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CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
starlight
BETTY COULDN'T GET the events of her escapades with James out of her head. She'd tried for days to drown herself in work or to spend more time with her friends, turning the other way when he walked down the corridor and make her comments even more scathing than usual. But, his lingering touch seemed to shove its way into her mind every time she closed her eyes, zoned out or started taking notes in class. Any quiet moment she had, he was there, waiting.
She didn't know why she couldn't get him out of her mind ( he probably cursed her, she thought ) and on a particularly biting Saturday morning, she decided to go down to the toasty kitchens to escape the snowfall and intense cold. It had been a couple weeks since the incident and the late middle January cold was taking hold as her birthday lay a few days off.
She generally didn't make a large fuss for it, but she knew her friends would do something. Especially this year. She could hear their whispering and see them sneaking off together, casting her looks. But, she didn't love them for their subtlety.
The air was visible as it puffed out of her and she watched them disappear again. She didn't know where they were holding it, how many people where coming or if they knew that she knew, but she'd rather keep them in the dark. They seemed excited, so she'd leave them be.
Her nose was bright red as she managed her way through the huddling crowds, twirling snowflakes and frozen kisses. Her hair curled as her period threatened to take hold and she wrapped her yellow and black scarf tightly around her neck. Her black heeled boots clicked against the uneven stone as she wound her way down to the basement, tickled the pear and was welcomed by the smell of meat pies baking and the chatter of the house elves.
The stairs were dark and grey stone, but they lead out to a warmly lit kitchen—almost as if it was radiating buttercup yellow. There was a large oak wooden island in front of her, cluttered with bowls, spatulas and house elves attending to them. Behind the island was an oak wooden counter along the back wall that protruded out slightly. There were two other similarly designed work spaces on to the right and left, separated by a small wall of stacked stone ovens that connected to the wooden counters. She could count the number of drawers and cabinets under the counters now: 48. Each of the three work spaces were connected by a small walk way in the front, which the stairs lead out to.
Her skirt danced around her thighs with the warm air. The house elves no longer stared at her as she entered, that was reserved for her first few years at Hogwarts. Instead, they cleared off to other areas of the kitchen, making way for her, as they continued preparing lunch and dinner. An oven was left empty for her as she searched for bowls and whisks in the right places. She found the apron that she'd stashed under the bottom cabinet's wooden bottom—something that she'd brought with her in second year after she got flour all over her uniform while making ginger biscuits before Transfiguration.
