It was a cold, overcast Saturday morning and Alice strode briskly
through the hallways and corridors of Hogwarts to the Great Hall for
breakfast. It was already almost 9:30, but for some reason Hypothia and
Claire hadn't woken her up, and by the time she was awoken by her dark gray
kitten, Clive, chewing on her fingers with his razor-sharp kitty teeth (he
was teething), she was already twenty minutes late.
She pushed open the heavy wooden portal into the hall and sauntered over to the Slytherin table where Claire and Hypothia (next to whom was Draco, hunched over his porridge like a gargoyle) were sitting. Appearing between her two friends, she grabbed a strip of bacon and began gnawing away, greeting them cheerily through a mouthful of fatty pig flesh.
"Alice. are you. okay?" asked Claire, staring at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Yeah, why?" she responded, pausing momentarily from a slice of buttered toast.
"Well," Hypothia joined in, "you were saying all this really scary stuff in your sleep. that's why we didn't wake you up."
"Yeah, you know you can kill someone if you wake them up too suddenly from a really intense dream," Claire said, reminding Alice a bit of Hermione Granger, the bossy, overachieving sixth-year.
"Well, we were about to wake you up until you yelled something about 'hailing the almighty corn god'. then we decided we'd better let you sleep it off," informed Hypothia.
Things clicked in Alice's mind. "So that explains it!" she exclaimed. "I had this crazy dream that Seamus was wearing this awesome corn-suit, and he took his wand out of his husk-pocket and tried to do a spell, but he got it wrong and his kernels started popping and there was nothing I could do to save him because by then I'd turned into a legless, armless panda bear! Gods, it was horrible!" She had obviously used all her breath to tell the story, and was now hyperventilating and twitching like a disgruntled spider monkey.
Claire patted her on the back, slowly and apprehensively, as one would pet a paraplegic goat that they didn't really want to touch and were only doing so because they felt sorry for it. "Uh, Alice?" she said cautiously, so as not to upset her. "We. uh, think you have some. repressed issues you need to work out."
"Yes, definitely," seconded Hypothia. "This Seamus character is driving you insane. Why don't you talk to him or something; Maybe then you won't have all these crazy kinky fantasies of him in corn suits."
Ah, but it was easier said than done. Alice had never been very good at making friends and talking to people she didn't know. Like usual, she would probably just go on like normal hoping he didn't notice her staring at him and living off of her rampant imagination.
.
Her weekend from then on was relatively uneventful. She spent it mostly in her room when she wasn't in the hall eating because she knew that if she was around Seamus she would only go more crazy trying to overcome her shyness. It was best just to avoid him - that way, at least he couldn't find out because she wouldn't be there to stare at him.
On Sunday afternoon, she lay on her bed dangling her arm over the side for Clive to play with, listening to a Smashing Pumpkins CD through headphones (she had developed a strange affinity for such muggle devices), when Hypothia and Claire barged in, green and silver Slytherin scarves billowing behind them and all, their faces pink from the cold.
"Alice, what are you doing in here all alone?" Claire inquired with a hint of maternal worry.
"Oh." startled, she removed her headphones. "I was just playing with Clive." She reached down and snatched him off the stone floor, holding him up as if to prove that she was telling the truth. "See?"
"Uh. yeah," Hypothia said, shaking her head. "Hey, look. We're going to go play broom tag with some Gryffindors. You can come if you want."
"Oh, um." she didn't really want to go anywhere at the moment, but she looked out her window to see the mist falling in soft curtains and then to her neglected broomstick in the corner of the room. "Who's going, exactly?" she asked, turning her head toward her friends but her gaze was still stuck on the broom.
"We don't really know for sure. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, maybe Neville Longbottom, possibly a few Weaslys?" Claire said, seeming unsure.
"Fine," Alice sighed. She'd been cooped up in that room like a caged owl for almost five hours now, and it was so pretty outside. "Just let me get my cloak and stuff"
"Sure," Hypothia said, "Claire and I'll meet you outside in the lawn over by Hagrid's hut in ten minutes." And with that, they disappeared and the door slammed behind them, leaving Alice alone with Clive once again.
She picked him up tenderly, held to her face and said "Awww. I promise I love you, but I have people-friends too, you know." He pawed her cheek and she kissed his cold little kitten-nose, bouncing him down on the bed. She grabbed her cloak, scarf, mittens, and broom, pulled on a pair of boots and was gone, door slamming behind her.
She pushed open the heavy wooden portal into the hall and sauntered over to the Slytherin table where Claire and Hypothia (next to whom was Draco, hunched over his porridge like a gargoyle) were sitting. Appearing between her two friends, she grabbed a strip of bacon and began gnawing away, greeting them cheerily through a mouthful of fatty pig flesh.
"Alice. are you. okay?" asked Claire, staring at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Yeah, why?" she responded, pausing momentarily from a slice of buttered toast.
"Well," Hypothia joined in, "you were saying all this really scary stuff in your sleep. that's why we didn't wake you up."
"Yeah, you know you can kill someone if you wake them up too suddenly from a really intense dream," Claire said, reminding Alice a bit of Hermione Granger, the bossy, overachieving sixth-year.
"Well, we were about to wake you up until you yelled something about 'hailing the almighty corn god'. then we decided we'd better let you sleep it off," informed Hypothia.
Things clicked in Alice's mind. "So that explains it!" she exclaimed. "I had this crazy dream that Seamus was wearing this awesome corn-suit, and he took his wand out of his husk-pocket and tried to do a spell, but he got it wrong and his kernels started popping and there was nothing I could do to save him because by then I'd turned into a legless, armless panda bear! Gods, it was horrible!" She had obviously used all her breath to tell the story, and was now hyperventilating and twitching like a disgruntled spider monkey.
Claire patted her on the back, slowly and apprehensively, as one would pet a paraplegic goat that they didn't really want to touch and were only doing so because they felt sorry for it. "Uh, Alice?" she said cautiously, so as not to upset her. "We. uh, think you have some. repressed issues you need to work out."
"Yes, definitely," seconded Hypothia. "This Seamus character is driving you insane. Why don't you talk to him or something; Maybe then you won't have all these crazy kinky fantasies of him in corn suits."
Ah, but it was easier said than done. Alice had never been very good at making friends and talking to people she didn't know. Like usual, she would probably just go on like normal hoping he didn't notice her staring at him and living off of her rampant imagination.
.
Her weekend from then on was relatively uneventful. She spent it mostly in her room when she wasn't in the hall eating because she knew that if she was around Seamus she would only go more crazy trying to overcome her shyness. It was best just to avoid him - that way, at least he couldn't find out because she wouldn't be there to stare at him.
On Sunday afternoon, she lay on her bed dangling her arm over the side for Clive to play with, listening to a Smashing Pumpkins CD through headphones (she had developed a strange affinity for such muggle devices), when Hypothia and Claire barged in, green and silver Slytherin scarves billowing behind them and all, their faces pink from the cold.
"Alice, what are you doing in here all alone?" Claire inquired with a hint of maternal worry.
"Oh." startled, she removed her headphones. "I was just playing with Clive." She reached down and snatched him off the stone floor, holding him up as if to prove that she was telling the truth. "See?"
"Uh. yeah," Hypothia said, shaking her head. "Hey, look. We're going to go play broom tag with some Gryffindors. You can come if you want."
"Oh, um." she didn't really want to go anywhere at the moment, but she looked out her window to see the mist falling in soft curtains and then to her neglected broomstick in the corner of the room. "Who's going, exactly?" she asked, turning her head toward her friends but her gaze was still stuck on the broom.
"We don't really know for sure. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, maybe Neville Longbottom, possibly a few Weaslys?" Claire said, seeming unsure.
"Fine," Alice sighed. She'd been cooped up in that room like a caged owl for almost five hours now, and it was so pretty outside. "Just let me get my cloak and stuff"
"Sure," Hypothia said, "Claire and I'll meet you outside in the lawn over by Hagrid's hut in ten minutes." And with that, they disappeared and the door slammed behind them, leaving Alice alone with Clive once again.
She picked him up tenderly, held to her face and said "Awww. I promise I love you, but I have people-friends too, you know." He pawed her cheek and she kissed his cold little kitten-nose, bouncing him down on the bed. She grabbed her cloak, scarf, mittens, and broom, pulled on a pair of boots and was gone, door slamming behind her.
