𝒯𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈

February 6th, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎

"Why do Gryffindors ruin everything!" Sally-Ann slammed into her seat at breakfast one Sunday morning.

Sipping her water, Iris raised an eyebrow in amusement, "I think you meant to say, why does Harry Potter ruin everything."

Sirius Black had, to absolutely no one's surprise, snuck into the Gryffindor boy's dormitories. Again. Safe to say that at this point, no one really much cared. Except for how it almost sent the school into a lockdown and ruined the upcoming Hogsmeade trip.

Tracey plopped down next to Iris, rolling her eyes, "No one ruined anything. Hogsmeade trip is still on for Saturday. Now when Valeria gets here, tell her I drank the tea."

The tea being some herbal mix, Iris about nearly threw up anytime Valeria put it together in the morning, not even wanting to know what it was made of. It was one of the many new rituals Tracey was going through on her self-help journey. And one of the many new rituals Iris thought of as more of a punishment than a help.

Iris and Sally shared a glance, and the second Valeria and Jane settled into their seats shouted out, "Tracey skipped out on her tea!"

Tracey may as well have been stabbed in the back based on the look on her face. Like a stern mother who just caught her child feeding vegetables to the dog, Valeria turned on Tracey, "Do you know how many ingredients that thing takes? Now I'm going to have to make a whole new one. And now I am going to have to begin monitoring you."

Grumbling some more, she stood up, motioning Tracey to follow, "Come along, Tracey, if you don't drink it before nine, it throws off the whole schedule."

Begrudgingly getting up, Tracey glared at Iris and Sally, both of whom waved her off. "Go along, Tracey, it is of utmost importance," from Sally, and a "Should of let us lock you in the closet," from Iris.

As Tracey and Valeria left the hall, the three girls left behind burst into laughter, Jane shoving Sally as she attempted to scold the two girls. But no way to take her seriously as she laughed along.

The laughs were just fading as Theodore Nott appeared behind Jane, "Yaxley, we need to finish up that shared essay for McGonagall."

Iris readjusted in her seat, all joy from moments before chased out of her by the growing anger. And as she had been for the past month... she didn't even acknowledge his existence. Grabbing her water for another sip while Jane and Sally nervously shared a glance.

Forcing a smile, Jane nodded, quietly grabbing her things as she began talking about some research she had found... and Theodore, well, for a split second between Jane standing and her spinning to walk off, he glanced over to Iris Blackwell, of course.

It was quick, unnoticed, but it did happen. But it may as well not have as he simply turned away, following after Jane.

A moment of silence settled between the two remaining girls. Iris's anger waned.

"What happened between you two?"

Iris's jaw clenched. She sucked on her teeth, eyes darting through the room, settling for just a second on Remus Lupin before moving to Sally. Iris just shook her head, moving for her drink once more.

Sally-Ann was quick to catch on that no answers were coming at that moment. So, she switched subjects to happier places, "How are you and Cedric?"

Energy seemed to return to the space as Iris met Sally-Ann's teasing smile. Rolling her eyes despite the smile that grew on her own lips, "It's nice, he's just sweet and easy and definitely makes things more interesting...."