Chapter 11
"Why?" Rose whispered loudly. She and Camellia were hurrying to Defense when Camellia had casually mentioned her conversation with Alphard. "Why are you going to Hogsmeade with him?"
"He's nice, and it's just as friends. I don't see what the problem is." Rose followed Camellia to their seats.
"Alphard Black is just…odd." She said softly. "His family is wealthy and influential, but he goes about doing whatever he pleases. He never goes far out of line, but he never really holds to the pureblood ideal."
"And that's a bad thing?" Camellia asked quietly.
"Not in itself," Rose explained. "But there are those who think otherwise. Not many people interact with Alphard Black because they're afraid of being isolated themselves."
"So…people shun him because he's friendly to people no matter their ancestry?" Rose looked uncomfortable.
"The Pureblood society is old and full of powerful families that adhere strictly to tradition. They refuse to place anyone with 'lesser' blood near their own status. Alphard Black doesn't care about blood status, and he could potentially change society if he tried, due to his family's status. So he's excluded, and therefore has less power in the influential pureblood circles." Camellia frowned, her hands balled up into fists in her lap. Rose placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm not sure that I agree with it, but I had to warn you." Camellia glanced at Rose.
"Would you desert me if everybody else did?" Rose didn't have time to answer as Professor Merrythought bounced into the classroom.
"Hello, class. If you would open your books to page 394, we'll get started." She tapped the board. "Today, we're learning about werewolves…" Camellia's mind wandered. Normally, she was all ears in Defense, but not today. She'd looked ahead, and realized that she already knew a lot about werewolves. Absentmindedly, Camellia scribbled a few notes to look like she was paying attention.
Why had Alphard asked her to Hogsmeade? They'd hardly ever spoken, and he'd sounded completely genuine when he said it was just as friends. Camellia kept writing until Rose discreetly poked her arm.
"Remember, next week we'll be learning about boggarts, and I'll be finding one for you to deal with. Read up on them, and try to imagine a way to make your fears ridiculous." The class began trickling out as Camellia started packing her bag.
"You seemed distracted." Rose said quietly. "Are you okay?" Camellia nodded, putting away her quill.
"I already knew the subject well enough, and I couldn't really focus."
"Even though it isn't a date?" Rose asked, smiling widely. Camellia rolled her eyes at her friend.
"I was just wondering why. Alphard seemed to mean it when he said we could go as friends, but we've hardly spoken or anything." Rose tilted her head.
"You just need to ask him, and make sure that he tells you." She shook her head ruefully. "That isn't very good advice, is it?" Camellia grinned.
"Not really." Rose picked up the parchment Camellia had been writing on and glanced at it. "What were you even writing during class?" Camellia shrugged.
"I don't know. I just wanted to look like I was actually paying attention. Why?" Rose held it out to Camellia.
"Who's Lupin?" Camellia frowned, grabbing the sheet. Lupin…
"He…he was my teacher, I think…" Her voice trailed off. She saw a scarred man who was too young to have so many flecks of gray in his hair…why did he have those scars? "I think he was a werewolf." Camellia's eyes widened as she sat back down. He was a werewolf, and he wasn't just Professor Lupin, but her friend Remus, and Moony. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. The Maurauders—Rose placed a hand on Camellia's shoulders, looking worried.
"Are you—"
"I'm fine." Camellia managed. She stood on shaky legs, taking deep breaths.
"You don't look fine." Rose eyed Camellia warily. "Are you going to tell me what just happened?"
"A bit of a flashback. I'm fine." Rose raised an eyebrow and grabbed Camellia's bag.
"Somehow, I doubt that." She muttered, heading for the door.
"Why do you have my bag?" Camellia started after Rose.
"Because you don't look well."
"I can carry it, I'm—"
"If you say 'fine' again—"
"I was going for 'not an invalid', but sure, fine works, too."
"Sass." Camellia's laughter echoed down the hall.
The next morning, Camellia was woken by Rose and Margaret, who were insistent on choosing her clothes. Despite her protests that it wasn't a date, Camellia found herself acting as a mannequin for the girls. After half an hour, though, she couldn't take it anymore.
"Let me just wear what I normally wear outside of class." Camellia insisted. It took some time for the two other girls to be convinced, but in the end they were persuaded by the fact that if they argued any longer, they'd be late. Clad in her old gray dress and a green jacket borrowed from Margaret (she'd had to compromise a bit), Camellia hurried down to the Common Room.
"Hi." Alphard looked up from his book.
"Hi. Ready to go?" Camellia nodded, waiting as Alphard tossed his book into his bag. The walk to Hogsmeade was excruciatingly silent, as Camellia had no idea what to talk about, and apparently Alphard didn't like talking while they were surrounded by other students.
"Follow me." Alphard grabbed the sleeve of Camellia's jacket, wading through the crowd until they reached the edge.
"What are we doing?"
"Just follow me." The boy dashed into the woods. Grateful that she'd refused to compromise on her choice of footwear, Camellia took off after him. The ground began to rise, becoming steep and rocky.
"No one ever comes up here," Alphard called, a short distance above her. "But this has the best view of the village." As Camellia pulled herself up to the top of the hill, Alphard smiled, gesturing towards Hogsmeade. "There it is. Most people don't think of trying to get a better view. They just go to the village and do the same thing every time, just like everyone else."
"Why did you ask me to visit Hogsmeade with you?" Camellia asked bluntly, looking at the village.
"Didn't I say that I asked you as a friend?" Alphard looked at Camellia, looking almost innocent.
"That isn't an answer." Camellia responded, still not looking at the boy. "We've had maybe one—actually, I don't' think that we've ever had a proper conversation aside from this. We don't talk, and you act like we're friends or something. I might be a bit rude about this, but I'm tired of not knowing anything about what's going on around me." Alphard looked back at Hogsmeade.
"I felt like I should." Camellia stepped closer.
"That still doesn't answer my question."
"I felt like I needed to warn you." The boy sighed.
"Of what?"
"You should be on your guard around Riddle." Alphard said quickly. "I know that you're friends or whatever, but…"
"Is that it?" Camellia stared at Alphard. He looked surprised.
"You don't sound as mad as I thought you would."
"Why should I be angry with you? You barely know me, and you're kind of trying to help me. That isn't something to really be upset about."
"Even though I'm talking about one of your friends?"
"…why don't you trust Tom?" Camellia sat down, gazing at the village. Alphard shifted uneasily before sitting next to her.
"Nothing that's exactly concrete." The girl shrugged.
"Okay. Still, most of the people I've talked to don't seem to distrust him at all. Why are you different?"
"Well, part of it's probably that most Slytherins ignore me. I have nothing to do except observe, really. Something about Tom just…I don't know how to phrase it, except that something's just not right." Camellia nodded thoughtfully. She looked sideways at the boy.
"Can I trust you, Alphard?" He shrugged.
"I think so. I don't have any reason to betray you, so…" Camellia rolled her eyes.
"That's comforting." They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Why?" Alphard finally asked.
"I'm never sure of who to trust, I suppose…" Camellia fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. "I'm not sure that I can trust Tom." She blurted out. "I mean, I do, mostly, but sometimes it's like part of me just doesn't…does that make sense?"
"Maybe." The shouts and laughter of their classmates echoed faintly through the hills.
"You told me that you'd show me Hogsmeade." Camellia finally said, unsure of how to continue their previous conversation.
"I did, didn't I?"
The two made their way down the hill, into the village. The rest of the day passed in a blur. True to his word, Alphard showed her more than just the main road. There was a pet shop, a jokes shop that was all but unknown, some incredibly outdated clothes stores, a bookstore, another candy shop, and more. Best of all, there weren't so many students outside of the main section of Hogsmeade to stare at them.
"Hey, Wheatley, how do I look?" Alphard grinned widely, modeling an atrocious, puce-colored cloak complete with feathers and tassels. Camellia burst out laughing.
"You look terrible!" She gasped out between giggles.
"Well, I never!" The boy huffed, theatrically throwing a portion of the cloak over his shoulder.
"Wait, wait—" Camellia grabbed a red hat, complete with a stuffed vulture, and jammed it on Alphard's head. "Much better." She declared, sticking her nose in the air, suppressing a smirk as best she could. Alphard strode over to a full-length mirror, only to collapse laughing as he saw his reflection.
The owner of the shop, an old woman, sighed at their antics. Alphard was preening in front of the mirror, while Camellia was just barely holding herself upright. The old woman couldn't have been more surprised when the boy set the cloak and hat in front of her, declaring that he was buying them. After this, Camellia could hardly look at Alphard, because he'd insisted on wearing his new purchases immediately. The boy turned heads as they made their way throughout the village, and later when they were back at school.
"I see you had fun today." Margaret teased when Camellia finally returned her jacket.
"I did have fun today." The older girl said simply. "Just not the kind of fun you're thinking. I don't get why none of you spend time with Alphard. He's really fun to be around." Margaret turned her back on Camellia, putting the jacket away.
"That's just how things work around here." She said softly. Camellia frowned.
"But that isn't how it should be."