September 17th, 1890 - Gryff 4th Year Girls Dorm
Alice Dawson

Sloane had been sitting on this feeling for a couple days. After the transfiguration study session the other night, she'd been thinking about Alice's abrupt departure, probably a little too much, but something about it had seemed off. She'd waited it out, the nagging feeling, but after two days, was still bothered, so thought maybe she should at least ask. Best case scenario she was imagining things. Worst, well, who knew.

With Splash at her heels, she climbed the tower to their dorm after a long day of classes. At least she didn't have practice tonight and could relax. Pushing into the room, she tossed her bag onto her bed and flopped down beside it. Splash followed, the giant cat curling up on her pillow like she owned the place.

Sighing contentedly it was after a moment that she realized she wasn't alone in the room. "I missed school, but I didn't miss classes." She bemoaned quietly, lifting her head to look at Alice for a quick moment before letting it fall back down.

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Alice wasn't avoiding Sloane, but she also wasn't seeking out her roommate either. The study session the other day created feelings she didn't want to address. She was meant to be the guiding hand of her friends, the responsible one, and yet here she stood nearly blinded by jealousy. And why? Because Cameron and Sloane had an easy banter? Aside from last year that was how they always were, so clearly it couldn't be that.

She was relaxing against the headboard of her bed, her potions textbook open in front of her, when Sloane came barrelling in. Her illegible scrawl filled the margins, notes on the missing steps all potions textbooks seemed to have. However, those notes were what Alice was determined to focus on this evening. At least, until Sloane broke the quiet.

"You say that every year," she teased gently, though she made no move to set aside her textbook. "After next year you can drop all but three and focus on quidditch."

  

Pouting, Sloane rolled over and pulled Splash in for snuggles. "If I get enough OWLs to even keep three." Creatures was a given, likely Herbology if she put the effort in, Transfiguration was also probably safe, maybe Muggle Studies... Four NEWT classes would be good right? Alice was right, she would have a lot of time to focus on quidditch. It was the goal after all.

"And how many will you be keeping?" Sloane quirked an eyebrow at her roommate, waiting for an opening to approach the subject of the other night. She didn't want to just bombard Alice with a question without some kind of opening. The curiosity and wondering were killing her though.

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Regardless of what Sloane or Cameron may have thought, Alice and Ned had a plan in place to ensure their friends passed the year. Countless study sessions, personal tutoring, the works. The certified Mum and Dad of the group refused to see their friends' future amount to nothing. "You will," Alice promised with a smile in Sloane's direction.

"More than three." Five was the minimum, it all depended on how well she did on her OWLs. Ideally, she would continue with a full course load. "I don't have quidditch in my future, though."

  

More than three, of course, smarty pants. Thankfully all of her friends had things going for them, even if all she had was quidditch to fall back on, the good old family tradition. Alice was certainly smart enough to get anywhere in life, Sisse was sweet and kind- and smart; Calla was a herbology genius with her family background. Maddy and Alcyone had things going for them too. "Yes well, Creatures is high on the list to keep, Ned thinks it would make a good backup for after quidditch." It wasn't a bad plan, realistically.

"You need quite a few for healing, right?" Real life plans dictated a better education than Sloane needed anyway.

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"Not as many as Edison," she replied. His aspirations to become an auror were noble, but Alice couldn't handle the stress of needing that many E's on her exams. A single low mark and all his plans could come crashing down around him. "Thank Merlin."

She wasn't sure whether or not she'd be coming back for her NEWTs, something she tried not to dwell on too often. "I'm hoping to at least keep potions and herbology." The two were her best courses. "It's hard to think we all won't be together after this year." The boys would be moving on to their NEWT classes.

  

Sloane snorted a little bit at the use of Ned's full name. She wasn't sure anyone but Alice ever called him that. Sisse was too proper to really use the boys' first names to begin with, but Sloane had long ago given up on that sort of propriety between her friends. "If anyone can do it, Ned can." Ned could somehow manage to be a good student, a good friend, a tutor, a big brother and a prefect all at once. Sloane really didn't understand how the boy hadn't exploded yet.

"Mm, don't remind me." Then they only had one more year together at all. "It'll be so weird when they graduate." She mumbled, thinking that through was not something Sloane was looking forward to. Thankfully they had a couple more years yet. Even with the boys being in separate classes next year, it wasn't like they wouldn't see them.

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Their seventh year would look so different than the boy's would. Alice didn't want to think about how difficult getting Sloane to pass her NEWTs would be without Edison's help. He was always there to pick up the slack when Alice got too frustrated with Sloane's lack of focus. They were partners (in the most platonic sense) and without him around Alice might just combust.

"Still time before they go. Think Cameron will make it through his OWLs?" She asked. Cameron was just as bad as Sloane, if not worse.

  

Thankfully there was still time. Sloane could only shake her head and chuckle when Alice asked about Cam's chances with OWLs. Thankfully, though she and Cam were the major fails at school, they were in different years, so this year Cam would be the focus and the year after it would be her turn. Fortunately after OWLs Sloane planned to only have classes she was good at left so NEWTs wouldn't be too bad.

"I think he'll be alright, he only needs a few to stay at school. With enough of us helping, we'll manage. Between you, Sisse and Ned he can get through the major ones, Calla should be able to handle Herbology and I can get him through Transfiguration, if we have more useful study sessions than the other night." There it was, her chance to ask about it.

"What happened anyway, the way you left was kind of... abrupt?" Sloane had thought the excuse to be kind of a silly one and with how fast she'd packed up and left, it had left the petite Gryffindor wondering if something had upset her.

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Alice and Edison had already discussed how to make Cameron pass at length, not that she was going to reveal such things to Sloane. After all the drama of last year, Alice certainly didn't want to anger her friend with doubting her abilities. "We'll figure it out, I'm sure. He'll pass." She shrugged and turned back to her open textbook.

That was, at least, until Sloane followed it up with the question Alice was most dreading. Her crush on Cameron wasn't something she spoke about, not even to Sisse. Yes, Sisse knew that Alice thought he was cute, but so did any other girl who was willing to discuss boys. Justice Rookwood was cute, and yet Alice didn't have an outrageous crush on him.

Biting the inside of her lip, Alice glanced quickly up towards Sloane then back to her book again. "I was late for studying with Sisse." The girls had met up, but only because Alice had sought her out and insisted on her company. "Nothing happened."

  

Sloane still didn't quite believe the answer. "You said transfiguration though, we were already studying for that, she could have just joined us?" She really wasn't going to push if Alice didn't want to tell her, but it had still struck the petite Gryffindor as odd.

Maybe she was reading too much into it, she had a bad habit of doing that, but for some reason it was bothering her. Sloane had also learned the hard way not to keep things bubbling for too long; she tended to explode and it wasn't pretty. "Was I being a pest?" Teasing Cam came too easy and he didn't seem bothered by it, but she had to wonder if other people thought it too much.

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"No, no, Sloane. That wasn't it at all," Alice replied in a rush, eager to reassure her friend that there were no wrongdoings. It was her who felt like the outsider, after all, and it was her fault for feeling that way. Sloane and Cameron were close the way she and Edison were. Alice couldn't begrudge them that, such friendships were important.

Sighing, Alice toyed anxiously with the end of her braid. "It wasn't you. Or Cameron. It was me," she confessed quietly. "Things feel different this year. And I thought ... well, it doesn't matter what I thought. It wasn't you...I promise."

  

Those words sounded very familiar. Sloane had used them on Cam herself just a few weeks ago, during their huge argument. He'd also used them on her. It was ridiculous, but everyone was entitled to their feelings, she supposed.

"Of course it matters what you think." Sloane smiled, trying to be reassuring. "I know what you mean though, things are off. Not bad, just off." She knew what her problem was, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was the same for everyone else.

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To tell or not to tell, that was the internal debate waging in Alice's head. Sloane had never liked talking about boys before, that was always Sisse's territory. But, maybe that, too, was changing. Maybe Sloane wouldn't balk at having such a conversation now.

"I thought ... " she sighed again and looked down towards the quilt on her bed. No, she wasn't going to be able to make a full confession. Not today, not to Sloane, not ever. "You two were just very quick with the banter, I guess. I didn't really know how to keep up or fit in, so I left."

  

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Amazing set by Bee!

Sloane waited a beat to see if Alice was going to elaborate, but what she said about their banter made Sloane grimace and shrink down a little bit in guilt. It was way too easy and they got so caught up sometimes and she didn't even notice they probably monopolized the conversation sometimes.

"I'm sorry," She passed Alice a sheepish short of smile. "I think we're making up for lost time last year." After going a whole year without the friendship, they had come back with a vengeance. "I'll keep it in mind in the future." She promised, hoping she had the self-awareness to do so. She didn't want her friends to be uncomfortable around her, that's not what friends were for.

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Alice nodded. "It's alright, I understand." She didn't, not really, but Sloane and Cameron were friends on a different level than the rest of them, apparently. A lost year was a lot to make up for, after all.

She then looked back towards her textbook and closed the book. "I'm going to go study in the library until curfew. Want to come?" Alice hoped Sloane would deny the request, if only for the quiet time to actually get her schoolwork done. She reached for the bag on her nightstand and shoved the potions book inside before moving to her feet.