A/N This takes place between chapters 5 and 7 of my HB/Drill story "A Life Beginning" The title comes from a post I saw on Tumblr.
This story is for Hermione Jean McGonagall.
There were advantages and disadvantages to being in boarding school with your best friend.
The clear advantage of course being that you got to be together nearly all the time. Classes, meal time, recreation time, that was all great.
The disadvantages couldn't be ignored though. Firstly, you were in school constantly. Secondly you were with your best friend. The same best friend you wanted to be more than friends with.
This was the dilemma that Griselda Blackwood was currently facing. She was a second year in Cackles Academy and had been best friends with Fenella Feverfew since their very first meeting a year before. Never had she expected to meet someone who thought the same way she did. They liked the same music, the same books and best of all, Fenny was just as interested in more obscure older magic. She was also funny, kind, pretty and such a good listener. Grissy didn't know exactly when but at some point her feelings for her friend had evolved from simple friendship to infatuation and now it felt like something more.
"Why can't I stop thinking about her?"
Even as she had the thought Griselda knew why. She liked girls. She'd known that since she was about eleven. She had even kissed a girl in the summer before she started secondary school. That didn't bother her, she'd already told her parents and they were fine with it. The problem she had was not knowing how Fenny felt. Despite being able to talk about everything else for some reason she didn't feel comfortable broaching the subject. What if she didn't feel the same?
These thoughts were going through her head as they went for their usual Sunday walk around the grounds. It was nearing the end of October, the weather was getting colder but it was nice enough for a stroll. Clearly they weren't the only ones with this idea. As they passed the P.E shed they saw Miss Hardbroom walking briskly towards the forest.
"HB seems to be in a hurry?", Fenella commented as their potions teacher reached the entrance to the woods. She turned left which was strange, all the suitable potions plants were when you turned right.
The two girls kept walking, passing Miss Drill who was talking to Maud and also looking towards the woods. Their P.E teacher always looked happy but today she looked especially pleased with life. They watched as she said goodbye to Maud and also walked towards the clearing.
"I feel like we should warn her that Miss Hardbroom is gone up there." Grissy whispered to her friend.
Fenella laughed, "Well, she's a teacher so she's allowed to go in that direction, even HB can't say anything to her, no matter how much she might want to."
Arms linked they kept walking, talking about the latest book they had found in the library and their plans to try out the spells they had found.
"I wish I had never found that book."
It was the following day and Fenella was raging with herself. Their spell testing plans had become a disaster. She had mispronounced one of the words and rather than using a brightening spell to mimic a lightbulb, they had ended up with an entire room that was glowing like it was radioactive. Of course HB had walked in before they could try a reversing spell and she had gone mental. Apparently it was worse than just a shiny room, that particular spell could cause serious eye damage to animals, including their cats.
As much as they wanted to hate her, they knew she had been right to punish them. They would have been devastated if anything had happened to one of their cats and they knew that no matter what else they may say about her, HB loved her own cat. Not that they had any choice but they were going to have to face up to their punishment. Or in this case, punishments.
"You girls need to realise that you do not in fact know everything. The reason we keep certain spells from you is that you cannot handle them. As a punishment, you will produce a ten thousand word essay on how to properly care for kittens. You will also do the dishes after dinner tonight and tomorrow with no magical assistance."
They were both relieved that she hadn't mentioned detention yet. That didn't last long.
"I had considered giving you a Saturday detention, however I have a Cauldronite meeting. Instead you will attend a detention at eight O'Clock on Sunday morning. Here you will present your essay before writing five hundred lines which I will decide on that morning."
Once she had given her instructions she vanished into thin air.
The punishments were bad enough but what was bothering Fenny more than anything was that she had gotten Grissy into trouble as well. It had been her mistake that caused this and now she was feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry. If I thought it would make any difference I'd ask HB to just punish me but we both know it won't."
She felt better when Griselda pulled her into a hug. "Please don't worry Fen, it was my fault as well. I found the book. We're both in this together. That's what friends do."
"Friends" Fenella felt a bit despondent at the word. Grissy was the greatest friend she had ever had. She was almost like a sister. But that wasn't what Fenny wanted anymore. It had started with little things, wanting to stroke the long blonde hair when they were sitting next to each other, wanting their hugs to last just a little longer. Over the summer they had each spent a week at each others house. When Grissy had come to stay they had shared her double bed. Every night Fenny had found herself wanting to hold and then kiss her friend on the lips.
Up until that point she had only every kissed a couple of boys during playground games in primary school and once during the Christmas holidays in first year. She really didn't enjoy the experiences but something told her that this would be different. It didn't matter anyway, she couldn't pick up the courage to talk to Grissy about her feelings, never mind act on them.
Both girls tried to put their feelings out of their minds during the following week. They were kept busy with their punishments and their studies. Wednesday was Halloween and they were to attend the annual celebration. Both were relieved that their rendition of "Punky Night" had been cancelled, how embarrassing would that have been? They did however enjoy the other entertainment, even if they felt bad for Mildred.
"Did you see when she crashed into Helliboring? Even Miss Drill was laughing." Grissy was sniggering as she put her broomstick away.
"She was lucky HB didn't see her. I almost felt bad for her too, she put a lot of work in with the first years only for it to be ruined by a runaway broom."
As Fenny laughed the moonlight cast a light on her brown hair. She looked even prettier than normal and Griselda just couldn't stop herself. Before she lost her nerve she leaned over and kissed her best friend gently on the lips.
And promptly ran away.
Fenella stood at the broom cupboard in shock. Had that really happened? She touched her lips with shaking fingers. Grissy had kissed her. On the lips. Just as she had wanted for so many months. After a moment the excitement went away and was replaced with confusion. She had run away afterwards. Why? Had it been an accident? A mistake? Had she not liked it?
Fenella walked slowly to her own bedroom. As she passed Grissy's room she resisted the urge to knock on the door, afraid of possible rejection. She opened her own door and prepared for a sleepless night.
Two doors down Griselda was lying on her bed staring at a crack in the ceiling. She had kissed Fenny. Finally she had felt the other lips on hers. And then like an idiot she had panicked and run.
"If she knocks on the door it means she's not mad. Maybe she even likes me too?"
As the minutes and hours passed by Grissy became more resigned to the fact that Fenny did not like her in that way. Eventually at 4AM she rolled over and clutching her pillow, sobbed herself to sleep.
The following day was awkward for them. They went to classes together but were relieved when they were joined by the first years at meal times. They were shocked that Mildred had tried to run away and even more so by the actions of Miss Cackle's sister. Luckily Miss Drill had found Mildred and the disaster had been averted. Well one of them anyway.
"What a crazy day."
Both girls agreed with Maud but neither could find the courage to discuss their own crazy situation. At 8PM Griselda excused herself, claiming to have a headache, leaving Fenella with the first years and a lot of unanswered questions. It was another sleepless night for both.
On Friday evening Griselda was going straight to the library to finish her essay. On the way she passed Miss Drill who seemed to be carrying a heavy bag and was clearly off duty that weekend.
"Do you need help Miss?"
The teacher smiled kindly back. "Thanks Grissy. I'm fine. Have a nice weekend." and with that she was gone out to her car.
Ten minutes later it was Fenella's turn to be headed to the library. She rolled her eyes as she heard HB berating the first years for loitering in the hallway. She really didn't sound happy, even less so than normal.
"Even more reason to finish my essay.", she thought to herself. She was just hoping that the book she wanted was in the library.
It was. However, it was also being used by Griselda.
Fenella took a deep breath and approached the table. There was nobody else in the library.
"Hi Gris. I know you're finishing your essay but can you let me know when you're finished with the book. No rush."
Normally they would have shared the book and worked on their essays together but there was still that awkward air between them.
Griselda smiled weakly. "I'm finished, you can have it now if you like. In fact, sit here. I'm going to finish this in my room."
She went to get up but was stopped by Fenella.
"Grissy, this is silly. I feel like we're fighting and we haven't even had an argument. Have I done something? We're best friends aren't we. Please tell me what's wrong?"
This was the moment. Griselda was surprised that Fenella hadn't mentioned the kiss but she guessed that the problem wasn't going to go away.
"You've done nothing Fen. It was me. I kissed you and I shouldn't have. I"m sorry."
Fenny's heart sank. Grissy was sorry that they had kissed. It had just been a weird accident.
Or had it? Gathering all her courage she asked the question.
"Are you sorry that we kissed or sorry because you think you did the wrong thing?"
Blushing furiously, Griselda answered eventually, "I'm sorry that I kissed you, not because of the kiss but because I think I made you uncomfortable."
Moving closer Fenella took the soft hand in her own. "Do you like me?"
"Of course I do. You're my best friend." Griselda was shaking by now. It was embarrassing and scary to have this conversation. She couldn't help feeling hopeful though.
"You're my best friend too Gris. I care about you more than anyone outside my family. I've always wanted a friend like you. One I can kiss on the lips. Like this."
Before she could change her mind Fenella leaned over and kissed her friend. It was a chaste kiss but lasted longer than their first one and felt so nice.
When they separated both girls were flushed and a little flustered. However they were smiling and in silent agreement, decided to repeat their experiment for just a little longer this time. It probably would have been longer still except Miss Bat burst into the room, luckily not noticing them in the corner. Still though, it was time to leave the library. It was bedtime and HB was on bed duty so there would be no chance to talk about things that night.
At Griselda's door Fenella left her friend with a hug and a whisper. "We'll talk tomorrow. Sweet dreams."
That night both girls slept well, despite their anticipation. Could it be that they both wanted the same thing.
The following morning they waited for HB to fly off to her meeting before going for a walk. It was a bit miserable but neither minded the drizzle as they walked through the woods to a bench that was sheltered by a large tree. After sitting in silence for a few moments, Griselda asked a question.
"Fenny. Last night you said you always wanted a friend you could kiss on the lips. I have to ask, is that all you want? A friend?" After had asked the question she bit her lip, nervously awaiting the answer.
Grinning, Fenella reached over to turn Griselda's face so she could see her.
"Absolutely. I want a friend. A girl. One I can kiss on the lips. Gris, I want you to be that girl. You're already my friend. Be my girlfriend?"
Breaking into a massive smile, Griselda answered. "Of course I will Fen."
The teenagers stayed in the woods for the entire afternoon. Kissing and talking about when they knew they liked each other like that. When they weren't kissing they were holding hands. In fact they held hands until they reached the edge of the woods where they reluctantly went back to linking arms as they normally did. They were both too happy to care though. They smiled the whole way through dinner and as they finished their essays together that night. Before bed they shared another gentle kiss and in a strange way, even though it was detention with HB, they were both looking forward to the next morning.
Detention was weird. HB glanced over their essays, not offering any thought on them. That was a good thing, if they weren't satisfactory she would have told them. The lines were short, 'I must look after my cat.', and as soon as they were finished she said the could leave. She had actually seemed distracted through the entire detention. Still they weren't complaining and were very happy to spend the day on their new favourite pastime.
As new couple left the dining hall after supper that Sunday they noticed Miss Hardbroom hovering in the hallway. It seemed like she was waiting for someone.
"Do you think Miss Hardbroom has someone?" Griselda asked. Yes HB was tough and scary at times but surely deep down she must be lonely. Grissy hated to think of that.
So did Fenny. "I hope she does Gris. Someone who makes her happy, even if she doesn't show us."
They passed the window on the stairway, seeing Miss Drill pull up and practically run into the school. From their vantage point they could watch her race into the staffroom. She was clearly in a rush to do something.
"She was probably worried HB would give her detention if she was late back."
The girls had now entered Fenny's bedroom and had shyly started to kiss again.
'I told you, having a friend to kiss on the lips is great."
Neither realised that downstairs in the staffroom, another new couple were both doing and thinking exactly the same thing.