Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 65: Poppy- emotional damage

"You didn't get in trouble did you?"

Diana shook her head, and Poppy gave a sigh of relief. She had come running to find her, something she realized was a frequent occurrence as of late, when Lucan had told her about what happened.

"What did Professor Hecat talk to you about then?"

"She just apologized about making me sit out of cross wands. She said she had wanted to apologize personally anyway, but after what happened today she realized that her choice may have done more harm than good. She also offered to let me compete-"

"Are you going to???"

Her friend didn't answer right away, instead she fidgeted with the hem of her cloak. "I don't think so... After everything that has gone down this year with it all it kind of lost its appeal to me. I am happy to support Lucan in it, but I think I am going to pass this year. Maybe if things go back to normal next year I'll think about it."

"And what about Sebastian?"

"I... I'm not sure. I didn't get to talk to him after he came out of the room. He just walked past me without looking at me, then Hecat called me in. I asked her about him, but she just said that it was between the two of them. She did say she didn't fault him in his words, but that she couldn't allow the outburst to go by unchecked."

She nodded her head, contemplating her friend's answer. She wished she had been there to witness it. Just watching Sebastian yell at a bunch of gossips would have been enjoyable, but the fact that he did it after he had been ignoring Diana for over a month now... it was hard to believe that it actually happened.

She looked over and saw the perplexed face her friend was making. She couldn't imagine what she was feeling after all of that- she wasn't even sure if Diana really understood everything herself. She moved over to sit closer to her on the bed. She knew that the older girl would need time to work through things on her own, but she wanted to make sure that she knew she would be there when she was ready to talk.

Diana didn't say anything else about it for the rest of the day, actually she barely said anything at all. They sat together in silence, working on their homework; talking only when necessary. As dinner approached Poppy asked if she wanted her to bring food back into the room and the girl agreed and thanked her. So she closed up her work and headed out of the common room to the great hall.

She was surprised to see Ominis, sitting just a ways out after she exited the barrel. He hadn't been pounding at the door like the other Slytherin had done, instead he just sat a little ways off- just waiting.

"What are you doing? She asked, walking up.

"Poppy? Is Diana okay?" He jumped up and moved towards her. She invited him to walk with her and she explained everything to him on the way.

"To answer your initial question-" she said as they stopped just outside the dining area "I think she's doing okay. She seemed pretty shaken up, but I have a feeling it has more to do with Sebastian than anything else."

"I can't believe he did that- I mean it absolutely sounds like something he would do, yelling at a bunch of twats. But it's unbelievable because of everything that has happened between the two of them."

"I know! He really seems quite off this year. I wonder what happened with him."

"Yeah... well when you get back Diana will you tell her if she wants to talk she knows where to find me."

"Sure thing, see you Ominis." They headed in and went their separate ways. He headed to the Slytherin table, and Poppy to the Hufflepuff- pretending she didn't notice the way he changed the subject.