Run Me Like A River ** (SIMONE)

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@simone
<3

Artemis had woken up earlier than normal. She wanted to go see Simone and tell her about things that had happened...with, guess who? Emile of course. Not that anything had really happened, but they had spoken about quite a bit over their owls. Some things shocking, other things...not so much. Emile was Emile, the same cocky guy she had always grown up with. He wouldn't ever change, that was obvious. Unfortunately for Lyla, that meant she would have to learn to let him go, and her feelings for him.

It was warm inside the castle, so she threw on a long sleeved black dress, black designed tights and her knee high black boots. Lyla's hair hung down in curls, and she threw on a light blue necklace and left the dungeons. This was an extremely long walk up to the Gryffindor Common Room, and she was glad that most of the time it was Simone coming to get her. Going downstairs were much easier than going up them, but Artemis was fairly fit, and she was only slightly breathless as she reached the top. She stood outside the Gryffindor Common Room door, waiting for Simone to exit.

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@jill8

It was a a beautiful weekend morning, perfect for a walk outside. Maybe spend some time by the pond. stop by the Care of Magical Creatures hut to say hello to the creatures, and then come in for breakfast. Dressed casually in a pair of faded jeans and slim fitted hoody. Stepping out of Gryffindor tower she started to make her way down the hall, but stopped when she spotted a familiar blonde head. Simone slowly grinned. She'd recognize those frosty locks anywhere. A Slytherin in her own year. Close friend. Crush. Artemis Alisi.

"Morning." Simone asked cheerfully as she moved towards her friend, that bright grin still in place. Especially this early. And... Wearing all black? It was a stark contrast to her blonde hair. But.... She looked pretty regardless. "What are you doing up here so early?"

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@simone
<3

Artemis heard the door of the tower open and gave a small smile as she turned the way, seeing Simone exit from the Common Room. The girl noticed her almost immediately, and Artemis walked over to her briskly. They met each other in the middle and Lyla tilted her head, laughing. "To see you, duh! I've got something to tell you. Shall I do so here, or...?"

Normally Lyla wasn't one to divulge information willy nilly in public and not private quarters, but there wasn't really a place that the two girls could go to be alone. She'd just have to whisper and keep watch wherever they went. Not like she wasn't used to that, being in the house she was in. Lyla smiled again, shrugging. "Are you hungry? Or do you want to take a walk?" Glancing around, she leaned in closer and spoke softly, "It's about Emile."

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@jill8

Simone laughed softly at the answer as she stopped in front of her friend. "It must be pretty important if you're up here so early." she noted casually and she motioned for them to walk. If she didn't want to be overheard right outside the Gryffindor common room was a bad idea. Especially around breakfast time. "I was going tor a walk anyway, come on."

Of course, when Simone heard that name she stopped walking. Stopped walking and stared at her friend in disbelief. Of course Simone knew who Emile was. Not just knew it, but Lyla had told her about their history. Even before Simone had known the cocky French boy was Emile she'd known she hadn't liked him. Just something about the way he carried himself. "I thought you were avoiding him." Simone answered in a hushed voice, silently praying her friend hadn't done anything stupid.

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@simone
<3

"Sort of, yeah." Artemis responded. It wasn't incredibly important, not like a career or anything about schooling. It was just about a boy, and while normally teenagers would find that important, she knew Simone might not have the best reaction. They began walking and Lyla smiled, nodding her head. Simone was not going to like what she wanted to talk to her about, but she just had to vent about it.

And then she stopped walking. And Artemis stopped short, looking back at her with wide eyes. This was not good. Simone never really got mad at her for speaking and liking Emile, but she did get annoyed. Simone hated Emile, and that as putting it lightly. Her own tone was in a whisper, and Artemis grabbed Simone's hand so they would continue walking instead of standing in the middle of the hall. "I was...but I sent him an owl and congratulated him for winning Champion and we got to talking."

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@jill8

Hated Emile was an understatement. Simone didn't trust him, and was convinced he'd just end up hurting Lyla again. The last thing Simone wanted was for that to happen. If it had been any other situation Simone would have smiled at Lyla taking her hand, maybe blushed a little, but she was too focused on the problem to think to much about it as they started walking again, Lyla leading the way.

She'd written him. "You... Lyla why? You know what happened last time." If he'd initiated the contact, Simone could live with that. It would just be Lyla being polite. But Lyla had started it?

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@simone
<3

They continued walking, Lyla keeping her head down and not looking at Simone. It was hard not to, as she just wanted to see her facial expression, but if you could guess, just like Artemis, she knew it was a mix of anger, hurt and confusion. Lyla had tried her best to avoid Emile. Normally it was easy, especially where he went to different schools and she only saw him at home and on Holidays. But this year with him at Hogwarts, it was like Lyla had to watch her every path. He had already told her he's seen her, and that he knows she's avoiding him.

"Because! I couldn't not say anything, he won Champion, Simone. And he did great in the first task. I couldn't just not talk to him. He's my brother's best friend and ... with our past I would've regretted it in the future." Lyla had so many feelings for Emile, and while he hurt her deeply, for some reason she couldn't seem to just let him go. She kept going back to him, and he knew he had that power over her.

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@jill8

Why.... Why was Lyla acting so stupid? Not that Lyla was stupid, but letting him back into her life was! From what Simone had heard, and seen of the older boy she was right to seriously distrust him. He'd already hurt Lyla once before. He'd do it again, with the same about of lack of care. "With your past with him you should regret not ignoring him." She really wasn't an angry person. But she found herself angry at her friend's choice. Pulling her hand free of Lyla's she instead reached out to lightly grab her arm to stop her from walking. "What are you expecting? Him to be different? Don't you even remember what he did last time? How can you.... Why would you ever want to let him back into your life? Lyla, he already hurt you once. He'll do it again." People like that didn't change. "He'll use you just like before, and then dump you when he finds someone more interesting." And Lyla would be hurt, and nothing Simone or any of their other friends did would be able to help her.

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@simone
<3

They continued to walk and talk, and Simone's next comment about Emile made Lyla groan loudly and shake her head. She also rolled her eyes, but hoped Simone didn't see that, she wouldn't be happy. "No I shouldn't Simone. You know how long he's been around. We've known each other since we were children, I can't just block him out of my life." Not only that, but she'd see him in the future with her twin brother. They were best friends! Lyla abruptly stopped, Simone grabbing her arm to turn her around to her. Lyla stared at her, her eyebrows scrunched together as she spoke. "I'm not expecting him to be different, Mona...but, I love him. Whether he hurt me or not, I'd rather have him in my life than not at all."

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@jill8

Why was Lyla defending him? Simone had never been wrong about her sense of someone. She had a good sense of people. And Emile gave her a bad vibe. Strong enough that even she avoided him. And she'd felt that way since the moment she met him, even before she'd even known that the Beauxbaton boy was 'the' Emile that Lyla had told her about. "How long he's been around..." She slowly repeated, pausing just a moment to take a slow breath. "If he cared about any of that, he wouldn't have treated you the way he did."

I love him.

Those three little words hurt. Hearing Lyla say that about anyone, but especially Emile. It was a very heavily guarded secret that Simone was, quite intensely, crushing on her friend. Simone couldn't help it. She... she liked her friend. More than she should. Thankfully that strong attraction only seemed to present itself as an over protectiveness for her friend. "So... what? You want a repeat of what happened? He doesn't care, Lyla. He'd keep doing."

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@simone
<3

"Yes, how long he's been around, Simone." Lyla shook her head again. She wasn't sure why Simone was acting as if this was all a shock. Lyla had told her everything about Emile, from the beginning, and while it wasn't all flowers and chocolates, some of it was good, even if the latest bit was bad. "It's not that he doesn't care, Simone. It's just who he is. He's always been this way. He's a cocky ass, but I can't help it."

Should she tell her? She hadn't even told Emile yet. But she planned to, tomorrow. Lyla just hoped she didn't run away from him in a hot mess blubbering out random words. He tended to have that affect on her, melting her into a bit of mush. But this wasn't a good thing that was happening, it was bad, and it would be okay for her to tell her best friend. At least, that's what she told herself. Looking around, Lyla grabbed Simone by the arm and dragged her into an empty classroom, shutting the door. "Simone...whether he keeps doing it or not doesn't matter anymore." She took a deep breath. "Our parents...set up an arranged marriage between the two of us."

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@jill8

Just how he'd always been? Who he is? "He's a cheater." She stated bluntly, not even bothering to be suave about it. "You want to try to make it work... with someone that will never be faithful to you? Are you insane?" It was insane. Absolutely positively insane. How could Lyla want that? Any of that? He'd already broke her heart once and now she wanted to just jump back into the fire?

Lyla pulled her into a classroom, shutting the door tight behind them and turning back to her just in time to drop a bombshell. Simone stopped breathing for a moment, forgot how. Arranged.... marriage. Between Lyla and Emile. Lyla. "You want this, don't you..?" Simone found herself slowly asking. Of course Lyla wanted this. She was in love with the arrogant two timer. "You want to spend your life with someone that'll never be satisfied with you? Lyla, what kind of life is that?" Simone could.... she could deal with Lyla liking someone else. Deal with Lyla loving someone else. Being with someone else. But Emile? That she couldn't deal with.

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@simone
<3

Artemis glared at Simone. She had convinced herself otherwise about Emile; he didn't cheat, he couldn't have cheated. When she thought real hard about it, Lyla realized that they never specified their relationship, whether it was official or if they were just having fun. Lyla had taken the assumption that they were together without confirming, and Emile didn't. "I'm not insane, Simone. He didn't cheat."

Lyla swallowed hard. "I'd want it if he loved me back. But he doesn't. He made it clear in our owl. Maybe like a best friend, but not like a girlfriend. You don't need to remind me, Simone." She spoke angrily, and with hurt in her voice. This was something Artemis had wished for, and now that it was actually happening, she wished she hadn't.

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@jill8

He didn't cheat? What sort of defense was that? It didn't make any sense. All she was doing was defending his skirt chasing behavior. Okay, sure, Simone's own best friend was also a serious skirt chaser but he'd never been in a situation serious enough for any of the girls to think they were more than just flings. From what Simone understood about Lyla and Emile... Well, Lyla hadn't thought it was just a random fling. Simone was frowning, obviously upset by this conversation. The idea of someone that horrible with Lyla just made Simone sick to her stomach. "Then what did he do? Use you? That isn't much better, Lyla." She answered slowly.

Running a hand through her hair, Simone let out a deep breath and looked away. She knew Lyla wasn't happy about this conversation. But how did she think Simone would react? From the moment Simone first saw Emile she hadn't trusted him, even before she knew about Lyla's history with him. It was just a feeling, but Simone was rarely wrong.

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@simone
<3

Simone's reaction was completely reasonable, and she knew that. But there was still that part of her that always wanted to stick up for Emile. Always wanted to get Simone to like him. Whether she wanted it or not, Emile would always be in Lyla's life. They were close, good friends and they did have a past together. Even if he was her brother's best friend and not hers, Lyla didn't plan on kicking him out of her life anytime soon. "I don't think of it as being used, Simone. I think of it as a miscommunication."

That was probably even worse to say, but Artemis was not going to apologize. Simone had to be used to this by now. The girl looked away from her and Lyla moved around to face her again. "Please don't be angry with me. I can't help how I feel and you know that. You can't control who you have feelings for, Mona." Lyla didn't want to love him, but she did at the same time. There was always that small part of her that hoped he'd eventually love her back.