Tabitha stormed into the room, soaking wet. How dare he? What was supposed to have been a tutoring session turned out to be a close kiss match.
That’s the closest they’ve ever been to actually kissing. Once, last year, someone thought it would be funny to lock them into a classroom together. Some pranksters that knew how much Potters hated Malfoys, and vice versa, had locked them in a room to see who would come out alive.
They both did, but that’s just because Decimus, who was running away from a wand-sporting Tabitha, suddenly realised that he knew how to unlock doors by magic.
They came close to kissing that day, but stopped before it got too far and took up a chasing match. But today they got too far.
We need to stop the tutoring. I need another tutor, Tabby told herself. But he’s the best, and I need all the help I can get! This battle raged inside of her until Nikki and Quinn stormed into the room, arguing.
“I know he made you mad, Nikki! But that doesn’t mean you can bite him!” Quinn yelled. For a girl of her small stature, she had a rather loud voice.
“I didn’t, though!” Nikki retorted in a small voice.
“You almost did! You had your fangs out and everything!”
Over on the other side of the room, Tabitha said, “Wait. Nikki, you almost bit someone? Was it that Aaron Murphy bloke? He deserves to be bitten.”
Nikki nodded enthusiastically until Quinn slapped her sharply across the cheek. “You don’t... understand. If you... bit him... then everyone would know you are a... vampire... and you’d be... kicked out of school,” Quinn raged. She said all this in a small voice, almost a whisper, but it was enough to send Tabby and Nikki down to their seats.
Nikki was holding the part of her face that Quinn slapped. “You didn’t need to slap me, Quinny. That hurt.”
Quinn turned on her heel and left the common room.
“I don’t think I’ve seen Quinn that mad since Aaron Murphy stepped on her foot. Another reason he deserved to be bitten.” Tabitha tried to lighten the mood , the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but Nikki only looked at the floor grimly.
“No, Quinn’s right,” she said. “I came this close”- she held her index finger and thumb an inch apart- “to biting him.”
“Don’t worry. You have me and Quinn, and we’ll never let you bite anyone!”
Nikki slumped down farther in her seat. “But that’s just it! What if I didn’t have Quinn there? Murphy would be a vampire by now!”
Tabby was about to answer when Trent and Darren came into the room, holding a struggling Chris. Tabby shot out of her seat when she saw the sign Chris was holding, which read, “HELP!” in bright red ink, giving it the appearance of blood.
“What are you two doing to Chris?” she asked calmly as she untied Chris’s hands from behind his back. Darren stared at her in horror, with a guilty expression on his face, but Trenton remained cool.
“We are trying to get Chris to, er, help us with our homework.”
“Uh, huh,” Tabby said skeptically. “Chris,” she said to her youngest brother, “why don’t you go do your own homework? Trent’s a big boy. He can finish by himself.”
Chris darted in the other direction and stumbled out the portrait hole. Tabby glared at her older brother who watched Chris go with a sad look on his face. Turning her head so she could see over her shoulder, she saw Nikki still slumped down into her seat. She had no tears left, and was drily crying.
She turned completely around and headed back to her friend when she felt a weight on her shoulders: Trent had caught her and was holding on rather tightly. “You know, Tabitha... if you want to play Seeker this year, you probably shouldn’t chase away the captain’s chance for a good grade.”
Tabby ripped herself away from the iron clad grip he had on her, and- while rubbing her shoulders- said, “You shouldn’t treat your brother that way, Trenton! And when are Quidditch tryouts?”
“This weekend. Darren here wants to be Keeper.” Trent patted his friend on the back and Darren turned bright red.
Tabby cocked her head to one side. “Really? That’s great. You’ll be a good Keeper.” Darren turned even more red, if possible.
Nikki was still crying. Tabitha sighed. “I am busy right now.” She nodded her head in her friend’s direction. “I’ll talk to you two later.” Trent waved and went off to find Chris, a beat-red Darren trailing behind him.
“You know,” Nikki said, “Darren used to talk a lot more than that. Actually, we used to not be able to shut him up!” She grinned at Tabby, suddenly much happier. “You know why, don’t you?” Tabby shook her head and Nikki continued, “Because he likes you, dunderhead!” Nikki was laughing at Tabby’s horrified expression.
“No! H-He can’t! I don’t like him like THAT!”
Nikki laughed some more. “We best go find Quinn, eh?” she said, wiping a tear of laughter from her delicate face. Tabby nodded numbly, not really quite sure what her friend just said.
They were almost out of the portrait hole but were shoved out of the way by a terrified Chris being chased by a rather rabid-looking Trent.
They found Quinn in an empty classroom. She was curled up on a desk in a fetal position, quietly sleeping. Nikki poked her gently. “Is she dead?”
Tabby elbowed her. “Of course not! She’s just sleeping.”She poked Quinn softly. “I think.”
“Of course I’m sleeping, dunderheads.”
Tabby and Nikki jumped back in surprise. “You didn’t honestly think I was dead? What are you going to do? Bite me?” Quinn hissed.
Nikki took a step back, her eyes filling back up with tears. She was about to run from the room when Tabby put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. “Quinn, that was uncalled for,” she said firmly. “Nikki and I came to find you so she--” Tabby shoved Nikki closer to Quinn “--could apologize.”
“You’re always on Nikki’s side, Tabby!” Quinn huffed. “Like how you stayed behind to comfort her, and not me! Like how you told Nikki that your mom gave birth first, then me! You always say that we BOTH are your best friends, but I’m always the third wheel!”
“Quinn! That’s not it, and you know it!” Tabby exclaimed, surprised by the sudden outburst of her usually quiet friend. “I just think you blew the whole Nikki-almost-bit-someone out of proportion!”
“‘Out of proportion?!” Quinn was raging, standing on her feet and poking Tabby in her chest. Tabby was much taller than her, but Quinn had the element of surprise on her side. “Nicola nearly ruined someone’s life!” Quinn stormed out of the room.
Tabby and Nikki stared at the spot where Quinn laid in shock. “Wow,” said Nikki, impressed. “She used my real name. So, does that mean she’s mad at you now, and not me?”
Tabby sighed and rolled her eyes at her friend. “I think she is mad at both of us,” she said, before storming out of the room.
The next few days were pure hell for Tabby. Quinn refused to speak with her. Nikki was so ashamed at herself for almost biting Murphy and ruining Tabby and Quinn’s friendship that she didn’t talk much, just hung her head low whenever Tabby tried to make small talk. Trent was mad at her for chasing Chris, causing him to get an ‘A’ on his Transfiguration report. In fact, Chris was the only person in which she could really talk to.
Well, him and Decimus.
They continued with their tutoring sessions, staying inside and in a corner of the library, so they were around enough people to prevent another kiss, yet all the people that would ridicule them for being together (mostly Decimus’s friends) weren’t around.
Of course, things weren’t perfect between them, but at least now Tabby could ask him a question without feeling embarrassed, and Decimus could finally get a civilized conversation out of her.
Once, while Tabby and Decimus were having a session, Quinn was in there. Her and Tabitha pointedly ignored each other, a fact that did not slip by Decimus.
“What’s the matter? Did you two have a fight?”
Tabby sighed. “Yes, sort of. She got mad at me, saying I always take Nikki’s side...” This satisfied Decimus, who continued to teach her how to change the colors of book covers.
And so began the very fertile beginnings of a friendship.
AN~ Boring, I know. But it’s important (see, hpfan012? I told you I put everything in this story for a reason!)
This chapter goes out to Sperk Carm Evans, who gave me a review that left me speechless. Plus, she complimented my banners, and that rocks.