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Relentless Pursuit

Chapter 11-

"No."

I stared at my brother in disbelief. I had barely even touched the seat next to him before he shot me down.

"What do you mean?" I asked nonchalantly.

John raised his eyebrow. I smiled nervously, smearing jam on a piece of toast and offering it to him.

"Robin, Robin, Robin," he sighed, taking a bite of the toast, "You and I both know why you're here, and it's not because you wanted to join your big brother for breakfast."

"I'm offended, John," I told him, "All I wanted to do was spend some quality time with you. I have just been feeling like we haven't gotten enough 'together' time lately. It's your last year at Hogwarts, and I feel like we've been wasting this precious—"

"How much do you need?" John interrupted.

"Only a few galleons," I said automatically.

"A few galleons?" he repeated, aghast, "Merlin, Robin, I'm not Gringotts!"

"I'll pay you back," I promised.

"Why don't you ask one of your friends to lend you money?" he asked irritably.

"Emma already told me she doesn't have any extra money to give me," I answered.

"Ask someone else," John suggested.

"Er…"

John stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to offer up a name. He suddenly smiled widely at me.

"You don't have any other friends," he grinned, "You went from a social butterfly to a friendless worm in a matter of three years. Robin, you've metamorphosed backwards."

His smile grew as he watched the look of horror spread across my face.

"I've got plenty of friends," I said defensively.

"Name three," challenged my brother.

"Emma, James—"

"Family doesn't count," he interjected.

"Er, well, I have Emma," I started again, "And… Dog."

John let out a loud guffaw.

"Are you honestly counting your cat?" he laughed, "Are you really that desperate?"

I glared at my brother, but he continued to laugh in my face.

"I have plenty of friends," I repeated lamely.

"You do not," John argued, "You can't even name three!"

"Define friend," I said carefully.

"Seriously?" he questioned.

I stared at my brother unwaveringly. He laughed again at my expression. Despite how frustrated I was, I didn't cave. He sighed impatiently at me.

"Someone who would lend you money if you needed it," John said, "Someone who would save you from a rampaging hippogriff, keeps your secrets, accepts your flaws… You know, that sort of thing."

I stared at the table intently. I wasn't sure that many people would save me from a rampaging hippogriff.

"I'll make you a deal," John said slowly, "If you can find five people by the end of the day, excluding Emma and James, who count you as a friend, I will lend you the money."

"You're on," I said confidently.

My brother smirked at me, ruffled my hair in an over-exaggerated manner, and walked away. I was feeling fairly pleased for a moment until I realized that John had snatched my last quill when I wasn't paying attention. I frowned at my pile of books; it looked naked without a quill sitting on top.

"Great," I mumbled to myself.

I gathered my books, hastily shoving them in my bag before leaving the Great Hall for Charms. Despite being a little irritated by my brother's thievery, being quill-less would be helpful on my friend quest.

On my way to Professor Flitwick's classroom, I was delighted to see the forms of a pretty, redheaded girl and a thin, tall boy walking ahead of me. Even though James didn't technically count as a friend, Lily Evans was fair game.

"Hello!" I greeted James and Lily happily.

"Hi, Robin," Lily returned as I sidled up next to her.

"You're cheerful this morning," James commented.

"Well, it's a wonderful day to be alive," I said exuberantly, causing my cousin to give me a befuddled stare.

"Right," he said, "What's up with you? Did Lawrence snuff it or something?"

"No," I said sadly, "Although, that would make today even better. Do you have a spare quill, Lily?"

Lily started rummaging through her bag for a quill. Before she was able to pull one out, James was holding out a quill to me.

"Is your name Lily?" I asked him.

"Er, no," James said, "But I have a spare quill that you can use."

"That doesn't count. We're family," I waved him off.

My cousin lowered his quill and shook his head at me.

"Here you go," Lily said, finally producing a quill from her bag, "The top might be a bit ruffled up, but it will do."

"Thanks, Lily! You're such a great friend," I said, putting emphasis on the last word.

James was staring shrewdly at me now. I shrugged my shoulders at him, but he continued to stare.

"You're up to something, Robin Willows," he accused, pointing his finger at me.

"Merlin, James! All she did was ask to borrow a quill," Lily said impatiently.

"Yeah," I chimed in, "And that's what friends do for each other; they lend out their quills."

"Exactly," she agreed.

A triumphant grin spread across on my face. Ha! I do have friends. I only have to find four more people who consider me as a friend by the end of the day.

The three of us arrived in Charms just a few seconds before the start of class. I took my seat by Sirius, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. He was my next friend target. Even if I was having a little trouble getting him to fall in love with me, I imagined that earning the title of friend would be easier.

Because of the upcoming holidays, Flitwick decided to give us a little fun during class. He handed out Christmas ornaments and instructed us put any kind of festive charm on them that we could think of.

Temporarily ignoring my ornament, I turned to Sirius. He was flicking through his book for ideas, clearly unaware that I was fixated on him.

"Would you save me if I was being attacked by a rampaging hippogriff?" I asked casually, poking my ornament.

He snapped his book shut and stared at me.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius questioned.

"I'm talking about the possibility of getting mauled by a dangerous creature," I said simply, "A rampaging hippogriff to be exact. Would you save me?"

"Why are you getting attacked by a hippogriff? Did you insult it?"

"That's not the point," I explained, "I just want to know if you would save me from a raging hippogriff."

"It is the point," Sirius argued, "It's very unlikely that a hippogriff will just attack you out of nowhere. If you did something to provoke it, the whole situation would change."

"Okay," I sighed, "Let's say that I'm just walking through the forest, and then I suddenly get mauled by a crazy hippogriff. Would you save me from said hippogriff?"

"You only said that you were walking in the forest," Sirius pointed out, "Even if I did somehow know where you were, maybe I wouldn't save you. That's rather rude of you to not invite me on your walk, and then to expect me to save you when you get attacked by a hippogriff, don't you think? I can't just stop everything at the drop of a hat to save you from a hippogriff."

I ran my hand over my face. He was being difficult on purpose.

"So you're saying that you would let the hippogriff kill me?" I asked him.

"I'm sure it won't come down to that," he assured me, charming his ornament to belt out Christmas carols, "Just don't insult any hippogriffs, Robin."

I stared at singing ornament, and then I glanced down at my own. It flashed holiday greetings and sparkled brightly. Needless to say, it wasn't comparable to Sirius's singing ornament.

"Show off," I muttered dejectedly.

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Finding friends was not as easy as I thought. Lily, unfortunately, was the only kind person to claim me as a friend. I must admit that it was a little disheartening. Not everyone else was as considerate as her.

In fact, Mary-Ann Lewis was not considerate at all. She seems to harbor some bitter feelings towards me, actually. When I asked her if she would keep a secret if I shared it with her, she responded by saying that not only would she not keep it, but she would tell everyone that she knew and hope that they would spread it around to the point that it became twisted enough that everyone thought I was pregnant with Filch's baby.

That was mildly upsetting, but Mary-Ann hasn't really been fond of me since our third year when Dog ate her injured owl when I was supposed to be babysitting it while she was in the hospital wing. Coincidentally, she was in the infirmary due to a spell I tried to perform on her to give her colored streaks in her hair. Witch Weekly doesn't always have the most reliable instructions, or so I have found. Instead of colored streaks, I ended up gave her third-degree burns all over her scalp.

I guess that just goes to show that time does not heal everything. Maybe ten years from now Mary-Ann will want to be friends again.

Justin Thompson didn't seem very keen on the idea of being friends, either. I asked him the same question that I asked Sirius. He laughed at me. Justin felt that a hippogriff attack would be what I deserved for loving a monster like Dog. He then brought up the time that my cat attacked him in fourth year. He claims that I yelled at him for beating Dog off his head after she sneak attacked him from the top of a shelf in the common room.

When I explained that abusing my cat was very unkind, he walked away from me. He still doesn't believe that she was just trying to play. Dog is a vivacious cat, and that's all there is to it.

My morning was slowly spiraling downwards. I hit an all time low when Jake Addams shot me down in Herbology. He said that he didn't want to be associated with someone who didn't take responsibility seriously. He did offer me his friendship if I started to show some initiative with my prefect duties, though. I accidentally laughed at him, and that caused him to revoke his offer.

By the time lunch rolled around, I felt pretty pathetic. Not only was I at a loss to find friends, but Emma had skipped lunch to work on the Transfiguration essay that was due the next morning. She insisted that she had to get to the library right away.

Personally, I think she might not eat anymore. She spends half of her meal times studying in the bloody library. I suspect she might have recently become a vampire, and that "going to the library" is code for "feeding on unsuspecting students." I also haven't ruled out photosynthesis yet. Freak accidents happen in green houses, too. Don't let the sunny atmosphere give you a false sense of security.

I stared at my sandwich sadly. I didn't really want to eat my only company.

"You look sad, Tweet," Clara said, suddenly appearing to sit across from me.

"Ever feel like nobody likes you?" I asked my sister despondently.

She paused for a second.

"No, I have loads of friends. It doesn't look like you have any friends at all, though, Tweet," she said sadly.

Even my little sister could tell I was pathetic. Clara began to pat my hand sympathetically.

Apparently my sister was really popular. Within two minutes of leaving her table, I found myself surrounded by twelve-year olds. Her friends had come to see why she hadn't returned to them. It was like she was their leader.

I soon found myself getting free therapy from a group of second year Hufflepuffs. They were very concerned. A boy named Greg Powell assured me that I had plenty of friends because strangers were just friends I hadn't met yet. He suggested that I go meet new people. I found his exceedingly optimistic attitude a tad bit disconcerting; my sister, on the other hand, found it positively dreamy.

"Yeah, you're so right," Clara agreed passionately, causing Greg to puff out his chest.

Every other girl in the group began to fervently agree with Clara. This caused the rest of the boys, who wanted to be liked by the girls, to also strongly agree. I was surrounded by a group of twelve-year olds that were stuck in some awful time continuum that induced them to say "Yeah," "Totally," and "So true" over and over whilst nodding incessantly.

"Right," I said loudly, interrupting the never-ending agreeing, "I have to go now. Thanks for, er, having lunch with me."

After Greg Powell pledged his never-ending friendship to me, I was released from the Hufflepuff cluster that had formed at my house's table. I left the Great Hall to a chorus of praise for Greg, and I began to wonder if I was that annoying at the age of twelve.

I made my way towards the library in hopes of finding some sane company. I was thoroughly disappointed to find that Emma was nowhere to be seen. Her absence was beginning to make my vampire theory even more plausible.

Despite not finding Emma, I found some other friend opportunities in the library. Remus Lupin was sitting at a table with Peter Pettigrew, a book lying open between them.

"Hello!" I greeted loudly, earning a hiss of disapproval from Madam Pince.

The two boys nodded in acknowledgment at me, and Peter kicked out a chair for me to sit in.

"What brings you to the library today?" Remus asked, "Trying to find a hiding place for some incriminating evidence?"

"No, I was actually just looking for Emma," I answered, doing another scan of the library.

"You just missed her," Peter said, "She left with John a few minutes ago."

"John?" I repeated, "My brother?"

"Yeah, he tutors her in Arthimancy," Peter explained.

"Yeah, right," I scoffed, "Emma's brilliant. The day she needs a tutor is the day James befriends Snape."

"Maybe she doesn't want you to know she's struggling," Remus suggested, closing his book.

I wanted to laugh. Emma never struggles in school. She is annoyingly clever, especially when it comes to Ancient Runes and Potions. The only thing that I'm better at than her is Charms. I took a second to consider what Remus had said, though. If, by some freak chance, Emma was actually struggling in a class, it's likely that she would guard that secret with her life. She prides herself on her ability to pick up difficult subjects with ease.

"I guess that makes sense," I agreed, "She can be arrogant about her intelligence sometimes. Struggling in a class would be the ultimate embarrassment for her."

There was a brief silence while Remus looked over an essay that Peter passed him. Quickly forgetting about the possibility of my best friend's internal struggles with Arithmancy, I began to concoct ideas in my head as to how I could approach Remus and Peter about my friend quest.

"If I needed a friend to look to over my work for me, would you do it?" I asked.

"Do you need some help with an essay?" Remus questioned casually.

"No, this is just a hypothetical situation," I told him.

"That's a strange hypothetical situation to bring up," he murmured, twirling his quill as he stared at the parchment, "Any particular reason you ask?"

"Nope, not at all," I said quickly, "No reason at all. Just you know, asking around in case the situation was to arise so I would have someone to rely on. That's all. Purely hypothetical."

"Despite what your brother might say, you do have friends," Remus remarked calmly, scratching out a sentence on Peter's essay.

I turned crimson at his words. It would seem as though John was having a laugh at my expense with the other Gryffindors.

"What?" I said nervously, "Of course, I do. Why would you think I was thinking that?"

"John thought his bet with you was rather clever," Remus informed me, "Personally, I find it cruel to make someone think that they have nobody to count on. Don't let your brother make you think you don't have friends, though. You have plenty."

"Like who?" I challenged miserably, "The only person I could think of was Emma when he asked me."

"If someone were to ask me the same question, your name would come to mind," he said, giving me a small smile, "I assure you that you have a number of friends in Gryffindor, and I count myself among them."

"I'd stay clear of the Hufflepuffs for a while, though," Peter whispered, jerking his thumb towards a group of students in the far corner, "Someone in that lot has been spreading a nasty rumor about you."

"A rumor?"

"Yes, it's about you and Filch," Peter said quietly, "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't believe it for a second. I think all of Hogwarts knows that you fancy Sirius."

"That actually does make me feel better. Thanks, Peter," I smiled.

"Any time," he said, rolling up his essay.

"So you would save me from a rampaging hippogriff?" I said hopefully.

"I suppose so," Peter paused, "But why are you being attacked by a hippogriff? Did you insult it?"

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Substantially cheered up by Remus and Peter, I left my last class of the day feeling much happier. Even Emma was in good spirits. The two of us walked to dinner, joking about Dog's latest assault on the sixth year girl's dormitory. Why the house elves even bothered to replace our curtains was a mystery.

"I'm starving," Emma groaned, loading her plate with food.

"How did your essay go, by the way?" I questioned nonchalantly.

"Great," answered Emma, "I'm sure it'll get full marks."

"You're doing well in all your classes, I take it?" I commented flippantly.

"Naturally," she responded easily, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said.

Emma began eating. Actually, eating is not the word for it. I think the term "inhaling" would be more accurately describe what she was doing to her food. I was pleased to see that she had her appetite back. Her voracious eating did deflate the credibility of my vampire theory a bit, though.

"Hello, my wayward butterfly," John greeted boisterously, plopping himself down beside me.

He startled me, and it would appear that I was not the only one to be caught off guard. Emma choked on her food, quickly washing it down with a long gulp of pumpkin juice. John gave her a funny look before casually taking food from my plate.

"Hi, John," I said, notably less enthusiastic, "Did you need something?"

"Names, little sister, give me names," he said happily, "I need to know if I should crack open my vault at Gringotts."

Oh. I had nearly forgotten his challenge due to my sudden, violently good mood.

"Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew, and Greg Powell," I said proudly.

I felt a twinge of inexplicable worry in the pit of my stomach when John beamed at me. Something was not in my favor.

"That's only four," John said smugly, "Looks like you won't be doing any Christmas shopping this weekend after all."

Bugger.

My stomach sank as I realized that I had miscounted. I must have accidentally counted a failed attempt at some point during the day. I was embarrassed, for about the hundredth time, by my brother.

"First you want me to save you from a rampaging hippogriff," Sirius sighed impatiently, squeezing in a seat between John and me, "Now you don't even remember my name when you're listing off all your friends. You remember some little wanker named Greg, but you can't be bothered to think of me. I'm beginning to feel like I'm unimportant in your life, Robin."

I gaped at Sirius. It didn't take me long to figure out why he was here. When I turned back to look at the Gryffindor table, I found that Remus was smiling and holding up his goblet of pumpkin juice at me.

I focused my attention on my brother now. He looked as though someone had slapped him across the face.

"Sorry, Sirius," I said unsurely, staring at my brother as I spoke, "Just slipped my mind."

"It seems like it was just yesterday that you fancied the pants off me," he remarked, "Now I'm just the constantly forgotten friend who you can't even bother to invite on a leisurely stroll."

A grin slowly spread across my features. John looked positively grumpy as I held out my hand expectantly.

"How much?" he grumbled, reaching in his pocket.

"Six galleons ought to do it," I said cheerfully.

Angry red splotches erupted on his cheeks. He grimaced as he dropped six gold coins into my outstretched hand. Without even saying good-bye, my brother walked out of the Great Hall moodily.

"You better buy me a bloody good Christmas present with that," Sirius said, pointing at the gold.

"What makes you think I'm buying you a gift?" I asked in affronted tones.

"I thought you just said we were friends," he said indignantly.

I opened my mouth to retort, but I found that I had nothing to say. Sirius flashed me a grin that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter happily.

"I'm glad that's settled," he said cheerfully, "I swear I won't even peep in your bags when we're at Hogsmeade."

"We?" I repeated slowly.

His eyes widened when he registered what I had said.

"Meaning if we happen to run into each other at the Three Broomsticks or something, I won't look in your bags," he said hurriedly, "That sort of thing; nothing like a date or anything, just coincidental meetings."

"Right," I said, sounding mildly put out.

"Did you—er," he started.

"No, no, of course not," I said quickly.

"Right," he muttered, "Good, that's good."

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence. Thankfully, James called for Sirius. With a sigh of what I could only imagine was relief, Sirius motioned towards his table. I nodded and waved good-bye. More words were not the solution in this situation.

"That was awkward," Emma remarked.

"Shut up," I mumbled, covering my eyes with my hands as if I could block the mental reruns in my mind.

"Talk about sexual tension," she snorted.

"Oh, bugger off, Emma," I snapped.

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A/N- Four chapters all in the same year?! It's madness! Regardless of how crazy this updating phenomenon is, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will admit that the only real purpose it served was to develop character relationships (both the romantic and platonic sort). Also, a quick note: James Potter was actually made Head Boy in his seventh year despite not being a prefect, according to canon. There was a little confusion about that in a review so I figured that I would clear that up. Thanks a billion for all the lovely reviews. Please review (and I'm specifically targeting all you lurkers)!