Beauregard either hated her, children in general, or he was a sadist. Gardenia was leaning toward all three.
Lying on the grass of the Quidditch pitch, exhausted beyond belief, Gardenia questioned, not for the first time, her decision to join the team.
"You alright there, firstie?" Mackenzie's head appeared above her.
"I can't feel my legs."
The older girl laughed and extended a hand for Gardenia to grab onto as she pulled her up.
"The first few weeks are tough, but you'll get used to it in no time at all."
"I think Beauregard might want to make me hate Quidditch," Gardenia commented, dusting off her training clothes.
"Archie is a tough coach, but he means well," Mackenzie replied. "He's building up your stamina right now, and then he'll start with the more specific training. A Quidditch game can last for hours, and you need to be able to not tire out after just a few minutes."
Gardenia nodded, Mackenzie's explanation made sense and brought a little bit of sanity to all the exercises she'd been put through for the last three weeks, but it would've been nice if Beauregard had told her the purpose of it, instead of just making her run laps across the Quidditch pitch(which was ginormous when compared to a football field) until she dropped.
Mackenzie seemed to read what she was thinking from the look in her face because the girl chuckled and patted Gardenia on the shoulder. "Archie forgets that other people don't automatically reach the same conclusion as him, he probably just thought there was no reason to explain."
"So, he's socially inept?"
This time, Mackenzie laughed, her eyes shining. "You could say that."
Heidi and Cedric, the other two first years in the reserve team, followed a more general training along with the main team, not being required to do as well since they were new to the regime. Gardenia, on the other hand, was to follow a set of exercises created by Beauregard, since she got in to eventually replace him, and he wanted to make sure she was up to the standard. She was a bit resentful of that, if only for how sore her muscles were after each training, but she understood why. Every other position was filled with people who would still be at Hogwarts for at least another year, while they would be left without a Keeper in the next year.
Did that make her any less annoyed at Beauregard and his methods? Not really, but she was at trying to understand his reasons.
She headed to the changing rooms with Mackenzie by her side, the older girl venting about her classes while Gardenia listened, nodding at the appropriate times. The sixth-year shared a dorm with her cousin and her mentor, so Gardenia was amused by her recounting of events that involved Nymphadora and Penny.
"Do you think I can still drop out of N.E.W.T level Potions?" Mackenzie asked after a particular rant about Snape.
"I have no idea," Gardenia responded. "But you don't need that class to become an Auror?"
"Yes, but Tonks managed to get detention for a month with Snape and he's even meaner to us now."
Gardenia frowned, she hadn't seen her cousin at dinner the previous evening, or this morning. "How did Dora manage a month of detention with Snape? Did she blow up a cauldron?"
Mackenzie shook her head. "While I don't like the consequences of it, I have to admit it was brilliant," she smirked, lowering her voice as if telling a secret. "Tonks morphed herself into Snape, and taught the class for a few minutes in a ridiculous impersonation of him before the real Snape arrived."
Eyes widening, Gardenia choked on a laugh. "I can't believe she did that."
"Most of us were fooled for a bit, I caught on after five million points were taken from Gryffindor because Weasley sneezed."
Giving up on containing her amusement, laughter spewed from Gardenia, Mackenzie joining in. She had to admit, while she hadn't expected that, it wasn't all that surprising, considering it was Nymphadora they were talking about here.
They were the last people to arrive in the change rooms, Chiara was leaving and Heidi was brushing her hair when they got there, Applebee and Fairchild probably still in the showers going by the running water that could be heard.
Gardenia quickly made her way to one of the available showers, knowing Heidi would wait for her so they could grab breakfast together. It was thankfully a Saturday, so no need to rush so they wouldn't be late to class, but Gardenia didn't want to dally for too long, during the weekend people tended to get up later than usual and she didn't want Heidi to have to fight someone for pancakes. Again.
While she usually preferred taking showers at night, she had to make an exception during the days she had training, otherwise, she'd be smelly and uncomfortable for the whole day. Another thing that annoyed her about this new routine in her life, but one she could get used to.
After she changed into her normal clothes, dripping hair going down hair back and wetting her sweater, Gardenia sat beside Heidi and began to try her best to dry her hair with the towel. She wished the spell for that wasn't so difficult, her mother had tried teaching her but Gardenia accidentally singed the ends of her hair and decided it has best not to try again until she improved a bit in her spell work.
"I can help you with that if you want."
She looked up to see Fairchild, looking impeccable in a blouse and skirt, along with perfectly styled hair, soft brown curls resting upon her shoulders.
"That'd be great, thank you," Gardenia answered, glad to not have to suffer wet hair in a chilly morning.
Fairchild didn't say anything as she went behind Gardenia, gathering her hair and brushing it with the comb she took from her hand. With the towel on the bench beside her, Gardenia felt the warm sensation of the drying spell as Fairchild cast it, her hair now falling softly down her back, no longer wet.
Gardenia smiled and took back the comb. "Thank you so much, I can't for the life of me do that spell correctly."
"It's no problem," Fairchild replied, going back to her locker and gathering her belongings, closing the door of the compartment.
A girl of few words, unless quidditch was involved, but she seemed nice enough. At least she talked to them, unlike Applebee, who Gardenia thought would've been more welcoming considering their closer age, but if anything, was the most distant of the whole team, including Beauregard. At least the co-captain talked to them and seemed like he was friends with most of the sixth years on the team.
The other rather prickly member of their team was Murphy, the beater who did indeed hold grudges and almost knocked Gardenia out of her broom with a bludger during their first practice. He had seemed apologetic, she couldn't help but think it was payback for her throwing him off balance during tryouts. But even without that incident, he was rather snappy at her and didn't seem overly fond of anyone, or anything, with the exception of Quidditch.
As she and Heidi made their way to the Great Hall, they passed Chiara heading toward Professor's Sprout's office, and Gardenia questioned Heidi about it.
"Is she in any trouble?"
Heidi shook her head. "She's got an important family thing, she's heading home via Floo for the weekend."
She hoped it was nothing bad had happened to warrant her going home, but if Heidi didn't seem too worried about it, then it probably wasn't anything too serious. At least she wasn't in the same amount of trouble Nymphadora currently was.
In the Hufflepuff table, Annabel was sitting alone but had two plates of pancakes along with her own. She gave each of them one, and Gardenia narrowed her eyes at her. Annabel was more sneaky then she appeared, knowing that while Gardenia didn't like eating in the mornings, she needed sustenance after exercising, and was too much of softie to make her efforts of saving a coveted food in their table be for naught.
Begrudgingly accepting the plate, she sat down, making herself a warm cup of coffee while Heidi wasted no time in digging into the food.
Gardenia had a mission, and that was to avoid every single ghost at Hogwarts for the entirety of her school years.
Until now, that had not been particularly hard, the ghosts didn't spend a lot of time among the living, and she could easily go to another corridor when walking through the castle to avoid one if she saw them. Professor Binns was another matter entirely, she had been worried during the first day of classes, but soon realized he was so out of tune with the world her presence went unnoticed.
Halloween, however, changed things.
Something about the day made the barrier between the living and the dead weaker, and the phantoms became more active and more in touch with their surroundings. This made Gardenia's self-appointed mission exponentially harder, and so, during the thirty first of October, Gardenia decided to fake an illness and spend the day burrowed under her covers.
"You're ill? On Halloween?" Heidi practically whined, clearly disappointed in Gardenia's inability to stay healthy during what she considered to be the best of all holidays.
"Yes, now leave me alone," Gardenia grumbled, burrowing herself further into her bedding.
To make sure she would not risk being outed, Gardenia had gone the extra mile to ensure her unwell being. She sneaked out during the night, opened a window in the common room, and let the cold breeze freeze her into numbness. That wasn't guaranteed to make her sick, so she added in a self-inflicted jinx for good measure.
"But you'll miss the Halloween Feast!"
Gardenia didn't respond, face down on her pillow.
"Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing?" Annabel said, sitting down in the bed beside Gardenia and gently turning her face up, and feeling her forehead for a fever. "You're not burning up, but you do feel a little warm."
The idea wasn't all that bad, in the Hospital Wing, if she did end up facing a ghost, she would be able to either pretend unconsciousness or scream loud enough that Madam Pomfrey came to her rescue. At least then she would have a legitimate excuse for skipping class.
"Yeah, do that, you might be well enough for the feast if you go now!"
Annabel and Heidi accompanied her to the Hospital Wing, the former looking worried and the latter impatient, wanting to get there as fast as possible so Gardenia could get cured and leave.
Gardenia ended up managing to convince Madam Pomfrey she was truly unwell, and after a Pepper-up Potion, she was allowed to stay in the Hospital Wing for the night. She had an inkling it was mostly because Madam Pomfrey didn't think any eleven-year-old would pretend to be sick to miss the Halloween Feast.
It was now evening, the feast in full swing, and she was by herself, Madam Pomfrey had given her a bowl of soup and some crackers before heading to the Great Hall.
She was staring at the ceiling, trying and failing to count the cracks in it since it was high enough that none were visible, while regretting her decision to refuse a Sleeping Draught.
"I was told there was someone like you this year, but I did not believe it until seeing it by myself."
Gardenia was startled by the sudden appearance next to her cot and quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Scoffing, the phantom got closer. "You can't fool me, girl."
Gardenia did not want to face the ghost that was most likely right in front of her, but curiosity got the best of her, and she peaked a glance.
The figure was more solid than what she would expect of a ghost, but given the day of the year, that was to be expected. It was a woman, her long dark hair reaching her waist, and her clothes looking very antiquated, medieval, even by Wizarding standards. The color of her dress was not easy to tell, but it was light, except for a very dark patch in her abdomen, where a dark stain was.
"Do not fret, I only wish to speak with you."
Gardenia decided the best course of action was to simply give in and talk to the damn ghost. She seemed determined to have a conversation, and better now when they were alone than in a corridor filled with people.
She opened her eyes, and sat up straight in the bed, using her pillow as a backrest. "Why the interest in speaking to a measly first year?"
The ghost raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased. "Do not pretend ignorance, dear. You are well aware as to the reason."
Sighing, Gardenia had a feeling this one would not surrender to any attempts of misdirection. "How do you know?"
"The dead can sense death, even if it was not permanent."
"Should I be worried about half the school finding out by morning?" Gardenia inquired, that being her biggest fear at the moment.
The ghost look offended by such an insinuation. "Why of course not! One should never reveal other's secrets, most notably when it concerns such a thing as past lives! It would be the height of dishonor."
"Pardon me for not being well versed in the etiquette of the dead."
Noting the sarcasm laced words, the ghost glared at her.
"Reincarnation is a rare occurrence, but it is a topic considered sacrosanct among any who have lost their lives." Her voice was soft, even slightly morose, and she had a sad smile on her lips. "Tell me, child, what is your name?"
"Gardenia Fawley." She was tempted to add a 'pleased to meet you', but had a feeling it wouldn't come out very genuine.
"I am Lady Judith, it is a pleasure to meet you." She sat on the end of Gardenia's bed, technically still hovering over it, but mimicking the act.
Gardenia couldn't look away from her, she was very beautiful, but her features were defeated, tired even. She had clearly been a lady, it wasn't just a title, she was sitting poised as one would expect a queen to do, and her gaze made Gardenia want to curl up on herself.
"Is reincarnation common, if there are rules concerning it among ghosts?" Gardenia decided to ask, her curiosity winning.
"Not particularly, you're only the fifth student in all the time I've been here that is an old soul."
"And how long have you been here?"
Lady Judith regarded her with a pointed gaze, a silent reprimand for her rudeness. "Around eight centuries."
That made sense, given the medieval garments. Five people, including her, in eight hundred years? That wasn't a lot, but knowing it wasn't something exclusive to her made her feel better. Gardenia doubted any of them had knowledge of future events because they read a book, but who knows. Maybe someone was reincarnated as a witch in the sixteenth century with knowledge of things that wouldn't happen in her lifetime, that ought to be annoying.
"Do you know if they remembered anything from before?"
"I was not well acquainted with any of them, the most recent is quite hard to talk to," Lady Judith sounded annoyed, "He threatened to exorcise all of us if we tried to talk to him again! The gall of that boy, it's quite rude to mention that practice around ghosts you know."
Wait a minute, did she refer to him in the present tense? He is hard to talk to? Gardenia's eyes widened, and she leaned forward in excitement.
"He's still alive? That last one?"
Lady Judith froze, noticing her slip up. "I cannot divulge such things."
"Oh please, couldn't you bend the rules just this once? I'm also a reincarnated soul, so it wouldn't be exactly a breach to tell me."
"I'm afraid it would, considering this person has never given permission for his information to be divulged," Lady Judith countered.
Gardenia huffed, the death code seemed nice at first, but now she wished it wasn't a thing.
"Can't you at least give me a clue? In what year did he graduate?"
Lady Judith seemed composed, as one would expect of an eight hundred year ghost who used to be nobility, but Gardenia could sense she was a little put off by her slip. "I cannot."
She narrowed her eyes at the phantom, trying to decide how to proceed. Gardenia couldn't very well just move on after finding out she could actually meet someone that was sort of in the same situation as her. Books on the topic were something she had only ever perused in the book shop, too afraid to buy one and have her mother question the reason.
Gardenia had looked at a few about past lives in the library at Hogwarts, but all there was were mentions of people in the past that had proclaimed to have lived before, many seemingly a farse, and there was virtually nothing about why it happened, or how.
"Can't because it's against the rules?" Gardenia questioned, paying attention to Lady Judith's reaction.
The ghost hesitated, very slightly, but hesitated all the same. "Yes, it's not for me to tell."
"Or maybe you can't tell me that because he hasn't graduated yet?"
Jackpot.
The exasperation on Lady Judith's eyes was clear, Gardenia could tell she'd annoyed her, but tried her luck one more time. "What House?"
Lady Judith didn't respond, simply looked away, and Gardenia decided to relent.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to antagonize you," Gardenia said, after a brief moment of silence. Judith was staring at one of the windows, facing away from Gardenia. "It's just, even the idea of finding someone in the same situation as me—" she shrugged, not sure of how to phrase her feelings. "—I'd like that."
She grimaced at her poor excuse of an explanation, she wasn't as articulate as she would like to be. When talking to eleven-year-olds, it seemed easier, but Gardenia felt somewhat uneasy in the presence of the ghost, someone who had been around for so long, and on top of it, knew exactly what Gardenia was.
Lady Judith sighed, or at least, acted the motion of sighing, and turned back to her. "I understand that feeling," she said, features softening. "When I first died, I was alone, a sole ghost in my village. It wasn't until decades later that I made my way to Hogwarts, where I finally understood what had happened to me, and came to terms with it."
"You didn't know you were a ghost?"
She shook her head. "I knew I was dead, but no one could see me, no matter how much I tried," Gardenia tried imagining how that must've felt like, and couldn't help the frown that marred her face at the thought. "It wasn't until I met a young witch who could see me, and followed her to Hogwarts, that I finally understood."
"You were a muggleborn?"
"Yes, not that I knew that, of course. I was taught to hide my abilities from the first moment they appeared, and never developed much as a witch." Seeing the look on Gardenia's face, Lady Judith raised an eyebrow. "Do not feel sorry for me, girl. I had a joyful life, even if it did not involve magic."
"It's not that," Gardenia corrected. "I know you don't need magic to be happy. I'm thinking about how you were alone for so long, not knowing what had happened to you. I can relate, in a way."
Lady Judith stared at her, her brows slightly furrowed, almost as if she was putting a puzzle together.
"You are more pleasant then I was expecting," she ended up saying after a few moments.
Gardenia raised an eyebrow. "Was that a compliment?"
"I suppose it can be taken that way."
"You know, if you have to question if a compliment is one or not, that means it's not a very good one," Gardenia said.
A soft laugh left the ghost, her eyes crinkling, and for the first time, Gardenia was struck by how young Lady Judith truly had been. At first, she thought maybe she'd been in her late twenties, her face tired and morose, but when she laughed, she barely looked out of her teenage years. A pang of sorrow cursed through Gardenia, and she wondered what had happened that not only killed her, but also made her look so melancholy.
"That is true, I shall endeavor to improve in those."
"You're not too bad yourself, Lady Judith."
"It seems I'm not alone in giving poor compliments," she said, a small smile still present. "You may call me Judith, child."
"And you may call me by my actual name."
"Perhaps," Judith replied, not looking very eager to comply with the request.
In the distance, footsteps could be heard, and Gardenia knew that the feast had probably ended.
Coming to the same conclusion as her, Judith stood up, making a motion to brush down her skirt, a mannerism she didn't need anymore, but was most likely ingrained in her. "I shall take my leave, lest someone question my reason for being here."
"It was nice meeting you," Gardenia said, finding she actually did mean her words.
"Likewise, dear. I am always around, should you ever need me," Judith mentioned. "And you have my word no one shall discover your secret."
Gardenia nodded and thanked her. Judith smiled once more before disappearing through one of the walls, just in time for the Hospital Wing's doors to open.
Laying back down, Gardenia contemplated her encounter with the ghost, glad to have her worries sated, and rather happy she wouldn't have to miss the Halloween feast in the future. She was rather looking forward to dancing skeletons, although the prospect of a troll wasn't very appealing. Maybe she'd fake being sick again in two years.
"Lie down here, Miss Warrington," Madam Pomfrey said, her voice reaching through the curtain between Gardenia's cot and the rest of the room.
Sitting up and opening the curtain partially, Gardenia was greeted to the sight of her Slytherin friend, or at least what she assumed was Celeste, considering instead of her head, there was a pumpkin. A boy she knew to be her twin, Cassius, was assisting his sister into lying down, his face impassive save for his clenched jaw.
"What happened?"
Her question brought his attention toward her, and he gave her an unimpressed look. "She was jinxed."
Gardenia rolled her eyes, not fond of the condescending tone his voice carried. "Yes, I can see that. I mean, how did it happen?"
"Someone cast it on her, you know, waving their wand and saying the spell," Warrington replied, and Celeste hit him in the arm, a silent reproach.
"Stop being difficult and tell me," Gardenia requested, now annoyed.
"I don't see how it's any of your business."
"Celeste is my friend, and I'd like to know why she was jinxed."
Celeste pinched her brother in the arm, obviously displeased by his attitude, and he winced.
Looking reluctant, a final slap on his hand made him explain. "Some girls jinxed her while she was making her way to the common room, I don't know why or who."
"Was it so hard?" Gardenia asked, making Warrington glare at her.
Madam Pomfrey returned with a few rags and a knife, and Warrington looked at her questionably. "Is there not a spell to remove the pumpkin?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Warrington. The only way to remove it safely is to carve it until she can take her head out of it," the matron explained. "The Melofors jinx encases the victim's head with a pumpkin, so to get rid of it you have to remove it either by hand or a vanishing spell, and I'd rather not have any of Miss Warrington's face vanished along with it."
Gardenia grimaced at the thought, noticing Warrington doing the same. "Can I help in any way?"
"You can help me carve the pumpkin if you'd like, but you better be agile with your hands unless you want to risk cutting your sister."
Warrington stepped back at that, not confidant enough in his abilities. Gardenia, on the other hand, decided to offer her assistance.
"I can help, I'm pretty nifty with a knife," she said, getting up and walking to her friend.
Madam Pomfrey, noticing her for the first time since coming back, looked at her. "Are you feeling better, Miss Fawley?"
"Oh yes, I slept a bit after eating and I'm much better now."
Warrington, who wasn't looking very happy about not being of any use other than moral support, looked skeptical at her offer. "I'm not sure I trust you to not maim my sister, Fawley."
Celeste tried swatting his arm again but missed the mark since he was now standing further away from her.
"I can assure you I'll do no such thing. Do you want Celeste to spend any more time than she already has with a pumpkin on her head?" At his silence, Gardenia nodded. "Then let me help."
He sighed, crossing his arms. "I'll be paying close attention to you."
"Be my guest."
While Madam Pomfrey worked on Celeste's front, Gardenia sat behind her friend and began cutting away parts of the pumpkin, carefully holding her dark hair out of the way. She could feel Warrington's eyes glaring into the side of her head, attentively looking out for any mistakes she might make.
Ignoring him, Gardenia concentrated on the task at hand, and soon she and Madam Pomfrey managed to get Celeste's head out of the pumpkin.
Her skin was sticky with the insides of the fruit, the hair close to the scalp looking like it had been coated with a gel. Madam Pomfrey handed Celeste some cloth to clean her face.
"Would you like to tell me exactly what happened, Miss Warrington?"
Celeste didn't look like she wanted to, but after a particular look from her brother, she complied.
"Some older Slytherin girls cornered me after the feast, one of them decided I didn't look festive enough and said she knew exactly how to fix that," Celeste admitted, looking at her hands which were folded in her lap, avoiding everyone's gaze.
"Have they bothered you before?" Warrington asked, his voice hard, and he looked ready to duel someone after she nodded. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I can handle it by myself!" Celeste exclaimed, finally dragging her gaze upwards to look at him. "If I go asking my brother's help for every single thing, no one's going to respect me."
Warrington didn't look happy about it but didn't say anything more.
"You should've reported it to your head of House as soon as it began, Miss Warrington," Madam Pomfrey reprimanded, but her eyes held a warm gleam. "But I understand that can often make things worse, and you were reluctant to do so."
Celeste looked at the matron, surprised she wasn't being scolded.
"I won't report this incident to Professor Snape, but I expect you do so yourself if anything happens again, and should you return to the Hospital Wing under similar circumstances, I'll be having words with your head of House."
At Celeste's nod of understanding, Madam Pomfrey smiled. "Good. Now, you can stay here for the night if you'd like, you can wash up in the loo in my office on that side of the wing. Mr. Warrington, you may stay for a maximum of twenty minutes, after that I expect you to return to your common room." She then looked at Gardenia, who had stayed sitting behind Celeste. "And you, Miss Fawley, return to your own bed and rest."
Gardenia readily complied, and Madam Pomfrey left to procure clothes for Celeste after she decided to stay for the night.
"Do you want help cleaning up?" Gardenia inquired.
Celeste smiled at her but shook her head. "I'll be fine, thank you."
As she made her way toward the adjacent room, Gardenia was left in the uncomfortable company of the less agreeable Warrington, much to her growing displeasure.
After what seemed like a few minutes of silence, he decided to break it. "How are you friends with my sister?"
Gardenia spared a glance at him, not really understanding the question. "By liking her, and her liking me? I'm sorry, do you not understand the concept of friendship?"
He looked at her with what could only be described as annoyance. "I do understand it, thank you. What I don't understand is how Celeste became friends with a blood-traitor Hufflepuff."
Gardenia groaned. "Oh please, don't tell me you're one of those Slytherins."
"What do you mean by that?" Warrington questioned defensively.
"You know, the prejudiced elitist ones, who despise every other House and anyone who is not pureblood," she explained and shrugged. "Basically, the image a lot of people have of you lot being evil slimy gits."
Warrington scoffed. "I am not like that."
"Really? Could've fooled me." Gardenia sighed. "If you're not, why are you so shocked we're friends?"
Warrington didn't answer at first, and Gardenia almost thought he wasn't going to.
"While I am not like that, the people whose good graces we have to stay in are," he revealed, pointedly not looking at her. "Celeste making friends with someone such as yourself—" Warrington shrugged. "—it's not advisable, and she knows it."
Gardenia had a feeling he wasn't talking about their Slytherin peers, who, even if some were the stereotypical bigot that would shun anyone deemed unworthy(she had to admit stereotypes sometimes proved true, as much as she despised them), probably didn't hold that much leeway with these twins.
She contemplated how to respond, not having a clear picture of the situation, the information he'd told her wasn't enough to piece everything together, so Gardenia could only guess. "Maybe she thinks she doesn't have anything to fear here at Hogwarts, where the only one who can tattle is also the person she trusts more than anyone."
Warrington looked at her then, and she had no clue what was going through his mind, his face a completely blank slate. She didn't like that, not having any indication of how someone was feeling.
"Maybe that's why," he agreed, staying quiet for a brief moment before shaking his head and giving her a scathing look. "But anyhow, I don't see how it's worth it."
And just like that, any sympathy Gardenia had felt vanish as quickly as it had appeared. "Yes, I can see you not understanding the purpose of friendship, even if you think you know what it is."
Warrington was now glaring at her, and she could tell he was about to say something, but Celeste returned, face clean and hair wet, having also changed into the clothes Gardenia assumed Madam Pomfrey had gotten for her, and whatever he was about to say died in his lips.
Gardenia looked away from the irritating Slytherin and smiled at the pleasant one. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better," Celeste answered, and sat down in her cot. "You can go now, Cas, I'm alright."
"You still haven't told me the names of the girls that jinxed you," Warrington reminded her.
"And I'm not going to." At his raised eyebrow, she sighed. "I don't want you to protect me from every single thing, I need to be independent."
"This wasn't just a spat Celeste, someone jinxed you. This time it was a pumpkin in your head, what if the next time it's something much worse?"
Gardenia had to admit he had a fair point, not that she would ever admit it in his presence.
"Even so, I don't want your meddling. I know exactly what you'll do if you know their names, and it most certainly won't help me."
He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but Madam Pomfrey's time limit had been reached, and the matron was sitting at her desk and looking from him to the clock in the wall, a clear unspoken message. "We'll talk about this later."
As Warrington left, Gardenia couldn't help but notice how much nicer the Hospital Wing's atmosphere became, and she had to wonder how such different people shared a womb for nine months.
"Sorry about Cassius, he can be a bit much," Celeste said, turning so she was lying down facing Gardenia.
"It's alright." Gardenia turned on her cot as well, so it was easier to talk. She wondered how long Madam Pomfrey would let them chat before forcibly drawing the curtains and ordering them to sleep, so she decided to make the most of it while she could. "He was right though, about the girls."
"I know, but Cassius would most likely intimidate them with vague threats, and try to ostracize them, which would probably work to make them stop, but also make people think I can't defend myself and need my brother to do it for me." Gardenia probably looked astounded, because Celeste laughed at her expression. "Slytherin is a bit different from Hufflepuff."
"You can say that again," Gardenia murmured, and Celeste laughed once more. "How do you plan on dealing with them, then?"
Celeste averted her gaze, her brows furrowed. "I'm not sure."
Gardenia brainstormed a few ideas, from what she could tell, Slytherins were rather fond of proving their worth, so involving authority figures wouldn't do much good. She doubts Celeste can do what her brother can, otherwise she'd probably have done it already. She didn't have much experience with dealing with bullies, but she knew a great way of making people rethink messing with you.
She grinned at her friend. "I think I have the perfect solution."
Celeste looked at her curiously, and Gardenia told her in hushed tones, just in case Madam Pomfrey could hear them.
When Madam Pomfrey told tell to stop talking and get some rest, closing the curtain between their cots, the outline of a plan has been agreed upon, and both girls went to sleep with grins on their faces.
As Gardenia fell asleep, she made a mental note to talk to the other set of twins she knew, because they would need their help if they wanted to accomplish what she had in mind.
this took longer then I wanted it to, but my muse decided to take a vacation and leave me without the inspiration to write.
she came back though, and I'm rather happy with how this chapter turned out. It was supposed to have one more scene in it, but I decided it fit better with the next chapter, and this one would be a way too long with it.
also, for anyone that uses the desktop mode, this story has a new cover! I spent way too much time in photoshop for a cover that doesn't even fit in the size ffn provides, but it was mostly for fun, and why not use it right? it's better suited for someplace like Wattpad in terms of layout but I don't like posting there, so yeah
for anyone who wants to see the full-size image, there's a link in my bio, I tried just about everything but the link only works in the ffn app, so if you don't have that downloaded, you can check it on my tumblr edits-blue
or get the link from the AO3 version of this story
thank you for reading, and until next time!
