Hope Starts Broken Hearts

I watched, completely astonished, as the three of my friends turned around to leave.

"Guys, wait!" I cried, running to catch up with them. The door slammed loudly in my face when I reached it, and I stood there, stunned.

I could practically feel each and every set of eyes at the Slytherin table boring into my back as I stood there.

"Great friends you've got there, Crowe," a cocky Parkinson shouted from behind me, and I could hear the snickers of several girls.

I pushed away the craving to turn around and strangle her and pulled up enough courage to fling open the shop door, where I stepped into the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. The narrow road was flooded with people up and down, which made it nearly impossible to distinguish the faces of my friends among the many people traveling casually with the rest of the crowd.

My impatience grew heavier, and I gave up examining every single face. The three of them were probably already off somewhere else by now. With the feeling of my heart falling down to my stomach, I turned around, taking a step towards the entrance to Tricks and Treats.

"Belle," Aspen's voice chimed, causing my attention to switch to his figure. He was sitting in one of the tables that bordered the outside of the store, and I suddenly felt a spurge of joy.

"Aspen," I breathed, walking over to him. "I'm sorry! I—“ But he interrupted me.

"Doesn't bother me as much as it did to Clyde and Heidi." Aspen shrugged as I occupied the empty seat in front of him. "They got mad at me when I told them you probably had a good reason to ditch us for Malfoy."

I sat there, completely guilty, as silence enveloped the vibe around us. I felt Aspen's lingering stare watching me, curious now.

"You do have a good reason to leave us for Malfoy, right?"

I bit my lip, staring down at the two hands I grasped together on top of my lap. I wanted to tell him, 'Malfoy asked me to sit with him, and he bought my custard for me. I wanted to be nice and return the favor' but I couldn't find the nerve to. It wasn't necessarily true, because I don't even know why I sat with him in the first place.

Aspen let out a long, aggravated sigh, and rested his head on his hand lazily. He knew exactly what was on my mind, and he knew I didn’t have a good reason at all.

"I'm sorry Aspen," I mumbled almost inaudibly, but loud enough for him to hear. When I timidly brought my head up to face him, my heart fluttered at his forgiving smile.

"You know it's okay, Belle," he told me, instantly making me smile back. "Just tell us next time, okay? We were all worried you slipped on some custard and hit your head or something, knowing you."

I chuckled slightly as I nodded. "I promise."

Aspen was finishing the very last of the contents in his cup. I stared strangely at it. Where had my own gone off to?

"So how was hanging with royalty?" Aspen broke my silent gaze. He had a devious smile on, referring to Draco most likely since Clyde had a habit of calling him the Slytherin Prince.

"He's really not that bad. To me, I suppose," I responded, making Aspen stare eagerly at me. "After everything we've heard about him, the darling was an angel," I laughed.

Only because he paid for me, but I left that part out of the conversation.

"I suppose," Aspen replied nonchalantly, his chestnut eyes staring blankly at the people walking by. He still had an amused smirk on his face. "But remember, Lucifer was an angel too."

I laughed again as he brought up one of the topics that was mentioned in Muggle Studies last year. It sounds a bit bratty of us, but we always made fun of everything we learned in the class. Researching muggles wasn't exactly the year's high-point in our minds, but being raised pure-blood, the thought probably just ran in our veins.

"Speak of the devil," Aspen murmured, breaking me out of my thoughts. He was staring passed me as he grinned, and I turned around in my chair.

Draco was walking out of the store talking to Marcus Flint on his rightI—something about Quidditch, I faintly overheard—while Pansy was giggling on his left. Lackeys Crabbe and Goyle were following closely behind as usual. That's when I noticed that Draco was holding two cups in his hands, and a thought lit up in my head.

I had almost forgotten that the game barely started.

"I'll be right back," I directed to Aspen and disappeared before he could even ask where I was going.

Flint was in the middle of a sentence when he noticed me walking up to them. While Draco was turned the other way, I snatched away the cup that was in his right hand.

"I believe this is mine," I stated as I did so, ignoring the glare that never left Pansy's scowling face.


Draco turned around in surprise, but the second his eyes met mine, his mouth curled in a devious smile. He proceeded on to comment, "It's a bit odd tasting, but I suppose it's alright."

"Would it taste better with some Jobberknoll Regurgitation?" I joked, and budged a rare chuckle from the malicious blonde.

That also meant a deeper glare from Pansy, but I continued to ignore it. She obviously thought there was something going on right now, as if our inside joke was only one of many. Pansy looked absolutely crushed right, and it couldn’t hurt to make her even a tiny bit angrier for talking to Draco.

"You know," I added, lengthening the conversation to purposely bug Parkinson. "I never said you could try it."

Draco looked at me with both his eyebrows raised. "So what, you want some sort of apology or something?" he asked, bewildered.

Everyone knows that if there was one person in the world that didn't do apologies, it'd be Draco Malfoy. I covered up by saying, “No, I was kidding.” I grinned up at him, which he returned with a small smirk. I crossed my arms, holding out my half-empty cup of custard in my right hand. “I don’t suppose yours is any better, though, Malfoy.”

“Mine is twice as better tasting than yours, Crowe."

“Impossible,” I snorted, but Draco’s handsome face burned as haughty as always.

“Mine has more than just Diricawl Spit and Pixie Dust,” he immediately retorted, and I suddenly thought that Draco Malfoy was the cutest thing in the world.

“Pixie Spit and Diricawl Dust, dear,” I giggled and reached for his cup. “Let me try yours, then.”

“Fine,” he said simply, and I was instantly surprised when he handed his cup over without hesitation. I expected him not to do so—I was joking, anyways—But I felt strangely happy seeing him do that. I glanced over at Parkinson with a wide, demented smirk, openly knowing that I’ve pushed it way over the edge. I could practically see smoke shooting out of the sides of her head.

I turned back to Draco, but once my hand had touched his cup, Pansy raised her arm and purposely knocked over the cup in my other hand. The custard escaped the container like a waterfall, splashing onto the pavement, leaving bits of fillings dropping along with it. I jumped back in reaction, along with the rest of the group, just barely avoiding the spill. My head instantly shot up to glare at her.

"Oh dear." She faked a gasp, and then looked at me with a scornful smile. "Looks like you made a mess, Crowe!" The girl let out a loud, irritating cackle. The other three stood there laughing.

"Piss off, Parkinson!" I spat, dropping the empty cup and giving her chest violent shove.

Pansy stumbled backwards from the impact before dropping to the floor. The boys in the group exchanged snorts, causing her face to flush red with embarrassment.

Flint was was laughing obnoxiously by now. “Should join the house team with the power you've got, Crowe,” he jeered, clutching his stomach as he continued his guffaw.

“Bloody git,” I scoffed, watching as Goyle held his hand out to help her up, only for her to slap it and pick herself off the ground by herself. “Try that again, I dare you,” I said before turning around and preparing to walk away.

That's when I felt a presence close up behind me, and I whipped out my wand and twirled back around immediately. Pansy and I had our wands pointed to each other, mere centimeters away from each other's faces. The comedic vibe the group sensed earlier immediately changed as they stared at the scene in front of them; their grins disappearing and their eyes widening slightly.

"You're going to regret that, Crowe!" she threatened, raising her wand even higher and glowering at me with dark, furious eyes.

"You should wear a scowl more often, Parkinson," I snarled, ignoring her pathetic threat. "It takes away just a bit of the ugly from your face."

She kept her stance high and proud, but I could see her dark eyes glimmer with tears. The boys sadistically dragged on their laughter.

"Ladies, break it up," Aspen's tall figure suddenly appeared in between us, using his hands to lower our arms.

"Aspen, move," I demanded in a bossy manner.

He calmly replied, "Now, now, Belle. You know the rules just as well as I do."

I tore my eyes away from Pansy, traveling them up to Aspens'. He stared back at me, in a way where I got the feeling it wasn't worth it. I drew my wand back slowly and then watched as Parkinson hesitated, but eventually did the same. She wiped at her eyes quickly with her sleeve and then cowered to Draco's side.

"Draco—" she started, cradling his arm, but Draco whipped his arm away in an instant.

The sight almost made me smile.

He looked threateningly down at her. "I had told you we were over weeks ago."

Pansy looked crushed. Crabbe and Goyle were trying their absolute hardest not to laugh but the attempt was a failure. Aspen and I didn't bother holding it in, and while Pansy shot a final glare in our direction, she took off the other way, back into the store.

And thank Merlin she did.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy," I faked an apology. "If I had known you fancied the wench, I'd have been a bit nicer to her. Although, you didn't have to send her off crying like that."

"Didn't mean to, honestly," Draco scoffed, but his gray eyes danced in amusement when he looked at me. "Just saw a perfect opportunity to let you know I was single."

Damn, he was good. I actually felt myself blushing and looked away quickly to hide it.

That's when I saw Pansy walking out of the store again, this time with the other three Slytherin girls grouped next to her, all of them sending me a hateful stare of their own, and I suddenly felt angry again.

"Come on," I ordered, grasping Aspen by the arm. "Before I really jinx that foul wench."

"Someone's feeling Slytherin today," he managed a soft chuckle, following obediently as I dragged him away.

Draco raised a brow at his comment. “What’s that supposed to mean, Aldridge?” his bitter voice asked from behind us.

I rolled my eyes and walked faster; Aspen ignoring Draco's question while I ignored the insults Pansy seemed to be passing around to the rest of her group.

“Where are you off to now?” Aspen inquired as we inched further away from the other students, losing ourself in the alley's crowd.

“Away from that prick.”

"Who, Parkinson or Malfoy?" he joked, but quickly sensed that I was in no mood to laugh.

I eventually began slowing down once the Tricks and Treats shop was out of sight. Aspen slowed down beside me, catching the pattern of my uneven footsteps.

“I really detest her!” I exclaimed, dramatically pointing a finger back in the direction of Pansy Parkinson.

“I would have never guessed," he replied sarcastically, making me growl to myself. Aspen looked at me; an amused expression written on his face. "I'm pretty sure she feels the same way about you."

“Shut up,” I punched his left shoulder.

“You can get help for that, you know?”

I looked up at him, confused now. “Help for what?”

He laughed slightly as he opened the door to The Leaky Cauldron for me, gesturing for me to pass through before him. “Your temper."

I shot him a soft glare as I walked in before him. “I don’t need help,” I spat.

He rolled his eyes at my stubbornness. “Of course you don’t, because beating up Parkinson when you’re mad is absolutely essential.”

“It is,” I affirmed. “And your sarcasm isn’t exactly lightening up the mood.”

Aspen rolled his auburn eyes yet again. He was obviously irritated with my temper, and I felt a bit guilty for taking out my anger on him. “Anyways, you hungry?” he asked me, changing the subject. “I’ll buy you something. Food usually calms you down.”

“No,” I replied sourly. “Can we just go back to Hogwarts now?”

He sighed, casually shoving his hands into his pockets as he led the way. “As you wish."

I couldn’t help but smile when I snuck a glance at the boy towering several inches above me. Aspen Aldridge was way too nice—stereotypically speaking—for a Slytherin. There hasn’t been a single person to dislike him in the entire four years we’ve been in Hogwarts, unlike myself, who’s drawn quite a few enemies over the years.

It makes me think about how different Aspen and I are. While I tend to be on the more outspoken side, Aspen knows how to keep his mouth shut. I’d yell at a kid for bumping into me when Aspen would kindly apologize. While the sorting hat practically told me I fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down, it almost placed Aspen in Ravenclaw for his ‘brilliant mind’ and ‘divine wit.’ Above all, the kid’s better than I am at anything I could possibly think of.

The two of us are complete opposites, yet he’s stuck with me through everything, putting up with my behavior and constant mood swings.

Aspen Adam Aldridge was unconditionally—unmistakably my best friend.

"By the way," he said, grabbing my attention again. "He might be into you, did you notice? That Malfoy."

"No," I said quickly. "He's just a cocky little git. Thinks he can win over any girl he wants."

Aspen was grinning brightly at my side. "Probably can, the way he's got even you flushing red when he talks."

I was definitely about to disown my best friend and punched him in the shoulder again.