Enchanted By The Thought

EIGHTEEN: WHY

Keep the ones that heard you when you never said a word

Beth sat up and looked at her clock beside her bed. Her eyes bulged and she threw off her covers. Why hadn't Maggie woken her? Once glance over at the bed and she had her answer; Maggie had already left. She was running late. Not caring about makeup, no time for that, she grabbed her outfit and threw her robes on, grabbing her books. She raced down the stairs and sprinted to Herbology, passing a few other students that were running late.

Rushing into the classroom, Professor Sprout gave Beth a stern look before she continued talking. Maggie was already patiently waiting at the table, her eyes downcast. When Beth sat down beside her, she shifted away slightly. "So, what were you and her talking about?" Maggie probed and Beth sighed; of course her friend was going to act this way. She'd forgotten they were all eleven again.

"She just told me to stay away from Draco." Beth answered, chewing her lip. "And that she's sorry for the way she's been treating us. She said she hopes we could all be friends again." She added, glancing at her friend from the corner of her eye.

Maggie's fingers were curled into fists and she looked like she was trying to calm herself down. "Why? Zabini doesn't want her anymore?" Maggie's low hiss sent goosebumps racing down Beth's arms; her friend was beyond pissed right now. "Are we suddenly relevant now that she's alone again?"

Beth decided to let her friend cool down and listened to Professor Sprout instead. She was explaining how to get the pods away from the plants."Is this safe?" Beth pondered out loud and glanced over at her friend; her eyes were burning with hate.

Maggie snapped her goggles on, her eyes diverting to the plant and Beth immediately felt sorry for it. Maggie dived into the plant and started to wrestle with it, her teeth gritted. Twenty minutes later, Beth had a cut above her eyebrow and a nasty gash in her cheek but was holding the pod triumphantly. Maggie looked unharmed, her knuckles slightly bruised but she looked way more at ease. She must've gotten her anger out with fighting the plant. Beth could feel the dull pain her brother had from fighting with his own plant and she felt his gaze on her. She lifted her eyes to meet his and he was watching her carefully, his eyebrows drawn together in thought.

Her eyes narrowed and she turned away from him, knowing that he was going to watch her every move. She was screwed.

~

"So what's up with you and Draco?" Maggie asked her friend as they both left Defense Against the Dark Arts. "He seemed rather pleased with himself when we were walking up. Oh and by the way, never ditch me like that again. You forget that he used to bully me." She added and Beth let out a soft laugh, shaking her head.

"Maggie Maggie Maggie, of course I wouldn't forget. How many times had I decked him in the face because of it?" She answered and they both started giggling.

They both turned around the corner and Maggie sighed deeply. "Speak of the devil." She muttered and Beth looked up, seeing Draco watching her. Once he had her attention, he smiled widely and waved her over to him. Her eyes narrowed and she slowly made her way over, with Maggie clinging onto her arm. Two lions entering the snake nest. Parkinson was watching her with a bored expression on her face while Zabini was smirking at the two. "Never really properly introduced you to my friends, have I?"

Beth felt the tension between the two groups and wanted to flee. She was not welcomed here; she wasn't Kat. She wasn't pureblood. She was a Potter, an enemy to most of their parents. Beth felt Draco's arm slip around her and she tensed, resisting to urge to run far away from all of them.

What was he doing? He was inviting his friends to poison them. "Hm. You're prettier when you're farther away." Parkinson said as she gazed at Beth. Beth bristled, ready to snap back when the other girl laughed. "Only joking."

Beth noticed Kat, who was standing beside Zabini. Her eyes looked haunted and she met Beth's gaze, shaking her head slightly. Beth bit her lip, feeling Maggie's hands tighten around her arm. "Two lions, quivering in the face of the snakes." Zabini sneered but a glance from Draco shut him up.

"Kat's a Gryffindor but you still accepted her." Maggie spoke up and Beth wanted to remind her that they were in a snake nest now.

Zabini's eyes glinted as he met Beth's gaze. "Well, she was just misplaced. She's a Slytherin at heart, haven't you figured that out by now?" His cool voice made Beth's blood boil and she wanted to launch herself at that arrogant asshole. But Maggie's grip tightened and she knew her friend's thoughts mirrored her own.

"Blaise, come on. Stop being such a dramatic prat." Draco spoke up and Zabini's eyes slid to his, looking smug. "Kat just found out where she belongs, you don't have to rub it into their faces."

Beth looked at Kat, who had paled drastically. Her eyes narrowed and she looked for some clue that her friend was being forced to stay with them. But she found none; just the fact that Kat was gripping Zabini's robes tightly, as if it were her only hold on him. Perhaps Zabini was getting bored with her and she was scared she'd be kicked out of their little group? Zabini turned his gaze down to Kat, who looked for stressed. "Yeah." She agreed in a cold voice, turning her gaze to her old friends. "I don't want to hang around a mudblood and a Potter."

Apparently not.