And as promised, here is chapter 1! For those of you that have been following me from my first story, I'll be doing two new things with this sequel: one, the chapters will be named (minus the prologue and epilogue); and two, they will now be a little longer, since the girls will be interacting with each other more. The story officially begins now, and we are in the summer before their fourth year. Each of the following sequences are happening at more or less the same time frame, around the Quidditch World Cup part of HP and the Goblet of Fire. Enjoy!
HOGWARTS STUDENT ALISON DILAURENTIS'S BODY FOUND FIVE KILOMETRES OUTSIDE OF WILTSHIRE.
At approximately twenty-three hundred hours last night, the body of esteemed Ministry official Kenneth Dilaurentis's daughter was found by a middle-class Muggle family just outside of Wiltshire. Based on Muggles' observations upon finding her body, experts report that her body has been dead for nearly a year by the time she was found. Ministry detectives are in the process of determining her cause of death, but they have "absolutely" ruled out the Killing Curse. Anybody with potential leads is asked to report to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately. You will be compensated for your efforts.
"I can't believe this," Aria shook her head, listlessly dropping the Montgomerys' copy of The Daily Prophet on the coffee table. "They finally find her, after a whole year, and she's…dead?"
"I know, sweetie, I know," Ella joined her daughter on their brown, worn-in leather sofa, wrapping her arms around her and allowing her to lean into her.
"How could someone do something so horrible?" she sobbed. "Just take away someone's life like that?"
"You don't know the whole story," she said, rubbing her daughter's back. "What was it you told me before? Sometimes she knew you better than you knew yourself…"
"Yet sometimes it feels like I didn't know her at all," Aria finished. "Yeah. Sometimes I felt like she wasn't telling me everything, like she didn't trust me. But I still miss her."
"Of course, hon. She was your friend. Have you talked to the others?" Ella asked. "Maybe you could all plan something before you go back to school."
"We haven't really talked since...that night," she shook her head, referring to the night that Ali had mysteriously disappeared. "We've kind of drifted. We were already starting to, anyway, but still."
"What about Spencer?"
"It's hard not to talk to her, I suppose," Aria shrugged. "But she spends most of her time with Hermione Granger now. I guess she needs someone who's as school-and-book-loving as she is."
"Really? I thought they didn't get along well." Ella raised her eyebrows.
"I guess they made amends," she shrugged.
"What about Hanna? And Emily?"
"Hanna's the most popular girl in school," Aria sighed. "She and her friends. She's like the new Ali but…nicer, I guess. More people like her than they did Ali."
"And Emily?"
"Busy with Quidditch. Something I could never get into no matter how hard I tried."
"You have Noel," Mrs. Montgomery reminded her. "You can't complain about that."
"That is true," Aria smiled at her mother mentioning her boyfriend of nearly a year. Shortly following Ali's disappearance, she and Noel had gotten closer, despite her previous claims of only liking him as a friend. She had succumbed to her conflicting feelings over him from second year and had since become the envy of more than half the girls in their year. "Where's Dad?"
"Out with Mike," she said. "Why?"
"And they didn't invite us?" she wondered aloud.
"Oh, he did," she nodded. "It was my idea, actually, but I didn't want to leave you here alone while the three of us went to the World Cup."
"Dad? Watching Quidditch?" Aria laughed at the idea of her father trying to wrap his head around a Wizard sport. "He can hardly understand football."
"I know, it doesn't make sense to me, either," her mom laughed with her. "But he'll have Mike with him, so he should be fine."
"What doesn't he know about Quidditch?" the short, dark-haired girl rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Did you guys see the Prophet today?" Hanna Marin asked her two best friends as she explored a Muggle fashion store called Topshop for the first time. The only shopping she'd ever done was with her mother in Diagon Alley, and she was relieved to have found a new style of clothing, thanks to Hannah Abbott.
"Oh," Hannah remembered her best friend's complicated relationship with Alison Dilaurentis. "Of course..."
"I know it's weird, being upset over somebody who treated me horribly," Hanna stifled a few tears as she fingered through a sale rack, "but…"
"No," Susan cut her off. "That's perfectly normal. She may have been a rotten friend to you, but she was still a friend. It would be rather heartless of you to not feel anything at all."
"Susie's right," Hannah agreed. "It's perfectly alright. We're here for you, you know that."
"Of course," Hanna smiled as Hannah suddenly whipped out her camera and spontaneously took a picture.
"What was that for?" she laughed.
"Hanna's first Muggle shopping trip," she laughed. "That's what."
"Are you ladies doing alright?"
The three girls turned to see a tall teenage boy of about sixteen with shoulder-length brown hair and chocolate colored eyes coming up to them after straightening up the folded clothes on a nearby table. He was clad in a simple red plaid shirt with a black v-neck underneath, straight jeans and black and white Converse shoes.
"Yes," Hannah answered. "My friend here is visiting for the first time, so I'm making her feel welcome. Want to help?"
"Hannah!" Hanna hissed as her friend responded with a cheeky smile.
"What?" she whispered back. "He's rather dashing, don't you think?"
"I think he heard you, Abbott," Susan cut in, and the two blondes went quiet in an instant. They both knew that whenever Susan called them by their last names, she meant business.
"Alright," he laughed. "My name's Caleb if you need anything."
"Hear that, Hanna? His name's Caleb."
"I am not deaf, okay?" Hanna laughed.
"Shut up already and find stuff to try on," Susan crossed her arms. "He's never going to get anything done if you two keep giggling like daft bimbos over there!"
"No, no it's fine," he waved his hand. "It gets boring folding clothes all the time, anyway. It's people like you that make this job a little more interesting."
"Oh, really?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, a twinkle in her blue-ish grey eyes. "Caleb," she began.
"Yes?"
"Do you think she'd look better in magenta or navy?" She held up two ruffled tops against Hanna's chest while throwing a flirty smile in his direction.
Hanna silently gave Caleb an apologetic look for her friend's obnoxiously flirty behavior, but he didn't seem to mind at all, surprisingly to her disappointment.
"Can't go wrong with either one," he shrugged, stealing a glance at Hanna, which she returned, before self-consciously walking away.
"It's up to you now, Hanna," Hannah giggled.
"We'll try them both," she decided, casting one last glance in his direction as she followed her friends to the fitting rooms.
There was something appealing about him, something compelling, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She did promise herself one thing, though. If she ever saw him again, she would definitely work up the courage to talk to him and find out for herself.
"How can they not know what caused her death?" Spencer Hastings angrily slammed the Daily Prophet down on the table.
"I'm sure they're working on it," Veronica Hastings assured her daughter. "Knowing them, they probably have some ideas, but they don't want to publish anything without being absolutely sure. I have no doubt that Kenneth would absolutely not allow it any other way."
"You're better off without that girl, anyway," Peter added. "Look at this as a blessing in disguise…"
"Peter!" Mrs. Hastings glared at her husband in disapproval.
"I never wanted you around that girl, anyway," he continued, disregarding his wife's comment. "Look at this as a punishment for your disobedience, as well as an opportunity to get those grades of yours up."
"Dad!" Spencer protested. "One 'Exceeds Expectations' is not going to kill me! Besides, Potter was the only one who pulled off an Outstanding. Not even Granger pulled one off!"
"Can't hurt your chances if you're the Chosen One, I suppose," he shrugged, still disappointed in his daughter.
"I actually learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts for the first time," she said excitedly. "It was much more enjoyable than memorizing facts straight out of the book or getting tested about how much I knew about the Professor's personal life." She fumed at her lack of learning from Lockhart the fraud.
"She has a point, dear," Mrs. Hastings stepped in. "Wouldn't you rather her studies were actually fruitful instead of her getting 'Outstandings' without learning a thing?"
"She's never going to be Head Girl at this rate," he shook her head. "She'll be lucky if she's even a Prefect. You've disappointed us enough already, Spencer. That Mudblood is going to beat you at the rate you're going."
"That girl," Spencer said, purposely not repeating the degrading term, "is my friend. She rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning, yes, but I've never seen somebody work so hard. Not to mention she doesn't do it to impress anybody but herself."
"Give her a break, Peter," her mother pleaded. "I, for one, am glad Spencer is finally learning something in Defense Against the Dark Arts. After what happened at the World Cup today…"
"She has nothing to worry about," Peter cut in, protectively placing a hand over his right forearm. "That was…a false alarm…"
"Really?" Spencer narrowed her eyes at her father. "Then why did you come home so abnormally late last night?"
"I'd like to know the same thing," Veronica crossed her arms. "I thought we agreed you would never bring our family into this again…"
"Fudge had some extra work for me to do," he said apprehensively before making his way quickly up the stairs. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should get going on that."
"Hi Mum," Melissa came in through the front door, closely followed by Ian.
"Hello, dear," Veronica greeted them, "how was the match?"
"Good," Ian nodded. "Sorry we're late; we stopped by the pub afterwards and she stayed with me for the night."
"I'm glad you two are okay after that incident," she referred to the Dark Mark that had mysteriously been shot into the sky.
"Of course," Melissa nodded, while shooting a glare at her younger sister. "I see you read the paper today."
"Don't get me started," Spencer crossed her arms with a glare rivaling that of her sister's.
"She got what was coming to her, Spence," a borderline cruel smile crept across her face. "You can't be surprised she met her end the way she did. I personally didn't foresee it any other way."
"Enough, Melissa," their mother stepped between them, before turning to Ian. "Thank you for getting her back safely."
"Always a pleasure, Mrs. Hastings. Spencer," he nodded with a smile that sent shivers up Spencer's spine.
"Emily," Pam Fields looked at her daughter sympathetically as she brewed her some fresh tea. "I know it's tough, losing a dear friend, but I'm sure Alison wouldn't want you wallowing in pity over her like this."
"You don't understand, Mum!" she sobbed. "I've never met someone like her before; someone who understood me!"
"I'm sure there are plenty of other great people out there," Mrs. Fields assured her daughter.
Nobody like her, Emily wanted to say. I'll never meet anyone like her again. She was one of a kind.
"Take this as an opportunity to make some new friends. Branch out a little. Which reminds me; how's Dean doing? And who won in football yesterday?"
"Football?" Emily looked up her mom in confusion before remembering that she had said she was going to the Manchester United vs. Liverpool game when she really went to the Quidditch World Cup.
She and Dean had been spending more time together since the middle of their third year, bonding over their Muggle parentage. Many of the Gryffindors were even rooting for them to become official, including Toby. Dean was a great guy; she had no doubts about that. He was always a gentleman, always respecting her and never pressuring her to do anything she didn't want to. Several reliable sources (Toby included) had reported to her that Dean had fallen head-over-heels for her and was just too scared to tell her directly. But no matter how hard Emily tried to reciprocate his feelings for her, he just couldn't fill the hole that Alison had left in her heart, and it would break her own heart to have to let him down.
"With Dean!" her mom laughed. Her mother already disapproved of her playing for the school, mostly for safety reasons, and she knew there was no way in hell she would be allowed to go to a Quidditch match. Luckily for her, Dean Thomas was also Muggle-born, so their lie was very much plausible.
"Right," she nodded with a smile. "It was good. Liverpool won."
"Fantastic," Mrs. Fields smiled politely. "He sounds like a nice boy. Will your father and I get to meet him before you go back to school?"
"Sure," she shrugged. "I don't see why you'd need to, though. You can't control who I spend time with since I'm in Hogwarts most of the year."
"We could easily pull you out anytime," Mrs. Fields reminded her daughter. "Don't forget that. Even if we can write to you, I still worry about you constantly. It's not easy for us, coming home to your empty bedroom every day. And we're just curious as to what the people are like over there," she reassured her. "You have nothing to worry about."
"So you won't put him under a microscope the way you did for all my friends in primary school?"
"I might ask a few questions out of curiosity, but otherwise, no," she shook her head.
"I'm surprised you're more interested in meeting him than Toby," Emily commented. "Toby and I have been best friends since first-year."
"Is that so?" she raised her eyebrows.
"Mhmm. He's really brought out the best in me."
"I'm glad to hear that. Nobody's giving you a hard time at all?"
"There used to be a few," Emily thought back to Mona, Jenna and Pansy taunting the five of them back when they used to be a group, "but they picked on everyone, so I never took it personally."
"That's good," another nod. "If it ever gets out of control, you know we're only a letter away."
"Thanks, Mum, but I'm fourteen, not nine," she said gently.
"Oh, I know," she sighed. "It's just so easy for me to forget, you know, with you being away most of the time." She wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Alison would be proud of the girl you've become. Just like I am."
"Thanks," she whispered, ignoring the irony of her mother's statement. If her mother had any clue at all about her ongoing sexuality struggles, she would encourage her to snap out of her "phase"; her mother would be anything but proud, and Emily Fields knew it.
So as you can all tell, this chapter was pretty much a catch-up on the girls' lives since the time Ali went missing. Nothing too exciting yet. I'm going to start by addressing some things I will probably get asked: Just because Noel and Aria are currently dating doesn't mean Ezra is out of the picture! He will be in the story, I promise! And that will not be the last you'll see of Caleb, either. Maya isn't here yet, but her time will come, just wait! Now onto my chapter commentary, Aria's scene was greatly inspired by the PLL pilot, with a Harry Potter twist. I decided to skip Hanna dating Sean altogether, but you might see a few surprises in her story down the line. Now onto Spencer, I know Spencer's parents are both nut jobs in both the PLL books and the show, but for this story, I will try to distinguish them a little more when it comes to their parts. For this story, her mom is more understanding and supportive (but still pushes her), and her dad is, well, her dad (a heartless creep and asshole in every way). I hope I am doing Emily's storyline justice; I chose Dean Thomas as the push toward her eventually coming to terms with her sexuality because I figured they would bond over their Muggle parentage and interest in football (I decided to use the European term for soccer since Harry Potter is British after all!). Thanks for all your support!