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: Aug 30 Update- This story was started back in 2009, so that's why I am including the update authors note. Once again, I am warning people that you most likely won't like this. It's being uploaded due to a few requests who don't want to read it on my blog. This the sequel to the first part of New Beginning but just from Ashley's point of view. The last story covered all four, but I didn't like writing it that way. I will be uploading the other points of views as well. Most of these chapters, I need to read through too eventually. For now, I am just uploading them but will take the time to read over later.
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.
Again, you likely won't like it since they are OC's, and I also didn't put my best effort in it. I wrote it fast because I had these ideas for these characters. Plus, like I said I haven't read through it in a while so there are likely errors. So it's best to hit the back button.-End Update.
By the way, Ashley is not the ugly duckling turned into a swan type of girl. She will never be beautiful. She gets interested in ways to improve her looks, which you'll see in this chapter. However, she will only ever be about average. She's not ever going to blossom though. I want to keep her the ugly character that gets over it and gets comfortable with herself. In a lot of stories, the plain character gets beautiful and then is happy and secure with herself. That's rare in real life. I want Ashley to get happy and secure with herself, and not rely on looks for happiness but what she can make of herself despite all her hardships, like the teasing and everything.
Chapter One.
"Don't splash!" I called to the boys.
I was sitting in my backyard on a lawn chair, while the boys played in the new pool my mother had bought for us recently. She was doing much better at work, and had even gotten a raise. The pool wasn't big but it was a fair size. The boys could play in it freely as long as someone kept as eye on them. At the moment, they were splashing each other. Louie was getting upset because Dwayne had thrown water in his face.
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"Look!" Dwayne shouted as he pointed up at the nearby tree. "An owl! I thought they only came out at night."
"Normally they do," I murmured as I glanced up at the tree. I noticed it had a letter, but I couldn't do much about it.
As I stared at it, I realized that it was Ellen's grey owl. It was two weeks into the summer vacation and she was one person I hadn't heard from since I'd been home. Ben had written four times, Michael had written a few times but instead of using owl post he just used the post office. The two of us had decided it was easier that way since neither of us have an owl. With Ben and Ellen, we could just use their owls to respond back to them. Even Denver and Morgan had written to me once.
I glanced at my watch, and realized it was noon.
"Listen, it's time for lunch. I want you two to go inside and wait for me," I told the boys. "I'm just going to clean up a bit out here, and I'll be right in. You two wash up and get dressed."
"Can't we play in the pool more after lunch?" Louie asked me as I helped him out of the pool. I grabbed a towel, and I wrapped it around him.
"Later, you know the rule about swimming after eating. We'll go to the park for a while and then when we come back, you can play in the pool again," I answered.
The boys loved the pool, and they'd spent a lot of time in it but I tried my best not to let them stay in it for too long. Often their friends came over, and they wanted to play in it too, but both Pat and my mother had a rule that their friends weren't allowed in it if no adult was around. I didn't mind that rule too much however. The pool was an inflatable one, so I was sure several active boys might ruin it. And also, it would be a lot more kids to keep an eye on, and more danger of someone getting hurt. Normally I waited until afternoon to let them play in it, but that day had started off very hot.
There were several of their toys laying around the yard, so I used that as an excuse to tidy up while they ran inside. I waited until I knew for sure that they were inside before I glanced back up at the owl. The owl fluttered down to a lower branch for me to take the letter.
"Thank you," I said as I petted it. "I'll have to remember to ask Ellen what your name is. If you can hang around until tonight, I'll be able to send a letter back."
The owl hooted and then flew back up the tree. I hurried inside, opening the letter as I went. The boys were already dressed and waiting at the table for me. Their mother had brought over packed lunches for them, so I pulled those out of the fridge and handed them their food. I prepared myself a sandwich and then sat down at the table with them. While we ate, the boys discussed with each other what they wanted to do at the park while I read my letter.
Ashley
I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet. Things aren't good at home right now, in fact they are terrible. My parents are getting a divorce. I guess deep down I knew this would happen, but I just didn't want to accept it. We're moving soon. My mum wants to move us to London, which I guess is more convenient for her and us. At least it will be easier to get to the train station and Diagon Alley. At first I was hoping we would actually live in Diagon Alley since we're getting an apartment, but my mother still wants to live in a Muggle neighbourhood for Timmy. Dad is staying in our house. I don't know how often I will get to see him. He gets Timmy every other weekend and some weekday nights. For the summer at least, I'll get to travel back and forth between their places but I don't know how it will work when I go back to school. Maybe the holidays will be divided up. Both my parents have agreed I can go visit you for a week in August, so I'll see you then. Just let me know when it is the most convenient. For now, things are going to busy with us moving. So if I don't get back to you right away, I am sorry. I'm writing to Ben and Michael as well after I write you. I think Michael has been upset that I haven't been gotten back to him. So I am writing him as soon as soon as I finish this letter.
I hope you are having a really good summer baby-sitting, and remember, don't let those kids in your town get you down. Not even your sister. By the way, you didn't say if you two are getting along. I noticed she was at the train station so I thought maybe you two were talking again. Anyway, hope to hear from you soon. Sorry to send such a depressing letter but nothing is going well here. My parents don't even care how well I did in school. So I don't care about stupid homework anymore. What a waste of time that was. They haven't mentioned one word about school. All they care about is their stupid divorce and us moving.
Ellen
I felt bad as I read over Ellen's letter, but I couldn't say that that I was surprised. It was just too bad for her. I wasn't even sure what I could say to her. I'd known kids whose parents had divorced, but I'd never talked to them about it. Dwayne and Louie had been so young when Pat had divorced. When she'd moved in next door to us, Louie had only been a few months old. He had recently just turned five. The boys only saw their father once and a while and though Dwayne was only eight (soon to be nine) he seemed to really hate his father.
"Can I ride my bike to the park?" Louie asked me.
"You know your mothers rules about that," I answered.
"Why doesn't mum want us riding our bikes when she isn't around? We both know how to ride," Dwayne said angrily.
"Because she only wants adult supervision for that, if you hurt yourselves I can't do much to help."
"But we won't hurt ourselves. Louie hasn't fallen off his bike since he learned to ride," Dwayne argued.
"It's not my rule Dwayne," I said. "Now finish eating your lunch so we can go."
"Can I at least call Brad, and see if he can meet us at the park?" Dwayne asked.
"Sure," I answered. "Tell him to bring Darren so Louie has someone to play with."
Later that evening, after Pat had come I sat in the pool while thinking about Ellen. I still wasn't sure what to write back to her about the divorce, if anything. As I contemplated this, Jaime came out into the back yard in her bathing suit, and an oversized shirt. She was feeling self-conscious lately because of her weight. I was a little surprised because she was still very beautiful even if she was overweight.
She and I had been getting along since I'd come home for the holidays. The moment we met up with each other when I got off the train, she had hugged me and apologized. When we got home, she had explained that she was feeling stressed about her ex-boyfriend and she'd taken it out on me. She even confessed that she felt jealous of me. I never thought she could ever possibly be jealous of me, even if it was because of the magic. She was more popular, and a lot prettier than me. She'd also had a boyfriend, and even though they were broken up now, it was still better than nothing. She also had other boys interested in her. I'd never had a boyfriend, and the one I did have some feelings for would likely never feel the same.
"How were the boys today?" She asked me as she climbed into the pool.
"Good, like usual. I think I got lucky with this job," I told her. "They argue sometimes, but they always listen to me and they haven't done anything too bad. Dwayne saw an owl today."
"From one of your friends?" She asked.
I nodded, and then I explained everything about Ellen and her situation. I hadn't told Jaime much about my friends since the Christmas holidays. She didn't know much about their home lives, and she didn't care to hear anything about Ben. She still hated him even though he had changed since the last time they had seen each other. She'd already informed me that she wasn't going to be around if he came to visit.
"Don't talk too much about it in the letter," Jaime answered when I asked her what I should say.
"Acknowledge it, but just answer her questions about your summer. It's probably better for her to talk about it in person, or for her to bring it up herself. I'm not really sure what to say, but my ex's parents divorced and he hated talking about it."
"I just feel bad for her; she was so sure that if she improved her marks that her parents would stop fighting. It must have been horrible to go home and find out it was all for nothing," I sighed. "Ben thinks she will probably slack off even more now than she did before."
"I still don't understand much about that. I mean," and she looked around as if worried people would overhear "aren't you just learning to do spells and potions? How do you get graded?"
I felt happy that she was taking more of an interest in my school life. I explained exactly how the classes worked and that we had to write essays and there was more to magic than just waving a wand. I figured later I'd show her my homework and the text books again. I explained the houses to her in more detail and some of the other people there, including Denver and Morgan.
"It definitely seems like a better school for you," she said sounding almost wistful. "So tell me more about Denver."
"Why do you want to know more about him?" I asked nervously.
"Sounds to me like you're interested in him," she answered and then grinned when I stared back at her in shock. "I can tell with that kind of stuff. "
I hadn't even told my friends about how I felt about Denver. Firstly because I wasn't sure how they would react given our start. Secondly, I knew he would never go for me. He was a cute boy and I was such an ugly girl. Jaime had plucked my eyebrows for me when I got home, since some hairs had grown back. Both she and my mother both agreed I looked good with them thinner (they had been shocked by the change) but I knew I still wasn't as beautiful as the Andrew twins. I was sure Denver would want Sheila or Shelly. I told this to Jaime who shook her head.
"Don't underestimate yourself, and please don't tell me your friends are still calling you ugly. I told you I didn't like that Ben," she said with a frown.
"Not Ben no, he changed a lot," and I explained what had happened between Michael and Ben. "And often Michael will talk to some of the other Hufflepuff boys about ugly I am. Hank, one of the nicer Hufflepuff boys told me I should stop hanging out with Michael because he was making fun of me with Jared. I don't know why, but Jared doesn't like me and he and Michael like making fun of me for being ugly."
"So why do you continue to hang out with him?" Jaime asked. "Look, if he keeps that up, stop inviting him over here. Friends don't do that to each other. I thought the same thing about Ben, but if he's different from New Years, that's good. Stop putting up with that crap. No one who calls themselves your friend should behave like that. And I thought Michael was actually likeable."
"Michael is insecure," I explained. "He does what other people do or what he thinks impresses people. He's been like that since I met him."
Jaime was right though. At the beginning of the school year, he had made fun of me for being shy. And although he'd always talked about my looks, it seemed it was getting worse instead of better. Ben had learned his lesson, but Michael hadn't. I decided that if he kept that kind of stuff up, I would have to make a hard decision. The same decision I had almost come to with Ben a few times. If he could keep up the ugly jokes, especially with Jared I would have to cut him loose. It wasn't an easy thing to do since we were a group of four. Ellen had been on my side when it came to Ben before but it seemed she'd grown closer to Michael lately. How would this affect our group?
I decided to change the subject back to Denver, and told her more about him. I was still sure I was too ugly for him, but it was nice to be able to talk to someone about him for once.
My mother, sister and Rachel had done an amazing job on my bedroom. They had painted the walls yellow, and although I'd worried it wouldn't look right it really did. Rachel had drawn a Hufflepuff crest right over my bed as well. My room was small, but with the change it seemed a little bigger than it used to be. I felt very happy and comfortable in it. When I had gotten home, I'd been surprised to learn Jaime had decided to help as well.
I spent a lot of my evenings in my room reading some of my old books, or working on my homework. It took me a few days before I responded back to Ellen's letter, but one night I lay on my bed and wrote back to her. The window was wide open with a nice breezing coming in. I didn't notice as an owl flew into my bedroom and I jumped as Ben's barn owl, Hooty landed in front of me.
"You scared me," I told him.
I had some food in my room, so let him nibble on it while I read through Ben's letter.
Ashley
I imagine you have heard from Ellen as well. I have no idea what to say to her about it. I kind of saw it coming, but she seems to be blaming me as well. She isn't blaming me for the divorce obviously, but she seems to think it is my fault that she was convinced that doing homework would help. Perhaps I should have been more open with my feelings about that, because we all knew it wasn't because of her grades. She told me about the divorce, and then wrote a very angry rant about how it was my fault that she wasted her time doing all the work. So I have no idea what to write back to her, because now I am angry. She also threw it in my face again about Jaime. It seems she is never going to let that go.
Between you and me, I am getting kind of tired of her attitude about that. You've forgiven me, and yet she still feels the need to talk about it and smirk at me whenever the subject of Jaime comes up and I am tired of it. Right now because of the divorce I don't want to tell her off, but she is going to hear about it eventually. I didn't tell any of you, but over the Easter Break I went to both Barry and Brianne for advice about you and your sister. They both made me realize how horrible I treated you. I knew I had before, but it was actually talking to them that really made it hit home. I know I apologized, but I'd liked to do it again and hopefully you know I am sincere about it. If you'd like, I'll let you read the letter Barry sent me about it.
Anyway, nothing is new since the last time I wrote. How is your summer going? Do you think you'll get some time off in August to visit? Ellen said she could probably visit us. I don't think she or Michael want us over, so I was thinking maybe a week at your place and a week at mine if you're open to that, and if your mum is. My parents don't mind. As you know, they love having you over. And we have a pool. Hopefully it will be more fun this time. Michael doesn't seem as bitter about his parents, but he said he's been doing odd jobs all summer. Have you heard from him at all? He seems depressed about Ellen not writing him, but I told him she hasn't written any of us.
Are you and sister still getting along? I am glad she apologized. Anyway, write me back and let me know about August. I think we should do it around Ellen's birthday if we can and if her parents will let her. I am angry with her, but maybe having a small party for her might cheer her up a little.
Ben
I couldn't believe Ellen had actually blamed Ben for it, but perhaps she was just really emotional over it. I figured she must not have meant it. I skimmed over the letter I'd gotten from her to see if she'd mentioned Ben, but she only mentioned him in passing. I couldn't blame him for being annoyed with Ellen when she teased him about Jaime. I had gotten over it, and although I was glad she was on my side over it, she really needed to get over it as well. I didn't know why, but I felt as if there was some trouble brewing between me and all of my friends. I decided I was just being paranoid, and ignored the feeling. Instead, I decided to respond to Ben.
Both Jaime and Rachel had told me that if I'd wanted to go visit my friends over the summer, they would take over to watch Dwayne and Louie for me. I knew I wouldn't have a problem with that. I would just have to a date set. Ellen's birthday was August eighth, so I figured about then would work. My mother had also asked me if it was possible for me to go with my friends to get my school supplies that year, since she was working overtime a lot. I figured it would be more convenient for her anyway since she was a Muggle. So I asked Ben in my letter, I was sure his parents wouldn't mind since they'd taken responsibility over Michael, but I explained my mum's situation anyway.
After I finished my letter to him, I wrote a quick letter to Ellen as well. I wasn't sure what to say about the divorce, but I still skimmed it anyway. I wrote instead about my summer and that Jaime and me were getting along really well now. I also mentioned some of the conversation we had. Ellen's bird had taken off days ago, so I sent the letters with Hooty, knowing he would drop off one at Ellen's as well.
After I sent the letters, I went downstairs to find Jaime watching TV with a few of her friends. They were doing each others nails. I felt envious immediately. I hadn't done my nails (except with some colour charms) for a few years; I didn't even own nail polish anymore. As if sensing my jealousy, Katie, one of my sister's friends looked up at me and smiled.
"Ashley, would you like a pedicure and manicure?"
Katie had always been a favourite of mine. Some of the people my sister hung out with, I didn't like and others I did. She had always been nice to me, and she'd defended me if people had made fun of me. I smiled, and was about to say yes when Renee, another of my sisters friends let out a snort.
"Yeah right," she muttered.
"Yes, I would actually," I said giving her an annoyed look.
Renee was someone who didn't like me; she was a very snobby girl who looked down on a lot of people. I wasn't sure why my sister was still friends with her. She raised her eyebrows and exchanged looks with another girl, Jessica. Jessica just shrugged and smiled at me.
"Well sit down then, and put your feet in this foot massager," she said. "What colour do you want? I think you should do red. Red will look pretty with your skin I think."
"Okay sure," I said shyly.
The girls had a real manicure and pedicure set up going. They had a foot spa, and bowls of water, nail files, nails clippers, and lotion. I sat down in one of our arm chairs they had set up, and placed my feet in the massager. The water was warm and the water was bubbling. It felt very relaxing. I glanced at the TV and saw that they had Spice World on.
"We should do your make up too," Jaime told me. "I can teach you for that boy you like."
I heard Renee snort again, but the three other girls glared at her. She rolled her eyes, and then grabbed a nail clipper. Roughly, she seized my right hand, and began clipping my fingers. I clenched my teeth but didn't say anything.
"So who is the boy?" Jessica asked me.
I explained Denver to her as she started working on my feet. It felt nice sitting back while they worked on my nails. Jaime was going through her makeup bag to find some for me. Katie started on my hair. It was the first time in my life that I actually had a makeover. I hoped that after they were done with me, I might look even prettier. Once I got back to Hogwarts, I could start applying makeup just as the other girls did. I figured at thirteen (or almost thirteen) I was old enough. It was about the age my sister had started. Perhaps than the boys wouldn't talk about how ugly I was once I started taking better care of myself. I'd been curious about makeup, but I had no idea how to apply it or how they did it in the wizarding world. I'd only worn it once when the Hufflegirls had applied it for me.
Renee didn't put in any input about Denver, she just worked on my finger nails but Katie and Jessica seemed full of advice which I was thankful for. They were all fourteen and were surely experienced with boys. Once they were done, Jaime looked at me and smiled.
"Beautiful," she said while Renee snorted.
"Just don't move around yet," Katie told me. "Your nails need to dry."
Jessica held up a mirror for me to see. While I still wasn't 'beautiful' like Jaime said, I thought it was still an improvement. It was better than how I had looked months ago. I decided right there and then I would spend the summer working on myself more. I wouldn't go back to Hogwarts looking beautiful, but like I took care of myself… perhaps than people like Michael wouldn't talk about disgusting I was.
The last two weeks of August, Pat gave me the time off for the rest of the summer to go to Ben's and then have my friends over. Jaime took over for me. She told me she wanted to earn a bit of money anyway. The two of us had grown a lot closer, and for the first time in a long time I felt as if I had my sister back. She'd spent the summer teaching me about makeup, and although I didn't need it in the wizarding world, fashion as well. It would work well for the time I did spend in the Muggle world.
"Thanks so much for helping me out with all this," I told her.
"No problem, I'm just glad to see your growing out of your tomboy phase. You're really growing up Ashley. I know I said it before, but I think going to that school is the best thing for you," she replied.
Ellen's mother came to pick me up on the fifteenth, which was a Sunday to take me to Ben's since it was on the way. I was pleased to have some girl time with Ellen before we got with the boys. I was a bit worried she would be really depressed, but she and her mother and Timmy were upbeat when they arrived. All the way there, they kept up a conversation with me.
I told Ellen all about the makeover Jaime and her friends had given me.
"You think she'd do that for me too? Maybe even Brianne would. She did mention that at Slughorn's party," Ellen said. "Mum said I am old enough now, right?"
She added the last part for her mother's benefit.
"You're twelve years old now, I don't see why not. Just remember what I told you," her mother responded.
Ellen had already celebrated her twelfth birthday before with each of her parents. She didn't want to celebrate it with us though for some reason. All of our parents had decided we could all hang out for the last two weeks of school. Ben's parents had agreed to take us to Diagon Alley while we were visiting his place for a week.
Once we left his place, my friends would go to my place from the twenty-second until the twenty-eighth. After that we would have a few days left of the summer to visit with our families. Ellen's mother was going to pick me up on the thirty-first of August and I would spend the night there, and then they would take me to the train station so my mother wouldn't have to worry about it.
Ellen's mother had talked to my mother before we'd left and told her that if it was more convenient for my mother, she could take me to and from school for her. My mother had seemed very happy about this arrangement, it would also be easier Pat.
"I know mum," Ellen said and she looked at me. "She doesn't want me wearing too much makeup. She said it's better to make it look like we're not wearing any. I guess I agree. Remember Jess, Anne and Erica?"
"They definitely wore too much," I answered with a nod. "But that's how Jaime taught me as well. She said it looks tacky to wear too much."
"It is," Ellen's mother said from the seat. "I've seen the way young girls wear makeup, and it just doesn't look right. You girls don't even need makeup, but if you're going to wear it than you should wear it right."
I smiled at Ellen thinking second year might be a lot more fun, and I might feel a little more secure with myself. I'd been wanting to do a bit more girly things lately, and I was glad I had a friend who felt the same way. Oddly enough, Ellen seemed more grown up than me. She was a year younger than me and already interested in makeup. This time last year, I'd had zero interest in it. In fact, I had still played silly games. Perhaps it was because she'd already done a year of Hogwarts though.
When we got to Ben's, it was to find that Michael was already there. Brenda greeted us at the door.
"The boys are in the back, they're already in the pool. I'll let them know you're here if you two want to change into your bathing suits," she told us.
We took our things up the Ben's room, discussing the boys.
"I think Michael has a crush on me," Ellen admitted to me. "I just get the feeling from the way he acts around me, and from some of the things he said in his letters."
She didn't sound too happy about this though. I'd kind of thought the same thing as well, but I didn't want to say anything. He hadn't written to me as often as the other two had, but most of his letters had been about her. I nodded.
"I got that feeling as well," I said. "Don't you like him back? I mean you're already friends and everything." I added the last part as I thought about Denver. The two of us were already friends, so perhaps it wouldn't be as awkward. But Ellen seemed to disagree.
"But I am not interested back in him, at all. He's a good friend, and we've gotten close but all I see him is as a friend. It might ruin our friendship. Not just between him and me, but with all four of us. Remember when you and Ben got in that big fight New Years? Well this is worse. Things will be awkward," she said.
Ben had a bathroom in his room; she disappeared into it first to change while I waited. I frowned at what she said. I hadn't thought about that when it came to Denver. We weren't as good of friends, but it could actually make things really awkward. I'd been worried about him rejecting me but I hadn't thought beyond that. After I changed, we headed downstairs. Ellen had a pretty red bikini while I had a yellow one piece in support of Hufflepuff. My sister had insisted I get a bikini, which I had but I just couldn't wear one in front of the boys. I didn't have the confidence Ellen had.
"It might not be too awkward if people who are already friends date though," I said as we headed down the steps. "I mean they already know each other and everything. It might not feel as awkward as, I don't know… someone new that a person barely knows."
I was trying to make it sound as if I were talking about Michael and Ellen, but I was really talking about Denver and me.
"Depends on the friendship," Ellen answered. "Our friendship is too close. Your friendship with Denver is different, and you're in different houses."
I paused at the bottom of the steps; I was surprised she knew who I was talking about. My sister was the only person I'd admitted to about him. She smirked at me.
"Everyone knows how you feel about him. You might be surprised, maybe he likes you back," she answered. "You never know unless you try… I just hope Michael doesn't take that same advice. I honestly think you should go for it."
"When you say everyone, what do you mean?" I asked as I started walking again.
"Ben and Michael, I don't know about anyone else but we've all suspected it for a while. I just thought you'd bring it up on your own," she answered. "I must admit, I'm a bit hurt that you didn't tell me."
"I was embarrassed," I said. "I mean, look at our history first of all, and secondly I am not that pretty and he is a good looking boy. He might not like me, and what if he doesn't want to date yet. We're only thirteen and I don't even know what we would do. And please don't tell Ben and Michael, they don't need to know yet."
Ellen smiled at me. "Look, when you come to my place, we'll talk about this okay? And then I can tell you who I find cute. For now, let's go find those boys."
Ben had shown us his backyard when we had visited before, so we knew where it was. When we entered his backyard, it was to find them, Barry and Brianne all swimming in a fair sized pool. It made my pool seem kind of pathetic. I couldn't believe Ben insisted he wasn't rich when he had so many different luxuries. Ben, Brianne and Barry all greeted us, but Michael seemed lost for words. I followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at Ellen. I sighed, he definitely liked her, and I felt bad. He hadn't treated me very well lately, but I still couldn't help but feel terrible for him.
"About time," Ben called and then he smiled at me. "You're really going all out with the Hufflepuff theme, aren't you?"
"Wait until you see my room," I said as I climbed down one of the pool ladders to get in. I was a weak swimmer, so I wanted to be careful. "And Rachel told me she'd paint my nails a Hufflepuff theme before I go back to school." I continued as I swam over to wear Ben and Barry were standing.
Ever since the night when Jaime's friends had painted my nails, I'd kept up with them. Rachel had hung out with my sister and me a few times. Since she was an artist, she was also good with painting pictures on nails. She'd shown me her manicured nails with flowers on them.
"If you want, before you go to school I can paint your nails for Hufflepuff," she'd told me.
"Really?" Ellen asked who hadn't gotten in yet. "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!"
"It actually would look neat," Brianne said with some jealousy in her voice. "Too bad you're not going back anyway."
Barry shrugged while Ellen jumped in. "Honestly, I'll miss the place but after what we all went through I feel the real world might be less stressful. You kids are lucky to be starting now. Most of my years at Hogwarts had something going on. I am a bit jealous about not going this year, but after what happened last time, it might not be so bad."
"It won't be the same," Brianne answered.
Michael hadn't joined in on the conversation; he was too busy watching Ellen who was doing a few laps around the pool. I glanced at Ben who raised his eyebrows, and then rolled his eyes. He must have realized how Michael felt as well. Although I had to admit she did look very pretty, and even a little more grown up than before. Ellen had always been short for her age, but she'd had a bit of a growth spurt that summer and she'd even gotten prettier. She no longer looked like a little girl. I figured that year there would be a lot more boys watching her.
"What won't be the same?" Ellen asked as she swam over to us, ignoring Michael who was still gawking at her.
"You haven't heard?" Michael asked, finally saying something.
"Obviously not," Ellen answered. "I haven't really kept up with what's going on the wizarding world this summer after all that went on. So what's going on?"
"They decided to have the Tri-wizard tournament again. It's been five years since the last one. There was a huge debate about letting it happen again and at Hogwarts since it was there last time. But they finally decided that last time was a fluke. They are obviously taking strict measures, even more than last time. It will only be for those who are of age. You guys won't have a chance and this time no one can sneak in. There will be someone guarding the Goblet of Fire at all times. And they'll be checking the names of anyone who will be entering so no one can enter an underage person," Barry explained.
"Really? Wow," I said. "It should be exciting this year then, and we'll meet people from other schools too. I don't want to be in the tournament anyway, but it will be fun to watch."
"Too bad they weren't bringing younger people though," Ellen said. "Think of all the cute foreign boys we could meet."
Michael looked hurt as she said this part.
"Probably a good thing, we don't know enough magic," he said. "They'll all be too old."
"Oh well," Ellen said. "There are plenty of cute boys at Hogwarts."
I glanced over at her; I could tell she was trying as subtly as possible to let Michael down. He looked annoyed with her, but then he smiled at her last comment. I looked over at Ben again. Quickly, I changed the subject back to the tournament.
"What do you think the tasks will be?" I asked.
For the rest of the afternoon, we swam and discussed the tournament. Brenda joined us a little while later. Michael seemed to want to spend as much time as possible talking to Ellen, a few times he reached over to touch her and she looked annoyed but didn't say anything.
"Someone needs to turn that boy off," Ben muttered to me with amusement as we got out of the pool.
Ben's parents brought us out some food and drinks. We all sat down at their patio table to eat with his parents. They began talking to Ellen about her parents divorce, and I wondered if it would bother her. However, she didn't seem to mind their questions. She answered each and every one of them good naturedly.
Ben and I went inside to grab some more drinks while everyone else relaxed by the pool, including Ben's parents.
"Michael made me promise not to say anything about Ellen, but it's obvious to anyone there that he wants her," Ben said to me as we pulled out butterbeer from the fridge. "I think she even knows, and she doesn't look happy about it."
"She's not," I answered and I explained what she'd said to me. She hadn't told me not to say anything to Ben if he asked.
"Michael told me last year, well I guessed anyway. I told him the same thing. It will be awkward," Ben 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," I began coming up with an idea. "Maybe you could try setting him up with Sarah. The two of you could double date."
"Double date where?" Ben asked me. "We're only second years, we can't go to Hogsmeade."
"Slughorns parties," I said.
"I guess so," Ben 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," I said. "And then he can move on."
Ben frowned and we headed back outside. "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," I added. "Even if I do feel bad for him. Not with the way he has been treating me."
We glanced at each other; he looked as worried as I felt.
Despite the fact that we were worried about our friends, the week at Ben's was a lot of fun. We had beautiful weather every day so we swam as much as possible. It felt good to have no responsibility. Although I had fun baby-sitting, I was glad to have days where we could sleep in, swim, and be spoiled by Ben's parents who were determined that we wouldn't get bored. I think Ben must have talked to Michael, because he'd backed off from Ellen but he still watched her with puppy dog eyes.
She had brought more than one bathing suit, because didn't wear the red bikini again. Anyone could tell she was uncomfortable around Michael, but to give her benefit, she continued talking to him. She tried her best to make it seem as if things weren't different even though they were. Ben and I watched from the sidelines waiting for something bad to happen.
One evening midway through the week, Brianne decided we needed to have our girl's night. Ben was planning on talking to Michael about Sarah or any other girl besides Ellen while we did this. Ellen and I went into Brianne and Brenda's room for it.
"Looks like you've kept your eyebrows up," Brianne said to me.
"My sister has been helping me with it, she and her friends even did a makeover for me one night," I explained.
"Good," she said. "I'll pluck yours a bit, but let's start with Ellen's."
She examined Ellen's eyebrows.
"It won't take long to fix yours, they are already nice. I can just shape them up. I think it will make you look older though, which is what you're going for," Brianne said.
"Definitely," Ellen said. "I am sick of people thinking I am so young."
"You look older now than you did," Brenda said. "Last year you did look quite little, but you've grown quite a bit."
It was a nice evening getting to know Ben's older sisters. They were both nice girls, even with Brenda did seem a bit uptight. She had opened up a lot more, and according to Ben we were the first friends of any of the Hoofer siblings that she would talk to. I felt a bit flattered by this, especially since we were so much younger than her.
Brianne was right, when she was done with Ellen's eyebrows, she did look older and even more beautiful. I imagined once Michael saw her, he would be even more stunned. The boy already had it for her so bad. Even the girls had noticed how much he stared at her.
"If anything it's going to make that boy stare at you ever more," Brianne said as she examined Ellen's face.
Ellen let out a small groan. "Oh I hope not. I wish he would stop. I was suspicious before, but now I know for sure. I don't know what to do. I like how close we've gotten, but I didn't realize he thought we could be more than friends. All I see him is just my friend. He and Ben feel like brothers to me, and that's it. I don't want more from them. Did I lead him on somehow?"
"No," Brianne answered with a smile. "He's a twelve year old boy and you're a beautiful girl. Look at the way my dote of a brother acted around Ashley's sister… hell, you should have seen the way Barry acted around girls before he started to date Tasha. Don't worry; I am sure he'll get over it eventually. Ben moved on quick enough. These things don't last long at your age, don't worry."
"Maybe if Ben dates Melanie, he could set Michael up with Sarah," I suggested as I thought about the conversation I'd had with Ben.
"Maybe," Ellen said. "If it's anyone but me, I am all for it. I'd rather he be with the three ditzes of Hufflepuff."
"Or one of the Andrew twins," I said knowing Michael got along with them, but most people did. I couldn't think of anyone who didn't like them.
"Neither would go for him," Ellen told me. "They like older boys."
Good I secretly thought. I was worried that Denver and Morgan would want to date them. I hoped they would continue to only go for the older boys. I watched as Brianne continued to work on Ellen, and showed her how to do her makeup. I could never hope to be as pretty as Ellen, who was even prettier than my sister but I could still try and look decent enough. I just hoped Denver didn't want just a pretty face.
The next day we all went to Diagon Alley. I hadn't grown during my first year, but everyone else had. Michael had grown so much that year; he was already a head taller than Ben who had also grown. Ellen was just a little shorter than I was. I didn't need new school robes like the others did, but I did want a pair of dress robes in case I was invited to Slughorn's parties. I could also use them if anything went on for the Tri-Wizard tournament.
Brianne didn't need new school robes either, so she helped me look through the dress robes that were in style. She picked out a pair of light blue ones that she thought would look perfect on me. I trusted her judgement, so I chose them. I was glad that I didn't have to buy school robes that year so I could have extra money for the school year. For second year, we really didn't need new books, just The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2.
After that, we just needed new potions ingredients, parchment, quills and ink. Afterwards, we went to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I'd wanted to go there since I'd heard about the shop, so I couldn't wait to go. It was owned by a man named George Weasley. He used to own it with his twin brother, but Fred had died during the war. According to Ben, Ron Weasley helped out in the store, and so did the other Weasley's at times.
When we entered, it was already full of people, many were Hogwarts students. I recognized some of the older people that were there. I looked around to see if I could find any of my fellow classmates.
"Come on," Ellen said to me. "Let's go look at the Wonder Witch products. I hear they have the best here."
"You're not going to go look at the love potions, are you?" Michael asked her.
If looks could kill, Michael would have died on the spot from the look Ellen gave him. She shook her head, grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd of students to a violently pink area. It seemed she had been here before. It was a little hard to get close to the shelves with the gaggle of young witches surrounding the products, but we managed to push our way through to the front. Right in the front of the love potions was Tara. She was holding one up called Love is Blind Eye Serum.
"Those are banned from Hogwarts you know," Ellen said.
Tara turned around slowly and glowered at both Ellen and me.
"I was just looking. I don't need a love potion," she answered scathingly. She glanced at me and then held out the potion for me to take. "I'm sure you could use one though, Ashley."
"No thank you," I said feeling my face go red. "I'm not the type to drug someone. We'll be sure to warn Ben to watch his drinks though."
"Just as someone should warn Denver!" Tara retorted.
She put the potion back on the shelf, and shoved her way past us. Ellen rolled her eyes, and then we moved closer to look at some of the newer makeup products. I was impressed by a lot of the products George seemed to come up with, especially the ones for witches. His shop was mainly joke items, but he also had items that were useful for everyday life. I was surprised a wizard could know so much about what witches could want. From the conversations I overheard from the girls who were looking, all the products there were in.
Ellen and I selected out some foundation, eye shadow, eyeliner, and some lip glosses. Ellen also chose lip stick that changed colour, depending on how you twisted it but I didn't. My sister told me that coloured lip gloss was the way to go. Perhaps lipstick was nice, but I decided to take Jaime's advice and stick to the basics. Ellen chose perfume while I chose vanilla scented body lotion. I hated the strong scent of perfumes, but I did want to smell good. Afterwards, we went looking for the boys who were with their sisters by some joke candies. I was surprised Brianne hadn't looked at the Wonder Witch products, but I figured she must have had her fair share.
"Look at these, skiving snack boxes," Michael said to us when we joined him. "Think of all the classes we could miss. Last year I couldn't get any because McGonagall was with me."
"You know the teachers will guess what you're using right?" Ben asked. "The Weasley products are banned and so if you're caught you'll get detention likely. Besides I thought you wanted to do well in school to get out of all that poverty."
"Okay Mr. Goody two shoes." Michael answered with annoyance.
"I'm just stating the truth. The teachers already know because they aren't stupid. If you're throwing up in class, they'll likely guess it's a puking pastille. Until George comes up with a different product, those will never work. Anyway, you keep going on about how you want to do well in school so you can be an Auror. You'll never do well if you skip."
"Whatever," Ellen said and she began grabbing a different variety of snack boxes. "If I get caught, I get caught."
"You're honestly going to try those out?" Ben asked her. "Ellen-"
"Don't you dare lecture me Benjamin Hoofer!" Ellen hissed annoyed. "It's my life, and my grades. My parents don't give a damn, so I'll do what I want. I don't care! Now leave me alone if you're going to get on your high horse. I don't want to hear it."
"I agree," Michael said and he began grabbing his own.
I glanced at Brenda. She had been made Head Girl. I wondered how she felt about this. Although I might not have been as much of a goody as Ben, I still felt it was wrong. I didn't say anything though. When she saw me looking at her, she gave a small shrug.
"I'm not saying a word," she muttered so only I could hear. "If it were Ben I would say something, but I don't really care for them. Like Ellen said, it's her choice. We're not at Hogwarts."
I glanced at the puking pastilles, and I couldn't help but wonder why someone would want something that would make them throw up. Ben must have wondered if I wanted them as well, because he shook his head when he saw me looking.
"Don't tell me you want some too, you cannot afford to miss classes," he said. "And you know that."
"Oh let her be," Ellen said.
"I honestly don't want them," I intervened. "I was just looking. Ben's right, I can't miss classes and anyway, what if the teachers do notice?"
Ellen shrugged. "The worst they'll do is put us in detention or take points away. I told you guys, I don't care." She looked Ben directly in the eyes. "And I don't want to hear any nagging from you this year, Ben. I'm serious."
Ben glared at her. "You know what, you're right. So let yourself fail Ellen. It's not my problem. Just don't come to me for help if you do."
"You know what-" she began but I stepped between them quickly.
"Come on you two let's not fight. Come on, how about we go look at some pranks? Michael, tell me where you found that owl call."
I managed to stop a fight at that moment, but I couldn't help but feel that there was some trouble brewing between all of us. There was definitely tension between Ben and Ellen. There would also be tension between Michael and Ellen once she rejected him. I was getting along well with Ben and Ellen, but I couldn't help but notice that Michael and I had barely spoken a word to each other the entire time at Ben's. Things had changed between us since our Easter break. We weren't fighting, but I did feel resentment for the boy because of the things he'd said about me. Hank had told me he'd said a lot of mean things about me to Jared. I knew Jared didn't like me, and I didn't care about his opinion. It did bother me that Michael made fun of me with him though. I had a feeling he was still upset because I'd met Harry Potter, and he didn't.