So not only was she a terrible friend, then, but she was untrustworthy. Merlin, Alice hadn't even told Edison about Cameron's aspirations to be a healer! She thought to several times, but each time she came just short if it. It wasn't her dream to share, and Cameron had been so embarrassed to share it at all that Alice hadn't wanted to further it. But, no, she was a blabbermouth who wouldn't think before she spoke, who wouldn't contemplate the situation Sloane and Cameron found themselves in before sharing such news. Some best friend she was.

"What would I understand, Cameron?" Alice demanded. His first thought had been Sloane getting expelled, which meant whatever it was between them was far more serious than the gentle touch she had witnessed. No, Alice didn't want to know, all she could hope for was for them to refrain from the stupidity of early parenthood. That would certainly lead to Sloane being expelled and far worst realities. Not that Alice would've thought of such truths at all before gossiping like the foolish girl she was. Of course not.

She folded her arms tight across her chest, her eyes alight with a fury unlike any she had ever known, and waited for his response.

  

The question did nothing other but further confuse him. He didn't know what he'd thought she'd understand. That he wanted to keep it a secret? The reason for keeping it a secret? Or did he think she'd understand that he liked Sloane and couldn't stop himself from pursuing it? Now that he thought about it, he wasn't quite sure what had Alice so angry to begin with.

"I just... Well... You know how Sisse took it. She saw it as some grand betrayal for keeping it a secret, as if telling anyone was the sensible thing to do," he explained, struggling to keep his breath steady as his heart filled with fear. His feelings for Alice may not have been romantic, but she was important to him—more important, maybe, than Sisse was to Sloane. She was the one other girl in Gryffindor apart from Sloane that he felt comfortable sharing his emotions with, and now she stood in front of him, angry at having discovered one of his deepest emotions. Even if it didn't qualify as a betrayal on her end, he felt vulnerable in a way that he'd never felt with her before.

"I'm not worried about you or anyone else tattling. I'm just worried about the wrong person overhearing it, discovering it. The more people who know, the more dangerous. It's logical." It was the best appeal he could make to her.

---

  

---

Images of Sisse crying flashed through Alice's mind. Yes, she did know how Sisse took it, understood now on a far more intimate level, because it was, in fact, a betrayal by Sloane. If Sloane had ever had a single conversation about boys with the girls she would've known how Sisse felt. The crush would've been obvious and Sloane would've at least thought to share her own feelings. Sloane might have been able to make them all understand in a way Sisse nor Alice did. The revelation about this relationship wouldn't have blindsided them like this. In fact, Alice would have resigned herself from her crush on Cameron if she knew, just as she had with Edison.

"It was a betrayal," Alice stated coldly. She doubted Cameron would understand the reasoning, just as Sloane hadn't, but she knew. She understood just as well as he hoped she might. Sure, telling the world about their relationship wasn't a bright idea, but sharing the secret with their best friends was safe. Alice couldn't think of anyone within their friend group who would think to do them harm, Sisse being the prime example.

If Cameron was truly concerned about being caught, then he wouldn't have been partaking in such a public display of affection. Not that Alice was about to correct him on such trivial details. Not now, possibly not ever. He hadn't thought to share the secret with her, so the likelihood of him being accepting of criticisms was slim to none.

Instead, Alice's glare sharpened and she continued, "it was a betrayal and that you don't — or refuse to understand why is a problem you have to figure out yourself. I'm finished working them out with you." She was done with their study sessions, done with helping him establish his journal, all of it. Sure, he said now that he didn't think she would tell anyone, but that was only after she called him out on it. His immediate and true instinct was to fear her, and that was a blow to their friendship she would never understand.

"Don't worry, I won't tattle," she nearly spat at him, the word tattle coming out in a hiss. "Just leave me the bloody hell alone."

  

And like that, Alice joined Sisse in the belief that his romance with Sloane, which in his mind was so genuine, so sincere, so true was some grand betrayal. In a million years he wouldn't have believed that Alice would stand before him, cursing at him and acting as if he'd done this on purpose and was to blame for the way everyone else—herself included—had taken it. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he felt a growing tension in his heart. Anger. Anguish. Betrayal.

He stepped forward in defiance, his jaw clenched to prevent a sob from escaping. He hated getting emotional, but this... this was too much.

"Sisse fancied me, did she not?" he asked, something he hadn't discussed apart from that one time with Sloane. It felt like this would be the only time to question it, to confirm it. "And because it hurt her so much to discover us, you'll take her side over mine, right? Because I should have been more sensitive to her feelings and not acted on my own." That was obviously it. It was never about Sloane. He was as much a friend to Sisse and Alice as Sloane was, and yet it was her that faced blame.

"But if that's not it, you'd better come up with some other explanation instead of leaving me here, wondering what in Merlin's name I did and what I can do to fix it. I hate that. Pin the blame on dumb, witless Cameron and be mad at him for not being a legilimens! Betrayal—bloody nonsense! Nobody tells me anything, either!" he barked. The tears, fueled by both confusion and anger, began to spill over and his fists clenched. He'd been through this with Sloane before, but this was different. He and Sloane always used to fight, but Alice was never the sort to turn on him for a single instance of misspeaking. This felt like a betrayal itself.

---

  

---

Cameron refused to understand, refused to back off like she needed him to. Still, she refused to confirm or deny Sisse's feelings, it wasn't her place or right to. If Sisse wanted Cameron to know she would tell him, she was mature enough to not require Alice's help along the way. However, that left the very raw feeling of having to confess her own, which Alice couldn't do either. How could she when it would in turn be a betrayal to Sloane? If only he had allowed her to walk away, if only he could understand this was a conversation that couldn't happen.

"I'll take her side because she actually trusts me. Because, when it comes down to it, we don't have secrets." Sure, Sisse hadn't shared this particular secret, but that was out of loyalty to Cameron and Sloane. Alice didn't hold that against her. "Because when Sisse says she fancies someone, I would sooner smother my own feelings than risk hurting her." That was what friends did, after all. "We didn't know she fancied you, she never said anything. But we — or at least I would have understood. That's the betrayal, Cameron. That's why it hurt." Tears pricked in the corners of her eyes as she spoke. It was as close to the truth as she was willing to go, the closest to a confession of feelings for both Edison and Cameron that she'd ever make.

She wiped furiously at her eyes, removing the tears before they had a chance to exist. "Your first reaction was to fear me. Me! Like I would ever do anything to hurt either of you." Alice would sooner label herself the hussy and get expelled than see Sloane face that fate. Sloane had opportunities, a life ahead of her. Alice would be lucky to get her OWLs next year. "Like I haven't done everything I possibly could to help you. None of it mattered. There was just fear and I ... I can't see past that."

  

---

Amazing set by Bee!

Trust. That was a magic word, wasn't it? Not revealing secrets meant he didn't trust her. Wanting privacy meant he didn't trust her. Having reservations or fears meant an absence of trust, which was his fault and his burden to bear. But at the same time, Alice was claiming (or at least he interpreted it) that he should have smothered his feelings for Sloane, smothered his feelings for anyone because of a crush he hadn't been aware of a month ago. This was absolute blarney.

"But she obviously didn't trust me enough to tell me how she felt. How could she expect me to know anything? Sloane? Sloane didn't know anything, either, because Sisse obviously didn't trust her enough! But we're in the wrong for not telling everyone," he fired back.

"I'm a boy, Alice—and I'm not saying that as an excuse. I don't expect you girls to share you deepest secrets to me, but I also don't expect you to blame me for having secrets of my own. That's manipulative. Everyone has secrets. I bet there's things you've never told me, never told Sisse." Tears trickled down his cheeks, but he remained unshaken in his resolve. He was right.

"I don't fear you. I didn't fear anyone to begin with." That was why they got caught so quickly. A lack of cautiousness. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Sisse found out less than a month in. We didn't even know if it would last that long. It... it was such an in-the-moment thing, Alice." He remembered how amazed he'd felt to have gone a whole week without fighting with Sloane after they initially admitted their feelings for each other. Now nearly two months later he had no doubts that he and Sloane could make a good pair on their own if they could only escape the constant drama that plagued them. "I only began to fear when Sisse reacted so badly. You said you'd never do anything to hurt us, but you're hurting me right now. Don't you see?"

---

  

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He misunderstood her and Alice couldn't find it within herself to correct him. The only reason Sloane hadn't known about the crushes on Cameron was because she hadn't ever bothered to sit and listen. But, it was all a moot point now, wasn't it? Sloane and Cameron were together, whatever that meant, and that was it. There was no arguing or explaining that would make a difference, he would never see her side. And, listening to him now, she didn't want him to.

"Okay," she agreed stiffly, her walls flying up around her as a last ditch effort to protect herself. Alice had never had this reaction with him before, at least not to her memory. Admitting defeat was only ever a coping mechanism she used when arguing with Bridget. "You're right. Everyone has secrets and that's fine." It wasn't, not at all. But then again, wasn't she the master at keeping them? Her crush on Edison, dropping out of school next year. She had secret after secret, but none of them were as involved as this. "You're right." Alice repeated with her eyes downcast. "I'm going to go now. I'm sorry for hurting you."

But when would anyone be sorry for hurting her?

  

It didn't feel like a victory. She went all stiff and then admitted she was wrong, leaving the situation unresolved and him unsatisfied. He felt so angry, so hurt, so misunderstood in his own right that he couldn't even go after her. She wasn't Sloane, he told himself. He didn't have to fight for her. It was a petty thought, but it was also true; he didn't know how much he could push Alice, as he'd never seen her like this before.

"Fine. Go," he said, wishing he had his journal so he could chuck it down in the space between them. "I don't need your help anymore. I don't want it. Healing is a stupid career path, anyways." As he spoke, the tears began to flow more freely, but he didn't care. He turned around and headed back towards the hospital wing, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to return to Sloane's side until he'd gone through the motions of his emotions.

---

  

---

Even despite this new conflict, her help still would have been provided. Alice knew his dreams to become a healer required fostering and guidance, and her sentiment remained the same: she would never willingly hurt him. She would have shoved down her feelings and made the effort for him because that's what friends did for one another. However, Cameron had a different idea entirely. Cameron severed all ties with just four statements and left Alice standing there in a state of disbelief.

The shock didn't last long and with it gone there was nothing to stop the tears. She moved swiftly down the corridors, rivers of tears falling uninhibited down her cheeks. There was nowhere safe for her to flee, though, as she didn't dare risk rushing to her dormitory like this. Edison or Sisse or even Maddie would see and there was no shoving the feelings back in. Not yet.

Eventually after what felt like hours of moving blindly through the halls she, quite literally, stumbled into the nearest potions supply closet. There, once desperate and rushed sound proofing charms were cast, she fell to her knees in a fit of sobs.