The Shit Squad - Modern Hogwarts AU

Drabble 13 - Campfire Stories Part Two

Preston looked around at his friends, and then over at Sam, "Well, neither of us were in a very good place when we met. I don't know if I ever told you guys the full story, but..."

~*~

A third-year Preston McDonald was sat by himself in a dusty corridor, contemplating what he had done wrong to end up alone once again.

Just three weeks earlier, he had everything: friends, great knowledge, unbelievable abilities, and he threw it all away. He could still see it clearly in his memory. He slashed his wand through the air and cast a spell on his best friend that nearly killed him. Nearly everybody who once loved him now hated him for being a monster.

He always had been set off easily. It was a personality trait. He just never expected the person he would crack on would be his best friend.

He stood and made his way through the corridor to the Great Hall. It was lunch time. His robes picked up dust as he shuffled along. This would be a bad day.

When he entered the Great Hall, he noticed that almost the entire student body had beat him there. It looked as if every seat was full and Preston's suspicion came true: it was the first time that he had ever had to sit alone. He looked over at the table he would usually eat at with him friends and saw the grim reminder of what he had done. His best friend was surrounded by people; they were all comforting him. Preston, for a second, felt a wave of concern, followed by the grim realization that he was the cause of his own pain.

He quickly grabbed some food from one of the tables and made his way to the right wall of the Great Hall where nobody was sitting. He plopped down, and looked to see that nobody else was sitting on the floor. He started eating.

A high-pitched feminine voice broke out above the crowd, "Get out of here, you fucking mute!" He looked to the direction of the voice and saw a taller girl knocking a younger girl down on the ground. Preston stood up and began to feel his blood boil.

But he stopped, not wanting a repeat of what he had done three weeks earlier. He kept walking, though. He wanted to help the younger girl out. Preston extended his hand to reach for the short girl, and she looked up at him.

She was very pale, with platinum hair, and a Slytherin scarf that covered her mouth and a part of her nose. She stared at his hand, and eventually took it. She stood up and muttered, "Thank you," under her breath.

"No problem." Preston said with a smile. They made eye contact. The girl was pretty. He couldn't help but wonder why she was being bullied. The girl looked down, aware of the awkward staring. Preston walked back to his floor space and slid back down the wall.

Just before Preston picked up his silverware again, the girl walked over and sat down beside him. "I'm Sam," she told him.

"Uhh. I'm Preston." he responded.

She moved her scarf a little so her mouth was exposed and replied, "Sorry if I'm a little awkward... but I think you're nice," she paused, "I don't have many friends."

"Well, I'm kinda in the same position too, so..." Preston began. "Wanna... be friends?"

"Yeah, uh..." Sam adjusted her scarf so it was back to covering her mouth. "I'd like that."

They stared awkwardly again, and they both turned away. They couldn't help but laugh. It is seemed like laughter was the only escape from the painful awkwardness. Throughout the rest of lunch, they enjoyed each other's company with not having to deal with bullies or ex-best friends.

They finished up their last bits of food. Sam walked ahead to get to her Transfiguration class early. "Bye, Sam!" He called after her.

"Bye, Preston. See ya around,"

After Sam was out of eyeshot, Preston approached the girl who bullied Sam earlier.

Holding his wand up to her face, he said, "If you bully her again, I swear to Merlin, I will unleash hell. I almost killed my best friend. Imagine what I can do to someone I don't like." Her face was ghostly. "Got it?"

"Okay Okay! I won't, now put that thing away, creep!" She got up with her clique and walked away, swishing her hair back and placing her hand on her hip.

The following day, Preston sat down at the same place he did before and saw Sam waiting there for him. "Sam, why are you sitting here? There are plenty of open seats!"

"Well, I like how my friend is here, not that girl Grace." she replied.

"Who's Grace?" Preston questioned.

"That girl that bullied me yesterday." Sam said, shoving her scarf above her mouth.

"No need to worry about it. I took care of her for you." He told her with a small smirk.

Sam smiled and removed the scarf from her mouth again, "Thanks... I get the feeling we'll be good friends."

Grace did arrive later, looked at Preston's death stare, and immediately walked the other way. They engaged in conversation about how horrible the Transfiguration teacher was, and how unfortunate it was that they had no courses together.

Over the course of the next few weeks, they began to hang out more often, and started meeting each other in between classes and after classes were finished. They maintained a steady friendship, and Preston began to appreciate the happiness that Sam had brought into his life, and he was sure that Sam felt the same way. She was laughing again; something she apparently hasn't done in a long time.

One evening, Preston and Sam sat on a bench watching the sun go down over the forbidden forest's horizon. Preston looked over at Sam who was soaking in the beauty of the sunset, and he decided that it was time to pop the question.

"Hey Sam. We've...uh...we've been friends for a really long time, and I..." Preston mumbled as he quaked from his nervousness.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Well." He was blushing out of control, and Sam raising an eyebrow told him that he was stalling for too long. "Do you wanna... maybe... be my girlfriend?" He winced. His voice cracked. It sounded like a duck being stabbed.

She sat there awkwardly blushing, "Uhhh, I don't really know how to put this, but...I don't really like guys."

Preston stood frozen, and looked away from Sam and at the setting sun. "Uhh... yeah, that's cool. I... uh... I understand."

"Good. I'm glad you took it well. Most people don't." She let out a sigh of relief and turned her attention back to the ending sunset.

~*~

"You actually asked her out?" Claire snorted.

"I HAD NO OTHER FRIENDS AT THE TIME AND WE WERE REALLY CLOSE!" Preston quickly explained. "AND LET ME FINISH HOW WE MET DAMN IT!"

~*~

Preston and Sam kept their friendship, and respected each other, for the rest of their third year. When they parted ways during the summer, they wrote letters from Preston's home in Dublin to Sam's in Moscow and kept in touch throughout the season. When school was finally in session, they were full of joy to see that they had multiple classes together, including transfiguration.

When they got to their new class on the first day, they didn't know it yet, but the pair of people sitting just in front of Sam and Preston was Claire and Alice. They all had similar classes, and began to talk to each other frequently until they created, "The Shit Squad."

~*~

"Way to go with the cliché ending." Claire said with a chuckle.

"Hey, you put me on the spot!" Preston replied in defense. "And you know, now that I think about it, how did you guys meet?" He gestured to Claire and Alice.

"Yeah." Sam questioned from beneath her scarf. "I knew that you guys were friends before we met you, so how did you guys meet up?"

"Honestly, I really wanna know too!" Preston demanded, impersonating Claire.

To be continued