"I shouldn't have eaten so much in Hogsmeade. After eating dinner, I feel like I'm about to burst at the seams," Calista whined as she set her hand on her bloated stomach.
"I told you eating too many chocolate frogs would come back to bite you," Emerald sighed.
The four girls found themselves walking down to the dungeons after dinner, heading for the common room. It had been a long and successful day of celebrating Oriane's belated birthday and enjoying all the sweets in the world. But it was beyond time that they retired for the night, having spent most of their day running around between shops.
"At least I'll be sleeping good tonight," Calista sighed as the girls began to scamper down the stairs.
"God, I hope so," Charlotte grumbled.
A large stack of barrels was quick to come into view, just past the sweet smelling painting of a large bowl of pears. Oraine did the honors of knocking on one of the barrels to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. Moments later, the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was revealed.
They scurried through the entrance, almost melting instantly as they met the warmth of the nearby fireplace. A few students were still up and about, finishing up last minute homework, or attempting to wind down with a good book. Things were quiet as the girls climbed the twisting staircase up to the next floor, making their way to their dorm. At the beginning of the year, Oriane found herself counting the doors to the room, but at that point, the location had become engraved in her mind.
The door slammed shut behind them as the girls entered the room. Calista was quick to begin stripping down, groaning as she quickly changed into pajamas. She seemed to be the only one comfortable enough to change openly in front of the others, though, as everyone else, Oriane included, waited for their turn to use the bathroom.
"So, how would you rate today?" Emerald asked as she attempted to smooth out her curly hair. "Since today was supposed to be your birthday celebration, and all."
Oriane thought for a moment, eyes falling to the gold ribbon that was still tied to her wrist. She couldn't imagine herself taking it off anytime soon. And though it was an odd birthday in the sense that there was no Esme or birthday cake to be had, she did have that bracelet.
"I'd give it a ten," she said, tearing the canopy of her bed to one side.
And then there was no canopy. No bed, no Emerald. Instead there was a stone hallway, with various paintings hung upon the walls. She instantly recognized that she was in Hogwarts, though she wasn't quite sure where exactly within the castle she was.
At the end of the hallway was a painting on the wall. It was large, large enough to cover Oriane's entire body and still have room to spare. The scenery was beautiful. Old, classical Greek temples laid in the background of the painting, with vivid greenery and flowers up towards the front.
But in stark contrast to the painting itself was a terrible gash that ripped through the canvas. Parts of the fabric hung down as if it was crying over its wound.
Next to the painting sat a large, black dog. Its fur was thick, and it stared directly down the hallway at Oriane. Dark eyes burned holes through her as it sat next to the ruined painting.
Her vision vanished just as her knees hit the rock hard surface of the floor beneath her. Blood gushed through her body, the sound of it agonizingly loud as her eardrums throbbed painfully in her skull.
"Ori?" Emerald asked, as she carefully put her hand on her shoulder.
She ignored her, and instead found herself quickly glancing around the room. Her eyes landed on Calista, who sat on the foot of her bed. It was as if she had forgotten all about her stomach ache. Her dark eyes were wide as she stared at Oriane, who still hadn't stood from her knees.
"I'm fine," she said quickly, looking away from the girls. "Sorry."
"Most people who suddenly fall to their knees aren't fine," Charlotte spoke up. She was standing in the bathroom door, dirty clothes in her hand. Yet even her night clothes couldn't take the edge off of her stone cold stare.
Ignoring them, Oriane quickly pushed herself to her feet, using the poster of the bed to steady herself. She wasn't necessarily dizzy. Her falling seemed to be something her body had done all on its own. Something that hadn't happened during her last vision in Divination. It was easy for her to call it a fluke last time, an overactive imagination, but the second occurrence?
She was going mad.
"I just get a bit dizzy sometimes. I promise, it's not a big deal," she lied.
And before anyone could question her further, or perhaps even call her out for her deception, a sharp knock sounded at their door. All heads in the room instantly focused on the round wood, apprehensive to open it. They weren't expecting any visitors, and it was very rare for anyone to visit their room.
Eventually Emerald walked to the door, opening it shortly afterwards. One of the female prefects stood at the door, her eyes wider than normal. "Dumbledore is requesting that all students go to the Great Hall immediately."
If the girls weren't confused before, they certainly were then.
"Isn't it a bit late for that?" Charlotte questioned, tossing her clothes onto her bed.
"Yeah," Calista agreed, "we should be trying to sleep."
The prefect shook her head as she took a step back away from the door. "I wasn't given any information, so I'm just as confused as you guys," she defended. "Look, I'm sure Dumbledore will explain everything, but I really need you all to leave. Now."
She left without another word, not bothering to close the door behind her. The four roommates looked around between one another, none of them daring to move until Emerald was finally brave enough to speak;
"What the hell is going on?"
By the time the Hufflepuff's reached the Great Hall, Gryffindor and Slytherin were already in the room waiting for them. Minutes later, Ravenclaw would follow, being the last of all the houses to arrive. Everyone stood around, no one bothering to sit at any of the tables as they flocked between friends. There was one question that hung heavy in the air. So heavy it was nearly suffocating.
Why were they there?
"This feels wrong," Emerald admitted as she turned her head toward the ceiling. It was a clear night, with the stars shining brightly. The bewitched ceiling mimicked it perfectly. "I feel like something bad is going to happen."
The girls nodded in agreement. It was hard to say what, as so little was being explained to them, but all Oriane could think about was that painting and that black dog. The fact that she saw it right before they were all moved was cause for concern, yet she couldn't confirm if it was directly related or not. Or, if it even was real in the first place. Afterall, Calista had yet to be beaten bloody in the rain.
She was pulled out of her head after she caught sight of a familiar face. It was Cedric. He looked like he was about halfway changed into his pajamas before he got called to the Great Hall. Red plaid pants yet a dark brown jumper. He busied himself by scanning through all the students, no doubt counting up their numbers in his head.
"Cedric!" she called, waving her arm to him.
His eyes instantly locked with hers and he ceased what he was doing. He was by Oriane's side within a moment after carefully weaving through the other students that surrounded them.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, looking between the four girls.
Oriane nodded. "We were just wondering if you had an update on what's going on? No one's been able to tell us anything…"
A sigh left him as he scratched the back of his neck. "I wish I had any news, too. Us prefects are about as much in the dark as the rest of you," he admitted. "But Dumbledore should make an announcement soon, I think. He's speaking with the rest of the staff right now."
"Must be bad if not even you guys know what's going on," Charlotte mused while glancing at the group of professors nearby.
A stiff laugh came from Cedric as he followed her gaze. "Yeah, well, I try not to instigate too much anxiety but… well, whatever it is, it's got them worried."
They nodded, focusing their attention back to Cedric. "We'll let you get going, then," Emerald excused. "I'm sure you've got a lot to keep up with right now."
He smiled, and gave the girls a soft laugh as they turned to walk away. Before they could get too far, though, he called after Oriane.
"I'm sorry, by the way. About today," he explained.
She turned back to face him, tilting her head quizzically. "Sorry for what?"
"It's just that today was supposed to be the day everyone was celebrating your birthday," he said. "You've gotten kind of a sour end to the day with what's going on."
Her fingers gently ran across the ribbon on her wrist as a thoughtful smile appeared on her lips. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"Remind me after all this is over," he called, beginning to weave through the pile of students once more. "I'll make it up to you somehow."
And then he was gone. Off to do some important prefect duty. Leaving Oraine standing, stunned at his words.
When she eventually turned back around, she saw her roommates focused on something on the other side of the room. Well, at least Calista was. She had one arm each around Emerald and Charlotte's neck, forcing them to look at whatever was in the distance. They, however, looked like they wanted nothing to do with it.
"You've just got a thing for quidditch players," Emerald whined, trying to fight her way out of Calista's grasp.
"I do not!" Calista defended.
Cautiously, Oriane made her way back to her roommates, standing next to them. They were staring out by a group of Gryffindor boys, where a tall, wiry haired boy stood. He was speaking to his friends, nonchalantly.
"Just look at him. He's a hunk," Calista continued.
"Who, McLaggen?" a new voice spoke up from behind the girls.
Oriane nearly jumped in surprise at the sudden addition to the conversation. She spun on her heels, quickly turning around only to be greeted by a set of identical twins. They were tall, with fiery red hair. Weasleys, no doubt. Luckily, despite their identical looks, their pajamas were different, which would aid in telling them apart.
"Yes, McLaggen," Calista continued without missing a beat. "And who do you two think you are? Barging in on private girl talk like that?"
The twins quickly glanced around before their eyes landed back on Calista. "If you think this is private, I'd hate to see your definition of a packed room," one of them jeered.
"Besides," the other one butted in, "isn't it odd to be talking about boys after everything that's happened tonight?"
That instantly got their attention. The four girls stared up at the boys, eyes wide.
"You guys know what happened?" Emerald breathed in a hushed voice.
They grinned a bright and devious grin. "Maybe," they said in unison.
"Fred, George, spill, now," Calista demanded.
Turns out it didn't take much coaxing to convince them to share what they knew. They seemed just as eager to tell the story as the girls were to hear it. They quickly found one of the tables, and sat down. Each and every one of them leaned in close as they listened to the twins tell the story.
"It happened just after dinner," George started, "we were all making our way to the Gryffindor Tower. In order to get into our common room, there's a painting we have to tell our password to."
"But when we got there, the Fat Lady wasn't there!" Fred butted in. "So we were all stuck outside with no way to get in."
"The Fat Lady?" Emerald repeated.
They nodded. "She lives in the painting," Fred explained. "We tell her the password, and she moves her painting so we can get inside. Without her there, we were stranded."
"Why would she leave if she's so important?" Charlotte asked, head turning to the side.
Fred and George paused, looking between one another before their eyes settled back on the girls. "According to Peeves, Sirius Black attacked her."
Sirius Black? No, it couldn't be. Oriane refused to believe it. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the world, Esme had said so herself. No one would dare attack the school. Even if he had, how would he have gotten past the dementors? It didn't make sense.
"Is that why the painting was ripped?" Oriane muttered under her breath.
But she wasn't quiet enough. The group heard her, and turned to her with curious eyes.
"How did you know he ripped her painting?" George asked, eyes glinting with confusion.
She blinked and answered his question, hardly missing a beat. "A few students were talking about it when we got in. I didn't think much of it at the time. Didn't make sense that the school would go into lockdown over a ripped painting but if Peeves was right…"
"Peeves is an idiot," Emerald rolled her eyes. "He probably mentioned Sirius Black just to cause trouble. I doubt there's any real danger."
"Sure, maybe if he was talking to a student," George shrugged.
"But he said this to Dumbledore himself," Fred added.
Oriane let out a quiet sigh as she swallowed, hard. Lying always left an awful taste in her mouth. But at least they had believed her.
"Dumbledore is the only person Peeves really answers to besides the Bloody Baron," Charlotte murmured. "He wouldn't have made up a lie as serious as that."
Before they could continue their conversation any further, Dumbledore finally pulled away from the huddled group of professors. Many of them began to leave the room, catching the attention of many students. But Dumbledore himself walked to the front of the room, silencing everyone with just his presence. The group stood from the table, moving towards the front of the room in order to get a better view.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle." He spoke as if he were giving a welcoming speech. Nonchalant and unworried. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately. Send word with one of the ghosts."
With the wave of his wand, Dumbledore moved all of the long meal tables to the sides of the room, lining them up against the wall. Moments later, countless plush, purple sleeping bags littered the floor of the room. One for each student.
"Sleep well," he said, before he himself left the Great Hall.
Conversation erupted immediately after Dumbledore exited the room. Gryffindor students began to recall the events of that night, telling all the other houses. The excitement of the students sent a terrible feeling to Oriane's stomach. The painting, how torn it was, had just been confirmed to be true. Everything she saw in her vision… it was real.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted the Head Boy. "Come on now, no more talking! Lights will go out in ten minutes!"
The twins scoffed. "Look at Percy," George said.
"Trying to act all important," Fred agreed.
"When are you going to bewitch his badge like you said you were going to?" Calista asked.
Fred grinned. "We did it already, but he caught on and fixed it."
Calista began to curse at them as the two boys walked away, making their way to their Gryffindor friends. Emerald eventually got her back on track, and the girls began to find a spot to camp out for the night.
"So it really is true, then," Emerald breathed as she settled into her sleeping bag. "Sirius Black is in the castle."
"It doesn't make sense though," Oriane admitted, frustrated. "I thought this place was supposed to be safe? You're telling me he got past all of Hogwarts defenses and the dementors?"
Charlotte sighed, laying with her back on the ground as she stared up at the ceiling above them. "Don't overthink it too much. You'll pass out again."
Red flushed Oriane's cheeks as she did her best to hide her face. "I didn't pass out," she said sternly.
"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted, his voice snuffing out any remaining conversation. "Everyone in their bags and no more talking!"
The candles went out all at once, plunging the room into darkness. The only light that remained was what little sharlight shone from above them, and the dull glow of the ghosts entering and exiting the room through the walls.
Despite the beauty of it all, Oriane could only focus on the twisting feeling in her gut.