This was meant to be a bit about Lysander, since I've neglected him so much. I sort of went off topic.
Sorry for the lack of dialogue. I promise future chapters will be better.
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Chapter 44: Got What I Need But I'm Wanting More
Lysander thinks; September 2023
Lysander Scamander loved words, languages, grammar, sentence structure and even rhymes. He loved the different meanings one word could have, and the different patterns in which they could be put together: sonnet, haiku, couplet. He regretted that Hogwarts offered no option to study magical literature, of which there was no shortage in poetry or prose.
Another way in which his love of patterns expressed itself, however, was amongst his friends. He liked the symmetry of having four boys and four girls in their group, even if he didn't like the four-couple assumptions that were constantly made. He liked fitting his friends to the pattern, whether it was Muggle word associations or wizarding ones, like the rhyme:
Rosewood and birch, an unusual pair
Willow with holly, evil beware.
All the more so because he knew the wandwoods of his friends, and of some of their parents.
He'd amused himself during one particularly lazy summer day last year in fitting his friends to words. First the Muggle saints of Faith, Hope and Charity. To his delight, they fit his male friends perfectly.
Albus was Charity. Not because he gave lots of money away to worthy causes – although Lysander had seen him drop coins in collecting boxes far more than anyone else he knew, but in other ways. In Lysander's opinion, Charity was the same as that Gryffindor trait, chivalry. Albus was charitable to others, helping them with their homework if he could (or if he'd already copied the answers), lending out all of his possessions, letting others speak first or give their opinions, helping someone who had dropped their books pick them up. No, it was no wonder that Aisha, who'd confessed to him that she often felt like she was living in a fairytale, had fallen for Albus. He was the true fairytale Knight, even if he stumbled over his words or his feet too much to be considered a Prince Charming.
Lorcan was clearly Faith. From his unswerving belief in the innate good of others, from the unrealistic creatures in which he believed and from the way that he always expected the best of people. In a way, it was the most uncomfortable thing about being around him, and the best. You felt guilt for how much worse a person you were – and Lysander knew that it wasn't just him. He and Alice had talked on this and agreed about it. Although she and Lorcan were close friends, in fact as close as Alice and Lysander (not that anyone else would have guessed), she often wondered if he was judging her. He could make her ashamed of her lifestyle and attitude in a way that nobody else could.
Scorpius was Hope. He was the hope of many of the adults too – their hope and their emblem of the new order, and how it had completely combined with the children of the old. No 'sins of the father' for them! However, this might be true in theory, but it wasn't in practise. Scorpius somehow managed not to be constantly cynical, despite the opinions he must have come into contact with again and again. Alright, he was a little cynical. But not as much as could be expected of him. Scorpius had even been named Head Boy this year, along with Aisha as Head Girl.
There were other, less positive ways in which Lysander chose words for them. The Seven Deadly Sins, for example. This had almost been harder, and had required him to really take a look at his friends.
He'd always been perceptive – nearly as perceptive as Lorcan. He just didn't show it as much. It made people very uncomfortable. He'd expected Aisha and Albus weeks before the actual kiss, and from Scorpius' recent behaviour, expected another couple to be appearing soon.
Jealousy was not difficult, although it might seem strange that it went to Albus along with Charity. But Lysander had seen the envy in him when others beat him consistently and with less work. As with all of the other faults he had noticed, he wouldn't judge. He hadn't dared include himself, after all, otherwise he might have just had to use them all.
Greed, strangely, went to Aisha. Not greed in the sense of food, but a greed for everything else. For power, for security, for knowledge, for money. Aisha always had a goal, a desire, and she wanted it, no matter what. It went with her scavenger mentality too – saving for a rainy day could almost have been her motto, and although Lysander could understand where she came from, it wasn't the first fault he would have found with himself.
Lust being attributed to Alice wouldn't have surprised many, but Lysander meant it in a whole group of ways. In the end, Lust had originated from the sin of Extravagance, and Alice had both in excess. She loved luxury, beauty, standing out amongst all others. Being supposedly as easy as someone who'd downed an entire bottle of Firewhisky was just a part of it.
Vanity might have been expected to be Alice's vice as well, but Lysander knew a better recipient – Lorcan. This would have outright shocked most, but brothers knew brothers, and Lysander knew full well that some of Lorcan's little outbursts or comments came from the vain desire to be seen as different, and that in Lorcan's mind, he was different, he was better. And Alice wasn't vain, actually. Her personality stemmed from a lack of self-confidence, only expressed in a very different way from Rose's. Rose, in fact, could have been Vanity too – she did have a high opinion of her own attributes, only not the confidence to shout about it like Alice.
Sloth was entirely the opposite of everything which Hufflepuff House represented, which was why awarding it to Lia would have given most a double-take. Admittedly, she wasn't a morning person, but that didn't make her lazy, surely? No, but what was true was while Lia was diligent in completing homework and revising for exams, that was only to fulfil her purpose. She did not work hard for the sake of it, but because she felt that she needed to (no Vanity here), to help herself and others and to give her parents something to be proud of. It was a Hufflepuff trait, this kindness, and she did belong in the black and yellow robes.
Gluttony had been difficult. All of them liked to eat, although Alice was the only one to make an issue of it. But in the end, Scorpius had received the dubious honour. Not just for over-indulgence with food, but for a habit on over-indulging in everything. Scorpius was the type to work hard and play hard. As they'd found last summer, he was also the type to drink hard. If he did something, he wouldn't do it half-way.
Wrath actually didn't go to any of their eight. It could have, but after seeing Lily in a temper, Lysander knew there was only one worthy recipient. She could fly into the most terrifying rages (even more terrifying as she increased in proficiency with the wand) and would be impatient and angry with anyone who spoke to her in that time. Both he and Lorcan had tried to calm her out of it, and they did best. Lorcan simply weathered the storm until its rage had died down, whilst he would flatter her out of it. Aisha had a technique that was only moderately successful – asking for the root of a problem, which could lead to Lily venting her anger with the one who deserved it and then deflating, or just her snapping at you until you gave up.
As the year progressed, Lysander could see that as tempers ran short, all of these sins appeared over and over again. But he also thought that his friends' redeeming qualities-
"Lysandeeer," the girl next to him whined. He blinked himself back into reality, remembering where he was.
The girl next to him...Charlotte, that was her name. She was the fifth year girl who he was currently dating.
"It's starting to rain," she complained.
"Don't worry about that," he replied smugly and lifted his wand, creating a rain shield for the pair of them. After thinking a moment, he extended it to the two boys sat on his left and the girl beyond them. This pulled it slightly tight over Charlotte, who responded by snuggling closer into his arm.
Grinning, because that had been his intention, he put an arm around her shoulders.
Albus, on his left, didn't seem to notice the shield. He was gazing at the Quidditch pitch, staring out at the hovering form of his girlfriend, the Seeker. Lysander hoped that the devoted expression on Al's face would never, ever appear on his own.
Lorcan might have noticed, but didn't show it if he did, not looking up from the pad of paper on which he was sketching. Aisha and Lia had given him a joint present for his seventeenth, a top-quality Muggle sketchpad with graphite pencils, and he was using it at every opportunity. Lia, who was watching the pitch intently, sat next to Lorcan, a green headband in her hair in support of Slytherin.
Lysander wondered briefly whether Lorcan had noticed Lia's secret, which had been obvious to him since Christmas of sixth year, since Hufflepuffs were not subtle by nature and any Slytherin who was as observant as Lysander could notice where Lia's eyes often drifted.
They were the only four sat in the Slytherin stands. Slytherin was playing Ravenclaw this time, so Alice and Scorpius were sat across the pitch in the blue stands. Rose was still on the Quidditch team, although she'd given up her position as Captain, claiming that she no longer had time, and was training up a younger student to take her place as Keeper in March, when Rose had decided to give up Quidditch altogether and focus on revision.
Scorpius being sat over there was another thing that Lysander wondered about - whether Scorpius knew that he had a crush on Rose. He knew that Rose had no idea - about the fact that Scorpius had a crush, and the fact that she herself liked Scorpius in return. She just thought they were good friends...
He felt a brief pang of jealousy for his friends, even for Albus and his devoted gaze. He'd had more girlfriends that the rest of them (excluding Alice) combined, but somehow his friends, without playing the field at all, had settled on people who were perfect for them.
I don't think there's anyone who's perfect for me, he thought gloomily. Girls are all so.... He didn't have words to describe it, for all his love of literature. The girls he dated were all the same - giggly, flirtatious, sweet, confident, attractive. None of them were his intellectual match, which he knew. But the girls who were his intellectual match, he didn't really like. Even his friends - Rose, who was definitely smart enough for him, was too confrontational and exuberant, whilst Aisha, even if he'd been able to rip her away from Albus, which he doubted, was too serious for him.
Alice was the closest match, people would assume. But Lysander knew Alice well enough to know that she wasn't actually that confident. She was actually very different to the girls he hung out with, the girls who all tried to be Alice. Strangely, when it had been in the hope of protecting Alice that Lysander had made friends with this type of people, it was Lysander who fitted in best. Alice was more popular, simply because she had this undefinable attraction, which made the boys fall over themselves to be with her and the girls wish that they were her.
But Lysander understood the banter better, the insincere flattery and snide comments behind people's back. Despite all of his jealousy of their relationships, though, Lysander was truly thankful for his friends. Not many people had so many friends to whom you could tell anything, or say anything, and trust that they wouldn't turn their back on you.
"Oh, something happened," Charlotte gasped. He looked up - somebody had scored for the Slytherin side and the seats around them were erupting with cheers. "Does that mean we can go back inside now?"
Seventh year! Who can believe we've got this far so soon. This is by far my longest story now, word-wise if not chapter wise. Yet.
Chapter title from Perfect Girl, by Tinie Tempah
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