September 15, 1890 - Gryffindor Tower, Fourth Years Girls Dormitory

Sisse had no idea what had come over her. One moment she seemed perfectly content, the next she was crying over a letter in front of a boy. She had learned in the year and a half since her monthlies had started that sometimes she could be overly emotional, but it was more than that and she couldn’t place her finger on it.

She’d managed to make it through dueling club respectfully enough, but she simply could not handle supper with everyone. Perhaps she’d consider going down once the rest of the group came back to the tower, but for right now she didn’t want to have to bother with a brave face.

The common room was mostly quiet when Sisse returned, something she was grateful for as she slipped up the steps to the dormitory. It almost seemed like she might have lucked out when she opened the door and it was quiet but then she noticed Alice’s red hair. At least it was Alice, none of the other girls were ones she could talk to about this.

“Alice, I’m so glad I found you.” Sisse started, that was until she came around to Alice and saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong?” Her own mortification for a moment was entirely forgotten.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alice had looked for Sisse after running from Sloane and Cameron, but had come up short. Perhaps she hadn't given the search enough time, or maybe her her distracted thoughts had caused her to overlook her friend. Either way, Alice had given up as the first wave of dinner was set to begin and crawled into bed instead.

She had never felt this out of sorts after an afternoon with friends before. Normally, even if the banter was flowing easily between others, Alice could follow along and insert her own quips when necessary. There was something different about Sloane and Cameron today, though. Something she couldn't quite put her hand on but was deeply unsettling all the same.

Sisse's entrance into the dorm room had Alice sitting up in bed. Why did Sisse look as though she'd just been crying? Before Alice could ask about it, Sisse had posed her own question. "Oh, it's just been a weird afternoon," she answered in an attempt to dismiss the topic. "I was looking for you too before, are you alright?"

  

Strange afternoon, Sisse could relate to that. She flopped down across the foot of Alice’s bed, looking up at the red canopy that was so much like her own. “I don’t know.” She admitted to the red embroidery above them. If there was anyone she could talk to about this it was Alice and it did seem an awful lot to keep to herself, like if she did she’d simply burst. “I cried in front of Ned.” She finally admitted after a moment of silence, her cheeks turning pink again at the admission.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Of all the things that might've been bothering Sisse, hearing that she cried in front of Edison was the furthest thought from Alice's mind. "What?" She asked in a tone that relayed her genuine concern. "Are you alright? Did he say something?" It wasn't like Edison to cause such emotions, but after the day Alice had had it wouldn't surprise her.

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

“No, it wasn’t his fault at all.” Sisse hadn’t meant to imply that and now rushed to explain, sitting up on the bed and curling her legs under her. “It was entirely mine and it was so foolish. I had a letter from mother telling me I should quit the dueling club and well, I was so miserable that I went down to the club early. I don’t rightly know why now.” She shrugged as she pushed a strand of escaped hair behind her pink ear. “And he walked in before I thought anyone there. And, oh, Alice! It was so mortifying. He caught me sniffling then tried to talk to me and I just started crying!” Sisse threw her hands up in the air between them in explanation. “As if the lake incident weren’t enough, now he’ll think I’m some pansy girl too.” And that was the true crux of the problem.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alice scooted across the bed so that she was sitting closer to Sisse. The Thompsett's existed in a world Alice had only the most basic understanding of. One full of expectations and rigid structure. She might've belonged to that world once, too, had the farm not become a massive failure.

"First, you're not quitting dueling club," Alice told her firmly. "I don't care what your Mum says. You're a great dueler and someone has to represent us Gryffindor girls." Alice certainly wouldn't, that much was painfully obvious.

Then, much softer, Alice continued and reached out to squeeze her friend's hand. "Second, if you had to cry in front of any of the boys, Edison is the best one you could've chosen." Alice had done the same before, though her tears were usually rooted in frustration towards helping the slackers study. "He won't think you're a pansy. And you held the rope out for them to hold onto, didn't you? That isn't being a pansy."

  

“Thanks.” Sisse mumbled, glad that someone was on her side. She didn’t wish to drop from the club either, she was actually pretty good at it, but her had constantly been explaining how unlady like she had become since attending Hogwarts and it only served to make Sisse increasingly worried about her own future.

That was very true. Crying in front of Ned was one thing. Crying in front of Cam was another. Or worse yet Selwyn or some other boy she wasn’t friends with. Sisse nodded, although her frown was very stubbornly in place still.

The rope? Sisse looked at Alice in confusion before she realized they were talking about two entirely separate occasions. “No. But almost drowning is.” Sisse clarified her cheeks turning bright red as she suddenly looked down at Alice’s blanket as if it were the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. “He, may have saved me from drowning this summer….” She mumbled in explanation.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alice's eyes widened in alarm. "What do you mean you almost drowned?!" Better yet, how had she not heard of it? Alice was no fish, but she at least knew how to tread water. Did stuffy upperclass women forget the necessity of basic survival skills?! "What happened?"

  

There was no escaping explaining now so she might as well start from the beginning. “Mother let us go out on the boat in July, Matthew bailed of course, and Henry was so proud of himself I couldn’t tell him I didn’t want to go. The squid hit the boat and Henry lost the oars and next thing I knew I was in the water.” Sisse explained in a rush, her cheeks were burning thoroughly now. She had never really told her friends she didn’t know how to swim, but she had suspected they knew to some extent over the years.

“Ned heard me,” She wasn’t about to admit she had been screaming, “Jumped into the water and saved me.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"Oh, Sisse," Alice sighed. How terrible an experience. "How lucky it was that Edison was there. And, I'm sure he doesn't think you're a pansy because of it." It wasn't Sisse's fault she didn't know how to swim, after all. "I'm sure he's just grateful you're alright."

  

To be quite honest Sisse did not want to think of what would have happened had Ned not been there. Alice was right, she knew that Ned simply cared that she was alright, but the whole ordeal seemed a great deal bigger to her. “I know, it’s just….” Sisse found she didn’t quite know what she was trying to say, how to explain to Alice why she was so upset. “It’s just that I feel like I keep embarrassing myself in front of him.” She almost whined, meeting Alice’s eyes for a moment before looking away again. “He’s had to drag me from the water, watch me cry, help me with potions homework.” She listed as of this could explain it. “I’m just going to be some silly girl forever in his eyes.” And she didn’t want to be a silly girl to him. She wanted him to think a great deal better of her then just a silly girl. She wanted him to think of her as she did him. But it seemed that at every turn she was doing something completely ridiculous that would ensure just the opposite.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Oh.

It didn't take a genius to realize what Sisse wasn't saying: Sisse had a crush on Edison. The pairing made perfect sense, they were both two very respectable people, intelligent, kind. The only issue Alice could foresee was Sisse's mother, and even that wouldn't be an issue for some time. For a few years at least, they could be happy (or as happy as a teenaged couple snopping around like in the forbidden romance novels Alice had could be).

But, Merlin. The realization stung.

Edison was her best friend after Sisse. He helped her through her difficult subjects, allowed her to vent about any and all fristrations. He was her person, and, suddenly, anything evolving from that was impossible. Alice could never — would never — betray Sisse in such a way. There were other boys, other crushes to be had, but there was only so many girls willing to be friends with a lowly farm girl.

Smiling a bit conspiratorially, Alice leaned forward and whispered, "you like him." They've had this conversation countless times about different boys, and Sisse definitely knew about Alice's irrational crush on Justice Rookwood. Somehow, though, this conversation hit harder than the others. "He won't see that you're a silly girl. He'll see how wonderful you are and will grow to like you just as much. You'll see."

  

It was a good thing Sisse's was already blushing or it would have given her away, instead she ducked her head and nodded solemnly. She did like Ned, much as she had once liked Cam. But the difference between her feelings was stark, after all Ned had saved her life. And in the wishful way of teenaged girls that seemed enough to surpass any obstacles that might be put in their future, including Sisse's mother. "You think?" Sisse asked tentatively finally daring to look up at Alice.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Ever the supportive friend, Alice nodded eagerly and reached over to squeeze Sisse's hand. "I do." Edison was as quick and smart as they came, he wouldn't miss the wonder that was Sisse. Very few could. "Don't you know all great romances start with the hero saving the princess?"

  

Sisse couldn't help but giggle. It was true though, in all the love stories she had read they did. There was some hope to sooth her embarrassment afterall. "Thanks Alice." She leaned forward to hug her friend.

"Now," Sisse started sobering up and putting on her I'm listening face, "What happened this afternoon?"

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Right. That. Alice sighed and ran a hand through her loose curls. There was no way to avoid telling Sisse, but Alice partiially believed the tale made her look ridiculous. At least it was Sisse and not Edison, the poor boy wouldn't understand the workings of teen drama.

"I was studying transfig with Sloane and Cameron, and ... I don't know. They just had this banter going on like I wasn't even there." Alice could've faded into the decorative wallpaper and they wouldn't have noticed. "It was weird, you know?"