We open a portkey back to the common room and sit on the couch, bits of melting snow still clinging to our boots. Cora, who was curled up in the alcove armchair with a book, ran over to us.
"Where did you come from?" she asks. "And why is there snow on your shoes?"
"Hogsmeade," I say. "Just for a butterbeer and some window shopping."
"Without me?" she whines. Luna sighs.
"Cora, we've been through this. You're a first-year, so you wouldn't be able to go anyway," Luna explains.
"You said you'd sneak me in someday," Cora says to me, crossing her arms.
"I did. Today is not that day," I respond. She laughs.
"I know. Just making sure you didn't forget," Cora said, sitting in the armchair across from us with her book.
"Every time the word Hogsmeade is uttered within 50 feet of you, you ask if you can go. Trust me, I'll remember," I tease. Cora sticks her tongue out at me.
"Where's Rory?" Luna asks. "He usually reads in here with you at this time." Cora shrugs.
"He went down to dinner with that Paris twit and he hasn't come back," she says. Of course he did. He was absolutely smitten; wherever Paris went, he was never far behind her. Cora had told us that Paris was complaining to her friends about how clingy Rory could be, but in his mind she could do no wrong. Every time we told him that Paris wasn't who she said she was, he denied it and insisted that we didn't know her, that it wasn't our place to judge her, or that she would never do such a thing. The saddest part was that you could see in his eyes that he really believed what he was saying.
"I'll bet 5 galleons one of them's giving the other mononucleosis right now," I said. Cora chuckled.
"Make it syphilis and you've got a deal," she said with a smug grin. Luna's jaw dropped, and I was doubled over laughing. We were both shocked that those words came out of sweet, innocent little Cora's mouth. She laughs at our reactions.
"Don't act so surprised," she said. "I have an idea of how the world works."
"It's not even that," I wheeze. "It's the fact that you're so confident that one of them has a disease that you're putting money on it." They both laughed along with me, and the common room door opened and Rory came in. We all turned around to look at him.
"Hi," I say, trying to keep a straight face. "Um, do you happen to have syphilis?" Cora smothers a giggle.
"Like...the blood infection? I sure hope not." All three of us burst out laughing again. Oh Gods, he thought we were talking about sepsis. He looks between us, genuinely confused.
"What? What's so funny?" He asked.
"Wrong sort of infection, Rory," I say, holding my stomach because it hurt from laughing so hard. Rory shakes his head as if to snap out of the conversation and crosses past us to get to the dorm stairs.
"I'm scared to ask what happened before I came in. Carry on," he said, shutting the door behind him. I wipe the tears from my eyes, trying to stop laughing.
"Congratulations, Cora. You're no longer the most innocent person of the friend group," I say to her. We start laughing all over again.
Later, I sat in my room trying to teach Milo a new command. He was smart; he already knew lots of commands, like the one that meant he should go to his cage and the one that meant there was mail to deliver. This one meant for him to fly up and land on my shoulder. When I scooped him up and put him on my shoulder for the first time, he got confused and jumped back down to my bed. I fed him the bits of raw fish that I'd nicked from the kitchen whenever he stayed on my shoulder, and he eventually made the connection. We almost had it set in stone when Evie burst in and came straight over to my bed.
"What's with you and Luna?" she blurted suddenly, and panic flooded my brain. Son of a bloody boggart. How much had she put together?
"You'll have to be a little more specific," I say nonchalantly, but fear is eating me alive on the inside. I start to get out of bed, and she grabs me by the arm.
"Tell me the truth," she said, her eyes seeming to drill into my soul. "I'm warning you. Because people are starting to notice." My heart stops beating. People are starting to notice; I'd been dreading the day I knew I'd hear those words since the day of the crash. Still, I fought to keep everything just under the surface.
"There's nothing to notice," I grumble, yanking my arm out of her grasp.
"If only you were half the liar you thought you were," she continued. "I wasn't born this morning." I couldn't look her in the eye. She knows. How could I have done such a terrible job hiding it that my own sister saw right through it?
"So, are you...?" she trails off. My last shred of resolve finally crumbled after years of hiding and lying and pretending to keep up an image that I hated. I nodded and tears started to roll down my face.
"Please don't tell anyone," I begged, my voice breaking. Evie's eyes widen with concern.
"Y/n, listen to me. To expose someone to that extent is unforgivable. I would never do that, not even to my worst enemy let alone my sister. You understand?" she mumbled. I nod, unable to speak around the lump in my throat. "Come here," she said, opening her arms. I lean into her and let myself break down. I wanted so badly to believe that she would keep her promise, but some cynical part of me said otherwise. I asked myself how she could be so kind now after she'd always been cold and distant, but there was no answer. There was only the feeling of Evie's arms wrapped around me and the warm, steady rhythm of her heart beating against my face.
"What should I say to people if they ask?" Evie murmurs.
"Deny everything," I answer. "Please, nobody can know-"
"Okay, okay, I will. Just breathe," she interrupts. Still, part of me doesn't trust her. I knew for a fact that muggles didn't take kindly to people like Luna and I, and something told me that most people at Hogwarts wouldn't react too differently. Either way, my secret was out to more people than I ever expected; even if it was only Luna and Evie. She said more and more people were starting to catch on, and that scared me. I couldn't decide whether I was glad I told my sister the truth, or whether it was the biggest mistake of my life.
Dear Reader,
Heyyy this chapter is kinda short and I was kind of sad for Y/n but putting main characters on emotional rollercoasters is what I do :') so anyway, thank you for 1,300 reads! I've seen a lot of you adding this to your reading lists (some of the names y'all come up with XD I saw a few that said "underrated" and it made my entire month) and I'm glad my writing is actually getting somewhere. I've never written anything ever in my life that got actual recognition, which is probably for the best because the stuff I wrote in elementary and middle school absolutely blew and I cringe every time I think about it lmao. Until next time!
XOXO
Frankie :)
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Looney (Luna Lovegood x Fem Reader)
Fanfiction"How could my love for her be wrong? Sure, it was odd to some people, but it was love just the same." Since your first day at Hogwarts, there have been rumors about that strange Lovegood girl who wears mismatched clothes and talks about creatures th...
