Hermione had acquired the permission slip from Lockhart with ease and had collected the book titled Moste Potente Potions from Madam Pince that afternoon. Bella had decided she wanted nothing to do with their outrageous plan and so she found herself sitting alone at her usual table in the library while her friends schemed in their dormitory. As always when she was alone in the library she was joined by Draco not long after she arrived.
"Can I help you?" She asked, not looking away from the book she was reading.
"Where are your batty friends this time?" He asked.
"Planning ways to get you expelled." She answered.
Draco spluttered while Bella chuckled behind her book.
"Seriously?!" He asked.
"I'm kidding." Bella laughed.
Draco glared at her while she continued to read. A thought crossed her mind and she decided that now, in the nearly empty library, was the best time to voice it.
"Can I ask you something?" She raised her eyes to look at him as she spoke.
"Sure." Draco said skeptically.
"Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Draco sighed as he rubbed his face.
"I thought you were going to ask me something serious."
"This is serious!"
"No, I don't know anything about the chamber. Did you honestly think I had something to do with that?"
"No, I didn't, but other people do."
"Your brother and your friends?"
"You can't blame them, you did call Hermione a mudblood last year."
"That doesn't mean that I'm going around the school trying to kill them."
Bella sighed. She had known that Draco wasn't the heir of Slytherin but she was worried about what would happen with this plan her friends had.
"So you don't know anything at all?"
"No. I'm as clueless as you."
This helped to settle Bella's nerves. She knew that no matter what happened her friends would finally soon realise that Draco had nothing to do with it.
Draco left shortly after their discussion and Bella stayed in the library until it closed just before curfew. She had been hoping to avoid any arguments with her friends about Draco or the Polyjuice potion but she had no such luck as she found them all huddled around the large potions book on Hermione's bed.
"Where have you been?" Ron asked.
"The library." Bella commented dryly, dropping her stuff onto the bed.
Bella looked through her drawers for her pyjamas as the group whispered things behind her. She rolled her eyes as she heard the words 'Draco', 'common room', and 'polyjuice' thrown around. With a loud, exaggerated sigh Bella trudged into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She couldn't believe they were still going through with this stupid plan! With heavy frustration Bella pulled her school uniform off and her pyjamas on as she fought not to scream, she really thought that they would believe her when she told them Draco wasn't the heir but she should have known, they would always believe the worst in him.
"What's your problem?" Ron asked the second the bathroom door was opened.
"I would have thought you would know by now." Bella sneered.
"You don't still have a problem with the polyjuice, do you?" Emily asked.
"Of course I do!" Bella cried. "Not only is it an invasion of privacy but it's illegal!"
"Invasion of privacy?! Bella, someone attacked Mrs Norris and I would bet my life it was Malfoy!" Ron fumed.
"How many times do I need to tell you?! It's not him!" Bella yelled.
"How do you know it's not him?!" Ron yelled back.
"I just do, okay!" Bella defended.
When no one said a word in response Bella huffed in frustration and grabbed her blanket from the bottom of her bed, dragging it behind her to the common room.
"What's got your knickers in a twist little sis?" Fred asked from behind her at the foot of the staircase.
"Ron being an arse again." She growled, pushing through the common room to the sofa and dropping into it.
"What's new?" George teased as they stood in front of their angry little sister.
"I'm fed up of him and they're all on his side so I'm sleeping down here." Bella huffed.
"This couch is lumpy." Fred commented.
"Better a lumpy couch than another argument."
Fred and George sat on the lumpy couch with Bella until she could no longer keep her eyes open, falling asleep on Fred's shoulder.
When she awoke a few hours later it took her a few seconds to realise she wasn't in her dorm but in the common room. She moved her feet slightly and instead of hitting the arm of the sofa they collided with someone's leg. Bella shot up from her position on the sofa and had to rub her eyes to see she was looking at a sleeping Seamus. He groaned in his sleep and groggily opened his eyes.
"Whatsamatter?"
Bella chucked at him and she moved backwards to rest her back against the arm of the sofa.
"You gave me a fright, I wasn't expecting you." Bella answered.
"Well I wasn't going to leave you down here all by yourself, was I?" Seamus spoke with a voice laced with tiredness.
Bella smiled as she turned on the sofa and lay back against Seamus. He wrapped his arm around her middle and she drifted back to sleep with the scents of sandalwood in her nostrils.
