FINALLY, CHAPTER TEN! Haha. Sorry it's taken so long!

THANK YOU: SecretlyAGryffindor, October Dusk, UndercoverHufflepuff, meggx, RaindropsOnTheRooftop, Claire Lafleur, iamagriffin, Queenie's Broken Heart, -the smell of autumn-, and pinkpearl89 for the reviews!

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Anything and anyone whom you do not recognize has been created by me.

People are going to screw up. It's our nature. And it's why we were given the ability to forgive.

Chapter Ten: Made to Last Forever

Alicia sat drumming her fingers on the table beside her bed, feeling as though she could cry of boredom. The hospital wing was just so dull with its grey stone walls and rows of metal beds all covered in crisp white sheets. Madam Pomfrey had made Fred and Lee go down to breakfast, so she was alone with George, who was laying on his back counting the stones in the ceiling.

"Don't you have any better ideas?" she asked him, sprawling across her bed and watching her best friend.

"Shh," George replied. "I'm almost done."

Alicia rolled her eyes and flopped onto her back, wincing as the four long cuts from the sphinx's claw seared with pain. She was about to interrupt George's counting again when the door to the hospital wing opened to reveal Mae, who was breathing hard and slightly red in the face.

"Mae?" Alicia and George asked together. "What's wrong?"

The blonde's face went blank and quickly reformed itself into a calm, somewhat worried expression. "Nothing, what happened to you two? All Professor McGonagall said was that you had some sort of incident and that you were here. I didn't know if you were seriously hurt or if you were truly going to be okay, what were you thinking?"

Alicia glanced at George and shot him a small smirk. That was their Mae.

The two first years dove into the tale of their adventure, leaving out the Marauder's Map and simply saying they had stumbled upon the entrance by mistake. Charlie rushed in a few moments into the story with the girl that he had been snogging the night before and Alicia and George had to start all over, and then they had to do it once more when an out of breath Percy and confused-looking Angelina hurried into the room.

"You two are lucky that you weren't killed," Mae and Charlie told them in unison, and Alicia saw them exchange seething looks, though she could not fathom why.

"Oh please, Charlie," Mae snapped. "You know they take after you."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "And you know you would have followed me anywhere."

Mae opened her mouth to reply, but seemed to find that she had nothing to say, for she turned back to Alicia instead.

"Just promise me you won't do anything too dangerous?" she asked, looking from Alicia to George and back.

"Honesty, Mae, we didn't know it was going to be dangerous at all until we found the sphinx," George told her sheepishly.

Mae's hard expression softened into a smile. "Just be careful, all right? Is there anything I can get you?"

"Something to get rid of boredom?" Alicia suggested, causing Charlie, Mae, and Angelina to laugh. Percy, who had not said a word since they had finished their story, looked around at all of them as though they had lost their minds.

"How can you laugh?" the third year demanded. "They broke about ten school rules and almost got themselves killed!"

George sat up and smirked at his older brother. "Almost being the key word, Perce. We're still here."

"Besides, what's life without a little adventure?" Alicia added, grinning at the disgusted look on Percy's face.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey came to usher the visitors out of the ward, announcing – much to the resentment of Alicia and George – that her patients needed rest. So the others filed out, promising to return as soon as they could with something to entertain their bedridden siblings.

Alicia huffed and leaned back against her pillows, grudgingly taking the rust-tasting blood replenishing potion that the healer offered her, and then lay there for what felt like hours, listening to George grumble about having to restart his count of the ceiling stones.

After staring at nothing for far too long, the doors to the hospital wing opened again, and Charlie was back, but this time, he was flanked by Evan Williams and Chelsea Todd – all in their gear for Quidditch practice. Charlie and Evan were supporting an unconscious Oliver Wood between them, and Chelsea followed close behind, holding his broomstick.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Chelsea called, tightening her auburn ponytail. "Madam Pomfrey, Oliver needs help!"

"No need to shout," the nurse reprimanded as Charlie and Evan hoisted the smaller boy up onto the bed on Alicia's other side. "Now, what happened?"

"MaKayla and I were trying to show him a new move," Chelsea explained quickly. "It's called the Starfish and Stick and it's absolutely wicked, but bloody difficult, as well. You see, the Keeper hangs from –"

"I do not need to know the complete dynamics of the move, Miss Todd," Madam Pomfrey cut in before the sixth year could go into further detail.

"Right," Chelsea agreed, a faint blush creeping to her cheeks. "Basically, he was trying to do it and he slipped from about fifty feet in the air. Charlie managed to catch him by the back of the robes, but they ripped before he could get him back on the broom. He ended up falling from about twenty or thirty feet instead."

"I see," the nurse said, waving her wand over Wood's body and muttering under her breath.

"Is he going to be all right?" Chelsea inquired, her hands clasps nervously in front of her.

Madam Pomfrey stowed her wand inside her robes and told Evan and Charlie to get Wood out of his bulky training gear. "He should be fine, Miss Todd. There are some broken bones, but nothing I haven't seen before."

Chelsea nodded and left with Evan once he reappeared. Charlie took a final glance at his fallen player before making his way to where George and Alicia had been watching from the foot of their beds.

"How are you two doing?" he asked nonchalantly, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck.

Alicia rolled her eyes. "We're fine, really. Just absolutely bored out of our minds."

Charlie winced. "Yeah, I've been stuck in here enough times over the years to know the feeling."

"What did you do?" asked George.

"Well Mae usually –" Charlie began, but stopped almost immediately. "Erm, well, there really isn't much you can do."

"What's up with you and my sister?" Alicia asked him bluntly, crossing her arms and hissing in pain as the cuts across her back were stretched.

Charlie's face darkened. "Nothing."

"Sure," George snorted. "And Percy fancies the giant squid."

"Did you have a fight?" Alicia pressed on.

Charlie looked from one to the other, a slightly exasperated expression on his face. Finally, he sighed and sat down at the end of George's bed. "Mae doesn't approve of Tia," he explained.

"That girl you were snogging?" Alicia and George asked in unison.

He nodded. "Yeah, well, she and I decided to start dating and Mae got really angry. She started saying a bunch of stuff about how… well, she said some bad things about Tia, and then I started yelling back. I said some things that I didn't mean, but I just can't take them back yet."

"Why not?"

Charlie chuckled. "You two are lucky to be young," he told them, and Alicia could not help but feel there was a warning behind his words. "Everything gets complicated when you start to grow up."


Mae ran around the lake for what felt like the hundredth time, but she did not mind in the least. Having the wind in her face and the smell of the trees in the air as she jogged was one of her favorite things in the world. It felt sort of cleansing, like she was running so far she was leaving all of her problems and heartache behind.

She had burst into tears as soon as she had escaped from the group of people that had gone to visit George and Alicia, and she had cried for a long time, consuming more peanut butter for comfort than she had ever eaten in her life.

And once her eyes were dry, she had changed into shorts and a t-shirt and started to run as fast as she could, finally feeling the weight on her shoulders lift ever so slightly.

"Mae!" a familiar voice yelled, and she turned to see Evan waiting for her, leaning against an old beech tree on the edge of the lake.

Mae ran up to him, feeling sweaty and disgusting, and took the bottle of water that he held out to her. "Thanks," she told him with a small smile. "What's up?"

"You're still mad at Charlie." It was a statement, not a question.

Rolling her eyes, Mae turned to go back to her running, for she was sick of hearing that name.

"Wait," said Evan, grabbing her arm and holding her back. "I just wanted to tell you that they didn't, you know, do anything last night."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "But Tia never came back to the dormitory."

"Charlie didn't want her to have to feel your wrath or anything, so he let her sleep on his bed and he took the floor. He never intended to do anything with her, he's too old-fashioned. You should know that."

"I do know that," she admitted. "But I guess I just figured that if he would go for someone like that in the first place, he's liable to do anything."

Evan chuckled softly, staring out over the lake. "You really don't give Tia enough credit, you know. She didn't want to do anything either, and she seemed really relieved when Charlie told her that he wasn't going to shag her or anything."

"That doesn't change the fact that she only likes him because he's Quidditch captain."

He shrugged, searching her face for something that Mae could not imagine. "Maybe that's why she took interest in him, but they'll get to know each other and I'm sure she'll find something else that she likes. I mean, Charlie's not completely horrible all of the time."

Mae had to crack a smile at his last words, but it quickly faded as she thought about the other things he had said. What if Tia actually did find out how amazing Charlie was? How even when they were fighting he could still make her feel exhilarated and alive, or the fact that he remembered tiny details of people's personality because he truly cared about them? What if Tia fell in love with him and he with her? The thought made Mae want to vomit all over Evan's shoes.

"Mae?" said Evan, giving her a worried look. "You're turning a little bit green."

She shook her head to clear it and forced a little smile. "I'm fine, I just –"

"You're jealous," he concluded, once more giving her that searching look.

Mae felt all of the blood drain from her face in horror. He couldn't know, she wasn't that obvious. Was she?

"No," she insisted immediately, and Evan crossed his arms over his chest, a small but triumphant smile on his face.

"You are!" he exclaimed, a full-on grin bursting across his features. "You actually fell for Charlie!"

Mae put her head in her hands, feeling a dark blush color her cheeks. "Don't scream it!" she hissed. "It's just a, a passing fancy. You know, nothing I won't get over in a week or so."

But Evan did not seem to be listening to her lies. "Emily and Vic owe me ten sickles each, and Troy owes me twenty!"

"You guys were betting on us?" Mae asked, her mouth open in disbelief.

"Betting on you," Evan corrected. "I mean, we all knew Charlie –"

He stopped abruptly and Mae felt as though an icy hand had clenched around her heart. "Charlie what?"

"Nothing," he told her far too quickly. "You know, I've just remembered that I have a book I have to return to the library. See you later, Mae."

And with that, he dashed back up to the castle.

Mae sighed and flung herself down at the water's edge, just as the giant squid appeared to bask in the afternoon sun.

"Hey, big guy," she said softly, rubbing one of his long tentacles. "I guess you don't know what Evan was talking about either. Charlie what? Did they know that he always liked me, or did they know he never could?"

The squid just blinked its age-old eye in a questioning sort of way and Mae let out a sigh, flopping onto her back in the grass.

"Boys stink," she said simply, summing up her problems in two little words as she blew blonde curls from her face. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Silver sitting with Evelyn under a willow tree. "They really stink," she amended, thinking of Roxanne. "Why can't they just see what's right in front of them and be happy with it?"

The squid let out a low groan and slid back beneath the rippling surface of the lake, leaving Mae to her confusing thoughts.


Oliver Wood woke up suddenly, moaning in pain. Alicia spun around from where she had been staring at her Charms text book for the past half hour.

"Merlin," he moaned, rubbing his ribs. "What happened?"

Alicia swung her legs off the bed so she could face him. "Charlie said you fell off your broom trying the Starfish and Stick," she explained to him. "He, Evan, and Chelsea brought you up here. I think you broke some bones, but Madam Pomfrey didn't seem too worried."

"I better not be out very long," he said miserably. "We have another match coming up, I can't be out of practice." He paused for a moment, before looking back at Alicia. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Alicia Spinnet," she told him, running a hand through her curly brown hair. "Mae Spinnet – the Head Girl – I'm her sister."

"Then you're in Gryffindor?"

"Yes," Alicia answered proudly.

"Are you any good at Quidditch?" Wood pressed on, looking eager at the thought of fresh blood once so many people on the team graduated.

Alicia felt herself blush. "I'm decent," she said with a shrug. I mean, I'm not –"

"She's a bloody brilliant Chaser," George cut her off, giving her a smile as he came around to sit beside her. "I'm George Weasley."

Wood nodded to him. "Please tell me you take after Charlie."

"Well, I'm no Seeker," said George, shaking his head. "But my brother Fred and I make a good Beater team."

"Excellent," Wood grinned. "We have a Chaser and both of our Beaters graduating next year. Are you planning on trying out?"

"Definitely," the two first years answered together.

"So what are you doing in here?" he asked them, and George and Alicia glanced at each other before launching into the tale once more.

When they finished, Wood was staring at them with a look torn between horror and being impressed.

"I can't believe you actually outsmarted a sphinx!" he exclaimed, his eyebrows so high that they disappeared beneath his golden brown hair.

Alicia and George glanced at each other and shared a grin.

"I wouldn't call it 'outsmarted' exactly," Alicia told Oliver.

"Yeah," George agreed. "'Outran' is more like it."

Olivier chuckled, but then winced, holding his ribs. "Merlin," he swore. "That must have been quite a fall."

"Chelsea said twenty to thirty feet," Alicia supplied conversationally, swinging her legs back and forth.

Wood grinned. "Are you always this observant?"

Alicia felt a blush find its way onto her face, and mentally slapped herself. What was the matter with her? She never blushed because of a boy, that was just ridiculous. "I don't know," she told him with a shrug, ignoring the amused look George was sending in her direction. "I guess so."

"And she clams up the instant anyone figures out a part of who she is," Wood muttered to himself, laying back on his bed and staring at the ceiling with a bitter look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Alicia demanded, now on the defensive as she crossed her arms across her chest and gave him her best cold stare.

"Nothing," Wood growled. "My first girlfriend – well, it's really none of your business."

"Girlfriend?" George asked. "How old are you, thirteen?"

"Fourteen, actually, as of last week."

"Huh," George sighed thoughtfully, loosing himself in his mind.

"What about her?" Alicia pressed on, determined to figure out what he had found that he thought was wrong with her.

"You just remind me of her, that's all," Wood explained, not meeting her eyes.

Alicia cocked an eyebrow, leaning forward on the edge of her bed. "Is that bad?"

Wood shrugged, wincing as he did so. "I don't know yet."

"Well, let me know when you figure it out," Alicia told him, still wanting to know what was the matter with her in the eyes of someone who hardly knew her.


Mae took a deep breath before approaching Charlie in the Common Room that night. He was sitting with Tia and a few members of the Quidditch team, so it took all of the courage the blonde possessed just to walk up to him at all.

"Erm, Charlie?" she asked timidly, cursing her voice for being so soft. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Charlie narrowed his eyes. "Well, I don't know. Are you here to yell at me again? Or to make fun of my girlfriend?"

"No," Mae insisted, inwardly flinching at his harsh tone of voice. "I just want to talk."

"Fine," Charlie answered, giving Tia a long kiss before hoisting himself to his feet and following Mae into an empty corner of the Common Room.

Mae closed her eyes briefly and willed herself to mean what she was about to say. "Charlie, listen, I'm sorry, okay? I said some really stupid things that I should never have even thought of saying. I mean, you're my best friend, right? I shouldn't freak out over who you want to date. But the thing is, I am your best friend, and so I care, all right? And maybe I haven't done the best job of showing that, but I guess I just care enough to get angry when I think you're doing something wrong, or bad for you. And I thought – based off her previous actions – that she was bad for you. But I never gave her a chance, so maybe I'm mistaken. I should have trusted you with your own heart. So I'm sorry."

Charlie chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement.

"What?" Mae asked, hoping that it was a good sign.

"Nothing," Charlie answered with a grin. "It's just that you have two completely different sides – one that fights like hell, and one that can be really, well, sweet. And I just don't think I've ever seen both in the same day."

Mae laughed lightly. "Does that mean we're okay, then?"

"Yeah," Charlie said quietly, squeezing her shoulder. "Earlier today, I didn't think that we would be able to take back the things we said so quickly, but if you're ready to forget, than so am I."

"I am," Mae told him with a small smile. "But I don't believe that you've taken anything back yet."

Charlie chuckled softly. "All of that stuff I told you – like that I felt sorry for any guy that fell for you, all of it – nothing was true. Any guy would be lucky to have a girl like you."

Mae blushed in spite of herself and squeezed Charlie's hand. "Thanks, Charlie. So, friends forever again?"

"And always," Charlie answered with a wink, before leading her back to sit with the others around the fire.


"What was that?" George asked as soon as Madam Pomfrey had given Wood a Sleeping Draught and he was out for a few hours.

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Blushing, not knowing what to say to him, the whole girly thing," explained George, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Alicia glared at him. "Shove off. It wasn't anything. You know I'm not girly."

"Well, you could have fooled me."

Alicia grabbed her pillow and threw it at him, hitting him full in the face. "If my back wasn't completely shredded, I'd tear you to pieces!"

"That's more like it," George grinned, throwing the pillow right back.


"What is she doing here?" Tia asked as Mae and Charlie sat on the sofa.

"Tia," Mae began, swallowing her anger and forcing a calm look to remain on her face. "I'm sorry about the way I acted. It wasn't fair to you. I mean, we've lived together for almost seven years now, but I never took the time to get to know you. So I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry for judging you. If Charlie sees something good in you… well, then I'll look for it as well."

The brunette looked taken aback, but smiled a little in spite of herself. "Thanks, Mae, erm, I guess."

Mae tried to smile at her, but all she could think of was Charlie and Tia in the broom cupboard together, and the memory made her blood boil.

"You know," she said, standing up suddenly. "We all know this is awkward, so I think I'll go to bed and we can work on this 'getting back to normal' thing in the morning."

Charlie gave her a worried look, but she winked at him and headed up the stairs. However, as soon as she entered her dormitory, she began punching her pillow as hard as she could.

"Ouch," said Victoria, emerging from the bathroom and towel drying her yellow blonde hair. "Remind me not to make you angry."

Mae grinned bashfully. "Sorry, Vic, it's just this whole thing with Charlie and Tia. I apologized to him tonight, you know, and he forgave me, but I don't know how I'm supposed to act like everything's all right around them. I mean, I've clearly demonstrated that everything is not all right."

Victoria plopped down on the bed next to her, pulling the pillow out of harm's way. "Here's the thing," she began. "Guys are idiots, every single one of them. They never actually think about which girl is good for their heart, they just think about what's easy and convenient. But you know what? They do get smarter. Maybe we can't see it yet, but eventually they're going to realize that what they want are girls that love them for who they are, girls that will be there through everything. We just have to give them time."

"Are you talking about Charlie or Evan?" Mae asked with a small smile.

Victoria grinned. "Both," she answered simply. "One of these days they're going to wake up and figure out what's missing from their lives, and then we won't be able to keep them away."

"Here's to hoping then," Mae told her with a wink. "Especially the hope that we don't give up on them by that point."

"We won't have," Victoria assured her with a sigh. "Every girl has that boy that no matter where they are or what they're doing, should that boy appear and tell her he loves her, she would drop it all just to be with him, every time."


Finally! A new chapter! Sorry it's been so long guys, but it's finally summer break so I can write more often now! Yay!

Also, I thought you might like to know that I am going to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. Basically, you write a fifty thousand (or more) word novel during November. It's going to be tons of fun and I am highly encouraging all of you to do it as well! If you're afraid or stuck or anything, PLEASE COME TO ME. I am more than happy to help you guys out with anything. (:

Oh, and I updated Raindrops, too, for those of you who read both!

PLEASE REVIEW!

Love Always,

Kayla

I'm afraid once your heart is involved, it all comes out in Moron.
- Gilmore Girls