A.N: here's the next chapter. i don't really have a plot for this one so it will probably be really random unless you know me. which...you don't. please read it anyway.
Chapter 11 Great Hall Trauma
I went to bed that night, not even noticing anything of my surroundings except my friends. I was so tired that after dinner, I stumbled up to the Gryffindor common room and then up to the dormitories. I was asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.
*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$
The next morning I was awoken by a pillow hitting me full in the face. Painfully.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed, sitting up abrutly. James's smiling face came into focus and I playfully shook my fist at him. "I'd watch it Potter."
"Or what?" he teased.
I was going to answer but just then the door to the bathroom opened and out walked Remus. "Please don't start. Not this early in the morning at least."
"But we always hit someone in the face with a pillow in the morning," argued James, pouting a little bit. I laughed and shook my head slightly. Typical James. It was almost as if the past two months had never happened, except I was still a bit sore. Just a little bit. Still, something was on the edge of my mind almost. Something I was forgetting. But what...? I pushed the thought out of my head and took a quick shower and brushed my teeth.
I walked out of the bathroom drying my hair to see Remus and James sitting on my bed, planning something. James looked up when he heard my entrance. "We're planning some kind of prank for our FAVORITE Slytherin."
"Snape?" I asked, though I knew the answer. Of course it was Snape. It was always Snape. Or Malfoy, but usually Snape."What do you have in mind?"
"Well...we actually have no idea," confessed James. "We've used all of the good ideas already."
"Maybe that shows you that we should give it up," suggested Remus, looking kind of pleadingly at James.
"Maybe...nah," he snorted back.
I rolled my eyes. I seemed to have gotten more sensible in my time of trial. Not much, but still...I guess it is an improvement. I usually would have given a harsh kind of retort. "Where's Peter?" I asked randomly, looking around the dormitory and noticing that he wasn't anywhere around.
"He went down to breakfast already," answered Remus, glancing at the clock by my bed. "And judging by the time, if we want breakfast, we should go get it. Now."
"A brilliant suggestion, Moony," agreed James. And with that we were out of the dormitory.
When we entered the Great Hall I could tell some people were a bit surprised to see James, Remus, and me together. Of course the entire school knew about our fight. Well, not the specifics, but they knew that James and Remus were angry at me. Quite frankly, I don't really think Peter cared about it. He was just doing what made him more popular.
I followed James and Remus to where we usually sat and looked around, for the first time really comprehending my surroundings. That's when my eyes fell on them. On her. I immediately knew what I had forgotten. Ben and Natalie were sitting there. Natalie looked really depressed and Ben was patting her on the back. Every so often he would glance at me and a sad look seemed to take place in his eyes. They were both always so cheerful. Now, however, all the light in their eyes were gone. Something terrible must have happened to have quenched their joy in life so much.
Now I felt guilty. They had been there when I hadn't any friends. They comforted me when I had to go back to Grimmauld Place. They reassured me that they didn't care about my family history. And what did I do? I forgot completely about them the moment I had James and Remus back.
I got up. I couldn't do that. Even I had a conscience sometimes, and now was one of those times.
James looked at me funny has I started to leave though. "Is something wrong?"
"I'll be right back."
I walked to the end of the table to where Natalie and Ben were sitting. Ben looked up, glaring slightly. Natalie continued to gaze dismally at her empty plate. It appeared as if she hadn't eaten anything. Behind me, I could feel James's gaze burning into the back of my skull. I ignored him and sat down by Natalie.
"Is everything alright?" I asked softly. What happened next startled me. Her head shot up and her eyes were dark with anger and slightly bloodshot. Their were angry pink splotches on her cheeks and she was shaking with fury. Surprised, I backed away slowly.
"Do you THINK everything is alright?" she practically screamed, catching the attention of people sitting near us. James was still watching me and seemed to be amused at what was happening. I bet he thought I was asking her out, and while the thought crossed my mind, I knew that now would be a bad time.
"Well, what happened?" I asked patiently.
"YOU!" she screamed this time, tears starting to spill from her brown eyes. "AND YOUR FAMILY!!! YOU DESTROYED MY FAMILY!!! YOU DESTROYED US!!! YOU BROKE MY HEART!!! HERE I WAS THINKING THAT MY BROTHER AND I ACTUALLY MEANT SOMETHING TO YOU, BUT NOOO....THE MOMENT YOU HAVE YOUR OLD FRIENDS BACK YOU COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT US. IT'S LIKE WE NEVER EVEN EXISTED." she lowered her voice slightly and continued, "But nooo, we were never good enough for a pureblood like Black to want to hang out with us. We're just normal witches and wizards. Well you know what BLACK, I don't need you. I dont' even know why I LIKED you. Not anymore. I will not make the same mistake. NOW GO AWAY!"
"Natalie..." I trailed off, uncertain as to what to say.
"I thought you actually liked me. Maybe even loved me...Guess I was wrong. As usual. Please just...go away," she whispered now, tears streaming down her face quickly. I sighed and got up, but Ben also got up.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked, his expression neither angry nor friendly. I nodded numbly and followed him out of the Great Hall. We stopped right outside the entrance. "You do like Natalie, don't you?"
I nodded. I was shocked. I hadn't been expecting this. "I liked her from the moment I spoke to her."
Ben nodded slightly, and continued, "She had a feeling this would happen. Right now it's not your fault she's so mad. You know how we said our parents were killed by the Black's, well...we had a sister. She was murdered just yesterday. The Black's were behind it. Natalie didn't mean that you had something to do with it. She's just...she needed to vent. She's been keeping her feelings bottled up like that for too long, and when she finally cracks....well, I think you get what happens."
I nodded again. "You do realize that James is my best friend, don't you?"
He smiled slightly. "After what happened over the summer, how could I not understand? He's like a brother to you. And we respect that. Just...don't completely forget Natalie and me. Alright?"
I nodded and he smiled slightly and walked back to Natalie. I observed by the door as he talked to her, once again patting her back. I sighed and walked back to James and Remus. So one of my maniac family members had murdered my friend's sister. That would explain some of the angry words thrown at me by Natalie. I couldn't really blame her. I still cared about her deeply though.
"So, how does it feel to be rejected, Padfoot?" James teased when I sat down.
"I didn't go over there to ask her out. I wanted to make sure everything was alright."
"Who are they?"
"They've been here for about a month. They were my friends while you and Remus were still angry with me."
"Oh. Why did she get so upset?"
I explained all about her family and how my family was involved in destroying it. James winced every now and then. When I was finished, James shook his head and said, "Tough luck," and then continued eating as if I had said nothing important. I gazed at him a bit surprised that he could be so dismissive about something that was tearing Natalie and Ben apart. He looked at my expression and asked what around a bite of his toast. I just shrugged and went back to my breakfast. It would be hard to get James to accept them. I looked back at the two, thinking about what I was supposed to do. For once, I came up short of good ideas.
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A.N.: there was the chapter. yep. i don't know if that was good or not. so...just review and i'll be happy. and if you don't review...i'll probably still be happy. *sighs* oh well. i'd PREFER it if you reviewed. oh, how do you do italics?
Chapter 11 Great Hall Trauma
I went to bed that night, not even noticing anything of my surroundings except my friends. I was so tired that after dinner, I stumbled up to the Gryffindor common room and then up to the dormitories. I was asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.
*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$
The next morning I was awoken by a pillow hitting me full in the face. Painfully.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed, sitting up abrutly. James's smiling face came into focus and I playfully shook my fist at him. "I'd watch it Potter."
"Or what?" he teased.
I was going to answer but just then the door to the bathroom opened and out walked Remus. "Please don't start. Not this early in the morning at least."
"But we always hit someone in the face with a pillow in the morning," argued James, pouting a little bit. I laughed and shook my head slightly. Typical James. It was almost as if the past two months had never happened, except I was still a bit sore. Just a little bit. Still, something was on the edge of my mind almost. Something I was forgetting. But what...? I pushed the thought out of my head and took a quick shower and brushed my teeth.
I walked out of the bathroom drying my hair to see Remus and James sitting on my bed, planning something. James looked up when he heard my entrance. "We're planning some kind of prank for our FAVORITE Slytherin."
"Snape?" I asked, though I knew the answer. Of course it was Snape. It was always Snape. Or Malfoy, but usually Snape."What do you have in mind?"
"Well...we actually have no idea," confessed James. "We've used all of the good ideas already."
"Maybe that shows you that we should give it up," suggested Remus, looking kind of pleadingly at James.
"Maybe...nah," he snorted back.
I rolled my eyes. I seemed to have gotten more sensible in my time of trial. Not much, but still...I guess it is an improvement. I usually would have given a harsh kind of retort. "Where's Peter?" I asked randomly, looking around the dormitory and noticing that he wasn't anywhere around.
"He went down to breakfast already," answered Remus, glancing at the clock by my bed. "And judging by the time, if we want breakfast, we should go get it. Now."
"A brilliant suggestion, Moony," agreed James. And with that we were out of the dormitory.
When we entered the Great Hall I could tell some people were a bit surprised to see James, Remus, and me together. Of course the entire school knew about our fight. Well, not the specifics, but they knew that James and Remus were angry at me. Quite frankly, I don't really think Peter cared about it. He was just doing what made him more popular.
I followed James and Remus to where we usually sat and looked around, for the first time really comprehending my surroundings. That's when my eyes fell on them. On her. I immediately knew what I had forgotten. Ben and Natalie were sitting there. Natalie looked really depressed and Ben was patting her on the back. Every so often he would glance at me and a sad look seemed to take place in his eyes. They were both always so cheerful. Now, however, all the light in their eyes were gone. Something terrible must have happened to have quenched their joy in life so much.
Now I felt guilty. They had been there when I hadn't any friends. They comforted me when I had to go back to Grimmauld Place. They reassured me that they didn't care about my family history. And what did I do? I forgot completely about them the moment I had James and Remus back.
I got up. I couldn't do that. Even I had a conscience sometimes, and now was one of those times.
James looked at me funny has I started to leave though. "Is something wrong?"
"I'll be right back."
I walked to the end of the table to where Natalie and Ben were sitting. Ben looked up, glaring slightly. Natalie continued to gaze dismally at her empty plate. It appeared as if she hadn't eaten anything. Behind me, I could feel James's gaze burning into the back of my skull. I ignored him and sat down by Natalie.
"Is everything alright?" I asked softly. What happened next startled me. Her head shot up and her eyes were dark with anger and slightly bloodshot. Their were angry pink splotches on her cheeks and she was shaking with fury. Surprised, I backed away slowly.
"Do you THINK everything is alright?" she practically screamed, catching the attention of people sitting near us. James was still watching me and seemed to be amused at what was happening. I bet he thought I was asking her out, and while the thought crossed my mind, I knew that now would be a bad time.
"Well, what happened?" I asked patiently.
"YOU!" she screamed this time, tears starting to spill from her brown eyes. "AND YOUR FAMILY!!! YOU DESTROYED MY FAMILY!!! YOU DESTROYED US!!! YOU BROKE MY HEART!!! HERE I WAS THINKING THAT MY BROTHER AND I ACTUALLY MEANT SOMETHING TO YOU, BUT NOOO....THE MOMENT YOU HAVE YOUR OLD FRIENDS BACK YOU COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT US. IT'S LIKE WE NEVER EVEN EXISTED." she lowered her voice slightly and continued, "But nooo, we were never good enough for a pureblood like Black to want to hang out with us. We're just normal witches and wizards. Well you know what BLACK, I don't need you. I dont' even know why I LIKED you. Not anymore. I will not make the same mistake. NOW GO AWAY!"
"Natalie..." I trailed off, uncertain as to what to say.
"I thought you actually liked me. Maybe even loved me...Guess I was wrong. As usual. Please just...go away," she whispered now, tears streaming down her face quickly. I sighed and got up, but Ben also got up.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked, his expression neither angry nor friendly. I nodded numbly and followed him out of the Great Hall. We stopped right outside the entrance. "You do like Natalie, don't you?"
I nodded. I was shocked. I hadn't been expecting this. "I liked her from the moment I spoke to her."
Ben nodded slightly, and continued, "She had a feeling this would happen. Right now it's not your fault she's so mad. You know how we said our parents were killed by the Black's, well...we had a sister. She was murdered just yesterday. The Black's were behind it. Natalie didn't mean that you had something to do with it. She's just...she needed to vent. She's been keeping her feelings bottled up like that for too long, and when she finally cracks....well, I think you get what happens."
I nodded again. "You do realize that James is my best friend, don't you?"
He smiled slightly. "After what happened over the summer, how could I not understand? He's like a brother to you. And we respect that. Just...don't completely forget Natalie and me. Alright?"
I nodded and he smiled slightly and walked back to Natalie. I observed by the door as he talked to her, once again patting her back. I sighed and walked back to James and Remus. So one of my maniac family members had murdered my friend's sister. That would explain some of the angry words thrown at me by Natalie. I couldn't really blame her. I still cared about her deeply though.
"So, how does it feel to be rejected, Padfoot?" James teased when I sat down.
"I didn't go over there to ask her out. I wanted to make sure everything was alright."
"Who are they?"
"They've been here for about a month. They were my friends while you and Remus were still angry with me."
"Oh. Why did she get so upset?"
I explained all about her family and how my family was involved in destroying it. James winced every now and then. When I was finished, James shook his head and said, "Tough luck," and then continued eating as if I had said nothing important. I gazed at him a bit surprised that he could be so dismissive about something that was tearing Natalie and Ben apart. He looked at my expression and asked what around a bite of his toast. I just shrugged and went back to my breakfast. It would be hard to get James to accept them. I looked back at the two, thinking about what I was supposed to do. For once, I came up short of good ideas.
********
A.N.: there was the chapter. yep. i don't know if that was good or not. so...just review and i'll be happy. and if you don't review...i'll probably still be happy. *sighs* oh well. i'd PREFER it if you reviewed. oh, how do you do italics?