Briar watched him with curiosity as he shuffled closer. He stumbled when he neared her but managed to steady himself before he fell. He slightly blushed and stuck out his hand with the dandelion in it. He murmured, "For you."
She felt something odd...
It was an onslaught as soon as Briar stepped back into her dorm room. Pansy was there and was fuming. Her face was beet red as she screeched, "I saw you, Briar! You're a blood traitor. I can't believe you! God, did you lie to me about your blood status too?"
"What in merlin's beard are you on about?" Briar demanded as she threw her bag on her bed. She turned to face Pansy with her features drawn down and arms crossed tightly across her chest.
Pansy took a few threatening steps towards Briar as she yelled, "You were with that bloody Gryffindor again!"
Briar glared at her as she fired back, "Are you talking about Potter?...I'm sorry, I guess I forgot you could tell me who I can and can't talk to." Briar rolled her eyes and turned back to her bag to pull her books out, but Pansy wasn't backing down.
Pansy snarled, "What's your problem, huh? You fancy him?"
"No, I don't fancy him, Pansy. Stop being stupid," Briar snapped as she turned to face her again.
The situation was quickly spiraling out of control as both Slytherin girls glared daggers at one another. Somewhere in the back of Briar's mind, she knew that their other roommates could arrive at any moment, but she didn't think she or Pansy would even notice.
Pansy's eyes flashed with rage as she growled, "First, you dance with him at the Yule Ball, and now you're talking to him outside the Gryffindor dorms. You don't have a Pureblood soulmate. You have Potter, don't you?"
Briar felt her fingers twitch, and she had to resist the urge to slap her roommate. She growled, "Shut your mouth, Pansy."
"I'm right, aren't I? You've been going on and on about all this 'love is fake' rubbish, but it's really just to get us off your case about Potter. All this time you've been pining for the chosen one. You're disgusting," Pansy spat as she stepped right into Briar's face.
As the word disgusting left Pansy's mouth, Briar saw red. She shoved Pansy and roared, "I would never fancy him!"
"I don't believe you!" Pansy interjected after she stumbled back a few steps.
Briar didn't even breathe as she screamed, "I can't! I can't ever fancy him or anyone because love doesn't exist! Love will just leave you vulnerable, and then one day, your daughter will come home to find that your soulmate did nothing as you were kidnapped and murdered! Your soulmate will just save themselves and not feel a single thing about how they caused your demise! You're telling me that's love, Parkinson? If I'm alone, I can protect myself, but love will just kill you!"
Briar was huffing after she stopped screaming this out. She glared at Pansy for a moment, but her stomach dropped as her words ricocheted inside her mind. She was already halfway to the door by the time Pansy was gasping, "I'm sorry, Briar. I didn't mean to-"
She slammed the door shut behind her, not caring to hear the end of Pansy's useless apology. Briar tried to confidently walk through the common room, but she noticed the curious glances being thrown her way. She didn't have enough brain power to wonder what she must look like as that horrible day had already begun to plague her mind, and she just needed to escape. Her pace got faster with each step away from the dungeons.
By the time she made to the astronomy towers, she saw the blood again. The black marks burned on the walls that day were seared into her mind, no matter how hard she tried to erase the thoughts of the scene the death eaters had left in their home. The furniture was upturned, much of it destroyed in the process. It was clear that something awful had happened that day from the moment she stepped inside.
She leaned against the railing of the astronomy tower when her mind became fixated on the empty, indifferent look on her father's face that day. She had found him sipping his tea at the table with chaos all around him when she followed the line of destruction to the kitchen. She had stared at him for a moment, hoping for some comfort from him, but instead, he scolded, "Stop crying. Tears are useless and only serve to make you weaker."
She had learned long before that how to hide her true emotions in front of her father, and hearing his reprimand reminded her that she needed to get control of herself. She had taken a steadying breath and stopped her tears, assuming a neutral face once more. She had monotonously wondered, "What happened, father?"
Her father had just calmly stirred another sugar cube into his tea as he explained, "Your mother had aligned herself with the wrong side, the Order of the Phoenix. She had told them our secrets, and the Dark Lord's followers thought I had been the traitor. Your mother has finally paid for her decisions. I had protected her foolishness for far too long."
"So, it was you or her," Briar had clarified, just barely keeping her emotions at bay with these despicable words leaving her lips. Her left eye blinked heavily as she strained to keep her face devoid of emotion.
Her back became slightly stiffer when her father faintly smiled and nodded. "She was never a good parent anyway with that rubbish she tried to tell you when she thought I wasn't listening... We shall fix all of that, and you'll grow into a fine young lady under my care."
Briar had stiffly nodded before she excused herself to her bedroom, not wanting to be in the same room as her father anymore. That was the last morning she had woken up with a mother, and at 9, she already knew it would be the worst day of her entire life.
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