The Mudblood

Chapter 99 : Year 5

This drawing of Lainey was made by https://www.quotev.com/29172764 , it's so beautiful (':

"'Astoria'," she read feverishly as her eyes scanned over the parchment. "'Your eyes sparkle brighter than the stars and your face glows brighter than the sun. You are perfect in every way, but I am not. That is why I decided that our relationship needed to end: you need to let your magic flourish, and since I am just a lowly Muggle, I won't be able to help you reach your potential. You deserve better than me, so don't dwell on me; move on to greater and more magical people. Don't give up your life and dreams for our relationship, because it'll go nowhere. Don't answer this letter, because if you do I'll never be able to fall out of love with you. Just be happy. That's all want. Goodbye forever, Evan.'

"Well, Evy-poo, took you long enough," she added while neatly folding up the letter. "And I don't know why he's saying 'goodbye forever' because I'll clearly see him when you and me hang out in the summers, Lainey. He is so dumb. Maybe it's better that we're not together. But...he said my eyes are like stars and that I'm perfect. Ah, I am perfect... What a beautiful letter!" 

"That was the lamest thing I've ever heard," Melody muttered, her words only audible to me even though Harper, Anderson, and Astoria were all seated around us at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. For the first time this year, the only Slytherin Six member not present for a meal was Ashley, who had Prefect duties. We'd been able to coax Astoria out of her bed for the first time in weeks by informing her that a letter from Evan had arrived, and now she was sitting across from me, her face full of vibrant makeup that matched her jovial mood.

"'Your face glows brighter than the sun'?" Melody recited, glancing up from her book to raise her eyebrows at me. "You really think that's something a boy would say?"

"If the boy was...heartbroken—and in love," I whispered back. Thankfully, Astoria was still enthusing about her letter and did not pay us any mind.

Melody shook her head as her eyes fell back to her book. "You're lucky she's stupid, Fitzroy."

I pressed my lips together to suppress a crafty smirk. After another month of numbness from Astoria, endless Quidditch practices from Urquhart, and a strict schedule of trying to fix the Vanishing Cabinet from Malfoy, my brain had finally processed what the most logical act of kindness would be for the Astoria/Evan situation: write a fake letter from Evan that was a complete lie but would hopefully restore Astoria to her former glory. Judging by the beam on her face, it had worked.

"Well," Astoria began as her eyes skimmed over the letter, which she had reopened, "maybe Evy and I can't be together at the moment, but I know that one day we'll get married. He's just emotional because of what happened to Lyle." She breathed out a sigh while resting her cheek on her hand and staring dreamily at the ceiling. "Oh, my sensitive little Evy-poo. So kind, so loving. So considerate of my well-being even after he watched his brother burn to death—"

A cry of agony interrupted Astoria's monologue, and when I glanced over, my eyes widened in terror to see that Melody had impulsively stabbed Anderson's hand with a fork. He was screaming as he attempted to yank his hand upward, but apparently the fork had dug deep enough to root his hand to the table.

"Hm, told you the gardening fork was more lethal," Melody mused, watching apathetically as Anderson wailed in pain.

I bit back the scold on my tongue and the instinctual question of why she would randomly stab Anderson—because it wasn't random, and I knew the reason: Lyle. Reviving the gruesome memories of his passing made me want to stab someone as well, though I wasn't nearly ruthless enough to do it. Wordlessly, I yanked my wand out of my pocket and aimed it in Anderson's direction, watching emotionlessly as the fork disintegrated from existence. His hand was bleeding profusely as he clutched it to his chest. Harper was gawking at him from across the table with a disgusted grimace.