three

CANDLELIGHT BURNED IN THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM, sending flickering shadows across the maroon walls as Bella sat on the couch, her arms crossed across her chest.

Watching as Ron and Harry re-enacted their fight with Mattheo for her, their eyes wide as they panted heavily, clearly exhausted from doing this for the last half hour.

"And then, I went like this." Ron moved in slow motion, his fist slowly moving in the air as he made a "whoosh" sound with his mouth. Bella sat, silent and unamused. "And then I blocked him, like this." Harry jumped back, smacking Ron's fist out of the way karate style. The duo were acting like five-year olds, making action noises with their mouths and calling out for help when the other got a little too rowdy.

Arabella had spent the last thirty minutes pulling them off each other.

Hermione sat beside her, scribbling busily into her Herbology journal, completely ignoring the two after watching the last chokehold go down.

Neville, as always, watched the two joyfully, admiration and amusement shining in his eyes as he watched their reenactment, entertained by the two bumbling idiots.

"Can I go to my room now? Ginny said she'd braid my hair for me tonight." Bella asked, moving to stand up, but Harry stopped her, holding his hands out.

With a sigh, she plopped back down, snapping her gum as she looked over at Hermione's notebook. "What you working on?" She asked, resting her head on Hermione's shoulder. She shifted, sitting in a manner that made it more comfortable for her, before tilting her notebook toward Bella. "Working on my analog of Mandrake growth for Sprouts class. She said if they grew five centimeters by the end of the year, she'd give me a curve on my O.W.L. exam." She explained, as Arabella yawned, shutting her eyes to take a nap. She had a feeling she'd be here for a while longer.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were now on the floor, with Ron tapping out as Harry sat on his back triumphantly, holding him in yet another chokehold, his glasses crooked on his face.

Both of them were completely oblivious to the fact that Arabella was snoring peacefully beside Hermione.

•

"Ouch. That hurts, Gin." Arabella whined, swatting Ginny's hand away. Ginny rolled her eyes, continuing to plait her long, dark brown hair. "Stay still. Or I'll chop all your hair off and give it to Draco. I'm sure he's wondered what he'd look like with dark hair." She joked, making Hermione snort.

"He definitely has. Every time I see him, I swear he's always looking at his reflection longingly and tossing his hair over his shoulder." Ginny giggled, mimicking the action, as Arabella rolled over, trying her hardest not to laugh too loudly.

Technically, it was 20 minutes past lights out, and the girls were on their second strike with the Gryffindor female prefect, Lacey Frocker, who was a stickler for curfew.

"I swear if he could shag himself, he would." Hermione added, as Ginny let out a snort, before slapping her hand over her mouth and nose in attempts to silence her giggle fit.

"He hissed at me the other day. Do you think he thinks he's a vampire?" Arabella asked, making the girls guffaw loudly. "It'd explain the pale skin and white hair." Ginny joked back.

Ginny finished tying off Bella's hair, running her hands over the two braids. "All done. Sleep on your back today." She told her, who nodded as she hopped onto her feet, bounding towards the floor length mirror that stood beside the door.

"Luna told me we were doing Amortentia in Potions class tomorrow." Ginny whispered from behind her, making Arabella's eyes widen. They'd only heard about the love potion from older students. "No way. This early in the year?" Hermione asked, making Ginny nod.

The girls giggled quietly as they prepared themselves for bed. And as they slowly drifted off to sleep, one by one, they wondered who they'd smell in their potions tomorrow.

•

"Look. There he goes." Cormac snickered with Ron, watching as Mattheo walked out of the Great Hall, only a blueberry muffin in hand. He hadn't sat down to eat, simply walking in to grab a pastry and leaving immediately after.

Arabella felt an urge to stand up and follow him, but suppressed it, worried what Ron and Harry may think if she did. So she stayed silent and still, watching silently as he shuffled out of the hall, looking down at the floor as he did.

"Wanker." Cormac joked, and he and Ron erupted into cacophonous laughter, making Bella roll her eyes and turn away from the duo. Of course, Harry stayed silent as always, not engaging in the boy's bad habits of bullying and cruel jokes, but not exactly making a move to stop them either.

Arabella silently vowed to give both Ron and Cormac the silent treatment for a few weeks, in an attempt to get them to leave the Slytherins alone. It was like they couldn't go a day without getting into it with them. Arabella wasn't the biggest fan of Slytherins, but they were still young students who'd been through a lot, just like the rest of them.

•

"What are you gonna do if you smell Ron in your Amortentia?" Ginny asked Hermione, who went into a fit of giggles as she keeled over, nearly choking on her breakfast toast.

"What would that even smell like? Arrogance and sweat from playing Quidditch all the time?" Hermione asked, snorting as she shook her head. Bella gave her a half-hearted smile, running her spoon through the rainbow-tinted milk in the cereal bowl that sat in front of her.

She watched as the metal spoon created ripples in the milk, suddenly disinterested in the conversations that took place around her.

She couldn't take her mind off of Mattheo, and how lonely he looked as he was walking out of the Great Hall, alone and silent as always.

"Bells!" Arabella was shook out of her own thoughts, startled by Ginny's sudden outburst. "Did you hear what I said?" She asked Arabella, who shook her head no, dropping her spoon and sitting up straight. Wiping her hands and mouth with a napkin, she dropped it onto the table before standing up abruptly. Harry glanced up at her in half-worry, half-confusion, a forkful of pastries halfway to his mouth. It didn't go unnoticed to him, how weird she'd been acting recently.

"I'm gonna get an early start to Potions. Snape said if I was late again, he'd have me sorting the bad frog legs from the good ones." She smiled weakly. The girls said their goodbyes, and with a half-hearted wave to Harry and Ron, she wandered out of the Great Hall, empty-mindedly fidgeting with the watch dangling off her wrist.

It was October 1st, which explained the enchanted pumpkins that bobbled from the ceiling, as faint music trickled from somewhere undistinguishable. Arabella could hear the slight crackling of wooden-wick candles that burned from every direction, sending a smoky smell to the otherwise cinnamony air from breakfast.

Shuffling her feet as she walked, she ran her fingers along the stone walls of the castle, feeling the roughness on her fingertips. As she walked, her mind wandered back to Mattheo and how sad his eyes looked, right before she crashed into the broad back of Theodore Nott.

"What in the-" He turned around, his arm behind his back as he rubbed the area of contact furiously, clearly in pain from the collision. His eyebrows furrowed together, in confusion as well as irritation at the Gryffindor girl standing in front of him. Quickly identifying her as the popular Arabella Brooks, his eyes narrowed slightly, as his irritation slowly subsided. "Sorry, Nott." Bella blurted out apologetically, cheeks tinted red with embarrassment.

Even the brooding Slytherin, not knowing the first thing about Arabella, could tell something was going on with the pretty, raven-haired Gryffindor who was usually a spitfire.

She moved to walk past him, but he swooped down, scooping up her bag containing all her books. Slinging it over his shoulder with ease, he suppressed the grin on his face, amused at the look on Arabella's face as she trailed after him, shouting lame protests.

"I can carry my own bag." She said, nearly jogging as she attempted to catch up with Theodore's long strides. Reaching the staircases, Theodore ascended them with ease, as Bella clung onto the rails, ascending them at a much slower pace, breathing with exertion.

"I need to workout more." She exhaled, watching Theodore with spite as he walked ahead of her, having the time of his life. "Slow down, Nott!" She called out, eyes focused on his retreating figure. She rolled her eyes at his constant speed, before he completely missed a step and plummeted downwards.

Arabella's eyes widened, and she slapped a hand over her mouth in shock. "Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead." She muttered to herself, as she gained the courage to peer over the side of the banister.

He was sprawled out on the floor of a staircase directly beneath her. He groaned out in pain, putting a hand over his stomach as the two made eye contact.

"I forgot those bitches move."