star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

An hour and a half later, Arabella sat in stunned silence in the common room with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry had just told them what had occurred after he had followed Draco out of the Great Hall and Arabella couldn't believe it.

"I won't say 'I told you so,'" Hermione told him.

"Leave it, Hermione," Ron said in a warning tone.

"I told you there was something wrong with that Prince person. And I was right, wasn't I?"

"No, I don't think you were," Harry said.

"Harry, how can you still stick up for that book when that spell-"

"Will you stop harping on about the book! The Prince only copied it out! It's not like he was advising anyone to use it! For all we know, he was making a note of something that had been used against him!"

"I don't believe this. You're actually defending-"

"I'm not defending what I did! I wish I hadn't done it, and not just because I've got about a dozen detentions. You know I wouldn't've used a spell like that, not even on Malfoy, but you can't blame the Prince, he hadn't written 'try this out, it's really good' - he was just making notes for himself, wasn't he, not for anyone else..."

"Are you telling me that you're going to go back-?"

"And get the book? Yeah, I am. Listen, without the Prince I'd never have won the Felix Felicis. I'd never have known how to save Ron from poisoning, I'd never have-"

"-got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve."

"Give it a rest, Hermione!" Ginny finally snapped. "By the sound of it, Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!"

"Well, of course I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed! But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Ginny, look where it's landed him! And I'd have thought, seeing what this has done to your chances in the match-"

"Oh, don't start acting as though you understand Quidditch, you'll only embarrass yourself."

Arabella suddenly felt uncomfortable as silence fell upon the group. Hermione and Ginny were now acting as though the other wasn't there, fuming. Ron and Harry were just watching them, not knowing what to do as the two girls had never argued before, at least not that anyone knew.

"I need some air," said Arabella, getting up and walking briskly out of the common room.

She made her way through the castle and out onto the grounds. She found a tree and sat in the shade to process everything.

She felt very conflicted. On one hand, Draco was probably a Death Eater on a mission for Lord Voldemort, had more than likely cursed Katie Bell, and been about to use an Unforgivable Curse on Harry. On the other, Harry had barged in on him when he had been crying and used a spell on him when he didn't know what it did, nearly killing him. In fact, Draco would likely have died had it not been for Snape arriving just in time. Though, Arabella knew that was not Harry's intention and that he would never had used that spell on anyone, let alone Draco, if he had known what it did. All the same, he still should not have used it, but he was being punished for it; he had to serve detention with Snape every Saturday until the end of the school year. Even this was tricky, though, because Arabella had a feeling that if Harry was just a regular student, and not The Boy Who Lived or the supposed Chosen One, and also obviously the headmaster's favorite student, he would have been expelled immediately.