Chapter Three.
Most of the time, I'm minding my own business when trouble finds me. That's how it had been with the infamous Weasley fiasco months earlier. Vinny had run off with his obsession of the year, leaving me sitting by myself in the library. I didn't even know why I was there, actually. It was the last day of school, and we would all be heading home the next morning, but I felt as if I needed to say good-bye to all the books and my favorite window seat. And then he slid next to me, all long legs and broad shoulders.
But that's not the point. The point is that trouble finds me.
"So, I found you, Brantly. I knew you would be hiding in here. With all your friends." A scratchy voice spat out. I recognized it from years earlier. I of course, was alone and in the library. Again. Maybe it wasn't me that attracted trouble. Maybe it was the library that did.
I cast a quick glance up from my potions essay. Marcus Flint stood before me, decked in his required attire of Slytherin robes. "Ah...what a...well it isn't really a pleasure. Do we really have to do this? Shouldn't you have graduated by now?"
"That's alot of sass coming from a Hufflepuff." He smirked, pulling the chair out infront of me before sliding into it himself. Flint looked like a rabbit, having the ears and the teeth and the large dark eyes are the traits that made me decide this about him when I set eyes upon him years earlier.
"I'm not helping you cheat, Flint." I sighed heavily, placing my quill back onto the table and crossing my arms. "I'm not even that smart. Why can't you go find a Ravenclaw. They're by far smarter."
He smirked, leaning forward. "But Hufflepuffs are to loyal and kind to give a burden to someone else. Plus, I still have that blackmail from last year ago. You don't want that to start wandering around the school, do you?"
With another heavy sigh, I glanced away from him.
"I dislike you greatly." I muttered underneath my breath. He had won, of course. He still had a giant anvil hanging over my stupid, brunette head.
"I knew you'd come around!" His laugh was chipper, his dark, almost black, eyes shinning in excitement. "So, we'll meet here, at this time, once a week and I'll give you all the work and you can give me the finished product when you're done." He smirked, leaning forward, uncomfortably close, reaching one hand out to squeeze my cheek. "You are still my favorite nerd, Brantly. Keep at it."
And with that he dumped all the contents of his bags onto my table.
Flint walked away with his regular smug stride, which was a Slytherin custom, I suppose, and disappeared from my sight. And with enough teenage angst to fill a stadium, I plunked my head onto the table.
"Why can't you ever say no? Why are you such a spineless-"
"Hey-yo, brat. Get called back into duty by General Buckteeth?" With a loud plonk, Vinny settled himself into chair that Flint had vacated.
"I thought he was just bluffing last year. Why didn't he graduate? Whhhhhy?" Looking up at Vinny with desperation, he just shrugged.
"You know, you could just fuck with the little piss ant. It won't be hard. I bet he wont even read the essays, just hand them in like the stupid little snake he is." He offered, flicking through the assignments. Vinny, while loyal, was not the kindest. I always believed that he was better suited for Ravenclaw, with his smart ideas and witty comebacks, but that wicked gleam always made me think of him as a Slytherin.
"You know he knows about-"I glanced around us quickly, leaning forward and whispering the rest in a hushed voice "what Jace did. He would lose his job as an apprentice Auror! Flints dad has connections. Not the political ones either. The ones that that Potter kid is always spazing out about." during my hushed rambling, I had started to place my belongings into my bag, along with Flints work. Vinny stared at me blankly.
"Well, he should have to deal with it, not you."
"It would break my mother's heart, Vince. You know it would. She can't have another disappointment."
My voice came out harsher than necessary, and Vinnys eyes narrowed.
"You brought this on yourself, Joy. Not me. You know, for someone named 'Joy' you have a cloud above your head of the exact opposite." He snapped back, his handsome face contorting into a scrunched up mask.
I flinched. Vinny's sudden outbursts were a thing that I was never able to get used to. Not even after being around them my whole life. He unclenched his hands, opened his eyes slowly, and smiled at me sweetly, as if nothing happened.
"Why...why don't we go get you some dinner, Preggers? Gotta keep that embryo happy." He chirped happily, taking my bag from my hand and tossing it over his shoulder. He walked through the stacks of books and I followed uneasily. "Hey, cheer up, brat. Everything with that Flint kid'll work out. I'll figure a way out. I always do."
I sped up, grabbing onto his arm. "What would I do without you, Vinny?"
"Oh, just wither away into a husk of nothingness."
We glanced at each other, and burst into giggles.
A few moments later we walked into The Great Hall. It was full of laughter and loud chatter as always. Sitting down at our table, I greeted the other Hufflepuffs cheerfully, while Vinny only grunted a reply. It was well-known fact that Vinny didn't do well with the senseless chatter of our housemates. They usually kept their distances, but always greeted him like eager puppies when he was in the mood to acknowledge them in any way.
I quickly lifted two stuffed to the brim beef sandwiches onto my plate, happily munching down on my first bite. The table eyed me curiously, and I realized, that there was no way a normal girl of my small stature would be able to eat both of the giant sandwich. With a nervous smile, I pushed the other to Vinny, who took it with a confused look on his face.
Suddenly, the professor in pink whose class I had arrived late to on my first day two weeks earlier, Umbridge, entered the Hall, and the talking slowed down. It almost ceased. There were rumors going around. Nasty rumors. About her form of detention. It was almost unbelievable, if I hadn't caught a view at my fellow students hands.
I shivered, hoping I never had the chance to grace her bad side. Suddenly, Professor Mcgonagall walked up to her, her voice urgent, as she asked for her to follow her to the grand stair case. The woman walked out, their heads held high, and moments later, the students all got up, running after and into the hall. Professor Sprout tried her best to maintain order, but she too, was eager to see what was happening. Every student around us had vanished, hoping to see a bit of the action.
I took this moment to grace my self with another sandwich.
"Aren't you nervous, Joy?" Vinny said suddenly, leaning forward.
"Affot?" My mouth was too full of yummy goodness to say anything else.
"About your stomach. you're only a little more than 14 weeks and your stomach is buldging. I can kinda see it when I look at your stomach the right way. You sprouted these last two weeks. How are you going to hide it? And what about your Doctors appointment in like, two weeks. Piss ant is going with you. How are you going to explain your absence?"
With hesitation, I chewed and swallowed my food, before reaching forward to grab my drink and deep a deep gulp.
The letter had come in the mail yesterday, explaining about how Fred and his mother would be attending my ultrasound, and about how they were going to test it to make sure it was his. His mother seemed keen on the fact that her little angel would never impregnate a girl while unwed. Ugh.
"Well...Its during a Hogsmeade trip...and I'll wear baggy cloths. Wow, you sure are the curious buggar." I murmured, losing faith in the small, stable plan I had developed yesterday. "Can we just not talk about the giant stomach? Like, can we just figure that out later? Mom's sending bigger clothes, and it'll work for a while. So just stop. You're scaring me."
"How are you going to take care of it, Joy?" Vinny whispered, leaning forward. Our table was now starting to return. Apparently the drama in the hall was over.
"Feeding it. Changing it. Making sure it doesn't smother itself to death."
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
I bit on my lower lip, glancing around. "Look, I gotta go. I have papers to work on." And with that, I reached over him, grabbed my bag, and walked out of the again crowded room.
But I didn't want to go back to the dorm. And the library was closed for dinner. Before I really knew what I was doing, my feet led me outside.
The air was crisp and cooling down, and soon, autumn days would hit us like a charging bull. But it was pleasant. Autumn had always been my favorite time of year. It just seemed to fit in perfectly with the moon that was glimmering of the lake. In the distance, the giant squid made a deep, mournful cry, and its tentacle rose above the surface for a second before going back under.
"What are you doing out here?" Someone snapped at me. I stiffened. Great. A teacher.
I sighed, my shoulders slumping as I looked down the steps for the culprit. But it wasn't a professor. It was Weasley, sitting in the grass a few feet away from the steps. He gazed at me in utter annoyance.
With a roll of my eyes, I plopped myself onto the stairs. "Sitting. It's not like you own the place."
He grumbled something under his breath, clearly annoyed at my mere presence. Even though I knew I meant next to nothing to him, it still hurt. My heart gave a sad leap, and I felt like the mournful cry of the giant squid was meant for me.
With a dramatic sigh that reminded me much of my own, he stood up, shrugging off his sweater and tossing it up at me. I stared at him quizzically.
"It's not safe for a girl in your...ya know...to be out in the cold."
"Yeah. Like you care." I snapped back, tossing it back. "Stop messing around with me, Weasley. You can't be nice one minute and then totally cruel and mean the next. Whats wrong with you?"
He stood up, during my rant, and stomped toward me. By the end, he was right in front of me, a smirk present. "I like to help the less fortunate."
And that was the first time I'd ever actually slapped someone.