i need a cure (there's no escaping your love)

Part 3

Kaleb sinks into the couch right next to Josie's seat, letting out a loud and long sigh as he does so. The brunette's eyes slowly leave the book in her hands to land on her friend. The look on his face makes her quickly close her book before placing an arm around his shoulders and making him lean into her.

"Kaleb, what's wrong?"

"We had this interview with the Daily Prophet today." He says, sighing again. "Elena Gilbert... She was awful, Jo. She dug up some dirt about my father and talked shit about my mom being a muggle."

A frown of anger overtakes Josie's face. "What rights does she have to do that? Have you talked to Professor Forbes?"

Kaleb shakes his head. "None of us said a thing. We were all pretty shook when we came out of our interviews. Hope in particular. She came out of there, and all the lights in the room started flashing. She excused herself before storming out of the room."

Hearing about Hope's reaction to her interview makes Josie's heart ache in a way she doesn't understand. The brunette's hold on Kaleb gets tighter, even though she's itching to run out of the Slytherin's common room and find Hope to make sure the Quidditch player is okay. Making sure her actual friend is okay is more important. She barely knows Hope, after all.

"I should be getting ready for my date with Jed." Kaleb says, but he doesn't move.

"I thought he was still mad at you."

The boy chuckles, gently pulling away from the brunette. "He is, but he can't stay away from me for long."

Josie's smile is soft as she looks at her friend slowly standing up from the couch. Kaleb quickly greets someone behind the brunette, making Josie turn around to see who it is. When her eyes land on Alyssa Chang, the Saltzman girl rolls her eyes and looks back at Kaleb with a scowl. The boy rolls his eyes too, and gives his friend a hard look.

"You know I only have feelings for Jed now. Don't look at me like that, Saltzman."

He turns around and starts walking in the boys' dorm direction, but Josie can't leave it like that.

"You better, Hawkins, or I'll be cursing your ass!"

He scoffs and rolls his eyes before turning around to look at the brunette. "Just go see Hope. We both know that's what you wanna do right now."

Josie opens her mouth to say something, but quickly closes it again when words refuse to come out. Kaleb smirks before disappearing in the boys' dorm room. The Saltzman girl's cheeks have taken a deep shade of red as she feels every pair of eyes in the room on her. Josie grabs the book she forgot about as soon as Kaleb sat next to her, then quickly stands up and walks out of the room. She keeps her eyes down, making sure to avoid any eye contact.

The brunette only stops walking when she realises she has no idea of where she's going. She knows who she's looking for, but doesn't know where she could find her. Josie's first stop is the library, but there's no sign of Hope nor of her fans. Then, she quickly makes her way to the dinner hall, but it's no use, still no sign of the Mikaelson girl. The Slytherin makes a couple of stops, but the Quidditch player is nowhere to be found.

Just as Josie's about to give up and walk back to her common room, two students wearing Durmstrang's colors catch her eyes. She saw those people before. She saw them with Hope. Without another thought, the brunette starts walking straight to the boy and the girl that usually flank Hope. They are so engrossed in a conversation, that neither of them realises Josie's there at first. The Saltzman girl quickly taps the boy's shoulder, making both of them turn around to look at her.

The boy has a confused frown when he turns around, and the girl looks pissed that someone dared interrupting them. Their faces quickly change expressions though, and soon enough there are matching smiles on their lips.