"All hail the king of prats!"
Kate laughed delightedly as Lily glared at the boy several rows over. Currently the two of them were hiding behind a book shelf in the Flourish and Blotts., attempting to avoid the boy in question. Lily had been making mocking comments under her breath ever since they had spotted him.
Julian Pucey was possibly the smarmiest Ravenclaw ever to grace Hogwarts. In Kate's opinion he was merely an annoyance, one that was occasionally amusing based on how much he riled up Lily. In fact, the only other boy Lily became as infuriated with was Ailen, but in this case there was none of the sexual tension, despite how attractive Julian was. The main difference between Ailen and Julian was that Ailen was interested in Lily for Lily. Julian was interested in Lily because her father was Harry Potter.
"I hate him," Lily muttered crossly. "Listen to that rubbish he's sputtering to those people. Honestly, as if he was the one who deserved Head Boy. I'd rather have Slughorn!"
Kate grimaced. Sean Slughorn was the surprise child of one Horace Slughorn. Apparently their old professor had, in a drunken state, slept with a much younger witch. Sean had been the result of their little escapade. It was rumored that his mother had cried when she saw who she had slept with.
Kate wouldn't have blamed her.
Sean was much like his father in the looks department. He had several chins and tended to waddle when he walked. That combined with his infuriating superior air was enough to drive anyone into a severe state of dislike. He had mistakenly been under the impression that he was slightly better than muggleborns. Once Kate had discovered that particular fact she had entertained herself by making him fall rather hopelessly, if not in love, in lust with her. She had taken great pleasure in turning him down when he finally asked her out, all the while suggesting that he was doing her a favor. His stunned face at her rejection had made her laugh for hours. Anna had thought she was slightly cruel about the whole thing. She had simply shrugged it off. Some people deserved it.
"Personally I can't believe that Kent would get the position," Julian continued with a drawl, the few girls behind him nodding their heads in agreement. Kate snorted. "He's only passably intelligent after all and his technique in Quidditch certainly leaves something to be desired."
At that point Lily stood up, her face as red as her hair. Kate, only mildly surprised by the development, watched as Lily stormed out of their hiding spot, planting herself directly in Julian's line of vision. Julian, the idiot that he was, spotted Lily and immediately looked pleased.
Kate could only shake her head. Anyone with a brain would have been able to see that the famous Lily temper was about to come into play.
"Lily!" He called out jovially, walking towards her with a smile. Kate slowly sidled next to her friend, an amused smirk on her face. Julian allowed his eyes to rove over her for a moment before snapping them back towards the girl of his interest. "Fancy seeing you here."
Lily, fully fuming by that point fixed him with a glare. "Yes, fancy that Julian."
He, oblivious to her growing anger, continued speaking in loud tones. "I heard you made Head Girl. Congratulations." He smiled winningly at her. "I'm only sorry you'll be stuck with that Slytherin." The distaste in his voice was evident as the girls behind him tittered with laughter.
"Oh really?" Lily questioned with a raised brow. "Do you think I would have preferred to be with you?"
His pleasant expression faltered. "Well, Lily, love, it's no secret that you and Kent don't get along."
That's none of your business," she snapped, raising herself to her full height. Kate smiled, enjoying the show. "And I'll have you know that Ailen is more than passably intelligent. He's almost brilliant and he's an excellent Quidditch player! The Slytherins have beaten Ravenclaw every year since he got on the team."
By that point Julian's expression had decidedly soured. "Excuse me, Lily, I hadn't realized that you had become the next girl in Hogwarts to fall for Kent's charms." He sneered unpleasantly. "And here I thought you were different."
Smack.
Lily's hand cut cleanly across the air, landing with a resounding thud across Julian's cheek. Kate grinned at his stunned expression, twirling a lock of hair around her finger absentmindedly while Lily sent him a furious glare.
"Don't you ever speak like that to me again," Lily warned quietly, rage simmering under her voice. "Next time I won't be so kind."
With that Lily flounced out of the store, leaving behind Kate, Julian, and all of his shocked fan girls.
Kate grinned wickedly, dropping her voice to a purr. "So nice to see you again, Julian." She sent him a sweet smile that he glowered at. "It's always such a pleasure."
Waving lightly, she exited the shop as well, the mischievous glint in her eyes apparent as she skipped after Lily. She always had loved going to Diagon Alley.
"I don't understand," Anna said quietly, her expression suggesting otherwise. "Why am I not allowed to go into my vault?"
The goblin behind the counter smiled rather disturbingly while Kris glared. "You no longer have access to that money, Ms. Lowry. Our staff received specific instructions on who was allowed to enter. You are not."
"Who did you receive these specific instructions from?" Kris demanded angrily, continuing her glaring match with the goblin.
His smile revealed all of his pointed teeth. "Mr. Lowry."
Kris' expression bordered on furious. "Are you telling me that her father said she's not allowed to take any money from the vaults?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, Ms. -?"
"Bennett," she snapped angrily. "Kris Bennett. I want to talk to your manager. This is preposterous."
"Kris." Anna laid a hand on her arm, shaking her head wearily. "Just leave it." Her eyes were weighed down with sadness. "There's nothing we can do here. I'll talk to Harry when we go back home, alright?"
She stared for a moment and then nodded reluctantly, shooting one last glare at the goblin before following Anna out the door.
Once they were outside she turned towards her with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"
Anna looked at Kris' face and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. I kind of expected something like this anyway." She shrugged, forcing away the hurt. "I did leave against his permission."
"Which you had every right to do, Anna," Kris responded immediately. "That didn't give him the right to do something like this. This isn't your fault."
"It is in a way," Anna replied, wincing at the outraged expression that appeared on Kris' face. "I'm not saying that I agree with what he did, but he wouldn't have done it if I hadn't left." She held up her hands to silence that explosion that Kris looked like she was about to let loose. "Calm down, Kris. Please. I'm not up for dealing with this right now."
Kris immediately softened, but a frown lingered on her face. "Fine, but we're talking about this later, understand?"
Anna nodded wearily. "Of course. Let's just find Kate and Lily. I can get my books later."
"That," Kate replied breathlessly, having finally caught up to Lily, "was excellent!"
Lily turned towards her with a small grin, some of her anger having already faded. "You just like drama."
"I live for it," Kate replied with a beaming smile. "You should have seen his face!" She laughed uproariously, shoving some of her hair out of her face. "I wish I could have taken a picture." Her smile turned somewhat dreamy. "I'm going to buy a pensive so I can relive that moment over and over."
Lily found herself chuckling as well, the exuberance Kate was displaying being catching. "I just abhor that kid, you know? I can't imagine what would have happened if he had been Head Boy." She shivered delicately. "I probably would have forfeited my position."
"That can't be right!" Both girls turned around to see Ailen staring at them with a mock stunned expression. He placed a hand over his heart, eyes wide and disbelieving. "Did I just hear Lily Potter, the Lily Potter, say that there was someone else she would want less for Head Boy than I?"
Lily glowered at him while Kate grinned, her disposition still incredibly happy from the moment that had previously occurred.
"Yes."
"No."
Lily glared at Kate. "I did not say that!"
"Well not in so many words," Kate replied carefully, the mischievous glint in her eyes giving her away. "But you did just bitch slap Julian for suggesting - mmph!"
Ailen stared as Lily slapped a hand over Kate's mouth, the other arm wrapping around her neck to pull her in a head lock. Merlin, that girl had strength.
Kyle watched the whole situation with amusement, his lips quirking into a smile. They had seen Lily storming out of the shop followed by Kate running at her heels, expression alight with glee. The sight had nearly taken his breath away.
He had seen the girl happy before, but not in the unrestrained way that she had laughed once she caught up to Lily. There had been something so free in that laugh and, for the first time, he felt like he had caught sight of the real, unguarded Kate. It was just his luck that the sight would leave him breathless and yearning for more.
"What are you two doing?"
All six of them turned to see Kris and Anna, the former staring at the scene with amusement and the latter looking slightly resigned.
Lily immediately let go of Kate who retaliated by slapping her across the head. Lily, forgetting herself, went back to lunge at Kate who gracefully danced out of the way, letting out another peal of laughter. Before long Lily was laughing as well, both girls breathless from the fight.
Kris shook her head, turning towards the boys and sighing, her gaze lingering slightly on Ben who nodded briefly. "You guys shopping for school as well?"
"Yup," Abraxas replied with a grin, his own eyes on Anna. "You alright there, Lowry?"
Anna looked at him with surprise before smiling softly. "I'm fine."
Lily and Kate immediately stopped what they had been doing, concerned expressions flashing across their faces.
"What's wrong?" Kate demanded, taking a step closer to Anna. On inspection she could see that Anna looked sad and Kris disturbed. "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Anna replied quickly, glancing towards the boys who were staring at the scene with a mixture of concern and curiosity. "Really."
"We had some trouble at the bank," Kris elaborated, ignoring Anna's annoyed expression. "We'll talk about it later, yeah?"
"What sort of trouble?" Abraxas asked, his interest piqued. He wanted to know what had put that look in Anna's eyes. "My Dad has a lot of standing at Gringotts. If you need help I'm sure I could -"
"That won't be necessary," Anna interrupted, voice cool. At Abraxas' slightly hurt look her tone softened. "It was nothing I can't take care of myself."
She turned back towards the other girls who were looking slightly distraught and sent them a half-hearted smile. "I'll just have to wait to do my school shopping, but we can still do yours, alright?"
"An -" At Anna's stern glance Lily's protest faded. "Alright." She looked uncertainly between Kris and Kate. "Should we go get something to eat first?"
Kate nodded, her brows drawn together as she shot a quick glance at Anna. "Sure. We can talk about this there."
Anna sighed, but nodded at Kate's pointed glare. "Fine."
"We'll see you later then boys," Kate replied with a falsely cheery voice before pushing the other three girls ahead.
Just as she was about to walk after them, Abraxas grabbed her arm, shoving a bag full of money into her hands. "Here," he muttered quietly. "I don't know what's going on, but use that to get her school stuff. Just don't tell her it's mine."
Kate stared at him with disbelief. "Abraxas, I can't accept this."
He glared, shoving her forward. "You can and you will. If it bothers you so much you guys can pay me back later." At her wavering expression he pushed a bit more. "Just use it, alright? She'll never have to know it was mine."
Kate glanced back at it before nodding briefly. "We'll pay you back. If Lily had gotten more money we wouldn't accept it, but since we didn't…" She trailed off, kicking herself briefly for having not thought of asking Harry for more just in case Anna would have problems. "Anyway," she cleared her throat briefly. "We will pay you back."
"Fine." He nodded quickly and she realized this was the first time she hadn't seen him with his usual easy grin.
She sent him a rare true smile before walking off, her eyes connecting briefly with Kyle's. His expression was guarded, but she caught a hint of a smile aimed towards her. She frowned, turning away and briskly walking towards her girls.
They had a lot to talk about.