Forgotten

14 | The Last Day

"One day left." Evan announced as Bella wandered through the kitchen, in an attempt to find cereal in what seemed to be empty cupboards, "I can't wait to go back." He said, handing over an almost empty box of cereal. It wasn't much but it was better than what she was given most days. Allianne and Geraint had been gone when she'd woken up that morning, they hadn't left a note or message, so it was unknown to Bella when they would return, if they planned to at all.

"Did Mother and Father tell you when they'd be back?" She asked, pouring her breakfast into a bowl and sitting at the small kitchen table with her brother.

"I assumed you would know, you usually keep track of that kind of thing." It was true that she almost always did as he had said, but it wasn't because she wanted to make sure her family were safe, or any reason similar to that.

"I hadn't heard anything about them leaving. It seems strange that they'd be gone on the last day." She told him, running through the endless possibilities of why they had left, in her mind.

"That just means I can do whatever I want for the day, I'm going to Hogsmeade with Barty and Regulus. Do you want to come?" She couldn't exactly say no to the question because as much as she wanted to stay away from Barty, she needed to stock up on school supplies for the coming months.

Bella nodded her head in answer to his question and headed back to her room to dress for the day. With her parents being gone they wouldn't know what she was wearing, so instead of the usual floor length dresses they expected her to wear, she chose an emerald green dress that stopped mid way down her thighs, that she hadn't had the chance to wear out of her room before. She grabbed her coat as she left, it was still cold outside and the ice on the roads was only just melting from the freezing temperatures they had earlier that week.

Stepping foot into Hogsmeade was like breathing for the first time again; away from the suffocating atmosphere of the manor she could breathe. Barty and Regulus were waiting just ahead of them, leaning up against the side of an empty building.

"My friends! How lovely it is to see you once again." Evan had always been one for theatrics, even for such simple things like greeting his friends. Bella didn't speak to either of them, simply smiled at Regulus when he saw her walking over.

"Arabella, if I'd known you were going to be here I would have made more of an effort to look good." Barty winked at her, not even bothering to keep his voice down in front of her brother.

"Fuck off Barty." Evan shoved him into the wall he was already leaning against.

"Before you two end up fighting, how about we get going. Unlike the both of you, I do try at school." Regulus said walking away with Bella at his side. As always, Barty and Evan trailed behind them, still pushing and shoving each other every chance they were given.

Hours later, they had gotten everything they needed for school and bought far too many sweets for the four of them to eat alone. But Bella needed a break from the chaos of her friends, so she separated herself from the group as they sat together on a bench, putting down everything they had bought on the table. 

She didn't have anywhere in particular she wanted to go to. She just wanted the moment to think and sort through the thoughts racing in her head. But as she stopped and rested against the wall in an empty alleyway, she heard a voice she shouldn't have recognized so quickly.

James Potter and his gang of Gryffindors; from what she had heard they called themselves the marauders. His voice echoed through the space she stood in, getting louder every second until she could hear each step he took just around the corner. It only took seconds from that moment for them to turn the corner and see her stood there alone.