𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐔𝐓 harry potter.

21: The Second Task

I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory

And I can't help myself
All I wanna ever say is, "Are you mine?"

"WAIT, GO BACK," said Lottie, sprawled on the floor with Amelia's face close to hers, plucking her eyebrows.

Ally flipped the page of her book, Essence of Eir, which covered ancient healing spells. "I told you the story four bloody times already," she grunted, drawing a line under a spell called Sanare Magnus Incisio, a healing charm for large lacerations.

It was the first night since the students had returned from the holidays, and the girls wasted no time sharing their joyful stories of what had happened—or hadn't. Amelia didn't bring her cat back, as a stray had impregnated it. She hadn't expected it, really. She knew there were barn cats, but she thought they wouldn't be friendly enough to mingle with her pampered, moody cat. Well, a week later, and it seemed the cats had moved past the friendly stage. Lottie had bleached her eyebrows over the holidays, burning them terribly. She thought the only sane thing to do afterward was to dye them black along with her hair. Now, she was asking Amelia to place a slit at the end of her eyebrow.

A tiny bead of tear fell on the side of Lottie's eyes. "Ouch!" she winced at the sudden pluck of Amelia. "So. . . he got back from the Ball," continued Lottie, recalling a story that has been told continuously since they got back.

"Did you talk about it?" asked Amelia, her eyes narrow and spotting any stray strand on Lottie's thin, soft-arched brows.

Ally shook her head, a fearful expression on her face. "Absolutely not," she said, her nose up in the air.

Amelia snorted, backing up from Lottie and turning her head to face the girl. "Are you serious?"

"I would rather do it again than talk about it," Ally muttered, drawing a circle on a curious spell meant to restore energy if one was suffering from fatigue.

Amelia and Lottie shared a look, breaking into a sarcastic fit of laughter. "Of course you'd do it again, you perv," said Lottie, teasing.

"I'll be leaving," threatened Ally, standing up and clutching her book. But Amelia had tugged on her robe very firmly, causing for her knees to go week and sit down involuntarily. Lottie giggled, now laying on her stomach with her chin propped on her hands, "Was he any good?"

Ally frowned, "Sod off."

"But, aren't you weirded out?" asked Amelia, taking out a tiny blade from her purse and holding down Lottie on both shoulders to stop her from squirming. "Oh, for goodness sake, it's not a surgery, Lottie."

Ally lay on her stomach next to Lottie, leaning in closely to watch the procedure with intense curiosity. "Why would I be weirded out?"

Amelia ran her blade on her jumper, "I dunno. . ." she said, contemplating. She reached down on Lottie, now with her eyes tightly shut as if she was waiting for some monster to devour her. "It kinda came out of nowhere," Amelia continued.

"Oh, you know what we should do?" exclaimed Lottie, making Amelia jump back to avoid hitting her face with the sharp blade. "I brought some hair dye with me," she said, falling again on her back and closing her eyes.

"Not really," replied Ally, unsure of who to answer to first. "He's always been around." she said, then turned to Lottie. "So?"

"So we should definitely dye your hair black!"

Amelia sighed, pushing down Lottie and brushing the fallen strands out of her face. "Wasn't he your sister's long-time crush?"

Lottie got up, fishing for her pocket mirror and staring at her eyebrow. "Don't even think of messing with my hair, Lottie," said Ally, seeing how satisfied Lottie had been with her recent transformation.