Feeling melancholy, Albus roamed around for a bit by himself and then he went to the great hall to get dinner. The day had gone from sunny, to dark and cold in the span of a hour. So, as he walked down the corridors of Hogwarts he could barely see. As Albus passed each pillar, which was at the half-point of each hall, he was aided by a lamp that flickered and glowed orange. Otherwise, it was just the shadows that kept him company.
On the way to the first floor he passed a closed door on the fourth floor. There was a soft yellow light that spilled out from the bottom of the door. It wasn't a classroom or anything, at least he didn't think it was. But as he passed he heard sounds coming from inside the room. There was a murmur of voices and then sad, sweet music. Albus knocked on the door.
"Hello?" He said. There was a squeak, and a rustle and then the sound of feet stepping toward the door. It opened slowly. A pair of twinkling blue eyes was the first thing Albus saw.
"Albus Potter?" A breathy, sugary kind of voice said.
"Yep," he answered. A moment later the door swung in and the person behind it stepped back. Albus gasped a little. It was Francesca di Cartia.
"Wow," Albus couldn't help but say. He was speechless. After Albus had given up hope that he would find her, and somehow coax her into going out with him, he just so happened to find her at last. And he didn't even mean to. Was this a sign that he was supposed to go after Francesca?
Nah, he didn't think it was either. Yet, here she was, in front of him of all people.
"Did you need something?" She asked him. She still stood in the doorway, and that was when Albus noticed the purple bruise on her pale skinned cheek.
"Are you okay?" He blurted out.
Francesca touched her face, and turned away, hiding the bruise. "Yes," she muttered.
"I'm sorry," Albus told her, sensing he was invading her privacy or something. "I heard music and I saw a light on, I didn't know it was you."
Francesca flushed, and then gave a small smile. "When did you become a prefect?"
Albus frowned. "I'm not," he said.
"I was kidding. I didn't know the T.V. was so loud. I'm trying to hide from everyone." Francesca smiled and then looked thoughtful.
"T.V.?" Albus asked, confused.
"Oh, you know, television. It's a muggle thing, I was watching a movie but it's over now..."
"Oh," Albus peeked into the room, inside was a small black thing, on the front a buch of lines were coming from the bottom and travelling upward. A television... he recalled hearing about something like that from his Aunt Hermione. Strangely, Albus had thought the name of the muggle device was tevelision.
"What were you watching?" Albus asked, trying to continue the conversation.
"Um..the Titanic."
"What?"
"A movie. You know, Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio."
"Is he your relative?" Albus asked confused.
"No, he's just italian. In the movie they fall in love and stuff happends..." She trailed off.
"Oh! A love story. Cool!"
"I'm guessing movies, romantic movies, are not your cup of tea." She gave a small smile.
"Well, nobody in my immediate family knows about mugle stuff. Actually, scratch that, my dad does but he doesn't talk about his muggle life at all. Only about his time at Hogwarts." Albus tried to think of anything his father said about hia time with the Dursleys. Something about a talking snake...nevermind, he thought.
"Well, at home I'm basically a muggle." Francesca started talking. Albus wondered why in hell she was actually talking to him. "My mum likes living like a muggle and my dad...well, he would go mad at the sort of stuff we wizards do."
Albus, looked around the room. It looked sort of like a lounge area. There was a comfy-looking couch and a navy blue arm-chair.
"Cozy," he muttered to himself. Albus then realized once more that he was with Francesca. He felt giddy, but when he turned to look at her the giddiness left him. Francesca looked annoyed, probably at him and she clutched her stomach. Albus realized that he wasn't wanted anymore.
"Well," he started looking at his watch. "Um... dinner is soon so I'm going to go, to eat dinner, in the great hall, with my friends." Albus turned and stepped through the doorway out into the corridor. He tried to hide his disappointment, he had never been so annoyed that he had to eat dinner.
"Wait, yea, I should probably eat as well. I'll come with you." Francesca lifted her wand into the air and used a homorphus charm to trasfigure the T.V. back to its original state. It turned back into a textbook. She put the textbook into her bookbag and closed the door behind her.
Albus was impressed, that was beyond OWL level magic.
"Blimely, I can't do that!" He exclaimed.
Francesca just shrugged, "I practise a lot."
They walked for a bit, not talking. Albus stole glances at her, taking in her features: cerculean blue eyes, a small nose, full lips. She was incredibly fit.
When they walked down the stairs Francecsa slowed down. Albus looked back at her, sometimes he forgot most people were shorter than him.
But it wasn't his long legs or his athletic pace that made him ahead of her, Francesca seemed to be limping. That was when Albus noticed how bad she looked compared to her regular self.
The bruise on her cheek was garish and paled her entire conplexion. Her legs were wobbly as she walked. Albus ran up the stairs and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Wow, that fall really did a number on you! Are you alright?"
Concern laced his voice.
She breathed heavily but managed a smile, though it was more of a grimace."That's why I was hiding."
"Are you sure you want to go to the dining hall? I can walk you back to the common room and bring some food to you."
Francesa looked surprised. "Crikey, I didn't know you were so nice."
"He he... only to those who matter."
Francesca didn't reply right away. Albus just enjoyed touching her and smelling her perfume. She smelled sweet, like vanilla and chocolate. Albus remembered the first time he met Francesca.
It had been in second grade. The year Lily had started at Hogwarts. Albus was just getting used to the idea of being away from his family (except for James, his older brother) but Lily had to be one year younger than him and had to ruin his fun.
Lily was one of those siblings who never left you alone. She was annoying and her voice was very, very high-pitched. Anyway, Albus noticed that for once Lily wasn't bugging him or his friends. And he was out in the open, sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. Chance happened that right then the door swung open and in came his sister and a small brown haired girl, they were both laughing wildly. Albus smiled, he wasn't all that mean inside. He was happy his baby sister had finally made a friend, but mostly he was relieved she wouldn't bother him as much anymore.
Albus smiled in the present day, but for a different reason. He was remembering that brown haired girl who was so full of life and happiness.
He glanced at Francecsa. Strangely enough, Albus didn't remember the last time she and Lily, and their friend Kylie had laughed like that. He would have remembered if they had because he watched her a lot.
"So...are we still going to the great hall?" He asked.
She stopped walking, the great hall was just around the corner. Albus thanked god she did not look as bad as she did in the stairway.
"Yea," she patted her stomach. "I'm really hungry. But..." She touched her bruise. "I don't want anyone to see me like this."
She lifted her bookbag up and rummaged around inside it. She then pulled out a tube of cream. Squeezing out a pea sized amount of the cream she started to spread it on her cheek.
"Madame Pomfrey gave me this, it's supposed to get rid of bruies. Which I have many of." She continued rubbing it on her face and then some on her left hand. "Is it rubbed in all the way?"
"No," Albus answered. He stepped closer and he gently touched his finger tips to her soft cheek. Albus rubbed the cream into her skin as softly as he could until there was no white residue on her face.
"There," he said. "The bruise is already fading."
"Thanks," Francesca muttered. She started walking again and turned the corner into the great hall. Albus hurried in front of her and opened the great wooden doors by their brass handles.
Just as they walked in, the entire student body and the teachers, including headmistress McGonagall, turned in their seats to see who the late comers were. That included everyone, from his sister Lily with her bright red hair, his older brother James who was for once not ignoring him, his four best friends, Professor Anden, and the still angry looking (though probably more angry than before) Spencer Cord, a.k.a Francesca's ex-boyfriend.
