The Amazing Thing About: Friendship. Chapter eighteen.

Hannah and Kelly could tell something was wrong when she entered the common room but Eliza said she was just tired and dodged their questions that night. As the next few days passed she spent her meals at the Ravenclaw table and in the library when she had free time. Even during the quidditch match she'd kept mostly to herself. In class she'd sit away from the twins and when her friends asked her why she avoiding the brothers she'd just shake her head and say she didn't want to talk about it. Coming to terms with the fact that they knew what they did made it hard to look at them. She didn't want to see sympathy or pity reflected in their eyes. It wasn't something she could handle.

Eliza regretted the distance it caused with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. None of it was their fault but she couldn't join them when Fred and George were around. Just being in their proximity made her feel sick to her stomach. The only positive thing she could be glad for was that Draco had taken to leaving Harry alone in the great hall. The gossip about her had died by now as well even though some of her house still gave her the cold shoulder. The dirt looks from the Slytherin students still came but she was keeping a relatively low profile.

As the holidays drew nearer, she looked forward to being at home for the break. It would be a weight off her shoulders to be able to spend time with her parents and get away from the school. However, if she was being honest she was looking forward to the privacy of her bedroom the most. Letters from Luke and Alicia came more frequently and she'd made good on her promise to her parents letting them know about her progress though there was very little to report when it came to her wand work. If anything she felt like she was getting worse. During her sessions with Dumbledore, her attempts were chaotic and she'd jump back and forth from not being able to move a book to blowing half of them off the shelves by pure accident. Then back to nothing happening at all.

"Forgive me for prying but something is obviously bothering you." The headmaster commented as he waved his wand putting his desk back in order after an attempt to light a candle ended with her growing frustrated and waving her arm as if she could force her magic to work. The result had blown most of the parchment off the desk and scattered on the floor. "Sorry." She apologized, but he appeared more amused than bothered. "Would you like to talk about it?" He asked.

Eliza shook her head but he took a seat and folded his hands on his desk. "You are an astoundingly stubborn young woman." He said but his tone spoke of admiration rather than disappointment. "But if you don't ask for help then none can be given." Of course, he had to follow it up with something she didn't want to hear. But who else could she talk to? So she confided in him and told him what happened. Not wanting to get Fred and George in trouble she did leave out a few details but the headmaster wasn't stupid.

"Ah. Those two can be quite the handful." He said. "The young are often misguided despite their good intentions."

Eliza sat down with a sigh and placed her elbows on her knees not knowing how to respond. "I cannot excuse what they did but I would have to guess they care a great deal to go to such lengths." His words felt like a knife twisting in her gut. She wasn't stupid enough to believe they'd done it out of spite or for any reason other than to help but it still felt like a deep betrayal. "Have they shared that information with anyone else?" Dumbledore asked. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair to push it out of her face.

"It seems you have two options. You can spend the rest of your time here at Hogwarts with two fewer friends or you can forgive them." He made it sound so simple. "Choose wisely, Ms. Montgomery. There are few things more precious in this world than loyal friends who are willing to be there for us in our darkest hours."

Eliza replayed his words in her mind all the way up until the day she was due to leave for Christmas break. She spent a lot of time thinking things over and all the while they'd given her space. She'd catch them looking her way on occasion but they'd stopped trying to approach her. Kelly and Hannah had even stopped bringing their names up.

While she wasn't quite ready to forgive them she did stop them in the hall the night before boarding the train back home. "I think we should talk when I get back." was all she'd said and they'd nodded. "Alright." They wished each other happy holidays and parted company. To Eliza, it felt like a big first step but the real test of her ability to continue their friendship was going to be actually having a conversation with them when she returned. If she was capable of that at all.

She tried not to let it ruin her break. Being back home was enjoyable and her parents were able to spend a lot of quality time with her. At first they'd drilled her about how her time with Dumbledore was going, when she started feeling her abilities manifest, and how past events might be affecting her. The questioning was rough but Eliza did her best to be open and honest with them. It wasn't until she told them about her recent spat with her friends leaving out names and the fact they'd snooped into her records. That would have them flying off the handle. Instead she kept it vague and her parents gave her similar advice to what Dumbledore had.

After that they chose to push all seriousness aside and it was like nothing was wrong as she cooked with her mother or when they told her humorous stories about work. While their jobs were very serious, they would share something silly a few times. For instance, when a wizard they were chasing dove into a muggle fireplace mistaking it for part of the floo network. Or another who accidentally splinched themselves through a wall while trying to disapparate in a panic. They would sit in the living room and have family time with cocoa and Eliza was glad she'd chosen to come home for the holiday. Having her parents around her and being away from the situation at school gave her time to reflect.

During the last trip to Hogsmeade, she'd picked out presents for her friends and family. Though she was still upset with them she'd gotten the twins a set of quidditch gloves for each of them with their initials stitched across the back. There was also a set for Harry. Ron was getting snacks as she didn't quite know what to get him and Hermione would be getting a leatherbound journal and a few books Eliza thought she might like. For Luke and Alicia she'd bought nearly half the stock from HoneyDukes. Cas and Tasha would be receiving perfume and body wash sets she'd purchased from Kelly who passed the order to her mother. Hannah and Kelly were tricky to pin down a good gift for but color-changing ink for their fancy quills and two cute coats were what she decided on. Somehow it still didn't seem like enough though so she'd asked her parents for some extra money and had bought every single one of them a friendship bracelet. Leather chorded ones for the boys and silver links for the girls. It felt like she was trying to make up for the way she'd been acting. Her gifts were her apologies.

Eliza waited until she was home before sending the gifts off as she knew some of them wouldn't wait for Christmas to open them. Her parents were overly generous with their gifts this year. She had more seeds than she had space to plant them. She also received half a dozen new books ranging across different subjects. Her mother gave her a camera so she could start taking pictures at school and her father promised not to send death threats to Victor who'd she'd only mentioned briefly. 'Death threat' wasn't exactly what he'd said but it was heavily implied.

She spent a great deal of time mulling things over when she had time alone. However, she still didn't feel prepared to have 'the talk' with Fred and George upon her return. In fact she pretty much disappeared into the dorm as soon as she could. Even on the train she'd picked a compartment by herself and tried to prepare herself for being back. On her bed were packages and letters and she felt her chest tighten with emotion at the sight. She hadn't been expecting much but as she sat on her bed and looked at them all she wanted to cry. Despite the fact that she'd been so distant recently she'd still been thought of while they were doing their shopping.

She read the letter from Alicia and Luke first before opening their gifts. From Alicia, there was a framed photo of the three of them last winter when they'd been ice skating. Their faces were smiling and Luke was laughing about something but she couldn't recall what it was. She ran her fingers over the frame before placing it on the table next to her bed. Luke sent her a locket with a picture of just him and her that her mother had taken just before they'd started school. He had her in a headlock trying to get her to stop tickling him. She hung the locket on the corner of the picture frame. It made her wish she'd given them something more sentimental but they'd never been big on exchanging gifts. She'd felt if she started now they would think something was wrong.

There was a package from Harry, Ron, and Hermione that had a few small things in it like food and treats for Rikki, a scarf, and mittens. In the other packages, she got more books mostly on Herbology, ink, a mug that said 'Wizarding world's number 1 tutor!' from Cas and Tasha, and a set of pretty hair pins from Hannah. Kelly had apparently taken her uniforms and sewn her Horned Serpent house crest onto all of them next to the Ravenclaw badge. At first, she'd been very confused until she'd unfolded them thinking she'd just done laundry or something.

She spotted a small box and attached to it was a card. It was from Victor. She suddenly felt guilty for not getting him anything other than the same type of chocolates he'd purchased on their outing to Hogsmeade but she'd been at a loss at what he would like. Eliza almost didn't want to open it but that would be rude, wouldn't it? She read the card first. On it was scrawled 'In case you ever feel homesick.' and inside the box was a miniature globe with her old school slowly rotating inside of it, snow drifting lazily. She set it and the card beside her gifts from Alicia and Luke. She was really kicking herself for only getting him chocolate.

There was one more package and an envelope. One of them was from the twins and Lee. She opened it to see a pocket watch that when she popped it open all the symbols were replaced with the word 'late'. She snorted and set it aside. There were mostly funny items but there was also a lovely journal. On the inside of the cover was written 'This journal comes as a set. We have the other one. Anything you write here will show up on our side and vice versa. In case you need to talk but just can't stand the sight of us. -F&G'

Eliza was touched. She hadn't expected them to be so thoughtful. Eliza was coming to realize that while they were the goofy mischievous troublemakers everyone saw them as there was also another side she'd seen a few times. They were good friends. Loyal too. She'd seen them standing up for other students and they were even helping her with her wand work. While it had started out transactional it was becoming increasingly clear that they saw her as a true friend. She didn't know where they were or what they were doing at the moment but she rummaged around for a quill and ink to quickly write a message into the journal.

Thank you for the gifts.

-Izzy

She set it to the side and picked up the last thing. The envelope. It didn't have a name or a message to indicate who it was from. She checked the front and the back but there was nothing. With a frown she opened it wondering who it could be from and why they wanted to remain anonymous. Inside was a necklace. It had a thin, dainty silver chain, and dangling from it was an opal. That was strange. It was her favorite stone but she couldn't recall mentioning that to anyone recently so she checked inside the envelope again. There was a small note and when she unfolded it she dropped both it and the necklace.

Merry Christmas, Little Darling.

-C