The Girl Who Vanished

Chapter 27: Regulus Black

Since their class about the boggarts, Alex just hadn't been the same. Her forehead held a perpetual crease at its center that grew deeper and deeper with every passing day. At night, Callie's stuffed bunny, Minnie, had become a constant visitor as the girl slept, or at least tried to. The only thing that could possibly pep the girl up was the idea of Quidditch quickly approaching.

Ana and the rest of the crew were situated in the Great Hall, nibbling on their respective breakfasts. Alex's plate was piled high with her favorite croissants, apple slices, and eggs per Lucian's hefty serving; however, the usually famished girl kept picking and playing with her food.

"Lex, you're going to have to eat before I start shoveling this food into you myself," her older brother joked as he held up a spoonful of porridge at his sister.

"I don't know what to tell you, Lucy," Ana murmured as she took a sip of her tea, "She's been like this for a whole week."

"But I'm fine!" He motioned towards his strong form, possibly having gone through a second puberty due to the circumference of his bicep. "There's no reason to worry about me. I'm okay!"

Alex clanked her food away from her, causing the jug of pumpkin juice in front of her to spill a bit onto the table. It caught the attention of some students, until they turned back to their own conversations after a few seconds. Fred and George stared a bit longer than the others.

"Lex?"

"You're fine for now Lucian!" Alex hollered more out of frustration than anger.

She ran her fingers through her copper hair which now hung lower than her shoulder blades. It was frizzy and unkempt, but somehow, she was still as pretty as ever. Any baby roundness in her face from earlier years was replaced with a sharp jaw and high cheekbones.

"Last year, I thought Callie was fine, too," she admitted.

At the mention of her name, Calista stopped cleaning the pumpkin juice from the table to analyze her friend. Her eyes were soft and worried.

"She was fine until we left for holiday and we came back to see she was petrified. Then, Ana got petrified right after and I'm just afraid that if I'm not careful or not trying hard enough, I just-"

The girl had to take a deep breath to steady herself, her voice growing strained. She didn't have to continue talking. Everyone knew what she wanted to say.

"I'm your big brother, Lex. I'm the one who is supposed to look out after you and your friends. You don't have to fear losing me. Even if you wanted me gone, I'll always be here to make sure you're okay."

He placed his arm around his sister's shoulder to pull her in for a sideways hug, the only one that would work given the fact they were sitting on the same side for once.

"You can't stress yourself out about this," Aeron chimed in. "How are you gonna play Quidditch when your head is all boggled like this?"

Alex's head snapped to glare at the boy who was holding a smirk across his face. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, the girl grabbed a piece of bacon from a second year Slytherin's plate to launch at him. Aeron swatted at it, a little too late, as he received a smacking of bacon to the cheek.

With a half-hearted snarl, Aeron took the retaliation before chuckling and taking a large bite of his cinnamon roll that was dripping in icing. The sugar was enough to make Ana's stomach growl.

As much as Alex's fear of her boggart was evident, Ana did her best to hide how terribly worried she was of her own.

Every night as she watched her roommate crumble under their own fear, Ana crumbled inwardly. The thought of an insidious double of herself staring back at her was cryptic and twisted; something she couldn't fully wrap her head around. Classes would pass her by, with her having retained hardly any of her lessons. Especially History of Magic, but that was never a class she would excel in, regardless of how much Aeron tried to tutor her.