The Secrets of Ellewood (Harry Potter)

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

The next week after Hermione's petrification, Harry and Ron were really quiet and I invested my time in avoiding them and trying to decide if I should tell them about the paper I found in Hermione's hand. I told myself the reason didn't really want to was in case it was a false alarm, but I think I just secretly want to use the information to gain favour with them. Whenever I'm with the trio, I always feel like I'm individually friends with them, but I'm not really a part of the group, and maybe if I give them a clue to help them, they might finally include me fully. I tried not to dwell on that thought, though, as I knew it was extremely selfish and completely uncharacteristic of me. I went to see Hermione often, timing my visits so I didn't run into Harry or Ron, and read to her and brought her her schoolwork. On top of avoiding the trio/duo, I was still avoiding Draco and Jacob, so I was mainly hanging out with my Ravenclaw friends, again, which was nice. We were currently huddled on the floor in the middle of our dorm with a bag of Bertie Bott's every flavour bean at the centre of our circle.

"So, Liv, it's April 12th. Tomorrow's your birthday...how do you feel about that?" Sammy inquired, popping a light coloured bean in her mouth. She grimaced and stuck out her tongue. "sardine."

"I don't really care" I shrugged.

"Age is just a number" Luna added softly.

"You two don't even sound like twelve-year-olds!" Melia laughed.

"You don't wanna do anything for your birthday?" Liza asked incredulously.

"Not really"

"Too bad." Sammy said bluntly.

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows at her but she didn't reply, changing the subject instead. We talked some more until Luna dozed off, then Melia, followed by Liza until it was just me and Sammy awake.

"Tomorrow's gonna be great." was all she said before whispering 'nox' and the two of us climbed into bed.

_

The next morning, I woke up way too early to be considered normal. Thankfully, none of the others were up, yet, so I exchanged my pyjamas for a pair of sweats and a jumper and snuck out of the dorms as quietly as I could. Humming softly to myself, I made my way to the kitchens to get some breakfast. Just as I rounded the corner, I ran into another figure, falling on my butt. The other person held a hand for me to take and when I took it, looking up from the floor, I saw who'd I'd bumped into. 

"Hello, Draco." I gave him a sheepish smile, brushing myself off.

"Hey. Where've you been?"

"What do you-"

"You know what I mean." He cut me off, throwing me a pointed look.

I sighed and gave in, shrugging "Sorry, but I just couldn't take the arguing."

"Why didn't you say something?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just figured it'd be better to leave you two to figure things out."

"Well, I guess it wasn't all that bad since we did."

"What?"

"We made up. You left us, so it's not like we had anyone else to talk to besides each other."

"What about your Slytherin friends?"

"Eh. They're not really all that great."

"They're so bad you would've rather hung out with Jacob?"

"Yeah. But it all worked out in the end. He and I are buddies, now."

I nodded and we stood there in silence for a while before I gestured in front of me. "Walk with me?"