Being Embarrassed
Chapter 19: Being Embarrassed
November 1, 1993
"Liana, can we talk?"
Harry took a large step in front of Liana, looking down at her.
She popped a bubble (she must've been chewing on Drooble's). "I'm busy."
"No, you're not," Harry snapped. "You manage to go jump off to find Sirius when you want, but you can't spare five minutes for your brother?"
"Hmm… that sounds about right."
Harry took a deep breath and went in a softer tone. "Look, Liana, I'm not Dad. Or Mom. I'm not going to yell or threaten you with anything. I just want to talk."
Liana looked back at Kylie. "I'll see you back in the Common Room." Kylie shrugged and skipped off. She turned to Harry, glowering at him. "It'd better be quick."
Harry led her to a private area behind the two pillars. "Look, Liana, I know you've been told off enough and everything. About going to find Sirius. But look, you worried me."
"I know," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Geez, you're repeating the same thing over and over and-"
"Listen to me!" yelled Harry, and it was so abrupt and unexpected that she fell silent. "Listen to me. This… this, right here, is the problem. You don't take anything seriously. You don't feel remorse for what you've done, and we both know it. You might lie your way out of it, you might not, but I swear it's true, and you do too. You're just dismissing the fact aside, thinking that we're all overprotective and you wish you weren't our family. I don't care if you man up to it or not, but I'm going to make you understand what you've done."
Liana didn't say anything. Harry tried to read her face. Was it remorse? Or was she just trying to think of a retort?
"You don't care about our parents' feelings," Harry said. "You don't. They gave birth to you. You are alive because of them. Look. All these other kids have abusive parents. Ron has six siblings. You have one, so there's no point trying to say you have it worse. Ron accompanies me in everything I do. I don't see Ginny complaining. Percy is Head Boy. Ron doesn't go try to do stuff to match him. Fred and George - top notch prankers. Every Weasley has something famous about them, okay? They're Blood Traitors - they have a bad reputation with Voldemort's side. Hermione. Hermione has Muggle parents. They're still adapting to magic! They're getting used to the whole thing, it was a shock to them when she figured out. You, on the other hand, have it easy. Your parents both went to Hogwarts. They both taught you what magic was. I had Hogwarts experiences before you did. You have everything in the world that you could need or ask for, and you still try belittling your family."
Liana's eyes narrowed. Steam was practically blowing out of her ears.
"Our parents care for you," Harry continued coldly. "They love you. Care for you. Do what you need. Have they ever denied you anything? Parties? Food? Gifts? Toys? Anything? No. They haven't. They try their hardest to be good parents, and they do it well. But no. You don't care. You find every fault they have, every fault I have, and go picking for trouble to prove me wrong. Well, guess what? I don't go asking for trouble. You went trying to hunt it down, I didn't. I'd gladly exchange this all with Neville, you know that? Or Dean. Or Seamus. I'd take this burden on my shoulders and give it to them. I've only just realized that people are jealous of me. First my friends, and now you.
"Jealous of what? There is nothing to be jealous of. Ha, the fact that I almost got killed? That the world's darkest wizard is trying to murder me? That I'm escaping death? That an escapee from Azkaban is coming to kill me? NO! THERE IS NOTHING TO BE JEALOUS OF!"
Liana still hadn't said anything. Her eyes were flashing.
"I just thought you should know that," Harry said, his voice back at a whisper, and then he turned and walked away from her.
"Great, I'm almost late for Ancient Runes," grumbled Lily, checking her watch and making a run for it. As she was running, naturally, she tripped over the ground, and started to fall before someone stretched out a hand. She accepted it.
The hand was icy cold. Freezing.
Severus Snape's hand.
At the same moment as she jerked her head up, he yanked his hand back, his eyes growing wild at who it was. She crumpled to the ground.
"Ouch. Ow. Gosh, Severus, can you not just let me survive? I don't care if you're ignoring me or whatever, but you don't have to hurt me."
Emotion trickled down his face. He looked like he was about to say something, but closed his eyes. He opened his eyes, took a look at her figure on the ground, and swiftly swept away.
Wow.
Why was he still acting like this? Was it all because she was married to James? But Severus was smarter than that. He knew better than that. They weren't in Hogwarts anymore. Grudges should be put way past them. James had done so, for Lily's sake, so why couldn't Severus?
Oh shoot. She was late for class. Her own class.
Lily sprinted to her classroom, where her fifth-year students were throwing spitballs and paper airplanes around the place, laughing loudly.
"Ahem."
The class immediately turned her direction, stuffing their airplanes in their pockets and swallowing the large bubbles of saliva coming out of their mouth.
Lily took a seat at her desk. "I'd like to ask of you all that if I'm a few minutes late to class, you don't take it upon yourselves to make this classroom… a garbage patch."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Clean this up in two minutes, because we have to start."
In two minutes, everything was clean and ready, and she started her lesson. "I think you guys have mastered the runes that translate to character traits." She looked around at all of them. "This will be on your O.W.L. this year, so pay attention. I'm going to give you each a story made of runes. You have to translate it into English. Can we do that?"
Her class murmured their assent.
"Let's go, then." Lily passed out the parchments and sat in her chair when an owl knocked at the window. She let it in and opened it (it was addressed to her).
Hi Lily!
How are you? I hope class is going well.
I can't come to Hogwarts tonight, unfortunately. I know I try to come on Tuesday nights, sorry. My colleague called in sick, so I have to do his assignment. I won't be at home, either, I'm going to Belgium tonight. I'll see you after that, though! I'll make sure to come to Hogwarts immediately. I know you miss me ;)
How's Liana doing? She didn't appreciate our talking-to last night… what do we do about her, Lils?
Take care. I love you, you know that! You're the best blessing I've gotten.
Your favorite husband,
James.
Lily laughed in spite of herself, drafting a quick letter back.
Hey,
I'm fine, thanks. That's okay, I don't expect you to come all the time. You shouldn't even be in Hogwarts, anyway, I don't know why you keep going. No - stop pouting. It doesn't mean I don't want you here, I don't want you losing your job. I care about you. Have fun in Belgium. Be careful, and be safe! I don't want you getting hurt. Yes, try coming to Hogwarts, but don't put your job in danger while doing that, okay?
Yeah, well, that's the way Liana is. Harry apparently talked to her... well, more like blew up at her. He felt upset about that when talking to me, but she needs to be shaken up. I can't believe she still doesn't care.
Love you too, James.
Lily
She bundled up the letter, tied a ribbon around it, and put it in the owl's claws. "Go, take this to James," she said, rubbing its head. "Oh, wait." She pulled open a drawer and took out an owl treat. She fed one to the owl, and it ate it before flew out the window again.
"Was that a letter from your husband?" a student asked.
Lily looked up. "What?"
"Was that letter from your husband?"
"And how does that help you get an Outstanding on your classwork, exactly?"
"It doesn't. I'm just wondering."
Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, it was from my husband."
"Ooh," chorused the class.
"What did he say?" a girl swooned.
Lily laughed at the class's eagerness. "You've never been this excited about a test."
"No one's excited about a test," the girl muttered. "What did he say, though? Can we read the letter?"
"No, no, and definitely not," Lily said, tucking the letter in her drawer. "I'm sorry, but there are some private things in there."
"Aw, did he say something romantic?" a boy asked.
"No, it's a personal matter."
"Is he having an affair?"
Lily really wanted to go smack the dumb kid. "No. It's about our child, Liana."
The kid looked upset. "Aw, dang."
"Sorry to disappoint," Lily grumbled. "Get back to your work, guys, I think we're going to start how to translate people's names into the Runes. It'll be fun."
"Can we go over the Sirius Black unit again?" another girl asked. "You know, the one with the placards?"
"I won't go over the whole unit, but if you guys liked it, I can do a review of that next week," Lily offered.
"It was fun," a boy said. "We got to study Sirius Black. And his runes and everything."
"Sure, we can go over that next week," Lily agreed. "All right, everyone, let's get back to the assignments so I can introduce our next topic. Ten minutes left on this assignment, everybody, let's go."
Draco Malfoy looked good.
How had Pansy just noticed it?
His hair was sleek blonde, shiny, and pulled back behind his head. His expression was calm, cool, and collected. His skin was pale, but glittered in the sunlight. His green robes topped off the look, and as he extended his arms, his eyes closed, as his face tilted up to the sky, he was just… wow.
"Pansy. Pansy."
Pansy whirled around. "Huh? Oh, yeah, Kelly, what's up?"
"You blanked out," Kelly giggled. "Staring at Draco Malfoy."
"Did I?" Pansy shrugged. "I was just thinking about something, I must've been looking at him."
Kelly giggled again. "Yeah, okay, whatever."
Draco turned around, swinging his bag over his shoulder, and walked over to the two girls.
"Hey, Pansy, Kelly, how are things?"
"Good," Pansy responded, straightening herself up a little bit. "And you?"
"Fine, thanks," Draco said, winking at her. "Thinking of our next plot against Potter."
"We need a journalist on our side," muttered Pansy. "You know any connections?" His dad was quite within the circle.
"I'll ask my dad," he answered. "And you?"
"I think my aunt has a friend in the printing press," Pansy replied. "I'll owl her tonight."
"Perfect." Draco looked gleeful. "We do have to get a journalist though - good idea!"
"Thanks," murmured Pansy, willing herself not to blush. She'd have to hatch a trap for him to fall into.
"So yeah, I was thinking of making something out of his tea leaves." Draco shrugged. "You know, the whole Grim stuff."
"Just use his sister," suggested Pansy. "They hate each other like nobody's business."
"Yeah, I think I might do that." He looked impressed. "Wow, Pansy, you're on a roll today!"
Blood rushed to her cheeks. "Thank you."
"I gotta run, now, but really cool talking to you. We'll meet tonight, yeah?" He brushed a strand of his hair aside and walked away.
Dang, why did Draco have to be so cool?
"Do you remember the cure for boils?" Sia asked Valentina.
The two girls were studying in the Slytherin Common Room, poring through books and preparing for the end-of-term exams.
"Er… yeah," said Valentina, closing her eyes. "Add six snake fangs, crush them into a powder, add four measures of them into the cauldron…" She finished listing the steps for the potion. "Did I miss anything?"
Sia checked over her notes. "Nope, you got that right. I got an O on that assignment."
"Yeah, you're good at Potions," Valentina murmured. "I'm better at Charms. Spells are easier."
Sia shrugged. "That's why we help each other out."
"At least we're smarter than the other three," Valentina grumbled, scribbling something down in the margin of her textbook.
"I don't know if that's because we're smart or because they're…"
"Dumb?" Valentina finished for her.
Sia laughed, bending over her notes to highlight a line. "That's exactly right."
"So," Valentina began, "I see you and Tonks hanging out a lot together."
"Yeah?" Sia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not saying anything about it, it's cool," Valentina said. "But er… is she a really good friend?"
"Yes," said Sia, a little defensive.
"Fun," said Valentina. "You must've said goodbye to her then."
"Goodbye?"
"I mean, the case is over," Valentina explained. "Liana's back, so she won't be in Hogwarts anymore. Are you both going to stay in touch?"
Sia's eyes widened. "I completely forgot. I just… I've gotten so used to her being around, it didn't even occur to me that… has she gone yet?"
"No," Valentina said. "She's staying for around a day or two."
Sia breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew. I thought I forgot."
Valentina smirked. "That sure wouldn't be good."
At that moment, Liana entered the room, flanked by Candice and Kylie. "What wouldn't be good, your nose growing bigger? I agree, it's already large enough." Candice and Kylie let out a little snort.
"I'd rather have a large nose and still have a life," Sia shot back.
Liana's eyes narrowed. "Are you insulting me?"
"Yes, I think I am," Sia snapped. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No," Liana said with a shrug. "You'll regret it, though."
"I can hardly wait," Sia said coldly, turning back to her book. A few seconds later, she heard Valentina's shriek. She looked up, and Valentina's pink dress was covered in pumpkin juice. Then a cold splash of juice hit the back of Sia's hair.
"Consider it an act of my kindness," Liana said. "You said you couldn't wait… so I didn't make you." Her eyes flashed before she turned and strode up to the girls' dormitory, Kylie and Candice behind.
"I'm going to kill those gits," snarled Valentina, rubbing at her dress.
"Why are they even so mean to us?" Sia asked exasperatedly.
"I think I acted a little annoyed on the first day of school," guessed Valentina. "I was upset, though. I mean, being separated from my family isn't something that's easy to go through."
"She's quick to judge," Sia said. "It's not your fault." It really wasn't.
"Whatever the case, it certainly needs to come to a stop," Valentina muttered, waving her wand and clearing up her stain. "You need the spell done, too?"
Sia spread out her arms. "I'm all yours."
Valentina performed the spell, cleaning up Sia's shirt. "I think I need to talk to someone. Her mom, maybe."
Sia wrinkled her nose. "I'm not going within five feet of a Potter."
"Why not?"
"I mean, I thought Potters were bad before I met Liana. But hey, Harry is honestly better than Liana."
"Why did you not like the Potters?" inquired Valentina.
"Always in the news for stuff," Sia said. "Putting down You-Know-Who is fine, because he is actually bad. And putting down his supporters is good, too. But they make it seem like all 'Dark Creatures' are bad. Like, not every werewolf is bad! Not every ghoul is bad! Not… Not every vampire is bad."
Valentina didn't notice the mood change towards the end of her sentence. "Yeah, I agree. I get your point. I don't get the whole stereotype against these people. It's just the Ministry and everything. They have to go through all this difficult stuff."
Sia laughed bitterly. "You have no idea."
"No, I don't, but still. Poor them," Valentina said. "But anyway, I think I'll talk to Lily Potter. She can really help us, she's probably mad at Liana because of everything that happened."
"It was so peaceful without them here," Sia muttered.
"I know, right?" She rolled her eyes. "Well, we have to get this Herbology assignment. Let's get cracking."
Tonks was so embarrassed.
Well, she was always embarrassed in one way or another, but could she at least stop running into everything and tripping over everything in front of her crush?
The worst part was that he would always help her up, or catch her before she fell, which made it at least ten times more embarrassing. And he acted like it was no big deal, like it was common courtesy to help her up. Every darn time.
Currently, she was on the floor, her papers everywhere, and Remus, being the gentleman he was, helping her collect them.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "You'd think I'd get used to it by now."
"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked, his voice laced with uncertainty, completely ignoring her comment.
"What?"
Wait, was he… Was he asking her out?
This was a dream come true.
"Yes," she managed, struggling to contain her excitement. "When?"
He looked relieved. "Tomorrow? If you're free?"
"Tomorrow night, maybe nine?" she offered.
"Yeah, yeah, that works," he said breathlessly. "Thank you."
"Thank you," she replied, beaming. "I was starting to think you weren't going to ask."
The expression on his face was priceless.
Neville's life was growing tougher and tougher by the day.
His grades were dipping into the D's.
He'd gotten a Howler from his grandmother.
He'd been banned from Hogsmeade.
He was in detention.
He wasn't allowed to find out the passwords.
Nobody was talking to him.
Because he accidentally left out a list with the passwords. But how had it fallen into the hands of Sirius Black? He could've sworn he left them on his bedside table…
"Hey, Neville," greeted a voice.
"I-I don't want to be the p-p-punch line of your joke this t-time," stuttered Neville.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't planning on making a joke."
"Oh, hullo Hermione," said Neville glumly. "Hey, I'm sorry about the attack on Ron… I didn't mean to… can you tell him I'm really sorry?"
"Don't bother, Neville, he doesn't blame you," she said kindly. "Neither does Harry, and nor do I."
"Thank you," he mumbled. "I left it in the bedside table, I swear, I vow on my gr-"
"Neville, calm down," Hermione said. "I trust you. It's okay."
"Yeah, well, can you tell me the password?" Neville asked. "To get in the Common Room, I mean…"
"Of course." Hermione said the password and they entered the room.
As usual, everyone gave him a dirty look and an eye roll.
"Here comes the traitor," said a voice.
"He's helping Sirius into the castle."
"Lazy bum."
"Useless lump of fat."
"Oh, here's the guy who leaves out passwords all the time."
"So forgetful I bet he forgets his own name!"
"How his parents put up with him…"
"Don't you say a word about my parents!" Neville cried, his hands balling into fists of their own accord.
The Common Room burst into laughter.
"What…"
"Now he's trying to be cool," chortled a guy.
Neville turned and stormed up to his dormitory, slamming the curtains shut without another word.