Romina and Arden had just come up the dungeons stairs to head for breakfast when they heard the high-pitched voice of Pansy Parkinson calling after them.
Arden sighed wearily. "It's too early to deal with her."
Romina waved her off, assuring her it would be fine, as she turned around to face Pansy. "Morning, Parkinson," she greeted with a sweet smile. "Sleep well?"
"You switched rooms!" Pansy got straight to business. "You and King switched with the Carrol twins!"
"Good job, Pansy," Arden said slowly, and clapped for the girl. "You figured it out!"
"I'm telling Snape," Pansy said with a smug smirk. "What a perfect way to start the school year! Both of you in detention."
"You can go ahead and tell him but it's not going to do anything," Romina shrugged her shoulders. "See, I read up on the rules with the help of my friend Hermione, and nowhere is it listed that students can't switch dorms. The only rule is that all boys and girls must sleep in separate dorms. Which we are. Aren't we, Arden?"
"Oh yeah," Arden nodded. "Carolinha and Daphne are quiet sleepers, unlike you and Millicent. And the twins had no problem switching with us either, so..."
Pansy was unconvinced. "You're making it up! I'm still telling Snape!"
"Go for it, I'm sure he would love to be bothered by something as petty—and rule abiding—as dorm switching." Romina patted Pansy's shoulder. "You were right, this is the perfect way to start the school year." Whatever trace of the sweet smile Romina had vanished. "Because I learned my lesson, Parkinson. I am not taking your bullshit anymore. Sure, you might get under my skin every once in a while but I'll be damned if I let you ridicule me in front of the school again."
Pansy couldn't fume any more than she already was. "We'll see," she said as a last resort to keep her standing...somewhat.
"Goodbye!" Romina waved and turned with Arden, both striding off for the Great Hall.
"How great did that feel?" Arden asked Romina as they headed for their table.
"So good!" Romina laughed.
When the two girls finally reached their table, they noticed that the Durmstrang boys had for some reason chosen their table as their permanent choice for the rest of the year.
"Not that it's much of a sacrifice, you know," Daphne said with a dreamy sigh, her spoon making languid circles in her porridge bowl.
"Ditto," Arden said, her eyebrows raised as she "studied" one of the Durmstrang boys closest to them.
"I kinda wish the Beauxbatons had been here, honestly," Romina said, surprising the girls. "They look more approachable."
"Really? You'd rather them after dinner last night?" Carolinha mused. "You weren't exactly approachable either."
Romina knew exactly what they were talking about and preferred to shove a spoonful of porridge into her mouth.
"Can't help but notice you're short one charmed headband," Arden said, humming innocently.
"You'll be one mouth short if you keep talking," Romina muttered. She had practically threatened Draco with what he would die of if he didn't take the headband back last night. "I meant because my grandmother went to Beauxbatons Academy. I'd like to start picking up on my French side, you know. Besides, these boys were idiots last night anyways."
"She's got a point there," Carolinha said, glancing towards the entrance to see her brother coming in along with Draco, Theodore and Blaise. "I bet they're missing like half the brain, you know?"
They snickered until they were joined by those missing half their brains.
"What's so funny?" Angel eyed his sister curiously as he slid in beside her.
"Oh, nothing," Carolinha waved him off. "Just talking."
"Oswell," Draco regarded as he sat down opposite her next to Carolinha.
"Morning," Romina greeted then, because he had given her an odd look for that greeting, she added, "I'm mad, not rude. I can be civil."
"They're still here," Blaise remarked when he saw the Durmstrang boys at the edge of their table.
"What? Were you wishing for the Beauxbatons too?" Daphne called. "Can always try to go find a spot at the Ravenclaws' table."
As they had breakfast, the owls poured into the room. Romina was surprised when she had an owl that didn't belong to her. It wasn't a stranger, however. She took the folded letter from the warm brown owl with a soft 'thanks' and started opening it.
"Who's that from?" Daphne startled Romina. She was leaning on Romina to see the letter.
"God—Daphne! Could you be a little nosier!?" Romina shifted slightly. Daphne shrugged and continued to eat breakfast.
"Anything good?" Arden asked Romina once she skimmed the letter.
"It's from my grandmother," Romina smiled broadly, clearing her throat to read (to the best of her ability):
'Ma douce Romina, I am ecstatic to know that Hogwarts will be playing host to the Beauxbaton Academy. Madam Maxime was an incredible headmistress during my time. Superbe. I have already written to her about mes petits-enfants who attend Hogwarts. Say bonjour to her for me, please! And also take care. We are aware of how dangerous the Tri-wizard tournament can be so please, don't attempt to go around the rules to enter.
Take care,
Grand-mère Abigail.
P.S. Do not worry about your dress robes, I have already spoken to your aunt and uncle about it. I will send them to you later in the year, along with Rolf's.
"No way—the Abigail Gejel wrote to you!?" Daphne snatched the parchment out of Romina's hands, leaving her stunned in place for a second. "You're so lucky, Romina!"
Romina snapped out of her moment to snatch her letter back. "It's Abigail Scamander, for your information! Gejel is her maiden name! And she's my grandmother, of course she would write to me! Though…" she gave the letter another perusing, "I don't really understand what she meant by 'dress robes'."
"You could have just asked," Draco said, "But you're too stubborn."
"Oh, not this again!" She frowned. "If you're just dying to tell me, go for it!"
"No, no, you're upset." He raised his hands in front of him. "But it must be getting annoying that everyone knows what's going on except for you."
"I still don't know," Arden reminded him.
He looked at her as if he was considering telling her just to spite Romina. At the last moment, however, he decided against it. "And if anybody else decides to spill—Angel—" he made a point of stating the brunette's name, "—you'll take it up with me."
Angel sighed. "Come off it, Malfoy. Don't you think it's going too far?"
"Not at all," Draco said plainly, He pointedly ignored Romina's flaming glare on him. "If it's the game Oswell wants to play, then game on."
"Oh God, not another competition," Arden shook her head. "You guys are way too competitive, you know that?"
"Fine," Romina decided, pushing herself up from her seat to leave. She'd lost most of her appetite anyways. "Just remember, we still have Care of Magical Creatures class together and I've learned a few things about creatures this summer from the expert, aka my grandfather Newt Scamander. Look him up."
Unfazed, Draco responded, "Yeah, and we're still Potions partners. I'd watch what you touch."
"Unbelievable," Arden mumbled to the others. They were more startled than anything else. Where did the sudden drive to be competitive with each other come from?
~ 0 ~
Romina was very much disappointed to find out Hermione dropped Muggle Studies. It left the little trio that she, Hermione and Rolf had created in the class as a duo instead.
"I don't blame her, though, I thought she was taking a workload," Rolf remarked in a quiet whisper during class. "I don't know how she managed to handle all of her classes."
"You don't even want to know," Romina said, eyebrows raised at the reminder of all the classes Hermione had been taking the previous year. She was glad that Hermione was de-stressing this year with the normal amount of classes.
"So did you get a letter from grandma too?" asked Rolf, ducking his head suddenly when the professor happened to look their way.
"The one where she said we should talk to Maxime? Yeah. Are you going to do it?"
Rolf's snort was answer enough. "What do I have to talk about with that woman? Not like my interests are going to match with hers."
Romina had to cover her mouth before her giggles became too loud. Sitting in the back didn't always shield them from getting caught.
"Are you going to talk to her?" Rolf asked a moment later. The professor had started talking about their plans for the first term, something about a project.
"Dunno," Romina shrugged. "I'm actually a little afraid that she'll know more about grandma than I will, and of course she will."
"That's not your fault, Romina," Rolf reminded, sending his cousin a soft smile. "And the important part is that you're with us now."
"But still, what if she asks me stuff and I have to tell her who I am—my name."
"Romina, when are you going to drop the stuff with your name?"
Romina pursed her lips. "It's a work in progress, trust me."
"Fair enough. Talk to her if you'd like, but grandma Abby won't be mad if you don't do it."
That, Romina knew was true. She focused on the class, the first time since it began, in hopes of calming her nerves. There were plenty of things to think about suddenly, and not all were good.
"Alright," the professor said, clapping her hands together, "This project—does anybody have any suggestions or—"
Romina's hand shot up in the air, so fast that she almost left her chair in the process. "Oh I do! I do! Professor—I've got ideas!"
Rolf looked at his cousin, deadpanning her, "Maybe it won't feel like Hermione really left the class..."
Romina's head snapped in his direction, brows furrowed and lips curled into a frown.
~ 0 ~
"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout announced to the fourth years as soon as class began. She was so excited which deeply contrasted the rest of the class when she said they would be squeezing to extract pus.
Carolinha's nose crinkled at the plants in front of her and Romina. On the other side of the table, Arden and Angel were looking more or less the same. Daphne was already refusing to do such a thing.
"These things are already so ugly, you're telling me they have pus inside them?" Carolinha could've whined if Pansy hadn't beaten her to it.
"Ew! I don't want to touch them, much less squeeze them!" she exclaimed.
Romina hated that she actually agreed with Pansy. The plants were gross, for a lack of a better word. They were thick, black and kind of sluggy. Each time they squirmed, they gave sight of their shiny swellings that were indeed full of liquid.
"The pus is extremely valuable so don't waste," Sprout warned them, "You'll collect it in those bottles in front of you. Wear you dragon-hide gloves, please. It can do funny things to the skin when undiluted."
"How is this not a crime?" Romina blurted, causing a streak of snickers amongst the others.
Sprout was one of the most lenient professors, definitely light-hearted with her own humor, so she cracked a smile. "Miss Oswell, there are worse things to do, trust me."
"Yes, but...couldn't we just learn, I don't know, the theoretical side of it?"
Sprout chuckled. "You can always write me an essay to turn in by the next class time. Is that appealing?"
Romina shook her head. "No, not really."
"Grab your gloves, Miss Oswell."
"Yes, ma'am." Romina dejectedly reached for her gloves and met Arden's snickering face. "Shut up, Arden."
"At least she tried getting us out of this," Angel shuddered as he slipped the gloves on.
"Ready, Carol?" Romina checked on the squeaking brunette beside her. Carolinha looked ready to pass out as she watched Daphne and Theodore squeeze the pus out of their plant. Romina sighed. "Guess not."
Her gaze fell on Arden and Angel who were having enough trouble finding their balance. Romina loved Arden but she was too brusque sometimes and that simply wasn't in Angel's character.
"Arden, not so hard!"
"Just hold the dang bottle!"
Romina laughed shortly and only because a stream of pus squirted right past her face. Startled, she stumbled back a step with wide blinking eyes.
"Oh my God!" Carolinha screeched when the pus splattered on the table in front of her.
"Oops," Pansy said, smiling far too sweetly for anybody to believe her.
Romina's surprise immediately vanished to be replaced with anger. "Parkinson!"
"It was an accident," Pansy said, raising her gloved hands. "Isn't that right Millicent?"
"Course," Millicent nodded.
"Don't get upset, Oswell, she was just getting a headstart for you," Draco remarked. He seemed to be doing good on his plant, though Romina wondered how long it would last since Crabb's hands were massive for the little bottle.
Romina scowled. "Siding with Parkinson now? Why am I not surprised?"
Pansy certainly was and she basked in it. Her heavy giggles were irritating enough, but to handle that for the rest of the class period? That was just cruel.
"Romina—eek!—could you not squeeze so hard?" Carolinha squeaked when some of the pus landed near her foot.
Romina was gripping the poor plant between her gloved hands. "I'm—agh!—not!" She groaned. She was also definitely not listening to Pansy gushing over whatever the hell Draco was doing either. Her back was to them for the very same reason.
"I'm actually concerned for the plant at this point," Arden said.
"Shut up!" Romina promptly snapped and squeezed the plant at the same time.
Carolinha whimpered. "R-Romina, how about we switch places? Angel—you want to take my place?"
Angel shook his head. "No, no, I'm good this time around."
Arden snorted. "Wuss." Later on, she would offer Carolinha to switch places. She had a better handle on Romina anyways.
When class was over, Romina, not quite discreetly, chucked her gloves in Pansy's direction. When Pansy shrieked, Romina sent her the same sweet smile Pansy had before. "Oops, honest mistake."
Arden quickly got Romina out of there before Pansy decided to retaliate. Neither girl should be anywhere near dangerous undiluted Bubotuber pus.
~ 0 ~
For some reason, the professors of that day had decided to start out with odd and potentially scary creatures for the first lessons. For Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid had chosen Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Why does everything have slime today!?" Romina shuddered. She stared at the lobster-like creatures in the cages. They didn't have the shells, though, which took away a good part of the lobster-esque appearance. The legs sprouting from every angle and the lack of head also helped with that.
"And it smells bad too," Arden said, her nose scrunched.
"What did you guys do today?" Harry sent the pair of girls bemused looks.
"What, you mean Herbology wasn't enough for you today?" Romina said, still shuddering from the ungodly amount of pus they had seen.
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, it was funny watching Ron squeeze it out. But why are you in such a foul mood today?"
"Oh, don't get her started, Harry, please," Arden said quickly and ushered them forwards.
Hermione was calling for Hagrid ahead of them. "What are we waiting for, Hagrid?"
"For the rest of the class o' course!" Hagrid exclaimed. His eyes swept over the Gryffindor class and Romina and Arden. "Yo'r early!"
"No, Carolinha refused to go anywhere without changing first," Arden said. "And then went double for Daphne."
"Um, excuse me?" they heard Angel's call. The rest of the class was finally arriving. "Professor, what are those?" Angel pointed a finger at the cages.
Hagrid was happy to repeat and finally begin the lesson. "On'y jus' hatched! So yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yourselves! Though we'd make a bit of a project of it!"
"And why on Earth would we want to raise them?" demanded Draco from behind. He was just as disgusted as the rest of the class.
Romina sighed beside Arden. At Arden's glance, Romina confided a secret. "I hate that I agree with him." Arden shook her head but smiled silently. The creatures weren't appealing in the slightest.
"I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?" Draco insisted.
"Tha's next lesson, Malfoy!" Hagrid said, "Yer jus' feedin' 'em today! Yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things! I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer—I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake. Just try 'em out with a bit of each."
"Why?" Pansy groaned.
"Oh just pipe down and do it, Parkinson!" Arden snapped. She had no desire to do it but if Pansy hated it then she would gladly do it.
"They're just creatures, guys," Rolf said. He was about the only one out of the entire class eager to discover what the creatures would like to eat. "Don't hurt 'em and they won't hurt you."
"Rom, tell your cousin we still don't want to do it," Harry stepped beside Romina. She chuckled.
"I don't think he'll listen to my words right now. This is nothing compared to what our grandfather has told us."
"Would you like to take it first, then?" Harry stepped back purposely, gesturing towards the cages. Rolf was already reaching inside the cages to take out a skrewt.
Romina scrunched her face. "Not really. I vote we let Ron go first."
"What!?" screeched the redhead. "I don't want to do it!"
Hermione tutted at them. "C'mon, Hagrid looks really excited. We don't want to disappoint."
Indeed Hagrid did look very excited. He watched as each of his students took a skrewt out of the cage and attempted to feed them.
Dean Thomas yelped at one point, angrily waving his burned thumb. "Its end exploded!"
"Ah yea, that can happen when they blast off," Hagrid said. Behind him, Angel and Arden exchanged wide eyed glances then took a careful step away from their skrewts.
"Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?" Lavender Brown asked, sounding far too much like Pansy at that moment. Romina almost felt sorry for even thinking about it.
"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," Hagrid explained rather excitedly, "I reckon they're the males. The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies. I think they might be ter suck blood."
"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," Draco said with a loud huff to attract several gazes, including Romina's, "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?"
"Gonna call your father to have them killed too?" Romina snapped. Beside her, Harry was really wishing that, for once, nobody said anything to Draco. He didn't want to see Hagrid carrying yet more bad weight because of Draco.
Draco gave a bob of his head. "Wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Right," Romina rolled her eyes, "Cos you and your dad agree on everything, don't you? Such hard headed people."
Draco snorted at her. "And you're stubborn."
"That's the same thing, genius!"
Harry felt a light tug on his arm and found Arden standing some inches behind him. She made a motion for him to scoot back with her.
"That's been going all day," she informed him, discreetly pointing over to Romina and Draco who, in their bickering, had taken several steps towards each other.
"I've never seen Rom so animated, so...big on hating…" Harry remarked. Part of him was guilty for feeling relief. It wasn't very long ago that he had stupidly asked Romina if there was ever anything between her and Malfoy. Stupid indeed. "What's she so mad about anyways?"
"Oh no, I'm not getting into that." Arden raised her hands in front of her. "Rom would kill me. You can ask Hermione though. She probably already figured it out."
Harry's brow furrowed. "Hermione?" He frowned. What could Hermione possibly know that happened between Romina and Draco?
~ 0 ~
"Romina, what is that?" Carolinha had noticed the oddly shaped box peeking out from under Romina's bed. She and Daphne had been watching their newest roommates finish unpacking and settling in their dormitory.
Romina stopped rummaging through her small accessory box to see what Carolinha was pointing at. "Huh? Oh, that's my violin case!"
"You brought that here?" Arden snorted from her bed. She slammed her trunk shut and walked over to Romina to see for herself.
"Yeah, I figured I might have some time to practice," Romina shrugged. "Plus, it was getting kinda dusty back home. I don't want it to stop working because I don't use it."
"You actually play that?" Daphne crawled to the foot of her bed to get a better look at the box.
Romina stepped back and bent down to pull the box out completely. "Of course. One of my more calm habits." She unblocked the box and popped it open to reveal a deep mahogany violin. "Keeps me relaxed."
"Looks pretty," Carolinha remarked. "I've seen those be played but I think I wouldn't get it. I'm too impatient for that kind of stuff."
"Same—I'd rather see someone else play it," Daphne said.
"Maybe you could play something later," Arden suggested, clapping a hand over Romina's shoulder.
"What?" Romina laughed, her face flushed with embarrassment. "No, no, nobody wants to hear—"
"We do!" Carolinha and Daphne said, both of them even raising a hand high in the air.
Arden held a thumbs up at them. "The lake seems like a good place!"
"You guys really want to hear me?" Romina made a face. "I'm not...I mean I've learned it the muggle way, remember?"
"So?" Carolinha and Daphne asked.
"Stop doing that," Romina pointed at the pair. "And what I mean is, all the songs that I know, the tunes—it's from muggles. As in classical muggle music, pop muggle music...all that stuff."
"Then it'll make things more interesting," Carolinha shrugged, "Angel and I have never heard muggle music before."
"Well, alright, I guess. When we have free time, then," Romina said. She closed the lid and locked it.
"Locking it?" Arden snorted as she headed back to her bed. "Afraid I'll go picking it or something?"
"Not you, Pansy," Romina said ever so casually, and it was. She'd come back to school with the mentality that she should never be surprised with anything that Pansy does. She shouldn't underestimate Pansy at all.
"But she's in a different dorm," Carolinha said, "You really think she'd come picking through your stuff all the way here?"
This time, both Romina and Arden snorted.
"You have met Pansy Parkinson, right?" Arden asked, flopping down on her bed. "She already did it once."
"She's not that bad…" Daphne said, keeping true to her mediator kind of ways.
"Have you forgotten everything she did last year to Rom?" Arden pointed over to Romina who'd taken a seat on her bed again. She still had one last small box to go through before she was officially done unpacking.
"Of course not," Daphne puffed. "I just don't like the constant arguing between people I know. And I've known Pansy my whole life. She's never acted like that with anyone, I swear."
"Then I must be exceptionally special in her eyes," Romina said bitterly. Heavy silence fell in the room. Romina made herself busy with her last accessories but there was no doubt that she was thinking about the series of troubles she'd gone through because of Pansy.
"Why don't we go get dinner?" asked Arden, feeling like the silence was just growing more and more uncomfortable. "I'm sure that Angel's saving us seats. Rom?"
Romina nodded. She put a planet-shaped pin in her hair to keep it off her face. She then slipped her box under her bed as well and followed the girls out of the dorm.
"What do you guys think we're going to do for Transfiguration this year?" Daphne asked on their way up to the main corridor. "I heard McGonagall is going to go all out for our O.W.L.'s"
"What?" Arden scrunched her face. "But we won't take those until next year!"
"But we should still start preparing early," Romina said, prompting Arden to scoff.
"Oh please, you're like a genius in that class so you'll be totally fine!"
Their entry to the Great Hall would take a bit longer than they had anticipated. There was a great big crowd right outside of the entrance and in the center was the whole reason why. Draco had the latest Daily Prophet in his position and it apparently featured Ron's father. Ron, Harry and Hermione were amongst the group listening.
Mr. Weasley had apparently ensued a fight with the muggle policemen, resulting in the several modified memories to cover up what Mad-Eye-Moody had swore was a true emergency. It was all a false alarm and it'd basically blown up in their faces.
"Well that's just terrible," Arden mumbled to the girls, "Why aren't they bothering Mad-Eye Moody about this? He's the one who raised the alarm, after all."
"Doesn't matter, Rita Skeeter always looks for a story to tell even if it's from the wrong angle," Daphne remarked.
"Who's Rita Skeeter?" Arden asked.
"The worst reporter in the wizarding world," Carolinha sighed. "She's a liar, manipulative, and unfortunately for some reason, people still hang onto her every word."
"Not much of a mystery why," Romina muttered. "People thrive on rumors."
"This looks bad..." Carolinha said as the tension ahead grew worse.
"MOVE IT!" Romina's sudden roar had most of the crowd flinching, all except for Arden and Harry who'd heard it many times before. "GO!" The crowd started rushing inside the Great Hall, most of them anyways. Romina pushed her way through the remaining people, including Harry. "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" She stopped in front of Draco.
"Hey, I just read what was on the article," he said, raising his hands in defense. Behind them, they heard Ron snort and mutter 'Fat chance!'.
Romina snatched the paper from him, rolling it up fast to then smack him over the head with it. "You're not actually dumb but I guess today you're striving to prove me wrong!"
Draco was momentarily stunned, his eyes wide. "Did you just…?" Romina raised an eyebrow at him, confirming his unfinished question. "You're off your rocker, Oswell!" He huffed, snatching the rolled up paper from her.
"Not as much as you are! Rita Skeeter of all people? Seriously?" Romina pushed past him into the Great Hall. She wasn't very hungry anymore but it beat staying where she was. She went directly for the Slytherins' table and plopped down beside Angel, startling him in the process.
"Uh, hey Romina," he greeted kindly as was his usual style, "You okay?"
"Peachy." Romina started grabbing different meals, though her hand stopped halfway to a bowl with something creamy inside. "Is that fish stew?"
"Yeah, the Beauxbatons are already eyeing it," Angel said, making a nod towards the Ravenclaw table. Several blue robed students were glancing their way. "I'm just waiting for them to come get the thing. It stinks."
Romina agreed. She gathered more things on her plate and began eating at once. Little by little, the rest of their group started joining them. From the corner of her eye, Romina saw Draco take a seat further down the table with Crabb, Goyle and (unfortunately) Pansy.
That's fine. She met Arden's face which was smiling for some reason. "What?"
"You smacked Draco Malfoy in public with a rolled up Daily Prophet and got away with it."
Angel nearly choked on his pumpkin juice. "You did what?"
"Ron sends his eternal gratitude," Arden went on, reaching for some mashed potatoes, "I think he'll be building you a shrine now."
They all laughed.
"You need to control your temper before you get into actual trouble, though," Daphne warned, "Draco has his own temper too and you know what he's like with Harry. I wouldn't want to see that become your problem too."
"Oh, he's not doing that with me," Romina said with absolute certainty.
Angel eyed her curiously. "And how do you know?"
Romina stopped to think. She didn't know why she said it so surely but she just knew. Maybe it was their past coming into play. "I just...do," she said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well, maybe it's not him you need to worry about," Carolinha said, earning Romina's strange glance. "Pansy's giving you the stink eye."
Romina looked past Carolinha down the table to meet Pansy's death glare. No doubt she'd learned about the incident. "They're a bit cozy," she remarked suddenly.
"She's a piranha looking for opportunities and you're handing them to her on a silver platter," Arden said.
Romina snorted. "Bloody how?"
For her own safety, Arden kept quiet and switched topics instead.
~ 0 ~
Later in the week, Romina managed to find some time alone with Harry to talk. They'd been slightly missing each other in school for whatever reason, even when they shared some of their classes. They walked along the bridge in the afternoon.
"Is Ron's Dad really okay, though?" Romina was wondering. She didn't have the nerve to ask Ron directly. After the fiasco with the article, Romina assumed he wanted to forget and move on.
"Yeah, yeah, just a big misunderstanding," Harry said. Like Romina, he didn't really discuss the matter with Ron.
"Arden made a good point, she said why wasn't Moody getting his spotlight for starting the problem in the first place."
Harry half smiled. That sounded like Arden. "I don't think the Ministry wants to further the issue. They want whatever that woman wrote to die along with the problem."
"Makes sense," Romina shrugged. "Kinda like Hollywood, huh?"
Harry laughed. "Yeah, like that." He side-glanced Romina with another smile. "I missed you, you know."
"I know, me too," she sighed. "I thought we were going to be able to hang out during summer but I guess that didn't happen much, right?"
Harry shook his head. "You got a new family and...I got the Dursleys'."
Romina patted his shoulders. "You are always welcome to move in with me."
Harry laughed at the idea. "That ought to give your aunt and uncle a heart attack or something."
"At the very least, it would take some of the attention off of me," Romina said, bringing a hand to her chest. "Because after the World Cup incident, they watched me like a hawk. Speaking of, how are we doing with you and your scar?"
Harry shrugged. "Hasn't hurt anymore."
"And did you actually write to Sirius?"
"I did…"
Romina stopped walking to eye her friend suspiciously. "Why am I getting the feeling there's a 'but' coming?" Harry pursed his lips and turned his head away. Romina swore he mumbled something else. "What was that?"
With a sigh, Harry repeated himself and louder. "I may have written a second letter telling him I made a mistake and my scar hadn't really hurt."
Romina's eyes widened. "Harry Potter!"
"I had to, Rom! He was flying north to be near me!"
"So!?"
"So?" Harry frowned. "Did you forget that the Ministry is still looking for him? I don't want him to get caught because he was trying to be near me! It doesn't even matter though, he didn't believe me."
"Good," Romina said, ignoring his incredulous face. "He's learned who you are, that'll be good for the future."
"Romima!"
Romina shook her head. "Harry, I'm really sorry for how this is going to sound but...Sirius is the only adult in your family who actually cares for you!" She winced at her own words. That really did sound terrible. It was even more terrible that it was true. "Please don't under-appreciate the fact."
"I'm not, I'm really not," promised Harry. "I know my reality and that's why I didn't want Sirius coming anywhere near here."
"But he is and the best thing you can do, the fair thing, is to be honest with him."
Harry gave a small nod of his head. "Yeah, I know. Don't really have much of a choice, do I? Seeing as he didn't even believe me anyways."
Romina laughed. "He knows you enough."
"C'mon, we should get going. We have our first session of potions today." Harry reluctantly turned back, and so did Romina. "It should be interesting with Snape given how sure he is that I helped Sirius escape."
"Harry, you did help him escape," Romina reminded him.
"Ha, ha," Harry bobbed his head. "So did you. I wonder what your head of House would say about it?"
"Hasn't said anything about it, actually."
Harry snorted. "Wonder why, Slytherin. You know you guys are immune to his wrath."
Romina chuckled. "C'mon Harry, neither of us will be immune if we're late! Let's go!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the castle.
~0~
Upon entering Snape's class, the professor immediately threw a hard look in Harry's direction. Harry was sure that both Ron and Hermione had received the same looks too.
"Coming to sit with us, then?" Harry mumbled to Romina as they took slow steps towards the seats. They'd managed to get to class with minutes to spare.
"To be frank, I'm not sure," Romina said, eyes falling on the empty seat beside Draco. Harry recognized the look on her face; she was calculating.
"Rom? C'mon," Harry pulled her arm forwards, "He's not worth it." As much as he would love to see to what extent Romina could get away with in the eyes of her head of House, he would rather not see it happen because of Malfoy.
Romina easily got out of Harry's grip. "Give me a second, I want to see something." She stopped walking altogether, forcing Harry to stop as well.
"See what?" Harry dreaded to know. Romina half smirked as she backtracked. Harry sighed. Romina was kind until someone poked her wrong side, then she was mischievous. He genuinely worried for her. "Rom, he can hurt you," he hissed.
Romina's expression was a clear indication of what she believed. "He's not going to hurt me," she waved him off. She turned on her heels and walked back to what used to be (or, depending on the situation, what could still be) her seat.
Whether or not Draco had been watching wasn't clear for her. He was scribbling over a piece of parchment. "Gotta say, thought you'd take a seat beside Potter. Or Angel for that matter."
"What? So my seat is still open then?" Romina looked around the classroom. "I thought you'd be saving it for Parkinson." Pansy had yet to show up to the class.
Draco snorted. He finally put down his things and looked up at her, his expression sour. "She's terrible at Potions. I'm not sacrificing my grades for her."
Romina's eyebrows raised. "Mm, so that means you're willing to do other stuff for her."
"Why's that any concern to you? Last time I heard, Angel's willing to do a lot for you. You know he's not talking to me because of you?"
"How is that my fault?"
"Really?" Draco tilted his head at her. Romina rolled her eyes and sat down beside him. "When are you finally going to tell him to get lost?"
"I'm not talking about that with you," she promptly said, eyes looking directly ahead. She could feel Harry's eyes burning on her. Clearly he didn't like where she'd chosen to sit.
When class finally started, Snape was even less than pleasant with the class. He left the assignment pretty early into the session, making it clear that he had very little faith they would be able to produce exactly what he asked for.
Romina put all her attention on the ingredients they needed and the best way to introduce them to the mixture.
"You're being ridiculous you know," Draco remarked halfway through class. Granted it had been a quiet remark so only they were in on the conversation.
Romina was looking over the passage of their concoction; she had very little interest in what it would even be in the end. "Me? Seriously?"
"Who's the one who's been violent?" Draco pointedly reminded her. "You've punched me and smacked me."
"I did not 'smack', I...lightly tapped." Romina flinched at Draco's hard snort.
"What? And I suppose the punch was a tap as well?"
"Mm, no, that was a punch." Romina looked up with a wide smile. "And you had that coming."
"Then I guess you have things coming too."
"What, you'll hit me back?"
"I don't 'hit', Oswell. That's beneath me. I have...other means of retaliation." Draco handed her the missing piece of her herb.
"What?" Romina took the herb into her fingers. "Couple jinxes?"
Draco shook his head. "No."
Romina rolled her eyes and dumped the piece into the cauldron. As soon as it landed, the contents gurgled and squirted against Romina's hand. She hissed at the contact, drawing her hand back and shaking it until the burning sensation died down. She met Draco's smirking, very pleased, face and immediately scowled. "You're a jerk!"
"I've heard worse," Draco shrugged.
Romina took in a deep breath. Yelling in Snape's class would automatically earn her detention, even if she was a Slytherin. And besides, being stuck in detention meant she couldn't possibly get Draco back. It was a lose, lose situation. She would hold her tongue for the rest of the class, but that didn't mean she let Draco go completely.
Maybe her elbow slipped on his side.
And, apparently, maybe his foot happened to be near her ankle when she got up.
With a growl, she slammed her book over his hand. (Snape may have yelled at Dean Thomas in front of them for that one).
"Maybe I will take Parkinson over you as a partner," Draco spat on their way out of class. "She's got to be less annoying than you at this point."
Romina scoffed. "Please. You just want someone who gushes at everything you do!"
"Potions is where I excel," he said smugly. The worst part was that he was right. He was a genius in Potions; Romina had always praised him for it. "It would be nice to hear someone give me credit."
"I'm sure she'll have no problem with that," Romina said with a huff and marched on.
~ 0 ~
When Hermione plopped down in the seat opposite to Romina in the library, the latter flinched but kept on writing. "You've got homework already?" Hermione asked quietly.
"That is why I'm in the library, Hermione," Romina replied in the same hushed tone. She looked up briefly to send a smile to the brunette. "That why you're here already? During dinner I should add."
Hermione bobbed her head. "Not...exactly. Let's just say I'm doing some research."
Romina chuckled very lightly. She couldn't afford another warning from Madame Pince. Arden had been with her earlier and they hadn't exactly been the quietest.
"What about you? You're here doing an essay during dinner?" Hermione asked curiously. "We didn't see you at your table."
"How could you—the Durmstrang kids are huge," Romina's remark caused a mutual snicker. "Girls and boys."
"Least you don't get the stink eye from the Beauxbatons, some of them are quite judgy," Hermione said, scrunching her face.
"Maybe it's cos they're older. They are 17, remember?"
Hermione shrugged. "Who knows. So, what's the essay you're working on?"
"Snape's," Romina muttered. "Liking him a little less today."
"Welcome to the club."
Romina half smiled. "Anyways, I'm almost done with it if you wanted help on whatever you're researching."
"You're not eating tonight, then?" Hermione asked, a look of concern crossing her face.
"Not very hungry." Romina reached for a book. "Besides, this essay's a little trickier than I thought. Ironic considering it's about the calming draught."
"What's that on your fingers?" Hermione's eyes had widened when she spotted the faint red tint on Romina's right hand fingers.
"Huh?" Romina followed Hermione's gaze to her hand. "Oh," she set her book down on the table, "Funny little trick from Draco in the last class. Gave me a bigger slice of an herb to put into the cauldron—that git. But it doesn't hurt. I'm sure it'll go away soon."
"That's terrible," Hermione said, reaching over for Romina's hand. "Romina, maybe you should drop it."
"Drop what?"
Hermione's expression sharpened. "I know what this is all about. I haven't told Harry or Ron, if you're wondering, but I can't just stand on the side knowing the whole reason you're going head to head with Draco is because of what he said about me. If anything, it's my battle and I'm not interested in fighting it so you shouldn't be either."
"No," Romina shook her head. "Hermione, it's not your fault."
"It is," Hermione bit on her bottom lip, "I'm afraid of what could happen if this escalates. It's all well for Harry, Ron and myself. We're not in the same House as Malfoy. We just go up to the Tower and we're done with him, but you? He could hurt you."
Romina groaned. "How many times do I have to say that he won't!?" She and Hermione both flinched when Madame Pince shushed them from her desk.
"How can you be so sure?" Hermione asked when the coast was clear.
"Because…" Romina shrugged several times as nothing else came to mind.
"Well?"
"Because I just know, okay? I just do."
Hermione wasn't sure whether to be concerned over the war she knew she helped start or rather be concerned over Romina's certainty.
A/N:
They are actual teenagers in this chapter I swear xD.
P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)