Requested by Queennatxx

I'm using the American school system here, since that's what I'm most familiar with.

Italicized text are the memories and majority of the story.

~~~

"You look as if you're looking at Snape's memories in the Pensieve." my friend remarked as we were leaving my last course of the day and made our way to our dorms, which were a good 20 minute walk from the building our last class was in. No worries; it was a nice day anyway. 

I laughed as I thought about what to reply. "I guess you could say that I am taking a trip down memory lane." I agreed. I had thought about my best friend, Skandar, when elementary school was mentioned in class. It brought back a wave of memories that I had set aside since college had started.

"Although," I added. "It's not as interesting as Snape and Lily's dynamic."

"I'm just laughing about that meme I saw where child Lily was squinting in a screen shot and someone took the same picture of Harry with his eyes the same way, and they put the caption, 'You have your mother's eyes, Harry.' since we're on this topic." my friend supplied, laughing.

"The power of a fandom." I remarked. 

We turned down the hall and out the building, and off we walked as my friend asked me questions about what I was thinking about and and I filled her in on my thoughts.

~~~

I had just started the year at a new school. Everything was different, of course. Everything down to the smallest detail. I didn't like it at all; I mean, who would? You're leaving behind a whole world that you knew and entering a new one with the unknown.

Little 7-year-old me didn't know what to expect. I mean, I had a general idea. But I was still curious as to if I would enjoy my new experience. Would I make new friends? New enemies? Would I like my teachers? 

I got lost in the halls trying to find my classroom. A kind older grade student helped me find my way there, opening the door and gently ushering me in. Most of the heads turned to see who had opened the door. They saw me and I saw mixed reactions from them, ranging from whispering behind hands to smiling shyly at me and offering me a small wave.

"And who do we have here?" the teacher asked as she made her way towards me. She looked kind enough, a warm smile on her face.

"Natalie." I replied timidly.

The older student left and my teacher gently took my hand in hers and ushered me to the cubbies in the back of the classroom as she began to explain everything. I listened intently, not wanting to get on anyone's bad side on my first day.

~~~

"The first day was rough, I'll admit." I continued my story as my friend listened intently. "So you can expect my happiness when it was time to go home."

My friend laughed. "If that wasn't all of us, I don't know what was."

"Skandar made it better though, so I'm eternally grateful for that."

"Sounds to me like you've got some reconnecting to do." my friend nudged me with a smirk. "And who knows, maybe you'll find some love on the side."

It was my turn to laugh now as I playfully whacked my friend's arm. "Let me finish!"

"All right, all right!"

~~~

I stepped onto the bus, and more whispers came. I guess they were all familiar with each other. I took a deep breath, probably my millionth one of the day, and started walking to the back, looking around for empty seats. Most kids sitting next to empty seats quickly threw their backpacks onto the seat next to them so I couldn't sit.

I was slightly confused; what did they have against me? 

Then, a small voice called out from a few seats ahead of me.

"Hey! Sit here! There's an empty seat here!"

I looked up and saw a dark-haired boy vigorously waving his arm at me. I pointed at myself and mouthed, "Me?"

The boy rolled his eyes in amused exasperation and replied, "No, the twin behind you. Of course I'm talking to you!"

I hurried forward with a small smile on my face as I suppressed my laugh, and sat next to him. He seemed pretty outgoing. Maybe I wouldn't be lonely at school after all.

"Skandar." he introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake. I shook it timidly. 

"I'm Natalie." I replied. "But you can call me Nat."

"Are you in second grade?" he asked me. I nodded. "Who's class are you in?"

"Mrs. Blake's." 

Skandar hung his head sadly. "Darn, I'm in Mrs. Trull's class." But then he raised it again, and his face had brightened, completely void of any trace of sadness. "Hey, at least we can finish school at the same time!"

And so our conversation went, back and forth, as Skandar asked me questions and I answered them diligently. When I finally reached my bus stop, Skandar quickly hugged me and sent me off with a kind and warm hug that caught me by surprise at first.

"See you tomorrow!" he called after me.

I waved back, then dashed into my house. Tomorrow might not be so bad after all. I had left my house with a frown, and came back with a smile.

And so it went, Skandar and I spending as much time as we could together, year after year. We seeemed unfortunate enough to be in just one class together each year. Lunch and recess were our favorite parts of the day. We would often joke about starting a family together, knowing that we were too young and that it would never happen. Especially since the world was such a big place and Skandar wanted to have a career in the arts.

~~~

"Middle school was fun. Skandar and I played a lot of pranks."

"Oooh, do tell. Who would've expected a studious student like Natalie to play pranks?"

"Well, I'll tell you one of my favorite pranks we played."

~~~

"Shut up, you're gonna get us in trouble!" I scolded Skandar as we hid in a closet by the kitchens.

We had just planted cups all over the kitchen floor, all strategically placed. (Of course, this was to get revenge on the lunch lady that was mean to us, but we'd never tell anyone.) We had also put some dirt and water in each of the cups, so the lunch lady had an even bigger mess to clean. The janitors had helped us get the prank set up, seeing as we had befriended them and that the lunch lady treated them with less respect than Skandar and I would have liked. Kind of ironic, right? A JANITOR of all people, helping to make a mess. I never would've seen that coming either.

We saw the door open and our enemy push over and accidentally kick over some cups, cursing the whole time. Yep, she definitely deserved it.The lights flickered on, and a whole new stream of curses were heard. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we plastic wrapped most accessible surfaces in the kitchen. Even the utensils were in a big lump of plastic wrap, which was placed neatly on the center table with a nice bow on top.

The lunch lady screeched something about 'finding out who did this' and 'getting revenge' and blah, blah, blah. Same old, same old.

We never did get caught.

~~~

"Man, I would've loved to see how that rolled out."

"She gave us trashy lunches for the rest of the week. I felt sorry for her co-workers. It was worth it in the end, though."

Skandar had come super close to getting caught. I ended up bailing him out.

"He still owes me for that." I remembered. I stayed silent for a moment, smiling slightly at the memory.

"High school was a different story." I added suddenly after a moment of silence had passed.

"Ooooh, spill the tea!" my friend squealed in excitement. "If I wasn't thoroughly invested in this before, I definitely am now!"

I laughed and gathered my thoughts, a reminiscent smile on my face. But before I could say anything more, my friend and I bumped into something.

Or rather, someone.

Part 2 is coming out soon! Thank you so much for being patient with me, and I am super sorry for making you wait so long for your imagine! 

Hope you enjoyed what I have so far of it; stay tuned for the next part! Tell me if anything needs to be fixed! :)