Splinched
The Life and Times of Tracey Davis
Chapter Five
By Granny Adams
Despite much protestation on my part, the days soldiered on quite slowly that month. Actively ignoring someone really takes it toll- as does analyzing potential companions. The pact I made to myself that night, 'New friends, or certain death' never strayed far from my thoughts. Naturally, Pansy and I were "still on good terms", or whatever the hell that meant. It was counterfeit, and she and I both knew it. However it seemed convenient to continue acting as though I thought she was wonderful. It was obvious where her allegiance really lie. I wasn't blind after all. I could see Pansy and Daphne talking together, giggling, whispering: the entire 'we're best mates' act. I won't lie, it was a tad infuriating. Actually, it was repulsive.
For once in my entire life, however, I found that course-work came more easily to me. I suppose when you have nothing else to do, education isn't a terrible alternative. And so, I wrote my papers dutifully, and studied occasionally for that short period at the beginning of the year. At my lowest point, things seemed to be looking up, in a different way. Though, I reminded myself, I was no closer to finding friends or a love interest and therefore, there was no real success.
"I still don't see the Crab Nebula," said my Astronomy partner one evening. The sky had just darkened completely, and the moon was no where to be seen. It was perfectly cloudless, a bit of a brisk wind blew; there were perfect stargazing conditions.
"It's.. Well, you see, it's-" I mumbled, leafing through my Astronomy text while he was occupied peering into the telescope.
At that time, it didn't help my "newly-found focus on education" when Theodore Nott was assigned my partner in Astronomy. It also didn't help that I found joy in making him think that I was a great Astronomy-buff. I'll admit that it was slightly manipulative of me, but saying that I actually fooled him would be an insult to his intelligence. I suspect that he knew all along, and was simply humoring me. Nevertheless, I took on this role with alarming fervor.
"Tracey-" I looked up immediately, and found him drawing slowly away from the Telescope. "Can I ask you something?" He remained staring out into the distance, his profile illuminated by the flaming torch that sat by the doorway leading back into the castle. Something inside me leaped, and then nestled quickly back into its place; I regained my composure.
"Yes?" I told him, my eyebrows rose. He broke into a smile and absently scratched the back of his head.
"Don't look so concerned, it's nothing, really." I nodded as my curiosity piqued. He turned to me, and I had to choke back a flood of laughter. There was a vivid black ring around his right eye and in my mind, I was reeling. Faints of my internal laughter began to surface. I kept stony face- a rapidly splintering stone, that is- until I couldn't help but snigger.
"What?" He furrowed his eyebrows, further spreading the ink around his eyes. I clasped my hand over my mouth as the laughter became audible, and I could practically feel the dirty looks upon my back.
"You have ink on your face," I told him once I could speak. His concern turned to bemusement, and he reached up to feel his eye. Once his fingertips came back with a black stain, he broke into a smile and gave a hearty laugh. A rain of shushing emanated from all around, but that only further incensed us. I turned back to look, and several other people had that same ink ring around their eyes. Our laughter increased, though more furious and strangled as we turned our backs to them.
He gave me a sly smile, looked up and raised his finger, as if a sudden rain was just about to fall. Then, a few moments later, we heard a scream and a snarl as other people began to realize that they'd been inked. We simply couldn't contain ourselves, and I laughed harder than I had in recent memory. Through gasps for breath and all the commotion, I managed to tell him, "I saw Peeves coming away from the tower earlier!"
By then, Professor Sinistra had been alerted to the mass hysteria that was now overtaking her class. She ushered everyone back inside the castle and commanded that those who were unclean should go wash off, and that class was dismissed. Absolutely fuming, she tore down the stairs ahead of us, muttering under her breath wildly.
"If I said that I wouldn't want to be Peeves right now, would that be at all trite?" He asked me with a Very Serious expression plastered all over his face.
"It might," I told him expertly, matching his weightiness.
"Hm," He thought aloud, "Then in that case it goes without saying."
"I suppose so," I trailed off. That question remained unasked, and I felt the curiosity building again, this time stronger than before. I opened my mouth to speak again, but then closed it. His eyes were elsewhere, following the trace of the walls and the suits of armor as we ambled back to the Common Room. He would ask me when he remembered, I surmised. It wasn't something urgent, after all.. But that terrible little part of me wondered if it was. That terrible, hopeful part of me ran laps around my mind, filling it with thoughts like: "Tracey, have you heard that I am dating Millicent? If so, that is a complete and utter untruth. How could I ever fancy such a cow?" I quickly stopped myself before my delusions became too advanced; knowing my luck it would probably be more akin to "Can I borrow a quill?"
His thoughts seemed to consume him for the entire walk, and not a word was spoken until he bid me "goodnight" as he head for his dormitory and I mine. I groaned and slumped against the door before entering my dorm, knowing that this question would plague me until I was finally asked. Just then, I could hear muted words coming from inside, and so I pressed my ear against the door, straining to hear.
"—BLOODY TURNCOAT –I –––– BITCH!"
It was Daphne's voice. All the emotions, the happiness and curiousity, fell into the pit of my very soul, and I only knew hatred. She was poisoning them all against me, I knew it. There was nothing beneath her; she was set and bound to ruin me. What lies had she spread already? And more importantly, who would be so dense as to believe her?
Tomorrow, I would have to find out. It would all come back to me anyway, knowing how 'reliably' secrets were kept around school.
I bit my lip, stood up, and opened the door hastily. Pansy and Millicent sat, turned in to face Daphne on her bed. Thank goodness that Daphne's back was to the entrance, because I wouldn't have wanted her to see the hurt expression that unknowingly had crept onto my face. The curtains were drawn in Francine's bed- at least she was decent enough to not participate in such cruel activities. I rushed to my four-poster, yanking a night gown from the open trunk and then practically falling over myself hurrying to the bathroom. I shut myself in, locked the door, and could hear the whispers resuming shortly afterward.
(Hello, good reader! It's been a while since I've picked up the proverbial Writer's Pen mostly because I've been having some kind of crisis involving the English language. Hopefully writing this will be therapeutic for me, as well as entertaining for you. Feedback is adored, as always.)