Want To Belong Here (Alyra)

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Jan. 25, 2025

Hogsmeade! Mazie was so excited to finally be seeing the village she heard about all month. It had butterbeer (which she really wanted to try) and a sweet shop and a haunted house. Basically, it was something outside of Hogwarts, which just made it all the more exciting to the sixth year. Mazie looked forward to this chance for weeks. 

Even better was the fact that she'd get to see Lee today! Mazie loved her older sister, was so grateful to her for helping convince their parents that Mazie should be allowed to come to Hogwarts. Without her, Mazie would still be stuck at home, going crazy. Apart from that, Lee was always good to have a good time with, or a good chat. Mazie kind of needed someone to talk to. 

Sure she had friends that she trusted at Hogwarts, but this was different because she actually wanted to talk about a guy, which was new to her. Mazie liked boys. She loved going on dates and flirting, but she'd never dated anyone before. She never even wanted to, until she and Jack kissed the day she arrived at Hogwarts. Ever since then, he'd been in her head even more than normal, but nothing changed between them and Mazie was confused. She didn't know what to do. Thus, the need for her older sister. 

Mazie wandered down the street, eyes skimming the crowd as she searched for a head of familiar red hair. She jumped up and down when she saw it. "Lee! Lee, over here!" Mazie called, beaming. She missed Lee more than she realized.

@alyra

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Lee had sent her little sister Mazie and owl at the start of the month asking to see her on their next Hogsmeade weekend. Lee was charged with keeping her safe while they were here, even if they weren’t in the same places, and Lee wanted to be able to report back to their parents that mazie was eating, not sick, or in any danger, and taking full advantage of her schooling that she had begged for. Mazie replied back that she was happy to meet her and they had agreed to meet in the village. Lee figured she’d treat the girl to lunch or something while they chatted and caught up with one another.

She took the floo network to the little village, since she had never been there, and popped out of the shop into the alley. There were crowds of students everywhere and something seemed to be going on over at one of the shops, witches and wizards were loading things in and dressed nicely. Some party, maybe. Lee heard her sister call to her and nearly ran over, wrapping her arms around the girl. “Awe my baby sister, look at you, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you!” she exclaimed, making as big of a show as possible.

@mazie

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Man, this place was just perfect. Mazie loved school. She loved Hogwarts, and being around Jack and her other friends. She loved everything to do with Hogwarts, even this little extension village. The fact that she could meet up with Lee here made it even better. It was interesting, arranging to meet with her sister via owl, but Mazie was more than willing to do so. She actually had some things she wanted to talk to Lee about, assuming she had the time, but why wouldn't she?

Lee noticed her greeting and Mazie grinned as her older sister hurried over to her, giving her a tight hug. Mazie hugged her back, laughing as Lee made a scene. They were definitely sisters, since that's exactly the type of thing Mazie did to mess with people whenever she had the chance. "I know! Like a whole centimeter probably!" Mazie teased, stepping away from Lee, still grinning. "Have you ever been here before?" Mazie asked with interest. She wasn't sure if her sister had come here in her search for the escapees or not, but Mazie was definitely curious. If Lee hadn't, then they'd explore the place together as they talked.

@alyra

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Lee loved all her siblings, but she had a special place in her heart for Mazie. Mazie was her youngest sibling, but was probably the one she was closest to. They got along so well and Mazie knew how to not take Lee so seriously. Mazie played along, saying that she had grown a whole centimeter. Lee giggled but didn’t quite let her sister go yet. It was nice to hug her again. She had gotten so used to seeing her regularly when Mazie was at home last term and Lee would visit often, it was weird with her being away now. “Yeah, I’ve been here to do some work a few times.” Since this had been the spot of the dragon attack Lee had been asking around about it and investigating into it. “This is your first time though right? How’s the term going? How’s Hogwarts?”

@mazie

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Mazie loved making people laugh, but Lee was special to her. Ever since she was little, Mazie considered it a personal accomplishment whenever she could get her sister to laugh around her. She didn't care if it was because she was making fun of herself or being silly, it was just one of those things. She hugged her sister back tightly, sighing as she inhaled Lee's familiar scent. It reminded her of home. While Mazie wasn't homesick or anything, it was still a reassuring smell. She nodded when Lee asked if this was her first time. "It is! I'm so excited to check this place out." She laughed at Lee's next questions. "Hogwarts is great. I've got some new friends that are helping me do all my homework, but I'm still finding plenty of time to explore." She was absolutely loving Hogwarts, no doubt about it. "And I spend a lot of time with Jack, of course," Mazie added. She wanted to talk to Lee about Jack, but she also didn't know how Lee would react. What if she said that Jack must not like Mazie? She didn't want to hear that.

@alyra

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Mazie had a lot to say. She was happy to be at Hogwarts and was making friends. She was excited to check the village out. And she mentioned her old best friend, who Lee had heard a lot about but hadn’t ever met in person. “oh? And how is Jack?” she asked. Lee had always kind of wondered if Jack and Mazie would start to like one another as they got older and got more interested in dating and the opposite sex. So far, she hadn’t asked about it, but he was the only guy Mazie ever mentioned.

@mazie

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Lee was always too perceptive for her own good. Mazie wasn’t sure if she was asking about Jack to be polite or because she noticed something in her younger sister’s tone, but she asked just the right question. Mazie blushes furiously, something entirely new to her. She was a flirt, she rarely blushed. This was no good. She couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes. ”He’s good,” Mazie muttered vaguely. She glanced around for a moment before meeting Lee’s eyes. ”Lee, have you ever liked your best friend?” she asked bluntly. Mazie was never good at subtlety. The thing was, she wanted advice. She knew she liked Jack and that she wanted to be more than friends, but she didn’t want to ruin what they had. He never said anything about their kiss, never hinted that he wanted to kiss her again and part of Mazie wondered if it ever really happened, or if she’d imagined their kiss in an extremely vivid dream.

@alyra

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Maxie admitted that her friend was good and then asked a question that struck Lee a little too close to him. Had she ever liked her best friend? Rory flashed into her head and she knew her cheeks went a little pink too, but not as pink as her sisters. She hadn’t told Mazie about Rory yet. At least not about their kiss on New Years and everything that resulted from that. She hasn’t been trying to keep it from her, but she wanted to be sure that things stuck before bringing the girls into the mix. “yeah I know that feeling.” she nodded. Then she raised her eyebrows. “is this something you’re struggling with?”

@mazie

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Lee said that she understood the feeling Mazie was going through and Mazie nodded slowly. It was nice to know that her older sister understood her feelings, but that also didn't make it any easier to talk about it. She liked Jack! She liked him and she didn't know how to talk about it, whether she was talking to someone else or to him. She nodded when Lee asked the question back, thinking for a moment. "I ... I like Jack." She swallowed hard, unsure what to say to her older sister. "I don't know when it started. I just," she paused a moment, "We kissed." Mazie's voice was softer than a whisper. "We kissed weeks ago and nothing's happened and I don't know what to do. Help me?" She looked up at Lee, her tone pleading. 

@alyra

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Mazie seemed to appreciate Lees understanding but there was something more that she was struggling with. She admitted that she liked Jack and Lee smirked. She had a feeling that’s where it was going. She couldn’t help the warm feeling swell up in her chest, but she tried to keep her cool and stay composed so Mazie would continue to talk to her she then explained that they kissed and now nothing was happening. Lee almost dropped her jaw. “you kissed?! Did he kiss you or did you kiss him?” she asked.

@mazie

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Lee was smiling at her knowingly and Mazie knew she was giving her sister more information than she really wanted to, but she couldn't help it. She needed to talk to someone about this, and she trusted Lee above everyone else. Maybe Lee would be able to tell her what to do. That's what Mazie was actually hoping for. She smiled a little at the shocked look on Lee's face when she admitted that she and Jack kissed. "He kissed me. It was ... so nice. Perfect really, Lee. But ... now it's been weeks and he hasn't even done anything to show that anything has changed. I like him, but what if he just kissed me because it was convenient or the mood was just right? What if he doesn't like me back?" Her worry spilled out, but she didn't really mind that. Not when she was talking to her sister. 

@alyra

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Mazie was so anxious and Lee could hear her worry come out in her voice. She obviously cared for Jack, and she was so concerned that her feelings were reciprocated. Lee wished she could assure her that it would be fine. But she didn’t know Jack. She couldn’t say that for sure. “have you done anything to show him that you want it to be different?” she asked. She had to make the first move with Rory to get him to admit to anything. It seemed like Jack had made a move, but obviously something had made him stop. “maybe he doesn’t think that you’re into it?” she suggested.

@mazie

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Lee's question wasn't really something Mazie wanted to think about. She liked Jack. They'd kissed. Why did things have to be so complicated. "I mean, I kissed him back! Like, I really kissed him. I haven't told him I like him or anything, but I spend all my time with him now almost. Even more than we used to ..." She paused, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know what else to do." Really, she just wanted to spend all her time with him. She wanted to tell him she liked him, but at the same time, she was scared. "Well then what can I do to show him that I am into it?" Mazie asked her older sister hopefully. Lee would have some good advice, wouldn't she? Mazie needed it. 

@alyra

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Mazie explained that she had kissed jack back and that she was sure that the kiss, and the fact that they had been spending time together more and more often was enough to show him that she was into him. But lee shrugged. “Mazie I’m gonna tell you what mom told me, boys are dumb. Sweet, but dumb. Sometimes, especially at your age, they need it to be made extremely obvious. Kiss him again. Or better yet, just tell him how you feel. If he’s your friend, and he doesn’t feel the same way, he’ll be cool about it.” she assured her little sister. She was more than sure Jack loved Mazie, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up without telling her that it was okay if it didn’t work or the way that she wanted it to.

@mazie

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Mazie waited almost anxiously for her sister's response. The truth was, she wanted something to happen with Jack, but she didn't know how to make it happen. That's why she was telling Lee about this, not that she was good at keeping secrets from her older sister. Mazie couldn't help but tell Lee about almost everything in her life. She listened carefully when her sister started to explain, her eyes widening. She had to be more obvious than she'd already been. Her heart raced at the thought. What if she chased Jack away or made him feel awkward around her? Lee answered that too though, saying that Jack would be cool with it if he was really her friend. Mazie bit her lip, nodding once her sister stopped talking. "That makes sense ... it just makes me a bit nervous." She hated those words coming out of her mouth. Mazie wasn't normally the type to get nervous about things, but when it came to Jack ... yeah, she was nervous about losing her best friend. "You really think it won't make him feel awkward around me if he doesn't feel the same way?" she asked. 

@alyra