Neville barely slept at all that night as his mind raced with visions of Trinity and Seamus kissing. He just stared up at the ceiling for a better part of the night. After he grew tired of thinking about it, he tried to do some homework by using the light of his wand. The other boys in his dorm didn't care since they were usually heavy sleepers. He sighed after the homework didn't help ease his mind of his troubles.
Soon enough, light started to shine through the windows, letting everyone know it was morning once again at Hogwarts. Neville quickly dressed for the day and made his way down to the common room. Luckily for Neville, Trinity was already on the sofa reading a book. He loved how she could be so predictable at times by studying almost every morning in the common room before breakfast.
Neville plopped down on the sofa next to Trinity. "Are you still mad at me?" He asked while looking at her.
Trinity sighed and closed her book shut. "It's not that I'm mad at you, it's just sometimes you are so stupid." She replied.
"Well, I know I've never been that smart. You've always been smarter than me." Neville replied, not sure if he should be hurt by her statement or not.
"That's not what I meant. You're not stupid. I just mean that sometimes you are kind of clueless." She explained. "It's like Luna has become your new best friend all of a sudden."
"That's not true!" He exclaimed. "You're my best friend and always will be. She was actually helping me make a birthday gift for you."
Trinity looked at him with surprise. "Really?"
"Yes," he replied simply. "I'm not very crafty and she is kind of helping me make the gift for you."
"You know I don't care about how it looks. It's the thought that counts and you don't have to get me anything." A sigh escaped from Trinity's lips. "Plus, I find it hard to believe that you need Luna's help that much. You spend so much time with her and it's like I barely see you. I feel like I've been replaced."
Neville felt shocked by her statement. "What?!" He exclaimed. "I could never replace you!"
"I don't really have time for this right now," she stated before standing up from the sofa. "I'm going to go eat some breakfast." With that said, Trinity left the common room and headed for the Great Hall. She sat at the Gryffindor table next to Seamus since he was already seated there. He greeted her with a huge smile as she sat down.
Trinity didn't say anything to Seamus when she sat down. Her mind was still reeling from the conversation Neville and her had earlier in the common room. A part of her wanted to forgive him for hanging out with Luna, but another part wondered if he was telling the absolute truth. He may have said that he needed Luna's help with making a birthday gift, but on some level, he had to like spending time with her. The past few months he had spent most of his free time with Luna and it definitely did not take that much time to make a simple birthday gift.
Plus, Neville had never been much for giving really fancy gifts. He had always gone simple and bought Trinity candy or a book that she wanted, never a homemade gift. On top of that, Trinity had never wanted anything really fancy. It bothered her when she received a really nice gift from someone and had given just a plain gift to that person. After all, Neville had been her best friend for years now, so she didn't see the need for him to impress her at this point.
After a few minutes of Trinity's silence, Seamus began to worry. He looked at her, trying to read her emotions but he couldn't. "Is something troubling you?" He asked politely, hoping that she would express her worries to him, even though they had just started talking and getting to know each other.
"Just more friend troubles." She admitted quietly as she picked at a bit of food on her plate with her fork.
Seamus glanced around, looking for Neville since he knew it was him that was causing her problems. He found Neville entering the Great Hall, a bit of grimness on his face as he walked over to the Gryffindor table, a slight slouch in his walk as if he felt bad. Seamus just smirked at Neville as he came closer to the table. He wanted Neville to feel jealous and like crap for the way he had treated Trinity, plus it was fun to strike a nerve with Neville.
Seamus turned back to Trinity to regain her attention, but he saw Dumbledore walking over out of the corner of his eye. His heart skipped a beat, figuring that he was in trouble for the trouble he was causing with Neville. As Dumbledore stepped up to the table, Seamus stared down at his plate of food, avoiding Dumbledore's gaze.
"Miss Talos, I need to see you in my office," Dumbledore said in a friendly voice, one that was not harsh but not exactly gentle like he typically sounded.
"Am I in trouble?" Trinity questioned with a bit of fear in her voice.
"No, of course not," Dumbledore looked down at her, his height always towering over students, except for when Hagrid was one. "I just have something to tell you and would not care to do so in front of all of your fellow peers."
Trinity quickly grabbed her possessions and followed behind Dumbledore as he walked the hallways to his office. Most of the students knew their way to his office, but actually following behind him or having to go there, caused fear to grow within ones self. Trinity couldn't think of a single thing she had possibly done wrong as she passed the various paintings on the wall, the people in them staring at her and whispering to each other as if they knew she was in trouble or something.
Once they arrived at Dumbledore's office, after he had stated the password and the two had walked up the stairs, he let her in and told her to have a seat. Dumbledore sat down at his desk, staring down at it for a moment as if something were bothering him. He had to tell her, tell her something that he wished many times he had never had to tell a student. This was the most awful part about being the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Sometimes he had to do things he didn't want to, things that would ruin lives or change a person forever.
Trinity picked at her skirt with her fingers as she feared for the worst. She finally looked up at Dumbledore, fear in her eyes but also pleading. "I don't know what I did professor, but I will accept the consequences." She said quietly but also bravely.
A sigh escaped Dumbledore as he looked up at her. He ran his hand over his beard, stress evident on his face. "I'm afraid you are not in trouble," he explained. "I'm afraid this is something far worse and I wish I did not have to deliver this news to you."
"Wh-What is it?" She questioned with a slight stutter, suddenly becoming more afraid by the minute, her heart pounding away in her chest.
"I'm sure you were aware that your mother had been sick for some time." Dumbledore stated and it was enough to let Trinity know what had happened.
"No." She let out quietly, her eyes turning towards the ground and tears quickly building up in them. A single tear ran down her cheek.
"I'm sorry. I hate having to give you this bad news but she couldn't hang on any longer. I would like to believe she is in a better place." He apologized even though it wasn't his fault.
Trinity nodded a little as she wiped away tears and sniffled. She didn't look up at Dumbledore since she felt like her heart had been ripped out and chopped to bits. Her mother had been quite sick for a long time, cancer, is what they thought it was, but they weren't for sure. Her mother had always raised her, her father taking off long before she was born. It was always the two of them and now it was just Trinity. She felt alone, empty, and like her world had been torn away from her.
"I'm afraid there is more," Dumbledore started. "Your mother was one of your last living relatives, and with your father gone, you do not have a legal guardian. You have an aunt but she lives in Romania and that means you would possibly have to leave Hogwarts."
Finally looking up at Dumbledore, Trinity stared at him with red eyes, her cheeks tear stained from the shock of losing her mother. "What? I can't leave Hogwarts! All of my friends are here!" She exclaimed, finding strength to let her voice be heard even though she was in pain.
"I understand and I've been talking to your aunt about possible arrangements to have you only stay with her during the summer or live with someone else during the holidays," he mentioned to try and calm her down a bit. "I do have a couple of people in mind so do try not to worry yet. I'm sure everything will work out fine." After he explained this to her, he stood up from his desk and walked over to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her sympathetically. "I am very sorry for your loss." He breathed in deeply, trying to calm his nerves since he always disliked seeing a student in such emotional pain.
Trinity nodded, the tears still flowing from her eyes. "May I leave now?" She asked in almost a whisper.
"Of course." Dumbledore replied quietly, removing his hand from her shoulder. "If you need to talk about any of this, I am here as well as the other professors."
Trinity did not respond. Instead she quickly ran out of Dumbledore's office and straight towards the Gryffindor Common Room. She wanted to run away from everything, her life, her pain that she felt in the center of her chest. This was just too much to absorb after everything that had happened in her life. She already grew up with a father and now she had lost her mother. Now she was on the verge of losing her friends too and that was just too much to take.
Once she reached the common room, Trinity plopped down onto the main leather sofa and grabbed one of the end pillows, crying into it rather loudly. There were a few students in the room, but she didn't care if any of them heard her or saw her. She had enough of this pain and she just wanted to get rid of it, even if she had to cry it away.
Hermione was one of the few students in the common room. She walked over to Trinity, kneeling down in front of the couch and looking at her in complete worry. She wasn't exactly close with Trinity, but they were friends and talked occasionally. "Trinity! What's wrong?" She asked in a panicked voice.
"Go away!" Trinity shouted at Hermione as she continued to sob into the pillow.
A bit of hurt spread through Hermione but she didn't let it bother her knowing that something was wrong with Trinity. In fact, she did the one thing she could think of in order to get through to Trinity: she went to go find Neville.
Quickly dashing through the hallway past various students, Hermione ran to find Neville in the Study Hall. It was Sunday so all the students didn't have class and Hermione knew that Neville was in there quite often with Luna these days. She scurried through the Study Hall, passing tables full of students and getting weird looks from them as she hurried by. After glancing around frantically, Hermione finally found the table that Neville was at and came to a screeching halt in front of it.
Neville glanced up at Hermione as he watched her catch her breath. "Hermione? What are you doing here? What's wrong?" He questioned, obviously seeing the panic on Hermione's face.
"It's Trinity! She's crying and won't tell me what's wrong!" Hermione shouted at him as she took in big gasps of air.
Neville quickly gathered up his belongings, said goodbye to Luna, and ran back to the common room with Hermione. Several other Gryffindor students who were in the Study Hall followed behind them after they heard all of the commotion. Some of them new Trinity and wanted to know what was wrong while others just wanted to get the inside scoop on all of the drama.
After arriving in the common room, Neville just dropped his bag and walked right over to the sofa and kneeled down. He took Trinity's hand and squeezed it gently, letting her know that he was there. "Hey. Tell me what's wrong, Trin." He requested gently, calling her by her nickname.
She glanced at him a little, tears still running down her face. "My mom." She said simply, letting Neville know since he already knew her mother had been sick.
"Oh my god." He let out in aspiration.
"I might have to leave Hogwarts." She added before burying her face back into the pillow.
"I won't let them take you away." Neville reassured her, reaching over and brushing a bit of hair off her neck. Then he quietly lifted her head off of the sofa and sat down in its place. Gently placing her head in his lap, he stroked her hair to try and calm her down and let her know that he was there for her.
At that very moment, Seamus had been watching the whole scene from a distance. His heart sank as he watched Neville comforting the girl he cared about and wanted to be with. A part of him didn't want Trinity to leave Hogwarts, but a part of him didn't want Neville to have her either. He wanted Trinity for himself, but in this time, and in this moment, he knew that he had been just as blind and clueless as Neville had been because he had neglected to see that deep down, Trinity was always in love with Neville and Neville was always in love with her.