star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Dean!" Arabella called, spotting the boy in the Entrance Hall as he entered the castle along with many other Hogwarts students. She ran towards him and engulfed him in a hug.

After getting over the initial shock and happiness at seeing one one of his best friends again, when the two pulled away, Dean's voice was serious. "You have a lot of explaining to do," he said.

Arabella sighed. "Yeah, I know. Come on, you can ask me anything while we walk to the common room."

They did just this, walking side by side all the way to Gryffindor Tower.

"Okay, first... why did you leave early for the holidays with no explanation?" Dean started off.

"My dad got really hurt and for a little bit it looked like he wasn't gonna make it, so my mum pulled us out early," Arabella said simply.

"In the middle of the night?"

"Yes! Dean, he was in a really bad way, all right? We seriously thought he was going to die."

"He's okay now, though?"

"Yes, thank Merlin."

"You know about Harry's nightmare?"

"Of course I do, I was with him all holiday."

"Did it have anything to do with what happened to your dad?"

"Just a coincidence." Arabella didn't enjoy lying to Dean, but it wasn't like she had any other option. "Really weird coincidence though, I'll give you that. Who knows, maybe Divination isn't as useless as everyone says."

"So if Harry's dream had nothing to do with what happened to your dad, then why was he with you guys?"

"It was either he come with us or he stay here alone, and we weren't about to let that happen."

"All right, fair enough. Why weren't you on the train?"

"Missed it. Getting seven kids to wake up early and leave quickly is not an easy feat, my parents were bound to fail at it some day."

"Makes sense. So I assume it was your parents who didn't allow you to write again?"

"You would be correct."

"What did everyone think of your hair?"

"So many questions. Bill was kind of annoyed with me. We had a sort of agreement, you see. We were going to keep growing our hair out just to spite Mum, and no matter what I say, he sees my haircut as a betrayal. I told him, 'You try playing Quidditch with that hair, see how well you do.'"

They split up at the staircase to the dormitories so that Dean could unpack, but upon entering her own dormitory, Arabella immediately regretted it.

"No," she said before Lavender and Parvati could even open their mouths. "No questions. I just told Dean everything, if you really wanna know, you can go ask him. I'm not explaining it all again."

Lavender and Parvati exchanged a look and continued on with their unpacking.

"You didn't actually tell Dean everything, did you?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"What? Do you think I'm that dense?"

"No! I was just making sure."

[word count: 553]
[written: 8/21/20]
[published: 8/21/20]
i just published a sort of wikia thing for those of you who are confused about the sudden influx of original characters, or just want to learn more about your favorites. it's called -CITYBCY HP WIKI, check it out if you want.