New Beginning-Ben's Story

by JennTH

Continuing on from my first story, New Beginning. It's been a year since the war, and Ben is about to start his second year. Goes from Second year until he is grown up. An OC, so you likely won't like.

1. Summer before second year

Moving these stories to wattpad. Might stop updating here because I'm tired of the drama from that other writer. I haven't decided yet, but if you're interested just PM me. Either I'll update on both sites, but if they keep it up, I might just remove the stories from here.

A/N: Ben's PoV from my first story, New Beginning. This is an OC and you likely won't like. I'm just moving it over from myblog due to some requests who didn't want to read it on my blog. Takes place a year after Battle of Hogwarts and continues until Ben is grown up.

Anyway, I wrote New Beginning years ago, but then I moved it to a blog. I started this story just for fun while I worked on better projects. However, as much as it was just for fun, I grew to enjoy writing about these characters. So whenever I have writers block on my real stories, or even when I am feeling stressed, I write about these characters lives. Many people might not enjoy this since it's OC and all but this story as bad as it might be actually got me through stressful times. Whenever I was feeling upset, I would think about some happy things happening to them or even bad things. I would sit down, and write about them. I logged back onto this site recently and saw some recent requests for this story. So I've decided to resurrect it here since some people don't want to read it on my blog.

"Why don't you come outside with us?" Barry asked me as he stuck his head in the door of my bedroom. "You know I'm not going to be here for much longer, you should spend time with me before I'm gone."

"You'll be around for the rest of the summer," I said irritably as I looked up from the letter I'd received from Ellen.

I'd been working on a potions essay when Ellen's owl had flown through my window. I'd been worried about her because I hadn't heard from her yet. Ashley and I had written to each other the most, but that didn't surprise me too much. I could feel our relationship changing. We'd grown so much closer during the last term. I honestly felt closest to her out of Ellen and Michael.

Lately Ellen had been getting on my nerves quite a bit and I didn't fully trust Michael. He was also bothering me because of his insults towards Ashley. He'd written to me a lot more than I had written to him; his letters were full of love for Ellen and insults about Ashley. So I'd only written back to him a couple of times.

Ellen was the only one who hadn't written to me until that point, but after her receiving her letter I was angry. Her letter was full of insults and about how it was my fault how she believed that her doing well at school would make her parents get along. Not only that, but she made fun of me again about my old crush on Jaime. I was so sick and tired of her bringing Jaime up. Everyone had someone they fell for that they probably shouldn't have.

"Wow what's your problem?" Barry asked. "You should take a break from the school work. I know you want to do well, but you have the rest of the summer."

"Look at this!" I said furiously and I held out Ellen's letter.

Barry entered my room and came over to take the letter. He read through it and frowned.

"Well while it's a rude letter, I don't believe she means it," Barry said. "She's just angry. I can't imagine if mum and dad divorced. I'm sure she's just trying to vent, and she'll regret it later."

"It doesn't excuse it!" I snapped. "She's always doing this when it comes to me. She takes her problems out on me, or else she has to bring up Jaime. Ashley had forgiven me for all of that, we've both moved past it. I feel like Ellen wants to start drama between us. It's awful what she is going through, but it doesn't excuse any of this. It's the same as Michael taking his problems out on Ashley. He's been so rude to her, and even in the letters I've gotten from him he is still insulting her. Michael and Ellen are getting worse. They're my best friends, but sometimes I don't even want to talk to them. Her parents' divorce doesn't justify the rudeness."

"I'm not saying it does, and I can understand why you're angry with her," Barry said. "I would be too; I'm just saying you should give her some time to cool down. I'm sure she will come begging you for forgiveness soon enough."

"Well I am not even going to write back to her," I said and I reached out to take the letter back.

I began ripping it up into little pieces and I threw it into my bin which made a gulping noises. It didn't actually eat the paper, it just vanished it but it was charmed to make sound effects. My parents had bought it for me years ago. When I had been little, I used to throw random things in it just to hear it make the noises.

"She can write back when she's ready to apologize," I continued.

"I think that's your best bet," Barry told me. "Now come on, change into your bathing suit and come out into the pool. You should enjoy your summer holidays. It goes by quicker than you'd think."

I wanted to write to Ashley to tell her about the letter, but as I looked out the window, I decided Barry was right. It was too nice out to be working on homework and fuming about Ellen. An afternoon in the pool would probably relax me.

"Fine, I'll be right down," I said.

"That's a good man," Barry said. "I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me when I first started school, and I should have told Brenda. It's fine to work hard to do well in school, but you need to have fun as well. Don't spend all your time on school work. You need to find a happy medium between the two. I know you think just because you're Hufflepuff that you have to prove yourself, but you really don't. The hat obviously thought you were a Hufflepuff for a reason, and I can honestly see why it does. That doesn't make you less of a Ravenclaw."

Before I could respond, he left the room. I was actually glad by that point that I hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw. Even if I studied more than my friends, I did feel as if I were more of a Hufflepuff than a Ravenclaw. When I'd first been sorted, it hadn't been because of where I'd been put that had made me feel insecure, I would have been happy anywhere, even Slytherin. It was the fact that the hat hadn't considered me for anywhere but Hufflepuff. Other people in my year had stories about how the hat had believed they belonged in more than one place. For me, all Hoofers had always been in Ravenclaw and yet I wasn't. The hat had said: The only place you belong is HUFFLEPUFF!

I didn't regret it though. I was friendly with a lot of people in the four different houses, and I'd found that all the Hufflepuff's were a great bunch of people. I didn't think I could have gotten along too well with the Ravenclaws even if they were nice. I knew I would have hated to share a house with Tara for seven years. For the most part, I had a good group of friends even if Ellen was really bothering me a lot lately. Ashley was starting to feel like my best friend, and I hadn't thought that would happen. Out of the three of my friends, at the beginning of first year I would not have chosen her to be the closest. I would have thought perhaps Michael, and then maybe Ellen but never Ashley. It was funny how things could change in a few months.

I spent most of my summer swimming or doing homework. Barry was right that it was nice to have the time off with no worries. Soon enough we'd be back to school and second year was going to be harder than the first year. We were past all the basics. In a way, I kind of missed being there. I really wanted to talk to Melanie more. Out of all the Hufflepuff girls besides maybe Sarah, I thought she had the same attitude towards homework then I did. I could see us getting along great. I wouldn't have to help like I did with Ashley, and I wouldn't have to remind her to do it like I did with Ellen. Not only that, but she wasn't annoying like some girls could be.

What I liked about Ashley and Ellen was that they weren't too ditzy or emotional. I don't think I could ever date girls like Jess, Anne or Erica, it didn't matter how pretty they were. I wanted someone similar to Ashley but more confident. I figured Melanie was probably the same, but more mature and she had a better attitude towards homework. She was also smart and very beautiful. I could imagine the two of us together in fifth year as prefects. Barry had told me that girls would get jealous of Ashley and Ellen, but I knew Melanie wouldn't.

Ellen sent me another letter later on and I wondered if she had more insults for me. I didn't open her letter right away. I was in such a good mood lately, and I didn't want her to ruin it on me. I was reconnecting with my siblings that summer, even Brenda. It had been a long time since all four of us had really gotten along so well, and I was sure it was because we were older now.

They no longer saw me as the annoying little brother. Barry would also be moving out soon enough. My mum seemed intent on really spoiling us that summer. I wondered if it was because she knew it would be the last summer that all six of us would be under one roof. Brenda was starting her seventh year, Brianne her fifth and me my second.

It wasn't until I got letters from Ashley and Michael almost at the same time (it almost made me wonder if the two of them were hanging out, but I doubted it) that I decided to read Ellen's as well. Both Ashley and Michael's letters both asked me if the last two weeks of August sounded good for me for us to hang out.

Ellen says it's the best time for us to hang out. I asked her if she wanted us to get together for her birthday, but she said no. So let me know. I need to know ahead of time so I can tell Pat. I know you're really angry with Ellen right now, but I think you should go easy on her. I don't know if you've written back to her yet, but if you managed to hold back like you said you would I hope you will stick to it. Let her apologize to you. I'm sure she will. She doesn't complain too much in her letters, but I can sense the depression in them. I haven't heard much from Michael, but that's not a surprise. I wrote to him to ask him if the last two weeks of August sounded good to him too, but I'm sure Ellen did as well. Let me know ASAP so I can talk to Pat, Jaime and Rachel. They told me they'd take over for me. Hope you're having a good summer, and you aren't spending all of it doing homework.

-Ashley

Michael's letter was basically all about Ellen, so I skimmed it. I wondered if the boy ever thought about anything else. I knew Ashley really liked Denver, but she never mentioned him. Although Ellen and I didn't talk that often, I also knew she was interested in Hank but she never mentioned it either. I only talked about Melanie if someone brought her up. All Michael did that summer was talk about Ellen, insult Ashley, or complain about his parents. I knew he did odd jobs, and he hung out with some boys he knew in his town but he never mentioned that. It almost seemed as if he were obsessed with her. I knew a lot of boys wanted her though even though I couldn't understand why. She was pretty enough, but there were a lot of beautiful girls at Hogwarts. Why were they all so obsessed with Ellen? I'd heard so many of the guys talking about her that sometimes I wanted to hit them. She was my best friend and I hated how they talked about her. It was like they were talking about Brenda or Brianne to me.

I grabbed Ellen's unopened letter and pulled it out. I prepared myself about some insults about Jaime or something else about how it was my fault about her homework, but it was just a short letter.

Ben-

My parents said I could visit your place and Ashley's place the last two weeks of August. I'm moving at the end of this month, so I'm going to give you my new address in case you don't write back right away. You can get a hold of me at any address, but Hooty seems smart enough to know anyway. So I'll see you when we get together. When do you want to get together at your place? The first week or the second? We need to know because my mum said she'd take Ashley to your place.

-Ellen

I was annoyed that her letter wasn't full of apologies for her rudeness, but maybe she wanted to wait until she saw me. I was still very angry with her, and I wanted to write her a long mean letter back. I wanted to tell her that if she was going to be so rude and not apologize then perhaps she shouldn't even come over. I thought about Ashley's letter though. It was true, I had held back. I could hold back a while longer, but Ellen was going to hear my exact thoughts soon enough. For now, I would just invite her to my house and give her a second chance.

I wrote a short letter back to her, it took me many times to write back to her. My first few letters to her were full of insults that I couldn't send. In the end, I just told her I was sorry about the divorce and when I thought she and the others would come over. Most of the time my parents took us shopping the second last week of August; so I imagined that was when my friends would come over. So I told her that's when she could come, but my parents would likely write her parents anyway.

I turned to Ashley and Michael's letters next.

You'll be glad to know that I wasn't rude to Ellen. I really wanted to be, but I kept to my word that I wouldn't. Maybe she'll apologize when she comes over anyway. I honestly believe my parents will want you all to come over the second last week. So you guys can come over here first, and then we can go to your place. Usually we go to Diagon Alley the second last week. I'll confirm it with my parents but they will be more than happy to take you there. They are already taking Michael anyway, so one more kid won't hurt. They'll want to write to your mum about it. You know what they're like. So I'll talk to them tonight at dinner and I expect they'll contact both your mum and Ellen's parents. Michael's parents will already let him come over when he wants. He told me this. He said that they barely notice him around. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. I've almost finished my homework. I've been hanging out with my brother and sisters a lot this summer, but it will be more fun to have people my own age. I'm sure you feel the same way being around little kids so much. I'll see you soon.

-Ben

It was funny how my letters to Ellen and Michael were short and to the point while my letters to Ashley were always more detailed. Our relationship had certainly changed. It was something I would come to think about a lot over the years. I wondered if Ashley noticed our relationship had changed too.

Shortly before my friends arrived, my parents came home from work to give us exciting news. Apparently Hogwarts was hosting the Tri-wizard tournament again that year. It had been five years since the last one, and since it had gone so wrong the last time, they wanted to try it again. My parents also believed that it was to bring up peoples spirits. It had been a year since the war ended and the wizarding world was still picking up the pieces. They figured by holding it again at Hogwarts, it was showing that we'd moved on and the students could have something to look forward to. It was a way to put everything behind us.

I was looking forward to it. I knew that I'd be too young to participate but it would still be fun to watch. They would be taking extra steps this time to make sure that a younger student couldn't enter again. There would be an age line drawn around the Goblet of Fire, but there would also be someone who guarded it the entire time. Each person who was entering would have to show the guard their slip of paper before they could enter. If someone tried to enter a younger student, they wouldn't be allowed to participate in any of the Goblet activities.

I couldn't wait to tell Ashley and Michael all about it. I was sure Ellen would hear about it, but since Ashley and Michael were Muggleborns they wouldn't know. We'd covered the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the war during History of Magic, so they both knew what it was about. No one had thought that it would ever take place again considering what had happened the last time, but they'd changed their minds. I wanted to tell them in person though, so I decided to wait until they all came to my place.

My parents picked up Michael the morning that everyone was coming over. Ellen's mother was picking up Ashley and then she would drop off the girls in the afternoon. Despite the fact that I was still annoyed with Ellen, I did hope that we could make her visit a pleasant one. I'd told my parents about what had happened, but they'd already heard about it anyway. Wizards didn't often divorce, so if it happened, people did gossip. My parents had promised to make my friends visit a fun one.

I was in my room finishing up the last of my homework when Michael entered.

"Of course you're doing homework," Michael said. "I still have some left."

"I've just finished. How can you still have some left? How can you get it done between now and then? You'll be hanging out with us," I said.

"How is that different from any other time?" Michael asked. "Besides, I was hoping you'd help me. I'm sure you'll be helping Ashley and Ellen as well."

"Ashley said she's done," I told him, "but I did tell her I'd look it over. So I'm sure she'll have some work to do. I don't know about Ellen. I didn't really talk to her much this summer."

"I don't see why you're still angry with her," Michael said. "You know she is going through a lot right now. I feel bad for her. I hope you'll go easy on her."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said. "It will just put me in a bad mood, and I will say something to her. So if you want me to take it easy on her, you'll drop the subject and you won't bring it up when they get here."

"I don't get why Ellen's mother is picking up Ashley, it's actually out of the way," Michael said. "She should find her own way here."

"Kind of like it's out of my parent's way to get you?" I asked him. "She's twelve, how is she supposed to find her own way?"

"Your parents said my place was on the way," Michael said. "They don't have a problem with getting me. Why do you have a problem with them getting me?"

"I don't have a problem with it, I'm glad they picked you up. You know it's only on the way from Kings Cross. Today they went out of the way to get you. If Ellen's mother doesn't have a problem getting Ashley, then it shouldn't matter. You tell me I should take it easy on Ellen, but maybe you should be taking it easy on Ashley. I don't get why you've been so rude about her lately," I said.

"Don't worry, I am not going to be rude to your precious girlfriend," Michael said. "But perhaps stop and think that maybe I have a reason to be angry with Ashley just like you have a reason to be angry with Ellen."

"And what could that reason be?" I asked trying to think of what she could possibly have done to him. Perhaps she had done something. Ashley could get under peoples skin without meaning to, but I couldn't think of anything she could do to justify his actions.

"I am not sure yet, I am trying to figure it out," Michael said. "I've been talking to Jared a lot about it. He was the one who pointed some things out to me. He might be completely wrong, but I have to find out myself."

"You realize he might be trying to turn you against her because he hates her?" I asked.

"Look, this conversation is over," Michael said. "Just leave it. I won't be rude to her, but that's all I am going to say. So drop it."

I could sense that there was going to be a fight with our group. I wasn't sure how much longer I could tolerate Ellen's attitude if she kept it up, or Michael's attitude towards Ashley. I was sure Ellen felt the same way about me. I knew how Ashley felt about Michael. I could see all of us all fighting, expect perhaps Ashley and me. The only thing that annoyed me was how passive aggressive she could be. She had no problem complaining about Michael's treatment about her, but she never did anything about it. She would just take it, and I was getting tired of it. She needed to tell the boy off instead of keeping it to herself. When I had been rude to her, she could tell me straight up how she felt. She had done the same with Denver as well. So why couldn't she say something to Michael?

"Fine, let's just go down in the pool. Barry and Brianne are in the pool right now. I was just waiting for you to come. Brenda said she would greet the girls when they come. She has things to do before she joins us," I said.

After we got ready to go down to the pool, I told Michael all about the Tri-wizard tournament. Instantly he started going on about how he could enter the tournament.

"Just think how impressed Ellen will be," he said. "I'll be breaking the rules and I'll be the youngest champion ever."

"They're taking different measures to prevent that this year," I said.

"I'll find a way," Michael said.

I shook my head but I figured the boy could dream all he wanted. He would never be able to enter. Even if somehow he managed to enter the Goblet wouldn't pick him. It would pick the best candidate from each school. A second year boy would never be the best candidate. I wanted us all to get along though, so I kept my mouth shut. Sometimes I had to wonder where my friends got their ideas from though. All three of them could come up with really dumb things at times.

"The kids have arrived," Barry said as we walked out on the patio. He and Brianne were leaning against one side of the pool with drinks in their hands. "Where are your two girlfriends Ben? You'll have to watch yourself if they're wearing bikinis."

I rolled my eyes as Michael shot a furious glance in my direction.

"I hope you're not going to embarrass them," Brianne said. "They're at an insecure age."

"Who? The boys or the girls?" Barry asked. "I have no problem with making fun of my little brother."

"I'm talking about Ellen and Ashley. Don't make any comments about them," Brianne said.

"I'm not going to comment on twelve year old girls," Barry said. "I'm just teasing Ben here. You know you're going to date one of them."

"No he won't. Ellen won't ever want to date him, he doesn't have a chance with a girl like that and Ben will date never Ashley. No boy will ever date her, she's too ugly," Michael said as he climbed into the pool. "I hope she's not wearing a bikini, no one wants to see that."

"I told you to stop," I said to Michael furiously following him into the pool just as Brianne said: "That's not very nice. You shouldn't make fun of her."

"Whatever," Michael said.

"And Ben could very well have a chance with Ellen later," Barry said no longer joking. "He's going to have a lot of girls interested. I'm willing to bet both Ashley and Ellen are going to want him at some point."

"Ashley will," Michael said. "She will always fall for the ones she can never have. Right now she's interested with this boy named Denver, but we all know he won't go for her. She'll probably want Ben and me eventually, but I know for sure I'll never want her. Ben will never want her either."

"You're very rude about people who are supposed to be your friends," Barry said. "It's fine if you don't see her that way, but there is no need to be like that. I don't really appreciate you insulting my brother either."

"And I can speak for myself about who I am or I'm not attracted to," I added.

"You've said yourself that you'd never date Ashley. You've gotten angry when people have brought it up," Michael said. "I don't see why you suddenly being so defensive about it. Don't tell me you've gone and fallen for her."

"I have not fallen for her, but everyone has different tastes. Just like you want Ellen, and I don't see her that way," I responded. "All I want is for you to stop insulting her that way. Who knows, maybe I will change my mind about Ashley or Ellen. For now? No, I don't feel I will ever date either one of them but Barry said the same as Tasha. Now look at them. Besides, I am very sure that Denver is just as interested in Ashley as she is in him."

"No wonder that girl has no confidence if that's the way you treat her," Brianne said annoyed. "You might not want to hear this, and you may not believe it but at your age is one of the most insecure times for a girl. Stop making her feel bad about herself. If you keep it up, she might not ever have any confidence. She's at a vulnerable age, and so is Ellen for that matter. Anything you say to them now can affect them for years. It's the same with you two. It's only been three years since I was twelve and I remember it was a hard age. Stop insulting her."

Michael looked annoyed about being told off, but he kept his mouth shut. I was really worried about how this visit was going to go. Thankfully, Brenda came out to inform us that the girls had arrived.

"I told them you were out here. They've gone upstairs to change," she told us.

"Are you going to join us?" Barry asked.

"Maybe later," Brenda said. "But honestly, the last thing I want to do is hang out with a bunch of twelve year olds."

She went back inside and I looked over at Michael who was staring at the patio door expectedly.

"Be nice," I told him, "Seriously, this is supposed to be a fun visit."

The girls seemed to take a while to come down. Ashley came out wearing a yellow one piece and she was carrying a yellow towel with a black outline. She was obviously still going with Hufflepuff themed stuff. She was obsessed with accessorizing with it. I couldn't help but think that yellow actually looked good on her though. She was the type of person who looked better with bright colours instead of darker ones. She'd gotten a nice tan over the summer, and the yellow showed it nicely. Ellen trailed behind her sporting a red bikini.

"About time!" I called out to Ashley as she approached the pool. "You're really going all out with the Hufflepuff theme, aren't you?"

"Wait until you see my room," she said as she climbed in. "And Rachel told me she'd paint my nails a Hufflepuff theme before I go back to school."

Michael didn't seem to notice her arrival; he was too busy staring at Ellen in her bikini. I felt sorry for her instantly. He wasn't going to take his eyes off of her for the rest of the day. I could already see the discomfort in her eyes as she noticed him. I wondered if she knew about his crush on her. I was sure she had to since he was very open about it now. He used to try and hide it, but lately he showed it. Anyone there could see he wanted her. I'm sure she regretted her suit choice at that point.

"Really?" Ellen asked who was still outside of the pool "Ooh, ask her to do it while we're at your place and then she can do mine too. That is so neat. I would never have thought of that."

"Oooh," Barry said in imitation. "I want Ravenclaw nails!"

I smiled. I couldn't understand the fuss about nails and nail polish, but apparently Brianne did since she was jealous. The talk turned to the Tri-Wizard tournament, and as it turned out, Ellen hadn't known about it. We spent the day swimming and talking about it. Michael did all he could to get close to Ellen, and she did all she could to subtly let him down. From most of the comments she made to him, anyone could see she was trying in the most polite way possible to turn him down.

"He has it so bad for her," Barry whispered to me as Michael put an arm around an uncomfortable Ellen.

"Yes he certainly does. She doesn't want him though," I whispered back. "It's not going to be good when she finally turns him down."

"And he thinks you don't have a chance with her. If you don't, he most certainly doesn't," Barry muttered.

"I don't want a chance with her," I said. "She's like a sister to me."

"For now," Barry said and swam off.

I was honestly tired of people saying that. I could admit Ellen was pretty enough, but I just didn't see her that way. I could never date her and I couldn't see myself changing my mind. I knew so many people believed I would when we got older, but I just honestly doubted it. I could not understand why so many boys wanted her. I could think of many girls who were a lot prettier. Ellen was just another girl to me.

As we climbed out of the pool later, I swam to Ashley and said: "Someone needs to turn that boy off."

She nodded in agreement. She looked over at them. Michael had already gotten out of the pool and he was trying to help Ellen climb out. She gave him a small smile and then walked away quickly to grab her towel. She wrapped it around herself and then walked over to the patio table where she sat down between Brianne and Brenda. Ashley and I sat down side by side. Michael took the remaining chair beside Barry. He looked very upset. He shot a hurt look at Ellen and then sent a glare at Ashley who didn't notice.

My parents joined us with some food. They asked Ellen questions about the divorce. I thought for sure she would be upset by this, but she seemed to be in a better mood then she had been. As I watched her answer their questions it made me second guess whether or not I was going to tell her off for the letter. It had obviously been written in anger. Perhaps now that she was happier, she would stop. If she continued her attitude towards me, I'd have to say something but for that moment I wouldn't say a word.

Later Ashley and I discussed Michael and Ellen while we were alone.

"Michael made me promise not to say anything about Ellen, but it's obvious to anyone there that he wants her," I told Ashley. "I think she even knows, and she doesn't look happy about it."

"She's not," Ashley told me. "Ellen told me that she's not interested in him at all, and she doesn't want to ruin their friendship. She's hoping to do what she can to make sure he realizes she isn't interested without hurting him. She's worried about how awkward things will be."

"Michael told me last year, well I guessed anyway. I told him the same thing. It will be awkward," I replied. "He seemed to be good about hiding it at first, but he's definitely not today. Even Barry has noticed."

"Well you like Melanie," Ashley said. "Maybe you could try setting him up with Sarah. The two of you could double date."

"Double date where?" I asked her. "We're only second years, we can't go to Hogsmeade."

"Slughorns parties," She answered.

"I guess so," I answered. "We're going to have to do something. I think he's worse than I was when I liked Jaime."

"Well Ellen didn't tell me who, but she does like someone. So maybe he'll get the hint then," She said. "And then he can move on."

I was surprised Ellen hadn't said anything about Hank. I wasn't going to say anything in case I was wrong. I voiced what I had been worried about for a while.

"I don't know. I have a feeling this is going to end badly no matter what. It's not the same as with your sister. I barely saw her, we're all friends. You know that both you and I are going to end up taking sides… and quite frankly, from the way she has been acting around me I doubt I can take her side."

"And I doubt I can take Michael's side," Ashley added. "Even if I do feel bad for him. Not with the way he has been treating me."

We glanced at each other and I could see she was worried just as I was that we were all going to end up getting into a huge fight. There was just so much resentment between some of us at the moment.

The rest of the week at my house, my parents seemed determined to spoil my friends as much as possible. While they were there, Ashley and Ellen had a girl's night with my sisters one evening. It was interesting to see Brenda actually having a girl's night, especially with girls so much younger. She's never gotten along with any of our friends, but she seemed determined since Easter to be nice to my friends.

While they did that, I decided that Michael and I should have a boy's night. I figured I could have a talk with Michael about his behaviour around Ellen. We played a two man poker game. I wasn't sure how to bring it up at first.

"What do you think the girls are doing in there?" Michael asked meaning Brianne and Brenda's room.

"Painting their nails and doing their makeup," I answered. "Believe me; we don't want to be part of that. Brianne does this with her friends all the time."

"Girls gossip as well though," Michael said. "They could be talking about anything. Don't they usually talk about guys? I know Ellen and Ashley do."

"Probably are," I answered with a shrug.

I honestly wasn't that interested in what the girls talked about. Often Ashley and Ellen would wander off so they could have girl talk. I imagined they gossiped about guys, makeup and whatever else. I had grown up with two sisters to know that their conversations wouldn't interest me. Part of me suspected that they were talking about Michael though.

"Do you think they are talking about me?" Michael asked as if reading my mind.

"Might be," I said. "I'm telling you right now to back off from Ellen. You're making things awkward."

"I thought you said you weren't interested in her," Michael said suspiciously.

"I'm not at all mate, but can't you see you're making her uncomfortable?" I asked. "When she first came, you couldn't take your eyes off of her. I'm just saying to step back a bit. Stop staring at her and touching her. You're going about it the wrong way. You're going to push her away."

"I thought if you wanted a girl you had to be aggressive about it. That's what Jared told me," Michael said. "You know he is lucky with the girls. He hasn't had much problems with snogging them."

"I think you should just talk to her," I told him. "Back off a bit and talk to her. Obviously you're not going to get over her, and I think it's a bad idea to be interested in one of our friends. So I think you're just going to have to talk to her about it. Just stop making her feel awkward and uncomfortable. You're putting Ashley and me in an uncomfortable position."

"Are you two talking about me behind my back?" Michael demanded. "I bet she started it too, didn't she?"

"No we haven't talked about it," I lied. "But it makes me uncomfortable. My sisters and Barry can tell how you feel, and they've brought it up. I imagine Ashley has noticed as well. We're your friends, and if you two fight, you're putting us in an awkward position. So I'm just saying to back it off a bit. This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. Can't you just hold back until we're back at school at least?"

"Why when we're back at school?" Michael asked. "Jared said I should do it during our vacation."

"Because if she says no; then it's going to be awkward for all of us. You're visiting my place this week, and Ashley's next. Think about it, all four of us are going to be around each other constantly. At school at least we can get some space," I said. "And if she does reject you then you can at least try and meet another girl. There is always Sarah or one of the Andrew twins, or anyone else. At Hogwarts you can find a distraction, here you can't."

Michael didn't answer. He stared down at his cards for a moment as if he were thinking my words over.

"You do have a point there," he said. "I'm not blind. I have noticed that Ellen is kind of pulling away. I'll try to lay low a bit for now, but I am going to say something to her. There are other cute girls, but right now it's Ellen that I want."

The girls came into our room a little while later. They both had their faces painted with makeup. I had to admit that at times I wasn't too big of a fan of makeup. I guess it could look okay if it was done right, and my sisters had done well on the girls but other people wore too much. I could never get past how much Jess, Anne and Erica had worn. Melanie on the other hand either didn't wear it or wore it in a subtle way that it wasn't noticeable.

"You two look ready for a night out," I said as they smiled at us.

"Oh really?" Ashley asked. "Are you ready for a date then Ben?"

She walked over to me and sat on my lap. She'd never done anything so bold before, and I was caught off guard. However, it didn't bother me, but having a girl in my lap should be the last thing to bother me. It did however give me thoughts I'd never had with her, ones that I never thought I would have with her. I could imagine myself kissing her. I was so relieved that my friends couldn't see what I was thinking. I didn't want a situation with Ashley that Michael had with Ellen.

"Of course baby," I said recovering quickly. "Took you long enough, I've been ready for hours. You look pretty though."

It was something I'd heard my father say to my mother often. He'd told both Barry and me that we would often be waiting for the girls we dated to get ready. I knew this was true just from witnessing it in the common room with the older guys. Even when I had taken the girls to Slughorns parties I'd noticed it. Ashley smiled at me and raised her recently groomed eyebrows.

"Well I'm worth waiting for," she responded.

"Can't you two get a room?" Ellen asked looking irritated.

"We're just playing around," I said with a grin. "You look good as well."

She did look a lot older. Ellen usually looked so baby faced, but my sisters had fixed her eyebrows up as well and with the makeup she did look a lot mature. From the look on Michael's face, I could see that he liked what he saw. He glanced at Ashley and me with jealousy. I could tell that he'd give anything to be in my place at the moment. He wanted Ellen to be sitting in his lap. For some reason Ellen looked irritated by Ashley and me.

"Yeah we're just kidding around," Ashley said and she got up.

I didn't want her to. I pushed those thoughts away though. I couldn't be having those kinds of thoughts about her. She was my best friend and it was Melanie I wanted. I imagined it was just because it was the first time a girl had sat on me, and that's why I thought those things. I tried to remember my thoughts of last year when I'd never want her. I remembered how angry I would get whenever someone brought us up, but for some reason I couldn't feel that anger anymore. It must have been because we were so close now.

"Your sisters said we should all go hang out on the patio," Ellen said still looking annoyed. "I think Barry is outside. They have some butterbeer."

"Let's go then," Michael said.

He seemed to be holding back. He still couldn't take his eyes off of her. Ashley and I glanced at each other and smiled. The two of them led the way out of my room and down the steps. I couldn't stop thinking about Ashley, and I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't be having those thoughts, not with a good friend of mine. I imagined I just needed to see Melanie again. There was no way that I had feelings for my best friend. It was only because she'd sat on my lap, and it was a different experience for me.

Out on the patio, my sisters and Barry were already laughing together. Barry and Brianne seemed to have gotten into my mother's Sherry while Brenda had a bottle of pumpkin juice.

"Want some Sherry?" Barry asked us.

"No," Brenda said automatically. "They're twelve Barry."

"Ben is going to be thirteen soon," Barry said.

"You think that makes it better?" Brenda asked.

"One glass isn't going to hurt them," Brianne said. "You were drinking wine at their age. It's up to them."

"I'll have a glass," I said.

"I'll just take a butterbeer," Ashley said.

"I'll have a glass," Michael and Ellen said at the same time. I saw Michael grin.

"You don't want to try Sherry?" I asked Ashley as she sat down at the patio. "It could be really good."

"I don't want to get hungover or sick," she answered as she took the butterbeer from the cooler that Barry had outside.

"You won't get sick from one glass," Barry told her.

He pointed his wand at the open patio door and said:

"Accio four glasses."

I can't wait to do magic outside of school I thought to myself as I sat down beside Ashley. How great would it be to get whatever you wanted with just a wave of your wand? I didn't understand why we couldn't do magic until we were seventeen. It made sense for muggleborns because they lived around muggles, but what about people who came from magical families like Ellen and me? Our parents did magic anyways.

The four glasses came flying out of the kitchen and skidded to a halt in front of Barry. He pulled the Sherry out of the cooler and poured us three glasses.

"I'll keep this one out in case you change your mind," Barry told Ashley.

"I'm fine, really," Ashley insisted. "I'll just drink some butterbeer."

"Prude," I thought I heard Michael mutter as he took a seat beside me.

There were only two seats left, one beside Michael and one beside Brenda. Ellen moved her way around the table and took the seat beside Brenda. Michael let out an annoyed sigh beside me but he didn't say anything.

"This isn't bad," Ellen said as she took a sip. "It's actually really good. What is it?"

"It's a kind of wine," Brianne said. "Mum has always let us drink some of it because it isn't too strong. If you drink too much of it of course you'll get drunk, but a glass or two is fine."

"I'm surprised you're not drinking something harder," Michael said. "You're eighteen."

Barry shrugged. "I only drink that stuff if I am partying. Besides, all we had was Sherry and I didn't feel like going out to get anything else."

I took a sip myself but I thought it was too sweet. I decided after this one that I would switch to butterbeer. I was curious about alcohol, and although I wouldn't admit it yet to my friends but I wanted to see what it was like to get drunk. I'd mentioned in the past how dumb it was to drink but over the past few months I'd started to get curious. So far I'd tried wine and now Sherry (which was also a wine) and they hadn't done anything for me. There had to be something better out there though if people loved it so much.

The talk turned to the Tri-wizard tournament again. I could tell that Barry was jealous about not going back to school even though he said he wasn't. Michael seemed eager to find out as much information as he could about it. When Barry went inside, he followed him inside still questioning him. Brianne got up to go inside to write to her friends.

"Let's go upstairs," I told Ashley and Ellen.

"I'm getting tired anyway," Ashley said as we got up.

"I am too, and we have to get up early tomorrow. We're going to Diagon Alley," I told her.

I glanced back at Ellen as we headed inside but she remained at the patio table. I didn't even think she'd heard us. She was talking to Brenda about something. I figured she'd join us eventually, so Ashley and I went upstairs without them. Michael and Barry were in our dining room and listening to the wireless, or I believed Barry was trying to listen to the wireless while Michael kept piling question after question about the tournament.

"Well at least they get along with your siblings," Ashley said as we headed upstairs.

"It's strange to see Ellen and Brenda getting along," I said. "I never told you this, but she used to hate Ellen. She said out of all of my friends, she hated Ellen the most. I guess now it's Michael she can't stand, but none of my siblings like him. Barry is just too nice to say anything."

"Why does Barry hate Michael?" Ashley asked.

"He can't stand his attitude," I replied.

We entered my room and walked over to my desk where the poker set was still set up. We started to clear it up.

"He was insulting you right before you guys came over and Barry told him off for it, so did Brianne for that matter," I told her.

"Can't he think of anything better to talk about?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know, believe me, we're all getting bored of it. He's either insulting you or he talks non-stop about Ellen," I told her.

She turned to her overnight bag and rifled through it to pull out some pajamas. She walked off into the bathroom to change. While she did that, I quickly changed into mine. Michael and I slept on cots my mother had put in my room while the girls took the beds. I sat on the edge of my cot while deep in thought. Something was definitely changing with our friendship and I wasn't sure what to do about it. As soon as I got back to Hogwarts, I was going to have to get with Melanie. It was the only way to stop these strange thoughts that were entering my head.

By the time our two week visit was over, tensions were running high between all of us. I was actually relieved by the time I got home and they were gone. We did have our fun times of course, but there were definitely some tense moments as well. We all seemed to get along better at Ashley's but I figured it was because we did more around her town then we did at my place.

She took us hiking the one day where she'd told us that she spent most of her childhood. She told us it was normally a three hour walk, but we ended up spending the entire day down there. I could see why she loved it out there so much.

"I don't get down here as much as I used to," she admitted. "Between baby-sitting and everything I just don't have the time, but it's nice. I used to read by the pond all the time. No one could bug me down here."

"Is that why you like the lake at Hogwarts so much?" Michael asked her.

It was weird to see him being so nice to her. He'd actually done his best to be polite to her, he was even more polite at her house then he had been at mine. Ellen and I exchanged incredulous glances and Ashley looked over at him surprised.

"I haven't really thought about it, but that could be why," she answered. "It's really relaxing."

I couldn't agree more. The four of us actually had a good day down in the trails, and then the day after that we ended up going to the beach. I think it was the most fun we'd all had in a long time. Even Ellen and I got along without fighting and that was a rare moment for us. There was a moment when we'd all gone down to Diagon Alley where she and I had almost gotten into it, but Ashley had stopped us before we could. Down at the beach it felt like old times between all of us.