Anya waited at the front gate clutching in her hands a small handmade book in her hands. Safely tucked inside the book was a handwritten letter and picture. She bit her lip nervously as she awaited her best friend. He must be wondering why she wanted to meet all the way out here.

And the answer was obvious... to her. She didn't want to be near anyone right now. The thing that was about to happen was strictly between Alec and herself. And it was already going to be hard enough without people to overhear.

That's right. Anya Phillips was prepared for full disclosure of all her feelings. She bit her lip nervously again. This could very well be it for them... and she was beyond anxious.

HE. WAS. FIFTEEN.

FINALLY.

Although, the boy didn't feel any different to how he had been feeling the previous day or the day before that or the day before that. He was still the nervous, slightly awkward guy he had been for quite some time and... well... he was actually pretty okay with it. It wasn't bad, right? To be a little nervous and awkward? And happy for the awesome day he had been having today?

Well... he was a little... confused? Yeah. He was going to go with that word. He was confused about why his best friend had wanted to meet up with him all the way near the Front Gate. It wasn't going to be anything... bad, right? He hoped not! It was him and Rilez just meeting up, like they used to. It wasn't going to be bad! It was probably going to be really awesome! Nodnod.

The Hufflepuff grinned at the sight of the brunette and hurried over towards her. As he got closer, however, his sparkling blue eyes noticed the lip-bite that the Gryffindor was doing. ... Uh oh. What did that mean? ... Probably nothing, yeah? YEAH. "Rilez!" he cried, wrapping his arms around the girl and giving her a hug. A couple of seconds later, the boy let go and just looked at his bestest friend in the whole wide world, the grin still spread across his face. "Hey! Erm... you okay?"

Anya blinked several times before giving the Hufflepuff a hug back. Her resolve was disintegrating as the seconds ticked on.

GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF PHILLIPS! Things would just continue to get worse if she didn't just say what she needed to say. ... even if she did have the world's worst timing.

"Yeah. I'mfine." she said quickly averting her eyes. "I made you something." she said holding out the book.

Alec blinked a couple of times. Something... was wrong, wasn't it? Sure, things had changed between the two of them over the past couple of years but... that didn't mean that they still weren't the bestest friends in the world. Right? Because they were. Best friends. Forever. Like it always should be.

If there was something he had learnt from his childhood with being so close to a girl, it was that the words 'I'm fine' was a bad sign. But... he didn't really understand. Jake was an awesome guy and wouldn't hurt Rilez, right? Yeah. He was pretty sure about that. So... why was the girl just 'fine'?

Alec blinked some more as the girl handed him a... book? How did he notice the biting of the lip but not the book? Well done, Summers. Smiling, Alec took it into his hands, touching the cover of it gently. "Thanks Rilez!" he said, before opening it. It was... a story. A story about an apricot and a starfruit. Awesome. The fourth year smiled up at the brunette before looking back down at the book and starting his small reading session.

So, he had thought that it was a small story about two fruits who were friends. It was actually pretty sweet from the beginning and... Rilez must have made it herself, right? Yeah. But then the story progressed and Alec's sparkling blue eyes started to turn back to its normal colour. This... yeah. He knew what this meant. A part of him did, actually. Especially with the picture -- which made him smile, actually -- and the letter she had written to him. Another part of him still believed it to be a made up story about two fruits who were once best friends.

... Gulp.

"Erm... this..." he said, once he had finished reading, "Rilez, this is... I mean... it's really sweet. And... really nice of you. Thanks!" The fourth year held the book up and hugged it gently. It was sweet. Really. "Erm... Rilez? What is this... about?" The story, the meeting... He didn't quite understand.

Anya watched him carefully as he read. He knew what was going on, right? That it wasn't just a story. He... he had to realize that. Sure, he was Alec, the same boy that never saw anything bad coming ever... but they couldn't be that out of sync that he couldn't just... tell.

...

He could tell. And... as soon as those questioning words left his mouth, the Gryffindor could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She should have choose a different day to do this. Any different day. But no... she stupidly decided on his birthday.

And that thought caused the tears to silently leave her eyes. "... thatapricotjustwantstobehappyagain." she said softly staring at a few blades of grass. And she wasn't sure if she should go into more details... or if that was enough.

...

BLINK.

So it was about the two of them. He was the starfruit, wasn't he? And Anya was the apricot. Alec looked down at the book, his mind bringing up key quotes from it. Something about how the apricot and the starfruit used to be really close. The bestest of friends! Hey, maybe they had also run away together when they were small fruits? But then... somehow... things have happened. The starfruit got some new friends and, from the story, it seemed as if the starfruit had abandoned the apricot. That... well... had he really done that to his bestest friend in the whole wide world?

GULP.

Alec looked back up at Anya, a sad expression crossing his face. And then she started speaking and... even though it was said in a soft tone, the fifteen year old caught every word of it. How was he meant to respond to this? "The apricot deserves to be happy..." he whispered. And was he going to mention the fact that he had been feeling like that apricot at times as well? ... Well... no.

"Erm... I... is there anything the starfruit can do to make the apricot feel... erm... happier?"

Anya cast a momentary glance at Alec. ... and boy, was that the worst decision she'd ever made in her life. His expression broke her heart and her resolve all over again. She... she could just not say anything. She could just leave things the way they are. And they could continue their half-friendship and the obvious that they were both ignoring.

But... she couldn't do that. She knew she couldn't. That's... why she had decided to do this... why she made that book.

"Alec..." she said softly. Yes. She used his name. His actually name. She balled up her fists at her side. She willed some sort of inner strength or some sort of inspiration.

But nothing came.

She let out a shaky breath and wiped one of her eyes. This was so difficult. "Alec." she started again. She was tempted to add in a 'Blakey', but that would probably break her heart even more.

"...you want to sit?" Because she did. She needed to. She couldn't talk standing up. She needed something solid to support her.

So he had thought that the story was the saddest part of this meeting. That nothing could top the fact that Anya had spent hours slaving away on this book and on a story about them and their tragic friendship. Because it was all there. In this story. And the realisation about everything that had happened was forever imprinted in his mind.

But you know what was worse? The fact that she had called him by his first name.

Alec just blinked hard, his heart starting to beat really fast. To the world, they had always been Alec and Anya but to each other, they were Blakey and Rilez. Always. They had always referred to each other in this way, ever since they were small kids who had learnt of each other's middle names. But now, she had called him 'Alec' and the fourth year just... blinked. Maybe... maybe she was just going to tell him that he was stupid for liking ice cream so much? That he was too obsessed? Or that she actually thought he was rubbish at Quidditch? Even that would be easier to handle than whatever it was she probably wanted to talk to him about.

Did he... want to sit? "Erm... yeah... yeah... sitting..." And he just... plopped himself down on the ground. Just like that. "Erm... I... what is this about?" Rilez? No Rilez? ... He didn't know.

Anya slowly and shakily perched herself on a rock. She held her knees close against her chest. ... she really couldn't put this off any longer.

She could feel more tears falling down her face, but, she didn't really care how she looked at the moment. If anything, maybe she looked so horrible that Blakey Alec would think that... ... that this was the best idea ever. Sort of like... scaring him off. Scaring him off with her crying face.

She let out a few more shaky breaths in an attempt to gather her thoughts. Just let it out Phillips!

"Ithinkit'stimeweacceptwhat'shappenedbetweenus ." she said finally.

... That was probably as good a place to start as any.

She stared at the ground silently for several more seconds.

"We'renotbestfriendsanymore. ...andwehaven'tbeenforalongtime."

Then she looked at him. Her former best friend. A new wave of tears, this time, audible ones, choked her. "And Blakey... I can't be... friends with you... anymore."

Alec just watched the brunette as she sat down on a rock, a million and one things going through his head. This had to be really important, right? Yeah. Really important and something he probably wouldn't be able to handle, just because of the way she was looking right now.

...

BLINKBLINK.

A moment of shock passed over him as he just watched the Gryffindor start to cry. Gathering his senses, Alec shuffled over towards her until he was kneeling down on the ground, his eyes glued to her face. He knew what he had to say and every fibre in his body really wanted to say something. Anything that would make this girl feel better. But... for some reason... no words came out. So he just knelt there, blinking up at her face.

And then she spoke.

And he blinked.

...

Wobbly!chin.

No. Accept what has happened? That they weren't best friends anymore? But... that... No. No no no. They could... work through things, right? Sure, they hadn't spoken in a long time and they had barely spoken to each other over the holidays but... they could work through this. They really could. They had worked through the house separation and... and... that time they had thought they'd be separated when actually, both of them were going to Hogwarts. Everything worked out fine then as well so... why couldn't they work through this?

His now dull, grey eyes stayed glued to her face, trying to find some sort of explanation in her facial expressions. But... there was nothing, for now. Just tears. "Erm... but... Rilez..." Because she was his Rilez and only his. "We... we can work through this, right? I mean... I..."

Wobbly!chin.

"... Please don't leave me..."

Anya frowned. No. No. No Alec. Please don't cry. She didn't want him to cry. And she sure didn't want him to think that she was leaving him. It was just... complicated. The kind of complicated that just made Anya's heart hurt.

She took one of his hands in hers. She looked down at it. A sad smile formed on her face. She blinked back a fresh wave of tears as she shook her head vigorously. "Not leaving. You didn't do anything wrong. Pleasedon'tthinkI'mabandoningyou." ... and this was the reason that she wanted this to happened with a face to face conversation. Because she didn't want him to think that she was leaving him. She didn't want him to blame himself. Or think he did anything wrong.

... or compare this to his mum.

... but, of course, that was the first thing he did.

She stared at the hand in hers for several seconds. "... Alec." she said softly. She continued to just look at his hand. She refused to meet his eyes. "... a lot of things have happened to me... since I got to Hogwarts... and... ... I just..."

She paused. How exactly did one say that... being around someone made them sad? It reminded her of what now seemed like a completely different person. And it was really starting to affect her life. Well... more so than it did when the sorting hat so cruelly tore them apart.

"You are the absolute best thing that happened to me. You are the most amazing person that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. ...and when we came to Hogwarts... I hated sharing you."

... then flash forward a few years...

"And now... you're 15. And still every bit that amazing boy that I met. The one that I spent every afternoon with growing up. You're still obsessed with ice cream. You're still nice to everyone you meet. You're still wonderful and friendly and just... an amazing person."

She paused. "And me... I'm me. ... I'm not that little girl you used to know. ... and I don't think I'll ever be again..."

Not leaving...

But she was still kind of... leaving, right? To Alec, anyways. Because this had to mean that they wouldn't be... best friends, anymore? He didn't like that thought. When she took his hand in hers, he just blinked down at their hands, wondering when they'd be able to hold hands again like they used to. And if she was back at her house and he looked out of his window and saw her light turned on, was he allowed to rush over there just to say hey? Were they still allowed to hang out in the treehouse? Their treehouse? What did this mean?

The fifteen year old looked up at the Gryffindor's face and just whispered, "But everyone leaves..." Everyone. No matter if they were a stranger or your best friend or your mum. People did that, right?

She started talking. Alec sniffed and waited, his eyes still glued to her face, even if she didn't really want to look at him right now. It... was his fault, wasn't it? If his mind wasn't so numb right now, he'd have probably started analysing the situation. Thinking about the signs. Anything that showed him that things weren't the same as before.

And her compliments? He was believing none of that. How could he when, to him, she was one of the most amazing people he ever knew? ... Sharing? "Erm... who said you had to share me?" Because the last time he checked, he hadn't called anyone else his best friend. Just... his best mate. Tag. And his best roommate. Messy. ... Messy was never going to hear about that ever.

Oh. Right. "Erm... I... but you're still awesome. And you still like strawberries and... and..." Wobbly!chin. "You'll always be my bestest friend in the whole wide world. We... we... we said we'd be best friends forever..." He still remembered that. And he still stuck to that because it was a promise that the two of them had made with each other. And you don't just... break something like that. No.

"So... I... what does this mean?"

Sophie wished there was a way she could practice the Numbing Charm. She had never tried that one out because well, she never had a target or anything. And she couldn't practice such spell on herself! What if she wasn't able to reverse it? That would be bad. she didn't think professor Bentley would let her use her plants for that.

Maybe there was some sort of plant around the grounds she could try it on? The brunette wandered around the Hogwarts grounds in seach of a good spot to practice. If she couldn't find a good target to practice that one spell, then oh well; there were many more she could try.

Those bushes by the front gate. She had worked on them before, trying to figure out that freaky Trimming Charm. What was the incantation again? "Flipsnitpit." No.

The tiny piece of parchment on her pocket. Aha!

Quote:

Flipnsnipwitit

"Flipnsnip..." Sophie began reading slowly, but stopped midway and shook her head. It was much simpler using the Severing Charm... and that one was actually a lot easier, in her opinion. Though the demage could be bigger and she was aware of that.

Pulling out her wand, she kept holding the piece of parchment. "Flipsnitp-" Nooooo! That wasn't it! "Flipsnitpitwit." Sigh.

Pointing her wand up in a weird, silly tiny moment of pseudo rage, Sophie shook her fist a bit while yelling. "FLIPNSNIPWITIT!" OhTHERE! But grrrrrrrr, she wasn't pointing her wand to the right place! She aimed at one of the small branches of a bush. "Flipsnipt-"

Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Time to do some charms practice, Bliss thought as she skipped made her way towards the Front Gates. This place should be quiet and perfect to practice the charms that she COULD do on her own. There were ones that she couldn't do on her own. Or rather, she could...but it'd be difficult. But she'd cross that bridge when she got there. Yeah?

As Bliss approached the place that she planned to practice, she heard noises. People noises. Talking that was. Whooooooo was there? The curious third year, stuck her head around and a corner and was greeted by the view of Sophie attacked a bush.

WHAT?

BLIIIIIIIIIIIIINK.

"Hey...um, Sophie?" She asked, nervously shuffling towards the girl. Didn't want to get her foot chopped off or something.

=|

Siiiigh. She just would never get that spell right, would she?

"Oh, hey there, Bliss." Sophie greeted the younger Hufflepuff as she appeared and spoke to her. "Are you alright?" She asked, eyeing the girl. Then she realised where Bliss was staring at. "Oh, don't worry about this, I'm just trying to get a spell right. No one will get hurt!" She reassured Laura's cousin.

Well, hopefully no one would get hurt, that is.

"I just can't seem to pronounce it right. It's such a silly word!"

Anya continued looking down at the ground. How much of what she was going through was she actually willing to tell Alec. ... and more importantly... what... would he be comfortable hearing.

She frowned. She... hated doing this to him. ... and she hated more that she couldn't possibly explain to him why she felt like this needed to happen.

Andhewasdoingit. The... everyone leaves thing. She shook her head and tried to shh him. It... it wasn't that at all...

... and she tried to ignore the who she had to share him with question. It was obvious to everyone but Alec what her feelings about Ella were.

The thought just caused her to frown more. She wasn't sure how he couldn't notice that she wasn't exactly his nice little neighbor girl anymore.

Maybe she had to go about this a different way. She let out a breath and wiped at her eyes. "We... we've spent our entire lives being Blakey and Rilez..." she said slowly. "... but... we... we haven't... you know... been close... since we started school..."

And once again, she would use this time to express her strong dislike over that stupid hat.

"... Ithink... I... just... need to figure out... who I am... again." Without him.

Alec just blinked at the girl, waiting for something that was going to tell him that she was joking. Something that said that she didn't really mean what she was saying. That she was actually going to stay and they'd be best friends forever, like they had always said they'd be.

And then she frowned.

And he only blinked some more.

She wasn't joking, was she? Nope. This was actually happening and she was actually going to leave him and... and... GULP. She also didn't really answer his question but he decided against mentioning that. He also didn't say anything about the shaking of her head or the shushing she was doing. This was just... everything was...

Being fifteen SUCKED.

Something inside of him tore apart as he noticed the wiping action she was doing near her eyes. Alec reached over a hand and gently wiped her cheek as well. Because they were still best friends, according to him. And this is what friends did for each other, right? And she was right. They had spent their entire lives being Blakey and Rilez. That was what made growing up with Anya so great. The adventures, the laughter and spending their whole childhood being Blakey and Rilez. That. Was. Them.

"I... but... Anya," That sounded very unfamiliar to him. Calling Anya anything but Rilez. "We've... we've been friends for nearly... twelve years! I... you're not telling me you want to throw all of that away... are you?" Twelve years. That was a lot of memories.

... She needed... to figure out who she was? Wasn't she who she always used to be? Sure, the girl had grown up and she had probably grown up a lot quicker than he had but... she was still the girl next door. "Erm... and to do that... you can't be friends with me?"

... Wobbly!chin.

Warily, Bliss watched Sophie some more. She seemed to be struggling...with a spell?

OH. "Yes, I'm fine...are you?" She asked, looking from Soph's face to the bush that looked a little battered. "Oh, you are? I came down here to practice spells too, for the Task Force." NODNOD. No one would get hurt? Let's hooope not. "Which spell are you practicing?" Maybe Bliss could practice the same one too and they could help each other.

Just a suggestion.

"I am, yep." She was fine, just trying not to get so frustrated over that silly spell. The badger eyed the bush as Bliss also looked at it and shrugged. "I can never seem to get this right." Boo. The only spell she ever had trouble with for so long!

Task Force? "That's what I'm doing!" The brunette smiled at the younger Hufflepuff. "I've had trouble with this spell since we learned it the other term in Herbology." She told her as she played with her wand and eyed the bush some more. "It's the Trimming Charm." Sophie handed Bliss the piece of parchment she was holding.

"I can't even pronounce it right!" She sighed. Jabbing her wand towards the bush again, she restarted her useless attempts. "Flipsnit-" ... "Flipnsit-"

Meeehhhhh.

Hehehehehehehe....just the perfect person he wanted to prank. Someone unsuspecting him. Nate was tucked in the shadows looking at his next victim...Sophie. He would have to be like a thief in the night to get past her to. What he wanted to do was climb onto one of the pillars, and say something out of no where. It would be as if he came from no where. As if he were a ghost you could say. That look he had in his shock-blue eyes is a look of pure evil, one that could never be forgotten. It was a stare that could give kids nightmares. Infants could cry by that look in his ovalish eye. (no rhyme intended) That stare could make teens scream! Now all he had to do was succesfully make it behind one of the pillars. Simple enough right? So he tried his best to sneak hisself behind the nearest pillar without being caught. Right before he got behind one them, a rock underneath of his foot slide out and banged against the pillar. It cause a smacking sound. Nate then quickly ran behind the pillar. Hopefully they wouldn't have seen him.

Dora had put on an extra layer of clothing, and her Ravenclaw scarf to keep out the cold instead of using charms, and made the long trek down to the castle's gates. There was a book tucked under her arms, as well as a half eaten scone that she was currently working on.

She'd originally had a hex in mind that she wanted to teach Lexi, but after their most recent conversation... the girl was getting a really simple one. That could easily be deflected by any of her friends. Or well at least the one could deflect it easy enough she was sure even without proof.

Reaching the gate, she leaned against it and finished up the rest of her breakfast, hazel-green eyes out on the grounds looking for the little Gryffindor.

Today could very well classify as one of the best days of her life! Dora was gonna teach her some hexes and she just...eeeeep! For some reason she could never figure out, no one wanted to teach her hexes and it wasn't fair. They all knew how to do them so if anything were to happened she'd be the only one who couldn't fire back at an offender. Of course that would change today becaus of the super nice Ravenclaw girl. GRIN.

Only problem is, there were terms and conditions that came with this lesson and they weren't the kind she agreed with but she couldn't very well say 'no' because then she'd never learn. People say you can learn all that by reading but seriously, everyone knew that wasn't going to happen so move on!

As she got closer to the gate she caught sight of her and the smile on her face grew wider. "Dora!!!!!! Hi!" she hurriedly skipped over to her with her eager face on. HEXING TIME? Oh and she said she had something for her so Lex looked about curiously wondering if it might be her own book of hexes so she could stay up and study them in her common room. It would be the only time she showed any interest in reading that's for sure!

Dora spotted Alexa about the same time as she was spotted, grinning when the girl was by her side. She pushed off the gate, and held out a book. "Hey Alexa! I got this for you to keep." It wasn't actually a book on how to Jinx or Hex anyone in particular. The oppoisite actually as Dora's intentions had never been to teach her something to harm students here, but to protect herself. Cause Dora liked Alexa lots, but the girl was a bit daft sometimes on account of the not reading and need to know how to protect herself.

Sure she knew about the people protecting the younger girl, but what about when they weren't around? Dora was gonna handle that right now. "
Defensive Magical Theory," That was the first book she gave her. "Has some really good things in it about how to protect yourself. It also had some rubbish ideas, but she wasn't gonna tell Alexa cause she wanted the girl to read the book and find that out herself. And maybe gain common sense from it. "I'm gonna make another deal with you. Every book you read that I give you, I'll teach you another hex, or jinx. Beginner ones to start, but then real interesting ones that you'll find fun. The books help, I can't teach you this stuff if you don't understand the magic, and you gotta read the books to do that." See how that worked, Alexa? She eyed the girl curiously. "So, what do you say? We got another deal?"

Lex eyed the book curiously. It did look like it could contain some pretty useful stuff in there then she'd be able to teach anyone who messed with her a good lesson on why one shouldn't be annoying and rude. Very important lessons you see so she had to make sure they were learned. "Thanks! I can't wait to start reading it!" Did she really just say that? This was clearly a very important book to her and she would read it from cover to cover--this very night; once she got back to her common room even!!! In her life she'd gotten many books but none of them she was particularly eager to read. What was in this anyway? Something on zapping people?? Her hands got busy, flipping through the pages, hoping to find something really interesting.

Her flipping stopped abruptly when she heard the title. Defensive? She didn't ask to learn anything defensive. That was what Classes were for. She just wanted to be VERY efficient at hexing idiots. Did she need to start pouting for Dora to understand? Wait..hold on...the girl was saying more stuff so she'd listen before starting her protest.

Another deal? She'd listen. It had to be something good if Dora was proposing; the girl was one of those people who always seemed to have the right idea. She and Lottie were super smart. Lex took in everything she had to say then nodded slowly as the idea turned over and over in her mind. "Okay...I guess that doesn't sound so bad..." Her eyes fell to the book for a second before resting on her again. "But I've already made my way over here, do you mean you won't teach me anything until I've finished this book?" Because you know, she was coming all the way from Gryffindor Tower and the walk would be SUCH a waste if all she got for it was a book.