The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter seven.

Kelly had been right about the weather. While in the morning the sky was overcast it was completely clear and sunny by the time they'd finished having a light breakfast and left the castle. They showed her the quidditch field first and, though she didn't intend on playing herself, she was interested in watching. Back home Alicia was the horned serpent keeper and she was well known in the school as an impenetrable wall. As they wandered the empty field she told Kelly and Hannah humorous anecdotes about Alicia. It almost felt like she was there with them as Eliza stared up at the hoops telling them about her.

"Wish she'd been transferred with you. We could use some new players. If we lose one more match to Slytherin I'm planning to rip my hair out." Hannah tugged on her curls and Eliza lightly slapped her hands away from it. "Don't you dare."

They wandered off with the girls telling her stories of their previous years. Kelly talked about how many of the boys in the school she'd rejected and Hannah poked fun at her for being a soul-less harpy for breaking a boy's heart in their second year. "He was sweet!" Hannah insisted as Kelly brushed it off. "So? He followed me everywhere like a puppy." She said with a flip of her hair. "I already have a shadow I don't need another one."

Eliza kept her comments to herself. Kelly could date whoever she wanted though she did feel sorry for whoever the boy was. She was really pretty so it had to be easy to fall for her. "And don't act innocent. Remember Felix? You dumped him in front of the entire house." Hannah flushed at Kelly's words. "I still feel badly about that.." She muttered.

"What about you, Eliza? Do you have a boyfriend back home?" Kelly asked. She shook her head. "Nope. I've sworn off relationships." She said as they walked. Hannah hooked their arms together. "Oh? Bad breakup?" She asked. Eliza watched Rikki running around a few yards away. He was enjoying being outside but he didn't wander too far. Anytime he did she would call for him and he'd come right back. "Something like that." She admitted. There was no need to hash all of that out. They might be friends but Eliza wasn't sure if she would ever divulge that information. Maybe one day but it was still too soon.

She wondered how long she would be able to keep telling herself that. 'Too soon' It felt like it would always be too soon. It wasn't something she could just get over. It still amazed her how everything had gone so wrong. How could she let it get so terrible? Luke and Alicia knew what was going on but she'd begged them not to say anything. She just didn't want to get Connor in trouble. He'd been so sweet when their relationship started and it was a struggle to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't that person at all. She'd been so afraid to lose him. God, she was an idiot.

They stopped at a scenic spot and Eliza used her robe as a blanket to sit on. Kelly and Hannah pulled snacks from a bag and set them out. "So you don't have anyone you're interested in?" Hannah asked as she dumped out a bag of jelly beans and mixed them up with a wink. Kelly was the first to grab one and smiled as she chewed. "Nah." Eliza picked up a bean and popped it into her mouth. Blueberry.

"Just figured with you hanging around with Fred, George, and Lee you might have eyes for one." Hannah studied one of the beans and made a face before spitting it out. "Dirt." Eliza laughed. Not only at Hannah's reaction to the taste but also at the idea that she was interested in the guys she'd made friends with. "No. Lee is cute don't get me wrong." She said. "But I think I'll wait until I'm out of school before trying my hand at a relationship again."

Kelly smirked. "We'll see." She said in a sing-song way before grinning. "Speak of the devils."

Eliza turned her head to where Kelly was looking and chuckled when she saw the twins and Lee shoving each other playfully along the path. Their gestures were very animated as they talked but she couldn't make out what they were saying and they dropped conversation when they spotted the girls.

"Ladies."

She was getting better at differentiating between the two but she was no master. "Gentlemen." Kelly greeted while one of the twins plopped down and grabbed one of the jelly beans. "Mmm. My favorite. Rotten egg." He grinned though he did spit it out as the other two sat down. Rikki jumped in between them and stretched along Lee's lap.

"Hey, guys." Eliza greeted. "Can you identify yourselves?" she asked and the twins shared dramatic looks of hurt. "George I can't believe she can't tell the difference." One said with a hand over his heart. The other nodded. "You're right, George. It's downright insulting." Eliza tossed a bean at each of them. Lee nudged her foot and mouthed 'Fred' and quickly glanced to his left. "Hm. How about we make a bet. You owe me 5 galleons if I can guess which one is which." She said.

The twins grinned. "You're on." So she tapped her chin and pretended to think. "Hmmm..I can usually tell the difference by who smells the most unpleasant." She said and took a deep inhale. "And that's usually Fred!" She pointed at him and he scoffed. "You're full of it!" He exclaimed but she held out her hand. "Pay up."

George shoved her shoulder lightly. "You cheated." He accused and she shrugged. "Prove it."

Lee was struggling to keep a straight face but he broke into a fit when Rikki slid over his lap and climbed onto Fred's leg before letting loose a sneeze. It was perfectly timed and Fred looked at the ferret in shock. "I do not smell!" He protested. Kelly was leaning against Eliza holding her side as she laughed. "Only a hint of troll breath." She wheezed. He retaliated by tossing a small handful of beans at them which only made them laugh harder.

They hung around for a bit longer when Hannah asked Kelly if she thought it was going to be a peaceful year. The girl shrugged. "It's gotta be better than last year with all that pureblood chamber of secrets nonsense." Which got Eliza's attention. "Excuse me but..What?" She asked. Hannah tilted her face up towards the sun and closed her eyes. "Oh yeah. Last year was insane. Students were getting petrified. Harry spoke parseltongue. Something about 'the heir of Slytherin.' " Her tone was light and airy as if she hadn't just said that students were petrified.

As she continued Eliza once again found herself wondering what kind of school she'd transferred to. George grabbed another jelly bean. "Our sister got kidnapped." And Fred followed up with "taken into the chamber of secrets."

Her thoughts screeched to a halt and her mouth dropped open. "Your sister got what?" She couldn't make heads or tails of what they were telling her and she figured they had to be messing with her. "This is a joke, right?" She looked around at them but they all shook their heads. "Ask anyone who was here last year." Lee said. But none of it made any sense to her. Therefore for the next hour they filled her in on the year prior which only gave her a headache by the end of it. "I wonder if it's too late to transfer to Uganda." She muttered before the sky started to get dark again and Hannah groaned. "Oh, come on!"

The girls quickly packed up and headed for the castle. It started to drizzle as they jogged, and Eliza held Rikki close to her chest as they picked up into a run. The guys broke off from them once inside leaving Hannah, Kelly, and Eliza to find something else to do. They showed her around the castle for a little bit before dinner but after eating there wasn't a whole lot to do so they retreated to the common room to sit by the fire and play exploding snap. Kelly was a pro and wiped the floor with them until Hannah couldn't take the defeat anymore.

They split off for a bit and Eliza sat in a large comfy chair watching two students play chess. She was still trying to process what she'd learned and how the heck anyone had come back for another year. It made her problems seem small in comparison especially now with Sirius Black on the loose. One of the players got frustrated and quit the game when the other pointed out they would have them in check in two moves. "How?!" The loser looked over the board before turning to Eliza. "Do you see it?" She asked but Eliza shrugged. "I suck at chess." She admitted. She'd just been watching for the entertainment. Luke had been the chess player in her friend group and she'd given up ever winning a game no matter how much he encouraged her.

"Can I play next?" Eliza looked up as a young man approached the chessboard. He was tall with dark wavy hair and blue eyes that danced in the firelight and a shy smile that gave his sharp features a softer look. The winner nodded. "Of course, Victor. You might actually give me a challenge." He said and Victor took the seat left empty as the other student moved off.

The first game they played was much quicker than the previous ones and both players shot smiles and friendly jabs across the board at one another. While she may not have been good at the game it was cool to watch people take part who knew what they were doing. "Do you play?" Victor asked while he waited for his opponent to make their move. Eliza shook her head. "Just a spectator."

"Doesn't sound very fun." He said, eyes scanning over the board. "It's riveting." She chuckled. "It's keeping me awake at least. The rain always makes me want to take a nap." She looked down into her lap where Rikki was doing just that. One of his paws twitched in his sleep.

The smile Victor shot her way was charming. "As a new student, I'd expect you to be exploring the castle." He reached for one of his bishops and took possession of the opponent's knight. By this point, news had to have gotten around in the house of who she was and where she was from. Kelly wasn't exactly the type to keep information to herself and Hannah had a voice that carried. "I got a tour of the grounds today." She said with a shrug. "Plus I'm resting. My Monday schedule has me putting in tons of cardio."

Victor chuckled. "I've seen. The first couple of times I saw you it was all a blur." He said. "You're much cuter up close." His follow-up comment made her stomach clench and she turned her gaze to the fire. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. It wasn't like she couldn't take a compliment but it was just too soon to have a guy calling her cute so directly. Especially a guy that looked like Victor. "Thanks. I've often been told I look much better when I'm not gasping for air." She said trying not to show how uncomfortable she was.

She was relieved when he laughed. It made it feel more like a friendly compliment than an attempt to let her know he was interested. It was entirely possible that he wasn't. "Check." He announced to his opponent after a few moves. They set up the board again and the next game passed with snippets of conversation between the three of them. Between the quiet conversations around the common room and the rain pattering against the large windows, Eliza was yawning by the end of it. Her head was sinking into the soft material of the high back chair. If she had a blanket she could easily fall asleep right there.

"You should go to bed." Victor said and Eliza lifted her head not noticing that she'd let her eyes drift closed. "Oops." She smiled before letting out a long yawn and sitting up. "You're right. I have a long day in the library tomorrow." She stretched and the movement made Rikki wake up and jump off her lap. "Homework?" Victor asked.

She nodded even though it was somewhat of a lie. It was studying. It just wasn't for anything she'd be graded on. "If you want someone to study with occasionally, I wouldn't mind." He offered. Standing up from her chair, Eliza refused to linger too long on the words. "I'll keep that in mind." She said as she moved around them. "Goodnight." She said and retreated up the stairs with Rikki in tow.

In her room she let out a long sigh. The first week of classes had already been packed full of so much. She was making friends faster than she thought she would. She pulled out the letters she'd started to her friends and added more to them. She'd have to remind herself to send them off after classes on Monday. It would be amazing to get letters from them though it was heartbreaking that she couldn't talk to them every day.

With her letters finished she put them in her bag and got changed. Then she slid beneath the covers and tried to ignore the other girls coming in to get ready for bed. Luckily they weren't very loud and it wasn't long before she was out. Unfortunately, she had wild dreams of being kidnapped and dragged into some dark place belowground. She'd think twice before asking anything about the school's history ever again. At least she remembered those dreams though. She couldn't tell how long it had been since that happened. Months?