Paying Tribute [Open]

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

It has been a tough four years at Hogwarts for William so far. His parents - who were Muggles - were no doubt intelligent, but were quite blinkered and prejudiced about wizardry, and do not like at all that their beloved son turned out to be magical. When he first got his acceptance letter from Hogwarts, his parents didn't speak to him for a few days, and prefered to whisper in corners, quickly changing the tone and subject when William entered the room. He felt alone, and he felt angry - it wasn't his fault that he was born with magic in his veins, and he certainly didn't want to displease his parents. Luckily, his uncle had left him some money, so he made his own way to Diagon Alley to purchase his magical materials. Fortunately, his parents drove him to Kings Cross station, but abandoned him at the entrance; his mother burst into tears, and his father put an arm around her as they walked away, only turning back to shoot inauspicious scowls at William.

The years following melted his parents' hostility towards William - his mother had begun to ask about his homework when he went home for the summer (he usually stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter), and took a vague interest in Hogwarts. His father, however, was as belligerent as usual, and rarely spoke to him when he was home. Preferring to stay in his room, or go out with Muggle friends, William was a solitary soul and preferred the company of books rather than people. This mixed upbringing as turned William into a impatient soul, and one with thick armour to boot.

Moving on to the present, William was sitting on the shore of the Black Lake. It wasn't looking that black, but rather a grey, green colour. He was picking up pebbles and stones and lobbing them into the completely flat lake. It was a cold, November afternoon, and the sun was gradually setting over the mountains, and he was quite happy with his exclusion. He had homework to do, but his mind was on other things - things that were best solved by a spot of peace and quiet by the lake side, chucking pebbles at the Giant Squid.

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The lake shone like a mirror of the sky, broken only but angry ripples that erupted with every stone the boy across the lake dumped in it. Amelia frowned, recognition crosses her mind. There was Will. A smile illuminated her face for a second. He was certainly one of her closest friends. Well, he was her closest friend. Amelia was also muggle born. In fact, she had lived down the road from Will her whole life. They had gone to the same school and had received their Hogwarts in the same week. Amelia and Will had spent a lot of time together in the park a block from where they lived. It was a large park, with a lake, and willow trees. In a way it was there own mini Hogwarts' grounds back home. Well, Will hardly came home anymore.  In contrast to William, Amelia’s family were intrigued by the letter she had received. Her mother, a psychologist, and her father, a molecular biologist, found this aspect of reality utterly fascinating and the headmaster had to convince them that publishing a paper on magical existence was not too wise. They conceded, reluctantly. Amelia knew that Will’s parents did not hold the same view, but she was utterly unaware of the extent to which Will had been ostracised by his parents. Amelia was very aware of the change within William after he received his letter. Amelia was very much like her parents. She was incredibly clever and quick to understand concepts. However, she struggled in subjects that required a less scientific approach. In addition, Amelia had an approach to people that lacked social finesse and pointed out aspects of reality people, for the most part, remained silent about. Alas, this made her lack popularity. However, this aspect of playing social roles fell short of her understanding. She was quite content to only have a handful of friends and her books. She certainly had a hell of a lot more books than friends. However, she needed Will. It was a strange thing to say. She needed the assurance that he was there. It was not neediness. It was just Amelia being her strange self. She adored the memories of her and him lying under willow trees at the lake back home, before any of this had happened, reading entirely age inappropriate books – Dawkins, Hawkings, Freud and Jung. She did not understand a lot of it, but it made her parents smile. She also loved the countless moments just being simply naïve. Amelia was just a fifteen year old. She lacked in many developmental areas of social growth but she was much older intellectually. Amelia started her descent down to Will, a lightness entering her steps. She was a little oblivious to his angst. Well, this was hardly different from much of her interactions. She really did care though, in her own way. She flopped down next to him, her eyes transfixed momentarily on the ripples in the lake. “Hey,” she started casually, grinning at her companion. “I have just finished my paper on the transfiguration of living tissue for extra credit. It was certainly invigorating. Professor De’Ath gave me the leeway because I’m a little ahead of everyone else. How is your stuff going?” She looked earnestly at him, a slight feeling of unease gnawing at her. Unable to gauge the emotion, she pursed her lips. She quickly shrugged it off. If Will was feeling off, he would tell her. Well, she assumed he would tell her because that seemed like the logical thing to do. Hiding emotions seemed like a baffling game.

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

Resuming throwing stones and pebbles into the darkening lake, William heard movement to the right and looked up from his sorrow; to his happiness, he saw one of his best friends, Amelia. He smiled warmly, for what felt like the first time in weeks as his face ached, as she sat down next to him. An incredibly beautiful and intelligent girl, Amelia is a Muggleborn just like William. They grew up not five minutes from each other, and were friends from a young age. When they were admitted to Hogwarts four years previous, they were both put in Ravenclaw, which William was exceptionally happy about. From that moment on, they have been nigh inseparable, so much so that many of their other friends thought that they were a couple. 

When Amelia sat down next to William, her voice and her presence made him feel better, which it had done for many years previous - it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if he didn't have her, he probably wouldn't be around. William smiled and threw another stone into the lake when she rabbited on about how she had finished an essay, something she did quite often. Amelia was one of the most intelligent people he knew, and even though William was certainly above average, she made him feel rather unintelligent whenever she was around, although he didn't pay much attention to that thought. "Well done." William said. "My stuff?" He laughed bitterly. "Not bad, I guess. Although sitting out here isn't going to make my paper write itself any faster." He shrugged and continued. "Still, never mind. How are you, apart from the happiness that you've finished your paper?"

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Amelia frowned. She could note the bitterness in her companion’s voice well. Although she tended to be slow on the emotional uptake, she had grown accustom to Will’s mood fluctuations. She tilted her head and leaned back against the grassy slope. “Emotional stuff?” she inquired, a hint of jest slowly forming in her voice. “You know my ability to express feeling is limited. I would rather be asked how my work is going.” She smiled, her eyes tracing the pattern of the clouds above her. She let go a breath of air and with it tension she had been unaware that she had been holding. “Something seems wrong,” she offered, a slight unsureness entering her voice. Amelia only seemed to be unsure when it had to do with people and their cryptic emotional nature. It was unlike William to put off his work so long. He was exceptionally clever. Well, maybe he could put off work. He was clever enough to catch it up quickly.  Last Christmas, Amelia had stayed in the castle with Will. Luckily her parents were not preoccupied with the festive season. They thought it was a commercial holiday which exploited people into bankruptcy. The logic behind the notion was flawless. The pagan, turned religious, turned commercial holiday was nothing more than a money making scheme. However, Amelia loved Christmas at Hogwarts. The feast was beyond compare. Her Christmas cracker last year had given her a chess set. She had been enthralled by the wizarding game and had sent a set to her parents, who had been thoroughly delighted. The Christmas with Will at Hogwarts had been the most amazing time she had had around the festive time of year. “I decided to stay with you over Christmas, here,” she said softly. While Amelia could be a bit dense, she knew William disliked going home. She could not blame him. His parents had been rather vile about the whole magic thing. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and then rested her head against him. She was completely comfortable with him, and had no inhibitions when it came to physical touch.

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

William had known Amelia for several years, but it still made him laugh how clueless she was when it came to others emotions. She wasn't rude, tactless or harsh by any means, but rather she went around in her own little bubble, and menial things like other people rarely penetrated it. This kind of attitude to life was one of the many reasons William loved his best friend, as when he was sad or contemplative, she was a welcome respite, because her blunt ignorance in matters such as that distracted him - usually. As Amelia leaned back on the grass and enquired as to whether it was "emotional stuff", William had to laugh. "Mmm." He said, leaning back himself, abandoning his pile of throwing stones, at least for the moment. 

When Amelia deduced that something was wrong with him, William turned to his best friend and didn't answer for a moment, before he nodded. "I'm just a little contemplative, that's all. Wondering whether my father will send me a Christmas card this year." He coughed and shook his head. "Pathetic. I shouldn't really think about it, all it does it make me either annoyed or upset." He looked away, staring at the ripples across the waters surface as fish and other creatures poked their heads above surface for air. It was a beautiful place to sit, the Black Lake, but it was very...thought provoking, and William didn't really need much help in that area, especially around the time of Christmas; everyone else was either preparing to go home, or choosing to stay at Hogwarts with their friends and the wonderful castle, but William didn't really have a choice but to stay.

When Amelia said that she was going to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas with him, he smiled warmly at his friend, and grasped her hand in his own. "Thank you." He said, feeling rather emotional. "You don't need to. Won't your parents miss you?" He felt her warmth not only from her words and aura, but also from her body when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head on him. William did the same, and rested his head on hers, enjoying the warmth and feeling of closeness. "You're a great friend, Amelia." He said, closing his eyes.

And so they sat there, holding each other, for what could have been several hours, but was in reality only five, entirely blissful minutes. William broke apart the contact and sat up, shuffling around so he was facing his beautiful best friend. "Enough about me, I'm fine now you're here." He smiled. "How are you anyway? I expect you're happy you've finished your assignment, miles ahead of everyone again." He winked.

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Amelia was not surprised to hear that Will’s pensive mood involved his family. It often did, especially this time of year. William was often left in the near vacant castle by himself. Her brow furrowed for a second. She wondered whether it would be rude to give an honest answer to his contemplations. Of course his family would not send him a Christmas card. Sometimes Amelia wondered why Will dwelled so deeply on it. He was a wizard and an incredibly talented one considering that. Being sorted into Ravenclaw demonstrated how brilliant he really was. If he family was so stupid, Amelia vowed to hex them when she could do magic out of Hogwarts. Then at least they would have a reason to dislike magic. “They’re gits anyway,” she said in a matter of fact tone. “They should be proud.” Calling Will’s parents gits may not have been the most wonderful thing to do. Still, Amelia only had so much control over what she said. She lacked a filter that stopped her from being excessively honest. There were many more things that she could have said that would have been a great deal worse than what she had said. “My parents, miss me?” she mused. “No, they do not believe in Christmas. They say it is just a festival to make money and make religious people feel like they are actually celebrating something important. My mom thinks the whole thing is rather sanctimonious and hypocritical. They are going to be working through the holiday and take leave in June instead.” “You’re a twit,” she said evenly. Amelia did not like flattery. Unless of course it was academic – because then she knew exactly why she was being praised. How exactly did one become a good friend? It seemed rather wishy-washy to her. “I am feeling happy,” she mused. Well, she was miles ahead again, which made the stress non-existent. Amelia was super confident when it came to academic matters. Stress did not seem to find her. It must have been rather irritating for other people. Amelia regarded him curiously for a second. Suddenly she placed both her hands on either side of his face. Her eyes held a curious expression. Without much warning, she leaned in and placed her lips against his. She lingered for a moment before pulling away. It was certainly a curious sensation. “Hmm, so that is what the people our age desire,” she looked genuinely confused but not abashed at all.

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

Beside his mood, William let out a loud bark-like laugh at Amelia's comment that his parents were "gits".  Amelia certainly did lack any true social skills, but he had been her friend for nigh-on ten years, and they had never been closer. Amelia did not look abashed, or embarrassed at calling his parents such a word, but then, she never did. She had a talent with words, and certainly didn't hold back when she was either happy or angry about something, or someone. "Perhaps." William said, sighing as he rested his head on hers. "They just seem to be so...Muggle...in their way of thinking. Scared of change. Ashamed." He cleared his throat and decided to stop passing off his problems onto one of the most carefree and happy friends he had - he knew she wouldn't mind listening to his problems, but he did.

Listening to Amelia say that her parents wouldn't miss her, as they would be working and don't believe in Christmas, William nodded. "Mm, I remember. But still, wouldn't they miss you, Christmas or not? I would." He smiled weakly at her, and then grinned as she called him a twit, hopefully in an affectionate manner. Amelia was so terrible at human contact, she had adapted strange ways to communicate, but William thought it made her quirky and interesting - it was always a surprise to talk to her, rather than the generic, typical conversation with everyone else. This sense of unpredictability very much continued with her next move - which was to place her hands on his cheeks and kiss him. William tensed for a second and then relaxed, returning the kiss, albeit with an air of surprise. 

As she broke the kiss, she looked contemplative, then made her usual so-nonplussed-it-was-funny comment. William laughed weakly, many thoughts running through his mind. He and Amelia had been friends for as long as he could remember, and he did have feelings for her, but not those kinds of feelings. It was plainly obvious to anyone that laid eyes upon her that she was beautiful, not to mention intelligent, but did he have those feelings for her? There was a time that he did, but those feelings were twisted and warped by hormones. Shaking his head, William smiled at Amelia and said: "That was...unexpected." He moved closer to her. "Not unpleasant by any means, though." He moved closer and kissed her softly on her cheek. "Thank you. You've certainly distracted me. I'll ... make a point of being depressed more often." He winked at his friend and resumed his normal position, lying on the grass, propped up by his elbows.

[Deleted]

Amelia did not know what to say to her friend. There was little he could do to resolve the circumstances surrounding his parent’s inability to see what their son really was. She could only nod her head in agreement to his words that his parents were muggles in their way of thinking. She could offer him no comfort that usual people offer. Everything will be alright – that was a favourite among people or your parents will come around one day. They wouldn’t. Amelia was very sure about that. So she offered William no lies. She could not say what would happen. She also was not sure what he expected her to say. A quizzical look entered her expression. People were baffling. “No, I am sure that they will cope without me. As I said, they are working,” she repeated growing a little weary of him making sure that she would not be breaking her parent’s hearts. She could not practice her spells if she went home. That was an unfortunate aspect of going home. However, she would not speak more on the matter. She noted the strangeness of the expression on Will’s face and the weakness of his laugh. Oh, this was another one of those things people did not understand. She frowned at the kiss he returned on her cheek. This behaviour she did not understand. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why she did what she did. She also could not quite place his reaction. Perhaps it was discomfort – Amelia had crossed over a boundary she was not even aware was there. The strange mixture of responses – the kiss on the cheek suggested just friends, but his last comment suggested a little bit of flirting. She sighed. People were just too confusing. That was probably her mantra. “I’ve never been kissed before,” she said simply, explaining herself. “Wanted to see what it was like.”

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

"Fair enough then." William said, lying back on the grass, watching the sky darken above them. It was common for Amelia's parents to be working all year round, but he couldn't help thinking that Amelia didn't mind that much. Her parents, like his, were Muggles, but a lot more accepting to the fact that their daughter was magical. Sometimes, he couldn't help feeling jealous of her parents - they were respectable, high-standing members of the community in which William was born and brought up in, and thinking about it not only made him jealous, but also ashamed of his own parents. However, as with many things, it wasn't all bad; some of the other members of his family, such as cousins, aunts and uncles were more enthusiastic about his magical powers, although it was frustrating to explain to them the goings-on in the magical world, as they were so clueless.

When Amelia kissed him, it was quite strange. However, her reaction afterwards was typical Amelia - a non-abashed attitude was one of the many reasons he loved her. When she spoke of never being kissed before, William looked at her without expression for a moment, then told her a secret of his own. "Nor have I." He said, looking away in embarrassment, even though he knew he shouldn't have. Many of the boys his own age, especially back home, were bragging about all of their adventures in relationships, and he had to either avoid the question or lie to keep face - sometimes, he hated people in his own age group. Amelia was one of the only people in the world he truly trusted. "At least we know there are no...complicated feelings. We're friends, and we've kissed each other for the first time. I'd rather have kissed you than anyone else, that's for sure." He laughed and began picking grass and playing with it. For a while, he just sat there, and then he turned and looked at his best friend. "So...how was your first kiss?" He winked and grinned, hoping she would see the funny side.

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Although Amelia was slow to pick up emotions, she noted the embarrassment of William acutely. She had known him long enough to get a faint grasp on some of his emotions. She frowned, a little uncertain of what to make of the reaction. Was he embarrassed that he had never kissed anyone before, or was he unhappy that his first kiss had been her? For a moment, Amelia felt as though she had taken some important and bizarre right of passage away from her friend. Her mother had warned her that men's sexual prowess was important to them. She frowned. Perhaps this was the issue. Making the first moved relinquished him from his male role to take control of sexual encounters. My, this was interesting. Well, Amelia had no reason to suspect her mother. After all, in the muggle world, she was a well respected psychologist. She understood people in a way that Amelia struggled to. She nodded internally. That must be the source of his embarrassment.  She frowned at his next words, not sure of what to make of them. She could be rather frank at this point. "Perhaps your first kiss would have been more sexually appealing should it have been with someone that you have primal sexual appeal for," she said matter of fact. Amelia was quite certain that perhaps an encounter with a woman he found sexually appealing would have been far more... pleasing for him. So when William said that he would rather have kissed her than anyone else, she doubted him. After all, who desires to kiss the best friend? She thought seriously about the question posed to her by her friend, not quite grasping the playfulness behind the question. "Well, in traditional terms, the man should have executed the first kiss. It certainly lacked passion but I was quite satisfied. Although, I think I missed the typical romance and passion that is so typical with such things, but that was indeed my own fault. Were you satisfied?" she inquired quite innocently.

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

After William reacted in quite an embarrassed, awkward manner - at least to begin with - to Amelia kissing him, he could tell that she felt a little different herself. Amelia had always been quite a introvert, and kept her emotions, feelings and thoughts well and truly to herself. Even William - her best friend for several years - rarely knew what she was thinking inside that large brain of hers. As such, normal teenager feelings rarely penetrated her, and as such, she may not understand or fully appreciate to importance of something like a first kiss. Of course, in a reality, a first kiss isn't that important, but William was still getting his head around what had happened. He had kissed - or rather, been kissed - by his best friend, and that was an odd feeling. Sure, he didn't feel attracted to her in that way, but there was a large part of him that was glad he had "given away" his first kiss to his best friend , rather than a strange, unknown girl, only to never see her again.


At her next words, William couldn't help but laugh. His outburst of laughter would probably either annoy or greatly confuse Amelia, but he couldn't help it. As usual, Amelia was looking at the situation objectively and analytically, rather than with any conceivable emotion. "Sexual attraction..." William said, looking back at the sunset rolling over the hills, blinking into the blinding light. "No, it is true, I am not...attracted...that...sex." William flustered, blushing a lovely shade of crimson. He turned his head away for a second, and then looked back into the eyes of his best friend. "You are beautiful, though. I meant it when I said I am not affronted my first kiss was with you." He cleared his throat. "I mean, it's all ridiculous anyway. Who cares who kisses who first? It's a ridiculous limitation." William sniffed and began to pick grass again. "Anyway," he said, "do you want to head back up to the common room? It'll probably be a lot warmer in there than here."

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Amelia watched her best friend deliberate about what she said and did for awhile. She frowned, unsure of whether or not to interrupt and change the subject. However, she was sure that would not have been polite. She lay back on the grass, her eyes gazing up at the endless sky. It was nice to just relax. The endless, complicated thoughts drained from her mind peacefully. The escape the moment brought her was relief from her own mind. She sighed, letting her eyes close briefly. Amelia's eyes jolted open at his laughter. She could not quite understand his mirth. What she had said had made a perfect amount of sense to her.  However, Amelia could not help but laugh at Will's response to her statement. It was delightfully amusing how much embarassment featured in this conversation. Although, her laughter fell away as he mentioned  her looks. She shrugged it off. She had some idea that she was an attractive specimen of the female species.  However, she hated to admit it. She found the idea of woman being judged on their beauty as attractive rather than intelligence rather ludicrous. After all, why would men want beauty over intelligence? She smiled politely at his next ramblings of  Will. He seemed to be thinking carefully about the whole notion of a first kiss.  "Well, I will be sure not to take your virginity from you," she stated bluntly. She smiled cheekily at him. "I will join you up there a bit later. I think I will stay outside for a bit longer."

[WILLIAM ASHDOWN]

As per usual, Amelia seemed nonplussed about the whole situation. There William was, feeling and no doubt looking embarrassed and quite awkward about the kissing aspect, and Amelia seemed completely unaware - or did not care - about it at all. She lay back on the grass and gazed up into the ever darkening sky with vague happiness. It was true, William loved her, but sometimes he wished she was a little more with it, a little more reciprocal to emotions and feelings. Saying that, he wouldn't change his best friend even if he could - they kind of complimented each other perfectly.

At his laughter, Amelia's eyes jolted open and she looked at him. Then, at his stuttering, she laughed too. He couldn't blame her; his tongue felt a little too large for his mouth, and he couldn't get the words out properly as a result. Around women, William had always been awkward and nervous, but he was usually fine with Amelia - what had changed?

At the sound of the V word, Williams eyes widened for a second, and then he laughed it off rather nervously. With a pause and a shake of his head, he hoped to be back to his normal, carefree attitude - Amelia's blunt manner took him aback sometimes. He nodded rather blankly, and stood up. "Ok then, come and find me later." He smiled and waved, and started the cold walk back up to the common room, the word virginity still echoing through his troublesome mind.