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THIRTEEN.
WHAT WAS once a busy crowd soon became an empty stadium filled with nothing but silence. Harry Potter had just finished his challenge, signalling the end of the First Task, and Arabella was delighted at the rankings.
Both Harry and Viktor were awarded joint first place.
She ran out of the stadium, leaving Fred and George behind, with butterflies in her stomach and a bubbling joy pulsating through her veins. A broad smile was plastered on her face with her shoulder bag flailing behind her.
She caught sight of Viktor's muscular body promptly after congratulating Harry on his placing; the bespectacled boy was sweaty and smelled less-than-pleasant, although neither of them seemed to care as he was completely overjoyed with the results and his efforts in retrieving the dragon egg (so much so that, unbeknownst to Bella, a celebration was held in the Gryffindor Common Room afterwards - Harry was held up by his housemates and cheered on in acknowledgment of his success).
Abandoning Harry's excited nature, she blabbered out an adequate excuse and began walking towards Viktor, who was laughing alongside one of his Durmstrang friends who was clearly congratulating him. Soon, her stroll transitioned into a fast walk, and Arabella found herself picking her feet up and breaking into a run.
At the sound of her footsteps, Viktor swivelled on his heels and turned to face the redhead with beaming brown eyes. Before he could react, Arabella sprinted into his large arms, embracing him in a forceful hug which he returned by grasping her around the waist and swirling the girl off of her feet. She shrieked in surprise as she was spun around, finding the ground again under her black pumps and burying her head into his neck. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered into the cotton of his Durmstrang jersey.
"You helped me," he replied dismissively.
She shook her head, about to argue against his modesty, when she caught sight of Erin Martell and Zoe Rosenkrands - of whom she previously presumed the latter had been expelled due to her supernatural exposure. (Evidently this was not the case, or Zoe would not have been standing in front of her.) Her eyes narrowed at the two girls; both adorning their usual appearances with heavy makeup and their Ravenclaw uniforms edited to their own perfection, and despite Zoe's obvious face burns, the focus was still maintained on her obnoxiously loud yellow nail varnish.
Anthony Goldstein had his arm around Erin as him and the two girls spoke in a group under a shaded tree. The mere sight of her roommates made Bella's stomach churn with disgust. She hadn't seen Zoe since their interrogation with Snape, and Erin since the night in the Forbidden Forest.
