Two notes:
1) This chapter's a bit longer then normal, and
2) If you haven't checked my profile recently, I've changed it.In fact, I've moved all of TWD's character bios to their own webpage. Check it out!
--Chapter 23-The Clearing--
February flew by quickly. It was fairly uneventful for the most part. Alice had become even more possessive of Ricky, and I rarely saw him out side of classes and on the way to our dorms. I missed talking with him. Maddie, Zarah, and everyone are great of course, but they weren't my best best friend.
One day after class was over I decided to have a talk with her.
"What do you want, Enna?" she asked me in a bored tone.
"Look, Alice, I know you're dating Ricky, but that doesn't give you any right to take my friend from me."
Alice laughed, "You're just jealous."
I frowned and tapped my foot on the stone floor. "Ricky's been my best friend since I was born. That's eighteen years, Alice. No girlfriend could ever get between us, no matter how hard you try to keep us apart.
"Besides, the fact that you don't want us talking must prove that Ricky likes me more then you're comfortable with."
I know I went a bit far with that, but it was worth it when I saw the look on her face. I turned to leave, but Alice had other ideas. I heard her mutter something under her breath. There was a flash of light, and a hex sliced open the skin on my right shoulder and cheek.
Thoroughlyannoyed I spun around and sent a Jelly Legs curse her way. As soon as I could tell it had taken affect, I turned and walked away before either of us could do more damage.
"Enna! Hey, Enna! En-Wow! What happened to you?" Everett came charging down the hall and skidded to a halt next to me.
"It's nothing. Did you want something?" I asked the young Weasley.
"Oh, yeah! I was wondering if you'd like to buy a gift certificate. It's for a dinner for two at that restaurant in Hogsmeade. The Rising Phoenix, I think." He held out a red-orange slip of paper emblazoned with gold writing.
"What's this for?"
"A fund raiser for S.P.E.W."
As painful as it was to, I grinned at him, "I'll buy one then. I don't have money with me right now, so how about I pay you at dinner?"
"Sure. Thanks, En!" Ev handed me the slip of parchment and walked away.
I stuck the parchment in my pocket and went up to my dorm room. I pulled off my robe and went to the bathroom. Leaning over the sink's counter I inspected my cheek. Blood was trailing down my face and neck, soaking my collar. My shoulder wasn't much better, and my sweater and blouse were sticking to the wound.
Slowly, I pulled off my sweater, hissing when I accidentally pulled harder then I meant to when I took off the right sleeve. My blouse was stained bright red, and blood was still trickling out.
As I was trying to figure out how to get out of my blouse, there was a knock on my door.
"Come in!" I called.
"En?"
"Ricky?" I was surprised to hear his voice, though I shouldn't have been. He was the only other person who knew the password."I'm back in the bathroom. You can come in!"
"Geez, I didn't know she'd done something this bad," Ricky murmured when he entered my bathroom.
"I'm fine," I said shortly. "We just had a disagreement."
"I heard."
"What did Alice tell you?" I rinsed a washcloth in warm water.
"That you pulled her aside, yelled at her, and attacked her," Ricky rolled his eyes. "Not that I believed her. You never would attack someone without being provoked."
"You're taking my side?" Tears blurred my vision. Ricky took the washcloth from me and started to gently clean the cut on my cheek.
"Of course, Enna. You're my best friend; she was my girlfriend. You'd win hands down any day."
"Thank--was?" I turned to face him.
"I broke up with her. I had been meaning to for awhile now, but I never could find a good point to do it."
"Oh."
"What was that fight over anyway?"
"I just wanted to let her know that she couldn't completely take my best friend from me."
We fell silent for a little while. I tried my best to hide the ecstatic grin on my face, but I didn't do too well. Alice and Ricky were over! Which meant not only did I not have to put up with Alice anymore, but I could actually devise someway to let Ricky know I cared about him.
I really wanted to prance around for joy, but that would come with questions that I really didn't want to answer. Not to mention that would be rather out of character for me.
Thankfully Ricky was too absorbed in trying to clean my shoulder to really notice the ridiculous grin on my face. My blouse was sticking to the rapidly congealing blood. As carefully as he tried to pull out the shirt fibers, I could still feel it tear. Ricky widened the rip on my blouse so he could clean it properly.
"Sloppy hex," Ricky murmured in observation.
"Hmm?" I looked at the cut curiously.
"It's jagged. Most cuts caused by hexes are clean and deep."
"Alice was pretty mad at the time, and I suppose she wasn't thinking clearly."
"Would you like me to heal the cuts? I can, but if you'd rather the nurse--"
"I trust you," I interrupted him softly.
Ricky smiled and touched my shoulder with his wand. My shoulder felt cold, then very warm. My skin had knitted itself together. Ricky healed my cheek as well, and sent me off to get changed. I stuffed my blood blouse and robe into the hamper. I was halfway to my bureau when I realized I had left the gift certificate in my pocket. I hurried back to dig it out before the clothes were sent to be washed.
After putting on a clean blouse and readjusting my tie three times I went back into the bathroom where Ricky was absentmindedly rinsing the washcloth.
"I think that's clean by now," I grinned.
"Oh," Ricky jerked out of his daze, "right." He shut the water off.
"I bought a gift certificate from your brother."
"S.P.E.W.?"
"Yes." Ricky shook his head in disbelief.
"I can't believe that mum actually got it to be an organized club here."
"Well, it's dinner for two. I'm not going to use it, 'cause I don't have anyone to take. Would you like it?"
"What would I do with it?"
Cocking my head to the side, I shrugged, "I dunno."
Ricky took the slip of parchment from me and studied it. I leaned against the door frame to wait. He looked up, a barely noticeable grin on his face.
"Would you like to have dinner with me?"
"A date!" Zarah grabbed my shoulders in excitement and shook me a bit. "That's wonderful!"
"It's not a date, Zar." I pushed her away and searched through what clothing I had. It was an hour until dinner and I still had to get ready. "We're just going to have dinner as friends to support S.P.E.W."
"And all this clothing panic is?" Maddie smirked from her spot on my couch.
"The place is relatively fancy," I murmured. "Augh! I forgot my favorite sweater at home!"
"En, sit!" Zarah commanded. I was about to sit on the ground where I stood, but stopped, realizing what I was doing, and crossed my arms. "Go on! Sit on the bed. Mads, help me find her an outfit."
Maddie hopped up. Warily, I sat down. I probably wouldn't like what they were going to do to me, but it's not like I had much of a choice at this point.
After pulling most everything out of my drawers and throwing it on the floor, they tossed me a pair of dark denim jeans, the purple top that I'd gotten last Christmas from Ginny, my purple beaded choker (The beads were tiny and intricately woven. It looked more like lace then beads.), and the earrings that went with it.
"Get dressed. I'll do your hair," Maddie promised.
"Oh, idea! I'll be right back! What's the password for the dorms?" Zarah shouted, already halfway down the stairs.
"'Eros,'" I called after her.
"Thanks!"
I changed quickly, taking care to put the necklace on carefully. I was about to put in my earrings, but Maddie scolded me, saying that they could be pulled out when she brushed my hair. Sighing, I sat down to let her do my hair. She pulled some of it up into a loose Pollyanna and curled the loose ends with her wand. She stood back and observed what she had done before going back to curl the ends of my hair.
"There!" she declared eight minutes later. "Just a bit of lip gloss and you'll be done."
"Good job on her hair, Maddie," Zarah, all out of breath, carrying a large bag, rushed back into the room. "Now all she needs are the finishing touches."
"Finishing touches?" I repeated.
"Yep! I think we wear the same size shoes, so I brought you a pair of my boots!" Zarah held up a pair of leather boots. They were high-heeled, and there was an embossed silver rose near the top on the out side. "Are you wearing the ring that Ricky gave you?" I held up my hand and wiggled my fingers. "Good. I also brought some lip gloss. It's sheer, so don't start to complain that it's too dark."
"Like I could do much now?"
When I had been "perfected," Maddie and Zarah gave each other a high-five. I grumbled that I probably no longer looked like myself. Maddie dragged me over to a mirror and told me to stop being stupid. Admittedly, I did look nice, even though I did look a bit more girly then usual. I played with a semi-curled strand of hair for a moment. It'd grown in the past year and was now just barely brushing my shoulders.
"I'm going to get my hair cut," I stated randomly.
"Why?"
"'Cause I like it better short. I'm not going to get it cut until after graduation though. I would like to wear it up for the Farewell Ball."
"You don't want it long like you use to?"
"Now that I look back on it, that really was a hassle to keep it neat and clean." I glanced at the clock. "I'm late!" I grabbed my purse off my desk and dashed downstairs as fast as the heels permitted.
"Hi, sorry I'm--augh!" Being my ubergraceful self, I tripped coming off the last stair and landed hard on my stomach. I coughed. "I certainly know how to make an entrance."
"Need help?" Ricky asked and held out his hand.
"Thanks," I smiled up at him and took his hand. He pulled me up and looked me over.
"You look . . . nice," he murmured.
"Thanks," I smiled up at my friend. When I was upright, I took the time to lookhim over as well. He was wearing jeans and a nice light blue dress shirt. "You do too."
"Shall we?"
"Sure."
As we were leaving, I glanced over my shoulder one last time. Zarah and Maddie were standing on the bottom step, grinning and waving.
"Here are your seats. I hope you enjoy your dinner." The all too perky hostess motioned to a table at the far left of the restaurant.
"Thank you," I smiled and she walked away.
"So," Ricky began as we sat down, "How's school been going."
I shrugged, "As normal as possible I suppose. I've pretty much caught up now, so I don't have as much work."
"That's great."
"Yeah."
We lapsed into an awkward silence. I nervously twisted the ring on my finger. What if Zarah had been right? Merlin, was I pathetic and disillusioned or what? I was going to be awkward and nervous the rest of the night. Just my luck.
"Good evening. I'm Alodia, and I'll be your waitress tonight." A witch that looked about twenty-five came over and handed us menus. "Would you like something to drink?" I glanced at the list of drinks. Many I didn't recognize, so I just requested a lemonade. Ricky ordered the same, and a basket of bread sticks. We chatted until our drinks arrived. When I reached out to pick up my glass, Ricky's eyes grew wide.
"You're wearing the ring?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I?" I took a sip of my drink.
"I dunno. It looks nice."
"It's a beautiful ring. I never did thank you for it did I?"
"No big deal," Ricky shrugged. "Uh, if the waitress comes back could you tell her I'd like the dinner special? I'll be right back."
I nodded. Ricky stood up and walked away. As he turned he corner, I sighed in relief and sunk down into my seat. Darn it all! Zarah and Maddie were going to pay when I got back to Hogwarts. But what to do to them? Any normal curse or hex would be too good for them. Perhaps Fred or George had some twisted prank item that I could use. Yeah, they probably would.
"First date, hon?" Alodia smiled at me sympathetically.
"I don't know," I sighed.
"How could you not know if you're on a date?"
"He's been my best friend for years. We just came tonight because we had a gift certificate from S.P.E.W. But then my so called friends had to go and say it was a date, and Ricky looks really nice tonight." I sighed, "That's really not helping me much."
Alodia laughed, "I'd suggest acting like you're just out to dinner with an old friend. You'll find out if he thinks this is a date soon enough." I thought about it for a moment.
"I guess you've got a point. Thank you."
"Anytime. Now, would you like to order dinner?"
"I'm never going to eat again," Ricky moaned.
"What in the world possessed you to eat so much?" I asked. Ricky shrugged.
"Free food?"
"We get free food everyday at school!"
"Let me restate that, free fancy food."
"Boys," I muttered and rolled my eyes. "I guess you won't be wanting to stop by Honeydukes for some chocolate then."
"Not particularly," he grumbled.
"I'm going to get some. I'll be back in a few moments."
I rushed into the candy shop and purchased a few candy bars for later that night. There was a long line so I had to wait for nearly eight minutes to get to the register. I payed for the candy and went back out into the cool night. Ricky was standing near the store's door, leaning against the wall.
The sky was clear and the stars were going to shine bright by the time the sun fully set. It was lovely out.
"Come on, Ricky!" I grabbed my friend's hand and pulled him in the direction of the wooded area. As I sped up, Ricky gave a surprised yelp, and stumbled. Without slowing down, I let go of him so he could regain his balance.
"Enna, where--"
"You'll see!"
As we got further from Hogsmeade, twilight fell. I held up my wand to provided a little more light then the nearly set sun did. We trekked through the forest for awhile before I found my favorite clearing. It was the clearing where I'd agreed to be William's girlfriend, and where I came to think if Hogsmeade was too busy for my taste.
Dropping the Honeydukes bag on the ground, I skipped over to the rock and laid down. I watched the stars in the sky, picking out what constellations I knew and trying to make up my own. Ricky stood off to the side. Sighing I turned on my side, and propped myself up on my elbow.
"You can sit down you know." Ricky sat down next to me. Tapping my nails on the rock, I frowned slightly. "Why are you being so quiet?"
"I dunno," he muttered and shrugged.
"Are you upset that you broke up with Alice?"
"No, Enna. I told you, I'd been wanting to for ages, but sadly I'm like my dad when it comes to ending relationships." I snorted. We all knew about the infamous Lavender/Ron relationship that happened during Ron, Harry, and Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts. Not a pretty story, but it had a good moral too it: never date clingy girls (not that Ricky caught on to that fact).
"Well, what is it then?"
"I said I didn't know," he snapped, sounding annoyed.
"Sorry! I was just trying to help." I laid back down to look at the stars. I pointed to three bright stars in a line and cried happily, "Look, Orion's Belt."
"The Little Dipper?"
"Over that way." I leaned over him to point in the direction it was in.
"Oh," he breathed softly. "Right." I was suddenly aware of the position we were in, how close we were. I smiled softly, meeting his eyes shyly. I could just see him smile back in the dim light of the woods. Something magnetic, hormonal, and undeniably uncontrollable filled the air, pulling us even closer then we were. Our lips met gently in a tender kiss.
Hours, days, even months could have passed and I wouldn't have known the difference. When we had pulled back from the lack of oxygen, I noticed that somehow Ricky was now leaning on top of me . . . Not that I minded. It was rather nice actually. I smiled up at him blithely.
"You like me?" I questioned him softly.
"'Course I do, you're my best friend," he murmured.There was asmile was apparent in his voice.
"Not like that! The 'I want to kiss you' sort of like."
"That too," he chuckled but turned somber. "What about you?"
"Oh, I don't like you," I teased him. I was a bit too serious, though,when I'd said that, and Ricky began to pull away. I pulled him back down, and kissed him once more. "I love you."
"R-really?" he squeaked in a very unmanly way. I giggled.
"Really. I only found that out a month or so ago though. That night I had those nightmares, remember that? Lorelei gives quite a convincing argument. She brought up the whole wedding invitation thing and sent it to me as you know."
"We were five!"
"And your mother has been planning our wedding?"
"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "She was mad when she found out about Alice, but then I gave her my reasoning and she calmed down a bit."
"I was dating William though."
"He's family."
"I know, but--"
"And I set you two up remember? Look, after that Christmas I kissed you, I made up my mind that I'd rather see you happy then force you to be with me. That's why I started to date Alice. I tried to convince myself that I liked her, but I could never get myself to believe it. I called Alice 'Enna' once. That's when she started to get rather. . .hostile towards you."
"That explains it."
"Sorry."
"What's done is done," I murmured and pulled him in to kiss me. After we'd snogged thoroughly enough to make Nina sick to her stomach, we snuggled together on the rock and watched the stars. Then an idea occured to me--
"What time is it?" I sat up straight and grabbed Ricky's arm to check his watch. I swore loudly. We were out half-hour past our curfew.This was a frowned upon thing, especiallyif you're suppose to be setting an example."We're late!"
"Crud!"
Ricky and I scrambled off the rock and hurried back to the nearly deserted Hogsmeade hand-in-hand. Running through the cobbled streets as fast as I could in heels, we hurried back to Hogwarts. Wind was rustling the trees, the sloping lawn, and blew our hair in our faces. As we made it to the Hogwarts entrance, I heard Ricky swear in a very profane manner. But I could see what his reason was. Stand near the entrance way, bathed in pale moonlight was the caretaker and the headmaster.
We were done for.
"H-hi, Uncle Harry," Ricky said nervously.
-dances- Yeah, I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get them together. :D Though this throws what I'd planned for the ending, I've got another new idea for it. w00T!
(btw, if anyone has another idea for the chapter title, feel free to tell me. I don't really like this one, and my brain's sorta dead right now.)
So, make those reviews good! I had a bad day.
Anne