And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
She'll see I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love with an uptown girl
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
A/N: Hey there, yeah you! Review, Review, and REVIEW! I'm dedicating this chapter to theWordsIWrite and for her story "Escaping the Curse"! It's an amazing story and I really think you should all read it and review.
Side note: In both my stories, I may sort of bash Slughorn and I actually don't hate him. He's an okay character. I really don't know why my characters hate him, but sorry not sorry. Also, in the first chapter I may have accidentally said Gwen was in Ravenclaw. She's not. She's in Gryffindor.
Chapter Three: Best Friends
Al woke up with a jolt, half expecting to find James in his room waking him up, enchanting him to walk into the girl's dormitories and scream(Al knew James secretly enjoyed doing that so he could see Willow in her risky, as James would put it, sleepwear) or Fred with a small contraption that would spray water in his face(or harm him in any physical way possible), but realized that no one was there.
Empty, Al thought. He sighed. It was quite lonely being alone. Al knew he had Louis, who was in his year, but a Ravenclaw, Lily, Rose, Hugo, Lucy, and Molly, but he wasn't as close to any of them as he was to Fred and James. Well, he did have Rose, but they weren't close in "that" way.
Rose was the one who Al could tell about anything, but James and Fred...they were different. They were more fun.
Al shook the thoughts out of his head and walked towards the loo to get ready for the day. Al didn't particularly enjoy the magic mirrors, since they constantly told him in a drawled voice that his hair was messy.
"Your hair looks like an absolute mess, honey," The mirror drawled lazily. Al shot it a glare and shut the door of the loo.
"Albus Severus Potter?" Al's roommate and best friend, Gregory Hopkins, held up Al's schedule. "That's your full name? That's a wacked up middle name, mate."
"Thanks, Gregory Aardword Hopkins," Al shot back, gathering up all his books that were in a scattered pile.
"It's not Aardword, Al SEVERUS Potter, it's Andy. Ha!"
"Did someone same my name?" Andy Goldstein, the other roommate, woke up looking dazed.
"No," Al immediately replied. "Just Aardword and me having a conversation."
"Who's Aardword?" Andy mumbled, falling back asleep.
"Anyways, Severus...Aren't you supposed to be in the Head Boy's dorm?" Gregory inquired.
"There is no Head Boy's dorm," Al said with the smallest trace of annoyance in his voice. After all, he explained that to twenty or so people already. The Head Boy and Girl's dorms are just a myth, Al had told every single person.
"Oh," Gregory responded. "Then, why are you up so early, waking up at the crack of dawn? It's a Saturday."
"Why are you up?"
"I asked you first."
"No."
"I literally just did!"
"I don't remember."
"Seriously, why are you up?"
"It's, er...Never mind, it's stupid."
"Oh," Gregory and Al never pried. They weren't nosy. Well, Al was nosy. Not Greg.
"What about you?" Al asked.
"Oh, I was going meeting Julianne at the Quidditch Pitch. That's all."
Julianne Moore and Gregory weren't dating, they were "just friends" - That was according to Greg, who was a notorious liar.
"You and Julianne, then?" Al simply asked.
Gregory shot him a weak smile that read "I hope so" and left to meet Julianne, the seventh year Ravenclaw who was extremely tall, probably taller than Greg.
"See you around," Al nodded and turned to go back to sleep.
It was not at this time that Gwendolyn Lockhart was up, of course. Not like Al noticed or anything. He most certainly wasn't in love with her since their third year(sarcasm). That would be wishful thinking that Gwen loved him back. If he loved her that is. Which he did, so he was screwed.
Al was just about to drift back into peaceful dreams when someone knocked on the door. If it was anyone else in their right mind, they would have ignored the knocking and fell back to sleep. But not Al. Albus Severus Potter was probably the kindest, gentlest, and nicest person out there. So, he got up and opened the door.
"Headmaster!" Al gasped. He stared at her, dumbfounded. McGonagall stood outside of the room, with a stern expression on her face.
"Mr. Potter." McGonagall nodded her head, her stiff bun still stayed in place.
"Wha- wha - what are you doing here?"
"Relax, Mr. Potter. I'm only here to hand out the new," McGonagall paused, as if the last bit will make her barf. "rules that Filch wanted me to pass out. It bans all the random bits of fun. Have a nice day."
"Okay, I will Headmaster!" Al turned back to scan the list. Al was the only one who actually followed the list(surprise, surprise).
No Jumping Jackpies, Al read.
No Gargling Grumping Galloping Giraffes - What are these stuff? Al wondered.
"NOTHING!" Gwen practically shouted to Al when he questioned her during breakfast. "It doesn't matter - NO ONE listens to the damn list!"
"Oh," Al simply replied, feeling quite foolish. Once again, he was distracted by the blonde's eyes. They were captivating, just like-
"Al. Al? You seem a little confused today." Gwen told him.
"Yeah," Al replied. "I'm fine."
"You're screwed," Rose told Albus after breakfast.
"About what?"
"About Gwen."
"What about her?" Albus asked innocently.
"That you're head over heels in love for her! It's so obvious. You stare at her like how Fred stares at food. Or how James stares at the new Firebolt. Or how Mum stares at dad, or how-"
"How Rose stares at books," Scorpius cut in with a teasing smirk. Rose hit him playfully on the shoulder. Albus groaned.
"Okay! I get the picture. And it doesn't matter. Gwen's on some quest. To find as much boys as possible and muck it up with them." Al said, shrugging.
"First off, no one says muck it up. Second off, who cares?" Rose exclaimed. "She's your best friend."
That's the problem, Al wanted to say. We're best friends, and nothing more to her.
But instead he replied, "Oh. Okay," and walked off.
Al did that a lot. He listened to people give him advice, and he'll agree. But he would never do anything about it. Al was passive. He didn't like fighting. Al was also a pushover. Gwen liked to remind him that more than often, and James and Fred definitely took advantage of that.
A a few days later, Al was stuck in NEWT Potions, daydreaming about a golden snitch that could talk when Slughorn interrupted his thoughts with an angry, and particularly loud, shout.
"Miss Harrison! Listen to me, and stop doodling on your parchment! You too, Mr. Janey!" Albus turned his head to see the redhead glower at Slughorn and continue to doodle. Kristy Harrison was a pretty girl, a bit negative and rebellious, and in Albus' opinion, she seemed like an extremely mean person. They talked randomly, and every time, she would always say something furious directed towards a random Hogwarts student. Rolling her eyes seemed like her favorite hobby.
Slughorn was said to be an amazing professor, but Al liked to disagree. He was a good teacher to those that he cared about. He tended to skip over people he considered hopeless, like Fred Weasley and Seamus Finnegan Junior to name a few. But never the less, Al still attended the Slug Club meetings because "he felt bad if he didn't go."
"Miss Harrison, since you obviously act like you're better than this NEWT level class, what is the key ingredient to the potion I was last talking about?" Slughorn asked.
Al watched Kristy rearrange her hair and look Slughorn straight into the eyes.
"The answer is," Kristy said evenly, "pig bezoar."
Slughorn was astonished, and Al felt incredibly guilty for writing Kristy off as someone who didn't care about school and was bitter. He hardly knew her.
As the class went on, Al's attention was on Kristy. He felt a need to make up for six years in Hogwarts when he thought she was a prat by balancing it out by being nice to her. Goals, Al thought, talk to Kristy and become friends with her.
A sudden jab in Al's side caused his to turn and face his seat partner.
"What's with the staring at Kristy?" Gwen asked him.
"Nothing," Al said, then added quickly, "Stop talking, I don't want to get in trouble."
Gwen shrugged, but Al knew that inside Gwen really wanted to know why Al was staring at Kristy.
Finally, when they were dismissed, Al shot out of his seat to follow Kristy.
"Hey Kristy!" Al energetically smiled at her.
"Um," The brown eyed girl looked at him quizzically. "Hi?"
"That was really brilliant that you proved Slughorn wrong." Al told Kristy, rocking back and forth on his heels. Can this be more awkward? Al thought.
"Oh, thanks. He's not as impressive as everyone thinks. He only favors the people that are smart and have famous parents, or are bound to be famous. He doesn't help any of us, lowly, normal wizards."
Al wondered if she was directing this as an insult towards him. He shrugged it off anyways.
"I always thought the same thing. He isn't that great of a teacher if you think about it."
"Don't you go to Slug Club?" Kristy asked him with a testy look on her face.
"Uh, yeah," Al lowered his voice. "I just do because if I reject, I'll feel bad for being rude to Slughorn."
Kristy laughed. Al looked at her in surprise. He never heard her laugh, much less smile.
"Oh, my God, Al, you're so funny. I can't believe you're afraid of hurting someone's feelings by politely declining their invitations to some stupid club that no one wants to go to anyways."
Al was intrigued. They chatted up until they had to split ways.
"What the hell is the matter with you, Al? You ditched me after Potions and left me with Scorpius!" Gwen said to Al in faux anger.
"Hey," Scorpius said. "I take offense to that!"
"Of course you do," Rose replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked his girlfriend who, in response, laughed and threw a biscuit at his face.
"Mature," Al said. "Throwing food at dinner in my best friend's face."
"Thanks, mate."
"Oh, shut up, Al." Rose glared. "Let's get back to why Gwen is yelling at Al."
"I didn't ditch you, I just left early." Al defended himself.
"Does leaving early have to do with you staring at Kristy all throughout Potions?" Gwen quietly laughed.
"Kristy Harrison?" Scorpius looked at Al in disbelief. "I thought she was too...negative for you."
"Same," said Rose.
"I quite like Kristy." Gwen defended her friend even though she sort of felt relief that others saw the complete mismatch. "And besides, Al seems to, don't you?"
"No! I just misjudged her. She's okay."
"Told you," Gwen smirked at Al.
"Moving on," Al was desperate for a new topic. "How was the date with Michael Foster?"
"We were dating for five minutes. Then we broke up. I already have two."
"Two? Who's the other person?"
"Ralph Hans. He's a first year that I tricked into to dating me for one second then I told him we're through. Do'you think I could do that for the three others?"
"Maybe." Al shrugged.
"What," Rose asked. "are you two talking about?"
"Nothing," they both quickly said.
"Come on, Al. I need to go to the common room to find first years to trick into dating me for five seconds."
"Kay," Al followed her like a lost puppy.
"How tragic." Rose said to herself. "He loves her."
"You fancy Kristy, don't you?" Gwen asked Al who shook his head furiously. It was the morning before the first Hogsmeade trip, and Al was already anticipating the Honeydukes chocolate display.
"No! Why can't a guy and a girl be friends without everyone assuming that they are dating?"
"A guy and a girl can be friends," Gwen told him. "Like us. But I'm just assuming since you never liked to talk to her anyways and the constant staring and the sudden interest in what she likes."
Al sighed at Gwen's obliviousness. He fancied her. Not Kristy. Although, as the days went on and Gwen started dating other blokes, Al realized that it wasn't going to work out. It never will.
"I don't," Al said, even though he began to wonder if he really did. "How's the bet going?"
"Wonderful," Gwen stated. "I won the bet. Didn't I tell you that already?"
"Uh," Al promptly stuck his foot in a trick step. "A little help?"
Gwen sighed as she pulled him out...again.
Gwen continued to pester him about Kristy until they reached the train.
"Hi, pretty!" Kristy waved to Gwen.
"Thank you," Gwen enveloped Kristy in a hug.
"I wasn't talking to you, Gwen, I was talking to Al," Kristy jokingly said to Gwen. Kristy looked nice today. Her red hair that she constantly tucked behind her ears was curled softly.
Gwen, Al noted, looked fantastic too. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and she wore a pretty frock with a bateau neckline. Not that Al knew any of these terms. He just heard Rose complimenting them and picked up a few random words here and there. Al was infatuated with Kristy.
Gwen, on the other hand, was a little angry with Kristy. She felt "dirty" and weird about the entire bet thing. She felt like she was using all the guys she dated. It was disgusting and horrifying. She couldn't admit that to Kristy because Kristy would keep telling her that she changed.
As they all bordered the train, Gwen was squished between Kristy and Al. Kristy kept nudging her, as if to tell her to switch places.
Al didn't seem to care, oblivious to the entire thing. He was probably drooling about Honeydukes, Gwen reckoned. She hated the chocolate that they made, but Al liked it for some strange reason.
Al liked a lot of things for strange reasons. Like Kristy.
Whoa, Gwen thought. Am I jealous?
"Gwen, why don't you invite Al to Honeydukes with us?" Kristy asked lightly after the boarded off the train.
"Oh, I'm sure he already went. Besides, he and his friends have their own thing." Gwen said casually.
"I'm sure he can change his plans," Kristy said in a tone of voice that meant 'you better make him.'
"Okay, fine." Gwen said, but she secretly wondered why Kristy couldn't ask him herself.
Later, they all sat in one booth at Three Broomsticks where Kristy had squished herself next to Gwen, as Al was squished on the other side of Gwen. Talia and Macy sat on the other side, looking confused.
After Al ordered Butterbeers for everyone, even though Gwen objected("Al, I don't like unhealthy food!") he excused himself to the bathroom.
Gwen stared at her in confusion after Kristy mumbled something undecipherable to her.
"What?" She asked. Talia and Macy seemed unaware, chatting about the latest trends in Witch Weekly.
"I said," Kristy repeated, her voice barely a whisper. "Switch. Seats."
"I can't understand you."
"Switch," Kristy said through gritted teeth. "Seats. I'll sit next to Al. You sit next to Macy and Talia."
"Oh." Gwen made a face, but did what she told her to.
Albus came back shortly after. He didn't seem to be bothered about the new seating arrangements. In fact, he looked delighted, which annoyed Gwen to no end.
"How delightful," Gwen muttered after Kristy and Al both realized that they loved the same band. Thirteen Wands, One Soul, apparently. Gwen always considered them a band that only screeched instead of actually singing but what did she know?
"I know, isn't it?" Kristy exclaimed before taking a sip out of her butterbeer. Gwen had pushed hers to the side dejectedly. Albus nodded in agreement. Macy stole a quick glance at Gwen and mouthed 'Are you okay?'
Gwen nodded, but didn't say a word.
The night of, Gwen stared into her mirror and wondered why she was so bitter.
These are my two best friends. I would want them to go out of course. Then why on earth am I so jealous? Gwen thought.
Al's my best friend. I love him, but not in that way.
A/N: Al's and Gwen's friendship is falling apart, and you'll see how in the later chapters. Gwen will be extremely jealous.