The days that followed were some of the worst in Maribella 's life. The full moon was imminent- her supercilious attitude only escalating with its approach- they had their exams, and she was anxiously awaiting You-Know-Who's attack, that could happen at any moment. Worst of all, and the only thing she'd remember in years to come, was the deranging loneliness she felt. She had gotten to nibble on friendship, only for it to be harshly taken from her, and she had no one but herself to blame. If only she had kept her mouth shut...
They had tried to talk to her, of course. To officially end their friendship, maybe. To berate her for tricking them into developing their bond, most likely. To insult, yell, cower in fear- all feasible and understandable alternatives. But she would never know. Whenever she was approached by either Harry, Ron (she was sure he knew. Harry wouldn't keep such thing from him) or even Hermione, she bolted.
For example, the same evening she had impulsively blurted the truth about her identity. Maribella had hidden herself in the comfort of her blankets, surrounded only by heat and snot, when Hermione walked in the room.
"Mari," she whispered, "come on down, we need to discuss what happened during your detention." Maribella turned away, her back facing her friend, as selfish as ever. She let her eyes flutter closed, and forced her shoulders to move up and down theatrically, mimicking sleep.
"Maribella ," Hermione repeated, "Harry and Ron want to talk."
Maribella let out an excessively dramatic sigh.
"Mari," Hermione tried, this time shaking the other girl slightly. No response, and Hermione walked away.
Neville and even her dormitory companions were all sympathetic, sensing their fall out, but she refused stubbornly their compassion. Never would she be able to nurture a relationship with another individual. Never would she allow herself to be at the mercy of love.
These days, Maribella had her own schedule that she followed fanatically, so to avoid her (ex) friends. She'd wake up early and head to breakfast, having time to only grab a fruit and some milk before the other students arrived. Then she'd find an isolated corridor or classroom in the castle to eat her breakfast in and do some last minute studying. She'd wait for the first bell, the second, and she would rush to take her exams, which now that they were all over, she could affirm she had done horribly in.
In their written exams, she had squirmed and sweated more than she had answered questions. It was nothing compared to her practical exams, though. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across the desk. Maribella felt awkward, waiting for her turn. She'd be called just before Harry (Piccinni, then Potter), and as they waited, the boy was frantically trying to catch her eye. When it was finally her turn, she was so flustered she made her pineapple do some embarrassing breakdancing, ending its performance with snazzy jazz hands. But no tap-dance. Professor McGonagall watched her accidentally transform her rat into a hamster, which Maribella herself thought quite impressive, considering it was advanced-level transfiguration, but the Professor didn't appreciate it as much. She eventually managed to make a plain decorative box and hurried out the door before McGonagall could realize it was squeaking. Their last exam was Potions, and by then Maribella was so exhausted she hadn't even noticed Snape breathing down her neck and managed to hand in an acceptable sample.
After the exams, she would skip out on lunch, obviously. Too many people and too much exposure. Instead, she'd find refuge in the school grounds. Once she even payed a visit to Hagrid, though that had been cut short after the giant happily mentioned her friends, and Mari, as awkward as ever, told him they weren't actually on speaking terms. That particular day, however, she headed to her dormitory. The full moon would shine bright the following night, and if one could judge from Maribella 's disposition during that entire week, it'd be a hard one. She needed her rest. It had been a total of five minutes since she laid down when Hermione burst into their room.
"Wha-"
"Maribella ," Hermione said, grabbing her hand immediately and pulling her up. "You've got to come. Now."
"Hermione, I can't-" Maribella started, pulling her hand back.
"We haven't got the time," Hermione interjected impatiently. "And you're being stupid. They're your friends."
"Were," Maribella corrected. "You don't understand because you were raised by Muggles, but werewolves-"
"Save it, Maribella ," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "I've read all about them. Come on down. Harry and Ron are waiting, it's about the Stone." That caught Maribella's attention. That, along with Hermione's distress, got her to move and walk down the stairs hesitantly.
She found the boys huddled together by the window talking quietly, also looking very troubled. They stopped speaking at once when they spotted her. Hermione stood behind her, arms crossed, waiting to see how everything would play out. Maribella stared at her feet and the boys stared at her.
"Stop it!" Hermione exploded, after a few minutes of silence. "The three of you, stop it now. We have more important matters at hands than this idiotic awkwardness you're provoking. You two!" Hermione whirled around, glaring at Harry and Ron, both of who flinched under her gaze. "Show her what you brought."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and pulled out, from where she didn't know, a plate filled with food. Meats, breads, veggies, it had it all. Maribella 's stomach grumbled at the sight of it.
"We noticed you haven't been eating lunch," Harry said.
"Or Hermione did," Ron corrected. "But this was our idea."
It was such a small action, one that most would believe to be meaningless, but it made her heart soar.
"We wanted to give it to you yesterday, but we couldn't find you," Harry said, and Maribella looked down. That had been her fault.
"We figured you could use the food," said Ron. "I'd miss lunch terribly if I skipped it everyday."
"Yeah, but you're you, Ron," Maribella said in a small voice, but with a small grin on her face. "Us normal people, who aren't famished all the time-"
"You, normal?" Ron snorted. And then he paled, realizing that maybe now wasn't the best time to make such a joke.
But Maribella laughed, enjoying the banter she had missed so much.
"Good," Hermione said, satisfied with their interactions. "Now, you, Maribella . You've got to understand. We know you, we're your friends! We like you for who you are, and nothing will change that, much less you being-"
"Hermione," Harry hissed. The other girl gasped and put her hands over her mouth.
"I'm so sorry," she said, voice shaking. But again, something that would usually make Maribella wary, only made her want to laugh. Finally things felt like they were going to be alright. As long as she had them by her side, she'd willingly face down a thousand full moons. She hugged and thanked each one of them. Then they moved onto more serious matters, and things were back to normal.
"We went down to Hagrid's," said Harry, lowering his voice, "and we figured Snape already knows how to get past Fluffy. He's all set, I can feel it," he said gesturing to his scar.
"And?" Maribella said. "Did you find out how to get past Fluffy?"
"Hagrid wouldn't say," Ron grumbled. Maribella sunk back into her armchair.
"What now?" she asked. Nobody knew what to say.
"Dumbledore," Hermione spoke up suddenly. "We've got to go to Dumbledore. We tried putting it off, but there's no other option."
"Hagrid told the stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort," Harry reasoned. "It must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us." They all agreed.
"Firenze might back us up," Maribella said as they walked out of the portrait hole. "If the other centaurs don't stop him…"
"Yeah," Harry agreed absently. "Where's Dumbledore's office?" They looked around, as though a sign might appear and lead the way.
"I guess we'll just have to-" Harry began, but a voice rang out across the hall.
"What are you four doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall. She gave them a look that just said you are plotting something, and I don't like it. Harry tried explaining as well as he could their situation, but unfortunately he wasn't very good with words and ended up angering the Professor even more.
"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," Professor McGonagall finally said, nostrils flared. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once. He will be back tomorrow. For now, I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine." The finality in her voice was indisputable. Defeated, the four went back to the common room.
"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said as they walked through the portrait hole. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone before Snape."
"You're mad!" exclaimed Ron.
"Harry- it's too dangerous," Maribella said.
"After what McGonagall and Snape said? You'll be expelled!" said Hermione.
"Don't you guys understand?" Harry shouted with so much spite Ron, Hermione, and Maribella simultaneously flinched. "I have to. This isn't about getting expelled, it's bigger than that. If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort might come back! Losing points doesn't matter now, can't you see it? I'm going through the trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me!" Then he started mumbling to himself. "Of course, I just need to find a way of getting past Fluffy… It's just lucky I got the Invisibility Cloak back-"
"Wait," Maribella interjected, "you've got it back? How-"
"Nevermind that," Ron interrupted anxiously. "It isn't important right now. The real question is- will it cover all four of us?"
"All- all four of us?"
"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"
"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful…"
"We still need to get past the dog," said Harry as they watched Hermione walk away.
"We do. Any ideas, Maribella ?" asked Ron.
"None," she replied. "I hadn't even heard of three-headed-dogs before Fluffy."
"What?"
"The other day you said he was just like any other dog!"
"Yeah. A three-headed dog."
"What happened to 'underneath it all he's just a dog like any other'?"
That silenced the girl.
"Fine, fine," she relented. "Let me think." But all her mind could produce was a faint memory: Tesoro, her Kneazle, hissing and running away from a small Crup as it relentlessly chased him. "Well, dogs hate cats," she told the boys.
"Wish we could just use Mrs Norris as bait," Ron muttered. "We'd be doing the school a favor."
"Maybe not Mrs Norris," Maribella said thoughtfully. "Maybe we could distract him by giving him all that meat you brought me."
"Shouldn't you eat it?" Ron asked.
"This is more important," Maribella decided. Then she remembered, "Hagrid told me once that Fluffy was really fond of Muggle classical music."
"Very helpful, Maribella , thanks," Harry said, sarcastically.
"You come up with ideas then, Harry," Maribella said angrily, crossing her arms. "It's the least we can do, you know? And if dogs in general are easily distracted, I'd imagine Fluffy would be the same. Or rather, triple the normal. He has three heads, after all."
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized. "Hagrid gave me a flute for Christmas, I'll just make sure to pocket it as well when I grab the Cloak."
They spent the rest of the afternoon in a corner of the common room, reading passage after passage, writing down information that seemed important, and discussing everything they ought to do to be prepared. They sat apart from the rest of the Gryffindors, and nobody bothered them, still upset about the drastic loss of points. Slowly, the room emptied as the students went to bed. A few minutes later, Harry ran up to his dormitory to grab the Invisibility Cloak and the wooden flute Hagrid had made him, and Maribella got some of the meat. They were ready to leave. They were almost out of the portrait hole when a voice stopped them.
"What are you doing?" Neville appeared from behind an armchair.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, but their faces must've shown guilt, because Neville narrowed his eyes.
"You're going out again."
"We're not Neville," Maribella said, giving him a warm smile. "We're just going to stay up and chat some more. Why don't you go to bed?"
"You're lying," Neville said. "I know you are. You'll go out and get Gryffindor into even more trouble."
"You don't understand," said Harry. "This is important." But Neville's mind was made up.
"No, I won't let you," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll- I'll fight you!" And he brought his hands to his chest, holding them out in fists.
"Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot-"
"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"
"Yeah, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing." He took a step forward. Neville took one back.
"Go on, try to hit me," he said. "I'm ready!"
But it was Hermione who resolved their problem.
"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."
She raised her wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing her wand at Neville. His body went rigid, swaying from side to side before falling flat on the ground, stiff as a board.
They stared at her handiwork. "You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" Ron commented. "Brilliant, but scary."
"What have you done to him?" Maribella whispered.
"It's the full Body-Bind," Hermione explained miserably.
"Nicely executed," Maribella complimented, but Hermione wasn't listening.
"Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry," she wailed.
"You'll understand later, Neville," Ron said.
"Let's go," said Harry.
"We're sorry Neville," Hermione said as they walked by him. "We really are."
They hopped off the portrait, the cool night air caressing their faces. This was it then. They were ready to go.
Second to last chapter already! Oof... Hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far. Reviews are always welcome!