Chapter 2
Apparently, as Beca soon found out, having one meaningful interaction with Chloe Beale was all it took to give the redhead the impression that you had become, like, friends.
The Slytherin was a little confused when it happened for the first time. She was walking on the yard, making her way to the Quidditch pit to practice a little. Most of the free time she had was spent there. If she was flying, no one could talk to her, she felt free and got the sensation that she was finally doing something right and well in her life.
The only other thing the brunette had that was also an escape, a talent and a passion at the same time was music. She absolutely loved music, and it had always kept her sane and helped her understand and express how she felt better than words ever could.
Having a wizard father and a muggle mother, the girl had been exposed to very different musical influences from a young age. At the moment she realized she could make beats and lyrics communicate with each other, she was ecstatic.
The first mash-up she ever made was of Eagle’s “Hotel California” and The Winery Wizards’ “The Ghost That Will Haunt You”. The first version she made was using muggle equipment, at her mother’s house, and the result was nice. When she later used magic, at her father’s place, to add some effects (including creepy visual effects) to the mash-up, it got amazingly spooky and just plain awesome.
It was really nice, mixing up magical and muggle stuff. If she was the product of the same combination, but didn’t work, it was still refreshing knowing that something good could come out of such mixture.
At school, though, she didn’t have music - not in the same way. She could listen to it – they had equipments that worked with the magical atmosphere, if authorized and enchanted by professors, and they were decent enough to play existing songs. Creating her own stuff, though, was more difficult. Yeah, she could use magic to combine different tracks and add effects, but somehow, it just wasn’t the same. Beca suspected it might have something to do with how specialized the muggle mixing equipments were. Besides, not being able to tune muggle stations on the radio or get access to the internet, the Slytherin was kind of behind on what was trending, and Beca didn’t feel the same way when she created mash-ups using exclusively wizard songs. Somehow, it was simply better when she got to unite the beats and lyrics from the different worlds.
With music being out of question, what Beca had at Hogwats was Quidditch. She didn’t love the sports only, but anything that involved flying.
The brunette had learned how to balance herself on a broom when she was just a child. She loved the speed and loved making her father have to chase her around the yard. At least, at that time, he had cared enough to scold her about how fast she was riding.
Having always been tiny, Beca had also always been pretty fast. It didn’t take her long to learn how to dive, stop mid-air, control the broom to make sharp turns. By the age of nine, she was already a better flier than her older cousins, and little Emily’s super star. The seven-year-old loved clapping her hands and screaming Beca’s name, and would be absolutely ecstatic when the older girl took her on a ride above the river and plains surrounding her house.
Beca missed that. Being Emily’s hero, or just being near the younger girl at all.
“Em! Wake up!”
Beca was on a broom, outside her cousin’s bedroom window. She was trying to keep still in mid-air and be as silent as possible while tapping on the glass to wake Emily up. After a few more pokes and hisses, the other girl finally stirred.
“Beca!?What are you doing here?” The way Emily’s eyes bulged and she tripped on the sheets while stumbling out of bed made Beca smirk.
“You in for a night ride?” The older girl indicated the broom she was sitting on with a head gesture.
“Are you crazy? If the adults catch us, we’re gonna be in trouble!”
Oh, yeah. Emily had always been a nice girl, who played by the books. Beca probably wouldn’t try to make her cousin join her on the wild side on an ordinary day, but she did have things to discuss. And those things were kind of urgent, and kind of not good.
“I need to talk to you.” And maybe seeing the stern, serious look on the normally smirking girl’s face was what made Emily decide to join her. With a quick nod, she was already climbing out the window, when Beca stopped her. “Grab a coat, kiddo. It’s freezing out here.”
In only a few minutes, a now more-properly-dressed-Emily was climbing up on the broom in front of Beca.
“Ok, now, I want you to hold firmly. You look really pretty, Em, but you’re also really clumsy.” When the younger girl opened her mouth to protest, Beca interrupted again. “Come on, kiddo, don’t bullshit me. I just saw you battling those sheets.”
“You shouldn’t use that b-word in front of me…” The girl murmured instead, blushing slightly. Beca laughed.
“Yeah, right. No promises.”
After they had flown considerably far from the Junk household, Beca slowed down a little, so she could be more easily heard.
“You know things are changing, right, Em?” She started, feeling very awkward, but knowing her cousin deserved knowing what was going on and what would follow.
“Aunt Julia and Uncle Dave are divorcing,” the younger girl murmured, looking down.
“Yes. And my father already has a new girlfriend, so Sheila will soon be my step-monster.”
“I thought she was nice. A professor at Hogwarts too,” Emily frowned.
“I thought so, too. About her being nice. A professor at Hogwarts, she definitely is. And that is kind of part of what I want to talk to you about.”
They were once again soaring above the river, which now looked calm and still, as they had many times before. It was once again a beautiful view, and Beca was glad she was sharing this with Emily – at least, this one more time. She had always felt very protective of her younger cousin, and that was exactly why she was taking what she believed were necessary measures.
“Remember Uncle Alex, Em?”
“Obviously. He is a bully. I don’t like him,” the girl scowled and Beca smiled.
“You have nice taste, because he is a douche. Anyway, Sheila and Kommissar are a bit like him.”
“What!?”
“Yeah. They talk about pure blood and how wizards are superior to muggles and shit. Oh, Emily, come on, you can take some cursing. Don’t be a child.”Beca added when the girl looked shocked.
“I’m nine!”
“Oh, shit, you’re right. Ooops. Sorry. Anyway, I think bad things might be on their way, and I’m here to warn you.”
“Uh? You think they wanna do things to me?”
“Not if you don’t really stick around me, kiddo.”
“Wait, Beca, what do you mean? You don’t like me anymore?” The younger girl looked very vulnerable.
“Shit, no! Sorry, again! But no, that’s not it. It’s just… look, Em, Kommissar and Sheila are not nice, ok? And they don’t like me very much, and they want me to do certain things.”
“And you’re going to do them? Why?”
“Because I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. It’s just easier if I don’t cause trouble, if I stay quiet on my own and just ignore them.”
“Beca, who got hurt? You’re scaring me.”
“Em, listen, it will be ok. It’s just, I’m leaving for Hogwarts in September, right? Sheila and Kommissar are going to be there the whole time. I don’t want them knowing how close we are, not when you finally start going there too, and not before, on vacations and stuff.”
“You’re ashamed of me?”
“What? No, no. Em, I can’t let them know we’re close. They will use you to hurt me, and they will hurt you in the process.”
“Are they really that bad?”
“I don’t know, Em, but I can’t risk it.” The older girl had actually more than a feeling about that, but she sensed her cousin was already frightened enough.
“But I’m pure-blood!” And the minute Emily said it, her eyes widened. Beca could see how shocked and confused the younger girl felt. “I… I never said it as something I should feel proud of before. My mom says it’s not.”
“Well, you are pure-blood, but I’m not. My mom is a muggle. They already think I’m an inconvenience.”
“But how is Uncle Dave ok with all this?” At that, Beca scoffed.
“Yeah, my father hasn’t really been paying attention to me. He doesn’t see the way Sheila is, and whenever I try to say something, I’m just the teenager exaggerating and playing the victim.”
“Beca, we can talk to my parents. They can help!”
“Em, please, leave it alone. My father won’t listen now, and I’m just tired. All I have to do is suck it up, go quietly about these seven years and then I’ll be old enough to go on my own way.”
“I don’t know how to help you, Beca,” the younger girl admitted, looking defeated.
“I’m just here to tell you about these things. Because I want you to know that if I don’t reach out to you when you get to Hogwarts, or if I’m not really around anymore, it’s because I’m a coward and because I don’t want you or myself to get hurt. It’s got nothing to do with you, all right? You’re awesome, kiddo, and anyone will be lucky to be your friend.”
“So… we’re not friends anymore?” Emily looked absolutely devastated.
“We are, but we’re the only ones who’ll know about it, ok? And when we’re old enough, we’ll laugh in their faces. Can you be strong during these years for me, Em?”
The younger girl wiped away some tears that had fallen during the conversation. “I can.”
“Good. You’re much braver than me. Ready to enjoy the last ride for a while, then?” And when Emily nodded, Beca speeded up again, making the wind blow their hairs and doing loops that made her cousin squeal and laugh at the same time.
The soon-to-be Hogwarts freshman knew she would miss Emily like crazy, but she also knew it was for the best. She didn’t want Sheila or Komissar knowing about her, about what she liked, about whom she loved. Beca didn’t trust them, and wasn’t about to leave herself open for one of their schemes or manipulations. If, because of her, Emily ended up having a tough life at Hogwarts, she would never forgive herself. She couldn’t handle the thought of messing up and having the younger girl pay for it. And Beca wasn’t sure if Emily really understood what she had been saying – the girl was only nine, after all -, but maybe it would actually be better if she didn’t. If she thought Beca was keeping her away because Beca was scared for herself, Emily would probably be less inclined to reach out to her older cousin. And that way, she could have a normal Hogwarts life, away from hating-people drama.
When they got back to the Junk household, after flying, laughing and contemplating the view for several minutes, Emily said goodbye to Beca with a hug. In turn, the eleven-year-old ruffled the younger girl’s hair.
“Don’t forget it, ok, Em? You’re awesome.”
“I’ll miss you, Beca.”
“I’ll miss you too, kiddo.”
When the brunette was getting ready to fly off again, Emily spoke up. “Beca?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re eleven. You’re just a child, too. You know, because of the cursing and… everything.”
With a final sad smile to her cousin, Beca took some impulse and flew off in the dark night. She knew Emily was right – technically. At eleven, you were probably supposed to be a kid. But all the fighting and yelling and negligence, and now prejudice and schemes and manipulations, had made her feel very little innocent, happy or carefree – and weren’t those the things that defined what a child was too?
So, yeah, flying – Beca had always been really good at that. In more ways than one.
When she was almost reaching the Quidditch pitch, the Slytherin heard someone scream her name.
“Beca! Beca Mitchell!” The Brunette felt a little disoriented, because she wasn’t really used to someone calling her name on such an excited, happy tone. She also kind of knew that voice, but refused to believe her ears and chose to deem it as wishful thinking.
That is, until she turned around and was given evidence that her guess had been right.
Like, physical evidence. Because Chole Beale had somehow managed to close the distance between them in a quick sprint and had flung her arms around the shorter girl’s frame. There was a sharp intake of air, and Beca blinked, astonished. She was engulfed in red hair, and they were hugging – or she was being hugged, whatever -, and it made no sense.
As soon as it had started, though, it was over, and Chloe detangled herself from Beca, chuckling sheepishly.
“Sorry if I scared you! It’s just that I haven’t been able to talk to you since the bathroom incident; you always disappear so fast from class!”
Even if she still didn’t understand exactly when or how they had become people that hugged, Beca composed herself enough to shrug and act like she didn’t care about what had just happened.
“I leave early so annoying people won’t talk to me.”
“You don’t want to talk to me, Beca Mitchell?” Chloe’s expression dropped a little, and even though the Slytherin suspected it could be more of a teasing thing than an actual being sad thing, she still fell in despair.
“No, I wasn’t talking about you! I was talking about them. The others. The annoying people. Yeah, them,” Beca spluttered way too fast, and mentally kicked herself for sounding so unarticulated. Damn Beale and those glassy blue eyes that made her feel so guilty.
“Good! So you do want to talk to me, huh?” The redhead’s smile was back in full-force way too fast, and now Beca was pretty sure she had fallen into a trap.
“I didn’t say that,” she muttered in response, because there was still a badass image to be saved here.
“Uhm… now is the moment to tell me if you don’t want to talk to me. This is getting very confusing, you know?” The taller girl looked a tad too innocent, and Beca suspected it was because she already knew she wouldn’t get turned down. And yeah, predictably, the brunette remained silent. She knew it would be safer to keep her distance, but how could she say to Chloe’s face that she didn’t want to talk to her? First, it would be a lie, and second, looking at her beautiful blue eyes, it seemed like the most stupid thing someone could ever utter.
When she remained silent and averted her eyes, Chole smirked. “Great! It’s settled, then: we’re officially talkers.”
Beca snorted, “Haven’t we been talkers since we were like three-years-old?”
“Well, technically yes, but now you’re a Chloe Beale talker, and I guarantee you that’s way more interesting,” the Hufflepuff winked, smiling confidently at Beca. The brunette thought that if speaking to Chloe Beale made you a Chloe Beale talker, then she had occasionally been a Chloe Beale thinker for a while as well. And then she felt like slapping herself.
“You’re training again?” The redhead asked, eyeing the broom Beca had on her left hand. “Is it a good idea? I mean, doesn’t your wrist hurt anymore?”
The brunette felt a little warm inside at the other girl’s concern. She was sure that was just Chloe, caring about anyone and everyone, but it still made Beca feel something close to comfort knowing that someone still worried about her. Not really knowing how to deal with it, however, she just rolled her eyes.
“Come on, Beale, it got better the second you took care of it.”
“Oh, it’s ‘cause I have magical powers.”
“Uh, hate to break it to you, but take a look around, Beale. So does everyone around here, you know? Not a reason to feel very full of yourself, I’m afraid.” And they smirked at each other.
“Well, if you’re sure… just take care of yourself and don’t overdo it, ok?’
“I’ll try, but the game season is approaching,” Beca answered, knowing how unlikely she was to keep away from the Quidditch pit for more than two days in a row.
“Oh yeah, November, right?”
“Uh-huh. November 4th, more precisely. Slytherin versus Hufflepuff.” Beca smirked, eyeing Chloe attentively for her reaction.
“Oh, that will be awesome! My friend Jesse is making his debut as Hufflepuff seeker!” The redhead smiled excitedly.
“Jesse? As in Jesse Swanson? As in our class Jesse Swanson?”
At that, Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Thought you didn’t really pay attention to people and our classmates, and never knew anyone’s name, etc. etc.”
“Please. Hard to not know the name of the kid always being yelled at by professors for almost setting everything on fire. Also hard to picture him as a seeker,” Beca frowned. “I guess the Hufflepuffs are screwed. Sorry, Beale. No way Swanson can beat this,” the Slytherin winked and gestured at herself, in a moment of cockiness and confidence.
“Hmm. We’ll see about that. I know for a fact that you’re pretty awesome,” Chloe gave her a wink of her own, and Beca felt a little lightheaded at the implication that the redhead had been watching her play through the years.
“I’ll be in a bit of a predicament, though,” the Hufflepuff continued. “How should I show up to the game? In yellow robes, but green scarf?”
“Wait, what? You won’t be rooting for your friend? For your house?” The brunette was taken aback. How was that even a question?
“Well, the house thing is a little complicated, but you’re my friend too, silly. And a Hufflepuff doesn’t leave their friends behind.”
“We are friends?” Beca asked, and cringed internally. That was a ridiculous question, inquired in an even more ridiculous tone.
“Duh. We’re going to be really fast friends, Bec, I can feel it. I’m so glad I officially met you!” Chloe smiled brightly and sincerely, and the Slytherin felt a little taken aback again. Aside from her mother, it had been a while since the girl felt someone genuinely cared about her, let alone say they enjoyed her company. Sure, she kind of had Luke, and she supposed they were something in the friend-ish area, but the Slytherin Quidditch team captain would never say things like “I’m glad I got to meet you”. In fact, if he did, she would probably run in the opposite direction and never speak to him again, both because that would be pretty lame of him and because personal affection made her uneasy, after years of pushing people away. With Chloe, though, it sort of seemed to be ok. Maybe more than ok. Maybe it made Beca feel warm inside and pushed an involuntary smile onto her face, but she didn’t really want to dwell on it.
“Uh… ok then. But please, don’t wear a green scarf. I couldn’t stand the commotion,” she made a face, thinking of it. It was true, so Beca didn’t feel particularly bad about it, but there were more reasons why she didn’t want certain people to see Chloe wearing the Slytherin colors and wondering why the Hufflepuff was doing it.
“Not fan of being on the spotlight, huh? A little complicated for being the school Quidditch star.”
“Like I said, my life is one of burdens,” the brunette sighed, and was rewarded with a small chuckle from Chloe. She had to admit that causing such a sound to leave the redhead was kind of something she wanted to do more.
“Don’t worry, I won’t give people a reason to go ask you questions. I can do something more discreet to show you my support, though, like giving you a favor.” Chloe smiled, but the brunette only frowned at the words.
“A what?”
“You don’t know what it is? Oh my God, that will be even better!” The redhead beamed, and Beca’s eyes widened.
“By Merlin, dude, tell me what it is!”
“Oh, would you look at the time? I’d better go to my next class,” Chloe said all too innocent.
“What were you even doing here anyway?” The brunette asked, frowning. Honestly, she felt somewhat dizzy, because Chloe was such a ball of energy that left her with many unanswered questions and quickly moved on to the next topic. It was definitely hard to follow.
“Coming back from Care of Magical Creatures. It’s probably my favorite,” the taller girl answered happily.
“Of course it is,” Beca replied, because she could totally see it. And she entertained the thought of actually seeing it in the future, like taking off earlier to her flying practice and soaring over a certain class. Totally casual.
“I do have to go, though,” Chloe sighed, putting on a sorry expression.
“I think you’re already late, actually,” Beca frowned. “Won’t you get in trouble?”
“Nah. I have a charming personality, remember?” The girl winked, already turning to leave. “See you around, Beca Mitchell!”
The redhead was already a little far, so the Slytherin had to yell. “Oi, Beale! The favor thing better not be weird, ok?” And when, even from the distance, she heard laughter, she screamed again. “I’m serious!”
Shaking her head, Beca continued her path to the Quidditch pit. What exactly had she gotten herself into?
In the next few days, the interactions between them continued. Granted, they were shorter and less significant, because Beca was trying her hardest to avoid being seen all friendly with the redhead in crowded places. She still got smiles from across the room in the classes they had together, though, and little winks at the Great Hall. After checking to be sure she wasn’t being watched by Kommissar, the Slytherin answered them all, discreetly.
One evening, when she was in her dorms, the blond prefect barged in.
“I’m not going on the Hogsmeade visit, so you have no reason to go either.”
“You’re gorgeous, but it doesn’t make me care about what you do with your life,” Beca answered, feeling frustrated at the involuntary first statement that left her lips.
“Feisty, huh? But don’t fret, I’m not letting you in on my plans, dwarf. Just thought you should know you’ll have no one to talk to.”
“We don’t have to talk, because I don’t like you, but you could stay here and I could stare at you all night.”
“You wish,” Kommissar smirked, and as soon as she had entered the room, she left. When she was gone, Beca punched her pillow. By Merlin, why was she like that in front of the blonde? She didn’t like her, at all, so why did she keep word vomiting like that?
Oh, yeah. The veela descendent thing.
Kommissar had a point, though. Why would Beca even go to Hogsmeade? The village was pretty, but she wouldn’t have company, and Luke would probably be with his douche friends. Like Bumper. Yeah, the fifteen-year-old girl really didn’t want to spend her Saturday with the likes of Allen, so she thought it would be better to stay at the castle.
Until the next morning happened and changed her mind about it. Because when she passed Chloe Beale, running on her way to Herbology because she had overslept, the redhead yelled at her. “Will I see you on Saturday? In Hogsmeade?” Just throwing her hand in the air, because she most definitely did not have the time to stop and chat, Beca was reminded of their first conversation in the bathroom. Oh, well, she supposed she did have something pendent to be taken care of in the small village, didn’t she?
Chloe had woken up early, and oh boy, was she excited! She absolutely loved Hogsmeade. It was a beautiful place, and she was just ecstatic about having the entire day to window-shop, eat some delicious treats and spend time with her friends. It was also Emily’s first time in Hogsmeade with the rest of them! And well, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder if a certain Slytherin would show up, because in spite of going through it again and again in her head, she was unable to decipher the wild hand gesture she had received from the other girl when asking if she would attend the trip. Unable to stay tucked in for another second with so many thoughts running through her mind, the Hufflepuff was up in an instant and throwing a pillow at the girl sleeping in the bed next to hers.
“CR! Wake up! We need to get ready and go have some breakfast, I don’t wanna be late!”
“Oh, girl, it’s way too early for your loud white screaming,” the other girl mumbled, turning her back to Chloe and burying her head in the pillow. “Go wake Emily up.”
At that, the redhead scoffed. “Right. As if I would need to wake Em up for her first Hogsmeade visit.”
As if on cue, the younger girl busted through the fifth-years-dorm door, beaming brightly and squealing in excitement.
“Oh sweet Merlin, I can’t believe it’s today! I’m so, so ready! What are we doing first? Are we stopping by The Three Broomsticks? Or are we getting cool stuff at Zonko’s? Eating at Honeydukes? We could maybe…”
“Yes, we’re doing all of that, sweetie!” Chloe answered excitedly, and they both started jumping together, unable to contain their joy.
“She is your Legacy, a loud Legacy, damn,” CR mumbled, and even though the redhead suspected her friend was annoyed, she and Emily couldn’t help but take it as a compliment while smiling and hugging.
When a masculine voice they recognized as Jesse’s sounded in the distance, “Girls! Come on, I wanna stuff my face in acid pops! Come on, up, up and away!” Cynthia-Rose dropped her head into the pillow. “Man, I should have begged the hat to put me in Slytherin.” Chloe and Emily, obviously, burst out laughing.
Some good half an hour later, they were entering the Great Hall and sitting at the Gryffindor table, by Cynthia-Rose’s request.
“I just needed your grumpy face, Aubrey,” she told the blonde, sighing.
“I’m not grumpy!” The girl defended herself, crossing her arms. “I’m just… practical and focused.”
Fat Amy snorted. “Yeah, in Tasmania, you would have been able to chase the coyotes away with only a glare.” And when the Australian found herself under the mentioned scary gaze, she added, “No offense.”
“I spent two years of my life sleeping with the coyotes. I had to leave, though, because I was a better hunter than they were.” As usual, no one could decipher what Lily had murmured. Chloe noticed, however, that Emily had clung closer to her side. Before having the time to ask the younger girl if they should run for their lives, the redhead was distracted by the arrival of their other Ravenclaw friends.
“What are you bitches up to?” Stacie asked, plopping down between Aubrey and Cynthia-Rose.
“Aubrey’s grumpiness is saving us from sunshine and rainbows,” Fat Amy replied, while picking the largest piece of bacon from a bowl.
“Why? I do love me some rainbow,” the tall brunette winked at Aubrey, who rolled her eyes at her. “But I also love all spectrums of it.” Stacie then winked at a good-looking boy sitting in front of them, and Chloe had to smirk. Turning her face away, though, she found new reason to support her smirk in face. Benji was trying to greet Emily, and good Merlin, this was way worse than Beca trying to act cool.
“I… I can do some magic for you later, if you want.” The boy smiled nervously, and Emily frowned, confused.
“I’d love to, but I know you can. We sort of all can.”
“Right, no, but I don’t mean that. I mean like putting you in a box and sewing you in half.”
When the younger-girl’s eyes widened, Jesse intervened quickly to save his friend.
“For muggle magic, is what he means. Nothing weird about it.”
And after the girl laughed, visibly relaxing, and turned around to see what Amy was hollering about, Jesse elbowed Benji in the ribs.
“Dude, what the hell?”
“Sorry, I got nervous,” the Ravenclaw replied, sheepishly looking down. Chloe then patted his shoulder sympathetically, and he smiled gratefully at her.
While everybody chatted excitedly, the redhead took the opportunity to check in on her so-called legacy.
“How you doing there, Em? Happy to visit Hogsmeade with everyone?”
The girl tried to quick swallow the eggs she was eating, and had a cough fit from trying to speak and swallow at the same time. With a small chuckle, Chloe patted her back, handed her some juice and reminded her to breathe.
“Definitely! It’s going to be incredible! I’m so happy you’ll all be there with me!” The redhead smiled at that, but quirked an eyebrow when she saw that, after a moment or so, Emily had started frowning. “Although… there was someone else I wish was there with me too.”
“Someone else?” Now it was Chloe’s turn to frown. “Who?”
“Uh, never mind.” And as the redhead kept gazing questioningly at her, Emily sighed. “Sorry, Chloe. I can’t explain. It’s not on me.”
Knowing meddling in personal business was not good, and that Emily’s loyalty and discretion should be respected, the fifth-year dropped the subject, but couldn’t help still feeling very curious about it.
The day, as expected, had been wonderful so far. Their sort of large group had stuck together, and they had been chatting, bickering and laughing a lot. Chloe loved her friends and the insane amount of noise they were able to produce when together. And she knew Aubrey, with whom she was walking arm-in-arm, loved it too, even though she continuously called them a group of misfits and kept asking Chloe why the hell they had to hang out with them.
To make the day even better, all the redhead had to do was look at Emily: the younger girl seemed so happy. The fifth-year Hufflepuff couldn’t help her mind from revisiting the episode in which she had met the brunette. She had looked terrified and lonely then. And now, seeing her laugh and the way her smile made Benji trip on a branch, Chloe felt her heart swell. These people were her family, and she was glad to see they were all ok and happy.
After running around and visiting pretty much every shop in the village (“There’s a serious lack of sex shops around here.” “STACIE! Children visit this place! Oh dear Merlin, someone cover Emily’s ears please!”), they felt a little tired and decided to take a break at some nearby benches.
They had been calmly chatting and sharing the begs they had purchased at Honeydukes, when a yelp from Fat Amy caused some of them to jump up in surprise. When Chloe looked at the Australian, she got it: there was ice cream spilling through her hair.
“How did you manage to do that? You’re not even having ice cream!”
“I have woken up drenched in mysteriously emerged substance too, but it was blood.”
“It was him!” Amy hollered, and Chloe looked in the direction she was pointing at, where smirking at them, stood Bumper Allen. Oh, no. Not again.
“What was that for, Bumper? Unable to handle all this hotness and trying to cool it down?” The Australian inquired challengingly, proudly slapping her own hips.
“Dirty Slytherins,” Aubrey hissed, and the redhead put a hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Bree, no! For God’s sake, you’re a prefect too, we can’t get caught in a messy fight!”
“Oooh, fight! Did someone say food fight?” Jesse grinned, and Chloe glared at him. “Jesse, no! In Merlin’s name, are you all eight-year-olds?”
And then, while trying to contain everybody and trough all the hollering taking place, Chloe heard a voice she had been longing to hear all day.
“Beale! Psst! Beale!”
Her blue eyes widened. No one was looking – or listening, for that matter – at her anyway, so she took a few steps back and looked beside the nearest shop. Without a doubt, half-hidden in the shadows, was Beca.
“Beca?” The other girl put a finger to her lips, asking the redhead to be quiet. She then gestured for Chloe to go over there.
“Are you serious? This is not exactly the best time,” the Hufflepuff mouthed, gesturing back to the mess a few feet from her.
“Leave someone in charge!” The girl mouthed back. Chloe hesitated. It was probably bad and selfish to leave her friends alone, but then again, she wasn’t really making a difference, was she? And well, if the girl was being honest, she might have been kind of looking for Beca all day long.
Still, she had to try, at least one more time. “GUYS!” She screamed, but no one really paid her any attention. The redhead then sighed and struggle to pull Jessica, Ashley, Cynthia-Rose, Benji and Emily to the side.
“Ouch! This hurts!” Jessica complained, rubbing at her arm. Chloe grimaced, “Sorry, Jess. Desperate measures.”
“Ok, listen, you five: I want you to stop this mess.”
“No, no. You’re not leaving us with this bunch of crazy people,” Cynthia-Rose protested, shaking her head.
“I’m going to get help.” Chloe felt bad about lying, but she supposed she could look for adult assistance after checking what Beca wanted with her, right?
“Oh, man, why do I always get stuck in shit like this? I could be having some hot chocolate with a nice, pretty girl,” Cynthia-Rose whined.
“Certainly wouldn’t be the prettiest girl in school,” Benji declared, looking dreamily at Emily.
“Benji, you’re adorable, but not now,” Chloe warned, and the curled-haired boy quietly apologized. “Jashley,” (at that point, it was just easier calling them like that. They were never apart anyway), “can you be brave Gyffindors and do this for me?” The two girls nodded quickly. The blue-eyed girl then looked at Emily. “Em, sweethear, can you step up and be a true Legacy now? Hufflepuff needs to know if you have it in you to be a prefect in two years.” And when Emily solemnly acquiesced, Chloe deemed herself satisfied. As she wished them all good luck and started walking away, though, she heard Cynthia-Rose calling after her, “You owe me one, Red.”
When she finally made her way back to Beca, the girl was staring at her with an expression that mixture amusement and astonishment.
“By Merlin, dude, what the fuck was that? You were all super solemn now. The hell?”
Chloe sighed. “I… wish I knew what to say,” she frowned a little, and at the moment she saw the ridiculousness of the situation, she couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.
“And that is why I don’t get tangled up with people. Look at all this drama.”
“Only with special people, then?” The redhead smirked, pointing at herself, and Beca rolled her eyes, but Chloe could see she was blushing slightly.
“Yeah, yeah, tell yourself what you want.”
“How are you here, though? I didn’t see you during breakfast or on the way to the village.”
“I got my ways,” Beca winked, and Chloe raised an eyebrow at her. When the Slytherin didn’t elaborate, the redhead sighed and asked. “So. Why was I pulled from the super serious fight?”
“You wish you were still there?”
“God, no,” Chloe closed her eyes for a second. “I do fear they might end up killing themselves, however.”
“Meh, wouldn’t really make a difference to the world,” the girl said jokingly, but Chloe looked sternly at her.
“Beca. Be nice.”
The Slytherin then lifted her hands in a surrendering gesture and a silent apology. When Chloe just kept looking at her, waiting for the answer to her previous question, Beca remembered why they were furtively talking behind some shop in the first place.
“Oh. Right. Can you please close your eyes?”
“Beca Mitchell, are you planning to kiss me?”
“Wait, what? Why? I’m not… Why would I… That’s not…” And when Chloe couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore, the brunette understood she was being messes with. “Ha ha. Real funny. Now go on, Beale, close your eyes.”
After a few seconds of shuffling, Chloe was told to reopen her blue orbs. The sight she was greeted by was of an awkward-looking Beca Mitchell, holding two cups of butterbeer. When she just stared at the girl, looking lost for a moment, Beca rushed to explain.
“So, uh. You said, in the bathroom, when you helped me, because I had hurt my wrist, that this is all it took, right? To say thank you, I mean. Paying you some butterbeer on the next Hogsmead visit.” And Chloe was stunned for a second, because Beca had remembered, and that notion alone made her feel a bit lightheaded. Apparently, though, the Slytherin was misinterpreting her silence. “Oh. That was just something you said, right? Like a way of speaking. Merlin, I’m ridiculous. I’m sorry, ok, you don’t have to drink. And you can go back to your friend, I’m s…”
Before she could continue hey messy mumbling, however, Chloe put her out of her misery by pulling the girl into a hug, careful not to drop the butterbeer Beca was still holding. At first, the Slytherin was a little stiff, but eventually relaxed, realizing that feeling Chloe’s touch was not so bad. It was actually kind of nice.
“Thank you, Bec. I’m really happy you did this, even though you didn’t have to.” The Hufflepuff smiled gratefully, and the brunette only shrugged. “What do you say we go drink this up that hill?” Chloe indicated a nearby mount, in which they could talk privately while she would still be able to keep an eye on the still going-on argument.
“You’re drinking with me?” The brunette asked, a little dazed, and Chloe didn’t really understand how she could have thought otherwise. “Duh,” she chose to answer simply, nudging the girl with her elbow so they could start walking.
In a few minutes, they were up the hill, sat together on the same bench. Chloe opened up the bag from Zonko’s she was still carrying, and then they were seeping their buttlebeers, eating candy and alternating between taking the view of the village and of the Hogwarts students who only now seemed to be starting to calm down.
“Your friends are insane,” Beca declared, carefully examining how red Aubrey’s and Stacie’s faces had become in their anger.
“Yours too,” Chloe replied, nodding with her head in Bumper’s direction.
“Oh no, Bumper Allen is not my friend.”
“Comrade then?” At Beca’s grunt, Chloe shrugged. “Well, he’s a Slytherin. You can’t deny that, Bec.”
“Well, he puts Slytherin name to shame,” the girl answered stubbornly.
“Oh really? How should a good Slytherin be then?”
“Hmm, let me see. Smart. Talented. Creative. You know, pretty much like me.” The shorter girl shrugged smugly, and Chloe chuckled.
“How could they not have made such a representative girl prefect?”
“Yeah, right. Like I would be chosen to be a nice, well-behaved, composed prefect.” Beca snorted.
“I’m not sure about composed,” Chloe muttered, looking briefly at Aubrey. Before continuing, she trained her gaze on the girl next to her again. “Well, I’d definitely choose you.”
“For prefect? You are the ridiculous one out of the two of us, then.”
“Not for prefect, necessarily,” the redhead shrugged. “I’d just choose you.” She smiled sincerely.
“Oh Merlin, you are ridiculous.” Sure, Beca was blushing a little, but she was also laughing, and Chloe couldn’t help thinking how beautiful the sight was. It was also rare, so she felt like treasuring that moment.
After a good while chatting and eating together, it was time to go. The fight had been broken apart for some time now, and Chloe knew her friend would be looking for her. A little pissed, probably. Still, she didn’t truly want to say goodbye to Beca yet.
“I don’t suppose you want to go back with me and our classmates?”
“Merlin, no. That would be a pain. No offense.” Chloe just shook her head and smiled lightly.
“Will I see you on the way back to school then?” The redhead asked, looking at her companion.
“Probably not.”
“You’re using some secret passage, aren’t you?”
“Come on, Beale, I can’t reveal all my secrets so soon.”
“Oh, I’m sure you have more. Many more.” Beca simply shrugged and stood up, so Chloe hurried up to do the same. “Thanks, Bec. I had a very nice time.”
“Yeah, it was all right.” And before she could act all nonchalant and simply take off, the redhead kissed her cheek. Chloe then took the opportunity of a stunned, bright red Beca to be the one to walk away first. “See you around, Beca Mitchell.”
When she got back to her friends, Aubrey was definitely pissed. After a few forced-hugs by the redhead, kisses on the cheek and apologies, the blonde finally relented and forgave her best friend. Chloe could tell Aubrey was suspicious of her excuses (“I got lost! You know how I am with directions and maps, and I had to get off course, because they told me Mr. Griffin had taken a path down the road.”), but the Gryffindor was also dying to tell her the story of how Bumper had taken off running and yelling in panic as Lily had ordered wild bats to chase him and his friends away (“Guys, listen to me! I swear she didn’t have a wand in her hand! She was actually whispering to the bats! Guys, listen to me!”). And when Chloe asked Emily if she had had fun, the girl beamed at her and told the redhead that it had been one of the best days of her life.
And well, it had definitely been Chloe’s all-time favorite Hogsmeade visit as well. And when she thought that that had had a lot to do with a certain brunette’s sudden appearance, she suddenly felt all tingly and smiled to herself.