A/N: I am incredibly nervous about posting this chapter, but you guys are awesome enough that I trust you not to chuck eggs at me for failing epically here. You have incredibly high standards for me and it's starting to get intimidating. But I do think this chapter is necessary for other stuff you'll see later. So be nice. Please?
And remember – this story is only 22 chapters including Epilogue. That's only eight more chapters left. Keep that in mind.
Special thanks to my girl Niki who read this for me and told it like it was. I love you, darling!
So, here this goes. And do your best to keep up in this emotional marshland, yeah?
Xx
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Sadie Clark
--
Tonight is a grand night, really; because tonight is Friday.
I am so glad for Fridays. We don't have classes tomorrow and I am ready for a break, a nice weekend for just me. Since the elimination was so emotional tonight and the competition is halfway over and the Marauders need some down-time too, the challenge has been put off to Sunday night. I am looking forward to some bonding time with Alicia, Lily, Alice, and Verity tonight and tomorrow. It's only us now, which is quite a scary thought.
After Lucille's elimination, we gather in the Room of Requirement. Lily, for whatever reason, runs in for a sweater and then runs out again without saying why, so it's only four of us sitting in a group. I am utterly enthralled by this.
Who knew I, of all these beautiful girls, would get so far?
I know I'm not exactly the most attractive girl in the bunch. Alicia is funnier and bouncier, Lily is prettier, Alice is sweeter, and Verity is more mysterious. I'm not sure where I fit in on this spectrum of extremes. The thought of me being on the same level as them is simply astounding, because even though I had a bad performance this time, they saw promise in me for the future. I don't want to let them down.
I really could win this competition if I try hard enough; and I think that would be absolutely and unbelievably fantastic.
Sitting here with these girls, smiling and being part of this group, it's one of the warmest sensations I've ever felt. It washes over me like a hot bubble bath and it's like I genuinely belong here, with them, joining in the fun and the conversation.
I am told by those closest to me that I can be shy and introverted, so for me to feel so accepted and comfortable is just short of a miracle.
Alicia is very excited about Lucille's elimination. Her eyes glitter and glow like dark diamonds, reflecting the light in the room, and she says, "So…dear Lucy has departed our presence this evening."
"That she has," says Alice, amused. "It was…quite an exit."
"It sure was," says Alicia, her voice deadly calm and solemn despite her wicked eyes. "But she's gone now. Gone."
"And how do you feel about that, Alicia?" I ask, giggling and playing along.
"I feel bloody wonderful!" Alicia bursts out happily, her joy somewhat comical in its authenticity. "This has to be one of the best days of my life! Lucille is gone!"
Alice and Verity crack smiles, but Alicia and I laugh together, finding the whole thing hysterical. As she wipes the tears brimming in her electric-blue eyes with hand, she uses her other to squeeze my knee, warm and friendly. I am inexplicably touched by this simple gesture.
In normal, everyday life around the castle, I don't think Alicia and I would ever become friends. She's too sparkly, too popular, too adventurous to notice someone like me in the back of the room, alternating between taking notes and daydreaming. She's one of those people that goes out and does whatever she wants to do while I simply doodle and think about it at night when I can't sleep. If it weren't for the Marauders and this game, I don't think I'd ever run in the same circle as her – and I'm grateful that I do.
Alicia is exciting. She's quirky and funny and she's particular about making sure she includes me in whatever mad conversation she indulges in. She's become my closest friend here and I appreciate her more than I can say.
Watching her now, laughing maniacally and cheerfully stating her delight about Lucille's exit, I can't believe someone like her enjoys being with someone like me.
When you put us two next to each other, Alicia is the firework with a myriad of color in the sky while I am just the water beneath her, elusive and colorless and weakly reflecting the vivid explosion above me.
&
On Saturday morning, when all of us are struggling to open our eyes at twelve in the afternoon, Alicia is already awake and bouncing around the room, leaping from bed to bed, shaking us girls. Lily came back after about a half hour of gossiping and went straight to sleep, not even talking to Alice, and she is particularly annoyed with Alicia's jumping, mumbling swear-words before turning over.
"C'mon, you lot, get up!" insists Alicia as she violently shakes me, making my eyes fly open in shock. Now I've got no choice but to sit up and watch. "Get up! It's already bloody noon!"
"So I'm guessing you're more of a morning person, Alicia?" This is Alice, sitting up in bed as well and rubbing her eyes, the sarcastic question punctuated by an enormous yawn.
"That I am," confirms Alicia proudly. "I love mornings."
"Lily hates them," says Alice. "I'd suggest you leave her well alone if you want to keep your head."
"You guys are ridiculous," announces Alicia. "Get up!" She gives Verity a shove now, making her groan and flail her arm out, hitting Alicia in the face with astonishing accuracy. Alicia curses, rubbing her nose, and glares at Verity briefly before plopping down on my bed next to me.
"I've got an idea, which is why I'm trying to get you up," she announces.
"What's your idea, Alicia?" I ask, honestly curious. Alicia's ideas are always fun and slightly insane.
Alice sighs and says, "Oh all right then. What's your idea, Alicia?"
"I think we ought to go to Hogsmeade and get pissed," she proclaims.
Alice blinks a few times. "Excuse me?"
"I think we ought to—"
"No, no, I heard you the first time," interrupts Alice. "I'm just wondering if you're bloody mad or something."
"I can be," she says, unabashed.
"Clearly." Alice rolls her eyes and says, "Alicia, it's noon. We haven't even had lunch yet – forget breakfast; we were too late for that. We are not going to go get pissed in Hogsmeade."
"Why not?" Alicia's eyes are so pretty and blue and demure when they look the way they do now. "I mean…we've got all the reason in the world to celebrate! It's nice outside, we've got a day off in Hogsmeade, we are the final five and Lucille's gone. We should go get pissed. Have a bit of fun. We can have a night out together and then go to the judging tomorrow fresh and relaxed."
Well, when she puts it like that, it actually sounds quite appealing. Letting loose and having a bit of fun as just us girls would be nice. I won't necessarily get pissed because I just don't do that, but a couple of drinks with friends won't kill me. I'm all for this plan.
"That sounds great," I say. "I think we ought to do it. What do you girls think?"
Alice sighs helplessly, knowing she's eventually going to be overruled anyway. "Erm…all right, if you're really that keen on it," she relents.
"Yay!" Alicia leaps forward and gives Alice a bone-crushing hug, which clearly surprises poor Alice, who isn't as accustomed to Alicia's particular type of affection. "What about the rest of you?"
Now she turns on Verity and Lily, who are still fast asleep in bed. She puts her hands on her hips, frowning slightly as she ponders what to do next. She then turns on Alice, who is fixing her mussed hair.
"Hey, do you think Lily would want to come along with us to Hogsmeade tonight?" she asks.
"Erm…I could probably convince her to get a few drinks," says Alice.
"That would be wonderful," Alicia says sincerely. "I really hope she can make it."
Alice is still the tiniest bit skeptical about this statement, but I'm not. She won't ever say it directly, but Alicia is quite fond of Lily. I don't know what it is, but Alicia finds her enthralling and very interesting. She talks about Lily all the time – how well she's been doing lately, how amusingly sarcastic she is, her whole situation with James. I think Alicia would call the whole plan off if Lily didn't come along tonight.
However, Lily isn't on Alicia's mind at the moment as she looks at Verity, frowning again, deep in thought.
"Do you think Verity would want to come?" she wonders aloud. "What does she qualify as a fun evening?"
Truthfully, none of us are quite sure if Verity would see this as a good thing or a bad thing. Verity is a very passive individual, not really putting forth an effort to make friends here, so it's impossible to say if she'd enjoy going to the bar.
"You could ask her when she wakes up," I suggest to Alicia. "She should be up soon, I would imagine."
Alicia sighs, finally giving up. "All right," she allows. "I'll ask her later then. And Alice, can you be a dear and make sure Lily's good with it too?"
"Sure, Alicia." I catch the sarcasm in Alice's tone, but I'm not sure Alicia does.
"Great!" Alicia's smile is very wide. "So…I'm off to lunch then and I'd say we should meet up at the Hog's Head at around six. Does that sound good?"
"Why the Hog's Head?" I ask.
"Because I'm friends with the bar-man," says Alicia with a sneaky grin. "He's a fairly recent graduate of Hogwarts himself and doesn't mind handing out firewhiskey to under-age students. And he owes me a favor."
Alice and I exchange a look and it's clear that no one wants to know what kind of a favor the poor barman owes Alicia, but this explanation is plausible enough and I nod.
"All right, that sounds like a plan," I say. "Hog's Head, six o'clock?"
"That's right!" Alicia gives me a thumb's up and retreats with her things to the bathroom, whistling a little tune as she goes.
I shake my head and yawn, beginning to make my bed.
It's going to be a long night.
&
For my afternoon off, I decide to retreat into the Gryffindor common room to do homework and lounge about the fire with my best friend in the world, Evelyn. I see her in class each day, but we haven't had the opportunity to really talk in a while, because I'm always doing something for the competition. The moment we sit down together, Evie wants to know everything about it as we slowly work through the pile of homework neither of us wants to do.
As much as I adore Alicia, being with Evie again brings me more happiness than anything or anyone else has in a long time. We spend a lovely six hours in the other's company before I tell her I need to go to Hogsmeade. She comes with me to take a browse in Honeydukes and we part ways so I can go to the Hog's Head to meet Alicia.
When I get there, Alicia's ready and waiting with Alice, Lily, and Verity already in tow. It turns out Verity is content with coming to the bar for a few drinks – she's sipping slowly at her smoldering firewhiskey as Alicia drinks hers in gulps. Alice and Lily haven't had anything to drink yet.
"Hey," I say, beaming as I come in and sit down next to Alicia. "How are you lot?"
"Fine," says Alicia airily before anyone can answer. "Want a drink?"
"Erm…all right, why not?" I've never had firewhiskey before, but I've always wondered what it tasted like. I'm not much of a drinker, myself.
Grinning, Alicia waves down the barman (who is suspiciously cute) and he gets me a drink. I reach into my pocket to get some money, but Alicia puts her hand on mine and says, "Don't worry about it. Tonight's on me."
To the barman, she says, "Put it on my tab, Ernie. And by that, I mean don't you dare charge me or I'll have your arse."
Ernie sighs. "Whatever you want, Miss Harrison," he mumbles in a strong Cockney accent.
"Thanks, Ernie, you're a real pet," says Alicia serenely, cheekily.
Ernie contents himself with a rude hand gesture in Alicia's direction, but Alicia only laughs and turns back to us girls, her eyes brighter than ever. I smile appreciatively and take a cautious sip of my drink. It's hot (duh) but it's very bubbly, very light. I really like it. Enthusiastic, I take another sip and Alicia is excited to see me enjoying it. She takes a few more gulps herself as Alice, Lily and Verity take a few polite sips as well.
Then, with mischief in her eyes, Alicia polishes off the last of her drink and asks, "So…are you ready to kick it up a notch?"
&
In Alicia-land, kicking it up a notch is definitely not the demure phrase it appears to be on first encounter.
Basically, with her, that's the cue to start going all-out.
Being silly and cowardly myself, I can't possibly take down a lot of firewhiskey. I stop after about three glasses, which keeps me quite sober, but I can't really say the same for the rest of the girls. They are considerably less inhibited than I am.
Alicia, being Alicia, downs plenty of firewhiskey, becoming swiftly and heavily inebriated, to the point where she's giggling and flirting outrageously with Ernie, who is clearly used to this behavior because of his job at a bar.
Alice follows this example, downing several herself and becoming quite tipsy and red in the face, laughing at everyone and burping and having a hard time keeping herself upright.
Lily is more like Alicia than Alice, becoming far more open and susceptible to uncontrollable laughter. She is constantly poking Alice, who has tears streaming down her face with mirth, and the two of them are a sight to see – a drunk one.
Verity, surprisingly enough, is tipsier than all of them, even Alicia. She is stumbling around like nothing I've ever seen before, falling flat on her bum several times. Her shirt is jostled so much in this process that it comes to expose more of her cleavage than should be revealed in front of a crowd of drunk men. At the moment, she's snogging outrageously with a guy I vaguely recognize as a Gryffindor seventh year and she's far more rambunctious than she would ever let on to us.
In a way, I'm kind of glad Verity's higher than a kite right now – it's a chance to see a different side of her. That girl is far too quiet. She makes me look like a chatterbox.
But, since I'm the only one with my brain intact and I can see it's coming perilously close to nine o'clock, I try to convince the girls to come back to the castle with me. We have to be in our common rooms soon if we don't want to get detention and I am not about to break my very clean record tonight.
However, the problem of getting four extremely drunk individuals to listen to reason is far easier said than done.
"Alicia, come on, please come with me," I plead, tugging helplessly at Alicia's hand. "Really, we've got to go now. Come along."
"Why are you so fucking pushy, Stacy?" Alicia slurs, giggling stupidly. "I don't wanna come, I don't wanna. Don't make me."
"Alicia," I complain, tugging a little more insistently. "C'mon, darling, come along. Please."
"Make me." Alicia grins and tries to stand up, but immediately topples over, her weight landing on me and tripping us both over to the floor. Surprised, I am hit with Alicia's warm, flushed skin on mine, her breasts pushing into my gut. It takes all the strength I have in me to lift her up and get myself up as well, wrapping her arm around my neck so I can have some semblance of control over her. She has lost all desire for independent movement, relying on me with her legs limp all over the floor.
"Weeee!" she chuckles as she falls to the ground again, resting against the cold floor and rolling about.
Sighing sharply with frustration at the fact that I am now supposed to play mother (which I am horrible at), I give up on Alicia and let her lick the filthy ground with her tongue, moving instead to Lily, who is drunkenly flirting with some other guy in the corner.
"Lily, c'mon, it's time to go," I say, hoping I sound authoritative enough.
"No, Mum, let me stay here a little while longer," whines Lily, giving me a pathetic look as she wraps her arms protectively around the guy next to her, much to his pleasure.
"No, Lily," I say sternly. "Time to go now."
"But Mum!" she wails.
"Now!" I snap. I'm actually quite surprised at my tone, but it seems to work; sighing resignedly, Lily gives the guy's ear a final slobbery nibble and she stumbles away with me, bemused and disoriented.
One down, three more to go.
I decide to tackle Alice next. She's busy taking shots of whiskey with a bunch of middle-aged wizards egging her on, taking liquor with lemons, with hot sauce, with ketchup. Anything they can get their hands on. Alice is obliging, lifting up her skirt to show off her long legs and downing drinks as commanded. I come right up to her and try the same tactic that had worked for Lily.
"Alice, it's time to go," I command.
"Hell no!" Alice's voice is high, squeaky, and she tilts her head back to enjoy the drink now dripping down her throat. "I like it here."
"Oi, girlie," a horse-faced individual croaks from the side, "I dare you to take five o' them shots in under a minute!"
"You're on!" Alice grins a wolf's grin and I am suddenly hit with inspiration.
"Hey Alice," I say, "I dare you to stop drinking. I dare you to resist here and come back with me."
"What's my prize?" Alice wants to know.
"Er…what do you want?" I ask, thinking fast.
"I dunno. Money. Fifty galleons," says Alice.
"Sounds good," I say, praying Alice won't remember this tomorrow morning. "Fifty galleons if you'll come back with me right now."
"Deal!" Alice stumbles down from her stool and, much to the dismay of her gaggle of admirers, she steadies herself clumsily, hanging onto me for support. She and Lily now begin conversing in drunken titters, but thankfully following along with me.
Two down, two to go.
My choices now are between Alicia, who is still rolling on the floor, giggling weakly, and Verity, whose mouth is infused with some idiot's in the corner of the bar. I choose Alicia, kicking her until she acquiesces to my demand to come along; and armed with these three tipsy girls, I make my way to Verity.
"OI! VERITY!" I holler.
It takes Verity about thirty extra seconds to hear me and disentangle herself from the guy she's snogging, her lipstick smeared and her shirt more jostled than it perhaps should be.
"Huh?" she asks, her eyes blank and unfocused.
"Verity, it's time to go, darling," I coax. "Come on. Can you come with me?"
"But…he's yummy," Verity informs me, wide-eyed and innocent. "Very yummy, Soddy. I want him."
"I like 'er," the guy says foolishly. "Can I have her? Please?"
"No," I snap. Then I go back to being honey-sweet as I say, "Verity, love, there are other yummy boys for you at the castle."
"Some very yummy ones!" Alicia interjects, raising her hand as though she's voting. "They're so yummy that you just…you wanna fucking gobble them up."
"That yummy?!" Verity is excited by this prospect. Being the only sober one here, I am forced to conclude that drunk people speak the same strange language that the rest of us are oblivious to – because as Alicia blithers on ridiculously about yummy Hogwarts boys, Verity grins and joins our group quite easily.
Four out of four have been retrieved. Mission accomplished.
With four girls of varying (and high) inebriation hanging onto me, I slowly make my way out of the Hog's Head. Ernie gives me a dry wave good-bye, but I ignore him. To be frank, I feel like the mother of rambunctious quadruplets. They are singing and whistling and saying nonsense while laughing hysterically about it all – it's mind-boggling. I can barely control them. It takes a lot of kicking and pleading and promising of yummy boys to get them to go where I want them to go.
I feel like a complete idiot.
As I drag the girls along though, their random, scattered conversation turns (inevitably) to romance. I tense up, keeping myself on high alert, because this can never be a good conversation to circulate among girls who are high like helium balloons.
"I love love," proclaims Lily in a loud slur. "You know, I really, really do. I love it. I love snogging boys and having them touch me."
"It's wonderful," Alice agrees, "but I don't have a fucking boyfriend yet. Damnit. Damn that Frank Longbottom. He's so delicious. I want him."
"You know what you ought to do, Alice?" Verity suddenly declares.
"Wha' should I do?" Alice wants to know.
"You ought to go up to that boy, and you ought to give him a big motherfucking snog, right against the wall in the middle of the corridor," says Verity. "Show 'im you're worth it."
"Yeah," says Alice fiercely. "Yeah, you're abso-fucking-lutely right, Verity. I ought to do that. Right now, in fact."
"No, no, no," I cut in at once, alarmed. "Maybe…maybe tomorrow. So you have a fresh start, you know?"
"T-That's a good point," Alice decides.
"Thank Merlin," I mutter.
"I hate being in love, me," Alicia now declares. "It's…it's bloody fucking stupid. Boys let you down. They, like, pretend to love you and then they don't. And they go away and you feel sad and alone. I don't want a boyfriend."
"I love boyfriends," says Verity with a dreamy smile on her face.
"I love 'em too," says Lily.
"I don't," Alicia says stubbornly. "I hate boys."
"So maybe you should date girls," suggests Verity.
"Yeah…yeah, maybe I should," Alicia agrees vacantly. "It would be far more better. Girls are easy. And they're sexy." She draws this last word out so we can all hear it loud and clear.
"Girls are pretty damn sexy," agrees Alice. "I mean…I know I am. I'm very sexy."
"That you are." Alicia grins lopsidedly and licks her lips, making Alice shriek with laughter. I groan.
"Thank you, Alicia," I say.
"No problem, Sookee," says Alicia, nodding solemnly and petting my shoulder with big, exaggerated flapping motions. "You know, you're pretty sexy too. You've got curves."
"…Thank you," I repeat.
Alicia giggles and buries her face in my hair, sniffing it deeply. "You smell sexy too," she marvels.
"Hey, Leesha," Lily calls out, "if you could date one of us, who would you date?"
"Mmmm…" Alicia resurfaces from my hair. "Probably Sookee or you. You with the red hair."
"I'm Leely," says Lily, laughing quite a silly laugh.
"Sookee or Leely, then," says Alicia. "But prob'ly Leely. You're so sexy, Leely…"
Now she stumbles away from me and slips her arm around Lily's waist, cuddling up against her and teetering the two of them as though they're on unicycles or something. Normally, Lily would probably swat Alicia away and kick her or something, but with her current condition, she accepts Alicia's weight and cuddles back.
Then –
"Merlin, Leesha, you ought to snog Leely!" Verity shouts as though she's enlightened or something.
"Nah, I don't want to snog her," says Alicia.
"No, no, she doesn't," I say, alarmed all over again. "Verity, no one's snogging anyone, please."
"Oi, why can't she snog me?" Lily demands with a drunken shaking of her loose fist. "She said I was sexy."
"Because…we ought to wait until we get in the castle," I invent. "Then maybe you can snog in the morning. Because right now, it's bedtime."
"Snog 'er!" hollers Verity. "I dare you!"
These are the words that do Alicia in completely. She's always a sucker for a good dare, even when she's on firewhiskey. From the look in her eyes, I can tell there's going to be no stopping her now. She's going to snog Lily and I can't do a thing about it.
"Okay," she says. "I'mma gonna snog you, Leely."
"Go on, then," taunts Lily, stopping dead in her tracks and stumbling just a little to stay straight. "Snog me."
With surprising force, Alicia charges right up at Lily and (Merlin help us all), snogs her full on the mouth.
I bury my face in my hands, refusing to look at this. Oh no.
Verity and Alice are enthralled by this display, whooping and cheering, and when I surface, I see that this dare is going a long way. Oh no.
After about twenty seconds, Alicia and Lily disentangle and they grin widely at each other. Holding hands, they give us a sloppy bow before continuing on our slapdash path. Verity is the most excited at the moment.
"Oh Merlin!" she says. "Are you gonna date Leely?"
"No," they say together.
"I don't want to date anyone," says Alicia.
"'M more interested in guys, myself," says Lily.
"Okay!" I say. "No more snogging each other, all right? This is getting out of hand. Let's just go back to the castle and…and we can play a game."
"What game?" Alice instantly wants to know.
"Sleeping Beauty," I say. "The first person to go to sleep will get a special, secret prize in the morning, all right?"
"Yay!" Alicia claps so hard she knocks Lily totally off-balance. "That's so great! I'm gonna win, you fudge-heads. Watch it."
"No way!" This is Verity, who is pink and competitive as hell at the moment. "I wanna win!"
"Let's go upstairs to our room and we can play!" I encourage. "Come along! Follow me, or you're already out of the running!"
These are the magic words. The idea of losing a game if they don't follow my instructions is enough to motivate them. Mercifully, I break into a sprint and guide the girls upstairs to the Room of Requirement. It's just a miracle that it's barely nine and the patrol-vultures aren't out and about yet. We practically fly to the Room of Requirement and once I get them in there, they crash on their beds and finally, everything is quiet. Thank Merlin, too, because I've got a wicked headache now.
And I've learned quite a valuable lesson in the midst of this whole mess:
If Alicia ever wants to go drinking again, I am not going.
Never, ever again.
&
By morning, I am disgruntled and cranky. Hardly surprising, considering I spent much of my night waking up to the wonderful sounds of Alicia and Verity puking. I awaken at sunrise for good and I can't get back to sleep despite desperately wanting to, which leaves me no option but to read a book until it's time for breakfast.
So much for a nice weekend off.
Even though I wasn't drinking much, I feel tender and rather irked. My headache is still lingering in the back of my head like I'm being hit with a dull hammer over and over again. I am not in the mood to do anything. Thankfully, we don't have classes today – I don't think I could take it.
The girls are all fast asleep when I leave to eat, but by the time I return, they are all wide-awake. I am the only one fully dressed, with the rest of them in the clothes they slept in last night. The room feels small with its window hosting a steady stream of musty golden sunlight. However, I can't help but scowl when I arrive after nibbling at some toast and jam.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauties," I gripe.
"G-G-Good morning, Sadie," says Alicia through a yawn. "Blimey, I feel bloody dreadful."
"You're not the only one," I say.
"I can't remember much about last night," groans Lily. "Just…images. Flashes."
"I can't remember anything at all," admits Verity, going as pink as she had been last night, bringing back some painful memories.
"That's just as well – I think you were the drunkest of the lot, Verity," I say. "You surprised us all. At least, you surprised me."
Verity sighs, deflating. "Bad things happen when I go drinking," she admits as though this is a huge secret.
"Bad things happen when anyone drinks," says Alicia. "I'm sure I was being a bloody idiot out there last night."
"No, you don't understand," says Verity, strangely moody. She hesitates a second, and then says in a muted sort of whisper, "I…if you want the truth, I was a bit of an alcoholic until last year. It was bad – awful, actually. I thought I'd cleaned up my act and could take a couple of drinks…but I couldn't. My behavior must have been inexcusable. I'm sorry."
Something about the nature of her statement and the way she delivers it softens me down inexplicably. I feel sorry too. I'm no longer annoyed about her tonsil-hockey-persona making an appearance last night.
"I didn't know that," I say softly. "Otherwise, I would have tried harder to stop you."
"I'm so sorry, Verity," says Alicia, more genuine in this raw morning light than I've ever seen her, coming out of her rumpled bed-sheets to give Verity a real hug.
Lily and Alice are more passive listeners rather than overt huggers like Alicia, but they too are a lot softer as we sit in silence as five friends, taking in the unexpected vulnerability of another. I chew on my lip, looking around at their faces, so contemplative with the morning light hitting them just right.
They feel realer to me here. They aren't just my competition in a silly game the Marauders invented for their own entertainment. They're girls, students here. They're people. I don't know what about this atmosphere strikes me so, but it's stripped down, snug and intimate.
"It was…not a good night for any of us yesterday," I say eventually.
"Weren't you the only one who didn't get completely smashed?" asks Alicia.
"Yeah," I say. "I had to baby-sit the lot of you. Not easy."
"Sweet Merlin," moans Alicia, her face in her palms, regret in her tone. "Sadie, can you tell us what was going on? Please?"
The four girls look to me now, anxious, and I feel like I owe them the truth, but not the whole thing. It's too painful in entirety. To protect them, I decide I'll give them the quick version. I take a breath.
"Well…all of you were flirting with whoever happened to be nearby," I say in a rush. "Then, on the way back, Verity dared Alicia to snog Lily. And…she did."
It takes everything I've got in me to look Alicia and Lily in the eye and I am quite sorry I have to – they are wide-eyed, horrified. Alicia goes from normal, to pink, to red, to pale, and to purple, all in the space of five seconds. Lily's face goes right into her hands. Alice's jaw drops, as does Verity's.
"I did?" Alicia's voice is shaky. "Was it…how was it?"
"Long," I confess. "Involved. Maybe thirty seconds."
Lily hasn't resurfaced. Verity and Alice look on with worry and Alicia is panicked. She's terrified. I bite my lips and I cross the room to sit by Alicia, taking her in my arms and holding her close. She doesn't fight me, resting her soft, short hair against my collarbone, and I feel like her mother all over again. She quivers ever so slightly here, next to me.
"I'm sorry, Lily," she says after a few seconds of silence. Then, without warning, she disappears out of the room. Nothing said, nothing explained – she just leaves. Only when she's gone does Lily look up, a blotchy, embarrassed pink.
"I snogged Alicia?" she asks, thunderstruck.
"I think I vaguely remember it," says Alice, looking almost as thunderstruck as Lily. "I think she…like, she jumped on you."
"You were drunk," I try to defend. "Y-You didn't know what you were doing. It was an accident, a mistake. You and Alicia have to realize that–"
"I do realize that," interrupts Lily. "But she kissed me when we were both vulnerable. What does that say about her? And me?"
Alice opens her mouth to say something, anything, that will soothe her best friend, but the words never come. Lily bites her lip and then disappears as suddenly as Alicia did, her ears about as red as her hair. She doesn't come back.
Now, it's only me, Alice and Verity left in the Room of Requirement together. The sunshine from outside is still here, reflecting as it had before, but now it feels empty, bittersweet, since two of our most vibrant companions are out of the room. I sigh, looking sideways at Alice, then Verity, then back to Alice. I think we're pretty much done here.
"Right," I say slowly. "So, d'you two want some breakfast?"
"Didn't you already eat?" asks Verity.
"Yes, but I didn't eat much," I clarify. "I don't mind going with you."
"That would be nice," says Alice, smiling slightly. Somehow, it strikes me just this minute that this is one of precious few times I've ever spoken to Alice on her own without Lily there. I kind of like that. I smile.
"All right," I say. "Let's go get some breakfast."
And, since they are adequately dressed already, the three of us walk together to the Great Hall for a Sunday morning breakfast with very few cares in the world at all.
&
After breakfast, we go our separate ways again. Alice goes to hunt down Lily and Verity goes to visit her friends in the Ravenclaw common room, while I go back to talk to Evelyn. I have a lot to fill her in on and I spend much of the day doing that, lounging about by the fire and roasting whatever we can get our hands on – parchment, old quills. She is shocked and delighted in all the right places and reminds me just how much I adore her.
By the evening, I am ready for the next challenge, all rested and relaxed after last night. I took a bit of a power-nap for an hour beforehand (finally) and I feel great. I head to the Room of Requirement at seven, as we had been told, and I find that Verity is the only one there so far.
"Hey," I say to her.
"Hey," she says.
Looking at her slender build, her beautiful eyes, her sweet face, I almost want to say something to her about what she told us in the morning, but then I decide against it. I keep my mouth shut. I find that with Verity, it's easier to share silences than it is to share words – because Verity has a kind of wisdom that doesn't need sound to make it come alive.
Eventually, Lily and Alice arrive together. Lily looks a bit tired and wan, but they both look generally all right with very few hints at what went down at the Hog's Head last night. They smile and say hello, but the atmosphere is not as intimate as it was earlier today. It's a little more passive, slightly embarrassed. I hope it'll subside when the Marauders get here.
Alicia doesn't show up for a while – she comes in several minutes later, out of breath and exhausted, looking particularly small and thin, somehow. Her bright blue eyes are the only vivid color on her today – which is strange, because Alicia usually dresses quite vibrantly. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that I am the only one who notices this.
"Hey, am I late?" she asks. Her voice is also thinner than normal.
"No," I say. "The Marauders aren't here yet."
"Thank goodness," she says.
"Where were you?" I ask out of curiosity.
Alicia blinks. "…Nowhere."
I'm not going to get a better answer than this and I know it. "Okay," I say.
I can sense the gratefulness in Alicia's tone as she sighs and leans against the wall, relieved. I notice that she stands as far away from Lily as possible and Lily avoids Alicia's eyes as determinedly as she can. She is talking in murmurs to Alice, who is looking somewhat distressed.
However, I don't have too much time to ponder this one, because at this specific moment, the Marauders arrive, all four of them, and Sirius chirps his favorite greeting, "Hello, ladies! How goes it?"
What a terrible question to ask today.
We girls exchange split-second glances before I clear my throat and say, "We're fine."
Sirius looks surprised at me. "Sadie," he says. "You're talking. What brought this on?"
"Don't be mean, Sirius, I do talk," I say.
"Yeah, but not often." Sirius smiles, impressed. "But hey. I like this."
I roll my eyes at him and James laughs. "All right!" says James. "Well, we decided to give you girls a day off yesterday, so I hope you're feeling fresh and ready for tonight's challenge. It'll involve a lot of freshness."
Instinctively, I glance at Alicia. She is looking slightly manic today, far too tiny and exhausted and worn-down. She is not fresh today – she is burned out. I hope this doesn't spell the end for her.
"So what's the challenge?" asks Alice.
"The challenge today is…" James gives us a drum-roll on his legs and points at Peter, who says, "Walking!"
My eyebrow arches up and I know it's not the only one to do so. Walking?
"You know, like runway walking," says Peter, slightly upset that we don't understand this very basic concept. "You're basically going to be walking a little runway for us in one of our unused classrooms."
"We were getting it ready before we got here," says Remus. "Unfortunately, my friends are lazy bastards that only realize this ten minutes before we're supposed to meet you here – which is why we're always late."
"Oi, you're the lazy bastard who rarely shows up at the challenges!" Sirius retorts, stung.
"Because I actually have an excuse," Remus reminds him. "Now stop wasting time with an argument you're not going to win and tell the girls about your latest harebrained scheme."
Sirius gives Remus a very sour look and says, "Clearly, Sadie isn't the only quiet one we're having speak up…but anyway! You're in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom today, which is always empty, so you can get dressed. The third year girls are already waiting for you there with dresses and make-up. Once you're done there, I believe Penny is the one who's going to bring you all to the classroom where you will be giving us your fiercest runway walk."
"Your main objectives here are to, essentially, mesmerize us," says Peter. "Keep it strong and confident. Show us that you think you're worth it."
"We'll be waiting for you in our room – when you approach, get in a line and walk in one at a time like a real fashion show," says James, smiling. "So I believe you all know where Myrtle's humble abode is. She knows you're coming. We'll see you in a bit!"
The boys wave to us and depart. The moment their backs are to us, Sirius and Remus can be seen bickering again, presumably about Remus's remark about Sirius being a lazy bastard. We girls turn to look at each other, slightly perplexed.
"So…should we go now?" asks Alice.
"I think we should," says Verity. "Let's just hope Myrtle isn't in a flooding-the-bathroom-and-screaming type of a mood."
This sounds like a plan; so in silence, we five girls cross the various corridors to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
&
The first thing a person notices as they step inside the bathroom is that it smells revolting.
The water is not exactly the cleanest water in the world because this is a bathroom that everyone – including the faculty – has given up on using. Myrtle's less-than-hospitable habits (which include splashing people to oblivion) have made it into a bit of a hazard-zone. Years of decay and lack of cleaning has taken its toll and all of us wrinkle our noses on the way in.
When we see the third-year girls standing in wait, they have a Bubble-Head Charm applied to them and they're quite disgruntled. I have to work quite hard not to laugh on first sight.
"Finally, you're here," mutters Sara. "It's bloody awful in here."
"We had to beg Sirius for this charm," Penny informs us. "I hope you're happy."
We blink and exchange looks, but we don't say anything. That Penny can be quite a scary one sometimes.
"Anyway," says Penny quite bossily, "we've convinced Myrtle to please go visit the Black Lake for a little while so we can get this whole thing over and done with. There are five stalls for each of you, but only four of us, so one of you will have to wait. We have your names on the stall with your dress in it. Wear the dress and wait for us to come do hair and make-up. Got it?"
"Erm…yes?" Alice is not enjoying Penny's authority in the least – and from the thunderous expression on Verity's face, neither is she.
"Good," says Penny. "Go on, then." She points at the stalls.
I approach the stalls and find the one with my name, Sadie, on the end. I go inside, trying my best to ignore the musty stench in here, and find that the Marauders have left me a very pretty olive-colored dress (presumably to match my eyes) – it's short and strapless with a black sash in the middle. They also left me strappy green heels that match exactly. I'm on the shorter side of life, as the Marauders fully well know, so I suppose this is supposed to make me look taller. Happily, I put it on and I wonder what the other girls are going to be wearing. I sincerely hope they don't upstage me with their goddess-like beauty.
I wear the dress and stand there like an idiot, waiting for a thirteen-year-old girl to come and fix my appearance. After a few minutes, tiny Bella – who is even shorter than Alicia – comes knocking shyly on my door. I open it for her.
"Wow," says Bella, breathless. "You look gorgeous, Sadie."
"Thanks," I say, blushing.
"All of you are gorgeous, you know," she says conversationally as she pulls out a hairbrush and stands on the toilet seat to reach my head. "I was working on another girl before you – she was the very tall, quiet one – and she's just amazing."
"Verity?" I guess.
"Yes, Verity," says Bella. "She's beautiful. She has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen in my life – they have gray flecks in them, you know."
"Do they?" I'd never noticed.
"I was looking at them when I put on her mascara," says Bella, tying my hair up into what feels like a very elegant bun. "She has nice lips, too."
I nod slightly, but not too much, because she's in the process of pinning my hair. Then I ask her since I'm damn curious, "So…how do you know how to do all this stuff? Why are you helping the Marauders?"
Bella chuckles. "Oh, I dunno," she says, starting to rather enjoy this conversation. "Sara is one of my closest friends and when Sirius approached her, I somehow got involved too. But I don't mind it – really, I don't. I want to be a cosmetician when I'm older. I just love doing things like this. I figured it would be good practice if I tried it out now."
"That's cool," I say honestly.
Bella smiles and turns me around so she can put on my make-up. She tells me to close my eyes and stop talking, so I do, and I feel her gently rubbing products on my face. She has a very patient style of application, going slow and steady. I'm sure I'll look nice under her care. She doesn't put too much on, since she's only at it for a minute or two, and then she tells me I'm done.
"I didn't want to overdo the make-up," she says when I tell her my observation. "You're naturally a beautiful girl, so all I had to do was bring out the green in your eyes, the blush in your cheeks. Luckily, you don't need too much extra. I think you'll like the look."
I thank Bella and step outside, clumsy in my heels, and try to catch a glimpse of myself in the cloudy, cracked mirror. I can't, so I go back to my stall and look at myself in the toilet water (blegh). But Bella's right – the smallest amount of make-up makes me look like a different person already. Could this really be me?
It turns out I am the first one done, so I linger outside until the rest of the girls come out of their stalls. Alicia is the next one after me, and she is wearing a funky asymmetrical dress with one shoulder strap. It stops about mid-thigh and she's got heels as high as mine to make up for the extra needed height. Her make-up is beautiful, but there's something off about Alicia tonight.
There's normally so much spark, such a glow, around her – and now that it's not here, I feel like I'm looking at a different, sadder girl.
"Hey, Alicia," I say cautiously. "You look lovely."
"Thanks," she says. "So do you, Sadie."
I give her a small smile and, looking at her standing there, I almost go over to her and cuddle her like I had this morning. She looks about ten years younger than me, petite and frail enough to be knocked over by the first gust of wind strong enough, and I want to protect her. She's been off lately.
But before I can act on any of these emotions, Lily steps out of her stall, wearing a fantastic, form-fitting maroon dress and matching sandals. She's stunning, just stunning, in her attire, her green eyes somehow even more vivid when contrasted with the red.
She smiles at me, but the moment she sees Alicia, she chews on her maroon lip and averts her gaze to the floor. If it's possible, Alicia wilts even more, and steps off to the other side of the bathroom.
Me? I find this ridiculous.
I feel the need to do something about this, I really do. I mean, these are two amazing people that should be above this by now. Of course it's awkward, but I think it's time for them to just finish this strangeness between them before it hurts them.
Normally, I would not act on this impulse, but today, I am different than I was yesterday, or two days ago. I have extremely vivid memories of having to take care of these girls yesterday – and if I was there for them then, I should be there for them now.
So I walk towards them, gently bringing them toward each other, their eyes averting to the floor instead of at each other.
"This isn't right, Lily, Alicia," I tell the two of them. "It was one drunken snog on a Saturday night. You didn't mean it. Can you possibly just get over it instead of dragging it out unnecessarily?"
The girls now begin to shyly look at each other – hesitant, nervous. I stand beside them with my hands on both their shoulders, waiting as well.
Then –
"Look, Lils, I'm incredibly sorry," says Alicia. "I am a horrible drunk and it was irresponsible of me to drink so much yesterday."
"I'm sorry too," Lily says. "I…I'm pretty much the same way. There's a reason I don't go out for drinks very often."
"I didn't mean it," says Alicia. "Sadie's right, this is getting out-of-hand. I know it was awkward and it won't happen again, no matter how much whiskey I've got in my system."
"Same for me," says Lily. "You're…you're completely in the clear. It was unfair of me to add unnecessary guilt on you."
"I am fond of you," admits Alicia, astounding me, "just…not in that way."
Lily cracks a wry smile. "Same back at you."
And, to my utter delight, they both hug – genuinely, closely – and smile it out. At once, the presence of a smile does wonders for Alicia's haggard appearance; she's a little brighter, some of the perkiness she possesses in such vast quantities coming back to her eyes. I beam at the progress – proud that they could figure it out, proud that I was the one who made it happen.
"Well done," I say. "I'm glad that's behind us now."
"No more drinking as a group," says Alicia with a giggle.
"Damn right." Lily laughs. "Merlin…we must have been awful to you, Sadie. Sorry."
"It's fine…sort of," I say, giving her a poke in the arm. "But don't expect me to go drinking with you again, Alicia. Ever."
"Done." Alicia gives me another one of her sincere, earnest smiles.
Now, as the conversation turns to what we're going to do about this latest Marauder challenge, Verity and Alice emerge from the stalls. Verity looks flawless, regal, in her short, navy halter dress and Alice looks amazing in a dress somewhat similar to mine, but in a different color (purple) and some different styling. My jaw drops just the slightest bit before I can correct it. Lily squeals with excitement.
"Alice! You sex monster!" she shouts, coming forward to give Alice an enormous, rib-crushing hug. "You look bloody fantastic!"
"Thanks, love," says Alice with a grin, blushing significantly and smoothing her dress over. "It's rather a nice outfit. How much do you want to bet that Remus got to pick dresses this time?"
"I think the length was Sirius's idea," says Alicia. "In case you haven't noticed, our legs are all bare."
"All right, girls, come along," says Penny in a loud voice, hailing us as though we're twenty miles away and incapable of seeing or hearing her. "It's time for you to do your walk for the Marauders!"
"Sheesh, we're coming, Penny," grouches Lily. "We're not bloody hearing impaired. You can lower your voice."
Penny huffs forward, reminding me irresistibly of Lucille, and leads us in a fast walk to the classroom the Marauders are in. This is no easy task, since Alicia and I are wearing massive heels, but we get in the best we can under the circumstances, clunking along behind Penny and praying we don't twist an ankle.
We arrive fairly quickly to the classroom and Penny pokes her head inside to tell the boys we're here. Then she herds us into a line with me at the front and says, "They're ready for you. Don't screw this up."
So much for words of encouragement.
I take a deep breath and relax myself, since I am the one to kick this whole thing off. It only takes me a few seconds, but I feel much, much better. Then I open the door and walk in.
I do my best to stay tall with good posture, because that's a sure sign of confidence. I forget who told me that. The path they have created for us is loopy and my heels are killing me, but I look straight ahead instead of at the Marauders, who are watching and whooping from their respective corners. But I do try to be a little bit of fun with this too, smiling slightly and having some bounce in my step. It gets easier with every step I take.
The Marauders are definitely enjoying this, watching us all parade around the classroom for them. I don't know how the girls behind me do, but the boys' cheering doesn't stop for anything.
This is the shortest and (for me, at least) the easiest challenge we've had in a while. I think I really did amazingly well here. My commercial was rubbish, but this…this is something I could do. I can fake a walk. It's actually quite an exhilarating experience. The energy of our small crowd does a number on me. I'm kind of sorry it's over when I step off the brightly-lit track and wait for the other girls to finish and join me. The Marauders are going wild.
"Nice!" says James. "Merlin, it's going to be a tough elimination tomorrow – you all are doing a spectacular job here!"
"I'm speechless," says Remus very sweetly. "You girls look absolutely lovely. How do you feel?"
"Great!" I respond earnestly. "I love my dress."
"I do too," says Alicia.
"The dresses were nice this time," allows Lily, although we can all kind of see that she's in love with hers. "Thanks."
"Really?" Remus's smile turns rather impish. "Well, in that case…Sirius, pay up."
"No!" howls Sirius.
"I picked the dresses and they loved them," says Remus. "That was the deal. Pay up."
Sirius is even sourer than he was earlier. "Damn you," he informs Remus as he deposits a pile of gold into Remus's lap, disgruntled.
"Thank you!" Remus wiggles his eyebrows and relaxes against his seat, a satisfied smirk on his face. Sirius is rather grumpy and we girls smile to ourselves.
"Thanks for playing, girls," says Peter, giving his friends an affectionate poke each. "You did exceptionally well. I'm almost dreading judging tomorrow, because I don't want to let any of you go…"
"…but for now, all we can say is see you tomorrow," finishes James. "So see you tomorrow, ladies!"
And now we are dismissed from the classroom, warm and comfortable with our success today. At least, I am. I don't think I've felt this good ever. I can't wait to hunt down Evie and tell her – she'll be enthralled.
But in the meantime, we go to the Room of Requirement together, still in our glamorous dresses, and retreat there for the inevitable girlie gossip.
It's just been a great evening. Now it's time to talk about it.
--
A/N: Like I somewhat mentioned in the beginning, I have never really written anything like this before, so be nice if you didn't like it. I was nervous posting this. Very much so.
And see? Lucille's elimination doesn't mean drama isn't still abundant. Wait until Chapter 16. That should be a fun one. I'll kind of set it up in the next chapter, which is a breather after this one. But I can promise the next one will be shorter than this one and the next-next one will have something else going on. The ending isn't meant to fade off, in case you're wondering.
Ooh, and coming up next chapter…
A bit of aftermath.
A girl who's fading.
A big blow.
A little introspection.
An elimination.
Please review (I am fairly confident I gave you plenty to comment on) and I'll see you next chapter!