. Not only did he not particularly want her advice (actually if she had advice, he did want it, he just didn’t want to look as if he wanted it) he very much doubted she had the answers anyway. There wasn’t a lot Rod could do, at least nothing that would mean things worked out well for him, except maybe kill everybody involved and to be honest he was keeping that open as a viable option. Given her following words of wisdom, the seventh year could most definitely see Isabelle asking and giving him advice. He found his head turning to look at her once more, her face was blank and giving nothing away but Rod was more than certain she was talking about him. He couldn’t exactly argue, he was miserable. He could argue that that wasn’t the reason that he heaped misery on others. ”How pretentious of you.” His voice was slow and soft. ”Did it ever occur to you that perhaps students cause trouble because they find lessons such as yours a waste of time?” So it was a rather childish answer but he didn’t particularly want to admit that she might be right.

His gaze continued to penetrate her sharply, fast becoming fed up with her continued sarcasm. Did he really have to put up with this? ”If you’re pureblood, you matter.” He stated matter of factly. He shrugged casually. ”I suppose you could call it that. And trusting in the traditional ways will stand you in greater stead than choosing to walk away from it. I trust you know that?” He did find it quite a strange sensation that one day he could be on opposing, fighting sides to his professors. He presumed he might be giving a little bit about himself away now; it was one thing being a traditional pureblood but it was another thing to stand up and fight for the cause as a Death Eater. It wasn’t that he didn’t want people to know, in fact most students did seem to presume that was the direction he was headed. He wondered if the teachers felt the same way.

words. 703
tag. isabelle!
lyrics. linkin park - lies greed misery
notes. i apologize for the general rubishness of this