Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
( THE MEETING )
✧*
THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES has always been Belle's favourite. Receiving her timetable, pulling out her brand new textbooks, getting to use her new ink. It sounds boring (understandably), but for some reason, it gives her peace and some sense of mind. Well, it did for a little while until her teachers started talking about OWL's — and soon she is stressing, writing down as much as she needs to know in each class, but when Defense Against the Dark Arts rolls around, her thoughts shift. Belle always respects her teachers (even Snape, as much as she doesn't want to), some would say she is a teacher's pet, but she doesn't mind. Disappointing teachers has always been one of her fears.
But as she sits in Umbridge's class, listening to her go on about the fact that they will be only reading out of the textbook, she questions her a little bit. As much as Belle wants to believe that nothing is happening around them, there is. And DATDA has always been an interactive subject, so for it to be reduced to reading from the textbook, is unusual. Ernie agrees and expresses his concerns on their walk to Arithmancy.
"It's ridiculous. Every other teacher we've had has taught us defensive spells and let us practice them, how is reading the spells going to help us at all in our OWL's?"
"I know. It's weird," says Belle as they walk into the classroom together.
"I found out that our Hogsmeade trip is only a few weeks from now," he says.
"Oh, cool. Hi, Violet," she smiles at Violet who has just made her way through the door, looking irritated (what is new?).
"Sit with me," Violet says, and before she can object, she takes her arm and guides her over to an empty table. Belle shoots Ernie an apologetic smile, and he mouths, don't worry about it. It's Hermione who comes in and sits next to him, actively avoiding looking over at Violet.
"It's the first day, what could you possibly be fighting about?" All of last year, the fighting never ended between Hermione and Violet. She doesn't know what their problem is, and as much as she attempts to fix it, nothing works. She stopped interfering because it was getting to the point where she was being told to pick sides, and Belle never chooses sides. It's impossible.
"She won't tell me where she was over the summer, says it's a secret and that she can't tell me. How hard is it? If she was with Ronnie, or whatever his fucking name is, she can tell me. Secret my ass,"
