(Just so this is clear, here are the ages: James: 17; Albus: 15; Scorpious: 15; Rose: 15; Daisy (OC): 14; Hugo: 14; Lily: 13)
I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on her. I was running from Filch- apparently he didn't like having his shoes filled with unidentifiable sludge. I was running down the corridor, my heart pounding like a rabbit's and a grin on my face. Filch wasn't exactly the fastest runner. I ducked into the nearest classroom that I hoped to be empty. It was the only sure-fire way to get rid of Filch. Filch was getting old and senile, so he didn't even notice. I stopped to catch my breath and figure out my next move. I was skipping Transfiguration and was bound to be in trouble. I turned my head and that's when I saw her.
The classroom that I thought had been empty wasn't. She wasn't facing my way so she didn't see nor hear me come in. Good thing too, because I don't know what she would have done if she did. I crouched down behind some desks to get a better view. At first, I had no idea what she was doing. It looked like she was jumping and skipping around the room like some loon. She had a thin build, kind of resembling Lily's. Her light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, but even then I could tell it was long enough to reach her waist. It swished and bounced with her every step. I saw tiny pieces of her hair escaping the ponytail and knew that she had unruly hair. I knew all about unruly hair; I was blessed with my father's untidy curls.
I finally realized what she was doing. Music hummed quietly through the room. The girl was dancing. She swayed and moved around the room in such a fluid motion that she looked like she was made of water. I wasn't a huge fan of dancing, but watching her entranced me. Her body was poetry in motion. I didn't recognize her, which meant she wasn't in Slytherin. She looked a little young, probably a fourth year, or even a fifth year like me. If you had asked me, I wouldn't have been able to tell you why she intrigued me. She looked so broken and vulnerable there in the classroom that I was drawn to her.
She started to spin in circles as the tempo picked up. Around and around she went, her circles getting tighter and tighter. The desks had been moved, so there was plenty of space. A quiet laugh escaped her as she spun. No; it was a giggle. Usually, when girls giggle, it turns me off completely. But her giggle wasn't obnoxious or obvious. She had a genuine laugh, the kind that makes you smile. Her giggling continued as she spun, but her demeanor changed suddenly. She started out laughing, but they were soon thick sobs. She stopped her spinning and dropped to the floor with a thud. Burying her face in her hands, sobs racked her body. My eyes widened in alarm. Had she hurt herself? She didn't seem to be in any physical pain. She was just having so much fun and now this.
I wasn't sure what to do. I was hopeless when it came to girls and crying. I didn't even like seeing my little sister, Lily, or my cousins, Rose, Victorie, and Dominique, cry. It was also a very awkward moment for me. I felt like I was intruding on some private moment in her life. I didn't know her and she probably didn't know me, so I certainly wasn't welcome. But if I tried to leave, I knew she would hear me. There's nothing worse than being caught watching someone cry. It is the most embarrassing and worst thing.
She tugged the band out of her hair, letting it all fall over her face. For a moment, I paused to admire how long it was. I was used to girls having long hair; Rose and Lily had long hair, but hers seemed endless. It wasn't anything special: that kind of mousy brown that most girls hate. But it was cut into thick layers that helped keep it from looking plain. I made a face; I was sounding like a girl, sitting there and admiring hair. The sound of movement snapped me out of my thoughts. The girl was pulling herself off the floor. She brushed the hair out of her face, which was red from both crying and dancing. I could tell that she was embarrassed with herself for crying. She sniffled and pulled a tissue out of her pocket, rubbing her nose. I wondered if I should've shown myself then. I could've just pretended to wander into the room, but no, I sat there like a weirdo and just watched. She walked over to a desk and grabbed her wand. Waving it, all the desks rearranged themselves in proper order. She gathered up her belongings from the floor. The music had stopped when she did, although I'm not sure where it even came from. She swung her bag onto her shoulder and held a pile of books close to her chest.
It was a change from the girl I had seen moments before. When she was dancing, she had a graceful confidence about her, but now, she reverted into a shy and reserved girl. It took me a moment to realize that she was walking towards me. Well, she was walking towards the door, but I was near the door. I cursed under my breath in alarm and scrambled under some of the desks. But as I moved, my foot hit the desk and it moved. The girl stopped and looked around for the source of the noise.
"H-Hello?" She asked nervously.
I stopped trying to run and listened curiously. She didn't have an English accent like most of the people in Hogwarts. Her voice was American. I had never met an American before. Most American witches and wizards went to school at the Salem Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But her voice wasn't just American. It had a funny twang to it. Southern, I think that's what they call it. It gave her voice an innocent sound. Peeking out at her, I could tell she was nervous. She was gripping her books tighter and looking around.
Quickly, I stood up to face her.
"Uh, hi," I stuttered, "Sorry to scare you. I was just wandering around and happened to come in here. I didn't mean to disturb you."
She stared at me with wide blue eyes. She took a step back, not saying anything. I wondered why she was acting so scared.
"Look, there's no need to be scared," I muttered, rubbing my neck.
She still didn't answer me and instead turn around and ran out of the room. I watched her in surprise.
"Wait!" I called after her, running out of the room. She was already halfway down the corridor and didn't even look back at me as she turned the corner. I tried to hide my disappointment. I never did get her name.
I slowly made my way back to the Slytherin common room, managing to avoid Filch along the way. I wasn't in the mood to get into trouble. I muttered the password and slipped inside the common room. Scorpious was already inside, working on a Potion's essay that was due the next day. I collapsed on the couch next to him.
"Filch catch you?" he asked, without even looking up.
"Nope, 'course not," I muttered, leaning my head back on the couch.
"Why are you never caught?" He snorted, shaking his blonde head.
"I am a master-mind, Scorp," I informed him. In all truth, I didn't really want to talk about pranks and such right then, so I was glad when he fell silent.
No one else was in the common room, so I took advantage of our solitude.
"Hey, does Hogwarts have any American students?" I asked, trying my best to sound nonchalant.
"I think there's a seventh year boy in Hufflepuff from New York City," Scorpious shrugged his shoulders, still scribbling away, "Why?"
"Oh, no reason," I made myself sound as bored as possible.
Scorpious paused in his work. He set his essay and quill aside and turned to look at me. One eyebrow was raised in question.
"You never ask a question for no reason, Albus," He said, "So what are you planning?"
Ah, he thought I was planning another prank. Typical. Was this really the only thing I was known for? James was known for being a notorious ladies' man. There really wasn't a girl in school he hadn't flirted with. So was I really just Albus Potter- the Prankster?
"Ah, um, I'm not planning anything, Scorp, honest," I looked at him and frowned.
"Really?" Scorpious looked genuinely surprised, "Oh, well, okay then."
"Why do you always assume that?" I asked, feeling suddenly irritable.
"Because that is what you always do," He answered simply, grabbing his essay and quill again. He didn't seem at all affected by my tone.
"That isn't the only thing I do!" I insisted.
"Oh yeah? Name one other thing you do besides pull pranks," Scorpious muttered, rolling his eyes at me.
I paused. There really wasn't anything else I did. I put some effort into my schoolwork, but I wasn't a know-it-all like Rose. I dated some girls, but I wasn't a ladies' man like James. I played Quidditch, but I wasn't an all star player like Scorpious. I really was the prankster.
Grumbling, I sat back and crossed my arms, not willing to answer his question. Scorpious merely smirked and continued working on his essay. I sat in an angry silence for a good twenty minutes before I made up my mind.
"Fine then!" I said loudly, "I refuse to just be the prankster. I will start doing other things, so that I'm known for other things too!"
"Yeah? And what are you going to do?" Scorpious asked doubtfully.
"I'll…I'll…I'll learn to dance!" I announced proudly as the idea dawned on me.
Scorpious burst out laughing, nearly knocking his inkwell all over his essay. He pushed away his things and guffawed loudly. It was annoying, really. I couldn't see why he was laughing.
"Are you serious?" He sputtered, on the verge of hysterics.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I scowled at him angrily. I thought it was a good idea.
"Why on earth would you want to learn to dance?" His laughter subsided to snickering.
"Why not?" I shot back venomously. He was being a right prat.
"Oh, look at me! I'm Albus and I can twirl beautifully!" Scorpious mocked me, making kissy faces and batting his eyelashes.
Angrily, I shoved him, hard. He went tumbling off the couch and landed in a heap on the floor. He flailed as he fell, knocking his inkwell all over the floor.
"Oi! What the hell was that for?" He pulled himself into a sitting position and glared at me childishly.
"For being such a stupid git," I retorted.
"I was only joking. No need to get your knickers in a twist," Pulling his wand out, he waved it over the ink spill and it disappeared.
"But I'm not joking," I said seriously.
Scorpious looked at me suspiciously, "Is there a girl you want to impress?"
When I didn't answer him, he smirked, "So there is a girl."
I shrugged, again trying to seem nonchalant. I would look like a pathetic loser if I seemed like I was so into some girl I hadn't even met yet.
"Well, don't just leave me with that!" He scrambled back onto the couch, "What's her name?"
"I don't know," I answered, somewhat solemnly.
"Then what House is she in?" He asked.
"I don't know." My answers were getting a bit pathetic.
"Listen mate," Scorpious raised his eyebrows, "I don't know if you realize this, but you won't impress a girl if you don't even know her name and House."
"Sod off," I muttered, "I want to know her name, but I only saw her for a little bit."
"What does she look like then? Perhaps I know her," Scorpious said.
"Err; she has really long brown hair. I mean, down to her waist long. She's thin, like my sister. Her eyes are blue," I ticked off the physical things I had noticed about the girl.
"She sounds like every other girl," Oi, he really was no help at all. Apparently, he knew what I was thinking, because he held his hands up in apology.
"Sorry Al, aside from her long hair, I've seen dozens of girls who have brown hair and blue eyes. It's a pretty common thing," He said.
I deflated, all annoyance gone. Scorpious was right; I knew it too. Being my best friend, Scorpious was only being straightforward and honest. I couldn't be annoyed that he didn't know her. Scorpious would tell me if he knew her; he was a great friend. Let me explain my friendship with Scorpious. I met him in our First year at Hogwarts. I had been sorted into Slytherin- much to James' astonishment. My dad had already told me, though, that he didn't care what House I was sorted into. I had been a little worried at the time- I was young and only wanted to please my parents- but looking back, I'm glad I was sorted into Slytherin. The students of the House were not at all what everyone said they were. Most were misunderstood, with complicated home lives. I was the first to approach Scorpious, even though I knew he was a Malfoy. My dad didn't hold any personal prejudices against the Malfoys anymore, unlike Uncle Ron, so I was welcome to become friends with Scorpious. We got on perfectly and were best friends before the year was out. He was like my brother and I'd do anything for him.
"Yeah, I know," I sighed heavily, slumping back in the couch.
"But hey," Scorpious tried to life my spirits, "I'll help you look for her."
"Doesn't that seem, I don't know, stalker-ish?" I hesitated; the last thing I wanted to be was creepy.
"Creepy? Nah, not unless you want to kidnap her and keep her tied up in your basement," Scorpious nudged me in the ribs and smirked.
"What?" I feigned surprise, "I'm insulted that you would even suggest that, Scorpious Malfoy. That isn't a Potter thing to do. We Potters are perfect gentlemen."
"Yes, because your brother has perfect manners. Shagging girls in broom cupboards is the new classy," Scorpious snorted and we both cracked up laughing.
Once we calmed down, because, yes, the idea of James having manners was definitely hilarious, I felt a lot better. With Scorpious' help, I was sure to find out my mystery girl's name. Scorpious had a knack for being manipulative and could easily get others to help us.
"Why do you want to learn to dance to impress this girl anyways?" Scorpious asked, "I mean, there are other ways."
"She's a dancer," I said immediately, "That's when I saw her, when she was dancing."
"So you think by learning to dance, she'll like you?" He asked, "Maybe it won't matter to her. I mean, it isn't like dancers only date other dancers."
I sighed. There he went again, being all rational and right. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered thinking. Scorpious could always find fault in my logic. Not that it was bad though, in fact, it was rather refreshing.
"But isn't this at least a little charming?" I asked hopefully.
He looked thoughtful, "Yes, I suppose it is."
I gave a smug little smile and felt satisfied. At least I had a little bit of charm to work with. I wasn't a hopeless case when it came to girls after all.
"Good, 'cause otherwise I think James would tease me about being a pansy non-stop," I muttered.
"More of that Potter manners, huh?" Scorpious grinned.
"Most definitely," I answered monotonously. But I cracked a grin to let him know I was kidding.
"Ugh!" He exclaimed suddenly. I jumped nearly three feet in the air at his outburst, "What?" I asked.
"You've distracted me," He grumbled, picking his essay back up, "I need to finish this thing. It's due tomorrow."
"Not my fault that you can't multi-task," I shrugged.
I was rewarded with a pillow in my face.
"Alright, alright. I'm going to the dorms. Have fun with that essay," I smirked, jumping out of my seat and running out of the room before he could retaliate.
I truthfully was tired, so I decided to collapse in my bed. There were only a few other boys in the dorm, mostly reading or doing homework. I drew the curtains around my bed and fell asleep while visions of a brown haired, blue eyed dancer twirled in my head.
(Okay, this is the first installment of Heaven Cry. It's going to be a relatively sad story in the end, but I'm excited about it. I never get many reviews, so I don't expect them. But they always help..Heh.)