Best friends shouldn't be jealous of each other. It wasn't right. They were supposed to care for one another and support each other in every right way. So why was Rosalie "Sally" Weasley feeling this way towards her one of her best friends?
There were reasons. First of all, Isabella Potter was the Girl Who Lived. Naturally, she had the fame. She also had money. Lots of money. Not to mention she was beautiful. Dark red hair cascaded down her shoulders and back. Hazel eyes were filled with laughter. Flawless fair skin shone. Well-sized curves stood out against her body. She stood tall at only 5'6. This all led to one big fact: a lot of boys liked her, seemingly including Ryan fricking Granger.
What was Sally like against all this? She was just poor Weasley #6 with boring ginger hair, dull blue eyes, freckled skin, barely any curves, and towering at nearly six feet. What boy would want this? She'd need an effing giant to match height standards. Even though Ryan was still taller than her, it was barely by a couple inches.
So yes, she was jealous. Jealous of the seemingly blossoming attraction between two of her best friends, one which she had a crush on, and the popularity. It wasn't fair. Even in her own family, she wasn't special except for being the first-born girl in seven generations. Despite owning that title, her younger sister Ginny was generally the more favoured girl. Everything nice just seemed to go to everyone else, leaving nothing for her.
Her biggest issue, which seemed shallow to even herself, was Ryan. They constantly bickered and irritated the hell out of each other. How would she have a chance with him if all they did was that? And then there was the beautiful famous Isabella, who was much more amicable with him than she usually was.
Ryan never purposefully addressed Isabella in such an annoying fashion as he did with Sally by calling her Rosalie. He never pulled Isabella's hair regularly like he pulled Sally's ponytail before she stopped wearing it. He never got into big arguments with Isabella like he always did with Sally. He never –
Oh, what was the use of complaining? It was clear that Ryan liked Isabella, and she most likely reciprocated. Where did that leave Sally? With Tommy Lupin? Neville Longbottom? She wasn't interested in either of them like that, and she was pretty sure both felt the same way. The only guy who liked her was that git Cormac McLaggen, and she only went out with him to piss off Ryan (it worked).
As mentioned before, Sally used to wear her hair in a ponytail, which Ryan pulled regularly whenever he wanted her attention or just wanted to annoy her. Starting fifth year, she felt the need to compare her rather plain looks to Isabella's beauty and it just went from there. She stopped wearing ponytails and wore more girly clothes. But even then she still felt lesser in the looks department.
"New look?" Isabella asked curiously, looking her over. It was the first day of classes, and they were just getting ready to go down for breakfast. Under Sally's robes were a pleated yellow skirt and a light blue blouse. Her hair, instead of being tied up in a high ponytail, was left down over her shoulders and down her back.
"Something like that," Sally muttered, avoiding her best friend's lovely hazel eyes. A glance at the mirror showing both girls nearly made her cringe. Isabella clearly pulled off the clothes and hairstyle much better than she did. On her, they looked almost…unnatural.
"Well, let's go down to the common room," Isabella said cheerfully. "Ryan, Tommy, and Neville are waiting down there for us."
Sally nodded and followed her out of the dorm and down the stairs. Had she bothered to look, she would have noticed the disappointment on Ryan's face when he saw her new appearance.
She tried harder to look nicer. But Isabella still shone out brightly from beside her. It hurt so much to feel like that. She was just the Girl Who Lived's ginger sidekick, wasn't she? Did she even matter to the group? Did she even matter to Ryan?
She questioned that multiple times on the horcrux hunt. Finally, she came to a decision: she didn't matter. She was useless. What could she do other than play chess and get into fights? That dratted locket she was wearing didn't help matters. She was feeling so negative and left out. Tommy and Neville were still at school to keep an eye out on things, leaving her alone with the other two. She couldn't handle being the third wheel anymore. So she blew up at them and left. She left her friends, despite their objections.
When she came back just in time to save Isabella from drowning, the first thing to lessen her burden was Isabella confirming her feelings and what she felt was Ryan's.
"I'm sorry I left," Sally mumbled, looking down so Isabella wouldn't see her tears.
Isabella moved towards her and wrapped her in a comforting hug, her voice shaking with quiet sobs. "You sort of made up for it. Saving me. Getting the sword. And I'm sorry too. I suspected what you were feeling but didn't bother to ask you about it."
"What are you talking about?"
"Me and Ryan. You think we're involved with each other or something like that. It's not true."
"It's not?"
"I promise you. You know how we've been feeling during these past several weeks? Awful. I've never seen him so sad before. I heard him crying a few times when he thought I was asleep. And you should've seen me. I was barely holding on. We missed you so much. More than you can ever know."
Sally was silent, guilt eating away at her. "It's my fault. I left. I let my insecurities overwhelm me. I thought I was unimportant. I thought – I thought so many negative things about myself and you and Ryan. I was wrong, wasn't I?"
"Ryan is like my brother. I love him like a brother and just that. He, Tommy, and Neville. They're like overprotective older brothers. And I reckon he feels the same way about me. You don't have to worry. There's absolutely no competition between you and me when it comes to boys. I like Draco, remember?"
Yes, Sally had conveniently forgotten that Isabella had her thing with Malfoy of all people. Ryan and Isabella didn't like each other like that. They were just siblings in all but blood. Nothing more to it. And when Ryan kissed her during the build-up to the Battle of Hogwarts, she knew that she never had anything to worry about since the beginning. After all, boys did tend to piss off girls they liked.
