Chapter 13
come sunday, hazel was itching to go to hogsmead, both to finally visit the leaky cauldron that she had heard so much about from marlene over the years, and to finally call with tony and cass, something she had been eagerly expecting all week. despite her excitement for both the village trip and her phone call, hazel found herself sleeping in later than expected on the sunday morning, although giving her late night the night before which she had spent gossiping with mary into the wee hours of the morning alongside a bottle of rum the girl had produced halfway through their chatting, she wasn’t all that surprised she had slept through breakfast. at least mary was the same level of sleep deprived as her, and after both of them had peeled themselves out of their warm duvets and had showered and dressed they had already long missed breakfast.
marlene came up to the dorm just as mary was shrugging on her coat to inform them that the boys had already gone ahead to hogsmead, to which the three of them, plus lily when she was finished with the last paragraph of her latest astrology essay would go down to the village together and meet the boys in the leaky after completing any stray shopping that needed to be done. it turned out that due to mary and hazels lie in, lily’s impressive academic work ethic and marlene being roped into last minute quidditch vice-captain work that the four of them only set out to the village just before lunch time.
her, mary and marlene collected lily from the library at a little past one in the afternoon, before the four of them set off down the small winding road that led to hogsmead, bundled in thick winter coats and knitted scarves to warm against the biting january chill.
‘you’ll see one of the first houses just around this bend’ marlene explained from where she was walking side by side with hazel, mary and lily a few steps behind them and deep in discussion over one of the seventh year ravenclaws that had apparently asked mary out for the third (unsuccessful) time just a few days ago.
‘right, its just around the bend!’ mary added, drawing out of her conversation to jump into hazel and marlene’s. ‘you’ve been there before thought right, for school shopping?’
‘yeah, i was there just a few weeks ago before term started.’ hazel explained, glancing back at her friend. ‘it was my first time there though, so i don’t really know my way around it. i only popped into olivanders and burty’s, and even then i needed directions to get to both shops.’
‘well that’s to be expected, it’ll take you a while to get used to the town.’ mary assured. ‘we’ll give you a quick tour today, show you all the important places,’ she winked, ‘such as the pub.’
‘your going to love butterbeer.’ marlene declared, nodding at hazel. ‘its best on a cold day like this, and although the normal ones don’t have any alcohol in them rosmerta always pops a shot of fire whisky in the sixth and seventh years drinks, as long as were discrete about it and don’t act drunk. pete did that once- had a few to many during one of the afternoons out- poor sods a lightweight after all- and would have showed up at the castle drunk if james hadn’t cornered him and giving him a pepper up tonic. rosmerta almost boxed his ears in- banned him for a whole two months. she still doesn’t give him any fire whisky, one of us have to go up and order for him.’
hazel snorted. ‘poor pete.’
marlene just shrugged. ‘meh, he still gets a drink through one of us, so he’ll survive. serves him right for almost showing up to the castle locked in the middle of the day- minnie would have done a lot worse then box his ears in if she caught him.’
‘would he have been expelled?’
it was lily who answered, shaking her head thoughtfully. ‘no, i don’t think so. i honestly haven’t heard of any student in the past few years getting expelled- suspended maybe, but hardly anyone ever gets expelled. she probably would have given him some manual labour as punishment-scrubbing all the trophy’s in the record room or something like that. remus and the rest got that as punishment once after one of their ridiculous pranks.’
mary chuckled. ‘was that after their clock one? that was a good one, although i swear my sleep schedule was fucked up for a good two weeks after that.’
‘no, i think it was after that one where they put all that weird pink slime in the slytherin chambers.’ marlene mused, smiling faintly as if being reminded of a particular pleasant memory. ‘or maybe after the curse changing one? not sure exactly which one it was.’
‘oh, that was a good one.’ lily exclaimed eagerly, grinning broadly. ‘i can’t say im a fan of many of their pranks, but that one was rather funny.’
‘i’ve lost count how many times i heard mulciber calling someone a ‘little twinkle toes.’’ mary snorted, giggling loudly. ‘that was a good one.’
marlene opened her mouth, no doubt to add to whatever of the boy’s prank was her favourite, but was cut off as the four of them rounded the bend and came face to face with the beginning of the village by mary’s happy cry.
‘here we are!’ mary exclaimed, smiling broadly at hazel. ‘welcome to your very first hogsmead outing at hogwarts!’
the village looked just as she had remembered from her first outing. a mixture of small wooden panelled and stone bricked cottages and tall, slanting shops lined the narrow, uneven cobble stone roads that wove between the buildings. many of the buildings were painted in pale creams of dark off white shades, some with peeling exteriors that revealed the cobblestone walls beneath. wooden signs and swirling writing accompanied the majority of them, adverting everything from shoe shops to bakeries, the warm scent of freshly baked bread and fresh parchment mingling with the faint aroma of fresh leather and wet pavement that filled the roads, filling hazels lungs as she inhaled deeply. it was particularly busy that afternoon, with witches and wizards alike bustling up and down the narrow cobbled roads, as the four girls had to push through a few particularly packed groups of chattering passers by before mary led them to an open plaza, dotted by small wooden benches that hazel spotted several hogwarts students already occupying.
‘right.’ mary announced, giving them all an assessing look, commanding all the power an army sergeant would have. ‘i propose to maximise time, we split. zel, you’re still looking to make your call right?’
hazel nodded in agreement. ‘its scheduled for twelve, so ive got to be there in the next fifteen.’
‘ill come with’ lily added. ‘ive got a few things i want to pick up for mums birthday and i need a new quill, so we can pop quickly into the shops after the call, and then meet you both in the leaky after?’
marlene nodded. ‘sounds good. mary, you’ll come with as i make a quick stop at diggins? james asked me to grab some broom polish he wants before next practise.’
‘as long as you don’t mind making a quick detour to madam puddifoots. i want to restock on that perfume steven got me last valentines.’
marlene scrunched her face, grimacing in distaste. ‘that place stinks of perfume though. ten minutes in there and i’ll do my sinuses in for a week.’
‘don’t be a snob.’ mary replied sweetly. ‘it’ll do your sinuses a world of good. maybe we can even pick you up your own fancy bottle, replace your natural charming aroma of broom polish and cigarettes. maybe something florally?’
a look of horror crossed marlene’s face that had mary cackling before looping her arm through marlene’s and practically dragging the girl away. ‘we should be done in twenty, so we’ll see you both at the leaky!’
‘see yous!’ hazel called out as the two of them disappeared into the throng of people as lily made to loop her own arm through hazels. ‘c’mon, walk to the phone box is only five minutes from here, i know a short cut.'
hazel grinned, linking their arms. ‘lead the way.’
the phone box was nestled at the corner of the small village, veering of one of the cobblestone roads that lead out and into the few stray cottages that dotted its outskirts.
‘here we are’ lily announced, smiling brightly at hazel as the two of them approached the small phone box, its red exterior chipped in places and interior decorated with a variety of posters unfurling on its inner walls, edges curling inwards and tattered in spots. the largest of them that caught her eye was proudly displaying homemade tonics being sold at only two gallons a piece, while a small note below that one advertised a new christmas special desert offered at madam puddifoots (only available until january 29th apparently), from what she could make out from the sign that wasn’t covered in graffiti or scrawling signatures of past students that had left their mark on the walls of the phone box.
‘you looking to make a call home too?’ she asked lily, who was gazing at the box before them with a slightly wistful expression. she nodded, green eyes sweeping over the phone before turning to hazel. ‘i am’ she admitted, smiling slightly. ‘im hoping to catch pet, but it will only be a quick one. she’s usually pretty hard to get a hold of, and doesn’t really like chatting for that long.'
‘you go first then.’ hazel offered, shaking her head fondly as lily opened her mouth in what she was certain would be a protest. ‘go on, i still have a while to wait until its midday, that’s when cass and tony are expecting me. you have your call now, and by the time your done it’ll be time for mine. they won’t mind waiting a few minutes, and it’ll probably be a long one so its no trouble letting you go first.’
lily smiled slowly. ‘well, if you really don’t mind…’
hazel laughed, giving the girl a nudge as she nodded her encouragement. ‘go on, there’s no rush.’
‘cheers zel.’ she gave hazels arm that was linked through her won a quick squeeze, flashing her a parting smile as she unliked their arms and made to open the door of the phone box, bunching her scarf around her throat as she shivered at the cold. hazel watched lily enter the booth and fish in her coat pockets for some change as hazel settled herself so she was leaning against the short crumbling stone wall that ran parallel to the phone booth, reaching to one of her own coat pockets to grab her pack of smokes.
she managed to pry one out of the small carton with her numb fingers, frozen cold in the chilly january air due to her lack of gloves, pausing only to note that her pack was running alarmingly empty and she would need to stock up soon as she grabbed her (tonys) lighter and light it up. she heard the telltale rattle of the lily dropping her coins into the small metal coin box as she leaned back, tilting her head up to the cloudless sky, savouring the smoke in her lungs as she smoked in peace, letting the muffled ringing and then chatter from the box quiet her thoughts. she had just finished her cigarette and was debating going for another as the clatter of the phone box’s door opening brought her attention from the bright winter sky to lily who was now exiting, lips downturned and pulled into a thin line. she gave hazel a small, wobbly smile as she noticed her, coming to settle bedside her by the wall.
‘hey, you alright lils?’
lily gave a quick nod, a small sad laugh escaping through her lips. ‘yeah, im fine. i got in touch with pet.’ she trailed off, biting her lower lip. ‘she didn’t really want to talk to me much, is all.’
‘shit.’ hazel reached out, giving lily’s hand a quick squeeze. ‘im sorry lily.’
‘ill try again next week.’ she promised, squaring her shoulders and forcing a brave smile. ‘she’s probably just having an off week.’
‘probably.’ hazel agreed, giving lily a warm smile as her green eyes met her own. ‘hey, i know what will make you feel better.’
lily raised an eyebrow and hazel grinned. ‘butter beer.’
lily grinned then, a real smile relacing the wobbly one on her lips as she huffed, gently shoving hazel forwards. ‘go make your call then, before the boys drink rosmerta’s entire supply before we can make it down.’
hazel chuckled, shoving her way into the small phone booth as she snatched a couple coins from her pocket and quickly dialled tony’s number. the phone rang once, twice before she heard the crackle of the receiver being picked up on the other side and a second later a muffled voice.
‘zel?’
she smiled so broadly then at hearing that voice- cass’s voice she felt it on her cheeks, feeling warmth spread through her winter chilled body at hearing her friends familiar lilting english accent, even as it was muffled over the phone line and the distance that separated them.
‘alright cass?’
‘zel!’ she heard the smile in cass’s voice and felt it transfer down the line and land onto her own lips as she grinned, broad and fierce at her friends eager response. ‘how are you! christ, your late by a minute, you tosser. what, they don’t teach you punctuality at that fancy new school ‘o yours?’
‘please, as if she ever had any to begin with.’ tony snarked down the line, his voice sounding shades deeper due to the muffled quality of the phone line.
‘piss off’ she griped back, smiling as she drew the phone closer to her chest and shifted so she was leaning against one of the booths glass walls. ‘as if either of yous can talk.’
she could practically feel cass shrug through the line as her voice crackled through the speaker. ‘meh, were punctual when we need to be. say, how’s your first week been! that posh school always sounds like a proper riot when marl’s is describing it- what’s it like being there- living up to the expectations?’
‘christ, it’s a proper change. you’ll never believe it- did you know we each have full on four poster beds in our dorms? just like them ones you see in those medieval movies they showed us in english lit one time.’
‘fuck off they don’t.’
‘yes- and there’s a fucking lake in the middle of the grounds. oh, right, the grounds- instead of that manky old concrete pitch we have back at home they have full on fields over here that are part of the school grounds- they even have a full on forest that’s part of the castle.’
she heard cass’s excited gasp before her voice. ‘tell me everything.’
so hazel did. she lost count of the time that passed as she regarded them of every minute detail that had she had experienced over the past week- at least every detail that didn’t involve magic. practically every one of her stories needed editing in one form or another as she relayed them to her two friends, but she was able to mention most of the notable moments such as her first hogwarts smoke sesh and kitchen raid, conveniently leaving out the parts about the flying polaroid cameras and little army of kitchen elves. cass and tony interjected here and there, until she was distracted by cass as they were discussing one of the classes hazel had mentioned.
‘christ, he sounds like a proper wanker of a partner.’ tony stated, to which cass agreed with ‘total prick. almost worst then working with jess on that bloody biology assignment- say, zel guess what! you know orlagh, the one in upper sixth that we have history with, well you’ll never believe-’
and so they were off again, chatting rapidly until the chime of the phone booth alerted her that their half an hour was up and asking for another quarter, interrupting tony mid rant about one of the new employees the corner had hired only three days ago that had already almost set several equipment on fire (how, nobody knew.)
‘shite.’ hazel swore, glancing over her shoulder to where lily was sitting cross legged on the small stone wall outside and reading what seemed to be a novel, her breath coming out in small fogged clouds in the chilled air. ‘ive gone and left poor lils out in the cold for the past half, and was meant to meet up with the rest down in the local pub a few minutes ago.’
‘christ but the weather is anything like it is down here it must be proper baltic outside’ tony admonished. ‘you sure she hasn’t frozen to death already?’
hazel peered out pf the dirt smuggled window pane. ‘doesn’t seem like it yet, thank god.’
‘well don’t keep her waiting any longer!’ cass added. ‘and we’d be proper shit mates keeping you from a cheeky pint- you go on their love, and we’ll have another catch up next sunday. i’ll keep you updated on rory and elena ‘till then.’
‘cheers. i’ll chat to yous next week then. love you.’
‘love you too. now off to your pub with you- drink an extra pint for both of us.’
‘will do.’ hazel agreed with a smile, which grew as she heard a shuffle cand then tony’s voice as he wrestled the phone of cass. ‘ignore her, and drink two for the each of us.’
‘i’ll try my best.’ she laughed. ‘love you ton, and chat to you in a bit.’
‘love you too zel. chat to you soon.’
the line went silent, cutting off cass’s shouted out farewells, each more dramatic and exaggerated by the one, and hazel gave herself a moment to gaze down at the now silent phone clasped between both hands, letting the warmth she felt from hearing her two friends fill her chest before abruptly remembering lily sitting patiently outside in the frigid air. she slammed the phone back and practically burst from the box, eyes wide and apologies already falling from her lips as she scanned her friends.
‘christ lils, i didn’t mean to leave you out here for so long-’
‘stop fretting zel i didn’t mind- plus i had a warming charm. wasn’t even cold’ she grinned cheekily at hazel, tucking her book back into her satchel and laughing as hazel slumped back with a near silent ‘thank fuck.’ lily raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, green eyes glittering as she asked.
‘butter beer?’
‘butter beer.’
________________________
they had ended up visiting four more shops before they made it to the pub, all of which lily dragged her too in order to find a present for her mums upcoming fiftieth birthday that hazel had been all too willing to go to, so that by the time they made it to the leaky cauldron it was late in the afternoon and almost time for the students to return back to hogwarts. already they had passed multiple groups of sixth years and a few seventh years making their way back up to the castle, many of which lily had waved to or stopped to chat with. to hazels surprise many stopped to greet hazel herself, and although she hardly recognised most of the faces, she knew a few from classes or seeing them around in the dining hall or corridors. word of a new student so late into sixth year certainty travelled fast, and by the time she had chatted to all those that stopped to greet her, her and lily were running late for the pub.
when they finally arrived, huffing and slightly out of breath from the fast paced walk they had both adopted to reach the pub in time for a drink there was already a crowd forming to the entrance of the leaky. lily pushed her shoulders back, looking far over her five-foot five height as she straightened her back and politely, yet firmly pushed her way through the throng of bodies clogging the entry, hazel at her heels. the scent of caramel and something buttery hit her the moment they pushed through the wooden front door, the sound of loud chatter and rowdy laughter a moment after.
hazel blinked, giving herself a moment to orientate herself to this new place as she scanned the room. on the other side of the large pub opposite where they were both standing ran along wooden bar that seated many small cracked leather seated pub stools and the students that perched on top of them, pints of dark golden liquid in their hands. behind the bar was a singular short, stout rosy cheeked woman of around late twenty with a mop of tightly wound curls, most of which were escaping the hight bun she had wrestled them into, her full figure clad in a white blouse and dark black apron that was tied to show off her impressive curves. around the bar and covering the expanse of the entire pub where tables and small booth tucked away into corners, all of which were occupied by various groups of students. she took to scanning for a familiar face in the sea of students when lily let out a little ‘oh!’ and reached out to grab at one of hazels coat sleeves, giving her a little ‘there over there!’ as she began to lead them towards the back of the crowded pub.
‘there they are!’ mary cheered, raising her half empty glass as the two of them approached the small group at the table. sirius, james and peter where all notably absent, leaving only marlene, mary and remus at the table, small coasters and empty glasses littering its surface. ‘we’re about to leave,’ mary told them ‘the others have gone for last rounds. technically we were meant to be back at the castle a few minutes ago, but there was no way we were going to deny you your first butter beer.’
she aimed the last part at hazel who had just slid into the booth behind lily, as marlene pushed her glass across the table and towards her. ‘here, finish off mine, and i’ll go grab you another one from the bar in a second.’
‘cheers.’ she replied, wrapping both hands around the glass as mary turned to lily and started peppering the girl with questions about the present she had grabbed for her mum. she felt someone looking at her and glanced up to find remus, his eyes flicking down the glass and then back to her own. their eyes met, warm brown pupils meeting her won gold ones, and felt a sudden sperculiar fluttering in her stomach. odd, she hadn’t had anything to drink yet.
he had very long lashes, she couldn’t help noticing. they framed his warm brown eyes, that where currently locked on her own. like melted chocolate, she thought.
she had the sudden realisation that she was staring at him at that thought and cleared her throat, giving him a slight smile even as she dropped her eyes. then again, she supposed, he had been starting back. he did the same, casting his gaze to the table before him, a slight pink flush tinging his cheeks. beside her, she could just make out mary and lily exchanging a glance.
his eyes fell back to the glass she was clutching and then back up to her own eyes as he tilted his head slightly. ‘that your first time trying one of those?’
‘yep.’ she confirmed, smiling as she swirled the liquid around in the glass before lifting it up and peering down at the liquid inside. ‘marls is always going on about how good they are, but until now she never found a way to sneak me any back.’
‘a lack of creativity then, if you ask me. there are plenty of ways to nick some of rosie’s drink and bring it back to england.’
‘such as?’
he shrugged, the brown strands in his sandy curls catching the light as he did so. ‘try sneaking back behind the counter and snatching a few bottles.'
she raised a singular brow. ‘are we speaking from experience?’
a small grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he shrugged one large shoulder. ‘couldn’t say. still, it’s probably best it’s your first time trying it here. nothing beats a fresh pint from rosie, although that’s also probably from the whisky she adds.’
she considered her drink with new interest, shifting to catch mary’s eye and raising both brows in question. mary just laughed, replying with a ‘go ahead and try some, find out for yourself.’
‘wanker.’ she muttered fondly, making marlene chuckle as hazel brought the pint to her lips, giving it an experimental sniff before taking a sip. it tasted the same way it smelt- caramelly with a rich buttery aftertaste, and the lingering bite of spicy whisky. she sighed content, smacking her lips and responding with a pleased ‘that is bloody delicious.’
‘knew you’d like it.’ marlene announced as mary nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement, before nudging marlene with an elbow as she made to slide along the bench. ‘here, budge up marls, ill go grab hazel another before were booted out.’
‘better be quick.’ lily warned as mary wriggled her way out of the booth and hopped to her feet. ‘we need to be out of here any second now.’
mary flashed her a quick thumbs up before disappearing into the crowd. she glanced back at remus, who opened his mouth before james called him over from where he was frantically attempting to round up peter and sirius and usher them out of the pub, rushing around like a panicked mother hen with his glasses askew and hair sticking up in each direction. if she didn’t know any better she would have thought that remus seemed almost reluctant to leave, hesitating for only a brief moment before sighing in resignation at the two boys who were currently on opposite sides of the pub, sirius attempting to sweet talking rosmerta into giving him another shot of fire whiskey while pete was deeply engaged in conversation with one of his friends from herbology.
remus gave her one last parting smile that gave her a strange feeling in her stomach before loping over to where sirius was leaning against the bar, managing to shepherd him out of the pub as james rounded up pete and mary, who seemed to have gotten side tracked from fetching hazel a pint, and had somehow joined another table of students , where james was able to corner her with peter in tow and guided them out of the pub. with hazel, marlene and lily following behind the boys the group of them joined up at the entrance of the pub and made their way back to the castle to where they promptly collapsed onto the couches of the common room.
from there, textbooks and board games were produced at equal measure, and hazel and lily slipped away to grab them all mugs of tea, while sirius bounded up to his dorm room to grab whatever it was that had sent him rushing out of his seat. armed with several mugs of tea, her and lily approached the group, lily using her wand to disperse the cups as james conversation rose up to greet them.
‘-but in terms of quidditch, think of it as your the quaffel, mc gonagle’s the seeker-’
‘james,’ mary groaned, hands raising up to cup her ears as if she could block out the speckled boys passionate comparison to astrology homework and quidditch that has been going on for the last several minutes. ‘i swear to god if i have to hear about you compare handing in late assignments to a bloody quidditch match and pomfrey to a beater for another second…’
‘i’m just explaining why it’s important to hand in this stuff in time!’ james retorted, throwing his hands in the air, exasperated ‘and pomfrey’s not the beater, she’s the…’
thankfully, his rampage was interrupted as sirius suddenly appeared from the dorm stairs, marching over to the sofa james and marlene where sprawled upon in quick, efficient strides and in one movement flung himself onto the couch beside the pair, casing marlene to bark a sound of protest at the limbs he had ungracious flopped on top of her, swatting him off her as he grinned, pulling himself up.
‘im not your bloody couch pillow black’ she grouched, giving him a sharp jab with a pointed elbow for extra measure as she scowled at him. he only grinned back, until marlene was rolling her eyes, her own smile tainting her lips as she shoved the grinning boys face away with one hand, laughing as she did so.
hazel brought her attention back to the book before her right as mary leaned over her, arm reaching for her open defence against the dark arts textbook, and as she did hazel smelt it. a whiff, mary’s perfume slowly twisting around her, wrapping around her as the other girl leaned closer.
hazel felt bile in her throat.
she felt the colour drain from her face, as that scent- that fucking scent enveloped her, suffocating her, making her palms damp and clammy. the pressure of her jumper suddenly felt too much on her wrists, too tight.
‘hazel?’ remus’s voice seemed to come from far away, as if underwater. she could feel it then. the cold slide of the rose scented oil as it coated her shivering skin. rough, careless hands scrubbing it in, covering every inch of her shivering frame. the clawing sweet scent of the perfume they enveloped her in, the cloud of artificial rose clinging to her hair, her skin. stuffing itself up her nose, filling her lungs, wrapping her, suffocating her, choking her. it was a warning. always a warning.
‘hmm?’ she heard mary turn as a response to remus’s voice and felt the girls eyes land on her, now retrieving her hand that was clutching her book.
she forced herself to take a breath. another. forced her shoulders up, willing the blood back to her drained face. the bile down, that was now coating her tongue. the others around them where still talking, either chatting, attempting to finish missing assignments or a combination of both, their flowing voices surrounding them. she made her eyes open, finding only remus and mary focused on her, the former looking at her with concern, the latter mild confusion.
‘is that.. is that rose?’ she managed. thank merlin her voice was steady. calm.
‘rose- oh you mean my perfume! yeah it is. new bottle, just got it from madam puddifoots’ mary winked, flashing her a conspirators smile that shrunk as she kept her eyes on hazel. ‘why, is it too strong or something?’
she forced herself to laugh, although her insides still felt clenched together. ‘no, it’s just that… it’s not my favourite scent.’
without waiting for the girl to respond she made herself turn, facing peter who sat to her left and found herself asking the ink splattered boy ‘you still stuck on number seven?’ he looked up, eyes wide and despairing as if she had just pulled him out of an intense oncoming academic related mental breakdown, which she probably had.
‘i’ve been trying to figure it out for the past hour’ he started, hand raising up to his hair and tugging on it frantically. ‘i just don’t get the transfiguration of the second property, every time i think i’m getting somewhere…’
‘here, i’ll give it a go, budge up.’ she stated, scooting closer to him and grabbing his scribbled over sheet, half the page already covered by his exceedingly desperate attempts to solve the question, ink writing getting darker and more frantic the further down the page she scanned. peter was looking down at her as if she was some sort of blessing sent by godric himself, but she ignored him, focusing on the scrawled piece of parchment, plucking his quill from his fingers and beginning to scribble. she could sense mary’s attention fixed on her text book again, now arguing with marlene on if the book instructions where meant to be taking at its exact or if they were a ‘loose guideline’ as mary was arguing, marlene’s face becoming more and more flushed the longer the other girl continued to ague her point. but his eyes where still on her. she felt remus’s gaze, brown eyes fixed on her own as she steadfast ignored his attention, turning to pete and explaining the solution who looked as if he was going to begin crying from gratitude. remus stayed focused on her until sirius practically snapped his fingers in front of remus’s face, reluctantly drawing his attention to the other boy.
she hated him then. hated that he noticed. that he saw what nobody else did, that she tried so desperately to keep locked away inside of her. because him noticing it, acknowledging that there was something wrong made it real, meant she couldn’t pretend it away when there was someone else to witness it. at that very moment she hated him for it so much she found it hard to breath.
apparently, however, remus wasn’t the only one that noticed her distress during their study session earlier that day. finished with brushing her teeth, the rest of the girls already in their beds and lily already snoring slightly behind her drawn curtains, hazel was walking out of the bathroom and back to her bed when she passed the small bin by the bathroom door and the delicate, pink bottle poking out from it. she halted, attentions snagging on the vial, her brain taking a moment to process what she was looking at. mary’s new rose scented perfume had been tossed in, lily’s tub of rose and lavender body cream lying just below it.
she just stared.
‘think i’m getting an allergy to it.’ mary’s voice dragged her attention away and she looked up to the girl facing her, brown eyes on hers as she casually continues ‘rose scents have started making me breakout, proper doing my head in. thought i might as well chuck it, not worth the shit skin.’
she felt a lump rising in her throat. she glanced back at the expensive products, discarded in the bin, and then back at mary who had a small smile on her face. ‘right.’ was all she could manage.
she made herself move, reaching her bed and slipping inside the cold sheets. mary just shrugged, settling back into her pillow, turning to face hazel as she snuggled into the blanket. the small smile was still on her lips and her brown eyes lingered on hers for a moment, searching, seeing too much, before shutting and giving a quick ‘goodnight.’
hazel swallowed again, forcing the lump down that was threatening to steal her voice. ‘goodnight.’ she offered, when she was her voice would be steady.
mary was already asleep.
none of the girls wore anything rose scented after that.