The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter six.
The first half of Friday kind of sucked. Their Defense Against The Dark Arts class had to do with boggarts which, once Professor Lupin explained, made her heart drop into her stomach. She couldn't be absolutely sure of what it would turn into, but she wasn't about to put herself in the way of anything that could possibly take Connor's face. If she never saw that face again it would be too soon. She didn't think she could keep her composure enough to be able to turn it into something funny. What could be funny about what he'd done to her and what he represented in her life now?
While the students lined up Eliza stepped to the side. Lupin took notice but continued through the lesson guiding the students as they each came forward. Most of them were fun. Typical phobias such as spiders, snakes, and clowns were turned to joke-worthy renditions of themselves and students were eager to take their turn. Kelly's fear was a dragon and she made it poof into a cloud of smoke and all that was left was a baby chick hopping around on the floor chirping angrily. Eliza smiled at the adorable little thing before the next person stepped up and it changed forms once more.
Towards the end of the line Professor Lupin motioned for her to get in on the action. "Come now! No need to be nervous." He was smiling and had such a welcoming classroom presence that it was difficult to turn him down but she shook her head. "Everyone is afraid of something." Lupin tried to encourage but she declined again. "Alright then." He conceded but at the end of class he asked her to stay behind.
Eliza watched her friends leave the room before turning to face Lupin who was leaning against the wardrobe housing the boggart. She had a brief fear that he would simply unleash it to see why she was being so dodgy about it but his hands remained in his pockets. "Ms. Montgomery. How are you adjusting here?" He asked.
"Fine." She said fidgeting with the strap of her bag. She looked down as Rikki popped his head out and sniffed at the air. His head snapped in Lupin's direction before he ducked back inside. Weird. Lupin spared the ferret a glance. "I know it can be challenging to start over somewhere new. It can be overwhelming especially at your age." His tone was casual like he was talking to a friend which eased her nerves.
"New surroundings. New people. It can cause quite a bit of stress. Maybe even cause us to revert back to old fears we thought we'd grown out of." It sounded like he was referring to something small like a fear of bugs or the dark. "Things we might be embarrassed of?" He was fishing but he was way too off the mark. "But we always end up having to face our fears one day whether we like it or not." He patted the wardrobe and it shook violently.
Eliza appreciated what he was trying to do. He was really trying to be helpful. "Professor. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or disrespectful but you have no idea what you're talking about." She hated the way it came out and she quickly attempted to backtrack. "Not because you aren't a great teacher or that I know more than you but..." She trailed off as her eyes roamed over the wardrobe. "But because of the nature of the circumstances of what could come out of there. It's extremely..." She searched for an appropriate word but they all fell short. As a last resort, she chose "Sensitive."
Lupin approached and it appeared that he was analyzing her expression. "I understand. This must be something very significant to you but-"
Eliza shook her head. "No 'but' "She said. "You can give me detention for a month. You can ask me to write a twenty-page essay on boggarts but I will never voluntarily subject myself to that thing."
The room was so quiet and she cringed knowing she had just talked herself into trouble. She readied herself for punishment but Lupin sighed and crossed the gap between them to set a hand on her shoulder. "An essay it is. Three-page minimum." His expression was soft when she looked up at him. That wasn't a punishment at all. It was barely an assignment. She wasn't willing to look a gift horse in the mouth though and she nodded. "Yes, sir."
Lupin motioned that she could go but she hesitated. "Thank you." He looked her over before nodding and turning away.
For the rest of the morning Eliza spent her time trying to figure out exactly how to apologize to Fred, George, and Lee. She mulled it over again and again in her head but she couldn't come up with when to do it. They had Mcgonagall's class together after lunch so maybe then? But when lunch came around Eliza lost her nerve. It made her feel stupid because they were hanging out with Ron and Harry and it wasn't like they were intimidating people. She should just be able to go over and say she was sorry. What was so complicated about that and why did she spend the entire meal not doing it? Stupid.
Finally, she talked herself into it but when she got up from her table the twins and Lee were not there. 'You've gotta be kidding me..'She thought as she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for class. On the way, she berated herself for being a coward. First the boggart, now this? What was the worst that could happen? They could ignore her? At least she could say she tried and that would feel better than what she was feeling now.
Outside of the classroom, she stopped and wondered if luck was on her side. The three were huddled together talking and, while she didn't want to interrupt them, she didn't want to pass up the chance she was being given. "Hey!" She called as she approached. Lee looked up first and smiled while Fred shoved something at his brother and George tucked it away into his robes. "Hey!" Lee greeted standing between her and the brothers as if trying to hide what they were doing. "Not exactly subtle." Eliza teased. It wasn't the icebreaker she'd been hoping for but she couldn't be picky.
"We were just..Studying?" George righted himself feigning innocence. "Right. Yeah. That's obviously what you were doing." She played along. Fred nodded. "No nefarious plotting going on here."
Eliza chuckled. "Of course not. Turning leaves."
George grinned. "Exactly. Early to class and all."
The awkwardness was almost too much for her to bear so she cut to the chase. "Actually I'm glad you are. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Just because I got stressed out doesn't mean I should have snapped at you guys." The words were a struggle, but she felt a lot better once she got them out. She didn't take them as the types to hold grudges but even if she was wrong she was glad to just get it off her chest.
"What? No groveling? I thought there'd be more groveling." Fred's words made her arch an eyebrow and George elbowed him. "No need for all that. Thought you'd come around." He said.
"Should have taken that bet." Lee mumbled. "Bet?" Eliza asked. The twins shook their heads and threw their arms around their friend. "Nothing." "Ignore him."
"Actually we were just trying to come up with a way to help you." George quickly interjected. Eliza opened the classroom door and held it for them. "Oh yeah?" The three entered and she followed them to a group of four desks. She chose the seat next to Lee and the twins chose the desks right behind them. "We have quidditch coming up but we were thinking.." Fred started. "We could help you practice twice a week." George continued.
Eliza turned in her chair to see if they were just messing with her. "Really? That would be great."
Lee snorted. "Not out of the kindness of their hearts.." And Eliza narrowed her gaze at the twins as George held up a finger. "Right. We'll help if you can do something for us."
"What's your price?" She asked suspiciously. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be some meaningless innocent task and mentally prepared herself for the worst. They were about to ask her to do something that could land her in trouble, weren't they?
"We want you to make us something." Fred said. "A potion." George matched his twin's expression of excitement. "What kind?" She made a 'go on' gesture. Why were they drawing it out? It had to be something truly awful.
McGonagall cleared her throat from the front of the room as students began to file in and though they were already speaking quietly they resorted to whispering. "A potion to make someone uncontrollably gassy." Lee leaned in close and she stared blankly at the twins. "You want me...To make people fart?" Of all the things she could have assumed they wanted that hadn't even been close to being on the list.
"Can you do it?" Lee asked. She turned her attention to him. "Um...Probably. It would take me a while to figure out the right ingredients and portions. Don't want to rot someone's insides.." The mental image made her shudder. She turned back towards her desk as class began. During the lesson they passed notes that had the twins and Lee telling her that they'd get the ingredients. All she had to do was figure out the recipe and brew it. It made her feel better that she wouldn't have to worry about sneaking around to steal or trying to explain why she needed certain ingredients.
After class it was time for dinner and they headed for the great hall together. "How long would you like the effects to last?" She asked. Since it was one of her favorite subjects she was a little more than excited to start though she'd never admit it. To be able to focus on something she was skilled at and had nothing to do with classes sounded like a vacation. Plus if they were offering to help her it was more than fair to come up with a silly concoction. They settled on an hour. "I'll see what I can do. Now about these practice sessions. When?"
Fred shrugged. "Once quidditch trials are over we should have more of an idea of what the practice schedules will be." He said. "We can meet up after dinner on the nights we're free. Think you can start figuring out what you'll need tomorrow?" George asked. Eliza shook her head. "Can't. I already have plans with Hannah and Kelly."
"So Sunday?" Lee asked. Eliza could handle that. "Yeah. I'll hit the library in the afternoon and see what I can come up with." There would definitely be trial runs, of that she had no doubt. "This might take a while. A month. Maybe two." She warned. They sat at the Gryffindor table and Rikki took the chance to pester Lee for food. "If you're half as brilliant with potions as you think you are we should have a finished product in no time." Fred smirked.
From across the table someone cleared their throat. "It's been a week and you already have her doing your dirty work for you." Hermione leveled them with a disapproving look. "We resent that! We're just asking for a favor in return for helping our friend out." George nudged Eliza with his elbow. "Right. Just a small favor." She agreed but kept her eyes on her plate ready to start stuffing food in her mouth just to keep it occupied.
"What is it they have you doing for them then?" Hermione asked. Next to her, Harry looked interested. "Top secret, Granger." Fred shot her question down but Ron and Harry leaned over their plates towards them. "Does it explode?" Harry asked. "Can we get a sample to test on Malfoy?" Ron looked overly eager and his brothers laughed. "You can BUY it when it's done."
Hermione rolled her eyes but there was a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. Apparently, the idea of using it on this 'Malfoy' person had her changing her mind about it being wrong. Eliza tucked that knowledge away and asked. "Who is 'Malfoy'?"
Ron turned and pointed over his shoulder at the Slytherin table at a boy with platinum hair. He was laughing with his friends and there was a girl basically glued to his side. He looked like a celebrity in his house. "Why does his face look like that?" She asked noticing the smug expression that did not seem to fade as she watched. Lee laughed. "His face is stuck like that. Thinks he's better than the rest of us because 'daddy' told him so."
"Smug little rat." Hermione muttered and Eliza was surprised to hear her speak like that. She seemed like a really nice person but in that moment there was a flash of something close to hatred. What the hell did Malfoy do to earn that level of dislike? "I'd say he looks like a weasel but I wouldn't want to offend Rikki." Fred chuckled as he fed the ferret some bits of chicken. While they ate Eliza asked the younger students how classes were progressing just to change the topic but in the back of her mind she wondered if the Malfoy boy would still look so smug while flatulating uncontrollably.
Upon entering her dorm that night Hannah and Kelly crowded onto her bed. "I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow." Hannah hugged one of Eliza's pillows to her chest. They were all in their pajamas and Rikki was lounging in Kelly's lap flopped on his back like he was dead. Out like a light. "The weather is supposed to be wonderful. It'll be so nice to lounge in the sun." Eliza agreed. "I'll just be glad to see the outside of the castle and not the inside of a classroom." She said before she remembered something.
"Oh!" She leaned over the side of the bed and rummaged in her bag until she pulled out a few pages of parchment and held them out to Kelly. "I remembered you chose Bubotuber for your assignment for herbology so I wrote down everything you need to know." She'd basically written the assignment for her it just all needed to be put together. Kelly picked Rikki up and set him in Hannah's lap before throwing her arms around Eliza's neck in a tight hug. "Eliza! Thank you! You're the best!" She squealed. When she let go she started going through the pages. "I owe you."
Hannah shushed her. "Gotta be careful. Some of the other girls aren't so keen on.." She looked over at the other beds where their roommates were sleeping. She mouthed the word 'cheating' and Kelly scoffed. "It isn't. They're just notes." She winked at Eliza who grinned. "Everyone compares notes." She agreed. Hannah snickered and poked at Eliza's ribs. "Naughty."
They sat up and talked for a while longer before getting to bed. Eliza felt a thousand times better than she had that morning. She lay awake for a short while thinking back on the day and patting herself on the back for patching things up with Lee and the twins instead of being a jerk and avoiding them for the rest of the year. Progress.
