Things were lazy and quiet the morning after the quidditch game. Oriane woke to the sound of Charlotte stirring, who never seemed to sleep in even on weekends. The girl rose from her bed and silently tip-toed into the bathroom, carefully shutting the door behind her. Not quite ready to start her day, yet too restless to lay in bed, Oriane got herself out of bed, her feet hitting the cold stone floor beneath her.
Calista and Emerald laid fast asleep in their beds. They had put up thicker curtains to go over part of the canopy on their beds, completely blocking one another from view. Though they were great friends before, both of them were too hard headed to even attempt to apologize to one another. She didn't even bother to wake either of them up as she slipped into the common room.
Few students were awake with her. Some tended to the dying fire, attempting to give it new life. Others took the copper cans near the entrance to give the plants their daily watering. It was almost enough to get her to fall back asleep again.
Instead she took a seat in the back of the room, watching as everyone around her slowly woke themselves up. A sixth year taught a first year how to properly start the fire with magic. A fourth year was already beginning to knock out their homework for the day. A girl quietly hummed a tune to herself as she braided her hair on the floor.
Just a few humans with their existences being quietly woven together.
A while later Emerald exited their room, carefully walking down the stairs to the bottom floor. She gave Oriane a groggy smile as she turned her attention to the nearby notice board. That smile quickly turned into a grin.
"Hogsmeade trip this upcoming weekend," she announced.
"Really?" Oriane asked. "We should all go together again. Hopefully the shops won't be so crowded since it's not Christmas anymore."
Emerald's attention turned away from the board as she focused on the elsewhere. "I'm not going if she's going," she said bitterly.
A terrible headache was beginning to form in Oriane's skull. She already knew where the conversation was going to go, but she couldn't stand by idly without at least attempting to get them to reconcile.
"You know, I've been thinking about that. What if Calista was telling the truth?" Oriane suggested.
Whatever good mood Emerald had been in before completely vanished at the mere thought of it. Her red hair laid in a curly mess around her shoulders, framing her like a mane on a lion.
"Don't tell me you're even bothering to entertain that thought," Emerald sighed. "Look, the entire time I've known Calista she's done nothing but whine about her grades. Don't you think she'd go boasting around if she managed to get all O's on her own?"
"Would you not be suspicious if she had flaunted her grades?" questioned Oriane.
Emerald huffed. "Well, yes I'd still be suspicious. You don't go from being as hopeless as her to a full on Einstein in just a semester. Besides, even if she was telling the truth, then why would she be complaining about her grades that much in the first place? Either way something's fishy. In some capacity she's-"
"I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd stop talking about me," the voice of Calista interrupted them from above. She stood at the banister that lined the second floor, where she leaned her arms on the dark wood. She had sounded almost playful, but her dark eyes focused on Emerald in a glare.
"I didn't realize you were awake," Emerald sighed. "Had I known I would've ran to get breakfast by now."
"Aren't we a little too old for this?" Calista continued. She began down the stairs, using the railing as a slide. "I mean, come on, how would me cheating affect you anyways?"
Emerald crossed her arms as she waited for Calista to get closer. She then leaned in closer to the girl, her stare stone cold. "Because it makes you a liar," she seethed, "and I hate liars."
Without so much as a second glance Emerald stormed out of the common room and disappeared to the hallway outside. All Oriane could do was sit in her chair stunned as she watched Calista's hands clench and unclench.
"Have you ever wanted to tell someone something… the truth… so bad that it almost hurts?" she asked carefully.
Oriane nodded, slightly shocked at the sudden change in her playful demeanor. "Yeah," she said in a whisper. "You know, for what it's worth, I believe you."
Calista gave her a small smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I know you do, it's just…" she trailed off.
"I'm not the one you wanted to prove it to," Oriane finished.
She didn't say anything in response, but Oriane knew she was right. She hadn't been at Hogwarts nearly as long as her roommates were, but she knew that they had gotten close over the last two and a half years. Not being on speaking terms with someone you cared about must have been painful.
"I should get going," Calista said, her eyes glancing to the far side of the room. "I'll see you later, Ori."
As Calista rushed back up the stairs Oriane turned her attention to whatever had caught Calista's eyes. She found a tired looking Cedric, who was still wearing his pajamas. His hair had that classic cowlick that was caused by heavy sleep and could only be fixed with water. He looked around the room as if he was still trying to wake himself up, yet his eyes seemed to light up when he caught sight of Oriane sitting across the room.
He mosied over to the sofa, still attempting to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes. "Mornin' Ori," he greeted her.
She quickly scooted to one side of the sofa, gently patting the seat next to her. "Do you wanna sit? You look like you're about to fall asleep standing up."
He chuckled and quickly thanked her while taking his seat. The plush cushioning of the sofa dipped under his weight, almost making Oriane slide into him. "It was another long night last night," he admitted.
Her eyebrows drew together as she watched Cedric run his fingers through his hair in an attempt to control the mess that it was. As far as she knew, the only thing happening at Hogwarts had been the quidditch game from the day before. But saying as how Hufflepuff wasn't involved, she wasn't sure how Cedric got brought into it.
"How so?" she questioned.
"All prefects were woken up late last night around one in the morning," Cedric explained, leaning back. "Sirius Black broke into the castle again. He actually made it all the way into Gryffindor house. Nearly attacked Ronald Weasley."
Her blood ran cold at the mere mention of the man's name, yet upon hearing that Sirius Black attempted to attack Ron, it nearly froze. For a moment all she could do was sit there, stunned at the news. Then her body began to move automatically, as if she were a machine. She was on her feet, mouth moving faster than her legs.
"How could he have possibly gotten into the castle?" she said, nearly tripping over her words. "He's already gotten in once, but now twice? I should go check on them, I can't imagine-"
"Ori!"
Cedric calling her name was punctuated by his hand grabbing her wrist. Oriane stopped in her tracks, hair moving in a black wave as she turned to look at the boy. His grip wasn't harsh, in fact it was quite the opposite. Despite the fact that his hands were large enough to completely engulf her wrist, he instead held her by the tips of his fingers, gently pinching her in his grasp.
Pleading eyes looked up at her as he did his best to shake off how tired he was. Yet they were quick to catch sight of how he was holding her. His expression softened as his fingers went limp before he quickly returned his hand back in his lap.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly, "but you don't have to worry too much. They're fine, I promise. Of course you can still check on them but…" He paused for a moment, eyes roaming back to her wrist for a short moment before landing on her eyes once more. "Please, make sure you're taking care of yourself too."
All of a sudden Oriane became painfully aware of her appearance. Unbrushed hair accompanied by a messy, light blue nightgown. The only accomplishment she had even achieved that day had been getting out of bed and walking downstairs.
"Oh," she said, cheeks turning red, "right. Sorry, I probably look like a mess."
"Sorry?" Cedric repeated, turning his head to the side. "Why are you apologizing?"
The truth was, Oriane didn't know why that word left her mouth so easily. It was as if her apology would always stand in place of a real answer. Better to apologize for her feelings rather than explain them. And that case was no different. She left Cedric's question unanswered as she quickly excused herself as she disappeared up the stairs and back into her dorm.
"I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draught. I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down. I rolled over and I saw him standing over me like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair. He was holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches, and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scarpered."
By the time Oriane made it to the Great Hall, Ron was already beginning to reenact the events of the previous night. He sat at the Gryffindor table, waving his arms around like a mad man as he acted through every action both he and his would-be-killer took. Though the story didn't do her anxiety any favors, seeing him explain everything so animated and with a smile on his face certainly eased her nerves.
Naturally, Harry Potter sat right next to him, watching his best friend with a lazy expression. Cedric had been right after all. The boys were fine. More than fine, almost. Ron looked happier than she had seen him in quite some time. No doubt from all the attention he received. A large group of Gryffindor's and other houses alike had gathered just as they had the previous morning when looking at Harry's new broom. Yet that seemed like some distant memory at that point.
She cautiously approached the Gryffindor table, doing her best to avoid the large crowd of students around her. Really, a visual confirmation of their wellbeing was all she really needed, however a part of her needed to talk to them. No, she needed to talk to Harry specifically. After everything that happened before Christmas.
He had been right all along. They were the only ones who could understand each other.
Luckily it seemed as if Harry was subconsciously looking for Oriane, too. The moment his eyes fell on her, the bored expression vanished from his face, and instead he was calling her over to sit next to him. It was awkward making her way around the long table, and even more awkward sitting at a table that didn't belong to her. Fortunately many students were still too enthralled with Ron's story to pay her much attention.
"Are you alright?" Oriane immediately questioned. It had been the same question she had been chanting to herself since she had heard the news from Cedric.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. Surprisingly," he added, glancing at Ron. "He didn't try to come after you at all, did he?"
"No. I didn't even know he had been in the castle until this morning," she said, shaking her head.
"I'm glad. I was worried he might have tried to get to you, too. But it seems Gryffindor house had been his only target last night," he said in a whisper.
Oriane leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand as she did her best to keep their conversation private. "How did he even get in? I thought you had a password to keep the entrance protected?"
"About that…" Harry grimaced.
He nodded over to a young boy sitting not too far away from them. Oriane recognized him as Neville Longbottom. He was infamous for his terrible mishaps in class and his ability to always find himself in unfortunate circumstances. His normal rosy cheeks were blanch like a ghost. He ate his meal as if it were sandpaper, nearly choking any time Ron mentioned the name Sirius Black.
"Don't tell me Neville accidentally told the man," Oriane said, whipping her head back to look at Harry.
"No, no, nothing like that," Harry assured her. "I think Black would have killed him after, if that were the case. No, Neville had kept a list of all of the passwords on a piece of parchment. Every single password for almost the entire year was on that paper. Except he lost it. Black somehow got a hold of it and used it to trick that idiot Sir Cadogan to let him into the common room."
"Oh no." Oriane's eyes wandered back to Neville. "I can understand trying to keep track of passwords but… I can't even imagine the trouble he's in right now."
The two fell silent as Ron told yet another round of his crazy story from the night before. At that point he had seemed to have found the best script to perfectly retell the events. It was pretty close to what he had been saying when she had first approached the table. Hearing it again wasn't much more fun than it was the first time, yet something seemed to click with her.
"Why did he run?" she asked, her voice lowering to a whisper again.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"I mean… why would the man who had no problem murdering his friends and innocent Muggles run away simply because he accidentally went to Ron's bed instead of yours?" she explained.
Harry sat in thought for a moment. "Well, Ron woke up nearly half the castle with his yelling. I imagine Black didn't fancy his odds trying to fight his way out of the castle."
"What, he couldn't take on a few kids? He has no issue in trying to kill you, I don't see why a few students would stop him."
"There are more than just students here," Harry said. "The teachers would have made it difficult for him. I'm certain Dumbledore could defeat Black by himself."
"Still," Oriane continued, "if that's the case, what would it matter? He could have killed you and finished the job. Any faithful servant to You-Know-Who would gladly give their life to do his bidding. He could have killed you and gotten it over with, even if the dementors awaited him on the other side."
This question proved to be more difficult for Harry to answer than her first question as he stayed silent for quite some time. Really it was a question she herself found confusing. Sirius Black had spent the last decade rotting away in Azkaban for following the crimes of that terrible wizard. Why would he allow death to stop him?
Finally, Harry straightened. "Because you would still be alive," he concluded.
The answer was so painfully obvious she was surprised that she hadn't even thought of it herself. She had been so focused and worried about Harry that she forgot he wasn't Sirius Black's only target.
"Right," she said bitterly, "can't exactly leave the daughter of some Seer alive, can we?"
"What are we whispering about?"
The sudden addition to the conversation caused Oriane to squeak. She slapped her hands over her mouth as she turned around. Fred and George, the twins of the Weasley family, stood behind the two, crouched down low, getting as close to them as possible with wide grins.
"Don't do that! You scared me," Oriane whined.
"That's precisely why we did it," George shrugged.
"Say, you're roommates with Calista, aren't you?" Fred asked.
She nodded.
"Great! Wanna tell us why she's in such a sour mood lately?" he continued.
"She normally makes for good company, but ever since Christmas she's been down in the dumps," George explained.
Oriane hummed as she peered across the room, eyes landing on the Hufflepuff table. She caught sight of Emerald's curly, fiery hair. Sitting across from her was Charlotte, who looked rather bored with their meal. Yet, Calista was nowhere to be found.
"Her and Emi got into it the other day," Oriane explained. "Emi accused Calista of cheating because she got all O's for the semester."
"Why would Calista need to cheat?" the two asked in unison.
"She's probably the smartest Hufflepuff," George claimed.
"Certainly smarter than Emi," Fred added with a smirk. "Besides, we haven't even managed to cheat successfully, and if Calista found a way she'd certainly tell us."
"Not that she'd need to cheat in the first place."
Oriane, who was attempting to stay neutral in the conflict, could only shrug. "I don't know. But Emi's convinced of it either way. Nothing anyone has said seems to sway her thinking."
"Well, if Calista needs some payback, let her know we've got a box of Bombtastic Bombs with her name on it," Fred grinned.
"Bombtastic… Bombs?" Oriane repeated slowly.
"They're explosives," said Fred.
"Fireworks," corrected George.
"No thanks," Oriane said, chuckling slightly at the sheer insanity of it. "As someone who has to share a room with both of them I'd like to stay on their good sides."
The twins shrugged. "Suit yourself," they said. They then walked further down the table, disappearing as they merged with the other seated students.
Oriane stood up from the table. She looked down at Harry and offered him a small smile. "I ought to get going before breakfast is over," she said. "I'm glad to see you're both okay."
Harry gave her the same small, sympathetic smile. "You too, Ori."