Problem at Hand

It was the end of the winter holidays. Nearly everyone who had gone away had returned. Kendera hadn't been one of those who had left - for which she was grateful; she'd had undoubtedly succeeded only into getting in more trouble with her grandmother. The girl made her way into the common room, gaze sweeping its interior, pausing to rest on a figure seated in a chair near the fireplace.

She'd been meaning to talk to her, anyway.

Striding over to the other girl, Kendera gazed down at her expectantly. "I need to talk to you," she declared importantly.

Faye smiled to herself as she looked into the fire. She was comfortable, relaxed for once. Her trip away from school, from her family, from everything had done a lot to comfort her for the moment.

She had even forgotten about... certain things.

It was too bad the young girl didn't realize that all that calm she had gained was about to be shattered.

"O-okay," she stuttered at Kendera for a moment. Her brain flashing back to the moment outside the potions classroom. She had said they needed to talk then, but never did. She felt a knot grow in her stomach for reasons she couldn't explain. "Umm... then talk."

"I'm betrothed to your boyfriend," Kendera informed Faye bluntly. She waited a moment before continuing. "I have no intention of marrying him. You're his girlfriend. You're going to help me set things to rights so I don't have to."

Faye blinked at the girl for a long moment. The words, which hadn't really left anything to be guessed still weren't sinknig into her brain properly.

"Betrothed... Roman?" she swallowed as the truth began to sunk in and she felt an odd feeling twist in her stomach. It was like being told she was sick again....

Only worse.

Still, she kept her face blank as she looked at the girl.

"Uhh.. okay - Uh, but how exactly am I...?"

Kendera let out an incredulous scoff. "All this time and he hasn't even told you?" she huffed indignantly. "Honestly. Boys can't be expected to do anything.

"His parents and my grandparents decided it would be mutually beneficial for the families to be joined. We certainly had no say in the matter. However, the agreement hasn't been magically bonded, for whatever reason. It can still be broken without undue repercussion."

The metamorphmagus shook her head, as though the answer was blatantly obvious. "It's simple, really. We just have to make you look like the better option for the Ritters," Kendera said. "It should be easy enough. The Hansoffs are not disreputable, and you seem like you'd be an obedient enough daughter-in-law."

Roman knew? Well of course he knew. You didn't get enganged to someone without knowing. Those looks he had been giving, turning sad, and every time he was around Kendera.

Faye felt stupid for not seeing it before. For believing....

Faye snorted, "I can't even get my own parents to like me, I don't know how well I will be at getting someone else's to do so... but I will help, however needs be. Just... ask- or tell me... or..."

She shook her head and shrugged pitifully before turning to look at the fire.

Kendera stared disbelievingly at the other girl. "How could your own parents not like you?"

It ought to have seemed a strange query, coming from a girl like Kendera, but the truth of the matter was that it honestly didn't occur to her that other people's families might not like them. She had long since rationalized her own family's dislike for her. If she had done this; if she had been that...

She stamped her foot childishly, frustrated by the whole situation.

"I shouldn't have to figure this out!" Kendera exclaimed, hair darkening with her growing agitation. "You think I have any ideas? I wouldn't need help, if I did. Forget it! Adults are stupid. Even if you could think of something I haven't, the Ritters would never call it off because they're too afraid of angering my grandparents."

Kendera flopped gracelessly onto the sofa, grabbing a couch pillow and hurled it across the room. Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face against her legs and covered her head with both hands. She struggled to fight back tears of anger and frustration.

"I hate this! You be the Krauses' granddaughter. Then, you can marry your stupid boyfriend."

Faye blinked at the girl, before shrugging, it wasn't exactly her business, but it wasn't like Faye kept it a secret other.

"By not showing magic until I was ten, not careing when I did - I'm sure I did some other things wrong to," she spoke softly, and shrugged again. She wasn't looking for pity, and didn't expect any from this girl. They were just facts. Faye was answering her question.

She watched Kendera have a fit, throwing the pillow across the room, and sulking.

"Well then..." Faye hesitated a moment before adding, "Wouldn't that mean you'd need you're grandparents to call it off?" It seemed like the obvious to her, but then again... she didn't know much about these things.

"I would if I could," she added in a whisper. "But... I don't think there is anyway to be you. Even with magic...."

"They won't," Kendera sulked, unfolding so that she was seated properly on the sofa. "My grandmother has been trying to get me betrothed since first year." She sighed unhappily.

"There's polyjuice potion," the girl pointed out. "But that's temporary." She eyed Faye thoughtfully, frown deepening. "Too bad you can't teach someone to be a metamorphmagus. Then you could learn how to be me long enough to become officially betrothed to him."

Kendera picked at a thread sticking out of the arm of the sofa. "You can't do that, either, though. Only I can be you. You can't be me."

Faye sighed. It was useless, it seemed.

"I suppose you could just... refuse couldn't you? I mean.. they can't actually..." she shook her head not even bothering to finish that statement. She had been going to say they can't force you to do anything... but that was probably wrong.

"Well... you could be someone else then? Disappear or... you can't get married to someone if you're not around, if you're gone, right?"

Kendera laughed. Her expression grew solemn, and then she laughed again. "You must not know anything about my grandmother," she stated seriously. "No one refuses her. Not without serious consequences. Most people don't even dare.

"Tracking charms." Kendera sulked a bit more. "If we weren't related, disappearing might work, but not if the betrothal is magically bound. If that happens, I could disappear for years, but I'd still have to marry him."

She tilted her head, studying the fire thoughtfully. "There must be some way," she sighed. "If I did refuse..."

Kendera wasn't sure she wanted to know how her grandmother would react if she flat-out refused the betrothal between herself and Roman, but that was starting to look like the best solution.

Faye gave a small little laugh, "Can't say I'm up to date on my pompus purebloods - no offence - its another one of my parents great disappointments in me."

She looked the girl over slowly. She coudln't aske her to do things just for her benfite... than again, she did not seem happy with the situation as it was herself.

"You don't seem like anyone though," she said softly.

Kendera gave an indelicate snort. "There are far too many pompous purebloods. If I didn't have to know about so many of them, I'd have far more room in my brain for important stuff," she opined.

"I'm not," Kendera declared. She wasn't bragging, merely stating what had been drilled into her as fact. "I'm the sole heir to two different pureblood estates. Well, there's my mother, of course, but unless she has more children, she's obsolete. No one can take the James estate from me, though. I'm the only James still alive."

She turned her gaze back to the blonde, expression resolute. "I won't marry him," Kendera said, tone matter-of-fact. "If anyone can refuse my grandmother, it's me. Everyone says I inherited her stubbornness."

Faye gave a faint smile, "I just refused to remember them; it really does free you're time."

She hummed slowly as she listened to the girl.

"Well, I suppose then... if you'll always have, that.. stuff," she was fair to unknowledgable about such things to say words like estate and not feel like she was completely pretending, "then it wouldn't matter so much, or well maybe not matter but.... You'd always have something to fall back on if you... lost other things."

"'Stuff' is all that I have, really. It's not like I'd miss my family."

The words left Kendera's mouth before she was wholly aware that she had spoken them aloud. Her eyes flickered copper, then went dark brown - mortification, anger. She shrugged. "I'll always have something," she agreed, by way of attempting to cover her gaff.

Standing, she brushed off the front of her clothes, then looked back at the other girl.

"I'm going to the dorm, now," Kendera declared. "Don't worry. Your boyfriend will be yours again, somehow.

"Good night, then." And with that, she turned and made her way for the corridor leading to the girls dormitories.

Faye waved after the girl lamely before sitting in her chair for a long moment, just blinking at the fire.

"Don't worry. Your boyfriend will be yours again

The words sort of rung in her head, emphazing what hadn't outright been said. He. Wasn't. Hers.

She felt a spike of irriation, at having been so oblivious when, well maybe not everyone knew, probably no one new but she should have...

She moved to leave, to go confront the boy but... she realized that due to the time of day it would be pointless. She wouldn't be able to see him.

Huffing irritatedly to herself, she sunk into her seat, staring at the fire, and eventually - after hours of playing back words and phrases - drifting to sleep.