𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

eight

Courtney sighed, rolling her pretty blue eyes as she waved her wand towards Sean McLaggen, the guy who cheated on her at the Yule Ball two weeks ago. With a bit of Courtney's magic, Sean's bag split open and his books toppled onto the floor, soon to be followed by Sean himself.

Fawn, who was stranding next to us, laughed, titling her head back and cackling. This whole thing was her idea, and making him fall was only the beginning of Hogwarts' biggest prank war.  Fawn smirked, an intriguing glint shining in her brown eyes as she winked at Fred and George Weasley.

My lips curved upward in a half-smile while I shook my head. My friends' antics, though immature, always made me smile.

~~~

We entered the quiet classroom the same way we normally did: Smoothly and boldly. Fawn and Courtney always turned heads, their stunning looks catching eyes. However, I was a potato. My friends always say that I'm pretty too, but I haven't believed them since third-year.

We sat down in the middle of the classroom, like we normally did. Courtney would sit on my right, Fawn on my left. Two Slytherin girls sat behind us and three Ravenclaws sat in front. We never changed seats, though we had the option to.

Professor Binns, the ghost teacher, rose up from his desk and drifted over to the chalkboard. His translucent hands picked up a piece of chalk and wrote one word: "Project."

That word excited the other students, who all turned to look at their friends. Professor Binns began to speak in his low, quiet voice.

"You may choose your partner. You get one. Once you find your partner, sit down and wait for more instructions."

He copied the same words onto the board as the students walked around to find their partner.

Fawn and Courtney both looked at me. Fawn shrugged. "I'll go work with Marie," she said, looking at a blonde Gryffindor.

Courtney nodded and sat back down in her seat on my right. We looked up at the professor, who waited until the chatter and scrape of chairs stopped.

"Now that you have found your partner, you will receive a witch or wizard who has done something of importance in the Wizarding World's history. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Grindelwald have been removed from the list.

"You will get your name, and then you will have until next Monday to put together a cohesive project that shows all of the information you will have gathered. I will write what you need to find up on the board. You may use library books and old textbooks to help you. If you are in need of more help, you may seek assistance in one student outside of this class."

Professor Binns began gliding around the classroom, assigning names and writing them on a piece of parchment paper. He moved to me and Courtney, and we glanced at each other.

"You will study Bellatrix Lestrange."

The professor swiftly arrived back to his desk. "The pairs with witches or wizards still-living will see that finding the required information may be harder. It will be a challenge, and I do not have high hopes for you. This project is worth forty-percent of your grade. You may begin."

~~~

I sat down and pulled my scarf tighter around my neck, shivering. I missed coming out to the Quidditch field every Saturday to watch the matches. Fawn and Courtney would always drag me out, and I would pretend to hate it, but now Quidditch was postponed for the tournament, and I missed it.

I never played, but watching the games was just as exciting. I missed how the wind blew through my hair whenever a player flew too close to the stands, and I missed the way that sixth-year Gryffindor always made everyone laugh with his hilarious commentary.

Watching the players and their techniques was always fun, too. It was such a treat watching Gryffindor compete with Slytherin since both teams were extremely talented. However, the Slytherin team tended to cheat and play dirty.

I thought back to the time when the Hufflepuff team beat Slytherin by a solid one-hundred fifty points, and the students in my House were so proud that they threw a party worthy of being a Gryffindor's. It was such a big deal because Hufflepuffs don't normally throw parties, unlike the Gryffindors. Their parties were always extreme and too much for me. Fawn liked going to the parties with some of her Gryffindor friends, and she's taken me to a few.

Fawn has a lot of friends. She's a social butterfly, and she's very nice. Sometimes I wonder why she likes me. I'm shy, and she and Courtney are really my only close friends. It's weird, but it's almost like I'm bad luck.

My mum died right after I was born. All of my past pets have died after just a few months of being with me. My dad never talks to me anymore, students avoid me in the halls, and teachers glance at me like they know something that I don't.

Maybe there is something wrong with me.

"Hey!"

A voice shouted cheerfully at me and my head shot up. I looked towards the source of the voice and saw a raven-haired boy with glasses and a scar: Harry Potter.

He sat down next to me, surprising me.

"Uh, hi, Harry."

My scarf blew slightly in the wind as I looked down at my hands.

Harry started speaking, and I was confused as to why he was being nice to me.

"What are you doing out here all alone?"

"I'm just thinking. What about you?"

"I was just missing Quidditch, so I came out here to reminisce."

"You're a really good Quidditch player," I said, smiling a bit.

"You've watched me play?"

"Yeah. My friend, Fawn, drags me to every game. I secretly enjoy them though." I let out a quiet laugh.

"Oh, that's cool. I know Fawn, she gets into all of Gryffindor's parties with Ginny."

"Who?"

"Oh, she's my best friend's sister."

". . . Cool."

"So, um, what do you find interesting in Quidditch?"

"It's fun to watch. I like guessing what move is going to happen next and it's entertaining."

"Maybe you should try out."

"What? Me? No, I couldn't. It's fun to watch, but I'm good in the stands."

"Trust me, it's so much better up in the sky."