[Chapter Five: Wristbands]
Unfortunately for Aspen, there was alcohol at the party, Evelyn went straight to it, too. The party was only two hours in and Evelyn was already passed out wasted on the sofa. Not wanting to embarrass herself with her weak strength, Aspen decided to wait until the party was over entirely so she could attempt to carry her friend back to their dorm.
Aspen sat uncomfortably, babysitting her passed out friend on the Gryffindor beige couch. Multiple people attempted to draw on her friend's face but after a protective glare from Aspen, they thought otherwise. Right now she could be doing so many things, like studying! Or practicing some spells, like the Patronus Charm . . . which she had been trying to succeed since she first heard of it in fourth year.
But no, she's sitting on a couch waiting for the common room of drunk teenagers to clear out so she can completely fail at carrying her friend. She already watched Wendy enter the common room, but once Wendy saw the mess that Aspen was in—she made a run for it towards the dorm.
Aspen wouldn't blame her, if she saw Wendy with a passed out Evelyn, silently begging for help, she'd make a run for it too. That's probably the reason why they're not Hufflepuffs. But then again, Aspen would never leave her friend alone and passed out, which she believed a Slytherin would do.
Then she quickly reprimanded herself for her house prejudice against the Slytherins.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Asked someone, yanking Aspen out of her thoughts, she looked up and saw Remus Lupin. He was pointing towards the empty space on the left of her. When she didn't answer, he quickly added, "It's alright if I can't, I'll just find somewhere else to sit—"
"N-no, no it's okay!" Aspen quickly said, moving over to make the spot larger than it already was.
She hoped that he didn't take that as an insult.
"Thanks." He smiled, sitting down and making the couch go down a little bit, they then watched everyone get more pissed-drunk than they already were. "I'm guessing you're with her?" Asked Lupin, motioning toward Evelyn who was laying beside her.
"Yeah . . ." Mumbled Aspen shyly, why was he talking to her? Yes, she did enjoy looking at him but talking was a big no-no social-wise.
"I'm with them," He stated, pointing to Potter, Black, and Pettigrew. Potter and Pettigrew visibly looked drunk while Black was laughing at their behavior, possibly drunk too. It was hard to tell, though.
"I'm guessing you're the mum friend?" Aspen asked the boy, looking at him for the first time. When he caught her gaze she quickly looked down at her lap again like how she once was.
"Mum friend?" He chuckled, his eyes crinkling.
"I-I mean—you have to stay sober to t-take care of your friends." She explained, she then shook her head. "Y'know what? Never mind, that sounded stupid."
"Yeah actually, I guess I am the mum friend of the group." Remus laughed. Aspen hid a smile, she thought that question was a crash and burn.
"Then again," he continued, "I think we can all be mum friend at times. Except for Pa—Sirius of course, despite his name . . . he can never be serious."
"That's . . . nice." Aspen said, growing even more uncomfortable. And of course she had to make the conversation uncomfortable too. All she wanted to do that moment was run up to her dorm and jump onto her bed for safety. But she couldn't do that so she had to suck up her insecurities and socialize with anyone who talked to her, even her crush Remus Lupin. Maybe socializing will actually help with her dream of becoming an Auror!
"Yeah, I guess it is." He said with a small smile, looking towards his three friends who were laughing hysterically at nothing specific. "Would you like some help with your friend?"
"Kinda," She replied, looking at the scarred boy and then back down to her jeans with a blush. "Though I guess I could wait, it's always good to get out of the dorm once in a while."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for everything to clear out. I don't feel like publicly embarrassing myself for not being able to carry her up the stairs." Aspen explained, pointing her thumb towards her friend as she spoke.
"Carry?" Remus asked with a laugh. "You're a witch, Aspen, just levitate her!"
"How did I not think of that?" She asked, bewildered, how did she not think about that? She's only been a witch all her life. Now that's one clear reason as to why she's not a Ravenclaw.
"The simplest things can leave one's mind when she is most stressed." Remus replied with a straight, compacted voice.
He must've seen her confused expression because right after he finished he quickly added, "Sorry, it's just you seem kind of—how should I say this? Nervous . . . stressed?"
"I-I'm fine Remus, though, thanks for, er, noticing?" Aspen asked, unsure of what she should say. Her crush was noticing her flaws, how great!
"My pleasure." He politely stated. Suddenly, he stood up, causing the couch to lift a little bit and then he turned to Aspen. "Well, as much fun as this has been, I must get going. James looks like he's about to puke."
Aspen looked over to where the three other boys were previously and saw that James Potter looked like he was indeed going to vomit. His face was pale with a green tint to it as he kept his head lowered between his knees. Sirius Black was staring at nothing visibly time-consuming in a crowd of girls and Peter Pettigrew was nowhere to be seen.
"Have fun with that," Cringed Aspen."I'll be attempting to float this—" she said, motioning towards Evelyn, "up the stairs."
"Ah, guess we're both stuck in the gutter." He perceived. "Well, I wish you luck—see you again, Aspen."
"See you again, Remus." Replied Aspen quietly, Remus still heard her—he gave her a nod before he walked to his friends.
"Now how am I going to do this?" She whispered to herself, looking at her friend. Like Remus said, she can use a levitation charm on her friend, but that would attract attention from both sober and drunk students . . . She didn't want to attract any of the wrong sorts of students, they may all be Gryffindor and very protective of each other, but drunken teenagers could attempt anything—and Aspen didn't want to risk any possibility. She stood up, not being noticed by anyone—releasing a wave of relief through her. Now it was the hard part, where she was bound to be noticed.
It's alright, she's just helping her passed out drunk friend back to her dorm. It's not like she's killing anyone. If anyone asks she'll just explain the situation. She bent down, causing her hair to fall into her face, but she didn't mind it as she pulled her wand out of her boot. She was opening her mouth to say the spell until a; "What are you doing?" Stopped her.
Aspen jumped and turned quickly, behind her stood the head girl of Hogwarts. Also known as ginger-haired Lily Evans. Aspen looked to her friend and then to Lily who had both a surprised and disappointed look on her face. Great! The head girl just found her in the most awkward position ever, pointing a wand at a passed out girl on the couch at a party.
"O-oh I'm just helping m-my friend." Stuttered Aspen to the girl in a panic, "She's passed out drunk, and my friend Remus gave me an idea to levitate her back to our dorm."
Immediately, Lily's features softened. "You know Remus?" When Aspen nodded she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh that's good! I thought you were about to do something waaay worse." She said, dragging out the a in dramatics.
"Sorry if I confused you." Aspen apologized, looking down to the ground. Why was she apologizing?
"Oh, it's alright!" Lily reassured. Lily was happy that she's talking to the girl who normally stayed quiet all the time. During their years at Hogwarts she felt quite bad for the girl, she knew she was going through things just by looking at her. But she didn't want to confront the girl for fear of accidentally hurting or embarrassing her. Plus, she had heard what happened to her mother.
"Would you like any help?" Lily asked, noticing that Aspen's lean-skinny figure may not be able to carry this girl who would be dead-weight due to her being unconscious. She didn't even think of levitating him, which was odd for the girl seeing as she thinks about everything. Aspen was immediately going to say no, but she quickly decided against that. She does need help and if someone was volunteering to help her, she should take it. Then again Lily could only be asking because it may seem like the polite thing to do at the moment.
"I mean, if you don't mind, but you don't have to!" Rambled Aspen, she was very proud of herself at the moment. She actually accepted an offer someone gave her.
"I might as well help, it's better than monitoring all these drunken idiots," Lily said, motioning towards everyone. Her face shriveled in disgust at the sight of Potter vomiting in a plant. "wonderful Head Boy behavior, Potter!" She shouted over the music, getting s thumbs up from Potter before he threw up some more. She then walked over to Evelyn's legs, ready to grab ahold of them.
Wow, the Lily Evans was actually leaving a party that she was meant to monitor. She must really be fed up.
"Oh, I see the look you're giving me." Laughed Lily, and Aspen blushed, looking to her feet. "I may have a little perfectionist-issue, and I may have a problem with . . . controlling people. But right now, monitoring this party is like a hell-hole. I much rather leave this to James."
After Lily's small burst of anger, they silently dragged Evelyn up the stairs as the other student's partied. From what Aspen could tell, no one noticed which made her feel very relieved. Once they got to her dorm, Aspen put her hand out and turned the doorknob. They never lock the doors, even though they should. Girls were always sneaking into each other's dorm rooms to steal each other's accessories.
When they got in, Aspen led the two to Evelyn's bed, once there, they dropped the girl. She hit her head against the headboard but made no sudden moves as she continued sleeping. Aspen and Lily cringed but paid no mind in checking if she was alright. If she didn't wake up then that's good, it means she didn't hit her head too hard. Or maybe she did hit it too hard.
"There!" Lily said, clapping her hands together like she just finished building a house of some sort. Aspen thanked her, wearing a small smile and Lily nodded back to her. After everything was finished, Aspen assumed Lily would leave her dorm to go back to the party. But instead, she stayed and began examining everything she could find.
She looked at the blue painted walls, burgundy red rugs, and even the small pictures the three girls had pinned to the walls. "Oh, how cute is this!" Lily cooed while looking at the dollhouse that Aspen built for the Nutcracker.
"Y-yeah it's my dorm mates . . . she w-wanted to bring something to remind her of home." Lied Aspen, she had a thing for lying, but she mostly did it when it concerned herself and whether or not it'd save her from embarrassment.
"That's sweet, you don't think she would mind if I look inside, would she?" Lily asked, were all Gryffindors this nosey? You know what, never mind that, because yes about every one of them was. If there was some nosiest person alive award, Aspen would win it seeing as she was the nosiest Gryffindor there ever was.
"I-I don't think she'd like that honestly." Aspen lied, gritting her teeth. Not in anger but in anxiousness, if the head girl found that she was owning a Nutcracker that had a mind of its own, who knows what would happen.
"Oh alright, I won't intrude," Lily said, clearly with a look of disappointment. "The nostalgia nearly got to me, I haven't had a dollhouse since I was a child and now here we are about to graduate from Hogwarts as adults."
"But what she doesn't know won't hurt her?" Squeaked Aspen next, she didn't like disappointing her peers. Especially if they are already sad, she'll just have to act fast about the whole Nutcracker situation.
"Really, are you sure?" Lily asked, her eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "There's no booby-trap or anything, right? If I open the little door my finger won't slice off or anything?"
"Well, I don't think so," Aspen said, she honestly didn't think so. There wouldn't be an intentional finger slicing but that Nutcracker was quite violent. Especially towards newcomers. "Here, I-I'll open it."
Aspen quickly paced to the dollhouse and began peeling the roof off. She popped open the right corner first to find the Nutcracker sassily standing in the middle of the house with its wooden arms against its hips. Aspen placed her arm on the table and used her fingers to push the small door in slightly.
Making a lot of noise, the Nutcracker ran for the door. Lily, of course, became suspicious and tried to look but Aspen quickly shoved her hand in the door and pulled the Nutcracker out—hiding it in her sleeve. "S-sorry, some things in there must've fallen."
Lily shook her head, unsure if what Aspen told her was true or not. Aspen then lifted the roof off officially whilst trying to hold back her yelps as the Nutcracker used its nut cracking teeth to bite into her finger.
"Oh, it's just magnificent!" Lily observed. "Running water and electricity? Whoever did this magic must be very talented."
"Y-yeah I guess," Aspen said through her clenched teeth, she now had the nutcracker in some hold that kept it from moving. Then again her finger was stuck in the mouth of the toy causing great pain.
"Who did you say this dollhouse belonged to again?" Lily asked, turning to the girl. Aspen quickly covered her face with a calm structure rather than the pained expression she previously had.
"Erm . . . I hadn't." Aspen mumbled.
"Then whose is it? You said it was your roommates, didn't you?"
"It's erm . . . Wendy's! My roommate Wendy, she's not here at the moment though, as you can see. I think she's studying or whatever." Rambled Aspen. Speaking of Wendy, where was she anyway? She, not even an hour before, watched Wendy purposely avoid Aspen and Evelyn by running up the stairs toward the dorms.
"Oh, well tell her I think her magic abilities are expertise if you could," Lily said kindly, which made Aspen's cheeks blush a little bit seeing as she was the one who created the whole dollhouse. "Now I must be going, my decision to ditch the party is getting to me, I must supervise."
"O-okay," Laughed Aspen. "Thank you for helping me with my friend. I-I owe you one." Aspen said, still holding the Nutcracker that was being very rude.
"No it's alright, I volunteered to help." Kindly stated Lily. Out of nowhere, a large 'bang!' was heard from downstairs making both girls look towards the door. "I must be going! Nice talking to you Aspen!" Yelled the red-haired girl, running out of the door to investigate the source of the bang.
Aspen let out a sigh of relief, yes Lily was a kind girl but she was way too fast for Aspens with the talking, and amount of socializing that girl did, Aspen was unsure if she was even human. Or even if Aspen herself was human, everyone around her seems to do great with communication but she couldn't, what was wrong with her?
Aspen didn't even notice the little Nutcracker in her hand released its bite until it chomped back down on her finger. In turn, she threw the little guy—causing him to roll on the carpet. Once he was able to stop himself, he stood up and looked around. He then stopped while facing one direction . . . towards the door in the dorm. Aspen went wide-eyed, Lily didn't close the door!
"No." Warned Aspen towards the Nutcracker, he paid no mind as he happily ran across the room and out of the door. To say that the search for the destructive Nutcracker was successful would be a lie. The Nutcracker seemed to be able to behave anywhere besides in the company of Aspen and Mr. Z, the owner of Zonkos Joke Shop.
Aspen searched hour upon hour for the small toy but was unable to find him anywhere. It was like it vanished, which wouldn't be too surprising seeing as they currently resided in a school of magic. It was way past curfew when Aspen finally gave up, maybe the nutcracker would come back? Right now she sounded both childish and selfish, yes, she wanted the Nutcracker back in her possession, but she wanted it back in her possession to protect it!
Like she had said earlier, she hated keeping it caged up like some animal but, well, let's remember what just happened. After a few moments of freedom, the Nutcracker went straight towards the door and left into a school of students who would most likely be frightened of him and try to destroy him.
Now the little guy was on his own in the big world, it felt like she just set her child free from her care. Even though she didn't set him free, he ran away. Same thing? Hopefully she isn't that confused when she has kids, if she has kids.
To relieve stress, she decided to smoke. She wasn't addicted to smoking cigarettes, but she sure did enjoy it. They made her feel more relaxed, plus, unlike others, she actually enjoyed the smell of them. Crazy, right? Maybe it was because her mum smoked, and the smell reminded Aspen of her?
She always carried a pack around with her in her boot, her boot seemed to be her spot to stash things seeing as she always stores her wand in it. She walked to the astronomy tower, careful to not be caught, and began smoking there. Aspen stood there, looking at the view until a voice spoke up—scaring her to bits. Literally, she could've jumped right off of the tower if it weren't for the wall blocking her.
"Hello there, shy-girl," Greeted a raspy voice. Aspen quickly turned to see Sirius Black sitting against a wall with a bag of alcohol in his hand. Most likely vodka or some wizard-type substance Aspen had never heard of. Ever since her mother's death, Aspen's father kind of drifted away from everything magic . . . besides Aspen but he rarely spoke to her. She'd be lucky to get a reply to the letters she sends him throughout the year.
"H-hi Bl—Sirius," Aspen said, watching the boy anxiously. He looked unnerved.
"How do you do?" He asked with a slur, though he seemed genuinely interested.
"Erm . . . good, I guess," She responded. This was the most talking she's done all week. "and you?"
"Dandy." He grumbled.
She raised an eyebrow, he didn't seem dandy. Nervously, she stalked over and sat down. When Black didn't shoo her away, she stated in a nervous tone; "I think you're lying."
"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked, looking up at her. He looked the same as earlier, but this time he had small bags under his eyes and smelled immensely of alcohol.
"I-I don't know, I can just tell." She said, great explanation Aspen! Merlin, what if he wasn't lying?
"You can just tell?" Asked Sirius, amusement tinting his voice—which was slightly slurred due to the alcohol.
"Yeah . . ."
He laughed and shook his head, then looked at her cigarette that was placed between her lips and stated, "You know that cigarettes are bad for you, right?" 'Since when do I warn people that cigarettes are bad, I'm normally the one smoking them!' Sirius thought.
"Yeah, but I won't have to worry about any of that stuff for a while. Might as well live in the moment if y'know what I mean." She explained, making the both of them laugh. She was quite a hypocrite.
"I like how you think, Lee." He said, taking a long gulp of his drink.
"So what's your reasoning for drinking liver-deteriorating alcohol on the Astronomy Tower?" Aspen asked the boy, and he tensed up. Did she ask something wrong? Oh Merlin.
He looked down to his hand that held the bottle, and then looked back up at Aspen. "I just got news that my uncle has passed."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Aspen frowned, her eyes wide. She wasn't good with comforting, but she could tell how distraught he was.
"It's alright." He slurred. "I was expecting it to come soon, he's been fighting Dragon Pox for the past year."
"I'm still sorry to hear that, it's always horrible to lose a family member," Aspen said, reminiscing her mother who was killed by a werewolf back when she was in her fourth year.
"Thanks, I guess." He said, placing his bottle down in the corner. "I should go though, thanks for talking with me Lee. It was nice of you." He stood up, with a wobble of course, and wiped any dirt off his jeans.
Aspen nodded to him in appreciation towards the 'thanks' and went to stand up but failed. Sirius laughed and held his arm out. She grabbed him and was pulled up on her feet as if she weighed equivalent to a newborn baby.
As she was pulled up, though, Sirius was holding onto her wrist. She could physically feel him feel the textures of her wristbands from under her sweater. But once she was on her feet she quickly retracted her arm without looking at him or anywhere else besides the cement in front of her.
"I-I'm going to go too." Aspen mumbled, her eyes shying away from Sirius entirely. Seeing as she wasn't stopped as she walked away, she assumed Sirius didn't recognize her. Little did she know, he recognized her once he touched those wristbands. Long black hair, and wristbands covering her wrist? Not looking at him, not even once?
Aspen Lee was the crying girl who ran into him earlier that day.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Ello
posted: January 25, 2018
word count: 3,857