Friendship Through Ink and Paper

[Odette Madison]

It was strange how much closer Odette felt to Asaiah now, considering he had left the school nearly a year ago now. But the letters the two had exchanged had really allowed them to talk more than they had while at school. She had always liked him, and they had been a good team together, but now she could actually say she considered him a close friend. It didn't bother her much that he didn't tell her what he had been doing all year, as she mostly appreciated his advice about Quidditch and his encouragement on that front. Now that Charlotte had written to her as well, she was starting to realize she had more support than she ever thought. Which was good, because she was still upset about losing Harley.

She had agreed to meet Asaiah in Brightstone, but hadn't really specified where. She tried to stand in a location that was easy to spot from the rest of the street. She looked around as she waited for her friend to arrive, adjusting the strap on her bag awkwardly as she watched students walk past in groups of friends. Hopefully, she would spot Asaiah soon.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

It was odd being back in Brightstone. He didn't think that he would back anytime soon but with the elections going on at the moment, as well as meeting up with his friends, the former Slytherin found himself walking through the village once again. It was the weekend that the students were allowed to visit the village so naturally, the main street was filled with students from all years. Asaiah had forgotten how much fun going to the village was, and actually missed going to the sweet shop to get sweets for himself and his friends to enjoy after dinner. Before Asaiah would meet up with his best friend, however, he agreed to meet Odette in the village also. He didn't think that he would enjoy writing to Odette that much, but it had been really nice to keep in touch with her throughout the year and hoped that it would continue after today's meeting. Because the two of them hadn't picked a spot to meet each other at, he looked around the street to spot the girl. When he finally spotted Odette, Asaiah walked towards where she was standing and smiled. ''Hey!'' he said as he approached her.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was starting to wish they had arranged things a little better, wondering if Asaiah was ever going to find her. But when she spotted him, he had already seen her and was approaching. A genuine smile spread over Odette's face at the sight of him, and she waved. "Hey!" She called back. A part of her wondered if she should give him a hug, but she didn't. "How is it, being back in New Zealand?" She asked him as he came near. "Did you miss it?" She still was genuinely curious about what he had been doing, but she knew better than to ask. If he could tell her, she was sure he would have done so in the letters they had been exchanging all year. "What do you want to do?" She added, glancing up and down the streets. They could visit some shops, but Odette didn't really mind what they did.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

''It's home, you know.'' He answered. Asaiah had missed it during those cold winter months in England when all he had was a tent to sleep in and a heating charm that failed to work most of the time because he was still learning how to properly cast it. ''I'm glad to be back, even if it's just for a little while.'' He commented. He wondered if he should make a quick appearance at home to let his brother and sister know that he was doing alright so far, as surely they would like to know something after nine months of having ignored every letter they send him. Asaiah knew that they meant well but just wasn't ready yet to move in with either one of them - maybe once he was he would take Jennifer up on her offer to stay with her for a while, at least until he could afford his own place. ''Oh, I figured we could walk through the village or sit somewhere and talk?'' He hadn't actually thought of what they could do once he was here. ''Anyway, how've you been? How's everything going with your OWLs?'' Asaiah asked, genuinely curious about how she was doing.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette felt glad Asaiah seemed to have at least missed New Zealand a little bit. It made it clear to her he wasn't just leaving because he hated the surroundings, or the people. He did mention he would only be back for a little while, though, and Odette glanced at him. "For how long?" She asked as she put her hands in her pockets. It wouldn't really matter to her, as she was stuck in the castle anyway and could hardly meet up with him outside of this weekend, but she was still curious. She wished she had pursued this friendship earlier, they could have had a lot of fun at Hogwarts together. But she hadn't always been open to these sorts of friendships, she knew that. She was lucky Asaiah liked her enough to hang out with her now. "We could walk until we find somewhere to sit?" She suggested with a slight smile. "Though I'm not expecting you to tell me much, it's still all a mystery right?" She kept her tone light, as she didn't want to seem like she was needling him for information. At his question, she grimaced slightly. "It's... going." She said after a moment. "I hope to get a few E's, but I'm not sure. It's kind of hard to focus on everything when I don't know what I'm doing it all for yet. I still don't know what to do after school." She glanced at him. "Besides maybe Quidditch."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah shrugged. ''I was thinking of staying here for the month. Let my brother and sister know I'm still alive and well, and then pack my bags again and leave for Romania.'' He smiled and nodded his head in agreement at her suggestion. ''Got a place in mind?'' He asked. ''I cannot tell you what I am looking for - my friend would kill me if I did. But I can tell you what I'm planning to do next.'' He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what Odette's reaction would be to his plan once in Romania. ''What I am looking for has not been found, or made, by anyone alive today because they've given up on it, right? So I was thinking of looking for someone who might have been alive at the time when they did try to make it, you know, a vampire.'' It had taken him some time to come up with the plan since it was rather dangerous to go looking for a vampire but had read enough to know how to approach one so was confident enough that the plan would work. Asaiah listened as she told him about how preparations were going and nodded in agreement once more. ''The professors should do more to help us figure out what we want to do later on.'' He told her.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette nodded as Asaiah spoke, though she was surprised he had a brother and sister. She wasn't sure why that was surprising, but it mostly just highlighted how much she didn't know about the boy. But that just meant she could find out if they continued to be friends. "Romania? Don't tell me what you're doing has to do with dragons." She said lightly, as she had heard once there were many dragons there. She shrugged when he asked if she had a friend in mind. "Maybe just some bench? I don't really need to buy anything." She said with a glance at Asaiah. "But if you need anything we can go into some shops too." She listened with interest as he told her a little bit more about what he was looking for. She still couldn't make much sense of it, but her eyes widened when he mentioned he would be looking for a vampire. That was probably worse than dragons. "Isn't that... you know, dangerous?" She asked him, trying not to show too much worry but still feeling it in the pit of her stomach. "Do you know how to deal with a vampire? Did you even take Defence Against the Dark Arts in the upper years?" She wasn't sure why she was questioning him like this, but she wanted to know the answer. The girl had a frown on her face now as she couldn't help imagine her friend being eaten by a vampire. "This 'friend', she was your girlfriend right? Is that why you're going through so much trouble?" She asked him, hoping he wouldn't humor her with a lie. "I hope she appreciates it." She said, thinking of Marisol who she was pretty sure was the girl in question. She knew her a little through their job, but mostly didn't talk to her. She nodded in agreement about what he said about the professors. "True, but I also haven't really been thinking about it until now. There's the electives fair, but then you're like, twelve. It's not like you know what you're going to do then." She said with a sigh. They came upon a bench and Odette sat down, scooting to the side to make room for Asaiah. She watched a stream of students walk past. "See anyone you know?" She wondered what it would be like to drop out instead of graduate along with your classmates. She didn't even really care about many people in her year, but she would still hate to suddenly be ripped away from them. Even by choice.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah shook his head at Odette's comment about dragons. He had heard about there being a dragon reserve in Romania but did not have a death wish, even though it did seem like it from his past and future journeys. He knew dragons to be very dangerous creatures, even more so than vampires, so did not want to go near any of them at all during his time in Romania. Besides, Asaiah knew that dragons wouldn't be able to help him so going to the reserve would just be a waste of time. ''Nah, me neither.'' the former Slytherin replied. He still had supplies left to make it through at least another month before he had to buy things again. It was still a little odd being back in the village after nine months and found it hard to remember what he was doing the last time he went to the village. ''Very dangerous,'' Asaiah said and then nodded his head when she asked him if he knew how to deal with such creatures. ''I did take Defence Against the Dark Arts, though I must admit that I did skip quite a few lessons.'' Luckily for him, he did not have to take the lessons to find out how to keep vampires at bay as it had been written down in the textbook they had to buy for that year - he was also lucky that professor Styx had already discussed vampires with them back in his third year and he still had those notes. He nodded again but then shrugged his shoulders at the following question. ''It's not just because she was my girlfriend,'' He said defensively. ''She's my best friend and I owe it to her.'' Asaiah would never forget how much Marisol, and her family, had helped him after the death of his mother, father, and sister. ''So if me travelling the world is potentially helping her then I'll gladly do it.'' He smiled as he looked forward. He knew what Marisol thought about him doing this, especially all the dangerous things, but was sure that she also appreciate it in some way. Asaiah chuckled at Odette's response. ''Is there anyone who knows what they want to do later at that age?'' He hadn't known about curse-breaking at all back then, in fact, it took him two years after the elective fair to find out that it was a real job. He sat down next to Odette on the bench and like her watched the students walk past them. ''A few.'' Asaiah greeted two students he knew from classes but that was about it for recognising anyone. He was always with Wyatt and Marisol so hadn't really made any other friends apart from the former Hufflepuff Chaser who had left the school two years ago - another person he really missed hanging out with. ''So what's Hogwarts like nowadays?'' He asked, turning his head around to look at Odette. ''Anything fun happen recently?''

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was a little relieved he at least wasn't going to seek out dragons, but the news about vampires still made her uneasy. She glanced at him warily, especially when he confessed to skipping some Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. Odette wavered for a moment, then decided to just say it. "Be careful, okay?" She muttered with a shrug. It wasn't easy for her to basically admit she cared about him, but she did. "Don't let them eat you or anything. I'll steal your spot in the Macaws team if they do." She decided to add the teasing note at the end to make herself sound a little less serious, even if she was still nervous deep down. What he said about Marisol gave her pause. Somehow, she had assumed someone would only go so far for someone they loved in a romantic way. But as he said she was his best friend, she could understand that too. Her mind flashed to Margo. She was her best friend, and Odette thought she would do a lot for her too. Though dropping out of school and spending six months camping around random places was hopefully not something Margo would ever need from her. "Alright, I can understand that." She said after a moment. "But she's still lucky to have you." She added. She shrugged at his next question with a wry smile. "There's probably some idealistic twelve year olds who are sure they'll be healers or aurors and saving other people." She said with a small shrug. "Maybe it's better not to know than be disappointed when you realize that's probably not going to happen." Pessimistic as ever, she glanced at a few younger students chatting animatedly as they walked past. She herself had never been such a happy carefree kid. Instead, she had been troubled enough to hurt others with her words and actions. She wasn't sure if she would ever feel at ease with that. "Hogwarts is pretty much the same." She said with a sigh. "Valentine's day happened recently, if you can classify that as fun. I did spend the night with my best friend at the cliffs, which was pretty cool. But besides that I've mostly been trying to study for the OWLs." She sighed softly. "Did you do well on yours? Was it as horrible as the professors make it seem?

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah smiled when Odette told him to be careful whilst seeking out vampires and nodded his head in response. He had carefully planned the whole thing weeks ago and went over it in his head a couple of times between then and now, adding more and more pros and cons to the list. It would be a very dangerous and stupid thing to do but was convinced that with a necklace of garlic he would just fine when around vampires. If not, well he always wondered what it would be like to be a vampire and live for centuries. Asaiah laughed at the girl's teasing and said, ''I'll haunt you if you do.'' With each passing day the thought of playing for a professional team sounded a bit more appealing to the boy but he could not give up now, there were still a couple of other places he wanted to visit before he would finally admit to himself what Marisol had been telling him from the beginning; that there was no cure for lycanthropy and that there would never be one, too. He was glad that Odette did not reason with him but instead told him that she could understand that. He had already been told that doing this for his best friend was stupid by his brother and sister so did not want to hear it again from his friend. He grinned at her response and said, ''Hey, twelve-year-old me was sure that he wanted to be an Auror.'' Looking back at it now, it was funny to know how much could change in six years time. Asaiah looked around the street as she told him about their school and nodded along, happy to hear that not much had changed. He smiled when she mentioned Valentine's day and thought back to the memory of Kylie and him organising the Flower Delivery Service. He was sad that he had never gotten around to organise it after she left but the Gryffindor taking it over from him was doing a better job than he ever could. ''I did ok despite skipping classes,'' Asaiah replied. ''It's not that horrible, actually. It's the all-nighters the week before the exams that are the worst,'' he told Odette. ''Just study your notes as much as you can, preferably with friends.'' Marisol had made studying for the OWLs a whole lot more fun. ''How many are you taking?'' he then asked.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette still felt uneasy about Asaiah’s vampire plan, but she decided to stay quiet on it now so she didn’t seem like she cared too much. In truth, the boy next to her was one of her best friends, even though they really only started bonding through letters. She had Margo at school , but besides that she didn’t have many connections with other students. She knew that was largely her own fault, but that didn’t make it less lonely. Asaiah’s joke in return made her smile, and she nudged him with her elbow. “That wouldn’t be so bad.” She said with a small shrug. When Asaiah admitted he had wanted to be an Auror at twelve, Odette shrugged. “Then you’re an example to prove my point. Loads of kids think they can start doing these special jobs, but in the end there’s only a few who make it. No offense.” She added quickly. Honestly, she didn’t think Asaiah would be a bad auror, but he had no NEWTs so that was out of the question. He was probably a better beater anyway. Odette started to relax slightly when Asaiah said the exams weren’t that bad, but when he mentioned all-nighters she gave him a glare. That was pretty bad as far as she was concerned. “I’ll ask Margo to study with me, maybe.” She muttered under her breath. She was really the only friend to ask, it was lucky she was also in her OWL year. “Just four.” She said with a small shrug. It wasn’t a lot, she knew, but Odette had never really focused on academics too much. “Mostly concerned about Transfiguration, to be honest. Did you take that one?”