Barnaby Lee x Reader - Year 6

Umm...Beatrice?

"You look sad, Penny..." Lana said sympathetically once the pair were sat in The Three Broomsticks.

"I am sad." Penny sighed.

"You said there was some trouble with Beatrice?" Lana asked.

"I don't know if I should talk about it..."

"But I thought you came looking for me because you wanted to talk about it."

"Yes, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now..." Penny sighed again.

Lana did her best to convince her best friend to talk to her. It broke her heart seeing Penny like this, and she had to help her.

"Do you remember how Bea felt unsafe, even after the Portrait Curse was broken?" Penny asked her friend.

"Yeah, but I thought we'd reassured her." the brunette replied in confusion.

"I thought so, too. And I was sure spending this summer away from Hogwarts would help. But instead she...sulked all summer."

"I can't even picture Bea sulking." Lana stated in disbelief.

"And then...she started exploring..."

"Exploring? Like travelling?"

"Not exactly. She kept saying she was 'searching for herself'. Whatever that means." Penny explained with a small eye roll, "She's been reading more 'grown-up' books lately. Trying too hard not to act her age, I guess."

"And where did her 'search' lead?" Lana wondered.

"Away from me. We've always been close. Now Bea's like a stranger." Penny sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry, Pen..."

"I thought you especially would understand. You know what it's like to be close with a sibling who suddenly...isn't there." Penny said, being careful not to hurt Lana's feelings.

"Yeah, I understand." Lana half-smiled.

"Except Beatrice is actually physically here! Yes she still feels...gone. Now that we're back at Hogwarts, I'm afraid we'll only grow further apart." the blonde worried.

"We won't let that happen. Let's talk to Beatrice." Lana said.

"I can't. She keeps dodging me. This time last year I was introducing her to you at the welcome feast, and this year she wouldn't even come to the feast with me."

"I did notice that she wasn't there..." Lana said thoughtfully.

"And the thing is, almost everyone at school wants to hang out with me, so it especially breaks my heart that my own sister wants nothing to do with me."

"Then I'll talk to her. You told me Beatrice used to look up to me, at least as a curse-breaker. She went through a terrible ordeal as a victim of that curse. Maybe I could get through to her." Lana suggested.

"I hope so. She's been making some 'interesting' choices...spending time with a new crowd..." Penny said, "I honestly don't know what they do all day, but it can't be good."

"Where exactly does this new crowd spend time?"

"Around Hogwarts? Usually the courtyard."

"Then that's where I'll start."

"Good luck. She's almost...unrecognisable."

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Lana arrived at the courtyard, only to find a large crowd at one end of the space, and a few others dotted around. One of which being Andre.

"What's going on, Andre? I'm supposed to be finding Beatrice." Lana asked her friend.