Simple Companionship ((Olivia))

[Faith Ellison S7]

It felt nice to be enjoying her free period outside. Faith stretched lazily, content to sit on her cloak and lean back against a wall with a book for half an hour. Just half an hour and then she’d head inside and savour the warmth of the fire in the common room before finishing off that essay for Transfiguration. It did feel odd to not have Juliet with her to talk with yet at the same time the silence added a peaceful atmosphere that soothed her tired mind. No one else was foolish enough to venture out into the cold it seemed, but the warming charms applied to her robes and the cloak underneath her had worked wonderfully in keeping her warm. Not that there were many people who could enjoy the crisp air, even if they wanted to. As she remembered it, it was only the sixth years that had this period free. Poor Olivia, Faith smirked laughingly, imagining the younger girl stuck in a boring class like History of Magic. She’d be ready to curse the ghost, not that it would do any good, just for a chance to escape and have a smoke, Faith pictured it clearly.

How long ago had it been that she’d met Olivia Dawson? Two, maybe three years? Something like that. She wasn’t as close to her as she was to Juliet, but that was to be expected really. Not only had she known Juliet longer but they were in the same year and the same classes. Faith had sometimes wondered if Olivia felt a bit left out, with her being younger than herself and Juliet, and if the younger girl felt that she wasn’t as close to them as they were to each other. It hadn’t been something that Faith had liked thinking about; each of her friends was important to her, and she didn’t want them to think otherwise. Handing over Olivia’s copy of the key to the house had dampened that worry somewhat. It was tangible proof of their friendship. To doubt it now would be foolish.

Someone took a seat next to her and Faith blinked, wondering if Juliet had joined her after all. “Olivia? Skipping class, I presume.” Faith rolled her eyes. “Just don’t get caught, Slytherin don’t need to lose any more points than we already have.” What a coincidence though, she thought to herself with amusement. She had just finished her thoughts about her friend and here she appears. “If you’re going to smoke then hand one over and I’ll join in the fun,” Faith ordered lightly. It wasn’t often that she smoked, but it wasn’t a new occurrence. There had been times, mostly earlier on in their friendship, when Faith had sat next to Olivia, just the two of them, and filched one of her friend’s cigarettes. One or two a month wasn’t going to do any harm and if it was then Olivia would be in the same situation at least, only a lot more severe.

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia ran her fingers through her now jet black hair as she sat in Professor Binn’s History of Magic class. Her hair was originally blonde, but she had decided to dye it black over the holidays. She figured it was time for a change. Olivia stared off into space as Professor Binns spoke. She had been dying to get out of there, but that old hag McGonagall warned her that if she caught Olivia cutting class one more time, she’d not only take away more house points than she already had, but she’d also give Olivia a month’s worth of detention. She’d also see to it that Olivia wasn’t allowed another Hogsmeade visit for the rest of the year. Olivia rolled her eyes just thinking of the mad old woman. If only the lady would just mind her own business, then Olivia could get through the year peacefully without her getting in the way so much. She looked around the room. Her fellow fifth year classmates weren’t paying much attention either, but that was to be expected. Olivia shared this class with the Hufflepuffs, who didn’t seem any more interested in Binn’s lesson on Goblins’ rights than she was. She glanced out the window. It was snowing lightly outside, and all the white surrounding the castle made the place look so much more peaceful than it was.

She glanced around the room again, not bothering to turn her head to look around the room. As her eyes searched the room, she noted that nearly everyone in the room was fast asleep at their desks. She twirled her shoulder length wavy black hair. Olivia glanced out the window one more time. She found herself tapping her feet, waiting for the end of class bell to ring. She felt the weight of both her pack of cigarettes and her little green lighter in her pocket and started to become restless. “Screw this.” Olivia muttered under her breath as she slung her book bag over her shoulder (she hadn’t even bothered to take her quill and parchment out at the start of class) and walked out of the room. Binns didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, he didn’t care.

Olivia walked with her hands deep into her pockets to the giant oak front doors in the entrance hall. She figured a little stroll around the grounds couldn’t hurt. She removed one little white stick from her pack of cigarettes and held it in her mouth as she cupped her hand around her little green lighter. Once the cigarette was lit and the delicious smoke filled her lungs, Olivia felt instant relief. Those little peace sticks as she called them. She held the cigarette in her hand and let out a puff of smoke. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone sitting alone on a bench, staring off into space. Upon closer inspection, Olivia identified the girl as Olivia’s friend Faith Ellison, a Slytherin in the year above. Faith, Olivia, and Juliet Moreau (A Slytherin in Faith’s year) were good friends. They had been ever since about third year.

Olivia walked up and sat herself down next to Faith, who turned around once she felt Olivia’s presence. Faith greeted her and asked her for a smoke. She reached into her robe pocket and handed her a cigarette. She clicked the lighter and allowed Faith to light her cigarette. “Yes, if you must know, I am skipping. Binns was duller than usual today. Even the perky Hufflepuffs were falling asleep at their desks. And I won’t get caught. Binns didn’t even notice me walk out. I doubt he’d even notice someone get murdered in there.” She said, rolling her eyes and letting another puff of smoke pass through her lips. “What about you? Free period?”

[Faith Ellison S7]

The book just wasn’t holding her attention. It had such little entertainment value that Faith could almost feel her eyes sliding shut before fluttering open again. That’s how close to sleep she was. Heh, perhaps her friends were right after all. Anything that wasn’t related to music, however indirectly, just didn’t keep her attention for longer than five minutes. With the exception of classes and homework of course, but those were necessary and had to be borne with patience. It wasn’t her fault though, and Faith would stand by that claim until a better one came along. Her upbringing had been a mixture of abandonment, music and a faint feeling of security that she associated with the music her uncle had taught to her. After being bounced from one relative to another for years, finding someone who would take her in had been a tremendous relief. It was only natural that she had loved him and, by association, anything that James that wanted to teach her.

Oh really. Faith tutted to herself lightly, more annoyed than alarmed to find tears prickling at the back of her eyes. Even years later, the memory of the one person who had kept her, even though he hadn’t loved her until years later, made her sniffle. She wouldn’t cry though. She hadn’t cried for Uncle James since she had turned eleven and she wasn’t going to start again now. She had loved him too much to cry for him and then hate him for being her weakness. Maybe it was only her twisted logic that made the idea make sense but, to her, it made perfect sense.

Crying in front of people was the worst thing anyone, especially a Slytherin, could do. That was the first lesson an emotionally fragile Faith had learnt after arriving at Hogwarts less than a year after the death of her only father-figure. Luckily for her, she had already known how to keep things to herself. Had there ever been anyone else she could tell anything to, let alone how she was truthfully feeling? Yes, there had been James but it had taken her too long to get comfortable with him and feel secure in the knowledge that he wasn’t going to send her away like everyone else had. By the time it had occurred to her that she could actually approach him after having a nightmare without being sent away or being greeted with derision, she hadn’t needed to. As for her uncle, he had been a bachelor without the faintest idea of how to handle a child. It didn’t matter though. All it meant was that she had grown up a bit quicker, was a bit more mature.

Faith closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply, nodding at Olivia in silent gratitude. Her friend would understand the peace that a cigarette could bring to her mind. “Hufflepuffs falling asleep?” She let out a short laugh. “It’s not as unusual as you’d think. And that theory about Binns might explain why he hasn’t realised he’s dead yet. A bored student threw something heavy at him and hit him on the head but he didn’t notice his own murder.” Faith arched an eyebrow sarcastically, her lips quirking into a smirk. “Yeah. I’m not eager for another detention like the one Filch last gave me when he caught me skipping class. That man is vile and three hours in his company did not endear him to me in the slightest.”

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia sighed deeply, letting out a puff of smoke. Sometimes, there were das like these, when Olivia’s mind was in the clouds while her body was still grounded on earth. It happened frequently in History of Magic for example. Faith was really one of the only ones who accepted Olivia’s invitation to smoke with her. Most just scrunched their noses and said they hated the smell of cigarette smoke or something. It got Olivia angry sometimes to see their reaction. It wasn’t because she expected everyone to be like her and smoke or anything, but the way they refused just made Olivia want to shove a smoke in their mouth. She was being nice and offering them something that she could have use. Most do not even thank her. They refuse quite rudely. She brought the small white stick to her lips again, inhaling the wonderful aroma of the smoke. Her little peace sticks. How she loved them. “Ha. I know what you mean. That man needs a girlfriend, and someone really needs to shoot that blasted cat of his. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if I found Filch and his cat snogging each other when I returned to the castle.” She said rolling her eyes.

Olivia glanced at Faith. The two Slytherins sat in silence for a moment, and Olivia could have sworn she saw a pained expression on Faith’s face. It just wasn’t like her. Faith was generally a peaceful girl. She played the violin or another one of her instruments and she was happy. Out of the small group of friends Olivia had, Faith by far was the most subdued in Olivia’s opinion. Olivia and Juliet were the ones most known for their partying habits, although Olivia was perhaps better known for her smoking habit. “God Faith, you look like you need your violin.” Olivia said amusedly with a smirk. “You alright?” She looked at Faith with a bit more of a worried tone in her voice. She knew Faith was a strong girl and could handle herself, but she couldn’t help but feel a little worried for her friend. Olivia looked down at her lap, where her pack of cigarettes laid half open. There was only one or two left, but Olivia had one more pack in her dormitory. She would probably have a lot more if her mother hadn’t pulled that stupid juvenile prank. Olivia almost rolled her eyes at the thought of Laura Dawson.

If there was anything Olivia hated more than History of Magic, it was Laura Dawson. Laura was the woman that was supposedly Olivia’s mother. But Olivia didn’t buy it. Being a mother meant more than just giving birth to the child. Being a mother meant loving the child, caring for the child, and watching over the child when necessary. Being a mother did not mean giving your child a fortune’s worth of money, ignoring them completely, and then keeping them from their siblings. Olivia couldn’t believe her. She didn’t know why Laura constantly felt the need to protect Elle from her. Elle Dawson was perhaps one of the only normal people in the Dawson family, and that was partly because of Olivia. The only problem with Olivia’s sister was that she was too obedient and had the inability to say the word ‘no.’ she followed Laura’s orders like a little slave, even though they weren’t always for her well being like Laura constantly said it was.

And then there was that scam on the train. She had the nerve to magically take away all her cigarettes and replace them with little handwritten notes about how ‘she was only doing this to help Olivia.’ Olivia rolled her eyes. As if Laura was waiting for Olivia to think about her juvenile prank, Olivia heard a pop. Her peaceful cigarette fell from her hands and turned into another one of those damned yellow notes. She looked at Faith. Hers had been transfigured as well. Olivia looked down at it with disgust. She read aloud, mocking her mother’s snooty voice. “Olivia dear, it doesn’t do to skip class. If I were you, I’d give those little poison sticks a rest and pay attention in class so you can be good for something other than mutilating our atmosphere.” Olivia crumpled up the note and threw it on the ground. “Don’t you just love that lady?” Olivia said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

[Faith Ellison S7]

“Oh, don’t make me imagine such vile things.” Faith frowned at her younger friend disapprovingly. She might not like Filch, and she absolutely despised that cat ever since she had been landed in a week of detentions for being out of the common room after curfew with her boyfriend back in fourth year due to Mrs Norris but there was no need to torture her in such a way. At least it had given her the chance to get rid of her boyfriend, so maybe Filch was useful for something. Her inability to stay in a relationship didn’t really bother her, but it did make her wonder. Was she just incapable of loving someone, or even liking a person enough to stay with him for more than two weeks? It was entirely possible, in Faith’s opinion. Her parents had never been around often enough for her to see them interact and James had been a bachelor, devoted to his music. She had never been taught what love was nor had the chance to see it in action. Maybe she should ask Juliet for her opinion when she returned to the dorm. That thought brought a small smile to her face. Faith was pretty sure that her brunette friend would just laugh at her and pat her head patronisingly, like she was a child.

The white smoke curled around the two girls for a second, bringing a sense of peace before being blown away by the wind and replaced by a new cloud of smoke. Maybe that was why she enjoyed smoking when her mood was low, Faith mused sardonically. What was the smoke but a screen to hide and protect her? So many people disliked cigarettes and their smoke so much that they would just avoid someone who was smoking. That was one of the first things Faith had seen after her first cigarette with Olivia. Maybe that was why she continued smoking; maybe that was why Olivia smoked. Or maybe she was just getting too philosophical and it was a sign that she needed to stop thinking and just breathe in the sweet smoke surrounding them. Olivia spoke up and Faith blinked at her with surprise before laughing and shaking her head, her eyes bright with fake laughter. She was good at fooling her friends, and she had been for years. There was no chance that Olivia would see through her disguise. Not ever. Not unless Faith allowed her to, something she would never do. “You know I don’t feel right without my violin, Olivia. I just need to go to Hogsmeade and play for a while, that’s all. I’ll probably go tomorrow since it’ll be Saturday.”

How had she allowed her guard to drop so much, so easily, that Olivia had seen her unhappiness? Faith questioned herself bemusedly. Well, it had to happen once, she supposed, and once in a friendship wasn’t bad. Just as long as she was careful to stay on guard and appear peaceful for the next couple of weeks, and her violin could help with that. For her friends to find out just how bad Faith’s relationship with her parents was...that was one thing she wouldn’t be able to tolerate. She had been unloved and abandoned, foisted off on her father’s brother, and the only thing that had loved her was the music she played. Because her music needed her to exist, needed her and her violin or piano to come to life. Without a musician, music was just a bunch of notes and symphonies on a sheet of paper. So naturally, music loved the musician who made it come to life and allowed it to enthral other people.

Faith raised an eyebrow as her cigarette turned into a yellow piece of paper. “Impressive spellwork,” she commented neutrally before taking her wand out of her pocket and setting both pieces of yellow paper on fire. Now that was a better example of spellwork, in her irritated opinion. “Oh, yes, Olivia, I simply adore her. Not only has she deprived me of the only peace I'll find until I can escape to Hogsmeade tomorrow but I was enjoying that poison stick, or whatever she called them. It’s not like we were polluting her air.” Faith huffed angrily, glaring down at the little pile of ashes on the ground mournfully. Well, bye bye to the little stick of peace.

[Olivia Dawson S6]

Olivia laughed quietly at Faith’s dry remark. Filch and Mrs. Norris were obscenely aggravating people. They had foiled Olivia’s plans from the start of her first year. There were the many times when Olivia had attempted to go visit Hogsmeade during a school day, the countless times she’d been sneaking around late at night, and of course, the surprisingly large amount of intimate dates he’d broken up on school grounds. Olivia sighed. It had been a while since one of those infamous ‘intimate dates’ had happened. Her last slightly serious boyfriend had been during the summer, but that was far over by now. Jez was only a fling. After that, Olivia was more than happy to be an independent girl again. She’d had some fun at parties with some of the muggle boys around London, and she had even discovered many boys from Hogwarts that resided in the large urban city. But no one had really caught Olivia’s interest at school. She was done with Gryffindors for the rest of her life. She’d had some bad experiences with those over confident guys. The Hufflepuff boys were too worrisome. They were constantly trying to tell Olivia all about the ‘horrific effects of cigarette smoking’. And she’d had it with the Ravenclaws, who were just too boring for words. And the Slytherins were out of the question. She couldn’t stand the lot of them. There was that Lehane boy, who got on Olivia’s nerves almost as fast as Laura could. Olivia blinked and shook her head, trying to erase the thoughts of Lehane from her head. His blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes would have been great; if only they were attached to the body of someone a lot less aggravating.

Olivia just couldn’t shake the thought of him. What was so memorable about that stupid Lehane? His sister was a pain in the neck too, but Olivia was thinking about her 24/7. Olivia sighed heavily, unknowingly making her annoyance clear to Faith, who was sitting just next to her. Olivia could hide her emotions quite well. However, one emotion she couldn’t hide was anger. When Olivia didn’t like someone, her annoyance for them was quite clear. She sighed, trying to forget the memory of Lehane casually taking his clothes off as if Olivia wasn’t even there. He was quite muscular, now that Olivia thought about it. But why was she thinking about his muscles, for god’s sake? She ran her fingers through her jet-black hair as her cigarette turned into a horrifying yellow piece of paper. Now this was the kind of thing Olivia should be thinking about, not Lehane’s muscles. She should be thinking of how annoying and juvenile these kinds of people were. Yes, that was more like it. Once Olivia imagined Laura and Lehane in a prison cell together, Olivia felt much better. But she still craved a cigarette. She craved one so bad, it was crazy. Why was Laura doing this to her? Didn’t she understand how bad Olivia needed those little so called ‘poison sticks?’ Didn’t she understand that chewing gum wasn’t going to help Olivia at all? If it wasn’t for her cigarettes, she’d be yanking her hair out in frustration right now.

She glanced at Faith, who looked just as annoyed as Olivia did. She felt bad. Both girls needed those things at the moment, and thanks to Laura Dawson, they would not be able to have their peace. She sighed. “Yes, while Laura does have a few tricks up her sleeve, she’s not exactly the nicest lady in the world. Did I tell you she’s making me go to some old snob’s birthday party this weekend? I’m going to be spending the night at your place, if that’s alright. After a night of ‘wild partying’, I don’t think I’d be able to take one night in Hogsmeade with Laura. She’s even setting me up on a date with some guy’s son. She hasn’t told me who though. What a wench.” Olivia said, rolling her eyes. Wench was a bit of an understatement when it came to Laura Dawson, that’s for sure.

[Faith Ellison S7]

Maybe she did need a boyfriend after all, Faith thought to herself dryly. Just a fling, a no-strings attached relationship that wouldn’t last for longer than she needed. She was a bore lately, with school and homework getting her down. But were there even any decent Slytherin boys anymore? Considering how much Olivia despised the Lehane boy in the year below Faith, it could be doubtful. On the other hand, Olivia got irritated far too easily, in her opinion. There were only three sixth year guys that she could think of anyway. Kennedy was one, but he was, by all accounts, involved with Fiona. Then Jack and Tristan but... oh, maybe she should have taken Juliet’s advice and taken more notice of the boys before she got to this stage. Well, it sounded like advice that Juliet would give to her. Well, that settled it then. No boyfriend for Faith. Not a Slytherin one anyway – and what other option was there? Gryffindors – occasionally sweet but oh so heroic in an idiotic yet dramatic sort of way – were out of the question. Faith could summon up the patience to deal with a Gryffindor boyfriend if she really had to but did she really want to? The house rivalry made it a bad idea anyway.

Enough already! Faith told herself firmly, barely resisting the temptation to let her head meet the wall behind her. Juliet and Olivia had infected her – corrupted her! – with their incessant admiration of the opposite gender and it wasn’t going to go on any longer. Men were a bad idea – a mistake. Theoretically, boyfriends sounded like a great idea and Faith knew that. Worse still, Olivia and Juliet seemed to know that she knew that and therefore they tempted her to get one by taking her out to clubs and parties and getting her drunk enough to make that mistake. But that was just in theory. In reality, boyfriends took up too much time and they just made her life disorganised. Faith hated that. Everything had a time and a place but males just didn’t seem able to appreciate that. Neither did her friends, sometimes, but that was tolerable. She would let that happen because they didn’t leave her life in too much chaos. After the latest party, her friends would back off a little bit and leave Faith in peace, allow her to pick up the mess that they had created in her life and give her time to reorganise herself. Then they would drag her to another club or another party and the cycle would start all over again. Boyfriends didn’t give her that time to fix the chaos they created. They demanded too much out of her; they wanted honesty and trust and truth about everything and that was something Faith wasn’t willing to give. She wasn’t opening her heart up again.

“You know you’re always welcome to crash at the house. That’s why I gave you a key, silly girl.” Faith grinned slightly, keeping her eye on a figure approaching them slowly. If that was Filch then Olivia would be making a quick escape to avoid another detention. But warning her now would be too nice after the younger girl had interrupted her peace. “A blind date?” Faith raised her eyebrow sceptically, dragging her eyes away from the distant figure for a moment. “Maybe you’ll have fun. The guy could be nice and if he’s not, I’m sure you’ll have fun torturing him.” With a wicked smirk, Faith tilted her head toward the figure approaching them, finally deciding to give her friend a warning. “Think that’s Filch coming to get you? You did skip History of Magic so he’ll give you a detention or ten.”