Inside My Mind (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter XV

Hogwarts, Unplottable Location, Scotland, Great Britain

Friday the 19th of December 1992

9:00 AM

Bella sat in the library with Hermione and Ron while they were trying to decipher the riddle and they were pleasantly undisturbed. Well unpleasantly for Bella her dark hair was wild and dark circles could be seen around her eyes. She looked like she hadn't slept at all and she hadn't.

All night she had been kept awake by Lavender Brown and Parvarti Patil. They had been constantly harassing her with questions if she was related to Tom and if she really was the reason the Library of Corvus was opened. No one seemed to understand that it wasn't her fault. They gave her looks of distrust and actually took different corridors to the Great Hall if they saw her walking down one.

Someone had actually asked Hermione why she was hanging out with Bella if she knew she was going to get hurt. Hermione had threatened to break the boy's arm if he ever approached her with a stupid question like that. Bella smiled at the memory of the boy's pale face.

Her mood soured when she glanced at the corner of the library.

"Bella, pay attention we're trying to discuss…oh" Hermione said, after seeing where Bella had been looking. A group of Hufflepuffs were sitting at the far end of the library, glancing at Bella every few seconds.

"I can't deal with this…I have to tell Justin that it hadn't been my fault. I was trying to stop it. I didn't mean…I didn't mean to make this happen. I don't even know how this is happening," Bella whispered, brokenly. Hermione placed a comforting her hand on Bella's arm.

"I know you didn't mean to Bella. You were trying to save me, weren't you? It was an anaconda. It would've killed us" Hermione whispered. Bella nodded earnestly and got up. Ron looked at her alarmed.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked. Bella pointed over to the group of Hufflepuffs. The Girl Who Lived squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. She could do this.

"I'm going to ask where Justin is. I don't give a damn what they think of me" Bella snapped. She stood up and walked towards the Hufflepuffs and hid behind the bookcase they were next to, trying to hear their conversation.

"So anyway, I told Justin to hide in our dormitory. Potter is dangerous. Everyone around her is getting hurt. The Library of Corvus is a fairytale and I remember it well. The beast is going to ask her those three riddles and she's got to answer them right, and with every passing moment that she doesn't answer them, someone's going to get hurt, and the only people getting hurt are muggleborns and squibs. You saw her egging on the snake to Justin and Granger. She was trying to make sure that the beast marks them instead of going after her. No one's lived this long without answering the riddles" Ernie Macmillan said. Bella's mouth fell open.

"So, you definitely think it's Bella who is Anastasia Slytherin?" Hannah Abbott asked. Ernie gave her a disbelieving look and shook his head.

"Over course she is! She said so! She's obviously evil if the beast of Rowena Ravenclaw marked her out! All Slytherins are evil, no matter what Dumbledore says" Ernie said. Hannah looked at him, earnestly.

"She's so nice if a little headstrong and she destroyed Grindelwald. She can't be bad" Hannah said, quietly. Ernie shook his head.