six

CHOOSING TO SKIP BREAKFAST, Arabella chose to wander the halls instead the next morning. One of the house elves saw her trudging along, before taking pity on her and slinging her a chocolate croissant and a cup of warm pumpkin juice. She'd given Arabella a comforting pat on the back and a pitiful glance, before disappearing back to the kitchens.

Like Neville had said, when Arabella peeled off the bandages this morning and washed away the bitter-smelling salve, her knuckles were completely healed. She made a mental note to buy the Gryffindor boy a bag of Bertie Bott's on her next trip to Hogsmeade.

She happened upon an arch-like, limestone structure to sit on, crossing her legs as she slowly ate her croissant, taking in the view in front of her. She'd never tire of the breathtaking, yet simplistic beauty of the school. Vines slowly crawled up the granite walls of the school, making their new homes there, in stone as old as time.

In the morning, Hogwarts always smelled like fresh dew and pastries, with the smoke of the kitchens permeating the entire grounds.

A flock of owls returned to the owlery that sat directly above her eye line, squawking loudly as they did.

Polishing off the chocolatey pastry, she dusted the crumbs off of herself, standing up.

•

Arabella fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, picking at a particular loose thread relentlessly, before snapping it off completely. She'd made the mistake of going to the library. She'd chosen to enter through the side entrance of the impressive space, not wanting to call any unnecessary attention to her.

With the intention of finding an empty table to finish her Divination scroll and make good use of her free time, she'd slipped behind a corridor of books containing knowledge on the Care of Magical Creatures, when she'd overheard a group of Gryffindor girls talking.

"She was wearing a Slytherin sweater."

"Padma said she left with Riddle."

"Her hair was a mess. Do you think they shagged?"

"Someone said she took Mattheo to the dungeons and they hooked up down there."

"I didn't know she was such a slag." Arabella recognized that voice.

The bridge of her nose began to sting, signifying tears as she peered over the bookcase, just to confirm her worst suspicions.

The Patel sisters and some other Gryffindor girls sat at a center table, with library books and pumpkin juice, giggling behind their hands as they gossiped about their friend.

Well, ex-friend now.

Arabella silently retreated from the library, wishing she'd never set foot in there.

•

Indifferent to how she would be perceived, Arabella ran through the halls, and all she wanted was the comfort of her bed. She didn't quite know where she was, chewing her lower lip in attempt to distract herself from the tears that welled in her eyes. Even though it was the girl's sixth year at Hogwarts, there were still rooms she hadn't set foot in, corridors she'd never walked through.

Her tears quickly blurred her vision, and it was only a matter of time before she crashed into the one person she wanted to see the least in that very moment.

"Brooks?"

Cormac McLaggen's eyebrows furrowed, and Arabella moved to walk past him. But he sidestepped, blocking her path as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Cormac, I really want to be alone right now." Arabella said, quickly wiping a tear from her cheek as she tried to move his hand.

"Bells, I just don't understand why you would do that." He started, his eyes wide.

"I was here, ready to give you the entire world. And you sneak off with that prick, and what? Did you sleep with him?" He sneered, his features twisted in an ugly way as his grip on her shoulder tightened slightly. This was another reason why she hated Cormac.

He was unpredictable, and an angry person.

Not a good combination.

She winced from both pain and fear, trying to slip out from his hold. But he was too strong, and now he was gripping her with enough strength to leave a hearty bruise later on.

Just as she was about to break out into tears, she heard voices coming from the corner of the hallway.

Relief flooded her when she saw it was Enzo and Theodore turning the corner. Enzo raised his hand above his head to wave, but when he noticed the look on Arabella's face, his smile dropped and he stalked over to the two Gryffindors, as Theodore followed behind him silently.

The two Slytherins reached them in a matter of seconds, and Cormac, who was famously piss-his-pants afraid of Theodore Nott, quickly released Arabella. Stumbling back with his hands in the air in mock surrender, he tripped over his own foot, before rushing to get away.

From what rumors Arabella had heard, Theodore broke Cormac's nose his first year at Hogwarts, and told him he would break it again if they ever crossed paths. Cormac's reaction to Theodore just now, confirmed that rumor to be exceedingly true.

With Cormac gone, Arabella immediately broke out into tears, covering and hiding her face from the two boys out of both embarrassment and relief.

"Bells. What's wrong?" Enzo asked gently. Theodore's jaw was clenched tight, as he watched Cormac's retreating figure.

She sobbed barely able to articulate her words, wiping tears from her cheeks pathetically. Enzo's gaze softened, his eyebrows unfurrowing as he wrapped an arm around Arabella. Bringing her in close, he held her tight to his chest as she broke down in his arms.

"I-I thought they were my friends." She whimpered, tears quickly staining Enzo's sweater, but he didn't seem to care, his fingers gently stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort the trembling girl.

Holding her for a few minutes, Lorenzo released her to pick up Arabella's bag, which she hadn't realized she'd dropped.

Theodore stepped in wordlessly, his jaw clenched tight as he let Arabella sob into his shoulder. "You smell like cigarettes, Nott." She sniffled into his shirt. "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled, his hand moving to pat her back awkwardly. He wasn't experienced in comforting crying women.

"I don't know what they did, Arabella. But whatever it was, fuck them." He whispered into her hair. She let out a snort, through tears, before pulling away and wiping off her face with the sleeve of her robes.

The last thing Arabella wanted, or needed, was to be alone. She would overthink herself to the brink of tears again, and she'd already cried enough today.

Back in the Slytherin common room, Lorenzo and Blaise were poorly attempting to cheer Arabella up. Theodore had mumbled he had something to do, before leaving without another word.

"One time," Lorenzo snickered, unable to even get out a complete sentence without breaking out into tears from laughter. He burst out laughing, keeling over, and when he'd finally calmed down his face was bright red. "Theodore dared Mattheo to transform into his Animagi, thinking he wouldn't be able to do it while pissed." He exhaled shakily, his shoulders still shaking with laughter.

"He did it. But he didn't know how to switch back. So he freaked out a bit, starting wandering the streets of London, completely wasted as a coyote. We chased him the entire night, but ended up losing him. We were kinda freaking out a bit, didn't want any Muggles seeing him. But then we pass by this little old lady, and she'd put a pink, spiky collar on him, walking him back to her house." Lorenzo giggled, and Arabella giggled at that, picturing the scene clearly in her head.

"We convinced her that he was ours, and she gave him back to us. We still tease him about it." Lorenzo said, shaking his head as he wiped a tear from his eye. Blaise shook his head, picking a bonbon off a platter of an assortment of different sweets and desserts. The boys had brought them down from their room, claiming they were from their personal stash.

During the day, the Black Lake was even more beautiful. The sunlight illuminated the water despite the depth, and Arabella could see tiny fish darting back and forth in a playful game of tag as green vegetation swayed with the rippling water.

Picking up a pistachio colored macaroon, Arabella popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing.

"Have you guys heard from Mattheo? I haven't seen him since last night." She asked hesitantly. "No. He does this all the time though. Drops off the face of the Earth for a week, then comes back like nothing happens." Lorenzo answered absentmindedly, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he debated which macaroon to eat, before picking up a raspberry-flavored one. He hissed in pain when Blaise slapped it right out of his hand a second later to eat it himself.

"What about class? He just misses a week of classes?" Bella continued to press. An onyx-colored cat had slinked silently into the common room and into Arabella's lap, purring as he rubbed his tiny head into her hand. "I think he gets some kind of pass because of his Animagi. Apparently it's not good to stay in your human form for too long." Blaise answered.

Was Mattheo doing alright? She couldn't imagine the torment he must endure daily from Gryffindors and other Hogwart students, simply because of his blood and last name. He always looked so sad.

"Are you going to the Quidditch game tonight? Theodore, Draco and I are playing." Blaise asked Bella, ripping her from her thoughts.

"Of course I am."