Revenge ~ An HP FF

~ Chapter 8 ~

Written in red letters across the door was a single word.

Mudblood whore.

"This cannot be serious," Jessi said, stepping up beside me and staring at the door, shaking her head.

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
He told people, didn't he? That had to be it.
But that made no sense. Why would he hold something like that over me and then just blurt it out to the whole world?

No.
That wasn't Mattheo's way.

So maybe it was just a stupid comment because of last night.

I was about to turn away when I froze.

Something about this felt wrong.

"You're Muggle-born?" Jessi asked.

I stiffened.

How did they know?

"Yes... but no one is supposed to know that. So who—" I grabbed a towel and tried to scrub the paint off the door. It only smeared.
Shit.

"Girl, you're a witch," Jessi said, laughing. "Just magic it away."

I smacked my palm against my forehead.
What was wrong with me today?

Jessi muttered a spell, and the door was spotless again. I sighed and slunk back into our room, shoulders hunched. Jessi followed.

"So," she said again, more quietly this time. "You're Muggle-born."

I nodded.

"Please don't tell anyone," I said. "Hagrid helped me fake being a half-blood. It's getting more dangerous every year for Muggle-borns in the wizarding world. I just didn't want to end up in danger one day, you know..."

Jessi nodded slowly.

"You're doing this because of that boy who vanished back then, right? He was Muggle-born too, wasn't he?"

I stayed silent.

Yes, he was.

He hadn't vanished—but I let her believe it. I nodded. She was right anyway. I didn't want to suffer the same fate.

"I won't tell anyone," Jessi said softly. "I promise."

She smiled at me, and I smiled back. For the first time in what felt like forever, I actually felt comfortable within these walls.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I just don't understand who would come up with the idea to smear that on our door."

Jessi shrugged. "Probably just a stupid prank. Don't let it get to you."

She was probably right. No one could know. Impossible.

"Come on, let's go study."

I stared at her as if she'd suddenly grown three heads.

"What?" she said. "You missed the first day, and the teachers expect you to catch up. Might as well do it with me."

She had a point.

I grabbed my textbook and wand and nodded. She led the way, and I followed her into the library.

I loved the library. There was something ancient about it—something warm and inviting. I sat down at one of the small tables and opened my book.

"McGonagall dumped a ton of work on us today," Jessi said. "But you'll manage. We're supposed to try figuring out whether we could become Animagi."

"Animagi."

"Yes. You know, that—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I interrupted. "But why do we need that in fifth year?"

Jessi shrugged.

I sighed and stood back up.

"I'll see if I can find a book that explains it."

With that, I turned away and disappeared into the shelves.

I found absolutely nothing.

Where were those stupid Transfiguration books?

I ran straight into someone.

Adrian Pucey.

"Sorry," I muttered, squeezing past him.

"Aewyn?"

I stopped.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, confused.

"You're the girl who punched Mattheo," he said with a grin. "Everyone knows who you are."

I forced a tense smile.

"Ah... haha... yeah. That's me."

"You're really cool."

Merlin help me, I had never been in a more uncomfortable situation.

"Uh... you're looking for something too, right?"

"Yes."

"You weren't in class today, so—"

"Transfiguration. Something about Animagi."

He frowned.

"Well... I just took the last book on Animagi."

Fantastic.

"Oh. Then I guess I'll wait. It was nice—"

"But we could study together," he interrupted, smiling.

I hesitated.

Adrian was a Slytherin.
And part of the Quidditch team.
The same one Mattheo played on.

This could go terribly wrong.

On the other hand, I had zero desire to spend even more time on homework than necessary.

"...Alright," I said at last.

It couldn't hurt. And on top of that, Adrian was one of the best students in our year.

And so it happened that, a short while later, Adrian sat with Jessi and me at a table by the library window, the three of us buried in books.

The Animagus topic was more exhausting than any lesson Miss Pearson could ever have taught, and when it finally grew dark outside, I slammed the book shut in frustration.

"To hell with Professor McGonagall. I just want to sleep."

Jessi laughed.

"I'll head back," she said. "Lorenzo wanted to meet up with me."

Adrian and I nodded and watched her leave. Then he turned to me.

"It was nice, studying with you," he said, smiling. I could have sworn he blushed.

"Yeah... um... same."

"Tomorrow again?" he asked hopefully.

I thought about it.

"Why not."

His smile widened even more before he turned on his heel.

"See you tomorrow!" he called, waving at me.

I waved back.

But somehow, I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that I was being watched.

RiRi yapps....

Uhm so I rly havent updated this in a long time because I forgot that I wrote that Lol. 

I hope you like the new chapter gang

Byeeee