Friends Meeting Friends
As the candle seemed to almost be gutted by an unexplainable breeze, and footsteps echoed through the halls of Hogwarts, Eileen couldn’t help but think that there was some law of nature that dictated that the normal small sounds of breathing and rustling of fabric sounded as though they’d had an amplify charm applied to them when moving around at night. Luckily, she’d spent her whole life blending into shadows and learning how to go unnoticed, which, along with her utter irreverence for the rules (what were they going to do, expel her in her 7th year? She’d already gotten her apparition license, and was a model student, from a wealthy, powerful pureblood family, whom while mostly unaware of her existence would take great umbrage if she were expelled). Still, it was… fun. Trying to slip past ghosts, moving staircases, and roving professors. And this was her last year to really practice and hone her skills… not that she would really need them in the future, but she also wouldn’t need a brain in her foreseeable future either… she held her breath, as Professor Dumbledore suddenly stopped, and looked around.
Well, he was the Defense instructor… it was just bad luck he’d been doing rounds at that moment in that hall. She pulled in on herself, and prepared to slink away to find another exit, when his attention was drawn by the startled exclamations of two girls. “Misses Pomfreys… is everything alright?” Dumbledore’s voice was all polite concern, and Eileen could perfectly picture his expression, blue eyes alight with amusement. Though she couldn’t see her Ravenclaw and Slytherin friends, she scowled at their seeming inability to go anywhere unnoticed. Iris Pomphrey begin what would undoubtedly be a long-winded and needlessly complicated story: “I know it’s late Professor, it’s just that Poppy has been having nightmares, and has been really homesick lately, so I was thinking it might help to just get some fresh air-” “Fresh air? I’m sure there is an appropriately Ravenclaw explanation for that particular solution, but perhaps it would be a bit more expedient for us to pick up some dreamless sleep from Healer Hickens. I can walk you to the infirmary-” Eileen hurried out of her hiding spot in the shadows, and rushed towards her friends. “Poppy! Iris! I’m so sorry, Leo was supposed to give me the message from your owl, but you know how he is… completely useless, I only happened to run into him in the common room, otherwise I never would have known. Sorry Professor Dumbledore- Iris mentioned Poppy was struggling with homesickness, and since NEWTS are this year, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to practice brewing Dreamless Sleep- the plan was for her and Poppy to walk out to the lake and back, just to get some fresh air, and then I was going to have it ready for Poppy, that way we wouldn’t have to bother anyone else-” Eileen cut herself off, pretending to be out of breath, deliberately looking down and tugging the hem of her robe in what with any other professor would have been the perfect combination of bashful nervousness.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore was an accomplished Legilimens, and getting just the right tone with him was difficult- she actually rather suspected it had less to do with her acting and improvisational skills, and more to do with his mood. She bit her tongue, refusing to offer more information, and busied herself with pushing over to Poppy’s other side.
“Miss Prince, you do know you aren’t supposed to be testing potions on living subjects, especially fellow classmates, without supervision?” Dumbledore asked, his beard twitching. Eileen risked a quick glance up, then scuffed her shoe against the stone floor, relieved to see tolerant amusement in his eyes.
Carefully focusing her thoughts on the Dreamless Sleep formula, as well as random images of moonlight casting shadows on the lake, Eileen mumbled “Yes sir… but I’ve made it perfectly tons of times, and I just really thought I could help…”
“While I always appreciate inter-house cooperation, especially when it involves such… selfless generosity from Slytherin to Ravenclaw, I am afraid I’m going to have to insist that you hold off on brewing until daylight and appropriate supervision. Now, I am happy to walk Miss Pomfrey to the hospital wing for the appropriate potion-”
“Oh, Sir, we couldn’t let you do that!” Eileen quickly cut in. “I mean, we know you are nothing but honorable, but you know how our families are… old blood, all that nonsense… they may as well just tie us up and lock us away, the way they go on about things… but our families would be deeply uncomfortable without a female escort. Plus I’m sure you have more rounds- I promise not to brew anything, and I can just go ahead and walk them to the hospital wing, that way nobody can make any suggestions about impropriety, what with the three of us being together and all…” She was really pushing the limits of logic, and now they would have to swing by the stupid hospital wing… luckily, she’d at least gauged his mood right- Dumbledore seemed mildly entertained, and he nodded in a benign, slightly distracted way.
“If that is what would make you most comfortable. I’ll check with Mr. Hickens at the end of my rounds, just to be sure there was no confusion. Now do get along- the sooner you get there, the sooner all of you can get back to your dormitories.” With that, Dumbledore cheerfully turned away. Eileen would bet the Prince family vault that he knew they either hadn’t been fully honest or were outright lying about what they were doing, but one thing that could be said for the old Gryffindor- he seemed to appreciate mischief almost as much as he did his own house. Add to it a slightly uncomplimentary comment on an old, dark pureblood family, and it was almost guaranteed he would look the other way. Before he had the chance to turn around (and also before either of the Pomfrey sisters could say something that would derail them any further) Eileen grabbed her friends by the arms and rushed around the corner.
“Eileen, I’m not actually homesick, and I don’t need dreamless sleep…” Poppy began to whisper. Eileen rolled her eyes at the fifteen-year-old and motioned for her to shut up as she continued to haul both sisters towards the infirmary. Used to her bouts of “inspiration”, both girls went along with her until they had one hallway length between them and Healer Hickens’ domain.
“Obviously. But Iris said you were going to the hospital wing to get dreamless sleep, so now that’s what we’re doing. I cannot believe you guys are the ones who got caught.” Eileen muttered, although she was already fishing a piece of parchment from one pocket, and rapidly scribbling on it before handing it off to Poppy. “Get in there, grab the potion, leave the note, and meet us by the lake. We’ll wait five minutes, if you aren’t there by then, you’ll just have to plan to come with us next time instead.” Poppy scowled, but looked relieved that she hadn’t been outright kicked out of their group plans (Iris herself looked like she was itching to send her little sister back to the Ravenclaw dorms), and quickly nodded agreement clutching the note.
All three girls walked quickly down the hall, Poppy turning into the hospital wing while Iris and Eileen continued, speeding up and sticking to the shadows as much as possible. Once they were finally outside by the lake, both girls let out a breath of relief. “Do you think Leo made it?” Iris asked anxiously. Eileen shook her head- not in denial, but at her friend’s hopeless crush- she’d even offered to explain for Leo that he actually had a strong preference for his own gender, but Leo still wasn’t comfortable acknowledging that, despite having kissed a large number of boys at school, frequently in public.
“It’s anyone’s guess- he has all the grace of a blind and drunk baby dragon.” Eileen cast a small flame from her right hand, holding it up and keeping it as dim as possible. Leo Black was one of her dearest friends, but the other 7th year Slytherin was a walking disaster. As they rounded the large boulder, they nearly tripped over the subject in question. “Damnit Leo! What are you doing on the ground?” Eileen was torn between snapping and laughing. The other Slytherin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“I sort of drifted off- what took you so long? Didn’t Poppy want to come with?”
“We have to wait five more minutes. We ran into Dumbledore.” Eileen pointedly looked at Iris, who blushed.
“I mean, he basically came out of nowhere-”
“Only if the middle of the hallway is ‘nowhere’.” Eileen retorted. Leo watched the exchange smirking, and cut in,
“So… did Poppy take a jinx for the team, or…” He trailed off, his long eyebrows pulled up in an expressive, questioning expression.
“She’s still coming. You know she has Healer Hickens wrapped around her finger, and knows the infirmary better than anyone- well, except for maybe you.” Responded Iris, rolling her eyes expressively. Poppy was an overachiever, even for a Ravenclaw- someone who was apparently born knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life, and was on a set mission to achieve it- which included spending all her free time in the infirmary. She would undoubtedly make an amazing mediwitch, though the likelihood of her convincing their parents, let alone any potential employers, to allow her a full time job with an emergency unit was still rather low regardless of talent.
“Oi, I’m not in there that much.” Leo interjected.
“Leo, half the time when I’m starting my shift, you’ve already been there two different times with a twisted ankle and you’re complaining about how your family is going to turn the stairs into firewood if we don’t get you a pain potion immediately.” The three seventh year Slytherins turned, startled, as Poppy came into view, smirking. Eileen nodded to her, and then gestured towards the area where the Thestrals pulled students up to at the beginning of term.
“So from what I’ve been able to see, the anti-portkey wards end right around there. I say we go maybe a dragon length past, just to be safe.” The others just looked at each other, then shrugged. Eileen's talent for "seeing" magic was uncommon, but like any of the old 28 families, the Princes' were known for oddities popping up in their line, and such likelihood of inheriting them increased as the number of Princes decreased- as though the magic were attempting to keep itself alive.
“Are you sure the portkey works?” Leo looked skeptical. Eileen glared at him.
“Yes. I repaired it myself, and I've already tested it at home. It’ll take us right into muggle London. And, when we need to return, right back to that spot over there,” Eileen pointed at a hill overlooking the lake, "when we say Hogwarts." She decided not to mention that the portkey and the type of magic was extremely old even by Prince standards, and “repairing” it had involved reinforcing and tying off nearly every aspect of the Portkey. The point was it worked, and woul take all of them to and from the desired destination.
“You went there alone?” Iris looked at her friend, a worried crease on her forehead.
“Yes, and keep making that expression and Poppy will never be able to create an elixir to get those wrinkles out.” Eileen sniped. Poppy let out a semi choked-snort of laughter. Their friendship had only really begun the previous year, but after being on the same Gobstones team (and destroying everyone else effortlessly) she and Eileen had gotten even closer than Eileen and fellow Slytherin Iris, who had been her “study buddy” since second year. The trio began to walk towards the agreed upon spot, trying to hide their nervousness from each other. “Okay, it’s ‘Astra Palustrid Londeniensi Augsuto’ ….One, two, three!” The four friends said the words at the same time, and all felt the yanking of the gut that went along with using a portkey.
Eileen was the only one who managed to keep her balance, Leo somehow managed to end up sprawled face-down on the concrete, and the Pomfrey sisters both gripped each other a moment before getting their bearings and looking around. Eileen blew her hair out of her eyes in a frustrated huff, and rushed over to pull her tall and slender friend up. “Come on, if you stay flat like that the muggles will think you're drunk and arrest you!”
“What?! You aren’t allowed to be drunk? Then why do they have bars…”
Leo pushed himself up to his knees, awkwardly wiping his damp hands on the muggle pants Eileen at gotten him.
“I don’t know, it’s something about being drunk inside but not outside… I think… I don’t know, come on, we’re running late.”
“Ha! I knew it!” Leo smirked, stumbling slightly as his lanky body surged up, and sticking a long finger in Eileen’s face, saying in a sing-song, teasing voice, “You have a secret boyfriend!”
“Leo!” Eileen hissed.
“Or girlfriend! No judgement… Maybe I’ll meet a nice-”
“Eileen?” A deep, soft voice interrupted, and the girl flushed.
“Hi Toby. These are my friends I mentioned- Iris, her sister Poppy, and my childhood friend Leo.” The three young wixen turned to regard the stranger cautiously, looking him up and down before accepting his handshake.
“It’s nice to finally meet some of Eileen's friends. I’ve heard so much about you.” The man’s voice was deep and soothing, and while Leo couldn’t help but think his face left a bit to be desired- his nose was straight but entirely too prominent- his deep lilting voice could put a Cerberus into a coma. Leo couldn’t blame his friend for being attracted to the muggle, but still- he couldn’t help but feel somewhat alarmed. Already it seemed like this was far more than the casual “surprise’ meet up Eileen had tried hard to paint it as. Clearly she knew the man, and he knew her.
“It’s nice to meet you Toby. But I have to say, Eileen hasn’t actually told us anything about you.” Leo paused, looking the man up and down, glanced over at his friends, then tossed the anxious Eileen a smirk- after all, he was a Slytherin, and he did come out to have fun. “How about you buy us some drinks and tell us about yourself?” It was sheer bravado, Leo had never spoken to a muggle in his 17 years, and had no idea how the muggle world worked. Still, it seemed to have been the right thing to say- both the man and Eileen’s faces lit up with smiles, and the man laughed and obligingly nodded, gesturing across the street.
“I actually met Eileen at that little pub over there- turned me into a regular, I don’t know how many times I went back there hoping to run into her again.”
“When did you guys meet again?” Leo asked, ignoring Eileen’s deliberate stomp on his toe as they walked. Toby hummed happily,
“First time I saw her was July 25th. My aunt’s a witch, so when I saw her wand, and the sickle she was trying to buy a drink with, I figured she was a bit out of her depth. ‘Course, now I know she would have been fine without me-” he glanced fondly over at Eileen, who was still blushing fiercely and torn between smiling back at “Toby” and glaring at Leo “-But for a moment I had the chance to play knight-in-shining-armor to a beautiful girl, and I’d have to be an idiot not to take the opportunity.” The large man (even taller than Leo, although he was probably only a couple of years older than them) shrugged and held his palms open in a ‘what are you going to do’ sort of motion. Leo continued to eye the man, but was also rapidly becoming distracted with the sounds, smells, and sights of muggle London.
A couple who had to be either their age or younger stood outside the pub, arguing and smoking- and a glimpse back over the street they’d just crossed revealed another muggle bracing a hand against the bricks, and relieving himself (the man seemed to lack aim, and Leo grimaced, wondering exactly how much piss was flowing down these streets at any time, and if he would have to incinerate his outfit, while subtly mumbling 'sourgify' at his own hands, causing some discomfort has they immediately became the pink-tinge that went along with relentless scrubbing). As if reading his mind, the muggle slapped his shoulder and said “No worries, most of us use proper bathrooms. But from what Eileen’s told me, a drunk arsehole does the same thing, wizard or not.”
At those words, Iris tried to hold back a bark of laughter, making a strange gurgle noise, which cut some of the tension. Suddenly there was a loud siren, red and blue lights casting strange spinning shadows, and what Leo figured were probably the muggle equivalent of Aurors rushed over to the man still swaying against the bricks. Forcing his attention back to their muggle, Leo noted that despite the large nose, the fellow actually was quite handsome- in a workman-ish, lower-class physical labor kind of way. He was broad-shouldered, and very muscular. Next to the 98-pounds-soaking-wet Eileen, he looked like a young giant. They entered the pub, and the man guided them through easily, waving at a fellow with fine features and incredible hair who was sitting alone in a booth, before scooting in and making room for the rest of them.
Eileen immediately slid in next to him, and with a doubtful glance at the striped shiny upholstery, Iris followed, leaving Leo and Poppy to slide in on the other side next to the stranger. Toby smiled, and waved to the blue-eyed man across from him, saying “After Eileen was telling me about you guys, I thought you and my friend Basil might hit it off- he’s in the modeling industry. We met in the military, but… well, you know.” Toby shrugged, and Basil gave an expressive eye roll.
Leo didn’t know, and definitely wanted to find out, but found himself tongue-tied. Eileen’s eyes narrowed, and Leo flushed- it was that uniquely “Eileen” expression, the one that made her look smart and really mean, but just meant she was trying hard not to laugh out loud. Toby ordered drinks for everyone, while Eileen turned to Basil and said “Leo doesn’t know anything about the military. My friends are all from the same hippy commune as me, so we’re all still sort of learning about what it’s like to be a normal Londoner.” Leo realized he’d never quite appreciated his friend’s ability to socialize- although, he reflected, most of that was probably because Eileen was asocial to a fault, and most of the other families in their “circle” were pretty sure she wasn’t entirely mentally there. She had an almost compulsive obsession with secrets, and tended to simply walk away in the middle of conversations she found boring- which unfortunately was most of them. He suspected only a handful of their fellow seventh years had ever heard her speak. He himself was rapidly reassessing everything he knew about her.
“Well, we were in Provo together, then of course there was that disaster fascimile of justice in Belfast, and we ended up serving some time together… hence the matching tattoos.” Basil smiled, rolling up a sleeve to show that indeed his forearm had a similar array of shapes that seemed to be on Tobias’ front arm and hand. Leo wanted to squawk a question about ‘Serving Time’ (Merlin he hoped Eileen hadn’t just dragged them into the criminal element of Muggle London- they had enough troubles with the law from their own families). But Basil was also the most astonishingly pretty man he had ever met, and questions about serving time or tattoos or the military didn’t seem quite as important as finding out what they would be drinking, and figuring out jokes to make the man smile.
He was too busy gazing at Basil to notice a somewhat chagrined expression coming across Iris’ face, or Poppy descending into helpless giggles. “So, you’re all from the same commune, does that mean you’re all childhood friends? I thought Eileen mentioned sisters, but I have to admit, I wouldn’t have known you to be related at first glance.” Basil said smoothly. His wavy blond hair was falling out of a messy bun, he had bright but pale blue eyes, straight white teeth, an odd scar below his left eye, and dimples. Leo nearly choked on his drink staring into his eyes, not even registering the slight discomfort of his friends as he eagerly responded.
“Well, Eileen and I, we’ve known each other forever. Parents were friends, grandparents social acquaintances, the usual bloody snobby things-” Leo was totally unaware of being kicked under the table by Eileen, or of the slight mortification spreading on Iris face. “But Francis Pomfrey is basically the best in the business- so he’s the family healer for all of us. And he meets lots of interesting people- Iris’ mother for example, I’ve seen her portrait, beautiful woman from Liberia obviously much darker skinned than Mr. Pomfrey. She was also a healer there, that’s how they met, in cross-cultural training- but then there were complications with Iris-”
“Breach-birth combined with Healer-based error. If our father had been the one to deliver me she’d probably still be here, but they had a policy at the time against family involvement during procedures.” Iris interrupted. There was a moment of awkward silence, but before anyone could say anything, Poppy chirped in,
“It’s really why we both want to continue the family tradition- I mean, Iris wants to be in the maternity ward of course, I’m more interested in emergency care, but… well, we get to see and meet a lot of different people because of dad. And helping people is really rewarding. Usually.” She grimaced slightly, remembering a particularly ungrateful Gryffindor at end of term, demanding that he be looked at by Healer Hickens... he'd been the sort of patient that made Poppy prefer the ones that were too weak to make demands.
“Oh, so um. Iris, are you younger than Poppy or-” Basil began, and for the first time Leo seemed to notice how awkward the conversation was becoming.
“Well, it turns out that things were a little unorthodox with Mr. Pomfrey. The man’s a medical genius, and loyal to the core, of course, but well… different beliefs, etc., and so he and Kollie and Sophia- Mrs. Pomphrey now- well, they all loved each other. And that’s the important thing, like he always says- love is good, but not without respect. It was important to him that everyone know that they were all loving- he’s a good enough medic that nobody really wants to get on his bad side, so people just seemed to accept it. Bloody brave of him. But then Kollie died giving birth, and it’s been just Sophia and Mr. Pomfrey. They really love each other.” The last bit of that was said a bit wistfully, but the two muggles at the table were looking at the three 7th years like they were the most amazing and strange things they’d ever seen. Clearing his throat, Basil raised his glass:
“To love and all of its forms!” The others happily joined the toast, not wanting to linger on the loss of Iris’ mother, or discuss the grief at Kollie's loss that pushed Sophia into a deep depression during which she'd tried to commit suicide six months after Iris was born, while she was three months pregnant with Poppy.
“And to my friends for braving the commune rules and coming out with me!” Eileen said a bit loudly, an alcohol-induced flush coloring her face, her black eyes sparkling- she really couldn’t hold her liquor at all. Laughing, the rest of the group dutifully clinked glasses saying
“Cheers!”, and then ordered another round.
The rest of the night was a blur of drinks, flirting, making out (at least, for Eileen and Tobias, as well as Leo and Basil), and dancing. It wasn’t until around one a.m. when a bloke with a thick accent decided to try and throw the contents of his glass in the faces of Leo and Basil while yelling “Faggots!”
Before anyone else could do anything, Eileen had her wand out under the table and had sent three spells in rapid succession- a stinging hex to his face, a confundus charm, and then a lighter blood boiling jinx- it wouldn’t kill the man, but would keep him in bed for a few days and he would probably think he was dying. Basil was still wiping the beer from his face, and Leo was torn between trying to stand up, wiping his own face, and checking if anyone had noticed Eileen’s casting.
Toby, however, was also already up, and was charging toward the man who was already staggering backwards, grabbing him by the neck, saying something menacing in a thick accent, throwing punches, and dragging the man out of the pub by the back of his shirt and some hair that got tangled around his fingers.
From there, it was a blur of confusion- Eileen apologizing, but also insisting they had to leave, Basil asking for Leo’s ‘phone number’ which Leo obviously couldn’t give not knowing what it was, so Leo asked for Basils, which was scribbled illegibly onto his hand. Both Iris and Poppy looked at one another, torn between the duty to try and undo the blood-boiling jinx, and the feeling that the man had gotten what he deserved.
Before they could say anything, Eileen had already grabbed Leo, and was pushing them all towards the back street, while police lights were shining and loud sirens were getting closer. A glance back showed Basil holding an enraged Tobias back, and urging him towards a different alley, while pub goers had crowded around the injured man, blocking any view of him. Somewhat desperately, they all said the word “Hogwarts”, and all of the lights and noise disappeared, replaced with a gasping grunt as Leo yet again somehow managed to land face-down, this time in more forgiving dew-covered grass.