One More Step (Albus)

Rachel had been completely fed up with the girls in her Slytherin dorm. Some of them thought that they were so much better than her that they actually tried to give her a makeover. A makeover!? Just to prove that they were 'capable' of it. Or something. Rachel scoffed once or twice when she thought they were joking, but it turned out that they were not she made a break for the common room, hoping to get lost in the crowd.

Once she had made it into the room it was a lot emptier than she was hoping, but there was an empty spot on the couch next to her one of her only friends, Ablus Potter. She made a run for it and jumped over the couch, landing next to him. "Hey! Long time, no se-" She started.

"Black!?" One of the girls called out as two other girls came through behind her. These were the girls trying to make her over. Luckily for Rachel the girls didn't look around too hard, they just took a quick glance, "Forget it. We'll get her later." The three girls giggled maliciously before walking back to their dorm.

There was nothing worse than a bunch of girls trying to touch your hair and face. Especially to Rachel, who rather liked the way she looked on her own. Pale, relaxed with her hair simply brushed. These Slytherin girls thought they were better than everyone else in the entire school, Rachel scoffed at the thought of them.

Albus spent his morning rearranging his things around in his dormitory. This was his living space, and Al wasn't one for messes. Actually his dorm was one of the cleanest because when the guys would go and have their weekend elsewhere he'd spend his morning cleaning. Often to clean the over all room, he would used a Scouring Charm. Yet around his area he was skeptical to every detail and cleaned by hand. Once satisfied he double checked making sure everything was perfectly organized, wiping his forehead of sweat. It was time for a quick bath and then he could spend the rest of his Saturday studying. The common room was pretty empty on the weekends, so he figured he would be most productive in that setting. Gathering his attire for the day the boy made his way to the prefect bathroom on the higher levels of the castle. Al wouldn't deny loving the luxuries of the large bathroom. The colorful water taps and bubbles relaxed him, as he washed the night of sleeping, and the morning sweat away. Once done he got dressed in simple black skinny jeans and a grey t-shirt. Not aware if he was going to head outside today. Albus pondered on his actions on his way back to the common room, speaking the password and entering.

Upon entering the sound of female voices filled the air and he shook his head making his way to his dorm avoiding any further interaction. Females were still highly confusing to him now a days. Albus didn't trust anything that could get him nervous in those standings. Tongue twisted, and a mess of poor posture, was not his idea of fun. Although he did have a select few females whom were only friends, even if he suspected crushes amongst some of them. The boy would never speak of it, it was Albus to bite his tongue during these social interactions. Al grabbed his novel off his desk, he figured he could cram studies later and would just read for pleasure now. The dark haired boy made his way to the common room finding a quiet spot on one of the couches. He opened his book to where he left off as his aqua eyes skimmed over the pages taking in the literature.

Soon enough he felt a presence and looked over to see his friend Rachel. The sound of female voices referring to her by her last name caused him he realize she was now hiding. Albus sat up and looked over his shoulder scanning over the girls. "She just left, said something about the courtyard." Albus lied diverting the girls attention. They must have not wanted to take a trip to the courtyard because they went back in their dormitories. Albus shifted and looked over at Rachel. "Hey Rachel." He greeted marking his page in his book as he placed it in his lap giving his friend his full attention. "Someone is Miss popularity today, what's the occasion?" Albus asked quirking an eyebrow. From what he knew Rachel didn't like the girls of Slytherin almost as much as he himself. "Let me guess they wanted to get all girly and speak of crushes, while playing dress up?" Albus teased with a chuckle, twirling a lock of his friend's brown hair. It was nice to have company, he wouldn't deny that.

Rachel smiled innocently at her dear friend and shrugged, "They just think that my hair doesn't look the way that it should I guess. Or my face..." she frowned. She rubbed her hands over the soft couch. She was always a fan of the dark color and the way it changed slightly if you moved the fabric a certain way with your hand. The way the interior design of the whole room was perfect. Granted, it was as gloomy as any dungeon should be but it also had a sort of classy chic. It fit the Slytherins well and, of course, tied into the rest of the castles decor. Rachel had only skimmed Hogwarts a history, but she remembered little illustrations of common designs throughout the castle and she could find those in the room. Especially since she spent a lot of her time in the common room, for her dorm was not her favorite place to be.

"I'm not sure about the crushes," she started, glancing over her shoulder once more to make sure the girls were gone, "but I can tell you dress up was going to be a part of it. I don't even want to think about what clothes are in their closets and under their robes!" She shuddered, but it quickly went away as Albus twirled a piece of her long, wavy hair. Normally Rachel wouldn't let anyone touch her apart from her brother, James, and now Albus. She had been lucky to meet him since it was before she had been bitten.

Rachel then proceeded to grab his arm and pull it around her shoulders, so that she could lean into him. She sighed, "Sometimes I wish it wasn't vastly inappropriate for me to quench my thirst on those brats."

Albus had never been one to intrude on the female mind. Girls brought out the worst of him, making him shudder on words like a fool. This was one of the reasons he liked males so much, he could get shy but not to the point where it was uncomfortable to speak. The boy was smart, he had a lot to say most of the time, so when he was tongue twisted he was annoyed. At Rachel's words he watched her facial expression. Girls were cruel to one another, just as guys could be. The only think Albus knew was females craved more drama. It was sad to think his friend thought she was not beautiful. Beauty was on the inside as well, not to mention the fact she had beautiful features. "The hell with what they like or think, your beautiful. Outside and in, and that's something they will never achieve Rach." Albus stated rubbing her arm. Albus knew what it was like to be insecure. The boy was often down on himself, hiding behind a fake smile and what people told him were beautiful eyes. Albus couldn't help to think everyone was their own worst critic, no one could see their own beauty because they were blinded and standard to everyone else.

Albus looked at the girl with a fake shocked reaction when she said they were not going to speak on their crushes. Wasn't that what girls did? As she trailed on her assumption of the event he scrunched his nose. "Oh lots of lacey things I bet, can you believe they actually think they are impressive?" Albus asked chuckling at how amazing some Slytherin girls thought they were. Vain was an understatement, but he wouldn't speak more on the topic. The thought gave him slight chills. When she moved closer he happily obliged to putting his arm around her pulling her close. Albus knew it was hard for Rachel to let anyone close to her, so he was happy he made a good impression, that bonded them to loyalty. Albus shared platonic love for the girl, and would do anything to make her smile. At her comment he chuckled. "Yeah I think you'd be poisoned with the taste of cheap perfume, before you could get satisfaction from that." Albus teased rubbing her arm a bit. "So besides your off afternoon, what's been going on with you?" He asked trying to keep conversation.

Sometimes Rachel wished she could have been a boy. Albus just seemed so comfortable in his body when Rachel felt like she didn't belong in hers at all. Although, the uncomfortableness could come from her lust for blood, her vampire skin and cravings. She tried not to think about it, she hadn't been hunting in a few weeks and didn't want to take that out on anybody, especially not one of her closest friends. Rachel blushed at his compliment. Albus always had a way of making her feel better-no matter the circumstance. "Thanks Albus. I guess the reason I was put in this house was to be able to feel good when comparing myself." She chuckled slightly. Whether she liked it or not she was a girl, and girls were very good at comparisons. Usually downsizing themselves, but Rachel didn't have that problem in her own house when it came to personality. Most of the girls in Slytherin were easy to pass up.

She scoffed, "No, Lace is far too classy for them. And if they did where it they'd over do it so badly." She shook her head, "Okay, now i'm starting to sound too fashion knowledgeable." She smiled, a smile smile for Rachel never really knew how to smile properly. She was also very grateful that Albus put his arm around her and rubbed her arm comfortingly. In a way the relationship was a bit unhealthy for a fifteen year old girl. She never felt the need to pursue love affairs because she felt like her friendship with Albus covered the bases good enough for her. She got decent cuddle time and someone to talk to. Who needed a boyfriend anyway?

She laughed aloud as he commented on the perfume. "Seriously. I guess that's their ploy with that awful stuff, it is there form of protection from monsters." She chuckled and twiddled her fingers together in her lap. "Honestly? I've just been way too caught up on homework and don't have much to do. Doesn't help that James is in Gryffindor," her twin brother fit the mold of a Gryffindor perfectly, which made Rachel both annoyed and proud. He always had a way of being more impressive, but he never made Rachel feel small. "but we spend time together often. So that's good. I think he's interested in this girl from Raven-oh," she stopped, blushing slightly, "I forgot we were talking about my life."

Albus didn't like seeing his friends down. It wasn't part of his personality to let that happen. He may have more moody then most people, but when it came to his friends he pushed that all aside. His friends deserved to feel special, and be well aware they were at least to him. It was sad that she had low self esteem, that matched his very own. Albus was always down on himself, until recently. It was a matter of trying to break a mold your mind had set for you. It wasn't easy to feel good about yourself if everyone around you made you see the reason you were insecure in the first place. When Rachel said she placed to be compared to he shook his head. "You're one of a kind, you don't need to compare yourself to anyone else Rach. Don't be so down, it's part of being a teenager. Growing.." Albus paused, he sometimes forgot she was a vampire and she wouldn't grow physically so he'd change his words. "You should keep your spirits up, when your so harsh on yourself it makes people wonder why, and I know you don't like explaining." Albus said logically. "I just wish you could see the amazing girl I do." Albus added ruffling his hair.

When they spoke of lace clothing he looked at her wide eyed. He only knew of this stuff because he had many female cousins and a little sister. "And here I thought you were one of the boys." Albus stated his tone in shock as he crossed his arms over his chest. His smug look soon turned into a smile, and she realized she was speaking on the topic of fashion. Albus knew she was a girl and all girls had some clue on the topic. He just liked to think of Rachel as one of the boys, that way he wouldn't get as nervous around her. On the topic of perfume Albus chuckled. "Indeed, it's like repellent." Albus said, he had dated boys that wore cologne, and Albus liked kissing necks, but getting a mouthful of that was almost just as bad. The taste was awful he wished it upon no one, though in those moments one couldn't speak of such things. Albus let her speak about her brother, twins were naturally close and when she said he was interested in a girl Albus smirked. Ravenclaws were very sweet, and kind so that house was safe to crush on in Albus' opinion. "Well that is good for him, I'm always happy to see young people wanting love. You know those books I read, I'm a hopeless romantic and always up to chat on the topic." Albus stated with a cheeky grin. "How about Rachel, does she have any crushes?" Albus asked biting his bottom lip ready to gossip the afternoon away.

Rachel was lucky to have a friend like Albus in her life. She was lucky to have any friends at all. At least in her opinion. But Albus always had a way with words and knew how to make his friends happy. She listened to his speech, one she had heard similar versions of a few times before. ”Thanks for the thoughts Albus, I know you... she paused, she always had an awkward way with words and with compliments. ” I know you care very much.” she finished slowly. He was right of course, by sulking she drew attention to herself and people were good at asking questions, questions she didn’t want to answer. When he called her amazing, she just sat in silence and let a smile creep onto her face. He was too nice for his own good. He was too nice to be a Slytherin. But, all houses had people placed in them for different reasons and Rachel of all people tried not to follow the stereotypes.

Rachel laughed, ”I may be one of the boys but I understand lace a lot better than most people,“ she leaned in closer with a smirk on her face, ”Vampires have always had a good sense of lace fashions.” She chuckled. She honestly didn’t know too much about vampires but it was easier to treat it as a comical thing than to get too torn up about it, which happened all too often. ”I guess we could commend them on their monster repellent theory, they could sell it for quite a lot...” then she realized her joke wasn’t as funny as she’d hoped, because their perfume probably expensive.

She still felt bad that she had babbled off about her brother. Then Albus, of course, brought up her love life. He had done this on a few occasions before, but only if she brought it up first. She frowned, ”It’s sort of hard to get a crush when you know they’ll be sixty and you’ll still look fourteen.” Being a sixth year and looking like a fourth year was annoying enough, without finding love to get in the way of physical attraction. "I guess all vampires were meant to be shameless hussys." she chuckled, though it wasn't exactly a funny matter.

Albus may have been a bit selfish, and maybe he wasn't the most supportive friend all the time, but when one of his mates was down, he'd say those encouraging words to pick them back up. When Rachel was sad she seemed to lose the glint in her eyes, and he couldn't bare to look at that. Albus was glad she picked up on the fact he cared about her, he didn't think it was smart to continue on, on the subject. Just so long as she didn't go being netative about herself again. In Albus' eyes everyone had flaws, but their flaws were what made them so special. He wanted Rach to know she was amazing, because in his eyes she was. Albus had been teasing when he made his one of the boys comments. He was well aware she wasn't a girly girl, but she seemed to have a fashion sense. Albus wasn't really aware what the girls wore these days, it wasn't really important to him. He chuckled at her stereotypical vampire attire comment and added. "Yes, can't forget the lingerie and corsets." Albus told her, he seen the vampires in those old muggle flicks, though the vampires he knew of now, were pretty modern with style.

Albus was interested in Rachel's love life, he enjoyed having small gossip sessions with his female friends, just to see if they were in some kind of relationship. Albus being a hopeless romantic loved the details to these types of encounters. At her words his charming smile turned into a frown. The thought of always being the same age, and never being able to die was horrifying. Albus felt bad Rach was cursed in this way. "That's negative. I can't say I'd want to live like that either." Albus stated holding her a little tighter. He felt a bit bond as he smirked. "What about if you found yourself a cute vampy boyfriend, then you two could be forever young and have eternal love?" Albus mused nudging her with a grin. It seemed like the best option, unless she was going to turn someone to stay young forever with her. Albus' didn't entertain that thought, he knew it would weight heavy on her conscious if she killed someone. It must have been a hard thing to have all that power and strength. The worst part it was able to be healed, and she'd live out her life that way. It made him sad to know Rachel may never get married, or have off spring.

Rachel had always found it easy in her past to be negative about something. Living the life she had, it wasn’t as though the sun shone out of every day. In fact her days seemed deliberately darker than other peoples. The only things she held on to were her Brother, in those days. Now at school it was like a whole new world to her. A better home. She felt bad about all the complaining she had done earlier on in her and Albus’s friendship, but he never abandoned her. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his comment about the ‘lingerie’, “Oh, you know me. Dressing like a super classy slut-pire all of the time.” She said, her laugh not withheld by sadness now. “It’s sad what muggles think of us...” She said shaking her head, but her smile never left her cheeks.

Rachel never had much of a love life. Albus’s stories were much more exciting than hers, but he still wanted to know if he could help in some way. She thought that was sweet. Rachel held her hands up in surrender, ”Sorry! I don’t mean it in a ‘oh poor me’ way. But in a... factual way.” She stated, she felt his arms tighten around her and brought her knees up close, by her chest. ”That would probably be the best bet I think.” She stated, starting to mutter a little. The concept of her forever youth seemed to get the best of her non-existent love life. In fact, that’s why it was non- existent. The idea of creating a lover crossed her mind on occasion, but she was too young to worry about that OR to entertain the idea of someones death on her account. She shook off the thought. ”What about you Mr. every boy in Hogwarts has a crush on me? Whose your recent flame?”