one

"THAT BLOODY HURTS, BELLS." Ron hissed, lightly pushing Arabella's hand away as he pressed his middle finger to his split lip, wincing as he did so. She pulled away from him, a frown on her face as she scrutinized the tall boy sitting on the edge of the sink in front of her.

"Well if you stopped moving every other second-" Arabella mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed together in concentration, as she softly pressed the bloody napkin to Ron's lip once again.

"Stop complaining, you halfwit. You got yourself into this." Harry criticized from beside the two, looking annoyed. Arabella couldn't blame him. She too, couldn't figure out for the life of her, why Weasley was suddenly acting out.

This time Ron remained still, his blue eyes concentrated on the girl standing in front of him. "It's your own fault anyway. Always starting fights." Bella chimed in, making Ron frown at her. She stood up with a sigh, tossing the crimson-stained napkins into a nearby rubbish bin.

Harry watched her move across the empty Potions classroom, eyes trained on her flowing dark black hair. "That's really all I can do for now. That'll be a pain come lunchtime." She said, pointing at Ron's swollen bottom lip before running her hands underneath the cold water of the sink.

She heard the rustle of Ron's robes as he stood up from his place on the table, leaning over the sink next to her as he admired his busted lip in the reflection of a nearby potions bottle, turning his head to the left and to the right. Harry was rolling his eyes.

"I look pretty badass though." He added, peering into the bottle green, a smirk on his lips as he looked up to Bella for approval. She snorted condescendingly, looking beside her at Harry for some kind of backup. He too looked disappointed, rubbing his face with a ahnd, his glasses in the other. "You'll be lucky if McGonagall doesn't hear about it. She'd suspend us both off the team, Ron." He reasoned, sounding stressed.

"You look dashing." Arabella replied sarcastically, making his grin widen.

"Think Granger will think so?" He asked, making Bella wrinkle her nose.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" She replied drily, throwing him his bag.

He caught it with a grin, and with one last look in the bottle, he followed Harry and Arabella out of the classroom, sauntering beside her cockily.

•

"Alright, Brooks?" McLaggen asked, once he'd caught up with Bella and Hermione - who'd scoffed at Ron's busted lip, before calling him an "bloody idiot", and leaving him in her dust. Bella had to try her hardest not to burst out into laughter at how quickly Ron's cocky grin melted off his face.

Arabella rolled her eyes, linking arms with Hermione, pulling the brunette away from Cormac, whose smile never wavered, despite the rather nasty cut on his cheekbone.

"I swear, that bloody git never takes a hint." She mumbled to her friend, rushing away from the Gryffindor boys. Cormac was deep in conversation with Ron, still watching the girls retreat out of the corner of his eye. "You have to admit though. He is a sight for sore eyes." Ginny Weasley giggled, as she joined the duo, linking an arm with Bella, before shooting a wistful glance back at Cormac.

Arabella and Hermione burst out into laughter, tugging Ginny away and into their Potions classroom.

Mattheo Riddle, Blaise Zabini, and Theodore Nott stumbled into the classroom shortly after in a ruckus of noise and clamber, Mattheo's arms wrapped around the other two's necks.

Theodore, one of the few Slytherins Bella could stomach, attempted to make his way towards her after escaping Mattheo's death grip, but before he could, Lorenzo Berkshire sat down in the empty seat beside her.

His left eye was heavily bruised from a Quidditch game last week, and his lip was still busted, but he looked ruggedly handsome as he nonchalantly pulled out his books, tossing an arm over the back of Arabella's chair.

"Did you have to let Mattheo hit Ron so hard?" Arabella asked Lorenzo. Harry and Ron despised the fact that her and Enzo had been friends since the two started as first years at Hogwarts. But despite his cold appearance - which Lorenzo was actually quite proud of - he was one of the goofiest students Arabella knew.

"Hey, Ron got me pretty good last week." Enzo defended himself, turning his cheek to show off his bruise to Bella. She'd heard about the big fight last week from Harry.

"Well, you got a pretty big shiner there." She teased, pinching his cheek, making him swat her hand away. Harry and Ron were glaring at the interaction between the two, seething in their seats as they silently watched their girl shamelessly flirt with the Slytherin.

"You gonna help me study for McGonagall's OWL tomorrow?" Lorenzo asked Bella, who tilted her head.

"You think you deserve my company after letting your best friend pummel my friends at breakfast this morning?" She asked, empty-mindedly twirling a long lock of raven hair as she snapped her strawberry-flavored gum, making Enzo's eyes momentarily drop to her lips, before lifting back to her eyes.

"I have some Bertie's in my room. I'll bring them for you if you'll meet me in the library at 8 tomorrow night." He offered, making her eyes crinkle in delight, before feigning disinterest.

"Maybe." She lied, just as Snape made his way into the classroom, mumbling under his breath as he did.

The class fell silent, as they opened their textbooks.

•

"I can't believe you still hang out with Lorenzo. He's terrifying." Hermione teased, braiding a strand of Ginny's fiery red hair, as the redhead crocheted a scarf for Cedric Diggory, who she had a small crush on, but she'd never admit it.

"Trust me. He's a huge softie. Speaking of terrifying, did you see Cormac's face? He looks awful." Arabella mumbled, teetering her textbooks in one hand as she dug through her bag, in search of her watch. She'd taken it off during Potions, having learnt from last time when it almost fell into her Draught of Living Death.

It was the last remaining thing she had of her older sister, Larissa, who'd passed away four years ago.

"Have any of you seen my watch?" She asked, setting her books down on the floor as she dug into her bag with both hands, frantically searching for the gold timepiece.

"No, did you have it in Snape's?" Padma asked, sitting up from the couch. "I did. I took it off and put it in here earlier. Maybe it fell out?" Panic started to fill Bella, as she silently prayed to Merlin that it hadn't fallen out on her way back to the Gryffindor dorms.

"I'll be back. Save some pumpkin juice for me." Arabella told Ginny, who'd been pouring herself a third glass, as she hopped up from her seat on the floor.

The hallways of Hogwarts were empty and quiet as Arabella quickly stepped along the corridors carefully, hoping that Filch wasn't out to get any late-night wanderers tonight.

"Evening, Bells." A painting greeted her as she walked by, giving the witch a half-hearted smile before wandering off.

She reached the Potions classroom in record time, wincing inwardly when she opened the door, creaking loudly at the hinges.

She stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Flickering candlelight came from across the room, and she silently wondered if Snape was still here, grading the scrolls he'd collected earlier.

But when she wandered further into the classroom, she caught the dark eyes of Draco Malfoy, shrunken into a corner and scribbling furiously. Completely unaware of Arabella's presence in the room, he continued to write, as she stood on the tips of her toes, trying to look for her watch without triggering the watchful eye of Draco.

She sighed quietly when she couldn't see it, before mustering up the courage to clear her throat, making her presence known. Draco jumped, startled by her presence in the room. His eyes narrowed slightly at her, but he remained silent, before he eventually turned his full attention back to the paper he was writing.

Bella's eyebrows furrowed as she stepped further into the room, now able to comfortably search for the precious heirloom her sister had left behind all those years ago. She ducked under a table, her eyes straining to see in the dark. Silently wishing she'd brought a candle, or even her wand, she lifted her head only for it to slam against the wood of the table.

Hard.

A loud crash sounded as something fell off the table and onto the floor, and Arabella groaned in pain, mumbling a quiet, half-hearted apology to Draco, who was staring at her with wide eyes, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Shit. Sorry." She muttered, rubbing the back of her head furiously in hopes of easing the sharp pain.

She was about to give up, and find something to ice her head, when she spotted something glinting out of the corner of her eye. Relief filled her chest as she grabbed the dainty wristwatch, slinging it back on her wrist after checking that it was still ticking.

High on dopamine and feeling brave after finding her precious watch, she sauntered over to Draco, plopping down on the stool across from him before folding her hands in front of her, glancing curiously down at the paper in front of him.

"What are you working on anyway?" She asked, completely oblivious to his discomfort, as she grinned, twisting the watch around her wrist.

He moved back, sitting stiffly upright in his chair, completely unfamiliar with having another girl other than Pansy so close to him.

He tried to ignore the way Arabella's hair fell in front of her face and the way she smelled like flowers, as she looked down at his parchment, completely oblivious.

"Potions." Draco replied, making her groan as she rolled her eyes happily. If she hadn't just found her watch unscathed, she'd be a lot more annoyed at his obvious answer.

"Forget I asked. See you tomorrow." She said, leaning over to blow out the flickering flame that lit his candle before walking out of the classroom. She smiled at the sound of his quiet grumbles behind her.