Chapter Six
Innocent Prank
As the weeks past, Alexia's spirits started to dwindle and she seemed to be becoming lonelier by the day. She would often wander during conversations, but she was doing great in all of her classes.
That night at dinner, Alexia didn't return to the Hufflepuff common room. Parvati had last seen her after dinner, but when she had turned around, Alexia was nowhere to be found. Parvati talked to Venefica and they both didn't know where she was.
"Maybe we should check with Linnea, or Breena," said Venefica, "I'm worried about her."
They set off to find Alexia, but little did they know that the others were a step ahead of them. Hari and Breena were set off by Alexia acting funny and wanted to know what was up. They had split up and headed into the castle to find her, and Hari had looked almost everywhere, and finally she decided to check the owlery.
The room was tall and filled with tons of owls. In the corner sat a person, one who was stifling the cries and sobs while writing.
"Excuse me," asked Hari softly, "Are you okay?"
The girl looked up and Hari realized it was Alexia. She looked very different in the darkness, her eyes red with tears, face very flushed, and trembling too.
"Lex." muttered Hari, "What's wrong?"
She didn't say anything; she just looked down at the letter on the ground by her feet.
"I miss them," Alexia whispered.
"Lex." whispered Hari.
She hugged Alexia, and sat down. They started to talk and Alexia told her about how close her and her brother were. She poured out everything to Hari, and by the end, Alexia felt a lot better. Hari glanced at her watch and it was very late.
"C'mon," she said, "Breena will be wondering where we are."
As they went to leave the owlery, a large blob fell from the rafters and hit Hari on the head. It landed with a sick squish noise and a disgusted look crossed her face.
"Ewwwwww!" she squealed, "Lex! Ew! Lex! I just got pooped on!"
Lex turned and saw the mess in Hari's hair. She tried not to laugh and told her to hold still. They left the owlery quickly and went to the bathroom, where Hari washed her hair in the sink.
"Bloody birds are menaces! I swear I'm never going back there again!" she shrieked, "I mean honestly!"
Alexia giggled silently as they made their way to the Hufflepuff common room. Alexia said good-bye and thanked Hari and crawled through the portrait. Inside sat Venefica, Parvati and Lorelei, all looking very worried.
"Lex!" gasped Parvati.
They all tackled her and hugged her tightly.
"What?" she asked, as they got off of her.
"Where were you?" asked Parvati.
"We looked everywhere!" said Venefica.
"You had us so worried." said Lorelei.
Alexia shook her head and smiled.
"I was in the owlery," she said, "I needed some time to myself.but I'm okay."
They didn't look like they believed her, but they all went off to bed, and Alexia slept like she hadn't in weeks.
The next morning was a Saturday in late October. Alexia yawned and when she climbed out of bed she noticed that there were several pumpkins setting around. Today was Halloween.
Alexia stumbled down into the common room where Parvati and Lorelei were sitting playing wizard chess. Alexia plopped down on a chair next to Venefica, who was reading a book. Alexia sighed and Lorelei looked at her.
"Morning Lex." She said, "Ready for Halloween Feast tonight?"
Alexia shrugged. It didn't seem to get her very excited by telling her about the yummy feast that would take place that night.
She spent the day wandering the grounds with Linnea. They hadn't had a chance to really hang out and talk to each other one on one. It made Alexia miss Linnea, and regret that they were in two separate houses.
Linnea had become greatly interested in Quidditch and was excelling at her transfiguration class. As they wandered around the grounds they saw three students standing near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, huddled over a piece of parchment and talking very quietly. Alexia walked towards them and noticed two of them were Hari and Breena.
"Hey guys," Alexia said. Hari looked up and Breena pulled the paper quickly out of site. She had a very guilty look on her face. The other girl quickly ran off and Alexia raised and eyebrow at Hari and Breena.
"What are you two up to?" she asked, sounding very suspicious.
"Why would we be up to anything?" asked Breena, trying to sound innocent.
"You two can't fool me," said Alexia, "You're up to something."
"Don't worry about it," said Hari, "It's none of your concern, Lex."
Alexia looked slightly insulted by the tone of Hari's voice. She had never heard her talk like that before. She sounded very bossy to say the least. Breena could see Alexia was getting a little angry, so she pulled Alexia aside away from Hari and Linnea.
"You don't want to get involved with this Lex," said Breena, "Trust me, stay out of this." There was a look in Breena's eyes that told Alexia to listen to her. Alexia nodded slowly and Breena smiled.
"Trust me," said Breena.
"Okay," whispered Alexia.
Hari and Breena headed back into the castle, but Alexia couldn't help but feel that Breena was comforting her, even though she wasn't there.
Linnea and Alexia returned to the castle around four o'clock. Alexia slowly walked up to the Hufflepuff common room. She climbed through the portrait and into the common room where everyone was eager to go to the Halloween Feast. She wandered up into the dorm room and fell backwards on the bed and sighed. What had they been up to?
"Something wrong?" asked a voice near the entrance to the room.
Alexia quickly sat up and saw Venefica standing near the door.
"Fine." Alexia said shortly.
"You sure?" asked Venefica.
Alexia nodded.
"Okay," said Venefica, "Well, we're heading down to the Great Hall for the feast, wanna come?"
"Yeah," said Alexia.
They headed down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Alexia glanced over her shoulder at Linnea, who was watching the Ravenclaw table. Hari and Breena were once again huddled over the piece of parchment. Lorelei noticed her watching the girls and poked her on the shoulder.
"What are you looking at?" asked Lorelei, passing her the mashed potatoes.
"Huh?" asked Alexia as the large bowl was dropped into her hands, "Oh.nothing."
The feast continued and about half way through, Linnea came over for a moment, and there was a girl standing behind her with dirty blond hair. She smiled at Alexia.
"Hi," she said.
Alexia greeted her and Linnea rolled her eyes.
"This is Ella Chambers," she said, "Ella, this is Alexia Malfoy."
Ella smiled. She was a little over 5 foot and had blond hair and big blue eyes. Ella went to sit back down by Piper and Linnea leaned over.
"What's going to happen," she whispered to Alexia through the corner of her mouth.
"Dunno," said Alexia, "Something big."
Linnea sat back down and Alexia resumed the feast.
It was nearly midnight and Alexia had through maybe her imagination had run away with her and she was just paranoid. As they headed out of the Great Hall, Hari grabbed Alexia's hand and pulled her back
"What the." Alexia started.
She saw Breena had grabbed Linnea's and they all stayed back. They watched as Ashlee, Hades and Jemina exited the Great Hall.
"Now," hissed Hari.
Breena pulled out her wand and whisper a spell. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and there stood Hades, Jemina, and Ashlee, their hair cut very short and standing on end, their robes were gone and replaced with filthy rags and there were bug crawling all over them. Hades hair was bright pink, Jemina's was orange and Ashlee's was neon purple. Jemina screamed at the sight of the others. Alexia and Linnea had nearly doubled over but Breena and Hari pulled them from the Great Hall.
"RUN!" hissed Breena.
Ashlee saw the four of them running and her face contorted.
"COME BACK HERE!" she screamed.
Ashlee went to run after them, but tripped over her tattered clothes and slid across the floor. Hades helped her up, and Ashlee screamed with rage.
"You'll pay for this!" she yelled, "You'll pay dearly!"
They reached the library and Alexia fell to the floor laughing. Linnea was in tears and Hari was smiling triumphantly. Breena gave Hari and high five and smiled proudly.
"Amazing," she said smiling.
"Is that what you were planning?" asked Alexia, slowly stopping her laughter.
Breena and Hari didn't answer, but Alexia knew the answer.
"It was bloody brilliant!" said Linnea excitedly.
"We didn't want you two to get involved," explained Hari.
"Why would we?" asked Linnea.
"Because Ashlee would say you're our friends so you were in on it," said Breena.
"She'll probably still take it out on us," said Alexia.
Breena shrugged. She figured that one way or another it would happen.
Breena took Alexia to her common room, telling her that Ashlee might still be upset from the whole ordeal. Breena looked at Alexia, who was still laughing about what had happened.
"It was classic," said Alexia.
"Yeah," said Breena, "Lex, listen."
Alexia stopped at looked at Breena.
"What?" she asked.
Breena was about to say something but Parvati came walking out of the portrait.
"There you are Lex!" she exclaimed.
"See ya," said Breena.
She turned around and walked off. Alexia blinked, very confused, and walked into the common room. She ignored Parvati and when they got into the dorm Alexia lost it.
"Why did you have to do that?" asked Alexia.
"Do what?" asked Parvati.
"Barge in!" blurted out Alexia.
"I didn't barge in," said Parvati, "I was looking for you. If that's so wrong then sue me!"
Parvati stormed from the dorm and Alexia threw her shoe at the door.
"That's not called for," Alexia muttered.
"What's the big deal?" asked a soft voice.
Alexia looked at the bed to the right of the door. There sat Verity, had she been there the whole time.
"Breena was going to tell me something," said Alexia, "But Parvati barged in."
"I don't think Parvati meant it," said Verity.
"Well Breena might have had something important to say," said Alexia.
Verity shook her head.
"It's not worth it to ruin a friendship over something small," said Verity, leaving the common room.
Alexia flopped down onto the bed and closed her eyes. What had she just done? Had she just ruined a friendship over something stupid?
Innocent Prank
As the weeks past, Alexia's spirits started to dwindle and she seemed to be becoming lonelier by the day. She would often wander during conversations, but she was doing great in all of her classes.
That night at dinner, Alexia didn't return to the Hufflepuff common room. Parvati had last seen her after dinner, but when she had turned around, Alexia was nowhere to be found. Parvati talked to Venefica and they both didn't know where she was.
"Maybe we should check with Linnea, or Breena," said Venefica, "I'm worried about her."
They set off to find Alexia, but little did they know that the others were a step ahead of them. Hari and Breena were set off by Alexia acting funny and wanted to know what was up. They had split up and headed into the castle to find her, and Hari had looked almost everywhere, and finally she decided to check the owlery.
The room was tall and filled with tons of owls. In the corner sat a person, one who was stifling the cries and sobs while writing.
"Excuse me," asked Hari softly, "Are you okay?"
The girl looked up and Hari realized it was Alexia. She looked very different in the darkness, her eyes red with tears, face very flushed, and trembling too.
"Lex." muttered Hari, "What's wrong?"
She didn't say anything; she just looked down at the letter on the ground by her feet.
"I miss them," Alexia whispered.
"Lex." whispered Hari.
She hugged Alexia, and sat down. They started to talk and Alexia told her about how close her and her brother were. She poured out everything to Hari, and by the end, Alexia felt a lot better. Hari glanced at her watch and it was very late.
"C'mon," she said, "Breena will be wondering where we are."
As they went to leave the owlery, a large blob fell from the rafters and hit Hari on the head. It landed with a sick squish noise and a disgusted look crossed her face.
"Ewwwwww!" she squealed, "Lex! Ew! Lex! I just got pooped on!"
Lex turned and saw the mess in Hari's hair. She tried not to laugh and told her to hold still. They left the owlery quickly and went to the bathroom, where Hari washed her hair in the sink.
"Bloody birds are menaces! I swear I'm never going back there again!" she shrieked, "I mean honestly!"
Alexia giggled silently as they made their way to the Hufflepuff common room. Alexia said good-bye and thanked Hari and crawled through the portrait. Inside sat Venefica, Parvati and Lorelei, all looking very worried.
"Lex!" gasped Parvati.
They all tackled her and hugged her tightly.
"What?" she asked, as they got off of her.
"Where were you?" asked Parvati.
"We looked everywhere!" said Venefica.
"You had us so worried." said Lorelei.
Alexia shook her head and smiled.
"I was in the owlery," she said, "I needed some time to myself.but I'm okay."
They didn't look like they believed her, but they all went off to bed, and Alexia slept like she hadn't in weeks.
The next morning was a Saturday in late October. Alexia yawned and when she climbed out of bed she noticed that there were several pumpkins setting around. Today was Halloween.
Alexia stumbled down into the common room where Parvati and Lorelei were sitting playing wizard chess. Alexia plopped down on a chair next to Venefica, who was reading a book. Alexia sighed and Lorelei looked at her.
"Morning Lex." She said, "Ready for Halloween Feast tonight?"
Alexia shrugged. It didn't seem to get her very excited by telling her about the yummy feast that would take place that night.
She spent the day wandering the grounds with Linnea. They hadn't had a chance to really hang out and talk to each other one on one. It made Alexia miss Linnea, and regret that they were in two separate houses.
Linnea had become greatly interested in Quidditch and was excelling at her transfiguration class. As they wandered around the grounds they saw three students standing near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, huddled over a piece of parchment and talking very quietly. Alexia walked towards them and noticed two of them were Hari and Breena.
"Hey guys," Alexia said. Hari looked up and Breena pulled the paper quickly out of site. She had a very guilty look on her face. The other girl quickly ran off and Alexia raised and eyebrow at Hari and Breena.
"What are you two up to?" she asked, sounding very suspicious.
"Why would we be up to anything?" asked Breena, trying to sound innocent.
"You two can't fool me," said Alexia, "You're up to something."
"Don't worry about it," said Hari, "It's none of your concern, Lex."
Alexia looked slightly insulted by the tone of Hari's voice. She had never heard her talk like that before. She sounded very bossy to say the least. Breena could see Alexia was getting a little angry, so she pulled Alexia aside away from Hari and Linnea.
"You don't want to get involved with this Lex," said Breena, "Trust me, stay out of this." There was a look in Breena's eyes that told Alexia to listen to her. Alexia nodded slowly and Breena smiled.
"Trust me," said Breena.
"Okay," whispered Alexia.
Hari and Breena headed back into the castle, but Alexia couldn't help but feel that Breena was comforting her, even though she wasn't there.
Linnea and Alexia returned to the castle around four o'clock. Alexia slowly walked up to the Hufflepuff common room. She climbed through the portrait and into the common room where everyone was eager to go to the Halloween Feast. She wandered up into the dorm room and fell backwards on the bed and sighed. What had they been up to?
"Something wrong?" asked a voice near the entrance to the room.
Alexia quickly sat up and saw Venefica standing near the door.
"Fine." Alexia said shortly.
"You sure?" asked Venefica.
Alexia nodded.
"Okay," said Venefica, "Well, we're heading down to the Great Hall for the feast, wanna come?"
"Yeah," said Alexia.
They headed down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Alexia glanced over her shoulder at Linnea, who was watching the Ravenclaw table. Hari and Breena were once again huddled over the piece of parchment. Lorelei noticed her watching the girls and poked her on the shoulder.
"What are you looking at?" asked Lorelei, passing her the mashed potatoes.
"Huh?" asked Alexia as the large bowl was dropped into her hands, "Oh.nothing."
The feast continued and about half way through, Linnea came over for a moment, and there was a girl standing behind her with dirty blond hair. She smiled at Alexia.
"Hi," she said.
Alexia greeted her and Linnea rolled her eyes.
"This is Ella Chambers," she said, "Ella, this is Alexia Malfoy."
Ella smiled. She was a little over 5 foot and had blond hair and big blue eyes. Ella went to sit back down by Piper and Linnea leaned over.
"What's going to happen," she whispered to Alexia through the corner of her mouth.
"Dunno," said Alexia, "Something big."
Linnea sat back down and Alexia resumed the feast.
It was nearly midnight and Alexia had through maybe her imagination had run away with her and she was just paranoid. As they headed out of the Great Hall, Hari grabbed Alexia's hand and pulled her back
"What the." Alexia started.
She saw Breena had grabbed Linnea's and they all stayed back. They watched as Ashlee, Hades and Jemina exited the Great Hall.
"Now," hissed Hari.
Breena pulled out her wand and whisper a spell. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and there stood Hades, Jemina, and Ashlee, their hair cut very short and standing on end, their robes were gone and replaced with filthy rags and there were bug crawling all over them. Hades hair was bright pink, Jemina's was orange and Ashlee's was neon purple. Jemina screamed at the sight of the others. Alexia and Linnea had nearly doubled over but Breena and Hari pulled them from the Great Hall.
"RUN!" hissed Breena.
Ashlee saw the four of them running and her face contorted.
"COME BACK HERE!" she screamed.
Ashlee went to run after them, but tripped over her tattered clothes and slid across the floor. Hades helped her up, and Ashlee screamed with rage.
"You'll pay for this!" she yelled, "You'll pay dearly!"
They reached the library and Alexia fell to the floor laughing. Linnea was in tears and Hari was smiling triumphantly. Breena gave Hari and high five and smiled proudly.
"Amazing," she said smiling.
"Is that what you were planning?" asked Alexia, slowly stopping her laughter.
Breena and Hari didn't answer, but Alexia knew the answer.
"It was bloody brilliant!" said Linnea excitedly.
"We didn't want you two to get involved," explained Hari.
"Why would we?" asked Linnea.
"Because Ashlee would say you're our friends so you were in on it," said Breena.
"She'll probably still take it out on us," said Alexia.
Breena shrugged. She figured that one way or another it would happen.
Breena took Alexia to her common room, telling her that Ashlee might still be upset from the whole ordeal. Breena looked at Alexia, who was still laughing about what had happened.
"It was classic," said Alexia.
"Yeah," said Breena, "Lex, listen."
Alexia stopped at looked at Breena.
"What?" she asked.
Breena was about to say something but Parvati came walking out of the portrait.
"There you are Lex!" she exclaimed.
"See ya," said Breena.
She turned around and walked off. Alexia blinked, very confused, and walked into the common room. She ignored Parvati and when they got into the dorm Alexia lost it.
"Why did you have to do that?" asked Alexia.
"Do what?" asked Parvati.
"Barge in!" blurted out Alexia.
"I didn't barge in," said Parvati, "I was looking for you. If that's so wrong then sue me!"
Parvati stormed from the dorm and Alexia threw her shoe at the door.
"That's not called for," Alexia muttered.
"What's the big deal?" asked a soft voice.
Alexia looked at the bed to the right of the door. There sat Verity, had she been there the whole time.
"Breena was going to tell me something," said Alexia, "But Parvati barged in."
"I don't think Parvati meant it," said Verity.
"Well Breena might have had something important to say," said Alexia.
Verity shook her head.
"It's not worth it to ruin a friendship over something small," said Verity, leaving the common room.
Alexia flopped down onto the bed and closed her eyes. What had she just done? Had she just ruined a friendship over something stupid?