Chapter 5:
Charity Creates a Restraining Order
A/N: Impossible as this chapter may seem, trust me, IT'S POSSIBLE, IT'S HAPPENED IN REALITY.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shakespeare or L.M. Montgomery's quotes, and I don't own J.K. Rowling's characters. But I do own this story, that much I am sure of.
As the months went by, Matt began to notice that Charity tended to spend a lot of time with Dwight. All though she spent the majority of her life with Matt, the enmity between him and Dwight intensified weekly. He didn't know why this was, but whenever he was around Dwight he just ended up… annoyed. It really didn't make much sense-after all, Charity spent a great portion of her time with Jorge and Mark, too (not at all to his annoyance), and fondly called the four Gryffindors "my guys." In fact, the four guys and Charity had become a super group of best friends, despite the clash of Matt and Dwight. The group spent every waking moment together, but not a day passed where Dwight didn't come and purposefully annoy Matt or where Matt would do something to drive Dwight crazy. They were rivals, but Matt would never really admit why this was.
Their battle was known by all in Hogwarts. One day, in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Trindle, their old, feeble teacher, had to stop the whole room from burning down when a charmed scorpion from Dwight accidentally burst into flames on Matt's parchment. Professor Sprout gave Matt detention after he had come up behind Dwight and tripped him, making him fall in a wheelbarrow of jumping beans. And during flying lessons, both boys had points deducted from Gryffindor when they attempted to out-fly each other and ended up knocking Julie off of her broom, only two feet from the ground. None of the things they did were meant to be too mean, but Charity feared that if they kept it up, someone would be seriously hurt.
"I just don't understand why they can't get along!" Charity said one day as she sipped tea from her perch on the rug by the hearth. She, Mark, Jorge, and Julie had come to visit Hagrid on one of the crisp, autumn evenings that Matt and Dwight were spending in detention. "I mean, they're my two best friends, but they act like they want each other dead."
Mark smiled and pushed his long black hair away from his eyes. "Well, they obviously think there's a good reason to fight."
"Wonder what that reason could be?" Jorge hinted, a playful gleam in his chocolate eyes.
"I haven't the faintest idea," said Charity, not catching Jorge's hint. "I just know, I've got to find some way to get them working together! Hagrid, what should we do?"
Hagrid, who had been stoking the fire, stood up and wrinkled his large nose. "Well, now, I don't know. Matthew and Dwight sound ter me like James Potter and Sirius Black. Such good boys, Matthew and Dwight…"
Charity closed her eyes and tilted her head. Mark looked puzzled. "Uh, Hagrid? Those two are known for their wonderful friendship. How do Matt and Dwight remind you of them?"
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" Julie quoted quietly, before becoming intrigued with her blue teacup. Charity just ignored her and looked at Hagrid for his answer.
"Well, now, they weren't always friends! Why, it was `bout a year fore they were even sociable to each other."
"Well, then, what changed?" Charity was very concerned with the issue at hand. Hagrid pulled up the corner of his mouth and looked towards the ceiling.
"I don't remember. Who wants a raisin cake?"
The other three students were easily distracted, but Charity spent the rest of the evening in meditative silence. As they put on their cloaks to go back to the castle (Mark's was the only one with a metal chain on his cloak), Julie set her still blue eyes on Charity.
"It's you, you know."
"What's me?" Charity really did get along with Julie, but she needed to come with a decoder.
"She looks just as music sounds."
Charity nodded, not knowing what to say.
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The next day, Charity did not meet Matt or Dwight in the common room to walk with them to breakfast. Since it was a Saturday, they didn't have any classes. And Charity was not to be found until lunchtime. When the time came for lunch, Charity came out of the library, where she had spent the whole morning. She carried a bundle of papers, and didn't seem to notice that Matt and Dwight were having a potato eating competition. She smiled sweetly, put her hands gently on Dwight's shoulder, and pushed him over, allowing her to sit between the boys.
"Charity, hey! Where have you been all morning? I was wondering, would you come down with me to the Quidditch field this afternoon and watch me tryout for…"
"I've been in the library, Matt, and I wish you luck on your tryout. Dwight, you listen, too."
The boys looked at each other with confused looks.
"Okay, I've gotten this okayed with McGonagall, so all I have to do now is explain the terms to you and get you to sign."
"Charity, what…?" She held up a finger and Dwight was silenced.
"Hogwarts School Code, section 43 b states that if there is a conflict between students that is not punishable by the Headmistress, that if the problem continues, it is the duty of the student closest involved to put a stop to the conflict. The student is thereby legally allowed to give advice, create isolation between the conflicting, or issue a restraining order on the two students involved. So, Sarah Caule (second year Gryffindor, intelligent in law) has written up a restraining that reads as this: `Dwight Eric Bell is hereby restrained from Matthew Tyler Potter until further notice. The above-mentioned are not to be within ten feet of the other unless at an outside school function, holiday, or emergency. Signed, this day, October 15…'"
"Wait, a second! You are restraining me from Matt?"
Charity gave a considerate look before smiling broadly. "Yes, that's what I'm doing. Now, please sign here, and Matt, you sign here."
"Charity, why did you write this up?" Matt knew Charity never did anything without a reason, but this was a little more like something Julie would do.
"Because you guys can't leave each other alone. And, since it's really annoying and I'm afraid you are both going to get hurt, I am issuing a restraining order. Sign, please."
Charity held out quills to both of them impatiently. They looked at each other in disbelief before Dwight gave a little shrug and slowly signed the paper. Matt reluctantly signed, too, although something in the back of his mind told him that this was one of Charity's schemes.
When the ink was dried, Charity rolled it up and placed it in her satchel. She gave an innocent little smile.
"Now, separate. You're exactly 4 feet away from each other, which means you are defying the order…" She leaned over and kissed Matt on the cheek. "Good luck at tryouts, you'll be the best seeker out there." He smiled and softly touched his cheek. Charity leaned over to Dwight and kissed him on the cheek, too. "Good luck to you, too. You'll do a great job as a keeper."
She stood up perkily and pranced back towards the Gryffindor common room, leaving Matt and Dwight in confused silence and Jorge and Mark in hysterical laughter.
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Matt got to the Quidditch field an hour before the tryouts actually began. There were two open spots on the team: seeker and keeper. He was incredibly nervous; after all, there were no other first years there, and the sixth year students seemed huge to him. He wasn't there long when he saw Dwight enter the stadium with his broomstick. A wave of relief at seeing someone familiar swept over him, but just as he opened his mouth to call him over, he remembered Charity's restraining order.
Oh, well…I can get by without him.
When it came time to draw straws, Matt drew the short end, making him have to tryout first. He did a superb job, catching the snitch all five times. He wasn't the son of the youngest seeker ever (who also went professional) for nothing. When he landed, Dwight was standing there smiling.
"Good j-" He stopped abruptly and looked to the ground. Matt followed his gaze and went to sit in the bleachers. As he watched Dwight, he was amazed at what an excellent flyer he was. He easily beat the sixth year that tried out. He gave a whoop of support when Dwight caught the quaffle, only to hear…
"Cheering for him since you can't talk?" Matt turned suddenly and saw Charity coming towards him from the top of the bleachers, her neck wrapped in a gold scarf, head covered in a maroon beanie, and her nose tinged pink with the cold air.
"Charity, why are you making us do this? You can tell me… I won't laugh, I promise."
Charity laughed, her eyes twinkling and her now-blond hair blowing lightly around her shoulders. "Trust me on this, Matt. By the way, you did an excellent job. I was cheering for you the whole time." She reached up and hugged his neck before leaving to meet Dwight as he landed. As she talked to him, his eyes wandered up to Matt, who gave a short nod of approval. It was no surprise when Ogle, the Gryffindor team captain, announced that the two new team members were Matt and Dwight.
That night, there was a party amongst the first years in the Gryffindor common room-after all, two first years had been chosen for the team, a thing that had never previously happened. Yet, the party was very awkward, as every time that Matt would start to say something to Dwight, Charity would give him a stern look of disapproval followed by a tantalizing smirk.
The weeks leading up to Halloween were slow and dull. Charity had been careful to not spend an excessive amount of time with either Matt or Dwight, and Jorge and Mark would start to laugh almost every time Matt was around them. Life had become lonely, and his only constant companion was Julie. He was the only one she would actually talk to without riddles or quotes, but she was still very odd company. As much as Matt hated to admit it, he missed having Dwight around. Through their competitive natures, they had become…well, they had become friends. When Matt mentioned this to Julie, she smiled shyly and gave him the answer to his problem.
"You could always say you're sorry."
Yes, that was the only real solution, the only way to get life back to how it should be. And it was because of this solution that he was sitting quietly behind a large dusty shelf of books in the library on a stormy Thursday night, the night of Halloween. He checked his watch nervously, praying that Madam Pince wouldn't kick him out of the library. Finally, at a quarter past the time he had set, Dwight entered the big, oak doors.
"Matt…"
"Dwight."
"If Charity finds us, we're in trouble."
"No, we won't be because, well… Dwight, I'm tired of this."
Dwight frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I'm tired of having to make sure I am in no way near you, tired of practicing Quidditch with you but pretending you're not there! Truth is, I miss you, mate. And I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for everything. I hope you'll forgive me, and we can start over. Friends?"
He extended his hand, and after a moment Dwight took it and shook it heartily. "Friends."
The two boys stayed in the library for half an hour, talking and laughing about the restraining order. When Dwight left, Matt smiled, knowing in his heart that he had finally made a true friend with someone who should have been his friend all along. As he sat there in thought, he felt someone pull out the chair beside him. Charity smiled at him and sat down.
"I'm proud of you, Matthew Potter." She tossed her now-dark hair over her shoulder and leaned on her arm, smiling.
"You know, I really do think you're evil sometimes."
"Whatever do you mean?" She smiled innocently, and the dot birthmark trembled with an untold secret.
"You know what I mean. You made that restraining order just so we'd become friends."
"So what? It worked, didn't it?"
Matt smiled. "How did you know it was going to work?"
"It worked for your grandfather."
Matt stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Charity smiled and scooted her chair closer. "James Potter and Sirius Black were absolute enemies."
"No, they weren't! They were best friends!"
"I'm getting there, I'm getting there… Anyways, they fought so much that Professor McGonagall issued a restraining order, and before a month's time, they were best friends."
Matt opened his mouth in surprise. "How do you know that?"
Charity sighed and slightly shook her head. "Matt, this is a library. People don't just make out in here: there's a thing called `books and research'."
Matt blushed crimson, realizing that he and Charity were alone in the library, and she was a girl. She smiled at him and punched him playfully on the arm.
"Come on, let's go down to the feast."
The feast was wonderful. Seated between Dwight and Charity, Matt had never felt so at ease. As Matt laughed and ate with all of his friends, he realized that it was the happiest he had ever been, and with a smirk, he realized that this wasn't the first friendship that had formed on a stormy, Halloween night.
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