Chapter Three: Bella

Steadily Abby stepped through a small thin corridor that housed two closets, one on each of her sides, and wandered into a standard sized room. There was one window lying ajar right in the middle of the white wall opposite the door, letting a warm breeze slide through the room. There were two beds, two desks, and two bookshelves, arranged in different places on each side to differentiate the space, though the major distinction as to which side was occupied was the young woman sitting at the desk on the left with an open book in her palms.

"Hi Bella," Charlie greeted immediately, not even taking a second glance, as he walked in behind Abby, standing just behind the shoulder of his old friend.

Immediately, the woman at the desk looked up from her book and turned to face the direction of the voice addressing her. Loads of wavy dark brown hair had been swept into a ponytail protruding from the back of her head, swirling around and falling on one shoulder as she turned rapidly. The light of the sun made her fair skin glow bright while her hazel eyes looked as though they had just come out of a deep dream, though they quickly began to sparkle in delight when she saw Charlie.

"Ciao Charlie," she exclaimed happily, rising to her feet. Standing tall, she was an inch shorter than Abby, though more curvaceous where Abby was slender. Smoothing out the wrinkles in her neatly pressed pants and blue sweater, she looked at the unfamiliar woman in the room curiously. "And who might this be?"

"Oh, I'm Abigail Ridges," Abby said immediately holding her hand out, feeling the need to introduce herself to her own roommate. "Herb said I could share this room with you."

"Oh," the woman beamed, taking a step forward with her arm extending outward, "how love..."

Stumbling suddenly on her own two feet, the girl toppled looking worried as she began to fall forward. She only caught her balance and prevented the impact with the carpet by grasping the shoulders of her new roommate.

"Are you all right?" Abby asked, taking the woman by the arms and placing her upright in front of her.

"Oh, I'm fine," she responded casually with a small laugh, brushing her ponytail aside and smoothing the sleeves of her shirt. "I'm sorry about that, bad first impression. It happens all the time to me. Clumsy Mirabella Ribisi, but Bella for short."

"So, I'll let you two get acquainted," Charlie announced, automatically getting the female's attention as he clapped his hands together and made his way towards the door, waving as he went. "I'll see you later."

The door shut behind him with a click as Bella sat down at the end of her bed, which was placed farther from the window than the other. She crossed her legs, putting her folded hands neatly in her lap as Abby threw her suitcase and knapsack onto her own clean white bedcovers.

"So, Bella," Abby tried to get conversation going, looking at her new roommate with her green eyes as she unzipped her suitcase, "what sort of work do you do here?"

"Well, I'm a researcher," Bella answered with a smile, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she spoke. "I'm currently doing a study on behaviours in the Peruvian Vipertooth. I want to write a book about the variations of behaviour in dragons."

"Wow," Abby exclaimed, her eyes widening as she nodded. "That's impressive. Lots of observations, I guess."

"Well, yes," Bella nodded. Before she could say another word, she stopped, slapped her head with a resounding smack and sighed, rising to her feet. "I'm such an idiot. Here I am rambling on about work, and I should be helping you unpack."

"Oh, I'm fine!" Abby insisted as Bella walked towards her. "I don't have much stuff, so there's not much to unpack."

"Nonsense," Bella said, taking a short light-coloured wand out of her pants pocket. "We're roommates, and it would be my pleasure to help."

With a flick of her wand, the closet door on Abby's side of the room shot open and with another twist of the wrist, clothing hangers rushed out, suspended in midair. Bella turned to the suitcase lying open on the bed. With another swish of the stick, Abby's clothes unrolled themselves, flew across the room, and neatly draped themselves over the hangers appropriately. Every t-shirt, sleeveless, sweater, and jacket neatly filed into the space arranged by colour, while pants, shorts, and unmentionables folded neatly in the closet shelving and trainers lined up perfectly on the bottom.

"Impressive," Abby gasped as she stared in awe, walking over to her newly organized closet. "I've never tried that spell before and I've really never had my closet be this neat. I was just going to do it by hand."

"Well, it is much faster and more efficient this way," Bella smiled as she observed her handiwork. "It's a handy little spell."

Abby nodded as she turned to put her other things away, when she noticed the many pictures that decorated every inch of Bella's wall above her bed. Stepping closer for a good look, the photographs on the wall were like a timeline of Bella's life. There were moving pictures of her childhood, dressed in bright costumes and fairy wings, of her school years, posing with a multitude of friends while waving and blowing kisses, others of beautiful backdrops, and some of magical creatures roaming about in lush hills of green grass.

"Have you been to Italy?" Abby asked, looking closely at a picture of Bella standing in front of the scene of what seemed to be the leaning tower of Pisa.

"I am from Italy," Bella answered, looking at her wall with pride sparkling in her eyes. "I was born and raised in the countryside outside Florence. My mother owns a Puffskein farm out there."

Bella leaned across her bed and pointed to a small photograph of a single two-story house against the scene of green trees and grass. There were many specks of custard coloured balls all along the grassy lawn, which at first glance looked like yellow flowers from a distance, until they were clearly moving along in the picture not by any wind motion. They were living creatures, Puffskeins.

"She bred them specially to be pets for children, and she does a lot of international trading," Bella explained, clasping her hands together and sighing as she gazed longingly at the scene of home. "She always did like creatures, and I suppose that's where I get it from."

"It looks like a lovely home," Abby commented, giggling a bit as the little balls of yellow fur bounced up and down and into each other in the photo.

"It is," Bella replied as Abby crossed the room. "Mama figured it was the most beautiful place in all Italy when she bought it, but there I go rambling again. What's your family like? Do you have siblings?"

"I have one younger sister, Annabelle," Abby answered as she fished a roll of parchment paper and a box of quills from her bag. "Actually we're half sisters, but we've grown up together all our lives, so it doesn't really make a difference."

"I always wished I had a little sister or brother," Bella sighed as she sat down on her bedspread again, hugging a nearby pale pink pillow. "It would have made growing up more fun to have someone to play with, or teach spells to and that sort of stuff."

"Well, I couldn't really teach her spells," Abby confessed, shoving a few thick leather bound books onto her shelf above the desk. "I'm the only witch in the family, everyone else is normal."

"Oh, you're Muggleborn," Bella restated, leaning her chin on the pillow as she gave it a squeeze. "My father is a Muggle. It must have been quite a surprise to learn you were a witch."

"It explained a lot," Abby replied taking a seat at her wooden desk to place the parchment and quills into the top drawer. "My mum was even more surprised. She thought it was a joke at first, but after about eight letters showed up at the door, she believed, and fainted in the middle of our flat."

"What a story," Bella giggled, leaning the back of her head onto the wall. "I knew I was a witch my whole life, and I can't imagine life without magic in it. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be thrust into a world you don't know of. Mind you, living here in Romania was sort of like that, leaving the farm to come out and study dragons. What do you think of Romania so far?"

"Well," Abby began, looking from her seat at the one window leading into the courtyard between the dormitories, "it is beautiful, and I think I'll definitely like it here."

- - -

The door opened with a sudden slam against the wall as Charlie shoved his bag into the room. Kicking it with his foot, the bag slid to the side of the door next to the wardrobe closets, allowing him to get in and close the door behind him.

"Must you make noise coming in," a voice from inside the room spoke groggily.

"I didn't know you got back so quickly, Simeon," Charlie replied without even looking to see who was in the room, recognizing his friend merely by voice. He turned towards the closest and picked up his bag from the floor. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Simeon answered from his place on the top of the bunk bed as he rubbed the sand from his eyes, "vas just resting my eyes and vaiting for you to return so I could tell you that ve have the early shift tomorrow starting at seven."

"Okay," Charlie said as he began to unload his piles of clean clothes into his closest in an unorganized fashion, stacking them on top of each other without care of what went where. "At least with early shift we have the afternoon free to plan for the project."

"Ah yes, Project Tournament," Simeon nodded, his arms cradling his head on the pillow. "You met vith the Ministry in England?"

"They gave me details about what they wanted, and I forwarded them to Herb," Charlie clarified as he shut the door to his closet. "He wants Shane, Colin and me to be in charge of the route planning, since we all went to Hogwarts. We have to work out how to get there with a good route, and minimum interference with Muggle cities in a certain amount of time. It's going to take a lot of work to plan that part alone, and there's still the matter of choosing and transporting the dragons."

"Vell, ve have the time to plan," Simeon replied coolly.

Charlie sighed as he took his seat at the desk, hanging his knapsack over the chair, and pulled out a piece of parchment, black ink, and a worn-out pheasant quill from the drawer. Unscrewing the cap on the inkbottle and dipping the quill in, he poised himself over the parchment and began to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,
Just an owl to tell you I've arrived safely here in Romania. I hope everyone is well. Hopefully the Ministry will cease to be under fire soon and dad and Percy can relax a little (though I doubt Percy will). I expect to see you soon.
All my love,
Charlie

"Remind me to send this letter to mum off after dinner," Charlie told Simeon as he rolled up the yellow parchment and tied it shut with a piece of string. "If I don't, my mum might think I've been kidnapped by gypsy sorcerers or something."

"I do not understand vhy you must say you have arrived safe," Simeon said as he turned to his side on the top bunk. "You are a grown man, and you have lived avay from home for four years and arrived safe every time."

"It's just a mum thing," Charlie replied as he twisted the cap back onto his inkbottle. "She always needs to know all seven of her babies are safe and sound. My parents aren't like yours. I don't think you've ever written home to say you were okay."

"I never leave here," Simeon scoffed sarcastically as he sat up, running his hand through his messy hair. "If I never go anyvhere else, they do not need to know I have come back safe."

"Fair enough," Charlie shrugged as he shoved his possessions back into the desk and stood up. Stretching out his spine, he walked towards the window next to the bunks and looked outside at the beautiful day, wondering if he should return to throw discus with his other coworkers.

"So, did you get Abby settled?" Simeon asked as he jumped down from the bed and searched the ground for a pair of socks.

"Didn't really need to," Charlie replied casually, watching the purple Frisbee cross the air of the courtyard. "I just left her in the capable hands of Bella."

"Bella?" Simeon echoed, looking up from the ground.

"Yeah," Charlie smirked at his friend as he leaned his arm up against the windowsill. "She's friendly, and I trust that she'll get Abby settled in and comfortable."

"Of course, of course," Simeon muttered as he nodded along. "Bella is very friendly like that. She vill do vell."

"Come on then," Charlie ushered towards the door, stepping over Simeon as he spoke, giving his head a scratch. "Grab some shoes and we'll go toss the discus before dinner."

Looking back at his friend on the floor, Charlie noticed a brown envelope sitting on the pillow of his bed. It was sealed in black wax, and bulging in the corners. Turning to Simeon, Charlie pointed at the mysterious envelope.

"Who left that?" Charlie inquired, strutting over to his bed and taking a seat there, placing the heavy letter in his lap.

"I did," Simeon answered, finding a pair of black socks beneath the desk. "It is the ten Galleons I owe you for the bet, the Quidditch Vorld Cup."

Charlie broke the seal on the envelope and poured the contents into his palm. Just as promised, ten heavy golden Galleons fell into his hand. Spilling onto his lap, Charlie stared at the amount of money, bewildered.

"Simeon, I wasn't serious about the bet," Charlie shook his head, still looking at the gold. "I can't accept this."

"Do not vorry about it," Simeon shrugged off as he grabbed a pair of black shoes from his closet and slipped into them. "We made a bet, and you von. If you had lost, I vould have expected my money, so it is yours to keep. End of story."

As Simeon tied the laces on his shoes, Charlie could do nothing except stare at the amount of gold. He had never had so much spare pocket money at one given time as before he had always used Sickles and Knuts instead. As he poured the Galleons back into the envelope, still bewildered, he couldn't help but mutter quietly, "Thanks Simeon."

"Vell, I am ready now," Simeon said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Let us go throw the Frisbee. You need to show Zuberi and Constantine how it is really done."

A/N: Once in a while, words may pop up in different languages. I will always provide translations in these notes. Ciao is a versatile Italain term, in this case used for "hi."
Hope you're all liking it so far. I know updates are few and far between, but I am reformatting these as well, and I've been quite busy.