prologue

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

― Albus Dumbledore

•

THIS WAS GETTING QUITE RIDICULOUS. Per usual, Cormac McLaggen had plastered himself between a quite peeved Arabella Brooks and Hermione Granger.

Of course, he didn't pay mind to anyone's idea of personal space as he focused solely on his delusional conquest of the pretty, raven-haired girl seated adjacent to him. Never mind the fact that he was extremely unwanted between both of the two Gryffindor girls, he continued to banter playfully with Bella, who looked like she would rather eat curdled bloodworms from Snape's storeroom.

Arabella resisted the urge to shove the boy to the floor, annoyed by his painful oblivion to the fact that she hated his guts.

Shifting on the bench to create more space in between herself and the Gryffindor Keeper, Hermione sat closer to Ron Weasley, a lanky, redheaded boy, whose eyebrows were furrowed in deep concern as he observed a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Oi, Bells. Say, was all this really on the Potions exam?" Ron asked, his voice muffled as he showed Arabella the piece of parchment he'd been contemplating for the last half hour. He messily shoved yet another piece of well-buttered toast into his mouth as crumbs fell onto the mahogany wood of the dining table.

Arabella wrinkled her petite nose in disgust as she watched the fiery-haired boy munch loudly on his breakfast, who was now working two strips of maple bacon into his already-full mouth.

Scrawled messily on the blotchy, wrinkled paper, among butter and jam stains were the topics and some poorly memorized answers from yesterday's Potions exam.

She didn't need to ask Ron to know who'd written it. She'd recognize that disorganized scrawl anywhere.

She handed it back to the Weasley boy without a word, and he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Even if I knew, I'm not gonna help Potter help you cheat in Snape's class." She answered snarkily, stabbing a strawberry from his plate before popping it into her mouth.

"That's my girl." Cormac grinned, making Arabella roll her eyes and dry-heave, and Ron look slightly horrified, his nose wrinkling and eyebrows furrowing together in disgust.

"Bella." He whined after recovering from the initial shock of witnessing such a gruesome interaction, throwing his head back, making his brilliant auburn locks ruffle. "You'd help Neville if he asked." He retorted, feigning offense as he peered up at Bella with his bottom lip puckered outwards. She scoffed, rolling her eyes in amusement before flicking his bottom lip with a finger.

He reacted over dramatically, falling backwards and rubbing his lip in pain.

"Neville wouldn't have asked me to help him cheat, Weasley." She retorted, making Neville Longbottom chuckle quietly from beside them, overhearing the conversation despite the fact that his nose was burrowed deep into a thick Herbology book.

"You think that's funny, Longbottom?" Ron grinned as he launched over the Great Hall dining table, capturing poor Neville's head in a firm headlock. Arabella could see McGonagall shaking her head in disappointment all the way at the faculty table, out of the corner of her eye.

Rubbing a clenched fist on his head, Ron rubbed ferociously, messing up Neville's chestnut locks. The redheaded Gryffindor had gotten exceedingly more rowdy after starting to play Quidditch with Harry.

"Gerroff, Ron." Neville grumbled, flailing around lamely in an attempt to try and shove the burly boy off of him.

Arabella watched the two quarrel, an amused smile on her face. Since her first year, after Harry Potter helped her find her black cat, Onyx, she'd stuck around the three trouble makers.

"Behave, boys." Bella mumbled distractedly as she dug through her bag in search of her Herbology assignment. "Oi, Torwood." McLaggen mumbled lowly from behind Arabella, tearing her attention away from her search. She looked up, turning around to see Cormac blocking the path of a shifty-eyed Slytherin first year, alongside another Gryffindor sixth-year.

Neville visibly stiffened beside her.

But before anyone could do or say anything, Hermione leaned down to grab her books before fleeing the Great Hall quicker than you could say "butterbeer". Cormac and another student who went by the name West Torwood had gotten into the nasty habit of relentlessly teasing Slytherin first-years, which was one of the many reasons why Arabella hated him so much.

Hermione, with her kind heart, didn't have the courage to stop Cormac and chose to avoid exposure to his antics, as well as the potential repercussions that could occur from her being found at the scene of his crimes.

Arabella's eyes silently followed her, watching as she disappeared behind the large set of chestnut doors.

Ron planted both hands on the table, pushing down as he stood up, towering over the first-year. Arabella would bet all her Galleons that the only reason Ron occasionally joined in on the bullying was to get on McLaggen's good side. The poor Slytherin gulped visibly, sending a pulse of pity down Bella's chest.

"Leave him be." She spoke up, tugging lightly on Ron's robes.

He turned to look down at her, an amused grin on his rugged face. He gave her a cocky smile before leaning down and whispering to her. "Don't worry. We'll go easy on him." He whispered, winking as he pulled away from her.

"Oi, Weasley, mate." Harry called out from beside Arabella, also attempting to help deescalate the situation.

But if Cormac's looks could kill, Harry would be upside down on the floor, tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth.

Seamus watched from the sidelines, silently and dutifully.

"Where are you heading, Slytherin?" Cormac sneered, a nasty tone to his usually charming tone he reserved for Arabella.

The poor kid tried to evade the tall Gryffindor, but Cormac mirrored his every step, blocking his way past him. By now, the attention of most the students in the Great Hall were on the two boys.

Luckily for Cormac, the professors and Dumbledore had just left breakfast early to engage in a faculty meeting for the upcoming class trip to Hogsmeade.

The prefects were supposed to be watching over the students, but even they couldn't lift a finger against the bulky Cormac when he was looking for a fight.

The Slytherin reached back, feeling for his wand in the back pocket of his robes, but Ron had already snatched it from behind him, twirling the wand teasingly between his fingers, looking bored at the whole interaction as he leaned against a dining table.

Arabella glared at Ron in disappointment, who only wore an amused grin as he watched Cormac corner the boy into a wall.

But before either of the two could do anything, a fist came flying out of nowhere, before pummeling Cormac on the face.

The reaction was almost immediate.

Harry shot out of his seat and Ron lunged towards Mattheo Riddle, a Slytherin sixth-year. The younger Slytherin kid took the chance to scamper away, running out of the Great Hall with his tail tucked between his legs.

Ron fell to the floor, and Mattheo climbed on top of him, punching him square in the face."I'll bloody kill you, Riddle!" Cormac roared as he ripped Mattheo off of Ron, who's lip was already busted and bleeding.

Ron moved to punch Mattheo while he was busy pummeling Cormac's face in, but before he could get in a hit, Blaise Zabini grabbed his fist, holding it tightly according to the pained expression on Ron's face.

Cormac had his attention focused on them now, as Mattheo wiped the blood away with the sleeve of his robe, a look of spite in his eyes as he stood up, ready to reinsert himself into the fight.

But before he could, Arabella quickly inserted herself in front of him, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. She whipped around, eyes wide in a frenzy of adrenaline and shock as she noticed the prefects finally intervening behind her.

Mattheo couldn't understand why his anger immediately subsided as he looked at Arabella, who was breathing hard as she watched the prefects pull the boys off of each other.

Harry had successfully pulled a fuming Ron off of Blaise, who was being held back by a Slytherin prefect.

"Break it up, boys." Harley Flitwick, the Head Boy from Ravenclaw finally intervened, before leading Mattheo back to the Slytherin table.

Mattheo looked thoroughly amused as he sauntered off, smirking as he rubbed his bruised jaw before shooting one last fleeting glance at Arabella.

Cormac was a mess, his hair all over the place, and a hearty bruise settling right underneath his right eye.

"Oh, Cormac. Let's get you cleaned up." Sophia Richardson, a busty Hufflepuff simpered, as she led him to the Prefect's bathroom. He reluctantly followed, shooting a glance back at Arabella, who watched him leave in disappointment.

"I reckon we oughta get you cleaned up too, Weasley." Arabella said, gently pressing her thumb to Ron's lip, which was bleeding quite heavily for such a minor cut.

He hissed slightly, making Arabella retract her hand quickly.

"Sorry." She smiled. "Let's go."