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Amelia giggled excitedly as they stepped into class. Most pupils were terrified but not her - she was practically buzzing with anticipation. Her friend, Alice looked like she was about to pass out. "Do you think- do we still have- is this-" Amelia sighed and grabbed her shoulders.
"Alice, calm down. It's all going to be fine, alright?" she felt the tension in Alice's shoulders melt. "You still remember the spell?"
"Wha- Of course I remember the spell! I knew it before you'd even picked up a wand!" Alice shot back, affronted. Amelia grinned. Alice took a great deal of pride in her academics and her position as top of the class in almost every subject; a poke at her intelligence was sure to distract her.
"Good! Then you've got nothing to worry about, okay?" Alice nodded hesitantly. Amelia slapped her on the shoulder and led her into the class. As soon as they entered, Francis jogged over to Alice. Amelia looked away, stomach twisting at the gentle smile that graced Alice's face whenever she saw Francis. She'd never seen Alice look at anyone the way she looked at him.
The french boy slung an arm around Alice's shoulders. She huffed and pushed him off, but he just laughed and leaned in to kiss the top of her head. Alice rolled her eyes jokingly and turned in his arms to peck him on the cheek. She pulled away, scarlet at the public display of affection, while Francis was so delighted he looked like he would explode. Amelia felt something shoot through her chest, sharp and sudden.
Alice and Francis' relationship made absolutely no sense; Francis was known as a shameless Gryffindor playboy and Alice was every inch the stereotypical Ravenclaw. Still, they seemed to find happiness in each other they found in no-one else, even if Alice acted like Francis annoyed her half the time. But Amelia sometimes caught her gazing dreamily across the classroom at Francis in Potions or trying to catch his eye in the dining hall, only to toss her head and ignore him when he noticed her. Those stares ate away at Amelia more than she cared to admit. Their direct contact, she could ignore. But the way Alice's eyes lit up when she caught sight of the frenchman, how she seemed to glow in his company...
What Amelia wouldn't give to have Alice be that happy around her.
"You okay?" Amelia was snapped out of her depressing thoughts by Alice at her side.
“I should be asking you that." Amelia said, her grin a little slower than usual.
“Yes, well..." Alice blushed, shyly tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Francis made me feel better, I guess."
"Why couldn't I make you feel better?" Amelia muttered to herself.
Alice raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
“Oh, nothing!" Amelia hurriedly jumped in. "Let's go and join our class." The two girls walked towards the cluster of pupils around their teacher.
The professor gestured to the wardrobe behind her. "You've all been briefed on what you're facing today, I'm sure. But I'm here to reiterate what you've been told. This is not a joke, I do not expect it to be treated as such."
She shot a look in the direction of Francis' group of friends, who snickered and jostled each other a bit. "As terrifying as it may seem, it's not real. All it takes is one word from you to destroy it. I do not wish to intervene as it will disrupt the learning experience, so please do your best to remember the spell."
She turned towards the wardrobe and drew her wand. "I will demonstrate." She waved her wand purposefully, pulling the wardrobe doors open. A giant spider, legs thicker than human arms, stepped out of the wardrobe. The teacher stood unflinching as it crawled towards her. She straightened her back and flicked her wand, and shouted, “Riddikulus!" Instantly, the spider shrivelled down to normal size, except for a single leg, which remained grossly disproportionate.
The professor cracked a smile as she turned to the class. "And, as you can see, it turns into something unthreatening or vaguely amusing." Amelia wrinkled her nose at the supposedly funny spider.
"The professor has a weird sense of humour, huh?" Alice whispered to Amelia, who nodded slowly. This was all too weird.
"Good luck with your boggarts, class." And with that, the professor gestured for the nearest pupil to her to step up. Amelia sighed and covered her face with her hands. She wanted to get up there already! This was going to be a long wait.
Francis stepped into the centre of the room, a slightly nervous expression on his face. Amelia almost made a snide comment but managed to restrain herself. Standing next to her, Alice tried to look nonchalant, but her knuckles were white and her hands clenched into fists. Amelia resisted the urge to take Alice's hand.
Francis gulped as his boggart began to take shape. It morphed into a tall, thin woman with a pinched face and anger in her eyes.
"Vous êtes détruire le nom de famille. Vous êtes inutile et pathétique ," she spat in a piercing voice.
Amelia cocked her head to the side, confused. Languages had never been her strong point, but she could decipher it was French. Alice gasped, looking stricken. "What?" Amelia hissed. "What did she say?" Alice just shook her head, covering her mouth with a hand.
Francis shuddered but summoned enough courage to raise his wand. The woman advanced further, still spewing acidic French - and what she was saying was pretty bad, judging by Alice's expression. Francis flicked his wand and yelped the spell. The woman shrank into a young child that looked remarkably like a female version Francis; it was probably a replica of a sibling of his.
Francis looked away and began to leave but Alice stepped into the middle of the circle, grabbing him in a bone-crushing embrace. Francis buried his face in her shoulder and they stood there for a couple of seconds.
Then Francis pulled away and patted Alice on the back. She stepped up to where the boggart was situated and Amelia felt her breath catch.
The boggart morphed into a huge flurry of white papers which rained down on her. Alice frantically tried to swat them off, disoriented and unaware of what they were. But Amelia could see from her place amongst the audience; they were test papers. The subjects differed but they all had one similarity: a glaring red 'Fail' written across them.
Alice drew her wand and flicked it, casting the spell without hesitation. The test papers littered around her feet were replaced with flowers, dotting the ground and gathered in great clumps. She stepped out of them, gratefully smiling at Amelia, who heaved a relieved sigh. She'd been worried Alice's boggart would be a disaster, but Alice handled it incredibly well.
This time Alice walked to Amelia, who was still eagerly awaiting her turn. As Alice took her place, their fingers brushed together and she shot Amelia a supportive look. Amelia grinned and stepped into the middle, feeling genuine tendrils of excitement curling in her stomach. She had no idea what her biggest fear was. In the past she might have said ghosts but Alice had helped her tackle that in their first year. She was totally in the dark.
Stepping up to the boggart, she mentally prepared herself. It shifted from the petals that lay on the floor, growing upwards to form the outline of a person. The details began to appear afterwards, revealing the person was- No way . The entire class went silent. Amelia blanched. That couldn't be right, could it?
Before her stood the perfect replica of the one and only Alice Kirkland.
Amelia heard a choked splutter from the audience and didn't have to turn around to see who had uttered it. But she had more important things to worry about.
Illusion-Alice sneered, ugly expression twisting her face and dulling her intelligent eyes. "Really, Amelia? You're disgusting. I should have known you had an ulterior motive for befriending me." Amelia trembled at the harsh words, backing away. Illusion-Alice followed her, eyes hardened and filled with unadulterated hatred. "I've been nothing but a good friend to you, and this is how you repay me? By forming a creepy crush on me? By holding a grudge against my boyfriend because you're too damn cowardly to confess your feelings? You're the epitome of pitiful."
"N-no..." Amelia stuttered, eyes beginning to itch and throat tightening like it always did before she cried.
"What is it? You don't think I already know everything you think about? Everything you want?" Illusion-Alice mocked, placing her hands on her slim hips. "I know that in second year you used your family's connections to make sure we were placed together for the rest of our education. I know that every time I talk to you about Francis you want to tell me to shut up, but you never do, because getting to hear my excited voice is worth the pain. I know that you want to kiss me every time I smile and I know that you dream of making me come undone beneath your touch."
"Stop it... Please, stop..." Amelia pleaded, sob bubbling up in her throat. "Please don't..."
"I know everything you never wanted me to find out, and you know what?" Illusion-Alice leaned in close, their faces inches away. "You disgust me."
"Riddikulus!" came a mangled cry from the audience.
Amelia whirled around to find Alice with her wand raised, shoulders shaking and eyes watery. Amelia felt a bout of nausea rock her body and her legs folded beneath her. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for a minute, Alice's heart-wrenching expression the last thing she remembered as she fell, head cracking on the floor and plunging everything into darkness.
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Amelia woke up in her bed with her head throbbing and her heart beating at a mile a minute. Sitting at the foot of the bed was Alice, now wearing a slightly shocked expression at Amelia's sudden awakening. "Hi." she said tentatively.
"Hey." Amelia gave a weak smile.
"How are you feeling?" Alice asked, cautiously folding and unfolding her hands in her lap. Amelia thought about it for a moment.
"Not that great." Amelia said, bringing a hand up to her face. “Honestly, fucking awful.”
"That's understandable, I suppose." Alice agreed, running a hand through her hair. "Listen, Amelia..."
"No." Amelia cut her off, flopping onto her side to face away from Alice. "We're not doing this."
"A-Amelia, you didn't even give me a chance to speak!" Alice exclaimed, rising from her seat.
"I don't fucking need to, I already know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it." Amelia said, voice threatening to break.
“No you don't, Amelia!" Alice exploded.
"Yes, I do." Amelia whispered, fighting to hold back tears.
“Just let me talk, please ." Alice implored, stress making her voice rough.
"No. Leave, Alice. Get out." Alice grabbed Amelia's shoulder, forcing her to turn to face her.
"Amelia, if you care about me at all you'll listen to what I have to say." Alice said, desperate undercurrent clear in her words.
Amelia swallowed down the lump in her throat. She wasn't going to let Alice stamp on the pieces of her already damaged heart. She took a deep breath and stared straight into Alice's beautiful green eyes.
"Leave."
Alice froze at the cold sureness in Amelia's words. A couple of tears spilled down her cheeks and Amelia's resolve almost cracked at the misery painted on her face. Alice sucked in a ragged breath and turned on her heel, hurrying from the room.
Amelia slumped into her pillow, reflecting on the fact that she just made Alice, the girl she wanted to make happy more than anyone, cry. Their friendship was over. For good. No more Alice. There couldn't be. Amelia turned over and sobbed into her pillow.
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Two moths had passed since that encounter. In that time Amelia had used her connections to get herself moved to a different class. She'd used her family's influence to tweak her schedule, making sure her and Alice were always on opposite sides of the school for lessons. She befriended a sweet, quiet Japanese girl and did her best to forget about Alice.
The only time they ever saw each other was in the dining hall. Amelia would never look over at her and when she felt Alice's eyes burning into her, she stared stubbornly down at her plate. However, their complete lack of contact didn't mean Amelia didn't keep an eye on Alice. She knew that Alice was still excelling in her studies, miles above the rest. She knew Alice had formed a tentative friendship with Francis' group of friends, as unlikely as that seemed. She knew that Alice now preferred tangerines to apples, that she now wore her hair loose instead of him two bunches and she knew that Alice was happy.
This flashed across Amelia's mind when she looked up carelessly in the dining room and accidentally caught Alice's eye. They stay completely still for a second. Alice gave a soft smile, like the ones she used to give to Francis, but with completely different connotations. It said she understood everything and forgave her. Amelia felt tears prick in her eyes. This was why she'd wanted total detachment - this stomach churning feeling was almost too much to bear.
Still, just this once, she allowed herself to smile back.