A Whole Different World

Chapter 27 - Together

"Do you know?"

Amy could hear the whispers as she was lying in bed.

"About your mum? Yeah, I got a letter from her."

"I can't believe she's getting married."

Amy tried not to listen it, it was a private conversation between Ella and Anna after all.

"At least he's a nice guy; it would suck if you got a mean stepdad." She heard Anna's soft voice say.

"Yeah, and he has no children, so I'll still be an only child – even though you and your brother are basically my siblings."

"Do you mind that?"

"Living with you guys?"

"No, being an only child."

"It can be lonely, I'm glad I have you."

Amy tugged the sheets tighter around her chest and sighed, everyone just needed a break from life.

*****

"Leaving? What do you mean by leaving?" Aneesha asked in confusion. She was sitting in the great hall with Taylor, Ella, and Anna having breakfast.

"I mean I'm leaving Hogwarts." Taylor said, she said it casually, as if she were reading the weather from the Daily Prophet.

"Why?" Anna asked, they all seemed upset except for Taylor.

"My family's moving to America, so I'll be going to the wizarding school there."

"They have a wizarding school? What's it called?" Ella asked.

"Ilvermony." Taylor answered, she was smiling. Her friends all exchanged glances, she seemed happy, did she want to leave?

Ella sighed, she was sick of things changing. She looked across to the other tables to try and find her friends – she needed a distraction. She saw Mackenzie and Laura sitting at a table that was mostly full of Hufflepuffs. She excused herself from the conversation and went over to them.

Aneesha didn't know what to say to Taylor, she wasn't mad that she was leaving, she was mad that she didn't seem to care. Taylor was oblivious to the glare that Aneesha was sending her and went back to eating her toast.

Ella sat down across from Laura and Mackenzie, who both perked up in their seats when Ella sat down and lent forward to talk.

"I still can't believe that you didn't send that parcel to me, who else would know about my birthstone?" Mackenzie said exasperatedly.

"I don't know," Ella said distractedly, "I'm sorry, I just have so much on my mind, I mean, I have Mum's wedding, schoolwork, Taylor leaving-"

Ella was cut off by Laura and Mackenzie's shouts of disbelief.

"She's leaving? Why?" Laura asked,

"She's moving to America." Ella said sadly. She just wanted life to stop moving so fast and settle down.

"Well, at least your Mum's wedding will be fun!" Mackenzie tried to perk up the mood but Ella remained down.

"Do you want to go the library and rest?" Laura asked, to which Ella nodded and the three girls left.

Aneesha watched them walk away and then turned back to Taylor. She had so many thoughts in her head and she didn't know what to do with them. She took a few deep breaths before getting up and leaving without another word. She walked, trying to calm the franticness of her heart. So much was going on in her life that she didn't talk to anyone about. She wasn't doing incredibly well with the theory side of her classes – she doing quite dismally in actual fact – she was so stressed about Keira possibly meeting her dad for the first time, she wasn't actually allowed to date George according to her parents, and she was growing distant from her friends with each passing day. So it was no surprise that she started bawling in the middle of the courtyard at the mere sight of an owl flying in the distance.

*****

Keira was practically sprinting down the halls of Hogwarts in her search for Aneesha. She had just spoken to the twins about setting a meeting up with her father on their next trip to Hogsmeade, and she needed her friend there for support. And she didn't particularly want to be alone with a stranger while dementors and an escaped convict were on the loose. She ran out in to the courtyard and saw Aneesha standing in the middle of it. As she ran closer she noticed her crying and enveloped her in a hug which Aneesha embraced. Words didn't need to be spoken between them, the comfort and support was enough for them.

Once they had both calmed down they sat by the lake together, showing support for each other's problems.

"We are going to get through this you know? We can do anything together." Keira said, Aneesha beamed back at her.

*****

Ella sat with Laura and Kenzie in the library, Kenzie was determined to figure out who sent that gift to her, so she sat and wrote a list of people who she's friends with, and then threw it straight in the trash because she honestly had no idea who sent her the gift, and all of her friends say they didn't do it.

Laura and Ella put their efforts into researching different wizarding schools around the world; they had been curious after Taylor's announcement and decided to further their knowledge on the subject matter. Laura was intrigued by the different schools, which sounded like a party compared to how dreary and awful Hogwarts was at the moment. She wondered why her parents even sent her there. It wasn't safe at all. Every year there seemed to be a new thing that threatened to kill everyone and this year, it was Sirius Black and the dementors. Sirius Black was a hot topic around Hogwarts, and Laura didn't know what to expect from all of it.