Brittany's POV
Brittany attempted to read the letter again to make sure that she understood everything correctly, but all she could do was staring blankly on the piece of paper in her hand.
After a long minute, she came back inside her room.
"Britt, what's wrong? You look like you've seen Voldemort," Courtney asked right away.
"It's… I… Headmaster… it's…," Brittany had a hard time to reply properly.
It took a few seconds for her cousin to get up from the bed and took the letter from her hand, and Brittany felt worse when Courtney mumbled 'Holy shite', 'Bloody hell' or 'Jesus Christ' while she was reading.
"Court, you're not helping," Brittany groaned.
"Sorry," Courtney said and tried to comfort her. "I got suspended like this before. It's not that bad, Britt."
"It's bad," Brittany argued and waved the phone in her hand. "I can't use it now."
The older girl took the phone from her hand instantly and turned it on with ease.
She explained. "That's because you thought of calling Santana or your friends here, right?"
Brittany nodded, so the other girl continued. "It'll work if you call anyone else that doesn't go to US Hogwarts."
"Oh," Brittany acknowledged the information. "So what happens if I write?"
"Owls just won't fly away."
"What if I use the Floo Network?"
"Trust me. You don't wanna do that," Courtney said firmly. "I tried to Floo to Sugar's house once when I was suspended, and I ended up getting stuck in the system for ten whole minutes before I got kicked out back here. There was nothing but green in my eyes, Britt."
"Merlin."
"And then I got suspended one more week after trying to break the rule for the third time."
Brittany sighed and quickly came up with a solution.
"You can text them and deliver my messages, right?"
"Ugh," Courtney whined, which confirmed that Brittany was right. "I can do that from my phone, but I'm not sexting Santana for you."
"No sexting," Brittany assured her. "Just text Santana and Rachel to let them know I'm suspended for throwing the quidditch match, and I'll see them two weeks from now."
"What about your other besties?"
"They don't have any phones, so I guess Rachel will tell them."
"I see," Courtney said and tapped on her phone skillfully.
"And tell Rachel I'm sorry that I threw the match, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell her and our friends about it."
"All right. Done," the older girl did so and asked. "So what's gonna happen when I go back to England?"
"I may need your help to talk to them, but I promise I won't ask too often."
"Oh, you poor sweet Brittany," Courtney suddenly sounded twenty years older than her actual age. "You know I'll do anything for you."
Brittany was going to hug her cousin when Courtney's phone made a beep sound.
The green-eyed girl quickly checked on her phone and said. "Okay. Rachel wants you to take a deep breath and said, well, this is long: 'It's going to be okay, Brittany. Don't panic. However, we can't say that we're not upset about what you did, but you're suspended and it must be hard for you already. You're one of our best friends and we can only offer you forgiveness. We'll see you when you're back, and we will definitely take notes in class so you can see them later. Love, Rachel and Mercedes. :)'. Aw, they're so sweet."
The message made Brittany feel so grateful for such great friends like them and made her day a lot better. Santana had not replied the message, but Brittany knew she was with her family. She knew Santana was going to do one of the bravest things she would do in her life, and she hoped her day would be okay, too.
1 week later
Santana's POV
She did it. She finally did it.
That night at the hotel, they ordered in and had dinner in the living room section. Her mother knew her cue to leave, and Santana was left facing her grandmother at the table.
She had practiced what to say so many times, but it was still nerve-wracking to do it. She started by saying she liked girls and prepared for abuela's reaction that never came. So she continued.
She let her know that she was telling her about who she was because she loved her. She let her know she had a girlfriend whom she loved, and how happy she was right now.
It took all the courage in her bones to look at her grandmother the whole time when she was speaking, but it went in vain when the old lady's eyes were at everywhere but her.
There was a long silence that felt too long. When Santana asked her to say something, she received a disgusted look, one that she never expected from a family member.
It had been a week since that night, but Santana still remembered every word abuela said afterwards.
"I'm disappointed in you, Santana. It's selfish of you to make me feel uncomfortable by your sin. I want you to leave here tomorrow and I never want to see you again."
Without any more words, the lady left to her room with a loud bang when she closed the door.
Santana sat there and her body started to shake uncontrollably. After a while, she reached for her phone only to found out that Brittany was suspended. Tears started to form in her eyes when her mother came back into the room.
"It's okay, mija. I'm here. I love you," her mother said.
She put her arms around Santana, and the girl's crying turned into a sob.
Her mother reminded her that she was loved. She had her mother, Brittany and her friends by her side, but it was still so hard that one of the people she loved the most pushed her away.
She let Brittany know what happened by texting Courtney, but did not say how she felt to spare her the worry and because she would rather talk to her girlfriend alone.
Brittany knew anyway and replied her with a long sweet message with various emoticons, which brought a smile to Santana's face when she thought it was not possible.
A few messages from Brittany during the week brightened up her days gradually, but she knew a huge challenge was waiting for her at school.
As expected, everybody already knew what happened along with the fact that she was dating Brittany. Sneaky glances and whispers from students from both Houses annoyed her, but they did not bother her as much as when her housemates called her a betrayer for dating someone from the rival House, or when they congratulated her for manipulating Brittany to throw the game for her.
"I thought you were a lezzie when you were making out with Blondie at Yule Ball. I didn't know it was your plan all along. Good job, Cap," Dave Karofsky said and offered her a high-five at their dining table, which was not returned. "Can you trick her to do the same for three more matches?"
"I didn't trick her to do anything, Dave," Santana muttered under her breath.
"So you're really a lezzie, then," Karofsky replied and turned to Azimio. "Dude, you heard that?"
Azimio whistled in return like she was not there.
If it were a different situation, Santana would be happy to come up with a harsh response, but right now she was just too tired.
It was Quinn who came to her rescue.
"Shut up and leave her alone," the blonde said.
Santana gave her teammates a glare to make sure they did as Quinn said. She, then, turned her face away from them and was distracted by Finn Hudson, who was looking at her from across the hall. He looked away as soon as he saw her returning the gaze.
She learned from Brittany that the boy knew everything. But Brittany vouched for him that he was not the one who told Headmaster Figgins, so Santana tried her best not to blame him for outing her.
One more. One more asshole talking to me and I swear I'll walk right there. Santana told herself.
It did not take long until Josh Coleman, a fifth year student from her House, walked by and offered to cure her.
Santana got up right away and made a straight line to where Finn was sitting. Quinn was hot on her trail.
The boy lifted his hands up defensively and spoke.
"I swear I didn't…"
Santana cut him off. "Explain."
"I knew you guys were dating and she threw the game for you. Then, I confronted her about it. But I promised not to tell Headmaster yet because we didn't wanna out you."
"But you did out me anyway," Santana argued. "And you got my girlfriend suspended!"
She had just realized she called Brittany her girlfriend for the first time in public, and it actually felt good. But she was not going to thank Finn or anyone for making her week a living hell.
Before Finn could reply, Kurt chimed in.
"I'm sorry everyone is gossiping or making fun of you, Santana. I know how hard it is," he continued. "And I love Brittany. But to be fair, she cheated and she has to deal with the consequence."
"He has a point," Quinn spoke for the first time since she arrived at the White House tables.
Santana turned swiftly to look at her. "I thought you were here to support me."
"I am. I just shot death stares to anyone who might say the wrong things to you on the way over here. You didn't notice?" Quinn said.
The Latina rolled her eyes and turned to Finn.
"Fine. I'm not gonna blame you, Hudson. I just want more details so I can find out who the hell told Headmaster Figgins."
"I don't know," the boy replied defeatedly. "We were talking in a hallway at the hospital. There were a few people there, but I don't think I know them."
"You need to think harder," Santana insisted.
"So what? What are you gonna do to that person when you find out who it was?" Finn asked.
Santana really had no answer. She only wanted to know the truth.
A voice came from behind her. "Yeah, Santana. What are you gonna do to me?"
It was Hunter Clarington, a fifth year student from Pentagon. As usual, the fourth year boys named Clint and Thad accompanied him.
They were three of her least favorite students in school. They were kind of people who usually got what they wanted and made a big deal when they did not, and Santana wished they were not in the same House as her.
When Santana was chosen to be the Seeker of her House's quidditch team, Hunter was rejected. And last year, he was rejected again by Santana herself when he applied to be a substitute. She let him know that the only reason she did not let him in the team was because he was not a good player. They barely crossed paths until today, and she was not surprised that he had held a grudge against her all along.
"So it was you," Santana said and folded her arms. "I should have known."
"I actually have to give the credit to a friend of a friend of a friend who overheard the juicy gossip at the hospital," Hunter said shamelessly.
"So what?" Santana retorted back. "I'm not ashamed of who I am. All you did was making me annoyed by those assholes who don't know how to mind their own freaking business."
Clint and Thad started to laugh, which made Santana fear for what might happen next.
"Oh, you haven't seen the best part of it yet," Hunter said smugly. He turned to the double doors behind him and continued. "Right on time."
An owl flew in with a red envelope in its mouth and Santana froze. It dropped the letter above her, and the red object started to talk without wasting any second.
SANTANA! JUST WHEN I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T DISAPPOINT ME MORE,
YOU JUST WENT AHEAD AND EMBARRASS ME TOO!
Alma Lopez's voice reverberated to the ceiling and back.
"You don't have to listen to it, S," Quinn suggested, but Santana could not move.
Her fists were clenching when the howler proceeded the rest of the message.
I WAS AT A PARTY LAST NIGHT AND EVERYONE ASKED ABOUT YOU!
MIRANDA CLARINGTON ASKED ME HOW I COULD LET SUCH THING HAPPEN
AND I JUST HAD TO TELL HER I DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH YOU ANYMORE.
SOME EVEN COMPLIMENTED ME FOR BEING A COOL MODERN GRANDMA
WITH A HOMOSEXUAL GRANDDAUGHTER!
'COOL MODERN GRANDMA'?! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!
I WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU PUT ME THROUGH
AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU HEARD ME CORRECTLY THE LAST TIME
I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN
The red letter tore itself apart and fell on the floor. The whole room was quiet until Hunter and his friends started laughing and some of other students from both Houses joined them.
It was not the first time abuela sent a howler to her. She got them a few times when she caused some trouble in the past. But this time she knew she did not deserve it. She knew she did not do anything wrong.
"What's wrong, Lopez? Ghoul got your tongue?" Hunter asked and stepped closer to her. He faked a whisper to his friends after he took a close look at her. "Guys, I think she's crying."
Santana did not realize hot tears were falling down her face until she heard his words.
Thad repeated what his senior friend said with a louder voice. "Santana Lopez is crying!"
She had never felt worse in her entire life, except the day she lost Maxine. She hated feeling weak and helpless. And she wanted to get out of here.
She started to move forward, but the three boys blocked her way.
It took her by surprise when Finn got up and pushed Hunter away, and she was sure Quinn punched Thad in the face when she started running.
Judging from the sound behind, it seemed like a fist fight had started.
She should stay. As a Prefect, she should stop it. But all she wanted to do was to run away, run away and never come back.
A/N: Sorry for disappearing again. Work and school is so hectic, and I have to admit that I'm kinda focusing on my other fic these days, so I truly apologize for that. I think I spent the whole week for this chapter. It never took this long, but I was kinda short on concentration this time.
Anyway, originally, I wanted Finn to be the one who outed Santana maliciously, but then I felt like I should change what the show did, so it became Hunter (Tbh, I really didn't like the Warblers, so here I am, villainizing them). And don't worry about Santana. She's gonna be fine and she's gonna come back stronger than ever. :)