After class, we stopped into the hospital wing so I could get my wrist checked out to make sure they wouldn't have to chop it or something. Girls, I tell you. I protested all the way, since it really didn't hurt any more, except when I twisted it wrong or poked it. Alice pushed me down to sit on one of the beds that lined the wing then went to find Madam Pomfrey. Resisting the urge to make a face after her, I glanced around at the deserted other beds, wondering about all the great spells I learned, in case Sebastian ever gave us trouble again.
A few minutes later, Ali returned with Madam Pomfrey and I couldn't help myself, I made a face at her, making her giggle. That is, until I saw Madam Pomfrey's face. The look slid off my face and I gave her a sheepish grin as I rolled back the sleeves of my sweater and shirt to expose the welt. She examined it for a second, looked to me, then Ali, then back to me then finally back to my wrist. I could tell by her expression it wasn't good. Although, it wasn't the "oh crap we have to chop it" look, which I was extremely pleased about.
"So, Mr. Longbottom, would you like to enlighten me about how you got this?" She glanced up at me for a second before looking back down at it. Yeah, she was staff, but I highly doubt she needs all the details leading up to how this happened. Looking over at Alice, I answered simply.
"Well I was attacked, you see. Incarcerous while I wasn't looking." I winced slightly as Madam Pomfrey touched right next on the edge of the red area. She pulled out her wand and summoned a potion from a cupboard in her office. It let off a light grey smoke when it hit my skin and I tried as hard as I could to just block out the pain that it caused.
"All right, just let the potion soak in for a few hours and you should be fine." Recorking the vial the potion was in, Madam Pomfrey got up and walked back into her office muttering about misuse of magic as she went.
We had break next so we made our way to the Common Room. Ali and I were sitting on a couch, her leaning on my shoulder reading. I was lost in thought until she turned and kissed my cheek.
"Everything okay?" She asked quietly, twisting around to look at me. I nodded slightly and put my arm around her.
"Yeah, you know I was just thinking. About what happened this morning." I looked down at her then looked into the fire. "After all that, I just feel awful. I never thought revenge would be so hard."
"Look, you didn't do anything. We just acted like we were in the safety of the Common Room, but in the Great Hall. It's not like we went up to them and rubbed it in their faces. Not that I would want to anyways." She snuggled up next to me and I held her closer.
"I know," I sighed. "It's just, we did exactly what we wanted to, but by accident and created chaos." She shook her head and flicked my nose.
"Oh, please, we got exactly what we wanted. We broke them up and made their lives hell." She laughed at the look on my face. After looking at each other for a minute, I nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. Not quite what we wanted but it still worked. Congratulations, partner, we have officially gotten our revenge." I grinned and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss. A loud bang broke the kiss before either of us wanted it to end. We both looked over to where the sound came from and saw Sirius standing there grinning.
"What do you want, Sirius?" Alice asked, rolling her eyes. He walked over and stood behind the couch.
"Oh, nothing. Just embracing this moment. Him. Her. On a couch." He trailed off as if lost in thought, looking into the fire.
"Yeah, well, that moment got killed. Thanks to you." I chucked a pillow at his head. He ducked it and frowned slightly.
"Well if you wanted me away, you could've just said so." He rolled his eyes and walked away. "Violent child." I looked at Ali and she raised an eyebrow back. We both just half shrugged and I pulled her closer again, our lips meshing again.
"Oh, and one more thing?" We broke apart again and looked up at Sirius again. "Those girls? From the Great Hall? I got you their names and houses." I jumped up and launched myself over the back of the couch at him. He shrieked, a sound much like one that came out of a girl, and ran away. Ali laughed and peeked over the top of the couch to watch. I chased him around the room once then stopped the second time we got around to the portrait hole.
"Yeah, you keep running. And keep those names. They probably would like you more anyway." Sirius stumbled up the stairs to the boy's dorms and out of sight. Alice got up and walked over to me, taking my hand, and lead me out the portrait hole.
After walking for a few minutes in silence, we ended up in the Astronomy tower, where we first met. It was a very different feel up there now, like the fact that I was now taller than her, and now that we knew each other much better. I grinned down and her and she smiled back. She let go of my hand and walked over to one of the plants. She disappeared for a second before bringing out her guitar.
"That day we met, I was playing a song I learned. Although I thought I was good, I wasn't playing for anyone but me. In the past few weeks, I've written a song. For you, and just you." Alice talked slowly, as if thinking about every word before she said it, and got herself comfortable to play the song she wrote.
The intro to the song was slow and melodic, she watched her hands as she played, and her face turned slightly pink the longer she played. When she began to sing, I didn't believe it was really her, it was perfect and lovely. She looked up at me a couple times and each time she did, the blush seemed to ebb away.
When she finished the song, she looked up at me, a shy smile on her face and leaned her guitar against the wall. I kissed her lightly and smiled.
"That was brilliant. No really, it was. Best I've ever heard." I put my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. Her smile became more pronounced and she hugged me tighter. She pulled away after a minute and looked at her feet.
"I was so nervous about finally letting you hear your song. I actually thought about punking out and just not ever let you hear it. But I'm really glad I didn't." I smiled down at her.
"I am too." I lifted her chin softly, bringing her eyes up to look into mine. A bit of shyness was back in Ali's eyes as I leaned down and our lips met again. The kiss deepened faster than it had in the Common Room, probably because we were alone. Or so we thought.
"Oi! What are you- oh, sorry." We broke apart quickly and looked to where the voice came from, a guilty look on our faces. "I'm so sorry guys, you just looked like-" She broke off again, looking slightly distraught and ran her hands through her red, curly hair. "Erm, if you see James, tell him I'm in the Common Room." Lily then turned and walked out of the tower without another word. I raised an eyebrow and looked down at Alice, who merely shrugged. Seems like trouble in paradise for those two.
