Remember I update by the year but it has multiple parts, so be checking what chapter you're on so you don't lose your place. Please, please, please drop a comment on what you think. Thanks guys!
At ten minutes before ten Dorothy and I started getting ready, setting out our coats and scarves to stave off the cold, as well as our different stealth measures. My ring was in my pocket and we each had two invisibility potions just in case. We heard footsteps on the stairs and stashed the items under our pillows, Dorothy brushing her hair and me diving under the covers to relax and read a book as Eleanor knocked and came in. She glanced around the room suspiciously making sure to see each of us. We shot her glares as she finally backed up, closing the door and continuing down the stairs to the second year dorms.
We heard her footsteps return to her room at just a minute before ten and I rushed to get ready by the time Cad would be at the window to pick me up. Eunice and Keeli were using our pillows to make suitable body doubles under our covers, and Dorothy was putting her Charms knowledge onto the lock of our dorm room.
"Can't she just spell through it?" I asked as Dorothy finally leaned away.
"If she can dispel that, then she deserves to catch us." she gave a nod of finality before going over to pull her coat on.
"Evening ladies." Cad's voice floated in from the window that'd already been opened, and I turned to smile at him.
"Hey Cad." we all waved, Eunice casting another Muffling Charm on the door just to be safe.
"You ready to go?" he asked me and I nodded, taking his hand to haul myself onto the window sill.
"See you around." I told the others, gently stepping down and edging onto his broom. He made sure I had a good hold around his waist before flying the relatively short distance to the Quidditch pitch.
I even saw a few more brooms leaving the Ravenclaw Tower, and saw lots more kids leaving in other creative ways. The girl with the wings was a few meters above us already headed towards the pitch, and I saw a few more kids Levitating things under them to fly through the air. There were plenty of fuzzy spots in the night sky I figured were Disillusioned kids, and I probably would never know how many invisible ones there were. The pitch was absolutely abuzz with activity, as kids with brooms and spectators alike milled around on the grass chatting softly. We were lucky that there was a heavy breeze, putting us downwind of the castle and hopefully helping keep the noise from the ears of sleeping Professors.
Cad touched down in the center of the pitch along with a few other broom riders, and he firmly took my hand as we walked over to a group of Gryffindors.
"Wondered when you'd make it." A boy with red hair clapped Cad on the back.
"Had to make a pit stop." he gestured to me, and the redhead shook my hand.
"Charlie Temple, I'm Cad's roommate."
"Sorry for your loss." I smiled. "Amelia."
"Oh I know." Charlie shot Cad a look, who punched his friend in the arm.
"Alright, alright, that's enough introductions. You all ready to do this?" Cad beamed around to the other players who all nodded their heads.
"Alright!" a pretty tall boy I thought I recognized as a Gryffindor Prefect held his hand up, attracting the attention of everyone nearby. "Are you guys ready for the best game of Quidditch ever?!"
Everyone clapped and I grew nervous we'd be making too much noise even with the wind's help.
"Three teams, three Quaffles, no Keepers. No wands, but no personal foul rules. This is a sport to separate the kids from the pros. Team one captain is me, two is Allistair over there, and Marcus leads team three. Now all the players line up so we can pick our teams and the rest of you, get off the bloody field!"
I squeezed Cad's hand before scurrying off for the stairs with another group of kids, joining those already in the stands. I don't know many of those sitting down but Dorothy caught my eye hanging upside down from the top of the stands and I giggled as I sat under her, a graceful flip seating her next to me.
"Glad to see you got the hang of it."
"I might be commissioning some of this from you one day, it's bloody brilliant." she beamed. "I'm not even that interested in the Quidditch game, I just wanted to try out the potion."
"Well, you're here now." I shrugged, taking a box of Bertie Bott's Beans out of my bag and offering them to her.
The teams took a few minutes to organize, and the captains went around Charming their teammates so there were three distinct colors. They were of course red, green, and yellow after the houses the captains were in, but the teams were a random mix of students from all houses. Once everyone was color coordinated they took to the air, one of the Ravenclaws who wasn't playing acting as referee with three Quaffles balanced in her arms as she tried to fly. She didn't have a whistle and I couldn't hear her count down, but the second she threw the balls in the air all mayhem broke loose.
Flyers were zipping around the field left and right, madly trying to score points in the Keeper-less goals. A few students were positioned behind each set of posts and were doing their best to keep score, although I had to imagine it was difficult when all the commotion. I knew there were Seekers but they were completely lost in the commotion of all the Chasers and Beaters trying their best to murder each other.
The game went on for a few hours, probably because the Seekers were having such a rough time seeing the Snitch in all the movement. Despite my distaste for Quidditch it was engaging the entire time, and Dorothy and I tried to piece together what was going on. The Hufflepuff team seemed to be winning, but frankly there were so many scores made that it was hard to tell who had the best team. One team would pull ahead, then another a few minutes later, then a different one not a few seconds after that. While I didn't see any dirty outright fighting, there was a lot more roughness than in a typical game. People wrestled for the Quaffle in midair, or outright teamed up on a player to outmaneuver them of an otherwise easy goal. The scores were in the mid hundreds and I thoroughly pitied those who had been elected score keepers.
It was close to three when finally one of the members of the red team streaked across the pitch so fast every single eye in the pitch followed her, seeing a shine of gold not a few seconds later. The other Seekers tried to chase after her but she had far too much of a lead, and a few seconds later she was doing a victory lap of the pitch with the Snitch in her outstretched hand.
The kids behind the goal posts were madly tallying the scores as the players all started descending to the grass, those of us in the stands rushing to the stairs so we wouldn't be left out of the announcement. Luckily for me Cad flew by the stands holding out his hand, grabbing my outstretched one to mount me on the broom behind him in a smooth motion.
"Nice moves." I laughed, not minding the wind through my hair as we were only a few meters off the ground.
"Same to you." he was panting from all the exercise, his shirt wet with sweat. "Enjoy the game?"
"Actually, yes. I think I prefer wild no-holds-barred Quidditch over the civilized kind any day."
"You and me both." he beamed as we touched down on the grass of the pitch.
The score keepers had returned to the ground, those from opposite ends of the pitch tallying their total goals together. Everyone milled together excitedly as they counted, and the oldest of them held up his hand to get everyone's attention.
"In third place is Marcus' team, with five hundred and forty points. Second is Allistair's team with six hundred and twenty points, and Adam's team won with seven hundred and ten points!"
The players in red robes, including Cad, cheered the loudest and clapped each other on the backs. Cad swept me up and kissed me on the cheek, and I giggled as I shoved him off.
"Congratulations, you can win a Quidditch game with no rules."
"Hey, I win normal Quidditch games too." his smile was vibrant. "I can't lose as long as I have you around."
"You haven't lost yet. That means nothing of your lucky charm belief."
"But it doesn't mean you're not." he countered.
Some of the students started dispersing and he held his hand out to me to get back on his broom. Before I could take it someone tapped me on my arm, succeeding in turning me around.
"Amelia, I've been looking everywhere for you." Louk said, Damian hanging slightly behind him talking to Amber and Molly.
"Hey. Congrats on the win." I nodded to his red robes.
"Oh, thanks. Can I take you back to your tower?"
"Cad was going to." I gestured to him already on his broom. "He knows how to get there after all."
"I mean, I could figure it out."
"I want to take her back." Cad dismounted, holding his broom as he stepped next to me.
"Well you brought her here, I thought it only fair I take her back."
"Look." Cad started.
"Filch!" someone managed to shout and whisper at the same time, and the hive of activity that erupted put the earlier game to shame.
Cad didn't lose a second in taking my arm and getting in the air in the span of three seconds. Everyone likewise took to the skies or otherwise deployed our various forms of dodging adult notice. Cad and I simultaneously pulled our phials out of our robes, each downing the invisibility potion. He held back some of his, pouring it onto the shaft of his broom. I didn't make it completely invisible, just gave it more of a camouflaging quality as if it'd been Disillusioned, but in the wide open night sky it'd be effectively unseeable. The pitch had grown eerily quiet as everyone vacated as quietly as they could. I didn't see a single other soul on the flight back to the tower which was impressive as I was actively looking for any sign of concealment. I saw a little black dot with a bright lantern on the path that strung between the castle and the pitch, but I knew Filch would find little if any evidence anyone had been out tonight.
We reached my window and Cad hovered steadily so I could get my footing. I jumped in where the other two girls were asleep, the pillows below my blankets rising and falling steadily as if I too was asleep.
"I hope it wasn't too boring tonight." he chuckled, nothing but a slight distortion in the air showing me where he was.
"I really did enjoy it, Cad."
"See you tomorrow." his voice faded as he went to fly over to his own tower.
I took off my many layers of clothes and slid on pajamas, a soft knock on the window letting me know an invisible Dorothy was the one who opened and crawled through a second later. We exchanged short greetings before I dispelled the pillows under my covers and replaced them with myself, falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning was back to business as usual. Over the course of the next week I knew many people were sneaking out at night, and that fact made us able to bear Eleanor's glares in the common room. I wasn't alone in never feeling quite at home in the other dorms, and despite the Head Girl's presence I decided the Ravenclaw common room was the best out of all the others. It seemed the conclusion had been mutual, and a few more kids stopped barricading themselves up in their dorms and actually spent some time in the common still wasn't a fraction of what it had been before Christmas, but it was better than dead silence.
Late February warmed up a little more each day, and as temperatures grew nicer activity picked up a little. The Quidditch Cup was looming right on the horizon and most of our friends were embroiled in practice more often than not. The thought of an Ancient Runes final being less than three months away sent me into panic mode, and Cad was forced to tolerate my increased amount of studying. I wasn't alone and by the time April rolled around and we were packing for Easter holidays, Keeli already had a study schedule laid out for us complete with allocated bathroom breaks and scheduled 'recreational time'.
I looked at the sheet of paper she gave me as we were on the train headed back to London. "What's with this two hour recreational time in the evenings?"
"Well, we have to finish the Disney movies don't we?" she was licking her fingers to clean off the remnants of her chocolate frog. "You've only seen a few."
"How many are there?!"
"Oh over a hundred I'm sure, but we still have about two dozen to get through."
"Two dozen?!" I blinked as I tried to process it. "Did this guy not have any hobbies?"
"Oh you're watching Disney movies?" Amber looked up from her magazine with a smile. "You know, I should rewatch some of those. I haven't seen them since I was a kid."
"Amelia hasn't seen them at all." Keeli accused me like it was my fault.
Amber shrugged. "Doesn't surprise me, not many wizarding families have."
"I haven't." Cad backed me up. "I grew up with Babbity Rabbity and stuff."
"Same." Damian didn't even look up from his book.
Louk screwed up his face in thought. "I think I saw one when I was really little."
"You lot are dead to me." Keeli shook her head.
"Are we still meeting up in Diagon Alley Friday? I need more parchment like nobody's business." Molly took a bite of her licorice. "Serves me right for not going Christmas break."
"I live there." Cad said simply, sighing.
"Yeah, we need some things too." I nudged Cad with my elbow. "It'll be nice to see you guys over break."
He gave me a smile as the conversation died down again, everyone turning back to their own personal method of distraction. As we neared the station we cleaned up our compartment, hauling our bags off the luggage rack to squeeze into the aisles. Keeli's family was as warm as always, her brother pelting us with questions the entire drive home. She'd luckily given the entire first day to simply relax which worked out because her family took us to a movie and dinner to welcome us home.
It was some superhero movie, but it was a sequel and I hadn't seen the previous ones, so I contented myself with eating Muggle candy and popcorn. Dinner was a posh fine dining restaurant with entirely too many forks before a walk through the royal gardens and a stop at a bakery in central London.
It was fairly late as we returned home but Keeli still helped me turn up the couch in the corner of her room, even letting me have the first turn in the shower. All her niceness went straight out the window the next morning however, as she made both of us stick to her schedule up to the minute. It wasn't all bad, as we did have a mountain of work to get through, but switching between topics so abruptly was hard to pull off sometimes. It had to be done, but that didn't mean it was any easier just because it was necessary. It was four days of absolute grinding so we had Friday free to meet the others in Diagon Alley. Everyone was a bundle of energy and Tempy practically broadsided me in a hug as we stepped into Ollivander's to meet up Friday morning.
She tagged along with us as we shopped along the alley, spending way too much money and not at all keeping in mind we had to fit all our purchases into our trunks. As the others went to lunch Tempy and Keeli tagged along with me to the transportation station. I walked into the lobby where a nice lady at the desk smiled at us, asking how she could help. After telling her who I was, she left for a few minutes before coming back with my Dad in tow.
"Amelia." he smiled, leaning down to hug me tightly.
"Hey, Dad." I smiled, pushing down the wave of emotion I felt after going so long without seeing him.
"How's school? Are you alright?"
"You know, it's school." I shrugged. "Finals are coming up so I'm spending most of my time studying."
"You'll do great as you always do."
"How is everything at the house?"
"Returning to normal. Michael went back to Scarborough at the end of January, so everyone has mostly been decompressing. Your Mum's been wanting to write, but she didn't want to interrupt your studying."
"I've been meaning to write too, I've just been busy." I looked down at my feet.
"How were your holidays?"
"Good."
"We enjoyed having her. I'm Temperance, the Mervins' daughter." she held out her hand and he shook it.
"Ah yes, the little sister, right?"
"Yes sir."
"Amelia has enough of those to know." my Dad smiled. "Thanks for keeping her company during the holidays."
"It was our pleasure. It's nice to have a friend around." she smiled.
"We figured you'd be spending Easter with Keeli and her family." my Dad nodded to the girl on my other side. "I'm glad you have friends who are there for you when things get...difficult at home."
"Even so, it'll be nice to come home over summer." I hugged him again. "We're having lunch right now, but I wanted to stop by and say hello."
"It was wonderful to see you." he hugged me tightly.
We bade him goodbye before walking back onto the street. I took a deep breath as the door closed behind us.
"As bad as you thought it was going to be?" Tempy asked.
"No, just awkward. I don't really know what to say to him."
"Just wait, you'll have your Mum in a few months." Keeli smiled teasingly, leading the way for us to finally getting some food.
We still had an hour after lunch before we were due to disperse, so we all went our separate ways to visit the places really only individuals wanted to go. I made a break for Potage's Cauldron Shop before anyone noticed I was gone, browsing the shelves slowly to consider my options.
"I thought you already had two." a voice said by my ear.
I looked behind me to see Louk. "No, I only have one. I use Slughorn's spare in class, but I think it's high time I have a few extras."
"A few?"
I shrugged. "They'd be put to use. I probably only need one more, but I'd like to get two. I specifically held myself back at the apothecary."
"What do you have now? Pewter?"
"Brass, but I'm looking to upgrade to copper. I need it for some of the more advanced potions I'm wanting to try." I looked at a model that had a lockable lid, meaning you could create a password and wand movement needed to open it to prevent potion spoilage.
"I haven't seen too much of you lately." he said slowly, pretending to look at a line of ladles.
"You see me nearly every day." I rolled my eyes at his dramatic phrasing.
"You know what I mean."
"Well, you're busy with Quidditch and I'm busy with everything else."
"We used to hang out a lot, just you and me. Seems you're spending more time with Cad than anyone."
"Well, we do share an elective now. We've been studying together a lot and I guess it just rubbed off into free time."
"I know you all are fighting with your Head right now, but would you maybe want to hang out sometime when we go back?"
"Doing what?" I asked distractedly, admittedly pretty focused on the cauldrons in front of me.
"Maybe go to Hogsmeade again?"
"Are you planning on pranking my Head again?" I shot him a glare, but he just shook his head seriously.
"No just to hang out."
"Is there a Hogsmeade visit after we get back?"
"One in May."
I shrugged. "Sure."
"Thanks." he gave me a smile and I felt bad I'd only been paying half attention to the conversation.
"So, uh, how was your Easter?"
"You know, the same." he shrugged, turning to the cauldrons I knew he had zero interest in. "Couldn't go to Damian's, so I've been with my parents."
"I'm sure they were happy to see you."
"Oh yeah, that's it." he snorted.
"Does this mean you'll need more help on your work when we get back?"
"Don't I always?" he gave me a smile.
"Why don't you do your work over breaks, Louk?" I asked softly.
He took a long time to answer, finally sighing heavily. "I promise I'll tell you one day, okay?"
I laid my hand on his arm, smiling as he looked up to me. "No pressure, Louk. I'd be happy to help."
"I promise to pay you back."
"I don't do it for the favors, Louk, I do it to help out." I smiled, finally choosing two of the cauldrons. "I won't subject you to shopping with me anymore."
"I don't mind it." he countered as he followed me up to the register.
The clerk rang them up but as I went to reach for my purse Louk purposefully slid over a large stack of Galleons. I made to protest but he just waved me off as the clerk slid the large boxes in a bag. We walked out of the shop back onto Diagon Alley and I scowled at him.
"You have got to stop buying me things."
"Why? I told you I'd pay you back for all your homework help."
"I don't mean literally pay me back. I can get my own cauldrons."
"Can I not get you nice things?"
"You always get me nice things, I feel bad when you do."
"What, why?"
I looked at the sidewalk, adjusting the heavy bag in my hand. "You know, you always buy me nice jewelry or really rare ingredients and I can't get you gifts that nice."
He put his finger under my chin, tilting my head upwards. "I don't do it so I get things in return, I do it to make you happy."
"You don't have to buy me things to make you happy."
"I know, but I also know sometimes being around me can be…..trying. I just want to show you that I'm, well I'm not as bad as I'm sure some people tell you."
"You know Cad doesn't say you're bad."
"Really?" he seemed genuinely surprised.
"Really. We don't really talk about you at all, actually."
"Oh." his hopeful demeanor deflated a little. "Well, I hope this makes up for any things I've said this year that might have upset you."
"You know I always forgive you eventually." I smiled. "Want to walk back to the Cauldron with me? Keeli and I are meeting her parents there soon."
"Nah, I have to go to the bank to get some stuff for my Dad, then I'm Flooing out of Knockturn Alley."
"See you Sunday on the train then?"
"See you then." he nodded, turning to head the opposite way down the Alley as I was headed.
I met up with Keeli at the Leaky Cauldron, making sure to say goodbye to Tempy and Cad who waited with us for her parents. We left out of the Muggle entrance to the pub, heading to where their car was parked. Keeli's Mom sat with us in Keeli's room as we tried wrestling our purchases into our trunks. She asked a bunch of questions about cauldrons and the different ingredients I'd bought, only being marginally distracted by flipping through Keeli's new Charms book she'd bought at a secondhand store.
Sunday on the train all I could do was count down the seconds until we reached the castle again and I could set up my special new cauldron. The first one I had gotten was a basic brass, but the one with the locking lid was the one that really excited me. Now I wouldn't have to worry about anyone curiously opening my potion and ruining it while it was sitting defenseless in the Potion Club room. I'd gone so far as to pack it into my bag, having to leave literally everything else in my trunk so it'd fit, and even then it was so cumbersome the others complained about it as we squeezed into the carriage that took us back up to the castle.
"Honestly, who puts a cauldron in their bag?" Amber scowled, having to practically sit in Molly's lap to make room for it. "You couldn't wait the couple of hours it would take for the Elves to bring up your trunk?"
"We have two hours until dinner, Amber, what am I supposed to do?" I countered.
"By your own words, you're rarely without a book, and you've hardly put down that one Dark potions book since you got it." Damian reasoned. "Could you not just bear it until after dinner?"
"You all don't understand, this will make brewing Invisibility Potion so much easier! And you all know how much of that I go through."
"I better get a share of it then." Amber muttered, trying to make herself comfortable.
I spent the entire time before dinner starting another batch of Invisibility Potion, for once feeling comfortable in leaving it unattended while we went down to dinner. After attendance I waited for Eleanor to go up to her room before slipping on my ring and sneaking out the door. I'd specifically stayed in Muggle clothes and since the rest of the castle still didn't have curfew for another hour I was able to just waltz through the hallways without having to sneak around. It wouldn't work on anyone who knew my house, but most Prefects didn't know where you belonged unless you had a certain color on your robes. Louk was leaning against the wall next to the library and he nodded as I walked up, waving his wand over the door and letting us both in. It was eerily quiet as usual and we took to our table, setting up our safety measures before getting to work. For all his ceremony of asking me, we really didn't talk all that much. I outlined a few essays and copied my notes for him, and he spent the three hour we were there frantically scribbling his many essays. Once I was done we packed up and we split ways at the staircase, with a whispered 'goodnight' the only word we said to each other the entire time.
The next morning I awoke especially early, heading down to the dungeons to start on a batch of Veritaserum, a rather finicky potion that had to be started at exactly the right time in the lunar cycle in order to work. It actually took a very short amount of time to make, around twenty minutes, but it had one of the most involved maturation processes of any potion I'd ever seen. I could never be exposed to sunlight, had to be stored in a dark container, and had to sit out on the night of the full moon in the same cycle as when it'd been started to absorb the moonlight. If the clouds were covered that night I'd have to Vanish the potion, wasting two weeks of work, and start over again the next new moon. I figured I better get a head start on it so I'd have a few chances to get it right before summer break. Once it was cooled from it's cooking time I strained it into a dark glass flask I'd specifically bought for the occasion, setting it in the back of the cabinet that was set aside for Potion's Club. I made sure to put a label on it threatening anyone's life that touched it and scampered up to breakfast before the food disappeared from the plates.
