Let's Blame Magic

Chapter Sixteen

  There was nothing but suffering and pain. For the past month, Ariella was stuck in a nightmare; news spread throughout fast in Hogwarts, it wasn’t long before everyone found out about Ambrosia and Oliver. It took everyone by surprised, especially Robbie, when Robbie asked how it happened, Oliver would just smile and say,

  “It just happened.”

  On Ariella’s part, it was torture. They all asked her what happened but staying true to her word, she didn’t say a word. She always had her nose in a book, in class, during her free time and those few minutes before bed. She had a new habit of letting her mind wander off especially whenever she saw Ambrosia and Oliver together.

  During class it was dreadful, as soon as she entered class, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville and at times Draco would try to talk to her but she stayed silent no matter what. It was painful for them to see Ariella the way that she was, even Draco, considering he was the last person she had a conversation with in a month but not only was it painful for them, Ariella felt she was slowly dying on the inside.

  There were times where Ariella regret making the decision of returning to who she was before but there also times where she thought it was too late for her.

  Ariella sat in the library with every book she could find on werewolves. In Defense against the Dark Arts, class was taken over by Professor Snape; everything was fine till he suddenly assigned a roll of parchment generalizing werewolves. Everyone was upset especially Hermione who vouched for the class that they weren’t there yet but Professor Snape didn’t care for opinions especially from an insufferable know-it-all.

  The books were open around her; at times Hermione would ask if she could study with her, Ariella allowed it but there was no idle conversation between them. Ariella picked up a book and scanned the pages that talked about lycanthrope in correlation of a human being bitten by a werewolf and later on infected by turning into a werewolf when a full moon rises. Ariella wrote a few sentences discussing the difference between an animagus and a werewolf; Animagus is the choice of transformation, where being a werewolf is against their will.

  As Ariella was working hard, she couldn’t help but miss laughing with her friends, down the table she watched as Hermione, Ron and Harry were laughing. Harry caught her eye and gave her a sympathetic look but Ariella shied away and continued to work.

  Ariella waved in and out of focus, she was already half-way through her roll of parchment when a fellow stood in front of her.

   “Mind if I sit here?” He asked with a smile.

  Ariella looked up and met a pair of grey eyes, but they didn’t belong to Draco. They belonged to a boy who belonged to the Hufflepuff House. His hair was brown and similar to everyone else’s but his hair was more tamed, his complexion was fair and flawless. She didn’t want to admit it but he was really nice on the eyes. He stared at Ariella with a smile on his face.

  She didn’t say a word, she looked away but that didn’t stop him. Instead, he took he seat and sat down. He opened his notebook and started to do his work, Ariella stared at him with curiosity; what was the point of asking if you’re not going to care what I had to say? Ariella wondered to herself.

  The boy could feel Ariella staring at him, he gave a laugh and tapped his quill on his parchment and looked up “I’m sorry, is this seat taken?” He asked.

  Ariella turned a faint color of pink and buried her nose into one of the library’s old books that had a faint pungent smell to it. The boy laughed and continued to do his work; without looking up at Ariella, he smiled.

   “You’re not much of a talker, are you?” The boy obviously directed the topic to Ariella.

  Ariella tried to focus on her book but her eyes peered over the top of the book. The boy waited but it seemed that it didn’t bother him having a one-sided conversation.