"I cannot believe they're actually sentencing poor Buckbeak to death," Romina said as she, Hermione, Harry and Ron went down the hill leading to Hagrid's home. The terrible news that Hagrid had sent the trio was enough to pull them out of their stupid argument to come together for Hagrid.
"I can," huffed Ron. "It's all Malfoy's fault."
"Please don't tell me that's going to be your comforting words for Hagrid."
"Guys," Hermione said once they found Hagrid. He was knee-length in the Black lake chucking large rocks to the water.
The group was cautious when they greeted him. The conversation wouldn't be pleasant, after all. Hagrid wasted no time telling them what the committee had said about Buckbeak which resulted in the terrible decision.
"But there's still the appeal," Ron tried to say with the utmost optimism that it would turn out much better the second time. "Don't give up yet, we're going to work on it!"
"Yeah, I'll try to talk to Draco too," Romina offered since she failed to do that the first time around. Too much stuff happened right after they asked her to persuade Draco to let the incident go. "Somebody has to get through that head of his."
Hagrid appreciated their intentions but he had very little hope. "S'no good," he said, "The Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm just gonna make sure the res o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that."
"We're very sorry, Hagrid," Hermione said with a long sigh. There was really nothing they could do if Lucius Malfoy had the Committee.
"'S alright," Hagrid shrugged. What more could he say, really?
The others felt the same thing. Later on when they were returning to the castle, they tried making plans amongst themselves to try and visit Hagrid more while Buckbeak was still around. It would be slightly challenging to do with all the restrictions currently in place but they were sure they would find a way.
"You could always use the Invisibility cloak and the map," joked Ron when they reached the courtyard.
"You still have those things?" Romina sent a curious look over to Harry, stopping altogether. "I understand the cloak but the map? Is that thing really safe?"
Harry thought it was. "Hasn't failed me yet."
"Yeah, it's what it got him to Hogsmeade," Ron said, still laughing with mischief.
Romina gasped, however, since this was the first time she heard about it. "What? But…"
"Don't look at me," Hermione said as soon Romina had glanced her way. "I've told him it's reckless with Sirius Black on the loose."
"I'll say!"
Harry rolled his eyes at the pair of girls. "It was fine. Besides, it helped me see a couple things." Hermione and Ron had assumed he meant the conversation he eavesdropped about Sirius Black being a traitor but Harry looked directly at Romina. He had yet to talk to her about it.
But of course his lingering gaze alerted Romina that something was off. "What?" she frowned. "What did I do?"
"Haven't gone to Hogsmeade have you?" Harry decided to ask just to see what Romina would say in front of the others.
"Well, yeah," she nodded, "I changed my mind at the last moment."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"
Romina's face was blank. "Yeah, why?"
"Sure nobody, I don't know, convinced you somehow?"
"I'm very confused, Harry."
"So was I," Harry said with his own frustrated frown. "When I saw Malfoy convince you to go."
"What?" Ron half laughed at the idea. "Now how the hell would Malfoy ever do that?"
Romina wanted to laugh at how absurd this conversation had suddenly turned but instead she was growing agitated . "This was ages ago, first of all, and why the hell were you eavesdropping on us?"
"It was an accident," Harry said truthfully. "But Malfoy just blackmailed you and you...you weren't even mad at him for it?"
"Well..." Romina drew in a breath, preparing herself for her friends' reactions, "He...he was trying to help—"
"Help?" It was Harry's turn to laugh at an absurdity. "He blackmailed you!"
"Into me having fun at Hogsmeade, Harry," Romina said, "I hardly think that calls for the police, do you?"
"What's a 'police'?" Ron said, and Hermione promptly shushed him.
"I hardly think you should be calm about it," Harry all but mimicked Romina's voice. "At the end of the day, it was blackmail."
"At the end of the day, it's none of your business," Romina returned the favor with a snap. "He just helped me in his own way."
"Look, let's just calm down," Hermione cut in, eyes darting between the two. "Remember, we need to try and help Hagrid here."
"Yeah, I know, Hermione," Harry sighed then looked at Romina again. "I just want you to be careful around him, Rom. You never know what he could do."
"What we need him to do is try and get him to tell his father to back off," Romina said, finally continuing to walk. They were close to reaching the castle.
"Good ruddy luck," Ron scoffed. "He milked that accident for, what, three months? He's not going to change his mind."
Romina couldn't blame him for the lack of confidence. She herself wasn't entirely sure she could convince Draco of doing anything. He was, to put it in simple terms, a wild card. "I have to at least try. I owe that to Hagrid for not doing it the first time around."
"Rom, just stay away from him," Harry insisted. "What happened to Buckbeak is done. There's nothing that we can do."
Romina sighed. "Maybe you're right...but stay away from him? Harry, we're in the same House. We have similar friends. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. You've seen it."
"Yeah…" Harry's eyes looked over the long mane of hair over Romina's shoulders. "We've seen it." But unfortunately, they hadn't understood why she was doing all those changes.
Romina knew exactly what he was looking at and shifted. She was quick to excuse herself for some homework.
~ 0 ~
As it would turn out, Harry would end up losing the God-given map that same night. He could only take consolation that it hadn't ended in Snape's hands. At least Lupin would take care of it. Still, that left Harry with no way to move around the castle safely in secret anymore. The cloak could only do so much for him.
Romina told him that he would probably end up getting the map back in the end somehow. It was no secret that he and Lupin were close. "Just stay on your best behavior until the end of the year," she said, laughing when she earned Harry's wide-eyed look.
"You do realize that's almost impossible for me, right?" He sighed. "I have terrible luck."
Romina giggled. "That you do. But hey, I bet if you focus on the homework and Quidditch practices, you won't have time to get into trouble."
There, Harry could agree. The weeks that came were filled with both homework and Quidditch. Even Romina found herself cooped up in her common room to catch up on some work. It left little time to do anything else. The only thing that gave her slightly more time was the fact that she no longer had to tutor Luna Lovegood. It was a shame, really, because Romina came to really like Luna and her odd quirks. She only had to tutor a Hufflepuff student now but that was less days than with Luna.
"She's almost good enough not to need me either," Romina told Arden during their dinner. "And when that happens, I'll be able to focus more on my homework. Course then that means I'll have to actually understand what I'm doing now."
Arden laughed teasingly. "God, Romina, how the hell do you pass?"
Romina shrugged. "Beats me."
"I bet she cheats," Pansy's voice came into the conversation. She sat on the opposite side of the girls, two students to their left.
Romina rolled her eyes. "I mean...or maybe I'm just smart."
"Please." It was Pansy's turn to roll her eyes. "I know you're friends with the gamekeeper so there's that grade, not to mention that Scamander boy's been oh-so-helpful with you lately."
Romina lowered her fork for a moment to turn her full attention to Pansy. "Because unlike you, I can actually be pleasant to be around. I know, it's a new concept for you."
Pansy rolled her eyes again. "Please, like we can't see what you're doing? I bet you bat your eyes at Scamander to do all the work there and I've no doubt you do the same to Draco in Potions."
"Absolutely not!"
"Fine, cheating then, whatever," Pansy shrugged then flashed a smirk at Romina.
Romina opened her mouth but something — or rather someone — caught her eye. She closed her mouth, lips stretching into a smirk that didn't go unnoticed by Arden. Romina picked up her fork and continued to eat. A few seconds later, Draco strode down the table towards his usual spot. Romina calmly chewed her dinner and swallowed a few seconds later.
"Hey Draco?" she called casually. "Do I bat my eyes at you to get you to do my Potions work?"
Draco's expression was phenomenally comedic when he turned his head in her direction. "Excuse you? What the hell do you think I am? A monkey?"
"Oh no, not me," Romina said, bringing a hand on her chest. "But Pansy seems to firmly believe that."
Arden snorted into her goblet, splashing her face in the process. Pansy nearly shrieked.
"I did not say that!" she cried.
"Uuum, but you did," Romina said, "You said I was cheating using Rolf and Draco to do my work. Arden, isn't that what she said?"
"Yup," Arden popped the 'p' in her answer. She grabbed a napkin to dry her face.
Pansy's eyes widened in alarm. "I didn't — I didn't say what—"
But it was too late. Draco had heard enough and was livid with her. "Who do you think I am, Parkinson? I don't do anything for anyone! Got it?"
"Well, I — of course I know that!" Pansy fervently nodded her head, absolutely flushed with embarrassment. "I know you wouldn't—"
"Good. I better not hear you say anything like that again, got it?"
Pansy apologized profusely to Draco and throughout the whole thing, Romina ate her dinner feeling very smug. Pansy didn't continue to eat anymore and left her dinner half eaten at the table. Arden high-fived Romina and the two girls giggled together.
"Knock it off, Oswell," Draco said when the giggling got too much for him. He threw Romina a look, telling her that he knew exactly what she had done. "You will not use me to further your little war with Parkinson."
"Hey, I just wanted to inform you about something I thought you would like to know about," Romina said innocently. "And, uh," she lowered her voice before continuing, "you did lie, by the way."
"Excuse me?" Draco's eyes widened.
Romina kept her voice quiet as more of their friends began to arrive for dinner. "You did my Potions work," she reminded him.
Draco turned his head away for a moment. At the same time, a slight pink dusted his cheeks. "That was different," he muttered.
"Whatever it was, you still did it," Romina said. He could appreciate the fact that she wasn't making fun of him for it. If anyone else found out, like Blaise or Theodore, he was sure to be in for it.
"Yes, fine, but you said we could forget about it," he said quickly. "So do that."
"Okay," Romina reached for her goblet.
Draco watched her from the corner of her eye. She was eating with no intention of continuing the topic. He was just fine with that but there was something else on his mind that he hadn't been able to get rid of. And he couldn't figure out why. "You seem to be real buddies with Scamander all of a sudden."
The comment confused Romina for two things: it and the fact that he was bringing it up in the first place. It wasn't like Draco to give a damn about any of her friends. He tended to hate all of them.
"Yeah, what about it?" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing I...I'm just impressed he actually held a conversation with you."
"Oh, thanks," Romina said heavily enough to make him wince.
"Don't get it twisted, Oswell. Scamander doesn't hold many conversations with us, alright?"
"Mm, maybe because his interests don't lie with screwing around at parties?"
Draco met her glance, startled. "He ratted us out? Figures."
Romina chuckled. "He just told me some things. I'm not surprised, by the way. But, again, what's it to you?"
"Last time I remember, you were upset with him because he ignored you. What happened to that?"
"We moved past it. Now we're friends. And he's not weird, by the way. He's actually very kind. And gentle."
"Oh, please—"
"Don't you dare say anything about him," Romina warned. "He's a really good guy. And he's been teaching me all these new things about the creatures Hagrid's introducing us to. Did you know that his grandfather is a—"
"Magizoologist?" Draco rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "Yes, yes I did know. We all do."
Romina huffed. "You don't need to be rude right now."
"And I don't need to hear about you fawning over him."
"I'm literally just saying how he's helped me. I'm not 'fawning' over him. Think you're just mad that I didn't listen to you and got to know him."
"I'm fine with whatever the hell you decide to do with your life, Oswell," Draco said shortly. "But it's Angel you should be more concerned about."
"And what the hell does Angel have anything to do here?"
Draco smirked suddenly and when he did that, Romina tended to dread what he had up his sleeve. "You're really going to pretend like you don't know?"
"Know what?" Romina made a face that only deepened when she heard Arden's 'oh boy' beside her. She flipped her head in Arden's direction. "What?"
Draco snickered. "Even King knows it."
"Know what!?"
"Oswell," Draco scooted closer to her. He seemed to be enjoying the moment way too much for her liking. He put an elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his palm. "You're seriously going to sit here and tell me you don't know that Angel has a crush on you?"
Romina's eyes widened to the brim. They might as well match the size of their dinner plates for tonight. "I-I don't...you c-can't…" She was stammering, yes she was, and it was just furthering Draco's enjoyment. "You can't...you can't just say stuff like that!"
"Why not? I thought it was always good to tell the truth and whatnot? Isn't that the shit you always tell me?"
"He's got you there," Arden remarked. She calmly ate while her best friend went through a series of red blushes.
"Don't help him!" Romina hissed. "And you, Draco, you better not say that again!"
"Why?" he smirked again. "It's true."
"Shut it!"
"That's my line—"
"Shut it!" Romina shouted loud enough to attract several eyes, even those from other tables. "Don't say that again! And quit smirking!"
"So who gets to tell Scamander that he's got competition?"
"I swear to God I might just strangle you right here!"
"Still won't change the facts."
"It's not true," Romina insisted. "It's...it's not..."
"Oswell, you're not stupid. You really haven't noticed it? I mean, who do you think gave you the Valentine's card last year, remember?"
Romina stay quiet. Draco was right in some aspects. She was not stupid. She could see things and, yes, maybe she did notice that Angel was always very nice to her. He was overly helpful, perhaps even more towards her rather than his own sister. He was always around her whenever he could be. His gifts, his words…
"Oh damn..." she whispered.
"There it is," Draco said with a smug smile. "Glad to be of service, Oswell." He moved to scoot back to his original spot when Romina grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "Hey!" he frowned.
"You breathe a word about this to anyone and I swear to God I will make you wish you were facing Buckbeak again who — by the way — is being sentenced to death because of you and your dramatics!"
"My dramatics!? I was literally almost murdered in front of the class!" Draco said incredulously. He wrapped his hand around Romina's that was holding his shirt. "Let go now!" He pulled her hand as hard as he could, ignoring her squeak from his grip, and pushed her away.
"You should be ashamed of yourself for letting that innocent creature die when you are literally 100% okay!" Romina frowned. She rubbed the back of her hand. "If you had any decency, you'd tell your father to call it off."
"Not gonna happen," Draco said without missing a beat. "Might as well say your goodbyes now."
"Now I definitely know why you and Rolf aren't friends," Romina muttered and made a show to scoot away from him. "Rolf actually cares."
Draco pretended like he hadn't heard the last of her words and he most definitely pretended like it didn't strike a chord.
~ 0 ~
Now that the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin was closer than ever, the animosity between the two teams and Houses were growing by the day. It was a sight to see a fight break out each day for no reason except for the damn Quidditch cup. Even the Easter holidays were filled with different fight scenes.
Personally, Romina couldn't wait to see the stupid games over just to get back to normal. She was sure that she wasn't the only one. Hermione had confided in her that it'd been hard to get work done while the Gryffindor common room was full of bubbling students going on about the upcoming game. Those same excited Gryffindors often came to Romina's ears.
"We're going to cruuuuush youuuu!" The Weasley twins sing-sang each time they saw Romina, no matter where it happened to be.
Romina playfully rolled her eyes at them. She was making her way towards the dungeons to finish up homework that would allow her to see the game tomorrow morning. "Get out of here you pompous buggers," she waved them off.
They laughed and sang their tune one more time before heading off in the opposite direction. Romina would admit that she was a little excited to see the game happen but she really just wanted it to be over already.
Unlike the teams from both sides, she woke up happier than ever on the day of the game. It was finally going to happen and they would see it end.
To support her House, she pulled on a long-sleeved green blouse with dark jeans. The silver serpent twinkled on her cardigan. She'd pulled her long hair into a side braid then put on the enchanted headband that flashed green and silver.
She, Arden, Angel and Carolinha got together after breakfast to head over to the field. Before they left the Great Hall, however, they wished their respective team good luck. Nobody wanted to say anything but they were looking a bit pale.
"You reckon we'll win?" Carolinha asked the group once they found their spots on the benches.
"We better," Angel said with a huff. "Everybody's giving Slytherin the looks and for what? Because we happened to have won each year consecutively?"
"Shh, they're starting!" Arden waved the twins off to be quiet.
Lee Jordan was starting the commentary. He was happy to announce the Gryffindor team, no surprise, but when the Slytherins came out, there were a lot more boo's being thrown from the audience. It got no better when the two captains were asked to shake hands before the game actually started.
When Madame Hooch blew her whistler, all hell broke loose.
The two teams rose into the air and zipped for the Quaffle. Gryffindor took the lead almost immediately, something that had audible booing from the Slytherins. Angelina made a record score. Of course her win was cut off when Marcus Flint "accidentally" crashed into her.
"Oooh, that had to hurt," Romina crinkled her nose as the poor Gryffindor was nearly thrown off her broom. The booing that erupted from the other Houses were justified in her opinion.
Course then Fred took it upon himself to retaliate in a seemingly accidental chuck of his Beater's club at Flint.
"Might as well put them in a wrestling match," remarked Arden. Both she and Romina laughed together.
"Could you imagine that?" Romina shook her head. She knew for sure that Draco and Harry would have some terrible goes at each other.
The game resumed after Madame Hooch forced both teams into penalty shots. It was back and forth for a while until Gryffindor nearly made another goal...before the Slytherin chaser grabbed her head instead of the Quaffle.
"What the hell!?" Romina shrieked. Katie Bell went cartwheeling in the air without letting go of her broom. "It's like our own team wants to lose!"
It would cost Slytherin another penalty shot that the Gryffindor team actually made.
Back and forth went both teams when the game started anew. After a deadly collision between two Slytherin Beaters, the team managed to score their first goal. The entire Slytherin House cheered loudly on the bleachers.
But it would be the only score they made for a good while. The game was shifting into a game that Romina had never seen before in her three years. She was horrified to see both teams resorting to old fashion cheating. "Accidents" happened on both sides, making Madam Hooch's head nearly roll.
And yet, Gryffindor was scoring goal after goal. It all came down to Harry now because he found the Snitch, the cup was theirs.
As soon as he spotted the Snitch, Harry took off in chase. He would've reached it had Draco not literally grabbed onto the end of the Firebolt. It cost Slytherin another penalty. However, being so furious at the cheating, the Gryffindors didn't make the goal. In fact, they were beginning to lose their winning streak as the Slytherins began scoring.
It was another back and forth but Gryffindor was getting its hand back in their goals. Harry and Draco fought for the Snitch again, making a few close calls for both sides.
"There they go again!" Carlinha pointed when both Seekers dove down for the golden Snitch.
"Almost colliding," Romina said as she chewed on her bottom lip. If those two had it their way, they would collide fists with each other's faces.
"Ooh, Harry's almost got it!" Arden had her hands clapped to her face. "If he gets it, we lose!"
Harry went as far as to take both of his hands off his broom to get the damn Snitch before Draco. And in the end, he did.
Slytherin had lost and Gryffindor would now take the Cup for the first time in over almost a decade.
A/N:
As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)
