Authors Note: Okay, this chapter jumps around, so if you don't understand it just ask and I'll explain it. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 12
A New Friendship and An Old Love
There was a Hogsmede trip, and Lily did not know what to do. Holly had finally gotten Edgar to ask her to come with him, and although she was disappointed that James was not taking any notice of that fact, she was content to be going with Edgar. Caroline and Ben were, of course, going together. Janette was going with Henry, and Alice was meeting up with Frank. Lily could not go with James, they were fighting and he was not allowed into Hogsmede. The only other person she would consider going with was Sirius, only as friends though, but he was going with Remus and Peter, Lily assumed, as they always went together.
That left Lily alone in the common room, or alone in Hogsmede. She did not want to tag along as a third wheel on someone else's date, so her only other option would be the library, again alone. Rather than spend the afternoon being ogled by first years, she made her way to the sanctuary that was the library.
To her surprise, she was not the only other older student there. Hazel Brooks, the girl from Thursday at the tutoring who had helped Sirius with his potions was there.
"Hi!" Lily greeted, sitting down. "I didn't expect anyone else to be here, I thought I would be alone."
"Sorry to disappoint you." The girl said nervously, apparently not knowing exactly what Lily's statement had been intended to imply. "Oh no, not like that! I'm glad that I'm not alone. But, I'm curious, why aren't you in Hogsmede? Not that it's really any of my business." She added quickly. "You don't have to tell me, I'm so nosy. It's really a problem, people tell me." Lily said. This girl was very curious. Her pensive gaze made Lily nervous.
"I didn't have anyone to go with." She said slowly.
"Me neither!" Lily exclaimed. She was being very bubbly, more so than usual. She did not know why but she felt nervous and giggly. "You know what?" She said after a moment.
"What?" Asked Hazel.
"We should go together!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.
"What?" Repeated Hazel, looking taken aback.
"Yeah, it'd be fun! We can get to know each other, buy some candy. It's the first trip of the year, it'll be a blast. Everyone will be there." Lily said, happy with her plan. "Come on, it'll be fun." She said again as the girl looked at her skeptically. "Since neither of us have anyone to go with, we might as well. We can still catch the carriages." Lily added hopefully.
She did not think that Hazel would agree, but to her surprise she stood and walked with Lily down to the entrance hall, where Filtch was just rolling up his list. He seemed grumpy at their late arrival, but checked off their names all the same. As Lily and Hazel walked side by side, Lily noticed how short she was. She was over half a foot shorter than Lily. But then again, Lily was quite tall. They clambered into a carriage, and chatted a little on the way to the town.
When they reached the town Hazel's eyes widened. It was almost as if she had never been to Hogsmede before!
"Wow." She gasped in amazement.
"What?" Asked Lily, following Hazel's line of vision. There was nothing odd there at all, just the shops, some signs, and a little road. Lily remembered that that road led to the shop where she had found that invisibility cloak for James.
"It's so cute!" Squealed Hazel in a moment of abandonment Lily had not yet witnessed in her.
"Have you never been here before?" Asked Lily, shocked. "Well, actually, no." Hazel admitted.
"How can you never have come in before now? In three years you've never been in?" Lily asked, incredulous.
"I've never had anyone to go with before." Hazel confessed. Lily felt sorry for her. When Lily said 'I have no one to go with' it was because her friends all had dates, not because she didn't have friends. "I'm not exactly popular, in case you couldn't tell. I'm kind of the biggest loser on the planet." She said.
"I doubt that." Lily told her.
"No, it's true, I swear. I quote books sometimes, textbooks. I have no social life. All I ever do is study. I'm the epitome of loser." Hazel insisted.
"I think that's admirable, it shows great dedication. I wish I had that kind of patience." Lily told her firmly. "But if this is truly your first time here, I have to take you everywhere." Lily said, dragging her first to Honeydukes. "This," Lily said, waving her arm and reveling in Hazel's look of astonishment, "is the sweets shop."
"Wow. My brother would love this place." Hazel said in awe. "You have a brother? What year is he in?" Lily asked.
"Oh, he's only six. And I don't think he's magical. I'm muggle born." She added.
"Same here. I'm the only witch in my family." Lily said.
"Me too! I wasn't going to come to Hogwarts at all, except my mom wanted me to. She said I would be able to get a better education, and that I would be able to make a better career for myself if I were a witch." Hazel said. "My dad is sick, so I want to make lots of money to help him get better." Hazel confessed. She did not know why she was telling this Lily Evans her life story, but for some reason she made Hazel want to talk. Hazel had been rather starved for company for six years, and she was eager to talk to anyone who would listen.
"I want to be a healer. Maybe when I am one I can help both our dads." Lily said, almost to herself.
"Why? What's wrong with your dad?" Asked Hazel. She saw Lily look nervous, and then Lily rushed on.
"He was taken by Lord Voldemort. Or his death eaters. Well, we're not technically sure, but that's what we think." Lily told her in a near whisper. Hazel leaned in to hear her words. "But enough off this depressing talk, lets look at the sweets." Lily said quickly, in a louder voice.
Hazel and Lily looked around Honeydukes for a while, Lily bought a bag of chocolate frogs, and when Hazel refused to buy anything, Lily bought her some of the best candy Honeydukes had. She forced her to accept the gift, and would not allow her to pay her back.
"Lily, don't buy me presents just because of what I said about my dad." Hazel requested.
"That's not why I'm getting it for you. I'm getting it because this is your first time here, and you can't leave empty handed. And I like you, Hazel." She said, smiling. "Now let me take you to the Three Broomsticks."
Hazel smiled. She found herself laughing and talking freely with Lily. It was quite amazing. She was having a very good time, and they sat for a while eating candy and drinking butterbears in the three broomsticks. Hazel, who had never had a butterbear, was very delighted and pleased with the first sip.
"It warms you and tingles." She said with surprise.
"Yes, the first time is always the best." Lily told her, drinking some of her own.
"Can we sit?" Asked a familiar voice. Lily looked up to see Sirius and James standing over them. Remus and Peter were nowhere to be seen.
"Of course." Hazel said inviting them to take the empty seats, not knowing about the fight between James and Lily. Sirius took the seat beside Hazel, leaving James and Lily to sit next to each other. Each firmly looked in a different direction, scowling. "Did I do something wrong?" Asked Hazel quietly to Sirius.
"Of course not. Just a lovers' quarrel." Sirius assured her. "Lovers'?" Asked Hazel, rather loudly. Loudly enough at least for an irate Lily to hear.
"We most certainly are not lovers! Don't listen to a word this guy tells you. You can't believe him." Lily told her, still not looking at James.
"I'm offended, Lily. I thought we were friends." Sirius said, laughing as he did so.
"Yes, well if we were you wouldn't be spreading false rumors about me, would you?" Lily asked him, smiling sweetly.
"They are lovers." Sirius whispered in Hazel's ear. She laughed.
"We were. Past tense. He's a trouble making little liar now." Lily said. "He wasn't quite so bad when I was with him, but that's all done now, so you can put a lid on it, Sirius." Lily told him angrily, seeing the exchange.
"And she wasn't such a temperamental little witch when I dated her." James said, speaking up.
"Don't talk about my friend like that." Hazel told him, back to her quiet voice again. She seemed rather unsure of herself around strangers.
"When did you two become friends?" James asked. "Who are you anyway? And how does Sirius know you?" Asked a very confused James. "We met the other night at-" Hazel started to explain, but Sirius quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
"At dinner." He finished for her.
"At dinner?" James repeated. "You mean the same dinner that you were at with me?" James asked.
"No, the other one." Sirius said. James just looked non plused, but no one cared to explain. Lily, who had been watching the exchange, smiled triumphantly.
"Sirius! You don't want James to know that you were at the-" "Silencio!" Sirius said, cutting her off mid sentence. The rest of her sentence went unheard by James's ears. "Now Lily, I am going to take this silencing charm off, and you will remain quiet. Understand?" Sirius asked, brandishing his wand. Lily nodded, eager to be rid of the inability to speak.
"So, I won't tell James where you two met if you won't go around spreading rumors about James and me?" Lily asked after the charm had been removed for a moment.
"Deal." Sirius agreed readily. "So when did you two become friends anyway?" Sirius asked, switching subjects before James could ask questions.
"Just today. Neither one of us had anyone to come with." Lily said, smiling airily at Hazel. "So we decided to come together." Lily added.
"I see." Sirius said.
"Where are Remus and Peter, anyway?" Asked Lily, looking around.
"Remus was very mysterious. Said he had something to do. And Peter said he was behind in his homework, so it's just Jamesie boy and my humble self." Sirius said.
"I notice you did not mention James's humility." Lily said, glaring at James. "Or lack thereof." She added.
"Play nice, children. Otherwise you might need a time out. Anyway, we're off to zonkos." Sirius said, standing and beginning to leave. James stood as well.
"Why would you need to go to zonkos? I thought you had already reached your weekly quota for dungbombs." Lily said, again glaring at James. Sirius looked from one to the other and burst into fits of laughter.
"Is that what your little tiff is about then?" Sirius asked, looking from one to the other. "What did he do, Lily, let off a dung bomb in your bedroom?" Sirius asked, still laughing.
"Actually James, now that I think of it, what are you doing here?" Lily demanded. "You do not have parental consent to be here! Get out! Leave! Go back to the castle now! And Sirius, you encouraging him! It's horrendous. Both of you leave, now!" Lily could not believe it had taken her so long to realize. James and Sirius quickly scampered away from her. Lily was never safe when she was in one of her towering rages. "Sorry about them." She added to Hazel in a normal voice, once the two had left.
"It's not a problem. Are you going to explain what that was all about, though?" Hazel asked.
"All what?" Lily asked, as if it had been nothing. She made to reach for a chocolate frog, but then saw that Sirius had nicked all of them. "Oh, I'll absolutely flay him alive." Lily declared under her breath.
"All that scene." Hazel said.
"Oh, that's nothing." Lily told her, trying to evade the question.
"No it's not. What's up with you and James?" Asked Hazel. "And why isn't he supposed to be here?" She added.
"Because…" And then Lily proceeded to tell her the entire story of her and James, leading all the way through recently.
"Well, you two both certainly royally screwed up." Hazel pointed out. Lily liked that about her. She did not have a round-a-bout way of saying things, she just said it.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"Well, I'm not really the one to ask. All I know is from textbooks, but from what I overhear in my bed room, relationships are about compromise. That's your problem. Both of you. You both expect the other to be perfect, and are not willing to accept faults." Hazel told her, contemplating.
"But what if he's not the one I want to be with?" Lily asked. "Then I suppose it wouldn't matter. If that were the case, of course." Hazel said, narrowing her eyes and looking at Lily through her fringe. She was very perceptive for someone who had no social experience. But in this case she is way off the mark, Lily told herself. Her only feelings for James were friendly, and right now she didn't even know if she was feeling that. He is such a trouble maker, Lily thought irritably. And he didn't trust her. Obviously he didn't want to be friends. Well then, they would be enemies. That was perfectly okay with Lily, she could handle being at outs with James, he would just see what Lily's bad side was like.
Lily and Hazel had a great time wandering around the village, even with the cold. Lily showed her the shrieking shack, and then the post office with all the different types of owls. Hazel was amazed. Lily too was amazed, but not over the owls. She was amazed that she had gone so long without ever meeting this girl. Well, it was not so very surprising, they were not in the same classes or house, and Hazel never went to the social gatherings. Lily was sad that she had gone so long without Hazel as a friend. Already she had found her a kindred spirit. They had similar interests, and they were both from muggle families. They were very different too, but Lily felt as if she could talk to Hazel about more serious topics than she ever would with Holly or Janette or Caroline.
Hazel had gotten twelve O.W.L.s, like Lily, and had also begun doing NEWT practice tests. All of Lily's other friends thought she was crazy when they found her doing that, but she was a serious student. It was tough being the only serious minded person in her group of friends, except Remus of course. She sometimes wished she had been sorted into Ravenclaw, but then caught herself. She loved her friends with all their faults. Although she also found herself thinking often that she wished she had been put in the other dorm with the smarter, more academic girls like Emmeline Vance.
In a Different Section of Hogsmede....
Alice was overjoyed. She had arranged to meet Frank in town on the first weekend of the year, and was so excited to see him after all this time apart. She couldn't wait to hear all about being an auror, as she wanted to become an auror herself, and to tell Frank about all the goings on at Hogwarts. She was so happy to be able to tell him, that when she saw him she did not notice his gaunt expression, and how much weight he had lost.
"Frank!" She squealed, hugging him close. He hugged her back, holding her to him for a long moment. He breathed in heavily. "Frank what's wrong?" Alice asked, pulling back and finally looking at him. "You're shivering. Let's go to the Hogs Head, we're near there." She said, leading him down the street to the entrance of the pub. "Alice, it's so good to see you." He said, closing his hand around her own.
"Frank, you're so thin." She commented as he removed his jacket. "And you have huge bags under your eyes, are you sick?" She asked.
"No, just tired." He told her, sighing.
"Is it really bad?" She asked.
"Oh Alice, you have no idea. There are killings and disappearances so often now. More muggles have gone missing in the last few months than we've ever had in an entire decade. I don't know what's going to happen. At least I don't have to worry too much about you, you're safe at Hogwarts." Frank said, rubbing his forehead. "I'm so sorry Frank, are you working very hard?" Alice asked him, looking worried. He was acting so differently from normal.
"Yes. The things I've seen, Alice!" He burst out suddenly. "It's horrific, what they do to these people. And we can't do anything to them most of the time, because it would call attention to it too much. And we don't actually know for sure who's doing it. It's terrible." Frank told her. "But I don't want to talk about it. Let's talk about you." He said, smiling his familiar smile.
"What do you want to know?" Asked Alice, smiling tentatively, still concerned.
"How is your new defense teacher? How are your lessons? Anything you like. Just not the Dark Lord." Frank said.
"The Dark Lord?" Asked Alice, curiosity getting the better of her.
"That's what he is calling himself now. Says that his name shouldn't be besmirched by foul, mudblood tongues. Filthy word, mudblood. Anyway, let us not speak of him."
"Well all right. The new teacher is really good. His name is Ted Tonks." Alice told him.
"Oh, Ted. I know him! He's older than I am, but we met in school. He was a few years above me." Frank told her. "How is he? Still a ladies' man I suppose?" Asked Frank, laughing for the first time. It was not the cheerful laugh that Alice loved so much, it was hollow and empty.
"He's married now, actually. And has a daughter." Alice told him, smiling.
"Really? Does he now? Who did he marry?" Asked Frank. "Andromeda." Alice told him. "And his daughter is Nymphadora." "Oh, so he and Andromeda finally tied the knot, did they? And I'll bet he named his daughter that as a joke too. That would be like him to do." Frank said.
"Yes, he's really nice." Alice said enthusiastically. "And a good teacher."
"Don't you get any ideas, young lady. Don't think I forgot where I first met you. I was your defense teacher too, you know." He told her, although he was laughing.
"You don't need to worry about that. Not with Ted at least." Alice laughed, winking.
"Oh? Who do I need to worry about? Maybe I'll come back and help him practice his defense. He'll need it." Frank said, also laughing. Just as Alice was settling in and getting used to the change in Frank that had shocked her so much when she first saw him, an owl zoomed in through the door, bringing a gust of wind with it. It stopped on their table, pecking Frank urgently. He tore the note off it's foot and paled at what he read.
"What is it, Frank?" Alice asked uncertainly.
"They need me, there's been another attack." Frank said. "Where? Now?" Alice asked, disappointed.
"Little Winging, Surrey. Yes, the dark mark just turned up." Frank said despondently.
"The dark mark?" Asked Alice.
"Yes, I'll explain it to you later. I'm so sorry love, but I have to go. They need all hands on deck. I'll try and see you as soon as I can. And I'll write as soon as they give me a moment off." Frank said, standing and pulling on his coat, kissing Alice lingeringly on the lips before exiting the pub.
Alice looked around. She had not noticed it when Frank was with her, but this a was a very shifty pub. Now she was all alone at her table. She glanced at the occupants of the next table over, and saw that there was an ugly old hag looking at her and licking her lips. 'Do hags eat people? They do sometimes in fairy tales…' Alice asked herself nervously. She looked at some of the other people in the pub and saw a large man in a black cloak sitting at the bar, downing a flagon of ale quickly and asking for another. Alice wondered how intoxicated he already was. Then there was a tall, slim man who was very pale. He was very sickly looking. When he saw her looking he smiled, revealing sharp, pointy teeth. Alice shuddered and looked away, he was obviously a vampire. She quickly stood up, wanting to leave the pub and get somewhere more crowded and safe as soon as she could. She grabber her cloak and shoved her chair back. With a last look at the table she made towards the door.
Perchance, however, she noticed the open letter lying on the floor. For some reason she did not want to leave it in this shady, public place. She bent over and swept it into her pocket, without reading it. Then she left as quickly as she could, making her way back to the main area of shops and the three broomsticks. She had a strong desire for a butterbear before going back to school.
And now back to Lily and Hazel...
Lily and Hazel had exhausted everything that there was to see and do, and themselves in the process. It was also getting even colder. Lily shivered for the second time that minute, clutching her cloak to her chest. Her teeth began to chatter.
"Do you want to go back to school, or do you want to stay and see more?" Stuttered Lily through her shaking jaw.
"Let's go back." Hazel said, her teeth also chattering. They quickly left the village, huddling in the compartment of a carriage and hoping to arrive at school quickly.
"Here we are." Announced Lily, practically sprinting through the main entrance way.
"Yes, here we are. Thank you so much for taking me today, Lily. I had a really good time." Hazel said, smiling. Lily realized that Hazel was not in her house. She kept forgetting that they had not been friends forever.
"Oh it was my pleasure. I had a great time, much more fun than sitting around here doing homework, wouldn't you say?" Asked Lily, also smiling.
"Definitely." Hazel agreed.
"Well...I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then." Lily said, turning to go.
"Yup, at the library. You are going to that tutoring thing, right?" Hazel asked.
"Of course." Lily said. "I just hope I actually get to tutor someone this time." She added, walking up the stairs next to Hazel. At the top of the marble staircase they went in different directions, Lily to her common room and Hazel to hers.
Authors Note: Okay, now you all know Hazel a little better. What do you think of her?? What about any possible romances with her and Sirus...eh, eh? Okay...r&r.