Magic (5sos/l.h. Hogwarts AU)

Chapter 62

~A/N~ guys I got voted a prefect! (yes, they're real in English schools)
Enjoy the chapter!
Leila xx

It was an exciting week for most, processing the information about the new Triwizard champions. It was a confusing week for some, wondering how Harry Potter had managed to enter the Tournament. And for the rest, it was bitter and painful.

Many students were annoyed that they hadn't been chosen. An even more intense rivalry grew between the houses, for the Gryffindors were all supporting Harry while the rest of the school supported Diggory. I watched from afar as Harry and Ron struggled with a rift in their friendship, and Hermione desperately tried to bridge the gap between them, but there was nothing I could do.

Electricity was in the air, pulling at the hairs on my neck, and I could smell rain with every breath though it wasn't yet visible. I could sense a storm coming, and though I didn't know when it would hit, I knew it would shatter me into a million pieces.

I became paranoid. The smallest movements startled me, I shrank back when people spoke, I was constantly on guard against the unknown. The others sensed it too when Luke began to completely avoid me, and I didn't attempt to contact him for I was so on edge and unwilling to start a fight.

And when the fight came, it surprisingly wasn't with Luke.

***
"I hope the Skrewts all murder each other," Michael complained to me after Care Of Magical Creatures one day, and I nodded heavily in agreement. The Blast Ended Skrewts were by far the worst thing Hagrid had ever made us study, even worse than the Flobberworms but for the opposite reasons.

The Flobberworms had been dull. The Skrewts were chaos, to put it simply.

"They've already been eating each other," I said. "There are only a few left, so I don't think we'll have to worry about them for much longer."

"Are you coming back to the common room?"

"I need to go to the library," I said apologetically, for I really did want to spend time with Michael (which was a rare opportunity, since he was often with Luke so I steered clear).

"I'd come with you, but Luke asked if we could do our Potions homework together," Michael also seemed sad, and I grew angry at the divide Luke had created between me and the other boys. He had no right to break apart other bonds, just because he had a problem with me.

"It's fine," I lied. "See you."

We went our separate ways, and I ignored the lingering feeling in the back of my head screaming at me to go with him, to abandon my plans and run. Why would I, after all, when no danger lurked anywhere?

Keeping my eyes to the floor, I was following the route to the library I had taken so many times when a sharp force knocked all the breath out of me and I was thrown into a broom cupboard. The door slammed behind me and I was plunged into darkness that seeped into every corner of my brain and clouded it with panic. The musty smell of damp and dust clogged my lungs and I found it difficult to breathe.

But from the sounded of the other heavy, irate breathing in the small space, I wasn't alone.

My first thought went to Malfoy, or Pansy Parkinson. It wasn't unusual for them to bully me in this way, though it hadn't happened for quite some time, but this person was definitely a boy and was far too big to be Malfoy, who was rather more weak and pathetic.

And then he spoke, and although I had only heard the voice once or twice during the summer holidays, I knew immediately who it was.

"You're the Mudblood that's corrupting my little brother."