She was a misfit, he was a git.
Matilda Diggory enters her fifth year of school, ready to remain as under the radar as possible, only there's a catch. She's somehow managed to catch the eye of a particularly annoying redhead, who seems hell-bent on...
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Her room was just as she had left it.
The window was still open and a number of leaves had fluttered in, covering her bed and floor. She sighed and turned to her wardrobe where she grabbed her school trunk, stuffing it with clothes and as many of her school books that would fit. She reached to the highest shelf in her wardrobe and pulled out another duffel bag which she filled with miscellaneous objects, such as a set of bedsheets, her music tapes and walkman, toiletries, and went to take a few photos from her wall.
There was a picture from third year of herself and Sammy laughing with moustaches of butterbeer which made Matilda's chest tighten momentarily, yearning to be thirteen and walking through Hogsmeade for the first time with her best friends again. So much had changed since then – she no longer considered Sammy, Stacey or Freya her best friends, but instead, the two red-headed boys she once hated.
Matilda looked at herself in these pictures — at the friends and life she tried to convince herself she was content with — and didn't recognise the brown-eyed girl looking back.
"Time for some new photos this year," Matilda sighed, leaving the photos where they were.
Her wand was just where she had left it: on her nightstand beside the vanilla candle. The delicate silver inlays spiralling down the length of the wand reflected the muted sunlight, bright against the dark red tones of the mahogany. She grabbed it along with the candle and perfume, stuffing them into the duffle bag.
Once her bags were packed and weighed a combined mass of three hundred kilograms, Matilda made her way down the stairs to find Dumbledore standing right where she'd left him, however, this time he was holding a note in his hand. She paused as she placed her things on the ground, watching him hand it to her.
Tentatively, she unfolded the note and read the long cursive handwriting of her mothers.
Matilda,
We've decided to stay in France until the end of summer, save for when Amos, you and Cedric attend the Quidditch Cup. They will meet you and the Weasleys on the way to the portkey. Please don't try to contact us while we are away. Your father and I think it best that you spend some time around people like you. Besides, it gives us some time to relax with family without worrying about you.
Thank you for understanding,
Catherine
"Oh."
"I'm sorry, Matilda."
"No, it's...it's okay. I should have expected it, really," Matilda said, trying to make her voice strong and not weak like how she felt. "At least I still get to go to the World Cup, hey?"
"Yes, that should be something to look forward to," Dumbledore said. She could feel his piercing blue eyes watching her intently through his half-moon spectacles. "Have you got everything?"
