Have Courage

“Yes!” Flo exclaimed, clasping her hands together. She was so excited that people were showing an interest in her new club. Flo and Addie were in the same year and house, and she was more than happy to help her fellow housemate with some dancing tips. “Are you coming to auditions, Addie? We can practice together!”

“Oh, I don’t - I don’t dance really.” Addie’s eyes widened at the question, and Flo’s enthusiasm. It wasn’t that she thought it was a bad idea, of course - unlikely, probably, but not really bad - but she didn’t think she would be a good fit for the team. “Who else is joining it?”

Annis couldn’t help but smile a bit, amused. “I’m pretty sure Slughorn doesn’t like anyone who’s not apart of the Slugclub he has, so I wouldn’t worry to much.” She told her reassuringly. It was something that she’d learned to come to terms with a few years ago when she realized that kissing-up to the man wasn’t nearly enough to get on his good side. “I’m not to bad at potions though if you really need help.” Potions was, surprisingly, one of her better subjects. Though that didn’t say much when she wasn’t particularly great at any subject. 

“I’m pretty sure you’re right,” Addie said, sighing. She had tried to be a good student - and she really was. Potions was hard but she wasn’t a bad student. But she knew that wasn’t enough for Slughorn and she ought to be used to it by now. “I’ll probably end up coming to you a lot next year. Lily’s been helping me but she’ll be gone then.” Honestly, Addie felt too bad to bother her most of the time this year anyway, especially lately. And all of that hinged on her returning to Hogwarts. The thought of staying home seemed more and more appealing as things got worse here.

WHERE: The Great Hall  WHEN: Lunchtime, March 20th

Flo placed a hand on her back, and another on her stomach. The recent news had shocked her, though she should have seen it coming, what with the lack of protection she and Amos had used. She assumed that her belly would start growing soon - but Flo had plans for this year, and it would be difficult to follow through with a baby developing inside her. She figured, she had to get started right away. Flo clambered up onto the long table, those sitting beside her staring up at her, aghast. “Sonorus,” she tapped the side of her mouth with her wand. “HOGWARTS - I HAVE DECIDED TO CREATE A QUIDDITCH DANCE TEAM TO UPLIFT OUR SPIRITS! PLEASE COME FIND ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO AUDITION.” She patted the sides of her skirt and stepped off the table, sitting back down. 

Addie skirted around the edges of the Great Hall, trying to avoid notice from most people. But seeing Flo on a table had been enough to catch her attention and then she realized that Pinky had been talking to her . . . well, Addie couldn’t stay away after that. Her hopes had been that she’d time it right so she could run into Pinky, but that didn’t work out so the next best thing was to figure out what was going on. “A dance team?”

WHO: Alecto Carrow & Anyone. WHEN: Friday, March 15th, 1978. 8:34am. WHERE: Corridor to Great Hall.

A small smirk upon her lips as her wand twisted in her fingers, she watched as a younger year flinched with her eyes landing upon them. “Oh don’t be frightened little one, I won’t do much harm.” She cooed as she stepped closer towards them, reaching out a hand as an invitation.

Addie took a step back, eyes wide at the unwelcome sight of Alecto Carrow. It felt like a long time since she’d run into either of the Carrows, and had really hoped they might have found someone more interesting to bother. “It’s all right. I need to go -” She took another step back and turned to go, only to stop short as the encounter went from bad to worse.

Who: Lily Evans and anyone When: March 16, 1978. After classes. Where: Hogwarts grounds

The letter had come with the morning owls at breakfast. A small envelope, addressed to ‘Miss Lily J Evans’ from St. Mungo’s. Her entire future would be determined by what it said, and breakfast was a bit too early in the day to be dealing with all of that.

The redhead had gone about her day as usual, trying to ignore the pit forming her stomach through her classes, the envelope seeming to add ten pounds to her school bag. It was a nice enough day out, so Lily had retreated outside, under one of the trees, to get some studying done while it was still light. She was placing her books back into her bag when the envelope fell back into her lap.

“I suppose I can’t avoid it for much longer,” she mused, unaware that another had joined her.

Addie had gone to the Quidditch pitch for a little practice time on her own before she went to see if Professor Sprout needed help in the greenhouses. Andromeda Black was there a lot but sometimes she got to work in one of the greenhouses alone and Addie could stay with the professor. Either way, she didn’t want to go back to the castle right now and if she stayed in the greenhouses late enough, Professor Sprout would walk her back and that seemed safer.

But when she spotted Lily, she took a detour over to say hello. “Avoid what? I think you can avoid almost anything if you try hard enough.”

WHO: Amara Zabini and Addie Ivers WHEN: Saturday, March 18th, 1978. WHERE: The Room of Requirement

The tip of the glass had just touched the tip of her parched lips when someone bumped into her and the liquid sloshed onto her blouse. Quickly she made a grab for some a grab for some napkins, dabbing away the damp and hoping it wouldn’t stain. Before turning to glare at whomever the offender was she tried for another quick drink. Upon turning she first sighted Addie Ivers. Wow…. “Goodness, you’re stunning”

@iversaddie

Although Addie didn’t really like parties, or attend them much, she hadn’t been able to stay in this time. She’d meant to, but then while she tried to get settled in the dorm, found herself pulling on one of her few party dresses and slipping back through the corridors into the Room of Requirement. And once there, she had got a drink without really stopping to consider it and moved through the room and then found herself face to face with Amara. They had never talked, although Addie knew Amara was one of Ted’s friends, and probably the prettiest girl in the school and she certainly was not prepared to be face to face with her - so to speak. Addie was really on truly face to face with a couple of students, of course. Biting her lip, she tried to ignore the blush that she knew was coloring her cheeks as she shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m not but you are.” Really, she couldn’t even imagine why Amara would be talking to her.

“Hey!” Annis called out rather loudly in an attempt to grab the attention of the person in front of her. “I-I think you dropped this.” She said much quieter, embarrassed by just how loud she’d previously been. Her arm was stretched out in front of her, a piece of parchment in her hands. 

Addie’s head jerked up at the voice and she spun around, frowning until she realized it was Annis - and that her potions notes had dropped. “Oh, thanks! I’d be even worse off if I lost that than I usually am in potions.” Grinning, she took the parchment back. “I don’t think Slughorn likes me much, so I’m not brave enough to go to him for help and Lily’s been really busy.”

“Maybe not always,” Ted conceded, as no one could be right all of the time “but I bet he’s right a lot of the time, right?” He was grinning, obviously teasing her. Still, he had met her brothers briefly during their visit to Hogwarts and found them to be rather nice. It was hardly surprising considering they were Addie’s siblings, but Ted supposed if he’d ended up at a muggle school with them instead of at Hogwarts with Addie, they might have been good friends. “He’ll let it go eventually. Probably when he finds something else to be right about.” Ted assured her in good humor.

“You can always talk to me. You know that, right?” Ted asked, shifting so she might lean against him more comfortably. He thought she did, but he had also heard the hesitancy in her voice earlier she he wanted to be sure she knew that he could be trusted with the secret. “I wouldn’t do that, Addie, I promise.” He said sincerely. “It’s your secret to tell. Even if I know everyone would be supportive, that decision is completely up to you.”

“Well, don’t tell him I said so but . . . yes.” Both of them were right more often than not and Addie appreciated it. They could be annoying and bossy but she knew they just wanted to take care of her. “You’re right about that though. He likes rubbing it in when he’s right.” She missed them. Seeing them at Christmas had been amazing, especially because it was so unexpected, but it felt like ages before she would get to see them again. Ted was a good substitute, of course, but it wasn’t quite the same, and it had been such a long year so far. 

“Of course I know!” She turned to look at him, eyes wide. “I trust you more than anyone here, except maybe Lily. That’s why I came to talk to you. I just - you know how fast things go round the common room. And everyone would have advice and try to make me do things and I just . . . I want to keep it to myself for now. Until I figure it out more.” She loved everyone in their house and knew when the time was right, she’d be more than happy to hear their advice. But the time wasn’t right just yet.

While he figured she was simply agreeing to get rid of him, he didn’t bother calling her out about it. Andrei would not ever be accused of ever owing someone something and not even trying to make it up. He knew when to be grateful when the situation was right. And it wasn’t something he was likely to forget either, but it was something he could bring up another time. Hopefully at a time when she would need help and he didn’t have to go very far out of his way to do so. “It does.” He nodded, not bothering to add in a thank you when it wasn’t something he was truly thankful for. 

“It’s been interesting officially meeting you Ms. Ivers” He smiled, holding out his hand to shake, as if closing a business deal. In a way they were he supposed. “And just so you know, Jones nearly hexed me for looking in her direction earlier. So if it weren’t for you being there, she most likely would have left me. Don’t you think that should count for something?” Andrei hadn’t said the words to make her feel better, simply to show that what she had done wasn’t something that was to be expected. At least he hadn’t of suspected such a thing from anyone. 

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Addie said automatically, taking his hand for a - very - quick shake. She didn’t want this to drag out any further, really. It had been far too long as it was and she just wanted to say goodbye and get on her way again. But his comment made her hesitate. Surely Hestia wouldn’t have just left him. No one could do that - it would be . . . inhumane to just leave someone in that condition. “That doesn’t change the fact that it was the right thing to do,” she finally said, frowning at him. “I would have done the same for anyone else. But you’re welcome.” She inched a step away hesitantly. “I guess . . . I’ll see you some other time then?”

Ted smiled knowingly as Addie admitted her feelings, having been there himself before. It was a wonderful feeling, finding you fancied someone, but it was also terrifying and nerve-wracking as well. He certainly didn’t mean to push Addie to do anything she wasn’t ready for though, and found it smart of her to take time to sort out her feelings before rushing into something more.

He couldn’t help but laugh when Addie admitted her brother was right, however. “Did he really? Well, older brothers tend to pick up on those sorts of things.” As an older brother himself, Ted was reminded of his own little sisters and they way he could tell exactly what they were thinking even if they were too stubborn to admit it sometimes “Talking is an excellent place to start.” He agreed. “Take your time, Addie. Figure out what you want first. You’ll have plenty of time to tell Pinky if it comes to that.” 

Addie wrinkled her nose again, this time directed at Ted. Just because he happened to have little sisters didn’t mean he had to be so smug about it. “He’s not always right,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. But she was so rarely upset with Ted that it didn’t have much weight behind it. “I guess I’d better tell him though, even if he’s going to rub it in forever now.” Her brothers were annoying sometimes but she did love them and it would be nice to get their advice about Pinky too. Aston, anyway, had already got a girl to agree to marry him so he should have really good advice. Geoff might not be so good for it but she would still write to him.

She nodded at the advice, already feeling more steady just from talking to Ted about this. He was a calming influence on her all the time, and she hadn’t realized just how worried about all this with Pinky she had been. “Thanks, Ted,” she said, leaning against him again. “I’ll talk to her and see if anything happens with that. And I’ll probably have to come talk to you again.” It would only be a matter of time before she needed more advice, and the rest of the House found out - although that reminded her - “You won’t tell anyone yet? I’m not ready for that.”

For someone who knew about these plans for many days, she was remarkably irresponsible about remembering where she had put her camera. She didn’t think about it as she headed to the common room and up to her dormitory. But once she came face-to-face with her room, she realized that she could not place where she had last put it. Her trunk was the most obvious spot, so she checked there first. Empty bottle of perfume, crumpled pieces of parchment, and an old pair of Powell’s socks were all that greeted her. No camera. “Hmph.” She grumped to herself as she slammed the lid trunk. Next spot to look was under the bed. Luckily enough, there it was, right underneath her ripped purple sweater from fourth year. With triumph, she pulled it out and dusted it off, and gave it a once over to make sure everything was working. When it had passed her inspection, she set it on the bed and reached for her hairbrush.

Freshly groomed, Pinky made her way back out into the dungeons and up the stairs. Addie was there already, waiting for her, and Pinky increased her speed as she climbed up the steps. “Sorry it took me so long!” She said, running a hand through her hair. “I couldn’t find it at first, so I had to look all over for it. But—” She held it up happily, “here it is!” It was then she noticed Addie’s change of outfit. She smiled. “I like your dress. It looks very pretty on you. Now—” She glanced at the heavy Entrance Hall doors. “— where should we take these? I’m partial to the lake, but the Quidditch Pitch is fun too. What do you think?”

“I didn’t mind waiting, and it was only a few minutes. It’s a good thing you found it though. It would be a shame if we had to wait to do this.” Even though it was completely spontaneous, Addie thought she would have been very disappointed if it hadn’t worked out after all. Her smiled turned a bit shy with the compliment, but since that was the goal of changing into a dress, she was pleased it had worked out in her favor. “Thank you.” After classes and on weekends, Addie tended to wear jeans more than dresses, but maybe she’d have to change that.

Her gaze followed Pinky’s toward the doors as she considered the question - not that she had any real experience to speak about where they should take pictures. But she liked the lake too, and it was about as likely to be free as the Quidditch pitch. “Someone might be practicing on the Pitch? And I like the lake too. Maybe we could go there first and then if it’s too crowded, we could try the Pitch?” She began walking as she spoke, bouncing on her toes a little as she went.

Pinky waved goodbye at the fourth years boys who had stopped her to tell her that they had enjoyed her announcing. She was glad that so many people liked hearing her, considering she was no expert at Quidditch. Even without being a genius at the game, she enjoyed it. This was a particularly interesting match, if only because so many of her friends were playing in it. Although, the same could be said about any Quidditch match at this school, really. Everyone had played very well, both the winners and the losers. If she was very honest, she’d rooted for Gryffindor. Glenda and Gideon both were on the team, but she wasn’t sad to see Hufflepuff win. Addie had played wonderfully, even despite that nasty broken ankle. 

To show her appreciation, after the match she headed towards the Hospital Wing. It took her much longer than she would have liked to get through the flux of students heading back to the castle. Still, eventually she did, and it was with purpose that she marched to see her friend. A moment too late, it seemed, for Addie came careening around the corner straight into her. She instinctively reached out to help her, but Addie was already on the ground. She blinked to get her bearings for reaching out and pulling Addie into a tight hug. “You did so great today!” She enthused, pulling back to smile down at her. “And of course I won’t tell Madame Pomfrey. I came up here to see you, and now that I have, I have no need to go and see her at all.” Pinky had already planned on going to the party with the very intention of grabbing Addie first. It was so funny how plans could come together like that. “Yes, yes! The party!” She felt like bouncing at the thought. She really did love a good party. “Let’s go!”

Addie’s face had already been hot, and it only got warmer at Pinky’s praise. Although she had wanted to keep playing just for the sake of the game and the team, there had been a little voice in the back of her head that said Pinky might be impressed. And while Addie wasn’t sure she was brave enough to tell Pinky how she felt, she thought it might be helpful if Pinky thought she was a little bit more than just a scared Hufflepuff. “It wasn’t really anything,” she said with a shrug, though the bright grin on her face probably gave her away. “I wanted to keep going and for us to win and I guess I had a lot of adrenaline or something? I didn’t really notice how much it hurt til everything was over and I landed. Amos had to carry me here.”

Her grin seemed to only get bigger at Pinky’s enthusiasm and she nodded quickly, reaching for Pinky’s hand as she began walking. “I liked when you did the commentary,” she said. “It’s fun to hear you. Dougal is good too but I like it better when it’s you.” It might be a little distracting but Addie had managed to go through and play well anyway and that was all that mattered. “Did you stay for the whole game? It was awfully cold. Flying around makes it worse though, I think, because the wind.”

That would be great. It really would be great, wouldn’t it? It had been such a long time since Pinky had really sat down and used her camera. It had been given to her as a Christmas present last year, and for quite a moment, she was a budding photographer. But then the novelty had worn off and it had become yet another old holiday gift. It was quite complicated to use, and rather big, so it didn’t make for easy carrying. She had offered to show her how to develop pictures, after all. It might be a bit late to take pictures for Addie to send back to her Mum, but Pinky wasn’t one to fail at following through on an activity. Even if it was a bit behind schedule. 

“I think you look lovely as is.” Pinky replied honestly, spinning herself so her legs were facing out towards the aisle rather than the inside of the table. “But if you’d like to change, I can wait for you. And, she did have to get her camera. 

Pinky put one finger on her cheek, like she was thinking it over. “How about we each run off to our common rooms for a second, and then meet at the floor where our stairs meet up?” Besides getting her camera, it would also give her time to check on her hair. One could never look too good before a photoshoot, after all.

Pinky could have suggested just about anything and Addie would have agreed, so she nodded almost before the other girl was finished talking. It would be nice to put on something a bit more flattering, that made her look less like a little kid. “Okay, that works. It shouldn’t take me too long.” She grinned, reaching down for the last bite of her toast and then standing up. It felt nearly like she was walking on air as she returned to the common room, trading her jeans and sweater for a dress and tights - hopefully she didn’t look silly, but she wanted to be cute. 

As she hurried back through the common room, she looked for Ted because she could use some last minute advice on what to do but he wasn’t in sight and Addie didn’t want to spend a lot of time looking. And if she made it too obvious, the rest of her friends might be curious and she hadn’t told any of them that she fancied Pinky, and didn’t want to get into that discussion now. Or ever, possibly. She loved all her housemates but she knew how quickly that conversation would involve all of them, and turn into something very big. So she just waved as she skipped back through the door and down the hall to the designated meeting place.

Ted knew Addie well enough to sense her hesitation and gave her a reassuring smile. “Hey, there’s no need to rush into anything. Take your time, think it through, and see how things go. When the time is right, you’ll know.” While Ted might have been the closest thing to an expert when it came to sneaking around with a pureblooded, Slytherin girl, but he found that he felt more confident in giving advice on how to handle one’s own feelings as opposed to the logistics of a secret relationship. 

“You know, it’s okay to be friends for as long as you want. If you aren’t ready to take that next step or put your heart on the line, don’t. It’s as simple as that.” Ted said, leaning back into the couch comfortably and resting his feet on the worn coffee table in front of him. “Don’t sweat it so much or you’ll take all of the fun out of it.” He couldn’t help but tease. “You’re supposed to enjoy all of this.” 

She nodded slowly, still frowning. It all made sense and she was sure he was right, but this was hard. She hadn’t ever expected to fall for anyone at Hogwarts, let alone Pinky. And since relationships had been the last thing on her mind, she hadn’t even really thought about what she would do if she did end up fancying anyone. It would be much easier if someone could just tell her what to do about it, although that probably wouldn’t work out very well in the end, really. Since the relationships would be different. “I just . . . I don’t know what I want, Ted. I think I like her but . . .” 

She stopped, grinning sheepishly. “I guess I can’t stop sweating it though. There’s too much in my head right now. I have to write my brother though.” She wrinkled her nose; he would be insufferable about being right. “He told me at Christmas that I fancied her and I told him he was wrong and now I have to admit that he was right. Maybe - maybe I could tell her though? Or just - talk to her more? That would be a good place to start, right? And maybe I can get braver and tell her.”

Madame Pomfrey hadn’t specifically said that Addie needed to wait any longer - her ankle had been promptly healed, because they were at a magical school and healing broken bones was nothing. But she was pretty sure that she was supposed to wait a few more minutes, to let Madame Pomfrey check in again. However, they were celebrating in the common room and she wasn’t going to miss that! So as soon as the matron was otherwise occupied, Addie hopped off the bed and ran out the room. It was exhilarating - although that might have been from winning the match and doing so well, even if the Prewetts smashed her, and her ankle was broken. 

Too excited to pay attention, she darted around the corner, intent on getting downstairs and rejoining her teammates and friends, and careened headlong into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to - Pinky?” As Addie pushed herself up and got a good look at whom she had run into, she nearly tripped again. “What are you doing - don’t tell Madame Pomfrey I’m out here, I don’t know if she wanted me to go yet but my ankle is better! I was going to the party, do you -” she hesitated, glancing down at her feet, then back up with a shy smile. “Do you want to come?” 

Ted returned Addie’s tight hug. “Don’t be sorry.” He said lightly. “It’s just the way things are for us.” Though he wished with all of his heart that it could be different. “But thanks, Addie.” Though circumstances surrounding their relationship were not ideal, Ted found his relationship with Andromeda to be the best decision he’d ever made. He loved her, and that was all that mattered. They were lucky to have whatever time they could together, and the support of his friends meant the world to Ted.

As Addie pulled away, Ted did his best to hide his smile. “You could just ask her.” He suggested lightly, though he knew her better. It wasn’t so long ago he had been in Addie’s shoes, and the very last thing he would have ever done was ask Andromeda for a kiss. Though nowadays, he never really had to ask. “Or, you could tell her how you feel about her. Maybe tell her how much you enjoyed the last one?”

If anyone deserved better than hiding his relationship, it was Ted. He was probably the best person at school; Addie couldn’t think of anyone better than Ted, anyway. She might not like Andromeda, but Ted shouldn’t have to hide like this, even if he didn’t have great taste in girlfriends. But she let the subject go, instead focusing on his advice for her. Which didn’t start off being super helpful. She couldn’t just ask to kiss Pinky - and even if she did, that wouldn’t really make it clear that she wanted to date Pinky -

Oh god, she wanted to date Pinky. She was definitely out of luck with that but it was okay. She could just be Pinky’s friend. Maybe - maybe she could be brave enough to tell her how she felt but even that seemed like too big of a deal. “I don’t know,” she said doubtfully, shifting on the couch again so she was sitting up straight, legs tucked under her. “I don’t know how to start it and - I don’t think she feels the same way and I don’t want to lose her friendship and I just . . . I don’t know, Ted.”

To say that she was tired was an understatement - Darcy was exhausted. Her sleep had been plagued with nightmares, and her days filled with trying to hide what was going on from those she was closest to. She had a break in her schedule for the day, and had found a quiet corridor with an open seat near a window. Setting her bag beside her, she slowly laid down, letting her eyes close for a moment.

“Darcy?” Addie glanced around and hurried across the corridor to her friend. She was a little worried - with everything going on, she thought it was only smart to pay attention and be wary. But she also didn’t want to be a nuisance if Darcy need sleep or even just peace and quiet. So Addie ended up hovering a short distance away, brow furrowed in concern.