Barnaby Lee x Reader - Year 6

Beatrice?!

Dumbledore called Lana to talk in the courtyard, and after their chat he mentioned that Beatrice was in the grand staircase looking as though she needed a friend. So on her way to bed, Lana approached her friend's sister.

Beatrice was staring nervously at the portrait that she'd been stuck in the previous year, so Lana chose a gentle approach.

"Hello, Beatrice. How's everything going?" she asked.

"Alright, I suppose."

"Shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"Shouldn't you?" Beatrice retorted.

"Well, yeah, that's where I'm headed now. Beatrice, are you...ok?" Lana tried again.

"Don't I look ok?" the younger girl asked.

"I don't know...you ignored me in the hospital wing earlier, and now you're up late staring at the portraits."

"I don't see why you'd be worried."

"Because I care about you. We're friends, remember?" Lana asked.

"No, Penny's your friend. And I'm not Penny." Beatrice snapped.

"I thought you and Penny had made up...?"

"We did, but...agh, never mind. Just leave me alone, alright?"

"I thought I'd find you here, Beatrice." Ismleda announced, "Merula's waiting for us, remember?"

"How are you lot getting along with the training?" Lana asked the black-haired girl.

"Better than you, I reckon. Merula told me you've been off hobnobbing with centaurs." Ismelda said. "C'mon, Beatrice, let's get a move on."

"Bye, Lana. Sorry for, well...you know." Beatrice said awkwardly, before following Ismelda down the steps.

"That was odd." Lana commented.

"Aye, a sad story is our Beatrice. A more distressed damsel I've not seen." Sir Cadogan said from his painting above Lana's head.

"Has she been hanging around here often?"

"Like a wyvern circling an unmatched flock!"

"Hmm...there's definitely something bothering her. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about it?" Lana inquired.

"Fire away, my friend! Upon my honour, I will answer to the very best of my not-inconsiderable ability!" the knight cheered.

Lana spoke to Sid Cadogan for a while before heading to bed, concluding that Beatrice must have still been recovering over her time stuck in the portrait. She also explained that she needed to see Jacob, and the knight mentioned Duncan Ashe, causing Lana to pay a visit to the ghost.

"You know, "Charlie said as they entered the prefect's bathroom, "It's been a while since we came here looking for Duncan."

"I was just thinking that myself. Feels odd without Bill, doesn't it?" Lana added.

"A bit, yeah. Everything about Hogwarts felt odd without Bill, at least at first. I thought I'd gotten used to it, but coming here without him..."

"You weren't as used to it as you thought?

"Yeah, reckon so." Charlie nodded.

"I know the feeling. I keep thinking I've made my peace with Rowan being gone..." Lana began, "And then I come across a place where I have some memory of her that I'd forgotten about."

"Hmph. Sounds like how people used to talk about me." Duncan said.

"Duncan! We've been looking for you." Lana told the ghost.