Connected by Magic

Chapter 9

Amelia sat at the breakfast table with Daphne and Henry, her face holding a gloomy expression as she silently ate. Daphne and Henry let her be and conversed with one another. The three sat rather isolated from the rest of their house.

Henry was a Muggle-Born like Hermione, the shyest person Amelia had ever seen. But he was quite the opposite of Draco—very polite and avoided trouble like it was the Black Plague. He also stood out from most of the students, having dark, short, curly hair and dark skin as he came from another country. Yet he spoke fluent English and held a strong desire to achieve something, even if he said he didn't know what that was.

Ever since yesterday, she had been avoiding Gryffindors like the plague. Amelia didn't want to become a victim of angry hooligans. The whole thing soured what should have been a nice catch-up with Hermione. Never did she think to feel threatened for simply visiting Hermione.

She couldn't see Hermione or any of the Gryffindors as Ravenclaw house sat between them. Her fork pricked her food absentmindedly as she thought about Hermione.

"Thinking about Granger again, Amelia?" teased Daphne. A sigh left Amelia, glancing at Daphne who wiggled her eyebrows. One of the other developments from yesterday. The teasing from Daphne about Hermione.

"I am, but not because of what you think," Amelia sighed.

"Not yet, you mean."

Amelia chose to ignore that comment. She already had enough to think about other than a romance she never thought about. Yet she'll admit, it was a nice image.

"It's just, she is in Gryffindor and a mere visit by me almost got me mauled by a mob," Amelia told them, Daphne raising an eyebrow briefly as her comment went ignored. "Can't I just visit a friend in another house on friendly terms? Without biases and fearing for my life?"

"If it were Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, maybe," Henry said, leaning on one hand to rest his head. "But with Gryffindor? That's gonna be hard."

"Ugh..."

Amelia and her two friends watched as the students slowly started to filter out. Breakfast was ending, and everyone seemingly in a rush to make the most of a Sunday. She wasn't entirely sure what to do. Homework was already finished, and the common room didn't feel appealing at the moment.

"Well, you can teach me your ways in Wizarding Chess," Daphne suggested as they talked about what to do, hoping to cheer Amelia up. "Or we could just walk around. You still got plenty of cool things to see."

"True."

"Amelia."

The three turned to a very stern voice that belonged to Hermione. Amelia smiled at her yet winced at how brutally she held Ron by the ear. Each slight twist or movement made the boy whimper from the pain.

"Ron has something to say, don't you Ron?"

Hermione pushed him forward toward Amelia, one hand stroking his ear gingerly when it got released. Amelia could see flashes in his eyes. Somehow she pitied him for having received the fury of Hermione. It must have been intense if his eyes held the haunting images.

"Y-yes!" Ron whimpered. "I-I am sorry. For everything, it's my fault and I shouldn't have done it. Please forgive me..."

Amelia let one breath enter her before exhaling. Her two friends silently watched, seemingly shocked to see a Gryffindor apologizing to a Slytherin. Well, sort of. Hermione was burning deep holes in the boy as he stood there. Her gaze alone more than able to threaten him.

"You're forgiven... But why did you even do it, Ron?" Amelia asked. "A mere week ago we're laughing together on the train."

"I thought you'd- uhm- well..."