Chapter 9

Endora had been avoiding talking to either Tonia or Vatera since that day. Vatera had lied to her, and even though Tonia hadn't been there, she was still Vatera's friend first, and she wasn't sure she could, or should, trust her now. That had hurt her more than she cared to admit. Tonia told her she wanted to talk to her privately, but Endora just gave the excuse that she was too tired and continued her avoidance.

Tonia couldn't take it anymore. She found Endora and grabbed her arm, "Please talk to me." She sounded desperate. Her dirty blonde hair was in space buns with pretty moon-shaped clips.

Endora sighed long and nodded, "Fine, what do you want?"

Tonia released her arm and sighed softly, "Endora, I'm so sorry. It's just... Vatera's starting to scare me." Her brows knit together, "I barely recognize her right now. Ever since you and Wyatt spent time in Hogsmeade together, she's lost her ever-loving mind." Tonia sank into a plush chair as they settled in one of the corners of the library.

She sat with a long sigh, "Wyatt warned me." Endora's voice strained with hurt. "She lied to me, Tonia."

Tonia tilted her head; she hadn't been there for what was said but had seen when Wyatt had stormed off after Endora and Vatera had gotten chewed out by James. "What did she say?"

"She told me that Wyatt had a bet with some guys." She began slowly, eyes looking over the book in her lap. Endora couldn't bear to look at Tonia. "Six galleons, she told me that he thought I was only worth that much."

"That- that is some mean girl shite if I ever heard it!" Although Tonia was a pure-blood, her parents had muggle implementations in their home, and they often took Tonia to see muggle movies and sometimes had movie nights. An old movie came to mind just at the thought of the lie. "That's like that movie, oh what the hell was it called, She's All That?"

Endora quirked a brow and looked at Tonia. It still amazed her how much she knew about muggle things, but she supposed that made their friendship so easy. It let her have someone in her house to talk to about those things. "What's that one about?"

Tonia leaned forward, "it's about a popular guy whose girlfriend cheats on him while on spring break with some absolute flake. So, as part of getting back at her, his friends challenge him to find another girl, but the girl has to be unpopular. The goal was to get her to be popular and fall for him. She resists a lot, but eventually, he manages to get her to dress better and take care of her self-image, and he learns about her. He ends up falling in love with her. But one of the guys didn't like that he was happy and cared for his little pet project."

Endora frowned, "let me guess, the guy tells her about it."

"Yep, even worse, he tries to assault her, but she had this… ugh, what is that called? It's a can, and it makes noise."

"An air horn?"

Tonia nodded, "Yeah, that! She deafened him and managed to get away. This was off-scene, though. Well, the guy that liked her found her, he had run off to save her, only to find she saved herself, and he apologized. Admits to the whole thing but said that the bet didn't matter to him after he really got to know her."

"So, long story short, Vatera tried to do the same thing?"

"Yeah, just about. Other movies did similar things. American films are wild."

Endora could only nod in agreement. She'd only seen a handful, mainly action films her father liked, but those were crazy, like the one about the bus with a bomb in it that would explode if the speed decreased below a certain point. She was mentally getting off track. Endora looked back at Tonia. "Wyatt thinks she said that because of jealousy. I mean, I figured she was jealous, but it wasn't like I was the one that approached him first, you know."

Tonia rubbed her face and leaned into her hand, elbow on the chair arm. "I know. Can I be honest?"

Endora nodded.

"I've noticed him watching you for a while, but I didn't mention it to Vatera. I wanted to see where it was going because I knew you weren't interested in dating, certainly not while you're in school." She eyed her, "but we followed you the day you two roamed Hogsmeade together. Vatera lost her ever-loving mind when she saw you punch Wyatt and even more so when he laughed. Oh! And you getting him on his knees? Now that, that was unexpected. I knew you had more Slytherin traits in you, but I never would have pegged you for a dom." Tonia was half teasing.

The groan that left Endora as her face flushed crimson was priceless. "I'm not—no, I'm not having that sort of conversation with you."

"Fair enough."

"But you two were following us?" She felt her privacy had been breached.

"Of course we did. We were curious as to what would happen. Well, I was curious; Vatera was livid. She'd been pining for him for a long time now, and here you come out of nowhere, catching his attention suddenly. It is absolutely driving her bonkers."

Endora let her head drop back. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. The old yet warm wood, kept in mint condition, had no answers for her, no matter how hard she tried to find them. "I didn't ask for this," she said at last.

"I know, love, I know." Tonia shifted, her warm chocolate eyes meeting Endora's storming gray. "This whole thing has opened up some dark things in Vatera."

"Dark things?" She turned her head to look at her.

"Prejudices. You know, the blood purity thing, she's said some nasty things in private that I don't abide by." Tonia looked very unhappy.

"She's calling me a… mudblood… isn't she?"

Tonia visibly winced at the word but nodded, eyes elsewhere, as if willing that part of the conversation to go away. She then turned her gaze back at her. "Whatever you do, don't ever be alone with her. I don't know what she'll do in the state she's in." She leaned forward, whispering to Endora now. "I'm planning on going to our head of house. I'm not sure what she'll be able to do, but if an adult is aware of it, maybe, just maybe, something can be done."

"You're going to tell Professor Quintell?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, Vatera has been my friend for years, but I don't even recognize her. And believe it or not, I value our friendship too." She began to reach out but stopped herself, letting her hand drop. "I should have never suggested following the two of you that day."

"So that was on you then."

Tonia sighed in frustration, "You can't blame me for being curious about you two. I didn't know she would do… well… that. I feel like I'm the worst friend ever."

Endora was momentarily quiet, processing what she said and thinking how to reply. "No, this isn't your fault. Just because you followed us, which was rude, and how dare, you couldn't have imagined that she would explode like this. I don't blame you." She fidgeted. "Besides, if Vatera had ever really been my friend, this wouldn't have been that big of a deal. She would have been jealous, but she should have been happy for me."

"A normal friend, definitely." Tonia looked at Endora. For a long moment, they sat in silence, listening to the shifting and turning of pages and the soft murmur of voices from the lower floors of the library. She reached out and took her hand at last. "Endora, I am happy for you; I'd love to hear all about what's happening. But I understand if you're iffy about me right now."

A long sigh left her, and she snapped her book shut with a thick-sounding thunk. She shifted in the chair and turned toward her. "Tonia, I'm not going to lie. Between the two of you, I was always closer to you. Yet, I know that she knew you first. I never wanted to come between that friendship. I thought that all of us were really good together. So when Vatera suddenly started acting like this with me, I swore you'd be behind her."

Tonia made a face, her cute button nose scrunching up as she stuck out her lips in displeasure, eyes squinted as she looked at Endora as if she had grown an extra head. "Oi girly, I may have known her first, but she never could stand it when I told her about the muggle traditions my family started." She crossed her arms, annoyance all over her face, "And don't get me started on how she acted when I got a phone, too. Gods alive, does that girl ever complain."

"She complains if her nails don't dry correctly or if her tea is just a fraction colder than it should be. But rest assured, I will not go anywhere alone with her if I can help it."

"Good." Tonia went quiet again, eyes on the floor for a long time before she spoke again. "Are we—are we alright now?" She sounded uncertain as she fussed with the edge of her skirt.

Endora regarded her silently. "Yeah, I think so. You didn't do anything with ill intention. It's Vatera that's the problem here. I don't even know what to do with her. How will she even react when she realizes that Wyatt is serious about me?"

Tonia leaned forward at that, "he what?"

Endora shifted, face coloring slightly, "We're still provisional, but he's expressed that he's very serious… and…"

"And?" Tonia motioned for her to continue with her hands wildly.

"He… he has kissed me a few times." She pressed her hand into her cheek.

Tonia squeaked with excitement, causing an angry hiss to leave Madam Pince. "Sorry!" She half whispered and returned to staring down Endora as if looking for deception.

"He kissed me by that old tree on the grounds." She rubbed at her face now, willing the heat to go away. "He sends me text messages often, too. He's really gotten the hang of emoji." Endora sounded amused at that.

"Oh, Endora!" She winced at Madam Pince's glare and ducked down. "I need the details, please!"

"No." She hissed, "We're still getting a feel of each other." At Tonia's smirk, she made a face, "Not like that, you pervert. I swear you are worse than a boy."

"Guilty."

Vatera was pacing the dorm room, eyes glaring at Endora's empty bed. She had heard rumors the last few days about Endora and Wyatt, which had her absolutely livid. "How could he? And with… with her!" She huffed and sat on her bed, arms crossed. She had to do something. Vatera could not let Wyatt waste his time with a half-blood. He was too good, perfect, and pure to sully himself with someone beneath him. Her eyes drifted to the bedside table. Inspiration struck. If Endora was unstable, Wyatt would drop her like a brick. It was foolproof. With some digging, Vatera found the vial in which Endora kept her sleeping drought. She held the vial up to the light and stared at the contents.

A moment of clarity came to her; if she did this and hurt Endora this way, there would be no coming back from it. The wrestling with her conscience was brief as her hatred and jealousy won out. She went over to the plant nearby and emptied out the contents. She filled it with water from the nearby pitcher and dumped it again, only to fill it with water once more. Vatera corked the bottle and swished it around. Making sure it was dry, she set it back in place and closed the side table, a wicked smile on her face. There would be no actual harm done; it wasn't as though she was poisoning her after all; no, she was just destroying her sleep. She giggled and left the room.