Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, blah blah blah.
AN: This is kind of a Mary-Sue fic, but written with the intention of Mary-Sueness. Feedback is welcome and appreciated.
The weekend of the Hogsmead trip Aubrey let a little bit of Crash creep back into her life in the form of some old clothes. She threw on a pair of black pinstripe pants that had rips in them, mended with brightly colored yarn and or duct tape. Aubrey also chose a bright orange long sleeved top that had a pink bunny on it, and she topped it all off with her white Chuck Taylors, which Crash himself had decorated.
Aubrey had gone to Hogsmead alone, and now walked in the fresh autumn breeze equally alone. The beautiful leaves were brown, red, orange, yellow…all the colors she had never seen before. Aubrey had grown up with the cold concrete of a city and didn't know the simple pleasure of seeing the leaves magically change colors with the seasons.
She walked into the personal affects shop in Hogsmead and began browsing. A friendly guy with the name tag that proclaimed him to be 'Andy' soon approached her to help out.
"So, what can I help you with today, miss?" He asked brightly. Andy had a lip ring that was rather sexy, and Aubrey told him that she thought so. His smile became more genuine as he thanked her.
"Really though, I'm looking to fix my hair up a little. Do you guys do haircuts?"
"We do, but if you'll step over here I can show you some really interesting products that you'll probably like…"
And what interesting products they were. Dyes in all sorts of wondrous colors that came in the form of conditioner, shampoos and sprays that could straighten or curl, and the most intriguing of all was the shampoo that would make your hair an entire six inches longer with a single washing. You just cut off the excess and did what you wanted.
Aubrey made her selections and stepped over to the hairstyling section. Andy stayed with her during the process, eager to see how her hair would turn out.
Her hair was now a toned down brown color, almost mousy. It was highlighted, however, with silver, blue, and lilac. Aubrey was very pleased with it. She also used some of the spray to straighten it out, and now it was a good two inches longer then her old, wavy, purple hair.
Feeling fresh and invigorated, Aubrey walked briskly to the Three Broomsticks to celebrate her new haircut. As far as she knew, Draco and Blaise and the rest of her Slytherin friends would still be at the castle, since they had no plans on leaving.
So, she was free, to an extent. Over the past two weeks Draco had been rather demanding, and it was tiring Aubrey out. She liked him and all, but she just didn't love him. He had a nice body, was very well endowed in the downstairs apartment, knew how to turn her on and treat her in just the right way, and didn't really hit her. Crash, on the other hand, had been prone to hitting her when he was mad or thought she deserved it.
But she had loved him, so that had made it all worth it. And hey, who would deny that makeup sex was the best kind? God knows that Aubrey and Crash had done enough of that to last her a lifetime.
Aubrey pushed thoughts of Crash out of her mind as she entered the Three Broomsticks. She looked around the room and saw the only people she vaguely knew: the famous Potter boy, his best friend Ron Weasly, and Hermione Granger. Aubrey only knew their names because she had been present on several occasions where the three had crossed paths with Draco. Of course, his preferred names for them were 'Potty, Weasel and Mudblood.'
She was a bit surprised when Harry waved her over. Aubrey walked over and slid into the booth beside Harry. Ron and Hermione were opposite them, and they all had steamy mugs of butterbeer. Aubrey hailed the barista for a drink of her own, and then the real conversation started.
"Is your hair different?" Harry started out with. He seemed to be the only one that actually wanted her here. The other two weren't very angry about it, but they weren't happy about it either.
"Yeah, I just got it done. The purple was starting to get a little old."
Aubrey took a sip of her drink as Hermione noted dryly, "I wouldn't have thought you would dye your hair brown. Why, I do believe that's very close to my own color."
"It's as far from mine as is humanly possible. I naturally have jet black hair, very goth. In the past two years I've dyed it so much that my hair's been Harry's color, and Ron's too. Just about anything you can think of."
Hermione loosened up a little and smiled a bit. "Have you ever given into pop culture and dyed it blond?" Ron asked, a little curious. He really couldn't imagine someone wanting their hair to be the horrible shade of red his was.
Aubrey laughed and said, "Yeah. Except it wasn't for pop culture, it was for my old boyfriend Crash. He said he had always wanted a trashy blond girlfriend, so for his birthday I dyed it."
Hermione nodded, and looked closely at her. "You know, you almost look like someone I used to know. I can't quite put my finger on it…"
Aubrey sighed and looked away when realization struck Harry head on. "Your last name's Black, isn't it?" Aubrey nodded, still not looking at him. "Your father was Sirius, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he was. Somehow no one's made the connection yet." Unexpected tears welled up in her eyes and Aubrey quickly wiped them away. "He named me, you know. Not my first name, that was my mother's choice. Aubrey means 'noble' or 'bright.' My father gave me my middle name, Blythe. It means 'happy.' I guess that's all he wanted for me." She wiped another tear from her eye and looked back at Harry, who was a bit surprised.
"So…what about your mother? What's she like?" Hermione asked carefully.
"I don't really know. She was killed about a year after I was born. Her name was Tessa…and my dad really loved her. A whole lot." Aubrey sighed, and traced her finger around the rim of her glass.
"Wait a second," Harry suddenly said. "Sirius and Narcissa were cousins…so that means that you're dating your second cousin?"
Hermione and Ron both made grossed out faces at this newly unearthed fact, while Aubrey laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's the truth, isn't it? Well, Draco's parents were second cousins too, so it doesn't really matter. To me, anyway."
The conversation continued on from there without much incident. Throughout it all, Aubrey kept them laughing and joking, and when it was time to be heading back to the castle they went together.
When she did get back to her own common room, it was late evening and Cho and Cuddles were there to greet her. Cho gave a snort when she saw Aubrey's hair.
"It's…brown! Honestly, who dyes their hair brown?"
"I do," Aubrey said, scooping up Cuddles and going up to her dorm. She wanted sleep, and sleep was what she got. She had an odd dream…
Crash, Draco, and Blaise were all there. They were standing around the steps at her old school, where she had first seen Crash. Aubrey had been wearing quite a short skirt in the dream, and suddenly Crash grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to him. He lifted up her pleated skirt to reveal a pair of very revealing lacy panties, and pointed to the tattoo on her.
"Do you see this, Draco? She's mine! Not yours, mine!"
Draco leered at the tattoo, and reached out to caress the skin it marred. Crash batted his hand away and flipped Aubrey around, holding her close. He held up her left hand and glared at Blaise, holding her hand out for him to see. Aubrey looked down at her hand and noticed that she was wearing the promise ring that Crash had given her.
"Do you see this, Blaise? She's mine! Not yours, mine!"
At this point Aubrey woke up in a cold sweat and mumbled quite loudly, "No, stop…!" and pushed Cuddles accidentally off the bed, at which she mewled unhappily.
Aubrey groaned and raked a hand through her hair. That was a pretty intense dream…she went over it in her mind, turning over the details to find the meaning. It was quite clear, actually…her subconscious was telling her that she still had feelings for Crash and that her body belonged to him and not Draco, and her love belonged to him and not…Blaise?
She blinked at the sudden realization. Perhaps she actually did love Blaise. Aubrey pushed the thought away from herself and pulled on some clothes: a decent lengthed plaid skirt and a black tank top with blue lining. Aubrey pulled her hair into a ponytail and left the dorm, intending to go for a walk, maybe hit the library and do a bit of light reading.
Aubrey never did get that far, however. While she was walking down one of the many staircases she managed to trip over her own feet and fall the rest of the way down. When she finally stopped tumbling, Aubrey groaned and pulled herself into a sitting position. She gingerly checked herself for injuries and found that, besides the sprinkling of bruises, Aubrey was rather sure she had a sprained ankle.
Well, there wasn't much she could do now, except try and limp to the hospital wing. And she didn't really think she could do that…still, she had to try. So, using the aid of the banister, Aubrey slowing pulled herself up. Gently, slowly, and oh-so-carefully, she put a little bit of weight on her injured left ankle.
With a sharp, piercing cry, Aubrey crumpled to the floor, falling on her butt on one of the steps. She clutched at her ankle, tears springing to her eyes.
Thankfully, her little outburst alerted someone from the close by library, and he soon came to her aid. The boy had sandy hair, and Aubrey didn't know who he was, although the crest on his robes proclaimed him to be a Gryffindor.
"Hey there," he said mildly, as he walked up to her. He stayed standing with his hands thrust in his pockets, eyebrows raised. "Where you the one that kind of…cried out? Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," she said, straining to smile. Aubrey wiped a tear from her cheek, looking up at the boy. She really couldn't place his face. "I fell down the stairs and I think I twisted my ankle. Could you help me get to the hospital wing? I can't walk on it,"
"Yeah, sure," he said quickly, helping her up as she put her arm around his shoulders to help herself balance. He slipped his arm around her waist and smiled. "I'm Seamus." He told her.
Aubrey smiled as they made their slow progress toward the Hospital wing. "Aubrey."
Seamus cheered her with a bit of conversation until they were about halfway to the hospital wing. It was then that Blaise saw them, and a look of concern darkening his face he walked swiftly up to the pair.
"Aubrey, what happened? Are you hurt? Here, let me help," Blaise quickly took Aubrey from Seamus, carrying more then helping her walk.
"I fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle," she informed him, and now he really did begin to carry her, her arms around his neck and his hands placed around her shoulders and under her knees. "Rather gallant of you," she noted tartly, but with a hint of humor.
Blaise actually blushed, and it wasn't a fake blush either. Aubrey was shocked as he cleared his throat, and part of the dream she had last night floated back to her, the part where Crash spun her around and lifted up her skirt to show where he had branded her. Suddenly she asked, "Did Draco tell you about my tattoo?"
Blaise looked at her and sighed. "Yeah, he did. The one that…"
Aubrey cut him off, saying quickly, "I thought Crash and I would be together forever. But beyond that, it means something more to me. Crash was a turning point for me, before him I never dated anyone for one thing…but other then that, I was so fake. I didn't have any purpose, and I hated my life but I didn't realize it at all. That was the saddest part now that I think about it…I didn't realize that my life was like that, it was so…"
But now it was Blaise's turn to cut her off. "Aubrey, that was a different time in your life, and it doesn't worry me that you got some other guy's name tattooed on your ass."
Aubrey was silent for a long moment as her blue eyes probed Blaise's warm brown ones. "Why should it worry you, Blaise?" she asked quietly, still staring at him.
Blaise cleared his throat carefully and tightened his grip on her. "It doesn't and it shouldn't. So don't worry about it."
They had reached the Hospital wing by this time, and now Madam Pomphrey was busying herself with giving Aubrey things to drink. Soon one of the potions made her drift off to sleep and, with Madam Pomphrey's permission, Blaise opted to sit next to Aubrey.
She looked so serene, lying on the pristine white sheets. Her lips were slightly parted, and one arm was thrown over her head. Aubrey's breathing was perfectly even, and Blaise spotted a few bruises on her fair skin.
As he watched her he thought about his screwed up feelings for her. It had all started out as a game, that was all. Just a stupid game about sex, and now...now he thought he might love her.
He hated to see her with Draco, hated when they kissed and he saw them, hated it when he occasionally overheard muffled passion. Blaise wanted to be the one holding her, kissing her, touching her, making her emit those sounds of passion.
But he didn't think that it was going to happen. Draco had been one of his good friends for a while, and he knew by now what Draco wanted, Draco got and kept for as long as he wanted it.
The messed up thing was, Blaise could see it in her eyes that she wasn't completely happy, and that she maybe, just maybe, wanted him in Draco's place. But she wasn't brave enough, or simply didn't care enough, to stop things with Draco in order to pursue something meaningful with Blaise.
One of the things about her that puzzled him was the many mixed signals she sent. She constantly flirted with other guys (himself included) and did it even though she knew Draco would yell at her for it later. Aubrey would also occasionally speak to Potter and his little friends, and Draco would get absolutely furious at her for that, and wouldn't wait until they were alone to humiliate her.
It was like she was a masochist. She just craved attention of any kind, even if that attention meant that she would be yelled at, hit, or worse. As Blaise's eyes roamed over the contours of her body he wondered if Crash had ever hurt her.
Just then, Aubrey twisted and murmured something, her brown creasing as she frowned. Blaise, anxious, leaned forward and smoothed her hair back from her face, where it had fallen. Her skin was warm and smooth, like sun kissed marble.
He couldn't help himself: Blaise placed a soft, loving kiss on that expanse of skin. He smiled as he pulled away, and noted absently that she had quit frowning and was breathing even more evenly then before.
And now, as he sat beside her he knew for certain that he loved her. Or perhaps it was just infatuation…but then, as she turned over and sighed in her sleep, his breath shortened for a moment. Just one of the many signs that he loved her.
When Aubrey woke up, about a half hour later, she smiled at Blaise. "Did you wait for me to wake up?" she asked softly. Blaise nodded and her smile widened. "That was nice of you,"
"Yeah," Blaise said, smiling back at her. He tapped his thumbs together, momentarily at a loss for words. "So…do you like Quidditch? I mean, I know you go to all the games and stuff, but do you really like it?"
Aubrey laughed a little. "I don't know. I don't really get it, and truth be told I've never been on a broom stick in my life."
"Really?" Blaise was incredulous. He had never met a witch or wizard, even if they were muggle born, that had never been on a broomstick. "So you've never flown before?"
"No."
"Well, come on," he said, standing up, "If you can walk on that ankle, let's get you out on the Quidditch pitch. The Slytherins are having practice."
After Madam Pomphrey checked her over and found her able to walk, Aubrey and Blaise headed out to the field. Once she got there and was standing beside Blaise with a borrowed broomstick, however, she suddenly found herself irrationally afraid of heights.
"Blaise, I don't think I can do this…really, I've got stuff to do…homework, and whatnot…"
Blaise just laughed and showed her how to position her hands and such. It was quite the enjoyable experience for Aubrey. After she had flown around for a bit and Blaise was satisfied, they sat on the bleachers and watched the Slytherin house team practice for a long while.
Blaise managed to tell Aubrey about the time Madeye Moody turned Draco into a ferret, and Aubrey related a few tales of concerts, tattoo parlors, and Denny's. When she found out that there was no such thing as Denny's in the wizarding world, Aubrey promptly decided she could not be a full time witch. How could she possibly live in a world where you couldn't go to a badly like diner at two in the morning for coffee and French toast? It was unthinkable.
