Home sweet empty classroom, first night back and already she and Fergie needed to have a not-really-secret meeting in their favorite place. It was such a chore sometimes not being able to share a common room. It made doing manicures a bigger issue than it ought to have been. Still, after being on the train all day and the events of the last few weeks she needed to just spend time with her boy - and he was her boy. Sure he had Jordyn, Neely, Evie, and now Sasha that he was so gaga for but he and Sophie shared a special bond too. No matter how much he teased her or became exasperated with her exploits he never left her when she really needed him. He had been so good to her throughout this Devlin fiasco - even though he could not stand Devlin. He didn’t tell her she was stupid or making bad choices…he just listened. Well, and of course told her anyone who preferred Fauna Blake over her was obviously half blind. She liked that part best. There might not have been a lot of people who understood her relationship with Fergie but they didn’t have to.

Burying her hands in the pocket of her sweatshirt she hurried down the corridor. Sophie didn’t usually mind the cold but this evening it felt bitter to her. Then again she was the genius running around in a skirt and knee socks. Her heavy robes were still stowed away in her trunk - with all her heavy sweaters too. Obviously Sophie had not been thinking when she packed and dressed for the day - which was basically exactly like her. Ruby had nagged and dogged her steps all morning so she flat out lied about being cold - then lost both her sisters on the train in an attempt to find her friends. Obviously Ruby had not been pleased and the second she found Sophie again she had let the fifth year know all about herself. Sophie had glared and sulked. She seemed to be doing a lot more of that lately - which she, personally, found highly unattractive. She was not a sulk-er by nature. It made her face feel strange.

Once inside the classroom she perched herself on one of the rather dilapidated loking desks and prayed it would hold up underneath her. Fergie was supposed to be here by now but if she knew him at all he was doing one of two things; primping or making doe eyes at Sasha while the blonde stuttered nervously and avoided his gaze. Boys were so weird! She had thought just boy/girl relationships were hard but Fergie couldn’t seem to catch a break with the Ravenclaw. She had thought, as hard as being gay was because of social stigma at least when it came to the relationship part a boy would have an upper hand with another boy. Their minds all worked the same way right? Sophie had know idea how wrong she had been in that assumption all these years - it was sort of like saying all boys were like her brother John. She knew that wasn’t true so she had no real idea why she held on to the other myths of the opposite sex. Silly Sophie!

 "What is that unholy knitted concoction on your head?" Were Fergie's first words upon entering the empty classroom and spotting his darling friend Sophie, the Slytherin's tone and facial expression absolutely dripping with horror and disgust. It was one of those ridiculous beanies with cat ears attached. Ferguson had never understood them. If you wanted to be an animal, become an animagus. Don't indulge in ugly headwear.

 "You look like you're ready to audition for the lead role in Fauna Blake - The Musical," he continued, making his way into the room and moving closer to get a better look. "That's not a compliment, by the way," he informed her, reaching out to gingerly pluck the offending accessory off of the Gryffindor's head. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and quickly threw the hat to the floor, wiping his fingers on his sweater as though worried about what bad-fashion germs might be lingering there. "That's better." The sixteen year old sighed in relief and fussed with Sophie's hair for a few seconds, trying to repair the damage done to it. Once he'd decided it looked purposefully tousled rather than dying to be brushed, he took a seat at one of the desks, leaning back and resting his feet on the desk top.

 "Sweetie, I know you've been depressed about this whole Devlin thing," he told her, shaking his head. What a waste that was. Devlin Matthews was nothing but trouble, and he wasn't even that cute! Between this and Mateo, Fergie's faith in Soph's taste in boys was depleting quickly. He decided to begin looking about for more suitable boys to place in Sophie's line of vision. "But that's no reason to commit fashion suicide! Do I need to stage a Style Intervention?"

 And, to be honest, he looked almost a little too excited about that prospects. He loved fixing up tragic looks.

Sophie’s brown eyes looked at Fergie woefully as he fussed over her hair. The last thing she wanted to hear was Fauna’s name. She made a small distressed sound in the back of her throat, hugging the fifth year briefly before he sat down. She was right sick of herself already she really didn’t know how Ferg put up with her like this. It was so…unnatural to be this miserable. Even when things made her sad she didn’t stay sad for long - this anger that was festering in her belly made her tired. She just wanted to give it all up - but it was hard to do when she thought about everything that had happened over break - especially the blow up between she and Quinn. Sophie had spent most of her life wanting to be “chosen” - she knew that her parents loved her, but she was also aware of the fact she was not planed. To the mind of the petite fifteen year old “surprise” and “accident” were synonymous with her existence. They had planned Ruby and Cherise…she and Johnny had just kind of “shown up”.

That was why Quinn made her so angry. She had no idea how close John and Sophie were or the understanding they shared. Her whole life John had loved her more than their sisters. She had been his favorite, his little Sophie-monster. He took special care of him…Quinn had taken that away from her. She had sucked up all of him and killed things inside him. The only person who had ever chosen to love Sophie best suddenly stopped. She still hadn’t completely forgiven him - and she knew now she would never forgive Quinn, she couldn’t. The other girl had said too many hateful things - and that anger inside of Sophie coupled with her anger at Devlin…and just feeling cheated all the time… it was killing the pretty pieces of Sophie. She could feel them atrophying and dying inside of her.

And yet there was Ferguson, fussing over her and making jokes - loving her in his own way even when she was finding it hard to like herself. She gave him a half smile at the suggestion of a makeover and nudged him with her ankle, “You look far too pleased with the prospect for me to even consider telling you no… does it make me an enabler to feed your makeover addiction? I wonder,” opening up her bag she gathered up the manicure supplies and set them on the desk in front of the sixteen year old, “You know we’re going to have to do this all over again after Herbology. Professor Bombay has it out for me. I think he wants one of the plants in the back of the greenhouse to eat me,” she gave Fergie a pseudo-serious face and pretended to shiver before picking up a cotton candy pink, “What do you think? Sugar shock?”

 "Hey, hey, hey," Fergie returned the brief hug and frowned as he sat down. "No sad face. This is a happy occasion - I just saved you from death by ugly hat. We should be celebrating, cracking open the butterbeer and making ridiculous toasts. You did bring the butterbeer, right?' He asked, grinning and trying to coax her out of the dismal mood. He'd been worried about Soph lately, it was unlike her to be glum for so long.

 But at least she'd agreed to let him give her a make over. Fergie clapped his hands together, grinning gleefully. That was a good sign. And, he was sure, would help. Make overs were good for boosting confidence, and by the time he was done with her, Sophie would be turning enough heads that she would forget all about that idiot Devlin Matthews. Not that she didn't turn heads already, of course. Sophie was adorable, as all his friends were.

"It's not an addiction," he informed her, sticking his nose loftily in the air. "It is merely a hobby." One of his favorites. "I could stop any time I want."

 Ugh, Herbology. Fergie wrinkled his nose and shuddered in horror at the mere mention of the class. It was definitely his least favorite. "I can't wait for the moment I can drop that class," he informed her, picking up a couple of bottles of nail polish and holding them up towards Sophie, trying to imagine the colors on her. "My cuticles will weep with joy." True story.

 "Hmm..." the Slytherin surveyed the pink polish critically, but shook his head after a moment. "I don't think so. It's too... insipid. You're more vibrant than that. What about -" He paused, looking over their choices, and eventually held up a glittery, electric blue. "-this?"

He always knew how to make Sophie grin, “My ears were cold. Besides…I bet I look cuter than Fauna ever could,” she looked at him for a second, somehow it seemed like a genuine question. Shed’ been struggling with that lately - her looks had never been particularly important to Sophie but she felt… ugly lately, inside out. She didn’t just want someone to tell her she was prettiest and anyone who didn’t see it could go drown themselves in the Thames. No, she needed it, she needed some kind of validation. Of course it wasn’t even all of what was wrong with her. She hadn’t told anyone about Quinn because well… she just got so mad all over again.

Digging in her bag she brought out the butterbeer and offered one to Fergie. She also had sweets but the last thing she wanted to think about was how big her bottom was getting. Inspecting the blue she gave a nod, with a wry grin, “Does your penchant for azure lately suggest something is going well with a certain Raven that someone toted along like a lovely handbag at my party Mr. Amherst?” this was better. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about things with Sasha. They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk about anything but how miserable she was lately - and she was right sick of that conversation.

 "Your ears were cold." Fergie repeated flatly, arching one impeccably groomed eyebrow at the Gryffindor. He clearly wasn't finding this to be an acceptable explanation. "And you couldn't find a single hat to wear, other than that literal catastrophe?" Surely she had or could borrow a simple beret or earmuffs or something. There was no excuse for the kitty ears.

 Unless of course Sophie's diminished self-esteem were behind the move. Fergie was beginning to suspect that this was the most likely motive. The Slytherin blinked. Was she really so worried about all this that she'd taken to emulating Fauna? His forehead creased and his mouth turned down in a slight frown. "Sophie Hannelore Flickwick, don't let me ever hear you question that again!" He told her sternly, wagging an admonishing index finger in her face. "You're beautiful and have a charming personality to match your charming exterior - you shouldn't have to compare yourself to others to know that."

 There. Lecture finished, he relaxed again. He knew he could count on Sophie to bring the butter beer. Fergie grinned and took the offered beverage, opening it up and taking a sip. Her question, however, made him pause a moment before swallowing and setting the bottle back down. "I really don't think he'd appreciate being described as my handbag," Ferguson pointed out, unable to stop a slight smile from appearing on his face at the mere mention of Sasha. Yeah, he had it bad. "And I've always liked blue." He shrugged, without actually answering the question.

Sophie looked at him guiltily, shoulder’s hunched over a little - a clear sign he had hit the nail on the head. She couldn’t help it! First Devlin, then Matteo, it really was enough to make a girl sit in the mirror and question just what the devil was so wrong with her. Of course she was mad at Matt so she probably shouldn’t have cared so much. She’d mostly decided he wasn’t anything like she thought and was decidedly less than wonderful after her party - but there was just so much negativity bouncing around in her tiny world that it threw her off her normally bouncy gait. If there was one thing Sophie needed more than anything it was love and adoration.

She needed people to dote on her, to tell her they loved her best of all. She was not completely sure when she had become so accustomed to people just adoring her - but she had and now it was a problem because she didn’t feel like they did. That was Quinn’s fault, her ugly words had wormed their way into Sophie’s brain, words that Sophie had never even thought of in connection to herself - like selfish and self-obsessed. It was all so vexing.

Of course leave it to Fergie to sit her down and set her straight. She could always count on him for that. She loved Maddie and Gabby but she seemed, most often lately, to find herself falling on Fergie. She didn’t mind, it was just new to her. She gave him a contrite look and leaned over to kiss his cheek, “You know I’d have stop paying attention to most speeches by now,” grinning she clinked her butterbeer bottle with his. She watched intently as the grin flickered across his face and giggled. Fergie in-like was adorable.

Well, Fergie was always adorable, but Fergie about Sasha was cuter than any other Fergie in existence to date. “I don’t know, I think he’d make a lovely handbag. He doesn’t talk much and always seems to match your shoes,” she nudged him with her foot and wiggled her eyebrows. She wouldn’t push him to devuldge all his secrets but she wished he’d give her something to go on. The suspense was killing her! There were just so many questions, but as good as she was at prying she was also good at not. So, perhaps a change of subject was in order,

“You will be quite happy to know I no longer have any desire to have anything to do with Matteo”. She said it nonchalantly like Fergie hadn’t been making faces for over a year since Sophie first noticed the older boy was kind of cute. She did not know what she was thinking. His facial hair and general mannerisms mostly annoyed her now. Uncapping the nail polish she hand one hand in front of her as she glanced up at Fergie, “Johnny wanted to like punch him or something New Year’s Eve,” she snickered and shook her head, “Then again I think he’d want to punch most people for touching me”.