Gullible (Aoife)

Phin had no motivation for anything anymore. He still ached everywhere, his head hurt, and he was just crushed. Why didn't he listen to Chad? He warned him not to go back, but he wanted to give them one more chance. And they blew it. He was so gullible sometimes. Gullible was the correct word. It was almost perfect. He couldn't take walking around anymore. So, he headed towards the nearest closet he could find which was the trophy room. Phin had never been in there, so it was a change of scenery. He was amazed at all the trophies, he almost forgot how much pain he was in.

He slid down on a wall, and picked up the nearest trophy. The plaque on it was dusty, so he whipped it off. It read: Harry James Potter, special award to the school. He smiled. Harry Potter was somebody he looked up to. He sat it down carefully in the place it was and leaned his head against the wall. He just prayed that nobody found him. He wouldn't be able to explain why he was there without breaking down and blabbing his secret he's tried so hard to keep. He looked around to the next trophy, and reached to pick it up, grunting in pain. As he moved his arm, he knocked down another trophy making a big bang. He was screwed.

You would think, after four whole years at Hogwarts, Aoife would have learnt her way around the school and know pretty well where everything was. But she didn’t. If some first-year asked for directions, she wouldn’t… well, she probably would be able to give them advice. But there were still places in Hogwarts that she had no idea of, or how to get there. For example, the Ancient Runes classroom. After some lunch, she was wandering contentedly around the castle, taking joy in not knowing where she was, when she stumbled across a door she had never noticed before. She was hesitant in pushing it open, just in case it was a closet where teenagers had been.

But it turned out it was a large, awesome room filled with trophies and awards and stuff. How had she not known about this?! It was cool! And it would give her an idea of how she could be remembered at Hogwarts in a normal, commemorated way that didn’t involve blowing anything up. For Deirdre, obviously. She would definitely be blowing stuff up. She strolled casually through the room, but stopped in her tracks when she saw someone sitting beside a shelf. “Phin!” she exclaimed. “You LIAR! You told me you were staying at Hogwarts with your uncle! You left me all alone!” That wasn’t exactly true, but it was still Christmas without Phin. She took a seat next to him on the floor and only then noticed his expression. “Hey! What’s wrong?”

Phin sighed in relief when he saw it was just Aoife. It was better than a teacher or something. Then she started accusing him of not being here for Christmas. He looked down and messed with his shoe lace.

What was he supposed to do? Tell her? Or! He could run into Hunter, and he could tell Aoife for him! That's what he usually did anyways.

But he sighed and decided to tell her. She'd figure it out anyways. So he said, "I went home this Christmas. And it was bad. Really bad. In their letters it sounded like they had changed and REALLY wanted me back. Uncle Chad warned me, but I was stupid. So stupid I told him I wanted to go. Give them a second chance you know?"

She was smart. She could probably figure out what happened. He didn't have the guts to say it out loud with out humiliating himself and bursting into tears.

Aoife’s stupid anger immediately disapparated when she saw Phin’s disheartened expression and heard what he had to say about why he wasn’t there for Christmas and why he was sad. She was so self-centred, she didn’t think for a minute about his feelings when she turned up and yelled heartlessly at him. And his life was so much more difficult and complicated than hers, she couldn’t even begin to understand, let alone help him. But she could try.

The first thing she did was reach over to give him a big squishy hug. When she was younger, her motto was that hugs made everything better but nowadays she knew they did nothing but act as a momentary distraction. Still, even that was something. And it gave her time to work out what she was supposed to say to him now.

Why had he gone home? Phin was too gullible and forgiving. He needed to learn to hold a grudge! Aoife gave him a sympathetic glance as she pulled away from the hug. “I suppose… if it was my parents, I’d want to give them another chance,” she said hesitantly. “But listen to Chad in the future. Because he looks like a drunken old mad git, but I think he actually is sort of clever.” And if he could help Phin, he was amazing. “I’m sorry.”

And at that, he just started laughing. For no apparent reason! He laughed until he fell over on his side (which hurt a lot), and knocked over a trophy. He replied after he had calmed down a little bit, "It's ok... Really. Well.. not really. But I know to listen to him more now. Just wish you had been there to change my mind about going. Not that I would've listened either way."

He shrugged. He was stupid sometimes. Actually, all the time. He said, "After this pain goes away, I'm never going to think of my parents again. Chad's already said he'll take me back. So I'm there to stay! And I won't leave you alone next Christmas, how's that sound? Deal?"

This was a better start for him.