I Was Born in a Thunderstorm

The school was a whirlwind of chaos. Hearsays bounced and ricocheted against the walls and the students were left not knowing what to believe. Even some of the faculty appeared unsure what to believe. All because Walden and friends decided to stir the pot a little. It turned out that Walden didn’t even need to worry to begin with. After seeing everything unfold when they returned to Hogwarts that year, it had gone even better than expected with the four missing in the first few days.

And yet with all this chaos, Walden couldn’t celebrate. Not with Remus’ eyes specifically on him. He’ll have to celebrate his victory in silence while he returned to his day-to-day routine. After all, there was still school to deal with. Simply bearing the mark wouldn’t bring food to the table.

That’s why he was working on Potions in one of the empty potion classrooms in the far end of the Dungeon. Walden wasn’t going to settle for anything other than Exceeds Expectations. He was just about to put his cauldron over medium heat when an explosion interrupted. Walden hurried over to the source of the noise, wondering whether he’ll have to drag an unconscious body to the infirmary. If he did, he just wished the body will be more or less intact. What greeted him though was Alice Fortescue, lying on the floor. “You… okay?”

Potions wasn’t her absolute best class--- that was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but usually Alice wouldn’t have such a difficult time brewing just a Hiccoughing Solution. The supply Slughorn usually kept in his room was getting low and Alice was helping out just for a few extra points and some extra time to study. The Auror program was difficult to get into, and between all the distractions at school lately it seemed almost impossible for the girl to sit down and study as much as she should. There was nothing actually stopping Alice, nothing more than being lost in her own thoughts which is the reasoning behind the explosion over a potion she brewed the year prior. Bloody hell. The blonde was wiping off the splatter of concoction which managed to get on the front of her shirt from the mishap. Standing up, the Gryffindor glanced towards the door, spotting Walden standing there looking at her--- she must have looked like a complete mess by that point. “Never better,” she answered, a little bit of sarcasm lacing her tone. “What happened? Did I shake the entire school and interrupt whatever it was you were doing? My mistake.”

Marlene was dangerously jealous. Jealous in thekind of way no one could understand how terrifiedshe was to open up to Gideon. To give it a chance, to do something about it, toturn the physical into the emotional was against everything she represented,became, felt, did. It was somethingshe couldn’t explain, something she didn’t know how to tell others. Somethingshe didn’t even know how to talk herself down from. Now, as she opened thedoor, finding Alice on her bed—this wasthe last thing she needed, a talking down from Gideon’s ex. “Fuck, am I in trouble or something?” She called out to the blonde. BecauseMarlene’s temper couldn’t handle it, because her emotions were frayed like theend of a string pulled too much and springing from the coil. All she could seewas the image in her head, that desperate shatter from within stillunexplainable. She dropped her bag onto her trunk once she’d kicked it open,leaving it as such as she leaned against the post of her bed, lips pursed. “He’sa bloke.” She said simply, shrugging her shoulders. It wasn’t Alice’s fault,and by Merlin itself, Marlene was failingto remind herself of that. Her anger was with Gideon before anyone else. “He’sa Gryffindor, decent Quidditch player—“ She shrugged her shoulders. “Shouldn’tyou know all of this? Don’t the pair of you have some unspoken thing between you?”

“Trouble? What? No.” The blonde couldn’t claim to know Marlene all that well. Sure, the two shared a dorm together, but besides pleasantries and parties that was about the extent of their friendship. Alice, however, instantly spotted that spark of jealously the brunette was desperately failing to hide. Don’t the pair of you have some unspoken thing between you? No matter how childlike the reaction was Alice wrinkled her nose at the thought of it. If she was a cruel person she would have played into it; agreed longer to play into the fact that they might’ve been so she could see if Marlene would get angry. Nonetheless, Alice wasn’t cruel and Gideon Prewett was a big boy and could handle himself. The Gryffindor was just...giving an extra push. “We’re just friends. Is that the reason he was spewing out his feelings about you like some lovesick puppy before break?” she questioned, arching an eyebrow as she didn’t even bother hiding her amusement. “You won’t give him the time of day because you think he’s hung up on someone else?”

While she loved her fellow Gryffindors, Alice wasn’t particularly really close to many of them. At least not the girls she shared a dorm with. Not to talk down on any of them--- she loved her fellow female lions and would do anything for them. They just weren’t the people Alice would go to if she was upset about something, but she loved to spend time with them. Marlene was the only person who seemed to... well, she couldn’t say she didn’t think Marlene McKinnon disliked her. The girl was always nice to her, but she always thought something was...off. Like Alice did something to offend the girl. She thought it was her own anxiety of fearing she upset someone, but after having a conversation before Christmas with Gideon Prewett about the Order and a certain girl he seemed to be fancying Alice knew she’d have to have a conversation with her fellow female lion at some point. At that exact moment the blonde was sitting on Marlene’s bed, two textbooks laid out in front of her studying as she waited for the girl to come back to the dorm. When the door opened Alice looked up, seeing the girl she had been waiting for before glancing down at her textbook. “So...what’re your thoughts on Gideon Prewett?” the blonde asked nonchalantly as she flipped to the next page in the book.  

Alice was hard on herself when it came to her academics. It was her final year at school--- NEWTs were basically around the corner, and the Auror Academy was hard to get into. Usually at this hour she would be in the Great Hall, but with the constant gossiping about her fellow Order Members in just about every conversation she found herself getting her dinner and leaving the Great Hall with it. She did her best to talk well of James, Sirius, Remus, and especially Peter when she stumbled upon a conversation which had their names in it. It seemed impossible to reach everyone, and plenty of people seemed to be on board with everything people were saying. The Gryffindor seated herself in the empty Potions classroom--- perched on one of the stools as she picked at the food on her dinner plate. Alice was working on one of her assignments, and only half paying attention as she ate the girl picked up the wrong ingredient to drop in the cauldron. BOOM. The explosion was enough to make the Gryffindor fall back on the ground from her stool, laying on her back as she wiped the residue from her potion in the cauldron from her face. “Bloody hell,” she muttered as she heard the door to the classroom open, standing up as she waved at the person at the door. “I’m okay! Stupid accident of not paying attention.”

The fact ofthe matter was, Frank had been so blinded by a crush for the girl before him, andno one else stood a chance. No oneelse held some candle to Alice, no one else was able to capture him. Surely,many of them were nice, and he’d gone on a few dates should he have been asked.But his terrible tick to be too clumsy, two left feet was something he’d haveto work on to steady. How he mumbled words, shyness and niceties were onlyextended so far. What did they want, Frank to be a brute? It wasn’t how he wasraised. Surely, there was a spine there—Frank hadn’t the means to use it at alltimes. He knew when Alecto might’ve become too keen on the students in theduelling club—how he stood his ground, an annoying tick of kindness in adarkened, hollow view she might’ve had. Maybe this had just been another excuseFrank had used. That Alice deserved someone much stronger than he, not plaguedwith fears of a returning father. How one side of him remained pertained to adark future, how he’d almost tumbled, fallen down that rabbit hole.

Maybe he’duse that as a reason to have kept her at arm’s length. Or him, his emotions,his feelings for her that far fromher. How his stare caught hers, the words winded from his lips easily enough.He didn’t hold back when he had enough liquor in him to dance—remembering tothank Ludo if he could even remember that. All she was doing was smiling at his admission, and all Frankcould do was match, the echo of a small laugh bubbled from his lips. “Bloodysay something, Al.” Frank encouraged,even if he spoke softly. “You smilin’ like a goon at me is startin’ t’scare me.”But in the best kind of way. In that kind of elated way, where if this was adream, he’d wake up with a smile. If he really just dozed off, if he was imaginingit all. Well… Frank could deal with that later.

Frank Longbottom, you know betterthan anyone I haven’t gone out with anyone properly. I wouldn’t know how tostart. “Neither haveI—“ He interjected, shrugging his shoulder. “Suppose it’s best for us that welearn t’do this together.” And there was that pricking fear. What if—what if itdidn’t work, what if he failed her, what if he broke her heart, what if shebroke his. Not that Frank would ever voice it. What if they ruined thefriendship for a chance? There were good moments, good ideas. Like what if it turnedout to be the best decision they both ever made? In such dark times, Frank hadto hold onto the good, just to embrace it, tight grip, never let go. Her armlinked in his, just like the pair of them whenever one found the other in thecorridors, as he walked, pocketing his hands in his finely pressed trousers.

In truth—Frankdid share a lot with his mum. His mum was wellaware of the crippling crush Frank had for his best friend. He almost wanted toask her what she’d done to him, why he was such a silly mess around her. But hedidn’t. Frank slowly shook his head. “More p-private?” He murmured, managing toget it out almost clearly enough, as he thought about it. “Yeah—yeah, s-sure.”The idea of her dorm—he knew he couldn’t get into it—nearly everyone in theschool did. “So—we should go upstairs.” Hufflepuff common room might’ve beenfilled with students escaping the festivities. At least Gryffindor tower wasfar enough people might not go thereright away.

Moving tothe steps, the music filtering out of the hall, as he took two steps in frontof her, standing back to hold out his hand to her. She wanted to know, as heoffered her his hand as she stood behind him. Like a shot in the dark, thankfulhe was nearly drunk enough to say it—sober enough to remember her expression ifit was good—or drink enough to forget it if it was bad. “I’ve wanted t’ask youout since the beginning of third year.” He murmured, swallowing the nervouslump as it rose in his throat. “I jus’ knew I didn’t stand a chance when there’sabout a hundred other blokes in the school who’re prolly smarter than me.Stronger, faster—I was this scrawny lad, only hit my growth spurt in the summerbefore sixth year. How the hell did I stand a chance then?” Hell, he was stillwondering how he stood a chance now. “If that’s what you wanted t’know. I just… you–you’re—you.” 

Like that explained it all. Like he didn’t know how to put into words how she made him feel. She was frustrating, and stubborn. One-sighted and arrogant. He was shy, hidden to the shadows. Her intelligence might’ve skyrocketed his or his was the same to hers. She got under his skin, knew all the buttons to press when she wanted a reaction. She could’ve silenced him with a smile, or made him raise his voice when she dared to suggest Ireland was not the best of the Quidditch teams. Frank didn’t have more to offer, anything other than an explanation, something coherent that would spell out what she had done to him over the best of ways. How times had passed when he wanted to get over her, just so his heart wouldn’t break when she would speak of other lads in a stupid inclined way he wished she’d talk about him. “You’re just you. I was nervous you’d say no.”

Bloody say something, Al. She hadn’t realized she had fallen silent, lost in her own thoughts as she thought over his admissions. Alice’s grin stayed in place as she shook her head. “Chico tonto,” she spoke, her words a soft whisper which matched his own. While Frank might have saw himself as undeserving of her affection, the Gryffindor of course saw it from the opposite perspective. She was moody. Stubborn. Impatient. Bloody hell, Alice had no patience to save her life. While her temper wasn’t as easily ignited as some of her fellow house mates, once someone set her off it would take a lot of water to put out the flames. She constantly needed to be right about stupid things and would argue until she started to sound like a fool just so she didn’t have to admit she was wrong. She didn’t want to grow up and at the same time she couldn’t wait to change the world. Alice was an endless list of faults and contradictions--- and yet Frank put up with all of it which proved even more she didn’t deserve him, especially since he rarely complained. He grounded her. He was her peace in a mess they called life.

The idea, in theory, sounded like a brilliant one. Suppose it’s best for us that we learn t’do this together. There was that doubt in the back of her mind which made Alice believe it wouldn’t be that easy. Frank had taught her hundreds of things over the years she had known him--- at the top of the list how to be a best friend to someone you loved. She was impulsive. Frank knew that best; experienced it frequently like just barely as she blurted out the idea of going on a first date with him. Alice certainly meant it, but she rarely thought before she spoke. However, as they walked further from the ball she still had that fear which always kept her from saying anything to Frank. The blonde wouldn’t know what to do without him in her life.  

“Before we start with...anything,” Alice paused, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. She didn’t know what else to call it. “You just have to promise me you won’t ever just....cut me out. Even if something happens. If I’m stupid. If you’re stupid. We’re both bloody idiots--- but you have to promise. And I don’t want to be negative. I’m not being negative. You’re just....you’re my person, ya know? I wouldn’t ever want that to change.” Her gaze tore away from his as they walked, green hues looking off to the side or anywhere that wasn’t Frank. He might not have wanted to voice his concerns already and potentially put a damper on things (as Alice lingered with her thoughts she mentally cursed herself already for rambling and sounding like a proper fool), but through all her cheeky and flirtatious comments there were those thoughts which Alice had to voice before something stupid actually happened. The night was still young.

One would think with the way Frank repeated her question Alice had asked him something she hadn’t thousands of times. The Gryffindor more often than not would steal the Hufflepuff away so the two could get lost in their own world, but this was under different context. Even though she smirked she wasn’t going to tease him about it. “I know I can’t sneak you up to my dorm, but I figured not many people would have left yet. Or those who have already found a broom closet rather than the Gryffindor common room,” she spoke with a soft chuckle. A tempting thought to suggest, but Alice wasn’t going to push her luck for the evening. She very well might have already surpassed it.

This time when she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth she looked much more sure, happily reaching for his hand as her fingers laced with his. I jus’ knew I didn’t stand a chance when there’s about a hundred other blokes in the school who’re prolly smarter than me. Alice wanted to cut him off then, but instead she let him continue. Stupid boy. “Chico estupido,” she murmured once he was done. “Nobody stands a chance against you, you bloody idiot.” There was no actual anger to her words--- Alice spoke them fondly enough. Of course he wouldn’t know; that had been the whole point she had been trying to accomplish. “You’re sweet. You make me laugh even when I don’t want to. You listen to me complain about completely ridiculous things. You’re kind and have such a big heart you practically wear on your sleeve. How could a girl not fancy that?” Her cheeky grin found it’s place again, gaze moving over him. “Plus you’re ridiculously tall and nice to look at.”

As they made their way up the steps and to the Gryffindor Tower she found the corridors and stairways mostly empty. You’re just you. I was nervous you’d say no. That had been her reasoning, too. Alice didn’t want to ruin their friendship if Frank knew how she felt about him and he didn’t feel the same. It was hard to go back from that. “I guess that makes us both idiots then, huh?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders with a chuckle. Alice said the password once they reached the portrait hole and tugged Frank into the common room, happily finding it empty for the time being. Who knew how long that would last. “Alright, stay here. I’ll be right back.” With that the girl kicked off her heels where she stood, bringing her down a few inches before she picked up the shoes and disappeared up the steps to her dorm.