Sequel: Loonar

Hand Me Downs.

Awkward.

I felt a hand tug on my hair, so hard I swear I could hear the follicles ripping from my scalp.

I spun, realisation hitting me mid turn, Katie’s face stern. I opened my mouth mutely, still buzzing, the world still too slow but Ryan relieved any attention, yelling something incoherent and grabbing me, pulling me into the living room, brushing past the table and spinning, causing me to giggle against myself. That was until my stomach twisted.

“I’m gunna be sick.” I mumbled, rushing upstairs to the bathroom and emptying my stomach into the toilet, my legs shaky as I knelt down, hearing footsteps behind me, holding the hair I had been brushing past gently.

“You alright?”

I mumbled an incoherent response and he knelt down, his shoes squeaking slightly on the tiles, hand rubbing comforting circles on my bag.
“Please don’t watch me throw up.” I said eventually, resting my arm on the seat, forehead on my wrist as another bout of vomit forced it’s way out of my mouth.

“Believe me, I’ve dealt with Ryan, this is nothing.”

“He’s going to die if he doesn’t stop drinking.” I murmured, the hand vanishing from me, reappearing by my head with a glass of water, “Thank-you.”

“Ryan will be alright, he’ll just hate life tomorrow.” I giggled a little, feeling completely sober, and stupid...very stupid.

“Did I kiss you or did you kiss me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Eurgh.”

“That cause you feel sick or cause of us kissing?”

“Both.”

“I’m sorry.”

I sighed, lifting my head off and taking a large gulp of the lukewarm liquid, wiping under my mouth, “Me too. I thought we weren’t doing this anymore.”

“We aren’t...nothing happened alright?” I kept my eyes on him, his face weird, him looking much more sober as well, probably due to some harsh words from Katie.

“Okay.” He licked his lips, the odd expression still there.

Maybe I was imagining it.

“God I look awful,” I complained, wrenching myself up and looking in the mirror, wiping the smudged make-up from under my eyes, brushing past Dale to my toothbrush and attacking the germs in my mouth. “Thank-you for coming to check up on me.” My head was beginning to pound, like behind my eyes was a vibrating alarm.

“I need to go to bed, I’ll see you in the morning yeah?”

“You might want to come get Leanne first, she’s almost as bad as you...and I can not deal with her by myself.” I groaned an answer, following him down the stairs and back into the living room.

It didn’t seem to just be me that had taken a turn for the worse.

Ryan was passed out on the sofa, arm slung over his face, snoring lightly.

Leanne was stuffing food into her face that she normally wouldn’t...and that I knew she would be furious about in the morning.
You can’t ever damage her mission to get the ‘perfect figure’

Katie just looked irritated, “You alright?” She asked me, voice lifting dramatically. I nodded, rubbing my eyes, “I’ll live.”

“I’ll get you a healing draught.” I shook my head,

“Nah, I’ll be okay, I’ll just drink loads of water...Leanne...stop eating that and come to bed.” She let me tug her away, mouth full of bread and up the stairs.

Katie and Dale began to talk the instant we left the room, their voices too low for me to make out but the tone was rushed and I let it go. Leanne already moaning about ‘how fat she felt!’ I frowned, she’d always been quite obsessed looks wise, but it seemed to be coming more prevalent in her mind, and if she thought we hadn’t noticed her eating less lately she was wrong.

But that was for another time, not whilst we were both drunk and I was struggling to get her into some pyjamas. “Night,” She slurred, flinging her long arms around me before collapsing into her bed, curls flying all over her face.

I did much the same, in-between the stabs in my forehead I felt guilty...again...and this time with far more reasoning.

I couldn’t see before the kiss, the countdown was a blur. Even the actual kiss was, I’d enjoyed it, but it had only lasted a few seconds, just a drunken mess.

But this time I didn’t just fancy my friend, this time I was with him, not officially, but close enough. We’d had sex and I had still just managed to kiss someone else again.

Fucking Dale again.

I fell asleep feeling much like the terrible person I was.
______________________________________

Things were odd the next few days, Ryan had made a cutting remark to Leanne when she nibbled pathetically at a meal, ensuing a massive argument, a crying session and a night with me and Katie trying to talk sense into her.

That had been the most dramatic, but it had just been awkward, Dale was slightly off with me, looks and comments I couldn’t decipher. Katie still blushed at anything Ryan did, but he was far more interested in spending his time drunk it seemed, and encouraged Dale to do much the same.

By the morning we were leaving to go to Kings Cross and back to Hogwarts Leanne was still refusing to talk to Ryan, who apparently had the ‘hang over from hell’ who in turn was irritating Katie as she tried to talk to him.

That left me and Dale in oddly stilted conversation and by the time we boarded the train and were reunited by Aaron he was aware something had happened.

“So...is anyone going to tell me what happened over Christmas or....?” No-one answered, “I had a great time...” He trailed off, “Speaking of which I have presents.”

“Oh I have yours as well.” I grinned, eager to try and diffuse the tension before I gave up and darted off to find the Weasley’s. He thanked me, passing them out, Ryan muttering something to Katie that made her giggle, seeming to forgive him instantly, that light pink flower blooming on her cheeks that made me grin, meeting Leanne’s eye.

She started talking to Aaron, she still ignored Ryan but just having a normal conversation made the atmosphere melt in the compartment.

“I’m going to go find the guys.” I said softly, tugging one of Aaron’s curls and earning a gentle slap.

“Yeah, I’m going to find Angelina and ask her about Quidditch, you should probably come too Ryan.”

He nodded, yawning deeply but standing, heading the opposite way down the train to where Angelina normally preceded.

“Have fun!” I called, winking at Ryan and earning a roll of the eyes.

I wasn’t sure if he hadn’t noticed Katie’s feelings, or if he didn’t share them.

I frowned a little, it was rare for Katie to seem to have feelings for anyone, and I couldn’t bare the thought of what would happen to our group if they fell out over it.

It was already odd enough with others as it was.

Knocking me from my thoughts, literally, I crashed into Ginny and a couple of her friends. “Oh hey, I’m looking for your brothers.” She smiled.

“They’re about five compartments down, I’ve got to go, talk to you at the feast!” I waved her a bye, brushing up against the cold window as her friends and her moved past, and I peeked in every door until I saw the familiar red heads, and a surprisingly short lot of dreadlocks.

“Where’s your hair gone Lee?” I asked the minute I slipped the door open, earning a grin instantly.

“Mum said they were starting to take the piss.”

“You did look quite wild.”

He winked overdramatically, “I am quite wild.” Fred snickered whilst George stood and quickly pressed his lips against mine.

I refused to think of Dale in that moment, although it came flooding back to me the moment he pulled away and Lee catcalled. “I almost didn’t believe you!” He teased to Fred, who rolled his eyes, groaning as usual as we sat down, George’s hand on my knee.

I wished very much that we were alone in the compartment, and that the doors weren’t made of glass.

Another stab of guilt.

Lee left after an hour or so, forcing me into a game of exploding snap that left the tips of my fingers sore. Hermione and Ron also stuck their head in as they went off to do something no doubt dull as a prefect.

“So happy I’m not a prefect.” I commented, as they vanished.

“Like you’d ever have been offered.” I faked offense.

“You’re one to talk Fred! You two have been in far more trouble than me.”

“Not with Umbrigde.” George chimed.

“That doesn’t count, she’s a sanctimonious bitch.”

“Ooh..long word.” I stuck out my tongue.

“Anyway, how was the rest of your guys holidays?” They filled me in quickly, and I made several trips between them and the others, Dale’s conversation still oddly stilted.

Eventually we were at Hogwarts and before I knew it, the feast was over and we were heading to bed, several mutters up and down the Gryffindor table as George slipped his arm around my waist on the way upstairs, and pressed his lips against my hard, and probably for far too long than suitable in front of eleven year olds before I headed up.

“I like your necklace, who got you that?” I touched it lightly.

“Leanne.” I lied quickly, before I even had time to comprehend it.

“It’s nice, very you.”

“Alright you, since when did you know anything about fashion?”

“I’m allowed to like things.” I pulled a face, kissing him again before wishing him a goodnight, telling him to offer the same to Fred who was working on the stupid ‘headless hats’ they had tested on me last term, “You manage to get yourselves back visible now?”

“Most of the time.”

I rolled my eyes, making my way up the stairs, Leanne in the shower, steam in little puffs under the wooden door.

The bed at the end had closed curtains, as I had come to expect and I left her, instead heading up a floor to see Katie and the seventh year girls, Angelina and Alicia bringing me into conversation quickly... this time not revolving around Quidditch but a set of twins.

“I can’t believe you and George finally got together, I mean...I’ve been saying it for ages and Angelina never believed it.”

Because she thought I liked Fred, I recalled but smiled, “Poor Fred will be lonely.” I teased, letting their almost mindless chatter wash over me.

I felt like something was wrong, more than a stupid kiss that meant nothing.

But, it didn’t...obviously not from the reaction, from the warmth in my stomach when I thought of it, and inexplicably every time before then.

I’d only had sex with three people including George, and only he and Dale were still in contact with me.
One finally enough, and the other seemingly too much.

Was that it? The way to stop all the tension, the awkwardness, the guilt and any chance of it happening again?

Was I going to have to distance myself from Dale?
__________________

But two days later, sat over breakfast when Hermione’s face paled and she wordlessly pushed the Daily Prophet to me, it was his arms I found on my stumbled tearful way to the common room.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

And there was a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange taunting me.
♠ ♠ ♠
Sorry for the delay!