"What Happens Now?"
(A/N heres the sad chap. grab the tissues.)
It was saturday, and Hector hadn't talked to anyone for days.
"Well that's stupid," commented Rachel, "We didn't even do anything!"
"Yeah," said Christina, "but that's how he is. He heals differently then the rest of us. Seriously, just give him time."
Christina gazed off toward the Slytherin table and her eyes fell upon Hector, sitting in the midst of everyting, picking at his food.
She became sad, but only for a moment, because it was then that Chloe came over and hurried them up.
"Why," asked Alyssa, "where are we going?"
"No where, but I want to get out of here."
When they were in the Entrance Hall, Knitter said:
"Hey Chloe, we've known eachother a few days, will you go out with me?"
Chloe looked at him, along with everyone else.
Knitter was grinning ear to ear.
He had asked every single girl in their year, even some sixth year girls, to go out with him.
After a while, it became a game to him, and he got used to rejection.
As they all waited for the usual answer ("Ew, no way!", "I'm sorry, no.", or "I'm taken."), Chloe looked at everyone and asked:
"Is he always like this?"
Everyone in unison:
"Always."
"Chris, I'm sorry, but you're too much of a schmuck for me to date. You're still a buddy though."
"Oh! Burn!" cried Alyssa.
They all laughed. Now that that was out of the way, they all went onto the grounds to hang out.
They sat around the beech tree for shade, and talked of funny things, ordinary things, stupid things.
"Remember last year, when you and George got in a biff?" asked Alyssa.
Knitter nodded, remembering, "Yeah. That bloody kid threw me over the Gryffindor table. I swear I popped a nut..."
At that, everyone groaned in disgust, some laughing.
"Oh yeah, well Alyssa do you remember when you stepped in gum in Hogsmeade and were freaking out?" As Christina said this, she got up and did an impression of Alyssa screaming and trying to get the gum off her shoe. They all laughed and Christina sat back down.
"I wouldn't be laughing Christina," said Rachel, "Remember when Knitter brought his hackey sack and threw it a gainst the wall-"
"And after it fell on the ground, you thought it was a bird!" Alyssa exclaimed, leading them to laughter once more.
"Hey, wait-" she tried, but to no avail.
"And," said Ginny, "when you crawled into Knitters bed and started cuddling him!" More laughter.
"But hey now-"
"And then there was the time," Knitter put in, "That you inhaled pixiestick dust to see if you could get high off it!"
"That was an accid-"
"And then when your pants ripped at the bottom and you tripped over it-"
"Okay, I get it-"
"And then-"
"HEY!"
Everyone became quiet and looked up to see Hector standing behind Christina.
"Don't pick on her like that," he said as he sat behind her, putting his arms around her, "It's not her fault she's a dork."
Christina, not minding that he called her a dork, leaned back and said, "Hey. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I just need to talk to you later."
"Okay. I love you."
"I know."
Christina, stung that he didn't say it back, though he has many times before, just turned back to the group as they said their greetings to Hector.
No one, however, questioned anything about a few nights before, for fear of upsetting him.
Chloe said:
"See, this is what I want. I want to be able to meet anywhere, anytime with any of you and be able to talk about anything, even things that aren't relevant."
"That's how we roll," Ginny said.
"Mmhmm," followed her comment.
After more talking, Hector joining in, but barely, they discovered it was already two in the afternoon. They had missed lunch with their constant chatting, and then it was Ginny's idea that they stop my the kitchens on their way to the common rooms.
As they walked, a few of them were talking while others, like Christina and Hector, just walked in silence.
When they arrived at the portrait of fruit, Ginny tickled the pear and the frame opened. They all crawled in, once they made sure no one was in the hallway watching them.
Knitter, the last one to enter, closed it after one final check down the hallway.
When he turned around he found several house elves doing their best to service the wolves.
They set up atable,big enough to fit seven people, and everyonesat. They asked politely for their food and then it was waiting time.
Alyssa, Chloe, and Rachel were in a heated discussion about something or other. But then, Rachel wasn't really that interested, so she sat back and listened, putting in her bitshere and there. Knitter was talking to Ginny and Christina about some story that made him look cool that probably wasn't true. Hector, however, sat and watched it all, thinking about how he was going to tell Christina.
Then he had an idea. He put his arm around Christina and she looked at him, waiting for him to talk.
"Christina," he took a breath, getting ready, "Christina, I-"
"Food!" Knitter squeeled in his Lion-Attacking-The-Antelope voice.
The house elves here lining up and going around the table, bringing everyone their food.
They all dug in, and Christina looked at Hector and said:
"You can tell me after we eat ok? I'm hungry," and after Hector nodded, she smiled and dug into her chicken with heaping bites. Everyone looked at her.
"What?" she asked, her mouth full of food, "I like chicken," and then she took another big bite.
Hector had gotten nothing, but no one noticed because there was so much stuff on the table. He sat back and watched everyone eat.
When they were done, it was three thirty, and they decided to head back to their common rooms. They were in the Entrance Hall and Hector took Christina by the arm and nodded towards the rest of them.
"Hey, you guys go ahead. I'll be up later."
They nodded and walked off, except for Chloe, who gave her the eye. Christina laughed and turned back to Hector.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Christina," Hector said, taking her hands, "listen. When I was in the Dungeons with Snape-"
"He raped you?"
Hector gave a small smile and shook his head no. He continued.
"No, when I was in there, he was telling me... he was saying that if I dropped you guys, I wouldn't get detention. You know him, always in favour of his own students. Anyway," Hector tightened his grip on her hands and kept talking, "he said... he said somethings about you, about us."
"What did he say?" asked Christina, who did not know where he was going with this.
"He said... well, it's not important exactly what he said. What he meant was-" Hector took another shuttering breath before continuing, "Look at what we're doing here. It's not right. I'm a Slytherin, you're a Gryffindor. And Snape, well,Snape just said somethings that made me think. Not right away, but after I ran out of there, I started thinking. Christina," Hecrot looked at her.
Her vision became foggy and she realized she might be crying.
"Christina, this can't work. We're causing everything to go out of place. It's not good for the school, it's not good for a lot of things right now. I'm sorry Christina. I can't live with things being this way. I just can't. It hurts too much."
Christina looked at him. She had a single tear coming down her face. He reached up to wipe it, but she pushed his hand away and let it fall.
"I know what you're doing," she said, "but you;re doing it for all the wrong reasons."
And with that she walked away, leaving Hector and going up the stairs, never looking back.
When she rounded the first corner so Hector couldn't see her, she leaned against the wall and took deep breaths.
She conjured a mirror and fixed her appearance and practiced her smile. When she was ready, she kept walking toward the common room, trying not to think of those dark eyes.
Ginny,
I am sorry that I haven't replied to any of your letters yet. I have been really busy with my auror business. How's the family? How are you? I has been nice to hear from you, but because I have so much work to do, could you make an appointment to see me with my secretary, and I would love to chat then.
Your friend,
Harry
Ginny looked at the letter for the millionth time since she got it on Thursday. There were so many things going through her mind, she just couldn't take it.
Ginny put down the letter and layed on her bed, and cried.
(A/N this was my sad chapter. lemme know what you think.
alyssa: yes christina, i can do whatever i want.
christina: but its not fair!
alyssa: you aren't the author and besides, you guys are friends with benefits now.
christina: arrrrg! bats attack!
alyssa: runs aahhhhh!
Couldn't resist. love you christina :D i dont know when you'll get to read this, but expect updates! review everyone!)