A/N:: I want to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out. Firstly this chapter took forever to write because it never sounded right any time I did it. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I was also a little rushed to finish it. To top things off I've been having some serious computer problems, and most of my stories are on that computer - and it won't let me move anything over to my flashdrive for whatever reason. So I've been dealing with that, along with school and writers block in general. BUT! THe next chapter I'm really excited to get to because It was actually the first scene I ever came up with for this story, haha.

Anyways. I'll come back in later to add in the Characters/who they belong to, because I have that all written in one document...which is on my desktop...But yeah. THank you for sticking with me through this. Hopefully this chapter isn't as bad as I feel it is, haha.

Don't forget to R&R 3

The following weeks had to be the worst that Katerina had ever experienced.

The day right after Halloween was a Wednesday; which meant that she'd still have to go to class, despite the horrid smell wafting off her. She had barely drawn the curtains back from her bed and stood up when the bathroom door slammed open, and suddenly she was in a tight hug, Bridgett babbling angrily, the other girls crowding around and trying to be heard over the others chatter. She could tell they were making an effort not to cover their noses or gag, and she felt fresh tears well up. She pushed Bridgett back, and – once she'd stopped babbling – began to make sense of her words.

According to her, the twins had confessed to everything and had received two months worth of detention, fifty points from Gryffindor (each), and a letter home. Bridgett told her that she'd wished it was expulsion, but Katerina didn't think that something like that would be worth that much trouble – even if she would've loved it to be. She was also told that Charlie and Percy were furious, but she didn't much care about them.

So all the first year girls had gotten dressed and headed down to the common room; Katerina was painfully aware of everyone averting their attention from her, covering their noses and coughing or just plain leaving the room. The group of girls had hardly made it across the room when the two people Katerina wanted to see the least came barreling down the stairs from the boys dormitory, stumbling and talking over one another.

"We're so, so sorry Katerina!"

"We didn't mean for that to happen!"

"It malfunctioned, is all!"

The apologies kept spewing out of their mouths, and Katerina, furious, shoved past Calista and Ryanne – who were standing in front of her protectively – and exploded on them. She didn't even know half of what she was saying, but it kept pouring out before she could stop it.

"How DARE you come and try to apologize after what you've done! Do you know that this stuff won't wash out? That I'll REEK of this for weeks on end and I can't do anything about it?! And you think saying sorry and that it malfunctioned will fix it? I wish you two were expelled from this school for what you did! I'm the laughingstock of the school and it's all your fault! If you hadn't of even TRIED that STUPID PRANK I wouldn't be like this NOW!" And that was only what she remembered saying. (There was also a few swears thrown into there that she didn't remember saying later that day.)

The two looked completely horrified as she turned on her heel and stomped out of the common room; even the older students were staring in shock and whispering to each other. The other first year girls scrambled after her and she completely ignored everything they said; the 'we're so sorry about what happened' and 'you sure told them' and 'we'll be by your side no matter what!'

The rest of the day everyone avoided her if possible; there was a large empty space around her when she sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall (filled with Calista and Angelina and Ryanne and Bridgett, of course), the only highlight being the howler Fred and George had received from a very angry mother. The students in classes either shuffled away or scooted their desks back ever so slightly, some laughed or snickered or just shot her pitying looks that she absolutely hated. And it continued through the rest of the week. And next. And next.

After Transfiguration one day Professor McGonagall suggested she go to Madam Pomfrey to see if she could do anything. Which she couldn't. Instead, she spent a long time flitting this way and that, looking at different kinds of bottles before shaking her head and putting them back on the shelf. Finally, after she'd been sitting there for an hour, Madam Pomfrey declared that there was nothing she could do, and sent her away.

To make matters worse, the Slytherins were finding it absolutely hilarious.

At every chance they got (which was between classes, in the halls, during Potions class, weekends), Katerina was followed around by Slytherin insults – Mercy's being the loudest (and in most cases, the worst), and it was still followed by a chorus of laughter every time she said something.

Any free time she had was spent in the dormitory, hiding from everyone. She refused to go outside or down into the Library Great Hall for things other than to eat or get something she needed. She refused to listen to the girls trying to persuade her that the smell really wasn't that bad anymore, or that the twins had made this new product that will make the smell go away, or that she really should get some fresh air and see the grounds covered in snow.

Now, with November drawing to a close, Katerina sat cross legged in her four-poster, a fresh sheet of parchment sitting in her lap and her quill tapping against her chin. The words 'Dear Mom and Dad' sat at the top of the page, staring back at her as she stared at it. She didn't know what she wanted to write; she didn't know if she wanted to write to them at all. But she knew she should, because she hadn't sent a letter since before the whole prank fiasco.

She stared for a long while before sighing, shoving the quill and parchment away and laying her head on her pillow. This wasn't how her first year of Hogwarts was supposed to be. She was supposed to be happy, making friends and learning how to do proper magic. Not hiding away in her bed because she stunk worse than a dead skunk that was drowned in sewage. Not having teachers and students avoid her because she reeked, with no proper cure for the smell other than time (which, according to Bridgett – who had gotten the information from Fred – would take at least the rest of the school year to go away). And definitely not having to endure both the insults thrown at her from Slytherins OR the annoying, pestering twins that refused to give up trying to apologize.

Katerina rolled over and stared up out the window. It was dark outside – was it dinnertime? She didn't want to eat. She hadn't wanted to eat the past few days, not with all the eyes that would burn her back or the snickers and laughter that were directed at her. The common room was quiet; maybe she could go down and stretch her legs a little. As much as she hated going out of the dormitory, she hated staying in it just as much. It was too cramped and small with not enough room to walk around. So she swung her legs off the bed and stood, stretching and making her way down the stairs.

She'd just reached the bottom step when she heard a clatter from somewhere in the common room, and looked up with a groan.

Fred and George stood a few feet away from the stairs, looking up at her cautiously. "Kat –" Fred started, but she didn't want to hear it, she turned on her heel and started back up the stairs. "No no no wait! Katerina!" She'd barely made it halfway up the stairs when she felt a hand close around her wrist. She turned back to face Fred, ready to yell, only to yelp in surprise as the stairs disappeared from under their feet and the two slid back to the common room in a heap.

"Boys can't go up to the girl's dorm, idiot." She spat, shoving him away and scrambling to her feet.

"Kat, wait!" Fred grabbed for her wrist again, and she turned, glaring daggers at him. "Look, we're sorry about what happened!" He started, standing up. "Please, just let us help–"

"I don't need your help!" Katerina spat, glowering at the redhead. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't want to be anywhere near either of you." She shot a look at George before looking back at Fred before turning to go back up the stairs.

"Please Kat, just listen to us!" George called, running to the edge of the stairs and leaning as far as he could forward. "We got help from Professor McGonagall and Snape – well not so much help from him but from his potion stores – and we made something that's supposed to help make the smell go away!"

Katerina stopped at the top of the stairs, glancing back down at the two. Where the stairs twisted she could just barely see George's hand, a bottle held tightly in it. She stared at it, unsure of what to do. Should she trust them? What if it's another stupid prank? But the two did seem genuinely sorry about what they did…

She had just started back down the stairs when she heard sounds coming from farther in the common room, then –

"What are you two doing?!" Bridgett's voice filtered from behind the two, and George's hand disappeared. There was a huge fit of yelling from both sides – Katrina assumed Calista and the others were with her – before footsteps stormed away.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." Katrina said quietly as Ryanne led the way up the stairs.

"Yes we did." Calista said as the girls settled into the dormitory. "You can't trust them at all."

"Yeah, don't listen to them. They're lying." Bridgett said, hugging her pillow to her chest. "You don't really know since you don't really…leave the common room, but they're always causing explosions or eruptions, and –"

"And they're still pulling pranks!" Angelina interjected, leaning forward and sweeping the curtain out of her way absently. "They set one up for Professor Snape, but I don't think it worked. They also set up a different one for Filch and he's been covered in boils all weekend."

Katerina's shoulders slumped and she stared at her sheets, pulling at the edge of her shirt. "They may seem like they're sorry, but really they aren't." Bridgett sniffed, sitting on the edge of Katerina's bed. "People like them don't change, Kat. They act like it, but the second you've forgiven them, they'll be back at it." Katerina stared at Bridgett for a long moment before trailing her gaze back to the parchment and quill.

"Okay." She said quietly. She felt like she was going to cry again as the conversation shifted away from the twins and towards world Quidditch Matches. How could someone be so cruel? Let alone TWO people…She reached for the quill and took the stopper off her ink and dipped it in, dragging the parchment towards her.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I wish I could say that school is going fine, and that I'm happy here at Hogwarts. Ever since Halloween I've just wanted to come home and never leave again. All because two stupid kids pulled a prank that backfired on ME, and now everybody keeps making fun of me, and I REEK and the smell won't go away until the school year is over…I don't want to go here anymore. I want to come home, and I want those two kids expelled. I can't wait for Christmas so I can get away from everyone…

Katerina paused, idly smudging a tear that had fallen onto the paper. What else could she say? What SHOULD she say?

They tried to apologize, but my friends said that I shouldn't trust them because it's all just a sham…I don't know what I should do. Maybe Professor McGonagall will finally find something to help…

Katerina

Katerina picked up the parchment and rolled it up, tying a small bit of string around it and setting it on her nightstand. She'd visit Pandora in the morning and send it off. Only two more weeks until Christmas break…She thought, sighing and pulling the blanket around her shoulders.