Author's notes:
Now that the story has progressed to the point where we know the "woman" is Bella, I don't mind updating the blurb on the cover of the story to reflect as such. I'll think of something eventually.
You'll notice that one of the two gerne tags I've marked down the story under is 'Mystery.' I love reading and watching works that keep you on the edge of your seat, craving for more, wondering why characters make particular decisions until later explained in detail. But I'd like to address that while the story appears to be following canon, at some point it will branch off— otherwise I may aswell label this as 'insert Bella into fourth year, she somehow fits in, then it goes back to canon and follows it till ending.' No hate on that, I'm sure that people would love that particular story, but this is not it. (Well, maybe for the fourth year, who knows; you'll have to wait and see.)
As I'm sure you've guessed by this point, Bella is fourteen, in body and mind. While she may have the knowledge and terrible memories of a forty something year old, her reactions, emotions and thoughts are what I think a fourteen year old Bella would do in the situation. She's not Sarah Connor— she may be able to cast spells well above her current year level, but spells, I believe, can be cast by anyone, providing they have the proper education.
This is a rare author's note from me, so I have to say it. Please review, follow and favourite if you like my story/ a particular chapter. I respond to all my reviews, even if it's constuctive ones. (if you're logged in, lol, so I can PM. I also love reading guest reviews too, so please don't stop that either!) Follows and favourites, plus reviews, make me feel engaged with you readers and make me look forward to writing in my free time, which is what FanFiction is all about. (Who knows, your idea may be added to the story!)
Also, I'm my own Beta reader, so sorry if there'ssssome grammar mistakes!
Enjoy!
Bella begrudgingly swung her legs over her bed the next morning and sleepily rubbed at her eyes. Sleep would be impossible with Tracey awake, Bella was beginning to realise. Azkaban was preferable to this.
"You heard what he said, Daphne! TriWizard Tournament! It's It's—"
"Amazing?" Daphne offered.
"Amazing!" Tracey said, rocking back and forth on the edge of her bed.
Azkaban was definitely better.
When Bella had properly rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she looked around her dormitory. Four grey bricked walls and four single beds, a dresser and trunk beside each. A floor length mirror stood in the middle of the two furthest beds, which Daphne stood in front of combing her long, flowing blonde hair. She was a relatively short girl, her milky white skin immaculate. Tracey, on the other hand, was slightly taller, with long, curly brown hair and her face blemished with freckles. Daphne nodded and hummed in agreement as Tracey continued to ramble on.
Exactly how she remembered it.
"Hi Bella!" Tracey greeted excitedly, noticing Bella.
"Good morning, Tracey;" Bella grumbled.
"Excuse her, Bella," Daphne said, not looking away from the mirror. "I've been putting up with her for four years."
"Oh hush," Tracey said, standing up. "Would you leave your hair alone, Daphne? It's perfect."
Daphne turned, giving herself a once over in the mirror, then dropped the brush and glanced over at Bella. "What did Snape want last night?"
"He took me to the Headmaster," Bella said, getting up and opening her trunk. She had enlarged her trunk and transferred everything over when she was sure Tracey and Daphne were asleep, then promptly fell on the bed in exhaustion.
"Ooh," Tracey said, her eyes going wide. "What did he want?"
"Just a welcome to the majestic castle that is Hogwarts," Bella replied, grabbing a school robe and a spare change of clothes.
"You never did tell us what school you came from, Bella," Daphne said, smoothing down her robes and folding them neatly under herself before sitting on the bed.
"I'm…self taught." It was the easiest answer, Bella was coming to realise. Faking attending another magical school, especially when she knew absolutely nothing about any other school other than Hogwarts, would be difficult. This, she could spin. "Due to unforeseen circumstances regarding my previous living arrangements."
"'Unforeseen circumstances regarding previous living arrangements,'" Tracey whispered under her breath. Her face scrunched up when she squinted her eyes. "So you've never attended school… like at all?"
Bella had to restrain herself from an angry retort. If what Tracey and Daphne were saying about Slytherin were true, she'd need all the help she could get. "I don't like talking about it."
Tracey's face deflated. "Well… we might head off to breakfast, Bella," Daphne said, grabbing Tracey by the elbow and pulling her to the door. "You might want to hurry. We're quite late, and we still need our class schedules."
Bella hurriedly took off to the washrooms after checking the time with her wand. By the time she had walked into the Great Hall, only a handful of students remained scattered between the four house's tables. Bella piled her plate and began to eat in earnest.
"Miss…White. How great it is you've finally decided to join us." A voice said from in front of her. Bella raised her head, eyeing Snape with masked disdain. The Dark Lord had said she was always his favourite, his most loyal. But the term was thrown around loosely, a reward for his follower's for completing tasks set upon them. He never meant it, Bella knew, unless he was speaking about her, and one other.
Bella was almost certain it was Snape. It made her jealous, even now. She had been certain Snape was with the light. She begged the Dark Lord to see reason. After the torture she had received from the Dark Lord at the mere suggestion, and now sitting here before him, now— now she wasn't so sure.
One thing was for certain. Whichever side this slippery man supported, he was the greatest spy of all time. Bella would have to be extremely careful.
"Professor Snape. Good morning," Bella said sweetly.
After a pregnant pause, eye contact never broken, Snape pulled a class schedule from his robes. He placed it onto the table next to her. "You never replied to the Hogwarts letter, Miss White. As such… I've applied to your classes on your behalf."
Bella picked it up and examined it, frowning at Care of Magical Creatures. If it had not been for that particular class, it was almost identical to her original classes in Hogwarts. She'd bought textbooks for everything but Care of Magical Creatures, but Bella didn't particularly care. She couldn't respond to her Hogwarts letter anyway.
"I do hope your tardy entrance is not a reflection of how you will treat your studies this year, Miss White."
"Not at all, Professor. It's quite overwhelming, starting at a new school."
"I'm sure," Snape said, his face remaining impassive. He gestured to her schedule. "No objections, I assume?"
"None, Professor," Bella said, holding his gaze. After a brief moment, he turned and left, stalking out the entrance.
Bella peered down at her class schedule with a sigh. Never in a million years did she think that she'd be going through Hogwarts a second time.
The sky had cleared, and after a break in the first period, which Bella found nothing better to do than mindlessly move her food around on her plate, she made her way to Care of Magical Creatures. It was a pointless elective, but Bella was at least glad it had stopped raining.
Bella stared down confusedly at the schedule. It said gamekeeper's hut, which had to mean it was taken by that half-breed oaf Hagrid. She was the first to arrive, Hagrid's large form turning to greet her.
"Well, 'ello. And who might you be?"
"Bella," she said dismissively.
"Ah yes, of course. You're that transfer student, aren't yer?"
"Yes." Bella sat on an old rundown cobblestone fence, trying to avoid more meaningless conversation. There were several covered wooden boxes. Each box would shake violently every few seconds.
"Don't mind 'em. They're for today's lesson, they are. I hope everyone enjoys 'em."
Bella looked down at her shoes, dangling them in the air. There was a crunch of leaves, then someone hopped over the fence and sat down next to her. "Hi Bella!"
"Hi Tracey." Bella mumbled distractedly.
"Didn't take you for Care of Magical Creatures," she said, putting down her textbooks.
Bella blew air from her mouth dejectedly. "Me either."
"What do you mean?" Tracey said, looking at her oddly. "You picked it, right?"
"Yes," Bella sighed. "I did."
Tracey's face slanted— Bella could tell the curious girl would question her, unable to help herself. When Bella was about to speak, thinking of an excuse on the top of her head, she was interrupted by a group of Slytherin students rounding the fence and coming to stand in front of them. It was her nephew Malfoy, followed closely by four others. Two large boys who could only be Crabbe and Goyle's spawn flanked him, their vacant stare so similar to their adult counterparts. There were two boys that Bella didn't recognise.
Malfoy stuck his long slender arm out in such a practiced manner that could only have been achieved with countless lessons in etiquette. "White, is it?"
Bella met his hand. "It is."
"Name's Malfoy; Draco Malfoy. I just wanted to give you a formal welcome to the house of Slytherin."
"Thank you, Malfoy."
He pointed to a thin, pasty looking boy. "That's Nott and that's Zabini." The tall dark skinned boy nodded at her. "These two are Crabbe and Goyle."
"Pointless class, isn't it?" He turned to the hut, his eyes resting on Hagrid with visible contempt. "It wouldn't be so bad, if that filthy half-breed wasn't teaching it."
"Then why'd you take it?" Bella blurted out, closing her eyes resignedly at her mistake. She couldn't help it, the Malfoy scion reminding her so much of his father. Bella never quite understood what Cissy saw in him.
"What, and do divination with that quack Trelawney?" He spat on the floor near his feet. "Please. This is the lesser of two evils."
"There's always arithmancy, Draco," Tracey quipped from beside Bella.
Malfoy turned, his eyes looking down at her scornfully. "Mind your place, Davis."
"Yeah," said a female voice arriving from behind Malfoy. The short, brown haired girl confidently strode over to him, grabbing his arm and resting cuddling it along her front. She nestled her head against his shoulder, rubbing her brown pixie cut hair along his robe. "Mind your place, Davis."
"Oh shut up, Pansy," Tracey replied.
Bella watched the exchange amusedly. "Get off me, Pansy," Malfoy said, ripping his arm from her grasp. The girl's face fell, going to stand beside a tall, round, brown haired girl and sulking to her.
"Gather round, students, gather round!" boomed Hagrid, and only then did Bella notice a considerable group had gathered during their conversation, Gryffindor's huddling together in a separate circle, far away from the Slytherin's.
Harry Potter was there, on the other side of the group. He was obscured from view, but Bella recognised him from his messy jet-black hair and glint of the sunlight on the hinges of his glasses peeking through the gap in the students. Longbottom saw her staring, he waved, but Bella hastily looked towards Hagrid.
The class was a disaster. Hagrid had introduced his blast ended skrewt's, the slimy, skinless looking lobsters blasting each other with their exploding tails in the confined space. They scuttled over each other, fighting for room, looking like they were trying to kill each other. They were to raise them as an assignment, the oaf said. By the end of the lesson, most students, by the look on their faces, had regretted choosing Care of Magical Creatures.
"My father's on the board for the school, you know. He could have the oaf removed and replaced with someone who isn't a filthy half-breed," Malfoy said, the Slytherin's walking back to the Great Hall together for lunch.
"He's dangerous. We'll be dead by the end of term," Nott said.
"Good one, Nott. You're right, of course." Malfoy said. "What did you think, Bella?"
Tracey elbowed her, shaking her head. "I think the class is pointless," Bella said. It was the truth. How dealing with blast ended skrewt's would help students prepare for the real world, Bella didn't know.
Malfoy smirked at her suggestion, sending an approving look her way. "We may find a place for you, yet, White."
"Where are you headed, Bella?" Tracey asked, watching Malfoy and his group walk away from the pair.
"I need to grab my books from the dorm for Arithmancy," Bella responded, turning to her.
"Oh, I'll walk with you. But seriously, Arithmancy?" Tracey responded, scrunching her face. "God, you're like Daphne."
"Daphne will be there?"
"No, she's taking ancient runes. I reckon that's even worse."
Bella stood awkwardly in front of Tracey. This girl chit-chat was something she hadn't done in a long, long time. Bella turned and headed towards the Slytherin dorms. "So…" Tracey said, her footsteps falling in line with Bella's. "What did you think of Malfoy?"
"He's…interesting."
Tracey giggled beside her. "Oh, he's definitely interesting." She paused, and Bella couldn't help the smile gracing her lips. "He doesn't represent the house of Slytherin as much as people like Pansy would have you believe."
He did seem to have a certain sway within the house, mainly the sixth years, apart from Daphne and Tracey. "You don't agree with his views?" Bella asked, her interest piqued.
Tracey scoffed. "Draco would have you believe he's the You Know Who's right hand man, the twerp."
"You don't think he is?" Bella asked, giggling.
"Oh please, and I'm Bellatrix Lestrange." Tracey cackled madly, which Bella realised was supposed to imitate her much older past-future self. "That idiot's afraid of his own shadow."
"What's Pansy's deal?" Bella asked, hoping to get more of a scoop on her classmates.
"Pansy's head over heels for him. Has been since first year," Tracey answered. "Draco is just using her, really. We tried telling her… she never believes us.
"You can't blame her, there's only five boys in our year level," Tracey continued, "Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid to walk upright- they're Malfoy's goons. Nott is quiet… and… weird. Their father's were all death eaters, if they're to be believed."
"And the fifth?" Bella asked.
"Zabini. Everyone stays away from him; his mother murders all her mates— for fear of the same. He's not so bad, though— quite cunning."
Bella nodded absentmindedly as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room and she muttered the password.
"It's a shame, really. Draco has managed to exile the Slytherin house from the other houses single handedly. So we're stuck with what we've got," Tracey said, walking through behind her.
Bella dug through her trunk and sat on the edge of her bed when they reached their dorm, holding her textbook. "And the other girl? The fat one beside Pansy?"
Tracey's eyes widened. "Don't call her fat, okay?" she whispered, looking over at the closed door worriedly. "Millicent… she's not so bad, really. She's got terrible self confidence… because of that." She gestured around her waistline. "Pansy's used it to her advantage, you know? Think's hanging around Pansy's keeping her relevant."
"So… Draco's influence runs this house? For fear he's a follower of the Dark Lord?" Bella asked.
"He doesn't run the house as much as he thinks he does… but people are definitely scared of him. We're not all death eaters. Some of us want to just finish school."
Tracey sat on the bed, looking over at Bella interestedly. "Know much about the 'Dark Lord?'" Tracey said, using air quotes.
"Yes," Bella said, looking away. "I do."
"What—" The door cracked, and Daphne's head peaked through it. "Oh there you are, Tracey. Let's go to lunch; Bella?" She waved at her to follow. "Are you coming?"
Bella followed them, suddenly in a foul mood. She was briefly aware of a conversation going on between Daphne and Tracey as she dejectedly pushed away her plate.
The idiot hat had put her in the one house that wouldn't work. After her conversations with Daphne and Tracey, Bella was almost certain it would be impossible to fraternise between houses. If she did, she'd be labelled an outcast, making her plan's harder than they already were. If she didn't, the Dark Lord would surely be resurrected.
All this because of her nephew Draco. The Malfoy's had been the reason she was killed and sent to the past. Now, their son was screwing her.
Bella sighed; her eyes focused, noticing that Potter's eyes were staring directly at her from his seat on the other side of the Great Hall. She hadn't realised she had been staring at him. She looked down at her plate hastily.
Daphne poked Bella in the ribs "Bella," Daphne whispered. "Don't look up, but Potter's staring at you."
Bella hummed in acknowledgement. "What's he want?"
"I don't know; I'm not a mind reader," Daphne quipped. "But he isn't looking away."
"Oooh, maybe he fancies the mysterious Bella?" Tracey said, brazenly turning and eyeing him. Bella looked up fully, but he had turned away.
Daphne scoffed. "Potter with a Slytherin? Please."
"You don't think it would work?" Bella asked.
"You fancy Harry?" Tracey said, a little too loud for Bella's taste. Bella hastily shushed her before responding. "No… I mean… does a friendship between house's really seem that far-fetched?
"No, not really;" Daphne responded. "Between Slytherin and Gryffindor… That's not happening, Bella." She looked down the table towards Malfoy, Bella following her gaze. Daphne sighed. "Not with Malfoy."
After lunch, Bella bid goodbye to Daphne and Tracey, who had free periods, and made the long arduous journey through the maze that was Hogwarts classes towards the central hall, then up the two flights of stairs towards the classroom. The door was closed, the class already started. Bella lightly rasped her knuckles on the door.
A short, black haired woman opened the door.
"Sorry I'm late, Professor. I'm—"
"Bella White. I know who you are— come in." The Professor gestured to an empty seat, which was filled with none other than Hermione Granger. The brat didn't even bother looking up as she sat, spreading out her books and parchment. Granger was staring at her own parchment, her frizzy, messy light-brown hair obscuring her face, scribbling notes down furiously. There were only eight other students in the class, most only sending her a brief glance before looking back at their notes.
Bella felt a tingle run down her spine as she sat next to Granger. Two months ago she would have done anything to be in such a close vicinity to the mudblood. She would capture her, torture her, then parade her around for the boy who lived to come rescue her. Now… she was a possible avenue to Potter.
How the tides had changed.
"I'm Professor Vector, Bella." She gestured to an incomplete equation on the blackboard. "As I was saying, Bridget Wenlock's studies of the number seven were remarkably conclusive, successfully proving the number seven's magical properties."
Professor Vector started to pace along the front of the class. "People have used the number, sometimes superstitiously, for things as simple as names, and things more advanced like rituals— it is even believed that most magic would materialise themselves within a witch or wizard at the age of seven."
She stopped at the blackboard, gesturing at the incomplete equation. "The incomplete equations on the board can be solved with advanced arithmancy, using your charts within your textbooks. But before you open them," Professor Vector said, seeing the scattering of hands reaching for their textbooks. "I'd like someone to attempt it without them. I don't expect anyone to complete it, merely try their best. Any takers?"
The quill nestled in Bella's glass inkwell started to shake, followed by the table. Bella sent a sidewards glance at Granger, who was grabbing the edge of the table with her right hand, body trembling. She was looking up at the blackboard, a redness developing in her cheeks and eventually encompassing the whole side of her face. Bella giggled, then gasped, both her hands immediately hitting her mouth in shock.
"Miss White. You obviously know the solution, seeing as you have the time to laugh at Miss Granger's obvious distress. Please," said Professor Vector, throwing her a piece of chalk, which Bella hastily caught. "Complete it."
Bella stood resignedly, walking to the chalkboard. So much for laying low.
It had taken Bella nearly five minutes to complete it. Professor Vector had incorrectly filled out some points, which was messing with the final answer. When she was done, Bella wrote the number seven next to the equation, proving the theorem. It took a while to come back, but she had done this before, after all.
"Remarkable; truly Remarkable, Bella— you're a natural! A round of applause for Bella, everyone."
Bella swiftly made her way back to her seat, uneasy with the sudden attention. Hermione's brow had started to sweat when she returned; her face was laced with worry. "How do you know all of that?" Granger hissed into her ear. Her breath felt like acid along her skin, making Bella shift uncomfortably away from her. "It isn't supposed to be taught till mid way through third term!"
"You heard what she said, Granger. I'm a natural;" Bella whispered back, mockingly.
Granger's pained groan was music to her ears.
"Seeing as you're a natural, Bella, why don't you come up and help me with the next part of class?" Professor Vector said, a smirk lacing her lips.
The rest of the class passed without incident; Professor Vector had left Bella at the front of the class to teach the students. It was a risky move, but seeing the distress grow on Granger's face as she taught the class was fuel to the fire.
It was odd. She wasn't torturing or killing people, but she was having fun.
"Hey, Bella?" Granger asked, stacking her books and quills at the end of the class.
"Yes, Granger?" Bella responded, her books clutched to her chest and about to leave the class.
"Would you…" Granger stopped, looking down at her feet. After a pause, she looked up at Bella and her throat made a visible protrusion as she swallowed nervously. "Would you… would you be at all interested in a study session?"
"Why?" Bella asked, enjoying her nervousness.
"Well… you seem to know everything… which is… odd." Hermione fiddled with the quill in her hands nervously. "Things that we haven't been taught, things that aren't in the books."
"Is there something wrong with that?" Bella bit back.
Granger blanched. "No! There's nothing wrong with that. It's just… I read the books, I memorised them from front to back… and I'm— I'm struggling!" her voice had raised an octave, tears starting to form along the underside of her eyes.
Bella let the silence run. It was a step closer to Potter, if she agreed. It would be a step forward in her plan, which so far had nothing.
"Okay, Granger."
Granger's eyes widened. She hastily grabbed her books to her chest and Bella watched through her peripheral vision as they fell into step with one another as they left the classroom.
"How about tonight, in the library?" Hermione said loudly. "Seven o'clock?"
"Okay."
"There you are, Bella." Granger huffed, dropping her textbooks on the table with a thud. She pulled the chair out across from her. "Why are you on the second level in a hidden corner? Nearly every table I passed was empty!"
"I like privacy." Bella said. Granger stayed silent, eyeing her oddly.
"Well?" Bella asked, opening her textbook. "What do you need help with?"
She was definitely… eager to learn, Bella thought amusedly. It had been an hour, maybe more, as Bella explained the same theorem they had spoken about in class for what felt like the fifth time. Granger's eyes were looking down at her parchment, eyes scanning her hastily scrawled notes.
Bella sat back in her chair, eyeing the many books lining the bookshelves. Either Granger was oblivious, or she didn't care about Bella wearing green and silver. It was oddly… reassuring.
The mudblood was more likely oblivious.
"I just don't get it!" Granger huffed, pulling Bella's attention back to her.
"And you won't, Granger. Like I've told you, you need to understand a lot of the earlier work before understanding advanced arithmancy." Bella pointed at her earlier notes from the start of their study session. "Work on that. It's the building blocks."
Granger looked up, a smile gracing her lips. "Thank you, really. And I told you to call me Hermione."
Bella forced a smile. "Hermione."
"How do you know so much about this, anyway?" Hermione asked, dropping her quill and closing her textbook. "What school did you go to before Hogwarts?"
"Nowhere in particular," Bella replied mysteriously. She was getting sick of repeating it. "I'm mainly self taught."
Whether Hermione believed it or not, Bella didn't particularly care. "So you've never attended school, like at all?" Hermioine asked, her eyes wide.
Bella had to fight the smile from gracing her lips, the identical response from Tracey now in her mind. "I don't want to talk about it, Hermione." Bella said, while lacing her tone with anger, hoping it would divert her current line of questioning.
It worked, a little too well. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Hermione said, eyes downcast.
There was an awkward silence, the scattered sound of books being put away and quills scratching parchment now long gone. Bella was about to stand up to leave, but a voice interrupted her action. "I told you, Harry," a boy whispered, loudly. "I told you she was with that filthy snake."
"Oh shut up, Ronald. We can hear you, you know. And the 'snake' has a name."
Two boys awkwardly sidled up to the table, the redheaded boy looking at her disapprovingly. Bella almost knew it was Weasley before she had seen him, the smell of his tattered robes and shoes reaching her nose from the other side of the room. His almost blinding red hair glinted in the candlelight, highlighting the scum he had obviously missed the last time he washed. And next to him was… Harry Potter.
He was looking at Bella inquisitively, a far cry from Weasley's glare. "Well, Hermione?" Ron asked, his eyes never leaving Bella. "Isn't it time we headed off?"
Weasley stuck an arm out, grabbing Hermione by the top of her arm. Hermione shook it from his grasp and glared at him. "Get off me, Ronald! I'm not a child that needs escorting!" She turned to Bella, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry, Bella. Guys, this is Bella White. This idiot beside me is Ronald Weasley. And that," she pointed to Potter, "is Harry Potter."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Potter." Bella stood, ignoring Weasley and offering her right hand to Potter, palm facing downward.
Weasley whispered something to the vacant looking Potter, his glare never leaving Bella. Harry quickly took her hand in his and awkwardly kissed it, his circular glasses falling askew before pushing them back up his nose. "Er…Hello, Bella. Just Harry is fine."
"So," Weasley said loudly. "What were you two doing here, anyway?" His glare left Bella, turning to eye the table suspiciously.
"What do you think we were doing?" Hermione angrily replied to Weasley, batting his hand away when he flipped open her textbook. "We were studying; Bella was helping me!"
"She was helping you?" Weasley asked, his glare now replaced with a flabbergasted look. "What the hell do you need help with?"
"Arithmancy, Ron. It's on the textbooks," Potter said, pointing at the books.
"And we're just supposed to believe that a Slytherin came out of her way to offer you help with arim— arithancy?" Weasley angrily questioned, his glare now back in full force.
"And what's so wrong with Slytherin?" Bella loudly retorted. "And it's Arith-man-cy, you idiot."
A vein had started to turn purple on the left side of his forehead. "The whole of the Slytherin house are death eater trainees! Not one good person has ever come from your house!"
Bella glanced over at Hermione and Potter, surveying them. They didn't dispute his claims, their heads bowed to the floor.
"You're telling me you think every single person in Slytherin is a Death Eater?" Bella questioned, firmly. "That no other student from another house has joined the Dark Lord?"
"Well no, but—"
"Is the general consensus between the other houses?" Bella cut off Weasley.
"Well yes, but—"
"And you wonder why we seek solace in the Dark Lord?" Bella asked. "You back us into a corner and show blind hostility to all of us?"
Weasley stared at her, mouth agape; Tracey and Daphne's previous statements regarding inter-house friendships were now at the forefront of her mind. Draco wasn't the only one alienating Slytherin, it seemed. She needed less death eaters, not more. And if this idiots' views were the majority…
"I told you, Ron!" Hermione loudly whispered. Steam had started to rise off the top of Weasley's head.
"You make a great Slytherin, Bella," Potter said quickly, no doubt to interrupt Weasley's angry retort. His face was as red as his hair. Bella didn't even try to hide her smirk. These games she enjoyed.
"Thank you, Harry," Bella answered smartly. It worked; Weasley had started to boil. Harry sent a smile her way, and it gave Bella hope.
"You certainly seem to know a lot about Death Eaters," Weasley said angrily. "Who's to say you aren't a spy?"
Bella turned, attempting to hide her soft giggle. She stood, gathering her textbooks to her chest and started her descent down the library stairs. She could hear sets of footsteps behind her. "Wait!" Hermione said, "Where are you going?"
Bella turned once she reached the middle of the ground floor, the trio staring at her. "I'm going back to the Slytherin common room to pass on information to the Dark Lord."
Harry and Hermione laughed, Bella joining in with them. "Can we make this a regular thing?" Hermione asked. "How about every two nights we study?"
"Okay," Bella said, turning to Harry. "You can come too, Harry, if you like."
Harry rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly "Err… I'm not much for studying… but sure. Maybe sometimes."
Bella turned to Weasley, who had somehow avoided blowing. "Who's to say you aren't the death eater, Weasley?" Bella purred, unable to help herself. "Blind hate, pureblood and believing in seclusion of a particular group— all traits the Dark Lord seeks. Shall I introduce you?"
Weasley's eyes were bulging out of his sockets. Sweat gleaned from his forehead. Harry and Hermione were trying to stifle their laughter. Weasley was too easy.
Bella bid farewell, laughing as she heard Weasley's angry screams behind her as she made her way back to the Slytherin common room.
Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad after all.