Prompt completed for the forum Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)
Assignment #12 - Muggle Studies: Muggle Creatures; Task 1: Write about someone loyal
Isabel sighs as Basilius glances towards her again. From her position, upside down on his bed with her head hanging off the side, he looks like he's constipated – but that could just be because all the blood is rushing into her head, or maybe he's concentrating. He always looks constipated when he's concentrating. She always makes fun of him because of it.
"Spit it out," she tells the Slytherin with a roll of her eyes, "or don't, actually, I enjoy seeing you look constipated."
Basilius scoffs and, with all his trained Pureblood arrogance, states, "I don't look constipated."
Isabel raises an eyebrow at him, then figures the effect doesn't work so well when she's upside down, so finally lifts herself up and changes position. The world spins briefly before settling, and Isabel takes a seat next to Basilius on the floor, leaning against one of his dorm mates' beds – they're all out doing something. Isabel doesn't know and Basilius didn't tell her.
"You really do," Isabel responds, but changes the topic of the conversation, knowing all too well that if she allows the banter to continue, Basilius will cause her to forget her initial statement. "Not the point – what are you thinking about?"
Basilius hesitates, and Isabel frowns, shifting somewhat to be able to look at his face. She wonders if he's thinking about the Chamber of Secrets, of the petrified students, of how he is safe but she isn't. She wonders, but she doesn't ask. She simply waits. She knows better than to rush a Slytherin anyway.
"It might be safer if you were to stop being friends with me," Basilius says, straightforward where most of his housemates are not.
"What?" Isabel almost screeches, remembering at the last second to keep her voice to a loud whisper. "What in Merlin's beard are you talking about?"
Basilius gives her a cocky look, features smoothing out into the apathetic expression that he had always worn in his first year, before he finally accepted Isabel as a friend, before he finally accepted that there was more to his world than Pureblood society. Isabel swallows, hating that expression, but she refuses to leave him. He's a Slytherin – he's undoubtedly doing this for a reason.
"Who threatened you?" She accuses. It's the first reason she could think of for why he is acting like he is. She hates that Basilius so rarely takes control of a situation since it means that the spotlight focusses on him. Basilius is always more than happy to sink into the shadows and act as a puppet master, but it leaves him susceptible to bullying from older, more powerful Slytherins.
"No one bullied me, Anselmi," the Pureblood spits out. Isabel glares at him for the use of her last name. They are passed this – or, at least, she had thought so. "I simply decided you were no longer useful to me."
"Friendship isn't about being useful!" Isabel responds because they were – they are, they still are – friends. "Friendship is about loyalty, about kindness, about helping one another!"
"Unlike you, I'm not some stupid Hufflepuff," Basilius responds, cool as ever. Isabel recoils. She is one of the first in her family to not be a Hufflepuff. She is proud of her position as a Ravenclaw, and Basilius is hitting her when it hurts. "Go on, Anselmi, just leave. I don't want you nor need you here."
"Why are you saying these things?" Isabel asks, clenching her fists and hating the feeling of tears starting to swell up. She's always been a frustrated crier, and she hates it. But she hates Basilius more right now. How dare he spit on her work, their friendship. How dare he!
"I don't have time for you. Go find someone else to play best friends with." His tone is dismissive, but his eyes are focussed off to the side, away from Isabel. It isn't much of a tell, but Isabel has been friends with Basilius for five years, best friends for three. He always looks at a person to hammer in a point, but he refuses to look people in the eye when he's threatening them and still cares.
"You idiotic, fool," Isabel returns. "I'm not going to leave you! I don't care about the Chamber of Secrets being opened. I don't care that people are being petrified. I don't care that our friendship puts me in a position of vulnerability. I don't care that you might be the culprit! We're best friends. I know you better than that. You're not going to hurt me, and if some stupid monster comes after me, it won't matter if we're friends or not. It'll either hurt me or it won't."
"This isn't about Slytherin's pet roaming the castle," Basilius says, but he hesitates a second too long and Isabel knows she now has the upper-hand.
"We're best friends Bas. I'm not about to leave you! I don't care if the rest of the school turns against Slytherin. You are my friend and I don't give a damn about what everyone else thinks. If they think you're some evil Dark Lord, then they've got another thing coming! I- I'll fight them for thinking so!"
Basilius gazes at his friend, all too aware that she hates fighting others. Nonetheless, she promises to fight them on his behalf. He doesn't understand why. Isabel has other friends, many better and nicer than Basilius – many not in Slytherin. She won't listen to him though. She never really has, always pushing past his defences and caring about him and doing all sorts of nice things. He never quite understood her – still doesn't, but it's always been like that. They're friends anyway.
Isabel watches as Basilius' expression crumbles and the boy shrinks. She can already see the guilt reflecting in his eyes and knows he won't do something like this again. "You're so dumb, Bas," she says, shoving him before leaning against him, shoulder to hip. "We're friends."
"I don't have many of those," Basilius comments softly. "Thought this would protect you, but I forgot that you're as stubborn as a hippogriff."
"Glad I refreshed your memory, but I do wish it hadn't come to this," Isabel responds. "You do realise you can talk to me, right? I know this is some unknown idea for most Purebloods but people do sometimes help you because they like you."
"I know, Bel," Basilius says, cutting her off with a quiet laugh. "You've ranted about this to me numerous times."
"Maybe it'll stick in your head then!" Isabel returns. She's quiet for a moment, "You're not going to try again and break our friendship are you?"
"I've learnt my lesson," Basilius says. "No. I won't be doing that again. 'Sides, clearly I need a best friend."
"To knock common sense into you," Isabel adds.
Basilius shoves her, knocking her sideways and she flails, unprepared. "Bas!"
"You deserved that," the Slytherin says with a sniff, standing up and brushing off imaginary specks of dust. "You insulted me, a Pureblood! I've never heard of such a thing being done."
"You might need to get your memory checked then," Isabel says as she stands up. "Considering I'm pretty sure I insulted you yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the da-"
"I get it!" Basilius says loudly, "You can be quiet now, except you're a Ravenclaw so we both know how pointless that idea is."
"You're learning," Isabel replies, smiling broadly.
"If only I could learn how you're getting into the Slytherin dorms, do you know how many of them are giving me looks now?"
"Oh, come on! I've got to keep some secrets, and it isn't even a small secret."
"Then tell me!" Basilius says, pulling Isabel up. "Come on, you know you want to."
"If you were a bit more perceptive and actually observed things, then you would know this by now," Isabel responds, laughing as the pair enter the common room.
"Now you're just being mean," Basilius replies as the pair walk out of the Slytherin common room. Isabel glances at him and waves her fingers at a nearby painting of a couple standing in front of a meadow, overhead a bird circles.
"I'm your best friend, I'm always mean to you," Isabel says, smiling at the Slytherin, who pulls a face in response, even as he gives her a quick hug – his own way of apologising without actually speaking. "Let's go get dinner, I'm famished."
Honestly, when I first saw this prompt I immediately wanted to write about friendship, because how could loyalty not be about friendship? Both of the characters mentioned are original characters and are in a higher year level than Harry Potter, although they all go to school during the same time frame for a few years.
I explored loyalty in two ways. You see Isabel being loyal in the way she refuses to let Basilius kick her out or ruin their friendship - that is her loyalty, remaining true and believing that Basilius has a reason for his actions. Basilius is loyal to Isabel in the way he only does everything because he wants to protect her. He thinks she is in danger because of him, and if he gets her to stop hanging out with him, stop being friends with him, then she will be safer. He isn't right by any means, but his motivation, I suppose, is in the right place.
This has a lot of dialogue and doesn't explore the characters aside from the way they react and what they say. Nonetheless, I enjoyed writing it. It was quite light-hearted as well. I hope people enjoy!