A Friendly Ambush

[Amber Chou Wilson]

The first semester of Amber's fourth year had been filled with drama. Things with November had escalated near the yule ball, and while she regretted her outburst a little, she still felt like she was in the right. The other girl had so clearly been judging her for liking to dress up and wear pretty clothes. She didn't think it was good for girls to drag others down for what they liked, and she hated the idea that November looked down on her for her hobbies or appearance.

The other thing that was occupying her from the previous semester was Ainsley. The two best friends were still on shaky ground, and Amber had conflicting feelings about it. After learning Ainsley had made a new friend, Amber had felt somewhat uncomfortable. It was a little unreasonable, she knew, but the idea of Ainsley having a friend that Amber didn't know was odd. Especially as she had first thought the two were dating.
The confusion had embarrassed them both, though it had been cleared up rather quickly. But knowing the two weren't dating didn't make Amber less curious about the girl. Now that she knew she was Ainsley's close friend, she wanted to get to know her. That's what prompted her to approach the girl one day early in the second semester when she noticed her. She watched the girl pass, thought about it for a moment, and then turned to follow her. "Excuse me, hi!" She said as she caught up with her. There was a bright smile on her face, though it was slightly forced. "You're Hayley, right? I'm Amber. Ainsley's friend? It's lovely to finally meet you."

 

[Hayley Elridge]

The first semester of Hayley's third year had been surprisingly uneventful. She'd mostly avoided trouble, except for a confrontation with Odette and a thoroughly enjoyable late night with the gang. Despite her now-habitual avoidance of Slytherins, she thought she'd even managed, perhaps, to make a friend among them. Hayley didn't know Jessica very well yet, but she had high hopes for the younger girl. She seemed to have similar opinions on a host of Hayley's pet peeves about the ridiculousness of this school.

That ridiculousness was always reiterated to Hayley after she'd been home for the holidays, to the peace and support of her mother's company and what she still thought of as the normalcy of the muggle world. The only place Hayley got a similar sense of calm at school was when she hung out with Ainsley, and things between them had been a little tense since the embarrassing incident near the start of the year. Hayley had tried to tell her time and again that she understood the kiss had been an accident, and she forgave Ainsley for it, but her friend was still awkward around her. Hayley glanced around abruptly as a stranger greeted her from behind. "Um, hi. Yeah, I'm Hayley. It's . . . nice to meet you too." Hayley struggled to think if Ainsley had mentioned an Amber. She didn't think so, but then Ainsley rarely talked about her other friends by name.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber carefully watched the girl's reaction to her appearance, wondering what she was thinking about her. Ainsley had mentioned her, surely. Right? Amber kept her wide grin in place as she extended her hand for the girl to shake. Her style was very different from her own, but Amber knew better than to judge someone on her looks. For the most part, at least. "Ainsley is my best friend, but I'm sure she told you that." She said brightly. "She's told me about you too! So I wanted to get to know you, Ainsley is very precious to me and her friends are my friends, you know?" She glanced around and then smiled at her again, somewhat nervously. "I think she mentioned you're in Slytherin. Right? And you're a third year?" She laughed lightly at herself. "Oh wow, I'm sorry. I'm asking a lot of questions." She said apologetically, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I hope you don't mind. Are you busy right now? I don't want to keep you from anything important."

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Ainsley's best friend! There was only ever one person she referred to as that. Hayley hadn't known her name before, but now she certainly did know a lot about her. Definitely more than Amber would expect her to know. Possibly more about her relationship with Ainsley than she knew herself. Hayley would definitely have to tread carefully here. "Oh, yeah, Amber, of course." Hayley tried to make it sound like she'd remembered her name, rather than that the phrase 'best friend' had triggered her recognition. "Yeah, Ainsley's told me lots about you." So this was the girl Ainsley was in love with. She certainly wasn't anything like Hayley would have expected. She seemed so bubbly, and fashionable in a cutesy pastel way that was nothing like Ainsley's style. Then again, Hayley's own punk aesthetic was nothing like Ainsley's either. And she certainly knew better than to form opinions on people based solely on their looks. "That's right, I'm a Slytherin." Unfortunately, she thought but didn't add. "And you're a Hufflepuff fourth year like Ainsley,
right?" Hayley was pretty sure Ainsley had mentioned interacting with her best friend in the dorm (something which Hayley was burningly jealous of), so that must be right. "Nah, I've got plenty of time." Hayley smiled, a little awkwardly. This was an odd way to start a conversation. Though Hayley was curious to meet Amber too, she was left wondering what the other girl wanted from her.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Approaching this girl had been a spur of the moment decision for Amber, and now she really wondered if she would have done it if she had thought it through more. Normally she didn't really think these things through, but this felt different. Even though she was being friendly to the Slytherin, she knew deep inside she had an ulterior motive for this conversation. She was relieved to see the recognition on the girl's face, as it at least meant Ainsley had talked about her to her new friend. "Really? Good things I hope." She said with a light laugh. "She hasn't told me that much about you, to be honest. In fact, I didn't even know you were friends until a few weeks ago." She said with an earnest expression on her face. "But I was very happy to hear it." She added, in case it had sound negative. She fidgeted with the sleeves of her blouse as she thought of what to say next. What did she want? Honestly, to talk to this girl and find out if she liked Ainsley. If there was more going on here. But that was way too direct to actually ask. Instead, she nodded when the girl asked if she was in Hufflepuff with Ainsley. "Sure am." She said brightly.

When the girl said she had plenty of time, Amber grinned. "Good!" She gestured to a nearby window, it was a large bay window and had a windowsill that could easily be used to sit on. "Maybe we could chat over there? Standing around here is kind of awkward." She said with a smile. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience anybody trying to walk through the corridor." Part of her wanted link arms with the girl and lead her over there, but she knew better. If that turned Hayley off from her completely, she would never know the answers she needed. Instead, she hoped the suggestion would be enough.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

"Oh, yeah, good things," Hayley assured her. She thought back to the way Ainsley talked about Amber, as though she was the sunshine, the most important thing in her life. How much did Amber know about Ainsley's true feelings for her? This was a difficult line to walk; she couldn't betray her friend's trust in her, but if she could push Amber, even the slightest bit, into realising just how much Ainsley cared about her, it would be a good thing for both of them. Hayley wasn't sure she could pull it off. She was out of her depth here. She wasn't old enough to understand romance. Hayley wasn't terribly surprised to hear that Ainsley hadn't mentioned her to Amber. From what she'd been able to piece together, the two girls hadn't really been talking when she'd first met Ainsley, and they'd only recently started again. Hayley couldn't imagine how hard it must be to be isolated from her best friend like that. It was enough of a challenge being in a different house from Harley, but they didn't let that stop them from talking all the time. But she couldn't say any of that, so she focussed on the last part instead. "I'm so jealous, it sounds ideal to be in the same house with your best friend like that. I've got hardly any friends in Slytherin." Before this year, she'd had none at all, but since she'd met Jessica Hayley finally felt she had a Slytherin friend.

Hayley smiled back, and followed Amber over to the window. "Yeah, sure, good plan." Though it wasn't as though sitting over there was going to be any less awkward. This was just an awkward conversation, and Hayley couldn't quite pinpoint why. The Hufflepuff girl was being very friendly; it almost felt too friendly to Hayley. Hufflepuffs were supposed to be nice, that was their reputation, but it hadn't been Hayley's experience so far. Ainsley was a lovely person, but she certainly wasn't outgoing like Amber seemed to be; in fact, Hayley had the impression that Ainsley didn't have many friends. And Tristan had behaved more like a Slytherin than anything. Was Amber as full of ulterior motives as he had been? She seemed more open, but Hayley couldn't bring herself to trust her. "So," she said casually, "what do you want to talk about?"

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber was glad to hear Hayley had heard good things about her, but she also wondered if the girl would be honest if that hadn't been the case. She frowned in sympathy when the girl said she didn't have many friends in Slytherin, but she immediately wondered if that was Hayley's fault or not. Was she a bad friend? If so, she should stay away from Aisley. But then Amber remembered she didn't really have any friends in Slytherin either, and they probably weren't the easiest to get along with. "That's a shame. I really am lucky in that regard. Though not everyone in my dormitory is as nice,and I do have friends in other houses I don't see as often." She said with a small shrug. "I suppose no situation is ideal, unless you get to pick."

As the two took their seats, Amber watched the girl's demeanor closely. She didn't seem entirely comfortable and relaxed, which could mean she was worried and unsure about this conversation. Was there something she was hiding from Ainsley that she feared Amber would discover? No, surely Amber's imagination was running away with her. She smiled brightly as the girl asked what she wanted to talk about. "Well, for starters," she said happily. "I would like to hear how you got to know Ainsley, and how the two of you became friends? I'm so curious about that."

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley nodded. Amber seemed more hesitant now than she had been before Hayley had mentioned her paucity of Slytherin friends, and she wondered what the other girl was thinking. "I wish I'd known more - well, known anything - about sorting before it happened. They say the hat takes people's preferences into account. I'd give anything to be in Gryffindor with my friends." Hayley wasn't sure whether she should have been quite so honest with Amber, but she really did want to get along with Ainsley's best friend, and she seemed to mistrustful at the moment. Besides, she wanted to see if she picked up on her hint about being muggleborn. It shouldn't be a problem from Amber - Ainsley was muggleborn too - but it remained Hayley's general policy to make such hints and see how new people reacted.

Hayley hesitated - she hoped not for so long it would look suspicious. That shouldn't be a hard question, and she was sure Amber had asked it innocently, but of course it was. She couldn't tell Amber that she had met Ainsley crying about Amber having a boyfriend. She settled for a partial truth. "I met her by chance, down by the lakefront. She was hanging upside down from a tree, and I thought it looked like a cool scene to draw. After that, we started hanging out together now and again. I'm the only child of a single mum, just like Ainsley, and it's nice just to have some peace sometimes. My other friends are all Gryffindors - they're great, but they're so bouncy all the time." Hayley hoped this confidence would make up for the half-truth she'd told; she didn't usually talk so openly about her feelings with new acquaintances. She hoped it would encourage Amber to trust her.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber nodded sympathetically when Hayley told her she had wished she'd known more about sorting. Though she didn't think the hat really made mistakes, so putting Hayley in Slytherin probably meant she had some Slytherin-ness inside her. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She knew Evelyn's twin brother was a Slytherin, as well as Evelyn's boyfriend. Clearly, not everyone in that house was like Rory. "I have a really good friend in Gryffindor too." She told Hayley with a smile. "And I don't think I knew too much about sorting either. At least, I didn't know the hat took your preferences into account. I just sort of let it do its thing. It worked out for the best." She said brightly. "It did say I would manage in every house, but I'm happy to be a Hufflepuff." It had been ages since she thought of her sorting, and now that she reflected on those words she realised that meant Slytherin too. But she herself didn't really think she would fit that well in that house, nor in Gryffindor. The only other house she could really see herself be in was in Ravenclaw like Flavio or Noemie, but she was happier to be with Ainsley. Even if it meant November was always around too.

Amber listened curiously to the girl's account of meeting Ainsley, noting it was at the lakefront which was also where she had seen them kiss. That was slightly alarming, like that spot was important to them together. She was sure Ainsley's story of the mistake was true, but that didn't mean this girl in front of her didn't want to repeat the situation anyway. She was also alarmed to hear Ainsley was hanging off trees when she wasn't around. What if she got hurt? "I see, that's quite interesting. I would love to see that drawing." She said, her smile still firmly in place. "And I agree about Gryffindors, they seem like a loud bunch." She paused, contemplating what to say next. "I hope you don't mind me asking these things, I just worry about Ainsley sometimes. She's very precious to me, and I think she would be happy if she knew we were getting along." Were they? Amber wasn't sure. It was hard to get a read on this girl, and she was so different than Amber was that it was hard to find common ground.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

"Oh, who's your Gryffindor friend? I wonder if I know them." Hayley didn't mention that honestly she knew a lot more Gryffindors than Slytherins. On second thoughts, though, Amber's friends were probably in her year, and Hayley didn't know many people in that age group apart from Ainsley. "The whole . . . thing . . . of sorting just seems so weird to me," Hayley said, gesturing vaguely. "Like, yeah, let's have a hat decide the entire future trajectory of your high school experience based on some spooky mind reading." She was more than a little bitter about it, but even notwithstanding her own experience the concept struck her as kind of creepy. People didn't stay statically at how they were at age eleven. She'd certainly changed, perhaps for the worse. Having to deal with Slytherin had made her angrier and more suspicious. Hayley suspected she was more Slytherin now than she'd been when she was sorted . . . did the hat take the future into account? That was even more creepy.

Amber seemed quite shocked to hear even the edited version of Hayley's first meeting with Ainsley; had she let something slip? Had Ainsley said something different to what she had? God, if Amber had had this conversation with Ainsley first it would change everything. All that Hayley had done to make herself seem non-threatening would instead make her seem a liar. But there was no way to know for sure. And Amber was still smiling, if somewhat more fixedly than before. "I'll see if I can find it for you," Hayley agreed, knowing she'd never let Amber see the real drawing - and Ainsley almost certainly wouldn't reveal her copy either. But maybe it would be nice to draw a new, happier version of that whimsical lakefront sketch. "I'm glad to hear how much you care about her. I . . . think she needs someone like you." Hayley was choosing her words carefully, but she spoke honestly. Amber's caring yet outgoing nature was a good counterbalance to Ainsley's withdrawn one, and Hayley could see how she might have helped Ainsley become more open.

 

[Amber Chou Wilson]

Amber had to fight the urge to raise her eyebrows at Hayley's question, as she seriously doubted Hayley and Evelyn Manning ran in the same circles. She laughed softly. "Her name is Evelyn, I don't think you know her." She said with a small shrug. Then the younger girl started talking about the sorting, sounding negative about the entire process. Amber had never seen it that way, and she wondered what made her question it this agressively. "Well, the hat isn't just a hat. It's said it belonged to Godric Gryffindor, and that it doesn't make mistakes." She said lightly. She wondered why something so small bothered this girl so much, she seemed angry for no good reason.

She was happy to hear Hayley would find the drawing for her, as it would give her some idea of how that first meeting had gone. "Thank you," she said pleasantly. She was surprised to hear Hayley say that Ainsley needed someone like her, and while it was nice of her to say, it sparked some more annoyance in Amber. Who was she to say what Ainsley needed or didn't need? She eyed the girl for a moment before smiling once again. "Uhm, well, thank you again." She said a little awkwardly. "I hope I can be a good friend for her."