An: Don't for one moment think I ignore you guys, beautiful comments fuel my commitment to this story, and all my stories. I love seeing the follower and favourites going up, usually with a fact to put that into perspective. "That's the same amount of people as..." or "thats more than..."
And I love reviews so much that I read each one two or three times in one go, trying to put myself on your side of the screen.
I will introduce a brand new OC in this chapter and you can all thank Your Resident Cat Lover and DaisyBobs for putting forward their ideas. As a shoutout to both parties I am combining the ideas provided into one.
*yawn* Where's the fiction at... Here it is.
Title credit: Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows by Lesley Gore. This is Ilena's official theme song.
Oh, before you start have your tissues ready, this gets deep immediately.
Hermione'sPOV, 17th February
This is the letter my parents wrote to me, I think the matter is simpler to explain the way I got it explained to me.
Our sweet Hermione,
As you know we rarely write to you out of the blue like this, we're sure you were racking your beautiful brain over what this letter was about. We think the only good way to tell you this news, is to cut straight to the point.
We're so sorry, we buried your Crookshanks today.
We have no words that could take away the pain of this news, nothing that could help us turn back the clock. Your father is beating himself up over this, though nobody could've foreseen this happening. It was over and done so quickly, I'm fairly positive the poor tom didn't have the time to suffer in pain. Not that it takes away the emotional pain from the loss of a creature so loyal and affectionate.
If you don't feel up to knowing how it happened then you don't have to read on. But I don't think there's any doubt that you will. Remember that no matter how much this hurts, blaming us won't make it better. If that's genuinely how you feel though, we'll understand if you are mad at us, we can only apologise and do whatever we can to make it up to you.
Yes, there were things that could've been done differently, or preventative action that would mean Crooks would still be amongst us. Your father could've fixed the window hinge on your bedroom properly, not merely apply a temporary fix. That, I believe, is the basis of his shame and guilt. But I let the cat up onto the window ledge, knowing it wasn't completely secure. I made no attempt to shoo him down or close the window. I also must shoulder some responsibility.
The worst part was the reason he fell. He wasn't chasing anything, he wasn't frightened, he wasn't trying to get out. He'd have stayed on that ledge unmoving for hours or more, if it wasn't for the bushy-haired brunette from the scouts. The poor thing had missed you so dearly up until then.
I knew. In that one look at the girl I knew. By no means was she a complete lookalike, but the sharpest of eyes would still need a second glance at least, especially from a good distance. Crooks didn't make that second glance. He must've leapt and misjudged the drop, or slipped as he tried to crawl down the wall. All we know is he landed very heavily on the front of his neck.
We buried him immediately, the sweet scouts girl insisted on helping, hysterically upset for the part she played in his death. He's under the tree in the garden, right where you used to sit with him and read for hours. I'll always remember the way you'd unconsciously stroke his ears, and he'd rub against the side of your hand.
I'm sorry, that wasn't helpful was it.
This would've shocked you, and the grief will undoubtedly take a long time to dissipate. I know you said he wasn't an ordinary cat. I'm smart enough to realise the connection between you two is more than just owner and pet, you've lost a very dear friend. More to the point, he's irreplaceable, you simply couldn't feel such a strong connection to another animal perhaps in your lifetime.
I hope that's not the case, and one day you discover another confidante. But you will forever be in Crooks heart, wherever he is now he's with you in his own little heaven. A special cat in the arms of his loving witch.
He loves you, and so do we. Take care my Darling, sorry I couldn't bring you any good news. Love you always and write to us when you feel up to it, we won't rush you.
Love Mum
I was at the Hufflepuff table when the owl flew in, McGonagall's owl. My parents must've contacted her and she sent them her personal owl. That means this letter could've been between three or four days old. That letter got lost amongst my friends, all of whom wanted to know exactly what had upset me so.
Nobody passed the news on personally, they just kept the letter moving with grim expressions. Ilena and Joe got me out of there the minute they'd both read the letter for themselves. Everything was a blur, in both time and vision.
Now I'm numb, and shellshocked. I can't quite believe it, there's still a part of me that thinks this is false. I could be dreaming, or it's a hoax, or something completely and utterly ridiculous. I didn't see this happen, I'm just reading about it. There's something about receiving the news through a letter that makes it so much harder to understand and accept. If I'd have been there...if I'd have been there I'd have saved his life.
This wouldn't have happened. It just wouldn't. He wouldn't have jumped for a random stranger, for his owner is right there with him. A broken window hinge? A random girl from the scouts?
My parents were right to assume I'd blame them. I do. Completely and utterly. Forgiveness will take time, and I'd never let them be responsible ever again for any animal I owned in the future. But they're also right that I feel no better about this news by hating them.
If I hate them right now, I loathe myself a thousand times more. Remember those words "the poor thing missed you dearly". He jumped because he thought he saw me. His human had come back for him. That's why he jumped. But I hadn't. He missed me because he wasn't with me. And for that reason there is no way I can blame anybody more than I blame myself.
I thought he was becoming domesticated and that he loved being at home. Of course he did, Home is with me. A week away is miles different to six months. How could I possibly have just left him there all that time, I even stayed here for Christmas? My confidante that I in effect neglected so bad that he was willing to jump impossible heights at the chance of reuniting with me.
That is a horrible pill to swallow.
I don't know where I was taken, I just remember being escorted out the Great Hall, my vision going blurry and then a warm set of arms around me. And I'm still wrapped up in those arms, it's the only physical thing I was aware of, the only anchor of reality that I could cling to. Without it I'd be in a much worse state.
If I think about these arms, and the obvious set of bosoms that I'm resting on, I can forget about everything else. That's nice. I want to stay here forever, feel them every day. Through highs and lows...especially lows.
I think they can tell I've calmed down, enough to talk at least. The coldness from the withdrawal of arms, I suspect, is made even more harsh by the loss of warmth in my very soul. I want right back in, but she wants me to talk and let her know I'm okay.
I'm sure she's not asking because she's dim or oblivious, she understands a hug won't take the sadness away. Talking to people will do a much better job. And only to Ilena would I want to talk to. "He should've been here with me?"
Ilena's pretty eyes are always so understanding, not false or patronising. She won't say things she doesn't honestly believe, won't lie to spare my feelings. She'll tell me what I need to hear, which is equally good as it is true. "He should've been, but your mum is right. Blame won't make it better, and I'm including yourself in that."
"He's my cat, he's a part of my own soul. I bought him in my first year and I have never felt a strong connection to anyone or anything as suddenly as I did when I laid my eyes on him. The shop owner himself declared him an "ugly brush with a heart as golden as his fur.""
"Oh or in Layman's terms "I need rid of that ugly brush"" Ilena quickly adds in a panic, just in case I failed to realise she was paraphrasing. "I don't share his opinion, Crooks was a-a..."
I can't help but giggle at my best friend. Gosh, I'm lightening up already. Just a few words from Ilena is all it takes. "Don't have to pretend, Crooks wasn't handsome in the conventional sense, but to me he had a beautiful soul. In those years he's never so much as hissed at me, or anyone I trust and care for. That's not coincidence, and if I happen to put my trust in the wrong person all I needed to do was get him in the same room with them."
Ilena escorts me to a sofa, and now I've realised she's taken me to my common room. She knows the password, I think all the other houses do actually. We aren't subtle or security conscious here in Gryffindor.
"Who did you know that Crooks was distrustful of?" She's getting me to talk about the good things about Crookshanks, instead of reflecting on my failings and regrets. Too late but appreciated, and I will oblige.
"Malfoy, for obvious reasons. Professor Quirrell, who turned out to be a baddie. Lockhart, but then it didn't take a genius to work out he wasn't one. And..." I hesitate with the next one, even though third was Crookshanks golden year, it's quite personal and secret. The whole school knew about Quirrell and Lockhart, but Pettigrew was something only a select few had knowledge of. Those few were either me, Harry and Ron, and a handful of Professors.
This wasn't taboo because of Pettigrew, I wish I could reveal to the world that cowardly man's existence. To speak of Pettigrew, an apparent deadman, means to mention Sirius, a renowned murderer currently still on the run. Then Lupin and his lycanthropy will be dragged into it as well, confirming the unconfirmed rumours surrounding his resignation.
All life-ruining information if it happens to spread about. But then I've been on the side that Ilena is occupying, being granted the knowledge of Alex's condition that could cause devastation for her. I've not even told the boys about her. Our group is like a secret agency, no internal information gets past our walls.
And above all Ilena hasn't hid anything from me, she deserves the same openness in return. "In third year we discovered that a loyal follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had impersonated Ron's pet rat Scabbers. Had been doing so way before Hogwarts. Crooks had chased the rat almost nonstop for three years, but I had no reason to see as anything other than nature's way. But it all hit the fan when Sirius Black came to Hogwarts, and it was revealed that this rat was a fully grown animagus."
Ilena obviously wasn't expecting something of that calibre, obviously expecting a more lighthearted example of Crook's talents. What she got was a dark twist to a behind-the-scenes story, and it's taken her longer than I expected for her to process. Hopefully she still reacts in somewhat the fashion I was aiming for.
"This rat was in cahoots with Sirius Black? Whilst he was escaping Azkaban this rat was working on the inside of your friendship triangle" I need to clear this up and make her understand the truth. Merlin help me.
"Not exactly. You see...look, you are probably not going to believe me but I can't let you jump to your own conclusions" maybe this really was a bad idea.
"Oi, I'd believe anything that came from your mouth. I can't promise that you won't say something I won't be shocked and stunned to hear, but you've always got my full confidence" She really means that, her tone of voice made that abundantly clear.
Well, here goes. "They weren't in cahoots, Sirius Black wasn't at Hogwarts to kill Harry. He was after the rat, Peter Pettigrew."
Ilena's face tells me she's twigged the name and its relevance. "He's the one Black murdered...or rather was supposed to have murdered, the night Voldemort was destroyed."
"Yes, except there was no murder. Sirius wasn't the one who betrayed Harry's parents, it was Pettigrew. Pettigrew faked his own murder and transformed into his animagus form in which he remained in for twelve years."
"Black was innocent the whole time" Yes! I can hear shock in her voice, but the good kind. The kind that happens when your general understanding of something completely flips on its head. Ilena wasn't a true consumer of the popular nationwide belief, otherwise she'd be scoffing and acting appalled that I'd contradicted fact.
Whilst I'm happy her reaction proved to be comforting, this wasn't news to broadcast. An innocent man did go to prison for twelve years, without a trial. The real traitor did fake his own death and was directly responsible for the murders of two of his closest friends. But the former was in hiding still believed to be the guilty, the latter doing exactly the same because he is guilty.
This isn't good news, it's not as simple as coming out and proclaiming the truth...not whilst the person Sirius murdered remains that way. "Ilena, you know how you guys fought me against looking to Dumbledore to help Alex?"
"You want me to respectfully keep this information to myself?" Merlin's beard, she's either a secret seer or legilimens. "No, I'm not a mind-reader, I just know because I know. Pettigrew ain't around is he, dead nor living, so there is no point sending the wizarding world into a whirlwind over this. And since when does the world like to admit when they're wrong. Don't worry, not a word to anyone from me."
And why did I think otherwise, she's Ilena Ljömberg? If Rita Skeeter is the lowest on the trustworthy spectrum, Ilena is the highest.
"Besides I'm not ready for bad PR, I haven't started dating yet" Ilena jokes. Or rather I think it was a joke, why the sudden tension all of a sudden. She's gone rigid, is she petrified.
Well, not physically, she just moved away like I just blew wind at a funeral. She's definitely petrified in emotion though. "What's wrong Lena?"
"N-nothing. No I'm fine, just acting silly" She shuffles back to me like the last ten seconds didn't ever happen.
"That's a given, but even this is abnormal for you."
She's just staring at me, and I can see the fear leave her eyes, then fill up in relief. "I just thought my humour might've seemed of poor taste. Apparently via your reaction it wasn't."
The humour? She was scared about that? Why, she said...what did she say again? Something about bad PR, then dating. What's inappropriate about that, and more to the point why was she worried about that joke when she's made far less tasteful ones this morning alone?
"Of course it wasn't. If you want to self-deprecate through humour that's fine, as long as it's only humour. Because if you truly believed what you said, I'd only have to remind you of how utterly brilliant you are."
"Noted. Err...Joe's waiting for you outside, you probably want to see him now" Was she trying to get rid of me? Rude.
"Why didn't he come in? I thought you two were over this custody battle over me"
"We are. But well...you kinda clutched onto me the whole time...and he didn't think cheering you up needed two" Yeah, I did do that. And actually Joe would've been hopeless at cheering me up. He's a lot like Neville in ways, timid and too scared of being accused of being inappropriate. I'm his girlfriend and he acts like I'll run out the room crying that he's a pervert for hugging me.
On the bright side, his stand-in was an incredibly good replacement. I do need to see him though, because of course he cares, and I care that he cares. "Alright. Well, I'll go see him then. Are you coming?" This is Gryffindor territory and she really ought not to be here. Not that I give a toss but a fair few others might, and I won't be there to fight her corner if I leave her here.
"I will be fine chilling here, Ron and Harry said they'd come in to look after me, they're just outside as well. Those boys of yours are the sweetest."
"Yeah, but never say that to their face" I warn her.
"Alright, now go. Loverboy is waiting."
I can feel the sadness coming back already, and I barely moved. I'm tortured by the pain of my pet Crookshanks when I look away, whereas I was literally just reminiscing and keeping my mind off him. I can't work out why, hence why I can't quite explain why Ilena has such an effect on me.
Probably her hugs. They would make anyone's worst day feel heavenly. I envy the bloke who captures her heart.
Hang on...why would dating even cause bad PR? That joke doesn't even make sense now I come to think about it. Bad PR? She's into Joe and he's my boyfriend. Maybe she thought...no, I don't think she was talking about dating Joe.
"Hermy?" Joe's hands on my face feel nice, but not as warm as Ilena's.
Before I can respond to my doting boyfriend, I hear a couple of retches either side of us. "Urghh, what did you just call her?" Ron yaks. I don't find it flattering either, but there's no need for his bluntness.
"Errr...Hermy? I just thought..."
"No mate. You gotta lose that nickname pronto. We called her Hermy for a week when we first became friends, she smiled at us for the first time only when we tried Mione" Harry exaggerates, I did smile. They were just irritating a lot in that first week, I was still getting used to being the improbable third. But yes, I did really like it when they stopped calling me Hermy.
Joe looks unsure at me. "You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"
I don't generally no.
But if he's asking for my preference...
"I would rather you call me Mione, but if Hermy feels natural then you should stick with it. And just ignore these two" I gave 'those two' my sharpest and sternest looks, making them seize any further attempts to belittle my boyfriend.
"No no, I'll call you Mione. I'm...sorry I never asked you" He's red in embarrassment the poor guy, or shame.
Hopefully a kiss will cure him. "Don't be" I say a second after I pulled away. "I think I want to write back to my mum...let her know I received her letter and..."
Joe nods in solemn understanding.
"I'm sorry Mione" Harry offers, lightly squeezing my unoccupied hand.
"Me too" Ron this time. "I know...I know I resented him, but he didn't deserve it. And I am genuinely sorry he's gone."
"Thank you, both of you" Fresh new tears just arrived. "And thanks for saying you'd look after Ilena, I was not going to leave the common room without her."
"Yeah, we were going to play chess anyway, and she mentioned wanting to hang with us so we said she could join" Ron replies like it's nothing. It's not nothing to me, it was indeed very sweet. "We'll see you in a bit...MIONE"
Why did he have to ruin it?
Harry is patting Joe's shoulder and whispering something that I can see is putting him at ease. "See ya in a bit Mione" He says finally, not putting emphasis on the nickname like Ron did.
My boys didn't have the same effect as Ilena, but even still the halls feel much colder now they've left. And I look at my boyfriend and he's thinking of things to say, probably debating whether or not to talk about Crookshanks, or just talk about something else. I'm not reassured. And not for the first time, I find myself questioning our future.
I'm being too sour. Mean. My cat has died and I'm still angry and already grieving. Things will get better, and then I'd feel ridiculous for even thinking like this.
Ilena's POV, February 19th
I've never seen a corridor this packed full of people. All looking in the same direction may I add. Way down the corridor at something I couldn't see for the life of me. There's murmuring and whispering and...I'm just trying to get to my next lesson folks, you know the ones you should all be getting to as well.
There's Hermione too. Way down the end, on hand and knees. Is it her everybody is looking at? I'm not surprised given her lovely booty. Pack it in Ljömberg.
Well if it is her I'm going to see what her problem is and help her with it, not stare like at her like mannequins. "Hermione, what's going on?"
She twists her neck the opposite way to face me, apparently she was mightily interested in the underside of the broom cupboard. Broom cupboard? Pack it in Hermione.
"There's a girl in there, crying" I'm sorry for making those assumptions, of course Hermione isn't a voyeur.
"What's her name?"
Hermione shrugs. "She won't tell me anything...except to say there's nothing wrong with her."
"Maybe we should get a Professor to speak to her?"
"Noooo!" Screamed the girl inside. "Just leave me alone!"
Hermione continues on in a hushed tone of voice. "She came right by me wailing her eyes out, she's from Ravenclaw. And I think I saw her arguing with a girl just a few minutes before that."
"Where is the other girl?"
I really should be more quiet too, or stop speaking altogether. "No, don't tell her I'm here. The whole school will know."
I look behind me at the even larger crowd staring at us. "The school already knows."
"They do?" The girl replies, obviously because she can't see the crowd that we can. "Oh my life is over now. I'm so stupid."
"Hey, now stop that. In fact...OI" Hermione is on her feet, and in her harshest professors voice that makes me shiver "all of you nosey arses can go bugger off now. If you're not helping you can not help somewhere else."
Yeah that did the trick, more because things were getting boring rather than respect for Hermione. Though there's one person who appreciated her selflessness. "Way to go Mione, that told them."
"You can help me" she outright ordered, like I wasn't already going to do.
"I'll be right with ya" Two seconds later the pair of us are on our hands and knees, facing each other with our necks twisted towards the gap under the door.
"So...I guess we should introduce ourselves. Right?" I check with Hermione.
"I already have. But I'll do it again anyway, my name is Hermione."
"And I'm Ilena Ljömberg, it's a pleasure to hear you."
I heard a chuckle, I've still got it. "My name is Lucy" she eventually supplies.
"And what's got you so down that you raided a cupboard Lucy?"
She's clammed up again, except for occasional sobs and whimpers. Hermione's turn. "Lucy, do you want me to get someone, maybe a friend instead of a Professor?"
I thought she was going to blank her again this time, but Lucy did eventually answer "if I even have any left by now"
"What do you mean? A silly argument doesn't mean your friends will desert you. Lucy?"
No answer, just sobs.
I like the taking-it-in-turns approach, it's slow but it's working I think. "Lucy, what did you mean by your life is over?"
She responded, but not entirely to the question. "Listen, I appreciate what you're doing but I just want to be on my own for a while. Besides, you'll probably find out from everyone else soon enough."
She's got a point, a lot of people took notice and were hellbent on finding out and spreading the details about the school. And I'd want to hideaway if that was ever to be me that the gossip is all about.
Wait a minute...
"Lucy, this girl you were with, what does she know that you're scared she'll spread around the school?"
No answer. To me that confirms what this is about. I look at Hermione and I don't think she's twigged what I have. Understandably. It takes one to know one. "Mione, I think I can handle this by myself, you just make sure you have a Professor on standby. If I don't show up with this girl in tow, then we'll let the Professors take over."
Hermione natural feels putout for being more-or-less sent away. She was first on the scene actually wanting to help, and now she's being shoved aside by me. But maybe because it's me, she chooses to hold her tongue and do as I requested.
She shoots me one final parting glance at the end of the now empty corridor, a good luck on her lips. And once we're alone, I turn to face the cupboard again. "How long have you known, Lucy?"
She sniffles once and answers "I don't know what you mean."
"Let me put it another way, how long have you felt these feelings? You seem like you've hid yourself a long time, and understand exactly what your life will be like if you were exposed."
A moment of silence follows before Lucy replies. "Six months, I think."
I was expecting longer, but it's never black and white so it's easy to see why some take longer to discover themselves. That's if this girl is my age or older, she might only be thirteen or fourteen for all I know. I was thirteen when I discovered my sexuality, it took until I was fourteen to accept it. Some still don't know way into their adult years.
It was the main reason the Breakfast Club was so successfully out of the limelight, we could be ourselves freely and confess openly, and our lives aren't affected by negativity and criticism.
Hermione kind of ruined it, inadvertently. No matter what she thought at the time, she was not an outcast. She wasn't a nobody outside of the club, she had Harry and Ron. She wasn't strange, or weird, or had secrets that affected her day-to-day life. In fairness she hasn't betrayed our confidence and isn't likely to. But we're much more fragile in terms of protection, particularly me.
Where the hell am I? Lucy might have thought I'd left I was quiet so long. For her that thought wasn't comforting, seeing as I've more than hinted that I know her problem. "Usually there's a particular thing, or person, that is a catalyst or a key component of discovering that part of oneself. The girl you argued with, is she that person?"
To my surprise she answered negative. "No, I don't feel...like that for her. She's my best friend...was my best friend. She found out, and she's threatened to tell everyone."
"How did she find that out?" I mean you hardly leave things like your sexuality lying around in the girls dormitories, or do you?
Apparently that's wrong. "She read my diary."
"Oooh"
"I left it open on my bed whilst on the loo, she thought it was my class notes."
"Damn"
"She wanted to know what I meant by 'feelings' because I hadn't...I didn't say...I hadn't said what I was. She knew already but she gave me one chance to maybe convince her otherwise. I didn't bother trying."
"And she's said she's going to tell everyone? Why though?"
"Because I lied to her. I hadn't because like I said...just six months. But she was convinced I'd always known, kept it from her and even accused me of hitting on her the entire time I've known her."
"Yeah so be angry, not talk to you, that's expected. But snitching you out to the entire school is a huge jump for any friend to do, let alone a best friend. Are you sure she actually will, or could she have just said that to get you away from her? Distance herself from you?"
Lucy hummed disheartened. "She told my other friends straight away, if she won't spread it they will."
Good grief, I've heard a lot of horror stories about being outed in this world, and this was a great reminder of how horrible they can be. "Your best friend."
She's sniffling again. "You agree my life is over then?"
"No, your life has only just begun Lucy. I can't silence her or take things back to before you were outed. I'm not publicly outed, so I can only imagine how hard this will be for you. But you won't do it alone, me and my friends will protect you from any backlash and alienation, or if failing to do that at least you'll be around people who understand and support you."
Lucy falls silent again, no signs of ongoing tears or moaning to be heard. I think she's coming round.
Nope, just confused. "You want me to feel normal again, so you're inviting into like a gay club?"
Oh boy, I did make it sound like that didn't I? If only it was. "No, we're not a gay club. I mean two of us are gay, but the other four are straight. We're just not accepted by the general student body, and so we form a group of close-knit friends who have each others back, and of whom would be alone otherwise. Although that entry requirement was bent a little bit when Hermione joined us."
"Hermione Granger is in this group of friends?"
"Yes, she thought she was the least popular girl in school"
"On what planet did they tell her that?"
"I know, tell me about it. Some people would trade a limb to be her" Or be with her. If she wasn't already taken by Joe. And if she was a little bit gay to start with. "Well how about it?"
"I don't know, you just said you aren't outed so won't your support be like confirmation for yourself. And even then people will pick on you for supporting me, as well as your other friends."
I wouldn't want everyone to know, no, but I don't particularly care what most people think. On top of that there is always the she-said-she-said thing. "Lucy, you still have that diary?"
"Yeah I locked it in my trunk after Shauna read what was in it" Shauna. I have an official name for the so-called best friend who tossed this girl aside, and wants to subsequently ruin her life.
"Then as far as everyone else is concerned it's her word against yours, whilst you'll get a lot of teasing and mockery, because there's no proof all you have to do is stand your ground and call her liar. You'll obviously hide your sexuality, which is what you were doing anyway before this, and ignore the very floors this Shauna walks upon. We don't even need to tell the rest of the club if you think you can't fully trust us yet."
Okay, she's considering it this time. "That does sound okay I guess. But this whole thing with Shauna...its made me proud of who I am. When she found out I was instantly afraid, and then upset by her reaction. But the more I argued the more defensive I got, and I think I don't want to go back now. I don't want to reject it anymore."
Even better, despite the despair of losing her closest friends and being presented with an arduous life to say the least, the fact she's come out the other end ready to embrace herself was a fantastic feat. "Then accept who you are, but that doesn't mean you need to announce it. Save the inevitable life of pain for further down the road, the club is the best way to get you there in comfort."
Nobel Peace Prize for LGBT guidance goes to Ilena Ljömberg. "Yeah. I'll be friends with you guys. Thank you uhm...Irena, you were sweet and I'm glad to meet someone who understands what I'm going through, and has been through. You can thank Hermione too for me."
"It's Ilena. And why don't you come out the cupboard and thank her yourself. Come out the cupboard, but not the closet, you stay locked in there for as long as you like. What's your full name Lucy?"
The response was preceded by the locking and opening of the cupboard door. I can see Lucy for the first time, though I'm sure she saw me first from way up there. Wow, she must have three inches on me, and she looks my age if not younger. Soft frizzy brown hair, slim as a twig but perfectly healthy from what I can tell. And lovely round brown eyes, some might say buggy but I would call them bright and open. They do have a more roundness to them, but they are not weird or off-putting.
She's incredibly pretty. Then she reminds me that I asked her a question, by replying to said question. "Hello Ilena Ljömberg, I'm Lucy Jattiss-Clarke. I'm happy to have met you."
"Likewise" I don't know this girls mannerisms or behavioural traits, but her wayward eyes flickering around my body tells me she is checking me out. I've never had another girl appreciate my physical form before, you could argue that I don't even know what checking someone out looks like. You'd have a point too.
This girl was modest two seconds ago, the idea of her being a flirt just didn't mix with that impression. If she was like this all the time then I don't know how this Shauna needed to learn about her friends interests in writing. A pair of eyes was enough.
Or maybe I'm ego-fed, and just assume she's checking me out when she isn't. There may be one person checking somebody out here, and to her potentially innocent face that would be me. But the signals tell me there is two-way traffic.
Are we literally just standing here looking at each other? "Ahum...well, Hermione might send in unnecessary reinforcements if we don't get a move on. What's your next lesson?"
Lucy stoops to her knees to collect her books and schoolbag littering the floor of the cupboard she'd hidden herself in. "Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, sixth year's. I'm actually really late."
She's with Alex and Dom then. "I'm sure the Professors will give you a note, especially if you have the backing of the universally trusted Hermione Granger."
"Yeah, but uh...could I meet you after classes are finished? Shauna is in Defense as well and I might..." She trailed off, not wanting to say so early on in a friendship that she needs to talk. I'm telling you, I feel for this girl. I can easily agree to that.
"Meet me by the statue of Godric Gryffindor at seven, I return from my evening run then"
"Can I run with you? I know I don't look like much, but my exercise capabilities do in fact peak at cross-country" I can see she means that, no hint of faking it like Hermione.
"Sure, meet us at the same place at six then."
"I will do."
And what was once an activity of unrequited romantic significance, becomes a friendly group run. I think Hermione will be thrilled.
An: That's that.
I nearly stumped myself on what years the club are, it's seventh for Joe, sixth for Hermione, Rosie, Dom, Alex and Ilena.
Lucy isn't purely a stunt to make me look good, I always had plans for a character to be introduced, and in doing so directly affect Hermione's development. Lucy has an important role, as well as Parrot, but neither in the way Hermione would ideally want. Have I said too much? I think I have.
*Obliviate*
TBC...
