[some time after dinner but before lights out]

It was time to make up. Sophie had decided. She was sick and tired of being mad at one of her favorite people in the world over something that just really didn’t seem like such a big damn deal anymore. So Devlin had used her, kissed her, and so what Fauna was still with him. Boys were not worth losing someone you loved over. It was not worth the guilt, and it was not worth missing Fauna so much when they were both having such a hard time. She had heard, through the grapevine that Addie had dropped another dirty bomb on someone else’s life. It was bad enough that she found out Matteo had been al over girls at her party while he had a stinking girlfriend, to find out it was Addie? Well, while there was nothing wrong with the other girl, she wasn’t exactly smart and Fergie insisted that Sophie was cuter.

It didn’t really matter anyway, watching him at her party had made her sick to her stomach. She had no interest in that boy at all now. But she was worried about Fauna, Devlin was gone, and with this new development in her life well… Fauna needed a friend. And despite what some snippy seventh year who should remain nameless thought about her, Sophie was a giving person. She liked people to be happy and she didn’t think Fauna was very happy right now. Also there was the matter of the Christmas present that had been tucked away in her trunk since they got back to school. Maybe that would cheer the other girl up. She hoped so at least. She had chosen the badger and sweater long before they had their tiff. The sweater just screamed Fauna, with all it’s oversized-ness and picture of a cartoon bunny popping out of a hat.

Now she just had to wait for the other girl to show up. She lit her lantern and perched on one of the desks. It was amazing how little doing these things creped her out now. When she had been a first year she was sure she would never wander the halls of the castle alone. Now she regularly met people in the dark and knew exactly how to get home again. It was a nice feeling. Hugging her Hogwarts hoodie closer to her body she tried not to watch the door - fully believing the old adage that a watched pot never boils. Oh did she have gossip for Fauna… did it make her a bad person? The desire to share this new found knowledge of what a skeez Matt was with the other girl? Sophie wasn’t sure she cared if it did…he was a lying handsy skeezer.

Fauna practically skipped up the stairs to the sixth floor, dressed in her splattered paint jeans, a Hufflepuff sweater, and her lightning hat (the Harry Potter lighting bolt symbol had recently become a fad again). Upon receiving a note from Sophie earlier in the day, she'd teared up when she'd read it, relieved that the girl wanted to talk to her again and that the mixer was finally a thing of the past.

Since the start of the term, she'd felt a little lost, like she was losing friends left and right. Chance was acting a bit distant towards her, and she assumed it was because of the letter she had sent him when she had tried to both apologize and tell him that she wasn't interested. There had been distance between herself and Sophie too, and now between her and Addie. But things were going to be okay, Fauna thought. Sophie was willing to forgive her. She felt about ready to forgive Addie. And this weekend, this weekend she'd get to visit Tamis in the hospital, which would be a load off her mind.

Of course, she was still worried over Devlin, and some of the rumors people had started about her were definitely not appreciated. But for the first time in a while, she felt hopeful. Fauna opened the door of the classroom, peeked in, and then went inside.

"Hi," she greeted her with a hesitant grin. "Thanks for uh, thanks for the note. It's just... I'm so glad, you know, that we're not mad anymore."

Fauna paused, studying Sophie's face in the lantern light. "You're not, right?"

Sophie tensed a little when the door creaked open but the familiar shuffle of Fauna’s feet let her muscles relax. She was glad the other girl had decided to come. Her note hadn’t been especially poetic, but she thought it would get the job done. The other girl had hardly finished talking when Sophie was off the desk and wrapping her in a tiny Sophie bear hug. She flung her arms around Fauna’s neck and sort of shook her dark head. “No, we’re not mad anymore,” there was a note of laughter as she squeezed the other girl tightly.

Sophie sometimes let being mad get in the way of what she really felt. All along she had known she missed Fauna but standing in the abandoned classroom with someone who had known her for a better portion of her life she realized just how much she had missed seeing Fauna every single day, laughing at joking with her, SAWS meetings, asking her for help with her OWLS. It was true you didn’t realize how much a part of your life someone was until they weren’t anymore. It made Sophie mad at herself for holding on to the bad feelings for so long.

Finally stepping back a little she didn’t let go of Fauna, but she loosened her grip to give her breathing room. Sophie’s features softened to worry as she looked up at Fauna [yes, even short Fauna was taller than Sophie]. Clearing her throat she pursed her lips to one side, “We can talk about how you are, we can talk about the big gossip news I have, or you can open your very late Christmas present while we do both of this things,” and that’s how it was with Sophie. When she was done being mad she was done being mad. There was no real transition needed, she would go back to treating Fauna like she always had.

Fauna relaxed when Sophie hugged her, and hugged her back fiercely. "Good!" She enthused into the girl's hair, happy that there wasn't any anger between them anymore.

She blinked for a few seconds, reminding herself that getting all mushy and sniffling over it would be embarrassing, and she'd done enough crying this month. No, now was the time for happy thoughts- not the happy powder kind, of course. Could it really be as simple as that? A hug and a mutual agreement that they weren't mad seemed to actually make everything better. Fauna found herself wishing it would be that simple when she tried to talk to Addie later.

When she pulled back, she noticed the worry in Sophie's eyes and looked at her curiously. Then she brought up gossip news, and Fauna's smile fell a little. Gossip. It just couldn't be anything positive. Though she had to admit she was interested in hearing about it.

"Presents, definitely," Fauna piped up with another smile, picking up the gift bag and peeking in. Even in the dimly lit room, she spotted yellow! Yellow was one of her favorites.

She plucked out the stuffed badger and hugged it. "Aww!" Fauna grinned. "This is so cute." She picked up the bag, about to put the badger back in, but there was still weight to the bag. Fauna sent her a suspicious, playful look and then drew out the large sweatshirt with the bunny on it.

"This is cute too!" She exclaimed, holding it up to her chest. Sophie knew her well. She knew that Fauna absolutely loved oversized sweaters with animals on them.

"Hold on," Fauna turned slightly away, took off the sweater she was wearing, and tried on the new one. It was perfect. The sleeves were just long enough to touch her knuckles and warm her hands, and the fabric was soft and warm.

"Thanks," she gave Sophie a quick hug, reminding herself to do something nice for her for Valentine's Day, since she hadn't gotten a holiday gift for her over the winter.

"So... what was this about gossip?" Fauna wondered, raising her eyebrows at her and waiting for her to spill the Bertie Botts.

It felt good, the hug, it was familiar. There were some people that gave magic hugs, Sophie wasn’t sure if she was one of them, but she knew people who were - like her Mum and Nana. Mona always smelled like fresh spices and coffee, no matter what time of day it was or what she’d been doing. She had strong arms that wound themselves around you and cradled you - no matter how big you got. Nana’s hugs were fierce and protective, she rocked you from side to side and cupped the back of your head - you always knew you’d be loved forever by the time she was done. A Fauna hug was kind of like both of those, it was warm and worn in, soft and cuddly. It made bad days not seem so bad, and good days seem even better. Obviously Sophie spent a lot of time thinking about the art of hugging.

She handed over the gift bag without hesitation and perched herself back on the desk watching excitedly. She loved giving presents. She was the kind of person that agonized over small details. When she gave a gift it was very representative of what she knew about the person, inside jokes or thoughtful trinkets that had some meaning to the relationship between them. Little things - like the yellow bow around the badgers neck were touches Sophie added because at some point someone would notice and say “wow, someone really loves me”. The sweater had just screamed Fauna too. She was so glad when it fit just the way the Hufflepuff liked her clothes. Hugging one knee to her chest, she rested her chin on it and grinned, “I’m  glad you like it, I was worried the sleeves wouldn’t be long enough”.

She could see the hesitation in Fauna’s face as she asked about the gossip. Sophie had a lot of gossip, she knew a lot of things - half truths or not. She had heard about Devlin and the fight between Addie and Fauna. She didn’t want to touch either of those topics just yet, “Well, I’m sure you heard all about the Defense drama from earlier this month right?” she paused the looked at her friend, smile twitching on her lips, “I clocked Fig one that afternoon - and the day before I saw him in his skivvies!” She couldn’t kill the giggle then, her nose wrinkling, “We need to get the boy a map because apparently he thinks I’m from the Mediterranean,” she rolled her eyes a little and shrugged.

The next big of gossip was, well, harder for Sophie. Chewing her bottom lip she weighed out how exactly she could or should say what she was thinking. Swallowing she pursed her lips to one side, “I know things must be hard right now, with Devlin and the whole Addie thing,” she was tip toeing as carefully as she could, but it was hard not to just blurt out what she knew, “I just… there isn’t an easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna ok?” She took a deep breath and sucked on her bottom lip for a moment, “I don’t think you should trust Matteo Amherst as far as you can through him because he’s been dating Addie since November…he’s a liar and a skeever. He all but felt me up New Years Eve in front of my brother”.

Oh, was that all? Fauna visibly relaxed as she sat across from Sophie, perching on the desk and subconsciously mimicking her posture. She shook her head and smiled, "Well, that's Fig for you."

He was goofy like that, but she cared about him anyway. She knew that the drama between the fifth-years had only gotten more and more intense this month, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for Sophie, Figaro, Sasha, and Fergie. The biggest problem with the seventh-years was getting them to show up to class, where as with the fifth-years, well... perhaps they'd do better studying solo.

But then Sophie started to fidget and got that shifty look in her eye. Fauna tensed and glanced down, waiting for the blow of the news. If it made the usually strong and cheerful Sophie look like that, it would probably make Fauna miserable.

Sophie mentioned Devlin, then Addie, and Fauna's heart sank further. If something else was going on with one of them, she just didn't think she could handle it.

“I don’t think you should trust Matteo Amherst as far as you can through him because he’s been dating Addie since November…he’s a liar and a skeever. He all but felt me up New Years Eve in front of my brother”.

Wait, Matty? Fauna looked up at her, shocked. The news simply didn't fit with the friend that she knew.

"What?" Fauna said, blinking in confusion. "He's... dating Addie? Why wouldn't she tell me?" Fauna frowned. If it was since November, she'd had plenty of opportunities. Fauna felt a bit hurt being out of the loop like that.

"And he did... what at the New Year's party?" How had she missed that? Matty had been talking to her mostly, she'd thought.

Sophie looked guiltily at her shoes and sighed. She was chewing the inside of her cheek and didn’t even have the heart to look at Fauna. She was wringing her hands, “That’s why I was so mad at you…at the bonfire,” her voice got rather small and she sucked on her bottom lip, “It was before you showed up, he was all hugs and handsy - and I didn’t mind cause for awhile I kind of liked him. I thought he was, you know, a gentleman - and after the whole Mixer thing…I just felt so bad about myself,” she bit the inside of her cheek and tried to keep her lip from quivering but she couldn’t quite manage it.

“It’s why Johnny looked so irritated with him when you showed up. And then it was like once you were there I was old news,” she was twisting the silver band on her middle finger, brown eyes doleful. “I blamed you because, you know, I felt like everyone was choosing you over me and I got mad all over again about Devlin and feeling used - cause it felt like I was just this filler person until you could show up and be the center of attention…an you know how it’s always been with Ruby and Frankie… it felt like there was one more person I had to compete with to be seen”.

Her voice kind of died in her throat as she finally looked up, dark eyes glittering with what might have been tears as she chewed on the side of her thumb. It was a horrible nervous habit but she couldn’t quite break it, “And then I hear from Fir who heard from someone who saw it with their own eyes that Matteo was all over Addie in the library, and then I started asking around and apparently it’s been going on since November. He pretends to be such an honorable guy, I mean it was bad enough when he just left me standing with a fork full of food in the air, but the fact that he had a girlfriend the whole damn time? It’s unforgivable,” and that’s how it was with Sophie… once you crossed that invisible line of what she could stand she was done.

It didn't take much for Sophie's explanation to tug on Fauna's heartstrings. She understood now why things had been so awkward between them at the bonfire, after she'd hoped that the mixer drama would have been over. It wasn't just the mixer drama, but a culmination of things that caused the problem.

Matty's actions confused her, too. She knew that he was a very touchy-feely person, but so was Sophie, and she'd never read into his affectionate behavior as being anything more than friendly. However, she also knew that she could be flirtation-blind, and that boys had to conk her over the head with cupid's bow and arrow before she started to suspect they might like her.

Fauna shook her head and bit her lip, in a guilty kind of denial that Sophie had been jealous of her. From Sophie's point of view, it made sense. First there was Devlin. Then Chance. Now, it appeared, Matty.

She attempted to smooth out the shocked expression on her face when she saw Sophie's eyes fill with tears. Fauna got up and sat with her on the desk, putting an arm around her shoulders in a half-hug.

Matty and Addie in the library? She just didn't understand why they wouldn't tell anyone. That was the suspicious part to her. Fauna could explain away his flirty behavior, but she didn't have an answer for the secrecy.

"I'm so sorry, Sophie," Fauna murmured, rubbing her arm. "I had no idea you felt... passed over," she winced a little.

"It doesn't make any sense anyway," she went on, looking at her. "Because you're funny, and smart, and generous, and... I just think... whoever you end up with would be lucky to have you." Though it might take her a few years (which Fauna wasn't about to tell her), eventually she'd find someone special who would care about her for who she was.

"I don't know what to tell you about Matty and Addie," Fauna sighed, at a loss. "It's weird that they'd sneak around. It's not like they have a reason to... they're in the same year, they come from, well, similar backgrounds. They're both Hufflepuffs!" She shook her head, as if the Hufflepuff aspect was the real puzzle.

Sophie sighed and rested her head on Fauna’s shoulder, one arm going around the other girl’s waist, “I don’t even…I don’t want to have anything to do with him now. I guess… to me the lie is the unforgivable thing because a lie by omission is still a lie. And if he had a girlfriend his hands shouldn’t have been anywhere on me or you. It was bad enough that Devlin tried to use me to make you jealous. I might not have been totally innocent then, I might have been being selfish - but Matteo made me act like the kind of girl I never want to be, the kind who throws herself at someone else’s boyfriend”.

She sounded a strange cross between angry and sad, “I know that Johnny is not a great boyfriend, but at least with a guy like my brother you know what you’re getting. He doesn’t pretend to be noble and thoughtful. You know he’s an asshat before you ever get involved with him - and if you do and you get your feelings hurt well its your own damn fault cause you knew”. She huffed a little and picked at her thumb, “Matteo didn’t give me a chance to know what I was getting into and that isn’t fair”.

Her voice was firm, her resolution solid. She might be willing to forgive a lot of people lately, to over look things that had happened in the last month, but this was not one of them. Lying was high on the list of things one should not do to Sophie Flickwick, the other was using her for your own personal gain. Matteo Amherst was O for two. Shifting her eyes up to Fauna she gave her a small smile, “I know you didn’t do it on purpose. Logical Sophie and I just hadn’t been getting along lately. It’s easier to get mad at people you know will love you when you stop being an jackass”.

Fauna nodded, understanding where she was coming from. She felt a little hurt that Addie hadn't mentioned anything to her about a relationship with Matteo, even though for the past few weeks, the girls hadn't had any reason to confide in one another. In comparison to their awful father situation, not knowing about Matty didn't seem so bad. But of course, to Sophie, it hurt more because she'd had feelings for Matty.

"Oh, your brother isn't an asshat," Fauna protested, stifling a laugh. Johnny had always been nice to her, anyway. Her feelings on the matter probably had something to do with the crush she'd had on him a few years ago.

"And you're not a jackass!" She said more firmly, giving her a small smile in return. "Really. I mean, if it had been me... I don't even know how I would have handled it." Fauna likely would have avoided her in typical passive-aggressive style. Much like she was doing with Addie.

"I'm sorry about Devlin, too. I don't think I ever... told you that." She glanced down, silent for a moment.

Sophie laughed a little, her weepyness gone for the moment, “Johnny is an ass, but he doesn’t lie about it. I mean… he isn’t a bad guy, he’s a great big brother and a good friend - but once a girl moves from friend to girlfriend he’s awful, not in any different way than he is all the time, but it matters more when you’re dating someone I think,” she pulled a face and shrugged, “What do I know? I’ve never even had a boyfriend. I’m just all big hair and theories”. She patted her hair then, pulling a pose out of thin air for a moment before breaking into a grin. It felt good to just talk to Fauna again.

“And, I was being a jackass. If I had any wits about me at all I never would have gotten mad at you. Devlin is the one who made the mess - and due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control we’re the ones cleaning it up. Besides, who am I to begrudge you being with someone you love. I wouldn’t be a very good friend now would I?” Sophie was aware on the fronts which she had failed, but there wasn’t much she could for about it now other than make sure that she didn’t make the same mistake again.

“So… you want to talk about… stuff?” she gave the older girl a floundering helpless look. She didn’t want to pry and make Fauna talk about things she wasn’t ready to face. Sophie knew all about how long it took to come to terms with things changing drastically in just a few short sentences. She tilted her head to the other side, “Or I could explain in detail the fact that Arielle and Kit handed Ayla’s bottom back to her and prim proper prissy Kit actually implied she looked like a lady of the night”. It was probably mean that Sophie thought that was so funny. But, well Ayla had been acting awfully uppity lately. She had no respect for the hierarchy of Hogwarts and it was getting old.

It was good to see Sophie grin again, even striking a pose. It had been too long since they'd laughed together.

And she supposed what Sophie was saying about the mixer made sense. Fauna nodded slowly, looking pensive. She still couldn't help but think that if she weren't so clueless, that if she understood how relationships worked, a lot of these messes could be avoided.

She glanced at her, hesitating when Sophie offered to listen. The pause was long enough that they both seemed to feel awkward, and Sophie went on to suggest a subject change, just in case Fauna wasn't ready to talk.

"Oh, poor Ayla," she murmured vaguely, missing the signs that Sophie agreed with the other fifth-years. Ayla was like another little sister to Fauna.

She crossed her arms loosely. "It's been a rough month for me. But it's been a rough month for everyone."

"I was... upset when I found out about my dad.  And that Addie had been in on the lie. I mean, I always sort of thought that maybe he just didn't want another kid. Because he left after I was  born?" Fauna glanced at Sophie. "But then I find out that... he was just raising another kid. And he wants both of us now, I guess. It doesn't work like that, you know?"

Fauna was trying very hard to sound mature and unaffected, but her voice was strained and she kept fiddling with her sleeves.

Sophie gave a shrug, “I dunno. I like Ayla and everything but… she doesn’t do a lot to help herself. She acts like everyone just picks on her… but she kind of instigates it. She acts like she’s older than she is and it makes people mad - because she isn’t,” Sophie kind of picked at her nails and frowned, “I’m not saying that Arielle should have bitten her head off, but if I were a prefect and two years older than someone I’d be pretty angry that they talked back to me and treated me like they knew better than I did. My basic survival philosophy has always been to not pick a fight I don’t know that I can win. Taking on Arielle and Kit in a battle of wits is like a Puffskin taking on a Dragon with a toothache,” she paushed wrinkling her nose, “Very ill advised, you know Snark plays favorites and Ayla isn’t one of them”,

Sophie listened to Fauna talk, her face sympathetic as she hugged the other girl tighter. Then she had the conflicted emotions of feeling so sad for Fauna and so absolutely furious for her. Sophie knew she was lucky - even if she was a “surprise” for her parents, she was loved. She was loved by every single member of her family even if she felt invisible sometimes. The feeling invisible was mostly because Sophie could be a bit emotionally high strung [to say the least].  Duncan, especially, made sure that while his relationship was different with each of his children it was strong.

Sophie wanted everyone to have a family like hers - she thought everyone deserved a family like hers. Fauna especially deserved a family like hers, and had all but been adopted over the years. “Da’ll beat him up if you like!” it was the first thing that left her mouth, her eyes big and cheeks hollow as she sucked them in. She didn’t know what else to say - but she felt like she ought to have said something, “I don’t think it’s very fair that she told you all of that and expects you not to be mad. That’s kind of dumb, I’d expect you to be mad… I’m surprised you’re not more mad,” she gave the other girl a fiercely tight hug and shook her head, “I still say you should let Mum and Da adopt you and be a Flickwick. Fauna Flickwick is a very nice alliteration. I like alliterations”.

Fauna half-smiled at the idea of a puffskein taking on a dragon, but she didn't comment much on the situation between Ayla and the fifth-years. She was too focused on the rest of their conversation and realized that if she had to take sides, she'd likely defend Ayla just because she wasn't here to do it.

When Sophie hugged her and looked ready to tackle a dragon herself, Fauna grinned and nudged her arm.

"Fauna Flickwick does have a nice ring to it!"

Sophie's big family had always welcomed her with open arms, and she appreciated that Sophie was there for her right now. Fauna felt awful about the things she'd said to Addie during their fight, and though she intended on apologizing to her, it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who would have reacted that way.
 
"I'm tired of being mad, and crying all the time," she admitted quietly. One catastrophe after another had hit this month. Writing to Akiva had helped a lot, and making things better with Sophie was helping too, but she still felt the tendency to burst into tears at the slightest provocation.

"And when I think about it, I guess... it wasn't Addie's fault. I mean, yeah she lied to me, and that really sucked. But she did it because her own Da told her to. That's not an easy position to be in. I know, at least, that even with her faults, my mum would never ask me to do that."

Her mum cared about her and had her best interests at heart. That's why fighting with her constantly over the holidays had been so hard. Fauna wasn't used to being at odds with the rest of her family, or her friends, for that matter.

She shrugged and went on, the words coming more easily to her now. "That's the thing I don't think he gets at all. It's not like I've spent my life upset over not having a father or something. It's just how it is. I have my mum, and my sis, and my grandparents, and they're amazing. I don't know... it's like he thinks I'm going to go 'oh I've missed you!' when I don't even know him."

Sophie didn’t let go of the other girl as she spoke, she felt even more guilty having held onto a silly grudge for so long. It was obvious that Fauna was a bit lacking in the friend department lately - or anything happy really. “I’ll beat him up if you like?” she amended her earlier statement and then pondered it a moment, “You’d probably have to distract him while I got up on a chair though. I don’t think I’m very frightening when I stand on the floor-” she paused and snapped her finger, “I could kick him in the shin and run away! He’d never see it coming”. She was trying to make Fauna giggle at least a little bit. It was so hard to see her so down. She wasn’t even going to touch the stuff going on with Devlin, neither one of them needed to cry anymore tonight.

She did nod her head in agreement when Fauna said she was tired of being mad all the time, “I know. I didn’t realize how hard it made everything. I thought fighting with Johnny about Quinn last summer was awful but being just so mad and not having all the people I usually do in my life…” she trailed off and hugged the other girl again, “Being mad at you was worse than being mad at Ruby or Emer. I had absolutely no one to wear silly hats with. Fergie threw my kitty ear beanie on the floor”. When Fauna mentioned it wasn’t fair that she’d yelled at Addie Sophie just shrugged too, “Well… sisters fight”.

“We get mad and they say things they don’t mean. I once hexed Emer so hard she flipped over the banister outside my room”. Sophie made a sheepish face before reaching up to tuck Fauna’s hair behind her ear, “For better or for worse Addie is your family now too, I mean…I dunno if you can ever forgive uh…your dad,” it was so weird to say that word, “but whatever you go through just know that before he ever decided he wanted you - you were so, so, so loved. You Mum chose you, my family chose you - I chose you, even when I’m mad. And he’s the loser here - he missed out on all those years of getting to love you, which makes us more awesome than him ‘cause we didn’t”.