Whose Side Are You On?

Andrew was feeling rather drowsy for the evening. It was pretty late in the afternoon, but he still felt dizzy and off guard since he had been shot a couple of times. It was a feeling he wished he could have avoided, but he knew it was inevitable. He didn't know why he came out to Hogsmeade, but he assumed to just get a couple of butterbeers. He would've went to the Leaky Cauldron for it, but didn't want to get interrogated by all his co workers.

He continued forward down the street, until he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He quickly clenched the place where it hurt and gritted his teeth in pain. He would probably have to retire early or something, when he graduated. So far, he had nearly been killed a couple of times, dodged a collapsing pyramid, fought in a battle that determined the Order's fate, killed a large serpent, got shot by muggles, and had a fracas with a 'poltergeist'. He still didn't believe the person, but rather just wanted to forget the memory.

He continued forward, and then sat on a nearby bench, pulling out a small potion vial from his jacket pocket. He uncapped the potion and then drank the disgusting liquid, but helped him feel better. He capped the potion vial and placed it into his jacket, making mental note to receive another one from St. Mungos. He looked out towards Honeydukes, and saw that it had been closed for a certain holiday that he could not remember. Great, just his luck.

Chase needed to get away. Anywhere, just.. not there. Being placed in the Minister of Magic's house hadn't been very fun for Chase. Especially because somewhere in her heart, she still felt a hatred for him. Like her mind thought that he really had ordered the attack on her family. Running her hand through her red hair, she glanced down the street. She had taken a train to get here, and now that she was here, she was at a loss of what to do. Glancing down the street, she pulled her scarf a bit closer around her neck and walked down the road. Most of the shops were empty at the moment. Some holiday or other, just great, all the time it had taken to get there, and she couldn't even go to Hogsmeade! Grumbling under her breath she sat down on a bench.

Chase was dressed rather flashy today, she wore large studded sunglasses, her shirt was a simple white tank top, with a jean jacket over the top, and she wore short shorts. Black Flip flops adorned her feet, and a large flowy scarf was wrapped around her neck. Taking her sunglasses off, Chase looked around with startling blue eyes, it was odd that a girl with red hair to have blue eyes, green being the more common. She glanced down the street and sighed. She needed something to get her mind off things. Her family was dead, and she was alone. Her "Boyfriend" hadn't even noticed that she wasn't living in her house anymore. She hadn't seen him in ages and wondered why she still said she was taken. In fact she was dead scared of the Vampire, and wished he would just go away.

Getting up off the bench she continued down the road, reaching Honeydukes she went up to the shop window and fixed her hair. She had dressed it up a bit differently today, instead of the normal long straight hair she had, she had curled it, and it lay in long waves down her back. It looked darker too, like the lightheartedness of her youth was gone, bringing on the darkening of adulthood. She WAS seventeen after all. Glancing around again she was startled when she saw a boy nearby. Not much younger then herself. But she was sure she had seen him around before. Glancing down the street and seeing no one else she walked towards him. "Hey.. do you know why most of the shops are closed?" She asked light heartedly, trying to sound cheerful, but there was a definite note of pain in the back of her voice.

Andrew's head turned upward, revealing a straight face and his hazel eyes dim. He shrugged his shoulders, in a way that said he didn't know, and said "I'm not sure. It's probably some Wizard holiday or something." He stood up, not feeling much pain anymore, and actually looked like he had regained most of his strength. It was very unlikely of him to rest and fall asleep on his bed all day, so he would go out in public, usually looking like hell. Thank god he didn't today.

"Are you alright?" he asked, detecting a small trace of pain behind the girl's voice. He was very observant and could tell when someone was hurt or not. It wasn't like him to ask some complete stranger that question, but for some reason, he felt like he had to ask the question. It must have been the potion, or the amount of pain in his body, but his mind usually drifted away from the pain in his body, to the person he would be talking to. It must've been part of his Gryffindor spirit, to think that he wasn't hurt, even though his brain knew it.

He then began to think of the Three Broomsticks was open, as they sold butterbeers, but it was more expensive there than Honeydukes. He casually turned his head towards the direction of the Three Broomsticks, and saw that people were walking in and out of the shop, chatting and laughing on their way out. "If you came here for a butterbeer or something," he said "the Three Broomsticks is open."

Chase smiled at him lightly. "Oh, I see.. I didn't know it was a holiday today, guess I've been kind of out of the loop." She said her gaze drifting off to stare at the people who had just come out of the Three Broomsticks. She was startled when he asked if she was ok. She turned to look at him a smile plastered to her face. The one she had found was that much better to wear when she was sad then the real facial expression she had grown accustomed to. "Yeah I'm fine!" She said laughing, though her laugh was very strained. She couldn't meet his gaze. Her eyes simply kept moving around, looking over his shoulder, around at the shops. She felt so.. odd, she normally could look someone right in the eye when she spoke to them. But since that night.. She was afraid people would see the pain in her eyes if she did actually look at them. Afraid they would see how much she hurt.

"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Chase." She said holding out her hand to shake his. Chase realized that she had stopped saying her last name. Since her family had been murdered, she had found it hard to say the name that kept her connected to them. So she simply left it out, if he asked.. well she would tell him, but no need to say the name that caused her so much pain. Glancing away from him again she looked at the Three Broomsticks, "Erm.." She said shyly. "Wanna come with me? I mean! You don't have to or anything, I was just wondering.. I mean.." She felt a deep blush creep up into her cheeks and she turned her face away, wishing she had worn less revealing clothing. She looked down at her feet, kicking the dirt lightly. She felt like such a kid, she should be acting like an adult.. but she felt the need to crawl under her sheets to protect herself, and she couldn't bring herself to act more her age. Not yet anyway.

Andrew shook her hand like he normally did, even though his arm was pretty hurt. "I'm Andrew. Andrew Thompson." He wondered why her laugh didn't sound...sincere, but quickly banished the thought that was roaming around in his brain. He kept thinking things that were telling him to ask her more questions, to see if she was telling the truth, but also ignored the thought, thinking it was just him overthinking again. He would've laughed at his thoughts, if it hadn't made him sound weird.

Andrew nodded and chuckled at bit, when she got her words confused, which he often had problems with as well when metting someone new. "Sure," he said with a bright smile and pushed the small potion vial down deeper into his jacketpocket, to make sure she didn't see it. He looked towards the Three Broomsticks again, and saw that no one else was leaving the small bar and blinked a couple of times. "May as well get our drinks now," he said camly "it looks like the bar could be closing soon."

He looked back at Chase and then walked towards the Three Broomsticks, turning his head back to see if she was following him or not. "So Chase," he said in a friendly tone "what year are you at Hogwarts? I'm going to be a sixth year, and I'm not too thrilled about it." Great. He was starting to talk a lot now. He usually did that, whenever he met someone new, or when he was dead tired. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately, so couldn't tell which one was the cause.

Chase smiled at him lightly. "It's nice to meet you Andrew." She said and looked away again, unable to keep eye contact for long. She smiled at him and shuffled her feet again, why was she acting so weird? Meeting new people had always been a great thing for Chase, by now she would have been rambling on and on about something or other, but suddenly she couldn't think of anything to say. She looked up at him and smiled when he agreed. Wow.. it had been that easy?! Able to just, walk up to a guy.. say hi and go get a drink with him? She felt a small, real smile cross her lips for a moment before it disappeared into a frown.

Looking over at the bar she nodded and started forward, walking alongside him, her hands clasped in front of her, her head bowed slightly. It was getting later, and she knew she would stay in the town for the night, she wasn't about to be out at night again any time soon. Not since.. Chase shook her head and glanced up at him, hoping he hadn't seen the movement, she hadn't meant to actually shake her head, but things happen like that. She frowned again and smiled when he started talking. "I'm actually just going into my seventh year if you can believe it.." she said looking forward again. "I just turned seventeen, so the trace is off of me... which is nice." She said slowly and then looked up at him. "Oh a sixth year!" She said her eyes wide. She had been right about him being younger, but she hadn't expected him to be so close in age. Only a year apart.

She pushed open the Three Broomsticks door and glanced back at him. "Two butterbeers please." she said as she got to the main counter. Handing over some coins to the lady, she turned around and handed one to him. It was pretty empty in the pub today, but there were still quite a few people sitting around, not over crowded but still not easy to find a spot. Standing on her tip toes Chase glanced over the head of the crowd. "Over there is an empty table." She said turning to smile at him again before she started towards it. The smile falling off her face as soon as it had come.

Andrew was rather surprised when he heard that she was a seventh year. She looked like one, but never considered someone older than him. He figured that it was a pride thing. He looked around the builiding, which had probably seen better days. The wood around the building seemed to be rotting at points and candles were lit everywhere. He missed technology. He sat down at the empty table, across from where Chase would be sitting and turned his head back towards where the bartenders were, and watched them for a few seconds as they prepared the butterbeers.

He turned his head back towards Chase and then continued the conversation by saying "Well it must be nice being a seventh year. You get to prank all the first years and all." He smiled, knowing that the joke was not true in the least. "So what are you going to do when you graduate? A job, I mean." he said, hoping it didn't sound too invasive. Inspecting the area some more, he wondered if the Wizard community would ever get technology, or even come close to it. Most likely not, he thnought calmly and turned his head back towards Chase.

Chase watched him closely as he looked around the room. She followed his gaze to the worn walls, and rotting pieces. She felt a bit startled at what she saw. It wasn't normal that she looked around at the building she was in. And now that she saw it, it really was quite an old building. She studied the table for a long moment as the bartenders got their drinks ready. Her gaze flicking up to him every now and then. It was kind of awkward, but not in a weird way, just kind of sitting with this stranger. She smirked when he said prank. "I couldn't prank someone for the life of me.." She said giggling slightly. "I'm afraid walking can be difficult for me at times! Let alone trying to run away from a prank, I'd trip over my own two feet!" She said laughing slightly.

"Oh..." She looked up at him quickly and looked back down. "I'd like to be a healer.. I'm taking a training course this year to prepare myself for it.. I want to be one even more so now." She said studying her nails, which were painted red. Living with Sophia was like moving in with another sister, and they would do their nails and hair and stuff some nights if they weren't to tired. Or sometimes just fall asleep watching a movie. It sure helped to keep her mind off of things. Chase stared at the table with a distant expression on her face. "Though.. I think it's because I enjoy potions you know? I like to see how things that look nothing alike.. can combine to make one thing that could help someone." She said with a small sad smile on her face. "I want to help people..." she said and looked up quickly at him, just as a waiter put a mug of butterbeer in front of each of them. "What about you?" She asked her eyes wide. "What do you want to do out of school?" She asked softly taking a drink of her butterbeer and not realizing the foam was on her upper lip.

Andrew chuckled lightly as Chase said she couldn't prank anyone. Andrew could, but chose not to, since he would lose house points for Gryffindor. They were on a losing streak and couldn't remember one time they had won. "Pranking is fun," he said calmly then put on a sly smile "if you know how to." If he wanted to prank someone, he would probably go to Jack for all the equipment. It seemed she had an endless supply of pranks and other useful things to prank with.

Andrew smiled as she explained that she wanted to be a healer. "That's a very noble cause," he said truthfully and friendly. Once she asked him what he would be, he thought for a moment. He had always wanted to be two things, but often didn't know how to put it in one simple term. "Well since I was a little boy," he began "I've always wanted to be an Auror. But when I hit my fourth year, I also wanted to become a healer. So I'm taking an internship at St. Mungos to learn how to become a better healer, maybe take a healer positiong there for a while and then apply it an auror job."

After he finished talking, the butterbeers arrived and the waitress set them down in front of him. "Grazie," he said, often saying words that he knew in different languages. It was just a part of him that wanted to confuse people. He wasn't deviant in many ways, but he could be mischiefvious if he wanted to. He grabbed the handle of the mug, and gently tipped it into his mouth, so that the butterbeer rushed through his body. Once he drank, he felt his entire body begin to warm up, and surprising feel better than it had before.

Chase grinned at him again. "If you know how to!" She pointed out. "I'm afraid I really don't know how! I don't like being in people's way really, guess that's the reason I'm a Hufflepuff and not a Gryffindor eh?" She said smiling at him. "I just can't make myself be in others way! I feel like I'd be a burden!" She said her eyes wide as she looked up at him, then her eyes drifted again, unable to look at him for long. Looking up at him when he said what he wanted to be her eyes widened. "I'm taking the internship too! Maybe we'll be working together!" She said happily, a real smile crossing her face as she looked up at him. "I mean, wouldn't it be cool? I'm taking all of my other classes that pertain to healing, but I'm taking the internship so I can get a head start on the job! My best friend Sophia is a healer, and she loves it so much, she's so good at what she does! She even healed my back after..." Chase froze. Her body tensed and her hand clenched around the handle of her butterbeer.

"After.. I hurt it..." She finished weakly, her eyes staring into the depths of her mug. She had gotten so excited for the moment, her real self had come out to the surface, and she had started to ramble like she used to, but then.. She had brought up that night... A flashback ran through her mind quickly.. A little boy, standing in front of a door, a man between her and the door, and the door burst, sending a cascade of water throwing her and the man back into the door, the little boy rammed into a suit of armor, and three bodies came out with the water, all pale and lifeless. Chase could feel her hand shaking on the mug and she turned her face away from him again, afraid he'd see the tears pricking at her eyes. "Got.. something in my eye." she said weakly wiping at the tears with her hand.