It was Thursday. The Gryffindors and Slytherins in their year had a free period, so Louise, Daphne and Pansy were walking down the corridor, on their way to meet the boys. Neville Longbottom was walking the opposite way and Louise gave him a friendly smile as he hastily walked past them. Louise was surprised, she had always got on with Neville when she had been in Gryffindor...
Seeing the puzzled expression on her best friend's face, Pansy reminded her "it's because your the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange"
Realisation dawned on Louise's face and she clamped a hand across her mouth, looking horrified. "He must be terrified of me!" she gasped.
"It's okay, most of the school are scared of us" Daphne soothed.
Pansy nodded. "Once they find out who our parents are, that's it" she added.
Louise's eyes were sad. "It shouldn't be like this" she sighed.
They joined the boys under a tree near the Black Lake. Slipping his arm around the shoulders of his girlfriend, Theodore asked her "Hey...what's wrong?"
She sighed and explained what happened with Neville.
"Why do you care what Longbottom thinks of you?" Blaise asked, sounding bewildered. Theodore glared at him and he held up his hands. "I didn't mean it to sound like that, I was just asking" he added hastily.
Daphne elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs. "Don't be so thick-headed" she told him impatiently. "It just shook Lou a little, it was the first time she's had any interaction whatsoever with any Gryffindors since she became one of us!"
Louise shot her best friend a grateful smile.
Theodore gave his girlfriend a concerned look. "You are happy with your new life though, aren't you?" he asked, sounding worried.
Louise nodded, leaning against her boyfriend, who instinctively tightened the arm he had around her. "I'm so much happier now; I actually feel like I belong with you guys...it's just, I never thought I'd get looks of pure terror from the people who, this time last year, I was friends with" she sighed.
Theodore gave her an encouraging smile. "It's going to be okay" he promised her as he gently kissed the top of her head. "You've got us now"
As the others voiced their agreements to his statement, Theodore lowered hid voice, murmuring to Louise "and I don't plan on letting you go"