slytherins do it better

Chapter 15

Camila ran to the Hufflepuff dormitory abruptly pushing all the people in her way, until she saw Ally turn the corner of the corridor and threw herself into his arms in tears.

The young Hufflepuff hugged her in a strong hug, worried about her, while Camila wet all her uniform with tears.

"Lauren and I ..." she murmured, interrupted by a loud sob. She broke free from that suffocating embrace and tried to control her breathing, while Ally wiped the tears from her face.

"We're not together anymore."

Having said that, she Camila could no longer utter a word;  she let herself be lulled by the comforting voice of her friend, who accompanied her to the Hufflepuff dormitory, supporting her head on one shoulder and leading her into her room.

Ally disappeared for a while, reappearing a few minutes later with Dinah in tow. Gryffindor went to sit next to her friend, murmuring words of comfort.

Camila was expecting, "I told you so", so she was surprised when Dinah really worried about her instead. Sure, she felt a sense of anger at Lauren, but all her attention remained focused on her best friend.

Camila wanted to blame Dinah for everything that had happened, she wanted to be mad at her and tell her that it was her fault that things ended this way. Truth be told, she just wanted to blame someone, so she didn't have to feel responsible for everything, because she just couldn't accept that she hurt herself.

But it wasn't Dinah's fault, or Lauren's either.

Her fault was hers.

And well, there was something strangely painful about breaking your heart on your own.

-

When Camila left the room, Lauren managed to stay composed for a few seconds before bursting into a loud cry. She knew that when the tears stopped flowing, she would run out of body fluids.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Normani infringed her room;  she had seen Camila escape from the dorms and immediately ran to check on the status of her friend.

She had held her in her arms for a long time, without saying anything, and stayed with her until sleep had taken over.

The next morning, the Slytherin had to ask Zayn for help in dragging Lauren first out of bed and then down the stairs.

It was early, so the Great Hall wasn't as full of people as it would be in a couple of hours, but Normani knew that if she let Lauren sleep any longer, she would never get up again.

The two friends were desperate to get her to talk, thinking about all sorts of topics that would normally catch her attention, but Lauren kept shuffling the food on her plate, occasionally glancing at the Gryffindor table for Camila.

When a third year spilled milk all over the table, Zayn and Normani were pretty sure Lauren would react and she would be the same again; but she just moved away and concentrated on her cup of tea.

Zayn then shook his head, cleared the table with a flick of his wand and ordered the boy to move elsewhere.

"Lauren, you have to eat," the boy scolded her.

Lauren grunted back, took a bite of the toast and put it back on the plate.

"Last week they opened a new pub in Hogsmeade" Normani said, smiling encouragingly.

"Maybe we could go there this afternoon? So that we can get away from this depressing place for a while."

"Yeah, that would be a great idea" agreed Zayn