Black Rose

6 ~ Back at Hogwarts

Tw: hate speech/slur (specifically against the lgbt community)

I sit alone at the end of the Ravenclaw table. I notice people glancing over at me and whispering. I roll my eyes and just ignore them. I zone out through the sorting and hardly eat the meal. After the feast, I immediately head up to my dorm.

I grab the book I'm currently reading from my trunk and smile when I find Marshmallow curled up on a blanket at the end of my bed. I go sit cross-legged on my bed and close the curtains around it. I flinch slightly when I hear the door open followed by the sound of whispering and giggling.

"What are you hiding from? Scared the basilisk is going to come back?" One of my dormmates, I think her name is Olivia, says mockingly.

I don't bother saying anything in response, trying to just ignore her and continue reading.

Very suddenly the curtains are pulled open, which frightens Marshmallow, scaring her out of the room. Of course they left the door open. Oh no, what if she gets lost? She's never been in the castle before. She doesn't know her way around.

I get up quickly to chase after her but am stopped by someone grabbing my arm. It's one of my other dormmates, Ellie.

"Please let go of me," I say, avoiding eye contact.

"Or what? Gonna petrify me?" She questions and the other two laugh.

"Let me go," I mumble pleadingly. I can see my hair getting darker out of the corner of my eye.

The other dormmate, Skye, pulls out her wand and I tense up, preparing for the worst.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" A loud voice comes from the door. I look up and I'm shocked when I see it's Luna who yelled at them. She seemed so quiet and calm.

Ellie drops my arm, seemingly also surprised by Luna. I take this as an opportunity to rush out of the room, mutter a quick 'thank you' to Luna as I leave.

I walk around, trying to find Marshmallow. I try not to cry as I walk through the halls. The castle is huge, she could be anywhere, and she's tiny, so she could easily hide.

I turn around suddenly when I hear the sound of footsteps approaching me, worried it might be my asshole dormmates again. But it's just Luna.

"Hello," She says, her voice now soft and calm like it usually is, a huge contrast to her outburst. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, returning to walk. She skips along beside me. "Thank you, by the way, I was really scared they were gonna hurt me."

"You don't need to thank me," She shrugs before looking at me with a questioning look. "Are you looking for something?"

"When they came in, the opened up the curtains around my bed and it scared my cat. She ran off and I'm worried."

"Oh I love cats," She says cheerfully. "I'll help you look."

"Thanks." I smile.

We walk in silence for a moment, looking around for any signs of Marshmallow, before I decide to speak.

"So, how was your summer?" I ask.

"It was really good," She answers. "Dad and I went searching in Africa for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. We sadly didn't find any, but it was still a nice holiday. Did you do anything fun?"

"Not really," I shrug. "Just relaxed I guess. The most interesting thing was probably getting Marshmallow."

"That's a wonderful name for a cat," She says.