Chapter 8
Beginning of Fourth Year
"ANCIENT RUNES SUCKS ASS." Rapunzel threw herself onto her bed in the girls' dormitory. Belle was painting her toenails, and enchanting objects to fly at Rose, who was practicing for the upcoming Ravenclaw Quidditch Team tryouts. She laughed as she sent a bottle of perfume Rose's way.
"You should've thought of that before you signed up for it two years ago. Do you realize that only, like, ten kids took the class again this year?"
"Well, yeah, but I didn't realize that it would be so much harder this year. Would it really kill a person to just pretend to tolerate me for like two seconds?" Rapunzel sighed into her pillow.
Rose swatted the perfume bottle away, smashing it against the wall. "What about Beckett? Isn't he in the class?"
"Rose! That was my bottle of Daisy by Marc Jacobs!" Belle levitated the broken pieces back and quickly melded them back together with a simple charm. "Look before you smash!"
"You're the one who threw it…" Rapunzel could hear Rose muttering as she cleaned up the perfume.
"Beckett's in the class, but I didn't realize he was such a catch. The only thing he's talked to me about is the translation of 'I'll see you after class' into runes." She sat up, pulling up all of her hair onto the bed so Rose would trip on it. It had grown even more since the Potters' summer party, and with Gothel calling her every weekend to sing (for which Rapunzel would lock herself in the Astronomy tower so no one could see her hair glow) it had become long enough that now she could practically swing herself across the Great Hall using it as a rope if she wanted to.
"What a douche." Belle blew on her toenails, flying a balled-up shirt at Rose. "I had higher expectations for him. Come over here." She patted the bed spot in front of her. "I'll braid your hair for you."
Rapunzel smiled gratefully, gathering her hair and sitting down in front of Belle. It was nice to forget that she was cursed for a bit and just sit with the people who liked her for who she was. This must be what it's like to feel normal.
Rose hit the balled-up shirt with such force, that it hit the young girl who was opening the door to their room right in the face. Rose yelled, and ran over as Rapunzel froze up and Belle continued to braid, not noticing or caring that someone had walked in.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Rose took the shirt from the young girl's face, and led her in. The young girl smiled.
"I-I'm alright. I just heard that-uh, that-" She stuttered, looking down at the ground. She was a first-year, one of the new Ravenclaws that had just been admitted. Rapunzel recognized her from the Welcome Banquet. She had eaten a large amount of creampuffs, and Rapunzel had predicted at the time that she would throw it all up by the end of the dinner, which Belle had countered saying that if she was eating that many, she must be skilled in the art of eating and therefore knew what she was doing. To Belle's distress and loss of three pounds, the first-year did throw up, but to the three friends' great delight, she managed to projectile vomit all over Scorpius Malfoy, who had been talking to the girl's friend.
"That what?" Belle didn't look up from braiding, and Rapunzel sensed that she didn't like the first year. Belle wasn't one to dislike people for no reason, and her lack of warmth towards the girl was putting Rapunzel even more on edge.
"That, well, that Rose Weasley was a Ravenclaw, and I wanted to meet her." She beamed at Rose, who gave an uncomfortable smile back.
"Well, I'm her. Looks like you found me. Congratulations. Goodbye now." Rose tried to slightly nudge the girl out, but she stepped further in. Rapunzel realized that the girl's arms were behind her back, and had been there since the second she walked into the room.
"Your room is so cool! I can't believe I actually got to meet you! Wow, I hope I can dorm with you in the future!" The first year kept walking in, getting closer to the center of the room.
How had she opened the door without magic if her arms were behind her back?
"RAPUNZEL GET DOWN!" Belle shoved Rapunzel off the bed and dove off herself as the first year flung a bucket of purple enchanted paint at Rapunzel. Rapunzel acted too late, only managing to escape the paint being thrown on her face. Her hair became the prime target.
"Get the hell out of our room, you little shit!" Rose's face started turning red as she whipped her wand out and started pushing the first year out of the room at an alarming rate. The first year glared at Rapunzel as she was forced out of the room.
"You don't deserve to be friends with a Weasley, you mutant rat! Dirty scum! You belong in Azkab-"
Rose managed to shove the girl out before she could finish her sentence, then turned to see what damage had been done to Rapunzel's hair.
"Are you okay, Goldie?" She rushed to Rapunzel, who was trying to prevent her eyes from watering.
"I'm so sorry Punzie! I tried to get you away, but I saw it coming too late, and God, I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" Belle started checking Rapunzel for any other injuries as Rose gathered up her hair.
"Yeah, yeah, uhm, I just need to find a bathroom for my hair, that's all." She smiled at the two, taking her hair from Rose and standing up, heading for the door. "Don't want to clog up the shower here with my hair again, that's for sure." She laughed weakly, opening and closing the door behind her. She walked slowly through the Common Room, as various Ravenclaw students snuck laughs behind their books.
Rapunzel straightened her back, holding armfuls of her now-purple hair, praying that she would make it to the door without any trouble. A trail of her hair followed behind her, not enough to trip anyone, but enough for someone to-
"Ah!"
-trip her.
She got up quickly to the raucous laughter that followed her fall. She had felt the purple paint from her hair rub off on her face, and walked as quickly as she could to the door. She knew from previous experience that running was a sign of weakness.
However, once she made it outside the Common Room, she sprinted for her life down the halls. I need a bathroom, I NEED a bathroom…
The tears she had held back earlier came welling up as she passed snickering student after snickering student. Countless "You deserve it!" and "Thank God someone knocked her back into her place at the bottom of society" followed wherever she went, and Rapunzel couldn't take it anymore.
I need a bathroom, please, please! I need one! Get me away from here! Get me away!
She tripped over a piece of her hair again, and was willing to stay curled up on the floor until someone decided it would be fun to practice curses on her, but she saw a door appear at the end of the hallway she was in.
She stood up slowly, wiping tears from her purple cheeks, and pulled open the heavy wooden doors to reveal an incredibly large, beautiful bathroom.
There were floor to ceiling arched windows behind a magnificently large footed bathtub. A tall vanity mirror with a foot stool and a long counter were there, as well as every brushing tool Rapunzel could imagine. Plush towels hung on a rack by the bathtub, and soap and shampoo of every kind as well. It was heaven.
She managed to clean herself of the purple paint on her skin, but her hair was a different problem. No matter how many times Rapunzel shampooed and conditioned her hair, the paint refused to leave. It seemed to get more matted into her hair each time she tried.
Fed up with the paint, she dried herself off, changed into the lovely new, not-purple Hogwarts uniform with matching clean Ravenclaw tie and sat in front of the vanity mirror.
The purple in her hair ran from her head to halfway point in her hair, the end of it being too far away from the paint to have been touched when it was first thrown. Since her hair had been partially braided as well, it kind of looked like Rapunzel had decided one drunken night to dye her hair purple.
That is to say, it wasn't something Rapunzel could pass off as a new trend. Not that anyone would follow a mutant trend.
The sun flowing in through the windows was very warm, and Rapunzel felt herself getting drowsy. I'll just fix it when I wake up…it's not like sleeping is going to make it worse.
She layed her head down on the vanity, cuddling it with her arms, and fell asleep. Her purple hair dried in the golden sunlight.
"What the hell?"