Sunflowers

Pals and Plotting

Thia avoided the Marauders like the plague for the rest of the year. As much as she hated to admit it, Sirius and James had scared her with how much they seemed to enjoy torturing Snape. Peter was never far from the two, and Remus didn't seem to think they'd really done anything very wrong.

It was for this reason that Thia found herself in the painting gallery beneath the Astronomy Tower one day. Lily was moping, upset that her friend, the dark-haired one who stood up to Sirius, was avoiding her.

Surprisingly enough, Thia found the girl there too.

She stopped short when she saw her, slumped against the wall with her dark hair hiding her face. The girl looked up when she heard Thia's footsteps.

"Hello," Thia said shyly.

The girl smiled, "Hi." It was a little lop-sided, her smile, pulling up a little more on the left than the right.

"I didn't realise anyone else knew this was here," she gestured to the room, "I'm Helianthia, by the way. But you can call me Thia, everyone does."

"Astraea. Ash," she patted the floor beside her. Thia sat, shifting once she sat down, the buckle of her leg biting into her side.

"You're the one everyone's talking about. The one who stood up to Sirius Black," Thia said brightly, "That was really brave of you. He can be a bit of a bully."

"Trust me, Thia, I know that better than most." Ash's voice was dark, and Thia took her hand in her prosthetic. Ash looked down at it, confused, most likely, on why it felt wooden.

"I had my right arm and left leg amputated when I was six," she said, looking at one of the paintings on the wall, "Same year I lost my parents."

"I lost my mum when I was seven, and I might as well have lost my father at the same time." Thia looked back at Ash and squeezed her hand.

"You would have made a good Gryffindor, Ash," she smiled. Ash laughed a little.

"I'm not sure I could handle living in the same dorm as those narcissists who call themselves the Marauders."

"Remus isn't bad. He was one of my first friends, back in St. Mungo's," Thia protested, "And Peter is just far too self-deprecating for his own good."

"Remus has always been nice to me. I'll trust you about him. Peter, on the other hand, he likes power, but he doesn't like working for it. It's not his self-deprecating that's the problem, it's that he's ambitious to the point of disloyalty. I wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him."

"I'm sure that's not true," Thia frowned, "What are you doing here anyway, Ash? Most people would be with their friends, enjoying the nice weather, or packing for summer."

"My friends haven't been acting like friends lately," Ash confessed, "And I'm already packed for summer."

"Well, you're welcome to come hang out with me and my friends." Thia stood, dusting off her skirt and offered her hand. Ash took it, standing and grabbing her things.

"Depends, who are your friends?"

Thia gave her a smile, leading the way back outside to the Great Lawn. Ash avoided eye contact with most people, just following the tiny first-year.

"Teddy!" Thia ran to the boy, giving him a hug. He reciprocated, twirling her around in the air.

"Hello, Thia!" he laughed, "What's this? I saw you yesterday!"

"For, like, two minutes!" she pouted. He chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Oh, hey, Ash," Teddy said to the other girl, "I take it Thia here roped you into coming out of the castle?" She nodded, a small smile on her lips.

"Ash, you know Phoenix. That's my brother Jacob and his friend Lottie," Teddy introduced.

"Hey," she said. They nodded to her, going back to their game of Exploding Snap. The girls sat beside them (Thia with some difficulty) and enjoyed the sunshine. Thia shifted when she settled back into the grass, the buckles of her prosthetics digging into her skin.

"Thia, do you want to take off your arm, at least?" Teddy asked. She nodded, sitting up again and turning away from him. He slipped his hand down her collar, undoing the fastening and pulling off her arm. She took it from him, placing it in her bag so it didn't get dirty. That done, she lay back, enjoying the peaceful sound of the wind in the trees. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.

~

"You still haven't done anything about  Vera," Sophie said quietly, joining her and the others down by the Black Lake.

"Do I have to do something?" She asked innocently, staring up at the clouds, "She hasn't done anything else."

"No, but she's starting to think you're all talk. And she's mad that not many believe about the prosthetics."

Thia lifted her stump in the air, "I'm not exactly hiding it, now am I? Honestly, I kind of feel like she did me a favour. Now I don't have to worry about people finding out later."

"Thia, she's talking about finding out how it happened and spreading that around." This made her sit up, an icy feeling dripping down her back.

"That's none of her business," she growled, her voice low and her eyes dark, "Excuse me, but I think I need to have a chat with her."

Sophie watched her friend leave, not even putting her prosthetic back on. She bit her lip sharing a look with Teddy, before going after her.

"Thia, think for a moment," she pleaded, "If you show her how much this gets to you, she won't stop! She will keep trying until she finds out."

Thia stopped, Sophie nearly running into her, "Why is she doing this? I've done nothing to her!" Tears of frustration began to well up in her eyes. Sophie hesitated, then moved forward and opened her arms. Thia stepped into them, burying her head into her shoulder.

"Slapping her with your prosthetic is still an option, you know," Sophie murmured. Thia laughed wetly, moving back and wiping at her tears.

"I'm still sure I'd get in trouble for that."

"Nah, not you. You're basically every teachers' pet." Sophie kept an arm around Thia, leading her to a window seat, "I think they might even cheer you on."

Thia leaned against her friend, "Thank you, Sophie."

"Alright, let's figure out what we are going to do about Miss Vera Knowles."