Love, Laughs and Phobia - Part 2 - Friends

HEY! Um, before we get stick into another exciting episode in Caede's life, I would like you to take note of these... notes.
SYMBOL KEY:
* = mental actions or neutral thoughts, or... other stuff. The other stuff is obvious.
> = Caede's thoughts that stem from the heart; her instinct and imagination
< = Caede's thoughts that stem from the head; her logical realistic (sometimes pessimistic) side
Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember!
It was Friday afternoon, and you were returning to the commonroom after completing your Herbology essay and this week's dream diary for Divination. You'd felt really guilty about Thursday's "I dreamt I was drowning in a vat of buttered popcorn", but
1. you were not about to tell Colin about your nightmares, and
2. it was the first thing that had popped into your head, and you had learned long ago to follow your instincts (though perhaps this was taking it a bit far...)
You heard echoes of footsteps and voices up ahead, and ducked into an empty classroom until Malfoy and his gang had passed. A sigh escaped your lips. You wished you didn't have to do this; ducking behind statues, doors, tapestries and people just to avoid them. But you knew that Malfoy was out for revenge, so you liked hiding better than the consequences if he caught you.
Spot -->
You entered the commonroom and were instantly glad that you had done your homework in the library. You stffly wound your way through the din, ruckus, clamour, drinking games, AAAAH DUCK - FRISBEE!!! What on earth is going on? you wondered as you stood up. You paused and listened in to a conversation being yelled between your neighbours.
"WONDER IF HE'S AS GOOD-"
"-Fred 'n' George's little brother-"
"WHAT?"
"-NEW KEEPER!"
"YOU GOTTA TRY THIS-"
"Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you! We-"
Oh - yes. The Quidditch tryouts for a new keeper had been held a few hours back; seems like Ron had gotten the position. Good on him! You hadn't tried out because, well, truth be told you were scared of the balls (fancy having a ball designed to induce sporting injuries! You'd really want insurance, or a hospital membership or whatever playing with that) and had a history of incompetance when it came to ballsports in general. If reading didn't count as a sport, you guessed your fave was archery. It used to be treeclimbing until... nevermind.
You managed to dodge poor, um, Neville? (cruel parents..?) and avoid getting his butterbeer all down your front, but Parvati wasn't so lucky. You went to follow the now soaked and profusely scowling Parvati up into the refuge of your dorm when you were stopped by a hand on your shoulder. The hand belonged to George Weasley.
"Hey Caede!" he said, smiling brightly. You smiled in return. What was with this reflex action?
"Hi George!" *mental slap*
"You picked me! And on your first go, too!" You hid your embarassed grin.
"I, er, heard your brother is the new keeper."
"Yeah... lets hope he keeps up the family standard," he said, wincing. "He's not brilliant, but hopefully he'll scrub up well..."
You were at a loss of what to say, as George seemed carried away by his own thoughts. Presently he blinked back to 'here and now' and replaced his slight frown with his familiar grin.
"So... you gonna join the festivities?" he asked you with a sly look in his eye.
"Oh, um..." you searched desperately for an excuse, "I, uh, I'm not... dressed for this!" *Genius* you thought to yourself, looking around at people around you. Most were in party gear, with the exception of the Quidditch team.
"He he! Nice try, but you're not getting away that easily! I'll see you when you're dressed suitably." he said, grinning evilly. You sighed, but you were grinning all the same. George gave you a light push towards the girls dorms, and went over to Fred, who was calling him.
Another spot -->
You wound your way to the dorm slightly more relaxed than before. Up in your room, Parvati was trying to decide what top to replace her dirty one with. She looked over at you as you walked in, and you smiled shyly at her. "Hi,"
"Hey! It's Caede, right?"
"Right. and you're Parvati."
"Yep. By the way, me and Lav -Lavender- we love your accent!"
"Oh... thanks!" you said, genuinely smiling now.
"No problem," she replied, turning back to the tops laid out on her bed. "This is a problem." You walked over and stood beside her.
"Why? What exactly are you looking for?"
"Well duh, a top to wear!"
"I know that - I mean do you want to blend, or stand out, or what?"
She paused before answering. "Stand out."
You thought back to when you'd entered the commonroom. You'd been assaulted by sound; not colour. This season's colours were brown, pinky-peach and dark- or bluey-green, which was what most of the girls were wearing. So the thing for standing out was a bright colour.
You opened your eyes and picked a brown t-shirt with a really pretty black print on the front.
"You Indian?" you asked Parvati.
"Parents are, I was born here. Why?"
"I'm half from my mum, and born in Aus. But my point is that in my opinion, as a rule, Indian girls shouldn't wear brown. That counts for us Anglo-Indians too."
"I don't usually, but I just had to have that tee." You could see why - on a non-Indian it had the potential to be stunning...
"Do you mind if I do something with this? - its reversable if you don't like it."
"Oh... ok, knock yourself out."
"But not literally." you added, and you shared a grin.
You took out your wand (white eucalyptus and unicorn hair), carefully visualised what you were aiming for, and uttered the spell-
"Morphagus!"
You picked up the improved top and checked that the spell had worked properly and that there were no loose ends (one time, you'd changed a dress improperly and it had fallen apart at the seams - not good!). You held it at arms length in front of Parvati.
"Do you like it?"
You'd turned the brown material white, and changed the design to off-the-shoulder. The print was now fluro orange, as were the new thick singlet straps to hold the top up. She wanted to stand out...
You waited nervously until Parvati found her voice.
"Like it?" she spluttered, "I love it! Its awesome! Its- its- how did you know my favourite colour is orange?"
"I, uh, didn't. I just... well, you said you wanted to stand out and it was the first thing that I thought of."
"Brilliant!" she breathed. You gave her the top and she walked into the bathroom to clean up and change, holding the top reverently. With Parvati's problem solved that left no distractions from your own - what were you going to wear? *mental slap*
> Ow! What was that for?!
< You sounded like a prissy little... something!
> *gasp!* God forbid! *mental slap*
You rummaged through your trunk searching for anything that would pass for party wear (seeing as you didn't have any because you didn't 'party'), keeping in mind that unlike Parvati, you did not want to stand out. Eventually you found something that would work. Since Parvati was still occupying the bathroom, you drew the curtains around your bed and changed inside them.
Hello, you murmured to your balloon, trying not to fall over while pulling on your pants.
*mental note: do not change pants whilst standing on bed, as emphasises lack of coordination, and minimises balance and-*
"OW!" you exclaimed, as you tumbled from the bed and landed on your butt on the floor.
*-grace.*
When you had managed to free yourself from the curtains you did up your pants and pulled on your favourite white-with-blue-stripes-on-the-sides Von Dutch runners. You were just exchanging your grey headband for a white one when Parvati walked in in her new, clean top.
"It suits you," you told her, smiling again. She grinned at you, "Thanks!"
You proceeded into the bathroom to check everything, and Parvati followed you.
"I like it, but its missing something," she said, scrutinising your outfit. You were wearing your all-time favourite elbow-length pale peachy-apricot hoodie that your Auntie had brought you back from Skywalker Ranch (GO STARWARS!), and your flaired cargos with asymmetrical pockets.
"I know whats missing!" Parvati said, and you shrunk slightly at the look on her face, "Bling!"
"Do I have to?" you groaned.
"Yes!" she replied, "You know you want to..." You sighed. She wasnt about to give this up easily or soon.
"Alright. But not too much, okay?"
"No, never!" she said, with that glint in her eye.
Five minutes later you were following Parvati back down to the party with a silvery-white elastic belt, silver hoops and a silver necklace with a blue star on the end. Before Parvati stepped out of the stairway you caught her arm.
"Thanks, Parvati."
"You're welcome, Caede. Any time!"
You grinned at each other, and she left. The war began.
< What was that?
> What was what?
< THAT! What were you playing at, helping her???
> I was being helpful! Duh!
< No duh. But you didnt need to, so why did you help her?
> I just like- to help people! If someone needs help, I will help them!
< You're trying to make friends, arent you!
> I just... well, I happen to-
< I thought we agreed NOT to make friends!
> No! You decided that without me! That wasn't fair! I'm part of Caede too, you know! I have the right to be involved in any decision making!
< *mental slap* Snap out of it! Friends are bad! We only got hurt before-
> What about our friends at Kytarian Academy, huh?
< Thats different. They were Aussies.
> Stop being racist! That has nothing to do with anything and you know it!
< I - but - thats not - it does so-
> Thankyou for proving my point. Now - friends are good! We could do with some.
< But put yourself in my shoes-
> It means Caede will be thinking of other things and not be so homesick.
< Yeah, so? I'm not convinced.
> They can help with homework...
< Done!
You decided that maybe having friends would be ok after all, George, Colin and Parvati seemed safe and trustworthy. You made up your mind there and then to be the old Caede - the real Caede. You werent going to be afraid anymore - and what was there to be afraid of with good friends? You were going to be bright and happy, and the first step was to *smile*.
Yet ANOTHER spot -->
George looked up as you walked in redressed, and your face aglow with your radiant smile and the light glinting off your - whatever they were on your teeth. Maan, she looks FINE! He thought to himself, but quickly turned his attention back to the task at hand - juggling empty butterbeer bottles with Fred and Lee [as in Jordan, folks].
"Ready boys?" he asked them, grinning widely. "3... 2... 1!"
George and the others threw he bottles up into the air in unison, then Fred caught them and passed them to George, who tossed them to Lee, who stacked them on the table in a pyramid. There were cheers and applause as they finished with many a flourish and bow, but George was oblivious to it all. He had eyes only for you, and ears only for your light, tinkling, joyous laugh it was the first you had laughed at Hogwarts.
Sp... had you going, didn't I? Its a square this time!
You went up to George, still laughing. "That was really clever!"
"Why thankyou," was his reply, "And I see that you are now suitably dressed; I approve."
"You are too kind, really," you said, playing along.
"I know, I know, I really must do something about that, but at a later date perhaps. For now, may I offer madame a butterbeer?"
"I delightfully accept your most gracious offer, sir!"
George bowed and offered you his arm, and you rested your arm on his with a curtsey and a laugh. The two of you walked over to the coffee (eww, coffee! YUCK!) table on which the drinks were sitting and you grabbed an unopened bottle each.
"Cheers!" you said, opening your bottle.
"Cheers!" he replied as you toasted and took a swig.
Clicky dot -->
For a while the two of you talked about school and Umbridge, who you really disliked because of her teaching attitude and George really really disliked because of her being at Hogwarts in the first place. Later George was called away, so you moved into the corner furthest from the fireplace despite your vow not to be afraid, you lacked the confidence as yet to socialise. It was a cosy spot; under a good reading lamp, and slightly secluded by a large, poofy armchair. It was almost perfect it was lacking one small thing.
You pulled your wand out of your side pocket and conjured a soft purple cushion 1 metre square and around 6cm deep to sit on, and squeezed it past the chair. It was a little too big for the corner, but that suited you because it made the sides slightly raised, so the middle was sunken and extra cushy. You sat there comfortably, absent minded and unaware of the time, and watched Fred and George work the room in between sips of delicious butterbeer.
Results --> rest-of-story!
At 1:00am the party began to wind to a halt, with most people retiring for the night or morning. George looked around for you and wondered if you had gone to bed yet. He did a brief visual search for you and noticed some peachy-apricot and purple in the corner behind his favourite chair. He walked over and smiled at what he saw.
You were fast asleep, curled up on your cushion with your hood pulled over you head so that only the tips of your nose and eyelashes were visible, and a half-full butterbeer bottle sitting on the floor. George looked at you, and his eyes filled with tenderness. You shivered in your sleep. He blinked, turned quickly, and got out his wand. Quietly he conjured a fluffy violet blanket, and laid it over you. Then, still smiling, he climbed up the stairs into the boys dorm.