Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 14

Monday, 22 November 1976

Lena wanted to throw up. She had just gotten her exam back from Binns and received a T. All Lena wanted was to be alone. She couldn't go back to her dorm room. She had not spoken to Maggie and Ava since Friday and she did want them to see her cry. Lena had rushed to the second-floor girls bathroom. It was the only place that Lena could think out that could be empty. She figured it would be the best place to wallow in self pity and despair. It turns out the second-floor girls bathroom was not the best place to do that.

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Lena stood in front of the mirror and sniffled. Her face was red and blotchy. She turned on the faucet and cupped her hands beneath it to splash water on her face.

"Why are you crying?" A young voice asked from out of nowhere.

"Holy shit!" Lena screamed. "Hi, Myrtle."

"So why are you crying? No friends."

Lena paused. She wasn't sure if she did have any friends at the moment. But, she wouldn't Moaning Myrtle know that though.

"I have friends."

"Then why are you crying? I was crying about Olive Hornby teasing me about my glasses when I died here."

"...Are you saying that I'm gonna die here?"

"No... well maybe. I'm just trying to relate to you."

Lena frowned. "Please don't relate to me about crying and death. That's the least comforting thing I can think of."

"Oh, so you think you're better than me?"

"No! I'm just not finding this conversation that comforting!"

"So what happened? Did someone dump you?"

"No."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"No."

"Did you fail?"

Lena took too long to deny it and Myrtle took the opportunity to run with it.

"You did! You did! You did," Myrtle chanting gleefully.

"Shut up, Myrtle."

"Let me guess you got a P! Oh no, a D!" Myrtle cackled.

Lena was fuming. She was clenching her hands into fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Shut up."

"Oh, it's worse isn't it. You got a T! You got a Troll! It makes sense, I suppose. Hufflepuffs have always had the most stupid students."

In that moment, all Lena could think about was everyone who called her stupid— Ivy Willams, her childhood classmates, teachers, Myrtle. She hates how much more time she put into her work than her other classmates died and she still did poorly. She hated that she was not talking to her friends. In a fit of rage, Lena looked at herself in the mirror and punched the mirror.

Lena was in too much pain to hear the door creak open as she screamed, "Oh, fuck!"

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"So, why are we going to the second-floor girls bathroom?" Peter asked his friends as they huddled under James' invisibility cloak.

"Well, Padfoot and I want to dye everyone's skin purple—".

"So everyone looks like grapes," Sirius said, cutting James off.

"I'm sorry, why?"

"We're bored," James said simply.