Chapter 21

Andromeda's POV

Hola! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation. I'm just here to quickly give you another chapter before posting a brand new story. This new story will have something to do with the Argo II, and may have excess amounts of Leo, Nico, Percy, or whoever your heart desires. Don't forget to check that story out pretty soon! Enjoy!

For once in my life, my body was frozen with fear and shock. I hadn't expected Holly to blame me for anything, and I definitely didn't like having a weapon pointed at my heart that could go off at any second.

When I didn't respond to her first comment, Holly continued.

"You're the one who is to blame for all of this! It's as clear as day to any smart person."

"How could Gracie have had anything to do with Ezra's injury?" Hunter asked, stepping forward to my defense.

"Shut up! I didn't ask you, you stupid American."

Hearing Holly insult my friend immediately snapped me out of my daze.

"Let's just all calm down, okay? I'm sure we can have a decent conversation without-"

"Don't stall! I know you did this! You were there when my brother opened the locker, and could have easily had your wand out controlling those Bludgers. You did nothing to help him- nothing! And you benefitted from the whole ordeal- I heard Titus saying he would have you replace Ezra for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team once he got Madame Batts's permission!"

Holly had moved forward a few steps during her speech, her wand now digging painfully into my chest. I'd been slowly trying to ease my wand out of my cloak pocket, hoping to disarm the enraged girl before she shot a spell at me.

I took a step back, relieving the pain on my torso, and said, "Listen, I know this looks bad now, but you don't have all the infor-"

"I have all I need. Expeliarmus!"

Just as my wand was in my finger's grasp it was ripped away I was forced to take a couple steps backward to retain my balance. I was surprised by the strength of the spell.

I looked back at my opponent a second before a flash of white light started out of Holly's wandtip. For a moment I thought I was done for before Hunter shouted the word "Protego!" and a barrier formed between the light and myself, protecting me from the spell.

Holly turned and was just about to curse Hunter when I heard the familiar voice of Victoire Weasley behind me.

"What is going on here?" she asked, glaring at the two students who had their wands out.

"Hunter attacked me!" Holly said, her look of fury instantly being erased and one of perfect innocence replacing it. Her friends, who had kept their hands on their wands before, were all nodding along with her, each one an excellent actress.

Victoire studied the situation for another moment before speaking.

"Hunter," she started, and I saw a smile grow on Holly's face. It disappeared, though, when Victoire continued. "May I please see your wand?"

Hunter handed it to our teacher, and she performed a non-verbal spell, making a shield similar to the one that had popped up over my wand appear.

"Thought so. Holly, yours?"

The girl knew that if she refused she was practically admitting to attacking me, so she handed over her wand.

"Let me ask you something, Holly," Victoire started after a few moments of examining the wand. "Why were you using the cutting spell on someone who was attacking you? You could have easily used a defensive charm instead and nobody would have been injured."

"It was the first spell that came to my mind," Holly answered, not meeting the teacher's eyes.

Victoire sighed, handing the wand back to its owner. "Since I can't prove anything at the moment, I'll be sending you all on your way. But," she continued, making Holly jump, "if I see or hear any sign that anyone in this corridor is going to harm somebody, that person will be having a lengthy talk with the Headmistress. Dismissed."

"Weasleys," Holly's goon, Aspen, muttered, rolling her eyes. "They're hardly worth dirt."

Victoire hadn't heard the comment, but she still glared at the girls' backs as they walked toward the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I think I'll be arranging new sleeping arrangements in your dorm, Gracie," the teacher said, picking up my wand like nothing had happened. "I don't feel safe leaving you and Lily in the same room as Holly or Willow."

"Thanks," I said, taking the wand and securing it next to the dagger in my robes.

She sent us on our way, saying that she'd be along later with news on whether or not Lily and I could be moved.

"Holly's crazy," Hunter said, looking at me with concern. "You're okay, right?"

"I'm not missing any fingers or limbs, so I think I'm good. My chest still hurts a little; I think an old broken rib is coming back to bite."

We walked back to the common room in relative silence. I didn't realize I was so exhausted before, and I was very ready to take a nap before dinner.

Unfortunately, I forgot about the after party.

Celebrations were winding down when we climbed through the portrait hole, but a loud cheer started when the Gryffindors saw me, a large crowd of students crowding around me, shaking my hand and congratulating me.

I noticed Orion walking up the steps to his dorm, and I quickly ducked around the crowd of well-wishers, pulling Hunter by his sleeve up the staircase.

Orion was alone except for a plump brown haired boy who I ordered out of the room. He squeaked and left- I'm pretty sure I made him wet himself.

"What's up?" Orion asked, fiddling with his wand. He smirked, adding, "I thought you two went on a date."

I saw Hunter's cheeks turn red as I said, "First: shut up. Second: Holly attacked me. She blamed me for sending those Bludgers after Ezra."

"That is insane! You got attacked by the exact same things in flying class, and another time when you were watching practice. You could've easily been killed either time!"

"We all know that, but she doesn't," Hunter replied.

"That's why I want to investigate this," I said, and my brother's face brightened. "I want to know who's attacking people with these Bludgers. And, as much as I hate to say it, I need your help, brother."

He smiled, drinking in the glory before nodding. "I'd be glad to help, little sis."

"Good; we start first thing in the morning," I said, turning to leave.

"Wait! Why don't we start right now?" Hunter asked.

"Because I've got packing to do tonight. There's a 90 percent chance I'll be escaping Holly, at least for a little while."

I visited Lily in the hospital wing and told her about the day's events. Ezra was still very unconscious, and Lily gave me the full report on his injuries.

"He had three fractures on his right arm and two on his left. His left foot is completely shattered, and he lost two toes on his right. Madame Hall won't know fully until he's awake, but she believes he has partial to total blindness and deafness, and the Bludger knocked out about twenty of his teeth. He also has tons of other breaks in tons of other places; I lost count."

"Why hasn't he been healed yet?" I asked, looking at the curtain that covered the broken boy from the rest of the world.

"Madame Hall doesn't seem able to heal anything; there was something involving dark magic with this whole scenario. No spell that she's tried has worked except for one that allowed him to breathe more easily with several fractured ribs. A few more experienced healers will be coming to the school tomorrow morning to try and help, but Madame Hall doesn't look very hopeful."

"Never mind all of this. Tell me how you're doing, Lily."

"I'm actually doing very well. I've been resting until about five minutes before you came in, and I'm feeling much stronger. I'll probably be back to classes in two days, and I'll be able to do more strenuous activities in about a week."

I noticed the scars littering her freckled arms, and I smiled sadly, knowing most of them would never heal properly. The girl was only eleven and she already was scarred for life.

Not wanting to let my best friend see my sadness, I delved into Holly's behavior and her accusations, saying I'd need help investigating the mysterious Bludgers attacking students.

Victoire came in as I was about to leave and gave us good news; we were switching rooms with two of Holly's goons, putting us into a room with three nice girls named Nimue, Alexa, and Tia. Our trunks had been magically re-packed and moved, and we'd most likely be keeping these sleeping arrangements for the rest of our time at Hogwarts.

I bid my friend a farewell and walked back to the common room with Victoire. She led me to my new room, which was empty at the moment, pointed out my bed, and even helped me magically un-pack so all my clothes were safely in the wardrobe and my sheets were perfectly on my bed.

For about an hour I sat and did homework, the thing I should've been doing today instead of being Seeker and getting attacked by Holly. My glasses were perched on the end of my nose and I was hunched over our Potions book, memorizing ingredients for a tickling potion easily when my new roommates walked in.

They must have been warned of the transfer as well because they greeted me with smiles and friendly introductions. I formally met Nimue Dixon, Alexa Shane, and Tia Bryer, all of whom seemed like classic Aphrodite girls; they had pictures of hot celebrities pinned up by their beds, did their hair and makeup perfectly each morning, and giggled and gossiped constantly, occasionally gently pushing each other when someone mentioned some cute boy in their grade.

I was surprised to hear my brother and Hunter's names mentioned a lot, and, even though the girls were attempting to talk quietly, I heard most of what they said about things happening around the school.

Deciding to block them out, I quickly finished my homework and went to shower. I took me a full fifteen minutes to realize I wasn't allowing myself to get wet, and I just had a huge glob of shampooed hair sitting on top of my head.

The girls appeared to be waiting for me when I got back, and as I braided my wet hair in preparation for bed, they approached me and sat on my bed, making me freeze and stare at them.

"…yes?" I asked when nobody said anything for two minutes.

"Oh, we were just wondering if you could tell us about your brother," Nimue said with a snorting giggle.

"What do you want to know? That he writes poetry and can play the guitar?" Once I saw their awed looks I added, "he doesn't, by the way."

"Just tell us something interesting about him! He's so handsome!" Tia added, twirling her mouse-brown hair.

I let out an exasperated sigh and tried to think of something cool to say about my brother. After a few long, strenuous minutes of thought, I gave them what I could.

"He likes fencing, skateboarding, competitive swimming, and his deepest desire is to help his mom with her architecture business. He doodles building layouts in his free time and helped design the house that we live in today."

They seemed to enjoy hearing that he was smart as well (I was praying that would disgust them) and asked many more questions, ranging from favorite food (Grandma Sally's blue cookies), color (sea-green), and what he was looking for in a girl (that she could breathe. I considered telling them that he'd only like them if they were mermaids, but I really had to decide who I was going to be mean to).

I fell asleep with the girls' chatter in my ears, and I woke up to it as well.

I lazily dressed myself that morning, and I remembered to grab Lily's robes as well since she was getting out today.

The girls asked me more questions before I left, wondering about Orion's favorite animal (hammerhead shark), if he wore reading glasses like I did (affirmative), and how he got his many "hot" scars (I gave them to him. They all shut up after that).

I grabbed the Marauder's Map from underneath my bed, finding and following Lucy's dot as she walked out of the Slytherin Common Room with a small group she appeared to be at the back of. It almost made me feel sorry that she didn't have very many friends.

Holly and her goons were giving me glares as I met up with Hunter and left the common room. I gave them a huge smile, surprising them, and marched happily to the hospital wing.

Lily was up and smiling, ready to change and go get breakfast. We all walked over together, though most of the time I was staring at the Marauder's Map, following Lucy's dot that was apparently heading toward the school entrance.

"I'll see you guys later," I said, running toward the front doors.

It was still early, so the almost-winter sky was very dark. I kept to the shadows, following behind the mysterious girl as she walked toward the lake.

"What do you think you're doing out here?" Madame Batts, who had once been very nice to me, now appeared to dislike me just as much as Headmistress Birdwhistle does.

"I was taking an early-morning walk, something that was never highlighted in the rules. I read that we weren't allowed to be out after nine, but there hasn't been anything about the earliness students can be out. It's something that really should be addressed-"

"Hurry along, Andromeda Grace Jackson- remember that I've always got an eye on you."

For a second I had a vision of a strange, beastly creature striking me down, but my thoughts quickly cleared and I hurried back inside the building, more curious than ever about what was happening in this messed up school.

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