This chapter is shorter than the others, and I'm sorry about it! It's also quite the plot twist, hope you're all prepared.

Sev snuck me into the common room through the passage we took the night of the party. My hand was held firmly in his as we maneuvered through the dark together. Giddy excitement started in the pit of my stomach and worked its way up, it was like we were on a date or something.

We slipped out from behind a tapestry and were in the same warm room as the other night. A girl with buttery blonde hair twisted back in a braid and a pissed off expression sat on the couch, looking at the two of us in disgust. She had a book on her lap and parchment by her hand on the table.

"You're not supposed to have guest in the common room, Albus Severus," she said, making Sev flinch.

"She's not going to be in the common room, Fiona," he said shortly, pulling me into his room and leaving her slack-jawed on the couch. "Wow, okay, this wasn't my plan. I wasn't bringing you back here to have you in my bed. Unless that's what you wanted, but I'm not sure I can do that just yet. I mean…"

"Shush, it's okay," I said, covering his mouth with my hand playfully. "I liked that. It's good to know you've got some bite."

I shrugged off my jacket and hung it around his desk chair, watching as he took his off, too. I toed off my booties and sat cross-legged on his bed. He looked at me with raised brows before following me and sitting with his legs stretched out beside my body.

"So, what's up?" I giggled.

"Uh, my brother is the biggest prick in the world. I'm sorry if he said something that put you off today," he finally spoke, telling me what had been on his mind the entire day.

I felt my brows furrow in confusion. "What are you talking about? Your brother didn't say anything weird. That I can remember anyways…"

"Being all weird when we walked in and made a big deal out of it and stuff," he told me, looking at the knee of his khakis instead of at me.

"Oh! You mean James being happy that we're friends?" I asked in surprise. "I thought it was funny! Wouldn't you want your little brother to be friends with your best friend's little sister?"

"I totally took it out of proportion, didn't I? I'm such a loser."

"That's not true! You're not a loser, you're just thoughtful?" I tried to say, but it came out more as a question that a statement.

"That wasn't as definite as it could've been." He was smiling even though the words didn't match the action. "Thanks for trying to act like you don't know I have feelings for you to preserve my delicate psyche."

He was right, I did know he had a thing for me. The thing was I tried my best to not think about it because I was afraid it would make things weird. But now that he'd put it out into the great unknown, it was fair game.

"I didn't for sure, actually. Stef just said you had 'misguided affections for a certain brunette with a septum piercing,' that could've been a lot of people…" I told him.

"Oh, yeah, there are tons of girls at Hogwarts with those attributes," he replied, tilting his head and looking at me with pursed lips. "Let's make a list, shall we? You… and now I'm coming up blank."

I pushed his shoulder and he grabbed my wrist, yanking me down on top of him. Instead of letting him make things awkward, I moved and put my knees on either side of his hips. His eyes were huge when I met them, making me laugh out loud.

"You're so funny, Potter!" I exclaimed.

His face was a giant tomato after my actions. He started spluttering and ran a hand through his hair repeatedly, making his glasses sit askew on his nose. That was NOT the reaction I thought I was going to get.

I moved off him and sat on my knees, waiting for him to sit up and talk. Something went wrong just now and I had no idea what it was.

"It's just, uhm, like, I haven't actually, uh, done anything like that," he stuttered, looking at the emerald duvet instead of my face. "Like sex or anything."

"So?" I was so confused by the turn of events.

"I mean, I'm sure you have and I don't want to-"

"Excuse me?" I asked looking at him with raised eyebrows and my mouth set in a line. "What's that supposed to mean? Do you just think I sleep with tons of guys or something?"

"No! That's not what I meant!" he shrieked. "I just heard some people saying stuff and I thought-"

"You thought you'd talk to me because apparently I sleep with everyone, right?" I asked, tears burning my throat. "I seriously thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else."

I grabbed my booties and my jacket before storming out of the room. My tears overflowed a couple seconds after I left the heads' common room and I let them. Even if I was supposed to be the carefree girl that was unattainable, I was also supposed to be the girl that let everyone sleep with her.

"Salazar," I said in a thick voice, going into the common room and rushing upstairs before anyone could look at me for too long.

The dorm was empty except for Austyn and Alexia who were sitting on Lex's bed working on parchments. When they looked up at me, that was abandoned and their arms opened for me. I dropped my booties and jacket before diving into them with a pathetic sob escaping my lips in the process.

"Oh my god, what happened? You were all smiles and giggles earlier!" Austyn exclaimed, brushing the hair out of my face.

"I'm so stupid!" I cried pathetically.

"Start from the beginning and tell us everything, love," Alexia said, rubbing my back as Austyn rubbed my legs.

"I hung out with Sev and his friends today at Hogsmeade and he invited me back to the heads' common room. He said he didn't want today to end and I totally fell for it!" I sobbed into the bed.

"What happened? Did he hurt you? Did he try to have sex with you? What happened?!" Alexia said quickly.

"He just talked to me because he thought I had sex with every guy in the freakin' castle!" I huffed. "That's obviously the only reason he wanted to talk to me and I thought he was different. I thought he was going to be the person who loved me for me, not for my body or because I'm the wild part girl with no worries. I have so much to worry about, I have so much shit that I told him all about and I regret. I let him see a part of me he didn't deserve to see and I can't take it back."

"What are you talking about? No one thinks that," Austyn consoled. "It was just him being an ass, just like every guy. None of them are any different, they all want sex because that's how their brains are hardwired."

"Sev wasn't supposed to be like that! He was supposed to be sweet and thoughtful and caring, but he's not. He only came to the party and talked to me and took me back to his common room and had me talk about my past to gain my trust. I was stupid and fell for it," I whined through my thick tears.

Alexia pulled me to her chest and rocked me as Austyn boiled water with her wand for tea. I tried to catch my breath, but it was so much harder than it should've been. I was so ridiculous, telling the first boy that took an actual interest in me my entire tragic backstory at the drop of a hat.

"You're not stupid, El. Sev's stupid for mucking up his chances with you," Lexi said, pulling my hair back and plaiting it quickly to keep it out of my face. "You're gorgeous, so out of that boring little bookworm's league."

They spent the next two hours with me, listening to my mindless ramblings and swearing up and down I wasn't stupid. I decided then and there I was going to come completely clean to them and share my past.

"Guys, I haven't been completely honest with you about everything," I said, sitting up on my own for the first time and wiping my face.

"What are you talking about, lovey?" Austyn coddled.

I took a breath and told them all about my dad. I didn't pause in the story or cry like I figured I would. Hell, I was probably cried out from earlier. The more I spoke, the easier it got until it was just flowing out of me easily.

"So Sev heard daddy issues and immediately figured the rumors about me were true," I finished, chewing my bottom lip nervously.

"Ella! Why did you never tell us?" Alexia asked, wiping her tears away. "We could've helped you and been there for you."

"Yeah, we're you're best friends. There aren't supposed to be any secrets," Austyn agreed.

"I'm sorry! It's just so much to handle, I didn't want to bother you with it," I told them honestly. "I have anxiety, but neither of you ever asked where it came from or anything. I just figured you didn't want to know."

"We didn't want to ask and make things worse. You have a tendency to go over the edge with your temper when someone asks too many questions," Alexia said delicately. "Not that that's a bad thing, it just makes things difficult sometimes."

"Have you ever thought about talking to someone, like a professional or something?"

"No, it's too embarrassing!" I hissed, my cheeks getting hot at the idea.

"No, it's practical and would be so helpful," Lexi pushed, not happy with my answer.

"I used to take medication for it when I was younger but thinking and doing daily stuff was too hard. It bogged my mind down and made me slow and dull," I replied.

"Well, we're going to go to Madame Pomfrey tomorrow and ask about it. She'll recommend a healer and we'll all three go. You're not alone anymore, Ellie," Austyn promised, wrapping her arms around me.

"No, you're not," Alexia agreed, hugging me from the other direction.

I was so dim to think my best friends didn't care about me. Talking to them should've been the first thing I did instead of falling into the arms of the first boy who took an interest in why I was so messed up.

Thanks for reading!