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black magic.
act one, always something.
chapter two, alley dates & cupid hate.

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ALITA BYRNES
august 1993

"I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE,  and I'll tell you again, you cannot pour your excess butterbeer ice cream into the peace lilies!"

Alita stared furiously at the small group of pre-teens, who, upon having been caught for what seemed like the millionth time dumping their melted sweets into the potted plants at the storefront, scattered like mice and high-tailed it up the Alley before Alita could get a good look at them.

"And don't come back until you learn where the bloody trash bins are!"

With a small, frustrated sigh, she glanced back to the watch face wrapped around her wrist. 1:02. The Byrnes girl gave a small roll of her eyes before rising onto her tiptoes for a better look at the alley outside from where she was stood just inside the shop's entryway.

Diagon Alley's Magical Menagerie had been Alita's home for the recent six weeks, as her mother had grown tired of her daughter's lazy lounging about the house, and had promptly reconnected Alita with her previous summer job. All in all, the job wasn't too taxing, and besides the occasional careless twelve-year-old dumping their treats into the shop's merchandise, and the activities of the insane orange shop cat, the past few weeks had been rather low stress by Alita's standards.

However, because the job was so low stress, Alita had made the decision to invite her friends to swing by the shop if any of the girls happened to be in the area, and while she'd received two yes's from four of her friends to meet at half past noon, she had yet to catch a glimpse of a singular familiar face. Now, she was starting to realize the decision had been a rather stupid one, with the smallest regret that she'd managed to make friends with the least time manageable human beings on the planet.

With a small huff, she turned on her heel and allowed the door to close behind her as she re-entered the shop, the small entrance bell above the door ringing happily as she did so.

The interior of the Menagerie was rather quaint, with its neutrally colored walls and furniture, but as the most ravishing, eye catching creatures were purposefully set near the front of the shop to draw shoppers inside, the tones were evenly balanced. Alita's eyes raked over the animal cages set at the interior storefront: one, a cage of dancing black rats, was producing a particularly large amount of noise, as the rats had begun what seemed like a dance competition in the center of the enclosure. With a small shake of her head, she closed the door with a definitive thud.

A cat hissed and an owl hooted, and Alita threw them both disgruntled glances as she stepped around the empty cages stacked in rows along the tables near the centre of the shop's interior. Scratching the head of the shop dog, Truffle, as she passed him, she reached the display counter, where stood was her co-worker and fellow seventh-year Gryffindor, Hettie Picard, who was typing and printing price tags for one of the pet supply aisles. With a soft sigh, Alita propped her chin upon the palm of her hand and stared wistfully at Hettie, who merely side-glanced her as if to signal that she didn't want to hear about Alita's complaints at the moment.

After a moment of silence, and of Alita's gaze boring into the side of the girl's face, though, Hettie let out a regretful sigh and turned her head to face the Byrnes girl, who merely stood slumped against the outside edge of the counter, her eyebrows furrowed.

"They're still not here?" Hettie inquired, glancing back to her label maker as she typed mindlessly.

"Nope."

"Well, it's just longer that you get to hang around with me, isn't it?"

Alita cracked a small smile, her posture straightening as she tilted her head in consideration. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Hettie snickered, and with a small shake of her head, returned her full focus to the label maker in front of her.

"We need a metal detector for children," Alita droned after another moment of silence as her thoughts trailed back to the plant-trashing kids, earning a nearly silent groan of irritation from Hettie at the girl's incessant need to chat her worries away.

"Right idea, wrong execution, Byrnes," The Picard girl said eventually, rolling herself away from the counter, and turned to face Alita in her chair.

"You're right. You can just go and tackle them when they try and enter — stop 'em on the move. I like it, it's very Hettie-like."

Hettie chuckled in amusement at the rather untrue statement, placing her hands on the countertop nearest to Alita to move closer to the edge. "You continue to baffle me."

"So you've said."

Alita bent down to ground level at the feeling of soft scratching on her pant leg, where she was greeted by the slobbery, wagging presence of Truffle, who jumped with his front paws onto Alita's knee. It was as if he were asking to be picked up, and as Alita was never one to shy away from an animal's affection, she scooped the small dog into her arms gently before standing again to meet Hettie's gaze.

"Well, next time anyone under the age of twelve comes in, I'll be sure to throw the dirty rat water at them - sound up to par?" The girl across from Alita asked, her eyes gleaming mischievously as she watched Alita's expression morph into one of pure amusement.

"That sounds delicious."

Hettie narrowed her eyes sarcastically on the curly-haired girl before her, but before she could return a tiresome retort back at the girl's statement, the girl nearly doubled over in a sneeze, earning herself an outburst of laughter from Alita. After a healer's appointment two years ago, Hettie had learnt she was allergic to cats, much to Alita's enjoyment, but the girl had refused to quit work, and was therefore always sneezing on the job. It was certainly the best entertainment Alita could have asked for.

            After setting Truffle back to ground level, Alita stood again, ready to comment humorously on the situation, but the two workers' attention was snatched by a newly existing presence at the front of the shop. The entrance bell chimed as the door was flung open and slammed against the wall with a lovely dramatic flair.

"I'm freshly single and ready to wallow!"

Alita's features lit immediately, a wide grin appearing on her lips as she recognized the figure of Vixen Heron, a fellow seventh-year and one of Alita's very best friends, stood just inside the doorway. With only a few quick strides across the shop floor, Alita wrapped her arms around the shoulders of the other Gryffindor girl, who returned the sentiment immediately.

As they released one another from the embrace, Alita let out a soft laugh, taking one good look at her friend's face. Despite the girl's previous statement, Alita noted that she looked happier than ever, with a wide, exhilarated smile across her face, and a newly found glow that Alita could assume was due to the breakup.

"Finally dumped the tosser, then?" The Byrnes girl asked lightly, her hands dropping back to her sides before she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Don't you know it - he even cried! Have to say, it was one of the best moments of my life to date."

As the words left her mouth, a loud sneeze sounded from the other side of the counter, and Vix seemed to recognize the presence of Hettie, who stood with a halted expression, and Vix's eyebrows raised in concern. Vix shot the girl a small smile and wave, which Hettie returned stiffly, before turning back to Alita, who simply chuckled at her friend's words.

Vix's fling had lasted approximately two months, and it had been one of the most miserable, humiliating experiences Alita had ever witnessed. She was sure she'd never seen a boy so horrible at dating in her life, and she was glad that after several weeks of encouragement from her friends, Vix had had her fill and ended it.

Suddenly, Alita seemed to remember that Vix was nearly an hour late for their scheduled hangout time, and she dropped her smile, instead replacing it with an expression of extremely forced irritation.

"I told you half past noon," She scolded, pursing her lips slightly.

Vix gave a humorous roll of her eyes. "You should know by now, my mind blocks off my senses when I hear schedules. Simply can't control it."

Alita scoffed in disbelief, her eyebrows raising slightly as she turned and made her way back towards the countertop against the back wall. Once she'd reached the counter, she turned to face Vix, and noted her friend's disheveled hairstyle and her rather scrambled-looking outfit - the girl was even missing a sock on one foot. Alita somehow found comfort in the fact that due to her untimeliness, Vix had been forced to throw herself together to get out the door.

The slamming of the front door against the store's wall, along with a grotesque shout of greeting, interrupted any snarky comment Alita could have made, and alerted the girls to the arrival of two figures standing in the entranceway.

"What's up, muppets?"

Alita grinned, recognizing the speaker of the sentence without even having to sneak a look towards the new arrivals.

Ruby Otters and Nate Squire, two more of Alita's fellow seventh years, in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively, were stood in the entranceway with twin idiotic grins.

Ruby, who had shouted the call of greeting, stepped forward first, readjusting the strap of her tan, crocheted satchel before she'd made her way across the room and had wrapped an arm around Alita's shoulders. Alita smiled into her friend's shoulder, returning the hug, before the Otters girl released her, leaving her hands to rest on Alita's arms.

"What am I, a rat tail?" Came a deeper, masculine voice from beside them, and with a quick widening of her eyes, Alita laid her eyes on Ruby's accompaniment.

The warm eyes of Nate Squire grinned down on her with a small, mischievous gleam in them, his head tilted to the side as if he'd been awaiting her notice of his presence. Alita's expression changed from shock to joy, and a smile began to spread slowly across her face.

"You said you couldn't come!" She hissed, her smile widening by the second, and Nate merely chuckled.

         "I may snuck out of the house before mum could stop me. Family reunions are shit anyways."

          Alita chuckled, shaking her head slightly at her friend's antics. Unlike Alita, Nate's family consisted of about five people, which, at family reunions, tended to be extremely stifling - something that Nate didn't do well with.

"Ooh, you're going to be in so much trouble," Vix jeered from behind the boy, and he scoffed with a small shove to her shoulder, earning an entertained laugh from the girl.

"Violence! Never the answer," Ruby scolded, waving a finger in the air as she stroked the fluffy, orange shop cat that had pounced onto the tabletop beside her.

          Alita scrunched her nose at the interaction, sighing as she watched the spoilt animal lean into her friend's touch.

          "I'll bet you love that, huh Crookshanks? Tosser," Alita muttered at the vile animal, sticking her tongue out at its squished face as she passed it.

Crookshanks had been at the Menagerie for nearly five years, after he'd been surrendered by a previous owner for his horrid nature, and Alita had to say she understood why. The animal wouldn't let a single person touch him, even attacking those who attempted to go anywhere near him, and would assault any animal in the shop if he noticed they were out of their cages. While Alita was one to love and appreciate every type of animal, she and Crookshanks did not get on, which was why she found great distaste at the animal's likeness of her friend.

"Slow day?" Nate asked, following Alita's step as she neared the counter where Hettie was stood pinching the tip of her nose as her eyes trailed after Crookshanks, who followed Ruby towards her.

Alita shrugged. "Not many pets in demand are there? Usually, everyone comes in on the last day of summer and crams their pet expenditures into three hours."

Vix chuckled at the fact.

As the four friends all came to a halt in front of the display counter, Hettie sent them all pained expressions of forced greetings, as she clearly tried to withhold a monstrous sized sneeze at Crookshanks hopping onto the countertop to rub against Ruby's arm. Alita pressed her lips together in an effort not to poke fun at Hettie's allergies.

"Why don't you go on and take lunch break, Hettie?" Alita asked after a moment.

Hettie eyed Alita hesitantly while still holding her nose, earning herself an odd glance from Nate, who seemed to be asking an unasked question through his expression.

It took nearly three tries of coercing Hettie with a break, but Alita finally finally broke her will, and the girl grabbed her bag before running towards the front door. The faint sound of a loud sneeze muffled through the door the moment it closed.

"So..." Nate started quietly, pursing his lips as he leaned an elbow on the countertop.

Vix cocked an eyebrow. "So?"

"I've got a question for you ladies."

"Go on, spit it out," Alita coerced, tilting her head slightly in question.

"What would you guys say if I were to ask you to a beach party?"

Ruby laughed in hilarity at Nate's question, but her unbelieving expression was dropped when she saw Nate shoot her a serious look.

"Wait, really?" The Otters girl asked, her voice jumping in pitch.

"You've got to elaborate, Squire. We've all got small minds," Alita called as she rounded to counter to straighten the stack of papers Hettie had been working on before she'd left.

Vix nodded in agreement, and Ruby let out an offended scoff at Alita's words.

"Dria and her friends are throwing a party on the beaches of Newquay and I've been invited - thought I might as well ask you for shits and laughs, right?" Nate clarified.

At the mention of Nate's girlfriend and her friends, Alita's movements halted in their progress. Her mind flashed to Dria's friend, Penelope Clearwater, who just so happened to be the girlfriend of Percy, and a set of distasteful shivers treaded down her spine.

         Alita had been infatuated with the Weasley boy since third year, when Professor McGonagall had thrown together an Honors Dinner at the end of the school year, which had required extremely formal dress. Needless to say, the sight of her best friend in a black suit was not an atrocity. Though she had a rather stiff handle on her feelings towards Percy, Alita was constantly subtly reminded that her feelings were not reciprocated.

She tried to be careful about what she let get to her when it came to the boy, and she was usually rather good at it, except for when it came to mentions of Penelope - then, she really couldn't help what expressions her face made. After four years of secretly pining after her best friend, Alita really was used to the feeling, but the more Percy's relationships were mentioned, the more miserable Alita became, and it was usually very noticeable.

Right on cue, Vix glanced towards Alita, who looked like she'd just tasted the foulest thing in the world, and a pang of sympathy struck her in the stomach.

"Well... who else will be there?" Ruby asked carefully, glancing, too, towards Alita's clear discomfort.

Nate snorted. "Not enough, am I?"

Alita looked towards her friends, shoving her pit of despair into a smaller ball in her chest, and took in a deep breath in an attempt to clear her head. With a small smile, she shook her head.

"Nah, we just keep you around for eye candy."

Vix snorted at Alita's forced attempt at humour, and nearly fell over her own feet as she attempted to stomach her laughter. Nate narrowed his eyes at the Byrnes girl, who stood with a very forced devilish grin.

"Thin ice, Byrnes," He replied playfully. "But seriously - would you guys go? I kind of need the support."

At the reminder of the Squire boy's nervous nature, particularly while around his girlfriend, Alita smiled softly, shaking her head. "Of course we would. Couldn't miss it."

          However, as much as she feigned humour and smiled at her friend, she just couldn't rid herself of the ball of misery that had already seemed to settle itself permanently inside the walls of her stomach. Clearing her throat, she glanced around the group of friends.

          "Right?"

          The question had been pointed at Vix and Ruby, who had clearly been thinking of other things, as their response was one of wide eyes and gaping mouths.

          "Right! Right, of course. Anything for you Nate," Vix said, sickly sweet, earning herself yet another gentle shove to the shoulder from the boy stood next to her.

          "Seconded," Ruby added, her face falling the slightest bit when Crookshanks leaped onto the ground from the counter, away from her.

Her attention, however, was once more drawn when, what Alita assumed, she had had a clearly brilliant idea. Her eyes lit immediately, her gaze snapping to Alita.

"What about Percy?"

Once again, that pit of misery that had been growing for the past several seconds in Alita's insides was wild and furious once more, and she knew her face had fallen from the look in Vix's eyes. Ruby's once eclectic pretense had also fallen into one of clear regret at her words. Nate raised an eyebrow, looking between the three girls.

"Am I missing something?" Nate asked carefully, looking specifically toward Alita, who knew she looked odd by the way Nate's expression shifted.

          "What about him?" Alita asked, very purposefully ignoring Nate's inquiry.

         "What if you invite him to the party? Add another familiar face?" Ruby continued, an air of forced lightheartedness surrounding her voice.

"Even if I were to invite him, he wouldn't agree to go, you know he hates parties - and that's if he's back from Egypt today," Alita said, shrugging. "And anyway, Penelope will be there, and I'm sure she's already invited him."

While Alita's intentions had been to keep her voice under control while mentioning Penelope, she realized immediately that she'd been unsuccessful, as she'd caught the way her voice had faltered upon uttering the Clearwater girl's name, and she'd been spared several hesitant glances from her friends. Before any of them could comment however, the bell jingled as it announced yet another person's arrival.

Alita noted that the moment Vix had turned to catch sight of the new arrival, she'd whipped back around, slapping a hand to her mouth quietly as she tried to keep a disbelieving expression at bay.

Alita stared in surprise at the two figures entering the shop's interior, her stomach twisting nervously as she took particular notice of one of the figures.

"Lita!"

"Shit." Alita bit her tongue the moment the curse left her mouth quietly, and found herself awkwardly fumbling around to try and play off her reaction.

Ruby drifted away from the group to keep her smile unnoticed, as a young Ginny Weasley bounded towards Alita, an excited grin playing on her lips.

Alita forced a smile onto her face, squatting slightly to catch the youngest Weasley in a warm embrace. The moment the two made contact, Ginny wrapped her arms tightly around Alita's neck, squeezing so hard that Alita thought she might run out of air.

          If there was anyone on the planet who adored Alita more than Ginny Weasley, it would certainly have been a sight to behold. The girl had formed an unbreakable attachment to the Byrnes girl, and no amount of grouchy comments made by Percy at the theft of his best friend by his younger sister had been able to change the fact.

Pulling away, Alita grinned down upon the younger girl, squeezing her arms softly as she grasped a proper look at her.

"How was Egypt, squirt? You've got some rosy cheeks - sun get to you?" She asked conversationally, her heart still doing backflips as she tried to ignore the figure behind the girl that still approached the group. Though, while she knew she was using Ginny's appearance to distract from the other gaining presence, she really did adore the younger girl.

Ginny nodded. "Fantastic! I've got a cursed mummy tooth that George smuggled for me — mum doesn't know, though."

Alita stomached a very believing snort as she imagined just what else the Weasleys twins had been up to outside of her own supervision. "Your secret's safe with me, though you'd better put that thing away before I toss it away myself. Those aren't playthings, Gin."

Ginny shrugged. "I'll be alright."

With a soft laugh, Alita stood, ruffling a gentle hand through Ginny's hair. "You always are, aren't you?"

          "That's up for discussion."

          At the arrival of the anticipated voice, Ginny shoved the tooth she'd pulled out to display proudly to Alita back into her pocket and whipped around to face the boy standing just behind her. Alita shoved down all feelings and rested her hands atop the youngest Weasley's shoulders as she, too, faced the new arrival.

          With a rather disgruntled, yet humored expression on his face, Percy Weasley burrowed his hands into his front pant pockets, giving Ginny a warned look.

          "That's just rude," Ginny responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

          "Isn't it my job to be?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

          Ginny seemed to contemplate his words for a moment, causing Alita to smile amusedly, before she shrugged and looked back to Percy.

          "You're just too uptight, Perce. Loosen the shoulders."

          Before Percy could get a word in edgewise, Ginny was scurrying away from the group, waving her hand wildly back to Alita.

          "See you tonight!"

          With eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Alita waved back with a small smile on her face, before dropping her hand and looking back to Percy.

          The sound of Ruby clearing her throat drew Alita out of her daze, and back to her group of friends standing beside her still.

          "See you at the party?" Nate asked, looking to Alita in question.

          She simply nodded silently, bidding her other two friends goodbye.

"I'll owl with more details!"

          "Sounds great!"

After the group had successfully greeted Percy, and bid him and Alita goodbye, they'd exited the shop, leaving the two friends alone at the counter.

          "She did get taken into a murderous chamber last year, it's only normal for me to..." Percy muttered, his mind still clearly hung up on the last words of his sister before her previous exit.

          It was as if he felt Alita's gentle gaze on him, a small smile on her lips, as he looked up from the floor and met her eyes. His shoulders dropped immediately, squaring off in a relaxed fashion before he sent her a greeting smile.

          "Hi, stranger," Alita smiled, chuckling softly at his previous tight nature, and that missed feeling of warmth and familiarity that often came with seeing her best friend returned instantly, amongst the butterflies in her stomach.

          "Hey."

          He looked at her with an expression in his eyes that Alita couldn't quite place, before his expression morphed into one of playful mockery. "How's life in the menagerie?"

          Alita scoffed, shoving his shoulder softly, her smile widening. "Hey! Don't insult the dancing rats, Perce. They have feelings."

"Don't I know it?" Percy mused, and Alita thought back to his old, scabby pet rat that she knew now belonged to his younger brother, Ron.

Alita grinned, then glared at the attempt Crookshanks made to scratch a hole in her pant leg, before she looked back to her best friend. Drumming her fingers on the countertop, she raised an eyebrow.

"So, what's tonight, then?" She asked, as a reference to what Ginny had said before she'd left the shop.

Percy scrunched his eyebrows in both thought and confusion before a look of recognition crossed his features.

"Oh, mum wants to know if you and the family want to come for dinner tonight. She's roasting a turkey she found dead in the garden this morning, so I can't guarantee it'll be any good—" He began hesitantly, but cut himself off when he caught Alita's joyous expression.

The moment the mention of the mother head of the Weasley family tumbled from Percy's mouth, Alita was smiling as widely as ever. If there was one person Alita truly adored above all others, it was Molly Weasley.

          "Of course we want to come. I'll let mum and dad know," Alita replied, without a single thought about asking her parents about their nighttime plans.

          Alita knew by the way his face had tightened that he was trying to keep his excitement at bay, and she couldn't help but laugh softly beneath her breath.

          "Brilliant — though, all you'll hear about is that ruddy vacation."

           "How was Egypt? Someone," Alita said pointedly, "didn't owl me but twice."

Percy and his family had traveled to Egypt for the summer, as Arthur Weasley had won the Daily Prophet's Grand Prize Galleon Draw, and had promptly planned a large family vacation to visit the Weasley's second eldest son, Charlie, who worked with dragons all across the globe.

          The look of distaste that crossed the Weasley boy's features was enough to tell anyone what he thought about the question. Alita did her best to keep from laughing.

          "The twins shut me in a fucking pyramid — I would have written more often, but I was recooperating," He groaned irritably, and the snort that left Alita's nostrils was completely involuntary. Even the look of betrayal sent her way did nothing to silence her.

          "Aw, poor thing."

          "Hey! Have you ever been shut in a pyramid full of cursed gold?" Percy insisted, his eyes wide. Alita smirked, knowing full well the situation hadn't been as dramatic as Percy was making it out to be.

          "No. Have you?" She countered, watching in amusement as he squirmed irritably.

          "You get the idea—" He began defensively, with a slight roll of his eyes.

"I'm sure it was terrifying regardless, Perce."

          "I didn't say it was terrifying."

Alita pressed her lips into a small, scrunched smile as Percy found himself at a loss for words, which only furthered as he gave a shaky laugh when he realized he was outnumbered in the playful debate.

          "Humility doesn't suit you," The Byrnes girl commented, tutting softly.

"Thank you."

***

          ALITA GRINNED, AND GINNY SPAT OUT HER BUTTERBEER.

          The Byrnes family had arrived at the Burrow nearly three hours ago, and the party mood was in complete fulls swing. The moment the family had stepped foot into the large family home, they'd been swept up into the charm of their closest friends, and the rest, as they say, was history.

          As of the moment, Alita had witnessed her father teaching Mrs. Weasley how to bake the perfect banana bread ("It's an essential to baking, Alita!") and the house consequently smell of smoke, the Weasley and eldest Byrnes twins attempt to shut both Arbor and Ron in the supply closet, and her mother and Mr. Weasley attempt several interesting renditions of Billy Joel's greatest hits in duets on the grand piano.

          Alita and the youngest Weasley had been sat upon one of the sofas in the Weasleys' living room for the better part of an hour, where the younger girl had spent most of the time cackling at the tales of a drunken Alita, told by Alita herself. Some tales, the Byrnes girl had decidedly left unsaid, as some things were better kept secret, especially from Ginny's wild mouth.

          "You need to get drunk more often," Ginny concluded after the latest story Alita had told, sipping graciously on the rim of her butterbeer.

          Alita's eyes widened as she smiled, her head tilting as she readjusted her leg on the cushion beneath her.

          "Don't let Percy hear you say that," The Byrnes girl warned with a chuckle, her thoughts flashing to the idea of how Percy would react upon hearing tales of a drunk Alita raving about the Gryffindor girls' dorms on a rant about Ministry politics.

          "I don't worry about him," Ginny shrugged.

          "He is your older brother, Gin—"

          "Are you condoning alcoholism?"

          Alita's search for the source of the voice was short lived, as her eyes landed on the nearly identical figures of George and Fred Weasley standing just beyond the sofa on which she and Ginny sat.

          "That's a criminal offense."

          "Could have you reported to the law."

          "Really could."

          Alita gave a great roll of her eyes, shooting the two boys a warning glare. Mischief still gleamed in their eyes.

          "You two have committed multiple criminal offences. Piss off before I tell your mum you gave your baby sister a cursed tooth." Alita shot at them, arching a brow as if begging them to try and push the topic any further.

          She'd already known her warnings would do next to nothing, but she couldn't help the exasperated sigh she let out as the two inched closer to the sofa.

         "Ooh, so touchy," George tried, tilting his head to the side to look her dead in the eye, and it was as if he was returning her warning from before.

          "Touch this."

          Before she'd even made sure the coast was clear of her her mother or Mrs. Weasley, Alita raised a fist, allowing her middle finger to pop upwards in the direction of the two twins. Ginny fell out into unbelieving laughter, and the twins smirked at her, snickering at her words as if implying a different, inappropriate meaning to them.

          "You—"

          "Hey! technically, Forge here was the culprit of that particular offense—" Fred interrupted her, jabbing a thumb towards the shoulder of his twin.

          "Oh, shut it!" Alita cried, waving a hand violently in their direction in her last mild attempt to shove them off.

          It seemed they no longer fancied irritating their older brother's best friend at the moment, as they simply snickered as they stalked away, hunched over as if plotting their next mischievous assault.

          "D'you reckon they'll send you a toilet seat from Myrtle's bathroom again this year?" Ginny asked, her eyes following Alita as the older girl let out a loud, dramatic sigh and plopped against the back cushion of the sofa.

          Alita scrunched her nose playfully, shaking her head at the memory of waking Christmas morning of her sixth year to find a magically enlarged toilet seat, wrapped in a vibrant red bow as her gift from the Weasley twins.

          "Dear god, I hope not." She smirked, looking towards Ginny. "But, if they do, I'll just send it along to you, how's that sound?"

          "Erm, no."

          Alita chuckled amusedly at the Weasley girl,  her eyes twinkling, and very gently shoved the girl's shoulder.

          A large, chaotic movement to the right of the girls caught Alita's attention, and she'd barely registered the scene before a rather furry, small mass had darted past the sofa, followed by a very frazzled looking Ron Weasley, who really did look like he was near ready to shitting himself.

           Upon closer inspection, and after craning her neck, Alita recognized the small mass to be Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, and she simply sighed, shaking her head as she remembered all the things the animal had done while belonging to Percy — including sit upright while eating a chocolate bar; Percy had nearly had a fit.

          "I'm going for some tarts, want any?" Ginny asked after the chaos had died down, turning to Alita.

          "Ah, no thanks. enjoy."

          Alita's words resulted in a disbelieving scoff from Ginny as she stood, and Alita simply shrugged.

          "Boring."

          "Did you just call me boring—?"

          The Byrnes girl's eyes widened as they landed on the retreating back of Ginny, who grinned over her shoulder to catch Alita's reaction.

           When Ginny had disappeared into the kitchen, Alita slumped into the couch cushions, crossing her arms over her chest.

          "I'm not boring."

          "Yes, you are!"

         Angie pointed directly at Alita from across the room, where she'd been sat playing an intense game of wizard's chess with Anise, with Aadhya overlooking to make sure no one was cheating as they usually did.

          "Piss off Angie!" Alita shouted perhaps a bit too loudly, as the room erupted into chuckling, and the ginger head of Molly Weasley popped out from the doorway of the kitchen with a very disapproving expression on her face.

          "Alita Byrnes!"

          Alita slumped even further into the sofa's cushion, as if it were possible, and raised an embarrassed hand to her temple.

          "Sorry, Molly!"

          "No she's not, Molly, don't let her lie to you," Angie tutted, moving one of her pieces to knock down one of Anise's, which earned her a sharp outcry from her twin.

            Alita made a face and stuck her tongue out, to which Angie simply raised a casual middle finger before returning to her game.

          "I don't think you're boring."

          Upon hearing the voice to her left, Alita was immediately perked up, her head swiveling to find the source. All was well when her eyes landed on the approaching figure of her best friend, who wore an exhausted expression upon his face, and was nearly swallowed in his largest, most comfortable jumper. His glasses were askew across his face as well, and seemed to be smudged from his habit of rubbing his nose in frustration.

          "Ah, there he is. come out of hiding, have you?" Alita poked, offering a gentle smile as she moved to make room on the cushion before patting the space beside her.

          With a soft plop against the sofa's pillows, Percy made his seat beside Alita, and leaned his head against the backing of the cushion, momentarily closing his eyes.

          "In my defense, I was finishing up my paper for Professor McGonagall," He spoke from where he sat, his eyes fluttering open after a few seconds.

          "It's not due for two months, Perce!" Alita exclaimed softly, a hint of humour to her tone as she looked upon her best friend, who merely grimaced. 

          "And?"

          Alita chuckled, shaking her head lightly, and tilted her head onto her shoulder to properly look at him.

          "I've missed you," She muttered, and immediately bit onto her bottom lip.

          The moment the words had left her mouth, she felt her stomach erupt into butterflies, and an instant twinge of regret at saying something that would only feed her pining fantasy burned at the tip of her mind.

           "Yeah, yeah." Percy responded, a small, bashful smile on his face as he absorbed her words.

    Shaking away her clouded thoughts with great effort, Alita turned once more to face him, this time with a joking expression she'd forced onto her face. "So you didn't miss me?"

           "I—you—" The Weasley boy stammered, his cheeks twinging pink as he attempted to defend himself.

          "Oh, don't piss yourself, I'm kidding. I'm funny like that," Alita chuckled, patting his arm slightly with her hand.

           Percy let out a huff, glancing towards her.

          "You most certainly are."

          The two fell into a comfortable silence, with Alita's eyes focused on the duo still sat at the piano bench, singing the most creative medleys of some of the most popular songs the age had seen — and, in Alita's opinion, very likely butchering them as well. Eabha Byrnes was sat closest to the pair sat on the sofa, her hair pulled back into a rather messy bun as a clear effort to keep her long, curly locks out of her face in her rather exerting task of piano playing. Arthur Weasley was sat just beside her, a wide, interested grin on his face as he tried to follow along with the movements her fingers made on the keys — so far, he hadn't been all too successful. Every now and again, Arthur would throw in some off-key lyrics, while Eabha consistently sang the entire song in that fashion.

          "So... have you heard anything about a beach party?" Alita began after a few minutes of silence between the two, glancing carefully towards Percy.

          Judging by the way the boy's body shifted uncomfortably, Alita received the answer before any words were spoken.

          "Er—yeah, I have. Penny owled me this morning," Percy said slowly, clearing his throat as if it would rid him of his spoken words.

          "Ah."

And just like that, Alita had managed to dig herself into the hole from earlier that day, the pit of consuming misery in her chest threatening to burst forth and swallow her whole.

With a small, harried glance towards the boy, Alita, too, cleared her throat, tapping her fingers atop her leg as she thought of anything she could say without making the situation any more awkward.

         "So, you going then?" She queried, managing by some miracle to keep her voice level through her question.

          Percy shrugged.

          "It's not exactly my scene," He replied simply, leaving no room for interpretation, which was one of the things that drove Alita positively mad.

          "Is that what you told Penny?" Alita continued, looking at him in disbelief.

          "I told her I couldn't."

          Alita's eyes widened, her mouth parting in a small 'o' as she gaped at the boy sat beside her, whose eyes, too, widened upon seeing his friend's expression.

          "Percival Weasley!" She hissed loudly, shoving him gently as she looked on him incredulously.

          Alita could feel the sharp gaze of Angie, who she knew to be sat across the room glaring her younger sister down for interrupting her game of chess.

          Percy threw his hands into the air, shrinking his shoulders into his torso as he looked to her defensively.

          "I hate parties!" He explained, a tone of confusion and panic laced in his voice.

          "She's your girlfriend!" Alita insisted, sinking back into the couch, shaking her head disbelievingly at Percy's audacity.

          "Fair point, but I still don't want to go," Percy replied, earning himself a great, sarcastic eye roll from the girl sat beside him.

           Alita continued to look on him incredulously, before an idea popped into her head. Sure, it could've been considered manipulation, but she dismissed that idea before turning to the Weasley boy. 

          "What if I go?" She asked after a moment, quirking an eyebrow in his direction.

          He narrowed his eyes almost suspiciously at her as her words circled through his mind.

          "What?"

          "Nate owled me this morning, and I've told him I'd go. If I go, will you go?" Alita continued, raising an eyebrow in question.

Percy sighed, pushing the centre of his glasses further up the bridge of his nose with a finger.

          "Alita..."

Alita made a small, whining noise in the back of her throat as her shoulders fell.

          "Oh, come on. All you've got to do is sit in the corner, maybe drink some alcohol, eat a cupcake, hang with Penelope, and then leave. No biggie. Time will fly by."

Even if Alita didn't believe her own words, she raised an eyebrow as she looked onto the boy sat beside her, his expression one of consideration.

          "I... I don't know," Percy started hesitantly, sparing a side glance towards the girl.

With a small, child-like frown, and a furrowing of her eyebrows, Alita turned to fully face the Weasley boy.

          "Please?" She asked in a soft, begging voice as she pursed her lips, which earned her a small chuckle from Percy.

          "Okay. Yeah, okay, okay I'll go," He smiled gently, before looking to her sternly. "But only if you stop looking at me like that — it's unnatural."

The childish expression was dropped from her face immediately, and morphed into one of great joy.

          "You're my best friend, you know that?" She conceded, falling against the backing of the sofa once more with a triumphant smirk.

Percy forced down a smile.

          "I'm so glad you've confirmed that for me. Makes me feel loads better," He retorted, earning himself a snort from the girl sat beside him.

          "Just doing my civil duty."

Percy chuckled, sending butterflies into Alita's stomach. In an attempt to ignore the fluttery feeling, Alita directed her eyes towards the game of wizard's chess between three of her sisters, which had clearly been running for well over an hour, judging by the look of pure determination on Anise's face — it was certainly a sight to behold.

Glancing back towards Percy, intending to comment on her three sisters' will to compete, Alita found herself reeling slightly as she was met with his gentle, watching gaze. Alita's eyes widened.

          "What?" She asked, a small, confused smile appearing on her lips.

Upon being caught in his staring act, Percy widened his eyes as well, his cheeks tinting pink the longer he was beneath Alita's questioning gaze.

          "Nothing," He dismissed hastily, before glancing towards her hesitantly.

          "What?"

When Percy provided no answer, Alita gave his shoulder a gentle, playful shove, to which he gave a small laugh.

          "Nothing! Can't I look at you? Is that bad now?" He insisted, raising an eyebrow in her direction. She scoffed.

          "I'll get back to you in three business days."

          "You—" The Weasley boy began incredulously, but Alita was already leant forward with intent to stand, her eyes fastened on her mother and Mr. Weasley's figures, where they still sat at the piano.

          "Oh, do you hear that?" She interrupted, a playful, shit eating grin on her lips as she inched towards the edge of the sofa cushion.

          "I—what?" Percy furrowed his eyebrows, halting in his movement.

          "Yeah, oh! I think my mum's telling me she wants me to come and strike some cords!" Alita pressed, her voice playfully high in pitch, and she pushed herself off of the cushioned sofa with purpose.

          "She is not—"

Alita shrugged, facing Percy as she slowly walked backwards towards the piano.

          "Nope, nope, pretty sure she is!"

          "You bugger—" Percy tutted, his eyes narrowed on the retreating form of his best friend.

          "Oi, mum! Living on a prayer's up next!"

author's note!
someone tell alita that you
need a guitar to play living
on a prayer, not a piano

thank you for reading!