Epiphany |Scorpius Malfoy|

Chapter Six

Isabelle immediately froze.

Her eyes remained wide, panic clearly seen. She looked down at Scorpius's hands around her case, still shocked. Her breathing started accelerating and she could hear her heart beating wildly, but this time, it was not from happiness. Fear pulsed through her veins, clawing at her chest like a wild animal trying to be released from its cage. She felt as if a dementor had sucked any kind of happy thoughts from her and she had been unable to protect herself.

Fear and despair were feasting in her mind, as she imagined the moment Scorpius would tell Albus of what he had found out and how the whole school would know in seconds. She did not think she deserved the ridicule that would follow, she was sure, she had not done something that would explain any kind of punishment.

Isabelle looked at Scorpius, and the young man, as if sensing her stare, looked up, confusion clear in his eyes.

"Belle, what is going on?"

The Hufflepuff did not wish to be around him for any longer. She could feel tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, and she did not wish to start crying in front of him. Mastering all her will power, she looked straight into his eyes.

"L-let go of my ca- leg."

Her voice cracked in the end, and she blinked as more tears gathered, knowing she would not be able to keep herself from crying for much longer. Scorpius's eyebrows furrowed in worry, but he still did not take his hands away from the prosthetic.

"Belle, what are you-"

"Let go of my leg!"

The young man, surprised at the unexpected force of her voice, released his hold on her and leaned slightly backwards, his eyes wide in shock. Isabelle had never raised her voice before, not at him at least, and she had left him speechless. The Hufflepuff, at last free, turned around and without saying anything, she limped as quickly as she could towards the castle.

Isabelle could feel the tears in her eyes and as she blinked, one slid down her cheek. Quickly she wiped it away and continued her way to the Hufflepuff common room, knowing that that would be the only place she would be able to cry without anyone seeing.

Terrible scenes appeared in her mind as she continued walking, of her classmates mocking her because of her disability, of some students tripping her as she walked, leading to her falling on the floor without having anyone by her side to stabilise her.

The images she saw were getting worse by the second as her emotional state took over. Soon enough, she was almost unable to see where she was going because of the tears. She was lucky she had reached the Hufflepuff common room.

She tapped the barrels in the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff and hastily got inside, turning her face away from the fireplace so that her housemates would not see her crying. She got up the stairs leading to the girl's dormitories and entered her dormitory. Fortunately for her, there was no one else there.

Isabelle drew the curtains around her bed  closed and got under her covers, so that not even her head would be able to be seen. The young woman only then let herself cry freely, loud sobs wrecking her body as her biggest fear since she could remember herself had come true.

Someone knew she was not completely normal, and in her mind there was no way Scorpius would behave the same way as before when around her.

The young woman continued crying until she could cry no more. Exhausted, Isabelle fell asleep way earlier than she usually would, hoping that everything had been a dream and that things would go back to normal the next morning.

***

Scorpius watched his friend as she made her way quickly to the castle, terribly distraught. His eyes were still wide in shock, both because of the fact that Isabelle had raised her voice at him and because what he had touched was definitely not flesh.