alluringly entwined | f.w, d.m

58

"Another suicide?" Joaquin looked at the paper that rested in front of him on the table, baffled.

"This is so strange," Forest said with her eyebrows pinched together in seriousness. "Two people have committed suicide in the last two weeks. No one's ever committed suicide at Hogwarts."

Oshun read the paper after Joaquin finished and it was the same as the last suicide. Or—more so—it was ruled as one since professionals stated that it was self-inflicted after examining the body.

"Notice how both suicides are Muggles?" she said in a low, hushed voice. "Hermione Granger and then Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"You can't really connect the two, Oshun," Joaquin said quietly as he stabbed viciously at his sausage patty on his plate. "They're suicides, not murders."

"Please, no more talk about this." Forest shook her head, looking visibly queasy. "Let's please talk about something else."

"Right, sorry." Oshun pushed the paper away and cleared her throat. She perked up. "Oh, can you guys help me with something?"

"With what?" Joaquin questioned, drizzling syrup over his scrambled eggs.

"Dumbledore gave me the responsibility to plan this masquerade ball," she explained while sliding her strawberry all around the leftover syrup on her plate. "It's supposed to be for April twentieth."

"That gives us less than two weeks." Forest huffed a dry laugh. "He couldn't have given us more time?"

"So you'll help?" Oshun's hopeful eyes dragged to her roommate.

"Of course." Forest nodded with a grin, rubbing her friend's thigh. "Mavi, Da'Shylah, and I will all help. It seems like the kind of thing we all need to get our mind away from the grim things happening."

"I was thinking we can make the little invitations first and then send them out by tonight to give everyone the notice Dumbledore did not properly give me," Oshun said as she put her fork down.

"Why did Dumbledore even give the task to you? That's a strange pick." Joaquin slung his bag over his shoulder before getting to his feet.

"He says it's because I'm the only one who doesn't get involved in any extracurricular activities of some sort," Oshun said plainly, rising from the bench.

"It'll be fun," Forest said with evident excitement. She grabbed her bag and got to her feet. "We'll make this masquerade ball the most unforgettable thing at Hogwa—"

"You can't really make anything unforgettable after three deaths at Hogwarts," Joaquin interjected bluntly as the three of them headed out of the Great Hall.

Forest went silent, defeated.

Oshun sharply backhanded Joaquin's bicep before turning to Forest. "This will be amazing," she said encouragingly with a smile.

Forest nodded, another pretty smile flickering past her lips.

_____

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Oshun was embarrassed as she hugged herself in his Quidditch jersey.

"Oshun, I don't know why you're apologizing for something natural." Fred chuckled amusedly as he tore the sheets of his bed, shirtless.

"Because I got my period in the middle of sex." Her face was red as a tomato. "I'm sorry. That is so embarrassing."

"Oi, stop apologizing." He bunched his sheets and dropped them to the floor before making his way to her. "And it's really not embarrassing. Periods are normal."