Sorry it took so long to update, I had a major writer's block, and many exams this past month! I hope to be able to write more now though! Anyway, here it goes!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hogwarts and some of the characters, that's all J.K. Rowlings'. I only own the plot and other characters.

Chapter 3: Red friends

"Who cares that a bunch of mudblood-lovers don't want to be friends with you?" Mia said the next day at breakfast "all the better for you!"

We were sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Tessa, Damian, Serenity and Alyssa, and I had just told them what had happened. I was really upset, even though I couldn't and wouldn't cry in public. While I agreed with Mia's statement, it felt different when the mudblood-lover in question had been your cousin and best friend for eleven years.

"Give yourself time, it'll get better eventually" Serenity said cryptically. What did she mean give myself time? I thought it better not to ask. She often made comments like this, making you feel like she knew something you didn't.

"They're pretty much right, you know" Damian had told me, surprising me "you'll have to stop thinking that way if you want to fit in Gryffindor. Blood is just red for everyone, you know".

"Are you kidding me?" Alyssa asked him incredulously, while I nodded "How could you think a lowly mudblood is worth as much as we are? I bet she didn't know about magic until she got her Hogwarts letter!"

"So? How does that make her worthless?" Damian argued "You know, I hang out with prejudiced people all the time at those horrible social gatherings. I don't want to repeat that in Hogwarts". With that, he picked his bag up and left to sit with some guys, and I sadly watched him go. I never thought someone from the high society would think that, let alone the boy I had admitted I had a crush on.

"Who cares what he thinks" Alyssa said annoyed, and turned to face me "anyway, if she stops being your friend just because you believe something different from her, it means she wasn't as loyal to you as you thought". That got me thinking…Alice had always known I believed this, as I had known she didn't, and it had never stopped us from being friends before. What had changed now? Was it that she had found new friends and didn't need me anymore? If that was the case, I didn't need her either. I also had my friends, and I wouldn't go beg her or anyone to forgive me. A Greengrass doesn't do that, ever.

"You can hang out with us whenever you like" had said Tessa comfortingly. She hadn't said a word about the problem itself. It was hard to know what she was thinking, whenever we talked about houses, blood status and things like that, since she never commented anything about it. I wondered if she thought the same Damian did, though I didn't really mind. As long as she was willing to be my friend, I'd be glad to have her, and she was.

Being without Alice won't be so bad, I thought happily after all, as long as I have my real friends, who don't question my beliefs and don't make me associate with mudbloods, I won't care that I don't have friends in Gryffindor. I didn't even want to be here anyway, so they are all worthless. I don't care about them!

But after a couple of weeks, it all began to get to me. I'd look at Alice and Kelly chatting happily with Frank and Arthur every day, completely ignoring me. The whole house did pretty much the same. I tried to ignore them, but it was hard not to be affected by the dirty looks and angry whispers that they sent my way, some of them not even hiding them. The only person in Gryffindor who was nice to me was a shy boy from my year named Gary Robbins, who was my potions partner. He was a smart, cute pureblood with light blond hair and big blue eyes, who never questioned hat I said or thought, but even though he was nice and polite, when I tried to befriend him he would shy away. He preferred to keep to himself, so I felt alone anyway.

I wasn't even accepted by the people I knew from the gatherings, even though I was a Greengrass. Most of the respectable purebloods thought it was a disgrace to be sorted in Gryffindor house and made fun of me, or sneered at me in the halls. I pretended I didn't mind that both the old and new acquaintances hated me and made sure that I knew about it, but I felt miserable. I didn't know what to do to make people like me, or at least not hate me, and I didn't even dare to write to my parents. What would they say? "I can't believe you're incapable of making friends" I pictured my dad saying disappointed "you shouldn't be feeling miserable! Where's your pride? Have you forgotten everything we taught you?" But without friends to cheer me up, it was hard to deal with it all. The only good thing about it was that since I didn't have friends in Gryffindor, I studied a lot after curfew when I couldn't talk with my other friends, and as a result I was doing an excellent job in my classes. But that wasn't enough to replace Alice.

OoOoOoOoOo

One cold Saturday morning, I finally decided to tell my mom about it. It couldn't get any worse, could it? I felt really alone, and I hoped she would understand and try to help, instead of telling my father. I wrote her a letter and went to the owlery to deliver it, but as I was about to enter I heard familiar voices and stopped. It was the twins and Arthur Weasley. I didn't feel like dealing with their dirty (or haughty, in the case of the twins) looks right now, so I decided to wait outside till they decided to leave. They wouldn't take too long, would they? I looked through the semi open door and saw one of the twins was already tying a letter to an owl. Good, I wouldn't have to wait a lot.

"She acts like she's better than all of us, when she's not even beautiful or anything!" the other twin was telling Arthur "she drools in her sleep you know". I had the bad feeling that she was talking about me, and felt mortified. That's so mean! Why would she tell a boy about that? Not that I cared what Arthur thought about me, of course.

"I know!" Arthur replied "Greengrass doesn't care about anything other than herself and her blood status! Just let her be…she'll eventually realize she's too mean and selfish to make friends". I was stunned. Even though Arthur Weasley had never liked me, I had never thought he would say such a thing about me, and it hurt…a lot. So much I couldn't move. I was paralyzed, and my eyes started brimming with tears.

"I'm done, let's go" I heard the twin say, and they started walking to where I was. That made me react. I wouldn't let anyone see me crying, much less them. Why would I care what Arthur thought about me anyway? But for some reason, I couldn't stop crying. Given that, facing them was out of the question, so I ran.

I'd been a month and a half at Hogwarts, so I didn't get lost anymore, and I'd had time to discover many places where no one would bother me. I ran to Myrtle's bathroom, since it was the perfect place to cry without humiliating myself in front of anyone. I knew that no one ever went in there, and if anyone went by and heard sobbing, they'd just think it was the ghost and avoid the place.

I went inside, sat in a stall and started sobbing uncontrollably. I didn't know what had gotten into me. Why do I care so much about what he said? I wondered. But I knew I wasn't really crying about that. I was crying about Alice, about my loneliness, about everyone's hate towards me. I was crying because I was confused about what my life had become. I was crying because all I had ever dreamed about was coming to Hogwarts, and now, when it had finally come true, it had turned out to be a nightmare, which I was stuck in. I was crying because I'd ashamed my family, even though I'd tried my hardest not to. I was crying because I'd been keeping a cool facade for about a month when all I wanted was to shout at everyone to leave me alone and respect me. I was crying and I couldn't stop.

"Molly, what's wrong?" said a voice. I looked up and, to my horror, found Kelly looking worried. Why, of all people, did she have to find me?

"Nothing, I don't want to talk to you!" I spat at her. What gave her the right to ask about my private life? Was she doing it to humiliate me, as a revenge for what I had said about her?

"Okay, I just wanted to help you" she replied gently "do you need anything? Water? I can get one of your friends if you want". I didn't want anything. I just wanted to be alone and cry in peace.

"You can't help me!" I cried before I knew what I was saying "You can't make me switch houses, or stop everyone from hating me!"

Instead of leaving, she sat down facing me. "But you can stop everyone from hating you. Putting aside your beliefs, you're a really nice and fun person; I witnessed that on our first day here. If you showed that to everyone, no one would hate you!" she told me. Why was she telling me this? It almost seemed like she genuinely wanted to cheer me up.

"Why are you being so nice?" I asked her bluntly "I insulted you, remember? I stopped hanging out with my best friend just because I didn't want to talk to you".

"Because you needed help" she said simply. She sounded so sincere! And then I realized I had it all wrong. She was a good person if she was willing to help someone who had insulted her before. And maybe she was inferior, in some way I didn't know, but I'd figure it out later. But I did know that I could tolerate her, especially if it meant I could spend time with Alice too. I knew I shouldn't hang out with a mudblood, everyone from the high society would freak out, but if I told them I did it for convenience, because she was a good student and friends with my cousin, they would accept it. I'd already tried not making friends with her, and it hadn't worked. I wanted to be happy for once, and with Gryffindor friends, I would be, even if one of them was a mudblood. I didn't want to admit it, but I liked her.

"I'm sorry about what I said the last time we talked" I told her suddenly "it's just that my parents have always told me I shouldn't associate with…well, people like you…and it's hard to go against something they've taught you your whole life". I meant to make it sound genuine, but to my surprise, it also felt that way to me. I honestly didn't think she deserved what I had said; she was too nice and pretty to be a regular mudblood. Maybe she was an exception? I'd go with that for now, at least until I understood it all better.

"Don't worry about it, I understand" she told me "are we friends now?" I pondered the question. Were we friends? I had opened up to her, told her things I'd never tell a stranger, and I'd apologized to her. It was odd, but something about her made me trust her. And everyone I trusted enough to apologize, or tell them what I'd just told her, classified as my friend.

"Yes, I'd like that" I smiled "But I'll have to tell everyone outside of Gryffindor that I hang out with you because you help me with my homework. I hope you don't mind".

"That's ok! Now let's go celebrate! I have a box of chocolates in my dorm that's just begging us to eat it!" she exclaimed, linking my arm with hers. I felt so happy to have a new friend that I didn't have the heart to tell her that my dad didn't let me eat chocolate.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Wow, it makes you feel all warm inside!" I said amazed, staring at the chocolate bar in my hand.

"Wait, you'd never eaten chocolate before?" asked Kelly, looking incredulous.

"No, I eat a balanced diet every day to watch my figure, my parents taught me to do that" I said "this tastes awesome; too bad I won't eat anymore".

"What other things have you missed to please your parents?" she asked, though not unkindly "maybe you should try some new things" she suggested.

"Being friends with you and eating chocolate are new things, and it's more than enough for a day thanks. I won't try another new thing for a long time!" I said laughing. She threw a pillow at me and I threw it back, starting a pillow fight. She didn't know it, but this was the third new thing I'd done today, and just like the other too, it felt great. Did that mean I was betraying my family? There were so many things I didn't understand. Why did things that were supposedly wrong felt so good?

"Ok, you win, I surrender!" Kelly declared dramatically after a few minutes. We collapsed into a fit of giggles.

"What's going on here?" said Alice, coming through the door. She looked at us, not believing what she was seeing.

"I lost a pillow fight!" Kelly cried dramatically "My honor is lost!" I giggled again. This was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

"So are you finally friends?" Alice asked uncertainly.

"Yes, we are" I told her, not knowing how to feel. I wanted so bad to be friends with Alice again, but I kept thinking about what Alyssa had said. She stopped being friends with me just because I believe something different. Did that mean she didn't love me enough?

"Molly, can we talk?" Alice asked me.

"Sure" I replied, and Kelly left, taking the hint.

"I'm sorry I yelled all that to you, it was a bit mean, I was just really hurt" she told me sincerely "I hope we can be friends again". I didn't know what to say about that. Why was she hurt? I couldn't ignore the fact that I was hurt too, could I?

"Alice, why did you stop being friends with me just because I believe something different?" I asked "It really hurt. It had never stopped us from being friends before".

Alice looked stunned. "But you did that first to me! That's why I was so hurt with you!" she said "you put your beliefs above our friendship when you stopped hanging out with me to avoid Kelly!" It took me a few seconds to realize she was absolutely right. I'd never thought about it that way, but I had valued what my dad had taught me more than Alice.

"Wow, you're right" I told her "I'm sorry. I'll never let that get in the way of our friendship again". And I meant it. My friendship with Alice was one of the best things I had, and I wouldn't let that break because of things that I didn't even understand that well. I hugged her and she hugged me back, smiling. I crumpled the letter I'd been about to send to my mom and tore it to pieces. Everything was all right now. In one day I'd managed to get two great Gryffindor friends back, tried three new things that I didn't regret (even if I felt a bit guilty) and been totally happy for the first time since I'd arrived at Hogwarts.

OoOoOoOoOo

It had been a week since I'd made up with Alice and Kelly, and we were on our way to the Great Hall. Mia and Alyssa were still mad at me for being friends with Kelly, so they ignored me. Tessa and Serenity had just been glad I had friends in my house, because it made me happier, even though Tessa had refused to meet Kelly, since it would mean a howler from her father. People in Gryffindor had stopped whispering and sending dirty looks to me, even though I didn't really speak to many people outside of my two friends and my potions partner. Even Damian had started talking to me again, and greeting me every day, which made me giddy, something that didn't go unnoticed by Alice and Kelly.

We'd played truth or dare one night, each finding out what the others' crushes were. They'd found out I had a crush on Damian, and I'd found out that Kelly had a crush on a Hufflepuff named Amos Diggory, and that Alice had a crush on Arthur Weasley, which bothered me greatly. I hadn't told them what Arthur had said about me the day Kelly found me crying, and I'd been avoiding him since. I was still hurt and angry that he had said that without even knowing me, and I hated seeing his face every day in classes. The worst thing was he seemed to be looking for me all the time, like he really wanted to tell me something, so avoiding him was even harder.

"Molly, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said one day before breakfast.

"No, I have nothing to talk with you" I said coldly, ignoring Alice and Kelly's confused glances. I walked faster and dragged them to the great hall with me.

"Why were you so rude to him, he's really nice!" Alice told me, a bit annoyed.

"To you maybe, but he thinks I'm too mean and selfish to make friends" I replied angrily.

"Why do you think that?" asked Kelly, surprised.

"I heard him say that to one of the twins" I said dryly "that's why I was crying the day you found me in the bathroom. He hates me, and he's probably trying to talk to me to say mean stuff to my face". I didn't know if that was true, but I didn't think I could face him without showing emotion, I was too angry and hurt for that. Other people had made worse comments about me, but that one had somehow really gotten under my skin. I guessed it was because I heard him when I was about to explode and it made me vulnerable.

"He said that?" Alice asked angrily "I can't believe it! I can't believe I liked him!"

"Well, maybe he realized he made a mistake and wants to be friends with you" Kelly said "I know that you don't want to" she continued looking right at me "but it won't stop bothering you until you talk to him…at least just to tell him not to follow you again". I thought it over. It was true that it was really annoying to avoid him all the time. If he knew I didn't want to talk to him he'd keep out of my way.

"Molly, can you talk to me privately?" he said again after breakfast. I looked at Kelly, and nodded.

"Ok, what do you want?" I asked him coldly, once we were alone.

"To apologize" he said, looking ashamed "I saw you running out of the owlery when I talked to the twins last week. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, or to judge you before meeting you. I know now that I made a mistake. I hope we can be friends, or at least talk more. I'd really like to get to know you". By the end of his speech, his ears were tomato red. He sounded sincere, but I didn't want to get to know someone who had said that about me. What gave him the right? He didn't deserve to be my friend.

I put my cold mask on. "I accept your apology, but I don't want to get to know you or be your friend…in fact, I hope you don't talk to me, ever again" I said haughtily "and you didn't hurt my feelings, I don't care what you think. I was just angry" I lied "now excuse me, I had to go to class". I turned around and left, not looking back at him. He probably didn't even care about what I had said. I hoped he listened to me though, because I hated him and always would.

OoOoOoOoOo

I hope you liked it! Please review, I get really disappointed if I don't get reviews, they keep me writing!