January 17, 1994

Slipping out of Binns class was as easy as sneaking slow release dung pellets into Ron's sock drawer. All you had to do was stand up and leave, naturally I took advantage of this and left his class thirty minutes before it was due to be over. Unfortunately this meant I was missing out on Fred and George's art session which was taking place all over Lee's sleeping face…I could deal though. As I moved through the hallways and down the stairs aimlessly I couldn't help but feel apprehensive over my upcoming meeting with Julia. What would she say to me? From the looks she kept sending me in the hallways I was sure it wasn't going to be good-but it had to be done.

My Aunt had decided that she was going to be pulling Julia aside after class ended to 'discuss her recent behavior in class.' Apparently Julia had been doing her cousins homework so much that she never had enough time to do her own… I pitied her. I swear when Julia and I got back on good terms I was going to hex her cousin's arses off….

I paused in front of my Aunts classroom and cursed- I still had another twenty minutes out here! Why did I have to leave Fred and George in history of magic?

The rest of my time in the hallway passed by slowly, and after what seemed like an eternity the bell rang- or the door slammed open and crushed me into the wall- either one of them would effectively signify the end of classes.

Once I pried myself away from the wall the voices of my Aunt and Julia filtered through the door…

"Now that we have the situation with your homework cleared up there is something else that I would like to talk about with you."

Julia didn't respond, but I could guess that she had stiffened up, she wasn't slow- she could guess what this was about easily enough.

"It's about your niece isn't it?" her voice didn't rise above her usual steady whisper.

I peered through the crack in the door just in time to see my aunt nod, "Yes, it is about Allison, but it is also about her friends the Weasley twins."

Julia's face turned into a sour expression and my Aunt sighed, "Miss. Avery, I know adjusting to a new school can be hard, several students need help getting through the first few months of being away from their parents. You however have been attending Hogwarts for several months now and I suggest you don't turn away those who are trying to help you."

"Who was trying to help me? Your niece and her jokester friends? They weren't trying to help me! They pretended to be my friend and used me for their benefit; they're no different than my cousins." Her voice was filled with distain.

"I'm afraid you don't understand my niece's motives, she actually had good intentions when she spiked your drink with the chattering beverage."

Julia gave her a skeptical look that screamed 'you have to be kidding me'.

My Aunt just sighed; it was time for me to step in. Lacking the typical confidence of a Gryffindor I took a deep breath and marched through the door; the cold look on Julia's face however stopped me cold.

That was it- I was doomed, "Julia, look it wasn't -!" I choked out before her glare darkened significantly, as if she was daring me to address her like a friend.

I swear quiet people can be scary sometimes….

An awkward silence ensued between us for several long minutes, when I broke the silence my voice came out as a whisper, "Julia, please, it didn't go as we planned, and we just wanted to help you, and…."

My voice cut off as Julia began her longest self approved rant ever, "You just wanted to help me do what? Help me help you? Help me think I had friends? Help me spill some of my biggest secrets? I can't believe how selfish you are! You force me to talk even when you KNEW I didn't want toinstead of trying to be a real friend and wait until I was ready to talk! Then you have the guts to make everything 'my fault'! What kind of person are you?"

I opened my mouth to protest but no sound came out, she didn't understand! I didn't mean for it to happen this way! Why couldn't she just see? Yes I was impatient, yes I frequently over stepped my social boundaries, and yes I did occasionally run off to my aunt for guidance. However that didn't mean I was a no good big mouthed brat who was never wrong! Fred and I were wrong to have done that to her, and I knew that. But how come I wasn't able to speak my thoughts? I finally knew how it felt to be Julia. To feel so oppressed and afraid that you can't get a word out to defend yourself… in short it was awful. My heart sank as I began to feel the true reality of situation, I felt lower than the lowest speck of dirt….

Julia shot me one last hate filled look before she slammed the doors opened and fled the room.

I turned to look at my Aunt for help but all she could do was shrug and say, "Well, we'll just have to try again some other time."

I just shook my head sadly before I fled the room and headed back up towards the Gryffindor common room. Only one person could make me feel better at a time like this and that was Fred. I just had to see him, I needed to feel his arms wrap around me and say that everything was alright, to tell me that he loved me and everything was going to work itself out in the end… I needed him.

"Flibbertigibbet…" I breathed unsteadily as the Fat Lady swung open to allow me entrance.

Fred's voice was the first to greet me, "Allie, how did it go…." He trailed off at the sight at me, fresh tears had begun to streak down my face- I was a wreck.

"Not good by the look of things mate." George replied awkwardly as I stood in the middle of the mostly empty common room sniffling.

Fred rose up from the couch and pulled me into a gentle hug, "It's alright Allie…." He breathed into my hair, "It's fine, whatever Julia said it's nothing, it doesn't matter… we still love you."

I just gasped as more tears poured down my face; there was nothing else for me to say.

I was at a loss for words.

A/N

YES! Finally! FINALLY! My writers block has faded away! You don't know how much I suffered over this chapter! The first part of it was like stop and go traffic! I would get four words done then have to go back and rewrite it! It was awful! But fortunately it faded around the point that Julia started ranting to Allie.

Well you all know how writers block goes… anyways what did you think? Was it good? Bad? A pile of Hippogriff dung? Tell me in your reviews! Just click the blue link below!

Drakefan077

Disclaimer: JK Rowling would not be spending her free time writing on fanfiction.